A tattered soul, no home in mind
Came to a land with peace and love
And hope within his heart did find
A place to grow and rise above
A fear that swallowed all but pride
And tore asunder any trust
To leave him tattered up inside
And make him see those worlds unjust
Yet here he was, with love so true
Elation overcoming blues
There is no greater journey through and through
Than on the many paths we choose
Prologue
A small wisp of smoke billowed across the bleak image of a frozen tundra, its trajectory seemingly chaotic as it moved across the snow and around any obstacle that came in its path. It weaved its way around the tips of shrubs and rocky surfaces that dared to face the outside world above the snow, never touching the impeding obstacles. To a casual observer, the wisp would have seemed to be nothing more than a highly specialized insect scurrying across the landscape in search of food and a warmer den. While a trained biologist would question the activity of an ectothermic creature in peak activity during the arctic’s winter climax, the raging blizzard ravaging across the landscape would obscure any further investigation in the matter and force any curious individual to simply allow natural selection to take its course. The wisp had no need to worry about such trivial, mortal pursuits. It knew it was truly alone, and speed was its current priority, not stealth. It paused, the only interruption since its journey began in the sweltering heat of the tropics, which proved to be the most difficult stretch of its travel due to the vegetated landscape and plethora of potential witnesses. The wisp straightened out vertically into a fine point. It dove, boring cleanly into the snow as easily as the pearly canines of a predator sinking into the red, bleeding flesh of its victim. Reaching the permafrost, the wisp began to probe, its efforts rewarded by the discovery of a slight crack in the chilly earth. It slid in effortlessly, the passage smooth from recent repeated use and continued to penetrate down into the planet’s crust. Deeper it went without rest, the miles little more than a pit stop compared to how far it had traveled to get here. It had traversed the planet, avoiding detection along the way- quite a challenging feat, but it was finally close. It was so close… so very close now.
The wisp doubled its speed, anxious to reach its destination… its completion. The built up excitement burst as it broke free from the earth’s contact, freefalling into a humid mass of air that bore the stale stench of neglect… of things long beyond forgotten. Smell mattered little to the wisp right now, its destination finally reached. The wisp wasted little time, searching among the smooth surface desperately to detect what it had set out for. However, it froze, realizing that it had become detected itself. A large, smoky mass approached it, coming to a stop and towering over it as an adult would over a juvenile. The wisp leapt up, joining the smoke and finally achieving what it had set out on its long journey for- becoming whole. The smoky mass blinked a haunting shade of sickly green that flashed throughout the space, revealing pearly floors that had obviously at one point in time been well polished and maintained. It blinked again, the green staying longer as a prolonged shimmer until the darkness stole what little exposition the light had to offer. Finally, an eruption of light exploded from the smoky mass, the green glow bending as the particles within its hazy body began to swirl. Faster and faster they turned, compressing inward and heating rapidly through pure friction. Sparks shot from the nucleus of activity, the core glowing purple in a sharp contrast to the green aura surrounding it. A limb spontaneously grew from the vortex, stomping roughly on the ground below. Another followed suit, as did two more after it, their positioning revealing two forelegs and haunches.
The swirling mass of light exploded, beautiful shimmers raining down on the smooth floor, their illumination showing the fruits of their labor standing tall in the form of an equine- a unicorn stallion specifically. His grey fur lay matted in a messy display across his sleek, muscular form. Ruby red eyes blinked twice, gazing at the discordance that was his coat before narrowing into a glare in distaste. He raised a hoof, licking it once and raising it to his maneline, the black hair falling in a chaotic cascade. The lone figure spent minutes grooming himself, the efforts of his preening coming to fruition at last as his fur finally settled in uniform order. His pupils dilated slowly, adjusting to the dimming light as the glow from the previous necromancy died down. His grey horn ignited with a crimson glow that matched his eyes, the scarlet light bringing a much clearer view of his appearance to anyone that could have been in the vicinity.
He was a well-built charcoal grey unicorn stallion whose toned physique seemed to resemble that of an Earth pony track runner rather than a mage. Despite the eerie glow from his self-produced light, any mare would admire his unique combination of features between two of the tribes and believe him to be quite handsome if he had a proper haircut- not that they were around to do so. No, he had made certain of that. Heck, it was only by a miracle he had found this cavern himself, if he would call the circumstances of his regeneration a miracle that is. After all, a shattered fragment of his being had found shelter here after fleeing complete annihilation. But still, it was a silver lining, and what an opportunity it was, and revenge could always come later. He cackled; revenge would come hand in hand, or rather hoof and hoof with his plans. The fragment of his being that had discovered this location was of limited consciousness at the time, and still the significance radiating here was obvious. He flared his horn brighter, eyes adjusting to the sudden light he created.
Drinking in the scene around him, the stallion took a small opportunity to truly appreciate his surroundings. Polished marble- at least he thought it was marble, composed the majority of the architecture, its design so exotic it practically seemed alien. Towering buttresses were rooted in the foundations of circular bases, the bases themselves connected to each other only by thin, flat rectangular platform bridges. The buttresses were composed of sinew-like strands of the pearly building material and contained so many intricate patterns that following any single strand would have been a taxing task for even the most prestigious architects. They extended past their bases, forming interconnected webs of sinewy marble that filled the unfathomable depths below. Hieroglyphics of an almost alien nature lay imprinted along the bases of the buttresses, their runes performing elegant twists and turns that made the long dead language seem more of an art than form of communication. The stallion himself stood upon the end of a narrow bridge that connected two of the buttresses, not worried about the apparent instability of the structure and the bottomless pit below that offered nothing but the promise of a plummet through the web-like towering structures.
He found himself gazing at the messages, only to snort in disdain momentarily after. Of course he couldn’t read it, though he wasn’t surprised. Annoyed yes, but surprised, no. If his suspicions were correct- and he was fairly certain they were, then these ruins were absolutely prehistoric, predating the time of the Royal Sisters, Discord, and almost- if not all of recorded Equestrian history. Nothing a little research couldn’t solve- or rather a lot of research, but no matter. His ignorance would only put a slight delay in his plans if he played his cards right, but first there were… other priorities to attend to. More vain priorities, but necessary to him all the same. The stallion glanced at the floor, his reflection in the smooth surface looking back with equal disgust.
“Well, this won’t due at all,” He grumbled in a deep, smooth baritone, the tip of his horn this time igniting in a light shade of lavender. The glow deepened in color, its hue changing and warping until it shone a deep purple. Green sparks shot from the dark magic and the effect of the spell cast was finally taking a toll on the stallion. He howled in pain, dropping onto the floor with his hooves clutched to his temples, his reflexes desperate to numb the agony. Unnatural canines sliced through his gums, blood dripping as they aligned their wicked curve next to his incisors. His horn took a similar transformation, bending into a crescent that mimicked the ivory tusks of elephants more than the straight keratin horns of his tribe. His flowing black mane and tail turned to smoke, clinging to him in an ethereal wind that corruptibly mimicked the appearances of the immortal royalty. The whites of his eyes, filled with engorged blood vessels that carried antibodies desperate to fight off the inevitable corruption, turned a sickly green hue. Dark magic flowed from the stallion’s tear ducts, his body no longer resisting what it originally thought to be a biological infection. He stood, shakily at first, and blinked rapidly, desperate to clear the painful haze from his head. His vision straightened, and he could finally see his appearance in the wall. He smiled wickedly, satisfied with the results.
“Oh Sombra, you handsome devil,” He cooed, stroking his reflection in the floor’s surface with the delicate touch of a lover. His hoof trailed off and traced a few of the runes inscribed in the circular base. Sombra’s cruel smile widened. “And now, it begins.”
Prince Shining Armor woke up to the sound of screaming, his two-toned blue mane flicking across his vision as he sat upright. The terror held in the voice’s pitch was a cause for concern of course, but to hear it coming from his wife was far more appalling. He desperately tore the sheets away, revealing Princess Cadence thrashing in her sleep. Her soft pink body convulsed in horrifying spasms, the bedspread matted wet from her sweat and tears. Shining Armor wasted no time in shaking the love Princess awake, her eyes cracking open, pupils dilated already in fear. She immediately threw her forelegs around him, weeping openly into the prince’s shoulder, her tears staining his ivory fur. Shining Armor held her tightly, a raspy whisper of worry on his breathe.
“Cadence… what happened?”
She tore her muzzle from her husband’s shoulder, eyes bloodshot from tears that continued to fall from the corners of her eyes. Cadence looked her husband in the eyes, her bottom lip trembling as she fought to keep herself from crying again. Her voice wavering, she finally spoke.
“I… I don’t think we’re safe anymore.”
