The days passed by in a wild haste as Sombra planned. He looked upon his papers, his mind racing to think of a foolproof plan. One to fulfill the destiny his dreams had brought upon him, and save the Empire from a failing monarchy.
The first sketches were inklings of ideas and thoughts he at first only teased, slowly bringing them out from the shadowy recesses of his mind and into the light. He drew a single solitary line on the paper and stared at it for a moment, thinking of how many wonderful things could come from that one line, how many contraptions or weapons could be formed from the one black stripe.
"We will see," he said, his eyes starting to acquire a look of insanity, his pupils contracting in a menacing fashion.
However, instead of sketching, he began to write from that one ink marking, building a plan that revolved around his own strengths and protected his weaknesses, and left him with something he felt was absolutely unstoppable. A smile slowly crept onto his lips, spreading until it was fit to burst.
"Burn," he said, hardly noticing how close his voice sounded to the one that spoke in his dreams. "I will stop the burning. I will stop the fire. I will end the corruption and the greed. I will get rid of it by claiming the Empire for myself. I will fix the Empire, and it will shine."
~
Fire engulfed the piece of crystal that Sombra had brought from across the Crystalline Gorge, and it turned black as the flames licked at it.
Experiment 13
Hypothesis: Fire can break apart the molecular structure of crystals with its heat and shatter it completely.
Conclusion:
This paper sat on Sombra's desk, which had replaced Hunter's bed only a week earlier. He smiled as the orange beast flickered brightly, and the crystal silently exploded, sending sharp shards out from the epicenter.
Before they could become deadly projectiles, Sombra stopped them with his magic, freezing them in the air. He chuckled as he levitated a quill over to his paper and added the words:
Yes, it does.
He dropped the collected spikes of crystal into a bin sitting on his desk where dozens of other sparkling shards sat.
"This is good," Sombra whispered. "This is very good."
"Sombra!" he heard his mom call from outside of his room. "It's dinnertime!"
He quickly swept his work under his bed and left his room, heading to kitchen.
He was still grounded, so the time he spent in his room daily was not suspicious to his mom at all; to her it was normal and expected. He was fearing the day when his punishment ended, however, and he was expected to go outside and talk to other ponies.
"Hey, Mom!" he said, sitting down at the table.
"Hey, Sombra!" she replied, setting hay in front of him. "How have you been doing?"
Sombra took a bite of the hay and chewed for a second.
"I've been fine," he said. "It's boring, but I've survived."
He swallowed and took another mouthful of his food. His mother sat down across the table from him and ate her hay as well.
"That's good to hear," she said between bites. "What have you been doing?"
"Uh..." Sombra began, at a total loss for words, his mind stammering to come up with a proper excuse. "I- I've been thinking about some science stuff. I've been drawing some ideas and such."
"That's sounds fine. What sort of things?"
"Oh, just hypotheses for how my fire magic would affect crystals. I've always wanted to know what it would do."
His mom nodded and the rest of the meal was finished in silence. Sombra fidgeted uncomfortably as he ate, his eyes constantly flicking up to his mom, watching her to see if anything happened. When he finished, he excused himself and went back up to his room, where he took all of his things out from under his bed and began to continue his research.
Experiment 14
Hypothesis: Are the crystal shards deadly weapons?
Conclusion:
He picked up one of the red spikes and began to examine it, slowly falling from his intended destination to a world of his own, in which the reflection of himself was all he could think about, sparkling and glowing in the crystal facets.
"My eyes," he said, fear rising through him.
His eyes were starting to glow green, his irises tinted red.
"The day of the Empire's collapse must be approaching," he though aloud. "I must be changing because it is a warning that the end is drawing near. I have to ramp up my efforts and finish my preparations soon."
He quickly finished inspecting the crystal and came to an ending.
They are.
Sombra twitched slightly, a bout of excitement washing over him. His plan was going to succeed, and he knew it. Nopony would expect him to lead a rebellion to take over the Empire, let alone be ready to win.
~ Approximately 3 AM
Evangel heard a soft collision from inside the house. She rubbed her eyes wearily as she climbed from bed and lit her bedside candle. She levitated it in front of her and walked down the hall. The noise sounded again, and she saw a light from underneath Sombra's door.
She went over and threw it open.
"Sombra, wha-"
And suddenly there was only red, and she heard Sombra scream in horror.
~ Fifteen minutes earlier
Sombra balanced the ten shards of crystal in his magic, weighing them to determine the correct amount of force to put on them. He stuck his tongue out in concentration as he focused solely on the small picks in his levitation field. He took calming breaths and threw them at his door, where they collided with a soft thud, impaling themselves in the wood.
Sombra smiled, a wicked look filling his eyes. He levitated a few more up and focused. He heard a hoofstep in the hallway, but ignored it. He threw the next batch and felt hearty approval fill him. He pulled up another group.
One more throw, he thought to himself.
He threw them. The door flew open.
"Sombra, wha-"
And the crystals collided with his mother, and he screamed as he watched the blood fly from her body as the crystals cut into her.
He was next to her as soon as she reached the floor. He grabbed her hoof and quickly checked her pulse. She was still breathing.
"Stay here," he told her, even though it made no difference. "I'm going to get the hospital ponies."
He ran panicked from the home, heading straight to the doctor's office, which sat situated in the on the side of the town farthest away from his house.
Fire.
Sombra stopped moving, some kind of fit coming over him.
Burn.
He began to shudder, thoughts rising to his head.
If you let her die, she cannot ever discover your plan and prevent it. If she awakens, she will tell other ponies of what she saw, and your cleansing will be ended.
It took a moment for him to realize that he had said those words aloud, and that he agreed with them. He wanted her to die, and he knew how. He continued to the doctor's office, arriving moments later.
He ran in and with an expression of pure horror said, "HELP! MY MOM HAS BEEN HURT AND SHE MIGHT DIE!"
All of the nurses and doctors inside turned and saw him.
"What's happened?" one of them asked.
"There's no time to explain, just come with me!" Sombra said. "My house is on the outside of the town near the gorge!"
Sombra teleported off, leaving the ponies inside to run to the house; they knew where it was because it was the only house near the cliff.
~
Sombra arrived in his room, landing next to his mom, who had her eyes open and was wheezing heavily. He kneeled next to her.
"Sombra," she said, her voice hoarse. "What were you doing?"
Sombra smiled lightly as his horn lit up.
"Something you will never get to learn," he said.
He threw a dozen crystals at her dying body, his mind approving his actions.
~
The doctors arrived minutes later and found Sombra crying over his mother, sobbing loudly.
"She died!" he yelled. "She died while I tried to keep her alive!"
They went over to her and checked over her body.
"What happened?" one of them asked, seeing all of the holes across her body, from which Sombra had removed the crystals.
"I don't know," Sombra said, tears choking him. "I woke up and she was here. She was hurt before, and she was trying to get my attention."
"This is- this is very bizarre," one of the nurses said. "These holes are empty. It was like somepony removed whatever had been used to attack her."
Sombra chuckled internally. They would never find the evidence; he had teleported the crystal shards and his notes across the Crystalline Gorge, where nopony would find them.
The plan is almost complete.
Sombra slowly stopped his fake crying, and he fell back on his haunches, looking blankly at where the doctors and nurses examined his mother's body.
You will soon gain your true place in this world, and everypony will bow down to you.