Chapter 149: The Real Enemy...? (Part 3)
MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind
Chapter 149: The Real Enemy…? (Part 3)
A crisp, cold wind blew along the snowy plains nestled in between the large northern mountains. Gentle flurries of snowfall danced about in soft whirlwinds as not another sound graced the peaceful air.
But that peace was disturbed as loud, uneven flaps of large beating wings created powerful rushing gusts accompanied by loud, painful grunts.
“RGHHH!!! AHHHH!!!!” Soarin failed to stay even, his body not under his own control as he twisted out of the air from above and crash-landed. He roared out in pain as his front legs buckled and dragged beneath him, his chest smashing into the snow as his massive body tipped forward and turned sideways, ungracefully tumbling over himself several times before landing on his stomach and skidding to a halt with an uneven trench of disturbed snow dug out behind him.
He did not move for several moments, his body jittering with trails of steam rising from his frame and a flickering blue glow surrounding him. His face was down, his nose jammed into the snow with the red jagged horn sticking up through the top. The glow slowly faded, the steam trails dissipating as well.
“Hrrrgggg…” he eventually groaned, his neck tensing as he slowly pulled his head and face free, looking up into the distance with nothing to see but the flurries of snow and foggy expanse. He gritted his teeth, his long heavy breaths hissing in and out. Within his eyes were the red pupils of Sombra, but they shook vigorously, the very faint sign of Soarin’s eyes hiding like a shadow behind them.
The blue flares of light began rising from his eyes as he narrowed them and shook his head slightly to shake the lingering snow from his face.
“Unbelievable…” Sombra’s voice echoed as Soarin’s eyes glowed.
“Absolutely unbelievable…” Sombra repeated as he looked down within his own image at Soarin.
Everything around him indicated that he had control. Every inch of the space within Soarin’s mind had been turned to a dark shade of blue. Soarin was engulfed within his aura, his very image was flaking and splitting, but always reconstituted before it could rip apart at the seams.
The image of Rainbow Dash remained nearby. They were no longer touching one another, but no matter how hard the shadows tugged and pulled on Dash’s image, they could not move her away from Soarin.
“I… I…” Soarin sputtered, huffing and puffing as he pushed his hooves to the ground and tried to force himself up. He could not, but his willpower was clearly intact and Sombra could not fathom how. “I won’t… let you… control me…” Soarin forced out, showing strength despite his soul literally being crushed and split every moment he struggled. He was speaking to Sombra, but his eyes were locked on the soul of Rainbow Dash that was struggling along with him.
“Hmph…” Sombra grunted as his eyes shifted back and forth between the two of them. “This won’t stop me,” he said as he slowly turned his head over the image of the yellow mare being held down by the shadows close by. “You know that, don’t you?”
The mare chuckled weakly as her chin rested on the floor. She slowly shook her head.
“It may not stop you…” she said in a pained tone. “But you will never free yourself from these bindings. This is the very reason I chose these two… they are stronger than you realize and loyal to one another beyond anything I’ve ever seen. Not even you can break this bond,” she groaned painfully and tilted her head slightly to the side, resting it on the floor. “It may have gone south… this may have not ended the way I wanted at all… but you were foolish to believe I had not considered a failsafe.”
“Did you?” Sombra asked with a growl. “I seem to recall absolute desperation pouring from your lips as you knelt before me and begged me to stop.”
“Soarin’s willpower and resolve are of unheard of proportions for this day and age,” she went on, ignoring his jab. “And with Rainbow Dash at his side, it grows ever stronger. I will admit that I did not believe he’d be able to hold you back without the horn… but it seems that I have underestimated him a little bit myself.”
“This is nothing but an annoying setback,” Sombra snorted as he glared down at Soarin beneath him. “Your efforts are wasted, Soarin. You may be holding together somehow, but your body is mine. You cannot get it back, accept your fate!”
“N…” Soarin suddenly looked up and glared right into the large blue silhouette of Sombra’s face. “No…”
Silence penetrated the stare down as their eyes remained locked. Soarin could not make out any specific features beyond the basic shapes drawn by the swirling light, but he looked where the eyes would otherwise be.
“Fine!” Sombra snarled down at him. “Then suffer by your own doing until your willpower finally gives out!” Sombra ripped his eyes away, the image of his head turning and facing away from both Soarin and the mare.
“Rgh… Ah…” Soarin stopped trying to push himself up and let his body rest on the floor. He continued to grit his teeth and cringe as he felt his very being ripped and torn at. It felt hopeless, but he refused to simply give in. If he was truly lost forever, he’d hold on for as long as he could to help his friends.
But at the same time, he found himself curious. So many things had been a mystery, especially when it came to the two voices in his head. With no idea where his life was headed now, he saw no reason not to pry it out of them.
“Just… tell me…” Soarin forced out as he stopped exerting himself and took a few deep breaths. Sombra and the mare both perked up, Sombra turning his head enough to glance back down at Soarin. “What’s really going on here?” Soarin picked his head up, leaving the rest of his body pinned. “Who are you…?” Soarin asked, looking up at his captor first. “Both of you?” he added while looking back down at the mare.
Sombra glanced towards the mare, her yellow image remaining still before looking away. Sombra’s image suddenly flinched and he grunted quietly as Soarin lifted a hoof and slammed it down.
“DAMMIT! JUST TELL ME!!!” he yelled, causing the dark blue light that filled the area to flicker and pulsate.
Sombra looked down at Soarin for a moment, taking note of how he just forced him to feel something with that effort, but he dismissed it as he quickly noticed the mare still not speaking.
“Really?” Sombra chuckled as he shook his head at her. “Really, Celes? Even now, you keep your lips sealed? What good is keeping secrets now?” he asked, pausing for a moment. “Or is it truly that hard for you to tell others the truth?” he added sharply, causing her to wince.
Soarin blinked.
“Wait…” his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. “Celes…?” he stared in disbelief at the yellow mare. “No way… are you kidding me…?”
The mare slowly turned her head back towards Soarin, meeting his incredulous stare. She took a long, deep breath in, followed by an equally long exhale.
The glow surrounding her grew brighter, and her silhouette began to pulsate.
Slowly… the silhouette began to fill in with faint color.
White… green… blue… pink… each color becoming more and more clear until it eventually revealed…
“P…Princess Celestia?!” Soarin barely got the name out, his voice almost breaking out of shock.
It was indeed, the divine alicorn goddess herself. She looked tired, spent, and disheveled with the shadows holding her to the floor. Her mane was a mess, lacking its ethereal flow, she had bags under her eyes as if she had not slept or rested in ages, and the tired look only added to an expression of powerlessness she wore across her face. It was a look Soarin had never seen upon the visage of the typically elegant and powerful leader. But he could care less how she looked at the moment, he was still trying to figure out why she was even in his head in the first place.
“You sound surprised,” Sombra chuckled. “It truly never occurred to you?”
Soarin stared at Celestia, his bottom lip quivering as his jaw remained locked open.
“I…” Soarin glanced at Dash. “I…” he noticed the similarity in Dash and Celestia’s images, how they appeared as a slightly see-through shadow. The effect was the same… and a part of Dash’s soul was within him, did that mean the same for Celestia? “I thought…” Soarin managed to continue. “That maybe I had some of her magic within me…” he explained as his thoughts struggled to remain gathered, thinking of the yellow magic that he had little control over. “I thought that maybe she was speaking to me indirectly through it, that it might be her voice. I was never sure, but…” he shook his head, locking his eyes on Celestia again. “But it’s really you… isn’t it? Just like Dash here?”
Celestia averted her eyes. Showing no strength or resistance as the shadows held her down.
“Yes…” she answered simply, her voice filled with noticeable shame.
Soarin’s eyes twitched.
‘Yes?’
Was that really all she could say to him with all of this happening. Soarin began to shudder, pressing his hooves down to the ground beneath him. Sombra glanced down, feeling a sudden pressure as Soarin gritted his teeth, anger squeaking through.
“Why…?” he barely managed to say, his voice shaking. “WHY?!” he yelled out, the blue glow surrounding the area pulsating again. “What’s going on?! What is happening?!”
Sombra glanced around blinking as Soarin’s burst of emotion again caused a disturbance in his control. He growled, but didn’t let Soarin see it. He quickly sought to divert attention back to Celestia.
“Well…?” Sombra chimed in, causing Celestia to glance up at him briefly. “Are you going to explain yourself? Or do you want me to go first?” he asked sharply.
Celestia ripped her eyes from Sombra quickly, gritting her teeth slightly as she looked at the ground, ashamed to look Soarin in the eye.
“I’m… sorry, Soarin,” she said in a clearly forced manner. “I had my reasons for being secretive.” She sounded like she was about the burst into tears, as if every word was painful. “But, there is no point keeping you in the dark any longer… especially now that everything has taken such a horrible, horrible turn for everypony.” She finally looked at him, and forced herself to look into Soarin’s eyes. There was an intense mix of confusion, anger, and discomfort within his eyes, eyes that stabbed her right in the heart and demanded answers.
“Oh, this should be good…” Sombra said with an amused snort.
Soarin’s head snapped upward, his eyes locking on the large blue silhouette that had engulfed him.
“Okay, how about we start with him?!” Soarin asked angrily. “Who is this?! Who did you put in me?!” he demanded. Celestia did not take her eyes off of Soarin’s as if accepting his daggered glare as punishment.
“The soul… of King Sombra,” she answered, the wave of shock that immediately passed over Soarin’s face sending uncomfortable shivers through her.
“Y…You…” Soarin was almost speechless. “You put the soul… of the fabled Mad King Sombra… into my body?” He said every word as if he couldn’t begin to comprehend it. It was bad enough that the subject had suddenly shifted to an insane tyrant he had only known in legend and history, it was worse that he got his answer and it didn’t make a lick of sense. “That’s what you did to me when I was in the hospital?!” he started raising his voice as his anger built up. Sombra winced as he felt the pressure build again. “You lied to everypony?! You just happened to have the soul of the Mad King laying around and you forced it into me?!”
“Rgh…” Sombra grunted quietly as the dark blue light surrounding them pulsated more. He glanced back and forth, hoping neither of them noticed Soarin causing such a disturbance. Though most of his focus was fixed on something Soarin had just said. Something that he had not heard before.
“What I did was to save your life…” Celestia tried to explain, trying to salvage anything she could, but Soarin was not having it.
“But you never told me?!” he blurted out, his eyes wide and shaking.
“Mad King…” Sombra suddenly said out loud as the thought became vocalized and escaped his lips.
Both Soarin and Celestia broke eye contact and looked up at him as his silhouette looked off.
“Is that what they call me now?” he said to nopony as he scrunched his lips.
Soarin blinked, not sure what to immediately think about Sombra’s demeanor and reaction just now.
“Are you surprised?” Celestia spoke up. “Especially after how your reign ended?”
“FEH!” Sombra scoffed and he glared down at her. “As if it was entirely my fault,” he said sharply before averting his eyes. “It’s just… the first time I’ve heard it from another pony’s lips…”
“Can we just not get off topic here for a moment?!” Soarin forced his way in, causing them both to look at him. “I want answers here!”
“She already lied to you once,” Sombra immediately said as his silhouette made a motion that resembled eye rolling.
“I did not!” Celestia desperately contested. Soarin was about to chime in again, but stopped and flinched as Sombra let out a single loud guffaw.
“That is so rich!” he chuckled and shook his head. “You did and you’re believing your own lies! Have you been looking in the mirror and gas-lighting your own reflection for so long that you can no longer separate you own fiction from fact?! Spare us your charade! Save his life? You used his near death as an excuse to hide your true intentions!”
Soarin was looking up at Sombra as he spoke, but as he went through all of that, he slowly looked back down at Celestia.
“Soarin, you are nothing but a tool,” Sombra went on as Soarin kept his eyes locked on Celestia. “Just a pawn in a game played by the so-called ‘gods’.”
“Sombra, stop it!” Celestia suddenly burst out, shifting forward slightly but failing to move much at all as the shadows remained tight around her. “Do you think I’m without any heart at all towards the ponies I watch over?!” she yelled, her voice shaky and desperate.
“You only have ‘heart’ for your subjects as long as it fits your agenda,” Sombra put very bluntly, causing Celestia’s lips to quiver.
“I’m not so cold!” she retorted, her body now shaking along with her voice. Sombra lowered his head down towards her, looming above Soarin.
“Then why did you keep him in the dark for so long?!” he pressed. “Why did you torture him with so much pain and hardship without ever telling him why?!”
“I SAVED HIS LIFE!” Celestia screamed, slamming her eyes shut.
“FOR WHAT?!” Sombra’s voice boomed down over her. Celestia’s eyes hot back open, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
“For…” she stuttered. “For… I…”
“Hmph!” Sombra grunted, pulling back from her and looking down at Soarin. “Forget this self-serving liar, Soarin… She’ll never give you the full truth. She is incapable of explaining anything without spinning the facts to her favor and hiding her own faults,” he paused and glanced towards Celestia as she stared up at him, barely holding back tears. “And she will never speak of what happened before this, what truly led to all the events transpiring today… Will you, Celes?”
Celestia was breathing quickly, with short, quick breaths that resembled hiccups. She said nothing, her eyes shifting from glares to despair over and over.
“I thought not…” Sombra snorted and shook his head. “Because it would reveal how weak you really are. And what kind of all-powerful god is weak? You can’t even bear to have one pony witness it,” he made a subtle head motion towards Soarin. “That would be one pony too many, wouldn’t it? Unless they all believe you are perfect, you cannot keep up being seen as the ‘god’ you should be. Is that it?”
Celestia froze, her body no longer shuddering, but her look of despair remaining. She was utterly defeated.
Soarin looked up as Sombra’s silhouette suddenly stepped off of him, his long strides taking him completely away from him in only two steps and placing himself where Soarin could see his form completely. There was a thick stream of light that remained between them, keeping Sombra’s aura over Soarin and holding him down. Sombra turned and faced Soarin as he stood where both he and Celestia could see him. Sombra’s silhouette was not filled in like Celestia’s, Soarin could not see his eyes, but he felt like he was looking directly into a pair of eyes anyway.
“Soarin… allow me to tell you the true story. The story that you will never hear from Celestia or any place that has been touched by her word of law. And then you can decide what to believe…” he slowly glanced at Celestia. “Wouldn’t that be a nice change? Especially after how long you’ve been led along and never allowed to think for yourself?”
Soarin remained silent for a few moments, looking back and forth between Celestia and Sombra. He ended up simply shaking his head several times before finally speaking.
“I don’t really give a damn who says what anymore… just start talking already!” Soarin demanded, tired of all the bickering and crossing half-narratives.
“Very well,” Sombra nodded in agreement, taking a long look at Celestia before his silhouette stepped in front of her, placing himself directly between her and Soarin. He snorted, looking down at Dash beside Soarin for a moment before focusing back on him and clearing his throat.
“Over a thousand years ago,” he began. “Equestria was a land of several kingdoms and widespread royal families. It was an age that had extended for centuries, only to be brought to a swift and abrupt end over the course of a few months by the wings, fangs, and fire of the black dragons. These dragons were beasts unchained from Tartarus with power and ferocity that challenged the power of the gods themselves. Kingdom after kingdom fell to their fury until only the strongest and most powerful were left to challenge them. It was when the Crystal Empire stood in their path that I led the mares and stallions of my royal army into battle to face them.”
Sombra paused and glanced towards Celestia.
“But as we rushed forth into battle, I was surprised to find allies already in pursuit of the dragons. It was there on the battlefield, that I for the first time laid eyes on two mares that I had once only believed to be a myth. Celestia and Luna, divine alicorns actually before my very eyes, deities among mortals that faced the dragons with their Canterlot armies. I did not hesitate to join my military with hers, and with the might of our kingdoms combined, we stopped the Black Dragon Scourge at the doorstep of my kingdom. The war was long, the casualties were many, but eventually a spell was discovered that could seal away the near sublime powers of the black dragons, and combining my willpower with Celes’ divine magic, we locked the black dragons away, sending them back to whence they came from the pits of Tartarus with new, unbreakable bonds chaining them to their fate.”
“The war was won, those who had survived the wrath of the black dragons mourned the many losses, but rejoiced at their salvation. Celes and I finally met not as warriors, but as a king meeting a goddess. I had so many things to ask her, but was silenced as she spoke of how hard it had been to watch so many die, to see so many kingdoms disappear as she fought to subdue the dragons.”
Sombra turned away from them both.
“It was hard for me to hear, hard to take. Celes was heartbroken, barely holding in tears as she told me of the great losses and how, as the goddess watching over Equestria, felt as if very pieces of her had been ripped away. It was more than I could take, I refused to watch such a beautiful mare voice her despair and misgivings. So I invited her to remain in the Crystal Empire for a time, so that I may be a gentlestallion and treat her as a distinguished guest for a while. She accepted… and I personally saw to it that she experienced every comfort and luxury that my kingdom would offer.”
Sombra snorted, exhaling as he scrunched his nose.
“But perhaps it was a mistake for me to be so hospitable…” he slowly looked over his shoulder at Celestia. “Because no more than a week into her stay, Celes defied her very own rules and morals of godhood. She fell in love with me and pursued me.”
Celestia looked like she wanted to speak, to shout out denial or a counter, but she flinched as shadows popped up in front of her and grabbed her chin, cupping it and tipping it up as Sombra turned towards her and lowered his face down toward hers. She stared into his formless image, her eyes remaining open as if looking into his.
“No amount of restraint, no amount of conscience could have prevented me from caving to her advances in a heartbeat.” He edged his face closer to hers. “Who was I to deny this flawless image? This peerless beauty?” he asked as Celestia whined and averted her eyes. “It was something only a fool would reject. What sort of stallion would say no to the lust of a perfect goddess? It was something once only felt in dreams… but the dream had come to me while awake. I clung to it in an instant, and never let go,” he explained as he pulled away and the shadows let go of her. Celestia’s head plopped back down softly between her hooves as her lips quivered.
“But it turns out I was the fool all along. While the emotion and pleasure I felt with her was immeasurable, I had walked myself into a dead end. She is omnipotent… and I was just a mortal. As time went on through our frequent visits to one another, I slowly aged and grew older as she remained perfect, flawless, and youthful. It slowly destroyed me from within every single day as I felt the inevitable approaching. But I cared not for myself. We had been so deeply in love for so long that I could not stand the thought of dying and leaving her alone.”
Sombra pulled back, but kept his eyes on Celestia as his image moved all the way beside Soarin.
“So I began to wonder… what if there was another way? The day I met Celes was the day that I saw true immortality for the first time with my own eyes. It existed… it was there… could it be obtained? What if I could reverse my aging and live forever like her? Magic is a wondrous and powerful force with possibilities beyond our wildest imagination. And the general rule of magic… is that as long as you can overcome the challenge of discovering the means, anything is possible.”
Sombra motioned a hoof towards Celestia.
“I already knew it was possible… I just had to discover the means. Perhaps I was not created as a divine alicorn, but who was to say I could not become one?”
Sombra let his hoof fall, but curled it up before stomping it down, startling Soarin.
“But no matter how hard I looked, or how much I pushed my scholars to research, we found nothing. No trace to follow, not even a starting point to achieve such a thing. And I began to lose hope. Years kept passing and I watched in a mirror every morning as my face aged and my mane turned grey. Celestia remained loyal, she stayed by my side, but with every passing day it became harder and harder for me to look her in the eye. And the day she finally dropped her guard and admitted how much it pained her to see me growing old… I told her. I told her what I had been working on in secret, what I had been studying to find so that I may become like her. I expected her to be impressed, I expected her to be happy… but again, I was a fool to be bemused by such delusions.”
Sombra paused for a few moments, his legs and body visibly shaking with anger.
“I will never forget the look in her eyes…” Sombra’s voice grew angered, a low growl in the back of his voice. “She looked at me with such shock, as if she couldn’t believe I had said such a thing. Why? Why did it shock her so? I was so confused and perplexed. She gave me no room to explain myself, no matter how many times I said I was doing it for her she yelled and shouted ruthlessly, condemning me for the mere thought of trying to break the plateau of mortality and ascend higher. She loomed over me, looking down upon me with such disgust and disdain, with so much hate and malice, things that I had never once seen grace her flawless image. It was as if suddenly nothing the two of us had shared over the years had mattered at all.”
Soarin’s eyes slowly moved back to Celestia as he saw her bury her nose between her hooves, her eyes shut tight with her ears pinned to the side of her head.
“She left that night,” Sombra continued as he turned his back to her. “She left me behind… and didn’t come back. My old, aging heart was cleaved in twain by her cruel words. The things she called me… ‘Monster’… ‘Heretic’… ‘Heathen’… ‘Abomination’… This was the mare who loved me? This was the mare I shared my most personal moments with? And it was all because of something I wished to do for her. I just wanted to make her happy. How could she not see this? Was her love conditional all this time? Was it ever real?”
“I turned away all my servants and guards that night. I locked myself in my study and sat on the floor among the mess of papers and parchment of all my efforts. On the west wall… there was a wall length mirror. I turned… looked into my old, aging eyes… and took a long look at myself. And through my eyes, took a look at the whole world around me, thought hard on all the things I had seen and felt and slowly… slowly… began to feel that I had been living a lie my whole life. I thought about everything… everything that had to do with Celes and with us all the way back to the very first moment I saw her. And I began to see and recognize things I had never given thought before.”
Sombra took a long hard look at Celestia as if he was reliving the very moment he was speaking of.
“Celes is a goddess… An omnipotent being who has watched and ruled over great portions of Equestria from the throne of Canterlot Castle for eons… I thought her only to be a myth when I was young and had not ventured far outside my kingdom, but when she finally stood before me I felt so small, as I’m sure most kings and queens of the land felt in her presence, the regal status meaning nothing when faced with a Goddess whom they saw as even above them in all things,” Sombra paused and grunted. “But while this awe of her sublimity cast her as a leader above all leaders… what kind of leader was she truly? This is what I began asking myself as I looked back over my life under the shadows of what little I had left. I had been so blinded by her omnipotence, her beauty, and my own happiness to ever really scrutinize her,” Sombra growled. “And the more I thought… the more I reached back and remembered without my vision fogged… The more things became clear to me.”
Soarin watched as Sombra slowly inched towards her again, his shadow looming over her slowly.
“Once I stripped away the immortality, her godhood, and looked upon her as one would an equal, everything changed. I realized how her actions were often self-centered, how she rarely took the reins in difficult situations, how she’d dump responsibility on others to avoid risk of failure, how she would divert blame of consequences away from her and her sister, and now how she apparently was so attached to personal beliefs that even decades of love and trust didn’t seem to matter to her at all after one disagreement.”
His shadow fully loomed over her.
“But most of all… I looked back to our very first days, battling the dragons as allies… and realized that she was never willing to put herself into harm’s way for the sake of others.”
His shadow darkened as it lowered itself. Celestia tucked her head down as if trying to hide from him.
“Never had I had an epiphany so strong as I thought back to the Black Dragon Scourge and analyzed our vastly different approaches to it. When I was young and charging into battle, I never questioned the fact that I rarely saw Celestia on the front lines. She stayed back… she gave orders, she only ever engaged if the dragons got close or ambushed us and would quickly retreat. Despite all her power, all of her incredible divine magic, she’d back away and her soldiers would jump headlong into their own graves for her sake. At the same time… I was always in front. I stood among my captains, my knights, and even my lowest ranking soldiers as we clashed with the dragons. There was more than one occasion where I was gravely injured, and several of them came from efforts to protect my soldiers from the roaring flames and deadly claws of our enemy. Had I been killed, my army would have been devastated and lost the will to fight, but I never once felt it proper to simply stand back while my soldiers fought on. They were there to protect me, I was there to protect them, and we were ALL fighting for the same cause, regardless of rank and standing.”
Sombra snarled down at Celestia as she flinched and shivered, her eyes shut tight as she draped a hoof over her nose.
“Celestia was more content to sit back and wait… and did not make any forward moves until we found a way to seal the dragons away. She cried to me about lives lost after the battle was won… but to this day I wonder how many of those lives could have been saved had she been there on the front lines with me and put her godly powers to better use.”
He slowly back off, his shadow pulling back and uncovering Celestia as she whimpered and took short quick breaths.
“And… through these thoughts and revelations, I found myself pondering. If Celes, or any of her fellow gods for that matter… really deserved to be our leaders. Did they really deserve our worship? The legends and tales that spoke so highly of them? What about their immortal status? Was it truly deserved if they did not give an ounce of their endless existence to truly understand those who groveled at their hooves and paid them endless respect?”
Sombra stomped a hoof, causing Soarin to flinch and gasp in surprise as he felt a pulse rush through him.
“Look upon the gods as if they are normal ponies, would they ever be forgiven or praised for their actions? No, they would be shunned, condemned, and rejected. They did not deserve to be gods, they did not deserve to stand above us. So, regardless of Celes’ harsh words and criticism, I continued my research. Only… I no longer felt the need to respect ethics or limits. My reason and drive had been stripped of me, I no longer cared if I destroyed myself in the process, my ambition overtook reason. If Celes would not help me or accept me as a god… I would become one anyway and prove to her I was worthy of it. Petty? Perhaps, but could never understand how strong my desire had become to simply spite her and everything she claimed to be.”
Sombra looked off into nowhere, the projected image of his mane whisking as he shook his head back and forth.
“I threw restraint into the wind as I began exploring alternative methods, dark magic, forbidden magic… anything and everything I could get my hooves on. Time kept passing I kept aging and the older I became, the more desperation crawled onto my back. Eventually I stopped trying to find a full spell, I began casting twisted spells on myself, cursing and bewitching my own body in hopes that something, anything would work. I caused myself unbearable pain, my mind was damaged and slowly degrading, I became corrupted through my own means, but I was old, weak, and no longer cared. Time was running out for me… and nearly all of my scholars had fled my presence, fearing that I was falling too deep into forbidden arts, terrified by the wear and tear I was putting on my already old and aged body. And eventually… one of them sent a letter to Canterlot, and alerted Celes.”
Sombra looked down at Soarin.
“I caught word that she had been alerted, but strangely… I didn’t care. I had come to a point where all my efforts had been in vain, I was nothing but a shriveled, wrinkled shadow of my former self. I had no doubt that Celes would destroy me the moment she arrived, so I simply hobbled to my study and stood among my research. It was done, it was over. My life had gone from everything to nothing. It was all gone and now death was fast approaching by the hooves of the very mare that began this downward spiral for me. But before Celestia could arrive… I glanced into the mirror that I had the day she left me and gazed into its cracked and chipped surface… But what I saw startled me. It was my reflection… yet it was me when I was young, in my prime… when Celestia and I first fell in love. And I was startled once again… when my reflection spoke to me.”
“‘How much do you wish to obtain what you’ve sought?’ it asked me. ‘What would you give to prove Celestia wrong?’ I did not know what to say, and I shrieked as my reflection stepped right out of the mirror and approached me, a sly smile on its face, eyes alight with a distorted magical glow. ‘How much do you desire to be a god?’ It pressed me… and with nowhere else to turn and nothing left to live for, I answered truthfully. ‘I would give everything,’ I told it.”
“My image laughed and cackled as it’s voice changed until it was no longer mine. It stood up on its back legs, upright with its chest puffed out as he slowly morphed into a hideous amalgamation of animal parts. It was the god of Chaos… Discord.”
“Discord…?” Soarin said he name as he blinked in surprise. The whole story had been deep already, but it kept going deeper. Soarin wasn’t sure if he was prepared for what was to come.
“Yes… Discord,” Sombra growled loudly. “That slimy, deceitful snake. He had been jealous of me from the very moment I stepped into Celes’ life. The fact that I, a mortal, had won her heart enraged him, infuriated him to no end. If not for his endless infatuation with her and his childish desire to never do her wrong in any way, he surely would have forcibly removed me from the picture with his powers. I had a blanket of safety from him, but Discord is a vengeful animal… and me simply dying wouldn’t be enough to satisfy his grudge against me. He wished to smear my name for all eternity… and in my old, broken, and shunned state… he took his chance.”
“He offered to give me what I wanted… he offered me the chance to become a god. I never trusted Discord, as one never should… but I was so far gone. I didn’t care who it was that was offering… I accepted it without hesitation. Had I have been of clear mind I would have seen through the charade. Discord, like the rest of the gods, finds the thought of mortals breaking the barrier of immortality to be an act of blasphemy, there was no way he’d allow me to become one of them. But not a single fiber of my being entertained the thought. I only wanted one thing and my desperation led me to reach out… even if it was Discord. And… I suffered the consequences.”
“Celes arrived just in time to witness it. Discord unleashed his magic upon me. Chaos magic is wild and dangerous, a natural phenomenon within the world of magic itself that is never to be wielded by mortals in fear of its unpredictability. It rushed into me, immediately corrupted me, and took control of me. It reversed my age, my horn exploded as a curved red spike jutted out from my head to replace it, and I gained monstrous features as the power rushed and took complete control of my mind.”
“With my body corrupted by chaos, I charged at Celes. Right there within my own castle, I engaged in a battle with a god with more power rushing through me than I had ever dreamed. I cared not who I was trying to hurt, I did not hear a word she shouted at me, the power was so intoxicating that I only wanted to use it. I fought Celes… and I defeated her. I defeated a god and it felt unbelievable. She was forced to retreat… and soon after I descended upon my kingdom and plunged it into a state of fear, corrupting many of my citizens with my new powers and forcing the empire into a brutal state of slavery and forced warfare. Discord’s magic had completely overtaken me, and I liked it. I was a god, I was unstoppable… and I soon sought to conquer and rule the land with my newfound power.”
“But…” Sombra exhaled, letting a quiet nicker escape. “It was a short-lived reign. My actions quickly attracted the ire of all surrounding lands. It didn’t take long for Celes to ally all of them against me. It was the one time in Equestrian history that all species fought together, even the Griffons and the Drakes. I was one kingdom against the world, and despite my belief that I had become more powerful than the gods, I was eventually pushed all the way back to my empire with my forces decimated. It all ended with Celes and I facing off once again, but as we fought I slowly learned that I had not truly become a god. My power was not limitless and I had no mastery over it. After a long struggle, Celes struck me down, unleashing her power in ways never seen before… but I refused to be defeated, I never stayed down, and my corrupted magic was never fully snuffed out. So… Celes sealed me away. She used the very same spell that we used to seal the Black Dragons to lock away my power beneath the Crystal Empire itself. She went further, sacrificing the entire kingdom, locking it away with me. The Empire itself was my prison, bonds meant to hold me down for all eternity with the crystal heart to keep it locked tight.”
Sombra looked back at Celestia, furrowing his brow.
“Or so… that’s what she told everyone she did. There is one particular detail she has always left out.”
Soarin too locked his eyes on Celestia as she remained still and showed no sign of fighting a single word Sombra was saying. It was an alarming sight… she, Celestia, the all-powerful, all-seeing goddess cowering like a filly caught in a fib. Was the story that had always been told about the Mad King really nothing but a spin? A fabrication? And there was even more to come?
“Although Celestia had sealed away my corrupted body and the magic that ran free within it… She quietly and discreetly removed my broken soul that had been torn asunder by Discord’s magic before she placed the lock and seal of the crystal heart. As the dust was settling, she absorbed my soul into her body and pieced it back together until I became what you see now… and stored me away within her body.”
“But…” Soarin suddenly spoke up as he was trying to process it. “Then when the Crystal Empire re-emerged…?”
“Feh,” Sombra scoffed. “That was not me,” he quickly cut Soarin off. “It was my body, but it was nothing but an empty husk without a brain or a soul being driven wildly by chaos magic like an effigy. The real me, is right here, and has been inside Celestia all along.”
Soarin’s jaw dropped as he kept his eyes glued to Celestia. Sombra snorted as he too looked to her.
“Why? I wondered, with my mind put back together and trapped within her… Why would she spare my soul? As it turned out… Even though she branded me an abomination for even thinking I could become a god… she never could let go of me. She has kept her little secret quiet for over a thousand years. Knowing her shortsightedness, she probably thought that all this time locked up inside her would give me time to think about what I had done before she could find a way to release me.”
Sombra paused for several moments before releasing a growl and a loud snort of frustration.
“Oh, I’ve done PLENTY of thinking… but it’s not the kind of thinking she likely desired. No… I did not look towards regretting my actions, that wasn’t it at all. My formless thoughts have only had one thing in mind since she stored me away: Can I still achieve my goal?”
Sombra looked down at Soarin, a shadow whipping up from the ground and pushing Soarin’s head up to look at him.
“And that brings us to here and now,” he pointed at Celestia while forcing Soarin’s head back down to point his eyes towards Celestia. “Celes had been waiting… for a very long time to find what she believed is the opportune moment to set me free… in hopes that I’d learned my lesson and that I can ‘redeem’ myself. And those are her exact words, there is no speculation here. She wants me to ‘come back’ and ‘right my wrongs’ as if everything that happened and led to my demise was my own doing. Let’s all just smile and be on our way,” he said sarcastically. “Pathetic… I doubt she can even spell ‘consequence’!”
Soarin listened carefully… until a thought struck him so hard in the face he almost had physical whiplash. His eyes went wide, his jaw dropping as he blinked several times.
“Hmmm…” Sombra suddenly hummed as he lowered himself and examined Soarin’s face carefully. “I like that look in your eyes. Are things becoming more clear? Are you seeing beyond the curtains towards what lies behind the lies?”
Sombra shifted over and stood near Celestia as she continued to remain silent.
“What did she tell you, hm?” Sombra asked while keeping his eyes on Soarin. “That she had a premonition? That she saw you fighting? That she wanted to make sure everything was ‘right’ to handle a ‘threat?’ Don’t make me laugh… every bit of that is a bold faced lie. I’ve been the focus of her intentions from the start, it’s all she’s cared about and she was foolish enough to believe I’d be on board with her plans. Threat? WHAT threat? Do you know? Have you even seen it? Does it even exist?!” Sombra raised his voice. “The gods don’t talk about it do they? Too much going on? Distracted? When have you ever had visual proof of this danger?! Better yet…”
The shadows gathered around him and forced Celestia up off the ground. She yelped and wailed as they squeezed her painfully.
“Why would she need you to take care of it? Or me?! Isn’t she an all-powerful god?! She should have no problem facing such things on her own! If there really is some sort of threat, then this is the same old story all over again. She’s looking for somepony to do something for her so she doesn’t have to worry about it herself! She just wanted an excuse to bring me back, and tried to hide her selfish feelings for me behind a guise of my ‘redemption’ so she could send me to handle something for her in the process. She never gave a single thought to my ambition, she never considered that it was her own actions that changed me, she never thought I’d be determine to still fulfill my goal even after all this time!”
Soarin was visibly stricken as Sombra continued to drop more and more realizations on him.
“Y…you mean…” Soarin barely got out. “Her premonition… everything was all a lie?” That much was clear, but Soarin was simply vocalizing his disbelief as every word from his lips seemed to make Celestia shiver. Sombra let her go and the shadows pulled her back down to the floor roughly.
“Premonition?” Sombra scoffed. “Let me ask you something, Soarin… if Celestia is so good at seeing disasters before they happen… Then why didn’t she act to prevent the tornado in Ponyville?! WHY DIDN’T SHE STOP IT BEFORE YOU WERE PUT AT DEATH’S DOOR?!”
Soarin’s pupils shrank, a weak gasp escaping his thought as the breath left his lungs.
“It all makes sense now, doesn’t it?!” Sombra leaned in towards Soarin. “She wouldn’t have been able to start this whole charade without you! She let you almost die so she could pursue this goal!” He slowly moved out of the way so Soarin could look directly at Celestia. “Now do you understand… Soarin? Do you understand what drives me to pursue godhood?” He pointed sharply at Celestia. “Is this the kind of ‘god’ who deserves to be the leader of all Equestria?! The ‘beacon of hope’ you all look towards for guidance?! This is how your gods truly think! This is how they act! They haven’t a clue what it’s like to be one of us and they couldn’t care less! They don’t care about you, they don’t act in your interest! They only care about themselves!”
“STOP IT!” Celestia suddenly screamed, tears bursting from her eyes as she yelled. “PLEASE, SOMBRA! STOP!” she pleaded, wailing as streams slid down her cheeks.
“Ah, she finally speaks?!” Sombra got right into her face. “Does the truth really hurt so much?!” he yelled, causing her to wince and attempt to pull back within her binds.
“You still don’t understand what you are trying to achieve!” she yelled at him in between hiccups and sniffles. “You’re insane! It will overwhelm you and you will only be a threat to Equestria!” she yelled desperately and nearly incoherently as if it were the only words she could think or muster.
“A threat to Equestria?!” Sombra pulled back and burst out laughing. “A THREAT?!” He shook his head at her. “You speak as if I intend to destroy it!” He quickly leaned back down towards her while stomping a hoof down. “I intend to save it… from YOU!”
Celestia’s eyes opened wide, but she did not retort, she simply continued sniffling as the tears fell steadily down her image. Sombra pulled himself away from her and refocused on Soarin. He was looking down at the floor, his eyes wide and his mouth agape.
“Soarin,” Sombra spoke directly to him. “You are strong. Your resistance and willpower are beyond anything I ever imagined… but perhaps you should take a look at the situation you’ve been put in,” he paused as Soarin slowly looked up at him. “You’ve lost everything, but now you’re in a position to make a choice about the future of those you love and fight for.” He pointed at Celestia. “Think about who did this to you and why… and ask yourself…”
Sombra paused again as Soarin slowly looked down at Celestia.
“Who is truly your enemy?”
Everything went completely silent. With nothing else to say, Sombra turned his back to both of them, his aura flowing forth as he forced himself back into control of Soarin’s body without.
Soarin remained still, his eyes locked on Celestia as Sombra slowly started moving his body again. His eyes remained locked, but only for a few moments before turning his eyes to the image of Dash near him.
His whole world and everything thought he knew… turned upside down.
---To Be Continued---
BEFORE ANYONE SAYS ANYTHING ABOUT IT...
When i wrote the outline for PTH: May 2014
When Sombra's origin story in the MLP comics appeared: September 2015
A few people have brought up Sombra's specific origin from canon over the past few chapters. Please keep in mind that this story was planned before the canon origin of Sombra was released, so it will be completely different here in PTH.
Also, yes, the good king Sombra mirror world comic came out in april 2014, but i had not seen the comic nor read it until long after i had finished the outline of PTH, it had no influence on story planning.
As a reminder, PTH and the Wonderverse in generalonly acknowledges the mlp cannon through the end of season 3. Anything thats happened in the show or comics since then has not happened in my timeline and characters from season 4-present will not be appearing.
Just wanted to clear that all up 
Now onto the usual note:
Well now, this is sure to rustle a few jimmies over in the theory vault! Celestia has been revealed, but at the same time she and the rest of the gods have been put into perspective... at least from Sombra's point of view. Can he be trusted? He makes several very clear and valid points... but does his crusade towards his goal really put him in the right?
I guess we'll know more if Soarin's curiosity remains strong going forward 
As a reminder, chapter 150 is going to pick up right where chapter 148 ended. 149 technically takes place side by side with the events of 148. So yes, im going right back to where 148 ended for some fluff
And of course, Art in this chapter is by: Foxenawolf
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!
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Chapter, chapter.
Wow...!
I have to say, this makes a lot of sense, even if its not a part of the show but i do like the fact that the Sombra from the "Crystal Empire" episodes is just a husk. But I do wonder if he has noticed Luna being on the front lines.
Wow. That was quite a reveal. I wonder how the Wonderbolts would feel if they knew about what Soaring knows now. I can't wait to return to the fluff from last chapter.
HOLY. SHIT.
OH my god I swear this is one of the best chapter in this whole story.... Oh my god the revelations!!!
This.
IS.
INTENSE!!!!
Never thought this day would come... The day in which buff horse actually tells us the whole story!!! The theories are running WILD!!!!!!!
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Yeah... Luna has been even more infuriating than Celestia throughout the course of the story, but at least she tries
Okay so let's review! Sombra wanted to stay by Celestia's side forever only deciding to throw in the towel when it became clear that he wouldn't succeed. Discord turned him into the Sombra we all know for no other reason other than to spite Celestia for rejecting him. Celestia has bold faced lied to everyone for centuries (including her own sister) for her own selfish reasons. Sombra's soulless body was what attacked the Crystal Empire at the beginning of season 3 in this universe. The Gods are less mature than the mortals they use as pawns in their personal games. Oh and are unwilling to tell the truth or admit that they aren't as wise and powerful as they see themselves. Oh and refuse to accept the responsibility that their actions or inactions cause.
Oh my....One word: INTENSE.
Makes sense to me. I really wish I had your imagination though. Everything just gets better and better
SO MUCH INFO GOODNESS
This is good my good man. VERY good indeed.
... But I DO see something wrong with Sombra's view... clearly. But i'll just wait
Keep it up my good man
I feel like Sombra is still manipulating him, but damn does he make a convincing argument.
ICR who said it, but someone (I believe it was a Jesuit) said something to the effect "I never tell lies. Never. But, the truth is not for everyone". (Tried but couldn't find it on the internet)
Heinlein (Lazarus Long in Time Enough For Love?) said something like "Someone who always tells the truth probably has other nasty habits as well."
Celestia lives by these philosophies.
Sombra, darling. No threat to EQ? What about Kayn Ost & the pink crystals?
1) You forgot
2) You lied
3) You don't think that's a threat
You also seem to think Celestia put you in Soarin because....For some reason she wants you to have a body?
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=carly+simon+you%27re+so+vain+youtube&&view=detail&mid=27DCAB26F6D5026762EE27DCAB26F6D5026762EE&FORM=VRDGAR (Folklore at the time said it was about Mick Jagger. No clue if that's true)
Although, it does raise the question "Why in the name of pluperfect Hell would Celestia keep his soul?"
1) keepsake of an old love affair
2) never throws anything out -you should see inside her fridge
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=weird+al+something+living+in+the+fridge+today&&view=detail&mid=11562E4D371E21BB38CE11562E4D371E21BB38CE&FORM=VRDGAR
Calm, you puttin' out WHAM episodes like you hittin your keyboard with a hammer.
KEEP IT UP, DOOD!
HOLY SHIT.
HOLY SHIIIIIIT!!
EVERYTHING. MAKES. SENSE. NOW!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
MY BRAIN LITERALLY PUFF AND I WAS LIKE WHAT AND THEN LIKE NOOOO AND THEN LIKE KNEW IT AND THE LIKE WTF!? AND THEN LIKE WHAT NOW?! ANDTHEN LIKE WHAT IS HE DOING HERE?! ANDTHEN LIKE AAAAAAAHHHHH AND THEN LIKE FUCK IT AND THEN LIKE WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU CELESTIA?! AND THEN LIKE SOARIN PLEASE THINK ABOUT DASH!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH.
Midday Giggle.exe has ceased functioning.
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Yeah... Pretty much that's it.
Am I the only one who thinks they should take away the throne from the gods and give it to the Elements of Harmony? Just a thought.
Sombra's still the villain here, he did try to make himself immortal. So he really has no one to blame here but himself.
Sure Celestia was a douche and lied a lot, but what can you expect. Sombra's just being a little bitch.
Now, after all that drama here's a funny video.
damn, he makes a good point but at the same time I wonder if he is aware of the entity that is in contact with the shadow bolts... maybe that is the threat Celestia foresaw?
"Well now, this is sure to rustle a few jimmies over in the theory vault!"
i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--o2d3OKPY--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/mewlosgidcozvcjbgybr.gif
Even in the wake of great personal tragedy, I emerge from my coffee pot, for I am needed....
rossharrisonnexus.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/batman.gif?w=549
Honestly, these are the final "breadcrumbs" I need to finish my current theories, I think.
As for the reveal...
68.media.tumblr.com/59fa95bfcf85b8d4101f1124416a344a/tumblr_ojodwvNgPs1qb272yo1_500.gif
Nice to be able to confirm some things... XD Am actually taking notes of things for the next podcast, and as soon as Hornet gives the green light, we'll get going.
One thing
FUCKING INTENSE
I mean came on sombra makes a good point
The God revelations!!!
As Marty McFly would say damn that was heavy... I'm honestly hoping Soarin can come to some sort of arrangement to share the body and fix Equestria
Great chapter Calm see ya in the next one!
Featured! Great chapter by the way
There are a few problems in Sombra story. As they should be, too bad I don't have the time to explain them.
Damn, this is some real shit right here.
This has certainly brought things into perspective, but like all revelations told from one person's point of view, there is bias and probably errors due to incomplete information. Sombra certainly hasn't made the transition to good guy all of a sudden, even if it's Celestia's fault that he has ended up like this. The mere fact that he is still more than prepared to destroy Soarin and steal his body to "save" Equestria is a massive red flag. And although Celestia's response to Sombra's desire to become immortal was horrible, she may have had some genuine mitigating circumstances. The upshot of this chapter is that although many details have become clearer, none of the major powers is free from blame. Some are just worse than others.
sweetness
presently the theory speculation bit of my head is wondering whether this story is a long allegory for the benefits of separating church and state, along with soarin and the wonderbolts leading a coup d'etat and establishing a democracy
and another bit is going
i.ytimg.com/vi/Hb1zt40lunA/maxresdefault.jpg
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Uh... straight dude, two attractive (or at least fit) females playing rump nip.... his stallion mind must be jumping up in his head and doing hahzaas and hand stands and shouting "Oh oh, horny mare! Two horny mares! And they're so lonely they're practicing kissing me on each other! Wait... oh." and then it curls up in a corner to cry because all he can do is run to the end of the old ball and chain and bark.
No wonder he's such a grouch.
Lead Runner: And am a artist at the craft stud!
Silver: And stop that giggling, colt who probably visits some queer boutique then his own invalid grandmother!
LR: Get laid old top who spends his days off chucking small pox blankets into orphanages!
S: Yeah, good come back, stick pony who grew maybe two maybe three inches at the age of eighteen then spent the night crying in front of his mirror "If you loved me Celestia why did you make me this way!"
Celestia = Kayn Ost ??????
Psibly?? Or am I just crazy??
That was a very interesting Sombra origin i have to admit Calm.Realy nicely written there!There are so much juice still left in this Celes-Sombra-Discord conflict so it too early to jump into any rush conclusions.However there is something i will side with Sombra even if its from his own point of view.He loved her dearly back then and what his only wish was to continue to love her for all eternity.Call him crazy because he believed he could break the barrier between mortals and gods but he was realy desparate given the little time he had at his disposal.True Love is a powerfull emotion and sometimes it makes people surpass their limits for their beloved ones.If Celes loved him back the same way she shouldnt treat him that way like some short of monster so his hatred towards isnt totaly unjustified.I cant speak any futher for her part because as i said we still lack some vital info and we just begun putting the pieces of the puzzle together.
It doesn't. Sombra may have told the truth, but only as far as he is concerned. Celestia may be a selfish pony, but has Equestria not prospered under her rule? Did she not unite Equestria to stop the fighting? She was a commander, not a warrior, and therefore she had a different role to play in the wars. She had to stay back so she could see where to redirect the effort against the dragons.
It's like Sombra is forgetting about Luna in the process and just thinks of her the same as Celestia. Luna was the warrior between the two. She has her own free will and she had her own grudges, story, and life to live.
Ultimately, it's Sombra's fault for putting Celestia up so high. It's he who's the bigger hypocrite; When you see someone important, you hold them to a higher standard than you yourself cannot fulfill, yet when it turns out they can't fulfill them constantly, you shit on them. And that goes for everyone who's ever held their heroes to a standard they themselves couldn't hold. That's exactly what Sombra is doing here. He's forgetting that Celestia is trying. The important isn't to stay on the high road all the time. If you fall down, you dust yourself off and get back on.
Thing is, Sombra himself cannot go that road. He failed the ascension part already by doing all those atrocities, hence why Celestia was shocked by his actions. He didn't see himself do anything wrong to begin with, so he was already as gone as Aerys II with the first act. Celestia fell in love with him as he was beforehand, a handsome, charming king who was caring and considerate for his fellow ponies. And if he had simply come to Celestia and expressed his urges to stay with her, they might have found a way together. But since he didn't... well, no wonder he went downhill at the speed of "Whoa, what was that?!"
In short, he's not taking any responsibility for his actions and merely sees himself in the right if it means he gets to become a god. Anything else can go fuck off for all he cares. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Sombra the Mad King.
Sombra…he…isn't wrong, however the way he's going about things is completely upside down. He still intends to take over Soarin's body and, in the process, would be killing Dash as well.
Killing two ponies for his goals.
He wouldn't be any better than Celestia if he did that. There may not be any other way, but that still wouldn't change the fact. Then he also basically, I assume, wants to murder Discord and Luna.
Also, if he did take over Soarin, killed Luna and Discord, what the hell would he say to Equestria?? Like, "oh hey! I'm your new leader now. Luna and Celestia were totally evil and I killed one of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony! Do you love me?" Equestria wouldn't be very pleased. Especially Cadence, Twilight and the rest of them Elements. He says he would be better, but he would have killed several to achieve his goals. Again, no better than Celestia.
Twister = Discord theory basically fucking confirmed.
Nice... so sombra technically still has his own body... still I think it's kyan ost
I am lost for words..... Sombra made some pretty good arguments against Celly.....and now I am confussed WHO are the REAL enemy? Is it Sombra? Is it the gods themselves?!
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As of recently, she has been, but lets not forget how long she hid in the castle and let the Renegades do the dirty work
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is gonna be fluffeh
8435111
Oh there will still be plenty of mystery left over, maybe even some new ones
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thats a fairly accurate summary
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Been waiting to get to this part, revealing information that helps clear up mysteries is one of my favorite parts of storytelling
8435164
Of course... We've only heard Sombra's side of the story, after all
Thanks!
8435212
Perhaps he is... and perhaps there is truth to much of what he says, but we most certainly can't treat him as being in the right, at least not until we know more.
8435244
I guess we'll know more if he finally let's celestia give her side of the story
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Thanks bro!
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REBOOT REBOOT!
8435341
Perhaps, but we won't know in full until we hear more. That is, if he lets Celestia speak long enough to give her side of the story
8435375
At this point we don't know, do we?
We don't know who the entity is beyond a name. Who KNOWS what the truth could really be? 
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Oh as if I would dump ALL of the breadcrumbs on you at once...
Better keep that bread basket out, cause I have plenty more coming your way as we go forward
8435400
Indeed he does, but i wonder if there is more?
8435405
GREAT SCOTT!