Mute Function
Aboard the HMAS Corona: Hours ago
“Chrysalis…” Celestia murmured to herself, eyes focused on nothing. Events were moving fast around her again, and she felt ill. Peace made her soft and when these conflicts arose, it took her time to adjust. Celestia watched the mountainside below them, memories of wars raging through her mind. Times in Equestria’s history when war raged and the ponies, drakes and dogs under her rule were forced to survive in harsh conditions they didn’t ask for.
Times when she felt most alive. As the mountain crawled by, she could could feel her heart aching to start beating again. To sound the drums of war. To live and be reunited with her dark shadow and her purpose as the Sword of Equestria.
Celestia clenched her jaw lightly, keeping the strain from her face. Luna would likely notice it, but she didn’t need to let the crew see it. They didn’t need to see their Princess crack under her own pressure. Especially in a situation where lives would depend on it.
Thought of the Corona’s crew drew her out of her memories and Celestia allowed herself to frown. “Helm, where’s that report?”
“Sorry ma’am!” The diamond dog at the helm saluted smartly. “I just got word back from the engine room. There was a small fire, but it is now contained. The lead engineer isn’t sure when the gate generator will be useable again, as of yet.”
“What about the standard aether engine?” Celestia turned around fully, stepping over to the helm to glance over the multitude of gauges and dials that displayed the condition of the Corona’s systems.
“Operating within optimal conditions, ma’am.”
“I see.” Celestia nodded to herself. “Get Navigation to pinpoint our location, then I want this ship on a course my sister sets at full speed.” She tapped a hoof against one of the pressure gauges and watched the needle move slowly away from the red end.
“How far do you think we have yet to go?” The Princess looked over her shoulder at her sister who was still gazing out the window.
“Leagues, easily.” Luna gestured vaguely with her horn. “That way...a day’s flight by our wings. A few hours at worst with the Corona. I think.”
“She’s as fast an airship as any Equestria has ever produced, Luna. We’ll be there before this Sombra can muster forces enough to face us.” Celestia bared her teeth, her heart turning over to thump in her chest.
“About that…” Luna frowned, looking back at her sister with a steady stare. “Might we speak in private? There are things we must discuss.”
Crystal Empire: Present
“How are you enjoying you return home so far?” Lord Sombra smiled broadly, nodding to himself as he levitated the heart-shaped crystal from his lab upwards above their heads. “I’m so glad you are here, my child! I have so much to show you! I have not been idle in my imprisonment.”
He gesture around them and more lights from embedded crystalline structures set the halls a-glow at his command. “Just listen, and you can hear the advancement, the progress I’ve made. The walls hum with power like never before, every movement made to my exacting will. It was hard won, but peace came to my empire the day that fallen, false goddess came to visit. I would do well to thank her before I grind her to paste.”
Sombra paused, narrowing his brow in thought. “It is the white one you like, right? I’d hate to break your toy accidentally.” He shrugged a moment later, his smile returning. “It doesn’t matter, I suppose. One priestess is as good as another in the end. Maybe I’ll save one and see what I can gleam from her insides? Goodness knows I learned a lot from your’s.”
His smile turned sly. “Oops! I wasn’t going to tell you that yet, but now the cat’s out of the bag, I suppose! You are the reason I am here today, my dear, and not just because you finally got off your flank and opened the seals. I’m here because I learned so much from you, from your experiments and delves into madness that twisted the arcane matrices within yourself. I sought to copy it, but I couldn’t…”
Sombra faded out and looked back up at the crystal above them. “So I improved upon what I could decipher from the mewling wails of some half thing. I opened whole new schools of thought and study. I’ve pushed the boundaries of pony magic farther than even you. Now, it is I who am the god, not those priestesses. Me. Sombra the Black! The Midnight Lord! I. AM. THE. GREATEST!”
The room shook with the force of his shout, echoes bouncing wildly through the castle silence. When they too faded out, Sombra chuckled quietly. “To think, Crystal, I once thought ruling this castle was an accomplishment. Conquering those tribes in the tundra was to be my crowning achievement back in those halcyon days. How small I was then. How short sighted. It took a moment of humility to see that, and once I did, I did not look back. But I am not so blind as to miss your contributions.”
He looked back over his shoulder, pride plain on his face. “It is thanks to you, to your madness, that I was able to create this; my Crystal Heart. It is the very real heart of the Empire. The lives of all of my ponies bound to it, and thus, to my will. Together, the empire is like a single pony spread over thousands of bodies. Isn’t that miraculous, Crystal? Isn’t that an even greater peace than anything those priestesses achieved?”
Sombra lowered the Crystal Heart down into his waiting hooves and stroked it lovingly. “Soon I will bring peace to all the world. I just need to take care of a few loose ends first.” He turned, looking at his daughter where she thrashed against the metal braces and straps that held her in place against one of his lab tables. The bindings crawled with arcane runes that flashed in time with her movements. He set the Heart aside and reached over to the binding that held her head back. Gnashing fangs snapped at him as he twisted a knob and pulled it back.
“AaaaRaagghh! I will kill you! If you touch a single strand of hair on her I will end yo—!”
Sombra closed it back, smiling ruefully. He glanced at one of the silent, crystal ponies that stood around them. Its eyes tracked Chrysalis’ movements with just a hint of the brows narrowing in some sort of emotion. Perhaps even concern. “Aren’t you glad I enchanted these with a silencing effect? Learned from that mistake a long time ago, didn’t we?”
The crystal pony nodded. They all did. Because Sombra willed it so.
Aboard the HMAS Corona: Hours ago
Celestia led the way to the Corona’s captain's chamber. There was barely room for the two of them and the basic furnishings inside. Celestia settled herself on what passed for a bed, her bulk making the fresh mattress creak.
As soon as Luna’s wheeled harness crossed the threshold, she closed the door with kick of her hoof. She lit her horn with magic, sealing them inside a hemisphere of privacy.
Celestia raised an eyebrow, her voice making the bubble ring with a dull tone. “Was the door not private enough?”
“Not if I want full disclosure from you.” Luna deadpanned and rustled her feathers, getting comfortable as the little space allowed. “I want to know why you were so gung ho to come after Sombra, you would risk an international incident that could throw the country into a war with the Minotauran Collective.”
“If this Sombra is as bad as you recall, the war would come anyway if he were allowed to gain a hoofhold on the north. We’ve been allied with the Minotaurs for generations now, I’m sure things may get tense, but would be smoothed over.” Celestia leaned forward, facing her sister. “I believe my actions thus far have been logical.”
“Oh drop the act, Tia, you are talking to me, not some noble or pack of reporters!” Luna rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes, I know Sombra is a threat like no other. Better than you do, in fact! We cannot underestimate him, sister. But...I know you too. The Flaming Sword of Equestria does not go storming into battle half cocked. You plan, you prepare, you stack the deck. And yet, here we are about to charge into the dragon’s den without so much as checking the color of the scales on the ground!”
The younger Princess sneered. “Tell me what has you in a vise. I know you like your secrets, Tia, but I need to be in on them this time. Hesitation or mistrust might end us against this threat.”
Celestia scowled, her eyes on her hooves for a long moment. When she looked up, Luna could see a touch of fear in those lavender irises. “Lulu...I’m worried. Things are coming together in a way I wasn’t prepared for...and I fear I may have been complicit in this situation.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well...lots of things—disseperate things going back centuries—are all coming together. Connections I only suspected are suddenly becoming clear, Lulu.” Celestia hung her head. “There are times...when Chrysalis is stable. She’s a wonderful mare when she is...but then there are other times and she goes to some place...else. I-I just wonder if in those times when she wasn’t stable, did she set these things up? Did she manipulate me, and if so, was it intentional? Or was it her madness? I sent Cadance out based on rumors I picked up from my informants...but was that all from her, Lulu?”
“Oh sweet Goddesses, Tia...are you serious? I know you fancy the bug, but this?” Luna slumped in her harness. “You think this some mistake of yours that needs to be corrected? Unless you taught her how to break my seals, then there is none of your fault for Sombra’s release here. Rest your soul on that, at least. But what does the changeling have to do with this anyway?”
“I’ve suspected, since you told me about Sombra, that he might be her father.” Celestia was silent for a time. “I don’t claim to know any details...but I remember from before, in the Everfree when she was simply competing for your place, hearing her sometimes speak of her father in hushed tones. She was scared of him like nothing I’ve ever known, Luna.”
“And now he is back.”
“Yes.” Celestia wiped her eye with the edge of her hoof. “And I’ve lost contact with Chrysalis. She hasn’t been seen in any of her regular haunts. I was concerned she might go do something to Cadance...but now I’m terrified to think she released Sombra and he has her again.”
“So...we are rushing to war with a stallion that fought me in my full goddesshood to a standstill to rescue your...is marefriend even the right word? Is she a pony any longer?”
Celestia snorted, smirking up at Luna. “She’s not a pony, technically. But trust me, she’s all mare.”
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And published on time too!
*snort*
I always enjoy these undated even though they're never long enough.
I get the feeling Celestia has had dessert there quite often.
SERIOUSLY! WHY IS THERE NOT MORE CELESTIA X CHRYSALIS?!!!