Northern Stars

by Reviewfilly

Ch.9 - Of Darkness in Daylight

Soon we find ourselves at the barricades again. Despite their flimsiness, they do seem somewhat intimidating from up close, but sadly that is hardly enough against what we’re facing. Behind them, the two guards I passed previously are still making their rounds.

“Hi! The food is here!” Izzy tells them, and they immediately stop their patrol.

“Oh, thank goodness!” the pink mare replies excitedly. If I remember correctly, her name is Cream Puff. “Coal and I thought you’d never come.”

“Haha, sorry, sorry, just got caught up in a few things,” Izzy says as she floats the bag into the mare’s hooves using her magic. As she opens it, the sweet smell of pancakes fills the air.

As Cream digs in, Hitch turns to the stallion.

“So, have you two seen anything odd since my last visit? Any unexpected disturbances or anything? Perhaps a certain red-coated troublemaker?” he adds with slight annoyance in his voice.

“Nope. Just the usual,” Coal replies before accepting a pancake from Cream and biting into it. “Not that I mind though. It’s more time I can spend with Cream.”

The two share a soft look.

“Yeah, we were just talking before you arrived about how much those black crystals remind me of his mane,” she continues with an affectionate chuckle. Even with her pink coat trying its best to hide it, her face still glaringly shows the telltale signs of blushing. “Funny how I only just noticed them being there.”

“Black... crystals?” I stammer as my heart begins to pound. I look at Izzy and Hitch. They are staring back at me in terror, hooves frozen to the ground. “Are you sure?”

A moment passes. It feels like eternity.

“Yup, check them out,” she says cheerfully and points in the distance. “Oh, wow! I could have sworn they were further away. It’s almost like they came closer.”

My eyes follow her hoof and I feel the blood rush out of my face. In the distance I can spot several crystals jutting out of the ground, their blackness contrasting unnaturally with the cheerful green grass and blue sky behind. They are exactly like the ones my dad’s journal spoke about.

This breaks our stupor.

“What are you waiting for? Sound the alarm already!” Hitch yells at them while slamming a hoof down. “That’s the king! We have to get everypony to safety!”

While her expression remains relaxed, Cream’s voice is slightly wavering as she speaks, “Umm, you’re just pulling a prank on me, right? There isn’t actually an evil king, is there?” She chuckles nervously. “I thought the whole thing was just a joke.”

“You might wanna look behind yourself,” I mutter while pointing behind them.

While they weren’t looking a massive dark cloud formed on the horizon, heading straight for the city. Below it a dozen or so new black crystals began to emerge out of the earth. Patches of the cloud’s roiling black surface are eerily illuminated by the muted flashes of lightning bolts. Whenever one of them strikes the ground a new crystal erupts on the spot. The wind brings the faint smell of ozone in our direction.

“Oh horseapples,” she says flatly as her ears flop down.

A moment later, the duo drops their half-eaten pancakes and frantically gallops away towards the city center.

“The king is here! The king is here!” they scream, and the other townsponies break into a panic. They scramble in all directions to find shelter, knocking chairs and tables aside. The screaming banishes the previous quiet.

The alarm suddenly begins to blare as well, further adding to the cacophony.

Trying my best to ignore the chaos, I take another look over the barricade. As the cloud shifts closer, I spot a dark figure walking among the crystals. He is wearing a royal cape, armor, and crown, but otherwise he looks the same.

I’m looking at the pony who has been haunting my dreams since that day.

I glance backwards again. Everypony is falling over each other in a blind hysteria. I struggle to get my own head straight.

Oh, what do I do? What do I do? Just like the crowd, my own thoughts are tripping up on each other. Do I rally them? Tell them to leave the city? Do I join them? Perhaps if I blend in, he won’t notice me. I could get away safely. Maybe he’ll be happy with just this town and he’ll leave the rest alone.

My eyes jump around wildly as I'm looking for the best direction to escape towards, when I suddenly glance at Izzy. She staring at me with wet eyes. The realization slowly dawns upon me: She’s expecting me to take charge. I feel a rush of adrenaline and, though my heart continues to race, the storm in my head calms and I finally know what to do.

“Izzy, Hitch, we’re doing that meeting now!” I yell at them and they merely nod before rushing off to direct the crowd back towards us.

I ignore a wave of nausea as it hits me. Blood rushes in my ears and I feel my hooves tremble, but I force my body to move into the middle of the chaos.

I close my eyes for a second and try to ignore the noise. I take a deep breath.

“Everypony, stop!” I scream, overpowering the chaos.

---

It takes quite some time to organize them somehow, but finally we herd everypony back to the square.

I clamber up on a nearby box and stare at the crowd in front of me. The townsponies are looking at me with fearful gazes. My throat feels dry. I was never really good with crowds and now I have to improvise on the spot. I take a deep breath and speak up.

“I’m terrified as much as you are, but if we panic, he won’t even have to try. We have to face him to even stand a chance.”

“But he has magic!” somepony yells from the crowd.

“We all have magic and he’s alone. If we face him together, we can defeat him! We can win!”

My voice isn’t exactly as commanding as I’d like, but I have to believe in myself and press on.

“We have to show him that we’re not afraid and that he’ll never enslave us!”

Some faces in the crowd seem just a bit less panicked than before.

Yes, we can do this, I just need to-

“My, my, my. How incredibly touching,” a voice suddenly says behind me, enunciating each word with dripping malice. Despite its charismatic smoothness, I feel a shiver run down my spine.

The ponies who were until now beginning to finally listen to me gaze behind me, and their eyes go wide. They start panicking once more and rush away, leaving Hitch, Izzy, and I to fend for ourselves.

I turn around slowly.

He stands mere meters from me, surrounded by several giant crystals erupting from the pavement. There’s a cocky smirk plastered on his face as his piercing, red eyes burrow deeply into mine. Even in my shock I can't help but marvel a little at the mesmerizing patterns made by the dancing purple flames emanating from the corners of his eyes.

“It appears your little speech was a bit less effective that one could hope for. What a shame,” he says with feigned, mocking sympathy. “Don’t feel too bad though. Even if your whole town threw itself against me, it would’ve been for naught. You need a bit more than a few ponies in silly hats to put someone like me down.”

I involuntarily take a step back and fall off the box. As my hooves hit the pavement below, my hind leg flares with searing pain, but the adrenaline allows me to remain standing. My mind is screaming at me to run, but I endure.

“You’re lying! The Magic of Friendship can overcome even the likes of you!”

“Perhaps, perhaps not,” he says musingly, while tipping his head from one side to the other. “Unfortunately, today isn’t the day we put this to the test.”

It takes several moments until I process what he just said. Confusion hits me.

“What?”

He gives me no answer. Instead, his horn lights up and a a wave of shadows erupts from him towards me. Before I can even do as much as scream, it swallows me completely.

---

I grit my teeth and shut my eyes tight as I wait for the impact, but it never comes. After a few moments, I tentatively open them once more. Not only am I unharmed, we are still standing in the same place. I can tell it from the faintly visible cobblestone path under my hooves and the knocked-over box beside me. Only now an undulating sphere of pure blackness separates us from the world. I cannot hear a single sound coming from outside. I glance around for an escape, but besides his hornlight and my own ethereal wings and horn bringing some light into the darkness, there is nothing else in here.

Without a word, he makes a slicing motion with his hoof and a dark gash opens in the air next to him. He reaches inside and pulls something out, before the ethereal wound disappears into nothing again. I gasp when the light falls on what he’s holding.

A small book lies between his hooves. One with a familiar six pointed star on it.

My heart begins to pound faster and faster. There is no mistake.

It is my journal.

“Is this your plan?” I scream at him as I feel a wave of despair hit me. “To separate me from my friends and humiliate me?”

He once again says nothing. Instead he seems to be deep in thought. We continue to stare at each other. Despite their menacing purple flames, his eyes don’t seem to be quite as piercing as before. Still, I can’t afford to drop my guard. I take the closest thing I know to a fighter’s stance, ignoring my leg’s protests.

I’m prepared to protect my friends, even if it costs me my life.

“No,” he finally says after a few seconds. He relaxes his pose and holds the book out towards me. “I came here to give this back to you.”

I stare at the book, then at him in disbelief. He makes no other movement. His burning eyes continue to burrow into mine.

Am- Am I dreaming?

“Go on then, take it. It is an outrage to decline a king’s magnanimous present.”

This can’t be real, I think as my mind races for an explanation. There can be no other reason, he’s just toying with me!

“Stop trying to trick me! I’m not stupid, I won’t fall for something this obvious!”

He sighs and rolls his eyes as his horn flashes brightly for a moment. In the blink of an eye, a number of crystals rip out of the sphere stopping mere centimeters from my neck. I let out a whimper.

“Does it seem like I need to resort to tricks?” he asks quietly. “Or have you perhaps forgotten how our last meeting ended?”

The crystals melt into shadows, then disappear.

“Take it, before I change my mind.”

I feel like I’m sleepwalking as I trot up to him. Without taking my eyes off him, I take the journal and step back.

“Why?” I finally manage to ask. “Why are you giving it back?”

He just laughs bitterly.

“Where I’m going, I won’t need it. Call it a royal obligation, if you will.”

“I don’t understand.”

He smiles, but his eyes remain cold.

“Pray that you never will.”

Before I could say another word, the light of his horn goes out and the sphere collapses on us, evaporating into nothing. I yank my hoof in front of my eyes as the sudden light blinds me. I stumble around from the sudden sensation, blinking blearily.

Finally my vision slowly clears and I find my bearings, though I still feel a bit dazed. My mind is full of questions. My eyes snap forwards, but all I see in front of myself are holes in the torn-up pavement where his crystals previously erupted. I hear Izzy and Hitch rush towards me and call out my name, but I pay them no attention. Instead I look down.

My hooves are still clutching the journal.

Comments

[Phetiamwantip]

I hope they can stop Sombra before he causes a lot of destruction. The secret of our success is that we never, never give up.

[Night Spinner]

11207433
I suspect that destruction isn't on Sombra's mind here. Tyrant or no, he has a duty to fulfill. After all, what worth is a kingdom that's doomed to fall?

[Phetiamwantip]

11207499
Well, whatever it is. He must be stop at once.

[Matthais Unidostres]

11207549
You don't get it. He's gonna give up his magic to the entity from earlier to stop the creature.

[Phetiamwantip]

11207602 I see. So, it's a good thing?

[Phetiamwantip]

11205789
You're welcome

[Phetiamwantip]

I'm giving you good vibes, hope you like it! ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️💞💞💞💞💞💞💖💖💖💖💖💖

[Phetiamwantip]

Reviewfilly, your story is amazing, I like it! Hope to see more of your upcoming chapters soon, keep up the good work! Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.

[MatTheBook]

I THINK HE IS HEADING TO CANTERLOT

[Misty Shadow]

Loved the chilling atmosphere of this chapter, and the turn things took with it now seeming like Sombra is going to do the right thing...really interesting.