It had been a few days since Twilight discovered the horrors within that dark crystal. The Princess of Friendship sat at her table, a dim candle lazily burning away the fuse, and tried to write down something into the journal she had gotten when she was inducted as a princess a few months ago. She dipped the tip of the quill into the vial of black ink over and over before pressing it to paper, yet getting no farther than introducing a black splotch when her quill met the parchment. Sighing heavily, the quill fell onto the table when she released her grip.
She leapt from her chair, her wings on full display to air out (a necessity for hot and humid nights such as this) and walked to the window where she could see the full tower holding the dangerous criminal she condemned earlier. Twilight couldn’t figure out why Sombra is here or why he wants to die. Every life is precious; that much was taught by Celestia, but rather than trying to think of, or make up, an answer, it was best to get it at the source.
Choosing to face the shadow of the shadow, the embodiment of evil, she went for the stairs as a delay to prepare herself for the meeting. She paused at one window on her way down the spiral stairs, hoping for some kind of validation as to why she was about to do this. As she ventured further, her mind turned to thoughts of the poor colt in the diary. A tear broke free from her left eyelid as she thought of the fate of him and his family. What kind of suffering had been endured? Did he watch his family fall to the hooves of the crystal ponies, or were all snuffed from the city as a family? Still she marched on to get his justification of his actions.
Not long had passed when the lavender alicorn reached the base of Sombra’s ‘prison’. Twilight glanced upwards and saw that the window above was lit, indicating that the former tyrant was awake. Taking a moment to collect herself, she opened the door and ascended the spiral case to the enchanted door sealing in the former king.It was on orders of Princess Celestia after she found out from Twilight of what happened.
Twilight reached the top far from strained, yet her heart was beating so quickly she swore she no longer possessed veins, only pipes spewing blood throughout her body. A wave of adrenaline coursed through her dilated veins, causing her to act before thinking as three determined rasps resonated throughout the tower. Then silence. The only sound was the pitter patter of the rain accompanied occasionally by the deep base of thunder in an eerie symphony of panic. They all fell silent, however, under the introduction of the malevolent voice commanding, "Enter."
Twilight swallowed the rock that was her fear and ventured in, finding the grey stallion staring at her. His piercing red eyes boring into hers, almost piercing through her entirely.
“Why are you here, new princess?” Twilight looked up to see Sombra sitting atop a shadowy throne he had crafted. The purple Alicorn cleared her throat, nervously pressing on with strained voice, “Why did you do that to that stallion?”
“He bored me, that’s it.” Sombra waved the subject off like an annoying fly on the wall.
“HE BOR-” Twilight began to yell, her emotion slipping for only a moment.
“But no, I don’t think you are here to ask me about petty stallion who died a millenium ago.” Sombra rose to his hooves and advanced to the shaky alicorn, closing the gap between them until the only thing in Twilight's field of view were his bright green eyes.
“Rather... I think you are here for something else, and I believe that I know what it is,” Sombra said before returning to his throne.Twilight stared in silent amazement. He could read ponies like she read books, which would explain his ease toward the entire encounter.
“I came here to find answers. I have ruminated for while after taking a quick trip to the Crystal Kingdom to find out about it’s history, specifically you. I tried to interview some ponies there because the books there didn’t tell me much but every crystal pony in there was tight-lipped. Why, even the mention of your name made some of them tremble.” Twilight pointed a hoof at him, saying, “However, I know that you are an evil tyrant that terr-”
“Did your precious teacher tell you a little bedtime story about a dark king who ruled his kingdom with an iron hoof, then made a kingdom disappear for a thousand years? Do you believe the whole story?”
“I trust Celestia with my heart. I believe what she told me is the truth!”.
“Sorry to burst your bubble, my naive Princess. Don’t you know that victors write history?” Sombra hissed.
Sombra glared at Twilight, and she glared back, though her eyes did not show anger boiling within her, but intrigue. Sombra stared at Twilight, whose eyes did not portray anger so much as interest. Perhaps, he thought, if he were to tell Twilight the story, the true story, then she might finally grant him his wish. "Sit down," he commanded, motioning to the floor. Twilight fell to her haunches and leaned in.
He looked around before grabbing the crystal and bringing it between the two ponies. A red aura surrounded it, floating it throughout the air by Sombra’s magic. Now that Twilight had the chance to see the crystal clearly for the first time, she remarked how similar it was to the crystal Princess Celestia had used to demonstrate the effects of dark magic.
“Since you asked me indirectly, I shall share a story that hasn’t been told correctly in a very, very long time. I’m going to ignore my merry foalhood, and dive straight to the bone of this tale.” Sombra's eyes began to glow and his horn cracked to life to summon a beam directly into the heart of the stone.
The beam pierced the crystal's face, seeming to fracture it in such a way that the light was forced through a series of cracks and splits before reemerging to form a hologram of Sombra's memory. The dark king closed his eyes, the purple aura still leaking out, and began to voice the story with a gritty and distorted voice.
“One day...”
[/hr]
“STOP! STOP IT, PLEASE! I BEG-” a young colt pleaded to the guards assaulting him a he cried out for his parents. He feverishly fought the guard's leg to gain even a glimpse of his parents. A golden boot brought the colt's eyes up to the face of King Algidus. The golden crown that sat atop his head matched the golden eyes that looked pitifully at the foal.
“So this is the illegitimate child of theirs? The one who sullied our entire race? How unthinkable: a Unicorn who fathered a foal with a crystal mare? This is a crime of which transcends everything!”
The unicorn in question was thrown to the ground, the ropes binding his legs ensuring he would not rise, and struggled to face the king, wishing he could set him ablaze with his eyes. He had had enough of attempting to bargain with the ruthless ruler, roaring with all his might while the image of his son being held to the floor filling his vision.
“You dare claim our love is an object of disgust? You challenge our divine right to happiness?” The stallion was about to continue, but instead received a head blow from the hilt of guard’s sword. A white crystal mare next to him shrieked, moving quickly to comfort her husband, and looked on at heinous situation which was still unfolding. “Sombra...I love you, my son.” The mare began to mouth at her son, tearing up while mouthing further, “Live. Live on.”
The king didn’t even give a slight to the outburst, replying with very calm voice- “Yes”.
“So for that outburst, which is an insult that was directed at king. So naturally that bring around a punishment” King Algidus said. “Counselor! What is the punishment for outsiders disrespecting a royal?”
A meek stallion spoke up in the background.
“Death.”
Sombra snapped his head up, pushing against the soldiers who still held him down. The colt desperately so wanted his horn to work, he wasn’t able to use magic since his childhood but regardless this moment of weakness; he began to dug his front hoof into the ground- attempting to drag himself toward the king as if he could stop it from happening.
“I love you both. I love you so much” Sombra began to hear his mother announce as if this were the truly the end. Sombra began to wish for a miracle, any miracle that could end this horrid situation.
But fortune favors the fool, not the foal. The guard threw Sombra to the ground and bound his legs so he would not run. Sombra could do little more than writhe at his restraints as a pair of guards, complete with swords, brought his parents to a public stage. The mother moved closer to his husband who in return nuzzled her muzzle. They then looked at their son—their beloved son—on ground. The father smiled at the face of death, mouthing to his son, “Live.”
In the next instant, the sword was brought down upon both their necks, immortalizing an image that would haunt the foal for the rest of his contemptible life. Both of his parents' heads rolled in front of him; his father had a wry smile forever etched to his muzzle while his mother just had a face of horror. He gaped at them, but their eyes looked past him, past everything he knew, into the netherworld.
Something inside Sombra snapped that day. His mind became clouded and thunderous bursts of pain drove him to one definite goal: revenge.
King Algidus approached the defeated foal, refusing to look down at the pathetic sight. “Take head, sullied disgrace; know your place!" He strolled off with his guards flanking him on each side. One by one, the guards responsible for restraining Sombra got off him to join the march behind King Algidus.
Sombra lied on the ground, a ball of rage imploding in on itself; his cheeks were stained with tears, his eyes raw from use, and his teeth were clenched so tight they were digging into the gums. Sombra's vision soon filled with black splotches, growing until they enveloped his eyes and he passed out on the execution stage.There was a moment that went noticed by spectators around him. For a brief second before Sombra collapsed, his eyes turned green and what appeared to be purple tears spilled from his ducts. The others that witnessed the beheading, however, took no interest in the colt before them. Favoring to smirk in morbid pleasure at the neck stumps of the ponies who dared sully their pure race.
Sombra reached out with his hoof, digging into the dirt with anger.
[/hr]
“Their mistake was letting me live.”
[/hr]
Years later, a colt on the brink of stallionhood trotted through a cobblestone street lit only by the faint glow of dying candles on its dirt edge. Where most ponies his age would be obsessed in the opposite sex, this young stallion's mind never drifted past the thought of revenge; revenge to the king and his pathetic family for what they did to him. Years of prejudice, years of rejection, years of hatred welled within the pony. He shook the thoughts from his head. The time for dwelling on the past had ended, now began the time for action.The image of him pressing a booted hoof against a whimpering king's muzzle and crushing it gave way to a morbid smile; the mere thought sent a revitalizing shiver throughout his spine.
Sombra staggered across the path, eyes closed against the offensive sun. His eyes became small, angry slits and his prejudice to the light grew since his advancements in dark magic; a magic based around emotions rather than focus like traditional arcane magic. Sombra was almost ready to enact his revenge, yet lacked one key element: allies. Expelled, ostracized, outcast by his once kinsponies, traits he was confident he did not possess alone.
Sombra approached the door to a run-down bar, checking over his shoulders before sliding into the darkness. The inhabitants that peppered the tables shot up, recognizing him by the purple tears draining from his eyes. The bar grew deathly quiet, every eye tracing the figure, though none daring enough to match his gaze.
A quick scope around resonate in a newborn smile. He spoke curtly, earning every ear, "Haven't you had enough of this?"
The silence urged him to continue, "Aren't you tired of the oppression brought upon by the crystal demons? Aren't you tired of being abused, beaten, and spat upon simply for being you?"
Sombra smirked, changing his posture to set the mood more appropriate to stir the poor souls to rise itself upon from ashes. Every colt, filly, mare and stallion turned their ears forward, taking his every word to heart.
“Not me. Not anymore, not evermore. I saw my parents' heads severed from their bodies by the same tyrant as he hid behind his wall of guard, unable to lift a single hoof for himself! It has been six years since my parents were laid to the ground, yet it has been twenty years since that bloated swine came into power! And it has been thirty-four years since that piglet sucked in his first breath, which should have been his last.
Somepony stood up with a shout, “I hope you aren’t implying what I think you are?”
Sombra cocked his head to the offender, an uneasy smile speaking volumes to the pony. His rigid teeth providing more of a spine than anypony in the bar.
“Indeed, I say let’s undo his birth.” Sombra closed his eyes with his small smirk before continuing, "I say we yank the swine from his trough and burn his barn to the ground with his pride. I say we take his wife and sever her head like he has done to so many of us. I say we trap him in his own arrogance and bury him beneath us, so far that he will never resurface!"
“We alone cannot change the course of history, but together we can force history to change for us! No one event can rewrite our books, but a revolution can spark a war! It takes an army to spark change, mind you. Every time one of you stand up to the walls of fear in your own belief, you spread through everypony a glint of hope. Hope for a better time to come, hope for a better life, hope that one day they will gain the ability to live their own life!”
Sombra lifted his hoof to the thumping of the crowd's own hooves on the tables and floor boards. A low rumble lifted the drunkards' spirits, gaining altitude quickly.
The cheers lifted him from the table and his words erupted from his heart.
“Today begins anew! Today we will send a ripple of our own! A cataclysmic eruption that will ring throughout the world, telling any and all of the power we hold within us. A new world born in our fire, built by us, for us!”
The ponies erupted in cheer, arming themselves with anything they could get their hooves on and followed the speaker to the city.
“Today, we will need only ourselves!”
[/hr]
Twilight sat on her haunches, wishing dearly for paper of any kind to record this chance of a lifetime. Sombra approached her and continued.
“Then I...”
[/hr]
“Beautiful night; is it not?”
“Aye.”
“Sentry, what are you doing tonight? I feel like drinking. Want to come along after this shift?”
“What about your wife?”
“She needs some time to herself for something. I don’t know, bu-”
The word caught in the guard's throat, breaking his flow in the midst of his lungs, forcing them to expand to the point of eruption. The other guard froze, his heat dripping from his body until a stone-cold husk remained to watch the shadow rise from the mound of pony. Sombra wiped the residue from his coat and turned to the guard, a knowing smile stretching his lips as he returned heat to the guard until little more than a pile of ash stood before him. Such a sight would send most ponies into a fight to keep their lunches within them. Not Sombra, he had learned to feed odd the misery of others; to grow from their pain.
Sombra hid the body and turned to the door. Rage built within him and formed a bleak sphere at the tip of is reddening horn. A single breath and a cloud of chips and splinters carpeted the main hall.
The intrusion was met by arms aimed at the gaping hole. The steel armor alone declared they would not back down.
“Kill them. Kill them all! Slash, stab, crush, punch, kick or bite. I don’t care what you do, as long you kill!”
As soon as the guards caught wind of the malicious chant they steeled themselves, spears pointed at the encroaching mob armed with what was in their grasp. Before they could advance further, the front guard lept, blade aimed directly for Sombra's throat.
The guard froze in midair while the spear was wrestled from his hooves. They in turn grasped his neck, which seemed to be tightening. A sickening crack froze either side as the lifeless body was dropped to the floor. One guard, a new recruit, took the opportunity to attack, but Sombra only smiled as the spear was put to action. The hallway was painted red.
The noise of the spear dropping into the slush forced the eyes to return to their leader. He only smiled and ground his teeth in anticipation. A charging cry forced the mob forward and the troops to recede further inside the castle walls, the few that could escape, anyway. Amidst the flurry of screams and clashing of blades, Sombra took his leave in search of the miserable king. He was probably shuffling about in desperation to escape; the thought made him feel excited.
Each door was knocked off its hinges to a malicious symphony, each earning an increasing scowl from Sombra. No sign of the cowardly king—not that he should be so surprised—and still half the castle to break through. Each room yielded a group of terrified servants huddled in the corner, ignored in favor of the ultimate prize. Finally he reached the royal bedchamber. A quick blast opened the room to him, but the only thing of any value was a disturbed rug tucked deep into a corner.
Sombra grinned, tearing the rug away to reveal a trap door. Got you now you little shit. The door was released from its latches effortlessly and fell to the ground as Sombra dove into the depths below.
Sombra's form dissipated until he was a cloud of darkness bursting through the small passageways. Each torch he passed was drowned by his amorphous cloud. He could almost taste the ear from the escapees, and it only made him hungrier.
He reached his prey, a small squadron circled around a terrified king. One guard unlucky enough to look over his shoulder stumbled and was suffocated in the black mist; little more than a squeak squeezed from his esophagus.
The others froze mid step, shakily turning their heads to watch the guard drop on the stairs. A rumbling brought the ceiling down, forever drowning him, among a few others chosen to walk behind the group, within the tons of dirt above their head. The remaining ponies turned and galloped as quickly as their shaky legs could carry them.
The odds of surviving dropped to near zero. Everypony knew it, but refused to give up lest they let the small string of survival slip between their hooves. The guards fell one by one, Sombra making easy work of their mortal bodies. Then the mares dropped, excluding the Queen, but Alduis had no mind of grieving. Finally a blow to the head sent him down to ground.
"Not so fun when it's you sniveling on the ground, is it?" Sombra asks as is horn lights up. Alduis cowered further, hooves clamped around his head, but they did nothing as he felt every bone in his body splinter and eventually split. The bloodcurdling scream sent waves of euphoria down Sombra's spine.
Sombra turned to lock eyes with queen, who was on the ground clutching something close to her chest. She rose until her gaze met his. Alduis could only grovel in pain and despair, both of which Sombra sneered at.
Are you ready, Queen Serenity Are you ready to befall the same fate as your husband ordered my parents to? Are you ready to become a symbol of revenge, a symbol of justice in the new Crystal Order!?"
She could not meet his eyes, instead she took solace within her husband's battered and broken body, a weak hoof stretched to her before falling limp to the floor. It mattered little to Sombra; he had a plan and nothing could deter him. Tendrils erupted from his horn, shooting into Serenity's neck. She froze, holding her hooves up desperately to garner Sombra's attention once before his magic rendered her speechless. "Do what you will to us, but please do not harm our daughter. She does not bear the sins of our past; she is only two months of age!"
Sombra turned to face, for the first time, the small infant who had been clinging to her parents as they fled. He brought the baby to his face, and a small, perhaps the last, spark of equine within him decided to spare her. "It will be a mistake," he began, surveying the filly before him. "It will be a mistake, but I will let this one live; she bears not the fault of her parents."
The queen bent down to thank him, but immediately shot up as the tendrils receded from her neck, dragging her throat along with them. She tried to scream, but only a weak, bloody whimper spurted from the open pipe.
And so left the king. Once the tormentor of foals and untouchables, now a pony unable to crawl three inches if it meant salvation. Sombra smiled and turned, the filly held above his head crying into echoing halls. In an instant she was gone, teleported to a castle far away atop a mountain with a special "enchantment" that should keep her out of his hair for the next century at the least. At last the dark infiltrator could pay attention to the stallion before him. "I want you to suffer," he breathed into Alduis's face. "I want you to feel the same burning pain that haunted my childhood." A spark lit his robe on fire. Alduis gave up, succumbing to the burning embrace of death only to be yanked out seconds later. "And I want you to feel it." A red aura spewed forth from Sombra's horn and into the heart of Alduis, forcing it to pump against his body's pleas otherwise. With his work done, Sombra left the king to his flaming demise. Alduis could do nothing as the fire encroached onto his form but stare into the blue pools of Serenity eyes.
[/hr]
Twilight stared at Sombra with stoic demeanor, unsure of what to say to the former king before her.
“You know the rest of the story: I took reins of the kingdom and I began to show them my love.”
Sombra smirked to himself. "Love of vengance, 'do to them what they did to me' you know." Twilight merely sat on her haunches, a navel's worth of information coursing through her mind all rushing to order themselves within her internal library.
Puddles formed within her eyes; there was nothing else she could do. She wanted to ask Sombra about everything he said, but a hoof silenced her.
“I’m not done. You yet haven’t learnt what happened afterwards. I believe it will hold interest for you since it is part of your history as well; of why you came to be an Element of Magic, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight’s eyes widened.
[/hr]
Rising from the tunnel, his next target was the crystal heart. Removing it would have two effects on his citizens: it would discourage any further uprisings like his, and the lack of hope would only nurture his black magic. Since the disappearance of hope in Equestria, his magic had only strengthened, and it was put to the test when two annoying sisters decided to act out. He managed to fend them off for now, but only barely.
Months later had Sombra standing on his balcony looking over the land below. A band of ponies linked together in iron chains brought a smile to his face. They had been the ones who were less and accepting of the change in command. He had to teach them and make examples to the rest, after all. The ponies by his side in the rebellion, however, are each sitting in their own office. A king cannot rule a country alone, and they were there from the very beginning. He wanted to prance around the kingdom he was ecstatic.
The self appointed king returned to his throne and two trembling servants. Their tell was plain as day—he cringed at the analogy; he loathed the day and the pony that represents it—and this had to be the hundredth time they tried to get him. The meal today was an assortment of sides surrounding the entree of a whole smoked pig coated with a "special sauce" they liked to add to most of his meals. He dug in, dissolving any "extra" ingredients with his dark magic. He would call them out and send them to Tartarus, but sweet Sombra could they cook.
Sombra was barely finished with his first mouthful when the door opened, revealing two regal sisters. He had expected this, of course—the multitude of warning letters made sure of that—as he relaxed his posture and took great interest at the crystal chandelier hanging on the ceiling.
Sombra! You know why we’re are here! One of your subjects came to me, and before he died at the steps of my throne he was able to tell me of the atrocities happening in your kingdom. He spoke of his friends, family, being beaten, maimed, even massacred at your hoof. This kingdom has changed, and I was too naive to notice it before.Celestia flared her wings, casting her judgmental eyes upon the dark tyrant. “What do you have say to this accusation against you?”
“Don’t know, don’t care, but I do know one thing: you barraged in here like you own this throne. You pompous, little ingrates; you do not control this kingdom. I DO!” Sombra sneered bringing his glowing green eyes to match the intruder’s bright magenta ones.
"We come to make things right and drag you out of your throne if need be!" The pair readied themselves, but wavered when a deep growl from within the king surfaced to maniacal laughter.
“Thy shalt not be laughing when you meet your end at our hooves.”
Luna was the first to act, lowering her stance for the beam she shot at Sombra. A direct hit to the chest dented his armor to mold around his torso, obliterated his throne, and sent him careening into the wall—leaving a sizable pony-shaped hole and a pile of debris.
A sly smile cracked Luna's serious face as her sister approached the body. Once close enough, the pile erupted like a black volcano, its shards digging themselves into Luna's exposed figure. The regent of the night leapt back, as did her sister who held a defensive wing while using her magic to heal her sister, but the magic would not take.
Despite her best efforts, the dark magic countered hers to a tee. A second eruption shook both of them back to the imminent danger. After the blast, Celestia found she alone was standing; her poor sister laying beaten on the throne’s opposite side. Flashing over to her the ravenous Sombra was towering over Luna. The battered princess could only curl up and look back with the fear of death in her eyes. Sombra picked his forehooves up and slammed it into her head.
A sharp gasp was heard followed by silence.
A cloud of black spoke manifested over the king's head, morphing into a spear. A wry smile coated his face as he thought of a favored quote: “What is an army to a king? What is a king to a god?"—the spear dropped into his hooves and rose over Luna's neck—"but what is a god to a nonbeliever!?"
Celestia flashed by Luna's side, grabbing her just before the spear pierced the crystal floor. He retrieved the spear unamused before he rushed the pair. Celestia hugged her sister to steal them. As Sombra prepared to deliver the blow, he stumbles from a flash of blinding light. His spear pieces the empty air above a ominus scorch mark.
Sombra sighed and fell into his stub of a throne, interrupting the ponies working hurriedly to recreate it. He dug a third strike in its edge, marking yet another month of uninterrupted ruling of his kingdom. They had not dared return after the savage thrashing he had given to that sister of Celestia's. He yawned, letting his thoughts drift to the sun princess. She could be a great co-ruler alongside him, but he had neither the drive nor the time to gracefully transition the pony of light to the side of dark.
He blew his bangs up into the air, only to have them resettle upon his forehead. It was only after countless minutes of this that he came to the ultimate conclusion: he was bored. He had everything down to an art from the control and regulation of his subject to the absorption of their pain. Thousands of souls filled with hate and sorrow fed into him directly around the clock, bringing him more power than anypony could have fathomed. How had gained immortality, but it was not enough, he yearned for omnipotence. Sombra began spending his extra time, which was all of his time, what he liked to call "experimenting." He was using the blackness of his heart to delve into magic never before seen in Equestria.
Beyond the glass barrier before him was war between the library's walls and the oncoming storm for dominance. Within the threshold a silence enveloped the drowsy stallion. The only reprieve being the sounds of hooves clicking against the stone, which shook him from his daze and froze his senses. They quickly relaxed, though, as he closed his book and leered at the food set beside him. It no longer interested him to pretend to be surprised. The truth was the servants had lost their tact, and it has been too long since he's tasted something without the taint of food. He got up and walked away, leaving the food to rot like his servants would later.
Leaping into the growing blanket of snow, a wave of childhood surged through the dark king. He dismissed the guard hardly raising their spears to greet him, nor the peasant scrambling over a scrap of food to keep alive another dreadful night—their suffering drove Sombra to move faster. It was well deserved, and they knew it. His form dispersed, moving as mist across the surface of the snow. Small animals panicked and dove into the snow at the shadow's presence, yet Sombra paid no mind. He was after the elk sitting atop the hill, challenging any and all other critters to approach his small patch of paradise: a dying patch of grass.
Sombra manifested at the base of the hill, sinking below the snow and crawling through at a snail's pace to not upset his prey. Approaching the patch of green, Sombra remarked at its lack there of. Ripped blades lay asunder in the deer's futile effort to find digestible sustenance. His hilltop home was more for fashion than function, it seemed. It almost seemed merciful to put this deer out of its misery. A win-win: the deer only suffers momentarily, and Sombra can actually taste pure venison for once!
A green spear shot from the snow, and before the buck could react it pierced the fuzzy flesh.
Like a chicken without its head, or a deer without its heart, it ran wildly to Sombra, collapsing just before reaching the hole where the spear came from. Sombra rose from his hiding and place and merely gaped at the deer. A thing of beauty, really, his marksponyship. The pool of blood forming reflected Sombra in the fleeting moments it was still a liquid, quickly freezing over. The grin faded to a scowl. Damnable creature had hardly any meat to use, and what little there was was destroyed by the spear.
The king prodded the deer’s body with approval, the hunt went down smoothly. Already he was figuring out what to make tonight; there were many recipes swirling around his head: grilled venison backstrap, crystal venison, venison chili. Sombra licked his lips at the soon to be cured meat, lifting it from its graveyard to return to his kingdom. Unfortunately, the moment the corpse was in the air and susceptible to its torrent of wind, it smacked into Sombra's head, knocking the king on his flanks; the wind had worsened severely since his kill. He released an aggravated sigh, lost within the storm, and resigned to wait in the snow versus getting lost. When he went to to his hole, his ears pricked and the tip of his horn cancelled its levitation spell automatically to cast a detection one. Sombra could sense a spell coming, quickly, but not from where exactly.
Eyes wide, Sombra leaped to the side as a cacophony of light and fire torched the ground he just stood on, creating a crater twice the size of him. Every muscle was tense and every sense was stretched to its limit looking for its caster. He knew who it was, just not where she was.
“My dinner!” Sombra exclaimed, glancing at the charred remains of the meat. He clenched his teeth and stared into the wall of clouds and ice around him.
As quick as it seemed to appear, the snowstorm vanished, leaving an eerie silence in its wake. Breaking the new silence hovered the two royal sisters, Luna just above Celestia, sticking the sun goddess between her and Sombra. Celestia scolded herself with missing.
They finally returned to him.
Sombra merely grinned. "Just try and stop me, you self-proclaimed 'righteous' ponies!"
"Do not tempt us, demon!" Celestia boomed with her royal voice. Luna, however, took to a more direct route, preemptively striking with a sudden beam of shadow, but it did little to king. Her physical wounds may have healed, yet her fear still lingered. Sombra merely diffracted it into the surrounded snow, a cynical smile barring his fangs. He readied his stance while she was looking in shock, and rocketed into the air, deflecting any attempt at a countermeasure from the weakened night. As he approached her spells grew in strength, but it made no difference. She was panicked, and half of her shots missed him entirely. Defeating her would be less a battle and more of a chance to experiment on a valuable opponent.
Once face to face with Luna, Sombra offered a knowing grin and fell down to the ground, impacting with his forehoof and forcing a circular crack from the ice. A tower of black crystal materialized and rocketed forth, bring the king to his prey. The crystal froze just beneath the sisters' hooves, sending Sombra into the air as a dark energy welled within the heart of the gem—a crack of lightening that seemed to break the very stone it resonated from.
At the apex of his jump, Sombra lifted his horn, sending the sparks erupting from the platform, stunning the princesses, and shooting into his body, exploding it into a cloud of smoke. Mindless animals were fun to hunt, but alicorns presented a time and a half of entertainment.
Luna was the first to recover, venturing from the safety of her sister and barreling into the sky after the dissipated king. She released a tidal waves of shooting stars after the king, all of which phased through his form and created a basin in the snow below. Black fire soon overtook the destroyed land, sending a chill down Luna's spine. Snapping from her trance, she looked to Sombra to find a similar fire erupting from his horn! An instant feeling of despair washed over her as the fire shot towards her, yet the signing flames did not touch her. Opening her eyes, she found Celestia standing above her, a bubble protecting them both from the abysmal flames.
A fire welled within him as bright as Celestia's shield, those damn light spells! A dark energy bubbled from his horn, but the bubble short forth, enveloping the dark tyrant into its cacophonic web. The sound of a million harps blared into his ears and the intensity of an exploding burned his eyes. Vain attempts to shake it off were met with only increased light and sound. He acted out of instinct, summoning a spell of his own, a crystal tomb, and launching it at the blurry outlines before him.
The force of the spell forced him onto his haunches, yet his effort was for nothing. The dark crystal shot past the ponies before them, only serving to anger them and intensify the spell. The light singed his coat and tore away at his clothes, soon moving through his fur and to his very being. The light was evaporating him, forcing him from his physical form and into a vapor. The king screamed in pain as the last of his bones bubbled away.
He stayed midst the storm of light for what seemed like an eternity until Celestia was certain he was gone. A knowing smiled broke her scorn. She knew, she knew the ending of her spell would only be a slight reprieve from the hell Sombra would now endure.
Before the final spell could send him to eternity in Tartarus, Sombra used the last of his magic to send two black crystals to the sisters, distracting them just long for him to slip away almost unnoticed. He fell from the tower and sank beneath the snow, relishing its icy embrace rather than the hellish flames of his banishment. He slid away, melting a small path in his haste, and cursed the ponies responsible for his defeat under his breath.
Celestia and Luna shook the spell off, feverishly surveying the surrounding ground to find the escaping king.
"There!" shouted Luna, motioning to a trail of black smoke cutting through the white snow. "He's trying to get away!"
"Oh no he doesn't," remarked Celestia, spreading her wings and charging toward the lead of the smoke trail. He hooves crashed in the center of it, dissipating the former tyrant into mist.
Her eyes glowed as white as the snow and from her horn erupted a powerful spell that flew into the ground. Sombra was about to mock her aim when a great cacophony of cracks erupted from the ice below as a large ravine formed right beneath him. He poured in, despite his greatest efforts of flying away. Celestia merely watched him submerge into the ice, sealing the gap and forever trapping the king away.
Meanwhile, in the throne room, Sombra's magical grasp left the crystal throne in a violent explosion, its dark aura floating into the air above. The crystal ponies could only glance at the dark magic leaving lest the dark tyrant catch them not working, so none of them were able to predict what would happen to them for the next millennium.
His revenge came much sooner than he expected.
Lost from his physical form, he resigned himself to the shadows. Always watching. Always ever watching.
[/hr]
Twilight gaped at Sombra, her mouth hanging off its hinges. Her brain was overclocking itself trying to digest and process the novel she was just recited. Sombra waited for her to voice a question, yet the influx of information stayed her words and her breath. A torrent of knowledge was coursing through her mind.
Finally the last bit hit her, and hard, forcing her head to drop to the tile floor.
"It wa..." he voice struggled to overtake the tears welling within her eyes.
A shaky breath failed to steady her shaking figure and the words poured from her mouth. "It was you who... who corrupted Luna. W-who turned her to Nightmare Moon."
The stallion remained still.
"A-and it was you who tainted Celestia's light with your blackness. You're the cause of her severed connection to the Elements."
Twilight's amazement bubbled to hatred. She slammed one hoof in the ground to propel herself at the dark tyrant. The ground cracked under the pressure and the stones on the wall loosened at her strength. Sombra bounced against the wall, but retained his stoic demeanor. He looked on at the purple alicorn before him with a new-found respect. She never treated him as an outcast, never threatened him. She only wished to help with the "magic of friendship" or whatever she called it. She didn't treat him like a prisoner, but an equal in both body and mind.
A hoof stretched back to deliver a final blow, but the creaking of the door prompted her to stop and instead greet the entering pink alicorn. Her face was raw and her eyes burned of fire. It was obvious she had been listening, but for how long was unknown to both of them. Shining Armor shut the door behind them as Cadance buried herself in his chest. She may be the embodiment of love, but for him there was no compassion for an irredeemable pony.
She spat, “You are a monster.”