Sunday Evening

Chapter the last

Shining Armor

The white unicorn trekked through the alleys of the Crystal Empire, one hoof wrapped around his wife, the other using his spear as a walking stick. His hind leg had been badly cut when fending invading changelings. Puss was leaking out of the nasty gash on it. Luckily that was the worst of his wounds. Sure, there were a few cuts and bruises covering the rest of his body, but it was a small price to pay to escape the Crystal Palace; which had been at the forefront of the changeling attack.

Cadence limped beside him, not faring any better. She could only walk by bracing herself on Shining Armor, and he could only walk thanks to his spear. Early into the afternoon – when the change changeling strike had begun – the bug-like monsters had broken into the throne room, and managed to get in two crippling blows to the Princess. One long cut ran down from her hip to bottom of her hind leg. The wound seeped open whenever she moved, and had even cut right through her Cutie Mark. The other was what Shining assumed to be a cracked rib cage. He could only tell because the pink alicorn wheezed painfully with every breath she took.

It could have been far worse though. Fifty changelings had entered that throne room, and only Cadence had walked out.

"Shining… I need a… break." Cadence wheezed out. The white unicorn examined the area, and determined it to be safe enough.

"Okay, we can rest for a little while." Shining decided. They both stopped their intertwined walk, and Shining set Cadence down, back against the wall of a nearby building. These breaks were slowing them down immensely, for the two should have left the Empire hours ago. Shining didn't mention it to Cadence though, she had enough to worry about. In fact, they both did.

The Empire and its citizens were conquered.

Defeated.

Crushed.

Even with the extra contingency of guards Princess Celestia had sent, they hadn't stood a chance. And things were not going well for the ruler's of the Crystal Empire either. Cadence's breaks were becoming longer and more frequent. She needed medical attention. They both did. And if they didn't get it soon… Shining feared the worst.

"Tell… Tell me we're going to make… it out of this. That we'll… be okay." Cadence said, voice raspy and weary.

Shining Armor gave her a courageous, comforting smile and said, "Of course we will. We've survived worse, haven't we? At least we don't have to worry about Sombra anymore."

Weakly, the Princess smiled back. "You're… right. Maybe we will… survive this after all."

Not far off, Shining Armor heard a clatter. Jerking his head down the alleyway, he saw that a changeling had been attempting to sneak up on them, only to knock over a trashcan lying overturned in the alley. His eyes widened as it hissed and sprang forward.

Acting purely on instinct, he gripped his spear and threw it at the oncoming threat. It spliced through the creature's abdomen, halting halfway through. The changeling's whole body snapped back and went ridged.

A stunned Cadence allowed herself to breath again. Shining stumbled over to collect his weapon. The spear's point and shaft had been coated in the sickly blue blood of the now dead changeling. He pried it out of the bug, and limped back over to his wife.

"It's time to go." He said. Cadence weakly shook her head.

"I don't… know if I can." She hoarsely whispered. The white unicorn grew concerned. If they had any hope of getting out of the Empire alive, Cadence had to get up and keep moving. Unless…

Shining did not bother to ask for Cadence's permission first. He wrapped his forelegs around her, and lifted her up. Pain coursed through the wound on his leg, but he ignored it and began slowly and carefully down the alley.

While she was surprised at first, the pink alicorn did not protest Shining's actions, knowing him well enough at this point to know that protesting would do no good. She didn't say anything, probably because speaking itself was painful. Merely, she wrapped her hooves around Shining to hug his neck, and buried her muzzle into the side of his face to show her thanks.

Shining Armor did not stop walking until he passed out from exhaustion and pain at the entrance to the Gemstone Forest a mere three feet from a dark brown pony with a sword on his back.

King Sombra

He had finally managed to hold his cup of tea. Being a projection of shadows was a massive impairment, especially when one was trying to enjoy a hot beverage. In fact, he had only just managed to be able to sit in his chair. Not to mention figure out how to grasp the cup without his hoof going through the table. He moved the tea to his mouth and took a long sip.

He didn't taste it. But he did feel it slide right through his projection of a jaw and stain the floor.

"Damn." He whispered angrily. Sure, he could use magic to accomplish this task, but that would expend him even further than he was now. That was not an option.

King Sombra was about to try again, when two palace servants opened the doors to his chambers. Queen Chrysalis walked into the room, looking decidedly unhappy. Actually, he couldn't really tell. A millennium as a conscious cluster of shadows immured in a desolate tundra had seemed to take away his ability to match expressions and emotions.

"Leave us." She told the changelings. The respectfully bowed to her, and shut the doors as they left. "We are going to have a little discussion, Sombra." The large, black changeling declared.

The King of Shadows set his cup of tea on the table. "What would you like to talk about?" He asked in a blasé tone.

"Hmm… let's see. What would I like to talk about…" Suddenly the changeling queen flipped over the table, sending Sombra's cup flying.

"My tea!" He accused.

"How about we talk about the fact that you lied to me!" Chrysalis declared in an angry tone. "You sent my army to the Crystal bucking Empire, and not Canterlot, like we had discussed. Was the Fallen King to focused on reclaiming his old throne to remember that I am the one in charge here?"

"We had discussed attacking Canterlot." Sombra said calmly. "But circumstances changed. And while you failed to realize it, I did not. And now we are closer to victory than ever because of it." Sombra chuckled. "So I expect you'll be apologizing to me now."

The contorted horn on Chrysalis's head came alight with a green glow. The table she had flipped over came levitating back, and she set it just as it had been before. Sombra smiled, assuming the Queen had calmed down.

Then Chrysalis made a big show of flipping the table over again.

"Do you have any idea how much further we are from victory now?" She demanded. Sombra raised an eyebrow. "I read the battle debriefings. Nearly five hundred of my subjects were killed, or injured in that battle. FIVE HUNDRED. Damn you, Sombra. I was promised that it would be a swift victory, with minimal casualties. I promised my subjects that! Do you not realize that each life lost kills their moral? Do you not realize what it does to me to lose my children?!"

During the Queen's tirade, Sombra couldn't help but notice the tear that rolled down her cheek as she spoke of her subjects with such compassion. The thought of caring for one's subjects actually made him shudder.

"I read the debrief as well. You subjects took more than three lives for every one that the soldiers took. We've captured the Crystal Empire, and with it, that blasted Crystal heart." Sombra stood, or rather, stood the best he could with two legs and a dark cloud for a back.

"We can spread fear and hatred throughout all of Equestria with it. Not to mention that that fool Celestia sent nearly her entire guard to the Empire, which has crippled Canterlot's defenses. You could practically march right up to the city and take it over." Sombra informed the queen. Her expression was unreadable, as though she was now torn between her thoughts of an agonizing loss, and the obvious victory Sombra had laid out for her.

"I was promised love." She said. "You promised me enough love to feed all of my children for generations. And yet, surprise surprise! The King of Darkness lied to me, again." The queen of the changelings, in a fit of rage, walked right through Sombra's shadow projection. It was an unpleasant experience for the both of them, but Sombra more so because the projection was very fragile. He re-solidified the mass of shadows, and turned to face Chrysalis.

"Listen to yourself." King Sombra said. "Do you not remember who Celestia had appointed to rule the Crystal Empire in my absence?"

"I recollect all too well." Chrysalis hissed. "But they escaped." Sombra raised his eyebrow at that.

"Well, this is news to me. I ordered fifty changeling to apprehend Princess Cadence just for you."

"And she slaughtered them all!" Chrysalis wailed. "Now she and her lover are not among the dead or the captured. I can only assume they escaped." She pointed at him. "And who do you suppose there is to blame for that?"

"Fine." Sombra said. "But I doubt Cadence could have escaped that many changelings without some wounds. In fact, I believe her husband would have some as well."

"What are you saying?" The Bug Queen asked.

"Send out a search party." He said in return. "They couldn't have gotten very far, very fast. Find them, and bring them back here. Then my end of the bargain is upheld."

"Hardly." Chrysalis barked. "Do you believe me to be an idiot? Or some silly little mare that only cares about smiles and parties?" She stamped her hoof on the ground. "Well I'm not, Sombra! Those two had a powerful love, but not nearly enough to be what you promised me!"

"You are correct." Sombra admitted. "Do you remember the pegasus I ordered some changelings to apprehend?"

"Yes." Chrysalis replied. "He got away. Another one of your plans gone awry."

"Hardly." Sombra chuckled. "I let him escape."

"What?"

"I even helped him."

"YOU DID WHAT NOW?!" Chrysalis levitated the table in front of her a third time. Instead of flipping it over, she smashed it to pieces.

"Oh, Chryssi." He tutted.

"DON'T YOU DARE BUCKING CALL ME THAT!"

"Don't you realize that this was my plan all along?" Sombra asked.

The queen was breathing heavily, seething rage. "I'm going to give you one chance – ONE CHANCE, SOMBRA! – to explain to me what the buck you are talking about."

Sombra chuckled at the Queen's fit of anger. She could do nothing to harm him and she knew it. All of her threats were empty. "That pegasus has more power than even he realizes." Sombra said. "Power that could help me… erhem, us… conquer not just Equestria, but the entire world."

Chrysalis's eye twitched. She was still fairly enraged. Sombra continued his explanation. "When he escaped, the fool did something desperate. He let me into his mind, Chrysalis. On my own, I could never fully crush somepony's defenses and strip them of their free will, but this pony was fool enough to invite me to do it. I entered his mind, and I am still there."

"I still don't see how this gets me any closer to the love you promised me." Chrysalis accused.

"But it does." Sombra said. "Through the actions I caused, this pegasus is now closer than ever to creating the love I promised you. He has developed an attachment to the Element of Loyalty. And she is returning his affections. Before long, their love will be twentyfold what Shining Armor and Cadence have."

Chrysalis licked her chapped lips. There was a brief pause, but Sombra knew he had won.

"It will be acceptable." The Queen of the Changelings said. "If you can make it happen." She turned to leave, stopping only momentarily at the doorway to look back.

"You know, even the love between these two pegasi will be nothing compared to…"

"I don't want to hear it." Sombra said. "You cannot fix what has already been ruined. The past is over." The queen of the changelings collected herself, and finally left.

"However the future," Sombra whispered to nothing. "Is just ripe for ruining."

Fluttershy

Gingerly, the yellow pegasus descended the stairway to the dungeon. Dangling from her mouth was a basket filled with a fresh loaf of bread from the Canterlot kitchens. It had finished baking nearly the moment she and her friends had arrived in Canterlot, so it was barely an hour old.

She reached the bottom step, and saw a single guard standing in front of the doorway to he dungeon. Fluttershy set the loaf of bread down, and summoned all of her courage to speak.

"Umm… excuse me?" She squeaked out. The guard looked at her dubiously. "I'm just bringing some food for the… uh… prisoner." She said, softly, but at least understandable. The guard nodded, and stepped aside.

"No more than ten minutes." He spoke. His voice was much lighter than she had expected for a Royal Canterlot Guard. She retrieved her basket, and pushed open the decrepit wooden door. It creaked open gently. Quietly, Fluttershy walked inside.

There were many old cells in the Canterlot dungeons, but almost none were ever occupied, save the occasional star spider. Today was an exception, however. The first cell on the left had a new resident.

When Frostburn and Rainbow Dash informed everypony that there was still one changeling left, Fluttershy had thought it cruel to lock him down in the dungeon. She still felt it to be a bad idea, but she quickly realized that nopony else shared her feelings on the matter. Now Fluttershy had decided that she would at least try to be kind to the changeling. He had been completely silent since the guards had taken him away, but she felt she could convince him to open up to her.

Upon noticing the yellow mare enter, the incarcerated changeling growled. Fluttershy squeaked in fear, dropping the basket. When the changeling saw that Fluttershy wasn't a guard, he quieted down.

"I… uh… thought you would be hungry." Fluttershy revealed the contents of the basket to the changeling. It walked up to the edge of the cell, and sniffed at the loaf. Then it turned away disgusted.

"Oh my." Fluttershy whispered, her feelings dented. The changeling seemed to sense this, and looked back at her.

"I'm sorry." Fluttershy said to it. "I didn't know you don't like bread." The changeling pondered her words.

"It's not that I don't like it." The changeling said, in a darkened tone. "I just can't digest it. Or any food."

"Oh, right. Changelings feed on the feeling of love." Fluttershy recalled. "Sorry, I just didn't remember" The changeling nodded in understanding. They sat in silence, Fluttershy unsure of what to do.

"W-what's your name?" Fluttershy finally asked. The changeling spat on the floor.

"You don't care about that." The changeling hissed at her. Fluttershy winced.

"Of course I do. Why wouldn't I care?"

The changeling paced through his cell. "No ponies ever care about us. We are pest to them. Parasites." He sighed. "Ponies only care about you as long as you are part of their perfect world. A world of sweetness and happiness. What could my place be in a world like that?"

"I'm not sure." Fluttershy spoke. "But I promise you I'll find a place."

The changeling stopped pacing and put his hoof up to the cell. "Really?" He asked.

Fluttershy put her hoof up to match his, so that they would have been touching had the bars of the cell not blocked them. "I promise." She said.

The changeling actually smiled at her. "You're… very kind." He said. There was suddenly a knock at the door. The guard opened it and poked his head in. Fluttershy's hoof retracted as he spoke.

"Ma'am, your time is up." He said. Fluttershy nodded, getting up to leave. As she left the changeling spoke up one last time.

"My name is Smoking Dagger." He said.

"I'm Fluttershy." The yellow pegasus replied. As the guard shut the door, Fluttershy thought she saw Smoking Dagger smile.

Frostburn

The ice-blue pegasus was pacing in the guest chambers of Canterlot Castle. Princess Celestia hadn't ordered anypony else to a confined space while Twilight sorted out the details of what happened at the Crystal Empire. Just him. The Princess of the Sun still clearly did not trust Frostburn. And why should she? The changelings came to the Crystal Empire looking for him for some reason. He even led one back to Canterlot. Not to mention he managed to get her star student to continually lie to her and keep her in the dark.

Yeah, he was kind of screwed.

A lack of windows in his room only stood to confirm his theory. If Princess Celestia had sent him to a room with windows in it, he could have easily escaped. Besides windowless walls, there was only a bed, and another door leading to a small bathroom. Frostburn paced a little bit more, fearing that he might get claustrophobic. His face was even breaking out in a cold sweat. He walked to the bathroom sink, turned it on, and splashed some water in his face to calm down. Coming up to breath, he saw his reflection in the bathroom's mirror.

"This is not good." He whispered to his mirrored image.

"I can't imagine how it could get worse." The Voice said inside his mind. Strange, he hadn't felt any pressure in the base of his skull this time.

"Voice, you have impeccable timing." He said, while facing his mirror self.

"I try." Was the response.

"Well how about you try and answer a few of my questions?" Frostburn asked.

"…Very well then. What do you want to know?"

"How were you able to help me control my powers?" The pegasus asked first.

"I thought you would ask something harder. When you allowed me into your mind, all I did was block the part of you that takes over when your powers were active. Nothing difficult. You should be able to do it yourself in a few years of practice."

"Right. Okay. Next question, how exactly did I 'allow you into my mind?' All I did was say you could, no freaky magic stuff or anything."

"Ah, now there's a fun question. It's not really what you said, but what you did. Unconsciously that is."

"Excuse me?"

"When you said you would do anything for that… Rainbow Dash… all of your mind's defenses came down. Basically, you unlocked the door and opened it. I merely stepped through."

"Alright, next ques–"

"Somepony is coming." The voice interrupted.

"Wait, what?" Frostburn asked, stunned that the voice could know something like that.

"I have to go now."

"Wait, just tell me what your name is. I'm getting sick of calling you 'the Voice' is all." There was a sudden knock at the door. The Voice hadn't been wrong.

"… My name is Sombra." There was silence after that. Even without the pressure in his skull, Frostburn could tell the Voi– Sombra had left him alone. The knock at the door rang out again, this time seemingly demanding him to answer the door.

For luck, Frostburn touched the tip of his lopped off unicorn horn, and sighed.

The knock came again. Frostburn slowly walked toward the door, contemplating who it could possibly be. His thoughts jumped first to Rainbow Dash. Then Rarity. Setting those unlikely possibilities aside, Frostburn accepted the fact that it was probably a handful of guards prepared to escort him to the dungeons to join the changeling.

As he opened the door, a pink mare refuted all of his theories in a single glance.

"Hi, Frosty!" Pinkie Pie said energetically.

"Hey Pinkie." Frostburn said, glancing around. "What brings you up here?" A pink hoof rose up to his face, holding a blindfold.

"Put in on." Pinkie said, happily.

"Uh, Pinkie I don't think..."

"Put it on." Pinkie said, less happy more forceful. Allowing himself to be coerced by the pink party pony, Frostburn accepted the blindfold and tied it around his head. His vision was immediately cut off.

"All right, now follow me!" Pinkie said. Frostburn was about to point out his lack of actual sight, but Pinkie apparently already knew that. She grabbed his hoof, and began leading him throughout the castle.

After a few steps, Frostburn asked. "Can you tell me where we're going?"

"Nope." Was the jovial response.

"Can you tell me why I'm wearing a blindfold?"

"Nope."

"… You're leading me to my execution, aren't you?" Frostburn asked, only half-joking.

After a fit of giggles, Pinkie replied with, "No way, silly. Just trust me."

"Why do I feel like I'm going to regret this?"

After several more minutes of blindly following Pinkie's lead – along with several more unanswered questions – the pink pony finally stopped and let go of Frostburn's hoof.

"You can take off the blindfold now." She said. Frostburn did, gratefully. A quick survey of the area told him he was standing in front of the closed doors to the Princess's throne room.

"Okay, why did you bring me here?" Frostburn asked. Pinkie Pie giggled again, and the blue pegasus got a little nervous. With no warning, Pinkie pushed open the doors, and on the other side, dozens of ponies all cried out in unison.

"SURPRISE!" They all shouted. Frostburn nearly jumped out of his coat in surprise. Calming down, and inspecting the crowd, Frostburn saw all of his friends, a handful of guards, both royal sisters, and even Ashen Clover from the train station. They were all decked out in colorful pointed hats, and the whole room looked like a confetti canon threw up in it.

"W-What is this?" Frostburn asked in awe.

"It's a party, darling." Rarity declared.

"For me?" He asked. Pinkie Pie snorted with more laughter.

"Well duh, silly. Why else would we all yell surprise at you when you walked in? Sorry that we had to keep you locked in that room while we set everything up. Couldn't afford ruin the surprise." The pink mare bounded around the room in glee, before stopping right in front of Frostburn.

"Let me be the first to welcome you to your Welcome to Ponyville Party slash Happy First Party Ever, Frostburn slash Hooray For Surviving Another Cataclysmic Event By The Skin Of Our Teeth Party slash 100th Party Spectacular Extravaganza!" Pinkie was huffing after saying so many words in fast succession, but she still managed to produce one of the pink colored, pointed hats and slap it on his head before he could protest.

"And now you're wearing your first party hat, and your first party ever!" Pinkie joyously exclaimed. Princess Celestia walked up to them, and he saw that she was also wearing a party hat of her own.

"So, I'm not about to be arrested or executed?" Frostburn asked, the confusion lingering.

"No, of course not." Princess Celestia said. "Twilight explained to me everything that's been going on." Then the Princess's mood darkened. "However, I suggest you enjoy your first party, because tomorrow we prepare for war with the changelings." The Princess levitated three glasses of punch over to Pinkie, Frostburn and herself. She raised her cup up.

"To your first party, Frostburn. May it not be your last." Pinkie raised her glass to clink with Princess Celestia's and Frostburn followed suit. They all drank the punch in a single sip, and the Princess went off to mingle. Pinkie disappeared to, claiming she had to put on some music. The last comment he heard from her for the rest of the night was how she wished a certain blue-haired DJ could have been here to handle all the "wubs".

For a while, Frostburn wandered the party unsure of how act. A few guards nodded hellos in his direction, and raised their punch glasses to him. He ran into Rarity, who tried and failed to coax him onto the dance floor.

"Come on and dance with me, darling." She had asked him. He really wanted to, but couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Sorry, Rarity. Maybe later." Frostburn left the disappointed unicorn, and continued to aimlessly wander the party.

Eventually he found himself slumped in the far corner of the room, with some loud noise he supposed was music blared all around. The room was dimly lit, save the dance floor, so it was understandable that he didn't see one of his friends walk up to him.

"Are you doing okay?" Rainbow Dash yelled just over the music.

"Not really." He replied. Dash looked around.

"Let's head outside. I can barely hear you." She shouted, extending her hoof. Frostburn took it and she pulled him up. The two walked out onto the balcony, which was far enough away from the music that they could hear eachother.

"So what's got you down?" Rainbow asked. "It's your first party, and it doesn't seem like you're having any fun."

"It's just…" Frostburn side. "I appreciate Pinkie's effort, I really do. But I'm so conflicted right now. I keep thinking about everything that's happened and all the lives I've ruined. And now the future's so uncertain that I–"

"Shhh." Rainbow Dash said, lightly touching her hoof to his muzzle. "You can worry about all that stuff later, but tonight… just live in the moment." Unsure of what to do, Frostburn allowed Dash to wrap his foreleg around her waist and bury her head in his chest. Then the two of them slow danced while the wubs blasted in the background.