//------------------------------// // Chapter Three // Story: The King // by Ocean Heart //------------------------------// As I write, it pains me to delve deeper into this subject; as I understand, many others would rather leave King Sombra as a warning of evil...not just of evil, but of tyrannical ideals and madness. Yet I find myself losing the strength to tell this story...for it is no longer a retelling of history, but a journey into dark madness that twisted a pure heart into a monster...my ink runs low, and I must decide soon if I have the courage to finish this... What I have learned so far, during my studies, is that in all of us, lies the potential for great evil. Sombra was no accident, but Somber had no choice but to grow heartless when he no longer wanted to feel the pain that the heart brings. Where I left off previously, the gap in time forces me to skip to his late teens. During this time, war has broken out between gryphons and Equestria. No hold is safe, and the only thing keeping the war from reaching the city of metal ponies, is the harsh snow storms of winter...but summer is coming, and the gryphons have a ruthless plan waiting for the snow storms to end... "Blaze! Yo Blaze!" Diamond shouted, the colt had grown into a well built stallion, a thick scarf wrapped his neck and the hood pulled up on the jacket hid some of his face. Diamond caught up with Blaze, over time she changed her appearance to a more relaxed look...mane flowing down and blowing in the wind, a mask and muffs to keep her face and ears warm was all she really needed now that her adult coat had grown in. "What is it, Diamond? Here to ramble on about spells again?" Diamond scoffed and walked along side her. "No not this time...just wanted to say hey." Blaze looked over and shot him a glare that cut through the lie like butter.. "Hrrrrmph....fine...I needed to ask you something." He admitted. "Speak your mind." She said. Diamond looked forward and took a deep breath..working up as much courage as possible..this was it, his big moment and the thing that finally gets Somber off Blaze's mind. "I was just...ya know...thinking that since we've known each other for so long and the winter ball is next week-" Blaze stopped midstride,cutting him off before he got his hopes up any higher.. "No...I'm so sorry, Diamond but...you're my best friend in the world; I don't want to ruin that..." she said softly... Diamond stopped as well,the smile fading as she spoke until his head was lowered..hood hiding his eyes from her. "I'm so sorry, Diamond..." "Is it because of Somber, still?" He asked with no tone in his voice. Blaze took a step back, thankful that the silk and cotton thermal mask was hiding her dropped jaw; it was insulting to his memory to even say such a thing...yet a part of her said yes... "No, you both were my only friends;when Somber died...I just don't want to lose you as well..." she said. Diamond turned around and kept walking, Blaze speeding up to stay by his side. It was strangely funny that Diamond should ask Blaze to the ball; both had admirers and even developed a circle of friends on their own...yet Blaze felt no feelings for Diamond apart from love that a brother and sister would feel...Somber though...he was the quiet voice that could calm her mind, even when they were kids, he had a way that made her /need/ to know what was behind those deep green eyes that she missed so much... Why do I feel like this for him..He was just another colt... Diamond stopped and sighed heavily, Blaze snapped out of her thoughts and looked back. "Why don't we just hang out on the wall then? Get some ice cream and forget for a day?" Blaze tilted her head curiously,not quite understanding what he meant. Diamond looked up, eyes a little bloodshot and wet but a smile on his face. "Just say fuck the world...lets be kids again and piss off the guards." Blaze could see that deep down he was hiding the disappointment and saddens; so even though she didn't fully grasp the idea, she nodded and smiled back. Blaze even laughed when she realized that no guard would have the pair to call out the captain for letting somepony on the wall.. _ _ Hours past, the two just ate snack foods and talked about recent events. The fall of the royal family was devastating to the council, even now they work to choose a new monarch; until the, the elder council member took the throne..a job he was a little too eager to take. They chatted about his new laws, the good and bad. Though the two top gossips were new age magic and its dangerous long term effects...and the green star that took a spot far above the city. "So aside from Miss. Silver Tongue's oh so sudden second chair in court, what do you think that light is?" Diamond said with a mouthful of sweat chocolate ice cream from the gallon they bought. "I think its from Canterlot...if you think about it, we haven't heard from them in a while." Blaze said, lifting a spoonful with a small amount of dark magic. Diamond thought...idly kicking at the ice on the ledge of the open air guard tower. The snow storm still wasn't letting up...three months of constant negative temperatures and so much snow...it was impossible to see even fifty meters from the tower. "Yo Blaze, check this out." Blaze looked up as she lifted the mask off, taking a bite as she scanned the white tundra. "I don’t see anything, bozo." Diamond sighed and pointed out far in the distance. Blaze squinted and as flurries of light snow hit....a figure cloaked in black could be seen walking to the walls... "No way..." Blaze said before taking another bite. "Guess you were right, bet its one of those Canterlot nobility types, that cloak looks way too nice for the normal messenger." Blaze sat back against the wall and put her mask back on before the cold got too bad. "Must be something big if they needed to contact us during the winter." Diamond said, memorized by the billowing cloak. "Told you so, but why not just warp in?" "Interference?" Blaze shrugged, Diamond was right about taking a day to tell the world to fuck off. The cold didn't even make her shake at this point, so relaxed by the torch pyre sitting in the center of the tower. Blaze didn't even care about the messenger, the council would handle that... "Yo! Hey! You from Canterlot?!" Diamond shouted. Blaze sat up and grabbed her friend around the neck, dragging him behind the ledge and glaring daggers at him. Sneaking a friend up on the wall was one thing; letting a civilian get in the way of official business made the guard look bad. Blaze got up and stomped to tell him to stay out of sight, turning her attention to the visitor now easily visible. "Traveler! You bear news from Canterlot?" Blaze said with the authority of a prideful and skilled guard in her tone. The cloaked figure kept walking, head hidden by a hood and a odd look about his stride. For near negative thirty temperatures, he seemed lightly prepared; no food packs or bundles of clothes showing along the cloak. To venture far from the city would mean death in a mere hour... "I demand answer, by the laws of the Metal City, identify yourself!" The figure looked up, gaze a deep and poisonous green around blood red iris...it made the captain of the guard step back in initial fear... "Halt,or we will be forced to take action!" As Blaze spoke, guards were lining up behind the gate and along the wall, mounted crossbows unhooked and bearing down on the demonic looking stare... "I order you all to stand down, or face judgment of the King of the Metal City." His voice boomed though the mountain, some of the guards backed up while the greener ones actually thought about dropping their weapons and running for the hills. Blaze stood her ground and glared down, resolve rebuilt and now anger taking the place of fear. This stallion interrupted a special moment between her and her childhood friend, who was he to demand her fellow guards to stand down. Not just that...he dare bring up more painful memories by bringing his insane claims of kingship... "The Metal City has no king, Leave to where you came from..." Sombra took his hood off, glare never leaving Blaze, even when her jaw drops under the thermal mask... "My name is Sombra, my mother was Queen Louts Lilly. I demand my birthright by taking the throne." Blaze felt her heart sink so fast...he was alive...after all this time. Now he returns with a twisted memory and perhaps even a different personality; just to hide from the truth of what happened. All of her emotions bubbled to the surface, Diamond's smile grew slowly, now though it was a full ear to ear grin, to him, his best friend had come back from the dead...to Blaze...her love was no longer the stallion she fell in love with... "Somber Crystal!" he shouted in joy. _ _ Based on different accounts, 'Sombra' had a serious case of amnesia. For years he suffered without any truth to hold, thus he, and I quote: "Built his own reality with what he had left to avoid remembering the pain." The reunion you would think, would be a celebration. Sombra though wasted no time in asserting his position as king, the council fought him every step of the way and even denounced his claims. After a few days, Diamond took notice that Blaze looked at Somber with adoration; the attitude and way he spoke took time to adjust to for everyone, yet they were still just happy to have their friend come back from the dead. Blaze though was trying to bring back Somber any way she could. I have replaced the ink, the biography will be finished. _ _ "....Brother?" "Huh-...Bluey..?" "Yes, I needed to speak with you." "I'm not stopping, the book is going to be published." "...Good." "Blu- wait...is this?" "His original juronal, its worn but...everything you would need is in there...the ghastly thing..." "I...I don't know what to say..." "Thank you, for helping me rid the burden of this terrible lie..."