Frozen Shadows

by Hail King Sombra


4. Hard to Believe

Nearly 1,000 years ago, Thirty Days BtB (before the Banishing)
Location: King Sombra's Castle...

“Good morning, your Majesty.”

“Good morning, Captain Iron Blade,” King Sombra addressed the hearty stallion, including a small bow of his own in return. The King paused, feeling a peculiar tingle in the air. Attributing it to his new time sensitivities from his studies with his consort Nyx, he shrugged it off when it came and went without a visible effect on their surroundings.

The two rose and faced each other as officials and servants, bowed, frozen in place, awaited their King's leave to continue with their duties and destinations. The King of Shadows took a moment to glance around, a satisfied grin baring the tips of his fangs against the dark fur of his muzzle. Blade too looked around the grand hallway. He had his own reasons to smile, and smile he did. Widely.

The expression of his army's Grand Commander did not go unnoticed. “You are quite – animated this morning, Blade,” He rumbled pleasantly.

“Every day I am alive and in your service, is a day I rejoice in, Your Highness!” he beamed.

Sombra laughed. “You sound like a new recruit, Commander. Take care you do not leave me starving to drain a slave or two of their fears in the light of your enthusiasm.” He turned, inspecting the red stallion before him. Blade's iron-cast, silver coated armor gleamed with a newly polished shine, as did his greaves and helmet. “Hmmm...aside from blinding me with your armor's glow, I see you had your mane and tail done.” He nodded in approval. “They're almost as black as Our own,” he punctuated with a flick of his own ebony tail against the stallion's armored side. “Is there a royal event on the books this morning Tight Planner failed to inform me of?”

Iron Blade snorted a laugh. “Cannot a Commander in His service rejoice for but no reason other than his station means he is not included in these living statues around him, awaiting the whim of their King?”

The Umbrum wasn't buying it. “With anypony else in my Kingdom, my friend, I would believe your honeyed tongue. You and We are as thick as thieves and We know you much better than that. You are excited about something else.” He glanced around at everypony around them, impressed they were so still he barely discerned the twitch of a tail around them! “Though it does appear they have been practicing.”

“Indeed,” Blade commented, following as they walked back the way the Commander had come, towards the front of the castle, from the stallion's barracks.

Their Sovereign's passing out of the room signaled all could resume activities, lacking a direct command from his lips, but neither Himself nor his Commander noticed no one had yet moved behind them, not even the insects in the room...



“So, why are you in such a state of exuberance this morning, my friend,” the King of Shadows asked his companion.

“I have excellent news, Sombra,” Blade beamed, discarding his King's titles in the privacy of their walk. “Sure Hoof is with foal!”

That stopped Sombra cold. He squeezed his shoulder. “Congratulations! You are hoping for a filly this time, if I remember correctly.”

“After two colts, yes! I have always wanted one, and Sure Hoof has been absolutely pining since Thunder Step's second birthday,” the red stallion grinned widely.

“You certainly should have had one by now, Blade, what with six sisters to your parent's name!”

They both laughed and resumed their pace. “I would have stopped long before number five's arrival if I were them,” Blade tossed his head in emphasis. “any more attempts for a filly in my house and you would have to give me a raise on my army wages!”

The King smiled. “For you, Blade, I would gladly grant it. You are, after all, raising two future warriors for your King, yes?”

“And a Marazon warrior if she is like her mother - “ the Commander stopped as Sombra trotted to his side, and to his army leader's surprise, came to an abrupt halt, shivering.

“Odd,” Sombra rumbled. “did you feel that, Blade?”

“No, your Highness, nothing unusual,” he shrugged. “what did you feel?”

“Sensed,” Sombra said, tensing. “that is the second time since our walk began.” He grunted and shook his head, the luxurious mane whipping about his head and withers.

The red stallion felt it a moment later and visibly shivered as well. “Yes. Cold. So deep as to freeze bone!” Raising his eyes to his King's, he moved his foreleg, but it felt, “Stiff, I am rather stiff as well.”

His dark companion didn't reply, but simply stood, concentrating, expanding his senses outwards to find the magical disturbance...



...“Sire? Sombra!”

The King startled, cantered back a step. “What? Blade, why are yelling?”

“You were frozen for a full half a moment!”

“What?” a twinge of fear gnawed at Sombra's countenance, making Iron Blade truly concerned. The King of Fear feared no pony, no spell the Commander knew to exist. His Liege planned for all contingencies, was no fool, but for him to fear meant something was badly wrong.

“'tis true, Sire,” the Commander shifted his weight nervously from leg to leg, to leg to leg. “Even I am starting to feel...” he paused, thinking of how to explain the sensation.

“Sluggish, Blade?” Sombra replied more than asked, his tone severe. “of mind as well as body, of your own heart's beat, even.”

“Yes!” the stallion's eyes widened. “Has this - “

“ - happened before,” the King filled in grimly. “Yes, with more and more frequency, I'm afraid.”

“One of Celestia's wicked, far-reaching spells?” Blade ventured.

“I suspect not, my friend,” the King's expression turning dark at the mention of his hated enemy's name. “I would sense Her foul presence if She were nearby.”

“And why tip Her hoof when She has been openly posturing against You for months to save face with Equestrian royalty and her subjects, always threatening to bring an army to our doorstep?”

“Agreed, Blade,” Sombra blew out a breath. “Hence why I had you recalled to The Empire. You have been away on campaigns for a while now, but the time for gaining territories and waging offensives is passing. Our spies in Canterlot inform me the Two Sisters will make their move soon.”

“We will be ready, Your Highness!” Blade came to attention. “When will they start their march?”



Sombra blinked to find Blade dozing on the floor, curled up from where he rested on his haunches and six of his elite guard surrounding them both. “Blade?”

The Commander jumped at the sound of the King's voice. Shaking his head to clear the sleep from his mind, Iron Blade got to his hooves. “By your grace!” he exclaimed. “These magic’s effects are worsening, your Highness!”

It took a moment, but the Dark King had an instinctive sense this time he had been frozen much longer than previously. The most telling, confirming evidence of this being the light in the room had faded, Celestia's sun having moved to the other side of the castle. “How long?” he snarled, eyes flashing red crystal fire.

“Hours!” his Commander said urgently, gesturing his troops to approach. “I feared we had lost you completely this time, Sire!”

Sombra noticed a patch of long fur covering Iron Blade's right hoof was burned off. “Blade, what happened to your hoof?”

He glanced down, gingerly bringing the limb higher for their inspections. It was not blackened and peeling with the burn of heat, but white, lacking circulation and covered in frost. “This happened when I tried to awaken you. When I touched You, Your body was so cold it burned as frostbite would!”

Processing this horrible news, the King of Shadows was already turning around and heading back the way they had come. “We have to get back to Nyx!”

“Sire, does this have something to do with her abilities?” Blade called, motioning for the troops to follow them.

Sombra waited until he had caught up to explain. “I suspect so, my friend,” he replied quietly so the others would not hear as they trotted back towards the great hallway. “She has been tutoring me in time magic and this very much has the feel of the stasis spells I have mastered in your absence.”

“'Stasis spells'?” Blade asked.

He caught King Sombra's glance back at the guards. “We cannot speak here, Blade. I must confer this to you in private, after we deal with this - “ his words died, looking ahead, as they reached the grand hallway. Iron Blade followed his gaze.

“Tartarus!” the Commander breathed, equally horrified!

The two stallions and their contingent stared aghast at the sight before them. No pony had moved since King Sombra and Iron Blade had left the room. Tight Planner had actually tripped, dropping a load of parchment at the far end of the hallway and the papers were in mid air, frozen in place - he himself halfway to the marble floor, his hooves still off the solid ground.

No one wanted to move forward. After a full minute of gazing at the unnatural scene before them, Iron Blade was the first to speak. “Any pony would think me utterly mad to describe this scene before us. I am finding it hard to believe even as I am gazing upon it!” He ventured his good forehoof forward.

“Wait,” Sombra said, reaching out to stop him. Hunting around, he saw a cluster of crystal artwork decorating the edges of the hallway. Summoning a crystal to Him with his magic, He poised it before them, aiming it into the room ahead. “Nyx has been warning Us to always test an area such as the scene before Us now, lest We become caught in its trap.”

Blade nodded and they all watched as their King sent the crystal into the room with His magic. It went in level and true at first, but halfway across the room, when He directed it more to an angle, at Tight Planner, it stopped short, frozen before the surly little pony, hovering in front of his left eyeball. His total lack of a reaction to this told the group all they needed to know about the dangers of straying into the wrong area of this accursed space!

“Is Nyx still in your quarters, Sire?” Iron Blade asked, afraid of the answer.

“Yes and I fear We need her assistance,” Sombra replied, nodding. “We have to cross this hallway to get to her,” Sombra breathed. “Judging from the acceleration of its effect, it would take too long to go around.” He looked over at the large sculpture of black crystal on display near where he had plucked the test crystal to send through the room ahead of them. Choosing a much larger section, he sheared off several branches with his magic, bringing them over to them.

It came to rest in front of the troops. “Sire, what is your plan?” Blade asked as he and the guards stared at the sizeable chunk of faceted jet.

“I will raise a field up around the crystal,” explained Sombra. “You and the other two unicorn guards will use your magic to smash it to dust shards, as small as you can. Lay your swords within the field and step back well out of the way, otherwise the shards will pierce your hides.”

“Yes, Sire,” Blade directed his two guards to do as the King commanded, coordinating with them a signal to begin once Sombra raised the field to shield his stallions and contain the resulting fragments. Thinking the first few blows would do, the Commander was surprised when Sombra shook his head, ordering them to repeat the process again and again and again, assisting them with his own dark magic to reduce most of the crystal to a near-fine dust.

Once done, the King drew the swords back out, tweaking the field without lowering it so it literally cleaned off the crystal dust before they emerged. The guards retrieved their swords. He then refined and shrank the field around the crystal dust, bringing it up off the ground and sending it with a strong magic pulse into the room of frozen figures before them. Iron Blade and the guards watched, fascinated as the dust formed a clear outline of where time had frozen – sticking against the edges of the field, falling to the marbled floor where time still flowed normally.

“Brilliantly done, Your Highness!” the Commander breathed.

“Thank you, Blade,” the King nodded, using his magic again to methodically and carefully sweep aside the sharp fragments that had landed on the floor, allowing them clear passage through to the other side.

Cautiously at first, the group moved into the cleared corridor of free time, flanked on both sides by ponies still bowing to King Sombra, frozen in expressions and gestures of complete normalcy. It send a shiver down everypony's frame – even Sombra's and Iron Blade's, to be walking through such a show of living death in a space of No Time.

“Quickly,” their King instructed. “We know not how long this spell of No Time will last. We do not want to be caught within when it releases.”

A peculiar sound split the air around them – a sort of wheezing, groaning noise. Feeling it jangle his new sense of time, he snarled. Instinctively, Sombra threw a shield between them and the crystal coated area, leaving an area open ahead only big enough to flee through. “Run!” the King roared, breaking into a full gallop across the rest of the way out.

“What is that noise?” Blade asked as they ran.

“Later!” Sombra shouted, galloping faster. The crystal dust lining the sides of the corridor began to tremble as a shadowy image of a tall, blue box came faintly into existence back the way they came. The way none were looking.

The box's attempt at arrival in the time zone disturbed the very fabric of frozen time around them. Sombra cursed, feeling it wrest control of his shield spell from him as it tore apart the laws of local magic. Desperately, he turned to shadow, grabbed Iron Blade and the closest guards in his grip and hurtled through the remaining space in an instant!

Making it out just as the spell failed and crystal dust started falling in their wake, the King of Shadows blocked the exit with another field, returned to pony form again and released those he had just saved.

All but the last guard made it out, the stallion's backside being dusted by the first bits of falling crystal dust. He leapt clear, the King's tail turning to shadow and snaking out, grabbing the guard's forelegs and yanking him through in an instant behind them, but by then Sombra already knew He was too late to save Him.

Iron Blade was the first one to stand up, straightening his armor, patting it down with his hooves to make sure he was all there and unharmed. “Is everyone through?” He asked his men. The men nodded and he breathed a sigh of relief.

“A shame,” King Sombra intoned, emotionless behind him.

Iron Blade felt a familiar, uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach at hearing that. He had been in enough campaigns side-by-side with Sombra to know exactly what it meant when Sombra said such things. “What?” he asked the King of Shadows.

Sombra was staring at the last guard through who had hit the ground, waiting for the inevitable. The stallion breathed heavily, but fidgeted, growled and reached back to chew at his backside. The King had immediately surrounded the stallion with a field as soon as he had come through with them. It just wasn't fast enough. The guard's irritated fidgeting turned to yelps of pain, then screams as he thrashed his head and tail about, desperate to shake off the sharp crystal dust working its way into his hide's backside, legs, hooves and more delicate tissues. They watched, the guards in horror, Blade in frustration and their King in grim expectation as tiny rivulets of blood as thin as a horse's hair length appeared on the stallion's hide, gathering, growing, coating his white coat until he convulsed, falling dead to the ground within minutes.

“What - “ Iron Blade began to ask, stunned at the dead guard before them.

“It was – a risk, Blade,” Sombra said heavily, hating to lose a good stallion. “I needed a fine substance to mark a line of passage through the time disturbance with. Nyx said with this type of phenomena, small fissures of frozen time could line our path where it may appear clear. We could lose a hoof, a tail or worse if we were not careful. We had nothing else to mark the path with.”

Blade stood, still processing why the stallion had died. “But why did he - “

“ - he died because the crystal dust worked through the skin into his blood, his organs and was carried into the heart,” his King said, emotionless. “You have never witnessed this part of my power because it is too dangerous to use outside of controlled conditions, Blade. It would kill everything within range – our troops as well as the enemy, and it cannot be easily retrieved even by my magic, once released into fine particles such as the uneven earth of the battlefield.”

“How will we draw it back from the hallway?” the red stallion asked, watching it fall back down more and more as the pocket of frozen time slowly lost its grip on the area.

“Upon a marble surface it is much more easily swept away,” Sombra's horn bubbled with black, purple and green as he eyes flared, emerald-like. The black crystal dust obediently flowed, like a strange river, into the shape of a blob he then reformed into a new crystal form and set aside. He then levitated the dead guard past them, off to the side of the room. “We shall attend him after we speak with Nyx. The field will protect others from the dust still clinging to his coat.” He began to walk again, but stopped. “The field is losing its grip faster now, I can sense it.” He grunted. “Nyx's lessons are paying off. I am quite sensitive to time's ebb and flow now. Oh, and if you wish to be amused, Blade, watch Tight Planner as the field releases.”

All eyes went to the airborne pony. In another second, everyone continued walking, speaking, moving, all oblivious to their hours of imprisonment. Despite the grim scenario they had just witnessed with their comrade's death, the Commander couldn't help but laugh as the King's Scheduler yelped, hitting the ground hours after he had begun his inelegant fall.