Kingdom in Shadows

by Istaran

Chapter 5: Lurking in the Darkness

In the afternoon, Wind Chaser and I finally took our leave of the inn, and headed for the new Itinerant District, as we dubbed it. A square of nine city blocks, it represented the largest contiguous area claimed in any sense by the Itinerant Kingdom. In its center was a hollow husk of a fortress. With sound dampeners to restrict the impact on our neighbors, highly concentrated earth pony might magic to break the stone, and an impressively coordinated team effort of unicorns, pegasi, griffons, minotaurs and others, we had managed to haul an impressive amount of bedrock up from the inside to form two story tall walls in the shape of a fortress. Within, at the moment... it was basically a hole in the ground, another two stories deep. With wings outstretched, we descended into the depths, growing unicorn horns to light our way once we were out of public view.

At the bottom was what I had come to examine in person. Black crystals. They had been embedded throughout the rock as we pulled it up, and all that we exposed we had gathered into a pile at the bottom. More were visible in the rock face around us.

No one traded in these black crystals. No one. Research on them was forbidden in every nation, and using them for basically anything was out of the question. Even asking about them had gotten us into a fair bit of trouble. And now we had a generous supply. They didn't even have a proper name. 'Sombra's black crystals' being the closest.

Apprehension filled me as I approached them. null was standing guard near the stash, as he was the only one entirely immune to their effects. My subjects did not scare easy. After being uplifted from very painful situations, and given the protection of both each other and the spiders' restorative powers, it was hard to take threats as seriously as they once had. But these things... just gave everyone the willies.

Honestly, in a lot of ways I was the easiest of them to scare. My life had, honestly never been that bad. The troubles I had had consisted almost entirely of bringing others' troubles upon myself. And now I had an awful lot to lose. To say nothing of my ability to see the terrifying potential in things, like how the Princesses could wreck my Kingdom or how scary my son's bardic mass mind control abilities were to me. But I had a good idea what I was going to face here.

According to legend these crystals made you face your worst fear. I had faced the crystals before. And I knew what my worst fear was. It had a shape, it had a face and it had a name. His name was Istaran, and he was a fictionalized version of me... one that had taken control of my body in another timeline, and wielded my power with... let us say, remorseless pragmatism. He was in a sense my fear of the power I wielded, personified.

Null took on my form as I approached. Not the form of the pony that stood before him, but that of my human form. He was wrapped in a crimson robe, and sat on the pile of crystals with a smirk. "I was wondering when you would find some excuse to confront me," he said. "I'm impressed... I felt for sure it would be some melodramatic inner struggle within a dreamscape or something, not... this. Giving me an opportunity to take physical form. Well done!"

Wind Chaser took a trembling breath, looking back and forth between the two of us. Her loyalty to me was absolute. So was her loyalty to him I could see. And if it came to it, Turbine's loyalty would tip the balance.

"I needed to face you before I face Luna. We must be united. Bound by the same loyalties, the same treaties, the same bonds of blood." I said.

"I am the wind, and yet you hope to bind me?" he smirked.

"I am the South Wind, you are the North. Together we move all things," I declared, meeting his eyes steadfast.

"You've come a long way... from that scared weakling that needed me to face a lone changeling on the road to nowhere. But you're still afraid. Of yourself, and your power most of all. Afraid not only to lose what you love, but also to protect it. You are afraid to own your faults, especially the darkness in your heart. So what will you do when the darkness owns you instead? The frozen north is no place for one such as you."

"That's why I'm here... to make sure that never happens. Oak Breaker and the others, they wielded the darkness safely..." I began.

"No! They were wielded by the darkness. Don't mistake the likes of them for the likes of me. They were slaves to their own corruption." He breathed deeply, thinking things through before continuing. "The love you wield holds no place in your heart. It flows over you and through you without becoming a part of you. Do you understand what I am talking about?"

I nodded. The love I felt for Wind Chaser and the others was real, a deep part of me, but much of what I channeled, redistributing between my subjects as needed, was never really 'love' in my heart. It was energy and I was a conduit.

"The darkness must be the same for you. A weapon to wield. Energy flowing over you, but not in you. You must wrap your spirit in a shell of darkness, protecting the heart of light within from all evil, all fear, and all guilt," he said.

"And how do I do that. I can wield love because I learned to feel its flow. So how do I learn to feel the flow of darkness without corrupting myself in the process?" I asked.

"Do I really need to spell everything out for you?" he sighed. "Here... have a hint." With a wave of green magic, he was holding a sword in his hands. It was sheathed in a black aura, and had a large obvious switch in the handle. I knew what it was, or rather what it was an illusion of. The 'sword of heaven and hell', one of the fictional Istaran's fictional inventions. It used the dark magic of its user to fuel the magical aura in its blade. What made it unusual, though, was that the switch in its handle could bring a 'mana inverter' into play, using the dark magic to fuel an aura of piercing light instead. Without the inverter, it was dangerous to most normal or good beings, but with the inverter engaged it became dangerous to beings of darkness instead. It was meant as a dark magic user's weapon against darkness. "This blade is suitable for a villain like me. You need to make a weapon suitable for a king," he told me, pointing the blade at me. "One that eats shadows and spits out rainbows, or something. And don't be afraid to iterate. You can't afford to wait for your final masterpiece to be ready."

"Thanks, you've given me a lot to think about," I said, reaching for him with a hoof. He grasped it in his hand and replied "Anything I can do to help. After all, your empire is my empire." And with that a wave of green magic washed over null's form and the zombie cyborg changeling was back to his impassive self.

"Are you really going to trust scary-you's suggestions?" Wind Chaser asked me.

"Yes, for now. I fear him, but I also understand him. If he was just some abstract representation of my fear of my own power, maybe it wouldn't be worth the risk. But he has motivation of his own, ones I can at least comprehend. While he rejects most moral limits, he does have his own code that he will stick to. For example, he would destroy the world if he had to to save his own family," I replied, as I spread my wings and started to fly back to the surface level.

Wind Chaser took flight behind me. "Yeah, but what family? They don't exist, right? Even less so than him."

"Wind Chaser... what do you think we are?"

Wind Chaser thought a moment. "Honestly? I always thought of you more as his jailer."

"I don't see why I can't be both," I said, hiding my unease with a laugh.

Comments

[RealityCheck]

Research on them was forbidden in every nation,

Great way to keep everyone stupid, ignorant and in danger from the damn things....

[Istaran]

5958162
Fair, though many nations would have specific, trusted researchers with personal exemptions. Equestria in particular might not, only because we know from MLP canon that Celestia herself is well versed in them. In season 3, ep 1 she actively creates them as a demonstration for Twilight.

On Earth, research on certain very dangerous materials is heavily controlled as well, such as deadly viruses and fissible materials. This would be in that vein. Only worse, as they have mind altering effects that can make those who work with them more evil. so.. yeah.

Up to the start of KiS, the IK has the problem of no official recognition and generally trying to avoid being known to exist as a group. So getting into a position to be able to access them legally would be pretty difficult. The OLD Crystal Empire wouldn't have outlawed them, as Sombra used them heavily, and I take Cadance to be relatively ignorant about them. But if she and/or Shining Armor knew that IK was looking into them, they would have unfavorable reactions.