Author's Note
Note: This story does not take anything relating to the IDW Comics. While there may be some things that were originally from there, they aren’t treated the same way.
The Story
Long ago, before the founding of Equestria, there lived the 3 pony tribes: the Unicorn, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies. King Cobalt was the ruler of the Unicorns and the father of Princess Platinum. He was a gray stallion with a blue mane and tail, green eyes, a red cape, and a large crown.
His fellow ponies loved him. However, while he was a benevolent king on the outside, inside his heart, he had a lust for power and was full of darkness. The lust for more power has been filled for his whole life.
Times were now changing and the 3 pony tribes were now brought together. This meant that the king had to share his power with the other tribe leaders, which was something he disliked. However, this wasn’t the worst thing to happen to him.
One day, the six unicorn wizards who moved to the sun and moon, aside from Star Swirl the Bearded, were starting to get too old and tired to move the sun and moon, and Star Swirl couldn’t do it on his own. Equestria started to fear what would happen to her.
King Cobalt saw an opportunity and was going to take it, but then Star Swirl spoke up, “Have no fear everypony, my latest students will fix all of this. Their names are Celestia and Luna.”
Celestia stepped out from behind Star Swirl, a little shy. She was also wearing a robe similar to Star Swirl’s. Star Swirl whispered into her ear, “Go on.”
And with that, Celestia started to use her magic, even removing her robe to reveal her wings. Everypony was shocked not only to see her appearance but also how she was moving the sun all by herself with little effort. Then Luna also stepped out from behind Star Swirl and started to move the moon.
After all was done, everypony ran towards the 2 ponies and cheered for them. King Cobalt didn’t praise them at all, they took his one chance to prove why he should deserve all the praise. The only feeling that the king had for the two sisters was pure hatred.
Everypony had questions such as what they were and where they came from. They told them that they were Alicorns and that the place they came from was unfortunately no more. Star Swirl found them trying to fend for themselves and decided to take them in as he saw the potential in them.
Everypony then all agreed that these should be the rulers of Equestria as they appear to represent all three tribes. Cobalt hearing this was shocked that they would even suggest something as ridiculous as that. Sure enough, that is what happened. While Commander Hurricane and Chancellor Puddinghead accepted this choice, Cobalt refused to do such a thing.
The guards who used to obey him and the other leaders tried to force him out of the castle, but Cobalt just fought back. He blew them away and launched them through the roof, and 2 guards were decapitated by his magic. Celestia and Luna had to step in and force him out themselves and they proved to be too much for Cobalt and he is thrown out.
Cobalt, getting up from the ground, yelled out in pure anger, “I will return and take back my rightful place as king! I swear it!” With that, he turned around and left. That was the last time anypony had seen him.
Months have passed since that day. Cobalt went into hiding in a secret cave. He was trying to see if there was a way to become an Alicorn himself. That was when he had an encounter with something.
“Well well well. What do we have here?” A deep raspy and demonic voice was heard.
Cobalt turned to see who said that, but he saw nothing. “Am I starting to hear voices?” Cobalt asked himself.
He was surprised when the voice answered, “No!” He turned back and saw a shadow of some sort with yellow eyes.
Cobalt got into a fighting stance, asking, “Who and what are you, and why are you here?”
The shadow chuckled as he said, “As for the who, that is something for me to know and you not. As for the what and why, I am something that wants to help you.”
Cobalt had a questioning look, “How can you help me if you are a shadow?”
The shadow chuckled again and said, “Let's just say I have an idea on how you can become an Alicorn.”
This peaked Cobalt’s interest, “I’m listening.”
The shadow told him about a secret book of dark magic that was hidden away by the creator of dark magic, Grogar, within the ruins of Tambelon. After he told him everything, a smile grew on Cobalt’s face and thus left the cave to go and find this book. Making sure no one saw him.
After a while of traveling, Cobalt soon arrived at what used to be the kingdom of Tambelon. There was hardly even a kingdom left. It was abandoned and most of the buildings were destroyed. The golden colors of the castle have long since rusted away. That is where Cobalt needed to go to find the book. He walked towards the castle and entered inside. The castle was similar to his old one only way bigger. Eventually, he found the secret entrance to the basement underneath the throne. As he walked down the stairs to the basement, he found a room full of books all about magic.
Cobalt thought to himself, “Wow, Grogar was this into magic? These books talk about everything!”
He soon found the book on dark magic. “Perfect! Now I will be able to surpass those foolish Alicorns and be all-powerful!” He said and started to laugh evilly. He opened the book and started to read.
Days passed and Cobalt had finished reading every page of the book and learned all the spells he could. To show off his new self, he changed his appearance to have darker gray skin, red eyes, and slit pupils, he gained a wavy mane and tail and they were now both black and sharp fangs. His horn was also curved with red at the top.
Cobalt spoke, “Perfect! Now I have the power I need to take over!”
The shadow then returned and said, “Not yet. A king still needs an army and I know where you can get one.” Cobalt sighed and decided to listen. After listening to this, he turned himself into a shadow as he flew to the next place.
Cobalt soon arrived at the site, which was surprising. It was full of skeletons of what used to be what were called Flutter-Ponies. Flutter-Ponies was like Pegasi only with butterfly wings and magic that rivaled unicorns.
“So they did exist?” Cobalt commented.
He also found the skeleton of a large Alicorn. This confused him. Soon, he got to work. Using his newly found dark magic, he started to resurrect all of them while also turning them into what appeared to be new creatures. They soon came back to life, only they all had dark gray skin with sharp fangs, dark gray web-like manes, and tails, sharp horns, and they had holes all over their legs and wings.
While the large Alicorn had a similar appearance, only with a twisted and gnarled horn, a teal mane and a tail, a greenish saddle, a bluish-green rib plate, and a small, black crown tipped with blue beads. Once they open their eyes, their eyes were light blue eyes, while the large Alicorn’s were dark green eyes, slit pupils.
The Alicorn spoke, “What the, what happened? Who are you?”
Cobalt stepped forward to her, “To put things simply, I brought you back to life and with new forms and powers.” He summoned a mirror and she looked at herself.
She stepped back in horror and then looked at what used to be the Flutter-Ponies. She then turned back to Cobalt in anger. Her horn glowed and she said, “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO US!”
Cobalt said without the smile leaving his face, “Like I said Chrysalis, I brought you back to life and with new forms and powers.”
“BUT WHY AND HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME!” Chrysalis yelled.
Cobalt then said, “I read your mind. I also want you to help me and I will give you what you want in return.”
The glow from Chrysalis’ horn started to go away. “What makes you think we would ever help you?”
Cobalt said back, “Because I have the power to also take your lives away again.”
The anger left Chrysalis’ face and she said, “Fine! What do you want?”
The smile on Cobalt’s face grew even bigger, “That’s more like it. Also, call me… Sombra.”
In the Capital Building, there was a room where the Founders of Equestria stayed. Commander Hurricane, Princess Platinum, and Chancellor Puddinghead all sat in the three highest seats. They no longer kept their old titles. Their subordinates sat next to them, the ones who began the bonds of friendship that united them. They were discussing the disappearance of Cobalt.
“My friends,” Platinum began, addressing everypony, “I know I’ve been saying this a lot but I miss my father.” Clover the Clever wrapped Platinum in a big hug. They both blushed at this. Clover reassured her that they’d find him.
Suddenly, laughter filled the chambers, causing all present to pause and look around in confusion. Chuckling, a large Alicorn-like creature stood in the entryway, her mouth in a cruel grin. “You must be the Founders of this Equestria as you call it. You exceed my expectations. I was expecting something else.”
The ponies were shocked to see this thing. They had no idea what it was, but it clearly gave off a dark vibe. Hurricane was the first to speak up, “What are you?”
Chrysalis stepped forward a little then said, “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings and I am here to bring you all to King Sombra so he can execute all of you.”
Everypony was shocked to hear this and they took a fighting stance. “Not a chance lady!” said Puddinghead
“You will do no such thing!” said Platinum.
Queen Chrysalis just laughed at this display and then said, “Alright my children, they chose the hard way!”
The ponies were confused by what she meant by ‘Children’. Until a group of Changelings appeared from out of nowhere and tackled them.
Meanwhile, it was the one-year anniversary of when Celestia and Luna first moved the sun and moon. Everypony gathered around a stage to witness the royal sisters move the sun and moon right in front of them again. However, somepony, who wasn’t either of the sisters, walked through the curtains and everypony was surprised to see who it was. It was the old Unicorn king looking more evil than they’d ever seen.
“Perfect.” That was all he said before he used his magic to take all the magic of everypony here.
All the unicorn, Pegasi, and Earth Pony magic mixed with his own was the push needed for Sombra to become an Alicorn.
Celestia and Luna were running a little late for their own celebration. By the time they got there, they were too late. Sombra had already taken all the ponies' magic. They all were now too weak to try and run away. Sombra turned around to face the sisters with an evil grin.
“I have been waiting for this moment to arrive!” he said.
“Cobalt?” Celestia said.
Sombra yelled at them, “Cobalt doesn’t exist anymore! There is only me, King Sombra!”
He then charged at them. Celestia and Luna tried to fight back, but Sombra was now too powerful for them and thus he overpowered them and locked them away in the dungeons. He walked up to his new throne, which he made with his crystals, and sat on it. The royal guard tried to fight back, but Sombra put his newly created mind-control helmets on them and now they obey him.
“Long live the king,” Sombra said.
Later, the doors to Sombra’s new throne room burst open and the Changelings walked through carrying the Founders of Equestria. They tossed them in front of him. Sombra stood up from his throne and walked down to the ponies before him.
He then looks up at Chrysalis and says, “You have done well. Now you’re free to do as you please.”
Chrysalis then has an evil grin and says, “Excellent! Let's go and attack all the ponies, my children!” With that, the Changelings left the castle and started their attack on Equestria.
The ponies looked at Sombra and they could recognize that this was the original unicorn king.
With tears in her eyes, Platinum weakly said, “Father?”
The smile on Sombra’s face soon disappeared and he said, “Your father is no more child!”
Hurricane yelled out at Sombra, “HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?!”
Sombra said, “Simple, I am Equestia’s one and only rightful king and I want no pony to take that away from me!”
“What about the Changelings?” asked Puddinghead.
“Not a threat to me. Once they have their fun, I will take their lives away so that I remain unopposed. Speaking of which.” Once more using his dark magic, he blasts at the Founders and they start transforming into stone.
They try to fight back but to no avail. They fully transform into stone and with another blast, Sombra destroys their bodies, reducing them to ashes. Sombra started to laugh at his victory.
His victory was cut short when someone busted through the doors. It was Star Swirl the Bearded with a serious look on his face.
“Sombra! It’s over! I have defeated your army of Changeling and now your reign of terror comes to an end here!” he said
Sombra laughed at this and said, “Oh please, the Founders have been destroyed, Celestia and Luna are trapped in my dungeons, and this world is mine! What can you do about it?”
Star Swirl pulls out a clear gem and says, “You’ll see.”
Sombra started laughing hard, believing a silly little gem could do nothing to him. However, this leaves him open for the attack Star Swirl had in mind. He uses a powerful spell to pull all of the magic that Sombra had stolen from the ponies and traps it in the gem, which has now turned red. Sombra was now no longer an Alicorn and he was furious at this.
“HOW DARE YOU!!!” he roared as he charged at Star Swirl.
Thinking quickly, he blasts Sombra out of the castle and far from Equestria.
Once that was done, Star Swirl started to try and return all the magic to the ponies. However, Sombra’s dark heart has corrupted the magic, meaning he can’t give it back to the ponies. So he locked the magic in the gem and put it onto a frame of Sombra’s image. Making it a warning to anyone who comes across it and tries to use it. He calls it the Alicorn Amulet.
After everything, the royal sisters returned to their throne, statues were built to remember the loss of the Founders of Equestria, and the ponies who had lost their magic were given assistance. Everything was starting to return to normal.
Meanwhile, Sombra was now far from the lands that he once ruled. Now with nothing but himself, his dark magic, and his lust for power, he creates for himself some armor and a cape to hide his wingless back. Then he sets off to the north to find more lands to conquer.
After a few short years and long travels, he finds exactly what he was looking for. On the top of the mountain, he looks down to see a kingdom made of crystals. He had always known about the magical properties of crystals. When he sent his daughter to go and find the new lands, it was the driving force for her.
Sombra stared in awe at the kingdom made of crystal. This would be the place where he takes back his place as the true King. He started to make his way to the Crystal Empire.
The Crystal Empire was a lovely empire made of crystals. It was created because of the Crystal Heart. Long ago, a group of regular Unicorn, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies were mining for crystals in the Crystalling Mountain. Just then, a young unicorn named Amore hit a certain spot on the mountain and finds the Crystal Heart.
She also discovered a giant skeleton of a dragon where the heart was. Amore walked close to it and started to feel a connection as she was always full of love. It was at that moment that Amore had found her true calling. She brings the Crystal Heart out of the mines and shows everypony.
With all of that, she was crowned as the princess. As time passed, the ponies created the Crystal Empire around the heart, and due to the long exposure to the Crystal Heart, their bodies started to morph into being more crystallized, becoming known as Crystal Ponies.
Princess Amore was married, had a little pegasus filly, Mi Amore Cadenza, but was mostly called Cadance for short, and ruled her empire with love. This day was soon going to be her worst day ever.
Sombra arrives at the empire and starts his attack. Using his dark powers, he attacked everything at full force. Surprised by the power of this creature, the army tried their hardest to fight back, but to no avail. Knowing that Sombra was most likely coming for her next, Princess Amore got ready for battle.
She orders some of her subjects to stay within their homes while she deals with him alone.
Sombra then approached her as she asked, “What are you doing here and why are you attacking my kingdom?”
Sombra said, “I want your kingdom!”
The princess stood tall, not letting fear cloud her thinking. Then they fought. Princess Amore held him off, not wanting to let him near her crystal ponies or the Crystal Heart.
The battle was fierce, but in the end, Sombra came out on top. As she lay on the ground, battered and beaten, she performed one last spell. Not wanting Sombra to harm her family, she sealed her husband and daughter within an unbreakable crystal outside the empire in order to keep them safe from evil. Sombra put his hoof on Amore’s neck and stepped on it, breaking it.
Sombra, noticing the Crystal Heart and feeling its power, went for it, knocking away any of the guards that stood in his way. Upon reaching it, Sombra used his magic to contain it in his own crystals. Sombra has now declared himself to be the new ruler of the Crystal Empire.
Days passed, and King Sombra had massacred all of the Crystal Unicorns and Pegasi that lived in the Crystal Empire so they couldn’t fight against him. He left the Earth Ponies alive because he viewed them as the weakest types of ponies as they can’t fly or do magic like Unicorns or Pegasi. The population of nearly a million Crystal Ponies, including new borns, dropped down all the way to about below the ten thousands.
He had also placed the Crystal Heart on top of his new castle as a cruel joke to play on the Crystal Ponies and left dark traps and secrets in the castle for his own amusement and also to keep anyone from ever retrieving the Crystal Heart. The empire was now in ruin and the Crystal Ponies were now miserable under their new king as he had them farm crystals for him with no breaks.
Eventually, back in the Castle of the Two Sisters, word had got to them that something was wrong in the north and that darkness was reaching all across Equestria. Celestia and Luna went to go find out what was wrong, even though they were still recovering from their battle with Discord.
They reached the Crystal Empire and were shocked by the display they saw. They quickly went into the castle to fight Sombra. They entered Sombra’s throne room and Sombra was surprised to see the royal sisters again and bigger this time.
He still laughed and said, “How lovely to see you two again, and much bigger to. I was about to create an army to attack your kingdom, but I guess I can have my fun of destroying you both here!”
Celestia said, “That dark magic has corrupted you to the core you monster!”
Sombra laughs at this clam and corrects her, “Oh trust me. I am still capable of changing, but this evil life is so much more fun! All the pain and misery I cause fuels me with the most amount of enjoyment.”
They all then went into battle. The fight had taken them from far away from the Crystal Empire. During the fight, Sombra manages to defeat Celestia by showing her her deepest, darkest fears. Sombra is about to kill Celestia before Luna knocks him over with her magic.
After a short fight, Sombra traps Luna in a cage of crystal spires. After the Princess of the Night is pinned down, Sombra looks within her heart and sees hatred for Celestia. This made Sombra interested.
He walks over to her and says, “This is interesting. I can see that you aren’t fond of your own sister anymore.”
Luna was shocked that he knew about this, but she looks away and said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He then says, “Oh, but I do. I can see you hate being in your older sister’s shadow. Honestly, you’re a more appropriate ruler than Celestia.”
Luna then looks back at him and asks, “What are you trying to say?”
Sombra answers, “I am suggesting an alliance. If you join me, then you can rule all of Equestria with me. What do you say?”
Luna refuses to join him and responds by freeing herself from her crystal prison and saying, “You’re crazy if you think I would ever join you!”
Sombra laughs at this and says, “You still stand by your sister when she fears you?”
Luna refuses to listen and continues to fight back. Sombra then casts what seems to be another nightmare spell on her. Luna almost succumbs to the dark forces of Sombra, but she overcomes them with her own, causing her eyes to change to their normal color.
Sombra still laughs at this and says, “In due time, she will fear you and you will see the ways of true darkness.” Celestia finally gets up and joins back with Luna.
Celestia and Luna then decided to use the Elements of Harmony on Sombra. They shot the rainbow beam at him, they turned him to shadow and banished him to the ice of the arctic north. The kingdom started to cheer for the royal sisters freeing them from slavery. But suddenly, the kingdom and its inhabitants started to fade away.
A voice was heard that said, “If I can’t have this kingdom, then no one will!”
Celestia and Luna watched in horror as the Crystal Empire and the Crystal Ponies faded away. Soon nothing was left. Sombra had performed a spell before the Elements hit him, making the empire fade to shadow just like him, believing that the Crystal Empire would disappear forever.
With eyes full of tears, Celestia and Luna went back to their castle feeling defeated. They had tried to protect the empire, but they believed that they caused its destruction. There was also a darkness now forming in Luna, which would soon become Celestia’s worst fear, but that is a story for a different time.
