Sombre

by Philosopher of Arcane

Prologue

Sombra, namesake: Sombre, the state of sadness, despair, and general unhappiness. Such an eloquent word yet with a dark meaning.

The Crystal Empire, a bustling city who's landscape was dominated by towering crystalline structures of varying colors, all refracting light across the ground in beautiful tapestries of light. The ponies here lived in peace and harmony for the longest time, in a city untouched by the cold, dry hands of time. The crystal walls of the palace have existed for an unknown time, since before any form of recorded ponylife had been recorded. Ponies took advantage of the durability of such structures and built a settlement, cultivating crops in the nearby fertile soil and developing better technologies and knowledge. Ever striving for more knowledge, more information, ponies evolved as time went by, some had grown wings much to the surprise of their predecessors and others horns. The winged ponies were able to fly and were quickly employed in work forces such as building and mail delivery, the horned ones seemed to have a natural ability to manipulate the physical world and a world beyond their own using an unseen force that later became known as magic. These new races became known as Pegasi for the winged ones and Unicorns for those bearing a horn. Those left bound to the earth, unable to fly and unable to manipulate the strange force of magic became known as earth ponies, due to their affinity with the earth, natural endurance, and strength. Settlements quickly became towns, towns quickly became cities, and cities became Empires, both rival and ally.

In the Crystal Empire there was a humble workpony by the name of Emerald Hoof. Occasionally Emerald made trips into the city to sell food by the cartload and gave rations to the poor and needy. On one such day he was bringing his cart 'round a corner in the less fortunate parts of town and overheard a small filly asking her mother if she needed to sell her teddy so they could eat that night. Emerald frowned and came to a halt, he thought to himself,

"I really shouldn't be listenin in on there conversation, but ah jus can't sit here and let em starve."

He stamped his hoof in frustration at the general thought of such a beautiful city overlooking those in need. Taxes were rough and he struggled to repair his equipment as is, but there were some who struggled more then he did on a daily basis. He just HAD to help them. As he approached the small house he saw the filly in tears and hugging her 'teddy and her mother saying something to her in low tones. He came closer and the mother looked up at him with large round brown eyes. He was amazed that any mare could be so beautifull. He shook his head and hailed her,

"Howdy there miss! You needin some extra grain n carrots? Had some leftover from the market that jus aint sellin. Figgerd the firs pony ah saw aughta take whats left."

The mare's eyes widened in awe at the offer. She shook her head,

"I couldn't possibly take it, I have no money and nothing to give you, I'm so sorry."

and as she turned to retreat within the house Emerald nearly jumped forward, "MA'AM!" She jumped.

"Oh, ahm sorreh, didn mean ta scare yah. Ma'am, this here's free of charge! Take it all and have yerself a grand old feast."

He gave her a grin,

"Name's Emerald Hoof, but uh, you kin jus call me Em."

He shuffled a little, adjusting the weight of the cart. The mare smiled back at him,

"My name's Amethyst Sky, and this is my daughter Quartz Sky."

The little filly peeked out from behind her mother's hind leg. Emerald smiled at her and she retreated further behind her mother.

"Don't mind her, she's just a little shy, we don't get many around here often."

I'd gladly take your offer, nopony's ever been this kind to us. May I ask that you stay for dinner?"

Emerald nodded his head slowly,

"Sure thing, ah I jus gotta finish some errands first nodding to his cart behind him."

"Oh, of course. Well I will wait here until your return."

She said, Emerald turned and began backing the cart further down the road for better maneuverability.

"I look forward to seeing you later!" Amethyst yelled as he began down the road. "Same to ya!" Emerald returned. Off he went to the marketplace to finish his purchases and selling his haul.

As he went through the rest of his day all he could think about was the mare with the brown eyes. So absorbed in his thoughts as he was he failed to notice the pony that had been following him the past 3 hours.

Amethyst Sky was busily cleaning up the house, dusting all the hard dirt off of the table so rarely used, pumped fresh water from the well nearby into their only pail and began scrubbing the floor. Quartz joined in too, her little hooves working across the floor with an old rag laden with water in smooth, practiced circles. They simply couldn't bring a guest in with the house like this, Amethyst shook her head wondering what she would have done if Emerald Hoof HAD come in upon request. She resigned to she was just lucky he didn't. From their life in poverty, Amethyst and Quartz were no stranger to cleaning and had the entirety of their little hut as shiny as a hut can be within an hour. Quartz went out to play and Amethyst sat down on one of the freshly scrubbed chairs and quickly jumped up. They had yet to bathe themselves, they probably smelled horrible! She sped out of the hut and called for Quartz. Quartz came bounding over,

"Yes mommy?"

she asked.

"We need to go bathe before Mr Emerald gets back, it isn't polite to be dirty with guests over. Come along now, let's go to the lake."

Amethyst said,

"YIPPEE!"

Quartz cried, leaping into the air. She loved the lake, it was so nice and warm at this time of year.

It was nearly sunset as Emerald Hoof finished locking his cart in the stable back at his farm outside the city. He went ahead and pumped some water for his shower, after all, a long day of cart pulling and calling out his assorted foods all day had a way of making one smell rather atrocious. Shortly after, he began the walk over to Miss Amethyst's squat little hut. He arrived just as the sun was setting, putting the word into an otherworldly ethereal lavender glow. Seeing smoke from the chimney and a warm glow emanating from the windows, he inhaled sharply, and exhaled very slowly,

"Ah, nothin like a good ol hearty cabbage stew!"

and with that, he went up to the door.

There was a knock on the door of the small hut.

"Oh, that must be Mr Emerald Hoof!"

Amethyst exclaimed. Quartz stopped playing and looked towards the door. Another knock on the door, this time a little faster and sharper, more... impatient sounding.

"Coming! Coming!"

Amethyst called as she hurriedly walked over to the door. But before she could get the door open further then an inch, there was a loud explosion and bright white light filled her eyes as the door flew open and something hot slammed into her, throwing her across the room and into the mantle. She crumpled in a heap, breathing heavily with a small cut across the back of her head. Quartz screamed, as the door, still hanging open proceeded to become enveloped in a sickly green glow, unicorn magic. The door threw itself across the room in the same fashion as Amethyst, but this time aimed at the source of the noise. The little filly was immediately quiet. The screams and crash from the door, then silence. It had all happened too quickly. Amethyst managed to crack an eye open as she lay there on the floor and managed to see something red pooling near the doorway, and a familiar emerald green coat of fur laying outside the door. Her eyes widened,

"Emeral-?"

she dryly squeaked out before a wet crunch swallowed her words.

"Disgusting."

The dark cloaked figure standing in the ruined hut of Amethyst Sky quietly proclaimed, wiping some bits of skull left stuck to their hoof on the flank of the lavender earth pony it belonged to.

"I truly hate getting the dirty jobs, why can't I just be called upon to wreak some havoc in the usual way? A little political manipulation here, some anarchy there... but no. I get stuck bashing skulls."

the figure proclaimed as she looked over to the blood pooling underneath the door in the corner of the room. With a huff and a spin of a cloak, this mysterious murderer disappeared with a sharp crack that was followed by silence. None wondered what the crashing and banging was in the other less fortunate parts of town on the same side as Amethyst's home. It wasn't uncommon for loud noises as all the ponies were nearly always hard at work making whatever living they could, so the act that had transpired went unnoticed for several days. That was, until someone smelled something fowl coming from upwind.

Author's Note:

Ok, this is my first attempt at writing anything that I have a full intention of completing, while the story as of yet may not seem like it's going anywhere, I plan to expand much more off of this loose frame. I'm sorry if it is poor quality writing, but I had a sudden urge to write a story. While my vocabulary might be extensive (I never said I was humble) my storytelling skills are sub-par in comparison to some of the amazing writers on this site. I would greatly appreciate constructive criticism and directions from those more experienced on how to refine my story. I have no team or editors, I am the sole creator and producer of this project so forgive me for errors and poor writing.

(edit, I rather enjoy the idea of introducing a few characters in the beginning of a story, only for the viewer to find out the character they began to "know" seemingly had no real importance and were entirely expandable. So watch out, you never know who's here to stay... )