Chapter 66- The Calm
Dark awoke from perhaps the best sleep he's ever had. Whether it was from yesterday's news of him and Twilight being expecting parents, or if Luna decided to grace him with his dream of him relaxing in front of the fireplace holding a very pregnant Twilight, Dark didn't know. But, which ever it was, Dark was thankful for it as he never felt happier. Smiling to himself, he cracked open an eye to see the top of Twilight's horn point away from him. Confused, he glanced down to see that sometime in her sleep, she'd turned herself around, now snuggling up to him with her back against his chest, and his arms now wrapped around her chest.
Despite her being up against him with no possible space between them, Dark closed his eyes as he gently tried to hug her closer. As he did, one of his claws drifted down Twilight's chest until it rested over her stomach. Smiling to himself, he began to gently caress it, imagining that the foal growing inside was sensing his love for it.
I can't believe it, he thought giddily. I'm actually gonna be a dad.
Continuing his motion of affection for a few more minutes, Dark soon stopped as an idea came to mind.
Hmm... I wonder...
Opening his eyes, Dark casted his Soul Eyes and looked down. With the spell running at full, Twilight's soul outlined her entire body, but that wasn't what he was looking for. Dialing it down, Dark watched as Twilight's soul was reduced to a ball of fire before glancing below it with a smile.
Feeling Twilight stirring, Dark turned his attention back to her as he saw her starting to wake up. Hearing her yawn cutely and wiping her eyes clear, Dark leaned forward and began nuzzling her cheek, earning him a content sigh as she nuzzled him back.
"Good morning," Dark whispered as he continued to nuzzle her.
"Good morning to you too," Twilight replied, leaning her head back against him.
"How'd you sleep?"
"Like a foal," she giggling.
"You mean like this one?" Dark playfully asked while caressing her stomach again.
Twilight brought both of her hooves down to rest over Dark's claw, and her stomach.
"Yeah. Like this little one."
With a heartfelt smile, Dark guided Twilight's head to share a morning kiss with her. When they parted, Twilight looked at him for the first time that morning and noticed his eyes.
"Dark? Why did you cast your Soul Eyes?" she wondered, causing him to smile wider.
"Go ahead and cast it," Dark told her with a smile. "Then you'll see why I have it on."
Mentally shrugging to herself, Twilight casted the spell, her eyes glowing purple to Dark's gold.
"Okay, now what?"
"Look down."
Listening, Twilight looked down, but only saw her own soul outlining her body.
"I see me."
"You probably don't see it then. Are you running the spell at full power?"
"Yeah."
"In that case, tune it down to its minimum output."
"Okay. One second."
Reducing the power of the spell, Twilight took another look, and though she saw her own soul lingering in her chest, she inhaled sharply when she saw a tiny flame nestled just below it. Her eyes beginning to water, Twilight smiled as she rubbed her stomach.
"I-Is that...?"
Dark gave Twilight a gentle squeeze. "Yeah. That's our foal there."
Smiling and shedding joyful tears, Twilight wrapped her forelegs around her stomach, hugging the growing foal while Dark hugged Twilight. For a while they remained laying in bed like that, simply enjoying their time together with their minds on their foal. And while they would've liked to of stayed like that, a ring from the clock on their nightstand reminded them of the time, and that they had to get up.
Sharing another kiss, they both sat up in their beds before Twilight suddenly felt sick. Realizing what was about to happen, Twilight darted over to the joint bathroom and slammed the door shut. Seconds later, Dark winced as he heard the sounds of Twilight hurling over the toilet. And while he knew that this morning sickness was one of the symptoms of a pregnant mare, it didn't stop Dark's concern for her.
Getting out from the bed, Dark waited for a moment before hearing Twilight calm down. Opening the door, he frowned when he saw her miserably hunched over the toiled. Walking up to her, Dark gave her a sympathetic look and began to gently rub her back. And while the look of anguish on her face made him frown, the small smile she gave him let him know that his efforts to help her were appreciated and working. He continued this gesture for the next ten minutes, remaining by her side in the bathroom until Twilight finally spoke.
"Thank you, Dark," she thanked. "Sorry about that. I'm feeling better now."
"Any time," he sadly smiled. "Also, I'm sorry that you're having to suffer through this."
Twilight sighed. "It can't be helped. I knew that if I wanted a foal that I would have to put up with the consequences that came with carrying one."
"I know. I just wish that there was a way to make it so that you didn't have to suffer through it."
"I know, Dark," she smiled. Flushing the toilet, she smirked at Dark. "Now, if you don't mind, I need to use the bathroom, so out."
Chuckling, Dark nuzzled Twilight before leaving her in peace to await his turn. Ten minutes later, Twilight stepped out to let Dark in. After going through his morning ritual, Dark walked out to join Twilight before they made their way to join the others in the dining hall. When they got there, they were happy to see their friends and family already eating with Pinkie and Cadence talking off to the side.
"I mean, I don't get why they were so upset with me," Pinkie said. "So, yeah, The Big One made a big mess of things and I had to clean most of it up while tidying up the rest before everypony got back, but it all worked out well in the end."
"Maybe, but that still left us with a lot of garbage, Pinkie," Cadence sighed. "With all of the extra confetti, streamers and whatnot, we won't have anymore room until the garbage pony comes."
"That's why I packed all the extras into bags, so that I can reuse them. They didn't have to take it all out to the garbage because it wasn't garbage to begin with."
"If you didn't want them to take it out, then why'd you put them into trash bags?" Cadence questioned.
"Because I was so busy with the party that I didn't have time to stuff them into my other party bomb."
"... wait, you have another one of them?"
"Of course I do, silly," Pinkie giggled. "And that wasn't even my biggest one."
"... what?"
Smirking, Pinkie reached into her mane and pulled out a bomb three times bigger than The Big One that shook the floor.
"The one that I used yesterday was called The Big One," she went to explain as she patted the bomb, "this one here is called The Bigger Big One."
Cadence gulped. "A-And how m-much bigger is this one, exactly?"
There was a gleam in Pinkie's eyes. "Big enough to turn the entire Crystal Empire into one massive party ground, or Canterlot, whichever."
Everyone shivered at the thought, but as soon as Pinkie put the party bomb back in her mane, there was a collective sigh of relief. Watching Pinkie return to her seat, Cadence was about to return to hers when she saw that Dark and Twilight had walked in. Quickly, she ran over and gave both of them a hug before letting them go and walked them to their seats.
"So, how're you two doing this morning?" Cadence eagerly asked.
"Ehh, more or less alright," Dark answered.
"Why? Is there something wrong?"
Twilight grumbled. "Morning sickness."
"Ahhh. I see. So that's why you two took so long?"
"Yeah," she sighed before smiling and nuzzling Dark. "But the backrub that I got did help make me feel better."
"What?"
"When I heard what was going on, I went in and started to rub Twilight's back," Dark explained.
"Awww. That's so sweet," Cadence cooed before poking Shining's side. "Why didn't you ever do that for me, Shiny?"
Shining gulped down his food, trying to find an answer for her. Coming up with nothing, he weakly chuckled and shrugged.
"Sorry, sweetheart," he apologized.
Cadence shrugged. "That's alright," she said with a smirk, "you'll just have to make it up later tonight."
"You too, Night," Velvet spoke with a frown. "You didn't give me any backrubs either when I was pregnant with Shining or Twilight."
"Don't forget about the hoof massages," Dark added.
"Yes, and those. So tonight, Night, I'm expecting a hoof massage and a back massage from you."
"You too, Shiny," Cadence agreed.
In unison, Night and Shining turned to glare at Dark and spoke at the same time, "I hate you, Dark."
"Aww, I hate you guys too," Dark playfully mocked with a chuckle.
Playfully rolling her eyes, Twilight saw Skyla sitting in her chair laughing at them. Remembering what today was, she got up and walked over to her.
"Good morning, Skyla," she said, kissing her cheek before nuzzling her. "Happy birthday."
Giggling, Skyla latched onto Twilight's face. "Twala."
Snapping her eyes wide-open, Twilight recoiled and looked at Skyla in surprise. "Did you just...?"
"She's been speaking for a few months now," Cadence smiled. "She can kinda say most of our names, but as you heard, she still has some work to do. I'm actually surprised that she didn't say anything yesterday."
"Probably because she gets a little nervous when she's around so many strange ponies and doesn't like to talk," Shining voiced. "That, and the fact that she's never seen Pyre before."
"I suppose."
Smiling happily, Twilight went back to hugging and nuzzling Skyla. Moments later, Dark was up alongside her. Seeing him out of the corner of her eye, Twilight let go of her to let Dark have a turn. When Twilight retracted herself from her, Skyla then saw Dark beside her and reached out her hooves for him.
"Dar!"
Though initially surprised like how Twilight was, Dark recovered himself and leaned down to nuzzle Skyla, chuckling as she squealed happily and latched onto his muzzle.
"Yours was one of the last ones that she learned to say, Dark," Cadence went to explain.
"That's perfectly fine," he chuckled. "I'm actually surprised that she even said it in the first place."
"Well, she did take a liking to you when you two first met," Twilight said.
"Heh. I guess so."
Gently pulling himself free from her hold, Dark planted a small kiss on top of Skyla's head, eliciting a joyous squee from her before returning to his chair to eat. Sitting himself down, Dark began stacking up the waffles onto his plate before searching for any bacon. After almost a minute of searching, he heard Twilight sigh in satisfaction and looked over. To his shock and slight disappointment, Dark saw the empty plate with the scattered bits and pieces it once held and whimpered.
"... bacon..."
Somewhere north of the Crystal Empire, Flash and a squad of his troops were out searching the base of the mountain range for any signs of the cloaked stallion and Sombra. Thankfully for them, the weather was merciful on them as it was a cloudless, sunny day. However, that didn't do much to lift Flash's mood with the conversation that the others were holding.
"Dude, are you serous?!" the first one asked in disbelief.
"Yep," the second nodded. "I was there yesterday when Mr. Night Light ran through the halls shouting about how Dark Flame got Princess Twilight pregnant."
Keeping his thoughts to himself, Flash gritted his teeth and continued leading them forward.
"That's sweet," the third one said. "That means that there'll be another royal wedding coming up soon!"
Suddenly, Flash froze as his eyes snapped wide-open. "All of you, be silent!"
The three guards winced from Flash's tone.
"Sorry, sir!" they apologized, saluting him.
"Shhh! Keep quiet and get down!" he hissed.
Turning their attention ahead, the three guards crouched down alongside Flash behind a small snowbank. Poking their heads up, they all saw what looked like ancient stone pillars carved into the mountain's side, and in the center of it, a nine foot cave leading in.
"How did nopony see this before?!" one of the guards quietly asked in disbelief.
"I don't know," Flash answered, "but this has got to be where they're hiding."
"I take it we're going to scout it out, sir?"
"Yes. We'll sneak in, find out who and what we're dealing with exactly, then report back to the prince and princesses."
The three guards gave him a confirming salute. "Yes, sir!"
"Good. Now, let's go."
Sticking close to the mountain side, Flash led his squad closer to the cave. Taking a few cautious minutes to try and spot anything guarding it, he confirmed that it was unguarded and slowly led them closer to it. Hiding behind the pillars, Flash halted his squad and had one of the crystal ponies activate the crystals that were inlaid with their horseshoes to silence their hoofsteps. Now being able to move about the stone without creating any sound, Flash took the lead as he led them into the cave. As they entered, one of the guards halted and glided his hoof across the stone.
"What are you doing?" Flash questioned him.
"Sir, come take a look at this," he said, motioning for Flash and the others. "Look at these rocks."
"Yeah? What about them?"
"These walls don't look like a natural cave, or ruins. It actually looks like somepony's been chipping away at it within the last month or so."
"He's right, sir," another spoke. "If you look at the rocks beneath our hooves, you'll notice the difference between the weathered rocks, and the ones that were mined."
Listening to his troops, Flash took a closer look, noticing that the smooth weathered stone was only a few feet wide before it drastically turned rough for the other six. Frowning, Flash looked down deeper into the cave.
"We're going to take this slow," he told them. "Stay single file and keep some distance between the pony in front of you. We don't want to bump into anything and give ourselves away. Also, try to refrain from speaking."
Seeing them silently nodding, Flash led them deeper into the cave. While they didn't see anything unusual within the first few minutes, they did come into a chamber and paused. Seeing that this massive chamber could house a very large dragon, they proceeded with extreme caution. On the far side of the chamber, they saw a glow coming from what looked like a doorway reaching up to the ceiling. Hugging the wall to stay in the shadows and out of the light, Flash and his three troops peeked their heads around the corner and immediately retreated their heads back.
"S-S-Sir?" one of the guards nervously whispered. "P-P-Please t-tell me that's n-not..."
Flash peeked his head around the corner again and grimaced.
"Yeah. It is."
There in the back of the dome-shaped room behind the monstrous burning bonfire was Sombra, sitting on a dragon-sized throne made of bones with his eyes closed. But, he wasn't alone. Before him stood several minotaur skeletons, each fully armored and carrying a heavy axe. Hearing him emanate something between a sigh and growl, Flash recoiled back until he could just barely see him.
"What's taking that peasant so long?" he growled irritatedly. "He said that he would be back yesterday! How long does it take for a single pony to make a deal with a bunch of stupid, overgrown lizards?!"
Stamping his hoof in frustration, Sombra snapped his eyes open, the whites of his eyes now green and purple mists flowing from the corners, indicating his power had been restored.
"The brat's birthday is today! Their guards, prince, and princess are distracted, their defenses vulnerable enough to make the Crystal Empire easy for the taking!"
He jumped down from the throne and began pacing around the bonfire in frustration.
"I swear, if he doesn't return before noon, I'll lead the invasion force myself and-"
Hearing the sound of a small rock echoing through the chamber, Sombra froze and faced the direction it came from. Remaining silent for a moment, he strained his ears until he heard what he thought was whispering.
"Well now," Sombra deeply chuckled, "it would appear that we have guests. Tell me, have you come to pay homage to your king?"
Knowing that Sombra was onto them, they were about to run away when a wall of dark crystals jutted up in front of them, stalling them just long enough for four shadowy tendrils to lash out and snag each of them by their rear hoof. Being lifted upside down, they watched as the doorway was sealed by Sombra's crystals before being turned around to come face-to-face with Sombra himself.
"What? Aren't you happy to see your king again?" he grinned, showing off his fangs.
"You are not our king!" Flash defiantly shouted. "We follow Princess Cadence and Princes Shining Armor, not a defeated relic like-"
"SILENCE!" Sombra boomed, hurling several crystals out at Flash and imbedding each of them into his left foreleg, hind leg, wing, and side, each accompanied with scream of pain. "I am your king, and I will not be denied by a no-named guard!"
Composing himself, Sombra turned his attention to the three crystal guards.
"Now, what about you three? Will you answer your king's calling, or will you die alongside him?" he questioned, pointing a hoof at Flash as he hung suspended in the air, blood seeping through his armor.
Scared for their lives, each of the guards looked between the wounded Flash, and Sombra. A few moments of silence later, they looked at each other and nodded in silent agreement.
"We have chosen, Your Highness," they said together, removing their helmets and bowing their heads to Sombra.
"A wise answer," he chuckled, lowering them to the ground and releasing them. "However, I will require proof of your loyalty."
They each bowed him again. "What is it that you wish of us, King Sombra?"
Sombra grinned from hearing them calling him that again. Darting his eyes to their side, Sombra pointed to Flash.
"I want you three to kill this stallion," he ordered. "It doesn't matter which method you use."
Giving Sombra a salute, they watched as Sombra released Flash from his shadowy tendril, dropping him unceremoniously onto the floor before surrounding them. Hearing him groaning in pain and seeing pleading in his eyes, one of the guards reached into Flash's saddlebag and pulled something out.
"What is that thing?" Sombra asked skeptically.
"It's called a Cyanide Pellet, Your Highness," the one holding it answered. "Each of us are given one."
"What does it do?"
"Simply put, King Sombra, it's a pellet used to commit suicide. If any of us are to be captured by the enemy, we're to take one to insure that we don't reveal anything incase we were to be tortured for information."
"Interesting. This is new to me, so go on and use it. I'm curious to see what happens."
Heeding their king's approval, two of them pried Flash's mouth open with their hooves while the third one dropped the pellet into his mouth. Forcing his mouth shut, they waited for him to chew it before taking a few steps back. Seconds later, they watched Flash as he swallowed it. As soon as he did, they turned around and took Sombra by surprise as they tackled him to the ground.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Sombra demanded. A second later, he shielded his eyes from a blinding flash of light.
"Go, Lieutenant! Tell the prince and princesses! We'll hold him off!"
Feeling the pain dulled by his Rage Shift, Flash stood up as he felt his body coursing with power. Looking over himself, he grinned at the sight of his white coat, and his mane and tail appearing to be on fire. Grinning at Sombra with his now red eyes, Flash bit the crystal in his wing and yanked it out. Flaring his wings and giving them a powerful flap, Flash disappeared in a bolt of lightning, breaking through the dark crystals blocking the doorway out and flying out of the cave.
Roaring in fury, Sombra impaled each of the crystal guards on a crystal spike. Growling, he picked himself up and glared at the remaining living stallion.
"What. Was. That. THING?!" he demanded, getting a weak chuckle from the guard.
"A Rage Pellet, courtesy of the Crystal Empire Research Division. Each of our high-ranking officers have one, and you just stood by and allowed for me to give it to our Lieutenant," he lied, not wanting to tell him that in truth, each of the Crystal Empire's guards had their own Rage Pellet.
His fury blinding him, Sombra pulled the stallion up from his impaled crystal and tossed him and the other two into the bonfire. And while the sight of his enemies burning would've been pleasant to see, Sombra wasn't in any mood for it. With the pegasus having escaped his grasp, he had no choice now but to set their plan into motion.
Roaring out loud, Sombra waited as the ground shook with the sounds of marching. Retaking his seat on the throne, he watched as his undead legion emerged from the tunnels. Within minutes, the main chamber was crowded with his army of skeletal ponies, gryphons, zebras, minotaurs, and buffalo. All armored and armed with many, many more still standing deep in the tunnels off to the sides.
"There has been a change in plans," Sombra announced, looking out at the glowing green eyes of his army. "We march now! Onward, to the Crystal Empire!"
Later on that afternoon, everyone was gathered in the castle's dining hall. With Pinkie being in charge of setting everything up for Skyla's birthday party, she made sure that there was plenty for the hundreds of ponies that they were sure would be attending, ranging from the castle staff, the crystal guards, civilians who wanted to attend, younger and older foals, and of course, her family and friends. And while Dark thought that such a number of attendants for a single foal's birthday party was a bit too much, he was reminded that this was for the Crystal Empire's youngest princess.
With everyone together in the dining hall and gathered outside in the hallways, they all sang Happy Birthday to Skyla, who was sitting at the head of the table with her own personal birthday cake sitting in front of her. Once they'd finished singing to her, she followed her parents' instructions and tried to blow out the candles. It took her a few tries, but she eventually managed to blow out her two candles. With a thunderous round of cheering, Skyla happily clapped her hooves together before digging them into her cake and eating it off of her bare hooves.
The sounds of chuckling and cooing filled the halls at the sight of her messily eating her cake, but it soon began to die off as Pinkie and several others began to cut the other cakes for everyone else to share. As they did, each pony made sure to take a moment to praise Shining, Cadence, and of course, the birthday filly. And while most of the adult ponies began to talk amongst one another, Pinkie and Fluttershy led the younger ones in several foal-friendly games and activities.
Laughing at her daughter, Cadence began wiping off the cake frosting from Skyla's mouth and hooves.
"Looks like somepony was eager to eat her cake," she giggled, causing Skyla to giggle happily in return.
"Yeah," Shining agreed. "Good thing that Pinkie decided to use the edible candles for her birthday cake instead of the normal ones."
Remaining by their daughter's side, Shining and Cadence stood and talked to ponies who either came up to Skyla with a happy birthday, or to talk to the royal couple. Of course, some of them were nervous and questioned why they invited a dragon like Pyre to their daughter's birthday party, but once they were told about how he's a relative of Spike's, they began to calm down and continue about the party.
And then, there were Dark and Twilight, who had their own swarm of ponies to deal with. The news of Twilight being pregnant had spread throughout the Crystal Empire thanks to Night's outburst yesterday, so a lot of ponies decided to come directly to them to get the news. With their plans for keeping her pregnancy a secret now shot to Tartarus, and the fact that everypony would eventually find out soon, Dark and Twilight both sighed in defeat before they told them that Twilight was indeed pregnant.
Of course, while Celestia and Luna were nearby and overheard, they both knew yesterday after the commotion that Night had caused that keeping this secret would be next to impossible. So, it wasn't much of a surprise when all of the mares around Twilight and Dark suddenly happily squealed in excitement when they confirmed it.
"You know," Luna began, "when we return to Canterlot, it's very likely that we'll need to begin preparations for another royal wedding."
"I would imagine so, Luna," Celestia agreed with a smile. "Let's just hope that it goes better than the last one."
Luna groaned, resisting the urge to facehoof in public.
"I still can't believe that I slept through a full-scale invasion like I did!"
"Me too, but at least you were unharmed," Celestia said before her thoughts drifted back to Dark's and Twilight's foal. "Hmmm. Perhaps we should also have the castle's nursery refurbished before the baby comes. What do you think?"
"Yes. I believe that it would be a good idea," Luna smiled. "It shall also provide us a nice place to play with the little one when he or she comes to visit."
Celestia let out a near-silent squee. "I can't wait to start foalsitting for them!"
"You may have to get in line then, because I'm sure that Cadence, Shining Armor, Night, Velvet, and Pinkie will also want to foalsit too."
"Just as long as I get my turn."
Meanwhile, back over by Shining, Cadence, and Skyla, three high-ranking stallions approached them with a bow.
"Captain Gray Diamond, Lieutenant Saph, Lieutenant Emerald Lance, thank you guys for coming," Shining thanked.
"You're welcome, Your Highness," Gray replied for them.
Looking over his three officers, Shining frowned as he noticed somepony missing.
"Where's Lieutenant Flash?" he asked.
"Out on patrol up north," Saph answered. "Said something about needing to clear his head and cool off."
Bringing a hoof to his forehead, Shining rubbed the bridge of his nose and groaned. As he did, Cadence stepped up and took over for him.
"It's about Twilight, isn't it?" she figured.
"Yes, Princess," Emerald nodded, causing her to sadly sigh.
"I know that they've been close friends for a while, but the distance between them has prevented them any chance for becoming more. And with Twilight pregnant, and Dark most likely to propose to her any day now, I can only imagine the hurt that Flash is going through."
"I'll admit that I was rooting for Flash at first, too," Shining spoke. "And while I still have the utmost trust in him, I believe that Dark's the better pick for Twilight. Especially with all of the trouble she and her friends tend to get into."
"Speaking of Dark, where is he?" Gray wondered. "We actually just got here, so we haven't seen him yet."
"One second, I'll call him over."
Looking out over the crowd, Shining soon found Dark and Twilight standing off to the side surrounded by several dozen ponies. Using his magic, Shining picked up a piece of food and tossed it over at him. Hitting him on the head, Dark looked for whoever threw it before seeing Shining waving him over. Excusing himself, Dark made his way past the gathered ponies and towards Shining with Twilight having chosen to accompany him.
"I suppose I should thank you for not getting my attention by hitting me with a blast of magic," Dark chuckled. "So, whatcha need, Shining?"
Shining cleared his throat before he gestured the three stallions with a hoof.
"Dark, this is Captain Gray Diamond, Lieutenant Saph, and Lieutenant Emerald Lance," he introduced, each of the stallions nodding to Dark as they were named.
"So, you're the kirin that we've heard so much about," Gray said before he and the others bowed to Twilight. "Princess Twilight Sparkle. It is an honor to meet you again. Also, our congratulations on the wonderful news."
"Thank you, Captain," Twilight smiled as she looked over them. "It has been a while since I've seen you all, and I'm glad to meet you all again, but there seems to be somepony missing from your group of officers."
"If you're talking about Lieutenant Flash, then he's out right now, Princess," Saph answered her.
"Oh... that's too bad. I was hoping I could talk to him again, seeing as how the last time wasn't on such good terms."
"When was the last time, if you don't mind my asking, Princess?" Emerald wondered, causing her to look at Shining, who guiltily chuckled.
"Yeeeaaaahhhh... you guys remember when we received the notice about the attack on Ponyville last year?" Shining reminded them.
Gray blinked. "Wow. That long ago, huh?"
"Yeah," Twilight nodded. "It's been a while, and I don't like to stay out of touch with my friends for so long."
"I see," he said before turning his attention towards Dark. "Sorry about turning our attention away from you like that, Lord Dark."
Dark looked surprisingly at him. "How did you know that I was a lord? Did Shining or Cadence tell you?"
The three officers looked at him in surprise.
"No, they didnt," Saph spoke. "Are you really a lord?"
"Kinda, but only my closest friends know about it."
"Oh."
"If you didn't know that I was one, then why did you call me that, Captain?"
"Out of respect, sir," he answered.
"Thanks, but you don't have to worry about it," Dark told him. "I'd rather prefer that ponies be on a first-name basis with me, instead of them calling me by that title."
"Um, yes, Lor- I mean, Dark," Gray stammered, surprised by Dark's modesty.
"Thanks."
"So, Dark," Emerald spoke, "we heard about how you defeated the ursa major. Tell us, do you think that you could do it again?"
"Right now? I could easily take on several of them at once."
Everyone in their group besides Twilight looked at Dark with disbelief.
"Dark," Shining began, "I know that you beat me in the Coliseum, but I doubt that you could actually do it."
"Actually, Shiny, he could," Twilight defended, nervously rubbing her hooves.
"Really? Besides that dragon form he used against me, how would he manage that?"
Dark chuckled as he placed a claw on Shining's shoulder. "Pray that you never find out, Shining."
"So... could I ask you something, Dark?" Saph hesitantly asked.
"Sure, go ahead."
"We know about you and Princess Twilight having a foal, but what about marriage?"
"No, we're not married," he denied before angling himself to where Twilight couldn't see him mouthing the word "yet" to them. Smiling at the looks on their faces, Dark looked up at the clock and noticed the time. "Hey, Twilight?"
"Yes, Dark?" Twilight replied.
"Would you mind coming with me for a moment?"
"Okay, but where to?"
"You'll just have to wait and see," he chuckled before shaking the officers' hooves. "It was nice to meet each of you. Hopefully we'll get to talk some more before we have to go."
Giving Dark a quisitive look, Twilight followed Dark's claw gesture and began making her way back into the crowd of ponies. Once she was ahead of him, Dark turned around and gave Shining, Cadence, Gray, Saph, and Emerald a knowing wink before running up to her side to join her.
Meanwhile, off to the side at their own table, Night and Velvet were sitting with Celestia, Luna, and Twilight's friends. As they talked and ate together, Night caught sight of Dark leading Twilight through the crowd before they left the room.
"I'm going to see where they're going," he said, getting up from his seat, but before he could get three steps away, Velvet pulled him back by his tail.
"Let them be, Night," she told him.
"Why? Where are they going?" Rainbow wondered.
"You don't think that Twilight's feeling sick again, do you?" Rarity questioned.
"Ah doubt it," Applejack dismissed. "She didn't even look like she was sick this time."
"I bet I know," Spike chimed in.
"Really now?" Luna questioned. "Pray tell, how do you know this?"
Spike nervously chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. "I might've caught Dark looking at a ring when he didn't think anypony was around."
There was a collection of gasps while Pinkie giggled gleefully.
"This is great!" she exclaimed with a bounce. "That means that I'll get to use The Bigger Big One-"
"NO!" everyone fearfully shouted.
"Okay, okay. I'll just give them a normal Pinkie Pie Party."
Twilight walked alongside Dark as he led her down another hallway. While she normally wouldn't have any problems with this, Dark's silence and the nervous looks he would make weren't helping her much. Even after she'd asked him what it was going on, he just told her that he had a surprise and that she'd have to wait until they got there.
Turning another corner and going down a flight of stairs, Dark led Twilight out of the castle to where the Crystal Heart sat. Making their way closer to it, Dark walked up to it and around to where the setting sun's light would shine on them through it. With them right were he wanted to be, Dark stopped with Twilight right behind him.
"Alright, we're here," Dark exhaled.
Twilight looked around. "The Crystal Heart?"
"Yep. Here."
"Okay, but what about it?" she confusingly asked as she turned around. "You said that you had a surprise for me, but besides the sunlight shining through the Crystal Heart, which I must admit does look rather pretty, I don't see any-"
When Twilight turned back around to face Dark, her words caught in her throat and her legs suddenly lost their strength. Her eyes widened and hooves over her mouth, Twilight looked at the sight of Dark kneeling before her. However, it wasn't like how a pony would kneel before royalty.
"Dark... w-what are you doing?" Twilight shakily asked, though she already knew the answer.
"Something that I would've done yesterday if your dad didn't interrupt us," Dark answered, taking one of her hooves into his claws while trying to hide his torrent of emotions. "Actually, even before we found out that you were pregnant, I wanted to ask you this. It's something that's been on my mind since I saw that you were the one that caught the bouquet at Big Mac and Cheerilee's wedding."
Raising his right wing up, Dark blocked out the sunlight and casted a shadow between him and Twilight. Letting go of her hoof and shrouding his left claw in shadows, Dark reached into his Shadow Storage and pulled out a small black box. Folding his wing and retreating the shadows from his claw, Dark held the box out to her while focusing his gaze on Twilight's watery eyes.
"Like I told you yesterday, Twilight, you gave me a home when I had nothing. You became my first true friend and gave me a reason to continue on with my life after losing everything. And now, with this foal of ours on the way, I will do everything that I can to repay you, no matter what it is, or how many years it takes. I love you so very much, and so I ask you, Twilight Sparkle..."
Dark opened the box, revealing the woven, four carat silver ring inside.
"... will you marry me?"
With a wide smile and her tears flowing freely, Twilight hastily nodded.
"Yes," she sniffled. "Yes, of course I will!"
Shedding a few tears of his own, Dark took the ring out from the box and placed it over Twilight's horn. Breathing a sigh of relief and wiping a few tears from his new fiancé's eyes, Dark pulled Twilight into a hug before sharing a kiss. With the newly engaged couple sitting in the light of the setting sun before the Crystal Heart, life felt perfect for them. After several minutes had passed, they parted their lips with matching smiles. Rising up, they turned and began making their way back inside. However, before they could make it in, the sound of strained flapping and ragged breathing caught their ears.
Turning around, Dark and Twilight looked just in time to see Flash crashing to the ground and skidding across the crystal surface, leaving a trail of blood behind him. Shocked to see him in such a state, they both ran over to his side and began looking him over.
"Flash! What happened to you?!" Twilight shouted in panic. Noticing the black crystals jutting out from his wounds, she gasped in fear and took a step back. "No... don't tell me that...!"
Wheezing, Flash cracked open an eye and weakly looked up to Twilight.
"S-Som-bra... army... com-ing..."
Feeling a knot in his stomach, Dark casted his Healing Flame on Flash and looked to Twilight.
"Twilight, take him to the medical wing and inform the others about what's happening."
"But what about you?" she questioned as she levitated Flash alongside her.
"There's a platform at the top of the castle, right?"
"Yes?"
"I'm going to go up there and try spotting them. With the nighttime almost here, I'll still be able to see them with my night vision. Once I get an idea of what we're up against, I'll meet you and the others in the throne room."
"Alright. I'll see you soon."
Sharing a brief kiss, Twilight teleported herself and Flash to the medical wing while Dark Shadow Melded and traveled up the side of the castle. Once near the top, he saw the platform Twilight had told him about where she and Spike had found the Crystal Heart. Materializing from the shadows, Dark walked over to the edge facing where Flash flew from and scanned the area. It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for, for after a few seconds of searching, Dark spotted something approaching them. Taking a few moments to confirm what he was seeing wasn't a trick from the last rays of sunlight, Dark chuckled as a grin of anticipation formed on his muzzle from the sight of the many thousands of armored skeletons approaching them.
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Yay! Battle time!
[insert awesome battle music here]
I have glory hammer ready and my popcorn lets get this battle started.
Sombra approaches...
ASTARTES, PREPARE TO DEFEND THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE! It is time to BLOW THEM AWAY!
Also...
Emperor preserve us....
Mmmm. Can't wait to see how this plays out.
Seriously. Army of the dead vs death himself..
I swear, every story that has a chapter called "The Calm", or something along the lines of that, is always followed by "Before the Storm". But still, great chapter as always,
Also, Dark proposing to Twilight.....
Though that's gotta suck for Flash.
Shit is going to go down! Prepare the epic battle music 'cause shit's about to go down!!!
Dum Dum dummmmmm
(Slams Mug on Table) More! Viking demand more!
Hmmmm. You bring an Army of Undead to attack a kingdom that is hosting not only FOUR powerful Alicorns, but the Lord of Death.
SOMBRA,
You just SCR*WED THE POOCH!!!!!!!
Even the God of Destruction is intrigued.
Wait so this was released today? Or updated? shit son well time to wait lol
Haha, something tells me Dark is going to use Flare to buck things up. Also, since it is an army of undead couldn't Dark just say "Okay skeletons you are with me now" or banish them easily given what he is. Okay he would have to probably overpower Sombra's control.... oh, yeah that wouldn't work put well thanks to Nocturne's tooth being his horn.
Either way with an undead army and that they are in a frozen wasteland, there should be no issues with using that awesome Flare spell. So no issues of collateral damage.
Oh god, the author gave Pinkie Pie the equivalent of a tactical nuke...
we're doomed!
7455531 you forgot the ridiculous shockwave didn't you?
Change to gentle or reword sentence.
Night Swift: And we got ourselves a Party Nuke.... hopefully it will not leave a city turn to a party fallout...
8162455
Lovin' the jokes.