'Maybe in Another Life'
An MLP: FiM Fanfiction written by TheOneAndOnly1993 (TheApexSovereign)
All characters and references belong entirely to Hasbro
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It's over. I'm finished.
Princess Celestia always told us little ponies that we can do anything if we set our mind to it. I set my mind to taking the Crystal Empire. I succeeded, once. It's only fitting that she herself and that sister, Whatshername, take it away. But I never forgot them, her words. I forgot a lot of ponies, even Whatshername. But never Celestia. I never forgot her face, or her words. And a thousand years later, I set out to do the same thing again.
I can take the Crystal Empire.
I never once had the mind to think "retake." No, such a heinous thought. "Retake" implies I was usurped. I wasn't; I never was. I still won. The curse I cast on the Empire, made it vanish. I won that battle. Celestia and Whatshername failed to save the Crystal Slaves. I won that battle.
I won.
But I still feel defeat.
It's over. I'm finished.
The Crystal Heart was within my grasp, and that scaled creature too. He was a dragon, perhaps. Not sure. Never cared for cryptozoology. Waste of time. There's more important studies to partake. Like dark magic. I remember the stories from when I was a colt, that one could be unstoppable if they submit to the darkness. That was a lie too. Was never a colt either, probably. I can't tell. My head is full of shadows. I can only remember what I see now.
There she is, far below; the pink pony with a high flank and avian wings. She's taller than the Crystal Slaves and has the Crystal Heart on each hip. Was there any doubt that my death was her destiny?
She caws some words to my Crystal Slaves. I can't hear from my perch, but they all start smiling. Their heads bob, and they begin to look more like geese than slaves. Did the Heart get returned to its place beneath my tower?
It must have. The Empire's streets fill with a cheery-blue light. I call out some orders, I don't even have the mind to register what is sputtering out. The Crystal Slaves don't listen of course. They don't fear me anymore, and why would they?
My eyes sting to look below, at the light filling my streets, but I force a hard stare. If I were to die, I would die a stallion and look my doom in the eye. Father would be proud. Did I even have one? Probably. He probably loved me too, raised me in a nurturing environment with good morals in mind. Where did I go so wrong?
I shake such thoughts from my head; now is a bit too late to second-guess myself. Death awaits me, and I will face it like a . . . like a . . .
Stupid pony feelings. My stomach is a veritable bit of angry snakes.
The insufferable light dissipates, gone faster than my chances of victory. Both end up in the same place, the Crystal Heart. I'm overcome with the urge to preserve my own life.
Flee, says a voice. Fly, come back another day. To where? There is nothing but tundra for miles around. I'd curse, but that would be a waste of time. I only had twenty seconds left, maybe, before I am dead.
Should I attempt an attack on Heart itself? Foalish thought, Sombra. At this stage in power it would only kill me quicker, maybe. Probably. What's the harm in trying? I don't know. Hooves are glued to the crystal anyway.
My gaze falls upon the balcony jut from the face of the Crystal Tower. Many a day spent overlooking the Slaves at work. Good times, golden times. Now filthy ponies stood there, friends of the lizard and bird pony if I were to wager a guess. I would destroy them all, corrupt their hearts and poison their minds, watch them fight each other like beasts until they tear each other down and I am the last one standing. I should do that. Right now.
But I don't even try. Why not? I don't know. Maybe in another life.
Music never manifested in my Empire, only that of the chains clanking-variety. Those ponies sang earlier though. At least, I think they did. They must have, for the Crystal Fair. I remember that for some reason. Maybe it's the tents everywhere, clustered houses of cloth sewn with such disturbingly cheerful colors. They had to have sung the anthem. What were the words to that again? I don't think I ever bothered to learn them. Maybe in another life. Maybe when pigs fly, too.
The dark crystal beneath my hooves rumble. Not much longer now. There is nothing more surreal than waiting to die. Never thought I'd go out this way. Then again, I never thought of my death at all. Why would I have? I had the magic of darkness at my disposal.
The Crystal Tower's substratum erupts a wave of energy. Is it blue, or white? Why won't I move? I can't be frozen with fear, it's impossible. I am fear. But what's stopping me from moving?
A warmth in my hooves. I raise them to my face, and to my horror they appeared fractured, cracked. The metal cladding my hooves splinters, splits, emits Crystal Heart magic. It doesn't hurt. Yes it does. It's time. I don't want to go, but I will not scream. Yes I will. I did. I have four seconds now.
Clanking chains ring about in my head. They're all miserable, those faces. I never allowed baths. The Empire always smelled rotten. Not in my palace. The acrid smell warms my soul, at least for a second. Why did I insist wasting a full second on that? I suppose now is as good a time as any to get caught in the moment.
A crinkly page is turned to the next, and I find myself in an underworld of books squeezed together on crystal shelving, where I burned through the first candle of many in the midst of my late-night readings.
I liked reading. But I loved being read to. I know what that sounds like, a soft gravel purring out words as a mother would a foal. Is that why I liked it? I'm not sure. Probably just some queer fetish. My reader fled into the dungeons. Wonder if the traps ever caught him. Does he miss me? Likely not.
Two seconds. Two Alicorns blasted me without mercy. Why did they do that? For half a second I wish I could've apologized. No I do not! They're heroes, and I'm the villain. It's the longest battle the world has ever fought and my chapter ends here.
How did that dragon escape my traps? He must have had a friend. I never counted on that. I never counted on Celestia responding to my return as quickly as she did. And there lies my downfall: the folly that is hubris. At least I had a reason. Discord the Chaos God was a fool blind to his own defeat. At least I recognized mine own. At least . . . At least . . .
At least he survived his. One second.
Suddenly I wish I had known Starswirl the Bearded. We could have perfected a time travel spell worthy of renown. Did he ever achieve results? Probably not. I'd be doing something better than dying right now if he did.
Hide the Crystal Heart better.
Strengthen the traps.
Get here before the bird princess.
Catch the Heart.
Run.
Kill everypony. It would be a bloodbath, failure a horrid inevitability.
At least I'd be trying.
My horn may survive. It did before. But that was a completely different scenario, you old fool. To cram my entire consciousness into such small a space? Fleeing now would prove an easier task, and far more entertaining.
Sleepless nights. Dark magic. The two sisters. Crystal Ghost. Crystal Heart. Crystal Slaves. Crystals. The Tale of the Crystal King. The Shadow King. King Sombra. My life is scattered over many generations, and yet it stares me in the face right now in the form of a magical burst of love and hope-driven magic. Will anypony remember me? My Crystal Slaves won't.
Maybe in another life.
Or maybe not. Those on the balcony are not afflicted. Those ponies are not mine.
Maybe in another life.
They will remember me. Those usurpers are my heroes. The dragon will tell his kin of that adventure from an age long past, of when he stared into the eyes of Sombra, King of Shadow and Crystal, and nearly lost it all had it not been for a lucky save.
He may embellish the tale, as such legends are wont. Here's a story I know: Once upon a time, there was a king who would've had the head of anypony revising his days of yore. In the end, he was grateful knowing some would be able to tell his story at all. And the king lived happily ever after. The end.
I was never a good ponytale writer. I preferred to read those told by the pens of others. I think that this is one I shall never hear for myself.
Maybe in another life.
But not this one.
I'm still screaming. My person is crumbling like old clay, and the song of angels is in the air. It takes me one millisecond to realize that it's the magic tearing me apart. I should attack. I should run. Attack. Run.
Something still keeps me from moving. It has been since my death first peered over the horizon, or in this case, from under the tower. I now I understood why though.
It's because I am King. I am above these ponies, in both a literal sense and a figurative one. I am above those trespassing on my balcony, higher than my successor and her pitiful geesling subjects.
I am King Sombra, and I will not allow history to remember my last moments were spent lashing out like a starved beast, or fleeing in some pitiful display of self-preservation. I am above that. I am above all of that.
For half a heartbeat my body freezes into a mock statue. Then it shatters into chunks, propelled into the Crystal Mountains miles away from the Crystal Heart. My mind slips away like sand through one's feathers. Too late to do anything else.
Maybe in another life.