"The whole thing started just before we all found Sombra."

"Keep climbing everypony! We're almost to the peak!" Nexus shouted as the twenty-five battered and tired troops climbed behind Nexus. White Knight followed as close as he could. He was concerned for his captain Nexus could tell, but he wasn't in the mood for sympathy.

They'd been climbing all day long and were more than ready to just stop, but Nexus being the strict bastard that he was wouldn’t' allow it. The sun was still high in the sky as Nexus determined it was time for them to take a short break. He decided to scout ahead alone and see if he could find anything. He was really regretting leaving Orion back in the capital, he could really use his talents right now. Nexus was sneaking through the thin brush near a crevice where two mountains met when a loud squawk startled him.

Nexus turned around and saw Raven Wing perched on a branch. "I auta turn you into a roast you little troll." Nexus said walking over to his pet.

He might not have felt like it, but was at least relieved to see Raven Wing. The phoenix cooed and spit out a small ball of blue fire. When it swirled into a letter, Nexus' heart stopped out of sheer fear when the seal of Canterlot was on it. He knew who it was from. He took in his magical field and unrolled it.

Dear Captain Nexus. He read to himself.

I do not wish to hear from you now. What we've had isn't what I want. You've never once thought of me when you left and only now after we fight do you send me anything. Lunarus Solaris Nexus, stay away from me and my child. If you're even still alive, leave me alone.

Dust Strom

Nexus could feel his heart break. All the air left his lungs in sheer shock of it all. What she said wasn't what shocked him the most, what shocked him was the way she wrote it. My child. That's what what hurt him the most. He'd say he didn't know what she was so mad about but he knew exactly what it was. He felt awful that he never did even send her a letter when he was away. Until now he'd never thought of it. He missed her more than anything, but he wasn't sure what think about her now. He was angry that she'd say such thing but at the same time he was hurt that she would.

It wasn't really him that hated her, he loved her with all his heart and soul, but that one dark portion in his mind was whispering to him again, forget Equestria, lay waste to the whole country and its princess'. Nexus could stand to hear it, but now, it was sounding very convincing. He truly had nothing to lose now He'd gone away from any side just to get this far and now the one thing he thought would be waiting for him when he returned was gone. She didn't love him, she didn't want him, somepony had to pay.

Sombra, he caused all of this. If he hadn't come to Nexus for a feast, he would be living the good life now. He wouldn't be out here, he wouldn't be so alone. Alone… That is the only thing that scared him. He'd always feared that everypony he ever cared about leaving him to fight the world on his own. He was alone now, nothing to lose or gain again. His heart started pounding again, his mind raced. If he was going to be alone now, he was going to make that bastard child of the Crystal Empire suffer with him. He would die today, like it or not!

Nexus cringed and set the note on fire himself. "Raven Wing, go home." The nightmare phoenix looked at him sideways somehow concerned. "Go to Princess Luna and don't come back. GO!" The majestic bird reacted and flew off as fast as he could fly. Nexus took a few deep breaths and continued on for another hour before flying back.

"The road is clear ahead, let's go." Nexus told them as he slammed back down in their base camp with enough force to blow the brush back.

"Sir, we need another few minutes to rest." White Knight said hoping to get Nexus to give him a few more moments of rest.

"No time. We're moving now." Nexus said. "Anypony that doesn't will get my hoof so far up their ass-" Everyone stood instantly and were as ready to go as ever. "Good. Keep close."

The climb was excruciating as it was, but Nexus constantly shouting at them to keep up. He expected them to follow his incredibly fast paced jumps and literally inhuman height and speed. Courtesy of his mechanical legs. Knight was getting tired of all the ponies he had to carry with him up the cliff faces. Nexus said this was further then he had gone, but they had to move before Firebrand got to them. Knight felt like it was something more than that. He was more serious then when they started. The pep talk he'd given seems to have just slipped out the opposite ear it went in.

He could feel this aura flowing around him, it was cold. Even at their current altitude the desert heat was still hard to swallow. But next to the Commander, the air was frigid. It wasn't right. He always emanated energy, but it usually felt dry with static electricity. This was just… dark. His coat reflected that somehow. Not much was visible underneath his dark purple armor, but his coat was somewhere between his usual cobalt and black. Near the summit, a storm started to brew.

"We're close. The hive." Nexus said.

"What makes you say that? There's nothing around here." White Knight said.

"The last time I was this close to Sombra, a gentle storm started to come to life."

"This isn't a small storm Captain."

"It's because he's stronger now. This much dark magic in one place… It's only ever happened once before."

"How'd it go?"

"Not well. There's a cave around here somewhere. We'll get in and storm the place."

"We're not going to last that long Nexus."

"That's Captain to you Sergeant Knight. I would suggest you remember that if you value your tongue."

"Y-Yes Captain." Okay that was as metaphorically cold as the energy he was letting off. He'd never actually made a massive deal about Knight calling him by his name, or at least his last name. Nopony that valued their face ever called him by his first name. Or even his shortened first name. Almost nobody called him Lunar. All of them were too afraid to call him Lunarus. He'd only heard Princess call him Lunarus. Knight believed that Nexus' own mother didn't even call him by his full first name.

Nexus stopped suddenly. Knight could see his eyes were wide and pupils dilate. He turned his head quickly to the right and the troop of twenty five followed. There was a small cave entrance located in a cliff side at their level.

"I can hear it." Nexus said.

"Sombra?" Knight asked.

"No, an artifact. Resent records say it was hidden away. He's found it."

"What artifact?"

"The Alicorn Amulet."