Star Swirl the Bearded looked out of his window and down into the countryside below. Most of the unicorn houses and buildings were built into the side of a mountain, leaving the earth ponies to the valley beneath them and the pegasi to the skies above. The conflict between the tribes rose to the front of his mind, escaping as an exasperated sigh. There was said to be a meeting between the leaders of the three tribes coming soon, and Star Swirl hoped that this would bring an end to the quarreling.
But, unfortunately, it was hard to wipe doubt from his mind.
Snow was coming down in dense sheets, blanketing the ground in white in a never ending blizzard that divided the already segregated ponies further and further. The earth ponies in their huts shiver in the cold and pull their cloaks tight against themselves while Star Swirl watched with anguish.
He had told Clover to alert Princess Platinum that this might be the work of Windigos, but her majesty was never big on listening to “peasants” such as him.
Chancellor Puddinghead and Commander Hurricane were said to be just as stubborn. This did not bode well for that future meeting.
The old wizard turned from the window, running a hoof through his long, flowing, sparkling white beard as he moved down onto a lower level of his library home. His house was lined with scrolls and books of all shapes, sizes and lengths, all written by himself, of course. There was a shelf for other ponies’ works, but that particular section gathered a bit more dust than the others.
He busied himself by pulling a scroll off of his shelf in a burst of white telekinetic magic. Dull, grey eyes scanned over his words, judging everything from sentence structure to how the penmanship looked. He pointed his horn at the fireplace in the far corner of the room, which burst with life and heat even without any logs or kindling. The spell wouldn’t last long, but he was getting old, and it was getting harder and harder to weather the wintry hatred between the tribes.
Suddenly, his front door burst open, sending a swirl of white snow in with it. A young mare wandered in, covered only in a hooded robe that barely even concealed her horn. The mare had a shamrock green coat and a minty mane that fell down the back of her neck in a neat and tidy little cascade. Large, light pink eyes, with a warm softness even in the hateful cold, scanned the room meeting the old unicorn's gaze. Her horn was small for an average unicorn, much smaller than Star Swirl’s horn. Beneath her cloak and emblazoned upon her flank was a small, bright green four-leaf clover.
“Ah, Clover the Clever. How nice of you to join me today.” Star Swirl said with a jocular smile.
She closed the door with a pinkish aura and a weak grin on her face. “I’m so sorry I’m late, Star Swirl, sir. All this snow has made it very hard to move about the mountains. Not only that, but the Princess has been a bit needier than usual.” She made a small bow to him, a gesture few gave to him these days, while still being something he loved.
“It’s quite alright, my dear Clover. Come in, come in, warm yourself by the fire.” As if it had heard him, the fire spell ran out, only to burst into a brighter flame than before with a wave of his horn.
Clover bowed again, a genuine smile upon her face as she walked over to the fireplace and extended her hoofs to it.
The old stallion looked around his home, his smile fading as his mind returned to the thought of the blizzards outside.
“Star Swirl?” Clover asked with her head tilted, “Are you all right, sir?”
"Yes, my dear." He responded with quickness. "Well, yes and no, unfortunately. Have you never noticed how divided each tribe is?"
She tilted her head, hooves thawing in the warm blaze. "What do you mean, sir?"
Star Swirl had returned to his windowsill, looking through the now blinding storm building outside. "Just look at us, Clover. Our people, we ponies, were meant to be together, to work together. How can we live with the earth ponies on the ground and us up in our castles in the mountains, not to mention the pegasi floating up in the sky? It all seems.. unnatural, unwarranted, unnecessary." He shook his head in impotent anger. "I've just never cared for it."
Clover, unprepared for his existentialism but still quick on her hooves, sent a rebuttal. "Well, I'm sure that the Princess and the other leaders will make put an end to it soon. They're having a meeting, you know, I think... next week, maybe, between the three tribes." The mare pulled her hood down, gave her mane a little shake as it fell down her neck.
"Mm, yes, so I've heard." Star Swirl rolled his ancient eyes, still returning his focus to the ponies below, lost in the white.
Clover glanced about the room, expecting her lessons in magic to have begun by that point. "So, um, Sir Star Swirl, not to pry or anything like that, but, um, can we begin our lessons now?"
“Mm, of course, my dear." Another aged sigh escaped from him. "Clover, do you recall what I have told you of the power of love?”
Clover’s green face turned a bright shade of red with this comment, stumbling over her words. “Uh, um, well, you, uh, you said that love is, um, one of the, er, m-most powerful types of magic, r-right… Star Swirl, s-s-sir?”
“That’s right, Clover. But it’s not just love that possesses great power. Most, if not all magic stems from one emotion or another. That is why creatures such as Windigos and Changelings feed off of emotions.”
Her blushing faded, as she knew he was being very serious. She recalled her studies of Changelings from one of the many wonderful scrolls and tomes lining the walls.
“What, then, is the opposite of love, Clover?” He finally turned to her, his grey orbs meeting her pink ones.
The mare pensively thought a bit before responding. “Hatred?”
“Precisely. Hatred and fear are the opposites of love and happiness. But there is a very, VERY significant difference. Hate is for the weak, as love means forgiveness and acceptance, and those can be very hard for a pony to do. The powers of love and friendship are very potent and powerful magics. But hatred is easy to tap into and can be just as strong.”
She blinked her pink eyes at him. “Why do you tell me this, sir?”
He turned to his books and scrolls. “There is one thing that I have yet to write in any book, Clover the Clever. It is a secret I can trust only to you.”
He closed his eyes, a thin trail of purple smoke suddenly pouring out of them, his horn turning black as night and becoming covered in ethereal purple pustules. Clover stood up in shock and confusion. His eyes then burst open, revealing nothing but an eerie green glow. A large pulse of black lightning exploded from the end of his horn, trailing behind it the same purple bubbles as before until it struck the ground, turning it black and dark, as if it sucked the happiness straight out of it.
Star Swirl lowered his head, the purple smoke ceasing from his eyes, and he lowered himself slowly, trying vainly for the strength to stay up. Clover couldn’t help but stare at the floor, watching as little purple bubbles inflated and ruptured on the ground. She slowly looked up at him.
“S-S-Star S-S-Swirl, uh, s-sir?” She stammered, words failing her briefly, “What w-w-was that?”
He took a deep sigh, regaining his stamina. “Pure hate, my dear. Untainted with compassion, tempered in anguish, simple, nasty, despicable hate.”
She put her hoof to it for a brief moment, lifting it to the fireplace for light. Shadows dripped from it like a thick molasses, little bubbles of loathing foaming in the shadowy oil slick. She shook her hoof in disgust, little blobs of darkness sprinkling everywhere.
“EUGH!” She shrieked, “Ick, that’s disgusting!”
“I’m aware. This is very horrible magic. It is incredibly powerful and easy to access. This day and age, I feel like everypony has some hatred towards somepony else.”
“Is this why you’re telling me this, Star Swirl? You want me to prevent ponies from utilizing this magic?”
He tilted his head in a shrug. “I suppose, to an extent. I want to teach you how to use this magic because, well, I know you, Clover my dear. You will not succumb to the allure of hatred. Your heart is far too pure for that.”
She turned a deep shade of red, pulling her head down and batting her eyes. “Aw, Star Swirl. You’re too kind to me, sir.”
“Only because it’s true, my dear. I would not trust this power with anypony else.” He stared into the puddle of blackness in pensiveness. “But not only that, there is much hatred in this world. This power could destroy the other tribes if put into the wrong hooves. It’s dangerous, malicious and destructive. I trust you to protect this secret and keep it safe from all other unicorns, lest they discover this power and attempt to shatter the earth ponies and pegasi.”
He turned away from her, dancing around the issue in his mind for too long. “Most importantly, to be perfectly blunt, I am getting too old, my dear. I’ve lived a long and glorious life, but I am the last unicorn to know how to control hate magic. This art will die with me if I can’t pass it on. I can’t chance it to write it down in one of my many, amazing scrolls. I must only entrust this knowledge upon a pony I have the utmost confidence in. That is why this trust falls upon you, Clover the Clever.”
Clover was practically in tears, hooves to her face, trying to brush away the sorrow from her eyes. “Oh, Star Swirl!” She rushed over to him, wrapping him in her embrace, tears streaming down her face and onto his azure coat. “Thank you so much for telling me this! Thank you for TRUSTING me so! I… I don’t know what to say!” She began bawling onto his shoulder, leaving him wide-eyed, practically stunned with bewilderment.
“Uh, eh, there there, Clover.” He patted her shoulder with a weary hoof. “It’ll be all right, my dear. It’s ok.” She continued to weep on him for a few minutes. Every time she came close to stopping, she would start back up in a complete blithering sob. His face scrunched with seriousness. “All right, Clover. That’s enough. You’re wrinkling my beard.”
She quickly pulled away from him with red eyes and flushed cheeks. “Oh! Oh, I’m so sorry, Star Swirl. I… I just got very emotional. It really, really, REALLY means the world to me that you are doing this!”
He straightened his beard with a magical white glow. “Yes, well, that’s all right, just promise me not to do it again.”
She nodded with the fast intensity of a hummingbird. “Never again, sir. A thousand apologies for your beard.”
“Yes, yes. Well, then.” He sighed, heaving his chest slightly. “Would you like to begin with our training?”
She wiped her eyes with an aura-imbued tissue. “Training on hate magic, sir?”
“What else? No time like the present, I suppose.”
She threw the tissue to the side, shook her head to clear it of thoughts, focusing upon her master with an eager but serious stare. “Whenever you are, Master Star Swirl.”
He smiled gently. “That’s what I like to hear, Clover.”
=====
“The rest, as you know, is history. I went on to found Equestria, by Princess Platinum’s side, of course, with the other tribes and their respective leaders. Our land has prospered under the ruling of Princesses Celestia and Luna, and the woes and past troubles of the warring tribes have faded like a distant memory.”
Clover was older then. Her mane had grown white and her face had been drawn with many lines of age. Her pink eyes still radiated warmth, but her frame was flimsy with brittle bones and her age had left her bound to a chair she moved the telekinetic power of her horn. She rocked back and forth in her chair, almost out of habit, eyes staring through rose-tinted glasses off into the past, thinking about her master. She sat in a library, her library, amassed of not only her works but mostly of Star Swirl’s pieces, stacked high to the tall ceiling that not even the ladders could reach. It was said that Star Swirl’s work would soon be transferred to its own wing in Canterlot were it would find permanent residence. A unicorn sat before her, listening intently to her every word, watching with admiration her every movement.
“Star Swirl the Bearded, of course, was only mortal, and passed away shortly after Equestria was formed. It’s sad to think that he could never see this land in its prime.” Her eyes filled with gentle tears, and she shook them away quickly, turning her pink eyes instead to her unicorn apprentice.
“I tell you this, my star apprentice, because, like Star Swirl back, I too am getting old. I have kept this secret power of hatred from the world for my whole life, and, again like Star Swirl, I will entrust you to carry it on.”
She gingerly removed herself from the chair, slowly approaching her apprentice, her limbs struggling to hold her up. He rushed over to help her, only for her to raise a hoof in protest. “Thank you, my dear. You truly have been a great apprentice, and you shall make an amazing magician. I trust you the way my mentor trusted me.”
She patted his shoulder. “I know this must be a lot to take in, but what do you say? Will you take up the secret power of hatred, Sombra?”
The black-coated colt with red and green eyes nodded with a wide smile. “Anything for you, Master Clover. You can count on me.”
=====
Sombra was not exactly the most popular unicorn in the world. The other ponies were simply too afraid of him to actually interact with him, which left him slightly embittered. He would always blame his appearance, of course; red pupils with green sclera had a tendency to strike fear into the eyes of everypony around him, not to mention his uniquely curved horn and jet-black coat. Through foalhood, very few others would want to spend any time with him, leaving him with more time to practice on his magic. The black foal learned magic earlier than everypony else, inadvertently creating another reason for him to be ostracized.
Clover had spent her later years searching through many apprentices, each one seeking her out simply because she was one of the most important ponies in Equestria’s founding or that they greedily wanted to spend some time with Star Swirl’s work (which she guarded with an almost viscous protection). Not a single unicorn wanted her for the soul purpose of tutoring, just the vanity and title of being Clover the Clever’s student. Eventually, she stumbled upon Sombra, who didn’t want to exploit her or Star Swirl’s magic.
He just wanted somepony to call a friend.
Sombra arrived as a colt, still a blank-flank. He possessed a much more in-depth and intelligent understanding of magic for somepony his age, able to control magics with much more ease than she had seen before in any of her other apprentices. Immediately, he began picking up spells that had taken his predecessors months to even fully understand.
They became quite close over the years. Clover would steal him away from the rest of the world, focusing on powering up his strength, taming and tempering his magic while keeping him away from his peers. Whenever he did go out into the world, he was met with the same reactions he always found.
Fear.
Terror.
And the name-calling.
Creep.
Weirdo.
Freak.
He hated freak.
It was a word that burned hotter than Celestia’s sun, a word that was singed into his mind, heart and soul.
Freak.
All his life, Freak this, Freak that.
Hey, look at that Freak.
What’s with your freaky horn?
Why are your eyes so freaky?
Freak.
Freak.
Freak.
Why? He thought.
Why must they all hate me?
“Master Clover,” He brought up one evening after a long day of practicing hatred magic, “Why must ponies be so closed minded around here?”
Clover took a while to think of an answer, leaving Sombra to elaborate in her silence. “It’s no secret that my appearance is different, frightening, even.”
She shook her head. “Nonsense, Sombra. You are a wonderful unicorn with an amazing heart.”
“Yes, thank you, Master.” He interrupted, “But… the thing is, ponies don’t see my heart. They see my coat, my crooked horn, my red eyes. They don’t give me the chance show them who I am.”
The old unicorn sighed and gave her apprentice warm, caring eyes. “Ponies can be shallow, dear Sombra. But as long as your heart is pure, you know that they are missing out on the wonderful experience of having you as a friend.”
The jet-black colt lowered his head, “You flatter me too much, Master.” They stared into the crackling fireplace before he spoke again. “But, why must ponies never give me a chance?”
“They fear what they cannot understand, and what they cannot understand, what we ALL cannot understand, is the different. You do not fall into ponies category of normal, my apprentice, and because of that, they fear you. It’s wrong. It’s cruel. But my dear, this is life. And you know that you are a better unicorn than any in all of Canterlot. You know that.”
He laughed, “Well, I had a good teacher.”
Clover chuckled and turned back to the fire.
“Master, what do you believe my cutie mark will be?”
She laughed. “I’ll never understand the infatuation with cutie marks, my boy. After all, mine has nothing to do with my talent, just my name.” She shook her head with a smile. “It sometimes feels like somepony in the universe just got lazy with mine.”
He laughed out of sympathy, trying not to seem rude. “I know ponies have made fun of you, Sombra,” She continued, “But you just have to let what they say go. You’re better than them. You know you are.”
Sombra bowed his head gratefully. “Thank you, Master.”
I wish I believed in myself as much as you do.
=====
Sombra’s home was a small yet quaint little white cottage, built alongside city limits into the mountain. Night had fallen across the young city of Canterlot, with many buildings still trying to stretch into the sky with construction. Buildings were lit by dim candles, leaving the streets in quiet shadows.
Shifty shapes slipped through the dark streets, dipping down alleyways noiselessly with eyes peeled for stray pedestrians.
Soon, the four shapes were upon Sombra’s little home.
“This the place?” Said the first unicorn.
“Aye. Crescendo told me about it today. It’s Clover’s boy.” Said the second.
“I can’t wait to do this. Stupid little colt robbed me of my apprenticeship.” The third shook her head angrily.
“You say that like you’re the only one, Selene. We ALL got gypped out of learning under Clover by this little freak.”
The final unicorn stepped forward, cracking her neck in the cold night. “But tonight, we’ll teach him just how big a mistake he made, learning under her.”
“Yeah, you said it, Archon.” Said the first, looking with greedy eyes at the cottage.
“Mm. Let’s get this party started, shall we?” Archon’s horn lit bright red, suddenly bursting into flames as she aimed for the house.
=====
It was very hard for Sombra to remember everything about that night. His memories were blurriest immediately after he woke up. He had no idea where all that fire had come from and how all of his belongings had ignited without him even knowing. Next, he remembered the almost endless hooves that beat him out of his bed and onto one of his burning book stacks. He remembered words, names, screams, little things about those moments. “Take that!” Was being tossed around. “THAT’S for stealing our spots!” He hadn’t the faintest idea what that meant at the time, but it wasn’t really important at the time. “Freak!”
That word.
Freak.
It was said again and again and again.
He began to gain consciousness.
He remembered everything that happened after that.
As hoof after hoof descended upon him, a sudden burst of magic surged up his spine, through his head and out his horn, a burst that came from the very bottom of his heart.
An emotion.
Pure hatred.
His eyes turned green, trails of purple smoke floating after them. His horn grew purple bubbles as a blast of black lightning surged through the air, striking each of the unicorns horns, covering them in little grey crystals. They all pulled away, reeling in surprise and confusion.
“Ah! What the heck?”
“What’s goin’ on? I can’t use magic!”
“What happened? N-No magic!”
“What did you do to our horns, freak?”
Sombra, bruised and battered, turned to the unicorns and growled furiously. Eyes still glowing green, he blasted another shot at each of the unicorns, turning their eyes green and red, just like his. His horn kept the stream going right into their eyes.
They all became quiet.
“M-momma?” One whispered cautiously. “P-please stop yelling at me…”
“What? Where am I?” Another did circles at a rapid pace. “How… how did I get in this desert?”
“AAAAHHH!” One was screaming at the top of his lungs, flailing about on the ground. “FALLING! I’M FALLING! HELP ME! HEEELLPP!”
“Spiders!” One mare rubbed her hooves furiously across her coat. “Oh, geez, they just keep coming! Make them stop, please, I BEG of you!”
“Momma, I’m… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disappoint you…”
“Guys? This isn’t funny, guys. Where are you?”
“PLEASE! HELP MEEEE! I’M FALLING SO FAST!”
“Ugh, they’re everywhere! Agh, they’re in my mouth! THEY’RE IN MY MOUTH!”
“Momma, you… you don’t mean that… Y-you still love me, r-right?”
“Please, guys! Don’t leave me alone, guys! Please!”
“AAAAAAAHHH! THE GROUND IS COMING IN SO FAST! AAAAAHHHH!”
“Ugh, gurgle, help… me, ugh!”
Tears streamed down their faces. The one mare haunted by spiders was pulling her coat off with frantic rips. The falling colt was scrapping his hooves and legs raw on the wooden floor. The mare in the desert was racing around in circles. The colt with his mother was crying in the corner of the room.
And in the middle of it all stood Sombra, smiling.
Suddenly, his horn ceased its magic. His eyes returned to their normal red and green. The bolt between him and each pony died out, leaving the intruders dazed and confused.
The fire was finally singeing the roof. It sagged and groaned under the heat of flames. Sombra stared up at the ceiling, watching it sink towards them, looking again to the unicorns lying around him.
They were helpless. They would be killed if the roof collapsed upon them.
He knew what he had to do.
=====
Their words rang out to him as he stood far from his home, watching the smoldering remains of his home crumble into embers.
He turned his gaze down as the words of everyone in his life echoed in his head.
Weird.
Blank-flank.
Creep.
Loser.
Freak.
“I’m not the freak.” He said aloud, a tear slipping down his cheek. “You all are.”
Freak.
“I’m NOT a freak!” He yelled, teeth grinding together lividly.
Freak.
Freak.
FREAK.
FREAK.
The word rattled around violently in his brain, slamming back and forth, back and forth, crashing into the sides, echoing, crying, screaming. The word haunted him. It ate at him. It beat him, abused him, tormented him, tore him up inside.
“I!” His eyes burst open with green light and purple smoke.
“AM NOT!” His mane rippled like a fiery shadow.
“A!” His horn burst with brilliant black energy.
“FREAK!”A calamitous bolt of jet-black magic struck the ruins of his home, erecting a series of monolithic grey crystals in its place.
His breath was heavy. His chest ached. His mind grew numb. His eyes still trailed of purple mist and his mane still with darkness.
Sombra left his home behind, not a single soul to bear witness to it.
=====
Clover never saw the colt again. All he had left her was a note on her door the next morning saying “I’m sorry, Master Clover.”
She would never find out what he had become, as she spent her last days in Canterlot amongst her beloved collection of Star Swirl’s works, never leaving her library.
Equestria, still being mostly unexplored, was filled with pioneers expanding out every which way on the map. Besides the Everfree forest, the land was fertile and free of danger, allowing most everypony to be able to settle somewhere without worry.
However, most of the north was uncharted and unwanted territory. A beautiful aurora could be seen floating in from the north, leaving it perplexing as to why ponies never thought to seek it’s source.
Sombra headed there.
He enjoyed the time alone through the cold, icy wastes of the north. It gave him time to think about the nature of ponies and the ways of the world. The endless blankets of cold and white made him feel quite philosophical.
The cold left him lonely, not finding a single soul for miles, but in this loneliness, he found strength. He showed himself, he needed nopony to help him. His powers allowed him to create little crystals where ever he went, little grey symbols of how independent he was and how powerful he was. They were the fruits of his magic, and in them, he found great strength. The crystals were literally physical representations of his hatred, a power that could easily defeat his enemies, even more so than love ever could. Love had nothing physical to show for it.
Hatred had crystals.
His mind became twisted and self-absorbed in the blinding snowstorms and endless tundra. His hatred stemmed from his loneliness, grew and bubbled like the little pustules of magic on his horn when he showed his hate. Just as he reached the peak of his isolation and insanity, he found the Crystal Empire.
Crystals.
Crystals everywhere.
But no, these were not crystals of hate. These were crystals of love, of happiness, of friendship. Shining, shimmering, sparkling crystals. It was all so beautiful.
And he hated it.
Yes, the crystal ponies were freaks just as he. They had crystalline coats and manes that shimmered in the sun, nothing that he had ever seen before. He was sure that they would accept him for who he was. After all, the ponies back at Canterlot didn’t have shining coats or anything like that. He was sure that they would have been laughed at and made fun of just like him. And not only that, but they had also created crystals of love rather than hate. He was sure they were of the same breed, that he was born in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Unfortunately, that was wrong. These ponies shunned him just the same. His freakishness was not the same as theirs. He was not the same as them. Sombra roamed around the Empire, meeting everypony he could, and was still met with stares and screams of terror and fear. He was still different, even here.
He was still a freak in the land of the freaks.
Hopelessness took over him. Where else could he go? Where else was there to go? Even in the land of the strange and unusual, he was still an outcast. What was he to do?
In the center of the empire, he stared up at the grand spire of white, with its beautiful crystal heart at its foundation.
A menacing smile graced his lips.
An Empire held up by love will crumble under the stare of hate.
=====
