Darkening of Equestria

by DeejayShuffle

Revelations

Author's Note:

As promised, another chapter! Super early! I hope you enjoy!

Side note, over 170 views, and 34 bookshelf adds! That's mental! Thanks to all of my readers for their support!

Twilight was dumbfounded. Discord was cackling madly on the couch, hooting and hollering through gasps for air. Why would Discord act like this? What was so funny?

“What’s so funny Discord? Is there something we’re missing?” Twilight said with a face as confused as her emotions.

“You ponies, oh you ponies! WIll you ever learn the forbidden arts? BWAHAHAHAH!” Discord broke out into another laughing fit as Twilight began to get more and more frustrated.

“What do you mean? Why was that statement so funny? Answer me!” Twilight roared, now thoroughly frustrated.

“Okay, okay! Heh-heh! I’ll talk!” Discord forced out though more hysteric laughing as he pulled out tissues from a box he had made appear out of thin air. “You see, the notion that I could control shadows is simply absurd! And HILARIOUS!”

“You mean such a thing as the shadows would be impossible for you to control?” Twilight mused, although still making her frustration VERY apparent.

“Of course! The shadows are a force that not even Luna can control! She just chains their essence to Tartarus and uses her innate magical abilities to help strengthen the chain! No being in existence that doesn’t completely channel dark magic can bring the shadows under their control! The fact you even considered that option in simply LUDICROUS!” Discord exclaimed as he finally began to calm down.

“So you’re saying this was just a wild goose chase? That you were just toying with us?” Twilight said as her rage continued to build.

“Well, you see… YES! Hahahaha! And my was it worth it! I haven’t laughed like that in forever!" Discord said as he wiped his eyes.

“That waaas pretty funny!” Pinkie said while holding in a snort.

“Pinkie. Quiet.” Twilight said with a voice about to burst with rage. To calm herself, Twilight quickly employed Cadence's breathing technique, and felt calmer. “I need you to stay quiet while I… sort things out with Discord.”

“Caaaan do silly billy!” Pinkie said while giggling.

“I do apologize if I angered you Miss Sparkle, I just wanted to have a little fun! In all seriousness though, I have never even tried to do what you are describing, and I never have plans to! Because it’s impossible!” Discord said with the most wry smile ever.

“Just great. Thank you for you time Discord. You may resume your daily activities.” Twilight said with yet another groan.

“Yeah! You can help me clean up as payback for making me faint like that!” Fluttershy said with the most adorable frown.

“Of course Fluttershy, I would be more than happy to help!” Discord exclaimed in a sincere tone.

Feeling defeated, Twilight turned to her friends for help and advice. “What do you make of all this girls? I’m totally at a loss as to what I should do here. Any suggestions or theories?”

“I, for one think that this is all incredibly exhausting, and that we should leave the other princesses to figure it out. If Discord knows nothing, then why would Celestia need you? Besides, Luna might just have felt something and mistaken it for a “Loss of power” or something of the sort. I say you relax and just submit what evidence you have and then drop all this hullabaloo.” Rarity sighed and daintily sipped her cup of tea to try and portray her exhaustion.

“I think Rarity is close, we should pass the bit at some point, but why stop a super duper fun adventure here? We should look for more clues! OOH! It could be a mystery like that time on the Friendship Express!” Pinkie pie bounced up and down rapidly at the thought of another super fun mystery!

“Why pass this up at all? This could be the epic adventure of a lifetime! We could fight shadow demons, discover ancient artifacts, fight King Sombra for control of Equestria, and return home heroes! If King Sombra is the one behind all this, that is.” Rainbow Dash said with excitement, pumped at possibilities of fame and glory.

“King Sombra…. King Sombra… That’s it! Maybe he IS behind all this! What if ruling out dark magic in the first place was the biggest mistake? What if… Sombra has returned, AGAIN!?” Twilight began to panic at the horrifying possibilities if this was true. “Ok girls, me and Spike need to head back to the castle and do some research. Thank you for your time.”

Rarity put on a concerned face, worried for Twilight’s emotional state. “Twilight are you sure you’re alright?”

“I’m fine Rarity, I just need to… collect my thoughts! Yeah, that’s it! Everything is fine! See you later girls!” Twilight then scampered out of Fluttershy’s house and slammed the door. “EVERYTHING'S NOT FINE AT ALL SPIKE!!!!!!! DO YOU KNOW WHAT A DISCOVERY LIKE THIS MEANS???”

“N-n-not good things…?” Spike said in a quivering voice.

“TERRIBLE THINGS! WE NEED TO IMMEDIATELY NOTIFY CELESTIA!!!!” Twilight was now on the brink of hyperventilating, and her mane was beginning to frizz out.

Spike immediately went into meltdown-prevention mode. “Twilight, i’m only gonna ask this once. Calm. Down. You’re freaking out over possibilities, not certainties. We should send a letter to the princesses, and then wait. Nothing bad is going to happen, and the world isn’t going to end. We beat Sombra before, and if he comes back, then we’ll beat him again. Nothing stops the power of friendship!”

Twilight visibly calmed down, and began to breathe in and out much slower, bringing her from the brink of a meltdown to stable. “You’re right Spike, we’ll just send a letter and do some research. Nothing bad will happen. Just take precautionary steps. Let’s go back to the castle.”

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Celestia was on her throne, signing and vetoing paperwork and bills from the Lords and Governors that hailed from all across Equestria. She had just begun to slip into her groove of signing and stamping when a trail of ashes carried on green fire flew into her chamber and materialized into a letter. Celestia handed her massive stack of papers over to Quill Whisk, and grabbed the letter in her magic just as it began to drift to the floor. “Give me a minute Quill Whisk, I have a highly important letter from Twilight Sparkle. Thank you for your patience.”

“You’re always welcome Princess!” Quill Whisk said cheerily.

Celestia’s face only grew grimmer as she read the letter.

Dear Princess Celestia,

As you requested, the girls and I went to question Discord. He decided to toy with us for some time before finally admitting total innocence. He said that using chaos magic to control the shadows is completely absurd, and that no one who didn’t use exclusively dark magic could even begin to harness their power. Which got me thinking about who it could possibly be. So I asked the girls for their take on the whole thing.

Rainbow Dash put forth the very interesting hypothesis that Sombra could have been resurrected for some reason, and that he could be the one attempting to seize the shadows from Luna’s control. I have my doubts, but this theory could hold water if I can find more information on the workings of dark magic. However, in order to see if this is even remotely possible, I would like to request access to the forbidden tomes of the dark arts in the Canterlot Library. Thank you for your understanding.

Your Faithful Student,

Princess Twilight Sparkle

Celestia slumped in her chair and let out a heavy sigh. This was just fantastic, not only had Discord been a dead end, but the only information Twilight was able to get out of him was just bad news! Seeing no point in wasting time, Celestia tuned to Quill Whisk and told her to pen a letter Cadence informing her of the news and asking her to respond as necessary. She then summoned her Chief Librarian and asked to have their entire set of dark magic tomes teleported to Twilight Sparkle, post haste. As everything needed to prove Twilight’s hypothesis and keep Sombra at bay fell into place Celestia relaxed a bit, and decided to go and wake Luna to tell her the news.

As she strode through the halls of her castle, she looked at the various stained glass windows that showed all of various quests that had succeeded in vanquishing the foes of Equestria. She saw the defeat of Tirek, Discord, Chrysalis, and even Nightmare Moon as she navigated the ancient halls of her proud home. On her way to Luna’s room, she passed through the halls of old, which showed the defeats of all the villains that had threatened Celestia and Luna during their adventuring days. She saw Tirek’s imprisonment, the sealing of the Crystal Empire, the petrification of Discord, all but one window that she passed by without a second thought. The slaying of Dracarthus, perhaps their oldest foe. After many memories, and a short trip to Luna’s room Celestia quietly and gently opened the door to see her little sister fast asleep in her bed. Her heart always warmed at the sight of her sister when she looked this peaceful. It reminded her of simpler times, when the most important thing to do was to discover what hid in the backyard.

Breaking out of her Nostalgia trip, Celestia walked over to the side of Luna’s bed and gently nuzzled her awake with her gentle snout. Luna gradually began to stir, until Celestia poked her and said “Lulu… wake up.” In as soft of a voice as possible.

Then Luna sat up and groaned loudly. “Urrrr… Must you wake me so late in the day? You know I got terrible sleep yesterday sister.”

“Yes, but I have very important news pertaining to your shadow incident. Discord was a dead end.” Celestia said as she took a seat at the base of the bed.

Luna slammed a hoof onto one of her pillows. “Curses! I thought we might resolve this mystery quickly, or at the very least get some information out of him!”

Celestia cracked a smile, trying to remain optimistic so that her sister might keep up a positive attitude. “We actually did get some information out of him, and Twilight has formed a hypothesis with the help of her friends.”

Luna perked up at the small victory. “What did we learn?”

“Discord told us that anyone who doesn’t use exclusively dark magic can’t even begin to control the shadows; that even chaos magic is too weak. Which means we have a dark magic wielder on our hands. That plays right into Twilight’s hypothesis which is that Sombra has somehow been resurrected again to terrorize Equestria.” Celestia said with a more depressed tone.

Luna’s brow furrowed.“So this has only lead to darker discoveries… most concerning. I ruled out Sombra originally, because such a resurrection seemed impossible, and Discord was a far more likely candidate. If Discord was a false lead, then I just hope Cadence has a plan to contain Sombra, or whatever it is that lurks just beyond her empire.”

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Cadence had just received and read a letter from Celestia marked as “Highly Important”, and she felt quite alarmed at the news. Sombra, back, again? It sounded impossible. It sounded like another Empire-wide crisis that she would have to manage with Shining. She turned to Flurry Heart, who was sucking on her hoof to keep herself busy while her mom looked over letters and other paperwork. Smiling, she picked up Flurry Heart and nuzzled her. “But our last crisis was an accident, wasn’t it you little crystal goober?” Cadence said with a motherly tone. Flurry Heart giggled madly and flared her wings in excitement. Cadence laughed with her as she spun Flurry Heart around the room.

Sadly, the world called, and Cadence began formulating a plan to look for evidence as to Sombra’s return. She gave Flurry Heart a bottle and rocked her back and forth as she began to think of what to look for in the frozen wastes. That was it! The fragments of his body! If he was still dead, then Shining and her could easily find the remnants of his body! She would still need some royal guards and Sunburst to look after Flurry though, so she called in an messenger to relay the news of her plan to all parties involved.

About 2 hours later, Cadence, Shining Armor, and a small contingent of the crystal guard were standing at the edge of the Crystal Empire’s heat bubble, ready to begin the search for what was left of Sombra. As Cadence walked out of the bubble, she cast her heat spell of the small party, enveloping them in a small bubble of heat that was just weak enough so not to melt the snow and cover up evidence.

“Remember! Look for patches of black snow! That means a piece of Sombra is there, and is corrupting the snow!” Shouted one of the Crystal Mages as they descended into the furious blizzard.

“You got it! Honey, start scanning for pieces!” Cadence shouted as she recoiled under the force of the blizzard’s winds.

“Can do!” Shining Armor said as he began to probe for the magical chunks of Sombra’s body. “I’m feeling one from the Southwest. Pretty close!”

“Sounds good. Let’s move out! You, guard! Can you get a sound barrier up so we can stop shouting?” Cadence said as she began to trudge Southwest.

“Sure thing your highness!” The guard yelled as he set up the barrier.

Once the barrier was complete, the deafening winds quieted to a low howl, and everyone casting spells could concentrate better. Shining Armor was about to tell them that the search party was close, when Cadence spotted the black snow.

“I see the black snow. Containment team, go grab the fragment, and quickly!” Cadence said as she strengthened the heat spell to prevent additional heat loss from the movements of the containment team.

The team of 2 mages and an earth pony quickly approached the black snow, and began to dig at the snow with shovels to avoid contact with the shard. Once it was unearthed, the earth pony picked it up with a crude mechanical grabbing-claw and put in a glass case. The team then swiftly returned to the bubble to present their find. The chunk was a piece of Sombra’s ribcage, about the size of an egg and pulsing with dark energy.

One of the guards took a look at the piece and was thoroughly unnerved. “That’s it. It’s definitely a part of Sombra. You can feel the dark energy radiating off of it. This is all the proof we need to prove Sombra is still dead. Let’s head back.”

“Not so fast.” Cadence said with a concentrated frown. “If he is truly dead, we need to find more pieces, and the big kahuna. His horn. If we can get his horn then we can rest assure that he is actually gone, and not rebuilding himself.”

The Royal Guard visibly shrunk with fear. “Alright then. Captain Shining, got another fragment on your magical scan?”

“Sure do! It’s a bit East of this location, so let’s move out.” Shining Armor said while trying to locate more pieces of the dead king.

Over several hours in the frozen wastes, Cadence and the search party found chunk after chunk of Sombra, but no horn.

“Where could it be!? Hours of searching, and still no horn!” Shining pounded his hooves into the snow in rage, and scanned the area again. That was when he picked up on a really strong magic signature running just north. “I got something! I think this might be his horn!”

“What direction?” Cadence jumped with excitement, ready to seal the deal and finally get out of the cold wastes.

“Just North of here. If this is his horn, we can all go home!” Shining began to hone in on the signature as the group slowly moved North, but only became more confused the closer they got. “Wait a sec, the signature forms a line! What is that all about?”

“Not sure sir, but we have visual on black snow, so we’ll move out to investigate.” Said one of the guards as the grabbed a shovel of his back and left the heat bubble.

The squad approached the snow, looked at it, and walked back.

“Where’s the horn? Why didn’t you dig?” Shining Armor asked, thoroughly confused.

“Sir, there’s no horn.” The earth pony responded.

“Wait a second... “ Shining armor went back over the signature, and found the line running north, and fading into the border of the Crystal Empire. “Oh no.”

“What is it?” One of the guards asked, incredibly worried.

“Someone took his horn… into the Empire.”

Comments

[DeejayShuffle]

I feel for redundancies sake, I should say this here in the comments so more people know. I will typically post updates on new chapters or progress on them on my blog. If you want to figure out when a new chapter is coming, or when I will subject this site to another awful story, then that is the place to look.

Happy Reading,
Deejay Shuffle

[TheMajorTechie]

Is the bolding intended? After a couple paragraphs everything else is in bold.

[DeejayShuffle]

7615609

FIxed. Also, this confirms my hypothesis that something is wrong with my bolding tags. Everything I have edited today has had the b and /b switched. I hate it. Hopefully this error does not persist. Thanks for the follow by the way!

Happy Un-Bolded Reading,

DeejayShuffle

[TheMajorTechie]

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