My Little Pony: Lights and Shadows - Part II

by OmegaTale

Chapter 15

Night reigned across Equestria, the darkness near absolute if not for the light of the moon overhead. Ponies rested peacefully in their beds, the worries of a war lifted from them as they dreamed happily, no longer burdened by the threat. As the night went on, however, two figures flying north to Canterlot Mountain had little to be happy about the war ending.

“What are we supposed to do now?” Chrysalis asked the dragon as they flew through the night. “Without the war to weaken the nations, we will not be able to hold the Crystal Empire long enough to take control of the rest of Equestria.”

Stormclaw grimaced at this. “This Princess Twilight truly is more of a nuisance than I had thought, but fear not; I have another plan.” He looked over at her. “Once we get to the ruins, I’ll elaborate, Sombra will need to hear it as well.”

Chrysalis scowled at the mention of his name. “I don’t want that unicorn ruling a part of our world, it should be just you and me. We don’t need anyone else.”

He smirked at her. “Unfortunately, we do still need him. But it matters not, the moment his usefulness has reached its end, we will dispose of him.” He looked a bit unsure after he said this. “I am no ruler, I told you this.”

“I will rule, and you will be there by my side each step of the way.” She replied, lifting her hoof to his chin as they flew. “You are giving me the crown of the whole world… and in return, I shall become your wife. We shall stand above the entire world, you and I.”

He muffled a chuckle as he brushed her mane back with his claw. “Sounds perfect to me.”

Focusing back on the mountain, Chrysalis had to wonder the immediate question. “So… how are we going to get rid of him?”

Stormclaw dawned an evil smile. “Let me worry about that, if all goes according to plan, we won’t need to concern ourselves about him.”

Chrysalis replied to that with her evil chuckle, this dragon indeed was the perfect match for her. He hated the princesses just as much as she did, he was a masterful planner, perhaps even more so than her, and on top of it all, he was doing all of this to make sure she became queen. There was no down side, no catch, not one she could foresee. When all of this was done, she would be the Queen of the World, have all life bowing before her, and finally have someone to truly live with.

As they approached the ruins, they took notice to the looming shadow below, Sombra stood waiting for them, still cloaked in the thick darkness about him.

“You said your plan was flawless,” He snapped at the dragon. “You said the nations would never work together to find a peace, without a means to weaken Equestria, I shall never rule the Crystal Empire!”

Stormclaw landed alongside Chrysalis, who looked upon the unicorn king with her usual level of disgust. “A minor setback, hardly.” She boasted, fully confident in the dragon’s plan he had. “But it is of little consequence, we have a new plan.”

Sombra rolled his eyes, growling deeply. “Another plan doomed to fail.” He scowled, glaring now at the dragon. “Do not think I haven’t noticed your little scheme in the background; what have you done with my Alicorn Amulet, and the rest of those relics?”

“I have found a way to use them to corrupt Princess Twilight’s friends.” He explained, trying his best to keep his temper in check at the mention of his other plan. “My idea was to create a disunity amongst them, so that they had no chance to halt the war.”

“But they have!” Sombra snarled, stamping his hoof down hard on the grassy ground of the mountain peak. “Princess Twilight and her student single hoofingly calmed both the griffons and the dragons! They even managed to duplicate my spell, it is useless to us now!”

Walking away a few steps, Stormclaw looked deep in thought, pondering these new developments. “I’ve underestimated Princess Twilight… as have most and lived to regret it.” He stopped, turning back around. “But enough of this, it is time to collect what we came here for.” He looked over at the ruins and walked to them, searching and finding the opening rather easily. “What…? How can this be?”

With Chrysalis and Sombra behind him, they delved down into the passage, circling down the stairwell as it led them to the ancient study below. Stormclaw looked confused, glancing around as if it should not have been that easy.

A thought came to mind that made the dragon shake his head. “No… no, no, no!” He ran deeper into the study to the room at the end, the pedestal in the center now empty, the crystal gone. Keeping down a deep growl, he glanced around. “How can this be? No one else knew of this place but me!”

Both of his companions looked confused, not understanding what all of this was. “Stormclaw?” Chrysalis asked. “What is this place? What is it you seek here?”

He turned back to her, calming himself as he thought through who could have it. “An artifact once rested here that would help us acquire our desires, all of us.” He looked around as he continued to think. “It was locked away in here for thousands of years, but the only one who knew about it was-” He stopped, realizing what must have happened.

“Who?” Sombra commanded of him. “Who else knew?”

The dragon said a name under his breath, too quiet for them to hear. “Etherus…” He then turned back to his companions. “Princess Celestia has it, she is the only other one who can.”

Sombra just shook his head. “Then it’s pointless to harp over it, we must think of something else.”

Stormclaw shook his head as well. “No… no, we can still get it. If we can manage to use its power, the three of us shall easily gain what we desire.” He looked to Sombra. “An empire,” He then turned to Chrysalis. “A crown,” Then he turned back to face the bare pedestal. “And a dream.”

“Tell us what to do.” Chrysalis said immediately. “You already have a plan, I can tell.”

Sombra huffed in defiance, but nodded. “If you know a way to attain this power, then let us hear this plan of yours and be done with it.”
He smirked while they couldn’t see his face and ceased it before turning back to face them. “Alright, this is what we must do, but it must be done to the letter, understand?” Both of them nod in reply. “Good. Now, listen carefully…”

Author's Note:

Hey there everypony! So good to be back!
Super short chapter, shortest that any will be in the entire series of Lights and Shadows, but that's not to say nothing interesting happens!
The build up to the finale of Part II ends with the next chapter, so I'll see you all next week!
Stay awesome everypony!