Into the Darkness

by Subject 19

A New Enemy

It had been two days since Luna had thrown Christopher Razka through that portal. Two whole fucking days. CHECKMATE Arms, Razka’s company and private army, was at war with the United States and he was stuck in a land of talking horses. This did not bode well for him.

The chairman was staying in the guest room of Canterlot castle and had kept himself locked up in there the entire time. He was in the bathroom getting dressed and fixing his disheveled hair. He put on his black custom suit, fixing the pin of his company’s logo. As he made himself presentable, his mind was plagued with his war. His war that he could not lead. His war that he had been planning for countless years. He could lose it all as he would be unable to stop it. Staring into the mirror in front of him, Razka did not see the most powerful man on Earth. He saw a useless, powerless man. Razka glared at the reflection.

“AHHHHH!” Razka tore the mirror off the wall and threw it to the ground. The mirror shattered into hundreds of shards over the tiled floor.

“Christopher, are you alright?” Luna nervously asked as she sprinted into the bathroom. “I was going to see if you were up and I heard you scream.” She looked down to see the broken remains of the mirror. Razka just stood there for a few moments, breathing heavily. The night princess walked up to the chairman and noticed his bleeding hands. “Let me get some bandages, there should be some in here,” she said as she began going through the cabinets.

Once she had the supplies she needed, the midnight colored mare got Razka to sit down on the floor. As Luna began bandaging his hands, she noticed the rage in his face die down. However, she could still see the pain in his eyes. “Come on Christopher, talk to me,” Luna practically begged.

Razka shook his head. “Have you been able to tap into Stahl’s dreams yet?” he asked, ignoring Luna’s concern.

“I did, but I was only in there long enough to tell her that you’re still alive. She woke up before I could say anything else,” Luna answered.

The chairman sighed silently. “I make Janet my second in command and at that very moment we start this war, my war, she’s forced to take on all of my responsibilities. How soon can you try to contact her again?”

The Princess of the Night hesitated for a moment. “Entering her dreams from such a great distance takes a lot of energy. I can try again tomorrow night.”

“I want to be there when you enter her dreams again. A lot can happen in just a few days, especially in the early stages.” After a moment of silence, Razka looked at the mess he made. “I’ll have this cleaned up by the end of the day.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll just send one of the maids to do it.” Luna began to walk out of the bathroom and motioned for Razka to follow her. “A lot has happened in my absence and most of it isn’t good,” the princess confessed as they walked down the hallway leading to the throne room.

“Is it serious?” the chairman questioned, genuinely curious.

“It is. Apparently Sombra wasn’t as dead as we thought.”

“Who?”

“King Sombra. He was the former tyrant of the Crystal Empire. I and Celestia were able to defeat him and banish him, but a few years ago he returned. Luckily Princess Cadence and the Elements of Harmony were able to use the Crystal Heart to finally put an end to him.”

“Or so you thought.”

“He’s come back again but this time he’s stronger than ever.” Luna frowned just thinking about the current situation. “Cadence and Shining Armor were able to escape and now they’re staying with us in the castle.”

“She’s the Princess of Love, right? One Mi Amore Cadenza?”

“Yes, and Shining is the former captain of the royal guard,” Luna confirmed.

Before Razka could continue the conversation, they had reached the throne room. It was about as grand as one would expect. It was big, well decorated and had two thrones sitting at the end. Razka quickly noticed the three other ponies talking together as Celestia, Cadence and Shining. Cadence was the first to greet the human.

“You must be Mr. Razka,” she started as she trotted up to him. “I’m Princess Cadence.” The chairman made a note of how sincere her smile was, unlike most people on Earth.

Razka put on a fake smile of interest. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“Celestia has told me quite a bit about you. I’m glad that someone with your expertise will be able to help us stop Sombra,” she added.

Christopher’s smile immediately dropped. “I’m afraid I’ve got bigger problems to deal with right now. She probably left out the part where I’m currently fighting my own war.” Razka didn’t mind when people asked for his help, but he did mind when they just assumed it. “Besides, what would I stand to gain by helping you, Cadenza?”

This somewhat hostile response caught Cadence off guard. “I’d figure you’d want to help us out of the goodness of your heart. Plus, wouldn’t you want to help Luna? She is your friend after all.”

Razka glanced over the four leaders in front of him. “Am I missing something here?”

“Beg your pardon?”

“Three of you are alicorns, the most powerful ponies in existence, and Armor is a former captain. You mean to tell me that the four of you can’t stop this one pony?” Razka shook his head. “Such a waste of power.”

“None of our tactics have worked,” Celestia argued. “Sombra is no ordinary pony.”

“Does he bleed?”

Celestia was caught off guard by the seemingly odd question. “Yes,” she hesitantly answered.

“Then he can be killed. No one is invincible.” Having nothing more to say to any of them, Razka turned to leave.

“Christopher,” Luna called as the man had reached the closed doors. Razka his head around, waiting for Luna to continue. “We’d very much like it if you could join us for dinner tonight.”

“Sorry, but I’ve got better things to do than pretend to enjoy the company of you so called rulers,” Razka spat. He paused for a moment before opening the door, as if contemplating something. Shaking his head, the chairman left. “I’ve worked too hard to get in arms reach of the prize only to have my hand cut off before I seize it,” Razka muttered to himself as he walked down the hallway.

---

Luna quietly entered Razka’s room. The human was standing outside on the balcony, staring at the star-filled night sky. The Princess of the Night could sense Razka’s anger and worry. Just as Luna was about to say something to make her presence known, she heard the chairman talking to himself.

“I can’t shackle myself to people I don’t know,” Razka said, barely louder than a whisper. “But not assisting could have its own consequences. I know almost nothing about this Sombra pony. The fact that Luna, Celestia and Cadenza all fear him means he’s powerful. I need those princesses alive if I hope to get off this planet.” The chairman let out a heavy sigh. Razka needed to see the bigger picture.

“How are you doing?” Luna asked, causing Christopher to whip around.

Razka frowned. “What do you want?”

“I want to know how you’re doing.”

“Let’s just cut to the part where you try to convince me to reconsider my involvement with Sombra.”

“It sounds like you’re doing that already,” Luna retorted. “What will it take for you to help us?”

“Two things. First, I need to know everything there is to know about Sombra. Second, if I do help you, I will have absolute control. I will control your military forces and you will follow my orders exactly, no exceptions.”

“You know I can’t do that,” the night princess challenged.

Razka walked up in front of Luna and leaned down to eye level. “Then good luck finding someone as pragmatic and effective as me. You wouldn’t have asked this of me unless you and your sister were out of options. I’ll let you think it over for the rest of the night. I’ll expect an answer by morning.”

Author's Note:

I'm currently in the process of getting a new editor, so forgive me if there are errors here and there.
I'm expecting this story to be longer than Lost, but I can't make any real promises this early in. Hope you all enjoyed the first chapter!

Comments

[phoenixrainbow94]

Beautiful!!!