The Riddle of Flame
The Riddle of Flame
“-proceed to their designated rally points and await further instructions. We repeat; the capitol city is under attack by forces unknown. By order of the City Watch, all civilians outside Canterlot are instructed to remain as far away from the city as possible. Civilians inside the city walls should follow the instructions of the city watch, remain off the streets and indoors, only escaping if it is safe to do so. All Royal Guards and City Watch officers are to proceed to their designated rally points and await further instructions. We repeat-”
By the time Luna and Celestia had climbed down from the roof, the cheering had stopped and the party had sobered up almost instantly. The thumping party music fell silent as the radio broadcast repeated a canned emergency message to an audience frozen in rapt terror.
“By order of the City Watch, all civilians outside Canterlot are instructed to remain as far away from the city as possible. Civilians inside the city walls should remain in hiding and escape only if it is safe to do so. All Royal Guards and City Watch officers are to-”
The radio cut to static and a wave of hushed panic rippled through the crowd gathered around the radio.
“Boy, they really go all out for their anniversary celebrations in Canterlot, don’t they?” Celestia said, loudly and with forced nonchalance. “Hey, who wants to play Go Home and Hug Your Loved Ones Without Causing a Panic? Because that’s a fun game, let me tell you! C'mon, let's go! Party's over!”
With Luna’s help, Celestia gently started herding the fearful partygoers towards the front door. Panicking inside an enclosed space would spell disaster for everypony in the house and the quicker everypony got back to their own homes, the safer everypony would be.
“Luna!”
Luna turned to see Chrysalis, Sombra and a disoriented Cadence fighting their way through the crowd to where Luna stood.
“Oooh…not so loud,” Cadence moaned, rubbing her temples with her hooves. “What’s going on?”
“We’re not sure, but we think that the world is coming to an end,” Sombra said as Celestia bolted the door shut and closed the shades.
“You think?” Cadence said.
“We’re getting a second opinion,” Sombra said, turning to Luna. “There’s something you’re not telling us, isn’t there?”
“What are you talking about?” Luna said evasively. “What makes you think I know any more than you do?"
“We know, Luna,” Sombra said. “Chrysalis told us about you and Princess Twilight.”
“You told them?!” Luna said, rounding on Chrysalis.
“Sorry, love, but given the circumstances I thought it was appropriate,” Chrysalis said. “I thought if anypony would know what’s going on, it would be you.”
“Wait…I’m a little lost here,” Cadence said blearily. “What’s this about Luna and Princess Twilight?”
“Apparently Luna is Princess Twilight’s personal protégée,” Sombra said. “And it just so happens that Princess Twilight sent her to Fillydelphia with a military escort on the same day Canterlot got attacked by giant flaming heads. Quite a coincidence, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Is that true, Luna?” Cadence asked.
“It’s a bit more complicated than that but…yes, that’s basically true,” Luna admitted. “I had a feeling something like this might happen but-”
“Wait, you knew Canterlot was going to be attacked?!” Sombra spluttered. “Why didn’t you tell anypony?!”
“I did; believe me, I tried!” Luna groaned. “I had a theory that Tirek was going to make a comeback today but nopony believed me! Princess Twilight even went as far as to banish me from the city because she thought I was losing my mind!”
“S-so what happens now?” Cadence said.
“You must have some kind of...plan or something if you knew this was going to happen!” Chrysalis said.
“My plan was to tell Princes Twilight so that she could come up with a better plan!” Luna said. “I’m not exactly a military genius here and I never expected to have to deal with this problem myself!”
“Are you sure Princess Twilight didn’t say anything to you?” Sombra asked. “Did she send you with a list or set of instructions in case, oh I don’t know, monsters started crawling out of the ground and attacking the capital city?!”
“Just a letter,” Luna said, levitating her saddlebag from the table and fishing the crumpled letter from Princess Twilight out of the bag. “Read it if you want but it’s pretty much just Princess Twilight going on about what a gigantic embarrassment I am and how she doesn’t want to teach me anymore.”
“Oh, I don’t think it’s that ba-oh...” Chrysalis trailed off as she read the note over Sombra's shoulder. “Oh honey, I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, I’m not exactly the teacher’s pet at the moment,” Luna groaned, flopping into a kitchen chair and burying her face in her hooves.
“I honestly expected better out of one of our leaders,” Sombra clucked disapprovingly as he read the letter. “She didn’t even have the courtesy to spell check your banishment notice!”
“She doesn’t have to spell check it; perfect Princess Twilight doesn’t make mistakes!” Luna huffed, feeling her frustration at her former mentor grow.
“Oh then I suppose she wanted you to take this letter to heat?” Sombra laughed. "Yeah, just light the letter on fire why don't-hey!"
Luna snatched the letter away from Sombra and scanned it frantically. She ran her hooves over the page, holding the letter up to the light and sniffing it intently. Then, with a flash of inspiration in her eye, she dashed over to the stove, kicked on the burners and tossed the letter into the flames.
“What are you doing?!” Sombra cried.
“Princess Twilight doesn’t make typos!” Luna said, watching the flames slowly devour the letter. “Do you know what this means?”
“We have to destroy the evidence so that the world will never know that Princess Twilight is secretly a terrible speller?!” Celestia said.
“If she told me to take this letter to heat then that’s exactly what she meant!” Luna said, watching the paper shrivel up into ash.
“I don’t think "take it to heat" means throw it into an open flame!” Chrysalis said. “Luna, what on earth is-”
Suddenly, the propane flame on the stove went from light blue to dark green as the last of the letter went up in smoke. The flames grew higher, leaping off the stove in a jet of emerald light that shimmered and shifted, throwing strange shadows on the wall as it moved.
“What the hell is that?” Celestia said.
“Dragonink,” Luna said, watching the emerald flames flicker and dance in the kitchen air. “Made out of the enchanted blood of dragons. Rare stuff…unless you happen to have a live dragon you can borrow some from.”
“Y-you mean the Duke of Canterlot?” Cadence asked. "What could be important enough that Princess Twilight spill her friend's blood?"
“Dragonink is perfect for sending hiddenmessages,” Luna said. “Completely undetectable by almost all mundane and magical means but when the ink is exposed to an open source of fire and the parchment it’s written on is destroyed-”
The green flame suddenly surged across the kitchen towards a blank wall opposite the stove, smashing into the wall in a wave of emerald heat.
“Quick, get a fire extinguisher!” Chrysalis said as the flames licked at the fresh coat of purple paint.
“NO!” Luna cried. “It’s not going to burn anything! It’s going to-”
The flames coalesced at a single point on the wall, a glowing green pinprick that seared into the paint. Then, as if guided by a phantom hand, the flames began furiously scribbling glowing green words into the wall.
“Pen! Paper!” Luna cried, grabbing a pen from her saddlebag and ripping a sheet of paper towels off of the roll on the counter.
“Luna, what does this-”
“Shh!” Luna hissed as she frantically copied the glowing text on the wall. “I need to get this down! Once dragonink delivers its message it-”
The green fire trailed off at the end of a long line. As soon as it finished writing, the letters on the wall all flashed green for a brief moment and then disappeared, leaving no trace of their existence on the eerily cool wall.
“-disappears,” Luna finished, shaking out the paper towel that now contained the only copy of Princess Twilight’s message.
“Did you get it all?” Sombra asked.
“Please,” Luna laughed. “You don’t study under Princess Twilight for fifteen years and not learn how take notes quickly. Her Highness will talk a mile a minute if you let her and she doesn’t like to explain herself twice.”
“So what did she say?” Sombra asked. “What was so important that it warranted all this cloak and dagger?”
“I guess we’ll find out,” Luna said, clearing her throat as she began to read the dragonink message.
When Autumn leaves fell astray
And Apple’s Orchards barren lay
And gusts and gales chill’d the air
Then Trixie battled with the Bear.
One blust’ry day in early fall
St. Trixie heeded the twilight’s call
And rode for nights to travel where
The townsfolk battled with the Bear
Nine hundred hands the Bear stood high
Its claws and fangs did rend the sky
And shake the stars and moonbeams down
To crash and shatter upon the town.
Came Trixie then with eyes aflame
With mighty skill and deadly aim
She charged the beast and loosed a flare
To devastate the awful Bear.
The rocket flew as fast as fate
It spiraled forward, true and straight
With a booming, bursting battle cry
It cast the beast into the sky.
The thief of stars howled in rage
As the sky above became a cage
To bind it fast and hold it there
To save the world from the Bear.
Then as quickly as she came
St. Trixie turned and did proclaim
“Mine foe is truly dead and gone.”
And rode away before the dawn.
When Autumn leaves fell astray
And Apple’s Orchards barren lay
And gusts and gales chill’d the air
Then Trixie battled with the Bear.
“Th-that’s it?!” Luna squawked as she finished reading the message. “What the hell is this supposed to be?!”
“Well, I’m no expert dear,” Chrysalis said, squinting at the paper. “But I think that’s supposed to be a poem.”
“I know it’s supposed to be a poem!” Luna snapped. “What is it doing scribbled in dragonink on Princess Twilight’s letter to me?!”
“Maybe she thought you needed more culture in your life?” Cadence suggested.
“I can’t believe this,” Luna groaned. “Is this some kind of joke?! She spilled dragon blood and spent days distilling dragonink out of it just to send me a crummy little poem?!”
“Well that’s not very nice,” Cadence said. “It’s not the best poem I’ve ever heard but I think it has some very nice imagery...”
“I don’t care if it’s the best poem in the world!” Luna screeched. “Why did Princess Twilight waste all that time writing it?! Why did she go through the trouble of hiding it in magical ink?! And most importantly, what good is it supposed to do me now that I'm exiled to a crummy little town in East Trixie Nowhere?!”
“Okay, now you’re just being rude,” Chrysalis huffed.
“This is so stupid!” Luna huffed. “She could have just written out what she wanted me to do but nooooo; someone was feeling obtuse! I’m not even a poetry fan so even if this was supposed to reference something, I have no idea what it means! I would have to spend all day in the library, poring over stacks of poetry texts just to…the library!”
“The library?” Sombra asked.
“In the letter!” Luna said. “Princess Twilight mentioned the Fillydelphia Public Library, right?”
“Well, yes but-” Sombra said.
“So she must want me to go look for something in the library!” Luna said.
“Luna there isn’t-” Cadence said, trying to get a word in edgewise as Luna quickly began gathering her things in a saddlebag.
“All I have to do is go rooting through the poetry section!” Luna said. “I’m sure, Princess Twilight left me some more information in a secret location at the Fillydelphia Public Library, right?!”
“Luna…there is no Fillydelphia Public Library!” Chrysalis said.
“What are you talking about?” Luna said, stopping on her way out of the kitchen. “What kind of town doesn’t have a public library?”
“The kind that hires a fourth rate contractor to build a library on a riverbank,” Sombra said.
“It was a very pretty building,” Cadence said. “It had a lovely balcony overlooking the river where students used to…er…pretend to study."
"But the foundation turned out to be less than steady," Sombra added. "One bad rainstorm and the whole thing fell into the river. Waterlogged pages are still being found downstream.”
“Everything went digital after that and what few books they could save were sent to other libraries or sold off,” Chrysalis said. “I’m surprised Princess Twilight didn’t know that.”
“She had to have known!” Luna said, pacing the kitchen anxiously. “She comes here every year and I think she would have noticed if an entire library went missing!”
“Then why did she tell you to go poking around in a library that doesn’t exist anymore?” Celestia asked.
“I don’t know!” Luna cried. “It doesn’t make any sense! If she wanted me to do something, she should have just told me instead of being so needlessly opaque! How am I supposed to find what she’s looking for if I can’t find the books that…she…wanted me to…?”
Luna trailed off, glancing around the kitchen distractedly. Her eyes roamed over countertops and under tables, she got up and flung a few cabinets open, she stuck her head in the living room and returned with a glint of realization in her eyes.
“Where are the books?” Luna asked.
“What books?” Celestia asked as her sister scrambled out of the kitchen and into the living room. Celestia shared a worried look with the others as they followed Luna into the living room to find her upending sofas and rummaging through cabinets.
“The books!” Luna said, levitating the coffee table and checking behind the sofa. “Any book! I haven’t seen a single book in this house since I got here! Not a coffee table book, not a dictionary, not a questionably virtuous gentlemare’s magazine; nothing!”
“So?” Chrysalis said. “Lots of houses don’t have that many books.”
“Lots of houses don’t belong to Princess Twilight!” Luna said. “Princess Twilight decorates every inch of her palace in books. She builds bookshelves out of books. She carries a book with her in her saddlebag at all times! She built a small library in her bathroom for crying out loud and yet somehow, in the house she vacations at every year, there isn’t a single book in sight except for the-”
A flash of realization flickered across Luna’s face and she was up the stairs before anypony could stop her.
“Does she ever finish her thoughts?” Sombra asked. “Or is she just going to keep running off mid sentence?”
Celestia led the four of them up the stairs and down the hall towards Luna’s room where frantic rustling and labored gasps could be heard coming out of her door.
“Luna, what’s going-eep!” Cadence cried, ducking suddenly as a book sailed past her, narrowly missing the side of her head. They cautiously stuck their heads in the room to see Luna dismantling the bookshelf that rested against the back wall of her bedroom, yanking whole stacks of books out with single-minded determination.
“Luna, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Celestia asked.
“Books!” Luna cried, tossing a copy of The Canterlot Tales to Celestia. “The only books in this house are books of poetry! And that’s not all!”
Luna cracked open a book of limericks to see Property of the Fillydelphia Public Library stamped on the inside jacket.
“They’re all from the Fillydelphia Public Library!” Luna said, pulling another shelf of books down. “Princess Twilight must’ve rescued them before the library sank! And they’re all in this one spot which means…ah-ha! Look!”
Celestia stooped down to examine the bookcase as her sister illuminated the space behind it with light from her horn. At first, she couldn’t see anything remarkable but a closer look revealed something etched into the wood paneling behind the bookshelf.
“What is it?” Cadence said. “What do you see?”
“It’s…a moon?” Celestia said, peering closely at the crescent moon carved into the wood with a star tipped wand running through it. “Wait, is that-”
“The Mark of St. Trixie!” Luna exclaimed. “Cutie marks actually had some cultural significance back then and a mare like St. Trixie would have pressed her mark into everything she owned! It was like a signature or sign that she was here!”
“This house isn’t that old though,” Sombra said. “Are you saying St. Trixie was here?”
“Not St. Trixie,” Luna said, lowering her horn to touch the mark on the wall. A soft, silvery glow of magic trickled out of Luna’s horn and flowed through the etching like water filling a bowl. The mark glowed blue for a moment and then a tiny door opened around it, revealing a hidden compartment behind the bookcase. “But somepony who knew her built this place.”
“There wouldn’t happen to be a tyrant slaying super sword in there, would there?” Celestia said as Luna dug her hoof in to alcove in the wall.
“Better!” Luna said, retrieving a thick, leatherbound book bulging with fragile, yellowing parchment. "It's a book!"
“I think I’d rather have the sword,” Sombra said. "Unless that book is heavy enough to bludgeon Tirek to death with."
Luna blew the thick layer of dust of the cover of the book to reveal the same crescent and wand markings. Gingerly, she cracked open the cover and a sheaf of paper slipped out of the pages and on to the floor.
“What is it?” Celestia asked as Luna carefully opened the paper. “What did you find?”
“Letters,” Luna replied, scanning the text with widening eyes. “I think...I think these were written to Princess Twilight!”
“These aren't recent correspondence, I take it,” Chrysalis said, gingerly poking the fraying yellow paper with her hoof. “Who knows how long these letters have been here?”
“What do they say?” Celestia asked. “Are they some kind of super spell or fireworks recipie that will help us defeat Tirek?”
“Doubtful, but there’s only one way to find out for sure,” Luna said, clearing her throat as she began to read. “To my dearest friend and mentor, Her Royal Highness Princess Twilight Sparkle…”
I thank you for the extra security you sent along with the artifact but I hardly think that they’ll do much to protect it or me if I am unsuccessful. I doubt that I myself am up to the task you put before me and I don’t think that the handful of court mages you sent me will be able to accomplish anything should I fail.
I am flattered that you thought of me but I question how much help I can be in this situation. If you yourself were incapable of purifying the Rainbow of Darkness I hardly think that I will be more successful. True, your study of warding and countermagic is beginning to slip a little but the fact remains that my skills with magic are far behind
Never mind.
I have never shirked away from a challenge before and I am not about to start now. I shall, as you request, attempt to heal the artifact so that it may one day be used for the benefit of Equestria. I shall have to be careful for now my laboratory is surrounded by settlers and farmers looking to capitalize on the fertile riverland. This budding township makes experimenting with greater powers a far more difficult proposition as now, I find myself responsible for the lives of those around me.
I will begin at once and shall keep you posted as I progress. If I should succeed, I will be in Canterlot immediately. Should I fail, you will no doubt notice an earth shattering kaboom and will likely not hear from me again.
T.
“T?” Chrysalis asked.
“St. Trixie!” Luna cried, spying the same moon and wand seal at the bottom of the page. “It has to be! Sh-she must’ve written these letters to Princess Twilight before she died!”
“That, or her spirit has excellent penmanship,” Sombra said dryly, earning him a scowl from Luna.
“But what’s this about a “rainbow of darkness?” Celestia asked. “Rainbows are manufactured hard-light structures used to link pegasi cities to the ground. They can’t be made of darkness; that’s an oxymoron!”
“Maybe it’s a metaphor?” Cadence suggested. “Maybe it was some kind of item that Tirek just named the Rainbow of Darkness?”
“Maybe it was meant to be ironic?” Chrysalis suggested.
"Maybe it was more of a symbol than an actual weapon?" Sombra said.
“Or maybe you should let Luna read the next letter so we can learn more?” Luna said, gingerly unfolding the next fragile piece of paper. “To my Dear Princess Twilight…”
I have succeeded…in a fashion.
The Rainbow of Darkness has lost its malignant properties but in the process, I fear a bulk of its power has been lost. In order to prevent it from reshaping itself as an evil artifact, I was forced to break it and reform it into five inert fragments of their former power. Neither good nor evil, they rest waiting for a skillful mind to once again harness their power.
I have tried (unsuccessfully) to tap into the dormant power of these Rainbow Shards (a term I use to define these broken pieces of Tirek’s power) but despite my best efforts is seems that the shards will not work for me. I cannot draw on their power at all and no matter what spell I employ, the pieces remain unresponsive. They are a kind of negative space for magic; a great zero that multiplies itself by whatever I throw at it and completely nullifies my spells.
How an artifact that once enslaved our people could so suddenly become a pile of harmless rocks is beyond me but I doubt it was my work that did this. It is entirely possible that Tirek designed his Rainbow of Darkness so that it could never be broken up and used against him. If that is the case, then it would be best to keep these pieces hidden away as best as we are able in the unthinkable event that Tirek or one of his generals manages to return.
I am sending the Rainbow Shards to you directly in the hopes that you might be able to coax some good out of them or at the very least, protect the Shards in case anything evil tried to use them. With any luck, their inertia is only a sign that greater powers than mine are required to use them.
I eagerly await your correspondence as there is little to do in this part of Equestria besides bale hay and buck apples.
T.
“Wait wait wait,” Sombra said. “Is she talking about the Rainbow Shards?”
“You’ve heard of them?” Celestia asked.
“Every jeweler and crystalsmith has,” Sombra said. “Five gems of impossible purity said to have amazing magical powers. But they’re supposed to be a myth like El Dorado or the Sword in the Stone!”
“All myths have basis in reality,” Luna said.
“Yeah but I never expected to find a letter detailing their creation in a friend’s house,” Sombra said, peering into the empty alcove in the wall. “They aren’t here are they?”
“I doubt Princess Twilight or St. Trixie would just stash items of great magical power in the walls of a vacation house,” Celestia said, pulling the next letter off the pile. “Maybe this next letter has some kind of clue as to where they might be?”
“It’s more likely that they’re in some vault in Canterlot somewhere,” Luna said, turning her attention to the letter. “My dearest princess-”
“Ooh, that’s familiar,” Cadence chimed in. “She went from “Dear Princess Twilight” in the last letter to “My Dearest Princess” in this one. I wonder what happened between them to cause such a...intimate shift in tone?"
"I'm sorry, are you suggesting Princess Twilight and St. Trixie were an item?!" Luna gasped indignantly.
"It makes sense if you think about it," Cadence said, eyes filling with stars.
"Oh here we go," Sombra sighed
"Two of the most powerful mages in Equestrian history, working late nights developing new magic spells as they grow closer together!" Cadence sighed, her mind running wild with the possibilities. "A forbidden student teacher relationship between a fiery young spellweaver and her master! Two mares spending precious time together before time inevitably rips the young sorceress from the Princess' warm embrace!"
“Th-that’s ridiculous!” Luna scoffed. “Princess Twilight is the most professional mare in the entire world; she would never...fraternize with a student centuries younger than she was!”
“I never said they were “fraternizing,” Cadence shrugged. “I'm just saying that they probably f-”
“MY DEAREST PRINCESS!” Luna yelled, stuffing her hooves in her ears. “I AM SURPRISED TO LEARN-”
I am surprised to learn that you were unable to put the Rainbow Shards to use. I half expected to learn that the other princesses would have difficulty with them (as they lack the same interest in magic that you and I possess) but I thought you, of all ponies, might have been capable of harnessing their power. It seems that their mysteries are beyond our collective magical talents.
I do not know what there is to do with them at this point. I shall endeavor to keep them out of the wrong hooves as long as possible but we must entertain the possibility that the Rainbow Shards can be only used for evil purposes. To that end, I think we must work together make sure that Tirek’s followers do not come into possession of them.
I have some ideas; ideas that I know you will disapprove of so I will not share them with you just yet. I will keep you updated on my progress.
Otherwise things here are going well, the burgeoning township has been christened "Fillydelphia" and despite our lack of common interests, the townsfolk are an amicable sort who were easily impressed by fireworks display. I was even invited to attend some kind of rural harvest ritual called a "hoedown" later today. I confess, I have no idea what this is but if they are planning on sacrificing me to appease an old god and bolster their harvest season, I daresay our relationship will end on a sour note.
T.
“Wait, seriously?!” Sombra said. “The Princesses couldn’t use them either? Not even Princess Twilight? I thought she was a magical expert!”
“She is!” Luna said. “There’s so greater magical genius in the world!
“But St. Trixie said these might be “magical voids” or whatever, right?” Chrysalis said. "Maybe no amount of magic can affect them, no matter how powerful.”
“So then what happened to the Rainbow Shards?” Sombra said. "Where did they decide to store them?"
“Let’s read on,” Luna said, pulling out a fresher looking letter considerably newer than the rest. “Dearest Twilight-”
“Eeep!”Luna stopped as Cadence squeaked something incoherent through her hooves.
“Something you’d like to share with the class?” Luna sighed, glaring at Cadence from behind the letter. “Something about how the first two words of a letter indicates some kind of imaginary salacious relationship between Princess Twilight and St. Trixie?”
“N-no, that’s fine!” Cadence said, dreamily leaning forward with her chin on her hooves. “Please…go on!”
“As I was saying,” Luna said, turning back to the letter. “Dearest Twilight…”
I understand your concerns for my health and while I can think of a number of entertaining ways to convince you of my vitality, I fear I must confess that the last experiment took a little more out of me than I initially expected.
I fear that I do not have much time left on this earth.
I cannot say how long exactly I have but I intend to make the most of the time given to me. I have some loose ends to tie up here in Fillydelphia and then I wish to speak with you regarding the Rainbow Shards and how I might help to safeguard them in the future.
We shall meet again soon; I promise. I shall not leave you without a proper goodbye
Love,
T.
"See!" Cadence crowed, triumphantly snatching the letter away from Luna "Love! I was right!"
"Right, because goodness knows that there's no such thing as platonic love," Luna groused, snatching the letter back from the overexcited matchmaker.
“What do you think happened to her?” Celestia asked.
“It doesn’t say,” Luna replied, paging through the letters. “Everypony knows that St. Trixie died young but nobody ever knew why.”
"You don't think the townsfolk actually tried to sacrifice her, do you?" Chrysalis said. "Because I really don't want to live in a town that sacrifices beautiful virgins to maintain its fertility."
"If that's the case, I think you're in the clear," Celestia mumbled.
“You think these Rainbow Shards had something to do with it?” Cadence asked.
“Maybe,” Luna conceded. “But St. Trixie was an…eccentric mage to say the least. She was on the cutting edge of a lot of dangerous stuff. I could think of any number of spells she invented that might have contributed to an early death.”
“Still, it doesn’t sound like these Rainbow Shards are exactly safe,” Sombra said. "Are you sure you should be looking for them?"
“Is anything really “safe” anymore?” Luna countered, glancing out the window as frightened ponies milled nervously about in the streets.
“Point taken,” Sombra replied.
“Just one letter left,” Luna said, opening the parchment. “Maybe we’ll get some answers here…My dearest princess-”
“Ah-ha!”
“Cadence!”
“Sorry…”
“As I was saying,” Luna read on. “My dearest princess…”
Soon, I will depart this mortal world and journey forward to learn mysteries no living mage has ever known. Do not weep for me; the life I leave is without regrets and I part with a peaceful, easy soul.
I will take the Rainbow Shards with me into my tomb here in Fillydelphia to ensure that they do not fall into the wrong hooves. I have designed my grave to withstand all but the bravest, cleverest and wisest ponies and you may rest assured knowing that no thief will reach the Rainbow Shards alive. If you ever have need of them, you need only send worthy champions to brave my trials. Should they prove to be virtuous friends of Equestria, they will no doubt succeed.
I know not what waits for me across the misty waters of infinity but if some small part of me survives my death, know that I will always be watching over you. Whatever paradise lies beyond life is sure to be a pale, grey wasteland compared to the time I’ve spent in your loving embrace.
Yours, now and forever,
Trixie.
Luna folded the letter thoughtfully as a pregnant silence hung in the air.
“I…I don’t believe this,” Chrysalis said.
“I know…Princess Twilight and St. Trixie were lovers!” Cadence squealed gleefully. "Oh the mares at the Antiquarian Romance Society are not going to believe this!"
“Not that!” Luna said, feeling heat rise unbidden to her cheeks. “The Rainbow Shards! They’re here in Fillydelphia! That’s why Princess Twilight wanted me to come here! That’s why she “banished” me! She wants me to go into St. Trixie’s Tomb and retrieve the Rainbow Shards before Tirek can get his claws on them again! If we head out now then-”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Sombra said, holding his hooves up. “We?”
“Yes we!” Luna said. “Us! The group of ponies in this room right now! How much clearer do you want me to be?! We need to go get these things before-”
“Darling, you invited us here to have cookies and punch!” Chrysalis said. “We never signed on to go adventuring in haunted crypts!”
“Sorry, Luna, but I’m with Chrysalis,” Sombra said. “We should have been in hiding twenty minutes ago! I can’t go traipsing around chasing wild leads when there’s a monster on the loose!”
“Oh I see how it is,” Celestia snorted. “Yeah, eeeeeeverypony wants to party with the mares when the margarita machine is going but the second we ask you to do one little favor for us-”
“You’re asking us to go rooting around in an old sorceress’ grave!” Sombra said. “I don’t think that counts as a little favor!”
“But...I need your help!” Luna said, looking around at them helplessly. “I can’t do this on my own!”
“I’m sorry, Luna, but...this just isn’t our fight,” Chrysalis said.
“The hell it isn’t!” Luna cried, causing the others to flinch.
"Luna!" Celestia said. "Calm down!
“What do you think is going on here?" Luna said. "Do you seriously think that Tirek is going to lay waste to Canterlot and then just give up?! What makes you think you’re going to be safe if Tirek isn’t stopped? Do you think he’s just going to leave Fillydelphia alone and go back to Tartarus?”
“As soon as he's done with Canterlot he is going to push south until every mare, foal, and stallion in Equestria is under his hoof again. If the Princesses can’t stop him, we’re done; all of us. Every pony from here to Trottingham will be toiling in Tirek’s labor camps for the rest of our short miserable lives.”
“If we don’t so something now, we’re never going to get another chance to stop him. I don’t know if these Rainbow Shards can help us or not. But if there’s even the smallest chance that they can even the odds against Tirek then we have to make sure Princess Twilight and the others get them! It could be the edge they need to finish him off for good!”
“I know you guys just met me and I know I’m asking a lot of you but I have literally nopony else to turn to besides my sister and Shining Armor. I can’t do this by myself.”
“But what are we supposed to do?” Chrysalis said. “We’re not soldiers or star athletes or magical prodigies; we’re just regular ponies.”
“Regular ponies?!” Luna laughed. “Chrysalis, you’re practically a shapeshifter! You managed to fool someone who has seen Princess Twilight every single day for the past ten years!”
“Well…I suppose I can pull off illusion magic better than most unicorns," Chrysalis admitted.
“Sombra, I watched you crush a diamond with your bare hoof today!” Luna said.
“That was just an old earth pony knack,” Sombra protested. “Anyone can learn to do that; I’m just a jeweler!”
“And I’m supposed to go looking for jewelry!” Luna said. “You’ve got some of the keenest eyes I’ve ever seen and you think I couldn’t use them?!”
“Cadence you’re…you’re a little scary, I’ll be honest with you,” Luna said. “But you threw a mare across the lawn before I could blink!”
“I did?!” Cadence squeaked, blushing furiously. “Oh no, not again!”
“Look, the point is that you’re all so much more than you give yourselves credit for,” Luna said. “I’m not going to lie to you; I don’t expect that this is going to be an easy job by any stretch of the imagination. But we’re the only ones who can get it done. I don’t know if Princess Twilight is alive or dead at this point but I know that she trusted me to see this job through to the end.”
“The whole world is falling apart, but we have a real chance to set things right,” Luna said. “These Rainbow Shards could be the only thing that stands between the Equestrian people and another thousand years of slavery! I wish I could do this by myself, I really do, but the truth is I need help...I need your help.”
Luna trailed off as the three Fillydelphia natives shared awkward glances with one another. Somehow, Luna felt that she hadn’t given the rousing speech she thought she had.
“Look, Luna, we-” Sombra stopped short as his sister gasped. "What is it, Cadence?!"
“Hey…wait a second,” Cadence said, looking around suddenly. “Where’s Shining Armor?”
“He’s…wait, where is he?” Luna said, turning to her sister. “The last time I saw him was at the party downstairs; I haven’t seen him at all since the fireworks show!”
“You don’t think something happened to him, do you?” Cadence said
“I don’t think so,” Celestia said. “He’s a very capable stallion; he should be just-”
A door slammed at the end of the hallway and everypony jumped in surprise. Luna gingerly stuck her head around the doorframe, ready to blast any potential intruders in the face with her magic when she saw Shining Armor dressed in his guard uniform with his bags slung over his back.
“Shining Armor?” Luna asked. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like I’m doing?” Shining Armor said, heading for the stairs. “You heard the radio; all royal guards have to report to their posts.”
“You’re…you’re not seriously thinking of going back, are you?” Celestia said. “You heard the radio; Canterlot is a warzone!”
“I know!” Shining Armor said. “That’s why I’m going! The City Watch is going to need every guard they can get to even have a chance at surviving the night! I have to get back to Canterlot as soon as possible!”
“What are you going to do; hop in a cab?!” Sombra chuckled darkly. “You’re not going to be able to get a train back there and even if you make it to the city walls what good will one guardsman do?!”
“More good than he’s doing here!” Shining Armor said. “Look, I’m sorry that I’m leaving you guys high and dry here but Canterlot is going to need my help more than you will.”
“Shining Armor, wait!” Cadence said, quickly blocking the hallway to prevent him from leaving. “We, well, that is Luna, found something about some Rainbow Shard thingies and she needs your help to get them!”
“I know this sounds far out,” Celestia said. “Believe me I do but Luna thinks Princess Twilight sent us here to collect these things! We need your help!”
“You and about a million other ponies in Canterlot!” Shining Armor shouted, startling Cadence into backing away from him.
“Look…best of luck to you Luna but my friends and family are trapped in that city with Tirek and who knows what he dragged up from Tartarus with him! I don’t have time to go running down fairy tales; I need to be there for them, no matter what the cost!”
Shining Armor brushed past Cadence, shooting her an apologetic glance as he started down the stairs.
“Shining Armor,” Luna said sharply. “What did Princess Twilight order you to do when you left Canterlot yesterday?”
“Luna this isn’t the time for-”
“What…did your princess…order you…to do?” Luna said, firmly emphasizing every syllable.
Shining Armor stopped on the way downstairs with a sigh. “To…to protect you so long as you were in Fillydelphia but-”
“And have your orders changed at all?” Luna asked.
“Of course they have!” Shining Armor cried. “Everything’s changed!”
“Have they?” Luna said. “Am I not still in Fillydelphia?”
“Well…yes but-“
“And am I not still in need of protection?” Luna said.
“Yes, but-”
“Did Princess Twilight personally reassign you from our protection detail to the city defense while we weren’t looking?” Luna said.
“…no.” Shining Armor grumbled.
“Then drop the bag lieutenant,” Luna said firmly. "You still have a job to do here."
Shining Armor glared at the floor in front of him and for a moment, Luna was worried that he was going to bolt for the door.
“You feel helpless?” Luna asked, walking down the stairs. “Join the freaking club. You’re not the only one with friends and family in Canterlot and I would like nothing more than to go help Princess Twilight fight right now. But there’s nothing we can do yet. Guards are falling by the minute in Canterlot right now and the last thing the Princesses need is another dead guard.”
“What am I supposed to do then?!” Shining Armor cried, turning to face Luna, his face scrunched in anguish. “Can you promise me that these “Rainbow Shards” are going to beat Tirek?! Can you say that this plan of yours is worth risking our lives for?!”
“No,” Luna said. “I wish I could but I can’t. All I can say is that Princess Twilight thinks that this is the best chance we have right now. This is why she sent us to Fillydelphia! And I need you here with me if I’m ever going to have a chance at getting these Shards!”
“And what if they don’t work?” Shining Armor said. “Or what if they just make things worse?! What if we spend all night rooting around for these things only to find out that they don’t help at all?!”
“Shining Armor,” Cadence said softly, stepping forward. “I feel for you, I really do, but running off to Canterlot without a plan isn’t going to help anypony. I-I know you’re scared right now and worried for your family and friends but I think the best thing you can do now is help Luna get these Rainbow Shards to Princess Twilight. We don’t have another choice…please don’t go. Stay here with me.”
“Us,” Chrysalis corrected. "Stay here with us."
“I know what I said,” Cadence said.
“So...are you going to protect me?” Luna asked. Shining Armor worked his jaw in frustration, glaring at the steps in front of him. He took a step up the stairs and immediately stepped back, running a hoof through his mane in agitation. He started back down the stairs but stopped before he hit the ground floor landing. He teetered indecisively on the edge for a long moment and for a second, Luna thought he was going to leave.
Then, he let out a long sigh and dropped his saddlebag to the floor with a resigned thump.
“Thank you,” Luna said.
“This better be worth it,” Shining Armor said as the other five joined him in the entryway.
"I hope it will be," Luna sighed, turning to the others. "Well, that's two down; what about the rest of you?"
“Well…I supposed it beats the stuffing out of cowering under my bed for the rest of the night, waiting to be sent to Tirek’s gulags,” Chrysalis sighed. “And if I am to be killed by some hideous monstrosity, I would like to get it over with before I get even more attached to being alive. So…I suppose I’ll come with you.”
“Thank you, Chrysalis,” Luna sighed. Truth be told, she felt a little better knowing there was another magic user backing her up.
“What about you two?” Celestia asked, turning to Sombra and Cadence. “The door’s right there if you want to get going, but I think we could use your help here.”
“Look…you guys are great,” Sombra said, rubbing the back of his head with his hooves. “ And if the world wasn't coming to an end, I'd definitely want to hang out with you guys some more. But we need to lay low if there’s any chance of surviving the night!”
“That’s heroic,” Shining Armor scoffed.
“I’m not risking my life and the life of my sister so you can feel heroic!” Sombra barked. “I need to look after my sister; I need to get her to safety as quickly as I can before Tirek decides to attack Fillydelphia. Back me up here, Cadence!”
“I’m in,” Cadence said quickly. "I'm going with you, Luna."
“Exactly; sorry Luna but we-WHAT?!” Sombra spluttered, rounding on his sister. “What do you mean ‘you’re in?!”
“I’m…I’m going with Luna to get these Rainbow Shard thingies,” Cadence said.
“Cadence, have you lost your mind?!” Sombra hissed. “This is a suicide mission!”
“Thank you for the vote of confidence,” Luna sighed.
“I’m sorry, but it is!” Sombra cried. “Loathe as I am to admit it, Hero Boy here was right! There’s no proof these Rainbow Shards are going to do what you want them to do!”
“Princess Twilight believes they can help!” Cadence said. “And what if Luna’s right? What if these things are the only weapon we have against Tirek? Are you just going to let her go searching for them alone?”
“Okay…let’s just say for kicks and giggles that the pieces of Tirek’s ultimate weapon can somehow be used against him,” Sombra said, rubbing his eyes. “You would still have to delve into the Tomb of St. Trixie to get them and I don’t think the greatest archmage in Equestrian history would just leave them in the entrance for anypony to pick up.”
“You…you think the tomb is trapped?” Shining Armor said.
“Traps?! If you’re lucky that’s all there will be,” Sombra laughed bitterly. “If I was St. Trixie, a mare of near limitless magical power, and my girlfriend told me to keep pieces of Tirek’s greatest weapon safe I would make sure that the place I kept them in was a bloody deathmaze! I would enchant golems to shoot flaming crossbow bolts at the entrance the second someone broke in! I would build false vaults and fake doorways to drive intruders mad! I’d bind a greater elemental dragon of fire to the whole building and incinerate anypony fool enough to go poking around for these things!”
“That’s an oddly specific list of hazards,” Luna asked. “What makes you such an expert on magical treasure protection?”
“I’m a jeweler,” Sombra said, rolling his eyes. “I may not be a unicorn but I’d wager I know more about magical seals and security measures than most sorcerers do. I’ve read every book on warding and magical security and half of them were written by St. Trixie herself! My vaults were modeled after designs she implemented in the Sultan of Saddle Arabia’s treasure hoard. They have jade automata protecting them with electrified nets and stinging acid sprays so you can bet St. Trixie has something worse in store for anypony looking for the Rainbow Shards!”
“Well, what choice to we have?!” Celestia cried. “Look, rooting around in a batty sorceress’ crypt is not exactly how I wanted to spend my Anniversary Eve but seeing as how our other option is to lay down and wait for Tirek to kill us or worse I think I’ll roll the dice with the Rainbow Shards.”
“But what if the Princesses can’t use them?” Sombra said. “What if all of this is for nothing?!”
“Sombra,” Cadence said. “What if this is the only chance Equestria has?”
“Cadence-”
“I know it sounds crazy,” Cadence said. “But if Luna is right, then the Princesses need our help!”
“They don’t need your help,” Sombra pleaded. “The princesses don’t need you.”
“Sombra…” Cadence said, taking her brother’s face in her hooves. “I’m not a little filly anymore. You don't have to hover over me all the time; I can take care of myself!”
“But…” Sombra said, helplessly sagging his shoulders. “I can’t let you go with nopony to protect you!”
“Shining Armor can protect us,” Cadence said, turning to the flustered guard. "Right?"
“Correction; you have less than nopony to protect you,” Sombra said.
“Hey!” Shining Armor cried. “I’ll have you know I was the Dusk Patrol’s Rookie of the Year three years in a row!"
“All that tells me is that you’ve been a rookie for three years now!” Sombra snapped. “No, I’m coming with you; if only to make sure there’s someone who can protect you guys from the mall cop with a hero complex!”
“You know something?” Shining Armor said. “Call me crazy but I’m starting to get the impression that you don’t like me very much.”
“J-just starting?!” Sombra spluttered.
Luna watched Sombra and Shining Armor bicker and came to the sickening realization that they were the last hope for the Equestrian people. An athlete, a castle guard, a matchmaker, an actress, a jeweler and an overly excitable egghead.
Would they be enough?
“So…are you all in?” Luna asked.
“Of course!” Celestia said.
“Count me in!” Cadence replied
“I’m with you, dear,” Chrysalis said.
“I got your back!” Shining Armor said firmly.
“I guess we are,” Sombra sighed.
Luna felt a surge of warmth run through her and for the first time since she learned of Tirek’s return, Luna felt like they had a fighting chance.
"Thank you," Luna said, throwing a jacket over her shoulders. "Now then...who wants to go grave robbing?"
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I had forgotten this exsisted. Looking forward to the tomb!
Word of advice, never do that. As for the chapter, I honestly can't find anything wrong with it! ...But you should show this to your editing team just in case.
So Twilight actually believed her about Tirek's return and secretly sent her away to find the shards and keep her safe. Well played Twily, well played.
Ahem...
...
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
Yep. Twilight pulled the Cryptic Mentor schtick that Celestia was so famous for. We all knew it was gonna happen.
Hopefully the next chapter will come easier.
Awesome! I'm so happy this is finally updating
Couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it!
Shipper Cadence is best Cadence!
Question: how can Sombra perform illusion magic?
YES U UPDATED HAVE BEEN WAITING SO LONG.
When I say that this had updated.
Was all like YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!
And let me just say I really like where the plot is going.
One thing through,
Pretty sure 'hiddenmessages' should be two words.
I saw one 'Princes' Twilight up there. Great chapter!
Uh Rainbows are of seven different colors. You could have added one more in the mix of characters and you would have the complete ROYAL set. We are missing Discord in there as a Tyranical ruler, he would have fit the bill as Sombra is in there.
Anyway, a grand chapter, but then it will be somewhat annoying to see who of the stallions get the shard, as I see it, the Royal roster would be Luna, Celestia, Sombra, Cadence and Chrysalis, for now.
I really hope Shining Armor is the shard holder.
Ah, nice update. Though I do think that Twilight's plan is absurdly overcomplicated. She's relying on Luna coming to multiple realizations one after another, and absolutely everything going right multiple times In a row. If almost anything goes slightly differently than she planned, Equestria's doomed.
Luna throws away the letter in grief or resentment? Equestria doomed.
Luna harmed in the initial attack and not able to read letter? Equestria doomed.
Luna has a bigger hangover and isn't awake to read the letter? Equestria doomed.
Luna doesn't notice the typo? Equestria doomed.
Luna doesn't realize that a typo means she should burn the entire letter? Equestria doomed.
Luna doesn't have paper to hand and can't write down a long poem before the dragon ink explodes? Equestria doomed.
Luna makes a transcription error when making the poem? Equestria doomed.
Luna doesn't realize they should look in that house for books, instead of going to a private library? Equestria doomed.
Team doesn't draw the right conclusions from the old letters? Equestria doomed.
Shining Armor chooses to leave to save the many? Equestria doomed.
And this is just the first step of Twilight's plan...to be honest, even S1E1 Celestia is looking like a better planner than this Twilight.
Really, what the hell is Twilight thinking? There's no potential reason for any of this - she can't possibly be testing Luna when all of Equestria is in danger, and she can't possibly predict that the various people the sisters meet will come to all these specific realizations and do these specific actions in order to demonstrate specific traits for the Rainbow pieces. If she'd just kept a way of reliably getting orders to Luna, possibly a device or a message left with Shining Armor to be used only if this attack happened, then Equestria would be far less likely to be doomed.
Don't get me wrong, this chapter is well constructed, and I enjoyed it...but it makes Twilight look like a planner who relies mostly on luck, and is incapable of doing anything the simple way.
nice writing but seriously if you have luna forgive twilight outight you'll ruin the story for me, twilight corssed a line no matter what her intentions there need to be a confrontation.
Nice, new chapter, and with an absurdly complicated secret plan from Twilight mixed in, so all's good here.
Also, Sombra's list of example tomb hazards IS oddly specific...since I can't ever be sure, I wanna ask, where you dropping references to other fanfics with that, or am I just overthinking it?
Anyway, looking forward to more, whenever it might come.
Cadence (to Shining Armor): Please don’t go. Stay here with me.
Chrysalis: Us, stay here with us.
Cadence: I know what I said
Subtle Cadence, subtle
It’s claws and fangs did rend the sky
Its
Loathed as I am to admit it
Loath
"Now then...who wants to go grave robbing?"
This is a pretty good one-liner, but it sounds stupid if you think about the fact that she JUST got through double-checking that they did in fact want to go with her. I'd suggest "Now then ... let's go grave robbing!"
Sombra, if you want people to let you go home without argument, you're taking the wrong tack here.
I found the Trixie/Twilight shipping by Cadence and Luna's reactions to it amusing.
3534586
Canon!Sombra doesn't really factor into this story. The Sombra that exists here is a completely different person because he was raised in a completely different way. I'm not sure what was disappointing but the Sombra I'm writing right now has little to do with his canon counterpart for very good reasons.
Also, if these Rainbow Shards are the Elements of Harmony... What is Luna remembering in her dreams? Is she remembering the future, with reincarnation being a thing? That would indicate all six Princesses are die (possibly have already died in the big boom).
I'm gonna guess:
Magic = Luna
Honesty = Sombra
Kindness = Chrysalis
Generosity = Cadance
Loyalty = Shining Armor
Laughter = Celestia
3528784
No, six different colors. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet. Indigo was crammed in there by Isaac Newton because he was crazy about numerology, and the Biblical significance of number seven meant he could not accept that there weren't seven distinct hues in the rainbow.
Also: history itself vindicates Cadance! St.Twixie is the OTP!
3535362
3535362
The Elements of Harmony exist already in this universe and are wielded by the same ponies who wielded them in canon (Twilight is still the Element of Magic, Pinkie Pie is still the Element of Laughter etc). The Rainbow Shards are entirely new items which may or may not be tied to specific virtues.
This misunderstanding is likely my fault. I nixed an intro sequence that explained that Twilight found the EoH and used them to defeat Tirek on the advice of an EQD prereader. I should probably put that back in to avoid any confusion
3535710
Okay then, I just hope Shining is in the roster since he is worth being in there than this Sombra, who, regardless of being smart and brilliant, is showing sighs of murder against Shining, when in fact, he never did flirt with Cadence.
This line makes me chuckle. It's a perfectly written generic "oh shit all hands on deck" public broadcast message, but I think Tirek would be offended at the implication that he didn't make his identity very clear, haha.
I really like the poem! It's not the Best Poem Ever, but for a story about a unicorn fighting a monster that you whipped up as a minor plot point in a fanfic, it's very good! Definitely believable as a Paul Revere's Ride-type historical poem. I might just be imagining it, though, but I think the "To save the world from the Bear" line might have one syllable too few? I'm total garbage at figuring out the cadence of poems and stuff, but that stanza sounds a little off when I'm reading it in my head. Dunno, could just be me.
I think you mean ink here.
Cadence shipping Trixie and Princess Twilight is hilarious.
When you have multiple consecutive paragraphs of dialogue from the same speaker, like with Luna's big speech, you don't need to put "Luna said" in every paragraph. You can do something like this:
Other than that, all the dialogue formatting in this chapter looks good!
"so" is an extraneous word in this sentence.
I think this is meant to be either "I would make the place I kept them in a bloody deathmaze" (no "was") or "I would make sure the place I kept them in was a bloody deathmaze".
I don't think I have much to say about this chapter, since it was mostly setup. There were some really nice character moments and a bit of cool worldbuilding, and it was cool to see the gang interacting as a whole for the first time. I like that it never even occurred to Luna to wonder whether Celestia would have her back or not, and it didn't seem to have been in question for Celestia either. You should appreciate your big sis more, Luna.
Super excited for the next one!
Nice. I was wondering when this would update. You just don't see many quality role reversals of this nature.
3528784 3535710
Technically, rainbows have all the colors, since they are simply visible light broken up into it's individual spectra.
3528970
I don't really see this plan being any shakier than the one canon Celestia relied upon. There are hundreds of ways things could have gone differently in the canon story, resulting in a doomed Equestria and eternal night. Twilight could have just sulked in her room instead of making friends, the chariot could have crashed on the way there in a freak storm, killing her, she could have refused their help, she could have tried to confront Nightmare Moon when she first appeared instead of backing down fearfully, she could have been incredibly rude to the others, making them not want to help her, they could have not bonded, they could have been killed several times in the forest, etc. My point is that sometimes, you just have to rely on blind, dumb luck.
3538248
To me, it seemed less Paul Revere, and more Jabberwocky.
T'was brillig and the slithy toves,
did gyre and gimble in the gabe.
All mimsy were the boroughgroves,
and the mome rathes outgrabe...
3534817
It´s like in that episode of "Ben 10": the protagonist has the memories of an alternate version of him/herself from another universe.
3535746
So, did Twilight take the precaution of sending Luna to retrieve the Rainbow Shards, but not to have the Elements nearby just in case Tirek showed his ugly face?
Well, another trait of canon Celestia.
3539809 There's a lot of truth in that, but the canon plan wasn't quite as shaky; Twilight just needed to make friends who embodied the elements (which is the difficult step, and is also present in the plan here) and then try to save Celestia (which Celestia could easily predict Twilight would try, and is present in this plan). But in addition to those, the plan here requires a series of realizations and events to take place, which together are not very likely, and at least one of the group (Shining Armor) has a good reason to not even go with the others. Add in that the plan here has hardly started, and there are more events still to go, and I think that this plan is significantly more complicated and less likely to work than the canon plan.
I suspect that might be siderealSandman's intention.
Yay, it's restarted!
3541350
Never saw it but here's the thing: Unless it's plot relevant (so far it isn't) there's no reason to do that, whereas if it's the past or future at least it gives hints to the timeline. Or if this is all a dream but that's kind of a cop-out. And something important enough to mention in the summary should be plot-relevant.
3543942
The switch is the plot but its resolution isn't going to be until later in the story. This is a big story that's going to be made up of little stories and I can't really explain much in the description but Luna's dreams are the first big clue. At the end of this arc you're going to get the first indication of why things are they way they are and I plan on revealing a little more until it's time to confront the main plot of the story.
Let me put it this way; if the term "The Scratch" means anything to you then you have a general idea of what's going on (and keep it to yourselves!!)
You know what I loathe? People using "loathe" as an adjective.
Loath. Adjective.
Yay, it finally updated, and I finally had the chance to read the update!
I'm loving this; the argument between Shining and Sombra was very interesting, Cadance shipping Trixie and Twilight was great, and again, I love how you're presenting Chrysalis. 
I'm looking forward to that grave-robbing!
3544399
Ooh, interesting.
Huh. I Favorited this story back when it was but a lowly single chapter if for your wonderful version of Canterlot alone and you have not disappointed. I LOVE all of the different princesses and how they act/look different from our old Mane 6 yet still retain their distinctive feel. You world building never ceases to impress me and I look forward to chapters to come.
However,
I decided to go back and re-read the story through for fun and I was a little saddened by some of your edits. I'm certain I don't have a good enough memory to notice all of them but the primary one I was looking for was that I wanted to re-read the excerpt on how the girls found their power in the mines and overthrew Tirek (because I couldn't remember it entirely and I needed a refresher). But to my surprise, the excerpt was no more. Also, Spiderluna. What was the decision behind their removal?
3587289
Equestria Daily, honestly. It seems like that section is missed/necessary since that was the only section that established that the Elements of Harmony exist in this world still.
Since I'm not particularly concerned with getting into EQD anymore, I'm going to put it back in at some juncture
3534675
Whoops, didn't see this reply before. My bad.
Sombra here is just... well, frankly, he just isn't Sombra. He's just some guy that happens to have the same name and a similar appearance. If you really needed a different member of royalty to throw in, you could have just used Blue Blood. Or just, you know, mixed up the number of heroes entirely.
I guess I would (might) be more accepting of him if you explained exactly why you changed him (or, rather, stole his name).
3614080
This is going to sound like some major bullshit (and it might be) but the only answer I can give at this point is wait and see.
There's a reason that Sombra needs to fit in this role and a reason that it can't be filled by Blueblood or Big Mac or even Discord. Despite Sombra's nigh nonexistent personality there are certain character traits he has that round out the team more. He's intelligent, like Luna is, but more grounded and practical. He's cautious and takes his time planing to ensure that he is successful in whatever he sets out to do. He's the check to Shining Armor's idealistic hero complex in a way that Blueblood couldn't do without being snobby and Big Mac couldn't do without being ineffective. That, and Blueblood/Big Mac have other roles to play in this universe and Discord is...Discord no matter what verse he's in.
On that note, Sombra in this verse isn't entirely different from canon and I think I misspoke if I said that before. He still retains some of his namesake's traits; ambition, possessiveness, intelligence, meticulousness and cunning which I wanted to introduce into this group. I wanted to keep six because I really like the Paragon/Renegade dynamic of the first two seasons with two members of each race (i.e. Luna is a paragon of a unicorn as she is bright, interested in magic, and ambitious while Chrysalis is the renegade in being largely uninterested in magic and focuses on more "mundane" talents). In a wierd way, Shining Armor and Sombra share Paragon/Renegade duties; Sombra's interest in jewels resonates with his earth pony heritage while at the same time he's not as interested in athletics as Shining Armor. Shining Armor is strong and steadfast like an earth pony should be but is trying to do a unicorn's job (More on the Dusk Patrol later but they're basically Equestrian Templars.) There's a lot of potential tension that can exist between them and I hope to explore that more in the future.
There's also an in universe explanation of why Sombra is a regular Earth Pony living in a small town with Cadence as a sister but I can't really say why without revealing too much of the story before it's time. Suffice to say, he was put here for a reason both by me and by someone else within the story.
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So... how does canon Sombra not have a personality, again? You seemed to describe one pretty well, there. And you seem to be having trouble getting many of those traits across (he doesn't seem particularly thoughtful, here).
Well, I guess I'll just have to wait and see, then.
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P.s. The Sombra that you just described was exactly what I was expecting and hoping for. You just seem to be having some trouble getting the Sombra in the story to match the Sombra in your mind.
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That's good to know; it lets me know what I need to work on in upcoming chapters!
3619471 Update please. This is some very good AU... I wonder if Luna's dreams are going to haunt her anytime soon...
Story Title: A Glint of Light on Broken Glass
Author: siderealSandman
Reviewer: Plebeian
A Glint of Light on Broken Glass addresses a familiar curious indulgence: the switcheroo scenario. What if everyone had always been everyone else? Because the obvious “things would be different” response is hardly satisfying, siderealSandman creates an entirely different universe, aiming deliberately for comedic effect.
While the comedy is reasonably effective, the execution almost negates the intrigue of the premise. The comedy of the switcheroo premise relies on familiar characters on opposite ends of a situation. However, it is apparent from the first couple chapters that the characters have been significantly warped. The lack of familiar substance to cling to makes the story feel more confused than comedic. The premise has strength, but the execution calls for some revision.
Score: 6.0/10
The Full Review
The Hawk has left its cage, and the soul is free.
3619471 When's the next chapter up?
Wooooh! This is getting interesting!!! I'm rooting for Sombra/Luna by the way lol!
Aaauuugghh where's the rest of it
Is this dead? Are you dead?
Great story and I can see this being a horrible prank at the line of grave robbing
;~; Imiss this fic.
3619471 Are you alive? Will you ever continue this?
looking forward to a possible return <3 but only if you are willing and able <3
This is a really intriguing story. I hope to see more someday.