Where There is Shadow

Chapters

Prologue
An Unfortunate Meeting
New Territory
Old Enemies
New Allies
Big Plans
It's a Long Story
A Surprise Visitor

Prologue

King Sombra felt his power within the citadel increase. He looked toward his former palace to see the inverted bowl of blue disintegrate. At first it began to flicker then holes appeared in its surface gradually widening as it appeared to burn away, ribbons of light forced their way though the openings and heat could be felt from within the barrier. The dark shadow rushed forward billowing clouds of black smoke and leaving jagged dagger like crystals in his wake. Soon there would be no more warmth, no happiness, and no hope.

The crystal ponies ran in all directions to escape the asphyxiating cloud. Some ran into their houses, other towards the castle in hopes that they would find protection, and still others ran into the wind and swirling snow, opting to brave the unforgiving elements rather than face the horrors that surly awaited them. King Sombra cornered a group of cowering ponies taunting them with memories of slavery and torment. He relished the despair and abject horror of his victims every scream making him more powerful. This was the advantage of the curse he had put the Empire under, his thousand year absence was just a blur to them, in their minds he might as well have been gone only days, making their terror all the more savory.

It was at this moment that a small voice shouted, “Hey up hear! I’ve got the crystal heart!” King Sombra stood stalk still, petrified as those words echoed through his mind. How could somepony get to the crystal heart? The only way to find the secret entrance to his tower was by using dark magic, something that most ponies would choose death over. He also had trap doors that unless first disabled would show the one who opened them visions of their greatest fear. Even if they had made it past all this he had one last line of defense that would leave whoever discovered the crystal heart trapped in his tower along with the horrid object. As he looked toward the source of the voice he realized with horror that it was indeed true, there near the top of the tower was a small purple dragon holding the one thing that could defeat him. “That is mine!” shouted King Sombra with a growl as he dove into the earth. Cracks formed along the ground as black crystals forced their way through it, soon giving way to massive crystal spires reaching skyward. The force of this event shook the very foundations of the castle knocking the would be hero from his perch along with his precious cargo.

“I should have destroyed that vile thing while I had the chance!” Sombra thought as he ascended. Using all the power he could muster Sombra took his physical form readying himself to catch the falling crystal along with its currier. King Sombra licked his lips with anticipation not only at the thought of finally being rid of the crystal heart, but also at his anticipation for the pain he would inflict on the ones who dared to defy him. He was so close now that he could see the terror in the young dragon’s eyes. Sombra grinned, a devils grin, as he stretched out his hoof to take hold of his prize. It was so close now mere inches from his grasp he had won, and then both the crystal heart and the dragon were gone! Gone!

King Sombra looked to see the princess Cadence flying past with his quarry in her possession. How had she gotten there? Moments ago she could barley stand, how could she muster the strength to fly? As she soared over those gathered on the ground King Sombra could see the hope of his subjects rekindle. The coats of the crystal ponies retuned to their former glory, shining brighter than they had in millennia cutting through the gloom of his shadows. As the light grew Sombras power diminished shadows melted, black crystals became dust, and the cold was banished. Sombra powerless and no longer able to keep his form was torn asunder and scattered in every direction. Only his horn remained, flung into the cold and unforgiving tundra.

An Unfortunate Meeting

Skittish was hiding in a snowdrift when he saw the citadel light up and the smoke clear. The princess must have defeated King Sombra meaning that it was safe to go back now. He picked himself up and brushed snow from his dull grey coat, and shook more from his mane which was a shade or two darker than the rest of him. When he had finished he still looked as depressed as ever, his mane hanging in one side of his face. It looked as if it had been styled earlier that day and then had a hat or hood put over it, mussing most of the shape. The crystal pony reluctantly started on his way back home dreading the ridicule that he would undoubtedly receive from his friends. It wasn’t his fault that he was afraid of everything. When Sombra breached the barrier he was overwhelmed by memories of the dark king’s rule and he just couldn’t bare the thought of going thru that again. To be honest he wasn’t even thinking when he ran away, he just picked a direction and bolted. When he finally ran out of breath he was miles away and the citadel was obscured by black smoke, what little was visible was covered with dark crystals. It looked like Sombras old castle was rising up from the earth to swallow the citadel, which was actually was even more menacing the old castle ever was.

As he started on his way home something fell in the snow in front of him, causing him to jump a bit. Skittish thought nothing of it and proceeded to step over it, continuing on his way home. However after only a few steps his curiosity got the better of him, after all its not every day that a strange object falls from the sky. Skittish found the spot where the object had fallen and began to dig. The snow stung his hooves which already weary from running through it. When he had finally unearthed the object of his desire he stumbled back, sorry that he had. It was a horn, a severed unicorn’s horn! Skittish lay in the snow in shock at what he had just found; if there was a horn here then that meant that somepony was dead, or at least injured. After a wile Skittish eventually calmed down and decided to take it back with him. If whoever it belonged to was still alive then there was a small chance that it could be reattached, and if they weren’t then their loved ones would at least want to insure that it was laid to rest properly.

When Skitters picked up the horn he realized that it was far too large to belong to any ordinary pony, and it was curved so as to make it look more like a fang than anything else. It took a moment for things to connect in Skitters mind, but when he realized just what this horn was he dropped it in the snow and jumped back in terror. The horn still lying in the snow detected the fear of the nearby crystal pony and glowed briefly before it melted, leaving a large black stain. Dark smoke swirled up from the puddle in the snow, and the horn slowly rose once again from the black sludge it had left. Only this time it was followed by a massive muzzle with a row of pearl white teeth, and two green eyes shimmering with dark magic. King Sombra had returned once again!

King Sombra look down to see a grey crystal stallion lying on the ground, his eyes wide with fear and his breath coming in short gasps.
“Twice in one day? Excellent.” exclaimed King Sombra, “And I suppose I have you to thank for that, my little slave.” He said looking down at the cowering pony.
Skittish, suffering from a full blown panic attack was in no condition to respond. His chest heaved franticly and his pupils were dilated to the point that they were hardly visible.
“Due to the curse that Celestia placed me under, I find my self in need of a host until I regain my power. As payment for reviving me I will award that honor to you.” Sombra said clearly enjoying the fear he was inflicting on his on the poor creature at his hooves. Disintegrating into smoke once again King Sombra enveloped the young stallion trying to gain access into his body. Sombra had no trouble forcing his way into the crystal pony's nose and mouth on account that he wouldn't stop screaming. It was so easy in fact that it wasn't very fun. Sombra did enjoy the terrified screams of the helpless pony in his clutches, but the fact that his victim put up no resistance took the sport out of it. Indeed with out any opposition it became less of a pleasure and more of a chore.

When the entire ordeal was over skitters lay sprawled upon the ground, thoroughly terrified. He inspected his body from snout to tail but could find no proof of the incident. He tensed up and let out all of the breath in his lungs, fully expecting to see wisps of smoke emanating form his mouth, but there was nothing. That was when he really began to panic. If their was no evidence of Sombra's presence then it might just be that he might be able to control his actions and possibly go back to the citadel and exact his revenge with out anypony being able to detect and stop him. “As fun as this is, I can’t just let you freak out all day.” Skitters froze not knowing where to look, the voice seemed to come from everywhere. “Down here geniuses.” Skittish looked down to see his shadow playing body to King Sombra's face!
Skittish reared back and started pushing at his shadow with his hooves as if he could never get far enough away from it. “Stop tha…” before Sombra could finish his sentence Skittish took off running, that is until he hit an ice bolder right behind him, knocking himself unconscious. King Sombra sighed, “This is going to be a lot harder than I thought.”

New Territory

“Wake up you pathetic weakling!” That was the first thing that Skittish heard every morning. They had been traveling only a few weeks, but Sombra’s constant insults and intimidation made it seem like an eternity. Sombra was never pleased with anything, “Pick up the pace you sluggard! Why couldn’t you have had wings? When will you grow a spine?” and similar insults were all Skittish ever heard day in and day out. Even when he wasn't directly belittling him the dark king would always throw in an insult of some kind. Apart from that Sombra was mostly silent, even when Skittish asked him where they were going the only response he ever got was “South, I’m sick of the cold. Now shut your mouth before I get any sicker of you!”
During their journey Skittish and Sombra had witnessed the landscape change from a frozen wasteland, to frigid mountains, to lush forest. The forest itself had changed as well the trees which at first topped out at the same height as most shrubs, gradually grew taller as warmer temperatures permitted longer growing seasons. As they traveled ever southward the enduring evergreen gave way to deciduous broad leafed varieties. But now there was an entirely new terrain before them. Unlike the other transitions which were gradual and subtle enough that you wouldn't even notice them unless you were paying close attention, this was very obvious. There was nothing, no trees, no flowers, not even a blade of grass everything was dead!
“W...what happened to all the trees?” Skittish asked.
“ Isn't it obvious? Their dead genius.” replied Sombra as he glared disapprovingly from the crystal pony’s shadow.
“Maybe we should go in another direction, I don’t want to meet whatever caused this.”
“Normally I would agree with you. There is a village a few miles in that direction inhabited by a race of kittens, and believe it or not they would give me an even bigger headache that your incessant babbling.”
“If you dislike them so much, why are we going toward their village? “
“The reason we’re traveling is to get is so I can find allies to help me get my revenge on Equestria.”
“I highly doubt that a race of kittens would help.”
“How dense are you? Look at the trees! They aren't burnt, nor did they die of any natural cause. They have shriveled, which means that something has drained the life from them.” barked Sombra as he took physical form to point out the withered trunks of the trees and the browned foliage on the ground.
“I’m sorry, but how dose this relate to the kittens?”
“Nothing just starts feeding on the life of vegetation, higher life forms offer much more energy. If whatever did this has started to devour trees then that means that they have already had their way with the furry creatures. That plus the sheer number of trees that have been consumed can mean one of two things.”
“And what would they be?” Skittish reluctantly inquired.
“It means that either this creature is very powerful or it is a hoard, both of which can be very useful against my enemies.” Sombra replied with a definite air of anticipation about him.
Skittish thought briefly then added, “Or it could be one or two weaker creatures that have been here for a long time.”
“Shut up you!” Sombra retorted, “It doesn't really matter how strong this creature is, In order to get my revenge I will need some allies even colder than the glaciers I used to call home. Anything that would visit harm on that village of kittens defiantly makes the cut.” Sombra's eyes were alight with something that Skittish what at a loss to describe; it wasn't the same anticipation he beamed with moments ago, nor was it the strange form of sinister happiness Sombra would rarely exhibit, this new thing was admiration. It was something that Skittish thought he would never see on Sombras face, indeed the tyrant seemed to think anything that had breath on its lips was inferior to himself. That coupled with the fact that King Sombra was the most terrible thing he had ever known terrified Skittish, because anything that Sombra would hold any regard for must be truly depraved.

As they trekked forward a fortress atop a hill came into view. Enormous and terrifying its walls stood firm, Towers reached skyward keeping watch from their lofty heights,and the gate was barred denying passage to any wishing gain passage to the intimidating enclosure. The castle was perched on high ground surrounded on all sides by cliff faces, the only way to reach it was via a narrow path with the cliff face as a wall on one side and empty space that seemed to pull travelers towards the edge on the other.
Upon reaching the gates the flighty crystal pony and his shadow found that they were locked from the outside. Large chains with links as thick as a pony's hoof stretched across the equally massive gates. They reached from the threshold to the keystone of the arch stretching across and wrapping around each and every bar ensuring that the gate could not be opened. Near the center of the gateway all the chain were gathered together and fastened with a monstrous gilded padlock, and as a finishing touch the keyhole was filled with blood red wax and stamped with Princess Celestia’s royal seal. Above the lock hung a plaque bearing the inscription; This castle is the prison of Chrysalis Queen of the Changelings and all of her minions, who have been sealed away for heinous crimes against Equestira. In accordance with our laws she will remain incarcerated for the remainder of her days. Let her punishment serve as a warning to us all to observe and uphold all laws and statutes that have been put in place to protect the peace and harmony of our fair land.
Upon reading the edict the corners of Sombra’s mouth turned up stretching into a sinister grin, “Changelings eh. Not my first choice for an ally, but they’ll do nicely.”
“Ch…changelings!” Skittish squeaked. To the ponies of Equestria, Changelings were entirely unknown until the incident at the royal wedding; to the crystal ponies on the other hand they were all too familiar. To the changelings, the Crystal Kingdom was the promised land, where else would a creature that fed of the energy of strong emotions like love and hope feel more at home than an entire kingdom powered, protected, and held together by those very feelings.
In the past the Crystal Empire had repelled many attacks by the changeling hordes, who fought relentlessly to posses the Crystal Heart. Before he took the throne King Sombra was actually the general of the Crystal Empires army. To the crystal ponies he was the hero who saved them from certain defeat and to the changelings a monster that broodmothers would tell their hatchlings about to make them behave. “Let’s see if they still remember me.” Sombra said sarcastically as he broke the lock on the gate.

Author's Note

Well after a bit of writers block, I finally sat down and wrote another chapter. Thanks to all of you who read my work, especially those who favorited it (all six of you lol.) If there are any weak points in my writing style please let my know so I can improve.

Old Enemies

“What are you doing? I highly doubt the queen of the changelings is going to be happy to see you.” Skittish loudly whispered in that odd tone one takes when they shout while trying to keep quiet.

“Quiet foal! Of course she won’t be happy to see me. In fact I’m counting on it. Once she sees me she’ll most likely attack me, after which I will destroy her. Once she’s gone her hoards of peons will be left without a leader, a position that I will be all to glad to fill.” Sombra mused as he pulled the chains from the bars of the gate.

“How can you be sure that they won’t avenge their leader?”

“Shut up will you! They learned to fear me long ago when I defeated their king.” Sombra said as he relished the fond memories of the final battle of the war for the Crystal Heart. Still reminiscing Sombra pushed open the gates of the fortress which emitted a long and lazy creak as the unoiled hinges strained against each other.

With the gates opened Sombra and his less than courageous companion could behold what lay within. Everything in side the wall was covered in a strange substance. It was not any sort of slime it wasn’t wet enough, nor did it have strands like a web. It was smooth and waxy, and if one took the time to examine it properly they would find that in the dark shadowy corners of buildings there were hexagonal cells filled with liquid of indeterminate origin. Nothing escaped the green shroud, every single surface was covered with it. What used to be cottages were now indistinguishable from the strange green wax of the changeling hive. As the two travelers made their way up the path they saw that the cliff on which the castle rested looked over a sizable lake. All forms of aquatic life had long since been eradicated leaving nothing to feed off the algae, as a result the water had become murky and choked with the stuff. This begged the question “Why had the changelings not feed off the algae before they set to work on the trees?” The closest thing to an answer that crossed Skittish’s mind was that the changelings found it aesthetically pleasing.

When the had reached the entry way of the castle itself Sombra reached out to push the massive door open, only to have it fall in on its hinges. “Would you look at that, they left it unlocked for us.” He said sarcastically. Skittish stuck his head over the threshold and into the darkness to find it opened into a grand foyer. The room was lined with pillars and staircases leading to large doors, many of which were bashed in revealing dark hallways that lead to places he would rather not go. Skittish felt very uneasy as if there were a thousand unfriendly eyes watching him, and every time he shifted his gaze he thought he saw dark figures disappearing into shadows and behind pillars.. “Do you feel like we’re being watched?” Skittish asked with a slight quiver in his voice.

“Only one way to find out,” replied Sombra as he bucked Skittish in the hindquarters, sending him flying over the threshold. Skittish landed face first on the hard stone floor with a muffled “oomph.” After a few moments he stood up shakily and brushed himself off. “What was that for?” he questioned looking back at the shadowy unicorn.

“Shut up and take a look around!” Sombra retorted.

Knowing that he would never get anywhere in an argument with Sombra Skittish just obeyed. He cautiously crept several paces before he was bade, meaning threatened, to “Hurry up and find out what’s in there,” Almost as if on queue, hundreds of glowing blue eyes appeared glaring at the small grey crystal pony. They were on the ceiling, on the walls, under the stairs, and behind the smashed doors. They came from the hallways and corridors, and a few were even glaring from holes in the floor. Skittish was frozen in his tracks, in fact his fear stricken rigor mortis was so severe that he could not breathe. All that he could do was stand stalk still, he was utterly and completely helpless.
After what seemed like ages one of the many pairs of eyes stepped into the light revealing the unsavory creature who owned them. The changeling’s pitted body was black all over and shone with a slightly green hue when struck with the daylight that beamed through the door way. It lifted its shell like elytra and stretched out its more fragile flying wings menacingly. Its head was grotesque and ridged, with small crushing mandibles on either side of its snarling mouth. The piercing blue eyes were compound and lidless locked in an unblinking stare that seemed almost lifeless.

The sight of the creature caused Skittish to gasp, breaking the spell of breathlessness that had previously held him. In fact now his breath was coming too quickly, as he began to hyperventilate. Soon the shape shifting creature was joined by one of his friends, and another, and another. The crystal pony tried to call for help but all that escaped his mouth was a whimper. Faint and timid barely the noise barely carried further than a whisper but it was enough to reach Sombra’s ears, not that it would have helped. Without warning all of the changelings came rushing forward, they were crawling out of the cracks in the ceiling and down the walls and pillars. They burst through the dilapidated doors like they were cardboard and spilled out every hallway and corridor like ants swarming out of their nest. Skittish was now screaming running this way and that hoping to find an escape, but every where he turned he came face to face with a changeling. Eventually having no place else to go, he curled up on the floor hoping his end would bee relatively quick.

It wasn’t until Skittish was hopelessly surrounded that Sombra remembered he still needed the pathetic pony. It had been so long since he had protected anything other than his own interests that the thought of helping him hadn’t crossed his mind. Disappearing into shadow Sombra sped towards the center of the room, crossing from the shadows of one changeling to the next. He rushed like a dark specter avoiding the strange insect like hooves of these vaguely pony shaped creatures. Finally reaching the sad and pathetic figure, who was now under the merciless onslaught of the changeling swarm, Sombra took physical form once again. Seeing several changelings attacking the helpless pony Sombra threw himself into the fray tossing changelings left and right, bucking, kicking, and stabbing with his horn. Realizing that a new enemy was among them, several of the changelings took to the air and began dive bombing the new threat.

“Get up and help me, you waste of space!” Sombra shouted.

“I can’t! I’ll just get in the way.” Skittish squeaked.

“We’ll both get killed if you don’t get up now!”

“We’ll get killed sooner if I help!”

Sombra growled as he bucked a changeling so hard he could feel its shell like carapace cave in. He didn’t have many kicks like that left in him, he was down to his last few cards and had only one that might get them out of this alive. “I’m going to try something, but you’d better hope that this works!” he threatened as his green eyes glowed with a familiar purple haze. Black magic bubbled and sputtered from the tip of his horn as equally black crystals broke through the stone floor. Razor sharp and hard as steel they formed a circle around the dark king and his companion. Changelings stepped back from the menacing barrier and waited, when one grew impatient and charged toward the center he was impaled by the nearest crystal as it shot upward. A few of the smart ones took to the air and once again launched themselves toward their enemies. However, Sombra was prepared for this as well, when the first changeling came within range he bucked it back into the air. As he did this he transferred a portion of his magic into his new weapon, once the changeling flew close enough to its comrades Sombra activated his trap causing the creature to explode into a hailstorm of tiny crystals, wounding many and killing others.
After several minutes of this the crystal minefield was so full of bodies that their attackers could safely walk over the corpses of their fallen comrades. On top of that Sombra was growing weary and could no longer hold back the kamikaze dive bombers. As the changelings closed in on the useless crystal pony and his unwilling protector, the two knew that this was the end.
“That’s enough!” commanded a voice from one of the corridors. The changelings obeyed the voice and backed away from the ponies they had been trying to kill only moments ago. “Sombra, I thought I recognized your stench.” Said the voice in a very cynical tone, as its owner walked into view at the far end of the hall. Queen Chrysalis was much like her subjects in appearance only taller. Her wings hidden beneath green elytra which had a multi colored glean to them when they caught the light just right. As she walked she would occasionally lift them so as to flap her wings rapidly giving off a buzzing sound. Whereas her subjects were hairless she had a long mane and tail, although it was very strange in appearance. Her hair looked as if it was algae or pond scum hanging from her head, perhaps in the swamps the changelings lived it served as a form of camouflage. Her face was different from her drones as well; her mouth had n o mandibles, and her teeth were long and sharp with fang like canines. She bore a gnarled and twisted horn. On the right side of her head she had what looked like a small lopsided crown, however upon further inspection it proved to be a single fan like antenna, the other had been lost in a battle long ago. Her eyes were much livelier and terrifying than those of her subjects. In fact they looked completely unlike those of an insect, if anything they were like those of a snake.
“What should I do with you trespassers?” the insect queen questioned. As she spoke there was a strange sound emanating from the back of her throat. The sound was a faint but high pitched screech, like the chirp of a cricket crossed with the song of a cicada. “What can you say that will persuade me not to destroy you?” Chrysalis said with a hint of “Say what you want, but I’ll kill you anyway,” in her voice.
Skittish, who had had enough near death experience for one day, fell to the ground and covered his head with his hooves to block everything out. “Wait just a minute!” barked Sombra “I broke the seal on the front gate setting you free, and this is how you repay me! By all accounts you are in my debt.”
“Well it may appear that way to you, but you did not “save” me by any stretch of the imagination.” Chrysalis replied matter of factly. “What you have seen here is a mere fraction of our strength. We could have broken out any time we wanted. I was just biding my time.”
“Well now what will you do with me?” Sombra asked.
“I’m tempted to kill you for slaughtering my subjects, pride as a ruler and all that.
However I do have a debt to you that need s repaying, but not for any reasons you would understand.”
“Try me.” replied Sombra raising an eyebrow.
“Well, my subjects wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for you. You see, my former mate, King Metamorphosis, was obsessed with possessing the Crystal Heart. Towards the end of the war he became so enthralled with possessing it that he no longer cared about casualties. I had intended for him to have an “accident” in battle, only with the best interest of my people in mind of course.
“I’m sure.” Interjected Sombra not fooled for a second.
“But you took care of all that for me. So you see, by defeating us in battle you saved my people.”
“So what you’re saying is I gave you your thrown.” Sombra observed.
“Well, if you want to put it so bluntly. Yes, and in exchange I will let you live.”
“Actually I have a proposition for you.” Sombra said with a smile.

Author's Note

Here's the next exiting chapter. first time writing an action scene so it's not super. Probably a few typos left in there to (finished writing at 1:30 AM and was to excited to wait till morning.)
P.S. thanks to the two of you who took a look at the chapter before I even wrote a single line, I mean if you guys are getting exited about new releases then I must be doing something right. Right?

New Allies

“I’m sorry, but if you came all this way to sell me something then you’re wasting your time.” Chrysalis commented snidely.

“Give me a few moments to explain myself, I’m sure I can change your mind.” Sombra replied with a faux friendly bow.

“I can tell that you’re trying really hard to be nice to me. That tells me one of two things, either you’re trying to ally yourself with me or you’re trying to get close enough to kill me. Not only are both of these ideas stupid, but they are also a clear sing of desperation,” Chrysalis commented in a very high and mighty tone “So, which is it?” she said as she leaned in close. She looked Sombra in the eyes with a seductive expression just as false as the tone he had taken moments ago.

“Your first guess would be correct. Why don’t we adjourn to someplace more suited to official business? I’ll fill you in on all the details.”

“You’re behaving surprisingly out of character…” the changeling queen thought out loud “Very well I’ll humor you, follow me to my study.” She said as she disappeared into a nearby hallway.

Skittish watched as Sombra vanished into the darkness of the hallway. His first impulse was to follow, but he wasn’t sure why. Mostly because he wasn’t sure exactly how safe he was with Sombra, true Sombra had just rushed in to save him when he needed it most but it was Sombra’s fault that he was in danger in the first place. Skittish looked around to see the pony shaped insects that surrounded him. One was staring at him with its blue compound eyes. Normally Skittish would be nervous when a pony stared at him, but compound eyes made it even worse. It felt like he had a thousand eyes trained on him rather than just two, that and the changeling was just plain creepy. Skittish looked around to see that it wasn’t just the one changeling that was looking at him, all of them were. Thousands of eyes, millions if you remember they’re compound, just staring and making him uncomfortable. Not being able to take it any more Skittish took off down the hall way. He may not have felt totally save with Sombra, but he felt even less safe with those overgrown bugs.
When he had finally caught up to them Sombra and Chrysalis were entering a room at the end of the corridor. He was only just able to make through the door before it shut behind him. The room was very normal for the study of a changeling. The cold stone floor was covered by a red carpet, the walls were adorned with maps of the world and banners baring the various seals and insignias of neighboring countries. There was a desk at the far end of the room which was covered in more maps only these maps were of individual countries, and the provinces of some of the larger ones. As Skittish turned to see more of the room he let loose a small squeal at the sight of a rather large changeling lurking in the corner behind the door. “What is he doing here?” demanded Sombra “I under the impression we would be meeting alone.”
“Forgive me if I don’t trust you, but I have to take precautions. And besides you brought your little friend along, who’s to say that I can’t do the same.” Chrysalis replied as she sat at her desk. “Please, take a seat.” She motioned toward a chair in front of the desk. Sombra took his seat and looked back at his companion, “Go stand next to that… thing in the corner. Keep an eye on him.” Skittish hesitated for a moment trying to build up the courage to do as he was told. “Now!” demanded Sombra. Skittish’s may have been afraid of getting close to the changeling but he was even more afraid of disobeying Sombra, so he did as he was told.
The changeling was big even bigger than Chrysalis, who was easily as tall as Celestia. Not only was the Changeling tall but he was thick and bulky. One couldn’t really say he was muscular because his skin was a thick exoskeleton, but he was no doubt strong. His body was massive and covered with large plates of his armor like skin, however unlike his brethren he was wingless. His jaw was very large with massive crushing mandibles on either side of his mouth. His eyes were not nearly as venomous as his queen but they were not as creepy as the rest of his kind either, they were just plain, blue, and fierce. Atop his head he bore no horn but he did have two large antlers like the stag beetles form the warm rainforest of the more southern nations. Not wanting to speak to such a menacing creature Skittish kept his eyes forward and watched the conversation of the two leaders.
“So who’s your friend?” asked Sombra.
“His name is Titus, he’s my finest warrior, my second in command, and when I need him to be my bodyguard.” Chrysalis replied. “But we’re not here to discus our companions, and I highly doubt that yours is very interesting anyway. So what is this “proposition” you have for me?”
“To start off, why were you locked in this castle?”
“Normally I wouldn’t tell you something like this but I’m in a good mood today so here it goes. I led an assault on Canterlot which failed due to a nosy student of Celestia named Twilight Sparkle. After our retreat we found this village of kittens and rebuilt our army. Once we had regained much of our strength I tried to get my revenge, and upon that defeat I was locked in my own castle.”
“And how long ago do you think that was?” Sombra asked using his best manners, which weren’t really all that great.
“A few months, exactly what are you getting at?” the queen asked impatiently.
“Well not three weeks ago, I to was defeated at the hands of Celestias student and her friends.”
“Ah, that’s why you’re so far away from home.” Chrysalis interrupted.
“Yes, that’s why,” Sombra replied trying not to lose his temper “My proposition is that we join forces. Not just to take revenge, but to conquer all of Equestria.”
Chrysalis snickered for a few moments before she lost control and broke into all out laughter. “Forgive me for being pessimistic here, but what makes you think this will end differently than any other attack on Equestria?
“For one you have been defeated not once but twice.”
“Jees, don’t rub it in.”
“Will you stop interrupting me!” Sombra shouted standing from his chair. Before he had a chance to say another word Titus rushed forward with speed uncanny for a creature of his size and pinned Sombra to the wall His eyes were narrowed and filled with a fierce sense of duty. “Don’t forget you’re a guest here, and an uninvited one at that. You should be grateful that my queen is even listening to what you have to say.” Titus’s voice was deep and gruff, filled with a sense of “I’d rather not kill you, but if my queen commands it I won’t give it a second thought.”
“Put him down Titus. He may be out of line, but that is no way to treat a guest. Now Sombra would you please continue.”
Titus lowered Sombra and returned to his place in the corner of the room. Sombra tried his hardest no to spit an insult back at Chrysalis as he continued. “As I was saying, you’ve been defeated in two attempts to take Equestria it would be foolhardy for you to try for three. They’d never see an attack coming, and once it got there they probably wouldn’t take it seriously. Plus I am presumed dead, the perfect ace in the hole.”
“I was going to try to take Equestria again anyway, although I am offended that you would call my attempts foolhardy. As for an alliance, what would you ask for as spoils of war?”
“All of Equestria.” Sombra said with all the seriousness of a security guard telling somepony they couldn’t touch a museum exhibit.
“And what makes you think I would agree to this?” Chrysalis asked completely taken aback by such a demand.
“You may have whatever province you wish as your territory, and as an added bonus I will give you the Crystal Heart.” Sombra said confidently. He knew that a changeling would never be able to say no to an unlimited supply of love, with such a bargaining chip this negotiation was over before it started.
“You drive a hard bargain, but what choice do I have.” Chrysalis said trying very hard to sound unsatisfied. “But, I think we will need other allies. A few months before my assault on Canterlot, Discord escaped his imprisonment. He was stopped by Twilight and returned to his place I the gardens, albeit a little sillier looking than before. I’m sure that he would be more than willing to help us, as long as we are prepared to give him a little something in return.” Chrysalis said producing a picture of the Discord statue with its new pose.
“So do you have a plan to free him at this point?” Sombra asked.
“What me? Of course not, this is your plan and if you’re getting the largest portion of the spoils then you should do most of the work. I’ll give you all the time you need to come up with something.” Chrysalis had a smirk on her face, she was clearly enjoying herself. “I’ll give you and your companion the best accommodations I can offer. Titus, see to it our guests are comfortable.” As she spoke the door opened and a smaller changeling stepped in to deliver a message to the queen. Titus showed Sombra out the door and picked up Skittish who had fainted when he attacked the former. “If you’ll follow me, I will show you to the guest quarters.”

* * *

“I don’t know why I have to share a room with him.” Sombra complained as he looked around the spacious guest room.
“It’s only for a couple days while the workers complete the new room you requested.” Titus replied coolly.
“Well couldn’t he sleep a broom closet or something in the mean time?”
“I’m sorry we don’t have any broom closets, the workers can blow away the dust by buzzing their wings. And the queen has specifically instructed that I make sure the both of you are comfortable.”
“Well you have failed royally, because being in the same room as him makes me uncomfortable.” Sombra retorted.
“I was only asked to provide you with comfortable conditions, if you refuse to be contented that is hardly my problem.” Titus replied in the way that servants do when they insult there master while retaining the guise of politeness.
“Well can I at least get something to eat, or can’t you do that.”
“I will have some food sent up to you immediately.” and with that Titus left. Skittish gave had to give him credit, he had to put up with Sombra because he was helpless. However Titus was strong, and could probably take Sombra in a fair fight, but he never lost his temper even with all the insults.
Sombra went over to the bed and jumped into the center of it. “These sheets are as course as a burlap sack.” He complained.
“Well it’s better than the cold hard ground.” Skittish replied trying to sound positive.
“Interesting you say that, because that’s where you’re sleeping.”
“Oh…okay. Um I do have one question though.”
“Only if I don’t have to here from you for the rest of the night.”
“Okay well, why did you save me from those changelings earlier? It’s just you probably wouldn’t have done that three weeks ago.” Skittish immediately regretted asking Sombra such a question, but it was too late to take it back now. All he could do was hope Sombra didn’t beat him.
“Why would you ask me something like that?”
“I… um…”
“Do you think that it was because I cared about you?” Sombras words cut like a knife. “Look at your flank and tell me what you see.”
“Um… I see my cutiemark.”
“I meant tell me what your cutiemark is, you imbecile!”
“A… a shepherd’s crook.” Skittish said hesitantly.
“Exactly, you herd sheep worthless pathetic sheep, and you weren’t even good that. If you lived anywhere else you would have gone out of business, the only reason you didn’t starve was because ponies needed your wool to make scarves and blankets. You’ve never mattered to anyone, what makes you think that you would matter now. The only reason I “saved” you was because I wanted to fight those changelings, who just so happened to be attacking you.” Sombra had always been cold and heartless but he had never taken it this far. Skittish decided it was probably best to stay quiet from now on, and occupied him self studying the tiles on the floor.
After a several minutes of unendurably uncomfortable silence a knock was heard at the door. Sombra bade “Enter,” in a demanding and impatient tone. The door creaked open to reveal a changeling drone bearing a platter with a silver cover. “Titus asked that I bring you the finest stores from our larder.” Having been told to treat the guests with every courtesy, the changeling had addressed Sombra in the same reverent tone he would use when speaking to Chyisalis.
Sombra had always considered the changelings to be small, but after spending time with Chrysalis and her enormed body guard, this normal sized changeling seemed miniscule. “Set it on the table and leave.” Sombra commanded as he rose from his bed. Once the changeling had left he rushed to the table to see what bounty might be hidden beneath the shining cover of the platter. Sombra lifted the silver dome to reveal a jar filled with a dubious substance. “Oh you have got to be kidding me.” Sombra growled.
“What is it?” Skittish asked.
“Take a look.” Sombra replied holding up the jar. At first glance the strange goop within looked black, but when light passed through it proved to be dark green.
“Is looks like mint jam. Is there toast to go with it?”
“It’s not jam foal! This slop is what the changelings call food.”
“I thought they fed on emotions.”
“They do, but this is what they make when they can’t have that. It’s kind of like the honey bees make. In the war we called it changeling jelly.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad.” Skittish said, trotting over to get a closer look. Almost before he finished his sentence Sombra opened the jar, letting lose the wholly unappetizing smell the changeling jelly. “Aurg! That is… yech… terrible!” Skittish could barely keep himself from retching.
‘Still want some toast to go with that?” Sombra said sarcastically.
“Well they did say it was their finest. Maybe it tastes better than it smells.”
“Well then you go ahead and try it, make sure to tell me how it tastes.”
Skittish dipped the tip of his hoof in the jar, covering it with the green liquid. It was a little thicker than honey, more like tree sap. The smell was horrible, it was like the stench of moldy cheese wrapped in soiled lines and garnished with gravy made of the putrid juices of rotting meat. Skittish brought his hoof up to his quivering lips and stopped. When he picked up the jar he had fully intended on trying the strange new food, but now he had lost all resolution to do so. He stood there for what seemed like eternity watching the thick slime drip from his hooves. Every so often Skittish would stretch out his tongue to meet with the fetid liquid, but he would withdraw just shy of contact.
“Get on with it!” Sombra shouted as he shoved Skittish’s entire hoof into his mouth.
Skittish’s face briefly bore a look surprise before his expression changed to that of revolution. He took his hoof from his mouth and began to spit and sputter furiously, scraping his tongue in an attempt to rid his mouth of the offending taste. “Blech! Why would you do that!” Skittish asked still wiping the droop from his mouth.
“Well it’s not like you were going to do it on your own.” Sombra said with a chuckle. “Now, can you describe the flavor to me?”
“I’m going to find that broom closet.” Skittish said as he stormed out of the room, slamming the door.

Author's Note

I wrote this in one sitting, so after every single Dragon Force album, (I'm a slow typer) three cans of Coke, and a nervouse breakdown this is what you get. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go and play some Lord of the Rings Online before I go all cupcakes on somepony.

Big Plans

Skittish lay in bed, he was awake but he didn’t really want to get up in hopes that he would fall asleep again. It had been over a week since their arrival, in which time Sombra’s new room had been constructed and furnished. For ponies this would have be an impossible feat of engineering, however the changeling were quite adept when it came to building. Skittish had been able to sleep in an actual bed for the past six nights, a luxury he had gone with out for nearly a month. On his first night he had noticed that the sheets were nowhere near as course as Sombra had made them out to be, in fact Sombra had made such a fuss about it that he went through three sets of the things until he found one that was acceptable. The one thing Skittish could not determine was whether Sombra had complained about it was because he was used to finer linins, or simply because he refused to be happy with anything he was given. A brief look at Sombra’s attitude toward his host strongly suggested the latter, after Chrysalis had been informed that her guests could not eat changeling jelly she saw to it that they were provided with more pony friendly provisions. She hoof picked a small team of food gatherers to scavenge the forests and nearby mountain sides. The foraging team routinely brought back lush and delicious greenery; fresh grass, tart berries, dandelions and daisies, and on occasion mushrooms. Skittish usually had to settle for the grass because Sombra got first pick from whatever was brought back, but he would constantly throw away more than half of his food complaining about the flavor or that saying it was dried out.

Sombra’s voice could be heard through the door and ways down the hall from the Skittish’s bedroom. The voice grew louder as it drew closer, until it was right outside the door. Quite expectedly the doors flew open with a clamor, causing Skittish to jump even though he knew it would happen. “Get up maggot!” Sombra shouted as he walked into the room followed by the changeling that had been assigned to be his personal servant. “ I said get up slug, we’re getting out of here.” It might have been just him, but Skittish thought Sombra’s constant insults seemed to be more insect related as of late. “Where are we going?” Skittish asked rubbing sleep from his eyes.

“We’re going to Canterlot, so I’d advise you get us some provisions for the journey.”

“I’d assume this means you’ve come up with a plan to recruit Discord.”

“I came up with a plan days ago. I was just hoping I could spend a few weeks to gather my strength.”

“So why are we leaving so soon?”

“Because I can’t stand being around these bugs.” Sombra said looking directly at his servant. “What are you still doing here? I told you to go and get Chrysalis!” he shouted sending the small changeling from his sight.

After several minutes of uncomfortable silence Chrysalis arrived with Titus following close behind her. Although the changeling queen looked quite menacing on her own, or at least just as much so as any of her subjects, she definitely looked like somepony not to be messed with her mammathian body guard in tow. “Your servant has informed me that you have devised a plan to win Discord to our cause. I hope that you have also thought of a way to free him from his stone prison, other wise your plan will be useless.” Chrysalis said with a definite air of cynicism.

“I have been many things your highness, but a fool has never been one of them.”

“Perhaps when you’ve been to busy freeloading to attain that level of intelligence.” Chrysalis goaded, knowing Sombra wouldn’t dare retort while Titus was around. “So what is this grand scheme of yours? I certainly hope it was worth so long a wait.”

“I would prefer to tell you when we get to Canterlot, less chance of your backing out.” Sombra said casting a glance at Titus who raised an eye brow cautioning him against any further implications.

“When “we” get to Canterlot, I’m sorry but when did I agree to go to Canterlot?”

“We will need a representative from each party to convince Discord to join our cause. Trust me the higher rank the representative the more impressive our proposal.”

“If you want a show of strength then take Titus with you, Discord will surely be impressed by that.” Titus looked surprised at his queens suggestion, but quickly recovered from his brief loss of composure.

“That will never do. Your second is far too large to accompany us to the capital of Equestria, even in disguise he would trigger too many alarms. Besides we need somepony who knows there way around the city, somepony who’s been there before, and that would be you.”

Chrysalis took a few moments to think about what Smbra had said and finally replied, “I will go with you. However we will be escorted by my personal guard until we reach the city, just as a precaution of course.”

* * *

After three long days of travel Sombra, Skittish and Chrysalis had finally reached Canterlot. Sombra was feeling quite perturbed because he felt that everypony in the little entourage was slowing him down. As absurd as it my seem to others, the validity of this assumption was not questionable to Sombra. As far as he was concerned anything that he found slightly annoying was inferior, and he found most things unendurably aggravating. The only thing that Sombra could count as a silver lining to this endeavourer was the fact that Chrysalis had seen fit to leave Titus at home. Being her number two he was obligated to oversee the running of the castles affairs no matter how he protested.

Once they were within sight of the city Chrysalis sent her guards back to the castle. She had only needed there protection when crossing the wilderness, now that they were in the heart of the Equestrian empire Sombra wouldn’t dare to try anything.

“Are you going to tell me your plan now that we’re here?” Chrysalis asked with genuine annoyance in her voice.

“I’ll explain on the way. But first we need to disguise our selves.”

“Disguise…” Chrysalis questioned as her crooked horn began to glow. An eerie green light appeared in her eyes and spread across her body. A circle of fire of the same color sprung to life around her hooves, the flames grew higher and more intense until they had completely enshrouded her. When the unnatural blaze died down Chrysalis had disappeared and been replaced with a dark grey mare wearing a royal robe and plate armor. Atop her head she had a great crown with her blood red horn as a centerpiece. “You mean like this?” she said throwing back her raven black mane.

“Is that supposed to be funny?” Sombra said, not even trying to hide his distain for the gesture.

“Oh common, I think I look great, sexy even.” She paused to take a step towards Skittish using her magic to remove her armor and loosen the clasp of her cape. “Skittish, what do you think of me?” Unable to speak Skittish swallowed nervously, “I’m the Queen of Darkness and Despair, I can have anything my heart desires with a clop of my hooves.” She said, now leaning on him “But I am so lonely, and sometimes I just want a stallion to hold me!” she cried in desperation. Skittish looked into her face to see she was blushing slightly, and tears were in her eyes. Skittish felt a strange emotion stirring deep within his chest, and his head was spinning so much that he had forgotten both who this mare beside him was and who she resembled. The only thing he knew was that she was hurting, and all he wanted to do was consol her, to protect her. Skittish was prepared to answer when the beautiful grey mare transformed back into Chrysalis and said “Won’t you come to my chambers?” in a terrible croak, like an old witch beckoning fillies to come inside her candy cottage. Skittish was so startled that he flew backwards letting out a scream. His cries were so loud they might have caused anypony within earshot to come running to help, if he wasn’t cut short when Sombra hit him in the stomach winding him.

“Serves you right. If we were anywhere but hear I’d probably have killed you.” Skittish lay on the ground holding his stomach, and as he realized what had just happened he began to feel worse, sick even.
Sombra, who was leaning over the limp pony beneath him, turned to Chrysalis, “And what do you think you were doing? If somepony had seen that we’d be done for!”

“Relax, I was just having a little fun.” She replied changing into a blue mare with a gold mane.

“Well the next time you want to have “fun” use somepony else’s likeness to do it.” Sombra growled as he disappeared into her shadow. The two started toward the train station at the foot of the mountain on which Canterlot perched. “Are you quite finished lazing about?” Sombra shouted back as Skittish started to pick himself up.

Once they had reached the station they bought passage from the ticket master and waited next to an elderly gentlecolt. An annoying old geezer, who made it a point to mention how he should have retired years ago, and to complain about the economy every ten minuts. “I could have retired three years ago, but I thought I’d wait till I had finished my fifty years. Then one day I read that they’re raising the retirement age! Now I have to wait two more years!” he would say, and with out waiting for a response he continued, “And I can’t even go to the market without being cheated. Why yesterday I bought three tomatoes for a bit, a pretty good deal, but when I was young you could get twice as many for that much. Any way, I got two tomatoes for a bit, then I walk over to the cherry stand and he wanted to charge me two bits for “A” cherry. One cherry for two bits! Two bits! If I’m going to spend that much on a cherry it’d better cook me breakfast and clean my house! So you know what I told the guy?”
“Oh I couldn’t possibly imagine.” Chrysalis sighed.
“I told him, “You take one good look at me, cuz you’re never going to see me here again!” And you know what I did after that, I went to buy more tomatoes. When I got home I cut them up and put some sugar on em, that’s what we did for sweets when I was colt. We couldn’t afford fancy things like triple frosting cupcakes and imported cheese, no sir. I’d like to see these spoiled youth learn to eat what I had to put up with. Why one time all I had to eat for a whole week was two…” Just then the train arrived and the three boarded as quickly as they possibly could so as to escape the senile work horse. Indeed the old codger’s stories were so long and so boring that in the time it took to listen to one of them ponies could sense their manes growing.
Once they were safe in their private car Chrysalis and Sombra saw fit to abandon their disguises if only to rest their frayed nerves. Not wanting to waist any more time Chrysalis turned to Sombra and asked, “So what is this great plan of yours?”
“Well my plan is simple, there are only two ways to free Discord from his marble prison. The only way to get him out without Celestia’s say so is the Elements of Harmony, which are of course out of the question. So the only other option is to get Celestia to set him free of her own accord, which will require some trickery on our part.”
“Wait, I heard he was first freed buy the disharmony of some quarreling schoolfillies?”
“Well that spell was over a thousand years old, in century or possibly less he could have escaped on his own.” Sombra explained.
“Oh, I see.”
“As I was saying, we will need to trick Celestia into freeing Discord on her own. The best way I can think of is to play on her sense of naïve and misguided “goodness.” Do you still know where important officials live?”
“I think I can find a few members of her court.”
“Good, good. We will need to replace one of them and get close enough to convince her that Discord can somehow be reformed. Once he’s out and we can get a moment with him the game is ours.” Sombra said smiling devilishly. The rest of the train ride was spent discussing which court members were easiest to gain access to and whether the more vulnerable ones would be close enough to the princess to have any real influence.
Once the train had stopped Chrysalis quickly donned her disguise and Sombra took his place in her shadow. Skittish who had been sitting quietly thought he didn’t need any disguise but Sombra rubbed some black polish he had stolen from the hoof-shine booth in his coat and mane anyway. The last thing they needed was an out of place crystal pony drawing attention to them.
As they were about to exit the train Chrysalis spotted the old stallion from before and ducked behind a wall. “This is ridiculous!” grumbled Sombra, “We’re planning to conquer this entire country and we’re hiding from a pony so old that we could probably just wait for him to die and be out of here before lunch.”
“Oh, well if that’s how you feel about it then by all means let’s go.” Chrysalis said as she started toward the train stations main doors.
“No! I didn’t mean go right over there! If you do that we’ll be here all day. We have to wait.”
They waited for a quite some time as the old pony had a lengthy, and albeit one sided, conversation with the one of the bagboys about work ethic. Finally the geezer started for the door slowly plodding along stopping twice to yell at some foals playing in with the baggage carts, and that’s when it happened. Just as he was about to leave the building a cream pie flew seemingly out of nowhere and struck him square in the face.

Author's Note

Sorry this update took awhile but I had some crazy stuff happen including a friends wedding, first week of summer school :(, hanging with a really old friend from my childhood who just moved back to my neighborhood after fifteen years, and a severe case of lazyitus. Anyway I'm trying to make up for it by putting the next one out sooner, here's hoping.

It's a Long Story

Chrysalis and Sombra laughed silently trying not to alert the elderly pony of their presence. Skittish wasn’t really one to poke fun at others misfortune, but the aged stallion was such a nuisance that he allowed himself a muffled chuckle. The elderly equine on the other hand was in no laughing mood, in fact he was furious. He flew into a rage blaming every youth within shouting distance for his grievance. He shook his cane and stomped his hooves, and used language that prompted mares to cover the virgin ears of young fillies and colts. This continued until a pair of guards came to remove him from the building. Once the path was clear the trio was able to leave the premises with no fear. The pony who threw the pie was never identified, but on his way out Skittish did see a rather shifty looking youth leaning against the wall of a nearby doughnut shop.

Now that they were in the heart of Canterlot, Chrysalis and Sombra wasted no time in making their way for the heart of the capital. Soon Sobmra realized that Chrysalis wasn’t leading him to the castle. “Where are you taking me?” he demanded clearly annoyed that he had no control over the situation.

“Well you said we needed to usurp the position of a court member didn’t you. The best place to do that would be at home.”

“So who are we paying a visit to then?”

“Miss Fairchance, she’s the retired Minister of Justice. She may not be an active official but she is still a trusted friend of both princesses, and she is just the sort that would suggest freeing Discord.”
As they walked through the streets Skittish took time to look at the colorful buildings as they passed by. There were cake shops and cafés, shoe stores and dress shops, doughnut shops and wig stores. There were Museums and art galleries, concert halls and opera houses, there was also a massive park with a zoo and apiary and even a topiary garden. Of course Skittish never saw the zoo or garden, he only knew of there existence because he trusted the signs posted outside the main entrance of the park.

As they continued towards the residential side of town the buildings became less colorful, mostly because they did not need to catch the eye of would be customers. Of course that isn’t to say that they were uninteresting, many of the buildings were a half-timber style of construction. Meaning the building was constructed of a timber frame and used other materials such as brick and mortar or plaster to fill in the gaps. Many houses constructed in this style had the frame visible from the outside, and these were no exception. Of course if everypony was able to see the frame of your house, why not make it nice to look at. Many of these houses were indeed gorgeous, the crisscrossing timbers made a nice contrast with the white plastered infill. Many of the beams were adorned with ornate carvings of playing ponies and various flora and fauna. Almost all of the houses had colorful flower boxes placed in the windows. In the countryside many ponies kept gardens, however living in the middle of a tight packed city left many with no yards to plant in. as a result they were forced to settle for much smaller window boxes and pots. The house of Fairchance was a very small and modest cottage that seemed to be squeezed in between two much larger ones. Despite the fact that it had two stories the narrow house looked like it probably consisted of nothing more than a kitchen and a bedroom or two. The outside was very similar to the other houses on the street, only this one had had a set of scales worked into the timbers above the door. “Well this is the place.” Said Chrysalis as she stretched out her hoof to use the gavel shaped door knocker. “Just a minute.” said an old and shaky voice. Chrysalis and Skittish stood waiting for several seconds till they heard the voice again, “I’m almost there.” A long discontented sigh came from under there feet. Skittish looked down to see Sombra’s eyes glaring angrily at the door. “Hold on.” Sombra didn’t say a word for fear of being over heard, but he did roll his eyes. After another long pause they finally heard the old mare say, “Oh forget it! Just come in.” Having been invited in Chrysalis opened the door and entered. The house looked slightly larger on the inside, it was still very narrow but it was long. The kitchen was located at the back of the room and the rest was a sort of sitting area with a small fire place a few pieces of furniture. There were a few book cases and pictures along the walls and a shelf with a gavel and some awards for public service. There was a staircase just to the left of the door that led up to the second story which was assumably the living quarters. About halfway down the stair case was a very old lavender unicorn with a grey mane and a cutiemark identical to the scales over her front door. She was struggling to climb down the steep steps holding onto the railings for dear life. “Well don’t just stand there somepony help me!” she said. Both Chrysalis and her shadow looked at Skittish, nominating him for the task.
Skittish hurried up the staircase and helped the elderly unicorn down the remaining four or five steps. Once they reached the bottom she took a blanket from the back of a chair and put it around her shoulders. “Thank you Dear I can take it from here. I can walk just fine I just wanted a strong stallion like you to help me out.” She chuckled as she walked towards the kitchen. “Would you like some tea?” She didn’t even wait for an answer as she used her magic to take down some tea cups and start the water. “So who are you, and what are you doing visiting an old pony like me?”

“You’re Miss Fairchance right, the former Minister of Justice?” Chrysalis asked.

“Oh please call me Chancy, I’m not that fair anymore.” replied the old mare, laughing at her own joke.

“I’m Justice, and this is my friend Longarm. We’re Students in law school and we would like to interview you for an assingment.” Chrysalis said, trying her best to sound polite.

“Oh, of course you can. What is you’re project on?” She asked, clearly excited to help two young ponies trying to make their way in her former profession.

“Well with resent events, our assignment is to ask whether or not our laws and punishments are enough to discourage further incidents.”

“I would be happy to answer any of your questions. Tell me is old Hardtime still there?” Chancy asked as she poured the now boiling water in the teapot with a few tealeaves, and set it on the table to steep.

“Yes, in fact he gave us the assignment.” Chrysalis lied.

“He gave you the assignment? Last I checked he was the dean.”

“Well… you see. We’re conducting an independent study on the pony condition and the impact it makes on society, he’s only our supervisor. Longarm’s dad went to school with Dr. Hardtime so he insisted on giving him a leg up.” Chrysalis said trying to save there cover.

“Isn’t that just like him trying to poison our countries youth with his corrupt notions.” Chancy grumbled under her breath. “No matter, you’ve come at just the right time. I was expecting a friend at any minute who will make the perfect surprise interview, if you don’t mind that is.”

“Not at all, but what was that you were saying about Hardtime.”

“Oh nothing, just be warned that any favors from him should be treated with extreme caution. You can put as much sugar as you like in a glass of poison but that doesn’t make it any less deadly.” She said in that tone that the elderly usually take whenever they address a serious matter.

“Sounds like you have a bad history with him.” Chrysalis said.

“Oh, you don’t want to hear an old mare like me tell a long story like that.”

“We’ve got some time to kill waiting for your friend, indulge us.” Chrysalis leaned in with faux anticipation.

“Well it started in law school, we both started the same year and for awhile we hardly noticed each other, we shared a few classes and that was it. One semester we were partnered up for an assignment and after we passed that class we continued to study with each other. Eventually our relation ship became romantic and after a year of courting he proposed to me, I said yes, but on the condition that we wait till after we had a steady career to get married.
We graduated at the top of our class and started work as prosecutors, mostly small cases but we were thrilled to be doing our part for society. After several months Hardtime got a seemingly small case that turned into a high profile murder trial that became national news. He won the case, but after that he was never the same he became more concerned with winning cases and making friends in high cases than the truth. He wasn’t the Stallion I remembered and I couldn’t bear to look at what he had become. I had to break off the engagement for both our sakes. He didn’t take the breakup very well, he fell into a deep depression and started drinking. He got back on his feet a few months later but he was diferent, he was even more determined to make it big and climb the ladder, he wanted show me that he didn’t need me to be happy.
After I left Hardtime I tried my hardest to be as fair and just as I could in my cases, eventually my superiors took notice and offered me opportunities to make a real difference in the world, and when I couldn’t reach my goals my peers would offer me a boost. Meanwhile Hardtime took a darker approach to politics, he lied to, cheated, or stepped on anypony who got in his way. He double crossed backstabbed and blackmailed his way to the top whenever he got the chance to hurt me. Eventually I made it to Minister of Justice and he cashed in whatever favors he had left to get a position at our alma mater. Having failed to best me himself he now tries to get his students to do what he never could.” Chancy seemed sad as she finished he story, although she had been hurt by Hardtime she still seemed to feel sorry for him and hope that one day he would see the error of his way.

“Well that took forever. You’d better do what ever it is you’re going to do before her friend shows up.” Sombra whispered.

“Well you supposed to grab her while I had her distracted.”

“What was that Dearie? I’m a little hard of hearing.” asked Chancy pointing at her ear.

“Nothing, I was just thinking out loud.” Chrysalis said, trying not to betray he deceit.

“I thought I herd your friend say something but I didn’t see him move his lips.” Skittish was sweating bullets as Chancy looked him up and down, so much so that he worried that the hoof polish in his coat would start to run. There cover was blown he was sure of it. at first Skittish thought that it would be a good thing to get caught because he would finally be rescued, but then he thought harder and realized that even if Chancy did manage to alert the authorities he would probably end up as a hostage. Hostage situations usually ended in the hostages favor but somehow he didn’t think it would if his current captors were involved.
Chancy looked harder and harder at Skittish and opened her mouth to say something but before she got a word out she was interrupted by a knock at the door. “Oh, that must be my friend at the door! No need to get up I’ll get it.” Skittish breathed a sigh of relief as Chancy got up answer the door.

Author's Note

Sorry this chapter took so long, I've had a crazy time with summer school and trying to get a job. Plus I was volunteering last week so I couldn't do any writing at all. I'm trying to get the next chapter out as soon as possible. It was actually supposed to be this chapter but my muse decided to overload me imagination tanks at the last minute, so the first half of the chapter ended up being it's own thing.

A Surprise Visitor

“Oh. That must be my friend.” said Chancy as she got up to get the door with a little more spring in her step that she had five minutes ago. She opened the door and greeted the stranger outside, as she did so Sombra and Chrysalis began arguing over who should have acted first and what they were going to do next. They were cut short however when Chancy’s guest walked in. Skittish was the first to see him and tapped Chrysalis on the shoulder to get her attention. “Stop that you’re getting that hoof polish all over…” she stopped short at the sight of the creature behind them. Chancy’s friend’s was a very odd fellow, shockingly odd, so much so in fact that anypony who described him could quite easily be mistaken for a lunatic. He sported a thick coat of brown fur over his bogy, but that was the only thing normal about him. The rest of his body was a crazy hodgepodge of random animal parts. He had the paw of a lion on one side of his body, and an eagle’s talons on the other. His right leg was a goat’s and his left was that of a crocodile, and sprouting from his backside was a dragon’s tale. On his back was the blue feathered wing of a bird, and the webbed wing of a bat. His head was that of a pony but his eyes were different sizes and he had one long snaggletooth and a billy goat’s beard. Crowning his strange head were the antlers of both a deer and a gazelle. Which side each horn was on didn’t really matter, because although they were generally in one place they would occasionally switch sides, but only when you weren’t paying attention. Although this strange creature’s appearance was quite unsettling, it was not the reason for Chrysalis’s astonishment. She was at a loss for words because he shouldn’t be standing in front of her. The draconequus stepped forward to introduce himself, “Greetings, I am Discord the, ahem, former Lord of Chaos. Here, my card.” Discord reached behind his ear and produced a playing card which he handed to Skittish. It was a two of diamonds with little horns and beards on each of the diamonds and the draconequus’s title and contact information scrawled in crayon.

Chancy stepped between Discord and her other guests as she introduced her friend, “I do believe this wonderful draconequus was at the center of one of those “Incidents” old Hardtime is having you write about. I am very glad to say that thanks to my influence he has recently been rehabilitated. I’ll admit that most ponies are still a little uneasy around him, but in the two weeks since his parole there has only been one harmless incident, proof that our justice system works.” Chancy declared with pride.

“And that incident can hardly be counted against me.” Discord chimed in. “I simply over heard Celestia complaining about an extremely lazy palace employee, a rather apply named Mr. Turnup who never came to word when he was supposed to. He simply turned up whenever he felt like working. Wanting to make a good impression on my employer, I took matters into my own hands to right the situation. And well let’s just say ponies don’t like having an eleven foot draconequus following them about causing chaos all around them until they go back to work.” Discord proclaimed quite manor-of-factly.

The chimeric creature strode around to the back of Skittish and Chrysalis’ seats and placed his hands on their shoulders “So tell me, who are these fine ponies you’re entertaining?” he asked with a over the top amount of enthusiasm.

Skittish was about to say something when chrysalis interrupted him, “My name is Justice and this is Longarm. We’re law students, and Chancy was kind enough to allow us to interview her for a class project. We would like to interview you as well if that isn’t a problem.”

“Oh of course not, the only question is where to begin.” Discord wiped his paw on his fur and snapped his fingers, producing a large couch which he threw himself on. “I think my urge to cause chaos stems from my childhood. I had a distant father…”

“Please Mr. Discord, as interesting as your childhood must be, that is not what we are here to discuss.” Chrysalis said placing a hoof over the draconepuus’ mouth..

“Of course, I sometimes forget that my somewhat bombastic personality clashes with most ponies.” Discord stood and clapped his hands bidding the couch to morph into a large upholstered chair, and retook his seat. “Please continue with the interview.”

The seconds ticked on as Chrysalis tried her hardest to come up with a good set of interview questions, knowing that with each passing moment her cover came closer to falling apart. What would you ask a recently paroled draconequus anyway, for that matter what would she ask a retired judge? Although Sombra’s plan to free discord had already been actualized, their mission was far from over. Chrysalis had always assumed that there freeing Discord would win his allegiance, but now that he was on probation and the fast track to rehabilitation would he really want to return to his old ways? Finally after what seemed like an eternity Chrysalis asked the first question that popped into her head. “Well first let’s try to get an idea of your back ground. Is your erratic behavior and compulsion to cause anarchy unique to yourself or is it shared by others of your species?”
“Why dose everypony always ask that?” he asked out with a great sigh, “There are no others it’s just me. I don’t even know what the plural form of draconequus would be, let alone what you would call a group of us. Would it be a troop, flock or business, I personally prefer gaggle but that’s just me.”

“I don’t think any group of animals is called a business.”

“Ferrets my deer, not to be confused with a group of weasels of course, which is known as a gang.”

“Chrysalis was speechless at how fast Discord could derail a conversation. She blinked twice and shook her head to clear her thoughts of anything to do with posies, congregations, or any other gathering of beasts. “So if you are the only one of your kind then were did you come from?” Chrysalis asked. Although she was lying her way through this interview she was genuinely interested in this question.

Discord gave Chrysalis a long blank stare, “Look Justice, I know that these general questions are supposed to get me comfortable and all that, but honestly they irritate me. I’ve had several interviews with various journalists and radio announcers in my two weeks of freedom. If you need to get any information of that nature, simply pick up any newspaper or magazine that‘s less than a week old.”

After several rather poor interview questions Discord turned to Skittish, “So far your partner has asked all of the questions, and quite frankly she is beginning to boar me. I’m hope that you can interject something to keep this interview interesting.” Skitished opened his mouth to say something when Chrysalis put her hoof in his mouth. “Unfortunately my partner can not speak for the duration of this interview.”

“Oh, and why is that?” Discord asked razing an eyebrow.

“He was in charge of taking notes, and he forgot his notebook you see. As a consequence for his careless ness he must divert all of his attention to committing the entire interview to memory.” Chrysalis nervously grinned hoping that Discord would believe her.

“Well if that’s all then please allow me to remedy that little problem.” Discord snapped his fingers and a little blue notebook appeared along with a purple quill. “I think you’ll find that the entire conversation up to this point is already written down.” Skittish took the notebook and flipped through its pages to find that Discords words rang true. The interview had indeed been recorded in great detail. When Skittish reached first blink page he saw something very curious. It seemed that words where appearing all on there own, and not in the neat and professional looking handwriting from before either. These were sloppy and covered several lines.

Skittish handed the notepad to Chrysalis as the last letter completed it self. Nopony could really tell how pale he was, but under his hoof polish disguise he was as white as a sheet. “Passing notes are we?” Discord said with a raised eyebrow. Chrysalis glanced down at the paper to read the message witch read “I’m on to you.” Chrysalis looked at Skittish inquisitively. She passed quickly scribbled “Why would you write something so stupid?” and handed the notepad back to Skittish. Skittish quickly relpied with “I didn’t, he did!”
“I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but its incredibly rude to ignore a draconequus during an interview!” Discord who was now thoroughly annoyed.
“Well you were kind enough to let us interview you.” Chrysalis said nervously.
“Well I do believe that I have an appointment with the princess so I have to leave.” Discord got up from his chair and snapped his fingers, at which point the chair turned into a briefcase. Discord picked up his new brief case and snapped again creating a suit and overcoat.
“Can we schedule a follow up interview?” Chrysalis asked.
“Of course, if you don’t mind it being a month from now.” Discord said as he walked toward the door. As discord left he called over his shoulder, “Oh and don’t contact me I’ll contact you!” and with that he was gone.

Author's Note

I am very sorry about the lack of updates. This long overdue chapter comes with a long list of varying types of news. The good news is that after several months of unemployment I have finally got a job!! The bad news is that between school and my new job I have almost no time to write. (I actually felt so bad about it that I took time out of study for mid terms to get this chapter out) I also have some news that was going to be good news but isn't news any more. Still with me? Good! I had signed p for a creative writing class to harness my skills, but apparently only five other people signed up for it so it was canceled.(Probably a good thing because I'm already swamped as it is) I haven't given up on this story but I have so much going on right now that it will be awhile till the next update. As usual constructive criticism is welcome.