Back in the present, steel clashed against steel as King Sombra and I crossed blades with each other. Our first clash knocked us both back, and the wind knocked the purple mare and her dragon over. The little ones coward as my old friend and I circled each other.

"You can't beat me Eric!" The tyrant king laughed. "Not as I am now!"

"You were my brother once, Sombra," I said, my knuckles turning white as I gripped my weapon. "You were supposed to help the Empire. Not destroy it."

“I am helping the Empire,” Sombra refuted. "And you’re in my way.”

Sombra came at me again, but even when he took control, he had never been my match in combat. With a spark of steel, I deflected his swords and spun, knocking the stallion off guard. As he reeled from my attack, I swung my blade in an arc, parting his crimson horn from his body. The horn bounced on the floor, the chime of its bounce against the crystal floors a nice contrast to Sombra’s bellow of pain. He clutched at his horn stub, a crimson mist leaking from his head.

"You Fool!" Sombra screamed, his voice shifting and lowering in power. "Do you realize what you have done to me…"

"I did what I had to,”I replied. "For the sake of the Crystal Empire and it's people." I lifted the shadow curtains around the windows. "And that includes you, Sombra."

King Sombra screamed as his body began to steam. His fur returned to its dark gray color. His eyes shifted back to the light green he had before. And though his horn didn’t grow back, I was confident that when it grew back in a day or so, it would be back to normal, along with his magic aura.

In a matter of seconds, the Tyrant King was gone and King Sombrahesta stood in his place. Turning my gaze, I make my way to the red horn and stored it in the shadows that made up my body. I let out a breath of relief.

Finally, I thought, as I removed my skull mask. That mask had earned me the title of 'Reaper of the Crystal Empire.’ With my mask safely in my shadow, I slung my weapon across my back. I hoped my appearance would not startle the pony and dragon holding the Crystal Heart. No such luck, as they still trembled to behold me, and flinched when I held out my hand.

"Give me the Heart" I said softly.

They turned, trying to hide the Heart from my eyes. With a sigh, I formed a large hand of shadow, which snatched the relic from them.

"No!" the purple pony screamed, her eyes widening in horror as the Heart reappeared in my hand.

"Fear not, Pony," I said with a smile. "I know where this goes." Grabbing Sombra’s limp body in my free hand, I jumped off the tower and skidded down to the ground level of the Palace, ready to place the Heart where it belonged.

The heart began spinning the moment I rested it in it’s place, unleashing a massive wave of magic and returning the Crystal Ponies to their sparkling, beautiful selves. With Sombra in hand I made my way through the empire until I came across a house with shattered windows, a broken door and a mailbox that lay on the ground. On the mail box were two names: "Amber and Eric Von Shadow.”

Opening the door, I found the house was exactly how I left it that day. The day I failed to protect her. Setting Sombra on the couch, I went to the dinning room, grabbed a chair and returned to the living room. There, I sat and waited for my king to awake. Or until the Royal Guard showed up to imprison him; whichever came last. After an hour or so, I began to hear the sound of metal hoofsteps against the crystal streets.

So, the guard arrives before Sombra comes to, I mused. Interesting.

Getting up, I stood in front of the archway that used to hold a door. Looking outside, I saw the Royal Guard approaching. They were being led by a white furred unicorn, wearing purple and blue armor.

"Move aside," the unicorn ordered.

"On who's authority?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"Prince Shining Armor,” the stallion declared. “Captain of the Equestrian Royal Guard!" His hand gripped the hilt of his sword, but I just smirked, staring him down.

"Captain of the Crystal Royal Guard?” I asked, before indicating myself. “Eric Von Shadow; Reaper of the Crystal Empire.”

That got a reaction. Despite the Royal Guard following Shining Armor, recognition flashed across their faces as they lay eyes on me. Sure, I was missing the mask, but that was a minor detail.

"Men!” I barked, causing the guards to stand at attention. "Stand down and return to your post!"

Bowing, the crystal soldiers dispersed. Shining Armor watched the whole thing in disbelief. As he turned back to me, I noticed him beginning to draw his sword. I acted faster, binding his body in black, shadowy tendrils.

Shining Armor began to draw his sword only for his body to be bound by black tendrils

"I will not give up my king until I make sure he has returned to normal," I said firmly.
I don’t know if the prince protested; I left him there, and returned to Sombra. Thankfully, he was sitting up on the couch, rubbing his head.

"Welcome back, Sombra" I said, greeting my king with a smile.

"Eric?” Sombra asked, gazing on me with steadily growing regret. "Please, tell me this was all a dream."

"Look around my house,” I said, anger lacing my voice as I indicated the destruction. “And you tell me.”

Though, it was hard to stay angry as my King gazed around in pure horror.

“Oh, dear Gods above…” Sombra whispered. His head fell into his hands, before I put a hand on his shoulder.

“Let’s go,” I said. And guiding him outside, I released Shining Armor from my power.

"I want to speak with your Ruler," I tell Shining Armor, Sombra in tow behind me.

Shining Armor’s glare didn’t fade. He lifted a pair of cuffs. “You’ll meet her in chains,” he said firmly.

I roll my eyes, but I allow Shining Armor to put the cuffs on Sombra. At first, I hope that’ll be enough, but then he teleported away, returning a split second later with a larger pair of hand cuffs… and a ring.

"Sorry,” I say with a grin, showing the gold band already on my finger. “I'm already taken.”

Shining Armor scoffed at my comment, but it did get a grin out of him. He showed me his own gold band.

“So am I,” he said, before placing the ring on Sombra’s horn numb, which was already showing signs of healing. “This is just to make sure he doesn’t pull any new dark spells out.”

“I swear, I won’t,” Sombra insisted, but Shining Armor’s grin faded.

“Well, we’re sure of that now,” he said, before fitting the cuffs on me. His cuffs covered the entirely of my forearm while connected by three metal rods.

With us secure as his prisoners, Shining Armor led us out of the empire and into the frozen north until we reached… something rather odd. If I remembered my time from my original world well enough, I’d have said it looked like a train station. The engine was certainly ‘train’-ish, and the railroads looked similar enough. Of course, while I had a faint inkling as to what it was, Sombra looked utterly dumbfounded at the sight of the station.

"This wasn't here before,” Sombra muttered. I turned to Shining Armor, who was conversing with the conductor.

“Hey, Captain,” I called. “How long have we been gone?"

"One thousand years," Shining Armor replied, motioning us inside the train.

"We've been gone that long?" Sombra asked, staring at the floor in shock.

"Inside,” Shining Armor commanded. “And not another word until we get to Canterlot."

For a while, we obeyed his command. The trip was admittedly boring, but, then again, what was there to talk about. After about an hour, though, Sombra found a subject I’d rather wished he had left alone.

"Eric…” he whispered. “I'm sorry."

I bit my tongue, trying to hold back all the angry comments I had wanted to throw at him while rotting in that cell. By some miracle, I managed to keep my voice level.

"Don't be,” I said softly. “It wasn't your fault.”

“But Amber…” Sombra said. “She didn’t…”

Before I could stop myself, I struck him in the face. Shining Armor stood in shock, while I stormed over to a different seat. Sombra clutched his bleeding nose with a grimace, but didn’t dare complain or try to call me back.

In my new seat, I gazed out the window. Faintly, I could see my reflection. My eyes had changed; the whites had turned pitch-black, and my irises shifted from sea-blue to crimson red. Black veins formed on the sides of my eyes, crossing out from my sockets all the way to under my ears.

Yet, as I took a deep breath, my features managed to return to normal. Looking past my reflection, I watched the train travel off the land and over a massive body of water.

it would seem the ponies have made a sea train to travel around this Sea world I thought, chuckling softly.

It was a small thing, but it comforted me. And with that comfort, and the soothing rock of the train, I drifted into sleep.

---

Dark clouds bellowed thunder in the sky. The thunder failed to quell the screams of the citizens, echoing all over the empire. The unicorns marched in succession down every street, firing spells at any pegasi that attempted to take to the air.

Amber and I had been running – hand in hand – when the enslaved soldiers found us. Shadows morphed over my arms, forming massive claws. I carved them through the soldiers. Ponies that I was supposed to save. Yet I had no time for grief. Amber was fighting alongside me, even as they tried to target her over me, and though grief pushed at my heart with every fallen soldier, my love and desire to protect her took priority above all else.

But it wasn’t enough. Halfway from home, Amber's wing was struck by an arrow spell. As she careened to the ground, another punched through her leg. Her scream turned my heart to glass, threatening to shatter it. I tried to cover her, but a spell crashed into my shoulder, burning the flesh and throwing me back. But I refused to pass out. I rolled with the fall, using my powers to fall into my shadow. In the cool dark of the shadow world, I pulled Amber down into her own shadow seconds before the unicorns could get her. And together, we resurfaced in front of our house.

"Amber, get inside now," I ordered.

As she raced inside, I crept in backward, making sure no-one was approaching before shutting the door.

But I should have checked the inside as well. She didn’t even get to scream to warn me.

As I turned, my body froze as I saw Amber lifted off the ground, clutched in the demonic aura of Sombra himself. Fury laced my heart and mind. Shadows emitted from my being.

"Put...Her...Down!” I snarl. There’s no time to worry about if my friend is in there or not. All I have is my fear for my wife.

Sombra saw it. His smile widened as he tightened his grip. For a split second, I thought he was just going to threaten her life. Get me to do what he wanted. But I overestimated his mercy.

The cracking sound didn’t make sense to me. Not until I noticed Amber cease her struggling. Her legs stopped kicking, and her arms went limp. My heart dropped with her body as Sombra let her go. She collapsed to the ground like a ragdoll.

Feral rage turned my vision black and red. I charged the Tyrant, swinging at him with my claws, ready to rend my old friend limb from limb.

But his smile didn’t falter. And his horn lit up again. A spell crashed into me; burning like nothing the first spell had been capable of.

"Light,” Sombra mused. “Such a blinding annoyance. Yet, its also the only thing that can stop you. Isn't it, Eric?" Sombra didn’t wait for me to reply. With another light spell, he threw me through the front door, destroying the windows simply from the back lash.

Every time I tried to rise, he beat me back down with the light spell. Rage, grief and agony twirled together into a cocktail of pain, one I could only unleash with a death wail.

And for a brief moment of relief, I thought it was my death wail. For as Sombra approached my beaten body, his hand emitted a white aura. And he brought it down across my face. I fell into darkness. For a brief moment, I thought I might be dead. That I would be reunited with Amber again.

But fate was not that kind, and before long, I was dragged – kicking and screaming – back to the land of the living. If it could be called that. I awoke to the sound of rattling chains. I found each of my wrists bound to a wall. To make matters worse, I could feel something in the chains. Draining my power, leaving me weak and helpless.

"Comfortable?" a voice asked mockingly.

Groaning, I looked up. Sombra was grinning down at me with teeth like a dragon.

"Sombra," I said weakly. "Please… tell me you didn't."

Smiling, Sombra reached into his pocket, and pulled out a gold band.

"You tell me…Brother," Sombra said, flicking the metal with his thumb. I watched it bounce on the ground, rolling to a stop in front of me, just out of my reach. But I was more than able to read the engraving on the ring; an engraving that I had made, matching the engraving on its brother, still bound around my own finger.
Together Forever

I lunged at Sombra, stopped only by the chains that took my freedom and power.

"I WILL MOUNT YOUR VILE HEAD ON MY WALL,” I bellowed as I struggled in vain against the chains. “I’ll GUT YOU LIKE A FISH AND KNIT YOUR GOD DAMN INTESTINES INTO A FUCKING SWEATER!!!!" I yell trying to free myself

"I'd love to see you try," Sombra laughed as he left me. His laugh rang in my ears, turning my vision a blinding red.

“SOMBRA!!!!!”

But then, a new voice cut through my bellows, and his hideous, demonic laughter.

"Wake up!”

---

My eyes bolt open. I lunged, the cuffs falling past me as I turned to shadow. I seized the bundle of fur and armor before me and slammed him into the ground. A claw of shadow formed in my claws, ready to rip off the frightened face I glared down at.

Before I could strike, something else grabbed me. Something with a pair of cuffed hands.

"Eric, stop! Calm down!" Sombra said.

My friend, I realized. Not the tyrant. Not the demon. Still, I remembered his voice echoing out from behind the demon. I wrenched myself out of his grip, and glowered at him.

“Never do that again, Sombrahesta,” I growled.

Sombra flinched back. I had almost never called him by his full name. I was broken away from my glare when I once again felt hands on my shoulder. I spun around, finding Shining Armor’s angry eyes inches from my own.

“How’d you get out of those cuffs?” he demanded.

"Simple" I said, flicking his horn. "They weren't made of Sea Prism.”

Shining Armor’s gaze faltered. He glanced at his guards. “Do we have that?” he asked.

I didn’t give him the chance to reply, walking off the train, and finding myself in front of another palace, alongside that lavender pony from the cage, her dragon, and five other mares that walked out the adjacent train car.

The city - and apparently, island - of Canterlot was just as beautiful and majestic as it was depicted in the show. Entering the Palace, Sombra and I were lead into the Celestial throne room, which held both Celestia and Luna, the Princesses of the Sun and Moon.

"Welcome back My faithful student,” the alicorn greeted the lavender pony first, matching her bow with a bow of her own. “And Shining Armor," she added, bowing to the captain. However, as she turned to Sombra and me, her look changed.

"Greetings Princess Celestia," I said, bowing for added respect. "May I present the King of the Crystal Empire, King Sombrahesta."

"We've met," Celestia said, her eyes narrowing into a glare. Sombra looked away, guilt in his eyes.

"Well good,” I replied. “Then I can explain what had happened." I steadied my stance and looked her in the eye. "I am responsible for the destruction of the Crystal Empire."

Next Chapter: The Trial of Eric Von Shadow Estimated time remaining: 8 Hours, 50 Minutes