> The Tragedy of Prince Sombra
>  by MadMethod
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> The Tragedy of Prince Sombra
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          Sombra was born into the royal family of a fledgling kingdom that bordered the icy lands of the north. His childhood was spent like any heir to a throne would, with endless lessons taught to him by the royal tutors on leadership, war, history, speech and, of course, academics. Unlike other ponies of his age, he took well to the lessons and thoroughly enjoyed his schooling, especially the lessons on alchemy and magic. One day, his father, King Lumbra, took his son to the royal court to watch the day's proceedings in hopes that he would learn valuable lessons on being a ruler that one could not simply learn in a schoolhouse. As the day wore on and Prince Sombra observed his father at work managing the kingdom, the young prince found there was not much he did not already know when his father asked him if he knew why any decision was made, one way or another. However, as the day came to an end, the monthly Court Appeal commenced and it was the beginning of a tragedy that would change young Sombra, forever.

A few hours at the end of every month was given to all the kingdom's subjects to visit the throne room, and request the king's personal assistance, consideration or advice. King Lumbra was known for being wise, fair and generous so it was not a surprise when the number of ponies in the lines numbered well over one or two hundred. They came from near and far asking for one thing or another, sometimes personal, sometimes as a representative of a whole village, but today as the doors to the Royal Court opened and the ever-chilly wind gusted through the frame, a traveler from a much greater empire, farther into the frigid North stepped forth and bowed before King Lumbra. Her sparkling, translucent body filtered the golden late afternoon sun's rays as they fell through the wide open doors, scattering a pale, melancholy lavender light throughout the room. She was almost unbearably beautiful and as Sombra's eyes fell on her own, his heart was shattered by the pain and sadness that stared back at him. Her appeal was disappointingly simple. All that was asked for was a sum of gold. The beautiful crystal pony explained in a voice as soft as a gentle autumn breeze, yet heavier than an anvil with despair that her husband was gravely ill and she could not afford the medicine to cure him. She bowed again before the king in tears, sobbing onto the court floor, her tears making tiny tinkling sounds as they hit the ground. King Lumbra gave in to his wrenched heart and ordered that double the described fee, a hefty sum already, be brought and loaded into a wagon for the desperate mare to take home to her family and poor husband. Just as the yoke was being lowered onto the crystal pony's back Sombra spoke up before he could stop himself, declaring that he would journey to the crystal city with her, protecting her from would-be thieves and helping to pull the heavy, gold-leaden cart, though he felt this may not have been his only reason. King Lumbra's pride was immeasurable and he gladly gave his only son his blessing.

The journey was long and quiet since all of Sombra's attempts to comfort the heartbroken mare about her husband ended in her turning away to stifle sobs at the mere mention of his name. Finally, the great crystal tower rose from the horizon, its architectural majesty blasting away from Sombra's mind the cold, biting wind that seemed to affect only his flesh and blood body. The prince and the lavender mare passed through the city gates when the mare stopped. She bowed low and thanked him a dozen times and when she raised her head, more crystal tears were falling from her beautiful face. She begged him to let her take the money home herself, admitting guilt at letting him pull it the whole way home for her and Sombra reluctantly agreed. Being exhausted from the journey and in need of rest, anyway Sombra took the liberty of spending a week in one of the wondrous city's inns.

For days he spent his time visiting the palace library, reading everything he could find on alchemy and magic. What he found consumed his interest utterly. His royal tutors had taught him of many basic things, but when he showed extreme aptitude for every lesson they gave him, he was presented with advanced lessons that he mastered even faster. Still, what he learned at home paled in comparison to the vast, extraordinary knowledge stored in the crystal city library. Their knowledge of crystals and the many powerful and innovative uses for them in alchemy and magic fascinated him. Sombra read through the innumerable scrolls about spells, nature, the spirit and its latent duality with such fervor that he was often lost in the text and didn't realize he had spent the entire night in the library. Before he knew it, a month had gone by and he knew his father must have been worried sick. Stopping at the market to fill his travel supplies before making the journey back home, he sat on the bench as he waited for the workers to load a small cart he bought for the trip. Sombra was suddenly dazzled by a ray of afternoon sunshine that managed to burn through the clouds. He turned his face away and looked at the ground at where a small pool of pale lavender light illuminated the crystal cobbles. He quickly followed its angled path through the slightly dusty market air to the balcony of a large, lavish and lovely crystal house at the top of a neatly manicured grassy hill. His blood froze in his veins as he recognized the figure dressed in expensive clothing, laughing with several other ponies, obviously upper class. He watched her for what felt like days, chatting with the other ponies, a wide, smug grin splayed across her face. Every now and then she'd make a mock sad face and trace lines down from her eyes only to burst into laughter once again with the rest of her company. Sombra suddenly realized why he wanted to go with her so badly. He had seen something on her face that day in court, just before she bowed the second time. It hadn't been, sorrow: it was mirth. She had been laughing at them! The tears that fell to the floor were from barely suppressed laughter! The lavender mare was never grieving at her husband's name, but disguising her snickering at Sombra's gullibility. Sombra's rage was exploding within him when he stood and cantered over to his cart, now full of supplies. The journey home was colder than he remembered, even though it was well into the warmer part of spring by the time he left the crystal empire, and the fire in the pit of his stomach burned like a blacksmith's furnace. He knew something was wrong when he realized the spot on the horizon where the road led bore a long black smudge against the rest of the pale noon blue. He broke into a trot, then a run, then a full gallop, his breath coming in faster and faster huffs and puffs. The cart wheel struck a rock and toppled sideways, still hurtling through the air, but Sombra kept going, almost crashing to the ground with it when the yoke nearly yanked him off his hooves before snapping off and bouncing up and off his back. As Prince Sombra crested the next hill, he finally got a full view of his home. It was a nightmare.

The farmlands and village surrounding the castle had been razed, the modest houses demolished or blackened and still smoking, the fields ripped apart and stripped of every last crop and the grey stone castle rising over it all was quiet. Tears rolled silently down his face as Sombra took it all in. Again, he burst forth into a furious gallop, slamming his eyes shut against the wind and tears and didn't slow down until he passed through the shattered castle doors, coming to a clattering halt in the throne room. He looked down in horror at exactly what he had been fearing on his way in. King Lumbra lay still and silent on the floor of the Royal Court alongside twelve brown stallions wearing the armor that marked them as the kingdom's royal protectorate and the king's personal body guards. Sombra cantered over slowly, not wanting to believe what was plain before him. With his head bowed to the floor. He touched horns with his father, their traditional greeting and farewell gesture, but before he could raise his head King Lumbra spoke in a fading, strained voice. Sombra listened furiously without a word as his father explained in broken speech and gasping breaths that for a fortnight, the village and castle had been under siege by an unexpected, massive army of thieves, bandits and marauders. They had come in small groups at first, getting bigger and bigger until the kingdom's small army was overwhelmed. A fierce Minotaur took a loose position of leadership and lead the attack that broke the last of the castle's defenses. The last, desperate battle had been lost two days before Sombra returned. King Lumbra said the Minotaur had been demanding to be shown the new and secret, rich gold mine, not believing it when told the truth, that there wasn't any newly discovered gold. King Lumbra finished the story, his head falling to the court floor for the last time.

Sombra opened his eyes and saw the twin puddles of tears on the ground directly below them. His own bloodshot gaze was all he could see for a moment. He turned away and sat on the floor littered with stone debris and splinters, pondering how and why this could have happened. His sharp mind came to a conclusion quickly. In giving away so much money to a foreigner, money the King could only just spare, he had created an illusion of sudden wealth. The news must have spread far and reached the ears of the greedy and devious who were lured by the promise of a small army and a big reward. And it was all her fault. That con artist, the lavender crystal mare. The fire inside him erupted once again, sending his body into a quivering rage. In no time at all, he knew exactly what to do. His studies in the crystal city had revealed to him a terrible discovery he had kept to himself for the sake of his people about the duality of the spirit. Sombra discovered that no matter the pony, generous or greedy, saint or liar, kind or cruel, for every ray of light in one's heart, their spirit could not contain it without just as much darkness inside for the light to shine in and that this darkness could be a source of great and terrible power. Sombra had also discovered that one might be able to use alchemically modified crystals to amplify this power a thousandfold. For weeks the former prince spent his time in the deserted tower of the now empty castle where he'd spent his days of schooling, applying his newfound knowledge with hatred in his heart. Every experiment he succeeded with and every new discovery he made, his mind sank further into crystal-obsessed madness. The more dark magic Sombra used, the more of a monster he became, though he could not see it in the fragmented reflections of his precious crystals when his horn turned red or his teeth became fangs or his eyes became a tainted green and his mane a shadow. So deep was his anguish, there was no room even to remember why he hated the thought of a crystal pony. Eventually, his work bore terrible fruit. Sombra had created a black diamond that amplified his dark magic and corrupted all other crystal around it. It was through this crystal's creation that he knew he had his revenge on the Crystal Empire. He could turn the very land they stood upon against them and use the ponies themselves to grow even stronger. With nothing but shadow in his heart and a cold, aching hatred to drive him, Prince Sombra marched North to make himself the king he was born to be.