Project New Genesis

Jacob was lying unconscious on balcony. Princess Celestia tried to wake him up.

"Mr. Dracons, can you hear me?" Celestia asked, trying to reach him.

"Just five more minutes..." Jacob responded and started snoring.

"Looks like, he had long day." Celestia said to herself.

Princess didn't want to leave him on cold balcony, so she took him to one of many guest rooms and lied him down on bed. Celestia thought, that his headache was caused by King Sombra, so, just in case, casted on him another protection spell. She started to look on Jacob with curiosity. Maybe he was from different planet and species, but he acted, like her pony subjects. Although, she was still afraid of mysterious being. It was so unnatural for her, seeing artificial limb in so good coordination.

Curiosity won and Celestia started to study Jacob's bionic arm. Hand was the same, like the natural one, but in index finger was a lighter. Wrist had build-in watch with date, fazes of moon and picture of dragon in the background. Celestia read the date. "03-21-2076. That's... pretty long." On forearm was some kind of flap. Celestia opened it. Under it was a console, used by Jacob to control his implants. Princess closed it and looked at the upper arm. Inside of it was little storage for little things. "Pretty practical..." Celestia found inside a box full of straight, white sticks. "What is this? Some kind of snack?" Celestia put it back on it's place and closed a case.

Celestia's attention attracted Jacob's necklace. Except amber and silver dragon, Celestia noticed on it mysterious sentence. "'Pouco lapa nunca vai'." Celestia read, taking the amulet. "What does it mean?"

"'Little flame never goes'." Celestia jumped, seeing Jacob's open eyes.

"You're awake? I-I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay" Jacob calmed her down, sitting on bed. "Can I have my necklace back, please?"

"O-of course." Celestia gave a necklace back to it's owner. "What's this sentence?"

"It's my mom's family motto. 'Little flame never goes'. It's written in dead, Gallic language. This amulet has over 2000 years, but it's in my family like... 700 years?"

"So, you're are a member of some kind of... nobility? This amulet doesn't look cheap..." Celestia asked.

"Not at all. It's a long story..." Jacob scratched back of his head.

"Can I hear it?"

"Well, if you want..." Jacob cleaned his throat. "Year 1359, England on Earth. In little village, which name I don't remember, lived girl, named Anna. When she was playing with her friends, she stumbled on stone, what proved to be a little chest. Anna dig it up and opened it. Inside was this amulet." Jacob said, looking at the meant necklace. "She decided to keep it. 10 years later, she met rich merchant, fell in love with him and started to live with him in London, England's capital. Anna thought, that amulet was some kind of lucky charm from God and, thanks to it, her life changed for better. When she gave birth to her son, she gave amulet to him on his 10th birthday. Since then, this necklace was passing for 700 years and ended in my hands. But, Ray suppose do get it. He's older than me."

"Then, why do you have it?" Celestia asked.

"I found it in Sarah's pocket. I don't know, how it appeared there. Mom never took it off earlier, not telling about giving it to someone out of our family." Jacob put a necklace back on his neck. "Well, finders keepers."

"Shouldn't you give it to your brother?"

"Ray doesn't even notices it. He says: 'Jewelery is just waste of money and time'. Even if I would give it to him, he won't accept it. Besides, it matches to my eyes."

"If you say so..." Celestia said.

"Anyways, where are my things?"

"Twilight took them with her to the throne room."

"Oh it's ok... WHAT!?" Jacob screamed. "I have there really delicate things."

"Twilight said, that you have clothes there."

"Not only them..." Jacob said and ran to the throne room.

"Um, it's in the second direction..." Celestia corrected him.

"Like in cheap comedy..." Jacob commented and ran in good direction. Celestia followed him, to make sure, if he doesn't have anything dangerous in there...

Main 6 and Princess Luna were in castle's throne room. They were waiting for Jacob and Princess Celestia.

"Oh my..." Rarity groaned, feeling the smell of Jacob's clothes. "How long was he waiting with laundry?"

"Like... 3 years?" Twilight said. "He was hibernated, so he didn't have much time for it."

"I wonder, if there's anything else inside?" Rainbow thought loudly.

"Rainbow Dash, ya' can't look inside someone's bag." Applejack said.

"Thinking isn't a crime." Rainbow mumbled.

"Everypony, please calm down." Fluttershy said. "I don't want to make our guest uncomfortable."

"What's that bag, darling?" Rarity asked, pointing Fluttershy's mysterious bag.

"Oh, it's Jacob's armor. He forgot it and I decided to take it for him. I forgot to give it back to him." Fluttershy explained. "I must say, it's very light."

Without any warning, into the throne room ran Jacob and Princess Celestia just after him.

"INSIDE MY BAG IS A BOMB!" He screamed.

"What!?" Everypony started to scream and ran around. Jacob was just standing with smile. Then, he started to laugh. Ponies stopped this nonsense.

"It was just a joke?" Twilight asked.

"I can't believe, that you really believed in it." Jacob said, cleaning tears of laughter. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash started to laugh, as well.

"What's so funny?" Rarity asked them with fire in eyes.

"I- It was the.. the best... best... prank... what he did so far..." Rainbow said, pausing with laugh.

"Looks like, we have a partner in crime." Pinkie said, lying on Jacob's side with crossed forelegs.

"I must say, that my humor can be pretty... explosive." Mares started to laugh once again. "Good to be back..."

"Still making jokes, don't you, Jacob?" Everyone in the room looked at the entrance. It was Jacob's brother, without helmet.

"RAY!" Jacob cried out and hugged him. "It's good to see you alive."

"The feeling's mutual, Jacob." On Raymond's face appeared little smile. After some time, hug broke. "King Sombra... He changed half of my crew into zombies and fired all of our escape pods... I had to kill Prof. Nate. Sombra killed Marcus. What about Off. Stone and Dr.Sky?"

"Sarah didn't make it. Oz is safe." Jacob said sadly.

"At least he survived but we don't have scientists. We failed the mission... We're stuck. I failed our homeland. At least, we landed on civilized planet." Ray said, looking around. "I hope, that this bastard burns in hell..."

"It's not very possible..." Princess Luna said. Ray jumped a little, surprised.

"Wow. I forgot about talking horses." Ray saluted. "Colonel Raymond Dracons, Captain on Athena, M.S.T.F. soldier and Mars ambassador. According to regalia, you're some kind of royalty."

"Indeed, colonel." Princess Celestia answered. "I am Princess Celestia. This is my sister, Princess Luna. We're both rulers of Equestria. You can ease." Ray stopped saluting.

"I hope, that my brother didn't make much trouble, Your Highnesses."

"I must say, that your brother is very... interesting po... person." Luna said. "But, it is not the end of our troubles. King Sombra is still a big danger for us, our subjects and you two. That is why I am taking your brother as my personal student."

"What?" Ray asked.

"In Jacob's body is King Sombra's Dark Magic. I cannot release it, like I did it with Off. Stone. If I would try something, like this, it would kill him or damage him physically and mentally. Jacob Dracons must learn, how to control Sombra's powers. Without it, he can die, as well."

"I can stop the progress of this curse..." Celestia said.

"It's not a simple curse, sister. It's something beyond your powers. If you will cast more protecting spells, it could only make it worse. Please, sister. I know, that you don't trust me, when it goes about Dark Magic, but... I don't want anyone else to be killed by this demon. Will you trust me this one time, sister?"

Celestia sighed. "I agree. But, it means, you're responsible about him. I don't want any Dark Magic bursts."

"I promise, sister. What about you, Colonel?"

Ray looked at Jacob. "Jacob is only family, what I have now. Don't fuck it up. Both of you."

Jacob started to cry artificially. "My big brother said the 'F' word... I'm proud of him."

"Jacob, do you agree, as well?"

"Well, I don't have much choice. I trust you, so I can start this training."

"I'll go prepare everything." Luna said, walking away. "When you will feel ready, meet me in my chambers..." The door locked behind Luna.

"Okay, what now, big bro?" Jacob asked.

"We need an outpost, where we can live. Have you got any equipment, Jacob?"

"There's a lot of stuff in Athena's wreck, on tracks to Canterlot." Jacob said.

"Can I have a map of this land?" Ray asked, don't knowing, what else should he do. Princess Celestia used her magic and created the giant map of Equestria. "I guess, this is Canterlot..." Ray said, pointing the castle on mountain. "We can build something, like this. Some kind of citadel."

"Citadel... Nice name for an outpost..." Jacob commented. "I saw the mountain with cave, on my way here." Jacob pointed meant mountain.

"It's an old dragon's nest." Twilight said. "If you want, you can start to build there."

"Thank you... um..."

"Twilight, colonel. Twilight Sparkle, also princess."

"Thank you, Princess Twilight." Ray ended the sentence. "Have you seen in that wreck any building drones?" He asked his brother.

"Three chests... Also jeeps, fighters, motorcycles... Everything untouched. Mostly..."

"Great. I will go check on this. For now, you talk with Princess Luna about this training. Be careful."

"Aren't you injured?" Jacob asked.

"It's only flesh wound, Jacob." Raymond sighed and left.

"Now, if you excuse me..." Jacob said, fell on the ground and fall asleep.

"Not this again..." Celestia murmured.

Jacob woke up in complete darkness. He involuntarily stood up and started to look around.

"Is that a revenge for that bomb, Celestia? If it is, it's pretty good..." Jacob said, thinking, what he just said. When no one responded, he started to be afraid.

Jacob grabbed a flashlight form his backpack and turned it on. What he saw, made his heart jump to his throat. "SATAN!"

"Nice to see you again, kid." King Sombra greeted. "I hope, that my spells didn't harm you too much...

"You can try on, Sombra. I'll never be your student. Especially, after what you have done do my friends." Jacob said. He seemed brave, but he was really scared.

"Ah, yes. I wanted to show you, what power you can receive, if you will join me, as my personal student. Besides, friendship is for weak. It blinds you and keeps you away from your goals."

"Yeah, yeah, shut up. This chat is so cheesy, that it stinks as fuck. Tell me something, what I don't know, Mr. Cheesy Villain."

Sombra sighed and looked with disappointed face on Jacob. "I'm just another cheesy villain for you?"

"I've seen many villains, like you. Darth Vader, Voldemort, Thanos, Davey Jones... You're just one villain from many others. You think, you can do better? Go on, surprise me..." Jacob challenged him.

Sombra's eyes stopped greenly glowing and dark mist disappeared from them. His horn was all gray and mane stopped being like smoke. Coat looked like, it was made of... crystals. "Finally, it let go..." Sombra said in more gentle and higher voice. "Forgive me, Jacob."

"Is that another trick, Sombra?" Jacob prepared to grab his gun.

"I didn't mean to scare you. Or turn your friends into zombie-slaves. My real name is Prince Star Diamond. It's nice to meet you, without being controlled by that... thing."

Jacob's mind was jumbled. He thought, it's too much for him. "Is he good or bad? Can anyone explain me, what's going on here?" Jacob thought. "What do you mean by 'controlled'?"

"Let me explain." Darkness disappeared. Jacob and Prince Star Diamond appeared in city, made of crystals. "This is Crystal Empire, over 1000 years ago." Prince started. "I was ruler of these lands. I really cared about my crystal subjects. You see, I belong to the family of rare and powerful crystal unicorns. Our characteristic attribute is curved horn, different from normal, straight horns. My kingdom was in deep and good relationship with Royal Sisters. We helped them in their war with Discord, Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. Now, he's reformed and doesn't cause any damage in Equestria, so don't worry about him."

"Copy that." Jacob responded.

"Anyways, my scouts reported me about mysterious, dark mist." Image changed. It showed Prince Star Diamond, in front of giant mist. "I was investigating it, when..." The mist moved forward. Prince Star started running from it , but it was too fast. Prince disappeared in mist. After a while, mist faded. In the middle was known and (un)loved King Sombra. "The mist was a remnant of very old and powerful Dark Sorcerer, Sombra. His power flowed into my body and... changed me. I turned against my own subjects and enslaved them." Star started crying, They weren't fake tears. Prince was sad. And scared.

"I'm sorry." Jacob said. "It has to be hard, knowing that you betrayed your own kingdom."

"You have no idea... Thank you for listening."

"It's fine. Unless, it's not Sombra's trick."

"I'm not that demon. I have an advice for you. Whatever Sombra will say, don't listen."

"Don't worry. I'm never listening. Of course, there are some exceptions..."

Star Diamond disappeared and everything turned black again.

Jacob woke up in the same chamber, like earlier. He decided to not wait and ask Celestia about this all 'Prince Star Diamond'. Engineer decided to check in throne room. Like he thought, Celestia was there.

"Good evening, Mr. Dracons." Celestia said. "This time, you slept little longer. If you're looking for your brother or Twilight and her friends, they are in Ponyville. My sister is waiting for you."

"Well, actually, I wanted to ask you about something. Well, somepony..."

"Ask away."

"Do you know a unicorn, named Star Diamond?" Jacob didn't play in half measures. He never liked that.

"Well, he ruled Crystal Empire, before King Sombra. How do you know about him?"

"When Sombra talked in my dreams, I saw him. Sombra and Star Diamond are the same ponies."

"What? This is impossible."

"Well, Sombra lived much earlier, but he left his powers and awareness in the form of mist, what flowed into Star Diamond and now they share the same body. Any more questions?"

"Can I faint?" Celestia asked. Jacob nodded. "Mother of me..." Celestia stuttered and fainted.

"Um, service to throne room?" Jacob joked.

Luna prepared her chamber for the training with Jacob. She was waiting, when somepony appeared inside.

"What do you want, Sombra?" Luna asked.

"I just wanted to remind about myself. He's to emotional. You'll never be able to tame his powers. I can."

"You will use them to attack Equestria. I cannot allow for such a thing."

"He will come to me. Like I came to you..."

"I still don't know, what I saw in you." Luna hissed.

"Talented unicorn with big magical potential. An inheritor. Somepony, who you fell in love..." Sombra said, walking around Princess.

"I was young and fool, demon. I would never fall in love with you, if I knew, what will you do."

"I wonder, what Jacob will say about our past relationship..." Sombra said with smirk.

"SILENCE, YOU MONSTER!" Luna screamed and attacked Sombra with dark beam of magic. Before it reached him, Sombra disappeared, laughing. Luna was hardly breathing. "We will stop you, Sombra. Me and my Inquisitor..."