Ambition Undying

by Vivid Syntax

Sire

'You have failed.'

Onyx sucked in a quick breath and braced himself against the oncoming pain. He was ready. It would finally be over.

But he felt no sting. He cracked open an eye to see the rapier hanging mere inches from his forehead, held fast by a white light. Beyond its pointed tip, he saw a slack-jawed, hyperventilating Noble Shield, looking directly at him and gently shaking his head. "No," he whispered.

Onyx felt his survival instinct raced through his body, and his anger burst forth like water from a broken dam. "Weak-willed fool!" The red tip of his horn flared to life in a cluster of black magical energy, and a dark cloud formed around the two stallions. As if drawn by a mighty vortex, it swirled in the air and was sucked into Noble's body through his ears, nose, mouth, and eyes.

Noble screamed and coughed as he choked on the fumes, collapsing to the ground along with his sword. Dark ink coursed through his veins. He tried to move his legs, but they refused his commands. His eyes darted around the room only to find the windows tinted to uselessness and the walls still bleeding with Onyx's dark crimson magic. The only light remaining was from the throne room's grand chandelier, and in its feeble glow, Noble Shield could only struggle for breath and turn his gaze upwards to the shadowy figure looming over him.

Onyx stared down at the prince, his sclera stained an unnatural green. Black smoke poured out of the corners of his eyes and joined the dark miasma that billowed behind him, indistinguishable from his black mane. Onyx's voice boomed. "I shall spare you only once. Should you stand against me again, I shall make an orphan of your foal." He swept his red cape over the trembling prince, shrouding him in a bubble of dark magic that completely hid him from view.

The walls bubbled with the red and black ooze that leaked through the stone and cast the room into darkness. Only two ponies remained – a grey unicorn whose horn bled with power, and an alicorn princess draped in the night itself.

Onyx moved slowly down the red carpet, eyes focuses squarely on Luna. "Care you nothing for your subjects?"

Luna remained on her throne, staring down the steps with half-lidded eyes at her beloved nephew.

A gleam on the wall caught Onyx's eye. Behind Luna, mounted directly above her head, sat the Starlight Blade. Onyx smiled. "I see you received my gift. Must have been terrible work cleaning that sword."

'Such hubris. She shall pay.'

Onyx's horn glowed with a black miasma. He focused his energy on the sword, but as soon as his magic reached out to take hold, it dissipated like mist in the sunlight.

Onyx felt his mind break in half. Seeing his magic falter upon the Starlight Blade weighed down on him like a thousand years of woe, and yet he could not deny the glee he felt at so nearly being rid of his weaker half.

Part of him fought to stop walking forward, to lie down and allow Luna to save Equestria, but this piece of him had no control. He could not stop.

Luna did not move.

The room creaked under the strain of the dark magic as Onyx drew closer. "Your subjects flee in terror, your champions are being drained of their energy, and your very sister lies dead by my horn!" He stopped at the bottom of the stairs. His body pulsed with red and black energy. He conjured a broadsword and swung it in front of his face, pointing directly at the princess. "And still you do nothing!"

Luna's mane blew in an invisible wind. She remained still.

Onyx panted. His muscles shook. Darkness creeped along the edges of his vision, and his mind clouded with images of violent acts and terrible destruction. A mighty roar burst from his chest and echoed around the room. "RAUGH!!!" He reared back and magically swung the sword with all the force and precision he could muster. It sliced through the air toward the princess, cutting off four hairs from her mane.

The echo died down, and Luna remained still.

Onyx trembled. "Do you find this entertaining, you witch? I will not stop. I cannot stop." His eyes glowed red, and he hissed through his pointed teeth. "I am Sombra, Sorcerer of the Wastes! Emperor of the Dark! I have slain Celestia, and you shall perish unless you raise your-"

Luna's voice cut through the darkness. "My sister remains unharmed."

Onyx took half a step back, his jaw hanging slack for a moment. He glowered again. "Y-You cannot…"

Luna nodded. She spoke calmly and softly. "I imagine you have captured her and sealed her away, much as you did to Noble Shield. A temporary solution, at best." She lowered her head. "You do not truly wish for them do die."

"H-How did…" The fog on his mind cleared, but only for a moment before his hatred once again seized his body. He snorted and growled like a feral animal. "You know nothing of my desires. I will kill anypony that-"

"Auntie always knows when you're lying, dear nephew."

Onyx's heart pounded in his chest. The deep dark whispered to him no longer. Instead, its shouting drowned out all other sounds. 'She has made a fool of you. She will show no mercy. Kill her.' Onyx ceased breathing. He ceased thinking. 'Kill her!'

"Argh!" Onyx threw the sword to the ground. It evaporated as it hit the hard marble floor, and he whipped his head back to face Luna as he spat out the words, "Why won't you end me? I don't want to be this way anymore!"

She frowned. "Because I love you, dear nephew, and I believe in you."

"You fool!"

The darkness whispered again. 'You cannot stop.'

And Onyx echoed its sentiment. "I cannot stop!"

He felt his power begin to swell, and his body along with it. He lost all feeling in his extremities, and a noise like a fireball bellowed behind him as he began to transmute into a giant, roiling mass of black smog.

'You will not stop.'

"I will not stop."

His form rose higher into the air, the cloud of toxic darkness rapidly filling the back of the throne room.

'Not until…'

Only his head remained untransformed, and a glowing ball of green fire raged amidst the cloud. A voice bellowed from Onyx's mouth, but he did not recognize it as his own. He did not will himself to say the words, and yet the words flowed freely. The voice cracked like thunder and shook the foundation of the castle. "Not until all the world is mine!"

Onyx looked down at Luna, envisioning a thousand tortures to inflict upon her, a thousand ways to revel in her utter defeat. His desire burned within him, a lust to see another corpse crushed by his power, and he licked his lips at the prospect. He loved and hated her, this princess that would not lift a hoof to save her kingdom. "Your end is now!"

She shook her head slowly. "I will always have faith in you."

Onyx seethed, and green fire blew out of his nostrils. His body acted on his own, reaching out black tendrils to either side of her. He screamed at himself how beautifully wrong it was, how he was about to dismember the one pony that understood him, and how much utter joy he would experience in relishing the feeling.

He wanted to laugh and cry all at once, and though a sliver of his conscious mind began to fight back, the darkness crept into the sides of his vision. It spread across his eyes, and he felt his soul slipping away, fragmenting into a million pieces. "No." His head ached, his eyes burned, and he felt a presence wrest control of his body. He tried to reach out to Luna with his magic, to push her out of the way or shield her or do anything, but all his power became consumed by Sombra.

He felt weak. Frail. He could not feel the cool air of the throne room or the heat of the fire that burned within him. The smell of sulfur was replaced by emptiness. With a last look at his dear Auntie Luna, his vision failed. He tried to protest, but the only sounds were a raging fire and a cackling sorcerer. Even his memories felt like they were being stripped away, one by one. His entire being became smaller and smaller and smaller, but his ambition, the driving force present through his whole life, still commanded him to fight on. It commanded him to push harder, to never stop, and to keep the promise he had made so long ago.

"NO!" Onyx reached out with his magic one final time, and in that moment, he felt himself become nothing.