“Brother, Father there is a matter I must discuss, now that my studies have completed and I am free.” Sombra stood before the throne, his brother standing to the side of his father. The king was now older, showing his age despite the steel in his eyes. The prince stood beside the father, tall and proud. Unlike the father, there was a coldness to the eyes, as if he was looking down upon you.
“You may speak son.” The King motioned with a hoof, noticing the way his second born carried himself. There was strength, dignity, but also something else. A softness, despite the hardships witnessed. If not for the difference in color, it was almost like seeing his wife reborn. The Prince narrowed his eyes as Sombra bowed low, and straightened up.
“I have thought long and hard on this, determining the best method to dealing with this issue do to the complicated nature of the subject. As such, I eventually concluded that the only way to get this out in the open, while also seeing justice done, is to speak the issue to you, Father. The issue is thus: my brother, the current Prince, killed my Mother.” Sombra paused, and waited. The King made no outward reaction, and the Prince was also skilled at the mask. Sombra did not need to read them however, he knew their thoughts from years of being around them.
The King leaned forward, “Prove it.” Sombra nodded slowly, and closed his eyes for a moment, opening them as he began.
“On the day you broke the news to me about her demise, I snuck in to see the body. Upon her body is a scarf, which covered up a wound made by two fangs puncturing the body. As you well know, Changelings only drain nutrients via the horn, their fangs are not designed to drain the essence from a pony.” Sombra paused once more, and continued.
“Crystal Ponies are designed to drain nutrients from crystals in cases of emergency, and we naturally absorb some of the energy if we are surrounded by crystal. I believe the conclusion is obvious.” Sombra bowed his head as he finished, raising it and looking directly at his father. The King paused, putting a hoof to his chin, calculating.
“There are other ponies it could be, for example you.” Speaking up, the Prince suggested helpfully to the King, who nodded once, and raised his gaze to Sombra. Sombra bowed once more.
“That would normally be the case, however you kept a diary. While you don’t so much as come out and admit it, I do believe this counts as enough evidence to debunk that theory.” Sombra held up a green book, and the Prince growled, before once more returning to his poker face. The King took the book as it was levitated over to him, and flicked through the pages. After a moment, he raised his head, and looked to the Prince.
“It is a forgery father, to cover his lies and deceit.” The Prince made no move as the King narrowed his eyes, and then turned toward Sombra once more.
“Do you desire the throne? Is that the reason you bring this to my attention?” The King waited as Sombra blinked, and then shook his head.
“No father, my aim is sorely to see justice done. I have been trained to advise the King, not be it.” Sombra saluted once, and once more stood at attention. The King glanced to the Prince, and then back to Sombra.
“Very well my son, however there is a problem you must face. As you are challenging the word of a Prince, who outranks you, you will be required to face your brother in a duel. The better fighter decides the fight, the truth, and who will be the heir to my throne.” The King watched as Sombra paused, looking away as he considered the new information. The Prince stepped forward, readying his sword.
“I will defend my honor as rightful heir to my final breath!” The Prince began to buckle up the loosely worn armor, putting the sword in his teeth, placing a second one in his tail, gripped by earth pony magic. On his four feet were special runes carved into his hooves. Finished, he stood proud, and waited.
“I’m afraid my father, I must decline the offer.” Sombra bowed his head, and the King raised an eyebrow.
“What is your reasoning, my son?” The King waited as Sombra pointed to the Prince, and spoke honestly.
“The Prince has been trained to lead far better than I could ever achieve, and I would not be able to dedicate myself to the arcane arts as I so dearly wish. His dethronement might spell disaster for the Crystal Empire, as he is a strong leader, if one who wishes to destroy whom he does not like. My mother is dead, but the Empire is still here, and must be protected, even if it means her death will never see justice...” Sombra bowed once more, and turned to leave.
“As noble as that is my son, you do not have a choice. By bringing this issue to my attention, you must now fight your brother so he can regain his honor and pride that you tried to take away.” The King watched Sombra pause, and the Prince smirk. Traditions had to be honored, and Sombra had to be tested.
“I do not want to fight,” he spoke, turning to look at the two. The Prince smirked, and dived forward, lowering his blade to swipe at Sombra. Sombra backflipped out of the way, looking down as the Prince leapt for him. Sword met magic and Sombra sailed across the room, standing on the wall.
“Brother, please.” Sombra blocked another blow with his magic as the Prince swung a hoof, impacting it against the shield. The shield shattered, and the Prince twisted as he fell, swiping with his tail. Sombra’s magic glowed and a scythe materialised, blocking the attack. Still standing on the wall, Sombra looked down at the Prince, who growled.
“There’s no alternative,” sighed Sombra, and he closed his eyes as they began to leak purple mist. After a moment, he opened them revealing his green eyes. Sombra raised his front feet, and ended the spell, sending him landing on the floor. Sombra raised his scythe, and looked to his brother, who was grinning, picturing how this was going to end.
It was over in a moment. The Prince dived for Sombra, who side stepped and used magic to throw the Prince off balance. Rolling back to his feet, the Prince apprached more slowly, and blinked as he was suddenly flung into the air by the flat side of Sombra’s scythe. Sombra leapt up and once more hit him with the flat side, sending the Prince to the ground. Before he could get up, Sombra was once more over him, scythe pressed into the Prince’s neck. The Prince tried to swipe at Sombra with his tail, but found his second blade tossed away with magic.
“No! You can’t! How?” The Prince struggled vainly as Sombra stood over him, vacant of any expression.
“I am to be your wizard, that is what I was trained for. My job is to protect you, and I cannot do that unless my level of expertise is above that of any other pony.” Sombra looked to the King as he clapped his hooves together slowly.
“Well spoken my son, you have proven yourself, and are now the successor to my throne. I will see that justice is done to your brother.” The King motioned with a hoof, and Sombra stepped away from the old Prince, his blade vanishing like shadow. Two guards walked over and lowered their sword to the old Prince’s neck, who glowered but remained still. Walking toward the edge of the throne room, he looked down over the city, not concerned with the lack of guardrails.
“But father, I have not been trained to be a successor.” Sombra looked toward a section of the town that was slowly rising out of poverty, and saw the dancing form barely visible from this height.
“Don’t worry my son, we still have plenty of time to teach you the ways of the Kin-Graaaalk” The King’s noise at the end drew Sombra’s attention, and he turned, widening his eyes as he saw his father being held by his brother, mouth closed over the neck as he drained the life out of him. The guards were unconscious on the floor, and Sombra began to cast a spell to release his father, but knew it was already too late.
“Father!” Sombra saw the body be dropped, and his brother slowly make his way toward him, bloodlust in his eyes.
“Sombra, as rightful heir, I order you to obey me.” The Prince, while technically no longer the Prince, had yet to be officially removed from his position. Sombra watched as the Prince walked toward him, and shook his head.
“I cannot brother,” he replied, and the Prince smiled in response, standing very close to his brother.
“Then die,” he spoke, and dived forward, attempting to bite down on Sombra’s neck. Sombra twisted backwards, avoiding the bite but causing him to land on his back. The Prince began to slip forward, having misjudged the closeness of the edge. Sombra rolled out of the way, and called upon his magic, trying to grab his brother before he fell. However, he grabbed him just as he was about to vanish over the edge, and now there was nothing but his magic holding the brother there.
Sombra stood up, and concentrated, slowly lifting his brother back into the platform, but still holding in the magic. Sombra breathed in, and then back out, and looked coldly at his brother. The brother raised his hoof and shattered the magic, diving forward and biting down on Sombra’s neck.
Sombra cried out in pain, that quickly grew silent, and closed his eyes as he slumped. It was not well known, but draining from the neck also injected a spell into the victim, rendering them unable to retaliate. Sombra’s eyes sparked, and the purple glow faded as he tried to fight it, and failed. Horn barely glowing, he reached out instinctively for a spell he hadn’t realised he knew, and his horn trailed a beam of green energy toward his brother’s flat head.
The beam thickened, and reversed, and Sombra felt his mind clear, but was still unable to move. Both brother’s met each other’s eyes, and the Prince growled. Changelings absorbed magic from the horn due to the fact it was much more efficient, if dangerous. It did not stop the subject from struggling, making subterfuge much more important. However, as the Prince was an Earth Pony and not a Unicorn, he was forced to resort to inefficient tactics.
“Curse, you,” the Prince spoke as he released Sombra, unable to bite down any longer due to drained energy. The Prince collapsed to the right, and found nothing but air. Sombra was slow to react, as the poison was still wearing off, and he tried to once more grab his brother. However, he was not fast enough, and the body fell out of his range, sailing down the large drop of the castle, and landed with a thud.
‘In the end, my brother still got off easy. Justice was not done today.’ Sombra looked down sadly, before turning and making his way past the recovering guards to the body of his father, and closed the open eyes. Lifting up the body, he descended the stairs to a proper balcony, and raised his voice.
“Citizens of the Crystal Empire! I bring you terrible news! Below me, you will find the body of my brother, and in my magic, is my father.” Sombra did not hide his tears, lest they think he planned this. All bowed their heads, and the empire dimmed slightly in brilliance. Sombra lowered his father’s body, and closed his eyes for a moment.
“We will hold a funeral to bury both tomorrow. As with all days of mourning, we wll cease all work to honor our fallen King, and Prince, before moving on for the sake of what we stand for.” Sombra opened his eyes, and looked down at all the people, and saw some nod.
“Any and all discussions about succession can wait until after. That is all.” Sombra bowed his head, and once more took his father’s body inside, laying it down in a sleeping position. After a moment, guards brought up the body of the Prince, badly broken and dead.
“Please leave me,” he spoke bowing his head as he let himself cry over his family. The guards stood over him.
“I’m sorry my Prince, but we need you to take over the King’s duties. They cannot wait for you to mourn.” The crushing sadness in the guard’s voice spoke volumes over how this death was affecting all, and Sombra stood, breathing in and out as he cast a spell. Turning, his face was devoid of emotion, and he stood tall and proud as he gave a nod.
“Very well, let us go.”