A Fateful Night
The elderly and wise Sombra calmed down the nervous guests, “Now, now, settle down. Settle down, please. The danger has passed and we have nothing to worry about anymore.”
The guests began to ask questions:
“Who were they?”
“What were they here for?”
“Why were they here?”
“Is this an omen?”
“Where did they come from?”
Just then, Blaze came up to them and said, “I believe I can answer that question.” He held out a badge which looked remarkably like…
Cadance breathed, “That’s Prance’s crest.”
Flurry shook her head, “But I don’t understand. We’re allies with Prance.”
Jet Set harrumphed, “Are you? Do you suppose that the reason His Highness didn’t come to the dinner was so he could send his soldiers here to terrorize us all?”
Flurry rebuked, “Impossible! We’re good friends with Feather Bangs. We know he would never do something like this.”
Mischief deduced, “Unless his uncle wants revenge on us.”
On their first Cutie Map mission years ago, the Guardians of Equestria traveled to Prance and learned that then-Prince Feather Bangs was getting married to one of Queen Sassy Saddles’ granddaughters, Velvet Blue. However, Velvet had fallen in love with FB’s foalhood friend Chipcutter, and Feather was happy for the two. His uncle - then-King Dandy Grandeur - insisted that the wedding had to commence and resorted to hypnotizing Velvet so she could marry his nephew. Knowing that the Guardians approved of the princess’s relationship with Chipcutter, Dandy had them and Chip locked in the Pegasus’s warehouse. Thanks to Flurry controlling one of the giant pony-shaped golems Chip had made for the parade, the Guardians and Chipcutter were able to escape and stop the wedding before Feather and Velvet were legally made husband and wife. After Dandy’s plot was exposed to everyone at the palace chapel, the Guardians convinced him to give up the throne to Feather Bangs to avoid any bad publicity.
Blaze remarked, “Well, why wouldn’t Dandy Grandeur want revenge on us for crashing his nephew’s wedding?”
Roller Blade added, “Not to mention blackmailing him into giving the throne to Feather Bangs.”
Apple Butter said, “Now that you put it that way, it does make us out to be the bad guys.”
Skater rebuked, “Hello? He was the one who had us locked in the warehouse while he hypnotized Velvet Blue into marrying his nephew.”
“Oh, yeah.”
Skyla asked, “But why would Dandy Grandeur send soldiers just to scare us?”
Flurry answered, “I don’t know, but we’re going to Maris to find out.”
Nova asked in concern, “But what about the wedding?”
Mischief, trying not to sound too eager, said, “We can postpone it until we know what’s going on.”
Flurry nodded, “He’s right. The sooner we get to the bottom of this, the better.”
Mischief pointed out, “And besides the crest, there’s one other clue. When I confronted the leader, he said that they were the Dark Riders.”
Twilight then came up to them and remarked, “The Dark Riders? I think I remember reading about them in the newspaper once. They were seen last month in –“
A servant then interrupted, “Forgive me, Your Highness, but the last wedding guest has arrived.”
Mischief asked, “The last wedding guest? Who?”
A charismatic voice answered, “Why, that would be me, young colt.”
Everyone turned their attention towards a purple Earth stallion who practically waltzed into the room. Though he had a red velvet cape covering his wide girth, his sleek silver mane made him the envy of many nobles in Equestria. He also had many shiny blings lining his shirt and cape, the most prominent of which was a gold pendant with a large ruby in the middle.
The suave pony then said, “Please, allow me to introduce myself. King Gladmane of Las Pegasus, here to enjoy this wondrous occasion with y’all. Uh-huh-huh.”
Cadance bowed her head in respect and greeted, “It’s very wonderful to meet you.” She gestured to her family and future in-law as she said, “This is my husband Shining Armor, our daughters Skyla and Flurry Heart, and Flurry’s fiancé Mischief.”
Gladmane had a look of surprise for a split-second before a smooth smile spread on his face, “So this is the couple getting married, huh?” He shook their hooves as he said, “My heartiest congratulations to ya both. I’m already lookin’ forward to your weddin’ day. Uh-huh-huh.”
Flurry smiled in politeness, “Thank you, but we’ve decided to hold off the wedding for now.”
The guests gasped at that.
Gladmane said as he put his hoof to his chest, “Oh, that is unfortunate news. May I ask why?”
Mischief answered, “Dark Riders have come here and scared the daylights out of ponies. We found Prance’s crest just after they left, which makes us think that Dandy Grandeur is behind it.”
Gladmane tsked, “Well, can’t trust a former king to give up his power so easily. He let it all go to his head and now he wants his throne and fancy palace back. Shame, really. I hear Prance has been doing so much better with Feather Bangs ruling as king. Guess Dandy just can’t accept the fact that the kingdom’s better off without him ruling over it.”
Discord agreed, “Indeed, considering what he did to the Guardians while they were there.”
This perked Gladmane’s interest and he asked, “Oh? And what exactly did he do to them?”
Skater spoke up, “That’s not important right now.”
Gladmane furrowed his brow, “Well, if he did somethin’ bad to the protectors of Equestria, then Dandy might be a bigger threat than we thought.” His eyes lit up as he suggested, “Say, I’ve got an idea. Why don’t y’all come to Las Pegasus and help me figure out a plan to stop Dandy and his nasty Dark Riders before they strike again?”
Skyla pointed out, “We’ll need proof that Dandy did send the Riders before we think up any plans to stop him.”
Gladmane conceded, “All right, all right. But just in case, we’ll still have a plan in mind. So, anyone wanna go to my beautiful Las Pegasus?”
At that moment, Discord’s eyes caught a split-second glance at a serpentine figure in Gladmane’s amulet. He closed his eyes and shook his head before he peered at the necklace again. Nothing. Either it was his imagination or there was something – or someone – in that amulet.
Shining Armor suggested, “Maybe we should all get some rest now. It’s been a pretty long and exciting day. We’ll make our decision in the morning.”
Gladmane smiled, “Sounds good to me.”
The other guests nodded and muttered in agreement.
Discord peeked around the corner and waited for Gladmane to leave his guest bedroom. If he wasn’t just seeing things and there was something in the necklace, then he was going to go to Las Pegasus to find out. That is, if it wasn’t his imagination. His heart leapt when the purple stallion walked out the door.
He seized the opportunity and called out as he floated towards the king, “Yoo-hoo! Your Highness!”
Gladmane smiled, “Well, greetings, Prince Discord. What brings you here?”
Discord said, “Well, I was just thinking about how fun Las Pegasus might be. I personally have never been there, but I’ve always wanted to visit it. Tell me, are there any activities I might enjoy doing?”
The king said, “I’m glad you asked! We have cloud-skiing, arcades, carnival rides…”
As Gladmane kept jabbering on with his eyes closed, Discord stared at the amulet and waited for any indication that – Wait! There it was! Though it was only for a split-second, Discord now knew that his eyes weren’t fooling him. There was something inside the necklace!
Gladmane then opened his eyes and finished, “Oh, I could just go on and on about the sights and smells of Las Pegasus, but you’d have to be there to experience it all.”
Discord smiled, “And that’s what I’m planning to do. You’ve convinced me, and now I’m going.”
The stallion shook Discord’s hands and said, “Terrific! Welcome to fun and happy days, Your Wonderful-ness!” After he let go, he winked, “Now go get some shuteye. Tomorrow’s a big day.”
Discord turned to leave, “Yes, I’m sure it will. Toodles!” After he disappeared in a flash, he reappeared just around the corner and thought to himself, Whatever’s in that necklace of yours must be a pretty big secret, Gladmane, and I’m going to find out what it is.
Starling asked her husband Pen Pusher, “Okay, is everyone in bed?”
Pen replied, “Well, they would be except Cuff and Ruff began a new round of ‘Pony Pan’, and now everyone’s in on it.
Sky Blitz face-hoofed and groaned, “Oh, great. We just got them in bed.”
Cotton Candy said, “You know, I kinda want to see it before we have to be party poopers.”
Cannon Fire nodded, “I would have to agree with Cotton. This is virtually the only time Jamboree can play as much as he wishes without going to bed on time.”
Whirl Wind smirked, “I see Cotton’s sense of fun got to you.”
Screwball said, “I think I know of a way to see the kids play before we have to come into the room.” The propeller on her beanie spun rapidly before a big screen and many seats appeared in the foyer. She announced, “Fillies and gentlecolts, I present the first Equestrian livestream!”
When she and her cousins sat in the seats, they could see their children playing across the screen.
Gemstone breathed in amazement, “Oh, my! This is simply remarkable!”
Cotton grinned, “Yeah! It’s like watching the kids yet not watching them!”
The cousins had confused looks and uttered, “Huh?”
Apple Jewel said, “Okay, okay, let’s just watch them.”
The adults looked towards the screen and saw their kids playing “Pony Pan” in costumes.
Mothball pointed out, “Looks like Oddball’s getting the hang of his magic.”
Screwball noticed something and said offensively, “Hey, why is he the chubby bear? He should be the rabbit or the fox!”
Cotton said smugly, “At least Jam is the cute little skunk.”
Asher scratched his head and asked, “So why is Turquoise the fox?”
Seam said, “I think she looks adorable. They all do.”
“Cuff and Ruff, especially.” Gem then squealed, “Ooh! They look absolutely dashing in their Pony Pan and Captain Hoof costumes!”
Starling shushed, “Shh! Quiet! I want to hear what they’re saying.”
The cousins and their spouses returned their full attention to the children playing. Cuff and Ruff were “battling” with their wooden swords while the other children pretended to be tied up.
Turquoise, the eldest great-granddaughter of Celestia and Sombra, had a pony shape like her mother, but she also inherited the blue scales, dragon tail, and wings from her father. She had her grandfather’s green eyes and her mother’s blonde mane. Gale Force was Whirl Wind and Sky Blitz’s daughter. She inherited her father’s light cyan coat and her mom’s mane in the style of her grandmother Rainbow Dash’s. In fact, her eyes were even moderate cerise like her grandmother’s.
Opulence had violet eyes and a white coat just like her parents Dignity and Mauve did. Her mane was a combination of pink and purple with a curl in the front and an elegant wave near her chest and legs. Starling and Pen Pusher’s daughter was named Corona Shine. Her coat was light purple, which was reminiscent of her grandmother’s coat, and her wavy mane was a mixture of blue, orange, and white. Like her grandma, her eyes were dark purple.
After the twins, Oddball was born. He was admittedly strange, but what one would expect from a grandson of the spirit of chaos. He had a gray coat, his mother’s curly purple-and-white mane and tail, and magenta irises with slit pupils and light green sclera. Besides his parents’ traits, he also inherited traits from his maternal grandparents, one of them being Discord’s ears. The only thing he got from his grandmother was her yellow Pegasus wing to compliment his left changeling wing. He also inherited a trait from his paternal grandmother Chrysalis, and that was the curved horn she had before she had holes blasted into her. As for Jamboree, he had a yellow coat, a brown mane with a manestyle that was mostly like Cheese Sandwich’s yet had Pinkie’s curl in the front, and blue eyes that were like his grandmother’s.
Cuff grunted, “Insult colt! I’ll sash you to ribbons!”
After the twins bounced onto another bed, Ruff said, “And I’ll cut you to pieces.”
The colts grunted until Cuff fell off the bed with a “Whoa!”
Ruff said confidently, “Ha! I just throw overboard!”
Cuff replied smugly as he levitated himself onto the bed again, “Did not. I never touched the water.”
Ruff cursed, “Rats!”
When the twins leaped back onto the first bed, Cuff pretended to growl, “You’ll never leave this ship alive!”
As the colts were jumping up and down and swinging their wooden swords, Ruff responded, “Oh, yes, I will!” He then clashed his sword with Cuff’s as he grunted, “Take that!”
While the twins “fought”, Pen Pusher noted, “We really need to tell them stories that aren’t about Pony Pan.”
On the screen, Cuff pointed his sword at his brother and got ready to charge at him. “Cuddle me bones, colt, I’ll slip your lizard!” When Cuff lunged at Ruff, the latter got out of the way and Cuff’s sword ripped through the sheet that served as the mainsail.
Gemstone sighed, “Oh, dear. Looks like another sheet I’ll have to repair.”
Ruff said to Cuff, “Oh, no, you won’t.” As Cuff stepped backwards through the sheet and onto the toy box at the edge of the bed, his brother said, “Back, back, back, you villain!”
When their swords clashed again, Cuff growled, “Insult pup!”
“Meanie pirate!”
Cuff then magically lunged his sword near Ruff’s side and laughed, “Aha, I got ya!”
Ruff disagreed, “You did not. You never touched me.” He lunged his own sword at Cuff as he grunted, “Take that, and that! And that!”
At that moment, Cuff pretended the sword went through his side and groaned dramatically before falling onto the floor.
The other children cheered, “Hooray! Hooray! Captain Hoof is dead!”
Cuff pointed out, “No. I’m only hurt.”
Ruff smiled, “No, you’re dead.”
Just then, Sunset appeared through the door and chuckled, “I see you defeated Captain Hoof this time, Pony Pan.”
Cuff retorted, “I’m not dead! I’m hurt!”
Ruff argued, “No, you’re dead!”
“Hurt!”
“Dead!”
“Hurt!”
“Dead!”
“HURT!”
“DEAD!”
Sunset asked playfully, “You know what I think?”
Both twins asked, “What?”
She smiled, “I think it’s past somepony’s bedtime.”
Corona said, “But we don’t need to go to bed. Flurry and Mischief are not getting married.”
Sunset corrected, “For now. They’re still getting married, just not right now. Come on. Let’s get you all to bed.”
The screen went blank as the adult cousins groaned.
Sky Blitz said, “You heard her. Let’s get the kids to bed.”
The guys grumbled as they and the mares left the now-empty foyer.
Jamboree whined, “But we don’t wanna go to bed! We wanna stay up and play ‘Pony Pan’!”
Oddball agreed, “Yeah! We were having fun!”
Fluttershy said, “Now, now. Too much ‘Pony Pan’ will wear you out. You need your rest if you want to play tomorrow.”
The kids crossed their arms and grumbled, “Okay.”
Mischief suggested, “You know, since you’ve heard a lot of stories about Pony Pan, how about I tell you a different story? It’s about a mysterious land in the sky.”
Gale Force asked, “Is it just like Cloudsdale?”
Mischief explained in a manner that intrigued the children, “They call it Paraddock, a land of mystery, enchantment, and beauty.” He then sang, “Up where the smoke is all billowed and curled…’Tween the ground and stars…is a wonderful world...When there’s hardly no day…nor hardly no night…there’s things half in shadow…and halfway in light…Way up high in the blue sky…coo, what a sight…”
The kids’ eyes were wide and glimmering with wonder as they uttered, “Wow…”
Opulence said, “I want to go there.”
“It’s not easy. It’s so high up that you’d run out of breath before you’d even get to Paraddock. The only way you can get there is if it beams you up.”
Oddball asked, “Like an alien aduckshin?”
Turquoise put her scaled hooves to her face and fretted, “There are aliens up there?!”
Sunset chuckled, “Look, if there are aliens up there, I’m sure they’ll be friendly ones.”
Ruff said, “They better be. If not, I’ll flat them like pancakes.”
Seam smiled, “Yeah, given your strong hooves, that wouldn’t be too difficult.”
Opulence pulled the blanket close to her as she stated, “I don’t think I want to go up to Paraddock now. I don’t want to get aduckted.”
Starling comforted, “It only happens when you’re in terrible danger.”
Mischief said, “And you’re not in any danger now, are you?” When the kids answered “no”, he continued, “Besides, those who went to Paraddock returned, and they said that it was a really cool place.”
Cuff asked, “Really?”
“Really.”
Everything was still in the Crystal Empire, save for the night guards who usually patrolled the halls of the palace. Every royal and royal guest was all snug in their beds and enjoying sweet dreams. The Empire was calm, still, and softly illuminated by the light of the full moon. Just then, the moon disappeared behind a thick layer of clouds hovering miles above the earth. The houses, the streets, and even the palace became blanketed in the massive shroud of darkness. The giant cloud drifted over the Empire for a minute before it began to shoot down blue beams of light. The lights touched certain windows and the glass panes sublimated into nothingness, leaving only the bare frames and exposing the rooms inside to the elements.
Inside the royal kids’ bedroom, they were in the world of their dreams. Suddenly, they heard a soft and melodic voice sing in the distance, “Come, little children…I’ll take you away…into a land…of enchantment…”
In each child’s dream, they felt drawn to the voice and started walking towards the direction of the song. In reality, the children were climbing out of bed with their eyes closed and sleepwalked to the open space where the window once was. Once they reached the blue light, they began to float upwards through the hole in the wall. It was happening everywhere else in the Empire as well. Every child in the kingdom sleepwalked to the lights flooding their rooms and was lifted up towards the cloud.
The voice continued to sing in their dreams, “Come, little children…The time’s come to play…Here in my garden…of magic…”
Suddenly, a bird flew straight into Gale’s path and knocked into her by mistake. The force of the blow knocked Gale off the beam and made her wake up. When she realized that she was falling, she gasped and flapped her wings as much as she could. Luckily, it was enough to keep her in mid-air. Gale looked down and was shocked to see that she was now much higher than the highest point of the palace’s tallest spire! Though flying never truly terrified her, she was nervous about being farther above the ground than she would normally be. What was she doing so high up in the air? Was this a nightmare?
Gale pressed her hoof to her cheek and remembered being hit in the face before finding herself in the air. The impact felt so real, and so was the soft wind current weaving through her wings at this very moment. She then realized that this was no mere dream, let alone a nightmare. This was very real. Very, very real.
When her eyes looked to the ground, Gale noticed that the Empire and the surrounding fields were enshrouded in one shadowy circle. She wondered why that was until she looked up to see a giant cloud just a few miles above her. Her eyes widened when she recognized what it was.
Paraddock…she thought in revelation.
No wonder she was feeling like she was constantly losing breath! She was so close to Paraddock that the high altitude was slowly robbing her of oxygen! But how was she able to get up so high above the ground if…She then saw the blue beams lifting the children upwards until the colts and fillies disappeared into the cloud.
Despite the thin air, she mustered whatever breath she still had left in her lungs and shouted up to the cloud, “Hey, you! Stop taking the kids!”
As if a reply to her demand, the beams of light suddenly vanished. Gale’s eyes then caught a young Crystal pony her age falling through the air. She took action and flew down towards the pony as fast as she could. About a mile above the kingdom, Gale finally caught the colt in her hooves and fell down onto a store awning. The adrenaline of her flight had further sapped oxygen from her lungs, so she took several deep breaths before she felt weak and tired. She wanted to stay awake, but ultimately she had no choice but to lie down next to the sleeping colt she had saved.
Neither slumbering child noticed a veil of light cascading down the palace and washing onto the street. They were even too asleep to notice that the windows of the houses and palace were restored as if they had not disappeared in the first place. The cloud uncovered the moon as it moved away from the Empire. When the moon was exposed entirely, the cloud seemed to dissolve. After it vanished, the stars shimmered where it had once been.
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I doubt the route you will take will be what I am about to say, but just consider it food for thought. Sombra has seen one of his daughters kidnapped in front of him, the rest cursed not unlike him and then kidnapped, nearly lost an adopted daughter, witnessed his sister-in-law become her worst self, his niece was cursed... and so many other events, now his great-grandchildren were abducted in the middle of the night after his grandniece's wedding was crashed, yeah he's gotta be peeved to the point he starts shifting to his more monstrous state...
Wait, so Gale and that one colt got left behind? Oh my, they're going to be so terrified when they wake up in the morning.
I just realized something. Is the deal with Mischief going to be like the episodes of Full House where Jesse gets married?
Oooooh! Cool. What is it? (dramatic pause)
Gladmane's dialogue in this chapter takes a darker turn on the second read.