Diary of a Mad Kingby Strange HarmonyChaptersNot Exactly Your Average DiaryA Complex DeliriumDen of ShadowsMayday! (Sorta) Calm Before the StormDissentNot Exactly Your Average DiaryLooking up at the grey sky, Relic Wonder still couldn’t believe his luck. Ever since he started working as an archaeologist for the Royal University of Canterlot five years ago, he had always wanted to come here. And now, here he stood, in the remnants of the Shadow Empire, otherwise known as the home of the benevolent King Sombra. The little knowledge he had of the kingdom came from dusty old books found in various libraries across Equestria. Even then, the books told little about the ways of the ponies who once lived here, as a matter of fact, aside from architectural aspects of the kingdom, the only other thing the books mentioned was the dark, blood-filled past of the kingdom. He remembered reading about the barbaric founders and how they were speculated to be descendants of a group of unicorns who decided to abandon the land that eventually became unified under Celestia and Luna. He guessed the harsh weather of this region hardened them. The books had also mentioned that this kingdom bore a strong hatred against all the other kingdoms. And as he heard, King Sombra seemed to prove that much to be true four years ago when he broke from his prison and tried to take over the Crystal Empire. But the long imprisoned king had been defeated and the Crystal Empire was now thriving once more. Just thinking of Sombra made Relic Wonder shiver. He had heard many stories about him, all depicting him as a cruel, heartless villain who waged war against the Crystal Empire and its allies. Looking to his right, he saw buildings, or at least what remained of them, covered by a thick sheet of snow. To his left stood what appeared to be a theater, this seemed a bit out of place to him. He wondered what sort of plays the ponies of this land made. “Relic, where the hell did you go?” called a mare. Tightening a blanket over her golden coat and wings, she made a right turn and spotted her bronze coltfriend. “There you are, the others are waiting on you!” “Oh sorry, you know I like to do a bit of exploring on my own before we begin with our actual work,” replied Relic. “And you know that’s usually why we start late.” “I…I guess, haha, lets hurry back yeah?” “Gladly, this place gives me the creeps. Everything is so dark…and eerie." Relic chuckled as he took his marefriend by the hoof. “Don’t worry Amber, you’re safe as long as I’m here.” Amber Gem rolled her eyes but couldn’t help chuckle at Relic's machismo. Before long, they arrived at a camp site. Ten ponies stood over a map set in a table in the middle of the camp. One of the ponies saw Relic and Amber approach and told the others. All the ponies dispersed around the camp, giving Relic a hoofbump if they passed him. They had all been friends for years and trusted each other with their lives. “Well,” said Relic, “you should see if we have everything we need in our tent. I should go talk to Granite.” “Be careful he doesn't chew your head off,” Amber chuckled and walked to the tent they shared. Relic turned to the table where the map was and locked eyes with the white stallion that stood by it. “I see you went exploring by yourself again.” “I see you finished the briefing without me, mind telling me where I’m supposed to explore?” Relic was a brave Unicorn. He had been in sticky situations many times before and wasn’t scared easily. But if there was something that never failed to scare him, it was Granite. When Relic first met the robust stallion, they had gotten off to a great start. They both shared many of the same interests and passions; However, Granite was still the boss and could be pretty scary when angry. Something Relic has only seen a handful of times, each time engraved in his mind. Granite Rock smiled, “I think you’ll be happy to hear what I have to say,” Relic raised an eyebrow. “We finished the briefing because the place where you will be going doesn’t require coordinates.” “Why is that?” Relic’s anxiety was rising. “Because,” started Granite, “you and Amber have won a luxurious trip to the castle of King Sombra!” Relic couldn’t believe what he was hearing, not only had his archeology team been picked to go to the Shadow Empire, but he was going to get to explore the king's castle. “Thank you so much Granite! But, why us?” “Because Relic, you and Amber have proved to be a dynamic duo over the years, I discussed it with the other and they all agree you’re the stallion for the job. Now gather your equipment, we’re burning daylight.” Granite rolled up the map and went into his tent. Relic could still hardly believe what he had been told, he hurried to the tent he shared with Amber to tell her the news. Walking in, he saw her unpacking their equipment: brushes, pickaxes, various other tools for examining the physical remains of past eras. “I don’t think we’ll need most of those where we’re going.” Amber looked up at him, “what do you mean?” “Granite assigned us to the castle of King Sombra!” There was no sign of the enthusiasm Relic felt in Ambers face, she opened her wings and a gentle breeze swept through the tent, “really? Wh-wh-why us?” Relic knew what was going through her head, she hated being in confined spaces. He walked over to her and hugged her, “I know your feeling nervous, but it’s going to be alright. Nopony has been here in ages! It took a lot of preparations by princess Cadence to safely escort us across the snow. Besides, this is the archeological opportunity of a lifetime!” “I know, don’t worry I’ll be fine, just a bit nervous.” “Shall we get going then?” “…Sure” Walking outside, they saw two pegasus tightening their saddles full of equipment; one of them saw them emerge from their tent. “Relic, Amber, mind giving us a hoof?” “Sure thing,” called Relic, walking over to their friends he noticed everyone else seemed to be gone, even Granite. “So, where did Granite send you two?” They were brother and sister, the youngest in the group, Primordial and Miraculous Decree. Everyone thought their names were too long so they just called them Prime and Mira. “I see everyone else is gone too.” “Yeah, left for their excavation site a while back,” started Prime, “so, how does it feel to know you get to explore the castle of the big cheese?” “Feels great, I can’t wait to see what we find.” He responded as he finished securing Mira’s saddlebags. “I just hope we don’t stumble into any of the evil king's torturing dungeons. They all laughed at this gape, except Amber's laugh was a nervous one, “right, let’s hope we don’t.” “Oh don’t worry Amber, it was a joke, well good luck to you two." “Ditto,” said Mira, “and don’t get sidetracked you two.” With that final bit of friendly teasing, the siblings were gone. “Why does everypony keep saying that?” asked Relic, as they walked to the bastion that was the castle. “They’re just teasing, they know both of us take our job seriously, so, what do you think we’ll find?” “I don’t know, some treasure if we’re lucky.” They were now at the entrance of the castle. It took every last bit of strength they had to push the massive doors opened. Once inside, what they found was the last thing they expected. The doors gave way to a giant room decorated with massive chandeliers. There were tables scattered everywhere, very few still in one piece, much like the chandeliers. As expected, there were spider webs and dust everywhere. Dear Celestia, if this place was clean and whole it would be beautiful!” exclaimed Amber, walking into the middle of the room she spun around seeming to forget about her fears. “No kidding,” agreed Relic, looking around, his mouth agape. There were many portraits of King Sombra and…someone they didn’t recognize. A mare, she was taller than any mare he had ever seen, except for the princesses, and beautiful too. Although he didn’t mention that to Amber. He had always heard of King Sombra, but contrary to what they were seeing, he didn’t remember ever hearing about a Queen. At the end of the room there were stairs, going up the stairs, they reached a room that was round. A big round table stood in the middle, across it many little figures of all sorts. Towers, soldiers, this must have been the room where they prepared for war. Relic couldn’t imagine the barbaric plans that hatched in this room. There were plenty of sets of stairs in the room and they seemed to go off in every possible direction, “Amber, do you want to go up any of these stairs?” “Umm…I think I want to study this room a bit more. There are many papers littered on the floor and many cabinets to open. What about you.” She looked up from the table and saw Relic already heading to a set of stairs. Raising an eyebrow she said, “Don’t get lost alright.” “Don’t worry, if there are more stairs I won’t go up them without calling you.” OK, he heard her call. After about a minute of climbing, he stood in a long room, and just like he expected, there were more stairs. He did notice a door; it appeared like the only interesting thing in this room so he slowly opened it. What he saw made his heart skip a beat. It was a room, a big room, occupied by a big bed fit for a king…and a Queen. Could this be the room of the King? If it was, it was nothing like Relic expected it. Everything was…surprisingly tidy and clean, in contrast to the rest of the castle, heck, the rest of the kingdom. The bed was nicely folded, he opened a large wardrobe to reveal various gorgeous sets of robes, and a large cabinet made of marble had plenty of perfumes and trinkets spread on its surface…the weird thing is that nothing in this room appeared to have been touched by time. This room looked like it had been cleaned yesterday, but how? Are there ponies living here after all? No, that couldn’t be it. There were two windows, looking out one of them; Relic could see almost the entire kingdom spread out before him. This was truly an amazing sight. There was something by one of the windows, it was a desk, and on top of the desk, there was a book. He walked over to the book and slowly placed a hoof on top of it. He wondered what could be written inside of it, and slowly opened the book. What he saw was the last thing he expected. Written in the first page was: Diary. A diary? Of who? Sombra? The Queen? Reluctantly, he flipped to the first page. _________________________________________________________________________________________ Entry #1 I write this now…so that whomever may find it will see that my kingdom and I are the true victims of this catastrophe. So that whoever is reading this realizes how unjustly Equestria has treated us. Another reason I am writing this is because…I am scared. I fear my sanity is wavering. I fear my emotions are rebelling. I fear my rage will consume me…I fear that by the time this diary is complete, the author won’t be the same. I see them, shadows, whispering to me, promising me the power to make my enemies pay for everything they have taken from me. And their offers are tempting…but something about their presence just does not feel right. Something about their whispers sends a chill down my spine and makes me want to turn away. But I can’t… Oh! When did this start? When was my life so drastically altered? My kingdom is in shambles, my subjects loathe me, and nothing brings pleasure to me anymore. When did this misery enter my life? I ask myself this, yet, I know the answer. This all started…when they took you…my love. Damn them, damn them and their princesses, damn myself for not listening to you! You told me to forgive their ignorance. You told me war was not the answer, and that it would bring nothing but despair upon our kingdom. And what did I do? I ignored your warnings and tried to make you see my hate fueled thoughts. I knew, I knew deep inside you were right, but I was tired, tired of being called a monster and seeing our subjects ridiculed and discriminated. I sounded the war horns, called our troops, promised our subjects more land. Is it our fault our kingdom has such a bloody past? Our ancestors were all bitter, blood thirsty beast. I promised myself I would not be like them, I promised myself that I would change the way Equestria looked at us, and what did I do? I let that same bitterness cloud my thoughts and acted foolishly…and it cost you your life…my queen, my love, my Umbra… I remember it clearly, the first time I laid eyes on you, I felt something I had never felt before in my heart. When I got to know you better I knew you would be my queen, you were everything, beautiful, smart, kind, a presence to behold in all your radiance. I remember our wedding day, I remember that first blessed night! It was the first time I ever truly experienced happiness in all its bliss. And now it is gone. Along with you. Along with my world and my clemency! I’ll make them pay…I won’t stop until I hear their screams of agony and their cries for mercy! No, no…no, that’s not what you would have wanted, is it? You were always so calm and open minded. Even when I dragged you into this horrible bloody mess you still stuck by my side. Why wasn't I by your side in the battlefield!? We got separated; I looked for you but couldn't find you. When the fighting had slowed a soldier rushed to me and told me you had been fatally injured. I rushed to you and I remember…that…that grisly sight that still plagues my thoughts. You were lying there, in your own blood, I remember collapsing by your side and taking your hoof. Tears were falling down my face, I tried to call a medic but you stopped me, WHY?! Were you tired of living? Were you tired of fighting? You looked at me, you looked at me with those beautiful ruby eyes, and I saw it. Behind all the tears, behind all the sorrow, I could see it in your eyes…you were forgiving me for my ignorance, just like you had done countless times before. Damn that war…Damn that war and this land. Just thinking about it makes me angry. I want to forget the day this all started, that sunny day when we went to the Crystal Empire for peace talks. You were hoping to finally end the animosities between our kingdoms, and what happened? We were greeted by angry screams, more discrimination, STONES! Was it because of our appearance? Because we don’t look normal, or shine like those damn crystal hypocrites? Because of the atrocities our ANCESTORS had committed, the same atrocities WE were trying to mend? The Crystal princess tried to calm down her subjects but those dogs wouldn't listen. We were forced to leave else risk injury. I was furious but you managed to calm me…with your company, your voice, your reasoning. We returned that day humiliated and I tried to forget the whole thing, but that night…that same night that group of crystal bastards started it all! When they hur- _________________________________________________________________________________________ “Relic! Relic are you up there!? The weather is getting worse, we should really get going.” Relic looked up, surprised, he had been sucked into the diary, reading some parts twice, thrice, he lost track of time. “Umm…yeah, I’m here.” He was still trying to make sense of what he had just read. That didn't sound at all like the heartless villain everypony describes Sombra as. Relic quickly hid the king's diary in one of his saddlebags and started towards the stairs. Halfway down the stairs he met Amber. “Sorry to keep you waiting, let’s get out of here yeah?” They were walking across the giant room in the entrance of the castle when Amber asked, “Relic, you look as white as the snow outside, what happened, did you find something?” “No, I’m just…overwhelmed by everything we've seen. what about you, did you find anything interesting?” "Not really, just some old battle tactics and whatnot, say...I never heard of a Queen, have you?" "I haven't, weird, never once have I heard that Sombra was married, I...I wonder what she was like..." "From what I've heard, they must have both been cruel, relentless rulers. Are you sure you didn't find anything of interest?" "If I did, you know I would tell you, I did find the King's room...it was surprisingly clean, even after all this time." Why am I lying to her? I should tell her about the diary but…I…I can’t. Unlike before, every portrait of the king and his wife they passed didn't seem extraordinary anymore. At least not to Relic. To him they now appeared…depressing, he still didn’t know what to make of what he had read, but all the portraits seemed to be looking at him, blaming him. He wanted nothing more than to get some fresh air. Truth was…this was the archeological finding of the century. But he couldn’t tell any of his companions, not yet at least, he wanted to make sense of it first. And so, as he felt the cold evening air bite his face, he started pondering of where he could go to read the diary. Alone. A Complex DeliriumTonight was the first night Relic and his team would spend in the Empire. Something about being the only ones in a completely abandoned place with thousands of abandoned buildings would give most ponies the creeps, but Relic and his team had gotten used to this sort of scenario. Gathered around a warm camp fire they ate their soup while chatting about the days finding. All of them that is, except Relic. He was being unusally quiet and nopony seemed to notice, which was fine by him. His mind was too preocupied, too distracted by what was still in his saddlebag. Whenever he tried to pay attention to what his friends were saying his acquisitive thoughts kept returning to the diary of King Sombra. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. Quake Sphere, who had joined the team shortly after Relic and Amber, was in the middle of explaining how he had unearthed an ancient blade when Relic decided it was time to excuse himself. Standing up, he announced the first excuse that came to his head, "I'm sorry for the interruption Quake, but I'm feeling kind of tired so I think I'll get some shut-eye now. Thanks for that soup Granite, as always you surprise us with your freaky cooking skills." "Are you feeling OK Relic? You've been kind of quiet this whole time and seemed to have your head in the clouds." asked Lime Stone, a unicorn with a tender heart and a degree in medicine. "Yeah I'm fine, thanks for the concern though. Night everyone." With a convincing yawn, Relic started to retreat to the solace of his tent. Once inside he eagerly looked for his saddlebag. Spotting it across the tent, he began rummaging through it until at last he found it. The diary. Looking for a source of light he grabbed an oil lantern and was pleased to see there was plenty of fuel left. With his back facing the entrance of the tent, he was about to turn it on when he heard the flap of the tent swing open. Crud. Closing the diary rapidly, he put it back into his saddlebag and turned around to face the intruder. It was Amber. Relic felt frustrated, all he wanted to do was continue reading the King’s diary, he needed to know what happened next. He locked eyes with her and that frustration was replaced by guilt. He could see the concern in her eyes, she really cared for him, and here he was getting mad at her presence. “Relic, what’s wrong? I know you well enough to know when something is bothering you. You’ve been acting weird ever since we returned from the King’s castle.” Walking closer to him, she noticed he was avoiding her gaze, with a hoof, she turned his head towards hers and whispered, “You can tell me anything, remember?” Relic looked into her eyes, she was right, he could tell her anything. He trusted this mare more than anyone else, just being this close to her filled him with joy, being able to tell her anything felt good. Grabbing her hoof with his, he gently placed it on the ground and hugged her, “You’re right, there is something I need to tell you, or rather, show you.” Distancing himself ever so slightly from her he whispered, “But you can’t tell the others, at least not yet. Promise?” “Of course.” she whispered back, curiosity aroused. Reaching once more for his saddlebag, he took out the diary of the king. Locking eyes with Amber he handed the book to her. “I found this in a room located up the stairs I went up. It’s…It’s a diary written by the King himself, after a war that apparently took place with the Crystal Empire.” Amber simply stared at the book she now held in her hoofs. This sounded huge, she felt slightly irritated that he hadn't told her earlier, “Why didn’t you tell me about it when we were in the castle?” “I don’t know…I guess I was still trying to process what I had read, I think it would be best if you read it. I should go outside and talk to the others, so they don’t think I’m ill or something.” Moving the flap of the tent to step into the icy night, he stopped. Turning around he looked at Amber, “And thanks, I should have never kept this a secret from you, my love.” Amber flinched at those last two words. Turning around, she saw Relic staring at her with a smile. She couldn’t remember him ever saying that, he sounded so serious, so sincere, it exited her. With her heart pounding, the only thing she could do was turn away, blushing. Relic stepped outside, the cold wind immediately biting into his coat. Looking around, he saw everyone had retreated into their tents, except for Quake and Lime Stone, who were busy cleaning the dishes. Walking to them he noticed they were looking at him. “Everything alright guys?” “I guess so, you definitely seem a lot better, did Amber work her ‘magic’ on you?” Quake said and laughed, Lime Stone giggled next to him. “If by ‘magic’ you mean a nice conversation, then yeah.” “What was bothering you anyways? You’re usually so talkative, so cheerful, don’t tell me, big brave Relic Wonder is afraid of the cold,” teased Quake. As if on cue, a gust of chilly air swept down and spread throughout the camp, it felt like thousands of small needles striking their coats. “As if,” started Relic, “But we should really get something to cover ourselves with, our coats can only provide so much warmth and it’s getting colder. I don’t want to catch a cold while on such an important expedition.” “Way ahead of you,” said Lime Stone. Extracting three thick blankets from his tent he covered himself and his friends. With his eyes closed and a grin on his face, he proudly said, “It is important to always bring proper equipment when venturing to somewhere possibly hostile, I would also advice we move closer together so we may preserve body heat.” Looking at each other, Relic and Quake burst into laughter. Lime opened his eyes and stared at the pair, blushing, he looked down. “We’re sorry Lime,” said Relic when they had settled down, “We can always count on you, and you know that. Forgive us for that sudden outburst,” “Let’s change the topic shall we?” proposed Quake, “What sort of atrocities do you guys think King Sombra imposed on his kingdom? I’ve heard that he could strike down an entire family and not lose any sleep over it.” Relic tensed at the mention of the King. Lime Stone seemed to also be interested in this topic, “From the few archives I found in the library of the Crystal Empire, I imagine him to have been quite the fearsome ruler, not capable of feeling love, non-forgiving, always expecting things to go his way.” The gears in Relic’s head began to turn again. Why is it that all the stories we’ve heard depict him as such a monster? That’s not at all what he sounded like in his diary, especially when he spoke about Queen Umbra. “Hey, did you guys know the King was married?” Quake and Lime turned to him, curiosity plain in their faces. “How did you find out? Now that I think about it, you and Amber haven’t told us about what you found in the King’s castle.” “We haven’t? Well there was nothing really major like what you guys found,” lied Relic, “Mostly just old, worn out, walls and whatnot, but we did see various portraits when we walked in. They were of King Sombra and a good portion of them showed a mare. I could tell she was from this kingdom because of the way she looked and…don’t take this the wrong way, she was beautiful.” “Hmm, I’ve never heard of a Queen, what about you Quake?” “Nuh uh. As intriguing as that is, it’s getting late, I’ll see you fellas tomorrow,” said the brown earth pony, getting down from the chair and walking across the snow covered ground to his tent. “He’s right, good night Relic, can’t wait to hear about what else you and Amber discover.” “Good night, and don’t worry, we’ll keep you guys…informed.” Getting lost in his thoughts again, Relic didn’t even notice Lime walk away, when he finally snapped out of it he was sitting alone, under the treacherous wind. “Sheesh, we need to put up something to protect us from this forsaken weather. Maybe magic?” Relic told himself as he strolled back to his tent. Stepping inside, he saw Amber sitting, with Sombra’s diary on the ground next to her. “…How much did you read?” “…Only the first entry, I couldn’t bear to read any further,” she locked eyes with Relic, “Could the crystal ponies really do something so horrendous? And if so, why haven’t we ever heard about any of this?” “I don’t know, but I haven’t finished reading the first entry.” The tent floor was covered in warm blankets; Amber made room for Relic to sit and stayed silent. Reaching for the King’s diary he braced himself for whatever he was about to read. Opening it, he looked for the place where he had left off. _________________________________________________________________________________________ I was furious but you managed to calm me…with your company, your voice, your reasoning. We returned that day humiliated and I tried to forget the whole thing. But that night…that same night that group of crystal bastards started it all! When they hurt our subjects! Was it not enough to ostracize us from their territory? Was it not enough to hate us? They could have left us alone if they despised our kind so much. Why then, did they decide to take up arms? They called us barbarians, yet there they were, they had followed us and waited until our defenses were down to strike. What cowardice! What unreasonable malice! They broke down our Kingdom doors, charged in; iron raised high, started fires, struck down fathers and mothers who tried to protect their families…a small group of cretins they were, and soon they were overwhelmed. But just like the flames that scorched our kingdom that night, the flames of war they ignited in me would burn for the next three years. And I’ll admit it…it felt good to kill…no, what am I saying? Where are these feelings coming from? I remember the first battle, it was a victory for us, but…it felt so empty. I had never been to an actual bloodshed before. I had never before taken another’s life, leaving their families and friends without a loved one…but why should I care? Why should I care for them when they didn’t care about us? Why should I feel bad about killing the oppressors who wouldn’t accept our hoof in comradeship? Why should I care about the hypocrites who never once looked at us with compassion and understanding!? Our kingdoms warriors were mighty, and we would have won the war had it not been for their damned princesses. Did they hate us too? They always spoke about harmony and understanding, yet here they were in full battle armor felling soldier after soldier. They didn’t seem intent in stopping the fighting once it began. They didn’t seem inclined to offer an apology to mend the wounds their dogs had opened. Or was it perhaps…that they were scared? Were they afraid of the dark power our land holds? That same power we know nothing about, that we DON’T want to know anything about. Is that it? Did they decide we were a possible threat and sought it fit to exterminate us? Damn them! I would never dream of conjuring up that vile power trapped in the depths of our kingdom. No one has used that power in centuries, millennia! Our ancestors might have been savages, but they weren’t brain dead fools, they knew what happened last time one of the rulers of this kingdom tried to conquer that evil magic, they knew how it almost destroyed our kingdom... As I sit here, writing this, tears strolling down my face, I wonder what awaits me. There is nowhere I can go…no one to love…nothing…maybe the shadows speak the truth. Maybe the best thing for me to do is give in, that way, I can right this injustice. An eye for an eye right? NO! fool, what am I thinking? That’s the last thing you would want. Oh Umbra, why have you been taken from me? I don’t know what to do, your soothing voice isn’t here to calm me anymore, your company is no longer here to give me joy in utter darkness, and your reason isn’t here to guide me. I should …I have decided to end this entry here, a guard has advised me ponies are rallying outside the castle. Umbra, let your wisdom guide me, let me be like you and carry on, even in these times were everything seems lost. Let me be more like you, resilient, wise, strong…until the end. _________________________________________________________________________________________ Exhausted, Relic closed the diary, that seemed like a good place to stop. It must be pretty late and the others would question him if he overslept. He could tell them he stayed up late doing something but that could easily be misinterpreted when you share a tent with your marefriend. Speaking of marefriend, he turned his head to were Amber had been sitting and noticed she had fallen sleep. He stared at her, thinking of what life would be like if she suddenly passed away. He quickly seized those thoughts, no, don’t even think of that, it’s too painful. Moving closer to her he gently moved her hair, which had fallen over her face, and moved in closer to kiss her. He realized how just being this close to her made his heart beat faster. Good night…my love. With a kiss, the day seemed to have reached a proper end. Lying down, he thought about what it must have been like for Sombra when Queen Umbra was killed, he couldn’t imagine, or rather didn’t wish to imagine what he must have gone through. Thinking about loosing Amber made him feel pity for the king and what he had endured. Just before he fell asleep, a new thought crossed his mind. Sombra mentioned a dark power under the castle, could it be these ‘shadows’ he spoke of? Are we treading in forbidden land? These realizations gave him an uneasy feeling, and the weariness he had felt a second ago was replaced by fear. Den of ShadowsThe morning sun began to make its way across the sky, in this region that was a rare but welcomed occurrence. The warm beams slowly melted some of the thinner sheets of snow that covered most of the tattered empire. Through a small opening in the tents entrance, the warmth of the sun spread over Amber's body. Feeling the sudden change in temperature and light, Amber slowly woke up. Hugging what she first thought to be a blanket, she wondered what time it was. She began pushing the blanket off when it moved, realizing it wasn't a blanket, Amber opened her eyes and noticed it was Relic's forearm. This was a first, and she didn't know how to react. Her heart started beating faster against her golden coat and blood rushed to her face. How long had they been dating? A year? Yeah, that sounded about right. This was only their second time ever sharing sleeping space, they had both agreed to take it slowly, the first time was during an expedition in some forsaken corner of Equestria and boy had it been awkward. The usually cool and smooth Relic Wonder had acted like a complete goof, not knowing what to say or do; he had even kept his distance from her. Calming down, she realized it was actually very comfortable. She smiled and wondered how far they had come as a couple, then, the bliss of the moment was broken when the diary of King Sombra entered her thoughts. The king had written about several things that made her uncomfortable, everything she had read raised questions about the princesses and the Crystal Empire. The poor queen Umbra pushed her way to her consciousness next. Remembering the portraits of her she saw while in the castle, a tear formed in her eye. She sounded so...perfect...Sombra definitely loved her, and reading of her death caused Amber great sorrow. "Rise and shine!!" bellowed Granite from outside. "Let's get up ladies, it's a beautiful day and I made some delicious oatmeal!" The wonderful news was met with plenty of less than enthusiastic 'Yays.' Relic groaned and withdrew his arm, much to Amber's disappointment. Wiping his eyes with his hooves he forced himself to sit up, "It can't be earlier than six, is he insane." "You guys know I'm insane when it comes to new expeditions, now move your flanks." Relic always knew having an ex-royal guard as a team leader would have its downsides. He couldn't remember a single time Granite had let them sleep past 7. Once outside, Relic finally noticed how beautiful the day was turning out to be. The sun loomed over the dead kingdom and brought much needed light to the valley. Breakfast was quick and silent, it usually was. Still drowsy form being woken up, all 12 ponies sat in silence and ate their oatmeal. It wasn't until Prime asked what everyone thought the day would bring that conversation finally entered the unusually warm atmosphere. Thanking Granite for the food, they all began hastily strolling to their tents and soon the camp site was filled with exited chatter, along with the clanking of tools. Relic approached Granite, the stallion was cleaning the dishes while wearing an apron, it took everything Relic had to not laugh. "Say Granite, we haven't bathed in two days, don't you think we should make a shower?" "I've had that in mind too, which is why I have decided to stay behind today and build it myself." "By yourself?" Granite straightened and looked at Relic quizzically, "Is something wrong with that?" The tone of his voice sent a chill down Relics spine, as he remembered the one time he had unknowingly insulted the earth pony, he started thinking more of what he was about to say, "Um, what I meant is that wouldn't it be more efficient if you had some help?" Granite's gaze bore deeper into Relic. It felt like Granite was getting ready to sentence him to life or death, he wanted to look away but he knew Granite took that as a sign of weakness. Granite opened his mouth and Relic readied himself for some drama...and instead got hysteric laughter. "I'm just messing with you, don't worry, I made some blueprints last night, now go get ready, I'm sure there is still a lot to discovering to do." ...Oh you have no idea,Relic thought to himself as he walked away from the still laughing pony. He felt his lips quiver and soon enough he was giggling too. Been a good day so far, let's hope it stays that way. Parting the entrance of the tent, he stepped inside only to find it empty, looking around for his saddle bag something else caught his eye. Lying on top of the single piece of furniture in the tent, was the diary of Kind Sombra. He looked at it hesitantly, pondering if it was a good idea to read a little more before going back to the castle. Bracing himself for whatever else he might read about, he lifted the book from its resting place. Taking a deep breath, he opened the book and hoped Amber wouldn't walk in while he read. __________________________________________________________________________________ Entry# 2 Why does fate treat me as such? I don't recall ever doing something so vile as to deserve this. I am witnessing the fall of my empire...and I am powerless to do anything about it. They cry and beg for what I cannot provide. The weather continues to take its icy toll, our crops lie dead, we have no allies to turn to, no resources to depend on. They are starving! I am starving! Is this how we are meant to die?! Slowly starving over the remains of this once glorious and proud kingdom. Damn it! Damn it all! They are past reasoning, they beg for what they know I do not possess. I tried to reason, but their shouts muted all else. They grew more frantic, more desperate, I saw pitchforks, axes, tools once used to bring food for the land now tried to break past the rank of guards separating them from me. What good does violence do now? I told the guards to not attack anyone and they obeyed, but one, one of them managed to break through and charged me. He provoked me! I had no choice! I...I struck him down. Quick, as painlessly as I could...It all happened so fast, I didn't know how to react. The shouting had been replaced by utter silence, I stared at the lifeless corpse...and so did everypony else. One by one, the air was filled with horrible weeping. The angry shouts had been converted to cries of agony and starvation, even one of the guards dropped his weapon and broke down in tears...but that wasn't the worst part. I could hear them...I could hear them Umbra, the shadows, they spoke to me! After I killed the mournful stallion and stared at the weeping masses. What they said frightens me, they told me to- __________________________________________________________________________________ Relic closed the diary, whatever the King was going to say, he didn't want to hear it, at least not right now. "Relic, what are you doing?!" Quickly jolting up, Relic turned to Amber, the light seeping in from the entrance reflecting on her golden coat, making her look radiant. He must have been so allured by the diary he didn't even notice her walk in. "...I thought it would be a good idea to read some more before we departed." he answered flatly. "...and?" He looked down at the blanket covered floor, suddenly feeling exhausted, "If you expected things to suddenly cheer up, I hate to disappoint." Sighing, Amber made her way across the tent and sat next to him, resting her head on his shoulder, she whispered. "You should stop reading that diary, it's taking over your thoughts, and I should be the only one allowed to do that. Now come on, get moving. The Canterlot Institution of Paleontology is paying us a lot to finish this job and I want the house we raise our future foals in to be big." A grin slowly made its way across Relic's face and he was filled with new determination. Picking himself up, he made his way to the entrance. "Thanks...you always know what to say. Even if it sounds a little bold sometimes." Feeling relieved, Amber followed him, "I try..." Once outside, the sun was being rapidly overwhelmed by the clouds, the earlier sheet of warm sun was now nothing more than a thin layer of light. "Maybe we should take our sweaters, just in case things start getting ugly." Looking down, there were several hoof prints that indicated the rest of the team had left. Only Granite remained, and he was busy building some sort of weird structure, often starring at a piece of blue paper and scratching his head. As Amber observed him, she began to laugh. The rich, sweet sound filled the air. Relic loved the sound of that laugh, it made him feel like things were alright. Finally, they were on their way back to the castle of Kind Sombra, although now they went with a different attitude. They knew the truth of what had transpired inside this kingdom, the horrors war had brought upon it, and the terrible fate that met all those poor ponies. When they stepped into the courtyard, Relic could almost see the ponies begging for food, food that didn't exist. Shaking his head, he silenced these thoughts and tried to focus on the matters at hoof. "Amber, I want to show you the room where I found the diary. For being over a thousand years old, it looks like it was only yesterday that it has been fixed. "That...sounds...unsettling..." they were now past the giant hall of pictures, they had gone up the stairs and were in the room were the battle meetings must have taken place. "Something doesn't feel right Relic," Amber started, getting closer to him. "Don't worry, I'm here remember, now get ready for a breathtaking sight." Going up the same staircase he had the day before, Relic made his way to the door of the king's room and swung it open, "Behold!" "Waaah!" cried out Amber, frozen in place. "That wasn't the reaction that I was expecting. Don't you think it looks-" The words stopped cold in his throat and his heart almost stopped. The room, which looked glamorous yesterday, was in complete shambles. Dust, spider webs, and debris littered every inch of the room. The mirror that had been resting on the dresser was shattered and the bottles of perfume were in no better condition. The window was broken and a vicious wind was blowing inside, covering everything in snow. How had the weather worsened so quickly? Relic couldn't believe what he was seeing. This all felt very wrong. "Relic, can we please leave now? I'm getting a really bad feeling about all of this." "But...shouldn't we at least look around to see if we find somethi-" SCREEEEE "What the hell was that?" Relic's heart pounded like a drum, whatever had caused that horrible sound was close. "Amber, get behind me." Amber did as asked and became Relic's top priority, slowly closing the door, he began sidestepping to the stairs leading down, by doing that, he could keep an eye out for whatever might be down the long hall. The door he had just closed began to shake, that was the last thing he expected. Amber's breathing grew heavier, he needed to remain calm, for her. The doors burst open, an unrelenting gust of wind hit them, and a black veil seeped from within, quickly covering the walls, floor, and roof of the hall. "RUN!" Making their way down the stairs, the horrible screeching sound could be heard again. Relic stole a quick glance behind him and noticed that the shadows weren't following them. Relief flowed through his body, but that was short-lived as he heard Amber gasp. "Smoke! Relic, I can't see anything." They should be in the room with the round table, but it was full of smoke, it was seeping through the tiny cracks in the stone floor. It was thin, but black as the moonless night. He could still breathe, but he was sure that could change if whoever, or whatever was doing this wished it to. Vaguely remembering where the stairs leading to the first room where, he carefully felt his way around until his hoof sank about 6 inches. The stairs! "Amber, follow my voice, I found the stairs!" seeing the outline of her hoof, he grabbed it and galloped down the stairs. The smoke whizzed past them and Relic hoped the entrance wouldn't be closed. Once in the main hall, what he saw made his knees weak. The entire room were the giant portraits and chandeliers had been was completely covered in black; however, the entrance was still opened! This filled his body with new adrenaline and he motioned for Amber to follow him. Galloping for the exit, Relic heard a loud whoosh sound, and a second later, a huge black spear implanted itself in front of Relic. The force of the impact was enough to knock him back. "Relic!" Amber screamed and rushed to help him up, she was about to ask him if he was hurt when he pushed her back. At first stunned, she soon realized why he had done it. Where she had been standing, there now was a black spike that could have easily impaled her. The spear appeared to be made of smoke, but it was definitely solid. Following it with her eyes, she noticed it came from the far right wall. "Amber, hurry!" screamed Relic, helping her up. The two were now running at the speed only adrenaline can provide and more than once had to dodge a spear that landed too close for comfort. Once they were close enough to the entrance Amber jumped and landed on the courtyard, there appeared to be no sign of the shadows there. Gripping one of the iron doors with his mouth, Relic began to pull them shut, the veins in his neck becoming clearly visible from pulling the heavy doors. Amber made her way to help him when a sword like point made its way through the slit that was now the entrance and directed itself towards Relic. "NO!" she screamed and pushed him out of the way. A sharp, cold pain on her chest immediately followed. She landed on one of the three remaining steps that shadowed the doors and tried to get up, but the pain wouldn't let her. The bloodied sword like object banished into thin air when Relic closed the door. "AMBER!" Rushing to her, he quickly checked her wound, it didn't look too bad, but she still needed medical attention. "Hold on Amber, you're going to be fine. He opened his saddlebag and frantically searched for a smoke signal. They each carried a couple in case something happened and they needed to be located quickly. Taking out a box of matches, he lit it and threw it a couple of feet away. Next, he searched for a scarf he carried and ripped it in half, folding one half into a solid square. Taking off her wool sweater, he picked her up and began applying pressure to the wound. "You're going to be fine..." he whispered. "Relic...I never want to go back in there...please..." she said softly, and finally broke down crying... Mayday! Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.(Sorta) Calm Before the StormSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.DissentSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Not Exactly Your Average DiaryLooking up at the grey sky, Relic Wonder still couldn’t believe his luck. Ever since he started working as an archaeologist for the Royal University of Canterlot five years ago, he had always wanted to come here. And now, here he stood, in the remnants of the Shadow Empire, otherwise known as the home of the benevolent King Sombra. The little knowledge he had of the kingdom came from dusty old books found in various libraries across Equestria. Even then, the books told little about the ways of the ponies who once lived here, as a matter of fact, aside from architectural aspects of the kingdom, the only other thing the books mentioned was the dark, blood-filled past of the kingdom. He remembered reading about the barbaric founders and how they were speculated to be descendants of a group of unicorns who decided to abandon the land that eventually became unified under Celestia and Luna. He guessed the harsh weather of this region hardened them. The books had also mentioned that this kingdom bore a strong hatred against all the other kingdoms. And as he heard, King Sombra seemed to prove that much to be true four years ago when he broke from his prison and tried to take over the Crystal Empire. But the long imprisoned king had been defeated and the Crystal Empire was now thriving once more. Just thinking of Sombra made Relic Wonder shiver. He had heard many stories about him, all depicting him as a cruel, heartless villain who waged war against the Crystal Empire and its allies. Looking to his right, he saw buildings, or at least what remained of them, covered by a thick sheet of snow. To his left stood what appeared to be a theater, this seemed a bit out of place to him. He wondered what sort of plays the ponies of this land made. “Relic, where the hell did you go?” called a mare. Tightening a blanket over her golden coat and wings, she made a right turn and spotted her bronze coltfriend. “There you are, the others are waiting on you!” “Oh sorry, you know I like to do a bit of exploring on my own before we begin with our actual work,” replied Relic. “And you know that’s usually why we start late.” “I…I guess, haha, lets hurry back yeah?” “Gladly, this place gives me the creeps. Everything is so dark…and eerie." Relic chuckled as he took his marefriend by the hoof. “Don’t worry Amber, you’re safe as long as I’m here.” Amber Gem rolled her eyes but couldn’t help chuckle at Relic's machismo. Before long, they arrived at a camp site. Ten ponies stood over a map set in a table in the middle of the camp. One of the ponies saw Relic and Amber approach and told the others. All the ponies dispersed around the camp, giving Relic a hoofbump if they passed him. They had all been friends for years and trusted each other with their lives. “Well,” said Relic, “you should see if we have everything we need in our tent. I should go talk to Granite.” “Be careful he doesn't chew your head off,” Amber chuckled and walked to the tent they shared. Relic turned to the table where the map was and locked eyes with the white stallion that stood by it. “I see you went exploring by yourself again.” “I see you finished the briefing without me, mind telling me where I’m supposed to explore?” Relic was a brave Unicorn. He had been in sticky situations many times before and wasn’t scared easily. But if there was something that never failed to scare him, it was Granite. When Relic first met the robust stallion, they had gotten off to a great start. They both shared many of the same interests and passions; However, Granite was still the boss and could be pretty scary when angry. Something Relic has only seen a handful of times, each time engraved in his mind. Granite Rock smiled, “I think you’ll be happy to hear what I have to say,” Relic raised an eyebrow. “We finished the briefing because the place where you will be going doesn’t require coordinates.” “Why is that?” Relic’s anxiety was rising. “Because,” started Granite, “you and Amber have won a luxurious trip to the castle of King Sombra!” Relic couldn’t believe what he was hearing, not only had his archeology team been picked to go to the Shadow Empire, but he was going to get to explore the king's castle. “Thank you so much Granite! But, why us?” “Because Relic, you and Amber have proved to be a dynamic duo over the years, I discussed it with the other and they all agree you’re the stallion for the job. Now gather your equipment, we’re burning daylight.” Granite rolled up the map and went into his tent. Relic could still hardly believe what he had been told, he hurried to the tent he shared with Amber to tell her the news. Walking in, he saw her unpacking their equipment: brushes, pickaxes, various other tools for examining the physical remains of past eras. “I don’t think we’ll need most of those where we’re going.” Amber looked up at him, “what do you mean?” “Granite assigned us to the castle of King Sombra!” There was no sign of the enthusiasm Relic felt in Ambers face, she opened her wings and a gentle breeze swept through the tent, “really? Wh-wh-why us?” Relic knew what was going through her head, she hated being in confined spaces. He walked over to her and hugged her, “I know your feeling nervous, but it’s going to be alright. Nopony has been here in ages! It took a lot of preparations by princess Cadence to safely escort us across the snow. Besides, this is the archeological opportunity of a lifetime!” “I know, don’t worry I’ll be fine, just a bit nervous.” “Shall we get going then?” “…Sure” Walking outside, they saw two pegasus tightening their saddles full of equipment; one of them saw them emerge from their tent. “Relic, Amber, mind giving us a hoof?” “Sure thing,” called Relic, walking over to their friends he noticed everyone else seemed to be gone, even Granite. “So, where did Granite send you two?” They were brother and sister, the youngest in the group, Primordial and Miraculous Decree. Everyone thought their names were too long so they just called them Prime and Mira. “I see everyone else is gone too.” “Yeah, left for their excavation site a while back,” started Prime, “so, how does it feel to know you get to explore the castle of the big cheese?” “Feels great, I can’t wait to see what we find.” He responded as he finished securing Mira’s saddlebags. “I just hope we don’t stumble into any of the evil king's torturing dungeons. They all laughed at this gape, except Amber's laugh was a nervous one, “right, let’s hope we don’t.” “Oh don’t worry Amber, it was a joke, well good luck to you two." “Ditto,” said Mira, “and don’t get sidetracked you two.” With that final bit of friendly teasing, the siblings were gone. “Why does everypony keep saying that?” asked Relic, as they walked to the bastion that was the castle. “They’re just teasing, they know both of us take our job seriously, so, what do you think we’ll find?” “I don’t know, some treasure if we’re lucky.” They were now at the entrance of the castle. It took every last bit of strength they had to push the massive doors opened. Once inside, what they found was the last thing they expected. The doors gave way to a giant room decorated with massive chandeliers. There were tables scattered everywhere, very few still in one piece, much like the chandeliers. As expected, there were spider webs and dust everywhere. Dear Celestia, if this place was clean and whole it would be beautiful!” exclaimed Amber, walking into the middle of the room she spun around seeming to forget about her fears. “No kidding,” agreed Relic, looking around, his mouth agape. There were many portraits of King Sombra and…someone they didn’t recognize. A mare, she was taller than any mare he had ever seen, except for the princesses, and beautiful too. Although he didn’t mention that to Amber. He had always heard of King Sombra, but contrary to what they were seeing, he didn’t remember ever hearing about a Queen. At the end of the room there were stairs, going up the stairs, they reached a room that was round. A big round table stood in the middle, across it many little figures of all sorts. Towers, soldiers, this must have been the room where they prepared for war. Relic couldn’t imagine the barbaric plans that hatched in this room. There were plenty of sets of stairs in the room and they seemed to go off in every possible direction, “Amber, do you want to go up any of these stairs?” “Umm…I think I want to study this room a bit more. There are many papers littered on the floor and many cabinets to open. What about you.” She looked up from the table and saw Relic already heading to a set of stairs. Raising an eyebrow she said, “Don’t get lost alright.” “Don’t worry, if there are more stairs I won’t go up them without calling you.” OK, he heard her call. After about a minute of climbing, he stood in a long room, and just like he expected, there were more stairs. He did notice a door; it appeared like the only interesting thing in this room so he slowly opened it. What he saw made his heart skip a beat. It was a room, a big room, occupied by a big bed fit for a king…and a Queen. Could this be the room of the King? If it was, it was nothing like Relic expected it. Everything was…surprisingly tidy and clean, in contrast to the rest of the castle, heck, the rest of the kingdom. The bed was nicely folded, he opened a large wardrobe to reveal various gorgeous sets of robes, and a large cabinet made of marble had plenty of perfumes and trinkets spread on its surface…the weird thing is that nothing in this room appeared to have been touched by time. This room looked like it had been cleaned yesterday, but how? Are there ponies living here after all? No, that couldn’t be it. There were two windows, looking out one of them; Relic could see almost the entire kingdom spread out before him. This was truly an amazing sight. There was something by one of the windows, it was a desk, and on top of the desk, there was a book. He walked over to the book and slowly placed a hoof on top of it. He wondered what could be written inside of it, and slowly opened the book. What he saw was the last thing he expected. Written in the first page was: Diary. A diary? Of who? Sombra? The Queen? Reluctantly, he flipped to the first page. _________________________________________________________________________________________ Entry #1 I write this now…so that whomever may find it will see that my kingdom and I are the true victims of this catastrophe. So that whoever is reading this realizes how unjustly Equestria has treated us. Another reason I am writing this is because…I am scared. I fear my sanity is wavering. I fear my emotions are rebelling. I fear my rage will consume me…I fear that by the time this diary is complete, the author won’t be the same. I see them, shadows, whispering to me, promising me the power to make my enemies pay for everything they have taken from me. And their offers are tempting…but something about their presence just does not feel right. Something about their whispers sends a chill down my spine and makes me want to turn away. But I can’t… Oh! When did this start? When was my life so drastically altered? My kingdom is in shambles, my subjects loathe me, and nothing brings pleasure to me anymore. When did this misery enter my life? I ask myself this, yet, I know the answer. This all started…when they took you…my love. Damn them, damn them and their princesses, damn myself for not listening to you! You told me to forgive their ignorance. You told me war was not the answer, and that it would bring nothing but despair upon our kingdom. And what did I do? I ignored your warnings and tried to make you see my hate fueled thoughts. I knew, I knew deep inside you were right, but I was tired, tired of being called a monster and seeing our subjects ridiculed and discriminated. I sounded the war horns, called our troops, promised our subjects more land. Is it our fault our kingdom has such a bloody past? Our ancestors were all bitter, blood thirsty beast. I promised myself I would not be like them, I promised myself that I would change the way Equestria looked at us, and what did I do? I let that same bitterness cloud my thoughts and acted foolishly…and it cost you your life…my queen, my love, my Umbra… I remember it clearly, the first time I laid eyes on you, I felt something I had never felt before in my heart. When I got to know you better I knew you would be my queen, you were everything, beautiful, smart, kind, a presence to behold in all your radiance. I remember our wedding day, I remember that first blessed night! It was the first time I ever truly experienced happiness in all its bliss. And now it is gone. Along with you. Along with my world and my clemency! I’ll make them pay…I won’t stop until I hear their screams of agony and their cries for mercy! No, no…no, that’s not what you would have wanted, is it? You were always so calm and open minded. Even when I dragged you into this horrible bloody mess you still stuck by my side. Why wasn't I by your side in the battlefield!? We got separated; I looked for you but couldn't find you. When the fighting had slowed a soldier rushed to me and told me you had been fatally injured. I rushed to you and I remember…that…that grisly sight that still plagues my thoughts. You were lying there, in your own blood, I remember collapsing by your side and taking your hoof. Tears were falling down my face, I tried to call a medic but you stopped me, WHY?! Were you tired of living? Were you tired of fighting? You looked at me, you looked at me with those beautiful ruby eyes, and I saw it. Behind all the tears, behind all the sorrow, I could see it in your eyes…you were forgiving me for my ignorance, just like you had done countless times before. Damn that war…Damn that war and this land. Just thinking about it makes me angry. I want to forget the day this all started, that sunny day when we went to the Crystal Empire for peace talks. You were hoping to finally end the animosities between our kingdoms, and what happened? We were greeted by angry screams, more discrimination, STONES! Was it because of our appearance? Because we don’t look normal, or shine like those damn crystal hypocrites? Because of the atrocities our ANCESTORS had committed, the same atrocities WE were trying to mend? The Crystal princess tried to calm down her subjects but those dogs wouldn't listen. We were forced to leave else risk injury. I was furious but you managed to calm me…with your company, your voice, your reasoning. We returned that day humiliated and I tried to forget the whole thing, but that night…that same night that group of crystal bastards started it all! When they hur- _________________________________________________________________________________________ “Relic! Relic are you up there!? The weather is getting worse, we should really get going.” Relic looked up, surprised, he had been sucked into the diary, reading some parts twice, thrice, he lost track of time. “Umm…yeah, I’m here.” He was still trying to make sense of what he had just read. That didn't sound at all like the heartless villain everypony describes Sombra as. Relic quickly hid the king's diary in one of his saddlebags and started towards the stairs. Halfway down the stairs he met Amber. “Sorry to keep you waiting, let’s get out of here yeah?” They were walking across the giant room in the entrance of the castle when Amber asked, “Relic, you look as white as the snow outside, what happened, did you find something?” “No, I’m just…overwhelmed by everything we've seen. what about you, did you find anything interesting?” "Not really, just some old battle tactics and whatnot, say...I never heard of a Queen, have you?" "I haven't, weird, never once have I heard that Sombra was married, I...I wonder what she was like..." "From what I've heard, they must have both been cruel, relentless rulers. Are you sure you didn't find anything of interest?" "If I did, you know I would tell you, I did find the King's room...it was surprisingly clean, even after all this time." Why am I lying to her? I should tell her about the diary but…I…I can’t. Unlike before, every portrait of the king and his wife they passed didn't seem extraordinary anymore. At least not to Relic. To him they now appeared…depressing, he still didn’t know what to make of what he had read, but all the portraits seemed to be looking at him, blaming him. He wanted nothing more than to get some fresh air. Truth was…this was the archeological finding of the century. But he couldn’t tell any of his companions, not yet at least, he wanted to make sense of it first. And so, as he felt the cold evening air bite his face, he started pondering of where he could go to read the diary. Alone.
A Complex DeliriumTonight was the first night Relic and his team would spend in the Empire. Something about being the only ones in a completely abandoned place with thousands of abandoned buildings would give most ponies the creeps, but Relic and his team had gotten used to this sort of scenario. Gathered around a warm camp fire they ate their soup while chatting about the days finding. All of them that is, except Relic. He was being unusally quiet and nopony seemed to notice, which was fine by him. His mind was too preocupied, too distracted by what was still in his saddlebag. Whenever he tried to pay attention to what his friends were saying his acquisitive thoughts kept returning to the diary of King Sombra. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. Quake Sphere, who had joined the team shortly after Relic and Amber, was in the middle of explaining how he had unearthed an ancient blade when Relic decided it was time to excuse himself. Standing up, he announced the first excuse that came to his head, "I'm sorry for the interruption Quake, but I'm feeling kind of tired so I think I'll get some shut-eye now. Thanks for that soup Granite, as always you surprise us with your freaky cooking skills." "Are you feeling OK Relic? You've been kind of quiet this whole time and seemed to have your head in the clouds." asked Lime Stone, a unicorn with a tender heart and a degree in medicine. "Yeah I'm fine, thanks for the concern though. Night everyone." With a convincing yawn, Relic started to retreat to the solace of his tent. Once inside he eagerly looked for his saddlebag. Spotting it across the tent, he began rummaging through it until at last he found it. The diary. Looking for a source of light he grabbed an oil lantern and was pleased to see there was plenty of fuel left. With his back facing the entrance of the tent, he was about to turn it on when he heard the flap of the tent swing open. Crud. Closing the diary rapidly, he put it back into his saddlebag and turned around to face the intruder. It was Amber. Relic felt frustrated, all he wanted to do was continue reading the King’s diary, he needed to know what happened next. He locked eyes with her and that frustration was replaced by guilt. He could see the concern in her eyes, she really cared for him, and here he was getting mad at her presence. “Relic, what’s wrong? I know you well enough to know when something is bothering you. You’ve been acting weird ever since we returned from the King’s castle.” Walking closer to him, she noticed he was avoiding her gaze, with a hoof, she turned his head towards hers and whispered, “You can tell me anything, remember?” Relic looked into her eyes, she was right, he could tell her anything. He trusted this mare more than anyone else, just being this close to her filled him with joy, being able to tell her anything felt good. Grabbing her hoof with his, he gently placed it on the ground and hugged her, “You’re right, there is something I need to tell you, or rather, show you.” Distancing himself ever so slightly from her he whispered, “But you can’t tell the others, at least not yet. Promise?” “Of course.” she whispered back, curiosity aroused. Reaching once more for his saddlebag, he took out the diary of the king. Locking eyes with Amber he handed the book to her. “I found this in a room located up the stairs I went up. It’s…It’s a diary written by the King himself, after a war that apparently took place with the Crystal Empire.” Amber simply stared at the book she now held in her hoofs. This sounded huge, she felt slightly irritated that he hadn't told her earlier, “Why didn’t you tell me about it when we were in the castle?” “I don’t know…I guess I was still trying to process what I had read, I think it would be best if you read it. I should go outside and talk to the others, so they don’t think I’m ill or something.” Moving the flap of the tent to step into the icy night, he stopped. Turning around he looked at Amber, “And thanks, I should have never kept this a secret from you, my love.” Amber flinched at those last two words. Turning around, she saw Relic staring at her with a smile. She couldn’t remember him ever saying that, he sounded so serious, so sincere, it exited her. With her heart pounding, the only thing she could do was turn away, blushing. Relic stepped outside, the cold wind immediately biting into his coat. Looking around, he saw everyone had retreated into their tents, except for Quake and Lime Stone, who were busy cleaning the dishes. Walking to them he noticed they were looking at him. “Everything alright guys?” “I guess so, you definitely seem a lot better, did Amber work her ‘magic’ on you?” Quake said and laughed, Lime Stone giggled next to him. “If by ‘magic’ you mean a nice conversation, then yeah.” “What was bothering you anyways? You’re usually so talkative, so cheerful, don’t tell me, big brave Relic Wonder is afraid of the cold,” teased Quake. As if on cue, a gust of chilly air swept down and spread throughout the camp, it felt like thousands of small needles striking their coats. “As if,” started Relic, “But we should really get something to cover ourselves with, our coats can only provide so much warmth and it’s getting colder. I don’t want to catch a cold while on such an important expedition.” “Way ahead of you,” said Lime Stone. Extracting three thick blankets from his tent he covered himself and his friends. With his eyes closed and a grin on his face, he proudly said, “It is important to always bring proper equipment when venturing to somewhere possibly hostile, I would also advice we move closer together so we may preserve body heat.” Looking at each other, Relic and Quake burst into laughter. Lime opened his eyes and stared at the pair, blushing, he looked down. “We’re sorry Lime,” said Relic when they had settled down, “We can always count on you, and you know that. Forgive us for that sudden outburst,” “Let’s change the topic shall we?” proposed Quake, “What sort of atrocities do you guys think King Sombra imposed on his kingdom? I’ve heard that he could strike down an entire family and not lose any sleep over it.” Relic tensed at the mention of the King. Lime Stone seemed to also be interested in this topic, “From the few archives I found in the library of the Crystal Empire, I imagine him to have been quite the fearsome ruler, not capable of feeling love, non-forgiving, always expecting things to go his way.” The gears in Relic’s head began to turn again. Why is it that all the stories we’ve heard depict him as such a monster? That’s not at all what he sounded like in his diary, especially when he spoke about Queen Umbra. “Hey, did you guys know the King was married?” Quake and Lime turned to him, curiosity plain in their faces. “How did you find out? Now that I think about it, you and Amber haven’t told us about what you found in the King’s castle.” “We haven’t? Well there was nothing really major like what you guys found,” lied Relic, “Mostly just old, worn out, walls and whatnot, but we did see various portraits when we walked in. They were of King Sombra and a good portion of them showed a mare. I could tell she was from this kingdom because of the way she looked and…don’t take this the wrong way, she was beautiful.” “Hmm, I’ve never heard of a Queen, what about you Quake?” “Nuh uh. As intriguing as that is, it’s getting late, I’ll see you fellas tomorrow,” said the brown earth pony, getting down from the chair and walking across the snow covered ground to his tent. “He’s right, good night Relic, can’t wait to hear about what else you and Amber discover.” “Good night, and don’t worry, we’ll keep you guys…informed.” Getting lost in his thoughts again, Relic didn’t even notice Lime walk away, when he finally snapped out of it he was sitting alone, under the treacherous wind. “Sheesh, we need to put up something to protect us from this forsaken weather. Maybe magic?” Relic told himself as he strolled back to his tent. Stepping inside, he saw Amber sitting, with Sombra’s diary on the ground next to her. “…How much did you read?” “…Only the first entry, I couldn’t bear to read any further,” she locked eyes with Relic, “Could the crystal ponies really do something so horrendous? And if so, why haven’t we ever heard about any of this?” “I don’t know, but I haven’t finished reading the first entry.” The tent floor was covered in warm blankets; Amber made room for Relic to sit and stayed silent. Reaching for the King’s diary he braced himself for whatever he was about to read. Opening it, he looked for the place where he had left off. _________________________________________________________________________________________ I was furious but you managed to calm me…with your company, your voice, your reasoning. We returned that day humiliated and I tried to forget the whole thing. But that night…that same night that group of crystal bastards started it all! When they hurt our subjects! Was it not enough to ostracize us from their territory? Was it not enough to hate us? They could have left us alone if they despised our kind so much. Why then, did they decide to take up arms? They called us barbarians, yet there they were, they had followed us and waited until our defenses were down to strike. What cowardice! What unreasonable malice! They broke down our Kingdom doors, charged in; iron raised high, started fires, struck down fathers and mothers who tried to protect their families…a small group of cretins they were, and soon they were overwhelmed. But just like the flames that scorched our kingdom that night, the flames of war they ignited in me would burn for the next three years. And I’ll admit it…it felt good to kill…no, what am I saying? Where are these feelings coming from? I remember the first battle, it was a victory for us, but…it felt so empty. I had never been to an actual bloodshed before. I had never before taken another’s life, leaving their families and friends without a loved one…but why should I care? Why should I care for them when they didn’t care about us? Why should I feel bad about killing the oppressors who wouldn’t accept our hoof in comradeship? Why should I care about the hypocrites who never once looked at us with compassion and understanding!? Our kingdoms warriors were mighty, and we would have won the war had it not been for their damned princesses. Did they hate us too? They always spoke about harmony and understanding, yet here they were in full battle armor felling soldier after soldier. They didn’t seem intent in stopping the fighting once it began. They didn’t seem inclined to offer an apology to mend the wounds their dogs had opened. Or was it perhaps…that they were scared? Were they afraid of the dark power our land holds? That same power we know nothing about, that we DON’T want to know anything about. Is that it? Did they decide we were a possible threat and sought it fit to exterminate us? Damn them! I would never dream of conjuring up that vile power trapped in the depths of our kingdom. No one has used that power in centuries, millennia! Our ancestors might have been savages, but they weren’t brain dead fools, they knew what happened last time one of the rulers of this kingdom tried to conquer that evil magic, they knew how it almost destroyed our kingdom... As I sit here, writing this, tears strolling down my face, I wonder what awaits me. There is nowhere I can go…no one to love…nothing…maybe the shadows speak the truth. Maybe the best thing for me to do is give in, that way, I can right this injustice. An eye for an eye right? NO! fool, what am I thinking? That’s the last thing you would want. Oh Umbra, why have you been taken from me? I don’t know what to do, your soothing voice isn’t here to calm me anymore, your company is no longer here to give me joy in utter darkness, and your reason isn’t here to guide me. I should …I have decided to end this entry here, a guard has advised me ponies are rallying outside the castle. Umbra, let your wisdom guide me, let me be like you and carry on, even in these times were everything seems lost. Let me be more like you, resilient, wise, strong…until the end. _________________________________________________________________________________________ Exhausted, Relic closed the diary, that seemed like a good place to stop. It must be pretty late and the others would question him if he overslept. He could tell them he stayed up late doing something but that could easily be misinterpreted when you share a tent with your marefriend. Speaking of marefriend, he turned his head to were Amber had been sitting and noticed she had fallen sleep. He stared at her, thinking of what life would be like if she suddenly passed away. He quickly seized those thoughts, no, don’t even think of that, it’s too painful. Moving closer to her he gently moved her hair, which had fallen over her face, and moved in closer to kiss her. He realized how just being this close to her made his heart beat faster. Good night…my love. With a kiss, the day seemed to have reached a proper end. Lying down, he thought about what it must have been like for Sombra when Queen Umbra was killed, he couldn’t imagine, or rather didn’t wish to imagine what he must have gone through. Thinking about loosing Amber made him feel pity for the king and what he had endured. Just before he fell asleep, a new thought crossed his mind. Sombra mentioned a dark power under the castle, could it be these ‘shadows’ he spoke of? Are we treading in forbidden land? These realizations gave him an uneasy feeling, and the weariness he had felt a second ago was replaced by fear.
Den of ShadowsThe morning sun began to make its way across the sky, in this region that was a rare but welcomed occurrence. The warm beams slowly melted some of the thinner sheets of snow that covered most of the tattered empire. Through a small opening in the tents entrance, the warmth of the sun spread over Amber's body. Feeling the sudden change in temperature and light, Amber slowly woke up. Hugging what she first thought to be a blanket, she wondered what time it was. She began pushing the blanket off when it moved, realizing it wasn't a blanket, Amber opened her eyes and noticed it was Relic's forearm. This was a first, and she didn't know how to react. Her heart started beating faster against her golden coat and blood rushed to her face. How long had they been dating? A year? Yeah, that sounded about right. This was only their second time ever sharing sleeping space, they had both agreed to take it slowly, the first time was during an expedition in some forsaken corner of Equestria and boy had it been awkward. The usually cool and smooth Relic Wonder had acted like a complete goof, not knowing what to say or do; he had even kept his distance from her. Calming down, she realized it was actually very comfortable. She smiled and wondered how far they had come as a couple, then, the bliss of the moment was broken when the diary of King Sombra entered her thoughts. The king had written about several things that made her uncomfortable, everything she had read raised questions about the princesses and the Crystal Empire. The poor queen Umbra pushed her way to her consciousness next. Remembering the portraits of her she saw while in the castle, a tear formed in her eye. She sounded so...perfect...Sombra definitely loved her, and reading of her death caused Amber great sorrow. "Rise and shine!!" bellowed Granite from outside. "Let's get up ladies, it's a beautiful day and I made some delicious oatmeal!" The wonderful news was met with plenty of less than enthusiastic 'Yays.' Relic groaned and withdrew his arm, much to Amber's disappointment. Wiping his eyes with his hooves he forced himself to sit up, "It can't be earlier than six, is he insane." "You guys know I'm insane when it comes to new expeditions, now move your flanks." Relic always knew having an ex-royal guard as a team leader would have its downsides. He couldn't remember a single time Granite had let them sleep past 7. Once outside, Relic finally noticed how beautiful the day was turning out to be. The sun loomed over the dead kingdom and brought much needed light to the valley. Breakfast was quick and silent, it usually was. Still drowsy form being woken up, all 12 ponies sat in silence and ate their oatmeal. It wasn't until Prime asked what everyone thought the day would bring that conversation finally entered the unusually warm atmosphere. Thanking Granite for the food, they all began hastily strolling to their tents and soon the camp site was filled with exited chatter, along with the clanking of tools. Relic approached Granite, the stallion was cleaning the dishes while wearing an apron, it took everything Relic had to not laugh. "Say Granite, we haven't bathed in two days, don't you think we should make a shower?" "I've had that in mind too, which is why I have decided to stay behind today and build it myself." "By yourself?" Granite straightened and looked at Relic quizzically, "Is something wrong with that?" The tone of his voice sent a chill down Relics spine, as he remembered the one time he had unknowingly insulted the earth pony, he started thinking more of what he was about to say, "Um, what I meant is that wouldn't it be more efficient if you had some help?" Granite's gaze bore deeper into Relic. It felt like Granite was getting ready to sentence him to life or death, he wanted to look away but he knew Granite took that as a sign of weakness. Granite opened his mouth and Relic readied himself for some drama...and instead got hysteric laughter. "I'm just messing with you, don't worry, I made some blueprints last night, now go get ready, I'm sure there is still a lot to discovering to do." ...Oh you have no idea,Relic thought to himself as he walked away from the still laughing pony. He felt his lips quiver and soon enough he was giggling too. Been a good day so far, let's hope it stays that way. Parting the entrance of the tent, he stepped inside only to find it empty, looking around for his saddle bag something else caught his eye. Lying on top of the single piece of furniture in the tent, was the diary of Kind Sombra. He looked at it hesitantly, pondering if it was a good idea to read a little more before going back to the castle. Bracing himself for whatever else he might read about, he lifted the book from its resting place. Taking a deep breath, he opened the book and hoped Amber wouldn't walk in while he read. __________________________________________________________________________________ Entry# 2 Why does fate treat me as such? I don't recall ever doing something so vile as to deserve this. I am witnessing the fall of my empire...and I am powerless to do anything about it. They cry and beg for what I cannot provide. The weather continues to take its icy toll, our crops lie dead, we have no allies to turn to, no resources to depend on. They are starving! I am starving! Is this how we are meant to die?! Slowly starving over the remains of this once glorious and proud kingdom. Damn it! Damn it all! They are past reasoning, they beg for what they know I do not possess. I tried to reason, but their shouts muted all else. They grew more frantic, more desperate, I saw pitchforks, axes, tools once used to bring food for the land now tried to break past the rank of guards separating them from me. What good does violence do now? I told the guards to not attack anyone and they obeyed, but one, one of them managed to break through and charged me. He provoked me! I had no choice! I...I struck him down. Quick, as painlessly as I could...It all happened so fast, I didn't know how to react. The shouting had been replaced by utter silence, I stared at the lifeless corpse...and so did everypony else. One by one, the air was filled with horrible weeping. The angry shouts had been converted to cries of agony and starvation, even one of the guards dropped his weapon and broke down in tears...but that wasn't the worst part. I could hear them...I could hear them Umbra, the shadows, they spoke to me! After I killed the mournful stallion and stared at the weeping masses. What they said frightens me, they told me to- __________________________________________________________________________________ Relic closed the diary, whatever the King was going to say, he didn't want to hear it, at least not right now. "Relic, what are you doing?!" Quickly jolting up, Relic turned to Amber, the light seeping in from the entrance reflecting on her golden coat, making her look radiant. He must have been so allured by the diary he didn't even notice her walk in. "...I thought it would be a good idea to read some more before we departed." he answered flatly. "...and?" He looked down at the blanket covered floor, suddenly feeling exhausted, "If you expected things to suddenly cheer up, I hate to disappoint." Sighing, Amber made her way across the tent and sat next to him, resting her head on his shoulder, she whispered. "You should stop reading that diary, it's taking over your thoughts, and I should be the only one allowed to do that. Now come on, get moving. The Canterlot Institution of Paleontology is paying us a lot to finish this job and I want the house we raise our future foals in to be big." A grin slowly made its way across Relic's face and he was filled with new determination. Picking himself up, he made his way to the entrance. "Thanks...you always know what to say. Even if it sounds a little bold sometimes." Feeling relieved, Amber followed him, "I try..." Once outside, the sun was being rapidly overwhelmed by the clouds, the earlier sheet of warm sun was now nothing more than a thin layer of light. "Maybe we should take our sweaters, just in case things start getting ugly." Looking down, there were several hoof prints that indicated the rest of the team had left. Only Granite remained, and he was busy building some sort of weird structure, often starring at a piece of blue paper and scratching his head. As Amber observed him, she began to laugh. The rich, sweet sound filled the air. Relic loved the sound of that laugh, it made him feel like things were alright. Finally, they were on their way back to the castle of Kind Sombra, although now they went with a different attitude. They knew the truth of what had transpired inside this kingdom, the horrors war had brought upon it, and the terrible fate that met all those poor ponies. When they stepped into the courtyard, Relic could almost see the ponies begging for food, food that didn't exist. Shaking his head, he silenced these thoughts and tried to focus on the matters at hoof. "Amber, I want to show you the room where I found the diary. For being over a thousand years old, it looks like it was only yesterday that it has been fixed. "That...sounds...unsettling..." they were now past the giant hall of pictures, they had gone up the stairs and were in the room were the battle meetings must have taken place. "Something doesn't feel right Relic," Amber started, getting closer to him. "Don't worry, I'm here remember, now get ready for a breathtaking sight." Going up the same staircase he had the day before, Relic made his way to the door of the king's room and swung it open, "Behold!" "Waaah!" cried out Amber, frozen in place. "That wasn't the reaction that I was expecting. Don't you think it looks-" The words stopped cold in his throat and his heart almost stopped. The room, which looked glamorous yesterday, was in complete shambles. Dust, spider webs, and debris littered every inch of the room. The mirror that had been resting on the dresser was shattered and the bottles of perfume were in no better condition. The window was broken and a vicious wind was blowing inside, covering everything in snow. How had the weather worsened so quickly? Relic couldn't believe what he was seeing. This all felt very wrong. "Relic, can we please leave now? I'm getting a really bad feeling about all of this." "But...shouldn't we at least look around to see if we find somethi-" SCREEEEE "What the hell was that?" Relic's heart pounded like a drum, whatever had caused that horrible sound was close. "Amber, get behind me." Amber did as asked and became Relic's top priority, slowly closing the door, he began sidestepping to the stairs leading down, by doing that, he could keep an eye out for whatever might be down the long hall. The door he had just closed began to shake, that was the last thing he expected. Amber's breathing grew heavier, he needed to remain calm, for her. The doors burst open, an unrelenting gust of wind hit them, and a black veil seeped from within, quickly covering the walls, floor, and roof of the hall. "RUN!" Making their way down the stairs, the horrible screeching sound could be heard again. Relic stole a quick glance behind him and noticed that the shadows weren't following them. Relief flowed through his body, but that was short-lived as he heard Amber gasp. "Smoke! Relic, I can't see anything." They should be in the room with the round table, but it was full of smoke, it was seeping through the tiny cracks in the stone floor. It was thin, but black as the moonless night. He could still breathe, but he was sure that could change if whoever, or whatever was doing this wished it to. Vaguely remembering where the stairs leading to the first room where, he carefully felt his way around until his hoof sank about 6 inches. The stairs! "Amber, follow my voice, I found the stairs!" seeing the outline of her hoof, he grabbed it and galloped down the stairs. The smoke whizzed past them and Relic hoped the entrance wouldn't be closed. Once in the main hall, what he saw made his knees weak. The entire room were the giant portraits and chandeliers had been was completely covered in black; however, the entrance was still opened! This filled his body with new adrenaline and he motioned for Amber to follow him. Galloping for the exit, Relic heard a loud whoosh sound, and a second later, a huge black spear implanted itself in front of Relic. The force of the impact was enough to knock him back. "Relic!" Amber screamed and rushed to help him up, she was about to ask him if he was hurt when he pushed her back. At first stunned, she soon realized why he had done it. Where she had been standing, there now was a black spike that could have easily impaled her. The spear appeared to be made of smoke, but it was definitely solid. Following it with her eyes, she noticed it came from the far right wall. "Amber, hurry!" screamed Relic, helping her up. The two were now running at the speed only adrenaline can provide and more than once had to dodge a spear that landed too close for comfort. Once they were close enough to the entrance Amber jumped and landed on the courtyard, there appeared to be no sign of the shadows there. Gripping one of the iron doors with his mouth, Relic began to pull them shut, the veins in his neck becoming clearly visible from pulling the heavy doors. Amber made her way to help him when a sword like point made its way through the slit that was now the entrance and directed itself towards Relic. "NO!" she screamed and pushed him out of the way. A sharp, cold pain on her chest immediately followed. She landed on one of the three remaining steps that shadowed the doors and tried to get up, but the pain wouldn't let her. The bloodied sword like object banished into thin air when Relic closed the door. "AMBER!" Rushing to her, he quickly checked her wound, it didn't look too bad, but she still needed medical attention. "Hold on Amber, you're going to be fine. He opened his saddlebag and frantically searched for a smoke signal. They each carried a couple in case something happened and they needed to be located quickly. Taking out a box of matches, he lit it and threw it a couple of feet away. Next, he searched for a scarf he carried and ripped it in half, folding one half into a solid square. Taking off her wool sweater, he picked her up and began applying pressure to the wound. "You're going to be fine..." he whispered. "Relic...I never want to go back in there...please..." she said softly, and finally broke down crying...
(Sorta) Calm Before the StormSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
