> Parallel > by CocoaPone > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Strange Forces > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zaldia tracked through the fierce blizzard, each step bearing the weight of a thousand burdens. Back in Ponyville he had heard rumors that the mysterious Crystal Empire had been overtaken by some sort of evil tyrant. Of course it was just rumor, no use in heading up North to the middle of no where just for a rumor right…? He began to doubt himself, no pony has ever seen the Crystal Empire besides the crystal ponies themselves, what were the chances of him findin— Suddenly he tripped over a rock that sent him tumbling down a steep slope. The ice sped up his fall until he crashed into what seemed like a wall. Slowly he got up and looked in amazement. Now most people would think that he found the Crystal Empire that day, but really he just found the side of a cliff with an amazing rock formation. Nevertheless it was time to continue his quest, he traveled a bit farther, using his magic to keep him warm. Soon he reached the edge of a cliff that was raised above a large valley. This looks like a nice place to rest, plus it gives me the high ground against any danger. He chuckled, Danger? What danger? The only danger here is frostbite, there is absolutely nothing here… He paused and thought about that last statement. “If theres nothing here.. then why did I decide to travel out here?” He said out loud trying to force himself to understand what he had just said. Then almost as if a reply to that question, the blizzard calmed down a bit to show that there was a large gray puff of smoke coming from the distant. He grinned, then sniffed the air, which just caused his face to get hit by tiny snow flakes flying at a hundred miles per hour, but if he could smell he would have said that he smelled Adventure. Zaldia suddenly had the urge to see what that was, and he couldn't wait, he had to see it now. “I just need to find a quick way down…” He said to himself. Then he looked at the cliff, it was slightly slanted so that it was possible to slide down it, but it wouldn't be a smooth ride. No.. No… are you crazy?? wait am I crazy?!?! He closed his eyes and took a breath. Then as gracefully as a yak, he tripped himself down the cliff. Knowing his luck he knew that this was not going to be a easy landing, and he was correct as the first thing that happened during that fall was that he hit his head on a rock that so happened to be jutting out exactly where he landed. Then he finished the rest of the ride to the bottom unconscious. He awoke at the bottom in a pile of snow, then shook his head to get the snow off him. He looked back at the cliff as if he had just defeated some sort of mythical monster. “I told you it would work” He said, then he blushed because he realized that he was talking to himself. He cleared his throat then pointed to the sky and shouted “Onwards!” Suddenly he paused and looked up at the moon. He had two instant thoughts, is the mare in the moon able to see me acting like this? And how long was I out? He discarded the first thought then thought about earlier when he fell down the cliff, was the moon out during then? He couldn't remember plus it hurt his head too much to think about it. He walked to the peak of a small hill and from here the source of the smoke was clearly visible. > Theres fear too? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- He gasped, because not only was this not the Crystal Empire it wasn't anything at all besides an abandoned camp site. Well I guess it is something compared to everything else out here. He went a bit closer and used his magic to pick up a sick and poke at the embers of the camp fire, they lit up a bit then slowly faded. A gentle breeze blew through his mane as he was thinking. Suddenly his eyes wandered off until it focused on a crudely made spear that was stabbed into what looked like some sort of shelter. He walked over and inspected it and used his magic to pull the spear out of the wall, then he looked at the shelter which was was barely anything really, he could hardly make out what it used to be, and he couldn't even find the way in. He peeked inside and saw a shadow moving around, quickly he ducked down. What is this??!? A horror scene?? He thought to himself, then he slowly started sweating which wasn't particularly a good thing since it just froze to his face. He gained enough courage to look inside again, but then instantly he felt a cold shiver come over him, the shadow was looking directly at him, with a pair of glowing eyes. > King Sombra > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- King Sombra sat upon his throne looking down among all of his slaves, it was so easy to take over the kingdom and it only took a matter of days before he was able to enslave them all. He listened closely to the sounds of the chains dragging on the ground, the chains that ruled his subjects, it was a beautiful sound to him and so he laughed his evil laugh. Next to him stood his personal servant, Calliope. She was a pinkish crystal pony pegasus that he adored, she could play music better than anyone he had ever heard but yet she was scared of him, which was probably for the best so he could control her. “Calliope could you play that song for me again on your steam piano thing?” He asked, but she just growled at him and shouted. “Its called a CALLIOPE!! And music shouldn't be forced,” Then she sat down and crossed her hooves. Sombra was amused, so far she was the only one who ever talked back to him, but at the same time it angered him, no one talks back to King Sombra. “Now now, you know I don't like it when my slaves talk back to me, it really angers me and you wouldn't want me to get mad now would you?” Calliope replied with clenched teeth “No.. Of.. Course.. Not..” Sombra grinned then petted her mane (which of course she didn't like). She sighed and walked over to her calliope that King Sombra had brought into his castle by completely destroying her bedroom wall and forcing her to drag it the whole way. She carefully held her hooves over the keys as it was very difficult to play without fingers, then began to play. It was such a beautiful song, even Sombra couldn't keep from grinning, but then he suddenly came up with an idea. “Stop the music!” He shouted. The music abruptly stopped, which caused Calliope to cringe. King Sombra began to piece his plan together, then he began to laugh. Suddenly he grabbed Calliope and brought her to the very top of the castle from where the whole empire was visible. He used his hoof to point to various parts of the empire. He cleared his throat then spoke in his deep raspy voice. “Now even as ruler, there are still places of… resistance,” He winced, the word seemingly painful to him. Then pointed to a strange building near the corner of the Crystal Empire. “Of course I always love a challenge, but sometimes things can get a bit out of hand and soon the ponies here might start to get some hope,” He paused expecting Calliope to ask what he meant, but she stood there silently. He intensified his pointing to express his anger. “Those ponies in that single building believe they can overthrow me so easily, well they are sadly mistaken, and here is the best part— they don't know that I know what they know.. you know?” “Uhh sure..?” He sighed, clearly disappointed about her reactions to all this. “You know what—“ He gritted his teeth then quickly spoke out his plan. “Basically I just need some pony to sneak in there pretending to be one of them and then come back and report to me what their plan is so I can stop it right in its tracks…” He let that last part echo. Suddenly Calliope was alert. “W-w.. wait you mean.. me..?” King Sombra just grinned, and she grew angry. “NO I will NEVER help a disgusting creature like YOU!” She shouted. He just kept grinning then spoke. “Like you have a choice,” Then he began to laugh like it was the funniest joke he had ever told. > No Time For Tears > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- She ran quickly away from the castle, while Sombra was busy laughing she had enough time to run down all the stairs and to the front door. The guards at the door stopped her, and she heard Sombra’s footsteps follow behind her. “Guys you know who I am, please let me go!” She hissed at the guards. The guards sighed then opened the door for her. “We wish you the best of luck, Calliope” They replied. Luckily they were also crystal ponies, but they knew they were going to be punished for what they did. Calliope was already halfway down the main road passing by all the chained ponies before she realized that she was not being chased. She hid by the side of a house to catch her breath. Then she stretched her wings and prepared them for flight. I thought he would have a whole army looking for me by now, she thought to herself. Then instantly another thought came into her head, I must warn the resistance ponies! Quickly she took to the sky but as soon as she started flying her eyes began to hurt. Tears starting flowing out from the pain, then suddenly all the pain went away. She blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes. That was weird… Maybe its best if I don't fly. She looked back at the castle then from there she looked towards where Sombra had pointed. She had heard of the resistance, and that had given her some hope, the song she was playing for Sombra was actually a song that insulted Sombra created by herself, but she never sang the words to it for obvious reasons. It was time to begin her journey, she quickly ran to her old house to grab a bag of supplies then hurried off to the resistance’s camp. The journey there couldn't be that difficult, she just had to stay in the shadows of the buildings and keep away from the guards. Simple enough right? Thats what she told herself the second she began walking, she had to convince herself to not just hide in her house. She passed by a few houses, recalling the ponies who used to live in them. Sombra had made this deep staircase in front of his throne so he could count his slaves every night as they climbed down to their chambers, since he didn't want them living in houses where they could plot against him. She shivered at the thought, she once saw him count them as they went down. Some of the ponies would be crying or shaking in fear as they went down into the dark depths. How could one pony hurt so many others and enjoy it? Quickly she cleared her mind and began to focus on the task at hand, she had to get to the resistance and warn them right away, her trot became a gallop and soon she was speeding down the empty streets of the Crystal Empire. She reached the end of the street before realizing that she was stuck, a chain of ponies were heading her way with some guards behind them, she froze then turned around only to see the same sight again. Oh no what am I going to do?? She let out a quiet whimper and hid in the shadow of the nearest building, covering her eyes with her hooves and wings. The sound of the chains dragging on the streets was such a terrible sound and it pained her to listen to it. Then she heard a whip followed by a yelp from a filly. She winced, everything was so terrible, what had happened to their once peaceful city? A tear went down her cheek as she laid there in terror. Soon the streets were clear again and she managed to not get spotted. Maybe I should try flying again, then I would be able to hide in the storm clouds and make it there unnoticed. She looked up above her and the perfect sized cloud was right there, quickly she flew up into the cloud and suddenly the pain was back, it seized her vision and it took all her willpower to not make a sound. Slowly the pain was becoming even more intense so she had to move quickly. She had the resistance base in view before entering the cloud so all she had to do was head towards there as fast as possible. In that short distance there, she experienced more pain than most ponies would feel in a lifetime, but nevertheless she made it and collapsed from the cloud onto the top of the closest building, which happened to be the resistance base. Then she let her tears flow and began to cry herself to sleep. Calliope woke up to the sound of a strange voice that she had never heard before, her eyes snapped open and she found herself face to face to a dark colored stallion. He looked down at her then suddenly began to fumble backwards by surprise. Then he ran out the door yelling “traitor!!” She sat up, dazed, then she looked around and noticed that she was in some sort of room on a bed. She slowly picked herself off the bed and began to walk around until suddenly a group of ponies barged down the door. “Dont move an inch traitor!” The pony in the front said. She looked at all of them, they were all wearing some sort of mask that covered their entire face. Then she remembered that they were talking to her. “..Wait you mean me..?” She quietly asked. They grunted which she assumed meant yes. “Im not a traitor! Im here to warn you guys about what Sombra is going to do!” She was beginning to sweat. “Likely story, pony.” Said the one in the front who seemed to be the leader, then he continued, “Sombra probably told you his plan, himself.” She stuttered and backed up a bit until she felt her tail hit the back wall. “He did tell me! But I'm not working for him or anything!” She was practically screaming now. “You have to believe me!” None of the ponies seemed moved, she wasn't sure of what to do now, they clearly didn't believe her and that could possibly cost her, her life. Her eyes darted around then suddenly she stopped when she saw herself in the mirror, her stomach began to turn and she instantly felt very sick and upset, she began to cry, and then gave her body up for the ponies at the door.