" Let me tell you a tale. Once apon a time, there lived a crystal princess. Her subjects were happy, and so was she. She had a captain of the royal guard, who's name was Shadow. Although his name sounded intimidating, he was quite nice. The crystal princess and the captain of the royal guard were married in secret. Many joyful years bloomed, and the empire prospered. One day, the crystal princess became pregnant, and this brought many questions across the empire. The crystal princess became very stressed, and the one day she became ill. During the time of her illness, she went into labor. Shadow by her side, he helped with the delivery. She delivered a colt, a unicorn. She then looked at her newborn colt and said, " Since your name is Shadow, which is a being of darkness, and I am the crystal princess, which promotes hope and light, why don't we name our child after both of us?" She glanced at Shadow, who stood mulling it over. She then glanced at her newborn colt. "Darklight. Prince Darklight." Then the newborn colt smiled. The crystal princess then returned the smile,then her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fell over. You see, it wasn't discovered until recently that the illness she caught was a rare virus called, "The Black Demon." This virus infects a pony, and it sucks the life out of it. After it kills the host, it moves to the one closest to the host and possesses it, and bonds with the new host's soul. Never before had it bonded with its host more so than with Shadow, otherwise known today as King Sombra. This is the story of their baby colt's life
Darklight "
My story is not a pleasant one. It is my life's story. If you do not wish to hear it, turn away now.
You have been warned.
Chapter One : It begins
I've lived inside a castle for most of my days, never going out, to the bitter, cold, cruel world that is Equestria. The crystal empire is where I was conceived in was my home for 14 years. I am the son of the dark lord, the unicorn with the heart black as night, King Sombra. I knew not of my mother. I was a unicorn, and my magic was quite powerful, what could you expect being my father's child. One day, curiosity got the best of me, so while my father went away to work, I snuck out of the castle. The sight I saw what could not be unseen, I saw the inhabitants of the Crystal Empire slaving work for my father. It came to me later that I had never known my father at all. I would catch him late in the night when the moon was going down, and ask, "Father, do you ever sleep?" and he would just smirk and walk away. In the early morning he would be gone, leaving me alone in the castle. I was ashamed to even call him my father. The next day I decided that I wanted no part in his life, because he had certainly taken no part in mine. I planned to hone my magic skills to escape.
Chapter 2: Escape the Empire
I got no sleep that night, out of fear and excitement. I stayed up long enough to notice my father entering the castle. He just trotted off, escorted by 2 crystal guards, to the kings chamber. I don't think he sleeps, he just waits for the dawn and thinks of new tortures to lash out on the empire. I got no sleep either, instead, I waited for him to leave in the early morning, then went to the empire's library. There were tons of secret passages through the castle, it was how I got places. I didn't do it often in fear of being caught, but at this point I didn't care anymore. I looked up every book on teleportation spells, and studied each book until I could recite every word. Step 2...practice. I practiced in the library, since it was so spacious. At first, I landed about 2 inches of where I was standing, this kind of made me feel like it was a lost cause. I kept trying however, and was eventually teleporting across the library and back again. I practiced for hours, and made it a cinch. Now came the most important part. I had to teleport beyond the empire walls. That night, I packed my traveling bag. I packed it with mostly crystal berries, and I also packed a couple crystals, I might not like this place now, but this was once my home. The only other thing I brought, was a crystal pendant. I believed it was from my mother, it was the only crystal in the crystal empire that was pure crystal, not a dark crystal. It exuded hope, I felt it was the only light inside this dark empire, it made me feel safe. As soon as I was done packing, I went to bed. I had a big day tomorrow. I never realized how exhausted I was, it wasn't even nightfall yet. I just hoped that I was fully prepared for the escape.
Chapter 3: Frozen Catalyst
I awoke the next morning, and found myself enveloped in fear. The fear had allowed my to sleep through the night, and waited for the morning to strike. I felt like vomiting, but I decided to stay strong. I picked up my pack, still shaky of fear, and walked out of my room. I needed to travel to the upper floors of the castle, and find a window or balcony to teleport from, and to view possible areas to teleport to. I started out, no turning back now. I broke into a nervous trot, then found my father's throne room. In the center of the room, was a huge gaping hole, and in that hole was a stairwell, going down endlessly. I remember my father mentioning something he kept up at the top of the empire to one of the guards. Then he headed downstairs. I figured that would be the way to the top. One thing though, it was guarded by 2 guards. There was only one thing to do. I had to teleport past the guards. This was it, I knew they would chase me until I could get away from the empire. Here I go...1...2...3! I teleported past them and ran down the stairs as fast as my hooves could handle. After what seemed like hours, I reached the bottom. I found a door that looked like it was blasted open. Not thinking about it, I ran through it. What I found was the dark skyward stairwell of doom. Well, I am exaggerating that a bit, but it was a black stairwell that seemed to go on forever. After several exhausting hours, I saw the top of the stairwell. I burst through the opening, then collapsed to the ground and started panting hard. As soon as I caught my breath, I gazed up at the sight of the brightest crystal I had ever seen. It seemed to be the same type of crystal that my crystal pendant was, but this one was in the shape of a large heart. My father was keeping this at the top of the empire? Why? The hope and light the it exerted seemed to disappear when I heard a dark voice shout, " Son? Get back in the castle. Now." My father appeared from behind the heart. How could I be so blind? I was so mesmerized by the hope and light of the crystal heart that I didn't notice the dark monster behind it. I almost went back into the castle, when I found a sudden flood of courage, " I am no son of yours Sombra! I've seen what you have done to the innocent ponies of this empire! You are a monster!" "Foolish child, you don't understand anything..." Then I interrupted, "You haven't told me anything! How am I supposed to understand if you don't even talk to me?" "You'll never understand boy! After what happened with your mother..." and this stunned me, I realized I knew nothing about my mother, but I didn't care anymore. "Mother would not approve of what you've become!" "You never knew your mother!" "Something tells me you didn't either." "You little brat! You'll pay for that!" He got ready to charge, but then he was interrupted by a huge explosion. Next thing we knew, thousands of colts in golden armor were infiltrating the empire's barriers. Then I saw the two in charge, two stunning allicorns, one white and a mane of many colors, and one blue with the mane of the night sky. "My Empire is under attack!" my father screamed. I then tried to get a closer look at the allicorns, and my father seemed to notice. "And What do you think you're doing?!" He then cast a magic spell at me, which I retaliated with equal force. Our spells collided, creating an explosion. Smoke dispersed everywhere, when it cleared, I noticed the crystal heart spiraling off the top of the castle. My father screamed and transformed into a dark cloud and charged after it. I saw the two allicorns flying with great speed to intercept my father. I galloped to the edge of the castle, whatever fight I was having with my father was now theirs. I saw the edge of the empire. I then thought of something. My father must have put up this barrier over the empire. Unicorns ere in the empire, and some of them had to have tried teleporting outside. He must have put in an extra firewall to protect against it. I had to try to get out. So, I merged spells. I merged the Armorment spell with the Teleportation spell, and conjured all of the magic I could, so much that my hooves were digging into the floor. Then, split second silence. I looked behind me and I saw the Crystal Empire behind me. I then heard a ear-splitting roar from atop the tallest tower of the crystal castle. There was no turning back now. I looked forward. I was in the Equestrian Arctic. I had to move, otherwise I would freeze to death. Hours passed. My movement slowed. I eventually stopped moving. My breathing slowed. I collapsed. Then I was covered in snow, then after some time, encased in ice.
Chapter 4: Waiting
I was still alive, somehow. I got lucky, I guess, but at the same time it was a curse. I was partially conscious. I could see everything that went on, which was absolutely nothing. After a week, I thought I would go insane, so I had to learn to sleep, which was incredibly hard because apparently I froze solid with my eyes open. I had to learn to sleep with my eyes open. I let my mind go blank, and drifted into a very uncomfortable sleep.
Chapter 5: A Rude Awakening
CRASH. Next thing I knew I was sprawled out in the snow again. I blinked. Wait...I blinked! I wasn't frozen anymore! I started blinking ferociously. Tears came. I broke into ferocious tears, and went into an insane fit of laughing and crying at the same time. It felt good to cry. After I stopped crying, I tried to get focused on a goal. But the truth was, I didn't have a goal. Do I go back the the empire and see if my father had been overthrown? Or do I go onward, running away from my dark home? I must be insane...I had to go back. I started walking. It had been a few hours, when I noticed a white stallion. Unicorn, blue mane, a royal guards outfit. I tried to run to him, but I was finding it hard to breathe and I was already exhausted from my trek. I got a bit closer to him, and then he noticed me. "Halt! Who goes there?" he yelled. I was also finding it hard to speak. "Please...help me...please..." then I fell over. I felt his magic aura around me, carrying me. I was still conscious. It looked like we were in the middle of nowhere, but as we moved I could see the faint shape of a dome. I passed out at that point.
Chapter 6: A Vision
I awoke back in the Arctic, somehow. I remembered being carried into something like a dome, is it possible I was thrown out? I looked at my hoof, I was slightly transparent. This had to be a dream. I looked around, there was no sign of the white stallion, no sign of the dome he supposedly carried me into. All there was was multiple black shards scattered across the ground. I walked around, scanning the ground for clues to what this all was. After searching an endless sea of black, I came across an extremely familiar object. A bright red horn stood prominent against the snow. Could this be? This whole ruin...was the remains of my father. I walked toward the horn, and as I got close, a purple flame spurted from it. Then the ground started to shake, the black shards were forming back together. They formed back together with an explosion of dark magic, I guess true evil never dies.
Chapter 7: Awoken
I awoke, screaming. "Are you alright?" This voice was kind, it made me so relieved. The voice came from an allicorn, pink, with a purple, red, and white mane. What amazed me was her cutiemark. It was the crystal heart, just like the one my father kept up in his tower. "Forgive me if I'm at a loss of words. For the first time in forever I've had no stressful environment." The female allicorn then giggled, and said," I bet, Shining Armor said when he found you you were a mess. Passed out right in front of him, you did." Then her smile disappeared. "Where exactly did you come from?" I was once again puzzled, where did I come from? The area around me was reflectively bluish, crystal. "First, can I ask you the question of where I am?" " Why the Crystal Empire of course!" "Wha-What? No no no this can't be the Crystal Empire! The Crystal Empire is a dark and cruel place made of black crystals!" My emotions grew dull as my memory came back. "So, you only remember the Crystal Empire when it was ruled by King Sombra?" the gentle allicorn asked. That was his name? King Sombra? I cant believe after all this time, I never knew my fathers name. "I dont only remember, in fact I had a more personal part of its history." "What do you mean?" she asked. "King Sombra is my father." Then before I knew it I was surrounded by golden spears. Next thing I knew I was thrown into a dungeon. "So..thats how it is then?" I asked, slightly astonished. The allicorn looked grim, "I wish we could take the chance of trusting you, but we cant. We just avoided another takeover from your father." "My father has already returned once? I thought the two allicorn princesses would have destroyed him!" " Celestia and Luna? You were there during the Crystal War? Although Sombra's crimes were unforgivable, Celestia took pity apon him. So, with the help of her sister, they banished him into the arctic wastelands using the Elements of Harmony. In doing so, Sombra cast a spell that made the empire vanish as long as he wasn't there to rule it. Recently, Celestia and Luna became disconnected from the Elements, giving Sombra his chance to return, as so did the Crystal Empire. As soon as Celestia heard the news, she sent me and Shining Armor to protect it from his harm. Our only hope was the Crystal Heart, which Sombra had hid very cleverly. With luck, Princess Twilight and her friends came to help, and eventually found it, in the nick of time. The power of the crystal heart shattered Sombra into pieces, and until this day has not returned, so we assumed him dead." All of this was hard to take in, but what she said reminded me, my dream, my vision! "Wait!" I called as she was leaving. "My father has risen again!" My voice was filled with panic, which seemed to affect the allicorn princess. "What?! How do you know this?!" " Before I awoke, I had a nightmare. The pieces scattered around the icy tundra came together with an earsplitting roar, and at that point I woke up." "We must go now! To the outside! MOVE!" And with that, all of the guards, including the guards defending my prison, ran to the direction the allicorn pointed her hoof. "Yes Princess Cadence." They all yelled. And when every guard left the room, Cadence left too, in a hurry. "Great, just great! Im sure the guard who had the keys left too!" I started beating my head against the cell wall. "I have to get out of here, I have to stop Sombra." I looked at the cell door. It looked older, maybe I could ram it. I backed up in my cell, and rammed the door with all my might. Luckily enough, the hinges had a couple thousand years of rust, and just snapped off. Ouch though, I have a splitting headache now! As painful as it is, I have to find out how to stop my father, and I have the feeling the answer is in this castle.
Chapter 8: Questions Answered
The castle was deserted, every unit had gone to the arctic wastelands.
