Long live the king

by Msande

Gala (yes something bad is going happen its the damn Gala)

"So any plans at the Gala?" asked Spike as the carriage. Sombra glanced at each mare, noticing that they seemed to look somber. Even Pinkie Pie looked dejected.

"Bad time?" Sombra asked as Spike nodded with a smile on his face.

"You have no idea," Rarity said.

"Bad date?" Sombra asked.

"Bad date," everyone agreed in unison.

"Well, if you want I could be your escort," Sombra replied.

"A royal escort?" she shouted before quickly composing herself. "Well it is rather poor for a king to attend without a lady," she said, trying to pretend she was only mildly interested. "Revenge," she said with a slight smile as she rubbed her hooves together. Sombra chuckled as he placed his crown on his head.

"Pinkie Pie, you okay? You have been awfully quiet; considering the last party in the north, I figured this would be a dream come true," Sombra said as he glanced over at her.

"Oh yeah, lots of fun," she said with a light smile.

"You all must have missed the after party. But I take it the stiffs didn't much care for your style?" Sombra asked. She nodded, her hair not looking as bubbly as before. "Must have canceled the city party," he said with a frown.

"City party?" she repeated, her ears perking up a bit.

"Well the Gala is for the whole city. Well it was; for the full night, there were ponies in the street, champagne, wine, music. But I guess they would cancel it, since the morning after everyone called off from work. They were too hungover to get out of bed," he chuckled.

Dash glanced out the window and spotted a familiar pony setting up a stage on the main street. "Pinkie, I know what we are going to do tonight," she said as she grabbed both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.

"Oh know, ya don't" said Applejack. "Not with out me," she said with a smile. "Somepony needs to keep an eye on you lot."

"Unless you want to wake up in a ditch, I would advice the guard party. It's a lot more fun but not as crazy as the streets. Something tells me it would be a bit easier for you to handle the next morning." Sombra advised.

"Guard party?" Twilight asked as the carriage rolled to a stop outside the castle.

"What, did you ever think a the upper crust would be caught dead partying with the help? There is always more than one party going on during the Gala," he replied. "It's usually where I went when I had enough of the politicians," he said with a chuckle. "But I have an appearance to make tonight."

"Ah, King Sombra," greeted Celestia.

"Your Majesty," he said bowing as he looked up at Celestia at the top of the stairs."So nice to see you, Your Grace," he said with another low bow.

"You seem well," she replied as he walked up to her.

"You as well," he said, smiling and showing off his pointed teeth. "I hope you get some use out of the small library I gave to Twilight," he said, being rather pleasant.

"Yes, that was interesting, I sent my best book doctor over and he seems to think some will need to be magically repaired. But overall a good addition."

"Glad to hear it. But I don't want to hold up your line to much, so we shall be off. I hope to see you later," he said and with that, he moved on to the ball room. The sound of music filled the air as the upper class mingled.

"Boring!" Pinkie Pie cried out as the music cut out for a second. A lot of ponies glanced at the group nervously and Sombra realized they were not staring at him.

"Well?" Sombra asked as he looked at the classical band. They quickly started back up as the chatting continued.

"Greetings," came a rather deep voice as Sombra glanced over to see something he never expected.

"A griffon," he said, his surprise spilling over before he quickly recomposed himself.

"Not just a griffon, King Rumi, lord of the griffins." Rarity said in a low whisper.

"Ah, I apologize. I never imagined meeting a leader of another country here," Sombra apologized as his political courtesy took over and he bowed.

"Sombra," he offered a claw as the two shook. "I hear you are the King of the Crystal Empire."

"Temporarily, issues that plagued it then are still in effect," Sombra replied. "Still, I am looking out for it's best interests," he said as he looked at the griffin.

"Fair point, all in the interest of one's nation," he agreed, nodding.

"Not sure if you have met, but these are my guests: Miss Sparkle, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie," he introduced.

"Pleasure, and this is my escort," he said as he gestured to another griffin.

"Gilda?" Rainbow Dash said as she recognized her old friend. Fluttershy quickly ducked behind Applejack, as the newest addition to the conversation started to talk.

"Sup dweebs," she said her eyes half-open and clearly uninterested in the group.

"Dash," Sombra addressed as she looked at him. "The other party, it should be down the hall on your right. So long as they haven't moved things around to much."

"But," she was going to say but she followed his gaze to Fluttershy. "Right, come on, everypony this is a bit above our pay grade," she said as everyone but Rarity and Twilight made their leave.

"I take it you are hoping to open up trade with the Empire?" Sombra asked.

"Not really, I know of the way you run things. Perhaps a trade of knowledge is more in order. But to be honest, you don't seem as cold and cruel as your legend makes you out to be."

"Fear is a tool, and I use it well. The Empire is in good shape and ponies are no more obstructed there then they are here. They just fear me instead of love me," he said with a shrug.

"Is better to be loved or feared?" he asked.

"Best to be both if you can afford it," Sombra replied. He felt a swelling of respect for the leader before him.

"Can I go?" Gilda asked.

"But of course, just don't cause any trouble," he said as the female griffin left as well. "Daughters," he grunted.

"Wouldn't know," Sombra admitted. "So what is it you want?" Sombra asked, no longer wanting to dance around the subject.

"Knowledge; what did you do to keep Celestia of your back," he admitted.

"It isn't something you could use," Sombra answered. "I made my life a bit more valuable in her eyes," he said cryptically.

"Ah a hostage, should have guessed. Still, if you need a minor favor."

"Minor is in the eye of the beholder. But If something comes up, I have little issue in asking," he said. "Now, I do believe I need to dance. I fear my companion looks a bit bored," he said as he glanced at Rarity.

"Pardon?" she blinked, not realizing she was being used as a means to get away.

"Of course, it was informative," the griffin said. And with that, he walked away.

"So what did you thin-" Twilight started, only for Sombra to ignore her as he escorted Rarity to the dance floor. She felt a spike of jealousy.

"Well that was interesting. Anypony get the feeling there was more going on then meets the eye?" asked Spike, but Twilight was more interested in the dancers at this point.

------

Fluttershy glanced back as her ears twitched; she could have sworn she had heard something behind her. It wasn't long before she could hear the sounds of shouting and laughter as the group soon found themselves in a much smaller hall filled with a large group of stallions and mares, all dancing and drinking and shouting at each other. She soon spotted a familiar face in DJ-Pon3, who was letting her library play some nostalgic music in the background as she chewed on some bubble gum.

Everyone seemed to pause a bit as eyes started to fall on the group of additions. Then everyone paused and the music stopped. Then everyone started to bang their hooves on the floor. A few soldiers saluted as the saviors of Equestria were given their due. She quickly pulled back behind the door.

"Wow, finally some respect," Dash said as she swooped up into the air. A low rumble of laughter echoed in the hall as the music started back up and everyone returned to the party.

"Ah'll say, its a bit more lively. Now lets see if anypony here can dosey doe," Applejack said as she headed into the crowd. Dash shook her head at the comment as she glanced back at Fluttershy.

"Something wrong?" she asked as the yellow pegasus smiled and shook her head.

"I will walk around go have fun," she said in a low whisper as she walked farther down the hall. She glanced and suddenly spotted a shadow skitter across the hall. "What are you doing here, little guy?" she questioned as she moved after the creature.

She popped her head around a corner, inside a dark room, however there was a slight glint. "Oh my," she opened the door as the light bled in showing off a massive crystal cave.

"Darling, you are simply marvelous," Rarity said with a smile as she and Sombra walked away from the dance floor.

"Well it is required of royal blood to sweep a lady off her feet," he said, chuckling. "Ah, it has been a long time," he admitted.

"Good to see you are enjoying yourself. Where are the others?" she asked, noticing the rest of the Element bearers were missing.

"I let it slip where the real party is," Sombra said as he pulled out a stool and sat down. "I am surprised, this music was new back in my day," he said with a light chuckle. He glanced to see Celestia staring at him. "What, you look like you have seen a ghost," he said, his smile fading into a smirk.

"Nothing, it's nice to see you in such high spirits," she said as she smiled at Twilight.

"Care to dance?" he asked as he offered her a hoof.

"Sure," she said uncertainty as he led her to the dance floor. The two stood on their rear hooves as he poked at her collar.

"I really need to get rid of it," he said as he frowned.

"Oh, I had forgotten about it to be honest," she admitted as she became aware of the collar again."It was to keep the Princess from attacking you again."

"Like she would do that," he said as he spun her around. His hooves grabbed behind her neck as he slowly closed the distance. And then despite the music, she heard metal clang to the ground. She felt her breath hitch as she looked at him and realized the collar was gone.

"Ahhhh!" came out a voice as the two spun. The music cut off in a harsh tone as a mare dashed off the stage with a pink bow tie. But that was not what caught their eye. Where the stage had once been was now a massive crystal spike charged with pure black magic. Twilight looked at him.

"I had nothing to do with that," he replied, his eyes wide as he looked at her. They both dropped down to all fours when somepony slammed into Sombra and he vanished. The two slid across the ball room floor.

Pain shot into his side as he spotted the gold gleam of armor. He planted his two right hooves as they dug into the stone tile. The pegasi knight flew off as he pulled his head back to avoid a blast of magic. He glared as his anger flared then dimmed. He was soon charged by about half a dozen guards. He needed to keep a cool head; it had been a long time since he had to fight. His horn glowed a bright white as an almost translucent shield formed, easily deflecting the hits. In fact, the blasts were almost ignorable. He let the shield down and one blast hit him in the head. It felt like a blunt punch as it forced his head to the side.

His magic erupted as white Latin suddenly glowed on the floor in a circle around him. Chains erupted out of the ground and they swarmed around Sombra.

"Enough! What have you instigated?" Celestia roared as she descended onto the ground. The guards kept at the ready as Sombra gave a testing tug on the chain wrapped around his front hoof.

"I have done nothing to warrant an attack," he said in a calm voice as he held his head up.

"Princess," Twilight tried to interrupt, but Celestia did not seem to hear her.

"This is foolishness on my part, but I want him escorted to dungeon room zero," she said when she was suddenly struck in the side by a rather poor aim. She turned to see who would be foolish enough, only to see Twilight staring at her.

"Don't ignore me," Twilight said as she felt a tinge of anger as she recalled the royal wedding. "He did nothing wrong."

"Twilight, I have no enemies outside of Sombra, who delves into crystals and black magic." Her thoughts were soon cut off as she glanced down to see what had struck her side. It was the collar that had once been around Twilight's neck.

"What about an ally?" Sombra asked as she turned back to him. He pulled forward, the white chains digging into his fur, and then with a mighty pull, they snapped.

"I do believe the idea was keep me away from that door." Everyone looked at him as he glanced to the main window. More crystals spiked out of the ground. "Did you warn Cadance or Shinning Armor to stay away from it?" Sombra asked as a bolt of red lighting flashed on the castle grounds.

"Heh, heh," Celestia said, grimacing as she avoided Sombra's gaze.

"We need to evacuate the area, now!" he exclaimed as his eyes seemed to spark with fear.

"Why?" Celestia asked.

"The crystal caves!" Twilight realized. More screaming echoed down the hall.

"Why do I have a crystal caves?" Celestia asked, glaring at Sombra.

"Well..., it seemed like a good idea for the guy in charge of the army to have a last resort as a just in case," he said with a very sheepish smile.

"You have got to be kidding me! You put that there?" Twilight said as she huffed at him, "That place was a nightmare," she said, remembering her time in the caves.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time, I didn't think I would get corrupted or anything!" he shouted back, clearly offended at the remark.

"Well, he is back," Celestia said as she blew her mane out of her face.

"Okay, we need to get everyone out of the area. The crystal caves take up about a five mile radius outside of the castle wall. We need the guards moving everypony out. Twilight, find your friends and the Elements. We need to work fast cause if we get a storm outside, that means her power is going to escalate." he said his tone going dead.

"Oh my," Rarity said easily summing up the issue.

"What about you?" Celestia asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"I am going to buy some time and clear out some of these brain washed soldiers." he said as he glanced at the intruders. He sent out a massive shield of magic as he kept the corrupted crystal ponies at bay. "Well, what are you waiting for? We've got things to do!" he shouted. They quickly got to work as Celestia started escorting the noble ponies of the upper class out of the area.

Comments

[Rakaziel]

You have a few logic holes there, the largest of which is that Celestia does not remember the crystal caves - even if their creation escaped her notice, she would have sent someone to investigate the caves after the royal wedding. There is also the question who has put the rails and mining carts into the cave, but if Sombra created them as a bunker for emergencies that would be covered (imprisoning crystal ponies under the Equestrian capital would make no sense, before the war there would have been no need for a crystal prison an when Sombra got paranoid and took over he had no opportunity to visit Canterlot - it could have been a secret base erected by the crystal ponies (given that the tensions also existed before Sombra's rise to power they could actually have infiltrated Equestria back then) but that would contriadict Sombra's current statements. Either way, this needs some restructuring.

The rest is good.