The Fate Of Equestria Book 1: Sombra's Reign

It had started as a bright and clear Fall day in Canterlot, not a cloud in the sky, showing that the weather teams were in top form for the day. A flock of geese flew by overhead, honking as they went and adding to the noise of the city. The various multi-colored denizens of the city milled about, heading into and out of the various shops as they tended to whatever errands they had planned for the day. A cool breeze blew through the streets, kicking up small piles of leaves that had fallen from the nearby trees. This created miniature multi-colored tornadoes that danced and swept across the cobblestone streets like ballerinas performing a beautifully rehearsed dance routine. As well as the leaves, the breeze was also rustling the brightly colored overhanging awnings of the storefronts. Seated under one of these awnings at an outdoor cafe, was a pair of pegasi, more specifically a couple. They sat across from one another, sipping from steaming cups of fresh cappuccino as they talked, smiled, and laughed. The pair of pegasi would be fairly easily recognizable to the many passersby, as both had been part of recent important events that transpired within the areas of Canterlot and Ponyville alike. One dressed in a Wonderbolts branded letterman jacket over a loose white t-shirt and sweatpants, the other dressed in just a Ponyville High sweatshirt and jeans with a long thin katana on his hip.

On one side of the table sat the messy rainbow-haired, Rainbow Dash, her thin fine coat of cyan fur on her face was being lightly blown by the brisk and chilly breeze. The only heat source nearby to keep her from freezing was her steaming cappuccino, which she slowly took another sip from to warm her lips before speaking again.

“So, how long are you off duty for this time? And if you’re off duty, then why bring that thing along?” She asked with a motion to the katana as she looked up into the bright sky blue eyes of her suitor, whose black and red striped hair was almost equally as messy as hers.

“Well, I’m not quite sure to be honest. After that disaster at the wedding a few weeks ago, Princess Celestia just told me and a few of the others to take some time off to be with our loved ones. I keep my sword with me at all times, you know that. Equestria has a long history of unexpected disasters happening out of nowhere” He replied with a smile and a small shrug and took as he took a drink from his cup.

“That seems a little… I don’t know… Weird?” She said back, referring to his description of Princess Celestia’s words, an eyebrow raised in suspicion.

“Yeah, it is, but it gets weirder… The way she said it… It’s as if she knew something that we didn”t. She spoke like she knew something would prevent us from seeing our loved ones” He spoke slowly and with a tone of worry in his voice, she hardly saw this serious side of him, and she didn’t like it. She decided to change the subject.

“Anyway, let’s just enjoy the free time we get to spend together. You called me here for a reason, so what was it?” She asked, referencing the text he had sent her the night before.

She figured something was up because this was the cafe where their first official date had started around five years ago, now where it ended was another story entirely. He sat there without anything for a moment, fiddling with something in his jeans pocket.

“Jet, is something wro…” She began to ask, but was cut off by a sudden ground shaking explosion from somewhere in the direction of the castle, followed by the loud blare of a siren and a huge gust of wind that blew everything away from the area.

Without warning, a swarm of black armored soldiers landed onto the pavement around the area and began attacking the random citizens in the plaza the two were standing in. Four of them took notice of the pair of pegasi and swarmed them. Rainbow and Jet jumped up from their seats, and got into a back to back position. Jet quickly drew his sword and got into a defensive stance.

“I don’t know what’s going on here, but I feel like we’ll be needing those friends of yours and their magic jewelry. Go get them, I’ll cover you.” He said slowly, keeping his eyes on the armor clad goons in front of him.

“Are you sure you can handle these pricks on your own?” She asked with a nervous tone in her voice. He simply nodded in response, she accepted this answer and took to the sky. One of the armored soldiers almost immediately darted after her.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Jet said with an angered tone, grabbing the soldier by the ankle and slamming it into the ground, creating a small crater and knocking the other three off balance.

Without missing a beat, he took this opportunity to leg sweep them, causing them to fall flat on their backs. Jet took this moment to zip past them and make his way towards the castle grounds. Along the way, another explosion rang out, this one shaking the ground and sending huge chunks of debris into the air and crashing down around the area. As he ran towards the castle, he noticed an enormous chunk of wall falling towards a small filly sprinting down the street. Without a moment of hesitation he dove forward, grabbing the filly and dodge rolling out of the way just as the chunk of bricks crashed to the ground behind him. He stood and gently set the filly back on the ground in front of him. Other than some dirt and dust clinging to her face and hair, she seemed to be fine. He recognized the filly as Rainbow’s self adopted little sister, Scootaloo.

“Hey, Scoots, you ok? And what in bloody hell are you doing out here anyway?” He asked in a bit of a panic, worried for the filly’s safety with everything happening all of the sudden.

“I-I’m fine, thanks Jet. I was out here looking for Rainbow, she told me she was meeting you in the plaza today, but then something blew up and I just ran…” She said, blinking a few times to get some dust from her eyes.

“Well, you should get home to your aunts. Hopefully you’ll be safe there.” Jet said with a small sigh of relief, knowing that she wasn’t injured.

“I will, but what about you and Rainbow?” She asked, giving him a concerned look.

“Don’t worry about us, squirt. This isn’t the first disaster we’ve dealt with. She’s already one the way to fetch the others and their elements” He replied with a reassuring smile.

“J-Just promise you guys will be ok. I don’t exactly have much in terms of family these days…” She said, a small ere of sadness in her voice.

“I promise, Scoots. We’ll have this nonsense dealt with before dinner time,” He said, giving her a small hug before standing upright again and continuing along his path to the castle, Scootaloo running off in the direction of Ponyville.

As Jet ran through the city, dodging debris and slicing his way through the soldiers who stood in his way, he couldn’t help but to worry about the little pegasus filly as she tried to get home to safety. By the time he made it to the castle, his katana was soaked in the blood of the soldiers he had slain on his way. He made it into the castle grounds and was horrified at the sight before him. The usually beautiful and lush garden of flowers and fruit bearing trees that populated the grounds were now charred and mostly barren. The normally clean and pristine cobblestone pavement was now running red with the blood from the bodies of royal guards and invaders alike, which were strewn around the grounds haphazardly, most with spears or swords still sticking out of their desiccated corpses. The most shocking thing to Jet though, was the castle doors, which were no longer even attached to the entrance, the hinges still smoldering. They had been blown from their hinges completely, one of the massive steel doors was lodged in the castle wall and the other was nowhere in sight, presumably launched into the city by whatever explosive force had released them from their previous position of keeping out unwanted visitors. With a long shudder at the gruesome sight, he headed inside. The interior halls of the castle were no better than the grounds. The once ornate halls decorated with various statues and tapestries were now the site of a battlefield, the tapestries were soaked in blood and ruined beyond repair, the statues were broken and some had body parts hanging from their limbs. Jet proceeded through the halls quickly but also very carefully just in case an ambush might be waiting around any of the corners.

After a few minutes of traversing the bloodied and ruined hallways, he made it to the throne room. This room was no better than the rest of the castle, unfortunately. The banners displaying the symbols of the princesses were shredded and torn from the ceiling, and the stained glass windows that displayed the various important events of Equestria’s history were shattered and the glass was strewn about the floor. At the other end of the room sat the thrones of the royal sisters, two figures were in front of said thrones. Upon closer inspection, Jet could tell that one of the figures was Princess Celestia herself, but something was wrong. The princess was kneeling in front of the other figure, her golden armor broken in places and the dress she wore underneath was tattered and torn. The other figure, dressed in a similar armor to that of the invaders currently attacking the city, had a sword pointed directly at Princess Celestia’s neck. As Jet approached, his boots crunched against some of the stained glass shards, catching the attention of the two figures. They turned towards him, Princess Celestia let out a soft gasp while the other figure simply gave off a deep unnerving laugh from behind his helmet. At his feet rested two pointed cylindrical objects, with a closer look, he could see with horror that it was the horns of the princesses. He looked around for Luna, but did not see her, only seeing her severed horn and her discarded scythe laying by one of the shattered windows.

“I don’t know who you are, and frankly I don’t give a damn, but if you don’t put down that sword right now I swear on the Gods that I will make you suffer more than you can imagine.” Jet said through gritted teeth, gripping his katana so tightly that his knuckles began to turn white.

“N-No… Y-You can’t stop him.... P-Please Jet… Just run…” Celestia said steadying herself with her broadsword that was lodged in the ground beside her, she was clearly in a great deal of pain judging by her missing horn and the way she was speaking.

“She’s right, run while you can little pegasus.” The mystery figure said, his deep gruff voice echoing slightly from beneath his helmet.

“No! I won’t run and I won’t abandon you princess. It is my duty to protect you and this city.” Jet said with a determined tone in his voice, his stance changing to that of an offensive state as he readied himself to attack this unknown invader.

“Noble, but a poor choice on your part, boy. Perhaps this will change your mind.” The figure said with another unnerving laugh, removing his helmet and revealing his identity.

“N-No… It can’t be… You’re supposed to be dead…” Jet replied, his voice wavering as he laid eyes upon the king of shadows, Sombra.

“Now do you see? You have no hope of winning against me. These royal fools couldn’t get rid of me a millennium ago, what hope do you have?” Sombra asked rhetorically with yet another unnerving laugh.

“I don’t care how powerful you are, I won’t run from a fight. Ever.” Jet said, his confidence returning slowly but surely.

“Then you will die with the rest of the fools who dare oppose my rule.” Sombra retorted with a wide villainous grin.

“Jet… Please… Get out of here while you c…” Celestia started to say, but was immediately cut off by Sombra swinging his sword and severing her head, a geyser of crimson spouting from her neck stump.

The princess’s head flopped onto the stone floor and bounced a little before rolling down the steps of the thrones, leaving a trail of blood in its wake, and coming to rest right at Jet’s feet, a pool of blood forming around it and staining her multi-colored colored hair crimson. He looked down in horror as he watched the last fleeting moments of life drain from her eyes.

“You… You… Monster!” Jet screamed at the tyrant, readying his stance to launch himself at Sombra.

Just as he was about to launch his attack, he was distracted by the sound of several footsteps running into the room, followed by a horrified scream from a familiar voice. He turned to see Rainbow and her friends standing in the doorway of the throne room, their elements at the ready. Twilight had been the one to scream, as seeing her mentor’s severed head had unnerved her beyond words. In a matter of seconds, her expression went from horrified to completely pissed off. Without warning, the elements started to glow very brightly and hum audibly as the magic powering them revved up for an attack.

“S-Sugahcube, ya might wanna calm down a bit, These necklaces are kinda startin’ to burn here.” Applejack said, trying to calm down the very angry alicorn.

“No. This monster is dying here and now.” Twilight replied in a steady tone, her mind made up and her horn glowing to match the brightness of the elements.

“What’s this? A fourth alicorn? What a very interesting turn of events.” Sombra said casually, not even remotely afraid of what she might be planning.

“Jet. Get out of the way.” Twilight said, her voice wavering now as she struggled to hold back whatever spell she was about cast. Jet moved to be behind her as the elements hummed ever louder.

“Go ahead then, show me what you got, princess.” Sombra retorted, putting emphasis on the word ‘princess’, as if knowing which buttons to press to get under Twilight’s skin.

She let out a low growl and lowered her head slightly, pointing her horn directly at Sombra. He simply stood there cockily, even going so far as to put his sword on the sheath on his back. Without any further hesitation, Twilight grunted hard and let loose a massive blast of pure magical energy that was almost blood red in color. Just as it was about to his Sombra, he laughed loudly and suddenly put up a magical shield which deflected the blast back at the group.

“Jet! Watch out!” Rainbow screamed out as she dove to push him out of the way, the rest of the group having already moved to avoid the blast.

But, she wasn’t fast enough. The blast hit them both, the brunt of it hitting Jet head on and just barely clipping her right side. As the magic surged through Jet, he shook violently, Rainbow holding onto him for dear life with tears in her eyes. Then, everything faded into distorted screams and blurred visuals as Jet and Rainbow both blacked out.