Son of Sombra - Journey of a Demon Alicorn

by Prince Star Fall

Chapter 1 - Room for Retrospect

“And you’re sure that that is where our next fragment lies, North Star?”
“I’m as sure as I’ve ever been, otherwise I would not live up to my cutie mark.” North Star ruffled and stroked his graying beard and looked at his flank underneath his dirtied brown robe. It revealed a star on the northern arrow of a compass, set against a whole flurry of smaller stars.
The ever-aging pony was pondering the time he and the Warrior-Prince, now a teenage rebel with a cause, have spent together. It had been years since that fateful day when they were forced to leave the Crystal Empire for good. Since that day, they had traveled around parts of Equestria with no leads, honing the Prince’s weapon skills and his own dark magic. Even if either of them wanted to go back, where would they go back to? Or a better question, what would they go back to? The Crystal Empire had fallen without a trace with the King.
Right now, their focus was on reclaiming the scattered fragments of Prince Ostrath’s broken horn. The Prince and the ever-loyal North Star embarked upon this quest years ago, with the Warrior-Prince in the belief that it would help make him a great king in the future, honored by all in the land…

…Unfortunately, that was a lie concocted by King Sombra himself…

It was only a week since they first left the Crystal Empire as it fell to pieces. The pair had already found themselves resting at the Neighagra Falls. The ruins of a village were nearby – a sight that was hard for North Star to look at. It would be hard to look at any site of ruins when those ruins used to be your home, and everypony you knew and loved was either taken away as captives, or killed… or left for dead.
Yet North Star felt compelled to return here, because the area was familiar to him. Interestingly enough, too, was that the forest around the village was virtually untouched. Indeed, not a single scorch or hoofmark reached close enough to the tall Oakhoof trees, which remained as beautifully lush green as ever. What drew him back here most of all was the waterfall. The glistening Neighagra Falls were a pure sky blue rather than a murky dark green like what was present in most ponds or lakes and in the water farther upstream.
Up until recently, their journey had gone well, especially with the training that North Star had mentioned. Primarily, it was for etiquette, which he promised the Prince’s mother. However, things took an unexpected turn when North Star had begun hearing a very familiar voice – one that would haunt him for the rest of his life.
“…NORTH STAR… YOUR KING HAS RETURNED…”
The elder cringed slightly. He had never thought once that the King would call back to him from the shadows. Suddenly the world around him seemed to become enshrouded in pitch-black darkness.
“SEEK THEE OUT… THE FRAGMENTS OF HIS HORN… HE MUST REALIZE HIS FULL POWER…”
Defiant as he was of the evil King, he bravely responded, “I know you’re dead, King Sombra! I have no reason to fear you now! And I certainly don’t have to take orders from you any longer!”
“…AH, NORTH STAR, STILL THE OLD FOOL I’VE KNOWN YOU TO BE… I MAY BE LOST, BUT I KNOW YOU’LL OBEY ME, FOR MY DARK HOOVES HAVE A TIGHT GRIP AROUND YOUR WEAK, OLD HEART… ALLOW ME TO DEMONSTRATE!”
Suddenly, North Star gave way, falling to the ground. He grabbed his chest and tried to hang on for dear life like there was no tomorrow. “W-what kind of sorcery is this…?!”
“I’LL BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO WATCH YOU SUFFER, BUT THAT WON’T GET MY SON ANY CLOSER TO BECOMING MY SUCCESSOR… NOW… SEEK THEE OUT…”
The voice and the grip soon faded away, and both left a lasting impression upon North Star as the rest of the world faded back into his view. The Prince even took notice of how strange his new mentor had suddenly been acting.
“North Star… are you OK?”
“Y… yes child,” he said, righting himself, “I am fine.” He was lying, but he did not want the Warrior-Prince-in-training to worry over an old pony who was already nearing his time. “I believe I have your very first quest’ one that will help you to become a great king.”
The Prince’s face lit up like fireworks in the night sky. “Really? What’s the quest?!” He always dreamed of the day when he would become a king like his father. Their run from the Crystal Empire had essentially extinguished the fire of any and all hope for that dream to come true, but the mere mention of a quest to become one brought it all back to life.
“From this day forth, we are going to find the fragments of your broken horn.”
“Fixing my horn will make me a great king? …Really?” the Prince asked in quiet disbelief.
“B-but of course, it will! I would not dare lead you astray on your greatest wish, would I?”
Prince Ostrath had to admit – North Star had not once ever lied to him as long as they’ve known each other, and he had no such reason to doubt him now.”Well, that sounds simple enough. Let’s get started, then!”
“Hold on there, young one! We need to figure out a place to start, first.”
“…Where to, then?”
“We will have to ask around if anyone has seen any fragments float about,” the old pony answered with a sigh. North Star could only pray that the Queen, wherever she was, would be able to forgive him.

It was here that North Star’s recollection of the beginning of the end suddenly faded from his mind as he gathered himself in the present.
“No dawdling, North Star. I must claim my place as King, and I want to do it as soon as possible.”
The world could wait for his rule a little longer, North Star playfully mused to himself. He then checked his bearings by looking to the night sky above. Naturally, North Star’s talent was to use the sky as his map, allowing him to know where he was at any given point in time. Telling from what part of the sky was above, he found that he was just at the edge of the Foal Mountains – pretty close to Canterlot, but neither of them had a reason to go there unless they wanted to face possible expulsion to the moon, let alone let the Princesses know of the Prince’s existence and his connection to King Sombra. From their current position and from their need to avoid Canterlot, the Prince and his astronomical guide planned to move due south towards the Badlands, where the dragons roam – and possibly the next horn fragment.

Far away, several pairs of guarded eyes watched two hikers traveling along a nearby small mountain range, both wearing strange clothes – TOO strange to be average hikers.
“A peculiar pair walkin’ ‘round nowhere,” spoke one pony in a Flanklyn accent.
“Quite,” another pony said, also eying the pair.
“Where do you think they’re going?” a third voice asked authoritatively from the shadows of the room behind them.
“Looks like they’re southbound, possibly towards Horseshoe Bay,” answered the first voice.
“I’ll cut them off there,” the third voice said, just as a purple tail swung around out of the darkness of the overlooking room, high off the ground, made to see all of Equestria.
“What about these travelers has suddenly got you suspicious over ‘em, sir?” the first voice asked.
The movement of a pony of great authority stopped, pausing only to reply to this valid question. “I don’t know who they are, but they’re certainly not from around here by the look of them. Plus I’ve had this bad feeling running up and down my spine for a while now. Maybe, just maybe…” The voice paused again.

“…this could be my chance to do something about it.”