Typical TW for blood and gore. Love you all!!
UPDATE: Been a couple days and I was working on chapter 7 when the beginning of it felt like it belonged more so at the end of this chapter, so as of 10/8, there's a bit more added to the end for those who've already read this chapter.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
There was a cold silence as Sombra helped bandage the Bearer of Loyalty. As he went to put some ice on Rainbow's eye, using his magic to keep it there, she flinched back, "Nnnn-ahhhh!" She began, until he steadied the backwards rolling desk chair.
With a quick once over, he deemed her alright. "Guess I should've said something. Whoops." He commented flatly, continuing what he was doing.
Rainbow grunted in the back of her throat, glaring hotly at the college man. "You did that on purpose, you jerk." She lifted her bandaged up arm and held the ice in place. "I can do this myself."
Sombra stopped his magic then, heeding to her rude demands. He began to feel his frustration bubble to his skin once she was finished. "What brought you here? How did you even find this place?" The silence let him think so now he wanted answers.
Rainbow looked away defiantly, refusing to say. "I don't gotta say nothing to you."
Sombra stood and slammed the first aid kit shut, looking at the high schooler with deathly cold eyes. "Do you truly think you deserve to have that choice right now? Your actions have been half assed, selfish, immature, and cowardly indecisive. You have been a failure as Fluttershy's childhood best friend."
Rainbow stood as best she could, wincing but giving Sombra a glare of her own, eye lit like fire. "What would you know?! You don't know anything about mine and Fluttershy's relationship and for your fucking information, we already settled that issue. Why do you think I look like this?" She pointed her available finger at her swollen eye, "this I got from some assholes who thought it'd be funny to jump me!"
Sombra had no care about that, but if what she said was true, he was curious. "Why?"
Rainbow thinned her lips. "I'm not sure."
Sombra took a deep sigh. She had been telling the truth about the relationship, though, if Fluttershy happily holding the Element was an indication he saw one day when she'd gotten home. "How did you find this place?"
"I followed that green haired woman. I saw her a bit aways after and I followed. The guys who beat me up were going the opposite way." Rainbow gave in. It wasn't like she was betraying anyone.
"Why did Fluttershy lose your loyalty in the first place?" He stood in front of the door, having decided to have a chat with his own longest friend's childhood friend. He heard capper texting on the other side of it, the noise easing him to stay calm and not allow his anger to take control, though he could feel it wasn't enough.
"We've been through that. That's between her and I." RainbowDash fiddled with her clothes, guilt still written in her eye and an exasperated look on her face.
He snorted. "I doubt she told you everything. She probably feels it's easier to forgive you than keep fighting about her housemates. All of you hurt her deeply."
He saw RainbowDash bristle. "I know her better than you so don't you dare-" she was cut off by the diamond marking on Sombra's head glowing faintly.
"You may have known her longer, but that doesn't mean you know her better. I knew her before she went missing as well and she has changed more than you could fathom. You can grovel to her feet or even swear your loyalty to her once again, but I will never allow you to forget that you abandoned her when she needed you most." He walked towards her, gaze intense.
"She explained she didn't want to burden us. She explained she still has nightmares. She explained she had to change in order to survive and I realized that when we spoke! I even had time after to reflect on my actions. Why do you think I gave her that dumb fucking Element?! I don't need you to scold me for this!" RainbowDash kept herself steady, though her nostrils flared out, her own anger flaring up like fire on gasoline.
"Did you make more of an effort to read her body language? Did you make an effort to watch her during school? Did you often check on her by text or call? Why did you let her be alone knowing your friends were against her? Why didn't you protect her?!" Sombra's anger was building up fast. His dearest friend had been trying so very hard to find her happiness again, even with all the bullshit still happening, and she was ripped from them for some reason he still wasn't sure of.
A lot of the incidents when she came home crying, angry, or miserable were because of that damn school where her friends were and adults who would never help.
His eyes began to glow purple and green, his calm composure cracking since he now could speak with one of Fluttershy's friends one-on-one and he expected them all-not just RainbowDash- to pay with their own minds in utter shards of fear!
One incident had still stuck with him after all this time. Part of him had realized that evening that those who were out to hurt her hadn't given up simply because she escaped. So…he had realized they needed to feel the fear he saw in her as she was digging into her flesh in the shower.
RainbowDash tried backing up, only for the hard chair she'd been in to knock into her lower back. "W-what do you mean "protect her"? The others are my friends too and again I spoke with her about my split loyalty." RainbowDash didn't like the magic surrounding the college man. "I did what I could, when I could afterwards." RainbowDash was confused. If it was just about her and the others, why is this man becoming more angry?
"YOU PRETENTIOUS CHILDREN SHOULD'VE BEEN HER FIRST DEFENSE!" He yelled, slamming his fist next to her on the chair arm.
With a blink, Capper came rushing in, only having barged in when bits of Sombra's magic began to seep through the door and his voice had been rising. Capper quickly covered Sombra's eyes with one hand and rubbing Sombra's tense arm with his other. "It's okay, King. I'll talk to her. Yelling out your grief will not settle it and you know that. Hush, now, okay? Close your eyes." He spoke softly, lightly. When Sombra nodded, a few long seconds later, Capper put his headphones over Sombra's head and pushed the angry man out of the room, making sure he kept walking.
After some silence, Capper turned to RainbowDash with a small smile. "Sorry about all that. I wouldn't have let him talk to you if I knew he'd get upset. Heh, he must've been holding that in longer than I'd realized. You can calm down now, I'm not going to yell at you. You've been put through the wringer yourself, huh?" He asked, propping himself onto the desk, waiting for RainbowDash to relax a bit as well.
"Here to scold me too? Who are you anyway?" Rainbow asked, shaking herself from her momentary fear.
Capper shook his head with a grin, pulling out some gum and offering Rainbow some. "A coworker of Discord's and Sombra's boyfriend. He's quite cute when he's calmer." Capper popped a gum ball into his own mouth. "So, you followed Chrissy?" He asked, knowing to keep things light if he could and he wasn't as close to Fluttershy as any of the others nor did he know her before.
Rainbow gave him a disgusted look. "Just like Flutters. You both have shit taste."
Capper smiled bigger. 'Good. That's more like it.'
Rainbow mulled it over before deciding to anyway. There wasn't anywhere else for her to go. "Yeah. She was hurt, but I also wanted to know where she was headed, since I wasn't sure who to go to and I knew I was risking it by coming here. I just needed somewhere where I knew people."
Capper didn't like that confession. "Why not home?"
"Don't want my parents involved. If I'm honest, I don't know what's going on anymore. I'm in pain. I'm exhausted. I don't want my family to worry." Rainbow kept chewing and with each clench of her jaw, the tears began to build and overflow, but her pride wouldn't let her rub them away and acknowledge she was crying. "I miss my best friend and everyone is blaming me."
Capper stayed quiet, letting the girl release her own frustration. 'You really make connections wherever you go, don't you, Fluttershy? I hope you're trying to get home so this whole mess will settle.' With half an ear, Capper listened to RainbowDash, and with the other he thought back on how King, Chrissy, and Dissy were acting. The magic they'd gained was driving them crazy, or in Dissy's case, crazier.
Not to be cruel, but he couldn't get what drove these people to do such drastic things for the young lady. All this damage because of magic?
No.
That'd be ridiculous. What he needed to do was get King to calm down first, then he'd see how they can handle the other two.
Seeing her wince, Capper got up. "Let's get you some pain medicine and rest. I'll talk to them, so don't worry. I promise you'll be safe here. Hopefully." He grinned, hoping he didn't scare her.
Rainbow hesitated but after knowing this was the safest she'd be, and trying to keep in mind what Fluttershy had said about her housemates, she nodded as she wiped her face on her clothes, limping but able to move her stiff body with the help of Capper, who tried lightening the mood a little.
Fluttershy tried to reel in her panting, her throat and mouth like cotton. They'd been at this for a couple weeks now and she was using up a lot of her own energy as well as to not be a burden. Thinking back to the beginning of it, The Crystal Empire had been in more dire straights than they'd anticipated. King Sombra had already enslaved the whole empire by the time the group got close. The guard had been right about King Sombra's tactics as they couldn't find out where all the power he had was coming from.
The others were all in different areas, having been separated when King Sombra's barrier suddenly came up, trying to get passed the barrier King Sombra set up once Princess Cadence and Pony Shining Armor were too weak to be on defense any longer. Twilight and Spike had left see if there was a weak spot in King Sombra's defense as Rarity and Pinkie were separated from them and were hopefully seeing if the Crystal Ponies knew anything.
"Why can't I get this thing off?!" Mr. Discord yelled, crouched over Pony Fluttershy as he was protecting her when it happened and his hands tried to remove the magic collar around his neck that King Sombra was suspiciously quick to bound to the Draconequus once they'd revealed themselves. It had shocked them all that it was working, binding Mr. Discord's powers so he couldn't use them. AJ explained it happened once before when Tirek had tried ruling and taking all the magic to get stronger. Pony Fluttershy tried looking closely to see if she could help and Fluttershy tried racking her brain to figure out why the name sounded familiar.
What started the complications in the first place was Mr. Discord wanting to just get it over with and letting his guard down which allowed King Sombra a chance as everyone was trying to hide and/or tell him to stop.
"Should we wait fer Twilight?" AJ came up, RainbowDash right behind, gliding as she fumed, looking offended once the words left AJ's mouth, AJ's haunches trembling from her trying to break through her own way.
"NO WAY! We gotta do this and help! There has to be a way to break it so we can get to that bastard!" She yelled, her voice going high.
"Now how do we do that, Rainbow? We don't have any magic and Discord's down for the count. Kicking it and using brute force ain't working, that includes your Sonic Rainboom. So?" AJ elaborated, ignoring Mr. Discord's yell of "hey!".
Rainbow huffed. "I don't know! But we can't just sit here while Rarity and Pinkie are gathering information and Twilight n Spike are trying to find his weakness inside the library."
"Rainbow is right, AppleJack. We can't just be sitting here. There's more of us out here than inside, so we should think of a plan to get inside." Pony Fluttershy tried, petting Mr. Discord's paw to comfort him as he pouted.
Fluttershy would admit her pony counterpart was right about that.
The sun was setting so Fluttershy removed the hat, staring at the barrier, her eyes roaming up and down as she thought of a plan herself. "Can't use brute force…" she mumbled.
"It's okay, Sugarcube. Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie will be back before you know it." AJ approached her, patting her back, the Earth Pony looking tired.
Fluttershy smiled small. "I'm fine, just thinking about how I can help. So many heads against one, it should be easier." Fluttershy stopped. 'So many heads.' Her mind went to her friends and she tried ignoring the pang of betrayal in her chest.
AJ snorted. "Yeah, but we're in his territory and like we've found out, he's got new tricks. Damned annoying." She scratched her head, muttering the last bit and she groaned when she stood. "Maybe I shoulda took a break." She sighed, giving Fluttershy a tired smile and patting Fluttershy's back, "you should rest too, ya know." Then she went to where the others were winding down, having decided to rest since they knew they'd be weak without sleep.
Fluttershy giggled as she looked back to the small group, seeing RainbowDash already passed out, a wing and hoof over Pony Fluttershy as Mr. Discord wrapped around them both, his eagle claw keeping RainbowDash as far from himself as he could and AJ nestled against a nearby rock, her hat over her face. "Seems I have first watch." She smiled gently, missing how it made her cheeks hurt to smile so much, even through the dangerous situation.
A couple hours of staring at the moon, going through her memories she could remember, she suddenly gasped as sharp pinpricks traveled up her spine and between her wings. With a quiet groan she stood and stretched her back, not expecting it to worsen as she'd thought it was simple pinpricks, like when your foot falls asleep. With a sigh, she looked back to the barrier, imagining how tired King Sombra must be if he's had to stay awake like Princess Cadence and Shining Armor. "What's your story, Pony Sombra? Why are you power hungry? Just evil? Or were you hurt…like me…" She wondered aloud, walking around a bit.
Very few were born "evil", in her opinion. So what drove this pony to becoming a dictator? With that thought and a clear, though sleep deprived head she began to think of herself and her world. Her own "acts of evil" and who she drug through the mud with her. She was cruel herself. Out of revenge, she became cruel. "Element of Kindness", my ass."
"U-Uhm, I hope I'm not bug-"
Fluttershy jumped out of her skin, turning behind herself fast with swears on her tongue. Her Discord would be proud. "F-Fluttershy! Don't scare me like that!" She put a hoof to her chest, her breathing evening quickly.
"Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to. I was just checking on you since I didn't see you resting." Pony Fluttershy fretted.
Fluttershy waved her off. "It's okay, I'm doing first watch. What're you doing up?" She looked around, her making sure they were alone.
Pony Fluttershy shrunk a bit, meek and her cheeks reddened. "I had a nightmare, was all. Everyone else was still sleeping soundly and I didn't want to wake them." She forced a smile, seeming embarrassed.
Fluttershy nodded at the news. "I understand. Want me to stay up with you until you get tired again? I was just doing some rounds and thought I could search for a way in." She shrugged her head towards the barrier.
Pony Fluttershy's smile widened, brightening her whole face in a glow. "Thank you! Oh. You're looking for a way in too?" She inquired as they tried to stay a stealthy distance from the red shield.
Fluttershy nodded. "Like Princess Cadence and Shining Armor…he's bound to falter without rest, so I'm looking for a crack. Though…he could be using unicorns to keep it up too. That'd be troublesome."
"You have a point. Oh, I hope he's not using any pony like that. That would be so horrible." She looked concerned and put her knee to her mouth. "Uhm, say…can I-uh-well-can I ask you something?" Pony Fluttershy trotted up to walk side by side with Fluttershy.
Fluttershy side glanced her counterpart, letting out a silent sigh through her nose, letting her guard down, it being easy to trust. "What is it?" She smiled, thinking it was strange to see how it must look to others when she'd do that.
"About living with Discord-" Pony Fluttershy began when there was suddenly a wing to her mouth to shush her.
Fluttershy had intended to listen, but as Pony Fluttershy had hesitated in her question, Fluttershy heard twigs under the noise of walking. They hadn't been alone, or at least not long as Fluttershy caught an interesting scent, only for Pony Fluttershy to finally open her mouth, which though she was quiet, Fluttershy still didn't want to risk it. "Shh. We're not alone. Can you glide so not to make noise?" She whispered close to Pony Fluttershy's ear.
Pony Fluttershy tried not to squeak in her shock and nodded, her feathered wings gently lifting her from the ground as she tucked her arms and legs in.
Fluttershy copied, though her wings made some noise, and they flew higher up, Pony Fluttershy observing what Fluttershy was doing.
She clicked her tongue, unable to see what was making the noise. She didn't see anyone.
"Maybe it was an animal?" Pony Fluttershy whispered, obviously scared.
"Why would an animal be near here? Anything within miles would be able to sense the danger." She whispered back, knowing Pony Fluttershy could be possibly right and Fluttershy was just being paranoid. With a deep breath and no other signs of movement, Fluttershy conceded. "Okay, maybe you're right." She looked down once more, seeing the barrier shiver and a small crack form. "Aha! Yes! Quick, Fluttershy!" She hadn't meant to holler, but she did dive down to try and stop it from closing, not hearing Pony Fluttershy's warning to be cautious. Fluttershy was able to stick her front hooves in before it tried closing again, her heart beating quick in panic as the magic began to burn right above her hooves, but she wouldn't dare pull them away. It was their way in. She bit her lip enough to bleed but wouldn't dare let out a scream.
"Breeze!" Pony Fluttershy yelled out, landing right next to her, unsure how to help, though she reached for Fluttershy.
"No! Hah…don't move me. If I move, the crack will close and we'll be stuck again!" Fluttershy tried not to yell, even as it burned. "Open it! S-see if a stick will work! Hurry!" Tears built in her eyes making her vision fuzzy. She saw Pony Fluttershy nod and leave for a moment, giving Fluttershy time to try moving her position, stretching her leg out to push a rock towards the crack once it connected to her hoof, only for when she got the rock to the barrier, it crumbled. "Fuck! Dammit! Suck a dick you stupid-! Stupid! Ugh!" She cried out, not thinking in her frustration.
"Here. It looks like you need help. I still have a bit of magic, my friend." A deep, old voice spoke from out of nowhere and before Fluttershy could try and move her body to see, he conjured some magic in his hand and with a toss towards the barrier, it shattered like snow against the morning sun.
She'd never seen a creature like him before. He looked like a red centaur, but he also wasn't like any she'd seen in books or movies. He was thin with horns and dark eyes, a thick cloak wrapped around himself for warmth.
The throbbing on her hooves brought her back from her staring and she hissed, seeing the burns, bloody and pink with the fur around them singed, knowing she wouldn't be able to stand in that state. The chilly wind blew passed and she caught a whiff of his scent, immediately recognizing it as the scent from earlier.
She wasn't aware of her eyes slitting as her gut cramped.
"Breeze, get away from him!"
She looked over at the sound of her faux name yelled out by her counterpart. "Hmm?"
Pony Fluttershy ran up, using a decent stick she found to get in front of the centaur. "S-s-stay away, T-Tirek!" She stuttered, shaking and scared but also willing to help her new friend.
Fluttershy began breaking into a sweat, her vampirism trying to heal her wounds even though she'd lost blood. Due to it though, their scents became stronger and she began to panic. A strong scent was never a good sign in these situations.
The centaur-Tirek- smelled strange to her. Like adding too many different herbs to a dish and they mesh horribly on the palate.
Pony Fluttershy, on the other hand…she couldn't pin the scent. Couldn't pin the feeling of the thought if she did take a nibble as it didn't sit well.
Oh, how she missed the feeling of a full belly, rich, thick blood coating the inside of her mouth and down her throat like syrup, her insides warm with each suck and lick she'd try to get from inside her mouth and the treat of any leftover upon the persons flesh, like Discord's strong throat or Sombra's muscled forearm or the strong yet gentle hold she'd receive as she gently took from Chrysalis' wrist.
"H-Hah-hungry…" she whispered under her breath as her eyes began to glow and her fangs throbbed with her pulse. She hadn't eaten in weeks and hadn't slept in days.
"How interesting." Tirek observed, with a swish in of his hand, he put Pony Fluttershy in a bubble when she went to swing the stick at him.
With Fluttershy's distraction of her basic survival instincts fighting with her morality, Tirek thought it no issue to approach her, seeing as he thought she was as none the wiser to him at all.
Fluttershy couldn't hear anything outside the blood rushing through her ears and her hunger making her jaw clench and release without realizing it. She needed a hot meal and that's all she could think about as her body began to tense.
With his curiosity piqued, Tirek reached a lanky arm out towards the strange Pegasus, only to realize his mistake too late, his eyes widening in horror as suddenly, he was faced with a mouthful of sharp, drool drenched teeth latching onto his hand with a painful and blood cooling crunch, the Pegasus yanking him down. Tirek had no time to think about using magic as she continued to pull and crunch on his flesh, her hind legs kicking his knees to make him fall, growls releasing from her throat as if warning scavengers to stay away.
With a panicked breath of his own, Tirek hoped taking her magic would at least save him the rest of his arm, as Fluttershy had wolfed down his hand and was still hungry, this meal not at all what she needed.
Only, as he opened his mouth to take her magic…a storm began to brew and his magic, along with what he'd stolen and he could feel what he lent to King Sombra, streamed around them both like electricity looking for an outlet.
With Princess Twilight and the others approaching with smiles, at finding their meek friends and defeating King Sombra hours earlier, able to finally leave said barrier, they abruptly stopped at the carnage.
Pony Fluttershy was in tears, the magic bubble having popped, as Tirek's magic fizzled hotly around him and the vampiric Pegasus…and the sky began to crack open.
"Sister. I have a bad feeling that something is coming." Princess Luna came up to her elder sister, the Sun Princess looking up to the stormy skies as well.
"Did you find mother and fathers journal?" She asked, turning her head as she thought it smart to ready for bad things to come. "This doesn't feel like a normal storm and the Pegasi have confirmed it. This morning I also had Earth ponies come to me in a panic that the animals were abnormally skittish since the storm began rolling in."
"I did. It was difficult to locate but with the assistance of the Unicorns in the libraries and some others, we were able to locate it. I only regret it took us so long as we started once that Pegasus came through the mirror." Luna explained, opening the old and precious book.
Celestia shook her head lightly, taking the book. "There has to be a reason there is another set of the Elements of Harmony."
"Perhaps the Pegasus was lying?" Luna suggested, though she knew it couldn't be.
Celestia hummed, flipping through the pages swiftly until she landed on the pages that seemed more ruffled. On the pages were ink drawings of the Elements, but the shape of them were off. They were illustrated like the Elements were against a reflection of themselves, the gems looking bulky. She saw their parents didn't label them as they spoke of the gems currently.
""The Powers of Magical Balance", is what it says. But what else?" Had what their parents told them as fillies been different from what they'd documented?
"May I see?" Luna walked to beside her sister to observe as well. As the sisters tried to see if there was a connection to the Elements and the storm, the thunder that bellowed outside was so loud, they had no real choice but to take an instinctive look.
"Oh, no." Celestia gasped in horror.
"What is happening?" Luna whispered.
The sky was opening, colorful beams of magic coming out of it like a tornado, the clouds beginning to thrash around like waves. The highest concentration of it was leading far and the Princesses were aware it was towards The Crystal Empire.
"PRINCESSES!! SOMEPONY IS COMING THROUGH THE MIRROR AND IT'S CRACKING!" A guard burst in, others beside him as the castle began to shake.
Celestia and Luna didn't have much time to react as they tried ordering their guards to safety and their Wonderbolts to send word to Princess Twilight and her friends.
As they both went to investigate the mirror, the being having to be strong to break it, a wave of monochrome color wiped across the halls, leaving the Princesses the only ones with color as a large beast they'd never seen before walked gracefully down it. Even for the Princesses, the creature was a large imposing beast. "Who are you? How dare you enter this world with ill intent!" Luna began, her horn already glowing at the ready.
"How did you get through?" Celestia asked, standing tall.
"Oh, me? Hahaha…why am I not surprised? What a beauty you turned out to be, Celestia." The beast, a giant silver and black maned wolf spoke to them, her magic strong as she didn't even have a horn to wield it. "Your mother must be so proud, and with that authority? Your father would have been putty in your hooves."
"How dare ye speak about our parents?!" Luna yelled, sending a blast to the wolf, only for her to negate it with her own, like fire from a dragons mouth.
"Enough! Speak your name!" Celestia yelled in authority, beginning to lose patience to find out who their enemy was with the strength she was showing.
"Oh, how rude of me, Princesses." The wolf bowed low, not seeming frightened at all. "My name," she lifted her head high, her teeth bared, "is Anodyne Equivalence. An old friend of your family." She laughed, using simple magic to go against them. They were still too young.
With their magic combined, and the enemy already having them on high alert, they went to defeat their opponent, not realizing the old monster shouldn't have been their first priority, but the direction of the storm where they sent their greatest defenders.
By then though, it was too late for anyone to realize that King Sombra and Tirek were nothing more than a feint before the true danger ahead.
Notes:
Also, I'm working on fanart so it helps you readers with how I picture them, in case, but as these worlds are meshing in a way, the characters are going to look more like the power up pony versions of them like in the EG movies.
