> The Crystal King is playing in the sand.
>  by Black Owl
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Ancient exposition.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After I got blown up into a million pieces, I spent the next few months reforming my body into something that looks less like a devilishly handsome warlock making mares pregnant by looking at them, and more like a normal bland and boring peasant pony, like that pink slut who blasted my beautiful face. So I hid myself in order to come up with a plan so great they'll crown me king of the world just by monologing it to them in my deep masculine voice that makes mares orgasm from hearing it. So I chose to call myself Crystal Cutter, a name that is obviously inferior to the majesty that is Sombra, so I wouldn't attract attention. I gained an apartment with a great discount after that mare who calls herself landlord heard my gorgeous voice, which isn't that good considering she doesn't leave me the fuck alone anymore.

This day was like any other Friday, a day filled with me doing basically nothing while losing my mind. 'I wonder... if I go to Celestia and act like I'm reformed, will she give me back some of my titles? Nah, she'll blast me in the face again.' I took a long sip of my coffee, before realizing that I bough peasant coffee again, so I stained my wall in the black liquid. "How could I buy this disgusting coffee again? The idiots should stop making them look so similar to crystal coffee." I mumble as I move towards my front door to pick up the newspaper. After acquireing the needed item, I teleported myself on my couch to read it.

"Let's see... Celestia makes friends with another zebrican warlord, boring. Luna kills some monster in the chaos plains, seen it. Twilight makes a new theory about dark magic, she's wrong and stupid. The ancient scroll discovered in the depths of the Emerald Jungle was unable to be translated, bori- wait." I quickly got up into a sitting position and went back to the article about the ancient scroll. "The ancient scroll that was found months ago by The Princess Of Friendship and bla bla bla, wasn't able to be translated. Apparently it was protected by hundreds of wards and traps, so The Princess bla bla bla said that they should put it for display in Canterlot Castle Grand Museum for ponies to see." A laugh escaped my mouth as I read the last part. 'They find an extremely important scroll that could hold secrets older then Celestia, and they put it in a Museum? With Celestia's incompetent guard?' "Hehehe...Hahaha... HAHAHAA.... MUAHAHAHAA-" "SHUT UP YA' IDIOT BEFORE I CALL THE LANDLORD." The neighbor from upstairs screamed at me. 

The angry neighbor made Sombra stop his laughter, not wanting to deal with that slutty landlord this early in the morning, Sombra had to put up a short act. "SORRY!" Sombra yelled back, before starting to pack what little stuff he had. "Finally, I will gain secrets unknown to everyone, and with them I will get my revenge on that pink cunt!"





I was forced to sit in the filthy peasant train as I made my way towards Canterlot, the reason being that apparently only guards and royalty are allowed flying carriages, which is ridiculous since I AM ROYALTY. 'This place stinks! If only I could summon my crystal dragon to fly me to Canterlot... but because of my weakening, anything harder than making simple crystals is impossible for me at the moment... Will those two morons shut up already!?'

"BE QUIET, THERE ARE OTHER PONIES ON THIS FUCKING TRAIN!" I stand up as I scream towards the stallion and mare couple. However, instead of shutting up, the mares gets up and speaks with the most arrogant and stuck up tone I ever heard.

"Excuse me, but me and my husband will speak as loudly as we want! And how dare you scream at us peasant!? Do you know even know who we-" She stopped speaking, mostly because I went right up in their face. Let's just say that fangs and a curved horn do wonders when you want to intimidate someone.

"Do you two know how long it takes for guards to arrive on the train?" I spoke in a low, threatening tone. They both shook their heads. "I will tell you how long it takes, IT TAKES EXACTLY ENOUGH TIME FOR ME TO THROW YOU BOTH OUT THE WINDOW AND COVER MY TRACKS WITH A LOT OF TIME TO SPARE."

"Eeep!" They both started shaking as they tried to hide themselves under their bags.

"That's what I thought..." And with that, I went back to my seat where I read my newspaper in peace.





Canterlot, the capital of Equestria. A city filled with the most elite guards in the whole country, the best of the best. Neither of which suspecting a thing as I stroll down the street. The only thing I did was make my eyes a normal color and get rid of the smoke coming from said eyes. I even have my curved red horn, and no response. And Celestia deems them the best? It makes me wonder how are the worst guards... 

I quickly cleared my thoughts, changing my path towards Canterlot Museum. The nobles here were even worse then those two on the train... When they aren't whispering to each other, they shove their head into the sky. I saw more then a few smacking into a signs. I may be arrogant as well, but at least I can back it up.

'The Celestial Sisters proud themselves on the fact that their cities are the most clean and advanced in the world. Well, they are clean, but advanced? Don't make me laugh! This place is nowhere near the state of my glorious crystal empire, they don't even have magic powered lamp posts, much less crystal powered! Arrogant mares!' I though as I glanced  at the buildings. 'This place looks so old fashioned, if it wasn't on a mountain, I would have mistaken it for The Everfree Castle.'

"Tsk, tsk. Celestia, it seems your country has stagnated." I mumbled to myself as I remembered about the things I saw in Manehattan while I lived there. 'They at least have more modern street lighting. How the mighty have fallen...' I though as I watched a group of three Royal Guards struggle to deal with a drunk stallion.

Deciding I wasted enough time looking around, turning around, I walked faster towards the direction of the museum. That is, until I realized I had no idea where it was. After mumbling some curses under my breath, I walked into the nearest shop. Said shop being a purple building with the name 'Canterlot Boutique'. Entering inside, I saw a tall slender mare with beautiful features. She had a light blue fur along with an orange and yellow mane. "Greetings fair lady, may I take a little sliver of your precious time?"

The mare turned around and gave me a smile as she spoke. "Welcome to Canterlot Boutique! Do you need anything made, a suit maybe? Or perhaps something from a special somepony?" She said while giggling after saying the last line.

"Sadly, I don't need a suit at the moment, but maybe in the future." I responded as I walked towards the counter.

"Then what is it that you need?" She asked while tilting her head slightly in confusion. I locked eyes with her before talking again.

"I was wondering if you had any maps of the city, that and if I could have a certain type of outfit made." I gave her a polite smite before continuing. "I'm confident that a mare of your tastes can easily make it even trough it's a strange request."

"But of course! I have a few spares map that I can give you for free." She bent down and started to search for the map she mentioned. "And I'll make sure to not make you regret trusting me, just tell me the details for outfit and I will make it!" She said as she handed me a scroll which I assumed was the map. 

"I require a complete outfit of cloth who can cover the whole body without hindering movement. This are some really rough sketches on how I want it made." I said as I handed her a piece of paper where I made some really rough designs. "I also need it to be able to protect me against most scratches, along with a long scarf. All of it a dark blue if possible."

"Mhm, well I'm sure I can do that until tomorrow if you want me to make it an urgent order, you do right?" At my nod she motioned towards a small stage covered by a purple veil. "Then head inside so I can take your measurements."

I quickly got on the stage as the mare went to get a measuring tape. "Oh, how could I have forgotten? My name is Sassy Saddles, what about you sir?" She said as she got up on the stage with me and started taking measurements.

"My name is Crystal Cutter, I must say this is a rather beautiful shop, you must take good care of it." I say as I was looking around said shop.

"Why, thank you! I try my best." She replied as she started humming. "What is this outfit for, if you don't mind me asking. It's a rather weird request for a stallion such as yourself."

"It's for a new expedition I will participate in." I lied as I watched her do her job. "I was wondering if you accept gems for payment? I specialize in small scale manufacturing of expensive crystals, and I seem to be low on bits." Which wasn't a lie, crystals were pretty much growing on trees for me, but I had almost no bits on hoof.

"Of course, but I'll need to see what type of crystals you have first. This way I can give you the correct cost of your order." She said as she levitated her measuring tape away and wrote something in a notebook as she walked towards the counter. I followed her after she motioned for me to do so with her hoof.

"Well, right now, I have at hoof amethysts and some black crystals imported from the Crystal Empire." I said as I summoned five of each, but to her it looked more like I teleported them here. Those ten where around the same size, being able to fit four in one hoof.

"Oh, those are just lovely!" She said as she grabbed them in her magic as she brought them to her eyes. "Those ten will be more then enough for payment, if you don't mind giving this lady a little tip?" She said as she looked at me with what I assumed where puppy eyes.

"Of course, I don't mind. When will I need to come for the order?" I asked as I started walking towards the exit.

"Tomorrow at 10 am. Oh and have a wonderful day sir!" She said as she waved me away as I gave her a polite smile.

After leaving the shop, I looked at the map I got from Sassy. 'Well, now that I see that if Canterlot is going to be attacked, they are completely doomed. That is unless they just pull out the fix to everything they call the Elements of Harmony... They have one training ground and one armory, not to mention that most of their constructions are made for entertainment. Eh, whatever, their problem, not mine.'





'So this is the museum...' I though as I looked at the massive marble building. Great pillars stood as decoration for it's entrance, it held an imposing stature. 'But why is it so empty?" I walked onto the stairs as I looked around confused. "Didn't they just announce that they discovered something new? The opening was today, wasn't it?" I looked at the schedule situated near the doors. 'Yep, it appeared today. Are Equestrians that uninterested in history? No wonder they keep making the same mistakes...'

Entering the building, I saw an empty hall. Not empty of expositions, no it had plentiful, but empty of ponies. The scene before me looked like something pulled from those cheap movies I watched while in Manehattan, the only ponies around were the receptionist and a mare with a cloak. Shaking my head, I moved to the receptionist who was talking with the cloaked mare.

"Excuse me." I said to attract their attention. "How much for a ticket for the new exposition?" 

"Oh, welcome!" The receptionist said. He was an old stallion who looked as frail as the exponents around him. "Just five bits sir." He said after coughing a little. I quickly levitated the money towards the elderly stallion. "Here you go sir, have a nice day." I grabbed the ticket before nodding.

"Same to you as well, I hope you'll be more busy in the future." I said as I walked away, strangely, the mare looked curious and quickly started following me. 'Does she know me? No, I'm pretty sure she wasn't one of those mares that blasted me in the face, none of them were creme with a mane of different colors of gray. I'll ignore her for now, I need to pay more attention to the location of the scroll.' Picking up pace, I looked around in search for the scroll. 

After a few minutes of searching for the new exposition while pretending not to see the cloaked mare behind me, I finally found what I was searching for. In front of me stood the opened scroll on a pedestal, said scroll was made from dragon skin bathed in liquid gold. And the only reason why I know that, is because I used to do that to all the important scrolls I had. That way the scroll would have, not only an incredibly high durability, but a beautiful look as well.

Getting to the point, I quickly saw something extremely important about this scroll. The so called impossible to decipher scroll was written in the Horsian script, a script only known by the Saddle Arabian royalty in my time. And considering the fact that the old dynasty fell a short time after the Crystal Empire's disappearance, I may be one of the few, if not the only one who still knows that language. 'Oh, how delighted I was when I read about their fall. That's what they deserve for refusing to aid me in the war against the Equestrians. I told them that if I lost the Equestrians will go after them to 'reform' them.'

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I started reading the script while remembering to fake an expression of complete confusion. 'Trough this ancient script, may The Great Crystal One show the path! In the sands of time, at the peak of the sun, the magic of the script shall guide the dark crystal trough the sands and towards the oasis.' As I read the scroll, I almost couldn't believe my eyes. Under those words lays a rune I could barely recognize. 'Sallahudin, I knew you hid IT somewhere instead of destroying it. And for that I hope the eternal sleep is kind to you.' 

Summoning a scroll, I began putting a new plan in action. I started copying the script onto the new scroll as I saw the cloaked mare trying to see what I was doing from a distance. 'She's been following me for quite a while hasn't she? I may need to be more discrete so I don't raise any suspicion.'

After finishing copying the script, instead of teleporting the copied piece away, I instead put a spell on it to make it look indistinguishable from the real one and teleported it in place of the real one, while teleporting the real thing in my personal hammer space. 'Oh how I love that I still have access to that thing, I don't know what I would do without it...' And like this, I left the museum without the cloaked mare following. 'Too easy...'





"Good morning, Crystal Cutter! Did you come for your order?" The smiling face of Sassy Saddles said as I entered Canterlot Boutique.

"Good morning, Miss Saddles. Indeed, I've come for my order. Is it ready?" Sassy nodded her head before levitating a light blue bag towards me. Taking it, I looked inside, seeing the dark blue material inside I nodded towards the mare. "Thank you for making my order on such a short notice, you've saved me so much time." I told her while giving her a polite smile before levitating her a bag of a few amethysts. "A tip so you can buy yourself a reward for you hard work."

"Thank you, Crystal! Hope you'll come again!" She said before putting the gems under the counter.

"Maybe in the future." I said before walking towards the exit. "But for now, I have a tight schedule and can't chat, have a good day." I told her before leaving the shop. As I left, I heard her wishing me a good day as well. 'Such a nice mare, hope her business will do well in the future, the material my costume was made from is of really good material.' I thought while checking my bag once again.

After I checked out the map, I quickly changed directions towards the train station to buy a ticked to Saddle Arabia. The early sun was bathing the city in its light, showing me quite a beautiful site. 'Of course, it's not nearly as beautiful as my Crystal Empire! However, I have to admit that the sun rays striking the golden roofs is extremely beautiful.

The nobles and merchants were walking around in a hurry, trying to get to their businesses and stalls before the peak hours. None of them stopping to admire this gorgeous sight. 'Still, a giant change from Manehattan... How much I hate living in hiding. It feels too cowardly, but I can't let my pride get the best of me.'

I soon found myself wanting to pass trough the crowded market, and oh how much I hate not having all my magic. 'These insufferable nobles keep pushing each other like pigs towards corn! They call themselves nobles but act like spoiled brats! I knew Celestia was soft, but I didn't know she was this soft without her sister!' I watched as the nobles kept pushing each other around while throwing playground insults to everyone around them. 'And Celestia was the one boasting about how 'good' and 'fair' her system was, bah!' I though as I shoulder slammed a couple of nobles into an alley, thus making them scream like foals.

The only good thing about the crowd of nobles filling the market was the satisfaction I got when I shoulder bashed nobles onto the ground. Ah, the sound of them crying over the fact that their expensive clothes got dirty. Now I remember why I was always so rough on the nobles from the Empire.

My enjoyment was quickly cut short when I saw a small group of ponies. A small group of ponies that knew me. 'Ah, what do we have here? The pink twat, her idiotic husband and their- actually I have nothing against their filly. I may be able to corrupt her so I have the upper hand over them, but that will have to wait.' I shook my head and started moving away through them while still maintaining the same direction. 'I should still leave before I have the whole Royal Guard after me. They may be incompetent but they can still block the train station.'

Sadly, a noble that I pushed out of the way reacted louder then the rest. "HOW DARE YOU PUSH ME YOU FILTH!? GUARDS! ARREST THIS STALLION THIS INSTANT!" The mare screamed at the top of her lungs attracting the attention of the couple I was trying to avoid. 

"Calm down Ma'am, just tell me what's the probl- wait, SOMBRA?" The Shining idiot said after he saw me try to push trough the sea of intoxicating perfumes and extravagant clothes. 'Well, shit.' I though before I started to shove and push more frantically.

"GUARDS!" Shining screamed as his wife came over to ask him what was happening, meanwhile the nobles where panicking like headless chickens and where quite efficiently stopping the guards from reaching me. 'Come on Sombra, think!' As I kept pushing, I quickly realized that I'll soon leave the market, and I'll be in the open. The guards where closing in as well, however, a spell flashed in my mind that gave me an idea. 'Of course! The old switcheroo!' With a flash of my horn, I smacked into the nearest unicorn stallion and casted my spell. Said spell temporarily switched his and my appearance, as well as giving me his clothes.

And using that old trick, I managed to escape with no problem. 'Ah, I just love how the oldest tricks are the most useful.'  I need to try to be more discrete, but pushing nobles around was too much fun to give up. 'Oh well, it all ended up good for me in the end.' I suddenly made a sharp turn into an alley. Hiding behind some dumpsters, I casted a disperse spell to get rid of the illusion. And with a flash of light, I was back to my beautiful self. I quickly ripped off the noble's clothes before going back towards my original destination, the train station.

This time it was a lot quieter, the nobles were rare and the commoners were too occupied with what they were doing to care about a devilishly handsome stallion like myself. However, it seems someone has found me. But it wasn't the guard nor the royals, this time it was that cloaked mare from the museum. I wonder if she knows who I am, or if she has any other unrelated reason to be following me. 'Ah, how I wish those two didn't see me earlier, they probably started telling the other guards to capture the most handsome stallion to bring to their princess so she can try to 'reform' me. I know you went through that mirror Celestia! If the guards didn't know anything I could have told them she was stalking me, that way I would have gotten rid of her and whatever reason she had for following me without much of a hassle.'

Turning a corner, I arrived at the train station. There were few ponies around, and luckily I came exactly a quarter of an hour before the train for Saddle Arabia left. 'Such nice timing, lucky there are no ponies around either.' I walked towards the ticket booth which held an old mare inside.

"Hello, I would like a first class ticket towards Saddle Arabia please." I told the old mare while giving her a small smile.

"That would be a hundred bits honey. What's a stallion like you doing there?" She said while pushing the ticket towards me.

"Oh, I'm just visiting an old acquaintance of mine." I responded while levitating her a bag of bits which she quickly grabbed and stored somewhere safe.

"Must be nice to travel around, ah how I miss the old days... Have a nice trip!" She said while giving me a tired smile.

"Thank you, have a nice day." I told her before leaving for the train. Entering inside, I was delighted to see the silk seats plated with gold. I slowly moved towards one of the seats. Sitting down, I lean backwards and let a sigh escape my lips. 'Now that the easy part is done, I'll finally be able to feel some adrenaline pumping.' I felt my eyelids close as I let myself fall into unconsciousness. I had no fear of having anything stolen from me, having everything stored in my hammer space does tend to keep everything safe. This way I could safely fall asleep with no fears, casting a warding spell to keep Luna away from my mind, I fall asleep with one last though in my mind. 'Finally, I'll finally get back what I lost back...'
> First steps into the dunes.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A high pitched whistle announced my arrival at the trade city of Kahma. The most important thing that I realized during the trip was that those chairs where as comfortable as you would expect, they were as uncomfortable as a crystal table. And because of that uncomfortable chair, my back was cracking like no tomorrow when I got up. The blazing sun was scorching the sands, a large city stood in front of me, a city that barely changed from all those years before. The yelling of merchants filled the streets as they were trying to attract as many customers as they could.

After summoning the cloak and scarf I got from Canterlot, I wrapped the scarf around my neck and head before leaving the train. I quickly started walking into the market, not bothering to look at any of the wares the arabians had. Since I made sure my robes look the similar to the nobility from Saddle Arabia, the only difference between me and an actual noble was my horn. It didn't take long before I found myself in the middle of the market, surrounded from every corner by a great crowd. I continued walking forward while looking for a certain symbol, hoping at least they still exist. The scenery around me started changing while the symbol was nowhere to be seen. Soon enough, I was greeted with a familiar scene, in front of me was the Great Saddle Arabian slave market.

Ponies, griffons, zebras and arabians alike were being sold in cages along with hyenas and lions. Their state said a lot about them, the wounded and starving ones where nothing but common, slaves that can be easily replaced, all of them had lost hope. Next was the ones who were actually properly fed, ones that either had great skills, beauty or used to have a high status, fallen nobles. Last were the ones that held a certain trait or skill you can rarely find. The most beautiful mare and the most skillful warriors along with the most exotic were being treated almost like a citizen, being properly fed and bathed, they were the ones which will bring fortune upon the ones who sold them. Only the last held a slim interest in me, but I had no time to waste on some slave that would bring more problems then help.

"How barbaric..." I heard someone mumble from behind me. Those words were something only a pony would say, and I have a vague idea on who the owner of the voice may be. A quick glance I confirmed my suspicions. Closely behind me was the cloaked mare from the museum. 'She managed to follow me all this time? Impressive.' Looking around, I quickly spotted what I was searching for. A tight alley hidden away from the public a few meters ahead. I started walking a little faster before abruptly dashing into the alley. "What the-? Where did he go!?" I heard the cloaked mare's voice say before the sound of hoofsteps started getting louder. 

Luckily, I managed to time it right and managed to pull the mare into the alley. Shoving her against the wall, I force her mouth shut with my magic, preventing her from screaming. "I know you've been following me. Quite a bold move to follow me here, especially thinking that I wouldn't be able to see you." She kept struggling, trying to get out of my grasp, but luckily, even in this weakened state, I was stronger then her. "Calm down already! From your earlier reaction I can tell you've never been here before, do you even know what will happen to you if somepony finds that out?" She stopped struggling and started to calm down. "Now, unless you want to spend the rest of your life as a slave, you better be quiet." I said before letting her go.

The cloaked mare fell to the ground coughing while holding her neck. "Why the hay did you do that!?" She barked at me as she got up. It would have been quite intimidating, especially with the look she was giving me, that is if she was actually intimidating to begin with. Spoilers, she wasn't. I rolled my eyes at her pitiful attempt to intimidate me before repeating the same question.

"Do you know what will happen if somepony realizes no pony here knows you?" I say as I gave her a light glare.

"N-no?" She said as she was looking around for somepony else.

"No pony knowing you means no pony will know when you disappear, and no pony will care that you become a slave. So if you want to avoid that fate, shut up and listen." I said as I let a growl escape my mouth. "First of all, I don't know who you are or what you want, nor do I care. What I care about is if you can help me, if you can't, I suggest you leave before you get captured and sold into the salve trade." The mare nodded before taking off her cloak revealing a dark cream colored fur along with a mane with different shades of grey. Her magenta eyes looked nervously at me, her cutie mark had the shape of a compass. She was wearing what you could call an 'adventurer's outfit'.

"I got it, but just listen to me for a second. My name is Daring Do, I explore temples, ancient fortifications and the like for artifacts. I came you because I had a feeling you knew something about that scroll. I know who you are and I know that you are up to no good Sombra, but I'm willing to help you find what that scroll sends you to as long as I can at least get some kind of artifact out of it. So, do we have a deal?" She spoke with confidence, but I could see the sliver of fear that appeared in her magenta eyes. 'Oh, why not? I could use her help, worse case scenario, I can use her as a meat shield. I only care about Sallahudin's scimitar anyway, I'll just give her his crown or something.'

"Deal. Now come, we need to get you some clothes so you fit in." I tell her as I start walking back towards the market, I was immediately followed by the so called 'Daring Do'. "Put back on the cloak, you won't attract as much attention as you would without it.".

"Right!" She said before quickly putting the cloak on before running to catch up to me.





"Do I really need to wear all this? It's not easy to move in it." Daring said as she pointed at her veil. She's spent the next half an hour after we got her clothes complaining nonstop.

"Yes, you need to look like a local after all. Now will you shut up? I spent half an hour in that shop to make them accept my crystals." I said while shoulder bashing an arabian mercenary that asked for payment to get out of the city. "[The only payment I'll give you is a free castration!]" I yell back at the mercenary in Saddle Arabian. 

"Fine, but this is still ridiculous! Also that guy that you yelled at pulled out a scimitar and is currently running towards us." She responded with a little panic in her voice. Turning around I confirmed her words, the idiot was actually running at us with a scimitar. Rolling my eyes, I summon a crystal in front of him, crystal on which he tripped and fell down. The scimitar slipped from his grasp and ended up cutting him in the leg. 

"Look where you're going you imbecile!" I tell him as I pull Daring forward. "Get moving, that guy can't even run properly." I think she found that guy tripping and cutting himself rather amusing since she giggled quite loudly, which only angered the mercenary even more. In his anger, he got up and started running at us again with his scimitar raised, seemingly ignoring the pain in his limb. In response, I just shook my head and made him trip again, but this time I raised another sharp crystal in front of the one he tripped on. This resulting in the stallion impaling his neck on it, and with that, the world a one less idiot on it. Luckily, Daring didn't see his second fall, so I don't have to deal with her idiotic sense of pony morality. 'I'm really not in the mood for a five hour speech about how killing is wrong and all that shit... I got sick of that when I had to train the crystal ponies for war, and they were considered the more brutal ones. Bah, I saw rabbits more brutal then those morons were. And I couldn't even find the markings of the Sand Crystals, so I guess they got caught by Celestia too, a shame really. Oh, I'm rambling again...' Shaking my head, I try to clear my thoughts and concentrate on where I'm going.

"So, what exactly are we searching for?" Daring asked as she looked at the compass in her hoof.

"An obelisk with a dark purple crystal on top." I said while casting a quick spell. 'Yep, still standing.'

"How do we know its still there?" She said while glancing at me. 'She sure is full of questions, isn't she?'

"I just checked, it's still there, but it'll take a while. A long while." I respond while summoning a crystal apple. Said apple quickly found itself in my stomach as I devoured it. 'Ugh, summoned food still tastes like rotting troll meat...'

"Hey, can I have one too?" Daring asked as a small grin made it's way on my face.

"Sure, eat up!" I said as I summoned another crystal apple in front of her. And to my amusement, she ate the whole apple in one bite. Her face quickly contorting into pure disgust as she started chocking, all of that only making me laugh.

"What the hay is with that taste!?" She screamed as she tried to clean her tongue with her hoofs.

"Summoned food. It tends to taste like that." I said before summoning another. "Want another one?"

"No thanks." She said while shuttering.

"Suit yourself." And like that, the apple had the same fate as the last one. Devoured in my stomach.





The sun blazed the ever expanding ocean of sand, all of this was once a great Empire, now in its place stand empty ruins and the deathly dunes. The once great Empire of Sand who slowly decayed into ruin with the death of its great ruler. The only thing keeping that Empire together was the alliance with the Crystal Empire, but once their greatest ally disappeared, so did their crumbling empire. I could still remember its glory, standing proudly in the fierce sun and icy moon. Ah, such a great time that was, the era of empires. But now, I must focus on current events, instead of ancient ones. The sight of the ruins made me and my companion waste time. I need to gather my thoughts before I become a dreamer. Pushing forward, I walked past the once great walls of Sal'Urla and into the land of raiders and thieves.

"Be careful, this is the land of the outlaws until we find another city." I say while turning to my follower. "Trust none and assume that everyone will try to get you, in this land the ones most paranoid are the survivors." At my words, the mare started glancing around in search for a possible enemy before turning towards me.

"Can't we stay here some more? It's getting really late and I would wish to study these ruins." She said hopefully while waving her hoof towards the destroyed walls.

"Mistake one, this is the place were most ponies get attacked by bandits and taken as slaves. This place is often visited by criminals in search of explorers and historians who study these ancient structures." I tell her before giving her a push with my magic. "We should hurry, I'm really not in the mood to deal with bandits." Daring seemed to be annoyed by my statement, but followed me nonetheless.

After a short while, I realized something quite important. If we ignore the sound of our hooves moving on the sand, it was complete silence. 'And here I thought I would be able to get to the next city without trouble...' And with those thoughts, I stopped walking and stepped on Daring's tail to stop her as well. My actions resulted in Daring tripping on her robes and falling on the ground, which I had to admit was quite amusing.

The fall made her release a short grunt before she huffed and jumped back on her hooves before getting in my face. "What was that for!?" She said while poking my chest with a wing.

"Look around us, we're surrounded by bandits." I said before lighting my horn and letting the dark mist emanate from my eyes. 'Well, at least I'll get a feel of the old times.' Daring immediately turned away from me to look out for them. It seems she managed to spot the bandits quite fast, before taking a step back.

From every corner, bandits started to appear. Like rats to garbage, they quickly swarmed us, and just like rats, they are mere pests. The fools are blinded by greed so they rush into the fight, a fatal mistake done by that one mercenary. Sadly, this time some of them may be smart enough to look where they're going. I won't lose anything by summoning crystals from the ground since the spell is like simple telekinesis to me. With a quick flick of the horn, crystals erupted from the sands, completely surrounding us like a shield.

The bandits who were unlucky enough to run at full speed towards us had no time to turn or stop, so they were impaled. However, there were five out of the twenty bandits who managed to not be turned into horse kebab. Actually that doesn't sound like it would taste bad... I need to pay attention, they are still a threat, even though they are one only to Daring. But I have more use out of her alive then dead so I suppose I'll limit my fun. "Just sit back, I'll deal with them." I said as I ripped eight crystal pikes from the ground with my magic.

"Don't worry, I can help, I've been in fights before!" She said before taking a fighting stance, I'm sure she knows how to fight, but because its quite obvious that her robes will hinder her movements. But before she could try anything, I gave her a hard glare which made her sit back down with a nervous smile.

"[Damned unicorn, you'll pay for it!]" The bandit with a small shield and scimitar called as he and his friends started circling us. "[You have no time to cast your spells! Surrender and we'll make sure not to kill you!]" He screamed as he and the other bandits made a bad attempt at trying to intimidate me.

My response was short and effective. With a little magic I sent one of the crystal pikes right at him. The bandit panicked as he shoved his shield to defend himself, but his shield was a little off and, instead of the pike hitting the shield, it slid on it and was implanted in his shoulder. His scream was the signal that made the other bandits rush at me, but they didn't get too far before they had to stop themselves from getting hit with one of the many pike I circled around me. That move lost me one of the pikes, seven pikes remaining.

"[What are you waiting for!? Attack him!]" Their 'boss' said as he started limping towards me. His underlings gained some confidence from seeing their boss still moving forward. 'And here I hoped I'll be able to get rid of them without using too much magic, oh well.' I had the seven pikes circle around me and Daring, keeping the bandits at a distance with the threat of impalement. A few minutes passed as the bandits kept trying to find an opening. I raised the speed the pikes were circling me before pulling one of the pikes from the circle without them noticing, and burying it in the sand. I continued to rotate the pikes as I looked at the angry bandits. I waited a few minutes before throwing them a bait, as the pikes circled me I left an opening for one of the bandits exactly over where I hid the missing pike. Said bandit immediately took the opportunity and rushed forward with his spear, sadly he didn't get far as the hidden pike bolted from the ground and pierced his barrel, sending him to the ground with a pained scream. Another one down, but with the cost of one pike, four bandits left with six pikes.

"[Filthy pony!]" Their leader screamed as he jumped forward, angry at the loss of his friend while ignoring his wounded shoulder. It was a brave move, a brave but stupid one since he can't dodge in midair. His action was rewarded with two pikes straight in his chest, piercing his poor armor and sending him a few meters backwards from the force of the impact. His body slammed the ground, blood pouring from the three wounds made by the pikes. Three bandits with four pikes left.

The bandits were shaken, not really understanding what they should do without their leader, they continued to circle the two of us. Clearly hesitating, fearful of what will happen to them if they charge. It was obvious they were scared, fact being enforced by their weapons slightly shaking in their grip.

"[I'm sure this is enough, now how about we have a deal?]" I say as the bandits look nervously at their friends. The three remaining had two spears and one with a short sword and a small buckler. 

"[W-what kind of dead?]" The one with a short sword and buckler said as he was trying to hide behind his buckler.

"[How about you three run away and I swear that as long as I'm a pony I won't attack you.]" At my words the bandits all gave each other a look before bolting away. But before they could get too far, they all got impaled by a pike in the back. "[Too bad I'm not a pony, hah!]"

"Why did you do that!? They were running away!" Daring screamed at me as she made herself known again. Her voice filled with anger and a sliver of fear, the fear was probably from how I didn't hesitate in killing the bandits.

"Oh, please. They were going to beat us to a pulp, rape you then sell us into slavery, I did the world a favor by getting rid of that scum." At my words her face slowly lost color as she gained a nervous expression. "Now come, I don't want to waste more magic on some other idiotic bandits and raiders."





After the short encounter with the group of bandits, the two of us have continued our walk for a few more hours. I would have preferred to walk all night, but, unlike me, my follower needs to sleep. So, with great annoyance, I was forced to camp with her. I made a fire with a quick spell while Daring made her tent. Our camp was extremely spartan, just a fire and a tent with a mattress for Daring to sleep on. I wasn't going to rest, especially in these conditions. 

My horn shimmered with magic as I forced the sand to turn into crystals to form a circle of smooth white crystals. I was watching my surroundings, going as far as making a few wards and traps around the small camp. I know I told myself that I shouldn't waste that much magic, but my paranoia took the better of me. There was a really slim chance of something happening, but a chance nonetheless.

The dunes where silent, Daring's soft breathing was the only thing breaking quietness of the surroundings. The scenery looked like a painting, frozen in time. In this quiet moment, I wanted to sleep like I did on the train, but I was restless. For most sleep is the same as rest, a way for your mind and body to finally take a complete break, but I was different. What I call sleep is nothing more then a trance, a spell to make time go faster. I don't dream, since dreaming can be abused by those with knowledge in its magic. That fact is true for all creatures, all but the ponies. They have the mistress of dreams to protect them, a guardian by the name of Luna. But I am no pony, I may look similar to one, but I'm far from the truth. I won't forget that fact, especially after my methods of dealing with the other Umbrum.

Some may feel guilt after they do what I did, but I am not one of them. Those fools thought they could use me as a pawn to set them free? I gave them what they wanted and something more. They were useless creatures anyway, only spreading terror among anything they can find. Terrified creatures are as useful as a corpse anyway.

Looking up, I could see Luna's treasure and love, the sprinkling stars surrounding her moon arranged into many pieces of art. Even now I still wonder how could they think she represented the dark? How dare they say she rules over MY domain?! She represents the stars and the moon, the beacon of light in eternal darkness. All the hard work I put into releasing all those demons I created after I eradicated the rest of the Umbrum was credit given to her, I was supposed to be the one who eats foals at night, not her! Oh how much I hate how they forgot about me, all the things I did to scare my enemies were given to her. However, right now I shouldn't worry about my forgotten deeds, I will make sure I'll take back the throne with the magic of the scimitar and make them remember all I did for those ungrateful crystal ponies. Those ponies are trying to undo all the work I put in to gain independence.

But for now I should worry about that same dream walking mare deciding to enter Daring's dream and asks her a few questions, and since the ponies think of them as gods, I can guarantee that she'll tell her everything. But there's no way for me to stop that at the moment, so all I can do is hope for the best.

A slight movement trough the dunes quickly pulled my attention towards the them. There stood an motionless figure that stood in the moonlight. The figure was extremely thin, extremely so. Its body was completely covered by black robes, the only thing visible was its head. Its head was a snow white skull with skin loosely hanging on it. Suddenly, before I could do anything, its voiced came out like the howling wind. "[Release us, King Of Shadows...]" And with those words, the figure disappeared with the a soft wind, turning it into sand. The creature reminded me of somethings, the lost Ethernal Army. An army I know exactly how to use.
> The temple and the imperishable.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also this is extremely fascinating, this mare has been talking to herself every single day, and only stopped talking so she could eat or drink. I think she may be a robot- ok I read too many comics. It's divine luck she isn't a unicorn that know telepathy, that would be horrible. Ok, that may be a slight exaggeration, but this is my mind so I can exaggerate as much as I want. Wait, why am I justifying my thoughts to myself? 

Hmm, were was I? Oh yes, my mind changing along with my horn stuck in the magic overload form. I luckily still have the useful skill of half consciousness, extremely useful in situations like these. Some would consider it extremely impolite, but that skill is a must if you even need to deal with court, especially the ones before the equestrian war. "Your highness! I managed to get to Equestria because I'm a rich bastard and saw how nice it was there. Can we get free shit and copy the equestrians?" "Oh your highness, can we use more gold on buildings that would cover the crystals so they can't be be used to defend the capital?" "Your highness, can we get more imports of stupid shit from the equestrians, even though we've been fighting the rest of the Umbrum which enslaved ice creatures to try and destroy the northern part of the empire?" "Your highness, I know that we are at war and stuff, but can we import silks and carpets from the arabians?" Publicly executing some of the highest ranking nobles probably caused the the start of the second Crystal-Equestrian war. Forcing  the ponies that weren't loyal to me to work in the crystal mines. But hey, what was I supposed to do? Let them stab me in the back at the first chance. Still, I hope there there are still some loyalists left, that would help me a lot.

Worse, my stupid fucking subjects now want to be a part of Equestria. Do you twats have any idea how much I worked to split us into our own country!? Ungrateful bastards, how dare they put those two false royals in power!? But this time I can't just enslave all of them, that would give the princesses a reason to banish me again. No, this time I need to think of a better idea, a kinder way to get rid of them this time.

Wait, why is the ground shacking?





After quickly dismissing the trance spell and doing a quick scan of the surroundings, I ended up with the conclusion that I was falling at great speeds. The light coming from the hole overhead got smaller while a dark figure slowly grew in size, the fanatical flap of wings accompanying it. My thoughts may seem weird, but I merely try to make the boring parts of my days more entertaining by making weird and bad decisions. What? Do you think I'm an idiot? ...Do not answer that.

Now, how was that spell that slowed down your decent called again? Rock's descent? No, that one probably refers to an actual rock instead of the bird. Hmm, I really need to read my magic archive again, but first I need to get my throne back. Along with my collection of stair, not my fault most ponies can't levitate or fly. Wait. Fly... wing... feather! That's it! The spell was called feather fall! Grinning at my thoughts, I quickly envelop my horn with arcane energy and cast the spell, slowing my descent by a great amount.

Me slowing down must have really surprised the dark figure also known as Daring Do. It took a few seconds before she remembered that she needed to fly, making her plummet towards the ground for a few moments before flying in front of me. "How did you..." She mumbled while waving her hand at my slow descent.

"Have you forgotten about my great knowledge of the arcane?" I said before snorting. "I may be weaker in pure power, but my skill is still unobtainable by most."

"I guess? But do you really have to boast while answering me?" She scoffed, annoyance dripping from her mouth. 

"Who wouldn't boast when they hold my skill and intellect?" 'Yeah because you totally remembered that spell right away.' Shut up me, she doesn't know that, and never will. 'And you wonder why you had that many enemies.' I don't wonder, I know exactly why I had so many of them. 'Oh really? Then what's the reason, oh great genius?' They were all jealous of my stunning looks and intellect. 'I seriously hope we get stuck in this hole so maybe you'll finally realize your mistakes.' Ah shut up already, you are just jealous like the rest. 'I'm you, you lunatic!' Oh yeah, kinda forgot that. 'Figured it...'





It took us a while to finally land, and after a series of questions from Daring, I was finally allowed to take in my surroundings. It seems we were in some kind of underground tomb, a certain underground tomb.

"Let's get moving, this is the place we were looking for. Good thing it found us first or else we would have spent who knows how long searching for it.

"Right. Anything I should look out for? You didn't answer any of my questions while we were traveling." Daring asked, pointing out my laziness.

"Mostly normal traps for now, the rest should be magical traps designed by me, so you don't need to worry about those." Stroking your own ego again? Are you that insecure? 'You know what? I got sick of you, I think I'll get rid of you.' What!? You can't do that! 'Oh yes I can, just watch.' In a few seconds, I started filling my horn full with magic, letting it circle my horn and illuminate the room. I kept pushing more and more magic into my horn as the voice keeps screaming at me to stop. 'Oh shut up me, or should I say umbrum? Did you really think you would trick me? Just who in Tartarus do you take me for!? I killed many of yours before, and I'll do it again! DIE FILTH!' After internally screaming at the umbrum hiding in my mind, I released the spell I was charging, enveloping myself with magic and evaporating the hidden umbrum.

Daring was panicking at the sight of me charging my horn and quickly started to fly away, but she calmed down after I released the magic and enveloped myself instead of her. "Scared I was going to shoot you? If I wanted you dead I would have done it in your sleep, I was just dealing with a headache. Now come, we still have a long walk ahead."

"Yeah, I guess..." She mumbled before flying a few meters ahead of me, probably looking for any traps. But is it worth it to kill her? Nah, that would be too much trouble, not like she can stop me after I get the scimitar. She probably thinks I will use that scimitar to instantly attack the Crystal Empire and will tell that to the princesses, thus wasting resources. I did a simple but efficient plan once, and it failed. I will never make that mistake again, because this plan will take a long time to complete, but it will have the best result for me. And since I'm already in Saddle Arabia, I guess I can go and get the Totem of Kalvari from the zebras next...





"Alright, why is this tunnel so long?" I groan while levitating a sleeping Daring behind me. I expected some kind of traps, some drawings or hieroglyphs depicting Sallahudin's achievements and battle, but noooooo, there's nothing! The only thing in this long and grand underground hall are the pillars supporting it. However, there was one thing that kept me from reactivating the trance spell. That thing was the continuous feeling of being watched.

The clopping of my hooves onto stone filled my ears as their echo destroyed any thoughts of trying a more stealthy approach. 'Since I can't hide, I should at least try to find any hidden entities, at least physical ones.' My horn flashed a deep purple as I cast one of my favorite cantrips, Bat ears, which gives me something akin to echolocation. After dispelling my light spell, I walked in a more rhythmic way, listening for the echos. Closing my eyes, I slowly pictured the long hall into my mind, searching for the thing responsible for that weird feeling.

It didn't take long for me to found the entity watching me, or to be exact, entities. Hidden behind the columns were bound lesser demons, probably put there to stop intruders, quite effective if they aren't detected. If I was in a hurry, I would have tried to slip by them unnoticed, but since I'm not, I guess I'll enjoy myself. 'But how should I kill them? Maybe with magic or a more brutal way. Hmm.. I'd say brutal, brutal is fun, oh so much fun.' I couldn't stop myself from licking my lips in anticipation. 'But how should I announce myself? Oh, I know the perfect way to scare them!' Charging most of my remaining mana into my horn, I let the magic surround me before releasing the spell. The hall suddenly lit up in the dark purple light coming form my horn and eyes, briefly revealing the demons, before everything went pitch black. Confusing the demons, who couldn't sense the second 'pony' anymore.

These creatures lived in these shadows their entire timeless lives, they called these shadows home. But now the shadows despise them, thickening so much not even them with their impressive night vision can see trough them, silencing everything they cover, all of this because their king ordered them to. For there is no greater honor for a mindless shadow, than obey the one who not only is alive, but was so strong it devoured the rest of its kind. 

This confused the dumb creatures, startling them from their usual identical days. The silence was soon replaced by a hissing voice, an angry hissing voice. MY VOICE. "Tresspassersss..."The brave demon was given a reward for being braver than his brethren, that reward was a quick death from the jaws of the Shadow King. 'Mmm, blueberry. Not my favorite flavor, would have preferred chocolate, but I'm not going to be picky.' Turning around, I quickly spotted the other five demons leaving their covers, panicking to casting light spells so they won't get devoured by what they though was a shadow.

While the demons were trying to cast their light spells, I hurled my shadowy body with my jaws wide open towards the demon. As I got into range, I snapped my jaws close at the demon. Said demon shoved his left side towards me, desperately trying to survive for as long as he could. I missed his hearth, but took his left arm along with his entire shoulder and wing, making him plummet to the ground bleeding and screaming. Snorting at screaming fiend, I quickly rushed back to finish the wounded creature, devouring it completely. This, however, gave the others enough time for all of then to cast Fell Fire at me. Said spells hurled green flames in a cone, I swiftly moved out of the way of two of the cones, but the others hit my sides. At first I was slightly worried how much damage those flames would do, but I was pleasantly surprised at how pathetically weak those flames were. 

The demons, however, though that their flames were quite effective so they all cast the same spell again. But this time I didn't bother to dodge, letting my body be engulfed by the spells. I decided to employ one of my favorite tactics and waited for the flames to die down and let the shadows take back their lost territory. I silently slithered towards two demons flying closer to each other, probably finding comfort in numbers.

I made sure to not be detected as I got behind the two cheering demons. Quickly, I morphed two claws from my misty body and infused them with my magic before slamming the two demons into each other, ripping them apart in the process, before absorbing their bodies. The other two demons screeched in before flying away from me in a panic, terrified for their lives. Seeing them behave like that made a grin cut its way onto my face, as I quickly dashed after them like a wild animal while laughing a wicked laugh. 'This is so much fun! My excitement just keeps growing. I can taste the terror seeping from them, and it was delicious. Now I know why the other umbrum let themselves fall into primal desires.

The demons were fast, but not fast enough. While I didn't catch up to them immediately, I was slowly closing the gap between us, taking my sweet time savoring the terror seeping from them. After opening my jaws wide, I threw a shadow tentacle after the demon on the left, grabbing it by the tail. The fiend started screaming and hauling, desperately trying to get away without any success. After letting it tire itself out, I shoved the demon into my awaiting jaws, crushing bones and ripping flesh as my jaws closed onto him. I wasted no time chewing and just swallowed the thing whole before turning my attention towards the last fiend. 

Anger quickly rose into me when I saw the demon try to cast a teleportation spell. Snarling, I quickly slammed into the last demon, interrupting his casting and sending him flying into one of the columns, breaking said column in two. My laugh quickly turned into a scowl when I saw that the corpse of the fiend was buried under the broken column. Groaning, I started to slowly clear away the debris with my tentacles. After a while, I finally managed to remove the debris and gulped down the corpse of the demon. 'And with that, I'll be able to use one of my strongest spells at least once, but I feel like I forgot something... Wait a minute... I forgot about that mare didn't I? ...shit.'





As Daring woke up, she found herself alone in complete darkness. "Sombra?" She spoke in a confused tone with small hints of fear. 'Where did he go?' She thought before searching through her saddlebags for a light crystal. It took her a while, but she managed to activate the crystal and illuminate the hall. While the crystal's glow was small when compared to a torch, it couldn't be put out by rogue winds. "Where in Tartarus did he go?" Daring mumbled to herself before starting to slowly walk forward.

She didn't know for how long she was walking. The path seemed like a labyrinth, all the walls were identical so it would be extremely hard for anypony to tell how long they walked. This place was lost to time, yet it looked like it was built recently. However, what sent chills down her spine was the unsettling sensation she had. There was something out there, and it was watching her. She was sure of it. 

Then, she heard them. Screams, they were like the wails of young children, completely devoid of any other emotion beside fear. "What kind of a mess did I get myself into this time?" She couldn't stop herself from saying her thoughts out loud as she continued to move forward.

But just as she got used to the screams, they vanished, leaving her in complete silence. "Why did I follow Sombra of all ponies!?" Daring cried as fear was quickly filling her mind. Even so, she had to continue forward because Sombra, if he was even alive, would be able to help her. And so, her pace started quickening, slowly turning into a run. Even as she felt something coming towards her, she had to continue forward. But she soon found herself exhausted while her light crystal lost its power. She was alone now, with no light, and something moving towards her. She closed her eyes and prayed that it was Sombra.

But soon the only sound she could hear was her breathing, which she slowly got into control. Finally feeling safe, Daring opened her eyes. And to her surprise, and horror, darkness wasn't what appeared in her vision. Instead there was a horrific and twisted creature. A monstrosity that looked to be the perfect balance between something familiar, an equine face, and something unfamiliar. Its curved fangs were twisted into a mocking grin, while its many eyes seemed to laugh at her, laugh at her helplessness. From its forehead, a long and twisted red horn illuminated its ashen face and black mane, the rest of its body seeming to be one with the darkness around it. She did the first thing that came to her terrified mind, she screamed at the top of her lungs. Gone was the fearless mare that was considered a hero by many, in her place was a scared filly in front of a creature that could only be called monster.

But then, as she has lost all hope, a hearty laugh echoed trough the halls, completely muffling her scream.





"AHAHAHAHAHA, MY SIDES! OH, MY SIDES! I CAN'T TAKE IT! I CAN'T! YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE! AHAHAHA!" I was currently rolling on the ground laughing while a terrified mare, Daring Do to be precise, was trying not to faint. 'This is the best laugh I had in a long while! I deserve this for my hard work. Good job, me!' After a few more minutes I managed to get my laughter under control, however I was still out of breath.

"SOMBRA, WHY IN CELESTIA'S NAME DID YOU DO THAT?" Oh, it seems poor Daring finally calmed down. She's so sensitive for an adventurer. 

"Oh please, don't be such a crybaby. It was just a harmless joke." I said calmly before a chuckle escaped my mouth, which only made Daring angrier.

"Just a joke!? JUST A JOKE!? SOMBRA YOU ALMOST GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK!" She said while pushing herself up, her face redder then a tomato.

"That? Just an old trick of 'illusion', nothing special." I lied trough my teeth, but the poor mare took it as truth anyway. 'Can't have her tell my dear Celestia about that part.'

"I'll go ahead, but no more jokes or you'll have to get through the traps yourself!" She snarled before angrily stomping forward. 'Aren't these ponies sensible?' And with a small chuckle, I followed after her.

"Just look for more traditional traps, I already got rid of the magical and living ones." I said before using my magic to pull out one of the expensive cigars that I 'borrowed' from that market I passed trough and lit it with a quick fire spell. 'Oh hey, these are actually really good.' This, however, seemed to anger my 'companion'. 

"Now why in Tartarus are you smoking a cigar, you didn't smoke one when we were searching for this place, so why now, especially since we are IN AN UNDERGROUND TUNNEL!?" She screamed, trying to swipe the cigar from my mouth with a wing.

"Hey, watch it! These are expensive. Besides, I smoke whenever I want, be it outside, underground or a volcano. And you know why? Because I'm the king!" I proudly say before blowing smoke in her direction, making her cough and move faster. As she moved further away, probably where she thought I wouldn't hear her, but I still did. 'I can't believe how somepony can be this irritating!' 

"Wait... you're doing this just to anger me, aren't you?" Oh, it seems she isn't that stupid.

"Yep!" I say with a laugh as she groans and distances away from me.





I waited until she was at quite a distance away before walking again. 'At least I'm getting closer to that damned scimitar, and once I have it I'll go for the other artifacts while Celestia thinks that I'll try my hoof at another sneak attack! I realized that simple and direct plans don't work, so a long and complicated one will surely succeed. But for now I need to be patient, I must keep the rumors of myself to just that, rumors.

But the question still remains, what am I going to do after I get my hooves on those powerful artifacts? Perhaps I should take back my empire? No, no, that's too predictable. I could try to corrupt the element holders? No, that would probably backfire in ways I wouldn't be able to predict. Then I could try to corrupt the royal sisters? Who am I kidding, I can't do that because I still- because personal reasons. Ahem, it seems Daring is taking care of the traps quite nicely, she truly is a useful servant. But then, something attracted my attention. "Oh, it seems like we're here." I say before looking up at the giant sandstone sphinx in front of me.

"But how do we get it?" Daring mumbles before she started to fly around the structure, trying to find an entrance. "There doesn't seem to be any way to get past it, are you sure this is it?"

"Of course, we just need to defeat the golem to get the entrance to appear." I say before charging magic into my horn.

"Wait, GOLEM!?" Daring screamed as a giant paw almost swapped her out of her flight.

"Well, Sallahudin always liked trials by combat." And with a last shrug, I released the magic, sending a volley of crystals towards the gigantic golem. Most of the shards hit their target, but the sandstone structure was unfazed and slammed its paws towards me. "Oh shit!" I yelped before teleporting away, barely managing to dodge its attack before blasting at its legs with a blast of dark magic. "LOOK FOR GEMS, THEY POWER UP THE GOLEM!" I screamed at Daring while I continued my hit and run tactic, trying to search for some kind of magic it was weak to.

I was quickly running out of options, any spell I used had barely any results, combined with the growing pain from my horn told me that I wouldn't be able to hold out at this pace for much longer. I need to find a weak point, but neither I nor Daring can find any. I quickly started to run through the spells I knew, but all of them were either useless or would make the underground hall collapse. But, before I could get lost into though, Daring's scream broke my concentration. "THE MOUTH! THERE'S A GEM IN ITS MOUTH!"

"GOOD, TRY TO FIND A WAY TO KEEP ITS MOUTH OPEN, I'LL DISTRACT IT UNTIL THEN!" And with a quick spell on Daring to make her relatively invisible, I threw a few crystal bolts at the golem, making it focus on me. 'Now, the hard part.' The construct moved swiftly for its size, slamming its giant paws towards me as I flew out of the way. I would like to say that I gracefully dodge all its attacks, but that would be one of the biggest lies I ever said. The truth is that I did managed to block its paws from hitting me by making a crystal shield in front of me, but I completely forgot about its tail until it slammed me into one of the pillar, breaking it in the process along with some bones from my body. But I had no time to rest, and with a low groan, I got up again. Only to be thrown into yet another pillar, breaking it and a few more bones in the process. 'This golem! I swear I'll rip it apart piece by-' My thoughts were rudely interrupted by being pushed a few centimeters into the ground. 

'Note to self, stop monologuing in battle-' My thoughts were interrupted, again, by the bloody golem. But this time I managed to teleport before getting hit. 'Can that mare do something already?' The 'fight' continued, even though it was more like a minotaur fighting a mosquito, with the golem being the minotaur and me the mosquito. And, like the comparison I made, it couldn't manage to finish me off, nor could I do anything to it except mildly annoy it. "Can you do something already, OR ARE YOU JUST GOING TO STARE LIKE AN IDIOT!?"

"I'm trying!" Daring whined before going back to flying around and wasting air. 

"This is going to take a while..." I groaned before casting a healing spell.



 

After five agonizing hours, Daring finally did her job and kept that golem's mouth open so I could blast the gem inside, finally destroying the construct. If this is the best adventurer around, then I am the god of adventure, I'm pretty sure Celestia has bigger adventures exploring the pantry. Anyway, with the golem destroyed, the giant doors it was guarding started to open. They moved sluggishly as they revealed a smaller hallway lit up by the small crystals inside the walls. Daring quickly moved in to go first, amazed by the many drawings and inscriptions which decorated the walls. Said drawings depicted Sallahudin's and his father's battles along with their achievements. And as we moved deeper, we saw the whole story unfold before our eyes. I already knew about these events, so I didn't care as much about them. They depicted the founding of largest Saddle Arabian empire ever known, as well as their interactions to their closest ally, me. They sure did a good job on that drawing of me. 'I should make a quick copy and reproduce it myself.' And with that thought and a quick spell, I'll have the designs for the drawings as long as I keep pouring magic into it. 'Even so, this is quite... nice. They bring back so many memories.'

But the drawings didn't go forever, and we soon found ourselves in front of a beautifully decorated door, having the Saddle Arabian royal sigil in the middle acting as a lock. Daring was about to say something, but I stopped her with a raised hoof before walking towards the door and touched the sigil. It took around five minutes of me slowly pushing magic and pouring it into the sigil for the lock to open. The doors opened automatically, creaking as it slowly opened and released a pale blue light. The chamber was lit up by enchanted cold fire, made to last forever. The light reflected off the countless gold treasures and the two gold sarcophagi that stood in the middle of the mountains of riches, with one bigger and sturdier than the other one.

"To there would be so many treasures hidden away here, we need to tell others about this, so we can learn more about this ancient kingdom!" Daring exclaimed, skipping from happiness, but it didn't last long.

"Oh, they will learn, but not from you nor the historians. But from someone else." The mare quickly turned towards me before stomping her front hooves into the ground.

"What!? But you told me that if I help you get that scimitar, you'll let me get the rest of the things here!" Right after those words left her mouth, she started running towards me.

"Did I?"

"Yes!"

"Well... I lied." And with those final words, I teleported Daring into the Crystal Empire's castle, hopefully right into those two fake royals. After the mare's departure, I walked moved towards the bigger sarcophagus. After getting close enough, I started casting my strongest dispel spell, sending it into the runes disguised as decorations that filled the entire room. It seemed like hours past by, but it was only half an hour of casting. This spell drained most of my magic, leaving me for just enough to levitate a beautifully crafted scimitar filled with runes from a pedestal. Sallahudin's Scimitar, a powerful weapon which was also the key to his father's tomb, the key to the prison of the undying warlord. Settra's prison. 

A low creaking sound came from the golden prison as its lid opened to reveal a mummified form of a large saddle arabian stallion decorated from head to tail with luxurious accessories. In one of his hooves he was holding a black book with a large golden scarab on the front, while in the other a decorated glaive. On each side of the sarcophagus sat a golden scarab with a sealing rune inscribed into it, keeping the ancient emperor asleep. Using my newly acquired saber, I peeled off the scarabs one by one.

When the last scarab was peeled off, Settra's eyes snap open, radiating a blue glow. The cracking of bones followed his every movement as he stood up for the first time in millennia. Turning towards me, he spoke in a raspy, ragged and dry voice, having an eerie echo to it. "Sombra... It seems you finally managed to convince my stubborn son to release me, now where is he?"

"He did not agree to anything, in fact he refused to follow in your hoofsteps and chose the path of the honorable and abide by the rules of life." I told him, lowering my head to show respect to the ancient horse.

"A pity, I had hoped he would follow in my steps when he got wiser, but it seems he still followed his mother's way." He spoke with a small hint of regret seeping into his voice. Getting up from his sarcophagus, he started to lightly stretch, but stopped once he saw the scimitar in my grasp. "I see that you have already picked your payment for releasing me. Good to see that you haven't changed, my friend."

"Indeed, but sadly times have changed a lot. It will take a while to explain, but to make it short, we both have lost our empires and our influence." My words seem to have peaked his interest, as waved his hoof for me to continue while he equipped his his armor. "And since you still have your undead army buried here with you, I want to borrow at least one hierotitan."

"One? Sombra don't take me for a fool. If I give you only one you'll offer little information in return, I'll give you five for the most important information you have. At least this way I'll know your pride won't let you lie to me." 'The old horse seems to have read me quite well, ah, it can't be helped.' Flashing a quick grin, I shook his outreached hoof before I started to explain the events that have occurred over these past millennia.

'And like this, the first part of my plan is complete. Next stop, Zebrica!'