Chapters The Faint Glimpse of Light
Night. Day. Cold. Warm. It never mattered, or to him it didn’t. He would always be on his dark throne drowning in his own sorrow which would be known as his past. You know with his first and only friend; Radiant Hope, the only mare who would always stay by his side despite his differences like; not being a crystal pony. But it never bothered her, she never took notice of it and stood by his side anyways but that’s a whole different story. We are here to focus on one stallion and his new friends and his betrayal.
He has no name, not that he wasn’t given one there was no way to define what it is from where he came from, and the truth was he never knew the truth either, but that’s what he’s going to do. Under his orders or not…but for now call him Strider.
Sombra sighed to himself quietly while thinking of his days of youth...and happiness but quickly shook it off. “Damn these memories...they only bring me pain...but that is what empowers me…”. He stood and trotted over to the balcony look over his kingdom of slaves, creating monuments to him and building what seemed to be weapons intended for offensive strategies, which wasn’t much of a surprise. If the fallen kingdom of Sun and Moon were to attempt to take back the Crystal Empire. Which bothered him...endlessly so he made his way down to his chambers and thought to himself; “I can’t let go of the feeling that I may be overthrown someday…I must prepare for the future.” Though he was too blind to foresee the future.
~Days Later~
Sombra looked upon the young colt that lie upon a table, a curved horn very similar to his was upon his head, though it didn’t have the red end yet. “You...my young subject, will surpass me when it is my time. I will leave you all my power and train you in the dark and forbidden magic, and in time...you will call me…”Master”... The young filly looked upon his new role model for the rest of his life until it was his time too.
His mane and coat were as dark as Sombra’s and he could see a lot of himself as he looked in the newborn’s eyes. “Sleep now, your training begins until dawn my son.”
Countless days pass and the young colt has become a healthy stallion, much like his father he had inherited the same traits as Sombra, from the flowing mane to his evil eyes. He started to gain powers much like his, training endlessly and hiding him from the enemy known as friendship, love, you know the sort.
~BANG~ For what seemed like a loud explosion, Sombra looked up in surprise and clenched his teeth tightly. “Pegasi scum!” Soon a dark night arrives and bows to the dark king. “Your Highness, we have successfully shot down one of the Pegasus scouts and have had sightings of it crashing nearby.” Sombra smiles deviously and acknowledges Strider. “Son, I will let you prove to me what you have learned throughout our time training together…go to the crash and take care of the rest.” Strider nods mutely and turns to his shadow form going toward the direction of the fallen Pegasi. Sombra sighed to himself and galloped to his chambers quietly and put his thoughts at ease.
The Faint Glimpse of Light
Strider landed and trotted toward the chunk of Earth that had been replaced by a wounded enemy scout. Strider blinked and waved away the smoke while looking toward the hole and possibly dead scout Pegasi. As he approached the crater he only saw the struggling of a blue coated mare with a mane and tail covered in multiple colors. “Ouch...my damn wing...thank Celestia I’m still alive though.” She attempted to stand and fly but was too hurt, Strider quietly and cautiously approached the mare then- ~WHACK~ Darkness...and what felt like a cold hands wrap around his front and back hoofs and then nothing.
Chatter, the only thing that was heard, mostly mares and maybe one or two stallions but that didn’t matter, what mattered is what was happening and where you were. But he had to focus on the task at hand, getting the hell out of there. But he just had to wake up. Strider gasped and jolted himself awake before trying to rub his head from what felt like getting bucked. “W-what…?” Shackled and bound he tried to get a sense of where he was a dungeon from the looks of it and the only source of light were small lanterns within the walls. The sound of talking and galloping could be heard coming from a group of ponies moving toward him, so he decided to close his eyes and listen quietly. “Are you sure that he’s capable of dark magic?” Said one pony, with a calming tone with her voice. “Yes, I’m completely sure!” Said another, with a bit rougher but sweet tone. “For all we know he could be listening to our every word of thinking of a way to escape! We have to get rid of him as soon as we’re finished!” This was a rough deep voice, most likely coming from a stallion. And “Get rid of” might have been an easier way of saying “kill” without being so dark. “Not yet Shining Armour, we have to be sure that Rainbow Dash and Applejack have to be telling the truth.” Names, finally something he could report as soon as he escaped but now wasn’t the time. I reckon that we do what your brother says Twi, we have no idea what he can do, and I bucked him so hard that his head nearly popped off so there’s no use in trying.” And with the end of that conversation your cell door opened and they all stood in front of him, observing him and his cutie mark which was hard for them to describe so it wasn’t much use. “Hey, Shackles.” Shining said just before throwing a rock at your head which hurt enough to wake you. Strider opened his eyes and glared at the white coated unicorn. “Don’t get any funny ideas, nothing you try will work not until this barrier wares off.” Strider never noticed the blue shield blocking you from freedom or from ruining this stallion’s day. A purple colored Alicorn stepped forward and looked upon you and finally spoke; “You’re probably wondering where you are. But don’t worry about that, I just wanna ask you some questions. If you’re okay with that.” Before he could speak Shining popped in front of her and shouted. “What are you saying Twily? He’s the enemy we shouldn’t treat him as a house guest!” He slammed his hoof on the ground and clenched his teeth. “Big brother please go wait in the castle, by order of the princess.” Armour groaned and left the group. “Now that there are no more disrupt-...” “Hold on one second!” The same mare that had crashed previously approached you, wings bandaged and everything. “What in Celestia were you going to do to me?!” She attempted to fly up to your level but to no avail. “Rainbow! Please!” She glared right at the blue coated pegasus and she slowly backed away without an exception. “Rainbow Dash…” Strider finally spoke. “You we’re the one who got shot…” She glared at him and left. “Dashie, wait for us!” Then four other ponies galloped after her and it was just Strider and the Princess of Friendship. “You’re different from the others…” Strider gazed upon her as bewildered as he was. “What do you know about me?” Strider questioned then the magical barrier disappeared. “Huh?” The shackles that bound Strider came loose from magic and he fell to the dirt floor. “You’re nothing like your Master.” Twilight approached Strider carefully as Strider struggled to stand but was ready to defend himself. But nothing, just the distant small talk of guards and the group of ponies who recently just left them. “Why did you do this?” Strider rubbed his forehooves and stretched to gain balance of himself. “I am interested in the way you grew up in the hands of that dreadful stallion.” Y-you mean King Sombra?” Twilight nodded but before she could say anything else Shining Armour appeared from nowhere and blasted Strider with a surge of energy. “Gah!” Strider hit his back against the wall and recovered enough to escape in his shadow form. And he flew through the castle desperately for a way out attempting to return to the place he called “home”.
“No please!” The princess shouted to a dozen of royal guards including Shining Armour. “There’s no escape scum!” “Give up while you can” Was all you could hear until. “ENOUGH!!!” A blinding light flared throughout the corridor and it kept Strider from holding that form making him fall to the floor, but that wasn’t the end of it. Another Alicorn, much taller than Twilight approached Strider and teleported them both to her quarters. But Strider quickly backed away from the Princess and a red surge of energy illuminated his horn. “Please, don’t.” For an unexpected reason the voice soothed Strider enough to lower his defense, not all the way obviously. “Young stallion...I wish to speak with you without anymore distractions.” Strider tensed up and kept his teeth clenched. “I understand that you are confused but please, I hope that we can resolve this compromise without any bloodshed.” Celestia acknowledged the wound upon Striders face and motioned to him slightly, but Strider backed away hesitantly. This was out of fear and Celestia felt it. As well as Princess Luna who also appeared from nowhere, then Cadence and finally Twilight. But this wasn’t helping Strider at all, for all he knew they were leading him into a trap. But this wasn’t the case. They wanted help from Strider but were unsure if he were to comply for she felt a small light inside Strider, and so did the other Princesses. Using her magic Celestia opened a nearby window to reveal a heavy blizzard. “This blizzard has been raging for many years ever since the Crystal War started, we have reason to believe that your Master is responsible for this and so in order to stop it we need to put an end to his reign. But to end it we need Sombra gone...forever.” The thought of this put a whole new thought to Strider’s head, he did not know what to think but whatever it was, he was right in the middle of it.
The Faint Glimpse of Light
Strider calmed himself enough to feel comfortable in the presence of the Princesses but he couldn’t help but feel troubled as he thought of the citizens of Equestria suffering from this terrible war. He felt an unusual sensation in his heart which made him sit and cling to himself. “What...sorcery is this?” He was unsure about what to feel from this point forward. Out of pity for the slaves of Sombra and the bystanders who were suffering for nothing. “I-I know not what I’m feeling...but I am unsure if I should trust you…” He backed away slowly toward the window but the Princess of the Night spoke up. “Please don’t leave us worthy subject, for we require your assistance. Or more of our Kingdom shall perish. We ask you out of fear for our citizens.” As soon as she ended her sentence all four princesses bowed for approval but Strider was too shocked to even reply, or move. “P-please, I don’t understand any of this…” Strider gazed through the window unsure of what to make of this contradiction that he was about to step into. “I-I…” Just before he could answer a large crowd of guards with weapons (Including Shining Armour) arrived to apprehend Strider wielding several swords and weapons. “He’s holding the Princesses captive! Get him!” Before Strider realized it, he was caught off guard and managed to get hot by one or two of the deadly weapons, nothing too serious but it was enough to get him bleeding. And managed to shove him out of the window, which was at least 3 stories high. “Gah!” Strider screamed like he never screamed before and managed to stop himself, thanks to his trusty sword which he used to stab a wall which was sturdy enough to hold him tight.
“Search the perimeter, bring me the prisoner and we shall deal with him befo- Ow!” A book which was thrown at him by Twilight brought him attention. “What is it?!” He rubbed his forehoof against his head where the book struck and Twilight glared at him. “We had it all under control! We were only speaking to him under utmost importance!” Shining felt distraught and shook his head. “You’re negotiating with the enemy, and it’s my job to bring an end to them!” Celestia grew irritated with the quarreling siblings and spread out her wings while jumping out of the window. “My liege!” Screamed a random pony and all of the attention of the room went straight to the window. Celestia was flying around the castle in the cold where she was sure she saw the fresh blood of a wounded pony wandering straight into town. So she followed the trail unnoticed by the several working ponies with the fire pits. Until she came across an angry earth pony with a food stand. “Get back here you good for nothing thief!” Celestia instantly knew it was him so he continued to follow the trail of agitation. “Hmm…?” She turned her head to an alley of trash where two young fillies were sharing a loaf of bread and apples. “Where did you get this food?” The princess sat by the two startled fillies, possibly siblings. “T-the nice pony gave it to us…” Celestia dropped a small bag of bits by the fillies out of dismay and continued to follow the trail right into the woods where she saw a faint glimpse of light. Possibly a fire. “D-damn…” Strider shook in pain as he attempted to make his way back into the woods while attempting to put out the fire but stopped. The only thing to keep him warm was a small fire and black and velvet red hood he stole, much like the food he gave to the fillies.
“Comfortable?” A familiar voice asked as the flames grew slightly larger with a bit of magic. Strider sighed and shook his head. “You shouldn’t have followed me...I’m no use to you. I am just a lost cause.” Celestia took a seat next to the cold and wounded unicorn and looked down upon him. “What is your name?” Strider looked down. “I don’t know…anything about my past...not where I came from, my name, or the meaning behind my cutie mark…I am truly a lost cause.” Celestia looked into his eyes and saw the crimson red that the fire reflected off of the sparks and ash within. Some time passed and the only sound that could be heard was the blowing of the wind and the snapping of the fire until the ruler of Equestria spoke. “. . . how are your wounds feeling?” She clearly cared but Strider didn’t buy it. “Fine.” He said plainly and tried to keep the silence up. “Ow! What the hell?!” Celestia glared toward him and shivered slightly, just enough for Strider to notice. So he just sighed and made sure that there were no bloodstains on the small hood he had and wrapped it around her shoulders with his magic. “It’s not right for you to freeze on my behalf.” Strider stood and took small limps toward the forest but Celestia levitated him to her and brought him back to the castle. As blood still seeped from his wounds. He eventually passed out and was set on a table for a nurse to care for him. “I think her name is Red Heart.” Strider thought as he dozed off, from both exhaustion and blood loss. Dawn peaked upon the horizon and Strider woke in a small cot in unsurprisingly the dungeon. “Damn…” he looked around and noticed somepony walking down the walkway and it happened to be that same nurse. “Oh, hello.” She said as she set down a small platter with some food. “Who brought me here?” Strider rubbed his head as the caretaker opened the cell. “Under her majesty’s order she declared that nopony besides me and the other Princesses are to have contact with you.” As much as Strider wanted freedom he knew that he was gonna be there for a while.
