Chapter 3: The Deadening
Celestia galloped through the field of translucent shards, oblivious to the lacerations appearing on her legs, screaming at the top of her lungs. “Coward! Villain! Reveal thyself and answer for thine atrocities!”
“So thou might have an unobstructed view of me to ease thy spellcasting? Thou takest me for a foal,” answered a low, guttural voice that came from everywhere and nowhere.
The alicorn halted in her tracks as the enraged heat beneath her face began clouding her sensibility. “Sombra!” she bellowed, as if the weight of her fury alone would compel the recalcitrant unicorn to step into the open.
The silence that followed finally allowed Luna to catch up with her sister. The younger alicorn’s pupils constricted as she landed next to her sister and saw the state of her shins. “Celestia... wherefore didst thou not take to the air?”
It took the older alicorn a few seconds to come up with an answer: “It... did not occur to me.”
Luna sighed slowly before turning her attention to their undetectable foe. “Sombra,” she spoke, clearly and evenly, “show thyself, and we swear to hear your perspective before acting.”
“Luna!” Celestia hissed.
“’Tis preferable to chasing the beast across the Crystal Mountains,” the younger princess whispered in her sister’s ear.
In this matter, at least, Sombra appeared to be in agreement, as the grey unicorn stallion stepped out from behind the crumbling ruins of a crystalline spire. “I am here, Your Excellency,” he said politely as he tossed his red cape onto his back.
“Sombra, what is this madness?” Luna asked forthrightly. “Thou wast sent here as an envoy, and we find that you have visited devastation across their land! What could these ponies possibly have done to you?”
“They were.” The long silence that followed this cryptic statement felt unnaturally strident.
Luna shook her head, surrendering any effort to understand the stallion. “I cannot begin to fathom thy reasons for the wanton destruction of the Crystal Empire, but that is hardly the most important matter at hoof. What hast thou done to the Crystal Ponies? Where are they?”
Sombra let out a chuckle that soon transformed into a sickening, full-throated laugh. “‘Where are they?’” he repeated with a mocking smile. “Why, they haven’t gone anywhere! Look around you!”
“Thou art mad,” Luna said. “There is nothing left here but a field of shards....” The princess’ voice trailed off as the horrific weight of her adversary’s deeds struck her in the heart. She stared, disbelieving, at the sparkling dust that had wedged its way into the crevices of her shoes. “No... This cannot be....” She did her best to blink the tears away from her eyes as she returned her attention to the caped stallion. “Why wouldst thou... why would anypony do this?!”
“These abominations flagrantly violated the very concept of Order,” Sombra answered dismissively. “The children of the earth were not meant to speak or move around of their own accord. I merely provided discipline, and as you can see”—Sombra paused to lift a particularly large red stone with a heart-shaped etching that the princesses recognized as a cutie mark—“they are now behaving quite obediently.”
Up to this point, Celestia had been holding her tongue in an effort to suppress her anger, but no longer. “Thou wouldst deign to quarrel with ‘the children of the earth’?” she said, her body trembling and nostrils flaring. “So be it—they shall reply!”
The white alicorn reared up onto her hind legs and then slammed her forehooves into the ground, injecting tremendous amounts of magic directly into the earth beneath her. Sombra, who had apparently been expecting some type of unicorn magic, quickly cast a shielding spell, which provided no defense from the vines and brambles that sprouted beneath him and twisted around his legs. Though he managed to wrest his legs away from some of these, they turned out to be but a diversion, as he suddenly found himself surrounded and entangled in the roots of a mangrove which, despite the local climate, had sprung from the ground and matured to adulthood in a matter of seconds.
As the stallion’s movement became more restricted within his wooden prison cell, Celestia’s horn lit up and her magical aura surrounded Sombra’s curved red horn, effectively blocking any further attempts at casting magic that he might make, at least in the short term. The unicorn’s red eyes cast an unearthly green glow as he whinnied in frustration.
“Thou hast brought this upon thine own head, Sombra,” Celestia said serenely.
Luna seemed concerned by this sudden emotional shift. “What? Thou resistest the urge to follow thy success with a demonstration of smirking bravado? Art thou alright, Celestia?”
“My dear sister, I am quite sound,” the white alicorn replied coolly as she stared at their trapped adversary, “but now is no time for jocularity.” It was as if all her agitation had drained away, leaving behind nothing but a calm, distilled fury. “It seems to me,” Celestia continued, “that this is a most appropriate time to put thy theories on the Elements of Harmony to the test.”
——————————
In the twenty hours immediately after the abduction of Celestia and Luna, Penumbra had learned several very important things: first, an alicorn didn’t need much earth pony and unicorn magic in order to make sleeping completely optional for her. In addition, this talent was apparently shared by her Shadowbolt golems, as they had yet to show any signs of fatigue in their search for the missing princesses. In retrospect, though, this second point shouldn’t have been that surprising; after all, during the Nightmare’s unintentional creation, Luna had basically been working under the assumption that her sister had gained the ability to create super-soldiers.
This skill had turned out to be quite useful, as Penumbra’s original plan to track Luna using her lightning delivery method had run into some flaws. At first, it had seemed that the letters had been arriving at spots in the middle of nowhere, which would have suggested that Luna was still being moved. Indeed, this seemed to be the case, as sending out a signal at each successive spot directed the search party a little further south. However, once they’d reached the Badlands region, the magical bolts seemed to go nowhere except straight into the ground.
Penumbra paced back and forth on top of a prominent mesa, wracking her brain for answers as the mid-afternoon sun blazed down on her head. Under ideal circumstances, the lightning was supposed to take the shortest route possible to Luna, though it had been modified to avoid hitting solid objects in order to avoid causing unneeded property damage. It should have kept “looking” until it found an alternate route... or until it simply ran out of power.
Suddenly, Penumbra realized what was going on. Luna hadn’t been moving south. She’d been underground. The bolts had simply stopped when they hit the ground, depositing their letters when an obvious detour toward their destination was lacking. Then again, that didn’t really explain why no detour had been discovered—unless, of course, whatever chamber Luna was being held in was a considerable distance from its entrance to the surface.
Fortunately, she was equipped with the perfect tools to overcome such an obstacle: followers who unquestioningly obeyed her every whim. “Shadowbolts! Spread out and look for a cave entrance!”
——————————
At no point in her life had Rainbow Dash ever cared about magical channeling. Oh, sure, she’d done it a few times—as the Element of Loyalty, that sort of thing came with the job description—but she’d never given a flying feather about how it actually worked. Yet here she was, sitting in the most eggheaded section of the most eggheaded building in Canterlot, staring at the pages of the most eggheaded book she’d ever seen and trying to force her brain to understand all the eggheaded mumbo-jumbo about “ethereal currents.” She, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy had spent nearly an entire day in the Archives, searching for anything that might explain how Trixie had managed to prevail over Celestia and Luna.
At the moment, the four Element-Bearers were focusing their efforts on the Alicorn Amulet. Fluttershy had speculated that its power might have somehow transferred to Trixie when it broke, and they were attempting to find out if that was something that amulets could actually do. Rainbow Dash glanced over at Rarity, who was leaning back in her chair, massaging her temples with her hooves. As the only unicorn in their little study group, she’d found herself being made the de facto leader, simply because unicorns tended to know more about magical theory, as their magic was less intuitive than that of pegasi and earth ponies. Often as not, though, Rarity only had a rough idea of how any particular spell actually worked. Fluttershy sat across from her, scribbling notes on scrap paper, while Applejack was off in a corner, staring at the spines on a bookshelf and somehow managing to look even more frustrated than Rainbow Dash.
With an irritated groan, Rainbow Dash shoved the book to the side and said, “This is getting us nowhere! Has anypony here figured out anything new in the last thirty minutes?”
Fluttershy raised her hoof meekly. “Um, I think I might have found a manual on how to create a magical amulet.”
“Really?” Rarity said, sitting bolt upright. “Why on earth didn’t you mention this, Fluttershy?”
“Um, well, it might be a manual for creating an amulet, but the writing is kind of hard to make out, so there’s a chance it’s just a recipe for cabbage and broccoli soup that requires unicorn magic.”
Rainbow Dash slammed her head against the table in frustration, but this produced little more than a throbbing pain in her snout. “Ugh... we are never going to figure out how that thing worked at this rate!” she shouted as she rubbed her self-inflicted injury.
“Well, maybe we oughta try focusin’ on somethin’ other than the Alicorn Amulet, then,” Applejack proposed.
The response to this idea was underwhelming, to say the least. “Are you still on about your pet theory, darling?” Rarity asked with obvious exasperation as Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy pretended to be concentrating even harder on their research.
“Look, all I’m sayin’ is that this business with Trixie is exactly the kinda stunt Discord would pull. I mean, we already know he’s workin’ with her, right?”
“Yes,” Rarity said, “but she was behaving erratically while Discord was still in his statue. The Alicorn Amulet is the most likely cause of her abilities, since we already know that it increases a unicorn’s magic skills.”
“Well, what if Discord had somethin’ to do with the Amulet? After all, it did sorta make her go loopy, too.”
“Uh, hello?” Rainbow Dash said. “He was in his statue the whole time.”
“Maybe he escaped while nopony was lookin’, though.”
“Somehow, I doubt Discord would return to being a statue if he could break out on his own,” Rarity said as she idly flipped a stray curl of her mane behind her neck.
“Um, can we please stop fighting?” Fluttershy asked nervously.
“No, please, go ahead and fight. It will give me a reason to stay away from the media.”
The four Element-Bearers turned their heads and saw Princess Cadance leaning against a door frame with a wide smirk on her face. “Your Excellency? What are you doing here?” Rarity asked as she hurriedly rose to her feet so she could bow before the royal.
“You don’t need to worry about honorifics,” Cadance said as she walked into the center of the room. “There’s nopony here to be shocked if you just use my name. As for why I’m here... well, I need a break from dealing with panicky, uptight aristocrats and politicians, and holding yet another press conference isn’t going to help me there, so Twilight suggested that I head over here to see how you girls were doing.”
“How is Twi holdin’ up, by the way?” Applejack asked.
“Reasonably well, actually. To nopony’s surprise but her own, she’s gotten the hang of raising the sun and moon really quickly. She’d have actually joined you herself, but right now, Equestria really needs her administrative skills. At the moment, she’s helping her brother make plans to get the military back in shape as soon as possible, in case they’re needed.”
“Cool,” Rainbow Dash said, though the blasé tone of her voice suggested that she thought Twilight’s brain would be put to better use with her friends. “So, any word on Pinkie and Penny?”
“I thought Penumbra hated that name,” Cadance said in confusion.
“She does,” Rainbow Dash said, “and she only lets us get away with ribbing her about it because we’re her friends.” When Cadance responded with little more than an unconvinced stare, the pegasus doubled down: “It’s true! Penumbra likes having an excuse to act grumpy and cynical. She’s weird that way.”
“I see,” Cadance replied, still unconvinced. “Well, Penumbra’s most recent dispatch indicates that she’s in the Badlands region, while Pinkie Pie, on the other hoof, has been keeping Discord busy in the Crystal Mountains, according to telegrams I’ve received from members of my personal court. They apparently have rather... mixed emotions about what’s going on.”
“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked.
“Well, although Pinkie and Discord’s ‘fight’ has apparently been rather amusing to watch from a distance, it’s taking place over the remains of the region’s greatest tragedy... but there will be time enough to dwell on such matters later. Tell me, how has your research been going?”
“Sadly, it hasn’t been going anywhere,” Rarity said. “We’re pretty sure that the Alicorn Amulet had something to do with Trixie’s power boost—well, most of us are, anyway,” the unicorn hastily added after seeing the look on Applejack’s face, “so we’ve been trying to figure out what kind of amulet it was so we can tell Twilight how it actually worked.”
“Which ain’t easy when you don’t have much experience with technical stuff,” Applejack said.
Rarity nodded. “Indeed, I had no idea that there were so many varieties. Elemental, reciprocal, algorithmic... and all of them apparently use slightly different varieties of channeling spells.”
“Even that wouldn’t be too much of a problem if we could find something about the effects of breaking them,” Fluttershy said resignedly. “But all we’ve found so far are warnings not to try it in the first place.”
“It’s not even a matter of trying to figure out everything,” Rainbow Dash added. “We figure that once we find the right book, or scroll, or whatever, we can just bring it to Twilight and she’ll be able to figure out all the egghead stuff in no time.”
Cadance tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Well, perhaps I can be of assistance.”
“Oh?” Rarity asked. “Did you study magical theory before you became an alicorn?”
“Actually, I’ve been an alicorn my entire life. Magical theory is a standard part of the curriculum when you’re learning from Celestia.”
“Great!” Rainbow Dash said. “Then do you know how to figure out what kind of amulet it is?”
“Well, I might have an idea or two.” The pink alicorn strolled over to a pile of books and began examining the titles. “I can’t help but notice that all of the books are technical in nature.”
“Well, yeah,” Applejack said, wrinkling her brow in mild confusion. “Seemed like the best place to look to figure out how the Amulet actually worked.”
Princess Cadance nodded slowly. “Yes, but did you do any research into what the Amulet actually did?”
Applejack looked even more confused. “You’re losin’ me there.”
Fortunately, years of dealing with politicians had allowed Cadance to build up massive reserves of patience, so she took this in stride. “Let me put it more directly. Have you researched the history of the Alicorn Amulet?”
Rainbow Dash smacked a hoof against her forehead. “You gotta be kidding me. How could we have overlooked that?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Cadance replied. “After all, you’ve probably never undertaken a major academic project before—and definitely not one with this much pressure on it. Even the brightest minds sometimes focus on the wrong details.”
“Ah, I see,” Rarity said. “It’s like when Twilight kept looking for solutions during the time-travel incident, correct?”
Cadance nodded. “That’s the sort of thing I’m referring to. And who knows? I could very well be wrong, too.”
Fluttershy hesitantly spoke up. “Um, in that case, would you mind looking through these technical books while we start researching the history? I mean, because you’re more familiar with it, after all.”
Cadance gave them a warm and comforting smile to rival Celestia’s. “That sounds like a plan.”
——————————
Two hours later, the four intrepid researchers rejoined Cadance, and their mood was much more optimistic. “So,” the princess asked, “what did you learn?”
“Well, I learned that research is a lot easier to tolerate when you’re actually getting results,” Rainbow Dash said as she unloaded a stack of books onto a nearby table. “That amulet’s been around the block a few times.”
“Yeah,” Applejack said, “but there weren’t nopony talkin’ about it until around the time Discord made his first attempt to take over.”
“Which is probably just a coincidence,” Rarity added, rolling her eyes, “since the earliest records all seem to associate the Amulet with a stallion named Sombra.”
The smile faded from Cadance’s face. “Did you say ‘Sombra’?” she asked with an almost-imperceptible quiver in her voice.
“Yes,” Rarity replied with some concern. “I take it you’ve heard the name.”
Cadance nodded solemnly. “He’s the one who brought about the end of the Crystal Empire.”
“The Crystal Empire?” Fluttershy asked as she landed in a chair next to the princess.
Cadance sighed. “I’m not surprised that you haven’t heard of it. After all, it’s been gone for more than a thousand years. To put it simply, the Crystal Empire was once an independent nation, located in the Crystal Mountains.”
Rarity’s eyes widened. “Ah, so that’s the reason that the province is autonomous. It’s a legacy from before its annexation, then?”
“You could put it that way,” Cadance said, “though there are more than a few Crystal Ponies who think it’s more due to tradition and nostalgia.”
“Uh, Crystal Ponies?” Applejack asked.
“That’s what we northerners are—or were, at least. We don’t look as different from other ponies as we used to,” Cadance added, looking rather wistful. She stood up and began to pace the room. “Once upon a time, far to the north, there was a nation known as the Crystal Empire. It was so named not only for its large gemstone deposits, but also because it was the home of the Crystal Ponies, strange creatures who resembled the flesh-and-blood ponies who lived to the south, but possessed a unique crystalline cellular structure which not only allowed them to survive in the unforgiving elements, but to thrive there.
“That said, the Crystal Ponies still preferred warmth and greenery, which is why most of them lived under the protection of the Crystal Heart, an artifact of immense power which held back the elements, creating an oasis of warmth and fertility in the rugged landscape. It was protected by the Crystal Alicorns, who ruled as empresses and emperors.” Cadance extended her wings here for an extra flourish. “While I’m not so naive to claim it was a utopia, there’s every reason to believe that its rulers were fair and just more often than not.”
Cadance paused here, giving Fluttershy a chance to ask a question. “Um, when you say that you used to look different, what do you mean?”
“Oh, well, under the right conditions, a Crystal Pony’s body can become translucent, like a gemstone.”
“So, their skeletons and stuff are visible?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking slightly nauseated.
“No,” Cadance said. “We looked like walking, talking crystal sculptures.”
“Well, that doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Rainbow Dash said. “I’m guessing it must be special Crystal Pony magic or something like that.”
“That’s correct,” Cadance said with a nod, “and if Sombra had come to the same conclusion, history might have been very different.”
“Okay, so who was he?” Applejack asked.
Cadance sighed as she folded her wings again and sat down. “Sombra was one of the most talented magicians of his day. As a foal, he’d been a prodigy with a wide range of talent in the field of unicorn magic, and as he grew up, he developed a sharp intellect to match those talents.”
“Hmm... that sounds like someone we know....” Rarity observed.
“The comparison to Twilight is more appropriate than you might expect,” Cadance said with a nod, “and not just because Jovian recognized his talent and took him under his wing.”
“Who’s that?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Rarity somehow managed to resist rolling her eyes. “That would be Celestia and Luna’s father, Prince Jovian II.”
The pegasus looked slightly chastened. “Oh, uh, right. Must have slept through that history lesson.”
Cadance continued on, “However, any attempts to compare Sombra with Twilight fall apart thanks to his notorious perfectionism. I know that Twilight has a reputation for being obsessively detail-oriented at times, but even she would think he was crazy.”
“Hold up, let me guess,” Applejack cut in. “He had ridiculously specific standards for darned near everything, and weird ideas about circles.”
“Er... yes. Was that in the books you came across?”
“Nope. We just saw what the Amulet did to Trixie, is all.”
Cadance shrugged this off and kept speaking. “Well, in any case, Sombra was obsessed with perfection and precision, and he believed that nothing in nature represented this idea more than crystals. It’s said that he owned a personal collection of specimens that would rival a dragon’s hoard, though there might a bit of exaggeration there. His notes on their properties were apparently quite useful to the makers of magical artifacts, and there are probably still copies in the geology section, in fact.” Cadance’s ears drooped forlornly as she finished her statement with a deep sigh.
Fluttershy finally spoke up. “So, was Sombra interested in the Crystal Empire, then?”
Cadance slowly nodded. “Very much so,” she said with a mirthless smile. “He’d been reading about our culture for years, so when there was an opening for an envoy to the Crystal Empire, he personally lobbied Jovian for the position, and at the time, Jovian had no reason to refuse his protégé. Unfortunately, whatever Sombra’s expectations were, the Crystal Ponies didn’t live up to them and he didn’t handle his disappointment very well.”
Fluttershy was looking even more nervous than usual, but she still managed to ask a question. “So, um, what happened next? Did... did Sombra try to take over to make the Crystal Ponies act the way he thought they should?”
Cadance didn’t answer at first. Instead, she stared at the floor, her face sullen as she struggled to hold back the tears forming in her eyes. “No...” she finally managed to answer, though her voice was audibly cracking. “Sombra... he... he....”
Rarity walked over to the princess and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “It’s alright, Cadance. If it’s too hard to talk about, you don’t need to tell us.”
“But I do,” the alicorn said, tapping into some previously unused reserves of stoicism. Cadance straightened out her neck and once again made eye contact with her audience. “If there’s even the slightest possibility that Sombra’s involved, I have to tell you, because you need to know what he was like.”
Cadance took several deep breaths before continuing: “Although he initially expected us to open a pathway to enlightenment, within a few months, Sombra became thoroughly disillusioned with the Crystal Empire. Not because we’d been misrepresenting ourselves and putting on a show of incorruptibility, mind you; contemporary accounts show that most Equestrians thought of the Crystal Ponies as simply a fourth pony race, and no more or less prone to personal flaws than the other three. Instead, Sombra’s problems were... philosophical, for lack of a better word. Most of his personal beliefs have to be inferred from what little evidence remains of them, but it seems that he came to the Empire expecting to interact with pony-shaped crystals, instead of ponies with some crystalline characteristics.” The alicorn’s voice had become slightly monotonous as her word choice became more polysyllabic, as though she was trying to drown out her emotions with a professorial drone.
“What’s the difference?” Rainbow Dash asked, scratching her head.
“To most ponies, there wouldn’t be one,” Cadance said, “but to Sombra, the difference was everything. Crystals have geometric shapes. Crystals are stationary. They don’t eat or breathe or speak. In short, crystals aren’t alive, but the Crystal Ponies were.” Cadance paused again to take another deep breath before continuing. “Apparently, this created a lot of strain on his psyche, which was already somewhat unbalanced, and eventually... it snapped.”
Silence filled the library once again, but nopony seemed willing to break it. When Cadance finally resumed her tale, her eyes were once again fixed squarely on the floor. “Sombra spent nearly a year getting his plan ready. Hiding his madness underneath a mask of charm, he used his position and learning to earn the trust of the Crystal Alicorns. Nopony could possibly have suspected that he was up to something.” Cadance’s voice wavered here, giving the impression that she was repeating a statement she’d heard many times before but still had difficulty believing.
“It was the three hundredth anniversary of the Empress’ coronation. Ponies from all over the Crystal Mountains had gathered for the celebration, and...” The alicorn was visibly shaking as she paused her narrative once again. Her audience leaned in closer as she continued: “He started with the Royal Family. They were all together, and he caught them off guard. Nopony had realized just how much power he had. Then... then he began to walk through the streets. Mare, stallion, foal... it didn’t matter. He shattered them all on sight. He’d taken control of the Crystal Heart, and the force field that kept out the elements was being used to keep the ponies trapped inside. The few who managed to escape went through the mines, but...” Cadance trailed off again as she ran a hoof through her mane and twisted her neck towards the ceiling. Even though it was rather obvious that she had omitted large chunks of detail in order to speed through the story as fast as she could, none of the other ponies wanted to press the matter.
“If... if my great-grandmother hadn’t been in the Griffon Kingdom that day to negotiate a treaty, she... I wouldn’t... I—” It was too much; Cadance couldn’t finish her sentence. Instead, she broke down into shuddering sobs as a thousand years’ worth of what-ifs and could-have-beens crashed into her mind. The other four ponies didn’t need any further prompting, as they all embraced her in a massive hug that felt like it lasted forever.
Eventually, Cadance managed to regain her composure, and her voice returned to its more even, nuanced tones. “Thank you. I needed that.”
Applejack nodded, and hesitantly asked, “So, uh, was somepony able to stop Sombra?”
Cadance nodded. “Celestia and Luna didn’t investigate what was going on at first, because getting involved in another country’s internal affairs was considered a diplomatic faux pas. By the time they arrived, the damage had been done. They had to use an immense amount of magic to break the force field—in fact, they shattered the Crystal Heart in the process. They used the Elements of Harmony on Sombra and made him pay for his crimes.”
“You mean they killed him?” Rarity asked.
“No,” Cadance said, pulling herself back into a more regal posture. “Sombra deserved far worse than death, and he got exactly what he deserved. The Elements transformed him into a formless vapor, which rushed further to the north. Celestia theorized that he was hoping the cold temperatures would allow him to become solid again, and therefore more ‘orderly.’ Given his obsessions, I can’t think of a more appropriate fate. But now that I think about it, it’s possible that he was obsessed enough to have a plan in place in case something like this happened.”
“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked.
“I mean Sombra might not have been rushing north to freeze himself. He might have been rushing towards a reliquary that he’d prepared ahead of time to house himself.”
Rarity thoughtfully tapped her hoof against her chin. “That would indeed explain why the Alicorn Amulet drives its users mad. And Trixie’s behavior in Ponyville certainly sounds similar to his....”
“Yeah, but if Sombra was a unicorn, why’s it called the ‘Alicorn Amulet’?” Applejack asked.
“Most likely because it’s set in a pendant in the shape of an alicorn,” Cadance said.
This seemed to cover most of the pertinent issues, but Rainbow Dash still seemed confused about something, however. “Hold up... if you’re one of these Crystal Ponies, why don’t you, um, look like a crystal?” The pegasus blushed as she finished her question, apparently only then realizing how insensitive it must have sounded.
If Cadance was offended, she did a good job of hiding it. “There were so few of us who survived that intermarriage with other pony races was unavoidable, even for the nobility.”
“How many Crystal Ponies are left?” Rarity asked.
“Well, there really aren’t any ‘pure’ crystal ponies left. Like I said, intermarriage was unavoidable. However, most of the current residents of the Crystal Mountains come from crystal stock, so there’s at least five thousand descendants left... down from nearly ten times that amount....” Cadance added mournfully.
The room filled with silence once again, as the heaviness of the subject matter stifled all efforts to restart the conversation. Still, there was one more issue that needed to be raised, and eventually, it was Fluttershy raised it. “Um, I have a question. Even if Trixie has Sombra’s power now, would that actually explain how she won? I mean, Sombra wasn’t able to beat Celestia.” The yellow pegasus looked rather flushed as her friends listened to her in silence. “It... it’s just an idea,” she said.
Rarity sighed. “It is not ‘just’ an idea, my dear Fluttershy. As far as I’m concerned, it’s an extremely valid point. However, the idea that there might actually be more going on than Trixie being influenced by whatever remains of Sombra is somewhat overwhelming. Of all the worst things that could happen, this is—”
“Do you really gotta do that stupid melodramatic couch routine, Rarity?” Applejack interrupted angrily. “It’s been pretty obvious that the situation’s bad for nearly a day, and lyin’ down and pretendin’ ta bawl your eyes out ain’t gonna help nopony right now. Right now, we need to come up with some ideas, and we ain’t gonna do that unless we keep calm!”
“Like you’re doing?” Rainbow Dash asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Exactly!” Applejack shouted at the top of her lungs.
Rarity sniffed derisively. “My dear Applejack, you know perfectly well that I am fully capable of evaluating a situation in a calm, rational manner. I simply indulge in the melodramatic as a form of stress relief. Besides that, being a ‘drama queen’ gives my customers the impression that I am extremely detail-oriented, which is always a plus in the fashion industry. Really, when you get right down to it, it’s like a stage... persona....” The unicorn’s eyes widened as she abruptly trailed off, leaving her friends rather confused.
“Um, are you alright, Rarity?” Fluttershy asked softly.
Rarity, however, still seemed to be sorting out the implications of whatever idea she’d latched onto. “It would certainly explain the Ursa, but still...”
“Hello?” Rainbow Dash called out as she hovered next to her friend’s ear. “Earth to Rarity! Mind letting us know what’s going on?”
“The Great and Powerful Trixie,” Rarity said absently.
“Huh?”
“We’re up against The Great and Powerful Trixie,” Rarity said, her voice sounding much more assured now.
Applejack didn’t seem to find this particularly illuminating. “Okay, one: No kiddin’. Two: Her name’s just ‘Trixie.’ Ain’t no need to take that ‘Great and Powerful’ crap seriously.”
“On the contrary,” Rarity said, “there is every reason to take her seriously, because she is not ‘just’ Trixie anymore.”
Cadence looked concerned. “Rarity, are you sure that you don’t need a break?”
“I’m quite certain,” Rarity answered. “The more I think about this, the more it fits together.”
“Well, it certainly ain’t comin’ together for us,” Applejack said as she rolled her eyes.
Rarity groaned. “How to explain this... do you remember Trixie’s stage show from the first time she arrived in Ponyville?”
“Yeah, she said she was better than everyone and claimed that she’d taken out an Ursa Major,” Rainbow Dash said. “But that was a load of bunk.”
“Precisely,” Rarity said, “and yet, last night, she apparently convinced an Ursa Major to assist her through nothing more than intimidation. Furthermore, she kept repeating her catchphrase throughout the confrontation.”
“Pretty sure she was just bein’ flamboyant, there, Rarity,” Applejack said.
“Really? Because it seems to me that that was her explanation for why she was successful. Luna was knocked out because Trixie was ‘better’ at negotiating with an Ursa, and Penny claims that’s what she said when she outmaneuvered Celestia. Indeed, she claimed that her motive for attacking was to demonstrate that she’s ‘better’ than Twilight, and she succeeded!”
“Rarity, are you claiming that Trixie has somehow managed to become inherently better than everypony at everything?” Cadance asked with obvious incredulity in her voice.
“That depends on whom you are referring to when you speak of ‘Trixie.’ It’s true that the professional entertainer named Trixie Lulamoon couldn’t do that sort of thing at all, but the fictionalized version of herself known as The Great and Powerful Trixie could. To put it simply, our opponent isn’t Trixie—it’s her stage persona.”
“But how is that even possible?” Applejack asked in complete bewilderment.
Rarity raised an eyebrow in surprise. “One of your best friends used to be a figment of Twilight’s imagination, and you’re doubting whether this is possible? The burst of magic that destroyed the Alicorn Amulet would surely be enough to activate the process, assuming I’ve understood their explanations correctly. The end result would be quite similar to how Discord, Penumbra, and Pinkie Pie were brought into the world.”
“But they were imaginary friends,” Fluttershy pointed out.
“Penumbra was a contingency plan,” Rarity countered. “A warped version of Celestia for whom Luna had developed a complete personality. As Trixie is a very ambitious professional showmare, it would make sense that she’d put that level of effort into developing a unique stage presence.”
“But how does that explain anything?” Rainbow Dash asked as she scratched her head.
“My dear, it explains everything. As Penumbra demonstrated last night with her Shadowbolts, beings of this sort retain the abilities their creators give to them once they become ‘real.’ That means that The Great and Powerful Trixie was able to intimidate an Ursa Major because the ability to do so was essential to Trixie’s stage show.”
“So... she defeated the Princesses because...”
“Anything you can do, The Great and Powerful Trixie can do better,” Rarity replied, paraphrasing the showmare’s catchphrase.
“Hang on,” Applejack said. “If that was Trixie’s stage persona, then what happened to the real Trixie?”
“In all likelihood, Trixie didn’t conceive of her stage persona as a separate pony,” Cadance said, “which, if I’m understanding this correctly, would mean that her stage persona may have overwritten her genuine personality—to the extent that there’s a difference, at least.”
“Cadance, are you actually takin’ this idea seriously?” Applejack asked in surprise.
“Well, it’s been nearly a whole day since you four started your research, and it sounds like this is the only theory you have that’s even remotely plausible.”
Fluttershy apparently concurred, and, in a wavering voice, asked the obvious question: “But... how do we stop somepony who’s better than us at everything?”
Rarity paused for a second before coming up with a thoroughly unsatisfying answer. “I... don’t know.”
There were several more seconds of silence before Rainbow Dash spoke up. “I think we need to talk about this with Twilight.”
——————————
“And where was this cave?” Penumbra asked.
The Shadowbolt droned, “Two hundred kilotrots west by northwest of here, near Dodge City.”
Penumbra groaned as she leaned back against the cliff that she’d been using to shade herself from the sun. “There’s no way of knowing if a cave that far away will even lead here.”
“Should we begin a preliminary exploration?”
Penumbra sighed and rubbed her temples. “You might as well. If you find anything, let me know.” The Duchess of Everfree watched the stallion take flight as tried to think of a simpler way to reach the captive princesses.
“Come on, Penumbra,” she said quietly to herself, “you’re missing something here.” There had to be something she was overlooking. Digging? No, Trixie would probably hear the noise and move Celestia and Luna, sealing them off even further....
Penumbra’s internal monologue abruptly stopped. “Of course!” she shouted, smacking a hoof against her forehead. “The seal!” Luna had told her all about Discord’s uprising during their exile on the moon, including how the draconequus had sealed her and her sister in a cave in the Badlands. She took flight, and soon found the ledge that she’d seen in Luna’s memories. In no time at all, she’d brushed the dust away from a series of arcane runes carved into the rock... which is when she remembered that breaking Discord’s seal required considerable unicorn magic, and Twilight Sparkle had most of hers.
“Wonderful...” she grumbled softly to herself before recalling the detachment of Shadowbolts who’d been sent to explore the Dodge City cave. After leaving them with orders to guard the location and report any strange activity, she flew back towards Canterlot to present her update in person. Penumbra didn’t like the idea of leaving Celestia and Luna in their adversary’s care, but she was fairly certain that they’d be unharmed. After all, in the grand scheme of things, Trixie wasn’t really that dangerous.
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That does explain things rather well.
But... Crystal Ponies... You monster.
That's a bit of a 'darker' history to the Sombra/Crystal Empire backstory than the 'lost in time' canon treatment. I like it...
Though it does bring into question what might happen/will happen if/when the Crystal Empire returns, if it does/can... and the ponies therein.
3402762 - Well, as far as the Crystal Empire returning... how to put it...?
This has nothing to do with this story, but I just finished watching the Turnabout Storm's finale.
... it's over
Edit: "Trixie wasn’t really that dangerous." 1st rule of everything, never say something like that. Always come true.
3402780
can you be a bit more obvious?
Dark and Tragedy both tend to scare some people off.
I would not recommend using them unless the story really deserves them...
So far IMHO the story is not even close to either one.
3402852
Did you not see what Sombra did to the Crystal Kingdom? Or did it just...
Review the chapter, and the following comments.
3402744 3402762 3402780
3402780
The Crystal Empire is a parrot?..
So, Trixie has been possesed by TGAPT, who has been possesed by Sombra?
Trixiecepcion?
Wait, Trixie is... oh Wow. I did not see that one coming.
BUT IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE.
Also, Sombra continues to fit my expectations of being the least redeemable villain.
3402965
True but we did not know them.
If Trixie had done the same to say .. Ponyville .. and we had to watch the CMC get turned into crystal shards ... then it would be a different story.
Even Cadance has some distance between her and the actual crime as it happened to her grandmother instead of herself.
Less personal and more historical. Like the difference between a tragedy and a statistic.
Right now it sounds like the easiest way to defeat TGaPTrixie is trap her in a logic loop.
I.e., since she is supposed to be better than everyone, use the mirror pool or a cloning spell to get her to fight herself.
That... actually explains everything.
I have to wonder what the limits of this kind of magic are. It seems like any sufficiently realized fictional personality can be reified given strong magical input. What happens to an author?
Also, G&P Trixie is officially a Mary Sue. Still, I think you've already shown us how she can be beaten. Possibly. I'll have to wait and see...
As for the Crystal Pony genocide... Yikes. Talk about grimmer and darker. It did a great job of characterizing this instance of Sombra, but still...
In any case, looking forward to more, especially if we get to see some of the imaginary duel.
3403573 Pish tosh, someone in denial can excuse anything. In this case, the copy would be dismissed as imperfect, and therefore less than the perfect original.
I do love being proven right
So, The Great and Powerful Trixie may be better than everyone at everything, but as they pointed out—Sombra isn't. I'm guessing his obsessions will be her downfall
3403686
Actually, I meant make a copy with the same "better than everyone else" ability to cause the logic loop.
So, in this continuity of yours, the Crystal Empire wasn't sealed away, it was annihilated by genocide?
That's... pretty dark.
Did you hate the Crystal Empire episodes that much?
okay, I hate the "crystal ponies are made of crystal" trope. It's STUPID. They have sparkly coats, they're not made out of GLASS.
Trixie's stage persona combined with Sombra's own power and intellect. I have no idea how you, the author, are going to wrap everything up in just three more chapters.
Edit: My mistake. TWO chapters.
Damn this shit is getting good.
3403834 True, but that's not how Sombra saw it.
If this song isn't the tune of the climax where Twilight duels Trixie one last time... I'll be disappointed.
It'd be a great way to fight her Stage Persona aspect directly, certainly, and Twilight's a great singer so... it just works.
YEESH! Damn Sombra! You scary!
That's....pretty hardcore.
Though Celestia and Luna's characterization actually pretty much exactly fits how my headcanon has them acting pre-banishment. It's always so cool when you see someone has the same headcanon, or at least has come to the same conclusion completely independently.
Poor Cadance. I wanna hug her.
3403834
Actually, watch the episodes again. They're partially translucent. You can sometimes see outlines of the things behind them through them. Their differences from normal ponies are pretty clearly more than skin deep.
AHA! Thought it might be something to do with her stage name.
I really like your version of Sombra and his psychotic break makes absolute sense. The crystal ponies, Why?
Can't wait to see how Celestia and Luna reacts to TGaP Trixie's ravings and more of Discord and Pinkie's face off.
Until the next one!
Great!!
3404116 - It's interesting that you use the word "scary," because Sombra's conversation with the princesses was partially inspired by this movie scene:
3403954 Remember this is numbered like how Discord would. He would have no issues going into negative chapters if he so desired.
Is Trixie going to die or be sent to a dungeon for life? Both seem likely.
3405065
Discord would probably number chapters something like... 3, 1.9, W, sheep, -7, behind, 3, , e͙̝̺̖̤̺͓ͬz̵͉̟̩͉̤͎̭͖ͯͪ͂ͧ͐p̧̱̣͎̩͕ͮͫ͐̈͑ḛ̴̳͎̳̩̾ͮ̔ͤ̂̀͐̑͜ŗ̣̭̫̺̒̇̔̃̅̏̏͐͢ ̨̭ͫͤ͘͟ ̸̮͖̣̼̳̮̜ͧͩ͐͑́ͧͥ ̶̜̲̻̦̦͕̬̪̈͗̅ͥͪ̃ͅ ̛̯̪̹̝̟̤̪̑̂̎̋̊̆̏̽ ̵ͭ̅̌҉̱̱̳̪͖ ̓͂ͥͧ̎̿̄̒̈́҉̗͓͔̱̻ ̜͍͈̺̤̞͗̅̐̽̅ͅ ̛͚̖̖̯͆̋̆ͧ́ ̯ͭͭ̌̒͋̅́d̢̮̼̦͍̲̀̏ͅi̡̮̰̗͉̋͌̈́ͪ̾͊̈́ạ̦͓͚̙̦͒ͭ̑̿͆ͪ͞ņ̱̥͚̺̪̫̆̇̒̓́͐ͫ̚ ̸͔͙̣̪̥̮̝ͩ͒͑̓͊ͦ͑ḩ̞̥̗̭̫̫̩̏ͬ̈́ͦi̶̢̡͔̻̖̩̲͙̝ͨ͋̆͌v̵̜̽̇̑͌̇ͫ͒̚͜e͇̙̠̾̃͗̍͒̌͋̕-̖͔̖̯͖̟̻͛ͤ͜m̡̻͙͆͘͠ ̨̭ͫͤ͘͟ ̸̮͖̣̼̳̮̜ͧͩ͐͑́ͧͥ ̶̜̲̻̦̦͕̬̪̈͗̅ͥͪ̃ͅ ̛̯̪̹̝̟̤̪̑̂̎̋̊̆̏̽ ̵ͭ̅̌҉̱̱̳̪͖ ̓͂ͥͧ̎̿̄̒̈́҉̗͓͔̱̻ ̜͍͈̺̤̞͗̅̐̽̅ͅ ̛͚̖̖̯͆̋̆ͧ́ ̯ͭͭ̌̒͋̅́i̸̻̙̲̠̰͚͐́͠n̨̪̘ͩͪ̊͡d̴̸̡͇͇̗̲ͫ̂ͪ͑̊̋̅̍ ̨͙̠͍ͣ̄ͯ́̿͑ͬ̆o̷̸̢̩͔͉̲̥̥ͦ̽̆͑̎ͦf͓̭͙̦̬̣͕͎͗̄͐̀ ̞̲̇̿͛ͨ͟c͇͉͖̰̳͒̈ͬͧ̎ͩ̿͋́̚h̩̠͉͖̋ͬ̈́͆̿a̴̞̼̱̳͒̍͆͊͠,
I wonder, could Discord bring back the Crystal Ponies, just to spite the Order loving Sombra, once the inevitable betrayal happens?
... How did I see that coming? But It appears that the solution to this is to challenge the Great and Powerful Trixie to lose. Or perhaps, cause her to try and be 'better' than Discord at being chaotic. Because of her current obsession with perfection, this will most likely be enough to hinder, if not stop her.
On the risk of sounding arrogant and douchy, I thought that that was exactly what was going on with Trixie, well minus the Sombra part.
Anyways, great chapter. I do wonder, however, what Chapters 2 and 1 will hold for the past narrative. Quigley's creation, probably, but what else? And getting everything cleared up in the present in two chapters seems like a pretty heavy task, curious as to how you'll do that.
Looking forward to the next one, and Flash Fog as well, as that will be next in your schedule, right?
Nice take on Sombra.
I remain astonished at how few stories, even a year on - have made much use of him, when in my opinion, he was by far the most competant villain of the lot (for all of his limited screen time).
The plot thickens. I hadn't twigged about Trixie, but the stage presence idea is brilliant!
3402780
On the one hand, excellent use of the dead parrot sketch.
On the other hand... I don't know, I just feel like this was an unnecessarily dark means of continuing the story. You already called this the finale, and I hardly see how Sombra 'removing' them from the world(via whatever weird magic he used in the show) doesn't fit this Sombra, yet him exploding the crystal ponies DOES. Also, in the entire guard, not one soldier was trained in stealth or long range spellcasting/archery/anything else? I mean, c'mon, I don't care how strong he is, an arrow in the neck is still an arrow in the neck.
3405296
How did you do that strange text thing after the 3? Wingdings? (Looked at source)
3405960 some sort of Unicode characters, I believe.
3403643
Steven King must never be allowed into the Petricultureverse. Terry Pratchett, however, should be sent immediately.
3404272
Now what did I just say?
Anyone can make an imaginary freind with unlimited powers with enough magical effor to back up?
As for Pratchett being here.. Death to Hex:I order you to Beleive.
Im really bad at thinking up new stuff, I just bend whats already around, and not in a detailed stylish manner either. This super Trixie is just like my OC
, but Far more capable in abilities, power, style.
I think the only advantage I have so far, is I know the basic rules of chaos.
You might have made a mistake in editing as this is the sole occurrence of the phrase 'visual distinction' in the entire chapter.
Was Cadance alive during Sombra's rampage?
3404207
Because Magic. The Mane Six, who are NOT crystal ponies, were turned translucent and sparkly by the crystal heart magic as well. Each crystal pony, individually, is capable of generating this magic-- at least when they're not depressed-- and it's a transient effect. (it disappears when they're sad or scared, and only affects the mane six, Shining, Cadence and Spike temporarily.) Further note: Twilight expressly says it's their COAT that is not crystally because they're sad.
hypothesis: the Crystal Heart is a focus for the combined, innate 'crystal sparkly effect' magic of the crystal ponies. Each crystal pony... when not depressed, at least.... can turn all crystally-looking when they use their magic. They pool that power into the crystal heart to use to defend their kingdom from its enemies.
3405960 There are unicode characters for superscript and subscripts. Nesting them and using a variety of other tricks can make text that looks l͚ͫͣ͐̇͡i͕̣̹̲͇͝k̮̯̣͔ͬͭ̃ͤͩ̎͝ė̔ ̪̙̭ͥ̾ͤ́t̟̎̆̿̾̕h̶̠̭̥̐ͯ̉ỉ͉̱s͑̾҉̩̬̩̫͖̟ͅ.
Reading about Cadence's magical expertise wasn't easy for me because in canon, she was not born an alicorn- she was a pegasus. I suppose the AU tag is there for a reason, but it's still my first reaction.
Wow! The Great and Powerful Trixie has Medaka from Medaka Box's powers! That's pretty broken!
3406973
Where the mane six also translucent, though? And if they'd been gone a thousand years would Twilight really know?
Ah well, even if they aren't actually transparent all the way through, nothing exists that prevents Sombra from turning them into crystal before breaking them, which would have identical results to what we saw in the chapter.
Wow. I actually gasped aloud at that. Holy crap.
And there's the explanation! Considering the story series, I suppose it shouldn't have been a surprise that it's yet another imaginary friend problem. Now I have to wonder what the solution could possibly be. Every previous IF has ended up as a separate entity of some sort, are we going to end up with both Trixie and TGAP Trixie by the end of the story?
And penny breaks rule one of being in a dangerous situation in fiction... Never say "what could possibly go wrong/it can't be that bad/there's nothing to worry about"
Huh. Y'know, my prediction was wrong. The reveal is neither 'completely terrible' nor 'amazing'. It makes sense, especially given what this series is all about, but somehow it just leaves me feeling neutral.
Shrug Ah well. I am still curious how this hashes out.
Oh my goodness, these ideas work SO GOD DAMN WELL
I love this cycle and its stories! The twists and 'imaginary friend physics' you've created just work too well.
And Sombra is a mean son of a- Well, yeah. I can't wait to see how you deal with everything next two chapters (or more if 3405065 is right!
)
3403720 - I don't know how I didn't notice this comment before, but I literally squealed in delight when I realized that you've been reading this story. Sharing the Night has been a big influence on the entire story cycle, most prominently in Pi.