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// Chapter 3: Useful Weaponry 
// Story: Knights of Ice and Crystal 
// by Leila Drake 
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He had waited so long for his revenge. After his second, even more shameful defeat, Sombra had learned to let time work for him.

Not that he had a choice; his soul was trapped in a stupid horn. He had no mouth to speak, he could not cast any spells, and, worst of all, he was not even alive. Merely scratching at what was supposed to be an existence, Sombra had a hard time not giving in to madness. The only upside was that he could not feel any pain, either.

When Twilight Sparkle and Cadance had snooped through his things, he could not do anything against it. They even read his journal! The horn had fallen down the stairs to his study. Nobody noticed him, nobody thought that he could still exist after getting torn to shreds. So he had waited for someone to find him in his abandoned refuge. The chances had been slim to none.

Then, the foreign knight had appeared, kicked him, and taken the horn, only to ignore his whispers. Apparently, Sombra was damned to keep waiting for the impossible.

Finally, he had been thrown back into the dark backpack. But this time, Sombra was in luck.

The horn was in close proximity to a sword. The blade in question had been forged from the black blood of the Old God Yogg-Saron and was engraved with unholy runes. Dripping with the life force of countless victims and filled to the brim with dark magic, it was the perfect escape. The owner had just left it lying around like dirty dishes.

Sombra grinned inwardly and absorbed the power that was abundant in the runeblade. A cold haze travelled from the sword into the horn and soon the body of a grey unicorn took shape in the messy basement. Only a few more minutes and Sombra would finally be free again.





Darren carefully approached the crystal pony. He had to hurry; it was not clear what was wrong with the little pegasus. Yet he could not move too fast if he did not want to scare them. It had been so long since he had looked after children. It felt strange.

"I'm going to have a look. It might seem a bit scary but I promise I will not hurt you. Alright?"

The colt nodded slowly, his gaze unfocused. Darren crouched down next to him and stretched out his hand to feel for the pulse. It was accelerated but still not so fast that he had to worry about that. The breathing had normalized, too. Darren bent down to listen at Eclipse's chest.

"Your claw is cold," Eclipse observed uneasily.

"Hand," corrected Darren automatically. Even though he had overheard it through the door, he asked, "What is your name?"

"Eclipse."

"I'm Peridot," chimed the filly in. She took a pillow from the couch and used it to cushion Eclipse's back and head.

"Eclipse, can I look into your mouth, please?"

"What? Uh, okay... Ah..." Eclipse opened wide as if he was at the dentist's.

Darren peered inside. A bit of the dark haze still came out with every breath. He reached for the pony's head, hesitating, waiting for permission. When Eclipse nodded, he touched Eclipse's forehead and closed his eyes to focus.

"I'm not a healer but I can tell that your sickness is of magical nature," said Darren as he opened his eyes. "You can close your mouth again," he added, slightly amused.

"What do you mean, of magical nature?" Peridot was confused.

"Did somepony curse me?"

"Unfortunately, I do not know. It could be a normal condition that passes after some time. I am not familiar enough with your physiology."

"Our what?"

"You are ponies, I am human. Your bodies work differently than mine but I don't know how far that goes."

"Oh," mutterd Peridot.

"So how do I stop feeling so sick?" groaned Eclipse.

Darren hesitated. "I can try and take that dark magic away. Maybe you will get better after that."

"Anything to stop the pain," said Eclipse impatiently.

"Where are your parents?" asked Darren, suddenly realizing he had forgotten that important detail.

"They're at the Crystalling, we don't have time to find them," said Peridot.

"Just do it, please." Eclipse looked at Darren with pleading eyes. Darren cringed inwardly. It was hard for him to watch the little boy suffer but what if he made it worse? Still, he had to try. Time was a factor and he had no idea how long this Crystalling event was going to take.

Darren put one hand on Eclipse's forehead and one on his barrel. He focused on the dark magic that the colt emitted and slowly absorbed parts of it, adding the energy to his own.

Eclipse sighed, visibly relaxing. "That feels so much better..."

"I cannot keep doing it." Darren eyed the colt. "The magic is resisting me. I have only taken a tiny portion of whatever is hurting you."

But if I take the sword...

Darren flinched back, trying to hide his shock. There it was again. He had enjoyed draining the colt's magic. Apparently, it was similar to absorbing life force. He had to be extra careful if Eclipse was to remain unharmed.

"There is one more thing I can try," he said slowly, frowning. "But you will have to tell me 'stop' when it hurts. I'll return in a moment." He stood up to go to the basement and get his sword.

Darren had not actively noticed it before but the basement floor and all the clutter was covered by a thin layer of ice. He carefully descended the stairs and headed for the worn out couch. He picked up his sheathed sword. A disappointed groan made him freeze in mid-movement.

"Who's there?!" Darren drew the sword, dropping the scabbard on the ground. Holding the runeblade with both hands, he scanned the room.

Some movement could be heard from behind the couch. Darren sneaked around the furniture, glad that the socks muffled the sound of his steps, and got ready to strike.

There really was someone. A grey unicorn with a black mane and green eyes stared at the blade, then at Darren's face.

Wide-eyed, the stallion yelped and shuffled away from Darren.

"How did you get in here? I barred the door." Darren frowned darkly at the unicorn. He had a curved red horn on his forehead, almost... no, exactly like the one Darren had picked up. "You are..."

The unicorn stood up. "Yes. I am King Sombra," he declared, puffing his chest out.

Darren tried to put his memories of Twilight Sparkle's tales and the sight of the disheveled pony before him together. He snorted.

"Just Sombra," Darren stated with satisfaction.

Defiantly, Sombra lit up his horn to cast a spell. Darren dashed forwards and grabbed the pony by the throat. He lifted Sombra off the ground. The light of Sombra's horn died as he flailed his limbs about in panic. He struggled for breath, unable to think clearly.

Before the unicorn could die from asphyxiation, Darren let go. Sombra fell to the floor, coughing and hacking. Darren knew he had to keep using the element of surprise. He hit the pony's head with the flat side of his blade, knocking him unconscious.

He was surprised by the weakness of the supposedly powerful tyrant. Was it because his body had just taken form? Darren had expected much more of a fight. Not that he would complain about it. With the children upstairs, it was probably for the better if he did not need to use his abilities.

"I should kill you," he mused. "Not a big loss for the crystal ponies, I suppose." Also, it was a perfect chance to satisfy his bloodlust. It had been several days since his last kill.

A shocked gasp distracted him. Darren looked up. Peridot stood at the top of the stairs, gaping at the scene.

"Did you just say, 'kill'?"

"Er..." Darren lowered his sword, suddenly embarrassed by the child's question. "I said 'I should,' not that I would," he quickly amended.

Peridot pointed a trembling hoof at the pony. "Is that King Sombra? W-what's he doing in our basement?"

"I don't know," admitted Darren, leaving out that he had brought the horn here. "But I strongly suggest we bind him and find a way to prevent him from using magic."

To Darren's relief, the filly nodded and disappeared into the kitchen.

Darren pushed his backpack and cloak from the couch and put the pieces of his armour on a sturdy cardboard box. Then, he grabbed the still unconscious Sombra around the barrel and heaved the pony onto the couch. He had to find some ropes, and fast. Darren picked up his weapon and went upstairs. He found Peridot running around the kitchen in a frenzy. Eclipse appeared to feel slightly better; he was sitting at the table, watching her looking for something.

"I think it's in the second drawer from the left," said the colt. His eyes widened as he saw Darren with the sword. "Look out!" he warned Peridot.

The filly shrank away from Darren.

"What - ?"

"Do you have any ropes?" asked Darren, intentionally ignoring the ponies' fear. Maybe if he pretended that there was no danger from him they might feel safer. 

Eclipse slid from his chair and eyed the human suspiciously.

"We've got duct tape in the basement," he said. "What for?"

"To... bind Sombra's legs together," said Darren. "Can you show me where?"

The colt nodded, wide-eyed. Together, they found some tape in an old cupboard with creaky hinges. Eclipse volunteered to bind the unicorn but when he shivered so badly that he could not unroll the tape, Darren sheathed the sword and took the roll from him.

"Let me help you with that." Two minutes later, a bound Sombra lied on the couch.

Darren crossed his arms and watched the unconscious pony. This had turned out to be a really busy day. And he still had to deal with the fact that he had been breaking and entering and assaulted a guard. He needed to tell Eclipse's parents what's what and also find his friends, preferrably before he gave in to his bloodlust and went on a killing frenzy. Darren heaved a strained sigh.

"Are you okay?"

Eclipse eyed Darren, a tiny frown on his face.

"I am alright," lied Darren. "Sorry for breaking into your house."

Eclipse smiled wryly. "If you hadn't, I'd probably still feel much more sick. So I guess I should say thanks."

"Still, this one is going to be hard to explain," said Darren, raising a eyebrow.

Eclipse chuckled nervously.

Peridot joined them with a small paper box. There was a metal stripe with a jagged edge on the side. It looked like a thin sawblade. The filly opened the box and pulled out a sheet of thin metal. With some difficulty, she used the saw-stripe to cut it off.

"Here, I found some aluminium foil. We can wrap it around Sombra's horn. It's like a Far-, Firadee-, it's like a magic shield." She grinned proudly. "We learned about it in Science class."

"Peridot, will you and Eclipse please go upstairs? I do not want you present when Sombra wakes up."

"Aw..." Eclipse was disappointed even though he was still shivering. "But this is our basement," he protested half-heartedly.

Darren raised his brows. "I am serious. He is very dangerous. Let me deal with this alone." A cold wind went through the basement as if to emphasize his statement.

Peridot grabbed Eclipse's foreleg, trying to drag him away from the human.

"Come on, he's right. It's getting really cold already."

"I'll explain later," promised Darren. "This is not for children to watch."

"Uch, fine." Eclipse followed his sister upstairs. They cast a last look at Darren. The knight looked back at them, giving them a tense smile.

Peridot closed the door. Both ponies looked at each other, lost for words. After a second of silence, Peridot hugged her brother.

"I'm so glad you're better," she whispered as he hugged her back. "I was really scared. Thank the stars that Darren showed up. Though he still creeps me out a bit..." She sniffled and wiped her muzzle.

"Uh, Peridot," said Eclipse awkwardly, breaking the hug, "what are we gonna tell mom and dad when they come home?"

Her ears splayed back. "I have no idea."