“Hidden Gem…”
Twilight, who was just outside the door, heard the words from a shocked Sombra. The crystals had been easy to get, since they had been left right where Sombra had stashed them in a secret chamber, accessed exactly the same way as the staircase to the Crystal Heart. He had even warned her about the trap.
When she entered, or at least tried to enter the chariot, she found that everypony was looking between Sombra and the mare Pinkie had… well, honestly, this might constitute as ponynapping, but she was sure there was a reason for her being here.
She finally managed to squeeze herself in as the new mare spoke: “So it is true?” Twilight noted the slight tremor in her voice, alongside the disbelief. “You… you really are my Sombra?”
Sombra closed his – well, Jax’ – mouth, and looked towards Pinkie with an accusing stare. Pinkie laughed nervously and took out some treats. “Anypony want a cupcake?”
Twilight took the time to examine the new mare. She didn’t look very impressive, objectively speaking. Her fur was a gray sort of beige, her mane following the same pattern with a different hue of gray. Her cutie mark was a brown patch of dirt with a rock on it. She barely sparkled at all, despite being a crystallized crystal pony.
The only thing that stood out were her eyes, by being a radiant violet… like… like amethysts. Hidden Gem? The name fit her well.
“You two know each other?” Twilight asked, for no other reason than to try and dispel some of the awkward silence that was left after Pinkie’s question.
It didn’t work. At all. Sombra looked away from everypony in the room, while Hidden Gem started pawing at the floor, in… something Twilight could only assume was embarrassment. She would occasionally look up briefly, make eye contact with somepony, then look down again.
The silence continued… for some reason it seemed to amuse Luna, but most of them probably felt the same need as her to do something to get out of this uncomfortable silence.
Twilight looked at Cadence and her BBBFF, but they gave her a confused smile and shrug respectively.
Cadence, the reliable mare that she was, finally broke the silence with a fake cough. “So, Sombra. I’m here, as you probably know, to have my question answered.” She took a moment to smile kindly at the human that was looking solemnly at her. “My name is Cadence, or Princess Mi Amore Cadenza if you want to be formal about it.”
“Amore?” Sombra whispered from his seat by the window. Twilight only heard it because her ear was directed that way.
“This is my husband, Prince Shining Amor. I believe you two have met under less fortunate circumstances.” Shining gave a curt nod, clearly unhappy about the situation. Twilight knew him well enough to know that he would start complaining about the entire setup as soon as he was alone with Cadence again. ‘A small chariot is no place to interrogate a criminal. Especially when you fill it with civilians as potential hostages.’ he would say, and then Cadence would ask him where else they could have done it, with the cold outdoors being the only other option. Then Shining would tell her they should have prepared a tent-
Twilight shook her head. This was no time for fictional discussions.
Sombra looked briefly at Shining’s horn and smiled fleetingly, but didn’t say anything. Their eyes met again and Shining’s already curt look turned into a frown.
“I’ll take that as a confirmation.” Cadence went on with a merry smile. How she could make it look so natural under the circumstances was beyond Twilight. “Now, Celestia warned me about your little… well, attention to detail on the deal.” She tapped a hoof on her chin, seemingly in thought. “It made me think long and hard about my question, as to not fall into the same trap.”
“I am sure you did.” Sombra answered, unamused. “Now ask thy question, and as promised, I shall answer truthfully.”
Everypony stole a glance towards Luna at the archaic speech, except Luna of course, who just raised a brow at him.
“I haven’t heard that type of speech since I met Luna in the halls one day, and she started lecturing me on-“
Whatever Cadence was lectured on would remain a mystery, as Luna coughed into her hoof. “No need to bring that up now, dear niece. You have a question to ask.” If Twilight didn’t know any better, she’d say Luna looked embarrassed.
“Right. So here’s my question: Why did Princess Amore die?”
***
Sombra tried to calm down after seeing Hidden Gem there. Jax’ heart was pumping at a steady rate, since Sombra did not have a full hold on it but only… borrowed it while Jax was asleep, but he still felt like adrenaline was running through his system, making him unable to think properly.
The new Princess of love had asked him something… ‘Why?’ That was a better question than Celestia had asked, just assuming it was him because he overtook the empire afterwards. In reality, he overthrew the overthrowers.
“Because of her own stupidity, trust, the greed of ponies, and the use of a special kind of poison.” He answered, still avoiding to look at Hidden Gem. Her sudden presence put him off centre. Feelings he thought he had locked away deep inside were crashing on the surface. Everything seemed so fresh, like it had happened not so long ago… perhaps, in part, because he had shared the memories with Jax. What a mistake that turned out to be.
“Oh c’mon!” The one named Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “What’s the point if you’re going to be so vague about it?!”
It was their own fault for not being more specific about his answers. Being honest was easy.
“Yeah, what’s up with that? I know you’re evil and stuff but seriously.” Rainbow Dash agreed.
Cadenza coughed again, quitting everypony down. “Please? I just want to know what happened with my predecessor.”
He spared her a quick look. He could not spot any deceit in her expression. She really was not doing this just because Celestia had asked her.
He hesitated for a moment, but then looked away. There was no way in Tartarus they were going to refrain from going through with the plan if there was a chance it could help their precious Jax.
He meant too much to them. Which meant Sombra could get away with this.
Then she spoke up, her sweet voice making his ethereal chest tighten. “Sombra… my little shadow.” Hidden Gem spoke softly, taking a small step forward. “I would like to know as well. Nopony really knows what happened in the castle that day, but for the longest time I held on hope… that my sweet shadow did not kill our Princess.” She took another small step forward in the cramped chariot. Even though he kept his gaze fixed on the window and the snowy landscape outside, he could see her right in front of him in the corner of his vision. “Please Sombra… I need to know what you did… and why you did it.”
Then after a long moment of silence she added: “Was it because of me?”
It was too much for him to take. He spent so much time trying to forget her - the times they had talked, the times they had made love, the times he had laid in her bed, finding her more beautiful by the second.
The very moment he knew he loved her more than anything on this world.
The painful reminder that she was a whore. And whores have more than one customer.
“Sombra…” she uttered softly, inadvertently drawing his attention back to her. “He was just a customer. You did not pay me enough to pay for my rent and food, and I had to-“
“I know.” He responded forcefully before he could stop himself. “I know, but it hurt so much to see you together with some stallion, when I realized what our relationship really was,-“
Before he could feed his anger too much and say everything he wanted on the subject, Hidden Gem covered the rest of the distance between them to nuzzle into his neck, just like they used to. Somewhere from the side he could hear Luna grind her teeth, but it soon disappeared into the familiar feeling of having Hidden Gem hug him. Almost familiar at least, since the feelings he got through Jax’ body were rather dull, and his furless body felt different against her fur… but still… just like that, they were right back to the day they met, and he just sat there too stunned to react.
“Shush, my little Shadow. Do not dare to utter those words… do you truly think I treated my other customers with the same attention and joy that I treated you? Do you, who is so very good at seeing through the masks that ponies wear, truly believe that the smile I gave you was fake? Or for that sake, that any other stallion or mare could bring it out as easily as you?” Her voice was so soft as she whispered in his ear, he could feel the small hairs on Jax’ body stand.
She drew back a bit to stare into his eyes, and despite her staring into the face of a stranger, she bared herself to him, just like she had those nights they laid together and talked so long ago. Her emotions were as clear crystal to him. She was anxious, rather timid and obviously doubtful, but also… hopeful. “You were the first to call me beautiful. You were the first who treated me as something other than an outlet of their sexual fantasies or-“ Her eyes widened as she realized they were in fact not alone. She looked around quickly, a cute blush clearly visible. The other ponies looked confused or pretended like they did not hear her, looking anywhere but at her. Of course they would not know her occupation, or former occupation. She was not wearing her short skirt anymore, leaving her cutiemark free for all to see. She even sparkled a little bit, like… she was happy.
She was happy without him. Neither of them had crystallized before…. “When did you crystallize?” His voice might have been a more demanding than he had meant to. Everypony looked at him. Hidden Gem pawed at the floor again, a small smile on her muzzle.
“When you took over the Empire and ordered the crystal mines to be reopened, I ended up working there, and after Cadence’ reform I just kind of stayed there. I forgot how much I loved finding gems, and how good I am at it. It made me happy, so… here I am. A crystallized crystal pony.” He could just make out her blush.
He sighed and rolled back Jax’ head, laying a… hand over his face. In a roundabout way, he was the reason for her crystallization. He could not for the life of him remember if he had placed her in the mines on purpose or not. Everything was a blur from when he took over the throne.
“So… is he going to tell us, or are we flying back home? I bet the guards outside would appreciate it if we hurried a bit.” Rainbow Dash’s voice sounded in the silence.
He was so tired all of a sudden. Oddly enough, he had not felt this alive in a long time.
“I’ll go make sure they don’t freeze to death.” The stallion called Shining Armor said, followed by a lot of shuffling, and finally the door opening and closing. It gave a little more space, which was appreciated.
Suddenly the pink one was right in front of him, somehow switching places with Hidden Gem. “Would you please please please please pleeeeeeeaaaaaase just tell us what happened? Please?” She gave him a pleasing look.
Sombra looked over at Hidden Gem who did the same, mouthing ‘please’ with a small smile on her muzzle.
He sighed. He was not entirely sure why he was so ready to agree. “Fine. But no interruptions. Once I start talking, nopony else says anything. Are we clear?”
“Crystal.” Rainbow Dash responded. “Now get on with it.”
Pinkie squealed and got comfortable beside the one called Beating Heart, taking out a box of popcorn from her mane.
He took a deep breath, which did nothing to calm the emotions running wild inside of him. He idly thought where to even start.
***
“Princess Amore had two ponies she trusted above all else. Her captain of the crystal guard, and her head adviser. When those two found… love, I hear it was a celebrated event. Soon the head adviser became pregnant, and their son was supposed to be as strong and wise as his parents, but the colt had an early birth, and was weak and sickly as a result. This was their first disappointment, and reading my mother’s journal has made me believe that this was where it all started. To her, I was an experiment, an attempt to make the perfect offspring.
They still held hope that the colt could be the same level of intelligence as his mother, but as the years went by and the colt showed no signs of being the genius they expected, that hope faltered as well.
So they trained him. The father had a harsh training regiment, and the mother an overwhelming study plan, both ignoring the fact that the colt could not possibly complete both. Failure was punished, and success was rewarded with nothing, so the colt soon found himself drowning in their expectations with no way out. So he never crystalized. In the Empire, crystallization of a crystal pony is… a matter of pride, since it shows everypony around them that they have found happiness in their life. To them of course, it was another disappointment on a long list of disappointments, and they only made it worse for the colt.
While they had to deal with their disappointment of a son at home, their careers took a turn for the worse as well. The princess was ignoring the head advisers advice to leave the poor part of the Empire alone, and was starting a reform led by a different advisor that would theoretically reduce the divide between the rich and the poor. The rumours that my mother was going to be replaced spread like wildfire. Meanwhile the captain of the crystal guard came under suspicion of corruption. Not only had he turned a blind eye to the black market, but he was taking bribes as well to look the other way on some less than honourable actions. Princess Amore would not stand for such arrangements in her empire, so she started an investigation on the matter.
So, in a short time span the princess turned her strongest and smartest ponies against herself, along with the whole underground and the powerful ponies that ruled it, not to mention the nobles that would pay for her reform. She probably thought they would just lay down and let her take away everything they had without a fight. She was wrong.
By banding together, they managed to procure a rare poison… magebane. The stronger the magic of the victim, the more potent it gets, from barely causing a cold to an earthpony, to being quite deadly to powerful unicorns. It was the first time, back then at least, that it was tried on an Alicorn, but simply by tipping it into her soup, Princess Amore was no more.
And with the captain already having made sure that most of the guards would side with them at the uprising… it was a brief affair.
Unfortunately for my parents and their victory, I had just finished reading my mother’s journal along with a very interesting spell. I found them in a secret room, which I only found because I was destroying the house after having found Hidden Gem with….
With nothing to lose, a lifetime of resentment towards my parents, and my very first dark magic spell… I set out with hate in my heart, and a single crystal.
It was so easy, I could barely believe it myself. So very very easy. After enchanting the crystal, I lowered it down into the throne room where they had all gathered. They all fell under the spell, even the guards, and while they were busy seeing their worst nightmare, I went over to my parents… and killed them. I found myself laughing with glee as I magically bound the rest of them. Some of them found their way out of the spell themselves, and had the choice to either accept my rule, or be subjected to the spell again.
What choice did they have? They accepted. They might have thought they could stage another coup later, but without my father’s leadership and my mother’s planning, they were no threat.
From then I had to act quickly. I knew that the alicorn sisters from the south would not let the death of their ally go unpunished. So I found the secret library my mother had found the dark spell in, and started studying.
What I found was amazing. With enough dark magic, I could create something resembling life. So I hid the Crystal Heart, used the crystals you collected today to shroud the Empire in negative magic, and ordered the crystal mines to be reopened. The negative magic caused the crystal ponies to be depressed, unable to rebel against me, and with a powerful spell I bound them to me, so that I could draw on their magic and emotions to strengthen my own to alicorn levels. I then used the crystals to store it, reaching incredible power.
I still knew it would not be enough to face two alicorns at once. So after studying the mind and understanding it, I used all the stored magic I had, and gave a part of myself in the creation of life, with one single purpose: Find an alicorn, and take over.
Alas, the parasite failed, and the alicorn sisters came and sealed me away… me and the empire I was bound to.
***
Silence stretched on as Sombra finished his story. He instantly regretted telling them the last part. He only had to tell them how Princess Amore died, not how he took over. He had just been so engrossed in the past that he barely noticed he was telling a story....
“YOU CREATED THE LIMELIGHT?!” Half the ponies were blown out of the chariot by the voice of Princess Luna. He felt the regret even deeper as he saw her glowing white eyes and spread wings, her power pushing out of her in waves. For the first time in a long time… Sombra feared for his life. She was in his face in a second, roughly showing him back into the seat. “YOU RUINED MY LIFE, SCOUNDREL! I SUFFERED FOR A THOUSAND YEARS BECAUSE OF YOU! A THOUSAND YEARS ON THE MOON, TRAPPED WITH A CREATION THAT WANTED NOTHING BUT POWER!”
In a panic he did the only thing he could to get away from the crazed alicorn. He retreated back in between Jax’ body and his soul, letting the human wake up. It had been so long since he had been face to face with one of them, and back then he had both been on a negative high, barely able to think of such an abstract word as 'danger', and had all the power of an Empire. Now he had... nothing. Not even a body of his own.
It took a long time for his ethereal being to stop shaking with fear.