//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: To Fill the Void // Story: King Sombra's Rise and Fall // by CartsBeforeHorses //------------------------------// Chapter One: To Fill the Void Crystal Empire: Circa 722 After Discord (Approximately 1,290 years before Season 2) On a dirt road in the northern Crystal Empire, the unicorn Sombra of Canterlot trudged against an onslaught of wind and snow. The gusts whipped at the layers of protective clothing he wore. Snowflakes rapidly clumped together on his muzzle as he stopped every minute or so to brush them off. If only the pegasi had control over this country's weather, then I would have known about this snowstorm, he lamented internally. Few souls lived in this frozen desert; most of the population lived in the capital city of Crystopolis, which Sombra was headed for this particular day. Though it was hardly a day, as this far north a perpetual dusk prevailed across the land, cloaking it in dimness. Sombra’s pearly white teeth chattered in his skull as his heavy breathing sent fog plumes into the air. He wondered why anypony would want to live in such a cold place. Like many Equestrians, Sombra often puzzled at the strange culture of the crystal ponies. They were quite the survivalists, and built structures from crystal rock for insulation. They kept the blizzards out of their cities through the use of the Crystal Heart, an artifact which could banish darkness, evil, and cold. Based on his proximity to the Crystal Mountain range to his north, he estimated that he had only fifty miles to go until he reached the city. The mountain peaks towered over the dim landscape, and their jagged black pinnacles pierced the sky. Sombra's saddlebags were bulging at the seams; the string tying them together was strained to its limit. His hooves buckled as he took each step. He was eager to find a place to rest his back. Even with a weight-reduction enchantment, the cumbersome load took its toll on the unicorn. Sombra was a graduate of Starswirl the Bearded’s School For Gifted Unicorns in Canterlot and was thus skilled in many different forms of magic. His main emphasis was in enchanting, and he could enchant a variety of objects to do a variety of things. In addition to his weight-reduction charm, he could cast good luck, far sight, warmth, and many other charms. Unfortunately, these enchantments did not translate much into income. Sombra had attempted to sell his enchanted wares in Canterlot but had found fierce competition, and soon he had become destitute. His brow furrowed at the thought. He stomped his hoof into the ground at his next step forward. He had spent years in Starswirl’s college and had ultimately ended up homeless, with nothing but knowledge and the contents of his saddlebags. The enchanter believed the Crystal Empire to be an untapped market for magical items; he was unaware of any unicorns living in the Crystal Empire. Even if they did, there would likely be no enchanters of his skill level present. "You’ll never make it up there alive,” his competitors had warned him, “even if you do, good luck selling anything!” Despite these nay-sayers, Sombra was confident that he could sell his wares in the Crystal Empire. Sombra continued along the path until it reached the foot of the mountains. The path steepened as he slowly ascended the incline. As he gazed onward, he noticed the path was becoming dimmer. The blizzard blew furious flurries of snow at his face, and the cold stung his eyes. This increase in snowfall combined with the darkness meant that he could hardly see more than a few yards in front of him. Even under his warmth-enchanted cloak he was feeling outright frigid. I must find someplace to stop or I shall die! He followed the path and eventually it turned right and continued alongside the mountain. As he walked he gazed to his right, and then he drew his head back. The hill was precipitous below him, dropping at a seventy degree angle. To his left, the mountain towered above him at the same angle. The path he was on was only about two feet across. As Sombra walked along, the path narrowed further until soon it was no more than eighteen inches across. He hugged the mountainside and tried not to look to his right to the steep mountainside. He hoped that the path would soon widen again. Suddenly, Sombra felt his hoof slip off the side of an icy rock in the path. A sharp pain shot up his hoof, and he heard a sickening cracking sound. As he drew his hoof back, he lost his balance, and tripped down onto the slope to his right. He landed with a thud on the slope, his momentum carrying him further downward into a roll. He stuck his hooves out in front of him and stopped his roll, but continued to slide downward on the steep grade. Branches from passing trees whipped at him, lashing at his coat as he passed them by, but they did nothing to slow his descent. As he gazed ahead of him he saw that he was about to slide straight into the trunk of a large pine. He focused through the pain and cast a teleportation spell. With a loud crack and a flash of light, Sombra was back on the path above. Breathing a sigh of relief, he limped forward on the path. Sombra was freezing from his rolling in the snow, and his leg still smarted from the rock. He hoped that he hadn’t broken it. He continued for about five seconds until he realized that he no longer had his saddlebags. His heart skipped a beat as he gazed around himself in a frantic search. He looked down onto the slope where he had fallen, but his pack was nowhere to be found; he figured that it had rolled down the mountain. Sombra’s head sunk. His entire life was in that saddlebag: all of his books, his tent, his food. He wondered how he would get along without it. His heart skipped a beat as his mind raced through all of the horrible possibilities of freezing or starving to death. Despite this, Sombra kept limping forward, as he had no other choice. He desperately needed a place to rest. His ears and tail were now numb from the cold. He was in agony from his hoof, and he wished more than anything to take his weight off of it. Sombra walked for another half hour, eventually reaching a wider area of the path. Then, when Sombra thought he could no longer go on, he saw a little rocky outcrop out of the corner of his eye. He limped over to investigate it, and he noticed that it was the entrance to a small cave. The entrance was only about two feet in diameter, but Sombra figured that he might be able to get in out of the wind. He crouched down, wincing from his hoof, and crawled into the cave. His hoof shouted out pain, but he continued dragging himself forward through the narrow crag. He continued for about ten feet, and the air became warmer as he progressed. His teeth were chattering slightly less as he continued. Sombra gazed around himself and could not see a thing, so he used a horn-light spell to illuminate his way. His horn’s light reflected back at him, lighting up the entire cave with purple rays shimmering against the walls. Sombra realized that the cave walls were covered in many thousands of small crystals, which were translucent and reflective. He looked above and saw he could stand up; he was now in an area of the cave which had a ten foot tall ceiling. Sombra, mindful of his aching back and throbbing hoof, laid down on the cold, crystal floor of the cave.Though the sky this far north was always dark in the winter, he felt as though in Equestria it was right around night time anyway. His mind was racing with concerns of how he would ever make it to Crystopolis, but he eventually drifted off to sleep from sheer exhaustion. ***** Sombra woke up, unsure of how much time had passed. He did not feel any more refreshed than before. He thought he had heard a loud rumbling sound, but was unsure of what it was. Hopefully it wasn't a bear who called this cave home. He lit up his horn again and trudged along towards the exit, crawling back through the nook he had entered the cave through. He continued for about three feet through the narrow passage but then found that the entrance had been snowed in. That rumbling must’ve been an avalanche! Sombra attempted to teleport out but found he could not. Teleportation does not work in an enclosed space when solid matter is in the way; there must be open air to move through. No matter, he thought. I’ll just dig my way out. Sombra attempted to levitate the snow out of the way with his magic. He grimaced as he poured more power into his horn, but the snow did not budge. It was too tightly packed, and was even solid ice in some areas. He poked his sharp horn against the ice, causing a few chunks to fall. He continued to do this for a minute or two, using his horn as a makeshift icepick. However, his horn soon became too cold for him to bear. He would need some sort of ice pick or other tool to get through this impediment. Sombra’s heart raced. If he could not find a way out, he would die in here. He backed out of the passage, stood up onto his hooves, and looked around the cave for anything he could use as a tool. He searched the ground of the cave but could not find anything bigger than a pebble. He wondered if there were any spare rocks further back in the cave. No such luck. A few minutes later he had explored the entire grotto but had found nothing he could use. Well, GREAT, he thought, now I’m stuck here until Celestia-KNOWS-when! He pounded his head against the wall in frustration and was surprised to hear the wall crack. Sombra looked up and discovered that his horn had knocked several crystals off of the wall. The crystals were softer than he had thought, about as brittle as candy canes. He held up his good hoof and knocked it against the wall. A few small chunks of purple crystal fell to the ground with a clinking sound, the largest about three inches in diameter. He picked the large chunk up with his magic and examined it. There was no way he could do anything with this chunk, he thought. He had no way to sharpen it into a pick. Even if he did, it was far too brittle. Frustrated, he impulsively tried to crush the brittle crystal clump into bits with his magic. Instead, the crystal flattened like a pancake. Sombra’s eyebrows raised. Odd, so now the crystal is a putty? He fiddled around with the crystal and managed to fashion it into a ball. He experimented around with it and found he could fashion it into any shape with his magic. He made it into a pyramid, then a cube. As an experiment, he dropped it onto the ground but found that it cracked, as brittle as ever. So only magic had that effect on it. He wondered how the magic-less crystal ponies made structures out of such crumbly stuff. Perhaps it was one of many different types of crystal, and others were harder, he (correctly) theorized. Let’s see if I can make it any stronger, Sombra thought. He knocked several more chunks off of the wall, levitated them up, and fused them together. He quickly fashioned the crystal clay into an icepick. He then focused his magic on the pick, his horn glowing from the effort. He used an enchantment to harden it, a spell which he often used on glass to make it more difficult to break. After a few moments, he took the pick in his mouth, headed towards the entrance of the cave and hit the pick onto the snow and ice. He found he could get a few chunks of snow out of the way. The process was laborious, and his progress was slow. After about a minute of use, the handle of the ice pick broke off and brittle shards of crystal fell to the ground. He had only gotten about two inches through the snow and ice, and he had at least ten feet to go. Sombra figured it would take ages to get out at this rate. He crawled back into the cave and stood up. Maybe he should try a different spell. He thought back to his magical education. “Hmmmm...” he muttered aloud. There were no hardening spells he could recall other than the one he had tried, but perhaps he could try a heat spell. He figured such a spell could heat up and possibly harden the crystal “clay” like pottery in a kiln or like metal ore in a furnace. He recalled a spell he had learned which could heat up a small object to hundreds of degrees. Sombra would have used a heat spell on the ice itself, but the spell was far more difficult for larger objects than smaller ones. Such a spell was “black magic,” named this due to the black aura this and other spells caused the horn of the user to emit. Though such magic was incredibly difficult, and he personally had only used the spell once or twice, Sombra was confident in his powers. Even though Starswirl advised against such a spell’s use at all outside of academic settings due to its possible danger, this was an emergency situation. Sombra fashioned yet another ice pick out of the malleable crystal. He focused intently at it, his horn glowing black as he attempted to heat up the crystal. Sombra continued to heat it up for a few seconds, but then he realized that he himself was becoming warm. It was not his horn, nor his hooves; he somehow was feeling the warmth of the crystal itself. The enchanter stared at the crystal pick, and wondered what was happening. This had never happened when he had used the spell on other objects. Sombra magically molded the pick back into a ball once more, and then his head bolted up. His eyes widened. Sombra could feel the crystal as if it were an extension of himself, some sort of fifth limb. The heating spell which he had cast must’ve had the effect of somehow imparting sensations from the crystal onto him. Though it did not hurt. On the contrary, the feelings the crystal gave him were quite pleasant. He wondered what would happen if he were to add more crystal to the orb he was holding. Could he feel it also? He hit his hoof against the wall, knocking more fragments loose from the cave wall. He picked these up telekinetically and melded them into the orb he was holding. Sure enough, the sensation he felt from the crystal was amplified, and felt better than before! Grinning from ear to ear, Sombra paused for a moment. Then, he looked back at the wall. Wall? More like a large, delicious platter! The enchanter powered up his horn and wildly pried more and more crystal fragments from the wall with his magic, adding them to the orb as fast as he possibly could. He drooled and panted with sheer ecstasy as soon, he had absorbed the entire cave wall into his orb, down to the rock wall beneath. Sombra stood there for several hours, enjoying his wonderful crystal ball, which was now six feet in diameter. Suddenly, he realized that he no longer cared about his problems. His money, his broken hoof, his hunger, his fatigue, the frigid cold... they didn't matter to him in the slightest. Why should they have mattered? It all pertained to some flesh and blood unicorn, but that wasn't him. THIS was him, he decided. He identified more with the crystal and the sensations they gave him than he identified with his own body. He decided that he must have MORE crystal, but there were no more crystals in the cave. Surely there were more places to find crystal than this cave. Well, now that I have more to work with… Sombra molded his crystal ball into a massive hammer. He walked back towards the entrance and took quick, powerful swings at the icy impediment. Though the hammer gradually weakened, Sombra continued to re-strengthen it with his magic as needed until soon, he had all but the last few inches of the icy impediment cleared out. With one last heave, Sombra broke the remaining ice away. He crawled through the entrance, and walked onto the snow outside. He shivered as he realized that it was colder than ever, and he still might freeze to death. "Aha!” Sombra exclaimed aloud. He wouldn’t freeze at all, because now he had the crystals to protect him. The enchanter re-formed the crystal hammer into a ball and set it down in front of him. Keeping his magic focused on the crystal ball, he stuck his hoof into it. It was the consistency of quicksand, but he found he could move through it well enough while his magic had made it malleable. Soon, he had immersed himself inside the orb. He magically created a small opening for his face so he could see and breathe. Now, he just needed to figure out how to move. Sombra manipulated the rear of the crystal ball and extended a crystal pole out with his magic, which he pushed against the snow. The momentum from this caused him to roll forward. He continued to do this, moving along the path inside of his crystal zorb encasement. The unicorn continued on for several hours, no longer cold since the crystal offered far more protection than his coat or jacket. Soon, the blizzard subsided and the skies were clear. He approached the red crystal gates at the city limits of Crystopolis. Here, he would certainly find all of the crystal he could ever desire. As he continued, he noticed that, though he could still feel sensations from the crystal, it was not to the same extent that he could feel it earlier. He would have re-cast the heating spell which enabled him to feel the crystal sensations in the first place, but didn’t want to have to stop. It still felt a bit pleasant, and he was in no mood to stop his journey. He still had about half a mile to go until he reached the city proper. He looked up in the sky above the city. It was as bright as day due to the many crystal street lamps in place around the town, crystal being a natural light amplifier as he now knew. Sweating from the heat of his crystal ball enclosure, Sombra cast his telekinetic magic on it once more, making it take on its putty consistency. He then stepped out. He turned behind himself and raised an eyebrow, as he noticed something about the crystal that he hadn’t been able to see when he was inside of it. The color of the crystal ball had changed in the hours since he had first discovered it. Rather than purple, it was now a deep black. Sombra also noticed that he could no longer feel this crystal at all. He tried to re-cast the heating spell on it, but it did not impart any sensation unto him. It had somehow been depleted. He would have to find new crystal for sure. However, he did not ditch the crystal that he had. He could still form it into shapes, and he decided that in this capacity may still prove useful. He fashioned the black crystal ball into a cart with wheels that he could easily pull. He figured the cart wouldn’t look too out-of-place in the crystal city. The cart was a bit heavy, and his hoof still hurt, but he still continued on. ***** As Sombra pulled his crystal cart through the streets of town, the residents gave him odd looks. They were hardly used to seeing an outsider in their city. Even in Canterlot the unicorn was an oddity, as black was an uncommon coat color. It also seemed to be an uncommon crystal color; Sombra could see red, blue, purple, and green crystal buildings, but no black. However, most of the Crystal Ponies were friendly enough. A few even said hello to him as he passed them on the road. He wondered how he would go about acquiring more crystal. Maybe he would trade for it. His initial cause for the journey was to trade his enchanted goods for bits. No reason he couldn't trade those bits for more crystal, he thought. Sombra approached the town square where the marketplace was. When nopony was looking, he furtively fashioned his cart into a table with his magic. The table was similar to the other dozens of tables and market stalls and tents that other traders had set up. Fletchers proffered their bows and arrows to prospective archers. Gardeners displayed fresh produce such as crystal berries, celery, crystal apples, and all manner of fruits and vegetables. Gypsies, mystics, and other fortune tellers claimed the ability to read the future for a few bits. An old gray hag called out to passers-by, “Hoof readings, tea-leaf readings, and all kinds of prognostications for an affordable price!” One stallion stopped and entered her tent upon hearing this advertisement. Sombra figured this was the approach he would use. He stood behind his table and called out to the shoppers in the market. “Attention everypony! Get your enchantments here! All I ask is for a few bits in return.” About an hour passed and nopony stopped. Was it because he was a unicorn? No, he could hardly imagine that. In Equestria, the worst he ever heard regarding the Crystal Ponies was that they had funny accents and ate strange food. He hardly knew anypony in Equestria who distrusted or disliked the crystal ponies. The Kingdom of Equestria and the Crystal Empire had enjoyed good relations since Equestria’s founding a thousand years ago. The two nation had even signed a mutual defense treaty, each country agreeing to defend the other from foreign aggressors. It was possible that the Equestrians’ amicable attitude was not reciprocated by the crystal ponies, but unlikely. Maybe Sombra just wasn’t specific enough. “You there, ma’am!” he called out to a yellow pony walking past his table, “Would you care to have those horseshoes enchanted to bring you luck?” “Um, sure,” she said, and she approached the stand and took off her horseshoes. Sombra placed the horseshoes on his table and focused his horn at them. They glowed a bright purple and soon, after the spell was complete, they were enchanted with a luck charm. He gave them back to her. “Whenever you wear these, you are sure to be luckier in all of your endeavors! Now, let’s talk about payment—” “Um, hold on a second, sir. How do I know this will really work? I would prefer to pay you after see these horseshoes bring me luck. Otherwise, for all I know, you are only swindling me. I don’t even know who you are. No offense to you, newcomer, but it takes a lot of time to build up a reputation to do business here.” Sombra was taken aback. Nopony ever doubted the validity of his enchantments. Though, then again, ponies unfamiliar with magic might not realize that enchantments are even a real thing. No problem, he decided he would find somepony else who would pay him immediately. He got a few more lookers, but all of them insisted on paying him later. Even the enchantments that he could demonstrate did in fact work, such as his self-sweeping broom or his enhanced vision glasses, ponies only were willing or able to pay a few bits for. Nopony wanted to pay the prices that Sombra demanded for his goods. Sombra clenched his teeth. He NEEDED to have new crystals. It had been hours since he last felt their sensations. He saw a periwinkle stallion walking by, and asked him, “Excuse me, sir. Where does this town get its crystal?” The stallion answered, “Well, years ago when we were constructing these buildings, we pulled giant blocks from an old mine shaft. It’s on the other side of town.” He motioned with his hoof towards the north end of town, continuing, “but that shaft is mostly depleted. Not that it matters much, we are a small city and don’t use a lot, unless we need it for a new building, but nopony is mining it at the moment.” “Would anypony be willing to let me into the mine so I could try mining it myself?” Sombra inquired. The pony shook his head, “I doubt so, sir, that mine is private property. Besides, it’s all closed off and boarded up anyway.” No matter, Sombra thought, I’ll just go in there regardless. Trespassing was hardly his biggest concern. Besides, as the stallion said, they didn't even need the crystal in the mine anyway. ***** Sombra walked towards the north end of town, his cart in tow. As he walked down the dirt road, he noticed it the sky getting dimmer as he left the artificial glow of the city. The houses lining the street became sparser and sparser until he was past the outskirts of town and into the wilderness. The enchanter observed his surroundings and ascertained that nopony was watching him. He surrounded himself with his crystal ball and rolled for about a mile. Eventually, up against the side of the mountain he saw a mine shaft. He rolled on over to the shaft. It was boarded up with planks of wood. No matter, Sombra thought. He formed the crystal into the shape of a hammer and pounded against the boards. One by one they broke, clanking as splinters fell to the ground. He freed his unicorn body from the crystal ball, and then disguised the crystal mass in the form of stalagmites on the ground. Sombra figured the stalagmites would not look too out of place, and that way any random ponies who happened to stumble into the mine would not think to take his crystal. After Sombra climbed down into the shaft, he walked along the mine for about a hundred feet, lighting the way with his horn. He could not see any crystal yet, just dirt. Sombra noticed that this cave was quite a large place. Unlike the grotto he found himself in earlier when he first discovered the crystals, this cavern seemed to extend on for a long ways back into the mountain. He walked over to a passageway extending out from the cavern. This particular section of cave didn’t appear to have been mined previously, as it was undisturbed by the wooden support studs and the telling pickaxe indentations he had seen near the entrance to the mine. This mine will take hours to explore, Sombra thought. He walked along the passageway, eyeing all the nooks and crannies of the walls to see if any crystal was left. After about an hour, he discovered a small deposit of a few red crystals. He tore them off, and cast the heating spell on them. He breathed a sigh of relief as the warm, pleasant sensation returned. It was nowhere near as intense as the sensation from the pounds and pounds of crystal that he had from the cave, but it was something, at least. Sombra explored the rest of the cave, but could not find any more crystal rocks. He even walked around the cave a second time just to be sure, but he could not find any. He was not a miner, and had no implements available for digging. Besides, even if he did, he doubted he would even know where to dig for any, as he knew nothing of prospecting. ***** Sombra rolled in his crystal ball back towards town. He simply needed more crystal, but he had no idea where to get it. He could not purchase it, as he had no money or possessions with which to make money. All he had were his under-appreciated enchanting spells. As he entered the town, he re-shaped his crystal ball back into a cart. He trudged along depressingly. Nopony was willing to buy any of his wares for any price he would accept. He could not mine any crystal or find any more of it. In fact, the only place he knew of to even get more crystal was the very buildings of the town. Then why not just take it? Sombra thought. After all, he was more than powerful enough to get what he wanted through force. Why not just force these ponies to give him their crystal? That would be cruel, of course. I am not that sort of pony, Sombra reasoned to himself. He stopped, and then thought, Not that sort of pony? I am not even a pony at all. I am a magnificent crystal creation! The “pony” that I call me is simply a convenient tether to the use of magic. A crystal has no desire but to expand itself. To feel itself grow in its size and glory! Who cares for the lower flesh-and-blood life-forms? A smirk spread across his face, but he had one last doubt, What of peace and love? Isn't stealing wrong? He chuckled. Peace? These ponies had their chance to supply me with crystal peacefully through trade. They refused. Now I am simply reclaiming what is rightly mine. I AM crystal. All the crystal in the world is mine. THEY stole it from ME. “Crystallllll…” he repeatedly droned, his mouth drooling at the thought. Sombra entered the town square. The artificial lights of the city were dimming as shopkeepers were putting away their wares in preparation for the night. No matter. There was still enough daylight left to do this. His eyes glowed red. His horn glowed purple as he rearranged his cart into the crystal ball, encasing himself in it. The shoppers looked at him with mouths agape. Sombra bellowed out to the shoppers in the town square, “Attention, citizens of the Crystal Empire! I am Sombra, your new king! You are now my crystal slaves! You shall pay me tribute, starting with your homes.” A few of the residents of the town looked on at him in fear, trembling. Fillies and colts hid behind their mothers. Some of the residents, however, simply laughed at him. They evidently did not view him as a threat. Laughing? I will show them not to laugh.