Long Shot

by tomboy brony

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Tragedy, Dark
Length: 2693

A young pony goes on vacation with his sister and it quickly goes into disaster. He's trapped. Escaping will be a long shot.

A young pony named Bullseye goes on vacation with his older sister. Everything takes a turn for disaster when Sombra takes over the crystal empire again. Bullseye gets himself into some trouble and loses his sister. He rebels and finds himself fighting for his life. Surviving will be a long shot.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-10-06 02:50:00 UTC

Crystal Vacation

"Bullseye, come on! We're gonna miss our train!"

"Coming Ruby!" The young colt put one last thing in his saddlebag and headed outside, where he met his older sister, impatiently tapping a hoof on the ground.

"You got everything you need, squirt?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Okay, then! Race you to the train station!"

The 2 ponies made it to the train station after about 2 minutes of running.

"Tickets, please," the pony at the platform said, clearly disinterested. Ruby gave him the tickets and he took a moment to look at them. "Crystal Empire. You're headed to the train over there." He pointed a hoof. The siblings boarded the train he'd implied and it left the station for the renewed empire soon after.

"I can't believe we're actually going to the Crystal Empire!" the young colt said excitedly, "I can't wait to get there and hang out at the crystal fair!" It has been a year since Twilight Sparkle and her friends had defeated Sombra and saved the empire. Ever since then, Celestia has gone down into the icy prison that Sombra was trapped in to see what he was up to.

Since then, he has had a little bit of a change of heart and isn't as evil, demonic, or as much of a jerk as he had used to be. He is still only able to use dark magic, but that was kind of his own fault.

"It's too bad that Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor can't be at the crystal fair this year," Ruby said after a long period of silence between the 2 young ponies. Bullseye glanced at his sister.

"Why aren't they able to be there this year?"

"It's because of a special job that Princess Celestia gave them that's outside of Equestria."

"Why would she give them a job where they had to go outside of Equestria and miss the crystal fair," Bullseye questioned.

" Don't know, squirt," she answered.

The 2 ponies were silent for the rest of the trip. When they arrived at their destination, they exited the train and started to walk along the road. " Wow, look at all the pretty buildings," the young colt marveled.

" I know, right. Even the ponies' coats sparkle."

Ruby and Bullseye walked to their hotel and were checked in around sundown. The young colt sighed as he looked at the sparkling castle on the horizon. " What's gotcha down, squirt?"

" I'm just a little worried that having Sombra keep watch over the empire is gonna go south. Even if he is being monitored 24/7 by the royal guard, it still doesn't sound like a good idea."

" No, your right it doesn't, but with the royal guard watching him there's no way he can slip up."

" Whatever you say, Ruby."

The foal sat at the window for a while longer, thinking about what his sister had said. I'm not convinced that this is all the right thing to do. Oh well, I guess Ruby's right. I still think this is all a bit fishy...... Once Bullseye was ready he stepped away from the window and climbed into the bed with his older sister. " Goodnight, Ruby."

" G' night, Bullseye."

Bullseye awoke at about 8 o'clock in the morning to see Ruby fumbling around in one of their bags. Sunlight shone in from the window. " What are you doing, Ruby?"

" Oh, nothing. I'm just trying to find a few bits so that we can go get some breakfast."

" Sounds good." He rolled over onto his side and thought for a second. " Hey, sis, when does the fair start anyway?"

" The opening ceremony starts at 10 o' clock so I think were gonna get going in a little bit here and explore the area for a bit before we go to the fair."

" Nice." Bullseye got up and walked to the bathroom on the other side of the hotel room. On the way he grabbed his brush out of his saddlebag. He looked at his reflection in the mirror and brushed his mane out a bit. Unlike most colts, he has his mane grown out to look more like Rainbow Dash's rather than say Doctor Whooves' mane. When he finished brushing it, he used his hoof to slick it back into its usual style. Once he was satisfied with it he strolled over to where Ruby was sitting on the edge of the bed with a map.

" Watcha doing?"

" I'm trying to figure out where we're gonna eat."

" What sounds good?"

" Well, there's a few places on this map that we could go to..."

" Oooh, this place sounds good." He pointed to one of the restaurants Ruby had implied.

" Okay, lets go there."

The siblings walked out of the hotel and to the restaurant a few blocks away. They proceeded to wander around town for a bit after eating their breakfast. They visited a couple of popular tourist sites and by 9:50 they were at the main courtyard in front of the castle.

" I'm so exited!!"

" I know! I can't wait for the opening ceremonies to start!"

Filly and colt worked their way into the ever-growing crowd of ponies. By the time a certain white alicorn was approaching the platform on the castle they had worked their way into a pretty good spot towards the center of the crowd. The princess was beginning to speak.

" Mares and gentlecolts, I have come here today to help bring back and celebrate the 2nd annual Crystal Fair after over a thousand years. I'm aware that most of you know him anyway, but I would like to introduce the new and improved.....King Sombra!" There was a loud gasp from the audience as a shadowy grey stallion with a red-tipped horn stepped out from behind her. " Yes, yes I'm aware that you all may not have so much trust in him, but I assure you he has changed his ways and will be a wonderful leader while the royal couple is away. I would now like to let him say a few words to you all."

His voice was deep and smooth. " Hell-o, everypony! May I say what a delight it is to see all of your smiling faces once again," he said with a smirk. There was some low grumbling from the large crowd. " Yes, now I hope you will all have faith in me to run the Crystal Fair this year. I also hope that I can regain all of your trust and possibly become good friends."

" Yes, thank you Sombra. Now without further ado, I declare the annual Crystal Fair open!"

The Festivities

The large crowd roared and the square quickly filled with eager ponies. Sombra turned to leave the platform when Celestia put a hoof on his shoulder. " I trust that the empire will be in good hooves while I'm in Canterlot?"

" Yes, princess. You can trust me." Princess Celestia thought to herself for a moment. My trust only runs so far with this one. I think I might leave a few members of the royal guard here with him to keep him in check...

Sombra was also planning something. I'm not so sure she actually trusts me, but no matter. She'll see what I've planned in time. A few hours time, that is.

The princess left the scene in her flying chariot, leaving Sombra to his duty. He descended the stairs leading down to the area where the Crystal Heart was displayed.

" Where do you wanna go first, squirt?"

" Can we get some cotton candy and then maybe go watch the first jousting tournament?"

" Sounds good to me!" The siblings then rushed off to said locations. In a few hours they had both weaved a basket, played a flugle horn, gone to the petting zoo, eaten some (delicious) crystal berries, and watched a jousting tournament. They now sat on a bench near the crystal heart display area.

" Today has been really fun, Ruby. We should come here every year!"

" That would be nice, wouldn't it? Hey, have we gone to see the crystal heart, yet?"

" I don't think so. Let's go check it out."

While the siblings had been roaming the fair, Sombra, too had been wandering around. The ponies around him gave him a wide margin and he drew a huge crowd wherever he went. Eventually he had had enough and went back to the castle. " I guess it's time I put my plan into action," he said to himself as he entered the main hall. He walked up to one of the royal guard that had been left here. He stood there and eyed him for a while until the armored unicorn spoke up.

" What are you lookin' at," the burly white colt asked quizzically. At this Sombra took a step closer and touched his red horn to the guard's white one. A familiar green glow appeared as Sombra began to perform a spell. As he did this, the white colt's coat turned a light gray, his eyes from yellow to red, and his light blue mane to the darkest sapphire. A smile played on Sombra's face at seeing these changes.

The now gray colt's eyes went in a swirling pattern for a second as Sombra began to corrupt his mind. As the green glow of his magic began to fade, Sombra stepped back to admire his work. He had performed the opposite of Twilight Sparkle's reforming spell. It was a corruption spell, only to be performed using dark magic. " You know what I'm looking at, kid? I'm looking at the first recruit of my new army." He gave a devilish smile and his newly made soldier returned the gesture.

Takeover

" Hey, kid? If I were to teach you a spell, would you like to help me with something?"

" Yes, sir." Sombra showed the burly unicorn the spell he'd used to transform him, and the two of them set off. They were transforming the other guards much faster than Sombra could've by himself, doing two at a time instead of one. In about a half hour, they met back in the main room in the castle. All of the other soldiers were making their way there, as well.

" Kid, you never told me your name."

" Shieldshine."

" Ah, now the cutie mark makes sense."

" I get that a lot."

" Right. Now, then, I think it's time we headed out to do the closing ceremonies. Celestia said five, right?"

Bullseye and Ruby squeezed their way into the crowd that was gathering near the castle. They had worked their way into a pretty good spot and were just settling down when they heard Sombra's deep voice coming from the balcony. " Greetings, everypony! Now that the Crystal Fair is coming to a close, I would like to introduce a friend of mine. This is Shieldshine, the captain of the new and improved crystal guard."

" Hello, everypony. My name is Shieldshine, as you were all told. Sombra and I have some very special news for all of you."

" We're going to take back the empire together, but under new circumstances. You will not be treated as slaves, --"

" --but as regular citizens!"

" Everypony will have basic rights. As long as you stick to those rights, I'll stay off your back."

" If you step out of line, however, expect to be punished accordingly," Shieldshine added.

" Oh, and don't worry about your little royal couple. I'll be taking care of them soon enough."

Bullseye was furious. " You have no right to take over the empire again!"

" Oh, and why is that little one," Sombra cooed, clearly amused.

" Yes, do tell," Shieldshine chimed in, just as amused as his new friend.

" Everypony here is scared of you, and there's no way any of them want you to rule over them. Also, do you really think that anypony will believe you about the guards? You're 'friend' up there is obviously a member of the royal guard that was corrupted with your crazy dark magic. I'll bet all of the guards up there have been corrupted!"

" And what if they are?"

To Meet With Sombra

Bullseye was becoming extremely frustrated. " You, Sombra, are a terrible pony!"

" Fine, then. I'm a terrible pony," Sombra huffed, his interest waning. " Everypony can go tend to their normal activities. I need you, little one, to come and have a quick chat with me."

" Bring any of your family you may have with you as well. Maybe they could help you defend your actions," Shieldshine added curtly as he and Sombra trotted back inside.

The crowd slowly started to split apart as all of the ponies went to return to their homes. Many of them were quite surprised at the young colt's bravery. One of them in particular was so impressed that she wanted to meet him for herself. " Mom, can I go to see that colt that was arguing with Sombra?"

" No, Melody. I don't need you getting into any trouble with him."

" But Mooooom--"

" No buts. I don't want you anywhere near him. He could be a bad influence on you. Besides, if King Sombra is asking to meet with him, I don't think it will end well."

" I just wanted to say hi," she grumbled, frustrated with her mom.

" You know that was a terrible idea, right?"

" I had to, Ruby! What he's trying to do isn't right, and somepony needed to say something."

" But still, he asked to speak to you personally. I don't think that means very good news for you."

" Then it doesn't mean good news for you, either, because you're coming with me."

" I love you, Bullseye," she sighed," but you can be such a smartass sometimes."

" I know," he replied happily. The two of them walked to the entrance of the castle, Bullseye in the lead. As he trotted along, Bullseye noticed that he was getting funny looks from all the ponies they passed by. They soon made it to their destination.

The siblings entered a huge archway. They were greeted by a large main hall filled with beautiful decorations. There was carved wooden tables on either side of the room, both topped with a candle or two and a vase holding a type of crystal flower. There were also flags hanging from the ceiling, coming in various colors and depicting the royal sisters.

Sombra's ears perked up at hearing the two young ponies come in. He trotted to the door to greet them, beckoning to Shieldshine with his hoof to join him. " Welcome, young ones. I, uh, didn't happen to catch your names during our little conversation outside."

" I-"

" I'm Ruby,  and this little rascal here is Bullseye, " Ruby said nervously, eyes darting between the two colts.

" And he is the one who I was talking to on the balcony?"

" Ye-"

" Let him speak for himself," he replied, putting a hoof over her mouth.

" Yes, I was the pony who was talking to you. Are you mad at me?" Bullseye raised an eyebrow, a smile playing on his face.

" No, why would I be? It's just a young stallion trying to stand up for what he believes in," the black stallion answered, with a bit of a sarcastic tone. Sombra still had his hoof over Ruby's mouth and she was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. She stepped back from Sombra, his hoof lowering to the ground.

" We should really be going now, King Sombra, so if you would kindly let us go...."

" Don't you two want to stay for dinner? You must be hungry at this hour."

Ruby was beginning to sweat, she was so nervous. " Uhhhhh..."