Diary of a Mad King

Looking 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.

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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-

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“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.