//------------------------------// // Briefing and Arrival // Story: Sombra's Mission // by Strythio //------------------------------// Day One: Briefing (Late evening) Somewhere in the Unicorn Range, within the secret mountain fortress known as “Lunar Fort 2”, a meeting was taking place. The fortress practically was a mountain, carved out and naturally forming tunnels forming its corridors. Not much light illuminated the place, and for good reason. The place was supposed to be a secret, after all, and a bunch of lights in the dead of night would certainly attract unwanted attention. Within the actual fortress, most of the light came from windowless sections with lit torches, the occasional Night patrol passing by to make sure that they were still lit. Banners with the Royal Sister's cutie marks hung over many of the walls, serving as the only notable decoration down most corridors. Within the briefing room, a single, roaring fireplace illuminated the otherwise dark room. The room was made of the surrounding stone, carved specifically for the purpose of holding private meetings. It was spacious, though a heavy wooden door served as the only way in or out. The floor oddly enough had grass, giving a pleasant feel to those who walked in. Seat cushions were scattered all over the floor, the area right in front of the fireplace the only place bare of grass. One would question the fire hazard of such a setup, but considering that there was hardly any other furniture in the room, one could assume that a stray ember burning down the place really would not be that costly. The fire place, though roaring and cackling in the silence, hardly illuminated the room, with two ponies sitting across from each other, the light of the fireplace revealing the stone space between them. The two would have had to stretch and lean their body to touch each other, but that space mostly was for the sake of comfort. The room was not drafty, so compared to the outside, it felt better to keep their distance. Princess Luna and Captain Sombra sat in silence, neither saying a word for a few minutes. Luna, her blue coat and starry mane contrasting with the surrounding grey stone, held a single piece of parchment with her magic. She set it between the two and unrolled it. Sombra noted that this was directly in front of the fire; best to get a good look before a stray ember get to it. Sombra may have been fully garbed in his battle armor, dented and discolored from years of combat, but his eyes reflected the fire of the light like pools of water reflect the moon on a clear spring night. His gaze on the fire, drifting to the parchment only when it was fully open. It was a map of the Crystal Empire's capital city, the very center of their rival's power and wealth. His black mane and grey coat could hardly be seen with his armor reflecting the light of the fire, though not as clearly as his eyes had been. Luna spoke first, breaking the solace. Sombra starkly recalled Luna's serious tone, lacking in jest or amiability. “Your mission, in short, is that I need you to get the crystal princess to lower her guard and secure the Crystal Heart, ultimately ridding Equestria of a most troublesome rival. Do you think that you can handle that?” Sombra chuckled, recalling that it had been Luna who practically dragged him from his home in order to do the mission, claiming that only he could complete the mission. Though the last bit of her statement was clearly rhetorical, Sombra could not help but reply in kind, a dark smile spreading across his muzzle. "I can handle that. Sounds like I will not even need the whole week. This princess is not even an alicorn." Luna frowned, pointing a hoof to the clearly marked and circled castle on the parchment. "Do not underestimate her, Sombra. It has taken a very long time to prepare for this, and I have no patience for anypony, not even Celestia's favorite guardspony, to mess it up." Sombra's smile shrank ever so slightly at the thought of failure. "You asked me for this mission, recall? Considering what is on the table for success, failure is not an option for me." Luna nodded, a small smile forming. "Of course. Truly, failure is not an option. If there are no further questions, then we may go ahead and set out." Sombra flicked his ears, to suggest that he indeed had a question. "So what do we do with the princess once we have her where we want her?" Luna rolled up the parchment, poofing it off to some unknown location. She then flicked her own ears to Sombra's discarded saddlebags. Much like his armor, they had seen their best days quite some time ago. "Something will have to be done with your appearance if I am to pass you off as someone not associated with the Equestrian military. As for your question." Luna put a hoof to her chin for a moment in contemplation before answering, "I do not want to plan that far ahead yet; there are too many moving parts just in the acquiring of her trust portion of all this." Sombra could hardly believe that Luna had not planned that part out. To him, it seemed like the most significant part of the whole plot. Luna, likely sensing his discontent, elaborated further on the plan. "I have tormented the ponies with nightmares for quite awhile now, and the princess has been led to believe, through my visionary influence, that you are the answer to their ailments. What we do with the princess depends largely on her own actions.” Sombra reached his hoof and grabbed his saddlebags, suspicion written upon his face. "Seems like you do actually have that planned out, and just do not want to tell me. Is there some reason I am not being informed of the possible paths?" Luna sighed, again scrutinizing with her eyes the armor that Sombra wore. "Do not question me on this. Leave the planning out to me; you just execute. If you can help it, keep innocent casualties down to a minimum." Sombra smiled again, no doubt appearing somewhat conceded in some secret memory. "Listen, when the Trottabamans arm every filly and colt with a small knife, you can not take any chances now can you? Guerilla warfare is very hard to lose when you leave nothing, and nopony, to chance." Luna growled, showing some of her teeth in a way that Sombra thought was rather degrading for one of her class. "This is not a mission of conquest, Sombra, at least not in the traditional sense. Your only targets are those who make obvious moves to harm you, expose your cover, or obstruct your mission. No other pony! You have no idea the infamy that particular razing accumulated for Equestria." Sombra cackled and leaned back onto his haunches, once again in full sitting position. "But it got the job done, no?" Deep down, at the time, he wondered if he could get away with such a snide remark. Luna sighed, apparently tired of beating an already dead horse. "Listen, just follow my instructions to the letter. Use your head more often than your horn. The situation will remain fluid throughout this entire mission; nothing except my first sentence should be set in stone." Luna locked eyes with Sombra, leaning her head in slightly for dramatic effect, enunciating each syllable as if they were their own important word. "Do you un-der-stan-d me, Sombra?" Sombra nodded and gave a hearty salute. "Yes your majesty!" "Good." Luna smiled, rose to her hooves, looked Sombra over one more time, and then frowned yet again. "Leave the bag here. You may summon it later if you need it so badly." Sombra looked to his saddlebags, the heavy book within far too precious to leave in the fire prone room that they sat in. "I would rather keep it somewhere personal and private, if that is alright with you." Luna looked reluctant to comply, but instead waved him off with a hoof, turning to face the door. "Fine, but I expect you to be ready in five. We carry on from here on hoof." Sombra's posture sank somewhat, those words disheartening considering the pleasant chariot ride over here. He was used to marching, but at least he dictated when they stopped and when they went; Luna would probably have them trotting the whole way if she intended on them making it in one day. Day Two: arrival (approximately noon) Luna indeed made them walk the entire way in a single day, but by her grace, they stopped and made camp before actually reaching the gates. In the springtime, the far north was not as insufferable to travel through, and could even pass for the temperate climate further south on most days. Luna also actually carried her own saddlebag of supplies; Sombra did not mind having to only carry his own, but wondered if Celestia would carry her own if permitted. It would have been an interesting thing to test out had he returned, as most royalty had their company carry such things. His shiny new armor had been thankfully lighter than his old one, but as Luna put it, his current armor was more ceremonial than functional. Again, he would stick out as someone affiliated with the military, but he would not appear like a real experienced soldier; just enough to distinguish him from the more infamous Sombra that supposedly prowled villages for foals to enslave for his masters. Sombra would have liked for the record to show that he preferred to enslave the fully grown ponies; after all, they could carry far more than their own weight, even on long trips. The trip to the Crystal Empire had been uneventful, perhaps by design, despite the very direct route that the two took. Why they could not just take a chariot baffled Sombra, though he suspected that it had been to avoid association with Equestrian royalty. Being non-crystal ponies, they were obviously going to stick out. It had not been until they made camp that Luna told Sombra that she would be going in disguise as a pegasus with a non-flowing, cloud-like mane. She would not bother changing her color scheme or cutie mark; she would not be nearly as recognizable as her sister anyways. She had said that with a hint of bitterness, though Sombra dismissed it, and reasoned she instead was trying to cover up the fact that she had probably not considered the presence of an alicorn with the supposed savior of the crystal empire. The two finally arrived after a full night's rest to the Crystal Empire, the splendor of the city truly special, as Sombra had not seen such a city beyond the borders of Equestria. . There were gems everywhere; the streets, the buildings, even the ponies themselves shone with a crystalline gleam. Some sought streets paved with gold, but Sombra had fought dragons that would kidnap ponies just for the chance at streets made of gems instead. The ponies were lively and cheery, frolicking even despite Luna's earlier claims of tormenting them in their sleep. Not a depressed one among the lot, at least with those seen outside. "Welcome to the Crystal Empire!" one crystal mare greeted, her eyes locked onto Sombra's form. Her coat had a tinge of yellow, with a curly mane to match, and she stood almost a whole foot shorter than Sombra. "I believe you two are here to see the princess." "Good guess," Luna replied, smiling at the mare in turn, "I presume she is in the palace?" "She is waiting for you, actually." The pony then skipped off, gazing at Sombra as if he had just come back from the dead in order to destroy an unholy demon for the people of the Empire. And who knows; maybe he was. Luna did not go into very serious details about that either. Sombra shook his head and carried on with Luna. He leaned his head in close to hers, not wanting to have to speak very loudly. "How does she know that? And what is with this place?" Luna giggled, at least looking to take some pleasure in Sombra's question. "As I said, I have been preparing for this for quite awhile. Now stop whispering before you draw further suspicion." Sombra stood up straight, indeed seeing some crystal pony guards gazing in their direction with narrowed eyes. No matter what country, the guards always spotted newcomers, and had some sort of vigilance regarding their presence. Had they known who they were looking at, they might would have attacked right then and there. Luna's preparation had to have been phenomenal, considering that his red horn did not draw any suspicious questions as to whether he was related to the Captain Sombra. Or the thought that he might have some concealed weaponary undernath the ceremonial armor. Once they reached the palace courtyard, they came within sight of the Crystal Heart. Security flanking every side of it demanded to know their reason for getting even within sight of the Crystal Heart. Other than the obvious_ it was smack dab in the middle of an open square_ Sombra had to admit that he was somewhat relieved that somepony finally asked what they were actually doing, rather than what they were supposed to be doing. No surprise that the ponies who asked were the ones guarding the crystal heart; after all, it possessed incredible power when wielded by the populace and their ruler. With it, they could manipulate the emotions of the entire continent, in particular, Equestria. They knew that Celestia sought to find some way to annex them, but with their monarch constantly rejecting diplomatic measures, they had good reason to believe that military force would be the next step. It had been for the Equestrian break-offs who had centuries ago seceded when Discord was defeated, and refused reunification. Using the Crystal Heart, the Crystal Empire not only could they repel almost any invading army, but also set into the hearts of Equestrians rebellion, discontent, and fear. The last thing they needed was another civil war. That, Sombra admitted, was a legitimate reason for Luna to seek a more covert means of bringing down the Empire. They were supposedly there to stop that from becoming a reality, in some shape or fashion. So, presented with the question of why they were there, answering the truth might would have gotten them kicked out rather early. "This here is Sir Sombra." Luna presented Sombra as if he were some sort of cure all tonic, a single hoof tracing his features. It would have unnerved him had it been a stallion touching him in such a manner. "I am sure Princess Amore is expecting somepony of that name and this look." Sombra's ears stood on end as he took in that bit of information. Really and truly Luna was going with his real name. Luna had failed to specify that part of this procedure. Damn it all, he had even thought of a fake name that he could go as! Shining Armor would have worked nicely, considering his armor's shine. Now he would have to go in there with his own name on the table, and extra caution to his reactions. The crystal guards looked to each other for a moment. Sombra had been amused that they wore such little armor: merely a breastplate and a helmet. Yet still seemed to think that they were prepared to fight any sort of conflict with a fully armored Equestria. Then again, the Crystal Ponies did not have to fight with their army against Equestria now did they? "It looks about right, but how we know that it is not a fake?" One of the guards lowered his spear threateningly, as if that would reveal the truth if they were lying. Sombra smiled. The whites of his eyes flashed green, and purple flames seemed to ignite from the corners. He then let loose a forked tongue, causing the entire ring of guards to look to each other in bewilderment. As if it were some sort of passcode, the guard who had lowered the spear nodded. The two Equestrians then proceeded towards the palace entrance. Sombra made sure to take a mental note as to where the Heart was being kept, and the way in which they surrounded it in a tight circle. That information no doubt would come in handy later on.