Sombra's Bat

I am the last pony whom that Solar Guard wants to see. Chrysalis, Cozy and Sombra all give me a wide berth as I stride up to the bars of his cell. I tell him immediately, "I want to talk to you. No messing around, or I make your life worse than Tartarus. Understood?"

"Darn yeh, vampire," he says, glaring. "Do Ah 'ave ter talk?"

"I said, no messing around."

"Don't look as though Ah have much of a choice here, so yeah, Ah get the gist of what yeh're sayin', dirty vampire."

"The first thing you have to do is stop calling me a vampire."

"Fine. What in Equestria do Ah call you if Ah can't call yeh that though? Commander? Queen? Cap'ain of the Crystal Guard? Or do yeh not 'ave a fancy title all yer own, huh?"

I scowl at him. "I have a title, but let's be on a first-name basis. Call me Moonlight. Who in Equestria, then, are you?"

"Ah ain't tellin' yeh mah real name, Moonlight."

"Fair enough. We haven't earned each other's trust yet, so I can understand that. I'm not going to call you Mister Solar Guard, though, that's ridiculous."

"Thunder. Mosta mah friends call me Thunder. Ah hate ter let yeh use mah nickname, but Ah ain't about ter tell yeh mah identity." He crosses his forelegs and continues to glare.

"Ok, Thunder. Now we know each other. We've both worked in the Royal Guard at different points, so we both know that Celestia lets slip most of her secrets to the guards, and the guards spread those messages around. Thunder, would you care to tell me what the last piece of news before you left Equestria was?"

"Tell yer mad friends to leave us alone ter talk about it. Ah know yer gonna tell 'em everythin' but Ah still want ter speak ter yeh alone. The less mad creatures Ah have tryin' ter wheedle information outta me, the better. Ah'll tell yeh what yeh want ter know, 'cause Ah know Ah have no choice, but Ah ain't havin' the rest of yeh watchin' an' interrogatin' me. How yeh expect me ter remember all this when Ah have so many pairs of eyes borin' inter mah soul, Ah dunno."

I look at the others. "Go. I'll be fine. There's nothing he can do whilst we're on opposite sides of these bars, and there's dozens of guards here." I watch them leave, then turn back to Thunder. "Is that any better?"

"Think Ah can speak now without thinkin' there's a hundred an' somethin' pairs of eyes on me. Mah special talent ain't performin' or speakin' ter crowds, after all. It's protectin' the Royals. It ain't sharin' government secrets either, but Ah can't exactly help that."

"You're stalling. What were your last orders?"

He rubs his chin with one hoof. "So, last thing the Princess told me face-ter-face was ter find out everythin' Ah could about yeh an' keep in touch with 'er."

"Did she want to know about our plans, or about us?"

"How do Ah know?! She just said find out what yeh can."

I growl at him, "Does she want to know what shampoo I use?"

"Eenope."

"So does she want to know about our plans for surviving this war or just our daily lives?"

"Both, Ah s'pose. Both. She wants to know all aout yeh. Says yeh're important or somethin', but even Ah ain't been told anythin'."

"If you expect Celestia to tell you everything without asking around, I presume you're part of the inner circle of guards right at the top."

"Yeh may or may not be on ter somethin'."

I sigh with exasperation. He knows how to avoid questions. "Please, Thunder, give me straightforward answers. I can either talk to you and get you to give me the answers I want willingly, or I can take a look at your memories, which is far more painful and unpleasant, no matter what you think of me. Which would you prefer?"

"Fine. Ah'm in the Corona Guard, known as the Inner Circle ter outsiders."

"I bet you get to meet a lot of interesting ponies."

"Ah know all kinds o' folk, from the Cap'ain of the Royal Guard ter musicians an' actors ter just the common folk in Canterlot. Ah know the Cap'ain Shinin' Armour's wife Princess Cadance ain't in a good place."

"If my sources are correct, they suspect it had something to do with dark magic."

"Uh-huh. Did yeh or Sombra do tha'?"

"It's King Sombra, and no, we didn't, Thunder."

"Tell the truth, yeh lyin' mutt."

I slam my armoured hoof on the bars, creating a small dent, and send a small blast of magic into the prison cell. He shies away from me and gulps. I tell him softly, "I'm not lying, Thunder. Yes, I do tell my fair share of tall tales, but this is the truth. I don't lie about things like this. Do you think I would lie about such serious matters?" I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Fine, Ah believe yeh. It ain't like Ah can argue with the ones who 'ave mah life in their hooves," he grumbles, holding his own hooves in the air and looking away from me.

"Good. By the way, how ill is Cadance?"

"If she weren't an alicorn, she'd 'ave been dead last week. She ain't quite immortal, unlike the Royal Sisters, but Ah'd say there ain't much that can get ter Princess Cadance, an' she's gonna pull through, miss Daughter of the Night."

I facehoof, frustrated at the name. "Don't call me that. Why in Equestria does everypony I meet think I'm Luna's-"

"Ah have mah reasons ter believe yeh really are Luna's foal. Most think it's just a legend, but Ah reckon there's some truth behind it."

"Oh?" I ask. "Tell me. Was I made out of the shadows using some dark ritual dating back to before the pony tribes were united? This will be interesting." I roll my eyes. I'm not about to use the mind control spell to get him to shut up, but I don't really want to hear this.

"Bein' in the Corona Guard gives yeh certain privileges, such as access ter the old Canterlot records and the restricted section in Canterlot Library. Ah done some light readin' in the past, and Ah found some old newspaper stuff 'bout Luna havin' a foal with a Night Guard. How old were yeh before goin' away with the Nightmare?"

"Twenty four."

"Well, about twenty five years before the Nightmare was sent ter the moon, give or take a year, there was a massive scandal or summat about Luna and this guard. 'Parrently he resigned an' ran off ter Hollow Shades after the foal was born. If Ah'm correct, yeh come from Hollow Shades."

"What else do you know?" As much as I hate this guard, I want to know more now, because what he's saying makes sense.

"The guard had purple eyes an' a greenish coat. Unusual colours fer a vampire - I mean bat pony," he hastily corrects himself after noticing my look of disapproval. "Unmistakable. Green an' dark blue together make teal or summat like that, so it makes sense that yeh got a teal coat, an' Ah already said the guard had purple eyes like yeh. Luna also has a knack fer dark magic, though she ain't one fer usin' it. Ah seen what she can do with tha' stuff, an' she ain't half dangerous. 'Parrently yeh learned how ter use the stuff quickly yerself. Yer small in stature, an' Luna ain't the tallest of the alicorns. She's barely taller than the average mare. Ah know yeh saw her when they got rid o' Nightmare Moon. Ah did too. She was tiny. Twilight Sparkle was taller than 'er."

The description of the guard matches what I remember of my father, and he makes a good point about Luna's height. When she emerged from within the Nightmare, she was as short as I am. I never knew that she was able to use dark magic though. It raises doubts in my mind over who cursed Princess Cadance. It was done with dark magic, so she would have been able to do something, perhaps if Cadance refused to listen to reason.

"Right. Are you sure you don't know anything else about this?"

"Tha's all Ah know."

"Thank you," I say. "Obviously, I'm not about to trust you wholeheartedly, but I've been..." I search for the right words, "intrigued by our discussion. As a reward for helping me, you get a decent dinner this evening. I believe the Crystal Guards are having crystal berry pie tonight."

"Why, thank yeh. Ah'm surprised yeh're actually goin' ter give me a treat. Thought this was supposed ter be like Tartarus."

"I'm not unreasonable, Thunder. I try my best not to be. I know you still think highly of Celestia, but you have no idea how unreasonable she is. There could have been an end to this war, which means you would have been allowed to go free, but she didn't want to make a deal with me and King Sombra."

"Ah wonder why. If yeh really are the Daughter of the Night, she's probably been hatin' yeh since before yeh were born. Now leave me to some peace. Ah need ter think about what Princess Celestia's gonna say ter me next time she sees me. Probably not singing mah praises, since Ah been captured an' interrogated."

I hesitate. Hopefully, when he says about the next time he sees Celestia, he means after the war or possibly escaping. He wouldn't get far, but that isn't the point. I want to make sure he doesn't have any contact with her whilst in the Crystal Empire. "I just thought I'd check. Is Celestia a Dreamwalker?"

"Appearin' in dreams? Sweet Tartarus, no. She 'ates Dreamwalkin'. Says it ain't natural, and summat about it only existin' 'cause of Grogar. Probably another reason why she doesn't like yeh, 'cause yeh have connections with Dreamwalkers."

Perhaps Celestia and I are not as different as I first thought, if we both don't like Dreamwalking. "Thank you. Goodbye, Thunder. If you ever have anything important you would like to tell me, I'm sure we can arrange something, like your freedom."

"Sorry, but Ah ain't takin' up on that offer now yeh're done interrogatin' me. Ah probably didn't make that too clear for yeh, but Ah'd rather be alive an' trapped here than back in Canterlot right now. Call me a coward, but Ah'd rather save mah skin than get killed, and now Ah'm done tellin' yeh everythin' an' makin' sure you don't kill me, old Princess Celestia ain't mah best friend no more. Ah still don't like yeh - no, not at all, Ah hate yeh - but far as Ah know yeh don't tell yer guards ter take oaths like that."

"I was thinking more along the lines of you being able to live in the Crystal Empire, but I'll keep that in mind. Goodbye." I walk down the corridor towards the stairway and begin to ascend the cold stone steps.

"Goodbye, miss Daughter of the Night," he shouts, to my annoyance. "Now, get me some good food, an' most importantly, don't get yerself killed."