Black Mirror

He'd done it wrong. Neat Beryl made it very clear that he had to get it right. If she found out what happened, he'd be dead or worse for sure. He didn't mean to knock over her vase. It wasn't his fault its standing was in the middle of the narrow hallway. What could he do? She would be here any moment now, and there were shards everywhere! Sombra swallowed, his ears flattening against his mane. Maybe he could try using magic to fix it? Maybe Sombra could make it disappear like he'd seen Jupiter do?

His horn started to bubble with magic, a faint red that twisted into a combination of black, green, and purple. The shards that used to be a vase started to glow and tremble. Carefully, he lifted the pieces. He didn't want to break them further, so he needed to be gentle. Sombra started to piece the vase back together, doing his hardest to make it look as good as it used to be. Neat Beryl didn't like a mess or anything out of order, so he had to make it perfect. If it wasn't perfect, it wasn't good enough for Neat Beryl.

"Sombra!" shouted a shrill voice that ruined all of Sombra's hard work. Every time a shard hit the floor, his heartbeats quickened a little. Neat Beryl. Slowly he turned around, looking up at the mare. She was furious. If there was anything that Sombra's seven years of life had taught him, an angry pony was a painful pony. The ones who hid their rage under a veil of calmness were even more terrifying. "What have you done to my father's vase!?"

"I'm sorry miss Neat Beryl, I was cleaning your floor when I backed into it, and it fell apart! I-I tried to fix it!" She lifted a hoof, and shoved him out of the way, sending the colt to the floor. "I'm sorry..." he said as he slowly got to his hooves, his ears yet to rise.

"You dare break my vase out of incompetence and then defile it with your sordid magic!" How dare it? How dare it break what was hers! Sombra slowly backed away from the much larger earth pony. What should he do? What could he do? Why was she angry that he had tried to fix his mistake? "You know that you're not allowed to use your evil sorcery, but you don't care, do you? Typical of you Ateus. You think only of yourselves, a bunch of ungrateful fools who wouldn't be anywhere without us! You wouldn't be anypony without me! I have given you shelter and food, and this is how you repay me!?"

Neat Beryl didn't expect it to understand. It was taking her for granted. It had broken her father's vase on purpose. Why else would there be tainted shards all over the floor? It was pushing her boundaries. That was it, that had to be why. It was trying to see what it could get away with, but Neat Beryl wasn't going to let it continue this behavior. She had to nip it in the bud before it became a problem.

"I didn't mean to!" Sombra didn't understand. He was trying to fix it, why was that so bad? "It was an accident!"

"This wasn't an accident, and you know it," she hissed. Neat Beryl bit onto his eat, and started to drag him through the corridor. She needed to sort this out as quickly as possible. It was back chatting against her, that was something else she needed to sort out. Neat Beryl had dealt with this before. She dealt with it through fear. The more afraid it was, the less likely it would be incompetent again.

What was she doing? Sombra squirmed, but he didn't do more. He was afraid of doing so. What if she got even madder? Could she get even madder? He didn't want an answer to that question. His ear was bleeding from how hard she was biting. Sombra teared up, his watery eyes filled with pain and fear. Neat Beryl stopped in front of a door, dropping him against the floor without a second thought. She pushed open the door and kicked him inside.

Sombra fell into what could easily be mistaken for the bottom of a well. He looked up, discovering that there was no roof to this new cell of his. Around Sombra's hooves was water, but it smelt awful, burning the inside of his nostrils. He was smart enough to know what it was, but his young mind refused to accept something like it. He looked at the door he had been kicked through, unable to figure out how to get back to it. He had fallen three meters, and he didn't have a way to get back up. What was Sombra supposed to do now?

Sombra noticed something else. There was a semi-circle close to Sombra's eye level, so he had a look inside. Maybe it was a way out? His nose twitched as he picked up a new scent he hadn't smelt before. He saw two glowing red eyes meet his own. Sombra called to them, but all he got was a growl. Then it lunged at the bars, surprising Sombra and causing him to slip and fall into the muck around him. When he got back up, he emptied his stomach as the smell was now far worse than before.

Sombra cried out as the monster managed to get a very long and fuzzy arm through the bars, trying to swipe at him. It had long claws, sharp enough that they could cut Sombra open like a fish. He backed against the wall, tears freely falling as he was trapped. Sombra couldn't go anywhere. To make matters worse, somepony from above dumped a bucket of their muck into the well, covering the colt.

All he could do was curl up and cry. There was a growling monster behind some small bars, muck around him and falling from above him. There was no escape. He was stuck here until Neat Beryl thought he had been punished enough for what he'd done.

"Psst!" Sombra looked up, seeing the face of a young griffin. The Griffin pulled a rat from somewhere and dangled it above him. "Catch!" He dropped it, and Sombra caught it in his mouth. He wouldn't dare use his hooves, so Sombra threw his head up to get all of it in his mouth. He chewed for a little bit and swallowed, smiling at the new face. "My name is Grover, what's yours?"

"Sombra," the colt replied.

"What'd you do to get into the shit pit?" Sombra told him what happened between himself and Miss Neat Beryl, a somber look on his face. "Well, keep it up!"

"Huh?"

"Can't let them ponies break us, alright? We've got to stick together. The punishments suck, but they should fuel us, not dowse the little fire we have already!" Sombra liked Grover. He was very optimistic despite being an Ateus. "If we keep fighting, one day we'll be kings! I'm sure of it!" The griffin chirped and looked behind him, somepony likely calling for him. "Gatta go, see you later Sombra!"

The stallion slowly awoke from his dream slash nightmare. He couldn't help but smile. Grover had been right, and they had become kings. Then Sombra remembered that he was one thousand years in the future. Grover was dead. He didn't even have a copy of his soul for a seance. If he had the magic, and the time, Sombra could talk to Silver Stream or Jupiter Ballad.

Sombra could use necromancy to bring them back, but to what? A world where the Crystal Empire still stood was not safe for them. And a lot of them weren't as stable as Sombra was. Sombra didn't know if they could ever heal after being broken as they had. It wasn't fair. They didn't deserve to die. They didn't deserve to suffer under the hooves of those who thought Ateus were lesser than them.

Abalone. Zeus. Aethevia. Fubuki. Kumo. Farijika. Drarzodar. Star. Terra. Valheim. Xar'gallun. Kaha'aheo. Arisu. Bwana Mkubwa. Alraxon. Bralmath. Kulgrezaath. Zazral. Jude. Fortune. Dusty. Vermillion. Sarkadin. Sephasis. Trath'tazag. Ocraddan. Rysisdar. Tulukaruk. Jezako. Krazius. Gerebos. Inisian. Chrissy. None of them deserved to die. And they were the Ateus. There had been ponies who suffered as well. Not as much, but they still paid the price for being different. If you had a deformity, a disability, you were thought to be cursed by an Ateus. Ateus like him.

Sombra glared at his pillow, imagining the faces of all of the ponies who had made his life a misery. He wasn't going to play nice this time. He was going to kill them one by one, instilling fear and terror. They would fear to leave their houses at night, they would fear the underneath of their beds and would quake when near a shadow. His hearts raced as he came up with many ways to kill them, many ways to finally get justice. Each would have to be different than the last. Each had to fit crime committed.

"Sombra?" Sombra snapped out of his fantasies to look at Scootaloo. The other night, she had hugged him, and for some reason, Sombra let her do it. He needed to keep his emotions in check. You can't get revenge when you're a sobbing mess, can you? "You... You looked angry enough to kill somepony?"

"I am. And I'm going to. I have a list of ponies who wronged me in ways you aren't old enough to comprehend yet. None of them deserve to breathe, and I'm going to be fixing that problem."

"It is because of your wings?" She had been spying on him. Interesting.

"Every friend I have ever had is dead. My only family is dead. I have had everything taken away from me," he snarled. It was a sound that would make an Ursa Major run for the mountains of Yakyakistan. "Everything but my will. They aren't getting away with it. I'm going to make sure of that." Sombra sat up and scowled at the wall. "Over one thousand souls are waiting to be avenged. I can't let them down."

Sombra climbed from the bed. He couldn't sit around while the dead rolled in their graves, that wasn't fair. His body had healed itself, so he was ready to go. Sombra didn't have any trouble with the Alicorn or her husband. They would be free from his wrath. Sombra only wanted to the guilty and the complicit. But if they tried to stop him, Sombra wouldn't play nice. They wouldn't die, they hadn't done anything to deserve that.

"They hurt that many?" Scootaloo whispered, his superior hearing catching it quickly. It was nice that his senses weren't all over the place now. He needed them to be in perfect condition for his plans. "Why? Why hurt so many?"

"Because we are Ateus," Sombra answered. "We are seen as inferiors. If you aren't a pony, you are an Ateus. But that wasn't enough for that, little filly." He looked deep into her eyes, his pupils thinning. "Thousands upon thousands of Ateus were enslaved because we weren't like you. But these beasts were cruel. They are cruel." And they always would be. "These monsters are so cruel that they enslaved their own. Why?" Their noses were almost touching, and the rage he was trying to suppress scared her. "Do you want to know what made innocent ponies become the equivalent to an Ateus?"

"W-what?" She was afraid of asking, but she asked anyway. He was opening up to her. Scootaloo might not understand how the world worked yet, but maybe she could try to understand his?

"Because they had something wrong with them." Scootaloo blinked and furrowed her brows in confusion. "Deafness, blindness, albinism, a cleft lip or palate, retardation or... deformities." Her wings closed tightly against her sides. "If you had been born in the empire... you would have been an inferior. An Ateus."

"I'm never going to fly, so that means I'm Ateus. That means I'm going with you." That wasn't the point he was trying to make. Scootaloo wasn't supposed to stick by him in this. He couldn't let her go there. They'd use her against him. He blamed his two hearts for getting so quickly attached to her. Sombra always had a soft spot for offspring, even if they were a pony.

"No."

Sombra wanted to eat something. He could get one of those chicken lizard creatures. Nobody would miss it. He tapped the window, feeling for the lock. The window had an enchantment on it, and the moment Sombra found it he evaporated the very basic spell. For a stallion raised to think magic was evil, he was very talented with it. Not to mention extremely gifted. He opened the window, then felt a tug on his tail. Sombra moved his gaze to meet Scootaloo's, a strong determination in her purple eyes.

"If I'm not going, neither are you!"

"You've known me for a week, kid. Stop acting like you're my friend."

Ponies had a strange concept of friendship. They thought you could make friends in a day, that if you didn't want friends that something was wrong with you. Some thought friendship only belonged to ponies. Most thought that Ateus were unable to make friends. They were wrong. They couldn't fathom how wrong they were.

When you were a slave amongst hundreds, if not more, you learned to be friends. No, not friends. Family. Everyone was equal. Everyone knew your pain. Everyone relied on one another to survive. If you were hungry, someone would risk themselves to get some food for you. Everyone was your brother and sister, nephew and niece, grandfather and grandmother, father and mother, uncle and aunt, you cousins and second cousins. They would keep secrets better than the deaf. They would make you feel like you weren't alone.

And they were all gone.

"Why can't I be?"

"Because all of my friends are dead. I don't want you added to that list... it's long enough as is." Sombra shook his head, growling. "I'm going to get something to eat. I'm getting sick of fish." Scootaloo watched as Sombra jumped out of the window. She should be worried as they were on the fourth floor. Sombra didn't seem concerned, but he was also the kind who would fight a manticore while half dead.

Sombra wanted to kill the ponies who hurt his friends, and Scootaloo didn't want to stop him. Why? Scootaloo had read many stories about this situation. They were always told that there was another way, but was there another way? Those were just stories, and this was real. Maybe if she talked to somepony, they could help him get justice.

Zecora breathed in a deep sigh as she faced the Tree of Harmony. She was waiting for somepony. No, someone. More like someones. It was important that the Ateus Community knew of Sombra's return. Zecora hadn't moved to Ponyville for no reason. The Zebra had been sent by her people to gather information on Equestria and to watch over the resting place of Prince Skiadrum.

There were other informants like herself and were on their way. It wasn't often that these meetups happened, but when they did, it meant something big was happening. The arrival of King Sombra for instance. That was big enough to bring leaders, but she doubted that they would. It wasn't safe, not while the Empire was still around.

"I must say, I'm surprised." Zecora didn't flinch when she heard him. Tarsus. He was the Changeling King's informant. For decades he had donned himself the perfect disguise. The form of a grumpy bunny. "It's not often that you call all of us. Normally it's me doing the calling." Tarsus was a strange one. He sounded as if he was going to slit your throat for a laugh, but he wouldn't. That'd give him away too quickly.

"I apologize Tarsus, but this is news that must be heard by all of us." He didn't like her rhyming but tolerated it. "They are already here, for the tree do they have that much fear?" Tarsus rolled his eyes and hopped next to her, looking at The Tree of Harmony. Soon he would reawaken, and the empire would fall. King Arachne had told Tarsus that before he left Insecdia, all thirty hives were counting on it.

"Of course. It's the resting place of Skiadrum after all. You'd be mad not to fear the magic of an Umbrum, especially a prince."

Prince Skiadrum was one of three brothers and a sister. They were offspring of The Mountain King, Noche De Neón, a colorful and powerful ruler. Nopony had ever seen any of them alive, and for centuries they were believed to all be dead. Zecora learned otherwise. If Sombra was alive, then they had to be as well. Umbrum lived a lot longer than ponies. A thousand years was a mere week to them. From what little Zecora was able to find, the spell keeping them imprisoned warped them. If the ponies of Equestria felt a day, so would they. It was cruel.

But Sombra was here. His existence proved that the Amanecer Family was still alive, even after all of this time. The Umbrum were still alive and were waiting for the sweet taste of freedom. In front of her and Tarsus was presumed to be the only free Umbrum, and that had now changed. Now there were two Amanecer's.

"Pretty." Thestral informant, Karlel, stood next to Zecora. She was grey, like most of her kind, and had a lavender mane. Her golden eyes looked up and down, fascinated by the construct. "If he consciously made this, Skia had some good tastes."

"That twit Starswirl managed to make the ponies believe that he and his pals made it. Like idiots, they ate it up." Tarsus hopped onto Karlel's back, a smile on his little fuzzy face. "Anyhow. What is so important that you had to drag all of us here?" Zecora didn't face them, keeping her gaze on the beautiful looking tree.

"Happy I am that you have been able to arrive, for I have news that King Sombra is alive." Tarsus fell off of Karlel's back, staring at Zecora with shock. She didn't look at him, but her smile remained.

"How?" Karlel said. As the idea started to sink in like fangs, her pupils became as thin as paper. "King Sombra was killed by the Crystal Heart. Everyone knows that." King Cuervo Sombra, son of Queen Armadura De Estrella and King Medianoche Brilliante of the Umbrum. "This is huge!" Her ears twitched as she heard small rustles in the forest. The others had left to spread the word. "Where is he? Is he ok?"

"He's at Ponyville Hospital." Karlel looked on her back at Tarsus. "There's been a lot of activity there lately. It's probably him."

"What!?" Karlel hissed. "One of the greatest Ateus ever is in the lion's den!" Zecora understood her frustrations, but she couldn't do anything about it. Tarsus' ears twitched, and he looked into the trees. In the canopy, he saw two golden eyes with mismatched red pupils. It appeared that one of the informants hadn't left yet. "Sombra deserves to be somewhere far safer than a literal train away from the twin tyrants!"

"That's not very nice," said the owner of the eyes. "King Gekidō and Queen Mshindi have come together and have proposed an idea." What idea would that be? "I have been here a lot longer than the rest of you, so I have a better understanding of them."

"You're also dumb enough to be stoned with Skiadrum's soul stones," Karlel hissed.

"You think that wasn't on purpose?" he chuckled. "Celestia has grown over the centuries. Rather slowly, but she's growing. She's gone from a tyrant to a mother figure who is trying to turn her protege into the next ruler of Equestria. If they learn the truth about the empire, Equestria will be on our side." Karlel wasn't convinced. Trotsylvania had cut ties with Equestria for their xenophobia. The same being said for the whole of Hasia and Okaprika.

"I've been living with one of the Elements of Harmony for years. If she knew what was going on, she'd tell her friends, and they'd be on our side. As much as you're a pain, Fuwa, you're very good at your job," Tarsus grinned, rubbing his little paws together evilly. "The best part is that the Alicorn in Ponyville is that her brother and her sister-in-law are running the Empire. If she learns about this, she'll help crush the empire from the inside out."

"You Hasians are insane," Karlel spat. "Sombra deserves better!"

"As do we," he said firmly. "Draconeqi, Zebras, Thestrals, Changelings and many more, deserve better. When Equestria takes our side, it will benefit all of us. Sombra will be the catalyst to end thousands of years of suffering. It's time to end this chapter and start anew."

"I'll tell King Zaphkiel about this, but he isn't going to be happy." And neither was she.