Darkening of Equestria

by DeejayShuffle

Questions

Author's Note:

Required pre-reading: This Blog
Here it is: THE MEGA CHAPTER!
I had to work extra-hard to push this out before the weekend, so TGIF I guess.
Enjoy!

Dracarthus was mad. Very mad. He had searched for an entire day without any results, even with the help of his minions. He had combed the entire East District of the Outer Rim, and was beginning to get scared. He was on borrowed time inside the empire, and it was quickly running out. If he didn’t find his first fragment soon, whoever ruled this place might soon pick up on his movements and unusual magic signatures, and thwart his plans before they could bear fruit.

He couldn’t let that happen, which was why he had called his two minions to his side as he began to head for the West District. However, as he approached the normally open South line checkpoint between the East and West Districts, he saw that it was closed, and that there were two border guards, one on each side of the gate. As Dracarthus approached with his two puppets, he looked at the wall with a confused face. Curious, he went up to the guard on his side of the gate.

“What is the meaning of this? Why is there a gate here?” Dracarthus played dumb to see if the guard would spill any new information. When he assumed control of his two underlings, he immediately took as much information as he could from their upper conscious. He couldn’t gain access to their entire brains just yet, he needed more power first to do that. It had, however given him enough information to understand the District borders, and that the gates here were usually open.

Sapphire Lance was immediately on edge as soon as he saw a group of three stallion thugs begin to approach the border gate. He tensed his wings and sized up the crooks. There was a fairly stocky and muscular earth pony with light brown fur and a white mane with grey stripes, along with a more slender unicorn that sported teal fur and a dark green mane flanking a far taller and more intimidating unicorn. He had dark brown fur and a blonde mane. His eyes were a deep purple, and his snout was dotted with freckles. It was hard to make his features out though, as he wore a black hat that cast a shadow over his face.

He anticipated a conflict, but instead was asked “Why is there a gate here” by the taller of the unicorns. He decided not to try and explain it all, and gave the stock answer. “The empire is in a state of “heightened security” right now. The empress went out to look for what’s left of Sombra, and something was wrong. I guess all of him wasn’t there. Rumor has it someone made away with his horn a while ago, and the Empress is just now noticing.”

Empress. Now there was a term Dracarthus hadn’t heard in awhile. “Interesting. Why do you call her “Empress”? Isn’t she a princess?” Dracarthus said while having no idea who ‘she’ was.

“All the central folk call Cadence a princess, but the people in the outer rim call her by her real title. Empress. That’s what she’s like to people out here anyway.” Sapphire Lance replied helpfully. Maybe this guy was smarter then he looked, and he just had hired protection. He certainly knew the benefits of having a friend to watch your back in these parts.

Dracarthus was gobbling up all this new info hungrily. “I see. Well, me and my friends here will be needing passage to the West District.”

“Alrighty then, I just need ID from all three of you, and you can pass. Because of the security hike and all that.” Sapphire Lance said in a much more authoritative tone.

Well then. This was going to have to go down the hard way. Minions, cover me. His partner doesn’t need to see what’s about to happen. He communicated to his puppets though his link with them.

Your will is our command. They replied as they closed around Sapphire

As soon as the two lesser thugs encircled him, Sapphire tensed for a fight. The dark brown stallion put up a noise barrier, which was when he knew things were gonna go south. He immediately put a wing on his inhibitor stone pouch and issued a strong warning. “Don’t try anything! I have an inhibitor stone on me! I can render all of your power useless as soon as you make one false move!” He clutched the bagged magic-blocking stone tighter as the trenchcoated stallion put on a broad grin and began to laugh.

“Please, an inhibitor stone? Foals play!” Dracarthus said before letting out a sinister laugh. “Try me.” He said before dropping his disguise.

Right before him, the ordinary brown stallion disappeared and gave way to a beast that could only be described as a far more sinister looking version of Sombra, and suddenly missing an eye. He couldn’t believe his eyes. He thought Sombra was gone for good! That he was dead forever! Not back, and creepier-looking! Panicking, he tossed his inhibitor stone out of his pouch with a triumphant “AH-HA!”, but his feeling of heroism quickly melted away as he saw the inhibitor stone’s mana quickly be absorbed by the monster’s inky purple magic. It let out an even darker cackle that sent chills up Sapphire’s spine.

“What a shame. I was really hoping you guards would be real fighters, but it seems like everything has gotten weaker these days. No matter, you will still be of excellent service to me.” Dracarthus said as a tendril began creeping out from the ground beneath Sapphire Lance.

“I would rather die than be forced to serve you Sombra! For the empire!!” Sapphire Lance shouted as he drew his short sword and charged at Dracarthus.

Dracarthus was ready to kill him in that instant, as he was craving bloodshed. He knew however, that such a course of action would be detrimental to his stealthy passage of the gate. Instead, he conjured up magical restraints to chain Sapphire to the floor. “Sombra? There’s a name I didn’t expect to hear again. It looks like he took on a life of his own.”

Sapphire was visibly confused. “Wait, what? You’re not Sombra? But then how…. Wha… That would mean... “

“That i’m even older? You got that right, but i’m afraid your little revelation will die with your free will.” Dracarthus let out a malicious laugh as one of his shadow tendrils started to approach Sapphire.

“No, not like this! I will never let myself become an agent against the empire! No! Long live the Empresghurgh…” Sapphire’s final cry of defiance was cut short by the tendril beginning its wicked work. A few moments later, and Dracarthus had a new minion, and even more information. Disbanding his goons protective circle, his spells, and donning his disguise once more, Dracarthus had Sapphire let them through the gate.

“You’re all set to pass! Have a nice trip in the West District!” Sapphire said with a fake smile.

“Why thank you. See you around.” Dracarthus said with an insidious grin.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Cadence sat on ther throne and mulled. She wasn’t pleased with the discovery at all. What bugged her the most about it was the lack of information surrounding the whole thing. No one knew when the horn went missing, who took it, why they took it, where they took it, or what they were planning on doing with it. Cadence didn’t like being kept in the dark, especially when it was out of her control, and her entire empire was at stake.

She needed answers, and for those, she was going to need more modern records. After all, it had only been a few years since Sombra was defeated, so books on the topic either wouldn’t exist yet, or would have little to offer. Certain records could shed some light on the subject, she went across from the palace to the Crystal Library to ask for records. When she arrived, she saw an elderly librarian sorting through some books at the front desk until she saw Cadence.

“Goodness me! Princess Cadence! What brings you to our humble library?” The librarian asked with a glimmer of excitement in her eye.

“I’m actually here for some recent records.” Cadence said with a warm smile.

“Records? Sure thing! What kind of records do you need?” The librarian questioned as she began to lead Cadence to the records room.

“I need all of your records on business or public activity concerning Sombra since his second banishment.” Cadence said in a lowered voice to emphasise confidentiality.

“I’ll get them to you right away!” The librarian said as she began to pout over file drawers with a precision that only Twilight could rival. “S… N… M… E… Hm, that’s odd.”

“Something wrong?” Cadence asked with a concerned frown of worry crossing her face.

“Well, it seems that all of our records on business and news activity are here, but the public activity records are missing. Just, poof!” The Librarian looked just as puzzled and worried as Cadence.

“What do you mean public activity?” Cadence said while raising an eyebrow.

“Public activity is a broad term that covers charity events, organised religion, rallies, concerts, expos, fairs, or any other event the public can attend, be a part of, or is made broadly aware of.

“Considering the subject at hoof, I think missing records, especially public records is a problem.” Cadence said while beginning to show signs of panic. “We need to find out who took or destroyed the records. Our best chance is the last pony to request these records. When did you last see these records, and who requested them last?”

“Well, I went thought the records to add new files just last week like I always do, and I had to add a couple files to add to that folder, so it was there last week. As for the last pony, I could never forget! He came in a couple of days ago, middle-aged unicorn, covered in machine grease. He asked to see the records, and I asked him why he would want to see records on Sombra. Told me he was stuck in a dead-end job at a chariot repair shop in the West District, and that he wanted to become a history major and make more money. He said he wanted to study the records to learn more about Sombra’s relevance in modern times, so I let him go into the record room and read them. I thought he had been reading them, but he might be the one who took or destroyed them. No one else has asked for those records in forever!” The Librarian continued opening and closing file cabinet drawers, looking to see if the file had been misplaced.

“What did he look like, specifically?” Cadence asked with urgency in her voice.

“Oh, well, I didn’t get a good look at him. He was a dark blue, wore these overalls with pockets full of bolts and socket-wrench heads and knick-knacks like that, and he had a bolt for a cutie mark. That’s all I know.”

“It’s a start. Thank you miss!” Cadence said while rushing out the door.

“Glad to be of service Princess!” The librarian called just before the crystal doors to the library shut with a loud thump.

Cadence took flight as soon as she was out in the open and rushed back to the castle. She found Shining nursing Flurry Heart in her room, and asked him for a moment. After setting Flurry Heart back in her crib, Shining stepped outside the door to see Cadence.

“What do you need honey? You look stressed.” Shining said in a concerned tone.

“I need you to get me four undercover royal guards while I find a disguise. Can you do that for me?” Cadence said while dancing on her hooves.

“Um, I think you need to back up a bit. What is all this for? Undercover agents are important, and what is a disguise needed for?” Shining said with a playful smile.

“Well, I went to go look for public and business records relating to Sombra, and the public activity records are missing! Someone took them or destroyed them! So I need to find whoever is at the bottom of this, because then I can either get the records, or squeeze some info out of the offender.” Cadence stomped her front hooves righteously to prove her heroism.

“That sounds troubling. I can get you those guards, but where are you going?” Shining said while looking for a messenger around the castle with Cadence.

“I have a lead that the suspect might be in the West District.” Cadence put on a more business-like face, making it clear she would not be persuaded to another course of action.

Shining sighed in defeat. “You know I don’t like the Industrial District. It’s not safe for someone like you.”

Cadence put on an adorable smirk. “Shiny, I’ve saved this empire twice, I think I can handle some street thugs.”

“Fine, have it your way. I can get you everything you need, and fast. Give me thirty minutes, and meet me in the main foyer. We can finalize your disguise and go over everything there.” Shining said before he took off into the halls of the castle.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Something strange was happening, something terrifying. Dracarthus could sense it. The powerful aura of love magic at the center of the empire was moving. Not all of it, but a massive concentration of love magic was moving into the West District. Curious, and eager to be alone, Dracarthus decided to send his minions to investigate. And remember you nitwits, keep your distance.

Yes, oh dark one. We heed your rapturous word.

I need to make them sing my praises a bit less. It’s begun to bother me. With a small mental note logged, and his minions dismissed, Dracarthus looked for a quiet and secluded place to begin combing for spikes in dark magic. As he walked down the street, he noticed the tone shift from commerce in the East District, to Industry and repair in the West District. Weary of any new aggressors, Dracarthus sized up everyone on the street, seeing if anyone was tailing or watching him. Other sized him up as they passed by, but most thought nothing of a cap-wearing brown unicorn.

After a lot of time walking through street after street, Dracarthus found an abandoned shipping warehouse, yet to be condemned or demolished. Waiting for a lull in pedestrian traffic, Dracarthus managed to slip inside unnoticed. After finally finding a dark corner full of overgrown vines, he sat down, and concentrated on monitoring all of the magic pulses in the area. As he shut his eyes and began to focus in on the ambient magic around him, his horn began to glow a thick and opaque dark purple.

He could see it in his mind, flashes of light all over, dotting his surroundings. Everyday magic surrounded him, but they were all tiny blips; insignificant, and easy to ignore. At the center of the empire, he saw the massive pulsing nexus of cyan energy that surrounded the castle, along with a cyan-gold pulse, and a magenta pulse in the nexus. Taking note of the two other magic signatures in the area, he moved back to the West District, where he saw it. Another massive ball of cyan magic, moving through the North area of the West District. Dracarthus and his minions had come in through the South border gate, but he knew it was only a matter of time before he had to run into this ball of love magic. He knew it would be ugly.

Interested to see how close his minions were, he focused in on two distinct blips of black energy, moving closer and closer to the ball of love magic. They were about 20 yards out, and Dracarthus new they would have visual soon. I hope they act wisely, for my sake.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Never thought I would ever need to wear a trenchcoat, much less one in Stallions size! I’m just glad Shiny doesn’t use it much, that way It doesn’t smell. Cadence thought as she tucked the fashionably streamlined hat she had received from Rarity farther down over her brow. She quickly looked around her, and saw that all six of her undercover guard were still ahead of and behind her. The trick to figuring out who they were was that they all wore jackets and aviator shades of varying colors and styles, and had a small heart patch sewn onto their jackets to prevent mix-ups with a similarly-dressed individual. As she walked down the street, most people didn’t notice her, and those who looked at her closely just shrugged off the similarities. The trenchcoats extra size helped, as it hid most of her mane, coat and tail without looking out-of-place.

Focusing on her mission, Cadence was looking for an chariot and carriage repair shop, as the stallion in questions description fit the occupation perfectly, if his story was true that was. It was the only lead she had though, and with her empire potentially at stake, she had to act on it. With this in mind, Cadence began looking at the factories and warehouses all around her, searching for some chariot repair shop hidden amongst them.

Her first hit was towards the end of the North section, where she finally saw a chariots-only repair shop sandwiched between two larger manufacturing plants. She went in and found a red stallion reading a magazine at the front desk. Cadence cleared her throat to make her presence known.

“Oh! Um, hello and welcome to Rusties chariot repair and maintenance shop! How can I help you?” The stallion said.

“I’m looking for an employee of yours for debt collection. He’s a dark blue unicorn, with a silver bolt for a cutie mark. Wears pocketed overalls covered in grease.” Cadence said in a very stern tone, making her intentions clear.

“Sorry miss, but no one here looks like that. We only got 10 boys here, and no one here has that cutie mark.” The stallion said apologetically. “But all they guys at Super Shinee Chariot and Carriage Repair have those dumb overalls.” The stallion snickered that the thought of their outrageous attire.

“Where is this auto shop? I must see him soon, or his debt’s gonna get a whole lot bigger…” Cadence said maliciously, trying to sell her character to the stallion.

The stallion adopted a fearful voice.“Whatever trouble he’s in, I want none of it. The shop is two blocks down from here.”

“Thank you.” Pleased that her lie was believable, Cadence straightened her collar and headed for the door.

As she headed towards her new location of interest, Cadence spotted two figures on the sidewalk ahead looking at her. When she looked at them, they quickly looked down, and looked busy smoking their cigarettes. As she drew closer though, she noticed them groaning painfully and rubbing their temples. They then moved farther away from her. Their behavior struck her as very odd. Concerned that something was amiss, she tried to close the gap between them, but she was too far away, and they kept moving away.

She decided to see if they were going to follow her, and she darted into an empty alleyway. She poked her head out ever-so slightly, and saw that there was a Earth Pony and a Unicorn. They Earth Pony was light brown with a white and grey mane, and the Unicorn was a teal color with a dark green mane. Both of them got closer to the alleyway, looking confused as to where Cadence had gone. She tucked her head back into the alley as soon as they got right into earshot of the alley. Then she heard them talking.

“You think she’s the source?” She heard one say.

“Almost certain, so we need to keep tabs on her.” The other said.

“It would be a lot easier if she would stay where we could see her! My head not killing me would be nice too.” One said as she heard him grunt in pain.

“Yeah, what’s up with that? We get close to the area, and now we got splitting headaches.”

“What if she went inside one of these buildings?”

“Then we’ll have to wait her out. Let’s just hide out in the alley here until we see her again. I know she ain’t moving, because the aura is still here. URGH!” One of the goons pounded the brick wall next to him in pain.

“Don’t make a scene dummy! Let’s just wait for her in the alley and nurse these headaches.”

“Alright.”

Cadence tensed up in fear. They were coming into the alley!

As soon as they turned the corner, they stopped dead in their tracks and stared at Cadence. For 5 seconds, you could hear a pin drop. Then, the two thugs charged Cadence as she desperately scrambled out of their way to avoid their wrath. Then, something peculiar happened. Something horrifying. As both stallions managed to tackle Cadence, and started to pin her down, they began to scream in pain. Wailing violently, they both fell to the ground and convulsed violently. To Cadences horror, the eyes of the two thugs turned into black goo, which started running out of their eye sockets and then out of their mouths. Cadence screamed as her undercover guard burst into the alley, and then froze at the terrifying sight.

As the shrill cries of pure agony became sharper and more distorted, the black goo poured out even faster, until a mass of tentacles burst from their mouths. Squealing and lashing back and forth, the tendrils attempted to reach out and grab Cadence, and then her guards, but slowly withered and died until all of the black matter was dust, and the two stallions laid lifeless on the cold alley floor.

Cadence dropped to her knees, her jaw agape. “What just…. Oh my Celestia. Were they creatures of Sombra? Did I kill them? A-am I…. a murderer?”

One of her guards dropped down beside her, and laid a comforting hoof on her back. “Look, whatever they were, they weren’t going to hug you. They might have wanted to kill you. Especially if these things are Sombra’s spawn. What matters is that you’re safe, and that we still have a lead to follow.”

“I agree with you, the lead takes priority, but we’ll need to talk about this later. Where were you anyway when they started to close in on me?” Cadence said with a critical eye.

“We lost you after you darted forward to catch up with these characters. We couldn’t find you until your screams led us to you. You’re lucky we were able to shoo off prying eyes.” The guard said with an equally critical tone.

Cadence put on a sheepish grin. “I’m sorry I shot ahead, I’ll try to be safer next time.”

“There may not be a next time. Now come on, we’ll leave two guys here to deal with the situation. Stay closer to us this time.”

Cadence departed, now with 4 guards in tow, to discover her next lead. After a few minutes of walking, and more check-in’s with security, Cadence finally made it to Super Shinee Chariot and Carriage repair. Cadence stepped inside with her guards outside, and put on her tough exterior once more. She walked up to the main desk, where a blue-purple mare in overalls was at the front. “I’m here to collect some debt from a stallion one of your employees.” Cadence said in as gritty of a voice as she could without sounding male.

“Has anyone ever told you you look like Princess Cadence?” The mare asked her.

“I get that a lot. Bugs the heck out of me. Although the royal exterior does help with the job, some people find it more… intimidating.” Cadence said while beginning to feel extremely nervous.

“Well, you’re missing her vanilla and purple mane strands, so I guess it’s not all spot-on.” The mare said in a bored voice, expressing her disappointment.

I guess Shiny knew what he was talking about when he told me to dye my mane! It sells the disguise alright. “I’m not exactly eager to get called out more often, so i’ll stay the way I am. Anyway, back to business. The stallion i’m looking for is dark blue, and has a silver bolt for a cutie mark. Reportedly wears your shop’s overalls.”

“We got a guy that fits that description. Steel Nut. Nut for short. Trust me, he gets that nickname for a lot more than just shorthoof convenience.” The mare said with a twisted smile. “He came in this morning, I think he’s in the garage working on a chariot.”

Cadence, now thoroughly stressed out, breathed out heavily, and headed into the garage. As soon as she entered, she saw him. Tucked under a chariot, she could see his dark blue fur, stained overalls, and nut cutie mark. “Ahem. Mister… Steel Nut? I’m here to collect some debts that you owe.”

Nut rolled out from underneath the chariot, and dusted off his hooves. “Oh. It’s you. You finally made it. I knew it was only a matter of time, I just wondered how long it would take for you to connect the dots. The horn, the records, all of it. I must admit, you’re much faster than I thought you were.”

Cadence stood there, dumbfounded. “What? You’re connected to the…. But then….. What!?”

Nut smiled viciously. “Look at the time! I’m afraid you’ll have to connect the dots yourself!” His horn then began to glow and inky purple, and he shot a massive beam of energy at Cadence, where it landed squarely on her chest.

Flying backwards, Cadence smashed against the back wall, and yelled for her guards. They stormed in, magical spells at the ready. “What is it Princess? Who is this stallion?”

“He is an enemy of the crystal crown, that’s who he is. Seize him.” Cadence said with venom in her voice.

“Afraid you’ll have to capture me another day Empress!” Nut said as he blew open the wall behind him, and ran through the gaping hole.

“Capture him at all costs! He cannot escape!” Cadence yelled as she flung off her coat and took flight after Nut. Cadence needed answers, and she wouldn’t let her only shot at uncovering this massive mystery slip away into the shadows.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Dracarthus raged internally as he watched the two black pulses of energy blink off the map, and felt his control over their bodies disappear. He knew it. Those stupid vessels had overestimated their abilities, and tried to head right for the source. At least he knew that the source of the magic was a somepony, and not a something. From what details he collected before his minions demise, he also knew that the carrier of the magic was female, and that she probably lived in the center of the empire, since that’s where the magic started moving from.

As he contemplated what little he knew, he saw a new blip of dark magic appear incredibly close to the massive concentration of love magic, and then disappear. Highly intrigued, Dracarthus re-focused on his mental map, and honed in on the area. Strangely, he found just a normal pony magic signature on the move away from the love magic aura.

His curiosity piqued, he followed the seemingly ordinary magic signature as it moved faster and faster away from the love magic pulse. The love magic soon kicked off towards the normal signature, and both began to pick up speed. Interesting… Dracarthus thought. Keeping careful track of the moving magic auras, Dracarthus snapped open his eyes, seeing that it was early evening. Getting up, he slunk out of the Warehouse, and began to follow the two moving masses of magic. He smiled in glee, excited to get his blood flowing. So the chase begins.

Comments

[EverfreePony]

Tell me, how does it came that all the chapters with Dracarthus are far more interesting? This one was packed full with worldbuilding, action, lil' gore and a new mystery at hoof, great!
Spotted a few non-capitalized 'I's and such, but I reckon pointing the mistakes is a little redundant, given the 'under rewrite' state of the story.