I can still remember the last day of Sombra's rule.
Great dark storm clouds blanketed the sky, casting dark shadows over the empire. Every so often, lightning would flash, tearing the skies apart.
I galloped as fast as I could through the busy streets, dashing between the crystal ponies frantically running every which way.
Despite the fact that I had no intention of returning, my saddlebags didn't have much in them. Just some food, water, and some supplies to help me as I made my way through the frozen wastes away from this empire turned hell.
A great magical blast rent the air apart and I was thrown forward, tumbling to the ground.
I stood carefully, wincing as I put weight on my front left leg. I had likely sprained it, and I had unfortunately never been good at healing magic.
Another blast, slightly quite than the last, split the air again, but I was prepared this time and managed to stay upright.
I turned to face the castle and could see two alicorns, Princesses Celestia and Luna, flying nimbly through the air as King Sombra shot blasts of dark energy from his horn. Every so often, one of the princesses would return fire, but neither side seemed to be having an effect.
I quickly used my magic to gather my things back into my saddlebag and began racing as fast as I could towards the city outskirts once more.
The sounds of the battle grew quieter as I neared the very edge of the city. I could see the hazy distortion caused by the magical shield that protected the empire from the bitter cold of the frozen north.
As I prepared myself for the bitter cold I would have to face, a final blast of energy tore the air apart, throwing me into the side of a building.
I must've blacked out for a second, but I quickly regained consciousness to the sound of a scream, weirdly distorted by hatred and fear, that tore at my very soul.
I looked to the castle to see the two alicorns flying towards the king, keeping him in place with their magic. Sombra screamed again and I saw his horn begin to glow a deep crimson that soon faded to deep black, flecked with purple and green.
The alicorns, seeing this, quickly shot two blasts of magic, one bright as the sun, the other dark as the moon, at the king. As they stuck him, his body began to glow and he began to melt into shadow.
He screamed one final time as the shadow raced up his neck, consuming him. As it reached his horn, the ball of energy exploded, quickly spreading through the city. The shadow consumed the last of him, and then he was gone, but the damage had already been done.
The expanding ball of energy went through buildings and ponies alike, passing through them with ease. The princesses seemed to be unaffected by it, but everything else the dark energy touched immediately took on a sickly gray pallor and began to disappear.
I slowly crawled towards the edge of the city, but I was too late. The energy washed over me and I began to fade.
I watched as my sight dimmed and the world disappeared before me.
I was floating in darkness deeper than any before. I couldn't move or feel anything.
Our world had ended.
Time seemed to pass slowly at times, with a minute lasting eons, and passing quickly at others, hundreds of years passing in a second.
I slowly began to forget where I had come from, who my friends were, and what I was.
I even forgot my own name.
I remember nothing of my early childhood.
Of course, one hears stories of their childhood from their parents, but like nearly other colt and filly I know, I have no memories of my early years.
My name is Eclipse and, unlike most of my friends, I have my cutie mark. It's the image of a sun, but the sun is mostly covered by a dark shadow, like an eclipse. Of course, that's the smallest way I'm different from my friends.
I'm also a normal unicorn. All of my friends, in fact almost everypony I know, is a crystal pony. A few visitors from a distant land known as Equestria come to the Crystal Empire from time to time, and they are also normal ponies. But the visitors never stay long.
While my being 'normal' isn't an issue among my friends and I never really notice it, I can't help but see the strange looks the older ponies give me. They look at me as though I'm abnormal, which I suppose I am compared to most ponies.
Around the time I began noticing that I'm different, I realized that I'm even different from my parents. My parents are crystal ponies, and I'm not. I remember asking about it when I first noticed it, but they just told me that my difference made me unique, and never mind what anypony else thought.
After that I accepted their words.
I am different. And that difference is what makes me special.
"Come on Eclipse!" said Sapphire, racing ahead of me
"Wait up!" I said, trying to catch up
I finally caught up to her when we reached the fair
"Wow" we both said together, gazing over the fair
The princess had really outdone herself this year. The decorations were beautiful, the food smelled divine, and everypony simply radiated love and happiness.
"Do you see Emerald?" Asked Sapphire, looking around anxiously
"What's the matter?" i teased "Afraid your coltfriend won't show up?"
"He's not my coltfriend!" She said, punching me on the shoulder
"You're blushing" I said, grinning as she blushed an even deeper shade of crimson
"Am not!" She said, punching me again "Shut up!"
I rubbed my shoulder "We really need to work on your anger management skills. Here he comes" I added, catching sight of the sparkling green pegasus coming up the road.
"Hey Eclipse" he said, nodding to me "Hey Sapph- wow" He said, jaw dropping as Sapphire turned
"Nice to see you Emerald" I said, once it became clear that Sapphire was to busy hiding her blush to respond. I reached over and shut Emerald's mouth for him. "Shall we head into the fair?" I asked
They both nodded and we headed into the fair. I looked around and let Sapphire and Emerald talk, or awkwardly be silent and think of something to say in their case
"Do you guys want some crystal berry pie?" I asked, pointing at a stand selling it
"Oh yes, I love crystal berry pie" said Sapphire
"Me too!" agreed Emerald a moment later
We got in line and quickly made it to the front. After purchasing my slice, I turned and walked past Emerald, hissing "Buy her a slice" low enough that only he could hear me. Then I raised my voice so they both could hear me and said "I'll go get us a table over there, meet me once you have your pie"
I walked over and sat down at a table, looking up in time to see Sapphire blush furiously as Emerald handed her a slice of pie. They walked over and sat down.
We ate our pie mostly in silence, broken only by our contented chewing and the occasional suggestion of what we should do before the ceremony.
The ceremony was the whole purpose of the crystal air. It was when all the ponies of age used the power of their love and friendship to power up the crystal heart and spread love and magic throughout the empire. The three of us had all turned of age this year, and we would get to participate in the ceremony for the first time this year.
After we finished our pie, we began walking around the fair. We stopped at a few stalls, but we didn't buy anything. The other two walked in silence, stealing glances at the other when they thought they weren't looking.
Finally, I said "How about we head over to the jousting arena? It's almost time for the tournament." Emerald and I had been training for the past year to compete in the tournament.
They both nodded agreement and we walked to the arena. I suggested that Sapphire should find a seat while Emerald and I signed up. As soon as we were in line and Sapphire was out of earshot, I turned to him and said "What's the matter with you?" a little harsher then I had intended
"Wha- what do you mean?"
I rolled my eyes "Dude, anypony with eyes can see you like her, but you've barely said two words to her all day! What gives?"
"Well, umm, I don't know what to say" he said, thinking "And what if she doesn't like me?"
I facehoofed "Something tells me her not liking you isn't a problem"
"But, what if I say something wrong and screw up? What should I say?" He was almost pleading
I sighed "Okay, look. You think she looks pretty today, yes?" He nodded. "Then after we register, I want you to go up to her, tell her you think she is very pretty and-" I thought for a moment, then had a burst of inspiration "And then ask her for a token! Oh, it'll be so adorable!"
He nodded "Okay, I'll do it"
I brohoofed him "Awesome. Now, register. You're holding up the line"
He registered, then walked away. I quickly put my name on the roster and started heading towards where everypony was getting set to joust. I watched the two of them as I walked. They seemed to be talking, and Sapphire was blushing. I watched as she undid the clasp of her necklace and placed it around his neck. She said something else, then kissed him quickly on the cheek. He stood there stunned for a moment, then walked over to me, radiating happiness.
"She kissed me" he said, lost in a haze of happiness "I promised to win for her, and she kissed me"
"About time!" I said, throwing his helmet at him "Now get ready. You have a joust to win!"
We both finished gearing up and waited for our turn. There were 16 ponies, including us, signed up, so there would be a total of 15 jousts. I took my place in the third joust and won quickly, then watched as Emerald won his joust. We both managed to win all our jousts until it was down to just the two of us.
We took our positions. I looked at him and we locked eyes. The flag dropped and we both began galloping towards each other. His lance caught me in the chest and knocked me to the ground. We took our places once more, and raced towards each other. This time, I managed to catch him and score a point.
We took our places a final time and stared down the arena at each other. I have to let him win, don't I I thought to myself with a small inward groan. The flag dropped and we raced towards each other. At the last second, I sighed and raised my lance so it miss him by an inch. His lance threw me to the ground and the ponies watching started cheering for this year's champion: Emerald
I stood and watched as Sapphire pushed through the ground to get to him. As soon as they were next to each other, she pulled off his helmet and kissed him, full on the lips in front of everypony.
Well done, self I thought, turning and putting the equipment away. They'll probably catch up with me later I thought, heading towards the ceremony since it followed the joust
Soon everypony had arrived at the crystal heart. I stood in place, waiting to begin. I caught sight of Emerald and Sapphire on the other side of the circle and smiled.
Princess Cadence soon arrived and said a few words about the history of the crystal heart, then knelt, signaling the start of the ceremony.
I knelt with everypony else and began thinking of my friends, parents, and everypony else I loved. I could almost feel the love radiating from me and everypony else when a stabbing pain suddenly blossomed between my eyes.
I cried out and fell forward. I thought I could see a pair of green eyes, with red pupils and purple fire trailing from them, before everything went dark and I fainted
