In the fair land called Equestria, in the middle was a magical kingdom called Canterlot. There, was King Solaris and Queen Luna. They had two children. The first was Prince Sombra, a grey little Alicorn colt. (Alternate Universe= Alicorn Sombra.) He had strange red eyes, but he was kind, and he absolutely loved to play with his little sister, Princess Twilight, who was a lavender five year-old Alicorn filly. Her eyes were deep purple, like her hair. Sombra's hair was black. Every morning, the two would play with Sombra's special gift.
The sun was starting to rise. The window was starting to leak out sunlight. There, in the room were two beds. One blue, one pink. The blue one held a sleeping eight year-old Alicorn colt. The pink bed was empty. Princess Twilight popped out from the ground, next to her big brother. "Come on, get up! Let's play!"
Sombra returned the gesture by throwing his pillow over his head. "Twilight, go back to sleep."
The little princess hopped onto her brother's bed. "I can't. The sky is awake, so I'M awake!" She shook her brother. "Come on! I want to play!"
Sombra sighed. "Go play with yourself." Twilight slunk onto the floor, about to face defeat. She thought a moment, wondering what her brother would do with her. Suddenly, her eyes brightened as she thought of something.
"Do you want to build a Crystal Pony?"
Sombra grinned inside his pillow. He couldn't resist.
Twilight was a flurry of giggles as she and Sombra raced down the stairs. Sombra kept trying to contain his laughter as he shushed her. Their parents were asleep, and he didn't want to wake them. Finally, they reached their destination, the old ballroom, where Royal Balls were held by their parents.
"Are you ready?" Sombra asked an over-excited Twilight.
"Yes, yes!" The filly cried, hopping around.
Sombra laughed, and with a stomp of his hooves, beautifully colored crystals formed, and created a slick rainbow floor. Twilight smiled and played as she slid around the ice on her toddler legs. Sombra enjoyed seeing his baby sister play so happily.
Together, they created an Alicorn Crystal Pony with a smile and tiara. Sombra hid behind the Alicorn Crystal Pony, and put his voice squeaky like a mare's voice. "Hi, I'm Cadence! I like warm hugs!"
Twilight laughed even more. "Hi, Cadence!" The happy siblings danced around the Pony, giggling and having much fun. Then, Sombra used his hooves to make a crystal slide. Twilight ran toward it, climbed to the top, and slid. She zoomed into the air. Sombra then realized that she couldn't fly yet, and panicked as he made another one. Instead of getting off when she was near the bottom, she jumped, making Sombra create another one. She wouldn't stop! He soon had created ten, and she was almost at the ceiling!
"Twilight! Stop! Slow down!" He created another one, and another, while twilight was having fun. Sombra panicked, until his hoof slipped on his crystal ice. He landed on his face. Twilight leaped. As she flew she realized what she did, and screamed. Sombra, hoping it would catch her, cast his hoof out. "TWILIGHT!" he screamed. As she was about to hit the ground, the magic sliced through her head. She toppled over the ice, and landed unconscious in the middle of the room. Sombra yelled her name, and ran to her. She was cold, and she wasn't moving. A lock of her hair turned black. "MOM! DAD!" Sombra screamed. As he called for help, his worry increased. The crystals around them were turning black... In less than a minute, King Solaris and Queen Luna burst through the door, seeing the crystal mess.
"Sombra, this is getting too strong!" King Solaris scolded. Queen Luna cradled her daughter, on the verge of tears. King Solaris ran out the door. "I know where we need to go!" Sombra and his mother ran after him.
After the family packed up in a wagon, they rode. Meanwhile, an Earth Pony Colt who wandered the streets with his dog, Winona, saw them rush past. A trail of black crystals followed them. He was stunned. He called for his dog, and ran after the wagon.
Sombra and his family went through the forest, and finally reached a hut. Inside, a zebra was cooking up a brew. When the royals burst in, she stopped.
"The King! The Queen! This is NOT a pleasant visit I see!"
The king told her all about the accident.
"Was he born with them, or cursed? Either way can not be reversed."
"Born," the King answered. "And they are getting stronger."
Zecora nodded. She put her attention to Twilight. "You are lucky it was not her heart that was struck, for then she would be completely stuck." She paused. "We must remove all memories of power, as so they do not devour."
The King nodded. "Do what you must."
With a special brew, she pulled a series of glowing memories from little Twilight's head. The memories hovered in the air as Zecora transformed them into more sensible scenes. Instead of a magical Alicorn Crystal Pony in the ballroom, Twilight would remember a regular snow-pony in the courtyard. Instead of remembering a crystal floor, Twilight would remember an outing o a frozen lake. All the magical moments she shard with Sombra, were gone.
"There, she will remember fun, but not the powers of the son."
"She.....won't remember my powers?" Sombra trembled.
"No." Zecora simply stated. "But listen, sweet Sombra, for your power is just a stranger, but if you don't control it, it will become a great danger." As she spoke, Zecora conjured up an image of an older Sombra in the sky. The image twirled gracefully, with dull rainbow crystals all around. Then, amid the Northern Lights, the crystals sharpened, and turned black. The spectre of a crowd joined Sombra in the sky, and the people used the black spikes to attack him.
"Don't feel it, just conceal it, and DON'T let it show." Zecora warned the terrified Sombra.
The King brought him close. "We'll protect him" he promised. "We'll lock the doors, reduce the staff, and keep her powers hidden from everyone. Including Twilight....."
Back at the castle, King Solaris and Queen Luna immediately ordered that the castle door to be locked. All the rest were closed, and the windows shuttered. They kept the siblings secluded in different rooms, and no longer opened the castle to visitors. The family stayed hidden, tucked away inside their walled kingdom. The King and Queen acted just as cautiously inside the castle. As the siblings grew, their parents did everything they could to ensure that Sombra could control his powers. That meant the siblings were hardly EVER together.
Day after day, Sombra spent most his time training to be the next ruler and keeping his powers in check. The training was difficult, and Sombra often felt unable to control his magic. Crystals seemed to form on his hooves if he laughed or cried or became too upset.
Worried, the King gave him grey hoof padding. He advised Sombra to keep it on at all times, and reminded him he had to hide his crystal magic.
The years slipped by. Twilight spent most of her time alone. Sometimes, she played with dolls, sometimes to pretended to have conversations with the stained glass window portraits in the halls, sometimes she even asked Sombra to play. But, she was lonely.
Time after time, she'd ask Sombra to play, but Sombra would ignore her. The memory of their friendship was fading.
One day, a heavy snow landed in the royal courtyard.
*knock knock knock knock* Sombra? Do you want to build a Pony? Come on, let's go and play, I never see you anymore, come out the door, it's like you've gone away! We used to be close siblings, but now we're not. I wish you would tell me why?! Do you want to build a Pony, it doesn't have to be a Pony She sang out, hoping to confront her brother.
His response was, "Go away, Twilight......" It was soft, but firm.
"OK, bye...." Twilight sang sadly as she returned to her room.
Soon, Twilight was 10, and Sombra was 13. On another snowy day, Twilight asked her brother to play. "Do you want to build a Pony? Or have a race around the halls? I think some company is overdue, I've started to talk to the stained glass windows! It gets a little lonely, all these empty rooms, just watching the hours race by!"
This time, she was completely ignored.
"I'm scared!" Sombra yelled at his father one day. "It's getting stronger!"
The King placed his hoof on his son's head. "Getting upset makes it worse, calm down."
Sombra recoiled. "NO! Don't touch me! I don't want to hurt you!" The King stepped back, shocked.
Years passed again. Twilight was 15, and Sombra was 18. The King and Queen decided to have some fun out at sea for a couple of weeks. twilight said a hearty goodbye, while Sombra begged them not to leave. They reassured him that they would be back in two weeks. But that night, their boat smashed, and they were lost at sea. There was a funeral held, and Twilight spoke out a memorial for her parents. Sombra did not attend. When Twilight returned, she was overcome with grief, and needed a friend. She softly knocked on Sombra's door.
"Sombra? Please, I know you're in there, ponies are asking where you've been, they say be brave, and I'm trying to, I'm right out here for you, just let me in! We only have each other, it's just you and me, what are we going to do?" Twilight began crying. "Do.....you want to build......a Pony?"
When there was no response, Twilight sat against the door, and sobbed. On the other side, the whole room was covered in black crystal. Sombra was sobbing, wanting so badly to reconnect with his one and only sister, but his magic was strong, and he didn't want to hurt her.
