private IC: Return of the King (1x1 with Catpone Cerberus)

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra would sit there with a wild smirk on his face. The hatred and gloom that he once felt for so many many years was simply no longer there. Ironically, an Amulet forged out of hatred itself was something that Sombra felt joy. It was a unique artifact, created in his many hours in research before he came to power. Sombra giggled a bit, which felt very un-nerving to say the least. The Amulet had definitely changed him, or had some sort of effect on him that Una could see.

"I created this Amulet, years before I became King. Before my time in the military, I was a mere researcher who worked for the former...leaders..." he spat with disgust, and then continued, "I spent many hours reading and researching. It was that, that lead me to discover my power and focus it. Many countless hours, of crafting and researching, lead me to forge this Amulet from the melted sword of the first King of the Crystal Empire, that I took, rightfully, to forge this with my aids." he spoke, smirking at it proudly.

"Except, the vile and disgusting two sisters never knew about how it was forged. All the knew was that it was an artifact of Power that belonged to me, if they knew the full story of how it was made, it wouldn't have been in a mere display case. As far as they were concerned it just boosts one's power and drives them insane, but that is what they would think, because they never saw me actually wear it, and stole it from me before I had any real chance in using it. It was stolen before I became King, and I spent so much time searching for it, eventually, I went through with my plans without it - and failed, due to it not being across my chest." he spoke, seemingly more talkative now than ever. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props Valroa
"I see." Una responded "But do not get blinded by success your highness, it has been thousand years, we don't know how well they have studied it." "I am not saying they have figured the full truth, but we shouldn't assume total ignorance either, the relative easiness of getting it could be due to their bad decisions, but it could also be because they believe they have good enough counter for any threat it may cause." "It is as you yourself said your highness, recklessness brought you down the last time, so lets not let a battle won blind us for we can still lose the war."  

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

"They have had a thousand years to study it, as you say. In my time, I did everything possible to ensure that they would never come up with a counter-measure for it. The Alicorn Amulet gives me the power of an Alicorn. But what you have to understand is, no matter the power imbued upon me - I am still a Crystal Unicorn, like those that came before me. For years, I was one of them. I even championed their Monarchy and was awarded many medals for my valor, but those were the days where I had been blinded by the system that lead me down a rabbit hole that lead me to discover my true nature - when I met with the Umbrum's Mother, my destiny had been unlocked, to rule both the Umbrum and the Crystal Ponies, as both, but also one. The Alicorn Amulet itself is a dedication to this ideal." he ran his hoof across it.

"I will not use it, not any time soon, until the full nature of this world has revealed itself to me. Until then, we will be as far as possible from Canterlot. I must put together a plan to find allies."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props Valroa
"Allies sound like a good plan your highness, I think..." she yawned "....I apologize, all that has happened has greatly drained my energy, I ask for your permission to rest your highness." the ask for permission was entirely a formality because there wasn't much Una could do about her state, and she would eventually have to rest regardless of Sombra's will, as her body was on the edge of giving out already "Whatever that helmet did to me, it really took a toll on my body, and I have slight trouble understanding everything said to me." it wasn't that she didn't hear what Sombra said, rather, some of the information just never sank in so to speak. Part of it was also because she had heard some of it already, Sombra talked a lot about himself, so his declarations started to blend together in Una's head. 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra would look to her as he would take a few steps away and sit down, narrowing his eyes slightly. "I was going to do the same. The train will stop in a few hours. We will want to leave the train before then, and find somewhere to hunker down, for now." he spoke as he slumped over and shut his eyes. This was a contrast to what he did before on the previous train rides - finding himself awake for the whole time. He needed to get some needed rest for it. His dark magic meant that he could resist a lot of the tiredness that should naturally come his way, though he couldn't avoid it forever. 

 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props Valroa
Una closed her eyes, and in matter of seconds she was out, and she would lay there unmoving until Sombra would eventually wake her up, in fact, she was so unmoving that if it weren't for the constant shifting of her appearance, and the fact she was clearly breathing, one wouldn't have been blamed for thinking she died. But while outside she was as calm, inside her head was a different story.

In her very real feeling dreams, she was surrounded by darkness, not lack of light, but darkness as a force, as a being, darkness different to Sombra's effect, darkness that while clearly different from what Sombra's presence brought to her dreams, she couldn't recognize. Now that she thought about it, where was Sombra? last time she had fallen asleep close to him, she could feel his darkness still, but now? nothing, just this new form of darkness.

The darkness around her was malevolent, or at least she assumed so, as it tried to attack her, though it was failing miserably, which was curious since Una was just standing, watching the situation, dream or not, one would assume you would at least act like you are fighting back for things to not happen. She also didn't feel fear towards the darkness, rather, she felt the same kind of total neutrality she had felt in the visions Sombra showed her.

The weirdness of the dream layered up, as she realized something again, she was seeing herself in third person, she was watching herself getting attacked, but also was herself, there was also two other her, also watching her being attacked, and now she wasn't sure which of the four selfs she was if any. She would have thought that this was a weird dream but she couldn't make herself react. 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra's dreams were a different story. After he shut his eyes, in a matter of seconds he was out in a similar manner to Una. In his first dream, he would find himself engaged in combat once again. This time in the dream, the emotions involved were not as subdued. It was extremely potent. Ringing around him were feelings of hatred, loss, and betrayal. It was a similar scene to the one he showed Una. The sounds of battle everywhere, his soldiers and followers valiantly dying for their cause. Sombra was able to eliminate a few enemy soldiers before the vile two sisters appeared before him, and with their power they blasted him and he found himself flung up against a wall in a similar manner to reality.

The two sisters promised that he would never rule again, and that his Empire will forever be destroyed. The last scene in that one dream, Sombra's horrible screams and agony roared throughout the dream. The volume of it was so intense, he'd probably be thinking that Una would be able to hear it outside of the dream.

The second dream involved his second attempt at power. Though in the dream, it happened differently than how he managed to return in reality. Sombra somehow re-appeared in the Crystal Castle and immediately proceeded outward, looking out over his Empire. Apparently he saw some of his own guards throughout the halls of the castle, but he wasn't able to converse with them for some reason. It caused him endless frustration that he couldn't get them to realize that he was there. The ending of this dream involved him confronting a strange cloaked figure, he was very paranoid and enraged that he couldn't find out who it was. No matter what he did he could never land a hit on them or get them to reveal who they were.

Then Sombra woke up suddenly, and stood up - seeing that the train was not that far from it's destination. He would proceed to wake Una up.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props Valroa
Una woke up when Sombra woke her up, though it took her few seconds to get her surroundings as was to be expected from someone being woken up mid sleep, other than that, she was very...neutral, the emotional state of feeling nothing also sticking for the moment it took for her to really wake up. "I take it it's time to move?" she asked in tired manner, surprising even herself how... confident she sounded, it was like a different voice from her own was speaking. This surprise would be apparent as her expression showed it and she put her hoof on her throat "That was weird." her voice had now returned to the usual, slightly submissive tone "My apologizes your highness, what are your orders?" 
 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra would give her a strange look as if he found her voice to be strange but did not mention it. "We must locate a suitable blacksmith or someone who is capable of constructing brainwashing rings like I spoke of earlier. The old way of doing things, as you already know - involved helmets. Helmets are far too obvious and outdated for such things. Allies will be difficult to find, but if I brainwash suitable targets, I will be able to gain knowledge and support. I already have possession of blueprints and designs the guard had under lock and key, as well as crew manifests for all guards in Canterlot." he spoke, referencing what he managed to uncover from the Guards's offices in Canterlot. 

Sombra would observe how the train was slowing down and getting ready to pull into the rail yard. No doubt the train cars were going to be searched and disconnected for future purposes in this yard. They were empty, so they were obviously going to be used for transporting something. Sombra then climbed up and out of the train car, and bolted into the nearby woods for Una to follow. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props Valroa

Una just nodded to Sombra's words, she had something she wanted to bring up, but decided to wait until they weren't on such active time limit. She of course followed Sombra when it was time to get off, she didn't stick the landing perfectly, still being slightly out of her element for being woken up, but it didn't slow her down at all, and only really caused her to roll her eyes at herself. 

When they would eventually slow down, Una brought up the matter that had crossed her mind "Your highness, since the plan is to seek allies, or those that can be used, I take it that it means we will be observing things for a while." "So, would that mean that, our next step would be to set up a base of operation somewhere?" "Since it sounds we'll be here for a while, where ever 'here' is." she perfectly understood the advantages of being on the move constantly, but the current plan, both parts of it, were such that it wouldn't happen in few hours, or even few days, so they had to stop moving anyway, besides, allies needed to be communicated with, and communication was quite challenging if you constantly changed place. 
 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra would eventually slow down once the two of them were out of eyesight from the train tracks and he would duck behind a large tree for added cover, as he listened to Una. "That is a valid question. I do not know anything about this area. Bitsburgh was not a city that existed in my time. It would be wise to mingle about for a few days. However, it may be best that we go even further if there is any sign of trouble here." he stated. "It may be possible that such allies could be found here, but if not, I have no issue looking elsewhere. A base of operations would be the first thing to do. I am not sure where the best location for that would be as of yet. No doubt the Equestrian Guard will be looking for the Alicorn Amulet, and they will be searching all over Equestria for it. We need to lay low for a while and let it die down." he stated harshly.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props Valroa
"Hiding in plain sight could work." Una mentioned "What I mean is that, in big enough city, newcomers, even weirder ones like myself, would blend in lot more easily than in a town where everyone knows everyone." "In the same way, acting normal would help to blend in, going to a shop to buy groceries, arguing with neighbors about pointless things, whatever else ponies in cities do....point being, best way to avoid attention, is to look like you have no reason to avoid it." 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

"You have a point. Bitsburgh is a large city, not as large as Canterlot is  - though as I said before, I've never seen it. It must be a city that was built in the days that I was not present in Equestria. We need to find a place to hunker down for a while, we have no currency to purchase any areas with. Perhaps we'll find an abandoned warehouse." he suggested, as he began to lead them through the forest, and further towards the city.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props Valroa
"I haven't even thought about that now that you mentioned it your highness." Una admitted "We  need to find a way to gain currency too, legal or illegal...what even is the currency here? they looked like golden coins, but that's all I know." "Though that's for when it's important, one thing at a time." 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

"It would be perhaps easy for me to steal some but I will be careful to not take too much from area to make it obvious. It would be easy to steal from ponies themselves, rather than a vault - as who knows what sort of protections they would have." he spoke. Sooner than later the treeline began to thin out, and Sombra would apply his disguise yet again as they started to proceed towards the city. First thing they had to do was get their bearings straight. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props Valroa
"And even if it was the worst defended vault in the nation, they would most likely notice it missing, thus bringing attention here too." Una responded as a sort of a conclusion to the conversation, she wouldn't have suggested a bank in any situation, because even in a situation that they took so much it couldn't go unnoticed, a mass robbery from individuals would get less attention than stealing from a bank. And, Una didn't want to underestimate the princesses, they had ruled over thousand years, it could be that they could easily connect two seemingly unconnected thefts for reason or another, especially since from the little she had learned during this time, bigger thefts like their museum visit, and the imagined bank robbery, were rare if not nonexistent in these lands, and thus a sudden peak in them would most likely put everything on high alert. 

If Sombra said nothing more, Una would just follow quietly. 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra would stay silent as they would enter towards the city itself. Bitsburgh, at least from the angle they were seeing was not as large or active as Canterlot, it was similarly in size to Chicoltgo, where they had been before. The city itself seemed to be in a slightly different style. With more bricks and duller colors visible. Chicoltgo had been a more "modern" city, while Bitsburgh seemed to be more industrial styled. Some of it was run down as evidenced by some abandoned buildings and poor road maintenance. Sombra would look to Una as he would observe the various ponies walking about the city. He'd say nothing as he would casually go behind a bush and go into his shadow form. Using his shadow sneaking ability, he would lurch about the shadows of the streets and sneak into the pockets of various ponies and steal their wallets. He'd aim to steal many of them in a disjointed fashion, and the ponies themselves would know nothing of it because of his sheer stealth. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props Valroa
Since she was given no orders, Una just kept walking in the general direction that Sombra had been leading her to until now, observing the city, and now and then, when opportunity came, stole things from passing creatures, it was again one of those things she just knew how to do, but instead of wondering about it again, she rather thought about what could be the reason she was given that skill, how did picking pockets help in whatever she was made for? 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra would continue doing this action for a little while, perhaps an hour or so. He'd of course go to various areas and not stay in the same place for long, using crowds to his advantage. Now that they had spent some time doing this, Sombra would look to Una and state that they'd take refuge in an abandoned building for now. It didn't take that long to find one. Sombra would enter into the abandoned warehouse and sit down by one of the windows for natural lighting, using it to illuminate what he managed to steal as he looked through all the wallets he stole. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props Valroa
Una would follow Sombra as best as she could based on his aura, doing her best in assisting with the quote unquote 'fundraising'. She would do as told when he came back, and when he laid out his own haul, she would empty her pockets nearby for him to go through. Her haul was far from whatever Sombra got, being limited by her being a physical being and her pockets not being bottomless, but she had specifically targeted creatures that looked wealthy, in hopes to offset her limited capacity by having quality over quantity. 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

When they had laid out all of their stolen items, Sombra would proceed to search through them. He could see a lot of ID cards for one in each of the wallets, as each pony had an ID for verification purposes. Some of them were fairly wealthy, and even had bank cards too incase he wanted to get more. But the total cash and bits he managed to steal out of these, was a lot to say the least. Certainly enough to sway anyone he needed to, at least for now. He grunted somewhat as he looked through the other jewelry he had stolen as well. Some of it indeed, had rings. That would be useful for finding someone to make brainwashing rings instead of helmets. 

He grinned evily.

"Excellent..." he said with a slight purr in his devious words. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props Valroa
Una just watched Sombra do his thing, not having much to do or say at the moment, she found Sombra's reaction bit...unexpected? Sure his satisfaction was still somehow scarier than his anger, but she wasn't really sure what Sombra even reacted to like that, as his words...or well, a word, was way too...evil? sounding for him to simply be happy about the amount of currency. Had he just found a new, more positive look on life, or did his thoughts run to something else? Una could only guess, though she wasn't really sure if she wanted to. 

Edited August 4, 2023 by Catpone Cerberus

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

"I have the rings for the first few trial runs of the brainwashing spell. All we need to do is find someone who is capable of performing the transformation of the brainwashing spell from helmets, to rings, then it will be much more potent than before...." he smirked. "Now we must find that someone, in this place." he said with a devious grin as he got up, taking what they collected into his cape and leading the way out of the place. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props Valroa
"Maybe the market is a good place to start? or any other shop or service district?" Una suggested "If nothing else, it could give us idea what kind of services exist nowadays in the first place." who knew, maybe what Sombra needed was so simple that there was a simple product for it, probably not, but it wasn't entirely impossible. 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra concured with this idea and nodded. "Yes, that is exactly what we are going to do." he spoke as he lead the way out of the abandoned building. For now, he would keep his eyes open and make sure they weren't being followed. They'd inevitably find some sort of market and start looking around, if only to look and get a general sense of the area and what services are offered.