A New Era

by Shadowmane PX-41

Chapter 5: Queen Cinch and King Umbra

The Main Six, Spike, and Starlight simply stood in awe of Queen Abacus Cinch. They examined the various shades of purple and amethyst in her mane, which shimmered in the light of the stained glass window behind the throne. Her horn was on par with that of Princess Celestia's for length, and her wings were adorned with hundreds of light blue feathers. The girls were all so taken by her body that they didn't notice her Cutie Mark, which was in the shape of a wooden abacus with coloured beads on each rack.

"Well? I'm waiting..." Cinch leaned in closer to the girls, who were still gazing at her majestic body.

Twilight was almost lost in Cinch's bodily features as she came back to reality. She shook her head and took a deep breath before bowing before the giant alicorn. "Queen Abacus Cinch. My name is Twilight Sparkle; Princess of Friendship and one of the four presiding leaders of Equestria," she heard her friends bow as she looked up to her. "We are here to make a negotiation to ally ourselves with your kingdom."

"Equestria?" Cinch furrowed her brows as she watched the bowing ponies. "I can't say I've heard of the place myself, but if you are one of its' leaders, then I can see that it is being run by some competent, wise, and hopefully trained professionals." She paced in front of the girls. "Although, White Wings is in a state of crisis itself, you know, and I cannot ally myself with a country that doesn't know how to repel the forces of darkness.

"Forgive me for saying this to a princess and her entourage, but you all seem like a group of school children." She cast a short glare on the Main Six. "Compared to Sugarcoat, Sunny Flare, and the various other ponies I've enlisted, I have yet to see what you can bring to the table and whether it is enough to match the power that we already have.

"Tell me—" She walked back to her throne and sat down on it "—just how strong are you girls? How do you compare to my many brave defenders?"

"The six of us are the chosen Spirits of Harmony as our country's legend dictated many moons ago." Twilight Sparkle stood up and approached Cinch. "Through Honesty, Loyalty, Kindness, Generosity, Laughter, and Magic, we stand as the only bearers of the Magic of Friendship."

"An odd title, if I do say so myself." Cinch's expression didn't change one bit at the sound of Twilight and her friends' power. "Does this friendship wield the power to stop Umbra and his Shadow Ponies from conquering White Wings?"

"Shadow Ponies?" Twilight almost froze up at that remark. "Well, we heard of Umbra, but we never knew of any Shadow Ponies."

"Do you think they're like King Sombra back at the Crystal Empire?" Applejack walked up to Twilight. "Y'know? Spooky things, deep monstrous laughs, makes ponies see nightmares?"

"It seems you already know your enemy. That's a good sign." Cinch cracked the faintest of grins as she pressed her hooves together. "Yes. King Umbra is a bit of a nasty subject. He has tried to infiltrate this castle and assassinate me many times before, but my five heroes have stood up to him every time." Then, her smile faded. "But let's not talk too much about our accomplishments. Does your Magic of Friendship provide us with a means to stop him permanently?"

"Well, I'm not sure about permanently, but the Magic of Friendship has stopped so many villains back home." Twilight tipped her hoof towards Cinch. "Our first foray with the Magic of Friendship was to stop Nightmare Moon; an evil pony who had manifested on the darkness in one of the other princesses' hearts, turning her into a ruthless tyrant who wanted to lock the world in eternal night. It was also the adventure where the six of us met and became best friends."

"Then, their next battle was against a draconequus named Discord." Spike leapt up from Twilight's back and leaned over her head.

"Hmm... How quaint." Cinch leaned forward and looked Spike in the eyes. "Not the part about the creature you fought, but more so this thing on your back. Every dragon in recorded history has lived in the Dragon Kingdoms. Not one, not even a baby dragon like yourself would choose to live and coerce with the livestock that you would feed on. Why aren't you like that, little dragon?"

"What can I say?" Spike shrugged. "I don't know where I came from. I don't know who gave birth to me, where I was laid as an egg, or even why I'm not a ravenous monster like the other dragons. I was just hatched one day by Twilight and everything seemed to go pretty well from there."

"While I am impressed by the fact that you've managed to tame a dragon at its' infantile state and teach it not to be a ruthless animal like the other dragons, I'm still not convinced you have what it takes to stop Umbra." Cinch crossed her rear legs. "But this tale of the one you call Discord has gained my interest."

"Well, Discord is... a bit of a odd case." Twilight rubbed at her neck as she thought back to the time she and her friends battled him. "He loved playing games, messing with our minds, and spreading chaos throughout Equestria. Let's just say that, if you battle him, he can flip your personality on its' head pretty quickly."

"Kind ponies would become mean and nasty, honest ponies would become unfaithful liars, and even generous and loyal ponies like myself and Rainbow Dash would become hoarders and abandon our allies." Rarity nodded. "But Twilight fought through all of this and saved us from Discord's power, turning him into stone and saving Equestria once again."

"Actually, I'd rather not hear about all of your tales with this Magic of Friendship. It sounds a bit too corny." Cinch scoffed and brushed her forelegs. "Why don't you just tell me about the toughest villain you had to face. The one that brought about the end of the world, so to speak."

"Funny you should mention that, because that's what we were about to say." Starlight Glimmer cantered up to Twilight's side and nodded before Cinch. "Lord Tirek, a centaur from Tartarus, had the capability of draining a pony's power until there was nothing left. A unicorn would lose all of its' magic permanently, a pegasus would be stripped of the power to fly, and an earth pony would be so weak that it couldn't even open a door, let alone fight back."

"The more that he consumed, the more powerful he in turn became. It took almost everything we had to finish him off once and for all, but we still managed to fight back in the end and save Equestria." Twilight nodded. "I'm not sure that this will get us recognised as a potential ally to White Wings, but it's the best that we could do."

"How bizarre." Cinch lifted one of her brows at the Main Six. "Normally, centaurs have prohibited from setting foot on White Wings, let alone any of the neighbouring territories. How you all saw and battled one is beyond me, but if the problem was that bad, then I can't just send you back to a dying kingdom without proper judgement."

"Hey! Who are you to say it's a dying kingdom?!" Rainbow Dash snarled and flapped her wings high above the ground.

"Rainbow Dash! Be quiet!" Twilight put a magical aura around Rainbow Dash and rooted her to the ground with it. "You're in the presence of a QUEEN. It's very rude to shout at her face."

"Very well then. I shall take it into consideration when next I meet with my five champions." Cinch finally stood up from the throne and walked up to the seven ponies. "I will field one more question on Umbra, but then I must kindly ask that you depart from the castle. We have a lot of important manners to attend to, and I certainly wouldn't want any tourists impeding on our progress."

"Alright then. This Umbra pony." Twilight leaned close to Cinch and placed her ear near the alicorn's mouth. "Who is he?"

"Umbra is—"

"Let me explain it, you old hag!"

All of a sudden, the light in the entire room was cut. The bright glow that once shone through the area diminished almost instantly. Even the light that burst through the window at the back had faded as well, throwing the ponies into darkness. A howling wind rushed through the room and roared into the ponies' ears as their manes blew behind their heads.

The massive double doors burst open and slammed against the walls as a howling black fog flew into the room at an incredibly fast pace, swirling around the room towards the artefacts and paintings, either tilting them or knocking them off of the tables and walls entirely. The black mass danced in the air for a few seconds before it came crashing down in front of Cinch, Twilight, and her friends.

"Plain and simple." A grey unicorn with black magic pouring out of where his mane and tail would be rose out the smoke. He had archaic markings on his face, while his Cutie Mark showcased a pair of black claws aimed at a helpless pony. "Queen Abacus Cinch and her disciples messed up."

"You!" Cinch lit up her horn and fired a powerful beam of purple magic at Umbra. Before it could even touch him, he turned back into smoke and flew behind her, coiling his hooves around her body.

"Aww, c'mon, Cinchy-Pinchy. Don't do that to me." He snidely grinned as he flew away into smoke once more and stood before the Main Six. "You wouldn't want to make me angry in front of guests now, would you? They've yet to see an angry Shadow Pony, I'm guessing."

"And they won't see the day at all!" Cinch fired more blasts of magic at Umbra, but he sidestepped and turned into smoke again with each one.

"C'mon, girl, you'll just die tired." Umbra flew up to Cinch's horn and fired a spell at the tip, encasing the horn in a black cage. "There. Isn't that better? Don't wanna lose all your magic fighting me at the start of the story rather than the end. That'd just be wrong."

Cinch merely growled and grit her teeth at Umbra as he slinked off of her body and backflipped towards the seven Equestria ponies.

"Now then. What do we have here?" Umbra strolled up to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash and felt their wings, slipping away from a few of Rainbow's attacks as he did so. "Wings could do with some clipping. Once I get into your heads, that'll be cleared right up."

"Clipping?!" Rainbow almost jumped at Umbra's remark. "You jerk!" She tried flying into him, but she was blasted back into the wall and chained to it by three black energy chains."H-hey! Let me go!"

"Anyways, let's move on to the earth ponies. Ugh." He groaned as he picked up Pinkie and Applejack's front hooves. He heard Pinkie giggle when he picked hers up, but dropped both of them almost instantly. "Oy vey," he groaned, "Earth ponies have no place in this world. Unicorns are always going to be the supreme race, you two. But don't take my word for it. One little transformation song should fix you right up real good..."

"Ooh! Can it be classy and upbeat, or maybe dark and mysterious, or maybe even—" Before Pinkie Pie could finish, Umbra fired a black bolt of magic at Pinkie. A white speaker appeared above the mare's head with three waves poking out of it. With a tap of the newly-created icon, the waves turned into an X and Pinkie's voice was silent; even as her lips were still moving.

"Much better. Earth ponies are all talk and no action these days."

"Stop hurting my friends!" Twilight flew up and rained down bolts of magic from her horn.

"Ooh! Hello!" Umbra cast a wicked grin as he flew around Twilight and evaded more and more of her laser blasts in his smoke form. He finally curled up around the pony and fired another spell at her horn, which caused both it and her wings to disappear completely.

"Twilight!" Starlight reached out for her while firing some magic of her own at Umbra.

"You look interesting as well..." Umbra landed in front of Starlight and shot a black orb at her, ensnaring the unicorn in a black net with tiny cannonballs holding her down. White light flowed between the cracks, which prevented Starlight from lighting up her horn to cast anymore spells. "Oh, don't worry about that. Once I turn you into one of my followers, you'll have all the time in the world to play with your horn."

"Umbra! That is enough!"

At the front door, Sugarcoat stood proudly with Sunny Flare, Indigo Zap, Lemon Zest, and Sour Sweet. Indigo was garbed in her Silver Bullet uniform, Lemon Zest was dressed in her Forces of Nature suit of armour, and Sugarcoat, Sour Sweet, and Sunny Flare all wore long hooded capes on their bodies.

"Ah, Sugarcoat and friends." Umbra turned away from the Main Six and shot a small ember into the air, removing all of the problems that he had placed onto Twilight and her friends. "It's been a while since the six of us sparred, hasn't it? How have you all been? Still sucking up to that witch, Cinch? Old habits really do die hard, don't they?"

"Whatever you're planning, Umbra, forget it!" Indigo Zap threw her hoof to the side. "You can't beat us. You've tried over a million times now and it's not gonna change. The Freedom Five always win."

"The Freedom Five?" Sugarcoat turned towards Indigo and lifted one of her brows.

"Yeah. We've gotta have an awesome team name, right?" Indigo shrugged at Sugarcoat. "We're not gonna be called the five heroes all the time, y'know. These ponies gotta have someone to know us by easier."

"Kinda like those comic books the little fillies and colts like to read!" Lemon Zest nodded.

"Umbra! Leave this castle right now, and don't ever come back!" Sour Sweet broke up the three ponies' discussion by casting her horn at the ground, ensnaring Umbra in a bright purple net.

"Well, I was going to leave anyway, but I don't really mind much for being shown the door all the time, Sour Sweet." Umbra flew out of the net and fired a double-helix of energy down on Sour Sweet, who jumped out of the way in time and countered with magical bolts of her own. "But since you seem to be just as dysfunctional as ever, I think that now would be a good time to take my leave." He turned into shadow form and burst past Sugarcoat and the others. "Oh, and as for those seven little ponies over there, I'll leave them with a warning. GO HOME NOW. YOU WILL NOT STOP ME AND THE SHADOW PONIES." And with no more hesitation, Umbra flew out of the building.

"Is everyone alright?" Indigo flew over to Twilight and her friends as the dark energy around Cinch's horn began to disappear. "You look like you're all in pretty bad shape..."

"Yeah, yeah, but it's nothing we can't handle." Rainbow Dash flexed her wings and cracked the bones in her front hooves. "I'm guessing that now you're gonna come with us on a long quest to go to Umbra's kingdom, take him down, and then—"

"You are all fools." Sugarcoat stomped up towards the Main Six. "I told you all to go home. You have no place in White Wings if you're going to be cannon fodder!" She slammed her hoof on the ground, snarling as she pushed her face right against Twilight's. "LEAVE. WHITE. WINGS. NOW. YOU. WILL. DIE. STAYING. HERE." She got away from Twilight and turned her back to the group.

"Wow." Twilight's pupils shrunk down to mere pinpricks in the aftermath of Sugarcoat's outburst. "That... was not the reaction I was expecting."

"No. You know what, Sugarcoat? We're not going to leave your kingdom." Starlight Glimmer walked up to Sugarcoat and pulled her entire body with her front hooves alone. "You might think that you're such a high-and-mighty, pompous, dismissive, and almost insufferable brat of a pony, but that doesn't mean that you have the right to throw away potential allies in your time of crisis."

"What do you know? You use an old and inefficient form of magic that should have died out years ago." Sugarcoat adamantly pushed her glasses against her eyes. "I don't know what magic that they teach back in Equestria, but it must be absolutely pathetic in comparison to what I used to fight Umbra with."

"Now now, Sugarcoat. There is no need to get into a pointless battle." Cinch shook her head at Sugarcoat. "You will only end up fatiguing yourself."

"No. No I will not, your majesty." Sugarcoat's eyes were locked onto Starlight's as a fire burned in both of her irises. "Whoever this Twilight Sparkle and her friends are, they have no experience in dealing with Umbra and the Shadow Ponies. They will become brainwashed almost instantly. I am not going to risk anymore casualties because of some goofy, immature, childish, and utterly useless babies from a world that pales in comparison to our perfect kingdom."

"How rude." Twilight Sparkle approached Sugarcoat and puffed her chest out at her. "If you're going to be a mean and nasty unicorn like that, then we're just going to ignore everything you say and do until we strike a deal with White Wings. Every time you tell us to get out of the kingdom, say that we're not enough to stop Umbra, or even if Equestria's not as good as your kingdom, then we'll just completely disregard you because you have no heart."

"Then you leave me no choice." Sugarcoat illuminated her horn, causing a bright white ring to appear at her feet. The ring itself had more little symbols inside of it, which all danced around her body as her horn grew brighter. "Your lack of resistance is proof that you have no place in the battle between us and Umbra. Your defiance is an annoyance on us and the rest of the ponies in this kingdom, and I have officially lost my patience with you."

"Forgive my bluntness. But you shall remain in our kingdom no more!" With a powerful blast of white magic, a large beam travelled towards Twilight and her friends, roaring loudly as it travelled towards them and illuminated the room.

Comments

[FourShadow]

Okay, in all seriousness, I do like how Cinch here isn't the stereotypical *bleep* that only gives a flying *bleep* about herself and her reputation and is instead someone that is actually a little intelligent here. And she doesn't insult Twilight and her friends the minute they make an appearance, double points for that.

[Bluecatcinema]

That was quite an impressive entrance. Umbra is definitely not one to be trifled with.

[EchoWing]

Hmm...King Umbra's coming across as a bit too much of a Villain Sue here. Just saying.

[Xanderfox]

I really hope the girls whip out the Rainbow Power and own Sugarcoat. Her being all OP would be dull. I don't want the main six to be invincible either but it would feel like a betrayal if they where depicted as weak. Don't mistake me for saying the story is like this yet, it's not.