//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 // Story: A Shadow of Your Former Self // by anonbecause1 //------------------------------// It was as comfortable as he could be under the circumstances. He reserved a private study room and got some tea to keep him alert, the book was here along with some note paper and he was still in the library so he could run and grab any reference material he may need. Yep, the perfect place to learn about your war crimes. Sombra gave himself one more moment of peace before he opened the book. He didn’t usually read the preface very closely in any book because it was usually just the author showing off. His eyes scanned over the pages until he spotted his name and stopped to read the full paragraph. ‘The reader should keep in mind that this is an incomplete work and several updated versions may follow due to developing information. During the reign of King Sombra, hundreds of records were destroyed to conceal several topics of information. We may never know the full story of the Crystal Empire…’ Sombra sighed and wrote down his first crime in his notes: 1. Cultural genocide: destroyed records of historical significance p 4 HCE Sunburst. He skimmed the rest of the preface until he came to the first chapter. It talked about the history of the land before the Crystal Empire was built. It was a frozen wasteland rich in minerals. Grogar, the first emperor and father of monsters, gave life to shadows who evolved into the Umbrum. Though there is some debate among genealogists if they are somehow related to the wendigos due to their similar appearance, lack of physical form, and appreciation for the cold. Sombra made a note to look up Grogar, the Umbrum, and Wendigos with reference to the original text he first saw them mentioned. Ponies still tried to populate the area due to its abundance of minerals. They faced the most hardship from the Umbrum. The Umbrum didn’t have a complex social society, so they didn’t farm, instead they acted as scavengers. They would steal earth pony crops and any other supplies they needed. It wasn’t until a pony by the name of Amora found a powerful magic artifact called the crystal heart in the bones of an ancient dragon and brought it to her village did they have a fighting chance. That was too vague. Sombra made a note of the story as clipped notes. A magical artifact found in the carcass of a dragon? That needed some looking into. The crystal heart was a powerful magical artifact with the power to store energy and redistribute it for protection. Amora became the protector of the village which grew into a city and she became its princess. She reigned from 100 B.C.L to 27 A.C.L; her rule was brought to an end when King Sombra killed her for the crown… Sombra picked up his pen: 2. Killed an ancient princess p 17 HCE Sunburst. Chapter’s 2, 3, and 4 could mostly be skipped. They talked about how happy and peaceful the empire was as well as its traditions and commerce. There was one paragraph in chapter 3 that mention Princess Amor sealing the entire Umbrum race underground which Sombra found unfair. An entire race written off because you didn’t like them? Everyone punished without discrimination? Did they all die from starvation in their imprisonment? It didn’t seem right. Chapter 5 began with his reign… He took the throne with sheer power alone. Once he killed the princess and stole the crystal heart, there were no weapons that could stop him. He… enslaved every colt, mare, and foal under his rule and forced them to mine in appalling conditions day and night. There was a death count… Sombra braced himself and recorded the statistics. Due to the records being destroyed, they weren’t exact but… 3. 57 died from exposure. 19 from illness. Suicides spiked and some of the bodies were never recovered but it’s estimated to be in the high 70’s. 30 guards died in combat… One month? He only reigned for one month? That can’t be right! Sombra re-read the page, it was one month to the day of his conquest that Princesses Celestia and Luna brought him down. In his rage, before he was killed, he banished the entire empire to the ether along with himself to heal and fight another day. The banishment caused memory loss for a majority of citizens but all of them seem to suffer from PTSD on some level. Sombra set the book down. All that damage. All that death. In one month? And what he did… He put his head in his hooves. How. How could he do all of that? WHY would he do all of that? The King in this book, it didn’t seem like him. He couldn’t picture doing all of this. Any of this. What should he do? The right thing to do was turn himself in and be executed for his crimes. Give those worried about him coming back some peace of mind. But he didn’t want to die! He wanted to just live his life peacefully and alone. He bitched about things but he loved his life, he had a good job and great friends. He wanted to find a way to enchant crystals and create a perpetual magic source and if he couldn’t do that then he wanted to try inventing something else that helped ponies. He thought about Rocky Roll. He was just like her but a million times worse. He even inadvertently gotten Moon Dancer in trouble because he was such a coward. Coward. Coward. Coward. Hypocrite. Coward. He swallowed the rest of his tea. Might as well get this over with. It was hard reading about what happened during his reign, there were even interviews from his victims. He lost it when he read about a mother who smothered her foal because she couldn’t see a future for it. At one point one of his co-workers came to kick him out but allowed him to stay after hours if he locked up. ‘He might get in trouble for that, it’s a safety risk considering an evil dragon is on the loose.’ But he was grateful, and a coward, for not worrying about somepony else’s job. Selfish. Selfish. Selfish. He was numb and exhausted and only two thirds away from finishing the book when he decided he needed to sleep. The DA would let him stay one more night. But he just couldn’t do it. He wondered out into the street; he knew where he had to go. The trains weren’t running this late but he was going to walk as far as he could until they opened. He had to do this now, before he lost his nerve.