//------------------------------// // All By Myself // Story: Crystal Castle // by Skrive Flip //------------------------------// Sombra was not sure how he had reached this point. How he had fallen so low. He seemed to keep finding new ways to dig himself deeper and deeper into this idiotic situation. And it had all started by something so stupid! “Hey, Lord Sombra?” “Yes, Brick?” The dark lord acknowledged the idiot´s presence, but didn't turn to look at him. He was in the middle of carving out a very fragile piece of crystal, wanting to turn it into the correct shape of a hinge before hardening it. “Can I get some time off?” While still not looking at the idiot, Sombra considered the question for a second. “How long exactly?” He asked, now just carefully floating two essential pieces together. He just needed to be extra careful- “Two Weeks.” Crash. For yet another time, Brick had caused Sombra to break something very precarious by simply saying the wrong things. “Why?” Sombra demanded in a low hum. Brick was a little uncomfortable by the dark Lord´s sudden change of tone. “Well, My family is going to be harvesting the Icicles soon, and I usually do the heavy lifting. I think they would notice I am gone If I wasn't there.” For what felt to Brick uncomfortably long, Sombra didn't answer. He thought about the situation. It was surely going to be troublesome if some of Brick´s (supposedly) extended family to begin poking their noses in Sombra´s castle before it was even finished, but considering that the idiot had been coming every day the last two weeks, He certainly didn't think highly of the inhabitants of that village, the family included. “Out of the Question.” Sombra calmly stated, his horn relighting as he picked up the broken pieces of crystal, slowly mending them back to order. “While we have made progress, We are still far from done. I cannot have you run around doing trivial things while my home still stands unfinished.” Brick accepted the explanation reluctantly. “Right. Of course. Sorry for asking Lord Sombra. I didn't know you needed me that much…” Crash. For the second time, Sombra ended up cracking the crystal hinge. In almost an instant, he turned with a hard glare directly onto Brick, his eyes lighting up in a gentle green. “Excuse me?” He asked, his voice colder than a frozen corpse. Brick stepped back nervously as Sombra had completely flipped again. Over the short time he had helped him, he had gotten used to the occasional emotional flip from his savior, but this one was the first that was actually terrifying. “Let me make one thing Clear, my little Idiot! You are here because you are useful to me! I don't Need you. I don't Need Anyone!” Sombra snarled. “O-Of cours-” Brick tried to reply, but he never got the chance. “You think I am helpless!? You think I can't handle myself without you?” “No! I-” “If you're that convinced! Then Why don't you just go back to that family of yours. That which has not even noticed that you're gone! Just go!” “B-But-” “GO!! And Don't come back till you're done with your little, ‘Family trip’. I’ll be right here when you’ll be back!” Sombra was doing his best to keep his mind on the positives. It had now been a full three and a half weeks since he had cheated death, and he already had incredible progress on his new home! He used the morning to assure himself that the new doors were functional, and didn’t get stuck. He had made three for now. One for his bedroom, One for the tunnel down to the hot spring, and one large and imposing as the gate to his home. Other than that, he had dug out two more rooms, one just as a side room to the throne room, making it an effective placing for a kitchen, and one which was the size of a moderate bedroom. He had also moved all the food and the kitchen utensils to their appropriate places, and given it a bit of extra love, as to make things easier access. As a final touch, he had equipped the Throne room with a very long crystal table, and several almost throne sized chairs. He had originally tried simply a smaller table set, but then there was so much extra space just wasted. So he settled on using the space constructively. Besides, he liked long tables, He reasoned for himself. All of this should give him lots of reasons to be happy, to be joyous, or at least not to sulk as much. But he wasn’t. He sulked even harder, and was even more gloomy than usual. (If by usual, he meant the short time he had been returned to physical form). For a while he had made great progress. He had not given himself time to relax at all. He had worked, and worked and worked. He had only focused on that stupid idea. ‘I'll show him… I was a King… I don't need his help… I don't need anypony!’. Those words, ‘I don't need anypony’ had kept circling in his mind like an enforced mantra. And while it was driving his progress. It was also driving him up the wall. He was at a loss of breath after having just dragged even more rocks out of his home. He was clenching his hooves around the hilt of the pickaxe while panting for breath. “Just… A little break… and then… back to work…” This pattern had repeated over and over again the past week and a half since Brick had left for his home, and Sombra had not let go of anything since then. Even if he knew how stupid it was to cling to a single sentence like this. He was only ruining himself. But he was too stubborn to give up. He had set himself up for this, now he better follow through! ‘Wouldn't be the hardest thing I had done before...’  A sharp and cool breeze snapped Sombra´s attention back to his surroundings. The caves which he used as a dumping ground was further away from the main site, so it was exposed to the elements. With that in mind, the exhausted monarch decided to head back. He would use the last of his energy to just trudge back to his castle and take a nap. Having taken this path quite a few times this week, the surroundings just blurred together, only really reaching back into his mind as he reached his newly created door. He was quite proud of that door. It looked imposing, and unless he had locked it, was easy to open. He had taken great pride and extra time in making the design say one clear message: ‘Stay out’. Of course the words weren't literally carved in the crystal, but the imposing flames and skulls carved in, might actually penetrate the skulls of even the thickest idiots. ‘Except maybe Brick… If he was here, he'd probably be like, ‘Hey Lord Sombra, I think somepony might have died on the door’. A groan escaped the former monarch as he just slammed the door shut behind him. He didn't want to think of the idiot. That idiot would come back at some point, and then he would take up waaay too much of his visual space, so he better keep his stupid mug out of his mental space as well. Continuing his slow and lifeless trudging, Sombra passed by his grand throne room, ignoring all the extra details he had added for the space, and just settled for going into his sanctuary and closing the door. The door here was very similar to the outside gate, but still had room for improvement. Once inside, Sombra immediately lit up his horn. The magic was quick and sent itself directly into Sombra´s newest addition to the room; A fireplace. There was a couple of logs there, and they caught fire quite easily with the burst from Sombra´s inner anger and dark magic. With a content sigh, feeling the room slowly beginning to get warmer, Sombra threw himself upon his fainting couch. “Finally…” He mumbled. Allowing himself to finally relax a bit more, Sombra let that gentle buzzing settle over his muscles. His breathing slowly began to resemble that of a sleeping bear as he just gave up all control over his own functions. Now was the time for relaxation, and absolute laziness. It had been quite a while since he had actually considered himself lazy… But perhaps it was time for another round. He let the gentle sound of the crackling fireplace and the otherwise quiet sanctuary room lull him into a completely relaxed state. His peaceful state, however, was ruined by a sudden loud growl. He was hungry. “Urgh… Brick! Make me some food! I am hungry!” Sombra lazily called out into the sanctuary. No response. Opening his eyes again, Sombra stared tiredly back up into the ceiling, the realization gently dawning on him. “Right… He´s not here… Damnit…” Sombra groaned in annoyance. He really didn't want to get up. He was just perfectly comfortable, and then he just had to be hungry. “Best just get to it…” With a heavy thud, Sombra rolled off of his couch, and smacked onto the stone flooring. “Right… Legs…” Grumbling and groaning, Sombra got back up and sludged out of his sanctuary and back into his newly made kitchen. He almost didn't feel that he was moving anymore, going through what little of his castle he had and getting inside the newest kitchenary addition to his home. He just lazily began to look through several cupboards, searching for anything that might be fittingly able to sustain him. In the end, he settled on some odd mixture of oats and carrots. He simply stuffed them into a bowl and shook them about a bit, settling on the idea that that would have to do. He didn't even bother leaving the kitchen, as he just began to munch down his food in a very undignified manner. He didn't care anymore. Nopony was here. He was truly alone in his great frozen sanctuary. ‘You look like a Norpony.’ Sombra snapped his head around, searching for the source of the sound, but found nothing. He was still alone, gorging on his food like a barbarian. “Great…” he grumbled. Not even during his dinner could there be times of solace, could it? Sinking into his meal, Sombra tried to eject any and all thought from his mind, just letting the gentle gratification of getting sustenance speak for itself. Once he had reached the bottom of the bowl, he threw it nonchalantly over his shoulder, knowing it would hit the counter somewhere. The wooden bowl clattered around and made quite a ruckus, but Sombra didn't care; he just sat there and sighed, trying to feel content. ‘You're just going to leave it there?’  “Okay!” Sombra suddenly announced loudly, getting back onto his hooves again, sighing in frustration. “I need a bath…” He concluded, not even thinking, as his magic picked up the bowl and placed it neatly by the counter, before he left the room completely devoid of life.   With an almost lifeless slugging, Sombra headed past the main chamber and down the deeper section halls. It was quite the incredible stroke of luck that they had struck the cave network, and the deeper hotspring inside was just perfect for Sombra to relax in. In the time Brick had been away, Sombra had also given the tunnel to the spring a bit more attention. Now there were some actual steps and he had placed a couple of crystal torches at key locations, as to light the path. All it needed, was for somepony to get near the crystal, and it would illuminate itself, and the next two. A simple magical system, really. Though Sombra didn’t allow himself to stop and reflect on his own good work. He just walked past it. It was quite a relief as the spring cave dawned itself before Sombra. Its dim crystal lighting combined with the gentle warmth of the vapor over the heated waters created a rather cozy atmosphere. Sombra didn't waste any time. He sat himself down on the side of the pool and gently let himself be enveloped by the heated waters. The feeling of the warm water, the relaxation of his muscles, almost felt Alien to him. It was as if he hadn't truly relaxed in ages. And thinking of it, Sombra was gradually having a hard time to remember when he last relaxed properly and felt at bliss. There was one moment that slowly came to mind though. The image of him at that lake… “No.” Sombra sharply cut off his own train of thought and shook his head. “I refuse to think about that… Harlot any further…” He asserted to himself.   Despite his stubbornness, much like a zebrican buzzard, his mind gently glazed over the times. “Let's Jump in!” Sombra slammed a hoof roughly into the cold stone floor, hoping to shock the thoughts clean from his mind. “Just Don't….” “I dont think thats a good idea, you don't know how deep it is…” As if holding on for dear life, he clamped his hooves over his ears and shook his head. “Stop thinking… This is my sanctuary… This is my home… My Home… My…” “Oh really? Only one way to find out~” Sombra´s roar echoed through the entire mountain as he threw his head backwards. He wasn't thinking himself. It was the thoughts making themselves. It was the memories, suddenly returning to trump recent victories. They began circling his consciousness like a pair of murderous crows. ‘Got to clear my thoughts. Clear them fully.’ Sombra thought, and in a panic, threw himself into the pool. The sudden and almost burning hot embrace of the pool encased him and cut off every harrowing thought. All that existed was here and now. His thoughts were contained. Everything had been reduced down to the serenity of the water. He could not feel anything else, but relief. ‘Now… On the count of Three, Get back out of the water. And the past will be past. The Harlot will be gone, and the dead will… stay dead… One… Two… Three!’ Sombra broke with the water in a majestic fashion. He shook his head and his long mane free of excess water, laughing all the while as Sonnet was just standing there. “You're insane, you know that Sombra?” She asked, trying to suppress a giggle. “You aren't joining me?” The dark crystal unicorn asked with a mock hurt frown. “Not in a thousand years. The water is freezing.” “Its just perfect!” “I can see you shaking from here!” Sombra pouted and gave an audible tut. “Is the Princess too afraid of getting a little wet?” “No, The Princess however is not dumb enough to just jump into freezing water.” She stated and sat herself down on the edge of the pool. “There is no way, You, are getting me in that water.” “Oh Well.” Sombra commented with a Shrug. “Good thing I don't work alone~” “Huh?” “Incoming!” Before Princess Sonnet could react, she was roughly shoved from her perfectly dry seat directly into the pool with a panicked squeal. She tried taking flight, but just ended up making a much broader splash as she struck the pool. The waves splashed over everyone, drenching Sombra anew, and even the pushing perpetrator at the edge of the water had gotten a taste of watery justice. Suddenly breaking with the water again, Princess Sonnet gasped for breath and coughed a bit of offending water free of her throat. “W-W-What the-” She coughed a couple more times. “How even?-” She asked in confusion until she turned away from the heartily laughing Sombra, and turning to the guilty pusher. She was just a little unicorn filly, not even showing a cutie mark yet; the purple furred youngster was rolling on her back laughing, her much darker mane clinging to her head. Sonnet however, was not laughing. She was getting rather puffy and pouted. “Et tu Nightfall!?” The little filly was doing her best to contain her laughter. “Sorry!” She snorted. “It was Sombra´s idea.” “You little Snitch!” Sombra playfully snapped at the little filly. “You would sell out your partner in crime that easily?”   “Yea! What are you going to do about it?” Nightfall stuck out her tongue playfully. Sombra turned to face Sonnet, catching eye contact, and the two of them sharing a silent plan, only communicated through an almost mirrored smirk. Both of their horns then lit up in their respectively coloured glows, and they collectively picked up the little Nightfall, floating her over the pond. “No! Wait! No Fair-” Splash. Unanimously, the two had dropped the snitch in the water, leaving the little filly completely drenched as she broke with the water as well, her perfectly cut mane clinging to her skull as if someone had stuffed a cardboard box over her face. And Sombra thought it was hysterical. While he was already bursting with laughter, Sonnet was doing her best to contain her mirth, though failing, and resulting in a few undignified snorts. Nightfall in the middle was not amused. “Thats not fair!” “Oh really?” Sombra said, between smaller fits of laughter. “You conspired against a Princess, and afterwards, betrayed your brother. Be thankful, Nighty, that a dunk in the water is all you get!” He smirked. “No Fair!” The little filly pouted, turning to Sonnet. “Princess, Tell him!” She wasn't telling anything. She was just laughing. She could not hold it in anymore. She was laying flat on her back in the water, holding her sides and laughing at the sibling squabble. Sombra just looked on as he saw his little Nightfall take to leap onto Sonnet, playfully ‘fighting’ with the Princess. Everything was so idyllic that he was convinced it could last forever. He felt that well known fluttering in his heart as he viewed the scene. He never thought he would ever be happier. The waters splayed everywhere as Sombra violently threw himself onto the side of the pool, slamming his body down into the stone and roaring in anger. The sound reverberated through the entire mountain, shaking it to its core. He was clasping his hooves to his temples and slamming his head into the stone floor, still roaring. “STOP IT! GET OUT! GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT!” he repeated for each slam of his head against the granite flooring. Everything needed to leave his head, with force. He could not take it. It would only become worse from here. He only stopped when the pain from hammering his head against the rock had ceased to be, and was replaced by the simple sensation of occasional sudden pressure. And by that point, Sombra was slowly loosing all other sensations as well. He flopped onto his back, his eyes rolling back in his skull, his vision going completely blurry, and a weird scent of blood was beginning to coat the atmosphere. He had physically shaken his mind to the point where his thoughts were less than coherent. And all he could think of was the momentary bliss of this condition. Only the sharp ringing sound of his ears, the dull throbbing from his bleeding head, and the deep embrace of his own slowing breathing. And yet even here… he was not left alone… “P-Please… Live for me… Sombra… P-Please… Live…” The voice spoke. The message from so long ago. ‘Sorry… Nighty… I can't… I can't…’ Sombra whispered back in the cave. The deep sting that was sinking into his heart forced Sombra to give up any remaining pretence of control of anything anymore. His eyes filled with tears and he broke into a deep set of bloody sobs. He was on the edge of oblivion again. Everything was over. He was all alone, and he could do nothing anymore. All had been for nothing. Nothing mattered anymore. He wanted the shadows he controlled to swallow him up, pull him into the earth and drag him beyond this mortal coil. He wanted to join her so badly… “S-S-Sombra!?” The dark unicorn was shivering, his body trying in panic to salvage everything, even as the mind had despaired. Yet now, that little voice, was like a gentle jolt of magic through his entire cerebral cortex. Sombra forced his eyes to squint open, trying to make sense of the image he was receiving, blurred by tears and shock from several cases of blunt force trauma. It was a large gray fuzzy mass standing above him. A pinch of deep blonde atop of the mess, and two slightly green orbs in the center gave Sombra a hypothesis, immediately confirmed as the mass spoke again. “A-A-Are you Alright!?” Brick asked in deep-seeded concern. Sombra stared at the gray mass for a few seconds. He was laying here beneath this pony. Exposed, Weak, Pathetic, Ruined, Crying Mess. With a strange sudden feeling of clarity, even with his head swimming, Sombra wiped his eyes. “What does it look like, you idiot!?” He growled at Brick, who almost stepped back from the sudden bout of aggression. “And where in the name of Hel were you!?” Sombra hissed as he slowly, and very groggily, shifted himself around on his hooves again, shakily trying to stand up again. Brick stammered in confusion. “B-B-But… I told you i'd be back in t-two weeks, B-but I came back earlier-” “You are not early, You are late!” Sombra scolded at his recently returned assistiot. “I made it clear for you to come back within a Week!” “B-B-But…” Brick tried to reason, knowing that he had heard correctly. “You told me not to come back until i was don-” “No! I told you to be back within the week!” Sombra finally was able to stand again, but his limbs were shaky, and blood gently trickled down the side of his head. “You failed to do something so incredibly simple!” Sombra continued to rant as he slowly stumbled towards, only just being prevented from falling to the ground again by Brick supporting him. “S-Sombra you´re bleeding!” The former monarch turned to face Brick with an almost literal death glare. “You don't Say!” He said, his voice thick with sarcasm. “So what are you waiting for?” He asked, leaning in closer to Brick. “Get me to my couch, and get me some bandages… NOW!” Brick had no comeback. All he could do was comply. He threw Sombra onto his back again and brought him to the sanctuary chamber. He was incredibly quick afterwards to administer amature first aid, and stop the bleeding with a bandage from some of the boxes he had brought Sombra a couple of weeks earlier. That, Of course, didn't stop Sombra from correcting and jabbing at Brick all the steps along the way. “And now that you are back!-” Sombra growled, even while Brick was helping laying him back down, after bandaging the unicorn´s head. “There are lots of your chores you left behind in your absence! The place will need to be cleaned up, and the room down the third hall needs to be cleared out!” “B-But Sombra, You´re hurt-” “Surprise! I didn't know that! Now just GET TO WORK!” Sombra snapped loudly at Brick, almost pushing the earth pony back. Forced to concede, Brick complied with his head hung low, only just stopping in the doorway to sneak another glance at Sombra, before he went on as demanded of him. Now, alone in his sanctuary again, Sombra leaned back and, unbeknownst to him, smiled. “Finally… Back to normal.” He mused, as now everything he had to focus on, was still within shouting distance. Now This… Was peace.