Cheerilee
The lone howl of a timberwolf echoed throughout the Everfree Forest. The howl was softer than most others, almost like a requiem. As I made my way to the clearing I found out why. I passed by a pack of dead timberwolves; at least I thought they were dead. The four wolves had all been petrified, and the fear in their eyes had forever been etched in stone. A cockatrice must’ve been on the loose. I continued to walk on with my head down.
It was a new moon tonight. Most ponies fear the Forest and even those who don’t generally steer clear of it on a moonless night. But it didn’t bother me. True, I didn’t want to be on the receiving end of a cockatrice stare or a timberwolf bite. And Krastos only knew what a starving parasprite could do to a mare. But nights like this made me feel more alone than I usually do. And the solitude meant that I was safe from prying eyes.
I reached into my cloak pocket and pulled out a small black book. I smiled a genuine smile for the first time in what felt like years as I flipped through it. I had spent years searching for it. Years yearning for whatever secrets it held. I inhaled its scent and my smile grew wider.
“Twilight doesn’t deserve you. She practically threw you at me when I said I wanted to read you out of academic curiosity. I really expected an apprentice of Celestia’s to be brighter than that. Especially since she was chosen for coronation. But sometimes it’s good to be wrong,” I mused.
I closed the book and slipped it back into the pocket. I needed to compose myself. My guest would be arriving shortly, and I wouldn’t want him to find me swooning over a book. He might get jealous; and jealousy was too much of a wildcard for me to deal with. I looked down at the watch on my foreleg. My smile faded into a frown. He was five minutes late. Of course he was. I should have learned years ago that I couldn’t trust a stallion to be faithful to me. Unreliability must start at a young age.
“Ms. Lee?” a weak voice asked.
Perhaps I judged him too soon. I threw back the hood of my cloak so that he could watch my pink mane flowing in the gentle breeze.
“I really like your mane, Ms. Lee.”
Of course he did. I had bought an expensive shampoo so that my mane would be extra silky tonight. The Luna by Luna fragrance I applied before leaving the house only seemed to make him swoon more. I really did feel like a princess of the night while wearing it. At least that was one product that didn’t have a lying slogan.
I turned my head so that he could still admire my mane while I looked at him. The colt in front of me was a brown-eyed lanky pegasus. He approached me with his head bowed, but I could still see the look of rapture on his face.
“I’m sorry I’m late.”
“It’s no trouble, Featherweight. I can understand that it would be difficult to sneak out of the house at your age. But I’m glad that you were able to come,” I replied in a voice as sweet as honey.
He raised his head and gave me a boyish smile. Featherweight took another step forward, but flinched and started to rub his shoulder. I stopped him by placing one of my hoofs onto his.
“Allow me.”
I gently took his hoof off of his shoulder and kissed the spot. His face turned dark red as his wings snapped open. Perfect. Now I had him right where I wanted him.
“Did you trip again?” I asked, pretending to ignore his wings.
“Yeah.” He bit his lip.” I was trying to get here quickly, but I fell. It doesn’t hurt that badly; it’s just a little pain.”
“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want any harm to come to my favorite student.”
Featherweight looked as if he had just been told that he was the new owner of Sugarcube Corner.
“Ye… yes, Ms. Lee. I’m su…su…sure.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. They’re so pathetic at that age. Adorable, but still pathetic.
“In that case we’ll get started.”
I reached into my pocket and retrieved the book.
“Do you know what this is?”
“A book!”
I frowned at his stupidity for a brief moment before putting on a smile.
“Very good, Featherweight. This is in fact a book, a journal to be specific. Do you know whose journal this is?”
Featherweight took the journal and examined the cover carefully. There were no words on the cover, just an image of a swirl with two large stars inside of it. He returned it to me and shrugged.
“Princess Luna’s?”
I shook my head.
“No, Featherweight. This is the journal of Starswirl the Bearded. I’ve been searching for years, but now I can finally hold it in my hooves. Lucky for me I’m one of Twilight’s friends.”
“Starswirl the Bearded? But why do you want to read this in the Everfree Forest?” Featherweight began to shiver.
"Couldn’t we have just read this in class? Where it’s warm?”
I wrapped one of my hooves around Featherweight, and pulled him close to me. His face turned redder than an apple at touch. He stopped shivering almost instantly and let out a comfortable sigh. He kept trying to make eye contact, but every time our gaze met he would quickly look away. This was going to be easier than I thought.
“No. I have a feeling that this book would be too mature for your classmates. My research in the Canterlot Archives taught me that Starswirl practiced black magic. I’ve read that he was a prankster at heart, and enjoyed stirring up a little chaos now and then. But his curiosity involving the dark arts slowly began to wear on his sanity. While his writings during that time will surely be fascinating to read, I don’t think they would be appropriate for a classroom.”
“So then why are you going to share them with me?”
“I’m choosing to share this journal with you because I know that you will appreciate the darker side of Starswirl. That’s why I promoted you to editor of the Foal Free Press. Your pictures were just as integral to the Gabby Gums fiasco as the girls’ writings, and you helped blackmail them so they would stay. But you were able to get away with all of it. It takes a special kind of pony to be able to pull that off, and I rewarded you in kind. Consider this an extension of that reward.”
Featherweight grinned and finally looked me in the eye.
“Aww shucks, Ms. Lee. It wasn’t hard to get out of trouble. If I smiled and kept my mouth shut, then no one would be angry at me. It was easy to figure out.”
“And that’s why I need you. Those kinds of instincts are integral to what I have planned.”
Featherweight sprang onto his feet, and his eyes gleamed with mischief.
“And what do you have planned? Is it a prank?”
I opened the book to a random page and began to skim over the words.
“Yes, Featherweight, you could call it a prank.” I flipped through a few more pages and began to read silently.
“So what’s the prank?” Featherweight asked.
“I’m not sure yet; that’s what the book is for. I’m searching for something. A potion we can try, a mythical creature we can release, something destructive.”
“Destructive?”
In all the time I had known Featherweight that was the only time he addressed me with fear in his voice. I stopped reading and lifted my eyes from the book until they fell on Featherweight. He was looking at me with a mix of confusion and apprehension.
“Why would our prank be destructive, Ms. Lee?”
For a few moments I was silent. I needed to salvage the situation. Scaring him off wasn’t part of the plan. I wanted an accomplice, a disciple, to help me inflict as much pain and misery as I could. I thought Featherweight seemed perfect until he asked me that question. Now I had to answer him and myself. Why did I intend on harming the ponies who called me their friend? What was my motive?
When the answer came to me I started laughing. I didn’t want to laugh; laughing would only make him more uneasy. But I couldn’t help it. Now that I had my answer I found his question so utterly ridiculous that laughing was the only way I could cope with it.
“Why? Because I enjoy it. Because I enjoy seeing others feel the same misery that I do day after day. I enjoy being the one with all the power; it’s what makes being a teacher so rewarding. Besides, the reaction of the townsfolk makes for great entertainment.
“Have you ever seen Ponyville during a disaster? Wait, don’t answer that. Of course you have; this town is a disaster magnet. But have you ever stopped and watched the reactions? Despite how tough some ponies seem, they all seem to buckle under their fear. It’s just so fascinating! And it’s great fun to watch them scramble. Do you want to know why I released Discord and sent Spike on a stealing spree? Because it gave me sweet sadistic pleasure to watch somepony else go through Tartarus."
Featherweight narrowed his eyes at me.
“You released Discord? Why in Celestia’s name would you do a thing like that? And how?”
“Don’t take that tone with me, young colt! I am your teacher and you will address me with respect!” I snapped.
Featherweight lowered his gaze and bit his lip.
“Why did you do it?”
“That’s better. And to answer your question, I did it by taking the class on a field trip. You wouldn’t remember this because you hadn’t transferred in yet. You see Apple Bloom and her friends had been squabbling for the past few days, and it was driving me insane. I couldn’t hear myself think when I was around them, let alone teach. I needed a way to get some peace and quiet; so I took them to the Canterlot Gardens and showed them Discord’s statue. My theory was that by displaying disharmony between friends in front of him would cause the seal upon him to break. And it worked!
"For a while all of my problems were solved. No more squabbling! No more Cutie Mark stupidity. Just quiet. I can’t exactly say that I got peace out of it, but you can’t always get what you want. But some things are just too good to last I suppose, because Twilight and her friends sealed him right back up. And then I was stuck back in a classroom with Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup.”
“But that doesn’t make any sense, Ms. Lee! Sure their antics can be annoying at times, but nothing they’ve done could have driven you to do something that extreme. Why do you really hate them so much?”
“It’s not that I hate them per say. It’s just Apple Bloom. To put it bluntly she’s the core of all my problems.” I paused and thought about what I had just said. “No pun intended.”
“How is an elementary school student the core of all your problems?” Featherweight demanded.
I remembered the night of the funeral. The coffin, the rain, my fiancé walking out on me. Telling me he didn’t have time for a relationship anymore because he had to work longer and harder for his family. For his little sister. For the sister who caused the death of his parents.
I cradled my face in my hooves to hide my tears from Featherweight. I didn’t want to look weak when I was trying to convince him to join me, but the memory was too much.
“Do you have any idea what it’s like to be so close to something you want, but some force beyond your control takes it from you? I’ve had that happen to me, Featherweight. I can’t describe how much it hurts.”
I dropped my hooves once I had stopped crying. I vowed years ago to never let another stallion see my tears; I planned on keeping it that way. I took a deep breath to regain my composure.
“I’m sorry I can’t give you a clearer answer about why I hate Apple Bloom. The details are too personal for me to share. Just know that I have a vendetta against her and her brother. Any other questions?”
“So what happened with Spike?” he asked.
Featherweight had changed his tone of voice. It was no longer shocked or accusing, but soft and sweet like a caress. He felt pity for me. He, the biggest wimp I’d ever taught, felt pity for me, the most dangerous earth pony Equestria had ever seen? It chilled my core to know that; it warmed me up to know that he wouldn’t be for much longer.
“Since you asked so nicely I’d be happy to tell you. Dragons are a rare breed in Equestria; so I was as giddy as a filly when I first met Spike. I wanted to study him, but he was so busy being Twilight Sparkle’s bitch that I never got a chance. To get around this, I decided to befriend Twilight in order to observe Spike. One day she told me that she was planning his birthday so I decided to try an experiment that day.
“While I was in university I did as much research as I could on dragons. Unfortunately there wasn’t much to go on, but it did teach me that dragons are intrinsically greedy creatures; and that a dragon’s greed can stimulate their growth. So on his birthday I went shopping and purposefully bumped into him before going home. I gave him a fedora that I had bought earlier and told him that ‘everyone should get fun gifts on their birthday’.
“And then I just sat back and watched the destruction. The experiment was a complete success. Spike was absolutely glorious to watch. Just seeing what he was capable of brought joy to my soul; and the ponies in town didn’t disappoint me either. But once again Twilight’s friends put a stop to my fun. Such a shame, Spike was simply adorable when he was rampaging.
“And that’s why I’ve been searching for this book. For some reason my schemes always fail, but this time I’ll find one that’s perfect. I’ll find something that will make the rest of Ponyville as miserable, and as bitter as me; something Twilight and her friends won’t fix so easily. And do you know what the best part is, Featherweight? The best part is that once again nopony will realize who was behind it all. Once again, karma will elude me.”
I opened the book again and pretended to read while never truly letting Featherweight out of my sight. How would the news that his beloved teacher was actually a deranged sociopath affect him? He felt sorry for me earlier, but that didn’t mean he sympathized with my methods of coping. Would he actually leave me? I gave my hair a nonchalant flip, hoping that it would attract him enough to convince him to stay. I wasn’t sure what I would do to him, but I knew for damn sure that I wouldn’t let Featherweight leave the Everfree Forest if he turned his back on me.
Featherweight began to shuffle his hooves nervously. He turned his head and looked back at the path he took through the forest. He stared at it for a long while before he turned back to me. He continued doing this, looking longer at me each time. Finally, Featherweight stopped double-taking and took to my side, craning his neck to try and read the journal. Perfect. Now I wouldn’t have to rack my brain for ways I could make it look like an accident.
“Find anything good?” he asked.
“I can’t tell. Starswirl had terrible penmanship, and in some pages he wrote in runes. I can read the letters on this page, but unfortunately most of the words are either scratched out or smeared. I think he must have been crying when he wrote this. Let’s see what I can decipher…
“My darling, Clover,
“Since you’ve been gone it’s as if the sun refuses to shine. The plants that share your name have lost their color. Everything has lost its color. I can’t live like this—”
“Anymore. Come back to me, my Clover! I need you by my side. I would do anything to get you back. And get you back I will. Even if it takes me a lifetime to do so; I will bring you back to me.
“Quite touching really. He wrote that after the death of Clover the Clever. Please pardon the smears on the page. I cried for twenty minutes straight after reading that part.”
I snapped the book shut and slipped it back into my pocket. I threw my hood back on as a precaution, and drew Featherweight closer to me, in front of my pocket. I had never heard this voice before but I doubted it belonged to a friend. If things turned ugly then I could always use Featherweight as a shield for the book.
“Who’s out there? Show yourself!” I demanded.
“’Who’s there?’ ‘Show yourself?’ Well aren’t you Ms. Demmandypants? And what makes you so sure I’m a who in the first place? I could be a what, a him, a her, an it, or maybe even a why.”
I felt cold when the voice addressed me. I wasn’t scared, but there was something about it that made me feel nervous. That voice sounded like the night itself. Cold, unfeeling, and black.
“Do you really want to argue semantics with a pony who majored in Equestrian?” I challenged.
“Hmm… I suppose not. Being a personal pupil of Princess Celestia had its perks, but I was never enlightened when it came to Equestrian. Very well. I will show myself as you insist.”
Out of the shadows of the Everfree Forest stepped a unicorn stallion. The stallion’s neck was protected by light grey armor, as were his shins, and a red velvet cape lined with white fur covered the rest of his body. His wild mane was as black as the night, and even came down to his cheeks, but his tail was surprisingly stumpy.
His horn more than compensated for that. It was the largest I had ever seen, or at least the thickest. It was curved and red, almost like it was swollen, but the base of the horn was the same light grey as the unicorn’s face. Even more unique than his horn were his eyes. His eyes were a bright and ominous green, while his irises were a deep shade of red. He bowed to me and Featherweight, and smiled the kind of smile I imagined on the face of Krastos the Glue-maker.
“King Sombra, at your service.”
Sombra? I thought he was dead. I wrapped a hoof around Featherweight and gently nudged him closer to the journal for protection.
“King Sombra? I’ve heard of you. Aren’t you that snarling, growling monster that was killed by Princess Cadence and the Crystal Heart?”
King Sombra raised his head and gently licked his lips.
“Snarling, growling monster you say? We haven’t even known each other for sixty seconds and you’re already resorting to name-calling. That’s rude.”
Featherweight jumped in front of me and hissed like a cat.
“Just answer the question!”
Idiot! Not only did his hissing come off as pathetic, but he should have known better than to yell at a potentially dangerous unicorn. I started to regret considering him as a disciple.
King Sombra turned his head towards Featherweight and leaned forward until their faces were just centimeters apart. He opened his mouth into an odd smile, showing his vampire-like fangs.
Featherweight let out a shrill squeak and took a hurried step backwards. He accidentally tripped on his hooves and fell onto his back. Just when I thought he couldn’t embarrass me any further he had to go and prove me wrong.
Sombra chuckled and outstretched a hoof towards him.
“Well hello there, little boy. Don’t be shy. Step right up. I’m a reasonable guy.”
Featherweight ignored Sombra’s hoof and got up on his own. He glared at Sombra as he dusted himself off.
Sombra retracted his hoof and narrowed his own eyes at Featherweight.
“It seems being rude is contagious in these parts. I just told you that I was a reasonable guy, and yet you still decided to spurn me. Why are you afraid of me? It’s the teeth isn’t it? I didn’t mean to scare you; I was just smiling. I’ve tried to get them fixed but no dentist was ever willing to work on me. I swear, you enslave one race of ponies and everypony thinks you’re Krastos the damned Glue-maker!”
“Enslaving a race? So then you are the same Sombra. Tell me, how did you survive being blown to smithereens?” He had my curiosity and my full attention. If I played my cards right then maybe Featherweight wouldn’t be the only stallion under my control.
A sly grin appeared on Sombra’s face.
“Do you want to see a cool trick?”
Before Featherweight or I could answer, a misty purple aura enveloped one of Sombra’s hoofs. He punched the tip of his horn with the hoof, knocking it clean off. The tip landed on the ground and was subsequently crushed by Sombra.
“So what was that supposed t—”
“Give it a minute,” Sombra interrupted.
He lifted his hoof and the broken pieces of his horn evaporated into a purple mist. As the mist began to fade from the ground it started to reappear on Sombra’s horn. The mist took the shape of the piece he punched off and reattached itself back to his horn.
“Ta-da!” Sombra announced.
I had to admit that I was impressed, but also even more cautious than before. If Sombra could regenerate then I had absolutely no chance if he turned violent. Diplomacy was my only option. Well, that and my natural charm.
“He can regenerate!” Featherweight exclaimed.
“Oh, I can do much more than that. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Or maybe I should have said the tip of the horn. It doesn’t roll off the tongue as well as iceberg but it makes more sense in the context of our conversation.”
Oh great. I had a bad feeling dealing with Sombra would be like dealing with Pinkie Pie. His mannerisms were odd, a little too odd, and I realized that I would have to take control of the situation if I was going to get anywhere with him.
“How long did it take you to recover?”
Sombra laughed and began to scratch his chin.
“Recover? Why in Celestia’s name would you ask me a question like that? I was never injured in the Crystal Empire. I just wanted to show you a cool trick. No, the ‘snarling, growling monster’ you spoke of wasn’t me per say. Ever hear of something called a Mirror Pond?”
I noticed that Featherweight had the same expression I probably did, a large frown and an annoyed gleam in his eye. He seemed to remember the Pinkie Pie cloning fiasco as well as I did. I wasn’t so sure that I wanted to hear Sombra’s story anymore.
“On page thirty-nine of that journal, Starswirl wrote down the location of three known Mirror Ponds in Equestria. One here in the Everfree Forest, one near Canterlot and the final is located to the north of the Crystal Empire. To remember their locations, he gave each their own nursery rhyme. Let’s see if I can remember…
“Where the snow ends and the shadows begin, lives a pony who has always resided within. And into his own reflection he stared, yearning for one whose reflection he shared. And solemnly swore not to be scared at the prospect of being doubly there. Yes, that was the rhyme for the pond near the Empire.
“After the seal upon me was lifted, I visited that particular pond and created a reflection. I sent him after the Crystal Empire and Heart in my place. If the reflection succeeded in reclaiming my throne then I could dispose of him and take it for myself. But if it was defeated, I could learn from its mistakes and plan accordingly.
“And as of right now, I’m in the process of doing just that. Before I first journeyed to the Crystal Empire, it was just a dot on the map. I made it great, neigh! I made it a legendary force that even Celestia feared! And now some pink pony princess thinks she can rule my kingdom? A kingdom she had never even been too because I took it with me when I was trapped in ice for a thousand years! I refuse give up the throne that I worked so hard to obtain to a nopony like her. And that is why I come to you. To offer my services in exchange for yours.”
Okay, Cheerilee. This was the moment. This was the opportunity. Maybe it wasn’t a disciple I needed, but a partner. I could feel my very essence tingle.
“And what sort of services would you offer me? And why come to me in the first place?” I asked, trying to subdue my excitement.
Sombra slithered to my side and wrapped a hoof around my waist. His touch was what I imagined the touch of a Windigo to feel like. My body began to shiver until he gently tapped my chest, right above my heart. For a second I felt warmth in my chest and in my cheeks; until he spoke again and the cold returned.
“I came to you because of this, Ms. Lee. I sensed something dark here in the Forest and it called me here to you. They say that a baby rabbit, even one that has never encountered a bird before, will still cower at the sight of a hawk’s shadow. But you aren’t cowering at me. You’re apprehensive, but not fearful. I like that. It gives me something to work with.”
“And what sort of services are you after? And what you can offer me?”
“I’m getting to that. I didn’t know what to expect when I arrived. So when I found you here with the young master I couldn’t resist a little eavesdropping so I would know who I was dealing with. Please pardon my rudeness, I couldn’t help myself. But I must confess that I’m glad I did listen in because what I heard intrigued me so.
“Releasing Discord? Manipulating a dragon? Those are interesting hobbies indeed, Ms. Lee. And I also heard that you obtained Starswirl’s journal because you were looking for something new, something greater. I will not promise you something great, Ms. Lee. I will promise you a legend. That is your service. And all I ask in return is that you help me help you,” Sombra explained.
It was like falling in love all over again. Despite his cold touch, I felt incredibly warm around Sombra. If he wanted to help me because he sensed that we were birds of a feather, that meant I was no longer limited to feats that didn’t require unicorn magic. Any prank became possible.
“What do you have in mind?”
I had forgotten about Featherweight. I wondered if he would be on board with whatever Sombra was planning. I was even more curious to see what Sombra would do to him if he wasn’t.
“Ms. Lee, young master Featherweight. The legend I will give you is the conquering of Equestria. Under my leadership the Crystal Empire will become just that, an empire! But to reclaim my throne, and call the rest of Equestria my kingdom, certain threats must be dealt with.”
“Threats? I assume you mean Princess Celestia and Luna?” I asked.
“Dealt with? You mean kill?” Featherweight shook his head and closed his eyes. “You can’t do that. Killing is wrong!”
“Of course not, young master, of course not. I have no intention of harming my former mentor. Nor will any harm come to her sister. I promise on my horn.”
“So it’s Cadence then.”
Sombra wagged one of his hooves at me and chuckled.
“You know what they say about making assumptions, Ms. Lee. No, Princess Cadence is only a minor threat in the long run. The crystal ponies’ spirits are as fragile as their bodies; and without them Cadence is powerless against me. I understand that the anniversary of Nightmare Moon’s defeat is coming up, and that Celestia has been planning a festival in remembrance. Cadence and Shining Armor will undoubtedly be away in Canterlot during the celebration, but the Crystal Heart will most likely stay in the Empire.
"Of course it will be protected by soldiers, but soldiers without wings or magic are but toys. And I am slightly embarrassed to admit it, but I’ve always had a knack for breaking toys. And once they are broken and the Heart is back in my possession, the threat of Cadence will have been dealt with. ”
Then what was the threat? The sisters had defeated him once, and it was Cadence and the Heart that defeated his reflection. What else was there?
“The Elements of Harmony?”
I hadn’t considered that at all. Considering what they did to Nightmare Moon and Discord, the Elements would definitely pose a potential threat to Sombra.
“Precisely, young master. Precisely. When Celestia and Luna banished me a thousand years ago, they used the Elements to do it. I understand Nightmare Moon was defeated by new wielders of the Elements, and I know next to nothing about these new wielders except that one has recently become a new princess.
"So that’s what I need from you, Ms. Lee. I need information on these wielders, their strengths, weaknesses, family members, foes, etc. From there we can develop a strategy on how to defeat them.”
I sat down in front of Sombra in the most comfortable position I could find. I knew we would be a while.
“Where should I start?”
