Shadow and Crystal

“Ponies,” hissed Sombra’s voice, “I remember you.” The voice shifted from place to place, coming from the ceiling and the walls. The scarlet eyes flitted from place to place. “You were there, witnesses to my glorious revival. You returned the Crystal Heart to its pedestal, you released that blaze of light, that wave of… love. Those disgustingly happy feelings that I worked so hard to destroy, the fear that I had instilled, one thousand years of wonderful terror, of hatred, all for naught. All because of YOU!”

The six targets of his rage flinched. His hatred was nearly palpable; a force pushing them backwards out of the circle of light provided by the torches, back into the shadow.

“YOU DARESDT DISGRACE THIS CASTLE WITH THINE PRESENCE?!” The equestrian voice of the Princess of the Night rang through the amphitheater. “Foul beast, scourge of Equestria, thou may not stand within these stone walls!”

Sombra’s eyes appeared in the shadows behind Luna. “And yet, here I am, Princess. Though it pains me to be so near such a source of order and light. But you came here of all places, far from prying eyes, away from the light, deeper into shadow, to Sombra.” He laughed a booming, sinister, bone-chilling laugh. “What made you think to hide from me here? The Old Palace that was once my domain, the sight of my onetime loss, did you think that I would not return here? Foolish Princess. I care not for the distant past. I seek only the future.”

The eyes no longer seemed attached to the shadow. There was something behind them, something corporeal, but masked by the darkness. It paced, never taking a step into the light, balancing on the edge of the torchlight. Sombra’s blood red horn shone through the shadow.

“You six,” Sombra continued, removing his focus from the alicorn, “Stopped my revival, took the Crystal Empire from me, ripped my very being apart, left me as a shell of my former self, but I’ve come to realize that this was the best possible outcome. Of course, you will still be subjugated, jailed, tortured, forced to experience unimaginable horrors and possibly killed when I take control of Equestria, but know that, while you mainly have my hatred, you also have my gratitude.”

Applejack stepped up, looking directly into the glowing red eyes. “What in the hay are ya talkin’ about?”

“Ah yes,” hissed Sombra, “the country pony. I will explain, and I will use small words to ensure that you understand. You see, when we first met I had become more than a pony. I had no form, merely a gathering of dark clouds, scarlet eyes in the darkness, a horn glowing red as blood. In a sense, I had become hatred itself, a presence that lurked in even the happiest of occasions. One thousand years will do that to a pony. Can you imagine, young ones, what it feels like? To spend one thousand years alone, but aware, cut off from your kingdom as I was cut off from the Crystal Empire? To feel every second pass by, to feel every second turn into a minute turn into an hour turn into a day, a week, a month, a year? Every moment I was banished was palpable. It burned against my coat and ground into my ears.” He turned to Luna. “But I suppose that we have that in common, don’t we Nightmare Moon? You know what it was like. Every second of those thousand years. Nothing but you and the time, the unforgiving time, ticking passed. Tic… Tic… Tic.”

“Thou doth not dare compare us to the likes of thee.” Luna spoke in a low voice, one of barely constrained anger.

“Oh Princess, I wouldn’t dream of it. Yet, you can’t deny the similarities.” Sombra chuckled softly. “But there’s one thing that sets us apart. You forgave them, didn’t you Nightmare Moon? There’s the difference; true hatred, true darkness, knows no forgiveness. But I’ve gone off topic.  Where was I?”

Pinkie Pie spoke up cheerfully. “Cloud of hatred!”

Applejack gave Pinkie a look.

“What, I like stories!”

Sombra paid no heed to any of the ponies. “Yes, I had become hatred itself. The power was,” He breathed in deeply, his scarlet eyes flaring brighter, “incredible. But it came at a price. I could only see the Crystal Empire. All the power of hatred at my disposal, and all I could say was ‘Crysssstalss.’ But not anymore. That wave of happiness stripped me of most of my power, but I regained my senses and I came to realize that there is so much more besides the Crystal Empire. Oh, so much land, so many ponies, so much happiness to destroy, to turn to hatred, to rebuild the kingdom I had begun all those years ago. Of course, I will retake the Crystal Empire, but what is that to the Griffon Kingdom, to Saddle Arabia, to Canterlot, to ALL of Equestria? The entire world at my command, what could be better than that?”

Rarity spoke up. “Well, quite frankly, I could think of a number of things better. Including ripping up all of my dresses and walking through mud.”

“Giving up Sweet Apple Acres,” Applejack added.

“Being in the spotlight… again,” said Fluttershy quietly.

“Burning my books.”

“Going back to the rock farm. Or maybe never telling another joke. Or no parties? I can’t decide, but it’ll still be better than Sombra as king.”

Rainbow Dash darted in front of Sombra, looking directly into his glowing crimson eyes. “We saw what you did to the crystal ponies. You took away their shine, everything that made them happy. And the Crystal Empire's such a great place, good enough to host the Equestria Games when even Cloudsdale wasn’t good enough! Everypony I’ve met from there is kind, but YOU took it away from them. And now you want to do it to all of Equestria? We won’t let that bucking happen. Ever.”

“OF COURSE YOU WON’T!” roared Sombra. “After all, you six are here to stop me, that’s why the Princess brought you here. You will journey and fight and plan and, ultimately, confront me while your precious rulers stay back and watch you do all of the work. You will be an endless thorn in my side, a wrench in my planning, termites in the woodwork. You will be Heroes, those disgusting, annoying beings that I’ve had to deal with time and time again. After all, you don’t gain power like mine without facing adversity.

"But, ponies, know that I bested them time and time again before I fell from grace. Armies of heroes, some that made it all the way to my throne room, each of them dead at my hooves. I made examples of them, strung their bodies and the hopes they represented from the towers, brought the heroes before their public and watched as yet another chance at freedom was extinguished, the glow of the crystal ponies’ coats growing darker at every death.”

“But thy immoral purposes were defeated.” The dark alicorn’s voice was pointed, nearly mocking. “Cursed being, thine dark visage was locked away for a millennium at the hands of a hero. For all thy gloating, ye were not able to crush hope, not able to prevent the creation of those ponies brave enough to stand up to thee. Strung bodies, public executions, fear and darkness, in sooth, thine kingdom was a terrible place, yet it fell. And by Celestia’s sun and our own moon it shall not rise again!”

Sombra chuckled darkly. “But you won’t have the chance to stop me.” The scarlet eyes narrowed and the blood red horn began to glow with an acid green aura blotched with black. “The thing about heroes is that they only grow stronger as their journey progresses. They learn lessons, gain experience, gain a following, become more and more loved, more and more powerful that, by the time they fully confront me, killing them can actually get quite tiring.” A small spark, the same color as Sombra’s aura appeared in the middle of the room. “And so, I think I’ll kill you now.”

The spark expanded quickly, a compressed explosion allowed free reign. It would have instantly killed the ponies, but instinct saved them. Luna, Twilight, and Rarity clamped down on the explosive magic with their own auras, capturing it in an orb of swirling blue, violet, and white.

Sombra grinned widely at the opposition. The glow from his horn grew brighter. Each magical being in the room channeled more and more power into their spells. Luna glared at Sombra, that infuriatingly smug grinned still plastered on his face. Twilight’s eyes were locked shut; she sweated and trembled at her exertions. Rarity, faced with the seemingly bottomless power of the three others, nearly blacked but the Element of Generosity forced herself to stay upright and force out every ounce of magic she could muster. The pegasi and earth ponies watched the struggle breathlessly, unsure of what to do. Hairline cracks sprouted along the orb.

A bright flash. The polycolored shield was surrounded by a golden halo and the darkened chamber was bathed in yellow light as an orb, as bright as the Sun, formed above everypony’s head. Sombra was revealed, no longer covered by the shadows. He flinched slightly from the light but regained his composure and focused on the white alicorn. The acid green aura disappeared.

“You,” snarled Sombra.

Princess Celestia strode into the center of the room, looking as regal as she ever did. Only Luna and Twilight Sparkle noticed the difference; the slight tightening in her jaw, her stiff gait, and, worst of all, the small motherly smile in her eyes was gone. Her voice was as cold as ice when she spoke, a frozen surface concealing a white rage worthy of one who controls the Sun. “Send your image away from my castle Sombra.”

“Gladly, Celestia, if only to get away from you. But there’s one last thing. I’ve noticed that you’ve grown rather fond letters in a thousand years. You use them to keep in touch with hundreds of different ponies, including your student here.” He nodded in Twilight’s directions. “In fact, some of my servants have read copies of your correspondence. To the point where their writing is nearly identical to either of yours. It was rather impressive, that is until I had them decapitated they were, after all, learning about the Magic of Friendship. Whoever reads that dribble cannot be allowed in my court. But they did write a letter before they died. Five letters in fact.”

Realization dawned on the six ponies, the color draining from their face. Twilight spoke softly, “Oh, no.”

“Oh, yes.” Sombra’s green aura enveloped his horn, his eyes shining and the purple haze coming from his eyes intensifying. “Bang.”

Miles and miles away, five papers began to glow with an acid green and black fire and were torn apart as five explosions replaced the morning’s silence.