A Wondrous Discovery
The sound of a clock ticking slowly was the only sound that could be heard throughout the large section that was the East Wing.
Sombra had listened to the few words the princess had to offer him on his research. “Look deeper. Dig deeper, there’s bound to be something” he recalled her saying.
So now here he sat, going through the fourth book he had found in the East Wing on magic artifacts that could cure the illness plaguing the citizens of this empire. But so far all he had found were vague facts and nothing concrete.
A sigh of frustration escaped his lips as he tossed the book away and picked up another with his magic. “What am I missing?” he muttered.
Before leaving the princess had told him that magic on a much higher level must be used if there was ultimately no solution that science had been unable to find. And if he contacted the princesses now, there was a chance and only small chance that his allies would have no choice but to seal off the entire empire while they found a cure for this ailment.
And who knows how that long it could take to find such a cure. Days? Weeks, months, years? No...I have to find a cure first. Only till I’ve found one will I actually be able to relax.
He turned the page on the book he was reading tilted Ancient Magic. This had been one of the books he’d been trying to find but had been unsuccessful in locating till now. Turning the page Sombra saw many ancient artifacts that had nothing to do with his current predicament.
He was starting to get angry. Frustrated almost.
A thought popped into his head as he continued flipping pages. What if I do end up being the last Crystal pony on Equus? While all the others, the princess, the citizens, Radiant Hope, my friends...they all slip into permanent comatose? Leaving me the last one of my kind to survive this horrible virus.
Leaving me to be...alone.
Sombra shook his head, knocking the idea out of his mind. “That won’t happen” he told himself. “I won’t let it.”
And so he continued to read. Seconds became minutes, minutes became an hour, and finally that hour turned into complete frustration that bubbled up in Sombra with every book he tossed away as useless every single time. Until finally...he exploded in rage.
Thrusting his head upward as he rose to his hooves, crystals shot out of the ground dispersing the books he saw as useless.
The ground became caked in Sombra’s crystal shards, dispersing every single book in it’s path all except for one.
When Sombra had calmed, his anger diminishing, his breath regaining a steady pace and his teeth no longer gritted in blinding fury, he took a deep breath and exhaled. The burning bright red glow of his horn receding into a small spark at the tip of his spiral horn before it died within a second.
Looking around at the mess he had made the unicorn frowned before trotting forward, gathering books, torn pages and overturned shelves fixing all that had been damaged as he moved deeper into the East Wing.
A few minutes of fixing his own mess and he was done, but not before he noticed the one book that had gone unaffected by his magic.
Moving towards the book Sombra stared at it with interest, unaware that the book had managed to protect itself from his fury when he’d lashed out in his rage.
Tier Six: Dark Magic, the title read. It looked a brand new and had a lock on it, the book was also rather large for it’s size.
Interesting, he thought lifting the book up in his magic.
With the book Sombra trotted towards one of the desks that occupied a insane amount of space with the notes and few books he had left on it. Running his right front foreleg over the table he knocked everything cleanly off and dropped the massive book down with a thud, before placing his front hooves up on the desk and sitting on his haunches.
“Let’s hope you have what I’m looking for” Sombra said with some self-assurance.
Sombra was about to flip the book open with a raised hoof, but he stopped when he considered what he was about to do.
He’d heard things, stories when he was young on how curious ponies who stuck their noses in business that was never meant to be prodded ended up inviting something horrible on themselves.
But then the princess’s words echoed in his head. “Dig deeper, there’s bound to be something.”
Sombra stared at the book, that though appearing much older than him still looked new. His thoughts swirling with both caution, desire for comprehension and a rigorous determination to save his people before it was too late.
Sombra’s forehead slightly wrinkled, as brows dropped with pensive thought. Whatever is in this book, was meant to be locked away, sealed from any eye, judging solely off the spell placed on it he thought, his horn tingling at the sense of the strong protective spells placed around the lock.
But if I’m going to stop this pestilence from becoming a global epidemic than I’m going to have to make sacrifices, he decided. Besides he added for his own comfort. “I’ve always wanted to see what the ancient arts had to offer.”
And so Sombra began his attempt to break the spell that now surrounded the lock. His horn tingling and feeling warm with every second that passed as he began trying to gauge the level of magic used on this book.
Once he had been able to get an idea of how strong the spell was Sombra began trying to apply different formulas in his mind to find out a way to break it. The charm casted on the lock was meant to keep anypony of low magic level out and even those of tier three out. But Sombra who believed himself to be quite skilled in magic, saw this as not a problem, for he had always believed himself to be of the tier four class.
And so he began applying the formulas he had been vaguely able to collect from his judgement of how strong the spell was. It took time, his first attempt a failure when he ignited his horn and tried to break the tumblers in this lock, only for there to be a shock sent to his horn and forcing him to stop as a small headache began to hit him.
But this did nothing but invigorate the stallion to continue. For now this was not just about him gaining knowledge, but it was also about him saving his fellow ponies. And to Sombra that was of crucial importance at this exact moment.
So he tried again. Though like a newbie lockpicker, Sombra was unsuccessful his first five attempts. Pushing on now actually starting to work up a sweat and his horn starting to tingle from the number of shocks he’d received on each fail, Sombra gritted his teeth and focused. One steady bead of sweat sliding down his temple as he applied the altered formula and algorithms he had made for this attempt.
“Alright” he said letting out a calm breath. “Let’s try this one...” closing his eyes and focusing on the spell, Sombra began applying the new synthesized formula he had made as his horn reignited for the eighth time.
Silence, aside from the gentle sound of the library clock echoed out through the room as Sombra gave all his attention to the challenge at hoof
“...” CRACK! The first barrier out of three had been broken, Sombra let a small successful smile appear on his face, but his expression grew firm once more as he could not lose focus.
The second barrier was tougher and would require more magic. Sombra added on to the power his already glowing horn now releasing a small parade of sparks shooting out the tip of his horn before the aura increased in size.
A slight fracture sounded in the air as the second barrier had begun to break under the magical force being applied. Sombra focused even harder, the slightly wavering glow of his horn steadying itself as he applied a bit more attention.
CRACK!
The third barrier was all that remained and Sombra still hadn’t let up, for if he lost focus now it would mean he would have to create an entirely new formula, for every time he failed the barrier would readjust slightly in aspects it had failed.
Sombra added a little more juice into his magic. Things had gone smoothly so far and the barriers hadn’t proved as hard as he had originally thought. This was good.
Barrier three proved him wrong though.
For this particular barrier Sombra had to maintain focus and slightly alter his formula at the same time to match this barrier. It was trying, but after several minutes he did it.
Good, now to break this blockade. With his horn gaining a brighter luminescence and second overglow Sombra poured his determination into his magic and finally, the last crack told him he had finally made it through security.
He sighed, his shoulders drooping, his face that had strained as he focused relaxing and his horn losing its glow as he allowed his focus to slip.
When he opened his eyes, the skull like lock that had been on the rather large book was shattered, the bits of which Sombra brushed away with a hoof before he opened the book, another sigh of relief escaping him glad to see he did not have to face another tough security measurement like the last.
It was time to get reading.
Sombra opened the first page to the rather large book. Flipping through the extra pages that were blank the stallion’ finally stopped at the first page.
It was blank.
Sombra’s brow rose. He flipped to the next page and looked at the second and third. Both were blank.
His eyes slanted in suspicion. Igniting his horn Sombra let his aura stretch to the pages of the book he now stared at, and no sooner had his magic surrounded the cover and touched the very first page did he receive a shock that threw him slightly off the table and away from the book.
“Ugh” he groaned rubbing his horn. Rising back to his hooves slowly Sombra took a look at the ancient tome.
It was blank.
What in the name of the eight gods?! he glared with a slam of his hoof.
“I wasted over two hours of my time for this when the princess and the rest of my fellow citizens are out there suffering?!” Sombra exclaimed with annoyance as he stared at the blank pages.
“Do something!” he demanded. “I refuse to have my empire, my home be nothing but a speck of nuisance in history! I refuse to be the last known citizen of my empire, who could have done something but because he wasn’t strong, because he didn’t have the knowledge, the skill, he let everyone down. I refuse such a fate do you hear me!” he snarled at the book.
Nothing happened.
But then again what did you expect. It was a book. A book that had had a powerful protection spell on it that had taken him nearly three hours to crack.
Shouting at it was like shouting at a rock. You’d never get a response.
Sombra’s anger slowly died down as he realized his own stupidity. His forehooves that had been so firmly pressed against the desk now sliding down it slowly.
“I suppose I should continue looking elsewhere” he said to himself, preparing to rise from his seat.
That is till his eyes caught the appearance of words on the book. Words he could not understand.
Immediately dropping back to the book’s side Sombra stared at the words trying to figure out what language it was.
Equestrian...no....Deerheimian? No. Macropulian? Wolf? Griffon? No none of these. Sombra’s eyes continued to scan the book as the words continued to emerge on the paper. A few seconds later the display of what Sombra could assume were sentences ended with a question mark.
Sombra stared at the pages for what felt like five minutes before he shook his head.
“I don’t understand what you’re saying, let alone what you’re asking if it’s even a question” he said with a sigh. “If only it was in Equestrian.”
The book turned a few pages on it’s own revealing another blank page. A second later, words began to appear on that page just as the previous one. This time it was in words Sombra could understand.
“What do you desire?” he read.
“What do I desire?” he whispered to himself not fully understanding the question. Hm, an idea brewing in his head.
“Show me dark magic. Any kind it does not matter what, just show me” he stated.
A second passed. Then another, the book responded: “As you wish.”
Any source of light that illuminated the room was suddenly cut off or dimmed, filling the entire East Wing with utter darkness, save for a few candlelights and the book’s now glowing words.
Wind that shouldn’t have been able to reach where Sombra was, turned the pages till eventually they stopped somewhere in the middle of the book. A second later a list of information ranging from spells to incantations, to potions, to summonings were all displayed in the book.
Sombra flipped through page after page. His eyes hungrily grazing every spell, every word on the page.
It was enamoring.
Soon enough though Sombra’s resolve for his original purpose came back to him. Shaking his head and focusing, the stallion tore his eyes away from the spells and spoke to the book again.
“Show me a way to save the Crystal Empire.
The pages, that were covered in nothing but either dead spells or incantations all disappeared. The next thing that appeared, bleeding itself on the page, in bright green letters were the words: “Turn The Page.”
He did as such.
Nothing was there as Sombra had expected. The book took time to reveal whatever secrets it held, so he waited. Seconds became minutes and nothing happened.
Sombra stared at the book, waiting, expecting his only chance to bring fruit something that would allow him to save the Crystal Empire.
Nothing.
...Let me try something. His horn glowing Sombra, waited one more second to see if anything would happen. Still nothing. “Here goes then” he said taking in a deep breath Sombra extended his metaphorical hoof to the book’s blank page, in the process his aura encompassing the entire book.
Doing so the pages turned a light sick green color, and the next thing the scholar knew his vision had been clouded by it.
“I will show you the way to save your empire” a voice said to him.
The stallion was now surrounded by darkness, no longer was he in the Crystal library, or the East Wing or even Equestria itself. He was just in a large space. No sky, no ground, nothing. Just floating there as the voice spoke to him.
“In exchange, this journey may cause you to lose sight of who you are. Are you sure you wish to seek this sort of power?”
Sombra hesitated. Power. In truth deep in Sombra’s heart. In a more darker part of him it was something he’d always wanted. Not to do wrong or gain control of the empire but for the sake of knowledge and to make things right for the better. To help. And now here was his chance, to help his people and get something he’d wanted for quite some time.
No. “I don’t want it for myself” he said with some minor hesitation. “I want it for my allies. No matter what the challenge is I will go. Just tell me what it is that can give me this kind of power to save the Crystal Empire and it’s people.”
Silence, before the voice of the book spoke again. “Very well. In the heart of the crystal mountains, there is a cave. A cave that contains a vial that will grant you the power you desire. Once this power has been bequeathed unto you, you must return to the Crystal Heart and use the magic enhancement you gain on it. Whatever healing spell you desire should open the way to save your people. The Crystal Heart should do the rest of the work, that it wasn’t able to before.”
A feeling of relief washed over Sombra. But it was brief.
“But” the voice said. “You will need to face your own greatest fear and overcome the darkness within before you will be able to obtain the power you desire.”
“And if I lose?” Sombra asked with some uneasiness.
“Then you and your people are doomed” the voice stated.
A few seconds of strong tension filled silence, filled the spaceless area as Sombra took in the weight of what he was about to accept.
If I succeed my people live free of this curse. If I fail we all go. Is it worth it?
The voice dragged him out of his thoughts with it’s next question. “Do you accept this journey?”
Silence.
The voice tried again. “Do you accept this journey?”
Sombra considered it. This was his life he was about to sacrifice after all. Ultimately though he made the wise choice.
“I accept.”
With a flash of light Sombra awoke back in the East Wing, slumped over the book. The book that had been glowing brightly now died out, revealing a picture of the small vial containing a purple liquid in it.
Underneath the vial was a name under it reading: Magnus.
Sombra stared at the vial for a few seconds before rising to his hooves and heading home.
He had a trip to prepare for.
The sound of hooves crunching against snow as the strong icy winds whipped a grey stallion’s dark black mane against the wind, along with his deep red scarf as he slowly yet gradually made his way out of the Crystal Empire’s vicinity.
The blizzard’s winds grew stronger with every step the unicorn took, till he was finally deep enough within the blizzard unable to see even the distant view of the Crystal Empire’s figure from his viewpoint.
Looking up through his goggles at the faint shadow of the mountain in the distance, Sombra’s eyes narrowed with determination as he lifted a hoof to tighten the scarf around him, for even the smallest fraction of warmth it may give.
The unicorn trudged onward through the snow. Ready to face whatever awaited him ahead.
Ready to gain the power necessary to save his people, at any costs at all, Sombra had promised Radiant Hope and the princess before he left.
“I will save you.”