Kingdom Come

by Redback Spino

And I saw the Fourth Living Creature, Like an eagle in Flight

The grove on the outskirts of Canterlot was bathed in the dim yellow light of the morning sun as the next coloured bubble materialised before the creatures assembled there. A murky brown colour, the bubble swelled and burst almost as soon as it appeared.

“Huh, didn’t seem to take long to persuade whoever this is,” Blueblood wondered aloud.

The amulet around his neck glowed as it replied, “Given who it is, I wouldn’t think they would need much persuasion to join our little team.”

Right on cue, the brownish mist dissipated, revealing the bubble’s occupant. Grey-furred, with a flowing black mane and tail, green and red eyes almost glowing in the low light, Sombra glanced up as he noticed Blueblood staring at him.

“Wha… who are you?” Sombra rumbled in his low, guttural voice. “What is this all about?”

“Sombra, my old apprentice,” the Voice said. “It has been too long.”

As he heard that familiar voice emanating from the amulet, Sombra’s eyes grew wide with shock. Without another word, the unicorn threw himself to the ground, prostrating himself before a very confused Blueblood.

“M-master! Forgive me, I did not know it was you!” he sputtered, “It seems you have taken on another form since we last met.”

Blueblood coughed nervously. “Erm… Not that I don’t enjoy having somepony bowing down before but… I’ve never seen you before in my life.”

Sombra opened his eyes and looked up at the white unicorn. “…What do you mean? Master, don’t you recognise me?”

“I recognise you just fine, Sombra. This unicorn, however, is not me,” said the Voice. Sombra gaped at the jewel around Blueblood’s neck. The Voice chuckled. “Yes Sombra, I am speaking to you from the Amulet.”

Sombra got up from the ground and approached Blueblood. Paying no heed to the now very confused unicorn, Sombra peered closely at the jewel in the centre of the pendant. Sniffing lightly, recognition glimmered in his eyes. “I recognise that magic… So, master, you transferred your soul into the jewel then?”

The voice replied, “Indeed. I’m not sure if you remember the War, but after you were imprisoned in the Frozen North, things did not go well for us. I am lucky that I had the foresight to hide part of myself away in this jewel, or neither of us would be here now.”

The grey unicorn snarled, baring savage, pointed teeth. “Oh, I remember the War alright.”

“Excuse me, but what in Tartarus’ name are you two talking about?!”

Sombra stepped back as he noticed Blueblood staring at him as if he had just sprouted a second head. He snorted derisively, “Why, the Great War of course. Surely even a pathetic foal like yourself knows your ancient history?”

“Pathetic foal?! Now see here you…you… whatever you are!” Blueblood spat, pressing his snout right up against Sombra’s. “I’ll have you know that I am a crown prince of Equestria!”

Sombra pushed back just as hard as he snapped, “And I am a king! The rightful king of the Crystal Empire!”

“Oh will you two pipe down? You’re giving me a migraine!”

Both unicorns stopped and turned to see Chrysalis lounging against a nearby tree, watching the argument with boredom as she idly picked at her hooves.

“And just who do we have here?”

The voice sighed. “Yes, I suppose introductions are in order. Prince Blueblood, Queen Chrysalis, may I introduce you to King Sombra, the rightful king of the Crystal Empire, and my most faithful apprentice.”

Sombra nodded politely to both of them before the Voice continued. “And Sombra, may I introduce you to Queen Chrysalis, ruler of the Changeling Hive, and Blueblood, Prince Regent and rightful heir to the throne of Equestria.”

Chrysalis and Blueblood both bowed back. “But why does he get to bear your Element, Master?” Sombra asked. “He's not my replacement, is he?”

“No, Sombra. He simply bears the Element of Dissonance that I hid myself away in. And just as he bears an Element of Dissonance, so do you.”

A tiny beam of crimson light shot out from the centre of the Alicorn Amulet, pointing straight at Sombra’s chest. He looked down and saw that around his neck, he wore a similar amulet. But in place of the head and wings of the alicorn and the bright red jewel, his amulet bore a darker, brownish-red jewel, which formed the body of a scuttling spider on the front of his amulet.

“The Elements of Dissonance…” Sombra echoed. “So you finally managed to create them?”

“Indeed. It took some assistance from Blueblood here, but now they are formed and seeking out bearers. The time has finally come to put dear Celestia and Luna in their rightful places.” Replied the Voice, barely able to hide its glee.
Sombra grinned. A terrifying, toothy, pointy grin. “Time to make those two pay for what those two classmates of mine did to us, and to our people during the War.”

Blueblood raised a forehoof as he interrupted. ”You two keep mentioning this war like it was something big and important, but I’m sorry, I have never heard of any such thing! Equestria has… well okay, there has been the occasional skirmish, but as far as I know there’s never been a full blown war!”

“Oh this goes back long before Equestria ever even existed, Blueblood,” the Voice said. “Tell me, have Celestia and Luna ever told you about their childhoods? About what they did before they became princesses?”

Blueblood tapped his chin in thought. “Hmm… Not that I know of, no.”

“Well then, you wouldn’t have known about it then,” It said. “As I said, the Princesses have gone well out of their way to ensure that nopony ever finds out what happened in those… dark days.”

“But no longer. “ Sombra glared daggers at the gleaming white towers of Canterlot that stood less than a mile away. “It is time we show the world what they were willing to do to their own subjects, all in the name of their precious peace.”

“But where do Twilight Sparkle and her friends fit into all this?” Chrysalis asked. “You promised me revenge against those ponies!”

“And you will get it, I promise,” replied the Voice. “When we begin our little operation, they will suffer greatly, along with anypony else who stands in our way.”

The Changeling brushed a loose hair out of her face. “Hmph, well you can do what you want with the Princesses. Equestria is yours for all I care… But when the time comes, you all leave Twilight Sparkle to me. She is all mine.”

As they saw her face, neither Sombra nor Blueblood felt like refusing her demand. The vengeful look in her eyes and the snarl on her lips showed that she clearly meant business.

“Ah, it seems we have found our next member,” the Voice said, interrupting the silence.

---

“Get back here, you!”

The sounds of a dozen hooves clattering on cobblestone echoed through the streets, as a trio of stallions, all dressed in the greyish blue uniform of the Town Watch, chased a young griffon down an alleyway. She tried with all her might to spread her wings and take to the air, but her scuffle with the Watchponies had left her wings in rather bad shape and in no condition to fly. A sack of stolen food and silverware in one clawed hand, she ran as fast as her other three limbs could carry her, through the alleyway and around a corner onto the main street. She bowled over a few ponies who were strolling the streets early that morning, but paid them no heed and carried on. For anypony who was new to the town, this sort of flagrant street crime would no doubt be shocking and disgusting.

For Gilda, however, it was just another morning in Baltimare.

As she sprinted down the streets of the city, the Town Watch closing ever closer, she could not help but think back on the chain of events that had led her life to spiral so out of control.

It had all started, that day when she had gone to visit Rainbow Dash. The two of them had been apart for years after they graduated from Flight Camp. Rainbow Dash had pursued her career as a weatherpony, resulting in her transfer to Ponyville, and the two had not seen eachother since. It should have been a warm reunion of two close friends after years apart.
Should have been.

Instead, it ended up as one humiliation after another. And all because of that damned pony, Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie! Even saying the name in her head made her furious!

All I wanted was to see Dash again, catch up on old times, maybe hang out for a while. Was that seriously too much to ask for that pink, airheaded dweeb?! Just one freaking week with Dash without her pestering us?!!
And instead what does she do? She turns Dash against me! How did she turn from the coolest pegasus around to such a softie?!

Even in her fury as she ran, Gilda could not prevent herself from sniffling a bit. Why did she have to take my only friend from me?

Ever since then, the griffon had travelled from town to town, doing jobs wherever she could to get by. But she had fallen in with the wrong crowds. Ended up doing some bad dealings with even worse compeers. Made plenty of enemies. That was when she bailed.

But crowds as bad as those don’t let anyone bail that easily. They had sent ponies after her. And so, she had been on the run since then, always looking out for number one, seizing any opportunity that came her way, regardless of whose hooves she had to step on to get there. She needed nopony else. She trusted nopony else.

But as Gilda rounded another corner, her inner monologue came to an end as she found herself face to face with a dead end.

“Nowhere to run now, you little thief!”

She whipped around and saw the three Watchponies standing before her, blocking her escape route. The middle one, a unicorn, levitated a scroll before her and unfurled it.

“Gilda the Griffon, this is a warrant for your immediate capture. By order of the Mayor of Baltimare, I’m placing you under arrest!” he barked in a no-nonsense voice.

Gilda sneered at them, defiantly shouting “I’ll be back on the streets in a week! You can’t keep me locked up for long!”

The Watchpony on the right stepped forward, opening his jacket to reveal that, next to his badge was a strange brooch, detailed with arcane symbols surrounding a stylised image of a circle flanked by crescent moons pointing outwards on either side. Following suit, the other Watchponies opened their jacket to reveal similar brooches pinned to the lining. “Tell that to the Grandmaster of the Order of the Triple Moon. Really Gilda, it’s bad enough you try to bail on the Order without telling anyone, but then you come back and steal our things. Not your wisest decision, griffon!”

“The town judge is a fifth degree member of our Order, Gilda. You can bet he’s gonna send you away from a long…”

But even as he spoke, a strange light appeared in the sky, floating down into the dead-end street. It bathed the street in an orange pool of light as it came to a stop hovering just in front of Gilda’s face. The three Watchponies staggered back, unsure exactly of how to react.

“Gilda the Griffon, you look out for nopony but yourself, and you care not for whom you have to use in order to reach your ends.”

The strange, disembodied voice spoke loudly and clearly, seeming to emanate from the orange light, which now revealed itself as a single jewel, carved in the image of a fox’s head. The light expanded into a giant orange bubble, encasing Gilda who could only stare in shock at what was going on around her. Even as the bubble vanished in a bright flash of light, Gilda along with it, the mysterious voice echoed through the street.

“The Elements of Dissonance require you.”

Bearer of the Element of Treachery: Found

---

The grove was once again graced by a globe of coloured light suddenly appearing in its midst. Sombra, Blueblood and Chrysalis all stood back, watching curiously to see who their next ally would turn out to be.

The bubble burst and the smoke, sickly orange this time, cleared. Gilda hacked and coughed as she batted the smoke clouds away, before opening her eyes and peering around at her surroundings.

“So… I take it you guys are the Elements of Dissonance or whatever that voice was saying… Any of you mind tellin’ me just what the heck’s going on?!” she asked dazedly, staring at the odd trio of equinoids facing her.

Their eyes turned to the Alicorn Amulet, which glowed again as the Voice spoke “I take it you heard the proposition made by the Amulet then?”

“What Amulet? You mean that glowing thing?”

“I mean the one around your neck.”

Gilda looked down and saw that, sure enough, the orange fox-shaped stone that had confronted her, was now attached to a pendant wrapped around her neck. She angrily tugged at the amulet. “What the-? When did this happen?!”

“Do not take off the Amulet, Gilda, until you have heard our proposal,” the Voice said impatiently. “Now then, care to answer my question?”

Gilda stopped struggling a moment. “Yeah I heard it. After it came outta nowhere, whisked me away into some black void and told me that I was needed or somethin’. But what for, what’s this all about? And just who the heck are you anyway?”

“We are a slowly growing group, called the Elements of Dissonance. I have summoned you together, because I have need of your particular… natures,” the Voice replied. “Each of you has the potential to hold the power of an Elemental power, which serves as a sort of antithesis against the Princesses’ precious Elements of Harmony.”

“And where do I fit in?” Gilda asked, a sceptical eyebrow raised. “It sounds kinda like you wanna take down the Princesses or something, but I’m not really the revolutionary type, y’know. I don’t take sides.”

The Voice responded, “And that is exactly where you fit in. Your Amulet, the Fox Amulet, is the opposite of the Element of Loyalty: Treachery. You serve only yourself and seek only your own gains, regardless of who gets in your way.”

Gilda grinned. “You know me all too well, whoever… or whatever, you are.”

“You’ll find out both those facts soon enough. But until then, do you accept this calling? Will you join us?”

“I dunno…” The griffon scratched the back of her neck as she pondered. “What’s in it for me? I don’t really care one way or the other about what your plan is, but if I do join ya, what do I get?”

The Amulet glowed as the Voice replied, “Well, each of you have been chosen not only because of your particular natures, but also because each and every one of you has a certain connection with the current bearers of the Elements of Harmony. It could sense it in each of you. What is your connection to them?”

Gilda glowered as she realised her connection. “Oh, I’ve dealt with those ponies before… One of them used to be my best friend… my only friend, really…”

“’Used to’?”

“Then Pinkie Pie…” She snarled, her face contorting with anger as the memory came flooding back once more. “She had to go and ruin it all! That one pony who drove her away from me… I’d like to take her down a peg or two if I ever go the chance…”

“I can give you that chance.”

Gilda looked up from her brooding. “Huh?

“I’m not sure if you’re aware, but Pinkie Pie is an Element Bearer as well,” Chrysalis added. “I’m guessing we’ll no doubt end up going against the Bearers themselves at some point, in which case you will be free to… exact your revenge, as it were.”
Gilda ‘s eyes widened at the prospect. These people were promising her a chance to get back at not only Pinkie Pie, but Rainbow Dash as well!

But Rainbow Dash is your friend, a tiny voice in her head seemed to say.

Not anymore. Rainbow Dash had lost that honour the day she rejected me for that pink freak. I look out for myself now, nobody else!

And besides, she thought with a grin, I’ve been wanting to get back at Dash for a while now too.

“Alright, she finally said, nodding in satisfaction. “I’ll join your little super-team if you leave Pinkie Pie to me… And Rainbow Dash too, if she’s still going spare.”

“Excellent!” The Voice said curtly. “Welcome to the Elements of Dissonance, Gilda. Might I introduce your fellow Bearers: Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings, Prince Blueblood of Canterlot, and King Sombra of the Crystal Empire.”

Each pony (And changeling) nodded as they were announced. Gilda grimaced “Wow, and I’m the only one here who ain’t royalty…”

“Not necessarily. We still have one more Bearer to find,” the Voice countered. “But strangely, the Element has not gone to seek a candidate.”

“Maybe we did the ritual wrong?” Blueblood suggested.

The Voice said, “No, no, that was all fine, we did the ritual perfectly. Nicely done on that, by the way,” It added, prompting a proud smirk from the prince. “Yet for some reason, the last one, the Element of Despair, has not been launched.”

Chrysalis tapped her chin in thought before speaking up. “Well, my kind are emotion-eaters, so we can tap into the emotional energies of our surroundings and sense them. It’s how we discover who our victims have emotional ties to, so we know whom to mimic.”

“Huh, the more you know, I guess,” Gilda muttered.

“And I will say this about Equestria: it is one of the happiest and most loving lands I’ve ever encountered. Each time I’ve been here, I have never been able to feel any extreme feelings of sadness or despair or even anything beyond glumness! In terms of emotion, Equestria is practically a utopia!”

“So, perhaps the Element of Despair did not launch, because it could not sense anypony to latch onto?” Sombra suggested.

“Really? Now that is interesting,” the Voice replied. “Good thinking you two. But this does rather set us back… I cannot resume my original form unless we have all the Elements together to activate mine. Indeed, this is bad…”

“Maybe not.”

All eyes turned to Chrysalis. The Changeling stood in front of them, an evil grin forming on her face. “Now this is just a suggestion, but hear me out. Despair is a little different from the other Elements, like treachery, deception, cruelty and such. Despair is an intense emotion that cannot be performed like the others, but it can be induced. And I know just such a candidate.”

“Oh?” the Voice asked.

“Yes. You see, not long ago I tried to lure Twilight Sparkle and her fellow Bearers to my kingdom, so I could drain her magic and make her my apprentice, and feed her friends to my dear children. During that time, I noticed one young pony in particular who had some of the strongest emotional ties to her friends I had ever felt. It wasn't quite the same as romanic love, but it was still amazing to behold. So imagine the despair and loss they would feel if, say, something were to happen to one of their friends..."

Sombra mirrored her malicious grin, matching hers fang for fang. “I knew there was something I liked about you. So, where can we find this pony?”

Chrysalis chuckled and took to the treetops, her wings buzzing in the cool morning air. Perching atop a jutting branch, she peered out from the mountain of Canterlot, towards a little town not too far away.

“Ponyville of course. Where else?”

Comments

[DreadedCandiru2]

Oh, sweet mamma jamma....EITHER they're going after one of the CMC (which would be bad) OR they're going to exploit mother's love for their own nefarious ends (which would be REALLY BAD!!!)

[Starlight Nova]

3237547 Mother? What mother? I know you're not talking about the OC Sada-Pazaki made! ...I think. Are you talking about one of the mothers from the Pony POV Series?