Training Day 36: Final Exams, First Semester
Spike, Sombra, Luna, and Selene had all taken an extra day of rest after the fiasco at Castle Twilight. Luna had somehow managed to pin the whole thing on the currently missing Queen Chrysalis, despite the evidence to support it being non-existent. It did cause a bit of panic when the general public found out Chrysalis had escaped her prison, but she had supplied all major cities with extra guards from her personal battalion.
Today however they were forced to begin again, with stakes higher than ever.
Spike and Celestia were currently out in the courtyard. Celestia had a number of items set up to test Spike, because Spike had a grasp on his powers. There was one more element to go, and Spike had only one more hurdle to get over.
He needed Celestia's seal of approval.
"Alright, Spike, I'm ready to begin whenever you are. Your first test is light beams, your first lesson. I've got a rotating target the new recruits use for archery training. You need to hit at least three of the five targets in five shots. If you can't you'll be forced to spend the rest of the day practicing and try again tomorrow." Celestia instructed.
While Spike's projectile attacks were one of his better skills in magical terms, Celestia had come up with a simple but worrying challenge.
Spike was standing in front of a painted line on one end of the yard, while the rotating wheel of targets was literally as far away as possible. Spike's dragon eyes gave him great vision, but he was also gifted with decent spatial awareness. The shots were going to be pretty tough from this distance. That type of attack got less and less effective as it went.
Spike observed the wheel for a moment, trying to get a grasp on the timing. After a deep breath, Spike fired off his first shot. Then a pause, another shot. Pause. Shot. Pause. Shot. Pause, final shot.
Celestia lit her horn and disconnected the wheel from the machine, bringing it forward at a steady pace.
"Okay. Let's see how you did." Celestia said with great interest.
The wheel was a bit bigger than Celestia herself, and each target around it's edge was about as big as the seat of an average bar stool.
Three of the five targets showed direct hits. Another had a hole shot through it's far edge. The very last target had escaped with nothing but a singe, but Spike was happy with it. He had made four of five shots. His first challenge was over.
"Excellent. Despite light having a much less wide berth than fire you wield it well. Next up, barrier. I'm going to fling a number of objects at you. You just hold your barrier in place and hope it doesn't shatter. As long as it holds it can crack. This skill isn't overly important to you since you're armored, but it could save someone else's life." Celestia continued.
Spike frowned, realizing he was still shaky at best when it came to the defensive magics Celestia had taught him.
Even so, Spike clapped his hands together and let the mana build up. After a few seconds he thought it was ready, separating his hands and creating a yellow-green octagonal shield. It wasn't big enough for Spike to hide behind, but it would have been a perfect fit for a pony.
Celestia quickly levitated an object from her supplies. A small folding chair. She grabbed hold of one leg with her aura, not wanting to accidentally touch the barrier. It was a test of physical resistance after all.
With one powerful swing, the chair made contact with the barrier and bounced off harmlessly.
Undeterred, Celestia next produced a lawn dart. It seemed extra sharp.
The dart hit, sticking in place and cracking the wall of magic. It fell to the ground soon after, but Spike's worry had increased ten-fold. The fact Celestia was now holding a bowling ball and backing up did little to improve this state of mind. With an impressive pitch, Celestia sent the ball hurtling towards Spike's barrier.
The blunt object struck hard right where the dart had cracked it. The cracks spread all throughout the barrier, but by some miracle it held. Celestia smiled, teleporting to Spike's side and tapping the barrier with her golden-shod hoof.
It shattered, but Spike had made it.
"Cutting it close, but you passed. Next up, protect. Just one shot this time, but it's going to be a heavy mana bolt. Think you can handle it?" Celestia asked Spike.
Spike was obviously very nervous, but he nonetheless created another yellow-green energy field. This one was circular in shape, but otherwise seemed the same. Even so, Celestia looked at it approvingly.
Without much delay Celestia lit her horn, and Spike could feel the level of mana she was preparing to fire off.
While a blast of that level would do nothing to him, he was unsure his creation could hold up. It was easily as powerful as one of his mother's more serious shots. While it wasn't one of Celestia's truly powerful moves it was enough for him to be concerned.
The second the blast hit, the shield wavered, but it didn't do any more but ripple. Celestia continued to feed the beam, but the shield did not break. It began to bend, and a sound like creaking metal filled the area. After a full minute of strained deflection, Celestia ceased her attack.
"Excellent. They say mana can take after it's source. It would appear your protect spell has some of your own resistance. I went a bit further than I intended and it still held. As for dispel and purify, you were forced to use them over and over to learn, so testing them is unnecessary since I already know your proficiency.
"The last thing I need to see is the unique ability you've cultivated on your own. You did say you spent all day practicing yesterday after figuring out the purpose of the rings?" Celestia asked, sounding very interested.
Spike sighed in relief, the hardest part of the exam over with.
With a devilish grin, Spike began the process of forming his mana around himself.
While it was still pretty new to him, Spike managed to form the rings without much difficulty. The only damning factor was time, the rings took a full minute to form fully. While it wasn't ready for battle just yet, Celestia could see Spike's progress.
Instead of one ring around each wrist, there were two sets. One on each arm, and a solo ring at the base of Spike's neck.
"Very interesting. Two on each arm? What exactly do they do? Are they some kind of enhancement after all?" Celestia wondered aloud.
"Er... Yes, and no? I kinda need something to demonstrate though. Which... I've just realized I don't have a way to do that by myself." Spike sighed as he slapped himself out of stupidity.
Spike was looking nervous again as Celestia looked at him, almost apologetic.
Fortunately, it would appear Spike had a dark angel looking after him. A gout of fire erupted from his mouth, and he barely had time to catch the unexpected delivery. At first glance, it was just a jar half-full of a black liquid.
But as soon as Spike kept it still he could see it moving about in wispy tendrils every few seconds.
With another burp of green flames came a note, which Spike wasted very little time unfolding. It was instantly recognizable as Sombra's handwriting.
Dear,
You seem to have forgotten just how your own powers work. I just realized it myself, and I've sent you an infinitesimally small fraction of the boundless love I have for you to help remedy the oversight. Just pour it out and do what you do. Don't worry about me, as Luna and I are currently trying to remedy my own situation on regrouping lost mass from new sources.
Love, Sombra.
P.S. If you tell anyone how saccharine the second line of this letter was I will force you into abstinence for the next week.
Spike couldn't help but laugh a little, but he burned up the letter just to be safe.
"Okay then. We're in business. Sombra saved my ass, again." Spike chuckled.
Spike did as instructed and poured the darkness out of the jar.
It began as a small puddle, but it soon began to drip upward in an act of defiance towards gravity. Then it formed itself together in a shadowy cloud, becoming nebulous. It was exactly what Spike needed to showcase his new power.
"Try touching it, Celestia." Spike implored his mentor.
Celestia had no reason not to trust Spike, and she complied without hesitation.
As Spike expected, it passed right through the cloud of darkness.
"Okay. I can't touch it." Celestia replied, having an idea where Spike was going with this.
Spike reached out and touched the dark mass, going so far as to grab it between his thumb and pointer claws. He squished it about a bit, and pulled it with both hands, showing it was clearly solid for him.
"So yeah, these rings on my arms make anything I wanna touch... Er, touchable? Tangible. Yeah, that's the word. Ghosts, shadows, energy. All of it feels just like a solid. Or a semi-solid at least." Spike explained, letting go of the mass.
It floated about freely, but Celestia blew it away from her in case it tried to meld with her mane.
"So then... If I were to try and blast you, you could catch it, maybe even throw it back?" Celestia presumed.
"Yeah. I can even do this." Spike said with no small bit of excitement.
Spike raised his right hand above his head and let his mana build. Celestia watched as green electricity began to crackle and converge in the palm of Spike's hand. It was a ball of pure electricity until Spike applied pressure. It grew violent for a moment before it leveled out and became a new shape, a long thin form.
Spike was wielding a literal bolt of lightning.
Aiming at one of the leftover targets across the yard, Spike hurled the bolt of lightning with all his might. It struck home, and the result was devastating. The stone monument exploded into rubble with a power that stunned Celestia for a moment.
"Oh my. Lightning is more powerful than your average mana bolt, but that was incredible. How much of your mana did something like that take?" Celestia asked, obviously impressed.
"Well... The rings take something like a fifth of my mana to create, but they don't take any extra energy after that. That electric magic cost me about an eighth? I'm learning magic too advanced for my age, so mana goes pretty fast. It's still something of a problem, but not like it used to be." Spike revealed, a little embarrassed.
Celestia seemed to ponder the problem for a moment, but when no answer came she seemed to let go of the subject for the time being.
"We'll have to try and even out the rate at which you use mana, but for now please continue your demonstration. I imagine you've got a few more tricks to show me, judging by how excited you were." Celestia presumed.
Spike nodded, and he grabbed the bowling ball Celestia had flung at his barrier.
With a bit of effort, the rings on Spike's right arm glowed brighter and began to rotate slowly. Celestia watched with great interest as the halos of light energy slammed together at Spike's wrist. The bowling ball became covered in cracks with light beaming out, until it exploded into tiny bits, leaving little more than smoking debris in Spike's hand.
"It's some kind of pulse. It slams light magic through whatever I've got my hands on. It's really only usable if I'm touching something. Otherwise the pulse spreads outwards and does way less damage. It was enough to stun Sombra for a couple seconds though... and break all the glass in Mom's study." Spike chuckled.
"Fascinating. I never imagined your ability as anything like this. I would have thought the rings let you have aura punches or something of that nature. But what does the ring around your neck do?" Celestia praised.
"Oh, right. Sombra's actually the one that figured that out. I was pretty stumped myself. There's another ring at the back of my throat. It's an enhancer for breath attacks. Lemme go grab one of those stone pillars and I'll show you." Spike said as he bounded off across the courtyard.
Without any noticeable effort, Spike hefted one of the stone pillars that weighed at least a ton with just his tail. Celestia found herself becoming incredibly jealous of Spike's growing strength and ability. Spike was waving around an object of great weight without even being in his unsealed size.
Although Celestia had to admit the idea of being even larger than she was now wasn't very attractive.
She was already a great deal larger than her subjects, and her weakness for pastry wasn't doing her any favors.
Celestia returned to reality when Spike set up the pillar on the ground about ten yards away from her. He stuck it directly in the ground for good measure. It seemed Spike didn't want to take any chances. Understandable, as he had only known about the power for about a day.
Celestia watched intently as Spike opened his mouth as wide as he possibly could.
Another ring moved from the back of his throat to between his jaws and grew to fit between them perfectly. Celestia felt the need to scoot back just a few feet as the heat had begun to rise again. Spike was readying a very large fire attack, and Celestia knew first-hoof just how harmful dragon fire could be.
With a deep breath, Spike breathed a powerful jet of flames, but they weren't green. Or more accurately, they didn't stay green. The emerald fire turned white as it passed through the halo's middle and it was imbued with light magic, making it turn white as a side effect. It was beautiful and bright, almost like staring at the sun.
When Spike was literally out of breath the attack tapered off, and Spike closed his jaws. It shattered the ring, and the one at the base of his neck mirrored it's twin, shattering into pieces.
The pillar had been reduced to molten slag, but it hardened unnaturally fast. The resulting material was a strange mirror-like material that steamed a bit. Odd, considering the pillar had been made of concrete with a reinforced core of metal bars.
"Whew. That does eat up a little more mana than usual, and it looks like I only get one shot of that. Still a pretty great finisher. Sombra gets the heebie-jeebies when I do a lot of the light-based stuff though. Especially the fire one." Spike explained as he let the halos fade.
Spike felt rather tired, but Celestia was giving him an approving smile.
"You've passed. While your technique is advanced for someone so young the rate you go through mana is still an issue, but it can't be helped right now. You were forced into this many centuries before you were supposed to. Luna will most likely have you start your lessons with her the day after tomorrow." Celestia declared, taking an enormous weight off of Spike's shoulders.
"Awesome. But... We've only got another month or so before the council meets. I dunno if I can learn darkness in such a short time." Spike worried.
Celestia hummed thoughtfully, but seemed optimistic.
"Luna's methods are... extreme. But they are also very effective. Luna also won't have as much to teach you as she does Sombra. Learning the basics should only take about as long as it did with me. After that, she's going to put you through the wringer, but you'll come out of it better." Celestia assured Spike.
"Yeah... I hope so." Spike wished.
~Meanwhile~
Underneath Canterlot castle, but not down deep enough to find the crystal caves were the Lunar Barracks and Training Grounds. Thestrals, being naturally nocturnal lived in caves in times of old. Nowadays however it was becoming commonplace for larger cities to have underground districts to accommodate the bat-like ponies, and more recently the changelings.
Canterlot was no different, but the barracks were sectioned off and guarded from civilian sectors to maintain castle security.
As ninety percent of the thestral forces were currently stationed in major cities all around the country the barracks were nearly completely empty. The remaining guards were staffers and security, all instructed to carry on as usual while their surrogate maternal goddess trained her new pupil. They weren't bothered by Sombra's presence, and they all knew of Selene.
They treated Sombra like a brother, as they treated one another, and Selene with nearly as much reverence as Luna herself. The Nightmare received equal treatment as Luna did, and Sombra found their devotion rather fascinating.
Currently, Luna was watching Sombra as he tried to master a new skill.
Sombra was struggling with his current task, as he had been having an especially difficult time resting since the attack on castle Twilight.
Every night Sombra was having the same dream. The voices in the dark, which Discord had interrupted the first time. For whatever reason the dream of the voices disappearing was very emotionally draining. Luna and Selene were likewise stumped by the unusual dream, as they were powerless to alter the course of it or communicate with Sombra while it was happening.
Despite all that, Sombra was still working hard to learn as much darkness magic as he could.
Sombra had no idea what his subconscious was telling him, but he felt as though if he didn't listen he'd miss out on something important. Most likely a memory, or some kind of revelation. But there was also another reason Sombra wished to know what the dreams meant.
Ever since the dreams started, each and every time he meditated he was plagued again by the song. With practice, Sombra found he could hear it faintly if he concentrated. Actual whispers in the dark, telling him things he couldn't really understand.
But Sombra wasn't about to succumb to madness so easily.
Instead, Sombra began using the song as a mantra of sorts while awake. Imagining the song coming from himself in his head seemed to make it a reality. Even if no one but Sombra could hear it, he could reply. It seemed to allow him a greater degree of control over shadows not connected to himself, which is why he had suggested today's lesson to Luna.
After several verses of the wordless song the shadows in the dim training field all began to quiver.
Sombra opened his jaw, as if by instinct as all the inanimate objects in the area were stripped of their shadows. It was as if they were band-aids, adhered to the world and stretching as they peeled away. Each and every one of them swirled into place between Sombra's jaws, accumulating into a sphere of dark energy.
It wasn't that deep a black, clearly transparent. Though it was better than nothing. Despite being only as dark as the shaded lenses of a pair of sunglasses, Sombra consumed the ball. It was a snack compared to some of the other darknesses Sombra had assimilated before, but the experiment seemed validated enough.
Luna at least seemed rather happy with Sombra's results.
She walked forward, giving Sombra a pleased smile.
"Very impressive. I was surprised you wanted to try this type of thing after being so reluctant before. As such, I've expanded upon your original idea. Selene is bringing some... teaching aids later on. But I'm proud to say after today's training you're finished with my lessons. Aside from shape-shifting, which you don't seem to possess, you've learned everything I have to teach you." Luna congratulated Sombra.
While Sombra understood Luna's words he seemed unable to come up with a multi-word response.
"What?" Sombra managed.
Luna giggled a bit, patting Sombra on the head as if he were a naive foal.
"You have graduated. That said, you are to continue studying independently. Every Sunday, I will take a day off from teaching Spike. You will fight me and Selene together as Nightmare Moon on each such day. Once you have bested me I will unseal the box containing the great darkness. As insane as Discord is, I feel his judgement in this matter was... Not wrong, per-say. But I believe you will prove yourself before Dootha rises."
Sombra was caught unaware, but he nodded his acknowledgement.
Luna was indeed the type of person to drop bombs on others unexpectedly, but that had been a bit much.
Luna was very likely Sombra's best friend. Other than Spike, he had spent the most time with her. They had a great deal in common, and Sombra had even taken to playing games with her in their off time. Not to mention the fact that one half of Nightmare Moon was also the person Sombra recognized as the closest thing to blood relations he had.
It was in fact his younger sister that broke him out of his state of surprise and internal conflict.
"Oh, Brother~! I've brought you some lunch~!"
Selene was floating about lazily as per usual, but following behind her was a trio of thestral guards. Two stallions and a mare to be precise, each looking embarrassed and eager at the same time. No doubt having something to do with whatever Luna and Selene had planned behind Sombra's back.
Sombra put aside his turbulent thoughts for a moment and prepared himself for unpleasantness.
"What's this about lunch now? I don't see food, even though you seem to have brought guests to this imaginary meal." Sombra asked, quite confused.
Selene landed on the floor with a soft clack of hooves, standing beside her guests. Though more accurately she towered over them, being easily the size of Celestia despite her thin construction. To their credit the thestrals she had brought were doing their best to be stoic, even though Selene was acting foalish as per usual.
"This is Brambles, he works at the gate." She said of the first stallion.
"Her name is Gilded Lily, she works in the 'R and D' department, whatever that is." Selene said of the mare.
"And this fella here is Buckeye. He's a cook, and they're here for your lunch. You're gonna munch on their shadows. They volunteered, in exchange for the rest of the day off with full pay, and the highest honor a thestral can receive." Selene explained, giving the other stallion a playful punch on the shoulder.
Sombra wasn't quite sure if he wanted to try consuming someone else's shadow, even if they had volunteered. Taking a host of shadows from inanimate objects was one thing, but this was something different entirely. Taking away a part of a living breathing person seemed a little too intimate for his taste, and the repercussions were a total mystery.
Luna however stepped forward and the thestrals bowed before her, even though it elicited only a small grin and a roll of her eyes. Luna cared very little for pomp and circumstance in non-crises situations, but she let her surrogate children do as they pleased. Sombra had often seen her bask in their unconditional admiration many a time, feeding her ego.
Once she had had her fill of worship she motioned for the guards to rest at ease and turned to Sombra again.
"Children, please inform Sombra what you stand to gain if he complies with the experiment. While Sombra is part of the family, he knows nothing of the old customs." Luna asked of the thestrals.
The thestrals saluted, and their expressions softened.
Lily stepped forward, not wishing to say it too loudly.
"The highest honor a thestral can receive is to feed upon the moon. A drink from the queen mother's own blood. Most thestrals would kill for the reward of a single drop. We're more than willing to risk our lives for this opportunity, and it will be a story to tell our children and our grandchildren down the line." Gilded Lily explained, sounding almost lustful.
Sombra would have been blind to miss the glances Lily cast at Luna as well.
Luna didn't seem to care that her so-called children had a thirst for her blood, but she did seem to think Sombra needed to be a bit more open-minded.
"Sombra, just give it a go. We've yet to fully understand your abilities, and here you have three volunteers who are all legal adults with no significant others and who are all in service of the military. What's more, all my guards sign releases and nondisclosure agreements. They even get excellent healthcare, insurance, and even dental. Gods forbid it happen, but their families would even get all their benefits were the unthinkable to happen. You would be hard-pressed to find better test subjects." Luna pointed out.
Sombra wanted to argue, but living with Luna would be difficult if he denied her, and her guards would likely grow to hate him if he denied them their reward.
Sombra started by forming a dark matter hand and reached into Gilded Lily's shadow, humming the whispery song to himself the whole time.
Lily seemed to have a chill run down her spine as soon as the hand hit her shadow, but seemed otherwise fine.
Slowly, Sombra pulled at her unguarded shadow. It peeled off the floor slowly, stretching and warping a bit as if it were gum stuck to the sidewalk on a busy street. It resisted him much more than the inanimate shadows had, but it seemed to want to heed his call.
With a final tug, Sombra had fully removed Gilded Lily's shadow. He held it aloft, but in his palm it shrunk and condensed into a small orb about the size of a gumball. Lily herself seemed tired and looked like she had just rolled out of bed. Ruffled, but stable.
"Gilded Lily, are you well?" Sombra felt the need to ask before going any further.
Lily saluted, and though she seemed to be moving a bit slowly her body seemed fine. Just worn out.
Luna gave Sombra a nod to tell him to hurry up.
With the okay being given, Sombra popped the shadowy gumball-sized mass of dark matter into his mouth and began to chew. It tasted flowery, but not in a pleasant sort of way. More like a chemical sort of flowery, like someone had just sprayed perfume and your sense of taste mixed with your sense of smell to give you an illusion of taste.
Sombra felt the gain in mass upon swallowing, worth only about as much as a single sigil. It was to be expected of a thestral, as they weren't particularly magical or powerful in comparison to the shadows he had consumed before now. Nor were they large enough to produce a particularly 'meaty' shadow. It had in fact seemed... airy. Like what Sombra imagined chewing styrofoam was like.
Gilded Lily was instructed to report back to Luna every day until her shadow began to cast itself again, and then Luna offered her her prize. A drink from her foreleg for a full ten seconds. After which, Gilded seemed to be in the best of spirits. Perhaps even drunk on the tiredness and euphoria.
The process continued as Sombra next took the shadow of Buckeye, who Sombra had to admit tasted better than Lily. He wondered if it was a matter of personal preference, but stopped that train of thought right at the station. Buckeye wasn't much more filling, but his shadow had what could only be rationalized as a better consistency. Something like a ripe tomato that tasted of hickory-barbecue potato chips.
As soon as Buck had his reward, Sombra moved on to Bramble.
Surprisingly enough Bramble's shadow was somewhat more filling than the others, leading Sombra to believe it varied from individual to individual. Much like flavor did, as he was learning. Bramble's shadow was imbued with the taste of sourdough bread with the consistency of wet sand.
Once the trio had likewise had their own meals, (of which there was most definitely some perverse elements to, judging by the sounds they made) Luna had them escorted home just in case.
After Sombra had shared the experience of his absurdly odd meal with Selene and Luna and discussed their findings Sombra was done for the day.
"Right then. If they are well tomorrow we can consider the excersize a success. Even if their shadows don't return it won't be much of an issue so long as the exhaustion goes away." Luna declared.
Sombra seemed a bit skeptical yet, but he nodded his head in agreement. If the experiment proved successful there might be more techniques down the line based upon taking shadows. Or somehow finding a means of replenishing himself more easily, though Sombra had his doubts if such a goal was actually feasible.
After Sombra excused himself to retrieve a normal lunch, he returned to the castle via Spike's shadow.
Spike was already enjoying a 'lunch' of his own.
It seemed to consist of a whole roasted manticore, a quarter-ton of Twilight's vitamins, metals, and minerals in cubic form to support Spike's bone growth, and what was seemingly a barrel of gems and a barrel of hard cider. Spike was about halfway through with everything by the looks of it. He was so busy chewing through a handful of the metal and gemstones that Sombra doubted very much that Spike had heard him arrive.
Sombra wished to alert Spike to his presence, but he had a more devilish idea.
The very instant Spike turned to tear a leg off what remained of the manticore Sombra extended his shadow across the ground. With it, he stretched it around the barrel of gems. It sunk into the shadowy world known only to a select few, vanishing from Spike's feast.
Spike's instinctive treasure-sense seemed to kick in quite quickly, but Sombra had already vanished as if he had never been there in the first place.
Then, when he turned again his manticore was likewise missing. Spike took a defensive stance, ready to club whoever was after his meal with a manticore drumstick. He didn't dare move, fearful something else would vanish.
Then, a single tourmaline dropped from the sky, bouncing off Spike's snout.
Looking up, Sombra was perched upon the branch of a nearby tree looking smug. He had a battalion of arms holding the barrel of gems and the roast manticore, and what seemed to be a dozen more either floating about freely or holding him in place.
After letting out his still somewhat villainous laugh, Sombra set his army of arms about placing Spike's food back where it belonged. Then he jumped from the tree, taking advantage of the fact he no longer had a proper flesh and blood form. Otherwise he would have broken all four of his ankles.
It still hurt, but being eviscerated and bisected over and over gives one quite a pain tolerance.
"Afternoon, Dear. I see that you aren't holding back your appetite today. I take it things went well?" Sombra assumed haughtily.
Spike laughed, turning to greet Sombra properly.
"I passed Celestia's tests! I get to start learning from Luna with you. Although the big light-fire thing took a hell of a lot of energy. I had to refuel, and I'm in a great mood, so I pulled together a real meal. Plus I'm a little behind on my bone-meds. Some of them don't taste so great, but I'll be damned if iridium and osmium aren't filling." Spike exclaimed.
Sombra's mood fell a bit, but he did his best to retain his smile.
"Yes... About that. Luna has also seen fit to 'cut me loose' as it were. She claims I can learn no more from her and that I should study independently. Despite this, I cannot reclaim the cube until I have bested her and Selene in combat. I will have one opportunity each week." Sombra explained regretfully.
Spike instantly looked sorry for Sombra, reaffirming what Sombra already felt.
"That's rough. Aside from Discord, Nightmare is our strongest heavy-hitter. Luna is way more direct than Celestia though. I'm actually not that surprised she wants a fight. But, if she thinks you can beat her, then I'd say you've got it in you. " Spike reasoned optimistically.
Sombra found Spike's confidence refreshing as always, but at the moment he was just glad they both had made progress today. Things were settling down again, and training was still moving forward. Sombra had even managed to go a few days without getting dismembered or exploded.
Sombra was happy, even if things still looked a bit bleak on the horizon.
For now, they would enjoy what they could while they weren't working their tails off.
~Trottingham, Outskirts~
The rundown abbey outside Trottingham was quiet, as it always was. Yet, underneath in the catacombs, great evils were being reforged. Being made stronger than ever before. Anyone magically inclined could have gotten wind of it, but the unnatural nature of it all kept anyone not in league with the side of evil far away.
Down in the catacombs, a mad pony and an unspeakable horror masquerading as a cat were standing before a glowing cocoon.
The mad pony was positively ecstatic about something, while the cat was staring down the pod intently. It pulsed and wriggled with increasing frequency, and they could even hear it beating rhythmically. Like it was the heart of a giant monster, trying to keep it's host alive despite it's disembodied state.
"Come now, it's been long enough hasn't it? She was evil before we ever got hold of her. Her soul should be eroded by now, yes?" Dirge asked excitedly.
Beznik did not move from it's spot, or cast Dirge a glance. Yet at the same time Dirge could feel his blood seep out his eyes and ears, just from the mere anger it showed him. An intense pressure crashing down on his heart. Like the paw of a tremendous cat trying to smother him.
He was able to reign in the bleeds, but he knew not to say more until spoken to.
Despite being sworn to Dootha, Beznik's moods and whims were entirely his own. The disturbing, yet adorable little beast seemed to have an intense hatred for anything other than his master and Dirge often wondered if Beznik kept him around only so he wouldn't have to do everything himself. Even though he was definitely capable of anything and everything he needed to do.
The bug has reached the point of no return, we may use her body now that she has no soul to burn. A race of demons shall rise anew, and soon the queen will join with you. For a king to rule he must have a people, and Dootha desires a brood flying his banner of evil.
Dirge got the shivers as Beznik spoke in the voice of a foal, but he couldn't hold back his excitement either as the cocoon cracked.
Out of the chrysalis slid a shimmery teal ooze, followed by a slimy white worm.
The worm, or perhaps more slug-like being, had four limbs, which it seemed unable to move freely. Eventually it was able to open it's eyes, great big and a stunning electric green. They flowed with miasma, and there was much hatred in them.
Beznik stared into them, and the slug creature froze.
Dirge stepped sideways, shielding her from the piercing gaze.
"Hello! I'm so glad you've awoken! We've a lot to do, but we need to get you up and moving again first. Can you speak my dear? Do you remember us? I've got a very memorable face." Dirge asked, tenderly caressing Chrysalis's slimy cheek.
Chrysalis seemed to be having difficulty forming words in her current state, but she tried.
"S-So.... H-hungry. N-need to fe-f-feed!" She urged them.
Beznik stepped through Dirge, causing the scarred stallion to shiver.
Beznik opened his tiny mouth, breathing out a stream of silvery and glowing energy, swirls of miasma running throughout. It forced it's way into Chrysalis, and after a short (completely futile) resistance she accepted it gladly. She moaned out in pleasure, her belly filled for the first time in longer than she could remember.
In fact it was more satisfying than anything she had ever eaten before.
She felt strong, despite not being able to move. Her body surged with energy, and she could feel her new exoskeleton beginning to grow in. She felt like she could do anything, and she wanted more. She needed it.
"Dear gods... What was that? It was so much better than love, than anything." Chrysalis cooed, seemingly high off her rocker.
Dirge smiled, patting her on the head.
"Souls, my dear. All sorts. Some good, some bad, all delicious. You're a demon now, and we'll be feeding you plenty of them from now on. We're going to make you a queen again. The first true queen to the one true king." Dirge cackled.
If anyone had been around to listen they would have assuredly heard a menacing laugh carry throughout the countryside.
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Well I like this chapter kinda bumd that we won't be seeing Spike's training with Luna I would love to see how she unlocks his darkness but I can't wait to see the counsel.
With Chrysalis new from I can't help but think Termite queen compared to her past wasp/ant form.
7354532 We will see it. Don't worry.
this story just got even more awsome.
This is getting pretty saucy and I'm really starting to like how some of spikes powers are forming they're very gundam/yu-gi-oh esque which I don't mean in a bad way. Like he seems like some O.P. Representation of a eastern god in a video game with some badass mantra and a giant floating halo behind him. I'm really hoping to see some extreme power come out of sombra; it would be awesome if he was able to show off a huge reserve of dark magic that he didn't know how to use this whole time so we can know just how strong spike will get. Also I think you really killed it with the letter joke about how sombrero threatened to cut of spike if he let such info go; that little line really brought back that back and forth we haven't seen since the training began. Anyways the story is great as always and I cant wait for the next batch of battles, romance, and adventure.