15 A.D. (After Discord)...
Celestia and Luna travel in their royal carriage on the road north along with an entourage of guards and servants traveling on hoof. Luna gazes out the window watching the world pass by while her sister reads a book to pass the time. Every few minutes, Luna lets out a sigh of boredom and protest, but Celestia ignores her sister’s pouts.
They’re on their way to visit the newly coronated ruler of the Crystal Empire, a nation that very recently opened its borders and began developing diplomatic relations. They have cut themselves off from the rest of the world for some time, largely due to being protective of their vast resources of magical crystals. These crystals are known for having a variety of magical properties, such as storing energy or the souls of living beings, having powers that can heal wounds and illness, and can enhance the effectiveness of certain spells when consumed. Any nation would be envious of such powerful deposits belonging to another nation. To keep their mines a secret, the Crystal Empire has practiced a policy of isolationism, baring all traders, emissaries, and immigrants from within their borders for hundreds of years.
What’s different now is the new ruler, Empress Vestra, wants to expand the empire’s influence and make it a bigger player on the world stage. She believes the best way to do this is to establish strong alliances and trade agreements with their neighbors. While the decision was controversial among her court, the Empress rule is final and several emissaries were sent out across the continent.
When one of the emissaries arrived in the Court of Equestria, Celestia was eager to meet the Empress and to see if the stories about the empire bear any truth. She had heard many tales about the Crystal Empire throughout the years from travelers who claim to have been there. More importantly, after several years of turmoil from Discord, Tirek, and Scorpon, their crystals could be the key to stabilizing their kingdom. Shortly after the arrival of the emissary, she made plans for her and Luna to visit the empire.
While her sister is more than excited to visit the empire, Luna is less than thrilled at the idea. She has nothing against the empire, nor does she dislike the idea of having access to their crystals. What she doesn’t find appealing is her sister putting all their hopes in these crystals to help their kingdom. She believes they should be focusing their efforts on rebuilding their agriculture, industry, and infrastructure. Pursuing a trade alliance with the Crystal Empire should be close to the bottom of the list of priorities right now. She tried to convince her sister to leave her in Equestria, that way there’s at least one sovereign to lead the reconstruction efforts. Celestia, however, insisted that they both go so the Crystal Empress can see how serious they are about establishing a diplomatic relationship between their two kingdoms.
Though defiant at first, Luna reluctantly agreed to go. Perhaps humoring her sister’s whims, for now, will allow her to later focus on reconstruction. Nevertheless, she is not enjoying the journey and fully intends to take on a passive role when they arrive.
“I still bethink t isn’t necessary f’r both of us to wend,” Luna says in a huff.
“Oh did quit thy puling, lief sister,” Celestia responds while still reading her book. “We has't already did discuss this at length ”
“Thee couldst've did allow me to stayeth in Equestria,” says Luna. “Aft'r disc'rd and tirek, our subject art looking f'r stable leadeth'rship. One of us, at the least, shouldst beest backeth home even but now.”
“Might not but we very much argueth this again, sist'r?” Celestia asks in an exhausted tone.
“Aye, we wilt,” Luna retorts.
Celestia lowers her book and looks at Luna. “V'ry well, if 't be true thee insist. As I has't toldeth thee bef're, the empire hast access to crystals yond can holp rebuild our nation. In 'rd'r to receiveth those crystals, we needeth to f'rm a diplomatic relationship with the empress. Having both princesses of Equestria visiteth h'r shall showeth we fully intendeth to pursue such a relationship between our two kingdoms.”
“Our subject needeth not crystals, those gents needeth food, roads, shelt'r, and security,” Luna retorts. “We shouldst beest helping those folk rebuild their homes, farms, communities, not spending our timeth with an empire yond hast been seclud'd f'r centuries.”
“We art arriving at the capital, thou art royal highness!” the lead stallion pulling the carriage calls back to Celestia.
“We shall continueth this conv'rsation lat'r. F'r anon,” Celestia closes her book and lays it by her side, “putteth on a smiling visage, the Crystal Empire awaits.”
The Princesses entourage arrives in the Crystal City. They see what seems to be thousands of Crystal ponies that have come out to meet them. Their shiny coats glimmer in the sunlight, like a sheet of fresh morning snow. The two princesses exchanged confused looks, they had never seen ponies with such glistening coats. They ponder what makes their coats shine, do they cover themselves in crystal dust or did these crystals change their nature? Though confused by their appearance, Celestia was nevertheless enthralled by their beauty. Luna, however, wasn’t enchanted and looked at them with suspicion, for a unique society would always want to remain so.
The train pulls in front of the Crystal Palace. Celestia and Luna exit their carriage and are greeted by the triumphant sound of trumpets and drums. On both sides of their path stands a row of Crystal guards, their coats and armor also glistening in the sun. They walk side by side and are greeted at the end by two unicorns.
The older, female unicorn walks up to greet them. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, t is a most wondrous pleasure f'r thee to beest our first guests in our empire,” she says in a mature and regal tone. She is slightly shorter than Celestia but her physique is certainly more athletic and sturdy as opposed to Celestia’s slender and elegant physique. Her coat is light grey with a snow-white mane and tail that sparkles. Her attire is everything regal, with crystals from across the empire decorating her.
She continues her greeting. “Alloweth me to p'rsonally introduceth myself. I am Empress Vestra, daught'r of f'rm'r Empress Yasha, third of mine own nameth, Rul'r and Protecteth'r of the Crystal Empire, and Guardian of the Crystal Heart. And this is mine own son, Prince Sombra, heir to the empire.”
A younger Sombra steps forward and slightly bows his head to the Princesses. He seems to be in his early twenties, and very little appears different about him, except for his horn has a normal shape and bears a solid black color. His eyes are also a normal shade of red, and his attire is standard for a prince. He flashes a handsome smile at the two Princesses, which causes Luna to feel a little flustered.
“A pleasure to finally meeteth the Sist'r Princesses of Equestria,” he tells them. “I desire yond aft'r thy timeth h're, our two kingdoms shall beginneth a friendship yond shall lasteth a thousand years.”
“Yond is mine own desire as well, young prince,” Celestia responds.
Present-day…
“Enough, I wish to see no more,” Sombra orders the mirror as the memory from a thousand years ago swirls away. He paces through his office, a storm of frustration rages above him.
It’s been three days since his meeting with Fancy Pants and he has heard nothing new from his agents. He had hope that intervening directly could help tip the balance in his favor. He trusts his agents and knows they are more than capable of their jobs, but now and then he feels the need to get involved, especially when things aren’t moving fast enough. He knows patience is necessary on his part, even though it’s starting to wear thin.
He needs something to occupy his thoughts, to take his mind off of Equestria for a little bit. He thought revisiting his first meeting with the Princesses would do that, but hindsight certainly proves that doing so only kept his mind on that kingdom. Perhaps a book will help. Yes, a good book is always helpful during stressful times.
He walks over to the far end of his office, opposite the door. A few steps lead to a circular part of the room. A table sits in the center with an ornately decorated flower pot sitting on top and a crystal-like floral arrangement fills the pot. The table itself is a white, round table with blue and white crystals embedded on top that forms a snowflake pattern. Two chairs sit to the left and right of the table, slightly pulled out as if the persons who were sitting them just left. Surrounding half of the circumference of the floor are large bookshelves, each cabinet having seven shelves that are filled to the brim with books. Some of the books are in mint condition as if they had just been bought from the store, others look worn and well-loved. On the spines of these books, the titles and authors are written in many different languages. Very few are written in the modern tongue, the vast majority are written in languages that are either ancient or older dialects of current languages.
Sombra scans the shelves, hoping to find something that will spark his fancy. His eyes come upon a worn, navy blue spine that reads “A Study of the Dark Arts, Starswirll.” A tinge of nostalgia comes over him. “I’ve forgotten about this old thing,” he mutters. He grabs the book and flips through its dusty pages. Though the pages are slightly crumpled and torn, the material itself is still intact. As he flips through, he notices his notes written in the margins of the pages. Most of them are academic notes, written to help him with the material, but there are a few that are humorous. He chuckles at a rather immature comment he wrote on a page that covers the topic of enlargement spells.
A knock on the door breaks his attention from the book. “Enter,” he shouts across the room, then returns his attention to the book. The two double doors and Captain Silver Vein walks in. She approaches Sombra and takes a bow when she’s within ten feet of him.
“Your royal highness,” she says. “Doctor Wolfenstein has requested your attendance. He wishes to show you the progress he and his team have made regarding the project.”
“Hm,” Sombra grunts. He continues to look through the book, he seems to have barely noticed the captain’s presence. She clears her throat, which lifts Sombra’s gaze to her. “Oh yes, of course, I’ll be there soon.” The captain bows her head once again then, right as she turns around to leave, Sombra speaks up again. “Captain, inform Ms. Sparkle that I wish for her to meet me here, right this instance.” The captain turns around and bows her head again, acknowledging his request. She turns and leaves through the double door entry. He closes the book and sets it on the round table.
A few minutes pass when Silver Vein and Twilight enter the room. Sombra walks over to them and says to Silver, “Thank you, Captain, you may leave us.” She bows her head and turns to leave Twilight alone in the study with him. Sombra looks down at Twilight with a warm grin, happy to see her again. She doesn’t give him the courtesy in return, instead looks at him with a cold glare.
“I’m glad that you’re here, I want to show you something before I give you today’s lesson,” he says.
“I am not here by choice, Sombra,” she responds. “And I never agreed to become your student. I haven’t even thought about your offer.”
Several days back, Sombra gave Twilight an offer that she will sleep in one of the royal guest rooms while she stays here in the capital. In exchange, she will become Sombra’s student and learn from his teachings, lessons that will likely cover dark magic. She has yet to make a decision, and her loyalty to Princess Celestia, though shaken a bit several days, is still strong. It will take more than a scene from the past and a luxurious room to shake her foundations.
“Then you should not have accepted the room then,” he says. “That was part of my offer. But back to the matter at hoof, what I want to show you has nothing to do with the deal. Consider it a...field trip, one that you might find interesting.”
“As if anything you have to show me will even arouse my interest,” Twilight snarks.
“Trust me, Miss Twilight,” Sombra responds. “Where I intend to take is nothing for you to be afraid of.”
“Why should I trust you, you’ve done nothing to earn it.”
“Nor have I done anything for you to not trust me. If you are afraid I intend to punish you for failing to live up to your end of the bargain--”
“I wasn’t thinking of that,” Twilight abruptly interrupts him. She isn’t entirely honest with him. The thought of Sombra eventually unleashing his wrath against her has crossed her mind a few times these past days.
A smile grows across his face. “That is relieving to hear.” He turns away from her and summons a portal before him. “Now follow me, I wish to show you what my research team has been working on.” He walks into the portal, briefly leaving Twilight alone.
She is hesitant to walk in at first, still unsure if this is a ruse. But her curiosity gets the better of her and she slowly walks towards the portal. She walks through and on the other side she finds a large, bustling laboratory with all manner of scientific trinkets, tools, and samples. Crystal ponies of all three races dressed in lab safety equipment work on various assignments at their stations. Accompanying their tools are samples of crystals separated based on their properties.
Her jaw drops to the floor, gazing upon the spectacular sight before her. She never imagined that an empire ruled by a supposedly tyrannical despot would have such a flourishing research environment. Sombra looks down at the little pony and smiles amusingly at her bewilderment.
He gently taps her on the shoulder, directing her attention up to him. He holds out his right hoof in a presenting manner. “Allow me to give you a brief tour of the C.E.R.D.” He begins walking through the lab, Twilight willfully follows him now that she knows, or at least believes, she is perfectly safe.
As they walk, King Sombra exposits a brief history of the department: “Long before the Crystal-Equestria War of 35 AD, the Crystal Empire Research Department, or C.E.R.D, was a leading force in magical and scientific research. Largely due to our vast and numerous crystal mines, we’ve made advances in defense, medicine, engineering, agriculture, you name it.”
“How is that even possible?” Twilight questions. “Surely you’re not able to make such advances with just a single type of crystal.”
Hearing her question, Sombra walks her over to a table where a young, female unicorn with a light blue coat and snow-white mane and tail works. “Excuse me, Doctor Eckle,” Sombra says to her. The professor looks up from her work and notices the King standing before her.
In a hurry, she gets up from her seat and bows to him. “King Sombra,” the professor says, “I had no idea you were coming today. I’m afraid my team isn’t quite done yet, your highness.”
Sombra lightly chuckles and raises his hoof to tap her shoulder, intending to calm her nerves. “You have nothing to worry about, I fully understand you’ve just begun.” Eckle raises her head and stands upright, appearing more relaxed. Sombra turns to motion toward Twilight, “I do however want you to answer a question of our guest here, she is curious about what makes our crystals so unique.”
Eckle’s face lights up with excitement and passion; this seems to be a topic of great interest to her. She turns to Twilight and says, “Well throughout our empire’s existence, our mines have uncovered numerous families of crystals that provide many benefits to our society. For example, my team works on researching the property of Agriculture Crystals, or, in their less formal name, crop gems.” She turns around and grabs two different crystals from her desk, then holds them up for Twilight to see. “This green gem, when crushed into a fine powder and mixed in with the soil, acts a sort of super fertilizer to greatly improve crop quality and yield. This blue one, when crushed and mixed with water, can keep a crop fresh longer, allowing travel from the farm to the market much easier.”
While Eckle continues her exposition about her department’s research, Twilight listens to her with interest. In all her studies of magic, she has never known of crystals that possess such magical and powerful qualities. She knows of items in the world that have magical characteristics but those items are considered to be incredibly rare, these crystals are a different case. An empire with numerous deposits of magical crystals, no wonder Sombra is jealous of others possessing them.
“Thank you very much for enlightening my guest, Doctor Eckle,” Sombra says, interrupting the professor. “But Doctor Wolfenstein is expecting us.”
“Oh, certainly your highness,” Dr. Eckle says with a bow. “There’s been plenty of talk about Doctor Wolfenstein’s project. He’s incredibly excited to show you his results.”
“I certainly look forward to it, come along Miss Sparkle.” Sombra turns away from Eckle and walks further down the aisle.
Twilight doesn’t follow him, instead, she pauses him with a question. “I’m wondering if I could remain here with Doctor Eckle? I want to hear more about her team’s work.”
Sombra halts in place, turning back towards her. He looks at her with an expression of surprise and slight disappointment. “Well, I was hoping you would join me,” his expression changes to a warm smile. “But I see no problem if you wish to stay here. I will fetch you when it’s time to return.” With that said, Sombra turns and leaves.
“So, Mrs. Sparkle, what else about our work would you like to know?” Eckle asks.
“Doctor, I want to ask you something else,” Twilight says. Eckle looks at her confused, did she not just say that she wanted to stay to learn more about her work? “I’m wondering if you could tell me about King Sombra?”
Eckle lets out a chuckle. “You have a certain fancy for our King?” she jests.
“What! No, I didn’t mean like that!” Twilight responds in shocked disgust. “I mean what is he like, as a ruler? Does he treat you well?”
“Of course he treats us well,” Eckle replies. “Any ruler who fails to treat their subjects fairly is asking to be overthrown. No, King Sombra has always been a fair ruler.”
Twilight is having a hard time believing what she is hearing. Does she not understand that Sombra is a tyrant? Perhaps she’s been brainwashed or is under Sombra’s magic, but her eyes look normal. Maybe she’s too afraid, that’s gotta be it.
Twilight leans in closer to Eckle so no one else can hear them speak. “You can speak freely, he’s not here right now,” she says in a hushed tone. “You can tell me what he’s really like.”
“I have,” Eckle responds, sounding offended. Twilight, looking perplexed, steps back from her. “What are you trying to get from me? I’m not going to speak poorly of my king, especially when it’s undeserved. You Equestrians tried to breed sedition in here before, it didn’t work last time and it won’t work again. We are loyal subjects of the crown, nothing will change that.”
Feeling small from receiving that scolding, Twilight composes herself and apologizes to the doctor. “I’m sorry, I crossed a line. I’m just having a hard time understanding him, especially what I’ve been told about him.”
Eckle expresses regret, shaking her head and sobering her eyes and mouth. “I’m sorry as well, I shouldn’t have been so crossed with you. You’re new and an outsider, I know it can be hard to see our king as nothing more than an ‘enslaving tyrant.’”
“Wait,” Twilight says, tilting her head upon hearing that description. “How do you know that?”
“Because that’s what some of the propaganda against us was during our first war with Equestria,” Eckle explains. “It was a magical projection that showed our capital as this happy little utopia where we would prance about with little animals, then it was corrupted when King Sombra appeared and enslaved us all.” Eckle laughs, remembering the ridiculousness of that piece. “If I am to say one good thing about Equestria is they have a creative propaganda team.”
The description of the media is rather familiar to Twilight, too familiar. Before she can speak to ask the doctor further questions, Sombra walks up to them. Noticing his presence, Eckle breaks from the conversation and bows to Sombra.
“I trust you two had a fruitful conversation?” he asks.
“More or less, your majesty,” Eckle answers, remaining in her bowed position.
“Well I’m afraid I’ll have to cut it short, it’s time we return,” Sombra says. “Good luck with your work Doctor Eckle. Miss Sparkle, if you would follow me.” Sombra turns away from the doctor and opens up a portal in front of him. Twilight thanks the doctor for her time and follows Sombra through the portal. They reappear in Sombra’s study, the portal closes behind them. “So what did you think of our research department?”
“It was...certainly unique,” Twilight says, her mind somewhat distracted by her brief conversation with Dr. Eckle. She breaks from her thoughts and redirects her attention back to Sombra. “I also must admit that it was rather fascinating.”
A sense of appreciation comes over him causing him to smile. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.” He walks over to the circular library and picks up the book he set on the table earlier. “Now before I give you your first lesson, do you have any questions for me?”
“I do, several,” Twilight answers. Sombra turns around and listens intently. “If I am to become your student, what will I be learning?”
“An excellent question.” He walks down the steps of the library and towards Twilight. “Seeing your skill from when we first encountered each other, I will not be teaching you anything you already know. You seem to be an advanced student, Tia has taught you well. What I intend to teach is a subject that I doubt she has taught you: the dark arts.”
“I only know a little about it,” Twilight says. “But I don't know enough to control it. Not that I could control it now.” She lowers her head away from Sombra and with her right hoof, she gently rubs the spot where her horn used to be. Its absence is a feeling she is still not used to.
Sombra looks upon the former unicorn with empathy. He moves closer to Twilight and brings her head back up to meet his. “We’ll discuss fixing your horn another time. I know it feels like you’ve lost part of your identity, but you will recover it, in time.”
Twilight takes a step back, wiping away a tear forming in her eye. “That’s good to hear,” she says. “What’s my first lesson?” Sombra holds out the book in front of her, the cover in plain view. Twilight’s eyes widen when she sees who the author of the text is. “Wait, this is written by Starswirl the Bearded!? He studied the dark arts?”
“Starswirl studied all magic,” Sombra explains. “Light and dark, healing, combative, summoning, even blood magic. It’s what made him so famous back in the day, he wanted to make sure that every magic-user understood all aspects of magic. I want you to read the first three chapters of this book, it will give you a basic understanding of dark magic. Our first set of lessons will cover the theories, what is dark magic, what sets it apart from all other magics, and so on.” Twilight grabs the book and hugs it to her chest with her left hoof. “Now if there are no more questions at the moment, I will let you go to begin reading. You may read at my library table over there or you can return to your room, whatever makes you feel comfortable.”
Sombra bids her a good day and walks over to his desk, where a small stack of new reports sits. As he sits and begins his work, Twilight slowly turns and walks towards the exit. When she comes face to face with the door, she stops and glances back at the king. Another thought nags at her mind.
She turns around and says, “I do have one more question, Sombra.” He sets down his quill and turns his attention to her. “When you first offered me my room in exchange for being your student, you said that I would be treated as a prisoner if I refused. These last several days, I never really accepted your offer, yet you still treated me hospitably. What changed, and why do you want me to be your student anyway?”
“Well, technically, that’s two questions but I’ll answer them both, starting with the second,” he says. He gets up from his desk and walks around to the front, leaning up against it when he stops. “I see a lot of potential in you Miss Sparkle, and most of that is due to Celestia. She has taught you very well, but I want to teach your benefit, not hers. With my help, we can forge you into a powerful unicorn beyond your wildest dreams.”
The reasoning is tempting; to become a unicorn again would be renewing for Twilight and a possible way out. She longs to be home again, to be back at Ponyville with her friends, eating cupcakes and sipping on frothy mugs of hot chocolate. To be back in Canterlot, enjoying the day with her parents, brother, and sister-in-law. If she plays along with Sombra’s intentions, it just might give her the power she needs to escape the Crystal Empire and return home.
“As for the first question,” Sombra continues. “I’ll admit that my attitude has not been entirely kind. My frustrations with Celestia and Equestria were taken out on you, which was greatly unfair of me. I took my anger out on a pawn when the blame lay entirely with the king, and I apologize for that. From now on, I will be more patient, fair, and kind.”
Twilight is surprised to hear this from him. His tone doesn’t sound deceitful or condescending in any way. He sounds like he wants to make a genuine effort to treat her better. Not unwelcoming but certainly surprising, given what little she knows about him. Perhaps there’s more merit to Dr. Eckles's description of him more than she realized.
“Well, that’s… good to hear,” Twilight says. “I better get to reading this. Have a good day, Sombra.”
“And to you as well, Miss Twilight,” Sombra replies.
Twilight turns around and exits through the doors.