Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra

by Randimaxis

Twenty One: Twisted Sister

Her classmates may have tried to say something to stop her, yet she heard not a word of it; her goal was the gym.

Arriving there, Obsidian could very much feel the foul presence of Dark Magic in the air... though it was thicker than Tourmaline's aura had been; perhaps it was due to more than one of her siblings being present?

It didn't matter - if anything had happened to poor Gypsy...

Without even noticing the slight purple mist that began to issue from her eyes, she opened the doors. As in her vision, there was Gypsy - with a helmet-clad Mica standing nearby. And there was a third stallion standing with them - Lemon Custard in a helmet!

This was BAD... but Tourmaline was nowhere to be seen, curiously.

In a way, she had satisfied Lemon's command - she was in a presence of an adult pony sent to guard her... too bad that he was currently brainwashed into helping the OTHER SIDE.

"There you are. Good. Now that I have your attention..."

There was a roll of purple smoke from the corner, and a form shimmered into sight as an invisibility spell dropped around a mare about the same age as herself, with a braided mane and tail - both jet black - while her off-white coat seemed to fade to a dull grey at her hooves. She looked angry, and purple mist rolled from the corners of her mouth as she spoke, revealing wickedly sharp canine teeth.

"Obsidian... it's about time I met you - glad to see the little illusion I whipped up brought you here. I was beginning to wonder if you were somewhat retarded, not taking the hints I was sending you!"

She looked a bit... manic... yet she also seemed to be taking her time and gauging Obsidian carefully. This mare might not possibly be as foolish as Tourmaline had been, but there was a 'harried' look to her, even though she strode confidently forward.

"This doglike one, by the way, is very interesting." She slid a hoof across Gypsy's shoulders, without a single flinch from him as she did. "Able bodied, uniquely clawed, strong armed... I think he'd make quite a good strip miner, once father's kingdom is back on track." She smiled, and it was like seeing a shark's cold grin.

Obsidian narrowed her eyes, not daring to leave this sister out of her line of sight even for a moment. Invisibility... that was bad, very bad. Her mad brother could be anywhere, planning darkness-only-knew what.

"Onyx, I presume? I wondered when we would eventually meet..." Life would be far too kind for them to meet in any peaceful way, of course. "Yes, diamond dogs seem to be very able miners, with at least a few other interesting abilities. Using them only for industrial work would be a waste, honestly."

There was somepony else coming, right? After all, Professor Fluttershy went to raise an alarm, Lemon had also supposedly gone to meet with Headmare Starlight... for Darkness' sake, animals were running and flying everywhere! This whole mess had to attract somepony's attention! She just had to stall for time. "The messages, in my head... can you speak this way to all shards?"

"Onyx!?" She growled low and guttural. "Don't you DARE confuse me with her! I'm nowhere near the level of power she's got amped up inside her... and neither... are... YOUUUUU!"

The crazed mare suddenly whipped out a dagger very much like the one she'd seen Tourmaline holding earlier, and it floated in front of her, wavering as if it were a pendulum in her magic's grasp.

"No, you have it wrong... I am Amethyst, a creation of our incredible father's magic, and superior to anypony created after me!"

She began to pace, her eyes glued to Obsidian as he let her blade follow her pacing, while occasionally making false passes at the helpless diamond dog, coming within inches of cutting him. "And you... we've been watching you, and I find you lacking... BUT..."

She paused, and the blade seemed to come to a stop. "... she does not, for some reason that's beyond me. She... is so very close to our goal, to bringing our most honourable father back from the grave, but she says she... requires... our power, which was a gift from father... a gift we must now re-gift unto him, so he may return..."

She grinned again. "Still, I'm sure you're FAR more interested in your own slaves here, yes? Have I made you mad by threatening to break your little toys?"

Oh, so she had not one, but TWO sisters! Obsidian would have been quite happy to hear that... if they weren't so crazy. And murderous. And evil. Obsidian was beginning to understand more and more about what Princess Twilight had said about the rest of the shards - that perhaps she was the only one among them able to actually have friends.

"Maybe a little - frankly, I'm a bit surprised that you got Lemon too. Do you want to keep him - I'm certain he has some redeeming values... though I'm not completely sure what they may be..." Obsidian said carefully, eyeing the dagger. In a way, though she was being somewhat flippant, Lemon's presence reminded her that she knew of a few things herself - and she may have had experience with some things that her erstwhile sister wouldn't expect...

Like a pencil.

"So, Sister Onyx seems to have a higher opinion of me than you and our brother - good. You've effectively admitted you're lacking in comparision to her... so why not just agree with her, would you kindly?"

Obsidian stepped closer. Was she really that keen to die to bring back their father? "Your loyalty to our father is admirable... even I had second thoughts about dying for his return."

"Of course you did, you damnable traitor!" Spittle flew from her lips as she shrieked at Obsidian, murder in her eyes. "You are a coward and a waste of father's glorious power! How could YOU have gotten so much of his magic!?"

So, if she heard correctly, they all had aspects of their father, and Obsidian's trait was his magic?

"No matter!" She suddenly shifted her attitude from crazed to calm and collected, smoothing her rumpled fur with a hoof. "The issue here is your cooperation, so I come to you with an offer, you traitor. If you come with me NOW, then we can have you available for the spell, once Onyx finishes her research... and she will finish soon, thanks to the tome we 'acquired' from the Royal Vaults!"

She laughed madly; it had all the quality and charm of a cat's claws snagging nylon.

"Our lives matter not one bit, compared to father's! And should Onyx have her way, she will have the distinct honor of freeing his essence, giving him life once again! And in the heart of Equestria, no less, with more power than he has ever held before!" The dagger was spinning in place, wavering slightly as light reflected off its' blade with each turn.

How wonderful - Obsidian had often wondered who her mother was... and now, it seemed that her father was her mother! Just as she'd always wanted!

... gross.

And Obsidian couldn't help but wonder which aspects were given to Tourmaline and Amethyst - his sublime sense of humour? Perhaps some unknown of tendency to stare? Maybe he had a habit of screaming? It couldn't be anything important; those two weren't exactly regal or dignified - a bit crazy, at best.

Magic, on the other hoof - did it mean that her siblings were potentially more skilled than her, but their powers were weaker?

"In the HEART of Equestria... you do know what that means, right?" Obsidian focused her mind and her magic. It was just a pencil - a very sharp one. Slowly, she began to imagine a ball of resistance around the dagger, hoping that Lemon's advice would save Gypsy's life.

"It means that he would be defeated even more quickly than before; look at the history of this land! All that you could possibly give to our glorious father in such a place would be a humiliating defeat. Now, I have asked the princess to spare him... and the lot of you... but I'm not certain if she means to honor my request."

Obsidian taunted her crazy sister further. "Assuming you'd be able to pull it off in the first place, as incompetence seems to be rampant among you! Were you simply too foolish to even attempt to reach out to me before that pathetic attempt to kill me?"

There had to be someone on the way...

"That impostor princess is just a glob of muck under our father's hooves! She will be his concubine! AND YOU WILL LEARN YOUR PLACE!"

She strode forward, and Obsidian felt her jerk HARD on her dagger... yet, to Amethyst's great surprise, it didn't budge. "Wha... what is this!? LET GO!!!"

She began pulling magically on the dagger, so intent on gaining it back from Obsidian that she was paying absolutely NO attention to her sister at all - her eyes and focus were all on that blade!

"MINE MINE MINE MINE MIIIIIIIINE!!!!!"

At this point, she began trying to struggle it out of Obsidian's grasp... but the dark princess was managing to hold it in place, if just barely. She wouldn't be able to continue this for long though, as her sister's magic was frantic and agitated - and she'd wiggle out of it before too long.

The doors on the other side of the gym suddenly slammed open, and somepony stepped forward.

"... OH, TARTARUS NO!"

With a roar of frustrated anger, Amethyst completely lost her grip on her dagger as she turned, surprised, and saw another mare storming over towards them both. "What-"

"NOBODY PLAYS ROTTEN WITH MY FRIENDS, SCUMBAG!" bellowed Thunderclap Dash, looking mad enough to spit fire.

The massive mare lunged at Amethyst and grabbed her midsection, then did what looked almost like a dance move, and smoothly (and POWERFULLY) twisted her around and >WHAM!< slammed the errant shard-pony into the floor with such force, the high windows rattled in their frames!

"Obsidian!" Also charging through the doors came Cupcake, with a potion in one of his hooves. He ran towards his brother and, uncorking the bottle as he made his way over, he poured a splash of what looked like green water over his head... and the helmet merely sizzled away.

"... uuuugh, wha... what? H-happened..?" the unicorn looked a bit dazed, but Cupcake spoke up.

"Lemon! Danger!"

The word was like a lightning bolt as Lemon snapped out of his daze and spotted Amethyst, who was screaming on the floor while Clap began to twist all her hooves behind her and sit on them. "Obsidian! The dagger! Get it to me!"

Whatever aspect Amethyst had gotten from their illustrious father, it surely wasn't his wits; her crazed ranting, her failure to approach Obsidian in a parley fashion... and now she seemed to be more focused on her weapon than her enemy!

Truth to be told, Amethyst was very lucky that Obsidian didn't continue her assault - with her apparently potent Dark Magic, she would be in a world of pain; at the moment, the dark princess was simply doing her best to stall her... then Thunderclap rushed in, personally redefining the term 'world of pain' for Obsidian's unlucky sibling.

Obsidian immediately levitated the rather sharp dagger to Lemon - for the first time in her life, so glad to hear his voice. She'd been lucky that Amethyst hadn't thought about using her puppets against her; Gypsy should be probably easy to restrain, using Dark Magic, but Lemon would have been a far more formidable opponent.

And so; first things first.

Obsidian's horn flashed, creating magical binds that kept Amethyst in place as Thunderclap restrained her, then she rushed forward, with the very clear intent of putting her sister into a more manageable mood... by knocking her unconscious with a kick to the horn.

It was at that point that three things happened:

First, Gypsy suddenly moved like greased lightning, moving between Obsidian and Lemon, and yanked the dagger from the air so fast that Obsidian didn't even have time to pull it back from his grasp. He then turned and, with a quick swipe, drew a slash across Lemon's barrel.

Second, Mica leapt forward and slammed his hooves into Thunderclap's back, making her yelp. She turned with anger in her eyes - and stopped cold when she saw who it was. "M-Mica!?" And then he struck her again, this time in the head, drawing blood from a gash on her temple as she cried out in pain.

Third, Amethyst growled... and a helmet appeared out of thin air, right over Thunderclap!

The crazed pony began to laugh maniacally. "You lose! You lose! You-"

Obsidian's kick landed, and the scream of pain that erupted from her erstwhile sister was loud enough to hurt her ears! Yet the very moment the kick connected, all of the helmets vanished in puffs of smoke, as if they were unstable to begin with. Gypsy and Mica fell to the floor, while Lemon merely let out a hiss of pain as he brought a hoof to his chest, which was beginning to bleed.

"I'll live," Lemon rasped through gritted teeth, "just restrain that psycho!"

Frankly, if you have to scream about your victory for your enemies to know that they'd lost... then it wasn't exactly a victory yet. Obsidian made sure that Amethyst would remember this lesson... though it wasn't like Obsidian had to let off some steam and was enjoying it, right?

"AND STAY DOWN!" Obsidian shouted with a righteous fury, as she delivered a second kick to Amethyst's head. It wasn't civilized or pretty - but she had to be sure her crazed sister was thoroughly pacified, or at least too dazed to cast any spells. Again, a bloodcurdling scream issued from the shard-pony as she squirmed underneath Thunderclap's weight and Obsidian's restraining magics.

She was just making sure.

"LEMON!" Cupcake called out to his own sibling.

"NO, Cup, I'm fine - check on the other two!"

Hesitantly, Cupcake - still looking towards his brother with extreme concern - made his way over to Mica's limp form, trying to shake him awake gently.

"You sorry little... I'M GONNA BEAT YOUR FLANK SO HARD, YOUR WHOLE FREAKIN' EMPIRE'LL FEEL IT!" Clap yelled as she leaned down into Amethyst, causing her to screech yet again... and this time, there was an accompanying >snap<, which brought an even higher pitched scream from Obsidian's sister.

"Thunderclap, back off!" Lemon yelled. The massive mare grit her teeth so hard, Obsidian could hear it... yet she stopped pressing the dark mare down into the wooden floor like she was trying to bury her through pressure alone.

"... ooooohhhhhh... th-the head..." Gypsy started to sit up, yet held his head and groaned. Mica, meanwhile, was beginning to rouse as well, also groaning and holding his head in his hooves as Cupcake patted his back.

"Mica? You okay?" Cup asked anxiously.

"... I feel like... a freshly-shifted tectonic plate... in a state of geothermic distress..." the earth pony muttered.

"... he's fine," Cup said with relief as he turned to see to their diamond dog friend next.

"Th-th-this one... d-d-does not enj-joy... the h-h-head-poundies..." Gypsy groaned, but his tail gave a light wag as Cup came to check him over.

Amethyst, her muzzle pressed to the floor and bleeding from the base of her horn, stared with an almost palpable spite at Obsidian. "I hope... she... skins your slaves alive... and force feeds their flesh to y-"

"SHUT YOUR PIEHOLE!" Clap yelled directly into her ear, which made Amethyst squeeze her eyes shut in pain.

Well, the first meeting with her sister could have gone better, but at least she didn't escape... at least not yet, as Obsidian had no doubts that her siblings were pretty crafty... when it came to running away with their tails between their legs. However with her bleeding horn, inferior magical skills, and now what may have been a broken bone or two? She would probably stay down, for now.

Obsidian barely managed to resist the temptation to taunt and belittle Amethyst and instead turned her attention to Lemon Custard. She trotted quickly to him to examine the slash wound and, if possible, heal it.

"... I'm sorry for disobeying orders... and I await the appropriate punishment," she whispered to him, not wanting Amethyst to hear it.

Lemon muttered back, "Don't worry about it - you did fine; far be it for me to punish you for saving me."

The wound was mostly shallow, but the cut ran all the way across his barrel in front, leaving an ugly red line from his shoulder to the opposing foreleg. It was most certainly within her realm of healing however, and she began to prepare the spell for him and Thunderclap.

"I... what happened? I don't recall," Mica said, holding his head with a hoof.

"Slimeball here had you under a Sombra helmet, 'til Siddy kicked the fire outta her!" Clap proudly boasted for Obsidian.

As the group gathered themselves, Obsidian got a look at Clap's forehead; it was a gash that seemed to be bleeding somewhat freely - but also not a difficult fix for her healing magics.

Amethyst said nothing, but if looks could kill, they would all be corpses with the seething and furious glare she was giving them all.

Her magic gathered, Obsidian cast the healing spell on Lemon's wound, and then on Clap's head... the Dark Magic of Sombra, being used to heal 'lesser' ponies - who would have thought?

"We should call for Princess Twilight, right? I mean, since we have performed pest control... and successfully captured the pest," Obsidian smirked at Amethyst, enjoying the futile rage in her eyes. Such a foolish little pony, daring to attack HER and her FRIENDS...

"Mister Lemon? Did you get to the headmare before you were attacked?" There was still no Tourmaline to be seen - was his appearance in her vision a mere illusion?

"No, I didn't; I picked up a trail - left intentionally, I'd wager - and followed it to the restrooms on the second floor; next I know, I'm waking up here, coated in green... Cup, what IS this stuff?"

Cupcake grinned, "Professor Fluttershy reached us in the science lab, and Doctor Whooves had a concoction that he said could dissolve solid magics, just in case. I... think he wanted it back... wait... he said he didn't want it back. I think."

"And I was drawn to the cafeteria... it looked like my mother was walking inside, but she doesn't work here - so I naturally followed. And you know the rest." Mica rubbed his head again, absentmindedly.

"Th-th-this o-one... rec-calls seeing y-y-y-y-you after c-c-class... then he w-was th-th-thirsty, and w-went for a d-d-d-dr-drink at the f-fountain... then s-s-suddenly, he w-w-was here." Gypsy looked down, unsure of what else to say.

Clap looked up at her as she healed her cut. "Thanks, Siddy - that feels lots better."

Lemon nodded. "Yes, thank you - NOW," he walked over and leaned down, his face inches from Amethyst's, "as for YOU, I believe you're familiar with the concept of a dungeon, hmmmmmm?"

"I. SPIT. ON. YOUR. ENTIRE. NATION. SLAVE."

Clap spat directly onto the crazed pony's muzzle. "Beat you to it, you garbage," she scowled.

"Now now," Lemon glanced at Clap, "that's enough of that... no need to rub it in." As he spoke, he reached up and did exactly that, smearing Clap's spit into Amethyst's muzzle fur... but carefully avoiding her rather sharp teeth.

"Okay," Lemon stood up and gave the group a most serious look, "I'll fetch guards and take her where she can't harm anyone but herself, but I want all of you to report directly to Princess Twilight, immediately. Let her know what's happened, and for Twilight's sake, stay together."

With that, he turned and, with a final glance at Amethyst and her dagger encased in his magic, he left to do as he said. As soon as he'd left the room, Clap began leaning on Obsidian's sister again, making her groan in pain through gritted teeth.

Obsidian frowned at the treatment of her sister. "Thunderclap, there is no call for that - if my siblings hadn't been so incompetent by not trying to reach out to me - not to mention trying to kill me - thus forcing me into the Equestrian camp... well, I'd possibly be the one on the floor."

Despite herself, she looked at Amethyst and smirked anyway. "... or not; I wouldn't focus on a simple dagger during a fight, ignoring everything else around me. Anyway, does anypony have a handkerchief?"

Gypsy, of course, reached up his sleeve and pulled out a hankerchief. "Th-this one d-d-d-does." He reached down and, amidst growls from Amethyst, kindly and cautiously cleaned her cheek of spittle.

Clap's brow darkened. "She was gonna HURT everyone; trust me, if I hadn't done that, I'da done much... much... worse. But," she sighed, "fine. FINE. No more spit. Because YOU asked." She also sat up a little more, allowing a bit more room for Amethyst to breathe... for which, she seemed so grateful for...

"You had better hope I don't get my blade back, or I will skin you all alive!"

"LOOK," Cupcake was suddenly right in her face, crouched and eye level with her, "I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR MANURE, YOU WARMED-OVER EXCUSE FOR A CONQUEROR'S JOCKSTRAP - SHUT. THE. TARTARUS. UP!"

Amethyst glared at him... but said nothing more. Cup stood up, smoothed his mane back, and gave a short sigh. "Well, I guess we have to get to Princess Twilight, as soon as dark-&-gruesome here is safely put away. Are you okay, Obsidian?" The others looked to her, apparently also concerned.

Obsidian nodded. "I've just discovered that I have another sister... managed to survive my meeting with her... everypony seems to be alive... and we captured her. It's ideal, I would say. As soon as she stops talking about skinning ponies alive, I'm sure we'll become Best Big Sister Friends Forever," she grinned to them, reaching levels of sarcasm and irony she didn't even know about a few days ago.

Clap grinned. "Heh, I think you're getting the hang of this stuff, Siddy - just don't invite me to your family reunions, 'kay?"

"Considering everything she said before," Obsidian pondered, "I think my sense of self-worth feels a bit improved, too." Knowing that you were made from the best part of your father does wonders for one's stress and anxiety.

"Gypsy, I was wondering..." she trotted to him and leaned toward his ear, whispering, "... do you think you would be able to possibly smell Dark Magic? My siblings can mask themselves, and I don't have any other ideas on how to detect them..."

Gypsy looked down thoughtfully at Obsidian's question. "Well... th-this one c-c-c-can certainly s-smell your sist-t-ter, th-that is cert-t-tain. Perhaps he c-c-could. He w-w-would be willing t-to find out-t." It was better than nothing, right? Perhaps it should be enough to at least prepare for fight instead of getting two surprise attacks in a row.

"What she said before?" Mica asked. "I don't believe we were privy to that part of the conversation, Siddy - care to fill us in?"

"I believe that Amethyst had stated that I was the recipient of my father's magic when he created us; I consider it very interesting information..."

"What do you mean? How did you get his magic?" Mica asked curiously.

Cupcake looked as though he understood though. "Wait... this has to do with the shard-thing Auntie Twilight was talking about earlier, doesn't it?"

"What in the wide, wide world of Equestria are you yammering about, Cuppie?" Clap asked.

"Well... it's not my story to tell, Clap," he looked at Obsidian, "because I don't know if she feels like she can share it with everyone yet."

"C'mon, Siddy," Clap looked to her, "spill it."

That's right - they didn't know; only Cupcake had been with her when she'd experienced the worst meltdown of her life.

"Oh, how should I put it... my siblings and I were made from parts of King Sombra's soul, infused into crystal - and isn't that interesting too? We are literally shards of him!" Her eyes practically beamed as she spoke.

Maybe she actually, truly DID like this modern Equestria and didn't exactly want to go with this whole 'bringing father back by killing you' idea, but she still considered the power and skill from her most honourable father to be the BEST... THING... EVER!

The rest were quiet for a moment. Two moments. Three.

"So... what, you're... not actually a pony?" Clap blatantly asked.

Cup's eyes went wide, and he jumped in immediately, apparently recalling how bad Obsidian had taken it when she'd heard it herself. "Nonononononononono!!! She's REAL - as real as I am, Clap - and she already had a mini-crisis over that, so I think it'd be a good idea to not-"

"Whoa, no, yeah," Clap turned to Obsidian, "I didn't mean... I just... yo, I am SO sorry, Siddy! I just... it's weird, y'know?"

"I'm sure she does know, Clap," Mica said evenly, "after all, how would YOU react to being told you were a magical shard?"

Clap stood up and walked right over to Obsidian and embraced her tightly, but not so hard it would hurt. "Oh manure, Siddy, no, I'm sorry, please don't take it bad! You're real to me, I swear!"

"You're real to us all," Cup said as he also came to her and wrapped his hooves around them both.

"Never a d-d-doubt," as Gypsy joined them.

"As real as each and every one of us," Mica joined the group hug.

Well, maybe she wasn't really 'real', but she had proven was at least as good as real! It was nice of Cup to try to protect her, though before she managed to reassure both him and Clap that she was in a rather fine mental state right now, they'd all ganged up on her!

Thunderclap's hug had been a bit rough; it truly felt as if she could absolutely crush anypony around - no wonder Amethyst went down that easily! Then the rest of her friends went along with the idea, quickly surrounding the poor unicorn mare who didn't really like being touched with hooves and paws...

But... it actually wasn't as bad as she'd expected - though it was still a bit of a nervous experience.

It lasted for all of ten seconds before Mica spoke up. "Okay, we should consider what's going on here."

They all separated, with Clap leaving a lingering hoof on Siddy's shoulder for a moment more. Once parted, Mica began to pace. "Okay, so if each shard supposedly contains an aspect of Sombra, then we need to take stock. It seems that you have the magic, while your charming sister has slavery magic. Not to mention illusions, as my mother was quite probably nowhere near this place today. What did your brother have?"

"Hold that thought, Mica; I'd say not now, not here. In a moment, we can go see Princess Twilight - we should be able to talk there, especially as there would be no spying sisters around."

Amethyst glared in anger and narrowed her eyes, but said nothing at all.

"Right," Mica said, "you're correct." He gave the groundbound mare a glance, shrugged, then looked back at the group. "So then, my guess would be that, if you've been attacked by two siblings today, then perhaps there will be another; I'd wager they're close to their goals, so they've reached desperate measures."

This was when the doors opened, and Lemon stepped in, followed by Professor Fluttershy, four fully-armor-clad Royal Guardsponies... and a very pouty and comparably tiny Stalwart Stance.

"Amethyst," Lemon began as he levitated out a unicorn magic shackle, fitting it into place over her horn, "you are under arrest for the assault on Obsidian, as well as the forced enslavement of Mica Chip, Gypsy Rover and myself. And given time, I'm sure I can come up with plenty more to keep you imprisoned for a loooooooooong time."

She still seemed defiant, and struggled at the sight of the restraint - but as soon as it locked into place, Amethyst simply sort of deflated against the floor, looking as though she had finally given up... as well as slightly scared.

"Take her away... and get her to a cell quickly, as she could have accomplices." The guards saluted, took hold of her (where she went completely limp), and dragged her bodily from the room, bound for a cell in the Royal Palace.

It was admittedly a bit painful to see Amethyst treated that way; if her siblings had amicably approached Obsidian first, or at least tried to reach her before she started to enjoy friendship, or at the VERY least hadn't tried to kill her... she could be on their side...

And most likely, she'd meet a similar fate. In a way, Tourmaline had actually saved her from this possibility with his surprise attack... but at any rate, at least one shard out of four was defeated and captured. And beaten into submission. With maybe a few broken bones, an injured horn, and without her magic...

Obsidian really hoped things would end well for her; perhaps after a while in a cell, she would realize that there were other ways to live her life. Amethyst may have been crazed, but she was still her sister.

"That's done," Lemon sighed, "but now we have to report this incident to-"

There was a flash of purple light, and Twilight Sparkle, in all her glory, was standing among them! "Fluttershy, I got your message - what's the problem?"

Professor Fluttershy looked to Obsidian. "I think she could tell you more than I could, Twilight. Obsidian, if you would, please explain?"

"Princess," Obsidian bowed lightly, "if I may? Everything started after I apologized to Mica; we were going to meet up later, but he never showed up, even when it was time for Empathy classes with him. It turned out that he was slave-helmeted by my sister Amethyst, along with Gypsy and Mister Lemon as well. She then called out to me magically... I think... and then, I managed to stall her for a moment, then Clap and Cup joined in, and when she was bested, the helmets vanished."

It wasn't bad for a recap of the events; Obsidian hoped she wouldn't have to recall too many fine details, as it had been somewhat fast and furious when the entire affair had gone down.

"She said that another sister, Onyx, is quite close to bringing back our father, thanks to the book she claimed she'd recently gotten from your Royal Vaults. Each of us shard-ponies apparently holds a specific part of my father - from what I gathered, I've got his magic, and she probably got his enslavement spells."

Twilight Sparkle's muzzle looked grimmer and grimmer as Obsidian told her story. "It's worse than I thought, then - I would assume that to mean the other shards are somewhere nearby, and that their plans are coming to fruition. If they're getting desperate enough to attack you on campus, then we can't be certain they won't try something more."

"Wait," Obsidian pondered, "my sister didn't say 'book' - she said 'tome'. I wonder if she meant Miss Tome..."

She turned to Fluttershy. "Gather the girls and meet me in the map room; we're going to discuss what we can do, then we're leaping into action." She then turned to face Obsidian again. "As for you, please keep your friends close to you - are you missing anyone else?"

Stalwart was still pouting by the doorway, seemingly staring at the carpet.

Obsidian looked among her friends, making note of Wart's arrival. "No, not that I can tell; I don't count ponies that I've only exchanged a few words with, of course." She then spoke to the little mare. "Stalwart, friend... please join us."

Stalwart Stance looked up, then her eyes slid over to Twilight... then they returned to the floor.

The alicorn sighed. "Stalwart, I'm sorry, but I've told you this before - you simply wouldn't be able to keep up with the rest of my Royal Guard; I can try you out as a number of other positions, though. You could-"

"Thank you, Your Majesty," she uncharacteristically interrupted, "but I cannot do what I do not feel that I should do."

Twilight sighed, but nodded. "... as you wish, Stalwart. And I truly am sorry."

Wart said nothing, yet made her way into the room and stood next to Obsidian, unable to look at her.

"Now," Twilight said, "if you'll excuse me, I have to prepare for what might be an invasion from within; please be careful, my subjects. And let your fellowship protect you." With that, she vanished with a >POP<, leaving them on their own once more.

Perhaps there was really no other option to help Stalwart, other than help her deal with fact that her dreams were only that - dreams, and nothing more.

Obsidian carefully raised her hoof and slightly patted Stalwart on the back. "You... you missed a group hug. Do you want to make it up?" Hugs seemed to cheer the others up, so maybe it would work on her as well?

Stalwart's bottom lip wavered. "I... w-will be fine..."

Cupcake looked at her earnestly. "... but you're not fine, Wart."

That did it. With those words, Wart let out a whimper, then a sob that just repeated as she stood there, eyes closed, tears tracking down her muzzle to the floor. "It isn't fair! I've been training and training and training... I'm even better than most of the guards already IN the guard, but... but because I don't fit their image, I cannot do what I so desperately wish I COULD do! I have pushed myself to my limits and beyond, and yet I am a FAILURE!"

"Wart, you-" Mica began.

"NO! NO! I shall NOT merely roll over and accept this! NO!" She stamped her hoof, putting a small crack in the wooden floor.

"Wart, c'mon..." Clap said.

"I... I... I... i..." She began sobbing again, and everyone else seemed as if they were hurting right along with her.

"... failure," she repeated.

Well, Obsidian knew that feeling fairly well - especially lately, as her self-worth was wavering between very low and very high values, depending on how many terrifying truths she learned about herself or how badly she'd fallen into her sibling's traps.

So she very, very carefully - urrrrgh - wrapped one foreleg around the diminuitive mare. "Stalwart. you are not a failure - it was you, not one of the guards, that forced my brother to escape... and how you stood against griffons yesterday?
You can do so much more than just wear shiny armor, stand next to the throne and try to look intimidating."

She tried to cheer her up - in her own, very non-experienced way. "Especially if you stick with us, because I'm afraid that our lives may be quite exciting, soon."

Stalwart sniffled, tears still running from her eyes... but she looked up at Obsidian, red-eyed and miserable. "I... but, why would... I..." She looked across all the others as well, her gaze drifting from one to the next.

"Stalwart, you are one of the best fighters I've ever seen. You don't need validation from the throne," Mica said to her.

"Th-this one ha-a-a-as, many t-t-times, seen your b-b-br-bravery, and h-he envies y-you. You are a-a-already a m-mighty warrior t-t-t-to us," Gypsy smiled kindly.

"Yeah, you're totally awesome in a fight, and you kick some serious flank!" Cup laughed.

"Wart, they're just afraid you'll take over - that's all, girl." Clap grinned widely.

She looked at them all, then back at Obsidian, then she sighed and wiped her eyes. "... thank you. All of you." Her pain was still obvious, but it was no longer eating her alive. Maybe Stalwart didn't seem to be as happy as before, but at least her meltdown had ended for the moment.

"Okay, Obsidian?" Mica spoke up. "We need to figure out what we're doing; shall we head to the Applejack Suite, then?"

"Oh dear... I think that my coming here might count as 'skipping a class'," Obsidian muttered under her breath when she realized that. What a terrible student she was - her father would be severely dissapointed.

She looked at all her friends. "Yes, let's go. I'd like to check if Gypsy could still smell my brother's scent anyway," she suggested, she had no better ideas for now anyway.

Gypsy instantly put his nose to the floor, his hoodie all but covering his entire head. He snuffled around for a moment, then looked up. "There is n-n-no other sc-scent th-th-th-than Amethyst-t-t here, p-princess. But if we enc-c-c-counter a scent like th-this again, I will ch-ch-chase it d-d-d-down for you." Proof positive that Tourmaline's image had been an illusion... but then, where was he and what was he up to, if he wasn't here?

With that, the lot of them began to make their way down the hall. SIX of them, all grouped together, travelling as one. There was something that felt... whole... about it, and Obsidian could almost feel the static charge of something special happening, though there was no clue as to what it could be.

Perhaps it was just being surrounded by her friends? Frankly, walking around with them like this was something Obsidian could get used to.

At any rate, it was only about ten minutes before they reached her current room in the palace, and with them all inside, it seemed somewhat full, but livelier than it had ever looked before. The colors around them almost seemed sharper, crisper than they'd looked before she'd brought them all here. The Applejack Suite was much bigger than her old room in the Crystal Empire, so there was still enough room for everyone.

"Alright," Mica started, "as I said, we have magic, illusions and slavery. What did your brother attack you with or specialize with?"

"My brother was using an illusion as well to hide himself. As soon as it dropped, however, he used very powerful offensive magic - including some charmingly named Bonetwister spells." Obsidian shivered slightly; if those thirty beams had hit her, she would have turned into jelly.

"Either each of my siblings can use illusions, or one of them specializes in it. I have only encountered two of them so far, but from what I've learned, apparently their leader is my sister, Onyx. They spoke of her plans being almost complete... which would lead me to the conclusion that she may be the recipient of our father's wits."

"His wits? That sounds wonderful," Cup bemoaned.

"Still, we have at least a few things to go on. And if all of you are required to give your power to Sombra, then having Amethyst locked up may give us some time." Mica pondered the point. "And more time is better than less time."

"Look, if we're gonna do all this, we've gotta find something that can tell us more about what's up here." Clap looked a bit frustrated.

Gypsy sighed. "W-we d-d-did... Miss Tome, who is n-n-no longer anywh-where we c-can f-f-find her, unf-f-fortunately."

Clap kicked the bed. "Dangit! How're we gonna find HER?"

Gypsy pulled out a piece of paper and began folding, his mind elsewhere as he thought it over. Cup started pacing. Clap and Mica looked as though they were truly trying to figure something out.

"We... could use a... Locator Spell?" Wart offered, timidly.

The others stared at her for a moment, then- "Wart, that's brilliant!" Mica exclaimed. "As long as she's not shielded from such, we should be able to cast a Locator Spell on her, then we could find-"

"No," Wart interrupted, "I mean, on the dark crystal surrounding her. That way, even if she's shielded from detection, the crystal might not be."

"We'd have to have a dark crystal first, Wart... but not a bad idea at all," Mica mused.

"Hey, Siddy... can you make one of those dark crystal thingies?" Clap looked to Obsidian, an eyebrow raised. "Maybe we could use it to track the rest of 'em?"

Obsidian couldn't help but wonder how the disappearance of eight of her other siblings could have influenced the rest. Could it possibly hamper the return of their father? Or perhaps, as her brother said, their power was distributed among the rest of them? Or maybe Onyx found a way to gather it after all...

And Miss Tome - the mare who was apparently was working with her siblings for reasons unknown, but wanted to alert Obsidian. How was she involved in all of this? And how did her kidnapping help them with bringing back their father?

She wondered for a moment. Dark crystalssssss...

Author's Note:

And so, we have OFFICIALLY reached the halfway point. From here, there are twenty-one more chapters before we reach our tale's end. This is about the point where things start getting thick, the plot gets heated, and we get to see the entire group - "The Siddy Six" - in action together.

Now, I WILL warn you that the latter half will be a bit more active and violent than the first half; if you were thinking this would be a cutesy story all the way through, then allow me to dispel your ideas now... and allow me to direct your eyes to the [Death] tag, as a reminder.

Amethyst - so angry at the world, yet so consumed by that anger that she gets herself captured. Granted, the siblings haven't shown too much skill yet, but this is also their first encounters with her, and Obsidian is surprisingly clever, not to mention lucky. But what of this 'Onyx'? Will she be just as easy to deal with, perhaps?

And what of the fate of poor Miss Tome? Will Siddy and her friends be able to use a Locator Spell for this purpose? Can she conjure a Dark Magic crystal for the purpose? Will they find her alive... or otherwise?

No spoilers.

Comments

[Biglulu]

I hope the shards make it out of this alive, and Obsidian can be a mentor to them to integrate them into Equestria like she has been.

[Reclusive]

I hope for death and destruction and mega cool combat scenes.