His Black Heart’s Inquiry

Chapters

King Sombra, a unicorn whose heart was black as night...
Sombra's Boredom and Rage
Ex-King Sombra's Enigma
Origins of His Black Heart
Embodying His Black Heart

King Sombra, a unicorn whose heart was black as night...

"And check!"

“That's all, adviser Grimm, I already went through the checklist for today and convened with a few ponies as well! I’m sure that farmer was happy that I was able to expand his land without offending anypony.”

“As you wish Princess, have a good night.” The advisor gave a little smirk as she trotted out with the clipboard containing various important paperworks that the Princess had recently signed off or vetoed. The Princess twitched as she gave thought to those stuffy Nobles; despite being Princess of Friendship, she couldn't help but have one or two bad thoughts about them when she began to deal with Prince Blueblood bursting into her court demanding that his mansion be expanded, just because her aunt had already said no at her previous court. She once saw a pony walk into a jewelry store and buy a diamond bracelet with a price tag that would have a set a simple farmer back a decade or so, then trot out with his arrogant nose stuck in the sky, probably to ignore the homeless pony on the street begging for even a simple bit for food.

“I have to figure out what to do about that, speaking of figuring things out. I should go to the library, create a checklist there and then I will have to...”

A cough snapped the Princess out of her little rant to herself as the first one of two Lunar Stallions took their position between her, replacing the Solar guards as it was almost time for the moonrise. The princess coughed to level herself before kindly requesting them to lead her to the castle's library. She sighed inwardly, she now knew how her two "sisters" felt when the guards deemed it necessary to guard immortal alicorns.

The Princess trotted through the halls of the massive palace; despite having lived in the castle for most her life, she would ever tire of seeing the same sight. As the crescent moon rose and dominated Canterlot's skyline, the three ponies finally made it to massive doors of the information room, she trotted in while being flanked by her guards. The library was, as usual, empty, lit up by a few dim torches, and the musk of aged books hit her nostrils, striking a nerve that made her smile—she was back in her familiar territory.

“Hello my little books, did you miss me?” One of the two guards snickered at the Princess's joke while another thought that she actually meant it. Either way, they snapped into attention as the Princess turned around at the snickering. She joined the laughter briefly then informing that she would like to be left alone, they may stand by at the door. Twilight smiled, displaying the regalia that only a Princess could uphold.

“Yes, Princess Sparkle.” The two Lunar Stallions gracefully bowed, then retreated to the library’s door to take their positions. Twilight flapped her wings then resetting it to make herself comfortable whilst taking off her gold tiara, boots, and necklace and placing them onto the long table nearby.

“Ahh, I can be myself, but only if for a moment, before I must enter the lion's den known as Celestia's court! I still don't understand why they squabble over pointless, useless things when we could just move on and help ponies and our country as a whole.” Twilight, entering yet another rant to herself, expressed the frustrations that had been eating from within her since accepting the role as princess. Activating her magic, she began to flatten her hair when a couple strands stood out during her mini rave.

Fishing out some books, a couple being law books—which would hopefully guide her to helping the homeless—and another being the newest installment of Daring Do. A slight frown crossed her face—she couldn’t help but wonder what Rainbow Dash is doing back in Ponyville; probably still working toward her dream of making it into the Wonderbolts. Twilight, at one point, almost considered using her position to pull some strings that would have her loyal friend getting in, but she quickly abolished that idea the moment that the thought of her betrayed friend discovering it was not, in fact, her own skills that brought her to the Wonderbolts, rather it was her friend’s insistence.

Twilight wasn't aware of how much time she had spent thinking to herself until she noticed the room growing dark around her. Suspecting the moon had risen further in the sky, and thus the time having lurched onward—suspecting it to be midnight—she decided to go to bed. She would need the sleep if she was expected to face those entitles nobles again the next morning. However, something felt odd among the dusty, aged bookshelves. An unnatural distortion broke the air around her and drove her to look further into it. The darkness was going further into the library; the black void gripped her heart with an icy hoof, and the torches exhausted instantly.

“Guards!” Twilight called out in panic, desperate to leave. Nothing happened. “Guards!” She took it upon to herself to leave, turning around to take a look at the library door, visually locating a destination for her to teleport to. Twilight’s horn began to glow in purple, but was interrupted when the room suddenly turned black. Instantly dropping everything that she was putting her horn and mind into, instead she began to weave a complex spell that gave light so she could see and to push against the darkness that was threatening to reach out and drag her away.

“Ah, Princess Sparkle, what an indulgence of meeting you in person.” Twilight jumped, turning her head, glancing around the library to find the source of the voice that seemed to come from all directions as it continued, “Or should I say the bearer of the Element of Magic?”

Twilight snapped at the voice; the eerie, familiar voice which she could've sworn she had heard before. She could see the eyes in the distance—the raging red and green eyes that made Twilight feel like it was staring down at her very soul with the utmost evil intent.

“It cannot be...” Twilight began to slowly take a couple steps backwards.

“I constructed myself back together...painfully while turning away from the Gates of Tartarus, just to pay you a visit. No thanks to you!” the voice became low and menacing. “I'm not here to talk. I am here to exact my retribution upon on you and your little insolent ‘friends’ who will meet their beautiful bloody end by my hoof after...” The shadow then charged toward her without any warning. Princess Sparkle shut her eyes and she quickly teleported out the way as the shadow crashed into the wall with a loud thud, with the sounds of books falling out of their places into the floors. A maniacal laughter echoed throughout the library, chilling Twilight's core, but she held herself together like Princess Celestia or Luna would when in the face of the danger.

“You cannot run forever, you little purple mule!” The shadow expanded and began surrounding the Princess on all sides. In a vain attempt at self defense, she turned to fire a beam at the source, only to have it phase through the ghostly essence as it continued to envelope her in every direction. From a distance, a set of fangs along a simple face crept out of the smoky shadows.

“I'm not going to flee!” Twilight yelled, “Especially not if you are threatening my friends and my family!” She threw her head up to point the horn upwards, then cast a light spell that Princess Celestia taught her a long time ago to ward off any shade of evil. It rose upward to the ceiling of the library, effectively pushing back all black smoke backwards. Twilight Sparkle quickly stopped when a scream rang out within the room. She resisted the urge to rub her eyes to check if this was reality or an imagination that her mind had somehow conjured up.

The library door began to bang with multiple scared voices desperately shouting out in a panic.

“Are you there, Princess Sparkle?”

“ARE YOU ALRIGHT IN THERE? I HEARD THAT. ANSWER ME! WE’RE FETCHING BOTH CELESTIA AND LUNA; SOME HELP IS ON THE WAY NOW! ANSWER ME!”

Twilight was about to answer, but a growl snapped her attention back to a familiar black Unicorn; his mane and tail resembling a black replica of Celestia's: courtesy of his dark magic flowing through him. Matching her gaze to his green voids, he began to sneer, showing the fangs that he had as he spoke.

“You...insolent curs, don't interfere!” His eyes glowed a stronger green as dark magic flicked into life through his red horn. Twilight couldn't figure out exactly what he did when the multiple screams at the door went silent. She growled as her mind took her thinking of the worst.

“What. Did. You. Do. Sombra?!” The black Unicorn responded with smirk on his face.

“They are now little, pathetic, withering masses being killed by their worst fears within their mind. They will only be a pile of meat in no time if you don't do anything, flank-kisser of Princess Celestia!” Sombra dusted himself off the floor, helping himself up to all four hooves as he bared his red eyes at Twilight, shaking with rage; surely this would be enough!

“That. IS. ENOUGH! You don’t insult Princess Celestia in my presence, and you shall not harm any of my subjects, friends or family!” Twilight retaliated as her eyes began to glow white, and a pure light of magic began to take place emanating from her horn. Sombra sensed that she was putting all of her strength on this one; this is what he wanted! Licking his lips, his green eyes began to intensify in the color. Mirroring his bright counterpart, his horn glowed dark green, and a similar eruption of magic fired to meet her beam. The library, under a heavy strain of conflicting magic, threatened to collapse. Sombra took a stronger stance to level himself for what would come soon after, summoning a shadow crystal for further support.

Twilight flew into the air with a powerful thrust of her wings, aiming her spell at the former tyrant of the Crystal Kingdom. Cackling at the useless bravery of his opponent, he fired a beam of his own black magic to combat the Princess’. The books wilted under the growing heat emanating from their powerful spells. Being both the Element of Magic and a newly inducted Princess gave Twilight an advantage, evident by her spell's domination over Sombra's. He responded by drawing energy from the dark magic throughout the room—namely from Twilight's rage—to form into dark crystals, making him even stronger. Both ponies struggled to match the other's increasing magical struggle, and the increasing outpour of energy broke the stone walls of the library. Twilight, noticing the inevitable, diverted her power—at great risk to herself—to siphon Sombra's magic for her own purposes.

Renewing her efforts to battle against the malevolent king, pushing against Sombra's magic was finally becoming effective, pushing back his dark beam. Twilight planned to stop the spell immediately as soon it reached his horn, so she could imprison or capture him afterward. Sombra made one final desperate effort to push back against her powerful beam of light, but with not much magic reserve left, he didn't stand much of a chance anymore. At long last, Sombra reached the moment he had planned for since the beginning. He stopped his own beam—much to the amazement of his opponent—and a wry smile spread across his face. Her beam of light, however, continued on and struck the offender with full force and a blood-curdling scream from the tearing throat of the victim as the purity of light infused and rejected his own dark form, splitting him apart in a gruesome explosion. Twilight, realizing quickly what exactly just transpired and what she had done, immediately recalled her magic, but not before sending the grey stallion flying through two cement walls from the pure recoil of the raw magic output, then crashing into the Canterlot's royal garden with loud thud that even Princess Sparkle could hear from the broken library.

Twilight, in a moment of peace, took the opportunity to check upon the silenced guards just outside the door. Relieved to see their chests rising and falling, however faintly, she turned her attention once more to the aggressor and took after him with a powerful leap. She landed gracelessly before folding her wings to resting position: her head was slumping pitifully, her eyes began to water up, her voice shaking, her purple eyes set upon on the body just ahead of her- wanting to close her eyes and wish this whole incident away.

“Why... why did you do that?” Twilight interrogated, recalling the moment he withdrew his power and took her shot with a smirk on his face! Twilight bent his limp head towards her and looked upon his lifeless body. The thought failed to manifest itself in her thoughts: she killed another living being. Harming alone was horrible, but killing!? She just wanted to capture him to bring him to justice, have one of the more experienced, more powerful princess decide his fate, but she decided it; she ended it.

Or she thought. “Tha...t...” A weak bawl emerged from the struggling figure. Twilight’s eyes widened as she took a step back when she saw the dead body began to stir. “Was..n...ot ENOUGH. You tight-flank, aren't you...puiss-”Sombra's dark magic draped over him like a veil, from within it reformed him, one painfully agonizing crack at a time.He clenched his teeth to fight the scream bubbling within his throat so hard his fangs dug into flesh, earning two bright red rivulets cascading down his cheeks and dripping into a growing puddle beneath his head. “Why can’t I die already!”Sombra rose to his hooves as his spine, ribs, and legs snapped back into place. The pain drove him to his knees and bile to purge his body clean of the surreal hell he endured to live once more. ”You..AHHH- Another bone snapping back into place. “aren’t competent! Not even the high and mighty Princesses could kill me back then, or even now.”

“You...you wanted to die?” Twilight squeaked out of disbelief that Sombra was still alive.

“No, I wanted to look at some beautiful, worthless flowers then go by to have some tea with you.” Sombra paused to draw in a breath, “NO YOU NIMROD. I DESIRE DEATH! I’VE ALREADY LOST EVERYTHING!” Sombra growled as he took first painful steps after getting up, his dark magic flicking on then off as he went through the painful and final stages of regeneration; his black mane and tail began to wave, the sign that the regeneration was done.

“I preferred to be killed by some mule that I am familiar with, be struck down like a warrior should be, but I cannot die! The sand of time... flow of time- I'm sick of it all. I wanted to be killed, finally, unlike your precious Princesses who didn't have the heart to kill me outright, only ousting me out of my throne then banishing me to my own darkness for a thousand years with only my mind intact.” Sombra took another agonizing step toward the new Princess.

Sombra huffed whilst his blood belt from his maw into the ground, feeling drained from the laceration from the engagement earlier. Twilight just stood there, dumbfounded, looking at the dark Unicorn before her; she opened her mouth to say something.

“Don't get things wrong, you cur! I'm the same, exact King Sombra as you come to know about at my kingdom.”

”My little pony,” Sombra began, purposefully veiling last bit with massive dose of sarcasm, before continuing.

“Yo-” Sombra quickly dropped into the ground, injured but alive- his magic reserve finally ran out after coming back from life then regenerating his body.

“I beseech you to find a way...” Sombra's green glowing outer eyes slowly fading away, reverting to regular red eyes as his breath grew heavy. “To stop my flow of time, so I can truly become dust for last tim...” Sombra's head hit the ground, with his crown slipping out of his head, rolling away from him then finally coming to a rest next to Twilight’s hoof.

Princess Twilight, the bearer of Element of the Magic and Princess of the Friendship, now, for the first time, faced a true moral dilemma. Should she tend to the broken pony of a king in his desperate plea for his own peace, or take Celestia's speech to heart and turn him in, thus elongating both his life and suffering?

“King Sombra, a unicorn whose heart was black as night...” Twilight gently said as she heard two sets of wings landing beside nearby.

“What do I do?” she mused, turning her eyes find two new sets, one blue as night, the other a bright magenta.

“What do I do?”

Author's Note

[Donnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!- Mr Minimii]

[A brohoof for Mr Minimii, for all of you Silent Dreamweaver readers. Chapter 22 is being worked on and will be up for an release this week OR next week. Pinkie Promise!- Morfonious]

Sombra's Boredom and Rage

Two sunrises had passed since the battle between the dark king, Sombra, and the Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle. It was on the third day, when the sun was beginning to peek over Canterlot, the light filtering through, shining it’s beautiful light everywhere except into Sombra’s dungeon below the two Celestial sister’s castle. It was murky, dark, deplorable as it had not been used in hundreds of years but Sombra didn’t care. It was his environment. However, the grey stallion was bored out of his mind. It wasn’t fun waiting for his fate, he had already planned running up to that sun mule and strangle her personally if she even hinted at banishment; Sombra had enough of that.

Clicking his fangs together, playing with them with his tongue as he got up then walked toward the end of the cell where there stood two Royal Guards, assigned there by Princess Celestia to stay watch over the former tyrant to make sure he didn’t do anything...suspicious. For the last two mundane days, neither the guards nor Sombra spoke to each other, but he finally had enough reason to—just to entertain him for awhile and hopefully get the...desired results.

Sombra placed his head between the reinforced bars, glancing over the guards while smacking his lips before voicing out his insidious intents aloud towards them.

“Softhorns...” Both guards twitched, looking back with only their eyes, but underneath they were mellowing with anger. It was one of worst insults to Unicorns; they tried their best to not display any anger toward the malicious stallion behind them. Sombra however sneered, knowing which button to push; no matter how disciplined the soldiers were, they’re still the same pathetic, groveling ponies underneath. Sombra decided to enunciate it, “Really? No reply? I guess beneath that guard garb, you both are scallions. Did your ex lovers laugh at your inadequate equipment? Is that why you joined the guards? Out of hope you would compensate for your minuscule...” One of guards growled, a great sign that he got fed up, marching up to the cell then bucked the cell making a loud clang with a commanding boom from him while making his best eye contact.

“You will shut up! I don’t want to hear a single thing out of you for the duration of my shift! Or else...” The guard growled.

Sombra just chuckled, unfazed by the so-called intimidating soldiers, bored already with the stereotypical response from them.

“You’re no fun,” Sombra borely said as he took a quick glance at same walls that he resided in for the last two days.

He was very bored with life, having lived just over a thousand years and being a witness to many events when he was the ruler of Crystal Kingdom and during his banishment. Despite his horn being fitted with an anti-magic ring that was used only on Unicorn prisoners, his pitch black mane and tail, darker than night itself, still weaved itself in the air as his dark magic still conducted throughout him. Resigning himself to some thinking, his mind echoing with his battle with that purple mule; he was so close yet so far from his goal. After a little while, it was interrupted by noises just beyond his cell of some door opening then slamming. Through his half-opened red eyes, noticing new shifters were leaving while saluting to their superiors who just went through night-watch. Sombra’s degraded laugh echoed throughout the cell—new guards to play with! The tyrant turned prisoner hauled himself off of the bed, immediately noticing that his laughter made one of guard shake slightly out of fear.

Sombra lent forward and rested his head on the same spot, revealing his curved horn, complete with anti-magic ring, a dark gray coat, and his piercing red eyes that bore into the new guards.

“Guards! I’m hungry, get me some food.” No response. Sombra then dragged it out with fake routine.

“I’m hungry...” he said in a voice laced with longing hunger as he licked his fangs then his lips as one of the new guards looked back out of terror. “You know, both of you look so tasty. Especially you, with those legs, I can imagine it already... cutting you up then putting that over some spit roast, coated in some glaze with a pinch of salt. Some shoulder meat would be good as well; those are usually already tender, I think the grill would be best for that part.” As Sombra continued on, the guard that he was directing his monologue about cooking and eating meat, specifically his meat, began to dry heave as other guard took a step back, suddenly afraid of guarding this monster.

Sombra stepped back to let his words fester within the guards' minds, flashing his malicious smile as the guards fought the urge to purge their lunch on the floor, or each other, where ever they preferred, really. “Oh yes, I remember my first meat like it was yesterday. It was this crystal stallion, he struggled until the very end. That was boring enough, but dressing my kill was fun; first, I had to hang him by his hind legs and skin hi—” The guards picked up their hooves and held it over their mouth, quickly making their way out of the cell room and just outside, Sombra could hear some liquid hitting the floor with a retching sound.

The tyrant king released a booming laughter soon reduced to snickering, but loud enough to drown out a third set of hooves approaching and their owner's voice.

“Guards, are you okay? What happened?” One guard clenched his stomach, another was holding his head, nearly in fetal position.

“ No...no... Princess Celestia didn’t tell me how monstrous he was! ”The guard attempted to explain to Princess Sparkle what just happened within that room. He...he, ugh their faces quickly turned green, retching out their breakfast into the ground. Twilight grimaced at the sight of them vomiting; she then knelt down, ignoring the stench of bile, looking at them calmly. Twilight had to know what exactly he had done to reduce the guards to whimpering, puking piles of former ponies.

“What happened in there, Sky Shield and Sky Ward?” Twilight asked with utmost gentle, yet inquisitive demeanor.

“Well, my Princess, we were taking over the morning shift so the previous guards would had some rest.” Sky Shield looked on to Princess Sparkle, only to had her nod which compelled him to continue, “We settled down to our first experience of guarding the prisoner, but soon after he came up to us and requested for food. At first we didn’t say anything because we weren’t sure of actual procedures of getting prisoner some food, but he started saying vile things!” Sky Ward picked up where Sky Shield left off when he started to dry heave. “You see, he was talking about... eating meat, specifically ponies, I still shudder when I see him licking his fangs like that!” Twilight took a step back in shock, looking inside the dark, wet hallway where she could have sworn that red eyes were looking at her somewhere.

She had to now deal with a former tyrant just beyond this door, sighing, massaging her head with her free hoof. “I still cannot answer that question, for Celestia’s sake!” Twilight shook her head, standing up on all four hooves, holding her head up strongly like an Alicorn with pride. Her lavender horn flicked on, swinging the door open, and she marched directly to Sombra's cell. “What a nerve to talk freely about...that! I have to get those guards to receive some counseling!” Twilight muttered angrily to herself.

Finally reaching the cell, Sombra just sat there on his haunches, being deathly bored waiting for something to happen, he got his wish when Twilight asked him aloud “What is this meaning of me hearing that you cannib—” Sombra sighed, quickly answered back with a menacing but uninterested voice.

”I do have standards.” Sombra didn’t elaborate any further, instead just flashed his most innocent smile, showing his fangs with all of their glory. “Besides, I was bored.” Sombra finished the statement lamely. Twilight heaved a big sigh, at least her opinion toward the stallion didn't worsen. Twilight turned around and was ready to speak, but Sombra beat her to it as he forged ahead with his words. “Although, I do indulge myself into meat once in while; deer is certainly the best.”

Twilight quickly made a mental note to not ever let Fluttershy meet this stallion at all if possible; poor thing would had heart attack if she knew a pony— especially somepony like Sombra—was eating meat. Even the stare wouldn't work on a stallion completely devoid of any sense of morals or decency, and it made Twilight Sparkle wonder what had brought him to become "a unicorn whose heart was black as night," as Celestia put it.

“You “princess” cur! What brings you down here? Have you made good on my inquiry?” Twilight snapped herself out of her thought as she watched Sombra working himself to get off his haunches, displaying that he was hopeful that not banishment but death draws near. The mood always grew ominous whenever she interacted with the sadistic stallion, though admittedly intenser than any previous encounter, and Twilight didn't truly have an answer yet. Even after discussing it with Celestia for the past two days did little to quell the storm brewing inside her. Twilight could remember Celestia being surprised when she told the whole tale of her encounter with the grey stallion. For the first time that Twilight could recall, her mentor was completely stumped, having a deep hatred towards the pony and equally great love for any living creature in Equestria. Twilight wanted to discuss it further with her, but she had to go and deal with very upset Crystal Kingdom representatives.

They were demanding that Sombra be handed over to their kingdom so they could enact their own justice against him for what he had done. They wanted this chapter to be over with because within the city, even if the name “Sombra” was spoken the crystal ponies would tremble. They would shakily and automatically call out “My King Sombra, what is thy bidding?” Only to realize a moment after, that they were free. The damage had already been done to the poor souls of the Crystal Kingdom, damage that could never be forgotten by the ones involved, so they argued for his body to be displayed in the down to show their citizens that he could no longer hurt them.

Celestia had to wearily send them off, promising that they will come with some terms about the prisoners that her castle held. Twilight looked inside the cell, making contact with Sombra’s demented eyes with uncertainty... Refocusing on the cause to her dissent into his quarters, coughing into her hoof to avoid answering his question, Twilight slowly gained courage to retaliate at the stallion.

Flapping her wings for intimidation, or to up her confidence even further, Twilight stared at Sombra, locking both into a battle of will, both staring each other down until Twilight broke it to inform Sombra.

“Princess Celestia demanded me to take you to her for reasons unknown. Please follow me,” Twilight murmured sorely, wanting to glance away when she realized that hate emanating from Sombra was palpable; she felt like at any given moment he would break out of his anti-magic horn then choke the immortal life out of her on a mere mention of that name. Twilight did her best to stand her ground when a guttural growl broke out, unlike anything she had ever heard—as he moved closer, the lavender Alicorn quickly added.

“Nothing will happen, I promise you; Princess Celestia and Princess Luna just want you to answer about what had transpired a few days ago!” Twilight unlocked his cell and motioned for the stallion to leave, a motion he took advantage of and carried himself regally out of the cell, walking out with pride as if he actually owned the castle. Twilight followed him, but he paused, turning his head as he spoke in his menacing voice.

”Lead the way, my little pony.” Princess Twilight said nothing; she still hadn’t figured exactly how to deal with this situation with Sombra.

A memory flashed back into Twilight's mind, I beseech you to find a way, she mouthed the words, unintelligible to the stallion who spoke them, to stop my flow of time, so I can truly become dust for the last time. Princess Twilight frowned as she trotted through the dark hallway that led from the cell to another hallway, which would in turn lead to the stairways that will direct them into the main floor of the Canterlot Castle, home of Princesses Celestia, Luna, and herself.

As Twilight and Sombra made it to the end of the corridor, Sombra gave a dark grin, bending his head at two guards who were still there trying to control their stomach, ignoring the scent of the bile being matted on their fur and floor. The gray stallion displayed his fangs to the soldier and eagerly licked his lips to push the extent of his mental torture. The guard fell to the ground and curled into a ball of fearful fur.

Twilight stopped after a few steps, not hearing a second set of hooves behind her anymore she quickly trotted back to where she came from and reprimanded Sombra by picking him up with her magic, levitating him away from the guard before setting him down, then began her pathetic attempt at vituperating Sombra.

“That is quite enough! If you don’t behave, maybe I won’t consider helping you!” Twilight huffed, “Now shut up and follow me Sombra!”

The grey stallion relished in the moment; she had been the first pony in so long to stand up to him personally, so he agreed with a stoical nod. The dark tyrant began to march through another corridor with the Princess of Friendship, leaving two pathetic shell of the guards behind shaking with fear. Sombra began to feel tense as he marched through the castle that was the source of light, friendship, and love. Sombra wanted nothing more than to level it down to its foundation with the princesses crushed underneath, as if they can be killed in such a gruesome way.

A smile broke Sombra's lips as the thought of a crumbling castle, civilians fleeing in terror though not always escaping, danced in his mind. It sent a welcoming shiver rippling down his figure. However, they had yet to hurt him, so destroying the capital seemed like a waste, almost boring if he thought about it for too long. Following Twilight out of the entrance to the dungeons, Sombra looked onto the fear-stricken animals suddenly frozen, looking in awe at the predator crossing their path. They quickly scattered everywhere, some had taken watch on him from the air, squawking, chattering their information about the predator that was following the Princess through the stone path, into the massive doors that led into massive chambers of Princess Celestia and Luna’s throne room.

Sombra snorted at vile sight that he had not witnessed in thousand years. Princess Celestia was sitting there, radiating in all of sun’s glory with her sister, Luna, who sat next to her there upon a black and purple throne. Sombra stopped just beyond the entrance of the makeshift courtroom. There was sheer silence that immediately loomed over the room; the normally obstreperous nobles and politicians had been purged into unusual reticence. Twilight trotted onward to take her rightful place on the third, and smallest throne on the other side of Celestia; a throne decorated with her cutiemark. Luna and Twilight kept their composure, recognizing the battle of will prevalent between the Princess of the Sun and the tyrant of the Crystal Kingdom; originator and wielder of the dark magic.

The tension between both rulers weighed heavily in the tone of the room. Celestia took it upon herself to speak first, to greet Sombra to her court, but as she began to open her mouth, Sombra stood and interrupted her, glaring into her amethyst eyes.

“You don’t get to say anything, you sun cur!” The courtroom at short notice got noisy; an insult that was directed at Princess Celestia was rare. Sombra roared with enough ferocity to make an average pony in the room shake in fear as he pouring out all of his hatred toward the white Alicorn. “You and your sister came to me one day with your own twisted version of judgement because my kingdom and I didn’t get along with your Harmony! You don’t know true suffering, mule!”

Sombra advanced to the poised sisters, malice dripping from his body, and was greeted with an array of spears aimed directly at him by the royal guard. He paid them no mind and continued his bout of berating the sisters. Princess Celestia tried hard to control herself. ”It amazes me how your precious little ponies don’t recognize you as a true tyrant; you control the sun. What happened to those all of those Unicorns who worked together to control the sun? Princess Celestia squinted her eyes at this, holding her breath as she watched Sombra.

Squinting his eyes, growling as he continued. ”But enough of the ponies who have been dead for two millennia; let's talk about you, you spineless, manipulative coward! You're these pony's "precious ruler," HA! You, the one who sent army after army after me, all to fall by my hoof, all turned to mounds of flesh and blood by your orders! Grow a spine you worthless cur! You're unfit to rule, unfit to call yourself a princess, and unfit to even take a pony's life—not then and not even now!”

Celestia had been managing, with a great deal of effort, to restrain herself against the barrage of insults flying from the stallion, until he hit a nerve too personal to ignore, ”You truly did great job with your beloved sister.” The sun princess rose to her hooves, a powerful aura emitting from her horn as she tried hard to keep it inside. Sombra merely sneered at the weak display of anger and turned to the younger alicorn, whose eternal blue mane wafted lazily in the air, a sky's worth of stars twinkling within. His eyes softened noticeably, but his words kept their sharp edge and shook as he entered another bout of insults.

”Even though I hate Luna equally because she took part with my banishment back then—ousting me out of my rightful throne, I do understand exactly what she felt. One. Thousand. Years. Can you imagine what it feels like, you mule? You have no sense of time, no sense of that endless river corroding your soul into the black abyss. To feel every second burning into minutes, hours, months, years, and in time I had become nothing, just cloud of rage. Just me, my mind, and the eternal suffering.” Princess Luna broke her gaze with the harsh stallion, shutting her eyes as her time on the moon flooded back to her. She had forgiven her sister for it, but it was still equivalent to Tartarus for her.

Sombra began to pant, his rage seeping out, ending his dark rant.

”Tick...tick...tic- Sombra suddenly reared up, screaming, a thick, dark aura emanating from his horn—and similar green aura from his eyes tipped with purple—as his figure acted as a conduit of black magic. The grey stallion roared from the anti-magic ring activated to suppress his magical activity, but to no avail. The stone shattered under Sombra's intense pressure and all three alicorns leaped from their seat, anxious and ready—no Unicorn in history had ever broken an anti-magic ring.

The voice laced with great vehemence of resentment and pure hate began to come from everywhere.

”I would love nothing but place my hoof into your neck and crush your throat, twist your body until your guts spill, then string them all over the castle, but that would be me from long ago. Now, I would enjoy the moment when I expose you as the pathetic leader ruling with fear behind a thin veil of love. To. Your. Beloved. Subjects. At least I'm not afraid to act, you mule!”

Sombra then withdrew to his normal self, calm despite the rage, although his eyes did still carry malice with them.

A seismic rumble shook the room as Celestia acted to grab the re-solidified pony once he regained his shape, her eyes void of any pupils or irises, only fury and magic. She shouted in the age-old Royal Canterlot voice driven from the need to reassert her power if for nothing than to ensure her country's (along with her sister, personal student, and members of the committee) safety. Sombra opened his mouth to retaliate, but a sudden shock rendered him speechless.

“That is quite enough! It seems that you are unable understand harmony and unable to be redeemed so thus upon by my decree! I, Princess Celestia, as Sun Regent and Princess of Equestria, declare your punishment will be ban-”

“No!” Princess Twilight proclaimed loudly and ran to her beloved teacher, hoof extended to stop the royal decree before Celestia could say or do anything too detrimental. Her knowledge of friendship and its many lessons compelled her to offer an alternate decree, one that she alone could make.

“As Princess of Friendship, I will take responsibility for Sombra! I wish you to place him under my care.” Twilight hugged Celestia tightly, whispering so nopony could pick up on the words. “I hate to see you like this, Celestia.” At those words, the white alicorn dropped Sombra onto the ground, feeling the warm but strong embrace of her old student. The lavender Alicorn then softly added as Celestia returned the hug, “As Princess of Friendship, I had to believe that Sombra does have a chance. I don’t know what my decis-”

“My faithful student.” The white Alicorn stopped her from saying anything further, using Twilight’s old title. Celestia’s breaths came short and shaky. “I thank you. I nearly lost my grip on myself and the lessons of Friendship that you taught me over last few years. I, naturally, will support you fully along with my sister in any decision you make in this.” Princess Celestia gave her famous motherly smile to her former student, now her equal, friend and sister.

Breaking the embrace, the Sun Princess backed away to give Twilight the floor as she announced her strong yet trepidatious rule in regards to Sombra.

“The former King of the Crystal Kingdom is now under the care of me, Princess Twilight, the regent of Friendship. That is all.”

Then silence occupied the courtroom as Twilight then watched Princess Celestia depart, her beautiful multi-colored eternal mane flowing, being flanked by Princess Luna who paused to take a look at Sombra sitting on the small stairs that led to the thrones, but was unable to make note of the broken pony’s face since he was facing away.

Sombra was looking down at his grey hooves, lost in thought as he scanned the room of stunned ponies, maws agape at both the shards of an anti-magic ring and the cause of its obliteration. No pony was able to tell what thoughts occupied his mind, not even the alicorn left to collect her bounty could see what was plastered across the ex-tyrant's face.

A psychotic grin.

[Done and junk] - MrMinimii

Ex-King Sombra's Enigma

Under the beautiful, dark night of Canterlot the new Alicorn paced around her room on the very top of the tower. She was somber over the unbelievable catalyst that brought so much pain for Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and even Sombra. The night-sky seemed so lifeless tonight; the moon dimmed and the stars above barely glimmered which reflected the Regent of the Moon's depressing frame of mind. Regent of the Sun, Princess Celestia, hadn't made an appearance in two days since the court where Sombra had nearly thrown her out of harmony; for an instant she lost her grip on the lessons of Friendship that her faithful student had given her over the years. Twilight sighed, the depressing state that both Celestia and Luna were in affected her as well.

Situation where her faithful student, now-equal Princess had taken over because she thought that Sombra does had a chance but she couldn't tell him that, not now nor ever. The new Princess, however, knew that she had the other two Princess' support in whatever action that she engaged in in regards of Sombra. Twilight rubbed her head, rolled out of the bed with a grunt, then trotted over to her window slowly. Her lavender eyes set on the tower that was directly across; it was where the dark gray stallion was residing. Twilight set her fore-hooves on the bottom of the window, leaning out a little bit when she caught a glimpse of a silhouette sitting at the edge of tower.

The lavender Alicorn sighed, resigned herself into getting some sleep. She had to figure out a plan to reform the aggressive stallion through the magic of friendship and hopefully turn him into a decent stallion. There was also another thing that danced on Twilight's mind, which was the type of magic that she used in the battle against him. She had never seen such crystals in any of her lessons or books, nor the techniques in which they were used, yet Sombra seemed to control them with ease. Twilight's lip stuck out as she thought of her trips o the crystal kingdom, and something came to her: there were no unicorns. Only earth crystal ponies. Did they had the same ability? That idea was thrown out if Sombra was able to rule with ironhoof. Twilight's questions proved vain as only more formed the more she thought about it. What was the history of Crystal Kingdom? Her knowledge about it was supplied by that small crystal when Princess Celestia began the test of hers, and the other part was from her finding the Crystal Heart, supplying it to Spike to save the Kingdom once and for all.

Twilight wanted to tear her mane out as question after question swam into her mind; she would have to ask Sombra to quell her ravenously questioning brain, but she was sure he would be tight-lipped about it all. She snapped, trotting up to the window, she spotted the dark silhouette and prepared to leap from the window to visit the source of her answers.

One hoof propped against the window to propel herself into the air, she prepared for flight, but stopped when a dark voice attracted her attention. It was too low to hear, but Twilight was able to make out a few words.

-stal Empire stirs and with it...

Twilight strained her ears to listen to the rest of her song as well as the source. They told her it came from the other tower.

The lavender Alicorn jumped out the building as quietly as possible and glided over to where Sombra resided. As she approached the opposing tower, the sound became louder, more defined while still keeping its melancholy tone, but what perplexed her the most was the origin of the lyrics: Sombra.

My old friend, together again.

Hahahaha!

Twilight flew into the back of the tower from a window that quickly led to spiral staircase; the demented laughter seemed to echo throughout the tower causing Twilight to shiver in genuine fear.

Now my dark purpose will be fulfilled and the Crystal Empire will be...

MIIIIIIIINE!

Twilight crept up the stairs silently, swallowing hard as she neared the singing stallion. She feared how he would react if he ever caught her. This song seemed so deranged, perfect for the former king of Crystal Kingdom who had enslaved, maimed, or killed hundreds upon hundreds of citizens during his rule.

In the dark of the night

I was tossing and turning

and the nightmare I had

Was as bad as can be!

The purple Alicorn pressed her ears against the door, it was now very crisp and clear; it was still so unbelievable to her that originator and wielder of dark magic would be singing a song! It was given that most anypony she knew was bursting to sing a number every so often—especially a certain pink party pony who seemed unable to go a day without such a burst—but him?

It scared me out of my lights

A shadow, trapped in the ice!

Twilight's studious mind died down as she listened to this macabre song, flicking her ear against the door, felt that the song was just winding up.

When I opened my eyes

and the nightmare was ME!

I was once the most terrible king in the empire!

When those two overthrew me, they made a mistake!

My curse made all of them pay.

But one ray of hope got away!

Crystal Ponies beware...

King Sombra's awaaaaaaake!

The tower seemed to vibrate as Sombra held out the last word. His horn sparkled to life in a mixture of green and purple while his eyes took on the all too familiar glow with matching colors.Twilight tensed up, ready to take action from behind the door if it were to get out of control.

In the dark of the night, evil will find them!

In the dark of the night, just before dawn!

Revenge will be sweet

when the curse is complete!

In the dark of the night,

They'll be g o n e!

I can feel that my powers are slowly returning!

Cast my spell and my terror from every shade!

As the pieces fall into place

I'll see them crawl into place!

Welcome back, my Crystalline Equine slaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaves!

In the dark of the night, terror will strike them

Terror's the least I can do!

Twilight watched as tiara with red gem clad in it began to materialize itself out of black light around Sombra's head, whilst at the same time the beautiful red cape fleshed out by it's own as Sombra coutiuned with the next lines of his song. The ex-tyrant threw up his head, his voice deep and dark; he trotted forward once as the metal boots and metal plate began to appear after the cape was completed.

In the dark of the night, evil will brew.

Soon, they will feel that their nightmares are real!

In the dark of the night

They'll be through!

In the dark of the night, evil will find them.

In the dark of the night, terror comes true.

My dears, here's a sign

It's the end of the line!

In the dark of the night

Come, my shadows, rise for your master!!!

Twilight froze as a bead of sweat parted her coat and traveled the length of her cheek. Shadows of the various objected danced in the inconsistent, dim candle light and crept toward the oblivious singer. There was something in this moment that pulled Twilight’s mind in regards of Sombra; this song was malicious, yet she couldn't help but feel that there was something hidden behind the song.

Let your evil shine

In the dark of the night,

In the dark of the night

Find them now, yes, fly faster!

In the dark of the night

They'll be miiiiiiiine!

Twilight tensed, anxious to confront the former tyrant, she readied her horn for a powerful spell, but hesitated from his next verse. The shadow he had been commanding violently tore away, leaving a sharp gust of wind in its wake.

But now,

I only desire...

...death

It quickly died down to silence.Twilight didn't dare move for fear of making a noise and invoking the dark stallion's wrath. Swallowing her last breath, she craned her neck to look into the cell that held the dark vocalist. Once she finally saw him, she was perplexed; his evil demeanor seemed absent from his form. With the most graceful motion possible, she picked up her left hoof up and placed it with an inaudible sound to better balance herself—she was more of a spy than a curious intruder at this point.

What she saw soon after ignited the scholar's soul, banished the fear that she felt earlier when Sombra sung, her eyes gleamed in excitement, wonder and fear. Sombra finally turned around and she saw his piercing red eyes for the first time without his maniacal leer, and she saw him look about his new cell checking for any intruders before activating his magic. It produced a cracking sound as the black magic aura surrounded the air. Twilight silently gasped as strange, shadow crystals grew out of the ground with a shudder and clatter.They were transparent, which fascinated the scholar to the point of further investigation as she inched over to get a better view of the caster. The crystal tyrant shoved his forehoof into it, quickly withdrawing two items, both of which he encased in his dark aura.

First was a large blue crystal; it seemed to react automatically when Sombra's magic grasped it and he set it away on nearby desk where it automatically floated in place. The second sent chills down her spine. Sombra took out a black crystal with a seemingly infinitely deep center which made the alicorn uneasy. Sombra kept hold of this one, his eyes turning to give it his full attention. It held something within that was deemed essential to the stallion, but after a thousand years of erosion from the very object he possessed, he was unable to pinpoint its necessity. The gray stallion took a deep breath, his voice carrying out in dark and commanding tone. He called out to the black crystal with gratification.

Sombra, Rex Crystal Regnum.
Eius Niger Cor quæres vos de.
Ipse eris conteret anima vestra.
Rursum ita non potest diligere.

The dark crystal clicked quietly, then it announced in monotone voice, “Greetings, it has been nine hundred sixty-four years since the last activation.

On the record: Six hundred, seventy-one magic experiments and applications in regards of your magic.

Three hundred, twenty-nine jour—”

Sombra hummed, his red horn cracking with power deactivating the crystal. “It does still work... Don't know if I should be surprised or glad.”

Twilight's eyes widened in interest; he was using magic unknown to any other being in Equestria, the crystals were captivating. Twilight quickly jumped into a brief flashback where she witnessed some of Sombra's unique magic that incorporated crystals, his smoke form that surrounded her in the library and the whole Crystal Kingdom with no strain on his part. As well the crystals that drew upon the negative emotion as it directly fed power into Sombra.

...and that knowledge is held within that black crystal.

She composed herself—she couldn't just prance up to Sombra and demand the crystal, yet as the Element of Magic and now Princess of Friendship she felt it necessary to learn everything she could of the dark tyrant and the magic he possessed. Even Celestia knew very little of it, being able to conjure little more than a small piece to overrun her mirages when explain the Crystal Kingdom to Twilight.

“This is pointless!” Twilight perked her ears, switching her eyes to look through the hole. Sombra reached out to the floating obsidian crystal, gripped it in both of his hooves and looked at it intently. Sombra seemed like he was in deep thought, but about what Twilight could only guess. The scholar princess had been spying in Sombra for the better part of the past hour, yet she couldn’t figure it out for the life of her. Suddenly the tyrant's eyes became inflamed with emotion, his teeth clenched hard, his fangs dug into his lower lips, and to complete his horrid performance he rose to his hindlegs with the crystal balanced above his head and released a fear-striking roar into the empty room.

“This is pointless!” the gray stallion vociferated to himself in rage and threw the crystal toward to the floor. To Twilight is was all in slow motion as she shouted a quiet,“No!” because she was about to watch years of knowledge and information about Sombra be shattered into pieces but her unintended outburst had the effect that Twilight desired when the stallion paused. The black crystal was just inches away from being shattered into fragments. Sombra turned to where the sound came from, scanning the door with heavy scrutiny with his red eyes; forgetting entirely about the black crystal as he dropped it into ground, his usual terrifying voice rang out.

“Who’s there? A worthless pony with death wish?” Twilight held her hoof over her mouth, trying to stay quiet as she watched Sombra falling to all fours and trotting to the door with a mixture of pride and derision toward the intruder. Twilight had to think quickly, she didn’t want to get into another fight to the death with the wielder of dark magic just because he was more pissed now than usual. The lavender alicorn refocused to the task at hoof. She couldn't run or fly away, those would make too much noise, so she fell to her most reliable variable in any incident: magic. Her horn sparked to life as the aura seeped out and covered her figure as she paced away from the door. Slowly she receded while her horn and aura went to work completing the meticulous magic needed to bend light away from her form, rendering he invisible, but not transparent or silent. The spell just finished when the door swung open, rattling on its hinges against the brick and mortar wall.

The purple princess held her mouth shut with a free hoof, not daring to breathe as the dark tyrant looked into the hallway, horn lit up like a light show. Sombra stepped further into the hallway and stuck his forehoof out to test the air Twilight began to sweat bullets, he was so close that the Alicorn could practically feel his breathing.

His malevolent demeanor began to shine as he called out once more “Spineless coward, come out and face me!” When the only response he got was the wind blowing through the small window above Twilight, Sombra deactivated his magic in confidence that no pony was there watching him. Sombra shook his head and growled something along the lines of, “I need a walk.”

Twilight watched the unicorn descend the stairs—the glow of his horn gradually dying down—until the clip clop of his hooves on stone died away. Letting out a great sigh of relief, her horn deactivating, quickly reappeared in a soundless poof.

The friendship lessons within her told her to take this chance and leave, leaving little trust between Princess Twilight and King Sombra had intact, but the great scholar within her ignited a raging fire that burnt away her new layer of princesshood. It screamed to walk into the room and learn everything she could, hopefully with enough time before Sombra arrived to leave appropriately. Twilight was torn between her two warring sides: scholar or friend? Scholar won, but with nagging undertone of the possible, often negative, consequences.

Swallowing hard as she entered the room, Twilight inspected everything in the room; nothing seemed out of the ordinary save for the two crystals the dark king produced moments ago. She trotted to the black crystal feeling the breath catch in her throat. She picked it up and fed her magic to the crystal, but the crystal did not respond.

She thought back to the chants Sombra chanted in Old Equestrian Language. That hadn't been used for eight hundred years since the modern rendition became more practical, and the only other fluent in its pronunciations that Twilight could think of was the Regent of the Moon, Princess Luna. Twilight strained herself to mimic his words to the crystal, mouthing it over to get the feel for the words before finally speaking and praying to Celestia she had it right.

“Sombra, Rex Crystal Regnum.
Eius Niger Cor quæres vos de.
Ipse eris conteret anima vestra.
Rursum ita non potest diligere.”

It shuttered to life once more spoke with the same monotonous voice, though the information had changed.

“Greetings, it has been seventeen minutes, forty-five seconds since the last activation.

On the record: Six hundred, seventy-one magic experiments and applications in regards of your magic.

Three hundred, twenty-nine journal entries.”

The wielder of Element of Magic wanted to squeal out loud while clapping her hooves together in mixtures of delight and nerdiness because she was one step closer to learning more about Sombra; his past or his magic, it didn’t matter to her right now. Smacking her lips in anticipation, Twilight cleared her throat to speak once more when it dawned on her that she didn't know how to use it properly. The crystal floated neutrally in the air in front of her, awaiting further commands while Twilight's scholar mind went to work. Two sides tugged at her mind: should she access the crystal's memory bank to learn more about the stallion or, the more important choice to Twilight's scholastic mind, the magic and knowledge hidden withing, or should she use it to delve into the for king's mind for any and all possible lessons to teach him about Friendship. However, as of the current moment, they weren't friends.

“The magic experiment please, first one?”

“Command acknowledged, processing...”

It floated away from Twilight and a beam shot out onto the floor, quickly widening as a hologram came to life. The first thing that came from the hologram, unfortunately, was a blood curdling scream that chilled its watcher to her core.

“Help me! HELLLLLLLLLLLLLP! A-A-a-nypony? P-please? H-hello HELLO?” The room fell into silence, the only noise being frenzied breaths by the screamer. It broke when a door to one side opened and a familiar stallion walked into the room with his usual posture, cape, and crown levitating a piece of paper, paying no mind to the pony strapped to a crystalline table. The crystal stallion was struggling against his restraints with all of his might, but to no avail. Twilight slowly brought her hoof to her mouth to suppress whatever would bubble up from her throat as she continued.

The cyan, crystal stallion suddenly reared up, roaring with all of his might, “RELEASE ME! WHAT DO YOU THINK WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF PON-”

“Blah blah, act of revenge, slaves somehow rising up and ousting me out of my throne. I don’t think so, my beloved test subject.” Sombra interrupted, placing the paper down then turning around to give the trapped stallion his full attention as he continued speaking. “I mean, you must feel so lucky to be the first test subject for this spell I worked for four days straight on.”

The crystal pony choked back a sob. Dread filled his voice when he spoke up. “Please, my King S-s-ombra. I p-plea you, I have a wife and children to go bac—”

Sombra reared up and hit the stallion in the face shutting him up straight-away, finishing his sentence for him.

“Back home, in their her loving hooves with little cute foals babbling on about how much they love their father.” The dark stallion smirked evilly, his voice low, barely a whisper against the stallion’s ear, “Something like that?” The stallion leaned in further to share another secret with the trapped pony, but the crystal was unable to capture it. However, when the dark king pulled away, leaving a broken pony with a single tear rolling down his cheek, Twilight could sense he was doomed to the tyrant's "tests." The young Sombra smirked sadistically, moving back and taking in the stallion’s pain when an idea popped into his head.

“So, test subject. I’m offering you a one-time only deal,” King Sombra moved back, his horn cracking in dark red gradually becoming green and purple light show, watching the pathetic stallion trembling whilst giving him his full attention. “You live through this, you’ll see your deplorable family again. If you die, well, you die. I will say no good-bye when I put down notes on this beautiful piece of paper.” The stallion stopped struggling at that, a sliver of hope had been dangled above him, closing his eyes as he waited for his fate.

Sombra fired a green beam into the stallions head and for a moment everything was silent in dreadful anticipation. Soon, though, the stallion released a terrifying screech and began thrashing violently against his restraints. “No, no. I wil-” He babbled uncomprehending sentences. The stallion began convulsing like he was having a mental breakdown or heart attack. Twilight was horrified to see Sombra's expression not be of disgusted surprise or malicious glee, rather it was one of contemplation and observation as he took down notes as the present-day Sombra re-entered the room.

The thrashing died down to the small angry grunts of the tyrant complaining how he'd once again have to clean up the mess, though commending the crystal ponies on their will to live.

“It was successful. First test too! I injected him with a dose of magic weaved with a spell capable of taking over one’s mind activity by means of severing his link between fiction and reality. I took note of his love of family, so I had him going up and murdering everypony of his family.

“However, him being able to figure out between reality or fiction once he wakes up is unknown; further testing is needed,” Sombra muttered to himself, etching down the notes as the stallion just ahead of him began to awake up weakly after a long few minutes. Twilight noticed the crystal stallion’s eyes kept moving from object to object; it seemed like he was able to comprehend his aftermath of the ordeal, but he kept stuttering as his mind desperately attempted to catch up.

“W-w-will y-ou hold up o-n you-r s-side of deal?” The tyrant gave a fatherly smile at the stallion and voiced his judgement upon the pathetic slave, “Of course, I did promise that you can see your family again.” The mood within the room became light and hopeful, but it quickly got stiff with the aura of pure evil as he finished his thought. “You can see your family from the execution table. After all, you didn’t specify that you wanted to go home and be with your family, and did you know that threatening your King is an serious crime with death being the punishment?” The grief-stricken stallion paused with his eyes widening, realization settling down within him. “Ohhh, I’m so sorry.”

A truly broken stallion collapsed into the floor as Sombra freed him and turned around, picking up the crystal with his magic. The hologram then finally closed down with a whoosh sound, a monotone voice from the crystal soon picked up afterwards.

“Recorded at year 039. A.D, evening of 23th day of the seventh month”

Twilight stood there, unmoving; it was still so unbelievable of what she had seen but the sound of hoofsteps behind her snapped out of it. Twilight’s maw gapped, her lower lips shaking. The horrid experiments were one thing, but here she stood in the very presence of the executor, and he looked as calm as ever! Twilight tried to speak out, but the only thing that came out was a squeak. Sombra kept his stoic face, picking up the crystal then setting it down on a nearby table; there wasn’t any words being passed between them.

Sombra turned to speak to the intruder, but she vanished.

Author's Note

:D- Next up, next chapter and probably final chapter of Silent Dreamweaver. Expect it soon! - [Morfonious]

Huzzah! - [Mr. Minimii]

Credit (for the song): http://unoservix.deviantart.com/art/King-Sombra-In-the-Dark-of-the-Night-344066008

Origins of His Black Heart

It had been a few days since Twilight discovered the horrors within that dark crystal. The Princess of Friendship sat at her table, a dim candle lazily burning away the fuse, and tried to write down something into the journal she had gotten when she was inducted as a princess a few months ago. She dipped the tip of the quill into the vial of black ink over and over before pressing it to paper, yet getting no farther than introducing a black splotch when her quill met the parchment. Sighing heavily, the quill fell onto the table when she released her grip.

She leapt from her chair, her wings on full display to air out (a necessity for hot and humid nights such as this) and walked to the window where she could see the full tower holding the dangerous criminal she condemned earlier. Twilight couldn’t figure out why Sombra is here or why he wants to die. Every life is precious; that much was taught by Celestia, but rather than trying to think of, or make up, an answer, it was best to get it at the source.

Choosing to face the shadow of the shadow, the embodiment of evil, she went for the stairs as a delay to prepare herself for the meeting. She paused at one window on her way down the spiral stairs, hoping for some kind of validation as to why she was about to do this. As she ventured further, her mind turned to thoughts of the poor colt in the diary. A tear broke free from her left eyelid as she thought of the fate of him and his family. What kind of suffering had been endured? Did he watch his family fall to the hooves of the crystal ponies, or were all snuffed from the city as a family? Still she marched on to get his justification of his actions.

Not long had passed when the lavender alicorn reached the base of Sombra’s ‘prison’. Twilight glanced upwards and saw that the window above was lit, indicating that the former tyrant was awake. Taking a moment to collect herself, she opened the door and ascended the spiral case to the enchanted door sealing in the former king.It was on orders of Princess Celestia after she found out from Twilight of what happened.

Twilight reached the top far from strained, yet her heart was beating so quickly she swore she no longer possessed veins, only pipes spewing blood throughout her body. A wave of adrenaline coursed through her dilated veins, causing her to act before thinking as three determined rasps resonated throughout the tower. Then silence. The only sound was the pitter patter of the rain accompanied occasionally by the deep base of thunder in an eerie symphony of panic. They all fell silent, however, under the introduction of the malevolent voice commanding, "Enter."

Twilight swallowed the rock that was her fear and ventured in, finding the grey stallion staring at her. His piercing red eyes boring into hers, almost piercing through her entirely.

“Why are you here, new princess?” Twilight looked up to see Sombra sitting atop a shadowy throne he had crafted. The purple Alicorn cleared her throat, nervously pressing on with strained voice, “Why did you do that to that stallion?”

“He bored me, that’s it.” Sombra waved the subject off like an annoying fly on the wall.

“HE BOR-” Twilight began to yell, her emotion slipping for only a moment.

“But no, I don’t think you are here to ask me about petty stallion who died a millenium ago.” Sombra rose to his hooves and advanced to the shaky alicorn, closing the gap between them until the only thing in Twilight's field of view were his bright green eyes.

“Rather... I think you are here for something else, and I believe that I know what it is,” Sombra said before returning to his throne.Twilight stared in silent amazement. He could read ponies like she read books, which would explain his ease toward the entire encounter.

“I came here to find answers. I have ruminated for while after taking a quick trip to the Crystal Kingdom to find out about it’s history, specifically you. I tried to interview some ponies there because the books there didn’t tell me much but every crystal pony in there was tight-lipped. Why, even the mention of your name made some of them tremble.” Twilight pointed a hoof at him, saying, “However, I know that you are an evil tyrant that terr-”

“Did your precious teacher tell you a little bedtime story about a dark king who ruled his kingdom with an iron hoof, then made a kingdom disappear for a thousand years? Do you believe the whole story?”

“I trust Celestia with my heart. I believe what she told me is the truth!”.

“Sorry to burst your bubble, my naive Princess. Don’t you know that victors write history?” Sombra hissed.

Sombra glared at Twilight, and she glared back, though her eyes did not show anger boiling within her, but intrigue. Sombra stared at Twilight, whose eyes did not portray anger so much as interest. Perhaps, he thought, if he were to tell Twilight the story, the true story, then she might finally grant him his wish. "Sit down," he commanded, motioning to the floor. Twilight fell to her haunches and leaned in.

He looked around before grabbing the crystal and bringing it between the two ponies. A red aura surrounded it, floating it throughout the air by Sombra’s magic. Now that Twilight had the chance to see the crystal clearly for the first time, she remarked how similar it was to the crystal Princess Celestia had used to demonstrate the effects of dark magic.

“Since you asked me indirectly, I shall share a story that hasn’t been told correctly in a very, very long time. I’m going to ignore my merry foalhood, and dive straight to the bone of this tale.” Sombra's eyes began to glow and his horn cracked to life to summon a beam directly into the heart of the stone.

The beam pierced the crystal's face, seeming to fracture it in such a way that the light was forced through a series of cracks and splits before reemerging to form a hologram of Sombra's memory. The dark king closed his eyes, the purple aura still leaking out, and began to voice the story with a gritty and distorted voice.

“One day...”

[/hr]

“STOP! STOP IT, PLEASE! I BEG-” a young colt pleaded to the guards assaulting him a he cried out for his parents. He feverishly fought the guard's leg to gain even a glimpse of his parents. A golden boot brought the colt's eyes up to the face of King Algidus. The golden crown that sat atop his head matched the golden eyes that looked pitifully at the foal.

“So this is the illegitimate child of theirs? The one who sullied our entire race? How unthinkable: a Unicorn who fathered a foal with a crystal mare? This is a crime of which transcends everything!”

The unicorn in question was thrown to the ground, the ropes binding his legs ensuring he would not rise, and struggled to face the king, wishing he could set him ablaze with his eyes. He had had enough of attempting to bargain with the ruthless ruler, roaring with all his might while the image of his son being held to the floor filling his vision.

“You dare claim our love is an object of disgust? You challenge our divine right to happiness?” The stallion was about to continue, but instead received a head blow from the hilt of guard’s sword. A white crystal mare next to him shrieked, moving quickly to comfort her husband, and looked on at heinous situation which was still unfolding. “Sombra...I love you, my son.” The mare began to mouth at her son, tearing up while mouthing further, “Live. Live on.”

The king didn’t even give a slight to the outburst, replying with very calm voice- “Yes”.

“So for that outburst, which is an insult that was directed at king. So naturally that bring around a punishment” King Algidus said. “Counselor! What is the punishment for outsiders disrespecting a royal?”

A meek stallion spoke up in the background.

“Death.”

Sombra snapped his head up, pushing against the soldiers who still held him down. The colt desperately so wanted his horn to work, he wasn’t able to use magic since his childhood but regardless this moment of weakness; he began to dug his front hoof into the ground- attempting to drag himself toward the king as if he could stop it from happening.

“I love you both. I love you so much” Sombra began to hear his mother announce as if this were the truly the end. Sombra began to wish for a miracle, any miracle that could end this horrid situation.

But fortune favors the fool, not the foal. The guard threw Sombra to the ground and bound his legs so he would not run. Sombra could do little more than writhe at his restraints as a pair of guards, complete with swords, brought his parents to a public stage. The mother moved closer to his husband who in return nuzzled her muzzle. They then looked at their son—their beloved son—on ground. The father smiled at the face of death, mouthing to his son, “Live.”

In the next instant, the sword was brought down upon both their necks, immortalizing an image that would haunt the foal for the rest of his contemptible life. Both of his parents' heads rolled in front of him; his father had a wry smile forever etched to his muzzle while his mother just had a face of horror. He gaped at them, but their eyes looked past him, past everything he knew, into the netherworld.

Something inside Sombra snapped that day. His mind became clouded and thunderous bursts of pain drove him to one definite goal: revenge.

King Algidus approached the defeated foal, refusing to look down at the pathetic sight. “Take head, sullied disgrace; know your place!" He strolled off with his guards flanking him on each side. One by one, the guards responsible for restraining Sombra got off him to join the march behind King Algidus.

Sombra lied on the ground, a ball of rage imploding in on itself; his cheeks were stained with tears, his eyes raw from use, and his teeth were clenched so tight they were digging into the gums. Sombra's vision soon filled with black splotches, growing until they enveloped his eyes and he passed out on the execution stage.There was a moment that went noticed by spectators around him. For a brief second before Sombra collapsed, his eyes turned green and what appeared to be purple tears spilled from his ducts. The others that witnessed the beheading, however, took no interest in the colt before them. Favoring to smirk in morbid pleasure at the neck stumps of the ponies who dared sully their pure race.

Sombra reached out with his hoof, digging into the dirt with anger.

[/hr]

“Their mistake was letting me live.”

[/hr]

Years later, a colt on the brink of stallionhood trotted through a cobblestone street lit only by the faint glow of dying candles on its dirt edge. Where most ponies his age would be obsessed in the opposite sex, this young stallion's mind never drifted past the thought of revenge; revenge to the king and his pathetic family for what they did to him. Years of prejudice, years of rejection, years of hatred welled within the pony. He shook the thoughts from his head. The time for dwelling on the past had ended, now began the time for action.The image of him pressing a booted hoof against a whimpering king's muzzle and crushing it gave way to a morbid smile; the mere thought sent a revitalizing shiver throughout his spine.

Sombra staggered across the path, eyes closed against the offensive sun. His eyes became small, angry slits and his prejudice to the light grew since his advancements in dark magic; a magic based around emotions rather than focus like traditional arcane magic. Sombra was almost ready to enact his revenge, yet lacked one key element: allies. Expelled, ostracized, outcast by his once kinsponies, traits he was confident he did not possess alone.

Sombra approached the door to a run-down bar, checking over his shoulders before sliding into the darkness. The inhabitants that peppered the tables shot up, recognizing him by the purple tears draining from his eyes. The bar grew deathly quiet, every eye tracing the figure, though none daring enough to match his gaze.

A quick scope around resonate in a newborn smile. He spoke curtly, earning every ear, "Haven't you had enough of this?"

The silence urged him to continue, "Aren't you tired of the oppression brought upon by the crystal demons? Aren't you tired of being abused, beaten, and spat upon simply for being you?"

Sombra smirked, changing his posture to set the mood more appropriate to stir the poor souls to rise itself upon from ashes. Every colt, filly, mare and stallion turned their ears forward, taking his every word to heart.

“Not me. Not anymore, not evermore. I saw my parents' heads severed from their bodies by the same tyrant as he hid behind his wall of guard, unable to lift a single hoof for himself! It has been six years since my parents were laid to the ground, yet it has been twenty years since that bloated swine came into power! And it has been thirty-four years since that piglet sucked in his first breath, which should have been his last.

Somepony stood up with a shout, “I hope you aren’t implying what I think you are?”

Sombra cocked his head to the offender, an uneasy smile speaking volumes to the pony. His rigid teeth providing more of a spine than anypony in the bar.

“Indeed, I say let’s undo his birth.” Sombra closed his eyes with his small smirk before continuing, "I say we yank the swine from his trough and burn his barn to the ground with his pride. I say we take his wife and sever her head like he has done to so many of us. I say we trap him in his own arrogance and bury him beneath us, so far that he will never resurface!"

“We alone cannot change the course of history, but together we can force history to change for us! No one event can rewrite our books, but a revolution can spark a war! It takes an army to spark change, mind you. Every time one of you stand up to the walls of fear in your own belief, you spread through everypony a glint of hope. Hope for a better time to come, hope for a better life, hope that one day they will gain the ability to live their own life!”

Sombra lifted his hoof to the thumping of the crowd's own hooves on the tables and floor boards. A low rumble lifted the drunkards' spirits, gaining altitude quickly.

The cheers lifted him from the table and his words erupted from his heart.

“Today begins anew! Today we will send a ripple of our own! A cataclysmic eruption that will ring throughout the world, telling any and all of the power we hold within us. A new world born in our fire, built by us, for us!”

The ponies erupted in cheer, arming themselves with anything they could get their hooves on and followed the speaker to the city.

“Today, we will need only ourselves!”

[/hr]

Twilight sat on her haunches, wishing dearly for paper of any kind to record this chance of a lifetime. Sombra approached her and continued.

“Then I...”

[/hr]

“Beautiful night; is it not?”

“Aye.”

“Sentry, what are you doing tonight? I feel like drinking. Want to come along after this shift?”

“What about your wife?”

“She needs some time to herself for something. I don’t know, bu-”

The word caught in the guard's throat, breaking his flow in the midst of his lungs, forcing them to expand to the point of eruption. The other guard froze, his heat dripping from his body until a stone-cold husk remained to watch the shadow rise from the mound of pony. Sombra wiped the residue from his coat and turned to the guard, a knowing smile stretching his lips as he returned heat to the guard until little more than a pile of ash stood before him. Such a sight would send most ponies into a fight to keep their lunches within them. Not Sombra, he had learned to feed odd the misery of others; to grow from their pain.

Sombra hid the body and turned to the door. Rage built within him and formed a bleak sphere at the tip of is reddening horn. A single breath and a cloud of chips and splinters carpeted the main hall.

The intrusion was met by arms aimed at the gaping hole. The steel armor alone declared they would not back down.

“Kill them. Kill them all! Slash, stab, crush, punch, kick or bite. I don’t care what you do, as long you kill!”

As soon as the guards caught wind of the malicious chant they steeled themselves, spears pointed at the encroaching mob armed with what was in their grasp. Before they could advance further, the front guard lept, blade aimed directly for Sombra's throat.

The guard froze in midair while the spear was wrestled from his hooves. They in turn grasped his neck, which seemed to be tightening. A sickening crack froze either side as the lifeless body was dropped to the floor. One guard, a new recruit, took the opportunity to attack, but Sombra only smiled as the spear was put to action. The hallway was painted red.

The noise of the spear dropping into the slush forced the eyes to return to their leader. He only smiled and ground his teeth in anticipation. A charging cry forced the mob forward and the troops to recede further inside the castle walls, the few that could escape, anyway. Amidst the flurry of screams and clashing of blades, Sombra took his leave in search of the miserable king. He was probably shuffling about in desperation to escape; the thought made him feel excited.

Each door was knocked off its hinges to a malicious symphony, each earning an increasing scowl from Sombra. No sign of the cowardly king—not that he should be so surprised—and still half the castle to break through. Each room yielded a group of terrified servants huddled in the corner, ignored in favor of the ultimate prize. Finally he reached the royal bedchamber. A quick blast opened the room to him, but the only thing of any value was a disturbed rug tucked deep into a corner.

Sombra grinned, tearing the rug away to reveal a trap door. Got you now you little shit. The door was released from its latches effortlessly and fell to the ground as Sombra dove into the depths below.

Sombra's form dissipated until he was a cloud of darkness bursting through the small passageways. Each torch he passed was drowned by his amorphous cloud. He could almost taste the ear from the escapees, and it only made him hungrier.

He reached his prey, a small squadron circled around a terrified king. One guard unlucky enough to look over his shoulder stumbled and was suffocated in the black mist; little more than a squeak squeezed from his esophagus.

The others froze mid step, shakily turning their heads to watch the guard drop on the stairs. A rumbling brought the ceiling down, forever drowning him, among a few others chosen to walk behind the group, within the tons of dirt above their head. The remaining ponies turned and galloped as quickly as their shaky legs could carry them.

The odds of surviving dropped to near zero. Everypony knew it, but refused to give up lest they let the small string of survival slip between their hooves. The guards fell one by one, Sombra making easy work of their mortal bodies. Then the mares dropped, excluding the Queen, but Alduis had no mind of grieving. Finally a blow to the head sent him down to ground.

"Not so fun when it's you sniveling on the ground, is it?" Sombra asks as is horn lights up. Alduis cowered further, hooves clamped around his head, but they did nothing as he felt every bone in his body splinter and eventually split. The bloodcurdling scream sent waves of euphoria down Sombra's spine.

Sombra turned to lock eyes with queen, who was on the ground clutching something close to her chest. She rose until her gaze met his. Alduis could only grovel in pain and despair, both of which Sombra sneered at.

Are you ready, Queen Serenity Are you ready to befall the same fate as your husband ordered my parents to? Are you ready to become a symbol of revenge, a symbol of justice in the new Crystal Order!?"

She could not meet his eyes, instead she took solace within her husband's battered and broken body, a weak hoof stretched to her before falling limp to the floor. It mattered little to Sombra; he had a plan and nothing could deter him. Tendrils erupted from his horn, shooting into Serenity's neck. She froze, holding her hooves up desperately to garner Sombra's attention once before his magic rendered her speechless. "Do what you will to us, but please do not harm our daughter. She does not bear the sins of our past; she is only two months of age!"
Sombra turned to face, for the first time, the small infant who had been clinging to her parents as they fled. He brought the baby to his face, and a small, perhaps the last, spark of equine within him decided to spare her. "It will be a mistake," he began, surveying the filly before him. "It will be a mistake, but I will let this one live; she bears not the fault of her parents."
The queen bent down to thank him, but immediately shot up as the tendrils receded from her neck, dragging her throat along with them. She tried to scream, but only a weak, bloody whimper spurted from the open pipe.

And so left the king. Once the tormentor of foals and untouchables, now a pony unable to crawl three inches if it meant salvation. Sombra smiled and turned, the filly held above his head crying into echoing halls. In an instant she was gone, teleported to a castle far away atop a mountain with a special "enchantment" that should keep her out of his hair for the next century at the least. At last the dark infiltrator could pay attention to the stallion before him. "I want you to suffer," he breathed into Alduis's face. "I want you to feel the same burning pain that haunted my childhood." A spark lit his robe on fire. Alduis gave up, succumbing to the burning embrace of death only to be yanked out seconds later. "And I want you to feel it." A red aura spewed forth from Sombra's horn and into the heart of Alduis, forcing it to pump against his body's pleas otherwise. With his work done, Sombra left the king to his flaming demise. Alduis could do nothing as the fire encroached onto his form but stare into the blue pools of Serenity eyes.

[/hr]

Twilight stared at Sombra with stoic demeanor, unsure of what to say to the former king before her.

“You know the rest of the story: I took reins of the kingdom and I began to show them my love.”

Sombra smirked to himself. "Love of vengance, 'do to them what they did to me' you know." Twilight merely sat on her haunches, a navel's worth of information coursing through her mind all rushing to order themselves within her internal library.

Puddles formed within her eyes; there was nothing else she could do. She wanted to ask Sombra about everything he said, but a hoof silenced her.

“I’m not done. You yet haven’t learnt what happened afterwards. I believe it will hold interest for you since it is part of your history as well; of why you came to be an Element of Magic, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight’s eyes widened.

[/hr]

Rising from the tunnel, his next target was the crystal heart. Removing it would have two effects on his citizens: it would discourage any further uprisings like his, and the lack of hope would only nurture his black magic. Since the disappearance of hope in Equestria, his magic had only strengthened, and it was put to the test when two annoying sisters decided to act out. He managed to fend them off for now, but only barely.

Months later had Sombra standing on his balcony looking over the land below. A band of ponies linked together in iron chains brought a smile to his face. They had been the ones who were less and accepting of the change in command. He had to teach them and make examples to the rest, after all. The ponies by his side in the rebellion, however, are each sitting in their own office. A king cannot rule a country alone, and they were there from the very beginning. He wanted to prance around the kingdom he was ecstatic.

The self appointed king returned to his throne and two trembling servants. Their tell was plain as day—he cringed at the analogy; he loathed the day and the pony that represents it—and this had to be the hundredth time they tried to get him. The meal today was an assortment of sides surrounding the entree of a whole smoked pig coated with a "special sauce" they liked to add to most of his meals. He dug in, dissolving any "extra" ingredients with his dark magic. He would call them out and send them to Tartarus, but sweet Sombra could they cook.

Sombra was barely finished with his first mouthful when the door opened, revealing two regal sisters. He had expected this, of course—the multitude of warning letters made sure of that—as he relaxed his posture and took great interest at the crystal chandelier hanging on the ceiling.

Sombra! You know why we’re are here! One of your subjects came to me, and before he died at the steps of my throne he was able to tell me of the atrocities happening in your kingdom. He spoke of his friends, family, being beaten, maimed, even massacred at your hoof. This kingdom has changed, and I was too naive to notice it before.Celestia flared her wings, casting her judgmental eyes upon the dark tyrant. “What do you have say to this accusation against you?”

“Don’t know, don’t care, but I do know one thing: you barraged in here like you own this throne. You pompous, little ingrates; you do not control this kingdom. I DO!” Sombra sneered bringing his glowing green eyes to match the intruder’s bright magenta ones.

"We come to make things right and drag you out of your throne if need be!" The pair readied themselves, but wavered when a deep growl from within the king surfaced to maniacal laughter.

“Thy shalt not be laughing when you meet your end at our hooves.”

Luna was the first to act, lowering her stance for the beam she shot at Sombra. A direct hit to the chest dented his armor to mold around his torso, obliterated his throne, and sent him careening into the wall—leaving a sizable pony-shaped hole and a pile of debris.

A sly smile cracked Luna's serious face as her sister approached the body. Once close enough, the pile erupted like a black volcano, its shards digging themselves into Luna's exposed figure. The regent of the night leapt back, as did her sister who held a defensive wing while using her magic to heal her sister, but the magic would not take.

Despite her best efforts, the dark magic countered hers to a tee. A second eruption shook both of them back to the imminent danger. After the blast, Celestia found she alone was standing; her poor sister laying beaten on the throne’s opposite side. Flashing over to her the ravenous Sombra was towering over Luna. The battered princess could only curl up and look back with the fear of death in her eyes. Sombra picked his forehooves up and slammed it into her head.

A sharp gasp was heard followed by silence.

A cloud of black spoke manifested over the king's head, morphing into a spear. A wry smile coated his face as he thought of a favored quote: “What is an army to a king? What is a king to a god?"—the spear dropped into his hooves and rose over Luna's neck—"but what is a god to a nonbeliever!?"

Celestia flashed by Luna's side, grabbing her just before the spear pierced the crystal floor. He retrieved the spear unamused before he rushed the pair. Celestia hugged her sister to steal them. As Sombra prepared to deliver the blow, he stumbles from a flash of blinding light. His spear pieces the empty air above a ominus scorch mark.

Sombra sighed and fell into his stub of a throne, interrupting the ponies working hurriedly to recreate it. He dug a third strike in its edge, marking yet another month of uninterrupted ruling of his kingdom. They had not dared return after the savage thrashing he had given to that sister of Celestia's. He yawned, letting his thoughts drift to the sun princess. She could be a great co-ruler alongside him, but he had neither the drive nor the time to gracefully transition the pony of light to the side of dark.

He blew his bangs up into the air, only to have them resettle upon his forehead. It was only after countless minutes of this that he came to the ultimate conclusion: he was bored. He had everything down to an art from the control and regulation of his subject to the absorption of their pain. Thousands of souls filled with hate and sorrow fed into him directly around the clock, bringing him more power than anypony could have fathomed. How had gained immortality, but it was not enough, he yearned for omnipotence. Sombra began spending his extra time, which was all of his time, what he liked to call "experimenting." He was using the blackness of his heart to delve into magic never before seen in Equestria.

Beyond the glass barrier before him was war between the library's walls and the oncoming storm for dominance. Within the threshold a silence enveloped the drowsy stallion. The only reprieve being the sounds of hooves clicking against the stone, which shook him from his daze and froze his senses. They quickly relaxed, though, as he closed his book and leered at the food set beside him. It no longer interested him to pretend to be surprised. The truth was the servants had lost their tact, and it has been too long since he's tasted something without the taint of food. He got up and walked away, leaving the food to rot like his servants would later.

Leaping into the growing blanket of snow, a wave of childhood surged through the dark king. He dismissed the guard hardly raising their spears to greet him, nor the peasant scrambling over a scrap of food to keep alive another dreadful night—their suffering drove Sombra to move faster. It was well deserved, and they knew it. His form dispersed, moving as mist across the surface of the snow. Small animals panicked and dove into the snow at the shadow's presence, yet Sombra paid no mind. He was after the elk sitting atop the hill, challenging any and all other critters to approach his small patch of paradise: a dying patch of grass.

Sombra manifested at the base of the hill, sinking below the snow and crawling through at a snail's pace to not upset his prey. Approaching the patch of green, Sombra remarked at its lack there of. Ripped blades lay asunder in the deer's futile effort to find digestible sustenance. His hilltop home was more for fashion than function, it seemed. It almost seemed merciful to put this deer out of its misery. A win-win: the deer only suffers momentarily, and Sombra can actually taste pure venison for once!

A green spear shot from the snow, and before the buck could react it pierced the fuzzy flesh.

Like a chicken without its head, or a deer without its heart, it ran wildly to Sombra, collapsing just before reaching the hole where the spear came from. Sombra rose from his hiding and place and merely gaped at the deer. A thing of beauty, really, his marksponyship. The pool of blood forming reflected Sombra in the fleeting moments it was still a liquid, quickly freezing over. The grin faded to a scowl. Damnable creature had hardly any meat to use, and what little there was was destroyed by the spear.

The king prodded the deer’s body with approval, the hunt went down smoothly. Already he was figuring out what to make tonight; there were many recipes swirling around his head: grilled venison backstrap, crystal venison, venison chili. Sombra licked his lips at the soon to be cured meat, lifting it from its graveyard to return to his kingdom. Unfortunately, the moment the corpse was in the air and susceptible to its torrent of wind, it smacked into Sombra's head, knocking the king on his flanks; the wind had worsened severely since his kill. He released an aggravated sigh, lost within the storm, and resigned to wait in the snow versus getting lost. When he went to to his hole, his ears pricked and the tip of his horn cancelled its levitation spell automatically to cast a detection one. Sombra could sense a spell coming, quickly, but not from where exactly.

Eyes wide, Sombra leaped to the side as a cacophony of light and fire torched the ground he just stood on, creating a crater twice the size of him. Every muscle was tense and every sense was stretched to its limit looking for its caster. He knew who it was, just not where she was.

“My dinner!” Sombra exclaimed, glancing at the charred remains of the meat. He clenched his teeth and stared into the wall of clouds and ice around him.

As quick as it seemed to appear, the snowstorm vanished, leaving an eerie silence in its wake. Breaking the new silence hovered the two royal sisters, Luna just above Celestia, sticking the sun goddess between her and Sombra. Celestia scolded herself with missing.

They finally returned to him.

Sombra merely grinned. "Just try and stop me, you self-proclaimed 'righteous' ponies!"

"Do not tempt us, demon!" Celestia boomed with her royal voice. Luna, however, took to a more direct route, preemptively striking with a sudden beam of shadow, but it did little to king. Her physical wounds may have healed, yet her fear still lingered. Sombra merely diffracted it into the surrounded snow, a cynical smile barring his fangs. He readied his stance while she was looking in shock, and rocketed into the air, deflecting any attempt at a countermeasure from the weakened night. As he approached her spells grew in strength, but it made no difference. She was panicked, and half of her shots missed him entirely. Defeating her would be less a battle and more of a chance to experiment on a valuable opponent.

Once face to face with Luna, Sombra offered a knowing grin and fell down to the ground, impacting with his forehoof and forcing a circular crack from the ice. A tower of black crystal materialized and rocketed forth, bring the king to his prey. The crystal froze just beneath the sisters' hooves, sending Sombra into the air as a dark energy welled within the heart of the gem—a crack of lightening that seemed to break the very stone it resonated from.

At the apex of his jump, Sombra lifted his horn, sending the sparks erupting from the platform, stunning the princesses, and shooting into his body, exploding it into a cloud of smoke. Mindless animals were fun to hunt, but alicorns presented a time and a half of entertainment.

Luna was the first to recover, venturing from the safety of her sister and barreling into the sky after the dissipated king. She released a tidal waves of shooting stars after the king, all of which phased through his form and created a basin in the snow below. Black fire soon overtook the destroyed land, sending a chill down Luna's spine. Snapping from her trance, she looked to Sombra to find a similar fire erupting from his horn! An instant feeling of despair washed over her as the fire shot towards her, yet the signing flames did not touch her. Opening her eyes, she found Celestia standing above her, a bubble protecting them both from the abysmal flames.

A fire welled within him as bright as Celestia's shield, those damn light spells! A dark energy bubbled from his horn, but the bubble short forth, enveloping the dark tyrant into its cacophonic web. The sound of a million harps blared into his ears and the intensity of an exploding burned his eyes. Vain attempts to shake it off were met with only increased light and sound. He acted out of instinct, summoning a spell of his own, a crystal tomb, and launching it at the blurry outlines before him.

The force of the spell forced him onto his haunches, yet his effort was for nothing. The dark crystal shot past the ponies before them, only serving to anger them and intensify the spell. The light singed his coat and tore away at his clothes, soon moving through his fur and to his very being. The light was evaporating him, forcing him from his physical form and into a vapor. The king screamed in pain as the last of his bones bubbled away.

He stayed midst the storm of light for what seemed like an eternity until Celestia was certain he was gone. A knowing smiled broke her scorn. She knew, she knew the ending of her spell would only be a slight reprieve from the hell Sombra would now endure.

Before the final spell could send him to eternity in Tartarus, Sombra used the last of his magic to send two black crystals to the sisters, distracting them just long for him to slip away almost unnoticed. He fell from the tower and sank beneath the snow, relishing its icy embrace rather than the hellish flames of his banishment. He slid away, melting a small path in his haste, and cursed the ponies responsible for his defeat under his breath.

Celestia and Luna shook the spell off, feverishly surveying the surrounding ground to find the escaping king.

"There!" shouted Luna, motioning to a trail of black smoke cutting through the white snow. "He's trying to get away!"

"Oh no he doesn't," remarked Celestia, spreading her wings and charging toward the lead of the smoke trail. He hooves crashed in the center of it, dissipating the former tyrant into mist.

Her eyes glowed as white as the snow and from her horn erupted a powerful spell that flew into the ground. Sombra was about to mock her aim when a great cacophony of cracks erupted from the ice below as a large ravine formed right beneath him. He poured in, despite his greatest efforts of flying away. Celestia merely watched him submerge into the ice, sealing the gap and forever trapping the king away.

Meanwhile, in the throne room, Sombra's magical grasp left the crystal throne in a violent explosion, its dark aura floating into the air above. The crystal ponies could only glance at the dark magic leaving lest the dark tyrant catch them not working, so none of them were able to predict what would happen to them for the next millennium.

His revenge came much sooner than he expected.

Lost from his physical form, he resigned himself to the shadows. Always watching. Always ever watching.

[/hr]

Twilight gaped at Sombra, her mouth hanging off its hinges. Her brain was overclocking itself trying to digest and process the novel she was just recited. Sombra waited for her to voice a question, yet the influx of information stayed her words and her breath. A torrent of knowledge was coursing through her mind.

Finally the last bit hit her, and hard, forcing her head to drop to the tile floor.

"It wa..." he voice struggled to overtake the tears welling within her eyes.

A shaky breath failed to steady her shaking figure and the words poured from her mouth. "It was you who... who corrupted Luna. W-who turned her to Nightmare Moon."

The stallion remained still.

"A-and it was you who tainted Celestia's light with your blackness. You're the cause of her severed connection to the Elements."

Twilight's amazement bubbled to hatred. She slammed one hoof in the ground to propel herself at the dark tyrant. The ground cracked under the pressure and the stones on the wall loosened at her strength. Sombra bounced against the wall, but retained his stoic demeanor. He looked on at the purple alicorn before him with a new-found respect. She never treated him as an outcast, never threatened him. She only wished to help with the "magic of friendship" or whatever she called it. She didn't treat him like a prisoner, but an equal in both body and mind.

A hoof stretched back to deliver a final blow, but the creaking of the door prompted her to stop and instead greet the entering pink alicorn. Her face was raw and her eyes burned of fire. It was obvious she had been listening, but for how long was unknown to both of them. Shining Armor shut the door behind them as Cadance buried herself in his chest. She may be the embodiment of love, but for him there was no compassion for an irredeemable pony.

She spat, “You are a monster.”

Author's Note

Special thanks to MrMinmii! <-this guy is awesome.

He re-edited the half of the chapter, made alot of changes.

Hope everypony enjoys it!

Embodying His Black Heart

After what had transpired recently, Twilight quickly ushered Cadance and Shining out of Sombra’s so-called chambers before things could escalate between the current rulers and ex-ruler of Crystal Kingdom. Cadance is at the lowest point of her life, her questions about her parents have been suddenly answered; Shining was in no different mood—he who hurts his wife will not live to see the sun. Twilight’s emotions were at all over place; it would be enough to make a changeling confused! Immediately after ushering her brother and sister-in-law to Celestia’s chambers, Twilight quickly trotted up to her surprised former mentor.

“Princess Celestia, we all need to talk.”

Shortly after the trio went up to Luna to rouse her from her sleep, the group marched on through the castle’s hallways, normally they would be smiling and laughing but not today. Celestia and Luna dismissed their respective personal guards; before entering a so-called war room. A large hexagon table sat at center of the room with map of Equestria and various paper pinned up, Celestia gave a nod to the group to take their seats. Twilight quickly took her spot next to Celestia, to the right of her there was Luna whilst at opposite of the table sat Cadance and Shining Armor.

It was quick to notice that each had differing opinions, one took side of another while some went against one another whilst some remained neutral. Not only they had to deal with their own feelings, they had to deal with political nightmare especially when Canterlot was impressed upon on everyone the symbol of friendship, peace, respect for one another and Crystal Kingdom is supposed to symbolize love for one another, family and country. Sombra was the wildcard where he could prove one or another opinion right or wrong.

The Princess's responsibility was also to ensure that their country symbolized those virtues; ensuring that they took care of their subjects ; however one Princess of Love decided to go against her nature.

At the start it was a civil discussion, headed by Princess Twilight; everypony at the table wanted to bring up their points with being for or against reforming the Tyrant of the Frozen North. Celestia couldn’t help but glance upwards in the direction where Sombra was imprisoned. All of their attention snapped toward a shriek.

“He should be dealt with!” the Princess of Love shouted at top of her lungs upon remembering hearing the ending of Sombra’s tale. Cadance looked at other three alicorns with frenzy in her eyes, her body shaking with unbridled rage. Twilight and Shining flinched every time Cadence slammed her hoof on the table.

“He is a practitioner of dark magic.” The pink alicorn started counting off least worst to worst of what Sombra has done during his tenure as king. “That alone would have got him executed in long time past! Chained up and forcibly put thousands into crystal mines!” Another slam. “Do you have any idea how much of resources that we are using to help those ponies recover?!” The table began to crack under power of Princess of Love. “Tortured hundreds! I wonder how many of them gave into insanity or did something unthinkable?! Murdered thousands!” Cadence panted heavily. “The citizens of my kingdom is screaming for his blood. A monster!”

Cadance promptly collapsed into a sobbing wreck; Shining Armor immediately rushed over to his wife, wrapping his arms around her.

“M-m-m-y parents.”

“This may be wrong, but I support my wife on this,” The former Captain of the Royal Guard started, squeezing his wife tightly whilst petting her hair at same time; comforting her to best of his ability.

“You don’t have any idea of what we went through when he sieged the Crystal Kingdom. Every second was miserable. Near the end, I believed my love would die, and that monster rendered me incapable of doing anything to help her. Even today, I shudder to even comprehend what I would do if she did actually die then...” Shining sighed, rubbing Cadance’s back gently. “I shudder to think of what came after for Crystal Kingdom then Equestria itself if he “reclaimed” what he sought after.”

An uncomfortable silence persisted throughout the room. Celestia, Luna, and Twilight kept their thoughts to themselves; they were not sure of what to do or say about this situation, but Twilight knew that she had to hold on her promise to both her mentor and the former king.. Twilight was mental health was deteriorating; she didn’t even have time to prepare herself! She is the Princess of the Friendship for Faust’s sake!

Summoning her courage to speak against her brother and sister-in-law. Twilight pushed herself out of the chair. Luna looked up, suddenly interested in what she had to say. The Regent of the Moon felt that she didn’t have any right to decide because what she had became in her past.

“I am interested in what thou hast to say.” Celestia widened her eyes then quickly regained her neutral but supportive stance on this delicate situation. Twilight gave a nod to Luna before hesitating briefly before pushing into the heart of the issue, looking directly at Cadance; taking a deep breath.

“Before you came in and found out what happened to your parents and your Crystal Kingdom” Twilight paused to make sure everypony began paying full attention to her “I’ve seen things in that crystal that Sombra showed me; things that changed my perspective on crystal ponies, and of how they treated outsiders or ponies of mixed race. I won’t mince words but your parents took part of transforming him into what he is now.”

Twilight tensed when Cadance shot her a glare. “What! If! SOMBRA WAS LYING?! What if whatever he showed you was made up?!” Cadance suddenly jolted out of the arms of her husband, slamming both of her hoof on the table.

“What would he gain from lying if he wants to die in the first place?” the immortal, white mare stepped in, despite remaining silent throughout the meeting. She had supported Twilight’s decision in her recent court when she boldly announced that she thinks Sombra had chance.

“My sister and I have already agreed that we will give Twilight our fullest support; if she believes that there is chance for Sombra, then there is nothing for us to do except allow Twilight to show Sombra the Magic of Friendship.” Celestia gestured, activating her magic to take off her crown as the mood became more unbearable; Twilight and Luna quickly followed her gesture.

Twilight smiled at the support of Celestia and Luna. “If Luna received her second chance after what she may knowingly or unknowingly have done when she became what I have faced years ago.” The purple alicorn met the opposers' gaze, her own boring into them relentless like a true budding leader's would.

“ouldn’t Sombra deserve a chance?” Twilight pushed herself out of the chair, pacing around the room. “After what I have learnt about him, even after what he have done, I cannot help but feel sorry for him. We, as ponies, are supposed to embody the virtues that my friends represent! I have once seen Celestia as flawless ruler; Luna was once Nightmare Moon! I have learnt that everypony has their flaws. Some worse than others but I firmly believe as Princess of Friendship that everypony deserves a chance.”

Twilight turned back and paced to where she started.

“I learnt that lesson after what have happened with Discord; Fluttershy showed him something that he hasn’t gotten in a long time: friendship. Sombra could be the same case.”

“Discord was different! He is not Sombra.” Shining argued back. “I don’t consider him an pony anymore; he is danger to anypony who happens to across his path!”

“Sis, I am worried about you. I know you can take care of yourself after what you have done for Equestria, but I still can’t help but worry about you.” Shining let go of his wife, walking around the tabled with a concerned look on his face.

Shining reached over to Twilight who just stopped pacing herself around the meeting room. “I was surprised when Princess Celestia told me what happened in the court few days ago.” Everypony in the room gave their warmest smile as he released her.“I wouldn’t forgive myself if anything ever happened to you, and I wasn’t there to protect you
“Thank you BB-”

It was at that moment where everything went Tartarus for them all, the fireplace that was brimming with warmth and energy of a fire suddenly got snuffed out of it’s brief life; cold air crept up to everypony instantly- fear crawling over their hearts and mind. They gave their best effort at being quiet, turning their ears toward the sounds and echos from beyond that grew more clear with every passing moment. There was an quick shuffle of guards that posted themselves at the door shouting “Halt! On the order of Princ-”

Before they could finish their sentence, there was a quick scream of terror that rendered every pony silent,

Celestia and Luna stood up slowly, pushing the table and chair quietly with their magic. Shining and Twilight just stared at the door; Cadance whimpered and slunk farther into the room.

It was thing defending a kingdom behind a shield, but facing down this beast face to face proved too risky. If one focused just right, they could hear a single march of metal boots, clinking of armor, the wrinkling of the cape followed with the deep growl of a predator. There was also sound of somepony thrashing, expanding their greatest effort but failing so. Cadance backed away from the huge wooden door, if the Crystal Heart that was powered by her own magic and everypony that was citizen of her current kingdom didn’t work on Sombra; what hope do they have now against him beside the sun and moon sister’s experiences against the stallion who personified the very essence of evil itself? Getting more panicked with passing moment, the young pink alicorn shrieked and tried to get a head start on running. Before she was able to set her hoof forward to exit; the door instantly splintered with raw power. Half of the door came crashing into the floor; the other half flew off of the hinge! Celestia barely had enough time to duck her head as the floor flew over her head and Luna barely had time to blink from existence then back in as it passed by.

With a great thud, it shattered into million pieces in the background of the room. Celestia and Luna quickly noticed that their day and night guards was unconscious just beyond of the door; others waited patiently, though shakily, beyond the door's frame, waiting for the order to charge in. In the now dark room, there was sickly green eyes staring down the leaders of their respective nations with scowl on his face. Twilight noticed that his horn was powered by normal magic rather than dark magic that bubbled with black and green. There was four great stomps that radiated from his armored hoof, he looked them with cold eyes that could pull them to darkness and never to leave if they allowed it.

“If you were insistent with…reforming,” the gritty voice broke out. ------ we stopped here

King Sombra calmly flicked his horn to reveal a vegetate crystal pony. He was a personal guard of Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadance, being dragged in the air looking so broken with hazy eyes staring into nothing.

“Then I wonder why I had to greet guards who broke in my front door of my room with weapons ready and aimed at me, this one was particularly successful.” The Dark King moved his eyes to the broken guard before slamming him into the ground and jolting him awake with a single practiced motion. With a quick shudder, the guard woke from his stasis, suddenly aware of everything that was going on.

He opened his mouth to vociferate.

“MY LIEGE, THIS MONS-” Sombra head slammed the guard into the ground, nearly knocking him out, causing a crack on a marble floor. The blood began to trail out of his helmet, staining wherever it dripped on.

Shining clenched his jaw tightly, Celestia and Luna started to narrow their eyes, ready for action while the last two alicorns stared in fear. Sombra’s hardened look began to soften. “I may need you to direct your attention on this contemptible guard’s attire.” Sombra flicked his magic to lift the guard and turned his body where they witnessed a custom fitted two-forked claw that was made of crystal; tied on his right hoof, dripping with red blood.

“Beautiful design is it? I remember those being used in the war. The glorious war of blood and death.” Sombra began to smirk at the memories of fighting and killing. “An king needs to punish commoners that decides to trespass against royalty.” The grey stallion began to whistle as he began to multitask with his magic, floating the stallion in the air as he began to undo the leather hatches that held the weapon on his hoof. “Normally, I would be already rid of this deplorable sack of meat but since one of you are so insistent with helping me; then aid is what I shall ask for!” Sombra’s red eyes slowly made contact with certain purple eyes; as he jolted the stallion awake again.

With the best smile that he could offer, Sobra closed his eyes while tilting his head and opened his mouth. Shining finally had enough of this and roared.

“Where are the REST of the my guards?!” Shining took a step forward with anger. “Where are they? Answer me!”

Sombra just simply smiled.

“Let’s see, there were eight: two are currently a blood stain on my door; three are now nothing but ashes; I believe one of them is pinned into ceiling, possibly dead; one fell hundred feet out of the window of his own accord; as for eighth...he is being held prisoner by yours truly,” Sombra answered with slight droll voice, “You will be wise to shut your yapping mouth when I am speaking with a beautiful mare over there.” Twilight suddenly didn’t feel comfortable with Sombra any more.

As if one of veins had broken in his head, Shining lunged forward whilst activating his magic. He was able to hear loud, “no!” but didn’t have time to determine whose voice that was from before getting instantly shoved into the ground head first.

“Let him go!” Twilight demanded while getting prepared for a possible fight over her brother’s life, but Sombra surprised her by quickly letting him go. Twilight set down her brother next to Cadance who was quick on her hoof to hug her husband while chastising him for his anger and disregard for his own safety. Cadance owed Twilight a big deal of thanks for saving her soul mate.

“Now shall we?” Sombra was dusting himself off, trying to pushing things along but there was yet another interruption, this time it was Celestia; her horn blazing with golden aura and her wings open ready for combat if seems it necessary. “Why are you here? We enchanted that room and door to our best of abilities, outfitted so you can-” Sombra tried so hard to hold his rage back, his vision began to blot out in spades of black, clenching his teeth together so tightly that it felt it would crack at anytime.

Sombra had enough! Enough of ponies undermining his authority! Sombra, the Tyrant of the Frozen North let out an animalistic growl. It was very predatory, instantly instilling fear into everypony expect for two when they all took a step back. The guard being held by his magic began to be handled roughly, awakening him and the stallion looked at the tyrant with dread; knowing exactly what came next from his memories of him ruling. Sombra quickly composed himself like a King should be, his motions suddenly became more graceful than any warmorging armored stallion could pull off, his voice was wrathful but yet demanding.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle. There are only two fates for this deplorable guard who dared to touch a royalty...with this” Sombra displayed the weapon that he took off the guard earlier and manipulated the weapon fluidly to aim at his neck; suddenly short of breath and peed himself when the claw began to draw a droplet of blood. Sombra’s heart soared with glee at the sight of blood, his brain began to release norepinephrine- rewarding him for his very nature. “Or...I tweak my magic a little bit, a snap there and there and he will not be able to hold a spear for life. Not even…” Sombra looked into eyes of guard “a quill. Or unable to walk, really.” Sombra smiled “The pain itself will be so indescribable and it will never, ever go away.”

“What will it be Princess?”

“A crippling pain or death.” Sombra gave a dark smirk; his heart leaping for what she would choose.

Everypony suddenly paid attention to the Princess of Friendship, possibly making a choice that will affect everypony in the room but the dark king for most of their life, most being Twilight and the guard. Twilight looked down on the ground, momently doubting herself before steeling herself up; clenching her jaws and looked straight into ex-dictator’s red eyes.

“Third option”

Sombra raised a brow at this third option; manipulating his magic subtly to start squeezing his victim’s throat. “Third option?... you say?” Twilight stepped forward, fighting her fight or flight reaction; her body tensed and screamed to escape from potential danger or death. Twilight had to push forward or she will regret it for her eternal life. Each step she took, her budding bravery grew and grew with each gait she took toward where the dark-hearted stallion stood with predatory fang showing as he smiled. Celestia thought it was akin of what once was a cowardly animal transforming into something equal or above to meet equal force; she is even more proud of her prestigious student than always because she finally took charge for herself.

Twilight finally met Sombra’s face mere foot from each other- her purple unflinchingly gazed into his red irises, poking his hoof into his chest “Third option is if you even harm his hair any further than what you have done, I will personally devise a spell that will banish you for eternity, keeping in the darkness where you will be unable to interact with any living beings ever again and I will not research of what you have asked from me! You know what it means, Sombra?” Twilight moved even closer.

“I personally have support of everypony in this room regarding with my decision!

“You. Will. Let. Him. GO!”

In display of power to show , she released her magic power- her eyes glowing white as electricity cracked and jumped around through the air as her hair waved around- Sombra decided to do just do just same. The Tyrant of Crystal Kingdom’s eyes glowed lime green and his crimson irises disappeared from existence as his shadow form took ahold, pushing against the Element of Magic’s power. Sombra’s grip grew stronger and stronger on the guard’s throat; he began to toss and turn in the air, desperately trying anything he could to stop the choke. Slowly he began to react less, his eyes began to glaze over and foam began to form on edge of his maw.

Everypony quickly noticed of what Sombra was doing, tried to step forward to help the dying guard but not Twilight she never wavered her gaze upon his eyes. It have turned from battle of power into will; both powerful stallion and mare pushing back and forth with just that.

“You have newfound indomitable will. I loathe you but I respect you for that.” Sombra grunted, his magic that held the guard disappeared quickly. Twilight yielded as she heard a thud in the background; dissipating her magic- the tense between quickly died.

Sombra turned around with dignity; his crimson cape trailing behind him.

“I shall return to my prison.” Sombra sarcastically said as he stepped over the passed out stallion. Sombra marched through the shattered door with grace of an King, his metal boots’s clanking grew quieter before it finally died off.

Everypony released their breath in relief that things have turned out the best it possibly could, although Shining Armor have to give an funreal to seven fine guards who died in their service and one would have to be hospitalized for long while. Shining screamed out “AND THAT’S WHY! WHY WE MUST GET RID OF HIM.” Cadance nodded her head with frenzy in agreement, Luna became depressed after what she have witnessed because she was once like that. Celestia was lost of what to do but quickly decided to trust Twilight of what she would possibly have planned or is planning for Sombra.

Twilight exhaled, too much things echoed inside her scholar mind until it latched on something important... her eyes widened and quickly turned around. “That was an enchanted door that can be only dispelled or opened from outside! We even made sure that his magic wouldn’t be able to affect it. How did Sombra even came out at first place?”

Celestia’s reaction matched Twilight; slowly sighing “This situation just got much worse.” her light purple eye laid upon the battered guard. The Crystal Kingdom’s rulers visibly grimed upon Twilight’s deduction.

The sapphire blue alicorn slowly trotted up to the knocked out guard, giving out a hefty breath as she looked over .

“...Thee guard hast so much to answer for.” The moon monarch added.

Author's Note

Whew, done! I'm going to work on next chapter soon! Sorry that I haven't released this earlier; my editor has became more busy with his life and college, myself as well.

I'm going to try to find a main editor or try to edit my chapter after writing until he is more free.

Anyhow, enjoy the glory of the King Sombra! Bow to his grace!