Somber Rule

Good Evening, my name is Somber Rule, and this? This is my story.

Nearly 1100 years ago, I was borne to my mother, the Crystal Empress, Verglas Canon, and her consort, my father, Dimonde Passion, a regular Unicorn foal. To my mother, who was an alicorn, like the Princesses in Equestria, and to my father, who was a Crystal pony, the race my mother was sovereign over. My fur was of the lightest gray, and my mane and tail, deep, dark chestnut. My eyes were a dark shade of burnt umber.

As my name implies, I was meant to rule, and was developed as such. I did everything I could to become what my mother wanted me to be. But I could tell at an early age, my mother was disappointed about my race. Don't get me wrong, she loved me with all her heart, as she had my father. However, for her, who is endless, meant she had to take her reign back eventually. Aside from my studies in ruling a country, I also took a strong interest in magic. Especially in anything to extend my life and my rule, to decrease the tension and stress on my mother.

I began my rule under my mother's guidance at the age of 20. By that time I had become well versed and respectable in my magical studies, as well as, respectable as next-in-line to rule. As anypony would expect, I met my mother's expectations at every turn, every test, every challenge set before me, except becoming eternal like her.

At the age 33, my studies turned up nothing in my search for immortality, I turned to dark magic. Both my mother, and my father warned me greatly against its use. My father understood my plight, and held a great sadness for my mother's burden, had allowed me to continue, under the strictest of guidance. And even then, I only did so when I had the time. Contrary to popular belief, my change began to develop slowly; mine was not a sudden transformation.

At the age of 45, 1055 years ago, under my rule, and my mother as adviser to the throne, my mother grew pregnant again to my father. As you can imagine, just under a year later, my younger sister was born; an alicorn filly. At first, I was overjoyed that my mother would not have to spend eternity alone, and I adored having a little sister to spoil, especially after four years later, our father died, at the age of 175.

I would like to make a side note here: Crystal ponies have a unique anatomical structure, most comparable to the Earth ponies in Equestria. However, whereas Earth ponies' innate magic allows them to partially control the soil and plants along the ground, and even exhibit strong musculature for working the land; Crystal ponies exhibit properties reminiscent of the beautiful stones the Unicorns mined from the ground. Our skin was innately more resilient to the environmental conditions around them. They can also manipulate any substance that exhibits crystalline structures, most gems and stones, even water, after it freezes into snow. That is how the Crystal City was built after all. Also, due to the Crystal pony's resilient nature, they are blessed with a comparatively long life span to other races of ponies. And by Crystal pony standards, my – our – father died young. My mother mourned for a full 6 months after. But she had her kingdom and her children to care for.

I mourned as well, after all, my father was my support in my magical endeavors. And unfortunately, aside from a kingdom to rule, my studies in dark magic took a turn for the worse. My father, during my studies, acted as my moral compass, and suppressor. I saw how my mother had grieved, and was overwhelmed by a deep pity for her. And then I found it. A dark spell that would transfer an Alicorn's magic into another. A spell I had learned by studying a little piece of jewelry set with a blood-red stone. A legend surrounding the necklace had posited my mother, long ago, had transferred the magic of an evil Alicorn into the amulet, to put an end to his evil plots. I did not wear the amulet myself, however, had studied cases of others who had worn the accessory; I was not about to go against my father's warnings.

With my resources in hand, I asked my mother about the fated alicorn. When her expression turned dark, I knew the story had a terrible hidden account. A story for another time, perhaps. Her expression turned darker still when I had asked if she could teach me such a spell. And then I gave her my reasoning: that should she wish it, she could transfer her magic to me, and her life, should she choose, could end, to be with Father. Her expression lightened little. She was grateful for my concern, but had told me that I was not meant to bear the burden of eternity. I realize now, that without Father as my support, I did not have the empathy and understanding in me to recognize that she was trying to protect me. Instead, I was furious. Here I was, offering her a chance to discontinue her long life accumulating losses, and she refused! Only now do I see that with the cleansing by the Crystal Heart, and by extension my little sister, Mi Amore Cadenza, that I made a terrible and regretful mistake; how I miss she and Father, so.

Anyhow, continuing the story, in my fury, I sought out the spell through my own means, and my appearance grew darker and more sinister. My appearance in court steadily lessened, under the guise that my sister needed to learn the ways of throne, as I once had; after all, Cadenza was nearing the age of 30, and I was bound my mortal law to die at some point. In my 75th year, 1025 years ago, I had found my mother's secret journal. Within it, the journal contained my greatest desires: spells and magic forbidden me because of my inferior race, as well as, the one spell that could help my mother and myself. Within my calculations, I would not come under any evil influence because my mother was a good and just alicorn, perhaps fairer and wiser than the great Princess Celestia.

In the year after, I began my plot to take my mother's magic from her, for her own good, of course. I had dismissed all of our guards for break, Cadence off in Everfree visiting the Equestrian Princesses, and confronted my mother. She was in her bedchambers, holding a portrait of Father in her hooves, talking to what I would like to assume to be his spirit. She was chiding him, a mistake to teach me dark magic, that I could not handle the amount of willpower to overcome such an undertaking. I told her I was doing all this for her, that she need not worry any long. She simply smiled sadly, as tears poured down her muzzle. It almost broke my heart to see her under distress, but my resolve hardened. I drew the magic necessary for the spell work in. And with the proper runes in mind, and double checking my work, I fired my spell at her. She did not attempt to defend herself, she herself no longer denied that this needed to happen.

The power, the energy I felt as I absorbed all her magic was both terrible and exhilarating! But as I felt the energy burn through me, the magic was also corrupting. As I had found, Alicorn magic, in and of itself, is a corrupting influence. I, who was already under the influence of Dark Magic, could not take on the Alicorn magic my mother controlled. My transformation was complete however, my horn had grown into a red, curved spear, my fur tainted to a dark gray, my mane grew wild and darker like dancing shadows, and my cutie mark was no long the gem in-laid crown I had known since I was a colt, but instead a darker version of the Crystal Heart. And since I took the magic forcefully, could not transfer the magic back without dangerous consequences to both myself, and my mother.

My mother. When I had looked down at her, she had shrunk slightly, her fur had lost its beautiful luster, her mane lay limp and frayed. Worst of all, her Cutie Mark had vanished. At that point, if I had not been corrupted, I might have felt remorse and guilt for what I had done to her; what greater pain could there be than to lose one's magic, the very thing that makes you who you are? Despite herself, and what looked to be in great pain, she stood on four legs, reached her hooves around me, and held me tightly to herself, weeping.

My rule after that point, gradually became more tyrannical. When my sister returned from her visit, she was very vocal against the changes, even though I was overjoyed to be able to watch her grow older and rule with her, as siblings, throughout eternity. When she found Mother, she was angry. I did not stop her as she sent Mother off to Equestria, nor did I stop her when she sent warning to Equestria's Princesses. Certainly I was not pleased, but she did not stop me from ruling over the Crystal Empire.

When I saw that the Empire flourish under my iron rule, I sought to expand. With my further research into crystals and magic, I found I could ingrain information into the structure of the crystals themselves. I had, also, found an avenue to inhibit a unicorn's or an alicorn's magic by infecting their horns with the dark crystals. Furthermore, as long as the ponies remained within the shadows of the darker crystals I created, dominate their minds through fear and despair. With Dark Magic as my inspiration, I had found a way to corrupt the crystals into darker formations to bring the ponies of the Crystal empire further under my dominion. And thus was my tyranny over the Crystal Empire.

My dear sister saw that I had turned all of the Empire into my slaves and my army, mining my dark crystals and expanding my territories. She sought to steal away the Crystal Heart and banish me from my own castle city. In the middle of her treachery, however, I caught her red-hooved. I did not harm my sister, for I am dignified still and the magic could not corrupt that, however, I did imprison her, and hide the artifact away. For, even throughout all of my studies on how to corrupt crystals, I could not corrupt the Crystal Heart. So until I could learn how to corrupt the Heart, I kept it hidden and protected by my dark spells and traps. Nopony would be able to find it without the use of dark magic or myself knowing about it. From then on, I was no longer Prince Somber Rule, but instead, King Sombra!

On the very eve of my 80th birthday, 1020 years, Princess Luna sought to appeal to my good graces, to end my injustice and free my slaves. And although I was mesmerized by her beauty, I sought to control her as well, and send her as an acolyte for my cause to Equestria. When I could not control her, I courted her, wooed her with all my might, to which she refused. During her stay in the Crystal Empire, to which I made plenty sure she was comfortable, Princess Luna discovered of my sister's imprisonment, and grew angry with me. Eager to settle her fury, I released my sister to her; a grave mistake on my part, that was. With my sister in her custody, Princess Luna returned to Equestria, warning me that if I did not halt my expansion and tyranny, she would have no choice but to stop me.

I had wished to visit my sister, Mother, and Princess Luna, in the city of Everfree, however, my paranoia did not let me. After all, if I was not here to control the slaves, surely my rule and empire would fall.

One thousand fifteen years ago, in my 85th year, the Equestrian Princesses, both, showed up on my doorstep. Through the five years until that point, they had sent me many warnings, even meeting my armies with their own, halting my expansion. They gave me one last chance to surrender myself. I declined vehemently, demanding instead they kneel before me. Although only Luna had had my attentions, her elder sister was not too hard on the eyes either. Of course they refused me, and took out their weapons, the Elements of Harmony.

The Elements of Harmony, said to have been the fruit of the Tree of Harmony, and to contain the very magics of creation in themselves. It is true I had heard that the Tree existed, and that these Elements had been used to defeat the great Chaotic Lord, Discord some 500 years earlier before my birth. But I had my own weapons: my dark magic, the Crystal Heart, and the Alicorn Amulet. The battle was great, terrible, and long. In the end, I could not use the Crystal Heart, instead keeping it hidden in the center of a spell of my own design. A drawback to my dominion crystals was that if somepony with a greater will than my own took control of the crystals, I, too, could fall under their control. Under that concept and my own undoing, I was forced to take off the Alicorn Amulet.

As the Princesses sought to cleanse me of my dark power, I unleashed the hex I placed in the Crystal Heart itself, seeking to take the Princesses with me. I banished myself and the castle city of the Empire into another plane, where I could wrest back control of my crystals and my magic. However, I had underestimated the power of the Elements. While my Crystal Empire was sent to the next plane, I was banished, not cleansed, deep into the ice caves to the west of my great city and sealed there, until a time that I could break free. In confinement I schemed, I would gather my strength until the time when my Crystal Empire returns to this plane. And so, I waited, years, decades, centuries, little more than a full millennium. Nearly 1000 years exile of maddening solitude in the cold caves of the Frozen North.