**Author's Note** Hello everyone and welcome to the big 3 O! For this chapter there will be some big events, large reveals, more mysteries and some added drama. No tear jerkers today though. This chapter will be a little longer than usual but that is because it has lots of dialogue which extends things a bit. But hopefully you will agree with me that it is worth it. So let's get to continuing the story...**

The Heart of Pleasure
By Haunter Rayne
Chapter 30 - Dark Discoveries

Deep in the icy wilds, far from where civilization has touched, there was no wind that howled and no fresh powder that fell. In the empty plane of white all was as still as the dead. All except for one who trudged alone. Rayne shivered in the cold as his fur was now soaked from snow. Sweat from exhaustion made ice cling to his form in patches. His lungs burned as they grew tired of straining against the frigid night air. His whole body felt stiff as his joints locked up and he fought against exhaustion to keep his eyes open. “NoooOOOO!!! Don't fall asleep! Not finding it is one thing… but that doesn't mean I should die out here either!” He shook his head, brushing ice particles from his face for the dozenth time. His breath rolled out from him in a thick cloudy mist while he felt his internal temperature dropping by the minute.

“It's no use… I wasn't ready. I needed more magic… I wasn't prepared to come to the Crystal Empire so soon… I thought I would have had months to spare... time to search...” He said aloud, lamenting that his plans were expedited so. “I should have had more time!” He screamed but there was no one around to hear him. Suddenly a loud whistling of wind whipped by and cut him to the bone with cold. “Wh- where am I?” He muttered softly as he looked around. Every direction looked the same. The only semblance of direction he had was the trail of destruction he had left behind him. “I don't know where this is… Have I gone too far?” He trembled as panic of being lost in the snow began to overtake him. “This was a mistake…”

Another hour passed and the only sound that Rayne could hear was the crunching of snow beneath his hooves. “RAAWWWRRRRLLL!!!” Suddenly a furious roar of a large cat tore through the empty silence. Having lost his feeling in his hooves Rayne cleverly decided to shift into his were-panther form. “Huhh… huhhh… that helps… a bit. I'm not as cold like this. No hooves to freeze.” He thought, trying to console himself as his mind fueled itself with adrenaline to carry on. “Wh-what's that?! There in the snow!” He pounced, crushing a little pile of sky pounder that dissolved in his touch. “I thought… I thought I had foun- No there! There!” He yelled, pouncing again from one spot of snow to another as his weary mind played tricks on him.

This had only lasted for so long before he lost control of his balance and collapsed within the very snow he was searching through. He lay there feeling his blood pumping in his ears. The blood in his veins was thickening and his breathing was beginning to slow down. As Rayne looked upward he saw that the moon had moved to almost halfway across the sky. “What time is it? How long have I been out here?” He asked aloud while shaping back into his pony form for another attempt of shifting the cold from his body. He stilled himself a moment, halting his search as he began to reconsider. “I've got to turn back. It isn't worth my life over this. Maybe I can return when I've learned a locating spell… or some heat magic.”

Just then a willowy voice came rolling over a snow hill, “.... soon…” There seemed to be more to the jumbled message that Rayne's tired senses simply could not discern.

Instantly Rayne snapped to attention and looked around carefully knowing that he was no longer alone. “That wasn't a hallucination… that voice was real! I know it!” He pleaded, more trying to convince himself than actually being certain. Creeping over the snow covered hills he looked down beyond. He saw no pony around but upon closer inspection he unmistakably saw, “...Hoof prints?” Racing forward he discovered that somepony with much smaller hooves than his had trudged the snow and done so recently. “Who else could be this far away from the Crystal Empire?!” He wondered as his mind became frantic. “It can't be any guards, this pony looks like they were traveling alone! There's no tracks other than these and my own!" Just then he thought that he saw something in the distance from where the tracks had seemed to come from.

After making his way down, he came across a massive red gemstone that stretched like a monolith high above his head. After circling it a few times Rayne measured it to be about the size of two ponies wide and four ponies tall. The most curious aspect of the crystal structure was that it seemed to be whispering as he walked around it. “...Wait… give her time and we shall see…” Mysterious voices bickered amongst themselves. Rayne saw that the hoof prints in the snow had lead right to the gemstone almost as if somepony had walked out of it.

Placing a hoof to his chin he quietly pondered the stone's purpose to himself. “What the hell is this? There was never anything about a giant red crystal in the show. What is it doing way out here in the middle of nowhere?” “Hello?” Rayne spoke out curiously.

However as soon as Rayne had, the voices definitely seemed to hush themselves in response. They began muttering and whispering before saying aloud, “... Hello? Hope, is that you? Have you returned with Sombra yet-OUCH!” “BE QUIET! That is clearly not Hope, that is a male pony!” “Who are you stranger? Why do you come to this frozen abyss?” Rayne had heard at least three different voices, all of which who seemed to be arguing with one another. He did not miss when a name he recognized was spoken though.

“My name is Rayne. I am out here because… I am searching for someone. Before I answer any other questions please tell me who you are. Why am I speaking to a giant ruby?”

There was silence at first which was followed by more muttering. But when the voices spoke again they now sounded cheery as if trying to charm him. “We are the Umbra,” they began as Rayne's eyes suddenly shot open wide with surprise, “we are a peaceful fairy race. We lived in the outside world like you once, long ago. But we were tricked and imprisoned here where we have been kept ever since. The red crystal you see is a portal. Others may come and go as they please but we can never leave.”

Rayne was now distracted, hardly even listening to their obvious lies as he grimaced at this new information. “Umbra?!” His mind yelled in disbelief. “There are creatures in this world with the name Umbra?! Peaceful fairies MY ASS! Umbran witches from Bayonetta, the Umbran Blade in Elder Scrolls, even the word Umbra means to be related to shadows. I've played way too many video games in my life to believe that anything with the name Umbra could be anything but the most powerful form of destruction for that world!" He struggled to hold the shock from his face. But soon an eagerness crept over him instead. "Although, if these things are locked away they must be some kind of monsters… and that means… they're villains!” Ever so subtly the corners of Rayne's mouth began to curl into a smile.

“Are you alright, Rayne?” “Why does the male pony not speak?” They asked as they watched him standing still in the snow.

Suddenly Rayne shouted with anger and exhaustion, “Where is Sombra?!” The voices stuttered sounding quite surprised. “You mentioned his name, I know that you are connected to him. Where Is He?!!!” Rayne was tired and sore from his searching leaving him in no mood for games.

Now the ruby structure seemed perfectly silent. It was as if the stone were observing him trying to take in his measure. “Why do you seek our Sombra?” The message was short and breathy as if the jovial attempt to charm him from before had been abandoned.

Rayne was quick to respond as his anxiousness fueled a sense of desperation in his voice. “I am looking for what happened to him! I KNOW that he isn't gone! Back when the Crystal Empire returned from its curse, Sombra returned with it. But he was defeated when the ponies of Equestria were able to find the Crystal Heart and restore its power. Sombra had appeared to be destroyed by its magic but his horn had stayed intact! It was just merely blasted away!”

“How do you know all of-" The voices asked in wonder but were interrupted.

“I know it still exists! I feel that Sombra… no, King Sombra can be revived! But I don't know where the horn was blasted to! The snow of the Frozen Wastes are melting! I must find it before any pony of Equestria discovers its location!” Rayne was almost snarling from how fiercely he spoke.

The voices from the stone seemed to be laughing now. “Ha HA ha HA! You think that our dear child has rested alone in the snow since that time?!”

Now Rayne felt a bit dumbfounded, as if he were the butt of a joke which he had not been told of. “It's… it's not… here?”

“Ha HA ha HA ha! Of course not! Why ever do you think it would be? Even defeated our Sombra is not helpless. He would have moved into hiding until he can recover his power.”

Now Rayne's eyes widened with despair. “H-hiding?” His bottom sank into the snow as he half collapsed. “Then all my searching… was for nothing? All this time, I thought… I thought I'd find his horn laying somewhere in the snow…” The shock of this was too much for him to bear as he feared his mission would become a lost cause. “If he is hiding… then…” But now despair turned to rage. “Then HOW CAN I FIND HIM?!!!” Rayne roared out while almost spitting on the stone as he screamed.

The voices sounded almost as if they were playing with him now, amused by his disappointment. “And why should we answer you? Why should we even trust you? Aren't you in fact another ‘pony of Equestria’ as you put it?” They gave a snarky chuckle but they did not expect what would happen next.

The black stallion before them looked upon the stone with hate. Fangs grew from the stallion's mouth and razored claws sprouted from his hooves. The bones and muscles of his back began to grow and his body shifted before them. The dark figure grew until he was nearly the width of the stone and almost half as tall. There before them a were-panther now growled menacingly. “I AM NO PONY!!!” His voice had changed to suit his new form and even though he could not see the Umbran creatures, he knew they were stunned by the sight of him. “And you are not fairies… I do not believe you to be peaceful creatures either. If you say that you are Umbran then that must make you fiends. I can respect fiends.” He paused for a moment but no response came from the stone. “In hiding or not you do not know what is happening out in the world. The princesses are here, ALL of the princesses are here! Given time your Sombra will soon be discovered. I am trying to make sure that Does Not Happen! I am no hero of Equestria so unless you wish for all to be lost… you will tell me!” Again he waited but was met with only silence. “WHERE IS KING SOMBRA?!”

Eventually a response came but it was dark and hissed with a sinister tone. “There is blood in between your fangs, heh heh. Might want to watch that when you next disguise as a pony again, changeling.”

Rayne chuckled sinisterly in response. “I am no changeling either. I am something that Equestria has never seen before. That is why my plan will succeed where others have failed. But in order for that to happen… I must find King Sombra… now!” He tempered his anger and spoke more diplomatically to the ruby stone. “As one villain to another, I promise you that no pony of Equestria will ever challenge him again… as long as I find him first.”

Once more there was muttering but it sounded different this time. It sounded more insistent. “Free us…” The voices hissed. “We wish to escape this accursed prison!”

Rayne calmly nodded. “As I am now, I lack the power to free you. But help me and I promise on the very blood that coarses through my veins I will one day return for you.” He declared, however he smirked being very careful about the words which he chose.

After only a brief pause the voices separately whispered, “We shall see…” “Then go and retrieve our Sombra for he is our heir. He is an Umbran like us but we used our power to shape him into pony form when he was a youngling." "He has the knowledge and the power to release us from this prison.” “If you will go then you should hurry. For we have already sent another…”

“What?!” Rayne gasped. Then he realized what they meant when he looked back down to the hoof prints in the snow.

“A pony named Radiant Hope has lived with us while we waited for the curse to be lifted. She knows where Sombra resides as they used to be friends, back before. If you wish to find our offspring then it is she which you must locate…”

Rayne's feline fangs ground together. “...Damn!” He immediately turned from the stone and leapt with a mighty stride back the way he had come. He was still discoordinated due to the cold but now his body surged with what little adrenaline he had left. His powerful form hurled himself forward, leap after leap, as he followed Hope’s tracks. “Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT ALL! Here I spent hours trudging through this wasteland and it looks like Sombra was hiding back toward the empire all this time! I didn't know that his horn could MOVE without a body! DAMMIT!!!”

Moving at the speed he was going, it took Rayne less than an hour for the tracks to lead him right back to the city outskirts. Pausing at the road he growled as the snow tracks came to an end. “Nnrrroooo! The pony has already made in back into town! I'll have to rely on more than just hoof prints then…” Leaning down he sniffed at where the snow ended and lead into water drops along the road. “Hmm. I may not be a bloodhound but it seems I can follow scents, to degree. I must be close though, these wet steps haven't even dried yet.” Proceeding forward he followed the scent right down the main street of the city. “Sleep Crystal Ponies… please all stay asleep.” He begged silently as he sacrificed stealth for speed. Tearing down the main road in his full panther form he sniffed as the scent became stronger and stronger.

“Wait, can this be right? I'm headed straight for the castle!” He grimaced in disbelief. “No! Everyone is there! Twilight, all of the princesses, why dammit?!” Quickly he ducked into an alleyway before getting within sight of any guards from the castle balconies. He shifted back into his stallion form but was doing a poor job of managing his temper. “I can't follow the scent like this!” He grumbled. But then something caught his eye. “Wait, who is that?!” In the distance he saw someone. It appeared to be a pony but they were covered by a cloak. The hood was over their head and they looked around before stepping into a stairwell leading up into the castle. “Heh, no reason for any other pony to be sneaking around. Looks like I've found you.” Quickly Rayne speed walked across the courtyard to not arouse suspicion. He ignored the blinding flash from the Crystal Heart and once he had approached the castle he took off into a full run up the stairs after his target.

“Damn, where did you go?” He thought to himself as he approached the main hall. He saw a few guards which he avoided even though he wasn't breaking any rules by being there. But after they were gone he caught a glimpse of light coming from the throne room. “What do we have here?” He asked while entering quietly. As soon as he peered around the corner he saw that the room was empty but the center floor had opened up revealing a staircase leading all the way down to Sombra's old sanctuary below. “Well Sombra, quite impressive. They defeated you and you managed to sneak yourself all the way back into the castle and down to your hiding hole with no pony noticing.” Just then the entryway began closing which put Rayne into a panic. “Shit! Stop monologuing like a villain and move!” He scolded himself as quickly ignited his magic.

To not waste time he teleported himself to the stairwell just seconds before the way sealed itself above him. He checked to make sure no bits of himself were cut off because it had been very close. Then looking down he saw the cloaked figure a few spiral rows below him on the stairs. “Hmm, best not make any noise here.” He thought and shifted back to being a were-panther. Now he soundlessly crept upon soft paws as he followed the other pony who had no idea he was there.

As the two made their lengthy descent, up avove in the castle there was another who was still stirring through the hallways. “Huh, what was that?” Twilight asked herself and rushed from nearby into the throne room. She looked around but found it empty and everything in its proper place.

“Princess? Is everything okay?” Asked two of the guards who had heard her gallop over. “Oh, Princess Twilight. It's you.”

She looked to them and smiled, “Yes, everything is fine. I thought I saw something but it must have been my imagination. And uh, I'm sorry but were you expecting somepony else?”

They just nodded in the direction of the balcony that overlooks the city and made their leave of her. Twilight stepped over curiously after seeing that someone was standing alone out there. “Luna?”

The older princess glanced back from over her dark mane. “Oh, Twilight. What are you doing awake so late?” She offered a kind smile as the smaller alicorn came to stand beside her.

Twilight gave an anxious response saying, “Well… I can't exactly say that I'm tired. There's so much going on to worry about and also remember that I did sleep for a few hours earlier." She gave an apologetic expression but was surprised when Luna suddenly hugged her.

“Please do not fret about that. Nopony thinks ill of you for succumbing to exhaustion. Your body needed its rest after all that has transpired.”

Twilight knew Luna was right but it didn't stop her from feeling down. “Yes, I know that. But wasn't it a little, I don't know, unprofessional of me to fall asleep during a royal meeting like that?”

Luna thought for a moment before responding with, “Would it be right for us to judge Cadence for losing control of her stomach during the meeting? She is a princess too. Are you saying her title strips her of the right to become sick in the face of moral decay?”

Twilight smiled and gave a relenting nod. “Okay, okay. You've made your point. I won't dwell on it any longer.” The two smiled together like the old friends that they had become by this point. Afterward Twilight asked, “So what are you doing out here?”

Luna took a deep whiff of the night air and smiled. “Oh nothing really. Just relaxing in the beauty of the night. I may not have shown it but the grave news of that meeting wore heavy on my soul as well. I merely cope with my stress differently than the others, that is all.”

Now Twilight gave a smirk. “Luna, you just scolded me for being down on myself unnecessarily. Am I going to have to give you the same lecture about still worrying if ponies were thinking you heartless?” She gave an accusatory stare but in a tough love sort of way.

Luna faulted from being put on the spot like that but then she blushed and nodded with a relenting smile. “Ha, very well. Point taken. Do not worry my dear, I learned long ago that my friends trust me and I have accepted that trust within my heart.”

“Would it be alright if I just joined you for a bit?” Twilight softly asked.

“Your company is always welcome, my friend.” Luna said and the two sat side by side taking in the beauty of the empire together. Neither of them spoke but as they breathed in the night air they savored this peaceful moment while they could. Even though the anxiety of the previous day and the pressures of tomorrow were still looming over head, this moment felt like a reprieve which they were happy to share in together.

After awhile, Luna looked down seeing that Twilight's eyes were becoming heavy. She smiled thinking of urging the younger princess to bed. Unfortunately that was not to be the case as the blissful moment between the two suddenly came to a heart rattling end. “AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!! NOOOOO!!!!!” A loud scream came from a window above which snapped Twilight and Luna to full attention.

“What's going on?!” Twilight cried out.

“That is Celestia's voice!” Luna shouted. Opting to skip the stairs entirely she spread her wings and flew to the window with Twilight following close behind.

There they saw Celestia who seemed to be thrashing violently in her sleep. “AAHH NOO! PLEASE, DON'T! SOMEBODY HELP!” She screamed as tears rolled down from her closed eyes.

Twilight let her heart guide her as she bolted to her mentor's side and tried to hold her close. “Celestia! CELESTIA! Wake up! It's only a dream! Please, wake up!” But her pleas fell upon deaf ears so she turned back behind her. “Luna!”

“Fear not, I am already on my way!” The older princess said. Luna levitated into the air before shimmering blue and then reached out to touch Celestia's mind and enter her dreams.

Twilight stroked her mentor's brow still attempting to comfort her. “There we go. Just hold on Celestia! Luna will help you and then… WHAT?!” Twilight gasped as she saw Luna’s magic snapback away leaving the princess of the night looking dumbfounded while sitting upon the floor. “Luna! What happened? Are you okay?”

Lifting herself from the ungraceful position to which she had fallen, “Do not worry for me, I am fine Twilight. But there is greater cause for alarm for my sister! That is no normal dream she is having but an omen instead! And it must be played out until it is done. Until then, I am afraid there is nothing that I can do!”

Twilight gasped as her grip tightened in concern. “What did you see Luna?” Celestia grit her teeth and continued to thrash as Twilight held her trying to stop Celestia from hurting herself. Just then two guards quickly burst into the room but looked confused seeing two other princesses already present.

Luna acknowledged them but then turned to Twilight saying, “I could not see what troubles my sister so deeply. My view was blocked by ravens, dozens of ravens that I could not get passed. I have never seen anything like this before. There is magic to this omen which I have never encountered.”

Just then Celestia snapped awake with a scream. Her heart was pounding and she was covered in sweat as she looked around terrified. The guards were quick to express their concern. “Princess Celestia, are you alright?”

"Help! We have to... we have to help...!" She shouted deliriously.

Before she could catch her breath to answer, a sleepy looking Cadence came into view of the doorway. “W-what, is going on?” She asked with a large yawn.

However Celestia gave them no attention as she turned her gaze to her sister. “Luna!” Celestia had tears streaming from her eyes.

Twilight stepped away to allow Luna to take her sister by the hoof. “I am here. Please, tell me what you saw. I know you had a vision.”

Cadence then responded, “Vision? No, I can hardly see. I'm so tired...”

One of the two guards chuckled and turned to their ruler, “Um princess, perhaps you should go back to bed. We can inform you right away if anything is amiss.”

The sleepy alicorn nodded saying, “Alright then, back to bed sounds nice.” However instead of leaving the room she laid down on the floor where she stood and immediately fell back to sleep. The guardspony who spoke rolled his eyes while trying not to chuckle but then bent down to pick her up and carry her back to her room. The other guardspony remained as they watched Celestia shiver from something that had upset her terribly.

She held onto Luna crying into her mane. Eventually she managed to whisper out, “Luna… it's Sombra! He's… he's....”

Twilight and the guard both gasped but Luna did not share that reaction and just held her sister tighter. Twilight stepped forward and asked, “What about Sombra? I thought we defeated him! Has he found a way to return?!”

But as she cried into Luna's hair Celestia just shook her head no. Luna spoke up as she looked to Twilight, “I do not believe that the fiend we vanquished several years ago is who she is referring to now.”

Twilight looked confused for a moment before an old memory sprung to mind. “Wait, do you mean the other one?” Luna nodded. Twilight gave a loud gasp and suddenly turned to the guardspony speaking very quickly. “I'm sorry but you need to leave! Now! Don't worry we have everything under control from here! Please forget about anything you might have heard about King Sombra! Anything that you think you heard is not what you think it means! It's all very alternate universe and other worldly!” By now she had shoved the guard backwards right out the door. “Just… trust in your leaders even if it doesn't make sense right now. Okay?” The guard nodded and turned to leave. Just before she could shut the door, Twilight saw Pinkie Pie in the hallway and a sleepy looking Applejack poking her head out of another door. “Ah, perfect! Pinkie could you guard the door please and not let anypony listen in? We're having a situation in here and it just got a whole lot more complicated. But an explanation will have to wait until morning.”

“Okie dokie!” Pinkie cheered and then hopped in front of the doorway with a serious but comical tough-Pinkie expression. Applejack looked a little more than annoyed and then slammed her door shut to go back to bed.

Twilight now rushed back to the other princesses finding that she had already been missing details. “He was so distraught!” Celestia sobbed. “Something was hurting him, he seemed like he was dying! It was terrible!”

Luna then pulled back and held Celestia's face in her hooves. “Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure that it was him?”

Celestia pulled away and sobbed. “I, I think it was. All I could see was his face. I couldn't see where he was. But… it has to be him. We vanquished the Sombra from our world, didn't we?”

Twilight looked nervous but Celestia offered her a weak smile and outstretched a hoof towards her. Twilight leapt into her mentor's embrace before they held each other tightly. Then Twilight looked up asking, “Has this happened before? The Sombra from the other world… the one you fell in love with… have you felt a connection to him since the portal between our worlds was closed?”

Now Celestia looked down longingly. “No, I haven't.”

Luna spoke up next saying, “Then it is possible… you could have had a vision of either Sombra, our world's or the other’s. We cannot know which. We will just have to wait and see if anything happens.” The other two nodded. However Luna then gave an adamant glare to the both of them. “Now I know this has been very upsetting but I must insist that you BOTH get some sleep!” The two others looked as if they were being scolded but nodded. “I will stay with my sister through the night to make sure she has no further disturbances.”

Twilight felt like she had a lump in her throat as she was clearly being kicked out. “Oh… okay.” Her ears dropped as she slowly released her hold from around Celestia and began to climb out of the bed.

Celestia turned to her and with much curiosity in her voice asked, “Twilight… did you, uh, were you… expecting to get to stay here with me tonight?” There was much uncertainty in her voice as she looked to Twilight earnestly awaiting an answer.

Twilight had a sudden recollection of when a cockatrice had once turned her to stone. She felt petrified by how both princesses were now staring at her. “Uuhhhh, wellllll, ummm, hmmm, I…. Oh boy, this is awkward.” Suddenly Twilight threw herself to her knees which surprised both the other princesses. She quickly started hyperventilating before ranting out, “Listen I'm really sorry! I don't know WHAT I was thinking! I think maybe I wouldn't have gotten up if Luna hadn't said something but that doesn't mean that I was TRYING to sleep with you! OH! NO! That sounds bad, I didn't mean sleep with you like sleep with you! I just meant sleep with you like sleep with you… which I wasn't trying to do… which... “ Then her eyes went wide as she felt truly terrified and whimpered, “If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go glue my mouth shut forever and throw myself off the terrace now.”

Twilight hung her head low as she turned from them and cursed at herself feeling thoroughly humiliated. She quietly scolded herself, wishing she had better control over what came out of her mouth when she was nervous. But before she could even take a step she suddenly saw two white hooves reach around her from behind. Everything happened faster than she could comprehend as she felt herself being picked up. The next thing Twilight knew, she was laying back in the bed. Celestia had her front hooves wrapped tightly underneath Twilight's. The confused girl looked up feeling her back secured snuggly to Celestia's chest. The older princess just smiled at her and with no further explanation said, “Good night Twilight.”

The younger alicorn was speechless as her mentor laid her head across her shoulder and closed her eyes. “Good-d night, Celestia.” She stammered, honestly not knowing what else to say. Twilight closed her eyes feeling nervous at first but then found that this felt amazing once she decided to relax. She cuddled back into the older alicorn with a wide smile.

Meanwhile, Celestia was consciously ignoring the scowl that she knew was on her sister's face. Luna scooted in behind before saying, “It's fine, but we will talk about this in the morning Celestia.” Luna laid her head over the shoulder of her sister as the three of them rested in the safety of each other's company.

Celestia moved a hoof to tenderly stroke Twilight's mane. She then gave a soothing word of comfort saying, “Not to worry. Many troubles await us in the morning but for now let us lay here. Until the dawn breaks there is nothing else that can go wrong this evening as long as we are together to support each other.” Then all three of them have a heavy sigh of contentment as they laid to rest.

Unfortunately, that was only until Twilight's flank started shining brightly which disturbed all three of them from their rest. “Twilight, what's happening?” Celestia asked as instinct made her tighten her grip on the smaller princess protectively.

Twilight's flank however was not flashing as it normally would from a cutie mark mission. It was just glowing solid. It seemed to be getting progressively brighter and brighter. But then as all three watched, the light suddenly went out. It had appeared very reminiscent of a light bulb being shut off. “I have… NO idea what just happened.” Twilight said as they all sat there staring at her flank.

Suddenly a voice screeched out from the middle of the room. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” The three had been so startled that they all jumped and fell to the floor in different directions around the bed. Looking up they saw Discord's head materialize out of thin air.

Twilight sighed in relief, “Oh good, it's just you Discord. Wait! Oh no! I told you to only alert me if something went wrong with the cutie map! Did something happen?!”

Celestia stood up looking annoyed. “Can this please wait until morning?! I don't think that any of us can take any more bad news this evening!”

Luna looked over, not even bothering to stand at this point and just gave an annoyed glare from where she remained on the floor. “I never again thought that I would experience a night as bad as the one where you banished me. But this evening is seriously pushing that limit.”

Twilight was looking focused now even though the circles under her eyes were starting to grow heavy. “Discord, something strange just happened with my cutie mark! What happened on the map?!”

He was quick to respond and sounded genuinely worried as he spoke. “It's just so confusing, I hardly know how to explain it. As I wrote to you before, your cutie mark was shown in two different locations. A little while ago I noticed that one of your cutie marks started moving towards the other that was here at the castle. At first I just took that as a sign that you had found the problem and things were going well. But just a moment ago… Twilight your cutie mark on the map turned black and then it shattered!”

Now Luna definitely stood up now as she looked to Twilight with concern. “Her cutie mark shattered? Twilight, what does this mean?”

Everyone looked to the Princess of Friendship but now she appeared frazzled and her eye was twitching as if she were going insane. “Uhh well, on top of everything else going on with Spike and Rarity and the Crystal Heart.... I forgot to mention that I also was called for a friendship problem here in the empire. I don't know what has transpired, but I think I just officially failed in a Friendship Mission for the first time!" She sounded so discouraged as she spoke and then collapsed lazily to the floor.

“Twilight!” Celestia yelled and rushed to her side while Discord and Luna looked on with concern.

Author's Notes:

Yes so Rayne's determination almost led him to freeze to death in the snow. He had been searching for Sombra's horn but instead he found something that he never would have expected. He found the crystal prison that the Umbra are locked away in, as shown in the comics but not the show. The Umbra are a super powerful monster race that look like demonized horses. Additionally, in the main comic as well as “Fiendship is Magic" It goes into detail about a unicorn who is childhood friends with Sombra before he went dark. However, as ravens are shown flooding Celestia's current dreams… one of these ponies may not be getting a very long run in my story.

An FYI for readers who don't play video games, any time you come across something labeled Umbra or Umbran it usually refers to the strongest, most powerful tier of whatever. The actual word itself does mean shadow though. As such, the Umbrans here are a race of Shadow Ponies and that is where Sombra gets all his power from.

Okay so is anyone surprised about Celestia being in love with Sombra? Well, that's because there are two different Sombra's. One in this world and one in an alternate world that Rayne doesn't know anything about. But that will all be explained in a future chapter.

As for the bit about Discord showing up, it has never been shown yet what happens if a Friendship Mission from the Cutie Map fails. So I am making my own take on what it would be like because Twilight most definitely did not get to solving this Friendship Problem in time. More on that in the next chapter.

And on a final note, yes large cats can track scents like dogs can. I researched it to make sure.