Dark Hearts Chronicles: King Sombra

Chapters

The Empire of Crystals
The Bearded Sorcerer
Everything is Nothing
Problems of the Untainted
Make me a Sombra
The Calm and the Storm

The Empire of Crystals

Many thousands of years ago, the frozen north beyond Equestria, was an empire.

Many ponies wonder why in the world anypony would want to create a civilization over there. The ground was too frozen to grow anything and the air was freezing no matter what the season. Other ponies argue that the first rulers probably built it there for the privacy. After all, who in their right mind would go someplace like that for a holiday?

The real reason, however, was kept a secret for generations. Even the citizens of the Empire weren't sure why their home was located where it was. The question could easily be answered with one word:

Crystals.

Miles underneath the ice, hundreds of magic crystals lay far beneath the surface. As the first rulers of the Empire were Earth Ponies, they had a special connection to what lies under the ground and claimed the frozen wasteland above as their own. They built a beautiful city made purely out of the crystals mined from under the ice and the ponies that lived there flourished.

The magic in the crystals formed a protective shield around the Empire that kept out the cold, icy winds and allowed crops to grow while the ponies were able to secretly live in wealth.

More stunningly, as the ponies lived in the Empire, it was noticed that their coats took on a brilliant shine, as if they themselves were made from the crystal that they lived in. The crystalline ponies of the Empire became known as the Crystal Ponies.

As word about the mystical Empire spread, ponies were amazed and baffled about it's secrets and many attempted to discover how everything worked there. The rulers, however gave nothing away. The Empire became known as the Crystal Empire, the land of unlimited riches.

The race of Crystal Ponies were always Earth Ponies. No Pegasai, nor Unicorns ever were a part of their race. That was, except for the Royal Family.

At first, they were all Earth Ponies, like their subjects until somewhere along the line, a Crystal Princess was married to an Alicorn Prince from Canterlot, Prince Isaiah. He became the very first Crystal Alicorn, and the most powerful pony in most of Equestria, save the two regal Alicorn sisters of Canterlot, themselves.

The Crystal Ponies discovered that over time, their bodies had absorbed some of the magic in the crystals that their Empire was built on, resulting in some ponies having strange powers that were usually uncontrolled and extremely hazardous. To prevent anything drastic from taking place, King Isaiah and his Queen, Ruby created an object called the Crystal Heart.

This artefact was a turquoise crystal carved in the shape of a heart. It was powered by the magic inside the Crystal Ponies and was used to spread peace and tranquility across not only the Empire, but Equestria itself. A fair was held each year to renew the magic that powered the Crystal Heart for the many years to come.

After over a hundred years of ruling, King Isaiah and Queen Ruby eventually passed away, leaving the Empire in the hooves of their only son, Prince Diamond Heart.

Diamond Heart was a wise Pegasus (the first one to be of the Crystal race, in fact), but whenever he was faced with a problem he could not answer, he usually panicked that his wisdom wasn't as good as he thought and would try to take matters into his own hooves. When he married Princess Rin, a Unicorn from Saddle-Arabia, he had one of his panic attacks before the wedding ceremony.

And when Queen Rin had their foals, he had yet another panic attack.

King Diamond Heart paced around his study, his moves clearly edged with agitation as he awaited the arrival of his children. Now that it was happening, he could suddenly think of hundreds of things that could go wrong and was praying that none would.

His wings flapped with anticipation and the guards in armour made from the Empire's magic crystal had to back away to avoid being hit by his massive wingspan. The crystal that made up the armour made it stronger than any metal, something very useful when at war.

The king stopped pacing as the doors swung open, revealing a relieved-looking young mare in a white coat. Before she could say anything, the king hurried up to her.

"Is my Rin alright? Can I see her?" He demanded.

The mare took a few steps back, unused to being spoken to like this by her king, "She's fine." She told him, "She's just a bit tired. You can see her, but..." She hesitated.

"What is it?" King Diamond Heart demanded, the feelings of panic flooding back, "What happened, did something happen?"

The nurse held up one hoof, "You might just want to calm down a little before seeing her." She told him, "There's nothing wrong with your queen, it's just..." She paused again, thinking of a way to put it, "One of your children may appear slightly... Different."

Diamond Heart didn't care, all he wanted was to see if Rin was truly alright, "I don't think that matters too much." He told the mare, "May I see my wife now?"

The mare dipped her head and led the king out the door. But the moment they left the study, Diamond Heart sprinted ahead, straight to his and Queen Rin's chambers.

He found Rin lying on their large bed, looking tired but happy. Two young foals were curled up against her; a pale blue Pegasus filly with a darker mane and a silver Alicorn colt with a white mane. The two foals dozed peacefully against their mother's flank and Diamond Heart gave a sigh of relief, everything was fine.

Careful not to wake his sleeping children, he made his way over to the bed and sat down beside his wife, "Are you alright, darling?" He asked quietly as he stared down at his children. What had the nurse meant that one of them was different? The both looked perfectly normal to him.

"I'm fine." Rin breathed, nuzzling his chest, "We've got two perfect foals, what shall we name them?"

Diamond Heart stared down at he two newborn ponies for a while, carefully deciding on the names. "How about we call the filly Lucida?" He suggested. It sounded like the perfect name for a princess.

Rin smiled at him, "I love it." She breathed, exhausted from the past hour, "Can we call the colt Pluto? After the Alicorn god of wealth in Romare mythology."

"How fitting." Diamond Heart told her, pride rushing into his heart as he looked down at his and Rin's children. As he did, he forgot all about the nurse's ominous remark.

It wasn't until three days later when the white coat-clad nurse came to her king once again that he found what she had meant.

"I'm very sorry to bother you." Diamond Heart looked up from his paperwork to see her standing in the doorway.

"No worries." He assured her, pushing his papers to one side to show that she had his full attention, "How may I help you?"

The mare looked slightly wary, "Well, since a bit of time has passed, we think that it's time to show you and your wife something. We thought that maybe we should let you settle down a bit before we showed you."

Her words instantly filled Diamond Heart with panic. What could it be? It had to be bad if it was something that even the Royal doctors were hesitant about showing their own king. "Alright, very well." He said, forcing himself to look calm and professional, "Please take me."

This time, it was Diamond Heart who lagged behind as the nurse led him through his beautiful crystal palace. The guards carried on like they normally did, unaware of the tension in the atmosphere. Even they must have not known of the mysterious secret that the doctors were sharing.

They made their way up the staircases made from quartz, gradually getting higher and higher up until they reached one of the highest and most secluded towers in the palace. By then, the king was really starting to worry. What could be so bad that it had to be actually hidden in one of the most remote places?

As if she had read his mind, the nurse quickly said, "We weren't sure what you would think of it, so we took it here for one of your maids to look after. We decided to wait a while for you to get over your worry for your wife before showing it to you."

Before she could open the door, it swung open to reveal a slightly flustered-looking Rin. "Darling, I think you should have a look at this." She told him, beckoning for him to enter, "In all my years learning magic, I've never seen nor heard of anything like it."

Cautiously, Diamond Heart stepped into the room. It was small and round, with only one window that gave a view looking out across the west side of the Empire. A maid by the name of Ella Care was standing protectively beside a bed on the other side of the room, but she stepped aside to let her king see what she was defending.

It was a Unicorn colt, it's pelt a dark grey like ashes after a fire with a darker stripe down it's nose. It's mane and tail were as black as sin and when it opened it's eyes, Diamond Heart recoiled in horror. It's irises were as red as blood and it's pupils catlike slits. Along with that, it had long, sharp canines, like fangs protruding from it's mouth.

"King Diamond Heart, Queen Rin, this is... Your son." The nurse said, her voice hesitant.

Diamond Heart stared down at it in shock, "My son?" He asked. What was with it's pelt? It was so... Dull. No matter what, every pony with Crystal Pony blood that was born in the Crystal Empire always had a shimmering pelt.

There was a long pause as the ponies in the room before the nurse asked in a very quiet voice, "What are you going to do with it?"

She shouldn't have said that, it was a question that her king didn't know the answer to.

What should he do? There was no way in Tartarus that he was going to present it to the Empire as his son. What would the Crystal Ponies think of him then? It's siblings may hate it and make it's life miserable. He couldn't kill it, he didn't have the heart. It was a living and breathing creature, it didn't deserve to die, no matter how abnormal. He could give it away, put it in an orphanage somewhere. Yes, that was a reasonable option. The young colt wouldn't remember that he was supposed to be a prince. He could leave it in an orphanage of a highly populated city, like Manehatten. They would be used to strange ponies there.

"It might just be a phase." Rin said, her voice breaking through Diamond heart's thoughts, "Maybe his appearance would change back to a normal ponies' when he get older?"

Diamond Heart considered this. He could take a gamble and keep the grey Unicorn colt in hopes that it would grow out of it's appearance as it ages. However if he did that, he wouldn't be able to put it in an orphanage as it would remember living in the Crystal Palace. He wasn't sure which outcome would be crueler. He was supposed to be the wise, loving king of the Crystal Empire. If anypony found out about any of this...

"We'll keep it." He decided at last, "Rin may be right, it's appearance may change when it gets older."

"He." Ella Care said.

Diamond Heart frowned, he was rarely spoken to like that, "I'm sorry?" He asked the maid.

"Your child is a 'he', not an 'it'." Ella told him, "Stop referring to him as 'it'."

"Ella." Said Rin gently, "We may not even be sure if this thing is a pony."

Ella glared at her queen, "Of course he's a pony!" She exclaimed, "Both his parents are ponies, why can't he be?"

"Show some respect when you speak to your rulers." Diamond Heart warned her sternly, "You're a maid, not an advisor." A thought suddenly occurred to him and he added, "Since you appear to have some sort of empathy to this thing- Unicorn, why don't you look after him? My Rin will be too busy looking after little Lucida and Pluto."

Ella Care thought about it for a heartbeat before bowing, "I'll be honoured." She told them. As the king, queen and nurse began to exit the room, she called, "What will you name him?"

"Sombra." Diamond Heart called without looking back, "It means shadow."

The Bearded Sorcerer

"Can't catch me!" Lucinda squealed as she took off at full speed, darting around pieces of furniture and toys that scattered the playroom. Her brother energetically gave chase, desperately trying to outrun his sister.

Lucinda stopped for a moment, giving her brother some time to close the gap between them before she began to run again, never tiring. She was surprisingly quick for a one year old old filly.

Pluto stumbled and crashed headlong into a bookshelf crammed with colourful picture books and thin paperback novels. But in less than five seconds, he was back on his hooves, determined to show no weakness. Who would respect him if they knew that his sister was really faster and stronger than him?

He sprinted after Lucida, who ducked behind one of the many toy chests, but when he followed her, he noticed that she had disappeared. Confused, he circled the chest several times before scanning the cluttered playroom with his dark blue eyes but he couldn't find his sister anywhere.

"Lucy?" He called, anxiety starting to rise in his chest, "Lucy?"

"WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!" A glittering, pale blue form came swooping out of nowhere and bowled into his side, sending him flying into Lucida's play pram. Pluto screamed and cowered under the bedsheets that lay inside the pram. He heard a girlish giggle and looked up to see Lucinda sitting on the top of a bookshelf.

"Lucy?" He asked, quickly jumping out of the pram and staring up at her, "How the hay did you get up there?"

Lucinda spread her shimmering feathered wings, "Look at this!" She called, jumping off the bookshelf. Instead of tumbling to the ground, she glided through the air and landed somewhat clumsily at the other side of the room. She turned to her brother, beaming proudly, "Wasn't that cool?" She asked, excitedly bouncing up and down, "Did you see that?"

Not wanting to show that he was impressed, Pluto shrugged, "Not bad." He said absent-mindedly, "But you know that I can do just the same thing, right? I've got wings, too." He unfolded his to prove his point. Though his wingspan was a lot larger than his sister's, he didn't want to admit to anypony that he was a bit too nervous to take his first flight. Anything could go wrong. Anyway, he had a horn, too. Lucy couldn't do any magic!

Then she said the thing he was dreading: "I bet you can't do it!"

Oh crud.

Pluto raised his muzzle, "Of course I can!" He exclaimed haughtily, "What kind of Alicorn do you think I am?"

Lucida smirked evilly, "Prove it." She stated, sitting down and looking at him expectantly.

There was no way out. Pluto winced and clambered on top of a nearby toy chest (there was no way he was going to risk his neck by getting onto a bookshelf). Even from just the top of the chest, he felt uneasily. It didn't look that high until he was on it...

"Get on with it!" Lucida called. Pluto had a feeling that she was enjoying this very much.

This is the craziest thing I've ever done... He thought to himself, opening his wings, Why the hay am I doing this? Right, to prove that I'm not a sissy that can't do what his sister can. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and jumped just as the door burst open.

"What in the name of-"

The silver colt gave a cry of alarm before crashing into the ground far less gracefully than his sister had, whacking his right wing against the floor and gasping as a sharp pain shot through it. The two foals looked guiltily at the mare who had just entered the playroom and was glaring disapprovingly at them.

"I leave you two youngsters alone for a few minutes and look what you do!" Nana Brightspark scolded, trotting up to Pluto and yanking his damaged wing under her nose, causing him to cry out again in pain, "What have you done to yourself this time?" In the months of looking after the two foals, many accidents had occurred including bruises, splinters and the one time when Pluto had almost turned his sister into a pile of hay.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, Pluto pushed away the temptation to tell Nana Brightspark that she was hurting him. But he knew that if he did that, he'd appear weak and he couldn't let that happen. Princes were supposed to be brave and strong, just like in the stories.

"You're going to have to go to the Infirmary for this." Nana Brightspark told him, finally releasing his wing, "I'm no doctor, but that seems bad."

Pluto gratefully folded his wing back into place, "How do you know that?" he questioned curiously.

"You looked like you were about to cry when I pulled your wing." he regretted asking. "Come on, then." She guided him out if the playroom, pausing at the door before sighing, "Lucida, you should come, too. I don't want to come back to find you seriously injured."

The blue princess happily galloped after them as they walked through the brilliant, shining palace. Even though he'd lived in it his whole life (which actually wasn't that long), Pluto still felt awed at the creation of his ancestors as he made his way through the extravagant halls. How long would it have taken to built this place?

The Infirmary was located under the palace in case the Empire was under attack. The room was in the shape of a long rectangle with it's roof, walls and floor made of clear, shimmering diamond. Two rows of white-sheeted beds faced each other on both sides. A nurse approached them, "What is it now?" the two young foals were regular visitors to the Infirmary.

Nana Brightspark nudged Pluto forward, "This idjit thought it was a good idea to teach himself how to fly."

The nurse sighed, "Young ponies these days..." she muttered, which made both the foals angrily protest. She guided Pluto over to one side of the room so he was out of the way of the other ponies getting on with their work.

After a quick examination, the nurse declared that Pluto's injury was simply 'just a sprain' and that he should refrain from flying and moving his wings as much as he could. She sent them back to the playroom without any real medical treatment.

"Can't I at least have a bandage?" Pluto asked as he and his sister were guided toward the exit.

"Why? You don't need one." the nurse told him, "You just need to take it easy for a week or so."

"But it hurts!" Pluto moaned, "I really want a bandage!" It didn't really hurt that much, he just wanted something to attract the attention of the public. Bandages were magnets for sympathy.

"But you don't need one." the nurse said again, "All you need is to- What do you think you're doing?" she exclaimed as she caught sight of Lucida stumbling towards to doors, wrapped loosely in several metres of bandage. "Put those back where you found them!"

Lucida tripped over the bandages several times as she attempted to untangle herself from them, mumbling "Sorry, sorry" over and over.

Just before they left, the nurse stopped Nana Brightspark and pulled her over to one side, "By the way, is it true?" Pluto heard her whisper, "Is he really coming all this way?"

"Yes, he himself is coming." Nana Brightspark replied, "I really can't believe it."

"But what on earth for?"

Nana Brightspark shook her head, "I have no idea." she admitted quietly, "I hope that there's no trouble."

"Well if you find anything, tell us." the nurse said, pushing open the doors, "We're all dying to know what is so important that Starswirl the Bearded himself is needed for."

As they walked back to the playroom, Pluto couldn't help but think that the name sounded familiar. He was sure that he'd heard it before in one of his lessons, but he couldn't put his hoof on it.

All the same, by the end of the day, he'd forgotten all about what the nurse had mentioned. Since it didn't include him, I wasn't important at all.

Although it wasn't important for the young Alicorn prince who had everything he wanted, his parents were more agitated than they had ever been. Trying to keep calm, King Diamond Heart strode beside his wife to meet the great sorcerer.

"Great Starswirl." Diamond Heart greeted, dipping his head in respect, "We're so sorry to bother you, but only a few months ago, we come across something that none of us know what it is."

"Show me." Starswirl the Bearded commanded and the king hastily obeyed. He led the famous sorcerer up the many crystal stairs, taking him higher and higher through the castle when at last, they reached the room at the very top.

"We've kept it as far away as we could from everypony else." Diamond Heart explained as he pushed the door open with his front hoof, "We have no idea how dangerous it is, so we thought it would be better to keep it out of sight until an expert arrives." He hesitated and then pushed open the door.

The maid, Ella Care bowed to the sorcerer as soon as he entered, but he ignored her and fixed his gaze on the young gray Unicorn colt with a matted black mane. Unlike every other pony that Starswirl the Bearded had come across, he didn't flinch or give his humblest greetings. Instead, he stared right back at him with his unnatural red and green eyes.

When Ella Care noticed the lack of respect that the thing was showing, she tried to push him down into a keeling position, but he wriggled away from her. "Sombra!" she hissed in shock.

"Do you know who I am?" Starswirl questioned, striding up to the colt and observing him with his pale blue eyes.

The colt, Sombra stared at him, his face expressionless, "Yes, I do."

"Do you fear me?"

"Should I?"

"Do you admire me?"

"Does everypony have to?"

Diamond Heart's eyes widened in shock, "I'm so sorry." he blustered, "See, it's incapable of emotions, it doesn't-"

"It's alright." Starswirl dismissed, "I've never seen anything like it before. You say that he was born in the Crystal Empire, yet doesn't have the crystalline body of a true Crystal Pony?"

"Yes, your greatness."

"Simply mystifying." Starswirl the Bearded murmured, "His pelt and horn are like nothing else. And it's eyes are truly disturbing." Ella Care probably would have wanted to protest, but she remained silent. The sorcerer turned back to the king, "It appears that this is the way he will remain for the rest of his life, there's nothing I can do to save him."

Diamond Heart looked disappointed, "What should I do?"

Starswirl the Bearded shrugged, "Even I don't know that." he said, "No amount of magic will change it, what he's got isn't a disease I'm afraid. You won't be able to hide it forever, too."

"I can't kill it." Diamond Heart said weakly.

"You're not going to kill him." Ella Care growled, briefly forgetting who she was talking to before shrinking back, "I mean, please don't kill him, your highness."

Diamond Heart sighed and looked down at the floor, "We'll keep him here." he decided at last, "Spells will be cast to allow only certain ponies to walk the top staircase. Only Rin, maid Ella Care and I will be able to come near this room. Nopony will talk about the thing, it will remain a secret until it dies."

Sombra listened to what he was saying, but gave no indication that he cared at all. He only spoke one last time as the two colts began to leave the room.

"Do I disgust you?"

Diamond Heart stopped in his tracks. The thing had addressed him directly. He didn't want to be it's father, he wanted to be the wise king of the Crystal Empire that he had always been. Yet the moment this thing had been born, he had lost the confidence to be who he had to be. Every day, he hoped that nopony would find out the thing hidden on the top of his palace and ruin him forever.

"Yes."

That was the last thing he said to the thing for several years.

Everything is Nothing

As King Diamond Heart had instructed, shields were put up around the top of the tower to prevent any unauthorized ponies from entering it. Even though he and Queen Rin could visit, the two of them carried on ignoring the tower and hoping to forget about the thing that lived up in there.

The only living thing that Sombra saw was the maid Ella Care, who tried to keep him company as much as she could. Apart from her, Sombra never really saw any other ponies up close, but he looked out of his window every day to watch the beautiful Crystal Ponies in the streets of the Empire.

That was really all he could do, but he didn't mind it. He had no idea of his siblings, Lucida and Pluto who had an entire playroom full of toys and books. The view of the entire Empire was enough to keep him happy.

"Are all ponies like that?" Sombra asked one day as he stared out the window at a group of young Crystal Ponies he could see in the distance, sitting at a café.

Ella Care joined him at the window, "Not all of them look like this." she told him, "Only the ponies that are born in the Crystal Empire have the shine."

"Was I born in the Crystal Empire?"

The maid went silent and Sombra got the feeling that he had said something wrong. "Sorry." he said quickly, looking back out the window at the shimmering city-empire.

Every day, the scene changed. Different ponies, different banners decorating the streets and once a year, all the ponies gathered and stalls were put up all over the place. From his tower, Sombra couldn't make out what was being said, but all the ponies seemed happy. As if they were celebrating something right underneath the palace. Sadly, he couldn't see what was going on, but he knew it had to be big and exciting.

Ella Care left shortly afterward to continue her duties, leaving Sombra alone with the view and his thoughts. It had been a year since the strange pony with a beard came to see him. A year since the king told Sombra that he was disgusting. Ella Care told him that 'his father didn't really mean it', but that would imply that the king was his father. The idea was laughable, if Sombra was the king's son, then he was a prince. The king wouldn't keep his son in a tower away from all the ponies!

Sombra had no idea who his father was. Maybe he didn't have one? Is it possible that a pony doesn't have a father? He wasn't sure. He knew that Ella Care was his mother, maybe his father was a servant that was too busy to see him? Maybe everypony in this palace was too busy to see him.

He didn't mind, really. If a pony was busy, he would rather they do their duties instead of wasting their time by seeing him. He had nothing to share with them.

The only things in his tower's room were a mat that he slept on and a wooden stool that Ella Care had smuggled up to his tower in an attempt to make it more comfortable. That was everything he had, yet it was nothing at all. Not that he minded. He didn't know that even the poorest pony in the Empire had more than he did.

He stepped away from the window, having enough of the view for that day. He wanted to practice before Ella Care came back.

One thing he noticed that made him different from the other ponies was the strange thing on his head. After a while, he noticed that he had a weird power that allowed him to move things without touching them. He didn't tell Ella Care because he wasn't sure what she'd think of it, was it normal to be able to move things with your mind?

He concentrated hard on the wooden stool and imagined in lifting up into the air. He stared hard at it for several seconds until he felt a strange feeling in the thing on his head. The stool rose a few centimeters of the ground, a strange purple, black and green aura coming from it.

Careful not to force it to go any higher, Sombra allowed it to fall back to the floor with a loud clatter. He'd learned very quickly that forcing it caused accidents (each time, he'd used his mat to cover up the scorch marks he'd made). He paused for a few moments before concentrating on lifting the chair again.

Get up, eat, stare out the window, practice his strange powers, watch the shining city at midday, reading lessons if his mother Ella Care was able to visit him with a book, eat if she had brought food, watch the sun set and go back to sleep. That was his daily, never-changing routine.

Staring hard at the stool and narrowing his red and green eyes slightly, the young colt willed it to rise again. He had gotten considerably better since the fist time he'd tried it.

What else could he do? He didn't dare try trying something else in case it scared his mother and she told the king and queen. He'd seen the two rulers of the shining place he saw out of his window a few times before. One was a tall, serious-looking deep blue male pony with large wings that seemed to amaze the crowd. The queen was a bright yellow mare with a pearly, spiralled stick coming from her forehead, but it was more beautiful than Sombra's sharp, curved grey one.

There were two younger ponies, too that seemed to be as important as the king and queen. One had wings and the other had both wings and a stick on his head. Sombra wondered if when he got out of the tower, he would be able to play with them.

As his concentration drifted from what he was doing, the stool began to sink before falling to the floor and rolling across the room. Sombra was about to lift it again when the door creaked open.

"What have you been doing?" His mother questioned, peering at the stool. She must have heard it fall.

"Nothing." Sombra lied, "I just knocked it over, that's all."

Ella Care came in fully, carrying a tray on her back. "I just managed to nick something from the kitchen." She explained, "I told them that one of the servants were sick and I had to bring them food." She set down the tray that held a few pieces of stale bread.

"Thanks, mama." Said Sombra, dragging it toward him, "Did you bring a book?"

"Sorry, not today." Ella Care apologised, sitting down opposite him. "I'll try to bring you one tomorrow from the prince and princess's playroom."

The young colt thanked her as she got up to leave. She could barely ever stay long to keep him company as she was needed in the castle. He was proud to think that his mother was such an important pony.

Once she was gone, he scarfed down his meagre meal, set the stool upright again and went to watch the glittering city beneath him once more.

Author's Note

More of a filler chapter, really... A bit about Sombra's day-to-day life.

Problems of the Untainted

Pluto sighed loudly, glancing up from the book that his tutor was forcing him to read. Lucida was spinning around in circles, goggling at her newly acquired Cutie Mark. He had to admit, it did look quite impressive: An elegant tiara made from the tendrils of a red rose's bush, but he didn't think it was great enough for her to continuously stare at her butt.

His tutor, a strict lavender mare smacked him on the back of his head and growled at him to continue reading. He made a face at her while she wasn't looking and pretended to be reading about the reign of King Isaiah, barely taking in a word that had been written.

He and his sister were a year and a half and for some reason, Lucida had already gotten her Cutie Mark. He'd always thought that ponies got them around the age of three or four, why did she get hers so early? What was so special about her?

Coming from Canterlot, King Isaiah was an Alicorn gifted with knowledge and strength that served him the many years until his death. His wife, Queen Ruby began the tradition of the Crystal Fair; a tradition created to power the Crystal Heart and spread peace, love and light through the Empire and beyond.

Yeah, yeah. Who cares?

"Lucida." The tutor said sternly, glancing over at the young princess, "Please sit down and read about the origins of our Empire, it's basic knowledge that a princess must know."

At last, Lucida grudgingly sat down and opened her book. But Pluto could see her sneaking glances at her day-old mark between paragraphs.

Keeping his head down, Pluto turned the page, pretending to have finished reading it. Just half an hour longer... He thought to himself. Half an hour and then your lessons will be over for the day...

In his opinion, there was nothing in the Empire worse than his lessons.

Even though the Autumn was giving way to winter, the Empire remained warm and colourful, the crystals beneath it protecting it from the biting cold winds that surrounded it.

King Diamond Heart and Queen Rin were in their throne room, reading over important documents and making sure that they were up to date with the going-ons in their kingdom.

"The Crystal Fair is fast approaching." Rin remarked, "Should we get Holly Wreath to help organize the decorations? She did a wonderfully good job last year with it. And perhaps that young stallion could assist her, what was his name again?" She stopped talking when she realized that her husband wasn't listening.

"I sent a letter out to Canterlot." He muttered under his breath as if nopony was listening, "We need to keep peace with them, so I asked if it they had a possible bride for Pluto."

Rin sighed, "Heart, darling." She said soothingly, "Pluto and Lucida only foals. Focus on the task at hand and we'll worry about them getting married later."

"Right, right." Diamond Heart murmured, scanning a roll of paper, "So that pony that's not paying his taxes these past three years... I'll send a guard over to his house to take care of that." He clapped his hooves and a guard clad in diamond armour approached him, "Go to Slimy Sly's house and have a chat with him about his tax evasion." He ordered. The guard nodded and strode out of the room. "I'm sorry, what were you saying, dear?" He turned back to Rin.

"The Crystal Fair?"

"Ah, yes. Right. The Crystal Fair..." He paused, his pale eyes resting on the plans made for that year's fair. "The Crystal Fair..." He repeated and then added out of the blue, "We haven't had much contact with your homeland, Saddle-Arabia recently. Do you think that they've got a young prince for Lucida?"

Rin sighed and used her magic to remove all the papers from around them, "You really should stop thinking about getting the little ones married so soon." She told him gently, resting her butter-yellow hoof on his shoulder, "Who knows, they might find somepony that they really love in a few years time. But until then, we need to dwell on the present. What's happening now and the problems that we face today."

Diamond Heart exhaled a long, slow breath before resting his head against his wife's. "I just don't know when we're supposed to start with everything." He said after a brief pause. "When exactly are we supposed to make all these important choices if we shouldn't do them today? Tomorrow never comes, my dear."

"We still haven't fixed the problem about the thing in the tower, yet."

The king flinched as if she had tried to curse him, "Where did that come from?" He questioned, his eyes frantically darting from side to side in case anypony had heard him. But the only other ponies in the room were two guards by the door who were too far away to hear what they were discussing.

"Heart, you do know that we have to face the problem sooner or later." Rin insisted, "Even if we keep it up there, somepony is bound to find out eventually and then what? Locking it away has so far only been a temporary solution."

Uncomfortable with the conversation that was taking place, Diamond Heart looked down at his polished emerald horseshoes. "There are spells put in place..." He mumbled, "You cast them yourself and you're a gifted Unicorn..."

Rin shook her head, "You should stop lying to yourself, Heart." She told him, "You know that the spells won't last forever and I'll have to keep renewing them. If something happens to me-"

"Everything's going to be fine." Diamond Heart cut her off, "Remember, focus on the problems at hoof. Now, as we were saying, the Crystal Fair..."

The queen of the Crystal Empire bit back a remark and turned back to the plans for the annual celebration.

"... And that's the last of them!" Ella Care sighed, happily dropping the last of the carefully woven baskets onto the table among the many others. She sat back and closed her eyes, exhausted from the long day's work of preparing for the oncoming Crystal Fair. Each year, the entire palace's staff was busy with the preparing of food and various decorations to be put on display. Every night for the entire week, the servants would collapse into their beds, grateful for the few hours of sleep they earned at the end of the day.

Ella Care had always loved the Crystal Fair as a foal and always felt honoured to contribute in the task of setting everything up. The only thing that she felt guilty about was the fact that it gave her even less time than she already had to make the long trek to the highest tower...

Stretching, the maid got to her hooves and trotted out of the hall where many other Crystal Ponies were taking banners to take down to the streets. A small group of young mares swept past her, pushing trolleys of specially prepared food for many of the stalls. Although the citizens of the Empire set up a majority of the stalls, the palace provided many with extra food and materials as the fair was made to celebrate unity and happiness.

The first thing that Ella Care did was make a beeline for the kitchens. She was still weighed down by the guilt of not being able to bring Sombra any food for the past two days. The poor foal must be feeling so lonely...

"Out of my way, please!" A mare named Holly Wreath marched passed by Ella Care, her head held high with importance, "Yes, take that down to the ground floor where the Crystal Heart is kept. It'll be used to decorate the chamber- WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? No, not you, sorry. I meant that blithering idiot over there!" She darted over to a cowering young colt and began to rant about the importance of following her orders.

Ella Care sighed. Some ponies took the Crystal Fair too seriously. It was meant to be a time to loosen up and have fun, she was always told.

The kitchens were bustling with activity and the warm, comfortable smell of cooking food made Ella's mouth water. She wandered over to one of the chefs that looked slightly less busy.

"Excuse me." She said, "Is Sweet 'n Sour around?"

The pony nodded and hurried off to fetch the head chef. Sweet 'n Sour was the only pony that Ella Care was allowed to tell about Sombra. Fortunately, he took the news relatively well. As in, he didn't panic like the king and queen had done.

"You want food for the little guy?" He asked her when he arrived. "Sorry, there's not much leftover food. Most of our resources are going into the fair, so not even the royals are eating that good." He gave her a tray with a dish of water and a half-eaten carrot that was starting to go moldy, "It's the best I can do, Ella."

"That's alright." Ella Care told him, "The Crystal Fair is only tomorrow, then everything will be back to normal again." She exited the kitchen, balancing the tray on her back.

She was about halfway up the palace when she ran into Brightspark, the prince and princess's nanny. "Hello, Ella." She said, "Who're you taking that to?"

"Oh, just one of the older maids." Ella Care lied, "She's not faring well with all this excitement in the palace."

"I'm taking this to the little rascals." Brightspark told her, indicating to the tray that was balanced on her own back. "I'm telling you, that Pluto needs to be disciplined. I caught him trying to burn one of his mathematics books. Can you believe that?" She rolled her eyes, "It's a good thing that he can't do magic for beans or we'd be in trouble."

Ella Care eyed the tray that Brightspark was carrying. It was overflowing with bottles of milk and cakes. What had Sweet 'n Sour said about the royals eating poorly again?

Brightspark must have caught Ella Care looking, because she set the tray down and dropped a few items onto her nearly empty plate. "Take them." She told her when the maid tried to put them back, "They never finish all of it, anyway."

Ella Care stared at her blankly for a little while, "Thank you." She said at last.

Brightspark smiled at her as she turned into the royal foals' playroom, "Tell the old maid that I hope she gets better soon!" She called over her shoulder as she shut the door behind her.

The rest of the trip upward was uneventful and at last, she pushed open the door to Sombra's tower. As always, the young colt was sitting at the window, a faraway look in his scarlet eyes. He turned when he heard Ella Care enter and his eyes widened in surprise when he caught sight of all the things that were laid on his tray.

"Surprise." Ella Care said cheerfully, "The ponies in the kitchen let me take a little more. With the fair approaching, they've got plenty of food."

"What fair?"

"Nothing." Said Ella Care quickly, cursing herself for accidentally letting it slip. It was bad enough that Sombra was alone all day in the tower, she didn't want him to know that tomorrow, ponies from all over the Empire would be gathering and having fun while he was, as usual, all by himself. "I think you'll need help eating all this."

Sombra laughed, "Thanks mama."

It was something that Sombra always called her. In a way, Ella Care had adopted the foal after his birth parents abandoned him.

But she always felt so guilty that she'd never been enough for him.

Make me a Sombra

Sombra never thought that his view of the Empire could ever get boring, but it did and he found himself using most of his days to develop his skills in magic.

The only thing that had really changed was his skill in magic. He was sure that was what it was called.

Magic. Unicorn. Crystal Empire.

Books and his mother, Ella Care taught him everything he knew about the outside world.

By then, he could easily move his stool around and a few other tricks, like conjuring water out of thin air. It was a useful skill to have, as the water that his mother brought up to him was almost always somewhat dirty. He still, guiltily, hadn't told her about his powers.

He knew that he could do so much more, the fact that he had been able to expand his powers to water proved that. What else could he do? What if he was the first pony ever to make water? Who knows? Maybe he was?

It was the next day when he made a breakthrough.

It was midday and when he looked out his window, he couldn't fail to notice all the ponies gathered in the streets. It was difficult to see from high up, but he could make out large crowds gathered around small shops and he could faintly hear the sound of chatter and laughter.

What was going on? It looked like everypony in the entire Empire was there. He'd seen a similar thing happen a long time ago through his window, but he never had really thought much of it until that day. All the ponies looked and sounded so happy.

He turned away from the window, wishing that for once in his life, he was allowed to know what was going on in the outside world. He knew about magic and Unicorns and Pegasai, but he wanted to know more about what was happening now. What was the point in learning about ponies and events if they'd never be any use to him?

He'd tried asking Ella Care a few times, but she would always guiltily say that she couldn't tell him today. What was stopping her? Who wouldn't want a young colt to know anything? It wasn't as if he was dangerous!

Angrily, he kicked at the wooden stool with such force, it flew across the room and smashed against one of the shining sapphire walls. One of the legs broke off and came rolling toward him. He kicked it back so that it joined the rest of what was left of the stool.

For once, he wished that he was like the sparkling ponies below him. He wished that he could run around with them in the streets, but he knew that it was impossible. For some unknown reason, he had been kept up here his whole life and he would for how many more years to come?

Sombra. That's what he'd been called by the strange Pegasus he barely remembered from about a year ago. What did it mean again? Shadow? Well, that's what he wanted to be. He wanted to live up to his name and become shadow so that nopony would see or care that he was there. So that he could move silently, without detection and find out all he wanted about anything without anypony feeling the need to take him back.

The colt gasped as a sudden surge of magic swept it's way through him. He'd once read that it was normal for young Unicorns to get unexpected, powerful magic at random times.

Well this time, he was going to make the most of it.

"Conceal me." he murmured, wondering if he should be more specific, "Conceal me like a shadow, make me a sombra."

He gagged as a salty, coppery taste hit his mouth and he spat out a red liquid. But when he looked down at himself, he forgot it at once when he noticed that he was almost see-through. A shadow.

Could he slip under the door? There was only one way to find out.

Being a shadow, he was flattened against the ground and practically glided across the blue floor and under the door.

For the first time in his life, he was out of the room.

His excitement almost caused him to solidify, but he controlled himself and began his journey down a long staircase. The staircase went on for a while and as he made his way down, he could see the Empire below him getting closer and closer. If he'd had a heart in his shadow form, it would have been thudding like mad.

He finally reached a door, easily slid under it again and found himself in an undecorated cavern made from stone. He took some more stairs upwards until he reached a kind of trapdoor. Easily, he went through the cracks and found himself in the biggest, grandest room he'd ever seen.

The throne room of Princess Celestia and her sister that he'd once seen in a book was nothing compared to the room he was in now. It was made from every crystal imaginable with deep red silk banners hanging on either side of the room. Two shining gold thrones studded with gems sat on one side on a raised platform. When Sombra looked down, the trapdoor that he had come out of was almost invisible. A perfect place to hide things.

In total, there were four guards in armour: three male and one female. Two stood beside the throne and two stood on either side of the large double-doors on the other end on the room.

Drawing in a deep breath, Sombra glided across the floor and right passed the two guards at the door. Neither on the ponies noticed him at all. His spell really had worked!

Now he felt that nothing could get in his way.

Lucida restlessly shifted her hooves before scowling at the back of one of the guards in front of them. It was Crystal Fair Day, not Restrain Your Princess and Prince and Don't Let them Have Fun Day! Their privilege of being royal was to sit around, looking dignified while all the citizens of the Crystal Empire could have fun.

Unfair.

The two foals were with a few guards on the massive balcony at the front of the palace that overlooked the entire fair. The same thing had happened the previous year, although Lucida could barely remember it. She would have preferred to be down with the citizens, though. Taking part in the fair was sure to be exciting than simply watching it from a distance.

Pluto was looking just as bored as she was, but at least he had his magic to entertain himself with. She noticed him attempt to drop one of the massive banners onto a gaggle of excited mares, but his lack of skill in magic caused it to simply twitch slightly.

For the occasion, the prince's white mane had been braided and he'd received endless remarks from his sister that he looked like a filly. He moodily kicked at the ground and received an irritated look from one of the guards.

"I'm bored." he said at last.

"And you think I'm not?" Lucida asked. More glares from the guards.

The two young ponies looked down at their subjects that were laughing and having fun at the fair.

"You know." Lucida said slyly after a while, "This fair really did TAKE OFF to a good start...."

Pluto didn't seem to catch her hint, "Yeah, I guess it did."

"Everypony's spirits sure must be SOARING."

He shot her a quizzical look, "What-"

"In fact, I bet that they're SKY-HIGH by now."

The prince grinned, finally catching on, "What do you think of our thrones, Lucy?" he asked, "I think they'll make the best launch pads!" It wasn't a very discrete pun (it wasn't even a pun at all), but it didn't matter. By the time the guards whirled around, the two foals were flying over their heads and into the crowd below.

Though Pluto was the worst when it came to magic, he was amazing when it come to flying. Although he was nothing compared to his sister.

"Freedom!" she squealed as she took a nosedive straight downward. The crowd scattered beneath her as she slowed down at the last second and landed gracefully on four hooves. Pluto tried to mimic her and ended up ploughing into a small group of ponies.

When he managed to get away from the ponies who were muttering their humblest apologies for getting in his way, he joined Lucida, "So, now that we're finally free of those guards, what do we do now?"

Lucida laughed, "Anything!"

The massive halls were empty, save for a few ponies every now and again. But none of them paid any mind to the formless shadow gliding across the floor beneath their hooves.

Sombra marvelled at the details that the builders of the place had created and couldn't help but wonder why nopony was there to admire the architecture. They were probably all used to it like he was used to the view of the Empire.

He jumped as a solemn guard in crystal armour marched right over him. The guard stopped a moment, a look of confusion in his eyes and Sombra held his breath.

Had the spell worn off? He looked down at himself and saw his shadow hooves against the tiled floor.

The guard stared at where he was with a puzzled expression for a moment before shaking his head and muttering something about 'that stupid prince learning to cast useful spells'.

He exhaled deeply, the guard must have simply seen a disembodied shadow and thought a pony with magic must have made it. He almost laughed, but he caught himself right before he did. Just because somepony couldn't see him didn't mean that pony couldn't hear him.

Sombra descended a staircase and he was suddenly assaulted by a wave of colour and noise. Banners and streamers hung on every pillar and ponies gathered around the hall, talking and laughing. The shadowy unicorn hesitantly glided through (and sometimes under) the crowd, unsure of what do do or where to go.

He'd never been around so many ponies at once and to see all their bright, shining pelts at once made him feel slightly giddy. And then it suddenly hit him.

He was free.

The door that had held him in that room all those years was useless now that he had found the shadow-spell. Now he was out the door, now he could do whatever the heck he wanted and nopony could stop him because what can you do to a shadow?

He would have to return to the tower soon, though. Despite the dizzying rush of exhilaration he felt, he hadn't forgotten that he'd give Ella Care a heart attack if he suddenly disappeared.

Right. He thought, I'll stay out until evening and then I'll sneak back into my room. Or maybe I should go back earlier... He looked around the place, but he couldn't see very much as there was almost always a pony standing on him. Or maybe the evening... It was about midday, he had plenty of time and it wouldn't hurt to have a look around.

Most of the ponies, Sombra noticed, were gathered around the centre and were looking at something under a large bluish stalactite of crystal. He glided under the ponies with ease, although it felt weird to be stepped on by countless hooves and not feel a thing.

Carved from crystal was a glowing heart.

It was floating between the stalactite and smaller stalagmite of the same colour. Despite it's roughly cut appearance, it was beautiful and he could feel the raw magic that radiated from it. He could feel it emitting some kind of warmth that made him feel safe and secure as if he was surrounded by a shield of some sorts.

He slowly began to move toward the light when he heard a voice.

"Quick, this way Plu- what the hay?"

Sombra cursed and pulled himself back so that he was hidden among the many other shadows of the other ponies. It felt so weird to be under so many hooves and not feel a thing.

A pony stepped into view and Sombra's breath was taken away. He had to struggle to keep his shadow form.

It was a winged pony, slim and graceful with elegant wings folded across her back. Her pelt was of a light blue that glittered and sparkled like all the other ponies around her, but there was something different about her shine that Sombra just couldn't place. Something mystical, something royal. Her almost white mane was in a complicated plait threaded with crystals of all shapes, sizes and colours and her large dark eyes shone brightly. He reminded Sombra of the heart of crystal.

She was wearing a thin dress embroidered with silvery sequins and crystal boots. She couldn't have been much older than Sombra as she looked like she was still around a filly's age.

She frowned and looked around, "Weird." she mused, "I could have sworn I saw another one of your stupid failed spells."

"Well, I am so sorry I'm not perfect like you." a silver colt with a white plaited mane grumbled, trailing after her. He reminded Sombra of one of the ponies in a book that Ella Care had brought him once. He had wings like the filly, but he also had a straight horn protruding from his forehead.

They looked slightly familiar, had Sombra seen them from out of his window?

The pale blue filly gazed around the foyer of the building, "The snacks looked good." she stated to the winged Unicorn, "Nana Brightspark brought me some cupcakes from Golden Oak's stall."

The silver colt looked offended, "Why didn't she bring me any?"

"Because you're a bad pony. Come on, her stall's this way." she strode through the crowd, who seemed to part to let her through and- Wait, were some bowing? Who was she?

Sombra tailed the two ponies through the crowd curiously until they stepped out from under the palace and into the sunlight when he hesitated. A shadow on it's own would raise some suspicions and he's stand out even more in bright sunlight. Before the ponies got too far away, he dashed out from under the palace and into the colt's shadow.

Fortunately, nopony noticed and he sighed with relief.

"Did you hear something?" asked the colt.

Sombra swore.

"Yeah, where do you pick up those words?" asked the filly.

"That wasn't me, I swear I heard somepony else." the silver winged Unicorn said, looking around.

The filly shrugged, "Well, this is the Crystal Fair." she said, "You get all sorts of ponies here, especially the kind that has nothing better to do than confuse stupid young colts."

Crystal Fair? Was that what this event was called?

"I am not stupid!" the silver colt exclaimed.

"Only a stupid pony would say that."

"Well, what would a smart pony say then, huh?"

No answer.

"Ooh, I get it. You don't know because you're stupid, too. Right?"

"I like how you said 'too'. Is that a confession that you're stupid?"

"Buck!"

"Language, Pluto."

Pluto made a face and followed the winged filly. Sombra snuck after them in the silver colt's shadow, making sure not to get too far ahead or behind.

The filly stopped at a box made from wood and began to talk to the mare sitting inside it. "Hello, can we have two crystal berry cupcakes?" she asked.

The mare in the box bowed her head, "Anything for His and Her Highnesses." she said, producing two light objects that looked like mushrooms from somewhere in the box.

His and Her Highnesses? Were these ponies the king and queen or something?

The filly thanked the mare and picked up the cupcake in her mouth while the colt wrapped a white magic around it and lifted it up off the counter.

So other ponies can do what I can. Sombra thought. Maybe he wasn't as weird as he thought he was.

"This is goooood." the filly mumbled though a mouthful of the food. Already, her face was smeared with a creamy substance that was on the cupcake.

The cupcake smelled nice and Sombra would have drooled if it was physically possible to do in his shadow form.

Suddenly, he felt heavier and he briefly saw himself solidify slightly before turning back into shadow. How long had he been in this form? The spell must have been beginning to wear off.

Not good. He thought to himself, looking around, where was the safest place to turn back?

Everywhere he looked, he could see a pony. He'd never been anywhere but the tower before, where was a secluded place where nopony could see him? He looked around, panic steadily rising inside him.

Oh buckbuckbuckbuckbuckbuckbuck Sombra thought desperately, wildly looking around. He caught sight of a clump of bushes about ten metres away and dashed for it.

He swiftly glided under them and imediately solidified back into a pony. He coughed and spat out a salty red liquid and wiped his mouth with the back of his hoof.

He sighed and finally relaxed, "That was close..." he muttered, closing his eyes.

"Sorry, what was close?"

"Holy mother of-" he leaped into the air and whirled around to see the filly standing right behind him.

"Why were you following us?" she asked him.

Double buck. Sombra thought, "Um, er, I- I wasn't following-"

She rolled her eyes, "I'm not stupid, you know." she said, "I saw you jump in and out of my brother's shadow." drat, "I'm not angry or anything, by the way. I just want to know what you've got against walking around like a normal pony being."

Sombra just stared at her blankly, "What?"

"You can walk, right?" she asked, looking around, "Say, where are your parents? I've never seen a pony as young as you wander around on his own. Are you lost?"

"No, I'm not lost." Sombra said quickly, "I just... Um, don't really want anypony to see me." this had to be the longest conversation he'd ever had with anypony who wasn't Ella Care. In fact, he was pretty sure that it was the only conversation he had ever had with anypony who wasn't Ella Care.

The filly looked interested, "Why's that?" she asked.

Sombra briefly wondered if she was blind, "Well, I'm not really the shiniest pony ever..." he said.

She shrugged, "So?" she asked, "Hundreds of ponies from around Equestria have come to take part in the Crystal Fair." she smirked, "I think you're just shy." she said.

"Wah- No I'm not! I'm just-" he struggled to find a reason that was not 'I'm supposed to be in a tower in the castle'.

"Sure you are." the filly teased, "I don't blame you. For an ordinary pony, coming into a big sparkly city full of big sparkly ponies is sure to be pretty scary."

Sombra decided not to argue with her. As if he'd ever win.

"Are you hungry?" she asked suddenly, "I haven't had a whole lot to eat since breakfast and it's almost midday."

"I'm fine, I ate yesterday." he told her. He wasn't lying, but at the same time, he didn't want to owe anything to 'Her Highness'.

The filly stared at him a moment and then laughed, "You're weird, you know that?" she said, stepping toward him and nudging him to his hooves, "Come on, I still want food. You can change you mind whenever you want."

Sombra reluctantly stood up. If worse came to worse, he could always turn back into shadow and get back to the palace, it wasn't as if he would ever see this filly ever again. She'd probably just think that he'd been re-united with his parents and had to leave suddenly.

"What's your name, by the way?" the filly asked as she led him back onto the main street. He trailed after her nervously.

"Onyx Soul." Sombra said, speaking the first two words that came into his head that would make an alright-sounding name. He didn't want this filly running around, calling him 'Doodles' or something equally ridiculous.

"Nice name." the filly said enthusiastically, "My name is Lucida."

Author's Note

Sorry for the wait. I was assaulted by a combination of school, writer's block and inspiration to write other stories :fluttershysad: But it is back! :pinkiehappy:

The Calm and the Storm

Author's Note

It has literally been years since I've updated this. But procrastinating my schoolwork has led to me writing more! XD

The Calm and the Storm

Despite the lingering paranoia that loitered around the corners of his mind, Sombra found it was difficult to not enjoy himself. Neither the foreign nor Crystal Ponies looked at him funny and for the first time since he could remember, he was actually having fun.

"I knew you were hungry." Lucida said triumphantly as she watched Sombra finish off yet another cupcake.

In reality, he wasn't so hungry anymore. In fact, he was starting to feel a bit sick from eating so much.

But everything tasted so good... Why had he barely ever gotten any of this kind of food before? Maybe they weren't allowed to have it in the castle for some reason. Making the king was just that generous, he reserved the best food for his subjects. Sombra almost couldn't believe that somepony could be that noble.

"So where are you from?" Lucida questioned, "I don't think that many ponies have pelts as dark as yours. Are you from the south? Perhaps extremely far south? I don't think I've ever met a pony from there."

"Yeah, I'm from as south as you can go." Sombra told her quickly, wondering whether or not it would be a good idea to eat any more cupcakes. He finally decided that the last thing he wanted was to tell Ella Care why he'd thrown up a glittery, sugary substance all over his room.

"Really? So you must live at a beach." Lucida frowned, "At least, I think you should... I never really payed attention when we were being taught geography."

"It's really nice." Sombra told her with only half an idea what he was talking about, "The sunrises are the best." it wasn't exactly a lie. The sunrises from his tower did look nice. The snow outside of the empire was dyed bright red and gold, spreading out over the mountains like a glimmering blanket.

"Lucky." Lucida sighed wistfully, "We have to stay in the palace all the time. Daddy says it's not safe for a young princess to wander around the streets. He's worried of us getting captured and held ransom, but I don't know who would want to do that."

Sombra nodded, "That happens to me, too." he told her, "Well, I don't live in a palace, but I'm not really allowed to go places either. This is the furthest I've been away from home." that wasn't a lie, either.

Lucida laughed, "Looks like we've got something in common." she remarked and then after a pause, added, "When I'm queen, I think there are some changes I should make. I'll be allowed to go out whenever I want." she took another cupcake and bit into it, coating her muzzle with icing, "And I want to eat as many of these things as I can. Queen's orders!"

The two of them shared a laugh as they sat in the sun together, surrounded by ponies of all kinds. Crystal, Earth, Pegasai, Unicorns, with a plethora of pelt colours; blue, red, green, silver, pink, yellow, purple: a swirling rainbow of life that talked, shouted, whispered, screamed, hushed under a cyan sky.

And among the beautiful chaos stood a colourless pelt, for once a part of the world he had always dreamt of seeing.

The wind whipped at Diamond Heart's cloak, sending the royal blue fabric fluttering. His pale eyes observed the ponies outside, way down outside his palace. Both his subjects and visiting foreigners weaved themselves into a tapestry of colour. Pride swelled at his heart, this was his empire. So many ponies had come from so far to be here, to see truly how prosperous the Crystal Empire really was. And Diamond Heart was not the kind of pony who disappointed others.

By now, he had to be the last pony left in the palace. All the servants had been excused from their duties to join in the festival and most of the guards had shed their armour and mingled with the crowds.

He stretched out his long wings, ruffling the feathers. It had been a while since he'd gone out for a fly, he'd been busy these past few weeks planning the Fair. He toyed with the idea of flying down to be among those ponies who had flocked to the city centre. He imagined himself walking among them, not as a king, but as a fellow pony.

Almost as soon as he'd considered it, he shoved the thought away. No, it was just too ridiculous. He was a king, not a commoner. It was not his duty to linger with the simple folk who lived below him, his life was here: in his palace, raising his heirs and ruling his empire. He straightened himself and gazed cooly down upon the ponies of his city.

His empire, his rule, his responsibility.

The silence was broken by a gentle clip clop of hooves. A lone servant appeared in the doorway, bowing deeply as his king turned to face him.

"Your Majesty." the servant addressed him, "You have a visitor."

A visitor? Today? Why would anypony be visiting him now? This was the day when everypony's attention was turned to the fair and the continuous stream of events that washed over them.

"A visitor, you say?" Diamond Heart said, getting lazily to his hooves, "And who might this be? Is there a problem with the fair? I shall attend to it immediately."

The other pony blinked in surprise, "Nothing is wrong, my Lord." he told him, "It's Starswirl the Bearded. He wishes to speak with you."

The moment the name reached his ears, the king froze. He had returned? But why? His mind raced, something was wrong. Something had to be wrong. But what? What could he, Diamond Heart, had possibly done that could summon him? He thought back to the abomination he hadn't seen for years, he'd kept it hidden for so long. Occasionally, it would even slip his mind that that thing existed. He had assumed that Starswirl had forgotten about it after so long.

"Tell him I'll be right with him." Diamond Heart said stiffly. Casting one last look after his shoulder at the ponies surrounding his palace, he marched toward the drawing room where all honoured guests were made wait.

The unicorn was sitting in a cozy armchair, a thick book open before him that his eyes calmly skipped over. He looked up as the king entered the room and his mouth curved into a smile.

"Although there be creatures as deadly as the cockatrice or as fearsome as the dragon, there be nothing more haunting as the beast known as the tenebris equum.." he grinned at Diamond Heart's stunned silence, "I found it, your highness. And to think, I didn't even need to search that hard!"

Diamond Heart checked the halls outside the room to make sure nopony was listening before closing the doors and sitting down opposite the mage. "Tell me everything you have discovered."

"Tenebris equum." Starswirl repeated, "Dark Horse. It's a rare phenomenon, only one is born every five hundred years." he drew another book out of his saddlebag and opened it to a bookmarked page, "And even then, they're rare. They can only be born into royalty, you know. And they must have to other siblings who are triplets, born at night. They are either marvelled or feared." his hoof ran over the black ink writing on the pages, "There have so far only been three recorded tenebris equum in history, one born over four thousand years ago, although she's believed to have just been a myth. Another one appeared in the legends of the great warrior Thunder Strike about two and a half thousand years ago and the most recent one, I believe, is Princess Luna herself."

Diamond Heart shifted uncomfortably, "Princess Luna?" he echoed. He wasn't entirely sure what this think Starswirl was talking about meant, but he had a bad feeling about it.

"Of course, it's just a suspicion of mine." Starswirl told him without looking up, "There is plenty of evidence to suggest it, I have heard legend about there being a third princess but nothing is certain." he indicated to the book, "It was a few months ago that I started to research this creature. I noticed it appearing in myths across Equestria and it was then that I was reminded of you. I can't express how grateful I am toward you for letting me observe that creature. It will assist me greatly in my studies."

"But what exactly is that thing?" Diamond Heart insisted, trying to expel images that kept rising in his mind's eye. That demon, that monster. It was living just a few floors away from him, its glowing red eyes filled with hatred, its mane as black as sin.

"Nopony is certain what they are or why they exist." Starswirl explained, "They are ponies, there's no doubt about that. But they're neither unicorns, nor pegasai, earth ponies, alicorns or even changelings. They appear to be an entirely new breed, born from the shadows of a king's guilty conscience."

Diamond Heart's stomach lurched. He could feel a bead of sweat trickling down the back of his neck, but the unicorn payed him no mind.

"Tenebris equum all share a similar set of skills, no matter what kind of pony they take the form of." the wizard carried on, "They all are exceptionally gifted in dark magic. It comes naturally to them, they're practically bubbling with magic the moment they're born. With little practise, they can master some of the most difficult spells there are. They can make great allies, and terrible enemies." he closed the book and got to his hooves, "I must warn you, Diamond, these creatures are powerful. If it chooses, one can bring an entire empire to its knees."

Diamond Heart nodded shakily, Starswirl's words echoing in his brain. A deadly creature, capable of crumbling empires, born from darkness, a guilty conscience.

The phrase danced around him. A guilty conscience. A guilty conscience. A guilty conscience. He was barely aware of his muscles tensing, his ears flattening against his skull.

A guilty conscience. A guilty conscience. A guilty conscience.

Starswirl's voice broke through his thoughts.

"I would like to speak with him once more."

The king hesitated. The more he learned about it, the more he wished that he'd just have that thing put down the moment it was born. But he doubted that Starswirl would allow it, now that the unicorn was so obsessed with it. And he could feel the creeping paranoia that the wizard knew. He had said it himself, 'a guilty conscience'. He couldn't have him running around, telling everypony all the dirty things that Diamond Heart had to do to claw himself up to the top.

"Very well." he said softly, turning toward the door, his cloak billowing out behind him as he led the way through the empty silence of the palace, his heart beating in his mouth.

The walk seemed to take years, every step taking hours. They reached the door that was barred and locked, requiring three keys to open. Starswirl impatiently waited as Diamond Heart took his time in unlocking each one and barged past the king to shove the door open.

All they were met with was an empty room and the laughter of the fair drifting through the small window.