“Uhhhg.” I said as I woke up from bed. I did not sleep well. As I got up out of bed and put my catalyst on and went to my desk to write about what happened last night for Luna. “Dear Cute praises denim (Luna): Well last night was very interesting. Remember in the other letter I told you about the gun well Cadence and Shining decided to get ‘Active’ and use it as a ‘toy’ for the activities and they didn't know it had live ammo in it. You can guess what happened after that. Lucky if it weren't for Cadence's alicorn powers she might be dead at worst and paralyzed from the hips back at best. Sadly Shining Armor is now suffering from temporary hearing loss and I had to take the gun away from them because that was very irresponsible of them. Everyone including Shining and Cadence agreed that I should keep the gun. After I took the gun, I cleaned the ever living shit out of it and put it under my bed including the Ammo. From your cuddle bud Sam the father of the gun that nearly killed some pony. PS: I have a feeling that Once Tia finds out about this she will probably give Cadence a stern talk or give her a hard time.”

I put down the pin, folded the paper up and put it in the same envelope as the other letter and closed it. When I walked out of the room there was a guard standing there.

“Princess Cadence would like to see you in the royal dining room.” he said in a siren.

“Will I be needing my gun?” I asked.

“No sir.”

“OK then. Oh can you mail this letter for me? It has the addresses and all that stuff.”

“Yes sir.”

“Thank you.”

After that I went to the Royal dining room but thanks to the sheer size of the palace I had to go through a couple fights of stares, some more halls, and a library. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a park lying around. After a while I finally got to the top of the palace. I walked to the door that had a sign saying Riyal dining hall and walked in. Shining and Cadence were there. Cadence was sitting at the table waiting and shining was looking through mail.

“Hey Sam.” Cadence greeted.

“Hi may I sit?” I asked.

“Yes you may.”

“Ok what do you need me for?” I asked as I sat down.

“Well sense my Shining is suffering from Hearing loss I figured that maybe you can fill him in?”

“Well I don't think I'm qualified for the job.”

“Please pretty please” She begged.

“Ok th-.”

“HAY HONEY DID YOU KNOW THAT TWILLY WILL BE GETTING A CASAL!” Shing Interrupted.

“Yes, that's nice bu-.” Cadence told him.

“WHAT?”

“I'm saying that that's nice bu-.”

“SARY I CANT HEAR YOU!”

“I SAID THAT'S NICE BUT WE HAVE MORE IMPORTANT MANTRAS TO GO TO.”

“OK BUT DID YOU HEAR ABOUT TWILLY?”

“YES YES WE CAN HEAR YOU.”

“OK.”

“Where was I? Oh the meeting room with some of the generals will be a couple floors down.” Cadence told me.

“Alright then I'll see if I can do it or set the city on fire.” I told her as I got up and left the room.

“Do you want pancakes?”

“No thank you.”

Once I left the room I went a few floors down and looked for Shinings meeting room. I'm quite glad that some of the rooms are labeled because without them I would probably get lost. After a while I finally got into his meeting room. There was that brown giffin and a few guards were in the room surrounding a map of the whole city.

“Ok for Today and probably tomorrow I will be filling in for Shining Armor.” I told every pony in the room.

“Why are you saying it like a substitute teacher in a classroom?” The giffin asked.

“Mainly because I have no idea.” I told him.

“The princes already told us that you might be filling in.”

“Well. what is going on?”

“Well we wear fixing to raid a probable hideout but for the past couple of times we have raided pretty much empty buildings.”

“Ok how long have you guys been doing this?”

“A few months.”

“Maybe they're not in the city. Maybe they are like in the countryside."

"That's… That's a good idea actually."

"Well thanks. Do we have all the stuff that we need to go or do we need to prepare?"

"All we need is food but that's it."

"Well then. You rally up the troops and get supplies and I will get my stuff ready."

"Alright see you outside of the palace."

After that we went our separate ways. I went to my room to get my gun, bullets, Sombra’s book and my back bag. While I was walking down the hall I encountered Cadence.

"Hey Sam, do you know any kind of elixir that can get me through the night?" Cadence asked.

"What for?"

"Well I have a strong feeling that tonight is going to be a long one."

"I do know how to make an unholy energy drink."

“Ok can you make one for me?”

“Ya shore”

We went to the royal kitchen which is nice not going to lie and I looked for ingredients. We needed a crap ton of sugar, orange juice, hunny and coffee, likely the kitchen had all of that and a jar to use. While I actually made the drink Cadence asked.

“What do you usually use the drink for?”

“Well I usually use it when I have a night shift. I would buy the energy drinks from the store but it’s cheaper and more effective this way.” I said while mixing all of the ingredients together.

“Wow you gada gone through alot of night shifts.”

“Yep, one time I had to go through two weeks without sleep.”

“Dear Celestia!” She said in shock.

“I'm lucky. Where I'm from It is normal for companies to make their workers work to death.”

She was in shock and I was done with the energy drink. “Here you go and make sure to drink it when you feel like you're going to fall asleep.” I told as I handed her the drink and left. Once I got out of the palace I saw that griffin and a few soldiers following him from a couple of blocks away. Once we met again we discussed where we would be going. After a while of desusing we decided to go waste even though that part of the empire is less populated, it does have a more frequent cultist attack and the west is bordering the changeling lands so we may see some abandoned hives while we survey the area. We packed our things on a wagon that was tode by two pairs of soldiers. Me and the griffin ride on the wagon as well. After a while of traveling I decided to start a conversation with the griffin.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"So what is your name?" I asked.

"Didn't Princess Cadence tell you?" He asked.

"Well no she just told me to fill in for her husband."

"I'm Grover. I'm named after the emperor of the Griffon Empire."

"How did you get the name?"

"Ok my great grandmother was a thug and she stole the royal family's crown. Of course she got in trouble and she moved to Equestria. When I hatched my parents decided to name me, well Grover."

"Do you guys still have the crown?"

"Yes! When I moved out, my parents gave it to me and I have it in my office." He posed for a moment. Then said, "Do you have that book?"

"Yes actually why did you ask?"

"The explosion at your home and the fact that some cultist says that you have the most important thing they need. It all makes sense. I even told the princess that the fanfiction is the real deal, but she didn't believe me. So what is in it so far?"

I told him Everything from the part where Sombra tried to figure out how changelins worked, how I partially succeeded in making the robe, and to the point where Sombra took over the Empire and built the magical field that kept the ponies safe from the cold.

"Do you have it on you?"Grover asked.

"Yes I do." I told him.

"Can I see?"

"Sore."

I opened my bag and handed him Sombra's journal. He looked through it not reading it, but he looked at the diagrams in the book. Then he handed it back to me.

"That seems to be a real deal." Grover said, confirming his theory. "I'm quite glad that you have it on you. If you left it back at the palace then some spy would've gotten it."

"Ya there is probably a spy." I told him.

"I believe there is a spy in the palace but the princess said." He stopped a moment then said mimicking Candice's voice. "Ho no that can't be the case because I'm a princess that thanks that the world is like a fairytale."

We both laughed a little and some of the guards that were polluting the wagon. After a while of just chatting the wagon stopped by train tracks there was a train coming but as it got closer we got a better look of it. It wasn't a normal train. It was bullet shaped and instead of a pipe with steam coming out of it, it had vents on its sides with black smoke bleeding from it. Its engine roared. But as soon as it came it left. After that we resumed our trip. After a while we made it to a forest. Grover took the pegasuses to the sky to scan the forest while I and the Earth bowened ponies whent through the trees. Grover found a nice spot to camp for the night. A cliff side and off to the distance is one of the most impressive things I have ever seen. An abandoned changeling hive. We can see where the forest stopped and the massive dirt patch around the hive started. The clouds loomed over us and it was getting dark.

"What a sight." Grover said.

"Ya it is." I told him.

"Are we going to explore that hive tomorrow?"

"Why are you asking me-" I posed and then just answered. "Ya shore. that hive can be a place the cultists are probably hiding."

"Farewell I'll help set up the camp and you'll get the stuff out of the wagon." Grover told me.

I got to work. Unloading the cargo and putting it next to the tents. There was equipment, Lots of food and water. After a while of moving boxes out of the wagon I looked at Grover and he was just anchoring tents to the ground. Once everyone got done with the camp I looked at the place and it looked like there's not enough tents for everypony but I remembered that ponies are fine with cuddling with each other. So a tent that looks like it should hold three or four ponies may actually have like ten ponies in them, but not sure about griffins though. Some of the guards started a fire and most of them went into the tent and fell asleep while others stayed up. Grover went to sleep in the wagon. I decided to open up Sombra's journal and started to read under a tree.

Over a thousand years ago.

After long weeks of designing and testing the Crystal heart, today is the day of his very first speech to the ponies of the empire. He walked up to the balcony of the palace and started to speak to the crowd of ponies.

"Here I stand in a magical contraption." Sombra Sayed in pride. "Through my countless years of research and a few months of work we have created a palace that doesn't just house the nobles and the king of the empire but it will keep all the ponies of Crystal city. And today we forget about those warlords that are seen as divine beings but today marks a new era. An era of THE Empire! We will fight the winter, we will not let the empire and its ponies! We will advance the Empire! Our children and their children and their children's children will endure! Whoever sacrifices today will reap the rewards of tomorrow!"

The Crystal heart activated, making a bubble around the city. The crowds cheered and the nobles seemed impressed. He went back to the palace. When Sombra Walked by his bedroom his wife and the surfints that aided her crashed through the door. "The foal is coming!" Hope shouted. Sombra quickly gathered a few priests and doctors to help Hope.

It's been countless hours since hope went into labor and Sombra passed around the throne room and was very worried about his wife. Soon the doctors and priests come into the throne room. "So was it a boy or a girl?" Sombra asked. The doctors and priests just looked depressed. Sombra notested the expression on their faces and Sombra rushed through the palace shouting. "Hope!" When Sombra slammed the door open and saw his servants crying. He went over to his wife's body on the bed. "No no no no!" Sombra put his hoof on Hope's. It was cold. "Hope!" Sombra yelled. He started to cry over Hope's corpse for hours on end but after they pulled the corpse out of the palace Sombra looked at the empty bed. Then something snapped in him. His wife and unborn were gone and all he had left was the Empire. He bucked the mirror behind him. That was the day that the king of monsters was born.

Modern day.

"Well at least he didn't have his child die because he was poor." I said before closing the book. I layed under the tree slowly drifting to sleep.

"Mmmm…" I said waking up. I felt something looming over me then I felt a lick on my forehead. I quickly jumped. I shuffled whatever it was off of me and once I got on its legs I got a good look at it. It was a black bug horse thing with holes in its legs no bigger than a bit, it also had a long crack across its face. I looked to my right and there were a couple of guards amused at the scene.

"What is that?!" I asked them.

"Umm. That's a Chachling and we named it crack." The guards replied mockingly.

"Oh it's not hostile?"

"No, if it was then it would be dead by now."

"Oh…"

I walked to Crack and petted it. I rubbed my hoof behind the weird ear thing. Then I walked to the camp where Grover and the other guards were hanging around.

"Good morning Sam." Grover greated. "I see that you've met Crack."

"Yeah he woke me up." I said with a hint of innocence.

"Well here in an hour or so we'll go in there." Then Grover pointed at the massive hive.

“Let me guess Crack is going to help us.”

“Well considering Crack is a changeling. Yes he will.”

After we ate some breakfast we went ahead and traveled down the cliff side. Grover, Crack and the pegasi flew down while me, the unicorns and Earth ponies had just climbed down a natrole ramp. Weirdly Crack sounded like a small helicopter when it flew. I also brought my gun. After we walked down the cliff we continued to the hive. Soon enough we were at the entrance of the hive. The remains of the old residences are no more than old exoskeletons. Crack went in without a second thought. We followed Crack in the hive.

When we got in it was insanely dark, but luckily a few mages did a light spell. Once the spells were at full strength we saw everything. Tunnels everywhere leading to God knows what.

"Split up?" I asked Grover.

"Split up." Grover agreed.

So we split up into two groups. Me with my half and Grover with his half. My group decided to go up the hive while Grover's gone down. Wale Crack just kinda hoped around. There were some problems though. The hive was decking like a corpse. So there were holes leading outside, dead ends and rooms blocked off by debre. Soon a guard came running towards us. "Sir, you need to see this." The guard told me. So I followed him and so did my group as well. After a while of following him we made it to the lower level of the hive and soon enough we ran into Grover.

The room was massive, the room seemed to be pony made not like the rest of the hive, rones all over and there was a pillar at the center. Grover was examining the piller. The pillar was this icey blue and it has coerced supports coming from the floor.

“It looks like it's enchanted but who's powering it?” Grover said to everyone in the room.

“Maybe I know.” I told grover. “In the general Sombra machines made out of magic, of course the one in the journal is just a proto type and the one were in seems more… complex.”

“But then who's in there?”

“Let Find out.”

I punted to one of the mages. An all white pegasus with red eyes. “You!” I commanded. “Can you please go behind this piller and use your catalyst to shine a crap ton of light for me?” I asked. He nodded his head and went to the other side of the room and did what he was told. Soon enough two more mages joined in making a triangle shape. as the light got brighter and brighter soon I saw him. King of Monsters. Sombra. All I could see, so did everyone else was his shape and texture but not his color. He looked similar to the pitcher back at the palace but a bit more undead. A crystal on his chest and there seemed to be some weirs coming out of it while part of his muscle was gone to the bone and part of his chest and shoulder seemed to be burnt.

Then we heard. “My king!” frum one of the mages. we all snapped power necks towards him. A yellow unicorn with lime green mane and he had the journal. “Soon king you'll be free!” He used manafeed on the pillars. I quickly loaded my gun, but as the machine started and made force fields around him and the other two that were lighting the place. The other two started to panic. I amended at the traitor and pulled the trigger. But I messed up making a hole in the wall and the ammo was back at camp. “Well shit!” I said in an angry tone. Crack had a good idea and just noped out of the place and I thank that was a good Idea.

“Retreat!” I shouted and everyone ran. We all ran except for one retarded who wanted to fight Sombra for some reason. When we made it to the exit of the hive we heard screaming from the lower levels. Not a charging scream but a masaker type scream. We counted to run. Once we made it to the camp. We disabled the camp and threw everything in the wagon. Soon we took off. Instead of two guards pulling the wagon it was six and all of the pegasi were flying overhead including Grover. I was in the wagon with my gun out ready to shoot that undead tyrant we have but no one chased us.

After a while of running we made it out of the forest and shortly after we all stopped dead in our tracks. Every pony was exhausted from running and flying. I decided to get some water out for everyone to help them out but when I did I saw some movement but immediately after Crack poked his head out and it seemed he got his hooves on some jam. I went ahead and grabbed the canned water and pasted it to everyone. Once we all got done drinking and resting we continued back to crystal city to deliver the news.