Adam stood silently in the blowing snow, eyes closed and arms crossed as he awaited the arrival of the king of the frozen tundra. Despite Prince Shining's insistence, he had stayed behind alone and had sent the Elements and the couple ahead, wanting to deal with this problem by himself. His cape billowed behind him in the intense wind, yet his skin never felt the icy fingers. The Crystal Empire shown behind him despite the sun being hidden behind dark clouds, yet Adam's only thought was on the foe that Celestia had tasked him with capturing.
"King Sombra, and I use that term loosely, was a madpony as well as a tyrant who ruled over the Crystal Empire with an iron hoof," she had told him back at the castle. "While Twilight and the others are searching for the Crystal Heart, I want you to keep Sombra at bay. He has great magical power, yet you should be able to subdue him without too much trouble. But do your best to bring him in ALIVE, Teth."
'That will be the one order that I will have difficulty with,' Adam silently thought, his skin tingling as he felt a dark presence approaching him. Tendrils of dark smoke snaked across the ground as the darkness advanced towards him, but Adam never budged nor opened his eyes. The darkness swarmed around him, encircling him as a voice within the darkness began to speak.
"What be this creature?" a booming voice resounded, getting Adam to crack his eyes open as he looked into the void in front of him. He spotted twin green eyes peering at him through the smoke, with little flashes of lightning rumbling within it. "Never in all my years of living have I seen a being like you before. Speak your name before I strike you down."
"How...humorous," Black Adam smirked as he stared the eyes in the smoke down. "I was about to give you the same demand." With a roar Sombra unleashed his dark magic upon Black Adam, consuming the very ground that Adam stood upon. Sending a meteor of darkness into the air, Sombra laughed once before bringing it down upon him. A massive flash of darkness went off, kicking up clouds of now black smoke into the air.
"Well, whatever you were, you are no longer," Sombra chuckled, only to have his jaw hit the ground when Adam walked unscathed out of the cloud, brushing the dark snow off of his suit with a thin smile. The next thing Sombra felt was Adam's hand around his jaw, as the dark god shot through the smoke and tore Sombra from his misty form. Adam drove Sombra head first into the snow and slowly began to tighten his grip on the king's head.
"I am amazed at how arrogant the creatures of this land are," Black Adam smirked as Sombra began to cry out in pain. "Do not assume that your foe is beaten until you hold his corpse in your hands. Farewell, oh false king." Sombra's horn flashed and he teleported himself out of Adam's grasp, appearing a few feet from the god with blood running from his nose.
"I am not a false king! I am the true king of the Crystal Empire!" he roared with all his dark fury. "I ruled over my land until the princesses decided that I was not fit to rule, and so they cast me to the side and put that foal Cadence on my throne. I will reclaim what is rightfully mine, even if I have to bring down my own empire to do it. If you side with that weakling Celestia, then I will destroy you as well." Adam leaned forward to strike him down, but Sombra's words held him back as they reminded Adam of himself.
"I can understand your pain," Adam said, getting a confused look from Sombra. "Being cast out of your kingdom because others do not like you and being imprisoned for years, I understand that pain. Yet you are willing to sacrifice your own subjects so you can reclaim the throne. That is where you fail as a leader. A true leader puts his nation first." Sombra opened his mouth to respond, but faster than the lightning, Adam grabbed and crushed his jaw.
"You have told me your intent. There is nothing left to say." Adam lifted both of his hands over his head as Sombra howled in pain, creating the sphere of lightning in his palms as he shook his head at the dark king. "Being a ruler does not mean that you are free to do whatever you want. It means that you are a servant to the people that you rule over. That is why I side with Celestia. She is far stronger than you."
He flung the sphere of electricity into Sombra's chest, backing away slightly as the dark king was consumed by the lightning in one massive flash. When the light show cleared, all that was left of Sombra was his crown, which Adam bent over to pick up with a shake of his head. He turned to head back to the empire when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He pointed his finger at a tiny sliver of shadow magic slithering towards the rocks and blasted it apart with a bolt.
"A worthy attempt, but you die today," he said before looking around. It took him most of the day to track down all of the shadows that tried to escape him, but once he had burned them all, he was certain that Sombra was dead.
"And with that, the land is safe again," he muttered as he took to the sky. On his way to the empire, he felt a wave of wonderful magic wash over him, magic that blasted away the snow and the darkness that had surrounded the land and replaced it with sunlight. Looking upon the Crystal Empire, he saw that it had been returned to its former glory, with the Crystal Heart in the center of the city. He found the mane six in the center of the empire and he floated down besides them to the shock of the crystal ponies.
"It seems that you succeeded in your mission," he said to the six, who all smiled at each other. Shining and Cadence joined them as well, to look over the now shimmering crystal ponies, before Shining looked at Adam with interest.
"Say, Black Adam, what happened to Sombra?" Shining asked. "Last I saw of him was that giant cloud heading towards the empire. Where did he go?" Adam threw the crown at the hooves of the ponies, who looked from it to him with horror in their eyes as they understood what this meant.
"He will never bother you again," Adam said. "The grave is his land now."
S=H=A=Z=A=M
Luna barged through the doors to her sister's room, startling the white alicorn who had been sunbathing for the last hour. "Sister, I need to have words with you and before you ask, no, it cannot wait," Luna said with such a tone that all Celestia could do was dumbly nod, while pulling out a cushion for her sister to sit on. "It is about Black Adam."
"Luna, I am done talking about Teth with you," Celestia frowned, but her sister kept on talking.
"I have been thinking about him and what he has done so far, and I fear for our nation if we allow him to continue acting the way he does!" Luna yelled, forgetting all of her composure in her emotional state. "He has already killed two of the most dangerous threats that we have faced and he did it with ease. Our powers combined couldn't beat Discord, and he did it in a minute. We need to take precautions for when we need to bring him down."
Celestia's face told her sister that the words had not changed her opinion. "Sister, I am fully aware of Teth's power and that he prefers to...kill his foes. I do not like that side of him either, but you must know that everything he does is to help us, to protect our nation," Celestia debated. "Without him, Discord would reign supreme, or if not him Chrysalis would have our land. I am trying to stem his killing attitude, but I do not believe that he would turn on us."
"Let us talk about Chrysalis and the changelings, shall we?" Luna brought up, ignoring most of what Celestia had just said. "Not only did he kill her, but he slaughtered pretty much every single changeling that came with her that day. Despite us barely losing any ponies, the death toll was still in the thousands! He almost wiped an entire race off the face of Equis!"
"A race that was trying to do the same to us," Celestia bitterly said. "Do you believe that I condone his actions of taking all of their lives. Or the way in which he disposed of Chrysalis? No. You know as well as I do that I hate to see anypony die, but when at war, death is inevitable. Teth doesn't kill for the sake of it, he does it to protect us. Just as he protected me when Chrysalis had beaten me...catching me when I failed." Luna narrowed her eyes at her sister, only to widen them with shock when she saw that her face was slightly red.
"I do not believe it...have you fallen for the madpony?!" Luna half yelled, snapping Celestia out of her thoughts. "Of all the beings in this land you could develop feelings for, you choose a madpony that has a higher kill count that anypony else I know?" Celestia tried to explain herself to her sister, but Luna had built up momentum. "Why him?! He has threated me, killed numerous times and is the greatest threat that we could ever face. Out of all the ponies, you had to chose him!?"
"You did not know him for ten years like I have," Celestia snapped back, beginning to lose her composure. "I have seen the good in him as well as the bad! Yet you seem to only focus on the bad!"
"That is because it's all he is!" Luna roared. "He is merciless, he is unstoppable, and his mind changes on a whim! And I have seen it in his eyes that he is the most evil, heartless creature that--"
"At least he never stabbed me in the back." The room went quiet as Luna looked at her sister with hurt in her eyes, seeing the rage that flashed in Celestia's. For a good moment, the two stared at each other before Celestia blinked and shook her head. "I am sorry for my words. I am tired and have been unable to rest lately. I did not mean what I said." Luna continued to gaze at her sister until the door opened and Radiance walked inside, reading the room in almost an instant.
"Um, should I come back?" she asked.
"No daughter, please speak your mind."
"I have received a message from Twilight and the others," she said, both Luna and Celestia perking up at this announcement. "The Crystal Heart has been restored to its rightful place, and the Crystal Empire has been freed." Luna let out a laugh of happiness, while Celestia let out a breath she had been holding since she had sent Twilight and the others there.
"What about Teth? Did he capture Sombra?" Celestia asked.
"According to the letter...Black Adam killed Sombra." Celestia hung her head slightly as she felt her sister's gaze burning into her.
"Teth...alright sister, you win. I will speak to Teth about his actions and try to convince him of a better way," Celestia agreed before she turned and left the room, needing to be alone for a few minutes. When she left the room, Luna looked to Radiance, who was standing there uncomfortably as she tried to look for a moment to leave.
"Radiance, may I speak with you?" Luna asked. Radiance walked over to her and sat down beside her, Luna biting her lip slightly before speaking. "I need to ask you to hear me out without judging my actions. Can you promise me that?" Radiance promised right away and Luna sighed. "I am building an army, in secret, should the day ever arise that I need to wage war with Black Adam."
"You're what?" Radiance asked in disbelief, but Luna held up a hoof before she could start.
"Even if you are his friend, you must realize how dangerous he is," Luna said, Radiance nodding slightly. "And I fear that the day will arrive when he turns that power of his against us. Celestia...she does not seem to be able to think that he will do such a thing, but I know from my own past what beings like him...what we...are like. Absolute power corrupts absolutely." Radiance said nothing, but continued to stare up at her aunt with cautious eyes.
"I must ask you not to tell Celestia. If told, it would be a matter of time before Adam found out. And that would be the death of us all." Radiance stood up and walked away, not sure what to do. She wandered the halls for a while before walking out into the starry night sky, looking up at the constellations with sad eyes.
"Sunnysmiles...what do I do?" she asked with sadness in her voice. "How would you help our family smile again?"
S=H=A=Z=A=M
A familiar sight met Adam's eyes as he looked down upon the town of Ponyville, a sight involving a certain yellow Pegasus again. In the past few days that he had been observing the town, he had seen Fluttershy be bullied by a number of larger pegasi--not just once--but three times, never once bothering to defend herself in any way.
'And here we are again, the same scene with the same people,' Adam snarled silently as he looked down upon the pegasi, backing Fluttershy into a corner and mocking her mercilessly. The yellow Pegasus had tears in her eyes and avoided looking at them, but not ONCE did she try to defend herself. 'She is a coward and weak. And yet she is supposed to be an Element of Harmony. How sickening.' Yet her cries did not go unanswered, as Adam descended from above and kicked one of the pegasi across the town streets.
"Out of my sight," he sternly said to the other two, who sprinted away as fast as their hooves could carry them. He then turned his stern gaze upon Fluttershy, who was trying to gather back up the animal food that he been knocked over by the bullies. "That is the third time in as many days that they have assaulted you Fluttershy."
"So, I will thank you for scaring them off," she said sweetly as she turned and started to head for her cottage, but Adam wasn't letting her off the hook that easily.
"Why do you not stand up for yourself?" he asked her while floating along behind her, carrying the heavier objects with ease. "You are an Element of Harmony, friend of the princesses, and yet these insolent fools continue to treat you like you are dirt. You should turn your Elemental power against them and show them what you are capable of."
"Oh no, I couldn't do that to them," she said with a small smile. "I don't like violence and besides, they don't really mean it. They're only messing with me." Adam scowled at the pathetic response, but he held his tongue as the two arrived at the cottage. He had never truly spent that much time with the Elements due to all the tasks that needed to be done, so he was slightly surprised to see animals of every shape and size taking up residence at her place.
"You certainly have a lot of roommates," Adam observed as Fluttershy opened her cottage, ducking as he entered and throwing the bags into her kitchen. A white rabbit hopped down the stairs at the noise and Fluttershy immediately ran over to it, her smile turning to a frown when it gave her a cold stare.
"Oh right, your food," she remembered before going into the kitchen, Adam watching the rabbit with growing hatred. It seemed to believe that it was the ruler of the household, and the arrogance shown on its face. "Here you go, I'm sorry that it is so late," Fluttershy said as she placed a nice-looking salad at the rabbit's feet.
"You do not need to apologize to a rodent," Adam muttered, watching as the rabbit sniffed the salad once before it made a gagging noise, then it crossed it's arms and looked away from the food. Adam raised an eyebrow as Fluttershy began to beg the rodent to eat its food, but the stubborn vermin refused.
"Angel, please, you need to eat," Fluttershy begged with the rabbit, who glared at her once before it grabbed a magazine and pulled it out, showing her a massive salad. "But I can't afford that right now. Maybe next month but right now--" Angel grabbed Fluttershy's mane and pulled her into a glare, getting a weak whimper out of the pony. Then Angel felt pain course through his body as Adam placed his golden boot into Angel's face.
"You dare to assault the pony that has given you not only shelter, but feeds you as well?" Adam roared with power as he walked over to the bleeding rabbit, which looked up at him with absolute horror in its eyes. "You are an ungrateful, arrogant stain that needs to be removed," he scowled as he pointed his hand at the rabbit. "Permanently."
"NO!" Fluttershy yelled as she threw herself over her bunny, looking up at Adam with fear in her eyes. Adam scowled at her once before he left the cottage, waiting for Fluttershy to join him outside when she was done with that parasite. She did so, and when he looked into her eyes he saw a hint of anger, but only a hint. Pitiful. "Why would you do that to him? He can be a little pushy but he--"
"You are weak," Adam bluntly said, cutting off Fluttershy midsentence. "You are supposed to be a protector of this land and the ponies within it, yet you do not even bother to protect yourself." Fluttershy began to shrink under his cold gaze, and only when she hid behind her mane did Adam finally lose his patience. He looked around at all of the animals watching them and decided that he needed to prove a point. And while she might hate him at first, she would be grateful for it later. "What would you do if a pony came here and started to kill all of your beloved animals?"
"W-what? Why would you ask that?" Fluttershy asked, but Black Adam's face told her she wasn't getting an answer. "I would ask them, very politely to stop." Confusion appeared on her face when Adam physically laughed at her response before looking back at her with a cold glare.
"And if your...words...failed to move them, what would you do then?"
"Well, I would very forcefully ask them to stop, maybe stare at them for a moment." Adam shook his head in shame, not believing how falsely this Element had chosen its host. She couldn't even conceive the thought of striking another being, let alone fighting one to the death to protect others. That left him with only one choice. To make her see.
Without another word, Adam turned and pointed his hand at the chicken coup, firing a blast of lightning that blew the front off of it and set it ablaze. Fluttershy gasped with horror as the chickens began to race out, squawking in fear as some of their feathers had been set ablaze. She rushed over to help them, only to hear another rumble of thunder and the birdhouses were blasted into nothingness.
"Adam stop! Why are you doing this?" she asked him, but his gaze remained cold as he looked past her and fired again, destroying more of the animals' homes. He snapped his fingers and a strong wind began to blow, tossing the birds around like dust in the wind. Fluttershy tried to take to the air to grab them, but the winds were far too strong for her and she was forced back down. "Adam! Please!" Adam looked down at her with nothingness in his eyes before firing off more lightning, leaving Fluttershy to desperately run around to save her animals.
'But I won't be fast enough!' she panicked as she barely got a family of mice out of the line of fire, but the thunder continued to rumble and more blasts went off.
'It seems that she is not getting it. I will have to be more direct,' Adam thought as he pointed his hand towards the house, specifically at a rabbit that he had wanted to blast in the ten seconds that he had known it. He was just about to fire when he very faintly felt something hit him in the back of his head. And while he wasn't sure if he had been struck, the gonging sound told him that he had been. He turned around to see Fluttershy standing behind him, tears streaking down her face as she held a shovel with a dent in it. A small smile crossed Adam's face as he looked down at her.
"You have taken the first step to becoming a better protector," he told her, yet the look she gave him told Adam that she wouldn't be forgiving him. He could live with that. "I do this now so that when the day arrives where you are forced to fight a foe to the end, you will not hesitate. There are some beings in this universe devoid of soul or conscious, that only seek to slaughter all in their path. They only listen to one answer and that is the answer I taught you today. Force."
He looked down at her to see that she was far to focused on helping the animals that had been attacked to listen to him, but her face told him that he had made his point. He could see a faint fire in her eyes now and that was enough. He took to the skies and headed to Canterlot, planning on telling Celestia what he had done here before Luna could spin her own version of it. And unknown to him, the yellow Pegasus watched him go, eyes cold as a new emotion entered her heart, one that she had rarely felt.
Absolute hatred.