//------------------------------// // Whiplash // Story: Lingering Shadows // by Yoru-the-Rogue //------------------------------// The burn of rage simmered low in the crystal stallion’s belly as he was led through the cavernous tunnel by the Changeling guard. His horn’s red glow, testament to the magic used to drag the bound alicorn behind him, was almost lost in the sickly, slimy, green glimmer of the passageways. He had to work to keep his revulsion shut off; Changelings were barely more than insects seeking to hide their abhorrent nature behind faces that weren’t their own. Of course it wasn’t his first choice to parlay with these creatures; his hoof had been forced in the matter. He swallowed a growl. He had not wanted events to play out like this but with that arrogant Princess of the Sun and her wretched Element-bearers on their way, his original plan wasn’t going to see fruition. If Luna wasn’t open to the possibilities presented and sought her sister’s aid, then so be it. He would truce with Chrysalis and take his leave. It felt strange thought; he had suspected after her skittishness Luna might do something like this, but he hadn’t expected it to actually hurt. And yet it did. Luna’s betrayal stung, and somewhere in his chest the wound seem to throb steadily, getting worse and worse in a way he couldn’t put to words. The Changeling led them toward the mouth of a deep antechamber, then slowed down, coming to a halt and looking back, his opaque, orb-like blue eyes regarding Sombra suspiciously. The unicorn struggled to keep from scowling. The sentry didn’t trust him and had been giving off signs of uneasiness since Sombra had approached with Luna in tow. He probably suspected foul play, and to that end Sombra had to commend the guard’s instincts. In other circumstances, foul play came second-nature to him… and even now, he was planning on doing what he could to ensure that if anything went further south, he wouldn’t be the only one to suffer through the aftershock. “Wait here,” the guard ordered. “I’ll go and speak with Her Majesty to see if she’ll grant you an audience.” Sombra loomed over the guard, a deep growl building in his chest as he reached out for the lesser creature’s innate sense of fear and seized it, forcing him into cowering submission. “No,” he said, speaking slowly to enunciate just who was in charge. “I will wait nowhere. I am King Sombra, the true sovereign of the Crystal Empire. You will escort me before your queen without question.” After a second he bared his teeth in a sneer that made the guard quake. “After all, a ruler of insects and a wasteland of rubble cannot possibly have many pressing matters eating up her precious time.” He watched the little fool tremble and swallow dryly, legs quaking as he slowly nodded. Behind Sombra, Luna shifted in the grip of his magic. If he had to guess he was willing to bet she wasn’t pleased with how he was putting the Changeling in its proper place. But that mattered little; with her magic nullified, her strength sapped by the black crystals, and her wings and legs bound, Luna was in no position to start giving her opinions on anything. “Y-yes,” the guard nodded as he agreed, before hastily adding for good measure, “Your Majesty.” “That’s a good boy.” Sombra’s compliment was laced with condescending mockery. Best not to let the wretch get comfortable. Luna shifted in his magic net again and he wondered just how much self-restraint it was taking her to remain silent. Glancing over his shoulder, he was unsurprised to find see her glaring at him as she fumed quietly. He turned his attention back to the Changeling guard as he began leading them into the antechamber, where dozens of Changelings were milling about and conversing. A raised, crude throne stood at the far end of this audience hall and the Changeling queen lounged in it, giving off an air of boredom. The guard cleared his throat as they entered and all eyes turned to them. Instantly the air filled with angry buzzing as the Changelings took to the air, their iridescent wings humming and shimmering. Queen Chrysalis looked up, her acid-green eyes widening as she beheld the unicorn king and his captive, and she slowly sat up straight upon her throne, emanating surprise and curiosity. “My Queen,” their escort began, and Sombra had to give him some credit for keeping a steady voice. “I bring before you King Sombra, the er, true sovereign of the Crystal Empire.” Chrysalis lifted her brows and her eyes opened even wider. “True sovereign of the Crystal Empire?” she echoed, doubt and intrigue mixing in her tone. Her eyes flicked briefly onto Luna before searching Sombra’s face, her gaze skeptical. “I had heard that that foul little princess, Mi Amoré Cadenza and her husband were ruling the long-lost Crystal Empire.” Sombra quelled the urge to growl or sneer; he didn’t want to give anyone the pleasure of getting under his skin. Instead he took slow steps toward the throne, keeping his head lifted regally as he addressed her. “At present they are,” he said with a nod. “Thanks to Princess Celestia’s meddling, those two upstart pretenders have usurped my throne and my kingdom. An unfortunate turn of events not helped by my banishment to the Shadow after breaking free of a millennia of imprisonment.” During this, Luna started squirming and fighting against his magic and he had to tighten the spell holding her. A brief flash of terror sparked through the alicorn, lending him strength. Queen Chrysalis watched carefully, her gaze sharp and alert in an otherwise unreadable expression. For a brief moment only the Changelings whispered among themselves, their exchanges masked by the humming drone of their beating wings. Sombra could feel their fear and doubt beneath their suspicion and he fought the urge to smile too greedily. Then finally, Chrysalis decided to speak again. “I see,” she said in careful, measured tones. “My condolences to you, King Sombra. Believe me, few can related to being a fallen, cast-out monarch as well as I can. But tell me, what brings you to my court, and in such…” she paused as she cast another glance to Princess Luna, arching a brow. “—unexpected company?” “He tricked me into freeing him,” Luna spoke abruptly, her voice low and angry. “He made me think we were coming here to parlay with you, when in reality he was planning to destroy you and all of your subjects.” As expected, the entire court renewed with buzzing as the Changelings reacted in shock and outrage. Even Chrysalis’s mask of neutrality vanished for a brief second, displaying fear and fury beneath, but she composed herself quickly. “Stand down!” she commanded in a ringing tone, and the audience hall fell silent as the Changelings all landed, keeping a fair distance from the crystal stallion and his captive. Chrysalis’s gaze was icy and hard as she stared down at him. “Somehow I doubt the Princess of the Night is given to speaking falsehoods. So what do you have to say to her claims?” “It is true,” he responded nonchalantly. “Initially I had come here intending to eliminate you all in order to save myself the trouble later. I had hoped Princess Luna would be on my side and once you were provoked into attacking us, victory would be ours and I would have earned redemption in the eyes of Canterlot’s nobility.” “Well, don’t you have modest goals,” the Changeling queen said with a bit of a sarcastic sneer. “And what exactly gave you the impression my subjects and I would be so easy to defeat?” At this the other Changelings present began muttering threats, and many scissored their wings rapidly to add a challenging buzz to the undertone. Sombra ignored them, smiling confidently. “Simple,” he replied. “Your kind feed off of love. I expect there was more than enough of that to be found when you infiltrated Canterlot. But my power is fueled by the opposite. None of you are immune to feeling fear, and the taste of hatred is poisonous to a Changeling, is it not?” There was a brief flash of alarm in the queen’s face, and Sombra grinned as he went on. “These are my tools, the catalysts that strengthen my power. Even if you have the advantage in sheer numbers, you would have fallen. But as it stands, circumstances have forced my hoof in another direction.” Luna struggled and fought again as he wrenched her forward to show Chrysalis. For a brief second Sombra allowed himself to marvel at the strength of the alicorn princess. Hers was a spirit not easily broken. If only you had allied yourself with me fully… “It would appear I shall be interested in a truce with you after all. You gain strength from love and affection, while I flourish off fear and hatred. I shall rescind my former plans in light of a neutral ceasefire. As we both seek to expand our territories, we’ll leave one another well enough alone.” He tilted his chin to indicate his captive. “I offer you Princess Luna as a bargaining chip. If you don’t consider this satisfactory, then I’ll capture Princess Celestia as well to sweeten the pot.” Luna twisted around in the nexus of magic to glare at him and against his will he found his gaze drawn to hers. With a shock he realized tears were streaming down her cheeks. As his mouth fell open, she ripped into him with a verbal assault. “You monster! You really are nothing but an empty, heartless fiend! I was a fool for trusting you at all. And it was just as foolish to think a witch-king without a heart could change. But you’ll never best my sister! Celestia and the wielders of the Elements of Harmony will send you back to the Shadow and you’ll stay in the oubliette forever. The only thing you’ll ever rule is solitude!” Each word hit like a kick in the jaw. He could only stand dumbstruck in the face of her pain and anger. Faintly he tried reminding himself that her opinions didn’t matter; she was a prisoner and a bargaining tool. But her opinions did matter. Her opinion of him mattered. It shouldn’t have, but it did. This only left him all the more confused. When had that changed? Why was Luna’s opinion, why were her thoughts and feelings, why was all of it suddenly more important to him than his own wants and goals? Abruptly Chrysalis descended from her throne, landing almost noiselessly at the foot of its steps, and she surveyed Luna like a merchant at a trading fair being offered something tempting. After a second she gave a nod of approval. “Very well, unicorn king. We shall accept your offer and in return, I’ll allow you to leave the Badlands without incident.” He frowned at her and bared his teeth, letting a growl slip through. “You’ll let me leave ‘without incident’, eh? Tell me why I have the feeling you’re coming out of this with a far better deal than I anticipated,” he grumbled. Chrysalis looked up with a small, cold smile. “Because I am, you fool of a stallion,” she answered in a poisonously sweet voice. “Are you really as blind as a bat? You may as well have given a cornucopia to starving peasants, because the princess loves you.” Sombra reeled back in shock, his thoughts grinding to a complete halt. He thought he heard a soft gasp from Luna, but she shifted restlessly in her magical bindings and he couldn’t be sure. He looked down at her, seeing the princess but unable to fully process anything. She loved him? But no, that was impossible, wasn’t it? Red eyes met teal eyes and the realization hit him like a galeforce wind. Chrysalis wasn’t lying; Luna had feelings for him. She truly had fallen in love with him. As as he stood there attempting to soak this in, a single thought came to his mind. I don’t deserve her love. Luna turned away from him, her beautiful eyes stinging with tears of anger. Something clenched at Sombra’s insides, squeezing them tightly to the point he felt like he wasn’t able to breathe. Without thinking he started to back away. Acting on instinct he shifted to his smoke form and fled the antechamber, unable to meet those eyes and yet unable to bear her turning away from him. He raced out of the court, Chrysalis’s sharp laughter echoing through the halls and taunting him the entire way. This wasn’t what he had anticipated. He had been wanting to gain her trust. He had hoped she would stand united with him and that, given a little more time, he would see Nightmare Moon rise again. Together they could have conquered Equestria anew and created a kingdom of night and shadow. But for all his hoping and scheming, he had not anticipated this near-suffocating sense of pain and guilt. He hadn’t expected how much this would hurt. He had meant to conquer; but now it felt as though he was the one who had been conquered. He slowed down as he entered the canyon, and began to wander the area aimlessly. Never had he felt so lost, not even when he had overheard Star Swirl the Bearded predict his fate to his mother the queen. He had just been a colt, trying to hide from his governess, and he heard he was fated to become a tyrant ruler who would curse the empire. He had felt utterly lost back then, and he felt utterly lost now, unable to push Luna out of his mind. It was almost a relief when Celestia finally arrived with her Solar Guard and the Element-bearers in her wake. *** “Well, you certainly picked a winner, didn’t you?” The Changeling queen’s wry sarcasm made Luna look up against her will. Numbly she numbled, “You’re wrong.” Surprise registered on Chrysalis’s face, followed by a look of questioning curiosity. Luna took it as a gesture to continue with her thought. Part of her didn’t want to give the shape-shifter the satisfaction. Even so, she couldn’t stop the denial from leaving her lips. “I don’t love him. I don’t.” Slowly Chrysalis shook her head, her mane shimmering as the other Changelings all around shifted restlessly. The queen had a strange expression on her face. Was it pity? “My poor princess,” she said in an almost consoling tone. “Would you be half so heartbroken if you weren’t?” Luna bit her lower lip and looked away. A sharp, stabbing pain had torn into her heart at Sombra’s betrayal and this question only served to renew that pain. The last thing she wanted to believe or admit to was that she had feelings of any sort for the deposed unicorn witch-king. And yet… Would it really hurt so terribly if these feelings weren’t real? “Unfortunately my Changelings,” Chrysalis was saying, though it seemed distant and hazy to the alicorn’s ears, “there is little to be done right now. She is weak and ensorcelled by the king’s spells. Her love may be fresh but it is too faint for any of us to feed off of. Take her to the lower levels and throw her into a cell. We’ll figure out a way to feed off her soon enough.” Distantly Luna heard her own voice naysaying that claim. “Try all you like but I doubt you’ll find a way to shatter these crystals that fast. My sister and her students are on their way and she will be furious if you lay a hoof on me.” “Ha! We’ll see about that!” someone responded, but Luna thought she heard a note of fear in the voice. Not that it mattered; in moments, four Changelings seized the magical net surrounding her in an attempt to pull it away. Immediately they let out pained hisses, drawing away from her as though burned. “What are you doing?” the queen grumbled angrily. “Your Majesty, it stings! It is too painful to hold onto,” one of the four confessed, utterly shame-faced. Chrysalis let out a snort of contempt and rolled her eyes. “Don’t be weak,” she scoffed, and made to snatch the net herself. But even as she came into contact with Sombra’s spell, she let out a shriek and nearly leaped away. Luna’s eyes widened as she watched, confused. Had Sombra bewitched the binding so the Changelings wouldn’t be able to touch it or her? It didn’t sting her in the least. “What did that vile unicorn do?” Chrysalis snarled. “How did he bind you?” “Even if I knew what spell he used, what would it benefit me to tell you?” Luna replied coolly. “Did he not say something about hatred being toxic for all Changelings? It would scarcely shock me if he wove some of his own hatred into this magic.” Multiple wary glances were exchanged all around her. It was only a guess on Luna’s part, but she felt it wasn’t without some basis in valid fact, and the Changelings probably felt the same way. And if that was the case then none of them would be keen to come into contact with her bindings if it meant injury or worse. Perhaps Celestia wouldn’t have to find her completely at the mercy of the Changelings after all. And hopefully that means we can avoid this confrontation becoming any worse than it already will be. It may have originally been nothing but a ruse for King Sombra, but Luna found she was truly hoping that some compromise could be reached with the Changelings that wouldn’t endanger anypony in the long run. Right now the chances for any such neutral ground being reached seemed almost impossible but perhaps one day it could still happen. With the Elements of Harmony, the power of the alicorn princesses, or even the Crystal Heart—perhaps all of those things together—there was nothing that couldn’t be achieved. A haunting, beautiful chime rang out, making everything in sight tremble, and as the shape-shifters let out cries of alarm, a burst of power and light as brilliant as the middday sun enveloped the audience hall. Warmth washed over Luna, providing her with such a sense of comfort she was unable to hold back sobbing tears of relief. The light dimmed but the overwhelming heartbeat of power grew stronger. Chrysalis let out a hiss, and then somewhere behind Luna a familiar voice spoke with authority and controlled anger. “Step away from my sister.” All around Luna the Changelings shrank back, cowering and trying to avoid notice. Their queen bared her teeth in a grimace but after a few tense moments even she backed up. “She’s all yours,” Chrysalis muttered. “Take her back; her love is probably souring already anyway.” With a tremendous effort she pushed herself to her hooves, wobbling unsteadily. And then her older sister was there, supporting her. “It’s alright, Luna,” Celestia spoke in a low murmur only she could hear, comforting and strong. “I’ve got you, I’ve got you.” Slowly the two of them began to back out of the hall, not trusting the chance they would be taking if they turned their backs to the Changelings. They passed dozens of Solar Guards that flanked them as they moved, and Celestia kept up a stream of gentle encouragement. Luna clung to her words, maintaining a fragile mask of dignity and strength as they rendezvoused with Twilight Sparkle and her friends. It was only when they left the court and the Badlands that the heartbroken princess succumbed to her pain and began to silently cry at her sister’s side.