Chapters Just outside the border of the Crustal Empire, A grey unicorn stallion sat, looking out into what he used to call home. The streets were dotted with his former slaves, going about their daily lives, and not giving a hoof about their old king. Sombra searched among the crystal ponies, hoping to find his favorite of all, Amber Leaf. Amber was the only pony who really cared about Sombra, but now she, like all others, cringed at the thought of meeting him again.
Sombra knew he must not enter the Empire, but could not fight the urge any longer. He rose, flung his cape upon his back, and placed a hoof on the smooth crystal road. He flinched at the feeling, for it had been over a thousand years since he had last touched the grounds of the Empire. A second hoof entered the kingdom, then another, and finally, Sombra was officially inside his beloved Crystal Empire.
As Shining Armor stared out over the balcony he noticed something different about the Crystal Empire. Everything was quiet, too quiet. "Has Cadence returned yet?" He looked to one of the guards standing behind him.
"Not yet, Sir."
Shining said nothing, but turned to take a second look at the kingdom. He sat staring out into space, until he heard a familiar voice coming from behind. Shining Armor immediately knew who his visitor was, and was not happy about it. Not one little bit. "What do you want, Flash?"
The young pegasus was surprised to hear his name come out of Shining Armor's mouth, especially after all they had been through the past month. "I'm afraid we have company. As I was pa-"
Flash Sentry stopped mid-sentence, for Shining Armor signaled him to be quiet. He hated his Captain, but was determined to get on Shining's good side, for Twilight. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" At this point, Flash was getting worried about the unicorn before him, but that only lasted until a sudden rumble shook through the entire Empire. King Sombra had returned.
Celestia galloped through a field of her favorite flower. Sunflowers blossomed everywhere, all different sizes and colors. Tia danced and played in the large flowers, until she saw it. One of the flowers was much taller than the rest, and it's colors were oh so beautiful! The princess couldn't help but touch it. She slowly lifted her hoof to the stem, but before she could make contact, she heard a loud BOOM and rain seemingly poured out of nowhere. The first thing Celestia saw when she looked up, was a purple beam of light, causing a hole to form in the clouds, right above her head. Confused, she looked to where the magic had come from, and saw a large, grey, unicorn stallion, quietly watching her from afar. "Is that...?" Tia could not see very well through the storm, but soon recognized her visitor, for when he turned around, he revealed a red and white cape, almost hiding his cutie mark.
"Tia," a familiar voice called out. "Tia, wake up!"
Celestia blinked, finding herself in her bedroom. She didn't run through flowers. She didn't try to pick a sunflower. Sombra didn't keep the rain away from her. She had been asleep. "It was a.....dream?"
"Celestia, the sun should be up by now!" Luna panicked.
"Well, that's too bad." The white alicorn walked toward the balcony overlooking her beloved kingdom. "Because if I can't see Sombra, no one will see anything."
"Tia, what's gotten in to you?! You have to raise the sun or everypony will die! Crops can't grow, and Equestria will freeze!"
"I know."
The young princess did not wish to hurt her sister, but she had no choice. It had to be done. "Sis, if you do not use your magic to fulfill your royal duties, maybe you don't deserve your magic at all."
As Celestia searched the crystal library, she could not help but wonder what secrets could still be hiding from Sombra's 'evil demon' moment. She pulled out a small spell book, revealing the tiny, grey button, obviously hidden by King Sombra. The curiosity got the better of her, so Celestia slowly pressed down on the circle. A large, dusty archway appeared in the wall, leading to the king's secret reading room. The former princess stepped inside staring at the many, many books stashed in the ginormous room. The books were all very appealing, but Celestia chose one off the top of the first shelf. Once again, a button was revealed. "A hideout inside a hideout? Genius!" Celestia chose a book off the newly revealed shelf. It did not have a title, which would have been extremely suspicious to a normal pony, but the alicorn didn't even notice. She flipped open the large book, taking a quick glance at it's components. "This is his journal..." She said, confused. "I wonder... NO! I shouldn't. I CAN'T!.... can I?" The princess could not fight the urge, so she sat down and began to read, starting with the third entry.
Another normal day here in the empire. Well, almost. It's been three days since my last entry, and I've seen some things that I really wish I hadn't known about. There seems to be something trying to attack the empire, and I think it wants me as it's first victim. I can't help but feel like there's more to this place that I'm somehow missing. It's crazy, I know, but really. Ever since I came here, everything's just been so... strange. I'm not normally one to be afraid of the dark, but I keep seeing these strange shapes hiding in the dark of night. Everyday they get clearer, as if they're trying to tell me something. Some ponies might say I'm going insane, but I think this all has something to do with my magic. I'm the only unicorn in my ENTIRE family! That has to mean something, right? I don't know. I'm going to look further into this. Who knows? Maybe it's my destiny! Speaking of destiny, it's day ten of the hunt, and I still haven't figured out what my cutie mark means. What could be so special about three crystals and a star? I'll keep looking, and write any information I find in this diary journal.
"This doesn't seem so bad. Why did he try to hide this?" She kept reading. As the day went on, Celestia had almost finished half of the journal. She heard mumbling from outside the secret room. Luckily, she was able to hide the hideout before anypony noticed.
"That's strange. The sun should be setting right about now."
The sun should be setting... It was at that moment Celestia realized what she had done. Luna was not capable of setting the sun on her own.
It had been three weeks since she found the journals, and Celestia still had not even gotten half way done reading. There were eighteen total and the princess was currently reading journal number four. The king's life was getting more interesting with each entry, and Celestia couldn't help but keep reading. It wasn't as fascinating as hearing the stories from Sombra himself, but it was a start. The twelfth entry of the journal read:
It's been only a month and these voices are already driving me insane! I don't think I can take it much longer! I need that crystal, but I have a feeling I'm not getting any closer. The Shadows are getting dangerously close. In fact, I'm starting to see the figures during the day, too. I've done everything in my power to hold them back, but I cannot keep this up forever. They're coming, and there is nothing I can do about it. I've failed. The crystal ponies look up to me, and I have put them all in danger. I wish I could run away, but I can't. If I do I will be leaving everypony alone to die. I can't do that to them. I just can't. I'm not sure what else I can do. I'm worthless. Absolutely worthless.
Thirteenth entry:
It's too late. My magic is fading. I can no longer keep the Shadows out of the empire. It's all over. I'm a failure. I should have ended this when I had the chance. If I try to resist any longer I will have to be the one to destroy the empire. I wish there was another way, but there is not. I've done everything in my power to protect my subjects, and I am so very sorry. This is all my fault. I have ruined everything now. I thought if I could just hold back a little longer I could save everypony. Oh how wrong I was. I'm sorry. If only I knew where to find the Crys
The rest of the page was blank. "What? What happened? What was he looking for? Why did it stop? I'm so confused right now..."
"What do you think your doing?" The book disappeared from Celestia's pillow and in front of a tall stallion, almost as tall as her. "This is miiiiiiii" the visitor trailed off. "Princess Celestia?!"
"K-King Sombra?!" Celestia stuttered nervously. "W-what are you doing here?" Yep, I'm screwed . she thought.
"I asked you first. Why are you here and how did you find this?" He held the book in front of Celestia. His gaze went to the front of the journal. "Oh no... HOW FAR HAVE YOU GOTTEN?" Sombra bit his lip and stared into Celestia's eyes.
"Not far. Why?" She looked at the book.
"So, you haven't gotten halfway yet, right?"
"No."
He let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness."
"What were you trying to hide? Why couldn't I see it?"
Princess of the Sun and Moon
"Twilight, I don't think I can do this much longer. I can't raise the sun, moon, and all the stars! What am I supposed to do? I should've thought about this sooner!" Luna ran a hoof through her mane.
"Calm down, princess. We can help you make it through this!" Twilight stood tall to show she meant what she said. "We won't let you down!"
"Yeah! We are so super-y duper proud of you for making this supery-dupery extremely confuzzling worse-than-rainbows decision! Rainbows....."
"PLEASE DON'T BRING THAT UP!" Rainbow Dash covered her face with her hooves. "It was ONE time!"
Rarity hadn't even noticed Rainbow's breakdown. "Pinkie, how are rainbows spicy to you, yet you're able to pour a whole bottle of hot sauce in your mouth and not even flinch?"
"I dunno! It's just the way it is!" The pink pony replied before bouncing out of the room.
"Don't worry about Pinkie, Luna. I usually I just drown her out." Twilight smiled nervously at the older princess.
Once Twilight and her friends were gone, Luna gave her best attempt to set the sun and raise the moon, but she had to stay up all night to raise the stars. By the time she finished, she did not have enough power left to raise the sun the next morning. She tried, and tried, but never succeeded "I've failed," she looked up at the dark sky. "I... I can't do it."
Luna tried everyday to raise the sun on her own, but when she finally did, she still wasn't satisfied. She went on for weeks to satisfy this urge to prove her power, but she just couldn't. It drove her mad. Every morning, she would look in the mirror to see she was slowly changing, slowly becoming her worst fear: Nightmare Moon.
Princess Luna looked angrily at her sister. "Is this how you believe a princess is expected to act? I am surprised. Being royal isn't all that it seems. A heavy burden rests atop our brow. It demands our judgement. The weight of the crown demands our time. The weight of the crown means acting selfless. We have their fate in our hooves. We have faced the demons within. A princess is not measured by her power nor greed. A princess's only need is protecting the ponies. 'Tis not enough to know great magic. We are to serve, not to be served. The weight of the crown demands our patience. It demands our lead. The weight of the crown can oft be tiresome, but it is ours alone. With love we rule. We stand as champions for peace and light. We cannot forgive the years we took from greed and hate. We paid the price. We are a ray of hope in darkness. We are an answer to those in need. We are a leader to those souls wanting. We carry ourselves with humility. We help-"
"I know, I know." Celestia was not trying to leave bad example, but she knew the Grand Galloping Gala would've been a disaster without her. "I'm sorry. I was only trying to help."
"It is the rule. You and Sombra are forbidden to see each other anymore."
"I know but-"
Luna put a hoof over her older sister's mouth. "I suppose this means the weight of the crown is too much for you, dear sister." She used her magic to remove Celestia's crown and placed it upon her own head, replacing her black and purple tiara with the larger, golden accessory. "Starting tomorrow, thou shall live like a normal pony in the Crystal Empire for ten years. Does that seem fair to you?"
Princess Celestia did not wish to leave her sister, but she had no choice. "I will miss you, Luna, but I accept my punishment."
The crystal ponies scattered in fear as they saw their former king approach. The color in their coats drained faster than ever. King Sombra did not wish to everypony be afraid of him. In fact, he was aiming for the exact opposite; he wanted a friend. Someone to talk to when he needed reassurance. Somepony who would care for him when he was feeling neglected. But mostly, he wanted somepony who could forgive him after everything he's done in the past, who he could trust with anything. For over a thousand years, Sombra had lived a life of pain ad regret, but not anymore. He knew there was somepony who didn't think of him as a monster, but as a normal pony.
Everypony in heard a sudden THWACK, and turned to see a lonely, grey unicorn fall to the ground, unconscious, revealing a small group of guards, dragging Sombra to the castle dungeon.
When he awoke, the frightened unicorn found himself in a small, dark room. He tried to move, but to no prevail. Sombra looked down, and saw the long, silver chain keeping him in the corner of the cold dungeon. He pulled with all his energy to escape, but failed.
"It is no use trying to break free." A deep voice called from the opposite corner of the room. Out of the shadows emerged a large, purple crystal pony wearing blue and gold armor. "You will only wear yourself out."
Sombra was highly offended. "Excuse me? I am the lord of darkness and hatred! Do you have any idea how much power I posses?"
The guard laughed. "I am aware." He looked down at the terrified king before him. "Go ahead. Show me what you got."
"Why, you!" Sombra, furious, prepared to attack, but nothing happened. He tried breaking the chain using magic. Again, nothing happened. "What? But how is-" He looked up at the grinning guard, then back down at his hooves. "My magic..."
A laugh was heard behind the crystal guard. A second figure appeared from the corner. Shining Armor. "We meet again, King Sombra."
The king growled at the visitor. "What have you done to my magic?"
Shining didn't answer. "It must be hard, being forbidden to fulfill your destiny."
"How did you?"
"I face that feeling everyday, because of you!"
"ME?! I HAVE HAD NO PART IN YOUR LIVES FOR OVER A THOUSAND YEARS! HOW COULD I HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS?!"
Shining looked away. "You wouldn't understand."
