The Moon Shall Rise From Hell's Ashes

by TundraStanza

Interlude: It's Not Over Yet

A/N: Warning: may contain trace amounts of "Dark". Proceed with caution.
---

Interlude: It’s Not Over Yet

---{???}

The Crystal Heart acts as a beacon. Its power may be that of love and hope. But inadvertently, it acts as an attractor to the very opposite power. True, the crystal ponies can use it to repel entities of evil. However, when they let their guard down, it will return. Even though light and darkness cannot exist in the same space, one cannot be recognized without its opposite.

That… is what he uses to justify the means of his return. What his former slaves don’t know is the Heart’s other power. What happens when a brighter light shines? Does it not cast a longer shadow?

---{Narrator}

A lightning bolt crashed as a haze of dark clouds rolled over the sky. His fanged mouth curled into a smirk. The darkness was his ally and the crystals were his slaves. His most recent victim, a pale unicorn with a face of terror, was trapped in large, black crystal case. The best part was that his prey never saw it coming.

It was almost touching how helpless and pitiful Prince Shining Armor was.

The rest of the castle’s guards were even weaker. All dressed up in armor pretending to be soldiers and what did they do? They just stood there, trembling in fear in his presence. It was just the way he liked it. All was as it should be.

Citizens all over the Crystal Empire shivered at the wrongness of the evil cackling they heard. After all… they had never heard such malice and ruthlessness in the laughter of the Crystal Princess.

---{Celestia in the 3rd P.O.V.}

The letter had insisted that something was very wrong with Princess Cadance. The message also lacked a signature, meaning that it had been sent in a hurry to avoid detection. Celestia had no time to waste. Her wings beat against the air behind her. She had to conserve her magic. Who knew what force was terrifying enough for some pony to send such a rushed message?

“Sister!”

Celestia turned to see who could call her while she was flying at this pace.

“Luna?” she asked.

“I sense a dark presence up north,” the younger sister replied, “I’m coming with you.”

Celestia chuckled to herself. “I don’t suppose an offer of an extra-large sundae would be enough to convince you to go back to the castle, would it?”

Luna let out a chuckle of her own. “No, but I’ll still be happy to take it when we return.”

Well, that bribe didn’t work. Celestia saw no point in trying further discouragement.

“Then let us make haste,” she said.

Luna nodded an affirmative.

“By the way,” Celestia added, “I figured you would be the most concerned about leaving Nightmare Moon on her own. Are you sure that joining me is such a good idea?”

“I've already given orders to Spirit Sword and Faith Shield to keep an eye on her,” Luna answered, “This time, I’m not alone. So they won’t worry about my safety or abandon their assigned posts.”

“Clever girl,” Celestia muttered even though her calm smile never left.

---

The atmosphere left a most disturbing feeling as the sisters flew over the Crystal Empire. The structures looked relatively untouched, but there were very few crystal ponies out and about. The lack of storm control didn’t help matters. It was midday, yet you couldn’t tell with the large, black overcast.

Celestia and Luna barged into the main castle, ready to face just about anything. The key words were “just” and “about”. They weren’t expecting a hallway lined with the Crystal Guard ponies trapped in crystal cases. Each of them was frozen in place. Some had their eyes open wide. Others had their jaws dropped. But they all shared some expression of confusion or terror.

It was also disorienting to see such a finely lit room cast a shadow over the back wall. A silhouette shrouded in that shadow looked like some pony sitting on the throne.

“Well, well, if it isn’t the Sisters Royale.”

Both of them let out a quiet gasp. The voice they heard sounded calm enough. The problem was in its inflection. It sounded too coaxing and mocking for that particular pony to be speaking. In fact, it sounded a little too close to another time in which someone had used her voice to say such horrible things. Specifically, some changeling.

“Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, what is the meaning of all this?” demanded Luna.

“Oh, Auntie Lu Lu, you know I don’t like that full name,” the recipient replied.

Luna immediately tensed up and glared into the room.

She never calls us that name… or “Auntie”, Luna thought suspiciously.

“What have you done to Princess Cadance?” asked Celestia softly but firmly.

“Oh, not much,” insisted the voice as the silhouette stood up and slowly trotted forward. “I just laid her down for a little nap.”

A fanged smile and two glowing, red and green eyes became visible in the one shadow in the room. Celestia and Luna stood with their best hooves forward. It was clear now that Sombra was somehow back. Well, he wouldn’t be sticking around if they had anything to say about it. But when the former king trotted out of the shadow, their looks of determination changed to looks of horrified shock.

The red horn, dark magic eyes, and crooked smile were most certainly his. The rest of his body, however, had too many shades of pink, purple, and white.

“By the Elders, no,” whispered Celestia.

“What kind of abomination is this?” Luna choked on her own spit.

Sombra let out a loud, feminine cackle that echoed across the Empire.

---{To be continued…}

Author's Note:

As much as I'd love to crossover with "Hail to the King", I've decided that I don't want to stain the guy's natural talent with my disaster-prone writing habits. Instead, we're going to be looking at a different problem in the Crystal Empire altogether. I did warn you people that I have no idea what I'm doing back in Chapter 2.

Comments

[val]

hail to the king is a really funny story but i dont think the human would do that kind of thing I hope
something weird is happening

[nighters]

hopefully later you have a good game plan out for this i hope this story doesn't end up as dead forever kind of story but i do like it heck best of luck to ya!

[IkioStar]

Well this was still good, despite it not being what some of us expected. I'll be looking forward to more of your work.

[TheGreatSako]

Eh, I really liked how...relaxed the story was up to this point. I don't really think an antagonist is necessary, but you've been doing good so far, so I have faith~

[TundraStanza]

I never thought I'd see the fleeting moment where the view count is exactly 666.
Heh, I'm too easily amused.
Edit: Well, it was amusing while it lasted.

[Insane]

Well, Know you are good guy, Dain

But IT TIME FOR JACK TO LET ER RIP

[djponyfl]

i think this is a very good story so far and i can't wait to read the next chapter of this this story when or if it comes.

[hmaf43]

The red horn, dark magic eyes, and crooked smile were most certainly his. The rest of his body, however, had too many shades of pink, purple, and white.

rainbow dash's secret child?

“What kind of abomination is this?” Luna choked on her own spit.

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