A/N: The video attached is music to go along with the chapter. I suggest playing it when you get to the "wishes" part. You'll know what I mean.

The moon was black. So black, indeed, that the night sky appeared navy. The stars were beacons of light, illuminating the Wings. Those rocky mountains perfectly resembled the feathers of a swallow's wings, giving them their name.

"The Dark Side of the Moon," Chrissy whispered. "We made it."

Sombra felt a jolt of excitement! This was it! They were finally here. Four days of grueling traveling had pushed them to their limits, but they had still made it.

Chrissy had a dreamy look in her eyes, almost detached from this world. Already fantasizing. He nearly was, too. Getting my magic back....

Don't get distracted, he chided himself. We're not there yet.

"Um, Sombra? Where's the Hut?" Chrissy asked, eyes scanning the area. It wasn't anywhere near them. Sombra's eyes immediately went to the mountains. On top of one, there was indeed, what looked like a very small hut.

"There." he pointed to it. "I guess we climb."

Nature seemed to be doing everything in its power to stop them. The wind yowled and lashed, rocks shivered and crumbled under their feet. The snow that was now falling felt more like hail, and the temperature was inhospitable.

By the time they made it to the top, they had an assortment of injuries: bruises, scrapes, cuts. Only the tip of the iceberg of everything else they'd endured over their journey. Flesh-eating bears got pissed very easily.

"Wow! Wow!" Chrissy squealed, eagerly hugging Sombra. "This is really happening! We didn't die on the way."

"We're us, of course we didn't," Sombra replied softly. They had nothing to lose. Nothing but grit, determination, and wishes too good to be true.

Up close, the Wish Granter's "Hut" was indeed a dome. Perfectly round, and a very wax-like appearance. It reminded him of the moon, minus the craters. "There's no door," Chrissy observed.

But before he could knock, the dome split down the middle and slowly opened its giant jaws to devour them whole. They had barely stepped in before it snapped shut with a clang, the structure shuddering on impact.

"So." Chrissy and Sombra jumped at the voice, which came from behind them. It was a beautiful one, rich and teasing. The man wore a mask that obscured his features, but didn't hide his mischievous smile. Sombra couldn't begin to guess his age. Magic transforms everyone.

"Oh, hi!" Chrissy, clearly nervous, gave a quick little wave and mustered a smile. She immediately ducked behind Sombra afterwards.

"Hello."

"You're the Wish Granter, right?" Chrissy verified.

"Yes, I am," the Wish Granter replied, then glided through the dome. It was largely empty, except for a large circle in the center of the floor. It glowed a bright neon blue with ancient carvings. Right above it was a hole in the ceiling, and the blackness of the moon shone right through.

"A lot of people think they can just waltz in here and expect me to give them what they want," the Wish Granter said, now facing them.

"Well, obviously. That's what a Wish Granter does," Sombra muttered under his breath.

The Wish Granter chuckled at that. "You have a point, young man. Come! Come in. Make yourselves comfortable." He extended his arms welcomingly.

Sombra and Chrissy hesitantly took small steps forward. There weren't any seats, so all they could do was stand awkwardly by the circle drawn in ancient carvings.

"You guys are young," the Wish Granter noted. "So naive," he mused.

"We've seen a lot more than you think," Sombra replied defensively.

"I'm sure you two have." the Wish Granter nodded.

"I hate to interrupt you, but can we make our wishes?" Chrissy inquired urgently. "We've traveled a really long way and-"

"My dear." He gently lifted her chin. "Surely you know that all wishes come with a price." He let go, and continued pacing.

"Well, we can afford it," Chrissy declared, turning to her bag. "I brought some really nice things with me-and I mean really nice." She pulled out a flashy diamond necklace, holding it out to the Wish Granter.

He hooked it with a finger. "You think a necklace," he examined it, "is worth a wish." He laughed amusingly, and lightly tossed it to the ground. "Sometimes, you need to make real sacrifices."

"I have more things if you want," Chrissy suggested.

The Wish Granter completely ignored her, instead focusing his attention on Sombra. "What about you?"

"I'm broke," Sombra admitted. "But, once I make my wish, I can-" What did people want? "Make you rich, famous," Sombra fumbled.

"I want none of those things. But, I want to hear your wishes. Just close your eyes, both of you, and think."

His hand getting fixed. His magic stronger than ever. He'd dive deep into his studies, becoming one of the greats. Luna embracing him. Them spending long nights in the libraries together, debating over books and spells and famous philosophers. Jet, somehow alive and healthy. Chrissy, happy and by his side. The four of them partying together.

"Interesting, interesting," the Wish Granter remarked. "I'll give you your wishes. Except....there's one small problem. I don't give two. I will, of course, still need my payment. "

His eyes flitted from Sombra to Chrissy, analyzing both of them, his eyes heavy with concentration. It took awhile for Sombra to put two and two together. Only one of them would get their wish. But it would be him.

"Take her." 

His body reacted before his mind did, pushing Chrissy into the giant circle. She gave him one last horrified look before the blackness of the moon formed a beam of darkness and consumed her, swallowing up whatever she could've said to him.

Then the darkness glowed lime green, shifting, transforming into a filmy green cocoon. Her mouth formed inaudible words, but it was clear she was screaming, pounding on the cocoon desperately.

She cried for Evie, for Jet, for Luna, for him. Her body twisted agonizingly at the spine, insect-like wings sprouting from the back. The wings tore, small holes forming in them. Her hair grew out longer, longer, longer. Her body grew taller, thinner, skeletal. Her teeth sharpened into fangs. All the while, she thrashed in the cocoon, bubbles rising from her mouth.

In any other terrifying situation, Sombra would've run. But now he stood, transfixed, glued to this freakshow.

The cocoon around her finally disappeared, dropping her onto the ground in a small pool of green slime; leaving her not so much a monster, more a terrified, betrayed girl. She wrapped her arms protectively around herself, shuddering with sobs.

"My dear," the Wish Granter began, a sharp undertone in his voice. "This is what happens when you trust a monster."

Chrissy nodded, almost understandingly, still crying. Then she coughed. Once, twice. Another time. And when she did, she coughed up red swirls of magic. Not blood, but a vibrant, passionate red that could very well be mistaken for pink. It seemed as if she was coughing up every last bit of love she'd had to offer.

"When a person is sacrificed, their wishes are reversed."

Sombra had a very sick feeling in his stomach. Oh no. Oh no. What just happened to Chrissy? What was going on? Was that really him?

Chrissy's eyes widened in realization. "You, Chrissy, really just wanted something whole in your life. Something fulfilling. As you can see, that will never happen again."

The Wish Granter set a mirror down in front of her. Up close, Sombra observed that her right hand, the one that did magic, was now gnarled and clawed. Chrissy gave a shriek and started begging to be changed back.

"For your whole life, you've wanted to be someone you're not, hoping that if you change, people will accept you. You still run from who you are. Well now, you can change to your heart's content," the Wish Granter explained, snapping his fingers.

Chrissy briefly glowed lime green before her appearance changed to Evie's.

"You always loved her silky hair. Now it's yours."

It shifted to Luna's. "You wanted pretty eyes. You have them too."

But these are only appearance based. Chrissy has more depth than this.

"Of course, these changes are only external. And that's all you get." He switched her back.

"Please. I'll do anything. I just...I just want to go back to my past self!" Chrissy whimpered, her voice cracking.

"Perhaps the roots of your wishes were for the love in your life to last. Romantic love. The love you share with friends. Your love for dance. Do you see that?" The Wish Granter pointed to the fading swirls of pinkish red. "That's your love. And it's gone now."

Chrissy's ribs were too prevalent, Sombra could easily count them. She was skinny. Deathly skinny.

"You'll have to take love to survive. You're nothing more than a parasite."

The insect wings on her back made so much sense now.

"What's better than a changeling that feeds off love to survive?" The Wish Granter asked. "I know your name is Chrissy, but Chrysalis suits you better now, I think. You've had quite a metamorphosis."

Sombra made a run for it, finally emancipated from the invisible force rooting him in place. He needed air. He needed air! The world came crashing down and it was too much for him and what was going on? He needed to piece together what had happened. What he'd done. No. That wasn't me. I didn't turn Chrissy into a monster.

He reached the edge of a cliff, small rocks crumbling from his feet. The jagged peaks below gaped up at him curiously.

"You forgot your wish, dear boy," the Wish Granter stated from a few feet behind him.

"I don't want it," Sombra growled, refusing to make eye contact.

"I'm a man of my word. You paid an exorbitant amount," the Wish Granter emphasized.

"I paid with a life. A friend's life." Sombra uttered, still too in shock to be furious at himself.

"So you did. I can tell you really want your wish, don't you? I'll have to reward you for your bravery."

"That wasn't bravery."

"Your wish comes right about...."

Brace yourself. Brace yourself! 

"Now." The Wish Granter clicked his fingers. For a split second, nothing happened.

Then a tingling started in Sombra's left hand. His magic hand. So small, it could be ignored. Then the tingling became small needles. Bigger needles. Knives. His hand was practically on fire from the blinding pain.

Grinding his teeth to stop himself from crying out, he collapsed onto the ground. His hand was twitching and jerking around frantically, as if possessed by a demon. Maybe it was. The pain dropped for a second before traveling to the rest of his body, stabbing him everywhere.

When he opened his eyes, he was surrounded by green and purple smoke. It choked him, clawing through his system and out his eyes, mouth, nose. It burned like chemicals, similar to the smoke bomb but tenfolds worse.

When will this end? When will this end? Is this really my wish?

He unleashed a strangled cry, finally unable to take the pain. His howl echoed off the rocky caverns and reached even the darkest of chasms below. Maybe this was karma. Maybe he deserved this.

"Done." The Wish Granter's voice was a sharp grating in Sombra's head. The pounding didn't stop, essentially tripled by the last thing he wanted to hear.

It all went away. Everything, from the large knives jabbing his skull to the tiniest piercing needles in his pinkie finger. He inhaled shakily, squinting up at the shadow of the Wish Granter.

"A bit underwhelming, compared to your friend's transformation, I know," the Wish Granter drawled almost apologetically. "But take a look."

Sombra managed to push himself up into a sitting position, and a mirror was pushed into his hands. He was not prepared for what he saw.

For one, he looked powerful. Perhaps it was the magic, perhaps it was the confidence he gained from the transformation, but he was different. More fearsome, definitely. His eyes still spewed purple smoke, and his irises had turned green. His left hand was now tipped with red claws. His teeth, like Chrissy's, were fangs.

A voice deep inside said he shouldn't be happy with this. Look what you've done to yourself. But he deserved this. He deserved the right to celebrate for once, to be powerful. And suddenly, sacrificing Chrissy didn't seem so bad after all.

His wishes mattered more. What did she wish for, again? Being whole? Being in love? While he had so much more potential. He could actually make a difference.

"Excited already? You haven't even seen your powers yet," the Wish Granter reminded him.

My powers. Appearance reflected magic. That's when Sombra realized he had been transformed with dark magic. Dark magic, which has been officially outlawed and any attempt to use it is punishable by death, he remembered Luna saying.

What had he done? WHAT HAD HE DONE? Dark magic would corrupt him, transform him. And once he started using it...he wouldn't be able to stop. Sombra ran down the rocky slope, losing his balance and getting pummeled by rocks.

He finally came to a stop, ready to get back up and-

A silver net flew through the air and pinned him to the ground. Strangely supple yet durable at the same time, his trustiest knife couldn't cut through it.

"Sombra." A familiar voice. Evie's voice!

"Evie?" Sombra gasped in confusion. What was she doing here of all places? A vaguely familiar boy stood next to her. One with purple hair, red eyes and ivory skin. Napoleon Dusk. And they appeared to be allies. "But....but....."

"You didn't really think she was an Equestrian, did you?" Napoleon asked, a mocking tone in his voice.

Evie. In league with the Dusks the whole time. That explained the secret spy who had found out their plan to take back the Crystal Empire. What had caused them to lose and resulted in the Duskan Youth massacre. It all made sense now.

It occurred to him that he had lost two friends today. He had to get to Luna quickly. He couldn't lose her as well.

"We're not here to kill you, surprisingly," Evie admitted, extending a hand.

"What do you want from me?" Sombra growled, still struggling with the net.

"We'd like to propose a deal," Napoleon asserted.

The same people who started a war. Spied and manipulated them. Massacred an entire army. Those people, now bargaining with him?

"I'll never make a deal with you!"

Evie and Napoleon made a move towards him, and he instinctively threw out his hand to protect himself.

Sharp black crystals cut through the net, instantly freeing him.

Napoleon's eyes widened in surprise, and he held out his morning star. Evie produced an axe.

They're here to attack and kill you, he thought. Just....just...leave me alone! Faint or something. I can't take on both of you-

They crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Sombra didn't care what happened, he just needed to get out of here before someone else found him. He kept running down the mountain, his red cloak billowing out behind him.

Welcome, Sombra!

No. Voices in his head. One of the consequences of dark magic. It was different for everyone, but no matter what, the magic would fester and infect somebody. He couldn't do any more dark magic. Not if he wanted to keep himself.

You're one of us now. You have so much potential!

Where should he go? To Luna. He had to get to her. Tell her what had happened. She'd know what to do. No. Celestia would find him and kill him. She had never liked him much.

They won't accept you. You're one of us now. There's something else that's bothering you, isn't there?

He had so much power at his fingertips. His hand was itching to be used. He'd start anew again, become powerful. He'd learn the limits of his magic and train himself. But-

You need to go back to where it all started. Only then, you can create a new beginning. What's been the cause of your misery, all those years? What held you back from being who you wanted to be? What caused a chain of events that resulted in the loss of your brother, of your friends? What made you this?

And Sombra knew the answer.

The Crystal Empire.   

I can't believe I finished Part 1!! I know this chapter is very long, so thanks for sticking with me.  For my MLP readers,  that was the origin story of Queen Chrysalis.  What do you think of the Wish Granter and Chrissy and Sombra's transformations?