A Princess in Time

TWO MONTHS LATER

The coded knock sounded through the heavy oak door and echoed around the tiny, bare-walled basement. The door guards readied their spears and one moved forward to push the door open. The door's curve made it swing awkwardly, but it was functional. It had been cobbled together from repurposed wine casks - the resistance had quickly learned that relying on crystal as a building material only served to make them vulnerable to Sombra's ever-growing power.

The open door admitted a scout and Thauma's magic embraced him immediately. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the delicate spell which would wipe away the artificial fear that sank into the mind of anyone who went out into the city. Sombra had been as good as his word, and had wasted no time perverting the Crystal Heart to amplify fear instead of love. The more afraid the citizens became, the more the Heart amplified their fear. It was a horrifying feedback loop which had reduced many of the empire's people to barely-conscious shells. Her resistance forces carried talismans she had created which warded off the worst of the Heart's effects, but they were only partially effective.

The scout sighed in relief as Thauma's magic faded away, and saluted her as the door swung closed on the heavy gray air outside. The scout used his saluting hoof to wave lantern smoke away from his face. "Princess Thauma. I bring ill news." She nodded for him to continue, and he went on, "The ambush in the market district resulted in a loss. Our forces were nearly wiped out, while we only cost Sombra's forces half their number."

Sergeant Pauldron, seated to Thauma's right, cleared her throat. "Princess, this is ill news indeed. She pointed at the map on the table before them. "With that loss, Sombra's traitors have control of the South Road as well as the market. We have lost our lines of communication to our bretheren in the northern part of the city, and it can only be a matter of time until we are discovered here. We must relocate." Her voice was grim, and she left the final word unspoken: "again."

Thauma considered the map, frowning. Every relocation carried risk. They had lost good ponies each time, and Sombra's hold over the city was solidifying by the day, despite their best efforts. His growing control over the very crystals which made up the city had made his forces far stronger than their numbers. Fleetingly, she wished that her sisters had arrived as promised. But they had not, and she could only hope that whatever foul trick Sombra had used to keep them away had not put them in danger. "We must do what we must do. Sergeant Pauldron, please arrange a route and send word to our other hideouts that we will be moving north. In the meantime, I will continue refining the camouflage spell." Pauldron saluted and began issuing orders to the guards and armed citizens crowded into the basement with them.

Thauma heaved herself up. Doctor Sawbones, the former palace surgeon, rushed to her side solicitously. Thauma grunted. "I'm not that far gone yet, Doctor. Settle down."

"I shall do no such thing. There is precious little literature on the subject of alicorn pregnancies, so I am taking nothing for granted. It's bad enough that you're confined in this smoky basement and working on spells at all hours of the day and night. I'm not about to let you have a fall while you're under my care."

Despite everything, she chuckled. The doctor's fussing was sweet, in a way. "Very well, do what you will." He escorted her into the basement's other room, where her makeshift magical laboratory was set up. After he helped her settle onto her bench and left her alone, she folded her wings down around her still barely-swollen belly and considered for the thousandth time what this foal would mean to Sombra. He must never find out that an heir to the Crystal Empire was growing in her. She could not predict what extremities that would drive him to, whether it be to take the foal as a hostage in place of Thauma herself, or to raise it as his own heir, or to kill it to keep his rule secure. Whatever his reaction might be, it would be bad for the resistance and the empire.

Her wings remained cradling her belly as she turned her attention to her notes. Perhaps the next iteration of her magical countermeasures against Sombra's powers would keep her ponies alive.