//------------------------------// // Prologue: Rise of Sombra/Awakening of a Dreadnaught // Story: The Crystal Vanguard // by Skarner //------------------------------// Royal horns blared as Queen Terra and her personal elite guard, Skarner, stepped onto the castle balcony. "Presenting Queen Terra! Ruler of Crystal Empire!" announced Core Branch, the royal spokespony. The crystal pony citizens cheered. "Prince Sombra approaches!" he yelled. Core Branch had a pale gold coat and short but glistening brown mane, he always stood proud and strong. He's cut out to be a decent guard with his attitude. His cutie mark is a tree branch with gold in-lines which represents loyalty and resourcefulness. They gazed upon the dark blue and black armoured legion of ponies, lead by a distinct unicorn who is most definitely Prince Sombra. He had a matching armour from his legion and he had dark grey coat with a black mane, which was frizzled but formal. His eyes had red irises and his horn is red at it's tip. He strutted down the main street of Ruby Avenue with confidence and the smile of a jester. Skarner already has a distaste of his demeanour. Queen Terra telepathically communicates with her subjects because she is 'mute' (lost the ability to speak). Her pale but glistening blue coat compliments her gold mane encrusted with purple crystals. Her cutie mark is a brown heart with gold entanglements representing her love for her subjects, her element of land or earth, and royalty. Known as sweet, caring and merciful of her citizens, she does keep a strict reputation of not tolerating ponies who dare harm one another. She glances at Core Branch indicating that she has something to say. He nodded as he acknowledged her thoughts. He turned to Sombra's legion who stopped around the grand fountain in front of the castle. He patiently waited until the crystal citizens ushered down. He took a deep breath. "Queen Terra cordially welcomes you to the Crystal Empire!" the crowd roared in cheer, while the dark legion didn't express any emotion. "She requests that you state the reason of your presence since it was most unexpected, Prince Sombra!" he said. "It is an honour to be here, the glorious Crystal Empire once again stuns me with its impeccable beauty." he started, earning himself content from the citizens. However, the queen did not seem appeased. He could feel it. "Anyways, I have come to discuss terms of joining our kingdoms into one!" "We ask that we discuss this with more detail yonder." He nodded in satisfaction, "Very well." Prince Sombra patiently walked towards the castle entrance as Skarner, Corebranch, and Queen Terra descended from the balcony to meet the Prince. The dark legion remained idle and silent around the fountain plaza. Sombra, also accompanied by his assistants and guard, kept his smile as he greeted the queen with a bow and a kiss on her hoof. She broadly smiled and glanced at her spokespony. "It is most pleasured to have you here. Would you like a tour of the castle before we discuss terms?" Corebrach said. "Won't be necessary," he shook his head, "I have been here before after all." Sombra replied with a smile. "Alright than, let us begin through these halls this way..." Corebranch guided the group to the stairs that lead to two channels of more stairs, eventually ending in the meeting room. *Skarner...* Skarner turned to see his queen looking at him. *...Keep watch of Sombra's legion. I'm not sure why he would bring one so large, or why he would care to visit. Understood?* He nodded, "Yes, my queen." then he turned to the main exit where the crowd gathered around the dark legion. Skarner's origin on where he came from is only known by both him and Terra. Many books that had information about it was lost, and many ponies have forgotten or died without passing on the stories. He's a powerful crystal incarnation of a unicorn, who was raised as soul, able to harness the essence of crystal. His only bio-organs were his heart and eyes. He had no pupils nor irises, it was just pale yellow. He sculpted his own coat, as if he was a living statue, his cutie mark is 3 shards of crystals, representing undying energy and purity, making him a very versatile fighter. As he stepped outside, the crystal ponies were clearly trying to socialize with soldiers of the legion. As Skarner approached the crowd, they backed off and progressively hushes. He came almost nose to nose with one of the soldier; he stared into their eyes for any sign of suspense or confusion. "At ease soldier." he stated. They didn't move or relax. "Why so stiff?" he said with a smirk. Once again, no reaction from the soldier. He frowned at the failure of his taunt. He turned his attention to the sky to see a storm approaching. He then told himself that it wasn't anything to be concerned of yet. He trotted off to see into the group of rude ponies seemingly bothering a soldier. "That is most unwise civilian." "Sorry Skar, but I couldn't help to try." one of them replied with a giggle. "I do not want so see anymore disrespect towards any of the soldiers. Understood?" "Yes sir." they tensed then bowed. They decided to leave to spend their leisure time somewhere else. Skarner walked in front of the castle to face the crowd, looking for anymore problems or conflicts. He tensed. Anxious all of a sudden. He sensed dark and corrupted magic. He sharply glanced upon the legion, he saw dark energy flowing out their eyes. He looked around, he saw the other guards noticing the change as well. Skarner telepathically called to Queen Terra, *Your highness, I apologize about disrupting the meeting, but I sense dark energy accumulating from the legion.* *...* she either didn't hear him, or something was wrong. "Lynx! Riff!" he called to the nearby guards, "Follow me!" they nodded and matched his pace towards the castle entrance. He felt the familiar dark energy pulsing from the dining hall. He galloped up the stairs leading to the room to see dark crystals seeping over the walls. He and his company broke into a sprint as they knew something wrong has been done to the queen. As they approached the door, it was blocked by a wall of dark crystal. Skarner summoned his magic to make his pincers and stinger appear from the purer crystal from the floor. He uses his pincers to break through the door. Inside the room, he saw the queen cornered at the edge of the room. Prepared, Sombra shot a beam of dark energy at Skarner. Fortunately, his pincers took no damage as they nulled the energy. His companions however crumbled to the ground. "Sombra! What is the meaning of this?!" Core Branch confronted the prince. "Stop now and we'll forgive you!" The prince chuckled and threatened to pierce his body with sharp crystals. Skarner used his magic to cause a fissure to interrupt the prince. Unfortunately Sombra smited the poor pony before Skarner can save him. Sombra made a simple glance at the crystal guard lying in pain beside Skarner and cast a curse that brought him to serve under his commands. "Riff was it? Please, take care of him." the prince said with a devious smile. "As you wish my prince." Riff said in a distorted and rather shaky voice. He leaped towards Skarner with his spear with a war cry. "I am sorry brother..." he muttered. He used his pincer to slash the corrupted pony in half. Blood gushed in his wake. Just as he turned to the other approaching corrupted guard, he impaled him with his stinger. He quickly fell and blood spilled from the hole in his neck. "Quite a powerful warrior you are." sneered Sombra. "You would make a fine addition to the new 'Crystal Empire'!" "I shall never join you!" He charged at the Prince with frightening speed. "It wasn't a question." He held Skarner aloft and aimed his horn at him. "You shall join my army, and slay the crystal queen." "Never!" "Again, it wasn't a question." He released a thread of dark energy that seeped towards Skarner. He slashed the thread away,but by doing so, it did not break. Instead, it stuck onto his pincer ,slowly becaming succumbed by the thread. He dropped the pincer losing any magic connection to it, and aimed shards of crystal projectiles at the prince. Boldly, he dodged to the side ,missing him by just inches. A fragment of that dark energy thread sneaked onto his hoof and began to spread to the rest his body. No matter how much he resisted, his crystal exo-skeleton could not protect him from the entanglement. Terra witnessed the whole thing. At Skarner's last struggle of his control over his body, he noticed shards of dark crystal upon her horn which didn't allow her to channel any magic. Must have been why she couldn't do much of anything. At this point, he was tempted to relax, and give up. So he did. He glanced back to Terra, knowing that it was the last time he'll see her again. "I'm sorry my queen." he muttered. Both Skarner and Terra shed a tear. After a few moments of groaning and twitching, the crystal vanguard rose onto his hooves. "What are your biddings, my prince?" "Please, address me as Sombra." he then glared at the Princess, "Slay her." he commanded, leaving his eyes off of her. In panic, she attempted to fly off from the window but Skarner used his magic to create a crystal wall blocking any exit. She stared at Skarner in horror. "As you wish Sombra." he turned to the horrified queen, and prepared his pincer that he lost earlier. *Please, Skarner... you have to fight the corruption.* *Fear not, I shall make this slow.* is all Skarner simply said (or thought). *Promise me... you'll reek revenge on Sombra... all he will do is cause chaos and despair.* Skarner pondered at the thought, his inner voice wanted to tell her 'i will'... ...but his corrupted mind thought otherwise. He striked down his stinger and impaled her, leaving her breathless, stunned, and wide-eyed. He then retracted his stinger, and grabbed her with his pincers and squeezed tightly. She wanted to yell in excruciating pain, but she was mute. Her body bleeding violently, he progressively gripped harder and his pincers eventually started to rip through her fur and skin. Then her last thoughts travelled into Skarner *Promise me...* then it hit him with sudden realization. His thoughts were clear now, free and pure. Somehow, he was mirculously cleansed from the corrupt. He released his grasp from the heavily wounded queen, and ran towards Sombra, catching him off by surprise. He drove his stinger into his stomach, pinning him to the wall. "What?! HOW?!" he yelled. He didn't wait for an answer, and emitted an energy surge, causing Skarner to fly across the room. He then shot a deadly beam of energy at the queen finishing her off. She made a soft yelp upon impact. "TERRA!" Skarner caught a glimpse of her final moment as he fumbled in the air, he then caught control and landed easily on the floor and sunk through it. "Show yourself! exclaimed the prince. Skarner then grabbed the prince from beneath him with both of his pincers. He used his stinger to pin him down on the floor. The prince then blurred out of sight and approached behind Skarner, and encased him in dark crystal. He was trapped. The crystal didn't allow Skarner to use any magic or abilities. He began slashing at the walls, only hurting himself as the dark energy returned the damage. "Stop before you kill yourself, it would ruin the fun for me." he laughed, "The Crystal Empire is finally mine! There is no hope, no queen, and your citizens are now our slaves... It is apparant that I can not control you, therefore would force me to end you. However, the offer to join my forces is still available." he sneered. "As I said before: NEVER!" "Such pity..." The Prince then muttered a spell. As he spoke the final words, he progressively said them louder then the one before. "...unto you. Unto all who dare defy me, I curse thee to slumber in the runic depths of the earth! I CURSE thee TO WITHER AND SUCCUMB TO OBLIVION!" Tendrils of dark energy pulled Skarner down...down...down... to the abyss below, Where his screams of anger could not be heard. Within depths of the crystal caverns, he laid encased in crystal. Still and idle, he thought no thought, nor beated no heart beat. Suddenly, a pulse of powerful ,magic resonated through the cavern, shattering his cage. His eyes snapped open and broke free of the crystal cage. What is this? What was that? How long was I asleep? His memory quickly surged back to him... he felt his anger shudder his soul. Blinded by rage and anger, never has he felt such passion to end one's life. A thought passed by, *Promise me~* Queen Terra?! He tried searching for the source of the thought, but had no luck. He used his senses and looked beyond the walls that surrounded him. Nothing but more crystal. He then caught a glint of light signalling a gap to the above land. Determined to reek revenge upon Sombra, he summoned his pincers and violently slashed his way to the top. No... Terra watched as Skarner got pulled down through the floor. Too weak to open her mouth with no hope, she used her remaining strength to send a message to the sister princesses, Luna and Celestia. Her first attempt sapped most of her energy but she barely sent a signal. With her very last bit of strength she mustered from her soul, she called to the sisters but was interrupted by Sombra who kicked her. Her world faded as Prince Sombra looks down on her with a devious smile. Terra awoke, feeling barely alive to see Sombra-- King Sombra as he looked out from the balcony upon the city. They were alone, with no guards to ensure his safety, and no adviser at his side. His looks have slightly changed, dark energy flowed from his green eyes and solid red irises. He smiled upon the chaos that took place in front of him: there were enslaved ponies, military abusing the citizens, and homes were ransacked. "Terra..." he addressed her without a glance. "I'm glad you're finally awake. Did you know you were passed out for 2 days?!" he laughed.  "..." said Terra. She gave him a very disgusted look. She wished she wasn't mute so she could tell Sombra how much she despised him. Sombra couldn't collaborate with Terra's telepathic messages unlike all of her subjects, so he can't pick up any thoughts from her. "I sometimes wonder, were you born quiet?" "..." she kept glaring at Sombra. The king sighed, "I'll be right back." he leaped down to the castle front yard, causing a crater in his landing. The crystal ponies cowered in fear in his appearance. While he was gone,Terra got up and limped to the exit that was behind her. She managed to unhinge the door then she used her body weight to push it open. She looked down the hall covered with dark crystal entanglement. She limped through the hall leading to the teleport crystal. She had to navigate around the large shards that poked out. They do have quite a sharp tip. Finally, she reached the  painting of Sir Hymn the 7th standing proudly, she tipped her horn to activate the runes that revealed a hidden door. "Unhand me you wretched bastard!" a crystal pony cried out down the hall. Terra quickly turned to hide. Taking cover behind crystals, she snuck up to the distressed pony to find that she was cornered by 2 corrupted guards. "I was only making my way to the storag--" She had her sentence cut off as a guard struck her. "I do not care of your excuses! Get back to wor--" then the guard had his turn to have his sentence cut off ,when he felt a crystal shard impaled through his coat. Terra then used her telekinesis to break off another shard of dark crystal and lodged it through the other's head. They both fell to the floor as the poor civilian stood stunned in horror. *Hurry Coral Reef!* the message came to the civilian's head. *You must follow me to safety!* she turned towards the hidden door and steadily tried not to limp. The blue coated crystal pony followed with tears welling. Her mane decorated with broken pieces of water ice-let which she was born with, her light purple mane was rustled and messy with spots of ashes. Her cutie mark is a  green and red fish, representing a skilled mariner/fisherpony. "Thank you my queen." she managed to say. *You're most welcome dear. Were there any otherpony in the halls as you came here?* "No your highness." she hung her head down in sadness. Terra nodded and nudged her to continue through the hidden door. She closed it behind them. She approached a large room containing a ringed crystal  that lit up as they approached closer to it.  *To Canterlot Castle.* then the crystal started to shimmer and shake. A light envelopes them and a flash took their place on where they used to be. They appeared at the Canterlot front entrance between 2 of Celestia's guards. They quickly helped the weak queen and Coral up to their hooves. "Queen Terra!" exclaimed the shocked guard, "Are you alright?" She groaned then fell to the ground as her hooves gave away. The guards helped her up again and she nodded to them as gesture of gratitude. She leaned onto one of them for support as the other ran inside to seek help and alert  Princess Celestia. Moments later, another guard appeared along with Celestia. They ushered Coral and her in. When she was finally awake, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna appeared and sat down beside her. She found herself lying on a large couch.  "Terra, are you feeling well enough to tell us what happened?" the white mare spoke. *Yes Celestia,* Terra raised her head to match their level, *The Crystal Empire has fallen to the kingdom of the Northern Plains. Sombra has taken over the city and chaos now reeks in the city.* Luna and Celestia both gasped on hearing the news, *CoralReef here,* she looked at her subject. *Is the only pony I managed to save.* Luna stood, then made her way to the door. "Sister, where are you heading off to?"  "To prepare my armour, will thoust be staying with Terra?"  "Im coming with you." Celestia stood as well. "Then so be it, Sombra shall be punished." Luna then continued her way. Celestia nodded to Terra, and she nodded back. The white princess then left the room leaving Coral and Terra alone in the guest room. Coral sighed, "I haven't been able to sleep lately..." she laid her head on her hooves, "Do you think they can save the Crystal Empire?" *Im not sure, but I really hope they do.* Terra cuddled herself to find a comfy position. *Im going to get some rest. Perhaps you should too.* "But why would I want to miss this?" replied the smiling pony. Terra just glanced at her in confusion. Coral was then enveloped in green flames and revealed her true form. Terra jumped up in surprise and attempted to escape. Sombra closed off the doors and set up a dark crystal wall around the room. "Neat trick huh?" he laughed, "learned it from a changeling. Never thought I'd end up here, but you must understand darling..." He impaled her with a dark crystal. Wide-eyed, Terra looked upon the horror that gushed out of her. She attempted to call somepony within the premise, but it was too late as her conscious blurred.  As Princess Celestia and Princess Luna came back to check on Terra, they noticed the dark crystals blocking the door. They blasted through crystal wall and knocked open the door to see the bloody body of Terra, with a piller of dark crystal that rose from the ground through her. The crystal walls blocked all of the windows and exits. Luna turnedaway from the scene and stomped towards the door in tears, while her sister hung her head down in great sadness. She muttered to herself, "He shall pay..." 3 months later, since he killed Terra. Sombra stepped into his chamber to find a key. He went over to the closet, then searched through the stuff thoroughly. He then moved onto the cabinets, with no luck either. Where would Terra put the key to the teleport crystal beacon?he thought, then the window swung open letting in cool air. He walked up to the window to close it, but as he did so another blew open. Snarled in frustration as this matter delayed him in his search. This time he uses his horn magic to close it. He looked through the the window to watch the night sky empty. This struck him as unusual since Princess Luna would bring up the moon at this time. He turned to see a Nightmare Moon stare at him. She quickly swung and knocked him to the ground. He recovered quickly to return a pulse a energy making her tumble. "GUARDS!" he cried out, Just at that moment, Celestia accompanied by a squad of her elite sun guards stepped through the door.  "Its over Sombra, you shall be severely punished." she said. She casts a beam of light upon Sombra. Boldly, he disappeared into a cloud, then reanimated himself behind her guards and wiped them all out in one swipe. Celestia skillfully dodged it, and Luna dashed out the window. Celestia backed from Sombra as he formed a crystal wall behind her forcing them to engage in combat. As Luna flew higher, she eventually reached a very low speed then stopped her wings. She then faced herself towards the castle window and pushed her wings. She gainned tremendous speed through momentum and gravity. She bolted towards Sombra who was visible from the window. Celestia pinned him down with her strong beam of light as he fought back with his beam of dark energy. Neither of them were winning the struggle. It was just a matter of who gets exhausted first. Just when Sombra began to dominate Celestia, Luna bolted right through the window, she gained enough speed to a point where she created a very powerful pulse that at seemingly did nothing. Then as she stopped behind Sombra, making a crater on her landing, his power ceased to work. The pulse disabled any magic within its radius until the sun was raised. Stunned, Sombra is sent flying from a powerful blow from Luna's buck. He was then grabbed by Celestia and she brought him muzzle-first into the hard crystal floor, making a loud crunch. He yelped at impact, then his body slumped on the floor. He remained unconscious. Sombra slowly opened his eyes, finding himself being dragged towards the front of the crystal castle. The guards that were dragging him paid no attention to him, and wasn't aware that he has awoken. He noticed that it's morning, meaning that the spell wore off. He quickly lashed out on them, and left 2 fallen bodies.  He walked down the stairs and heard a group of guards trotting up. Quickly, he shrouded himself in black smoke and lingered on the ceiling. "Quick! The king has escaped!" one of the guards exclaimed. How would they have known? Sombra decided not to pay mind to them and continued through the castle. Once he stepped down into the main hall, he was greeted by a leeching beam of light, it sucked his energy very quickly. Confused and weak, he quickly turned into shadow form and tried to flee back up the stairs, but he was grabbed and pulled towards a white mare.  "Do not attempt to escape Sombra, you shall pay for what you have done." Celestia spoke with a very stern tone. "You shall never destroy me! The Crystal Empire is mine!" "Not when we're around!" said Luna as she appeared with her elemental crown. Both her and Celestia, prepared to use a very powerful spell upon the pinned and helpless king. Quietly, he started muttering a spell. As he neared to finish his spell, the princesses casts their magic, approaching him at alarming speed. Sombra luckily finished his curse upon the Crystal Empire. They turned him into a shadow that was to be banished, deep within the crevice of the icey glaciers of the north. He cackled as the spell sent him out of the castle.  At that moment, the city began to shake and shimmer, the princesses quickly fled outside and flew up into the air. They witnessed the Crystal Empire slowly disappear.