Read The Bridge

Xenilla turned the page on his book, studying its contents. His theory was becoming more and more grounded with every passage of the historical records. King Sombra was back, this he was sure of. And considering it’s widely hypothesized the dark unicorn was the one who killed his predecessor, ‘Empress’ Amore, and that he’d have a vendetta against Cadance for her hand in his death; Xenilla could only think of one motivation the tyrant would have. He would be going after Empress Cadenza, which would explain him spying on her yesterday in the marketplace.

Sombra is a stalking predator. And a stalking predator is soon to strike… He’s one to attack when she is more vulnerable, isolated to avoid as big a conflict as possible. He won’t attack her in public.

He shifted his attention to some schematics of the castle that happened to have been close by, possibly part of Key Ring’s curriculum or study. He pulled a few out and looked over the layout, memorizing each detail.

If he strikes in private by slipping into the castle after nightfall when most are asleep, he might be able to pull off an ambush with minimal interference… Yes, he’ll likely try that soon. And if I remain close to the Empress’s chamber I’ll be able to sense him coming…

Xenilla crackled a smug smirk, chuckling lowly. He’d been wanting to let off some steam since he got here. Now there was but one question. When Sombra attacked the Empress, a given truth, how long would it take for him to intervene? The pink alicorn was no ally. Perhaps he should let the tyrant off a potential thorn in his side before he stepped in? Was all a matter as to what be more useful to him or what would impede his progress more. The alicorn living, or the potential disarray a leaderless empire might have, which one was worse?

Decisions decisions…

Something caught his attention after it bounced off his nose. The tiny, hard object tumbled down to the desk he stood beside. Averting his attention, Xenilla soon found himself looking at a small crystal fragment rolling across the hardwood. The tapping on the desk and blur of movement heralded another crystal shard’s decent. Xenilla’s point of focus slowly trained up and looked to the source.

“Yes, but regardless of who it is practicing it, if there is a dark magic user on the loose the Princess must be inform-….”

“…Xenilla?”

The kaiju didn’t reply, causing both parties to look up at where he was. And what they saw caused both of their eyes to be wide as dinner plates. The entire section of ceiling above them was cracked and all but shattered, as small fragments of it began to rain down towards them. A crumbling roar sounded off and a large chunk of crystal jostled loose from the roofing and tumbled downwards. Noting its course, Blade Dancer was the first to snap into action and charged at Key Ring. Flapping her wings once to give her a boost, Blade Dancer grabbed the unicorn by the leg.

“HEADS UP!”

Using her momentum, she spun around and tossed the stallion to the side just as the cabinet sized hunk of gemstone that used to be roofing impaled itself into the ground they once stood on. Unfortunately due to the dust and fragmentation of the falling and then shattering gemstones, neither of the two saw a second, much broader chunk following its sibling. It fumbled through the air, heading right for a certain guardsmare. Key Ring struggled to get to his hooves and concentrate on a levitation spell to try and catch or slow down the killer debris.

“BLADE DANCER!”

The guardsmare looked up just in time to instinctively put her hooves up and try to dart to the side. However, not even she was quick enough to get out of her current position. Someone else however wasn’t in such a bad spot.

A large blotch cloaked the pegasus mare’s vision and an audible boom reverberated through the floor. Blade Dancer’s face was caught in a grimace as she stood still for some time. A stray thought managed to shine through as the seconds passed.

Wait… shouldn’t I be crushed?

She opened her eyes to something not quite expected.

Xenilla snarled lowly, holding up the carriage sized hunk of gemstone on his arms and shoulders. His horn and patches glimmered, adding powerful telekinesis to hold up the crystal in addition to brute force far exceeding most others. Red and yellow eyes slowly looked down at the pegasus the unicorn stood over.

“You should be more careful with your heroics little dancer..”