• Published 26th Apr 2015
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Tomb of Magic - Ice Star



Twilight Sparkle traverses the Arctic with Sombra as she tries to learn about the mystery that was Starswirl the Bearded's life. But are these secrets what she thought they would be? And just who was Starswirl anyway? Sombra seems to know, but why?

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Chapter 14: Shadows of All Kinds

Frustrated at another short journal, I picked up the first one—Solara's—once more and browsed through it, skimming through the script hoping to gather some more information about anything: my destination, the fates of these apprentices, what the mentioned wards do, and more importantly: any shred of knowledge relating to... Sombra-swirl, the umm... Currently Not Bearded.

Spike was always better with nicknames...

Solara's journal described the Unicorn Court of Princess Platinum and how Selene showed up and got in a fight with said princess, who seems to be the favored acquaintance of this Solara. Despite her lack of any kind of humility, I felt that her accounts of what was happening all those years ago were likely the best, and read on about how Selene was betrayed to Starswirl by Solara, but it seems that something went wrong and-

"Purple Eyesore," a voice hissed.

I looked up from the book, immensely disappointed to see its source. "What is it, Sombra?"

He glared down at me, no different from his normal, irritated state. "Get up, get out, put that hat on, and fly to your precious northeast as fast as possible and do something for once, you lazy Lavender Lardball."

I pushed all the books onto the table and got up as the beautiful chair vanished. "As if Purple Eyesore wasn't enough, but couldn't you at least use those controls over there," I nodded over to the levers near the crystal. "They're bound to be useful for-"

"I think it is pretty obvious that neither of us know how those work, and while I think killing you is an excellent decision, I'd rather live through this."

Did he have to interrupt everything? He was certainly a lot like the Starswirl that Selene and Kawblance liked to go on about: abusive and cruel.

"We could just try to use one button and figure out-"

"No time. Now, get out." If I didn't know him better, I'd almost think that there was urgency in his tone.

"Why? What's wrong-?"

Sombra gritted his teeth and lit up his horn. "You're what's wrong."

I started to object: "What is that supposed-"

A brief flash of magic startled me and soon I found myself shivering out in the snow, a few bits of dried apple pie clinging to my mane, and possessing an overwhelming desire to scream as I stared down at my hat.

I. Hate. You.

But to my horror, I was not alone.

I wasn't sure what it was, exactly. A small curl of some sort of black smoke that seemed to hover about aimlessly a few lengths in front of me.

It seemed to 'see' me and began to crackle with frighteningly familiar purple aura streaks. As it drew closer I could see it did not have a shadowy appearance, but that of a darkness I could not see through; a void.

Gulping, I lifted my hat onto my head and took off at full speed towards the northeast, my gaze panicked as I forced myself to focus on what was in front of me and trying not so scream, my nerves prickling and ears roaring with blood.

What was that? Why was it there? Did somepony send it? Something?! Wait... more importantly, why was Sombra so startled by it? It was almost as if he knew what it was...

So, it seems we would have something to talk about, as I'm just dying to play interrogation with him again because that went so well last time, I thought with a huff as the north's endless snow hit the parts of my coat that remained exposed.

I didn't slow down until it felt as if I had properly distanced myself from that thing, and I came to a small hill where I decided it would be wise to stop.

"See how much easier this would have been if you had just listened to me like a good little Purple Eyesore? You listen to Celestia without question, so I don't see why you wouldn't follow me without a second thought either, brown muzzle."

I turned around and tried not explode. "Oh, it's just you," I muttered with an awkward laugh.

Oh, Celestia just make it stop. Please. Super pretty please with books on top. With books!

Sombra just gave a casual shrug at my antics, clearly as apathetic as ever. The journals were poking out of a bag slung across his saddlepack.

"Not that it would have mattered much, Purple Eyesore, but you almost got yourself killed. Is that a hobby of yours now? I highly encourage it, if that's any consolation. Maybe I can even assist you in it since we're just the best of friends now."

Just pretend that he never said that. "Why do you think that it didn’t follow us?"

Sombra did not even look worried anymore, just pure, pure apathy from him and another shrug.

"...Maybe it has cacti for brains," he muttered. "Or it could have been as repulsed by you as I am."

Now that we were far from whatever that was, there was a question that had been gnawing at me that I considered far more important: Why was he so cruel to his apprentices?

Sombra was squinting back from where I came as if the snow-blotted horizon had an answer he was searching for. "It bothers me that we encountered that particular kind of dark magic out here... this stuff isn't exactly natural."

"Of course you would know that," I huffed, beginning to march in the only direction that seemed to matter anymore: northeast.

For once Sombra didn't show any objection, but he also didn't show anything else either.

Through the wind and cold I did overhear something he muttered that seemed directed to nopony but himself:

"...I thought I was the only one..."

Whatever that meant.

...

The sun burned high in the sky, but much of its warmth was lost and its light source not so clear in our conditions. There was little to watch but the sky, as it seemed clear that the smoke thing was no longer a problem.

Although Sombra definitely was. This might be the last chance I had to get any information out of him. In her letter I recalled Cadance mentioning that she got him to be decently sociable during the time they walked.

Perhaps it was worth a shot.

"Are there different types of dark magic?" I queried.

Sombra didn't flinch at the sudden break in the pattern. "Don't get any ideas, Purple Eyesore. So far all of them have turned out to be terrible."

"Yeah, and who do you think will listen to yours? They're the product of a madpony."

Another shrug. "Yes."

I looked at him and tilted my head to the side. "Yes to which one?"

"Both. Although I'd like to point out the obvious that even the pink one comes up with better ideas then you; and everypony around here seems to think you should be the smart one. Plus, if you haven't noticed that I'm insane by now, you should be dead. I can arrange that if you'd like-"

"No! I do not want to you to kill me, but thank you for the generous offer. Could you please just tell me about dark magic?"

He rolled his eyes. "Why should I? There's no reason for me to, and I can't exactly say I want to, if that wasn't already obvious."

Wait... is he really going to do this? "You tried to kill me at least twice. I think you owe me."

Sombra seemed to choke on stifled laughter. "So you think I have any kind of ethics, and that if I did, I'd play along with your lesser ones even if I had nothing to gain? That's beyond every level of ignorance you've shown so far, I would think."

"Well, you haven't denied it yet and that comment could imply that you do have one..."

"Yes, I am clearly the Right-Honourable Lord Sombra, Former Benevolent King of the Crystal Empire. They loved me so much they couldn't keep me," he snickered.

"Tyrant jokes aren't funny," I mumbled.

"You aren't funny," he retorted effortlessly.

I let loose a dramatic and exasperated sigh as we kept at our steady pace toward distant mountains. "Could you please just tell me about dark magic? I'm dying to know about it."

"Fine, I've got nothing to lose, but on one condition."

"Oh great, what is it this time?"

He smirked. "Keep dying."

...

"You aren't a stranger to dark magic, are you?"

Okay, it seems he was taking things seriously. "No, I'm not. I've seen the stuff before, but whatever you have seems to be stronger than all the others, and more complete, if that makes any sense."

The snow around us thankfully was not forming a blizzard, although a few breezes swirled bits around into a dancing funnel every now and then, streaking across the hills.

"So you're only interested in the form I use?" he asked me suspiciously.

"Yes?"

Almost as quick as the suspicion emerged it seemed to dissipate, or maybe Sombra concealed it. I tried not to give him too much thought. "Well, out of all the varieties of dark magic I've dealt with, I call this one 'corrupting' for reasons that are probably obvious. It is ridiculously powerful, and although it can be stopped in the advancement process, it is irreversible past a certain point. Physical signs include altered aura, horn shape, removal of mark, creation of another persona, etc."

"Any examples?"

His hoof met his face. "Why do I even bother? Me, Purple Eyesore. I'm an example."

"You know that it does sound like most of that was recited from a book."

"Well maybe it was," Sombra grumbled sharply. "And who said that I even had to tell you the truth about dark magic? I could just as easily feed you stories and fancy, and you'd have no way to tell the difference."

He wouldn't... would he?

...

We were back to silence, though my mind now had a new question that begged for attention: So, based on what I've heard, Starswirl and Sombra were two different ponies?

As dusk approached streaking oranges and soft blues across the sky, I began to look around hoping to find any sign of life other than myself. At this point I didn't even count Sombra.

For a moment, Sombra stopped walking and froze for a moment before whirling around with his sword drawn and signs of smoke from his eyes.

"Did you feel that?" he hissed, eyes wide as they scanned everything about the land.

A low rumbling tremor echoed through the ground, causing the ice to shake furiously as a strange mist mixed with the blizzard suddenly swirling around us, like the stuff of legends.

Sombra cursed. "What?! I can't fathom it! How did this happen, and why now?"

An icy blast of wind hit me hard, ruffling my feathers. Out of fear, my body temperature seemed to plummet. "What was that?"

Sombra's horn began to light up with a purple mass of dark aura. "That was a ghost tremor. We now have a vengeful spirit after us thanks to whoever was foolish enough to summon it, and I know it was you. Any denial you make is just evidence against you, and from now on 'you live only by my hoof' applies more than ever."

He looked up at his horn with a look on concentration and the aura gathered itself into a floating violet orb hovering above Sombra's hoof.

Worried, I pulled out the small slip of paper I had shoved into my saddlebags. "Is this a summoning spell?"

Levitating the parchment into the ball of magical aura, Sombra's face looked utterly panicked as the orb exploded into a string of floating runes with a bleeding black-purple look and a glowing magenta swirl around them.

"YES," he shouted. "THIS IS EVEN IN STARSWIRL'S BLOODY HOOF-WRITING AND YOU ACTIVATED IT! IN SOME WAYS, THIS IS JUST SHORT OF NECROMANCY!"

Once more he cast a spell, dark magic purple, black, and green which converged into a fire that consumed the paper, causing yet another explosion.

When all traces of it were gone, Sombra turned to me with crimson eyes streaming purple mist. "YOU SUMMONED THE MURDEROUS SPIRIT OF AN UNDEAD WIZARD! ARE YOU TRYING TO GET US KILLED?"

I would have responded if not for another wave of stronger tremors, and the fact that every instinct I had was telling me to-

"RUN!" Sombra took off galloping toward the looming mountains in the distance. Gathering my wits, I turned and followed him, moving in a manner that was part-stumble, part-gallop and part-flying before noticing Sombra halt briefly, sliding to a stop.

He shot out what looked like a large pony-sized comet composed of shadow, which rapidly glided into the direction we came from, crackling with the auras of dark magic as it moved.

It closely resembled the thing that chased me, I thought as I darted away from the storm.

Sombra resumed running, and even in this panicked state somehow I felt that he was connected to the appearance of the other shadow summon.

...

It had to be hours. It simply had to be, I was panting so hard it felt my lungs would burst and my throat felt swollen. Despite the weather, I was burning as Sombra and I struggled against another monstrous blizzard, though it was mostly me struggling and now it was dark out, but the stars were invisible to me. Consumed by darkness.

Now, the only thing that kept me from crying was the notion that tears freezing to my face would probably be hazardous.
I was beginning to feel rocks under my hooves, their jagged form stabbing at them.

Sombra, even in this inky nothingness was having a hard time concealing his rage. I still was confused on why he was so mad that I’d summoned his other personality. How could he blame me for that?

"You didn't tell me you could summon shadow-creatures," I said with a wheeze.

Sombra said nothing.

"I said 'You didn't-"

He turned to face me, glaring at me with an intensity that instantly drew a whimper from me. "You have no idea how badly I want to kill you."

"Hey, it's not my-"

"Shut up," he interjected curtly, clearly at the tipping point. "Just shut up. If you know what is good for you, you'll simply just-"

"I get it, you want me to be quiet!"

He was shaking. "DO YOU KNOW HOW SICK I AM OF DEALING WITH YOU?!"

Please no more screaming, I silently pleaded.

...

When we reached the definite edge of the mountains, Sombra stopped. "Start up a spell to look for wood over there, while I'll look over here."

His horn lit in the painfully familiar crimson aura I had become accustomed to, and he began to search as quickly as possible.

"Why can't we just climb up or have me fly you up? Maybe even teleportation?"

He turned around abruptly. "This is where you wanted to go, Starswirl's little hideout. If you knew anything about him maybe you'd remember that this valley is always getting snow dumped in it, and has trap-wards to prevent escape, entrance, and sabotage. The only way we are getting in is if we find the entrance tunnel."

He shook his head and mumbled something about my apparent 'stupidity' and went back to work.

A few moments later, there was a deafening and unearthly shriek causing strong gusts of wind to blow in every direction. There was a crushing silence afterword and somehow the world felt emptier.

"Something tells me that was not the ghost that was vanquished," I whispered, as if the eerie quiet was something that could watch me.

Sombra let loose a brief bit of dry laughter. "Of course not, since when are we that lucky?"

"So I take it the shadow you used as bait-"

"I should have used you," he interjected coldly.

"-was destroyed."

Sombra kept searching and nodded.

It was back to silence for a short while before I caught Sombra beckoning me to come over out of the corner of my eye.

"I found the tunnel but the lock is charmed with something I can't figure out, so you'll have to open that. I already melted all the snow. Thanks to me, I've bought us two days of travel, thanks to you we will have to battle for our lives."

He broke the wooden hatch after I burned the charm away.

Daring to be the brave - or not-so-brave - soul that I was, I crawled into the tunnel first without even a spark to guide me as I fumbled in the darkness.

Fear gnawed at me, hoping this wouldn't be my tomb, but Sombra's words echoed inside my head:

'...since when are we that lucky...'

For once, I wished we were.