And They Gnawed Their Tongues in Pain

The large doors leading into the throne room of the magnificent Canterlot Castle swung open as a soldier of the Royal Guard galloped inside, the sounds of his armor clanking against his gray hide and his hooves against the castle's stone floors echoing off the walls. Drops of sweat rolled down his muzzle and onto the floor beneath him with every frantic gallop he made.

"Princess Celestia," he gasped as he approached the throne, his voice weak with exhaustion and body shaking violently with fear. He pulled his helmet off his head, placing it at his side upon the lush carpet. "There has been a situation..." He paused, trying to catch his breath.

"What's happened?" Celestia said as she got up from her throne to a standing position, a look of concern upon her pearly-white features. Whatever it was, it must have been something quite horrible to shake up one of her guards like that.

The unicorn took a moment to collect himself and regain his composure before he answered the Princess' inquiry; he took a deep breath and exhaling from his nostrils he began his tale.

"I was patrolling around the Neighagra Falls, when I noticed that a small boat had washed onto the riverbank, with no passengers aboard the vessel." Celestia's eyes widened in surprise at the guard's report, though her expression quickly became stoic.

"Perhaps a strong river current pulled it down the river?"

"That's what I thought at first, but when I got closer to look inside, I found..." The patrolstallion lowered his voice to a whisper, not wanting to cause a scene. "I found a body, wrapped in leather binds."

"Where are the boat and its contents at right now?" She asked firmly, her own voice lowering in volume. The guard replied with nothing but a gesture to follow him outside, before turning around and heading back the way he came; towards the castle's courtyard with Celestia being quick to follow.

Golden rays of sunlight illuminated the courtyard with a serene glow, almost seeming to mock the presence of the morbid casket to a watery grave that laid silently upon the grassy meadow, flattening the plant life beneath its wooden frame. As the regal mare and her escort approached the watercraft that awaited their arrival, Celestia's mind was racing. Who was the poor equine who had drawn their last breath? Who was responsible for such a vile act of cruelty?

Drawing closer to the boat, several distinct details made it apparent that it wasn't created by an Equestrian carpenter's knife. The most blatant detail was the bow of the ship, which ended in an upward curve. And upon closer examination, Celestia could see strange markings carved into the boat's rim. The Princess then took a look inside the boat, and even with her nerves of steel the body inside sent chills down her spine.

It was just as her escort had reported. A body lied there, lifeless and bound in leather that was soaked with the crimson hue of the slain equine's blood. She shuddered at the sight, but knew she needed to press onward. She unwrapped the straps that encased the pony's head, revealing the identity of the corpse. It was a unicorn stallion with a long, stringy mane as black as obsidian that spilled around the lifeless body. Two large indents in his skull could be identified, as if he had been kicked or struck in the head. These gruesome wounds only drove the Princess to take a look at what lay hidden beneath the bloodied wrappings that cloaked the rest of the body. As she removed these bindings from the fallen lord's carcass, her breath was caught in her throat. Thirty stab wounds marked his body, and in strangely scattered places. It was like the murderer was in a panic or frenzy as he or she went in for the kill. His fur was white as fresh snow upon the ground, with thick smears of war paint (The colour of which was as dark as the midnight sky) around his eyes, a trademark of only one pony that Celestia knew of.

"It's...It's Immortal Frost," she said softly, her voice barely louder than a spring breeze through a forest's lush meadow. The guard looked at her with a questioning look, curious as to who the pony was. "He was the king of the Crystal Empire. While he wasn't the nicest pony, often quite vulgar and more often than not angry, I'd never wish such a fate as this upon him." As she looked within the waterborne coffin, she spotted a small book from the corner of her eye that was tucked away beneath Immortal's skull. Wondering if it could be a clue to uncovering the answer to who the murderer was, she carefully pulled it free and examined it.

The  book was, to Celestia's surprise, in remarkably good condition despite its resting place. The cover was made from tough, hard leather that was of the same color as the wood boat, serving as a makeshift camouflage. The cover itself was completely barren, not a marking or letter to be found upon it.

"Take the body to the morgue at once, before it draws attention." She commanded to the guard beside her, tucking the book under her wing. "Actually, now that it comes to mind, where is. everypony? It's unusually quiet today."

"I have ordered several guards to be stationed around the entrances to the courtyard, told them to keep the area closed off from any civilians." The Pegasus replied.

"Smart thinking. If anything of note is discovered, notify me at once." Leaving the guard to his work, Celestia returned to her throne and opened to the book's first page, and began readings its contents aloud.

"To whomever may be reading this, please excuse all the blood." Celestia's expression darkened, having become quite angry at the rather tasteless remark. She sighed, having to keep herself from throwing the book into a fire, before continuing onward. "Here lies Immortal Frost, son of Mayhem, King of the Crystal Empire. On the first day of the ninth month, year 93 of his rule, he was struck down on the field of battle in a duel to the death with Sombra, former adviser of Frost." As she continued to read the book, it chronicled the history of Immortal Frost's reign, starting from his coronation after his father committed suicide all the way to his death.

However, there was one particular section that grabbed her attention, and that was because of one very simple reason: It was almost completely false. It detailed a long, bloody war with Equestria that left thousands dead and entire cities burned to the ground. The Princess knew for a fact that while neither her or Luna got along with Immortal Frost very well, none of their disputes ever escalated to anything more violent than a small skirmish, and even those were few and far between. But, what was truly strange about this falsehood was how it claimed Immortal Frost alone was to blame for these atrocities, as if to vilify him for some unknown reason.

These twisted retellings went on and on the more Celestia continued to delve into the pages of the journal. Page after page described the King's supposed tyrannical madness, of how he had throngs of ponies working as slaves that he constantly beat and tortured for his own amusement. This was an interpretation of Immortal that Celestia could and would not believe to be true, due to the previous exaggerations of actual events.

"Something suspicious is almost certainly at play here," Celestia said to herself, laying the book on the cold stone floor beside her throne. She rested her head upon her hoof, and began to ponder what would be a proper course of action. She couldn't risk asking rashly and risking the consequence of innocent blood being spilled for naught, and an unjustified  attack on the Empire would be just asking for a publicity nightmare when she had to explain to the citizens that she was attacking based on a hunch that there might be something unruly going on. Picking the book off the floor as she rose from her throne, she decided to consult her sister for her opinion on the matter.

The hall leading to her sister's room was adorned with the Princess of the Night's own special touches. The ceiling was painted a dark blue, with small blotches of titanium-white paint to imitate the Equestrian sky under the moon's gentle light. The panes of stain glass lining the stone wall were tinted with a brick-red hue that gave a similar tint upon the rays of sunlight soaking into the hall. Coming to Luna's bedchambers, she was not surprised to find the wooden door closed.

        She knocked upon the oakwood door three times before pausing to await her sibling's response. Thankfully, only a few moments passed before the door creaked open and Luna poked her head through.

        "Oh, hello Celestia," she said cheerily, opening the door completely after seeing who it was. "Come on in. Is there something I can help you with?"

        "Yes there is Luna," the elder sister replied, withdrawing the book from her wing as she entered her sister's room. "It's actually something quite important." She went on to explain the events that had occurred over the past couple of hours, as well as the dilemma she was faced with. Luna's expression became firm and serious as she listened to her sister's story, and gave her own thoughts on the matter after she had finished.

"Not attempting to seem rude when I say this, but has it occurred to you that you could be overreacting somewhat? Even a little bit? I mean, maybe it's just tradition for them to send their dead leaders off in such a manner. Not like that's entirely unheard of. And, what if his death was entirely justifiable?"

"I would love to hear your idea for how sending a body drifting downstream with only a fabricated series of events to explain the situation would be considered "justifiable", Luna." Celestia said, her voice dripping with sarcasm like blood from an assassin's blade as it is withdrawn from a fresh wound in the victim's back. Luna's expression contorted into a scowl at this response, but made no verbal retort at her kin's snark, as it would get the two mares nowhere and only lead to more insipid bickering.

"How about you send a messenger, request for Sombra to meet you on peaceful terms?" Celestia nodded in agreement, hoping this was one large misunderstanding. Though, she knew she was pretty much projecting sunshine straight out of her ass with that kind of overblown optimism.

The next few days were spent readying a caravan to deliver a request to the new ruler of the Crystal Empire, asking him to travel to Canterlot so they could be properly introduced to one another. As the Pegasus took to the cloud-speckled sky, her shape becoming smaller and smaller until she disappeared from the Princess's sight completely. Now, there was naught the Canterlot royals could do but wait.

Celestia's sun dropped beneath the towering mountains that adorned the horizon like spikes from a warrior's armour, its orange rays of light streaking across the eternal canvas of nature that was the sky, until the blazing ball of gas vanished completely, only to be replaced by the Princess of the Night's pale lantern gleaming with its eternal radiant brilliance, accompanied by a most gorgeous display of stars that gleamed in the darkness. And as always, when morning came the cycle began anew. Days melted into weeks, with no word from either their messanger or the leader of the Empire.

At long last, on the dawn of the third week, the silhouette of a Pegasus appeared, arriving from the Northern Lands of ice and cold. As the Pegasus drew nearer with each flap of her golden wings, the Princesses were ever anxious as to what the King's reply was.

"He has agreed to meet with you," the messenger said as her hooves touched the ground with a practiced gracefulness. "However, he said that he would prefer if you visited his Empire, so he could assure you that the ponies of the Crystal Empire are in good hooves."

"That can be arranged," Luna said with a pleasant smile. "Thank you, Feathery Wings. We shall make the preparations for our trip ato once." The Pegasus gave a salute, and with a single flap of her mighty wings was airborne once more. Once the loyal messanger vanished from sight into the horizon, Luna turned to her sister and said, "It's a trap, isn't it."

         "I wouldn't rush to such a conclusion Luna," Celestia replied with a shake of her head, her elegant mane shifting around her as delicately as a dancer whirling around a stage. "However, I do think we should prepare ourselves in case something goes wrong."

         A final message was sent to the monarch, notifying the King that his request that they meet within his Empire's walls was accepted, and that they would arrive by the week's end. And by the crack of dawn the following morning, they had set on their journey, clad in fine cloaks that wrapped around their elegant forms perfectly. And by their side, an escort of soldiers clad in the breathtakingly beautiful armor of the finest quality that gleamed in the early morning light that was tasked with guarding the two royal ponies; ready to die if need be.

For the first few days of their march across the land, everything went incredibly well. They were making good progress, and would reach the Crystal Empire within fourteen days. And with every passing day, the jet-black tower that Sombra resided in illuminated blindingly bright with magic light, before a rusty red beam of energy shot into the sky.

Frostbiting winds howled and twisted around the princesses and their soldiers as they drew near to Sombra's castle, and thick sheets of blinding snow clouded their vision. However, they pressed on through the Arctic land, thick snow crunching beneath their hooves with every step they took. And like a beacon Sombra's castle shone with his sorcery, crafting a light on their path that brought both hope and agonizing horror for the advancing equines.

Their march through the cold and unforgiving terrain slowed to a crawl,  only making a few miles a day. Several poor soldiers met their tragic ends in the seemingly endless sea of snow, but the Equestrians continued onward. A journey that should have taken a couple of weeks turned into a month-long endeavor through torturous conditions and temperatures.

For thirty days their perilous journey through the unforgiving weather and unending barrage of snow continued. Any small amount of heat they could hope to have was robbed from them by the gales, their hides cracked and bled from the cold, and they were running low on food fast. The only things keeping them from giving up and returning to their homeland was the sight of Sombra's abode that gleamed like a blaze in the northern sky, perhaps to repel the twisted frost from slaying his populace and leaving him upon a nightmarish, dark throne that was seated upon a pile of carcasses.

And, just as they began to think their trek across the wasteland would never reach an end, they finally made it. The escort had reached  a series of cliffs that overlooked the Empire, with the only way forward being a long, narrow path of stairs crafted out of white marble that twisted around the steep cliffs. From there, they'd have to breach the front gates, which towered over even the cliffs.

Celestia peered up, looking past the gates and towards the colossal tower in which the King that reigned over the Empire with an iron hoof did reside. And even though the blizzard threw snow into her eyes, she could make out the silhouette of a stallion as he illuminated with a hellish red light that seeped into the tower itself.

The Equestrians began their trek down to the bottom of the cliffs. Due to the horrific weather, they were forced to use the narrow and incredibly long staircase to reach the bottom of the cliffs, which took several hours and wasted even more time and energy. Once the Princesses touched the snow-covered ground beneath their hooves, they noticed something incredibly strange.

"The blizzard...it has stopped," Luna said, a look of puzzlement on her face as she looked around the land before her. She was right, the snowstorm that had been howling around the Equestrians just a few moments before had stopped dead in the blink of an eye. Now, all that stood before them was that black gate that defended the Crystal Empire. Cautiously, they approached the ebony structure.

"Sombra, lord of these frozen lands, come forth!" Celestia shouted, her voice booming across the sprawling emptiness. And to the ponies' surprise, it seemed that Sombra had responded, the gates opening before them.

  And as they passed through they noticed something that chilled them to the bone. The empire was completely barren and lifeless. Not a sound was heard but the crunch of snow beneath their hooves, and the only thing they could see that wasn't snow was Sombra's ebony tower, which no longer pulsed like a bleeding heart as it did when it was infused with the nefarious magic of the tyrant.

"What happened to this place?" A soldier said from beside Celestia, the stoicism her guards had always retained was now drained to nothing but unpreceded horror, unable to produce more than a feeble, horrified whisper as his gaze absorbed the pure nothingness before him. A second guard, a Pegasus to be exact, was doing his best to calm his companion's nerves, though he really didn't appear to be doing much better than the unicorn was. Really, she didn't blame them. The choking atmosphere of the lifeless land around them brought to Celestia's mind images of a mass grave. But somehow, this was far, far worse than her wildest nightmares. However, the time of their fateful meeting was upon them. They could not turn back now.

"I'd prefer not to think about what Sombra has done to the citizens of this realm. But if we are to prevent him from doing anything so horrific ever again, we must confront him. Let's make this quick," Celestia replied as they drew nearer to the tower. It seemed the only way inside was an archway that was just as narrow as the staircase they had used to descend the cliffs that now loomed behind them.

As they passed through the foreboding entrance leading into the dark fortress, the only way forward seemed to be a single hallway, the walls decorated with a pallid and lifeless black hue of color, a nihilistic color pallet that brought a sense of bleak loneliness into their hearts.  The only sight to break up the endless blackness that almost seemed to stare back at them was the occasional candle that flickered dimly along the walls, casting their shadows upon the stale grey texture of the floor. For several minutes they traversed this passageway, until they were finally rewarded with something to break up the void-like shadows. A  gate, red as a dying star, adorned with the symbol of a piercing green eye wreathed in purple smoke. The gateway slowly opened before them, releasing a deep moan of agony as it moved.

Beyond this gate was a lavishly decorated throne room. Chandlers hung high above, gleaming with with delicate light as they swayed. Carefully sculpted statues of muscular, athletic stallions adorned either side of the chamber, their bodies laying upon their slabs with their hoofs tucked under their chins, with a coy smirk adorning their faces as if eternally awaiting their lover to join them beneath the covers. A carpet, red as the most brilliant rubies and lined with a golden silk, led through the middle of this room and right to the currently vacant throne. The throne itself was forged out of ebony crystals, with the back decorated with weapons of all kinds. Axes, swords, lances, all of differing variety and size, their blades jutting outward like makeshift spikes. To the left of this room was an alcove that held within it yet another staircase, one that spiraled upwards to another floor. Across from this alcove was another exactly like it, except that its staircase descended instead of ascending.

"This place is quite large," Celestia said as her gaze crossed the room, lingering upon the empty throne. She wondered if those weapons had seen much use, and where the King acquired them. She had a very good idea what the answer to that question was, but she shied away from that horrific image. Suddenly, her ears picked up a rather peculiar sound. It was the sound of metal hitting stone, but it was nowhere as firm as a blacksmith's hammer striking an anvil. It was much lighter than that. As she tried to locate the source,  she noticed something much more important. It was raising in its audibility, and quite quickly. It was getting closer. Everypony's gaze was fixed upon the staircase, awaiting whatever would descend it. They didn't have to wait long.

It was a unicorn, with a coat of fur as dark as the choking smoke of a roaring flame, and a mane as black as ash that rolled down his neck. His eyes were like the emblem on the gate, green as jade gemstones that seemed to pierce all that caught their gaze. He towered over most of the other occupants, coming eye-to-eye with the Princess of the Sun, and his body was sleek, and well-fit. His torso and hooves were clad in a menacing black metal armor, as if ready for battle at any moment. His expression was extremely cold, almost completely soulless. A crimson cape flowed around his form, brushing against the polished white floors with every step he took.

"Good evening," The unicorn at last spoke, shattering the uncanny silence that had settled over the room like glass. His voice was a deep baritone, rumbling like the shifting of tectonic plates and carrying a sense of power with each word. His composure was firm, and cold as stone. His eyes, however, told a different tale. You could always trust the eyes to tell the truth, and this was no exception. They were constantly shifting from one pony to another, like the scenery of a theater as it performed The Conqueror Worm. A fitting analogy, as he wore the attire of an antagonist straight out of a play. "I am Sombra, the King of this mighty realm."

"I am Princess Celestia," The elder of the two Princesses replied, and Luna followed suit with her introduction. Their tone was cold, official and dry as a bone. There wasn't a single thing about Sombra that Celestia found likable, from his appearance to his voice that seemed to radiate pure malice and hatred. She didn't trust the unicorn as far as she could throw him.

"Where are the civilians at?" A guard shouted angrily from behind Celestia, barely waiting a moment's passing after they had finished introducing themselves to interject what he had to say. Both the Princesses and Sombra turned towards the crowd of ponies, wanting to know which guard decided to open his mouth. It wasn't difficult to determine which one, as all of of the other guards had moved a good fifteen feet away from him and left the Earth pony out to dry.

"And, what would your name be?" Sombra said, approaching the Earth pony. And while many a novel would  write that he had death in his eyes, that the guard had attempted to strike him down right there, or that the King had ripped him limb from limb, these were only dishonest exaggerations fueled by a need by the author to give a historical hero upgrade, or to villainize Sombra even more than what the actual events had provided. The actual course of events between the two was quite different.

"Er, my name...my name is Evening Star," The stallion replied, shrinking away from the King as he drew closer, grasping his spear in a death-grip when he suddenly realized just how much taller Sombra was. Beads of sweat soaked his fur, and his heart thumped like a war drum in his chest. His gaze never once met Sombra's, it kept glancing towards the two statues on either side of the room. Sombra seemed to have noticed this, and this got a chuckle out of him.

"Do not worry Evening Star," He said as he approached one of the perfectly sculpted works of art and caressed its mane that curved around its figure. "These were never organic. You do not have to worry about being turned to stone, I couldn't do that even if I wanted to. That is a spell beyond my knowledge. Now, you asked where the civilians are, and I think it would only be proper for me to show you." Beckoning for the crowd of Equestrians to follow him, he began to make his way down the eastern stairwell. Evening Star was about to join his comrades, when he was suddenly lifted into the air by Celestia's magic. As she turned him around to face her, he could tell she wasn't pleased.

"What were you thinking?" She said, clearly having to restrain herself from outright screaming at the guard. "If you had angered him, you could have wound up as a splatter on the wall." Evening Star considered pointing out that they made this visit to check on the populace, but decided that it would be in his best interests to not do the exact same thing that was getting him this little talk in the first place. She slowly set him on the ground, and released him from her magic's grasp. He immediately rushed to join his comrades, a deep blush staining his smoke-grey cheeks as he traversed the stairs, with the two Princesses right behind him.

The stairs continued to spiral around and around a wall of polished black rock that gleamed with a mirror sheen and revealed the reflections of all who passed it upon its surface, creating a light-born canvas of colors as the group of ponies continued to descend. The deeper they went, the more the guards began to mumble about different ideas of what Sombra had done to the ponies that lived under his rule. Celestia didn't catch the majority of what they were saying, she caught bits and pieces. Most of their ideas weren't pleasant, such as if the ponies were in underground death camps, or he had just killed them outright, and they were just being led into a giant death trap. After a few minutes, she just tuned their chatter out for the rest of the descent into the mysterious darkness.