A Shadow's Returnby ChlouideChaptersThe ExpeditionThe EvacuationThe InvasionThe ExpeditionChapter I The Railway Express screeched to a halt at Canterlot Station. Black smoke plumed out of the engine’s chimney and pressurized air hissed out from under her, lowering the train altogether. A loud whistle rang through the station emanating from the Railway Express’ caboose. The doors on all the cabins slid open and a mob of ponies left their cabins while a mass of ponies entered. This happened to almost every cabin, the exceptions being the freight, large luggage, medical, diner, kitchen, first class cabins and the caboose. Twilight strode out of the first class cabin musing to herself, Ah, Canterlot. It’s good to be back, Twilight was wearing her golden regalia. The purple diamond gleaned from its cozy position. Four guards patiently stood by. The leader of group, a unicorn, trotted over to Twilight, “Princess Sparkle, I am Commander Garrison. I trust that your ride was pleasant.” if his face hadn't revealed to Twilight the stallion’s age surely his gruff voice did. “I assure you, Commander Garrison, that my ride here went well.” Twilight stated in an informative tone. “Understood. Your carriage to the castle is right outside of the station.” the old stallion turned around away from Twilight, “If you would follow me.” The three other guards took position around Twilight, an earth pony at the back, two pegasi flanking her sides and the Commander up front. After quickly checking formation they made their way outside the station to the carriage. The trot to the carriage was a quick one. Once they had reached it the pegasi hitched themselves to their harnesses, Commander Garrison opened the door for Twilight and they along with the earth pony made their way inside. When the commander confirmed that Twilight was comfortable, he knocked on the wall of the carriage and the carriage began to move. The ride to the castle wasn't actually long, but the awkward silence within the carriage made it seem as if seconds were minutes, minutes were hours and so on. Twilight fidgeted several times during the ride. Sometimes she would open her mouth trying to find something to say to break the silence, but to avail she couldn't think of anything to say. She simply closed her mouth and waited patiently. ~~~ Twilight and her escort made their way through the castle halls to the throne room. She had been summoned by the Princesses to discuss something of the utmost importance. Twilight had simply told her friends that she would be going to the Royal Archives to pick up some books for research. That would have been a lie, if she didn't take this opportunity as an excuse to get more books. Spike would've went with Twilight, but he had promised Big Mac, Discord, and Angel Bunny that he would be their for their game of Dungeons and Draconequi, a game developed by Discord himself. They had finally made it to the grandiose doors to the throne room. Two guards stationed at the doors opened it with their magic allowing Twilight entrance, the four other guards had turned back.There objective was only to escort Princess Twilight from the station to the throne room. With their objective complete they made their way towards the barracks. Twilight strode through the throne room, her hoof steps muffled by the soft red carpet. There in the middle of the room stood Celestia and Luna, “Twilight,” Celestia said. “Celestia, Luna,” Twilight responded a smile on her face. After several months Twilight had finally gotten use to calling the Princesses by their first names and it had stuck. Luna had only nodded in response to Twilight. Her face was grim most likely from what the two princesses were talking about before she arrived. Twilight walked up to Celestia and the two did their common gesture of nuzzling each other, “How are you my faithful student?” “I’m quite fine,” Over the years Twilight had grown, she was now slightly taller, but not by a lot. Celestia still had to crane her neck down. Twilight broke from their nuzzle, “So why was I called here for? All the letter said was that you wanted to discuss something rather important.” Luna strode up to Twilight, "The reason for why we have called you here Twilight Sparkle is that King Sombra has returned once more." "What?! I thought we defeated him!? How can this be?! Is the Crystal Empire alright? Are Cadance and Shining alright? Is the whole of Equestria in terrible, terrible danger?!" Twilight was hyperventilating at that point, what she was hearing she just couldn't believe. "I understand your shock my student, but Sombra is and was no simple foe. In fact, out of all our past enemies he was the most cunning," Celestia rested a fore hoof on Twilight's shoulder, calming her down. "Okay then..." Twilight’s breathing returned to normal, "So what was that thing we fought so long ago? How do we stop him? I’m sure if he’s as cunning as you two remember than he already has a plan!” "To answer your question," Luna began. "The creature you fought was what we believe to be a spell. A spell that allowed Sombra to break out from his frozen prison. We suspected this when you first told us about your encounter with him." "You see Twilight," Celestia was walking back over to her throne. "King Sombra was a powerful unicorn. With his knowledge he came up with a plan and spell for nearly everything. "He had developed many spells, one of them being that nearly unstoppable form of his when he first returned,” Celestia sighed, ”After our fight with him we searched his libraries and studies. What we had found was rather unpleasant..." "Indeed sister," there was a pause of silence, Luna had her head down looking at the floor and Celestia stared blankly at her throne. Twilight couldn't help but stare at them, focusing on one then the other. Celestia simply closed her eyes and turned back to face Twilight, "Another one of his spells was the ability to revive himself from death. Fortunately at the time it was incomplete. The only apparent requirements were a large supply of dark magic and the casters horn. As long as they casted the spell before they perished they would reform from the horn." Twilight's eyes widened with horror. "You're saying that he was able to cast the spell and that his horn still remained after we defeated him!" "Yes," Luna spoke up lifting her head. "Before you had entered Twilight, Tia and I had come up with a hypothesis on how Sombra was able to cast that spell. We believe that his ghastly form had enough dark magical energy to use the spell. And over the course of several years his body reformed." "Then we need to hurry the Crystal Empire! Who knows what could be happening up there?!” Twilight stomped her hoof on to the lush red carpet. “Actually there is somepony that knows,” Luna stared off toward the front of the room. Twilight’s eyes and head followed to where she was staring. In the corner was a wounded pegasus and he was walking over to them. “Twilight Sparkle this is Lieutenant Flash Sentry. He was on the expedition that had discovered Sombra. In fact, he’s all that remains, sadly.” “Greetings Princess, just as Princess Luna said, I was on the expedition,” Flash bowed his head toward Twilight. Taking a glimpse at the soldier Twilight noticed he had a large bandage wrapped around his left fore hoof. There was another bandage that went around his barrel. Several cuts dotted his body along with many bruises. “Please, Lieutenant Sentry please inform me on what happened,” Twilight did her best to not show her pity. “Ah, yes...um… The Princesses had told me that they would wait for you to hear the story. I guess I should begin.” ~~~ It had been four days since the expedition left the Crystal Empire via air carriage, and for that time there had been no blizzards. We had finally made it to the large ravine where Sombra had been imprisoned for a thousand years, and we set up camp on a ledge within the ravine to avoid any future blizzards and harsh winds. We believed that by coming to his “prison” we would be able to find his horn or at the very least a clue of some sort. But the truth is that we had no other leads, this was our best choice at finding the horn. We had been in the ravine for at least a day and during that time we were making our way down towards the bottom of the ravine. We had past the point in which ice transferred to stone and we kept going down and down and down, after all we had been given four weeks out there. And we spent most of the time searching the inner workings of caves and making a small path back to the top for future expeditions. It was the third week and we had finally were at the bottom of the ravine. Torches illuminated the area, but even with the torches everything seemed to be incredibly dark. While we were at the bottom we found a plethora of ancient Equestrian text written on the wall. It took us nearly an hour just to translate one of the sentences written or rather etched on the wall. And is said, “Spell Complete,” At the time we were baffled by what this could have meant, but our thoughts were interrupted by a loud shriek. We rushed over to where we thought it had emanated from. I took the lead while my men stayed behind me. We made our way through the depths of the ravine. A path of torches that were jabbed into the walls suddenly stopped and we found ourselves facing complete darkness. Out of nowhere black smoke came rushing out of the darkness. The cloud almost grabbed me, but a guard had pushed me out of the way and I ended up with a broken foreleg. The clouds continued to rush out from the darkness, blowing out all the torches. As it blew over me I felt several things of debris cutting and pounding against my skin and coat. And it was out of fear that I had flown up out of the ravine. As I flew up I heard the others yelling in pain, I knew they were dead. I finally had gotten out of the ravine and I turned around to see if the large smoke had been following me. Indeed it was was following me, but this time I had seen his face and his horn was heading straight for me. In the nick of time I was able to just barely dodge a fatal blow. I felt searing pain in my side, but wanted to get out of there so I high tailed it and flew back to the Empire non-stop. I was filled with fear. ~~~ Flash was now quivering, his armor quietly clanked as he finished his story. “And that’s it your Majesties. When I returned to the Empire I was given immediate medical aid. Prince Shining wanted to know what happened during the expedition and I had told him Sombra had returned. And here I am today to give you all the information I have.” Twilight was the first to speak up, “Thank you Lieutenant, you’re dismissed,” Twilight turned around to face the other two princesses. As the yellow-orange guards pony walked out of the throne room. “I believe that this calls for the Elements of Harmony,” Twilight took on a smug look and puffed her chest out. “Actually Twilight, they won’t be needed,” Celestia said. Twilight’s demeanor deflated hearing that,” But… but… Celestia! This surely calls for my friends and I! I mean we don’t have the Elements anymore, but surely we could do something!” “I apologize Twilight, but the reason why we can’t use the Elements or include your friends is that Sombra is more than prepared to face them.” “What Tia says is true Twilight,” Luna’s horn glowed a dark blue and a an image floated in front of the three of them. The projection showed Discord reeking havoc upon the Crystal Empire. “Long ago Discord terrorized all of Equestria as you know. We had defeated him and harmony was restored,” the image shifted to Discord turning to stone. “But because of the power he possessed and him being immortal, naturally he created his own following or cult,” again the image shifted now forming a group of ponies in patchwork robes. One of the ponies who was a unicorn took his hood off revealing Sombra. ”Sombra was one of these cultists. He was inspired by the havoc that Discord made. Oddly enough, he was also Starswirl the Bearded’s first Apprentice during his younger years.” The image now showed Sombra learning under the watch of Starswirl. “Sadly, thanks to his new idol he decided to steal the Elements of Harmony. He traveled up North to the Crystal Empire. There he studied the Elements as he slowly took over the Crystal Empire from under our noses,” The images, once more, shifted into Sombra traveling North to him researching the Elements to him Ruling over the Empire.. And with that Luna ceased the spell. Celestia then spoke up, “As we searched his castle one of the many things we had found was research on how to create the Elements polar opposites in order to free Discord. He believed that if Discord was sealed by the Elements then surely their polar opposites would be able to destroy the spell. Fortunately we were able to stop him before he could create them.” As soon as Celestia said that the doors to the throne room had burst open. A guard came in panting, “Your… Ma-Majesties… Princess Cadance and Prince Shining are here! They are requesting immediate audience with you, your Majesties.” Author's Note Hello readers! This is my first chapter of "A Somber Return." Do I have confidence that this won't have dislikes? Of course... But amateurs are amateurs so please be gentle I'm still a writing virgin. By the way I would love a better title for this fic and chapter title, I'm not very creative. I'm still deciding on genres mainly because y'know spurts of imagination just come randomly. I know saying that makes me sound a bit timid. Oh well. The EvacuationChapter II Shining Armor strode through the infirmary with confidence, but the facade was only their to hide his worry. In fact, he was very worried. What killed off the entire expedition... Well all but one. Shining did not find joy in the possibility that Sombra could be alive. Moreover, he doubted that that was a possibility. Him alive, ha! Impossible! That old thing is long dead... I saw him... He was destroyed... Deep down he was wary of his own remark. Shining's musing was cut short when he bumped into a white-coated mare. "Oh my goodness! Your Highness, I'm so, so, so, sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going... I- I was reviewing one of this patient's records an- an - and- I'm so, so , so , so- huh? Umm... Your Highness apologies if I'm not catching on, but what's so funny?" Shining was chuckling, his eye shut as he tried to hide his face as he looked down. The mare who had been rambling her apology was slightly out of breath. "Nothing, nothing at all," Shining finally composed himself. This was what he needed, a good laugh. The stress of being a ruler had finally caught up with the stallion. But now he was able to release that stress, even if it was a little. "I'm here to see Flash Sentry. I had a few questions for him regarding the expedition." "Of course your Highness. The funny thing about this is that... Well... We're already here..." The mare was now blushing at this complete coincidence. "He's behind the curtains," the mare pulled the curtain revealing a bandaged orange, blue-haired stallion. "I was reviewing his records," she extended his arm over to the patient. "Well umm... Thank you, I suppose..." "Will that be all your Highness?" The said as she placed the clipboard of records back into the foot of the bed's plastic holder. "Actually, there is one thing," the mare tilted her head hearing this. "What's your name?" It was the mare's turn to laugh now. "I'm sorry your Highness. I don't mean to offend your awareness, but I do have a name tag that bodily presents my name, and the rest of medical," Shining was at first taken aback by the sudden laughter and that shock only grew into embarrassment as he had realized what the mare was talking about. Proudly displayed on her nurse cap was her name and also did the scrub she wore. "Oh... I see..." "But since you asked your highness, my name is Redcross," Redcross smiled and walked off. Shining turned to look at the patient on the bed, "Looks like he's still out of it." The patient, Flash Sentry was on the bed sleeping. Well in Shining's eyes. "Actually your Highness I'm not. Just here patiently waiting," Flash opened his eyes and gave a small grin. He tried to get up but couldn't. "Whoa there, relax. I just have a few questions." "Is it regarding the expedition?" Shining nodded to this. "Thought so, just a little surprised that you're doing it your Highness." "I suppose it's just that one thing has been on my mind for a while. Anyway first question, Are you positive that you are the sole survivor?" Flash shook his head, "No." “Along the way to expedition sight did anything happen?” “No,” Deep down Shining hoped that something happened along the way. Shining sighed, “Alright, Yes or no, do you know who did this?” “Yes, I do,” Once again a part of hope died inside Shining. “Alright final question, if you know their name -the one who did it- what is it?” Shining was praying to himself. He was praying that it wasn’t the one who he thought it was. All that died when Flash said, “It was… S -Sombra… He was the one who killed of the rest of the expedition.” Flash was quivering in his bed sheets. “Thank you for your time,” and with that Shining left the infirmary. He looked down to the floor as he walked, darkening his face. He carried a grim expression on his face. He couldn’t lie to himself that it wasn’t Sombra, he knew from the start when he first heard that basically the entire expedition was killed off after they reached the sight. He knew. Why?! Just why him?! He brought us down to our knees the last time we faced off! Just, Why?! Shining couldn't take it. He absolutely hated Sombra to no end. He made his way to the Castle’s throne room, and slammed it shut. “Sh- Shining?” Shining Armor looked up to find himself staring at a startled noble pony and his wife, Cadance. “Is everything alright?” she was curious indeed. Shining sighed, “No…” “You’ll have to excuse us,” Cadance said to the noble who in return mumbled something about having to traverse a long set of stairs. “Guards! Inform the ponies that the Crystal Court is now cancelled! I would also like for some privacy.” The guards within the room made their way out in unison, with each step precise. They were now alone, a depressed Shining and a worried Cadance,” Shining please, what’s wrong?” here tone affectionate as ever. “Cadance it’s- it’s just that…” Shining once again sighed. “It’s Sombra…” “What do you mean by ‘It’s Sombra?’ has he returned?!” “I wouldn’t be talking about him if he wasn’t!” Shining yelled, startling Cadance. “I’m- I’m sorry…” “It’s okay Shining, It’ll be fine.” Cadance nuzzled Shining, comforting him. “For now let’s just send word to Aunt Celestia and Luna, alright?” Shining nodded. and they continued their embrace. ~~~ Doctors and nurses were moving to and fro the infirmary. They were evacuating patients and moving supplies out of the entire kingdom. “Flash we’re sending you over to Canterlot.” Shining was back in the infirmary talking to Flash Sentry. “What?! But- But sir! Sombra must be making his way over here by now!” Flash was now out of the bed standing. “All the more reason. We are sending all current patients over to Canterlot and Trottingham actually.” “Huh?” “The reason for this is because we don’t know what Sombra will do to them, and they won’t get the help they need.” “Okay, understood. But what about me?! I’m nearly fully healed!” Flash began jogging in place to prove his point. “I can see that. The reason why you are going as well is because you are going to tell Princess Celestia and Luna what has happened. Hopefully help will arrive before anything bad happens. We are putting a lot of faith into you Lieutenant Sentry.” Shining placed his hoof onto Flash’s shoulder. “Understood sir!” The two made their way out the infirmary. The entire civilian population of the Crystal Empire was now evacuated. They were either sent over to Trottingham or Canterlot. Flash Sentry was already sent over to Canterlot and that was approximately two days of nonstop travel. The Empire had guards patrolling the borders of the Empire’s shield. Shining Armor and Cadance were in the throne room with several guards and commanders. Another Commander entered the room. “All civilians have been evacuated your majesties.” “Good,” Shining Armor replied. “We have already set up several blockade points around the city. At any point a blockade does fall the ponies stationed at the blockade will fall back. The throne room is our final hold. If all else fails Cadance will use a long-range teleportation spell and evacuate all within range. Before hoof we would like to apologize if any pony doesn't get teleported with us. Any way that is the general gist of the plan. We have no idea what Sombra has planned, sadly. But we will stand or die trying,” the commanders and guards gave a ‘hurrah.’ “And with that you are all dismissed make your way to respective blockades.” “Yes, sir!” the ponies saluted and made their way out of the throne room. “I guess all that’s left to do now is wait…” Shining turned to Cadance. “Everything alright?” Cadance hadn't said anything the entire time of the meeting, she just sat there on her throne patiently listening, “It’s just that this seems so unbelievable…” “How so?” Shining was now walking over to his wife. “It’s that fact that Sombra is back I thought we’d be able to rule our empire in relative peace after he was defeated… I thought wrong…” Cadance had her head down as she spoke. Her words carried disbelief as well as worry. “Hey… You were the one who said everything will be fine, and I trust you. Completely. Let’s just do our best here alright? Its only a matter of time before Sombra arrives and we wouldn't want him to disappointed with two depressed rulers,” Shining gave a small chuckle while Cadance gave a small grin. “...Alright, I suppose. Let’s do this,” Cadance’s horn glowed a light blue and suddenly a massive dome surrounded the Crystal Empire. Shining Armor followed up with a shield of his, but this one was a magenta color. Slowly, over the horizon a black cloud formed on the East side of the Empire, Its mass continued to grow and smaller clouds were shooting out of it. All of it was heading toward the Crystal Empire. The InvasionChapter III Small black clouds shot out of the amassing black smoke, they were heading toward the Crystal Empire. These black clouds looked like artillery, but the spiraling movements disproved that. They moved in zig zags and spiraled around one another. Finally, after their show they landed on the Empire’s shield without so much of a sound. Suddenly, the sound of breaking glass could be heard all around. Fragments of the blue and magenta shield began to fall and dissipate into thin air. The ponies below could only watch in horror as the two shields went out simultaneously. As soon as the shield was worn down, frigid air came rushing in through all the cracks and holes. Following the air came the black clouds. They landed onto the streets, houses, and knolls. No place was left untouched by these clouds. As soon as each one hit the ground they began to condense into more recognizable creatures to the guard ponies. They began turning into ponies. The only things about them was that they were pure black, a faint white glow surrounded their edges, their legs were long and slender and ended at a point, but their face was what freaked most guards. They had no face, their heads ended in a flat surface a blaze of shadow came out of the shin and head of the creatures. Matter of fact these creature looked like they were static, jagged spikes sprang out of them only to sucked back into their owner’s body. “Stop lollygagging you foals! Attack!” Commander Amethyst Shield yelled to her subordinates, “I will not allow the Southern blockade to be the first to fall! And I’ll be damned if we lose it without putting up a fight!” The guards yelled in unison for their leader and charged. Amethyst stayed behind with the unicorns who were casting either offensive or supportive spells. “Listen up! We don’t know what these guys are made up of, but judging by the fact their obviously shadow things, our best option is to use pyromancy! Follow my lead!” With that Amethyst charged a spell of her own. From her horn she shot out a red burning ray of light toward the fray. Several ponies had to jump clear of the ray to avoid being hit. As soon as the ray hit the enemy lines, they began to evaporate. The beam only lasted for several seconds, but it blasted through them like tsunami. Amethyst turned to her troop,“And that’s how it’s done.” Many of the other unicorn guards stared in disbelief. There was hope to defeating Sombra the Oppressor once more, but that hope soon turned into fear as the air began to darken and the shadows began to reform. “Ma’am! They’re back!” one of the unicorns yelled out. “What?!” Amethyst turned a full one-eighty only to find herself looking at ponies encased in ice. The shadows were tuning everything they touched into solid ice. Screams of pain were heard throughout the Empire as more and more ponies were being turned into fossilized remains. But those screams were soon muffled out by the ice completely encasing them. Amethyst saw as one of the earth ponies began to freeze in front of her eyes. The face on the stallion would remain forever in her head. In slight panic she yelled, “Retreat! Fall back to the second blockade!” Many of the unicorn guards had already been running in fear. Amethyst looked back to the other guards, none had survived the onslaught. Soon she heard a pegasi commander yelling over to his troops. “Ready! Aim! Fire at will!” a barrage of bolts shot out from the group's crossbows. The commander then flew down over to Amethyst. “Commander Arcing Blitz! What in Tartarus are you doing here! Aren't you suppose to be at second!’ “Not the best moment for explanation Commander! We’ll try and hold ‘em off for as long as we can!Get back to the third blockade!” Blitz yelled over the sound of clattering bolts hitting the ground. “Understood!” Amethyst began galloping over to second to inform her troop of unicorns the change of plan. Commander Blitz flew back up, “Storm Rage, don’t touch ‘em dammit!” The sound of battle was all over the Empire. Yells of pain and distress could be heard throughout. Third blockade wasn't too far from the second blockade, but the constant detours caused by the shadows falling from the sky made it difficult. Amethyst was the only one left, when she had gotten to second blockade she saw her unicorn guards frozen. The shadows stood there next to them staring at the dead bodies. As soon as she gasped at the sight all the shadows’ eyes -if they had any- were on her. And the chase quickly escalated with several teleportation spells from Amethyst. She was out of breath from magical and physical exertion, but she was almost there. Just one more corner, she thought to herself. Turning the corner she found herself face to face with one of the monstrosities that annihilated her entire group. But she couldn't move a muscle, she was in a complete panic. She tried to activate a spell, but nothing. She looked down to the creature's “hooves” and saw that it was coming up. Sweat was pouring down her face, but still, she couldn't move. She was mentally cursing to herself, she had so much adrenaline pumping, but she couldn't move. As if time were slowed down she saw a glowing bolt blast through the shadow, and it dispersed. She was caught off guard by the sudden rescue. In the distance she saw Commander Blitz salute. He was heading for the grand castle, and he was going straight for the throne room’s balcony. Amethyst made it her mission to get up there to support her rulers. The only thing that stood in her way was a giant mass of grounded shadows and now several flying ones.The thought of trying to teleport right to the balcony itself crossed her mind, but she knew that that would ultimately fail and her only other option was to break through the army of shadows in front of her. “How the in Tartarus am I supposed to get through that?” she muttered to herself as she stared at the continually amassing army. “That’s impossible, and at this rate th-” Her musings cut short by a group of ponies yelling something along the lines of ‘For the empire!’ or ‘For the Princesses!’ or ‘Protect the Crystal Heart’ -though the Heart was transported elsewhere in the castle. They were coming from the Western main road. What she saw was a group of earth ponies and unicorns, with the support of pegasi in the air charging into the fray. All she could think of was, Those idiots are trying to kill themselves! They’ll never be able to kill those things… She began running and weaving through the buildings to her left, trying to get a better view of the ponies fighting while she tried to stay alive. Making her way out of the alleys she saw the entire group of ponies hacking their way through enemy lines. Impossible! How?! One of the guards who just finished off a shadow turned around to check his back before going back into fight. He saw Amethyst near the alley way and yelled, "Commander!" despite there being a weapon in his mouth it was still understandable. He began waving her over when one of the flying shadows caught him off guard. The shadow picked him up by his already raised hoof. Doing so the pony dropped his sword. He was already beginning to freeze, the ice slowly made way to his face. The pony's face ended up with his eyes fully opened and his mouth open, another face Amethyst would be forced to remember. And that pony was never going to be seen again. With no time to think about it, she ran over to where the pony had dropped his weapon and picked up the double-edged sword in her magic. She quickly studied it as she brought it up. It's enchanted! But I've never seen this kind of enchantment! Yet it's working against those things... She thought back to when Blitz had shot that bolt. The shadow hadn't come back as soon as it was dispersed! From the corner of her eye she saw one of the grounded shadows charging her from her left. Before it could touch her she moved the enchanted blade over to her side and slashed right through it. Cuts like a knife through butter, Amethyst smiled at the thought. She looked to the other ponies that were fighting their combatants, the result of the fight was a near stalemate. She lifted her sword once more and charged in. “Don’t just stand there you damn foals! Don’t you have an Empire to defend!” The guards yelled in unison at the arrival of the Southern Commander and began to fight with even more ferocity. ~~~ “Your Majesties!” A pegasus commander came flying in through the balcony. “The entirety of the Southern and Eastern Fronts have been pushed back completely. Northern Front has been pushed to their second blockade and are at risk of being pincered and the same could be said for the West. We can’t possibly hold for two days at this rate much less five if we are expecting reinforcements.” Few ponies looked toward Commander Arcing Blitz in surprise at his sudden outburst. Others were moving about in quick succession trying to get preparations done for if the battle was brought into the castle itself. Shining stood up from the war table that was in the corner of the throne room, “What you say is true Commander, but we have to try. And besides several unicorns discovered several enchantments that are effective against the shadows.” “That is correct sir. I myself have first hoof experience, but they just don’t stop, no matter how many we kill I’m sorry to say this, but this is impossible. We have very limited resources, we’re losing ponies every minute and they have an unlimited army that probably doesn't need any resources! It’s imposs-” before Blitz could finish his sentence a hoof connected with his face creating a loud crack. Everyone now had eyes on the one who had landed the punch. Princess Cadance was in tears as she lowered her hoof, “If impossibility truly does exist, then I tempt fate!” Cadance turned back over to the others, “I challenge her! I will not see this Empire fall no matter what! And if it does,” She was now walking over to the balcony. Reaching it she looked down toward the war for several moments and turned back to the room, “I go down with it!” Ponies were cheering at their princess’ words. Shining Armor on the other hand, his jaw was hanging open after what he just saw and now it might as well have reached the floor when he heard his wife’s final words of her speech. He rushed over to his wife, knocking over a stumbling pegasus who was holding onto his jaw. He looked over the balcony and saw a black cess pool of shadows. He turned to his wife, “Cadance do you actually mean what you just said,” Concern took over all other expressions on Shining’s face, “I don’t want to lose you just, because you tempted fate.” “It’s my decision Shining and I will stand by it,” she stated in her soft tone. Cadance quickly pecked Shining on the lips and the two embraced. As the two let go of one another a loud roar caught their attention. They looked over the balcony, the sound came from the West side. What they saw was somewhat inspirational. A group of ponies were charging into the shadows. Shining and Cadance looked to each other, she gave Shining another kiss, “And I have full faith in them.” Author's Note Hello! Finally, I actually put italics for the thoughts and there is one instance of me using italics for an emphasized word in dialogue. I hope you enjoyed the other two chapters if you are still reading this. I hope to do longer chapters in the future, it is finals week and I've spent a lot of time studying. All other time goes to me writing this and working on the story board. And I'm really having fun writing this. Please do remember to Comment, I enjoy being criticized so that I could do better. And remember to Like if you really do enjoy this, it helps my self-esteem. So... I'll see you all later.
The ExpeditionChapter I The Railway Express screeched to a halt at Canterlot Station. Black smoke plumed out of the engine’s chimney and pressurized air hissed out from under her, lowering the train altogether. A loud whistle rang through the station emanating from the Railway Express’ caboose. The doors on all the cabins slid open and a mob of ponies left their cabins while a mass of ponies entered. This happened to almost every cabin, the exceptions being the freight, large luggage, medical, diner, kitchen, first class cabins and the caboose. Twilight strode out of the first class cabin musing to herself, Ah, Canterlot. It’s good to be back, Twilight was wearing her golden regalia. The purple diamond gleaned from its cozy position. Four guards patiently stood by. The leader of group, a unicorn, trotted over to Twilight, “Princess Sparkle, I am Commander Garrison. I trust that your ride was pleasant.” if his face hadn't revealed to Twilight the stallion’s age surely his gruff voice did. “I assure you, Commander Garrison, that my ride here went well.” Twilight stated in an informative tone. “Understood. Your carriage to the castle is right outside of the station.” the old stallion turned around away from Twilight, “If you would follow me.” The three other guards took position around Twilight, an earth pony at the back, two pegasi flanking her sides and the Commander up front. After quickly checking formation they made their way outside the station to the carriage. The trot to the carriage was a quick one. Once they had reached it the pegasi hitched themselves to their harnesses, Commander Garrison opened the door for Twilight and they along with the earth pony made their way inside. When the commander confirmed that Twilight was comfortable, he knocked on the wall of the carriage and the carriage began to move. The ride to the castle wasn't actually long, but the awkward silence within the carriage made it seem as if seconds were minutes, minutes were hours and so on. Twilight fidgeted several times during the ride. Sometimes she would open her mouth trying to find something to say to break the silence, but to avail she couldn't think of anything to say. She simply closed her mouth and waited patiently. ~~~ Twilight and her escort made their way through the castle halls to the throne room. She had been summoned by the Princesses to discuss something of the utmost importance. Twilight had simply told her friends that she would be going to the Royal Archives to pick up some books for research. That would have been a lie, if she didn't take this opportunity as an excuse to get more books. Spike would've went with Twilight, but he had promised Big Mac, Discord, and Angel Bunny that he would be their for their game of Dungeons and Draconequi, a game developed by Discord himself. They had finally made it to the grandiose doors to the throne room. Two guards stationed at the doors opened it with their magic allowing Twilight entrance, the four other guards had turned back.There objective was only to escort Princess Twilight from the station to the throne room. With their objective complete they made their way towards the barracks. Twilight strode through the throne room, her hoof steps muffled by the soft red carpet. There in the middle of the room stood Celestia and Luna, “Twilight,” Celestia said. “Celestia, Luna,” Twilight responded a smile on her face. After several months Twilight had finally gotten use to calling the Princesses by their first names and it had stuck. Luna had only nodded in response to Twilight. Her face was grim most likely from what the two princesses were talking about before she arrived. Twilight walked up to Celestia and the two did their common gesture of nuzzling each other, “How are you my faithful student?” “I’m quite fine,” Over the years Twilight had grown, she was now slightly taller, but not by a lot. Celestia still had to crane her neck down. Twilight broke from their nuzzle, “So why was I called here for? All the letter said was that you wanted to discuss something rather important.” Luna strode up to Twilight, "The reason for why we have called you here Twilight Sparkle is that King Sombra has returned once more." "What?! I thought we defeated him!? How can this be?! Is the Crystal Empire alright? Are Cadance and Shining alright? Is the whole of Equestria in terrible, terrible danger?!" Twilight was hyperventilating at that point, what she was hearing she just couldn't believe. "I understand your shock my student, but Sombra is and was no simple foe. In fact, out of all our past enemies he was the most cunning," Celestia rested a fore hoof on Twilight's shoulder, calming her down. "Okay then..." Twilight’s breathing returned to normal, "So what was that thing we fought so long ago? How do we stop him? I’m sure if he’s as cunning as you two remember than he already has a plan!” "To answer your question," Luna began. "The creature you fought was what we believe to be a spell. A spell that allowed Sombra to break out from his frozen prison. We suspected this when you first told us about your encounter with him." "You see Twilight," Celestia was walking back over to her throne. "King Sombra was a powerful unicorn. With his knowledge he came up with a plan and spell for nearly everything. "He had developed many spells, one of them being that nearly unstoppable form of his when he first returned,” Celestia sighed, ”After our fight with him we searched his libraries and studies. What we had found was rather unpleasant..." "Indeed sister," there was a pause of silence, Luna had her head down looking at the floor and Celestia stared blankly at her throne. Twilight couldn't help but stare at them, focusing on one then the other. Celestia simply closed her eyes and turned back to face Twilight, "Another one of his spells was the ability to revive himself from death. Fortunately at the time it was incomplete. The only apparent requirements were a large supply of dark magic and the casters horn. As long as they casted the spell before they perished they would reform from the horn." Twilight's eyes widened with horror. "You're saying that he was able to cast the spell and that his horn still remained after we defeated him!" "Yes," Luna spoke up lifting her head. "Before you had entered Twilight, Tia and I had come up with a hypothesis on how Sombra was able to cast that spell. We believe that his ghastly form had enough dark magical energy to use the spell. And over the course of several years his body reformed." "Then we need to hurry the Crystal Empire! Who knows what could be happening up there?!” Twilight stomped her hoof on to the lush red carpet. “Actually there is somepony that knows,” Luna stared off toward the front of the room. Twilight’s eyes and head followed to where she was staring. In the corner was a wounded pegasus and he was walking over to them. “Twilight Sparkle this is Lieutenant Flash Sentry. He was on the expedition that had discovered Sombra. In fact, he’s all that remains, sadly.” “Greetings Princess, just as Princess Luna said, I was on the expedition,” Flash bowed his head toward Twilight. Taking a glimpse at the soldier Twilight noticed he had a large bandage wrapped around his left fore hoof. There was another bandage that went around his barrel. Several cuts dotted his body along with many bruises. “Please, Lieutenant Sentry please inform me on what happened,” Twilight did her best to not show her pity. “Ah, yes...um… The Princesses had told me that they would wait for you to hear the story. I guess I should begin.” ~~~ It had been four days since the expedition left the Crystal Empire via air carriage, and for that time there had been no blizzards. We had finally made it to the large ravine where Sombra had been imprisoned for a thousand years, and we set up camp on a ledge within the ravine to avoid any future blizzards and harsh winds. We believed that by coming to his “prison” we would be able to find his horn or at the very least a clue of some sort. But the truth is that we had no other leads, this was our best choice at finding the horn. We had been in the ravine for at least a day and during that time we were making our way down towards the bottom of the ravine. We had past the point in which ice transferred to stone and we kept going down and down and down, after all we had been given four weeks out there. And we spent most of the time searching the inner workings of caves and making a small path back to the top for future expeditions. It was the third week and we had finally were at the bottom of the ravine. Torches illuminated the area, but even with the torches everything seemed to be incredibly dark. While we were at the bottom we found a plethora of ancient Equestrian text written on the wall. It took us nearly an hour just to translate one of the sentences written or rather etched on the wall. And is said, “Spell Complete,” At the time we were baffled by what this could have meant, but our thoughts were interrupted by a loud shriek. We rushed over to where we thought it had emanated from. I took the lead while my men stayed behind me. We made our way through the depths of the ravine. A path of torches that were jabbed into the walls suddenly stopped and we found ourselves facing complete darkness. Out of nowhere black smoke came rushing out of the darkness. The cloud almost grabbed me, but a guard had pushed me out of the way and I ended up with a broken foreleg. The clouds continued to rush out from the darkness, blowing out all the torches. As it blew over me I felt several things of debris cutting and pounding against my skin and coat. And it was out of fear that I had flown up out of the ravine. As I flew up I heard the others yelling in pain, I knew they were dead. I finally had gotten out of the ravine and I turned around to see if the large smoke had been following me. Indeed it was was following me, but this time I had seen his face and his horn was heading straight for me. In the nick of time I was able to just barely dodge a fatal blow. I felt searing pain in my side, but wanted to get out of there so I high tailed it and flew back to the Empire non-stop. I was filled with fear. ~~~ Flash was now quivering, his armor quietly clanked as he finished his story. “And that’s it your Majesties. When I returned to the Empire I was given immediate medical aid. Prince Shining wanted to know what happened during the expedition and I had told him Sombra had returned. And here I am today to give you all the information I have.” Twilight was the first to speak up, “Thank you Lieutenant, you’re dismissed,” Twilight turned around to face the other two princesses. As the yellow-orange guards pony walked out of the throne room. “I believe that this calls for the Elements of Harmony,” Twilight took on a smug look and puffed her chest out. “Actually Twilight, they won’t be needed,” Celestia said. Twilight’s demeanor deflated hearing that,” But… but… Celestia! This surely calls for my friends and I! I mean we don’t have the Elements anymore, but surely we could do something!” “I apologize Twilight, but the reason why we can’t use the Elements or include your friends is that Sombra is more than prepared to face them.” “What Tia says is true Twilight,” Luna’s horn glowed a dark blue and a an image floated in front of the three of them. The projection showed Discord reeking havoc upon the Crystal Empire. “Long ago Discord terrorized all of Equestria as you know. We had defeated him and harmony was restored,” the image shifted to Discord turning to stone. “But because of the power he possessed and him being immortal, naturally he created his own following or cult,” again the image shifted now forming a group of ponies in patchwork robes. One of the ponies who was a unicorn took his hood off revealing Sombra. ”Sombra was one of these cultists. He was inspired by the havoc that Discord made. Oddly enough, he was also Starswirl the Bearded’s first Apprentice during his younger years.” The image now showed Sombra learning under the watch of Starswirl. “Sadly, thanks to his new idol he decided to steal the Elements of Harmony. He traveled up North to the Crystal Empire. There he studied the Elements as he slowly took over the Crystal Empire from under our noses,” The images, once more, shifted into Sombra traveling North to him researching the Elements to him Ruling over the Empire.. And with that Luna ceased the spell. Celestia then spoke up, “As we searched his castle one of the many things we had found was research on how to create the Elements polar opposites in order to free Discord. He believed that if Discord was sealed by the Elements then surely their polar opposites would be able to destroy the spell. Fortunately we were able to stop him before he could create them.” As soon as Celestia said that the doors to the throne room had burst open. A guard came in panting, “Your… Ma-Majesties… Princess Cadance and Prince Shining are here! They are requesting immediate audience with you, your Majesties.” Author's Note Hello readers! This is my first chapter of "A Somber Return." Do I have confidence that this won't have dislikes? Of course... But amateurs are amateurs so please be gentle I'm still a writing virgin. By the way I would love a better title for this fic and chapter title, I'm not very creative. I'm still deciding on genres mainly because y'know spurts of imagination just come randomly. I know saying that makes me sound a bit timid. Oh well.
The EvacuationChapter II Shining Armor strode through the infirmary with confidence, but the facade was only their to hide his worry. In fact, he was very worried. What killed off the entire expedition... Well all but one. Shining did not find joy in the possibility that Sombra could be alive. Moreover, he doubted that that was a possibility. Him alive, ha! Impossible! That old thing is long dead... I saw him... He was destroyed... Deep down he was wary of his own remark. Shining's musing was cut short when he bumped into a white-coated mare. "Oh my goodness! Your Highness, I'm so, so, so, sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going... I- I was reviewing one of this patient's records an- an - and- I'm so, so , so , so- huh? Umm... Your Highness apologies if I'm not catching on, but what's so funny?" Shining was chuckling, his eye shut as he tried to hide his face as he looked down. The mare who had been rambling her apology was slightly out of breath. "Nothing, nothing at all," Shining finally composed himself. This was what he needed, a good laugh. The stress of being a ruler had finally caught up with the stallion. But now he was able to release that stress, even if it was a little. "I'm here to see Flash Sentry. I had a few questions for him regarding the expedition." "Of course your Highness. The funny thing about this is that... Well... We're already here..." The mare was now blushing at this complete coincidence. "He's behind the curtains," the mare pulled the curtain revealing a bandaged orange, blue-haired stallion. "I was reviewing his records," she extended his arm over to the patient. "Well umm... Thank you, I suppose..." "Will that be all your Highness?" The said as she placed the clipboard of records back into the foot of the bed's plastic holder. "Actually, there is one thing," the mare tilted her head hearing this. "What's your name?" It was the mare's turn to laugh now. "I'm sorry your Highness. I don't mean to offend your awareness, but I do have a name tag that bodily presents my name, and the rest of medical," Shining was at first taken aback by the sudden laughter and that shock only grew into embarrassment as he had realized what the mare was talking about. Proudly displayed on her nurse cap was her name and also did the scrub she wore. "Oh... I see..." "But since you asked your highness, my name is Redcross," Redcross smiled and walked off. Shining turned to look at the patient on the bed, "Looks like he's still out of it." The patient, Flash Sentry was on the bed sleeping. Well in Shining's eyes. "Actually your Highness I'm not. Just here patiently waiting," Flash opened his eyes and gave a small grin. He tried to get up but couldn't. "Whoa there, relax. I just have a few questions." "Is it regarding the expedition?" Shining nodded to this. "Thought so, just a little surprised that you're doing it your Highness." "I suppose it's just that one thing has been on my mind for a while. Anyway first question, Are you positive that you are the sole survivor?" Flash shook his head, "No." “Along the way to expedition sight did anything happen?” “No,” Deep down Shining hoped that something happened along the way. Shining sighed, “Alright, Yes or no, do you know who did this?” “Yes, I do,” Once again a part of hope died inside Shining. “Alright final question, if you know their name -the one who did it- what is it?” Shining was praying to himself. He was praying that it wasn’t the one who he thought it was. All that died when Flash said, “It was… S -Sombra… He was the one who killed of the rest of the expedition.” Flash was quivering in his bed sheets. “Thank you for your time,” and with that Shining left the infirmary. He looked down to the floor as he walked, darkening his face. He carried a grim expression on his face. He couldn’t lie to himself that it wasn’t Sombra, he knew from the start when he first heard that basically the entire expedition was killed off after they reached the sight. He knew. Why?! Just why him?! He brought us down to our knees the last time we faced off! Just, Why?! Shining couldn't take it. He absolutely hated Sombra to no end. He made his way to the Castle’s throne room, and slammed it shut. “Sh- Shining?” Shining Armor looked up to find himself staring at a startled noble pony and his wife, Cadance. “Is everything alright?” she was curious indeed. Shining sighed, “No…” “You’ll have to excuse us,” Cadance said to the noble who in return mumbled something about having to traverse a long set of stairs. “Guards! Inform the ponies that the Crystal Court is now cancelled! I would also like for some privacy.” The guards within the room made their way out in unison, with each step precise. They were now alone, a depressed Shining and a worried Cadance,” Shining please, what’s wrong?” here tone affectionate as ever. “Cadance it’s- it’s just that…” Shining once again sighed. “It’s Sombra…” “What do you mean by ‘It’s Sombra?’ has he returned?!” “I wouldn’t be talking about him if he wasn’t!” Shining yelled, startling Cadance. “I’m- I’m sorry…” “It’s okay Shining, It’ll be fine.” Cadance nuzzled Shining, comforting him. “For now let’s just send word to Aunt Celestia and Luna, alright?” Shining nodded. and they continued their embrace. ~~~ Doctors and nurses were moving to and fro the infirmary. They were evacuating patients and moving supplies out of the entire kingdom. “Flash we’re sending you over to Canterlot.” Shining was back in the infirmary talking to Flash Sentry. “What?! But- But sir! Sombra must be making his way over here by now!” Flash was now out of the bed standing. “All the more reason. We are sending all current patients over to Canterlot and Trottingham actually.” “Huh?” “The reason for this is because we don’t know what Sombra will do to them, and they won’t get the help they need.” “Okay, understood. But what about me?! I’m nearly fully healed!” Flash began jogging in place to prove his point. “I can see that. The reason why you are going as well is because you are going to tell Princess Celestia and Luna what has happened. Hopefully help will arrive before anything bad happens. We are putting a lot of faith into you Lieutenant Sentry.” Shining placed his hoof onto Flash’s shoulder. “Understood sir!” The two made their way out the infirmary. The entire civilian population of the Crystal Empire was now evacuated. They were either sent over to Trottingham or Canterlot. Flash Sentry was already sent over to Canterlot and that was approximately two days of nonstop travel. The Empire had guards patrolling the borders of the Empire’s shield. Shining Armor and Cadance were in the throne room with several guards and commanders. Another Commander entered the room. “All civilians have been evacuated your majesties.” “Good,” Shining Armor replied. “We have already set up several blockade points around the city. At any point a blockade does fall the ponies stationed at the blockade will fall back. The throne room is our final hold. If all else fails Cadance will use a long-range teleportation spell and evacuate all within range. Before hoof we would like to apologize if any pony doesn't get teleported with us. Any way that is the general gist of the plan. We have no idea what Sombra has planned, sadly. But we will stand or die trying,” the commanders and guards gave a ‘hurrah.’ “And with that you are all dismissed make your way to respective blockades.” “Yes, sir!” the ponies saluted and made their way out of the throne room. “I guess all that’s left to do now is wait…” Shining turned to Cadance. “Everything alright?” Cadance hadn't said anything the entire time of the meeting, she just sat there on her throne patiently listening, “It’s just that this seems so unbelievable…” “How so?” Shining was now walking over to his wife. “It’s that fact that Sombra is back I thought we’d be able to rule our empire in relative peace after he was defeated… I thought wrong…” Cadance had her head down as she spoke. Her words carried disbelief as well as worry. “Hey… You were the one who said everything will be fine, and I trust you. Completely. Let’s just do our best here alright? Its only a matter of time before Sombra arrives and we wouldn't want him to disappointed with two depressed rulers,” Shining gave a small chuckle while Cadance gave a small grin. “...Alright, I suppose. Let’s do this,” Cadance’s horn glowed a light blue and suddenly a massive dome surrounded the Crystal Empire. Shining Armor followed up with a shield of his, but this one was a magenta color. Slowly, over the horizon a black cloud formed on the East side of the Empire, Its mass continued to grow and smaller clouds were shooting out of it. All of it was heading toward the Crystal Empire.
The InvasionChapter III Small black clouds shot out of the amassing black smoke, they were heading toward the Crystal Empire. These black clouds looked like artillery, but the spiraling movements disproved that. They moved in zig zags and spiraled around one another. Finally, after their show they landed on the Empire’s shield without so much of a sound. Suddenly, the sound of breaking glass could be heard all around. Fragments of the blue and magenta shield began to fall and dissipate into thin air. The ponies below could only watch in horror as the two shields went out simultaneously. As soon as the shield was worn down, frigid air came rushing in through all the cracks and holes. Following the air came the black clouds. They landed onto the streets, houses, and knolls. No place was left untouched by these clouds. As soon as each one hit the ground they began to condense into more recognizable creatures to the guard ponies. They began turning into ponies. The only things about them was that they were pure black, a faint white glow surrounded their edges, their legs were long and slender and ended at a point, but their face was what freaked most guards. They had no face, their heads ended in a flat surface a blaze of shadow came out of the shin and head of the creatures. Matter of fact these creature looked like they were static, jagged spikes sprang out of them only to sucked back into their owner’s body. “Stop lollygagging you foals! Attack!” Commander Amethyst Shield yelled to her subordinates, “I will not allow the Southern blockade to be the first to fall! And I’ll be damned if we lose it without putting up a fight!” The guards yelled in unison for their leader and charged. Amethyst stayed behind with the unicorns who were casting either offensive or supportive spells. “Listen up! We don’t know what these guys are made up of, but judging by the fact their obviously shadow things, our best option is to use pyromancy! Follow my lead!” With that Amethyst charged a spell of her own. From her horn she shot out a red burning ray of light toward the fray. Several ponies had to jump clear of the ray to avoid being hit. As soon as the ray hit the enemy lines, they began to evaporate. The beam only lasted for several seconds, but it blasted through them like tsunami. Amethyst turned to her troop,“And that’s how it’s done.” Many of the other unicorn guards stared in disbelief. There was hope to defeating Sombra the Oppressor once more, but that hope soon turned into fear as the air began to darken and the shadows began to reform. “Ma’am! They’re back!” one of the unicorns yelled out. “What?!” Amethyst turned a full one-eighty only to find herself looking at ponies encased in ice. The shadows were tuning everything they touched into solid ice. Screams of pain were heard throughout the Empire as more and more ponies were being turned into fossilized remains. But those screams were soon muffled out by the ice completely encasing them. Amethyst saw as one of the earth ponies began to freeze in front of her eyes. The face on the stallion would remain forever in her head. In slight panic she yelled, “Retreat! Fall back to the second blockade!” Many of the unicorn guards had already been running in fear. Amethyst looked back to the other guards, none had survived the onslaught. Soon she heard a pegasi commander yelling over to his troops. “Ready! Aim! Fire at will!” a barrage of bolts shot out from the group's crossbows. The commander then flew down over to Amethyst. “Commander Arcing Blitz! What in Tartarus are you doing here! Aren't you suppose to be at second!’ “Not the best moment for explanation Commander! We’ll try and hold ‘em off for as long as we can!Get back to the third blockade!” Blitz yelled over the sound of clattering bolts hitting the ground. “Understood!” Amethyst began galloping over to second to inform her troop of unicorns the change of plan. Commander Blitz flew back up, “Storm Rage, don’t touch ‘em dammit!” The sound of battle was all over the Empire. Yells of pain and distress could be heard throughout. Third blockade wasn't too far from the second blockade, but the constant detours caused by the shadows falling from the sky made it difficult. Amethyst was the only one left, when she had gotten to second blockade she saw her unicorn guards frozen. The shadows stood there next to them staring at the dead bodies. As soon as she gasped at the sight all the shadows’ eyes -if they had any- were on her. And the chase quickly escalated with several teleportation spells from Amethyst. She was out of breath from magical and physical exertion, but she was almost there. Just one more corner, she thought to herself. Turning the corner she found herself face to face with one of the monstrosities that annihilated her entire group. But she couldn't move a muscle, she was in a complete panic. She tried to activate a spell, but nothing. She looked down to the creature's “hooves” and saw that it was coming up. Sweat was pouring down her face, but still, she couldn't move. She was mentally cursing to herself, she had so much adrenaline pumping, but she couldn't move. As if time were slowed down she saw a glowing bolt blast through the shadow, and it dispersed. She was caught off guard by the sudden rescue. In the distance she saw Commander Blitz salute. He was heading for the grand castle, and he was going straight for the throne room’s balcony. Amethyst made it her mission to get up there to support her rulers. The only thing that stood in her way was a giant mass of grounded shadows and now several flying ones.The thought of trying to teleport right to the balcony itself crossed her mind, but she knew that that would ultimately fail and her only other option was to break through the army of shadows in front of her. “How the in Tartarus am I supposed to get through that?” she muttered to herself as she stared at the continually amassing army. “That’s impossible, and at this rate th-” Her musings cut short by a group of ponies yelling something along the lines of ‘For the empire!’ or ‘For the Princesses!’ or ‘Protect the Crystal Heart’ -though the Heart was transported elsewhere in the castle. They were coming from the Western main road. What she saw was a group of earth ponies and unicorns, with the support of pegasi in the air charging into the fray. All she could think of was, Those idiots are trying to kill themselves! They’ll never be able to kill those things… She began running and weaving through the buildings to her left, trying to get a better view of the ponies fighting while she tried to stay alive. Making her way out of the alleys she saw the entire group of ponies hacking their way through enemy lines. Impossible! How?! One of the guards who just finished off a shadow turned around to check his back before going back into fight. He saw Amethyst near the alley way and yelled, "Commander!" despite there being a weapon in his mouth it was still understandable. He began waving her over when one of the flying shadows caught him off guard. The shadow picked him up by his already raised hoof. Doing so the pony dropped his sword. He was already beginning to freeze, the ice slowly made way to his face. The pony's face ended up with his eyes fully opened and his mouth open, another face Amethyst would be forced to remember. And that pony was never going to be seen again. With no time to think about it, she ran over to where the pony had dropped his weapon and picked up the double-edged sword in her magic. She quickly studied it as she brought it up. It's enchanted! But I've never seen this kind of enchantment! Yet it's working against those things... She thought back to when Blitz had shot that bolt. The shadow hadn't come back as soon as it was dispersed! From the corner of her eye she saw one of the grounded shadows charging her from her left. Before it could touch her she moved the enchanted blade over to her side and slashed right through it. Cuts like a knife through butter, Amethyst smiled at the thought. She looked to the other ponies that were fighting their combatants, the result of the fight was a near stalemate. She lifted her sword once more and charged in. “Don’t just stand there you damn foals! Don’t you have an Empire to defend!” The guards yelled in unison at the arrival of the Southern Commander and began to fight with even more ferocity. ~~~ “Your Majesties!” A pegasus commander came flying in through the balcony. “The entirety of the Southern and Eastern Fronts have been pushed back completely. Northern Front has been pushed to their second blockade and are at risk of being pincered and the same could be said for the West. We can’t possibly hold for two days at this rate much less five if we are expecting reinforcements.” Few ponies looked toward Commander Arcing Blitz in surprise at his sudden outburst. Others were moving about in quick succession trying to get preparations done for if the battle was brought into the castle itself. Shining stood up from the war table that was in the corner of the throne room, “What you say is true Commander, but we have to try. And besides several unicorns discovered several enchantments that are effective against the shadows.” “That is correct sir. I myself have first hoof experience, but they just don’t stop, no matter how many we kill I’m sorry to say this, but this is impossible. We have very limited resources, we’re losing ponies every minute and they have an unlimited army that probably doesn't need any resources! It’s imposs-” before Blitz could finish his sentence a hoof connected with his face creating a loud crack. Everyone now had eyes on the one who had landed the punch. Princess Cadance was in tears as she lowered her hoof, “If impossibility truly does exist, then I tempt fate!” Cadance turned back over to the others, “I challenge her! I will not see this Empire fall no matter what! And if it does,” She was now walking over to the balcony. Reaching it she looked down toward the war for several moments and turned back to the room, “I go down with it!” Ponies were cheering at their princess’ words. Shining Armor on the other hand, his jaw was hanging open after what he just saw and now it might as well have reached the floor when he heard his wife’s final words of her speech. He rushed over to his wife, knocking over a stumbling pegasus who was holding onto his jaw. He looked over the balcony and saw a black cess pool of shadows. He turned to his wife, “Cadance do you actually mean what you just said,” Concern took over all other expressions on Shining’s face, “I don’t want to lose you just, because you tempted fate.” “It’s my decision Shining and I will stand by it,” she stated in her soft tone. Cadance quickly pecked Shining on the lips and the two embraced. As the two let go of one another a loud roar caught their attention. They looked over the balcony, the sound came from the West side. What they saw was somewhat inspirational. A group of ponies were charging into the shadows. Shining and Cadance looked to each other, she gave Shining another kiss, “And I have full faith in them.” Author's Note Hello! Finally, I actually put italics for the thoughts and there is one instance of me using italics for an emphasized word in dialogue. I hope you enjoyed the other two chapters if you are still reading this. I hope to do longer chapters in the future, it is finals week and I've spent a lot of time studying. All other time goes to me writing this and working on the story board. And I'm really having fun writing this. Please do remember to Comment, I enjoy being criticized so that I could do better. And remember to Like if you really do enjoy this, it helps my self-esteem. So... I'll see you all later.
