The sparring session between the two Princesses, the Prince, and the King ended with no clear winner save the Canterlot construction companies. As such, Celestia and Luna saw Shining Armor and Cadence off on their honeymoon from the train station at the foot of Canter Mountain, rather than the palace...mostly because the palace - among other structures - would need to be rebuilt from the slope up. Admittedly, all four royals looked quite relaxed and pleased with themselves, despite the collateral damage. The nobles were less sanguine about the affair, but no one was really listening to them.
Celestia smiled widely as she handed the itinerary over to Shining Armor while Cadence put their luggage away on the train. "I picked this spot out a few months ago," she explained softly, "and I think it's just perfect for the pair of you. The cabin is up in the far north, well away from normal communication routes to give you complete privacy and solitude, and it's well stocked enough that you shouldn't want for anything." She smiled widely. "Long snowy nights to cuddle in for warmth, peace, solitude, and just a hint of adventure as you battle the elements, and who knows what else."
Shining stared up at Celestia flat eyed. He waited until she was taking a sip of her morning tea before speaking this time. "Alright, how far from the cabin is the forgotten Kingdom, in which direction, how long after our arrival do you expect it to come bursting out of the ice and snow in its dramatic return, and what connection does Cadence have to it?"
A quick shield deflected most of the spray as Celestia lost most of her morning blend failing to maintain her composure. It would take many hours before her nasal passages were the same. Luna and Samos showing no reticence with their amusement did not help. "I will not bother trying to deny your conclusions' validity, brother royal," Luna offered playfully. "But pray tell, why do you assume the connection is to your bride?"
"Because Celestia said she made the arrangements months ago, and she bet against me sprouting wings," Shining answered readily. "Speaking of, why was that something you were even betting on?"
Luna grinned as she leaned in close. "Sister has seen many signs and portents that such a fate awaits your little sister when the time is right. I have confirmed such things with my interactions. Twilight is an ascendant awaiting, and only the proper triggers and conditions needed to unleash that potential. When this was explained to me, I demanded to know why only Twilight was under such close observation for such an event, and not her entire clan." She stood up straight with a wide grin. "It eventually came to a wager, which I won."
Celestia sighed, glad that her humiliation wasn't total in this instance. Luna hadn't mentioned how childish the debate became before the wager was proposed. Those poor maids. Those poor cakes. "The nearest border is approximately half a mile northeast of the cabin," she spoke up, deciding to actually address the questions asked. "Cadence has a blood connection to the royal line of the kingdom, and I expect it to react to her presence, so I have no idea how long after your arrival it will happen. I expect soon after, though."
Shining sighed as he turned to board the train. "I'll be sure to tell Cadence to not bother unpacking, then," he grumbled under his breath.
Shining sighed to himself as he watched the mass of shadows approaching the edge of the Crystal Empire. The place had popped up just as he and Cadence had been settling in at the cabin. In point of fact, the shakes that heralded its return had happened at the exact moment the pair had gotten comfortable enough to come to the conclusion it wouldn't arrive until the next day and decided to start enjoying their honeymoon. Disappointment was tempered by expectation, and Shining had been glad to be so savvy as a result.
The kingdom had been quite beautiful, but it quickly became apparent that it was under a curse of some sort. No one walking about the buildings could remember much about themselves, or about what had been done...and any attempt to press them for information led to them cowering in fear as the curse asserted itself. While not very welcome in terms of learning about the kingdom itself, seeing it happen enough had allowed Shining to triangulate the source of the curse, and he'd sent Cadence to search the palace while he marched to the edge of the kingdom to confront the caster, whom he could sense had powerful dark magic.
As the shadow wave approached, Shining snorted contemptuously. "Is this supposed to scare me?" he asked callously. "A wave of darkness swallowing everything? Parlor tricks." Sending his magic into the air, he created a twist of Blue Eco that turned the arctic wind against the wave of shadows, pushing it back. "Surely you have better."
A head that bore remarkable similarity to his own Black Knight form crested the wave of shadows. "You do not fear the dark, puny creature?" the head hissed, pitching its voice in an attempt to be terrifying.
Shining snorted derisively. "I know the dark well," he responded bluntly. "Well enough, at any rate, to know better than to fear a light show from one who is its puppet, and not its master."
The shadow figure snarled angrily. "What could you, a royal of the Light, possibly know of DARKNESS?!" it demanded angrily.
Sighing, Shining triggered his transformation to Black Knight. While still uncomfortable, one new aspect of it was actually painful. The feathers of his wings fell one by one, rotting away as membrane spread between the bones, turning bird wings to bat. With the pain passed and the transformation complete, the Black Knight stared up at the shadow creature. "More than you would think...Sombra."
Sombra stared in amazement, the wave of shadows collapsing in on itself as he took his physical form. "Wha...how?" he asked, plainly disbelieving.
Black Knight smirked. "That's a long story," he responded. "I'm Ar-Mar, though this form is called Black Knight." He shrugged his shoulders, flexing his wings. "This will take some getting used to."
Sombra took a step forward, stunned. "You achieved apotheosis...when touched by darkness?" he gasped out.
"Well, yeah," Black Knight explained. "But I meant the feathers falling out for this transformation. That actually hurt."
"Bah!" Sombra dismissed. "Not even a flesh wound!"
Black Knight grinned and chuckled. "A sense of humor, huh? Nice." He jerked his head towards the kingdom. "Got some sort of connection to this place? I assume so, if you cursed it."
"I once lived and ruled here," Sombra proclaimed proudly.
"Then you'll know where a bar is. Good." Turning, Black Knight led Sombra into the kingdom. "Think you can lift the curse on the bartender enough so he'll remember how to serve us? If we're going to be swapping stories, we're going to need plenty of booze." Black Knight shuddered slightly. "I'll need a good amount in me just to deal with reliving some of those memories..."
Sombra followed along, curiosity having trumped hostility...for the moment.
...So Sombra basically reacted to Black Knight with, "Oh shit, this guy's a badass!"?
7804511 Probably closer to "Holy shit, this guy's a bigger badass."
Bwahahaha
7804511 No
His reaction is clearly, "oh shit, this guy's a bigger badass... teach me, senpai"
And now, que the drunken rant, courtesy of Sombra
7804516 7804520 But that implies Sombra was a badass to begin with.
He was a glorified storm-cloud with a frowny-face, in the show, for the most part.
Ah geez, we're going to have a redeemed Sombra by the end of this aren't we? Shining Armor is ruining ALL the plot!
... At least until Flurry Heart pops out and gives him a run for his money. Least until he figures out Daxter is a great replacement for a stuffed animal.
7804521
"And that's why we have an evil overlord passed out on our couch. Sorry, honey."
7804531 Correction, I'm implying Sombra thinks he's a badass
BOW BEFORE THE ALMIGHTY POWER OF GENRE SAVINESS! BOW, I SAY!
7804548 LOL! I got 20 bits on this making it into a chapter
7804548
7804553 Fair enough.
7804521
If we consider Sombra's Fiendship comic to be canon, then the previous ruler was keeping him ignorant to the fact that the Heart was slowly killing him. Yeah, I think that is worth a drunken rant or two. Also, his girlfriend dumped him over seeing him inact his revenge, running off to parts unknown. And his mother was a manipulative *****. ...wow, typing all that, I am reminded once again that clearly there are no therapists in Equestria.
Well, this took a turn for the interesting...
Ah, alcohol. Builder of bridges and conquerer of tyrants for time immemorial.
7804624 Well there's one but Dr. Wolf isn't canon sadly.
7804658
That would make her Nascent, i believe
I understood that reference!
7804553 Thing is, Past Sombra WAS a badass. Comics are canon after all.
Your going to redeem Sombra aren't you? So now Shining Armor will prevent his sister from ascending I am beginning to think. Still let's see how he tries to fix Sombra.
7804624 meh... never read the comics, but one day i'll read them.
well, at least if anyone ever gets the idea of becoming a therapist, it's gonna be profitable
... Sombra's gonna be a weepy drunk, isn't he? Probably one of those ones that make even the angry drunks feel sorry for them.
Okay, the first sentence was funny, and the fact that Shining Armor's about to gain a drinking buddy makes this even better. Good on ya, Tatsu
so instead of a darkness battle we get a drunk stuff go for it
...Ehh... not my best work.
7804548
This does totally sound like the first line of the next chapter.
... I foresee the next chapter going along the lines of this:
thepunchlineismachismo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/2016-04-18.jpg
Huh.
*Blinks owlishly*
I really did not see this coming.
........ ok. ( pulls out a huge keg of hard apple sider ) this is all I'm gonna need for the crazy coming.
7805415 ....agreed....
Shining just rolled a nat 20 on diplomacy
Slow claps with a grin. Best way to stump a villain.
7804963
Given that Sombra is lethally allergic to the energies of the Crystal Heart (basically the whole reason for his face/heel turn), I would say making a replacement rather than a backup would work better.
Well, Shining managed to make the almost eternally calm Celestia do an EPIC spit take. Very well done.
This has to be one of the few times I wish Luna would smack Celestia upside the head. If Cadence going near the site of the Crystal Empire causes it to return, SEND HER FAR AWAY FROM IT FOR HER HONEYMOON!!!!! Honestly, Celestia is treating them like chess pieces and less like ponies and spoiling what should be a romantic vacation with royal duties. I think Shining Armor and Cadence should have had at least a week to themselves.
Sombra going to get a drink with Black Knight was hilarious, though I can just see them getting into a drinking contest and Cadence having to deal with the fallout of two drunken stallions with lots of power staggering around the empire.
7804756 Step 1: Booze, and lots of it. Step 2: get him a marefriend. Step 3: ???????? Step 4: Make him Flurry Heart's baby sitter when Daxter isn't being squeezed to near death. Step 5: Profit
7804963 Looks good to me.
I was right it was a DRAW!now where do I collect my winnings?
And once again, I find myself getting an epic curveball to the face - this time in the form of Shining grabbing Sombra and saying "F*** this shit, let's get drunk." (It's not the implied impending redemption - that was unexpected, but not altogether surprising given what Tats has done with some of the other antagonists in the PWNY series. Shiny basically declaring him his new drinking buddy right away, on the other hand...)
I want to see how this will turn out. It intrigues me.
I like that ending. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the great work. Deus tecum.
Yesss... let the Genre Savvy flow through you...
"And so Celestia said she didn't like mmmmm bananas!"
"Tell me about it; preach!"
"I said I didn't appreciate her cold shoulder and now fast forward to an hour ago and my hoof was still stuck in the ice!"
again you blow my mind with the "hard ass" villains that are completely shell shocked by your universe style character changes i LOVE it
At least, let there be a clash between Shining and Sombra please.
Awesome, so we're getting the Crystal Empire arc too. Makes sense, it finishes off the initial Cadence and Shining storyline in the show.
Oooo, and probably a redeemed Sombra as well, from the look of things. I like it.
what did I just read???????