"I hope you all had a good rest after yesterday." Celestia said, we were all sitting at the same table that we were yesterday, how did I know? It was still splintered.
"I had a good sleep." I said stretching having most of my joints pop, "But my god it's way too early." I picked up the glass of orange juice I had delivered to me and took a sip
"You're the one who decided to stay up all night with Shy over there getting it on." Rainbow said.
"Rainbow dear, were you spying on them?" Rarity asked in disbelief.
She scoffed, "Nope, you could just hear it down the entire hall; I know you all did too." They didn't say anything but I knew they did.
"Well, and here I thought the castle rooms would be soundproof so things like this wouldn't happen." I said taking another sip. Fluttershy was sinking lower and lower in her chair next to me.
"You are strangely calm about this Chris." Celestia said.
"Oh, I'm freaking out on the inside but… it's also a natural thing and really I knew you would do something like this Celestia you seem to have this thing about embarrassing me."
"Moi? I would never do such a thing." She had a mock look of shock on her face but I could see in her eyes that I was right.
"Right… so what are we here for now?"
"I'll fill you all in when Cadance get's here." She said, "Until then would any of you like something to eat?"
A stomach growled loudly and everyone looked at me, "What? That wasn't me." The all eyes turned to Fluttershy's disappearing form and she squeaked and sunk lower.
"Told you it wasn't me, but yes food does sound nice." I said rubbing my stomach while we ate I heard a humming in my head.
'Ixis, is that you?' I called out.
+Chris? CHRIS!+ I swear if she had arms she would've hugged me, +You're right I would've.+
'What happened to you? You disappeared for months.' I said, I was happy she was back, her and I have held a lot of conversations and she's just a good a friend as everyone else.
She sighed, +I was being trapped by the darkness that clouded your mind, I'm glad to see it's gone now but…+
'But?'
+Chris… I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I sent you to this world, I'm sorry that I made things harder for you, and I'm sorry for what I have to tell you now.+
'What…?'
+I wish I told you this sooner but I'm not sure how you would've reacted but seeing as how you've recovered from most things even if it will still plague your mind for a while I feel you could overcome this. But… now I regret this even more…+ She sounded scared, she sounded worried.
'Ixis, what are you talking about? Come on, tell me.'
+Chris, you know how long dragons live right? If they make it through all the combat they face and don't fall to disease. They lived thousands upon thousands of years… and Ice Dragons, like me, like you, they live even longer. It's in our nature, we are ice we slow everything down and last for as long as necessary. No one truly knows how long and Ice Dragon can live but the oldest one known to this world before the war was well over 500 thousand years old. Most died in battle before they even reached the age of 50 thousands as do many of the other Dragons, we were a very warrior minded race. Now though since the world is much more peaceful from when I was last here dragons seem to be living much longer now and… Chris, I don't know how long you're going to be alive if you somehow manage to stay healthy and out of combat, it is possible you could be alive as long as Celestia and Luna don't die as well. And for that I'm truly sorry, I gave you a curse unlike any other.+
I heard her give off a soft whimper and I felt a tear roll down my cheek. Weird because I wasn't feeling sad I was surprised more than anything.
'Ixis… it's ok it's ok, I can't have you sad, you cheer me up when I'm sad. What am I supposed to do when the voice in my head gets upset huh? I can't exactly tickle you.' I laughed, 'Come on, it isn't that bad and besides I knew that the day I learned that I was essentially becoming a dragon, not the whole possibility of living forever but I did know I was going to live a very long time compared to any normal human.'
+You knew?+
'Well, I guessed, but thank you for confirming it. Oh I'm going to freak out at a certain point and I'm fairly sure I'll go crazy in the future but hey, what's life without a little challenge?'
+Easy?+ she suggested.
'Boring.' I corrected.
"Chris…" I heard a voice off to my left, "Chris, are you ok?"
I shook my head clearing my thoughts. It was Cadance, "Oh, hi sissi, yeah I'm fine why do you ask?"
"I just came in saw my little brother had a tear going down his cheek and I was worried." She said relieved.
"Sissi? Baby Brother… what exactly is going on here?" Twilight asked.
"Well you see…" I explained what her and I discussed last night.
"And I plan on filling out official papers to have him recognized as my brother." Cadance made it very clear to everyone she really intended to do this, "I mean, he has no family in our world and I would be proud to add him to ours. Twilight this means he'll be your brother too, and I wanted to ask you if you were ok with it?"
Twilight looked at me and then at Cadance, she sighed reluctantly, "Yes, I'm ok with it, but don't you think you should discuss this with Shining?"
Cadance blanched, "Oh no, I completely forgot about Shining Armor with all the excitement…. I hope he takes this well… It would probably take some convincing."
Celestia shook her head, "Cadance you silly filly, but I support both of your decisions in this. It is a good idea for him to have a family here. And this is a good transition too, you see Cadance isn't just here to help Chris with his problems, the Crystal Empire is in danger. Cadance can explain more."
All attention was on the princess of love, "The Crystal Empire… it disappeared from the face of the planet, a few days ago it came back it was also my original home, I was still a foal when it disappeared so I don't have any memories of it but I did know that it was my responsibility to go there and see what was going on. That's where Shining is right now holding up a shield against a dark force, King Sombra. He is the pony who overthrew my parents, banished us from the empire, took over as king, and enslaved the ponies there. He is a pony of pure darkness and was only defeated by Celestia and Luna sealing him in the ice in the lands that surround the kingdom using the Elements of Harmony but before he did he cast the spell that hid it away for a thousand years."
"Yes and while he was being sealed he told me that when the empire reappeared even if he were to remain sealed one day he would break free when he sensed somepony who he could truly call a rival." Celestia said.
"Any idea who that is?" I asked, "If a dude who is pure darkness is back that sounds pretty bad and I'm pretty sure the empire could use the help." I had a sneaking feeling as to who it was but hey I liked to be sure.
"We do indeed friend Chris, we believe that pony… well person is you." Luna said.
God… fucking… damn it, "Are you sure? I mean he only came back a few days ago right? I'm assuming with the empire? Why did he wait this long when I've been here for months?"
"Our guess is that he waited until the empire was back so he could have somewhere to recover properly, I guess he didn't expect Shining or Cadance to be there to stop that. So now he is attacking the Crystal Empire relentlessly trying to break passed the shield and take over again before you can get there, we hope to stop that as soon as possible." Celestia paused, "But we don't expect you to be able to do much on your own, no offense, so we're sending the girls with you so they can use the Elements to hopefully seal him again."
I groaned, "Really? Hmmmm, guess I don't have a choice. I live in a land with magical talking ponies so I really shouldn't be that surprised by this. But it seems way too cliché for my liking."
"Yeah the universe has a strange way of doing that when you're our friends." Twilight said. "Well, we'll do what we can won't we girls?" She got a varied amount of confirmations even from Fluttershy but I only assumed that was because I was going.
"Ahem, I'm not a girl." I said with a huff.
Twilight rolled her eyes, "Girls and guy… picky."
"When do we leave? I don't want to sound like a downer but we have to make sure someone can take care of our homes while we're gone. We also need to pack enough clothes to last however long we will be down there and other essentials." Rarity said.
Rainbow snickered and whispered, quite loudly to AJ, "Knowing Rarity an essential for her would be her fainting couch." AJ snorted but kept quiet. Man heightened senses are awesome.
"This is true… how about 3 days from now, will that be ample amount of time for you to procure what you need?" Luna asked.
"That will be plenty, thank you Princess Luna." Rarity replied.
"Anything else will be told to you on the train ride there. I will see you all back here in 3 days." Celestia said dismissing everyone… almost everyone, "Chris, stay behind please."
I stayed seated while everyone else left, "What's up Celestia?"
"First off I wanted to know if you were ok from yesterday?" I nodded, "That's good to know, and I wish you happiness with Fluttershy. Now the other thing I wanted to talk to you about is how to deal with your draconic powers."
I laughed, "Why am I not surprised?"
"Most likely because you are probably the strongest person that was in this room besides Luna and I and you knew it. Or at least you will be when you go to the Crystal Empire." She said facing a window.
"Whatchya talkin bout Molly?" Ok maybe I was in too good of a mood, I don't care.
"I'm talking about your ability to absorb energy from ice, snow, and cold and become stronger. The Ice Fields of the north were the original homes of the Ice Dragons before the war broke out. It is coldest place in all of Equestria it was perfect for them and when they went almost extinct during the war ponies took over the land or at least a small portion of it. The crystals there were rich with magical energies and easily molded but extremely durable. Enough so they made their homes, shops, schools and castle out of it. They lived there long enough that the magic from the crystals seeped into their very essence changed mainly how they looked on a biological level. They still were ponies they just had a crystalline coat and sheen to them but still a different species of pony, we called them the Crystal ponies. Anyway, back to how this concerns you. You see, because of your abilities, you'll be able to take in the cold, snow, and ice from the area and since it's a never ending supply you're essentially going to be getting stronger the more you take in, if I'm not mistaken it's only a temporary boost in power but… Like I said since it is in constant supply that boost will last a longer time." She explained all this while watching her ponies go throughout their day to day lives.
"Hmmm, if I'm going to be that strong shouldn't I be able to take Sombra by myself?"
"Maybe, but the most you would be able to do is freeze him in ice, I want the elements to go anyway. I have a feeling they'll be needed." She said.
"Alright I can understand that, and I promise they won't come to harm. But I should probably go get ready myself." I said leaving Celestia to stare out the window by herself.
"I really hope I'm wrong about this…" Celestia said.
~3 days later on the train~
"So why aren't Bon Bon and Lyra coming with us, they were there during the briefing too." Fluttershy pointed out.
"They said they needed to take care of the shop and since we didn't know how long we're going to be gone they couldn't risk leaving the shop closed." I told her.
"Will they be ok without you?"
"They better be, they lasted this long without me and if everything fell apart because I wasn't there I'd be highly worried about their work ethic and rethink how much I needed to be paid." I said with a laugh.
She laid her head against my arm, "I'm glad I can show affection towards you in public now."
I rub her head with my free hand, "I know Shy, though even without it you've become a lot more open and brave since I've been around, even if it has only been a few months."
"I-it's really only around you…"
"Oh quit being modest, I'm sure you're just as brave even without me around." I reassured her.
"Mmmm no, she's still pretty much scared of everything without you." Rainbow said, completely oblivious to what I was trying to do. We all gave her a deadpanned look and AJ even facepalmed and groaned. "What?" Rainbow asked, still oblivious.
I sighed and shook my head, "Nothing… nothing at all Rainbow." I looked at Shy. "Flutters, you're fine. Your shyness is what makes you who you are. I'm glad that I can bring out the brave and protective side of you without having to be in danger. But I know you'd still protect your friends."
She nodded, "Of course I would, no matter what."
"Exactly. And. That's. Why. I. Love. You." I booped her nose softly with each word.
"They make a wonderful couple wouldn't you agree?" Rarity said to Cadance, who was sitting in the seat across from her.
"Yes, they do. I can feel the love coming from them and it is immense. I'm sure if they powered the shield that tossed Chrysalis from our wedding it would've been much stronger than what was made from me and Shining." She said with a warm smile.
"And you aren't bothered by that?"
"Bothered by what Rarity?"
"That their love seems to be stronger than yours and Shining Armor's? I mean, after all you are the Princess of Love." She said, explaining herself.
"Hmmm, well maybe a little bit, but like you said I am the Princess of Love. It makes me happy to feel this much love and to be honest, he deserves this. But I can still sense a bit of fear and doubt in his heart that I don't think will ever go away." Cadance said with a sad sigh.
"He's afraid that he'll hurt her or that he'll get hurt again isn't he?" Rarity asked, gaining a look from Cadance. "What, I have eyes, I can see what's going on behind the scenes just as well as any other pony if not better. Not as well as Pinkie I'm afraid though, I think that mare might even rival you or Chrysalis in sensing emotions, especially hidden ones."
Cadance was lost in thought and was looking around. I was laughing from a joke Pinkie just told and Fluttershy was too. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were discussing something about having another Iron pony competition when they got back to Ponyville. Twilight, ever the bookworm, had her nose buried deep in a book about advanced magical logistics and Spike was snoozing against her side. And Cadance was here talking to Rarity. She smiled and thought, 'Chris was right it won't be easy recovering but with these seven I think he'll be just fine.'
I cleared my throat getting everyone's attention, even woke spike up, "Alright I have some news, and it isn't necessarily good." That really got everyone's attention and Fluttershy sat up and looked at me with concern. "It is something I suspected but only had recently confirmed. You all know I'm essentially an Ice Dragon, kind of, and that I've gained and will gain all the powers and abilities that go with it. That includes the extremely long life of a dragon. Ice dragon's being, well, ice means I could potentially live forever under the right conditions."
Cadance gasped being the first to realize what that meant, she was a Princess tied to love, love would forever exist so she knew she was going to be alive forever as well and I'm sure she went through this a long time ago. "Chris… are you going to be ok?"
"Why wouldn't he be ok? It means he gets to live forever and have a ton of parties and things. I bet he'll make so many friends!" Pinkie said happily. I gave her a warm smile, reached across and tussled her already messy hair, she giggled. I knew she caught on and I knew this was just her way of dealing with that.
"Yeah I mean living for ever has got to be so awesome." Rainbow said.
I wasn't mad at her but I guess I should explain. "I'll be fine Cadance, don't worry, I'm sure this will hit me like a sack of rocks later but I'll have them here to help out. But… that won't always be the case, see I might live forever and sure that will be cool, but as I age, even if I won't show it and even if I live for a long time, you all will show it and you all won't live for that long at all at least comparatively. And that is what sucks the most, I'm going to lose friends and loved ones over and over no matter what I do. Unless they're Immortals like Cadance, Celestia, and Luna, and possibly other dragons but the only other dragons are Fire Dragon's and they are like fire they shine brightly but unless you refill the fire every now and again and take care of it, they burn out quickly. So I'll even outlive the one who will live the longest out of you all." I looked at Spike he was still so young and I hate having to place this on his mind. "And I am so sorry for that." Spike sighed and looked down dejectedly, nodding, knowing as well as I did it would happen one day even to the pony he loved most. He'd live much longer than they would just like me. He looked back up at me and in the moment we understood that we would have to be there for each other when that time comes. I gave him a proud nod and looked to Fluttershy.
"Chris… that's… that's not fair to you. After everything you went through. I-It's just not fair." She said nuzzling into my arm.
"I know it isn't Flutters, but don't be sad. Any of you, don't feel sad for me. I've made up my mind that no matter what I would enjoy my time with those I loved and when they're gone I'll remember them fondly as I still live on. Yes I'll make new friends I most likely will even have other loves. But I will never forget any of you, I will always love every single one of you no matter what and not one other creature will hold the spots in my heart and soul you've taken up." I held out 7 carvings made out of ice, pin included, "So here, I made these, they took a lot of my magic to do but they will never melt. They're something I want you to keep forever." They were all carvings of their Cutie Marks with a snowflake attached to it. For spike it was a fire with a snowflake melted to it.
I handed out each one to their respective owners, "You don't have to wear them all the time or even at all, but I just wanted you to have them for being such great friends in the short amount of time that I've been here." They all put them on, for Spike's I froze an elastic ribbon to it so he could tie it around him wherever and it would stretch as he grew. That made me really happy, friiiiiieeeeeeennnnnnds.
"What you don't have one for me?" Cadance ask with fake hurt.
I held up my hands, "Hey, It took a lot out of me making those 7 you can even ask Shy, I was mainly sleeping during the 3 days and when I was awake I was working on those. But I'll have yours before we go back I promise."
Cadance gave it a thought, "Alright I'll hold you to that… but Chris, can I talk to you in private?"
I cocked my head, "Hmm, alright. Where do you want to talk?"
"Well there is an empty car." She said, "Come on." She stood up and gestured for me to follow.
I stood up and gave Fluttershy a quick kiss and walked after Cadance. When we got to the car I closed the door and heard it lock, I also saw Cadance's horn glowing. "So what's with the whole glowy glowy horn?" I asked.
"Sound proofing spell, this is a conversation strictly for you and I." She said and sat down patting the seat next to her. I sat down.
"What's up Sissi?"
"Well, first off I wanted to know if you were doing ok? I know reliving your past took a lot out of you."
I sighed and leaned back, "Honestly, I could probably be a lot better at the moment. I'm tired and not just from making those pins, as I've explained my life has been rocky even outside of relationships. I have a natural ground in hatred for myself because that's just what I'm used to. I've also had to make some shitty decisions before and bringing up my past has brought a lot of them back up to the surface. And this whole possibility of living for ever thing isn't going to make it easier. The longer I'm alive, the longer I'll think about that and only two things happen from that."
She looked at me, "And what are those?"
I laughed, "I will either go insane and be full of rage and regret from everything or I will have enough time to reflect and know that even if it was hard on me it's what made me who I am and whatever choices I made were the right ones hopefully. Sure at the time when it happens I won't be thinking about this I'll just be feeling like crap. Hell I still have a long life so even more stuff will be stacked up and that will just increase the chance that I'll lose my mind." I laughed again.
She scowled at me, "That's not funny. If that's a possibility then why aren't you scared?"
I stopped laughing and adopted a serious face, "Oh I'm terrified, and you can't sense it, because I know how to hide my emotions that well. But I'm also not worried, I mean there's still the possibility that I'll learn, accept, and move on. And that's what I'm hoping for, that and I'll always have friends to help. I mean you're an Alicorn as much as Luna and Celestia. You guys will be around just as long as I will if not longer right? So I'll have you all to lean on when I need it. What about you, I know you aren't as old as Celestia and Luna but how did you cope with losing those you loved the first time and realizing you'd go through this over and over again?"
She smiled at me, "Just like you said, I had auntie Celestia to help me, not aunt Luna though, she was still banished at the time. You know you're very wise for someone who is still so young."
I shrugged, "Not really I just tend to think more than most people give me credit for. I spend a lot of time planning out scenarios for almost anything. They aren't full plans but it's enough of an outline to get me through when I need to improvise. I also spend a lot of time thinking over theories and stuff. Like, theoretically, if I could make somebody's body go to absolute zero instantaneously I'm thinking I could basically cryogenically freeze them and keep them alive and thaw them out whenever. But again only a theory since absolute zero is impossible to reach."
"You should talk to Twilight about that, I'm sure she would be interested and probably about any of your other theories you might have."
"I'll be sure to do that, now what did you want to actually talk about?" I asked her.
She looked at me surprised, "Was it that obvious?" I nodded, "Pony feathers… well you see it's about taking you in as my brother."
I felt my heart skip a beat, "What about you taking me in as your brother?"
"It's not that I can't per say, and it's not that anypony will be mad, ok some ponies will but that's from the main reason I wanted to talk to you. If I adopt you as my brother, you will essentially be a Prince. And if both I and Shining die or step down you will be next in line for the throne." She explained.
I sat up, "You're kidding right?"
"Not at all, that's why I wanted to talk to you, to see if you still wanted to go through with this. I can understand if you don't."
"Cadance… I don't care about any of that. If I have to be a prince I have to be a prince. I don't know how to lead and I don't know how to properly fight, I'll need to learn everything Princely I'm assuming. I'm also guessing I'd be required to attend to go to certain events right?"
She nodded, "Yes, your training in proper manners and other things would happen as soon as possible which is most likely after we stop Sombra. And you would be required to attend only a certain few events. The Grand Galloping Gala is one and The Crystal Ball is another. You'd be also called in as a representative of the Crystal Empire if needed. Also you will have access to the treasury and your authority will be valid and upheld pretty much everywhere and any act of war declared on you is war declared on the Empire as well as Equestria since we're obviously allies."
I scratched my chin, "Hmmm well… I guess I can deal with most of that. Would I have to live in the Empire though?"
"No I don't suppose you would, it could be said that you are the ambassador for the Empire and you'd be able to live anywhere just fine, why do you ask?"
"I'm not going to take Fluttershy away from her friends, at least not without talking to her about this first. If she says she doesn't want to leave then I won't make her but I also won't stay here without her." I said making my point clear.
"I'm glad to hear you say that, love comes first. And about Fluttershy, if you two do get married…"
"I know, I already thought about that, trust me I will talk to her. And if I don't then you better make me. You wouldn't be such a good sister if you let me make bad decisions now would you?"
We shared a laugh, "No I suppose I wouldn't, so that means you still want to go through with this?"
"Of course, you were right the other day, I do need a family even it isn't blood related and honestly who better to pick than someone who will be around as long as me and is the Princess of Love? You're also a good friend, and yes I mean that even if we've only really know each other for a few days, I'm a pretty good judge in character. And I already know I can trust you with my life." She surprised me with a hug but I recovered quickly and hugged her back. "Thanks for this really, and don't tell anyone else please? I'd like to not be known as a prince to them, at least not until I'm ready."
She let go, "I understand, but you are still Going to tell Fluttershy right?" I nodded, "Good, do you want me to send her in here so you can talk to her?"
"If you wouldn't mind." She walked to the door at the end of the car and walked out and closed it behind her. A few seconds later Fluttershy came in. "Hey Flutters."
"Princess Cadance said you had something you wanted to talk to me about?" She asked.
"Yeah, come on and sit next to me, I won't bite, you know, unless you want me to." I said wiggling my eyebrows.
Fluttershy blushed, "Chris… not here."
"Why not? There is a soundproofing spell, door locks, and the windows in this car have their blinds down." I said.
She looked around and shuffled a bit, "Well…"
"Well?"
She sighed, "Fine fine."
~several LONG minutes and a good shower later~
"Who knew there was a shower hiding in one of the panels back there?" I asked in astonishment, fully dressed.
"We were lucky there was one." Fluttershy gave out a groan in annoyance.
"Hey you agreed. Anyway, I didn't call you back here just for some fun. I do actually have something to talk to you about. I don't know if you'll like it but…" And so I told her and I was right, she wasn't happy mainly because I most likely wouldn't be able to go back home with her.
"It's not fair, we just got you back from being all mopey I don't want to have to say goodbye again." She said nuzzling into my arm.
"I know Shy and I'm sorry, but it won't be until after we defeat Sombra and who knows how long that will take… though if the Elements work then…" I sighed, "I really am sorry, but…"
"I know, this is a chance to get a new family and start over." She said.
"Yeah… I wish I could go but if this is the downside to it then I'll deal and besides I bet it won't even take that long to finish the training." I would come to regret that statement later.
"Promise?"
I kissed her forehead, "I promise and I always keep my promises." We heard a knock at the door, I unlocked it after I got out the shower.
AJ opened the door, "Come on you two, we're here and Shy I suggest you put on something thick real fast."
We nodded and got up, everyone was dressed in some sort of thick gear to protect from the cold and Fluttershy quickly joined them. I looked around and noticed there was one more pony than there should've been.
"Uhm, who's the extra?" I asked. The pony looked at me and I could see his eyebrow rise beneath his goggles.
Twilight came forward, "Chris, this is my BBBFF and Cadance's husband, Shining Armor. Shining, this is Chris."
Shining was a bit shorter than me but a lot more muscular. He was also a white unicorn and judging from his tail he had blue hair too. It's like a male version of Vinyl. I held out a hand, "Nice to meet you."
He pulled his scarf down and his goggles up, he shook my hand, "Same, but the formalities can wait. Chris I suggest you put on something to protect from the cold."
"Meh, I'll be good." I said.
"Are you crazy? It's 80 below and there is a snowstorm raging." Shining explained.
Cadance put a hand on his shoulder, "Dear trust him, he'll be ok."
Shining looked at his wife and gave out an exasperated sigh, "Alright, if you say so. Now we have to hurry if we don't want Sombra to catch up with us while we're heading to the Empire. Speaking of, the shield I put up won't last long if I'm not there to replenish it. So take whatever you have and let's go." Everyone took what they needed, the girls put the Elements on just in case.
When the door opened up to the outside it really was just fields upon fields of snow and ice…. Oh yeah and like Shining said, it was a blizzard alright.
"Are you sure he's going to be alright?" I heard shining ask Cadance over the roaring winds.
I walked up to him and passed him while saying, "I'll be fine Honor boy." And with that I jumped off the train outside.
"Is he crazy he'll… freeze…" Shining was stunned. I was standing in the middle of a blizzard completely unaffected.
I looked back with a toothy smile, "So are we gonna go or are you just going to stand there with you mouth open waiting for flies?"
"What?" Shining asked Cadance.
"I'll tell you later. I promise, along with other things." She whispered to him and stepped outside too, more cautiously. Then the girls and spike followed and finally Shining who closed the door behind him.
"Alright, I'll take the front, everyone follow behind and keep up." Shining yelled out.
I let them walked past me and I followed up the rear. Celestia was right, just being here I felt stronger, I could feel the ice magic in the air, in the ground, everywhere and it felt good. We walked for a bit when I felt a loud rumbling, I looked back and saw a mass of black shadow's racing towards us. "Uh… guys… guys! I SUGGEST WE RUN NOW!" I yelled out to them.
Shining looked back, "You heard him, run!" And so we did, we were all keeping up, I was still in the back making sure no one got left behind.
Cadance, Shining, Fluttershy, Rarity, Twilight, Rainbow, AJ, and Pinkie were all ahead of me, good everyone was safe…. Wait, Spike, where was Spike? I looked around and then finally behind me, he was far behind trying to catch up and the black mass was getting closer.
"You guys keeps going, I'm going after Spike!" I yelled out and turned around running towards the small dragon picking up the pace. I reached him just as he tripped and caught him, "You alright man?" I asked as I hoisted him up.
"Yeah… I feel a bit weak though…" He said passing out.
"Shit… Shit shit shit…" I looked up and the mass was still getting closer I could try and run back but I wouldn't make it, but I had to try and so I did. I got close to the barrier and saw the girls were already in it but I knew I wasn't going to make it so I made a decision and chucked Spike hard enough to get him through.
"Ok good now maybe I can-" I got cut off as I was swallowed. I heard everyone call out my name, Fluttershy was the loudest. Fuck, come on I was not going to die here.
I heard a dark laughter come from the mass I was engulfed in, "I have one of yours now… I will turn him into my own and use him against you. I can sense you all care for him. Can you hurt your own?" It asked.
"Give me back Chris you big meanie!" I heard shy yell out.
"Why don't you come and get him then?" It asked, taunting her.
'Shy I swear to god if you leave that barrier…' I thought out. Funny thing by the way, I could feel the darkness trying to penetrate my mind but Ixis was having none of that and was doing all she could to ward it off. That and I'm not a fan of having my freewill stripped from me so I can hurt my friends.
I heard everyone call out in unison, "FLUTTERSHY NO, DON'T!" Ok, I've had enough of this I was not going to let Shy do anything stupid for me. That was my job. "Hyōryū no…" I felt my hands get colder and Ice started to form over my hands in fingers ending in a point. I slashed out and I heard the mass howl in pain so I slashed out again creating a tear big enough for me to jump through. When I landed I turned around and looked at the mass and smirk at it, "Tsume."
"What?! You were trapped inside me, nothing can escape my darkness!" It yelled at me.
"Sorry buddy, looks like I just did." I wiggled my ice claws. "Shy, don't you dare leave that barrier." I said without looking back, but I heard an eep and that was enough to know she heard me. "So, you wanted to take my free will did you? Well, see, here's the thing about that… I don't believe in controlling someone and anyone who tries sickens me. What's even worse is that you tried to use me against my friends, which was a bad idea."
He started laughing, "Are you threatening me? Do you know who I am? I am pure shadow, pure darkness. The shadow began to form into the body of a black pony in armor and, a cape and a simplistic metal crown with a red horn. "I am King Somb-" He had a snowball thrown at him courtesy of yours truly.
"You know, I never understood why when villains rant about who they are the heroes just don't punch them or something. I know who you are Sombrero and frankly I don't really give a shit. Like I said you tried to use me against my friends and that was a mistake." I growled at him.
"It's Sombra you wretch. And what can a creature who is stupid enough to go through a snowstorm with nothing but a shirt and shorts on do to me?" He asked, being extremely arrogant.
I chucked another snowball at him, "That and this." I leaped at him and held out a fist.
"What you think you can punch me? I am shadow you fool, nothing can hurt me nothing."
I smirked, "Hyōryū no Kōken!" and punched him straight in the face and guess what? It hit, go figure.
"What… you little… how did you…?" He snarled.
"I ain't telling. So you still want to keep this up or?" I asked.
"Hmph, you landed a hit so what? I will not allow that to happen again." His horn started charging up and a spell fired at me fast enough that I didn't have time to dodge it or anything and it hit me dead in the chest and sent me tumbling.
"Ok… ow that hurt… So much for magic resistance." I said. +That's dark magic, you're body can't protect you from dark magic that well.+ Ixis said.
I groaned holding my chest, "That would've been good to know before I decided to fight him thanks…"
+Well excuse me Princess I was busy getting rid of the darkness that was invading our mind.+ She huffed.
"Ugh… alright so you have magic big whoop. So does everything else in this world but I doubt you can do this." I put my hands to the ground and made ice spikes race towards him. He tried to dodge out of the way but one caught his foot and started to freeze him over, "Girls, I can't hold him for long, he's a lot stronger than what he showed off, I suggest you get ready to use the elements!"
"R-right… Ok girls let's do this." Twilight said. They all began to rise above the ground, their eyes glowing white and they were surrounded in a light bubbled. I felt the magic behind me and I saw a rainbow fly over head.
I quickly removed my eyes so it could strike him. And it did, it hit hard and the yell was that of pain… then laughter… wait laughter? "Why is he laughing?" The Rainbow disappeared and Sombra was standing there like it did nothing to him, in fact he looked stronger.
"What? You all didn't think I'd let the same thing happen twice did you? I spent months creating and refining this armor to absorb that magic and you gave it right to me. I'm going to thank you and I'll do so with this." His horn started to glow but it was much brighter and crackled with electricity, he fired the bolt of dark magic off towards the shield but it held steady and only suffered a large crack. "Well, I didn't put as much power into that as I thought. No matter, one more and that shield will crack."
His horn started glowing again and he fired it off, but this time I jumped in front of it, taking the full brunt of it. I landed heavily in the snow on my back. I looked up into the barrier. I could see them looking down at me saying something, I couldn't hear them the ringing in my ears was too loud. I looked over to Sombra and saw his horn glowing again... 'Ugh…. Shit everything is numb I don't know what I can and can't move but I know I have to stop that…' I thought.
+Chris… that blast of magic cut deep into your torso and slammed you pretty hard into the barrier, a lot of your bones are broken, actually it's a lot easier to count how many bones aren't broken. That blast of Dark Magic did way more on your body than I thought it would. One more hit from that and you'll die.+ Ixis said.
"Don't… don't have a choice… They'll die too if I do nothing…" I stood up shakily I realized my left eye was closed because I couldn't see from it at least that's what I hoped. I got light headed from the pain coming from my legs and I'm pretty sure they were fractured if not broken but… maybe. 'Ixis if I absorb the snow from this place how strong would my roar be?'
+Not enough to stop him permanently but it might be strong enough to send him flying and weaken him for a bit.+
I nodded… "Alright it seems like that's the best choice of action." I took in a deep breath and opened my mouth, taking in as much snow and ice as I could until I felt my magic reach new heights. "Sombra… I won't let you harm any of them." I called out looking him.
"And what are you going to do? You can barely stand let alone fight." He said.
"Wrong, as long as I'm still alive I can fight." I said stepping forward a bit, ignoring the pain.
"Well then I'll have to remedy that won't I?" He pointed his horn at me.
I balled up my hands into fists, "Hyōryū…"
"Ha, I told you, I won't let you hit me again, now die!" He yelled out while firing off a black beam.
My cheeks expanded and I put my balled fists up to my face, like the time at the playground "no Hōkō!" and fired off the strongest spell I had. It hit his and devoured it. That stunned him enough that my attack hit him, froze him solid, and sent him flying off into the distance. And since I didn't have good enough footing I got sent flying backwards through the barrier. And I felt my back slam into someone. "I got you, relax."
I did so and felt myself getting tired so I decided to sleep.
~Outside of Chris~
Fluttershy had her hands over her mouth and tears were forming in her eyes, "Chris… no…"
"It's ok." Shining reassured her, "He just passed out, but we need to get him to a hospital fast, it looks like a lot of his bones are broken." They hurried as fast as they could to the castle.
"Will he be ok? We just got him to stop being all party pooper pants. I don't want him to die. He still hasn't had a birthday party yet." Pinkie said, her hair straight.
"I'm sure he'll be fine Pinks. That guys is really tough, I mean this one time before he got all mopey I crashed into him after doing one of my stunts and he walked that off just fine. I-I'm sure he'll be fine…" Rainbow looked to Cadance. "He'll be fine won't he?"
She nodded, "I'll have the best doctors to take care of him. I promise, he'll be fine."
Once they got into the hospital they got him into magical surgery and before they started one of the doctors came up to the observation area that was above the operating area, "Princess he's in a critical state right now, we don't really know what he is and magic doesn't seem to affect him. We would do a normal surgery with tools but he doesn't have any family who could agree to it since he isn't awake to do so himself. And if we can't find somepony soon he'll die."
Cadance didn't even think twice, "He's my brother, and I don't care if you believe me or not, just save him, now!" She growled out as she slammed her fist on the table. The doctor nodded and ran back down stairs.
"Brother?" Shining looked at his wife, "Cadance… what is this all about?"
"I was going to talk to you about it later but it doesn't seem like it's an option. I'm adopting him into my royal family, our royal family." She said.
"And you didn't think about asking me first?" Shining asked, surprised that his wife would make such an important decision without him. "Cadance we don't even know him. He could be dangerous, he could be a spy, he could… he could be…"
Cadance looked at him quickly, "He could be someone who left a home that destroyed his heart. He could be someone who feels guilty for leaving what little he did care about without saying goodbye and has no way to return. He could be someone who is the only one of his kind in the entire world in more ways than one. Shining, we all learned about his past a few days ago, it was a bad one and he's held out this long. He has lived in Ponyville with the girls for a while now and is in a relationship with Fluttershy. He's trying to live a good life Shining, what's worse is that his past still plagues him and I fear it will for as long as he lives and he could live forever. He needs a family, he came to me asking me to be his older sister, how could I turn him down after everything he went through? He just saved all of us from Sombra as well."
Shining took as step back, "Cadance I… I'm sorry, I'm just."
She shook her head, "No, I'm sorry Shining, I know you're just worried. Protecting the city has been rough on you and I shouldn't have left you alone to handle it."
Shining sat next to his wife and held her, "Well if you feel he belongs in our family I'm fine with it, but I'd like to get to know him for myself if that's ok." Cadance just nodded.
Fluttershy was crying, looking out the window down at Chris who was lying on an operating table. She felt an arm go around her shoulders.
"I'm sure he'll be fine darling. I mean he is a dragon. Dragon's are pretty tough after all." She looked back at Spike and smiled, happy he was alright. "It seems we were both lucky enough to have one's watching over us weren't we?"
Fluttershy nodded but never took her eyes away from him. "Please don't die…. I don't know what I'd do if you did…"
Rarity frowned and squeezed her friend's arm softly, "He'd want you to keep going and find love again if he did. But he won't, like I said he's too tough for that and besides he'd never forgive himself if he left you alone."
Fluttershy smiled through the tears, "Yes… he'd probably find some way to come back if he found out he died… wouldn't he?"
"Ah have no doubt in mah mind he would Shy." Apple Jack said coming up to Fluttershy's other side. "Rarity's right, he's made of stronger stuff. And besides, Ah wanted him to be part of the Iron Pony Competition Rainbow and Ah were gonna have when we went back to Ponyville so he can't die. He promised and he said he never breaks a promise."
"Yeah, and I want to see how fast he can fly when he get's his wings. He promised me that he'd let me teach him fly. And I knew he didn't really like me at first, he told me why. Said I was too cocky, too arrogant for my own good and that he disliked ponies like that. Honestly I do too, and I didn't realize that I was that bad. So I told him I'd try my best to not be like that and he said that he'd give me another chance. And he did so I gotta pay him back, he can't die yet." Rainbow said to her lifelong friend.
"Yeah and I have to throw him all those birthday parties too as well as a, 'you got better party' from this. He also Pinkie Promised me that he would show me how to make mud, whatever that is. And he likes making his friends happy almost as much as I do, and he'd hate to see his friends sad, and him dying would make us more than sad. I'm sure he knows that." Pinkie said joining the others.
Finally Twilight was up there too, "They're alright Fluttershy, he wouldn't leave us when he's all made promises to us. Like they said he doesn't break promises and he promised us that he would be there to protect us. He's going to be my adopted brother in law and he's already a big brother to Spike. He won't leave us, he promised to keep living for all of us so if we want him to live, he will."
They all looked to the human/dragon (Drako? Yeah Drako) being operated on and said one thing together while each placed a hand on the glass, "Please, don't die."
"See Shining, does that look like the friends of somepony who is bad?" Cadance asked.
"No I suppose not… I'll have to apologize to him when I can." He said.
~A while later in a hospital room~
Chris was lying in a bed with tubes and wires hooked up to him, everyone was there. Fluttershy was sitting in a chair that was close to his bed. The doctor was talking but she didn't care, she was happy he made it through the surgery. But he was covered in bandages. Most of his head was wrapped up, only the right side at his eye and downward were uncovered and his horns too. His legs were in casts as well as his right arm and most of his torso was wrapped up as well.
"We did what we could and fixed the damaged caused by Sombra's spell as well as some other things that we believe he's had a problem with his entire life. But we couldn't save his left eye, it was tainted by too much Dark Magic. We put a few parts that still need to heal a bit in casts." The doctor said, reading over the charts. "He's going to be asleep for a few days while he recovers but other than that he should be fine."
Twilight smiled and looked over at the butter yellow pegasus holding his hand that wasn't in a cast, "Thank you for doing what you could doctor we really appreciate it."
"Of course, is he really Princess Cadance's brother?" He asked.
She nodded, "Adopted brother, yes. He's also mine too."
"I see… Is the pegasus going to be ok? She looks very shaken up."
"She'll be fine… she's stronger than she looks. And she's just worried, she loves him a lot." Twilight looked around at her friends, they were all standing around watching Chris silently. "We all do, he's a good friend to us. But to her, well…"
"Ah I see, well I'll get out of your hair then. If you need me for anything call for Dr. Braveheart." Dr. Braveheart said.
"We will, thanks again." Twilight said, Braveheart nodded.
There was a yawn that started with Pinkie and spread to everyone else. That's when they all decided to turn in except for Fluttershy she decided to stay with Chris just incase he woke up. Eventually she fell asleep with her head on Chris' bed