“Rise, Dark Pike,” King Sombra growled, his voice low and hissing like a cloud of steam, almost like it pained him to breathe.
I used to wonder if her ever meant anger when he spoke like that, but I quickly learned that’s how he always sounded. He sounded old and embittered because that’s just who he was. But his voice also carried authority, resolve, and even wisdom. One just had to listen close enough to hear the true weight behind his tone. It’s empowering to hear his words directed at you, or terrifying, I suppose, depending on which side of the Empire one stood.
Beside me, Dark Pike rose. His fur was gray and shaggy, similar to His Highness’s but less so. His horn wasn’t nearly as threatening, nor were his eyes as sharp, and his hooves weren’t as sturdy, either. Yet, Dark Pike could’ve passed off for his son if I didn’t know any better. He certainly looked like a smaller, younger him. I wondered if that was the intention and of the implications if that were true. But it wasn’t right for me to speculate so. Whatever His Highness had in mind would be shown in time.
“Come closer,” His Highness said, reclined in his obsidian throne. He seemed to meld into solid crystals that rose around him, but his piercing eyes, the glowing red of his horn, and the silver of his regalia showed where he was.
Dark Pike stepped across the red carpet to the foot of his throne and stopped.
“How are the Empire’s defenses?” His Highness muttered.
Dark Pike steeled himself, then spoke. “The buffer shield surrounding the Empire is in place. Whenever it gets tripped, I’ll be able to instantly activate the main shields. I’ve infused my spells with the magic of the crystal heart as you’ve commanded, and smaller experiments have proven the shield’s tolerance levels to be effectively unbreakable.” He paused. “Our Guards are still in the process of being trained, however. It will be a few weeks at most until they’re properly skilled to hold back an Equestrian soldier, let alone carry the fight to one.”
“Inadequate,” His Highness mumbled, causing Dark Pike to wince. He stamped a hoof against his throne’s armrest. “Equestria can strike at a moment’s notice, and I do not feel safe having the Empire’s only security being a wall, however impenetrable it may be.”
“O-of course, Your Highness,” said Dark Pike, offering a quick and apologetic bow. “But our soldiers are still a bit... rusty, considering the Crystal Empire has been in limbo for more than a thousand years.”
“True,” he mumbled. His ever-present glare narrowed. “I want our troops to be combat ready by week’s end. See to it.”
Dark Pike bowed again. “Yes, of course.”
“You are dismissed,” he grumbled, waving a hoof dismissively.
Again Dark Pike bowed, and now I could see the wariness in his eyes and the hints of sweat on his brow. His motions were quick and I could tell as he turned and left, he only moved as fast as he dared. I couldn’t help but growl to myself because one of these days, His Highness won’t be able to tolerate his lack of discipline. Although I doubted His Highness would be so quick, there was an edge in his tone as he dismissed Dark Pike. Undoubtedly, he had plans for him—and myself—in the foreseeable future. Perhaps I should have a word with Dark Pike, because I’d hate to see trouble become of him. Being a soldier himself, one would think he’d understand his place by now.
The crystal doors shut noiselessly, and then His Highness turned his attention towards me. “Rise, Anmity.”
Obediently, I rose and walked to the foot of his throne. There was a glint of silver under his eyes, the hint of a smile.
“How is your training?” he asked.
“It’s going well,” I said, turning my head up. “I defeated Carbonate yesterday.”
He grunted. “Your instructor?” His Highness said, and I nodded. “He is the Empire’s foremost expert on peripheral-magic combat, you know.”
“Was,” I said as expressionlessly as I could. “I overpowered his offenses and broke completely through his defence. I had him carted away soon thereafter to the castle’s infirmary. I haven’t checked on him since, so I don’t know of his current state.”
He blinked, and for a moment he showed an emotion I didn’t know he could have: surprise. His smile disappeared but a moment later it returned, accompanied by some dry and winded chuckling.
“Very good,” he growled. A pressure inside my chest I hadn’t noticed vanished as soon as I heard those words, and my lungs greedily took advantage of the newfound space. But I remained stoic, looking up at His Highness as he smiled down at me, thinking quietly to himself. I didn’t know when, but he eventually stood and slowly descended the stairs leading up to his throne.
His hooves were noiseless as they bled into a black smoke, but still he walked. I took a step back and he stopped a rather uncomfortable distance away, grinning wildly.
“Show me,” he hissed.
I didn’t question my hooves as they pushed me back, and immediately a pillar of crystal rose up out of the floor where I’d been standing. It exploded a second later, sending a shower of needlelike shards in my direction.
I blindly teleported somewhere up and behind the blast. I should’ve expected this to happen, and I caught the edge of his eyes as they turned towards the ceiling, his grin even wilder than before. I splayed my wings and bolted for the farthest corner of the throne room, igniting my horn and reaching for the holster on my foreleg. The little device was released easily enough, and as soon as I hit the wall, I pressed my hooves against it and darted low.
I felt the wall upheave beneath my hooves, but I was already out of the way by the time it erupted. Debris rained down behind me as I came out of my dive low and with a roll. The device in my magic extended to full length, casting a blade of pure light that washed the crystal room with a blood-red radiance, and I held it outstretched as I rushed His Highness mere inches off the floor, going as fast as I possibly could.
He just smiled at me, and his gaze softened. Something was wrong.
I spun around and threw the sabre over my chest, just in time for it to absorb a bolt of magic. The impact threw me into the ground and tossed my mane all over my eyes, but I bounced up and redirected my charge, turning on a dime and rushing the far wall. He stood there smirking, and I could tell that dodge had made him proud. But he still wasn’t satisfied, I knew. He really wanted me to try and kill him.
I swung the sabre at him and he jumped high, carried by his smoke, and came crashing back down on top of me. I took the blow in stride and rolled across the ground, then threw myself up and around for another strike. This time he didn’t try to dodge, and instead I felt his magic wrap around my sabre’s handle and wrestle my own. It stung, but I pushed back the pain and came to a stop on the floor not even a meter away from him. The sabre hovered in the air between us, the handle aglow in a tangle of red and blue magic, twitching back and forth as we warred over its possession. His pressure was immense, and it took me my all for my legs to not give out beneath me.
And yet I took a step forward, and the resistance pushing back on me grew. Still he hadn’t moved, nor had the sabre, but I was now inching closer and closer, and the weight against me kept increasing. It felt like I was slogging through quicksand, and I was still going. Whether or not he was letting me, I couldn’t tell. The pain in my horn increased until it felt like a spike was being driven into my head. I got close enough to where I could stick my tongue out and lick the sabre’s handle if I wanted to, and on a whim I decided to do just that. Doing the unexpected is how one wins, after all. It’s how I defeated Carbonate.
Our tangled magic burned my mouth, but I took the sabre by the handle with my teeth and pressed forward. I think I started yelling at some point. I had my eyes clenched in pain so I didn’t know how close I was until suddenly I couldn’t push myself anymore. I opened them and found the sabre less than inch from His Highness’ neck, and his smile was as wide as ever.
I tried to push myself forward a final time and that’s when he relinquished his hold. I stumbled forward but caught myself, and when I looked up he was gone.
“Very good,” I heard him growl. I twisted around and slashed with the sabre, but he wasn’t there. Crystal shards littered the floor at my hooves. I parted the length of my mane from my eyes and glanced up to find him back on his throne, reclined leisurely, as if he never got up to begin with. “You impress me, Anmity.”
I turned off the sabre and sheathed it. “Thank you, Your Highness,” I said with a bow. I didn’t realize until I spoke just how winded I was. The desire to collapse right then rushed over me but I steeled my nerves.
“Now that I believe you’re ready,” he said, “I have a very important mission for you to attend.”
“Of course,” I replied, standing back up. A lump formed in my throat but I swallowed it easily. I’ve been training for nearly a month now, without any real tasks to settle. If this is what my training has been leading up to, then I’ve got to tackle it, to prove myself in the field.
“It’s only a matter of time before Equestria attempts to retake the Crystal Empire,” he hissed. “They will, without a doubt, use every means they can, seeing how foolish those princesses were to think so few ponies could hold me from my throne. I need you to disrupt their efforts, hinder their abilities. Ensure their ace-in-the-hole does not trouble us.” He grinned that twisted grin of his and tapped his hooves together. “Bring me Twilight Sparkle,” he hissed.
Time skipped for me. Words uselessly stammered out of my mouth, and I ended up parting more strands of hair from my eyes. “W-what?”
He stood, wearing a smug grin. “Without her, the Elements of Harmony cannot function! Remove the crux, and the whole body falls apart!”
I’d be lying if I didn’t hesitate to take a step forward. “You want me to kill her?”
He paused and then snarled, “No,” looking back down at me. “I want you to try and convert her to Empire’s side. That fool Celestia has already put our dark magic inside of her, where it festers. Tempt it. Make her succumb to it. You might need to fight her, perhaps some guards or the Elements themselves. One way or another, try and bring her to our side.”
I raised a hoof. “And if I’m unable?”
“If?” He smiled curtly and said, “Then yes. Kill her. The Elements must be put out of the picture, either way. She’s just more useful to us alive.”
“I...” I bit my lip. I remembered my intent to chide Dark Pike over discipline, and here I am, lacking it myself? No, I had to show the example. I knew better. I raised my chin. “I understand.”
“Good,” he murmured, cusping his hooves together. “You will have to infiltrate Equestria by hoof, however. Can’t risk you being seen until you strike.”
“Of course,” I said, and bowed.
He smiled again. “Then you are dismissed.”