A Crystal Legacy

by Nevermind1

Rating: teen
Tags: Original Character, Princess Cadance, King Sombra, Crystal Ponies, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 3526

The king of a prosperous kingdom is overthrown, and with his defeat comes the end of the royal dynasty.

The king of a prosperous kingdom is overthrown, and with his defeat comes the end of the royal dynasty. Thus begins a new era, and a new dynasty is born.

Published 2014-05-12 21:20:04 UTC
Last updated 2014-06-06 20:25:35 UTC

Prologue: Rebellion

Being the leader of a prosperous land is no easy task. It involved making hard decisions that usually angered some ponies. Being the one in charge, having to make all the heavy choices and hoping the subject would understand was stressful, and often made the pony on top seem like a cruel monster, but it had to be done. Crystal Lattice was the pony on top. He was the king of the Crystal Empire, and was generally considered a tough leader, merciless and strong. In reality, he was a simple pony, a loving father and grandfather, and a warm personality, but only with his family. But the crystal ponies had no need for a warm ruler. After seeing his father lead the kingdom to utter devastation with his warm and considering leadership, Crystal Lattice vowed he will not make the same mistakes. Under his stern rule, the Crystal Empire became a prosperous and strong land. Unfortunately, this meant that Crystal had to act cold and tough with his subjects, and the crystal ponies quickly learned to fear him.
Several moths ago, a unicorn was found guilty of murder. Crystal sentenced the cruel unicorn to death. The unicorn's brother, Sombra, was devestated by the news of his brother's impending execution; he begged and pleaded for his brother's life, even in exchange for his own, but to no avail. At the execution site Sombra was anything but calm as he shouted words of encouregment to his brother, telling him to stay strong. The sight broke the king's heart, but he knew he was doing the right thing. Sombra ran out of the scene as soon as the axe went down on his brother's neck. Crystal thought, and hoped, that this would be the end of it, but unfortunately, Sombra was not planning to forgive anytime soon.
At first it was only a small riot at the foot of the castle organised by the bitter unicorn, but what began as a reletively small protest soon evulved beyond it. Soon, others started gaining courge and also stood up against the, what they believed to be, fierce leader, and the riots grew in scale. Slowly, the protests turned to violent assults of royal guards and royal family members. When the king's eldest son was killed in one of the riots, Crystal realized he had to do something. And so began a full scale civil war between the rebels, lead by Sombra, and the supporters of Crystal Lattice's rule, lead by the Crystal army.

Crystal was sitting on his throne, stroking his white beard, lost in the memories of the time he was just a prince. He couldn't help but smile at the memories. Where has it all gone... he thought to himself as he looked around at the guards, all standing around him, ready for any intruders that may come. I should have seen this coming... He thought, They can't possibly understand... I should have known this would happen... His thoughts were interrupted by loud screem as a gaurd came running into the room.

"The rebells are coming for the throne room, your majesty." The guard yelled, "They made it past our defences and they are headed this way! They are being lead by Sombra, and they seem to outnumber us!"

The head of the guards started barking orders at every direction, the room was preparing itself for a tough battle. Crystal, however, was not phased by the news. He sat up in his throne and looked straight at the room's only entrence. When the rebbels arrived, he watched as every single one of his personal gaurds was striked down. He did not move the whole time, and wondered why they didn't kill him yet. Proably saving me for last. He thought to himslef. They were confident that they had won, and that the king would not attempt to escape. They were right.

As the last of the gaurds was killed, and the storm in the room setteld, Sombra rose from the crowd of rebbels and walked up to the king. The room was completely silent as the black unicorn approched the king's throne.

"Sombra. It's been some time since we last met." said Crystal when the leader of the revolution stopped just infront of him, "Is that black magic I see? Is that how you managed to surpass my defences?"

"Crystal Lattice!" Sombra shouted at the top of his lungs, ignoring the king's words, "We are here to end your rule of terror! We eill be freed from you tyranny once and for all! We are not your subjects anymore! You lost!" The unicorn's words echoed thrugh the room, sending shivers down the spines of the other rebbels in the room, but Crystal remaind still in his throne.

"You can strike me down, Sombra. I probably deserve it. But tell me this: will killng me really satisfy your anger? Or will it only enhance it? When there is no one left to blame for your brother's death, what will you do? I am not attempting to distract you or save myslef. I welcome my death, but I wanted to warn you of the dangers in your future. Dark magic is no joke. I can only hope you'll make the correct choices in future." And with these words, Crystal stood up from his throne, giving the room one last look.

"Die now, monster!" Yelled Sombra. As soon as the words left his mouth, a green beam of light came from his horn and ingulfed Crystal Lattice, and the crystal king turned to dust in seconds. Sombra slowly turned to face the crowd.

"Tonight, we have vanquished the evil that is king Crystal Lattice!" He shouted, as the room filled with cheers and yelles of victory.

Non of them could have possibly known just how right the king's dying words were...

Author's Note

I've had this idea for months now and finally decided to write it down. If I had any spelling/grammer mistakes please let me know, I hope you enjoyed the prologe. Expact more of this story later. :raritywink:

Part 1: Long Live The King

King Sombra sat on his throne as he looked down at the pony kneeling in front of him.

"My king," the pony said, "The preparations for the first anniversary of your victory are nearly finished."

"Excellent." Sombra said with a smile.

"But..." The pony hesitated when he saw Sombra's smile disappear at the sound of the word, "W-we thought that... Maybe we could... Cut down on the budget for the ceremony..."

Sombra's hoof slamed down against the handle of his throne. The pony closed his eyes and turned his head down.

"Most of the Empire's citizens are still recovering from the civil war." The pony quickly started explaining himself, "We barely have enough money to feed the poor, we can't waste it on a celebration right now-"

"Waste???" Sombra shouted, "Is that how you view our victory?! As a meaninglesss event that is not even worthy of a lousy celebration?!"

"Of course not your majisty!" The pony said, raising his head to look Sombra in the eyes, "But we have to think of the poor! Surely you have some empathy towards them..."

"Have they forgotten how important our victory was?! How we rebelled against the terror of the previous king together?!"

"Your majisty," the pony calmly and seriously, said, "We are aware of all of this, but the revolution was done in the name of the Crystal Ponies, in the name of the poor and the mistreated. Celebrating the victory in the expense of them would be completely disregarding the original intention of the civil war."

Sombra looked down at the pony. He was right; the revolution was done for them, so they would not have to live under the rule of a cruel leader. Why am I angry? Sombra thought, slightly scared by his own behaviour. He grunted and put a hoof up to his forehead.

"You're right, I appologize..." He said quietly, "We can't leave the subjects to die in the streets while we celebrate. Cancel the ceremony."

the pony smiled, bowed down and backed out of the room, leaving Sombra alone to think. He's been getting angry at seemingly random things lately, even the slightest thing made his insides burn with rage. He couldn't explain it, but ever since his victory over Crystal Lattice he seemed to get increasingly angry at the smallest of things. Maybe it's the stress... He thought.

"I can only hope you'll make the correct choices in future" He could hear Crystal's last words echoing in his head. "Dark magic is no joke"...

"I had no other choice..." Sombra whispered back to the king who wasn't there, "I had to take drastic measures to rid our kingdom of you..." anger was starting to surfers in his voice again.

"will killng me really satisfy your anger..."

"Stop it..."

"...Or will it only enhance it?"

"Stop!"

"When there is no one left to blame for your brother's death, what will you do?"

"STOP IT!" Sombra screamed and jumped off of his throne. He tried catching his breath, calming himself down, a look of sheer terror on his face. Breathing heavily, he turned and left the room. Sleep... He thought, I just need sleep...

It has been several years since the revolution and the Crystal Empire was starting to regain it's former glory. King Sombra was cocidered one of the most beloved kings in the Empire's history, being kind to his subjects and ruthless to his Empire's enemies. He did seem a bit distant at times, however. On some occasioons he would leave in the middle of a social event for seemingly no reason, or hide in his castle for days, but he was always a good leader, always faithful and generous, and the subjects loved him.
On that day, a celebration was held. To honor their beloved ruler, the crystal ponies gathered around the castle to celebrate his achivements as the leader of the crystal ponies, from his time as a revolution leader, to his rule as king.
Sombra looked at his subjects through the window in his throne room. The crowd was filled with excitement; constant movement and noises emitted from it, and while the king was grateful to his subjects for honoring him so much, he couldn't help but get annoyed at this fact. As much as he tried to ignore it, in the back of his head a voice screamed for the noises to end.

"My king..." He heard someone quietly say behind him.

"What is it?" He replyed without turning around.

"The crystal ponies are ready for you outside." The gaurd said.

Sombra simply nodded his head slowly and started walking towards the door and outside to greet the anticipating crowd. The ponies cheered when they spotted him standing on his balcony, but the excitment ceased immediately when he raised his hoof.
The silence that occupied everypony's ears seemed to last for hours as the crowd anxiously awated to hear their ruler's words.

"Go ahead, say something captivating." Sombra tunred his head at the sound of the voice. A black unicorn with a sinister stare was standing right next to the startled king.

"Who are you? How did you get here?" he asked the mysterious pony.

"I'm Wraith Corundum, your new advisor." The pony replied quietly, "I'll explain later, the crowd is waiting for you to speak."

The crystal ponies starrted at their king in confusion, wondering when he would begin his speech. Sombra turned his head to the crowd of ponies, from where he was standing they looked like a colorful sea, their crystal fur sparkeling and sending the sunlight into his eyes. He didn't like it.

"Ugh, annoying, isn't it?" Wraith whispered in his ear sounding just as annoyed as he was. Sombra ignored this remark and kept his eyes on the crowd. Finally, he opened his mouth to speak.

***

"Alright, now can you tell me what in Tartarus is going on?" Sombra asked as he and Wraith came back inside the castle leaving a large crowd of cheering ponies behind them, "Who are you, and why were you whispering things in my ear??"

"As I said before, My name is Wraith Corundum, I'm your new advisor. The captain of your royal gaurds seemed to believe you needed somepony to give you some advise, help you out in running the kingdom."

"Help me out?!" Sombra seemed insulted, "Who does he think he is? I am perfectly capable of running my kingdom, I don't need an advisor!"

"I thought so too, but the big guy insistead it was necessary." Wraith rolled his eyes, "I think you are an ecxellant king. In fact, I think he may be trying to undermine your authority."

Sombra said nothing. After a few moments of silence he turned to his bedroom without saying a word. He locked himself there, claiming he needed "time to think", although he did not tell what of, and the party was cut short. The next day the captain of the royal gaurds was arrested for treason and sentenced to a lifetime in prison. He claimed to have no knowledge of ever getting an advisor for the king, but Wraith reassured Sombra of his guilt.

Over the years King Sombra learned to live with an advisor by his side. For reasons he could not fully explain he felt that he could trust Wraith, and decided to keep him in the position. Wraith was never seen by the public, as Sombra wanted to keep the identity of his close advisor a secret. Eventually, rumors started spreading around the Crystal Empire about the king's advisor. Some said he was a mystical creatur, created by the castle's Arch wizard to serve the king, some believed he was a traveler from a distant land and was not a pony at all, and some claimed he was the reincarnation of the king's brother, who returned to help him. They were all wrong, of course, but Sombra did not want to correct his subjects. Let them have their fun.

And so, under the rule of King Sombra and his trusty advisor, the Crystal Empire regained it's former glory that was lost with the civil war, and for a time, all was well.

In the coming years a great drought fell on the Empire. The crystal ponies were starving, and only the richest of them could afford the luxury of clean water. In their great distress, the crystal ponies turned to their beloved king for answers, hoping he would be able to save them in their time of need. Sombra, however, was starting to crack under the pressure of ruling an entire nation. He got some help from Wraith, but not much else, and the sudden cry for food and water only made it worse.

The dark unicorn was looking from his window at the most recent bunch of beggers at the foot of the castle and sighed.

"My king..." Wraith started to say, but stopped talking when the king jumped in his place and turned around sharply.

"Wraith, how did you get in here?" Asked the startled unicorn, "The door was locked, and I specifically told you not to let anyone in!"

"I'm sorry my king, but I was thinking, and I think I may have an answer to the crystal ponies' calls."

King Sombra's stare remaind focused on his advisor, now looking more intrigued than angry, encouraging him to go on.

"The royal sisters, rulers of Equestria." Wraith said, "We can ask them for help, ask them to trade some of their resources with us."

King Sombra looked at his advisor with silence. He seemed truly shocked by what was just suggested to him.

"Are you insane?!" He finaly shouted, "A trade? With them???" He furiously walked up to his advisor and looked him right in the eyes, "I'd rather die than beg them for anything! Those two princesses, who think they desserve to be rulers just because they were born with wings, while actual leaders worked hard for our status??? Never!" He exclaimed, stomping his hoof on the floor.
Wraith did not even flinch at the king's display of emotion, like he was expecting it.

"My king, I am aware of your feelings towards the princesses, but this is the only chance we have of saving this empire right now." He said calmly.

"Than I guess we'll have to find another salution!" Sombra angerly started walking away when his room's door opened. Topaz, the head of his guards, stood in the doorway, her yellow wings were open, ready for any potentially dangerous situation that might come up.

"My king," she said, "Is everything alright? I heard shouting..."

"Yes, Topaz, I'm alright." Sombra said, calming himself down, "I was just..." He gestured towards where his advisor stood, but the unicorn has already left the room when Topaz entered, "Oh, nevermind..."

"I really am sorry to come in here like this, it's just that I heard you yelling and thought one of the angry citizens got his hooves on you." Topaz apologized, sounding sincerely worried.

"No, I'm fine, thank you." The king let out a small smile, "Close the door." he added.

Topaz smiled back and did as the king said. She made sure to lock the door as Sombrs closed the curtens, no one must know about their affair, as news of the king and the head of his gaurds would lead to rumors of favoritism at the castle, which could lead to wrath by the starving citizens and workers. Though Topaz was not getting any special treatment, and had to live on the same small budget as most of the other ponies, once a rumor starts it can't be stoped, and so they decided to keep their relationship a secret form everyone, even Wraith Corundum himself.

That night, like every night, the king slept, holding his lover close to him, and dreamt. But tonight his dreams were different. In his dream, he lay on his deathbed, and as he stared at the room's celling he knew this was the end, this is where his dynasty will end. With no appointed heir his kingdom would be handed to some other pony, one who did not work for his position, one who was just lucky to be there when the king died. He would have nothing to leave behind, nothing to show for his time in this world as his kingdom's glory would belog to someone else now, and he will eventually be forgotten.
As these thoughts plagued his mind, a bright flash of light from the room's door apeared, distracting him and making him squint his eyes as he turned his head. Form the light, he saw a young colt galloping into the room. He did not recognize the colt, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he knew him. The young grey colt jumped on Sombra's bed and looked the king straight in the eyes.

"W-who are you? What are you doing here?" Asked the dying unicorn.

The colt did not say a word, he just kept looking at him.

"What do you want?" asked the frail king.

No answer.

The room was completely silent for a while, and then the colt spoke.

"Not now."

"What?" The king asked, sounding annoyed by the vague remark, "What do you mean by 'not now'?"

"Eleven months." The colt whispered to himself.

"What in Tartarus are you talking about?" Sombra's patients was running out.

"Eleven months..." The colt said, turning to look back at the door, "Eleven months." He said, louder this time, as if to reassure Sombra and himself of something, then ran out through the door.

Sombra was left to think about what had just occured. Eleven months?
A thought accured to him, but he quickly dismissed it. He'd have to be crazy to believe that he has just seen his...
The king's thoughts were brought to a holt when he noticed his time was running out. As he died in his dream, he thought back to Topaz. The mare's image was staring to form in his eyes, and as the time passed the image got clearer.

***

Sombra opened his eyes and looked at his lover. He was not dead. He was lying in his bed, trying to make sense of the worried expression on the mare's face.
After sorting it out in his head that the events of his death were merely a dream, he spoke.

"What's the matter Topaz?" He asked, getting out of the bed.

Topaz looked him in the eyes.

"I just came back from the doctor's..." She started saying.

The king's eyes widened, and his heart sank as she finished her sentence.

"I'm pregnant."

Author's Note

Finally finished with this.
Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out :twilightsheepish: but I was having trouble with inspiration, and writhing a fanfic is actually pretty difficult. :twilightoops:

If you see any spelling mistakes, grammer mistakes, etc let me know.

Thank you for reading. :twilightsmile: