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

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@-Solstice-
Una looked through the papers, they brought up lot of thoughts in her. She went through all the names in her mind but none of them rang a bell, not necessarily surprising, since it was pretty clear she had been more an object than sentient individual to those testing her, so why would have they ever told their names to her? What she did recognize was the logo, she didn't know for sure where or when she had seen it before, nor what it symbolized, but she had a faint feeling of having seen it before. She also could read the date perfectly fine, knowing exactly what it stood for, not that it mattered much, since it in no way helped her with anything. This meant that she didn't actually know how long 1000 years was, since she wasn't familiar with the term year. 

As she read through the reports detailing the results of tests, she felt herself getting angrier, though only thing showing that outside was a change in her expression; she didn't really know why reading them pissed her off so much, since besides faint memories of different feelings she remembered nothing, but the anger came from deep within her, and when she eventually read the one talking about her going berserk, she didn't question it, as she could relate with her past self even if she didn't fully understand why.

 

"Sounds like a plan your highness, what kind of disguise were you thinking." she looked at her hoof again "I would probably need something that covers me entirely." she still hadn't seen herself fully, but from what she could see by looking at her own body, it was safe to assume it was her whole body changing. Her anger affected her voice a bit, making it slightly less sheepish, it was still filled with respect towards Sombra and his power, but it was less pathetic so to speak

[Props Valroa 26,038]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra noticed her change in voice but chose not to mention it. Instead, he would allow for that anger to fester within her. Perhaps he could make her think that the ones that experimented on her were that of Celestia and Luna. However the major flaw with that idea was that there weren't any mentions of it in these papers. He really needed to get into the nearest center of town, and try to find some leads on it. He knew that such a thing would likely have been rather prized, perhaps even famous. He could ask around for anyone who knew of it's whereabouts. If anyone thought he was suspicious, he could simply leave. 

"I can cover it for myself. I have a way to obscure my more intimidating features after all. It was because I was so blind in my attempt to take power for myself that I didn't realize the gifts I had in my pockets, so to speak. Perhaps when I go into town, I can find some attire that may fit you. This would require you staying here, and me trusting you enough to stay here." his eyes narrowed.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@-Solstice-

There was another major flaw in Sombra's momentary thought of action, he had already stated himself, several times, that Una was not from here, so telling her suddenly that the leaders of this world were behind her situation wouldn't be believable to her anymore, she was ignorant of things and maybe bit gullible, but she was not an idiot.

"I don't know what I could do to prove you my trustworthiness, your highness, but I ask you, where would I go?" "You are the only living being I know, the travel from where I woke up to here is the only thing I know of this, or any other place. So if you can't trust me to stay because of my loyalty to you, then trust my instinct to survive, as running off to the unknown could lead to my death."  she didn't have any plans to leave Sombra, but even if she would have had such plans, she would still have been stuck with him for now, as he was the only thing she knew. 

[Props Valroa 26,038]

@Catpone Cerberus

He looked into her eyes for a moment as he weighed his options. "You will stay here. The town is not far from here. I can get there quickly. Nobody will find you here, these train cars are abandoned and have sat here for many years. Consider this your first gesture of trust. You are are more than welcome to go and leave, but I think we both know how that will end up." he spoke. It was an illusion of choice, really. He knew what would likely happen to her if she left on her own, and the thought of that would only reinforce her loyalty to him. 

With that said he'd walk away from her silently, letting her mull over her thoughts. With not even a glance to her, his body turned to shadow and vanished. Sombra, now in his shadow form slinked along the ground within the shadows of the trees, heading into the town. First he was going to get a look at the place first before revealing himself in some capacity.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@-Solstice-

Una was surprised to see Sombra melt into shadows as this was the first time she saw it happen to anyone, and this time it wasn't even just because she didn't remember seeing it, she actually had never seen it before. As Sombra left, and the feeling Una got from him faded, she sat down to think about her situation, it was a complicated one, even ignoring the whole memory thing. She was in a place where her appearance alone would bring lot of attention to her, stuck with a dethroned king that, to be honest, wasn't the most pleasant to be around; While for reasons even she herself didn't understand, her loyalty was to him, she didn't really like him, because while he was factually superior to her, his demeaning...everything, wasn't nice. 

It really made her think if this really was better than her past life, at least previously she wasn't so scared, as far as she remembered. She was also wondering about Sombra's motives, he didn't seem like one to help her out of kindness, so did he know something she didn't? well, he did, a lot of thing, but did he know something about her? Or was he just waiting to see if she could be some use? especially since she came from some kind of military thing? What would happen to her if she didn't become useful?

After thinking about life for a while, Una started testing her body out, as in, see if she could fly and use magic, or if the blast of magic earlier was just a reflex. 

 

[Props Valroa 26,038]

@Catpone Cerberus

As Sombra's shadow form surged through the railyard he noted the various train cars and tracks assorted throughout the place. There were a few workers here and there doing their various jobs such as guarding the cargo or making sure other things were in place. He saw a few locomotives here sorting the various cars. It was possible the trains would be leaving in relative time, so he would like to board one of the freight cars with Una and Depart. He moved closer in, seeing that these trains were inbound to Chicoltgo. The name wasn't familar to him, so it must have been a place that was constructed within the past one thousand years in his absence. The rail yard was relatively small as this seemed to be a small town if anything. 

When Sombra went throughout the place he was thinking about Una. What use could she have for her? What did she have that he didn't know about? What is the possibility of her betraying him? All valid questions that he didn't have answers for. He wanted to find out but that would have to wait. The Alicorn Amulet was the most important object to locate as of yet. Anything else was for future plans. Such as raiding the dark magic books from Canterlot's library to increase his power, learning and finding new spells that he has not used before to utilize for military measures and the like. It had to start with him getting the Alicorn Amulet back. That is one of the reasons why he lost before.

He left the Railyard, and proceeded into the town. There were some shops and buildings about the place. It wasn't too impressive but there were a few pine trees here and there, the town definitely having a unique style to it. In the distance he could see various homes going about the nearby horizon. Some were closer towards the Mountain range, with clear and obvious roads going up the Mountain. Perhaps for tourism. 

He would reform his body behind a building where nobody could see. The shadows around him shifted. His curved horn would shift to that of a normal stallion's horn, his green and purple magic flowing from his eyes vanished. So too did his cape, as well as his wings. Only thing that remained was his cutie mark. He was a tall, imposing stallion for sure - but for all intensive purposes he was normal. This of course was an illusion, of which only the most talented could see through. It would serve his purposes.

He walked into town, and if he found any shops relating to magical items he would go there. If not, he'd ask about for something like that. Making references to the Alicorn Amulet, but not explicitly stating what it was in hopes they would tell him something about it.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@-Solstice-
As Sombra went around town, there was someone observing him, a figure about the size of average Equestrian dragon, fully covered by cloth, only things visible being sizable horns coming through the hood and a tip of a green tail behind them, they moved calmly a small distance from him, staying away from any and all other creatures, there was no signs of hostility, just observation. While their outfit and general demeanor implied the want to stay hidden, those exact things actually made them stick out like a sore hoof, as they were not only the only bipedal creature in the area currently, but also the only one to wear such concealing clothing.

If Sombra at any point noticed them and spend moments to really look at them, from under the hood he would be able to see a single, slightly luminous, orange, very weird looking eye looking back at him from where the left eye of this individual would be, on the same side where they also seemed to be missing a horn. The figure would not react to being seen besides giving a tiny head tilt of curiosity, there still was no sign of any hostility, though there was the sense of very powerful magic coming from this individual if that was something Sombra could feel. 

[Props Valroa 26,038]

@Catpone Cerberus

As Sombra proceeded throughout the town he saw someone that was very strange and out of place. There were only ponies here about the town besides the strange cloaked draconic figure. He had seen dragons and all the like before, although that was in the distant past. Whoever this was, they were here for some sort of purpose. That would be one thing in common that they had. Without hesitation, he would approach this figure. From the figure's point of view, Sombra was just a regular stallion - on the stronger end of things, though.

His eyes looked into the creature's own with a sense of purpose. "Excuse me, I am looking for something. It's a black amulet with an alicorn design to it, with a red gem. I apologize if this out of nowhere, but that is something I am looking for. I was told that it was around somewhere by my sources and that I was sent out to look for it. If you don't have any information on that, do you have any information on anything remotely similar?" he asked with a respectful, yet authoritative tone.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@-Solstice-
When Sombra got closer, he would be able to see that there were two eyes like normal, if that was a wonder at any point, but only one of them was that weird orange kind, and the other, while not fully visible from the darkness of the hood, had a certain shine to it that one usually saw in the eyes of creatures that saw well in dark, creatures like dragons.

Their, or as it turned out, her, first reaction to Sombra's words was a slightly amused sounding exhale, before she spoke her first words, revealing her to be female, her voice too carried with it a heavy sense of authority; not the authority of a ruler, but of someone who knew they could get whatever they wanted "The Alicorn Amulet? Can't say I know its location, but no doubt it's held by the rulers of this land in a secure place somewhere." it was hard to read her emotions, as the only visual clue was that one single orange eye, and it had no emotion, in fact, it looked unnatural, it lacked...life. "But if we were to say that I had an idea for the possible locations of several ancient items, why would I tell it to you?" along the certain level of authority, the individuals voice had amount of detachment, like someone who had seen so much that nothing fazed them anymore.

 

Edited July 17, 2022 by Catpone Cerberus

[Props Valroa 26,038]

@Catpone Cerberus

His eyes narrowed slightly at the response he had recieved. This seemed to be quite an interesting individual. No doubt has a story to tell of their own. However currently, he isn't interested in hearing stories. He wants facts, useful facts that can help him achieve what he wants to achieve. He took a bit more of a authoritative stance, as if not satisfied with that answer. "I am a stallion of high nature. You scratch my back, I scratch yours. I can offer you far more than mere artifacts in the future, once all is said and done you will know where to find me." he spoke rather cryptically. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@-Solstice-
There was no reaction to Sombra's change in stance, whoever this was, was not threatened by him, nor did she try to compete with Sombra in authority, she held a constant level of assertiveness, not submitting but also not trying to impress anyone. The stranger let out a chuckle "Oh little pony, there's nothing you can bribe me with, I have had my riches and power, I owned everything I could imagine to wish for, and stories of me will be told long into the future." "The only thing I want is beyond anyone's reach." "No, my question was genuine, I have no use for any artifacts, and I have no particular reason to not tell you what I may know, I just want to know if you have any reasons to give why I should tell you?" 

[Props Valroa 26,038]

@Catpone Cerberus

"The only reason why I am coming to you is because I lost something important so long ago and I have lost track of it. I won't exactly tell you what it is, but surely if you had something that you created and then life got in the way of things and it ends up in the hooves of someone else, you would feel slighted by that, wouldn't you?" he asked, understanding her explanations but pushing further for what he needs. He wasn't simply just going to let it go. His patience was wearing thin, but he wasn't going to ruin the interaction because of it.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@-Solstice-
"You already said that you're looking for the amulet." the stranger pointed out in almost bored sounding tone "The thing is, I know why you want it, power, I can see through your illusion Umbrum, and while I haven't met your kind before, I know what ponies say about you." "You are wasting both of our time by trying to manipulate me, you cannot tempt me with empty promises, and I'm far past getting feelings over a sob story." "I just want a honest reason for why you think that I, a total stranger, should help you." whole time the individual stayed calm, though at this point she was clearly looking directly at him, the visible eye focusing on him. Either she really wanted to know something specific, or she was purposely testing Sombra's patience, it was hard to tell with the only thing to go on being a single unfeeling eye and the posture. 

[Props Valroa 26,038]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra looked deeply into the stranger's eyes. Clearly he wasn't going to take no for an answer. If they were alone then perhaps he would be a lot more physical and assertive but there were ponies around here, and any huge displays were sure to get word spreading around. He didn't want that. It wasn't out of mercy, but out of the confines of the situation that he found himself in. "If you don't help me I'll so easily find someone else. I asked a simple favor from you. No manipulation. No games. If you tell me where it is I'll simply say this - you will have my gratitude. My kind do not come around so fragrantly." he spoke, an honest hoof went to his chest. He wasn't lying. At least if he was, he was very good at hiding it. If she still denied him after that, well, he wouldn't be very happy would he? 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@-Solstice-
"Gratitude? oh for the ever burning star, you are pathetic." The stranger stated, unfazed "Your body betrays you little pony, you pretend to be calm and kind but in truth you are angry," "How dare I, a simple-minded dragon, disobey your will." as she spoke, she crouched down, a green dragon's arm coming from under the robe and starting to draw on the ground, it was her left hand "Could at least listen to what I say, I never said I know where the Alicorn Amulet is, stated the opposite actually, my best guesses are, one of the castles, other secure guarded place, or the black market." she was drawing what looked like a map of Equestria "What I know is locations of tombs, temples and other such mainly buried things from long time ago, back then they liked to bury magical items." she drew dots all around the map she had drawn "I don't know how many of them have been found, as I couldn't care less." she rose back up "Do with that information whatever you want." she then turned to leave. "Oh, and keep your eyes open, you'll never know when someone is watching." 

[Props Valroa 26,038]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra couldn't help but grit his teeth at that. He felt exposed, having someone who could see right through his illusions and his lies. If that was how this was going to be then there was no hiding his intentions. Not that he cared all that much, it would likely be hard to track him down anyway and he was sure he could take this dragon on should he have to. Only reason why he didn't pummel her into the ground this instant was because there were others around in the area and he didn't wish to make a scene. If what she spoke of was really true, then he would be glad to find anything. If he should go there and find nothing, he'd know that she lied to him. His main objective was the amulet, perhaps she was just trying to throw him off - but he wouldn't discount her map and the locations she pointed out just yet. He would look down at the map, memorizing it's locations within his mind. He stayed silent, his highly annoyed expression spoke all that needed to be spoken. This dragon needed to learn to bow before her true King, after all.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@-Solstice-

As the dragon walked away, it seemed that for some reason, her right leg left slightly deeper prints than the left one, and in other odd detail, her wings were actually hidden inside her robe instead of poking through  holes like one normally would do. She was also walking in a specific rhythm, if Sombra paid attention to such detail, he possibly may have recognized it as marching rhythm, granted it wasn't exactly unheard of someone just accidentally matching the exact step pattern, but it really went against rest of her demeanor.

She suddenly stopped and tilted her head like she was looking at something, even though she was currently staring at a wall, she then started moving again, this time lot faster, and soon enough she disappeared behind a corner. 

 

[Props Valroa 26,038]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra looked at her as she left, finding her to be a very odd creature to say the least. Whatever she was, she knew a lot. Not exactly something he was going to go out of his way to trifle with. With the locations memorized in his mind, he would head off to the nearby clothing store. Of course he was just going to steal some clothing for himself as well. As a regular stallion, he figured he would look good in a suit. As he walks about the place, he notices how technology and the general style of things have changed in the past thousand years or so. It was a positive change to say the least. As he entered into the store, he saw the various lights and arrangements within. He found himself a bit bewildered by that fact.

It was all very interesting to say the least, but he had a mission to accomplish first before taking a gander at any modern technologies he came across.  But one of his goals was possibly taking advantage of said technology to suit his aims to conquer Equestria as he had set out for himself to do. Nothing in here struck him as anything that could be used as a weapon. First things first, clothing. He would make sure that no others were looking when he got himself several suits stuffed into a bag, and he would pick out various casual wear for Una, as well as a cloak to hide most of her form. With the various things in the bag that he gathered after several minutes his body along with the items would vanish into shadow, heading off towards the train car.

Eventually, he would return to the train car, wondering if Una was loyal enough to stay as he instructed. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@-Solstice-
Una was still in the train car, hovering just above the floor. levitating something with her green magic, she had gotten hang of flying and magic it seemed, and her constantly changing wings and horn didn't seem to affect them in any way. The car seemed...cleaner inside than before, the papers were in a neat pile seemingly in right order, it was lot less dusty, and in general it looked like Una had used at least a bit of time to clean it up, there was also small surface damage to things that hadn't had it before, nothing big, but enough that it could be noticed.

She jumped a bit when Sombra came back, dropping what she was levitating, though she caught it before it hit the floor, levitating it back upward. Speaking of, the thing she was levitating, it hadn't been there before, it looked like a medal, the kind you give to soldiers for doing something great, but it had the logo from the papers, no text, and on the sides of the logo there were swords as part of the design.  

[Props Valroa 26,038]

@Catpone Cerberus

Upon his entry into the train car he would smirk in an authoritative manner. It was a good thing that he had found someone who could do more than what he asked of her. The train car was a lot nicer than it was before, so he obviously approved of her actions here to say the least. What was of most importance was the object that Una had there, it was probably something from the papers or from her body that he didn't notice so he didn't comment on that.

"I encountered a rather annoying creature there. Took her some coaxing, but she told me the locations of other items of great power - but I have no way of knowing if she's lying and she didn't tell me where the Alicorn Amulet was, other than what I had already surmised - it being locked away, probably in the Canterlot treasury. If she lied to me, she will pay dearly in the future but that's not the main point." he spoke, and then revealed to her the various clothing he had gotten her. Mostly outdoor-ish clothing, with a cloak to hide her other features. With his suits, he cast a spell on them and they vanished to shadow - for further use. With a grunt, he looked out over the area. "It's time we get going, now." he said, not leaving her any room to disagree. He planned to catch a train out of the place, and to head further towards Canterlot.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@-Solstice-
"Thank you, your highness." Una quickly thanked with a small bow when given the clothes before choosing the most covering one to put on and putting rest of them on her back, since it sounded like they were in a hurry and she didn't want to delay them. She put the thing she was levitating in one of the pockets, she was going to say something regarding it but she figured it was best to leave that for when they were in less of a hurry "L-lead the way." with Sombra's annoyance from the meeting and his more direct order, Una felt shiver in her spine, thus she didn't dare to slow things down, she didn't really know what Sombra would do if he ever got mad at her, she wasn't really scared of anything specific, but she was still fearful of angering him.  

[Props Valroa 26,038]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra accepted her response silently and would lead them out of the train car. He would direct them past the abandoned train cars and held up a hoof to wait, looking at the various trains in the station. They were cargo trains, and it seemed like one of them was getting ready to leave with the various workers inspecting it and such. They would wait there a while, perhaps a half hour or so in which Sombra would direct Una to stay silent. He stayed silent and authoritative, and kept his eyes on the back train cars he could get them into. When the train slowly started to depart, he made a motion with his hoof, and would quickly direct them to get into one of the traincars on the back, to depart the station and go to the destination - Deltrot, a large city in the heart of Equestria.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@-Solstice-
Sombra didn't need to tell Una to be silent, as she figured enough from the situation to know it was not time to speak, she also had something else to focus on, as she could feel her neck-fur rising up when there was fur. She got the feeling she was being watched, but regardless of looking around, there was no sign of anything, and what made it more worth her focus was that this wasn't the first time, as she had felt the same some time before Sombra had come back, she had planned to mention it to Sombra, but she didn't exactly have time, and she was too afraid of him to have delayed them for a thing that could be nothing. 

The feeling went away when they got into the moving traincar, but Una was still feeling anxious, she wanted to tell Sombra about the feeling she had gotten, but she didn't know how to bring it up now, and longer she waited more worried she felt, as she didn't want it to seem like she had purposely kept it from him, but waiting would make it seem that way, but also saying it right now could seem like that. This inner conflict was apparent from outside.

[Props Valroa 26,038]

@Catpone Cerberus

When they were on the moving traincar, the train slowly accelerated. The click clack of the wheels on the rails were heard - Sombra looked back at the rail yard they departed from with a neutral expression. In truth, all that was in his heart was rage and vengeance. Destruction of all who oppose him. He would take over Equestria for himself. The times of being lenient were far from over. While he knew that such a large landmass was hard to conquer, he couldn't just enslave everyone. No. He would only destroy those responsible for his previous defeats and anyone else who would come in the way to that. Normal ponies weren't guilty of anything against him, they were only fed the lies by their leaders anyways. He thought back to the Crystal Ponies, he had enslaved them and put them in the mines in an attempt to dig through to the areas where the Umbrum were sealed beneath the caves of the Empire. The Crystal Ponies and the Umbrum would rule Equestria alongside him. He is a ruler, but a ruler needs to delegate those to rule in his name. 

After some time in thought, he would notice Una's expression. It seemed like something was on her mind. His eyes looked towards her and for a moment there was silence - "Something seems to be the problem. You should tell me." he said, as he slumped back in the wagon.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@-Solstice-
"I-I felt something." Una blurted out, better get straight to the point now that she had been called out "W-when we waited and earlier when you were away." "Like I was being watched." now that she said it out loud, it was kinda weird she could tell it was that, was it something one just naturally recognized? or was there some reason she didn't remember? "It could be nothing, but when I peeked outside after the first feeling went away, I saw this on the ground." she levitated the medal thing out of her pocket, she then took a more submissive stance, ears pressed flat and so on "I-I didn't mean to hide it from you, y-your highness, I was just t-too scared to bother you when you told we're leaving."