There was a screech as Sombra knocked down the guard, pinning him to the floor of the castle.
"Where is the king's room?!" Sombra demanded, spit flying from his muzzle.
"I can't tell- AH!"
Sombra twisted the pony's shoulder, dislocating it and causing the guard to scream in agony.
"Where?!" he yelled.
"It's- it's down the hallway t- to left- t," the injured stallion managed. "It's got b- big double d- doors. C- can't miss it."
Sombra let go of the pony.
"If you're lying, pray that I don't make you suffer a fate worse than death."
The guard nodded and began to cry hysterically as Sombra left.
Getting inside the castle had been easier than Sombra expected. Even more guards had left the king than he had thought, and the reserves being used to patrol the outer perimeter had been easy to dispatch with a crystal blade.
Soon, he stumbled upon the double doors that the guard had been speaking of. He shoved them open with magic and walked in, casting a spell that created a small ball of glowing light; it hovered in place in the center of the room.
Sombra felt quite in awe about the bedroom itself. Tapestries hung from vaulted ceilings, and small alcoves and niches lined the walls, carved into the crystal. The crystal itself was blue, pulsing lightly in the day; Sombra imagined that it glowed at night.
"I can't imagine how you sleep in here," he said casually.
"It takes practice."
Sombra turned and found himself facing the king, who was surrounded by an aura of electricity. He was levitating a sword made of green crystal in front of him, ready to attack.
"I see," Sombra said, a smile crossing his face.
"I am stronger than you, unicorn, and I will defeat you," the king responded.
"Oh, how careless of me not to introduce myself!" Sombra yelled, stepping up to the king. "I am Sombra! And I know who you are, Darklight."
"I think such formalities are behind us," Darklight replied, taking a step forward to meet Sombra.
"Agreed," the black unicorn said. "I just felt it appropriate for you to know who killed you. Always make sure you aren't embarrassed by somepony you've never met!"
Darklight scowled, raising his sword higher.
"When shall the fight begin?" Sombra asked.
The sword was swung down, cutting Sombra in half.
"Ha!" the king yelled. "I knew you could not best me! It only took me mere seconds to prevail!"
I don't think so.
There was a flicker, and Sombra was standing in the room once more. His eyes glowed green in the whites, and his irises shone blood red. Darklight looked at his hooves to see that the dead Sombra was slowly flickering away into nothing.
"What?!" he exclaimed, stepping away from the fading corpse.
"A simple illusion," Sombra said, coming forward. "A way to speak to you without threat to my being. Now, the real battle may begin. No, wait... the real war."
Darklight charged him, sword sparking as he pushed magic into it.
Sombra shot a bolt of fire at the blade. It struck and ignited.
"Fool!" Darklight cried. "Do not attempt to use fire! I can block it with my sword!"
"But your sword can't stand the heat."
The crystal exploded, sending fragments across the room. Sombra stopped any coming his way with skilled magic. When the explosion settled and the chaos was over, the king stood proudly, glowing periwinkle blood staining his green crystal body.
"What?" Sombra said in panic.
"I am made from crystal!" Darklight yelled. "You cannot expect it to kill me! However, this has caused the need for magical combat. I will still defeat you."
"You will try. I am more skilled than you would imagine, and I will defeat you and rule this kingdom the way it was meant to be ruled.
The king shot a bolt of lightning out of his horn. Sombra intercepted the blast with a ball of fire, which engulfed the static and continued moving towards the king, who stopped it with a another bolt of lightning.
"Weak!" Sombra yelled.
The next shot of electricity was a lightning storm that ricocheted off of Sombra's shield of flames to the walls of the castle. The room exploded, sending the two flying into open air. Sombra teleported to a space nearly three thousand feet above the ground so he would have time to formulate a good plan to defeat Darklight.
However, this was interrupted by Darklight himself, who teleported after Sombra; they began to wrestle with each other as they fell.
Sombra was shooting fire against Darklight's blasts of thunder and electricity, teeth bared and eyes full of rage. He flipped them upside down so that Darklight's back was facing the ground as they plummeted.
"You cannot win!" he spat into the king's face.
"Yes, I can!"
Sombra charged up a spell.
"You can try.
For a moment there was nothing but the sound of burning and screams, coupled with the sight of orange flames licking the sky. It suddenly faded, and Sombra watched with pleasure as he let go of the burning king and let his weight deliver him to the ground faster.
Right before Darklight made contact with the dirt, he exploded into millions of tiny fragments, his dying scream echoing throughout the Empire. Sombra teleported his way to the ground and stood where the king had been. Everypony in the town, injured, dead, or otherwise, stood around him, eyes and bodies registering fear.
"Bow to me!" Sombra screamed. "Bow to me!"
"I don't think so!"
Sombra saw dozens of royal guards approaching him, weapons and horns raised.
"What a petty attempt to defy me!"
There was another explosion, much like the one Sombra had set off in his fight against Darklight, and the guards were burned alive, exploding into pieces, sending their bodies into the crowds, killing more.
"Does anypony else wish to defy me?!"
There were no responses, only sobs and strangled breaths as they all shied away from him.
"Then you are my slaves! And you are mine!"
He stomped forward and found the crown that Darklight had been wearing during their fight, which had fallen off when he died. Sombra placed it on his head a laughed.
"I am your king! You will bow to me!"
And so they did. All of the ponies bowed their heads and knees, lowering themselves to the ground. Sombra laughed manically, his head spinning with glee and insanity. He started to walk through the crowd, looking for something. He soon found it: a long pole that was lying down from some project.
He levitated it up and looked at it. He turned back to the multitude and scanned the crowd. He then saw him. He saw the red earth pony who had haunted him for all his life. He went up to Dregs, walking casually as he did so.
"Hello, Dregs," he said, smiling into his face. "Who's the nerd now?"
"Me," Dregs whispered.
"What's that? Louder please, so everypony can hear you."
"Me."
Sombra laughed. Then he chopped off Dregs' head. There was a gasp from the crowd, who had turned to watch the scene unfold.
"I DID NOT SAY TO STOP BOWING!"
They all returned to their prostrate positions and waited.
"Do not move your body; only your head. Look at what you get if you have hurt me in the past.
Heads looked up and saw that Sombra had impaled Dregs' head onto the pole, where it dripped blood to the ground.
If you have hurt me in my childhood, I will come for you. Pray that I will make your suffering quick.
Nopony said anything as Sombra kicked the pole into the masses, and he began to walk towards the castle, ready to inaugurate himself as the new king of the Crystal Empire.
THE END OF LET THE CRYSTALS BREAK: THE RISE OF SOMBRA