My Little Ponys' The Count of Monte Cristo

by kahnac

Presenting the Dark Hand of Lord Tirek

The next few days were about setting up the perfect traps of exposure. As The Count himself professed, it would not be enough to end the lives of the 2 stallions and centaur who betrayed him: they needed to suffer. Now, however, he had a certain mare to add to his ever-growing list of endless enemies to exterminate. And his resolve was ever-more powerful than it had ever been. Just as well, it was the reason he decided to begin with the second biggest object of his anger: Mondego. Apparently, the stallion wasn't that hard to track down. According to everypony, and creature in town, he was usually to be found in only one other place outside of home: the local casinos in Paris. The Count brought Bertuccio, and Garble along to observe him.....and his embarrassingly horrid gambling skills. "Is this how he ends up spending his fortune?" The Count asked.

"Indeed yes, sir." Bertuccio said.

"And the best part is he keeps losing money at the OTHER casinos he goes to." Garble said. "This isn't the only one he frequents, apparently. And he's as bad at those as he is here. Noone even cheats him - they don't even have to." He was almost snickering at the idea."

"So his finances.....?" The count asked.

"Are in jeopardy, unfortunately for him." Bertuccio said. "He opened a loan with a bank for a shipping boat years ago. Interestingly enough, he doesn't use Tirek's shipping firm at all."

"Excellent: make sure WE own that bank by the end of the week. And tell all of the other shipping firms to stay away from Mondego." His eyes narrow. "I want him to have no choice but to crawl back to that centaurian sleaze. Tell the dealers: take it all."

"As you wish." Bertuccio bowed. But then Garble ended up asking a possibly important question. "Uh, your grace. Not that i'm questioning any of your plans, or anything, but.......how do you intend to deal with Tirek Danglars? I have the feeling he won't go down as easily as Neighsay, and Sombra here."

The Count simply smiled knowingly. "Leave it to me, Jacapo. Danglars is indeed a crafty opponent, and undoubtedly our greatest challenge. Which is why we wait for him until we deal with Sombra, and Neighsay. If we are careful, we can deal two birds with one stone. I believe Prance has had enough of a tyrant king to last a millennia. Villefort may take a little longer until we find interesting, and damning evidence to ruin his reputation."

After a few seconds, Bertuccio spoke up. "Actually, your grace........i think I know where we can find the evidence against Villefort."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As intended, Count Sombra Mondego had lost his loan extension with his bank the day after the week ended. And he was
unhappy with the development. In fact, he had gone there himself in order to broker a means of keeping his loan in tact, and the extension long. His livelihood depended on it - as did his family. "Do try to understand," he said, his patience already paper-thin as he attempted to explain his situation, "I have a very large consign of cotton ready to be sent. I shall make the payments for the ship as soon as it is delivered. So obviously, i need the vessel."

"Unfortunately, the bank can no longer provide an extension, Count Mondego." the banker said, to Sombra's dismay, and annoyance. "I'm afraid you'll have to find another shipping firm if you wish to export goods."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And as much as he hated to do so, once he was rejected by almost every other shipping firm in Prance, his options had been so limited that he had no choice. He set up a meeting with Guild Caderousse in the city of Paris, all so he could establish a reunion-based meeting with Lord Tirek. Oh, how he was ever reluctant to even consider going to that old goat for help. Last time Tirek did something, the centaur made him slay the old king in order to give him the throne just to pay him back. It was either that, or let him expose Mondego for both his treasonous actions.......and for the fate of a certain friend from Mareseilles. The bottom line was that everything had a price with Tirek Danglars. And Sombra was only half sure he was willing to pay it. But he remembered how deeply his pockets had been emptied following recent events. So in the end, he had no choice. And now here he was: walking around the streets of Paris, hoping to find that sneaky, over-sized money buzzard in the hopes of having a meeting with Tirek. Only way to speak to the big man was through his feather-brained subordinate. And at the moment, it almost seemed impossible to find him.

Especially when Sombra was constantly distracted by the sights around him. Many times had he traveled from his home, but mostly without taking in the sights around him. The city was as grand, and wondrous as ever. The Neiffel tower standing proud, and tall over the city, like a huge beacon of the cities grandeur. It actually brought memories of the Crystal Empire to his mind as he looked at it. The tower almost looked exactly like the crystal palace, but was leaner, and with only one spire. And it made him wonder, again, why his curse over the empire had not receded at all. He set the spell so that it would emerge at around the same time as he would escape his imprisonment. And yet it remained out of the picture. The question of why has plagued his mind ever since he was saved by........him. And once again, the memories of old arrived in his head like a blanket of fog. Reminding him of better days..........

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

23 years ago........

The icy winds of the accursed frozen north howled, and bit at his body with unyielding frost, and unending pain. The ex-king of the crystal empire lay in the snow, with barely even a scrap of his strength left in him. None of this made any sense to him: this should have been the exact instance the Crystal Empire reemerged along with him. And he, even in his shadowy form, would have easily reconquered the empire, and inevitably claimed all of Equestria. But the moment he emerged from his confinement, a mysterious force fell upon him. He was forced into his physical body, and his strength had drained out of him completely. And it was because of this, he was absolutely helpless, and at the mercy of this unholy wasteland. It would soon be a matter of time before he would succumb to freezing.......and then death. Over 3000 years of awaiting the reclaiming of his birthright, and in the end it was all for nothing. Now this would be his end. Even as he saw the mysterious shapes - one of which he swore looked like a devil - began to approach him, he began to slip into the cold embrace of unconsciousness. What he believed was his death coming for him began to wrap him in its arm, and take him away.

At least he thought so, but he never actually expected to wake up.

But he did. And in this place was a warmth unlike any he had been able to feel for 3000 years while in the ice. It warmed his body incredibly, and allowed him to awake from his enforced slumber. He groggily opened his eyes, attempting to see his surroundings. He heard a voice calling out, saying he was waking up. The next thing he knew, his eyes were open to the sight of a white, and blue unicorn stallion, a centaur, to his immense surprise, standing in the background. And an.....alicorn?! How is that possible, his mind began to question. To his own knowledge, the royal sisters were the only alicorns left alive. And yet, here was one right in front of him. A menagerie of pinks, blues, and gold in a sickeningly sweet production. At first glance, all he could think of was that traitorous Princess Cadenza from all those years ago. But.......as he gazed into her eyes, and seeing that warmth, and compassion that, for some reason, was oh, so familiar to him.......he couldn't help but be reminded of a unicorn he once knew as "friend". One who had cared for him once, so long ago, before-............before things happened. For some reason, this mare gave him the same feelings of trust, and concern. The stallion standing beside him seemed of a similar ilk as he spoke to him. "Hey. You okay? You were half dead in the ice when we found you. I think you're lucky to be alive."

"Can you speak at all?" The alicorn mare asked. "Can.....you hear what we're saying?"

He weakly nodded, earning sighs of relief from the pair.

"Thank goodness." She said happily. "In that case: my name is Cadence Mercedes."

"And i'm first lieutenant Shining Dantes Armor." The stallion smiled. "The silent brooder over there is Major Tirek Danglars." The centaur in question simply grunted with his arms crossed. "We heard news from the north that a place called "The Crystal Empire" was supposed to emerge there. But when we arrived, it was nowhere to be found. Just ice, snow, wind.......Oh, and more ice, too." Sombra actually gave out a weak chuckle in response, earning another smile from the pair. "Then you, to our surprise. We've been tending to you ever since."

Sombra sat up a little as he attempted to regain his strength. With a bit of a strained voice, he asked, "Where....am I?"

"In Canterlot." Cadence said. "Princess Celestia was willing to allow us to watch over you - seeing as how we were the ones who found you."

Sombra's blood ran a little cold at the mention of Celestia. But a gentle hoof from Shining allowed him to calm his nerves. "It's alright. Celestia says she knows who you are, but she was still willing to help you."

"But....why?" he asked, unable to understand the reasoning.

"Because she's just compassionate like that." Shining said, before adding, "Kinda like me. No matter what your backstory, there was no way I could leave somepony to die out here. All I want is to help you in any way I can. And that's what i'll do." He then raised out his hoof in a friendly gesture. "If you'll let me, that is." Of course, Sombra was unsure of whether he should actually trust this pony, or not. But.....something about the way he spoke, and the way he looked at him made him feel he could trust him. And it also made him consider that, maybe this had been an opportunity for him. He thought his destiny was to conquer, and rule. Then the sisters came, and showed how greatly he was wrong. Even his contingency had somehow backfired on him just a short time ago. Everything he had known in the past was gone. Perhaps............perhaps this was a chance to begin again. A chance to maybe move forward, and be somepony worth while. If the empire was gone, then technically his people had been avenged - even if, sadly, he could not free them now. There was little point in dwelling on the past. All that mattered was the future. And perhaps these ponies could help him with that. So, with a small smile of his own, he took the hoof in a firm, but otherwise gentle shake. "I think I can swallow enough of my pride to do that."

Shining chuckled before he spoke. "Then let's make this more official: Hi, my name is Shining "Armor" Dantes. And you are?"

".........Sombra. Sombra Mondego."

"Good to meet you, Sombra Mondego." Shining said cheerfully. "I have a feeling this might be the beginning of a newfound friendship."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

But why did he feel this way? And why did he have to keep remembering such things? He couldn't be feeling guilt for his actions, could he? True, he had not expected to fall in love with Mercedes at the same time as Shining. But it still happened nonetheless. And so long as Shining was around, he would never be able to have her. He had to go......is what Sombra continuously told himself every day for the past 17 years. The first few years were easy enough. But when he saw how miserable Cadence was, his emotions were split in half. On one side, he hated how much she was obsessed with HIM, and never once noticed how much he cared for her. But on the other, he hated seeing her that way, while having no idea how to make her feel better. And it only reminded him of the friendship he once had for Shining back then. All these things at times made him wonder what if he never let Tirek talk him into the conspiracy back then? How would things have panned out? What would have happened had Cadence, and Shining been allowed to marry? So many questions, but all of them had no answers he could conceive.

His train of thought was broken when he heard a commotion nearby. A pair of Gargoyles were seemingly harassing a poor, pony family: A unicorn mare, and her two foals, who were filly and colt both. As he looked, he noticed the Gargoyles were grabbing onto a small money pouch that the mare was desperately holding onto. "Please, don't!" She cried. "I'm begging you, please!"

"Save it, missy!" One of them said. "Taxes need to be paid by all in this city! You wouldn't want to break the law, would you, and earn Lord Tirek's ire?"

"Cause I can tell you he wouldn't be happy with ponies defyin' the laws he works so hard to enforce." The other said.

"B-but it's all we have!"

"Fine: then it's all we'll take!" The first said, followed by their cruel laughter. Said laughter was cut short, however, when the colt kicked him in the leg, and made him shriek in pain. He let go of the pouch, and made the mare fall backwards, dropping her pouch in the process. The second Gargoyle snarled in the colts face, making him run to his mother with his sister. Unfortunately, both of them were quite angry now. "Insolent little snot!" the second said, with both drawing their blades, to the horror of the family. "Maybe this'll teach you a lesson for the next life!"

"That's enough!" Sombra shouted, sprouting his dark crystals in front of the startled Gargoyles. "I would expect even Gargoyle soldiers to have more respect, and decency than this. Slaying a single mare, and her foals? It appears the standard has been set truly low."

The first Gargoyle growled, and said, "Stay out of this, nag. This is of no concern to you."

"Wrong: it IS my concern when a pair of supposedly well-seasoned soldiers harass innocents, and then attempt to murder them on sight." Sombra's eyes narrowed. "Now: return to whatever station you belong, or i shall have you both court martialed - or worse if you anger me."

This made both Gargoyles laugh humorously while the ponies watched on. Then, the second Gargoyle walked up to the stallion with his blade drawn, saying, "Really? And just who in the hell do you think YOU are?" He then actually swung his sword down at Sombra - only for him to easily block it with his own, with a vicious sneer. "Count Sombra Mondego, in case your stone brain hasn't noticed." his horn then ignited with Dark Magic, as his eyes glowed red and green with the familiar miasma smoking out of his eyes. The next thing the Gargoyle knew, he was turned to dark crystal, and frozen in place. Much to the horror, and shock of everyone around - moreso when Sombra easily cut, and shattered him to pieces. When his sights were set on the other Gargoyle, the latter began to sweat with fear as Sombra approached. "Now.......do I have to repeat myself again? Or do I have to do the same to you as i did him so you can think over your actions?" With a loud shriek, the Gargoyle took to the sky, and fled. 'Coward', Sombra thought as he sheathed his blade, and took a deep breath to calm himself, and end his dark surge before it overtook him. Much as he enjoyed the power boost it provided, he was far more weary of the Dark Magics mind-influencing side effects. Fortunately, he would never allow himself to succumb to that power. Now there was just one more matter to deal with.

"Are you alright, ma'am?" Sombra asked kindly, offering his hoof to the mare who accepted it to help her up.

"Y-yes." She said timidly, before she began to open up. "Thank you, sir. That was truly brave of you."

"Think nothing of it, my dear." He said courtly, before his expression turned sour. "It just irks me to see soldiers who are above such idiocies as stealing, and killing innocents with no justification. It's disgraceful."

"And yet it happens more often than you should like." The mare said sadly. "Ever since Lord Tirek took control, it's been like this for those of the peasantry. Many suffer unless they are of High Society in this land." She then sighed sadly. "But it's all any of us can do to keep living."

Sombra closed his eyes somberly. "I know." he said, simply, before he pulled something out. "But perhaps......this can help you to keep on living a little longer." It was a bag of 100 bits, much to the mare's shock. She was about to object, before he raised his hoof and said, "Please take it. After that disgraceful display, I feel I owe you compensation. Think of it as an apology for what just happened, and accept it with my gratitude."

With that in mind, she tried to use her magic to pick up the bag, and accept the money....before he magic began to fizzle out like a candle. She silently cursed to herself as this happened. This caught Sombra's eye, as he recognized this happening to other unicorns sometimes. This 'performance issue' took a full minute before her magic started working again. With that, she accepted his generous donation, thanked him and earned a bow from him, before bringing her young inside. Before they went inside, the filly ran up to Sombra.....and offered him a small flower with a bright smile. He couldn't resist smiling as well as he picked up the little flower, patted the fillies head, and thanked her before she ran inside. He looked at the small object in his hoof, feeling partially guilty for giving away his own money when he could've used it to cut down his financial problems. But he decided it was worth it to keep an innocent mother, and her children safe. It still surprised him how much time had mellowed him out: 3000 years ago, he would've been the one seeing such cruelty take place, and laugh in amusement at it. Nowadays, his sense of honor and dignity had been modified. Of course, he knew he had two ponies to thank for it........but he already knows what happened to one of them. And the other wouldn't give him the time of day, despite his efforts. He sighed, knowing it's just how the world works, before putting the flower in his coat pocket. He was then drawn to the attention of some clapping coming from nearby. He turned around to see Guild Caderousse, leaning against a wall while clapping his talons together with a sneaky grin.

"Bravo, mai dear count, bravo!" he said almost in a mocking tone. "You saved a bunch of peasants from a cruel fate of disciplinary action from a couple of soldiers of the city. Y'know, Commander Grimmwing isn't gonna be happy to learn you iced one of his men like that."

"Lucky for him I DIDN'T "ice" him, then." Sombra said with a sneer. "All I did was freeze his body in crystal while preserving his lifeforce within the crystal. He's in a constant state of Limbo that keeps him unaware of anything around him - even the pain of shattering." Sombra grunted in annoyance. "It's the least the insolent fool deserves for challenging a superior officer, and harassing innocent ponies."

"They're worthless scum." Came the baratone voice of the Baphometian Gargoyle, Grimmwing, who just stepped into view with a scowl. "And if they're unable to abide by the laws established, then the punishment befits the crime."

"I saw no crime being committed except for your grunts robbery, and attempted murder." Sombra argued. "If that's how this nation’s military behaves, then clearly their leader is too incompetent to teach them discipline. What Tirek ever saw in you, i’ll never know - because all I see is a witless brute who knows nothing of true leadership.”

Grimmwing snarled as he drew his scythe, ready to cut down the impudent noble where he stood. “Idiotic, pompous nag! I’ll cut off your horn, and use it as a charm for that!” Sombra also prepared for a fight in street. But the both of them were stopped by the interference of Caderousse himself. “Enough already! Oi don’ care if you lot ‘ave issues with each other: yer soldiers of the crown! Start actin’ like it, or i’ll report BOTH of you for disruptin’ the peace! Understand?!” The griffon’s boldness surprised the duo out of their angered states. And they both heeded his threat enough to stand down. Though that didn’t kill off the glares they both had towards each other. Guild sighed, deciding it was good enough. “Now, Monsieur Mondego: I assume the reason you even came out ‘ere is because you ‘ave business with Lord Tirek. What could’a compelled ya ta seek ‘im out is beyond mee........but it ain’t nun’a moi business. If yer willin’, we can take ya to him in a bit. In fact, i’d say ya came at th’ most opportune toim.”

“How so?”

“Le’s just say that we ‘ave a li’le chore that turns ‘to an event once a week. Today’s that exact day.” Guild smiles at the sound of a grind stone at work. “An’ from the sound of it, it’s about ready.”

Sombra heard it, too. The sound of a blade being sharpened on a grind stone nearby. Hearing it only made Sombra raise a brow, wondering if Tirek had now reduced two of his own lieutenants to being his personal weapon maintainers. I mean, this WAS a long way to go just to sharpen a knife, or a sword. But when they arrived, Sombra was quite surprised by what he actually saw. Not a blade, nor a spear, nor anything of the conventional sort. It looked some kind of 3-fingered claw. Like an avian with only 3 toes. It was metallic, and had a DEEP indigo color. Save for the joints of the “fingers”, and the center of where the palm would be: those were crimson red, and appeared as though some manner of rubies had been put inside. And he was right to think of an avian when looking upon the claw: because the minotaur who was handling it was sharpening all of the fingers, as well as a long, curved blade which protruded from the arm-section of the claw. Once it had finished being sharped, Guild presented a big, velvet pillow he had somehow failed to even notice before. Just like he almost failed to notice the sounds of music playing very near. The claw was placed on the pillow, with the blade laying on the side facing forward. After Guild blew on it to remove any lingering traces of metal dust, he began to walk on his back-legs while holding the pillow in his talons. Every step he took was in rhythm to a small orchestration being payed by a small group of Gargoyles nearby. It didn’t take long for Sombra to figure this was another sign of Tirek’s egotism at play here: it only figured he’d have some kind of musical theme for even his own weapon.

“Make way for the Dark Hand of Lord Tirek!” Grimmwing sounded off to everyone who could hear, clearing a path straight to where Tirek resided. Once they heard their leader’s call, the Gargoyles in the city grew excited, and began to follow after Guild as he carried this item to Tirek’s castle - even a black-furred Gargoyle with a red mane, and bright, violet eyes. Sombra decided it was best time to follow after the two stooges to meet with Tirek, at last. As they followed suit, the Gargoyles began to cry out in a melodious chant, “Tirek”, over and over again after one shouted out, “Make way for the Claw!”. Pretty soon, every gargoyle, and even Minotaurs in the city who heard the chanting, began to follow along in this merry parade, dedicated to the one they held on a grand, and high pedestal. Their trek soon took them out of the Paris region, and drew them past Picpus, and to Vincennes. They were now drawing ever nearer to the castle Lord Tirek had taken residence in since his rise to power. And needless to say, when Sombra, and the black Gargoyle saw the castle for themselves, they were rather awe-struck, and imposed by the rather dark sight before them.

The sheer size of this towering fortress was incredible. It even rivaled that of the Neighfel tower, if that was possible. But it looked much more like an onyx tree than a castle. How the construction of this castle could have been done was beyond either of them. Yet in the world of Equestria, they conceded that anything was possible, and accepted it for now. The march continued, with Tirek’s forces growing more excited by the second as their chant changed to “Tirek, show us Tirek! Tirek, Where is Tirek?”. All around, Gargoyles, and Minotaurs heard the commotion, and knew it was time to greet their master. All of them were soon passing the draw-bridge which stood over a large chasm with a rocky bottom bellow. The giant doors opened to take the legion to the Grand Hall, and Throne Room of the castle as their thunderous chants continued. Sombra was still at the front, with the strange Gargoyle in the back, following behind. And as all of them situated in the massive room, Guild, and Grimmwing both walked behind the large throne situated at the top of a row of stairs situated in front of it. There, was a room with a mysterious, orange glow which reflected off the claw blade before the door shut behind, leaving only darkness.

In that Darkness, the Lord of the Midnight Castle donned his Dark Hand in the flashes of otherworldly magic, before all turned black.

Author's Note:

Hello, and welcome to Chapter 15 of “My Little Ponys The Count of Monte Cristo”.

Man, it HAS been a long while, hasn’t it? But i’m here again, and got another chapter up, and ready for you guys and gals, and inbetween.:) This chapter is actually a bit more Sombra Mondego focused, since I wanted to show off a bit more of his character in the story. And to let everyone know that despite his past actions, he isn’t as pure evil as Fernand Mondego was in the original story. You could say he was led astray, and he let his emotions get the better of him to make a mistake. In fact, part of him does regret betraying Shining......but he knows what’s done is done, and he made his choice. He wanted Cadence, no matter what it took, and accepted any cost it would bring. Several years later, however, seem to have mellowed him out a bit, though. Because even he isn’t above defending the innocent at times from a bunch of gargoyle ruffians - he’s a stallion of good form, after all. Yes, there WAS what he did during the Lunar Empire’s siege of Paris, but that was more to clear a debt to Tirek so he wouldn’t hold one over him anymore - and given Tirek would’ve made him a scapegoat, he really had no choice. With Starlight, he was trying to cover his tracks, and keep things under wraps. No excuse for what he did, but he held no completely ill will.

Tirek’s men, however, have all the ill will in the world, and show it as often as possible.:) And yes, that scene with the Claw was taken right out of the movie “Hook”, which is a favorite of mine. Because that’s EXACTLY how highly the Gargoyles, and even Minotaurs who Tirek brokered a deal with years ago in order to add them to his army, revere the centaur. Despite how wicked he is, they still practically worship him as a god.

Wonder if anyone knows that’s the exact kind of status he’s aiming for?