//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: The Return of A King // by Zarmflamekin //------------------------------// Nothing was said between the three while Rarity worked, Somber pondered, and Spike doodled in the rock. Tom and Riddle were able to keep their word and quite a few Diamond Dogs with emerald requests came in, some for sculpting, others for some shining. Others came in as well, and before long the wagon was filling up with the gem scraps. As Spike continued scratching into the wall, he found a deposit of small rubies. Checking behind himself to make sure there were no Dogs around to complain, he began crunching on them. As he looked, however, he saw just how pensive Somber was looking into the pool, and knowing the look of utter disappointment, decided to see if the grey unicorn needed a pep talk. “Hey.” Spike began as he walked over to Somber. There was only a glance of recognition before Somber went back to staring into the pool. “Ruby for your thoughts?” Spike offered one of the chunks he hadn’t eaten yet. Somber took the ruby in his hoof and examined it without saying a word. “Nothing’s going to change if you don’t share you know.” Spike once again prompted. Somber turned the ruby over in his hoof as he sighed. “I just don’t know what to think, that’s all. This all seems to be a bit much for me. I just cannot fathom a world out there that’s a thousand years older than the one I knew.” “Well, you’ve got us for a start.” Spike tried to put the grim situation in a bit more positive light. “I suppose.” Somber gave a half smile that quickly faded. “But this just doesn’t feel right. I can remember so much now, the castle halls, my daily schedule, and everypony who came in and out. But no matter how much I try, I just can’t remember their names.” “You mean your siblings?” Somber shook his head. “Not just them, anypony. The head chef, the royal librarian, the service staff, even my parents, I can recall all of them, but I can’t put a name to any of them. The closer I feel to a name, something stops me, distracts me, and I come back to square one.” “But does that mean you know how you got here?” Again, Somber shook his head. “No, the last thing I can recall is going to the pond in winter to…to… agh, I can’t even remember why I was going. “ Somber sighed as he put the ruby down. “But before I came over the hill, it stops. The next thing I know, I’m being woken up here.” “Do you think you were meeting somepony at the lake?” Spike asked, trying to turn over such a vague situation. “More than likely.” Somber lay his head down. “But I just can’t remember, and the frustrating part is that I won’t find anypony to remember for me.” “The ponies of the Crystal Empire were suspended for a thousand years, I’m sure we’ll find somepony to help” “But that’s just a speculation. What if I’ve been in here longer than a thousand years, hmm? What then? What if the reason neither my brother nor my sister was there to rule was because they had already aged and died before the suspension? That would put me well out of the mind of anypony in the Crystal Empire.” “But then wouldn’t you have aged in the same amount of time?” Spike asked, a bit confused. “Just because you were asleep here, that doesn’t mean you would stop ageing. But then you probably also wouldn’t have been a part of the suspension spell. I’m going to suggest that you were put to sleep here shortly before the suspension spell, that way you were still asleep, but also suspended, and with those two consciousness inhibitors, you had temporary memory loss.” Somber raised an eyebrow at Spike’s theory. “And how does a baby dragon such as yourself pose such magic theory? I would peg this to be far beyond dragon knowledge.” “I’ve had to help Twilight with more than one magic theory paper in my time, I just pieced a few things together.” Spike shrugged. Somber considered Spike’s proposal for a second before he dismissed it. “If what you suggest was so, then we would be in the Crystal Mountains, and not wherever we are now. But we can leave that debate for later, for now, I am quite curious of this Twilight now. Why would a mare, of what I assume to be Miss Rarity’s age, be doing dabbling in magic theory? None but the most fanatical mages of the Empire even touched the subject.” “It’s just kind of been her thing since she was a filly, that’s all.” Spike shrugged again. “’Her thing’? You mean to tell me, that since her time of foalhood, she has dabbled in experimental magics? That’s extremely dangerous! What did her parents have to say of such activities?” Somber said aghast. “Well it’s not like she did what she felt like unchecked.” Spike rolled his eyes. “Princess Celestia made sure to make her a personal student to make sure everything was ok.” “Princess Celestia?” Somber put his hoof to his chin. “That name rings a bell. Can you give me a description?” “Uh, yeah. She’s white alicorn that’s about a head or two taller than anypony I know, with this wavy tri-colored mane that always seem to move despite any wind, and a sun cutie mark.” Spike described off the top of his head. “I-I feel like I know of whom you speak of.” Somber muttered. “But I can’t say I’ve met her. But what do you mean of alicorn? Surely those are only myths.” Rarity and Spike couldn’t help but chuckle at Somber’s ignorance. “I assure you Somber, alicorns are real, and Twilight can help prove it, seeing as she is one.” Spike smiled, making Somber’s eyes grow wide and subsequently putting his hooves over his eyes. “I feel like I should just stop making assumptions before I make myself look even more of a fool.” He sighed as he lay back down. “Don’t get down on yourself now, Somber, it was an honest mistake.” Spike tried to soothe Somber’s bruised pride. “How about you bounce some ideas about what happened to you off of me while we wait? That usually helps Twilight.” Somber moved one of his hooves to peak up at Spike’s honest eyes and sighed as he sat up properly. “Well, I guess we can start with this pool.” Somber gestured. “Does it not seem off for where we are?” “A little I guess.” Spike answered. “We are still near the plains, so we could just be low enough to meet the water table.” “But until this chamber was found, this was completely sealed off, how could this entire place form?” “Whoever put you here made it, I suppose.” “That’s another thing that is bothering me, who put me here, and why? And how for another matter, if I am so far away by a method I’ve never heard of, that has to mean I’m even further away than I can conceptualize right now.” “Maybe the pool has to do with it?” Spike suggested. “I keep coming to the same conclusion, but I can’t fathom how. I mean, it’s just a pool.” “You’d be surprised what ‘just a pool’ can do.” Spike looked up at Somber with a look of contempt, remembering the mirror pool incident with Pinkie Pie. “And I am more than certain that this is more than a simple pool, seeing as Rover was considerate enough to investigate how deep it goes.” “And?” Somber raised an eyebrow. “They couldn’t get to the bottom.” “Oh.” Somber considered the pool for a second. “Well, I know I’m not the best swimmer, so I’ll take their word for it, and perhaps we can investigate it later?” “Uh…” Spike had the thought of how to introduce Somber Tones to the rest of their friends if Rarity didn’t want to tell them she was still coming here. He took a nervous glance to the back of the white unicorn, and as if she could tell he was having trouble, Rarity answered for him. “I suppose we could come back later to investigate.” She said without stopping her crafting. “I guess sooner is better than later in this situation.” “Right.” Spike nodded, more for himself than for confirmation. “I’m sure we can find something with Twilight’s magic.” That made Somber frown. “And what now?” “That’s another point I seem to be having trouble with.” Somber said as he picked up the ruby again. “I can’t seem to use magic.” “Maybe you just need more time.” “No, this is different than my memory. It’s been basic practice to do most of my activities by magic, manipulation, conjuring, teleportation, but now I can’t even lift this ruby.” Spike could only frown at Somber’s predicament. For however long he had lived and practiced with Twilight, the simple inability of a unicorn to use magic had never come up. “I can’t help on that point Somber.” “I suppose you wouldn’t, but suppose this is yet another condition of my imprisonment.” “Well now-“ “And don’t try to call it anything else.” Somber snapped lightly. “I know imprisonment when I can see it. Left unconscious in a far away land without the use of one of my most prominent resources? What else would this be?” Spike was silent as he wrung his claws. “W-well, what did you use your magic for, specifically, for your talent?” “My hobby, as it were, was gem craft, as was similar to many of the Crystal Empire. Where I shined was the finer details in the gem, making the crystals near opaque and lifelike.” Somber began to smile as he reminisced. “I remember one of my best works was a full set of spiders with socketed legs, scared the daylights out of the castle.” Somber chuckled. “It had everypony checking every corner of a room for months.” “But if your talent is in crafts, why would it need to be taken away to lock you up?” “I was not limited to simple craft work, I was capable of fashioning the sturdiest tools the castle had seen. I’m sure I could have found these rubies and dug myself out if necessary.” Somber gave a sigh. “And there are my three conundrums. My memory lapse, my magic, and my location, and it just doesn’t seem like I can find any answers here.” “And I’m sure you’re right.” Rarity said definitively as she stood. “I’m done here for today, and as soon as Tom or Riddle come back for their ‘trinket’, we can be going.” She didn’t turn to face the duo, but instead took her time to walk up to the hole above them searching for one of the two. Spike and Somber went to examine the day’s earning and neither were disappointed. To Spike, he was impressed at the amount and size of the collection Rarity was able to make just by her simple carving job and had to wonder if he needed to invest in a bigger wagon. Somber was more impressed with the cuts and packaging, the dusts had been packaged into compressed cubes as to not be scattered and the larger shears were all at decisively cut as to be further refined at a later date. But what caught both of their attentions at the same time was the ‘trinket’ Rarity had mentioned. It was a beautifully shaped heart of a deep sapphire that Spike doubted he could have carried comfortably without dropping it, and yet, there was a distinct zigzag crack down its center that would be impossible to see unless the two pieces were closely inspected. Spike had to stop himself from salivating over it, while Somber had to back away from it. When Spike looked, Somber had his eyes closed and shaking his head. “What’s wrong Somber?” Spike asked, feeling like a broken record at this point. “I-I don’t like it.” “What? The heart? It’s not like it’s yours, but I don’t think Rarity would like to hear that of her work.” “No, no, it’s fine, but it’s not. I- argh!” Somber put his hoof to his forehead and began tapping rapidly. “It’s there! It’s right there! I was at the pond for it…it was stolen, and I needed to get it back! The Heart! The Crystal Heart! I needed it back for…for…” Somber was trying to find the right words for what he had gone through and Spike clenched his claws in anticipation, knowing to never interfere with a struggling process. “Yes, I’m going to need a ramp to get the cart back out of there and an easier way for Somber to leave.” Rarity’s voice broke Somber’s concentration and Spike’s anticipation, making both of them sigh in aggravation. “Rarity!” Spike cried out. “What?” She poked her head in to see Spike glaring at her, of all ponies, and Somber as dreadful as ever. “What’s wrong? What happened?” Rarity asked quickly as she stepped back down. “I almost had it!” Somber cried. “I almost had it and you made me lose concentration!” Somber began advancing on Rarity. “The wind, the snow, I could taste it! But you had to come back and spout off your petty-!” “Who, whoa! Hold on now!” Spike ran to get between the two, garnering the glare of the aggravated unicorn. “There’s no need to bite anypony’s head off, it was an unfortunate happenstance. Just, just calm down and take a deep breath.” Spike demonstrated, and with a few tentative seconds Somber took a deep breath. “I-I’m sorry, Miss Rarity.” Somber bowed his head in shame. “I was…just so close.” “I can understand dear.” Rarity said with pity in her eyes, but not stepping around Spike to comfort him. “I know what it’s like to be on a streak and have it ruined, and it’s not a pretty sight when it happens to me either.” “I guess I found a reason why somepony wanted me gone now.” Somber said as he sat, crestfallen. “Now listen here Somber Tones.” Rarity said sternly as she marched over to the unicorn. “Just because of one little outburst is no reason to believe that. Now, what made you so close to remembering?” “It…It was that heart.” Somber gestured to the wagon. “Our heart?” A curious Dog called from the hole. Spike looked to see it was Riddle peaking over the side, with a tiny bit of fear in her eyes. “Why would our heart make you crazy?” “It’s not because of your heart.” Somber called before readdressing Rarity. “It was the Crystal Heart. Somepony had stolen it, and I had tracked them to the pond, but again, that’s where I lose track of my memory. I just remember that I had to get it back.” Rarity gave a soft smile and placed a hoof on the sad pony’s shoulder. “Well, you must have gotten it back, because the Heart is safe and sound in the Empire.” “It is?” Somber looked up with hope being present in his eyes for the first time since he had come around. “You’re sure? You’re sure that it’s not some well crafted replica?” “Trust me, we nearly made a mistake with it when the Empire came back.” Rarity smiled at the near disaster that had nearly cost them the Empire to Sombra. “We’re sure.” “That’s great.” Somber smiled in honest relief before his frown slowly reemerged. “But then that means there’s even a bigger gap in my memory than I thought.” “Now stop that.” Rarity glared Somber down. “We already have a bad situation, we need you to stop making it worse. We know we have problems, let’s keep from delving into them until there is something we can do about it, all right?” After a few more seconds of glaring, Somber gave a resolute nod. “I will not bring this back up until we can actually do something about it.” “Good!” Rarity said in a much happier tone. “Riddle?” Rarity called. “Yes Miss Rarity?” Riddle poked her head into view, having prepared to cover her ears if Miss Rarity began ‘whining’ again. “Can I please get a ramp? And grab Tom, he’ll want his half of the heart.” “Right.” Riddle nodded before loping off into the tunnels to find Rover and Tom. “Now,” Rarity put on her polite smile. “What would you like for dinner?” Twilight was getting worried. It was already eight and Spike wasn’t back home yet. She had finished her book and written a fully detailed review for if she ever wanted to publish it anywhere and had even stopped by Zecora’s for an in depth herbology book from her homeland to see if it had any differing knowledge on local and exotic plant life. She usually didn’t bother looking at the clock, but with her nerves about Spike, she couldn’t focus. When she heard the telltale squeak of his wagon, she nearly flew out the front door to get him, but stopped halfway there. She slowly fluttered onto the stairs and took a calming breath. When she did, she picked up three voices slightly above the squeaking. One was Spike, the second was defiantly Rarity, but she couldn’t place the third one, but it was defiantly male. What was peculiar was the fact that Spike should have left the gems at Rarity’s and possibly come back on his own, if he didn’t insist on Rarity’s company. As Twilight approached the door, she could begin to pick up the conversation a bit clearer. “I really don’t think telling her out right will have the best effect, she should get to know him before we tell her.” Spike said. “But we need to tell her so that we can get on this problem immediately.” Rarity said, making Twilight frown at the mention of a problem. “Usually getting somepony to know you before telling them your problems is the better way of confirming help.” The unknown male said, making Twilight assume it was defiantly his problem they were probably coming to see her to resolve. She gave a little sigh, not wanting to solve everypony’s problems for them, but if Rarity and Spike thought he needed her help, she was willing to listen. With one last deep breath, Twilight opened the front door to greet the trio. The three were still a few paces away and Twilight noticed two distinct things right away. One was the very obvious stranger of Ponyville as he was half a head taller than Rarity and locals did not have that sort of cobalt black mane or charcoal coat. The second was the still full gem wagon behind Spike, telling her that they came straight here from their trip. This told her there was quite a bit of urgency to the stranger’s plight. “Twilight!” Spike began to wave, directing the two unicorn’s attentions in her direction. “It’s nice to see you home Spike.” Twilight smiled as the dragon jogged a bit closer to give her a hug. “And who’s your new friend?” She inquired as she looked up at the male, who seemed to have quite wider eyes than he did a second before. “You were actually serious.” He muttered before quickly shaking his head. “My name is Somber Tones, and I happened to be a bit lost, and these two were generous enough to tell me you might be able to help.” “I see.” Twilight said a bit flatly as she directed her attention to Rarity. “And this had to happen today, or more rather, tonight?” “Twilight dear, he is quite lost, more than you can know right now.” Rarity said outright, but Twilight could detect a hint when it was that obvious. “Well, come on into the library Somber, you too Rarity.” Twilight added as she began to see her friend’s eye’s wander away. “Right, of course.” Rarity gave a bit of a guilty smile. “Spike, if you could head inside and heat up some tea as we get settled in, I would greatly appreciate it.” “Yes ma’am.” Spike saluted before jogging inside with his cart. “I’ve been a bit busy and haven’t eaten yet, is there something either of you would prefer?” Twilight asked. “Anything’s fine by me right now.” Somber replied. “I would not mind for some heavily croutoned salad, along with some mushroom alfredo.” Rarity perked on the opportunity. Twilight chuckled lightly. “I’ll see if we have any to prepare.” Twilight said as she lead the two inside. As Somber saw the inside of the library his head moved in nearly every direction to see this fable like library. As Spike and Rarity had said, it was a very healthy living tree and yet it had been so expertly hollowed out. What surprised him was a fireplace with two chairs and a couch facing it, as this was the most flammable place he ever knew. His ear swiveled as he hear the tinkle of glasses on a tray, and his eyes came back to a doorway in which he saw a well kept kitchen with the dragon currently laying out the dishware. Deciding on no better action, Somber headed toward the couch. Rarity was about to follow before Twilight lightly pulled her aside. “Please tell me he’s not here because he talked you into it.” Twilight lightly begged, hoping beyond hope this wasn’t a ploy for somepony to get close to her for ill reasons. “I would hardly say so. Spike and I actually came upon him unconscious without him even knowing where he was.” Rarity brushed her friend’s worry aside. She agreed before hand with Spike and Somber to leave where they found him as one of the last things they discussed. Twilight gave a small sigh of relief. “So if that’s not it, then why is he here, now? You could have easily come back to town earlier in the day to get him some proper help.” “Well, we had a bit of a time calming him down after we woke him up. It seems he had forgotten pretty much everything.” “Everything?” Twilight’s brow’s shot up. “Was he hurt? No, wait, he doesn’t seem hurt. Are you sure he wasn’t concussed? Does he still not know? He knows his name, but that might be about it. But then again he could have…” “Twilight, this is why we brought him here.” Rarity cut Twilight’s train of thought. “He’s regained quite a bit of his memory, but the pieces don’t seem to fit. We were hoping if you could help.” Twilight’s eyes sparkled at the thought of a complicated puzzle, but were quickly glancing over at the waiting unicorn. “Are you absolutely sure? You’re sure he’s not acting this out?” Rarity bit her lip and glanced over at Somber, who was now starting to take an interest in the twos conversation. “I am absolutely sure.” Rarity finally nodded in finality. “Twilight, you should have seen him when he realized he had amnesia, he was practically hysterical.” Twilight sighed in defeat. “All right Rarity, I’ll see what I can do, but I’m not making any promises.” “Thank you Twilight.” Rarity smiled for reassurance before heading over toward the fireplace. Twilight really did want to help Somber, but every time she looked at him, there was always a brief chill down her neck, and that unsettled her. With a small sigh she headed for the kitchen to see if she could accommodate for Rarity’s tastes, finding Spike pouring the hot water into the teacups. “Thanks Spike, you can leave mine here, I’ll be seeing to dinner.” Spike stopped pouring and looked over to Twilight. “Are you sure? You usually have me make everything, maybe I can make it while you talk with Somber and-” “No Spike, I need a bit of time to think this over, and I think dinner prep will give more than enough.” “A-All right Twi, I you think it’s what’s best.” Spike took one of the cups off the platter before heading back into the main library. “And Spike, one thing.” Twilight said, making Spike freeze, because one thing was usually very very bad. “Do you trust Somber?” Spike just looked up at Twilight in surprise. “Of course I do. He’s just confused and lost, and I think it’s one of my duties as an upstanding dragon to help.” “Of course.” Twilight smiled. With that, Spike headed over to the waiting unicorns with tea in hand. But as soon as she turned back toward the kitchen, the smile left. While leaving the ingredient finding and dinner prep on an automatic spell, Twilight sat at the table in the middle of the kitchen to ponder. Rarity and Spike both seemed to completely trust Somber, and it wasn’t surprising for the two to want to help one in a situation like his, but there was just something to off about him that she just couldn’t shake. Using a third spell, Twilight recreated his likeness in a miniature model on the counter and began to look him over. There was no chill when she looked at the stallion here, and there didn’t seem to be any abnormalities about him besides his slightly above average height. Taking a closer look at his head, there were no indications of trauma that could cause amnesia. It just didn’t sit right with her; here was a perfectly healthy unicorn with amnesia found in the southern forests that didn’t fit with any physical description of the surrounding area. A pony of his size would usually be in the hard physical labor profession around here, yet his build and cutie mark obviously pointed to the contrary. As Twilight took a look at Somber’s cutie mark, she began to hypothesize what the three grey crystals could symbolize. It had never been a specialty of hers to interpret them, but she could make a general guess about them, and from what she could safely speculate, he was a part of some gem-crafting specialty. But as for what he crafted or what they were for was up in the air, she would just have to ask him herself. As she felt the gather spell stop, Twilight looked up to see that everything was in place and the salad was being prepped and the water was being boiled for the alfredo, but she also found Somber at the door gawking at all of the going ons. With a hurried cancelation, the miniature faded and Twilight turned to face him. “What can I help you with Somber?” Twilight asked a little flushed. “I-I was just coming to get some more tea.” Somber held his cup a little higher. Twilight did not fail to notice it was in his hoof rather than the normal holding spell. “Is this all that so effortless to you?” He gestured to the prepping salad. “Ah, a little bit. The initial enchanting is a bit bothersome, but after that it’s simple input-output.” “I see.” Somber said as he walked over to the table and placed the cup down. “I figured tasks like this would be simpler for an alicorn, but not so much so.” “Anypony could do this, they just have to learn the initial setting enchantment and learn how to get what they want in a short fashion.” Twilight said, almost slipping into the finite mechanics of the spell, but a chuckle from Somber stopped her. “And you find that simple? Do you see how many things you have under a set enchantment? Most ponies I know find it a hard enough time to learn settings for their personal skill, and here you have pots, utensils, and food all working in tandem. If you call this simple, I want to know what you find hard.” He smiled, causing Twilight to shuffle her hooves at the compliment. “And what about you?” Twilight bounced back. “What do you find easy to set enchantments on?” Somber’s joyful smile turned to a more cunning one as he noticed what Twilight was digging for. “You don’t need to be so dodgy on your questions. My specialty is in opaque gemcraft of multiple uses.” Somber rested his fore hooves on the table before leaning on them himself. “Any other questions?” Seeing as her attempts at subtlety had failed, Twilight went into full question mode. “Do you really have amnesia?” Somber pondered the question before giving a crafted answer. “For now it’s only of names and a bit of lost time. Everything else seems to have come back to me.” “Where are you from?” “That’s a hard one for you to believe, but it’s the Crystal Empire.” Twilight jerked back in surprise at the answer. It didn’t seem like he was lying and had complete faith in the answer, and his cutie mark talent would make a lot more sense there than anywhere else. But for him to be found so far south and out cold were completely suspicious now. And so was another aspect. “Why can’t you use magic?” It was Somber’s turn to be surprised; even without saying anything to her she had figured out his disability. With a sigh and slight shrug he answered, “I’m not quite sure. After I woke up I found I couldn’t use it.” “Do you feel any pain in your head? Something might of hit you and might be blocking the path through your brain.” Twilight suggested, to which Somber shook his head. “I feel fine. No aches, no pain, I just can’t seem to use magic.” “Hmm.” Twilight pondered. “There is one last thing before we go back.” “Ok.” “Why were you surprised I was an alicorn?” Somber was stunned again as he was sure he hadn’t been heard by anypony. “We-Well, it’s just not something I had seen before, that’s all.” “That’s such a poor lie.” Twilight gazed at the nervous stallion. “And one that asks more questions than it answers. Even after the suspension, there’s Princess Cadence, but if you’ve never seen an alicorn before, then that means you haven’t even been to the Crystal Empire. And if that’s really true, that means you’ve never even seen the Royal Sisters in any depictions, which leads me to believe that you’re not even a pony.” Twilight stood. “Fine!” Somber slammed his hooves on the table to stop Twilight’s accusations. “Do you know why I’ve never seen an alicorn before? It’s because I’m older than the alicorns! Happy?” “What? No! That’s completely preposterous!” Twilight rebutted. “Nopony is older than Princess Celestia and Luna!” “Really?” Somber stood. “Then how long was the Crystal Empire and empire before those two?” “I don’t know, but that doesn’t prove anything.” “Of course it does! It means that before these sisters, there was a long running line of rulers that ran an empire!” “But the Empire is just a name!” Twilight shouted. “…What?” The flame had petered out of Somber’s eyes. “It’s just the name of a city! It’s not an actual empire!’ Twilight continued on without realizing Somber wasn't rebutting. “When the city was suspended, the rest of the empire had to be folded into Equestria so they wouldn’t be taken by the other nations.” Twilight finally breathed and noticed the defeated look on Somber’s face, as well as Spike and Rarity in the doorway, wanting to know why the two were arguing. “I guess it really doesn’t matter if I go back then now.” Somber said softly as he turned for the door. The three watched as he made his way back toward the couch and lay down. “Twilight, what was that about?” Rarity asked. “I-I just asked him why he was surprised to see I was an alicorn, and that just…happened.” Twilight sat back down, feeling more and more miserable as the seconds passed.