• Published 19th Dec 2017
  • 977 Views, 25 Comments

Heir to Darkness - Vivid Syntax



Two decades ago, Sombra succeeded in conquering the Crystal Empire. Now, his estranged son Brimstone must face him and right the wrongs of the past.

  • ...
2
 25
 977

Chapter 3 - Weakness

Present

Brimstone glowered. "I am not your son."

Sombra sighed and shifted his weight. "No, I suppose you are not." He leaned on one foreleg rest on his throne. "No son of mine would be such a coward."

Brimstone yelled back, "I am no coward! You are! You could not face having a son like me, a son with morals. With mercy."

Sombra yawned. "A weakling, you mean. That is all you are. A lesser pony, like every other. Inferior." He frowned. "And you could have been so much more." He pointed a lazy hoof. "Weakling."

Brimstone stomped a hoof. "I'm not weak. And my name is Brimstone."

Sombra shook his head. "You are not worthy of that name. You are not worthy of anything, not even a cup of cocoa." He smiled wickedly. "Tell me: do you still like it with nutmeg?"

Brimstone sneered. "Not since you poisoned me."

"Ha!" Sombra slapped a hoof onto the foreleg rest. "Poisoned? Don't be so dramatic. Sleep powder is hardly poisonous."

With a defiant snort, Brimstone yelled, "How could you send me away like that? I never even got to say goodbye!"

Sombra slammed a hoof on his throne and bellowed back, "Silence! I found the slightest sparkle of pity in my black heart and merely exiled you. I even spared you a painful goodbye, no less!"

Brimstone could feel the guards a few paces behind him, but still, he yelled threateningly across the large, empty room. "Why didn't you just kill me?" His voice echoed off the barren walls and large windows.

Sombra hesitated, then smirked. "I still wonder that to this day. I think part of me relished the idea of Celestia having to deal with you." He looked up and to the side, then nodded to himself. "Yes, you were useful there. I could have sent an assassin at any time, and that would have given me plenty of pretense to end this silly armistice of ours." Sombra nodded to himself and flashed a toothy grin. "Yes. Useful. It was useful to have you there, a constant itch in the back of Celestia's mind, and a reminder of her student's greatest failure."

Brimstone narrowed his gaze and took a step forward. The guards began to flank him, but they stopped when Sombra held up a hoof. Brimstone said, "That is not all."

Sombra paused, then stiffly asked, "How have you been, Weakling? I don't suppose I missed anything of note while you were away. After all, you, with your morals, would never embrace the power you were born into. You would certainly never…" He flicked a hoof mockingly. "…give in, would you?"

Brimstone growled.