Daughter of the First Reign

by LegionPothIX

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Original Character, King Sombra, Tragedy, Crystal Ponies
Length: 40377

A thousand years ago a child was born into a world of suffering, and begat even more suffering upon the world. Thrust into the care of ponies who would use her as an instrument of revenge; she pursues her own nefarious ambitions.

At the height of the war on chaos, and before the discovery of the Elements of Harmony, a war orphan born of unusual circumstances wandered into the Crystal Empire. With her fate tied to that of King Sombra’s, she is enlisted to aid the Crystal Queen in striking back against Discord for stealing away the young Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.

Little do they realize that nature is an uncaring and unforgiving place. Being born into that world, Treeling Asheveld lived all her life never knowing any different; let alone giving it a second thought. Lacking traditional training in magic, the only power she has at her disposal is to wield what is discarded by others... just as she too was discarded.

Author's Note: Each character has their own agenda; the pursuit of which affects the way the story unfolds.

Published 2014-08-17 14:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2014-10-04 18:17:20 UTC

Act 1 | Earthbound

Dawn.

Wispy chromatic clouds filled the sky as the sun rose. Even though it happened five to fifteen times a day, each one filled her with a sense of awe, but this one was different… terrible. The sun simply hung there. It didn't move. Not up or down, nor even side to side, it was completely lifeless. The filly tilted her head up to further inspect the clouds. As she looked past irregular grooves in her horn she saw something that filled her with dread: their colors had faded. She feared the world was dying.

She turned her eyes to the earth and scanned the area. The same patchwork quilt of silk and satin lay beneath her hooves, and it stretched on to the edge of the floating island. Though it was not the ideal place to raise offspring, mother had many children here that could feed the hungry filly. She sniffed at the ground to catch her cousins’ scent. She wanted to run home to her mother to crawl into her comforting embrace and watch the sky cry itself to death… but she was just too hungry to make the journey.

In her short life here she had learned better than to eat from the leaves of things that sprung from the gossamer beneath her, and instead lowered her horn to dig in the dirt for something deeper. After several minutes of rooting around her horn poked something that poked back. It was a prickle-berry vine. She knew how much mother hated them and was happy to eat them for her family. The filly coiled low and ripped the dirt out from around her prey then sprang on it. Her teeth latched to the vine as she violently tore it from the earth. A long line of tuber came with it and a battle ensued for their very lives.

The filly could see mother standing tall in the distance watching over her precious baby as the filly was wrapped root fibers. The plant was trying to drain the blood from her body while the filly stomped, bit, and jabbed it. In the distance she could feel her mother’s disappointed gaze on her. She closed her eyes and tried to remember how she felt the day that her mother first taught her to use magic. Amidst the razor-sharp thorn-slashes on her pelt she could feel the tingling in her skin that meant she was in the presence of powerful magic. She reached out to it, far outside herself, and drew it in before passing it along to the weed.

The vine withered in agony as patches of bark grew on its surface. The wicked rope was transmuted into a patchwork of plants, its thorns grew into soft kernels of yellow, and it crashed to the ground. After a few moments of being still as the sun the filly had concluded that it too could no longer sustain its own abominable life.

The march home to mother was a long one as the filly drug the still not-quite-dead meal with anaconda proportions home. It was the first she had seen in days, having spent the whole time tracking her quarry, and she knew that there weren't many left to find. Mother was sick, and the filly knew that she needed to eat too. She reached the surly hollow oak where she lived just as color returned to the clouds, and the sun started to dance once again. She sighed in relief as she nestled up against the bark and looked dotingly into her mother’s branches. Her leaves had long since blown away in the wind. Insects infested the wound from where the filly burst forth from her and chewed at her scabs.

Tearing a piece from the still writhing vine caused the filly’s gums to bleed as she whipped the tiny squadron to death, and those who tried to flee only got so far as to earn the treatment of her small hooves. Free of the pests the tree’s child turned her horn to till the soil at her mother’s roots. Tearing the many transmuted thorns from the vine, she gently placed them in small holes so that mother could feed off of their nutrients. Her mother swayed in a breeze as she did so and clattered out a gentle reprise with her branches to soothe the ache of her daughter’s work-weary head.

The rocky soil added more grooves to her horn and scratches to her scalp as she overturned the dirt but they weren't her only ones. When living on the plains there is only one rule: eat or be eaten. The cool night air caused her wounds to sting as she labored over her mother’s well-being, but she feared it was too late. The tones of mother’s bark had been fading for a while and, over the last several weeks, her bark grew brittle and chipped away. Each rest the filly woke several times to find the tiny army trying to kill her for food in her sleep because mother had nothing left to give them.

She hated them, the tiny red ones, but the black ones were ok. They often fought outside her home, infesting small scraps of land, and waging war with each other. She watched them frequently and intently as the swarms of six legged minions used mandibles that tore each other apart. In a way they were kind of like her mom, hard on the outside, soft on the inside, not like her at all. In fact, the only trait she shared with her mother was the color of their leaves before her mother’s dried up and blew away. They weren't even the same type, her mother’s being broad and flat, and hers grew in short thin bristles. The more she thought about it, the more different they seemed. She bled red; mother bled gold, though she had a similar gilt to the base of her fur that could be seen when the wind blew. Mother was tall and she was short. Mother only stood but she could dance like the clouds and the sun. Mother was quiet, she was loud, and mother was never ever sad.

The filly smiled and nuzzled the tree’s bark. Her mother’s skin was rough on her own but for all their differences they had each other. She peeled her face off her mother’s trunk to look back to her own. When her mother had passed her wisdom onto her, her image had become carved in at the base of the filly’s trunk near her roots. She flexed as to make the image dance across her own bark. Her face and horn, as well as her mane, could be seen in her mother’s visage. They capped the tree with the long lost leaves in the artistic rendering of their love. The image depicted how she drew strength from the ground around her, as her mother does, and projects that strength onto others.

Her reminiscent gaze turned back to her mother’s trunk to find something that made her heart sink. The gentle press of her face to her mother had cracked her bark, and as she reached out to push it back into place she saw something truly frightening. What she witnessed behind the seam caused her stomach to turn inside out– pouring its contents onto the ground just as her mother did when she was born. She skittered backward, stepping over the red and black armies that were squabbling even at that moment, as a third army erupted from the wood. Its many yellow forms flooded down onto the battlefield and, for once, red and black set aside their differences to take on this new challenger.

A war waged between them over who would get to claim the tree’s broken husk, and it did not take long for the filly to realize that there was nothing left of her mother. The armies that fought outside her every day had distracted her from the ones that had snuck in. Knowing that she could not protect her mother changed something deep inside her. The law was true even here; her mother could not eat, and was eaten. She had to get away. Right now.

Skittering backward in horror of the onslaught she turned tail and ran as the sun danced in the sky.

This must just be how the world worked.

<< A Picture's Worth | Sweet Release >>

Author's Note

Act 1 | Sweet Release

The door to the cell opened and spilled the mare that had collapsed next to it onto the hallway floor. Her eyes were glazed over, cheeks stained with tears, while her hoof traced out the oak tree on the cold stone floors. Her hollow voice echoed her experience, “Mother is dead… The armies came… They came anyway… I couldn't… stop them…”

The malevolent stallion had returned to question Nurse Clarity about her progress. This happened often but today would continue to be a day of firsts. Today he got an answer. He was surprised to see the interrogator reduced to a sobbing mess. More importantly he was intrigued to see that the filly could do that to her. It meant that she could communicate her ideas on at least some level, which in turn meant she could answer his questions.

“Somepony get her out of here,” he bellowed down the hall. This attracted the attention of two earth ponies in similar paper hats to that of Nurse Clarity. They rushed to the mare’s aid and the black stallion growled at them, “Not her.”

It took several tense seconds of internal debating for the guards, as they question who they feared more, before they slowly entered the cell. They unfastened the chain from the wall, then the filly from the chain; leaving a few links on the collar to serve as a leash should the need arise.

Once she was led out of the cell the guards relinquished her to their guest. Nurse Clarity continued to babble on the ground as the stallion and filly stepped over her to leave. “The army took my mother away… Theirs… I will take theirs.”

These slow deliberate words were accompanied by equally slow and deliberate movements as Nurse Clarity rose up from the ground. Her hat fell from her head when she lowered it to point her lit horn at the stallion, and it was crumpled under-hoof with the first step of her charge. Treeling turned to watch the familiar scene, this time as an outsider, when crystals grew out of the stallion’s shadow. They broke the mare’s charge, first by allowing her to slam face first into a wall of stone, before a second one grew to push her into the cell.

“Keep her here until I come back for her,” Sombra ordered before adding: “And get this one a new slate.” The stallion and the filly continued their trot to the stairs as one of the guards galloped to the storeroom while the other locked the cage and cleared away the crystals obstructing the hall. After returning with kindergarten construction materials the guard strung a length of twine around the back of Treeling’s neck and tied both ends to two small holes in the corners of a fresh slate. A small reed was loaded with a piece of chalk before magnets affixed it to the board for easy handling and a box of additional chalk was magnetized to her collar.

“Th-there you go miss!” the guard hesitantly said before bowing and backing out of the way of the pair. “I-is there anything else that you require Sombra?” His body language betrayed him. It was evident that he hoped the answer to the question was "no" and, luckily for him, it was.

After a few short steps to the stairwell they made their way out of the prison. Sombra glanced down to the frightened filly before offering his reassurances. “You have been asked enough questions for today.” he said before turning his gaze back to the path he was walking, “The answers can wait until tomorrow.”

The nervous manner in which Treeling fidgeted while they were leaving caused Sombra to stop and turn to her. “Is there something you wish to tell me?” he asked. He knew that he had said that she wouldn't be asked any more questions today so he was left only to encourage the child to “speak” her mind.

Nearly a full minute passed while she looked up to him questioningly. She glanced back in the direction of the cells before tapping her horn.

“You want Nurse Clarity?” Sombra posed, to which she shook her head, tapped her horn again, and then tapped the ground with the same hoof. “You want to go back to the cell?” Sombra asked while trying to interpret the signs.

She shook her head again. Then dropped to the ground and drew the chalk from its place so that she could draw on the board. She hastily sketched a stick figure of herself and Crystal Clarity. The nurse’s horn was glowing with arrows pointing into the walls and ground. Then she drew the arrows from the walls and ground into her own stick-figure, circling it with a wavy magical aura, before drawing one big arrow from her body to the face of Crystal Clarity.

Recognition dawned on Sombra’s face and he mirthfully voiced his conclusion: “Interesting... so that’s how you did it.”

The filly nodded then looked back toward the direction of the cells since they were walking away from the one place bleached with enough magic for her to "speak" again.

“Don’t worry about that.” Sombra said, “I know another way.”

They continued walking down long halls, and through twisting corridors before reaching a second flight of stairs. Along the way they frequently passed guards and nursing staff alike. The screams of other prisoners were magically sealed in their chambers, for the sanity of the staff, though Sombra could tell Treeling could hear them. It was written all over her face and with her magic it must seem like they were calling out to her to save them.

Another army wrapped in the darkness, hold up in the stone and iron of whatever mighty tree they were now leaving, it sickened her and she was glad to be free of it. After they climbed up out of its roots Treeling looked to the sky for the first time since she arrived, but it was not the sky she knew.

The stallion spoke to the filly without addressing her directly. “You’ll be seeing a lot more of that now, I think, but we need to talk to one more pony before I can say for certain.”

They traveled through the city streets for the remainder of the evening, trying to find something that would satisfy the filly’s fickle pallet, before taking their trek to the castle where they were quartered for the night. Tucking the filly into the first bed of her life, Sombra said "On the morrow, we will speak with the Queen, but I will need to ask you some questions before then. Rest well tonight."

Treeling drifted to sleep thinking of how she still liked the black army.

<< Earthbound | Mind Games >>

Act 1 | Mind Games

The morning light filtered into the window where Treeling was perched. She didn't want to miss her favorite time of day, after having not seen it for so long, but this one was different from the ones she remembered. The sun moved slowly with a purpose and direction she had never seen it take. She sat and watched the sky for an hour before the maid came to wake her. Finding that she was already awake the maid turned to leave before the filly gently tugged her coat to get her attention.

“Yes?” she asked in anticipation of some equivalent of a common “I’m hungry” from the filly, but one did not come. Treeling instead pointed to the sun and gazed to the sky as she tapped her chalkboard. She slid it onto the windowsill and drew a quick sketch before she flashed it to the maid.

“The sun?” the maid asked. The board had a horizontal line that separated a makeshift sun and moon. She quickly scribbled many crazy arrows to indicate their normal paths before pointing again to the sun in the sky.

“Oh, honey no, the sun isn't supposed to move like that,” the maid said in a reassuring tone.

The filly was unconvinced. All her life the sun moved like that, except on the day that her mother died, and here under the glossy sky the sun was still strange. It was more of a blur than a ball of fire.

The maid addressed her perplexed stare. “With the war going on outside and Discord controlling the sun it takes the strength of our most powerful magicians to keep us safe and secure.”

The filly stamped her hoof and tapped her diagram again.

A worried tone filled her voice as the maid tried once again to reassure Treeling. “That’s not the kind of thing that little fillies should be thinking about. You should be–”

An annoyed voice interrupted her with a shadowy inflection: “It’s not really the place for you to say what she should and should not think about.” Both females turned to see Sombra standing in the doorway. “Leave.” Sombra’s command was swiftly obeyed. The maid made her way through the door as he entered the room. “Door,” he added. The attendant returned with a permissive glance and a timid curtsy before she pulled the door closed.

Sombra escorted the filly to a small table and pulled the chair out for her to have a seat before sitting himself across from her. “Tell me what you told me last night– about the room,” he said to her.

She recreated her image depicting the assault on Nurse Clarity before Sombra continued, “Where did you learn to do that?” he asked. At its core it was the same question as all the times before and was only slightly different in its presentation. This time it wasn't how, but where, and the answer was still the same. Treeling drew the picture of the great oak—with tremoring leaves—enshrouded in a magical field. Unlike the white mare the black stallion did not chastise her for getting the answer “wrong” but instead encouraged her.

“Please, tell me more,” he said in a tone that was nearly grateful.

This was not the response she had expected and she had not left room on the slate for further articulation. She took a moment to drag her cheek across the surface to clear it once again before she quickly drew in just the aura and the waviness of the leaves to one side. Then she added her cutiemark in the middle and connected the two ideas with an arrow.

“I see,” said Sombra before asking: “How does that relate to the magical barrier that protects the Crystal Empire?” His tone was as soft and calm as one would expect from an adult questioning a child for the first time. He even took the time to make sure that she knew he enjoyed her drawings, so that she would keep making them, as they were the only way she knew how to communicate.

As the filly drew, he gave pensive consideration to how she was able to learn to draw in and cast magic from a tree. Magic so near the nature of the Crystal Heart and yet somehow surprisingly different… more versatile.

When finished the sketch was held up so that Sombra could see it clearly. A group of large boxy structures signified the city from the perspective of the filly. A large bubble signified the shield keeping the chaotic world at bay, and a small bubble around the filly’s stick-figure representation of herself. The smaller circle was filled with arrows going both into and out of the filly.

“Interesting… Like with Nurse Clarity,” he said.

The filly nodded at first, then shook her head, before she cleared the board with her other cheek. She drew two faces on the board. One very large, very angry face, where the last image of the shield had been; and one small yet tranquil face with a paper cap.

“So… They’re different kinds of magic? How are they different?” Sombra asked in a perplexed tone.

The unicorn child patted her cheeks to shake the dust from her coat, cleared the board once more, and drew the locations each incident occurred in– including her home island.

“Different places have different magic?” Sombra asked, and Treeling nodded readily. With the conformation he went on to ask: “If I show you how I came into this city... will you show me how you did?” Sombra needed to see it himself if he was going to explain it to the Queen.

Treeling questioningly tapped the image of the cell on her board while Sombra voiced her concern, “How?” Though it was an apparent simplification of the idea Treeling nodded in confirmation.

To answer her he reached over and blew out the lantern. The ambient light of the mock sun was not enough to keep any shadows at bay. Sombra stood up and motioned for the filly to take her slate off the table so he could move it to the corner of the room with his chair. “With crystals,” he said. His words accompanied the creation of a large diagram on the floor. There were six points on a circle where resonance crystals shot up like wild fire.

The filly was ushered out of her seat before the two chairs were placed in the circle at points of harmonious concert. Whereupon Sombra motioned that she should return to her seat and he himself returned to his.

“Clear your mind,” he said, expecting that she could actually do it. “Think only of the sound of my voice,” Sombra added as the hypnotism began. “Think about the walk we took down that long hall yesterday and imagine we are walking down another. There is a bright light at the end of this hall. It is three paces away. As I count backward we’ll take another step together before passing into the light." His voice was soothing as he braced her for the transition.

Though their eyes were closed Treeling could sense magic flowing out of the unicorn and into the crystals before circling around to her.

"Three… Two… One...”

***

The filly crouched in place as she waited for a dump of images and sounds that did not occur. She peaked out to find that she was in Sombra’s chambers as he was dressing for an important meeting.

A voice came to her from somewhere outside. It was also Sombra but he was distant as he explained: “You are safe. No harm can befall you here... none knew that you even exist yet." Treeling moved toward Sombra to test that theory by tapping him on the flank. Though he seemed solid enough he did not react to her, and went he on preparing and practicing his speech. He stopped and restarted several times to change little things here or there.

Not satisfied she lowered her head and rammed her horn into his thigh. She could feel it pierce the skin and muscle all the way to the bone. However when she pulled it out there was no wound and he still failed to react in anyway.

"Satisfied?" the distant voice of Sombra asked. "You are in my mind and I can still see you," he remarked with a chuckle.

In an instant the two were standing in the court of the Crystal Queen. Her massive stature towered over even that of Sombra. Her glorious pegasus wings spread far and wide as she reciprocated a bow from the approaching dignitary before folding back in quite compactly to her sides. Sombra approached the foot of the throne and bowed before the Crystal Queen and the Crystal Princess before he delivered his missive.

Something about trade between the Steel Ponies and the Crystal Empire including, but not limited to, building materials and labor. Much of the memory was skipped over as to get to the good part. The Queen's advisers took a moment to review the proposal when another guest found his way into the closed-chambers meeting.

"Who are you?" shouted the guards, but it was obvious that the Queen knew all too well the identity of the draconequus.

"Hello, Princess," Discord said, "Or should I say Queen now that you've had a princess of your own?" The question was displaced in space as Discord appeared on the arm of the princess's throne and stroked her cheek gingerly while staring past her to the Queen. A shutter was sent down the Queen's spine as her daughter stuck out her tongue in disgust.

"Bleh..." Cadence's voice reflected the creepy familiarity with which she was being handled.

"What do you want Discord." The Queen glowered at the goat-headed demon who manhandled her filly.

"Well..." Discord started, but let his voice peter-out as he teleported from throne to throne. He appeared on the Queen's lap as if she were Santa Whooves. "It was so nice of you to play with me but the last game got boring. So I'm thinking of a new one."

The distant voice of Sombra drifted in, in the lull between the suggestion and the response. "Imprisoned in crystal for a hundred years is a child's game to this immortal being."

"I will not entertain you. You do nothing but harm. Be gone!" The Queen angrily shouted in his face as she used both wings to buffet him across the room while rising into a battle stance.

"I'm hurt," Discord said as he stopped in midair, "You haven't even heard the name of the game yet!"

The Crystal Queen surveyed the court room before nervously stating: "I care not for your sick propensities. I will not entertain you."

Discord laughed immediately at her words as they suggested she even had a choice. After taking a breather he said: "I think you're going to like this one, Queeny," before slowly raising his arm. "It's called: stop me if you can." The Queen jerked forward at Discord, but wasn't able to even lift her hoof before his fingers snapped away the young Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.

"Raise the alarm! Cordon off the city! Now!" shouted the captain of the royal guard, "Get him!" Guards rushed towards Discord as he turned his attention back to the Queen.

"Don't keep us waiting," he said venomously before he too disappeared.

Heartbroken the Queen countermanded the captain's orders. "He's gone. Raise the shield."

The memory of Sombra protested. "My Queen!" he said, "How am I to return home?"

The Queen turned her judgment on him. "I would like to consider you our guest, and welcome you to extended negotiations, but with the shield up... you're not going anywhere."

***

The magical memory sequence came to a close with the same exercise that it began with. Sombra walked Treeling back to the room they were now in. "That was five years ago." he said, "Now, please, think about how you came to be here. My magic will do the rest."

The filly closed her eyes. She imagined the two of them standing and walking back out the door, down the long hall, and into the bright light once again. Though advice was issued by Sombra to sit back and let him handle it; such advice was summarily disregarded. With a gilded glimmer she breathed deep to pull the magic out of the air, the crystals, and Sombra himself before redirecting it on their link. Its effect was instantaneous.

<< Sweet Release | The Silk Road >>

Act 1 | The Silk Road

The filly rose from her slumber in on the cobblestone streets. The sky was filled with a shimmering light, and a thick field of magical energy that coursed all around the city. Sombra stood in awe at how differently the city he spent the last five years in looked to this little filly. Not only could she see the barrier but also the magics that made it. Magics that were supposed to be invisible to everypony. Even Discord could not find them again after he left.

Each type of magic had its own tint, its own odor, and could be tasted in the air. It was as perceptible as anything else in the world; as though magic itself was simply another every-day object like a fence or a stone. Being so near the barrier caused the air itself to have weight. It was filled with ambient energy which made his body feel sluggish as though he were underwater.

Sombra found the whole experience disorienting. He turned his gaze to the ground and gasped for air while trying to clear his senses of the world around him. After he regained his grip he saw a large chalk arrow draw itself beneath his hooves and, with it, his attention to the filly waking on the street.

His senses were inundated with the memory of her own. He could feel what she felt. Hear what she heard, as she heard it, but also as it really was. He could even fill the tilt of the earth, the murmur of creatures around her, and her savage fur stand on end as she assumed a defensive posture in the street. He couldn't help but wonder if Nurse Clarity had a similar experience that drove her to her maddened outburst, and what might become of him for this one.

“What’s wrong with her?”
“What a strange cutiemark.”
“Is that a tree? I wonder what it means.”

The voices from the gathered crowd didn't seem hostile but there were more creatures her size than she had ever seen before. They swarmed around like the black army of her home. They seemed to use these noises to communicate though she couldn't understand any of them. She hissed and growled at the onlookers and snapped with her jagged teeth at any that got too close. Sombra was beginning to see how the pony thought before she came into the charge of Nurse Clarity. Before her... domestication.

“Whoa! Look at her go! Like a wild animal that one!” a plump one exclaimed.
“Vile. Simply disgusting. Call someone to take her away,” a frail voice resonated from thin form.
“Easy! No one’s going to try to hurt you!” one particularly soothing voice explained. It didn't carry the ramshackle sounds of mother’s lullaby, but it had a deep peaceful ring in its own right.

Though not a single word could be understood by the filly; Sombra was able to make sense of it on the first try. The several attempts of the soft spoken creature allowed her to calm enough for it, and only it, to approach her. The colt could tell from her scared and nervous posture, in conjunction with the confusion written all over her face, that she had no idea what he was saying.

A patrol approached the group and began to disperse the unlawful gathering. As they did the filly was able to relax a little until they approached her directly with their strange noises. As she tensed up Sombra tensed up. Each one of them were twice her size and the child watched as they babbled back and forth. Her apprehension was visible through the hair standing on edge all over her weathered coat.

“More street urchins causing trouble?” a surly pegusus voiced to the earth pony colt who had talked her down. “Don’t think you can just get away with this shit just because we’re on the outskirts of the city,” he said while he dropped his fore hoof down on the colt's skull so hard it drew blood.

The foal started to cry and try to explain at the same time. “No sir, nothing like that! She just wandered into the city and collapsed!” The colt began to glow as he lifted off the ground and drew in close to the second guard whose horn radiated the same color.

“That is the worst lie I've ever heard,” the magical guard yelled in the colt's face, “No pony can just wander into Crystal Empire.”

Though it was true that they were near the barrier that kept the wild chaos of Discord’s domain at bay, even Sombra wouldn't have believed it possible if he wasn't about to see it with his own eyes, and so there was no surprise that the guards didn't buy it either. Their suspicion was writ upon every inch of their body. That this mess of a filly could best the magics of their ruling council was unthinkable. To even crack the shield would require power impossible for an individual to posses and would have alerted every guard in the city as well as the council. Yet, no flags were raised and the shield remained intact, despite this a strange and unknown filly stood in the streets.

“Why would I lie about that!?” the foal whimpered back at the stallion. The question indicated that it was self-evident such a story would draw a beating. “The barrier just moved around her like they were made out of the same thing!” he protested.

Sombra paused and repeated the foal to himself. However the deplorable nature of what came next from the guards caused him to grimace, and he lost his train of thought.

“Bullshit! War orphans don’t just stroll into this city.” The words came with a magical maneuvering that slammed the foal into a nearby wall. Dazed and still magically enshrouded the filly-sized earth pony was slowly pushed toward the barrier. “You want to see what happens when ponies try and get through the barrier? It isn't pretty.”

The image of the yellow army filled her mind as she watched the guards bully the nice one, and Sombra could feel the crawling of termites under his skin– eating away at his nerve. "Stop!" Sombra shouted to to Treeling, and the memory froze. "I didn't ask to see this!"

The memory faded from its vibrant true life color to muted greys as the visage of Sombra appeared in front of the real one, pulled from elsewhere in her mind, and the deal played out once more on mute. The reminder had been enough. After a moment the real Sombra nodded and his visage faded before the initial memory resumed.

The filly couldn't understand a word of the guard but could hear the hostility the last statement came with. In a surprise assault Treeling lunged at the unicorn guard and latched her teeth deep into one of his blood pipes. Though she would have no words to describe the feeling of a Brachial Artery bursting in her mouth she could feel and taste the red liquid running across her tongue. She reveled in it. Sombra, however, reviled it and spat the taste from of his mouth the best he could.

The bite she delivered was to the underside of the guard's left fore-leg. With the twisting of her neck and the gnashing of her teeth she drug his leg close to his chest to deliver her horn through his ribs. Sombra stood in awe having never seen a unicorn favor close-quarters combat without using any magic.

Once it began her primal rage could scarcely be sated. The guards lost their cool as a thorn was sticking in one’s side. Her horn wasn't long enough to puncture his lung, and her jaw wasn't strong enough to hold his leg in that position for long so she was forced to choose. Sombra knew that, had she been his size, she would have easily taken the guard to the ground. However, being the size she was, she lost her grip on the leg. It slid out of her mouth and left only chunks of the skin and fur in the gnarly gaps of her teeth.

After a few attempts at firing magical lasers, and having found that the ribs below the armpit are a terribly difficult place to strike on one’s own body with vector magic, the unicorn learned that any energy beam would be out of the question. Instead he reached out with a telekinetic field to pry the piranha off while her fore-hooves delivered tiny hammering blows. The pegasus guard couldn't help but laugh as the filly played his partner like a xylophone; not yet realizing the true extent of the danger he was in.

The unicorn reached out with his magic but she caught it with her golden gilt. With a deep breath she took it in and held its power inside of her for a moment before she breathed it back out. After channeling it into his body the telekinetic pressure of the blast was enough to collapse his left lung, and a river of red streamed out between the ribs that were wedged open by her horn. The grooves in her horn, from a lifetime of foraging in the discordant plains, proved an efficient network of irrigation canals that swiftly delivered the elixir of life onto her face and into her mane.

It wasn't funny anymore.

In a split second the pegasus dropped low and prepared for launch. However, instead of leading into a flight stance, he tucked his wings in before exploding into a full charge. The shoulder tackle to the filly was enough force to knock her off her hooves and, with a twist of her jagged horn in the side of his companion, she was wrenched free. Knocked off her balance she tried to stabilize but a hoof slipped in the viscous puddle. With a rising uppercut the spring-loaded wing of the pegusus sent her flying. The wing-buffet was enough to launch her straight into the barrier, and the foal watched in horror at his new friend's impending demise.

A ripple shimmered across the barrier on impact as the filly tumbled out the other side and rolled to a stop before rapidly rising again into her feral stance. She was breathing swift, shallow, breaths and her eyelids were heavy. The energy from the Crystal Queen's barrier still clung to her coat with a tether that siphoned off even more energy with each breath. It made a hissing sound as the blood of the unicorn was pulled apart by its magic. It also rustled her coat causing the gilt of her roots to simulate a shimmer across her body. This was the moment that Sombra had been waiting to see but it was a guard who echoed his sentiment.

“I… Impossible!” The staggered word came with the sound of equally staggered hoof-beats on the cobblestone road. The unicorn lost the strength to stand, and fell in a slump clutching his wounds. The pegasus had backed himself against the wall in fear and the earth pony colt had made a mad dash away from what was to come.

Treeling attempted to replicate his maneuver using her horn to spear rather than any wing to bash. Sombra recognized this maneuver as the one that was imprinted onto Crystal Clarity though, the way the filly was now, he doubted that even his crystals could block it.

In a leaping charge the warchild burst through the barrier bringing with her four more tethers, one for each hoof, which melded into the first as she slid to a stop. Terrified, the pegasus took to the air narrowly avoiding the collision that would have certainly destroyed him. He soared up into the sky to where no unicorn filly could reasonably reach him.

The silver and black tabard of the Crystal Empire, as worn by the pegasus, and the blood soaked one worn by the unicorn set off her rage. They were like ants to her, biting at her while she slept, and she would punish them. She pulled in more and more of the barrier’s destructive magic to strengthen her hold on the one part that actually mattered. The link between her and the massive magic bubble was a flexible one. Pulling with her whole body she build up the momentum required to bring the throng the magical whip down onto the air-born pegasus.

A visceral scream ripped the sky open and caused the filly let go of the magic that she had stolen. His exposure was a short one that burned across his entire body. This magic was decidedly different from the magic she previously harnessed. It did not transform the pegasus as it did the tuber. She curiously watched the pegasus, who was suspended in a rack of pain, be drawn into the barrier with the tether she left to flail wildly about.

It reminded her of the times with her mother when the sky would cry and the tears would fall on the little black soldiers. They always took a round shape which pulled whoever they touched back into them and held them there until they stopped moving. Like the blood from earlier: his feathers and hair slowly turned to a vapor that the pegasus could not help but breathe in whilst howling in pain.

Sombra grimaced at the image but couldn't block the memory from being placed in his mind. For the duration he was the filly.

Tired from the ordeal the filly plopped her plot onto the patchwork stones and turned her drooping eyes to the source of the nearest noise. “You… You’re a fucking monster!” The variable audio tones of the quaking voice were soothing to her, but the words themselves were still unintelligible.

Tired and hungry she crawled closer to the speaker who was still profusely bleeding onto the street. Weakly he tried to scramble away from her slow approach. Disgust filled her face as she licked the fur out of her teeth and spit it onto the street. Though the blood felt natural—familiar even—it tasted strange. She had never bled enough to fill her own mouth but other creatures had. She could feel the magic in them, but could not feel any magic in this one’s blood. There was a small hint of it, of course, because it was capable of using magic... but nothing like the levels outside the water drop she found herself drawn into.

The overhead screams had faded. The crack and sizzles of the energy field drown out the rasping for breath of the distant pegasus, and not-so-distant unicorn. The filly’s jack-knife grin grew a little wider with her carnal glee. Her snout reached mere inches from the broken body of the unicorn. His flesh was still tense when she issued a deep and long sniff before clamping onto his flank for a taste.

In a surge of adrenalin the guard managed to buck the filly into the wall cracking stone and ribs. Sharp pains shot through her whole body; pain that brought her eyes to once again to rest. As she drifted off the frantic sounds of an exchange could be heard in the distant waking world.

“What the hell happened here!?”
Several rasping coughs broke up the explanation.
“She… Came through the barrier... Turned it on us.”

Her eyes fluttered open only briefly to see two new guards staring up to the bloody smear in the sky that was still dropping bits and pieces, and splattering them on the road below.

In the distance Sombra could see himself losing his lunch from her perspective.

<< Mind Games | Bargaining Power >>

Author's Note

This is as brutal as it gets. Don't expect to (or worry about) see(ing) anything more like this in the future of this story.

Act 1 | Bargaining Power

The return to reality was not a smooth one as Sombra felt like he had been kicked in the gut, twice. Once by the physical assault of the guard twice his size, and the other by the reality of crimes that Treeling was accused of. The charges didn't do them justice. The filly cocked her head to the side with a piece of chalk hanging out of her cracked lips. The look showed that she didn't see any problems with her actions. Sombra fell out of his seat and dry heaved as the crystal circle collapsed.

At the same time... He knew that they had it coming, he could feel it in his gut, and that was the worst part. Having felt what she felt he could identify with the position that she was put in and, if he were left alone with his baser instincts, he could see himself doing the same. He desperately tried to build a case for the Queen on how she should be released so that they could study her magic, and finally strike a blow back against Discord... but nothing he could think of even began to rationalize the murders.

The taps of chalk to slate drew his attention back to the filly who was quietly doodling away. Sombra turned to see, morbidly curious what could she possibly have to say for herself after that, but her diagram showed something else entirely. It was less about what she had to say, and more of what she had to keep silent: she had learned his secret. He could only stutter as his eyes drank in the diagram of the city. Specifically placed "X's" inscribed in wavy circles marked the locations of each of the apartment structures build over the last five years. His projects. His crystal pylons.

More than that, there were arrows flowing from one building to the next, which described a network of lay-lines that were circumscribed on the city's interior walls, and which the castle lie in the focal center. With her awareness of these magical implements his entire five-year plan laid bare on that tablet.

"When...?" he stumbled over the word as it flopped out of his mouth.

She wiped the board clean and drew three images. The first: of him delivering his speech to the Crystal Queen. The second: of him constructing the circle that led them into that memory. The third: of her drawing in his magic and channeling it back into the circle. It wasn't until after she drew in his magic that she knew what the first two were for, which in turn, explained why she refused to let him guide her into her own mind. She wiped the slate clean once more before drawing tiny specs on a mound with one big queen ant in the center of the pile. To her, he really was just like the black army from her home, and she had watched him as intently as she watched them.

He had completely opened up to her because she was a child and didn't realize until he was in her memory how terrible of an idea that was. In that speech he had used wording that even the city planning advisers didn't fully understand, and gave no thought to putting the filly in the room. However, he had completely forgotten that this one had been specifically conditioned to have images evoked in her mind when she heard words. She needn't know the definitions to put it together– especially if she was borrowing the images directly from his mind. The only question left for him to ask before he took her to the Queen and that was what she was going to do about it. As it stood now the two were under a mountain of their respective dirty laundry but it would seem that only he minded the smell.

"So. Is that how it's going to be?" Sombra looked her over as she patted the chalk-dust from her cheeks and turned the tablet around to draw her response. Ten lines formed a tree that she so often drew but with the addition of with her cutiemark inside the large opening that she came out of. She motioned to the world around her with the span of her fore-leg, and brought her hoof in close across her neck, before she tapped the tablet with it.

"Your tree?" Sombra asked but she shook her head and tapped the chalkboard again.
"Not your tree?" he clarified. She nodded and tapped once more. The look in her eye told him to go on.
"Not your... problem?" he asked to which the filly smiled and set the the tablet face down on her lap.
"I see," Sombra said, "I'm glad that we understand each other."

To clear his mind Sombra took the time to clean up after himself and melted the crystals back into his shadow. Afterward he went to the dresser to root for an outfit that would be appropriate for Treeling to wear when presented in front of the court. While she waited she slung the slate over her neck again, rolled over onto her belly, and kicked her legs off the sides of the chair. It was unnerving to Sombra to see that she didn't have a care in the world; even though she had just threatened to ruin him after five years of faithful service to two empires.

***

It was a long and arduous process to get the street urchin into a presentable state especially since no magic could be used to restrain her through the tedium of a thorough bath, hair dressing, and teeth cleaning. Sombra wasn't sure which of them were more exhausted by the process but he knew that he was now at the disadvantage because children recovered much faster than adults.

He lost track of how many times he yanked the chain on her collar and said "Hold still," as he found himself doing even then. The only dress he could get her to stay in was crisply crimped at the hem and dyed the color of autumn from bottom to top. It reminded her of her mother. He had asked her to tell him that story, the one that she shared to Nurse Clarity the night before, to keep her mind off of all the things they had to do before they could see the Queen. From what he could discern the tree actually gave birth to her and if that were true it would explain her connection to the land. Considering it would have taken a substantial amount of chaos, or even nature, magic to keep her stable during any amount of gestation.

The story lasted them until the final stages of preparation. After the chalk-dust was removed from the filly's face and makeup was applied in its place to hide her numerous scars. Though it would be impossible to cover them all they managed to be lightened enough as to not be terribly distracting.

"Don't touch it," Sombra knowingly said over his shoulder to the filly, that his back was turned, whose hoof hovered in the air an inch from her face. He turned his attention to her directly after dismissing the help, "When we're in the courtroom do not 'say' anything to anypony. I will speak for us." Sombra then nodded to the guards who opened the chamber doors.

Treeling smiled up to Sombra as they made their way into the grand hall. The Crystal Queen sat on her throne surrounded by advisers. Though, sometime since his first visit her daughter's throne had been removed. Sombra guessed that she couldn't stand it still being empty with the knowledge that neither of them would likely ever see her precious Cadence again. That thought still wore on heavily on her face.

Sombra dropped one knee and bowed while Treeling curiously watched the behavior as these social graces did not exist in the wild.

"My Queen!" he said with rigid formality.

"Arise, Sombra," she responded with regal splendor, "Speak your piece." Her voice carried an edge to it that caused Treeling's ears to perk up. Somepony was going to get cut down.

"Yes, my liege. I've come to beg the court for the release of this filly–" he had barely began when the knife dropped.

"She killed two of my guards, and I should just let her go?" the Queen rhetorically questioned. She was not amused, a fact easily betrayed by the timbre in her voice, and as she spoke the entire courtroom tensed up. "Do you even know what she's capable of? Have you seen the horror that a hundred citizens were subjected to?" The Queen stood from her throne bringing an ever rising authority to her words as she towered over the pair with fully splayed wings.

"I was not present at the time," Sombra meekly offered, "but I know that many more will die if we do nothing. You said we couldn't enter battle with shield alone so I have brought you a scabbard. The sword lies within and we need only pull it out."

"Bold claims." The Queen took a moment to recall her wings before continuing, "But this court requires evidence."

The black unicorn rose to his hooves and explained: "We've found that in places saturated with high quantities of magic," his words were interrupted as the filly tugged on his cape but he did not stop, "she can draw it in, and harness that magic. We could fight fire with fire. Chaos with Chaos."

The Queen raised a skeptical eyebrow an the court magician balked at the claim. The filly again tugged at Sombra's cape and this time impatiently tapped the ground with her other fore-hoof. When he turned to see what was so important Treeling's face lit up with wonder and sense of dread filled Sombra's heart as the first hint of her golden gilt could be seen. How could he have forgotten that Discord was here, using magic, but it was so long ago that there couldn't possibly be any left...

All present watched with skepticism as Treeling excitedly pranced in place while holding her slate up to draw on it. Her pursed lips quickly moved over its surface and brought a chalk outline into being. A draconequus that she shouldn't know how to make, a portrait of a princess she should have no knowledge of, and a game that never got played were all etched in black and white. The filly flicked her horn with her hoof to recreate the sound that Discord made with his fingers and the oldest and youngest female in the room vanished in a flash of light.

In their absence the entire courtroom went silent as they stared in horror at Sombra.

<< The Silk Road | Flight of Fancy >>

Act 1 | Flight of Fancy

There are a lot of ways to travel, including magical teleportation, but no one could recommend ripping through space on a whim using a five year old astral trail... let alone if a filly is in "control" of the spell required to do so. Spacial magic was one of the greater echelons of spells that a unicorn could learn. Distance, positioning, and number of subjects are all complicated variables to consider when bending the fabric of reality. Variables that didn't even cross through the mind of this particular practitioner who simply pulled open a seam and let it suck them through.

A flash of white light preceded the materialization of the Queen and the filly, both in midair, and both out of their original positions. Treeling crashed to the ground as the Queen spread her wings and glided gracefully to a stop. A crippling pain swiftly washed over her which stripped away all facades of regality. In this dank cave there were just two women, one holding the mane of the other as she vomited, all the while chewing on the beads in her up-do.

"How–" With nothing left to spew the Queen's words were interrupted by dry heaves, "Uhg. How can you–" After several hacking coughs she was finally able to get the rest of the statement out as the filly sniffed around the cave. "How can you act like that was nothing?" she managed to ask.

With a flick of her mane Treeling dashed out three lines on her tablet and spun it around her neck over her left shoulder. It was a simple arrow that redirected the attention to the mark on her flank. The Queen was confused. Being royalty she was no stranger to teleportation, even though she had no horn to show for the experience, but this one was different. The verge broke them down to a transpacific state. Rather than simply moving through space, they moved through all the mater on their path and she could feel every ounce of it. That hadn't even been the worst of it. Passing through her own city's shield had been beyond excruciating.

"Didn't it hurt you at all?" she asked Treeling whom after giving her the full attention that a filly could muster, simply shrugged and shook her head. "Not at all?" the Queen asked again as her stomach started to settle. With another hair flip the filly etched out an additional two lines on her board causing the arrow to get bolder and the slate fell back over her shoulder still pointing at her flank.

Having had her task interrupted by the incessant questioning of the Crystal Queen the filly stopped sniffing about the cave to break it down to the clueless mare. Out of habit she wiped the board on her face, which caused a large amounts of makeup to smudge off, revealing a hint at the amount of brutality her life had shown her. The Queen gasped as the filly struggled out of her dress before using it to rub the rest of her makeup off her face, and board, so that the answer could sketched out.

"What... happened to your face?" the Queen asked.

The filly cautiously tapped her hooves to her face to see was meant by the question. With no apparent difference she shrugged and went back to her sketch. Once complete she slid the board over to the Queen for her to "read" while she rooted deeper through the cave. On the board two pictures of the city's shield could be seen, both had two stick-figures, one for each pony. The first shown a break in the barrier with a circle connecting the circuit so that the filly could pass through safely while the Crystal Queen passed without such protection. The filly in this picture was very happy and the Queen was very sad. The other showed the Queen in the bubble with the filly and their emotions were reversed.

"You– did you do that on purpose?" she stammered at the audacious child who had just marenapped her. Treeling looked back only long enough to produce her jack-knifed grin and nod. "Do you know who I am, child?" the Queen indignantly questioned. Treeling nodded again as she retrieved her board.

She drew the rest of the city's shield-circle complete with a replication of the castle in the center. Then far on the outside she drew two Xs of equal size and tapped them insultingly.

"Not where. Who," the Queen repeated her question.

Treeling pointed to the Queen with her chalk and only after it was apparent that the Queen was following along did she continue. She tapped the castle on the board while nodding to the Queen, who nodded back, "That's right I'm the–" the Queen began only to see Treeling shake her head and tap the Xs again. "Queen of a kingdom very far away..." she said, and finished the words that felt as far away as her kingdom.

With the contemplation of the implications of being ripped out of her castle and hurled across the world keeping the Queen quiet; Treeling was finally able to hone in on the scent she caught when they popped into the cave. Tugging on her sleeve the filly led the Queen out of the cave. As they walked the Crystal Queen couldn't help but notice the ethereal thread that clung to Treeling's horn.

"What is that?" she asked but Treeling simply ignored her. It seemed there was something more important that she needed to see. On the approach to the exit the Queen finally caught the scent that Treeling had been made aware of the instant they touched down. "Smoke?" she asked. The filly looked back over her shoulder to give her a nod.

"That's... not possible," the Queen uttered in disbelief.

The filly lay down on the edge of the cliff to get a better view as she sketched the scene, as if to tell the Queen that it was quite possible, though something more sinister lie at the root of her motives. From where they stood on one of the rocky ridges of the Crystal Mountains a great expanse opened up before them. They could see clear across the war-wracked plains to Canterlot Mountain; where the would-be capital was being founded as a refugee colony. Between them was only battle scarred landscape for as far as the eye could see.

"The Celestial Sisters... I should have listened to them!" There was only regret in her voice. She turned to the filly who had been busily drawing the answer to the inevitable question: "Why did you bring me here?"

Treeling happily presented her the slate with the six panel comic.

The first was of Discord's finger snap; brightly lit by a great deal of white chalk symbolizing the flash of light. The second was the same picture she had drawn in the cave, only smaller, now with the Xs connected to the city by a single back-and-forth arrow. The third was of the young pegasus filly—with a crown—popping into existence in the cave. The fourth was of the royal filly walking out of the cave while trailing strands of magic back to a rift in space. The fifth was of a wafting scent in the cave that stick-figure Treeling was running around tracking just as she had done earlier. The sixth panel showed the pegasus gliding off the cliff into the black unknown.

The Queen interpreted the story aloud to the filly to make sure that she correctly understood what was trying to be said.
"Discord brought her here?"
The filly nodded.
"You couldn't control where we went? You just followed after her?"
The filly nodded twice.
"Cadence may still be alive out there?"
Again, the filly nodded, but this time pointed toward Canterlot Mountain.
"We have to go after her!"

The filly nodded once more before prodding the Queen with her horn. With the ethereal thread shared between the two, the gold shimmer of Treelings gilt once again rippled across her fur, but this time the Queen was too preoccupied to notice.

After another violent tearing through space they were dumped back into the throne-room. With hope snatched away from her the Queen looked as though was going to die.

"Gentleman," she whimpered after taking a moment to collect herself, "We are at war." She then turned her attention to Sombra, who was being detained by the guards, and with a flick of her wrist they released him. Color returned to her face and her eyes grew sharp as she inspected him.

"Draw your sword."

<< Bargaining Power | Hell Forged >>

Act 2 | Hell Forged

The door to Sombra's home magically swung open. The walk to the ambassadors quarters had been a quiet one– not that was unusual of Treeling but Sombra didn't know what to say. He couldn't conceive how the filly had earned him a total reversal of the Queen's decision, but didn't want to question it in front of her. She clearly was not going to side with him on this issue before they disappeared, but after they returned she granted unparalleled latitude.

He looked down to the filly who had followed him the entire way without any prompting. "What exactly happened between you two?" he asked. The filly looked up at him before jabbing her jagged horn into the soft flesh of his flank. "Ouch!" he exclaimed, scowling at the filly whose toothy grin could be seen. "Oh. I see. I'm guessing that trip only had one possible destination then." The rest naturally followed of course, if Treeling could yank the Queen's chain as hard as she yanked his own, then there would have been no other possible outcome of the teleport.

A gilt trip that ended with a guilt trip.

He was genuinely impressed: that type of predator instinct was only born once every few generations. If he could hone it then she could prove a great weapon indeed. "Treeling..." Sombra slowly said, "Your mother taught you a very special skill, and I want to try to teach you another way to use it." Sombra sat her down, and disappeared into his room, before returning with a black cloth. He tied the cloth around her eyes before explaining.

"You can feel magic with all of your senses. Close your eyes and reach out with your other senses to find my magical signature." Sombra took a moment to close the room off to light sources before creating a series of crystals.

One... Two... Three... Nothing, the filly couldn't feel them. "Let’s try something else," he magically whispered into her mind and she turned to face him. Sombra noted that the direct connection could be easily traced while the indirect must be more difficult. They repeated the exercise for an hour and her sensing showed signs of improvement. That was before the house became so saturated with ambient magic that Treeling was blinded to the individual shifts therein.

Sombra was sure that they both knew what she could do with a buildup like that but he was wrong. He had not accounted for the quantities of magic that she was used to working with. Five year old stains created by a singular uses of spells cast by Discord, and the progressive buildup of tiny fragments of wasted energy by Nurse Clarity; they both paled in comparison to what he had given her.

***

The sky flickered above Sombra as he came to. He had been encased in crystal at the epicenter of a devastating explosion where a filly had been fully crystallized on a cellular level. He started to panic and as his lungs burned a faint glow came to his horn. Slowly, he cracked the crystal blocking his face which let in the air he desperately needed. It took several minutes of channeling magic into the crystals that bound him to break them down enough to free himself entirely. They had a fantastically higher density than he had ever created before. They had become so dense that light refracted in them so many times that they glowed black. Another minute passed as Sombra surveyed the scene: one worse than he could have even imagine the filly to be capable of. The blast had extended so far as to resonate off the crystal network he spent five years building.

The sky flickered again. His eyes raised with concern to see the barrier failing. The only way that the barrier could fail would be if the unicorns maintaining it were all killed simultaneously. In five years nopony had known where all of them were, which protected the city, so the only way to get at them would have been exactly this: kill everything. Though it wasn't his intent when he built them, the amplification towers had caused a cascade reaction in the crystallization spell, which in turn extended the magical burst to every corner of the capital. Moments of increased flickering later the shield dropped to reveal that the explosion wasn't contained by it. Rather it shaped a dome around the city that crystals grew out of both on the inside and on the outside.

Sombra took to the streets searching for survivors. The longer he looked the more disheartening the situation became. The first few ponies he came across had their faces locked in contorted terror, which were broken into several shards on the ground, among a pile of their shattered remains. A grimace proceeded the diligent Sombra's need to choke his lunch back down. The more he explored the more it dawned on him how everything had been converted to crystal. Not just the ponies, plants, or buildings, but also pollen and particulates that once drifted in the air were now crystal sand that had settled on everything.

The air was so clean that it had a level of sharpness to it befitting the new Crystal Empire. He had been given no reason to believe that anypony else had survived but he clung to hope. There were only two conceivable reasons for why he could have survived, either for his level of magical aptitude, or his familiarity with creation magic. He knew that the castle would hold the answer to which theory was correct.

A spire of pure jet stood where the sky-blue tourmaline castle once was. He slowly made his way up the onyx steps that led into the antechamber that, in turn, led into the throne-room.

It was the latter.

The ruling council had been addressing some topic of urgency at the time of the explosion as the Queen and all of her advisers had been gathered to court. As he strolled past the council members, the same twists of horror could be seen, and with them the same glassed-over lifeless eyes. It took him another minute to work up the courage to inspect the throne. The Queen had just enough time to pull her wings up over her face to deflect the incoming energy. Despite this she still ended up preserved in the black amber.

Something deep inside prompted him to get a better look at her face. After five years at her beck and call he had to know if she went out with fear or if she had been regal to the end. Sombra maneuvered to a position where he could peak through her feathers to see her face.

Rage.

A slow, condescending, clap echoed from the antechamber. The scrape of both hoof and claw could be heard on the polished crystal floor. "Bravo," the deep rich voice of Discord congratulated, "Now that is what I call a long game... for a pony." The draconequus went on to rub it in Sombra's face, "You won! Now you have all the wealth and power in the Crystal Empire."

That wasn't exactly how Sombra would have phrased it though. It was his fault. When he drew the sword, he broke the shield, and now had nothing left to fight Discord with; but it was more than that. There was simply nothing left.

No... That wasn't true. The structure of the crystal that the city was converted to was expressly designed to amplify Sombra's power, and now there was more than ever. His face sunk into a sullen stew as he reached out to the crystals the way that Treeling had shown him. He'd be damned if she was the only one that learned anything from their time together. Though, Discord seemed unconcerned as he gave himself a literal pat on the back.

"Though," Discord said, "I had really thought that Queeny would have gotten you before you got this far."

Sombra dug deep, building up the depths of his magic so thoroughly that his body was backed up all the way to his eyeballs. A green light shown from them as his pores radiated the vaporous shadow that would serve as his gilt. He wanted to curse Discord as he cast his prism prison spell, but there were no fitting words so instead he simply yelled in frustration.

While not the epicenter of the explosion, they were in the center of the city with focusing crystal on all sides, and Sombra brought the power of the entire city to bear against Discord. Such a graveyard would serve a fitting place to bury the world's enemy, and Sombra felt no pony would dare enter such wretched place so there would be no risk of Discord escaping again.

"Wait for it," Discord said as his body started to crystallize. The crystal crept up his legs then to his waste before he shown any signs of worry. "Uh, any time now..." he added.

Having a city sized focusing crystal was not the same as having the populous use Crystal Heart, but it was enough for a one shot entombment spell. The amount of power being channeled through it cracked the dome, causing the serrated sky to rain down on the city as the tower fell down around the trio.

"You did this!" the familiar voice of the Queen screamed from behind Sombra. It didn't matter that Discord was up to his neck in crystal. Her city had been destroyed, and her citizens annihilated by a traitor, all after she had harbored him for years. Death would be too good for him, and Sombra knew it.

With her connection to the Crystal Heart the Crystal Queen converted her still-raw emotions into a powerful magic that she lacked the horn to direct. White light beamed out from her core and radiated through her entire being. Her massive wings spread intimidatingly over him and she reared up with a bereaved wail. She brought her fore-hooves down with divine authority, crushing the floor of the chamber, which caused Sombra to fall as she stared him down from her throne. It would be a short drop since he wouldn't make it to the ground. As Sombra fell to the Crystal Heart a pyre of brilliant energy burned straight up into the sky.

In the embrace of lost love's light, he could feel himself burning into a shadow of his former self, and as his body cracked and broke apart when a voice called to him.

A child's pitiful cries could be heard behind sobbing tears.

***

Brittle bits of black crystal fell from the ceiling with some small shards bouncing off Sombra's head before clattering on the floor. The filly's cries could be heard coming from outside. He jerked out of his chair and collapsed on a pile of broken crystals. The entire room had been glassed over, but recently had begun flaking and melting back into shadow. Sombra tore through the room to look outside. Treeling was crying with her horn stuck into the trunk of a tree that she had pinned a squirrel to. Though she ran it through it was still alive, still squirming, and still scratching her face while she whined.

The darkness dissolved behind him and as he watched the filly squeal it hit him, she had just wanted to go play outside after a month of incarceration, and he shouldn't be surprised at the lengths she was willing to go to get what she wanted. After all, he was weaponizing a monster. He was still sweating from the experience but was able to breathe a little easier when he looked to the crowd that was gathering. They too were still alive.

He then realized something the he hadn't considered. She could combine magical energies. That and he needed to learn the perpetual image spell that she used on him. Since it came from his magic, it must be some combination of the mental projection, and the crystal empowerment spells.

<< Flight of Fancy | Word Play >>

Act 2 | Word Play

Preparations were being made to drop the shield but the Queen wanted to be certain that more than one sword could be pulled from this "scabbard" before she took the step that plunged her kingdom into the abyss of war. Though he wasn't prepared to release his findings Sombra was still optimistic in that regard. He had only been with her for twenty-four hours but in a single five minute stretch she was able to show him new depths of his magic he had not yet conceived.

The morning sun was still rising as he sent a servant to the prison to fetch Nurse Clarity. He had spent the previous evening overseeing Treeling's frolicking as a reward for her service to his studies, but today he needed to work alone so that she wouldn't disrupt his research. He was intent on learning yesterday's spells—and more—before the Crystal Queen questioned him again on their progress.

Treeling had intuitively produced tighter crystal lattices which provided denser structures for improved resonance. She demonstrated hybridization of spells that utilized atomized crystals in the brain and blood to cause lingering effects such as delusions or even amplification of his own magic. Sombra had a basic understanding of anatomy from working with Nurse Clarity, and was all to familiar with Treeling's perceptions of magic, so he speculated that her body just "digested" the magic just like anything else she regularly put in her mouth and her method was fascinating to him.

Sombra took a moment to let Treeling soak in the remainder of the sunrise as it was the only time of the day that she held still... eerily still at that. His thoughts turned to the day ahead and how to reintroduce Treeling to the care of Nurse Clarity. A great deal had changed in the last day that a new sitter would be required to catch up on, and he couldn't risk having someone without experience watching over the city's newest weapon.

After a few minutes of quiet contemplation Treeling began to fidget again so Sombra took the opportunity to address the pressing issue. "Treeling," he said, "I need some time to tend to important business today so you will be left in the care of Nurse Clarity."

Apprehension immediately filled the filly's face as she frantically began sketching however Sombra preempted her question with a reassuring smile. "Do not concern yourself. There is nothing more that she can teach you of our language. She's just going to make sure you don't get into trouble while I am away."

Treeling paused, narrowed her eyes, and cocked her head to the side as she tried to discern the implications of his tone as she didn't have a whole lot of context for the word "trouble." Sombra acknowledged the look but otherwise continued unimpeded: "You may find that she has had sufficient time to consider your position and may be more willing to 'hear' you out."

It was several minutes still before Nurse Clarity made her way to Sombra’s room to collect Treeling and, after she arrived, it was a minute more because she wouldn't make the first move. The filly's visible anticipation turned to curiosity as the mare stood before her, avoiding eye contact, while Sombra's disinterest turned to annoyance. Treeling slid out of her chair and walked around C.C. so that she could properly size her up. During her slow and steady orbit Nurse Clarity could be seen looking to the floor and avoiding eye-contact with the filly whenever possible.

Sombra wanted to object but there was a reverent sort of ritualistic way about the interaction. He thought to the child's behavior in the throne-room and found himself in similar inspection of their primal ways. She was quiet then, with an odd sort of patience, and only drank in the scenery before interacting with it. Just as he felt he should do now.

After she was done inspecting the nurse from the outside Treeling pushed her chair closer and climbed upon it to get a closer look into the eyes of her previous educator. Though unsure of her behavior Sombra was impressed at how Treeling totally dominated the interaction.

The filly and the mare took a deep long look into each other’s eyes to inspect the other's soul before Treeling slid her horn into Crystal Clarity's mouth. "What," Sombra said in surprise. It wasn't a question, as he didn't want to interrupt so that an answer could be drawn out, merely a confused objection to what he had seen.

The filly nodded several times and, with the bob of her head, her horn moved up and down as to ratchet open the mare's mouth. Treeling cocked her head to the side and drug her horn across the nurse's teeth into the pocket of her cheek. The uncomfortable scraping of the filly's oddly textured horn on the mare's teeth caused her to wince and squeeze her eyes shut... only her eyes, but not her mouth, while the filly peered deep into her throat.

There were no words inside. The mare was always talking, and so it looked as if Treeling had suspected that words would simply fall out when her mouth was opened, but the inspection revealed that she hadn't said any for a long time.

It wasn't physically possible to see words in a pony's mouth of course but, by the way that Treeling read Crystal Clarity's teeth and gums, Sombra could almost believe that just maybe she could. After many long seconds of literally looking the gift horse in the mouth, that mouth started to dry, and Treeling withdrew her horn from it. A gentle tap on the mare's chin from the filly's horn signified that she may close it without reprisal.

It slowly dawned on Sombra that, while Crystal Clarity had poured the entire language of their kingdom into Treeling's head, she in turn had the entire language of the wild poured into hers. The filly nodded to the mare, who nodded back, before Treeling climbed down from her stoop and the pair walked out of his chambers. After they turned out of sight Sombra was left only to question what exact understanding they had come to. He wondered if there were ponies out there that his magic would not be able to control simply because they were not compatible enough to understand the manipulations.

Whatever the case may be, he certainly didn't think that Crystal Clarity's mind could have been changed so much by magic, it made him uncomfortable as he considered just how fragile the mind actually was... and he was about to go meddling around in his own.

<< Hell Forged | Fair Game >>

Act 2 | Take Five

Another day had passed since the Queen's order was given. That evening had been spent planing a thorough, but inconspicuous route through the city; which meant an evening of supervised play for Treeling. The day following they began their journey around the capital and, because she was still uncertain what her part was, Treeling was made to feel like a dog on a leash. It was something that Nurse Clarity could relate doubly to.

She had spent the last few days trying not to think about it. Trying to forget the life she never lived. However spending the night after it happened, in the cell where it happened, had made that impossible. She couldn't function the day after, and was lucky that Sombra had taken such a keen interest; but now, with her orders from the Queen, she had no choice but to face it.

It had been less than a handful of days since Treeling had forced herself upon Nurse Clarity, and now she was being forced to drag all that comes with that experience around with her– in addition to doing the same to others. Not the same. She had been asked to listen to the emotions of others, not the memories, but trying to distinguish the two acts felt like saying just the tip.

Worse still was that the memories injected into her mind had not faded in the slightest, instead, they wrote themselves into her history and left her mind raw. Her fillyhood became muddled with the events and emotions of another's. She could feel herself drawing on them as if they were her own, much like how she imagined the filly to be doing as a consequence of what she did to her, and she was sickened by the very thought of it.

Given what she now knew of the filly it was not surprising as the type magic she used did exactly the same to her. Permanent memories. She tried to rationalize her actions as creating context. However the reality was that by introducing ideas that did not exist, nor could be scarcely imagined, she forever changed the nature the filly. She had thrust adulthood onto a mind that had not and would now never have the opportunity to naturally ease into it. As a medical professional—sworn to do no harm—she hated herself for it.

She glanced down to the filly quite certain that she must feel the same about her. Treeling however looked back up at her nonchalantly with a hint of boredom. Crystal Clarity considered that Treeling may simply be in denial, that this was how the world worked... that bad ponies do bad things for no reason and get away with it. Though, C.C. knew that it wasn't and that there may still be time to fix this. Time enough still to teach the filly of the beauty found in the Crystal Empire.

To take a moment's respite the pair stopped at an outdoor restaurant. After placing the order for her and her companion, C.C. turned to Treeling to ask: "Take a look around. What do you see?" Confused by the question the filly started to remove her tablet before she was stopped by the mare who had asked, when she explained: "No, just look for a moment, really look."

After a moment of surveying the scene she started pointing to things seemingly at random. A pony here, a building there, a flower pot in the distance, and even the nearby tables. Nurse Clarity shook her head. "Look deeper," she encouraged. All day yesterday and all day today there had been but one spell that had been constantly being used around Treeling. The filly closed her eyes and concentrated on the deeper introspective look that Nurse Clarity had on her face whenever she cast the spell before she recreated it with her own face.

Watching such a peaceful look overcome the face of a war weary filly was a strange sensation for Crystal Clarity. A feeling made stranger by the sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach. Treeling's coat and mane ruffled—revealing the gilt of her coat associated with her casting—as she tore spell traces out of the mare.

The nurse swayed with the pull. She could feel a weight being lifted from her shoulders, as well as her strength being drained away, during the moments preceding the filly opening her eyes. Then there was only apprehension as the filly looked through her.

The primal child surveyed the scene once more with a sense of calm unbefitting her brutalized appearance. She took it all in again through the lens of emotion magic. While as not technically difficult as mind magic Nurse Clarity knew that it took a certain level of emotional control to not become lost in the throes of other's passions. It was a level of discipline that the filly clearly lacked as evident by her change in expression when inspecting other's auras. The other ponies’ feelings flowed into Treeling and were shown in her eyes by a diffusion of color in her pupils.

Though it was worrisome to see the constant tonal shifts the nurse didn't panic until they started to blend into a chromatic shine; like that seen in a bubble of soap... Treeling was going to be washed away if C.C. did nothing. Her own panic added a dark ring to the already overflowing eyes of the near catatonic filly. Reacting on borrowed instinct the mare leaped out of her chair with charged horn and connected to the filly's.

A memory that they both relied on filled their conjoined minds.
A glint of moonlight peered through cracks in her eyelids as the filly lie half asleep in mother's mouth. Before the armies came. Birds were nestling in mother’s leaves, occasionally stirring in the night, and furry woodland creatures congregated with the filly. Before the hunger set in. There was only peace that came with the soothing push and pull of air in her lungs. Before the magic awakened. It was a simpler time...
Before the memory faded.

Several minutes passed as onlookers stared uncomfortably at the mare who was standing on the outdoor patio table horn-locked with a filly who was coming down off a panic attack. The waitress returned with the food and tapped the mare on the hip. "Excuse me ma'am. You're freaking out the guests."

"I'm sorry miss. My–" Crystal Clarity said, "I mean, the child has special needs." The correction came with an awkward smile and an indication toward her paper hat as though it were some form of nursing certification. While she explained Treeling committed pictures to her slate, nimbly moving the chalk with her pursed lips, and with not so much as a quiver from the experience.

Since the child was no worse for the wear the waitress left without incident. Though Nurse Clarity thought that Treeling's ability to process emotions spoke more to her internal savage nature; rather than any quantification of maturity. For the child the feelings simply left as quickly as they had come, and in this way C.C. was jealous of Treeling. Her heart sank in shame in that moment. Jealousy is such an ugly feeling.

After she was done drawing Treeling tapped Nurse Clarity's hoof to call her back from being lost in thought. She pointed to a stallion enjoying the morning newspaper and then tapped the board. A picture of a cat cleaning itself was drawn where her hoof rested. The annotation of peaceably going through the daily routine was an interesting one to Nurse Clarity because it both demonstrated the effectiveness of her conditioning and also indicated that the filly could still be familiar with many such ideas without such reprogramming. Several similar such images were seen where various plants and animals indicated emotions. Some of the imagery came from the conditioning such as a potted plant, and some from personal experience, such as a squirrel sitting on the filly's nose while curiously feeling her horn.

The associations that the filly drew forced the mare to question if the invasive process of filling her mind with context images was even necessary and, while she considered this, the filly continued going through images. All the images filled a single collage except for one which was set off to the side.

Treeling slowly lifted her hoof to gently press it against Nurse Clarity's nose. She then lowered it with equal care to the picture that stood as the board's outcast emotion. It had been represented by a personal experience that they had magically shared. A filly portrayed to be strangled to death by a razor-toothed vine with an ominous aura surrounding them both. An aura not present in the nurse's own memory of the event. The event itself had a great deal of connotation for the filly, and they both knew it, but C.C. was left to wonder if Treeling's abilities were still evolving with every new spell she drew into herself. Since Treeling didn't rightly know herself there was no way for Nurse Clarity to know either.

After they finished eating they moved on to continue their task and there was a distinct difference in Treeling's level of expressiveness as she reached out emotionally to those they interacted with. Though there was no gilt in her coat, which would suggest that it wasn't a force of magic, there was still a great deal they didn't know about this filly. The psychiatrist noted that such a sudden and radical personality shift was not healthy.

<< Fair Game | Behavior Modification >>

Act 2 | Behavior Modification

"And that's about it," Nurse Clarity said to Sombra. Treeling had been sitting nearby for the entire conversation, though, she was completely lost by what had occurred. The topic had been obfuscated in the way parents often do when they don't want their child to know what's being said. With analogy, innuendo, and the occasional spelling of words that C.C. knew would otherwise invoke the context images in the filly's mind.

They had been discussing the disturbing trend that had developed over the course of the last week. Throughout their observational assignment of the city, the warchild had grown increasingly disconnected to the ponies around her, despite her growing ability to empathize with them. The nurse wanted the filly to have the chance at normal childhood like she once had before they met and before Treeling was to be turned over to the Estate of Magic for study.

Through her story Sombra said little but gave consideration to her concerns. Now that it had concluded he was ready to give some feedback. "I have a few points to address, but first I have to ask if you have even talked to Treeling about your concerns." The filly's ears perked up at hearing her name, and the nurse looked insulted at being spoon-fed such a basic line of her medical specialty.

"She poured her entire mind into my head and it isn't going away," The statement wasn't a psychiatric assessment, but rather a personal one, and she went on to explain: "I understand her better than you could possibly imagine and better than she can articulate."

The impassioned speech put Sombra in a state of unease. "You think," he corrected.

"What?" the nurse asked.

Sombra leaned his foreleg on the table that they were sharing breakfast at while Treeling sipped a milkshake. "You think you understand her, because you have some shared context, but you couldn't possibly know for certain without reading her again. And we both know you're not willing to take that risk."

"You have no idea what it's like to inherent another entire life worth of experiences!" Crystal Clarity exclaimed with some indignance.

"Experiential context," Sombra corrected again, "and you're right. As a consequence of me not forcing myself upon a child I have no idea how she thinks." A few moments passed in silence while he let her consider the implications of the statement before going on, "You gave her context for ideas that she didn't have, and in turn you were given context, but those experiences do not exist in isolation. The version of her life that you lived was colored by your perceptions. Your experiences."

C.C. was quiet for a long time before looking back to Sombra. "Since when are you a therapist?" she asked. To which he grew a coy smile.

"My plan—our plan—that of the Crystal Queen, requires us to understand each other and our opponents. So I've taken the last few days to read up on it during my research." Though his plan for their empire differed from that of the Crystal Queen it wasn't mentioned as a factor in his motivations. After he gave Treeling a soft noogie he went on, "She looks like a pony but she's not. Shes a bridge between what is in here, and what is out there."

"Out there?"

Sombra nodded. "Hydras, Chimaira, Dragons and Windigos. She embodies all the traits that the feral creatures that thrive in the Chaos Plains." Treeling smiled as the images of powerful and monstrous hunters filled her mind. She liked being compared to such strong specimens, but Sombra followed them with some comparisons she was less thrilled about. "Similarly, she has the adaptability and the same capacity for reason as the pony breeds. A capacity she must be allowed to develop naturally if we are to succeed."

"So... Are you saying that I should do nothing about this?" she asked but Sombra shook his head.

"Not nothing. Less than nothing. You're trying to change who she is, and we need her that way if we we're going to defeat Discord." C.C. couldn't believe what she was hearing as Sombra went on, "What is worse is trying to give her a normal-pony life that she can't have. It is only a cruel taunt of what she could never become."

"She could ha–" Nurse Clarity began before Sombra interrupted her with an authoritative slam of his hoof on the table that he made as he stood up and towered over her.

"No," he forcefully said as the filly imitated the gesture towering over her milkshake that she sipped innocently. "The sad truth is that war can not be won without the sacrifice of brave soldiers. She may not die, but she will never be like us, especially after what she's called upon to do."

An uncomfortable quietism stretched out between the two adults. Sombra tilted his head to subtly indicate to Nurse Clarity that she should look at the filly who was in a stance mirrored his own. Even now she was mimicking their behavior, as to become a Crystal Pony, and both Sombra and Nurse Clarity knew that the crystal ponies would not be not enough to stop Discord. It was in that moment of crystal clarity that the pony whose namesake it was realized: everything that made the filly unique and special was being brow-beaten out of her. On survival instinct alone the filly was conforming to the societal expectations of a civilization that was beneath her.

Sombra slowly returned to his seat as the filly did the same. He turned to Treeling to ask her directly: "Tell me about your time with Nurse Clarity." In a bit of dexterous maneuvering the slate and the milkshake exchanged places. A bit of chocolate ice cream drooled out of her mouth as she tried to manipulate both the chalk and the straw. She wiped the soft serve from her slate with her forehoof and began drawing.

An eclectic image set became a collage as the filly recreated the various emotions she had seen and felt strongly over the last week, and pointed to nearby patrons of the establishment while tapping on certain images. Nurse Clarity translated the emotions from image to words for Sombra as he inspected the targets at the end of her hoof.

"That's a lot of learning!" Sombra remarked with a playful tone. "Tell me. What does this mean to you?" he asked whilst tapping on the collage as a whole rather than any one part. The filly shrugged at the question before Sombra continued, "Then why did you learn it?" He suspected that he knew the answer but wanted to "hear" it from her lips. She clutched the chalk tightly in her mouth and erased the scene before drawing a new one. A mare and a filly holding the exact same kneeling pose as a Pegasus towered over the two of them on a throne, her wings spread wide, and her eyes filled with rage.

"Oh no..." Nurse Clarity said, "I didn't mean it like that..."

Sombra turned a pointed stare upon the nurse before gently returning his gaze to the filly. "Ok, but what for?" The filly gleefully snapped her jaw at Sombra, whilst the chalk dangled from the corner of her mouth like a cigarette, before resuming her tale. She drew a small pony on the board, being chased by a snow lion found in the mountains of the Crystal Empire. She drew Nurse Clarity's cutiemark on the lion, and then behind it she drew a timber-wolf with Sombra's cutiemark to chase the cat. Behind that still was the visage of a mighty dragon which bore her cutiemark, and was spraying fire at the timber-wolf.

Behind that still was a compilation of three more images. The sword that the others had talked about her becoming sticking out of the overlapping shadow of two creatures. The first was the draconequus. The second was the Celestial Sisters who were represented as a single four-winged being from both sides of the heavens. She looked up to Sombra with large puppy-dog eyes as she gently tapped on the sword in the ideological representation.

Confused by their appearance Sombra asked the filly: "What about them?" His words came with a tap the representation Celestia and Luna. The filly scribbled a thick, heavy, double-ended arrow between the Celestial Sisters and Discord to show that they were equivalent in idea and power. To her they were two extremes of the same continuum that was tearing the world apart.

<< Take Five | Space Race >>

Act 2 | Space Race

The sun hung high in the sky on the approach to the barracks. Now that their morning brunch was over Nurse Clarity was dismissed to report to the Queen on her progress with the child, while Sombra was mandated to turning Treeling over to aid in training the troops. The trip was filled with quiet contemplation of the audacious extremity of the filly's ambitions.

To destroy all of the most powerful forces in Equestria would leave a power vacuum that he may be able to exploit both here in the Crystal Empire and at home. Perhaps even strengthening the bond between their two nations. He had given some consideration to the question, before even meeting the filly, of how he would stay in power if the war outside drew to a close with a victor. Regardless of who won the conflict they would inevitably come to the Frozen North.

As he considered what was about to transpire he wasn't so much concerned that Treeling would be stronger than him because that notion was riddled with a fatal flaw: she couldn't be expected to understand his way of thought. Rather he was preoccupied with the idea that she was growing much faster than he was. It didn't matter how powerful he could become if she beat him to the punch and cut him down in some childish fit.

The primary purpose of her training with the guard was to give them combat experience with an external and chaotic element. To teach them to defend themselves against types of magic they had never seen before. So that they could be better prepared when confronting the legion of followers that Discord's fantastic powers had amassed. From what he knew of Discord, Sombra suspected that they didn't follow his orders per se, but rather he represented the ideals that they held in the highest esteem. As such, there wouldn't likely be any direct campaigns, but instead this was a defensive precaution until the actual conflict with Discord.

"Before I leave you in the care of Lieutenant Hurricane," he said, turning to the filly who was following in-tow, "There is something important you must learn." His tone carried a certain perilous note that he tried to mask with a smile. "So far you have only shown to be able to mirror magic, but you must learn to counter it..." he added and his voice trailed off as he inspected the filly's reaction. "I have just the spell in mind."

Sombra felt no small sense of irony in what he was purposing. It was the spell he learned because of his interactions with her, a behavioral modification spell, something to temper her wrath, and if she could break it then he could still refine it before taking it city wide. If she couldn't break it, then he knew that he would be ready when the opportunity to enhance the Crystal Empire's pliability presented itself.

It also didn't matter if the spell damaged her higher brain functions as he could work any such kinks out later. Though not the most desirable outcome it may serve to undo the damage that Nurse Clarity had done. At this point she was only useful to the Crystal Queen for her magical physiology and primal nature. Two savage traits that would be necessary to forge her into the sword he promised. Traits that would be required for her to be the great predator that even she wanted to be. Reason and rationale could only make her second guess her warrior's instincts.

The explanation continued as the military base came into view. "The magic that we form starts by harnessing energy to a purpose. Traditionally, this would be countered by an opposite purpose. For example: with my crystal magic, I could create while others could destroy, effectively countering the spell." The explanation caused both ponies to recall the crystal circle in his home. "There's an old saying among matter mages: To make something of yourself you must first master dissolution."

The explanation disappointed Treeling as both ponies knew that was not how her magic normally worked but she nodded to indicate that she would give it a try. Luckily Sombra also knew another way. "The alternative is called unweaving and until you came along it was purely theoretical."

The image conjured in the mind of the filly was appropriately a loom being worked in reverse. Sombra stopped and sat down as to put her on the same level as himself. "This basically means that you can neutralize the energy of a spell before its purpose is established. In theory this is done by infusing your own magical energy into the spell to destabilize it before the purpose can be attached. Because you can draw in an active spell and command it there is every reason to believe that you can draw out a spell before it can manifest fully. While that isn't a counter to the spell it would be an effective substitute."

Sombra placed his hoof on her chest, sliding the slate to the side, as her gaze matched his. He then drug her fur back to reveal the gold-tinted gilt at the roots of her coat so that she could associate the idea with its draw. He wasn't sure if she could find a way to do this, but if she were going to survive the training to come, she would need to learn some way to actively defend herself against magic. Rather than her traditional reactively responding to it.

He reached up and patted Treeling comfortingly on the head and in doing so her slate fell back into place. His dower speculation was intended to marry the ideas in her mind. "I can't tell you how to do this; only that I believe that you can. Try thinking of when you learned to use magic and if there is a way to undo that."

The filly spent a long uncomfortable minute thinking as Lt. Hurricane greeted the pair at the gates. "Sir," he said, while nodding to Sombra. Being a civilian dignitary, the unicorn didn't warrant a salute from the pegasus, but was entailed to the dialectical courtesies. The officer looked down to the filly, "Ma'am," he offered. Treeling didn't respond, and instead continued to form her statement before showing it to Sombra. If Hurricane was concerned about either the level of combat written on her face, or the level of combat that she would endure tomorrow, he said nothing about it when he returned his address to the other adult. "Are you transferring her into our custody early, sir?"

Sombra shook his head as Treeling drew a division on her board and started on a second image. "I'd like the opportunity to tour the facilities with her, so that she sees them with a familiar face, before she and I begin a simulation of her experience here."

"That's... a bit unorthodox," the Lt. said but didn't deny the request as this has been an unusual situation from start to finish. Taking on a civilian tactical consultant such as Sombra, was one thing... but a civilian combat consult, who was a filly no less, was beyond strange.

The filly tugged on the unicorn's coat to garner his attention that she might show the answer to what had asked. The first image was one she could practically draw in her sleep now, the mighty oaken-mother's leaves shuttering while enveloped in a magical aura, but the second one was new to him. It was of the filly. She had climbed up into her mother's branches, with her mouth full of leaves, and was trying to reattach them. As he surveyed the picture she drew her cutiemark from bottom to top to signify that she felt she had drawn her mother's magic out of her. For the first time since he had met her, her face was filled with two emotions he had not thought her capable of: shame and remorse. They accompanied the idea since her mother in turn ended up dying as a "result" of that incident.

Lieutenant Hurricane looked to the board with confusion as neither of the two trees held any symbolic significance to him. He couldn't help but ask: "Sir, is she alright?"

The corner of Sombra's mouth turned up with grim appreciation as he turned a steady gaze to Lt. Hurricane. "For the purposes of her consultation she is in excellent condition," Sombra's wry explanation came with a withered glance from Treeling.

<< Behavior Modification | Leashing the Beast >>

Act 2 | Leashing the Beast

The first hoof-fall onto the field caused a complete change in countenance as predatory instinct took hold. Her movements were sleek and her fur stood on end. The gold glimmering gilt that accompanied the push and pull of her magic ruffled its way across her coat. A similar gleam showed in the corner her battered eyes that reflected her rising soul. The tour was kept short but the anticipation it built was overwhelming, and she was ready to explode by the time she felt the freshly tilled dirt under her hooves. Treeling looked across the yard to Sombra whom possessed a more refined demeanor and she could smell the tension in the air.

There had been only one established rule, no killing, and it took quite some time to convey that idea. The lines between play fighting and hunting were very grey in the natural world. Even still Sombra had an intimate understanding of how devastating that her version of play-fighting was. Stepping into the arena created a sense of reality to the situation. Though the Lt. was supervising Sombra knew the pegasus could do nothing if things got out of hoof.

As he cleared his mind it was overly apparent that the filly was waiting on him to spark the battle. He didn't want to be trapped in an illusion again, and steeled himself against that aspect of his magic by preparing a counter. He drew in a deep breath and let it out as he brought his magic forth. The filly had already established a perfect, natural, breathing rhythm that added a rumbling swagger to her stance. The moment he had his spell in mind she rushed at him, her horn lowered into a charge, but he interrupted it by shouting at her. "Magic!"

The filly's hooves kicked up dirt as she scraped to a stop, she had nearly forgotten why they were fighting in the first place, and gave a solemn look to the ground before taking a deep breath to reestablish her rhythm. Rather than waste her time with the warm up exercise that she would be getting tomorrow Sombra got straight to the point. His horn glowed a vibrant light black, a similarly colored beam of energy lanced forward from it, and struck Treeling between the eyes.

A small cloud of crystal particles leaked from her tear-ducts as they flooded her mind. Her irises thinned as her pupils dilated, and her jaw slacked under the strain of the images. They were different than when Nurse Clarity had invaded her mind, as they came from within, being agitated by the magic of the crystals.

Sombra had designed the spell to use tiny amplification crystal-fragments aligned to insecurity and doubt, to boost those feelings in the mind of a victim, and in a combat scenario this would create the crippling fear that the filly was demonstrating. The initial test of the spell was successful and he waited on pins-and-needles for the counter.

A counter that was slow coming as Treeling was having a difficult time with the spell. Her eyelids slammed shut, and squeezed out several small tears. After a moment her expression that was once filled with fear and sadness, slowly twisted into one of pain and anger. Her coat flitted, flirting with its golden gilt, as mane and tail radiated the smoky spell that gave them a form of magical flow only seen in the Celestial Sisters. The crystal deposits found themselves being expunged into her fur, which gave it a deep dark tint, and a glossy shine. Her eyelids burst open once more to reveal severely constricted pupils that tightened her focus.

Sombra wasn't a doctor, but even he could see the tell-tale signs of an adrenalin rush, and this one had the added effect of a blood stream full of crystallized amplification magic. The first counter—a reassignment of purpose—was clearly indicated. Sombra's train of thought was interrupted again when she charged at him, this time however, she showed no indications of slowing. She wasn't going to hold back.

With no time to lose Sombra fell back on old magic for defense, forming a crystal shard from his shadow, while crystal plate armor materialized over his body. A loud crack could be heard from the filly's impact with the crystal, which caused a smirk to creep across Sombra's face as Crystal Clarity made the same mistake.

The smug soon evaporated with the effervescent sound of crystal bubbling back into shadow that was accompanied by the gurgling sound of a growl coming through the stone. A phthalo green hoof rocketed through the crystal's remains and reached out for Sombra. The strike could be heard across the entire yard as the filly barreled through the crystal slush and his armor splashed to the ground.

When the crystal cracked a plume of smoke blew over Sombra that both the filly and the gathering by-standards thought had been a consequence of the crystal's sublimation. However, in the moments between her collision with the still-solid crystal, and breaking through it, Sombra had met her with a matching spell. Crystal mist radiated from his pores but his coat and mane remained unchanged. He looked down the length of her fore-leg, from the hoof on his forehead to her face, before he leaned his horn at her.

A brilliant flash of black light diffused in the charcoal fog from which the filly was launched. The magic had been blasted out of her, and she hit the ground hard in her native state. Her hair had lost it's oomph, and her coat lost its luster, though still held some residual tinting from partial crystallization in her fur. Lt. Hurricane called out to Sombra to when she rolled to a stop with a mouth full of blood and smoke, but she was determined not to be defeated. After struggling to get back up she coughed the blood out of her mouth through gritted teeth. The smoke wasn't hers and she didn't want to drop it.

Like the tether of the shield before it this one too possessed all the power she needed. She lowered her center of gravity and her eyes stalked her prey as she tugged at the cloud. One short jerk was all it took to rip the tether's source out of Sombra, but this time she didn't take it into herself. The cloud whipped into a wide arc before a deluge of the inky obtenebration splashed to the ground whereupon it was absorbed into the dirt. Victorious; the filly sat down and smiled her signature jack-knife grin.

"That's it? You're done?" Sombra mockingly asked as if she had just given up. She shook her head, tapped her chest with her hoof, and then pointed it at him. After a moment of confused stares a shooting pain ripped through his chest... he was having a heart attack. The filly slowly stood back up as the stallion crashed to the ground, huddled the fetal position of pain, he cried out what he was certain was the word "How?"

Combat medics rushed onto the scene only to be snapped at by Treeling. No pony was going to get close to him except her. Her plot plopped down near his writhing body. She leaned in so that she could see deep in his eyes, and in so doing she dominated his entire view so he could take a good long look at her. The crystals in her fur, skin, and hair were still present even though their power had faded. They were still spell traces. His crystals, however, were still in his blood. She had ripped the power out, but left them there, and now they were clogging his heart. Treeling bobbed her head in agreeance as the look of recognition filled Sombra's eyes. She leaned in and tapped his horn with her own.

A shock of magic filled his system and, as the crystals melted out of existence, he gave thought to the matter mage's adage. She truly had made something of herself.

With the imitate threat resolved the two were escorted to the infirmary for followup treatment. For how fierce that the medical personal heard the fight was, as reported by Lieutenant Hurricane, the wounds were surprisingly tame. The coronary damage to Sombra's cardiovascular system was minimal, and Treeling had just bit her tongue, cheek, and lip in the fall. Of the two they found it was more difficult to treat the filly on account of her their magic not working.

With her mouth stuffed with cotton balls Treeling tapped Sombra on the shoulder and presented him with a drawing. The montage of images made her sad when she drew them, and she was hesitant at first to even mention it. The progression started with her happy place, sleeping inside the tree, before the magic and the armies. Smoke poured in and she leaped out. That smoke had a magical aura, not unlike how he knew that she saw his own magic mist; however it wasn't coming from him. It was coming from a raging fire that had encompassed the entire highveld that her tree belonged on.

She wiped the slate clean and drew some more. The fire was being carried on the backs of termites into every crevice of her mother's skin when another pony appeared. She was drawn with the same flowing mane that Treeling had temporarily possessed during the battle. A smaller drawing with an arrow pointing to her head indicated that the mane, and tail, were made of the same smoke from her slow burning skin. The rest of her coat had been a pillowy soft ash, as indicated by a mound of soot, and her hooves were that of charred stone.

Treeling tapped the mare on the board then tapped her chest with the same hoof.

"Ash-veld?" Sombra asked.

She nodded, and drew some more. They fought under her mother's branches, and the heat caused her mother's leaves to russtle. That was when Treeling knew. She tapped on the tree she had drawn so many times before, but instead of the aura, it was ensconced in a ring of flames. Treeling drew herself drawing in Asheveld. It could never hurt her again because it was a part of her. Somewhere deep inside. The filly ran her hoof through her mane to show off the discolorations that were left over by Sombra's magic.

Sombra was at a loss for words. It was her first traumatic experience for since her mother's death, something that was made clear by the way she looked down to the slate, and as she wiped it clean with her face a tear smeared onto it. She drew a final image set for the night. The dragon that previously represented her, being slain by the sword she was to become, and her magical aura passing from one to the other. She wasn't the sword yet but she was so much closer now. At least she hoped she was because of how much pain the dragon was in.

<< Space Race | Night Life >>

Author's Note

Leashing the Beast is a reference to White Wolf's animalism ability with the same name. It's particularly well know for its double edged tenancy to inspire both fear, and rage.

Act 2 | Night Life

A quiet whimper came across the barracks from a filly who was squirming in her sleep. Sombra was also having trouble sleeping. His mind was too busy from the events of the previous day to put his body to rest; so he quietly trotted over to wake her up. She was having a nightmare, the first he had ever seen her have, though they weren't uncommon in the Crystal Empire. Rumor had it that the Night Princess would come into the dreams of fillies and colts to help them through such experiences, but with the shield still in effect, there would be no way for Luna to find them here. For the past five years the peace of mind of the night was just part of the price they had to pay for peace of mind during the day.

After stirring her from her slumber they quietly crept out to the mess-hall for a mid-night snack. While they walked he talked to her about their day. He reminded her how much fun she was having meeting all the ponies who were looking forward to playing with her tomorrow, and she smiled. He called her ma'am, and she giggled. She had been treated with so many ridiculous formalities all day that she couldn't help but laugh. Treeling reminded him a little of his own daughter. A daughter whom he was certain would be being raised to assume the throne in his absence and, before he left, was quite the same way with the formalities. Since he had been out of contact for five years he knew that they had no choice but to assume that he was dead.

"Princess Platinum of the Steel Ponies." he told the filly, "That's what they'll call her when I finally can go home." He hung his head low at the idea of missing his baby girl grow up and being a failure of a single father.

Treeling reached out and gently tapped him on the top of his head with a question in her eyes.

"Yeah," he said, "I am, but I didn't want anyone to know. If they knew the king himself had come to seek an alliance they might think us weak, and it was my intention to prove that we were anything but. Through commerce and trade, but now..."

The filly gave him another consoling pat. She was as tough as they came and knew that he wasn't weak.

He slid her a sandwich with a wistful smile. It was against regulations to eat after lights out but didn't care, and since he wasn't part of this nation's military there was little they could do to reprimand him– let alone her. She was almost like a daughter to him, and that was what was keeping him awake. He couldn't rest with the burden of what he had advocated, and participated in, doing to her. While he blamed Nurse Clarity for her methods, they were his idea in the first place, and he hadn't considered how screwed up they were.

Now that Treeling was Treeling Asheveld there was no going back, but there had been no going back since the moment she wandered into the Crystal Empire. At least, that was the rationalization he used then. A rationalization that now failed to have any meaning. As the filly ate, he thought about what Crystal Clarity had said about giving the child a normal life, and wondered if they were strong enough to make that happen.

After they had finished eating Sombra shared some of his feelings on the subject with Treeling and asked her what her plans were after the war ended. She drew him sitting on the throne of the Crystal Empire. He thought that she might have been confused by the question so he rephrased it. "I meant, what do you plan to do after the war is over?"

She wiped the slate clean while considering her answer. Several minutes of her staring at the blank stone canvas passed before Sombra gently tapped her hoof.

"You don't know?" he asked.

She shook her head and then slowly drew a lone tombstone that bore her cutiemark.

"I won't let that happen," Sombra told her in a definitive but reassuring tone.

The look she gave him said all he needed to hear. He couldn't stop it.

"Nurse Clarity will be here tomorrow. Let's try to get some rest before then." It was as fatherly as Sombra had been in several years and she really needed a father. He reached over to where she was sitting and pulled her into a deep hug. Both ponies could feel their stress melt away in the embrace, as if it had manifested through their willful obtenebrations, and was countered by the light of love.

The hug went on for much longer than Sombra felt was appropriate, as the child kept her face buried in his chest, and refused to let go. She was genuinely afraid of something, but he couldn't quite place what, nor could she articulate it. If anything it would be that she had never had a nightmare before. The longer he held her the more her muscles relaxed until she reached the edge of sleep. He scooped her up onto his shoulders and carried her back to her bed. After tucking her in for the night he returned to his cot to get some shut-eye.

Laying perfectly still for as long as she could Treeling simply stared at the cot above her; refusing to close her eyes for fear of what lie on the other side of her lids. In time her eyes dried and stung but still she persisted. The occasional blink became mandatory, then one wink turned into two, and two turned into forty.

***

You return. The words were not spoken, they were not drawn, and they were not conjured with thoughts. They were a shared existence between Treeling and Asheveld that occurred as their eyes met. The whole world was on fire but that fire was distant and the filly was safely out of harm’s way. The backdrop of burning cities flickered like tea-candles. Small. Insignificant. Like ants.

Though she too burned even mother stood flat; like a cardboard cut-out of her former self. The swarming black and red armies now had diverse forms of ponies and non-ponies alike. Treeling longed for the calm-quiet before their rise… the followers of Discord and the Celestial Sisters. The time before the biting and casting. She glanced up and their eyes briefly met again.

Peace. The feeling came the same as before: as though it had always existed within her. The recognition that their eyes shared in passing alone expressed all that need be said. The filly desperately stomped at the warring armies that had brought death to her home. She tore the fire from her mother, which caused the prop to fall flat on the ground, as she whipped them with a wreath of flames. The more she lashed out the more her own skin and fur bore the tell-tale signs of the blaze rampaging through Asheveld's heart.

***

The child was still thrashing as she came to. Her arms and legs were restrained and her chest confined. She struggled for breath between the tears and she could feel arms around her neck. She bucked as hard as she could until a soothing voice called to her and she recognized she was in the comforting embrace of another.

"Shh..." Nurse Clarity whispered. "I'm here now." She had arrived as early as she could though she didn't know the details of Sombra's training she knew him and she knew herself. The filly would need her. "I'm here now..." she cooed again and again, "I'm here..."

"I'll always be here for you."

<< Leashing the Beast | Royal Royale >>

Act 2 | Royal Royale

The mid-morning sun glinted off the crystal crown of the Queen as she was led to her seat by royal procession. Bleachers had been set up on the side of the artillery range, and all drills for the day had been canceled. The field was as quiet as could be expected for having had five hundred confused ponies in full dress uniform stuffed onto it. It was a strange sight considering that neither the Queen, nor any of her staff, made an attempt to address the restless crowd.

Being the consultants in charge of this activity Sombra and Nurse Clarity sat on the sidelines. Sombra leaned to C.C. to whisper, "I'm sorry about what I said the other day. I was wrong." She shot him a confused glance, and he hurriedly added: "About after the war. I was wrong to say we shouldn't give her hope." Her smile gave off generous warmth as she leaned her head on his shoulder. The moment was abruptly interrupted by Lieutenant Hurricane's wing-over on his way to the field. A field that played host to the same argument across many groups of participants.

"I don't know what's more insulting," said a unicorn in full battle regalia as she turned to her pegasus friend, "The fact that our first combat consultant is a little filly, or that the L.T. doesn't think we can handle it."

"I know what you mean, Prim," a similarly dressed pegasus replied, though lacking the heavy plate armor, he too was in full military formal dress. "My unit was up at the crack of dawn running evasion drills while she slept in."

"This is stupid," an earth pony chimed in while stomping a magic imbued horseshoe in the dirt, "It looks like the entire battalion turned out to watch us make asses of ourselves."

"Shut your pipes!" barked Lieutenant Hurricane to his platoon. A single, collective, horseshoe hit the ground as thirty ponies snapped to attention. "You are here to do as you are ordered. Does anypony have a problem with that?"

"Sir. No, Sir!" the collective mass shouted just as the filly in question strolled onto the battle field. She was mentally fatigued from a restless night, but that only affected her conscious mind. Her primal instincts, however, were intact and they radiated though the swagger that she put into every step.

"Many of you have families and offspring of your own," Hurricane added with military authority, "but this isn't your milk-mare's baby..." The Lt. paused briefly to allow his platoon to get a good look at Treeling. With all eyes on her she beamed with pride and a jagged toothy-grin pushed apart the scars on her face.

"She's been on the outside!" Hurricane added with a dramatic flair, "And her body-count is higher than the lot of you put together."

A collective gulp from the platoon could be heard as she started to look like the monster that their C.O. was describing.

"She has a flair for tearing weak ponies apart." Hurricane's words came with a chomp from the filly that began pacing the field like a wild animal waiting to be left off its chains. The commanding officer finished his introduction of her: "If she puts any of you in the infirmary... I will make the the entire platoon dig to the tenth circle of hell." After another pause to verify the recognition in their eyes, he shouted: "Are we clear!?"

"Sir, yes sir!" The mob responded without hesitation.

"Begin!" Lieutenant Hurricane shouted as he took to the sky.

Discomfort befell the crowd as one pony asked, "What, all of us?"

"That's what it's going to take," Hurricane said over his shoulder as he flew off field.

Sombra and Nurse Clarity watched with concern as the ponies broke into formations, and ten horns flickered on. Then the rustle of fur could be seen, which revealed the glittering gilt of the filly, and ten horns flickered off. The thirty-mane melee began with confusion and it quickly became a twenty-nine-mane melee when a beam of energy sliced through the air. A pegasus struck in the chest was stunned by the blow, which caused him to fall, and break his wing on impact.

The crowd of spectators roared at the sight of a medic lassoing the pegasus to drag him off field, and the filly giddily danced in place, because now they had nothing to lose. The Queen looked down to a roster of the combatants. They weren't necessarily the best-of-the-best, but they were each selected with a specific purpose. The group possessed a wide variety of combat styles and specializations that was to be representative of their crystal corps as a whole. The operation's purpose was two fold: the secondary of which was to test how her military overall may react to the unknown. The longer the battle went on the more clearly that question would was answered.

The crowd roared again at the fist clean hit of the match that was delivered to Treeling, and Crystal Clarity cringed at the subsequent counter attack. Lance Dancer, a cavalry mare, broke from a shielded formation to attempt an overrun against the filly who had left herself open. A lateral scratch dug deep in her cheek, and down the side of her neck as she pulled her face away, before a shielding spell of her own exploded outward. The force of the impact knocked the mare unconscious, and sent her flying, while the magic fused the left half of her armor together.

"I don't know how long this can go on..." Clarity turned her concerns to Sombra.

Who returned with: "She's taking in too many different types of spells at once."

With every stolen spell they could tell a toll was paid but the filly didn't seem to mind. So long as there were enemies to fight she pushed on. With a burst of celerity she broke the earth pony lines, leaving three stallions crumpled under magical slashes and the pricks of horn pokes. Coming to a stop she turned her attention to the sky while a shard of magically resistant plate still hung from her mouth.

The combatants soon realized that this was no exhibition match and that their friends were seriously injured. With three earth ponies down, and two pegasai grounded, they quickly put together that the unicorns were operating with impunity. Prim Palisade took charge of rallying the troupes. "Basic artillery only! She's stealing our shields and augments."

Volley after volley of basic blasts did well to stunt the movement of the filly. At first they were just trying to pin her down but after a few were returned, knocking out more air support, they became less hesitant about harming the filly. Tensions soared as the crossfire worked its way into a lull. Everypony on the field was exhausted. Those who still remained in the aerial combat team thanked their lucky stars for the extra evasive practice while a few earth ponies huddled behind the unicorns. A sizzling smoke trail came off Treeling's horn as she heaved air in and out.

"What have we done?" Crystal Clarity asked Sombra. She looked up at him with doleful eyes. As she begged her question the earth ponies made a run at Treeling under the cover of the pegasai.

Sombra nodded out to the field at the ponies charging into a trap. "It's not what we've done, or what we've been asked to make, but the fact that we succeeded that should concern you."

Just as he predicted the filly who looked to be hyperventilating was actually drawing in the residual energy displaced by their arcane cannon shots, and that energy was used by the metaphorical sword to slice through the literal platoon. Sombra turned his head away from an explosion that tore up mounds of dirt, armor, and the first five ponies in range. The fire that raged in the field was a mere spark cast off by the tempering process, as mallet folds mettle, and this fight would quench that still-glowing sword.

Those whose attention wasn't drawn to the earth and pegasus ponies crashing to the ground, could easily see the wobble in the filly's legs, and her struggle to keep her eyes open. The platoon recounted their numbers and found they were down under half. Of the starting ten: six unicorns had collapsed from exhaustion, the remaining four were fairly beat up, but still able to battle. Of those not blessed with the favoritism that came with spells to steal, one male and one female had wings, and only one male still stood of the three without. Their opponent's horn was still smoking and she was about to nod off to sleep.

More.

It wasn't the word, but instead the feeling that Nurse Clarity had attached to it. Ambition was rediscovered in Treeling's heart as though it had always existed there. She pried her drooping lids open a little further to look around for the source of the emotion that filled her, but Asheveld didn't need to repeat her communion. The dark hew of ash spread down from her horn and across her coat like flameless wildfire. Her mane gained a level of celestial buoyancy as the short strands of her thin hair lengthened; plump with magic. Her form and features gained a slight elongation that was not present during her first transformation.

"No!" Sombra shouted, startling Nurse Clarity who—like everypony else—was seeing this for the first time. An uncanny still beset the crowd and the Crystal Queen raised an eyebrow at her "crystal sword" while Sombra rushed onto the field. "She shouldn't be able to draw it out... I haven't casted anything!" he frantically said to himself.

"Fire!" another unicorn shouted after realizing their leader had been incapacitated.

"No!" Sombra countermanded but it was too late. The remaining four casters crashed to the ground with blood coming from their eyes, ears and noses, as a magical inversion canceled their spells. "Get them out of here!" Sombra shouted at the final five before turning his attention back to the filly who had become a mare in front of the whole of the crystal army.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" He poured the words into her ears and an extreme stare into her eyes. After a long, longing look at him, and those escaping behind him... she turned her gaze up to the Crystal Queen, and the hundred highly trained officers between them. Then he knew. Even if she could speak, she didn't have to say a word. The Queen wanted to show her people the nightmares of war. He too looked up to the Queen, as Treeling's coat flickered. The eyes of Crystal Clarity briefly matched their gaze before Asheveld burned herself out, and she rushed onto the scene. The filly didn't have enough strength left to do anything with the new power that was fleeting from her veins, but it was enough to flex those muscles.

"What did you do?" the nurse cried the accusation at Sombra as she picked the filly up off the ground.

"The same as you..." he said, "What we had to." He knew that the Queen's ponies had to know what they would be getting into when the shield came down since that was only a matter of time now. Likewise it was the same matter of time time before he could return home.

Treeling let go of Asheveld's magic. Through tired eyes she caught the Crystal Queen's suspicion, the Nurse's pain, and Sombra's fear. She smiled in the warm embrace, not that of Crystal Clarity, but rather Asheveld's as it carried her off to sleep.

<< Night Life | Broken Dreams >>

Act 3 | Broken Dreams

Barely living; the filly's eyelashes fluttered briefly to reveal a pony speaking with Lieutenant Hurricane.

"I'm sorry sir, there's nothing more we can do," the conciliatory voice came from a concerned nurse, but not from her nurse. "Her body is rejecting all treatment. Magic has had no effect, and she vomits up every concoction of potions we try to administer... There's nothing we can–"

Her words were cut off by an irate air commander, "Unacc–"

***

Embers in the air brought with them the scent of sulfur and suffrage. The low floating island bobbed gently in a sea of fire. Orange and yellow reflections were cast off a gradient grey landscape that was once the Frozen North and created ambiance in the smoke-filled sky. A low glow diffused into the heat-mirage that coated the surface of the land as waves of flame crashed into a shiny blue orb that lie half-buried in ash.

The air was dry. Not a drop of water could be found for a hundred miles in any direction. The molten remains of Equestria that flowed over the mountainous barrier had heated the Crystal Empire, and surrounding provinces to their char-broiled state. In the distance the fledgling city of Cloudsdale was but an accumulation of smog and toxins that rained acid on the landscape below.

Everything Treeling cast her gaze upon, both far and wide, was laden with the effects of war. Even that one shining jewel was being eroded beneath the waves of destruction.

Soon. The feeling evoked by the orb was neither spoken, or thought, nor did it require images. It simply was as she was and was made manifest through her pensive presence.

Asheveld stepped into Treelings peripheral and observed the landscape she was so aptly named after. A heavy sigh escaped her lips and rustled cinders from her fur. There was no malice in it, but rather a sense of restlessness, and the enkindled mare's head was in a metaphorical fog as thick as the smoke of her mane.

Treeling slowly walked closer to the edge of the tiny flat-topped island, and sat next to Asheveld. It was a long time before either addressed each other, rather, both took in the scenery as it crumpled and collapsed in the sea of change. Treeling smacked her chapped lips as she licked them– the way one does in preparation to speak. She turned her head to Asheveld, who in turned an equal degree to meet her, and both said nothing. There was nothing to say. Treeling just knew her.

Asheveld's teeth sparked like flint on steel as she ground them into a wry smile. She briefly cocked her head into a tilted nod accompanied by a shrug of the shoulders. Her charcoal eyes met those of Treeling's, reflecting a soft searing glow, before she blinked out tears of soot that flaked off her cheeks. Even though she was growing stronger now, just like Treeling, they both knew that they would be dead before it was all said and done. All they wanted to do in this moment was pay respect to each other's short-lived lives. There would be time enough still for the lessons to come.

***

The frantic patter of hoof-beats could be heard on the marble floor. "Push an I.V. and get her into an ice bath stat! We have to get her core temperature down or she's going to boil in her own fluids," a nurse could be heard screaming from somewhere distant. The words carried themselves as though on the wind, rustling through the branches of a forest, into Treeling's ears.

"What's happening?" another nurse called. This one was her nurse. Nurse Clarity. Treeling couldn't open her eyes but she knew the sound of the words as they were once flooded into her mind. Different this time, scared, but the same base tones.

"Get her out of h–"

***

Twilight.

The sun hung in a permanent dusk, whilst the moon was locked in perpetual rise. Though the sky was still besmirched with clouds of ash and dust the horizon was beginning to clear. Asheveld was still sitting at the lip of their floating island, observing the waves crashing on the shore of the Crystal Empire. This time, however, she carried a different sense in her body language. Anticipation. There was a hunger about her as molten stone drizzled from her lips. Treeling made her approach and sat near whilst matching her gaze.

Wave after wave the flames of war washed over the shield and each one staining it another shade darker. What was once a glistening jewel of brilliant white, and sky blue, was dyed a deep soft grey. Asheveld's ears perked up as an upsurge in the tide crashed down on the shield and, when the foam settled, a crack manifested in the barrier. Small at first, but each wave that lapped against it added more pressure, which in turn caused the crack to spread. Their time would rapidly be upon them and there was still so much to say.

The flame incarnate abruptly stood up, and flailed wildly through a sprint back to the downed cardboard cut-out of mother. She stopped in the middle of its base and Treeling watched curiously as she muzzled at it. With a lick of her tongue, a slow smoldering started on the edge of the tree's construct, while Asheveld struggled to separate the cover from the pages of this book.

Treeling looked out across the ruin-scape to the cracking crystal marble, and back to Asheveld. She too felt a sense of urgency so she got up to help her other half. Treeling trotted over and pried her horn between the two large flaps of cardboard opposite of Asheveld. Together the two horns were enough to open the large double doors that served as the story's cover.

The cover flopped to the ground creating a singular rigid image of a forest that a swarm of two-dimensional termites flooded from. As Treeling gasped an inhalation of horror, Asheveld produced an exhalation of flames, which burned the yellow army into black pages as flat as they were. The silhouettes were then emblazon onto their own cardboard stands that were then set up in accordance to the lesson plan.

Now it was Treeling who watched with anticipation as her subconscious spelled out the finer details of that which she had observed. She noted that they had different sizes and shapes, and were arranged by that progressively increasing size. The smallest was slightly larger than Asheveld and carried the shape of Nurse Clarity. Asheveld stood facing Treeling, who was herself sitting at attention, and tapped her seared horn on the silhouette. Though the surface immolated the cardboard was not consumed as it burned. Instead it released a wave of motherly love, and a pang of guilt.

She repeated the process for the remaining stand-ins. From the Crystal Queen: duty and vanity. Sombra radiated sacrifice and cowardice. The unified silhouette of the four winged alicorn that represented the Celestial Sisters was next, but before her horn made contact the duo heard an earth-shattering sound in the distance that drew their attention. The shield collapsed, the fires of war washed in, and Asheveld was extinguished in a puff of smoke.

She was so startled by the event that Treeling nearly jumped out of her skin. She rushed over to the edge of the world to watch the waves settle, and the calm surface take a glassy appearance. It was unnerving. Reaching out for the feelings of comfort she returned to the lesson, and tapped her own horn to the cutout of Crystal Clarity. When she touched it, it became unbalanced and fell into the next one, causing a chain reaction which brought down one after another. First the stand in for Sombra, then the Crystal Queen and Discord. They were followed by the four-winged Celstial Sisters, then the lesser of the individual alicorns, and finally the greater one: who fell over the edge into the flames below.

After that everything made sense.

***

"You're daughter's stable now." A voice echoed the news that a chart bore, "But she had a massive infection that set off the fever." There was a drawn out pause before the doctor continued, "We're not sure what kind it was. It has cleared out of her system on its own, but there is another problem."

"What is it?" Nurse Clarity voiced in concern.

"The crystalline deposits we found in her coat and mane, are also in her blood. That means they're everywhere in her body... and they're gr–"

***

The return to the dreamscape was not a pleasant one since Asheveld was not there to meet Treeling. Though she waited for what felt like hours, her conflagratory companion could not be smoked out. Strangely the lake of fire below was choppy, but the skies above were clearing. Crystal clear. The filly stared into the endless black of space until a voice broke her trance. She was alone no longer.

"Oh..."

Excitement turned to disappointment as she turned to see the speaker. Asheveld was like her and didn't need to speak. The filly inspected the interloper with suspicion. Though their manes had a similar lift and flow to them; the two shared no other features. Every time Treeling had seen Asheveld the two came to more closely resemble each other physically; right down to similar downy fur and jagged teeth.

This pony's massive stature towered over her and cast a long shadow of terror. Treeling scrambled backward to the edge of her island prison in a fit that knocked briquettes loose over the edge. At seeing the severe reaction to the appearance of the lesser Celestial Sister, Luna, too backed toward her respective edge. She bowed low and offered an apology while still taking in the surreal scenery that existed in this filly's nightmare.

"Forgive us," Luna whispered in as gentle a tone as she could muster.

The endless black that loomed overhead was also daunting to Luna, and distant sun and moon looked to be drowning in the burning lake below, but it was the air itself that was most oppressing. It was primal, untamed, and immutably clawed at her conscious mind with baser urges.

The filly skittered up onto all fours and let out a growl in Luna's direction.

"Please... do not fear us," Luna begged, while bringing meekness into her demeanor. The night princess was no stranger to semiotics, and at a glance knew exactly what she had walked into, though to whom it belonged remained a mystery. The primeval nature of the imagery, and carnal atmosphere that seamlessly bled into every fiber of the dreamer's being, meant the situation was a very precarious one. "Our magic drew us to where we were most needed."

Treeling's stance turned to one of rigid tension which was a marked improvement over its previous state. She cautiously made her way to the lunar guardian. She breathed deeply with a solid sniff of Luna's scent. She could smell the magic in the alicorn. It was a strange sensation. This was a place where there was no magic. Yet this pony had brought it into her sanctuary. The filly collapsed to the ground, and clutched her head in agony while slowly rocking back and forth.

The seas raged and the tides surged. Hurricanes formed on the horizon that swiftly funneled up still burning debris that brought flame to the entire formations. Luna produced a spooked utterance as she could feel the waves of emotion draw on her form, pulling out of her, and into the filly who was slowly rocking itself in a pool of her own tears. A long low wail could be heard rippling through the filly's still open mouth. A sound that pierced Luna's soul as the wind itself moved through her body and into the child's inhalation. It caused her coat to dim and the magic of her mane to flicker, while Treeling's own coat ruffled with the breeze, and after it settled so did the the child's scream. Treeling had reached out for her gilt but, for the first time in her life, she could not grasp it. It was beyond her. She peaked out from under her hooves and locked eyes with the tear-filled Luna.

Everything came to a full stop while the two stared into each other's eyes. The fires froze, lost dimension, and fell into a static image that was reflected in the gleam of a frightened princess's eyes. Though the tears had clouded them there was still a hint of recognition buried deep inside as a smoky reflection winked back at Treeling's inspection.

The night princess's fear wasn't for her own sake but rather for the filly whom was so inundated with the pain of war, death, and destruction. Experiences that were worn into her face and horn. Luna's eyes darted back and forth across the face of the filly whom had cried herself out of grief. Ever so slightly she allowed her shoulders and hips to relax, in addition to the unclinching of every muscle in between. She slowly rose to a stand and beckoned the Treeling to do the same.

Mother.

The word read over the shoulder of the filly caused an awkward hesitation in Luna. A hovering wing meant to enshroud and comfort the filly stopped short instead and hung barely out of reach. It was written on a battered, burned, scraped, trampled, and termite ridden cardboard cutout of the carcass of a tree.

A conflict brewed in the princess's heart as she withdrew her wing. The filly obviously needed the help but she couldn't even begin to know where how to start or what exactly would be beneficial. She brought her fore-hoof up and caressed Treeling's cheek, the tears had eroded channels through them, and the various scars on her face. Luna could not tell which wounds were phantasmal, and which were real. Though it was clear that her presence was keeping the fires of war at bay. With each blink from the filly, the two dimensional surface of the cylinder that surrounded them wavered and shook, and threatened to burst back into their third dimension.

"Shh... child. We are here." The consolation was all that Luna could think to offer as she scanned the area for other words.

***

The scent was the first thing the filly noticed as she came to. The air was heavy with the noticeable presence of oxygen, free of contaminants such as soot and ash, and packed with the the foul odor of magic. Treeling was home but now she had returned to the Crystal Empire.

"I can't explain it," a doctor began explaining to Nurse Clarity and Sombra, "The cardiac incident was a fault in the machinery, not your daughter, her heart is perfectly fine. From what we can determine she released a wave of energy that–"

The talking stopped as the machines indicated another fault. Treeling had pulled several tubes and wires from her fore-legs, and struggled to sit up. Though concern was written all over their posture there was also a clear look in their eyes. Hesitation. Now that the child had awoken they couldn't face their the overwhelming blend of emotions coursing through their veins. It was just as well since the doctor had a few questions of his own.

"Treeling. You were in a coma for three days. Do you remember what happened?"

The question was too vague to be answered with a yes or no so Treeling just shook her head.

All she knew for certain was that she was weary from the experience.

<< Royal Royale | Happy Little Family >>

Author's Note

The title card for this story is derived from this scene. It is the culmination of everything before it, and everything that comes after is its consequence.

Act 3 | Happy Little Family

The sterile hospital room was quiet save for the low beeping of machinery and the hushed whispers of a doctor who didn't think the filly could understand her. Outside the glass walls the backs of four elite guards could be seen manning a post while Lieutenant Hurricane stood staring in.

"There was a three hundred percent increase in crystallization of the cell walls, particulates in the blood, and then... nothing. Her irregular anatomy is giving our tests a great deal of trouble but there was no trace of infection in her system," the attending physician explained, "We don't know what set off her fever, or dehydration, and as far as we can tell the coma induced by extreme exhaustion."

Nurse Clarity was hysterical. "Are you telling me she just felt like taking a nap for three days?"

The doctor hesitated. "Not at all. We just can't find anything medically wrong and that is good news."

Though Sombra stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Nurse Clarity it was clear that there was still a great distance between the two. A chasm that grew wider with every passing moment. Something was troubling him and even Treeling could feel it. She pulled her tablet onto her lap and started sketching. The sketch was rough and difficult to make because her jaw and lips were still somewhat numb. The scraping of chalk on stone garnered the interest of the three adults in the room.

On their approach the rendering was completed and revealed a scribbled outline of an alicorn with a moon on her butt. The drawing could only mean one thing. The outside world now knew that it could get in, but it was more than that, those trapped inside could finally get out... the war had truly come to the Crystal Empire.

Though impossible for Sombra to turn stark white he did manage to make it down to several shades of a lighter grey; but that was before a ruckus in the hall caught their attention.

"Cadet!" Lieutenant Hurricane shouted, "Report."

"It's, uh... actually, um, Private... uh– sir!" Pansy said with a salute, before continuing on with the report as though she were ripping off a Band-Aid. "News from the Queen: the prisoners are summoned."

"Congratulations on your promotion Private. If you want to keep it– you'll get out of my sight." the Lt. barked after he swiped the requisition order. He read it over and nodded to the guards. The glass door slid open as they funneled into the room. "She's coming with us." The order was delivered with the orders that Liutenant Hurricane slapped into the chest of the doctor. "Them too," he said motioning that Sombra and Crystal Clarity should be rounded up.

***

The prompt pegasus delivered the three unicorn prisoners into the custody of the castle guard and turned to leave when a voice stopped him. "Sir. You're going to need to stay for this," a guard said, "Queen's orders." Lieutenant Hurricane's wings flapped in frustration, as he was clearly tired of sitting on them, and looked to another highly decorated pegasus who hovered nearby in anticipation. After a look of shared misery between the pair of antsy pegasai the doors to the court hall swung open.

"Thank you, your highness; the library shall prove a most valued resource in this ongoing conflict." Celestia told the Queen as she and her sister bowed before their exit. Regal splendor could still be found in her words if not slightly haggard by the endless and tiresome engagements with Discord.

Luna nodded from her bow. "We shall show the utmost discretion with our findings." The addition came as the pair rose and turned to leave. The decent down the stairs was a slow one that filled Luna's eyes with a recognition when they reached the base of the steps. "Sister... A moment, please," Luna said.

"Brigadier Firefly," Celesta beckoned, "We have her blessing." and with that one of the two pegasai was allowed to fly into action.

"Sister," Luna said again trying to get her elder sibling's attention, "This is the child that we spoke of."

"No way..." Nurse Clarity uttered in disbelief as the Celestial Sisters resumed their decent toward them.

"Way," Celstia said with a wry but gentle smile. This was the first time that Sombra had seen them in the flesh, and though they had never spoken to him before; in a sense they still had not.

Luna lowered her head to the eye level of the filly and peered inside before whispering: "Thanks to thy bravery we are here now. Thou must keep thy courage; for the war tis nearly over." Luna's smile reflected her inner light, the way the moon reflects the light of the sun, and she reached up with her royal hoof. Slowly she descended it upon the face of the filly and pressed it to her nose.

To which Treeling's eyes centered and widened in an abstraction of shock. This phantom from her dream was real and their experiences were shared willingly not through the painful or invasive magic of the Crystal Ponies she was at the behest of. Instead, through a relatively peaceful repose that they had shared. On top of that, she was as kind as she was powerful, and the levels of magic that radiated from her and her sister washed out the rest of the rest of the empire entirely.

There was also something dark behind those eyes, and when Treeling stared into them the reflection of Asheveld stared back. She reached to Treeling's reflection and placed something behind her ear. Confused by the experience Treeling scratched her head as the grown ups continued talking.

"Sister," Celestia said and her words softly nudged Luna to action.

"Yes. We must go," Luna concurred.

Only after the two were out of earshot did Nurse Clarity speak and she did so in a frantic but hushed tone, "That was the mane, from the hospital, when all the machines malfunctioned– that's what Treeling's mane looked like!"

"Interesting..." Sombra thoughtfully uttered as the guards prodded them into the throne room.

***

A trio of horns stood in the presence of a dissatisfied pair of mighty of wings. The Crystal Queen rose from her throne to a towering height as she looked down on her prisoners. "You're dismissed," she called to her council. The bleak words signified that a judgment had already been made and that no further considerations need be discussed. As such those serving in the advisory role best not be present lest they object to what was about to occur and share the fate.

"A colossal failure," the Queen said to the trio once they were in the company of no prying ears. "I can no longer justify your experiments to my people; not after five murders."

"Five?" Nurse Clarity objected as if two were any less damning.

"Lance Dancer, Prim Palisade, and Quicken Squall did not survive their injuries." The Crystal Queen stepped down off her throne with the delivery of the words, as if each name was embossed on a sword, and each sword meant for the heart of a unicorn. The royal pegasus paced as she spoke, "None who have faced the wrath of 'the outside' and survived will be fit to lead squads for weeks to come. We have been left more vulnerable since this exercise began."

"And I am responsible for their failings?" Sombra questioned.

The Queen stopped before Sombra to address him directly, "She is responsible. You are responsible for her. I sentence you to share her fate."

News of the triple murder charge trickled down into Crystal Clarity's mind. "What, you mean both of us?" she protested again.

"Yes," the Crystal Queen responded to Nurse Clarity's concerns without breaking eye contact with Sombra. "Sombra, you are a guest in my lands, subject to its laws, and Clarity– you are a citizen therein."

Treeling patiently watched the back-and-forth as Sombra objected again. "I am a foreign dignitary. I demand representation from my home nation."

His heart sank six feet when the Queen delivered her bone-chilling return. "You're nation has been ravaged by war in your absence. They believe you to be dead and I wasn't about to dredge up such an uncomfortable past for them," she explained. It was then that he knew that she knew of his title and crown, but she continued with the reminder, "You had begged this court for the opportunity to forge this sword, and now you shall carry it into battle. The cost of war has been to great to stand idly by any longer."

Sombra deadpanned. "So has the cost of peace."

<< Broken Dreams | Adding Insult to Injury >>

Act 3 | Adding Insult to Injury

The roughhewn walls and worked stone floors were all too familiar to Treeling and Nurse Clarity, though this perspective of them was new to Sombra. Also new was the level of magical wards preventing the unicorns from casting their spells. It was dark and dank, and for the first time Sombra could take no solace in the shadows. To prevent them from communicating the mute filly was placed in the cell between the cells of the adults. However, they knew when the guard was being changed as the sound of spit hitting the wrought iron doors could be heard before anypony new officially took the position guarding the prisoners.

It was late in the evening when Lieutenant Hurricane had escorted them to their cells; cells that were guarded by Military Police. When the regiments were ready to deploy these three prisoners would be taken with them to fight on the front lines since the Queen was quite adamant in establishing the alternative to be far worse.

Treeling batted at the antimagic barrier, like a cat with a ball of yarn, until she heard the steady sound of sleep rhythms seeping through the walls. She thought of her previous dreams and the words of the doctors after she woke. She wasn't sure what "metastasized" meant, but she knew what "brain" meant, and what "dead in a few hours" meant. She also knew the look of surprise and what "gone" meant, but Asheveld was not "gone" because she had seen her since. Treeling lay her head down on her fore-hooves as she thought of how much she wanted to see Asheveld again. She dug in deep and pulled at herself. She drew on the fragments that Ashveld left in her body until she felt like she was going to tear herself apart but nothing came until after she gave up on forcing it.

Come.

It was neither a word, nor a thought, but a primal draw for her to follow. A feeling that was accompanied by the jingle of bells. Treeling looked around through drowsy eyes but only when she blinked could she see Asheveld. Finding her behind her eyelids she took the opportunity to rest them, and fell into the dreams that Asheveld had prepared.

***

The air was surprisingly clear here. There were no fires and no smoke. Even Asheveld had a fresh new look but Treeling could still tell it was her by the way they needn't use words to communicate. The only similarity between this dream, and any previous that she had, could be seen in the distance: the sun and moon were locked in perpetual rise and set. The dirt beneath her hooves was charred but didn't smell of sulfur, and the silhouette of Nurse Clarity could be seen at the end of the long narrow bridge that they found themselves on.

Leading Treeling to that end was Asheveld. Her fur was no longer cracked and flaking, but rather a solid sheet of supple satin. Her mane still flowed with regal splendor but lacked its smokey fluff. It instead captured the endless night that first appeared overhead in her previous dream. It had in it spots of black that one could lose their eyes in forever. The moment before Treeling could even form the thought that would question them; something in the sky drew her attention. A memory borrowed from another's mind. Several stars simply collapsed in on themselves and took back all the light they had ever shown; forming these same dark portals that appeared in Asheveld's new mane.

Though she no longer resembled the world of molten slag from Treelings nightmare, neither mare felt it was necessary to find a new name for the pony, as they both knew from what she had been born. As the pair approached the cardboard cutout Asheveld continued to walk forward and disappeared inside of it. After a tenuous pause Treeling followed nervously after her.

Jeering could be heard as Treeling stepped through the hole that Asheveld had opened in Nurse Clarity's mind. A term that Treeling did not recognize was being repeated ad naueam. At the center of a mob was the filly Crystal Clarity. Her opalescent coat paled under her beryllium mane and she sadly lacked the paper hat that Treeling had grown accustom to seeing her in.

"Blank-Flank!" the crowd chanted over and over again on the playground. They were outside the image that Nurse Clarity had pushed into Treelings mind with the word "school." In the distance beyond the crowd—standing far above them—stood a similarly white unicorn with a blue-agate mane neatly tucked under a familiar red-crossed paper hat. She stood looking down at her daughter disapprovingly. Upon glancing at her mother C.C. had had enough. She leapt onto the alpha of the pack and pummeled away at his face with her hooves.

Then the ruffle of hair from the mother's mane could be heard, as if were scraping against her eardrums, when the school nurse shook her head at the disappointment her child had become. This isn't right. This wasn't how it happened. Clarity's thoughts echoed through the landscape I... I ran home to cry and my mother consoled me. Her thoughts continued to carry to the invisible observers. As they did Treeling moved through the crowd to sit face-to-face with little C.C, cocked her head, and made herself known. Similarly Ashvelt followed in locked step, serving as a second shadow, and remained invisible to their host.

The filly Crystal Clarity looked up from the broken and battered colt under her hind-quarters into the scarred face of her other self. She didn't realize that this Treeling was an outsider. The pair leaned in toward each other and their two horns touched which caused C.C.'s coat to ruffle. A tingling feeling swept across her skin as the beryllium silver of her mane could also be seen as a glittering gilt in the base of her coat.

"No!" she shouted as all the pain and hatred of the schoolyard bullies was torn out of their hearts. The gilt had drug it into hers. "No. No! NO!" she cried frantically when the implosion compressed emotions ripped out of her and destroyed all those who had gathered around. Their bodies were petrified by the blast, their skin cracked, and twisted leafy-greens grew from every pore. The grass reached up around their lifeless husks and strangled out what nutrients remained; as saplings and shrubbery grew from their corpses.

"Get out of my head!" the prepubescent nurse screamed at the oaken filly; as Mother closed her eyes and turned her back on both of them. Treeling's teeth shined to a mirror polish as she stretched her lips into her toothy grin. They were white and reflected the meticulous care that went into maintaining them. As the color faded from her coat her mane took on the silver shine of the young C.C. Everything that Crystal Clarity was, reflected in Treeling's appearance as she faded from view, and everything that Treeling was had been engraved on the crying filly.

She ran home to her mother the way the story was supposed to play out, but her mother said nothing– did nothing. She just sat in their yard, her eyes had glossed over, and her hair had begun to fall out. It was cancer. "That's not possible either!" C.C. screamed as she ran to clutch her mother. She shook her hard and kept screaming, "Wake up mommy, wake up! You didn't die– you're still alive!"

The mare's head and shoulders slowly slumped before a flood of termites spilled from her mouth. The deluge washed over the horrified Crystal Clarity before her mother crumpled to an empty pile of waste. Her sobbing tears were like air-raid sirens to Asheveld who quickly leaped into Treeling's shadow.

"Child, can you hear us?" a gentle voice called to Crystal Clarity, before the eyes of an alicorn caught Treeling perched in curiosity, observing the wreck of the N.C. Clarity. "Thou dost not belong here," Luna said to Treeling with an audible note of concern.

Treeling cocked her head and raised an eyebrow as to repeat the same accusation of Luna's presence.

"How didst thou comest to be in this place?" Luna questioned.

The present scene swept away and was replaced by the memory of the cells. This time the horn touch that launched Nurse Clarity into the wrought iron door was reenacted by the filly versions of both unicorns. After which chalk lines constructed a two dimensional house in three dimensional space, and a mat with hoof-prints scrawled out in front of it... both where the real Treeling was sitting.

"Thou mustn't live in the mind of another. Tis dangerous. Thou shouldst depart," Luna cautiously warned. Treeling slowly nodded in acknowledgement of the dangers that visitation may possess before she rose to all fours and turned to the silhouette. Asheveld's black-holes gleamed in Treelings eyes and her gilt ruffled her coat on their way to the exit.

Stopping briefly next to the mental rift Treeling looked back to Luna whose form flickered and whose face reflected surprise. Luna's magic was countered, she had been forced out of the mind of their host, and she was barred from reentering. After a hesitant glance to the crystal filly Treeling continued through the breach and sealed the demesne with Asheveld's magic. There would be no more magic meddling from either of them and that was the way the world ought to be.

***

The sound of a hooves shuffling and the butts of spears slamming against the stone floor could be heard outside the doors. "Sir!" the voices of the guards shouted as their hooves clicked against their hard helmets.

"Open it," Hurricane ordered.

The sound of metal scraping against stone preceded itself as the door opened and closed with the pegasus stepping through. It was a small room with four doors, one for each cell, and the one that swiftly locked behind him as he entered. "Those too," he ordered, "I want them to hear this."

The MP nodded and shouted an acknowledging, "Sir, yes sir!"

There wasn't much different about Hurricane today except for an extra half-width gold bar on his shoulder which was tightly nestled between two full width bars. The addition put extra swagger in his step as he closed the gap, and baritone in his voice that he used to call out to the prisoners. "We've got our orders. You three will be deploying with me to the border between Equestria and the Crystal Empire."

"Congratulations, Lieutenant-Commander," Sombra's fatalistic complement was accompanied by an extrapolation of the news, "but you mean to say that we are going to find Discord, and shank him with our shiny new 'sword'... while you foal-sit."

<< Happy Little Family | Keeping Score >>

Act 3 | Keeping Score

The day following the delivery of their orders proceeded without incident since the three unicorns remained locked in their cell for its duration. The three had been left alone to their thoughts and in their current situation there was no more dangerous a place for them to be. Sombra stewed and Crystal Clarity cried. Treeling, however, batted at her hair and kept her self pleasantly amused. She had seen both physical and metaphysical prisons of all shapes and sizes by now and she was spinning one of her own into her mane.

The dream thread woven therein was itself a spell trace from her first encounter with the moon. From what Nurse Clarity had said on the castle steps, despite their great distance from the source of the magic, her physical body was apparently more than capable of grasping her gilt even though her dream-self could not. Though the word "consequences" was one that Nurse Clarity had pushed on her, Treeling had never considered them until now, because this thread certainly came with some.

She rolled onto her back and swiped at it when it jingled after which the jingling stopped. Her focus turned to Asheveld's sudden and drastic change in her appearance while giving little thought to the gradual change in her own. As it jingled again she stroked it again. She wondered how thread was plucked by the once volcanic mare on the steps of the crystalline castle. Though it certainly was amusing to play with; it also ate at her like the yellow armies. That was because Asheveld had awoken something in her that she did not understand while using the methods of Clarity.

The day turned to night and the night turned again to day as the trio waited in silence. Nurse Clarity finally ran out of tears to shed when Lieutenant-Commander Hurricane came to retrieve them. "Preparations are complete. We're setting out for the southern border," he said. The trio was clasped in irons that had been enchanted with the same disrupting spells of their cells. Their order was that of ascending height with Sombra at the rear so that he could see what would happen if they misbehaved.

Over the course of the journey to the outskirts of town Treeling had to learn to flick her hair against her horn, because her hooves would not reach while she was forced to march in manacles, and if she didn't bat at the spell thread it would continue to jingle incessantly in her head.

The reality set in early that if she was not going to walk then they would drag her by the throat and that was not an experience she could tolerate for long. Quickly she found herself again conforming to city life. She frequently struck the magic thread with her horn as she looked over her shoulder to observe her "parents". Crystal Clarity was lost in the fallout of previous nights' events, and Sombra was strangely quiet as if he too was similarly displaced. She thought it best, for now, to simply go where the breeze would take her and in the city the weather was controlled by the pegasai.

Lieutenant-Commander Hurricane and his three prisoners met up with his platoon at the edge of the city. The military personal parted for the prisoners as they came in and saluted to their commanding officer. As they left the bounds of the city, stepping over the crystal circle where the shield once emitted from, Sombra cleared his throat in preparation to speak but said nothing. The other members of the squad looked at him, but he simply looked down to the ground, and then back to the city. They did the same and slowly realized the gravity of the situation. They were leaving the city for the first time on the march to war.

"Did you tell them?" Sombra quietly asked LCDR Hurricane, "They have a right to know."

"No talking," Hurricane barked back as an earth pony delivered the butt of a spear to Sombra's ribs.

Sombra coughed in pain. "Three unicorns who can't use magic and you're afraid that I'll just talk my way out of these chains?"

"They know," Hurricane replied.

"Not about the filly," Sombra indignantly responded, "There is no way they wouldn't. I meant the mission."

"Give me some credit," Hurricane said as if to an old friend. "I'm a Lieutenant-Commander. I knew that you weren't talking about the filly, and I fully explained the parameters of the mission to the mares and stallions under my command."

Hearing that they were talking about her caused Treeling's ears to perk up. Sure there were lots of fillies but she was the only one anypony called the filly. She looked to the nearby platoon members for their reactions. They seemed to think that Sombra was up to something and she certainly hoped that was true.

"So," Sombra smiled meekly, "You still don't believe it yourself then. I mean, you're a Lieutenant-Commander after all, there's no way you that wouldn't have put it together."

"What, that this is a suicide mission?" Hurricane asked with a laugh as he turned to face Sombra while they walked. "Engaging Discord is your job. I'm not putting my subordinates at risk."

Now it was Sombra who returned Hurricane's words, "Give me some credit, even a Private can see that chaining an unwilling trio of unicorns, to a squad of fifty soldiers, endangers this mission. The youngest of which decimated thirty of your last squad, without the help of her guardians... that spells out suicide squad." He paused and motioned over to the recently promoted cadet. "Isn't that right, Pansy?" before turning back to Lieutenant-Commander Hurricane. "I meant the other thing."

Even Treeling began to get nervous at the notion of an idea more dangerous than being stuck in a suicide squad and she wasn't alone. Earth Ponies and Unicorns alike showed concern at the idea as well as they marched through the tundra snow; so too did the Pegasai who flew overhead.

"There is no other thing."

Sombra nodded but quietly added: "If you insist."

***

The creeping cold set in as they made camp for the evening. The distant howl of monsters could be heard in the Crystal Song Woods. Lieutenant-Commander Hurricane sat in the midsts of the camp; staring at the trees. They were as transparent as the ploy to ruffle his mane. Though the words swirled around in the back of his mind as he contemplated what Sombra was getting at, and why had the unicorn just gave up. Though it had been hours ago it still ate at him.

The LCDR got up and brought food to the prisoners. He dropped the mess's mess in front of the trio—one large bowl for them to share—before sitting down next to them. "What other thing?" he asked.

Sombra watched the filly and the mare go for the gruel with gusto for a short moment before responding, "Where were you when the shield dropped?"

Hurricane stood up to leave. "I'm not going to play these games," he said.

"It's personal," Sombra said hoping to get him to stay, "the other thing. How I knew about it is personal. You wan't me to answer a personal question then I get to ask one first. The games are how we keep score."

LCDR Hurricane rolled his eyes and sat back down on a log in the cold snow. "I was prepping my platoon for this mission. How did you find out about this other thing?"

Sombra smiled and said: "I was there when it happened. Where were you when the shield went up?"

"Where?" Hurricane asked, to which Sombra nodded. "No I mean where were you?" Hurricane repeated.

Sombra shook his head. "No, it was my turn." he said before repeating the question.

A long drawn out sigh came from LCDR Hurricane, "Returning home from leave. Where were you?"

"I was in the Queen's court when the shield came up," Sombra said, "Who were you visiting on leave?"

Hurricane gasped at what was clearly a cheat. "That's not what I meant."

"It's what you asked," Sombra replied.

Hurricane again considered walking away, but instead relegated himself to be more careful. "Visiting my mare-friend. Where were you when you found out about the other thing."

"Also in the Queen's court," Sombra repeated, "You mean my daughter don't you? Princess Platinum?"

"Yes..." Hurricane slowly admitted in a somber tone, "She was the first thing I thought about when the shields went up..." before defiantly adding: "What is the other thing?"

"Mine too..." Sombra replied in sorrowful kind, "She's the only family I have left, and I think about her all the time..." He allowed himself a moment sullen silent moment, after which he collected himself, and repeated his first answer to the question: "I told you: it's personal."

"That's not good enough!" Hurricane barked.

"Between the Queen and Discord. This fight is personal. She's using you to get revenge on him for taking her daughter. I was standing right there when it happened. Apparently he only did that because she had him imprisoned." Sombra explained, "With everything that's going on—all the good your platoon could do out here—do you really want to throw away their lives on her revenge?"

"I'm not throwing their lives away," Hurricane authoritatively replied.

"I understand. You're stuck with a hard choice..." Sombra said, while pausing for a moment to inspect LCDR Hurricane, "but if you take that child–" he said pointing to Treeling, "off those chains, and try to force her to do something she doesn't want to. Then you will be condemning your entire squad to death."

"So... what? You want us to just turn around and go home?" Hurricane laughed as he rubbed Sombra's transparency in his face.

"No." The words came as a bit of a shock, but Sombra continued: "Continue your mission as defined by the parameters. Patrol. There are plenty of things out here that would love to destroy the Crystal Empire and you must put a stop to them."

"What about you and that filly?" Hurricane asked.

"It doesn't matter if we find Discord because the facts do not change with that filly. She will kill everypony here," Sombra said with the same measure of authority that Hurricane issued earlier. As their attention turned to her Treeling grinned and licked the food from war-worn face.

"Why should I believe you?" Hurricane questioned, "You told us that they would be fine, that nopony was going to get hurt, and three of them died."

"The situation was a regrettable one," Sombra confessed to Lieutenant-Commander Hurricane, "Even with a fully stocked trauma team on standby when the child lost control... If their deaths are to have meaning we must honor them. Do not let fifty more blindly follow in their hoof-prints in some vain attempt to settle another's personal score."

<< Adding Insult to Injury | Rising Tides >>

Act 3 | Rising Tides

It was a mistake and they all knew that it. But after the lecture Sombra had given to Lieutenant-Commander Hurricane he had backed himself into this. The metal collar fell to the ground from the filly's neck and she stretched her aching shoulders. Though it effectively did nothing anyway, it was symbolic, and there would be no way to keep Treeling's trust so long as she was a prisoner. Sombra levitated the extra chalk pack from the restraint that now lie useless on the ground and clipped it to the back of her slate.

Hurricane and his troops had long since marched off after he had ordered that they should be chained to a tree so that they couldn't endanger his troops any further. Treeling had crippled the antimagic chains and Sombra levitated the key that was "accidentally" dropped in a nearby bush. After that they were home free. That, however, was the question: could they ever go home again?

Each wondered for different reasons and for two the answer was obvious: the ladies did not have a home. For Sombra the question had more complexity. If he returned to his home, and to his family, he feared what devastation would follow in his wake when the Crystal Queen learned of LCDR Hurricane's betrayal. Five long years the Queen had waited for the perfect instrument of her revenge, dispatched the whole of the crystal army, and sacrificed the remainder of her kingdom to the reign of chaos: all to settle the score with one madman.

Yet, now it was Sombra who stood in her way of achieving that revenge. If he returned home, he could not fathom what punishment she would inflict on his people just to get at him, but he feared that she would turn to the Crystal Heart. It was the last card she had to play, her trump card, and he had a good idea of just how painful that could be for his people if the war turned the two longstanding empires against each other. He knew that they were headed for a tunnel and that it was going to get much darker before they could again see the light from the other side. The kind of darkness that Sombra was growing all too familiar with.

His attention turned to Treeling who was playing with her old collar like a cat with a mouse it had killed. She thrashed it back and forth until accidentally bashing herself in the head with it. She started to cry and instinctively ran to Nurse Clarity for moral support. Clarity hadn't been herself since they were arrested and Sombra took great strides to reassure her now.

"It's almost over," Sombra said to the pair as he wrapped his hoof around them.

"It'll never be over," Crystal Clarity despondently responded, "I'll never be free of her." Her words came as she stroked the filly. Roughly. Her hooves dug into the skin and drug across muscle. Treeling squirmed under the pressure but didn't shy away from it.

Sombra pulled Treeling away from C.C. with a look of shock and disgust. While there was no tearing of the skin, the filly started to bruise, and the mare stared glassy-eyed at the crystal trees. "It'll be alright, Treeling. We're going to get you home," he said to the filly.

She looked up to him with tears in her eyes, nodded, and stiffed her moans of pain... she was going home.

Though there was no longer an artificial sun and moon to signify the day and the night, living in the city had adjusted their sleep schedule, so they no longer needed it. They knew in their bones it was time for bed and, after starting a fire to keep away predators, the three unicorns cuddled up to sleep. As they drifted off Treeling reached up and batted at the strand in her hair.

***

The fires of war still burned ever as brightly as the first time Treeling had seen them, though, this time they were placid and distant. They raged all over Equestria, the Crystal Empire, and beyond through lands foreign to the filly. Yet, if she held up her hoof and stared past it they would all be obscured from sight. The fires clashed with the waters of the sea, spilling into the oceans, where a dark cloud of steam mixed with smoke hung the whole world over. This was more than Treeling could have ever dreamed of. She tore her eyes from the heavens, where her planet lay, to survey this new stone island she sat upon.

"We had wondered," Luna's voice hung in the air, filled with regret and sadness, as she looked up to the world above them. "How dark our dreams would become. How lost we would feel before thy magic wouldst draw thee here." She hesitantly paused to look to the filly, before continuing, "If they drew you here. We couldst not be certain thou would arrive. Thy magic is alien to us."

Treeling approached the troubled alicorn and sat quietly next to her. The filly looked up to meet Luna's gaze before resting her head on one world-weary shoulder. She purred softly and slid her slate to the ground as if to ask what was on the Night Princess's mind.

"When thou didst meet us," Luna began to ask, "What was thy impression?" Her curiosity in its note of concern showed the intentions of her heart. The filly drew such a pure heart in the center of her slate that Luna could scarcely believe it. In the rendering Treeling drew herself on one side, with Luna on the other, and arrows from Luna's chest passed through the heart into the chest of the filly.

"Loved?" Luna asked cautiously as they gazed into each other's eyes

The filly nodded, and without breaking eye contact she pointed to the sky wherein the world they lived still burned brightly. It was clear that they sat upon the moon and so there would be no question where the sun was; given this was a replication of the her previous dream-states.

A wave of emotion poured out from Treeling as she continued to point to the distant lands of the Crystal Empire. Just as the emotions of others had flowed into her there, now she was delivering one to Luna.

"Afraid? Of the war?" Luna asked, her regret overcome with fear, but the answer was more specific than that. Treeling tapped her own horn, and then patted Luna's cutiemark. Luna interpreted the signals as best she could as the fear subsided, "Of our war? My part in the war?"

Treeling nodded again but also whined with impatience; Luna was close but still wasn't getting it. She pulled a tuft of hair out of Luna's mane and used it to draw on her slate; rather than the chalk she had been accustomed to thus far. Her canvas became an infinite one as the images in her head were painted into the dreamscape. Though she never looked up from her slate the moon came alive with the full color renderings and Luna marveled at her aptitude for such a young dream weaver.

What started out as a swarm of ants crawling out holes in the earth and swiftly grew into ponies. Two teams of ponies, black and red, just as the ants of her home. Every pony in both armies were identical and all were unicorns. Their numbers grew and grew, hundred, thousands, millions, until there was a sea of red and black with a thin line of white separating the two. The occasional personal struggle was shown where the unicorns would lash out with their magic. Regiments and battalions would glow simultaneously as cities rose and fell until every unicorn everywhere had their horn alight. From that point they were no longer armies of black, and red, but a singular flame of magic that consumed everything beneath it– the ponies included.

The Princess of Dreams was finally able to connect some of the dots. "The end of war wilt soon be nigh. The fires wilt die down."

The filly sighed. Luna was so close to understanding, but needed a few more dots to connect. Treeling wiped away the flames and magic. Starting from scratch she drew an ominous cloud of evil being destroyed by the magic of the Celestial Sisters.

Luna looked at the rendering with surprise as she said: "Tis true. A weapon hath been found that can vanquish the foul creature of chaos." She looked to the ground and the scenes painted by the filly melted away only to be replaced by visions from Luna's own past. Battle after battle after battle played out featuring the trio, before Luna recounted one of her greatest fears: "Many times hath we battled, he and we, but always didst it end with no victor. Our powers are even matched. Were only we as strong as Tia couldst we prevail." She looked longingly at a memory of their removing the Elements of Harmony from the Tree of Harmony. "We didst warn our sister of the dangers disrupting the tree couldst bring. To put balance at risk but... with our powers waning, however, we were no choice save concession."

Treeling's body language filled with concern as she gently rubbed Luna's cutiemark; hoping that it might help the power return to her body. A smile was a decent start but it was not until after Luna gave her explanation did the final dots come into focus to be connected. "We can no longer hear the desperate cries of the dreamers," she gravely said, "A dark force steals them away from us as we sleep."

Treeling tapped her ear and raised a questioning eyebrow.

"The ring of Hell's Bells," Luna stated with a suspicious look. A suspicion which eventually passed as the filly continued her vacant stare. "Tis a jingle," Luna added, "We are made aware to the suffering of others through such a sound."

Treeling recognized the sound, of course, that Asheveld had given her with the strand of stolen power but said nothing of it. Instead she returned to her canvas, with the brush of mane, and painted the crystal capital covered in its magic shell. Luna chimed in "Yes, tis the Crystal Empire, we thought it lost, whereupon its returned didst we find our answer therein."

Treeling shook her head. She drew beds with children in them. Fillies and colts who came alive with very sad faces, and thought bubbles with nightmarish things inside. The dashed outline of the lunar princess within signified that she was not. For the five years when they had needed her most she was nowhere to be found and they stopped needing her. Luna's heart sank into the pit of her stomach, and Treeling returned the tuft of her mane to its proper place. She hadn't anything further to draw as she turned her attention back to the sky and that ball of smoke and fire.

"What else can we do?" she asked the filly.

With a single stroke of her chalk across the blackboard Treeling drew the Celestial Sisters blasting an ominous cloud with their powerful magic. When she put down the chalk the fires across their world died down significantly until nearly none were left.

***

In the morning Treeling woke to the sound of alarm, the Hell's Bells were swiftly batted out of her mane, and she knew. When she had drawn Luna's power into herself she had breathed Asheveld's into Luna. Asheveld couldn't stop Luna's dream-walking so she left the Night Princess nowhere to go. Luna was growing alone and isolated, distant from her sister, so much so that she reached out to Treeling for help. Were she not responsible, it would have worked, but now she was certain that Luna felt an entire world's distance between her and her sister. The silhouettes were coming closer into position. She need only navigate the final two before bringing up her hind legs and bucking down the entire stack.

She was broken from her thoughts when Sombra's words echoed her intentions. "We must get moving. Our return to the Crystal Empire will not be a welcome one. It would be best not to delay further."

<< Keeping Score | Ring Fitting >>

Act 3 | Ring Fitting

The morning air had a chill to it, even more so than usual, and it seemed to amplify as Treeling cast a cold gaze to the heavens. She knew that today the sun would stop, and the clouds would weep again; just like the day her mother died. Except that today there would be even more deaths, and the tears shed over those graves would help put out the fires. She just hadn't expected it to happen so early in the morning. Her eyes broke from the bleeding clouds to inspect her two companions. Of the pair, Nurse Clarity's mind was nearly gone, and Sombra's was occupied devising a plan for their reentry.

His thoughts were written all over his face as his mind raced with the possible outcomes of their early return. He schemed how best to approach the Queen without the trio being arrested on sight. "Treeling," he finally said, "I want you to try as hard as you can to look as tired as Nurse Clarity. Can you do that?" The filly nodded with a smile before she let her eyes droop, her gait slow, and introduced an intermittent stagger. "Good," Sombra said, "If anyone asks: we found Discord and we need to report to the Queen right away."

Treeling slowly reached down to her chalkboard, with quivering lips she fumbled with the chalk as she drew it from its magnetized position, and slowly drug it against the board only to drop it in the snow.

"Oh, right," Sombra said, as he levitated the chalk back into position, "I'll do the talking."

They continued on for another hour in pensive silence until that was exactly what occurred. A city patrol spotted the three dissonant unicorns entering the city. While Sombra talked them down Treeling flopped "tiredly" to the ground and closed her eyes. Playing up the drama she rag-dolled when the guards tried to lift her upright. Seeing that both Sombra and the nurse were too "exhausted" to carry her, Treeling was flung over the shoulder of an officer, and lay limply there until they were outside the castle.

"We can manage from here," Sombra insisted. Though the guards refused to be dissuaded from their duty they found it difficult to argue through a crystalline encasement. "Idiots," Sombra added after the fact.

He turned his attention to the Queen's one remaining ace: the Crystal Heart. If he could steal it away before the alarm was raised, then he could be certain that negotiations between the two of them were more amicable. However, he didn't have a place to hide it. The alternative was far more risky, but was also something he spent five years setting up. If he rebounded a pacification spell through his crystal pylons that masqueraded as apartment complexes then the Queen wouldn't be able to activate the heart to full effect. To do that he needed to get to the height of the crystal spire they were in.

All he wanted was to go in peace. He wasn't going to hurt anypony and he was even willing to sacrifice Treeling to the queen's ambitions if that meant she wouldn't seek retribution. That was their initial agreement, and he wanted it to be honored, but somehow he had gotten wrapped up as a disposable pawn in her game with Discord. Though, he couldn't tell the filly left to his charge this detail, he just wanted his own daughter back, and the irony of his rationalizations didn't fully set in they reached the first set of stiars.

As they rushed through stairwell after stairwell the two crystal casters were more than enough to overpower the odd patrols. What was a gleeful game of Simon Says for Treeling was an act of treacherous sedition for Sombra.

The first steps out onto the sky-bound veranda were filled with uncertainty. Sombra began to prepare his behavior modification spell when Crystal Clarity spoke suddenly and for the first time since the night before. "We're going to die today," she said. Her words were shaky at first but they as grew firm as her belief of that fact, "All of us."

"No," Sombra said in a reassuring tone as he discharged the spell. His words were cautious as he assessed her mental state. She seemed detached from her detachment to the world, free of it, and of the filly she cowered from last night. "We just need to convince the Queen–"

"I... I can't keep doing this," Crystal Clarity said as she backed against the edge.

"Please C.C. Come away from there," Sombra beckoned.

"No!" Nurse Clarity screamed, "Don't you get it!? I don't know who that is!" The nurse directed her hoof at Treeling. "That thing hollowed me out, and then filled me up with lies. I'm not me anymore. I tried. I really did..." a short pause broke up her sentence as tears began to stream down her face. It was the first time she had cried in a week. "But I'm not, and I'm not even her. I'm nopony."

A gentle breeze rolled across the floor. It ruffled their manes and brought with it the sweet scent of crystal berries from the plains. Crystal Clarity smiled as she leaned into the wind, she used to love crystal berry tea, and with that thought—that moment alone with her true self—she let herself be carried over the edge with the scent.

"NO!" Sombra shouted. With a half step forward he reached out with his magic to catch her. Telekinesis, crystals, anything! A faint shadowy aura briefly enshrouded the mare before collapsing. The filly standing behind him had ripped his magic from the mare, and allowed Crystal Clarity to finish what she started.

He continued to reach for her magically only to have his grasping attempts slapped away by the filly. The long wait for crunch on the street below was accompanied by the inaudible patter of teardrops that were shed, and filled with unbearable tension between two fiddlers on the roof. The first silhouette had toppled and aptly struck the second.

Sombra spun in place to confront Treeling his hoof landing in the pool of tears that had streamed from his own face. "Why!? I could have saved her!"

Treeling sadly shook her head to indicate that he was mistaken and that she could not be saved. The filly reached for her chalk and board to explain that Crystal Clarity did not want to be a captive of her doubts any longer but Sombra slapped it out of her hooves before she could.

"There's no excuse for what you've done."

The filly tapped her horn, then the side of her head, before bringing her hoof down in a heavy war stomp atop her slate. The slate shattered in the same manner that Crystal Clarity's mind had been magically sundered. But now, with with her "voice" silenced, she couldn't tell him that she was only getting started.

Sombra's eyes grew green, his crystal mist flowed from his body, and in his wrath he remained centered. To him, the thirty-mane melee had made her complacent, while he had pushed himself even harder. He knew that her trump card was built from his spell... a spell that he had perfected, and mastered to the point of being able to counter-spell it from her. He could feel her feeling out his magic, as the mist became a cloud of darkness, but she wasn't drawing it out of him as he expected. Perhaps she knew what he knew– that he would just counter it.

He grinned triumphantly as he also knew that she was still able to be the subject of mind magic and the behavior modification spell that he had for the city could just as easily work on her. He could feel the power surge in his horn as he prepared the spell and he knew that it would be more powerful than even the crystal blast that she emitted from his house. The reminder of the event nearly caused Sombra to lose his nerve. The filly closed her eyes and bobbed her head with the waves of energy he was putting out as the the gold gilt came into plain view.

That incident was the key to Sombra's understanding of how she had tricked him and before he could abort the spell she ripped it from his head. Her eyes shown a brilliant vermilion that radiated with all the force that was in his body and, just as before, the spell echoed out across the whole of the Crystal Empire. His spell. The one Sombra had cast on her the day before the event was so focused on. His mind magic built to induce the subject's worst nightmares and it was still bound directly to the amplifying crystal mist that grew in the minds of all those the spell could reach; just like the initial test on her on that fateful field. A test she passed but he never bothered to study for.

The advent of a cacophonous chorus of bells washed through Treeling's mind as her stolen spell reverberated through the empire. As quickly as it began, it was put to an end when she frantically pulled out the strand of Luna's magic from her mane, along with a hoof-full of regular hair. Though it was her last direct link to Asheveld, she let it go so that the roar of ringing would continue to jingle elsewhere, knowing that she wouldn't need it anymore. With Asheveld transplanted, Crystal Clarity gone, Sombra dispossessed, and Luna being otherwise occupied she was truly alone.

"The Crystal Queen..." Sombra began, "Kept me prisoner for five years... told my family I was dead... used me... and threw me away..."

"My crystals will give me the strength to beat her..." he added in a hypnotic stupor as he drifted down the long stair well.

"My crystals can protect my home... My daughter..." he continued, each word punctuated by the sound of hoof on stone in the resonant spiral staircase.

"Crystals..."

Treeling followed her curiosity while watching quite intently as the mist clouded his eyes and put a fog in his mind. The black army was on its way to confront the red army: the King of Shadows versus the Queen of Hearts, and even now they were both ants beneath her hooves.

On the path to the courtyard the crystals that had encased the guards had shattered with Sombra's mind but they were now trapped in his stolen spell. Some spoke in their waking nightmares while others did not. Having cast the spell only the child remained free of its influence. With the population pacified Sombra's goal was achieved and the Crystal Heart couldn't be activated. Now all that remained was for him to take his revenge.

From the grand hall where they exited the tower only a final short set of stairs to the throne room stood between Sombra and that vengeance. He stood hesitantly looking up the stairs from the landing and Treeling could feel the wobble of the second silhouette. She leaned in and prodded him in the cutiemark with her horn. He looked down to her before looking back to the stairs. In a few quiet moments Sombra drew out the remainder of his reserves of magical energy. The small haze that grew into a cloud was now a thick rolling mist as it flowed up the stairs.

"You!" The Crystal Queen grasped for control of the situation as she blinked the mist from her eyes. "You did this to us! I won't let you take my kingdom from me!" The filly happily skipped up the steps. With each word another step until she was at the top landing looking in. The Queen was filled to brimming with a dark and ominous force, her emotions, and that dark force-of-will had been empowered through the Crystal Heart's neutrality. Treeling knew that the two would have been on equal ground were it not for the pegasus's inexperience with magic.

"I won't let you take your sick vendetta to my home– to my people. I will protect them!" Sombra antagonistically retaliated.

With a burst of crystalline force the door slammed shut and Treeling's mouth opened into her jagged jack-tooth grin. The second silhouette had been tipped and they wouldn't stop until all had fallen.

<< Rising Tides | Sword Shattering >>

Act 3 | Sword Shattering

The day was not yet over and three more silhouettes were set to fall. With Discord defeated, the Crystal Empire in shambles, its Queen dead, and the Celestial Sisters summoned to take out Sombra: the fires of war were swiftly being exsanguinated. Soon there wouldn't be enough magic left to perpetuate the flames.

Treeling sat quietly on the steps to the castle for hours, acting as an unnecessary sentry, invisible to the distant gazes of the entire empire. Sombra took the Crystal Heart into hiding; rightly fearing its use by any foe who would seek to dethrone him. The filly waited with singular purpose all the while knowing that Sombra would be thought the cynosure; which freed her of suspicion. She drew in just enough magic to tint her eyes to allow the facade that she too was subjugated. Though, being his "favorite" there would be no way she would be added to the chain gangs of forced labor set to construct new pylons.

The expansion of his domain was busywork—an indulgence of the power fantasy that battled the fear of his inescapable powerlessness—all to fill the time that she waited patiently for the princesses. Princesses whose voices she heard call her back to reality.

"Child!" Luna's words were frantic, "What hath transpired here?"

"Gently sister," Celestia's said in a voice filled with her own advice, "There is much darkness here."

"We haven't the time sister," Luna responded. When she saw that Treeling's slate was missing she tapped her horn to that of the filly to infuse a small bit of magic into her. Treeling looked into her eyes with recognition as the "nightmare" faded from her mind but the moment was interrupted by the maniacal laughter of the crazed King Sombra.

It was in that prearranged moment. As the outburst drew Luna's attention away, Treeling looked deep inside her to find Asheveld nodding in conformation of the precisely calibrated energy in the air. The third silhouette was about to fall into the fourth.

Treeling burst from her seated, and dazed, position with in a frantic jolt desperately trying to get Celestia's attention. She tapped her horn with her left fore-hoof and then circled it around the side of her head.

"Crazy? Mind magic– Mind control?" Celestia rapidly questioned. To which the filly nodded and clung to her leg.

The courtyard had been oddly quiet during their approach and Celestia looked around to see if any ponies could take in Treeling. There were not, the filly had made sure of it prior to their arrival, so that the stage would be properly set for Luna's dream to be realized.

"Tis not safe to do battle here sister. We must draw him from the citadel," Luna cautiously said and Celestia nodded in agreement as the cloud of darkness laughed again from the veranda. The filly began to run as they fired shots at Sombra. While Sombra returned fire Treeling kept running and never looked back. She knew the third had been tipped. She didn't want to be around when the spell ended and the Crystal Ponies' feelings of trauma crept into their Crystal Heart.

The run from the cathedral to the edge of the city's border was an exhausting one. Treeling flopped to the ground while heaving for air. The heavy pants were not accompanied with the draw of magic, for once she just needed to breathe, and knew that her other half would be drawing in all the magic necessary to push the fourth silhouette into the fifth. She reached up to pull at her mane before remembering that Luna's thread wasn't there. She dropped her hoof into the snow and simply tried to imagine the scene she couldn't be present to witness. The scene she painted into the mind of the dark princess. The sisters would rise into the sky and turn the elements on Sombra. Then Asheveld would draw that black smoke into Luna and feed on it.

When Treeling could no longer feel the ripples of Sombra's magic she released the spell on the crystal ponies which, in turn, indicated to the city that the princesses were successful. They would come to check on her soon so she needs only rest and wait.

Two shadows intersected over the spot where the "crystal sword" lay lodged, as four great wings tucked in from a single landing, while Treeling's steely smile faded. Celestia and Luna had, in fact, returned to check on the single filly.

"Sombra is slain," Luna stated in a reassuring tone before asking, "Art thou well?"

Treeling's face turned grim as she lie in the darkness cast under the alicorn sisters. The sword's mettle betrayed her, she cried dragon-sized tears, and shook her head. The Crystal Heart was turning the citizen's raw emotion into magic and she shot upright as the powerlessness of the citizens washed over her. First they focused on Sombra, then the loss of their own Queen, then the war sparked by Discord, and even the inability to protect the heir to the throne, before finally coming to rest on the princesses whom stripped them of the opportunity to even try. They were truly and utterly powerless.

She was powerless.

It was the same feeling Treeling had felt in the cells only weeks earlier, and the same feeling that Asheveld was creating for Luna. She was lost in it again and just wanted to escape the nightmare of this rule. She scrambled up and reached out to the city as the princesses watched in confusion. She reached out to the city with her fore-leg just as the Crystal Heart pulsed in fear. A pulse which created a barrier to keep the outsiders out.

"What is–" Celestia began before light refracted through the barrier and the Crystal Empire vanished.

"Canst thou still feel the shield?" Luna asked knowing that the filly could sense magic.

Treeling dropped her hoof and turned her sad eyes toward Luna. The city really was gone... Its resident's hearts hidden away from their shame, it would take time before they could face that shame, and in that moment driven by their shared magical connection, Treeling wanted nothing more than to disappear with them.

"Come child," Celestia said as she reached out with her wing and wrapped it around the filly.

***

The return to the Castle of Two Sisters was a somber one. Celestia and Luna had agreed it was best to rest for the night before deciding what was to be done about the filly. Though she seemed to be recovering quickly they still feared that a reintroduction to society may be too soon after all she had seen. The ride home was a new first for Treeling, who had never been flown before; it was both an exhilarating and terrifying experience. She clung tightly to Celestia as the alicorn's powerful wings carried them through the sky.

Upon arrival the two sisters ushered the filly into the great hall and allowed her to play with anything she could get her hooves on as they took the elements into a secret chamber. Treeling could hear the subtle sounds of stone-on-stone but needn't bother to snoop. The power the artifacts contained was best left locked away—forgotten in this dank castle—just as the Crystal Heart was sealed away with the Crystal Ponies. These artifacts would not be able to relight the world if they were just left to rest.

After that matter was tended to Celestia and Luna escorted Treeling to guest chambers where she retired for the night. Treeling had trouble sleeping without first feeling the tilt of the fourth. She reached out for the magic of the dream-walking princess, only to find that it had been replaced with the biting fang of Asheveld's nightmares, and the revelation caused the filly to relax. Though she would be woken up in the middle of the night by the fall of the fourth she was able to rest assured that the fifth would fall shortly thereafter.

***

In the morning a rumble in the sky shook the filly from her restful dream. A vision of the world being pulled from its baptism in fire to allow new life to spring from the ashes. The castle was being cast into ruins by a battle outside which made Treeling flee in terror as boulders came crashing through the floor above to the floors below. She had to escape into the clearing before the tower could collapse with her still inside. Though the tower did not fall to pieces on top of her, once she was outside it was no longer in danger of it doing so. After that she couldn't care if it remained standing for another minute or even another thousand years.

The filly quickly ducked under a tree as she looked up to the sky where streams of powerful magic fought for supremacy. The truth was as plain as black and white since Luna had donned Asheveld's visage for the battle. A visage that would be later called the Nightmare of the Moon. Though she missed the initial toppling, the fourth silhouette had fallen and, in a dazzling display of lights landed upon the moon. However, the magic that had sent her there was too powerful for Treeling to resist and, with a final ripple of her golden gilt, it flowed into her.

It was time for the fifth to fall.

Slow to notice the ground-bound filly after the banishment of Nightmare Moon; Celestia first noticed that the Elements of Harmony reacting strangely to the manner in which they were used. The severing of the harmonious bond between Celestia and Luna had, in turn, severed her from the Elements so violently that even Treeling could feel the break. The filly could feel it all as their use opened a wound in the world that let magic flow in effortlessly. Magic she lapped up to be used on the final alicorn.

Celestia looked down in shame only to see the overcharged filly twitching with the residual power of the Element's banishing spell. "That's not possible," she murmured in disbelief as the filly's slow transformation, "It was never about the war for you... it was all for this? This moment?" she stuttered as the pieces came together. "The other dream walker. The nightmares. Sombra? It was you!"

What was a chromatic beam for Celestia was a singular white light burning from every pore in the poor filly who had become a container for its power. For once in her short life Treeling understood. She knew magic. Shew knew the power and influence it held over others. She understood the emotional tie that binds ponies to this supernatural world, and a brilliant beam of energy once again lit up the sky as Celestia's frustrated rage washed over the filly until the power faded from the alicorn's mane.

As she held the banishing spell, her body replaced the focusing crystals called "Elements of Harmony" if for only a moment. She physically glowed while magic radiated from her old wounds, both physical and emotional. It stitched together her scars, and made her whole. And it would service her desires: the magic of this world was about to come to an end.

Treeling reached out for the power that shaped their world. The power of magic. The magic that lie in everything. She reached too far and could feel the strain on her muscles. The strain on her mind. What she couldn't grasp with her hooves she reached out with the teathers that streamed off of her. Tethers that coalesced into new appendages.

"You hate it so much, don't you?" Celestia asked as she landed. The filly was connected with magic in a way that even her own understanding could not distinguish the two. The princess was drained physically, mentally and emotionally and she consigned to her fate. To join her sister on the moon. She sat and looked into the filly's eyes, "So a new alicorn for a new era?"

The realization was slow coming, as Treeling cocked her head in confusion. She looked up to her horn, and the groves therein were slowly fading away. Her life was being erased. Everything she was... gone. She screamed a terrible sound that ripped out from her soul, and penetrated the world around her. In the moments of clutching her head she realized she could still see her forehooves. The tendrils of magic she had intended to lash out with at Celestia were forming wings. She was magic. She hated magic.

"I... don't understand," Celestia cried as she backed away from the filly who was in turn skittering away from her.

The filly glared death at the mare. Nearly one alicorn to another, she barked and snapped, and clung to her old life. The life of a simple tree. She had been deceived. Asheveld had betrayed her. Led her into the darkest of nightmares, not a world influenced or controlled by magic, but the world of magic itself. She should have known. Every spell she brought into herself had changed her. Every spell contributed to this end. Every spell she used. Every time she borrowed from magic. They all had been a small step closer to her nightmare. Closer to Asheveld and her dream, because Asheveld was nightmares, but Asheveld was also magic. A spell that Treeling created.

She made magic. She cast it on others. She was part of the problem.

Dissonance stirred once again in the vessel of harmony as Treeling turned the banishing spell on her hated enemy. On magic. On herself. On the world around her. Powerless to stop her, Celestia was completely forgotten in the filly's rage. The world's wound would never heal naturally. She wouldn't allow it. She pulled and ripped and cast at the world around her. She used that which she had stolen to banish the very essence of magic from all that she could see, before turning it upon herself. An explosion tore through the filly, the sacred tree, and the woods. It washed over the castle, as well as the seeds strewn and sewn beneath. It even threatened to engulf the still teleporting Sun.

The banishment she held would purge the world—or, at the very least, this small corner of it—of magic. Cleansed of the flames that raged above as well all that slept nefariously beneath. The remnants of the filly's visage still hung in the air briefly, as do the sparks of fireworks as they burn themselves out, and her body had been long since dispersed with the magic held inside. The ethereal wings had not yet made manifest in the physical world, and her tears had not yet reached the ground before after-image faded.

Celestia turned her eyes heaven bound. The gilded cage... its bars to rattle against... they were hers now. An inheritance and, if nothing else, this place—Treeling's grave—would be free of it: free of magic.

Forever Free.

<< Ring Fitting | Index >>

Act 1 | A Picture's Worth

A dusk voice filled the small hall outside the prison cell. A filly bound in chains looked up to the small barred window in the large wrought iron door. It held the familiar texture of wood that was the only bit of comfort she was afforded for a long time. Outside the door two ponies were arguing. She strained her ears to hear what they were saying and picked up many of the words but understood very few.

“It’s been three weeks now and we’re still waiting for answers.” The words came from a charcoal stallion with a smoky black mane and a steel capped horn. “Need I remind you that thing in there simply waltzed through the barrier and butchered two guards?”

“No sir,” a second voice began, “I have been treating her injuries for the three weeks since.” It was a tone of indignation from a milky white mare with soft and gentle features; who often donned a paper cap with a red cross.

“Don’t get smart with me. The Queen needs to know how she did it. We can’t have their war coming to the Crystal Empire,” the stallion said. His tone was filled with equal parts false sincerity and genuine frustration; though the mare outside seemed convinced both were real.

“We’re doing the best we can sir. I think she’s finally starting to understand our language so we should be able to pose the questions to her soon,” the mare calmly returned.

That part was true since the word “how” prompted the filly to scratch out an explanation into the wall with her horn. It was something she had “said” many times but the mare could not understand her. She hated her captors and would tell them anything to make the images stop.

Often the mare would come into her cell, as she did just then, to fill her mind with pictures and sounds that made no sense. The filly frantically finished scratching the image of a mighty oak enshrouded in a magical aura as the door opened. Though the branches and leaves differed, the five lines that made up its trunk were identical to those in her cutiemark, and the disconnected nature of those lines spoke well of her own nature.

The mare frowned with disapproval to see yet another tree being etched into the walls. “Stop that!” she shouted with authority.

The filly looked to her, then back to her engraving, before tapping her horn to the wall again to carve out the grooves that would symbolize the shutter of leaves.

“I said stop that,” the mare repeated, and she used her own horn to telekinetically drag filly away from the wall by her chains.

The filly whined and tried to resist by scraping her hooves against the cold stone floor. Every day it was the same thing, the mare touched her horn to the filly’s battered and scarred forehead to force images into her mind. “What do you see?” she frequently asked, as she did again today, and the filly would be presented with a slate and chalk to recreate the images.

Though sometime in the last week she stopped saying, “No, like this.” while taking the chalk away to levitate it with magic, and instead simply slipped it inside a piece of bamboo to keep the filly’s saliva off of it. The filly's lips pursed as she recreated the images. The first: one pony coming out of the rear of another. The next: a little pony and a big pony together. Over the sequence of images the little pony progressively became bigger until they were the same size.

“Good!” Praise was normal at this point but wouldn't last once the questions were asked. “That’s called a mommy. Do you know who your mommy is?” the mare asked sweetly. The filly drew another tree nearly identical to the one on the wall, but this one lacked the aura and instead had blood pouring out of the large hole in the center. Just like the blood in the first image of the set she was asked to draw.

The mare frowned while repeating the question, “No, I said mommy. Do you know who your mommy is?” To which the filly simply tapped the chalk on the picture of the tree as if to repeat herself as well.

“Let’s try something else.” the mare said in frustration. “Where did you come from?”

Her explanation came as an addition to the picture, where the filly drew patchwork scribbles around the tree to signify an island floating in the sky. She then tapped her chalk to the tree once more.

“What is your name?” she asked.

The filly drew another tree, this one much smaller than the first, into the existing scene.

“Sapling?” the mare questioned.

The filly shook her head and added several arrows back and forth to signify a connection between the giant oak and the sapling.

“Treeling…?” the mare asked as she cocked her head to better see the slate.

The filly nodded as the words evoked the correct images in her head. Treeling smiled and cleared the board with her cheek before she drew the mare’s portrait and tapped it questioningly.

The mare responded with first question then the answer. “My name? My name is Nurse Clarity.”

This statement confused Treeling. She drew a crystal with arrows passing through it next to the portrait of the nurse and linked them together with more arrows. The nurse laughed as she confirmed the question: “Yes, Crystal Clarity. Very good.”

The praise felt strange from this crystal pony as, for weeks in and weeks out, nothing Treeling told her was be accepted as correct. The moment was short-lived as Nurse Clarity raised another question, one asked many times before, and one for which the answer never changed.

“How did you get into the Crystal Empire?”

That was the answer never changed until today. The filly chomped down tightly on her chalk which caused it to break in her mouth, after which she spit the pieces into the nurse’s face. Treeling was tired of being asked the same five questions. This one more than the others because the tree she drew every single time conveyed nothing to the interrogator.

A sour expression crept into Nurse Clarity’s face as she wiped the spit from her eyelid. The expression came sooner than usual, but it always came when Nurse Clarity was tired of getting “wrong” answers. This time was different too though, because there was more anger in it than usual.

Nurse Clarity popped her chin up and to the right in a singular jerking motion. With it came the desk that was bolted to the floor, that she violently tore it up with magic, and sent flying into the wall. A display of force that clearly showed how badly she wanted to turn her magic on the filly. However, she had learned from that mistake in the first week, and so she was forced to resort to the more conventional earth pony style of discipline. As such her foreleg swung through a wide arc that ended squarely on the filly’s face. The slap left a bright-red imprint of her horseshoe smudged in the chalk dust.

The filly fell to the ground with the force of the impact. It didn't matter to the nurse that she was twice the filly’s size– she was tired of being jerked around. Every answer was always the same: a tree. She knew that the child was given more than enough context images to answer the question, but now was just being defiant. The filly had plenty of scars from her life outside the city walls so nopony would notice if she got a few more if things got out of hoof.

This time was different however. This time Treeling stifled back her tears. This time she stood back up on her own, and glared at nurse who had not been quite careful enough in restraining her outburst. A rustle in her fur created a simulated shimmer, as the gold gilt at the base of her autumn leaf-green coat could be seen, while she drew in the ambient energy of the psychic assault.

A resounding thud echoed in the halls outside as Nurse Clarity was thrust into the metal door. A gasping “Stop!” escaped her lips with the wind that was knocked out of her. As the filly drew her chain taunt, she reached out with her mind, and poured herself into the nurse’s head.

There was just enough magic here to make her understand.

<< Index | Earthbound >>

Act 2 | Fair Game

Many ponies were on the street today as Crystal Clarity and Treeling began their business. The nurse had been assigned several important tasks to do today, the least of which was foal-sitting, and they had been walking throughout the city all morning. The silence between them garnered strange looks from passer-bys but there was no tension disrupting their rhythm. Here and there C.C. would stop and inspect a small shop or building, and turned the same silence to its occupants as she did. Only then there was tension, but even still, she would only speak when it was absolutely necessary. Between the pair of them she would often direct the flow of their traffic with a tilt of her head or a point of her horn.

While it had been true that she had suffered a traumatic experience that initially silenced her, she found that once she closed her mouth her ears heard more, and her eyes saw more. There was less need for questions, and many of the ponies she was interacting with today indicated they knew why she had come, so there was also less need for explanations. Her conversations with others had been brief, doing more observing than interacting, and only after gauging what she came to inspect did they leave.

They had been totally in sync up until one point on their approach to the castle, where Nurse Clarity voiced over her shoulder to Treeling: "When we are in the presence of the Queen, you will do what I do, and 'say' nothing." She hadn't established the level of dominance that would make such a command stick, but they both knew that somepony who had would also be present, and felt it best to avoid drawing the wrath of that alpha.

Though it wasn't noticeable to the filly earlier, the sounds of the mare's hoof-falls on the crystal steps were different than the polished floor of the halls outside her cell. There was no longer the metal click-clack of horseshoes on the stone, and her appearance was less constrained than the last time they had met. The filly had been staring at the mare all morning trying to identify what it was about her that had changed and could only conclude that she felt less controlling: less superficial.

Such words did not occur naturally in the filly's vocabulary, but rather had been drawn forth by associated images of ponies very similar to how Nurse Clarity used to be. To Treeling it was as simple as saying that Crystal Clarity had become more like the filly, than the adult, of the two who shared the prior month of isolation.

Once they had climbed the stairs to the main chamber, and walked to the courtroom, they stood once again before the Queen. Though this time was not associated with an appeal for the freedom of the filly, still, her presence didn't go unnoticed. Likewise: neither did the lack of the presences of the advisory staff. Nurse Clarity bowed before the Queen, and after an observational delay, so too did Treeling.

"Report," the Queen said. Her tone was brusque, her posture intense, and her mind visibly elsewhere.

"The preparations have been made," the nurse responded, "But, they are afraid." Nurse C.C. paused while the Queen considered her words, after which she added a cautionary reminder. "We mustn't fill the Heart with fear."

The Queen raised her eyebrow to question which of them was in charge of the situation. The psychiatric adviser continued, motioning to the filly, who after likewise motioned back as she was told to do. "The mind of this child has opened mine to the consequence of primal fear. It would spell out disaster for all the world should the Crystal Heart propagate it."

It had not even been twenty-four hours since the Queen was first introduced to the filly by Sombra, and yet this was the third time her opinion swayed matters of the court. Without speaking so much as a single word, Treeling had impressed Sombra, manipulated the Queen, and intimidated the Nurse. The Queen growled in irritation but was careful not to act rashly. All knew it was her duty to protect the interests of the ponies of the Crystal Empire. Sometimes that meant considering advice from the most unlikely sources and judging it on merit alone.

"Show me child," she addressed the filly directly.

Treeling looked to C.C. with confusion, but whose nod signified permission to 'speak.' The filly happily plopped on her plot to draw the chalk from her board and drew out her response. It was a rough sketch of Nurse Clarity's portrait, with glowing horn, being touched to the horn of the filly. She showed the board to the Queen who had impatiently waited for the response to be constructed.

The Queen leaned forward and inspected the image and then turned to raise her qualm with the psychiatrist. "Can she not communicate these ideas herself?"

Nurse Clarity's response was a hesitant one. "She has had no magical training. It was all we could do to get her to understand our language, and I am sorry to say that she cannot speak it."

Impressed and expressing a sigh of exasperation the Queen lay back on her throne. "So her raw aptitude alone was enough for Sombra to present me with a bar of iron and insist that it could be made into a sword," she said with a note of contemplation though her tone was largely reflective of a feeling of being swindled. All present knew to varying degrees how difficult it was to impress Sombra but this implied something far greater than simply being on his "good" side.

Bemired by their experiences with the child thus far the nurse satirically added: "Since her arrival... She has done nothing but cut down her foes."

The Queen nodded at the alternate interpretation of events. It wasn't difficult to see that she was questioning what she may have done to be counted among those foes, though Nurse Clarity was not privy to the details of their trip, it was obvious that they weighed heavily on the Queen's mind.

"I have another task for you," the Queen said, breaking the still calm of their respective contemplation. "I need you to gauge the morale of our citizens as we begin our first Crystal Fair. Use your magic to sweep the emotions of the citizens you meet and report back to me."

The nurse was visibly perturbed by being asked to spy on her fellow citizens in a time where they had little faith in the government but accepted the order with little hesitation. She bowed, as did Treeling after a short delay, and added: "What shall I do with the filly?"

The Queen gave a tilted nod to the drawing on the slate when she voiced her reply, "Let her observe." However dangerous it may be one thing was clear to both adults: the Queen intended to get the sword that she bought... even if she had to forge and sharpen it herself.

<< Word Play | Take Five >>