Inside a dark cave near the Crystal Empire. A lonely rat scurries across the floor, sniffing for its next meal. It then hears a sound of something larger than itself nearby. Not wanted to see that last of its days so soon, it runs away as fast its legs could. It squeezes through holes, jumping over rocks, and double back its tracks and the sound of the giant creature disappears. Looking around the corner, the rat could see the shadow of the beast going deeper into the cave. Satisfy that it has avoided danger the rat starts sniffing again, and his nouse caught the scent of something delicious nearby. His nouse led him to a small piece of peanut butter on a metal bar.
Knowing that this was a trap the rat wanted to leave it alone, but the hunger in its belly was too much to ignore the chance of food and moves to the peanuts butter. He nibbles on it with nothing happening he goes in for another bite which was his doom. The metal bar moves back, and the metal bar falls from the ceiling blocking his entrance to the trap. He runs around the trap, trying to find a way out squeaking like mad, which was another mistake. Soon the same sounds from earlier were returning and getting closer. Know that he was endangered, he doubles his efforts to escape, but nothing he did was working. Then before he knew it, the cage started glowing a light green and was lifted in the air. He came face to face with the terror of the cave. It was black as night with green hair flows across its face. Its white fangs could be seen sticking out its mouth. This was the end she found him. He life is over as he lays across the cage, pretending to be dead. The creature lets out a sigh and shakes the pen until the rat got back up.
"Max, this is the second time you have gotten out of your cage," Chrysalis said to her pet rat. "I have more important things to deal with, then having to deal with you running away like that every other day."
The rat then starts making complains in the forms of squeaks and fits. Chrysalis has no idea what he is saying, but he does this every time she catches him, so she has an idea. "Don't give me that." Chrysalis brings her pet back to her laboratory. Once she has fixed the new hole in his cage, she puts Max inside and then gets back to work.
"Now then. Where was I? Right the horn."
Chrysalis moves to a table with a black horn with a red tip lays. "I have no idea whose horn this belongs to but even as it is now. I can still feel the dark magic of its master still coming from it."
Chrysalis then moves to another side of the room where a huge red crystal of dark magic lies embedded into the wall. "Legend has it. That the great King Sombra was born from this crystal of dark magic." She touches the crystal. "If I can somehow tap into its power. I will have enough power to overthrow everypony that has ever wronged me and take back what was mine."
She then moves back to the horn. "However, every form of magic has a price to pay. And I have no idea what will happen if I take this magic within me. Perhaps I require a test subject. Somepony, whose thirst for knowledge will cloud their judgment of the dangers that his crystal has to offer. They would also have to be someone who does know me well but is will to work with a stranger. Now, what pony do I know who can fit the bill?"
"Coming." Sunburst opens the front door to his house and finds nopony there. He confused he looks around until he found a small unmarked box on his doorstep. Now anypony in their right mind would check the box for traps for a possible prank or throw it away. But not Sunburst. This is a mystery box and disgrading any form of common sense he quickly took the box inside his house. He sets it on a table and opens it. Inside was an old book made of stone along with a letter on top of the book. Putting the stone book to the side, he reads the letter.
Dear Sunburst,
My name is Crystine. I am an archaeologist researching one of the ice caves near the Crystal Empire. In my recent excavation, I found something that I have never seen before. I know that I should go to the royals about this. However, I fear that my discovery may react badly to the magic of the alicorns. I can't leave my site for fear of another archaeologist taking my discovery for their own. I am asking you to please contact me in unlocking the secrets of my discovery. If you chose to help me then head to the outskirts of the Crystal Empire heading west. Please come alone for I like my privacy while working. I hope to hear from you soon.
Crystine,
p.s. You can keep the book.
Oh, course anypony in their right mind would think that this sounds very suspicious and would tell somepony about it. Or maybe they would ignore it and not forget about their duties to the Empire. And no old book from the ancient world would convince them that this is a good idea. That would be the best thing anypony could think of doing in this situation. Too bad that pony's name isn't Sunburst.
"How can I refuse!" Sunburst quickly locks his house and heads to the outskirts of the Empire.
Chrysalis stands in front of a full-length mirror as she gets her disguise ready for Sunburst, "Now let's see. How about this one?" Chrysalis then changes her appearance to look like light cream unicorn mare with long ague green mane and brown eyes, "Nah, I don't like the eyes." She then changes to light blue pegasus with a matching mane with white stripes on her mane and white eyes, "Nope, I will blend into the background like this." She then changes into a white earth mare with a deep red medium length mane and blue eyes, "Eeeemmm what do you think Max?" the rat did a little whistle which Chrysalis rolls her eyes, "I get the message. And you are right. I am not trying to win his heart." She then changes into a white unicorn with bright pink mane with green eyes and a familiar face, "I am getting mad just looking at this." She then changes to a light brown unicorn mare with blonde mane and silver eyes, "That's better." She was backs to her research table and covers the horn with a small cloth. "I wonder how much do I need to say to Sunburst to get him to help me?"
Just then, a loud voice called out to her from somewhere in the cave. "Crystine. Crystine are you there?"
"That was quick." Ahem. "Yes, I am here. Just follow the lights Sunburst." Crystine calls out to Sunburst as she covers the red crystal with a white sheet. As she was doing this, Crystine was started to get a nagging feeling about something. "Hum, Why do I feel like I am forgetting something."
"GGGAAAWWWWHHOOOO!" Sunburst then came sliding into the laboratory and crashing into a pile of pillows.
"Right. I forgot about the hole in the floor which acts as a shortcut here." Crystine walks to stallion under the pillows looking in his dizzy eyes. "Comfy?"
Sunburst shakes his head and turns onto his stomach, "Yes, actually."
"Sorry about that. I completely forgot about the hole in the floor."
"It is alright." Sunburst extracts himself from the pillows. "So where is this artifact you have found?"
"Wait right here, and I will show you." Crystine walks to a table and picks up an object covered by a cloth and brings it to Sunburst, "Now behold!" Crystine closes her eyes and uses her magic to remove the fabric to display her discovery and waits for Sunburst reaction.
Sunburst leans in and looks confused ass to what she was showing him, "A rat?" Crystine looks down on her hoof to see a familiar rat smiling at her.
"Max, what are you doing out of your cage!" Max runs back to his cage and closes the door behind him before Crystine could grab him, "I got to get a better cage for you." Crystine glares at her pet before she looks back the table to find the object she wanted to show Sunburst. And tries again, "Here it is. Behold!"
Sunburst eyes widen to take in everything she was showing him, "A horn?"
"Not just any horn," She said, tossing it in the air and catching it, "If my research is correct. This horn belongs to a mighty unicorn. I believe you might have heard about him." Crystine then motions for Sunburst to join her at her table.
All across the table. Sunburst can see pieces of crystals with different colors, along with parts of armor and a crown that he knows he has seen before but can't think of where. He then turns his attention to an old scroll. It shows many ponies bowing to a unicorn with a horn that looks just like the one that Crystine has shown him. He put a hoof to his chin and began to think about loud.
"The horn matches the one shown in the scroll, but this could be a coincidence. As for the pieces of armor," He grabs one in his magic, "They appear to be similar to the one the storm king soldiers used. Suggesting that this sued to be a set of magic resistance armor." He put it down and picks up the crystals, "These crystals have a black color mixed inside them with their natural color," Sunburst breath speeds up as he continues to look at the artifacts as a warning in the back of head start to go off, "It is only possible if they have exposed to large amounts of dark magic."
Crystine nods at him, "Keep going, you are almost there."
"There are no natural formations of black crystal in the Empire because Dark magic can only be made of a creature with a dark heart. And the only known creature of dark magic in Equestria was...KING SOMBRA!" Sunburst exclaimed backing away from the table.
Crystine's poker faces kept her from blowing her cover as she watches in amusement at Sunburst outburst. And react accordingly to how a pony would take this, "Sunburst. Calm down!"
Fearful at to what was in front of him, Sunburst demands answers from Crystine, "What are you planning to do with this stuff!?"
"Nothing Danergous," She said smoothly, "I am an archaeologist first and for most Sunburst. I plan to safely transport my finding to a new museum in the Crystal Empire to show them the history of King Sombra." she lied, "And that is where you come in. Sunburst."
"What do you want from me?" He said, moving back to the table.
"Anypony could take this stuff and put it behind a piece of glass and show it to everypony. However, only a few of them are willing to do so safely."
"What are you talking about?"
"These artifacts are alive Sunburst." Sunburst then jumps away from the table. Crystine drags a hoof down her face. "Not in that sense. What I mean is that they alive with magic."
"Oh."
"Yes, oh. Now get back here you scaredy-cat."
Sunburst goes back to the table once again looking at this object in new awe. "So Sombra's magic is still with them. How?"
"That is what I don't understand. I would cast a spell to rid these objects of the magic, but then the dark magic would return to them."
Sunburst then leans in close to the objects. "Exstroduinary."
Crystine then notices that Sunburst is too close to her. "Ah, Sunburst."
"What?" Sunburst then realizes that he if he moves an inch more to the left. He would be leaning on Crystine. He then backs away from Crystine blushing a little. "Sorry."
"Watch yourself. I don't like fresh ponies." Crystine said brushing off her coat where Sunburst was near. "Anyways. I couldn't figure out why these things would be doing this. It is as if Sombra was still connected to these objects."
"That can't be. He is dead."
"Indeed. Everypony knows about his fall at the Empire twice. So I did a little digging and found this. There is no historical evidence that shows that Sombra has had any family before or after him. It is as if he just appeared out of nowhere one day."
"Okay, but what does that have got to do with anything?"
"Okay heard me out on this one Sunburst. What if Sombra wasn't born into Equestria. But rather what if he was created?"
"For what purpose?"
"I don't know. But then I got to thinking. If he was created them, there must have been something of great magic used to create him. And so long as that object is still around, then one day King Sombra will return."
"That is an interesting theory. Do you have anything to back it up?"
"In fact." Crystine then moves next to a big sheet on the other side of the lab. "I do." Crystine uses her magic to remove the cloth. Behind it lies a giant red crystal stunk in the wall. "Behold! The Great Crystal of Dark Magic."
The color drains from his face at the very idea of what is ten feet away from him. But priorities first, "Get away from that Crystine!"
"Relax Sunburst. It is perfectly safe," she says, tapping the crystal with a hoof, "I have already have taken measures to make sure that we won't be affected anymore by its magic."
Sunburst cautiously walks closer to the crystal and stops five feet away. "What are you planning to do with that?"
"Safety transport it to a safe location away from the Empire for starters. And then get my name in the paper for being the one who found it."
"But if that is the case," He looks at her, curiously, "Why bring me here."
"Becuase I am an archaeologist Sunburst. Not a wiz pony with magic," She said tapping him on the head a few times, "I may have contained its magic for now, but I have no idea how I am going to get it out of here. Without the possibility of bringing back King Sombra," She moves back to the crystal as Sunburst rubs his forehead, "But first things first. I need a way to banish his magic form objects completely. That way Sombra only anchor to this world is his crystal."
"Perhaps Princess Twilight is better suited for something like this."
She lets out a sigh and looks dejected at him, "You don't think I have thought about that Sunburst? Did you forget what I said in my letter about alicorn magic?"
"You weren't kidding about that?"
Crystine then motions for Sunburst to follow her. "As you are aware Sunburst, magic it is in everypony. It can even be found in anything that was once part of a being of magic." Crystine then grabs a saddle bag on the table and pulls out a pink feather with a purple tip.
"What is that?"
"A feather from Princess Candance that I... never mind. Just watch." Christine then tosses the feather towards the crystal and runs for cover behind a turnover table. Sunburst was going to ask what she was doing, but she beat him to the punch, "If you value your life, hide!" Crystine said behind the table as Sunburst quickly joins her.
Once the feather was within two feet of the Crystal. The crystal began to react by glowing and vibrating violently, which causes the cave to start shaking. Black blots of magic came out from it until it struck the feather burning it to ashes. Once the feather was gone, the Crystal began to calm down, and both ponies came out from hiding.
"Now, you see what I am dealing with."
"Incredible. The crystal recognized that the feather was from an Alicorn and defended itself."
"And now you know why I didn't ask any of the princesses to come here. Well, that is one of the reasons."
"What is the other?"
Crystine moves in front of Max, "Remember how I said that objects that have this dark magic in them will always be with them?"
"Yes."
She picks up Max out of the cage and starts petting him, "How do you think I found about the crystal's reaction to magic and was able to contain its magic?" She said in a depressed tone, "I had to experiment with it and get close to it."
"Crystine." He said worriedly,
"It has already corrupted my magic Sunburst," She puts Max back and fills his water bowl and feeding bowl, "Soon Sombra's magic will completely replace mine, and he will overtake my body, and then King Sombra will return."
"Can't you just leave this place, before that happens?!"
"I have already tried," She moves to the pile of pillows and lays down on them, "But his magic is still there. And just like the object on the table," She pointed to the crystals, "Doing any form of magic removing is useless and not to mention since I am a living creature it would also cause me great pain in the process." She lays her head down, "I just want to make sure that this doesn't happen to any other pony beside me."
Sunburst tries to think of some way to help her but coming up with nothing. He never thought that he would ever need to study dark magic and has no idea how to dispell a creature of one properly. He would ask the princesses for help, but their methods of dealing with dark magic either involve banishment or destruction. He didn't want that for Crystine. He moves next to her.
"There has to be something that we can do!"
"My only hope is to find a way to completely seal off the magic within the crystal before all of my magic is corrupted. Will you help me, Sunburst?"
He replies without a second thought, "Oh, course, Crystine."
The two ponies work tirelessly for weeks, day and night trying to find a solution to a problem that wasn't there. Crystine has been lying to Sunburst the whole time. The truth in the matter was that the objects on the table only have dark magic in them because Crystine put it there. She was in no danger of Sombra taking over her body. As for the Crystal itself, that is the real deal. However, it lies dormant and only reacts when a form of strong light magic comes close to it.
What Crystine needs form Sunburst to do is to find a way to force his magic inside it of it. Once that happens. It will trigger a chain reaction and causing it to release an enormous amount of dark magic. Everypony within a mile radius will be overtaken entirely with dark magic. Ponies with light magic will most likely not survive. As for Crystine, or should I say Chrysalis, a been of dark magic will gain a power-up greater than anything she has experienced in her life.
Over the weeks that followed, Chrysalis has begun to grow fond of the stallion. She is going to miss him once his work is done. Like when you have to get rid of your favorite sweater because your pet ruined it.
So far, Sunburst has shown nothing but his best to get his magic to work on the crystal with no success. But then, one day.
"Are sure about this?" Crystine asked Sunburst at his latest attempt at the crystal.
"Yes I am sure about this," Sunburst said, putting on Sombra's crown, "If I can fool the crystal that I am a being of dark magic. It should let me use my magic on it."
"And what if it is not fooled?"
"Then we will have to think of another way. Now stand back." Sunburst then concentrates his magic to the tip of his horn, and a beam of orange and black was short a crystal. Sunburst continues the beam to begin the sealing spell.
Crystine looks at Sunburst work and notices that the crystal is reacting it his magic. Not as it did with the feather when the black-lighting. But as a glow of magic being awaken.
'I don't believe it. He just might have found a way to seal the magic within the crystal.' Crystine thought to herself. 'But if he seals the magic inside the crystal now. All the magic inside it will be lost forever. I can't let him do that. Sorry Sunburst but your usefulness has just ended.' Crystine was about to knock Sunburst out when the crystal started reacting differently.
Sparks of black lighting and white lighting started coming from the crystal.
"Sunburst what is going on!"
"It is the crystal! Its magic is fighting back!" He said in a strand voice,
"Stop while you still can." She pleaded with him,
"I can't. If I do that now, then a massive amount of dark magic will be released. Get out of here Crystine. I don't know how long I can hold it."
"I am not leaving you behind Sunburst." As Crystine said, this crakes started to form on the Crystal and spreading across its surface. A bright light started coming from the crakes as more began to form.
Crystine noticed this and started to have second thoughts about this. She knows that a massive amount of dark magic was what she wanted, but this looks like a bomb about to go off. Before anypony could do anything, there was an explosion of white and black.
As the dust settles. Chrysalis was forced back into her changeling from. "Ow. My head," she said, getting on her hooves. "Sunburst!" Chrysalis looks around for the stallion but couldn't see him. Her lab is mostly destroyed. She moves to the location of the Crystal. She sees nothing but shards of what was once the great crystal of dark magic.
Chrysalis then checks herself for any change in her power. However, she feels the same as she always has. She also notices that she doesn't feel anything dark magic in the air. It is as if no explosion of pure dark magic had just happened.
"But if the magic inside the crystal isn't in me or the air. Where is it?"
"It is in me." A dark voice said behind her.
Slowly Chrysalis turns around to see a stallion that she has never meet before. But there was no mistaking his identity.
"Sombra."