Alone

by Child of Stars

2. The Castle of King Sombra

Horn alight with a dark magical aura, King Sombra cast off the dark enchantment he had placed on the stairs that lead from the crystal dais at the top of the castle to the castle’s halls. The enchantment placed upon the steps was to connect them to a pocket dimension of the king’s own design, one with an absurd number of stairs. The whole dark spell was meant as a way to ward off and dissuade anypony who attempted to steal the Crystal Heart for themselves; it was one of many traps put in place to safeguard the empire and keep everything under Sombra’s control.

Now that the king had deactivated his hex the original steps appeared, ones that weren't so long. At their bottom was an exit that originally was an ornate door, but due to King Sombra’s meddling the exit now led out to a secret passageway. The secret entrance was covered up by a moveable section of the palace’s crystal walls and an intricate tapestry depicting the dark lord standing triumphantly over the broken remains of Equestria.

Coming out from behind the tapestry and into the bustling halls of the crystal palace proper Sombra was lost deep in thought. Deep enough that he missed the castle staff and guards frantically running about trying to get back to their 1000 year old positions. When they saw the dark king approach, they would bow respectfully till the master spell caster passed, then they’d fearfully scamper away thankful to avoid his piercing gaze. Guards suited back up, superiors barked out orders, servants kowtowed excessively, but all of it went unnoticed by the king of the Crystal Empire. And as he turned another corner into yet another hall it dawned on him that he’d been wandering aimlessly.

King Sombra looked up and took in the activity going on around him for the first time. He noticed every little detail of the panic crystal staff around him, from their matte coats to each step they took. After a moment of observation more the ruler looked around for the path that led to the destination he had in mind. Upon finding it he reoriented himself and marched towards the Crystal Empire’s throne room with purpose as he found himself being drawn back into his thoughts.

‘So, there’s been no sign of aggression towards the empire from Equestria yet. Not a single soldier, spy, or citizen has appeared to my knowledge.’ King Sombra cast his gaze out the massive windows that lined the hallway to the horizon, ‘Sloppy, how very sloppy Celestia. Your underestimation of me shall be your undoing. Really I’m surprised, grateful yes, but still quite surprised.’ Sombra turned his head back in front of him as he continued to think. ‘It’s not like you or Luna to act this blasé about a perceived threat to your nation…’ The king turned his gaze to the ceiling as he racked his brain for answers. ‘Why would you two not do something about the empire returning, it just seems so unlike you. Usually, you two nuisances are always on top of things like this. Perhaps they're just being slow in their response? Has something changed in Equestria in the past one thousand years to cause them such a delayed response?’ The dark lord gave it a little more thought before he shook his head and smirked. ‘It matters not. Nopony could know what those two wretches are thinking except themselves. If they want to act stupid and ignore the threat I and my empire pose to them then so be it!’ King Sombra’s smirk became a full on toothy smile as he barked out a laugh.

“I vow It will be their downfall!” He said triumphantly. His sudden laugh and outburst caused all nearby crystal staff to stop dead in their tracks as they gazed at their king fearfully. King Sombra looked up in confusion at his palace’s staff and upon surveying them that confusion soon turned to irritation. And upon seeing the unpleasant look on their ruler’s face and hearing the growl coming from his lips they all unfroze and bowed deeply in terror. Seeing this display caused a slight smile to briefly grace Sombra’s face before it fell and he started to move towards his throne room again.

“You may all rise,” The dark king commanded those around him, “And continue on with your jobs.” The castle staff quickly got back up and thanked Sombra before going on their way. The dark lord paid them no heed as he kept going towards his destination. A thought crossed the master of fear’s mind when he saw five of his loyal castle guards making their way across the hall to another part of the palace.

“You five guards, stop!” The king ordered. The guards stopped dead in their tracks and turned to face their king.

“Sir!” They all called in unison and saluted. Four stallions and one mare composed their group, each one decked out in the black crystal armor of Sombra’s Dark Crystal Empire. They had segmented armor pieces on each one of their limbs, armor was covering their backs and shoulders, and their necks were fully protected with the same plating. They each wore an open-faced helmet that covered their whole head and was adorned with a decorative black plume. King Sombra’s red and silver royal crest, the one that was also on his crown, sat on the front of the helmets. The black plume that was on the helmets had a sister that was also acting as the guards’ tails. And to pull the whole intimidating armor set together, spikes were protruding out of various places on said armor as well.

“At ease,” Sombra commanded, “Come hither.” The guards approached the king before bowing before him. Sombra grunted at the display. “You may rise.”

One of the stallion guards stepped in front of the others and spoke, “Thank you my king. What is it you need from us?”

“Follow.” Sombra stated simply as he began his trek towards his throne room once more. The five guards fell in line behind the dark king as they did as they were told. The six of them walked for a little while before Sombra started speaking once more. “Three of you, come forth next to me.” After a moment of conversation two of the stallions and the mare stepped forward next to the dark lord. Sombra looked at each before saying his next command.

“You,” He pointed with a foreleg to the mare on his right, “I want you to go find Shard Break and bring him to me in the throne room, I’ll be waiting.” The mare nodded and headed off to find the general of King Sombra’s crystal army. Sombra turned to the two stallions on his left and looked at the one closest to him. “You are to find Ablazer for me and bring him to the throne room as well.” The guard saluted and left. King Sombra turned to the remaining third guard, “And finally you are to fetch me Radiant Hope and Gleam Heart. I’m sure you can guess where I’d like them brought?”

“Yes sir!” The guard said as he raced off into the palace.

“Hmmm,” Sombra hummed, “The two of you still behind me are to accompany me to the throne room. Once we get there you are to wait outside the throne room’s doors and alert me once those I have requested for have arrived. Do not let any in who are not them.”

“Yes sir!” The two guards said in unison as Sombra retreated into his own mind once more. ‘My beautiful wife Radiant Hope and precious daughter Gleam Heart, I plead that you are safe and unharmed. I know that fall did not k-kill you Hope. I know you’re still with me! The princesses did not take you from me!’ Feeling himself starting to get angry caused him to quickly abandon that train of thought. Being so wrapped up in thought caused him to nearly miss the fact that he’d made it to his throne room.

He looked up at the ornate doors before he grabbed them in his red magic and opened them up. The two guards that were with him took their places next to the doors as the king made his way into the room and shut the doors behind him. He crossed the room and sat down upon his crystal throne in wait for his subjects to arrive. After a little while of looking out at his empire through the throne room’s open windows he sighed and decided to focus on his magic as a way to pass the time. In his meditation he was caught off guard when he delved into the world’s magic pool. A central pool of mana that connected all of the world’s magic together in a central hub, one that to Sombra felt off. It felt strange and different to the one he knew over one thousand years ago, and on top of that another oddity made itself known.

To the north of the Crystal Empire King Sombra could sense something he knew was not around in his time, a magical dead zone. A place where not only no magic resides, but a place magic cannot be called upon or used in any way. ‘That is something that I will have to keep in mind for later, that could be useful when it comes to fighting the princesses. If I could set up some kinds of traps there then…’ His thoughts trail off as his mind begins to ponder other startling ideas.

‘What if Celestia and Luna aren’t around anymore? That could explain why they haven't acted against me or the empire yet.’ “Hmmm…” The dark king looked to the sun, squinting his eyes. “One way to find out I guess.” He murmured and then sent his magic out to the sun to see if he could feel Celestia’s magical signature propelling the thing into the air, to which he did. “Well then, I guess at least that self-aggrandizing sun princess is still around.”

‘But if she’s fine and still raising the sun then why hasn’t she done anything concerning the empire? It just doesn’t make sense!’ The king’s eyes lit up in realization, ‘Could something have happened to Luna? Maybe. I’ll have to check the moon for her magical signature later then when I get the time.’ He looked around his throne room with a disgruntled expression as the answers he sought eluded him for the time being.

“Too many things aren’t adding up,” The king commented to himself out loud, “And everything seems strange in some way or another. Just what is going on out there?” King Sombra gazed out his throne room’s windows once more before a knocking on the room’s doors broke his concentration. ‘Questions for another time I suppose, I have other things to attend to now.’

A crystal guard poked his head in the doorway and spoke, "Sir, they're here as you requested but-"

"Let them in." Sombra cut the guard off.

"But sir-" The guard tried to speak again before King Sombra angrily cut him off once more.

"Guard! I do not have time for this! I am your king and you will listen to me, or else." Sombra said in annoyance that his guard tried to talk back to him.

"Yes sir!" The guard quickly said before saluting and disappearing behind the doors. 'I'll deal with that guard later, for now I have company.' And as the throne room doors opened Sombra’s guests were treated to the sight of a very imposing stallion sat upon an obsidian crystal throne.

Author's Note:

Just wanted to say thank you all so much for the support so far. It's been great to know how much you all like my story and are interested in seeing where it goes, it really means a lot!

Comments

[Clawfoot]

So far so good. Nice chapter, though I did spot an error earlier on.

It is meddling, not metaling. Or did you mean Sombra magicking the door?

[Child of Stars]

11341773
Good to know you like my story so far, and no I did not intend to have Sombra start metal bending

Thanks for catching that, and it's fixed now!

[Teraunce]

Well nice start.

[Lizzy_Springs]

Can't wait to see what happens next! Keep up the good work.

[Child of Stars]

11358638
Thanks, that means a lot! Glad to see you and everyone else is enjoying the story so far, more chapters soon.