Out of Darkness

by Sir Shining Armor

Chapter 8: The Road Darkens.

Chapter 8: The Road Darkens.
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~Shard~

Less than an hour after the last of the Wights was destroyed, it was agreed among the defenders that their best course would be to debrief and plan their next move. In the map room of the Friendship Castle, Shard watched as his friends and comrades mingled while awaiting Captain Shadow and Shining Armor. Both had agreed to speak in private about the Element Bearer's whereabouts. So far, there had been no word from any of them, nor had there been a trace of their target. Grogar was about as mysterious and elusive as the smoke he had relayed his message through.

From what little information Shard could remember from the old story that his mother had read to him as a colt, Grogar was a Ram from thousands of years ago. A Necromancer, or a sorcerer with the power to command the dead - (as was obvious from the enemy he had just fought) - he ruled over a dark city called Tambelon until both he and it were banished from the world by a group of Unicorn warriors led by the hero, Gusty. More insidiously, he had the ability to feed on fear - growing stronger from the terror of those around him. As he was already powerful enough to raise armies of the dead and the fact it took a force of powerful unicorns simply to drive him back, the element bearers obviously had their work cut out for them.

A familiar voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"If we're ready to begin." Said Tempest as she entered the room. "Everycreature, please pay close attention to Sunburst."

"Thank you, Captain." Sunburst said, straightening his glasses. "Before the Wights showed up, I had a dream while I was consulting this tablet." A cloud of telekinesis and he held up a strange looking relic. A stone tablet that bore ancient markings, some of which were in the Old Ponish language. Other markings were in a language Shard did not recognize. "In that dream, I saw Princess Amore's spirit. She told me about the bells - which as I remember in the old records now represented Tambelon, or the dark city where Grogar rules."

There was a murmur from the crowd. Shard waited impassively, knowing the rest of this story, but to his surprise, Sunburst brought the tablet closer - adjusting his glasses again in the process.

"What does it say, then?" Flurry asked, stepping forward, a concerned look on her face.

"It's an old poem, or so I thought - before. It's actually a warning or a prophecy of some kind." Sunburst explained. He squinted, then continued. "Translated, it goes like this."

"'The dark city awakes to the bell,
All who live, do so in fear and alarm,
From the living hell that is
The city of Tambelon.'

'Day of terror impending,
In the shadow of the dead,
Time of woe, time of ending,
Brother's blood shall be shed.'

'Only with the six of wing and horn-...' He trailed off, then paused, as if deep in thought, then shrugged. "It goes on for another two lines, but I'm afraid I didn't have time to translate the rest of it."

"Six of wing and horn?" Flurry wondered aloud.

"Obviously that refers to Alicorns." Said Shard. "You, your mother, your Aunt Twilight and your Great-Aunts, Celestia and Luna." At that moment, out of the corner of his eye, Harmony flinched, looking very uncomfortable but she said nothing.

"Day of terror, shadow of the dead." Tempest said. "That probably refers to the Wights. Grogar commands all that's dead. Likely, this power isn't limited only to ponies either."

Sunburst nodded. "Yeah, but what about the other lines? Time of woe? Time of ending? What do you suppose all that means?"

"Maybe Princess Amore would know." Suggested Harmony. "You said she contacted you in your dreams. Maybe Great-Aunt Luna can help with that. She has power over the Dream Realm."

Sunburst stomped a hoof. "You're right! Harmony, you're a genius!"

Harmony blushed at the praise. Beside her, Bryer smiled and put his hoof on her shoulder. Throughout the discussion, he and the other element-bearer's children had remained silent, probably until they could contribute something meaningful.

"Where are the other three princesses now?" Tempest asked. "I didn't see either of them in the battle."

"They agreed to help evac the town." Shining Armor said. "We split our forces into two groups. They're probably with Captain Celaeno and her crew right now."

"They are." Said Grubber, piping up for the first time since the meeting began. "They agreed the safest place for the moment would be Canterlot."

"A pity." Muttered Tempest. "We could have used their help."

"The safety of our people comes first, Captain." Harmony said gently. "And for what it's worth, you did say yourself this was a good day."

Tempest's expression softened a bit, and she smirked. "You're right. I suppose we already do have enough royal firepower with us; you and the princess of explosions, here."

Flurry turned away, sheepishly at the comment. That was her much hated childhood nickname that Shadow had come up for her, with her mother's teasing suggestion.

"It seems that all we can do now is hope the elements are up to the challenge."

"They weren't." Another voice came, just as the doors to the map room slammed open.

To everycreature's surprise, (most of all Shard's) - it was Sombra, looking battered and beaten. His right eye was shut from bruising - and he appeared to be on very wobbly legs.

"Father!" Shard cried, rushing past the crowd and embracing his injured parent.

Sombra gave a weary smile. "It is good to see you safe, son." He remarked, slightly wincing as Shard's hooves closed around a dark mark on his coat, causing him a brief stab of pain.

"What's happened?" Harmony spoke up, looking very worried. "Where is my mother and the elements?"

Sombra hung his head dejectedly. "They are lost to us. Grogar has captured them - and he is on his way to to the Tree of Harmony to destroy it."

Author's Note:

Quote a friend of mine, Seven Hells, I'm not a lyricist but I tried.

I must say, I'm astonished that Sombra returned in Season 9 - even moreso that Grogar has returned as well. It seems the writer's of our show had the same idea I did in making him a Necromancer - and the Big-Bad of the show overall. Father of all monsters and all that.

This chapter took much longer than I expected, but that's because there's a Muay Thai tournament coming up and I've had to throw myself into training and preparation for it. I decided to split this chapter and the next one - so as to keep things moving in time for the final season.

Although I am sad to see it go, the fact is, MLP has had an excellent run - and if there's one thing that I'm certain of, it's that the Brony Fandom will live on long after its conclusion.

Another few things I'm certain of, the next chapter will be sooner - longer and better detailed than this one. I just thought maybe you had waited long enough.

Oh, and one final thing - I think the comics are an alternate timeline than the show's canon - so they can be treated as such. For those of you who, like me who enjoyed the comics, you can still think of them as canon here - in this universe.