Strings

by naturalbornderpy

Chapter 9: Together We Stand

CHAPTER NINE:

TOGETHER WE STAND

1

Even through the thick double doors Celestia could hear Spitfire and another hastily cleaning throughout her office. Ten minutes ago the meeting that she had arranged had not even existed, but Celestia had been persistent it be now. Times of formality were coming to a close.

Sitting silently in the Wonderbolts’ small waiting room, Celestia declined tea a total of three times before finally caving in on the fourth. She doesn’t bother drinking it—merely holds the cup in her hoof, nudges the thin lemon slice with her spoon every time she feels the need. In respect for the many other ponies busily laboring around the place, she’s trying to appear calm—the secretary just outside Spitfire’s doors, the dozens more strolling up and down halls. Yet Celestia’s almost certain the words have already started to spread.

She had thought those screams would never stop.

During her continuous search into the tavern incident the noise had come out blaring; the yells echoing up and down the filled halls of the Canterlot castle, stopping close to everyone in their immediate tasks. Celestia had left her room the moment it begun just in time to view two guard ponies drag the helpless thing toward her as quickly as they could.

It was the pony from before—the one that had witnessed the destruction of the bar. Only now he was bleeding from both eyes and screaming like every nerve in his body was in the midst of being prodded. Perhaps most disturbing of all was when he began to shriek her name with what remained of his scarred voice, again and again, in that bloodcurdling howl. With every limb he had access to he kicked against the air, striking both the marble floor and the legs of the two guards dragging him. When Celestia was finally made aware of exactly who it was, she rushed down the hall to intercept them.

Barely a few steps from the flailing pony, he screamed out one final sentence. “He’s coming! He’s coming home!”, before collapsing into a whimper. And it was only when Celestia finally put a face to the terrifying message that the distraught pony lapsed into unconsciousness, the horrific pain he must have been enduring finally lifted for the moment.

A few hours later Celestia went to check in on his current condition. Still out cold, the doctors watching over him told her his eyes had not been irreparably damaged, and that given time a full recovery could prove possible. As happy as Celestia was to hear such miraculous news, she thought that what that pony might need most afterwards would not be the healing of something physically broken… but the ability to forget what he had seen. Truly, he had encountered one of the most dangerous creatures in Equestria. Would anyone every feel all that safe again?

And now that was the reason she was here.

To get her own plans into place Celestia had to act and decide fast, or she knew the Empire and all of Equestria would be in peril. She only hoped her urgent letter to Princess Luna and Twilight would reach them as soon as it could and they would come to her aid. Now, more than ever, she needed to show this land that tyranny could never prevail. Having barely tasted just ten years of peace, she thought it would never be enough.

So as she discerned these deep thoughts of hers in the public view of dozens of her subjects, she stirred her tea as if nothing could possibly be wrong in her world.

2

Spitfire had been quietly contemplating for close to four minutes now, staring down the side of her desk as if perchance a hole she could jump into should appear. Celestia, not feeling the need to fritter anymore precious time, had just moments before unloaded onto Spitfire with everything she knew about Sombra’s return, which scarily, wasn’t all that much.

“I knew Cloud Nine and Windy,” Spitfire muttered, once she’d finally come to the end of her pondering. “I guess the romantic part of me thought they had run off together or something. I guess that sounds sorta’ dumb, doesn’t it?” She put a hoof to her clearly pained face. “And now you tell me they burnt alive because of some monster coming back from the dead. Hearing something like that… it’s not normal, you know?”

Celestia nodded solemnly, wanting to get what was on her mind out in the open as urgent as possible. She only figured Spitfire deserved a few more minutes of remembrance. “I was told they were found in the kitchen—possibly locked in a lover’s embrace. Although, I can’t imagine knowledge such as that helps you too much.”

Spitfire exhaled what little breath she had left and straightened up in her seat. She stared at her sternly. “What is it you need from me, Your Highness?”

“I need your help to defeat a tyrant King.”

“You mean you need the help of the Wonderbolts, don’t you?”

Celestia paused. “Yes. I will need every one of you that are willing, if we’re to hope of standing a chance.”

Spitfire nodded. “I’m sure not a single member would want to miss out on this; this is something that’s effects us all, I’m sure.”

When Celestia heard Spitfire speak of such teamwork, she allowed a small sliver of hope to enter into her heart. “I wouldn’t be asking otherwise.”

“What’s the plan then?”

Celestia cleared her throat. “King Sombra is a creature of habit, and he’s already made it boldly known where he’ll be heading. At whatever cost he wants back the Crystal Empire. He’s already killed dozens of innocents, and I can only imagine he’ll still be traveling on that same path toward his destination.” Celestia hesitated with her next item. “So we need the Wonderbolts to necessitate a diversion.”

Although Spitfire did not make a single sound in response to the request, Celestia could tell it had hit the pony hard. Her eyes, originally containing a small flicker of energy, had clearly faded into deeper worry.

Celestia continued on regardless. “Between that road and the Empire—assuming that Sombra continues on said path—it includes only one more stop in a town. The town in question has already been evacuated, and now we want it to be filled with the Wonderbolts instead.”

“You want us to fight your dead King?” Spitfire shot back bluntly.

“No. That is the last thing I want. And that was never the idea. Too many have already died getting too close to him, which is why is it so imperative that the Wonderbolts are the ones to do this.”

Spitfire’s face was not one of understanding.

“I want you to stall him,” Celestia said. “I do not want a single pony even attempting to take him; I only want to put a bump in his step, however large or how small that might be. Since every member here is a seasoned flyer, I know you’ll make the right call when to retreat and pull back. The only reason I am finding need for this setup is to allow the rest of the Guard more time to get defenses primed at the Empire. Every minute Sombra wastes becomes another minute we gain.”

Spitfire nodded with a far away expression. “You mentioned earlier that you might need help there as well.”

“Yes, but not in such a major sense. We will only require a handful of your fliers to take as many as they can from Canterlot to the Empire through chariot. A good portion of our Royal Guard are either Earth pony or unicorn—meaning if they need walk to the Empire, the battle might already be over and done.”

Spitfire exited her desk—not all that enthusiastically. “I understand. And it will be done, Your Highness. Your fight is our fight, and now it seems like the fate of all of Equestria relies on us. But I’m not going to lie and tell you that something like that doesn’t scare me an awful lot.”

Celestia gave a weary smile. “Then you and I are of the same mind, Captain.”

3

Shining Armor had to crane his neck so far back to view him he almost felt his helmet tempting to bite into his neck. Keeping a steady pace with the draconequus, he told himself that in any case he would see this through to the end… no matter how much his current company was trying to prove on the contrary.

“I really like what you’ve done with the place!” Discord exclaimed, as he pushed another door open along their walk. “It’s like I know something’s different, yet I can’t put a finger on it.”

Shining had received a letter no more than thirty seconds before Discord arrived following it. The letter itself contained some of the heaviest and grimmest words he had laid eyes on in years—and somehow the representative from Canterlot he was being made to follow acted as though nothing at all was wrong.

Possibly because his magic could place him there that same day, Discord had been sent by the Princess for the soul reason of looking in on the Empire’s defenses. Although Shining, in all good conscious, always kept his Empire as battle ready as he deemed necessary, the sudden news of Sombra’s freakish return still sent more than a shiver down his spine.

How is it possible? he wondered, in those few seconds once he’d gotten that disparaging news. I watched him die. I watched him ripped to pieces.

Then he reminded himself he lived in a world of untold magic and creatures of every ilk that could fly and much more—so of course the reappearance of a tyrant would always remain in the cards. And still a part of him thought it could all be just whispers in the wind. That type of conclusion he prayed to be true.

Shining also prayed his delivered professional would be gone within the hour.

“Are you even listening to me, Shining?” Discord asked.

From his worries Shining stirred and once again angled his neck to look at the draconequus. “I am, Discord. But there is much else that weights on my mind at the moment. This news has come as quite a shock to the Empire, as you’d believe.”

“Does Princess Cadence know yet?”

“Yes. She was in the room when I received the letter. At the moment she’s informing the other guards of what’s developed.”

“Does anyone else know?”

Shining was sickened to find Discord almost sounding pleased with the current transpiring. He then had to remind himself that Discord was nothing more than the Lord of Chaos, and that such things were only in his nature. And yet another part of him wanted to shove his hoof far enough into the creature’s face that bones would break. Honestly, he never thought he’d forgive him after the Tirek incident…

“No. No one else is aware of what’s happened. If it’s actually happened. For all we know it could be some imposter posing as King Sombra—”

“Wouldn’t that make a good novel?” Discord cut in. “I’d call it ‘The King that wasn’t actually that King from before…’” He shrugged. “I’m not great with titles.”

Shining ignored the attempt at humor and pressed on with their tour. They had already been through the armory (Discord, for all realistic purposes, couldn’t tell if their supply left them in good standings), the main halls, the bunker, the hold, and now they were making their way down toward the basement, where a very unique item had been stored for years; it’s only visitors during that entire time being Cadence and Shining himself.

How many years since even I’ve seen it? Shining wondered. Since when was there a need?

“When do you plan on telling everyone else?” Discord asked, as he halted his stride in favor of lazily floating beside the pony. “You might want to clear out of the way first… that is if you don’t want to get trampled as everyone charges toward the exits.” He cleared his throat. “I know. I’ll help spread the word. King Sombra has returned! King Sombra has—”

“Quiet!”

Discord put a single finger to his lips, not at all ashamed from his outburst.

Shining put his head down and breathed deep. “The citizens of the Empire will stand together to defeat whatever evil is approaching. He was defeated once and so he can be defeated again. Unity was what saved us before, and I’m sure it will do the same this time—perhaps even stronger. The last time we faced King Sombra, the Crystal ponies had only awoken from their thousand-year long sleep. Now those same ponies live freely here—it is their home and no one else’s. If it really is King Sombra who is back, I think he may have more to worry about this time around.”

While he spoke Discord floated and nodded mere inches from his face, absorbing every detail with seemingly careful consideration. Shining tried his best to focus on the hasty tour at hoof and not at the pair of yellow and red eyes that seemingly begged to be admired. The only problem was that whenever Shining would avert his gaze, the draconequus would merely float to whatever new spot he was staring. Was he trying to get him mad?

“I hope you’re right, Shining. I do. I really do. But last time Sombra was nothing more than some black smoke that garbled a bunch and appeared menacing. From what I understand of the fellow, he’s decidedly stepped up his game.”

“And how would you know that?”

“Oh, you know. Rumors and such. You know how much they love to spread themselves.”

Shining grunted his answer and was happy to see they were nearing their last location. A few meters on he nodded for a guard to open another set of thick double doors only to come to a second set just steps later. A large circular symbol covered a good portion of the new doors.

“You’re going to need to look away, Discord. This isn’t for your eyes.”

Discord put an arm across his brow. “I’m hurt, Shining. After everything we’ve been through?”

“Especially after everything we’ve been through.”

Shining stood his ground until Discord placed both hands over his face. A moment later the edges of both eyes pushed themselves through the gaps in his fingers.

“I’m not laughing, Discord.”

Discord put his hands to his sides, for the first time looking honestly annoyed. “Do you ever?”

When Discord finally gave his back to him Shining placed a single hoof on the door and traced it around in a very particular manner. A small click told him the door had been unlocked, so he nudged it open.

Carefully perched on a white marble stand in the direct center of the room sat the Crystal Heart. The day after King Sombra’s initial attack, Cadence and himself had sealed it away in a location where most citizens and guards would be weary to trek. Also to keep it safe should some enemy come longing for it.

“Is that it?” Discord sneered, crossing both arms across his chest. “I came all this way for… that?”

Shining trotted closer to the Heart, admiring finally seeing it after however many years had passed. Had it always appeared so dull? he thought. I remember its color used to be mesmerizing. And then he remembered he was glimpsing it in a basement with complete lack of light. What particular item wasn’t going to look a little shabby under those conditions?

He turned back to Discord. “As you can plainly see, the Heart is fine and under strict guard. King Sombra would need to have something he hadn’t had before if he wants to come claim it.”

“What makes you think that’s what he’s after this time?”

Shining didn’t answer the question.

“Well, I’ve seen enough,” Discord said. “You’ve got the Heart. You’ve got… guards, I guess. I’m sure you’ll be fine.” He was about to snap his fingers to vanish when Shining held a hoof out to stop him.

“Why does it seem like you know more than you’re telling, Discord?”

Still with his fingers in mid-snap, he grinned widely. “Believe you me, Shining, I know just as much as you. Sombra’s coming to town—with gifts aplenty, I’m sure. The only difference between you and I is that I view possible chaos in a vastly different light. We’re both going to save this Empire, Shining. Of that I am certain. Only I’ll be having a lot more fun doing so.”

On that note Discord snapped his fingers and vanished from the room, leaving Shining Armor with a lot more to think about than when he’d arrived.

4

Carefully in her hooves Rainbow Dash picked up her young son and tried to forget about the news that had just been passed down to her. With a gentle hoof she ran along his messy mop of multi-colored mane and tried to inform the rest of her that if such joy existed in this world like her little bundle of life, then surely the news that had just shattered her world a few hours ago must have been a mistake.

It must have… right?

Soarin had come home a few hours earlier than usual and Rainbow genuinely wondered if he’d left the rest of his enthusiasm back in the clouds. With barely an ounce of effort behind his voice he asked her to the bedroom. For the longest time he sat on the edge of their bed, his chin propped up by both of his hooves. Both eyes looked on the verge of tears.

“Do you remember some pony named Sombra?” he whispered, before going on.

But Rainbow Dash didn’t hear what else he had to say. With just that name—and just that vivid image that horrifically accompanied it—she felt as if all the air had been sucked from her lungs. One knee gave way and she leaned against their dresser for support. After a few hurried breaths she felt well enough to stand again, although the knot in her stomach told her to instead lay down on the floor to weep.

“Sombra,” she muttered. “King Sombra.”

The next twenty minutes between the pair faired no better, and eventually Rainbow was reduced to sitting next to Soarin on the bed, should her knees want to give again. That day at the Wonderbolts, Spitfire had gathered them all for a meeting with a very bleak tone. A few had already heard whispers of what was to happen (rumor had always been a hard animal to control, Soarin mentioned), but most members went in there unawares, and left almost colorless with what was to come.

The Princess of the Sun herself had asked the Wonderbolts for a favor. In an empty town near the gates of the Empire, they would station a diversion to try and buy the rest of the Royal Guard as much time as they could. The tactic, in Rainbow’s mind, sounded fine on paper. The only problem was her immediate attachment to such a plan.

“You can’t go,” she had said the first time, before repeating it throughout their conversation until the words seemed to lose some if not all of their meaning.

“It’s not a choice, Rainbow,” he said bluntly. “When the Princess asks something of you, you do it. When the Captain asks something of you, you do it. And I’m doing it. End of story.”

“So why can’t they do it without you?”

“If everyone in the Wonderbolts had that mentality Rainbow, then no one would go. We’re only as strong as our weakest link.” Soarin searched through his wayward mind to figure if what he’d said had made sense. When he deemed it had, he shook his head adamantly. “You also need to look at this from a larger perspective. If he takes the Empire, then what follows? Who’s to say that’ll be all he’ll want?”

“I do. I say that!”

Every new argument she brought forward felt weaker than the last. After a time her simple repartee became closer to sounding like some filly informing their parents they didn’t want them to go to work, simply because they’d miss them dearly. Although what stuck out most during that discussion was just how much it was making her feel like a coward. Delicately, Soarin had tried to explain that every Crystal pony that lived in the Empire would be put back to slavery or worse should Sombra succeed. The only problem that came with that argument was that Rainbow didn’t care about those ponies. She only cared about her family and little more.

Near the end of their discussion Soarin had lifted her head with a hoof to stare into her eyes. He tried to act much braver than his usual self. “You don’t need to worry about me. We’re not supposed to touch him, at all. Only stall him. Fly around and see if he’ll follow. Get his attention, call him names, anything to buy some time. But this plan will not end in a fight. I promise you.”

From that point on Rainbow meekly agreed with everything Soarin said after. Each word he spoke was meant to be reassuring, but each word just seemed to tumble around her head. The time spent before he was to depart (it was sadly only a few minutes later—Soarin said most other Wonderbolts would only be able to send a letter of explanation home) the pair lay in bed and said not a word. Not until one of their fillies made their voice known and Rainbow got up to greet them.

And now, in a far emptier home, Rainbow played with her kids and pretended everything was a whole lot better than it was. She had tried to understand what Soarin had told her. Really, she had. The only problem was that she was no ordinary mare, and this wife was not the type to nimbly sit by and wait for the danger to come find her.

So with that in mind she sat and wrote five near identical letters. And then using whatever extra bits she had laying around the home, she sent them out, not knowing if even a single one would be consummated. Then she went to the Empire.

Author's Note:

Following this chapter, we'll have one more to help get our ducks in a row before some pretty heavy stuff comes down. Thanks to everyone following this story until now. I've had an oddly fun time so far.

Comments

[Blood Inc]

Aside from some typos here and there, this is a beautiful story so far. And it has sealed King Sombra as a character inside of my mind forever. Your version of King Sombra is also my version of King Sombra now.

[naturalbornderpy]

4776066 Why thank you very much! I always thought since Sombra was pretty close to a blank slate in terms of character, I could use him as any sort of villain I felt would work (still keeping his overall goals in mind). Thanks again for reading.

[Brazen Frenzy]

Love the story, but the term for a child pony is foal, not filly. Filly means a girl child, and colt would refer to a boy. Since Rainbow apparently has a son, she would refer to the children in general as the foals.
I really like what you did with Sombra here. I thought his portrayal in season 3 was weak at best, and it is nice to see him as a villain in his own right.