xjuggerscrapsx

by xjuggernaughtx

A Periodic Tale of Elements: Generosity - Chapter Four (Dark, Adventure)

Three Hours Before the Ritual - King Sombra

Sombra worried at his hoof with his teeth as he gazed absently out the elegantly arched window near his throne. Once, the nights in Crystal City had been filled with a soft pastel glow that had been the envy of Equestria. Ponies had flocked here to walk side by side in the romantic light and make cherished memories to tell the ponies back home.

But that was before the war. As pony after pony left the city to join the front, or to escape to safer regions of Equestria, the famous crystals steadily lost their luster. Now, Crystal City was dark. Dark and cold and empty, Sombra thought, chewing relentlessly. Somewhere, another part of his mind screamed at him about decorum. He knew he was ruining yet another meticulously crafted hooficure; just another item in the long line of things he’d ruined since his ascension to the throne.

Somewhere nearby, ponies were talking. Sombra whipped his hoof from his mouth, scanning the throne room to see if anyone had noticed. He’d been drilled on royal etiquette for years, but the training seemed to be slipping away recently. Everything seemed to be slipping away.

Beside him, his bride and the shining queen of the Crystal Empire sat regally on her throne. As always, Sombra found it hard to swallow when he looked at her. Even now… he thought, sighing. Even after everything we’ve been through, she’s still so beautiful. Sombra wished for the hundredth time today that they could just retire from the throne and go out into the garden, just the two of them. To just be together for a little while, without the weight of governmental responsibility weighing down on them.

He’d loved Chrystal since they were foals. His family had been at the lower end of the Crystal Empire’s noble class, but they’d still received invitations from the royal family from time to time. It was during the first of these visits that he’d met Chrystal, and despite the princess being a year older, they’d quickly become friends.

Sombra had been in awe. He’d never really given fillies much thought before, but something about Chrystal made his heart beat faster. For weeks before the visits, he’d be a wreck, unable to sleep or eat. Sombra’s brothers had teased him about his crush, but it had hardly mattered to him. Nothing mattered besides the reunion, but it seemed the closer he got to her, the harder things worked to keep them apart.

His mother had tried to put a stop to it. She’d argued late into the night with his father that Sombra’s obsession was unhealthy. He was just a colt, after all. She’d pleaded with him to beg off the visits, and that it wasn’t fair to put Sombra through all of this when their family standing wasn’t nearly good enough for a marital union.

As the arguments escalated, his parents’ voices would ring through the halls of their small stone castle. Each pleading, nearly hysterical request from his mother and flat refusal from his father stabbed at him. Each was an accusation and a burden, piling on top of him; reminding him over and over that he wasn’t good enough.

His father asserted that there were ways. All Sombra had to do was to make something of himself and all of the barriers would fall away. He’d repeated time and again that Sombra’s special relationship with the princess was advantageous to the family, and that a little puppy love never hurt anypony.

At some point, even his brothers had let up. Sombra had lost so much weight that his ribs stood out clearly beneath his skin. When Chrystal had seen him, she’d gasped and insisted that he head straight to the kitchen where she could watch him eat. That had perhaps been the happiest dinner they’d ever had together. Chrystal had tucked them into an alcove in the kitchen, around a worn, well-loved table that the cooks used for their breaks, and together they’d eaten a small banquet of grains, exquisitely prepared by the staff. Chrystal had all the cooks wrapped around her hoof, of course, but Sombra didn’t even try to pretend his feelings for her were anything special. She was the radiant star that everypony wanted to shine on them, even if it was only briefly.

What had been special was Chrystal’s response. The royal family was cordial, but distant, and they’d made it very clear that the only reason that Sombra’s family was entertained at courrt as often as they were was because of their daughter’s preference of playmates. Chrystal had told Sombra again and again how she’d wheedled yet another invitation from her father just so they could hang out some, failing to realize that each of these stories was a dagger into Sombra’s heart. It was a constant reminder to him that she was ultimately unattainable.

“Dear, your hoof,” Chrystal said quietly.

Sombra shook himself, trying to resurface from the memories that threatened to engulf him at all times now. Whipping his hoof from his mouth again, he sat up and tried to appear regal. The courtiers politely ignored the transgression, but he could feel their disdain. To them, he was just one step above common; a bumbling buffoon who was pretending at greatness.

That hadn’t always been the case. For a brief time, they hadn’t been able to get enough of him. Everypony adores a literal knight in shining armor, after all, and after his great deed, his armor had shined brightest of all.

When he’d gotten old enough, he’d joined the royal guard. His father had been incredibly proud, believing that military distinction was the surest way for Sombra to improve his standing. Sombra had just been hoping Chrystal could pull some strings and he’d end up as a guard at court.

Neither had happened. He’d ended up as a border guard, protecting the kingdom from encroaching trees and the dire villainy of poorly-repaired roads. He, along with the rest of the soldiers, complained loudly that they were nothing but day laborers with spears. But it did them no good, and Sombra fell into despair, performing the bare minimum to get by without disciplinary action.

It had been there that he’d met the monstrosity who’d ruined everything. While out on patrol, he’d heard wild laughter deep in the woods, and he’d gone off to investigate. Procedure would have been to report back immediately and request a squad, but Sombra was sick to death of procedure and had grown to hate most of the spoiled nobles that were in his division; each one of them trying harder than the other to prove that their bloodline was older and more pure. They would bray to each other about how many times they’d been to court and how Chrystal favored them above all others. Only Sombra knew that they were all lying, and through that, he learned what a hollow thing nobility truly was. These ponies were to be the future rulers of the Crystal Empire! The thought of it made Sombra want to vomit.

Sombra had been so startled when he entered the darkened grove that he’d dropped his spear, and had ended up tripping on it as he scrambled backward. Before him, a sinuous, motley creature stood howling in a large mud puddle. A lively pink shower cap with a speckled daisy pattern sat atop the thing’s head, stretched tightly over some sort of protuberances, and the beast was scrubbing itself vigorously with what appeared to be a very frightened flamingo. Worst of all, the puddle was raining a steady stream of brown water up into the sky.

“Ah!” the creature had cried, as it pulled a shower curtain closed from thin air. “Naughty, naughty, pony!" It coyly turned, staring at him with one gleaming eye over the curtain. “Ah, well. It can’t be helped, I suppose. It’s what comes of lack of specifics! Here I’d asked for a shower, and I’m showered with attention!" Turning to leer at Sombra, the thing’s fang had glistened. “Wanna scrub my back?” it continued, waving the flamingo at him.

Sombra felt his skin grow cold and clammy, and he scrambled to get up, only to catch his hoof on his spear again. As he tried to run, it rolled out from beneath him, and he fell. Sprawling, he wiggled backwards the way he’d come as quickly as his awkward position would allow.

“Oopsie!” the creature said, grinning. “Ponies always seem to be trying to give me the slip, but yours is a truly novel approach, ace. Nice form, though leaving something to be desired in the artistic aspects. A solid seven point five." With a snap of its fingers, the thing had dismissed the ersatz shower and began walking toward him, hands clasped behind its back.

“So what should we play now, hmm?” it had asked, leaning over him. Sombra shrank away as it lunged forward, but the creature merely lifted the unicorn to his hooves again, summoning a small army of whisk brooms that descended on Sombra in a mad, dirt-annihilating frenzy. “It’s a good thing you came along, little friend. I haven’t had a decent laugh in minutes,” the creature continued, chuckling as the brooms continued their assault, “but now that I’ve, ah… swept you off of your hooves, we can get down to some serious hilarity!”

“What… are you?” Sombra had asked with some difficulty. In a desperate attempt to keep his skin, he’d used his magic to immobilize the whisk brooms, but they were struggling valiantly.

The monster had rolled its eyes. “What am I?” the creature rumbled, its mouth curling ever so slightly. “My, my. The manners ponies have these days. If I were a bush…” the thing said, gesturing with its claws. Sombra’s scream was cut off as he transformed into a small, green muleberry bush. “… or a tree…" Sombra suddenly swelled in size as his body became an oak. “… or a pest…" To Sombra’s amazement, he was briefly a sleek white alicorn mare with a sun on her flank before returning to his normal body. “… I’d be a ‘what’! However, I’m a ‘who’ and you’d do well to remember that, sport. Getting on my bad side can be a transformative experience for anypony.”

Sombra’s mouth had sagged open as the creature fell to the ground, cackling and clutching its stomach. “Oh! Oh, you should see the look on your face! Priceless!”

“I-I should be getting back to my post…” Sombra had said, retrieving his spear and backing away. He was afraid to take his eyes off of the twisted thing before him.

“Oh, don’t be such a spoilsport, sport,” it had replied, rising to its feet again. Sombra began to tremble as the grove dimmed. All around him, the plants had been rustling, growing wild and lush. Suddenly, the grove had been surrounded by thousands of twisting vines, each one sporting hundreds of glistening barbs. “Getting out of here is going to be a thorny problem, as you can see,” the beast had said, breaking off one of the thorns and inspecting its glistening tip. “Ooh, poison! My favorite!” it had continued, breaking into a wide grin before tossing the thorn into its gaping mouth. “Kind of an aperitif, you know,” it had said, eyeing Sombra.

“I… um…” Sombra had said, his eyes darting frantically, looking for a way out.

“Fine, fine. I suppose I’ll do the introductions,” he said, shrugging its shoulders. “My name’s Discord.”

Sombra’s body had stiffened as Discord snapped his fingers. Suddenly, he’d been walking toward Discord, his hoof extended. Panicking, Sombra had tried to stop, but his body refused to obey. “Hi, Discord! So nice to meetcha!” he’d heard himself say cheerily. “Why you’re positively the most charming and devastatingly handsome draconequus that I’ve ever met!”

“Oh, you flatterer!” Discord had said, fluttering his eyelids. “The tales you tell! Well, by all means, please continue…” he’d said, the last few words taking on a sinister tone.

“Well, golly-gosh!” Sombra’s body had said while his mind screamed. “Not much to tell really. I’m just another fool of a pony from the Crystal Empire that got lucky!”

“Really?” Discord had said, summoning a notepad and a fedora. “Do tell. All of it.”

And Sombra had. Every memory. Each experience. For hours, he’d poured his life out to the creature. He’d felt his voice going hoarse, but his body just kept going, forcing the words out in an unending stream.

Finally, well into the night, he’d stopped, having exhausted his life’s story. Discord eyed him with a mixture of comical boredom and disdain. “Sheesh!” he had sighed in disgust. “Moping around in the background, hoping for royal scraps." Sombra had felt himself nod vigorously. “What a good little lapdog you are! It must be adorable when the princess takes you for a walk.”

Sombra’s anger had flared, and he’d pushed against the wall Discord had erected in his mind. Pressing it with his will, he’d felt something bending, and he’d thrown everything he had against it.

“Well, well!” Discord had said, as Sombra fell to the ground. “There is a little bite to go with that bark! Jolly good!" Discord had hunkered down in front of the gasping unicorn. “How’d you like to learn to fetch, Rover?”

“What?” was all Sombra had been able to manage. The effort of breaking Discord’s spell had been enormous.

“Well, my fine friend, I have just what you need,” Discord had answered, lowering his face until it was only inches from Sombra’s. “You want to be the big hero, right? If you really want to win the hoof of your princess, you’ll need to do something other than stomping around at the border, scaring all manner of ferocious bunnies and birdies, eh?" A smile slithered across Discord’s face. “Luckily for you, I have the key to your love’s heart, and because we’re such great pals, you and I, I’m willing to share it with you…" Discord had leaned in further, his irregular eyes growing impossibly wide, “… for a price!

“You see,” Discord had continued, rising to his feet again to pace, “I know of the Crystal Empire’s royal family and their struggles. Of course, you’re familiar with the central spire, aren’t you?”

Sombra had nodded numbly. The castle had a large tower at its very center, but nopony had ever figured out how to get into it. Some unseen force repelled any attempt to fly onto its turrets or into its windows, but a staircase descended into some lower recess of the castle. No royal family in recorded history had ever figured out where those steps originated from.

In the absence of knowledge, legends had filled the void. Rumors always circulated within the castle as to what might be up there: Lost magic. Ancient weapons. A treasure; wealth beyond imagining. It could be anything, and in the imaginations of the people of the Crystal Empire, it was.

Discord had stopped his pacing, gazing coolly at Sombra. “What if you opened that door, Sombra?” Discord had said in his smooth voice. “What if you came back as the big hero?" Discord suddenly transformed into an owl. An owl with a disturbingly long fang. “Wouldn’t that be a hoot?” he said, landing on Sombra’s back.

~~~

Lost in his memories, Sombra missed the blue stallion as he rammed the massive double doors with his shoulder, knocking the surprised guards away in his frenzied scramble to the throne. The courtier erupted, screaming for help, and the queen half rose from her seat before the guards tackled the gasping stallion. Through it all, Sombra stared at the window, chewing on his hoof.

“Your… Majesties!” the gasping soldier has finally managed as the guards began to haul him away. “News from the front! We’ve been defeated! All is lost!”

For a moment, all was silent. Then the courtiers began to wail. Unnerved, the guards gruff voice joined them, calling out for answers, all of them screaming at a king who heard nothing.