It had not been seen for generations. Its existence was kept secret by the highest members of the Council. The most powerful unicorns used their abilities to remove them from everypony's minds. They were a plague that had to be stopped. Their corruption was too grand and it spread too far. Things had to be done. Learning that their allies were threatened in the Crystal Kingdom, the Crystal Princess sent a message to the council of Equestria with her dying breath, alerting them to what the threat truly was: Sombra. Troops had been sent to release the Crystal Ponies from their slavery, but to no avail. Using the power of the Elements of Harmony, the princesses of Equestria decided to intervene themselves and fought the powers of Sombra, using each other as a means to protect their minds from his powers. The battle was one in the princesses' favor, but to what cost? Sombra had used one last trick to trap the Crystal Kingdom in a dimensional void, only to return once his banishment was over.
Far away, however, five ponies watched, powerless, to their brethren being lost. Two wept, two said nothing, but one was filled with extreme rage. They left, hoping to strike back at the princesses for what they had done, and strike back they did. Slowly, jealousy began to overtake Luna, corrupting her through means as of yet unknown to even her sister. As events unfolded, it became clear that Luna, now Nightmare Moon, would have to be destroyed as well, but how could Celestia kill her own sister? The only sibling she had left? Her powers were not as they were, and she could not purify the beast of jealousy, so she banished her into the Moon for a thousand years, tearing a great hole within the sun princess' heart and causing her to scream in anguish and agony.
Even if her counselors tried to help her, they could do nothing. Losing a sister, especially for so long, was a burden she was forced to take, but other powers were leeching off of her as she wept. Two years later, the castle was taken by assault. Rage and anger swept through the guards who promptly began to tear at each other's necks. Sadness overtook those who watched their comrades fall. Jealousy and greed overtook the lesser soldiers who wanted better armor and weapons, causing them to attack their superiors as a consequence. Infatuation corrupted the ponies of the castle, who began to attack each other just to have their ways, promptly getting destroyed by those affected by anger and such. Discord, encased in stone, only sat and watched. Even if he was a being of "evil", he did not wish for such death and carnage. So, remain in stone he did, powerless to do anything that he so wished to do.
Besides the god of chaos, only one was unaffected by these bizarre happenings, and she remained barred in her room through fear, keeping the picture of her lost parents and the elements close to her. As her circular room of white remained illuminated by the strong window opposite the brown door of the entrance, it still seemed as if everything was darkening around Celestia. Her bed was her only refuge, but she couldn't hide! She was the princess, and she had to tend to her subjects in dire need of help. As the Princess hopped from the comfort of her bed, voices taunted her. One, a female's, mocked her, stating that the emotion she felt was only one that was created by their fallen brethren. Another, a male's, implied a need to assert himself over the rest with a louder voice. Celestia demanded answers, and the voices taunted the alicorn more as figures began taking shape in her room.
One male spoke of her battle with their comrade, and another female wanted to take Celestia's life and keep it all for her own to punish her by herself. The princess still plead for these events to stop, but this begging fell upon deaf ears. The forms revealed themselves as ponies, each more detailed in appearance than the last, yet their appearances have been lost to all but Celestia herself, and she has refused to reveal them unto any in her life.
The ponies told her that she had done something she shouldn't have, and, as punishment, corrupted her sister, turning her into Nightmare Moon. The most silent of the five remained behind the others, still only watching as its anger grew, but as its brethren revealed their actions and what they had done, it felt its powers grow tremendously as Celestia was filled with both rage and sadness. Rumors say that a whole portion of Canterlot Castle was destroyed in the fight, but Celestia prevailed after using the Elements once more, blasting them into oblivion. Yet, even to the present day, the princess still hears their taunting laughter as they were destroyed entirely, saying that Luna would never be able to return, and that, now, the elements could never be used by her after spending the last amount of her sister's own magic, kept to be used to purify the Moon Princess after her return. The sun itself cursed their existence, but only four of five were destroyed. Who would know?
Now, after so many centuries, the remainder has returned. Its powers grew tremendously. Celestia could never have known that destroying Sombra outright would cause it to resurface after staying quiet for so long. It simply wanted to reunite with its comrade, but it had arrived too late. All that was left was its horn, and its power had flickered into dust just as it did when the Rumor placed it on its hoof. It was furious. They had all died. Those who it grew up with. Those who helped it. Sombra was its true brother by blood, and the others were by a long friendship. So many hardships had gone by, yet they always survived. Then the princesses came. Tears welled up inside of it.
Gone forever and as dust. And as dust they shall remain. And remain as dust their corpses will. Never shall they return to the world of joy and shadows. The family was dispersed once, but now it was entirely destroyed. No siblings to be had. No parents to hug to denounce tragedy. No pony around to consolidate the broken mind and bleeding heart. Gone forever and into dust. To dust it shall go and to dust it shall remain; The broken family of misfits and rumors.
In front of a city of massive proportions and an industrialist setting stood a stallion. A red stallion. This stallion had green, glowing streaks coming from the tips of his mane and slowly spreading and waving across the rest of his body. His eyes were red with fury, and his hooves were chipped and broken in certain areas. His cutie mark was covered by a large concentration of the green streaks, although this did not seem to bother him. Walking towards the city with a frowning face, the stallion passed each pony without a single word, letting the tiles underneath his hooves be his only language. This part was quite serene, what with the plants placed in laid out areas for the inhabitants. This gave the streets and plazas a slight distinction to the rest of this industrialized city, but that was not why the stallion was here. Looking to the right, he could see a restaurant made for open business. It was a small placed carved from the walls of the surrounding buildings, and many tables were set up in front of it. It seemed to be successful, as shown by the amount of customers talking and eating there.
The stallion sat at one of the few empty tables and was quickly greeted by a waitress. A tame little flower of blue and yellow, some might think, but not him. Ordering a grilled sandwich, he was given a glass of water to ease the short waiting. Something happened, though. Something that no pony could have predicted. The ponies around the tables began to gossip loudly, then the gossip turned to anger, then to rage, then to insults, and finally, degraded into fighting. Taking another sip from his cup, a bored expression painted across his face, the stallion's eyes reacted and followed as the sandwich he had ordered flew in front of his face, tossing cheese and sauces everywhere along its trajectory. Within one of the buildings, an explosion occurred, followed by another, and yet another. The city was falling into anarchy, and no pony could control themselves.
The visitor simply stood up and walked away from the collapsing restaurant, hoping to leave the town before it imploded upon itself. Taking this as a way to observe the new world, the pony looked around, some weak form of joy filling his broken heart, until he saw a posture placed upon the side of one of the tall buildings.
"King Sombra defeated. The Crystal Kingdom was saved by the joined efforts of the Royal Guard and the Elements of Harmony. The Princesses have announced a new alliance through Princess Cadance who has now taken the kingdom into her duties. A celebration will be had in one week to celebrate the destruction of the evil ruler."
The poster even showed a well-made painting of Cadance and the Elements striking down Sombra, the stallion shown to be pleading for mercy as his body fell downwards towards a large crowd below, the beam coming from the seven ponies above turning him into a black powder.
This angered the stallion tremendously. As his face twitched, he tore the poster off and ripped it to pieces, only leaving Sombra's terrified face. He was never terrified. He never had been. He was always the one to administer that emotion to others. Even as foals, the stallion recalled, Sombra stood up for him, even going as far as dragging others with him into "punishments" that he never really committed. That is why he was feared in foalhood. Later on, he would become so accustomed to pain that he began to grow muscle mass and a proficiency in dark magic that struck terror into others, while the stallion himself would grow excessive muscle mass through anger and hatred. Sombra was always there when the stallion needed him most, even through monetary problems.
A small tear pearled down the stallion's cheek. It seemed like a diamond had formed from his eyes, but this was no jewel. Once the tear hit the poster, the stallion crushed it beneath his hoof, cracking the tiles below him. He soon left the town after leaving a special mark that he knew the murderer of his brother and his family would recognize. Hatred filled his every being, and he wanted death for a death. Because of the murderer, he would forever be alone, as none could cope with him and none ever would, anyways. His life was now that of pure solitude. No family. No friends. No future.
Meanwhile, in Canterlot Castle, reports had been swarming in about crazed outbreaks of anger suddenly hitting towns and cities across Equestria. There were so many reports related to these incidents, such as material damages and medical grievances, that even the esteemed Council could not alleviate the work of their princesses. Discord tried to help a bit, but chaos has never been orderly. Yet, one thing caught his eye. It was a drawn image depicting some sort of flame, twisted and black, smoldered against the side of a building. The draconequus' heart literally stopped before he took it out of his chest to scold it into working again. This was no time for games, however, and he quickly dragged Celestia out of the throne room, leaving Luna behind, to describe his thoughts. Presenting the proof needed, Celestia's thoughts all stopped.
Was it possible? They had all been destroyed, yet, there were only four scorch marks against the outside walls of the castle. How? Even if it was, there was no telling what this remainder could do, or what it was after. It was obvious by the pattern being took that it had no intentions of approaching Canterlot, and the only things left that could destroy it, were the Elements of Harmony. Discord suggested going himself with the elements would be a wise decision, as his powers could disrupt theirs, but this was something Celestia would have to do by herself. She would bring the elements, but only to take the power they possess as long as she could to destroy the remainder, as the elements were no longer linked to her.
The draconequus, although a being who generally works upon creating all things chaos, simply could not understand the powers at work. Why had it been that even the sun felt anger when it was the so-called "supreme power" in life and existence? Even though Discord understood what fueled her anger, perhaps there were things that required a viewing of both sides of the mirror. Celestia turned to face her friend, and spoke sternly:
"I must do it, Discord. My ponies are in danger. My sister fell victim to their traps, but she no longer will. I must deal with this once and for all. If I understand, then I must deal with this old threat. I must deal with the Rumor of Anger."
To this, Celestia looked one last time at a picture shown to her by Discord, then dropped it as she left the room the draconequus had created. He looked at her with sadness and compassion, then picked the image up and looked at it. There were six joyful ponies. Four were stallions, with what appeared to be a very young Sombra having another stallion on his back and pushing on his head with a hoof. This "boarder" was joyful and obviously yelling for the picture as he held his other foreleg outstretched. One of the mares and a stallion were holding each other together and staring at both lovingly in the eyes. They looked well groomed and very handsome indeed. As for the other two, they were just sitting on the ground next to Sombra and his brother with semi-closed eyes and a tame smile. The picture was very old, although it had that yellowy color with some "grains" imbedded upon the images. Ignoring this small detail, Discord turned it around to see that there were a few words written on the back:
"My family."
This sentence was in perfect cursive, demonstrating that the one who wrote this had excellent writing skills. There was another set of words underneath these, and these ones were nothing but extreme splatters of black ink spread everywhere. It seemed to be recent, and it seemed to show some sort of extreme anger, as if the writer furiously struck the material to pass a message more directly.
"All gone. I'm all alone. I'm all that's left. I have no family."
