Past Actions, Future Consequences

by Rill

Witness to History - Part 2

Just as the novelty of the darkness began to wear off, a small ball of light appeared in the air before the students and adults. The orb quickly grew, until it was as large as Twilight. With a flash, the ball of light disappeared. As everypony’s eyes adjusted, they stared in confusion at the sight of a mare standing where the ball of light had been. The mare wore her mane short, which strongly reminded Twilight of the Royal Guard, while her crystalline yellow fur glinted. “Hello” The mare said, the gentle smile on her face extending to her green eyes.

Looking over to her side, with the exception of Rainbow Dash, her friends were just as confused as she and everypony else was. Rainbow on the other hoof, bore a quickly growing smile and seemed to be doing everything in her power to keep from bouncing in place like a certain pink party planner was known to do. “Hello” Twilight replied, not sure what else to do.

The yellow furred stranger’s smile grew. “I understand your class is working on Equestrian history” Seeing Cheerilee nod in shock, the crystal mare chuckled. “You might be surprised to learn that I was involved in one of your nation’s biggest historical moments, but before we get to that, I suppose I need to explain how I got involved in the first place, and to do that, we need to start at the beginning…” Around the room, the darkness vanished as everypony suddenly found themselves standing in the middle of a busy street. Around them, buildings made of large slabs of crystal lined the street, while crystal ponies walked around them, going about their lives as if the seven adults and couple dozen children didn’t exist. From his place among the crowd of crystal ponies, Shadow couldn’t help but enjoy the looks on everypony’s faces, especially the look of annoyance on Diamond Tiara. Around them, a warm breeze blew down the street, ruffling everypony’s mane while above them, the purple and white imperial flags that seemed to be hung every ten feet fluttered in the gentle wind. “I should probably introduce myself” The mysterious yellow and orange mare said, materializing before the group again. “My name is Summer Breeze and at this point of my story, I had just turned seventeen.”

The world around them changed again, the building lined street and dozens of ponies disappearing, only to be replaced by a small bedroom. The room was surprisingly sparse, compared to what Shadow had found to be considered normal in Equestria. The walls were empty, and the only major piece of furniture was a small stone dresser. On top were a few combs, and most notably, an expensive looking music box. Summer Breeze gently lifted the lid, letting the pony inside dance as the gentle tune softly filled the room. As the music played, the room’s owner moved to a small stand where a complete set of silver armor sat on a pony shaped stand. “In case you’re wondering, I happen to be a member of the Imperial Guard and, more specifically, part of the detachment tasked with protecting the royal family” Summer Breeze said as she slipped into her armor, tightening the straps as she tested the fit. “I joined the Guard because my talent deals with using magic to attack my enemies and defend others” The armored mare said, turning to show the assembled ponies the image of a pair of crossed swords over a shield emblazoned on her flank. “I got this on my tenth birthday when I beat the ever loving horse apples out of a group of bullies when they decided to harass a filly my age.” On the wall, a small scene of a group of tough looking older fillies and colts closing in on a well-groomed unicorn filly played out. Out of nowhere, a much younger version of Summer Breeze appeared out of nowhere wielding a pair of sticks in her magic as she laid into the group of bullies. Very quickly, the older ponies turned to run, their flight out of the alley attracting the attention of a squad of soldiers. “What they and I didn’t know at the time was that the pony they had cornered happened to be the Crown Princess, Crystal Rose.” Summer Breeze smiled as the rest of the scene played out on the wall as she and the young Princess were escorted to the Palace; the wall went blank as they were led into the Crystal Empire’s tallest building. Satisfied with her armor, the mare trotted out of the room, the world around the students and adults changing as it followed the unicorn mare. “Needless to say, what I did caught everypony’s attention, not the least of whom happened to be Crystal’s parents, Emperor Citrine, his wife, Empress Amethyst and worst of all…” Summer Breeze shuddered slightly, “my mom.”

Stepping out onto the street, the group followed their guide, who nodded and greeted ponies as they passed by, an unmistakable bounce in her step. “I swear, my mom just about had a heart attack when she was summoned to the throne room and saw me standing before the Emperor and his wife.” Summer Breeze bounced slightly, smiling at the memory. “Fortunately for everypony, the Emperor happened to be a pretty laid back pony and actually got off his throne to personally thank me for protecting his daughter.” Their destination became apparent as they rounded a corner and the Crystal Palace loomed in the distance. “That night, I discovered my cutie mark, and the rest as they say, was history.” The group followed their guide as she made her way into the Palace. Around them, numerous crystal ponies, both armored and non, hustled about as they went about their duties. Along the way, a number of armored ponies stopped to trade hoof bumps with Summer Breeze. Walking into an unmarked room, the armored mare trotted over to a small locker, pulling out a pair of sheathed swords from inside. Setting one of them aside, she unsheathed the other, the sound of steel on leather briefly filling the room. Turning to her group, Summer Breeze held the sword in her magic so that everypony could get a closer look. The weapon itself wasn’t that remarkable until one looked at the blade. Instead of the typical silvery metal, the blade was a combination of light and dark metal that swirled about. “When I graduated basic training, my best friend and future assignment Crystal Rose gave me these two beauties. It had been noted early on in my training that I had an unconscious tendency to combine my magic with whatever weapon I was training with. For somepony like me, the best kind of steel for that type of fighting is mountain fold steel, which happens to be at least ten times more expensive than regular steel. Normally that would have meant I got a pair of regular swords, but when your best friend happens to be next in line for the crown…” Returning the sword to its sheath, the mare strapped in and its twin to her armor before donning her helmet; completing the ensemble.

“Now, normally my day would usually consist of following the Crown Princess wherever she went, followed by training in the afternoon with the most sadistic Drill Sergeant in the guard, but on this particular day, Crystal had arranged for me to stay with her all day.” The room around them disappeared, being replaced by a long hallway, a royal looking unicorn being escorted by a lone guard walking by. The lone unarmored unicorn was chatting animatedly with her escort. “Turns out, she had the day off from her usual duties and wanted to spend it with me, partly as an excuse to get out of the palace and also apparently as an apology for getting hammered on my birthday.” Summer Breeze snorted in amusement. “I swear that girl was a lightweight when it came to drinking but considering I can’t exactly remember everything that happened that particular night as well…” The now unarmored mare looked over at the adults in the group “Take it from me, unless you want to wake up in a cell with the mother of all hangovers, avoid the dark ales next time you’re in the Empire.”

“That was one of the best days I had with my friend” Summer Breeze said. Time sped up around the group as the armored mare and her charge went about their day, visiting a number of shops and vendors. Throughout it all, despite spending the day with one of her closest friends, Summer Breeze’s eyes were never still as she constantly scanned the crowds around them. “We spent the entire day shopping, or rather, she spent the day shopping.” The armored narrator smiled as the two unicorns returned to the Crystal Palace, a small army of bags in tow behind them. Following the two mares into the palace, the lone guard stopped at the sight of a reddish-brown earth pony stallion holding a bouquet of flowers waiting for them outside the princess’s chambers. Unable to contain herself, the armored Summer Breeze set her bags down before rushing into the stallion’s embrace, locking lips a heartbeat later. “Leave it to Crystal Rose to surprise me with a dinner with just her, me and my coltfriend, Burnt Umber.” The two lovers stayed in that position for a full minute while the princess silently excused herself, dragging her bags into the nearby room. Behind the students, Shadow could see Rarity wiping a few tears.

The scene dissolved, only to be replaced by the three teens sitting around a small table that was covered with dirty plates and forks. “Have you seen your brother lately?” Summer Breeze asked, leaning back in her chair as she nursed a light amber-colored beer.

“No.” The princess said, looking down at her own half empty mug. “We rarely see him at breakfast, and when we do, we can barely get two words out of him. Mom and dad are starting to worry.”

“I wouldn’t worry about him too much” Burnt Umber said, draining the rest of his mug in one pull. The young crystal stallion looked over at his filly friend, a mischievous grin on his face “I remember my grandfather talking about when he was the prince’s age and-”

Summer Breeze gasped, grabbing a half-eaten loaf of bread in her magic. Ripping a chunk out, she hurled it at her colt friend, who caught the chunk of bread in his mouth, smiling at the annoyed look on her face. “Don’t you dare bring that time up. Do you know how drunk I have to get to forget what he said he was like back then?” For his part, the lone young stallion worked on eating the piece of bread she had thrown, though the mischievous glint in his eyes never left.

“That was probably the best dinner I had with my two closest friends, and who should show up at that moment to almost spoil the whole thing?” Behind the princess, a pair of doors silently opened, admitting a single pony who looked about the same age as everypony else at the table. The stallion’s mane was a dark black while his coat was a slightly lighter shade of charcoal. His red eyes roved about the room until they fell on the Shadow’s ancestor. “Only the most handsome, talented, eligible, egotistical, narcissistic, head-up-his-plot stallion in the Empire:” Summer Breeze explained, clenching her teeth as she seemed to force the name out “Prince Sombra.”

“Don’t get me wrong” Summer Breeze said as the shocked gasps of the group died down. “When I say he was talented, I’m not joking.” Before them, the three diners seemed to talk cordially with the new arrival, though the adults couldn’t help notice the tension in Summer Breeze’s body. “If there was one good thing he did well, it was strategy. He could outplay and outmaneuver nearly everypony when it came to games of strategy. When it came to putting his skills to the more martial aspect of Imperial life, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise when I say that there’s a reason he was a junior strategist in the Guard. Unfortunately…” Before them, the Summer Breeze seated at the table seemed to finally have had enough as she grabbed her mug, hurling its contents all over the royal stallion’s face before storming out of the room, her two friends quickly following “He had developed more than a bit of an ego, and thought he could have any mare he wanted. As you can see, he wanted me.” The narrating Summer Breeze visibly shuddered at the thought.

The room around them vanished, a darkened street lined with stone houses replacing it. “Fortunately” Summer Breeze said, a smile growing on her face as she watched the scene play out “Umber had known me long enough to know how to calm me down.” In front of the house the group had started out at, the two lovers traded a final passionate kiss that lasted several minutes. As the moon slowly rose over the mountains in the distance, the young couple finally broke apart, the stallion crossing the street for his home while Summer Breeze stumbled slightly into hers, a pair of voices welcoming her home.

The group’s guide slowly turned around to face them, the smile on her face slowly vanishing. Overhead, the moon crossed the night sky as time passed by, until it had started to sink below the western mountains, while in the east, the sun slowly began the day. Yet something was off. Instead of a clear sky that should have been blue, clouds filled the sky, the normally white piles of fluff stained red by the morning light, which in turn cast an unsettling glow over the city. In the house, the children and adults could hear movement. Stepping outside, an armored Summer Breeze looked at the sky, unease written across her face. Behind her, her feelings were mirrored by an older stallion and mare. Igniting her horn, the armored teen removed the swords she had worn home the previous evening, giving them to the stallion behind her. “If anypony asks, these aren’t here.” Even though the school group was standing in the middle of the street, they heard her whispered words like she had been standing in the street with them. “Lock the door and stay out of sight.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know mom. Something’s not right and I need to get to the palace. Stay here and don’t answer the door for anypony except me, understand?” Sparing a single glance back at her worried parents, the young mare jumped down the front steps, racing for the palace. Around her, ponies were staring at the sky, some openly calling to her about what was going on. They were completely ignored by the young mare as she galloped down the street, dodging around a number of ponies who had decided to stand in the middle of the cobblestone street. Several blocks from the palace, Summer Breeze came to a sudden halt as hundreds of ponies blocked her way. Growling in frustration, the armored teen pushed her way into the crowd, forcefully shoving aside dozens of ponies. Behind her, Shadow’s classmates watched in silence, none moving as they passed through the crowd like ghosts.

After several minutes of pushing, growling and a fair number of curses, Summer Breeze forced her way to the front of the crowd. Before her, a line of armor clad stallions stood, spears held securely in their hooves as they pointed the razor sharp ends at the crowd. Stopping at the line of wood and steel, the young mare looked up at Royal Balcony far above. Around it, a dozen pegasi archers hovered, arrows already nocked as they surveyed the gathered crowd. Around the class, the assembled ponies were murmuring to each other. That slight noise died abruptly when a dark figure stepped out into the open above them.

The older stallion stood tall, his black mane waving in the breeze. His grey horn glowed menacingly as he used it to keep the crowd’s attention “My… subjects. I wish I could bring you good news this morning, but it is my solemn duty to tell you that my father, Emperor Citrine, died suddenly late last night.” The crowd gasped at the dark stallion’s words. A quick blast of magic from his pulsing horn into the ground below the palace silenced them. “As troubling as this is for all of us, with his final words, he named me as his successor. As his only son, and with great reluctance, I humbly bow to my father’s dying wish.” Behind Sombra, a pair of servants walked onto the balcony. Between them, they carried a distinctive red cape, its hem lined with white fur. Draping it across his back, one of the servants moved to fasten it around his neck, while the other took to the air, setting a silvery crown on the stallion’s head with all the precision of a pony not wanting to wake a sleeping dragon. Bowing low to their new liege, the pair retreated, disappearing back into the palace.

“ALL HAIL EMPEROR SOMBRA!” A large stallion next to the newly crowned ruler bellowed to the crowd. When nopony below spoke, the line of guards took a single menacing step forward. As if on cue, the crowd began to chant, repeating the stallion’s words.

The chanting lasted for several minutes. With a raised hoof, the newly crowned king got complete silence. “Thank you my… subjects. Before you can go and celebrate this momentous day, there is one last piece of business to attend to.” Behind him, a pair of mares were dragged out, the sound of chains echoing across the crowded plaza. “Despite my father’s final wishes, my mother and sister didn’t agree. In fact, they conspired to place my sister on the throne. Fortunately, I was aware of their feelings, and they were captured before they could act.” Turning to the crowd, the stallion roared to the assembled ponies “Let it be known: I will not abide treason, even from my own family!” Spinning around, the stallion swung his hoof. While nopony on the ground could see what happened, the scream of pure agony that cut through the still morning air left little doubt about what had just happened to the young princess’s horn. Igniting his own horn, Sombra lifted his writhing sister into the open air above the plaza. With a tooth filled grin, he cut the power to his horn, Crystal Rose’s scream of agony immediately switching to one of pure terror.

Behind the assembled students, a lone pegasus leaped into the air, her wings beating as fast as their owner could make them as she raced to intercept the falling Princess. The mare barely made it halfway across the open ground before silently tumbling to the ground as a half dozen arrows found their marks. Blocked by the crowd, none of the ponies from Ponyville saw or heard Princess Crystal Rose hit the unforgiving pavement as Summer Breeze’s scream covered the sound of impact. Because of the ensuing shouting and movement of the crowd around them, none of the group saw Sombra as he ensured that his mother shared her daughter’s fate. Ahead of them, Summer Breeze ducked under a spear that had been leveled at her throat. Spinning on her front hooves, the enraged mare bucked the nearest guard, the unfortunate stallion flying several feet before hitting the ground. The young guard managed to buck one more guard in the chest before she was overwhelmed by her former allies.

The crowd and plaza faded to black. As Summer Breeze’s scream of rage faded, the world around the stunned children and adults brightened slightly, revealing a badly beaten Summer Breeze chained upright to a wall, her legs outstretched, ensuring that she wouldn’t be able to do much more than struggle slightly. Everypony jumped as a door behind them opened, revealing a smiling Emperor Sombra “What do you want you bastard.”

“From you? Nothing. Don’t worry Breezie, I’ll let you out of here, but before I do, there’s the matter of the two guards you knocked out earlier today.” As the stallion removed his armor, the room retreated into the distance, the assembled students looking around as they passed through walls of stone. Behind them, the seven adults looked uncomfortably at each other. When he had been working on this, Shadow had wondered how he was going to include this scene without getting in trouble. In the end, he had decided to leave what happened up to the watcher’s imagination, though from the looks on Ms. Cheerilee, Twilight and her friends, they knew what was happening.

The world eventually came to a halt in front of Shadow’s ancestor’s home. Overhead, the moon and stars shone down on the world like they always did, as if nothing had ever happened. “This was one of the worst days of my life” Summer Breeze said, the mare sitting dejectedly on the front step of her house. “Sombra hadn’t been lying when he said that the Emperor had died suddenly. Knives to the chest tend to be good for that kind of thing.” Through the darkness, a lone figure could be seen making their way slowly up the street. Pausing under a street lamp, the assembled ponies could see that it was Summer Breeze. Leaning against the lamp pole for support, the mare took a moment to catch her breath before forcing herself to continue the clearly agonizing stumbling walk to her house. As she got closer, everypony could see that her formerly yellow coat was covered in black and blue bruises, while one eye was all but swollen shut.

Watching in silence, the ponies unconsciously parted for the mare, allowing her an unobstructed path back to her home. The beaten young mare slowly forced her way up the front steps, her hoof barely making a sound against the wooden front door. It must have been enough, since moments later; the door opened a crack, before flying open a second later as the pony on the other side saw who had knocked. As she all but collapsed into her father’s embrace, the final vestiges of the young guard’s strength vanished as she broke down, her sobs echoing up and down the street of darkened homes. “In that moment, Sombra had won. In that moment, he had broken me.” Behind them, their unmarred guide spoke, her voice a chilling, emotionless flat tone. “While we were alone, my best friend’s younger brother told me how he had been planning this day for months, how he had built his support among the lower rank and file members of the guard. He explained how he had found a spell that would allow him to reach his full potential, both physically and magically, in a matter of minutes, instead of having to wait years. I won’t burden you with the details of how he revealed himself to his family, but he and his minions pulled off their coup in a matter of hours, taking first his family by surprise, then their closest friends and supporters, followed by the officers most likely to oppose him.

“Before he let me go, Sombra told me that my Umber’s life and the lives of everypony in his family were in my hooves. If I didn’t do what he said, when he said, he’d ensure that they died slowly and that I’d be forced to watch. If I tried to warn them, they’d die. If I talked to them, looked at them or ever thought about trying to stop him…” Passing through the house’s walls, the group watched as the bruised mare settled onto the sofa. “As I tried to get some sleep, I knew that I couldn’t stay in the Empire, and neither could my family or my coltfriend and his family. We’d have to get out the first chance we got, but like I said earlier, Sombra was smart. Threatening Umber’s life was part of his strategy. The other was to lock down every way out of the city.” Outside, the darkness gave way to light, which eventually gave way to night. “By the end of the first day, over four dozen ponies had been caught trying to flee the city.” The clone looked away as she spoke “Their deaths were as unimaginable as they were public.”

Outside the window, the night sky flashed as a bolt of lightning ripped across the sky, the ensuing clap of thunder shaking the house. Springing from the couch she had been laying on, the battered mare grabbed a trio of saddlebags from a nearby closet, filling them with every piece of food she could find, along with a set of maps and a couple bags of money. Nearby, her parents watched in confusion “We’re leaving; now!” Her parents sputtered in protest, but the enlivened mare spun on her hooves, glaring at her father. “If we don’t leave now, we never will. If we don’t take this chance, we will all die at the hooves of that psychotic ‘king’. You will die. Mom will die. I will die. Everyone we know and love will die.”

“Where will we go?”

“Equestria” Summer Breeze said, not looking at her mom as she answered. “The Princesses and Crystal’s family were always close. If we have any hope of ending Sombra, we’ll need their help.” Beside her, the room’s lone stallion appeared to mull over his daughter’s words before silently leaving the room. He returned a moment later, a pair of sheathed swords floating next to him.

“While the storm raged overhead, soaking us to the bone before we got halfway across the street, we made our escape, only stopping once to convince Umber and his family to join us.” The world around the ponies blurred as the small group of escapees fled the city, the thunder covering any sound they made, while the rain destroyed their tracks.

From where he lay hidden from the rest of his class, Shadow watched as Rainbow Dash leaned over, shaking her head as she whispered into the purple alicorn’s ear. Probably telling her how I’ve altered a few things Shadow thought. It was true. He had known from the moment he had chosen his ancestor that he’d have to alter quite a bit of her story if he didn’t want to get in trouble. The scene before them was one of the biggest that he had altered. In reality, there had been no storm that night, and they hadn’t escaped by running. They had had to sneak their way out, leaving a number of bodies in their wake.

“I don’t know how long we ran” Summer Breeze said, the world around the fleeing ponies brightening as the sun rose behind the thick storm clouds. “Eventually, we made it to a series of small caves in the foothills near the mountains. Along the way, we ran across a number of other ponies who had used the storm as cover as well. Of all the ponies who joined our growing group, I was most thankful for Silver Star” the presentation’s focus shifted to a silver-maned stallion resting next to Summer Breeze and Burnt Umber. The stallion’s bags were bursting at the seams with books and sheets of paper. “Of all the ponies I ever knew, this unicorn was probably the smartest and most talented of them all. If you needed a spell, you went to him. He was originally employed by the Imperial family as a theoretical magician and part time instructor at the academy. One of the things that I admired most about him was that unlike some other unicorns I could mention” the mare gave a cough that sounded suspiciously like Starswirl “he liked to test his theories, instead of leaving them for others to figure out.

“By the time we left that evening, there were over a hundred ponies who had managed to escape the Empire with us. It took us the better part of three months to make our way to Canterlot. Along the way, we managed to gather hundreds of more ponies until we were nearly a thousand strong, though that doesn’t mean we didn’t lose ponies along the way, including my father.” As the assembled ponies walked, a number of them slowly faded from existence. Around the room, the world changed, the trees shifting from pines to more temperate varieties like maples, oaks and cottonwoods. The land itself also changed, slowly going from rocky and mountainous to expansive forests that sent emerald green light filtering down to the forest floor to plains that a pony could spend a week walking across, never seeing a single tree the entire time. Through all of it, Summer Breeze was everywhere. When she wasn’t leading the band of refugees, she was conferring with her coltfriend and Silver Star, or helping to get a stuck cart moving again.

“It seemed like forever, yet in what felt like a heartbeat, we found ourselves making camp below the mountain that Canterlot resided on.” From the air, the ponies in the schoolhouse could see a small sea of fires blazing against the pitch black of the fields around the refugees. “We started up the mountain at first light and spent the entire day climbing.” Time sped up around the group, the refugees finally reaching Equestria’s capital long after the sun had gone below the horizon. “The city guards were understandably shocked at the sight of nearly a thousand ponies approaching the city’s entrance.” Summer Breeze approached the drawbridge, only for her progress to be checked as a squad of golden armored guards leveled their spears at her, their tips mere inches from her unarmored chest. “It took the better part of an hour for me to convince the guards that we weren’t a threat. Eventually, they agreed to let us set up camp outside the city, instead of forcing us back down the mountain.” Before them, the guards lifted their spears, allowing Summer Breeze into the city. “They even agreed to let me into the city to talk to the princesses, though they insisted on an escort.” Surrounded by half a dozen guards, the lone mare cantered into the city. “While I don’t doubt that having a guard escort you was protocol, having six do so seemed a little excessive. Personally, I took it as a compliment, either because they thought I might be important, or because they saw me as a potential threat. I really didn’t care either way.”

The mare and her guards quickly made their way through the city. While the gazes of the armored mares and stallions barely shifted, Summer Breeze’s was hardly still as she surveyed the famed Equestrian city. “I’ll admit; Canterlot blew away every expectation I had for it, even though it was deserted. I always thought my hometown was the most beautiful, and it always will be as far as I’m concerned, but Canterlot has a beauty to it the Empire could simply never match. Unfortunately, my friends seemed to be in a rush…” Shadow heard more than a few ponies snigger at his ancestor’s sarcasm. Trotting up the steps, the group headed straight for the throne room. As the two large doors swung open, the hidden colt couldn’t help but smile at the sight that greeted everypony. He had taken the recording he had made of the room and had modified it based on his ancestor’s descriptions. At the far end of the long room, a pair of large stone chairs sat. The throne on the left was made of pure white marble while the throne on the right was made of a stone whose name Shadow didn’t know. The seat was a deep blue, while lines of white quartz crisscrossed throughout the stone, giving the impression of a lightning streaked storm turned solid and made into a seat fit for royalty. As if it wasn’t clear enough to everypony who sat where, behind each throne was a large banner, a white one with a golden sun behind the unoccupied throne while a black and blue banner with a crescent moon among a field of stars loomed behind the princess it represented.

The princess in question had her nose buried in a thick tome. As they approached, Princess Luna looked up, confusion etched on her face. As one, Summer Breeze and her guards stopped as one a dozen feet from the base of the royal dais and bowed, though no pony missed how the unarmored mare’s bow was deeper than those of the guards around her. “Arise” Luna said, waving the unicorn mare forward. “What brings you to us this evening…”

“Summer Breeze, your Highness.”

“Summer Breeze.”

“The Crystal Empire has fallen to a mad pony and my party and I have risked our lives to ask for Equestria’s help.”

“What about Emperor Citrine? Why is he not here? Why did he not send us a message?”

At this, the armed mare ignited her horn, her eyes never leaving the lone Princess as she slowly opened her saddlebag, a crown and a pair of tiaras silently emerging. Without a word, Summer Breeze levitated the silver and gold head gear over to Luna. Wordlessly, the lone alicorn accepted the items, a couple tears streaking down her cheeks as she inspected the symbols of Imperial power. “How many ponies are with you?”

“Nearly a thousand, Princess. We’re camped outside the city since your guards wouldn’t let us all in.”

Princess Luna’s face darkened. “Sergeant” Next to Summer Breeze, a stallion straightened “Get our personal physician and a score of medics down there at once.” Silently, the pegasus turned to leave. “The rest of you, see to their immediate needs.”

Finding herself suddenly unguarded, the crystalline mare looked up to the princess, who gestured for her to sit. As she did, a page appeared bearing a platter of fruit and bread. “Wait for me here, Lady Summer Breeze. We must bring this to our sister’s attention immediately.” Bowing as the princess left, the mare had barely gotten through her first loaf of bread before jumping as a voice rocked the palace, the words it can wait echoing around the nearly empty hall. Next to the dais, a pair of thestrals groaned, rubbing at their ears. A minute later, Princess Luna walked, or rather, stalked, into the hall, her mane fluttering behind her like a flag caught in a hurricane. “Follow us” she said, not stopping as she walked by Summer Breeze. The crystalline mare didn’t say a word, instead opting to grab everything from the platter before falling in line next to the clearly irritated alicorn. Without a word, a dozen armored thestrals formed up on the pair.

Following the sparkling-maned alicorn, Summer Breeze found herself having to work in order to keep up with the larger Princess. In what seemed like no time at all, Summer Breeze was walking out of Canterlot, leading the lunar princess and her guards to the fire that her mom and their friends lay around. The encamped ponies turned to watch as Equestria’s youngest ruler strode by, gracing the tired refugees with a smile and a promise of help. Reaching their destination, the princess held up a hoof to keep the ponies around the fire from rising as she took a seat next to Crystal Clarity.

“The younger sister, Fates bless her, spent the entire night with us, listening to us as we told her everything that had happened, where we had been on that fateful day and what we had seen. While I told her everything, when it came to what that bastard had done to me in that dungeon, I kept my tongue, though I didn’t need to. I could see on her face that she had guessed what had happened.” Overhead, the sky slowly brightened as the moon sank in the west and the sun slowly peaked above the horizon in the east. As the ponies of the camp began to stir, there was a commotion by the city’s drawbridge. Everypony’s attention turned to the drawbridge as it lowered, revealing a large white alicorn surrounded by armed, golden armored guards. All around them, ponies stopped what they were doing as the eldest Royal Sister strode into the camp.

“How nice of you to finally join us, sister” Luna said, not bothering to hide her feelings as the larger alicorn joined them.

“We missed you at breakfast, Luna.”

“That could wait. Nearly fifty score imperial refugees couldn’t.”

“What happened?”

Summer Breeze tossed the three royal crowns onto the grass before the elder Princess. “The Royal Family was murdered and the Empire is now in the hooves of a psychopath.”

Princess Celestia picked up the crown that had been worn by the Emperor. “Join us in the throne room in two hours” She said before standing.

“I think it goes without saying that I was standing outside that room with half an hour to spare” The narrating clone said. “What followed was the greatest exercise in controlling my temper that I ever experienced. Princess Luna and I advocated for an immediate attack against Sombra to retake the Empire. We were thoroughly shot down by nearly everypony else in the room. The kiss-flank nobles wanted to try and negotiate with that bastard. Negotiate! After everything he had done, and after everything I had said, they wanted to talk with him!” The crystal mare snorted. “As far as I was concerned, when I found him, I’d let my swords do my talking for me.” The mare shook her head, as if trying to clear her thoughts. “If the so called nobles were bad, the princess’ military advisors were almost as bad. Except for a few junior officers, they over-ruled me and Princess Luna, advocating that Equestria strike in the spring. It didn’t matter what I said, it didn’t matter how many ponies would starve from a lack of food during the long winter, they wouldn’t budge and, unsurprisingly, Celestia listened. About the only good thing that happened as a result of that manure-filled meeting was it gave us a chance to rest and prepare.”

The world around the class sped up. The seasons changed in the space of a couple minutes, the deep green of the summer leaves giving way to the reds and golds and oranges of fall, which in turn gave way to the barren starkness of winter. Throughout it all, everypony could see that Canterlot was a hive of activity as the Royal Guard trained and prepared, their numbers bolstered by hundreds of Imperial refugees. “Before I knew it” Summer Breeze said, appearing before the group once again, this time clad in grey armor, “winter was wrapped up and we were on the march, leading the princesses and the Equestrian Army north.” From a large outcrop just above the road leading to Canterlot, the citizens of Ponyville watched as thousands of soldiers passed by. The sound of their hooves hitting the ground as one echoed all around them, while the squeaking of the supply carts drowned out any chance of anypony’s voice being heard. Overhead, waves of ponies soared, the golden armor of the Royal Guard shining in the morning sunlight. From the air, the whole procession looked like a silver-headed golden snake slithering its way down the mountain. At the head of the assembled forces were the Royal Sisters, clad in their own distinctive sets of armor. Celestia armor was golden, similar to the kind worn by her guards and the army. Luna’s armor in contrast was the complete opposite. Where the eldest sister was covered in armor that looked like sunlight made solid, the younger was encased in dark blue armor that was only a shade lighter than her mane and fur. Silver trim around the edges and a silver crescent moon on the chest completed the ensemble. From what the Princess had told him, she had heard one pony describe her as if she had taken the night and draped herself in it. From where he stood, Shadow could hear Rarity whisper something positive about Luna’s taste in style.

“What took us three months to cover the year before, the Royal Sisters and their army covered in half that time.” Around the room, while the sound of hooves hitting the ground never ceasing or breaking tempo, the land changed as the army marched, the plains gave way to deciduous forests, which in turn gave way to pines. Through it all, Summer Breeze marched at the head of the army, just to the left of the Princess of the Night. “When we finally arrived back home” Their narrator stopped, clearly wanting to say something, but was also just as clearly unable to do so. “While we were gone, he had not been idle.” Around the school group, the Crystal city rose above the horizon, though it was nothing like it had been at the beginning. Overhead, the sky was tinted a sickening red, the light changing and darkening the landscape. The previously vibrant city lay silent, the flags that had once lined the streets and houses long gone. As the view reached the other side of the city, the class was treated to a field strewn with large black crystals. As the wind blew, the manacles hanging from the crystals rapped against the cold black stone, their off-key notes echoing across the lifeless city. This was another scene that Shadow had wondered about doing. Ultimately, he had decided to not include the hundreds of victims that had been chained to those crystals, left by their tyrant ruler to slowly die of exposure.

“That night, as we were making our plans, Sombra made the first move.” In a large tent, Summer Breeze and Princess Luna looked over a map of the city, while Celestia talked with one of her generals. Everypony looked up at the sound of the tent’s flap being opened, a pair of thestrals entering a second later, a lone pony between them. The half-starved mare walked in with her eyes to the ground. Looking up at the assembled ponies, her eyes lingering on the only armored crystal pony a second more than the rest, before turning to Princess Celestia.

“Who are you” Celestia asked.

“Who I am is of little concern. What matters is that I carry a message from my lord, Emperor Sombra.”

Walking around the table, Summer Breeze stood before the earth pony mare. Sticking her nose in the other pony’s face, the younger mare hid her surprise at how the other pony didn’t even flinch at the sudden invasion of her space. “Drop the act, you bastard. I know it’s you.”

To the surprise of everypony, the mare smiled as she stood taller. Next to her, the two thestrals slowly backed away, their spears dropping until the tips hovered mere millimeters from the mare’s chest. “I see you haven’t forgotten me, Breezie.”

“What do you want?” The young mare’s reply was as cold as the arctic winds in the middle of winter.

“To give you all this chance to turn around and leave” The nameless mare glanced at the two Princesses. “There is nothing of value for you up here, so why waste your soldiers’ lives.”

“You’re wrong” Luna said. “There is something up here we want: you.”

The possessed mare smirked. “Then I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. You can have this slave” she added, turning to Shadow’s ancestor. “She’s of no more value to me.” At this, the mare collapsed. Igniting her horn, Summer Breeze caught the abandoned messenger before she hit the ground.

“We had been hoping to scout the city, maybe find some ponies that could give us information” Summer Breeze said as the sun slowly rose outside the tent. “With our cover blown, we had no choice but to meet Sombra on the open field.” Around them, armored ponies rushed around, the sound of shouting, running hooves and armor reaching almost deafening levels. Before long, the Equestrian army was lined up on the field. In the middle, Shadow’s ancestor stood with the armored Princesses and the other crystal refugees. For over a mile in either direction, mares and stallions in gold armor stood at attention, their eyes fixed on their enemies as they waited for orders.

Across the open field, Sombra’s army was smaller, though that didn’t seem to matter to the King. Around him, ponies also stood in formation; the dark grey of their armor contrasting sharply against their natural fur color. From a distance, no pony could make out much else about his army, but what no pony could have possibly missed, were the trio of fully grown dragons that formed the center of Sombra’s line. The dragons’ naturally rock hard skin were covered in grey armor plating that covered every conceivable weak point. Even their pointed heads were protected by massive helmets that only had openings for the dragons’ neck spikes and eyes. On the head of the largest dragon, Sombra stood, his red cape billowing in the morning breeze.

For a while, the two armies faced off from the other, their leaders staring unflinchingly at the other, as if daring the other to back down first. With a roar from the largest dragon that would have shaken the school’s floor, the crystal army surged forward. With a cry from the princesses, the Equestrian army replied, shouting as they charged toward the city, the front line leveling their spears as they ran. Within moments, the two sides clashed into each other, the dual charges grinding to a halt as sword and spear clashed. Overhead, pegasi and thestrals pounced on Sombra’s meager air force.

As the two sides fought, the grey armored crystal ponies finally moved. Halfway between where they had started and the raging battle, Summer Breeze’s group split into two, with each half circling around the fighting. Their intent became clear a minute later as both halves reformed and charged straight for the city. In the front, Summer Breeze ran as hard as she could. At the outskirts of her home town, the mare drew a sword, its blade shining bright under her magic. Within seconds, the group encountered their first sign of resistance as a squad of dark armored ponies charged down a side street before turning and aiming straight for them. The squad never stood a chance. With a scream, Shadow’s ancestor brought her sword down against the lead enemy and in the blink of an eye the charging force was past, the squad no longer in sight.

Reaching the Royal Plaza, the force of crystal ponies broke apart again, with Summer Breeze leading her half into the palace while the other half charged off into the city. As the echoes of the charge faded from the plaza, the world around Shadow’s classmates shifted back to the main fight. Overhead, the sky belonged unquestioningly to the thestrals and pegasi of Equestria. The situation on the ground, on the other hoof, wasn’t as clearly decided. While his force was smaller and less trained, the three dragons under Sombra’s command held the line, their flames sending armored ponies leaping out of the way as half the army faced the fiery threats.

Behind the Equestrian army, the princesses were engaged as well. The first King of the Crystal Empire’s horn glowed darkly as a pair of swords whirled around him, striking out at the princesses. The sisters themselves engaged Sombra with swords of their own, the weapons made of magic that reflected the personalities of the wielder. Celestia brought her golden sword down, aiming its blade for Sombra’s head. Next to her, Luna leaped to the side, her shorter sword flying like an arrow as she aimed for her opponent’s side. Neither sword succeeded as each weapon was intercepted, Celestia’s swing narrowly missing the dark unicorn’s head while her sister’s thrown sword was sent spinning away, only for it to reappear next to Luna an instant later. As the sister’s fought, the sun slowly arced across the sky until it stood at its daily peak.

“In the months we had spent planning for this day, we had known from the beginning that us Imperials weren’t going to make much of a difference on the field” Summer Breeze said, watching the pitched battle below. “Instead, we were sent into the city itself with two goals: locate and retrieve the Crystal Heart and get as many civilians out of the city as possible.” The mare shook her head as she turned to face her audience. “We failed miserably when it came to the Heart. No matter where we looked in the castle, we couldn’t find it. We knew it had to be either there or somewhere close by, since it was the most powerful magical artifact in the Empire, its power said to rival the Elements of Harmony themselves, and there was no way in Tartarus that bastard would let such a thing out of his sight. We practically tore that castle down to its foundation looking for the Heart, but my group never found it.”

A smile slowly grew on her face as she pointed to a stream of ponies running as fast as they could from the opposite end of the city. “Fortunately, while we seemed to be cursed with all the misfortune, Umber and his group had all the luck in the world. They had somehow stumbled upon a large prison where Sombra had been holding his… workers… and after a short fight with the guards, managed to free over two thousand captives.” Before her audience’s eyes, Summer Breeze’s group rejoined her colt friend’s. As the group made their way out of the city, they watched as the mare briefly kissed her colt friend before turning around and running back into the city. “While I would have loved to stay with Umber and help him get the freed prisoners clear of the city, I couldn’t. There was something, or rather somepony, I wasn’t done with.” Summer Breeze tore through the deserted streets, the sound of her hooves against the cobblestones echoing off the silent buildings. As she approached the weakened remains of Sombra’s forces unseen from behind, she drew both of her swords, their blades blazing like miniature suns. The lone remaining dragon turned its head, finally taking notice of the lone mare charging it from behind.

It was too late.

With a scream, Shadow’s ancestor hurled her sword at the dragon, its tip catching the underside of the fire breather’s jaw. In less than a heartbeat, the blade tore itself free of the dragon’s skull. As it fell lifelessly to the ground, the crystal mare bolted across the dragon’s back, using its body as a bridge across the chaos below. Up ahead of her, the Royal Sisters were still engaged with Sombra, neither side having given an inch, though the fighting was clearly starting to take its toll on all three. Reclaiming her thrown sword, the armored mare charged her best friend’s murderer, launching her other sword at the dark stallion as soon as he was within range.

The weapon barely missed the unicorn’s skull, its blade shaving a section of his mane down to the skin. The sudden appearance of the swordsmare was all the opening the princesses needed as Luna blocked Sombra’s attacking swords, while Celestia sent the dark unicorn flying with a telekinetic blast to the chest. The Empire’s newest ruler had barely gotten to his hooves before Summer Breeze was upon him, her blades barely visible lines of light as she slashed at him. With the princesses providing support, Sombra quickly found himself losing ground as he was pushed back toward the city. Concentrating on his attackers, the unicorn stallion didn’t see the fallen pony behind him. As his back hooves hit the body, Summer Breeze surged forward before spinning on her front hooves and bucking the former prince in the face. Before he could recover, Summer Breeze’s swords flashed across his vision, his two swords flying away. For his part, the beaten tyrant didn’t move as Shadow’s ancestor level both of her weapons at him, their tips against his throat. No pony watching would blame him, since it was clear to everypony what she’d do if he so much as twitched.

“Sombra, you are defeated” Celestia said, the point of her own sword finding an opening against her opponent’s jaw. Next to her, the tip Luna’s sword pressed against the spot where Sombra’s neck met his body.

“So it seems” Sombra said, swallowing as he tried to catch his breath. “I surrender.”

“Too bad that doesn’t matter” Summer Breeze said, her blades drawing blood as she slowly pressed down. “Of all the ponies I would take prisoner, you are not one of them.”

“Stay your sword Summer Breeze!” Celestia shouted, her sword moving to push the younger mare’s blade away. “The Empire will get justice, but not here.”

“Where then? Canterlot?” The mare spat back, her eyes never leaving her enemy. “We are not dragging him all the way back.”

“You are not going to kill him here.” Celestia said, her sword now against Summer Breeze’s as it tried to force the other blade aside.

“This is not Equestria, Princess. You do not make the rules here, the Emperor does.” Summer Breeze hissed, biting back at the taller mare. “Unfortunately, he’s dead and this bastard killed him, so no, he’s not getting a trial in Canterlot.”

“What will you do, then?”

“We’ll take him back to the palace and see if he can fly.”

“In that moment” Summer Breeze said to her audience “I made the biggest mistake of my life: I took my eyes off Sombra.” As they watched, the crystal mare glanced at Celestia, her eyes radiating her hatred for her bested foe. It was all the opening the stallion needed. Igniting his horn, the unicorn grabbed a nearby spear, thrusting it through the distracted mare’s shoulder an instant later. In the same instant, he hurled Summer Breeze into Princess Luna, before rolling out of the way of Celestia’s attack.

As her older sister fought Sombra, Luna slid the fallen mare off of her. Looking over Summer Breeze, the princess snapped the spear’s shaft just above where it met the mare’s armor. Sparing her sister a quick glance, Luna opened her mouth to call for a medic, but found it unnecessary as a half dozen ponies in gold armor ran towards her “Captain, report!”

The stallion in question gave a quick salute before speaking, “We’ve taken the field, Princess.”

“Prisoners?”

“Hundreds.”

“Good. Get them and our forces back to camp.”

“What about you and Princess Celestia?”

“We got this.” Without waiting for a reply, the dark blue alicorn took to the air, her wings pumping. Spotting her chance, Luna fired a blast of energy from her horn, sending her sister’s opponent flying. Below, Celestia took to the air, settling in next to Luna a moment later. Neither sister spoke as the watched Sombra get to his hooves. Neither sister needed to. They knew what came next. Charging their horns, the two alicorns focused their magic. Overhead, the sky grew dark. Below, Sombra charged his horn as well. It made no difference. As one, the two sisters fired their spells at the lone unicorn. On the ground, Sombra released his spell at nearly the same moment. The magical blasts met in the air. For a single, fleeting moment, neither side lost ground. An instant later, Equestria’s rulers poured everything into their horns, smashing Sombra’s attack. From where they stood on the far outskirts of the city, Shadow’s class could hear the stallion scream, which caused everypony around them to stop and watch.

In the distance, it was as if pure light and pure darkness had joined forces as both princesses were consumed by the light of their spells. The display of raw power lasted for several seconds before it began to fade, the sky above slowly returning to a normal shade of light blue.

Around the camp, ponies, both Crystal and Equestrian; broke out in cheers, with the coats of every Crystal pony shining brightly at the defeat of the hated tyrant. The celebrations lasted less than a minute. Before anypony could react, the ground around the liberated city bucked and heaved. In the distance, plumes of dust could be seen as the mountains rumbled and cracked, sending the largest rock slides ever seen by ponies roaring down the mountainsides. Around the camp, everything was chaos as medics tried to secure the wounded, guards tried to keep their prisoners from fleeing and everypony else tried to simply stay on their hooves. Before anypony could react, a shaft of light lanced from the top of the Crystal Palace and into the sky. An instant later, the shaft of light grew, slowly at first before speeding up. Within seconds, the entire city was engulfed in light as the shaking reached its crescendo. As suddenly as it started, the chaos stopped. The ground became still once again, leaving an eerie silence to descend on the camp as everypony waited to see what would happen next. As the light from the city faded, every crystal pony that could stand ran as fast as they could for the ridge that separated the camp from their home.

The sight that greeted them, Shadow had read in his ancestor’s diary, was one that would haunt the surviving crystal ponies for the rest of their lives. Where once a city had existed, the likes of which were unheard of, nothing remained. There was literally nothing of one of the most magnificent cities in the world left. Everything the light had touched had simply ceased to be. Where the capital of the Crystal Empire had once stood, now only a perfectly circular patch of dirt miles wide remained.

Comments

[Tale Swapper]

...impressive. A fine take on Sombra, though it may differ from canon. I look forward to the next installment.

[Rill]

8711472
Thanks. I've never read any of the comics, so I based this chapter on what is known from the show.

[Trent Roogna]

And I'm caught up. Power read all available and slept and worked in a 24 hr span.

I like it.

[Rill]

8721935
Thank you.