The emptiness of space. A void, silent, lifeless, and seemingly endless abyss of absolutely nothing. But in this cold and dark space there is still life. But it is this life that the darkness wishes to destroy, to wipe off the face of existence forever. This absence of life is named death. Death, unlike life, is eternal. Frozen in time, never aging, never moving, just stuck for there is no where for it to go. The living see death as a horrible evil thing but the dead do not. The dead see death as a place of peace and harmony, one the living should embrace not avoid. Death is inevitable, unstoppable, and invincible. Nothing can truly defeat death, only shield those from it.
In the end, death catches up with us all.
In the vast emptiness of space there lies a planet called Equestria. Life blossoms on this planet, shining like a beacon of life itself. It is this beacon of life however, that has caught the attention of a very powerful evil. A portal opens in space, a bridge between the universe of the dead and the universe of the living. The portal isn't strong enough for something dead to return, but it is strong enough for something of great power to pass through it.
A ring. One colored black that matched the very emptiness of space itself. On its piece was the symbol of an upside down triangle with multiple lines jutting out from it. The portal closed and for a moment the ring floated in space, lifeless and slowly rotating.
Then the ring glowed, its top aimed towards Equestria. It became enveloped in a black sphere and shot through space like a comet, leaving a trail of black aura behind it as it flew at impossibly fast speed. When the ring entered Equestria's atmosphere, it slowed its descent by about fifty percent. It entered the frozen north, past the Crystal Empire, soaring a few feet above the ground towards its intended target. It's speed came to a quick halt when it discovered what it had been looking for.
A black curved horn jutting out, half buried in snow. This was what the ring had been searching for, one worthy of its power and now it's search was at an end.
The horn belonged to a now dead powerful unicorn named King Sombra. One who ruled the Crystal Empire with fear and hatred. Yes, Sombra would make an excellent host for the ring. The ring slowly glowed, a dark aura surrounding as an eerie and raspy voice spoke.
"The Blackest Night falls from the skies,
The darkness grows as all light dies,
We crave your hearts and your demise,
By my black hand, King Sombra, rise!"
Nothing.
If the ring was expecting something to happen, then it was sadly disappointed as nothing happened. The ring looked down at the horn, almost as if it seemed perplexed as to why nothing was happening.
"The Blackest Night falls from the skies,
The darkness grows as all light dies,
We crave your hearts and your demise,
By my black hand, King Sombra, rise!"
The voice repeated once more from the ring, and once more nothing happened. The ring was now starting to get frustrated, angry that what should've been working was not.
"WORK YOU STUPID PIECE OF SHI-" The ring shouted as a black beam enclosing the horn and lifting it up, revealing that it was nothing but a horn. The ring brought the horn closer to itself, observing it. It was then that ring understood what had happened. The reason nothing was happening was because it was only a horn, and to do what needed to be done the ring needed a body. The ring found itself scouring the barren snow, searching for pieces of Sombra's remains. Over time the ring unearthed all of the pieces and laid them in a pile.
The pieces of Sombra became entrapped in a black aura as they were put back together like a puzzle. Piece after piece was delicately placed, until the horn was placed last. Finally the ring had constructed the full body of Sombra. The ring's handle grew in size as it fit snugly onto Sombra's right hoof. Once more the ring spoke.
"The Blackest Night falls from the skies,
The darkness grows as all light dies,
We crave your hearts and your demise,
By my black hand, King Sombra, rise!"
There was a soft rumble. It shook small parts of the snow, causing it to become unbalanced and lose its structure. Sombra's eyes opened, revealing they were completely black with purple mist seeping out of them. His chest raised as his lungs filled up with air. Purple mist seeped out of his mouth as he exhaled. Two red pupils became visible in his eyes as slowly lifted himself up to his hooves. He observed his surroundings, noticing the cold and desolate weather around him. He looked to his chest, slowly raising his hoof and touched it.
Thump-thump
A heartbeat
Thump-thump
Once more it beat. Sombra couldn't believe it but he knew it to be true.
"I'm alive." He spoke, a wicked smile spreading across his lips.
"Not exactly."
Sombra whipped his head around, searching for the voice which had spoken to him.
"Who's there?" He demanded. "Show yourself!"
"Look at your hoof."
Sombra raised his left hoof.
"Your other hoof."
Sombra lowered his left and raised his right hoof, where he saw the new ring on his hoof.
"What are you?" Sombra asked, examining the ring.
"I am a ring of death and you, King Sombra, are a Black Lantern. Welcome to the Black Lantern Corps by the way."
"Black Lantern...what in Tartarus is a Black Lantern?" Sombra demanded.
"A Black Lantern is one who wields a ring of death, and you just so happen to be our lucky winner."
"I don't understand, why have you brought me back?" Sombra asked.
"I'll gladly explain later. But for now we've got work to do, no doubt the others will be closing in soon."
"Others? What do you mean by others?" Sombra demanded.
Warning! Lanterns of Will, Hope, Love, Compassion, Fear, Rage, and Avarice detected! a robotic voice projected itself inside of Sombra's mind.
"Those others. Now, unless you want to return to the land of dead I suggest we make ourselves scarce."
As the voice said that, Sombra could see seven objects falling from the sky, each with its own unique color. One of green, one of yellow, one of blue, one of red, one of violet, one of orange, and one of purple. Sombra didn't know what they were, but he could feel as though they were something he didn't want to find out. With that, Sombra took the ring's advice and teleported away.
Sombra reappeared in the mouth of a cave, still watching the seven colored objects fall towards earth. Sombra couldn't explain it, but there was a feeling inside of him when he saw the seven objects. Was it fear? Anger? It felt similar but Sombra knew that it wasn't.
"Its difficult to understand isn't it? The feeling whenever you see them."
"What are they?" Sombra demanded, not taking his eyes off the objects. "And why do I feel...this?"
"Black Lanterns are devoid of emotions such as fear, love, rage, hope, compassion, greed and willpower. They have no need for such trivial things. After all, what use could the dead have with emotions?"
"If I no longer have these emotions then what is this feeling?" Sombra asked.
"This feeling of yours has no name, yet it is the only one you and the other Black Lanterns have felt. We can't explain it, but those of the Spectrum have always been our enemy. They see our goal as one of pure evil and refuse to see the beauty in it. That feeling you have, it is the feeling of the Spectrum being your enemy. It is your goal to defeat them, so that our dream will finally be seen to fruition."
"And...what is this dream you speak of?" Sombra asked cautiously.
"Since the dawn of time there have been two universes. The one of the living and the one of the dead. The living is limited, short, and ending. But the dead is forever, unlimited, and inevitable. Our goal, our one true dream, is to show the living the beauty of death and let them join us in eternity."
"But the living refuse to see the beauty of death. They lash out and fight against us, believing that their lives are actually worth something. We send our rings of death to those who have died so that they may bring the living closer to the dead. That is why I have chosen you, King Sombra, as a Black Lantern."
"And if I refuse to go along with this dream of yours?" Sombra asked.
"Then I will return you to the land of the dead, and seek out someone else who will carry out my dream."
Sombra considered the ring's choice, accepting it's deal would result in him returning and potentially ruling over the Crystal Empire once more but if he refused then that chance would be lost forever.
"I accept your offer, ring of death, I will help you achieve your dream." Sombra said, accepting the ring's offer.
"Splendid! Head deeper into the cave, I will begin to teach you about the ring's power and it's capabilities."
Sombra turned his back to the entrance and went deeper into the cave, ready to learn about his newfound power and what the ring had in store for him.