Sparkle's Quest, Samuel's Journey (Book 1 of The Alicorn Chronicles)

Chapter 19: Turning the Tables

It was early morning and Sparkle had woken at dawn to clean up. Zacora's cottage was a mess from the party the ponies had last night, and Sparkle wanted to thank Zacora for everything she'd done for them by cleaning.

She and Moondrop had the place cleaned in a hour. She sighed and sat down. Cleaning was hard work.

Samuel soon woke up and joined her in the room. He smiled at her.

"Morning." He said.

"Good morning." She replied.

Zacora then walked into the room.

"I have a sick pony friend who needs my help. I must make a potion to heal her, or else." She said

"Do you need any help?" Sparkle asked.

Zacora thought for a moment.

"I need to go collect some herbs still, you could go to the store and get some other supplies in Ponyville." She replied.

Sparkle nodded.

"Samuel, you should stay just incase something should happen here." Sparkle said.

He reluctantly nodded.

Sparkle stepped into Ponyville. Her mane and tail were braided and tucked underneath the pink hoodie pulled up over her head and covering her wings. She also wore her blue heart gemstone necklace that was a gift from Luna and Celestia on Sparkle's first birthday with them.

She walked into the planter's store and bought the herbs Zacora needed. As she left, she bumped into a strange stallion. Her basket of herbs was knocked off of her back and spilled all over the ground.

"Oh! I'm very sorry, Madame." The cloaked stallion said.

Sparkle couldn't see his features, but she could tell he was a unicorn.

"It's no problem." She said, using her magic to gather everything back into her basket.

She felt the stallion still staring at her. She looked over her shoulder and saw him watching her.

"I must go now...good bye." Sparkle said, walking quickly away from the strange stallion.

She stepped into the bakery and looked around. The place was very busy. Sparkle had planned on picking up some cupcakes for Sam and Zacora, since she knew they liked Pinkie's cupcakes so much.

She walked up to the counter.

"How may I help you, dear?" The lady asked.

"Um, may I have three vanilla cupcakes to go, please?" Sparkle asked.

"Of course! That'll be six bits. They'll be out in just a few minutes." The lady said.

"Thank you." Sparkle replied.

She walked over to the only empty table. It was set in the back corner. There, she sat and waited.

Suddenly, the dark stallion walked in again. He spotted Sparkle and walked over to her table. There, he sat. Sparkle narrowed her eyes. This was beginning to get weird.

"Can I help you?" Sparkle demanded.

The stallion smirked.

"You don't know me? I believed Celestia and Luna would have taught you more about me, Sparkle Shimmer." He said as he watched her eyes grow wide.

"How do you know who I am?!" Sparkle exclaimed.

"I know all about you, my dear. I know that you're in training to become a princess, but while on your final mission, fell in love with the pony you were meant to destroy." He said.

Sparkle gasped. How did he know all of this?!

"I also know that that stallion will be mine. And you my dear, are the key to him. For if I have you, his love for you will become my way of controlling him!" The stallion laughed wickedly.

"Love for me? Samuel? Yours? What are you talking about!?" Sparkle exclaimed.

She was really getting scared now.

"But for now...." He began.

His horn began to glow a dark color. Dark magic flowed from his horn and into hers. She struggled to fight it. She called out for help, but everypony was so busy, they didn't even notice what was going on.

Sparkle's magic began to fail. The darkness started to over take her. Soon, the evil filled her. There was a small blast, and Sparkle was flung to the ground. When she stood and opened her eyes, they were glowing green with cat like pupils. She grinned evilly and her horn glowed a bright green color.

"Now my dear, your mission is this: bring Samuel to me." The stallion said.

Sparkle laughed wickedly.

"Yes master! You can count on me, King Sombra." She bowed.

Then, the waitress walked up.

"Here are your cupcakes, dear!" She said.

Sparkle shook her head and her eyes returned to normal, as did her horn. The only thing that was different was the gemstone on her necklace. Instead of being the blue of her normal eyes, it was the green of her evil ones.

She took the cupcakes and smiled sweetly.

"Thank you, ma'am." She said politely.

As the waitress walked away, Sparkle met eyes with King Sombra and nodded her head. She then walked out of the shop and started her journey back to Zacora's cottage.

Where Samuel waited for her...

~Sparkle Shimmer