> Sombra's Apprentice
>  by Djinnsanity
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> First Impressions
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Sombra's Apprentice
Chapter 1: First Impressions

King Sombra strode through the halls of his dungeons, passing through cells filled with broken ponies wallowing in their own filth. His guards had informed him they had captured a mare that he would want to see personally. He wondered what they would dare bother him about when they knew the price of wasting his precious time.

He kept looking through the bars of all the cages, peering through the different bars with the incandescent green glow of his eyes. He was told the cell he the prisoner was being held in but he liked to make his presence know amongst the prison now and then, after all half the reason they were being kept there was so he could feed of off their fear.

As he finally came across the cell he saw the unmistakable glint of a green crystal pony with a blue mane turned to face the opposite wall. As Sombra strode up to it he smiled, this one still seemed to have a bit of defiance in her. There was an unmistakable air about him that just screamed of a strong will and Sombra would enjoy taking the time to break her.  He stood there for a second before finally speaking out, "Turn to face me." As his deep voice resonated throughout the entire prison he could feel everypony cringe at the sound as the electriicity of terror shot through him. Everypony except this mare, from her he only felt red hot seething hatred.

"How intruiging." he spoke "It has been a long time since I have spoken to somepony that has not shuddered upon hearing me speak.  Who are you?" At that the mare spoke, not at his command but in response to what he said, wordlessly she answered him as her cold, soul piercing purple eyes met his. However it was not his gaze that caught his attention but the crystal horn poking out of her mane. He stopped for a second, speechless for just a moment before letting out a bone chilling laugh.

"Ah, now I see. It has been ages since I have seen your ilk. How exactly is it that you survived the purges?" She stared back coldly without answering before turning back to the wall, her aura permeating pitch black fading into a deep red at the edges as he looked at her. "Your hatred is so pure, but that's understandable." At that he turned to walk back down the hall, the guards standing at attention. Before exiting he stopped and spoke to them, "Bring the crystal unicorn to the audience chamber."

"The guard hesitated for a second as Sombra turned away "But sir-"

Sombra turned back to him, crackling purple energy enveloping his horn and slamming the guard to the wall, holding him up by the neck. He leaned in close before turning to the other guard and speaking again. "Bring the crystal unicorn to the audience chamber" He released the guard before moving exiting the dungeon as the armored pony fell to the floor choking as the dark magic persisted until the life faded from his eyes.

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As King Sombra sat upon his throne, he waited boredly for his orders to be carried out. He wondered just how his guards could be so slow with such simple tasks. Annoying but nothing to kill anypony over. He sat in the crystal palace, now dim as opposed to the bright light which shone all across the Crystal Empire apart from the roof which shone red illumination the entire room. Many guards stood along the halls fully at attention. They dare not break their stance or be anything but Sombra's perfect army on the chance he might bring his wrath upon them.

As the large doors to the audience chamber finally opened the crystal unicorn was escorted into the room. Escorted was a kind word though, she was being physically shoved forward by two guards, an ornate golden ring sealed around her horn to prevent her from casting magic. While she did not try to flee or fight her way out the two guards had to physically push her in order to get her to move at all. As they approached he stood up off his throne and walked forward to meet them, a wicked smile on his face as he came down.

All of a sudden the room exploded into action, the crystal unicorn quickly turned to one of her guards and thrust her head at his neck. She expertly was able to slide between his armor and helmet to stab him right in the neck causing blood to spray on the floor. As her other escort stood baffled many of the guards standing idly by readied their weapons as the crystal unicorn charged directly at Sombra. Blood streaked from her horn as she dashed towards the evil king, tears streaming from her eyes as she left a path of blood behind her.

Mere inches away from striking the evil king himself his horn began to crackle with energy again as her hooves began to glow purple and were fastened to the floor before him. As she struggled furiously she let out a roar of impotent rage and tried to get closer to him still even though she could not lift a leg from the floor. As the guards charged forward brandishing crude looking black crystal weapons Sombra held up a hoof to stop them. They all looked surprised as Sombra left out a booming laughter that filled the halls.

"Fantastic! You take the life of another pony so easily. No hesitation, no second thoughts, you are clearly no stranger to violence." He continued to laugh to himself for a little before looking the crystal unicorn in the eyes. "And yet for all your struggles you still stand before me helpless and having fallen just short of your quarry." She still grunted and struggled against her bonds as he continued to approach her. " This attempt on my life was pathetic and yet... it has shown something even more about you. You have felt pain and anguish in your life and yet rather than let yourself be defeated you continue to struggle on. That takes great strength." He approached even closer to her, her purple eyes now blood shot from her tears as she stared him defiantly in the eyes. At this he reached up a hoof to stroke the tears from her cheeks but she recoiled her head.

All of a sudden the purple energy around her hooves dissipated. She looked down in surprise as Sombra released her from his hold. "You have within you great hatred and anger but you don't know how to use it. You hold the potential to harness a powerful magic and I can teach it to you."

She looked up defiantly again to meet his despicable grin, both ponies knew Sombra could end her life in a heartbeat should he so choose and as they stared deep into each others eyes they silently communicated this knowledge. For the first time the crystal unicorn finally spoke "Why would you teach me?"

Sombra's toothy smile turned into a satisfied smirk. "Such a practical question, I believe you'll do quite well." He turned back towards his throne before he began to answer. "You know about the purges, clearly. How could you not?" He took a seat at his throne and looked back at her smiling deviously. "I had the crystal unicorns killed off en masse because they represented a significant threat to my rule. It was a simple matter to cause them to flee and scatter from fear of my power and from then I only had to deal with small groups of them. However it seems I missed one, I can only assume your hatred for me is born out of being the last of your kind."

As the sentence left his lips he noticed all of her hatred being poured at him through her eyes. "Well now I have been represented with a unique opportunity. I have killed my enemies and now through you I can destroy them. I can just see it now, the last crystal unicorn being a vicious killer after my own heart, the atrocities you will commit will make everybody hate and revile the crystal unicorns. You'll be all anypony remembers of your kind and corrupt the memory of them. It will be my ultimate victory, and you will go along with it because you have no choice. It's the only way to get close enough to eventually kill me and teaching you all my secrets is the ultimate way to finally fell me."

As he looked down at the crystal unicorn Sombra smiled again, she tried to stay defiant but finally she caved in as she broke the stare between them. She looked down in a symbol of submissiveness and yet her defiance did not truly die. "You do not have to decide now, in fact I would be foolish to ask you to decide quickly. I will allow you one night to think it over in your prison cell." At this point he motioned for guards. Two guards came forward and grabbed her by the shoulders, she made little resistance as they dragged her towards the doors.

"Oh, one more thing." Sombra shouted loudly as the guards opened the door, stopping so he could get in his last word. "If you refuse my generous offer you'll leave me no choice but to have you executed as an enemy of the state. My victory against your kind will still be complete and you will have lost your only chance to avenge your loved ones." He said the last words with a sneer as he smiled and continued to laugh as the crystal unicorn was helplessly dragged back to her cell, the giant doors of the audience chamber slamming shut with a resounding boom as Sombra returned to his throne, smiling to himself.