Luckily for all concerned, Celestia was able to use her alicorn magic to bring Tirek out of whatever nightmare he was being forced to relive. Hitting him with a blast of her magic, his eyes quickly lost their unnatural hues and the screaming and weeping slowly tapered off. We weren’t particularly concerned about the possibility of him trying to drain the magic. For one thing, he couldn’t in his current state; his entire cell is devoid of magic, to the point where Celestia had to add more power to the spell to ensure it reached Tirek before dissipating.
Brought out of his own personal hell, Tirek lay where he was. His breathing was heavy and laboured. Celestia spoke to him.
“You will be alright now, Tirek. The spell has been lifted.” Tirek twisted himself to look at Celestia. For once, instead of looking angry, his face had an expression of confusion. Celestia elaborated. “You were placed under a fear spell, forcing you to see your worst fears.” Tirek snorted before replying.
“Is that your newest game, Discord?” he asked bitterly. “I knew you were vindictive, but I did not think you were that cruel.” Discord made to answer, but Celestia stepped in again.
“What happened to you was not Discord’s doing, Tirek. The fear spell is a specialty of Sombra. For whatever reason, he chose to use it on you.” Unlike Tirek’s cell, Sombra’s cell is not magic proof. Until now, we all believed that he was too weak to use such spells. After all, he had sacrificed most of his magic in reconstructing himself, a difficult spell even by the standards of dark magic.
“I was actually the one who found you, Tirek,” Discord added. “I came down here with Roger to speak to you, and found you like this.” Tirek quickly switched back to his typical twisted personality.
“Oh, so you finally plucked up the courage to visit me again, did you?” he asked venomously. I could see Discord’s talon quietly snapping every now and then, half casting magic.
“Yes, I did. We do need to talk after all,” he replied. Discord then turned to the two of us. “Er, Princess, do you mind if Tirek and I have a moment?” Celestia considered for a moment, clearly in two minds. Discord had after all, implied he would do something terrible if let near the centaur again. Catching her eye, I gestured to her to allow it.
“Very well, Discord,” she said at length. “Roger and I will be near Sombra’s cell. Come and find us when you are done.” The two of us then left Discord and Tirek alone, and headed across Tartarus to where Sombra now resided.
Once again, Celestia declined to join me in visiting Sombra in his cell, claiming that her presence would colour his reactions and responses. So I ended up going in alone, only this time unannounced.
I had hoped my unscheduled arrival would at least give me a fleeting glimpse of the real Sombra, seeing what he did when left to his own devices. However, when I entered the large cavern, I found the dark king standing just behind the metal bars, waiting for me no doubt. Behind him was an image at least, of the throne room of the Crystal palace, as it appeared during his reign. He regarded me coolly with those piercing red eyes as I walked in.
“You really should consider investing in some better quality shoes, Roger,” he commented. His use of my first name unsettled me. “I know you species’ feet require protection as mine do, but I could hear those soles clanking all the way in here. You should visit Soft Step’s shoe shop. He’s a cobbler in the Crystal Empire, and quite a talented one too. I’m sure he could adapt his work to make something suitable for you.” I took the jab in my stride. I was in no mood for games.
“What did you do to Tirek?” I asked bluntly. I expected Sombra to admonish me or throw out some vague hint. Instead, he actually answered for once.
“I merely saw that he received just punishment,” he replied. “I despise rude ponies, Roger. But I also cannot abide thieves. That and, personally, I find the centaur to be rather insulting.” That piqued my interest.
“Insulting?” I asked.
“Tirek uses, or did use, dark magic in order to take magic from the ponies of Equestria,” he explained. “With that magic, he could have done anything he wished. He had the chance to rule the world. And then he squandered it all.” The dark stallion shook his head in dismay, making his lion like mane sway somewhat. “He could have erased Canterlot from existence, and instead he left his foes to themselves and destroyed a small section of forest. It is that act of pure idiocy that wounds me most.”
“So you cast a fear spell on him?” Again, Sombra nodded.
“If you wish to use such a juvenile term, yes. But I spent a good portion of my time simply chatting with him. It’s amazing how emotionally fragile he really is.” He smiled again, exposing his sharp looking fangs that had no place on an equine. “I was surprised you lifted the spell. Would it really make much of a difference given his current sentence?”
“That is not your call to make, Sombra,” I replied.
“In prisons on your world, didn’t fellow inmates harm, and even kill one another though?”
“They didn’t force each other to see their worst fears over and over.” Sombra smiled and began to walk away. I got up to leave, thinking that he had said all he wished, but Sombra called me back.
“Oh, before you go, do take this. I think your colt will find it interesting.” The hairs on the back of my neck stood up at that.
Rule number one of being a solicitor; never talk about family or friends, ever. You don’t talk about where you live, where they work, go to school, or anything else. Just in case. I had never told Sombra about my son, Blade Star, never mind his interest and research into dark magic. Wheeling round, I faced the unicorn king. He looked me in the eye, knowing he had rattled me. He passed me a large tome with his magic, which I took in my unsteady hands. I then immediately left and headed back to Celestia and Discord. Sombra watched me all the way; I could feel his eyes on me until the last.
I found Discord and Celestia just outside of Sombra’s cell. Sadly, I had missed Discord’s dismissal of Tirek as something to concern him. That, however, was beside the point. Sombra had done this to get our, or possibly even my, attention. I quickly found myself back in the throne room in Canterlot, explaining what had happened to the princess.
“Sombra is up to something, your highness,” I declared. “Whatever he did to Tirek, it was not in the name of justice. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if it served no purpose at all. He wanted to speak to me again to throw this at me.” I handed her the large, old tome Sombra had ‘gifted’ me to give to my son. Celestia examined the book closely before replying.
“I would agree with your assumptions about Sombra’s action,” she said gravely. “It would not surprise me if Tirek did nothing at all to set him off. He might have just done what he did in order to amuse himself. However, his knowledge of your family is indeed troubling. I do not believe for a moment that anypony is in imminent danger though. Sombra was only able to harm Tirek since the two are within line of sight of each other. You can rest assured that Sombra cannot reach your family here in Equestria.” I breathed a sigh of relief.
“So why did he do it then? He must have some sort of plan in the works.” I’d known from the moment that I met him, that Sombra was horribly intelligent. At a rough guess his IQ was probably somewhere around one hundred and eighty.
We knew little of how he thought. Of course, it was obvious that he was a psychopath; unable to feel emotions or empathize. But I couldn’t really say how his mind worked. Attempts had been made to analyse several inhabitants of Tartarus, with little success. But while Tirek and other more violent prisoners simply howled and raged at doctors and ripped up any tests they were given, Sombra calmly folded them into origami; evidently at some point he studied oriental culture.
“Sombra has little to gain from such an exercise,” Celestia replied. “The Crystal Empire is beyond reclamation, and his strength, whilst still more than most unicorns, is a shadow of his original power. I wouldn’t be surprised if Twilight could handle him on her own now.”
“What is the book he gave me anyway?” I asked. I was admittedly a little curious. My son studies theoretical dark magic as a sort of side project. He occasionally practices some very basic spells, but does no more than the odd one for analysis purposes. The effects of prolonged use are…well, we only need to look at Sombra to see them.
“‘A Study in Crystal Magic’ by Obsidian Glass,” Celestia read. “It’s a study of the magical crystals within the Empire, looking at how they react to varying forms of magic. It goes on to speculate on the Crystal Heart.”
“It doesn’t sound like it has much to do with dark magic,” I replied. “Why would Sombra think it would interest my son?” Celestia sent the book back to me, wrapped in the golden hue of her magic.
Out of habit, I flicked through the pages. It was mostly very small writing, with a few plates showing what I think were magical equations. Nothing to suggest a malign intent, but nothing to alleviate my concerns either. As I continued to search for an answer, Celestia spoke up.
“Have you considered that this may well be just another wild pony chase?” Celestia asked. “You said yourself that you believed Sombra was toying with you when he asked for you. Perhaps this is all just an elaborate game to him. He sends you down dozens of dead ends searching for a threat where none exists. And all the time, you are in fear of him.” I stopped my frenzied reading and vain search for clues.
She did make a good point. After all, this was a pony that had spent a millennium trapped in ice as a shadow. Like Discord, he was talented when it came to the long game. Was that the reason he had first summoned me? Entertainment? Was I that easy a mark?
At first, I wanted to deny such an idea, and continue searching for whatever Da Vinci like hint there was. But Celestia did make a good point. Sombra’s actions did nothing to help him. As a psychopath, he was incapable of showing true kindness. But, as was seen with what he did to Tirek, he did do a good job of making his own twisted fun.
“I suppose that does make sense, your highness. The best thing to do then is to ignore him. Next time he asks for me, he’ll probably try something new anyway. But think we can ignore him for the moment.”
“I’m glad that you think so, my advisor.” I bowed and prepared to leave the throne room. “Oh, speaking of letting things go,” Celestia said, causing me to stop where I was and turn around. “I’m glad you were able to help Discord see reason today. It is a dangerous thing for a pony to get wrapped up in a need for vengeance.”
Taking the train back down the mountain to Ponyville, I was still in two minds in regards to Sombra. Celestia did make sense; he couldn’t get out or do much directly, so he was trying to mess with my head instead. On the other hand though, Celestia didn’t believe that Tirek would ever be a threat until he got out.
Skimming over the pages of the old tome now in my possession, I resolved to opt for a middle ground. There was little I could do right now, and at this precise moment, I had no reason to be worried. However, as I said before, having been kept in ice for a thousand years, Sombra is undoubtedly patient when it comes to his plans. He was up to something, I just didn’t know what.
It was almost completely dark by the time the train finally pulled into Ponyville’s railway station. Celestia had probably lowered the sun and passed the safety of Equestria over to her sister not five minutes earlier. It was quite overcast tonight, though that was to be expected given the time of year. And, of course, the Weather Patrol was still removing the remains of all the snow Dash had inadvertently thrown at them; a task that was best achieved through the natural method of melting it and turning it into rain clouds.
Stepping down from the carriage, I bade a good night to the conductor and began to head into town. Usually, I would just head straight home. However, tonight I had an extra stop to make. I was going to pay call on Twilight; regardless of the book’s seemingly benign nature, I wanted her to run a battery of tests on it before I put it anywhere near my son.
The unusual castle that Twilight now calls her home shone noticeably against the darkening horizon. She usually kept the place open to all. I found the front door open and after heading past her version of King Arthur’s Round Table, made my way into the large library, where she spent most of her time.
“Twilight?” I called out. “Are you in here?” Somewhere towards the far end, a few piles of books shifted and the small purple alicorn pony emerged. Evidently she’d been engrossed in one of her study sessions. Following up behind her, was her assistant, Spike, the baby dragon.
“Oh, hey, Roger,” Twilight greeted. “What brings you here?”
Now obviously, I had to tell Twilight where I had gotten this book from. But Celestia had asked me, for reasons that I still don’t fully understand, to not mention Sombra. I had of course, protested at that. Why the hell would she not keep Twilight in the loop about one of Equestria’s foes that she helped defeat? However, the princess was resolute in her decision, asking me to trust in her good judgement. While I wasn’t entirely happy with that, she was several centuries my senior, and my boss. So, I compromised.
“I came across this book in Tartarus, Twilight,” I said. See, technically that’s the truth. “It seems like the sort of thing you or Bones might be interested in. But I figured it would be best if I let you double check it for magic or enchantments. We don’t want a repeat of that ‘Inspiration Manifestation’ spell after all.” Twilight nodded. I let her take the book in her pink coloured magic.
“Hmm, this is interesting,” Twilight said, after she had finished reading a few pages. “I don’t think I remember coming across this in the library in the Crystal Empire. Spike?” She turned to her assistant/little brother/son/pet. “Do we have any record of this book? I’d swear that I’ve never read it before.” Spike briefly took a look at the ancient tome.
“You would know, Twilight,” he replied jokingly. “You’ve read every book in this castle at least five times.” That got him a glare from the Princess of Friendship. “I think you’re right though. I don’t remember seeing this here either. And we have the whole catalogue from Cadence.” Twilight’s brow furrowed. There was a conundrum to be solved.
“I guess you were right to bring that here, Roger,” she said. “Ordinarily I’d just say it must have been misfiled or something. But the fact that you found this in Tartarus is a reason to worry. Give me a couple of days, and I should be able to give it a thorough once over.”
“Thank you, Twilight,” I said, smiling. “I appreciate the help. I know you have enough on your plate as it is with that map sending you all over the shop.” For some reason though, Twilight frowned at that. “Anyway, I best get going. Thanks again for the help.” I then left the two, heading back outside and on towards home.
I got home and found she who must be obeyed in the kitchen working on the dinner. I was noticeably later than I usually was, and I was starting to feel quite tired. Honestly, some days are almost exactly like my days back on Earth when I had my own firm, commuted four hours each day, and usually dragged home a metric ton of paperwork.
“I’m back!” I called as I closed the front door and hung up my coat on the nearby hanger.
“You’re home late,” my wife responded. “Busy day?” Ah yes, our usual discussion when I got back. ‘How was your day with the pastel coloured ponies, dear?’
“Sort of. One of the prisoners in Tartarus raised hell. Me and Discord had to fetch Celestia to help us break it up. I tell you, it’s like custody cells on a Friday night down there sometimes.” That quickly brought my wife running out of the kitchen and straight out to me, fussing like a mother hen.
“What was it? What happened?” she asked. Undoubtedly, she wanted to know, partly due to actual concern for my safety, but also so she could use it as evidence to stop me having to go down there. As such, I didn’t tell her about how the supposedly dead pony Hitler had attacked a magic sucking sociopath by making him see his worst fears come to life.
“Just a couple of them taking swings at each other. We just needed Celestia to help reverse a few magical effects.” Really, aside from the terrifying nature of Sombra’s dark magic, it was just a fight between inmates, and you saw that routinely in the drunk tank.
I’m not saying Tartarus isn’t dangerous; because it is, and quite scary at times. But I’m quite safe down there. Knowing Discord, he’s usually never far away, and Celestia has to be close to watch and maintain the portal to and from Equestria. Over my career, I have had clients kick off on me. I even accidentally got hit by pepper spray once when one guy just went haywire in the interview room. It’s a risk, yes, but there is always security. If worst comes to worst, I can just yell for Cerberus. All the denizens of Tartarus are scared of him, even Sombra.
“You know I worry about you going in there,” she replied. I wrapped an arm round her in a hug.
“Oh come on, it’s no worse than back on Earth. And none of those fruitcakes are gypsy glue boilers that cut their brother’s head off when they get in a fight over a football.” True story that is. That got her to roll her eyes.
“Still doesn’t mean I have to like it,” she said in a sing song voice. I changed the subject, I didn’t want to keep thinking about Sombra, or any of the other nutters I deal with on a regular basis.
“So how was your day, anyway?” I asked. The two of us began to walk back to the kitchen, which also doubled as the dining room.
“Oh, you know; same old, same old,” my wife replied. “They’re certainly a lot better behaved than those buggers back at St. Michael’s!” I laughed at that, and before long, we sat down to dinner.
My wife is an excellent cook, for the record. I can cook, sort of, and I do from time to time. But she’s always been more talented at that sort of thing. Equestria doesn’t really have much in the way of processed foods. They do exist, of course. But out here in the sticks, most of our food is bought from the local market. All of that is fresh produce, all very Cotswolds.
The only thing we can’t get as easily of course is meat. Ponies are herbivores by nature after all, although pegasi do occasionally go in for fish. To get around that issue, Fluttershy kindly volunteered to keep us supplied, and in turn I gave her a little money to keep her feed stocks up. Despite her sweet nature, she’s quite skilled when it comes to gutting and dressing animals. She has a whole shed behind her cottage filled with deer carcasses for goodness sake! They all died naturally, mind you. I don’t even want to think about what the normally shy little pegasus would do if anypony tried to go hunting any of her animal friends.
We were just about to have dessert; my wife’s homemade sticky toffee pudding, when there was a knock at the door.
“I’ll get it,” I said, dabbing my mouth with a napkin so that I looked at least somewhat civilised.
Heading out down the hall to our large front door, I quickly undid the deadbolt and opened the door to let whoever it was in. However, to my surprise, initially there seemed to be no one there.
“Er, hello?” I called, looking out. I was expecting Discord to jump out at any moment to scare the living daylights out of me. And ask if he could crash on our couch. Again. As it turned out, it wasn’t Discord though.
“Down here,” a young voice called. Looking down I realised that my visitor was Spike. The baby dragon is small compared to the ponies, so you can imagine how easy it can be to accidentally overlook him when you’re 5’10. I stepped back a moment and bent down.
“Oh, hey there, Spike. What brings you out here this late?” I asked kindly. The purple dragon held up a pair of golden tickets in his claw.
“The princess sent these with Twilight’s invitation. There’s one for you, and one for Margaret too.” Taking the two tickets from him, I looked them over. There was only one thing these could really be if they came from Celestia herself. I promptly read the writing on the ticket.
“Admit one – Grand Galloping Gala,” I read. My eyebrows might have shot up a bit. “Wow, thanks for this, Spike.” The dragon merely smiled before saying he needed to head back to the castle for bed, he is still a youngster after all.
Closing the door again, I quickly headed back to my wife, who had just about polished off her dessert, and was already pouring herself a coffee.
“Who was that then, dear?” she asked.
“Spike,” I replied. “He was delivering these; came through his fire breath.” I put the two tickets on the table. “We’ve been invited to the Gala.”