Chapter 1~
Dies Veneris, Aprilis XI, CCCXXIII
Raging fires choked out oxygen as their resulting black clouds blocked out the skies of the Crystal Empire, raining down ash and charcoal. Even the ever-present gentle snowfall couldn’t alleviate the roaring infernos of the innumerable houses set ablaze.
Not a single crystal stallion, mare, or foal was spared from the wrath of the ghostly, malnourished equine entities comprised entirely of darkness who preyed upon them—their horrified wails echoing throughout the northern state.
True to their oath, the crystal guard had defended the empire’s citizens to the best of their capabilities. But spears, arrows, and swords simply went right through the dark terrors, and although magic had proven to be effective, the living darkness simply reformed after their momentary defeat.
All hope seemed lost, destructive darkness slowly taking hold of the once serene crystal domain. But a loving mare’s voice suddenly bellows over the frightened masses, garnering the attention of the antagonizing shades.
“Hear me, Umbrum! You destroy anything you touch without a hint of decency or mercy!”
A heart-shaped artifact hovers over the pale vermillion crystal unicorn—held aloft in her light-blue magical grasp.
“That is why it has to be this way! But know that deep down, in my truest of heart, I never wanted this… I’m sorry!”
The Umbrum conjointly let loose haunting screams and roars before hurling toward the unicorn mare like possessive spirits on the hunt. But their rapid approach is halted by a sudden and explosive wave of light.
“With this blessing of Latona, I, Amore, banish you to the Evergloam! Return to your dark lord, and ne’er return!”
Dies Lunae, Lanuarius I, CCCXXV
“Woohoo! Take that, Umbrum!” a dark-gray unicorn colt shouts with a raised right forelimb from his seat, his black mane dangling over his right shoulder. “Sombasi wishes he could’ve been there to see it!”
The colt’s outburst garners a chuckle from the glittering chestnut earth pony mare standing before a collective of young individuals, their tables arranged similarly to a classroom. The chestnut mare held an open book in her left forelimb, having retold its contents to the masses before her.
“Oh, dear,” a mocking feminine voice starts to Sombasi’s right. “The princess clearly missed a freak, eh, Sombasi? Or, should I say, missed two?”
The chestnut mare’s muzzle dropped in response, wholly appalled by those words.
“Blueblood, how dare you!” she stomps a forelimb, “Apologize to Sombasi this instant!”
Sombasi shoots his gaze toward the now smirking white unicorn filly who drapes a forelimb across her golden mane as he growls at her with narrowed green eyes. The other foals in attendance are split from the scenario, some laughing while others inertly hope for the growing conflict to cease immediately.
“So, where’s that freakshow brother of yours?” she scoffingly asked. “Skipping class again, I’d wager. Along with-”
“Sombasi demands that you retract that statement, Blueblood!” he interjects. “For your information, Sombasi’s brother and Radiant Hope were granted permission not to attend.”
“‘Sombasi this, Sombasi that,’” Blueblood repeats in mockery. “Do you know how stupid you and your brother sound when you two talk like that? And don’t even get me started on your blind devotion to your brother.”
“Why are you always so mean to them?” a meek light-blue pegasus filly chimed in. “So they’re a little different; what’s wrong with that? Besides, you’re ‘different,’ too. You and I are migrators here.”
Blueblood turns to the source with a deadpan expression, followed by a chuckle. “You know, I’d say, ‘Watch yourself,’ but that would require you to have actual eyes, Snowdrop.”
“Enough!” booms the chestnut mare at the forefront, halting the argumentative foals, their gaze shifting towards her. “I will NOT tolerate such foul behavior within this orphanage, young lady. I want you and Sombasi in my office immediately. The rest of you are dismissed for today.”
“Yes, Miss. Chestnut.”
The class states in unison as fillies and colts begin to leave their seats and shuffle out of the classroom.
Blueblood flashes a hateful gaze at Sombasi before turning away with a ‘Humph,’ trotting out of the classroom, followed by a small entourage, all of whom whispered mockeries of the dark unicorn amongst themselves.
“I’m so sorry, Sombasi,” Snowdrop began, approaching the mildly irritated unicorn. “I don’t know why she does this to you and your brother every chance she gets…”
Sombasi turns to the downcasted pegasus. “There’s no need for you to apologize to Sombasi, Snowdrop.” he grins, Snowdrop’s downward gaze lifting to meet his own. “It is Sombasi who should express sorrow to you. Blueblood went too far in mocking your blindness, heartless Borealwolf that one is.”
A blush forms on Snowdrop’s cheeks, returning a smile of her own. “You’re so nice, Sombasi.”
He waves a dismissive forelimb. “You and Radiant Hope inspire my brother and me to be better, although Sombasi can’t make you any promises when it comes to… Blue,” he emphasized with clenched teeth, displeasure plastered on his features.
Snowdrop sighs, but a thought occurs to her. “Actually, where did your brother and Hope go? You said that they were given permission not to attend class today. How come?”
Before Sombasi’s coming words could escape his throat, Miss. Chestnut’s presence gains his attention.
“Are you ok, Snowdrop?” the mare asked in genuine, motherly concern. “Please, don’t take Blueblood’s words to heart. She's been... troubled, as of late.”
“Oh, It’s ok, Miss. Chestnut,” Snowdrop responds happily. “I’ll be fine, I promise.”
Miss. Chestnut nods with a vibrant smile, turning to Sombasi. “Sombasi, we’ve talked about this, my sweet.”
He rolls his eyes with a resigned sigh. “Sombasi knows, Miss. Chestnut. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”
“Very good!” she flashes her proud smile that Sombasi had always taken a liking to. “Now, come along, Sombasi. Blueblood should be at my office by now.”
Sombasi groans. “Can I just go to my room? Hay, Sombasi'll do anything aside from sitting in the same vicinity with her.”
“Ah, ah, ah,” Chestnut tutted, waving a forelimb and shaking her head. “Nope. We’re going to resolve this issue. I, along with your siblings, are growing quite weary of these continuous conflicts.”
“Fantastic,” he responds, deadpanning. “Sombasi truly looks forward to it.”
“Good to hear it. Now, let us be off!” Miss. Chestnut turns with a flourish and trots off with her head held up high, eyes closed as she hums a tune.
Another groan erupts from Sombasi’s throat. “Sombasi was being sarcastic,” he mutters, following his caretaker.
-Sombasi wishes to be with you, big brother Sombra.-
All the while, Snowdrop ‘observes’ their departure and is soon left alone to ponder in the now-empty classroom. She turns her gaze toward a nearby window, the crystalline street and adjacent structures visible through the breach to the outside world.
Of course, she couldn’t actually see it all in its full illustration. But the loss of her sight had given the pegasus another unique trait: her incredibly heightened senses.
Snowdrop could taste the air, pick up specific individuals’ scents, thus identifying them from afar, and even hear things on a scale far exceeding most other ponies. And those are just a few of her newfound capabilities, honed over the last two years since… that dreadful day. Admittedly, it's why she had always forgiven Blue, despite how harsh the white unicorn can be.
They both suffered from the Umbrum... it's why they're both orphans, after all.
With Sombasi in Snowdrop’s thoughts, a smile adorned her features, and a memory entered her psyche:
“Please, stop it!” her past voice beckoned. “Give me back my notebook!”
“Sure, I’ll give it to ya!” a colt responds, several other voices laughing together. “If you can find me, that is!”
“Nana na nana!”
“Over here!”
“What good is a blind pony, anyway?”
“Nopony is ever gonna adopt something like you!”
An audience of relentless mockery surrounds her recollection. But a sudden colt’s voice makes itself known, one that grew her smile even further.
“Leave her be, you bunch of bullies! Sombasi has spoken!”
……….
Snowdrop’s ears picked up the unmistakable sounds of conflict on that day, just shy of a year ago. She may be blind, but one didn’t need sight to recognize such an awful thing. Her senses weren’t nearly as defined back then, but she’s relatively sure Sombasi fought an entire group all alone.
That is, until the authoritative voice of Miss. Chestnut stopped everything, in addition to the voices of Sombra and Radiant Hope. But above all, Sombasi’s hoof gently made contact with her own, following all that had transpired.
“Greetings, friend. Sombasi hopes that you are well?”
The same hoof that she now brought up to her chest.
“Sombasi… know that you will always be in my heart for as long as I live.” her cheeks redden. “And yet, I can’t help but wonder: could I be in yours?”
Two pairs of eyes peeked out of a cubical-shaped green bush, its blue flowers blooming as several ponies passed by on the stone/crystal-paved pathway.
“Sombra believes that the coast is clear.” the green eyes said in a hushed tone.
“You know, we could’ve just, oh, I don’t know, walk up to the Crystal Heart?” the blue pair of eyes responds, feminine and with a matching whisper.
“Nonsense, Hope. Besides, you know that Miss. Chestnut doesn’t like having my brother and me anywhere near the Heart; thus, Sombra’s excuse to ‘visit the library.’”
“I can’t believe we lied to mother… oh, goodness, my fairy friends are getting nervous.”
“You and your friends need to relax, my good Hope. But enough talk, come. Sombra will lead the way.”
Sombra’s dark-gray form bursts out of the bushel, a series of leaves and flower petals falling to the ground as his hooves clop against the path. Radiant Hope follows suit, her glittering dark-purple coat covered in leaves, her light-blue mane and tail in no finer condition.
As Hope shakes her form to be rid of the bush’s aftermath, Sombra gazes upon the tremendous crystalline spire before him.
“Remarkable…” he said in awe, beginning his approach, the unicorn filly behind him following closely.
It had always fascinated Sombra how such a grand structure was supported mainly by the tripod foundation located at its base. It was here that one could gain access to the castle via its double doors, but upon entering one of the three archways formed by the tripod, Sombra’s eyes widened even further than before.
There it was, located at the epicenter. The legendary artifact that had banished the Umbrum over two years ago, floating between a stalagmite and stalactite while rotating clockwise constantly and at a relatively fast pace.
Let it be known that Sombra wasn’t one to dismiss his history lessons.
The duo drew closer, stopping several feet from the spinning glory before them.
“Wow, it’s amazing!” Sombra exclaimed. In truth, ‘amazing’ didn’t even begin to describe the artifact and just how happy he was to stand before it finally.
“Let’s get closer!” Hope eagerly suggested.
Upon standing within proximity to the Heart, both ponies shared a mildly disappointed look before turning back to the artifact. And for several moments, nothing happened.
“Strange,” Hope starts. “Miss. Chestnut told us that if one stared onto the artifact’s surface long enough, they could see their future.”
“Wait, truly?” Sombra inquired, genuinely confused. “She never told Sombra that. And I’m fairly certain Sombasi shares my ignorance.”
“Huh…” Radiant brings a forelimb to her chin in thought. “I wonder if that’s why she didn’t want you and Sombasi near it?”
Sombra hums in thought, and after several more moments of absolutely nothing transpiring, he opts to return to the orphanage.
But before he could voice his decision, the dark unicorn’s psyche became assaulted by strange magics, Radiant Hope sharing in this strange phenomenon nearby.
And two separate futures, two destinies, had been revealed.
For those who are a little confused about Sombra and Sombasi's speech patterns, it's inspired by how Sombra actually did used to talk as a colt from the comics:
That being said, this is a world that I'm building from the ground up, although it will have key events like Luna's banishment and, of course, the Empire's disappearance. And I can't wait to unravel everything!
Stats
Page generated in 0.027 seconds
Total duration
969 users online
1,531,261 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Tracked and faved! Very nicely done, Pomp!
It's not often that authors are willing to cover content from before Luna's banishment, often picking it up at the beginning of FIM or after Luna returns. I await eagerly for what you've got planned next!
11430295
Thank you for that!
Yeah, I plan to explore various opportunities in this story. What those are shall be revealed!
Interesting idea you got there
Tracking, sounds like a great story!
11430442
Thank you very much!
11430479
Much appreciated! And you'll be glad to know that I pretty much have the whole thing planned out from beginning to end, it's just writing it out.
So no need to worry about it being abandoned or what have you.
Gasp
Reboot.
11430653
A much needed one, to be sure.
The old version, put bluntly: was sloppy. It was a mess. But now I can rectify that mistake, and I already have it planned through to the end--it's just the simple matter of writing it.
Yup, this is going to my Tracking Page. Really great first chapter here.
11430667
Thank you very much!
11430507
Youre welcome, eager to see where this goes. Got into sombra thanks to a friend
Ah, it’s nice to see that Blueblood legacy remains consistent through the centuries.
“The Great And Powerful Trixie doesn’t see anything wrong with their speech patterns!
OMG i thought this said sombussy for a moment
11468551
Now that’s gonna be stuck in the back of my mind for a very long time.
Ahh, the lies we tell children.