The Heart of Darkness

“King Onyx!”

        Sombra flinched at the sound of his old name. It echoed through his mind in his mother's voice, then Diamond Ward's, then Captain Ruby's, then all of the countless ponies he'd killed with his dark magic: a cacophony of damnation. Sombra roared, and the unfortunate guard who had called out found himself with a deadly crystal spike pricking his throat.

        “King... Sombra, Your Highness, forgive me, I—”

        “Enough!” Sombra barked, “What do you want?” the crystal grew another millimeter, drawing a bead of blood.

        The soldier's mouth was suddenly horribly dry, but he didn't dare even to swallow. “Your Majesty, the scouts you sent to the south have returned. They will be entering the city momentarily.”

        “Pah.” Sombra waved a hoof dismissively, and the crystal threatening the hapless soldier disintegrated. “Have one of the sergeants take their report. Is that all?”

        “Y... Yes, Your Highness.”

        Sombra turned his back on the guard to gaze out the window. The guard, unsure whether he was dismissed, stood rooted to his spot for a few moments longer. When Sombra made no move to turn or speak again, he whirled and galloped away as quickly as his hooves could take him.

        Outside, Sombra watched as ponies moved listlessly through the streets or gazed up at the proud walls of his crystal palace with fear in their eyes. Those were the ones who had very specific jobs: soldiers, farmers, armorers, and such. Everyone else would be laboring to clear the surrounding land and harvest more crystals, so that Sombra's glorious city could continue to grow.

Something is missing. a voice in Sombra's head insisted; a tiny voice that still called itself Onyx and did not run from the memories that name stirred, but accepted them as its due.

Not for long. Sombra answered the Onyx-voice in his mind. Once he had the report from the south, he would know exactly how to go about expanding his territory. Once he had a foothold south of the Crystal Mountains, it would only be a matter of time until he conquered the entire continent. Once that was done, he could turn his gaze to the sea, and whatever might lie beyond it. Grandiose plans, perhaps, but not beyond his abilities; he had the magic to make whatever he wished a reality, and all of eternity to do so.

        The small, faint voice insisted that Sombra was missing the point. There was a reason, that irritating shadow of his former self insisted, that the prospect of his dreams coming true did not excite him. That was true enough. Sombra felt no joy at the thought of bringing the world beneath his banner. The dark power coursing through his soul insisted that the world belonged to him, but it held no more pleasure for him than eating or sleeping; it was simply something that would be done. Why hadn't he gone to take the report himself?

        Sombra shook off the disturbing line of thought and squelched that dissenting voice beneath an iron hoof. A dazzling green glow surrounded his horn. The window expanded into a door and the palace wall sprouted a balcony as the world shaped itself to his will. He stepped out onto the new platform to gaze down at his city. Ponies dropped to their knees all around him as they realized their king was watching, some fearfully nudging their slightly slower neighbors. Nothing was missing: the Crystal Heart was sealed away where only Sombra himself could reach it, every pony in the Crystal Empire knew their place, and soon every pony and changeling, griffon and dragon in the world would know theirs.

        Driven more by a listless boredom than any actual desire to hear it, Sombra decided that he would take the scouts' report himself after all. He walked forward straight off the balcony -had some of those gasps from below sounded faintly hopeful?- and landed unharmed with a mighty crash and the quieter tinkling of shattered crystal.

        “Fix that.” Sombra ordered the nearest pony without looking at her. He gestured toward the cracks radiating out from where he had landed. “Now.”

        Knowing his command would be followed, Sombra did not wait to see it carried out. He walked down the broad road that led toward the center of the city, where even now his scouts would be disembarking from their sky chariots and unloading their gear.

        “Your Majesty!” Lieutenant Peridot sprang to attention as she saw Sombra approaching. “Ponies! Ten-hut!” Everypony dropped what they were doing and bowed to King Sombra.

        “Report.” Sombra ordered.

        “Your Majesty, we ran a thorough investigation of the lands to the south. Things aren't the way we thought.”

        “Hm?” Sombra arched an eyebrow.

        “Well, Your Majesty, in my own opinion, it would be an excellent time to launch an attack.”

        “What of Discord?” Sombra growled. The omnipotent spirit of chaos was, perhaps, the one creature in the world whom he had cause to fear.

        “Discord no longer rules there.” Peridot whinnied in terror as Sombra flowed forward. The dark king didn't seem to have walked, he was just suddenly much closer to her than he had been a moment ago.

        “What do you mean?”

        “Discord… Discord has been defeated!” Peridot squeaked. “Two alicorns named Celestia and Luna imprisoned him in stone, several months ago!”

        For the first time since his transformation, Sombra felt true shock. Discord defeated? “How?” he demanded.

         “They possess magical artifacts called the Elements of Harmony. The ponies we spoke to all agreed that there are six of them, and that their powers combined were enough to overpower Discord.”

        “That is interesting. Very interesting.” Sombra mused, “What of the ponies in Discord's lands?”

        “The two alicorns have taken over what used to be Discord's territory. They are calling themselves princesses, and have named the land Equestria.”

        “These alicorns: how strong are they? How secure is their rule?”

        “Well, Your Majesty, it is difficult to say—eep!” Peridot cut off as Sombra growled in her face.

        “Answer me!”

        “The ponies there adore them; they think of them as goddesses! One has power over the sun, the other over the moon. Apparently... apparently the two have been keeping order in the world for thousands of years!”

        “Absurd.” Sombra rumbled. Anypony with that much power would have made herself known long ago. “Their military?”

        “They have no standing army, Your Majesty.”

        “How can that be?” Sombra demanded of Peridot, “How do they enforce their rule?”

        “It's... it's like I said, Your Majesty. Their subjects love them. They obey because they want to.”

        “You are incompetent, Lieutenant!” Sombra sneered, “No military? Mark my words: they have an army, but you did not see it. Rule through love?The ponies are cowed by those who overthrew Discord. Get out of my sight!”

        Peridot galloped back to the rest of the soldiers to hasten their departure.

        Less than a week later, the Crystal Army was marching south through the Crystal Mountains toward the newly founded kingdom of Equestria. Their orders were to kill those who resisted, subjugate those who did not, and bring the two upstart alicorns and their magical Elements of Harmony back to Sombra in the Crystal City. Perhaps he would be able to twist the Elements to his own purposes; if not, he would simply seal them away with the Crystal Heart so that nopony else could use them either.

        “General Agate, sir?” a hesitant voice called from behind the leader of the expedition.

        Agate turned his head to see a young sergeant trotting a few steps behind him. “Obsidian Edge, right?”

        “Yes, sir.”

        “Well, out with it. What's on your mind?”

        Obsidian picked up his pace until he was even with the general. “Sir, it's the mission. A lot of the ponies don't like it, and I have to agree with them.”

        “Like it?” Agate arched an eyebrow. “It's not your job to like it, just to do it.”

        “I understand that, but… permission to speak freely, sir?”

        “Speak.”

        “It isn't right. Fighting the changelings was one thing, but this time we're attacking them. These are other ponies we're on our way to kill!”

        Agate sighed and looked at the ground for a moment. “The changelings. You saw the aftermath of that; King Sombra wiped out two armies single-hoofedly. If we don't do as he commands we'll be the next ones up on crystal spikes, and then he'll go wipe out Equestria himself. We aren't fighting to kill other ponies; we're fighting to protect ourselves.”

        “General, isn't there some other way?” Obsidian begged.

        “No, soldier.” Agate's voice turned as hard as his namesake stone, “We have our orders, and we will carry them out.”

        “But—”

        “Dismissed, Sergeant.” Agate watched as Obsidian Edge trotted dejectedly back to his place in the ranks. The truth was that he didn't feel any better about their mission than the young sergeant did, but what he had said was true: either they obeyed Sombra, or they all died for nothing. I'm doing what I have to. Right?

Another week saw the Crystal Army on the borders of what was now Equestria. Remnants of Discord's rule were still evident here on the outskirts: large pieces of the land hovered in the air, boulders sat unnaturally on tiny points, and a candy-cane striped tree floated past as the soldiers watched.

        “Telescope.” Agate ordered. A unicorn soldier trotted up with the requested item hovering beside her. A small bit extended off of the bottom of the telescope, which placed the glass right at eye level when Agate bit down on it. He scanned the distorted landscape, which even now had ponies working to undo the last bits of Discord's magic. A team of earth ponies heaved at one of the boulders until at last it overbalanced and came crashing down to rest as it should. Elsewhere, a pale yellow unicorn was using her magic to bring down more of the floating trees. It almost reminded Agate of the forced-labor crews that Sombra used to harvest crystals for his ever-expanding city. The difference, if Agate wasn't mistaken, was that these ponies looked happy to be working. Is that...? Agate's ears twitched as a distant but unmistakeable sound reached him. The ponies were singing.

        Agate shifted his gaze farther south. Closer to the heart of the kingdom, Equestria was beautiful. Not a hint of Discord's reign remained; instead, there were clear skies, green fields, and sapphire-blue waters as far as his telescope could reveal.

        A glint of white from high in the mountains caught his eye. There, nestled among the peaks, sat a gleaming ivory city. Agate had heard the reports: that must be Canterlot, the seat of power for Equestria's new rulers. That was their target.

        Even now, some of them were nudging their neighbors and pointing up to the mountains, where the Crystal Army made an imposing sight arranged against the skyline.

        “Raise the banners.” Agate ordered. He hoped that a show of force would frighten these ponies off, sparing him the need to… to do what he would have to do otherwise.

        “General, pegasi approaching from the east!”

        Agate whirled, suddenly sure that their intel had been wrong, and that this was the vanguard of the Equestrian army. How did they get here so quickly?

        But no, it was only a pair of pegasi, one of whom still had a sweat band wrapped around his head. Simple laborers, not soldiers. “Why are they coming towards us?” Agate breathed.

        “Hiya!” the gray pegasus with the sweat band called out. His cutie mark was of three small clouds arranged in a triangle.

        “Stand down, soldiers.” Agate ordered as some of his ponies began reaching for weapons. He stepped forward himself to speak with the two pegasi.

        “You're from the Crystal Empire, arent'cha?” the other, barely more than a filly chimed in. “Aren'tcha?”

        “I am General Agate Shine of the Crystal Army.” Agate introduced himself, glowering at the two foalish ponies.

        “See, Thunder?” the younger one practically bounced in excitement, “I toldja they were from the Crystal Empire!”

        “Well, nice to meet you, Mr. Shine.” the one called Thunder said more calmly, “Welcome to Equestria!”

        Agate blinked at the two of them. Didn't they realize that they were giving a friendly greeting to an invading army? “Why did the two of you approach us?”

        “Huh? Well, we wanted to say hi, of course!” Thunder answered.

        “Yeah! And now we have!” That simple fact seemed to fill the younger one with joy.

        Agate blinked. How could these two be so foalish, sonaïve? “Now you two listen to me very carefully.” he growled. The pegasi blanched as they finally seemed to realize that something was amiss. “This land now belongs to the Crystal Empire. We know all about you: your princesses have ruled for only a few months, you have no standing army, and you are still struggling to recover from your time under Discord's rule. Equestria has no chance against us.”

        “W—what do you mean?” Thunder asked, fear finally showing in his big yellow eyes. “What are you gonna do?”

        “We are going to claim all of Equestria in the name of King Sombra. You,” he pointed a hoof at Thunder, who flinched, “are going to carry a message to your princesses that we are coming for them and their Elements of Harmony, and that we will kill anypony who fights back.” Agate's gaze softened as he spoke what was in his heart, “I would truly prefer not to kill anyone. Please, urge them not to resist.”

        “Why—?” the younger one asked plaintively, before Thunder pushed her behind him, placing himself between the Crystal Army and the pony whom Agate was now certain was his little sister.

        “Thunder, was it? Take my message to Canterlot as quickly as you can. The sooner the princesses present themselves to us to surrender, the better it will be for everypony.”

        Thunder took a few steps back, his large eyes filling with tears. He blinked them back and glared as rage took the place of shocked sadness. “Oh, I'll tell them alright. You've got no idea what you just stuck your hoof into. C'mon Cumulus, let's get outta here.”

        “Goodbye, Mr. Shine.” Cumulus said sadly. She took off toward Canterlot, her brother right behind her.

        The Crystal Army had made camp another twenty miles south, just beyond the corrupted landscape, to await the delegation from the princesses. Agate didn't truly expect it to be this simple, but he would give them a chance. If this thing could be done without killing anyone, that's how he would do it.

        “Sir, we've got incoming from Canterlot.” One of the soldiers was holding a telescope to his eye in a field of pale blue magic.

        “What is it? Emissaries or soldiers?” The next few hours would decide the fate of many, many ponies.

        “Definitely not an army, sir, it's—AGH!” The crystal unicorn flung the telescope away from his eye as a blinding light shone from the south. From Canterlot.

        “To arms!” Agate roared over the sudden commotion. The little foals. He thought sadly. They're actually attacking us. He turned back to see what was coming—and froze.

        It was as if the sun itself were descending upon them. Nothing was visible to the south; nothing at all could be seen past the terrible light that engulfed the Crystal Army. Agate's mouth hung open, halted in mid-shout. Somewhere in the heart of that light Agate spotted a tall, slender form, racing toward the Crystal Army faster than he could believe.

        “Spear!” Agate shouted, turning away from the radiant being. Nopony responded; all of his soldiers were still caught in the spell. Agate snarled and grabbed a spear-thrower from the nearest soldier. He turned back to find the sun-demon nearly upon them. His knees went weak and shaky, but his discipline endured and he whipped his head forward, hurling the spear with all of his strength.

        It incinerated almost instantly.

        The being landed before Agate without a sound. The blinding glow faded, but the monster herself still shone with a terrible light. No, not a monster; this was an alicorn, tall and proud and… beautiful. Agate knew beyond a doubt that this was none other than Celestia, princess of the sun. Her multicolored mane—an ethereal mane like Agate had never seen before—flowed over and around her as she stared down imperiously at the soldiers of the Crystal Army.

        Agate stepped backward, trembling, and dropped to his knees, bowing down before he even realized what he had done. King Sombra was frightening, but this creature, this alicorn, was terrifying in a way that he could not hope to achieve. To cross Sombra was to throw one's life away, but to cross Celestia was… unthinkable.

        “Who dares to enter Equestria in arms?” Celestia bellowed, her voice carrying effortlessly across the entirety of the army.

        Shamed by his own cowardice, Agate began to rise to his hooves. “I am—”

        “We did not give thee permission to stand, miscreant!”

        Agate fell back to his knees, trembling even as he tried to force some courage into his voice. “I am… I am General Agate Shine of the Crystal Army, and…” It suddenly seemed absurd to say that they had come to conquer Equestria. The full strength of the Crystal Empire had been beaten by Celestia's voice!

        A soft thump alerted Agate that somepony else had arrived. He risked looking upward and saw that a second alicorn, smaller and less magnificent, though no less beautful, had landed beside Celestia.

Oh, clop me, they're both here! The newcomer could be none other than Celestia's sister Luna, princess of the moon. He gritted his teeth to keep them from chattering, wondering whether it would be better to sound the attack and go down fighting, or to keep quiet and hope for a quick and merciful death. “Your Majesties—”

        “Silence!”

        Agate cringed into the dirt, hating himself for being so weak, yet unable to muster the courage to stand before these majestic beings.

        “Sister,” the second alicorn's voice was surprisingly gentle, “enough. Cumulus was right: these ponies are terrified.”

The filly? A stray thought surfaced through Agate's dread. She said that wewere afraid?

Something touched Agate's chin and he tensed, certain that the killing blow was about to fall. Instead, he found himself being gently lifted to his hooves by Princess Luna.

        “Why art thou truly here, General?” she asked gently. Agate blinked at her archaic mode of speech: perhaps she was thousands of years old. “Thou came to Equestria in force, yet stayed only just within Our borders. When thou couldst have attacked ere ever We knew of your presence, instead thou harmed nopony and sent Us a message seeking peaceful surrender. If thou dost not truly wish for war and conquest, why hast thou come?”

        Half-a-dozen lies flitted through Agate's mind, each dissipating instantly under Luna's knowing gaze. At last he spoke a single word: “Sombra.”

        Luna tilted her head slightly, silently inviting him to continue.

        “King Sombra rules the Crystal Empire with an iron hoof.” Now that he had started the words flowed from him freely, drawn out by Luna's soft, kind eyes. “Anyone who disobeys him dies. Now he wants Equestria, and if we don't give it to him…” What am I doing? These two are all that defend Equestria; I should be striking her down, not pouring my heart out to her! Agate trembled, paralyzed by his conflicting feelings.

        “Why do you not stand against this tyrant?” Celestia demanded. Her voice had dropped to an ordinary speaking level, but still thrummed with power and authority.

        “We can't. Nopony can.” Agate answered her quietly. “Sombra's power is limitless.”

        “A true pony would stand for what he knows is right.” Celestia reprimanded him. “No one's power is limitless.”

        “Sombra's is; or it might as well be!” Agate stomped a hoof in impotent rage as tears of mingled fear, shame, and anger stung his eyes. “He's immortal. He can kill with a thought. He once struck down two armies at once with a single spell! Don't you think we tried to resist him?!” he screamed at last, “Ponies fought against him, and they all died! Every single one.”

        “Hush, now.” Agate froze stiff as Luna wrapped a wing around him comfortingly. Some of the crystal ponies shifted uneasily, but none attempted to interfere. “Quiet, now. Thou art safe here.” She shot her sister a reproachful look which Agate, staring at the ground, did not see. “It is clear to Us that thou dost not wish to see this come to bloodshed. Tell Us more of this King Sombra; perhaps We can help.”

        Agate trembled in Luna's soft embrace. The tears in his eyes threatened to embarrass him further by spilling down onto his cheeks. “It would only be a matter of time before Sombra realizes. He would come here himself. Your offer is very kind—kinder than I deserve—but…”

        “My sister is extending you the hoof of friendship.” Celestia said in the gentlest tone he had yet heard from her, “I suggest you take it.”

        “Friendship?” Agate said the word as though it were foreign to him. “What could powerful rulers like yourselves need my friendship for?”

        Celestia and Luna shared a significant look. “'Tis not a question of need, General.” Luna answered. “I think We begin to understand the depths of your plight. Come, walk with Us. Tell Us more of this tyrant. Our sister will see to your soldiers.”

        Panic flashed through Agate. “'See to' them? What do you—?” he turned back toward his army and relaxed. Even now Celestia was moving among them; not violently, but kindly, speaking gentle words here and there. Many of the crystal ponies had already removed their armor and laid their weapons on the ground.

        “Thou truly art frightened.” Luna said pityingly. “Our poor little pony. Thou hast nothing to fear from Us.”

        Agate wasn't sure how he felt about being called a “little pony.” Then again, compared to these two, he certainly felt insignificant.

        “Walk with Us.” Luna invited him again. “We would know more of the Crystal Empire, and of its ruler.”

        Agate found himself following her, telling this beautiful princess everything he could think of, anything that might help them find a way out from under Sombra's hoof.

        For better or worse, the crystal ponies had thrown in their lot with Equestria.