Chapter 1
“You have funny ideas for, ‘let’s go out for a walk’ dear,” Shining Armor grunted as the tall white Unicorn trudged through the snow.
“Oh a little walk in the mountains near the empire won’t kill you,” Princess Cadance chuckled where the pink alicorn walked beside her husband.
The royal couple were walking on a path leading up to the mountain closest to the Crystal Empire. It wasn’t the tallest and was only few hours walk away, but it was challenging enough with all the snow. Due to its small size and close proximity, the Crystal Ponies sometimes scaled it themselves for the fun of it.
Shining wasn’t really complaining, he was in fact enjoying the workout. It was just that when Cadance approached him and proposed they went out for a stroll, he had pictured them taking a romantic walk in the park in the city. Maybe stop by the pond, sit there and enjoy each other’s company. They hadn’t really had a lot of time just being together and really enjoying themselves since taking over the reins of the Empire.
Instead his wife had led them right out of the city and it wasn’t until they started to approach Little Crystal, as the mountain was called, that it dawned on him what his wife intended to do. Cadance had wanted to go there for a long time, especially after listening to some of the ponies working in the castle talking about it.
“Come along slow poke, where is all that Royal Guard training?” Cadance teased, she was walking slightly ahead.
“It’s not a good idea to exhaust yourself just before arriving at a mountain, no matter how small it is,” Shining Armor stated with a smile.
“Excuses, excuses,” the princess chuckled and ducked when a bit of snow flew past her, Shining had kicked it up hoping to hit her in the head with it. He grinned at Cadance when she turned to look at him unimpressed.
“My, my, how ever did you become the Captain of the Royal Guard with an aim like that.” She smiled teasingly at him.
“Well you weren’t supposed to duck,” her husband said and pretended to pout.
“Quack, quack,” Cadance responded and that caused them both to burst into snorting giggles.
“I knew it, I married a duck,” Shining Armor sighed and faked a disappointed expression.
“My deepest, darkest secret has been revealed,” his wife bemoaned and then the couple laughed again.
They arrived at the base of the mountain and found quickly the path that went up it. By now it was well marked and the road well-trod. The weather was pretty nice so the couple wouldn’t have been surprised to see other ponies scaling Little Crystal or going down after reaching the peak.
“Have you ever taken the guards out here during training?” Cadance asked as she craned her head to try and see if any other ponies were further up on the path.
“No, but I know some of the guards come here during their off hours,” Shining shrugged and then flashed a toothy grin. “I’ve actually been tempted to take Flash Sentry up Sombra’s Maw.”
“Ugh, why do we still call it that,” Cadence grunted and turned her head westwards. Far in the distance there was a huge mountain, it looked rather dark and ominous and part of the top did seem to form a sharp toothed mouth.
“Because it’s big, scary looking, nearly impossible to climb and the committee for the name change just can’t think of anything more appropriate,” her husband pointed out.
“And you want to take Flash Sentry up there, because?” Cadance glanced at Shining whose eyes narrowed slightly.
“I’ve been hearing rumors that he has a thing for my little sister,” the Unicorn grunted but there was a mischievous glint in his eyes.
Cadance shook her head, realizing that Shining was only joking and would not take Flash Sentry there. Sombra’s Maw was very far away, nearly at the outskirts of the Empire. There was an urban legend among the Crystal Ponies that the spirit of the long gone king haunted its peak and on stormy nights you could hear him howling in rage.
The couple now focused their attention on the much smaller, safer and closer mountain. So far they seemed to be the only ones there at the moment, at least they couldn’t spot anyone else going up or down. They started up the path. From what they had heard from others, a fit pony could scale to the peak in about an hour if he or she kept to the path. A Pegasi could of course just fly to the top in just few minutes.
“Isn’t this wonderful, fresh air, no royal duties, just us and this little mountain,” Cadance counted up and glanced at Shining.
“It is a nice break, honey,” her husband agreed, though he couldn’t help but think of the upcoming review he had to do of the new recruits in few days. He always looked forward to those, reminded him of his first time when he had officially become a guard.
“Heard anything new from Twilight?” the princess asked, she was hoping to schedule a visit to Ponyville sometime in the near future.
“Nothing since last letter, got a telegram from mom though but you already knew that,” Shining told her.
“Oh right, your parents are coming next week. It will be nice to have them for a visit,” Cadance smiled and nodded.
They continued to trudge through the snowy path, chatting about the little things in their daily lives. The upcoming Equestria Games came often into the discussion, Shining was rather proud of the team he had managed set up that would represent the Crystal Empire. Preparations were in full swing and it promised to be quite a spectacle.
Cadence was just happy overall that the empire had been chosen to host the games. It felt like a big warm ‘welcome back from King Sombra’s evil curse’ hug from rest of Equestria. The Crystal Ponies had certainly been ecstatic to be allowed to hold the games. Of course it was thanks to Twilight and her friends’ effort that they actually were allowed to host the games at all, but still.
The couple had now walked for almost an hour and already they were reaching the peak of Little Crystal. Shining Armor felt a little disappointed how easy it was and wondered if he should one day try and climb one of the taller mountains when he had the chance. Cadance didn’t mind, even if it wasn’t a tall mountain she could still see the city she ruled over in the distance.
Shining Armor stretched his legs once they were all the way to the top, the peak was rather flat though there were rocky outcroppings here and there. Most of them were covered in snow. Cadence walked to the edge, staring smiling towards the city. The tall crystal tower in the middle shone in the sun light. Her husband stepped up beside her and together they admired the view.
“That sight never ceases to amaze me,” the Unicorn said, his wife nodded in agreement.
A groan caught their attention. The two ponies looked around but couldn’t see anyone. Shining Armor trotted to nearby rocks and started to look behind them to see if anyone was there. Cadance spread her wings and ascended up to see if she could spot something from the air. Nothing could be spotted on the peak itself, but then she noticed something on a small ledge just over the edge of the cliff.
“Shining, over there,” she called and immediately flew down to the ledge.
The princess descended quickly and landed on the rocky platform. She gasped when seeing a pony lying there unconscious in the snow. It was a Unicorn stallion, roughly the same size as Shining Armor, maybe a bit smaller and didn’t look nearly as fit. He was dark gray with a blonde mane and tail, on his flank was the image of the book and his hooves were dark brown.
“Cadance? What is it?” Shining Armor appeared at the edge of the peak and looked down. He frowned when seeing the unconscious pony his wife was now hurrying towards.
“There is a pony here, he’s alive but knocked or passed out,” Cadance called as she started to check the stallion for vital signs and any injuries. He did have a nasty bump on his head. As she did, the princess didn’t notice her hooves scatter some dark dust that was on a pile close to the Unicorn.
“Is anything broken?” her husband called, he considered teleporting down there but the ledge was small enough as it was with two ponies on it, a third might make it a bit too over crowded.
“I don’t think so, sweet Celestia he’s cold, he must have been out here for a while. We have to get him to a hospital,” she said and grabbed a hold on the pony and with some effort managed to fly him up to the peak.
“I think I can teleport all of us close to the edge of the city. I’ve never had to teleport that far before though,” Cadence said as she laid the unconscious pony on Shining Armor’s back as he offered to serve as temporary stretchers.
“Well it’s either that or walk, I know I can’t teleport that far,” Shining Armor said and shivered a little from the cold emitting from the body on his back.
“Right, here goes nothing,” the princess said and activated her horn, the soft blue light of her magic glowed brighter and then in a flash all three ponies were gone off from the peak.
“What’s happening?” Private Iceland looked frantically around, everything was dark around him. This didn’t feel right, something was horribly, horribly wrong.
“Who is there? Where am I?” The Unicorn could definitely feel a presence; he was not alone.
Private froze as a cruel sounding chuckle started all around him. Then something big began to move all around him, everything was moving like a shadow or even smoke. This was hauntingly familiar, but he just couldn’t place it. The Unicorn was starting to be frightened.
“Hello there, now don’t you look familiar,” a voice addressed him.
The Unicorn didn’t say anything, just stared in shock. Out of the shadow a head was forming, it was a large head, dark gray and the black shadows seemed to form its mane. From the center of the forehead produced a horn, curved like a blade and colored red. The eyes were glowing green with red irises and from the corners produced dark purple mist. On the muzzle was a malicious grin, showing all the teeth and especially the fangs.
“You?” Private whispered startled. “No… you were just a nightmare”
“Nightmare? Ooh this far worse than any nightmare.” The shadowy creature floated closer, peering his eyes at the frightened pony as if trying to place him. Then he seemed to realize. “Can it be? The young colt is all grown up?”
“This was just a nightmare, when I was six… you were just a nightmare… wasn’t it?” the Unicorn cried, causing the smoke to laugh.
“It is you isn’t it? What was your name again, ah Private Iceland. The little colt I pulled into the past, so it was your sleeper spells that wound up responding to my call,” the creature grinned wide. “I’m glad you remember me still, that you remember King Sombra.”
“You are King Sombra? Weren’t… uh you blown up?” Private cringed and then started to look around. “What is going on?”
“What is going on, little one,” King Sombra purred as his head floated closer. “Is that we are right now sharing your body.”
“Excuse me?” The smaller Unicorn blinked.
“The sleeper spells I put on you a long time ago. They activated up on my unfortunate demise as I returned to claim my empire again. They forced you to seek out my spirit, which I had with foresight bound to my horn in the event of my death. I had prepared you to serve as my temporary host until I am powerful enough to regenerate a new body,” King Sombra chuckled and started to circle Private, trailing black smoke and shadow.
“Wait, wait, wait…” Private sat down and grabbed his head with his hooves and closed his eyes hard. “Y-you’re possessing me?”
“That is one way to look at it, yes,” the king agreed and stopped right in front of the other Unicorn.
“W-what is stopping you from just taking over my body?” Private whispered and hesitantly opened his eyes and looked up at the grinning head in front of him. “Why am I even still alive?”
“I do recall saying you were a temporary host. I can’t take full hold of you, I fear there are limits to what I can do and added to that, I am still weak. I need time to regain my strength,” Sombra told him and suddenly all the smoke and shadows subsided, they seemed to be in a vast tan or brownish gradient space. The king was no longer a floating head, he had assumed his old pony form with cape, crown and armor.
“Do not let that fool you though into some false sense of security,” the king growled and narrowed his eyes on the smaller Unicorn. “You tell anypony of my presence in your mind, I’ll make every day of your life a living hell. I can make your pain be felt both mentally and physically.”
Private gulped and didn’t really dare to do much else but nod. Sombra smiled when seeing that his victim was complying, he raised one hoof and started gently patting him on the head.
“Just be good and obedient and this will be over that much sooner. If necessary, I will tell you what to say and do,” he said and removed his hoof from Private.
“So… where are we?” Private looked around but could see very little, but he could swear he heard faint voices.
“We personally are in your subconscious. It isn’t very active right now because you are right now unconscious up in a mountain near the Crystal Empire. When you found my horn, the possession began almost instantly, but I fear your body couldn’t handle the stress too well and you passed out,” King Sombra said and sat down, seemed mildly bored.
“You can’t tell what’s happening outside?” the smaller Unicorn asked.
“I need your eyes and ears for that, right now both are out,” the dark pony snorted. “So right now, I know as much as you.”
“Great… I’m stuck with this ass…” Private quickly put both front hooves over his mouth. “I was thinking. Why did this come out loud. It’s still coming out loud.”
“I see this is going to be entertaining.” Sombra smirked as he enjoyed watching the other Unicorn panic that his thoughts kept being audible. “We are inside your mind, Private. The place where you do your thinking.”
Private fell silent and dropped his hooves back to the ground. He tried hard not to think but it was not easy, as quiet and reserved as he usually was on the outside, his mind was quite often thinking about a lot of things. Now he had an unwanted guest who could hear and see everything.
“So wait, let me see if I got this right. Years ago, what I thought was just a nightmare… actually happened. I was in cage being blasted by your magic… for days and that was you preparing me just in case you needed a host?” Private frowned, this sounded overly convoluted.
“You’re not the only one I did this too, granted you were the youngest. I do not leave anything to chance. I’ve always been prepared for the slim possibility I was defeated,” Sombra said and shrugged.
“But you were around a thousand years ago,” the Unicorn protested.
“So, I wasn’t killed in my first defeat, merely banished. It was just your unfortunate luck that once I returned I was killed in your time period,” the king smirked at him.
“Yeah… lucky me,” Private grunted, causing the dark pony in front of him to grin wider.
“He’s still unconscious and is running a fever, he probably got sick from lying out there in the snow unprotected,” the nurse explained to the royal couple.
Shining Armor and Cadance were at the hospital where they had brought the unknown Unicorn. The Princess had successfully teleported them to the city and once they had arrived the two hurried with the pony to it. Hospital staff took over once he was brought to the ER, but they waited to hear news of their rescue effort.
“Will he be all right?” Cadance asked with some concern.
“Aside from the fever and the bump on his head, he’s otherwise uninjured. He should be fine in just few days,” the nurse assured her.
“Well, we need to go back to the castle, duty calls,” Shining Armor said. Back in his mind he considered asking one of his guards to go around and ask if they were familiar with the patient. “Have someone let us know when he wakes up.”
“Of course.” The nurse bowed.
The couple left the hospital both deep in thought. There had been no identification on the pony, he wasn’t dressed in anything and he most likely wasn’t a local. It wasn’t unusual a tourist was in trouble when underestimating the harsher landscape outside the Crystal Empire proper, but Little Crystal was considered so nearby and safe that it had so far no records of ponies needing rescue from it.
Cadance wasn’t too worried though, once the pony woke up and could identify himself and explain what he was doing there, that would be that. He would probably be eager to go back home after this ordeal.
When they arrived at the castle, Cadance was immediately pulled away by her secretary who had a long list of ponies that needed to meet her. With his wife now busy, Shining Armor headed off to the guard barracks. He actually had one particular guard in mind for his idea.
It didn’t take long for Shining to find him either. He was one of the few non-crystal pony guards so he stood a little bit out in the recreation room of the barracks. A yellowish orange Pegasus with a blue mane. The white Unicorn approached him where the guard sat and read a book in one corner.
“Guard Flash Sentry!” Shining Armor snapped, causing the Pegasus nearly to jump before he immediately stood up to attention and saluted.
“Yes sir.” Flash somehow managed to hide his nervousness at been approached by the commander of the entire crystal guard, that had to mean something was up.
“I have a mission for you soldier.” Shining held back a chuckle but did ease his hard expression.
A mission for me? Flash really had to restrain himself from gasping in surprise. So far most of his duties had just been standing around the castle or presenting important ponies that were coming to visit. It wasn’t a bad job, but the Pegasus had to admit wishing for something a little more exciting.
“Half an hour ago, Princess Cadance and I rescued a pony from the peak of Little Crystal. He had no form of identification and is currently unconscious at the hospital with a fever. I want you to go to the train station and ask if somepony had seen him arrive here in the Crystal Empire and if they noticed something else about him,” the unicorn explained, he could already see some interest reflect in the guard’s eyes.
“Right away, sir. Uh anything else I need to know?” Flash asked, containing his excitement. This was maybe not an epic battle with some monsters, but it was investigation and that was better than nothing.
“The pony is a Unicorn stallion, dark gray coat, blonde mane and tail and book for a cutie mark, like I said, we do not have a name,” Shining told him.
Flash Sentry nodded and saluted again, assuring his commander that he would do this. When the white unicorn had left, the Pegasus put the book to the side and flew to the armory to dress up. Once he had his guard outfit on, he headed out, allowing himself finally to smile.
It didn’t take Flash very long to arrive at the train station. He ignored the glances he received when landing, the guard was used to this, it wasn’t every day a royal guard came around here in full getup and not escorting the royal couple.
Flash figured the best place to start was the ticket counter, it had a front view the incoming trains. Surely someone working there would have noticed the mystery pony arrive, of course they didn’t really know when he arrived. Heck, who was to say he had arrived by train?
“Excuse me, does a dark gray pony with a blonde mane and book cutie mark ring any bells?” he asked the mare at the counter. She frowned in thought, before glancing at the another mare sitting next to her and whispered something to her.
“Yeah, it sounds familiar, I think a pony like that arrived with the train yesterday, but we didn’t pay that much attention to him, you might want to talk with the ponies handling the luggage,” she informed him after a short quiet discussion with her co-worker.
“Thanks for your assistance, ma’am.” The guard nodded and trotted over to where the luggage was loaded off and on the train.
Flash Sentry saw three stallions wearing train station uniforms, clearly waiting for the next train. Flash approached them and they looked over when noticing, all raising their brow when seeing a royal guard.
“Did any of you see a dark gray pony with a book cutie mark come off the train yesterday?” Flash asked, the stallions looked at each other, judging from their expression the description had rung a bell.
“As a matter of fact we did,” the oldest of the stallion remarked, he was bluish colored. “This young stallion with a dirty blond mane and dark gray coat came off the afternoon train.”
“Looked a little strange, didn’t really pay much attention to anypony and just took off immediately from the platform,” the second one, silver in color spoke, shrugging.
“Did you see where he went?” Flash wondered, he frowned when the third stallion answered.
“That’s the oddest thing, he didn’t go to the city, he headed straight out towards Little Crystal.” The ruby red pony scratched the back of his head. “Now that I think about it, it seemed more like he was drawn towards it.”
Okay that’s odd. Flash Sentry rubbed his muzzle with one hoof. “Did you happen to hear name spoken? Did he carry or wear anything?”
“Nope, no name and he didn’t carry anything or wear anything.” The blue pony shook his head.
“Thank you for your assistance, sirs.” Flash took to the air and started to fly back to the city deep in thought. This had been informative but still raised a lot of questions, yes a pony had arrived matching Shining’s description, he had gone straight to Little Crystal like he was drawn there according to one pony and then the royal couple rescued him from the peak in poor condition.
The biggest question is, why did he come all the way to the Crystal Empire to climb that one small little peak.? It isn’t even our main tourist attraction, he wondered as he came in for a landing in front of the hospital.
Prince Shining Armor didn’t tell me to go here, but I have a feeling I want to be there when he wakes up, the Pegasus thought and entered the hospital.
End chapter 1