//------------------------------// // 15. Of Immortals, Kings, and Queens. // Story: Longma // by JeckParadox //------------------------------// The light engulfed him. It passed through him. It filled the eroded parts of his cursed mind to nearly bursting, and destroyed everything else. He felt a pain so painless it was excruciating as he died. Most of the fragments were burnt into nothingness, some caught and ignited on their own from the light, some of them buried themselves in the ground, but soon fizzled away into nothing. And one fragment, what used to be a horn, was blown into the sky by the blast, launched high into the air and spiralling back down miles away. The horn took root in the snow and began to spread it's influence bit by bit, drinking the substance of the ice, of the crystals below the ground, and the dark magic that coursed through the alicorn substance in the bone. Over months it grew steadily, taking form bit by bit, converting every bit of energy it could grab into the regeneration. His eyes slowly formed from the black matter, and he stared upward, unable to blink into the sun for weeks. His hooves slowly separated from each other, becoming separate pillars, his mane grew and grew, streaked white from the ice and the energy that burned through it. His mouth formed on the final day and he screamed a blood-curling roar that woke every living creature for miles. And the only living creature for miles was him. He collapsed, tearing his body from the roots in the ice, and shivering as the cold and hunger began to seep into him. He took a shaking step, and then another before falling to his knees. He was starving. His horn lit with tremendous effort, having spent it's magic bringing a Shadhavar back to life with nothing but it's latent magic reserves and ice. It's very substance had withered, but it still glowed as the Earth below him burst and several gemstones were brought up with it. He sunk his fangs into them with a satisfied crunch as he consumed them, before turning around to look for shelter. He shivered and narrowed his near-blind eyes, staring into the white expanse and not seeing anything he hadn't seen for the months of being held in place like a tree. He closed his eyes and accepted the relief of darkness. For months, the only darkness that existed was the far too-brief reprieve of night and the darkness within him. Now he could close his eyes. Finally. He shot them back open as his mind filled with pictures. Faces of ponies. Lovers, fighters, dreamers, and him. He shivered in the cold and walked in a circle. He stood in the wind for several more seconds before turning sharply and marching forward at a steady pace. He broke the earth and consumed any gems he could find whenever he got hungry, and then just continued on his way. He was no normal pony anymore, he could tell. He couldn't remember much, but he remembered enough. He was... well, his name wasn't important right now, he decided. It would come to him later. He used to be a Shadhavar, a skilled mage. A soldier. Lost in the war, unable to return to his team. Lost in the cold. By the time he found himself in the Crystal Empire he had known that it had been lost. That the Moon bared the scars of the battle. That there was one less Alicorn on Earth. That his home would be sealed forevermore. That he was alone. He began to wail and forced his eyes open, the sudden pain blocking out the memories. But he was forced out of instinct to close them again. He was furious at the Crystal Ponies. They could have helped, they could have saved the Night Empire with their aid. But they abandoned Luna, they abandoned the Longma, they abandoned the Shadhavar. And he was all that was left. Alone. He frowned as his stomach growled again. He didn't understand why he still needed the gems to survive. He had the sneaking suspicion he didn't, but his body wouldn't listen. So he once again halted his journey and began magically digging for gemstones. He was furious at the Crystal Ponies, so he showed them his fury, he did terrible things to them. And by the time the fury subsided, he was still doing them. He had them in chains, he had the Empire follow his every command. He readied for war, he was going to take revenge on the... the... he stopped his march to look for the name. He glanced upward at his constant source of pain and remembered. The solar ponies. Celestia. The Sun-Hag. He was going to destroy their nation and murder their Princess, give them a hell so terrible that the Crystal Ponies would realize the mercy he had given their lesser betrayal. They were, after all, a Lunar race. The last members of the Lunar race. Like him. Not... quite so alone. But that was not to be. Celestia came, and she destroyed his plans, his ambition. His sanity. Well... maybe he had lost that earlier on. He couldn't remember. He didn't much care. She had taken it all from him. He sealed the Crystal Ponies away with the Longma and the Shadhavar. And he was completely and utterly alone. Absolutely alone. And she frowned at him. That was it. Not rage, not sadness. She didn't pity him, she didn't mourn the Crystal Empire that was a casualty of her attack on him. She had no tears left. She had banished her sister, and now, now the half of Ponykind that was not hers was gone from the Earth. Permanently. But she was not alone. She had the Earth, the Pegasi, the Unicorns. She turned him to shadow. She froze him solid, she buried him. She locked him, tying him to the sealing curse he did on the Crystal Empire. He was awake for a thousand years, turned downward to the abyss of the Earth, made of darkness, facing the darkness, remembering only darkness. Alone with the darkness. He was the most potent Shadhavar mage to be born for millenia. He rivalled Starswirl the Bearded, Princess Nightmare Moon had said so herself. He was alone with the darkness, so very single-minded, wrapped in every kind of spell, and filled with dark ambition. If he still wasn't insane, he must have cracked there. And then the Crystal Empire was alive. Broken free from his weaker curse. And when he tried to enter, he found himself stopped. Celestia had finally, truly taken all that was Lunar for the Solar now. Sitting on his throne; a pink fluffy alicorn Princess, who had grown up in Canterlot, calling the Sun-Hag 'auntie Celly' and her unicorn Prince Consort, who had grown up a Solar patriot and served Celestia loyally for the majority of his days. They were in command of the last great Lunar city. They commanded the last of the Lunar races. He had nothing. He attacked and wailed and roared and blasted and surrounded and tricked and corrupted, and he could not get into his city, the city that he was going to rebuild the world with. He closed his eyes and saw the city, shining in sunlight, covered with that cursed blue field, taunting him from his memory. And he opened his eyes, and saw the exact same thing. He remembered finally getting in, and then the Crystal Heart, and then the dragon, and then... the light engulfed him. The memories stopped. All he could gather from them had been revealed to him. He stood next to the shimmering blue wall. It was far less dense than he remembered. Now it simply served to keep out the cold. He put a hoof against it, wincing and pulling it back less than a second later. He stared at it for several more seconds, his near-blind eyes barely comprehending it. He sank to his haunches and sighed. He couldn't even get back in. The Shadhavar sat there, closing his eyes and drifting to sleep by the wall of the Crystal Empire. His march complete. He would wait until the morning before deciding to what to do next. He sat there through the afternoon and through the night, the snow that reflected off of the shield gathering on top of him. As the sun began to rise over the horizon his eyes cracked slightly open, taking in the watery colors and half-shapes. The shield shimmered and opened as proud, healthy, and strong Crystal Ponies marched outside into the cold cheerfully to plow the gem-fields, carrying behind them all kinds of wagons and tools for their trade. Business was booming for the first time since they've revived. No, since before the Civil War. The nameless Shadhavar lifted himself from the snow pile, hissing under his breath as his body complained at the sudden motion. He turned his gaze on the vaguely-pony-like shapes, frowning as the sunrise light reflected off of their crystalline bodies. He took a step toward them, tired beyond words. One of the ponies noticed him and broke off from the procession, walking straight up to him. "You okay fella?" He asked, waving a hoof in front of the Shadhavar's pale eyes with no reaction. "Guys! This guy looks half-frozen, and I think he's snowblind!" A few more Crystal Ponies left the group to look at the snow-encrusted stallion. The Shadhavar turned slightly toward them, unsure what to do next. One of the ponies began brushing snow off his coat, before moving up to shake some from his mane. Then he noticed the horn. The curved horn. "Oh Moon... this is Sombra." He hissed. Eyes shrinking and coat suddenly losing its sparkle. "What?" "The horn! The fangs!!" He gasped out, turning back toward the main group. "It's SOMBRA!!!" He screamed, the entire procession halting and turning toward the Shadhavar. "Sombra?" "Oh Sun and Moon!" "Everypony panic!!!" "Back in the shield!" The nearest Crystal Pony bucked Sombra in the side and galloped as fast as he could back through the Force Field. The entire procession turned on it's hooves and began galloping into the dome, the last of them picking up some shovels and pick axes and crashing their carriages to make a makeshift wall to keep Sombra from entering through the two Crystal Gates. "Sombra! Don't you dare come in here! Make one wrong move and we'll...." he turned to the other stallions who had decided to join him with making the barricade. "...what'll we do?" "...Um..." "We'll call the Princesses on you!" "Yeah!" "Weren't the others already doing that?" "Shut up." hissed the other three. "...Sombra..." he whispered out, causing the four stallions to become deathly silent. "...I... I think... my name..." He looked up to them... "My name.... is.... Sombra." he breathed out painfully. The four stared at him, and he stared back at them. They stood in the silence for several minutes before The flapping of wings and the galloping of hooves interrupted the sound. "You four did a remarkable job protecting the city, where is the monster?" Cadance said, looking at the four Crystal Ponies. They turned back to her and merely gestured at the other side of the barricade. Cadance turned toward her husband and her guards. "Be prepared... I'm going to move the barricade." Shining Armor lit his horn and the guards gulped and slowly lowered their spears. The four brave Crystal Ponies dashed out of the way of their rulers, leaving them to face the simple barricade of tools that stood between them and Sombra. The Princess's horn glowed and the wooden barricade was shoved to the side, she flared her wings and got into an offensive stance, but she hesitated when she saw the snow-encrusted Shadhavar. His mane was streaked with many threads of white, slightly ghostly at the ends where his shadow power manifested itself. His coat was covered in waves of ice, but under it it shined like a Crystal Pony's, or rather, more like ice. His body was covered in cracks, like shattered ice more than the soft edges that appeared in a Crystal Pony's coat when they are at their happiest. His eyes were pale white-blue, the draconic shape obscured with the wounds of snow-blindness. His horn was cracked, slightly twisted, and fizzled, as if broken. His stomach was shrunken with hunger and he was almost skeletal. He was barely recognizable. "...Is... is that even him?" Cadance asked slowly, turning toward her confused guards and husband. "Are you Sombra?" Shining asked, getting straight to the point. Without wasting an instant, Sombra nodded yes. They were right there. With witnesses. He could strike down both of Celestia's puppets, and his Crystal Slaves would turn back to him as King, and he would declare war, and then he would unify all of Ponykind under the flag of shadow and- He shivered in the cold. He didn't have the magic. He didn't have the ambition. He was wounded, weak, the Crystal Ponies were the healthiest they've been in years, if they revolted, he'd die. And when Celestia came back, even with his thousand years of darkness running through his mind, he wouldn't last. He lost thrice to her. Each time he nearly died and experienced despair, each time Celestia took more from him. He let out a silent groan, and he allowed himself to go limp and collapse. He had nothing left to fight for. Celestia won. At the very least the Crystal Ponies would continue to survive. He punished them for their betrayal. They would remember that betrayal til the end of time. He fought as hard as he could. He swore a blood oath to Nightmare he'd fight for her until his death, and he was killed by the Crystal Heart. Now... he just wanted it to end. Shining Armor stared at him for a while, before turning back to his wife. "...Guards... chain him, take him to the dungeon... We'll... deal with him once we're sure what's going on." The guards looked at each other, hesitant to approach the fallen tyrant. "Yes sir." One finally said, bringing out a set of cuffs and chaining all of Sombra's hooves together. Shining levitated a specially-made magic-blocker ring over to the tyrant, pushing it over the curved horn down to the base, his eyes widened in surprise as the ring glowed before snapping the horn, a massive burst of black and red and blue and purple and green energy firing from it in a wave, which seemed to scream as it met with the nearby shield and became nothing. Sombra winced slightly at the pain, but just laid there. "Cadance what was that?!" "I... I think he had a much bigger magic reservoir than we thought... It's gone now though..." "Until he grows his horn back..." Shining said sadly. He levitated several more chains and attached them to the former tyrant. "Take him to the palace dungeon... though try to be discreet about it." Sombra coughed again. Shining turned toward another guard. "Look for a medic too... looks like being blown up wasn't very good for him." Twilight gathered her bags and checked the clock. The train should finally be there. The Crystal Empire could be in ruins already! Oscuridad and her guards were in full armor, ready to do battle. And now that she thought about it, so was she. "Hey Twi! I got here as soon as I saw your lett-" Rainbow shouted, knocking on the crystal door that led into the Tower. Twilight teleported Rainbow inside, then teleported both of them up to Crow's room. "-er! Whoah! Where are we-" Rainbow began. "Justtalktospikeifyouneedanything!Thankssomuch! Bye!!" Twilight teleported back down with her guards. "Let's go." A few stories up Rainbow blinked twice before turning to the Longma on the bed. "...I have no idea what just happened." "...I think you're here to take care of me until the headaches go away." "...okay then... what do I do to get rid of headaches?" "Heck if I know. Talk to Spike." Spike looked up from his comic and gave a shrug. "I don't know, put a bag of ice on his forehead?" "I grew up in a castle made of ice, it's not going to do much." Crow groaned. "...I think I'm going to call Fluttershy." Rainbow decided. "I think that'd be for the best." The Longma said, putting a hoof over his eyes and wincing at the pressure on his head. Twilight paced back and forth on the train, worrying. "Princess." Sombra was back. She had nearly gotten skewered the last time, not to mention almost traumatized. "Princess." The Crystal Heart should be stopping him, why wasn't it doing anything? "Princess." Luna said that Shining should talk to her about it. Why should Shining talk to her about it? What would Twilight know that a who knows how many millenium old Princess wouldn't?! "Princess!" "What is it?!" Twilight shouted, spooked out of her panicking. "We're here." "Oh." Twilight turned to her guards and cleared her throat. "Well... I don't know what we'll find out there, but this is my first time as Princess entering the Crystal Empire, first impressions are incredibly important, so, be on your best behaviour. If there's a demonic Shadhavar flying around as a cloud of smoke and growling 'crystals' we're taking him out. If we get greeted by a royal entourage, we'll all be perfect gentleponies, understood?" Six resounding "Yes." were heard. "Alright..." She turned toward the train door and took a first step out. Only to be pulled into a hug by a massive white stallion. "Twily! It's been to long!" Twilight managed to free herself and signal to her guards that the assault was, in fact, a hug, (a signal that thanks to living close by to Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash, was becoming surprisingly common). "Hey Shiny, I came as soon as I could, is everything alright?" "Yeah, he's still quiet." "Twilight!" "Cadance!" Twilight met another hug. The two came out of the hug, and then the two god-like alicorn monarchs of ancient empires recited an ancient greeting; "Sunshine, Sunshine, Ladybugs awake, clap your hooves, and do a little shake~!" Kalt and Sanguine sighed together, face-hooving. "I feel the sudden urge to hit Crow." "You know he has nothing to do with this." "He'd have something stupid to say about it." "You know Rainbow Dash... for some reason, I'm really glad I'm lying in bed right now with a concussion." "That's the concussion speaking." Rainbow replied, looking up from her book. "Now then, are you going to stop interrupting every twenty seconds, or are you going to let me read to you?" "Ugh... fine." He glanced up with a raised eyebrow. "Though this Daring-Do character seems to arrogant for my taste is she the villain?" "She's the one the book's named after!" "And what does that prove?" Rainbow sighed. "Just let me read to you, now then... where was I?" The royals and their bodyguards marched back to the palace grounds, where ponies were nervously preparing a festival. "This... doesn't seem like the right time of year for the Crystal Fair." Twilight said nervously. "...We might need the Crystal Heart, and without a large source of joy..." Cadance answered hesitantly. Twilight nodded, watching as Crystal Ponies stopped in their tracks and retreated as soon as they caught sight of her bodyguards. No one was screaming "Sombra" like Rainbow did in Ponyville, but the Empire ponies were better suited for it. They knew Sombra, they would be able to spot a fake faster than her with an identification spell. They also knew he was half-dead, and locked in the dungeons. They knew their festival preparations would banish him at the very least another year. But the glares and fearful stares at Oscuridad, and then, once they recognized he was someone else, at Twilight, with more anger and fear, was beginning to unnerve her. She turned to her brother and frowned. "I can understand the glares at Oscuridad, no offense-" "None could ever be taken." "-but why are they looking at me like that? Wasn't I a hero the first time I came here? And at they were very courteous when I came back to help with the Equestrian Games preparations. Why are they all scared of me now?" "...You're the princess of the Night." Oscuridad answered. "They recognize your rank, and they know that you're responsible for Sombra's actions." Twilight stopped in her tracks, her brother and childhood friend not far behind. "...What?" "Sombra was a Night Empire soldier. He was left behind when we were sealed away..." Oscuridad answered. "Honestly, I thought he died. He was a Mage at the Ambush under Phoenix Hill. Over a thousand ponies on both sides lost their lives, thousands of miles from home. I'm surprised any ponies survived it. But if there were any, I suppose Sombra was likely." He eyed the Crystal Ponies, who stared back coldly. "He was a soldier of Nightmare Moon. And if he was still loyal, and really did conquer this city... I suspect he claimed it under her, and now, under your, banner." "Sombra acted alone. Most of the Crystal Ponies' memories never fully came back, but they only remembered Sombra and his tortures... I'm not standing for anypony blaming my sister, who wasn't even born, when all those tragedies happened." Shining Armor announced loudly, too loudly. And most of the Crystal Ponies' gazes turned away and they turned back to their festivities, trying to take a grim joy in that their partying might finally kill Sombra, and that he might stay dead. "...Thanks..." Twilight said. Shining nodded. Cadance wrapped a wing around her. "Don't worry Twilight, they have plenty of reason to be mad... once we take care of this tyrant problem they'll see they shouldn't be mad at you." Twilight nodded. Her guards noticed their Captain's mane shifting slightly, and they each slowed their pace, letting the Royals to go through the Palace entrance together. The six then turned around unanimously and gave a short apologetic bow, which was even returned by a fairly elderly Crystal Pony, before they entered in after them. "Here he is." Cadance said sadly. "He's stabilized now, but he was pretty bad when we found him. He still won't talk... we're not even sure if he's still... sane." "That is, if he ever was." Shining said slightly more harshly. Twilight followed them in and looked at the stallion sitting in the center of the cell, his horn broken, his skin covered with a web of frozen cracks, pulled too close to his bones from lack of nutrition, his eyes half-lidded, with color slowly returning to them. A ghostly white streaked mane falling down over the side of his head. "oh Celestia..." Shining nodded. "He's surprisingly well-off, considering." Twilight turned to him incredulously. "He exploded, and then probably wandered in the snow fields for a year without eating, apparently." Shining said, attempting a smirk, but not really finding it fit the mood. "So... what should I do?" "I'm not sure. Luna said to contact you, so we did. I assumed you'd use the Elements of Harmony, or fetch Discord, or-" The six guards turned toward Shining with a start. Twilight's eyes widened and she gestured that she'd talk about it later. "-that you had some back-up plan you cooked up with Luna or something... at the very least you coming couldn't hurt." Twilight shook her head. "No... if the Crystal Heart didn't work against Sombra, there's no way the Elements would. They bring peace, they don't destroy. They're less permanent and less powerful in most situations, besides, I don't want to drag my friends back into this." Twilight smiled slightly. "Not that they'd object... but I'm immortal, so I'm not at much risk... and this is... well, by now I consider Sombra a family matter." Shining nodded. "Excuse, me Prince, Princess... I know Sombra, may I speak to him?" "I don't see why not." Cadance said. Oscuridad gave a small bow and turned toward the cell. "SOMBRA YOU USELESS BLANKFLANK PILE OF TRASH, YOUR QUEEN HAS ENTERED THIS FOUL DUNGEON TO GRANT YOUR UNWORTHY SCUM-ADDLED CORPSE CONSIDERATION. YOU ARE BEING A POOR EXCUSE FOR A SOLDIER, AAATTTEEENNNTTTIIIOOONN!" Sombra jumped a full foot in the air and screamed in surprise at the sudden burst of noise. "Wha... what?" He asked dumbly, turning toward the group and raising an eyebrow in confusion. Oscuridad lowered his head. "Sombra... I've heard many nasty rumors.... rumors that, if true, reflect terribly on the Nightmare and our entire Empire. You have brought dishonor on us all. And you don't even have the decency to bow to you queen!" "...Queen?" Sombra whispered. His eyes began to water. It wasn't possible, she was sealed on the Moon for all eternity. He looked at the speaker. He couldn't remember any small details, having your brain explode could do that to you, but the white Shadhavar was familiar. It struck him suddenly, and if he wasn't already sprawled on the ground from his earlier jumpscare, he would have collapsed. He was a Shadhavar. And those were Longma. Not alone. His eyes slowly shifted, barely registering his hatred for the pink and the white monarchs, his eyes resting on the blurry outline of the only unfamiliar figure. She had a straight horn. As well as feathered wings. She was of darker, purplish, colors, though Nightmare was always fond of changing colors, going from blue to grey to black to indigo. She was his Queen. His queen had returned. His brain went back to all those months standing in the ice looking at the sky. The Moon had always been pale. Without mark, without scar. He just hadn't put it back together until now. His Queen was free. His people were free. He wasn't alone. "...my... Queen?" He asked, on the verge of tears. "...No." His heart stopped. That wasn't Nightmare Moon's voice. "I am the new Queen of the Night Empire... but you aren't my subject." She turned to Oscuridad. "He's committed so many terrible crimes... and he never made the oath to me, right?" "Correct... these can be grounds for violation of his Night Pony rights... if he had done this outside of a time of war... which he did. And without benefit to the Night Empire, or against the wishes of the Nightmare... which he did. He can be expelled from the blood oath. And he has not shifted loyalty to you. He's not part of the Night Empire." Alone. "...You... you can't... Celestia... did she place you in charge of the Night... Empire, without any right... like she did... for accursed Mi Amore?!" Sombra roared, his throat in pain with the sudden volume it had to produce. "What right do you have to rule?! Are you not a mere pawn of the Sun-Hag?!" Oscuridad narrowed his eyes at once was his trainee soldier, Luna had told him once he had potential. He just thought he was a blank-flank no-name Shadhavar with a leaky horn. Now Sombra was older than him, with more scars than he could ever hope to have. "She's Luna's heir. Princess Luna herself has transferred the oath to Dark Empress Twilight Sparkle." Sombra closed his mouth. "...Truly?" "...Truly." Sombra turned toward Twilight. "Now then, now that we've gotten that out of the way, Sombra, I want you to give a full testimony of your crimes against the-" "I, King Sombra, third-born of the Asesino family-" "Wait, no," Twilight began. "Hereby make an eternal blood oath-" "No, no, stop!" Twilight shouted. "To loyally serve Princess Twilight Sparkle, until I die." "No! Don't you dare-" Sombra bared his fangs, and bit deep into his leg. She heard the crystalline skin crack, and watched as the too-clear blood began to pour from the two clean fang-holes, as well as the new web of cracks that spread from them. "...And I am immortal. My Queen, I humbly apologize for the actions I took while there was no Nightmare upon the Earth. My only regret.." Sombra began, "Is that I couldn't give you the Crystal Empire..." He wheezed as his magic level dropped even lower as his wound forced itself to heal. "...As a coronation gift..."