Sombra, Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis. Three of the most nefarious villains of Equestria. But once, they were simply teens who had lost their way in the world......
(Humanized AU) Luna is trying to rule a kingdom on the brink of collapse. Sombra has all but given up on his dreams of becoming a magician. Chrissy clings onto hope for love, for happiness. Meanwhile, Equestria is in a state of war against the bloodthirsty vampires (batponies) . Eight character's lives will cross paths in a game of survival, betrayal, and love.
"Hello, Luna." Sombra appeared in the throne room of the castle, smoky shadows frisking around him, radiating trepidation and ruthlessness in their purest forms. Another entourage of lost souls pledging themselves to a king who has no right to rule.
Luna gasped, whirling around to face him. His chin-length raven hair rippled just like hers. Clad in gleaming silver armor and a blood-red cape lined with white fur, he looked every bit the king he claimed to be. A spiked obsidian crown rested amongst his locks.
A crown of lies, Luna thought. For if the rumors were indeed true, he had journeyed to the depths of Tartarus to strike an unspeakable bargain, transforming himself into this monster of his former self.
His lips curled into a sadistic, deranged smile at the sight of her, revealing white fangs. Scarlet irises met midnight blue, devoid of the man Luna knew.
No. Nononononono, she fell to her knees, bile clawing at her throat, but she held it down, swallowing painfully.
"What happened to you?" Her voice was usually a razor-sharp demand, but now, it barely reached the criteria for an undertone of a whisper.
Luna could feel his confidence crack ever so slightly. Small hints of anxiety reflected themselves in his eyes. "Aren't you happy for me?"
His fearsome appearance was just another illusion to cover up his everlasting insecurity. For underneath the armor and crown and fangs, he was just a boy. An extremely powerful and dangerous one, yes, but just a boy.
"My hand is fixed. I'm powerful, just like you. Now we can be together, and no one can tear us apart again. We can be the puppet masters this time. We're in control." Sombra approached her with the elegant, refined strides of a king.
"What did you do to yourself?" Luna demanded, refusing to believe he would actually use dark magic.
"I...made a bargain," Sombra hesitated for a second. "But why does that matter? This was our dream."
"Look at what you've done to yourself, Sombra! You turning yourself into a cold-blooded sadist was not our dream!" Luna screamed. First Jet. Then Chrissy. Then Evie. Now him. She was losing all her friends in one way or another.
But he was so much more than just a friend.
"Guards!" Luna commanded.
Distraught footsteps pounded on the marble floor and the giant doors exploded open. An army of 20 men stormed towards them, deadly crossbows aimed at Sombra.
With a flick of his hand, obsidians cracked through the floor, sending fragments of marble flying.
A crystal spike skewered one of the guards. Blood erupted from the man's chest, Luna gasping as the hot droplets sprayed her with red. The man's mouth was open in shock, a thin stream of blood trickling out of it. Crossbows were raised and arrows whizzed through the air as he drew his last breaths.
"Too slow," Sombra tsked as more obsidians burst from the ground, impaling the rest of the guards.
The screams that erupted from them shouldn't have been ones that she heard from the chests of humans: they were full of excruciating pain and agony, guttural, almost animal-like sounds.
The metallic tang of blood was too-present in the air, the sickening stench of it threatening to make Luna collapse.
"You really went to Tartarus to make the deal," Luna seethed.
You really used dark magic. I trusted you.
Sombra cocked his head to the side like an inquisitive puppy, still watching her intently. "Close enough."
Luna raised her hand and shot a stun spell at him, blue magic weaving from her fingertips. Sombra dissipated into shadows effortlessly, allowing the spell to go right through him, his green smoke-spewing eyes disappearing last.
He reappeared two feet from her. "Magic would be fun to duel with, my love, but I know you have a knack for weapons." He grinned at her and drew his obsidian sword. "You choose."
The sword sheathed at her belt was pure double-edged diamond, custom made just for her.
Diamond against black crystal clashed in reply.
"Why would you do this to yourself? " Luna pressed, eyes blazing.
"You already know the answer. I had a perfect opportunity to achieve my goals. How could I throw it away? My previous life gave me nothing. Surely you haven't forgotten the boy from the slums," Sombra explained. "Societal norms and toxic hierarchies tore us apart, as we were the oppressed. But now we can hold the strings. Together. You don't have to be afraid anymore, dear Luna. You can open up your heart to me."
She desperately wanted to believe he was in the right. She wanted to be with him. But the princess of the night was smarter than that. She shook her head, refusing to be fed the lyrical, well-spoken words that flowed from her lover's mouth like a river itself.
It's just another way to manipulate me. In his "fantasy", I don't hold the strings: he does. I only dance on them.
Cool air tickled her scalp as the obsidian sword flew over her head and she dropped to the ground, tackling Sombra and pinning him down with magic.
The doors of the throne room rattled frantically, about to open again. Obsidians grew over the door, preventing anyone from entering.
But Luna barely noticed. Sombra's eyes glowed a vibrant, flaming red. His irises turned green, spewing tentacles of purple smoke as well.
What horrible power was this?
Luna felt herself slam against the opposite wall as stars exploded before her eyes. Her lungs burned and screamed for air, but her airways had closed off and her lungs refused to move. Mind control.
After a few seconds, he loosened his grip.
Consider this a warning. I'm not weak like I was before.
Muscles taut, she strained to break free, landing hard on the floor. Her sword fell next to her, releasing a clang that reverbrated throughout the room.
"Is this how we're going to play this game?" Luna raised an eyebrow.
Sombra looked askance for a second, biting his lip ever so slightly.
"Still not impressed? Well, I have one last thing in store for you. Maybe this will convince you to be my queen," Sombra said as he channeled all his focus into this one spell.
The princess of the night braced herself for the spell, but the robust wave of magic sent her tumbling back. Red, green and purple rimmed the edges of her vision before she plummeted down a void of black.
Luna woke up in a room. The Canterlot Castle throne room, to be precise. Except it was pristine, with no traces of blood visible. Five people she cared for the most stood in front of her:
Tia. Sombra. Chrissy. Her dead parents Aurora and Nox.
Luna's sword-holding hand raised without her consent. She clawed at it and even tried shooting magic at it, but all she managed to do was draw blood.
Aiming for Celestia, and the diamond blade struck her sister in the heart. She gave an inaudible gasp of horror as blood pooled from the gaping wound in her chest, opening her mouth to unleash a silent scream.
Tia's terrified of blood and sharp things.
"Stop this NOW!" Luna shrieked, trying in vain to fight against the force controlling her, but her only accomplishment was twisting the sword in her sister's chest and yanking it out, a tsunami of blood spraying the room.
Luna finished by slamming her sword through her sister's crown, the ornate metal and gems exploding in a burst of shards.
Next, Luna moved on to Chrissy.
"Please don't," Luna begged. Sweet, innocent, bubbly Chrissy didn't deserve this. She had a whole life ahead of her. For someone to dangle it in front of her face then rip it away from her, that was despicable.
Chrissy head snapped back as she started choking, green fingernails raking her delicate throat. She twitched, violently shuddering and jerking until she fell still, her corpse landed next to Celestia's with a thump.
Chrissy is claustrophobic, though she wouldn't tell a soul.
"Stop!" Luna pleaded. "What have I done," she whispered. "This isn't you, Luna. This isn't you!"
Aurora and Nox followed in their own gruesome deaths. But Sombra's was perhaps the worst, when she kissed him while he held her in a warm embrace, them surrounded by black crystals.....
Until she used his weaknesses and his strengths against him, stabbing him in the back repeatedly while his blood ran into her mouth.
Five people she cared for the most now lay dead at her feet. Cold, emotionless caracasses with glassy eyes who chanted the same word over and over again.
Luna's knees buckled and she shrieked to block out the noise. Make it stop. Make it stop! MAKE IT STOP!
When she opened her eyes again, she was in the arms of Sombra. The vision wasn't real. It was a Nightmare Spell. Once cast, the person would experience their worst fear.
Still, she shook violently, having reached her breaking point, not bothering to hold back tears. She had underestimated his powers by tenfold, and she'd payed the price for it.
"Fear is an interesting thing. It motivates you, corrupts you, changes you. Once you know someone's fear, they are at your mercy," Sombra murmured to himself as he stroked Luna's hair.
"I can cast Nightmare Spells, grow Obsidians, mind control people, and possess umbrakinesis. You have prodigious magical abilities, good connections with the other kingdoms and rule the Dream World and the Night. The world is at our feet. Will you be my queen, fair princess?" Sombra whispered in her ear.
Before Luna could answer, he gently lifted her chin with an ice cold finger, forcing her to look at him.
"Yes, you will. Forever and always, my love."
Go to sleep, dear Luna. He commanded.
And with that, Sombra kissed the top of her head and once again dissipated into shadows, his beautiful queen in his arms.
Celestia, with her tall figure that bore feminine curves and long, multicolored locks that cascaded down her back ending in luscious curls.
Her older sister was a great beauty and charmer at twenty two, but also didn't lack intellect. She was the perfect princess, gracious and great at holding her tongue.
Unlike me. Luna sighed. All she was known for was being Celestia's little sister. The helpless shadow that faded into the background.
Even the rumors that they were serving apple crostatas—her favorite, couldn’t lift her spirits. It was usually bearable at best, but this ball just served as a reminder of her inferiority to her sister.
One by one, the dishes were served: A crisp green salad, thick carrot soup, oxtail dumplings, duck in sweet sauce.....Luna indulged herself, happy to be provided with a distraction. The food was cooked to perfection, a variety of textures and flavours bursting in her mouth.
At least everyone’s fed well, even in a time like this, she thought, taking a delicate bite out of a dumpling. Then she remembered the starving people on the outskirts of the empire begging for scraps, and the dumpling became a stone.
Princess Amore, the ruler of the Crystal Empire was seated across from her, and Amore's distant cousin Gerwyn was to her left. Being the guest of honor, Celestia took the head of the table.
"Rose petals....emeralds....wedding dresses for Luna...." Celestia and Amore's conversation snapped Luna out of her trance.
"Wedding dresses? What?" Luna gasped.
"Oh, we were just talking about how you should marry Gerwyn over there," Amore chirped happily.
“Here comes the bride, all dressed in white,” Celestia and Amore chanted, bursting into a fit of giggles.
A scornful glare was shot at both of them, while Gerwyn turned away to join another conversation.
"We were just joking, Luna! Can't you take a joke?" Celestia's face showed a hint of worry for a second, but Amore just rolled her eyes and mouthed “bitch” to Luna.
Luna put her head down and continued eating. Celestia didn't understand the weight of her words: marry her off to someone like a piece of property and send her to the Crystal Empire as an expendable? She wasn’t an object. She was a person who bled when cut with a sword of words.
"I'm going to dance," Luna snapped as she pushed away her (clean) dessert plate, yanking Gerwyn out of his conversation and storming over
The music began: a symphony of strings and airy flutes.
"Because we're supposed to be so in love, let's dance together. Consider this our date," Luna spat sarcastically.
Gerwyn laughed. "You're so funny, Luna! Though not as funny as Celestia."
Luna grit her teeth. As she tried to step-step-twirl her way through a dance with a partner who didn't even want to dance with her, she closed her eyes and went through the movements. She danced with cold grace, beautiful in her own way, but no one was there to see it. No one was watching.
No one was watching.
Sombra was watching. The huge window he was peering through gave him a clear view of the cavernous ballroom. Inside, the two Crown Princesses danced.
Celestia was radiant and glowed like the sun, her moves a collection of warm fluidity. Luna was ice cold and regal. Reserved and observant, eyes flitting from person to person. He never went to these events. There just wasn't a point, really. They were only a reminder of his empty wallet and his dead-end life.
When everyone thought of the Crystal Empire, they thought of glittering buildings and jewels galore. They were dead wrong. Behind all the sparkles and glamor, it hid dark secrets.
The slums, the street fights and the gangs were daily life to him.
He looked down at his mangled left hand. His pinkie and ring fingers were oddly twisted, and his thumb was weirdly crooked.
Thirteen and extremely stupid when it had happened, it was the worst day of his life. Two boys were fighting in a makeshift arena in the alleys, while others bet on who would win. It was a good way to make money, as he almost always nearly bet right.
It was all going well until one of the fighters named Bijou looked around at the group of boys watching, eyes searching for another person to defeat. "I challenge Sombra."
Despite poverty, the boy who looked sixteen and muscular beat him to a pulp in a haze of blood and torment.
His brother Jet found him afterwards and took him to a makeshift clinic (fancy Crystal Empire hospitals were too expensive). The clinic fixed him up pretty well, but his hand was a mess. He needed hand surgery, but they were already digging through dumpsters in the rich part of the empire, and practically drowning in debt.
"Hey, Sombra! I got dinner," Jet, who was two years older than him held a lumpy cloth bag. "Got my first paycheck. Hey, it didn’t come from the bin! "
"Great. Let's go then, before Bijou comes to beat us up," Sombra ran towards him, and the pair of brothers zipped through alleyways and climbed like monkeys, getting to their slum in record time.
"Staring at the princesses again?" Jet smirked slightly.
"No," Sombra stuffed a piece of bread in his mouth. "Yes."
"Ok, super random question, but, which one would you marry if you got the chance?" Jet asked. "I'd marry Celestia. She's hot, get it?"
Sombra laughed at his brother's corny joke. "Me too," he quickly agreed. In the slums, if you were different, you got beat up. And Sombra had gotten beat up many times. He knew it was best not to draw attention to yourself, to give people a reason to hurt you.
"No, who would you really marry?" Jet sensed he was lying.
"Luna," Sombra admitted. He felt they were really similar: both different, underrated, and they had no way out of their current lives.
Luna glided out of the ballroom in a flurry of blue silk and no one stopped her. That was one of the advantages of being a princess: she could do whatever she wanted. For now, at least.
But did they outweigh the disadvantages?
Luna wanted to be on the front lines protecting her kingdom and fighting for justice. She wanted adventure. The adrenaline flowing through her veins like blood.
Instead, her life was reduced to attending luncheons with snobby old ladies, posing for pictures and being Celestia's shadow.
Luna pushed away the thought. She was going to explore the city. She needed to see the kingdom she was going to rule with her own eyes, not just what was handed to her in elaborate reports. She unfurled her blue-feathered wings, flying above the city. Crystal blocks glimmered under the moonlight, stars twinkled up above.
But the air around her seemed wavy and slightly foggy, and as she squinted closer, she saw through the illusion cast by Amore.
Was that....a slum? A slum in the midst of the Crystal Empire? Not one, but hundreds.
The truth hit her like a truck. The glittering buildings were mere illusions to hide the truth: an Empire impoverished and barely surviving.
Luna wanted to know more. She found a slum and landed on the roof softly.
Soon, she heard voices coming from the roof of a neighboring slum, where two figures sat, chatting and laughing.
"Celestia, insanely hot goddess of the sun and amazing charmer, will you-" A deep voice started.
"Jet, Celestia won't take you seriously if you talk to her that way," A husky voice replied.
"Fine! If you're so great, you propose to your beloved," Jet snorted sarcastically.
"Luna, I love you. You are beautiful and intelligent and....when I first set eyes on you, I knew we were meant to be together. So, will you marry me?" The other voice said.
"Yes Sombra! That's what I call a genius!" Jet whooped.
Luna looked over, stifling her laughter. A boy, proposing to her? And even though they were playing around, it sounded so genuine!
Suddenly, crashes and clangs resounded from that slum. Two more figures jumped onto their roof.
"Look who we have here," a nasally voice sneered.
"Get a life, Bijou," Jet growled.
"Oh oh oh! There's food!" A boy squeaked, and Luna heard someone rummaging through a bag.
"Hand it over, or else-" Bijou threatened them.
Clang! A few loud thumps came from the slum, along with a string of curses. The rough outlines of four figures started running along the roof, throwing punches at each other.
A bright flash of red magic suddenly lit up the sky like a firework. Three voices shouted in surprise as one of the figures rained hammer fists down on a scrawny frame of a teenager.
Screeeeech! The sound was ear piercing and made Luna jump. The tin roof of the slum started sagging under the boys' weight, until the whole thing went crashing down.
"Sh*t!" Someone yelled.
Not thinking, Luna flew over to see what was happening. The same red blast of magic threw her back along with three others, and the slum itself exploded, shards of metal and plywood flying in all directions.
One of the bodies landed on top of her, knocking the wind out of Luna. She tried to steady her breathing as the person grabbed her neck.
A boy with a buzz cut and sky blue eyes stared back at her, curling his lips into a sneer. "What do we have here?" It was Bijou.
"Mine." He snatched her jeweled bracelet off her wrist greedily, which looked out of place in his dirt and blood-crusted hand.
A small crowd had gathered, forming a circle around them.
"Well what's a rich girl doing out here alone in the slums?" He drew a bloodstained knife, running it along her throat. "This is no place for a lady like-"
Luna grabbed the knife, twisted it out of his hand, swept him onto his back and pointed the knife at his heart. "What were you saying about this being no place for a lady like me?"
"Ohhhh," the crowd murmured, all wide-eyed and intrigued.
Suddenly, four boys ran towards her, all holding pathetic excuses for weapons. She simply threw them back with a flash of blue telekinesis, slamming them to the ground.
Out of the corner of her eye, a boy with glossy black hair and red eyes was dueling another scrawny boy with long, greasy hair tied into a loose ponytail.
The red-eyed boy didn't have a weapon, but he was a wild card: doing the unexpected and making use of the things around him.
His opponent held a bloodstained knife, slashing at him, but carelessly and in blind rage.
It looked like the knife-wielding boy was finally gaining the upper hand, but then the red-eyed boy unleashed a huge burst of magic, which brought him to his knees, coughing up blood. The crowd around them gasped. Another group of boys all wearing green bandanas shoved their way through the crowd.
"All right, Sombra. Now you pay." The leader, who was seven feet and hulking made his way to them.
"How did you get yourself a rich, beautiful lady like this?" The leader grabbed Luna's waist and pulled her towards him.
"Get off of her!" Sombra yelled and once again, shot a blast of magic at the leader before she could defend herself. Red beams of magic twisted around the leader's neck, choking him.
The group of boys in green bandanas reacted immediately, charging for Sombra. I owe him a favor, Luna thought. She threw out her arms, performing a stun spell that sent the 20 of them crashing to the ground.
The crowd stared at her and Sombra one more time, fear reflected in their eyes ,then ran off to their respective slums.
Luna turned towards Sombra, who was bloodstained and bruised.
"Your majesty." He bowed, avoiding eye contact with her.
"You know me?" Surprisingly, no one in this slum-city seemed to recognize her, even though she was the crown princess.
"I would recognize the Princess of the Night anywhere," Sombra replied, half-smiling and flicking his glossy bangs out of his eyes.
"Not many people do," Luna muttered to herself.
"Jet!" Sombra shouted and looked around frantically, scanning the area for his brother.
"I'm over here," Jet cried weakly. His leg was twisted at an odd angle and a gash on his face was a stream of red blood. "Bijou and Onyx really got me this time!"
"We need to get him to the nearest hospital," Luna said as she ripped off part of her petticoat to staunch the blood flow.
"Hospitals are too expensive," Sombra growled, checking Jet's leg.
"A clinic, maybe?" Luna suggested.
"The black market," Jet wheezed through the pain.
Luna couldn't stand someone so hurt being denied basic healthcare. "Just follow me into the hospital." This was one of the times being a princess came in handy.
Luna and Sombra supported Jet as they walked him to the nearest hospital. They stopped before a small white building with the words "Crystal Empire district 3 General Hospital" painted on it.
"Hello, may I help you?" A lady at the front desk asked them.
Luna cleared her throat and wiped the blood and dirt off her face.
"Oh! Your majes-" The lady started kneeling.
"Stop! Do you see a boy is hurt? Quickly, get someone!" Luna urged.
A few nurses came to get Jet and brought him into a room. Luna stayed in the waiting room while Sombra went with Jet. Twenty minutes later, Sombra emerged bandaged. "Jet's spending the night in the hospital. He told me to go and...uh..."
"Spend the night with me?" Luna finished for him. "Be my guest."
********
"So, tell me about yourself," Luna said. They both lay under the stars on the roof of a slum, the cool metal a stark contrast to the humid evening.
"Well, I'm seventeen, my brother Jet is nineteen. I live at the orphanage. I like reading and magic, but...." Sombra trailed off. He wasn't used to opening up to anyone but Jet.
"Oh, you're an orphan?"
Sombra really wanted to tell the princess about his life, but he was afraid he might be ridiculed if he revealed too much about himself. Then again, she seemed so open, so understanding, so much like him.
"Yes. My mother was killed by a gang for not being able to pay off her debts, and my dad died from a drug overdose. I wasn't close to them, though," Sombra answered hesitantly.
"I'm an orphan too. My parents were killed in the Great War," Luna told him. "I miss them terribly."
For a while, they lay there in silence. Then they started chatting, simply chatting about older siblings and school and books and magic.
"I saw you fighting. You were really good! And with no real training?" Luna marveled.
"Thank you. I've always wanted to be an amazing magician. But I can't. When I was younger, I got beat up by Bijou and he really damaged my left hand. The surgery would've cost thousands, but we didn't have enough, so the magic I can do is limited," Sombra sighed.
"Maybe when I turn 18, I can help make healthcare free here," Luna tried to cheer him up.
"There's a lot you don't know about the slums, Luna. I'm already a target. The names they call me at school and the things they do are child's play. Here, it's a game of survival. And no one plays fair in games of survival."
They lay there for a bit, not talking, just watching the sky bleed pink and orange and yellow.
"You're right. No one plays fair," Luna whispered. Then, snapped up. "Oh! I should go now. It was great meeting you."
"It was great meeting you too," Sombra bid his goodbyes to her.
Sombra watched Luna fly off and fade away with the night. Then, exhausted from the lack of sleep and that night's events, he drifted off into a peaceful slumber.
By the time he awoke, the sun hung high in the sky and Luna was no longer by his side: the princess of the night was nothing more than a memory.
Three weeks had passed since Sombra's encounter with the mysterious princess of the night, but the memory of her was ever-present.
"Red-eyed Tartarus spawn! Red-eyed Tartarus spawn!" His classmates chanted as he walked down the run-down halls to his history class, their voices echoing like a symphony of nails on a chalkboard.
He shook his bangs out of his face, trying not to lash out at them with magic. Oh, how I would love to nail them to the wall by their fragile little necks, he couldn't help thinking.
For years, they had relentlessly tortured him. When he was in elementary school, it was excluding him from their activities and calling him names. Since middle school, it was stealing his books and beating him up in groups.
Not to mention the psychological torture. He'd had dead, gutted animals put in his locker, not to mention homemade bombs.
But that was only in school. The PoisonBloods, the gang that Bijou and Onyx were part of, was constantly targeting him and his brother.
Don't let your magic get out of control. He kept telling himself. But years of hatred had built up inside of him, threatening to overflow.
Then he remembered....today was the day when he turned 18. Today was his birthday! Which meant he could blow this slum-town forever. Blow this town and never come back.
He could move to Canterlot and become a magician. He could become a vagabond and spend his days exploring the world. Heck, he could even move to a small, isolated village and indoctrinate everyone into believing he was the king of an empire.
But what he really wanted was to see Luna again. Maybe they could travel together or try to master the art of magic. What if he saved up enough money to fix his hand?
Things would be perfect.
"Tartarus spawn! Orphan freak! Red-eyed monster!" His classmates chanted, snapping him out of his fantasies.
Sombra didn't know who threw the first punch and he would never find out.
Pain exploded at the back of his head and ambiguous shapes of black and red swam before his head like crazed sea creatures. He roared in pain as he fell: a hit at the back of his head could potentially be fatal.
But he was tired of gritting his teeth and shoving his emotions away, like a "strong boy" should. When did his well-being ever matter? Why did he have to hide his emotions?
It's my turn now.
He lashed out with magic, shooting in the direction of his assailant. He heard someone's cry of pain, but more hands just kept coming for him.
He inhaled sharply, channeled his concentration into a spell....nothing came out. His magic wasn't very reliable and sometimes didn't come out at all.
"Oh! Fight! Fight! Fight!" The students yelled.
It's my turn now. My turn to fight back. My turn to destroy.
And suddenly Sombra's mind was replaced with that of a rabid beast. He didn't think, just kept striking and striking and striking until his attackers lay on the ground, whimpering inaudible words. And he relished their fear. He loved the way they would shy away from him when he walked towards him. And he had no mercy.
So he destroyed them even after they were broken. Punch after punch, magic blast after magic blast, spell after spell.....
A claw wrapped around him, threatening to wound him. He instinctively bit down hard on it, tasting the salty and metallic red liquid: blood.
Another claw slapped him hard. He could almost see the ugly red handprint across his cheek. He struggled in the claws, screaming and exerting what remained of his energy to get out.
"Sombra! Sombra! It's me, Jet! Your brother!" Jet's voice roared over the ringing in his ears.
Sombra shook his head. The claws weren't claws-they were hands. His brother's hands.
"What were you THINKING?" Jet demanded, dragging him out of the crumbling building.
"What are you doing here?" Sombra asked. "I thought you had another shift at-"
"Something didn't feel right. You were acting differently when I woke up. And now you beat up and potentially kill a bunch of students?"
Sombra grabbed the collar of Jet's shirt forcefully. "This is NOTHING compared to what I endured from them. NOTHING! Do you understand me?"
Jet didn't answer.
"DO YOU?"
The only sound was Jet's ragged breath and the whispers of his other classmates. The teachers didn't care what happened. The students, who were sick of "hell-school", as they liked to call it, just wanted a good show.
"I'm tired of always having to shove my feelings away because "strong, ghetto boys don't cry." Well, guess what? I can cry even if I'm a boy, and they don't get to control me. No one does. I'm 18 now. And I'm blowing this hell-hole forever."
"No you're not! I have a job," Jet protested as they exited the school.
"A job that you hate and rips you off. You make less than the minimum wage," Sombra half-snorted as they exited the school.
They walked along the streets thick with the scent of weariness: people grabbing a quick bite of whatever they could find before heading off to work, merchants selling cheap objects and gang fights in the corners.
There were a lot of other kids their age out here, who were fighting or drinking or just trying to get by on low-paying, 15 hour jobs. The crooks all liked taking advantage of them.
The school (that they were supposed to be at) wasn't very good: half the teachers turned up high and the other half were tired of life and just there for the money. The students weren't much better.
The rich part of the empire pretended they didn't exist, and there were bigger problems to deal with.
It was so cliche. The whole socio-economic imbalance was like something he read in his books. People said this was the best time to be living in: they had just survived the Great War, had two new young, beautiful rulers and the economy was booming.
All Sombra saw was a nation threatening to collapse in on itself and give way to anarchy, two princesses who had no idea what they were doing and a messed up society that didn't care about anyone but themselves.
"So, what do we do?" Jet asked. "Do you even have a plan?"
"Of course! We have enough money saved up. We move to Canterlot. You get a job. I study more. Bring home a girl if you want. I can marry into the royal family," Sombra said, pairing his fantasy with big hand motions.
"Canterlot?" Jet spat. "Where all the rich folks live? They'll never accept us."
"Why do you care? No one accepts us here," Sombra argued.
"I guess you're right, but...."
"But?"
"We'll have almost no money when we get there!"
Sombra grinned cheekily at his brother. "I have connections. We can sell our stuff here. Steal. We don't have to move immediately. You work extra shifts. I'll help out."
Jet's protests started again.
"You get what you work for, not what you wish for." Sombra entered their slum.
"I guess you're right. But, how do you know I'll even get a job?" Jet asked incredulously.
"Canterlot is famous for its nightclubs. And, nightclubs need bartenders. You're good-looking and humorous. Logical," Sombra added.
"Ok, ok. I get what you mean. But seriously! You think it's easy to move? And why do you even want to go?"
"The pay is much better there, we'll have a clean slate and....."
"You want to hook up with the princesses. I get it," Jet muttered.
"Listen to me! This may be our chance to start over. Not to mention their huge library. We can study!" Sombra wasn't going to stop now. He was so, so close to convincing his brother. But he was missing-
Bang!
The air was filled with poison and their noses were stung by a thousand wasps. Everything was a blur of colors and chaos: a kaleidoscope of anarchy itself. Cacophonies of all types of screams formed a demented orchestra: with strings of wails and low bass notes of roars.
"Jet!" Sombra tried to call out, but he could only manage a weak cry before bursting into a fit of coughs.
What was happening?
He fell to his hands and knees. His lungs burned, scalded by something he couldn't name, while his voice was reduced to a throaty rasp.
"Sombra!" Jet's weak voice sounded from somewhere on his left, though he couldn't see anything through the strange smog.
"I'm here," Sombra wheezed and managed a wave. The brothers ran over to each other, hugging and shuddering from the impact of the bomb.
"What was that?" Jet asked. "Do you know?"
"No," Sombra shook his head.
"Citizens of the Crystal Empire," a voice called from above.
Sombra looked up, and he was astounded to see a boy who looked about 21, clad in fancy military attire, epaulettes shining on his shoulders and medals glimmering in the light. What was most intriguing was the leathery bat wings, along with his fangs.
Behind him was an army of soldiers, all holding terrifying weapons that looked like they could take somebody's head off. Amidst the soldiers was a younger boy about his age, in the same attire, but with less medals.
"Vampires," Jet gasped.
"We are Napoleon and Specter of the Tenebrisian Empire, on behalf of Empress Elvira Dusk. We have now seized the Crystal Empire. Consider the bomb a mere warning. If you all cooperate, no harm shall come to any of you-" The older boy, Napoleon announced, "or your leader".
An older woman was holding Princess Amore in a chokehold, a silver scythe to her throat. Multiple members of the army also held children, all crying and whimpering. Sombra recognized a few as the children of government or military officials.
"Why, exactly, should we do what you say?" One of the empire's generals asked.
Big mistake.
And with that, they fired a warning shot into a young girl's head.
Luna leaned against the shelves of the Magic section of the Canterlot library, all filled with ancient scrolls only she and her sister were allowed to read.
Her mind flashed back to Sombra, the boy she had met a month ago. He would love this place.
Her forehead was beaded with sweat, her chest hurt with every breath, and hammers seemed to pound into her skull.
"Lulu!" Celestia burst into the library.
"Tia?" Luna gasped and scrambled to a standing position, but her legs gave way and she collapsed to the ground.
"What happened?" Celestia asked her, squeezing her hand.
"Magic...practice..." Luna barely managed to wheeze out.
"You've got to stop pushing yourself like this! You're lucky I was only a few rooms away. You could've ended up getting hurt, or-"
Killed. Celestia paused. No one wanted to mention that.
For there was a secret no one knew. No one but them and their deceased parents Aurora and Nox.
They had an older brother named Astral. He had deep, ebony skin studded with shimmering white stars. His voice was rich and mesmerizing. He had always loved the art of magic. He'd stay up till dawn practicing relentlessly, pushing himself to the limits...until there were no more limits to push through.
"You think I've forgotten about Astral?" Luna narrowed her eyes.
"No! Then why do you keep doing this to yourself?" Celestia demanded.
"Why? WHY?! After the Great War, our parents were dead and our kingdom was torn to shreds. We're young, vulnerable princesses who totally do not know what we're doing. The vampires still have a grudge against us, and if any kingdom were to be attacked, it would be ours. And you know we'd be dead if anyone tried that. Look at our kingdom! We've barely gotten off the ground, there's huge inequality and.." Luna trailed off, bursting into tears.
"Lulu..."
"And now I'm crying! Princesses don't cry!" Luna wiped away her tears frantically.
"Luna. Listen to me." Celestia grasped Luna's hand tightly. "It is always ok to cry."
"Maybe for you!" Luna fired. "Poor, sweet little Tia, she's trying so hard to be a good ruler. What a nice girl! We need to help our princess!" Luna mocked, her eyes dripping with envy. "It's fine when you cry. When I cry, I'm just your weakling shadow."
"Look. I'm sorry about what's been happening lately. I'm really doing my best," Celestia apologized.
"What if I told you your best wasn't good enough?" Luna spat.
Celestia paused for a second. What had happened to her sister?
"That's how I feel everyday. You don't understand how lucky you are. Everyone is so damn in love with you!"
"It's not my fault!" Celestia raised her voice. "It's not my fault I'm overshadowing you!"
"Princesses!" Their assistant, Andrian, knocked hysterically on the door.
"Yes?" Celestia asked, composing herself.
With matted hair, bloodshot eyes and the face of someone double his age, he looked nothing like his usual self.
"Urgent news! Refugees have been coming into Canterlot!" Andrian announced.
"Why? What happened?" Luna demanded.
"Vampires. Specter and Napoleon Dusk of the Tenebrisian empire have attacked and seized the Crystal Empire," Andrian explained.
"And Amore?" Celestia worried.
Luna rolled her eyes, forgetting she was a princess. "Amore's a bitch."
They all gaped at her. Andrian's jaw dropped.
One of his lackeys stifled a snicker. "Luna makes a good point. She really is."
"Amore....was last seen as a hostage," Andrian admitted, ignoring their comments.
"The citizens? Are they ok?" Luna changed the subject.
"We...we don't know! We only just found out through the refugees. Maybe it would help if you go talk to them," Andrian suggested.
They both nodded and exited the library, running down the stairs, nearly spraining their ankles as they did so.
Luna gave up running. She gracefully hopped onto the banister and slid down the everlasting spiral, her unpinned blue curls flowing behind her like a shimmering waterfall. She reached the ground floor in record time, stepping down and waiting for the others.
She burst through the palace doors, stunned at what she saw. Clusters of refugees stood outside the palace. Some had faces smudged with grime and what looked like blood, while others’ cheeks were hollow like they’d been on a long journey and food deprived. She scanned the crowd, a few images sticking in her mind: a woman with blue-purple bruising around her eyes, holding three skinny kids. An old man clutching a little girl about 10. Two twins, both long and lanky, with cuts scarring their copper skin.
“Princess?” A familiar voice called her name. It was that husky, mesmerizing sound that seemed to whisper to her in her dreams, and follow her in the halls.
Luna turned around, startled by the noise. “Sombra?” She gasped. It was definitely him. Those distinctive red eyes still shone bright through a mask of dirt, grease and worry. The boy next to him, who looked 20, blushed when Celestia looked his way.
“Luna! It’s you!” Sombra’s eyes lit up for a second, before retreating to a home of misery.
“What happened?” She asked him. “Guards! Take all the refugees into the palace. Treat their wounds and provide them with food and shelter.” Her voice rang out sharply, a stark contrast to Celestia’s warm, soothing tone.
“Well, the vampires threw what felt like a smoke bomb at us to get our attention. They then got our attention, talked about how they wouldn’t hurt us if we cooperated. They were holding Amore and the children of rich officials hostage, a very smart tactic,” Sombra filled her in.
“Very smart indeed. Do you know what happened to them?” Luna asked as she led him back into the palace.
“Well, some idiot guard decided to question Napoleon’s authority, so then they shot a young girl,” Sombra admitted.
“Oh.” Luna winced at the thought. “How did you get out?”
“After that, Jet and I decided we really needed to leave. We went back into our house quickly and gathered our most important objects. Of course, some other idiot had to screw things up, so they threw another bomb and killed a few more kids, which was a perfect distraction. We managed to escape and go south to a few villages, rode the train through a few stops and came here,” Sombra finished.
“Wow. So, Amore’s not dead?” Luna verified.
“I don’t know. All that happened a week and a half ago. The Dusk family has managed to keep it very secret. Not many people have gotten out.”
“Well, I guess you’ll just have to stay here then while we decide what to do,” Luna said, secretly excited by the idea. He was currently the closest thing she had to a friend right now.
“I guess so. It’s a good thing material objects don’t matter much to us,” Jet added. “Not that we’ve really had any that would!”
Sombra laughed at that, and Luna joined in as well. Was this what it was like to have friends?
“At least you guys must’ve had organized houses. Here? It’s ten whole rooms full of chairs!”
“What, did your parents own a museum or something?” Jet nudged her lightly.
“Jet, she’s a princess. Her house, I mean castle, basically is a museum!” Sombra exclaimed.
“Actually, half the rooms are off limits and used for hide and seek, while the other half are full of greedy servants who want to sneak into my dresses when I’m not there,” Luna admitted.
This made them all laugh even harder, a welcome relief to the difficult situation.
"Luna!" Celestia called. "Bye," she greeted Sombra and Jet briefly, then turned back to her sister.
"You're needed immediately," Celestia demanded, her face sickly and pale.
Luna's little pocket of happiness immediately disappeared again: her bubble of friendship and acceptance now popped, setting her down in the world of politics.
"Why?" Luna asked, mouthing apologies to Sombra and Jet, who were being escorted to their rooms.
"Would death threats from the Dusk Family be the easiest way of putting it?"
Prince Specter of the Duskan Empire did not fear anyone.
But of course, when his mother, Empress Elvira was in the room, rules changed.
"You mean they escaped?" Elvira eyed him with a look of contempt. "Citizens escaped. What were you doing? Getting high on Crystallic blood?"
The room was silent.
"That wasn't rhetorical, idiots. Answer me!" Elvira demanded, pounding her fist on the table.
"Yes, Empress. Citizens escaped when we threw the gas bomb, and when we killed a few screaming brats who wouldn't shut up," Napoleon answered, rolling his eyes in disgust at the thought.
"What did I tell you about sealing the gates and not letting anyone escape?"
Napoleon, who was 4 years older than him, eyed him warily for a second.
"Well, the past is in the past. How many?" Elvira started raking her claw-like nails across the table, shredding it as she went.
"About 20," Specter forced out. "Mainly illiterate young adult drunks."
This caused Napoleon to snort.
"We did get the slums, after all. "
"But the rest of the empire is fully under our control. We have fully sealed the borders, no more people have escaped-" Napoleon did his best to make it up to his mother. She had high standards, and refused anything less than success.
"And that bitch of a princess?" Elvira questioned.
"Alive and well, Empress. As alive and well as a prisoner of war of the Duskan Empire can be," Specter answered, grimacing at the thought of Amore, a pathetic excuse for a ruler. She didn't even own proper armor. They knew that because he had personally ransacked her bedchambers. All he found were clothes, makeup, and a bunch of pictures of some guy who wasn't even that cute.
They all laughed at that, for they all knew how well their prisoners of war fared: the screams of prisoner’s getting the Thousand Cuts torture floated over from the next room over.
"Listen, my dear children, to the screams of our prisoners echoing down the halls. There's a reason we put the torture rooms next to the meeting rooms, and the bedrooms right above." Elvira beckoned Napoleon and Specter closer.
"Empress, what is the next phase of the plan?" Napoleon asked.
"Every attack we make is specific to the kingdom, every move, more specific to their rulers.” Elvira drew out two pictures: both of which were of the Crown Princesses of Equestria.
One had ivory skin and a head of shiny locks: pinks, blues and greens all blended into one. The other displayed long blue curls, and looked like she was painted by shades of night. They both shared the same teal eyes and beautiful smile.
“Celestia and Luna, the new rulers of Equestria. They’ll be crowned official rulers when Luna turns 21, in four years’ time. They’re young and vulnerable; ill-equipped to rule a kingdom. Equestria itself is on the brink of a rebellion: while people starve in poor villages, the rich in Canterlot keep building their nightclubs and spas. Nothing we haven’t seen before,” Elvira drawled, picking up Celestia’s picture, throwing it in midair and flinging a knife through it, which pinned the picture to the wall by Celestia’s neck.
“They know they’re no match for us. Now that we’ve sent them the letter-”
Elvira raised a finger to Specter’s lips. “Yes, but they’re so damn stupid. They’ll still fight to the end, try in vain to gather an army…” she laughed sharply, shaking her head. “How interesting naive little girls are in times of war.”
“But they simply don’t have the resources! They barely finished fighting the Great War a decade ago! Their kingdom is on the brink of collapse!” Napoleon argued. “To try anything is futile, they might as well be dooming themselves!”
Elvira silenced him with a knife to his throat, running her blade along the side of his face almost lovingly. “You mean well, my son. But that kingdom just keeps feeding themselves lies. Their whole society is built upon them. What happens when we unravel them?”
“Then society collapses from within. We would barely need to lift a finger!” Specter jumped in. Napoleon shot him a glare: everything was a competition between the two of them. A competition to win their mother’s praise.
“Good, good, my dear. For a speech is just as powerful as a sword. We can see how it goes, but I would prefer to speed things up a little, whilst we still can,” Elvira said, throwing her knife up into the air to catch.
“But then what was the point of capturing the Crystal Empire if we can just do everything without it?” Napoleon demanded.
Elvira turned towards him. “Napoleon, darling, are you stupid? The Empire has good resources we can use and trade. And by holding the Empire hostage, which Equestria, and all the other city-states within it rely heavily on, we already have more control over them. We can use it as a leverage against them.”
“Empress, I see. We can keep them on edge, make them fear us, so they’ll know not to cross us. We could even make a bargain with them,” Specter explained.
“Who knows, we may not even end up using it. Things do change, after all,” Elvira added. “But why do we keep it and display it like a trophy?”
“Because we can.”
“You see, Equestria isn’t our goal. It’s only one of our building blocks along the way. It has huge swaths of land and exotic resources we can’t get in Tenebrisia, let alone the rest of the Bellator Nations.”
The Bellator Nations were a series of Vampiric empires. Each main vampire family owned one empire. And they were at war. Permanently.
“Empress?” Specter asked nervously.
“Yes, Prince?” Elvira replied, twirling a knife through her hair.
“The refugees from the Crystal Empire surely must’ve reached Canterlot and told the princesses about the fact that we took over. Now, they must be sending troops or doing something. How has this interfered with our original plans?”
“It was barely a shift. The only difference would be that we have more time to gather resources and find out information. Talking about information, what did you get from Amore?” Elvira inquisited.
Specter’s vampire ability was mind-control. Elvira was very, very pleased with that and gave him a full smile the day he manifested. It was a greatly prized ability, ranked high in the list of abilities.
“About half the Empire is made up of slums and ghettos. They have huge gang problems there. The guards try to keep everything away from the rich sectors, but it’s not working. Amore’s Council secretly steals tax money for gambling, and, um….”
“Stop, stop!” Napoleon interrupted. “I’m sorry, it’s just so cliche, nothing we haven’t seen before.”
“There’s something you’re not telling me.” Elvira crossed one leg over the other.
“Amore’s cheating on her husband-to-be,” Specter blurted out.
“Ha! I knew it! That dirty little-” Elvira cackled.
“With four other men!” Specter forced the rest of the sentence out.
“Yes! This gets better and better!” Napoleon whooped, throwing his spear into the ceiling.
“Perfect. Now imagine if we spread all of this all over the Crystal Empire. In graffiti. Or force Amore to admit it in front of everyone, along with all of her other dirty little secrets. We could start a rebellion with this information. A few citizens may actually start willingly working for us if we bribe them enough. Then we can gain access to some knowledge through them, which will make taking over even easier.” Elvira explained.
“And the princesses? What will they do? Why don’t we just-” Specter asked.
Elvira gently shoved the knife to his throat, tilting his chin up to look at her.
“Let’s just wait and see, shall we? Let’s just wait and see.”
