in which sombra becomes a father, much to the dismay of his childs biological parents
There are many things surrounding the newly freed crystal empire that we do not yet understand, and may never comprehend after its liberation, one of those things is the cause of its destruction, King sombra, whose birth, rise to power, and motive are shrouded in mystery, a shroud that many are now trying to pull back.
Some say that sombra was once a regular unicorn, hollowed out in foal hood and infested with malignant spirits who fed off the fear and misery of his slaves.
Some say that he was a wicked thing that discovered forbidden magics and used them to enact his foul desires.
And some say, in a quieter voice than the others, that he was a warlock, a magician locked into a contract with a God, acting out the wills of his patron for an unknown boon or end goal. But that's obviously the most false of these theories. Because no alicorn would ever make a Pact with him, and alicorns were the only Gods that existed, right?
…right?
Well, i suppose it doesn't matter what lies beneath that mysterious veil, because that's not what this story is about, no, this story is about an umbral unicorn and his adopted daughter, the fact that said daughter just so happens to be the alicorn heiress to an empire he once ruled means nothing.
Sombra took a deep breath as he crested the hill. Letting the crisp mountain air chill his lungs and invigorate his spirit, he gently lowered himself onto his stomach, relaxing slightly after the harrowing ordeal he had faced just a few hours prior.
Looking up at the night sky he saw that he still had a few hours before dawn hit, which meant it would be some time before the Crystal Empire realized that their greatest treasure had been pilfered, held against his chest and wrapped in a magic-proof cloth, and even longer after that for them to ascertain the direction he went, with the heavy snowfall hiding any tracks. They probably wouldn't even realize it was him that-
Sombra was cut off from his musings by a gentle coo from the bundle that was cradled in his forelegs, leaning down, sombra gently tugged away some of the swaddle revealing the pink-furred face of an infant, sombra smiled to himself as his ‘treasure’ wriggled slightly, getting into a more comfortable position before settling back to sleep.
With that taken care of, sombra looked back to his saddlebags, he had enough formula and changing supplies to last a few days should they need to deviate from their route, looking up from his supplies sombra could just barely see the faint outline of the Crystal Empires shield glowing blue in the night sky. A white-hot bolt of urgency shot through his gut, a message from his benefactor to keep moving.
Sombra rose to his hooves, babe still held against his bosom, and began his careful descent down the semi-steep hill, heading towards the vast plains of Equestria he couldn't stop himself from smiling.
Today was going to be a wonderful day, he could feel it. he could finally trust that something in his life was going right for once. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Twilight Sparkle yawned as she re-read the latest paragraph of her thesis on The thaumic side effects of friendship magic and their potential applications, checking her work for any spelling errors or inconsistencies, she arched her back and flared out her wings as far as they could go, feeling the satisfying ‘pop’ of nitrogen bubbles in her spine and the ensuing release of tension. She set down her quill and arose from her chair, remembering that Spike had made her promise to get some sleep after spell-checking the last chapter, before moving to the door of her study, hoping to get a glass of water from the downstairs kitchen before retiring for the night.
As she made her way through the hallways of her crystalline castle, she found her mind wandering, it was always the same thing, a small whisper in the back of her mind that she couldn't understand, it had been there since she was a filly, she had once gone to Celestia about it, thinking is some magical malady or hex, but she merely lay a firm hoof on her shoulder and asked that she ignore it, and while she was curious, her trust in the solar goddess outshone any desire for knowledge she might have. Twilight looked to the walls of her home, banishing the whisper from her focus once more, and busied her mind with thoughts of her thesis paper.
Twilight yawned as she stared out her kitchen window, looking towards the lilac-tinted sky, the all-nighter was starting to catch up with her, with the oncoming dawn dashing any hope of maintaining her sleep schedule, twilight quickly grabbed her glass and filled it at the sink, not wanting to deal with the bright glare of the fridge light and ensuing headache. She trotted out of the kitchen, quickly making her way to her bedroom.
As she set down her glass on the nightstand and snuggled under the covers, she felt a sense of giddiness begin to rise in her throat, once she woke up she would finally finish the first draft of her paper! and then she would be able to hang out with the girls and collect statements for the second draft! As twilight drifted off she did so with a smile on her face and a single thought in her mind.
Today was going to be a wonderful day, she could feel it. Because why would it be anything else? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ditzy doo grumbled as she rummaged through her kitchen cabinets, patting around until her hoof found the bottle of unopened chocolate chip pancake mix, pulling it down with a grin she maneuvered herself around the many cardboard boxes now populating her home and reached into the cooler she had set out after she cleaned out and packed up her fridge last night, pulling out a small carton of milk and pouring it into the larger bottle before twisting the cap shut and shaking vigorously, turning the powder within into a thick batter. Setting down the bottle she grabbed the small non-stick pan that she left on the counter after packing the rest of the kitchen and set about making breakfast.
Ditzy inhaled deeply as the sweet aroma filled the kitchen, she thought of how delighted her daughter, Dinky, would be when she saw her favourite breakfast waiting on the table for her after a hard day of helping her mother pack their belongings. Flipping one of the fluffy disks of goodness, ditzy grunted as a beam of orange light from her window caught her bad eye, lifting a hoof to block the light ditzy trotted over to her window and adjusted her blinds, the dawn light now diverted away from her face, she nodded and went back to the pancakes, transferring the now finished one in the pan to the stack awaiting on a nearby plate.
Before she could pour out more batter into the pan, ditzy was interrupted by a knock at the door, three fast, two slow. Gasping in realization, she killed the heat and made her way to the door, opening it, she couldn't fight the grin she made when she saw who was on the other side. “Hey, buddy!” she whisper-shouted, not wanting to disturb her neighbours “You made it just as i was fixin’ breakfast” She backed off to the side, letting her friend enter the doorway, she took in his dishevelled state as she shut the door behind her “why don't you go lay down on the couch for a bit and I’ll wake you up once breakfast is ready, then after that you can go back to sleep until we need to load all the heavy stuff onto the convertible” she gestured with her hoof towards the two-seater couch at the far end of her living room, a small fold out bassinet lay prepared on the floor next to it.
her friend yawned as he walked towards the couch, mumbling a tired “sounds good” as he carefully laid the bundle he was carrying in the bassinet, before unceremoniously flopping onto the couch and passing out, ditzy giggled at the sight of her friend flopped over on her sofa, before returning to the kitchen to finish off the pancakes, mind drifting to the schedule she had made in her mind, her years in the postal service industry had shown her the importance of mapping out your loading schedule before you moved anything onto transport. She would ensure that nothing would go wrong and they would leave on time.
Today was going to be a wonderful day, she could feel it. She would do everything in her power to make it so. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ pinkie pie bounded through the streets of Ponyville, a box of muffins balanced on her back and a big, goofy grin on her face. She made sure to say hello to the ponies she passed on her way to her destination, delighting in the smiles and waves she got in return. As she hopped her way through the streets, she saw the ponies of Ponyville start their days, market stalls were being set up, store signs flipped to ‘open’ and produce set out for curious passers-by.
Pinky slowed to a brisk trot as she neared her destination, only to stop dead in her tracks as she took in the sight before her. She stared in awe a the airship now parked in the street, the runes faintly glowing along the hull marked it as one of those fancy collapsable models she had read about in a magazine once, the figurehead depicted some sort of dragon, mouth stretched wide and tongue falling out past jutting teeth.
Just as Pinkie began to trot closer to investigate, she saw the back of who she had originally come here for and called out “Hey derpy! Over here” She made sure to waver her hoof far above her head just in case her bad eye was acting up again. She saw her flinch in surprise before looking around to see her,
she looked stunned for a moment before breaking into a smile and coming over to where Pinkie was “Pinkie, oh my gosh, hi” Derpy took a moment to wipe some sweat from her forehead “What brings you to my place”.
Pinky shrugged the box of muffins off her back and held them in her forehoof, derpy’s eyes brightened upon seeing her favourite treat through the clear plastic of the lid “Oh nothing much” Pinkie chirped “My pinkie sense told me that you were having something BIG happen today so i thought id give you some of these to celebrate!”
she bounced on her hooves as Derpy set the box on the ground next to them, pinkie bounced up extra high before landing in a sitting position “So, what is it, what is it, WHAT IS IT” she squealed her face getting progressively closer to derpy’s with each ‘what is it’.
Derpy blinked in surprise before backing up a couple of steps, giving herself some breathing room before answering “Well, pinkie…” She trailed off, letting the suspense build for a few seconds before splitting into a grin “i got a promotion!” She puffed out her chest in pride at the statement,
“Oh wow, that's great derpy” Pinky clapped her hooves together, before turning her head to the airship next to them “But what's all this? Are you going on a pre-promotion vacation or something?”
she looked back to the mailmare only to blink as she suddenly shrunk in on herself, sheepishness overtaking any confidence that was there before Derpy averted her eye, rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof “Um…actually pinkie…” She looked to the small pile of boxed pinkie and had only now just noticed she looked back to Derpy “It’s about the promotion..” derpy sucked in a breath “My new position is in the Huoshan Empire,” she looked down at her hooves, almost ashamed “I start work in a week, so Dinky and i don't have the time for a farewell party”.
Pinkie deflated at hearing that, one of her Ponyville friends was leaving and she didn’t even get to throw a party!?, “Oh,” Pinkie said dumbly, unsure of how to react, before shaking her head and smiling at her friend. “Hey, it's ok, it's no biggie, promise!” pinkie made sure the smile reached her eyes, she couldn't have her friend feeling sad because of her moping!
Derpy looked up and smiled, “Thanks pinkie” She looked over to the boxes again, her face morphing into shock “Oh shoot! I gotta finish packing or we’ll be off schedule!” the grey mare threw her hooves around pinkies neck before scooping up the muffins with a wing and bolting back into her house. Pinkie watched her go, feeling perplexed, derpy’s urgency had set off a niggling itch in her brain that she was forgetting something as we-
“OH SHOOT I FORGOT ABOUT TWILIGHTS MEETING”
-and with that exclamation, she bolted away from the doos' residence towards the crystal tree that loomed over the small town.
Pinkie huffed and puffed as she arrived at the door to the map room, her run from the other side of town had worn her out more than she thought!, as she caught her breath she reached into her mane and pulled out the small note Twilight had sent her, re-checking the time stamped at the bottom in neat cursive, 11:30 AM, she breathed a sigh of relief, she was only a few minutes late. As she pushed the door open, she let a grin form on her face.
Today was going to be a wonderful day she could-
Any thoughts of a good day ground to a halt as pinkie pie’s blood turned to ice in her veins, her body going stock still at the sight of her alicorn companion. Twilight looked at her from where she was slumped over the cutie map, her bloodshot eyes looked through her like she wasn’t even there, twilight heaved a wet breath and croaked out two words that made Pinky's heart drop to her stomach like lead.
“Flurry’s gone” Somewhere outside, a small airship flew away, taking any chance of a wonderful day with it.
Cadence was cold, her entire body was numb with it like she had fallen into a frozen lake, and she was helpless as she sunk to the bottom. She was looking out one of the arched windows of the office, watching as the encroaching storm threatened to drown her empire in snow, the same way her grief threatened to drown her in its icy embrace.
A sharp stab of guilt penetrated the icy tomb that surrounded her heart, but only for a brief moment before fading into the background static of her other emotions. Her ear twitched as she barely heard her husband shout over the din of her mind, ah yes, the meeting. She should probably be paying attention to that, she willed her body to turn towards the conversation that was happening next to her.
Princess Celestia sat on the other side of the desk, looking as regal on the faux leather chair as she would on any throne, her face was a mask of stern authority, but cadence could see the almost desperate worry behind her eyes.
Cadence could see shining next to her, one hoof holding up his body as he leaned over the desk, while the other was pointed at the solar goddess. His entire body was shaking with the grief-turned-rage that he was directing at her aunt, his normally smooth white face had gone beet-red and contorted with wrinkles at the force of his shouting; cadence desperately willed for her ears to come back to her, begging her distant body to allow her to participate in discussing the fate of her ponies.
Bit by bit, the conversation faded into focus, Celestias soft but unyielding tone versus shinings loud but wavering wails, cadence furrowed her brow, straining her ears as she finally began to understand the words being spoken.
“But my daughter”-
“is not worth the death of your subjects, shining”
The room was quiet as the grave, shinings mouth working around counter-arguments that wouldn't come as cadence scrambled for any scraps of context, she heard Celestia inhale before her voice reached cadence once more.
“I cannot even begin to understand the pain you both are in” she began slowly, almost as if she was talking to a scared animal instead of worried parents “But what i can understand is that the crystal heart is failing” cadence winced at that, the sudden reminder of her failure in the wake of her daughter's disappearance was yet another shard of ice burying itself into her heart.
“The shield is getting weaker with each passing day, and the monsters that live in the wastes are getting bold, several search parties have reported close calls with packs of frost wolves already”. Celestia threw down a small stack of incident report forms on the desk, spreading them out with her magic for them both to see.
“We're reaching the breaking point, either the shield will break and they’ll all freeze to death, or they’ll all be eaten by hordes of monsters” Celestia planted a hoof on the desk, rearing herself up before looking down on the couple; it reminded cadence of being in the principal's office in high school. “As the senior deity of this continent, it is my responsibility to ensure all other gods and rulers within take care of their subjects, and i cannot stand idly by and watch you both condemn the crystal ponies to an icy grave searching for a foal which is not there”.
Shining flared up at that, his ears pinned back against his skull, baring his wolf's teeth in a clear display of aggression. His horn sparked, causing the ornamental spear mounted on the wall to rattle in its casing. Celestia merely snorted before casting her magic outwards in a wave, cutting the connection between his magic and the weapon like scissors cutting thread.
She slammed her other hoof down on the desk, making both shining and cadence to stare up at the God-ruler in an awed sort of fear “i am Sol Invictus!, Solar God of the continent of Equs!, and i now decree that you, Prince consort Shining Armour and Empress Mi Amore Cadenza shall call off your search parties and evacuate your citizens immediately, or i shall usurp you positions as rulers and do it myself; as is my divine right” her use of the Royal Voice left no room for argument, she lowered herself back into her seat, her hardened visage softening just slightly; just enough to show that she still cared.
“you have until midnight to give the order”, she rose from her seat, walking to the door at the other side of the room. She cast a sorrowful look at them before closing the door behind her with a soft *thud*.
Shining looked to the door for a long torturous moment before screaming, grabbing the chair in his magic and hurling it at the wall, cursing every god he knew. He pounded his hooves on the desk, the wood creaking and splintering, the force from his blows not quite enough to break it entirely. Cadence felt like she should reach out and comfort her husband in his hour of need, but her hooves were frozen in place. without Celestia’s fiery outburst to keep the frost at bay it felt like it had begun to reach her very soul, every inch of her being was encased in ice so cold it felt like not even the warmth of her love could thaw it, she was utterly powerless to save herself.
Just like she was utterly powerless to save her empire.
Just like she was utterly powerless to save Flurry.
~~~
Celestia closed the door to the office, and began to walk back to the sitting room Luna was waiting in, she winced as she heard something heavy hit the wall; she decided to speed up to a brisk trot, willing herself to ignore the broken wailings of her nephew-in-law.
She paused as she walked past one of the many pop-up infirmaries that had been set up in the palace, taking in the exhausted faces of the medical staff as they worked around the clock to care for the many frostbitten, hypothermic; or otherwise wounded ponies who had joined the search for their beloved crystal princess. It was a sorry sight, the way the crystal ponies were working themselves to the bone trying to find her, ignoring the weakening shield and growing cold until they simply couldn't anymore; it broke her heart.
Celestia moved past the infirmary, taking a few short turns until she found the door to the sitting room, she peeked inside and saw something that would have brought her immeasurable joy if it weren't for the circumstances.
Luna was reclined on one of the sofas, a book of Old Empire myths held aloft in her magic, a joyful glint in her eyes as she read out the tales to the group of enraptured foals in front of her, all of them silent as she filled their minds with wonder. Celesta loathed to disrupt her sister, but they had to discuss evacuation plans, preferably without little ears around to misinterpret what they said and cause mass panic. She rapped her hoof against the door, giving a thin smile to the foals who turned to look at her, Luna looked at her for a moment before sighing quietly, setting down the book before turning to face the little ones.
“My little ponies” The foals snapped to attention at her voice, and quiet muttering silenced in an instant, Celestia found it truly incredible how great her sister was with children. “It pains us to say this, but there are important royal matters that we must discuss with our dear sister, so we are afraid story time has come to an end” Luna paused, letting the chorus of disheartened ‘awws’ peter out as the foals left the room, she shut the door as the last foal-a little pegasus colt-scampered through the doorway.
Celesta made her way to one of the reclining chairs, letting her weight sink into the plush furniture with a groan, she looked to her sister who had straightened herself up on the couch, a look of sympathy on her face.
Luna took in her dishevelled appearance for a moment “That bad?” she asked, her voice sympathetic and worried, she hadn't heard shining all the way out here, but she didn't need to. She could see that the conversation had taken a toll on her sister just from the way she sat.
Celestia sunk further back into the recliner, rolling her shoulders to try and alleviate the tension. “They're both distraught, obviously” Celestia winced as she arched her back, feeling it pop slightly, before settling back into the recliner “but I've given the order, all residents of the Crystal Empire will be ordered to evacuate by midnight tonight, whether by their hooves or mine” Celestia looked to a nearby window as she said this, not wanting to see the pain on her sisters face, knowing it would make any facade of strength crumble to dust.
Luna was probably the most affected by Flurry’s disappearance besides her parents, her natural inclination toward foals from managing the dream realm and her ability to handle her grand-nieces magical outburst made her de-facto babysitter; Celestia didn't know too much due to being too busy with day court to come with luna on her visits, but she knew that luna loved flurry heart dearly and that the decision to back celestia up on the evacuation order was not an easy one for her.
“I just hope we made the right choice Luna” Her voice sounded foreign to her as she said that, so far away and empty.
Luna’s silence was deafening.
~~~
The sky over Huoshan’s capital city was alight with activity, airships darting in and out of landing strips, flying residents weaving in and out of traffic with the grace of a swan, dinky couldn't help but be amazed as she watched them all whizz about like bees in springtime. She peered down at the metropolis from over the railing of the ship, it was hard for her to believe that the empire had been just one tiny city in the centre of a volcano just 50 years ago, now it was a sprawling mass of cities and towns covering much of the surrounding meadows and mountain ranges.
Dinky lowered herself from the railing, turning around to see her mother still caught up in the game of mahjong she was playing with her uncle, well it wasn't really ‘playing’ since they were both still learning how to play, apparently mahjong was popular in Huoshan so her mother and uncle had decided to learn it on the flight over to kill time. Dinky was a bit mad that she wasn't allowed to learn with them, but they told her it was very frustrating at first and they promised to teach her after they got good at it and she had settled in at her new school, which made her feel a bit better.
Dinky trotted over to the floor cushion she had brought up to the deck with her and sat down, it would be another day or so before they made it to Yāncōng, the city her mother was stationed at. Dinky considered going back downstairs and re-reading the little pamphlet her school had provided her on school rules and etiquette, but she decided that she’d rather stay in the warm sun, besides, Mom would be bringing them in for lunchtime soon, she could just read it then.
Dinky looked over to where her mother and uncle were playing again, now focused on the little dusty-pink foal curled up at her uncle's side, her cousin. Uncle Som had said her name was Skyla and that she was one-and-a-half, dinky didn't know she had a cousin until then, and she didn't know she had an uncle either. But mom had pulled her aside and said uncle som and Cousin Skyla came from up north, and the reason they were moving in with them in Huoshan was that the crystal ponies didn’t like uncle som because he was an umbral and they wouldn't let him work and he was scared they would harass Skyla, so he was coming with them because there were a lot of umbral in Huoshan and he would have a better chance at getting work there.
Dinky liked them both for the most part, uncle som was funny and agreed to help her with her magic when they settled in, and Skyla was ok- dinky didn't really have an opinion of her yet because she was so little- but she was excited to be a big cousin! dinky had only known them both for a week but they had quickly settled into the role of ‘family’ for her. Plus, mom had been happier than Dinky had seen in ages when they showed up, and her mom was the best judge of character Dinky knew.
Dinky's musings were interrupted as she heard the clatter of tiles on hardwood, she turned to see her mom groaning in frustration over a pile of mahjong tiles, all while her uncle burst out laughing, which just made her mom groan harder as she swept up the mess with her wings. Dinky smiled to herself and settled back down, yeah, they were family all right.
Sombra breathed in deeply as the fog of sleep lifted itself from his mind; he kept his eyes closed, revelling in the comforting silence blanketing his sleep-warm body; it almost reminded him of when he was reduced to merely a horn, but much cosier.
Before Sombra could slip back into sleep's warm embrace, a hungry whine rang out from across the room; Sombra sighed at the sound of his impromptu alarm bell and sat himself up. Rolling his shoulders to release tension before finally opening his eyes to the old flaky plaster that made up the opposite wall, Sombra grunted as he pushed himself up and off the bed, the cold vinyl of the floor on his hooves helping him wake up.
Sombra shook off the remaining drowsiness before trotting over to the crib in the corner of the room where his daughter was still making small cries of hunger; he ignited his horn, sending his magic outwards to cradle her and lift her safely out of the crib before settling her against his breast.
Sombra bent his head down to nuzzle his daughter, her dusty-pink baby fur tickled his snout slightly. He let himself relish in the tranquillity of the moment, searing it into his brain before he walked over to the door and stepped out into the hallway, it was a dull vinyl-and-plaster affair like his bedroom, and rather spartan in terms of decoration, but it did its job. Sombra trotted down the hallway, passing four doors and two medium windows before reaching the living room. He navigated around the large couch and into the kitchen.
Setting flurry Skyla down on the counter, Sombra busied himself with making her a bottle, his ears swivelling between his daughter and the front door, a basic attack spell on his horn should any threats become apparent; Ditzy called him paranoid, he preferred practical. Sombra grabbed the now-finished bottle in his telekinetic grasp, scooping up his daughter similarly (and making sure to add some extra swoop in her movements to make her laugh). He walked back into the living room and settled himself on the couch. Skyla nestled in his forelegs as she drank from the bottle, gripped securely in his magic.
Sombra found the TV remote with his magic, flipping through channels until he hit the daily news; he watched as the news anchor - a female Longma with lime-coloured scales - discussed the current trade agreements with Yakyakistan, the timer in his mind's eye ticking down as he waited for the grand reveal.
5
4
3
2…
“We interrupt this program for Breaking News from Equestria.”
Right on time.
Sombra smirked as the scene switched from the newsroom to outside Canterlot castle, where a small Griffon stood in front of a sea of other reporters with a microphone in claw, ready to report.
“That's right, Yújìn, I'm currently standing outside Canterlot Castle, where we’ve received word that Princess Twilight Sparkle is due to speak publicly in regard to the sudden disappearance of the shield around the Crystal Empire” The reporter suddenly pressed a claw to their earpiece, their face warping in mild shock at whatever it was they were being fed from the other end of the line, Sombra couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him as he watched it all unfold.
“We’ve just gotten word from the castle that the Princess is ready to speak” The camera panned away from the reporter up to the large balcony where you could barely see the silhouette of a pony behind the curtains.
There was a beat of silence, everyone waiting with bated breath for the Princess of Friendship to appear; Sombra was almost trembling with anticipation. The curtains were swept aside with a wave of magenta magic, the bright glittering aura obscuring the balcony for a brief moment, but only for a moment.
The lights faded, and in their place stood Princess Twilight Sparkle.
And she looked like shit.
Her mane was a greasy tangle of knots, her coat was grimy with sweat and patchy in some places, almost like she’d been picking at it, and her feathers were so ruffled you couldn't even see the original shape of the wing and her eyes, dear gods, her eyes, they were horribly bloodshot, framed by bags so bad they could have been mistaken for bruises, but the thing Sombra focused on was the sheer despair held within them, it was a deep, almost unfathomable despair that spoke of a complete loss of hope, despair so vacuous and great that it rivalled a black hole.
Sombra almost felt bad for her.
(almost)
Sombra watched as she made her way to the railing of the balcony, her ears pinned back against her head against the din of hundreds of information-hungry reporters and civilians; she put her forelegs over the edge, grasping the gilded railing to support herself. Her horn flared, activating the runes etched into the inner sides of the railing; all noise from below dampened as the ancient spellwork took effect.
Princess Twilight looked down at the sea of reporters, almost seeming to glair at them, before lifting her head and finally speaking.
“Greetings, everypony” Her voice was scratchy and hoarse; Sombra doubted that they would be able to hear her at all without the voice amplifying components of the balcony runes. “I’m sure that you are all wondering about the situation at the empire, and I am glad to announce that its Citizens have been evacuated safely, and that the final train carrying the royal couple and the final civilians will arrive later today” She paused as the courtyard was overcome by the crowd's deafening scramble for answers; she waited for them to still before she continued.
“But that's not the purpose of this press conference, no, th-the reason the shield failed is i-is…i” her voice faltered as she began to sob, her attempts at using the posh, impartial tone most ponies expected from royal speeches failing as she was overcome with emotion, her sobs were almost drowned out by the clicks of hundreds of professional cameras, everyone in the crowd fighting for a good angle of her misery like vultures fighting over the best scrap of meat on a carcass, Sombra winced as the bright flashes of light assaulted his eyes, he looked away from the screen and down to his daughter, who had now finished her bottle and was now gumming the teat, he gently pried it from her mouth and set it down of the nearby coffee table before turning his attention back to the broadcast.
The Princess stayed like that for a minute or so before suddenly rising to her hooves, her face overcome with emotion; she looked downs at her hooves, schooling her expression into a shaky mask of neutrality.
“The shield surrounding the crystal empire has fallen because the Crystal Princess Flurry Heart is missing” She blurted it out quickly in a single breath; it was like the words were a poison she was trying to spit out. The courtyard exploded into chaos, the mob below the princess bombarding her with questions, a few pegasi even trying to fly up to the balcony before being lassoed back down to the ground by the guards, the camera feed was shaking terribly, the cameraman was probably getting knocked around like a punching bag as everyone rushed up towards the Princess. The camera was knocked particularly hard, the feed showed it beginning to tip over before cutting out completely, and then it was back to the newsroom, the anchor from earlier staring in awe.
She recovered quickly, shuffling the papers she was holding before she spoke. “It seems we’re having some technical difficulties” She smiled thinly at the camera. “We’ll be sure to cover more on this topic in the evening news; for now, have a nice day”, Sombra shut the television off. There was no point in watching anything else right now; he saw what he needed to know; he shivered as he felt Their cold tendrils reaching into his mind, searching for any helpful information he had missed. Skyla grunted and wriggled in his hold, sensing Their presence; Sombra chuckled as he felt one of Their tendrils reach out and tap her on the nose. He was glad that They seemed to care for her as much as he did.
The pieces were falling into place, soon the hour would be at hoof, and the real work would begin, but for now, he was content to sit and soak up the domesticity.
~~~
Sunburst startled from his half-asleep state as something shattered nearby. He looked to his right and saw a small crowd of ponies at the end of the platform start arguing amongst themselves over whatever it is that broke; Sunburst watched for a few seconds before looking ahead to the armoured train before him. It was boxy and metallic, nowhere near as cheery and inviting as the Friendship Express, but it was much better equipped to ferry the population of an entire city-state besieged by frost monsters and never ending blizzards to safety in as few trips as possible.
Sunburst looked to the clipboard held in his magic, idly skimming over the stock list of all the personal items the crystal ponies had been allowed to bring with them; he felt a pang of sympathy seeing just how little they would be bringing with them to Equestria, they only had so many armoured trains at their disposal, and they would already be packed in the cars like sardines as-is, it was simply impossible for them to fit anything more than what the citizens could fit in their saddlebags, unless you were the royal couple and their loyal Crystaller, of course.
Sunburst looked to the front of the train; the entire front most car had been sectioned off for the three of them and their belongings. He had seen several of his books carried inside by the guards in large cardboard boxes, and seen several disgruntled citizens look at them like they were trying to set them on fire with their minds. Those books, along with some furniture, regalia, several crates worth of legal documents, and a chest containing all of Flurry Hearts toys, had been deemed as ‘too important to lose’ by the temporary council Celestia had erected in the wake of her temporary usurpation of the Crystal Throne.
There had been a lot of public outcry at that; some even claimed that Celestia had planned this and staged Furry Heart's dissapearance in order to weaken Cadance and reabsorb the empire into Equestria as a whole. Celestia’s reaction to somepony suggesting she would kidnap her beloved niece had shut that down with brutal efficiency, but even then; it was overshadowed by the worry they all felt for Cadance and Shining Armour.
It was no secret that Flurry’s dissapearance had hit them both hard, but the sheer devastation in them was genuinely frightening; Cadance was practically catatonic, only responding to the world around her when prompted, she wouldn't even eat or bathe without being asked to do so by her seneschal. And Shining was the exact opposite in all the worst ways, he stormed through the palace like a stallion possessed, screaming his head off at search parties when they failed to find anything of note, he had even seen him throwing furniture at the walls when the reports were particularly bleak. No pony had seen hide or hair of him since Celestia had usurped him and Cadance, Sunburst had heard whispers amongst the soldiers that he fled into the tundra to search for Flurry himself, he knew they were just rumours, they couldn’t not be, but the fact that he had been shouting about how “if you want something done right, you should do it yourself” just before he disappeared wasn’t helping. Sunburst just hoped that he would calm down and poke his head out soon, it was bad enough that they lost Flurry, he didn’t even want to think about the panic that would ensue at losing Shining Armour.
Sunburst walked over to the front compartment of the train where one of the palace servants was waiting at the door, they gave him a withered smile that looked more like a grimace as they stepped aside and let him in.
The interior of the car was cosy, with crates pilled against the walls in ways that wouldn't obscure the windows, in one corner was a queen-sized canopy bed for the ruling couple to use, hastily assembled by servants in the car before they were shoved into the rest of the train with everypony else. In the adjacent corner was a twin-sized bed for him, a blue comforter tucked snugly against the mattress.
He went and sat down on it, the sitting area made of flat-pack furniture that had been set up in the middle of the car felt wrong to him, it reminded him of those ponies on the platform, the way they looked at all the crates in this car, the way they looked at him when he entered, it made a feeling of shame rise in him. “How many ponies could we fit in here” he thought to himself, “how many trampling deaths could we prevent if we let them in” he remembered the newspaper articles, foals and elders and anypony unlucky enough to be shorter than those around them crushed to death by the crowd, those closest to them powerless to help as any significant movement could knock them over, condemning them to the same fate.
Sunburst looked around him, the feelings of shame and disgust rose like bile in his throat, he wanted to scream, to throw all this pointless finery out the window and open the door to the other car, to let those poor ponies have space to breathe. He wanted to march up to Shining and chew him out, point out all the ways he had failed them in this crisis until he was begging at his hooves for forgiveness. He wanted to shake Cadance hard enough to wake her up from whatever stupor she was in. but more than anything, he just wanted to understand.
He was so sick of the absolute radio silence they were receiving, ever since Flurry disappeared, they got nothing. No ransom, no threats to her safety, no cryptic messages, nothing, and Sunburst hated it. There was no connection to any of the usual subjects; the Griffons were busy rebuilding after their latest civil war, the legion of doom were all in Tartarus and Grogar was still sealed in Tambelon, there was no one who could have done it that wouldn’t have gloated about it by now. Sunburst bit his lip, his mind couldn’t help but drift to Him, it was nonsense, he knew Sombra was dead as dust, there was no way it was him, but there was no-one else who made sense.
Sunburst was broken from his musings by the sound of hoofsteps approaching from the back of the car, he saw Cadance standing there in front of the rear door with her secretary at her side, two guards flanking them and a third bringing up the rear, jabbing the back of his spear at the crowds to keep them from rushing their Empress, Sunburst almost wanted to grab the spear in his magic and let them.
The guards herded Cadance into one of the chairs, letting her slump against the table as they secured the doors, the train whistle sounded; it was time to go. Sunburst watched as the guards talked with her secretary, discussing the best ways of transporting Cadance and Shining through Ponyville without the public catching on to how bad things really were, Cadence perked up slightly at the mention of her husband; Sunburst had heard from some civilians on the platform that he had been seen at the back of the train with the other guards, but the train was too full for them to go back and check. He would just have to sit at the back until they arrived.
Sunburst turned his head to the window as the train sped away from the station, the snowstorm outside the tissue thin shield made it almost impossible to see anything, Sunburst squinted as he saw a spec of blue against the hazy whiteness, it was probably just a thunderbird; drawn here by the weakening magic of the shield, same as all the other monsters. Sunburst decided to lay his head down, he didn’t want to think about any of this anymore, he just wanted to sleep until this whole nightmare was over.
Outside, the storm raged on, uncaring of what (or who) might be caught inside it.
~~~ Discord groaned and struggled to his mismatched feet, the oppressive heat filling the ‘room’ made him feel like an overcooked noodle, and not in a fun way. He crawled over to the ‘wall’ and rested his weight against it, opening his eyes to survey his extradimensional prison; it was brutalist in design, all concrete, and sharp corners, with a loving touch of impossible geometry thrown in for good measure.
Discord looked up to the ‘ceiling’, watching as thousands upon thousands of eyes wriggled in their sockets, all trying to find a better angle to watch him from; some of them even overlapped each other, their sclera squishing together and spilling across one another in a way that made even him uncomfortable.
Discord yelped as he slid down the ‘wall’ and hit the ‘ground’ in a heap, his weakening ‘body’ forcing him to look away from his captors, he toyed with the idea of trying to escape, if only to annoy them, But then he remembered what happened the last time he tried to mess with The Old Ones. He decided he’d rather be bored.
Discord sighed and shifted himself into a better position. He reached outwards from his trapped psyche and towards his body, which was in the same place it was last time he checked on it, on Fluttershy's couch wrapped in a thick quilt with a damp towel placed on his forehead to try to cool the fever that was currently frying his brain like a steak. He felt around inside his body, feeling for any changes in the illness The Old Ones had put upon him to cover up the fact that he had been trapped in his own mind; there was nothing. The sickness still held his body in an iron grip that was just as firm and unyielding as when it first found him a little over two weeks ago.
Back when he first felt their presence in their solar system.
Back when he thought he could still do something about it.
He sighed again; looking back at it, he felt so foolish now. Even before he knew how many power players were involved, the fact that he thought he stood a chance against even the weakest of Them proved how much messing around with this world’s inhabitants inflated his ego; now They were going to get their grubby mitts all over that foal and use her subjugate their entire local group.
That stupid foal.
He should have killed her when he had a chance.
Sure, everyone he had grown to care for would hate him for the rest of time, but he would honestly prefer being hated instead of what he knew They would do to them. But it was too late now; they had noticed the little Alicorn, and then They had her snatched up by Their little errand boy. And now he was taking her who-knows-where to do who-knows-what sort of little apocalyptic ritual that would let Them breach the veil and do whatever they felt like to their poor little planet.
Discord rolled onto his back to stare at the ‘ceiling’ again. He knew it could be much worse than this; after all, They wouldn't put this much effort into a planet they would simply destroy, and the magic holding him would be disrupted once they breached the veil. That left him with a few picoseconds, more than enough to teleport him, Fluttershy, and all her little friends to Chaosville to wait out the worst of it. They would probably be furious at him; they would probably think that he could stop Them, but merely chose not to for reasons they couldn't understand.
He probably wouldn't care as long as they were still alive to be mad at him.
