King Sombra trudged through the howling snowstorm. A dark grey scarf wrapped around his neck blocked his mouth and nose from the freezing cold. He was a fool to think that he could possibly make it back to his empire before the snowstorm descended on him. The icy wind howled whipped the ends of his scarf wildly in the air. Sombra’s breath was visible as he breathed heavily. In the distance, he heard a painful screeching and saw multiple bright flashes of red. Sombra quickened his pace, now galloping towards the sounds and bright flashes. His horn glowed a dark purple and a sword made of red crystals formed next to him.
When he was finally within eyesight of the commotion, the sights and sounds halted entirely. A small nest laid on the ground. Dozens of cracked and smashed eggs littered the immediate vicinity. The dead body of a male phoenix rested in the center of the nest, clutching a single, remaining intact egg. Further beyond was a dead full-grown dragon. Burnt and scorched all over. Sombra’s crystal sword dissipated at the sight. Kneeling close to the remaining egg, Sombra wrapped it in his magic and brought it closer to himself. Unknowingly, his dark magic concentrated into the body of the creature inside the egg. Sombra wrapped the egg in his scarf, protecting it from the harsh cold.
King Sombra entered the Crystal Empire Castle, he unwrapped the scarf from the egg and begun inspecting the egg for any cracks. Were his own eyes playing tricks on him or had the egg gotten, bigger? Putting off the thought, Sombra determined that it was still in pristine condition. A servant nearly ran into the king. "King Sombra! My apologies for intruding, but the protective field. It's shrinking. Those near the edges of the field are starting to be covered in layers of snow."
"Okay. I want all the residents in the furthest districts to move further into the city. And send out patrols of guards to search for anypony that may be unable to get here themselves. Quickly." The servant nodded and she was off to deliver the orders she had been given. Sombra returned his attention to the egg once more. Okay, this egg was definitely getting bigger. It was the size of the Crystal Heart now. "Just what are you?" Sombra asked, levitating the egg for closer inspection.
King Sombra levitated book after book, scroll after scroll, tome after tome but nothing mentioned an egg that grew in size. Looking back at the egg, Sombra rubbed his chin in contemplation. That’s when he noticed the patches of ice formed on the egg. The air around the egg dropping to a near shiver. Sombra could see his own breath. Moving as fast as he could, Sombra brought the nearly frozen solid egg to an open flame. It worked and most of the ice melted away. Wait. Where was that book on phoenixes? Digging back through a pile of books the king had created, he pulled out the one book he had been looking for.
To keep their eggs warm, a father phoenix will envelop the eggs in a flame created from the phoenix’s own body. If not keep within such extreme heat for warmth, the unborn young will perish. The fire serves another purpose, a phoenix egg will absorb any and all heat in the immediate vicinity. When in the fire, the egg will be drawn from the flames and not their parents or siblings.
Sombra carefully set the egg in the midst of the fireplaces flame. The final remaining patches of ice melted away and the air no longer felt like it was a fridge. Sombra sighed and sat down in front of the fireplace. Looking closely at the egg, he swore that he saw what looked like the outline of a pony inside the egg. One moment it was there, then -just as it had appeared- it was gone.
King Sombra peeked his eyes open. He was still within the castle library. He must have fallen asleep. Sombra looked over at the fireplace. The fire had died down with black, charred wood logs in it and the egg was in pieces. Small black scorch marks on the crystal floor lead from the fireplace to Sombra’s side.
A small, silver coated pegasus pony slept beside him. Its mane was a grey coloration with a single, large streak of black inside both his mane and tail. It rustled in its sleep and revealed a curved horn. So there sat King Sombra, latest king of the Crystal Empire with a silver colt sleeping beside him. The servant from the night before walked in. "King Sombra. The blizzard has died down and... What is that?" asked the servant, pointing to the silver pony.
"I-I don't know," Sombra answered, baffled at the pony. The silver pony opened his mouth and yawned, stretching his wings and feet in all directions. The colt opened his eyes and looked up at the dark unicorn curiously.
"Well whose is he?"
“I don’t know.” Sombra shook his head. "You were going to say something when you entered."
"Oh, right. It’s good news and bad news. Good news is the blizzard has stopped. The bad news is that the storm got worse and worse over the night. Both the entirety of the outer and most of the central districts are covered in snow along with the majority of the food storages."
"Okay. I want the castle chefs to start preparing food. No fancy foods and every resident gets an equal share, but the elderly, injured, and young get served first. Next, I want every able-bodied pony strong and healthy enough to start helping with the clearing of the snow. Have the pegasi keep the skies clear to let sunlight in. Every mage working on providing extra heat and to help remove any large debris with their magic."
"Yes, King Sombra.” The servant turned to leave.
"Emerald Reed."
"Yes?"
"Let’s keep him-" Sombra pointed to the colt, who was now harmlessly munching on one of Sombra’s hooves, "-out of the public eye. At least until we know what to do with him."
"Okay."
Turns out, that wasn’t going to work quite so easily.
King Sombra walked through the Crystal Empire Castle kitchens. Chefs cooking hundreds of dishes and meals for the citizens of the Crystal Empire. Flames flew up from the ovens and the overture of chatting and orders being made almost drowned out the single, terror scream from one of the servants. "THERE’S A CHILD IN THE OVEN!" Sombra quickly raced down to where the servant was. Inside a light oven sat the silver colt, mindlessly eating a loaf of bread. Keeping the panic in him under bare control, Sombra pulled him out of the oven. A wave of water fell on the colt, dousing the flames licking from his silver coat.
After the general panic had left, almost everypony gathered around the colt, gawking at him. While they had heard tales of two ponies with both wings and horns in the south of the Crystal Empire, they had never seen such a creature. And certainly never saw a colt survive sitting in the flames of an oven without even having a single scorch mark. The silver colt took notice of the crowd gathered around him and stopped munching on the bread. His eyes locked onto King Sombra and he leaped for the familiar face.
Despite Sombra’s attempts to quell them, rumors quickly spread about the silver colt. Luckily, the incredulousness of the rumors kept most from believing them. So next was the problem of the colts nature. He constantly wandered off, disappearing for hours at a time. And the only two ponies he trusted were King Sombra and Emerald Reed. Sombra swore that this little colt was going to be the death of him. The biggest problem was the colts magic. It wasn’t normal magic. It could catch itself on fire at will and seemed oblivious to the dangers such an action brought forth, not just to the colt, but to those around him as well. It would always act jovial when catching itself on fire. Not to mention the normal magic it could perform. Teleporting randomly, luckily that one was rarely done. A few times a stray blast of magic would fly past Sombra -and once a blast hit his mane, creating a perfectly circular hole- and leave a scorch mark on the next thing it hit. Luckily Sombra had Emeralds help with the young pony. She acted as a mother to the colt, putting him to a bed and feeding him. Sombra himself wasn’t sure about the colt. But he did enjoy entertaining the young colt.
Then a group of the cities most important and influential figures held a meeting with King Sombra. They wanted the colt to be watched or detained in some way, they preferably wanted him to be detained. King Sombra could see their reasoning, the colt was a danger. But still, he said no.
"And why not, King Sombra?" one of the ponies asked.
At first, Sombra couldn’t give any justifiable answer. "Because." his eyes wandered around the meeting room. It was filled with heirlooms. One, in particular, caught his eye. It wasn’t anything special to a normal pony, but to Sombra, it was the most important heirloom he had. A double-edged sword. Passed down his family for generations, given from father to son when the son is of age to be a stallion. "He’s my son," Sombra blurted out. He wasn’t sure what made him decided to say that. He said it without thinking, but when he said it, it felt right.
Later that day, Sombra was watching the silver colt when Emerald Reed walked in. Sombra was already certain he knew what she had to say and her next words confirmed it. "I heard that you claimed the colt to be yours during the meeting earlier today."
"Yes," Sombra told her. For the next few seconds, Sombra thought about what he had said. "Was it the right decision?"
"I cannot decide that for you my king."
"Emerald. Do you remember what those two ponies rumored to have both wings and a horn are called?" Sombra asked her.
"I believe they were called alicorns. But remember where the tale of those ponies came from." Sombra remembered the old drunken ship captain that was shouting off on those tales. "Anyway, have you named the colt?" Emerald’s question was basically a wake up slap to the king. As he hadn’t thought of a name for the colt. He is a pony, and he hatched from the egg of a phoenix.
"Phonyyx. That is my son’s name."
It took Emerald less than two seconds to work her way back as to how Sombra came up with the name. "Phonyyx, really? That’s just pony and phoenix crossed together."
Sombra looked at Emerald with a hint of confusion. "So? That’s what he is."
"You have to come up with a better name than that."
"No," Sombra responded in a tone more fit for use by a toddler stubbornly refusing to share their favorite toy. Emerald simply rolled her eyes at Sombra, both of them holding the hint of a smile on their lips. Not many ponies knew about King Sombras more childish side, and even fewer ever saw it unimpeded. Emerald Reed was the rare pony that saw this side of Sombra almost daily.
Four Months Later
Sombra quickly and easily countered Phonyyx’s sword. "Come on son. Don’t just attack mindlessly. Plan out your blows before."
"I know dad. It’s just this sword is heavy." Phonyyx tried in vain to lift his brand new sword to the proper position. Phonyyx extended his magical grasp to encompass the handle and blade.
"You’re holding it wrong. Don’t hold the entire sword, just the handle."
"But it’s the only way I can use it. It isn’t heavy like this," Phonyyx responded. He swung at his father, but Sombra just parried the strike.
"Phonyyx, when you hold the sword like that, there’s no weight to it. It's practically a piece of foam. You need weight on the weapon to make your strikes effective." Phonyyx refocused his magic to just the handle of the sword.
"I swear dad, this sword gets heavier every day." Phonyyx closed his eyes and strained to lift the sword. Two magical overglows appeared on his horn and he finally lifted the sword to the position. "Hey, I got it!" In one swift movement, Sombra swung his sword upward, knocking Phonyyx’s sword into the air and into his own magical grasp; Phonyyx’s joy was swiftly cut down.
"AAAHHH!" Phonyyx shouted in a hilarious attempt at a battle cry and playfully tackled his chuckling father to the ground. The two swords fell harmlessly to the ground. Phonyyx picked them up and held the butt ends of the swords to his father’s neck when he noticed something off about one of the swords. "Wait. Dad, your sword... its light."
"Good. Because that isn’t your sword. Yes, the swords have been getting heavier, because I’ve been giving you a heavier sword to spar with. My sword weighs the same as your sword. Now you're ready for an actual spar."
"But why did you give me such heavy weapons?"
"So you could be able to hold the sword. Make sure it wasn't too heavy for you."
Phonyyx swung his actual sword in the air experimentally. His father was right. Two months ago, this sword felt like it weighed like a chair to him. Now, it was around the weight of a book. "Alright. Let's start," Sombra told his son. Sombra unsheathed his sword and held it in position. Phonyyx held his similarly.
The two spared for a few hours, with Sombra teaching Phonyyx different tactics for different situations.
One Month Later
King Sombra was sitting in his study, grazing through a book at random when Emerald walked with a saddened look on her face. On her back was something for the king. Something she wished she'd never have to ever give to him. It was Phonyyx's sword wrapped in his cloak, both bloodied. As she handed the two items to Sombra, she could see in his eyes the pain he was starting to feel. "I'm sorry Sombra. These were found in- in a field of a recent battle. The guards looked everywhere, but no sign of Phonyyx anywhere." Emerald Reed wrapped her hooves around Sombra to comfort him. She could feel his tears running down her back.
Over the next half year, Sombra kept up the appearance of a composed king for his subjects. But Emerald knew, and saw, better. Many nights she would find him sitting silently, alone in Phonyyx's empty room. Or whenever a conversation drifted to something that reminded him of Phonyyx, Sombra silently left the room and retreated into his chamber; not allowing anypony else in with him. He would wander the halls of the castle for entire nights.
But soon it was going to get much, much worse.
Sombra flipped through the ancient book, not caring about the burning in his eyes from the lack of sleep or how late at night it was. Deadly knowledge and dark powers were housed within it and he was about to unleash them. He stopped on a page about a summon. A demon that could bring back the dead. The required components Sombra needed were all within the castle.
After gathering and setting up the summon, Sombra got Phonyyx's sword and cloak. Sombra bent his horn down to the lines etched into the floor and began the summon. Black flames sprouted from each intersection of lines and a tear formed above the center.
"Hehehehehe," a demonic voice crackled outward from the tear. A gust of wind blew everything back but Sombra remained, unflinching. A pony-esque thing of shadows and decaying flesh came through the tear. It lifted a hoof up and forward but was sent back an inch by a protective barrier to keep it inside. Its jaw unhinged and an eyeball rolled around in its socket to face Sombra. It spoke slowly and its voice was raspy, but nothing moved. "I am Horux. You have granted me access to this world for a purpose. What is it you seek from me?"
"My name is King Sombra. I want you to bring back my son," Sombra demanded of the demon.
"Ahhh. But your son is not dead."
"Yes. He. Is. And you are going to bring him back. Right now." Sombra stepped menacingly closer.
"What you ask for is no simple task. You ask of me to rewrite history itself. To bring back that which has long since departed from this world. I require a... payment of equal value in return. The price is high."
"What is the price?" Sombra leered at the demon. Not in the mood for games and trickery.
"You have what I require for payment on you. If you agree I shall take it. But I will not tell you what it is that I shall take."
"Then take your payment and give me my son! NOW!" Sombra shouted at the demon. Sombra placed a hoof on and over the protective barrier. Horux smiled evilly and a tendril of flesh shot out from its hoof and wrapped itself around Sombra's hoof. Sombra didn't realize what happened until it was too late. Horux pulled Sombra completely on the inside of the barrier and started to crackle again. Sombra could feel the mental attacks of the demon, forcing images of how Phonyyx died into his head.
"Is this how your son died? Hehehehe." More tendrils wrapped abound Sombra, and when they retreated, left his body and mind utterly changed. A corruption had covered his entire body. And not just a physical corruption, a mental one too. It seeped its way into the depths of Sombra's mind and soul, tainting nearly every last part of him. "Hehahahahaa." Horux's laughter reverberated around the room and finally died in a second. Horux retreated through the tear. The tear closed and the black flames extinguished themselves.