The story of how the Crystal Empire fell into darkness and came under the thrall of the wicked King Sombra
This story is a look into the events that unfolded 1000 years ago that turned the the Crystal Empire from a harmonious paradise into a cursed dystopia.
Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, long before Twilight Sparkle or any of her friends, there lived two Unicorn sisters. They were named Celestia and Luna. They lived their lives contently, until a creature named Discord arrived in their fair country. He was the spirit of chaos, and amused himself creating strife and disharmony across the land. Unable to stand by as Discord tore the land asunder, the two sisters embarked on a daring quest to find six artifacts called the “Elements of Harmony”. Their journey was perilous and long, but as the two gathered the Elements one by one, they learned lessons on the true meaning of friendship. When they had all six, they unlocked the true power hidden within the Elements, and defeated the villainous Discord, trapping him in stone for all time.
Their acts of bravery, wisdom, and love forever changed them, allowed them to ascend to a higher state of being, and the two sisters became Equestria’s first Alicorns, embodying the strengths of all of Ponydom. Celestia became the Princess of the Day, and raised the sun, while Luna became the Princess of the Night, and raised the moon. They were heralded as saviors and the ponies of Equestria begged for their wisdom and guidance. And so, the royal sisters were chosen as the sovereign rulers of Equestria. And together, their rule was just and true.
As rulers of their country, the two sisters became acquainted with many other rulers, but none more closely than the Crystal Ponies to the far north. The sisters considered the Crystal Empire and its fair king a valuable ally and friend. Little did the Princesses know of the darkness that dwelled in the Crystal Empire…
Chapter 1 The wind howled and the snow fell heavily in the North. A procession of Pegasi flew through the dark and stormy skies, led by a shining light at the head of the column. Celestia, Princes of the sun, used her horn as a shining beacon so that her royal procession might follow her. Close by her side was her younger sister Luna, Princess of the moon, and behind them was their personal guard, clad in furs to protect themselves from the biting cold of the North.
Ahead, the Crystal Empire gleamed like a jewel, its vast meadows and crystalline spires gleaming brilliantly. The royal procession flew into the Empire’s protective bubble and warmth and light hit them instantly, drying their wet coats and lifting their spirits. They flew across the main city and landed in front of the tall Crystal Palace where a company of Crystal Guardsponies awaited them, their armor glistening as brightly as their coats.
Celestia stood forward, her quad-colored mane flowing as she raised her head proudly.
“NOBLE GUARDS OF THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE!” Celestia boomed, using the traditional Canterlot Voice, “AT THE BEHEST OF YOUR LORD AND MASTER, WE HAVE FLOWN MANY MILES TO ENJOY THE HOSPITALITY OF THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE! WE WOULD HAVE AN AUDIENCE WITH YOUR KING SO THAT HE MAY RECEIVE US!”
A few moments later, the great gates into the palace opened and a male Crystal Alicorn stepped forth. He was of equal stature to Celestia and also sported royal regalia, including the silver crown of the Crystal Empire. It was a simple band of silver, sporting two spikes over each temple, yet is signified the Alicorn as the king of the Northern lands.
“GREETING, PRINCESSES CELESTIA AND LUNA!” The Alicorn bellowed, “I, KING LUZRA CADENZA, WELCOME YOU TO MY FINE HOME!”
***
“Must we do that every time we see each other, Celestia?” King Cadenza asked at the dinner table, a short while later. The table was laden with fine foods from across the Empire; fruits, vegetables, pastries, and sweets fit for a royal palette. The king sat at the head of the table, with his queen at his left. The seat to his right was empty.
“Tis tradition to speak unto subjects and at formal occasions with such intonation!” Luna clarified, her royal vocabulary ringing out just below a shout, “As it has been for royals of Canterlot for generations!”
“Still, perhaps since we aren’t in Canterlot, we should abide by the wishes of the king,” Celestia advised, her voice at a more reasonable volume.
“Verily…” Luna said, much quieter and somewhat embarrassed.
“I’m glad you invited us over again Luzra,” Celestia said down the table “It’s been far too long. Cadance hadn’t even been born when we were last here!”
“She’s grown into such a beautiful little filly,” Queen Sonatina said with pride, putting a hoof on her chest. “Where is she?” Celestia asked, “I thought she’d be here at dinner with us.”
“She’s probably off exploring the castle,” Luzra said with a smile, “She likes to run around, pretending to be on adventures. I have Commander Citrine looking for her.”
“And are we missing somepony else?” Celestia asked, looking at the empty seat next to the king.
“Ah! Just my brother” Luzra said with a dismissive wave of his hoof “He probably won’t join us. My little brother’s always studying in his tower, I’m lucky to see him at all! Still, he’s come up with some phenomenal advances in magical studies, but isn’t ready to release his findings to our scholars yet. He says they need ‘fine tuning’.”
“Will you excuse me, sister?” Luna said as she stepped back from the table and headed for the door.
“Luna!” Celestia called, surprised “Where are you going?”
“Just to get some air.”
And with that, Luna left, using her magic to close the doors behind her.
“It seems we have more in common than just our shared duties, Celestia” Luzra remarked “We both have siblings who like their air of mystery.”
***
Dusk was falling over the Crystal Empire, and the last vestiges of sunlight were shimmering upon the Crystal Palace. The collision of lights upon the glassy surface was truly breathtaking. But it went unnoticed by one set of eyes. A set of eyes focused intently on its task.
Lord Sombra, younger brother of the king, stood in his tower’s study. Here, he conducted his research into magic. Book shelves lined the walls and crystals of varying shapes and colors were scattered about, along with rolls upon rolls of parchment with notes. Sombra stood before a three foot tall pile of icy chunks brought in from the wasteland which sat, slowly melting, upon the floor. He consulted his notes, read them thoroughly, and set them down.
This time it had to work.
He focused his magic into his horn. He concentrated on the ebb and flow of his magical energy in his body and how it came from his horn. Dark beams fired from the red horn and enveloped the icy pile. It began to move and shift, arranging itself into something. Fruition! It was working! It was-
“Uncle Sombra!”
Startled by the sudden interruption, Sombra lost his focus and the spell was broken. The magic flow ceased and the ice blocks collapsed back into a simple pile. Sombra whirled around, furious.
“Oops…”
It was Cadance, still a mere Unicorn foal. She had only recently gotten her cutie mark, a blue crystal with gold trim. She had come to see her uncle, who was always doing some kind of cool experiment; he let her watch sometimes and she thought it was funny when he used big words like “extrapolate” and “quantifiable”. But it looked like she had interrupted something important.
“Sorry…” Cadance apologized meekly.
Sombra’s teeth grated audibly and a vein pulsed in his forehead. He exhaled through his teeth, making a hissing noise akin to a snake. Then he closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, and let his breath go. And just like that, his composure was fully restored.
“That’s quite all right, Cadance,” Sombra said evenly, “Just make sure you knock next time, rather than barge in.”
“OK!” Cadance said, her good cheer back “Whatcha up to? Some new magic stuff?”
She approached and saw his pile of ice.
“Are you trying to make this ice into something, Uncle Sombra?”
“Actually, I am. Watch a moment, and stay perfectly quiet. I think you’ll be surprised.”
He went back to concentrating. His magic flowed from his horn into the ice. He set his brow and made his focus laser-like. The ice began to move again, this time without interruption. Before Cadance’s eyes, she saw the beginnings of legs, and then a body, and finally a head and tail. Sombra had crafted the ice to look like a large dog, even taller than the young princess. Then Sombra’s eyes gleamed with purple energy as he sent the last push of his energy into the construct. Its ‘eyes’ glowed a sinister yellow. Its mouth opened to reveal rows of razor sharp, icy teeth. It stepped towards Cadance, giving a slight growl as it bore down on her. The foal began to retreat, scared by her uncle’s creation.
“Now, now…” Sombra assured her in a tone that was far from assuring, “Don’t be afraid…”
“HOLD CREATURE!”
Again surprised, Sombra turned to see Princess Luna in the doorway, reared up to her full height with her wings spread menacingly.
“BEFORE THOU LAY A PAW UPON THINE FOAL, THOU SHALL FACE THE WRATH OF-!”
But Sombra raised a hoof, interrupting Luna.
“Please, your highness. There’s nothing to fear here.”
He turned back to the creature he had created and his niece. His horn glowed and the creature stepped forward, and in one swift motion, put his head between Cadance’s hooves and rolled her onto his back. He began a simple trot around the room, much to the delight of the little princess.
“But, that is an Ice Wolf…” Luna said, stupefied.
“Yes,” Sombra replied offhandedly, “And I made it. I crafted it with my own magicks and I control its every movement. They’re simple creatures to control; the difficulty is in forming them.”
“Amazing! We’ve never met a Unicorn able to fashion golems like that!” Luna complimented.
“I’m sure few Unicorns have put in the study time that as I have,” Sombra replied “But where are my manners?” Lord Sombra gave a bow of his head.
“Welcome, it is always a pleasure to welcome the Princess of the Night into my tower.”
“When we saw thou were not at dinner, we decided to seek thee out,” Luna said, somewhat bashfully.
“I assume my brother invited you and your sister here for pleasantries?” Sombra inquired as he made his way to the balcony.
“Verily,” Luna replied, following after him, “But we had hoped we might get a chance to speak with thee, Lord Sombra. We find your theories of magic most interesting.”
“Oh? My theories were all you wished to discuss?” Sombra questioned, pouring on the charm.
“Well… We…” Luna stumbled over her words for a moment, then regained her voice “We initially sought thou out for discussions of magicks, but if there are other topics thou wish to discuss, we would not… Be adverse to this.”
The two went out to the balcony, leaving Cadance to play with the harmless Ice Wolf in Sombra’s study.
“Thank you again for inviting us to visit, Luzra,” Celestia said, as the two rulers casually strolled through one of the palace’s many halls, “It’s good to get away from all the work once and a while.”
“It’s always a pleasure to see you, Tia. You and Luna. Though tell me, does something ail thee?”
“Well… It’s just all the pressure, sometimes. Everything’s so different; Luna and I used to be regular Unicorns once, not so long ago. Now we’re the monarchs of an entire nation. There’s so much responsibility.”
“You’ve only been Alicorns for, what? A few decades?” Luzra asked.
Celestia nodded, “Aging differently is strange too.”
“It is, in the beginning. Strange, and even a little sad; but we must look to the things we have. Our loved ones, whatever happens, are here now. And our subjects are here now.”
Luzra stopped, looking at some of the crystal windows, colored and crafted to depict great events in the Empire’s history. Many featured the king himself.
“I’ve ruled the Crystal Empire for centuries. The things I’ve seen and the things I’ve done in all my time are sometimes beyond imagining: wars, monsters, miracles, and legends. But I have always had my people at heart, regardless of the cost. It’s a trait I see in you, Celestia.”
The princess could only give a small smile of embarrassment at the monarch’s compliment.
“I cannot see into the future, by any means,” Luzra commented, “But I can see you becoming a great leader. You have a good heart, Tia.”
King Luzra was a pony Celestia found herself looking up to. His wisdom and compassion were commendable, and despite knowing full well that he was a happily married stallion with a foal of his own, Celestia couldn’t find help but find she had fallen in love him.
Being an Alicorn did not raise the princess above her baser wants.
***
“The night is beautiful; you are truly a master of your craft.” Sombra complimented.
“We thank thee for thy compliment, Lord Sombra,” Luna returned, “But we found ourselves in turn amazed by some of the magicks offered by the Crystal Empire. The fact that this place stands at all, thanks to your city’s Crystal Heart, is amazing.”
Lord Sombra made a huffing sound, one of clear disapproval.
“Something vexes thee?” Luna inquired.
“My brother is understandably cautious about the Crystal Heart, never letting it leave its spot in the courtyard and under guard at all times. Yet, I see so much potential in it. We know so little of what powers it, though it has been an artifact in Crystal Empire history since the beginning. Since even before my brother’s reign! What I would give to study it in my tower…”
“But you cannot remove it from its place. If it were moved, the cold outside would blanket the Empire.”
“My brother could use his own power to shield the Empire for days, if he needed to,” Sombra said dismissively, “He could give shelter to the Empire, and I could do my research. Even a few days would be sufficient!”
“But what if the king’s shield failed?” Luna asked, becoming distressed with the idea “With no bulwark against the elements, the Crystal Ponies would freeze!”
“Even if my brother’s power was to fail, the ponies of the empire would easily be provided enough insulation, food, and heating to keep everypony comfortable until the Crystal Heart could be reactivated. I’ve drafted three different ways it could be so.”
“Truly?”
“Truly,” Sombra confirmed, “But my brother will hear none of them…”
A scowl darkened the lord’s face and his tone became icy.
“He sees only the short term, cares only for the now. He never gives a thought as to the possibilities! With proper research, there’s no limit to what could be accomplished with the power the Crystal Heart possesses! Imagine the possibilities! It has the power to project a magical field strong enough to protect all this from the elements of the North!”
To illustrate his point, he waved a hoof from left to right over the view of the city below.
“Think of the sheer, raw amount of magical power that must take!” His tone became impassioned and his eyes gleamed with ambition, “Think of that power if it were harnessed! If it was made to help better the empire in other ways, not just used to keep us warm in our beds at night! Isn’t that worth a little risk?"
Luna had to admit the idea was alluring.
“But my dear brother will not even allow the idea to be discussed,” Sombra said bitterly, “Will not hear of my ‘absurd ideas’…”
“We see your point, Lord Sombra,” Luna said reassuringly, “But perhaps the king is just unwilling to tamper with what forces he does not understand.”
“But it is only by tampering, but having the courage or even foolishness enough to meddle that any mystery is solved,” Sombra stated, looking off into the night sky “And that is all I seek; to solve that great mystery of the Crystal Heart. It obsesses me, as of late.”
Luna could see the passion for his research burning in Sombra’s eyes. He was dedicated to his goals, strove for them without hesitation, refusing to allow anything to interfere.
Indomitable.
And then his look fell away, replaced by melancholy.
“Sometimes, I just feel so worthless around this castle,” Sombra lamented, “More like it’s a prison then my home. Not that you would know anything about that. I envy you; Celestia seems like a much fairer ruler then my shortsighted brother.”
Luna’s face betrayed nothing, but in her heart she felt a pang of remorse. She thought back to the many nights she spent patrolling the night skies, flying silently over towns to see nopony in sight to enjoy her stunning work. Instead she saw them sequestered in their dreams, waiting for the night to pass and daylight to rise again.
As she felt resentment rise in her throat, she also felt a new kinship with the Lord of the Crystal Palace. He was a pony who could identify with her feelings. He was full of understanding. She knew full well that there was darkness in his heart as well; he was a cold stallion at times, and ruthless in his ambition. But to a certain degree, all that did was made him more appealing. Along with his royal charm, intelligence, and good looks, Sombra was a very appealing stallion.
Being an Alicorn did not raise the princess above her baser wants.
As the sisters led their honor guard out of the Crystal Empire and back to Equestria, the weather had lightened considerably. The two sisters flew alongside each other, chatting away.
“That was certainly a pleasant visit!” Celestia remarked.
“Yes, King Cadenza knows how to welcome guests” Luna added distantly.
“Not that you saw any of that; you were off in that dusty tower again, along with Lord Sombra” Celestia teased.
“We discussed magical theory!” Luna replied defensively “And nothing we did was any worse a wrongdoing then thou hath herself transgressed!”
“What dost thou mean?” Celestia asked, also slipping back into the traditional tongue.
“We had seen with our own eyes how thine eyes linger on the King’s… Backside…”
“TIS A LIE! Such an offense would be unbecoming of a princess! King Cadenza rests happily married, with a daughter born of his loins!”
“Yes, but we suspect thy fascination with Luzra’s loins has little to do with Cadance…”
Celestia burned red with embarrassment, but she found she had no retort.
“Still,” Celestia managed to say a short while later “We would wish thee to be careful around Sombra. We do not trust him; he is a dark stallion, and we suspect he is a jealous one as well.”
“Tis quite the accusation, sister! Hast thou any proof to warrant such mistrust? We have visited with him many times before, and seen nothing to illustrate him as any kind of threat.”
“Perhaps, but he is always sequestered in that dark tower of his, alone and prying into the magicks whether they be light or dark…”
“Darkness is subjective, Celestia…” Luna’s tone had turned cold.
“There are some things which are not to be toyed with, little sister! Sombra pays no heed to the dangers he poses to those around him! He has a mind of metal!”
“Perhaps if some-!”
“ENOUGH!” Celestia interrupted, “I would speak no more of that stallion. Whether he be a lord or not, he is still unworthy of our trust.”
Luna burned inside. Her sister had decided for her that Sombra was untrustworthy, and would hear nothing Luna would say. Celestia used to do this often before their ascension, being the older sibling, but now the circumstances were different. A whole nation was balanced and dependent upon their unity, and her sister was acting as an all-knowing idol! But Luna swallowed her ire. She would discuss it with her more back in Canterlot.
They spent the rest of the trip back in silence.
Long, uncomfortable silence.
***
A small group of Crystal Ponies had gathered around a table in one of the Crystal Palace’s many dining rooms. But there was neither food nor drinks on the table, and though the hour had grown late indeed, little more than a few candles illuminated the scene, casting the ponies into an eerie light. There was no chatter, the ponies waited quietly in their seats as one-by-one they all arrived. They were a small group, eight in total. There were ponies from all strata of life in the Empire: business ponies, royal advisors, scholars, and even a few Crystal Guards. But these ponies all had a common goal that brought them all together, despite their vastly different positions.
Treason.
Once everypony had been seated, there was a brief minute of stillness before the candles seemed to snuff themselves out, throwing the assembly into darkness. Just as the group started to whisper uncomfortably, the candles came back on, but with magical energy, bathing them all in green light. And in the light, a pair of ponies had appeared who were not there before. One was a well built, serious pony with a short mane, light green sparkling coat, and clad in Crystal Guard armor sans helmet.
He was Commander Citrine.
The other one was Lord Sombra.
“Good evening, gentlecolts,” Sombra intoned softly “You’ll all be pleased to know the plan is proceeding exactly along my estimates. I don’t feel the need to remind you all of your parts in this, since you all know them. I’d instead like to take this time to remind you that not all of us are here at this table: there are others of us throughout the Empire. And that if anything were to compromise what we’ve worked for, the others will find the one who undermined us. And that pony will pay. Severely.” The table was dead silent. If there were any questions in anypony’s mind of betrayal, they had certainly been expelled. “Now that that’s out of the way, I’d like to inform you all that this will be our last meeting. The plan is finalized. In exactly one week, everything in the Empire will change.”
“Change for the better!” Citrine interjected.
Sombra knew where this was going and he allowed his subordinate to continue. Citrine did like his speeches, despite being a pony of so few words.
“For too long we’ve cowered in the North!” Citrine went on “The ponies to the south could not handle these lands, and so they abandoned us to the cold! But the cold tempered us! Made us stronger! And it’s time we made those dogs to the south see our true power!”
Some of the ponies gave brief cheers of approval, but Sombra remained silent.
Citrine was not only useful, but easy to manipulate. He was driven by his national pride, his patriotism to his Empire which had remained stagnant for centuries. Ponies like him flocked to ponies like Sombra, always looking for a charismatic leader to kill and die for to show their commitment.
The others here were all different, of course. They all had their reasons for betraying their monarch: anger, pride, money, cowardice. But they were merely pieces in Sombra’s game; for his reason was something more.
More than fear.
Or greed.
Or patriotism.
Vanity.
Justice.
Love.
Revenge.
Right.
Wrong.
His reason was, in Sombra’s opinion, the only thing in the universe that truly mattered:
Using his magic, King Cadenza levitated his daughter in circles high above the floor of the throne room. Cadance giggled in delight as she held her forelegs to either side like wings. Finally, the king brought her in for a crash landing into his waiting hooves, where she hugged him tightly.
“I love it when you fly me around, Daddy!” Cadance said happily.
“And I love to see you so excited, my little Cadance,” Luzra returned.
“Do you think I could ever fly on my own?”
“What do you mean?”
“Like you! You can fly, Daddy! You have wings!”
Luzra looked back as he flexed his wings, as if he hadn’t noticed them until Cadance had brought them to his attention.
“It’s hard to say,” The King finally said, suddenly more serious “Becoming an Alicorn isn’t easy. It takes study, and mental and spiritual fortitude.”
Cadance stared at him, confused.
“Ummm… You need to be… strong, with your mind and your heart.”
“I am!” Cadance said, slightly offended.
“Yes, Cadance, you are. But you’re also still young. You’re not ready. But you are special, my daughter. You’re brave and smart and oh so sweet! And you can already use some magic, which is amazing considering your age. You will grow up into an amazing mare someday, and I’ll be there to help you earn your wings if you think you have what it takes to get them.”
“BROTHER!” A merry voice rang out.
The king and the princess looked up in surprise to see Lord Sombra, along with Commander Citrine and a Crystal Scribe adorned in pale robes. Sombra was floating along a pair of glasses with his magic and the commander had a pitcher balanced carefully on his back, his pace steady so as not to tip the container.
“Sombra!” Luzra cried out in delight “So good to see you! What brings you down from yonder dusky tower?”
“Celebration, my dear brother!” Sombra replied with a smile on his face as he picked up the pitcher with his magic and poured a pair of drinks.
“Cadance, go find your mother,” King Cadenza instructed, “Your father and uncle need some time alone together.”
Cadance flashed her uncle a smile and galloped off.
“What is the occasion, little brother?” Luzra asked as he took one of the glasses in his own magic aura.
“Months…No… Years of my life might finally be vindicated!” Sombra explained, “A little something I’ve been brewing up has finally reached its critical moment, and I’m brimming with excitement.”
“I can see that, brother!” Luzra said happily as he took a sip of his drink “It’s good to see you happy, rather than your usual moody self!”
“You have no idea…”
***
The barracks in the lower levels of the Crystal Palace were less full then usual. It was the middle of guard changing time, and many of the Crystal Guard were in their barracks readying their armor, grooming themselves to look respectable in uniform, or just relaxing. But all the ponies in the barracks shared a common denominator that none of them took into account.
Loyalty.
A trait a pair of guards outside the barracks door did not share. One of the apostate guards carefully opened the door into the barracks while the other threw in a flask held in his teeth. Before the flask hit the ground, the first of the pair closed the door and locked it from the outside, a small modification made by a lone carpenter only two nights before.
When the flask shattered, purple gas erupted from it and quickly filled the room, startling the guards. As they began to choke on the smoke, the loyal guardsponies inside went into a panic and tried to escape, hammering upon the door. The door stood resilient, in spite of the frantic fervor of the trapped ponies. They ran and cried and scratched and pounded, reduced to little more than trapped mice. The two guards outside listened until the coughing, screaming, and crying had settled into a grim silence. And then they ran off, their part in the plan done to the letter.
***
“So tell me, what is this new invention of yours, brother?” Luzra inquired as he took another sip of his drink “Another new spell? Or some mechanical widget?”
“No, no, not this time,” Sombra said, looking at his own drink as he swirled is slightly “Something different this time. I thought I’d try something outside my usual paradigm: potion brewing.”
“Potions?”
“Oh yes,” Sombra affirmed casually, “Poisons to be exact. I’ve created a brand new one from scratch.”
Luzra’s expression made his shock and distaste evident. “That’s rather grim, Sombra…”
“Yes, I suppose,” Luzra’s brother admitted, “It’s not exactly an honorable death, but it’s certainly effective, provided all the ingredients were mixed properly.”
“I find your sudden fascination with poisons rather disconcerting, brother. You’ve always had your attraction to the darker elements, but this is quite beyond the pale!”
“I’m sorry to hear you feel that way, brother of mine. I’d hoped you’d be more receptive. After all, you’re my first test subject.”
***
The king’s royal advisor, Golden Agate, stood on a balcony overlooking the city below. He enjoyed the view, his mind on his time away from his work. As the royal advisor, Golden was in charge of being abreast of situations about the Empire that were beneath the king’s notice and acting upon them in the king’s name and with the king’s authority. It was an exhausting job, but one he did with pride. His fealty to the king knew no bounds, having grown up seeing his father serve the king, and his grandmother before him. It was his honor and his pleasure to serve the good of the Empire in Cadenza’s name.
He barely even registered the hit as somepony shoved him violently from behind, right over the guardrail. Golden Agate plummeted to his demise as his assistant, Smokey Quartz, slinked off. Smokey had to establish his alibi and set his affairs in order. After all, by tomorrow he’d be the new royal advisor.
***
The king heard what his brother had just said, but its meaning did not register. He was too surprised. “What?” Was the only response the king could muster, before he began to see dark spots in his vision and feel dizzy. “It was quite a complicated potion I came up with,” Sombra went on “I had to research potions and ingredients for months to even have an idea of what to make; a poison for a fully grown Alicorn! No easy task… And even then, the components themselves were a nightmare! I had to import herbs from as far away as Zebraria! Do you have any idea how long those took to get here secretly?”
As his brother went on, Luzra tried to sit up from his throne. Whether it was to confront his brother or just to get help, he wasn’t sure. But he suddenly found his legs couldn’t support his own weight anymore. He tripped over himself, falling forward and crashing down the steps in front of the Crystal Throne. The great king was sprawled across the floor of his throne room, gasping and twitching.
“Oops. Have a bit of a tumble, did we?” Sombra mocked as he and his two escorts made their way down the steps, “That’ll be the Jargis Root attacking your motor cortex. I thought it was quite brilliant combining it with Talus leaves to counteract your magic; we couldn’t have you using magic to purge the toxin from your blood, after all.”
Sombra began to leisurely pace around his spasming brother, circling him like a shark.
“You can’t even begin to imagine how this feels: after all this time, sitting in the shadow of my older brother, finally getting to see you lain so low. Watching you lie there and squirm as I take what is rightfully mine. You never had the dedication I had. You never had the initiative or the imagination that I had, and yet you still become an Alicorn before me! I put in the effort! I did the research! I practically sold my soul to my work, and I still haven’t reached that level! And yet-!”
Sombra stopped himself, realizing he’d lost his composure. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, allowing his self-control to return. When he released his breath and opened his eyes, he had returned to his calm and sadistically mocking tone. “I hope you don’t mind, I have one of the Crystal Scribes here to take notes on your condition. After all, brother, this is an entirely new toxin! For the sake of scientific progress, records must be kept.”
The betrayed king had begun to turn grey in his coat and mane, as if the poison was sucking the very color from him. Veins in his neck pulsated erratically and his eyes bulged. The scribe held up a tablet in his hoof and used a piece of charcoal in his mouth to write quick notes.
***
In a restaurant in the Crystal Empire, several businessponies had gathered for a lunch meeting to discuss business and pleasure alike. Their host had chosen six of the biggest owners of businesses in the Empire for this lunch date, but he had chosen them not just because of their status, but also because of their allegiance to the king. These businessponies supported the Empire’s infrastructure, and had worked with the king for generations.
The host of the lunch excused himself from the table and headed for the bathroom. As he went past, he locked eyes with the restaurant owner and nodded. He nodded back. The owner went to the front of the restaurant and turned his ‘Open’ sign to ‘Closed’, and drew the curtains on the large front windows.
He then turned and nodded to patron sitting at an adjacent table to the businessponies. The patron nodded and stood up. Within a second, the other dozen or so ponies in the restaurant that were not the targets also stood up. The businessponies were too wrapped up in their conversation to notice they were surrounded. Though they were bereft of their uniforms, they all wore the stone cold faces of Crystal Guards. They reached under their tables and drew daggers…
***
“You failed, big brother. Your kingdom is mine, as it always should have been…”
“Sombra…” Luzra was barely able to rasp.
“I can only imagine what you’re going through right now, but I was hoping you would do me one last courtesy,” Sombra bent down to look his brother in the eye, “I know how the toxin theoretically should affect you, but I’ve been unable to test it properly on a living stallion, let alone an Alicorn. So please tell me, and remember, this is for posterity so be honest: how do you feel?” Luzra gave one final wheezing gasp and he laid still, his eyes unblinking and a mixture of saliva and blood dripping idly from the corner of his mouth. Sombra stood up. “Commander Citrine?”
“One minute and eight seconds, Lord Sombra” Citrine said, consulting his Crystal time piece.
“Hmmm…” Sombra frowned, “It was quicker than I had hoped, perhaps the Jargis Root was ground too fine. Scribe! Take a note.”
As the scribe jotted down Sombra’s comment, a scream echoed through the throne room. The trio of conspirators looked up to see Queen Sonatina at the doorway, screaming at the sight of her husband.
“Ah! Sister-in-law!” Sombra called, affably, “I was just going to look for you! How nice of you to save me the trouble.”
“MURDERERS!” Sonatina screamed, “You’ll pay for this! GUARDS!”
“Oh, I’m afraid the guards won’t be coming at your behest, dear Sonatina” Sombra said, sardonically “For me, however… GUARDS!”
At Sombra’s command, half a dozen guards came in behind the queen, blocking her exit.
Sonatina looked over her shoulder at the guards, and then back to Sombra. As the dark lord’s smile widened, Sonatina’s horn glowed brightly and she fired a blast of magical energy at Sombra. He deflected it easily, but as he was distracted with protecting himself Sonatina used her magic to rip one of the large decorative crystals out of the wall and hurl it at the guards behind her.
They scattered to avoid the projectile, which shattered loudly and threw glassy shrapnel in every direction. Utilizing the opening in the ranks, Sonatina made a break for it. Sombra fired a dark magic bolt after her, but she rounded a corner and his magic attack blew off part of the wall instead.
“Seal off the palace! Retrieve the queen!” Sombra barked at his soldiers as they picked themselves up “And find Cadance! Bring her to me alive and unspoiled.”
The troops scrambled to do as they were bid.
“Not you two!” Sombra yelled at a pair of the guards, “Come here.”
The two approached their lord, waiting at attention for their orders. Sombra looked around, conspiratorially, and leaned in close to the guards.
“I’ve received some news recently,” Sombra said, barely above a whisper, “It would appear that the king was recently assassinated. On top of all that, I’ve heard rumors that elements of the Crystal Guard were involved in the killing.”
As Sombra turned his back to them, the two guards gave each other a curious look.
“While despicable to believe such treasonous turncoats could be in our midst, it is a relief to me to know that there are still loyalists; like the stalwart Commander Citrine, who avenged his brave king by slaying a pair of the conspirators right here in the throne room.”
The two guards were too surprised by Sombra’s words to notice the commander approaching them from behind, a Crystal dagger clenched in his teeth and cold steel in his eyes.
***
Cadance was obeying her father’s command, trying to find her mother in the labyrinthine halls of the palace, when she got caught up looking out one of the many windows at the beauty of the city below. As the foal gazed at the shimmering beauty, a pair of guards approached her.
“Princess!” One of them addressed, getting Cadance’s attention.
“Have you seen my mom?” Cadance asked, “My daddy wanted me to find her.”
“That’s not important now,” The guard said sternly, “We need you to come with us.”
“Is something wrong?” Cadance asked, worried.
“No, but Lord Som-”
Suddenly the guards were picked up by a light blue magic field, lifted a few feet into the air. Just as the guards realized what was happening, the pair was suddenly and forcefully thrown through the nearby window. Cadance opened her mouth in a silent scream as glass flew. The guards screamed loudly, flailing uselessly against gravity. They hit the palace grounds eight stories down with a pair of distinct thuds.
Before Cadance could even begin to react to what she’d seen, Queen Sonatina Mi Amore swept her daughter up with her magic and placed the foal on her back. She galloped away from the sound of more yelling.
***
The queen hid herself and her daughter in one of Cadance’s play rooms. Sonatina used her magic to bar the door and then turned to her daughter, who was on the verge of tears.
“Cadance,” Sonatina whispered, putting her hooves on either side of her daughter’s face “Look at me, and listen to me very carefully.”
“Y-you k-killed them…” Cadance said, her voice quivering “Why did-?”
“I know, I know,” The queen interrupted her daughter as she brought her in for a hug “But those guards were going to hurt you, Cadance. They were trying to take you from me and I would not let that happen.”
“But, daddy wouldn’t-”
“Listen to me, Cadance. This is going to be hard, but you have to listen. Your father is dead.”
The filly’s world crumbled. The earth below her split in two and the sky above her shattered. She felt like someone had run her through with an icicle.
“What? But I just saw him-!”
“Cadance, Sombra killed your father. He’s killed a lot of other ponies in the castle too. He’s trying to take the throne. And for that, he needs the two of us dead as well.”
Sonatina pulled away to look her in the eyes.
“But that won’t happen,” The queen had steel in her eyes, “You are going to survive, alright? I can make a distraction and you can escape.”
“No!”
“If you can get out of the city, you can get help from Celestia and Luna to the south.”
“You have to,” Sonatina said, her own tears running down her face, “You are so strong. I won’t let Sombra hurt you. But you have to go without me, ok? You have to live.”
“I don’t wanna go…” Cadance whimpered, hugging her mother again.
“I know…” Sonatina held her daughter as if a wind might whip her out of her hooves if she didn’t hold tight enough. Suddenly, there was a banging on the door and the sounds of shouting. Sonatina looked at the door, terrified. She scanned the room, looking for another escape route. No windows, no other doors. So she did the only thing she could. “Cadance!” Sonatina whispered sharply, “Hide in that chest!”
There was a large chest filled with toys, which Sonatina emptied partly with her magic and Cadance jumped into. “I’m going to distract them, try to draw them away,” the queen said, resolutely, “When I do, jump out and run, ok? Just run straight out of here. Don’t be seen by anyone. Don’t trust anyone in the Empire, Cadance. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, momma,” Cadance whispered miserably. She had just lost her father, and now she was going to lose her mother. But she vowed to be brave. But just because she was brave, that didn’t mean she was happy.
“I love you, Cadance,” Sonatina said as she gave her one last kiss on the head and shut the chest.
As she turned towards the door, planning to fight her way through the guards, the door was blasted off its hinged by a tremendous force. Through the remains of the destroyed frame came a figure that made Sonatina’s blood run cold: Sombra.
“There you are,” Sombra said, menacingly, “I’ve been looking everywhere for you, dear sister-in-law.”
A trio of Crystal Guards entered the room behind Sombra, their weapons at the ready.
“Seize her,” Sombra ordered.
The three rushed Sonatina, but her horn glowed as the many toys in the room where levitated up and flung at the guards like bullets. The guards were stopped in their tracks as the barrage of wood, metal, and crystal assaulted them, striking their unprotected eyes and legs. They tried to persevere, but were bombarded into submission, left lying on the ground in agony. Sombra, who had been casually protecting himself this entire time with a force field, shook his head with disappointment.
“Tsk, tsk. Must I perform all the regicide in the palace myself?”
“You bastard!” Sonatina yelled “I’ll kill you for what you’ve done!”
Sonatina conjured a sword made of blue magical energy with her magic and swung it at Sombra, aiming to decapitate the lord. Sombra’s horn glowed and summoned a black mystical spiked mace blocked the blow. Sombra sneered and swung his own magical weapon. The two dueled back and forth, striking and parrying, their weapons sending sparks of mystic energy flying. While she was a strong magic user, Sonatina was still nothing next to Sombra, and before long his mace smashed her sword into nothing.
Sombra swung his mace at the queen, and she summoned a crystal wall in front of her to block the blow. But her defense was for naught, as the mace smashed through the crystal barrier and slammed into Sonatina, sending her flying across the room. She hit the wall with painful force and crumpled to the ground in a heap.
Sonatina raised herself up partly and her horn glowed again, creating a force field to hold Sombra at bay. Sombra stabbed her barrier with his horn and shattered the barrier effortlessly. His own horn glowed and Sonatina found herself lifted off the ground, the magical field around her pressing into her ribcage tightly.
Inside the chest, Cadance saw the duel through the keyhole of the chest. She used every ounce of her willpower to keep herself inside and not rush to her mother’s defense. She had a hoof placed tightly over her mouth and tears ran down her face. She was powerless to tear her eyes away as Sombra killed her mother.
“You won’t get away with this!” Sonatina said, weakly.
“How droll and cliché,” Sombra sneered, “I’ve already won. Anypony of any importance who hasn’t sworn allegiance to me is lying dead as we speak. And everypony who will be taking their places are in my pocket. It’s a new age now, Sonatina, and you have no place in it. But I feel like you should know; Cadance does.”
“If you hurt one hair on her-!” Sonatina was interrupted as Sombra’s magic closed in around her throat.
“Perish the thought! I wouldn’t dream of hurting her! She’s my niece, after all, and the heir to the throne. And she also adores me. I’ve seen her as she watches my experiments; so much more open-minded then Luzra ever was, even at her age. And she’s so malleable… I’ll raise her like a daughter and by the time she’s on the throne, I’ll have her wrapped around my hoof.” “You’re… Sick…” Sonatina wheezed out, her face turning blue.
“Don’t worry, Sonatina. I’ll break the news of your demise to Cadance gently. Goodbye.”
There was a dry snapping noise, like half a dozen dusty twigs being stepped on. Then an unceremonious thud as the queen’s body was dropped to the floor.
Sombra whirled around to the trio of Crystal Guards as they started to pick themselves up. “You three may be pathetic soldiers,” Sombra spat as his horn glowed, “But you’ll make exceptional scapegoats.”
Cadance came out of the chest a short while later, after her murderous uncle had left to continue his search for his missing niece. Stepping over the bodies of the slain guards, Cadance looked over the broken body of her mother and felt her sorrow threatening to tear her apart. Everything in her life was coming apart for no good reason and much too fast; she couldn’t take it all in. She looked into her mother’s glassy, empty eyes and lost strength in her legs, falling onto her belly. Never again would those eyes shine with love and affection. Never again would Cadance curl up next to her mother in bed and fall asleep next to her warmth. She very nearly decided to just wait there for her uncle to come back and kill her too, because at least then her pain would end.
But she remembered what her mother had said:
You have to live.
She also remembered what her uncle had said:
I wouldn’t dream of hurting her! … I’ll raise her like a daughter and by the time she’s on the throne, I’ll have her wrapped around my hoof.
Putting these two together, Cadance had a plan. It was a desperate plan that could get her killed, but she had to try something. She knew what she had to do.
***
Sombra paced the study of his tower angrily. It had been well over two hours since the poisoning of the king and Cadance was still unaccounted for. He had his minions working tirelessly to sweep the castle from the tallest tower to the lowest dungeon and they hadn’t reported anything yet. Just as Sombra pulled out his books to prepare a locator spell, the doors opened and a pair of guards entered.
The guards were leading a very confused looking Cadance.
“We found her in one of the lower levels, my Lord,” The soldier informed Sombra, “She had this with her.” The guard used his teeth to pull a wooden sword from his belt.
“What were you doing down there, Cadance?” Sombra questioned.
“Well, after daddy told me to go find mom, I couldn’t find her anywhere. So I thought she must have been captured by hobgoblins! Glimmer and I were exploring a deep dungeon looking for her.”
“‘Glimmer’?” Sombra raised an eyebrow.
The sword was pulled out of the guard’s teeth by Cadance’s magic and she brandished it. “My trusty sword!” Cadance clarified, smiling.
Sombra grinned. The entire time he’d been changing the face of the Crystal Empire, she’d been in the dungeons on another one of her silly imaginary adventures. How charming.
“Why did you want to see me anyway, uncle Sombra?” Cadance asked, “Weren’t you talking with my dad?”
“Yes, Cadance, I was.” Sombra said, his voice becoming a mask of sorrow “That’s why I’ve summoned you here. Something terrible has happened.”
“What?”
“You see, as your father and I were talking, assassins stormed the throne room.”
“What!?”
“Oh yes! Your father and I fought them off as best we could, but one of them hit your father with a poison dart. I tried to use my magic to help, but there was nothing I could do.”
Sombra hung his head in cleverly acted grief.
“And your mother…”
“What about my mother!?” Cadance cried “Is she ok!?”
“Cadance…” Sombra put a hoof on her shoulder “I’m afraid she’s not. The ponies responsible got her as well. I’m afraid she’s… Passed.”
For Cadance, the hardest part was over. She had to act like her usual self for the guard patrol and for Sombra. Act like a happy, ignorant princess. And this was finally the time when she could let it out. She started to sob, letting her anguish wash over her. Sombra pulled her into an embrace and Cadance had to resist every urge to shove him away. He had killed her parents and now he was trying to soothe her! Even in the throes of her grief, she felt her anger and hate at her uncle swell. But she had to act the part and held onto him, nuzzling her face into his chest and weeping. Sombra stroked her mane and Cadance hoped her quivers of disgust would be disguised as trembling as she wept.
***
“Citizens of the Crystal Empire, a most terrible tragedy has befallen our fair land.”
Using his magic, Sombra amplified his voice as he spoke from the main balcony of the Crystal Palace, assembled below were the entirety of the Crystal Guard and most of the citizenry of the Empire. Adorned upon his head was the fallen king’s silver crown, along with flowing red robes.
“The king and queen are dead, slain by traitors to the crown. And while the traitors have been dealt with, a new vigilance and a new leader is necessary. Princess Cadance is, of course, the next in line for the throne.”
Sombra motioned to the princess next to him, standing quietly and solemnly at attention.
“But she is too young to rule. Instead I, Lord Sombra, will rule in her place until she reaches the appropriate age. Though I stand in the shadow of my brother, I guarantee a bright and glorious future for our empire, as today I am reborn as your new king!”
The Crystal Guard below slammed their spears to the ground in rhythm.
“HAIL KING SOMBRA!” The troops cried in unison “HAIL KING SOMBRA!”
Canterlot Castle was abuzz with activity, as usual. As the center of government in Equestria, the capital was busy handling issues foreign and domestic, with no one being busier than the Royal Pony Sisters. Sitting in the royal throne room, the two held audiences with dignitaries, heard grievances from representatives, and were given briefings on the goings-on of the entire country. But somepony in the throne room was perhaps not as busy as she’d like to be. Luna sat in her navy blue throne next to her sister in her golden one, listening to reports from several officials in turn and answering their questions. Except that she wasn’t. Luna was almost always overlooked in these meetings, with very few questions posed to her and most of them being forwarded to her older sister. Luna had often had to interrupt Celestia in order to get a word in edgewise, and it annoyed the Princess of the Night to no end. Today, Luna had decided to try an experiment: be completely silent and see how long until somepony noticed.
So far it had been 20 minutes, and no one had appeared to take an interest in the younger princess. As the minutes ticked by, Luna’s frustration mounted and her patience began to wear thin. Delegate after delegate bowed deeply to both of them, but only looked at and addressed Celestia. The Sun Princess, of course, answered everything without fail, without doubt, and without even glancing at her younger sister to gauge her reaction. Just as Luna was about to break her silence and start trying to take some control, one of the officials spoke up.
“Your highnesses, we’d like to put forth a proposal for a new holiday. Seeing how there’s a Summer Sun Celebration, some of my colleagues and I believe a Winter Night Celebration might be a festive counterpoint, to celebrate the longest night of the year.”
Luna’s heart soared and a smile broke across her face. A holiday to celebrate her night, a time just for her and her hard work! Exactly what she needed!
She was about to open her mouth to congratulate the official on his brilliant idea, but Celestia spoke first.
“A novel idea, certainly, but it might not be very practical. Let’s move onto the next item of business-”
“Just a moment!” Luna interrupted, taking the assembled ponies by surprise, “I would like to hear more of this Winter Night Celebration.”
“Well…” The official stuttered, “W-we were thinking it would be a night for ponies in Equestria to stay up late and watch the full moon rise up to its zenith, much like the Summer Sun Celebration, all while enjoying parties across the land.”
“Marvelous!” Luna exclaimed.
“Hold, sister,” Celestia warned, “The longest night of the year is during winter, when there is still much work to do for ponies across Equestria. Having a holiday during such a pivotal time might not be what Equestria needs.”
“Or, perhaps, a festive holiday during the chilly winter to raise spirits is what Equestria needs.”
“There is already Hearth’s Warming Eve, as well as many others,” Celestia’s tone now betrayed her annoyance at Luna’s continued opposition, “Another night of festivities in such an already festive season might by excessive.”
“With a holiday for the summer days already in place, doesn’t one for the winter nights seem only fair, dear sister?” Luna was no longer sitting. She stood, her teeth bared and her eyes were blazing.
“Running a country is not always about fairness!” Celestia stood as well, her mane now flaring indignantly, “It is understandable how this might elude you, little sister, but I would hope that even at your young age you would understand this!”
“ARE YOU SO ARROGANT AS TO BELIEVE THIS IS A MATTER ONLY YOU CAN UNDERSTAND!? THAT WE ARE TRULY THAT MUCH OF A CHILD!?” Luna thundered in her Canterlot voice. The force of it blew off hats, glasses, scrolls and quills from the ponies in the room.
“I AM YOUR OLDER SISTER, LUNA, AND YOU WOULD DO WELL TO HEED ME IN MATTERS YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!” Celestia’s response was equally deafening, but the younger sister remained stolid in the face of her sister’s vocal wrath. After such an explosion, Celestia was prepared for another bout of the Canterlot voice, but instead the two shared a standoff of glares. Luna turned away her head away first, and with an unsettling small voice said:
“You’re not as perfect as you tell all these ponies you are, Tia.”
And with that, Luna opened her wings and flew out the large entrance doors, over the heads of all the visitors to the throne room.
Celestia’s anger faded into guilt as her sister disappeared from sight.
Needless to say, Princess Celestia was in no mood for visitors or official business for the rest of the afternoon.
***
Luna landed a short while later on the balcony attached to her bedchambers. Her mind was swirling with resentment and anger or what had transpired in the throne room. It shouldn’t have happened in the throne room like that: it was embarrassing for her, for Celestia, and for everypony there. But she’d worry about that later, now she wanted to lie down and rest. But as she entered her chambers, she spied something that drove her weariness from her body and her worries from her mind:
A scroll with the emblem of the Crystal Empire.
It must have arrived for her while she was in the throne room. She galloped over to it and used her magic to scoop it up and unfurl it. Inside was a beautiful and fragrant Moon Flower that, instead of pale white, was darkest blue. Lord Sombra grew a planter full of them in his laboratory, and he sent one with every letter to her. Luna breathed in the heady scent of the flower and used her magic to levitate it into a small vase by her bed. She then read his letter:
Dear Luna, My deepest apologies for not being able to write sooner, there are several experiments I’m involved in that require my constant attention and my time is very limited. Nevertheless, time spent writing and receiving letters from the princess of the night is never time wasted.
Luna blushed.
I hope my letter finds you well in Canterlot. Things in the Empire have maintained their usual droll business, with my brother never seeming to have a hair out of place as he manages an entire country. Sonatina is writing another ballad, and Cadance has decided she wants to see the ocean and become Queen of the Pirates. She’s very charming, really. As ever, I remain busy with my work. In the last two months since my last letter, I’ve managed to master another three spells, invented a self-winding time piece, and wrote a scroll on philosophy; overall a rather humdrum two months. But enough about me, how have you been? I’ve been keeping an eye on your work in the night sky and it never ceases to dazzle. But seeing the craft is still nothing compared to seeing the craftspony who made it. I had a very nice time when you visited us last, and I hope we can do it again soon. While the Crystal Palace kitchens are more the sufficient, I would still like to take you into the city to visit some choice restaurants, on your next visit. I’m sure all of them will trip over themselves to accommodate a couple of noble stature such as ourselves. I will await your letter with baited breath.
Yours truly,
Sombra
Luna read over the letter a few more times, and then set it gently on her bedside table. She and Sombra had been pen-pals for a few years, and it was one of the few true joys she had during the day. She felt butterflies in here stomach as she thought of her future dinner with a Lord of the Crystal Empire. Luna lay down on her bed and drifted off to sleep with the aroma of the Moon Flower drifting through the air and visions of her kindred spirit to the North in her mind.
***
Celestia slammed the door to her bedchambers, frustrated at her sister’s nerve. Making a scene like that in front of a dozen dignitaries! In front of their castle staff! The rumors would spread from Canterlot to Las Pegasus within days. Celestia was about to deposit her crown upon her dresser, when she noticed that there was something already there: A scroll with the emblem of the Crystal Empire. Celestia perked right up at the prospect of a letter from her dear friend to the North and opened the scroll. No flowers in Celestia’s scroll, those day for Luzra were long over. Already in a better mood, the princess started reading the Crystal King’s letter:
Dear Celestia, Greetings from the far north! How are you doing? Things have been very busy up here. No one big thing, but lots and lots of little thing. I’m sure you know how it is, eh? Sonatina is working on her next great composition, Cadance wants to sail across the sea and my brother is still the same old curmudgeon he always was. And he’s supposed to be my younger brother! HA!
Celestia chuckled.
Still, I hope everything is well with your own affairs. I’m truly sorry we haven’t been able to see each other sooner. It’s nearly been a year since you visited last, I know, but we have to be the responsible ones; even at the expense of our own well deserved fun. I’ll see what I can do in terms of freeing up my schedule, but it may not be for a few more months. Until then, stay strong and be happy, Tia!
Sincerely,
***
“King Luzra Cadenza,” Sombra finished his dictation, “Now, send it.” The head scribe, who had been taking Sombra’s transcription, looked over her work. Sombra had made sure this particular Crystal Pony was his head scribe for a reason: she was an excellent forger of handwriting, and could replicate the king’s writing style impeccably. She nodded and headed out to send both Sombra’s and ‘Luzra’s’ letters to Equestria. Having lived with his brother for centuries and intercepted more than a few of the letters meant for Celestia, Sombra knew exactly what kind of letter the former king would write. Sombra could seamlessly replicate his brother’s oh so jovial attitude, his inane little jokes, and his contemptible pomp easily. The charade had held for little under a year, and Sombra could easily keep it up for another three. King Sombra took a sip of Crystal Wine as he sat on his throne and contemplated the strange and somewhat cruel pleasure he took in this little exercise; reading Celestia’s letters, hearing about her mundane fears, aspirations, and hopes, and in turn supporting her as ‘Luzra’.
But such fun had its time. Now, there were more pressing matters to attend to.
“Smokey Quartz!” Sombra called to his royal advisor, “Report!”
Smokey Quartz stepped forward, a scroll in his mouth, and knelt deeply. No matter how many times ponies knelt before him, the king never quite got tired of seeing it. The advisor rose from his kneeling position and took his scroll in hoof, unfurling it. “My liege, the expansion of the Crystal Guard is on schedule, with our numbers currently at eleven hundred, as opposed to the four hundred guards before your coronation. Production of your new weapons and war machines is in full swing and the weapons are being issued to the soldiers and placements you’ve specified. Our crystal mines have tripled their output, but our miner fatality rate is thirty percent.”
“Dying of exhaustion I presume?”
“Mostly, your majesty.”
“Triple isn’t enough new crystals and thirty percent is too many fatalities. Recruit more workers off the streets and assign them longer work hours. And increase the miner’s water rations, which should bring their fatalities down to around fifteen percent, a much more reasonable number. Anything else?”
“Just a reminder that Cadance’s lessons are at two o’clock later today.”
“Excellent. You make leave, Smokey Quartz,” Sombra took another sip of his drink as his advisor trotted off, savoring the taste.
Sombra’s eyes drifted towards the large windows and he admired his masterpiece outside: The Dark Crystals. After coming into power, Sombra had used his magic to ‘enhance’ the crystal mines and turn their contents into his own more powerful and twisted creations. Pillars of Dark Crystals surrounded the empire, providing the protection from the wintery elements the Crystal Heart once did, as well as influencing the populace. It was a masterstroke: the Dark Crystal’s energy would magically manipulate the minds and wills of those around it into a mindset determined by the enchanter of the crystals. The crystals made the Crystal Pony populace more frightened and docile, his perfect slaves. And the Crystal Guard’s armors had been traded for glistening, dark crystal armor that boosted their cruelty and obedience to Sombra. Once, the Crystal Guard had been loyal to Sombra. Now they were fanatics, his obedient, deadly, uncompromising warriors. As for the Crystal Heart itself; it was held in a special holding tower, where it was kept under lock and key when not being experimented on. Sombra spent many long hours in that tower, poking and prodding at the Crystal Heart, trying to decipher its secrets. Sombra set his wine glass down and stood. He had some business to take care of before Cadance’s lesson.
***
Princess Cadance trotted down the hallway towards her uncle’s study, flanked by a pair of guards. They were her personal bodyguards, assigned to her by the king to protect her with their lives. Cadance knew this was, of course, a farce; there hadn’t been any assassination attempts against anypony in the castle since King Cadenza died. The guard’s true purpose was to be Sombra’s eyes on Cadance, so that she was never beyond his sight. Combined with her being forbidden to leave the palace grounds since the coup, it had been very hard for Cadance to have any time where her uncle was not spying on her. But, here and there, she got time to herself.
Time to plan.
But today was time for her lessons. She paused in front of her uncle’s study apprehensively. From underneath the door a bright pink light was flashing intensely. She opened the door to find Sombra wrapped in a cocoon of magical energy, levitating him into the air and glowing. The princess was in awe for only a few seconds, as the glowing died down and Sombra descended back to the floor. When it was done, Sombra stood straighter and more powerfully then before. He heaved a heavy sigh of contentment, letting the years of his life rejuvenated to him and filling him with vitality. He had been doing aging spells on himself for a long time, centuries in fact. He was one of the only Unicorns to have ever been recorded being able to accomplish it.
“Ah! Cadance!” The king turned his attention to his recently arrived niece, “Punctual, as always! Come in!” Cadance’s guards stepped out, closing the door as they left and leaving the Princess with her uncle. She put on a smile for her uncle, but even after nearly a year of her charade she was still not used to being in close proximity to her parent’s killer. Sombra gave her what was supposed to be a nice grin, but it was ruined by his newly grown fangs. Ever since becoming king, Sombra had only grown in power, plundering the Crystal Library for the forbidden dark arts books that had been sealed away by King Luzra. And with the power he had gained, he also gained some new features: between his now red eyes and his almost flame-like black mane, he had becoming a truly monstrous sight. Cadance had long since mastered her urge to flinch and today was no different, outwardly she didn’t seem to have even a hair out of place.
“I’m ready for my lessons today, uncle!” Cadance used her magic to pull out her parchment and quills to show her readiness to learn.
“Excellent. We’ll begin with a simple lecture and notes, and then move on the some magical exercises…”
It had been like this ever since Sombra had taken over Cadance’s life. He had not only taken the mantle of king but also of teacher, passing his knowledge onto Cadance through these lessons. Cadance learned math, science, languages, history, and magic of all varieties. Unfortunately, sometimes the lessons she was taught her lessons she did not want to learn…
“… And thus you have hydrogen,” Sombra concluded some time later. Cadance put the final period on her parchment down and looked up expectantly from her notes.
“Now then, Cadance, time for your magical training. I have something special planned for you today.” King Sombra gestured for Cadance to follow him over to an object covered in what appeared to be a dark sheet. Sombra used his magic to whip the sheet off and reveal…
A bound Crystal Pony.
Oh, no. No, please. Cadance thought, He can’t be making me…
“Today I thought we’d be ambitious and try some live exercises, Cadance.”
He is…
Sombra turned on the nearby phonograph to start recording his newest experiment.
“Experiment L-43: Pain Spell,” Sombra said clearly into the microphone, “Subject, designation D-126, is a mare Crystal Pony with-”
“Please…” The captive pony moaned, “Please let me go…”
Sombra gave a sigh of disgust and resumed:
“…With an orange coat, yellow mane, and a cutie mark of a pair of oars. She appears to be nearly at the end of adolescence and-”
“I have a family… My mom and my little brother… They don’t know what happened to me, please I-”
“And is in relatively perfect health, with no visible-”
“Please… My name is-”
With a snarl of frustration Sombra whirled around to face the bound pony, his eyes emanating purple energy and a scowl contorting his face into a nightmare. He fired a beam of black magic into the mare which seemed to hit her like an electric shock, coursing through her body and making her scream in agony.
Sombra kept the assault up for only a few seconds, but it seemed like an eternity to Cadance and probably much longer to the mare. Cadance’s eyes widened and her she took a step back in horror, terrified of the wailing coming from the Crystal Pony. When he was finished, Sombra took in a deep breath, regaining his composure from his outburst.
“D-126, I did not give you permission to speak,” Sombra informed her, “When your input is required, it will be asked for.” She probably didn’t even hear him. She lay on her side with her legs still bound by chains, barely conscious after the pain inflicted upon her, her eyes nearly rolled back, and giving a low moan.
“Regardless,” Sombra turned back to look at Cadance just as she regained her composure with great effort, “This is an excellent segue into your lesson for today Cadance: I want you to perform the same spell I just preformed.”
Cadance’s blood turned into ice in her veins.
“It looks difficult, but it’s actually quite simple. Watch again.”
Cadance wished she could look away but she couldn’t as her uncle casting his dark magic at D-126 again, eliciting another agonized scream from her. Cadance put her analytical self to the forefront, analyzing her uncle’s movements and his use of magic. She put on the identity of the cold apprentice that Sombra wanted her to be and put away the distraught child that she truly was; to do otherwise would get her killed. But whenever she did this it felt like she was still dying one piece at a time, finding it easier to be cold every time.
Sombra ceased his spell and turned to his pupil, “You must use your emotions for this spell Cadance. You must feel the spell; put your soul into it. You must use your anger, your hate, your negative emotions. You can use magic to turn that desire to hurt into a physical attack. But you must have focus.”
Sombra sidled up behind Cadance and whispered into her ear, his voice low.
“Imagine this mare was one of the assassins who killed your father, Cadance,” He hissed, “Imagine she was one of the traitors who throttled your mother. Feel that anger, that seething hatred boiling in your stomach, and use it.”
Cadance stepped forward and looked at the pitiful pony in front of her.
“Please… Let me go… I haven’t done anything…”
Her pathetic begging may have been enough for Sombra to hate her, but Cadance could not. She did not see a mare who deserved nothing but pain, but a victim who needed help. But the princess couldn’t be that help. She could muster no hate for this pony she’d never met before, but as she tried to cast the spell she found she did have a source to draw from.
She hated her uncle for taking her mother and father away from her.
She hated the Crystal Guards for becoming his cruel thugs.
She hated the collaborators who had conspired with Sombra to destroy everything her family had built.
But most of all, she hated herself for being helpless to do anything.
It was foolish and unreasonable for Cadance to think there was anything she could have done to prevent what had happened, but guilt and grief doesn’t run on logic.
In her mind’s eye, on so many countless night, Cadance imagined leaping from her hiding place in the toy chest and attacking Sombra those many months ago. She imagined herself attacking him with a wild fury she didn’t even know she possessed, screaming and biting like a rabid dog. And Sombra would be so surprised, so taken aback by this, that Sonatina would be able to get her second wind and strike his down, and then the mother and daughter would have rallied their loyal forces and stopped the Sombra uprising before it could cause any more damage.
Cadance felt that loathing gather in her stomach like a ball of fish-hooks, and then she focused it into magic. Her eyes imitated Sombra’s, glowing green and emitting purple, mist-like energy. And with a huge effort, Cadance forced her negative feelings into her horn and blasted them out into the captive Crystal Pony. The magical attack coursed through D-126 for the third time, igniting every one of her nerve endings as Cadance’s loathing manifested into unimaginable pain. This scream was the weakest, but probably only due to a hoarse throat and a building tolerance for pain. Cadance had to stop, exhausted, after a few seconds and her eyes returned to their normal grayish purple. The princess looked at her victim to find her nearly motionless. D-126’s eyes were wide and unblinking and she was only barely breathing. Cadance wondered briefly who this innocent pony was, this Crystal Pony who found herself at the mercy of King Sombra himself. How had she managed to find herself in such a pitiful state? What wrong, if any, had she commited? And what was her name? As she stood there pondering and panting, Sombra levitated a glass of water over to her, which Cadance grabbed with her mouth and guzzled down greedily.
“Cadance’s first attempt is quite promising,” Sombra informed the microphone, “She continues to show an incredible reserve of innate magical energy, but still lacks the focus to harness it to its full potential. Regardless, she did very well for a first use of a spell, and has successfully impressed me. Subject D-126 appears to be entering a state of shock and further testing must cease for the moment.”
Sombra turned off the recording and casually threw the sheet back over the prone pony, intending to hide her from sight until he could send her back to her proper cell.
“You did very well, Cadance. I’m amazed you were even able to make it work your first time.”
“I have a good teacher,” Cadance knew that stroking his ego was always the way to his heart, “But I’m really tired, Uncle. Can I be excused?”
“Of course you can. Magic of this sort is quite a drain for somepony as young as you and you’ll need to get your energy back quickly for tomorrow’s lesson.”
Cadance moved in and gave Sombra a very quick peck on the cheek.
“I love you, Uncle Sombra.”
“Oh, Cadance… You know how to work an old stallion’s heart… I love you too.”
***
In the back of Cadance’s mind, she hoped the sound of the bathtub running would drown out the sound of her retching, but at the same time she could hardly care less. She felt sick, and she’d been holding it in the entire agonizing walk from Sombra’s study to her personal chambers. Her bodyguards had been ordered to wait outside her personal bathroom while she drew a bath, and she had used this time away from her guards to relieve her stomach into the toilet. When she was finished vomiting, she began to sob as quietly as she could. Her tears stung her face and her bile burned her throat as she replayed the image of the Crystal Pony she’d tortured. It didn’t matter what anypony could say about having no choice or being in an extreme circumstance: she had caused another pony, an innocent, an immeasurable amount of pain. Her scream echoed in Cadance’s mind as she put her hooves to her forehead and curled into the fetal position on the bathroom floor.
She felt dark, wrong and dirty after what she’d done. And that was the word: dirty. She felt unclean, like Sombra had smeared charcoal all over the white tapestry of her innocence. Cadance was balanced on the edge of a knife: looking into the precipice of darkness that had long since swallowed Sombra, and fighting not to fall in. But she was all alone…
But Cadance remembered her spell, and she needed it now more than ever. Even though she was exhausted from her dark magic earlier, she managed to focus her magicks again, this time conjuring something besides hate.
She remembered her mother singing her to sleep when she was younger.
She remembered her father flying her on his back across the Empire’s bright skies.
She remembered her parents when they would use their magicks to dazzle and entertain her.
She remembered how they had loved and cared for her more than anything in the whole of the world.
She remembered love, and light, and happiness. And from Cadance’s horn, a small pink mystical heart erupted, floated gently down, and was absorbed into Cadance’s chest. All at once she became calmer, able to stop crying and start thinking more rationally. She was still horrified by what she had done, but with the influence of the dark crystals expunged by her love, she was able to come to terms with what she had done.
This had been her ritual for nearly a year, on a nearly daily basis Cadance cast her love spell upon herself to reignite the fire of love and light within herself. It was the only way she could escape the effect of the dark crystals on her mind. It had allowed her to stay sharp and maintain her smokescreen as Sombra’s cheerful niece and unwitting puppet. Cadance cleaned up the mess she had made and slipped into her bath, letting herself soak. With her limited time to herself, she let her mind wander.
I need to escape soon, She thought, I can’t keep this up much longer…
“MORE POWER!” King Sombra roared over the sounds of the turbines.
Some days later, Sombra stood before a room full of motors, powered by dark crystals spinning to create electrical energy. The energy was siphoned into cables which were snapped onto the Crystal Heart, which stood on a pedestal in the center of the room. The power flowing into the Heart was enormous, but there was still no reaction from the artifact. “MORE I SAID!” Sombra bellowed again. His laboratory assistants were increasing the power now to dangerous levels. Warning lights began to signal. Alarms began to flare.
Come on… Come on… Open! Sombra thought, straining his very willpower against the Heart, Open for your new master! The turbines shorted out and exploded, sending sparks and shrapnel everywhere and scattering the assorted assistants. Sombra’s furious roar nearly drowned it all out, his eyes pulsing with angry purple energy.
“Sire, if these turbines couldn’t withstand the energy to open the Crystal Heart, no turbine will!” The head assistant informed the king, clearly terrified to be the bearer of bad news, “Perhaps we’re approaching this the wrong way, my liege…”
“We’re tried everything else!” Sombra fumed, stomping towards the Heart’s pedestal “We’ve tried dozens of rituals, hundreds of enchantments, and thousands of passwords! The Heart will not activate for me!”
“Perhaps what the late King Luzra spoke of, about the Heart being powered by the-”
“The love and light within the Crystal Ponies,” Sombra finished, mocking sarcasm dripping from his inflections, “I have no use for that! I will find another way! And if I cannot, then I will destroy this accursed Heart so that it may never be used against me!”
Sombra gazed into the Crystal Heart, long a subject of his interest. It was an artifact that could rival the Elements of Harmony with its power, and with it his dominion of the land would be absolute. But it denied him at every turn and Sombra hated nothing more than being denied what he felt was his.
“Damn you, Luzra,” Sombra hissed, “I should have kept you alive long enough to tell me your secrets…But I didn’t, and now you’ve defied me one last time by taking those secrets to your grave…”
Sombra closed his eyes briefly, took a breath, and regained his composure. With a flourish of his cape, he whirled around and strutted out of the lab.
“Return the Crystal Heart to its holding tower,” Sombra ordered the sentries at the door. They snapped to his order quickly and efficiently.
Sombra trotted over to one of the Crystal Palace’s many balconies and spied a column of black armored Crystal Guards doing marching maneuvers in the palace courtyard. He placed his front hooves on the railing and took a moment to observe. It always put the king in a good mood to watch his pawns march to his tune.
***
The pair of guards at the door leading into King Sombra’s study straightened as their Princess approached. Cadance was wearing in a dark dress with adorned with crystal jewelry, which complimented her arrogant expression of bored supremacy. Her uncle had taught her to seem in control at all times, because it made ponies looking at you believe you were in control.
Even if you weren’t.
She had been working on her plan for months, taking as much into consideration as she could. The price if she should fail would doubtlessly be death, and she was determined to get everything right.
“Stand aside, Guards!” Cadance ordered harshly to the two guarding the door.
“My Lady, we cannot,” The one of them said, “Our orders are to let none pass but the King.”
“I come in his will!” Cadance shouted angrily, stomping her hoof for emphasis, “My uncle, your king, wished for me to obtain some books from his study so that I may read them for my lessons. My uncle will be very cross with me if he finds me unprepared for his lessons tomorrow! And I shall inform him of how you failed him and his niece with your negligence!”
“No!” The guard exclaimed, “I would never fail our king! I would lay down my life for him!”
This was a sad lesson Cadance had learned; by playing upon their fears not for their lives, but for their master’s displeasure, they were much more susceptible to coercion. So distraught were their poisoned minds at the idea of displeasing their king, they bent to Cadance’s will with minimal work.
“B-but, my Lady,” The other guard stammered, “Even if we allow you to pass, there are enchantments upon the doors! They can only be opened by the king!”
“My uncle has shown me the spell to allow entry. Stand aside!”
The guards did as they were bid and Cadance stepped forward.
What she had said was not a lie; Sombra had taught her much about magic, even if she was still too weak to preform much of it. She had seen him perform this spell a hundred times and knew how to unravel it from the door.
Her horn glowed darkly as she sent dark energy from her horn into the door frame, bidding it to allow her to pass. The doors opened and Cadance stuck her nose into the air, proceeding into the room haughtily.
Despite becoming the most powerful and feared monarch in the North, Sombra was still Sombra. His study was as messy as ever, with even more artifacts, notes, and books scattered about in a system only the dark king himself could decipher. While casting her eyes around the room, Cadance saw what would be the instrument of her escape: a simple, square, sealed bottle full of greenish liquid. At the prospect of being so close to it, Cadance nearly made a beeline for it, but restrained herself; her story was that she was looking for a book after all.
The next part was going to be tricky.
“Help me find the books I need” Cadance commanded her bodyguards, “The first one is ‘A Comprehensive Guide to Beezlesnatches’.”
Beezlesnatches were creatures Cadance made up when she was younger, and no such book existed in even Sombra’s extensive library. But the guards didn’t know that.
The two bodyguards began to browse the bookshelves and tables, looking in vain for their book. Cadance played it cool, but was starting to sweat slightly, hoping one of the guards would move into the proper position.
After a few minutes of searching, one of the guards came right up next to the table that held bottle and Cadance moved into action.
“Ah!” The princess exclaimed, “There’s another book I need.”
Her horn glowed blue and she levitated a book off the table towards her, ‘accidently’ knocking the book into the bottle and sending it falling off the table.
What if it doesn’t break? Cadance thought for one horrifying second.
He fears were unfounded however, as the glass shattered and splashed the green substance upon the guard’s crystal hoof armor. He recoiled in surprise, but was unharmed.
“My apologies, guard,” Cadance said as she put the book aside.
“That’s quite alright, My Lady…”
“Allow me to make it up to you; I have a spell that should clean that right up!” Cadance approached the trooper, lowering her horn to point at his moistened hooves. “Hold still…” Cadance ordered.
Cadance focused, this was the part that she was most afraid of failing at. What she had in mind was very powerful magic, and she had only one chance to make this work, and that time was now. She strained, consolidating what magic her young body possessed. Her horn glowed and hummed. A bead of sweat rolled down her face and Cadance felt dizzy as she squeezed her eyes shut with concentration.
Just as the guard was about to question Cadance, it worked. A bolt of blue magic went from Cadance’s horn onto the fluid, and a moment later the substance burst into spectacular green flame. Cadance’s disguise faltered as she smiled at herself for her accomplishment, but the guard didn’t notice, being far too occupied with his armor being on fire. As the guard let out a shriek, Cadance slipped back into character, screaming and panicking as the other bodyguard and the two door guards ran over to help.
The guards managed to get the flaming armor off of the guard and deposit it upon the floor. One of the guards from the door retrieved a large pot that Sombra had left abandoned on the floor and placed it over the armor, cutting it off from its oxygen. The guards took a moment to breathe, until the guard who had placed the pot yelped in pain and removed his hooves from the pot, which had begun to glow red hot. Very quickly, the heat ate through the pot like it was paper mache and started to spread across the carpet. The guards tried to smother it with rugs and blankets, but nothing worked.
As the quartet fought the fire, not one among them noticed Cadance make her escape from the room, her diversion well on its way.
Sombra was just clearing his head of his frustrations when he smelled the smoke. He sniffed the air and saw it drifting from the Eastern end of the palace.
But my tower is…
Before he could finish his thought, he galloped back into the palace and towards the blaze.
***
Cadance got to the south wing just as an alarm went throughout the palace. By now, dozens of guards would be scrambling to get inside and help out with the emergency. There was a particular part of the wing that Cadance had scouted out; a dead end hallway that ended in a large window. Under the window was a small, empty cupboard. At least, the cleaning staff assumed it was empty since none of them could open it.
Cadance had been visualizing her escape, and so far it was going well, but now the actual escaping needed to occur, and that meant getting out of the castle. Cadance’s horn glowed, sputtered, and went dark. She was very exhausted from using so much magic, but she needed to persevere. She tried again, and this time it worked, her unlocking spell opening the cupboard. Inside were several lengths of sheets tied into a long rope. She’d been working on this for nearly a year, lucky to get enough time to steal a sheet, run here, and tie it on even once a month. But now it was complete. It wouldn’t reach the ground, but it would reach a few stories down to a roof, where Cadance planned to climb down the drain pipes to the ground floor.
It was a daring, yet incredibly dangerous and foolish plan. But she was a foal with very few options.
***
By now, the original quartet of guards was joined by a dozen more guards as they fought their losing battle against the green flame. They brought buckets of water and threw them on the fire, but it seemed to do little more than draw it closer to them, backing them up along the hallway and threatening to swallow them alive. The King rounded the corner and saw the emerald flames blanketing the walls and floor. He quickly used his magic to pull back his soldiers, throwing them behind him like they were toys.
“IDIOTS!” Sombra roared, “That is no ordinary fire! It’s Surtur’s Flame, water only makes it stronger! The flame is magic, and can only be stopped-”
King Sombra fired a magical blast from his horn at the flame and a portion of the wall of fire vanished. “-By other magic.”
***
Cadance shimmied along an exterior ledge four stories from the ground. The wind was freezing, threatened to blow her right off, and she shivered in her dark dress. She moved carefully, one hoof in front of the other, along the narrow ledge. She was nearly to the drain pipe she was heading to when a part of the ledge broke under her weight and she tumbled forward. Giving a gasp of surprise, she reached desperately for a drain pipe. She grabbed the pipe in her front hooves and ground to a screeching halt, her grip enhanced by the adrenaline of her near death. She clung there for a moment, breathing heavily and trembling. Finally, she got a hold of herself, remembering her parent’s love for her and their praises of her great courage, and she let go a little so she could slide down carefully.
***
Sombra alone used his magic to battle the flame, pushing the fire back down the hallway towards the tower from whence it originated. The process was long and tiring, but soon all the fire was extinguished and Sombra found himself in what was once his study.
The king took a moment to be horrified by what he saw: everything was destroyed, his inventions, his designs, his notes and books. All of them burnt to ash by Surtur’s Flame, which meant they were mystically destroyed and irretrievable, even by one as powerful as him. Sombra, despite having all the Crystal Scribes and Scholars at his beck and call, still kept his notes to himself; a habit from his days as a lone researcher. There were no other copies. Anywhere.
Years of his life’s work were completely gone.
And there was only one pony that could have done this. After all, Surtur’s Flame is harmless in its liquid form; it requires magic to activate it. And there were only two Unicorns in all of the Crystal Empire. His horror gave way to rage, and his demeanor turned cold and dark. “Where is Cadance?” He asked aloud to his soldiers. His voice was little more than a whisper, and yet the guards heard it with perfect clarity.
“S-s-she must have run off when the f-f-fire broke out, sire.” One of Cadance’s bodyguards stammered, the terror evident on his face.
“I want the palace on lockdown,” Sombra hissed, “Nothing leaves, nothing enters. Search everywhere. NOW!”
The troops rushed to do as they were bid, but another pony approached the king. General Citrine, Sombra’s most loyal subordinate, approached. The general’s armor was more ceremonial then when he was a commander, and his armor was not composed of dark crystals. His loyalty was nothing Sombra needed to have reinforced with dark magic, and it paid to have at least a few clear minds in his court.
“General,” Sombra said, grimly “It appears a great tragedy has befallen our kingdom once again. My dear niece was conducting an experiment against my wishes and accidentally started a blaze of Surtur’s Flame. Unfortunately, she was fully engulfed and her body could not be recovered. Do you understand me, General?”
Cadance carefully maneuvered her way through the alleyways of the Crystal Empire, hiding as best as she could from sight. With the palace guards distracted by the fire, escaping the palace grounds had been easy. But Cadance had never been outside the palace without her mother, father, or an escort of Guards. And none of those were options today.
Cadance had fashioned for herself a quick disguise from an abandoned cloak and covering her face in dirt. At a quick glance, she seemed to be just a lonely, dirty orphan filly. Their kind was plentiful, considering all the parents who never returned from the crystal mines. Cadance’s disguise wouldn’t stand up to too close of scrutiny, but would suffice.
Despite the streets being pristine and well monitored by the Crystal Guard, the back alleys were less so, the true underbelly of the decaying city. As the young Princess made her way through the alleys, she saw homeless, destitute Crystal Ponies everywhere, trying to scrape a living. They huddled around sad looking bonfires, many weeping and most just staring blankly at nothing. Cadance moved among them, keeping her head down and did her best not to stick out. Suddenly, a Crystal stallion lunged out at Cadance and but his hooves on her shoulders, a crazed desperation in his eyes.
“Please! I have a daughter! I don’t know where she is! Have you seen her? Her name’s Moonstone! Please help me!” He shook Cadance violently, nearly knocking her hood down, but she was able to steady herself and stop his shaking.
“I haven’t seen anypony named Moonstone, please let me go! You’re hurting me!”
“I can’t remember her...” The stallion muttered, no longer looking at Cadance, “How did I forget my own daughter’s face? How can I forget my little…My little…? Oh no… I can’t remember her name…”
Cadance managed to wrestle herself away from the distraught father and left him behind as he mumbled on. She hated to leave him behind but there was nothing she could do, she could neither find his daughter nor heal his infected mind of the influence of the dark crystals. Cadance’s ears perked up at the sound of marching hoofsteps, and she turned to see a squad of Crystal Guards heading her way. She froze with fear, thinking they were here for her, but was surprised to see them march right past her.
“You!” The lead Guard called to a mare huddled under some blankets lying next to a wall, “Come with us! We need workers for the mines today.”
A pair of the Guards grabbed her in their teeth and lifted her onto her hooves. She stared at them dully, without any sign of resistance or recognition in her eyes.
“Wait! Please!” Another stallion approached the lead Guard, “She’s my wife and she can’t go to the mines today! She’s not well! She needs rest and-”
The Crystal Guard commander slammed his helmeted head into the face of the protesting pony, knocking the innocent stallion to the ground with blood shining from his nose.
“We do as the king commands, and the king needs more workers! Now shut up, or we’ll send you both to the mines!” Just for spite, the commander then stomped on the stallion’s stomach as he lay on the ground, and Cadance could tell from his wicked smile that he enjoyed it.
The guard group carried the mare off as her husband laid moaning and bleeding in the dirt. And as they took her around the corner and out of sight, he began to cry as well.
The despair here was nearly unbearable, and it nearly brought the Princess to tears to see her people so helpless. Everywhere she looked it was more of the same, everypony in the city had truly seemed to have given up all hope.
But she could not help them. Not here. Not now.
She needed to escape, to get help.
She vowed to herself that she would return and free them all. It was her duty as their Princess.
She would not abandon them.
And the talk of taking ponies to the mines had given her an idea…
***
“We’ve searched the palace, sire. She’s not here.”
“She must have escaped,” Sombra concluded, looking down at the reporting guard from his throne, “I want every exit to the Crystal Empire on high alert and the Crystal Guard to sweep the city, block by block for her. Search homes, businesses, sewers, everywhere. And send in Cadance’s bodyguards. I would have words with them…”
The guard bowed briefly and trotted out. Moments later, Cadance’s two bodyguards walked in, quaking with fear.
“My king-” One of them began, but Sombra raised a hoof.
“You failed me. I gave you a simple task: watch my niece. Watch a foal who’s barely earned her Cutie mark and make sure she never leaves your sight. You failed. You failed spectacularly. And, in failing, are partly responsible for the loss of much of my research.”
“Sire, please-!”
“Tell me, Guard,” Sombra interrupted, “You’re trained to use a spear, aren’t you? What do you think of this?”
Sombra’s horn glowed and he telekinetically summoned a spear from behind his throne. It was long and silver, topped with a head not made of metal, but of dark crystal.
“It’s my own design,” Sombra said casually as he spun the spear idly with his magic, “It took quite a while for me to get the spell just right, but I think this new spear will be quite a bit more effective than the ones currently employed by the Crystal Guard. But first…”
Sombra’s horn flared and the spear rocketed towards the guards, landing point first in front of them, the sound of the impact vibration ringing in the large room.
“I’ll need to test my prototype.”
One of the guards didn’t understand what Sombra was talking about. The other did.
The one who understood dived forward and gripped the spear in his teeth, and with a colossal effort, yanked it from the floor. Then he spun around, moving like a blur, and stabbed his comrade in the chest with the weapon, piercing the guard’s armor like it was made of paper. The stabbed Guard looked down in horror at his wound, but his horror only intensified when he saw the crystal spearhead glow and dark blue, glowing crystals began grow from the wound in his chest and across the Guard’s armor, then along his body. The doomed guard screamed as the crystals covered his face and he crystalized fully. Then he shattered into dust. The guard who had performed the stabbing dropped the spear as his mouth became agape, horrified by the effect of what he’d done.
“Quick, armor piercing, and provides total annihilation of enemy combatants,” Sombra muttered as he jotted his notes down on a scroll, “Very effective indeed…”
The remaining bodyguard, still surrounded by the dust of his former companion, knelt before King Sombra. “My liege, let this serve as a demonstration of my loyalty! Allow me to continue to serve you, my king!”
Sombra laughed, long and loud and cold, at the guard’s appeal.
“‘A demonstration of your loyalty’!? All you demonstrated was my weapon’s superior killing power, and while I appreciate your participation in this endeavor, you are far from absolved. You want to truly prove your loyalty?”
Sombra’s horn glowed and a square shaped bottle of green liquid was levitated to the guard’s hooves.
“Pick it up,” Sombra commanded.
The guard did as he was bid, picking the bottle up in his mouth.
“Pour some of it on your leg.”
The smallest hesitation.
“That is an order from your king.”
The guard used one hoof to open the top, and poured the contents on his other leg. Then he spat the bottle out of his mouth.
“I follow you, my king! Even to death!”
“Good,” Sombra said, a wicked smile spreading across his face, “You’ve truly proven your loyalty.” Sombra’s horn glowed again. “Now hold still…”
***
At one of the heavily guarded checkpoints out of the Crystal Empire, a large wagon was approaching. Pulled by enslaved Crystal Ponies, the wagon was a solid steel box with no windows, no seats, and only one entrance in the back. Inside were a dozen Crystal Ponies on their way out of the city and heading towards the Crystal Mines in the nearby mountain range. But the wagon was stopped at the checkpoint by the Guards, and thoroughly searched. As the guards had the workers file out of the wagon, one stood out. A little foal with a cloak who seemed too young to be working the mines.
“You!” The captain of the guard called, “Stop!”
The foal stopped in her tracks and turned her hooded head away from the officer to hide her face. Now the captain was sure something was off and approached her. He reached out a hoof to pull down her hood and as he did so he was struck by a blinding flash from under the hood. The captain and a few of his soldiers were dazzled by the flash and closed their eyes, crying out in pain. Cadance bolted, galloping around the stunned guards and heading towards the shield wall.
“Kill her!” The captain screamed, “KILL THE GIRL!”
Other guards began to cry out, calling for the blood of the fugitive princess as they gave pursuit. Cadance ran through the barrier and the effect was immediate: where they had been no wind a moment ago, it was now howling loudly. Where she had been only a little chilly, she was now freezing. But Cadance pressed on, running through the snow. Several guards also passed through the barrier in pursuit and hurled spears after her. The spears landed around Cadance, but none landed true. The warriors tried to give chase, but soon lost sight of her as the blizzard intensified and they soon lost the ability to see more than a few feet.
Cadance had escaped the Crystal Empire, but she was far from out of danger.
“What did you say?” Sombra asked with his teeth clenched in barely contained fury. Floating in front of him was the captain of the Crystal Guard patrol that had lost Cadance. He was held in a magical grip by Sombra’s magic not-unlike the one Queen Sonatina found herself in a little under a year ago.
“I-I-I said…” The captain choked out, trying to speak as his entire body was squeezed, “There’s… No way she… C-c-could survive out… There… She’s probably… Already…D-d-dead…”
Just as the captain was turning blue from lack of oxygen, the king released the stallion, who fell to the throne room floor in a heap, gasping for breath.
“Captain, am I an idiot?” Sombra asked nonchalantly.
“What?” The stallion asked, confused.
Sombra teleported from his throne to right next to the prone captain, looking down on the captain with a furious scowl on his face.
“I asked you if I am an idiot,” Sombra hissed, his deadly voice sending a chill down the guard’s spine, “Answer my question.”
“NO! No, my liege you are not an idiot!” The captain cried.
“Then why do you think I’d stand to let Cadance go on the assumption that she will die in the Northern Wastes?” Sombra’s eyes burned with furious purple energy and his tone was colder than the most frigid tundras of the North, and yet he still did not raise his voice, “Until I see her frozen body at my feet, I’m going to assume she’s alive out there, right now, heading South to inform those damned Alicorns about what’s been happening here. That must not happen. Now get out of my sight!” Sombra teleported back to his throne in a flash and sat down angrily.
“She must not be allowed to escape! You will personally lead a search party into the wasteland for Princess Cadance. Or her body, I don’t care which. And you will not return without her. Or you’ll wish you’d had the mercy of freezing to death…”
***
Cadance had been walking for days through the snowy wilderness, heading south. She kept her direction straight, ironically, with the help of the lessons her uncle had taught her about how the sun rose in the east and set in the west. Being a Crystal Unicorn born of the Crystal Empire, Cadance was naturally tempered against the cold, and combined with a spell her father had taught her that kept her warm, she was able to avoid dying of the cold. At least for the moment.
But Cadance’s journey was far from comfortable; she had no food, only snow for water, and a long, long way to go. She walked and walked, wishing more than ever that she had her father’s powerful and graceful wings. She wished those wings could wrap around her and keep her safe. More than anything she wanted to wake up and see her mother and father, press herself against them, feel their warmth against her skin, and know that the last year had all been a dream.
But this wasn’t a dream. She was miles and miles away from help, starving, tired, and her magical energy was running out. When it did, it wouldn’t take long for her to collapse and freeze. She’d learned from her uncle about the effects of hypothermia; about how when somepony’s core temperature went down, they begun to suffer from decreased heart rate and blood pressure, loss of musculature coordination, and organ failure. And she knew that if she didn’t find help soon, that would happen to her. She’s become overcome with fatigue, collapse into unconsciousness on a snow bank, and never wake up. Like she was drifting off to sleep…
But she refused to give up. Her mother’s words repeated in her head like a drum beat:
You have to live.
You have to live.
And so she went on and on, mile after mile. Over frozen lakes and hilly tundras Cadance walked. Until finally, her magical energies wore out and she could no longer keep herself warm with magic. She wrapped her cloak around herself as she went, but it was soaked in moments as another blizzard began to roll over Cadance. The wind screamed into her face and she shivered violently. The princess pressed on, her progress becoming slower and slower, until she finally collapsed. Cadance crawled a while further, but eventually, her limbs became too numb to even move. She just lay there, shivering as the cold set into her. As things began to grow dark, she saw bright lights. And she wondered if this was it… Her death. But then there were concerned voices behind the lights and she knew she was safe.
She fell asleep.
***
Luna quickly trotted to the Canterlot Castle Infirmary. She had heard the news, but couldn’t believe it... As Luna went to open the door to the infirmary, they were violently slammed open. Behind the doors was Celestia as Luna had rarely seen her. The sun princess seemed to glow with fury and a grim scowl darkened her face. It was the kind of look Luna hadn’t seen her older sister wearing since Discord’s reign of terror. Celestia stormed past Luna, who only just got out of the way in time to avoid being trampled.
“What has happened, sister?” Luna questioned, “What-?”
“We fly for the Crystal Empire,” Celestia stated with cold anger, “Tonight. Assemble the Royal Guard.”
“Sister! Speak unto us!” Luna demanded “Tell us what transpires!”
Celestia turned to face her sister and her expression had not softened.
“The king and queen are dead. They have been for nearly a year.”
Luna’s eyes widened in horror, unable to believe one of their closest allies had been slain without them having a clue.
“But the letters from Luzra…”
“Faked,” Celestia stated, turning away from Luna and continuing her march “By their new king, to throw us off his scent.”
Luna hurried after her sister, trying to keep up.
“How does thee know?” Luna asked “Is it true Cadance is-?”
“She’s in there. Some travelers picked her up half frozen to death on the northern border. They took her, nursed her back from the brink and contacted the Royal Guard. I had her flown here as quickly as possible. She woke up a little while ago and informed me of the situation in the Empire.”
“And what is the situation?” Luna begged, desperate for information.
“The situation is that Sombra has murdered his brother, seized the throne, declared martial law, and used dark magic to solidify his hold over the Crystal Ponies. He’s been torturing his own people for a year and we were completely in the dark. We thought we told thee to go assemble the Royal Guard.”
“Sister, that sounds like madness!” Luna interjected “Sombra would not do this! Cadance is a dear filly but if she is as thou say, she may have her facts wrong, her mind addled by what has happened to her. We should not act so hastily! We can organize a scouting party to-”
“WE MARCH!” Celestia thundered, her voice rattling the windows, as she spun around to face her sister, “TONIGHT! SOMBRA WILL PAY FOR HIS CRIMES BEFORE THE SUN SETS TOMORROW! Now cease thy inane prattle and do as we have bid thee do!”
Celestia turned and continued her trot. Luna did not join her.
Luna’s face burned red despite her blue coat. She felt her frustration grow in her heart, felt like she wanted to yell back at her older sister, but she resisted. She gritted her teeth and turned off to go summon the Royal Guard.
***
King Sombra stared at the Crystal Heart. It glittered serenely in the moonlight and it perfectly reflected Sombra’s glower. At the king’s hooves was a scroll he’d received from his spies in Equestria. The Princesses were on the move, along with a small army of their Royal Guards.
And they were heading north. Heading for him.
So you found a way Sombra thought, Somehow you found a way to see through my subterfuge, block my magicks, escape my empire, and tattle on dear Celestia and Luna. I suppose I underestimated you, my niece…
It didn’t really matter if she had managed to slip from his grasp for the moment, she’d die in due time. He would make sure of that. But first he needed to defeat the Princesses of Equestria who were coming to overthrow him, and that was no easy feat. Which brought him to the Crystal Heart’s holding area. It was the one thing that he knew for certain would stop them, maybe even kill them. But he needed to be able to use it for that.
“Open,” Sombra ordered the Heart.
It didn’t respond.
“Activate!” Sombra commanded.
It still didn’t respond. It never did before, why should it now?
Sombra finally got angry and fired a blast of magical energy from his horn into the Crystal Heart. The Heart deflected the energy and left no damage.
“HELP ME!” Sombra shouted at the Crystal Heart, “You are the most powerful weapon my brother ever had! And he was a fool! I am a genius! I am a conqueror! I AM A KING! I deserve everything my brother ever had and more! Now help me!”
The Crystal Heart did not answer the dark king.
After a few seconds, Sombra finally turned around, heading for the stairs. But he gave one last look back at the uncooperative stone.
The force the Princesses had mustered in such a short time was impressive, over two thousand in only a few hours. Pegasi Guards pulled chariots containing Unicorn and Earth Pony Guards across the sky, their golden armor and spears glinting in the sunlight. It was a testament to the Royal Guard’s training and devotion. But ten thousand of them weren’t worth as much as one Alicorn. And they had two.
“What if this is all a misunderstanding, sister?” Luna asked as she flew alongside Celestia, “What if we have assembled our forces and marched upon the Crystal Empire for nothing?”
“Then we shall smile, apologize, and go home” Celestia answered simply, “Thou simply does not wish to believe thy friend could be a usurper.”
“We have only the testimony of a delirious girl!” Luna objected, “Yet thou have brought not only an army, but these as well!” Luna pointed down to her necklace, which had 3 jewels on it: one magenta, one orange, and one red. Celestia also had a special necklace of a similar design, but the jewels were pink, blue, and purple.
“The Elements of Harmony are nothing to wield lightly, sister…” Luna warned.
“I know, Luna,” Celestia said, her tone softening, “But if Cadance is right, we may need to use them against Sombra. Somepony who was strong enough to kill Luzra and smart enough to keep hidden this long might be too dangerous to leave anything to chance.”
As the Princesses crested the horizon and saw the Crystal Empire, they realized that Cadance must have been telling the truth. The energy familiar pink and blue energy that kept the Empire safe from the frozen north was long gone. In its place was a dome, a dome of dark energy, emitting from crystals around the city that were as black as obsidian. The Alicorn sisters were so in tune with magic that even from this distance, they could feel the darkness emitting from the crystals, and it appalled them.
“How can this be?” Luna whispered.
“Sombra…” Celestia muttered, “What has thee done?”
As the approached, unsure what to expect, Celestia noticed walls around the perimeter of the shield. And atop the walls were Crystal Guards, manning what appeared to be…
Suddenly, the Crystal Guard fired their new weapons at Luna and Celestia’s airborne army, sending projectiles flying towards the two Alicorn’s forces. But even worse, the projectiles exploded in mid-air, splintering from dozens of arrows into hundreds.
Designed by their king, Sombra had called these weapons ‘ballistae’. They were large projectile weapons that used tensed, coiled ropes to hurl arrow-like bolts at enemies. And the walls of the Crystal Empire were lined with these weapons, in preparation for this very attack.
“INCOMING!” One of the Royal Guard called.
Celestia and Luna raised force field around themselves for protection, and several of the Unicorn Guards did the same, but the Equestrians were taken by surprise and many of the bolts found their marks, taking down scores of ponies, and causing chariots to plummet to the icy ground as Pegasi Guards were hit in the wings and torso.
Celestia, Luna, and several Unicorns fired magical blasts, but their magic bounced off the force field.
“We must get inside the force field!” Celestia cried, “CHARGE!”
The sisters and their forces charged the shield, more bolts flying at them. They took fewer casualties from the second wave since they were prepared, with Unicorns and Alicorns alike casting shields to deflect the deadly arrows. Passing through the dome barrier, the magic users of Celestia’s army were finally able to fire back at their attackers. Ballistae emplacements exploded spectacularly as Unicorn energy blasts slammed into them and sent Crystal Guards scattering. Within minutes the wall was breached, and the Royal Army was inside the Empire.
“FORWARD!” One of the commanders shouted, “FOR THE PRINCESSES!”
“No…” Celestia said to herself darkly, “For Luzra…”
***
Sombra could see the smoke from his balcony on the Crystal Palace, and didn’t need a messenger pony to tell him what had happened. The sisters were here, and his army had already engaged them.
I had planned for this little arrangement to happen in another year or so Sombra thought to himself, But I suppose there’s no time like the present. Besides, they have no idea they’ve already walked into one of my traps. But Celestia will know soon enough.
As he thought over his plan, he began to chuckle darkly to himself.
***
Inside the empire was a truly wretched sight; as the sisters and their army flew above the city, they looked down upon a city shrouded by darkness. Crystal Ponies in chains or wandering the streets, the dead vegetation, and the sheer sense of misery that was emanating from the city like a rancid odor. And those damn dark crystals everywhere, they seemed to be growing out of the ground like weeds.
The Crystal Ponies looked up at the twin Alicorns, not with happiness or relief, but with hopelessness. There was no cheering as they flew overhead, no waving or cries of freedom. Only blank stares, as if the invading army was a passing wisp of cloud.
“Does thou see what has happened here?” Celestia asked Luna, “Between the attack against us and all of this, there is no doubt of Sombra’s guilt!”
Luna had no response to this, she only gazed at the scene below with horror and shook her head slowly. As they drew closer, they saw that what must have been the entirety of the Crystal Guard was amassed around the Crystal Palace, and the palace itself was bristling with more of Sombra’s new artillery weapons, which opened fire upon the Equestrians as soon as they came into range.
“Land and engage the Crystal Guard!” Luna ordered, “Take them from below! Mine sister and I shall attack from above! Pegasi! To me!”
And so, the Equestrian chariots landed and the battle was joined as the Crystal and Royal Guards clashed, spilling Unicorn, Crystal Pony, and Earth Pony blood alike. The Crystal Guard were armed with the advanced weapons are armor designed by Sombra himself, and they fought with the fervor and frenzy of fanatical fighters thanks to Sombra’s meddling with their minds. But they were outnumbered nearly three to one, and the Royal Guard were a more highly trained fighting force. Celestia and Luna lead the Pegasi Guards on their aerial assault of the palace, destroying ballistae emplacements and Crystal Guards on balconies. After clearing a space, the two sisters dove forward and fired their horns at the same time at the same place. They blasted a considerable hole in the side of the palace and flew in.
“There!” Luna cried as she pointed down a hallway, “That way leads to the throne room. I am certain of it!”
“Then lead the way, sister,” Celestia said, as she flared her wings and landed, “But I believe we will have some opposition on the way.”
The sun goddess was referring to the dozens of Crystal Guards who began pouring from every direction, their lances sharp and their voices howling for blood.
“Then we shall have to deal with them,” Luna concluded as she also landed and took a battle stance.
Sombra’s warriors were fearless and zealous in combat, but the power of the Sun and Moon would not be undone. Celestia burned Sombra’s soldiers with the heat of the sun and Luna blinded them with the dark of the night. Their hooves hit hard enough to shatter armor, and their wings made them too nimble to hit. They moved in perfect harmony, fighting not as two ponies, but like one whirling storm of destruction. The two were nigh unstoppable, and they were heading for the King’s throne room.
***
From his throne room, King Sombra used his magic to hold aloft a dark crystal mirror which allowed him to see though the various dark crystals in the palace as if through a window.
“General Citrine…” Sombra called, sounding almost bored.
The general stepped from his place by the throne’s steps, decked from head to toe in his finest armor and with his dark crystal lance already secured to his saddle.
“Yes, my king?”
“It appears the Alicorn sisters are approaching my throne room,” Sombra informed the general, “Would you be so kind as to inform them that I won’t be accepting any visitors at this hour?”
The general nodded seriously and trotted towards the door, along with ten members of his honor guard, all as heavily armored as he was. Citrine nodded and the visor for his helmet snapped into place, the Crystal Empire’s symbolic snowflake emblazoned on his helmet in gold.
Sombra didn’t think for a second that Citrine and his guards had a chance. But at best they’d hurt them and at worst they’d slow them down a little, buying Sombra some time.
***
As Celestia and Luna rounded the corner that lead to the doors to the throne room, they saw their last obstacle between them and the evil king they sought: Citrine and his elite honor guard.
“Commander Citrine!” Luna called, “Stand aside!”
“I am a general now, Princess Luna,” Citrine corrected her, “And I will not yield.”
“Thou art a brave and noble knight!” Celestia pleaded, “Thou served Luzra for many years, and this cannot be what thou truly want!”
“I want for you southern ponies to acknowledge the strength of the North,” Citrine replied coldly, “I want you to know that we are the true power on this planet. Because even without the sun or the moon, the northern cold endures and we thrive in it!” Citrine pawed at the ground and set himself into a charging stance. His loyal guards followed suit. “For the king!” Citrine bellowed, “FOR THE EMPIRE!!”
Citrine charged.
***
The doors leading into the throne room exploded open, hurling the doors off their hinges. Smoke poured from the doorway and was thick and hazy. A helmet rolled out of the smoke and all the way to the foot of the throne. The helmet was blackened, stained with a little blood, and bore a badly burnt legible snowflake design on it. The helmet was lifted by Sombra’s magic and brought to his eye level just as the rulers of Equestria also emerged from the smoke.
“Tsk, tsk” Sombra said, looking at the helmet of his former general, “Such a waste of a good soldier.”
With a shrug of his shoulders, Sombra flicked his horn and casually tossed the helmet aside like a disposable cup.
“Oh, well,” Sombra said dismissively as he turned his attention to the Alicorns, “Now then, tell me: what can the King of the Crystal Empire do for you lovely mares this afternoon?”
“Thee can surrender, Sombra,” Celestia said coldly, “And face punishment for thy crimes.”
“And what are you going to do? Arrest me?” Sombra mocked, “Lock me up in your castle dungeons and take my empire for yourself? I don’t think so.”
“That was thy only warning,” The sun goddess advanced towards the throne, “Surrender.”
“Wait!” Luna interjected, stepping in front of her elder sister, “Sombra, is it true you killed your brother? Why would you do that? Why would you cause all this suffering? What do you have to gain!?”
Sombra first only answered with a small laugh as he rose from his throne. Then he spoke.
“Power, of course. Which is what it all comes down to in the end, isn’t it? Power… And who has the power. I have done nothing more and nothing less than take what I deserve. I’ve made some compromises to get to where I am, spilled some blood. But I regret nothing. I took the power my brother didn’t deserve and made it my own! The Crystal Empire is mine by right, and I will not surrender my kingdom lightly! And if you two choose to oppose me, then you will suffer the might of the true king of the Crystal Empire!”
“You’re insane, Sombra!” Celestia snarled, “An insane, evil, greedy little murderer! And we end this now!”
Celestia’s horn glowed a bright yellow and she fired a burst of magical energy from her horn at Sombra, but his own horn glowed and he deflected the blast with a shield.
“Such simple magicks, Celestia…” Sombra commented, condescendingly, “Can’t you try something a little more advanced? Like… This!”
Sombra’s horn glowed again and the crystalline walls and floor of the throne room began to warp and crack. Rising out of the floor and coming out of the walls, composed entirely of crystal, were wolf-shaped golems of Sombra’s own construction. The wolves howled at the sisters and attacked viciously, coming in by the dozens. They lunged and bit and swiped, but they were easily dispatched, little more than a distraction. Just like they were supposed to be. As Celestia bucked a Crystal Wolf aside with her back legs, a force of dark energy slammed into her side and sent her sliding across the throne room. She looked up to see Sombra had conjured a magical mace construct, composed of his own magical energy. However, the mace soon disappeared into a flash, as it was replaced by a dozen dark crystal spears, hovering in mid-air. With a thrust of his horn, Sombra sent the deadly projectiles flying at Celestia. The white Alicorn hit the incoming spears with her own magic, turning them into water droplets and hitting Celestia was a gentle mist.
Luna rushed to her sister’s defense, but didn’t want to hurt Sombra, so she used her magic to shroud the Unicorn in a ball of impenetrable darkness.
“Stop this!” Luna called, “We do not wish to fight thee!”
“No, Luna…” Sombra replied from within the confines of the darkness, “No, you don’t.”
Suddenly, a tongue of flame erupted from the darkness, streaming towards the sound of Luna’s voice. Luna flew upwards and the fire burned directly beneath her. Suddenly, there was another sound of wings, as Sombra lifted himself out of the darkness on a pair of leathery wings. Celestia and Luna could only gawk in disbelief.
“Animal mimicry spell,” Sombra clarified smugly, “Mimicking Dragons were a challenge to learn, but the benefits are abundant!”
Sombra opened his mouth wide and, like a true dragon, another bout of flame erupted from it. He swept the flame wide, making both the Princesses put up shields to protect themselves from the flames. When the flames had departed, Celestia took to the air with her wings, flying towards Sombra with her front hooves raised to slam into him. But the Unicorn King was quicker and evaded to the side, breathing more fire at Celestia. The sun princess just barely barrel rolled out of reach of the gout of flames and spun around to cast another spell, summoning huge chains to wrap around Sombra’s wings. The dark king found himself weighed down too much and fell to the ground, pinned under the weight.
Dispelling his mimicry spell, Sombra lost his wings and was freed from Celestia’s chains. Celestia gave a war cry above him as she used her magic again, this time to fire a flurry of yellow beams at Sombra. Sombra galloped, trying to avoid as many as he could, but it was like avoiding raindrops. He felt a dozen stings in his back and legs as the blasts rained down around him. He whirled around when the flurry ceased to see Celestia flying directly towards him, her horn pointed at his heart. Sombra teleported a short distance away and the sun princess’s attack missed. Celestia pulled up, flying almost high enough to touch the tall ceiling. She looked down upon Sombra and saw his attack coming in: a flurry of giant vampire bats Sombra had summoned. Celestia fired a wide blast from her horn and turned the bats into ash.
As Sombra looked up at Celestia, he suddenly turned to see Luna had closed the distance with Sombra and was reared up on her hind legs. Her front hooves slammed into his chest, knocking the wind from him and sending him sprawling. Celestia landed next to her sister, and the two advanced on the prone king.
Sombra had to finish the duel quickly; he was a clever spell caster with centuries of experience and study, but even he would be outmatched by the raw power Celestia and Luna possessed if this battle was drawn out too long. He was a poor match against two goddesses… So he had to even the odds.
“Celestia… Please!” Sombra pleaded as he rose to his hooves, backing away slowly, “I beg you to show mercy! There’s a way we can settle this without further bloodshed, don’t you think?”
“Mercy!?” Celestia screamed in rage. She advanced upon the cowering tyrant, her fury making the very air around her shimmer with heat.
“Did thou show mercy to your Crystal Ponies when thou used them for thy sick experiments!?”
Celestia caught up with Sombra and knocked him to the ground, putting her forehooves on his chest and pinning him to the ground.
“Did thou show Sonatina mercy when thou choked the life from her!?”
“How do-? Ahhh… Cadance… She must have heard about what really happened to her dear mother somehow.”
“She told me she hid in a chest and watched thee slay her,” Celestia said, her voice low and threatening.
“Ah! That would explain a great deal. I suppose I shouldn’t have underestimated my niece’s acting skills.”
“Thee shall pay for this, Sombra!” Celestia leaned in threateningly, “Thee shall rot in the dungeons, bereft of thy magic and thy freedom until the end of time itself!”
“Perhaps not, Celestia…”
Sombra summoned his magical energy and teleported out from under Celestia. And before the princess could react, Sombra reappeared a short distance away and his horn glowed brightly. So focused on her quarry and blinded by her anger, Celestia hadn’t noticed Sombra leading her into a circle of runes on the ground, but she noticed them now as they glowed faintly. But before she could get out, Sombra activated his trap. Dark crystals shot out of the ground, surrounding the white princess in a cage of crystals. Celestia tried to teleport out like Sombra, but she was yanked back in by the power of the crystals. “SISTER!” Luna cried, rushing to aid her, when Sombra stepped in front of her. Luna’s horn glowed and she prepared to fight, but Sombra put up his hoof.
“Wait, Luna! Let us not fight!” Sombra implored, “Why should we be enemies, when we can be friends?”
“Thou art a murderer and a fiend! Why should we join thee? How could we trust thee!?” Luna questioned, her defense still raised.
“Because I would hope you’d know me well enough to know I would only do what had to be done. I don’t want to hurt you, Luna. I want you to join me. You’re far too interesting and beautiful a mare to be tossed aside. Why would I destroy someone when they’re more useful as a friend? Why would you?”
“What doest thou speak of?”
“I think we both know that I’m not the real villain here. I’m not the one who’s been demeaning you all this time, am I? I’m not the one belittling you and making you steward of a thankless job, am I? Why should we fight against each other when we are so alike? Aren’t you tired of kowtowing to your sister? Aren’t you tired of being in second place to your older sibling? Why do you think I did what I did?”
Sombra approached Luna now, and the princess did nothing to stop him. He paced around her, looking her over. “Think what we can do together… Together we could defeat Celestia, and with her gone the ponies of Equestria would have only you! You to guide them, lead them, show them your way, and make them see things as you see them. You could have everything you’ve ever wanted: Love, respect, acknowledgement, power… I’ve seen in your eyes the jealousy you have for the day, so why not snuff it out? Why not let your beautiful night reign as long as you want?”
“Don’t listen to him, sister!” Celestia called from inside her prison as she bucked against the crystals, “He will poison your mind!”
But despite her warnings, Luna’s horn had stopped glowing and she relaxed her guard.
“And why should you listen to her?” Sombra countered, “If you do side with her, do you think she’ll treat you any differently as soon as you’re back in Canterlot? Start listening to you more, heed the advice of her little sister? Or will she just do things as she’s always done them?”
Sombra sidled up next to her whispered into her ear:
“You and I have always had a special bond, Luna. We both lurk in the shadows of our siblings, outshined by the light. But together, we can be so much more. Long have I known you were the mare of my dreams, Luna. And long have a dreamed of this moment where our love would let us smother the light of day. Be my queen of the night, my love. And I will be your king of the shadows… And together we will rule this world…”
Princess Luna was motionless, her eyes on her sister’s crystalline prison. How often had her sister disregarded her? Overruled her? How often had Luna spent her nights going from dream to dream to see that none of the ponies she visited had cared for her carefully crafted night skies?
She is your sister! Part of her cried, Your own flesh and blood! She needs you! You must stand beside her!
Why should we? Another part argued, She is selfish! Tia thinks nothing of what we want!
We fought Discord together! We found the Elements, saved Equestria from his chaos, and became rulers together! We are stronger together then we are alone!
Ever since then, she’s taken all the power. She rules Equestria while we get to sit by, powerless to do anything. She thinks we’re just her foolish younger sister, unable to handle real power. And she’ll never change! We will always be ignored as long as Celestia rules!
Luna battled inside her mind, desperately trying to make her decision. Whichever one she chose, it would be a betrayal:
either of her sister or of the stallion she had grown to love.
“Sister!” Celestia cried as she now tried firing magical blasts into the crystals, “Help me! Please!”
“That won’t hold her forever,” Sombra reminded her as he put a hoof on her shoulder, “Celestia will break out soon. You must choose now: your arrogant, self-righteous sister or me… The key to all your dreams.”
Luna closed her eyes as she struggled inside herself, wrestling with that she truly wanted. The possibilities all ran through her mind and she furrowed her brow as she asked herself, deep down, what she wanted.
“I said no…” Luna reaffirmed, her eyes still closed.
Sombra had carefully planned this moment out in nearly every detail. He had prepared himself to a variety of responses from Luna, from a feeble and tearful ‘no’ that she’s turn into ‘yes’ with only a little more convincing, to her outright swearing allegiance to him, to her confession of undying love.
What he had not expected was that ‘no’. Not unsure, hesitant, or timid. Her voice had been sure, strong, and resolute. He had spent all that time laying down the groundwork for Luna’s betrayal, appealing to her sense of loneliness and uselessness, using every ounce of his considerable charm and persuasion.
And she had definitively refused him.
He was stunned by this: that he had miscalculated this badly, and had found he had no proper back-up plan. At this point, Luna opened her eyes again and they glowed with white light.
“It is time to end this,” The princess of the night stated as her voice became resonant with the power of the Elements of Harmony. Sombra stumbled back, dazzled by the light, as Luna fired a rainbow colored beam from her necklace at the dark crystals holding Celestia and shattered them like glass. Celestia’s eyes were also glowing, and the rainbow from Luna’s necklace connected to her sister’s. They were bonded together now by the Elements, as they had not since they had banished Discord so long ago.
“Don’t do this, Luna!” Sombra cried, true desperation creeping into his voice, “Think about what you have to gain! Think about what you’re throwing away!
“My sister is right, Sombra” Luna said as her sister stood beside her, “Thee shall answer for thy crimes. And the Elements of Harmony shall be your punishment!”
Having read much of the lore on the Elements of Harmony and defeat of Discord, Sombra knew that there was no way to know what was going to happen when the Elements hit him, but it wasn’t going to be good for the shadow king. With only seconds to spare, Sombra vowed that he would not allow the sisters to have their victory. Sombra turned his back the Princesses as the power of the Elements made them glow brighter and brighter, and he cast his spell at the dark crystal above his throne. It was a Master Crystal; from here Sombra, and Sombra alone, could channel his dark energy into most of the surrounding dark crystals that dotted the empire. He sent one final spell through his crystal network, his most powerful curse. The spell from Sombra’s horn hit the master crystal and it surged with power. Secured that his final revenge was complete, he turned to face the sisters just as the Elements of Harmony hit him.
The rainbow beam was the most painful experience in Sombra’s life. As the dark king screamed, the light that washed over him burned like the heart of the sun, and as he looked down at himself he could see his armor and royal robes blasted off his person, his stolen crown blown off his head. But then it went further, his skin soon stopped hurting because he stopped having skin, as his body became blackened and smoke-like. Sombra screamed out his last scream before the Element’s magic stripped him of his physical body. Soon, he was reduced to little more than an amorphous shadow. The sisters watched as the rainbow that had engulfed Sombra now surrounded him, capturing him in a ball of energy, and then rocketed out of the throne room, smashing a good sized hole in the wall as it did so. They followed its progress as it flew through the sky, and landed a considerable distance away, making en explosion of magical energy they felt even from as far away as they were.
“So that is his punishment,” Celestia remarked, “Turned into shadow and sealed beneath the ice of the frozen North. A fitting prison.” There was no mistaking the grim satisfaction in her voice. But then her voice softened as she spoke to Luna. “Little sister… I know I can be trying sometimes, but I only have what I think is best for you at heart. You know that, right?”
“Of course,” Luna nuzzled into her sister’s neck, “I love you, Tia.”
“And I love you, Luna.”
They had only a second to enjoy their sisterly tender moment, before the palace suddenly began to tremble as if in an earthquake.
“What is that!?” Luna cried.
“I don’t- Wait! Do you feel that!?”
What Celestia was talking about was the sudden, ominous build-up of magical energy in the air. And Luna could feel it quite well, along with everypony with a horn in the entire empire.
“Something is happening!” Luna said, “But what?”
And then she saw it.
“SISTER! LOOK!”
Luna pointed a hoof out the windows of the Crystal Throne room and to the dark crystal perimeter that surrounded the empire. The crystals were glowing, pulsating with dark energy.
“The dark crystals!” Celestia yelled, “Sombra! This must be his final curse! He would not let us take his empire from him, and so he plans to destroy it himself! We have to flee!”
***
Below, the battle between the guards had ended. Though they had suffered significant casualties, the Royal Guard stood victorious over their Crystal counterparts. There were no prisoners; not due to a lack of mercy, but because the Crystal Guard had fought to their literal last pony, preferring death to failing their banished leader. As the quake intensified, the Princesses flew overhead and called down to their army: “BACK TO YOUR CHARIOTS! FLY! FLY!”
The remaining Equestrians took to the skies and fled the empire. Celestia was horrified to see that when she looked down, the Crystal Ponies did nothing. As their city shook itself to pieces and dark magic threatened to destroy everything they had ever know, the citizens of the Empire made no attempt even to flee for their lives. They simply stared up at the retreating army with their sad, empty eyes. Celestia veered down to help them, but was grabbed by the magic of her younger sister.
“Release me!”
“There is nothing you can do for them!” Luna called back, not releasing her hold and now pulling her older sister along, “Their hearts are too full of fear to even run! We cannot save them! We can only save ourselves now!”
Celestia swallowed the bitter truth and felt sick as she straightened her flight and flew on. To leave innocent ponies behind to suffer was a thing that went against every one of the sun goddess’ beliefs. But her sister was right: they could never move all the Crystal Ponies in time, or even a very few. They would stay where they were, terrified to defy their evil king. The event the dark crystals were building up to happened just as the sisters and their army crossed out of the dome covering the empire. All of the dark crystals in the city exploded at once with tremendous magical energy, and covered the city with dark purple light. The Equestrians shielded their eyes as the bright glow shined, and when the glow stopped and they lowered their hooves, they could only stare in shock.
The Crystal Empire was gone.
Not destroyed, just gone. The sisters stared where the grand empire had once been and saw only another cold and barren patch of the northern wastes.
Cadance sat in her bed in Canterlot Castle, the weight of the news crushing down on her.
“There’s nothing?”
Celestia shook her head, “We could sense no magical energies or find any ruins in the wake of the empire’s disappearance. And my sister and I searched long and far, but could not sense the presence of the Empire’s magic anywhere. If the Empire had simply been destroyed, there would have been some trace. I think Sombra may have displaced the empire through time and space. So the empire and the Crystal Ponies are safe wherever, and whenever, Sombra sent them.”
Celestia hoped Cadance wouldn’t see the uncertainly in her eyes as she tried to speak reassuringly. She was only a child and she had literally lost everything she had ever known. But the foal’s time with her uncle had made her wise beyond her years and she could read between the lines of what the sun goddess was saying. She cast her eyes out the nearby window, looking out at the sunny skies outside as her thoughts turned over all that she had lost.
“We will make accommodations for thee to stay in Canterlot with us, until…”
Luna trailed off, not knowing how to finish her sentence. Until when, exactly? Cadance had no parents, no home, and no inheritance. She was a princess stripped of everything she held dear.
Cadance closed her eyes as she thought back to her father’s words:
You will grow up into an amazing mare someday, and I’ll be there to help you earn your wings if you think you have what it takes to get them.
Cadance opened her eyes and turned to Celestia. The Crystal Princess threw aside her blanket and hopped out of her bed, much to the surprise of sisters. Cadance ached all over from the nearly lethal cold and she barely had the strength to stand up, but she refused to allow herself to fall. Her legs shook for a moment, before she steadied them and looked up at Celestia and Luna.
“I want to become an Alicorn. My father said I had the potential in me to be one, and if I’m going to lead the Crystal Empire when it comes back, I’ll need all the training I can get. Please… Will you two take me as your student?”
The sisters looked at each other, eyebrows raised. This was a huge responsibility, one not to be taken lightly.
“Is thee sure?” Luna asked Cadance, “Tis no small task thee asks for.”
“I know.”
“It may take years,” Celestia warned.
“I know.”
“Thou may not survive this path if thee chooses to tread it,” Luna said, seriously.
Cadance paused for the briefest of moments, and then nodded resolutely. “I know.”
“Then thee shall be our student,” Celestia affirmed, putting a hoof on Cadance’s shoulder, “We shall teach thee of the magic of friendship and love. And, with time and luck, thee shall ascend into an Alicorn. And if the empire should return, we shall do all we can to set thou where thee belongs, Cadance.”
“But until then,” Luna also put a hoof on Cadance’s other shoulder, “Thou shall belong here in Canterlot, with us. This will be your home.”
Cadance shed tears of relief, hoping her parents could rest at ease knowing that she had survived the ordeal of the Crystal Empire and made her way to safety.
“Thank you.”
***
That night, after both Cadance and Celestia had gone to bed, Luna flew high through the night skies over Equestria. The Princess of the Night glided silently among the clouds as she was immersed in her thoughts. She turned the battle for the Crystal Empire over and over again in her mind. She thought about Sombra’s words, his promises of power and recognition and of his screams as the Elements of Harmony damned him to his undying torment. She had been nursing a feeling in her stomach ever since the battle and it wasn’t until Luna had time to herself to think that she figured out what it was:
Regret.
She had done what she thought was the right thing to do: she had stuck by her family and refused the offer of power from a villainous stallion. But now that she had made the choice, she found herself regretting it. If she could do it all over again, would she have sided with Sombra? Would she have struck at her own older sister? Would she have usurped the kingdom of Equestria and made it her own, with her dark king at her side? The more she thought it over, the more the answer became evident.
Luna gazed up at her moon as it shined down in its full glory, a pale and mysterious disc in the sky.
“Why shouldn’t my night last as long as I want? In fact, why shouldn’t my night last… Forever?”
No light No sound Nothing Just darkness everywhere Where am I? Who am I? Who did this to me? Where is the light? Why can’t I see!? Why can’t I feel!? The darkness is everywhere! Darkness Darkness Darkness Drowning Suffocating Smothering Dying!
…
No… Not dying… Not suffocating… Not trapped in darkness… I am darkness Angry now So very angry But at who? Why? Doesn’t matter I’ll figure it out And when I do, they’ll know true darkness They’ll know anger They’ll know suffering Need to focus Need to think Need answers
