CHAPTER TEN:
TOGETHER WE FALL
1
Celestia pushed her way through one set of wooden doors before hurrying through another. As she glided along each area of the Empire bunkers, her focused eyes picked up on most every little detail.
The faces of far too many ponies appeared worried or closer towards terrified. The other half only seemed bored, as if the wait for their enemy to appear had already lost most of its appeal. She figured it was this half that had not heard the stories that were slowly making their way through the ranks. If she could have stopped the rumors before they’d started, she would have felt all the better for it. But there was still one rumor even she could not stop worrying about.
“Any word on Princess Luna or Princess Twilight?”
Celestia spoke with her chief executive near the corner of the room in hushed tones. He looked nervously around before slowly shaking his head.
“I see,” Celestia stated, before ushering off again.
Inside she felt as if a large rock had carelessly been dropped into a pool of cold water. It made her shiver despite the muggy heat in the cramped barracks. She turned to find her executive still lunging behind her. “How much of our Guard is here already?”
“Around eighty-percent.”
“And until the rest arrive?”
“A few hours at most.”
“Then that’s good.”
The notion that her Guard had already almost found their way to isolating the Empire off from the enemy caused her to think of Spitfire and the Wonderbolts all over again. Had she for no reason whatsoever sent them out into danger? She hoped it would have a purpose. She needed it to, truly. But wasn’t there something—
“The Crystal ponies,” the princess blurted unexpectedly, “how many did leave the city?”
Her executive thought for a moment. “Not many. Perhaps fifty at most—most of those families with young ones. The other four-hundred or so have chosen to stay in the Empire, either to fight or to remain in the holds with their families in the basements.” He pondered his next thought, unsure if he should make mention of it. “They haven’t given up hope, Princess. They believe you’ll stop Sombra, like you did before.”
Celestia nodded carefully at the sentiment. It was a beautiful one—she had no doubt it was—but somehow this time felt different than the rest.
She spoke a little louder than their hushed conversation a few rooms ago. “King Sombra will never claim this kingdom as his own.” When she noted the heads of a few Royal Guards turn in her direction, she surmised her statement had done its job. Then, wishing someone above even her would confess such reassuring words, she began her rounds once more.
2
Since she couldn’t fully trust her eyes with the image they were presenting, Rainbow Dash scrunched her face until tiny specks danced in her vision. Only when she knew the image to be completely true, did she finally approach.
“As nice a job as I think you might be doing, Rarity,” spoke the southern voice of Applejack, “I don’t think no jewels or accessories will stop no weapons.”
Rainbow entered the scene to find Rarity closely inspecting a suit of silver armor draped over a white body mannequin. Since entering the Empire, Rainbow had seen armor of every type and color, but this was the first one she saw that had small bits of purple and golden lace adorning its trim. As unnecessary as it was, Rainbow still greeted it with a grin.
Rarity said, “I don’t think anyone would dare hit this marvel once it’s done! I think they’d stop their abhorrent ways just to get a closer look at its finery.” Rarity raised her chin a few inches while slitting her eyes before returning to her work.
“You can wear that Rarity, but I wouldn’t be caught dead,” Rainbow said as she finally entered their little scene. “I’ll only be representing the Wonderbolts while I’m here.”
“Rainbow Dash!” they both exclaimed in surprise, before enveloping her in a hug.
Although Rainbow might have shied away from such vulgar displays of affection years prior, she greeted this one warmly and felt her heart skip a beat as she did.
When they pulled away she said, “Thank you both for coming. I didn’t know if anyone would, or even if they could, honestly.”
Both other ponies brushed the idea aside. “What choice was there, Rainbow Dash?” asked Applejack. “When Equestria’s in danger we come to save the day. As cheesy as that might sound.”
“What about Fluttershy or Pinkie Pie?”
“Fluttershy’s in the basement hold with most of the Crystal ponies and their families; trying to keep them calm with everything else going on up above.”
“Pinkie Pie?”
“She’s been nagging some official for the past few hours about her plans for the after party. I’m pretty sure we might find her in the waiting cells if she keeps it up much longer.”
Rainbow laughed at that. It sounded right on course. She said earnestly, “I’m shocked you all came, you guys. I really didn’t know who would show.”
Rarity nodded promptly. “Of course we would! I only might want to warn you that we might be a little rusty this time around… having been—what?—a decade since the last big baddy.”
Rainbow added, “I think that was Twilight’s work more than anyone’s.”
Both of her friends became silent after hearing that. Rarity looked up expectedly. “Any news of Twilight? Or Princess Luna?”
Rainbow shook her head quickly. “No. They’ve sent letters and even a few guards to track them down but this whole mess kinda’ started with little warning. We just need to give them time to get back. We do still have time. We should.”
“Twilight’s never let us down before,” Applejack added positively. “This won’t be the first time she starts. She’s never let trouble stand in her way. Never.”
The three friends nodded in collective agreement, all while Rainbow considered an entirely different assumption she had heard only minutes ago—the terrible notion that King Sombra had already laid waste to both Twilight and Luna together. And that the Empire would be overpowered and defeated and now their sole hope of survival rested in the patterned hooves of the Princess of the Sun. But that was just the talk between guards that had nothing left to talk about, she informed herself right after. It had been NOTHING but talk!
“Sombra wasn’t so bad before!” Applejack continued. “Wasn’t it even Spike that took him out? I think we’re worrying about nothing at all at this point. Heck, I’d be surprised if Sombra even gets here, after the Wonderbolts get through with him.”
Rainbow Dash shut her eyes instinctively from the name. Both of her friends pursed their lips when they knew they’d hit a raw nerve.
“I’m sorry sugar cube,” Applejack said, placing a hoof around her. “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. What Celestia has them doing is nothing at all—just a distraction. Soarin’ll be fine and back before anything even happens. I guarantee it.”
Rainbow smiled at them softly, more for their benefit than her own. Then she went to face the rest of the barracks with its many ponies trotting from one location to the other, no face completely wanting to express that reassuring impression that surely tomorrow the sun would still come greet them. “I’m sure you’re right, Applejack. But something tells me this might not work out as easily as our other adventures.”
3
The first smell that pulled her from her tiredness was fresh vomit from that morning’s quick meal. Spitfire carefully walked to the side of the mess and out into the center of town. She had only been there for fourteen hours and yet already felt like she knew the place like a second home. Blueprints had been drafted of the entire stretch of land and the nimblest of the bunch had gotten to work on reinforcing its defenses. The only nagging thought on Spitfire’s mind was if Sombra had suddenly learned how to fly, after miraculously learning how to come back from the dead, too. The thought that usually followed that one was just why in Equestria he was sticking to the roads and not a more covert path towards his final destination.
Maybe he wants to show everyone what he can do, her mind added unhelpfully.
Spitfire trotted up the hard packed street and nodded at a few recruits as she went. Every one nodded in return and every one looked a lot more ill kept than their former selves. If Spitfire could find the one responsible for spreading such nasty lies throughout her ranks—such as the notion that Sombra had plucked the eyeballs off some pegasus—she would make them suffer most definitely (and to the book).
It was only when Spitfire nodded at the last worker on her line that she felt the pangs of guilt fill her gut.
“Soarin,” she greeted.
“Captain,” he answered, while awkwardly nailing another board across the now heavily-blocked entrance of town. “It’s going to be today, isn’t it? He’s waited long enough so he’s going to come today. I just know it.”
Although she could tell he was scared (but she knew they were all scared—and, honestly, at this point she thought she might become more worried about someone not scared) Soarin held back a good chunk of his inner turmoil out of view. It was only his eyes that let a little shine through—both pupils fidgeting from one location to the next in rapid succession.
“I know no more than you, Soarin,” she answered. “Only that we’ve got a job to do and that we’re going to see that’s it’s done in the best way possible.” She paused, trying to think of a better spin to her speech. “And never forget about all the other ponies that are counting on us. If Sombra gets by us, then he gets a chance at the rest of Equestria. Never in my mind did I believe the Empire would be his final goal.”
Soarin pondered for a second. “I thought we weren’t supposed to engage with the enemy?”
Spitfire examined down the road where she knew the enemy could come from at any time, then she muttered under her breath: “We’ll see about that.”
4
Having just arrived back home only minutes prior from visiting Canterlot, Twilight was more than a little taken back to discover a letter already awaiting her. Unlike her original apprehension at the letters received at the castle, she was pleased to find it off-white in color.
“Who’s it from?” Spike asked, after giving her ample time to open and read.
Twilight lowered it with an expression of befuddlement. “It’s from Luna. She says she’s coming for a visit, and soon.”
Spike set down her lone suitcase. “But you just saw her—no wait, no you didn’t, actually. But you were just in Canterlot!”
“I know. It’s odd.”
“What does she want?”
Twilight skimmed near the bottom of the note again, clarifying that what she thought she’d read really was what she had. “To talk about how I’ve been behaving lately.” She sank to the floor and crumpled the edges of the note in her hooves. All at once she felt on the verge of tears. “I didn’t mean to appear so hostile while I was there, it was just… it was just they wouldn’t understand what it is I’m doing!” In haste Twilight stood back up. “How could they understand? All those Princesses do all day is oversee the work of other ponies! Since when do they ever get their hooves dirty in the name of all things good?”
She waited for a response from Spike but he looked a little too nervous from this sudden outburst to potentially add another stick to the fire.
Twilight thought carefully. “My research is far more important than any fest or feast or meeting of some dignitary! Why should I be punished because they don’t understand that?”
With all that out in the open, Twilight heavily plopped herself on the couch with what remained of her crumpled note in hoof. A large lock of hair fell over her eyes and she blew at it angrily.
“You want me to send a letter back declining?” Spike said helpfully.
Twilight shook her head. “No. Knowing her she wouldn’t take no for an answer. Knowing her she’s probably on her way now.” It took a second for those words to sink in. “Probably on her way now?”
Twilight rose from the couch and hovered in the air, both hooves pressed against her cheeks. “We have to get started! We have to get ready for her!”
Spike scratched his head. “I thought you were mad at the Princesses?”
“I am! Of course I am!” she shouted. “But it doesn’t mean I won’t welcome the socks off either of them and show them a good time!”
“That kind of seems… unlike you, Twilight. The old you, sure. But the new you…?”
Twilight eyeballed him sluggishly. “I know! And I hope it shows her that I’m right as rain and then she can just take that fat message back to her sister and the rest of Equestria! I’ll make her think I’m so right in the head that she’ll have no problem with my continued studies!”
Only when Spike seemed all out of conjecture did he shrug and ask, “So what do we do?”
5
Spitfire had called an emergency assembly in the center of town once she’d figured no more preparation could be done that day. As she spoke she trotted up and down the first row of cadets, admiring the stern composure apparent on each of their faces. She only knew if her words were to falter now or her legs show the slightest sign of quivering, she would loose them all before the enemy even came upon them. With that in mind she spoke what she had been contemplating all that morning.
“I do not completely understand what rumors have been passing from the mouths of some to the rest of you, but I do not remember giving those rumors permission to enter the thoughts of my cadets. Whatever you might have heard is nothing but words in air. I myself could make up a story of depravity and whisper it to another, but that does not make it true. Not in the slightest.
“What this speech is trying to reinforce is that, at this time, we know close to nothing about out enemy. I do not say this to make you worry about our lack of foresight, only to put this ‘Sombra’ in a clearer light. He may in fact be some imposter of some old King or he may—miraculously—be the real deal. Either or it doesn’t matter. By Princess Celestia’s order we came here and we will stay here until we hear otherwise. All of Equestria rides on what most likely happens today.”
She hesitated for the first time since started. The next topic she had always left up for debate.
“When speaking with Princess Celestia, she informed me that our sole job was to distract and—if possible—delay our enemy. We were asked to not engage with him, whatsoever. I…” She hesitated. “…have a different understanding of it. If we can stop Sombra today, then and only then will I consider my assignment as complete. If the fate of everyone rests on what we can accomplish, then I say we destroy the enemy as only the Wonderbolts can.”
Her words hung in the dry, warm air. Not a single cadet spoke or made motion to their neighbor. They had been trained to be the best and this was only a small portion of what they were made of.
“If you wish to leave then you may with no penalty in place,” Spitfire continued. “I only ask that you think long and hard before you do so. With that said, who will stay with me?”
Half a second barely passed before every hoof of every member shot into the air. If Spitfire had not been forged from heavy and hard materials, she might have even gotten teary-eyed by the sight.
“With that said, I’ll—”
“Someone’s coming! Someone’s coming!”
Instantly Spitfire was in the air and charging toward the pony that had just screamed out the warning. Without a word he handed a pair of binoculars to the mare and she viewed the long dirt road ahead.
Since the day was several degrees more than hot it caused a shimmer on the horizon. Even through the distorted waves Spitfire caught sight of that mane of thick black hair most instantly. Slowly, lazily, the figure came into focus and she began to make out every odd garment he wore. Cape. Crown. Armor. If this should somehow still be some bizarre imposter, Spitfire had to hand it to their eagerness to follow-through. It was only when she glimpsed his warped red horn that her willingness to believe in the reincarnation of the real Sombra came to a head.
“That’s it? That’s why we’re here?”
The hushed voice of a colt to the left of her. She ignored it for the time being.
“It’s just one pony. How does he possibly think he’ll get through all of us?”
Just as Spitfire was very close to chewing out the disruptive cadet in her ranks, another far more serious sight caught her attention. As Sombra grew steadily closer and closer to their barricade at the head of town, he swiftly evaporated into the earth with nothing but a black ring of smoke to mark where he’d been.
The same colt from before. “Was that it? Was—”
And that’s when the ground began to quake, and Spitfire first realized she might have made a mistake in coming here.
6
At 12: 28, Luna arrived at Twilight’s small cabin home at the edge of the woods. On the door was a hoof-written note from Twilight, letting her know she had gone out to Baltimare to get some supplies for her stay. Near the end it added how nice it would be if they were to meet at a local restaurant to help kick off her visit. Although Luna had never been to the aforementioned restaurant before, she knew locating such a place should prove simple enough.
At 12: 32 the note adorning Twilight’s door changed its writing back to what it had originally stated.
At 2:15, when Twilight became more and more pensive on just where her visiting Princess might be and why she was not at the restaurant just yet, she asked a colt at a table nearby for the time. The colt in question then looked at one of his forelegs before discovering that his watch had suddenly gone missing. But hadn’t he checked the time not ten minutes ago? Before he could say anymore on the subject, Twilight exited the restaurant (with Spike carefully in step) in search of Luna.
At 1:08 Luna arrived at the restaurant secondarily stated and asked if Princess Twilight had made them a reservation. At first the maitre d’ eyed her up like some magically appearing golden statue, but when he scanned his reservation book (and then again and once more), his face sunk in a flash. “We don’t have anything under that name, but let me check with the back of the house.” Once out of sight behind the swinging doors at the rear of the place, Luna heard a racket of smashed plates and then nothing else. After a few seconds of speculative silence she left the restaurant in search of Twilight.
At 1:45 the maitre d’ of that fancy restaurant would awaken to find a nasty bump on his head as well as a bill for three-hundred bits to cover the cost of the plates he had (for some irregular reason) spilled. But more importantly he would wonder just where his entire back-of-house staff had suddenly disappeared to.
At 3:30 Twilight returned home in a far fouler mood than when she had left. Strongly pushing open the door, she viewed the same note from before and honestly wondered what had gone wrong. With these fervent thoughts in mind she began to organize her latest purchases in the kitchen, all the while keeping an ear out for the possible hoofsteps of Luna.
At 2:33, when Luna was certain not a single pony had seen a purple alicorn in Baltimare that day (although each one she had asked had held that queerly-same look of bewilderment and surprise of being out of their house at all), she went back to the edges of the Hayseed Swamps to perchance find Twilight back at home. Once she’d knocked and waited a good while, she pushed in and sat silently in the living room, careful not to touch any work Twilight might currently been in the midst of.
At 2:28, as Luna made her way to Twilight’s cabin, a second cabin of completely identical nature made its debut a hundred yards closer to the mare. Luna, already tired from that day’s lackluster lack of meeting, took no notice of the switch.
At 4:39, Twilight found the waiting game too much of a nuisance for her, so with a few things in her bag she headed back toward the center of Baltimare. As she figured it, if Luna was still out searching for her or had arrived at the restaurant far later than expected, she might as well try to do something of the same sort. Only when she arrived in the city did she note something a whole lot stranger than a missed lunch.
At 4:44, after Luna had carefully flipped through another of Twilight’s thick and heavy books before returning it just as such, she grew restless and went for a walk into town. Just as she was about to label the new Twilight as a possible pony of unsavory character, she finally caught sight of the alicorn standing in the town’s central square.
“There you are, Twilight Sparkle!” she nearly yelled in relief. “The day has been long with searches and lack of luck, but finally I have found you. When does our research begin?”
Luna smiled at the younger alicorn and found only a startled face in return.
A dawning of clarity rose in Twilight’s head. It was like trying to put a puzzle together in the thick of fog. “You came all the way here to see my research?” she questioned distantly.
Luna was taken back. “Why yes. When I received your letter I came right away. Why would I not?”
Twilight remained silent a moment, her wide eyes staring down every avenue that intersected with the center of Baltimare. “Because I never sent you a letter. And because I got a letter from you, saying you were coming to talk with me about the actions of my latest visit.”
Inside Luna something large had shifted and both eyes widened in horrified understanding. Why hadn’t she seen it before? How could she not see it right now? It had been all around her, changing throughout the day. And now, only as she viewed down each and every deserted street of Baltimare, did it all click together.
“Why is every pony inside, Twilight?” she asked, while not completely wanting an answer.
“I’m not sure, Princess,” Twilight said softly, “but I think we’ve been tricked.”
7
“Has anyone seen Discord?”
Celestia hastily shouted at a group of guards as they rushed her by. Each gave a quick salute before all telling her they had not. It was odd, she found. Discord had been around just a few moments ago—and wouldn’t all this near chaos warrant him to stick around, and close by?
Thirty-minutes prior and Celestia found herself in something she’d wish she’d never need put on again. It was her armor—its many bits and pieces complete with over-sized helmet and symbols. In the clear sun, every inch of hammered gold steel shined with a near glowing radiance. But as mesmerizing as its sight might have been for spectators, they would never need to know what it was like to wear such heavy things.
For what felt like the tenth time in just a short amount of space, Celestia shrugged her shoulders and each leg in an attempt to make her armor fit more comfortably. A moment later she informed herself perhaps armor should never feel comfortable.
Awkwardly she turned her heavy head to her executive by her side, also in less detailed armor of silver and white. Already he knew what she was going to ask. Already he shook his head in return. Twilight and Luna had still not arrived, she thought coldly, but Sombra couldn’t have been the one to delay them, right? Not now. Not while his Empire stood waiting…
And just as every Guard had nearly made their way to their assigned stations, did a single pegasus make themselves known in the middle of the cloudless blue sky.
Celestia’s first reaction was to panic and alert the guards, but an abrupt peek at the flyer’s suit put a sudden halt to such notions. It was one of the Wonderbolts, she could tell. And by that craze of mane on their head—
So why are they flying so poorly?
The pegasus in question tried their best to keep in a semi-straight line, but every few flaps of their wings would only send them off kilter and closer to the ground. A few meters from the gates and the Wonderbolt gave up the task, crashing into the dirt with alarming speed.
Even before the flyer fell from the sky, Celestia was already bolting outside. A few cried for her to stop—that a trap could be waiting—but she paid them no mind. As she neared the downed pegasus, her worst fears came to light. The cadet had not just been any Wonderbolt at all, but the Captain herself.
As Celestia went to her side Spitfire slit open her heavy eyes. Through bloodstained teeth she whispered: “We failed.” And then she said no more.
With something quite warm and heavy beating behind both eyes, Celestia took a step back and finally noted just why the mare had been flying as she had. Three large and blackened spikes protruded from Spitfire’s chest and side—a material similar to hardened glass. Although she wanted a moment to grieve for her fallen subject (just a moment, just ONE SINGLE moment, she wanted to scream) the darkened clouds that began to eat away at her perfect blue sky promptly pulled her away from such actions.
Levitating what remained of Spitfire to the courtyard inside the gate, she ordered a guard to place her inside and to be careful. At a time like this it was the least she could do.
And then, with her several hundred strong, she stood and faced the black that was steadily making its way towards them, all the while silently waiting for that miracle that thousands more were currently waiting for, too.