When the Crystal Empire returned, Princess Cadance and Shining Armor were sent to save it. They failed. But a few know what happened to them after King Sombra's return. [Season 5 finale AU]
Princess Cadance was certain that as long as Shining Armor was with her, they could defeat any evil. When Celestia sent them to the Crystal Empire, she was determined to prevent King Sombra's return.
But they were not enough. Now, darkness and war spread across Equestria because of their failure. Most back home assume that both of them are dead, the first victims of Sombra's bloody reign.
But true evil doesn't simply destroy. That would be too far easy for those who dared to oppose it.
[Season 5 finale AU, taking place in the "Crystal War" timeline.]
At first, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza didn’t remember where she was. She felt tightening in her chest and her vision was blurred. Her head felt heavy and she almost just wanted to lean forward and rest some more. The way her limbs ached didn’t encourage her to stand up either.
But then she felt the silky bed sheets under her, finally remembering where she was and that there was nothing to worry about. How there could be? she was most likely in the safest place in all of Crystal Empire.
She turned her head to look around the royal bedchambers of the palace and smiled, finally relaxing.
Everything in the room was just like it was supposed to be. She was laying on a luxurious and large bed. Across the room were the night stand, full body mirror, numerous closets and everything else that belonged in any self-respecting bedroom.
Cadance blinked and shook her head, momentarily blinded by the bright light coming from the windows. Goodness, she must had slept late. It had to be at least noon already. And from the way her head still ached, she hadn’t slept well either. A nightmare, perhaps?
She tried to concentrate and remember what it had been about, but like dreams usually did, it was already fading away, leaving just a vague sense of nervousness and a sense of...loss? Perhaps it was just better to forget it. What was the point of trying to remember a bad dream, after all?
Cadance stretched her limbs and yawned, rising her hooves to straighten her mane. For a brief moment the alicorn’s limbs felt heavy in the same way her head had, but just when she was about to concentrate on it, the sensation was gone.
The alicorn blinked again when she heard metallic clattering at the edge of her hearing, the sound faint and gone just as fast as it had appeared. Servants doing some maintenance to the chandeliers most likely.
Was today some special occasion? Ever since she had started ruling the Crystal Empire with Shining Armor, things had been so hectic. Celestia hadn’t been kidding when she had said that being a ruler of a nation was hard work.
The thought of her adopted aunt working hard back in Canterlot made her feel tense all over again. How she longed to meet everyone back home, or at least have them visit the Crystal Empire! One of these days she would arrange it, when things would finally calm down.
“Cadance, are you alright?”
The alicorn turned her head to see Shining Armor standing in front of her with a worried look on his face. He must had been in the bathroom on the side. Cadance was about to assure her husband that everything was alright when suddenly she felt a pang of pain enough intense to make her clench her teeth and close her eyes.
“Cadance?” Shining Armor leaned closer, gently placing his hoof on her forehead almost like he wanted to test did she have a fever. And somehow, the headache actually faded, seemingly driven away by a simple affectionate gesture from her husband.
“Yes dear, I am alright. You don’t need to worry.” Cadance rose up to stand, ignoring the momentary feeling of weakness in her limbs, shaking her head to make the last vestiges of the headache go away. This wasn’t the way how the Crystal Princess should act.
Shining Armor looked her for a moment with a frown, clearly thinking that she was not as well as she was assuring. But she just rose up to stand straight and looked him in the eyes, daring her to argue the point further. She wasn’t about to let a badly slept night to get the best of her and prevent her from performing her duties.
Shining Armor raised an eyebrow, but then just chuckled and shook his head, apparently finding something amusing in the situation. And Cadance couldn’t help but to smile in response.
“If you say so.” Shining turned away and then gestured towards the door, saying with that same smile that still could make her feel fluttering in her stomach, despite the fact that they had been married for months already. ”How about a walk outside? You look like you could use some fresh air.”
He didn’t need to ask that twice, Cadance was already walking after him before he had even finished his sentence. The prospect of feeling the wind blow against her face seemed to hold special kind of charm for the alicorn at the moment. She added the slight difficulty in breathing, like someone had put a veil on her face to the growing list of strange sensations she ignored to the best of her ability.
They stepped out of the room and walked down the hallway. Shining Armor was walking at a brisk pace, barely looking back at her. For a moment Cadance struggled to keep up with him, but the thought of asking him to slow down didn’t even enter her mind.
The alicorn looked around them as they walked, and despite everything looking perfectly normal, couldn’t shake the feeling of unease and worry from her mind. The sunlight shone brightly from the high windows and the crystal pony guards saluted them when they walked past them, yet still Cadance felt like something was not right. At least the headache was gone.
Finally what felt like forever, they made it to the doors of the grand balcony that looked down at the city. Shining Armor didn’t need to do more than nod to the guards as they came closer, and the doors were pulled open before them.
They stepped to the balcony and Cadance took a deep breath of air, rising her head to look at the beautiful blue sky and the clouds gently moving across it. It was yet another beautiful day. The magic of the Crystal Heart kept the weather always pleasant.
“Isn’t our Empire beautiful, Cadance?” Shining Armor had walked right on the edge of the balcony and was looking down. Cadance smiled for a moment at the image of her handsome husband leaning against the balcony, looking every bit like the ruler he was, before walking to him and looking down at the city herself.
For a moment Cadance wasn’t certain what she was seeing. But then she blinked and shook her head, looking down at the city again, the alicorn still unable to completely ignore the feeling of weight on her face. This time she saw what she knew was there.
The city was beautiful. The streets and ponies shone with their light that was every bit as brilliant and serene as she had always imagined it. Cadance just stared down at the city of her dreams for a minute or two, before remembering that she should probably respond to her husband’s comment.
Not that Shining Armor seemed to mind. He just stood there patiently on the side looking at her, almost like he was expecting something. The unicorn seemed pleased. Cadance couldn’t fathom why, but she felt happy that he did.
Finally Shining Armor spoke, a mischievous smile on his lips. It was all more cute for how rarely Cadance saw it.”Dear, could you do something for me?”
The unicorn looked almost embarrassed, which made Cadance only smile more as she turned towards him.”Of course. What is it?”
Shining Armor stepped closer, smiling to her.”I know this is going to sound really silly, but could you...kneel down?”
Cadance looked at him with a puzzled expression, even if she did feel amused at the strange request. That was the last thing she had expected him to ask for. Shining Armor had never been one to demand acts of worship or honor from others. Cadance could understand that some stallions would had maybe enjoyed the idea of having an alicorn princess kneel down in front of them, but her husband had never been that kind of pony.
“Why?” Cadance had to ask, if simply because she knew that there had to be a sensible explanation for why Shining Armour would ask for something like that.
Her husband’s smile did not falter, but somehow Cadance could sense his displeasure. ”Could you just do it?” He tapped the crystal floor of the balcony with the tip of his hoof in demanding manner, another gesture she would never had attributed to him.
For a moment Cadance was about to argue, but then something in the alicorn’s mind soothed her. It was just a silly request, did she really need to know the details? If she would had asked him to hop three times in place and then clap his hooves together while singing a song, he would have done it without question. She could humor him now and then ask for explanations afterwards.
Cadance shook her head to the silliness of it all and then did as she was told, kneeling down in front of Shining Armour, bowing down. She made sure to only look at the floor, just like she had seen ponies do in front of Celestia.
The alicorn could hear Shining starting to chuckle aloud, and again wondered why her husband found this so amusing. Cadance could practically see them both reflected on the surface of the crystal floor, which was why she did not even flinch when Shining slammed his hoof down on it less than a feet away from her face in a victorius gesture, accompanied by a faint metallic clink as he kept chuckling in good humour.
Wait.
A metallic clink?
She frowned, and again felt a pang of headache. But this time something in her made her concentrate on it despite the pain. Cadance didn’t allow herself to blink and just kept staring at the floor, slightly moving her head, hearing how something metallic scraped against the crystal floor just below her face. The sound disappeared almost before she had even heard it, but this time the alicorn knew it was real.
There was something on her face.
Cadance moved her hooves to feel her face and could feel something. Something cold and hard, even if she could not see it.
Shining Armor had stopped laughing, and was now just looking down at her. ”Cadance, stop that.” His smile was still just as kind and genuine as it had been before, but there was more authority in his voice now.
But something was wrong. That gentle smile did not match his tone. Cadance could feel another spike of pain in her head, but refused to let go of the thing on her face, somehow aware that if she would, she wouldn’t be able to grab it again and would soon forget that it was there in the first place.
Shining Armor stepped closer, but Cadance rose up and backed away, almost frantic in her need to get what felt like a plate of metal off from her face. The pain stabbed the alicorn again and again, making tears fall down her face as she felt like her skull would burst apart. It felt like it was going to take her fur and skin with it.
Finally it was too much and Cadance screamed, willing the thing to get off, her horn glowing as she put every bit of her willpower into that single desire.
The unicorn in front of her growled in annoyance, but then had to rise his metal clad hoof to cover his face as the balcony was covered in a burst of magic strong enough to make his cape flutter like it was caught in a strong wind, accompanied by the sound of metal being violently torn apart as the mask on Cadance’s face was blown to pieces.
As the light faded away, the alicorn collapsed on the floor, feeling like she had just ripped off her own mane, her vision dizzy and mind reeling from the shock. But when Cadance looked up, it all came back to her now when she could finally see the truth as what felt like smoke vanished from her vision.
The sky wasn’t blue, nor was the sun shining. There was no brilliant light of crystals from her dreams. It wasn't weeks since they had been sent to the Crystal Empire, but months.
And most importantly, the unicorn in front of her wasn’t Shining Armor, her husband.
Cadance couldn’t gather enough willpower to stand, but still snarled in defiance the name of the monster who was looking down at her with what seemed like annoyance and even some frustration, absent-mindedly kicking away a piece of the broken mask as he stepped towards her.
King Sombra, the ruler of Crystal Empire and Scourge of Equestria, couldn’t completely hide annoyance from his face as he looked down at the alicorn in front of him. For a moment Sombra had thought that he had finally managed to crush Cadance’s resistance to his magic when she had actually kneeled down in front of him when commanded to do so.
Yet in the end, the so-called “Crystal Princess” didn’t give in. She kept resisting whatever dream world his magic conjured out of her imagination. And by doing so, she refused to submit to his power.
And there was nothing he found more aggravating than that.
He kicked a piece of the broken mask away with a sigh. It had taken him days to craft and enchant it. Unlike the crude helmets he used on normal ponies, one for an alicorn needed special care in it’s construction.
Well, no matter. He would break Cadance eventually. Seeing Amora’s legacy used for his own ends would make all this time and effort worthwhile, and remove the only real threat to his reign.
He stepped towards the alicorn who was still trying to rise up and calmly slapped Cadance on the side of her face with his hoof with enough force to send her tumbling on the side.
Sombra couldn’t deny that the whimper of pain as her back hit the railing gave him just a little bit of satisfaction. The alicorn would learn her place eventually. She just needed proper education.
“Silence. I didn’t give you a permission to speak.”
The look of pure hate she gave to him would had probably made almost anypony to think twice about what they were doing. But then she proved yet again that she was a slow learner.
“Monster! Tartarus will freeze before I wi...” He didn’t bother giving her enough time to finish and slammed his hoof down on her wing, earning himself an actual scream of pain from the alicorn this time. If only all his problems could be solved simply by inflicting pain.
As amusing as it would have been to continue this for the rest of the afternoon, until she would no longer have enough energy to even scream, he already knew from experience that physical abuse would not be enough to break Cadance. She was like all others of her kind. Willing to suffer through any kind of agony inflicted on them as long as they could comfort their egos that it somehow protected their subjects.
Such idiocy. It almost made him vomit in disgust to the foolishness of such naive ideals. Nations existed to serve their rulers, not the other way around. Turning her into a martyr was the very last thing he was going to do. The crystal ponies and the rest of Equestria needed to see that there was nothing King Sombra couldn’t break. That their precious princesses were just as fallible as anypony else.
And if no amount of pain inflicted on her would be enough to make Cadance to submit to his will, maybe it was time to change his approach.
For a moment it seemed that the alicorn was going to speak, but when he rose his hoof again, ready to slam it on her face this time, she gritted her teeth and stayed silent. It galled him more than he wanted to admit that this was the extent of progress he had made with her.
Sombra’s horn glowed as he cast his spell, black smoke forming out of thin air and covering the alicorn, forming into metal chains and a collar.
“You have been as charming company as always, dear Cadance...” he turned around and gestured for the two guards standing on the sides of the doorway, who in response walked past him to the alicorn. One pulled her up to stand, while the other grabbed the leash of her collar. As he started walking away, the two guards followed him, dragging the uncooperative alicorn with them.
”...but I think that now is time for a small walk around my city.”
Cadance walked between the two guards, knowing that if she wouldn’t, they would simply drag her across the ground as they walked the streets of the Crystal Empire. The bruises on her cheek and wing still ached but she was determined not to show it, adamant in denying Sombra any satisfaction he tried to get out of her.
The alicorn didn’t know where Sombra was taking them, and didn’t much care. But after they had walked for a while, she was unable to resist looking around, she spent most of her time in a windowless cell below the ground after all.
She glanced around them and what she saw made her heart ache in sympathy for these ponies she had failed to save. The streets were dirty and tarnished, buildings ramshack and there were barely any sounds at all. It was like the city had barely anyone living in it.
And the fact that it was true made everything look even more bleak. Two thirds of all adult mares and colts had been sent to wage war in the south. Those who remained were either too young or too old to be of any use in fighting, or then they were needed for some duty inside the city itself.
But despite how horrible state the buildings were in, the worst part was those crystal ponies who were visible. Many were wearing Sombra’s ugly helmets and concentrating on some sort of manual labor, either carrying supplies or then constructing yet more gates and walls to further fortify the city.
Cadance knew full well from experience that those helmets imprisoned their minds in a dream or a nightmare, depending which one was needed to fool their bodies to do what was demanded from them. It was probably for the best that Equestrian ponies didn’t know that when they fought against Sombra’s troops, they were fighting against ponies who thought they were defending Crystal Empire and their families from monsters.
But somehow those ponies who were either lucky or unlucky enough to be fully aware of reality were even more desperate sight.
Cadance could see them here and there, walking across the streets with their heads hanging low. Most weren’t even in chains anymore, Sombra had so completely crushed their spirits that those weren’t needed. They didn’t talk to each other or meet each other’s gazes, their expressions so filled with hopelessness and silent resignation to their fates that it was like they weren’t even really alive.
Cadance doubted she could ever even hope to understand how Sombra could call this almost derelict ruin a nation.
They walked past the city square which was where in better times crystal ponies had gathered in for celebration. Now it was empty besides a gigantic statue of Sombra, made from stone and dark crystal. It was an ugly, crude thing, a hoof raised in a victorious gesture towards the sky.
How much the alicorn would had given to see it crumble and have Sombra’s mad tyranny to follow it’s example! Right now she was in no position to help anyone, so her hopes laid with Celestia and everyone else back home.
She was certain that they would find a way. Even now, after everything that she had seen, she refused to let go of hope. That was the only thing Sombra couldn’t take away, no matter how hard he tried.
Cadance’s head snapped up when the guard holding the leash of her collar pulled it and the other one pushed her to walk faster. The alicorn was about to resist, but then thought better of it. She would save her strength and pick her battles.
Finally they arrived in front of a some sort of barracks. The yard was filled with Sombra’s helmeted soldiers, all standing in ordered lines. They stood unmoving like statues and Cadance knew that they would keep doing so until their bodies would collapse out of exhaustion.
A heavily armored stallion was standing in front of the soldiers, his helmet more both more massive and decorated, marking him as some sort of officer. With all those plates on him, he looked more like a living battering ram than a warrior. Apparently even Sombra had to delegate when it came to commanding his army.
Cadance wasn’t sure should she had been encouraged by the fact that even Sombra couldn’t be in two places at once, or disheartened by the apparent evidence that those who wore those helmets could still be organized into an actual army instead of being just a swarm of mindless weapons.
“Princess, do you know why I am going to win this war?”
The alicorn rose her head to look at Sombra who had turned to look her with a smug grin. She knew that he was just taunting her, but still couldn’t resist saying with every bit of determination she could muster into her words: “You are not going to win. Celestia and everyone else in Equestria will defeat you.”
One of the guards slammed his hoof on her side, knocking air out of her lungs and making her to fall down on her side. But she just clenched her teeth and refused to show any visible sign of pain, even when her chest burned and all she wanted to do was gasp for air.
Sombra came closer and then gestured for the guards again, who obediently pulled her up to stand as what must had been at least hundred helmeted ponies stared at them in silence.
”I am going to win because Celestia is weak.” Sombra grabbed Cadance’s chin with his hoof, forcing her face him. “I am going to win because as we speak, Crystal Heart is spreading my influence across Equestria.” The unicorn chuckled, and then grinned to her. “In time, Celestia will be fighting alone.”
Cadance refused to believe it and if her hooves wouldn't have been chained, she would had slapped Sombra just to make that arrogant smirk disappear from his face.
Instead the alicorn did something she would never had thought she could bring herself to do, and spit in the unicorn’s face. ”Never!”
For a single second Sombra just stared at her with an expression of utter confusion, the unicorn’s eyes widening in surprise as he turned to look down on his cheek. It was like he had trouble fully comprehending what had just happened.
That single moment of disbelief and shock on Sombra’s face made Cadence’s lips curl into a smile for the first time in weeks.
“You...DARE?!”
Cadence didn’t have time to understand that the blast of dark magic had hit her and sent her flying in air before she collided with the wall of the barracks. The alicorn felt the metal chains press against her back, crying in pain as she felt her wings being crushed between the stone wall and her own body by the force of the impact. Then she fell down on the ground, gasping in pain when she fell on her left wing, the side of the alicorn’s face hitting the crystal pavement, sending another wave of pain coursing through her and giving her yet another bruise on her face.
Yet as she laid there with her eyes closed, every single part of her body aching in agony and gasping for air, Cadance was still smiling, burning that expression of stunned surprise on her captor's face into her memory.
That was probably why when Sombra’s shadow came to tower above her, the metal clad hoof immediately slammed down on the alicorn’s wing again so that the alicorn's smile was replaced by a grimace of pain.
When the pain had ebbed enough and no more abuse was coming into her way, Cadance opened her eyes, looking up to the unicorn.
Apparently the reason why the alicorn had been given a moment of pause from the abuse was because Sombra had used it to regain his composure. Little by little Cadance could see how the fanged expression of rage was replaced by a sober, neutral stare and the trails of smoke vanished from the unicorn’s eyes.
“There is also….an another reason.” Sombra’s tone of voice gradually shifted into a more controlled tone as he spoke ”But that one I will show you, instead of explaining it.”
Cadance clenched her teeth when the guards pulled her up again, making most of her limbs ache in protest. This time she wasn’t even given an option to walk on her own and instead the guards just dragged the alicorn after their liege as Sombra entered the barracks.
The interior of the building was just as crude and unpleasing to the eye as the outside had been, the walls bare and only a dim lighting from some torches illuminating it. There were beds and tables lined against the walls, but from the way how Sombra just walked across the hall towards a reinforced door on the side made it clear that this was not what they were here to see.
Sombra stopped in front of the door and turned towards Cadence, a measure of his previous smugness returning. ”I am going to win because as long as there is somepony foolish enough to oppose me, I will never run out of soldiers.”
Before Cadance had time to understand the meaning of the unicorn’s words, the door opened and they walked in. Even in the gloom she could make out the long lines of cells and barred doors. A prison?
The alicorn was about to say something, but then Sombra smiled, gesturing for silence. That was no reason to actually stay silent, but it gave Cadance enough pause to hear what he had wanted her to hear, stunning her into silence more effectively than the unicorn’s words ever could.
The muffled screams, sobs and whimpers.
And then she saw the dozens motes of sickly green light in the darkness and her eyes widened in horror.
In every cell, there were at least half-dozen ponies, pegasi and unicorns. Some were chained, others stumbled aimlessly from one end of the cell to another. Some were completely unmoving and silent, but others…
She could hear how they were sobbing or screaming, the metal helmets making their sounds of anguish and horror faint but still audible. Some kept trying to break free from their chains, a few were even trying to remove their helmets in vain.
This unsettled her more than any beating, and she felt tears falling down her face as her mouth felt dry.
None of these ponies were from Crystal Empire. They were all from Equestria.
“Some of them are quite resistant.” Sombra walked next to her and continued speaking in a tone that sounded like he was talking about the weather. ”With crystal ponies, I had ample time to prepare, so there is barely any trouble, they don’t even try to resist the helmets. Alas, ponies from Equestria are a bit more troublesome.”
Sombra was clearly enjoying this and Cadance was still too shocked to interrupt the unicorn, so he continued with that same smug tone. ”Most break in hours, some resist for days or even weeks. A few don’t give up at all, and their minds are eventually broken beyond repair.” Sombra sniffed in distaste ”What a waste of resources.”
Cadence felt bile rise up her throat. The alicorn had known that something like this had been going on, but this was the first time she had seen it with her own eyes. And it was all made worse by the fact how she could feel the horror and pain of all these poor ponies with her magic, even through Sombra's supression.
But she couldn’t allow Sombra to win this, to see her afraid. So the alicorn steeled her mind and tried to turn her horror of this scene into anger towards the unicorn.
“No.” Her voice wasn’t as strong as she would had liked, but it had to do. ”They will find a way to break the dark magic in those helmets. And when they do, your armies will turn against you.”
Sombra still smiled, but Cadance continued, finding more strength with every word. ”You are a king, yet you have no subjects. Only slaves. You told me that Celestia will fight alone.” Cadance’s eyes narrowed as she stared at the unicorn, who was no longer smiling ”But you already do so. There isn’t a single soul in the entire Crystal Empire who fights for you.”
Sombra opened his mouth to retort, but the alicorn wasn’t finished. ”You are king of nothing and no one! You must be the most lonely pony in all of Equestria and beyond!”
This time there was no rage or a furious blast of dark magic. Sombra stared back at her, looking like he had just heard something very distasteful and rude, but Cadance didn’t flinch back and met the unicorn’s gaze.
They stared at each other for a long moment, neither turning away. Then Sombra started smiling, saying two words in a level, calm tone: ”Shining Armor.”
This time there was nothing Cadance could do to mask the fear and distress from her face as the alicorn repeated her husband’s name to herself.
Shining Armor stood atop the hill and looked at the enemy forces advancing towards him on the open field below. Their attacks had been relentless for the last few days, they were clearly determined to stop the advance of his troops deeper into Equestria.
The thought made him grit his teeth in frustration. Every day he spent fighting here for these worthless patches of land his family and friends were suffering. He couldn't even imagine what kind of horrors everyone was going through back home.
All Shining Armor could do was to hope that he wouldn't be too late to save them when he would eventually drive these monsters back to their holes and liberate Canterlot.
The unicorn looked at the advancing swarm of changelings, only barely able to hold back his anger as he looked at the black mass of hideous monsters, chattering and hissing in anticipation of facing their prey. His forces were marching in formation to meet them, lines and lines of crystal ponies ready to defend their homes and the rest of Equestria.
Shining Armor was proud to fight with these brave ponies, they had and still kept proving themselves in every battle. Despite having little previous military experience, he had never faced any problems when it came to discipline, nor had the courage of crystal ponies broken even once under the overwhelming odds they were facing. That is why he had hope, even if sometimes it felt that changelings were almost as numerous as all ponies of Equestria combined.
From his high vantage point the unicorn could see the entire battlefield, and everything seemed to be going according to the plan. The main bulk of his forces were advancing directly towards the changelings who had come to meet his attack head on.
He couldn't see them, but he also knew that the smaller force he had sent through the forest on the west side of the field was advancing under the cover of trees. They would circle around the changelings and flank them. He was certain that his soldiers would be able to hold the line and keep the changelings too busy to notice the danger before it was too late.
Shining Armor's gaze went across the changeling battle line. He wasn't sure was he relieved or disappointed that Chrysalis wasn't present. Even though he would have enjoyed defeating the despicable hag personally, he supposed that it was fortunate since Cadence couldn't be here either. Her duties had taken her again back to the Crystal Empire. Whenever she was here, the crystal ponies fought even more tenaciously, inspired by the presence of their rightful ruler.
Even from this distance, he could hear the sound of the two armies meeting. Screams and clatter of weapons filled the air and Shining Armor could already see the dust cloud rising, turning the battle into a confused mess of movement and noise.
In all honesty, the unicorn would have preferred to be right there in the fray as well. But he was needed here to coordinate their forces. It was not like he would run out of changelings to fight anytime soon. There was still a long way to go before he would reach his home.
Suddenly one of his guards shouted a warning and pointed his hoof towards the sky, but Shining Armor already knew what was coming even before he looked up.
A smaller swarm of changelings was flying above the battlefield, dispersing into even smaller units and descending towards different parts of the battle. He knew from experience that they would always go where their kin were about to be overrun. There weren’t any pegasi among the crystal ponies, so there wasn’t much he could do about them.
He was just about to relay a new set of orders so his forces could respond effectively to the aerial reinforcements when something caught his eye.
A single flying figure was charging right towards him. It moved faster than any pegasi or changeling he had ever seen. He couldn’t even make out it’s shape properly because of its speed, but he could only assume that it was some sort of assassin. Most likely a specially trained changeling captain sent to take him out of the fight.
To his own surprise, Shining Armor smiled even as he stared at the incoming attacker. Finally a chance to prove himself! Chrysalis was one thing, but there was no changeling drone that could hope to best him in a fair fight.
So instead of calling some of his troops to assist him or retreating to the safety, he strode proudly forward, gathering energy to his horn. He would blast the damned monster all the way to it’s master with a message that reckoning was on it’s way.
“Come here and fight, changeling! I have a message for that hag you call queen!”
Rainbow Dash ignored the incoherent growling and raving of the armoured unicorn, it’s helmet distorting its voice and turning whatever words it was yelling to her into a distorted mess of sounds.
It was not like she was here to talk. This thing was what was commanding Sombra’s troops, so if she could just knock it out, the battle would be as good as won, right? Then she could finally make Spitfire shut up about what she called ‘insubordinate and reckless behaviour’.
Sure, the unicorn was covered from head to hoof in armoured plates thick enough to probably even give Maud some trouble. When she just barely dodged the blast of magical energy it shot from its horn, Dash didn’t need to know a first thing about magic to know that if she hadn’t, it would have gone right through her.
But the pegasus was sure that she would figure something out, so she just kept increasing her speed as she charged at the unicorn who didn’t even try to move away.
When the shimmering sphere of energy formed into existence around the armoured unicorn when she was just a few feet away, Dash could only curse even as she desperately tried to change her course to avoid crashing right into the magical equivalent of a steel wall.
What had started as a victorious charge turned into a stumbling descent as she flew past the unicorn, hitting the ground in a clumsy stumble, rolling on the snow. Now Dash was just happy that no one else was here to see this. This wasn’t at all like she had imagined this would go.
She quickly jumped on her hooves again even as another blast of magic scorched the spot on the ground where the pegasus had just been, turning to face the unicorn again and charging again. Rainbow Dash has been fighting this war long enough to know that staying still was the best option only if you wanted to get yourself killed.
The unicorn didn’t seem to know that though, casually walking towards her in lazy stride that oozed arrogance. Geez, it was like fighting Sombra all over again.
Dash again almost got to the unicorn, but then that stupid barrier appeared again, blocking her advance and forcing her to jump back. Then she needed to jump again to avoid another blast of magic.
This kept going for what was probably a few minutes. She tried to attack, was blocked by the unicorn rising his barrier right at the last moment and had to then spend a moment avoiding the magical attacks before having a chance to try again.
What was driving Dash mad though was that she could almost literally see the grin on the face behind that helmet. This jerk was just toying with her, not even trying to fight back seriously, rubbing on her face the fact that she couldn’t get within three feet of him no matter how hard she tried.
The unicorn rambled again something through his helmet, but Dash couldn’t understand the garbled sounds any better than before.
The pegasus didn’t like to admit it but this situation was eerily similar to when she had seen Sombra for the first time at the beginning of the war. She had charged at the unicorn alone, had not been able to actually do anything to him, and then…
She flinched at the memory, feeling the cold metal of her prosthetic wing against her back. She didn’t want to remember any of that.
But this time it wouldn’t be the same. Next time she would meet Sombra, things would go very differently.
And this armoured jerk was about to find out why.
Shining Armour didn’t know why exactly he was even doing this. No matter how he goaded the changeling, it didn’t answer. They never did. He wasn’t even sure could drones speak in the first place.
Well, anything a changeling would say couldn’t be trusted anyway. It was time to end this and rout these vermin. He rose up the barrier again, leaving the changeling unable to do anything else than circle around Shining Armour, looking for an opening that would never come.
He gathered more and more magic into his horn, this time the blast would be so massive that the changeling would not be able to avoid it, and the shield on its wing wouldn’t be able to protect it either.
And the stupid bug just stood there looking at him as he gathered his strength, and for a moment the unicorn could swear that it was smiling. Well, it wouldn’t be doing that for long.
But just when the unicorn was about to release all the energy he had gathered for his spell, he felt a sudden tremor from the ground. Shining Armour blinked in surprise and turned to look down at the snowy ground, seeing a crack forming right under his hooves. By the time he realized what it was, it was already too late.
The ground burst apart in a shower of rocks under him, and Shining Armour gasped in pain as what felt like a cannonball hit his stomach with enough force to knock him up in the air, both the barrier and his attack spell dissipating, his concentration broken by the sudden pain and shock.
The unicorn could only look how the world spun around in his vision, desperately trying to concentrate enough to cast a levitation spell. But then he saw the changeling with the metal wing in front of him again, flying right towards him.
Time seemed to slow down to halt as Shining Armour looked at the changeling getting closer and closer, the world hanging upside down behind it. He could just make out another changeling next to a hole on the ground, looking down...up at them even as shards of metal fell back towards it, splinters of his shattered armor.
Then his vision went black as the changeling with the metal wing slammed its hooves against his face, and for a moment all Shining Armour could feel was pain like someone had hit him with a slab of metal, followed by the feeling of nausea as the unicorn felt himself rolling helplessly in the air, all hopes of forming a spell in time gone.
The last thing he saw in his blurred vision were the ranks of his own troops even as he crashed down among them, and then everything went black again as he fell into the darkness, pain gripping every part of his body.
The fact that for the first time in months she was laying on a proper bed didn't bring even a glimmer of joy to Cadance's heart. Sombra had apparently decided to change his approach, so instead of the underground cell, she was now imprisoned in one of the towers of the castle.
Perhaps the monster had just given up in trying to break her will with physical abuse? The alicorn didn't really care. All her thoughts were in the south, in the miles and miles of wasteland between the Crystal Empire and Equestria. Now she knew what had happened to her husband, and the knowledge made Cadance's chest ache in pain.
Somewhere in there Shining Armor was doing what he did best, lead and fight. But not for Equestria, but against it.
Sombra had taken great pleasure in telling her how the former captain of the Royal Guard was now fighting for him against those whom the unicorn had sworn to protect. His mind trapped in a prison of dark magic like the minds of so many other ponies.
Cadance awkwardly rose up from bed, the heavy metal chains wrapped around her wings making any effort of moving both cumbersome and noisy. She walked to the side of the room, to look through the window at the city below and the snowy tundra beyond it.
It wasn't even a proper window really, just a hole in the crystal wall. There was no glass or even bars. She could jump through it if she wanted. But from this height without her wings or magic it would be nothing else than relatively painless way to end her own suffering.
The alicorn was certain that Sombra had intentionally left the window open just to taunt her. To tease her how close yet far away she was from having back her freedom. Even ending her own life would be just admitting that Sombra had broken her will to live and resist him.
Cadance refused to even contemplate from giving him that satisfaction.
She looked up from the depressingly familiar scene of the city below and turned her gaze towards the sky instead. Or at least what little of it she could see. Storm clouds were hanging above the city, circling around it in constant motion. Even from here she could feel the freezing cold wind blowing among them.
Were they some sort of side effect of Sombra's dark magic? She didn't know. The city and it's outskirts were magically protected from the weather, but she had never found out how exactly that worked. There were no unicorns or pegasi here to control the weather like it was done in Equestria.
Cadance sighed and stepped back from the window, trying not to think about her home and how now her husband was being used as a tool to conquer it. There had to be something she could do!
But what hope did she have left? Sombra had sent her here to prove that there was nothing she could do even if she was outside her cell. More Cadance thought about it, more she feared that the unicorn tyrant was right.
Even if she somehow managed to escape outside this room or even the palace and make it to the streets, what could she hope to accomplish by herself with her wings and magic taken from her? In a city filled with slaves who were either reduced to mindless drones by dark magic or were so terrified of their oppressor that they didn't even need to be shackled or guarded?
The alicorn should have felt fortunate that she no longer had to stay in that dark, cold cell. But if anything, she could now feel the dark and oppressing atmosphere that hung in the air and suffocated all hope even more strongly. It made everything seem pointless, foolish resistance of inevitable.
Was it all futile? Would it be easier to just give up? With everything from her husband to her magic taken away from her, the alicorn was starting to feel like there really was no hope.
Suddenly Cadance heard a metallic clank and the sound of something heavy hitting the floor from the doorway, turning just in time to see the metal hatch in the door pulled shut again. After a brief moment of confusion, she looked down and saw an old worn out book now resting on the floor.
For a brief moment the alicorn just stood there, not sure how to react. Her first instinct was to yell to the other side of the door that she wasn't going to play Sombra's games. But somehow this didn't feel like something he would do.
Cadance carefully walked to the book, approaching the worn out tome like it could explode without warning when she would come too close to it.
Since the book didn't do anything suspicious even when she was right next to it, she decided that it probably wasn't a trap of some sort and looked down, reading the title.
"Notes of the royal crystallers: studying the Crystal Heart."
Cadance took a moment to think about that, and then carefully placed her hoof on the book. She flipped it open and skimmed through the first few pages to see it was indeed what the cover said it was. It was real enough, written by some ancient scholar who had lived in the Empire. Or considering that the Crystal Empire had been gone for thousand years, maybe still did.
The alicorn rose her head to look at the door again, deep in thought. Then, Cadance started to smile when she understood what this meant.
Somepony had just given her a book about the one thing Sombra feared. The artifact he had hidden away before his banishment. This couldn't be a trick. The unicorn tyrant was arrogant, but not when it came to Crystal Heart.
Cadance's smile grew wider, the alicorn princess forgetting how sore her limbs were and how exhausted she felt. This meant that someone else hadn't given up hope. Somepony in this castle was actively working against Sombra. And they wanted her to know that.
Which meant that she had at least one ally in this place. If one crystal pony could overcome their terror of Sombra and bring themselves to act against him, surely so could others? If not by themselves, then at least with some help.
She wasn't alone. It wasn't hopeless.
Cadance suddenly felt almost light-hearted, a sense of warmth radiating throughout her body. If Sombra had been in the room to see the alicorn when she rose her head up, even the dark unicorn would have been shocked to see the sudden change in his prisoner. Despite the visible signs of physical abuse and malnutrition, her wings shackled and her horn covered in jagged shards of dark crystal, Cadance was suddenly standing straight with newfound strength in her limbs.
It was probably just her imagination, but for a moment it was like she was suddenly breathing fresh air again after months of what felt like suffocating smoke. Even the room itself felt less dark, shadows shrinking away from the alicorn.
Cadance closed her eyes, moving her hoof on her chest and took a deep breath, breathing out again as she straightened her arm. Then, she repeated the small exercise, opening her eyes again, now feeling calm.
The book had patiently stayed still on the floor through all this with the patience of an inanimate object, so she simply picked it up and walked back to the bed. If somepony had taken the risk of smuggling this book to her, there had to be something in it that could help her.
If nothing else, Cadance felt grateful to her unknown ally. Even if information in this book was worthless if she wasn't holding the Crystal Heart in her own hooves, it still had reminded her of what was important.
She wouldn't give up. She wouldn't allow Sombra to fool her into thinking that he had already won. There was always hope.
Why whenever he was so close to a complete victory that he could taste it, something happened and denied it from him?
Sombra sat on his throne, the newest report from the frontlines of his war against Equestria floating in the air in front of him. To his annoyance, things had again went wrong in the most crucial moment.
His forces had been steadily advancing for weeks, Celestia and her subjects unable to stop the advance of his army. Shining Armor's leadership had given his forces much needed initiative and adaptability. He had been relentlessly harassing the Equestrian army for weeks until they were almost at the breaking point. Just one more victory would have finally shattered their resistance and opened the way forward into the deepest parts of Equestria and maybe all the way to Canterlot itself.
But of course something had happened. Shining Armor had been defeated in personal combat by a certain blue pegasus with a very distinct mane. More importantly, his helmet had been damaged during the fight and broken the link between it and the rest of the army. With their central command disrupted, the helmets had not been able to keep the crystal ponies coordinated.
In the end, what should have been a decisive victory had turned into a disorganized retreat. Equestrian forces were far too battered and weakened to capitalize their sudden advantage, but this would give them time to regroup and resupply. It would take weeks to corner them again.
Sombra cursed aloud and with a flash from his horn shredded the report into pieces, gesturing for a cowering servant on the side to clean up the mess. As the frightened crystal pony started collecting the scraps of paper from the floor, the dark unicorn turned his gaze forward, calculating how this setback would affect his plans.
There was really no choice, he would have to leave to the frontlines himself. Shining Armor's helmet had to be repaired if he wanted Cadance's husband to be any use for him in leading the army.
Furthermore, if Celestia had already managed to work through all the trouble he had spent a great deal of time and effort engineering to take place in Canterlot, she would undoubtedly be on her way back as well.
Sombra turned his head to the side towards a heavily armoured pegasus standing next to him, his horn starting to glow again as he issued his command.
"I am leaving. You will be in command, Flash Sentry. Guard the princess and continue fortifying the city. Accelerate the conversion of the prisoners. If anything unprecedented happens, inform me immediately."
The pegasus nodded, the lenses of his helmet glowing more brightly for a brief moment as it implemented Sombra's orders into whatever illusion it was showing to its wearer, so Sentry would act accordingly.
Like Shining Armor, the pegasus was wearing one of the few more sophisticated helmets Sombra had been able to create in the limited time he had available. Ponies under the control of his regular helmets made superb soldiers and almost tireless workforce when it came to physical labour, but they were limited in other duties.
Assured that everything was going to be handled in at least satisfactory manner, the dark unicorn rose up and walked out of the throne room. He pondered for a moment about visiting the princess again, but then thought better of it. Less she knew about what was going on the better.
However, as Sombra walked down the corridor past the silent stares of his helmeted guards and the few unhelmeted servants who cowered in fear and turned their heads down the moment he looked at them, something was bothering him.
What was it? The dark unicorn stopped in middle of the hallway as he tried to make sense of the strange feeling. Something felt wrong. It was like he was being watched.
He turned his head to look around him, but everything was exactly like it should be. The helmeted guards were silently standing in attention, waiting for orders. A single servant was cleaning a window with a dirty rag, but from the way the crystal pony's hooves were trembling, Sombra could tell that she was just barely managing to keep working under his gaze. She was no threat. When he had chosen servants from crystal ponies to work at the castle, he had inspected each one of them make sure they were utterly compliant.
What was this feeling then? A simple spell revealed that the helmets of the guards were in perfect working order, and he could not detect any form of magical spying either. Yet the feeling persisted.
Sombra kept looking around himself for a moment longer and finally sighed, shaking his head and starting to walk down the hallway again. None of his wards or alarms had been triggered, and there was no pony alive who could have worked their way through his dark magic and slip through undetected. He was simply being overcautious.
Yes. Shining Armor's incompetence was an annoying setback, but in the end it mattered very little. Everything else was going exactly as planned. The only possible source of trouble was Cadance, but she was safely locked up in her tower. Without her magic the alicorn princess was harmless.
In all honesty, it would be refreshing to take part in the fighting again. His other projects could wait. What was important now was not to allow Equestria to have any respite from the war of attrition.
Oh, and if he saw her, he would make sure to tear off Rainbow Dash's remaining wing as well.
Rainbow Dash rested on a blanket on her back, staring at the ceiling above her. The stone floor wasn't exactly comfortable even with the blanket, but it was better than nothing.
Well, if you could even use words like floor and ceiling in a cave. The ground was slightly tilted too, so sleeping comfortably was basically impossible. Not that any of that was what Dash was thinking right now.
All the pegasus could really think about was how incredibly bored she was. She had already maintained her prosthetic wing, counted every single crack in the ceiling and then maintained her wing again. This assignment had sounded seriously more exciting than it actually was.
Dash sighed, turning on her side towards the mouth of the cave and Soarin who was leaning on some rocks, staring into distance with binoculars in his hooves. "Anything happening?"
The other pegasus did not turn, mostly to hide his own sigh. Patience wasn't exactly one of Rainbow's strong points. So, he just said the same thing he had said the last six times Dash had asked the same question in the last hour or two. "Nothing yet."
Dash groaned aloud, standing up. If she stayed still for a minute longer staring at the insides of this cave, she would start talking to the rocks and ask did they know Boulder. An hour more and they would probably start talking back to her.
"I never thought that bad guys could be this boring!" The pegasus stretched her legs and then walked to Soarin to stare at enemy camp in the distance below them, lines and lines of tents flanked by trees. They had a good view up from this cliff. "It has been four days and all they have done is stand there!"
Soarin didn't answer, because Rainbow Dash had also done this speech three times already, and the pegasus knew from experience that answering wouldn't affect it in the slightest.
Still, on second thought, he had to try. Again.
"We have our mission, Crash. We should be happy that Sombra's forces haven't attacked again. This is the first real break they have given to us in weeks. If they want to help us out more by doing absolutely nothing besides sitting in their base, I'm not going to argue." Soarin concentrated on the camp again for a moment just to make sure he wasn't missing anything. "Knocking out their boss really hit them hard."
Dash's mood improved somewhat at remembering that. It had looked so awesome when that unicorn had collided with his troops like a bowling ball! And she had been right! The crystal ponies had retreated almost immediately, holed up in their base, and then stayed there.
That was probably why Spitfire hadn't been as hard on her about the whole disobeying orders thing. Or maybe being tasked to stay here and get bored out of her mind was her punishment.
She looked at the enemy camp some more, and then at the forest itself. Fluttershy would have loved to come camping here. Only real sounds besides the wind were the birds singing, insects buzzing and all other critters the shy pegasus would have probably been able to name just by the sounds they made.
Dash's thoughts started to wander. The pegasus wondered how her closest friend was doing back home. Maybe if things would finally quiet down a bit, she could take a week off and...
"Wait! Something is happening! It's that unicorn!"
Dash was on Soarin in an instant, grabbing the binoculars from him and starting to look down at the camp herself. It was him! But then she frowned at what she saw.
The unicorn had walked out of his tent, even if "stumbled" could have been a more fitting way of describing it. The unicorn was still wearing that same armor, now battered with dents and tears, pieces of it missing. Now Dash could actually see that he had a blue mane below all that metal.
But it was strange. The unicorn was swaying from side to side, the green light in his helmet flickering on and off again. Dash could swear that the thing was leaking off smoke. Really weird looking smoke too, some strange combination of green and purple.
The other crystal ponies were looking in confusion at their commander. One came closer and they seemed to talk with each other, from this far away and with them both wearing those helmets it was kinda hard to tell.
Then, the light in the lenses of his helmet disappeared and unicorn suddenly jumped back in clear surprise, starting to look around him like he was confused. At that same moment the other ponies tensed, starting to encircle him. It looked like they were all going to attack him!
However, then the helmet started glowing and the unicorn stopped moving, all other ponies around him relaxing. There was more talking and then few of the soldiers led the unicorn to the edge of the camp. Now he was acting like a sleepwalker, not really moving on his own without being pushed to move by other ponies.
Dash followed how they led him to cages normally reserved for captured ponies and then locked him in one. Unicorn collapsed on the floor of the cage, his helmet still leaking that weird smoke. After that, the situation seemed to calm down.
"Well, that was interesting." Soarin put down the binoculars he had taken from Dash's own bag. "They just locked up their own commander."
It took a moment before he realized that the other pegasus hadn't answered in any way. Soarin turned to look at her and then blinked in surprise when he saw that Dash was just staring into distance, her forehead creased in a thoughtful frown.
Well, that was uncharacteristic. What was up with her? "Crash? What is it?"
Dash was silent for a moment longer and was just about to speak when both pegasi jumped in surprise at the sound of another voice coming right next to them.
"You two so enamored with each other that you don't even keep track of your surroundings?" Soarin turned just in time to see Spitfire step out from behind a rock on the side, flashing them both a smile.
Before either Soarin or Dash could answer, mostly to adamantly deny that there was something going on between them, the commander of the Wonderbolts folded her wings and then stepped inside the cave. "I have good news and then I have some bad news. Which ones do you want to hear first?"
Dash swallowed her retort to Spitfire's tease about him and Soarin and then just flashed her a smile of her own. "You know me and how awesome I am. Bring it on."
However, when the two other pegasi saw how Spitfire's expression sobered, neither of them were smiling.
"Sombra is coming. With a lot more of his friends with helmets. The scouts came in with the report just before I left the base."
For a moment, all three pegasi were silent. They all remembered the last time they had met the unicorn tyrant and all of them tried not to glance at Dash's prosthetic wing. They were hard pressed already, if Sombra was bringing even more soldiers...
Finally, Soarin spoke, rising his hoof in a questioning gesture. "And the good news?"
Spitfire started smiling again, pointing with her hoof at the cave wall, towards south and Equestria. "Princess Celestia is coming too, along with a fresh group of reinforcements."
Both of the pegasi smiled to that, their spirits uplifted. With the princess of the sun with them, there was nothing they feared and every pony in the Equestrian Army shared that belief with them.
"Perfect!" Dash clapped her hooves together with a smile. "Beating his lackey was a good practice run, next we beat Sombra! I have wanted to drop a giant rock on his head for weeks!"
The two other Wonderbolts smiled to their friend's proclamation, even if they knew that it wouldn't be that easy. Spitfire just nodded her head and then asked, "You were so distracted when I came. Did you see something interesting in the enemy camp?"
Dash and Soarin blinked, both only now remembering what they had just seen before Spitfire's arrival. They looked at each other and then at her, starting to explain. Spitfire listened and once they had finished explaining, took binoculars herself and looked at the camp of the crystal ponies, seeing the now imprisoned unicorn.
"Looks like that beating you gave him broke his helmet." The yellow pegasus lowered her binoculars, turning to look at Dash and Soarin. "Must have been really lucky. Usually they won't come off that easy. We have holding cells full of crystal ponies who have to be locked up because we can't remove the damn things."
Dash turned her head to look at the distant camp again and after a moment of thoughtful silence her eyes widened in realization. Then, she said in calm, matter of fact tone: "We should go and rescue him."
Seeing how both of Soarin and Spitfire were staring at her without even trying to cover their surprise, the pegasus continued. "Isn't it weird? We knock him out and the whole army suddenly turns around and runs, and then just sit there. On the next day, Sombra suddenly decides that he wants some fresh air and starts running here from whatever hole he has been in for all these weeks!"
Now it was turn for Soarin and Spitfire to look at each other. Dash had a point. But even if it were just a coincidence that Sombra and Celestia had both started coming back to the frontlines at the same time, executing a rescue raid for just one unicorn was reckless and risky.
In other words, they should really have seen Dash coming up with this idea a mile away.
Seeing that her fellow Wonderbolts weren't convinced, the pegasus quickly continued before either of them could start listing aloud the numerous reasons why this was a bad idea. "I know who he is! When we fought, it felt like I had met him before. I have never seen anypony else who is that good with shield spells!"
Soarin gave her a puzzled look, but the way how Spitfire's expression was turning from surprise to outright shock, Dash knew that the yellow pegasus was about to guess it too. "Now when I saw that he has a blue mane, I'm sure of it! It is Shining Armor!"
There was a moment of silence, until Soarin finally said what they all were thinking. "All this time, we have been fighting the captain of the royal guard?"
Dash gave Spitfire a look that dared the commander of the Wonderbolts to deny it, but she didn't. Instead she was thinking about what this meant. Could it be true?
Shining Armor and Princess Cadance had both become public heroes when the changelings had invaded Canterlot during their wedding. They had defeated Queen Chrysalis and driven off the rest of the changelings. When the Crystal Empire had returned, Princess Celestia had sent them to protect it.
But weeks later, Sombra's armies had started marching towards Equestria and no pony had heard of Shining Armor or Cadance ever since. Spitfire had assumed with everypony else that the unicorn tyrant had killed them.
More she thought about it, more the yellow pegasus realized that this shouldn't even be surprising. This whole thing had Sombra's hoofprints all over it. It was exactly the kind of cruel irony he enjoyed inflicting on others.
They had seen that first hoof with Rainbow's wing.
In the light of this new information, Spitfire couldn't really argue with Dash's logic. Retrieving the captain of the royal guard alone would have been enough, but Shining Armor was one of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria, able to shield an entire city with his magic if he had enough time to prepare for it. They couldn't leave somepony like that to Sombra.
Then, Dash told her last good point. "I don't know anything about dark magic, but I can bet that those crystal ponies are going to stop acting like zombies the moment when Sombra gets here. This is our best chance!"
Spitfire couldn't argue with that either, but she still shook her head. "Crash, we don't have enough troops to assault their base even if they aren't exactly smart without having Sombra there to command them. Princess Celestia and reinforcements will be here any day now, we can just wait and..."
"So will Sombra!" Dash yelled as she slammed her hooves on the stone floor. "We don't need to assault their base! Shining Armor's cell is right at the edge of the camp!" The blue pegasus rose her hoof to point at the camp in the distance as she continued, "All we need is a distraction! Three of us can just fly there and carry him out before any of those idiots figure out what is going on!"
Spitfire turned to look at Soarin who first just shrugged, but then said, "I think it is worth the risk. I doubt we can do much anything after Sombra arrives with his own reinforcements."
The commander of the Wonderbolts sighed, but then turned back to look at Dash again. "And I guess you also know already how exactly we are going to pull off a distraction like that?"
Dash didn't even try to hide her smug smile as she said, "Actually, I do!"
Seeing the suspicious stares of her peers, the blue pegasus deflated just a bit and then corrected herself. "Well, not exactly how we can do it. But I know somepony who can put up a show! She still carries that lame wizard hat and cape around!"
As the two other Wonderbolts started warming up to Dash's idea, none of the three pegasi realized that they were being eavesdropped. It had squeezed itself into a narrow crack under a large rock and the ground next to the cave mouth of their hideout, space too small for any pony to fit into.
Unlike Rainbow Dash, it had been very patient, listening to the words of the pegasi tirelessly for days. It could have told Spitfire that there probably wasn't anything romantic going on between the two other Wonderbolts. All it had heard were complaints of either boredom or lack of pies, bickering and more bad jokes than it could count. Not much love in the air.
But now it had finally heard something actually worth reporting. Since the ponies were so engaged in their discussion, it decided to take this opportunity to leave.
It crawled out of its hiding place, moving very slowly and with stealth of a natural predator. Then, it stretched its limbs and crept away, taking into the air after the first few steps.
Even if one of the ponies would have heard the sound of it leaving, they would probably have mistaken the buzzing of its wings for the natural sounds of the forest.
The rumbling sound of hundreds of hooves hitting the ground in perfect unison filled the air. Cloud of dust rose as the army of crystal ponies marched down the road towards south and Equestria. They had been marching for a day and night without a break and would continue to do so without complaint.
King Sombra sat in the large throne of his equally massive chariot, pulled by over two dozen ponies. In front of him was a table with maps of both Equestria and Crystal Empire. The dark unicorn was already planning on how to advance after he would break Equestria's last line of defense.
He would have preferred to just keep the army marching, but soon he was going to be forced to give his soldiers a break. They would keep marching until they would faint out of exhaustion, but that way they wouldn't be any use on him by the time they made it to the battlefield. His helmets turned ponies into perfect soldiers, but in the end they were still just ponies. They needed sleep and food.
Then something caught his eye and the unicorn turned to look up in the air. There was a figure in the horizon, rapidly coming closer with speed that rivaled that of Rainbow Dash. It was a pegasus, flying right towards him. But Sombra wasn't worried and just finished his line of thought, looking back at his maps.
Unfortunately, his helmets did not come without downsides. Turning his subjects into perfect soldiers also meant that they were not going to be very useful when it came to doing anything else. The improved helmets like the one Shining Armor wore alleviated the issue but didn't completely solve it.
Yes, Sombra mused as the hooves of a pegasus known as Lightning Dust gently touched the floor of the chariot, sometimes it was necessary to use ponies who still possessed their own free will.
At least if they had the right kind of character.
Once she had landed, the former Wonderbolt bowed down in front of the unicorn. "Lightning Dust, reporting from Equestria." Before Sombra had time to even open his mouth to speak, the pegasus rose up with an arrogant smile. "In short, things are kinda going south." She turned her head around to look at the marching army around them and then chuckled. "And not in the way you would like them to, sir."
Sombra rolled his eyes even as his horn suddenly glowed and a bolt of dark magic exploded within inches from Lightning's face, almost causing the pegasus to fall off from the chariot where she would have been trampled by dozens of metal-clad hooves.
Ponies these days, no respect for nobility.
With his horn still smoking, the unicorn tyrant looked down at Lightning with an expression that showed clearly how much he cared for these antics. "Continue your report."
Most of her arrogance knocked out of her, Lightning rose up to stand and then did as ordered, this time raising her hoof in a proper salute. "Yes, your majesty. Celestia is on her way back to the frontlines, it took less time from her to put the nobles of Canterlot back in order than we thought. But no one has found out about your involvement in the matter. Or mine."
Sombra sighed in slight annoyance at the incompetence of those who were simply motivated by greed and then asked, "Are you certain about that?"
Lightning grinned again, but this time those who had trained along with her in the Wonderbolt Academy would have stared in shock at how vicious her expression looked and how much it mirrored Sombra's own. "Yes, your majesty. Extra bits took care of one loose end, and another one tripped from his balcony and fell down to the side of a mountain."
Sombra nodded, satisfied. Despite her flaws Lightning Dust was useful. The pegasus did things most ponies would never even dare to contemplate and was utterly ruthless when it came to advancing her own goals. Both were traits that he could admire.
After all, they had helped him to get where he was now.
The unicorn cast the nobles of Canterlot aside from his thoughts and then turned to look at the pegasus again. "Would you enjoy having a chance to best Rainbow Dash?"
"Would I?!" Lightning slammed her hooves against the floor of the chariot in excitement at the mere prospect of a chance to get back at her old rival. "I want to slam her head against a rock! I can't believe I ever wanted to join those lame Wonderbolts. They celebrate that crybaby like she is a hero or something! She is not even the best." The pegasus hit her chest with her hoof. "I am!"
Sombra smiled and nodded again, turning his head to the side. "Then, you are in luck. There has been a slight setback at the frontlines, I am on my way to correct it." The unicorn's horn glowed again and a wooden chest was drawn from the side of the chariot and dragged next to the pegasus.
Lightning gave the chest a curious look as its lock clicked and it slid open. Sombra levitated it's contents up in the air, arranging the pieces of metal to float in the air so they revealed what they were.
They formed a suit of armor, one made for a pegasus. It wasn't as heavy as the one worn by crystal ponies and glowing runes were etched on its surface. The helmet was more of a mask, more streamlined and elegant than the clunky and heavy helmets the soldiers around them were wearing. Most ponies would have called it scary or at least ugly. To the pegasus, it looked cool.
Lightning Dust didn't know a single thing about magic, but even she could feel the sheer power radiating from the armor. With something like that, nothing could stop her! The former Wonderbolt turned to look at Sombra with a grin and the unicorn just nodded, answering to the unvoiced question. "I need someone to drag Rainbow Dash out from the sky for me."
The pegasus felt giddy, taking the helmet to her hooves. Just holding it made her feel more powerful! She looked at the helmet, grinning at her own reflection, imagining Dash's expression of terror in its place.
