It had been a thousand years since his kingdom had been whisked away. A thousand years since he had made sure that nopony besides he would rule his kingdom. If he had to be a specter, then so shall his empire as well. Yet even after a thousand years, his kingdom was not his. The seat was his, the ponies were his, the land was his, but two ponies had acted quicker than he. A white unicorn and a pink alicorn had walled him out, but could not have done so forever.
He had nearly won as well, just as he had planned, the unicorn was powerless and the alicorn was weakened. Yet somehow, a little purple dragon had found the crystal heart, which should have been impossible for a dragon to do. Knowing its strength would out strip his power if used against him, he struck. Its passive aura of magic dispelling his cloak of immaterial existence as he came closer, he had nearly had it. But the alicorn had somehow found the power to fly faster than he could approach. And so King Sombra was finally dispelled as the piece of history he was.
Or so everyone believed.
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Twilight Sparkle stretched her wings as she closed her most recent book on proper wing control and cleaning. She replaced the book on the shelf as she took out her personal copy of The Maltese Phoenix and trotted over to the lounge area of the library as she was interrupted by a knock at the front. A bit peeved that she would have to wait to know why Captain Jacobi had died, she put the book down and answered the door to find Rarity waiting patiently with a picnic basket.
“Hello Rarity, what can I do for you?” Twilight asked.
“Hello Twilight dear, I was wondering if Spike was free for this afternoon.”
Twilight gave a small smile. “I know I don’t have anything for him to do, but I don’t know if he-“
“I’m free for this afternoon!” Spike said excitedly as he hurried down the stairs. He had been dozing in his basket when the knock came and his helper instincts roused him. The sound of Rarity’s voice spurred him on even faster. “What can I do you for, milady?”
Rarity giggled a little at Spike’s usual addressment. “I found that I ran out of emeralds today and decided I needed a new stock. I was wondering if you would help me.”
Twilight frowned at her immediate recollection of the last time this situation occurred. “I don’t know Rarity, the last time the two of you went gem hunting, the Diamond Dogs-“
“You don’t need to ruffle your feathers Twilight, there’s no need to worry about them. We won’t be going near that gem field. I found a nice patch near the south end of Ponyville that can accommodate me for quite some time.” Rarity smiled. The was a brief pause of hesitation, given that the south side of Ponyville lead to more forest rather than any amount of rock, but smiled to trust her friend.
“All right.” She turned to address Spike. “Now Spike, remember what I’ve said about being out late. It doesn’t bode well for you to be out at all the hours of Luna’s night, you need to have your nine hours of sleep.”
“I know Twilight. I need to be back to the library by midnight or earlier, but gem gathering doesn’t take that long, I’m sure we’ll be back before dinner.” Spike smiled a little, knowing that if he weren’t back before dinner, Twilight wouldn’t know she had read past dinner again and suddenly find herself hungry. He grabbed his wagon and headed out the front door, passing by the two mares.
“I’ll be sure to have him back well before midnight Twilight.” Rarity smiled as she picked up her basket. “I’ll see you around then.” She bid farewell as she turned and trotted a bit after the waiting dragon. Twilight’s smile widened a bit as she saw the love struck dragon steal glances at the unicorn, who was very well aware of his looks. She closed the door and headed over to her seat, opening The Maltese Phoenix to where she had left off.
Looking over her shoulder to make sure Twilight had closed the door, Rarity directed Spike in a decidedly northwestern direction.
“Rarity, didn’t you say you found gems to the south? Why are we going to the old place?” Spike questioned. “You know Twilight doesn’t like the Diamond Dogs.”
“Oh Spikey, I’m afraid I’ve had to tell a bit of a white lie.” Rarity admitted. “I don’t know if there are any gems in the southern forest, but it was true that my emeralds had run out. And I want you to promise not to tell Twilight about this until I bring it up to her, all right?”
“I don’t know Rarity.” Spike scratched his head. “They did kidnap you the last time we were there.”
“Well, it is true that the kidnapped me the last time we went there, but-“ Rarity looked away with a little innocent whistle. It took Spike a second to finish the statement in his head.
“You’ve been there by yourself?!” Spike exclaimed, gaining a look or two. Rarity smiled a little in embarrassment and turned to correct the dragon.
“Yes, I have, but you don’t know them like I have come to know them. There was a reason why they took me the first time.”
“Yeah, so they could get some shiny rocks.” Spike rolled his eyes.
“No, so they could get some food, like you.” Rarity snorted at Spike’s assumption, giving herself a covered cough for her unlady-like behavior. “They wanted me to find their gems without the fruitless effort of digging blindly.”
“But Rarity, they’re dogs! They don’t eat gems.” Spike reasoned.
“While that may be true, Diamond Dogs deal with gems as a source of currency more than we do, as well as being decorations to be more impressive for…others.” Rarity stumbled a bit as she tried to eloquently say ‘mates’.
“Well, if they need them so much, what do you get out of it for helping them?”
“I don’t need to get anything out of them, Spike. But I did happen to find that the gem sizes I mainly deal with are to small for them and they let me take them, as well as shavings taken from any of the gems they want me to craft.”
“How long have you been doing this Rarity?” Spike asked, a bit worried that she was just going to be tricked and taken away again.
“I’ve been doing this about twice a month since you… recued me.” Rarity gave a small smile of embarrassment, both for the admittance for how long she had been doing this behind her friend’s backs and admitting she felt like Spike had actually saved her. Spike also blushed a little but looked back in shock when he calculated how long Rarity had been making these dangerous escapades.
“Rarity, they could have taken you away over three dozen times now! We would’ve never even known where you were!”
“Spike, if I did learn one thing from the first time, I learned that I need a way to let somepony know where I am.” With that, Rarity’s horn lit up in its light blue glow and a similarly colored figure came running down through the air and began jumping up and down, waving its arms. Spike smiled when he realized the figure was him. “And he keeps going until he comes back.” Rarity’s magic stemmed but the magic Spike kept on jumping until he ran back and disappeared in Rarity’s fur.
“That’s… That’s very cool Rarity.” Spike commented, running every possibility for why he would be the figure. These possibilities ran from inspiration of what he did the first time to coincidence, being the first one she saw to her secretly loving him, though he gently shook the last one away.
“So there is clearly no need to worry about me Spike. Now, I wanted you to come with me because I thought you could help with the digging and get to know some of the Diamond Dogs better.”
“Rarity, I really don’t think there’s much to get to know. They’re really, ah…simple.”
“Well, yes, they do tend to speak very roughly, they are by no means ‘simple’. Given that taking me did take a bit of coordination, though keeping me was another matter entirely. I have talked to Rover a lot when I visit, he was the one in the red vest, and it seems that he and his two friends had found the abandoned mine to still be fertile, and took it upon themselves to scrape out the rest. All of the others had already given up on the place. Now he has an entire business set on the place.” Rarity recounted. “So I would say there is more there than you give them credit for.”
Spike was going to retort but stopped short when he recognized a Diamond Dog coming straight toward them. Spike dropped the handle of the wagon and jogged in front of Rarity, but the Dog stopped shot of them, breathing heavily.
“Oh my, what’s wrong Spot?” Rarity asked with concern. It was most unusual for the Diamond Dogs to leave their mines to approach Ponyville.
“M-Miss Rarity, thank goodness! I was sent to get you!” Spot panted. “We found an injured pony! You must come now! We don’t know how long he has!”
“Oh dear, we should probably get Twilight or Fluttershy for this.” Rarity quickly began to contemplate.
“No time! He’s weak, very weak, barely breathing, we don’t know what to do!” Spot began jumping up and down impatiently.
“Rarity, it’s probably a trick to take you again!” Spike said over his shoulder as he kept his eye on the Dog.
“May or may not, there’s no reason to not check Spike. Now get in the wagon, I’ll pull you along.”
“But Rarity!” Spike turned to face her.
“No buts mister! In the wagon or I’m going without you.” Spike frowned at the ultimatum, but begrudgingly went back and got in the wagon. Rarity placed her basket in the wagon as well and picked up the wagons handle. “All right Spot, lead the way.”
“Good, good!” Spot said as he turned and began loping back the way he came as Rarity galloped after him. In a minute the soft grassland became rockier and greyer with mounds of dirt piled in seemingly random places. Spike noticed that Spot’s head was turning wildly toward the piles until he seemed to spot the one he needed, and without hesitation ran to a pile of dirt. The Dog shoved the pile aside and took out a rock that kept the dirt from falling into the hole and jumped down. Rarity hesitated a second before she steeled her resolve and jumped in after him, pulling Spike along.
Rarity absolutely detested the dirt that was getting in her coat, but she could deal with that later. As the slide leveled out and Spot kept running, Rarity followed. Zigzagging through the mine gently downward, Spike started to worry that they wouldn’t be able to find their way back out again.
“Here! Down here! We didn’t want to move him!” Spot indicated a rough hole in a three-way intersection.
“Spot! Did you find a pony?” A familiar voice called out.
“Better! I found Miss Rarity!” Spot called down.
Spike got out of the wagon and looked down the hole. It seemed to be a natural cavern with a wide pool in the center with a ring of stone around it. The Diamond Dogs had taken it upon themselves to nail torches to the walls and fashion a ladder down to the bottom. He also saw a group of the Dogs gathered around a dark grey unicorn that had a pillow under its head.
“Well don’t just crowd like that! Give the pony some room to breathe!” Spike shouted as he lowered himself down the ladder. Rarity considered the ladder for a second, seeing as she couldn’t use it, but remembered a little trick from her short stint as Radiance, and made a small set of steps for herself to the bottom while taking her basket with her.
The Dogs backed away from the unicorn and allowed Spike to examine its condition. For one, it was male with an impeccably kept black mane, despite where he was. Second, his breathing was deep, so at worst he was only unconscious. Third, he had a Cutie Mark of three grey crystals that were only a shade lighter than his coat. Spike put his hand on the unicorn’s forehead and concluded he wasn’t feverish; Spike then sat back and scratched his head.
“I don’t know, he seems perfectly fine, just asleep.”
“I hardly doubt he’s been sleeping here by choice dear.” Rarity said as she placed the basket down. “So the question now is, how did he get here?” She looked at the pool and at Rover, the lead Dog. “Do you know anything?”
“No Miss Rarity. We were going to start a new tunnel when it collapsed in here and we found him. We even sent our best swimmer down the pool, but it just goes down further and further.”
“Hmm.” Rarity considered the unconscious unicorn. While she wasn’t sure what she could do for the stallion, she was sure she could do something. “Well, we can’t just leave him here, I suppose we’re going to have to wake him up.”
“But we’ve tried.” Rover sighed. “But he won’t, no matter how much we poke and nudge him.”
“Perhaps a bit more of a rude awakening then?” Rarity postured as obtained a globe of water from the pond. Spike tried to cover a snicker as Rarity hovered the globe over the unconscious stallion. She let the globe go and it fell precisely on the unicorn’s face. Everyone jumped a little when the stallion’s rude awakening caused him to jerk awake and madly look around.
“Who? What? Where?” As his frantic search settled down, he groaned and slowly let his head fall into his hooves. “Very funny.”
“I’m sorry, what was that?” Rarity asked.
“It… it’s nothing.” He mumbled. “Just tell me which cave system this is.”
Rover took a step forward and proudly announced “This is my mine, Rover’s Gem Mine.” This caused Spike to roll his eyes at the originality, but caused a look of confusion on the stallion.
“I haven’t heard of these ones yet. He must have found them before me.”
“Who found these before you?” Rarity inquired again.
“My brother Cry-“ He suddenly stopped in both confusion and fear. “Cry- Cry- Cry-, I don’t know!” He attempted to get up but only fell forward. “I can’t remember! He’s my brother! White coat, blue mane, star shield mark! I know his name!”
“Calm down dear, just calm down.” Rarity tried to soothe the panicking unicorn. “You seem to have been out for a while, can you tell me your name?”
“My name? Right, yes, of course, I’m Som-“ His eyes went wide again. “Oh Solaris! I don’t know my own name!”
“That’s okay, that’s fine. Just calm down and think very, very slowly. All right?” The grey unicorn nodded slowly. “Let us just check on some comprehension. What am I?”
“A unicorn.” He replied flatly.
“Right, and Spike here?” Rarity directed his attention.
“A… baby dragon?” He said, a bit uncertain.
“Good, and Rover here?” Rarity pointed.
“A dog?”
“A Diamond Dog.” Rover corrected.
“But still a Dog, dear.” Rarity smiled before directing her attention back to the amnesiac stallion. “And can you tell me what you are?”
“I’m a… unicorn. Yes, a unicorn.” He nodded with enthusiasm.
“Good, you can still recognize special differences. Now, think carefully about what you were doing before you woke up, and don’t panic if you don’t remember.”
“I was… reading. Yes, reading in the library. And my… sister? Yes, sister! I have a sister! She wanted… she asked if I was hungry. And then I told her I wasn’t, but… that’s it.”
“That’s good, that’s very good. Can you describe your sister? Like you did your brother?”
“She has a pink coat with a… oh, I can’t explain her mane. It’s violet, but yellow, and magenta, you know?”
“I know the kind, yes.” Rarity nodded. “Is she a younger sister?”
“Yes, so is my brother.”
Rarity could deduce that the coloring of his sister’s mane were more than likely highlights. She smiled and put a hoof on his shoulder. “This can help a lot, thank you. The next best thing we can do is get you out of here.”
“Ok.” He nodded before his stomach decided to protest.
“You must have been here for a long while.” Rarity smiled at his embarrassed retreat. Flipping open her basket, Rarity took out a tomato-lettuce sandwich and offered it to him. He gingerly took it with his hoof and began nibbling on it before taking a big bite out of it. “Help yourself to the rest, I can get more later.” Rarity got up and went over to Rover. “Can we get a pitcher and a few glasses? We should make sure he’s properly hydrated.”
“Sure Miss Rarity.” Rover bobbed his head. “Tom! Riddle!” Rover called causing a bulky grey Dog and a slim female Dog to stand a bit taller. “Pitcher! Three glasses!” The two scampered off as Rover directed his attention back to Rarity. “Will you still be available as usual?”
Rarity glanced at the snacking unicorn and Spike, who was impatiently tapping his foot. “Perhaps only sculpting today Rover. I should make sure that those two are okay.” She tilted her head to the two.
“Of course, I’ll tell the workers that you’re available here.” Rover turned to the remaining Dogs. “Back to work! This tunnel will be rescheduled!” That caused the remaining Dogs to quickly file up the ladder and scatter. “I will find you a way back up to the surface.” Rover said before leaving.
“Does that mean I have to wait down here the entire time?” Spike asked as Rarity lay back down.
“I’m sure you could go exploring and talk to some of the Dogs, though if you don’t help dig I don’t think they’ll be very sociable.” That just made Spike cross his arms and sit down. “So, oh, we need something to call you.” Rarity began to address the unicorn.
“I think you can call me Somber?” He said hesitantly as he finished his second sandwich. “I feel like that’s right, but it feels incomplete.”
“Well then Somber, why did you think your brother put you here? It seems like it wasn’t the first time.”
“Oh, it isn’t. There’s really nothing to do around the palace than study because we’re really not allowed to-“
“Wait, palace?” Rarity interrupted. “You mean to tell me you’re royalty?”
“I-um…” Somber furrowed his brow in confusion.
“Rarity let him finish before you break his train of thought.” Spike said.
“Sorry.” She gave a small smile of embarrassment. “Please, continue, I won’t interrupt again.”
“R-right, so what my brother and I do for fun is prank each other, and one of his favorites is teleporting me to random places when I’m asleep. But, I’ve never forgotten things before because of it.”
“It might just be oxygen deprivation.” Spike suggested. “I mean, you were found in here, a completely shut off cavern for who knows how long.”
“Maybe, but…” Somber tried recalling his brother’s name again, and failed. “My brother always knows where he puts me, and brags about how long I take to get back home. He wouldn’t put me in here like that on purpose, would he?”
“I’m sure it was an accident Somber.” Rarity tried to give a comforting smile. “But you call putting you in random places a prank?”
“It’s not like I can’t find my way home.” Somber shrugged. “I mean, how hard is it to spot a giant crys-“
“Miss Rarity?” A female Diamond Dog called down, garnering the three’s attention. It was the female from before with a pitcher for water, and it was assumed the male was just behind her. “Do you still require water?”
“Yes dear, that would be grand.” Rarity called, prompting the Dog to descend the ladder and place the pitcher next to Rarity. The male followed and placed the three glasses alongside them. “Thank you very much, ah, Tom and Riddle, was it?”
“Yes Miss Rarity.” Tom, the male, answered.
“Very good, you can go.” Rarity waved her hoof dismissively, but the two stayed, glancing at each other, nodding their heads, prompting the other to talk. “Is there anything I can help you two with?”
“Ah, we were wondering, if it wouldn’t be trouble, to fashion a trinket, for us.” Tom asked, finally giving in to Riddle.
“Oh?” Rarity looked between the two and recognized the order. “Oooh. Well, that is sure to be no problem at all; it is what I am here for. What would you like?” Rarity stood, putting on her professional persona.
“We were hoping for a broken heart.” Riddle pulled out a sizable sapphire that she had to hold with both paws. “From this.”
“Oh my.” Rarity took up the sapphire and began to examine it. “Are you sure you want to break this? It must cost a fortune to you.”
Tom shook his head. “No, it’s its purpose. We found it, we decide to what to do with it.”
“Has Rover seen this then?” Rarity raised her eyebrow. She wasn’t against crafting what they wanted, she had had a few before, but they were all half the size these two were asking for.
“Rover’s rules are that personal gems are personal matters.” Riddle stated.
“So I’m going to take that as a no then.” Rarity sighed; a bit conflicted about what to do.
“Could you extrapolate on that rule?” Somber asked, garnering a confused look from the pair. “I mean, explain it a bit more, please?”
Tom cleared his throat. “Any gem found by any Diamond Dog is part of their own. If intended for money, Rover examines for cut price, if for personal use, they may keep.”
“So flawed.” Spike mumbled.
“Not at all.” Riddle replied to Spike’s mumble. “Diamond Dogs work in teams of ten, six of which must attest to a gem to be personal.”
“And seeing as you two have it here now, I assume you had that approval?” Somber asked.
“Yes.” The two said in unison.
“I don’t see a problem here then Miss Rarity.” Somber smiled as he poured himself a glass of water.
“If that’s the case, I’ll see what I can do with it.” Rarity said a bit sheepishly. “Can one of you get the cart from up there, please? And if you could find somepony that has an emerald they want crafted? That would help wonders.”
“No problem at all Miss Rarity.” Tom bobbed hi head in thanks and quickly climbed up the ladder, coming back down with Spike’s wagon.
“Thank you again Miss Rarity.” Riddle bowed in a bit more of a respectable fashion. “When can we expect our trinket?”
“Before we leave I suspect.” Rarity said offhandedly, as she had already began carving off the rough edges into the wagon. Tom and Riddle understood when to leave a worker alone and left without a second word, leaving Somber and Spike to watch Rarity work.
“So is this normal behavior for her?” Somber asked Spike.
“I don’t know, this is the first time I’ve seen her work for the Diamond Dogs.”
“No, I mean, for her to be so business like.”
“Well, yeah, I guess.” Spike shrugged. “She runs her own shop, it’s not surprising that she’s like this a lot.”
“Her own shop!” Somber exclaimed. “She can’t be older than me! How can she run her own shop now?” Spike could only look at Somber with confusion.
“Of course she can run her own shop, it’s not like she’s a helpless filly.”
“But I can’t even be considered for the throne yet, is there that much difference in expectations?” At the mention of ‘the throne’, both Rarity and Spike looked at Somber in surprise.
“So you are royalty.” Rarity mused as she went slower on her work. “Pray tell, where are you royalty of?”
"You’re kidding. You have to be.” Somber looked at the two with a bit of disbelief. Bu the longer he looked between the two, the less confident he felt. “I’m Prince Somber Tones of the Crystal Empire, you can’t have not seen my face before.”
With that proclamation, the three stopped everything and just stared at each other. Somber Tones was smiling because he was remembering so much in such a short time, the others however…
“I’m sorry dear, but you seem to be a bit delusional.” Rarity carefully placed the half sculpted heart in the wagon. “I’m afraid I know the royalty of the Crystal Empire, and you’re not one of them.”
“Preposterous!” Somber stood; angered that somepony wouldn’t recognize him for what he was. “I am the crowned prince of the Crystal Empire and you can’t say differently.” Somber flared.
“All right, all right, easy now.” Spike tried to calm the unicorn down. “Maybe you still have a few things mixed around.” He tried to reason.
“No! I know this for a fact!” Somber turned his back on the two. “I know…for a fact.” He said with a bit less anger. He turned back with doubt in his eyes. “You said you know who the royalty of the Crystal Empire is now, who are they?”
Rarity was a bit hesitant before she answered. “Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor are the rulers of the Crystal Empire.” That only made Somber furrow his brow in confusion.
“I know neither of them.” He turned and walked over to the pond. “There has to be a mistake. It has to be. Who could have overthrown my parents?”
“I assure you, there was no overthrowing of any proper set ruler.” Rarity affirmed. She glanced at Spike to keep quiet about the Sombra incident, in which he immediately nodded in agreement.
“No, you are right, the citizens would never stand for a usurper for a ruler. But then… I have to wonder.” He looked at the two expectantly. “How long have I been here?”
“I can’t say Somber.” Rarity shook her head. “I believe the Diamond Dogs only found you here today, and you were deep asleep.”
“I also see another problem.” Spike interjected. “If you’re royalty of the Crystal Empire, what are you doing here?”
“What do you mean?” Somber asked. “Are we not in the Crystal Mountains?”
“Hardly.” Spike snorted. “The Crystal Mountains are a good nine hours north, by train.”
“Train? Why would you waist time training on a travel?” Somber asked in all seriousness.
“Oh dear.” Rarity held hoof up to her mouth. “I think this is far beyond a prank by your brother Somber.”
“Well, that has become fairly obvious by now.” Somber snorted at the obvious.
“No, I mean, are absolutely serious that you don’t know what a train is?” Rarity began to confirm her worries.
“I have no idea what this ‘train’ thing is that refer of. What kind of carriage is it?”
“Spike, can recollect how old train travel is?”
“Uh, it’s somewhere around 100-150 years I think?”
It was then when Somber began to realize what Rarity was insinuating. “How long have I been here?” He muttered as he sat on his flank. “To be here for over a hundred years. With no food, or water, or exercise.” He looked at his fore-hooves. “But I feel completely fine, normal even.”
Spike started to pity the unicorn and looked to Rarity. “I think he should at least know what happened Rarity.”
“Happened to what?” Somber asked, dispirited.
“I don’t think that will do him any good Spike.” Rarity said, believing she knew what Spike was referring to.
“What are you two referring to?” Somber asked with more conviction.
Spike and Rarity continued to look at each other until Rarity sighed in defeat. “Until three years ago, the Crystal Empire didn’t exist.”
“What!” Somber jumped up in fright. “But then my people are…!”
“They’re fine, the entire Empire is fine Somber.” Rarity tried to remain calm and collected. “The empire had just been under a suspension spell.”
“A suspension spell… on the entire empire?” Somber pondered. ”But if that were true, then my siblings would still be there! And this Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor shouldn’t be ruling! How can you explain that?!” Somber stomped his hoof in defiance.
“I don’t know!” Rarity snapped, causing Spike to jump in fright. “I don’t know why your brother and sister wouldn’t step up for the thrown, but as it stands, Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor are running the Empire without a fuss! You on the other hoof are a complete mystery to all of us!” Rarity took a few deep breaths and composed herself. “Now, as much as I would love to help you in this dilemma, I cannot, and I have some business to attend to here. When we head back to Ponyville, the first place we’ll be stopping is my friend Twilight, and I am sure she can help settle this. Until then, I would prefer to work in silence.” Thusly, Rarity returned to her sapphire heart work.
Somber looked between her and Spike before deciding to turn and lay in front of the pool to contemplate this matter, and see if he could properly recall his siblings names.
Spike decided to sit next to a wall and start scratching pictures into the walls.