//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Sombra, Rise to Power 
// by LotusCake 
//------------------------------//

I would have to say my descent to madness, rise to power, and realization of truth began at the mere age of seventeen. This is the age I first met her. The love of my life.

Her name was Clear Night. A mare whose coat mirrored the night sky and all her hues. Whose mane and tail a perfect harvest moon yellow. The eyes of a most divine blood moon, made all the more beautiful by the twinkle they reflected from the stars. But of all of these, it was her cutie mark that attracted me to her. She wore it proudly. A simple skull.

A little background scenery for you. It was a beautiful night in my country of Tansylmanea. It was about the hour of midnight. The moon high in the sky. The grass dewed. The pond I stood by every night reflected me and the moon, but not my companion. Why? She can't very easily produce a reflection with no body, could she? What? I forgot to mention that I can interact with ghosts? My bad.

Her, the ghost that is, name doesn't matter. She is but a minor detail in this tale. The real mystery is why another living pony stood say this pool at this time. For the past several years, only I and the ghosts stood at it's banks...

But there she stood. Her beauty caught my eye. The ghost prompted me to go over to her. I never once ignored the advice of the dead and wasn't about to start now. I trotted over shyly.

She caught sight of me and smiled.

"H-hello... M-my name i-is Sombra... I l-like your cutie m-mark..." I said.

"Hello Sombra! My name is Clear Night. Nice to meet you. I would like to return the compliment, but I'm afraid your cloak is in the way. Would you mind to much if i ask you to move it so that I may see it?"

Of course i moved the cloak at her heeding... But as I did, her eyes widened and the ghost giggled. For the first time in ages I spoke to the ghost in the presence of another.

"SH-SHUT UP, YOU RECENTLY DECEASED CHILD!"

The ghost chortled and stuck out her tongue. The mare across from me looked ever so slightly confused.

"Um... I... I can see, hear, and touch ghosts... I wasn't talking to you... I'll take my leave now..."

"Wait! You must explain to me how you got that cutie mark! To ease the tension, I'll tell you mine first. When I was born, my parents hated me. They raised me until i could help myself. Daily, they would beat me. One day, i left. I might as well been a bruised sack of bones i was so thin... Eventually, I came across a desert. Days i traveled through it. I was dehydrated, starving... Hours from death really. That was about the time i cave across the body of an old pony. For my survival, I drank his blood. It was sweet, save the high iron content... I ate his flesh next. Tasted of garlic. As i slept near the body, full for the first time in ages, a mob of angry desert dwellers approached, screaming that i killed their chief. One sprung for an attack before i could defend myself. My horn reacted and reanimated the body, which then defended me until they were gone. The corpse had suffered major damage. He turned to me with a smile and simply said 'my dear lady, i thank thee for allowing me this chance to protect the innocent for one last time. I fear the body you brought me back to cannot defend you much longer. Thank you.' and then fell apart. My flank glowed and my teeth shifted. That's when i got my cutie mark and became a vampire. Your turn."

"I... Was raised an orphan with only the teacher to take care of me. She was kind... One day, as she brought me the food for the week, i asked her what became of my parents... They died, she told me, defending our nation from the onslaught of a country to the north... Later that night she took me to their graves. But i saw them there. Waiting. I ran up and hugged them. I cried save talked to them. But the teacher said no one was there. I saw them though! They were there. They told me most of the living cannot see dead. We went back to town, her chalking it up to shock. My parents followed of course. The years passed and more ghosts appeared. As i talked to them, the town started thinking me crazy. The ghosts said not to reply to them in the presence of the living... So i did just that. They were just grateful that i was there. The town eventually forgot about it. They would deal with me. Nightly i came here, however, to talk to the ghosts. This happened awhile, until i got my cutie mark, that grave you see here. I west the cloak at their behest so i do not experience more distress."

"Why weren't you afraid when i said i was a vampire?"

"Because who am i to judge? I have talked with the dead for far to long to judge."

"Your interesting, Sombra. Let's hang out more! Meet me here tomorrow night."

And i did. She started helping me help the dead. I had the ghost lead me to their body, save she would revive them. And for one night, they would be able to experience life one last time. We did this for years. We fell in love. 

When i turned twenty three, she turned to me and said, " Sombra, I love you. Will you marry me?"

"Yes! I will marry you. I want to be your husband!"

A year later, we were married. At the age of twenty seven, we had a little baby of our own. Her name was dark cloud.

When she turned three, and i was thirty, we moved to the crystal empire. We helped the dead there too. Until one night, when a reanimated corpse ran off and told their living family. Had i known of the betrayal, i would have left Clear Night at the clearing and grabbed our daughter and fled with my family. But i could not have known. We came back into a trap.

I was held down as they tied my family to a stake in the center of the city. I watched in terror as they ignited them. My wife screamed for me, my daughter crying for help. I watched, unable to save them from certain doom. I watched in terror as smoke filled their lungs. I cried as their flesh either peeled away or disintegrated entirely... The smell of burning meat filled my nostrils...

Then they were dead. No more would i hold them. Our life flashed before my eyes. The days i would hold them and see their smiles. Gone. My daughter's first word? No longer matters... 

The ponies crowded around me, cheering that i had been freed of a spell... I saw them one last time.

"My love. I cannot stop you from doing what you're about to do. Nor would i. But allow us to strengthen you."

They were absorbed by my horn. Then all Tartarus broke loose. I got up. I created a trap of my own. A giant wall of black crystal. They scurried, unable to escape their fate. I ran several through with my horn. I ripped one in half with my magic. I skewered others with my crystal magic. The ones left i forced to bow to me.

" YOU CARE NOT ABOUT LOVE! YOUR FIRST PUNISHMENT UNDER MY REIGN IS TO LOSE THE PROTECTION AFFORDED TO YOU BY THE CRYSTAL HEART! FAMILY MEANT SO LITTLE TO YOU, THAT YOUR SECOND PUNISHMENT IS BUILDING ME A CASTLE OUT OF THE CORPSES OF YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY! THIRDLY, YOUR WINGS AND HORNS ARE FORFEIT, SINCE YOU KILLED THEM FOR BEING DIFFERENT! YOU KILLED MY DAUGHTER, SO YOUR FIRST BORN WILL BE SACRIFICED HERE ON THIS NIGHT ANNUALLY! FAILURE TO DO SO, AND YOU WILL SUFFER MORE!"

I talked to the dead still. I apologized to the children. I explained it to them. I raised these souls alongside the spirit of my child who resided in me. I never remarried. Nor had another child. I hid the crystal heart where only i could get to it.

I ruled the ponies with an iron hoof, until my banishment that is. But that is another story. Cioao.