A tall, dark unicorn with a sharp red horn and glowing crimson eyes threw the doors to his throne room shut. He then nearly toppled to the ground, his breathing harsh as blood oozed from over a dozen different wounds. A scratch on his cheek, a gash on his side, bruises riddling his right foreleg, they were small, but they were numerous.

Even his regal appearance was left disheveled, his crown gone, his armor mostly bent or otherwise torn away. Only his cape remained undamaged, though it was quickly becoming stained with its owner’s blood. Even his once-mighty castle had been besmirched in the ensuing battle, the great black pillars now a sparkling blue.

“This can't be happening,” he muttered in a low tone, his smokey mane flitting violently behind him. “I can't lose, not to those two morons.”

Rising from his spot on the cold ground, Sombra stood tall, straightening his back, and forcing himself to appear the part of a king. He was, after all, the true ruler of the crystal empire, no matter what those interlopers declared. For a moment he appeared the part of a proud king, then he took a step, and winced as pain shot up his leg.

“Gotta get to the basement,” he murmured to himself while hobbling across the room.

He had crossed only half of the crystal floor when a deafening thump could be heard from behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, Sombra watched as the two doors began creaking, as they were pounded repeatedly. Now cursing to himself, the unicorn stumbled awkwardly towards his twisted throne of pitch-black crystal.

He barely even paid attention to the many large, opaque windows that surrounded him, until one darkened. Acting on instinct, he rolled to the side, avoiding the angry pink meteor that shot through the crystal panel. With a wince and a grunt, the king stumbled onward, casting a half-hearted flurry of conjured crystal daggers at his foe. A bright pink wing blocked his attack, knocking the projectiles aside where they clattered against the ground.

“Your weak attacks won't work on me, Sombra,” spat the multi-hued alicorn.

“They will serve their purpose, worm,” Sombra spat, igniting his horn once more.

This time he conjured forth a pillar of ebony crystal from the ground, knocking Cadance back towards the doors. Which exploded outward, knocked clean off their hinges by an angry white stallion with a long spiraling horn. Shining Armor wasted no time in stomping forward, a shield covering him and the alicorn as he helped his wife back to her hooves.

“Are you alright honey?” he asked.

“I’m fine. Let's finish this,” Cadance exclaimed.

“The only thing you will be finishing is your brief stay in this life!” Sombra shouted though the threat was half-hearted as he continued to stumble towards his throne.

“You go high, I’ll go low,” Shining Armor whispered.

“Got it,” Cadance replied.

Sombra grunted, noticing the flurry of motion out of the corner of his eye as he grew close to his dark seat of power. He immediately realized he wouldn't be able to make it before he got hit, and turned around once more. Unlike him, the couple was more or less uninjured, sporting only the smallest of bumps and bruises.

As such, they moved with speed, and precision, unhindered by the multitude of wounds Sombra sported. This fact dug its nails deep into Sombra’s mind, sending another jagged bout of rage through the unicorn. This was stifled by cold logic and the shame of facing his defeat with only a slim chance of victory remaining.

Cadance came down from on high, leading with her right forehoof while her wings beat hard. Sombra conjured a sharpened pillar of dark crystal, hoping to impale the alicorn using her own momentum. A sudden barrier sprung up around the pink mare, allowing her to charge onwards, protected by her husband.

Sombra had seen this coming however and used his magic to make the crystal spear explode suddenly. The fine dust-obscured Cadance’s vision, forcing her to stop while Sombra continued backpedaling. He was stopped by another shield, one which walled him off from his throne, causing another angry snort to come from the dark unicorn.

Who was soon forced to retreat once more, dodging a punch from Cadance aimed at his head. The hoof bounced off Shining Armor’s shield, causing the dark barrier to ripple briefly due to the strength behind the blow. Now with an idea in mind, Sombra hastily scrambled away, his horn conjuring forth an explosive flurry of tiny glasslike shards of crystal.

Once more Cadance used her wing as a shield, inadvertently blinding herself to do so. Sombra capitalized on this by throwing himself forward, slashing with his unnaturally sharp horn. Feathers flew, and alicorn blood sprayed across the ground, shooting out of the damaged wing in a crimson sheet.

Cadance cried out in pain, stumbling back and clutching the injured appendage tightly.

“Cadance!” Shining Armor cried, his concentration now split.

Sombra lit his horn once more and commanded another long spear of crystal to charge towards the barrier. This time his strike was true, and the wall of magic shattered, into a thousand rapidly disintegrating motes of light. The ensuing cry of pain from the other male brought a smile of pleasure to Sombra’s face though he did not relish it.

He had yet to reach his goal, and so with all the strength he could muster, the unicorn threw himself at the chair. He then slammed his hoof into the right armrest while casting another spell, only this one aimed downward. Immediately the room began to tremble violently, with dust and debris raining down from the roof above them.

“What have you done?” Cadance demanded.

“Given you a new playmate,” Sombra replied simply.

Then, before the couple could say anything else, Sombra stepped aside, allowing the floor to heave upward. The dark crystal throne and a good ten feet of the floor below it rose into the air, twisting into a dark imitation of the tyrant king. Bearing rubies for eyes, and a jagged mane of shattered crystal, the golem replica stood three times the size of a normal pony.

“Kill them!” Sombra commanded, pointing towards the couple.

The artificial pony roared, its crystalline throat producing a sound like rolling thunder and the scream of a child. It charged forward a second later, lowering its shoulder in an attempt to tackle the two ponies to the ground and bury them under its weight. Another barrier stopped this from happening before Cadance blasted away with a beam of concentrated magic.

The crystal creature screamed, dark hunks of animated crystal flying off from its body and crashing across the ground. It adapted quickly, however, shifting around Shining Armor’s shield and striking at the stallion directly. This time it was Cadance’s turn to go on the defensive, with the alicorn leaping to her husband’s protection and firing another beam.

It was an amusing sight, but not one Sombra focused on for long, the king already trotting towards where the throne had been. Now, however, there was only a long winding staircase that lead down, down into the bowels of the ancient crystal castle.

“No time to walk it,” he muttered. “Gotta jump.”

Lighting his horn, Sombra leaped towards the distant floor, his forehooves extended and ready to brace himself. In the blink of an eye, he was gone, swallowed up by the hole in the floor, wind whistling past his ears. Floors flew past him one after another until the floor begin to rush up to meet him.

Sombra released his spell before that could happen, however, causing a sloping slide of solid crystal to form under him. Though angled well, it wasn't perfect, and the king took an undignified tumble, landing in a heap at the bottom of the staircase. Now without his cape, or more than a few pieces of armor, Sombra picked himself back up and stumbled forward.

He was sporting more injuries than ever, including a dozen, new scratches but he pushed through the pain. Focusing all his willpower, the tyrant king trotted towards an enormous runed circle in the very center of the room. Guided only by the distant light reflecting from far above him it was difficult to see where he was going. Sombra had experience on his side and was able to make his way into the center of the enormous circle on instinct.

There he stood tall once more, lighting his horn and igniting the six braziers that surrounded him. With the room now filled with light, Sombra could see the hundreds, maybe thousands of runed sigils that he stood in the midst of. Carved into the very crystal floor under his hooves, these many magical symbols were his final hope and only remaining trump card.

“Come on, work,” he cursed, horn burning brighter.

Energy coursed through the ground, igniting the many runes in rapid succession, filling the room with unnatural crimson light. Sombra grunted and pushed even more power into the ground, emptying his reserves almost completely. Then, just as the final rune ignited, a barrier appeared around him, only this one was not blue, but blood red.

A twisted, crooked smile crossed the mad king’s face and he couldn't help but laugh.

“Tell yourself a joke, or have you completely lost your marbles?” the voice of Shining Armor asked, the male stepping through the entryway and into the dark red light.

“I think it's the latter, dear,” Cadance added, joining her husband a moment later.

“Fools!” Sombra spat. “With the activation of these runes, I will ensure my victory over you naive interlopers.”

“Give it up, Sombra,” Shining Armor retorted. “One spell won't win you this fight.”

“Face it, you’ve lost,” Cadance declared.

“Oh but that is where you are wrong,” Sombra exclaimed, his horn glowing as he tuned the runes, setting them for a date he had in mind. “I don't intend on fighting you now.”

“What are you talking about you nutcase?” Shining Armor demanded.

“How else will you beat us if you don't intend on fighting?” Cadance inquired.

Sombra smirked. “I said I don't intend on fighting you now, but fifteen years ago, now that would be the perfect time for a rematch. Or perhaps a prequel. I never could grasp the proper wording for time travel.”

“Time travel? But that's impossible!” Cadance declared. “Even aunty Celestia couldn't figure that out.”

“That is because she is like you, a fool who cannot think outside the box!” Sombra bellowed. “Like most, they ignore the power crystals hold within them.”

“Wait, crystals…” Shining Armor glanced down. “Honey, the floor, he's pulling energy from the caves under the castle.”

“Yesss,” Sombra hissed, his smile growing wider. “The power crystals are unique to this region of the world and have the strength to hurtle someone backward through time.”

“But you’ll be trapped in the past,” Cadance exclaimed.

Sombra smirked. “That's okay. I don't mind taking the long way back.”

Then, with a flash of blood-red light, the tyrant kind of the crystal empire vanished.

Author's Note

This is part of the 12 days of christmas, head over here to keep track of all the cool stuff coming down the pipes. If you want to ensure I can afford to keep doing stuff like this, consider backing me over on Subscribestar or Patreon.