Sombra pushed past the Children of the Night that were gathering in the courtyard for his instructions. They were not fully forced and not at the number he wanted. Once he had at least 99,000 at his command he would speak to them. For now he had more matters to speak of. He winded through the castle he had once known. Familiar wall decorations adorned the wall. He remembered the time he had shared with the Originals and with Princess Luna, but that was a different time that he had learned to forget.

He finally found a room that was cloaked in a giant wall of shadow. He walked in the room of absolute darkness and knelt in the middle. What he said seems to have echoed for miles,”I have come to speak to the Living Shadow. I summon you.”

There was a deep rumbling within the castle and he looked and saw a giant pony face materialize in the shadow. Giant red eyes were all he saw and heard a deep and dark voice boom across the room’s walls.”You better have a good reason for summoning me here.”

Sombra lowered his head in respect and said,”I have always respected and wanted to learn from you.”

The eyes squinted as if he was trying to recall his face and finally the voice said,”Ah, so you are Sombra. You have learned my Possess spell, well done. Have you taken Ponyville yet, I can no longer see through my son’s eyes.”

Sombra sighed in defeat and said almost through his teeth,”For a brief moment yes we had Ponyville in our grasp. But Dracula and Luna along with their followers retook Ponyville in half a night. They are stronger than we had anticipated my lord.”

Sombra waited for a response from the Living Shadow. He heard him speak and felt a splitting headache formed in his head and began to grow stronger. It almost got to an unbearable level and he heard Living Shadow say,”Your failure will not go unpunished but I will not kill you. For it will be either you or Chrysalis that will ensure my return to this world. Be sure that you do not fail me.”

The headache subsided and he now realised what the Living Shadow did. He unlocked all of the locked memories in his mind. All the happy memories and all the bad memories of his time at Shadow Garden. He was once a great and powerful Vampire who had journeyed out and had found the Crystal Empire. It was when he had journeyed north that he found the Living Shadow’s tower and he had been corrupted by the Living Shadow’s magic.

He returned to the Crystal Empire as a tyrant and also taken over Shadow Garden his old home. He even went to Chrysalis to help him, he thought that they could help each other out. And also because the Living Shadow had said he promised great reward for helping him take over Equestria. All he asked in return was that Dracula, his first born son, was dead. This he thought was true at the time.

But he was wrong and he underestimated Dracula’s powers, as well as Luna’s. They now worked together to find their missing family. Sombra came back to reality and he stood up to leave and said before he left,”I understand what I must do now. The Princess of the Night must die.”

He left the shadowed room and continued his thoughts in the main hall. Sombra knew that Dracula had found an ancient power, he could feel that power be released from there. Sombra also knew that being Luna’s personal student, Dracula already had great power but having that combined with an ancient power would be unstoppable. Sombra could not take on Dracula head on, he had to use something else to distract him.

He then stopped thinking when he remembered he could cast a Dispell on Dracula. It would not take away his powers, but he would be disoriented enough for Sombra to issue the final strike.

Whenever Sombra trained with Dracula, Dracula always won. Sombra then went from the main hall to the throne room. He had a feeling that his final encounter with Dracula would be in there. All of the memories and feelings left behind by that place were indescribable. He walked through the room with his hoofsteps echoing through the room.

The room was a giant half circle and a row of columns spread from one side of the room to the other. He stopped in the middle of the room where he saw five sword cases. Sombra knew that these once held the Blades of Shadow, he personally imbued the magic into them. He looked and saw that there was one sword left. He looked and he knew the blade as Whiteash, it was his once. He and the other Originals made those swords legendary in Children of the Night history. Their fighting skills with them were unrivaled by nopony else. He had named it Whiteash because the embers of the last Whiteash tree was mixed in with the metal. Only Sombra could unlock the secrets of the blade.

Its power was with one cut it could greatly decrease the magical ability of either a Unicorn, an Alicorn, or a Child of the Night. It also was the only thing that could permanently kill a Child of the Night, for Children of the Night had part either Unicorn, Earth Pony, or Pegasus soul combined with part of an Alicorn soul. The result is increased strength, stamina, sight, and even a small amount of magic (depending on the pony). They have Immortal souls and with that they can take over new hosts. Whiteash was the only permanent death for a Child of the Night.

Sombra unlocked the sword case and levitated the sword closer to him. Sombra was the only pony that could resist its magic, being the only one to wield the sword. He said as he examined the blade,"Cowards die many times before their deaths. The valiant never taste of death but once.”

He then heard hoofsteps behind him and turned to see Dr. Frankenstein in front of him and he said,”The Children of the Night are ready for you.”

Sombra turned towards Victor and said,”Thank you Victor I will speak with them in a minute.”

Victor nodded his head and left. Sombra looked back at the blade and sheathed it in its scabbard at his side. A smile crept across his face as he left the throne room, his plan was perfect and nothing could stop him now. Not even Dracula.

The magic that Marrok was imbued with was not Sombra’s, it was darker. He found himself in Whitetail Wood. He sat alone under a tree and he was finally once again alone. The only time he was alone was when he lived before he became a Child of the Night. It was in his time alone now that he realised his pain and suffering was only beginning, it would only get worse from here.

He heard the sound of flapping wings and looked up to see the Spirit of Disharmony, Discord. Marrok winced at him approaching and said,”Out of all the ponies to meet me here, it had to be you?”

Discord stopped in front of Marrok and said,”Well, I am saddened by your remark. I happen to be quite the lovable pony at the moment.”

Discord summoned a hooferchief and blew his nose. He unsummoned it and Marrok rolled his eyes and said,”Why are you here Discord?”

Discord stretched as he said,”I am merely jogging, enjoying the scenery. Whitetail woods is quite lovely during the fall. I just wanted some companionship, everypony is either busy or missing. And you were the closest so.”

Marrok raised an eyebrow and stared at Discord. His disapproving look was noticed by Discord and he said,”I am up to nothing and you should feel ashamed of yourself for think such things. Out of all the Children of the Night you were my favorite.”

Marrok rolled his eyes again and Discord finally said,”Okay if you must know. I am merely trying to find a way to my dear friend Fluttershy. I can’t fly to her because when Chrysalis turned me to stone she cast a spell on me that prevented me from flying and teleporting. And lets just get to the point. I need help breaking into Canterlot and kill Chrysalis so the spell can be lifted.”

Marrok thought for a moment. He did not know if Discord wasn’t tricking him or if he was trying to find a way to kill him. And he knew the only way to find out. Marrok rolled his eyes once more and said,”Alright Discord. I’ll help you, but only just this once.”

Discord picked up Marrok and hugged him and he said sarcastically,”You are a true friend you know that right. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Discord then dropped him and he said,”Alright sappy time is over lets get moving Canterlot is a day away and I get thirsty very quickly.”

Marrok rolled his eyes one last time and he thought to himself,

This is going to turn out to be a very long and very exhausting journey to Canterlot.