Dark Mirage
The first time I saw him, I had only been a filly.
Mother and Father had taken me to the Grand Galloping Gala, formally invited by my future teacher, Princess Twilight Sparkle herself. They’d been friends of hers for years they’d said, and hearing them talk so highly of her all the time had dedicated me to the task of becoming one of her students.
Ah, but as much as I’d love to speak of all the wonderful things she’s taught me, that’s a story for another journal. Right now I have much more urgent things to make a note of.
As I was saying, we were at the Gala. An event that was made to be fun, formal, and friendly. It bored me terribly. Mother and Father had left me under the care of Princess Flurry Heart, and though I’m sure she meant well, she kept encouraging me to befriend and play with all the other foals. It had been so agitating, stuck within that noisy ballroom, the knowledge that I was within the same castle of the most magical being in all of Equestria, but couldn’t learn anything.
So of course, the moment Princess Flurry Heart was distracted, I made my leave. I just wanted to find Princess Twilight’s library, with such hopes of indulging myself within piles upon piles of magic books. It had been a dream come true, finally being in these halls, and finally having the chance to sate my unending thirst for knowledge.
It had been everything I had ever dreamed of. It would become my every nightmare.
Unfortunately, I had not known my way around the castle at the time. It did not take long for me to become utterly lost and afraid. The halls were so dark, and the guards were off duty, it had been so deathly quiet. The moment I had heard that moan from within the cracked door at the end of the hall, that insatiable curiosity had taken a hold of me.
There was somepony in the throne room.
Ever so quietly, I had rushed to the doorway, and peeked inside. I remember it well, every detail. The room had been dark, the only light source being the moonlight through the stained glass windows, illuminating the room in an array of kaleidoscopic colors. In a way, it could have been described as beautiful, but I couldn’t stay focused on the lighting. I had been too focused on the dark figure hunched over behind the Princess’s throne.
It had looked to be a pony, one that seemed to be in pain. He had been shuddering and moaning, the colorful lights around the room giving him the illusion of being semi-transparent. If I didn’t know any better, I might have even thought he seemed incomplete somehow. As if something was missing.
Against my better judgement, I approached him. I asked him if he was okay.
I wish I could say I remember what exactly happened, but a foal’s young mind is prone to repressing traumatic memories. All I remember are that thing’s eyes, somehow both pale and vibrant, a mess of green, red, and purple meshed together like a sickly concoction on the verge of detonation.
It was by a pure stroke of luck that Princess Flurry Heart heard me scream, and rushed in to rescue me, though by the time she arrived the figure had gone. The rest of the Gala is hazy at best, though I do remember spending the rest of the night clinging to my mother.
Of course, it’s been years since this incident, and nothing has come of it. My nightmares of the event have since faded, and I’ve grown past such childish fears. The entire incident had to have been a trick of my mind, or a cruel trick by one of the castle guards. There was no other explanation.
Yet at the same time, I’ve been staying in the castle for weeks now, and with every creak and draft I feel in the halls, there’s been a lingering paranoia that something else is there with me. It’s illogical. It’s paranoia. There’s nothing else there.
Canterlot Castle is not haunted, ghosts do not exist, and I am going to prove this for myself.
Setting my quill to the side, I looked out the window. The moon had risen considerably, and I had no doubt my beloved teacher had already made her way to bed. Her schedule was so strict, so I knew she’d be asleep by now, but for extra measure, I read over my journal entry. I’ve always been thorough with my proofreading, but for the sake of my current research I’d been even more observant than usual. It was actually a bit ridiculous, seeing as this was nothing more than a reassurance of my foalish fears, but proper grammar was always important.
Satisfied with that, I closed my journal and set it beside my bed, taking one more look at the moon’s position before slipping out of my room. The halls were dark and quiet, not unlike that fateful night, but I kept my head high and my gait confident. Any fear I felt was irrational. Canterlot Castle was perfectly safe, and nothing would hurt me here.
I had no need to worry about encountering guards in my travel to the throne room, Princess Twilight hardly saw the need for them, so reliant on her trust in others. She had always seemed so sure that Equestria was safe, that she was free from threats because of her focus on befriending others, and that the guards were best to train for other things. It was such a foolish point of view, one I felt was a recipe for disaster, but how could I argue with the Ruler of Equestria?
Throne room within view, I tossed these thoughts away as I forced myself forward. Suddenly, my movements felt difficult, and I could feel the fur on my back bristle. I was scared. I shouldn’t be scared. I’d been in this room so many times during the daylit hours, there was absolutely no reason I should be afraid of it at night.
Taking a deep breath, I readied myself before pushing open the doors. It was so close to how I remembered it. The room was alight in dim colors, the Princess’s empty throne sitting upon the top of the walkway. There was nothing behind it, but of course, why would there be?
Illuminating my horn, I stepped forward. The floor creaked under my hoof, sending another shiver down my spine. I continued to force myself toward that throne, and I kept going until I was right on it, that illogical fear freezing me in place. My heart was pounding, and my legs trembled. Still, I stayed where I stood, reassuring myself over and over that there was nothing behind that throne, and that I would prove it.
It took far longer than I would’ve liked, but eventually I managed to peek behind the throne.
Nothing was there.
I let out an audible sigh of relief. Of course there wouldn’t be anything there, but I’d so desperately needed the reassurance, as ridiculous as it was. There was still no explanation for what I’d seen that day, and even with a thorough observation of the surrounding area, I found nothing that would create such an illusion. Perhaps it had just been a draft of some sort? A loose cloud of magic, even?
Whatever the case, my fears were alleviated. There was nothing here, there never had been. My foalish paranoia of the castle being haunted from a strange event during childhood had blinded me for so long, and had made me doubt the facts. Ghosts were not real, and there certainly wasn’t one in the castle.
Still, I was cautious as I made my way to the door, my ears and eyes alert for any sign of life in the room. I had only made it halfway to the exit when I noticed that the room had gotten darker. The rainbow lights had dimmed significantly, but despite my growing anxiety, I knew it was simply a cloud covering the moon. It had to be. It couldn’t be anything else. There was nothing else here.
I quickened my pace. A cold wind blew. A draft, I’m sure. I’ll be sure to tell the Princess.
The tall doors of the throne room slammed shut, blocking me from the halls. I heard a noise behind me.
There was something else here.
I couldn’t bear to turn around.
“It’s not often I get visitors after dark.”
Almost as if against my will, I did.
A dark figure sat upon Princess Twilight’s throne. The shadows gave the illusion of him being transparent, and his mane flowed in a nonexistent wind, akin to how a princess or any other powerful unicorn’s would. He was dressed rather regally, adorned in armor that didn’t seem to shine, with a deep red cape over his back. His eyes were shut as he leaned into his hooves, and there was the glint of a grin on his face.
I knew who he was, I’d seen illustrations of him in so many History books. I’d read about his every crime, and heard stories of his numerous defeats from both my parents and teacher. He’d been defeated, destroyed even, by some accounts.
King Sombra was sitting in Princess Twilight’s throne.
I opened my mouth to speak, but hardly more than a squeak came out. I wanted to run, to alert my teacher, but I was frozen in place. Despite the fact his eyes were closed, King Sombra seemed to notice this, a chuckle escaping him as his grin widened.
“At a loss for words I see,” He said, eyes finally opening to look down upon me. They weren’t the sickly mismash I had seen years ago, but instead a dull and lifeless red. They did not shine in the moonlight. “I do enjoy seeing that I still have that effect on the living.”
I wanted to run, but I couldn’t. So many questions were running through my mind, freezing me in place as my thoughts raced between a thirst for answers and the urge to run. How was a long defeated tyrant even here? How did he manage to get past what few guards the castle still had? Shouldn’t he have an army if he’d manipulated them?
Eventually, I managed to speak. Standing high, I faced the thing that had scared me for all those years, sitting in a place he was entirely undeserving of. Pinning my ears and swishing my tail, I looked him in his lifeless eyes and demanded, “How dare you, what right do you have to sit in Princess Twilight’s throne?”
To my surprise, he laughed. Neither cruel nor genuine, it echoed around the room and gave me a horrible sense of paranoia.
“Why, there’s always been two rulers for Equestria, hasn’t there?” He asked, “It was only fitting that I take the night shift, don’t you think?”
He sounded so sure of himself, so cocky. It was sickening. He did not deserve to be here.
“You’re not worthy of the throne. You never have been.”
“Neither is your beloved princess, nor were the ones before her.”
Though the disrespect toward my teacher hurt, I didn’t show it.
“I’d say anypony is more worthy of Equestria’s throne than a long forgotten monster such as yourself.”
He rose from her throne, slowly making his way toward me. His hooves made no sound as they touched the floor, and his movements seemed unnatural. I took a step back, finally turning to run, but he was upon me in an instant, as though he’d teleported. His dead, dim eyes had enveloped themselves in shadow as he stared down at me angrily.
My own eyes widened as he shot toward me, a cold, armored hoof holding me in place as he leaned into my ear. Even the parts of him without armor were freezing. As cold as death.
“I will never be forgotten,” He whispered, "I've made sure of it."
Releasing me, his glare faded as he backed away, turning to make his way back to the Princess’s throne. I stayed frozen in place, my skin cold where he’d touched me, too afraid to look away.
“Return to your quarters, young one,” He said, “This will feel like nothing more than a nightmare tomorrow morning.”
“No.”
He paused. I immediately regretted what I’d said.
“What is your name and purpose of being here, little pony?”
Once again, I was at a loss for words, and once again, I was filled with that ever obnoxious urge to run, but I wouldn’t. I needed to know something.
“L-Luster Dawn,” I stammered, “My name is Luster Dawn, and I’m Princess Twilight’s best student. I came to disprove my fears, and prove that ghosts aren’t real.”
“An unfortunate fate for one such as yourself, little Luster Dawn,” He snorted, continuing up the walkway, “I imagine that this is quite the unexpected outcome for you then?”
“On the contrary, I think this might be the perfect opportunity to learn something. You’re obviously stuck in some sort of dimensional rift, somewhere between living and dead perhaps?”
It was just a theory, of course, but anything made more sense than ghosts. Those were nothing more than stories, unlike the demons and fairies that were so often jumbled within the same category. King Sombra seemed less than appreciative of this theory however.
“I am very much dead,” He claimed, “There is no heartbeat to be found within me, and there never will be again. Your beloved princess and her revolting friends had done much to make sure of it.”
He spoke with the utmost contempt, and though I’ve never been the biggest fan of making friends, I knew that my parents were among some of my teacher’s closer ones. This gave me the impression that this delusional ex-king was accusing them of killing somepony. I knew this to be far from true.
“How dare you accuse the Princess of being a murderer,” I hissed, careful not to shout and wake someone. It might have been wise to have backup, or just somepony to confirm I wasn’t hallucinating, but King Sombra was making this uncomfortably personal, “She’s done nothing but protect Equestria, unlike you.”
“Twilight may be more capable than Celestia ever was, but she’s hardly a protector. She is and continues to be nothing more than a scapegoat for Celestia’s mistakes and wrongdoings, a personal protege groomed for the very purpose,” Sombra sneered, “It’s a fate worse than death, and if what you say is true, all she’s done is force the cycle to repeat in record time.”
He was looking down at me in disgust. I frowned right back. My fear had long faded, replaced with annoyance at his accusations. I knew the Princesses had made mistakes, but that didn’t mean I wanted to hear him insult them or me.
“Both are significantly more capable than you, that’s for sure,” I said, ears pinning slightly, “Though I imagine it’s not too hard to be more competent than a disillusioned old stallion so engrossed in being a King of the Dead.”
An amused grin made its way to his face.
“King of the Dead you say?”
He laughed, the horrid sound reverberated around the room. A cold wind began to blow from nowhere, and the stained glass windows rattled, the dull rainbow light around us trembling at the motion. My tail involuntarily swished as an unwelcome shiver made its way down my spine, and Sombra’s laughter continued to raise in volume.
Then it abruptly stopped.
“You don’t know just how right you are.”
I was suddenly struck with the feeling that we weren’t alone in this room. King Sombra began to make his way back toward me.
“How much does your teacher know, Luster?” He asked, “What has she taught you about me?”
“That you were a monster who enslaved the Crystal Empire, that you came back over and over, so foolishly desperate to take back what you didn’t deserve.”
He nodded. “And what did she say about how I was defeated?”
“It was the Crystal Heart.”
“No, no.” This time he shook his head, “That was the first time. How did she and her friends defeat me the second and final time?”
I opened my mouth as I searched my mind for an answer. None came. I’d only ever read or been told that Princess Twilight and her friends had defeated King Sombra, but they’d never told me how.
“They killed me,” He said, stopping right at the base of the walkway, “In this very room, in this very spot.”
I didn’t believe him. I couldn’t believe him.
"You're lying," I whispered, "The Princess would never-"
"Your princess can and has done worse," He interrupted, "Just as the ones before her twisted the truth, so will she."
"No!" I stamped my hoof. "You're the one who's twisting the truth! You're a manipulative monster, why should I believe you?"
"I am many things, a monster and manipulator included, but I am not a liar. Tell me Luster, did you ever hear about the war between the Perytons and Ponies?"
I shook my head. "No, Perytons aren't real. They're just stories."
"They were far too real at one point," Sombra said with the shake of his head, "What about the plague? The one that wiped out over half the Kirin?"
"A plague? No, I- How would you even know any of this was real? You were sealed away!"
"This castle is over one thousand years old, surely you don’t think I’m the only pony to have died in it?"
His cape rippled in a nonexistent wind, and he stamped his hoof, this time with the natural sound of metal against tile as he did. Whispers began to sound around me, and shadows danced within the rainbow lights at the edge of my vision. Ears twitching and eyes darting, I began to tremble in fear.
Why did I feel like we weren’t alone?
“You called me a King of the Dead, did you not?” Sombra asked. His voice was reverberated around the room, and my eyes widened in horror as the dancing shadows began to take shape. “Would you like to meet my subjects?”
The shadows solidified, creatures of all sorts filling the throne room. The majority of them seemed to be ponies, but there were so many others among them. Hippogriffs, Griffons, Kirin, Peryton, and so many more creatures I couldn’t identify. They came in all ages, from the elderly to mere children, and they all looked down on me with the same dull and lifeless eyes that their king had.
“Ghosts are far more real than you could ever imagin, little Luster Dawn,” He said, voice quiet, “And I suggest you learn to respect them, because someday you’ll be among us.”
I finally ran. As fast as I could, to the dubious safety of my room. I didn’t look behind me the whole way, blinded by my own tears and desperation to return to some sort of familiarity. I wanted to go home, back to my parents and as far from the castle as possible, but I knew that I was too far away to even try.
All I knew was that I never wanted to return to the throne room again, day or night.
Yet despite my terror, I knew I would.
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That is one heck of a beginning, Mothy!
10261575
Don't worry, it gets less spooky
and so does Sombrainteresting start
I'm sure that there's some horse racist stuff in the way she phrased this. Also, holy fuck is this absolutely dripping with impressive dialogue and descriptions. This is a story worth savoring, but I also can't resist really being able to dive through it.
10263013
I swear there was no horse racism intentionally involved with that bit I was just going for how trauma actually works sometimes
and also I didn't know how to put the encounter into smart sounding words.I'm very glad you like the dialogue there, I was really proud of that, especially since it kinda just... Happened. This first chapter flowed way too easily for being my first attempt at a first person view story. Apparently I need to do more.
I love the start of this tale. Love the concept too.