The darkness was cold, uninviting, bitter. It churned and swirled as if constantly pressing in on itself. The weight of it was immense.
There was no sound. No voice, no echo, no roar. Yet the stillness was not quiet. Instead it created a painful buzzing sensation, akin to what one might experience while suffering a double ear infection in a descending flight path.
There were no smells. No reminders of what was, is, or what could be.
There was nothing to see, nor anything to be seen. No hues, no grays, not even a shadow. The light did not touch this place.
Without the light to shine nothing grew, nothing lived, nothing spoke. There was absolutely nothing there. Or almost nothing.
In that immense void, of pressure and pain and darkness, particles of shadow pressed in on themselves. And within their cellular memory, a few threads remained. Fear, anger, hatred. Those hummed the loudest in protest of this fate.
But a few quieter emotions remained hiding in the tiniest pieces of those faded and whispered memories. They clung to thoughts of love, of joy, and in the tiniest of all to hope.
But they were drowned out by the shadows with their anger and outrage and their unifying thought of revenge.
That unifying thought kept the particles from dispersing forever into the ether. Kept them continuously pressing back in on themselves to remain contained.
They remembered their anger. They remembered their hatred. They clung to those feelings, knowing that one day they would seek revenge.
Had they been able, they would have laughed and hissed their approval at this idea. But they had no mouth in the darkness.
Had they eyes to see, those eyes would have glowed a brilliant green in contemplation of a plan. But they had no eyes to see in the darkness.
Had they their horn back, it would have pulsed red and sent out purple and black smoke to do its bidding. But there was no horn in the darkness.
So they waited, biding their time in the darkness. Unable to reform and unwilling to disperse. Holding onto that rage in anticipation of unleashing it when the next fool chose to summon them.
There in the darkness where nothing was heard, and nothing was seen, they waited.
They would not wait long.
——
The air swirled violently, blasting snow and ice around the peaks of the crystal mountains. In the midst of the storm, a lone figure strode up the mountainside. Though the wind hammered around it, the cloaked form never swayed from its path. Up, higher and higher, it moved. Heading towards its destination: a mustard yellow flag flapping angrily under the power of the cyclone.
Arriving solemnly at the goal, a soft glow emanated around the flag. Suddenly the flapping stopped. The flag hardened into a solid triangle and turned as if pointing towards something.
The figure turned in that direction. The glow surrounding the flag flowed outward, melting down into the snow and lighting a path through the storm. Stepping forward the being followed the light. With each step the light faded from behind the four hooves. Only each step of the path forward remained illuminated. Undeterred, the hooded being followed the light along the icy ridge.
Onward they crept, moving forward one weary step at a time, until arriving at what appeared to be a small dark spot on the snowy mountain side. The light stopped, revealing an entrance into the mountain. Bypassing the last of the lingering light the figure stepped into the blackness. As it did so, the glow behind it extinguished.
After taking a few steadying breaths in the darkness, a glow emitted from the unicorn’s horn bathing the inside of the cavern in light. A single path led deeper into the darkness. Moving steadily onward, only the sounds of labored breathing could be heard in the quiet of the mountain. The hoof-falls continued until they stopped at the place the path widened into a circular outcrop jutting out above a massive abyss.
Slowly breathing in, the unicorn began to chant. The light from its horn changed color and several objects flew out of the pack it had tethered to its back. The objects placed themselves at various points along the circles edge.
The first, a bright green jade stone, still glowing in an aura of magic, buried itself by a point into the ground directly in front of the unicorn. Sixty degrees in an arc to the left, the next shimmering object, a sea foam green piece of fabric in the shape of a flower petal, floated to the ground. The third enchanted item, a heavy piece of chain metal slammed into the dirt in another sixty-degree arc farther to the left. Directly across from the first object, a shiny gold bell tinkled as it dropped to the earth. Rounding to the right in a sixty-degree arc heading back toward the unicorn, the fifth item, a bronze and copper bracelet, rolled around on its edge until coming to a glowing stop. Another sixty degrees back toward the unicorn the final object, a grayish tan mane-band coiled onto the ground completing the circle.
The unicorn assessed the position of each, before beginning to chant softly in ancient Equestrian. As the words drew forth from the pony, a bright light shot forth from its horn lighting up the green stone. Upon passing through the stone, the color of the magic shifted to a bright green as it traveled toward the fabric petal. The petal burst forth in a vibrant glow changing the magic to a sky-blue color as it made a path toward the chain metal. Lit up with the enchantment, once again the color changed to a deep purple until coming into contact and illuminating the gold bell. There it shifted to a fiery red as it continued to arc toward the bracelet. The copper and bronze blazed under the spell transforming the red to a brilliant orange. The orange light raced toward the coiled band, illuminating it and changing one last time to a sunshine yellow that completed the circle, coming to a stop at the stone.
Surveying the rainbow circle now aflame before him, the unicorn’s horn surged again. Out of the bag a simple wooden sphere appeared. It bore no intrusions, or imperfections at all in appearance. Carefully he floated the sphere toward the center of the circle. Beginning a series of chants, the circle began to glow and move, the sounds of gears turning, and locks opening evidenced the true nature of the object as a protective device. As protection spell after protection spell fell to the power of this wise unicorn, the sphere itself began to shake as if under duress and smoke began to hiss forth from cracks that had begun to materialize. With a puff of dark smoke, the item shattered.
Dropping to the ground with a soft thump, a piece of black crystal glinted wickedly.
With a sigh, the unicorn’s horn lit once again pulling forth a slim tapered piece of wood. Floating it into the center of the circle, the tip traced an arc in the dirt around the inside of the circle. Ancient Equestrian ruins flared alongside the glowing line of blue magic. Once the inner circle was complete, the wood slashed a line across the center and then swiftly drew the shape of an M across the line. The black crystal shuddered and melted into the dirt, only to shoot up into a large outcropping of black crystal shards. From their depths emerged a black and purple smoke that coalesced into a swirling shape. A bellowing laugh echoed in the cavern as two glowing green eyes opened.
Those eyes narrowed as the smoke around them solidified into one of the most feared enemies Equestria had ever known. King Sombra threw back his mane haughtily and glared at the unicorn in front of him. “You!” he spit out in shock. “Why have you summoned me?”
“I have a … proposition for you.” The unicorn replied quietly.
“Ha! Another who thinks they can bring me back from the ether to do their bidding. I work for no pony! Why should I listen to you?”
“Well, I could send you back.” The unicorn gestured towards the rainbow circle surrounding the armored Sombra.
“Hmph,” he snorted in response, gazing at the items surrounding him. Lashing out with his magic he tested their hold, getting more and more annoyed as they failed to break under his power. Raging he reared back on his hind legs and threw everything into a magic attack. The ring of rainbow light sputtered and stretched… but held. Sombra screamed his frustration, pawing at the ground.
Panting, Sombra eventually calmed down. Realizing his choices were limited, as he had no way of escaping the binding, he raised his head and eyed his opponent with newfound understanding. “You have my attention,” he hissed.
The unicorn smirked, “I thought that might change your mind.”
“Don’t toy with me,” Sombra sneered. “Why did you bring me back? What do you want with me?”
“Why, I want to ask you to join me…”
Interrupting, Sombra snorted, “You wish to form an alliance with me? You should know, I don’t work with others.”
“No, I would never forge an unholy alliance with you.” The unicorn shook his head in disgust. “Rather I offer you a choice. I could return you to the ether…” As if to prove this point, the rainbow binding flared pressing in on Sombra who grimaced but stood his ground. Not breaking eye contact the unicorn pushed the bonds further inward until Sombra had to pull back from the pressure. Satisfied, the pressure released along with the bindings returning to the original circle. “Or you can accompany me on an important trip.”
Scoffing at the request, Sombra read his opponents eyes. “You can’t be serious.”
Silence was the only response.
“You simply wish for me to … accompany you on some quest?” Sombra eyed the unicorn suspiciously.
A jingled nod in confirmation.
“And you would let me out of here, release me from these bindings to accompany you?” Sombra stepped forward as if to test the theory.
“I am not a simpleton. No, I would not release you from the bindings. If I did that you would no sooner leave me here and seek your revenge on Equestria.” The unicorn stepped forward in answer to the challenge.
Sombra’s eyes narrowed. “If you won’t release me, then how would I accompany you? If you are no simpleton, you must see we are at an impasse.”
“There is an alternative way for you …” the unicorn paused, “to accompany me. It is an ancient spell, one fraught with difficulty but I am one of only a few unicorns capable of such magic.”
“Why should I trust in your ability?” Sombra questioned, “Why not let me perform the magic. I am most skilled”
“Dark magic has no place here. You are skilled in lies and deceit and terror.” The unicorn raged, his eyes and horn glowed menacingly. “I, Starswirl the Bearded, will perform the spell. This is your choice: accompany me now or I send you back to the ether.” The words bellowed out of the gray unicorn. Rainbow light shone brilliantly from the binding spell blinding Sombra and he hissed as if in pain.
“Alright. Alright. I will accompany you… your way.” The king blinked and rubbed at his watering eyes. He would not miss this chance. Revenge would not come in the ether. He needed to be free, whatever this idiot mage thought of himself, Sombra knew he was far more cunning. If patience was necessary than he would bide his time.
In response to the words, the light faded to a dull glow. Sighing the unicorn eyed Sombra warily. “Know this, I do not trust you King Sombra. I have seen your likeness before and I know the tricks you play. You have hurt many ponies. I will not be fooled. You believe there will be a time when I will let my guard down allowing you to hurt my ponies again. I will never let that happen. If, for even a second, I believe you to be a risk, I will send you back to the ether and no pony will ever be able to bring you back.” The unicorn paused for emphasis. “Do you understand.”
Sombra eyed the older unicorn up and down, taking stock of his opponent. “I do.”
“Then let us begin.” The unicorn’s eyes and horn lit up again and Sombra had to shield his eyes. A tingling feeling ran along his body. From the earth in front of the circle a small form began to take shape. It was hard to make out in the light, but it almost looked like the clay earth was being transformed into a tiny animal of some kind. Winds began to whip in a circular formation around Sombra inside the circle as if a small tornado was forming around him. His hair blew into his face and he reared back on his hind legs. Before he could even howl in rage, the wind blew something up and out of his body, leaving the stallion frozen in a standing position within the barricade.
The wind carried the pulsating neon green and dark purple orb upwards in an arc outside of the barrier and into the clay golem Starswirl had formed from the earth. As it flew past the elderly mage, he swore he saw something in that orb. It could have been a trick, but deep in his heart, Starswirl knew better. It was hope. It was the hope that had brought him here this very night to do the unthinkable. It had been so small but there, he was certain of it. In that green and purple goo, a speck of the deepest gentlest indigo had glowed for but a brief second, reminding Starswirl of the other Sombra he had met once in another universe at another time. It steadied his resolve.
Pointing his horn at the now glowing golem, he uttered the final word of the spell, sealing what was left of this King Sombra’s soul inside the clay body of a tiny earth pony foal.
Its eyes opened, flashing an eerie neon green. The child’s mouth opened to roar angrily, but all that came out was a feeble high-pitched growl, more like a kitten’s mew than anything frightening. Frustrated, it reached out to use its magic and punish this old grey puny excuse for a … but nothing happened. The child strained again. Still nothing. Pounding its hooves into the ground it wailed, not realizing tears had begun to run down its plump little cheeks. “What have you done to me?”
Starswirl’s first instinct was to comfort the child but remembering that it was not really a foal at all, he pulled himself back. “Come now, you didn’t really think I’d give you a body that would channel magic, did you? That would have been most unwise given your history.”
“You’ve made me into a …” The formerly intimidating stallion circled himself trying to elucidate his current state, “… a … a child! A foal! This was not part of our deal!”
“Actually, yes, yes it was. You said, we would do things ‘my way,’ and this, is in fact, my way.” Starswirl nodded at this sage response.
“But, but, but…” The small foal pounded the ground, tears still streaming from his eyes before he stopped dead still. In the circle remained his adult body. “NO! This is unfair! Put me back in there.” Hurling himself at the barrier he ignored Starswirl’s warning.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were…”
“Oomph!” The foal bounced back to the ground as if repelled by some unforeseen force. His eyes narrowed before he launched himself again, to meet the same fate. Again, and again he ran into the barricade only to be hurled to the ground over and over. Until finally, unable to physically get up, his lower lip pouted, and he began to sob, repeatedly wailing “It’s unfair.”
Starswirl allowed the child to cry himself to sleep. Shaking his head, he used magic to remove a blanket from the sack he had brought with him. Wrapping it around the boy, he secured both him and the sack to his back. Turning one last time, he took in the mighty figure of the Evil King Sombra. Magic surging in him once again, he secured the area with magic to ensure no one else would discover this place once they had left. At the entrance to the cave he performed even more enchantments to ensure none would enter. As he took his first step onto the snow the path before him lit up again. Glancing over his shoulder, he sighed with relief when the entrance to the cave was missing. Not a hint of its existence lingered.
Turning toward his journey he headed back the way he had come. This time, however, he carried the weight of his responsibility literally on his back.