Unicorn King Sombra.
Twilight once heard a crystal pony say that she would rather lose her memory entirely than remember the time under his rule. He went down in history as a tyrant. A power mad dark mage who's only love was himself. One of Equestrian history's worst monsters.
But here..... he looked perfectly nice.
He was still an imposing figure. Dark grey coat moving to a jet black mane. He was much taller and bulkier than his father was, he still had the two toned red and black horn. But he had this gentle nature about him. The worst Twilight could say about him as he was right now was that he seemed overly sure of himself, and Twilight could say that about her own brother.
"And how have you been driving you're father insane lately?" Luna asked.
Sombra shrugged, "My mere presence?"
"Ha ha ha," Star Swirl said dryly. "You've been stressed lately. Your mind has been on nothing but your work. So, your lack of a social life has been getting in the way of mine!" Star Swirl searched for something on the desk. "Oh, where in blazes- Clover!"
At the mention of his wife's name, Star Swirl's house went silent. It took a moment but finally realized what he had just done, and stopped searching.
"It's been what, a year now?" Star Swirl was on the verge of tears. "And I'm still calling her name? Stupid fool..."
"You were with her for so long," Luna said softly. "It must be hard for you to get used to the fact that she's gone."
Star Swirl shook his head. "I still can't understand why. I gave her a good life, didn't I? She had seemed so happy. So why? What made her so despondent that she would-" he trailed off, he was about to break down.
Twilight breathed a sigh of morbid relief. She didn't want it to happen, but it was going to at some point during this. By this time, it was already over. She didn't have to see it. It had already happened.
Clover the Clever had already jumped.
Sombra put his hoof on his father's shoulder. "This is why I don't want to go out yet. You shouldn't be on your own."
Star Swirl composed himself. "Nonsense, I'll have you know that I managed to keep myself organized for five years as a mage before your mother turned up."
Sombra looked around the cluttered house. "I don't believe you."
Star Swirl let out a sharp laugh, "Neither would I at this point! You, go. I have some things to work on for the king."
"Speaking of that," Luna said, "how is Forward March? He's been very short with my sister and I lately. We've been worried about him."
"You aren't alone," Sombra said.
"He's been short with people all of his life, Little Wings," Star Swirl added. "But I agree, the King's behavior has been... erratic to say the very least. He seemed to act civil around me but now I'm the only one he'll listen to. He needs other councilors. I'm not as brilliant as you'd think I am."
"Dad," Sombra said, grabbing a saddlebag from a coat rack, "No one is as brilliant as you think you are."
"That's it! The pair of you, out of my house!" Star Swirl was failing to keep a straight face. "Go take a walk before I turn the both of you into toads!"
Sombra and Luna were laughing as they walked out the door. "I'll see you later, Star." Luna said.
"Have fun, Little Wings," Star Swirl smiled back.
Twilight followed Sombra and Luna out the door.
She had been walking behind the pair for quite a while when Sombra finally decided to speak up. "Dad's right you know," he said looking up at the night sky. "There really is nothing more beautiful."
Luna blushed, "It's what I live for. I'm just happy I can make it every day."
"It's a shame most ponies sleep through it," Sombra added.
"I don't mind," Luna shrugged, "As long as I have a friend to share it with."
Sombra smiled. Than his expression turned grim. "Actually, I'm going to be heading up north for a couple of days."
"Why?" Luna asked. The two stopped walking. "Is this an assignment or-"
"No," Sombra said, "No it's not a commission. It's strictly personal." He took a deep breath, "Actually, it's about Mom."
Luna's face grew dark with concern "What do you mean?"
Sombra opened his saddlebag and pulled out a rolled up blueprint. "In the few weeks before she- before we lost her, Mom had been working on something. She said it was under contract, but she wouldn't tell us who the client was. I want to find this client and ask him. what this was, and why Mom never saw one bit from it."
"What sort of thing was it?" Luna asked, "A new spell?"
"An enchanted artifact," Sombra unfurled the blueprint. "A mirror."
Twilight's jaw dropped. On the blueprint was the image of Seraphim Glare's golden mirror.
"I've been looking at this for over three months and I still can't make head or tail out of it." Sombra said, obviously puzzled. "The word's 'what could have been' are written several times, but they don't seem to connect with anything."
"Could it be a time spell?" Luna reasoned, eying the blueprint carefully.
Twilight was examining the blueprint so closely that she forgot that she was talking to shadows. "Not like any time spell I've ever seen."
"No," Sombra continued. "Dad was working on those, and this doesn't seem like an instrument for travel. It looks like it would be used for extraction. Pulling something here from someplace else."
"Alright," Luna said. "But where from?"
"I have a few theories..." Sombra rolled up the blueprint. "But that's what I'm going to go north to find out."
"Why?" Luna asked.
"I've tracked the mirror down," Sombra explained. "It's up north in a place called the Crystal Empire. It's a city that acts as a magical relay tower. Whatever is the main focus of magic in its center, that magic will be spread throughout Equestria. I figured that if I found the Mirror, I'd find my target. I'll ask him how the blasted thing works."
Luna looked worried, "When do you leave?"
"I set out tomorrow," Sombra answered. "I may be gone for a couple of days."
Luna looked down at the ground, "We still have tonight, don't we?"
Sombra smiled. "Of course we do, and also-" He put himself in a ready position "I have something to show you. You see the Empire runs on Crystal-make magic, so I've been teaching myself a few tricks."
Sombra focused the magic through his horn onto the ground, out of the dirt rose a beautiful pink crystal. Another burst of magic from Sombra's horn and the gem was carved into a perfect rose.
Sombra put the crystal rose into Luna's mane. "Not bad, eh?"
Luna blushed hard, and then leaned her head on Sombra's shoulder. "Not bad at all."
Twilight smiled at the couple as the images began to shift.
Twilight was almost blinded by the next image. When her eyes adjusted she realized where she was, the Crystal Palace throne room. Everything was glowing, the floors, the walls, everything was glowing with an intense light from the inside. She tried to look at the throne, but she couldn't. Two unbelievably powerful light sources were forcing her to turn her head.
What she saw when she did made her scream, despite herself.
The guard was laying on the floor. Eyes unfocused, barely breathing. His mouth overly stretched and widened into a huge unnatural grin. Twilight heard a few sick giggles escape from his throat.
The door to the throne room burst open, and in charged Sombra. He was obviously haggard from the journey. Battle scarred and burned in a few places. An expression of pure determination on his face. He recoiled at the light from the throne.
"How many years did it take us to get her?" Asked a cold familiar voice from the throne. "Most of your life, a fraction of mine? You never realized it but my light guided you to this moment. And it will continue to do so long after we're done here."
"Who are you?!" Sombra yelled, shielding his face from the light. "What have you done to these ponies?!"
A cold sharp laughter filled the room. "I keep forgetting. I must dim myself to be perceived by creatures of darkness like yourself. Forgive me." The light turned down to reveal the voice's owner.
"No..." said Sombra.
"Still to bright?" asked Seraphim Glare.
Sombra stared at the Alicorn King for what seemed like an eternity. He was standing beside the golden mirror. "H-how...."
"As for what I have done to the citizens of this city," Glare continued. "I did what I had to do. I made them happy."
"Happy?" Sombra growled. "They're barely conscious!"
"Couldn't be helped, I'm afraid," said Glare. "It seems that Forward March managed to paint me as quite the tyrant. The mere presence of my light struck fear into their hearts. So I used a little magic of my own, plus some help from this." He gestured toward the golden mirror.
"Why?!" Sombra shot back. "Why bother with all this? Why not just take this place over like the tyrant you are?"
Glare whipped around and stared straight into Sombra's soul. "Understand this now, boy. I am no tyrant. Give March some time, then you'll see what a tyrant is." Glare calmed himself back to the cold demeanor he usually wore. "As for why I didn't force these good ponies to be bathed in my light, it is because of the nature of this place."
"What do you mean?" Sombra asked.
"The more miserable these crystal ponies are," Glare continued. "The darker this place becomes. The crystal turns black, and the blackness hurts me, and because of March's lies fear and hate are the only reactions I can garner."
"You haven't answered my question," Sombra continued. "What have you done to them? And what does that mirror have to do with it?"
"Ah," Glare turned to gaze into the mirror. "Beautiful isn't it? Your mother's handiwork, my design. You see, light and time are connected, they always have been. As a result I have been able to see time lines we missed. Paths we didn't take. Trails we didn't follow."
Sombra came to a realization. "What could have been..."
Glare let out a mocking laugh, "Now you're catching on! Or what could be to an extent. This mirror allows others to see what I see.See their lives through a cracked mirror. An image of themselves slightly distorted. Sometimes, like in the case of these crystal ponies, they like what they see. And sometimes,as in the case of your sweet mother,' he turned back to Sombra giving him a mad grin, "They can't take it."
"What?" Sombra asked.
The air filled with ice cold laughter. "How often did I coax the little fool to that balcony?" Glare pondered. "It must have been over a thousand times before she finally took the leap. No one else could see me, but I was there. Using my light to guide her to oblivion. It's surprising what a voice in somepony's ear can convince them to do. Once she completed the mirror, I only had one more use for her. Taking her away from the mage."
Sombra couldn't move. Twilight couldn't breathe. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. This stallion- no, this monster before her had driven a mare to take her own life. It was the most cruel act that Twilight could even fathom.
"I could have burned them both," Glare was staring lovingly into his mirror. On closer examination, Twilight realized it was showing the battle at Canterlot Castle. "So easily. They thought they had the battle won, but it would have been so simple to kill them both. However I decided that I would take from them what they took from me." The image in the mirror shifted, Celestia was standing under her father's wing, nuzzling his neck. "What they cared for most in this world. From March I am taking his precious 'control', it shouldn't be long until he loses any sense of sanity he had, and from Star," Glare turned and smiled at Sombra. "I'm taking the one thing that had ever mattered to him. His family."
Sombra was staring down at the ground. His breath heavy with fury. He didn't seem to even be hearing Glare anymore.
"This truly was your Mother's finest work," Glare turned back toward the Mirror. "If the right pony looks inside of it, the other possibility, the 'could have been', could make themselves reality. I have seen many possibilities pass through this mirror's lens, so many ways this moment could go, and you should know," Glare began to pace around Sombra. "There is a very real chancee you could defeat me today."
Sombra's head snapped up.
"Oh, yes," Glare was pacing around Sombra, like a vulture circling his meal. "You could, quite easily, put me in a position where I would have to put myself in stasis. It would, like any defeat I may suffer, only be temporary, but you could 'save' these ponies from the 'horror' of the light I bring. All you would have to do is subject them to the horror of your darkness."
"What?" Sombra asked quietly.
"As I said," Glare stopped in front of his Mirror. "When this place is filled with hate, it turns black, and that blackness hurts me. You have enough hate to send me running, but you would have to keep the ponies here in constant pain to keep me away. I wonder," he leaned in to whisper into Sombra's ear. "Are you willing to become what you have accused me of being? Are you willing to become a tyrant?"
For Sombra, that was the last straw.
"YES!!' He slammed his forehooves to the ground and it began to darken. Spears of black crystal shot up all around him. His eyes had become green orbs bleeding purple smoke. Dark Magic. "Yes!! I am willing to tear this place down around your ears if it was sure to lock you away!! For what you did to my mother, for what you did to Luna, I am willing to lose myself entirely to make sure that you never bring your light back into Equestria!!"
Glare backed up rapidly. He didn't expect Sombra to say yes. but his reaction was more of mild irritation then of shock and horror. "Blast," he growled, "I suppose it's time for me to sleep..."
"To destroy you Seraphim Glare," Sombra growled, "I would gladly become a tyrant!"
Backstepping into the mirrors lens, he phased through it. Disappearing into the glass. "So be it! Long live Sombra! Horror of the Crystal Empire! No one will remember you for who you once were boy, they will only know you as a monster."
Glare's voice faded, and Twilight was left alone with Sombra.
A stream of tears fell down his cheek. "I know that's not true," Sombra said tearfully. "She'll remember...'
All around Twilight the light was starting to go out. Slowly blackening the palace from top to bottom. It was a truly horrifying spectacle.
Twilight was on the verge of tears. Why didn't Celestia and Luna tell her this? She had always thought of Sombra as pure evil. She had always seen him as a historical villain.
She had fallen into Glare's trap.
Sombra stood silently in the throne room for a long time before another surge of dark magic ran through him. The golden mirror was enveloped in black crystal and dragged under the floor.
Next to Twilight, the palace guard began to stir. "Ugh.... Where am I?"
Sombra lifted his head up. Composing himself. "Back at the palace. Back home."
"Really..?' The guard looked around him. "Where's Glare? How did this place get so dark? Who are you?"
"My name is Sombra," he was making his voice raspier, Twilight thought. "The blackness of the Crystal was necessary to dispatch Seraphim Glare."
The Guard shrugged. "It's only temporary. I'm just glad we don't have to live under Seraphim Glare's hoof."
"No," Sombra said through gritted teeth. "Now you live under mine."
A spear of black shot out and impaled the guard in the chest, nailing him to the opposite wall.
Twilight followed Sombra to the castle balcony. The blackness from the castle began to spread throughout the Empire. Again Twilight forgot that she couldn't change the past. "Please, it's not too late! You don't have to lose yourself like this..."
Tears trickled down Sombra's cheeks as he looked up at the moon. "Luna, please remember."
The desperate tone in Sombra's voice seemed to cause the image to warp and shift once more.
Twilight was back in the Canterlot throne room. She was desperate for this nightmare to be over.
She noticed something odd about the throne room. Namely, everything was odd about the throne room. Carpet was on the ceiling. Windows behaved like curtains, and curtains opened to the outside. The floor seemed to be showing constantly moving images of happy faces. Nothing was working right.
Star Swirl burst through the door, obviously distracted. "I'm sorry, March," he said, "but I'm leaving Canterlot for a few days. My son has been missing for three months and now the Crystal Empire has gone black. We both know that can't be a good- what the hoof?" Star Swirl finally noticed the state of the throne room.
"Just decided to do a little redecorating," came a smug voice from the throne. "How do you like it, Star?"
"I don't..." Star Swirl said cautiously. "March are you alright?"
Twilight couldn't see the figure on the throne, but the silhouette didn't look quite right. It was still that of a pony, but some adjustments seemed to be added.
Then Forward March moved his hoof out of the shadows, and Twilight let out a gasp. The hoof had began to split in four different places, and coarse fur was growing up and down the leg. When Forward March stepped fully out of the shade more changes were evident. The feathers on one wing had fallen off, leaving a leathery batlike wing behind. Some of the feathers on his other wing had turned from their normal beige to a dull blue. On his back right leg, his coat had been replaced with green scales.
The whites of his eyes were now yellow, his pupils were redder than fire.
"He was wrong, Star," Forward March, despite his condition sounded calm. "He thought that the pwer he gave me would drive me mad. But look! Look at what I have done with it! The possibilities are limitless."
"March, you're not well," Star said trying to stay calm. "Stay with me. Remember what you said to me. The most important thing is to keep control."
"I know!" March giggled. "What was I thinking!"
"Snap out of it!" Star Swirl demanded, "March don't let him-"
"Stop calling me that!" the entity cut in. He was right, whatever he was now, Forward March was long gone. "I am not order. I am it's loss. I have been sent here to break the bonds of sanity." His horn split down the middle. One half grew into a ram's horn, the other into a deer antler. "I am the loss of control, the loss of sense!" All the hair fell off of his tail, leaving only a scaly red snake's tail. His whole body began to twist and reform with sickening cracks and pops. "He was right about one thing Star, this was always my destiny! My heart always bent to madness!"
The transformation came to an end, and it was a form that Twilight knew all too well.
"I am chaos incarnate. I AM DISCORD!!"
Star Swirl looked at his former friend in horror, and the image shifted once again.
Twilight was placed outside of Canterlot Castle. The world was beginning to right itself. In the middle of the courtyard, Luna sat with Celestia, obviously worn out from a battle. Next to them sat what appeared to be a collection of gems. The Elements of Harmony.
"I can't believe it...," Luna said quietly. "Will we ever escape him, sister? He managed to drive one of the most centered ponies we know to madness with just a little magic and a few choice words."
"He had this planned from the beginning," Celestia said bitterly. "Why? Why not just kill March? Or burn us all? He could have easily done it. So why take this long."
"This way," Luna reasoned tearfully, "he suffered more..."
An awkward silence from Celestia signaled agreement. After a long quiet moment, Celestia spoke up with a note of optimism in her voice. "Maybe it wasn't wholly Father's influence," Celestia said, grasping at straws. "Perhaps the title "King" is what corrupts the mind."
Luna let out a weak giggle. "I suppose that "Queen" would do the same thing then," she smiled at her sister, and gave her a little bow. "Princess Celestia."
Celestia returned the curtsy, and the smile. "Princess Luna."
Celestia wrapped her wing around her sister. The moment was quickly shattered by Star Swirl striding across the courtyard.
"Did those work?" he said, gesturing at the elements. "Good! Bring them, we're heading up north."
Luna rushed over to Star Swirl. "News about Sombra?"
"The worst kind, Little Wings," Star answered quickly. "My son has lost his mind."
The image began to shift again.
Twilight was back in the Crystal Palace throne room. Blackness all around her. On the balcony was Sombra, now clad in full armor, staring at the night sky as if he was in a trance. Through the front door came Star, Celestia, and Luna.
"You wanted an audience?" Sombra asked sleepily.
"An audience?!" Star was obviously furious. "Sombra what in Tartarus is all of this."
"Necessary." Sombra said firmly. "I have to keep these ponies in pain. I have to keep this place dark."
"Necessary?" Star repeated in shock. "How can you think to call this-"
Sombra's head snapped back towards his father. "He was here dad! He's still here. I can still hear him. He's been whispering to me for months. But I won't let him talk me into anything. He won't do to me what he did to Mom!"
Celestia began to speak, but Luna raised a hoof to cut her off. "Sombra...," she began softly. "Who is 'he'? What did he do to your mother?"
"Luna," Sombra looked desperately at her, looking for some kind of redemption. "Luna I'm sorry. Luna I am so sorry. But you of all people should know what he is! Why I have to keep this place dark!"
Luna nodded grimly. "That's what I thought."
"Glare was here?" Star asked amazed. "Why did he come here?"
"He talked Mom off the balcony," Sombra was pacing back and forth frantically. "He murdered her. She loved us both, Dad. it was him. It was always him."
"Sombra," Celestia said quietly, "Please see reason, we can-"
"Shut up!" Sombra spat. Spears of black crystal shot up around him. "You will never speak to me again lightbringer! You really are his spitting image, aren't you? Truly your father's daughter! Every day I have to watch as ponies everywhere use your daylight to live their lives, and shun Luna's night! It's sickening! Have they all forgotten? Have they all forgotten what life was like under him? What 'light' truly is?!"
"Sombra," Star said softly. "That is the line. You know Celestia, you've known her all your life. You know better then that."
A look of shame washed over Sombra's face.
"Sombra please," Luna pleaded. "If Father really is here, we can defeat him together, without losing ourselves."
Sombra shook his head. "I can't stop, Luna. As much is this is killing me, I have to keep the Empire dark. I won't let Seraphim Glare come back."
It was hard for Twilight to describe the look on Star Swirl the Bearded's face. Glare had taken his wife, his best friend, and now his son. Star had nothing left. It was official.
Glare had won. Star Swirl was defeated.
"Let's..." Star Swirl said weakly. "Let's just end this."
Sombra leaped into attack position as the Elements circled the sisters. Luna was on the verge of tears as the bolt of multicolored energy struck him.
"NO!!" Sombra screamed. "I WON'T LET HIM COME BACK!! THIS EMPIRE WILL NOT EXIST WITHOUT MY PROTECTION!!"
As the palace shattered and broke around Twilight, the image shifted once again.
Twilight arrived in a wood paneled room in Canterlot Castle. She recognized it. Not only the room, but the day.
Luna was sitting in the middle of the room, looking at the ground. Celestia walked in, brushing sleep out of her eyes.
"Mmm. Alright, Luna," Celestia said wearily. "Lower the moon so you can get some sleep."
"No," Luna muttered. "I won't. Sombra was right."
Celestia was concerned. "Sister?"
"It's like they've forgotten!" Luna shouted. "It's like they've forgotten his cruelty! Well I can't, sister! I don't have that luxury!"
"Luna, please," Celestia was growing frightened. "Lower the moon so we can begin the next day."
"No!" Luna rose up, she was now shrieking at her sister,. "I won't! Not now, not ever again! You will bring the same doom that he would! You would blind everyone with your light!! You've deceived them!"
"I've deceived no one," Celestia pleaded. "Luna please don't tread down this path. It's where he's lead everypony else. Please Luna, don't lose yourself."
"Did you really think I would just sit there!" Luna shrieked.
Twilight couldn't take it any more. "Please! Take me away from this! I've seen this before! I know what happens..."
"Did you really expect me to sit back as they bathed in your precious 'light'!!"
As if in answer to Twilight's plea, the image shifted for the last time.
Star Swirl was sitting at his desk. Working on a book that would end up becoming very important to Twilight.
He growled in frustration. "Blast it all to Tartarus!" He slammed the book and flung it across the room.
"So I see things are going well?" came a weary voice from the door.
"You look tired Celestia," Star Swirl said bitterly. "Day and night become too much for you to handle? You could of course deliver Little Wings the final insult and just leave the sun up there 24/7."
Celestia looked hurt. "That was unfair, Star."
Star Swirl looked guilty. "Perhaps. It wasn't her fault. It wasn't yours, either."
"It was Glare," Celestia agreed. "It was always Glare. I'm just glad he's finally gone."
"Oh, he's far from gone," Star Swirl said, "We may have some peace for a few Millennia, but you'll be seeing them all again. Little Wings, Mar- Discord,...... Perhaps even Sombra. And I'm sure you'll see your father again. It's only a matter of time."
Celestia shook her head. "I'll deal with that as it comes, if it comes."
Star Swirl nodded. "It will." He turned to fetch the book he threw. "Now go. You have a moon to set, I have a spell to finish. There's something I'm missing."
Celestia looked at Star, face heavy with sorrow. "Or something you've lost..."
Celestia walked out the door. Leaving Star alone with his thoughts.
He looked up at the moon. "She's going to need you, Little Wings," Star Swirl said. "She'll need somepony else too. Someone to make sure she stays who she is. Somepony to keep her on the right path. Her own Clover."
Magic raced through his horn and four stars appeared around the moon. "When your ready to talk," Star Swirl continued. "When you can see sense Little Wings, they'll help you out of there. I know your sister has six, but he will come back. And he'll bring six of his own."
Twilight was confused by that last statement. Six of what?
"Good luck," Star said, "With all of you together, maybe you can finally stop him."
Twilight appeared back in the tea room, Luna was sitting across from her, giving a soft sad smile.
"Any questions?" Luna asked.
Two guards sat near the golden mirror. "What are we doing here?" one asked.
"We're going to make sure that no one touches that thing. Especially casting magic on it."
"Why?"
"Cap's orders I-" The guard stopped mid sentence.
The light of the mirror condensed around the crack. Out of it poured a stream of light that took the form of a cloaked mare, it turned and began to cast magic on the Mirror.
"What the-?"
"Hey you can't-"
Magical aura's wrapped around the guards throats.
The spell was finished. Out stepped a tall Alicorn. Where the guards once were were now two piles of ash.
The cloaked mare bowed before the glowing figure. "Welcome, father."
He shook himself off. "I thank you for your assistance, my daughter...
"Ah, it's good to stretch," said Seraphim Glare.