Line #44 Fanfic/CorruptionAtNightfall


1	Written by [[http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Jordan179 Jordan179]], this incomplete novella chronicles the rise and fall of Emperor Sombros the First and Only, better known to Equestria as "King Sombra". Available [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/166638/corruption-at-nightfall here]]. Started in 2014.
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3	!!Contains examples of
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5	* AbdicateTheThrone: Either mares or stallions can rule the Crystal Empire. The two sisters among the five Quartz siblings have absolutely no desire to get involved in succession politics, and both Rose and Iolite Quartz deliberately renounce their claims. This in particular keeps Rose Quartz alive when her youngest brother Crimson [[spoiler:merges with the Shadows]] and becomes Sombra.
6	* BigScrewedUpFamily: The current ruling dynasty, the Quartzes, who include among their five siblings two future tyrants: Morion and Crimson.
7	* BreakTheCutie: Happens to all three protagonists.
8	** Lady Tourmaline, a classic SilkHidingSteel aristocratic heroine [[spoiler:is raped by Morion, gets a HopeSpot when she is able to escape to Equestria with her beloved Prince Crimson and develop a technology with him that allows him to compensate for his mutiliation, then gets broken all over again when she is forced to witness her lifelong lover's slow descent into madness and evil as Emperor Sombros]].
9	** Prince Crimson Quartz starts as a [[UsedToBeASweetKid bright and loveable colt]], becomes an idealistic ScienceHero, and then suffers [[spoiler:the rape of his lifelong love Tourmaline, maiming in the removal of the horn which lets him be a mage, and after his HopeSpot with Tourmaline in Equestria and on the battlefield defeating Morion, becomes increasingly evil and insane as a result of his traumas and finally merges with the Shadows to become evil Emperor Sombros]].
10	** Princess Luna, who has loved Crimson Quartz almost all his life, thinks that he finally returns her romantic love: instead [[spoiler:he seduces her, pretends to love her, leads her down a path of depraved evil and madness, and in the end casts her out, SPECIFICALLY to destroy her attunement to the Elements. He succeeds, which forces Luna to instead help her sister ''kill'' Sombros]]. At the end of this, Luna's emotions and sanity are so utterly shattered that within two decades of increasing alienation from everyone, she becomes [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Nightmare Moon]].
11	* CadreOfForeignBodyguards: The Imperial Derechian Guard Corps, which provides Pegasus formations to the Crystal Empire. ''Also'' coming from a VestigialEmpire of sorts, as Derecho has been abandoned for centuries, and the surviving "Derecho" Pegasi now live on Crystal-Imperial territory.
12	* ComingOfAgeStory: The early chapters are this for Crimson Quartz, who is introduced as a 3-year-old colt.
13	* ContagiousLaughter: Crimson (age 7) and Tourmaline (age 20) get a huge case of the giggles together when they tell each other their families' pet names for themselves. [[spoiler:More significant than it seems because Tourmaline is recovering from years of depression at this point in her life]].
14	* DecadentCourt: Even the nicer Emperors have courts like this, but the ones formed by Morion Quartz as Emperor Sthenarkos and Crimson Quartz as Emperor Sombros are the deadliest.
15	* EmbarrassingNickname: Lady Tourmaline's is "Tor-Tor," bestowed on her by her brother Jadeite when they were both small. The fact that she is willing to reveal this to Crimson is a sign of their deepening friendship.
16	* TheEmperor: The ruler of the Crystal Empire under the Late Empire takes the title "Emperor" or "Imperator" (both meaning "commander" and implying a military role). The plot is largely driven by the issue of who will take or retain the Crystal Throne.
17	* EvilFormerFriend: Prince Crimson Quartz is destined to become this to Princess Luna of Equestria.
18	* TheEvilPrince: Morion, who in his repulsive personal habits shows a clear desire to become TheCaligula. Unfortunately, the harsh events of his life are destined to turn sweet young Crimson Quartz into one of these as well -- he becomes the character referred to in the series as "King Sombra."
19	* FamilyThemeNaming: Most of the Quartzes are named after varieties of quartz crystals. This sort of thing is very common in the Crystal Empire, even more so than in Equestria.
20	* FantasyCounterpartCulture: The Crystal Empire to the UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire, to the point where [=Jordan179=]'s TranslationConvention renders many of their names and terms into pseudo-Koine (Vulgar Greek).
21	* FirstNameBasis: Crimson quickly gets on this basis with Princess Luna. It helps that Crimson is himself a Prince of the Crystal Empire.
22	* ForegoneConclusion: [[spoiler:Crimson will turn into evil King Sombra and be defeated and banished from the world]], as established [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E1TheCrystalEmpirePart1 in the show's Season 3 premiere]].
23	* HotLibrarian: Lady Tourmaline, who is an assistant librarian at the Imperial Library, and is both sweet-natured and extremely beautiful.
24	* IJustWantToHaveFriends: One of Princess Luna's motivations for befriending Crimson Quartz. This is how she keeps from becoming alienated from Ponykind.
25	* LadyOfWar: Luna Selena Nyx, who has been filling this role with regards to not only Equestria but also the Crystal Empire since the start of the Age of Discord, long before she even ''became'' a princess in the political meaning of the word.
26	* LostRomanLegion: The 24th Legion, annihilated by the Snow Griffons while under the command of Prince Carnelian Quartz, father of Crimson and his siblings. Resulted in the deaths of Carnelian Quartz and many other brave soldiers of the Crystal Empire [[spoiler:including Crystal Shard, Lady Tourmaline's childhood sweetheart]].
27	* MeaningfulName: Common among Ponies because of the link between name, cutie mark and destiny. Some extreme examples in this story are Sly Whisper (a slanderer and spymaster) and Shrill Song (a torturer).
28	* MightMakesRight: Prince Morion's explicit theory of life. Princess Luna tries to demonstrate the fallacious nature of the AppealToForce to him in her usual diplomatic manner: namely, by threatening him and thus showing him that there's always someone stronger, but [[spoiler:all this does is convince him that Luna is poaching on his territory. Morion never really gets the point she was trying to make]].
29	* MyMasterRightOrWrong: Lady Tourmaline to Crimson Quartz, which causes her great sorrow after he has his StartOfDarkness.
30	* MoralityKitchenSink: From [[BlackAndWhiteMorality black to white]] and [[GrayAndGrayMorality everywhere in between]]. The most unambigiously ''good'' character is Princess Luna, and she's destined to take a hard fall; Crimson Quartz will become the evil King Sombra; and the loyal Lady Tourmaline will find herself ''serving'' him.
31	* NobleFugitive: Happens under at least two emperors, and in both cases they flee to Equestria.
32	** Under Morion / Sthenarkos, many Crystal Imperials including Prince Crimson Quartz, his sister Princess Iolite, and his faithful Lady Tourmaline flee to Southern Dounitza, the town which is known a thousand years later as Dunnich.
33	** Under Crimson / Sombros, the bulk of the nobility of the Crimson Empire flee; they become assimilated into the Equestrian nobility after The City vanishes into temporal stasis.
34	* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Princess Luna of Equestria, who likes to act like a young mare, but ... isn't. Crimson Quartz is fully aware that she is immortal and figures in Crystal-Imperial history all the way back to the days of the Middle Empire, a millennium and a half ago. Crimson doesn't know the half of it.
35	* RebelPrince: Aventurine and Crimson are this to Emperor Sthenarkos, their evil brother Morion. [[spoiler:Their rebellion succeeds]].
36	* RoyalHarem: Not official custom in the Crystal Empire, but practiced ''de facto'' by Sthenarkos and Sombra. In the latter case, with Lady Tourmaline as an increasingly-horrified and disgusted Chief Concubine.
37	* RoyallyScrewedUp: Prince Morion / Emperor Sthenarkos IX, who considers atrocities in military campaigns a form of outdoor entertainment and as Emperor enjoys raping noblemares. This is especially tragic as it is ultimately his cruelty to Crimson and Tourmaline which proves the trigger for Crimson's own StartOfDarkness, in time tempting Crimson to summon the [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Night]] [[DemonicPossession Shadows]] out of a determination to ensure that neither he nor his beloved Tourmaline will ever be helpless victims again.
38	* StartOfDarkness: Crimson's destined fate, as he will become King Sombra.
39	* StraightGay: Emperor Valippos VIII, better known to his kin as Eisenkiessel Quartz.
40	* TimeAbyss: Luna's ''true'' nature -- she's older than the sidereal Universe, being the Cosmic Concept of Gravity Itself. Lady Tourmaline has seen legends that imply at least that Luna is older than Ponykind.
41	* UndyingLoyalty: Lady Tourmaline to Crimson Quartz, which is why in Fanfic/AllTheWayBack Princess Luna remembers her as "The Faithful."
42	* [[UsedToBeASweetKid Used To Be A Sweet Colt]]: The protagonist, called as a colt Pentos ("Fifth") and named Crimson Quartz when he gets his Cutie Mark, is destined to become the tyrant Sombros.
43	* VestigialEmpire: The Crystal Empire. It once preserved some of the glories of the Age of Wonders and ruled all the Northlands, but by the start of the story has already lost many of its provinces, and is increasingly overshadowed by the rising might of Equestria to its south.
44	* TheWrongfulHeirToTheThrone: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. Morion (Sthenarkos IX) is the Crown Prince and hence the legitimate successor. He is also TheCaligula who tries to wipe out all of his family save his sisters, whom he wants as mistresses. When Aventurine and Crimson return at the head of an army to overthrow Morion, you're cheering them on.

Context Fanfic / CorruptionAtNightfall