//------------------------------//
// Chapter One 
// Story: Facade 
// by NightSprocket 
//------------------------------//


Chapter One



“Where am I? Who am I?”


YOU ARE SOMBRA. YOU ARE THE RIGHTFUL RULER OF THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE. 


I felt myself falling into a cold and dark abyss. I felt myself being torn apart from the place that I once knew of as my land, my domain; The Crystal Empire.  I started to sense the cold biting into my very flesh, the very cold that numbed my body and further dulled my senses. Every part of me went numb, though I still felt a faint pulse in my chest. A pulse that became weaker every second. 

I was dying. I was falling to my death. Memories of my life came flooding into my head one by one. Sweet memories, bitter ones, all came and haunted me one after the other. Memories that I want to forget, but can’t seem to do so engulf me, taking away my remaining sanity bit by bit. 


YOU ARE KIND HEART. YOU ARE A HARDWORKING, LOVING AND SELFLESS UNICORN.


Sombra? Kind Heart? Who was I then really? I couldn’t seem to maintain my consciousness back then. The remaining lights I could see from the Empire continued to fade away. I started to lose myself.


CERTAINLY NOT... YOU HAVE LOST YOURSELF A LONG TIME AGO.


I have haven’t I? I’ve lost myself the day I lost her. The day I lost the one mare that made me complete. If we didn’t go out that day… if I didn’t ask her out… if I didn’t plan to propose to her… she would’ve been alive. She would still be mine. We would be perfect. 

NO.

That chance was robbed away from me. She was ripped away from me by those… THOSE FOOLS! THOSE PRETENTIOUS, ARROGANT FOOLS! If it weren’t for them… she would still be here.

I felt the cold take my last breath away from me, devouring every single bit of it. I froze as it left my body. I thought of her one last time. I thought of that smile that made me… me. That made the kindest of hearts in Equestria. That lost smile that caused me to lose that kindness. So much regrets. So much I’d want to change.

And that was where I saw him. I saw the being known as Zero; the faceless being that claimed to give me another chance to be with her. I don’t know if I could trust him, I haven’t trusted anypony for so long. 


I’M GIVING YOU THIS CHANCE TO GO BACK. DO YOU ACCEPT MY CONDITIONS?


This is the only choice I have. I don’t want to die like this. I want to live to see her again. I want to see the mare that I love. I want to see Crystal Heart even if the thought of it sounds so impossible.


SO BE IT.


My heart started to beat once again, slowly at first. My lungs seemed to be filled with air. My body and senses started to come back to me, slowly and painfully. The pain rushed through every fiber of my being. It flowed through my heart, scattered to the rest of my body and went back. The process repeated for what seemed like hours, pushing my body to its limits. I slowly changed in appearance, reverting back to my old form. My jet black coat reverted to its former bleached color. Subsequently, my sharp horn twisted and reverted to my old one, so as did my eyes; changing it back to its original cyan color. My locks of black hair turned back into my old auburn one.  My formerly concealed cutie mark was then revealed as the last fiber of my appearance spell was broken… a winged heart.

This is it. I only have one chance.


WELCOME BACK, KIND HEART.