A Wild Heart

by LolianTriforce

Chapter 4

Ornate sat on a lone bench in the train at Canterlot station. She sat next to her loaded suitcase and wore a dark cloak with the hood up. Around her neck was a small, silver necklace that had the sun and moon symbols on it. Celestia had given it to her to conceal her identity with magic. She gazed out the window beside her at the large city. It no longer had the welcoming glow that it once had to her. Now, it was desolate and empty.

Once the train started to move, the trip was rather quick. She mostly stared out the window beside her. She hoped that her dear friend, Tailored Velvet, would help take her mind off of the recent events. She loved Sombra dearly, and it hurt to know that he was no longer in control of himself. Small tears gathered in the corner of her eyes at the thought of losing him forever.

Slowly, the train stopped at the Crystal Empire, and Ornate got off with her suitcase in tow. She looked around for a familiar face, when she spotted Rainbow Dash and Applejack approaching her.

“Welcome back!” Applejack greeted her enthusiastically.

“We’re here to escort you back to the palace,” Rainbow Dash sighed.

Ornate looked away, embarrassed that she had to be escorted at all.

“Let’s get going,” Applejack quickly changed the subject. “Princess Cadence and Shining Armor are waiting for us.”

All three of them left the station and walked toward the Crystal Palace. Ornate noticed everyone was happy and content, but she was aching inside. She stared at the ground as they approached the Crystal Heart, still on its pedestal. She found it hard to find the beauty it once had, but her heart was in no mood to be pleased.

Once they entered the Crystal Castle, Princess Cadence and Shining Armor were waiting for them with the rest of the mane six. Ornate stopped in front of them and set her suitcase down on the floor beside her.

“It’s great to have you back, dear,” Princess Cadence smiled.

“We want you to be comfortable during your stay here,” Shining Armor added.

Ornate bowed her head. “Thank you for having me,” she quietly answered.

Twilight walked up to her. “I’ll take you to your room, then. Follow me.”

Ornate nodded a little and picked up her suitcase before following her down the hall.

“Velvet said she wanted me to let her know when you arrived,” Twilight mentioned. “She seemed pretty excited to see you again.”

Ornate stayed silent, still following her.

Twilight’s ears lowered as she glanced back at her.

“You really did love him, didn’t you?” she asked, quietly.

Ornate solemnly nodded.

Twilight looked away.

“I really hope everything turns out okay, Ornate.”

“Me too.”

Twilight opened the door to the guest room, all prepared for Ornate’s unexpected stay. The zebra walked over to the bed and set her suitcase down on it.

“Velvet will be dropping by soon. You won’t have guards directly around you all the time, but they will be in your area, just in case Sombra shows up in town.”

Twilight slowly walked out, closing the door behind her as Ornate sunk into the bed and began to cry.

***

Within the marsh-buried castle, Eternal sat at the head of a long table with his daughter, Shadow, and his new recruit sitting on either side of him. The table was crowded with shadow ponies serving them.

“Finally, we can begin the next part of my plan,” Eternal cackled. “You remember, right, darling?”

“Yes, father,” Shadow answered. “We are to invade the three cities that pose the most threat to us.”

“Precisely, my starling,” Eternal grinned.

Suddenly, the table cleared, and a map of Equestria appeared before them. Three red markers formed in the air above the map and fell straight down to their targets: The Crystal Empire, Canterlot, and Ponyville.

“For now, Canterlot holds the most power in all of Equestria, so we must conquer it before anything else,” Eternal explained. “I will be the one to invade it with my army of shadow ponies.”

Eternal turned to Sombra, who did little else from staring at the map.

“My new protege, Sombra, you will lead your army of crystal ponies to the Crystal Empire and dethrone Princess Cadence. Those princesses may have powerful magic, but I have eyes everywhere, and the Crystal Empire is where Ornate is located. As my protege, I will award your capture of the Empire by giving you the throne to become their new king and take Ornate as your queen, as I promised.”

Sombra nodded.

“Thank you, Master.”

Eternal turned to his daughter.

“Finally, you shall lead the army of skeletal ponies to Ponyville and make sure you take care of that princess and her friends, understood?”

“Yes, father,” Shadow nodded.

Eternal smiled sinisterly.

“For now, we will feast, then prepare ourselves for battle. Those ponies won’t back down without a fight.”

***

Sometime during her meltdown, Ornate had passed out on her bed. She slowly awoke to Velvet sitting beside her bed, watching her inquisitively. Ornate looked at her, wondering why she would look at her like that.

“What’s the matter?” she asked, “Has it really been too long since you’ve seen me?”

Velvet smiled.

“Oh, good, your voice is still the same,” she sighed in relief.

Ornate blushed, for she had forgotten she was in disguise.

“Sorry for sleeping,” she said as she got off her bed. “I really needed to get some of that stress off my back.”

“I understand,” Velvet answered. “I can’t even begin to imagine what you’ve been through.”

Ornate lowered her head and looked away.

“But enough of that,” Velvet said quickly. “I’m taking you to the spa.”

She smiled a little. A spa treatment would feel pretty good after a hard cry. They walked out of the room and headed down the hall. As they walked, Ornate noticed more guards than usual.

“Not much has happened here since you left,” Velvet started, “but I’m sure you have enough tales to fill a book by now!”

“I’d rather not talk about that, Velvet.”

“That’s fine, you’ll just have to hear about all the most “exciting” things to happen at my shop,” Velvet snarked, playfully bumping Ornate’s shoulder with her own.

Ornate smiled. Velvet really did know how to cheer her up. It was a nice distraction. They walked outside of the castle where the Crystal Heart stood on its pedestal. As they walked by, Ornate saw the Heart spin rapidly while hearing the soft sound of a chime. She gasped aloud as she watched it spin. Velvet looked at the heart, then back at her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I just saw the Heart spin rapidly on its pedestal,” Ornate softly answered.

Velvet looked puzzled.

“It looks just fine to me. Maybe you need this spa treatment more than I thought. Come on.”

They continued to walk down the street to the spa, and entered the building.

“I hope you’re right about this, Velvet.”

***

Velvet giggled as they left the spa, their hooves buffed nicely, and their hair still slightly wet. Ornate’s hair started to curl as it dried. She smiled and shook her head at Velvet as they walked to the dress shop.

“You’re such a goof, Velvet,” Ornate scoffed playfully.

“Anything to get you to smile again,” Velvet sighed happily.

As they walked, Ornate stopped in her tracks, and looked up and down the street. Velvet looked at her, tilting her head in a curious fashion.

“What’s up?” she asked.

Ornate didn’t respond. She could feel the ground shaking under her hooves. Something was coming.

“Let’s get to the castle! Quickly!” Ornate turned towards the castle and started to run as fast as she could with Velvet following behind her. Velvet looked back, but quickly turned her attention back to Ornate. They quickly made it back to the castle, where the guards slammed the doors shut behind them. Ornate quickly walked to the throne room where Princess Cadence sat at her throne and Shining Armor standing right beside her, wearing his battle armor.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Ornate, you must return to your room and hide there,” Princess Cadence answered. “I’m afraid he has returned, just like he promised.”

Ornate’s body froze in fear. Velvet quickly pushed Ornate to her room and closed the door. She turned the lock to the door and sat in front of it. Ornate looked out the window to see the whole street was black with thousands of black crystal ponies filling the streets and forcing the ponies of the Crystal Empire into their houses.

“Whatever is happening, it isn’t going to be good,” Ornate whispered.

Author's Note:

Sorry it took so long to release this chapter.