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// 1. Legend that would become reality 
// Story: Shadow of the Past 
// by Borsuq 
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	Queen Aurora, the ruler of the Crystal Empire, stumbled away, unable to believe what she was seeing.
In front of her, among the dead bodies of her elite guards, stood unicorn pony that she always thought to be nothing more than a monster from an old ponies’ tale.
King Sombra.
Aurora gulped as she felt her tail brush the wall. She couldn’t escape, and even if she could, what next? King Sombra has already proven to be much more powerful than her. She wanted to cry as she recalled how effortlessly he bounced her magic back at her. She wanted to weep at the memory of how her guards, who were about to attack him, started to scream and scratch their own eyes, as if seeing things of unimaginable terror.
The Queen knew that it was over. Having failed her Empire, she tried to at least die like a queen. She straightened up, ignoring the pain, and looked into the unsympathetic glowing eyes of approaching her King Sombra.
“Why... why are you doing this?” she asked the dark unicorn, who appeared out of nowhere and without any explanation, other that he’s King Sombra, and he came to take over the Crystal Empire.
She didn’t expect him to stop. Nor did she expect him to answer. But he did both of those things. He stopped, barely two steps away from here, and while his expression didn’t change, he appeared to ponder her question.
“Why am I doing this?” he repeated her question in raspy voice. “I guess it doesn’t really matter anymore... But of course, if I had to chose...” King Sombra said as he lowered his strange horn. “... it would be because...” the horn began to glow with dark aura. “... you let Via die.”
For a moment, Queen Aurora was sure she misheard.
“But... that would mean...”
“Brother?” she asked him as he fired his magic.
 
20 years earlier...

“Their battle lasted for days, and in its wake, the south-west end of Haysead Swamps was completely destroyed.” the elderly crystal pony, whose coat was gray, like her mane and tail, and her cutie mark was a symbol of a pony holding a foal in her fronthooves, told her three charges, who stared at her with wide eyes as the story was coming to the end. “The two unicorns magic, as it clashed, tore apart the very ground, creating a valley, called now ‘Badlands’, with newly created ‘Macintosh Hills’ surrounding it.”
“Why is it called ‘Badlands?” the small crystal alicorn, whose coat was gold like the sun, and mane and tail changed colors constantly, like the northern lights.
“Because, Princess Aurora, it’s an empty desert, like...
“... Like the San Palamino Desert?” the other filly asked, eager to show her knowledge.
“Yes, Via.” the mare told her granddaughter, not upset by the interruption from the lavender crystal pony, who had mane and tail dark, save for few silver streaks. “But unlike the San Palamino Desert, Badlands are made out of rocks, not sand, and nothing lives there. Even in the depths of San Palamino, there are always some critters that manage to live there, but no animal, nor pony, enters Badlands and comes back.”
The three foals shook a bit out of fear. Their foalsitter, Granny Rags,  wondered briefly if she wasn’t pushing it a bit too far, but was quickly proven to be mistaken on that matter, as Princess Aurora spoke up, no longer shaking.
“So what happened to Star Swirl and King Sombra?”
Granny Rags suppressed a chuckle. Out of her three charges, Aurora was the boldest one. She wished she would live long enough to see her grow up into queen, but with her age, it was unlikely.
“Like I said, their battled lasted for days.” Granny Rags replied, continuing the story. “The magical energies they unleashed at each other could be seen by ponies for miles. In the end, Star Swirl was victorious. He defeated his brother, ending his reign of terror across the Earth.”
“Wooow!” the three foals exclaimed.
“What happened to Star Swirls after that?” Aurora asked.
“He went on studying the mysteries of magic, becoming the wisest scholar ponykind ever known. His knowledge, combined with his vast powers that made even the alicorns bow to him, gave him ability to do almost everything. He would probably be still alive, if he ever became interested in immortality, like his brother.”
“So...” Via Lattea asked, unsure. “... did all of that really happen?”
“Actually, nopony knows for sure for what’s fact and what’s fiction.” Granny Rags answered. “It is assumed by ponies that Star Swirl, later known as ‘the Bearded’, as age caught up with him, really existed. He left many of his notes regarding spells and nature of magic. But some stories of his exploits, like the battle with King Sombra, are considered to be nothing more than legends. King Sombra himself is considered to be a legend, as there are no proofs of his existence, or records that Star Swirl ever had a brother for that matter.”
“I don’t understand it...” the third foal, who kept quiet until know, muttered.
“What was that, Prince Astraeus?” the elderly mare, whose hearing wasn’t as sharp as it was barely ten years ago, asked.
“Why did he, King Sombra, done all those things?” the dark blue crystal alicorn asked. His mane was and tail were dark as a starless night, and yet, when a pony looked closely at it, could see that it also changed colors, like Aurora’s, although his changed only in few places at a time, not the entire mane or tail. “How could he hurt other ponies, or fight his sibling in a battle to the death?” glancing at his sister, he added: “I don’t think I could ever fight Aurora.”
That caused her to giggle.
“That’s because you know you would lose.”
“I would not!” Astraeus argued weakly, blushing.
Granny Rags rolled her eyes, as Aurora burst into laughter, making her brother blush even more. She was proud of her granddaughter for not joining in, to spare the Prince embarrassment. Aurora and Astraeus, despite being twins, were very different from each. Where Aurora was outspoken, bold and liked to first act, then think, Astraeus was quiet, shy, and always overthought things. They also started to develop different talents, tied to them being crystal alicorns, and being blessed with gifts of all kind of ponies. Aurora was becoming very adept in using magic, despite still being such young filly, where Astraeus started to became quite a pro in terms of flying. The elderly mare, while had no doubt that the gold filly would be a great queen in the future, couldn’t help but wonder what kind of king would dark-blue colt have made had he been born few minutes earlier.
“Don’t argue, little ones.” she calmed them, and at once, they listened, although she could see that Aurora was prepared to continue. “Like I said, Prince Astraeus, this story is considered to be just a legend, meaning it didn’t really happen. Somepony thought it up, as a warning.”
“A warning?” the three asked.
“Yes, a warning.” Granny Rags repeated, becoming more serious. ”It warns that everypony can fall prey to allure of power. King Sombra was as powerful and smart as his brother, and continued to expand his power and knowledge, and soon, he stopped minding if he hurt other ponies in the process. By the time Star Swirl finally decided he had to stop him, Sombra was no longer a pony, but a monster.”
The three foals nodded, thoughtfully.
“Oh my, look at the time.” the elderly mare said, glancing through the window at the night. “It’s about time you three went to sleep.”
“But...”
“No ‘buts’, Princess. Via Lattea, tell your friends good night, I will lead you back to your chamber.”
“Alright...” the Hoof of the King’s daughter murmured. “Good night, Aurora, Astraeus.”
“Good night, Via.” the two royal ponies answered, also unhappy that they had to separate so soon, despite that they would see each other as soon as they woke up.
Granny Rags looked at the foals as they hugged each other, and couldn’t be happier. She had a long life, and helped raise many foals, including the current King of Crystal Empire, his Queen, and few of his most trusted advisers. Not to mention that out of her three sons, one was the Hoof of the King, his chief adviser; the younger one was the Captain of the Crystal Guard, and the youngest one married the current Queen of Equestria, and fathered two alicorn princesses, Celestia and Luna.
“Life can be so good.” she thought to herself. “Why somepony did bother to think off such silly legend?”