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

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

"Changelings were known of back in my time, but contact and knowledge of them was rare. From what I managed to see in the Museum when we were there, Changelings had attempted an invasion somewhat recently but were repelled. It would be useful to have them allied with me. However, we should have a new plan. I am going to need to find a blacksmith and someone who knows advanced magic. I have a way to brainwash them, but the method is very crude." he snorted.

"I can summon in these helmets for others to wear and it makes them undyingly loyal to me. A helmet is a very noticeable thing, and I would like to find someone who is able to make those helmets into magical rings that ponies can wear and not be noticed, so I can already start having a following in this city without anyone knowing about it. I can use this to infiltrate the guard, and have them all be loyal to me." he added with an evil smile. "That way, the Equestrian Guards themselves will side with me in any future event, and there will be a well organized structure for citizens to follow." he stated.

"I would prefer they follow me willingly, but knowing the populace, a large fraction of them will not, so this method is something that has to be refined and put into practice. Once we have the rings constructed, we can put them on the various guards around the place. All we would have to do is ask for them to give us the artifacts we need, and they will." he said, seemingly satisfied with this plan, but wanting Una's thoughts on it. 

"I don't know what you are speaking of, with time you'll discover more." he grunted, not seemingly interested in discussing that currently. His plans mattered above all else.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,435]

@Props ValRoa
Una wasn't surprised at all that Sombra didn't seem to care about her situation, that's why she explained it only after being asked to, she knew that he would dismiss it at best, get annoyed at worst, after all, she had been with him enough to learn what kind of individual he was. She didn't comment on the changeling alliance, though she did find it unlikely to succeed, because while the little she read implied they were in similar direction to Sombra in morality, it was stated that they attacked to feed on love, and she couldn't imagine there to be much love under Sombra's rule, so there was a clash of motivation.

"That sounds like a decent plan your highness, my guess is that the hardest part is to find those capable of helping you without rising suspicion, I'd imagine that someone capable of for example turning highly magical items into different shape, would be highly educated, and thus would more easily spot what to them would be suspicious individuals, if not straight up spot magic like dark magic or illusions." "And if I may ask, your highness, how hard is the brainwash to spot if ignoring the physical item? Because while many probably wouldn't notice if for example a neighbor started acting slightly different suddenly, I'd imagine that family, close friends, lovers, or any other such could cause trouble for it staying hidden." learning about the helmets Una was glad Sombra hadn't used one of them on her, sure it probably wouldn't have changed anything since she was already loyal to him, but she liked it more that she could at least think that it was out of her own free will, even if she didn't necessarily believe that anymore either, she didn't think Sombra had done something, no, she just felt that her devotion wasn't...natural.  

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra went silent for a bit as he thought. "With the way that it works, is that the individual's personality is not altered. If I ask something of them, they will do it without hesitation or question. Even if it means me sending them to their own slaughter. When they are not required, their personality is normal and no differences are really noticed. The problem is that the helmet in my time was required for it at all times, and they had to wear the helmet at all times in order to be fully brainwashed." he spoke, with a slight growl and annoyance at the limitation that his spell had.

"It's a rather complex spell. I made the helmets because of the war. I did not have a way to contain the spell within a smaller vessel that would be easily hidden. Perhaps this time, with what has modernized, magic has as well, to the point where it's complexity can be contained within smaller subject matters." he said, hoping that was possible. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,435]

@Props ValRoa
Una nodded in understanding "What about opinions?" "If you for example have a guard commander under your will, but are not ready with the full plan, and your return gets revealed, would that commander be able to brief their troops to combat you like they would normally in that situation, or would their loyalty stop that, thus revealing your actions?"  she asked "I don't mean to doubt your abilities your highness, but having seen the opponents these rulers have apparently fought, one of them using infiltration tactics like you are planning to, I believe even smallest details should be considered to ensure success." her tone again indicated that what she said was meant with full respect, and her question was less to get an answer, and more for making Sombra think about it, since she doubted that this type of things crossed his mind back then, since the original purpose of the spell, from sounds of it, wasn't to be subtle. 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

"They would be able to use their skills in a way that would be loyal to me. I had it in a way to where they would be able to use their skills in a way to brief me or inform me of things as if I were a commanding officer. It had some bugs though, and it could definitely be improved. It might be possible for me to use my helmets on some magic users around here to get them to teach me more types of magic rather than just dark magic and illusions." he spoke to her and growled a bit. "It is going to be hard to find someone who is able to make the helmet into something as small as a ring and something I can mass produce, but I do not want to rely on brainwashing. I want willing followers..." he sighed and shut his eyes.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,435]

@Props ValRoa
Sombra didn't really address what Una was asking, she wasn't asking if they would work for him, she was asking if they could work against him if staying undercover required that, a guard commander that suddenly stopped working against one of the enemies, especially one known for controlling minds, would be a giveaway for those they are supposed to infiltrate. However, Una wasn't going to press the issue, she didn't want to annoy Sombra.

"I'm sure there exists creatures that would like to follow you, if nothing else, anyone secretly studying dark magic would have an interest to help you, though finding them is of course another thing altogether." it was also something she had no ideas for,she knew nothing about this world, its culture, or any other thing that would have given an idea on where to find what. "What is probably easier to find is more about magic, I'd imagine that a nation with so many unicorns would have public libraries with material to learn magic." 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

"That is true. Public libraries that would contain secret areas that contain hidden knowledge they want hidden from the public. My amulet seems to allow me the ability to perform some fire magic among some other minor things. It is not nearly strong enough. The Alicorn Amulet is an artifact that amplifies my power base and ability tenfold. Without it, I lost my defensive war against the Equestrians. I lost hold of it, because some clever thief, who was likely sent in by Celestia and Luna, managed to steal it - and by that time, I had acted desperately for victory, attempting to delay the inevitable..." he growled again, his pure rage showing.

"Let's see what the libraries have to offer." he spoke, pulling out the map and directing them towards the closest one. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,435]

@Props ValRoa
Una actually doubted there was any secret areas in public buildings like libraries and museums, restricted areas yes, but secret? Her suggestion was actually more that there probably existed perfectly public material Sombra could use to look into new kinds of magic, not everything had do be dark and mysterious. Of course she understood that really powerful magic would most likely be either behind locks that you need specific authorization for, or in places where public had no knowledge off, but they were talking about learning new types of magics here, even someone like Sombra would need the basics first.

She didn't say anything about it while she followed though, and just kept those thoughts to herself, because this was a topic she really knew nothing about, she seemed to be good at assuming certain things, but how magic was handled was more a culture thing, and she didn't know enough about the local culture to be sure how they would handle learning magic, who knew, maybe the rulers endorsed learning powerful magic and only magic with corrupting effects was hid from the public. 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Upon discovering a public library, Sombra would lead them onward into it. This public library was one of the many ones found here. It was named the "Canterlot Central Library", indicating this was the main one in the city that had access to what most commoners would want to read. The unfortunate thing was, there was a ton of ponies here. It was extremely busy. The Library itself was massive and ornate, with works stemming back centuries contained within it's walls.

Sombra was visibly in awe of this. Una could tell that his demeanor changed when he saw this. "So much has changed. The knowledge here could take us years to amass properly..." he spoke with a whisper, showing a little bit of humility in his mannerisms. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,435]

@Props ValRoa
Una was also in awe, she had the concept of libraries in her mind, but she had no idea what they actually looked like, so the sheer amount of books was impressive to her, though this was also a slight problem, because if this much was available to the public, how much did the rulers know? She didn't want to say it out loud for several reasons, but she was getting worried that this whole thing was bound to fail, because no matter of Sombra's capabilities, they had no chance to match their opponents in knowledge, they would need to come up with something that nobody had ever thought of in a millennia. 

"...The question is, where to start?" she asked quietly, though it was rhetorical, as she continued right away as she scanned the area with her eyes "I think I see a sign saying magic." she pointed to a direction, in some distance away. while bit hard to see due to the crowd, there was a sign pointing to the magic section, along other signs pointing to other sections. 

She also noticed another small thing about Sombra that even he himself may have not realized, something that made her feel the slightest bit of happiness, not the change in his demeanor, but a word he used, 'us', this wasn't the first time he used the word, but it was the first time he used it in a way that implied he saw her as part of the team. 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra's eyes took a second to adjust to the massive sight that lay before him. He had been in libraries for sure. He even had his own private library in the Crystal Empire - one that had no doubt been confiscated away from him after his first defeat. But this? This could all lay the groundwork to a future plan that would be so all encompassing in character - that there would be no chance in failure. He was free, and he had all the time in the world to prevent such a thing from happening again. He knew full well, to make good use of it.

"Right. The magic section will prove worthy of me, I hope. The historical knowledge garnered here is something for another day. All that would take much more time to amass. It could take me days, months...even years to read through all this properly." he said, and he lead the way to the magic section, looking at all the various subsections within it.

Quite frankly, he had no idea where to begin. For the first time in a while - he truly felt inadequate. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,435]

@Props ValRoa
The magic sections were diverse, as there was subsections for subsections, example being weather magic having been split to pegasus and non-pegasus, and from there split to each category of weather, which in some cases were split into even smaller sections of specific elements of said weather, though in most cases, the subsections were in the same area as the main ones, their main purpose being to help creatures find the specific part of the shelf instead of having to go through the whole collection of books to find something specific.

The sections could be split to two main categories, information and usage, in the former there were sections holding general information, like history of magic in Equestria, information about the magic of specific species known to Equestria, known magical beings, known artifacts and other such things, while the latter had things to learn magic with, everything from books about basics to straight up spell-books.

Una was bit overwhelmed, but she wasn't sure if it was due to all the categories, or because there existed so many types of magic, she was bit surprised to see there was a subsection for Dark magic, but seeing it was in the history section, she doubted there was anything in there that could be used to learn the magic, in fact, she wouldn't  have been surprised if all the books were just talking about how you shouldn't use it.

Not knowing about Sombra's lack of plan, she quietly asked, her voice slightly hinting at the fact that she was bit overwhelmed by the size of this place "Was there any specific type of magic you were thinking of looking into?" she almost said 'your highness' as usual, but since they were surrounded by so many creatures, mainly ponies, that wasn't really a good idea, since even when speaking quietly, someone next to them could hear, and that could cause problems, because even if they wouldn't connect it to Sombra, ponies would probably react in some way if they heard there was a royal among them. 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra looked to her and narrowed his eyes slightly. "While as eager as we may be to dive into something complex, it is better we start with the basics first. The history of magic and how magic differs from species to species, and then build upon there. I know I am eager to learn, but I'm not stupid to build a castle without a foundation first." he spoke, leading the way to the history section. There wasn't that many ponies here, so they were able to sit down and pick out a few books to learn. Sombra was a well read stallion, having read many books back in the day. That was how he got his current knowledge after all. 

That knowledge quite frankly corrupted him further than he already was. He was originally a high ranking scientist who then got too deep into his study. In his studies, he spent long hours absorbing knowledge of dark magic and history information. That lead him to perform further experimentation on himself, leading him to alter his body and mind to be able to take this level of dark magic without going insane, as many have in the past. Only after mastering that knowledge, did he finally meet the Umbrum, and take it upon himself to rule both species of Umbrum and Ponies by embodying the most powerful of both, within him.

He can still pursue such a thing, right here, right now - and so he cracked open an introductory book and began to read, suggesting for Una to do the same once they sat down at the nearby table.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,435]

@Props ValRoa
Una would do as Sombra told her to, though if not told to take a specific book, she would go get book or few about Changeling magic specifically, and if questioned for her reasoning, she'd simply say that it makes sense to try to master the natural magic first before learning new, and changeling magic seemed to be that for her, she also took a book relating to magical absorption, this she would explain with wanting to understand how absorbing emotions worked for changelings, but that wasn't true, as the real reason was her wanting to see if there would be something that would explain her experience with the piece of armor she stole.

She was also considering of just taking out the book she took from the museum, but decided against it, since it was more about Changelings as species rather than their magic. 

While reading she quickly learned one more thing about herself, she was a quick reader, now, having read the papers about herself, she already knew she could read, but she hadn't realized back then it came this naturally to her.

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra didn't raise an issue with what Una was reading. He spent some time reading the more introductory books. Some of this stuff he already knew about magic. It was mainly about casting magic, how to wield magic, maintaining focus and all that sort of stuff. This was stuff he already knew, but despite that he wanted to read it all the way through to gain an understanding of what has exactly changed since his time. A lot of it was simply expanded on and more detailed. A lot of the books in here were relatively new, reflecting a modern understanding of magical affairs. There was a section towards the back that was basically an older, more ancient version of the sections here.

The library was quite frankly, very huge. It was several stories in height, and there were tons of ponies here of all ages - in all sections. Some of them were beginners, some of them were advanced leaners who were simply brushing up on their knowledge. 

Sombra brisked through the introductory books fairly quickly. He understood the various differences on the foundations of magic. With that he decided what he was going to start learning here. Light magic. Light magic is one thing that would be extremely unexpected by anyone facing Sombra. Sombra was well known in history to be one of Dark Magic, while this was true, he wanted to expand his knowledge of other types of magic. Elemental magic, for one. 

With that in mind, he would get up and leave Una to read her Changeling magic books. Sombra would come back a few minutes later with some light magic books.

Like that, he began to read.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,435]

@Props ValRoa
While interesting, the books Una had taken weren't that useful if only talking about getting stronger, she did learn through them what she was possibly able to do, but there wasn't actually anything on how to do it, and considering that it was mentioned how all the stuff came naturally to changelings, she was very doubtful that there was any books actually teaching changeling magic specifically, though that didn't necessarily matter since it seemed that besides shape shifting and the whole eating emotions thing, changelings were magically somewhat similar to unicorns, so maybe, her presumably being part unicorn, she could work with unicorn magic instead?

With everything new she learned, there was also new questions, one of them being about her current power, it was stated that individual's power was dependent on how much they fed, as in, average poorly fed changeling was notably weaker than average unicorn, but a well fed changeling could surpass even powerful unicorns, queens being entirely their own power class, so that raised a question, what was she? she couldn't feed on emotions, or at least she didn't know how to do it, but she also didn't feel especially weak. 

Speaking of consuming things, that book wasn't super useful either when it came to practical things, but it did inform her enough that she knew absorption was a potential explanation for her interaction with the armor, but nothing could be confirmed for now since it was just one time with one small thing, as far as she knew, it was a safety mechanism in the armor itself.

She got up, she wouldn't bother Sombra, but if he did react to her getting up, she'd explain she's just going to get few more books, if allowed, she'd be away minute or two, coming back with few books about unicorn magic, and a single book about dragons. Unlike Sombra, she wasn't yet looking into any specific type of magic she could field, instead she was trying to figure out what she could do based on the species she assumed she was a mix of, after all, it was hard to start learning new if you didn't know what you already knew. 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

When Una got up, he would briefly ask her what she was doing - and upon her response, he would allow her to go and get some more books. While she was up and away, he would turn his gaze away from the book he was reading and would watch her get up and get the books. While she was loyal, he was sure to always keep a watchful eye on her. When she would return to where she was, Sombra would return to reading his book. 

As Sombra was reading, he would absorb the various information about Light magic. The manner it was done, was very unfamiliar to him to say the least. For the longest time he thought he would have been incapable of casting Light Magic due to his affinity for Dark Magic, but upon further research in the book - just about anyone can cast it, as long as the caster themselves is not entirely a dark magic being - such as an Umbrum. Sombra himself wasn't an Umbrum, he was a Crystal Unicorn in his real origins. However, one would never think that due to the level of modifications he had done to himself over the years to handle this level of power.

That meant that he was able to cast Light Magic. He found it rather enlightening - as it would be useful for offensive combat. Rather than shadow sneaking, he could straight up blind his opponents and then strike them while they are dealing with the aftermath. At least that was one possible option. It was extremely complex, so of course he was going to take his time reading.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,435]

@Props ValRoa
Una could tell Sombra was watching her, but she didn't care much about it, it was nothing unexpected and made no difference since she wasn't planning on doing anything weird, and while she knew it was probably due to his trust issues, she liked to think it was because she was more than just air to him, be it in a good way or a bad way.

As she read, Una had several books open at a time, as she cross referenced information from each species, this again didn't give her anything that would directly make her stronger, but it gave her food for thought about herself. The unicorn-changeling  connection was pretty obvious, two magical creatures that were very similar in many ways, so reading about unicorns only strengthened her assumption that she would be able to use any magic that an unicorn could, though that wouldn't be known until she could test it some day. 

Introducing dragons in the mix was bit more interesting, there wasn't much information about them, as it seemed that the ponies here hadn't looked into the species that much yet, but what she got was that while active magic use was rare in dragons, they were still magical, as evidenced by some of their rituals and by partly biological process called 'Molt'. This alone wasn't that interesting, but in the book the writer had included some theories regarding dragons, and one included the idea that theoretically dragons would be able to withstand physically more raw magical power than ponies, if they were to find a way to gather it that is. 

Ultimately everything she read was rather pointless alone, but as she combined things, her mind started racing about the potential reality that was her body, when combined with her possible origin of being a weapon, she actually started to form sort of a hypothesis about herself in her mind, or well, few different hypothesis.

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra continued to read the books about Light Magic. It was particularly useful because it showed various ways how Light could counter Dark magic. Some of what he was reading showed that there had been a lot of advancement since his time. Knowing how his magic could be countered meant that he could predict how his enemies may potentially fight him. Light Magic may be a go-to method they would seek to counter him, but now he knew various ways he could use to counter that process. By being a lot more refined with his magic, he could simply move his magic out of the way of the light, strengthen existing shadows within an area.

It was impossible for all shadows in an area to truly be removed using light - but he knew it was possible to kill all light within an area. The only way it was possible for there to not be shadows in an area was to have a perfectly flat surface - and never go there. The mere presence of one's body creates shadows in one form or another. Knowing his magic, even the smallest shadow was a potential weapon to be used in combat. All he had to do was create more shadows to create a cascading reaction, with multiple backups, to strike at multiple angles rather than going full into brunt force attacks.

As he read, he would begin to understand the casting of Light Magic itself. He knew the various theories and practices behind it, as well as several spells he could use. Obviously he wasn't going to test them here, but these books proved valuable enough to where he understood the concepts itself. 

After that, he would begin looking into more refined types of magic. Water and Air, precisely. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,435]

@Props ValRoa
After coming up with few potential ideas for what she was, Una thought about what she would start studying specifically, and after some consideration, she decided on doubling down on the absorbing part at least first, her logic being that even if the so called worst option from her guesses for her own nature was the truth, that being that she was just a changeling, it would be useful since it's something changelings already do, and if it was any of the others? it would be very useful. 

She would get up again, this time picking up the book about magic absorption she had from earlier with her, and again if asked she'd explain she was just getting more books, while also taking the one back to the shelf. If allowed again, she'd come back with bunch of books about absorption, from slightly different shelves some of them, as she wanted more than just generic history of the magic type. 

It was slightly problematic thing to study, because as one would expect, there wasn't lot on how to actually do it for the more offensive kinds of absorption, since like with Dark magic, it could easily be used for awful things, and it was technically corruptive since power corrupts, but Una wasn't worried about that, while ignorant on lot of things, she had a brain of some kind, and she figured that she could adapt the magic for her use after she first learned to use it at all.

Edited November 27, 2022 by Catpone Cerberus

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra would continue reading on his Air and Water magic books. The two of them were very similar types of magic, so he would read the books together - more or less. Air and Water magic was less complex than Light Magic was, just that it was unique in it's own different way. Air and Water magic had more to do with Pegasi magic, if anything, but he was able to tell that Unicorns and Spell casters would be able to cast it. It did grant him a unique thought - using weather to his advantage. Perhaps causing storms and massive amounts of flooding on enemy armies? Would be possible, but something of that level would require a massive amount of magic and a way to control it. Food for thought.

He'd look over to Una, and after a while of reading his books - Sombra would ask what books she was reading there. It was clear that once he was done with his own books, he would want to read what she was reading. Perhaps out of curiosity, or as a precaution to make sure she isn't getting too many ideas. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,435]

@Props ValRoa
"These are just general information about species specific magics." Una started, pointing at mentioned books "The rest are about absorbing magic, since being at least part changeling, that is the most logical way for me to go." "It could also be useful in dealing with magic that counters you, allowing me to nullify the threats you are vulnerable to." she of course spoke quietly, making sure nobody else heard "Though it will take more than bit of reading, because it seems they have removed any directly usable information about anything that isn't entirely defensive when it comes to absorption." 

She had no reason to not be honest with Sombra, granted she didn't say everything she had thought about, but that was less her hiding it and more her not wanting to bother Sombra with it since he didn't seem to care when she tried to bring it up before. 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

"Would be useful for me to read as well, once I finish here. Light, and Air magic would prove useful. If I am to understand light, I am to also understand how Light counteracts the Dark. It is paramount to understand that. But much more than that, weather might be useful as well..." he said, his words trailing off to not reveal too much of anything to anyone who was listening. This was just the first few hours of reading, they could easily be here for days, if not weeks, spending time to commit this information to memory.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,435]

@Props ValRoa
Una had nothing to say to Sombra's response, partly because she didn't know what he was on about, since she hadn't looked into the same things he had, and because there simply wasn't anything to add, she didn't disagree with anything enough to bring it up. and it was pointless to say that you agree, as she could show the same by just nodding, as she did. The only thing she thought about was if Sombra was taking a bigger bite than he could handle at once, but she didn't have any strong opinions on that because she didn't actually know Sombra's full capability. 

She'd give any book that Sombra may have wanted to him without hesitation, though it wasn't because she was scared of him, she was, but that wasn't why she gave them, rather, it was the fact that she had pretty much read what there was to read, and was at the point where the next things was to think it over, make sense of the information she had filled her head with. 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra wanted to take the time to finish reading the books he was currently reading. All of it just about confirmed his suspicions - he knew these types of magic could likely mix to create weather magic he could use to his advantage. However, he knew that belonged to the Pegasi inherently. Casting it himself would just be a waste of time, but it was something he would like to know about just incase there were any reasons he needed to use it in the future. 

Most importantly was finding out information about brainwashing and mind slavery - and how to cast it effectively on others so they could do his each and every word - but when they weren't needed, they would be normal. He already had that part solved. What he needed to find, was a way to condense such a complex spell down into a small ring or on a pony themselves. The helmets were a little too obvious. 

By the time he had reached these thoughts, they had been at the library well into the night. It took them that long to get to the point where they were now. There were less ponies, but still a lot. Potentially it was time to take a break. Sombra didn't seem all that willing to, though. He had an obsessive personality, after all.