Fire and Shadows

As I sit down for breakfast the next day, Shimmer the maid walks in with a frown on her face and about ten letters in her mouth. She puts them on the table in front of me and Sombra and says, “Sorry for bothering you, Your Majesties, but these just arrived.”

“It's fine,” I say to her as she scurries off. “Right, it looks like my job for today is speaking to the nobles.” There's ten letters from them - three of which have the same hoofwriting on the envelopes - and one with the official seal of Canterlot on it. “Ooh, I think Celestia's been in touch.”

There is a round of laughter from everypony gathered around the table.

“Moony?” Sombra asks, a huge grin on his face.

“No, I want to read it,” I protest.

“Read it aloud, then.”

I open it and my eyes scan the page. “Ok, maybe it isn't Celestia. This is from Blueblood, I think.”

“Gosh, I don't know if that's for better or worse,” Cozy comments.

“Dear Moonlight,” I read, “I am writing to warn you of dear Aunt Celestia's latest schemes to remove you and King Sombra from the Crystal Empire's throne.

“The first plan she has is to remove Luna from power in Equestria by sending her to the Crystal Empire and releasing faked documents about crimes that she hasn't committed. This was not Celestia's idea, but after hearing it from a friend she is considering it. Whilst I have told Luna not to leave Equestria for any reason, no matter how significant, she is desperate to see you and King Sombra again.” I feel ever so slightly guilty as I read those words.

“Right,” Sombra says slowly. “Continue.”

“Her second plan is to send as many Solar Guards to the Crystal Empire as she can possibly manage, and this time Lord Tirek will be sent with them. He has been promised freedom and a reward of millions of bits if he can steal your magical essence, and I have heard a few rumours here and there saying that he is actually able to take lives by stealing a pony's life force. I don't know if it is possible, but I don't want you to take any risks. Be careful.”

“Gee, why not state the obvious, Blueblood,” Cozy interrupts.

“Cozy, let her finish,” Wish tells her off. The filly crosses her forelegs, but winks at me to show that she's not really bothered.

“Celestia has also been speaking to the hippogriffs, and whilst I don't believe that they will get involved, I have laid out a few plans of my own in case they do. The Lord of Dragons, Torch, was interested to hear that you have a kingdom with a large quantity of crystals, and if you could put a few to the side for him and his dragons there is a possibility of them helping you should times get tough.

“I hope that you and your family in the Crystal Empire are safe and well, and I hope that we will be able to see each other again soon. Yours, Blueblood.”

“Well, it was nice of him to write,” Sombra mutters, “but we might be in a bit of a mess.”

“Gosh, Sombra. You sound like Blueblood now. What is it with everypony saying stuff that's blatantly obvious?!”

He shakes his head at Cozy and doesn’t answer.

“So, what do we do now?” I ask.

"Prepare the defences.” Skywalker suggests. Wishbone has confirmed that he has been released from hospital since his back is healing, but she said nothing about his other health issues. “Use whatever magic we can to protect the perimeter, then keep building the trenches we had in mind.”

He continues, “Also, speak to the Dragon Lord Torch if we can. And-” he's interrupted by a violent coughing fit. “And make sure the two of you stay out of danger. You can use magic to contact the dragons, but I can't allow you to travel outside of the Crystal Empire.”

I nod. “That's fine, as long as you take care of yourself too.”

He raises an eyebrow at me, and I immediately feel horrible. My big mouth.

“You really doubt me?” His tone is an exaggerated one, letting me know he’s joking. “That insults me, Your Majesty.”

“I know, but you should look after yourself. The last thing we need is for you to hurt yourself again.”

“Ma’am, are you our Queen or my mother?” he jokes, once again.

“I am the Queen, and I have a responsibility to care for everypony in my kingdom and to do my best for them. Even if I can't do any more than say a few kind words.”

He and I stare at each other for a few seconds, and I think he's realised that I know what's happening to him. Now I'm in trouble.

Moonlight? Sombra wonders.

“Ma'am?” Sky says, his tone changing to something more serious, and slightly worried.

“Yes?” I ask.

“I thought I knew you,” he says, and I gulp. “Yet, you keep surprising me as heck.” His head turns to Hanzal. “Seems like you finally got a competitor, buddy.”

A smile is drawn on the pegasus’s face. “Apparently so.”

A chuckle comes from the Colonel, yet another cough catches him off guard. This one being rather violent; he stands from his seat and glances at us. “Excuse me a-” He coughs, again. “...a moment.”

“Ok…”

I can't avoid looking at how the stallion walks away, presumably towards the bathroom. His pace is quite slow, yet I can notice he makes the most effort to get out of our sight. Hanzal doesn’t seem to resist and stands up to accompany his friend. As they leave, I don’t know if I should sigh with relief or become worried about him.

Sombra mutters, “Nothing happens in the Crystal Empire without me hearing about it. So could somepony please enlighten me as to what exactly is going on?”

I notice Hope and Wishbone look at each other, seemingly with no clue of what's happening. They haven’t been told yet. Immediately, Cozy shrugs in response to Sombra, same reaction from Swift. Then, I feel all eyes fall on me, the stares trying to reach my very soul for answers.

I can’t say a word.

“I've heard rumours,” I say. “But I'm not sure how much of it is true.”

“Well, tell us what you know, Mum, and then we can ask them when they're back,” Cozy suggests.

“It's not that simple.”

“Why not?”

“Because… what I've heard is…”

“It's bad, isn't it?” She guesses.

I nod slowly.

“How bad?”

“I don't want to say, in case I'm wrong.” Except I already know that I'm not, which makes it worse.

I feel Sombra's hoof on my shoulder, and I look up at him. He smiles at me and I smile back, unsure what to say to him.

“I will speak to the Colonel once we have finished breakfast, and then we can go and speak to this ‘Grand Prince’ who keeps bothering us.”

“Ok.”

We finish our breakfast in silence - although really I've lost my appetite - and the two stallions return at long last. I watch Skywalker carefully as he's guided to his seat. I don't dare say a word, and quickly think of an excuse to leave the room. And the moment the door closes behind me, the questions begin.

Through the door, I listen to the conversation, and try to process some of what I hear. I hear the Colonel explain - or better said, give excuses for - his condition, assuring everypony in the room that it’s only a minor thing; I even consider throwing the door open and shouting at him when he says: “The doctors already gave me a syrup, the cough will be gone soon.”

To be honest, I’m shocked by the fact that Skywalker has just for the very first time lied to everypony here, and that Hanzal isn't arguing with him. It seems like such a stupid thing to do. When everypony finds out the truth, either because somepony like me says something about it or he becomes seriously ill, it's only going to hurt everyone twice as much. But if I say anything, somepony is going to ask how I found out, and whilst I could try to lie about it, I don't want to make the same mistakes, and Sombra can read my mind anyway.

I know what I'll do. I'll wait until I'm alone with Skywalker and Hanzal, and I'll confront them about it.

Once everypony finishes with breakfast and the kitchen staff rush into the room to clean up, Sombra and I make our way to a large house surrounded by an even bigger lawned garden on the outskirts of the city. The brick-built building stares down at us, and I wrinkle my nose in slight disgust at the banners hanging from the windowsills and the flags bearing the ancient family's crest. It's so… excessive. Ok, so I live in a castle, and I happen to be a queen, but I wouldn't be that fussed about moving back to the Everfree Village at the drop of a hat if I had to. I don't need everypony chanting my name and looking at me in awe to live comfortably.

We walk towards the small staircase to the green oak porch, and Sombra knocks at the - are those mahogany front doors?! How much money do these ponies have?!

A maid wearing a little black and white dress with a white bonnet answers the door and says timidly, “Oh, hello. If you could please come inside, the Grand Prince will be with you in just a minute.”

We follow her inside to an entrance hall with a row of wooden chairs lining one wall, another huge tapestry hanging above them, and several paintings on the other walls, along with a grandfather clock opposite me. The maid scurries off, presumably to inform the 'Grand Prince' of our ‘grand’ arrival in his ‘grand’ mansion, and that we are waiting in the ‘grand’ entrance hall with the ‘grand’ grandfather clock.

I haven't even met him and I already hate him.

I watch a full boring, miserable hour pass on the grandfather clock before another maid finally beckons us into the hall and leads us to a sitting room that's probably larger than the lounge at the Crystal Empire. The ceiling is high, with a huge golden chandelier hanging from it, and nearly every inch of the walls is covered in paintings, tapestries and banners of every kind, with golden brackets in between each one, holding candles to brighten the room a little more.

In the room there is a large dining table with ten chairs, and at the other end of the long room, two sofas. A stallion with a cream-white coat is relaxing on one of them, and he looks at the two of us with a look of what could be disdain on his ugly face.

“Well, I invited you, so I would appreciate it if you were to actually have a conversation with me,” he barks at us.

I look at Sombra, and I don't even need to ask him what he thinks of this stallion. We walk over to him, but all of a sudden he holds up a hoof for the two of us to stop. “Halt. Unless I give my explicit permission, no creature is allowed within ten paces of my being.”

“Sorry,” I say, feigning an apologetic look. “I didn’t realise.”

The ugly stallion ignores me completely and instead casts a scathing look in Sombra’s direction. “Sombra, is it?” he interrogates. “Perhaps you were not informed, I am sure you feel entitled to have all manner of sordid little customs in your own dwelling, but when among quality, I should remind you that it is appropriate to kennel your pets. Am I being straightforward enough?”

I can’t believe what I’m hearing. He speaks in a more exaggerated posh noble accent than Celestia, and apparently, I am Sombra’s pet. I am being compared to a little mongrel trailing around after him, who does exactly as he says and just happens to yap at passers-by and snap at their hooves. Wonderful.

“She is my wife, Genelith-”

“Before we continue with this little assemblage I should remind you that I personally go by the name Grand Prince Genelith Burthelstune the Thirty-Eighth,” he interrupts. “Sovereign and inheritor of the noble cove of Ogchelle and the Hall of Fabricage, Master of the Order of the Twelve Beads and Scion of Most Ancient and Clearest Crystal Blood.”

“And you would do well to remember that I am King Sombra, that I am here with my wife, Queen Moonlight, and that we are the current rulers of the Crystal Empire.”

“Yes, yes, I am more than aware of who you are,” Burthelstune says impatiently, a slight edge in his voice. Apparently we aren't welcome here. Interesting. It's almost like a little piece of Canterlot merged with the Crystal Empire.

“Well, now that we’ve finished with introductions,” I say to smooth over the awkwardness, “how about we get down to doing something productive?”

The ugly stallion doesn’t even acknowledge me. Instead, he shuffles in his seat to make himself more comfortable and once again looks at Sombra with disdain.

“Now, Sombra, I would like you to justify why the Aurora City that my forefathers were the founders of has fallen into such extreme disrepair. Why are you focusing the entirety of your minimal attention span on messing around with your toy soldiers and pretending to go on a little conquest of the world when Equestria deserves nothing more than the occasional glower, and the Crystal Empire is in desperate need of assistance?”

Aurora City?

When the Crystal Empire was larger and more powerful than it is now, this was the capital. Some ponies referred to it as the Aurora City, or the City of Ice.

Oh. That makes sense. You learn something new every day.

“Sombra?” Burthelstune says. “Am I to be left here waiting all day?”

“Considering I wasted more than an hour waiting for you to ‘get yourself ready’ to speak to us, I would have thought you’d be a little more understanding.”

“If you were truly competent you would have taken advantage of that hour to prepare yourself so that you were able to string a sentence together, or at least prepare to admit defeat in a way that I could actually comprehend.”

“I thought I had planned everything out, but it appears I overestimated you.” How that is physically possible when I was previously aware of his lack of intelligence, I have no idea, he thinks to himself. “But allow me to explain this to you in simple terms. Since Aurora's return, ponies from Equestria have made numerous attempts on my life, and on the lives of my family, friends and royal advisors. Celestia refuses to rest until she has my head on a pike, and the same goes for my wife. Do you expect me to allow that to happen?”

“There are more diplomatic ways of reasoning with her.”

“Do you think we haven't tried?” I question him.

“If at first you don't succeed-” he tries to answer.

“Back to the matter at hoof,” Sombra intervenes. “As for what I have been doing about the Crystal Empire’s current state, government funding has not just been spent on the military as you wrongly assumed, but also on the housing industry, local hospitals and education.”

“And what are the foals being educated on? Are they aware of the great ponies who founded this nation?”

“They’re being educated on subjects that will actually help them when they are adults. How to read and write, arithmetic, a little on the arts and sciences, too. And yes, history. The true history, not the version that most foolish ponies see through Celestia’s rose-tinted spectacles.”

“In other words, the folly and fairytales that you use as rationalisation for your despicable and inexcusable acts.”

“Incorrect. I won’t try to rationalise or excuse anything I did in the past, but I won’t let the truth remain hidden forever, and neither will the others who have been betrayed. Also, we are at war, and I would like everypony in the Crystal Empire to know why.” Even if morons like yourself either can’t or won’t understand.

Once again, Burthelstune seems irritated and impatient. “I have already told you, there are easier ways of dealing with minor issues like threats from Equestria than sending those of clear crystal blood to war, Sombra.”

“It's impossible,” I sigh.

“Nothing can truly be impossible.” He still won’t look at me, but at least he actually answered me this time. Progress. Maybe I can get some information into his thick skull and succeed where Sombra has failed so far.

Trust me, my bat, it isn’t easy.

“I've tried to convince everypony, and ponies are beginning to listen, but Celestia is the one pony who I can say, hoof on heart, will never change her mind.”

He turns his big ugly face to me. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. It is a shame that you will never be able to understand.”

“Understand what?”

“The way that the world really works, child. I am sincerely apologetic that you will never be aware of how the noble Crystal Empire's political system operates, nor how each of us in the higher classes think and approach unique problems that a mare of your background could never even imagine encountering.” He sighs. “But such is the unfortunate way of life that you were born feral and have experienced nothing more than a life removed from civilised society, and therefore all of this is far above the maximum capacity and power of your innocent little mind. Please, do not concern yourself with issues that are not yours to contend with.”

I stare owlishly at him. Sunbutt, no, he didn't. And if he did just say what I think he just said, then there will be Tartarus to pay. “If all of that was to do with me being a bat pony-”

“What else would it be about?”

“Take that back,” I warn him. “That's not something that you want to be repeating when more and more bat ponies from Equestria are coming to the Crystal Empire for their own safety and I happen to be their leader.”

“More thestrals?” he says incredulously, and I try not to use dark magic on him then and there. A lot of ponies don’t realise that we find it really insulting to be called thestrals, although I’m sure that he’s saying this deliberately because he thinks he’s in charge around here.

He continues, “More cave-dwellers and woodland beasts?! This is supposed to be the most stunning city on Equis, not an enclosure for pests or a shelter for the homeless unemployable lowlifes of Equestria!” He scowls at Sombra. “If my ancestors knew that you were turning the safe haven created from their hard labour for the ponies of clear crystal blood into a zoo and importing these wild animals to wreak havoc upon the land-”

There is almost a small thump as Sombra's hoof collides with Burthelstune's jaw. The latter gives a yelp of pain and turns his head away, lifting his own hoof to the injured left side of his face.

“S-S-Sombra! Why, how d-d-dare you?!” he snarls.

I watch Sombra's face, his anger surging inside him, his gaze unforgiving. He is trying to hold back from causing any serious damage, and I hear him counting slowly from one to ten in his head to calm down and stop himself from doing anything stupid.

“Consider that a friendly warning, Burthelstune,” he spits. “Next time, I will not be so lenient. And be aware that an Equestrian newspaper company has been invited to work and operate in the Crystal Empire. If I so wish I can let slip a few little stories here and there.”

“I could easily do the same to you, Sombra. My name is known far and wide across Equis and ponies would quite happily support me if I were to remind them of your own little sins from the past. And as for the animal you brought with you in a feeble attempt to frighten me-”

I glower at him. Now he’s done it.

“What is it, thestral?!” Burthelstune snaps.

I open my mouth and run my tongue along the bottom of my top row of teeth. “Sombra?” I ask.

“Yes, little bat?”

I try to appear as calm as possible. “Could I, um, have a little conversation with the Grand Prince? Without you here, please,” I add, licking my lips. This is a little something that among the bat pony community is called The Blood Test. It's a trick to find out if ponies buy into the myths about us drinking blood and if they can tell that we're bluffing.

As it is, the Grand Prince Genelith Burthelstune fails The Blood Test on an astronomical scale. Revelation of the day: I don't really like seeing anyone suffer, but frightening the living daylights out of Burthelstune is a fun pastime. He bites his own lip and a few beads of sweat appear on his forehead. Then, when he speaks, gone is the Arrogant Noble Accent, replaced by the voice of a stuttering, snivelling coward.

“Now, n-now, um, Y-Your M-M-Majesties,” he tries to stop me. “I, um, there is n-no need for violence-”

For once, something that I agree with.

I take a few steps towards Burthelstune, noticing how he shrinks back in fear, only to trap himself further into the corner of the room. “If what you said about me is right, about me being a wild animal, that I can’t understand the way the world works because it’s too complicated, then how do you expect me to know what violence is? This isn’t violence, is it? I’ve not done anything yet.”

And I should hope that you don’t.

Stop panicking, I won’t. I’m just going to make sure that he doesn’t call me a vampire or a thestral again.

“I - uh - step b-back, I t-told you that no-creature is allowed n-n-near me, thestral!”

I take another step, and use my dark magic to extinguish all of the lights in the room. I talk to him quietly, hissing a little as I talk. “Genelith Burthelstune. You pretend to be a prince, but you hide inside your mansion, ignoring the outside world because it scares you, doesn’t it?”

“I - vampire, stop this nonse-”

“You think you know everything, and you act like it too. Ponies let you think what you want to think all the time, and nopony is brave enough to knock you off your high horse. But today is the day that that changes, and I’m going to be the one that changes it.”

Moonlight, Sombra tries to interrupt.

What? I’m not going to hurt him. I allow my dark magic to light up the room for a moment, once again running my tongue over my long pointed fangs. My wings flare outwards and I reach out with a hoof as if to hit him again whilst black crystals grow around us, completely trapping him.

“Quarter! I beg you, vampire, stop!” Burthelstune cries.

Moonlight, stop all of this at once and leave the pony alone.

The candles flicker back to life, and I turn to Sombra, raising an eyebrow. He removes the crystals that I made, then walks over to us and stands strategically between me and the cowardly prince, who is trying to recover his breath.

“L-Leave," he whispers. "This has g-gone on for l-long enough. Do what you will with the Crystal Empire, but I, Grand Prince Genelith Burthelstune the Thirty-Eighth, will personally ensure that despite your best efforts, the City of Aurora never falls to ruin. You know the w-way out. May our paths never cross again!”

Sombra teleports both of us outside, and he stares at me, his jaw slightly agape.

“What?” I say.

“I have never seen you do that before, and I should hope it never happens again. Even by my standards, that was completely unacceptable.”

“What did I do so wrong?”

“Moonlight,” Sombra says slowly, “what you did is you lost your temper and you threatened a civilian even after I told you to stop several times. Worse is the fact that you were threatening him in exactly the way that we are trying to tell everypony in the world that we do not act on a daily basis. If you wish to allow Celestia to continue ruling for another thousand years with her little cult of personality and lose this war due to a lack of anypony trusting in us, then you are going about it exactly the right way.”

The truth of his words sinks in. I am a fool. I didn’t think, and Burthelstune is one of the most respected of the nobility, and all it will take is for him to go blabbing to his friends and for them to speak to other ponies, and everything I’ve fought for goes down the drain in one fell swoop. Why? Why didn’t I think clearly?! I sink to my knees on the grass, sighing in defeat.

“I - I don't know what happened. I lost control. I'm sorry, Sombra.”

“You lost control?”

“I - he was getting on my nerves. No, more than that. He was insulting me, and you, and our friends, and I lost it. I - I had to do something.”

“Interesting…” He seems lost in thought for a moment, staring down at the ground.

"What's interesting?"

“Whilst I did give him a nice reminder of who is in charge and it was an excellent test of my patience, I wasn't the first one to snap at him, to lose control, as you said. I am not criticising you, so don't take this the wrong way. It's just… a little unusual, that's all.”

“It’s probably because I was worried about Skywalker earlier, so I was already agitated.”

“But why were you worried? He told me he was just ill and that he has been given medication.”

I can't look him in the eye.

"Moonlight?"

“H-he's lying.” I admit, still unsure about whether I should be saying this. “I overheard him and Hanzal talking yesterday and… Everything they said this morning… that was all lies. He's not getting better, it’s the opposite, he’s… dying.” The word hangs in the air for a moment. “He said that there was nothing the doctors could do.”

“And what is the ailment?” He asks.

“I don't know, but he said that there wasn't anything the doctors could do. He said it wouldn't be quick, but…”

Sombra shakes his head. “I can only use dark magic to help him if I know what is wrong.”

“Wait…” There might be some hope yet. “If he became an Umbrum-"

“It doesn't always work like that. If he were to die before the transformation was complete, then he would still be gone, and he would need to be taught how to control dark magic. Even then, there are some diseases that cannot be cured no matter what magic you try to use.”

I sigh, the last of my hope leaving me. I was only grasping at straws anyway.

“It will be fine, Moonlight.”

“No… it won’t, Sombra.” I whisper. “And you know it. Whilst nearly everypony you used to know is still alive, I've already lost a lot of friends and family. I've had a thousand years to get over that, but the thought of losing anypony, whether that’s you or Cozy or Wishbone or Skywalker or somepony else, it’s… unthinkable.”

He reaches out with a hoof to try to comfort me, but I shy away from him. I need to be left alone. “Please, Sombra, stop.”

“Moonlight, I-”

“Stop.”

A wave of magic flows through me, nearly knocking Sombra backwards, but he manages to hold his ground. A wall of crystals surrounds me, and I teleport out of it, taking off into the skies. He doesn't understand. Skywalker has become a close friend to me, and he's sacrificed so much, and I feel sorry for him because of everything that's happened with him and his sister. There's a part of me that wants both of them to be able to apologise and forgive each other, but if Skywalker is going to die then those scars will never heal.

And even though I didn't start their fight, I feel responsible for every single pony, every changeling, every living creature that I have the power to help. And all I keep doing is hurting everyone.

I should say sorry to Sombra, and to Skywalker and Hanzal for eavesdropping. I just need to work out what to say.