Sombra's Bat

Five days later, Chrysalis' scouts spot the first Solar Guards on the horizon, and immediately sends her own to meet them. The era of negotiations via post and dream conference is coming to an end, overtaken by violence. I watch them battle it out, spells flying in every direction.

"Nasty, huh?" says Cozy as she hovers by my side. "This is bad, isn't it?"

"It is. We might have the changelings and the yaks to help us, but none of the others can send civilians into the fight, and even though there's quite a few of us, Equestria's a big country with a lot of ponies. Plus, if Sunbutt recruited Discord of all creatures, she's probably spoken to a few other nasty ones too."

"Tartarus be damned, she's probably spoken to my old buddy Tirek!"

"Language," I scold her.

"It's not really language. It's not like saying buck."

"Language," I repeat.

"I was just giving an example. I wasn't using it to be rude. I could go ahead and start calling all the crystal ponies and earth ponies mud ponies or call another pegasus an airhead or tell an old pony that they're a donkey and say that you're a vampire and use all sorts of colourful language to get my point-"

"You've got your point across, and you're also going to land yourself in the dungeon if you don't watch your tongue. You were beginning to sound like Sunbutt for a moment."

"Gee, don't you think that's a bit-"

They say that if Luna glares at a pony they wither away until there's nothing but a pile of dust where they were stood. It's an over-exaggeration of the truth, but not far off. I've seen first-hoof what that glare does. The look I give Cozy has a similar effect.

"Sor-ee!" she gulps, putting a few metres between us. "Maybe we should just concentrate on what's happening over there."

I growl at her, then focus on the matter at hoof. It does not look good. This is only the first wave of the attack, but I know already that the changelings are outnumbered, and tell a nearby guard to send the order for more ponies to be sent out there. Into the cold wasteland. Into a battle.

"Where's Sombra?" asks Cozy after a while.

"He said he was going to talk to Chrysalis. They're discussing tactics. Hopefully, they'll agree with my decision."

At that moment, the view of the battle is shut out by what look like huge storm clouds. I squint, and notice Sombra's face on the front of the cloud. He is very liberal with his use of magic to repel the Solar Guards.

"Stay away from my Crystal Empire and my queen," he roars. "Anypony else interested in fighting?" And not you, he adds, speaking through telepathy.

Why not? It looks like fun.

Sorry, but I am not going to let you get in trouble. This is too dangerous.

Too bad. I'm going to join you.

Seriously, no, Moonlight. You are in no position to step, fly or teleport onto this battlefield.

Fine, I'll go back to looking after Cozy Glow. I remain where I am and watch the chaos unfold. Discord should be here. He'd love it.

Eventually Cozy and I go back inside. A Crystal Guard passes me a scroll. It's a letter, addressed to me and only me. I recognise the hoofwriting, but do not want to read it. Or, at least, I am unsure whether reading it would be a good thing. That little pest of a filly tells me that if I don't look at it she'll read it aloud, and I give in.

"Fine, I'll read it. It's not meant for anypony else, so no spying, and don't think your sad face is going to make me lenient. I'm immune to your charm."

I hold the letter in my magic and my eyes scan the page.

Dear ~~Commander~~ ~~Princess~~ ~~Queen~~ Moonlight,

It's me again, your old friend, if there is still a friendship here. I know I said I wouldn't be getting involved in your life again, but there's been some - how do I put this? - interesting developments on this side of the border that others might not have told you about ~~because Celestia's probably tried to ramp up the censorship as much as possible~~.

Some ponies (maybe you've told them to, maybe not) have been exposing Princess Celestia's mistakes and lies, and the ponies of Equestria are buying it. There's been protests, nothing big enough to make national headlines, but ponies are angry. The Everfree Village and Hollow Shades in particular have been shaken by this, though I'm not sure what the Lunar Guards think. I've been spending my time to-ing and fro-ing between Hollow Shades and Everfree, since The Princess isn't all that pleased with me right now. ~~She thinks I've been trying to help you, and I am now because I realise I was wrong, but still, what's her problem?~~ I've also been up north, and I came across a place called the Town of Starlight or something like that, and a fellow Dreamwalker, Starlight Glimmer. ~~The Cutie Mark Thief.~~ We have actually met each other before ~~back before she started taking cutie marks~~, and both agree: You and King Sombra are quite a force to be reckoned with, and a force that we want to help grow.

Also, ~~I wanted to say that I think~~ I've forgiven you. You may have used - ahem - unorthodox methods when ~~interrogating~~ questioning me whilst I was working for The Princess, and that dark magic has made me remember some of the ~~most terrifying~~ not-so-great times of my life, but you're off the hook. You are so many things to me: a friend, a sister, a student ~~(or rather ex-student, but don't let me guilt-trip you)~~ and life without you around hasn't been as bright and cheery. You're a pony who can help others open their eyes, and you've opened mine. What that means for me, I don't know, but what I do know is that us two ~~bats~~ vampires, if that's what she says we are, will hunt down that sun-loving princess when it gets dark and kick her sorry flank to Tartarus and back. (With help from King Sombra and whoever else you've recruited on this little mission to change the world and make it your own.)

To be honest, I'm really proud of you. Though you chose to go your own way ~~and broke my heart and spirit in the process~~, you've succeeded in life. It looks like you're quite an experienced Dreamwalker now, and your fear of other Dreamwalkers has faded quite a bit if you've befriended Starlight. (Talking of our unicorn friend, she said she's going to smash the Cutie Mark Vault, and give everypony their talents back. She still wants ponies to be equal and happy, but said something about you showing her a better way to do so.) I have a feeling you've taken leaps and bounds in your magical ability, too. You've held up a mirror and showed the world its reflection. ~~It's quite ghastly, when you think about it.~~ That is something that not many ponies have done, regardless of how many aeons they've had to do it in. Moonlight Shade, you are a warrior. It's you, me, King Sombra and your ~~ragtag bunch of misfits~~ allies against the world, and I don't doubt for a moment that we are going to achieve something big if we can work together again. ~~Can we? I miss you so much. I know I failed you and didn't believe in you for ages and probably put you through as much heartache as I've been through, if not more, but I want you to be my friend still.~~

One thing I will ask of you ~~(I've already asked for so much and understand if you don't listen to me)~~ is that you keep in touch. Since I'm moving around a lot, send them to Starlight's place, and she can send them to me from there. Hope that isn't too big a problem. ~~Mind, I know you have bigger problems to deal with, like The Princess. In fact, it makes my problem look too small. I feel so stupid now.~~

Keep fighting, fellow warrior.
Your friend ~~(are we still friends?)~~,
Wish.

"Oh, Wishbone," I sigh.

"You mean the bat pony you used to be friends with?"

"Yes. She's sent a letter asking if we can repair our friendship. I need to speak to her at some point. I need to hug her and tell her that I miss her. Sure, I don't think about her every minute of each day - I mean, I've got you, Chrysalis, Rutherford, Luna, Starlight and most importantly Sombra to think about - but I've missed her nonetheless."

"Are you trying to sound cheesy?"

"No, it's genuine emotion, Cozy."

"It sounds really cheesy."

"Go tell Queen Chrysalis that the holes in her hooves look like the holes in a block of cheese, and see what she does."

"Fair point." She pauses for a moment, then says, "I never understood this whole best friends and family bonds thing. I mean, my old family were alright, but I didn't really-" She stops herself and her eyes grow wide for no apparent reason.

"Cozy?"

"I'm not supposed to say anything nasty about my old family, but I just remembered something really horrible. I'd almost forgotten about my teddy, but I remember now. I was only seven and I spilled the sugar all over the floor and said that my teddy did it, and Father said that naughty children were punished if they did something wrong, and he took teddy away and..." she trails off.

"It sounds like the past has come back to haunt you as well." I scoop her up in my forelegs. She's quivering. "It's fine, though. You can tell me. I won't tell anypony, not even Sombra."

She whispers to me, "I found the rags. I wasn't supposed to say."

I try not to think about the filly's background. Poor thing. No wonder she's shaking like a leaf. "Cozy, they're gone now. They've been gone for hundreds of years. You don't have to worry. You're pulling on my heartstrings now. First Wishbone, now you? I'm going to start crying in a minute, and Sombra will start fussing over me, which is admittedly cute, but he has more important problems."

"Gee, the sappy romance stuff is back. I knew I shouldn't have said anything."

"Yes," I laugh for a moment before returning to the matter at hoof, "but that's not important. We have a little group of creatures who don't like Sunbutt, but as well as that, we have our fears. Every living creature has its fear. The aphid fears the ladybug which fears the spider which fears the cat which fears the dog and so on. You have just told me what makes you afraid, but that's a good thing. Once you know what you're scared of, you can fight it. Fear can overwhelm ponies, Cozy, but warriors can overcome their fears."

"I guess, but as far as I know you're not afraid of anything. You flew up to Cerberus and gave him a little boop on the nose without a second thought. I'd never do that."

"I'm afraid of a lot of things. I worry about Wishbone, about Sunbutt beating us, about how Sombra feels, lots of things. My two biggest fears are of other Dreamwalkers and the mind control spell. For me, there's nothing worse than being powerless, and completely at the mercy of somepony with a lot of power over you." There's one other thing though, something I'm not sure as I want to tell her about.

"That makes my fears seem pretty small and irrelevant, you know."

"Nothing is too small for you to be afraid of it. How many foals are scared of spiders in your class?"

"Quite a lot, but I like them."

"Exactly." I sit down on a sofa with her still wrapped in my embrace. "True warriors can master their fears. You've never spoken about this before, which makes me think that you're already most of the way there to conquering yours."

"Maybe I am." She wriggles out of the hug and sits next to me. My mind wanders to Wishbone, since I still don't know what she saw under the influence of mind control. I also think of Sombra and his biggest fear: failing and proving Amoré right. Irrational, but then most phobias are. Mine is just as unusual.

Mine is hurting others by accident, and I secretly wish that Sombra and I have to give up before too many lives are lost.