CHAPTER 4

Hey everypony. I'm back with another chapter. I hope everyone reading this so far is enjoying the story and getting into it. Things will pick up shortly, I promise. You know how I am...two or three chapters of dialogue and character development before anything resembling exciting happens. So enjoy chapter four, and please review.

The Frozen North. That's what it is called on the maps, and a better name for the region couldn't be imagined. It was north, and it was frozen. If the desert was an unending sea of sand, then this place was an ocean of white, as far as the eye could see. Snow...snow everywhere. I hate snow, by the way. It's cold and wet, and somehow manages to soak you to the bone and make you cold and wet. Even through our fur-lined woolen cloaks, the fierce icy wind whipped at us as we trudged from the nearest train station to the outskirts of the Crystal Kingdom.

I learned that the train line was not extended to the city-state through most of the year. It was just to difficult to keep the tracks clear of snow, even using magic. No sooner would they reopen the line, then a snowdrift or a blizzard would cover them again. So from fall to late spring, ponies had to travel to Icehelm, a town ten miles from the city walls of the Crystal Empire, and sled or walk the rest of the way. After almost four hours of trudging through snow and me shivering like crazy, the four of us finally stood at the front gates of the kingdom.

"Well...that's sure a sight..." I muttered, gazing up at the sparkling crystal towers and spires. I had heard of this place, but I didn't really expect the whole city to be made out of multi-colored, shimmering crystal.

"That is really awesome." Rainbow Dash stated.

"It's shiny..." My sister added.

"Eh." Daring Do shrugged, walking into the city like the sight was no big deal to her. Honestly, with her, it probably wasn't.

"Thank you all so much for coming so quickly." Princess Cadence stated kindly, the pink alicorn walking up to greet us as soon as we entered the Royal palace. She looked at me a moment. "Oh...I remember you. You're friends with my husband. Lieutenant Drake, that's right, you were at the Grand Galloping Gala."

"I was, milady." I bowed my head slightly. Then, formalities aside, I grinned. "How is that rascal?" I asked.

"Shining?" Cadence asked back with a smile. "He's good." He smile dropped. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid the same can't be said about our future...or the future of this kingdom." She sighed.

"So I've heard." I said. "And if we're gonna take care of this disaster, we need to see where the horn was stolen from, and we need any information at all that'll help us track down the thieves."

"Of course." The princess of love nodded. "I will take you myself." We followed Cadence across the small plaza outside of the crystal palace, to the entrance to a tall tower. Inside the enormous structure, we were led down a flight of stairs to a chamber guarded by two soldiers, despite the fact that the door was standing wide open, and it was obviously empty.

"This the place?" Daring asked.

"Yes. The horn was locked in a chest protected by magic. The ponies who took it must have been very powerful. They knocked out the guards with sleep spells, then got into the room by blasting the lock on the door. Then, they somehow defeated the enchantment on the box, and took King Sombra's horn."

"Had to be a pretty powerful unicorn." I concluded.

"Or a group of them." Cadence countered. "You see...the next day, this letter arrived at the palace." She It's...I'll let you read it..." I took the rolled up parchment, and unrolled it in front of me on a small table in the room. It was written in a blocky, dark red script. It didn't take me long to realize that it was actually penned in blood. It read:

'To the usurpers of the throne of the Crystal Empire, and the illegitimate rulers of all the land;

We have reclaimed the horn of power of our lord, King Sombra. We have lain in wait for this moment since his wrongful subjugation, and the time is neigh for his triumphant return. Our Lord had planned for the weak and impotent rabble to rise against him, and little known to you fools, he had forged his method of return from the beginning.

Once the seal is cast and the vessel is prepared, King Sombra will return, thrice powerful as before, and regain his rightful place as ruler of the Crystal Empire, and of all the world. Prepare yourselves for the coming of a new world.'

"Ah shit..." I groaned, handing the letter to Daring Do. "These guys are serious...and if they ain't lying, they're some of Sombra's original running crew..."

"That's what we've all feared." Princess Cadence said sadly. "Do you honestly think you'll be able to stop this evil from happening?"

"Princess, we'll do everything we can to stop those ponies from bringing Sombra back." Daring Do stated.

"I know what the score is..." I added grimly. "This time, it ain't just a government or a bunch of money on the line..." I looked back at Dash and Budder, and let it really hit home what it would mean if Sombra came back and enslaved everypony. "It's everypony, Your Highness...your family and mine. And I don't plan on lettin' that...tyrant come back and hurt anyone."

"Do you know where they might be?" Cadence asked.

"The letter arrived here the day after the horn was stolen?" I questioned.

"Yes. The next morning." The princess answered. "Why?"

"That means they're nearby." I said. "This place is pretty isolated, and it would take some time to transport the horn any distance away, then send a letter back. I'd say they're still here in the Crystal Kingdom, or at least pretty damn close."

"That's kinda capricious, isn't it?" Daring asked me. "How do we know they didn't just drop the letter in the mail before they came and got the horn? Or maybe they even wrote it before they came here, and sent it locally the night they broke into the tower."

"I don't think so." I answered. "First off, they wouldn't send the letter until they were sure they had the horn in their possession. Otherwise, they'd just look like idiots. Secondly, I'm sure that after they took the horn, the only thing on their mind was getting back to their...home base or whatever, not sending off mail. And think about it...this was their little messiah's home. Where else they gonna resurrect him?"

"Guess you're right..." Daring sighed. "You might actually be as good as they say."

"Glad you're coming around." I commented dryly. "So we need to know princess, where would somepony go if they wanted to conduct a ritual or whatever?"

"If I knew, I would have every soldier in the Empire looking for them." The princess replied. I thought for a minute.

"Alright...we need to see every old scrap of information you have on Sombra. Stuff from way back when he was in power, stuff about who he was before he came to power, and stuff from when he tried to come back. Alot of stuff, milady, and fast."

"If it'll help, I'll make sure you get whatever you need." Cadence nodded. "The museum has a restricted room in its basement dealing with the history of the Crystal Empire before Sombra took power, and everything we could find from his reign. You might find something useful there."

"Okay...any information on ponies that might have backed Sombra when he came back?" I added.

"Yeah. There were some who actually swore to serve him. Four of them were executed, but two are locked in the dungeon still."

"I know how bad this may sound, princess..." I began. "But we're gonna have to extract some information from those two. Um...is it alright with you if we speak to them...in private?" Cadence sighed and a look of sadness crossed her face for a moment.

"Do what you must..." She replied. "I understand what's at stake...and that sometimes...bad things have to be done to stop even worse things..." She looked away. "I'll inform the guards to give you...full access to the prisoners. Try to keep my hooves clean of this, detective."

"I won't even tell you anything if you want."

"Deal." The alicorn said softly.

"Alright..." I said. "Daring, you're the expert on history and artifacts here. I'll need your help in the museum, deciphering stuff and trying to find out places important to Sombra...Dashie, you and Budder...you two go to the prison and take the two turncoats someplace private. Then try to...convince them to spill the beans on this operation." I inhaled deeply and sighed. I hated being the bad pony, even if it meant saving lives. I pushed it from my mind. Had to be done. Contrition could wait. "Remember...they're condemned to death already. I'll be there to finish questioning them when I'm done at the museum."

"Alright." Dash nodded. "I'll make sure they know that me and Budder and gonna be the good cops..."

"Okay." I stated to everypony in the room. "Let's get started. The doomsday clock's already ticking."

I admit that last little scene was a little dark, with Drake essentially planning on using Gitmo techniques to get the traitors to talk. I think he's not happy at all about having to do it, but he understands that desperate times call for desperate measures. Will it be enough? Will the team find the Sombra worshippers before they can bring about the return of the dark king? I will try to have the next chapter up soon...or at least in the next few days. Until then, thanks for reading, everypony.

-Drake