//------------------------------//
// Sneezes of Destruction 
// Story: King Sombra's winter sneeze. 
// by KingSombraTheTyrantRuler 
//------------------------------//

Today marked a week since winter had begun. It was beautiful, peaceful and quiet.

The only sound you could hear was of fillies and colts laughing as they built snowponies.

And you could also hear somepony sneezing. That somepony was King Sombra who was in his Crystal Castle which was in the Crystal Empire.

Every time he sneezed, a building broke. This happened every winter.

Every winter, King Sombra caught a terrible cold and sneezed until the end of winter.

That was why he hated winter. Next to him was the pony he trusted most.

Her name was Silver Gust, and she was a pegasus. Because King Sombra trusted her, he gave her the job of Tissue-giver. So, every time he sneezed, Silver gave him a tissue. Sombra's excuse was that he didn't want to get his hooves stuck in those small tissue holes in tissue boxes.

Her other jobs were, brushing Sombra's mane, drying him after his bath, putting his blanket on him before he slept, and feeding him. She had to spoon-feed him because King Sombra said that he didn't want to get his hooves dirty, or eat like an earth pony, or waste his magic.

We're talking off-topic here. King Sombra sneezed, "ACHOO!", and a building crumbled. Silver quickly gave him another tissue and then flew off to get more tissue boxes.

She came back and Sombra sneezed again. In Celestia's castle, the glass windows shattered. Silver was getting worried. This happened every winter and only got worse as time passed.

At first, it was just a quiet sneeze. Then it had turned into a louder sneeze. And then, it had gotten loud enough to shatter glass.

With every winter that came, the sneeze became louder and more powerful. Silver was sure that one day when King Sombra would sneeze, magic would shoot out of his horn.

That's how bad it was. Every time she had tried to take him to the doctor, King Sombra refused to go, saying that Kings never went to doctors.

So, that option was out. What other ways could he be cured of his sneezes? Silver got an idea and asked Sombra, "Um, King Sombra? Would you like to drink anything?"

Sombra replied, "A coffee would be good. Don't make it too hot."

Silver flew off to make Sombra's coffee. In the castle kitchens, Silver got the normal ingredients for making coffee. She made it and then added something else.

What she added was a cure for sneezes. She stirred it, and then took it to Sombra.

She gave the coffee to him, and he drank it. If the zebra named Zecora was right, then Sombra would be cured in a week.

After drinking his coffee, Sombra fell asleep. Silver wrapped him in his blanket, and then took the cup back to where it belonged.

It was night, and now Silver was hoping that the cure would work. The next morning she woke up and took a pile of tissue boxes to her King's room.

She knocked and when allowed, she stepped in. She picked up the manebrush and brushed Sombra's mane slowly. Then, she got a bath ready for him.

Once the tub was filled to the top with warm water, Silver took Sombra's armor, cape, and his crown off and put it on a table.

Then she left the bathroom to give him his privacy. She was waiting for Sombra to finish his bath when he screamed, "My bath needs more bubbles!"

Silver ran and added more bubbles. Then, she left again.

A few minutes later, King Sombra screamed, "Bubbles are getting stuck in my nose! Help! Now the bubbles are going down my throat!"

Silver ran and helped Sombra. Then she waited in the bathroom for Sombra to finish.

When Sombra had finished his bath, Silver went into the bathroom and dried him. Then, she put his armor, cape, and crown back on.

Sombra got back into his bed, and a few minutes passed. Then, he sneezed. When he sneezed, a bubble from the bath found its way out of Sombra's nose.

Silver quickly gave him a tissue and he wiped his nose. Then, Sombra threw the tissue into a bin near his bed.

Ten bins were waiting to be filled. By the end of the day, each bin was filled up to the top with tissue. And through the whole of winter, all Sombra thought about was how much he hated winter.

Sombra thought, 'When this winter ends, I'll destroy it. It's useless. All it does is make me sneeze while other ponies get to be happy. It's unfair. Curse you, winter!'

When winter had finally ended, Sombra had been cured of his sneezes. But there was one problem. Instead of sneezing, he coughed.

And his cough was as destruction-causing as his sneeze had been. Silver's honest thoughts were that Sombra sneezing was better than him coughing.

Every time Sombra coughed, he coughed out bubbles. And these bubbles floated out the window and stuck on to things like flags, crystals, ice cream, hay burgers, toys, pony's manes and a lot of other things.

So, she tried to find another cure. She came back from Zecora's hut with a sickness cure in her saddlebag. Then she made a cup of coffee for Sombra and put the cure in it.

She stirred it and then gave it to Sombra. After he drank it, he didn't cough or sneeze. For the first time in ten years, Sombra had been cured of all illnesses.

Silver smiled, but then she sneezed. She kept on sneezing for a whole hour. After she emptied the bins of her sneeze tissues, she thought, 'Must it be so hard to just get a cure for illnesses? Why can't the cure come without causing any other problems? Why must a price be attached to everything?'

Sadly, a price comes with everything. Nothing comes free in this world. And that, Sliver knew very well.

The last thing that Silver thought before drifting off to sleep was, 'I hate illnesses'.