Chapter 36. Living in the Shadows of Royalty.
The royal archives were similar to a morgue.
Each book held the life of a dead pony. Sitting a few feet away from Skeletor was a mare who accomplished great feats, a stallion who saved lives, a ruva who revolutionized mining, each and every one of them was a pony who died long before Sombra’s tyrannical reign. They were lucky to live before the tyrant ascended to the throne, though not even death could stop those ponies from dying once more.
Sombra had destroyed a wide collection of books, or hidden them inside his personal chambers. Ponies who lived fulfilling lives had turned into ashes, either because their own accomplishments overshadowed the prior king or because the sick stallion simply felt like it. There were still many books that filled the shelves of the archives, but it was clear from only a glance that there were a great number of books missing.
Skeletor could only imagine where some of the lost tomes had gone as he roamed through the isles with a green aura lighting his path. His glowing finger traced across the bound spines of many books, searching desperately for answers to questions that he couldn’t think of.
He ignored the familiar chill that tickled the base of his skull, not even bothering to turn and confront the shadows as he had before. The creaking chains of the shelves and unlit chandeliers were the only reply he received when he demanded for Sombra’s spirit to reveal itself.
Unlike the ponies who lived inside the remaining history books, Sombra refused to stay dead. Skeletor didn’t know what the stallion was doing to him, but he knew he had to stop it. Everything the transformed human could think of pointed only to Sombra. Skeletor’s arrival, his faulty memories, his transformation, the dead stallion was the one behind everything.
Sombra was the first pony Skeletor had met, teleporting him from just outside the Crystal Empire to a dark realm of shadows that lead to the throne room. He had also proven himself to be a master of manipulating the minds and bodies of the crystal ponies, so it was just as likely that those same spells affected Skeletor’s mind in a different way. Finally, the spirit of the tyrant appeared before him and, though he claimed that he never summoned Skeletor, there was little room for argument as to who was responsible for Skeletor’s plights.
Sombra had made a deal with the pony equivalent of the devil, Grogin if Skeletor recalled correctly, and it was possible that the dark ruva had simply botched a summoning spell and brought Skeletor instead of a demon. Though that explanation left a few questions unanswered, it was all Skeletor had to work with. Crystal would possibly have more information in regards to how they came to Equestria but, since the only other human on the planet was in a different kingdom, Skeletor could only rely on his own intuition and whatever information the royal archives offered.
He desperately wished that Copper Plate was at his side to guide him through the strange organization of books, but she was preoccupied with her work in the council room. The only guide he had was a faint memory of Avid Value leading him through the archives to find the medical spell book that held Princess Amore’s brainwashing spell. In a fit of fury, Skeletor tore the page from the book and burned it, a decision he was growing to regret as he turned down another row of books.
Copper Plate wasn’t all too pleased to hear of Skeletor’s “accidental fire spell” but she thankfully didn’t do anything more than glare at him for about a day. Still, his little magic trick prompted the old mare to rebind every book and check each chain, replacing anything that looked too old with a fresh set of iron chains and locks. Even if he would find the books he was looking for, he would need to pick the lock and hope that he wouldn’t earn Copper Plate’s ire once more.
Of course, these facts were overlooked as he blindly wandered through the archives. Rational thought had little room in a mind clouded by anger and fraught with worry.
With nothing but his hazy memory and a glowing finger, Skeletor continued to pace through the rows of books, only giving some titles an idle glance as he searched for the lavender colored tome. From what he could recall, most books dealing with magic had purple covers to them, a sign of their greater value and a symbol of power to those who could actually own a book dyed in lavender hues. Of course, there were some exceptions, such as the green covered book that Sombra had offered him long ago, a personal collection of spells written by the dark lord himself, and the brown book that Skeletor would spend hours reading about during his practice.
The dead ruva mare who would be Skeletor’s tutor, Radiant Hope, went to great lengths to simplify her words so that a thestral or crystal pony could understand, something that her alien student was very happy about. She was one of the many creatures that Skeletor would never meet, another victim of the monster that summoned Skeletor to the Crystal Empire.
As his mind wandered to the memories of the nights he forewent sleep to learn from the studious mare’s words, his sockets shot back to a familiar purple book that his gaze had just brushed over.
He easily spotted the blue snowflake that decorated the book’s spine, the cutie mark of the mare who had sat on the throne before Sombra ripped her lifeless corpse off of it.
Skeletor’s hand snaked around the two additional locks that secured it to the archive’s shelves. His fingernail tickled the inside of the lock, brushing around the edges of it before he let the lock limply fall back into place. He studied the lock for several seconds, allowing memories of films and tv shows to play in his mind as he thought of a way to remove the two obstacles.
He wouldn’t be able to break them off, at least not without annoying Copper Plate again. Picking them with a bobby pin was out of the question since he had neither a pin nor the skills to do so.
Realization suddenly struck him like an ill-tempered nun, and Skeletor allowed his head to fall into his open palm. After being stuck in a magical pony land, as a magical villain, with magical powers, he forgot that he could just use magic.
After a few moments of berating himself, Skeletor unholstered the Havoc Staff from his back and took several steps away from the book. His back pressed firmly against the other shelves as the ran skull kissed the bottom lock. The light that enveloped his hand melted away, allowing the horns of his staff to collect his power and focus on the iron seal.
The dull hum of his magic rose, reaching the crescendo before the sound of a pop of metal, followed by the ringing of a hunk of metal striking the floor.
With some apprehension, Skeletor lowered the glowing horns of his staff to the floor. He released a thankful breath when he saw the lock wasn’t melted or destroyed. Emboldened by his success, Skeletor removed the second lock with ease and freed the tome from its bindings.
He laid the two locks on the barren space before walking over to a desk at the end of the row and lighting the candle set on it. Azure flames danced on the candle heads as Skeletor flipped through the worn tome, grimacing slightly as he passed the page that once held the brainwashing spell.
An hour passed as Skeletor combed the book, reading by the quiet candle light as he continued to ignore the occasional shiver that raced down his spine. Several pages made brief mentions of the brainwashing spell, or rather, “Lover’s Redirection” spell, though none of them went too in depth into what the spell did, only advising the reader to return to the only page that Skeletor destroyed.
There weren’t any mentions of how to undo the spell, or know if a modified version of it was cast or not. At most, all he could find was a loose paragraph hypothesized using the spell on cheating or promiscuous couples.
As columns of falling wax began to reach the table, marking the near second hour of his search, Skeletor closed the book and rubbed the corners of his sockets.
“Damn it all. Not a single good reference to that blasted spell,” he muttered, feeling another chill race through him. Tired and upset, Skeletor slammed his fist on the table and screamed into the darkness.
“I’m sure you’re laughing your ass off, aren’t you, Sombra!? The poor naive human doesn’t know what he’s doing, right? Well at least I’m still alive, which is more than I can say for you, you pitiful phantom!”
Silence was the only reply, something that Skeletor had become accustomed to in his one-sided conversations with the watchful spirit.
“Ah, the old silent treatment. Coming from you, I take it as a blessing since I can’t hear your insufferably smug voice. Or maybe you’ve finally gotten sick of your own voice? I can only imagine that years of talking to yourself would become grating. Was that why you enslaved the Empire, because no one would talk to you otherwise? Nyeh-heh, not even your own slaves liked you, and they were programed to like you! Just look at me Sombra, I’m the culmination of your miserable failures!” He exclaimed as he rose from his seat and confronted the shadows.
“You wanted to summon a monster, and you got one! You were just too stupid to stop it from killing you with a stick, a stick, Sombra! I didn’t use a single spell or magic trick, just unbridled rage and a fucking stick, how does that feel? The stallion who killed an immortal, battled goddesses, enslaved an entire Empire, killed with a stick! It’s no wonder why you’re not in hell yet, they’re pitying you because you were beaten to death with a god. damn. Stick!
“The monster, the dreaded tyrant, Hitler’s fursona, killed by his own stupidity. Nye-Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh. It’s-It’s actually hilarious when I think about it! Nye-heh-heh-Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Oh-Oh, I-I think I might see you soon Sombra, because I’m about to laugh myself to death at how pitiful you are. Nyeh-Nyeh-HA-Ha-HA-Ha-Ha-HA!”
Skeletor’s mad cackle rang throughout the quiet library, striking the perceived phantom in a way that no physical attack could. A minute later, his laughter died down to a bemused chuckle as he waited for Sombra to reply.
“Fine, be quiet then. Once Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor find your spirit, you’ll be screaming in Hell forever. Nye-Heh-heh-heh-heh,” he chuckled mockingly.
The smile he wore barely hid the scowl that crossed his features as he went to put the book back where it belonged and left the archives. He never realized that more than one set of eyes were watching him as he walked to the medical ward.
The dead eyes of an immortal gazed lovingly at the new prince of the Empire.
Shining Armor couldn’t feel the love that each artist strived to put in their paintings, nor could he admire the beauty of each stroke as he and Crux Heart trotted past the many hanging portraits of the deceased princess.
Without warning, the two stallions were quickly joined by General Camisole as she flew in through of the hall’s windows.
“No sign of him in the halls. Any luck?” She asked the pair.
“A few guards said he was walking this way, but they don’t know where he went,” Shining Armor reported as the trio trotted down the labyrinth of halls.
“He could realistically be anywhere with that portal spell. Heck, he might not even be inside the castle anymore,” Crux Heart stated, earning a light glare from his general.
“Yes, thank you for reminding us, Crux. It would have been helpful is somepony came to me when he woke up like I bucking told them to!”
“Hey, I was writing down everything I found in his journal!” The medic defended.
“Wonderful, we confirmed that Skeletor is actually crazy, what else is new?”
“Well, now we know that he has memory problems. and that he was probably telling the truth about being from another world.”
“Right, because everypony’s diary is full of nothing but complete honesty. It’s not like he might have wanted us to find it or anything, that’d be impossible,” Camisole snarked with heavy sarcasm.
“That’s enough, Cami,” Shining Armor stated firmly, cutting off ay rebuttals from Crux Heart and killing their argument inn an instant. “What’s done is done. We can argue about the validity of the journal later. Right now, we have a missing guard and demon on our hooves, and I want to find them before something else happens. If Skeletor woke up then he should have gone to the medical wing to check on his health.”
“Which he didn’t,” Camisole tacked in.
“So, it’s not enough of an issue for him to seek medical attention,” Crux Heart mused.
“Right, so where else would he have gone if it was a normal day for him?” The unicorn prince asked, earning a pair of curious looks as the two waited for him to continue.
“Oh. Are you asking us? I thought that was metaphorical.”
“Rhetorical,” Crux Heart corrected.
“That too. Anyway, the only places he visits are his room, the royal bath, and the dining hall. We’ve already checked them, and we don’t know enough about him to guess where the heck he’d go.”
“What about the other night guards, where are they looking right now?”
“Ballad and Top Deck are patrolling the outside as usual, neither of them has reported seeing Skeletor outside. Silver Shield and Meteor joined the search after I told them what happened. Everypony else is busy guarding the princess or shadowing the council members. We’re pretty much on our own unless somepony comes to us or—” Camisole’s voice trailed off as hers and Crux Heart’s ears suddenly went rigid.
“Or he could just yell really loudly,” Crux Heart mused as he and Camisole began walking off without any warning.
“What’s going on?” Shining Armor asked.
“Skeletor is shouting about something. It’s too faint to hear it clearly, but he sounds pretty upset,” the medic answered.
“Annnnd now the big guy’s laughing more than a foal with a set of keys. That’s probably not a good thing,” Camisole added on as their quick canter grew into a full gallop.
The three ponies soon came to a pair of large doors being guarded by a single stallion, a guard bearing Skeletor’s personal armor. The crystal pony gave the three a rather harsh look before realization struck and he bowed to Shining Armor.
“Welcome, your royal esteemed majesty. May I ask what you need?”
“We’re looking for Skeletor, right now. Have you seen him?”
“Yes, your majesty, he went into the royal archives over an hour ago,” the guard reported.
Camisole’s ears went rigid as she listened to Skeletor’s faint rant descend into a fit of mad laughter.
“Anything special?” The prince asked.
“Still laughing like an idiot,” Camisole reported as she fished a small whistle from her coat’s pocket. Crux Heart was quick to cover his ears as the general pressed her lips to the small whistle.
A few tense seconds passed before Camisole’s hardened expressions became softer and a smile decorated her muzzle. “Star’s still with him, and she’s alright. Now, I get to stretch her wings on a clothes line!”
“How do you know she’s alright?”
“She let back two short bursts,” Crux Heart answered, giving the whistle an irritable look. “If she was in danger, she either wouldn’t blow it or she’d only blow it once in response for as long as she could.”
“Alright, we know where he is, now what?” Camisole asked the pair. “… We did come here with a plan, right?”
Shining Armor hid a light grimace as he quickly thought of what orders to deliver to his escorts. “If Star Burst is safe, then we need to find out why Skeletor is in the archives. How long has Skeletor been inside?” Shining asked the crystal guard, who snapped to attention under the prince’s gaze.
“Two hours, your majesty.”
“Right, so the whole time then. Cami, I want—” The price’s words were cut off abruptly as the two thestrals hugged his side and activated the enchantments on their badges. Though the enchantments weren’t as strong as the one that was being constantly recharged for Star Burst, the two enchantments were still enough to cover the trio as the hinges of the doors began to scream.
The gapping guard quickly turned to see the demon walk out of the room, his feet striking the floor with an intense fury as he passed the invisible ponies. Shining Armor’s own horn then lit up to redouble the enchantments that hid them, watching in worried silence as the skull headed monster angrily stomped away.
A shimmer of light squeezed past the closing door, quickly trying to catch up to the irate demon before it stopped in midair. A glance back at Camisole was all it took for Shining Armor to realize that the second lieutenant was being ordered through Camisole’s high-pitched whistle.
Once the demon was out of sight, the four dropped their enchantments and spell respectively, earning a gob stocked look from the increasingly confused crystal guard. Before the second lieutenant could even salute, Camisole descended upon the mare with a great fury.
“Luna’s star-filled mane, Star, what were you thinking!? I told you and quiz-colt here to come to me when the big guy woke up, not to go missing for two bucking hours doing Celestia knows what!”
“But—”
“And you,” Camisole interrupted, turning her anger towards the medic. “Don’t think for a second that I forgot the hoof you played in this. You two will be begging to have your wings plucked off by the time we get back to Canterlot, do I make myself clear!”
“Ma’am, yes, Ma’am!” The duo responded, throwing tight salutes to their superior as she glared at them, doing her best impression of an angry mother breathing her children.
“Good. You!” Camisole shouted at the crystal guard. The resident pony, clearly not expecting her tirade to suddenly turn towards him, fumbled with his spear for a moment as he instantly straightened his posture. “Thank you for watching over the archives while Skeletor and my lieutenant were inside. I didn’t realize that they went on a quick study session. Everything’s a bit hectic, what with him abdicating the throne, and we were all worried when we couldn’t find him. Thank you for your service, soldier,” she said with a warm smile.
Shining Armor perked a brow at her sudden change in demeanor before following her as she shot the two thestral guards an icy glare. The trio turned quartet briskly trotted away from the archives, passing by the many familiar paintings that filled the hall as they casually followed the same path Skeletor took.
Shining Armor glanced behind to look back at the proud crystal guard before quietly whispering to his general.
“What was that about?”
“The shouting or the random praise?”
“The second one.”
“Makes him ask less questions, and it might stop him from spreading rumors to the other guards. Wouldn’t help us if there were rumors about thestrals looking for Skeletor, would it? Now, what in Celestia’s cabinet was happening in the archives?” Camisole asked Star Burst.
“Skeletor was looking for a spell book. He thinks that Sombra’s ghost is stalking him, apparently, and I guess he was looking for a spell to get rid of him. He was ranting a lot at the end, and I couldn’t catch much since he was stabbing my ears with his voice.”
“That lines up with what I read in his journal,” Crux Heart added on. “Skeletor made a list of theories as to how he came here. A few of them were odd, but one that stood out was the idea that Sombra summoned him to the Empire. He also had an entry recounting a meeting with Sombra’s spirit in the royal bedroom.”
“Great, so he’s crazy. Faust, I sound like a broken record,” Camisole lamented.
“What are the odds that Sombra is alive, or at least as alive as a ghost can be,” Shining Armor butted in.
“Crux,” Camisole called out, ordering him to think about it as she fought off the growing headache that pounded against her skull.
“That’s… I don’t want to say it’s impossible, there have been ponies in the past who could separate their soul from their physical body, but the caster is still alive in those instances. Aside from folklore and myths in other countries, there isn’t much proof of spirits. Although, some would argue that windigos were the souls of angry ponies, evidence from Neighgrolian writing points to them actually being a form of artificial life created by condensed emotions that surrounded physical objects, such as relics used by demons during the era of the three sirens, who were believed to be descendants of—”
“Ghosts real? Yes or no?” Camisole hissed irritably.
“… Strong maybe,” Crux Heart answered. “If anypony could come back as a spirit, I’d imagine it was somepony who made a deal with Grogar. Skeletor wrote about a warning Sombra gave him about a debt with ‘Grodar’, which he brushed off as Sombra, quote, ‘bull-shitting him.’ “
“Great, so the lord of Tartarus may or may not be coming here. What’s next, Tirek joins the party with the Sirens in tow?” The tired general half-heartedly joked.
“I thought Grogar was just a foal’s tale,” Star Burst questioned, earning a mirthless chuckle to escape Camisole.
“Yup. Hey, let’s play a game. It’s called, list the things that have appeared in the last two years that we all thought were fictional. Ready? Nightmare Moon, Eris, the changelings, oh, and of course who can forget the Crystal Empire? I’d honestly be surprised if I retired before another ancient so-and-so from Equestria’s past came back.”
“That… Is actually a bit worrying,” Crux Heart admitted.
“I doubt we’ll have to face off against the Father of all Monsters,” Shininng reassured them. “Still, I’ll have to let Cadence and the princesses know about this. What about the book Skeletor was looking at. Did it have a title?”
“Not that I could see. It had a blue snowflake on the spine and it was purple. I could go back and point it out if you wanted,” Star Burst answered.
“Alright. Cami, I want you to shadow Skeletor while Star and I circle back with a clocking spell and look for the book, and Crux, I want you to take whatever you copied from Skeletor’s journal to Cadence,” Shining Armor ordered.
The trio of thestrals nodded as they broke off to perform their respective tasks. Shining Armor and his escort turned on their fetlocks while the other two flew off, trotting back down the hall of lavish portraits.
“So, what’s the plan for getting back in? Invisibility spell? Teleport?” Star Burst asked.
“I was thinking we’d walk through the door like normal ponies. I’ll just say that you forgot something and we’ll trot right inside.”
“Oh… I guess that works too,” the younger thestral conceded.
With that passing remark, the two easily made their way inside the royal archives, blissfully ignorant of the unnatural shadow that hid beneath their hooves.
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them calling skeletor crazy for thinking sombra is still there and trying to get rid of him wont end well after they find sombra
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Well at least they're open to the idea he might be right. Miss Twilight "curses don't exist" probably wouldn't have given it a second thought.
Skeletor maybe going coocoo but he's not wrong about Sombra. Also when is Twilight coming?
I hope Skelle-man recovers.
Another great chapter as usual.:D
So....
when does the confrontation part come?
hopefully it will be a pitched battle where skeletor again faces the sombra and uses his anger against him and then takes aim at cadence and the others, after all raising his hope that there is another human in equestria only to find out that they were lying to him the whole weather.
I must say, hehehe that he particularly would be quite upset not to say enraged
I hope it is something worth seeing...I say no?
Don't call Twilight into the story! I'm begging you- don't.
Always nice to see another chapter! I wonder how Celestia and Luna will react to Shining’s mention of Grogar, along with the knowledge of Sombra’s spirit. Whatever the case, things are always getting more interesting.
Thank you for the chapter!
missing an I in I'll. also shinning has 2 n's in his name for some reason
great chapter as always. I particularly liked this one. skelly boy going insane is fun to watch :D
pics.me.me/thumb_i-gvess-samantha-hanaway-on-twitter-mind-wanna-think-about-50591567.png
I had to take a momentary break at "Hitler’s fursona".
Missing break between the characters' respective lines.
I look forward to seeing how Cadence reacts to Skeletor's journal when she sees it. The batpony guards have already been shown to be pretty awful, so it doesn't matter how they view the contents too much. But Cadence is the representation of Love on Equis.
If she reads Skeletor's journal -- his story about tragically being ripped from home, being filled with fear and loss, slowly losing himself as his curse takes root, all while doing everything he knows how to help out the Crystal Empire while dealing with his own struggles... If she reads all of that and still considers him a monster because of his screwed up emotions, then she is not only a bad person, but completely undeserving of her title of "Princess of Love."
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You're already on thin ice when you go around spying on people's minds as casually as you'd note their hair or fur color.
Oh man please would somepony just help the poor sap already, like really really help Skeletor he just want out from Pony Universe and return to Our Universe 😢😭
Sombra: well, shit now i have to come back and purge the empire, can't let the fact that i got beaten to death with a stick become knows far and wide
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Thank you both for pointing out these mistakes!
sad thing is sombra is not responsible, but skeletor doesn't know that, so he looking in the wrong place for help,
Oh, poor Skeletor. He's loosing his mind from the curse, and tearing his own soul to shreds from using the magic taught through Sombra. This is just... Geez. This story has more than earned the sad tag.
This just got rather bone chilling.
Thanks for the chapter
Oooh female discord interesting
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Yeah same thought in my head, i first saw "eris" somewhere near the begining and every time i read this one of my biggest thoughts in my head is "why is it eris not discord what implications does this hold, for what reason is it eris not discord"
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They seem to me at least to not be dismissing it out of hand.
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i hope skeletor gets to be at least freinds with her as they both arent exactly normal in equestria so they might be pushed together through cirumstanse. Or not but i definetly want skeletor to make a true freind soon.
what i wonder is does anyone else think cadence seems a bit more... willing to decive and less open then her cannon conterpart? or is it just me as if it isnt then this could paint celestia as someone else from the cannon version. i mean cadence has openly enforced a lie that gives skeletor hope and seems less like she would get rid of him for the slightest thing so that attitude has to come from somewhere
Fantastic work.
i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/930/155/87c.jpg
Alright, who installed GATE on the archive doors? I'm pretty sure Dwarf is pissed at this point over it, and not the drunk kind of pissed.
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Oh my god, how did I fuck that up so badly? Thanks for pointing that out!
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Also, holy crap, you're the author of DODGE!: Advanced Basic Combat Training for Pathetically Passive Pretty Pony Princesses. Really loved your work on that story. Always happy to see a few TFS stories every now and again.
OH HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME, SO SOMBRA IS STILL ALIVE... I mean he can turn to a literal monstrous shadow creature... still, I should had both expected this... I feel ashamed for thinking he was still dead. Still can't wait for what's to come soon!
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Technically Twilight has no reason to come to the Empire, the only reason she went in the show was because Shining and Cadance needed her and the others help with Sombra; since Sombra was already dead - assumingly - by Skeletor before the married couple arrived, the only ones from Equestria being sent to the Empire is medical professionals, more guards, and possibly some workers to help repair and reconstruct the infrastructure of the Empire.
What a ride. Can't wait to see how all this sorts out!
An AWESOME chapter! Cant wait for the next one!
I think the reason that I love this story the way that I do, is that people get exactly what they want. Only to realise...what they wanted was a bad idea.
It reminds me of the Sword of Damocles fable from Greek Mythos.
This great story just reminds me of it. Everyone wants what they want and when they get it, its not quite what they thought it was. I cant wait for the "long knives in the night."
The Monk
“Because we killed all of the monsters we ever ran into, save for ourselves and Death. What better way to respect death than to give it the form of the only monster we could never kill?" - WhatMustIDo
Pon¥$: This is madness...
Sombra: THIS IS THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE-AAAA
*kicks Cadance and Shining in a Pit*
than Cadance remembers she has wingsand fly away with Shining whole Sombra calls them cheating hax0r$!
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Jack Sparrow: This is politics.
Absolutely love the humor, great entertainment indeed. Equestrians have a good sense of humor
When the impossible becomes common occurrence, poor Crystal Kingdom!