//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: The Power of Hatred // by Azure Crucis //------------------------------// Sombra was not exactly the most popular unicorn in the world. The other ponies were simply too afraid of him to actually interact with him, which left him slightly embittered. He would always blame his appearance, of course; red pupils with green sclera had a tendency to strike fear into the eyes of everypony around him, not to mention his uniquely curved horn and jet-black coat. Through foalhood, very few others would want to spend any time with him, leaving him with more time to practice on his magic. The black foal learned magic earlier than everypony else, inadvertently creating another reason for him to be ostracized. Clover had spent her later years searching through many apprentices, each one seeking her out simply because she was one of the most important ponies in Equestria’s founding or that they greedily wanted to spend some time with Star Swirl’s work (which she guarded with an almost viscous protection). Not a single unicorn wanted her for the soul purpose of tutoring, just the vanity and title of being Clover the Clever’s student. Eventually, she stumbled upon Sombra, who didn’t want to exploit her or Star Swirl’s magic. He just wanted somepony to call a friend. Sombra arrived as a colt, still a blank-flank. He possessed a much more in-depth and intelligent understanding of magic for somepony his age, able to control magics with much more ease than she had seen before in any of her other apprentices. Immediately, he began picking up spells that had taken his predecessors months to even fully understand. They became quite close over the years. Clover would steal him away from the rest of the world, focusing on powering up his strength, taming and tempering his magic while keeping him away from his peers. Whenever he did go out into the world, he was met with the same reactions he always found. Fear. Terror. And the name-calling. Creep. Weirdo. Freak. He hated freak. It was a word that burned hotter than Celestia’s sun, a word that was singed into his mind, heart and soul. Freak. All his life, Freak this, Freak that. Hey, look at that Freak. What’s with your freaky horn? Why are your eyes so freaky? Freak. Freak. Freak. Why? He thought. Why must they all hate me? “Master Clover,” He brought up one evening after a long day of practicing hatred magic, “Why must ponies be so closed minded around here?” Clover took a while to think of an answer, leaving Sombra to elaborate in her silence. “It’s no secret that my appearance is different, frightening, even.” She shook her head. “Nonsense, Sombra. You are a wonderful unicorn with an amazing heart.” “Yes, thank you, Master.” He interrupted, “But… the thing is, ponies don’t see my heart. They see my coat, my crooked horn, my red eyes. They don’t give me the chance show them who I am.” The old unicorn sighed and gave her apprentice warm, caring eyes. “Ponies can be shallow, dear Sombra. But as long as your heart is pure, you know that they are missing out on the wonderful experience of having you as a friend.” The jet-black colt lowered his head, “You flatter me too much, Master.” They stared into the crackling fireplace before he spoke again. “But, why must ponies never give me a chance?” “They fear what they cannot understand, and what they cannot understand, what we ALL cannot understand, is the different. You do not fall into ponies category of normal, my apprentice, and because of that, they fear you. It’s wrong. It’s cruel. But my dear, this is life. And you know that you are a better unicorn than any in all of Canterlot. You know that.” He laughed, “Well, I had a good teacher.” Clover chuckled and turned back to the fire. “Master, what do you believe my cutie mark will be?” She laughed. “I’ll never understand the infatuation with cutie marks, my boy. After all, mine has nothing to do with my talent, just my name.” She shook her head with a smile. “It sometimes feels like somepony in the universe just got lazy with mine.” He laughed out of sympathy, trying not to seem rude. “I know ponies have made fun of you, Sombra,” She continued, “But you just have to let what they say go. You’re better than them. You know you are.” Sombra bowed his head gratefully. “Thank you, Master.” I wish I believed in myself as much as you do. ===== Sombra’s home was a small yet quaint little white cottage, built alongside city limits into the mountain. Night had fallen across the young city of Canterlot, with many buildings still trying to stretch into the sky with construction. Buildings were lit by dim candles, leaving the streets in quiet shadows. Shifty shapes slipped through the dark streets, dipping down alleyways noiselessly with eyes peeled for stray pedestrians. Soon, the four shapes were upon Sombra’s little home. “This the place?” Said the first unicorn. “Aye. Crescendo told me about it today. It’s Clover’s boy.” Said the second. “I can’t wait to do this. Stupid little colt robbed me of my apprenticeship.” The third shook her head angrily. “You say that like you’re the only one, Selene. We ALL got gypped out of learning under Clover by this little freak.” The final unicorn stepped forward, cracking her neck in the cold night. “But tonight, we’ll teach him just how big a mistake he made, learning under her.” “Yeah, you said it, Archon.” Said the first, looking with greedy eyes at the cottage. “Mm. Let’s get this party started, shall we?” Archon’s horn lit bright red, suddenly bursting into flames as she aimed for the house. ===== It was very hard for Sombra to remember everything about that night. His memories were blurriest immediately after he woke up. He had no idea where all that fire had come from and how all of his belongings had ignited without him even knowing. Next, he remembered the almost endless hooves that beat him out of his bed and onto one of his burning book stacks. He remembered words, names, screams, little things about those moments. “Take that!” Was being tossed around. “THAT’S for stealing our spots!” He hadn’t the faintest idea what that meant at the time, but it wasn’t really important at the time. “Freak!” That word. Freak. It was said again and again and again. He began to gain consciousness. He remembered everything that happened after that. As hoof after hoof descended upon him, a sudden burst of magic surged up his spine, through his head and out his horn, a burst that came from the very bottom of his heart. An emotion. Pure hatred. His eyes turned green, trails of purple smoke floating after them. His horn grew purple bubbles as a blast of black lightning surged through the air, striking each of the unicorns horns, covering them in little grey crystals. They all pulled away, reeling in surprise and confusion. “Ah! What the heck?” “What’s goin’ on? I can’t use magic!” “What happened? N-No magic!” “What did you do to our horns, freak?” Sombra, bruised and battered, turned to the unicorns and growled furiously. Eyes still glowing green, he blasted another shot at each of the unicorns, turning their eyes green and red, just like his. His horn kept the stream going right into their eyes. They all became quiet. “M-momma?” One whispered cautiously. “P-please stop yelling at me…” “What? Where am I?” Another did circles at a rapid pace. “How… how did I get in this desert?” “AAAAHHH!” One was screaming at the top of his lungs, flailing about on the ground. “FALLING! I’M FALLING! HELP ME! HEEELLPP!” “Spiders!” One mare rubbed her hooves furiously across her coat. “Oh, geez, they just keep coming! Make them stop, please, I BEG of you!” “Momma, I’m… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disappoint you…” “Guys? This isn’t funny, guys. Where are you?” “PLEASE! HELP MEEEE! I’M FALLING SO FAST!” “Ugh, they’re everywhere! Agh, they’re in my mouth! THEY’RE IN MY MOUTH!” “Momma, you… you don’t mean that… Y-you still love me, r-right?” “Please, guys! Don’t leave me alone, guys! Please!” “AAAAAAAHHH! THE GROUND IS COMING IN SO FAST! AAAAAHHHH!” “Ugh, gurgle, help… me, ugh!” Tears streamed down their faces. The one mare haunted by spiders was pulling her coat off with frantic rips. The falling colt was scrapping his hooves and legs raw on the wooden floor. The mare in the desert was racing around in circles. The colt with his mother was crying in the corner of the room. And in the middle of it all stood Sombra, smiling. Suddenly, his horn ceased its magic. His eyes returned to their normal red and green. The bolt between him and each pony died out, leaving the intruders dazed and confused. The fire was finally singeing the roof. It sagged and groaned under the heat of flames. Sombra stared up at the ceiling, watching it sink towards them, looking again to the unicorns lying around him. They were helpless. They would be killed if the roof collapsed upon them. He knew what he had to do. ===== Their words rang out to him as he stood far from his home, watching the smoldering remains of his home crumble into embers. He turned his gaze down as the words of everyone in his life echoed in his head. Weird. Blank-flank. Creep. Loser. Freak. “I’m not the freak.” He said aloud, a tear slipping down his cheek. “You all are.” Freak. “I’m NOT a freak!” He yelled, teeth grinding together lividly. Freak. Freak. FREAK. FREAK. The word rattled around violently in his brain, slamming back and forth, back and forth, crashing into the sides, echoing, crying, screaming. The word haunted him. It ate at him. It beat him, abused him, tormented him, tore him up inside. “I!” His eyes burst open with green light and purple smoke. “AM NOT!” His mane rippled like a fiery shadow. “A!” His horn burst with brilliant black energy. “FREAK!”A calamitous bolt of jet-black magic struck the ruins of his home, erecting a series of monolithic grey crystals in its place. His breath was heavy. His chest ached. His mind grew numb. His eyes still trailed of purple mist and his mane still with darkness. Sombra left his home behind, not a single soul to bear witness to it. ===== Clover never saw the colt again. All he had left her was a note on her door the next morning saying “I’m sorry, Master Clover.” She would never find out what he had become, as she spent her last days in Canterlot amongst her beloved collection of Star Swirl’s works, never leaving her library. Equestria, still being mostly unexplored, was filled with pioneers expanding out every which way on the map. Besides the Everfree forest, the land was fertile and free of danger, allowing most everypony to be able to settle somewhere without worry. However, most of the north was uncharted and unwanted territory. A beautiful aurora could be seen floating in from the north, leaving it perplexing as to why ponies never thought to seek it’s source. Sombra headed there. He enjoyed the time alone through the cold, icy wastes of the north. It gave him time to think about the nature of ponies and the ways of the world. The endless blankets of cold and white made him feel quite philosophical. The cold left him lonely, not finding a single soul for miles, but in this loneliness, he found strength. He showed himself, he needed nopony to help him. His powers allowed him to create little crystals where ever he went, little grey symbols of how independent he was and how powerful he was. They were the fruits of his magic, and in them, he found great strength. The crystals were literally physical representations of his hatred, a power that could easily defeat his enemies, even more so than love ever could. Love had nothing physical to show for it. Hatred had crystals. His mind became twisted and self-absorbed in the blinding snowstorms and endless tundra. His hatred stemmed from his loneliness, grew and bubbled like the little pustules of magic on his horn when he showed his hate. Just as he reached the peak of his isolation and insanity, he found the Crystal Empire. Crystals. Crystals everywhere. But no, these were not crystals of hate. These were crystals of love, of happiness, of friendship. Shining, shimmering, sparkling crystals. It was all so beautiful. And he hated it. Yes, the crystal ponies were freaks just as he. They had crystalline coats and manes that shimmered in the sun, nothing that he had ever seen before. He was sure that they would accept him for who he was. After all, the ponies back at Canterlot didn’t have shining coats or anything like that. He was sure that they would have been laughed at and made fun of just like him. And not only that, but they had also created crystals of love rather than hate. He was sure they were of the same breed, that he was born in the wrong place at the wrong time. Unfortunately, that was wrong. These ponies shunned him just the same. His freakishness was not the same as theirs. He was not the same as them. Sombra roamed around the Empire, meeting everypony he could, and was still met with stares and screams of terror and fear. He was still different, even here. He was still a freak in the land of the freaks. Hopelessness took over him. Where else could he go? Where else was there to go? Even in the land of the strange and unusual, he was still an outcast. What was he to do? In the center of the empire, he stared up at the grand spire of white, with its beautiful crystal heart at its foundation. A menacing smile graced his lips. An Empire held up by love will crumble under the stare of hate. =====