Dark Studies

[James Knight]

The soldiers in the white armor that was an eyesore to King Sombra had left. Once they had, he went to his kitchen and fixed himself a yogurt parfait. Truly having his magic back was a wonderful thing as he loathed to do things with his hooves. Sure eventually he'd gain all the powers of an Alicorn including the strength of an Earthpony, but he didn't need the strength. His own magic was more than sufficient for the tasks that lie ahead. Or was it? Twilight Sparkle had nearly bested him which had been an impressive thing to say the least. Of course she had the advantage of being an Alicorn but more to it had to be there than just that. The powers of an Alicorn couldn't always equal instant win, could they? If so, he ws more than a little screwed presently because he didn't know how to fight an Alicorn. Sitting in a recliner, Sombra let his hooves up. 

"Starswirl would be useful right about now to tell me what to do about my current situation. Tartarus buck it all, I'd even take the mentor of Twilight, Princess Celestia. Surely one of them must know how to ascend to an Alicorn. The way things are going ascension may be my only option to survive. As much as I would hate to have any but the magic boost of an Alicorn, it is essential. Going to war after all will not be a piece of cake. What could I do though? I fought Celestia, Luna and their armies to a stand still on my own. But still, the Alicorns won because I was over confident. I can't afford weaknesses like that." 

[James Knight]

Limping on his swollen and sore hooves from all the exercise he did the other day when the Storm Troopers were there, the dark king of the Crystal Empire walked to where he kept his library. There had to be some sort of magical artifact he could use in order to bolster his own power and make himself more formidable. Being weak was not something that the dark monarch particularly enjoyed in the slightest. Given that, the former ruler knew he needed to improve upon his natural abilities if he was going to stand a chance of survival. It was both a law of business and a law of nature that the strong survived and the weak didn't. Since he was weak right now, King Sombra knew that the chances of his survival were slim.

Such chances were unacceptable. In order to improve his chances he needed to make his own skills increase in the Omniverse. Sure he had this castle but it was not enough on it's own. All the fortresses in the Omniverse wouldn't be enough without the power to protect them. Levitating a couple of books in the grasp of his magic, King Sombra went outside to the area he had set up to train in. Examining the 'gym' he'd set up that was more dangerous than standard gyms and reminded him of the time he was from,  King Sombra was now ready. The book held instructions on how to perform a power known as "Dark Magic Blast" which should be relatively easy. Focusing all his will into trying to make it happen, the Dark King tried...and failed. Why couldn't he do something like this? It should be easy for him to learn new techniques. Back in Equestria, he'd been one of the most powerful people actually to exist and that was saying something about him. Few could boast they'd fought 2 Alicorns to a stand still, but he had done so.

[James Knight]

Given the book was proving useless,  the dark monarch groaned as he thought about what he could do next. Perhaps his mentor Starswirl the bearded might be able to shed some light on why he couldn't make the power his. How had he summoned that prissy purple princess Twilight Sparkle again? Forcing himself to remember he channeled dark magic to his horn. Gathering his power up he started to release it in a massive surge. A wave of dark magic tore through his castle but didn't do any damage. Should it work, it should hopefully summon Starswirl the Bearded. If not, Sombra was going to need to do more research into the exact nature of summoning and bringing others from his world here. After all if he was to have an army he'd need to be more proficient at summoning to say the least about himself and his current lack of skill. 

[Storyteller]

Ring-ding-ding-ding-ding. Sure enough, the bearded unicorn appeared without much aplomb, the ornamental bells on his starry hat and cape announcing his arrival. The conjurer's reaction to appearing in a different time and place was subdued, almost as though he had walked into the wrong room of his house. Squinting lazily, his golden eyes quickly discovered the other quadruped. Despite his hazy vision, he still managed to recognise his pupil and responded with annoyance: 'Huh? What? Sombra, didn't I tell you to turn off the light?! You can play with George in your own room!'

Yawning, the elder mentor added: 'Goooood niiiiiight!' Ring-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding. He lowered his head and returned to snoozing. Apparently, being outdoors did not represent an obstacle to his rest.

[James Knight]

When his mentor appeared and decided to fall asleep King Sombra was more than a little annoyed with his mentor. What he needed was magic lessons and not his mentor slumbering. As the cool air of the vasty deep washed around his body, the dark king went and fetched a bucket of water. Controlling the bucket with his telekinesis,  he'd levitate it above his master. Normally while he would not do such to Starswirl as the older unicorn had been the pony who had taught him all he knew, Sombra was more than a little desperate. Of course when you had been forced into a date with a homicidal psychopath who likely would at you you tended to be more than a little desperate. It was his hope that the actions of O-Harmony had solved that little fiasco of theirs caused by their president. However if it proved not to be the case he could deal by murdering the lot of them. 

Finally deciding his mentor needed to wake up,  King Sombra splashed the ice cold water that had been brought from a nearby lake that had ice cold and pure water at his mentor, Starswirl the bearded. In addition he spoke in his own version of the Royal Canterlot Voice. 




"WAKE THE BUCK UP!" 

[Storyteller]

Brrrr! The cool water swept over the conjuror's elongated body, chilling him to the bone and drenching his pristine outfit. But this did not immediately have the desired effect, as Star Swirl mumbled blearily: 'Darn it, Luna! Didn't I tell you to heat up the water?! I swear, you kids never use magic for anything practical, like baking cookies...or heating up the water!'

But as he instinctively shook the water off of him, the unicorn finally opened his eyes, greeted once again by his hazy vision. He stared absent-mindedly at Sombra for a few moments before shifting his head to look around: 'Huh? What? Where are my glasses? Darn it, I can never find those things when I need them...' Giving up on his futile search rather quickly, his horn began to glow as he utilised his arcane powers. In short order, a brand new pair of identical spectacles popped into existence, hovering in mid-air in front of their creator.

Telekineticaly bringing them to himself and securing them in their proper position, the bearded quadruped finally got a good look at the displeased expression of his pupil: 'Oh, Sombra! I didn't expect to see you in the bathroom. Why the long face?'

[James Knight]

The dark king of the Crystal Empire was certainly happy that his mentor was now paying attention to him. Smiling at his mentor for a second, the dark king remembered that Omni had brought him to the Omniverse. This was the reason that the dark king was irritated presently. Of course part of the problem could be that he had experienced nearly getting eaten by the bandits, and a few other things. Having his powers ripped from him had also made him uncomfortable to say the least. Yet it had opened up chances for him to learn new powers he wouldn't otherwise.  "I've been brought from Equestria to a place called the Omniverse. Some sort of deity that makes Celestia and Luna look like foals brought me here in terms of power."  He'd sigh as he looked over his mentor. 

The bells his mentor had were annoying to say the least. "Here it seems that all the spells you taught me were ripped out of me."  He'd pause for a moment as he said that to Starswirl. It was likely going to make his mentor uncomfortable. "In addition it seems none of the spells I learned outside of your tutelage save for a few can be accessed by me. I've been trying all day to learn this spell....."  He'd lift a book in a red colored telekinetic energy and hand it to Starwirl. The book was one that detailed how to create the Dark Magic Blast attack.  "But none of my efforts seems to be succeeding actually...."  He'd groan.

[Storyteller]

Much to Sombra's surprise, Star Swirl responded with an almost unusual lack of surprise, nodding along as he listened to his pupil's plight. He responded in a much more thoughtful and coherent manner than before: 'Ah yes....you haven't traveled across multiple worlds like I have, so you're not used to this sort of thing. Our magic is based on the rules of our world...you can't just assume that the spells will work just because they do where we're from. Heck, you can't even assume you yourself are the same! When you enter a different world, you might become a different being altogether, even if you still look the same.'

Using his own telekinesis, the bearded conjuror brought the book to face value, examining it. It didn't take him long to make an audible, disapproving sigh: '...Sombra, for the last time, I don't plan on teaching you the dark arts! I swear, you've been doing this ever since you were a small foal. First it was the eyeliner, then the bad poetry...and then this! Seriously, you and Luna never seem to listen to me when I tell you just how costly dark magic ultimately is. I bet that's why this entity you speak of ' 

Shaking his head and mane, the book then flipped many pages back to an earlier entry. Star Swirl perused it only briefly as he muttered under his breath; he knew the spell he was about the cast practically by heart. Aiming with his horn, he let out a bright blast of arcane energy, an equivalent to the Dark Magic Blast that Dark Sombra had wanted him to cast. Though he wasn't aiming anywhere in particular, the projectile almost incinerated a nearby crab as it struck the sandy ground. The small crustacean was evidently unnerved by the unexpected attack, opting to beat a hasty retreat from that place before it wound up getting harmed.

Satisfied with the result, the bespectacled mage turned to his student: 'Seems to work alright. Now you try it.'

[James Knight]

The dread king of the Crystal Empire was currently studying under the tutelage of his mentor, Starswirl the Bearded. While the pony was a powerhouse, and one of the most gifted magicians, Sombra knew at times he could be a bit scatterbrained. Why, he’d even failed to take in his own surroundings, which was a large sweeping castle that Sombra had made out of Omnilium. Was his mentor truly so stupid as to miss the surroundings of where he happened to be?

Every attempt had been made by the dark ruler of the Crystal Empire to learn the spell dark magic blast Yet none of his attempts thus far were bearing any fruit. Why could he not succeed at such a simple spell? All it was supposed to do was add another power to his arsenal. Being able to make constructs out of his magic wasn’t his old power, but it was a new one. Given that he knew he would eventually run across enemies who wanted him dead,  Sombra was motivated to make himself as powerful as he possibly could become. Ascending into an alicorn was not an easy task, mind you. It was made even more difficult by the fact that he didn’t have any info on how to do it.

Sure Twilight had ascended to an Alicorn via the power of Friendship and Rainbows. But Sombra was not her, and couldn’t use a similar transformation. No, his had to be grounded in the darker arts of magic, the power of dark magic. It might not make his mentor happy that he was actually going to use such a thing in order to reach that level. But at this point?

Sombra honestly didn’t give a…….

BUCK.

There were many reasons that he had stopped caring.

Reason one was his first few days in the Omniverse. Being brought here to serve as the entertainment to some sort of mad-with-power deity was irritating to say the least and didn’t please the overlord of the Crystal Empire. The second reason was that he had been paired up by O-Harmony with a psychopathic cold blooded killer that made Discord look sane. Yes, Sombra was afraid or had been once afraid of Deadpool. Given his chances to meet the maniac were slim to none, the former tyrant of the Crystal Empire allowed himself a small smile.

Focusing his magic, he attempted to create the “Dark Magic Blast” spell that he wanted to master because he knew he’d need it.

Yet it did as he had come to expect, that is to say…. It did nothing.

Was his power not even a shadow of what it had once been in Equestria? Apparently so. He’d need to work on his powers and make himself the level of an Alicorn. 

Reason Three was a more simple reason. At this point, to limit himself to regular spells was to make himself defenseless. Given he’d nearly been eaten by some bandits when he barely had any magic, he didn’t want that to happen again. Therefore, he knew he needed to improve his magical capabilities to the level of a master to say the least. What was he missing? Why was magic so difficult in the Omniverse? Was Omni a son of a whorse like he thought he was? In any case, the monarch was swamped by a cloak of self pity wrapping around him like a slime or muck that he was trapped in. Yet beneath this layer of pity was also another, albeit darker emotion: fury. Being called gay didn’t even reach the Top 100 things he wanted to be called in his life, and for that O-Harmony was definitely going to burn in Tartarus. 

The intellectually challenged white biped was probably laughing his ass off at the suffering of the King. Such arrogance the biped possessed could and would not to go unpunished. But as he was now, Sombra knew he couldn’t even survive attempting to find the bastard. Angrily suppressing any pity he possessed for himself,  the dark magus of the Crystal Empire toughened himself up. Putting up his emotional barriers, Sombra sighed. 

When his mentor demonstrated a lighter version of the spell that King Sombra fully intended on mastering, Sombra closed his eyes. Focusing on an emotion caused by certain events, he imagined himself on the date with Deadpool. This caused vile emotions to boil up in him like hot lava, disgust, rage, loathing and also quite a great deal of fear. Yes, King Sombra freely admitted it. He was for once in his life afraid. Of course this was due to one simple fact. Deadpool made him look like a saint, and made Discord look completely normal. If the mercenary discovered magic, it was enough to make Sombra very afraid. 

Finally he let loose the spell, forming what appeared to be an almost ghostly cannon in front of him although it took him about 10 seconds to create and then it released a beam more powerful than that of Starswirl, but one that wasn't what Starswirl wanted. This beam used dark magic, as opposed to the magic that Starswirl himself was using. 

"So how did I do, Starswirl?" 

[Storyteller]

'Badly,' the bearded sorcerer voiced his disapproval. 'If you're going to summon me to a different universe just to help you with your magic, at least have the decency to cast the spell I showed you!...Then again, the nature of the magic used does heavily depend on the caster's mood...and you always were a frowny face. Honestly, Sombra, it's been so long since I've seen you smile! It's like we've kept feeding you lemon pie all the time or something!'

Suddenly being unsure as to where he was going with that, Star Swirl shook his head again and returned to the matter at hand: 'Well, anyway, at least you seem to have the hang of the basics now. As long as you remember what I've taught you before, you should be fine on your own. But if you'll need me again, you can just call for me. Meanwhile, I think I'm going to explore this universe...now that I brought it up, I feel like I could go for some pie. Later, Sombra!'

With that, the king's mentor departed from his abode, continuing to comment to himself as he walked: 'Yes, some pie and coffee would be nice....Oh! I wonder if they have coffee here. I do like me some hot cup of coffee.I remember when Celestia would pour me coffee into that mug she made for me, the one with the penguin....Oh! I wonder if they have penguins here....maybe those coastal ones I remember seeing....'

As he wandered off, the unicorn's voice grew increasingly more faint until it disappeared entirely, leaving Sombra alone to his own devices once more.

[James Knight]

The spell had not been the one his mentor,  Starswirl the bearded wanted. Yet it had been just as effective. Still he knew he'd need something more because melee combat was not something one could do without a weapon. Channeling Omnilium he began to create an item for himself that could serve multiple purposes. A sword was only good for offense, but a scythe was a weapon that better fit him. Given Luna had wielded a Scythe against him back during their first battle it only made sense that he should get his hands on such a weapon. Frowning as his mentor walked away Sombra started considering what had happened to him thus far in this strange new universe. For one, he had been paired with Deadpool who was someone who made both him and Discord look like perfectly normal individuals by O-Harmony. Yes, the individuals who had made that particularly despicable pairing were certainly going to perish by his hooves, and his hooves alone. As he started trotting towards the exit, Sombra felt a new found power bursting within him. It seemed somehow when he had been practicing the spell his physical power had normalized. 

Granted it was more than he had ever expected. Physically he was about the level of an average Earth Pony. Sure that may not seem like much but when combined with the natural magical abilities possessed by the dark king? His power was growing at a surpassing rate. Still he had to do something about his weakness. Right now he lacked most of the magical spells in his arsenal. Since he couldn't fight without magic, or physical attacks he knew he needed to gain both in order to ensure his survival. Continuing to focus the power of Omnilium for a good half hour,  King Sombra tried to make thee Scythe that he wanted for himself. Yet his fifteen attempts to make the Scythe had been so far without success. What was it that Carmelita Sly-Cooper had said? Omnilium could be easily manipulated by Primes? If so he'd make it do his will. 

Slowly his scythe began to shape. Black and red colored crystals and bits of metal formed out of the Omnilium melding together beautifully into an elegant but lethal looking Scythe that reminded him of the one he had wielded back home. This scythe was a perfect representation of the power he was going to unleash upon his enemies,  and the justice he was going to give O-Harmony. Since no one else was in the mood to serve up the justice they rightfully deserved, King Sombra supposed it fell to him. Once the scythe had been created, the dark king dissipated it. Right now he didn't need the scythe, and it would only cause him problems later anyway. What he did need was a way to get stronger with his magic, and prove himself more powerful than he was now. There were many ways that he could do this, but he'd need more allies. Sure he could count on the Thieves Guild to provide access to the Dataverse but that was only a short term goal of his. 

Walking out of his castle, King Sombra went to where the dock was. Once he was at the dock, King Sombra concentrated. Several attempts were made by him to shape Omnilium once more. Another half hour passed, of about 10 attempts to make a boat. Once he had constructed a sea-worthy vessel for himself, the tyrant of the Frozen North boarded the vessel. Using the vessel he proceeded to the main island.  Upon arrival at the main island of the Vasty Deep where the "Empire" had a presence, he disembarked from the boat. After leaving the boat he'd dissipate it and the Omnilium flowed back into his body until he needed it again. This had taken him roughly 3 hours of boat riding to arrive, not counting the time it had taken him to make his Scythe. At least now he had a decent melee weapon. 

Visibly perturbed he approached the gate. "Well no time like the present."  With that he'd leap into the gate. The portal would take him to the Nexus.