Does It Really Make A Difference?
The horn flew through the air, propelled by a blast from one of the most powerful artifacts known to ponykind. The horn soared over the Crystal Empire, over the land it once ruled, and high into the sky.
But King Sombra was not so easily slain. He had the alicorn sisters to thank for this kindness. A chilly mind raced within the horn, seeking any sort of escape. This horn that housed Sombra felt simultaneously like a lifeline and a prison.
Certainly, it kept him alive. But when it began to fall, he would fall with it.
I must think of a way. A technique. Astral projection! The latter thought struck a chord. He pondered it for a moment. He could possess a pony. That unicorn who had been trapped seeking his Heart, perhaps. Within her mind he had sensed ambition, and shame, and those were emotions he could manipulate.
But no. No, that will not work. Their hearts are still too bright for me, even after all they've endured.
He could try to teleport, of course. But just a horn did not contain enough magic. He needed the power of the crystals, or of his own unicorn physiology. Or the Heart. They all now lay beyond his strength.
There wasn't any way around it. He was going to start falling. Soon. In a minute, at most. And then he would hit the ground. What would happen then?
He considered it, feeling a little curious despite himself. The form the sisters had given him was very hard to destroy. Perhaps he could not be killed by such base materials as dirt and rock. Perhaps he would endure. Perhaps he would be able to recover, and attempt another takeover. A subtler one, this time. He would darken the heart of each pony he'd come across, and bring about an uprising the likes of which hadn't been seen since the fall of the Crystal Kingdom and the rise of the Crystal Empire in its place.
Or perhaps he was going to shatter on stone and be forgotten once again.
He remembered the way the crystal ponies had reacted when he'd first returned, so many years ago. The Equestrian diplomats had just begun to get them to smile again. Then he'd shown up, a smirking unicorn out of shadow. The crystal ponies had gone somber once more, without hesitation.
Some of the diplomats had tried to hold him off, and some had tried to get the crystal ponies to run. It was no good. They had already fallen back under Sombra's rule.
And then Celestia and Luna had returned, and locked his shadowy form back within the ice. He had cursed the Empire again, and screamed, and screamed, and waited.
If Sombra could smile, he would now. A hundred years later, he had come back again. This time, Luna had been gone. She had almost found his Heart the last time, but the door had stopped her. It had wormed its way into her soul and let a sliver. She had still been able to help Celestia banish him, but her fall had come soon after.
Still, Celestia had beaten him again. And this time, he was gone longer. When the time had elapsed, he returned, Celestia banished him, he took the Empire with him. Again. Celestia had been trapped just as he had. She could not save the Empire. She could not find the Heart.
Sombra chuckled, though none could hear the laugh up in the clouds but he. Celestia had used her magic. She had used the Elements. It had never saved the Empire. Sombra was patient.
And then many years had passed. Finally, his prison had worn thin, and he'd lifted the Empire's curse. As always.
This time, Celestia had not come.
Curse them all, it can't be said I didn't try, he thought. They found the Heart. They were lucky.
He hated them. He hated them quite a bit.
He had once ruled the Empire as a mortal unicorn. He remembered little of that time, though. He remembered becoming shadow, and he remembered waiting. He'd been much more patient as a shadow.
The Crystal Heart was his. The Crystal Ponies were his. He'd known this, so there'd been no need to hurry.
He was high above the clouds now, and the horn's acceleration was beginning to wane. Soon, he would begin to sink, and then he would plummet.
He thought about the door. How had they gotten past it? Not even he had been able to the last time he'd tried. He hated that door. It showed him the same images, over and over again. It showed him what he'd lost.
He barely remembered what the images were. He remembered a friend. An alicorn who had trusted him. As dark as he, but also lighter, kinder.
The horn pulsed with rage, as he remembered the treacherous snake who had turned the alicorn against him. And Celestia, of course.
Oh, that's right. He felt a touch of surprise. The alicorn was Celestia's sister.
He hated the cruel artifact he himself had crafted. It was too powerful, even for him. So how had the accursed ponies gotten past it?
The horn was slowing. Soon.
Sombra knew he had come close this time. If only he'd been able to get ahold of that Heart, not even Celestia and Luna together could have banished him. Perhaps he would have been able to feel again.
But it had been for naught. He'd been unlucky, that was all. His brilliant traps had been defeated by simple bad luck.
He was never lucky. Indeed, Sombra was fairly certain he'd been born accursed. When had anything gone his way that he hadn't had to fight tooth and hoof for?
And even with all that fighting, still he fell. He was falling now. He'd gone far—he noticed a familiar forest, and a familiar mountain. A familiar castle now in ruins. They were still quite a ways below. Sombra had some time left.
Sombra thought of Luna. The worm and Celestia had driven her away, certainly, but he knew there was more. The door had shown him that, and it never lied. Not really. It showed lies, certainly, but it always showed what was in one's own heart.
Perhaps he had always been too foul for such a wonderful creature. And then his form had been made to match his nature.
He hated Luna most of all. She was better than him. She always had been. Wherever she was now, she was still better. Perhaps Celestia had killed her, and the thought only fueled his hatred.
Because it hurt. Sombra felt pain at the thought. His failure to defeat Celestia brought no pain. The chasm he was swiftly approaching would bring no pain.
He hated Luna because he loved her. He hated Celestia because she'd outwitted him. He hated the Crystal Heart because it had never bestowed upon him the power it had shown that pink alicorn heiress to the throne.
He hated them because he hated himself, and it was that simple. He was tired of falling short.
The end of this fall was very close now. Sombra still didn't know whether he could survive it. There was only one way to find out. He wondered what it would be like to die.
