//------------------------------// // 3: Five Years Later... // Story: Let The Crystals Break: The Rise of Sombra // by joe mother //------------------------------// Fire. Burn. Fall. Destroy. Crush. Conquer. Greed. Corruption. Ambition. Fire. Burn. Fall. Destroy. Crush. Conquer. Greed. Corruption. Ambition. The select choice of words echoed through Sombra's head as he grit his teeth and covered his ears with his hooves as the verbal onslaught continued. It slowly speed up, any breaks between each word becoming invisible, until it was a single stream of noise that sounded like this: FibufadecrcongrcamFibufadecrcongrcamFibufadecrcongrcamFffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff... It eventually reached the point where it was going so fast it zipped out of hearing, and Sombra uncovered himself, eyes full of rage. Every night. he told himself. Every night I hear this voice, always taunting me and telling me to do what I cannot. I cannot take over the Empire, powerful fire mage or not. If you do not save the Empire, than you will burn with it. "And so what?!" he yelled to the voice. "So what if I die doing what is right?!" Because you do not want to die. You do not want to suffer. Sombra opened his mouth, but he could not think of any words to counteract what had just been said. Unable to deny the truth now, are we? I know that even though you are the perfect child for your mother, you still fear pain and death. "Why does it matter?" Sombra asked. Because if you don't stop the Empire from falling, you will die and you will suffer. Sombra found himself looking at a mirror image of himself. There was only one difference. The whites of his eyes glowed an unhealthy green, and his irises were a hellish red. "What is this?" he said, stepping back cautiously. It is you. "But... what's wrong with my eyes?" I'll give you a hint. It's either you when the Empire falls, or you when you save the Empire. Sombra stared at the face, considering which of the two choices was right. My eyes look terrible, he thought. This has to be me if the Empire falls. Sombra knew well to trust the voice, for it had spoken to him for many years, goading him onward to the same goal every night, and slowly turned from nightmares to just a normal dream. "It has to be me if the Empire falls," Sombra said. "It's me after suffering from the pain." Oh, so right you are. This is you when you do nothing to save a failing capital. Sombra closed his eyes. He breathed deeply. "How am I supposed to save the Empire? You've never told me that!" Sombra's vision began to turn a white-gray as fog filled it. The voice spoke again, right into his ear. By taking it from its rulers. ~ "What's up, nerd?" Dregs asked as he approached Sombra, a look of mischief on his face. "Not much," Sombra replied. "That wasn't the right response, flank-kisser," the earth pony responded, putting a hoof on Sombra's shoulder. "You're scared of me, remember? I like to see my prey scream and holler." Sombra shrugged back his shoulders and slid Dreg's hoof off. "What was that?" he asked, staring Sombra straight in the eyes. "That was me shrugging your hoof off. Get used to it. I'm not going to be your homework "buddy" anymore. You can stay in the same grade for the rest of your life for all I care, but I'm not taking anymore of your crap." The red hoof flew forward, intent on hitting Sombra in the muzzle. It was stopped midflight; Sombra's horn glowed a dark red as he froze the incoming attack. He stood to look Dregs in the eyes. "I don't want to deal with you anymore, got that?" he asked. Dregs was not phased by the magic, and used his other hoof. It was also caught by Sombra. "I've gotten you in a very dangerous predicament, Dregs," he told him. There was a crackling, and Dregs looked down to see fire licking at where he would fall if Sombra let his magic go. "No, no, no," he told the unicorn hastily. "Don't do that!" Ponies from across the schoolyard were gathering around as the fight continued, watching in horrified awe as it progressed. "Why not?" Sombra asked, his eyes flickering red. "All the things you did to me hurt like the fire I'm about to dump you in. You didn't hesitate to injure me, why should I hesitate to do the same to you?" Sombra smiled as Dregs closed his eyes, obviously thinking. "Thinking for yourself," Sombra said aloud. "Oh, how far you've come. You no longer need me to think!" "Sombra!" A yell came from behind him, and he started and dropped Dregs. The earth screeched in terror all the way down, and was surprised to find that when he reached the dirt that there was no fire, just hard rocks. "Mom?" Sombra asked, turning to face the speaker. He was hit across the face by a hoof. "What was that?!" Sombra finally saw who spoke, and as he thought, it was his mother. "Uh-" he began, unsure of what to say. "Well?!" she demanded. "Why were you assaulting him?!" "He- he was bullying me," Sombra said, fully aware of how weak his response was. "Wha- that's not an excuse!" "He's- he's been bullying me for years. I've never had the courage to fight back." "Fight back?! That wasn't fighting back, it was complete assault!" Sombra hung his head as he thought about it. "He's been hurting me for years! I decided that I was tired of it and he deserved it back!" "And who are you to decide what justice should bring?! You aren't the law, Sombra! Now, we're going home so we can discuss this in greater detail!" There was no argument, just his mother grabbing his foreleg and dragging him home. ~ Sombra had been sitting at the table at home for nearly twenty minutes now, and all he had heard for this time was complaints. Complaints about the child he used to be, about how calm and civilized he had been. "- you used to never do anything bad or-" "Mom!" Sombra yelled. "He kept bullying me. That's why I became so different." "Then why did you tell nopony?!" she yelled. "Because he threatened to hurt me worse if I told anypony and he found out about it." "What?! That little monkey!" Sombra smiled a bit. "That little monkey" was her favorite phrase to describe something intensely evil or abnormally atrocious. "It's okay, Mom," Sombra told her. "I think I put him in his place." And she chuckled. "I bet you did," she said. And they laughed. Sombra was surprised; his mom never let go of stuff just like that. "Mom, are you still angry?" he asked. "By Darklight, yes I'm still angry! What you did back there was terrible!" Sombra laughed again, and so did she. ~ Sombra was punished by having to stay in his room the rest of the week, without books or learning material, and was unable to leave unless he was going to eat, drink, go to the bathroom, or go to school. It would not have been so bad, but he had to see Hunter's bed everyday. It brought back memories he would rather leave alone. ~ Six months earlier... The streets were full of ponies, bustling around in every direction, each trying to catch a glimpse of one thing: the king of the Crystal Empire, Darklight. Sombra grabbed Hunter as he began to run forward. "No, Hunter!" he yelled. "You can't just leave!" Hunter tried to shake free of Sombra's telekinetic grip, but it was pointless; Sombra had improved greatly in his skills. "But I want to see him!" the little colt cried. "You will," their mother said, approaching and messing up his hair with a hoof. "When?" Hunter asked. "Whenever we do," she replied. Hunter sighed and pouted as they pushed their way through the ever growing crowd. Mom said hi to a few friends, but most of the walk was done with the sound of ponies bickering. And then they saw him through a small hole in the crowd. They ran into it and got a good view of the king. He had a body made fully out of green crystal, which twinkled brightly in the sun. His mane was a flowing mass of ocean green energy, crackling with electricity and sparks. His horn stuck out through this mass and was the same color as his coat, but with a tip of snow white. His eyes were lightning yellow, with tinges of black near the irises. His cutie mark was a storm cloud of a dark gray, a lightning bolt shooting from it. He wore a cloak of velvet black fabric that blew behind him in a dramatic fashion as he rode in the street. "Wow!" Hunter said in awe as he came closer. There was a push from behind, and the next few seconds unfolded in slow motion. The push was so powerful that it sent Sombra flying forward into the railing put up to keep ponies off the street. However, he lost his grip on Hunter in shock, and the fence was not tall enough to fully keep the colt from going under. Sombra watched in horror as the carriage of the king drew up to his stumbling brother. It seemed to last an eternity as it hit him, pulling him under the wheels, killing him. Tears filled his eyes as the world spun. "Hunter!" he heard somepony cry. There was no more sound. The world froze. See the king's killing? The voice echoed through nothing, and Sombra looked up. "It wasn't his fault!" Sombra yelled. "It was the ponies who pushed us!" But he had plenty of time to stop his carriage before he hit Hunter. The memory rewound, and Sombra watched again as the carriage came to his brother, and he saw it. The king had had ten feet to bring his vehicle to a stop, but he did not. The king killed your brother.