King Sombra, trapped in a limbo between life and death, must find out who is stealing his dark power... before the thief unintentionally triggers a disaster that will destroy the Crystal Empire. However, without a physical body, the wizard's options are limited. A young earth pony, Cobalt Blue, seems to be the best hope at finding and securing Sombra's horn, but even with Howe, a surprisingly competent changeling, aiding the two of them, their odds of success are low. After all, can they really hope to solve the mystery behind the theft of Sombra's power in a week's time... when this puzzle has stumped Sombra, one of the greatest geniuses of his age, for several moons?
Part Of Bucking Nonsense's Nonsense-Verse. This story connects A Meal Fit For A King, Cooking Roach, How Much Is Freedom Worth, Nor Iron Bars A Cage, and Who Are You And What Have You Done With Diamond Tiara?
New Story Up! I know you guys have been waiting for this one!
So we finally get to see it ... Sombra's return and redemption ... and young Cobalt is at the heart of it? No real surprise. Hmmm ... a sympathy for downtrodden children ... I do wonder if he himself clawed his way to power from a life of slavery and/or starvation.
LOL ... I blame Tolkien for the volcano obsession ... not every villain is Sauron.
4956426
Well, magma is a good way to destroy just about anything. Immersion in 700-900 degrees Celsius (1292-1662 Fahrenheit, and that's the lowest temperatures for magma. Some volcanoes burn even hotter) will melt most metals, nevermind flesh and blood. it is a perfectly rational fear/weakness to have. The only thing better would be launching him into the sun.
4956448
Well, if Celestia got involved, the sun would be a definite possibility.
This is going to end with Cobalt showing all of Sombra's good qualities to the princesses, like he did with the other orphans, to get him off the hook, isn't it?
4956448 The best way to destroy something is to 'throw it into the fires from whence it came!
4956448 Point ... I'd just expect a lot more Horcruxes, Artifacts of Doom, and other evil McGuffins to be given better protection against that, whether magical or simply the use of fantastical materials with a higher melting point. Although, even if they were, that would render them effectively out of reach for most creatures - I'd hate to have to fish something out of a volcano, even with effective protection. I was mostly joking about Tolkien making that passe anyway.
4956492
No, but a good guess
4956590
.
Well, all life begins with the sun
In truth, life exists between two great furnaces, the molten core of the earth and the fiery inferno of the sun. Either one will cook you to ash if you venture too close.
4956730 so I guess the One Ring wasn't really destroyed, as it was origionaly from the Big Bang, if you go back far enough. Guess it's really indestructible...
4956779
All gold is created in supernovas, I've heard, so maybe throwing it into the sun would work.
The next time you wear gold bling, remember: A sun had to die in order for you to wear that, so you'd best appreciate it.
4956793 I bet in the future humans make machines to create supernovas then harvest gold.
4956448 Or dropping a nuclear bomb. That tends to work.
I don’t know. I’m more partial to the phrase “hippy-dippy hooey” myself.
4956831
Well, I felt like quoting The Lego Movie today, so I went with that instead. I am a whimsical fellow, after all
4956859
Well, you are Bucking Nonsense. “Baloney” is practically your name.
Hm, yes, that will do perfectly.
Bucking Nonsense Balderdash Baloney von Humbug III.
4956872
MY TRUE NAME!!! NOOOOOOOOO!!!
*Head Explodes*
4956884
Unbelievable! He was stuffed full of confetti and cake frosting!
Why, we’ll never find out who was really behind all this!
4956903 Think about those contents and guess.
4956968
We’ll never find out!
I lick your stories and this one will br good to. I can't wait.
4957080 Isn't the screen hard to read if you keep licking it?
Ok, sooooo. Now that I'm considerably less dunck and considerably more hungover I gave this a reread. First I noticed that orphan this time. So thats a thing. You like writing about orphans I noticed. Which takes alot... Second, I've been waiting for you to make a sombra story. This won't disappoint. Thirdly, I'm a bit of a fan. I like everything you do. Um, so yeah....not in the creepy way though. I guess thats all for now.
So how does our little orphan become part of one of the wealthiest and eccentric families in the land? I am intrigued…
And yeah, Sombra's fear of being thrown in lava is funny.
Good start and cant wait to see Sombra understand that in the long run evil does not pay off.
When is next chapter of The King Is Dead, Long Live The Emperor! coming?
One of these days you'll need to give us a Chronology for your stories, BN.
So a new universe....a nonscence-verse......you know what? -I agree, it's a universe of nonsence.....it's propably the source of it's charm.....
NEW CHAPTER UP!!!
Heh, I'll go ahead and say this: If Sombra's life had turned out differently, I honestly think he could have been the medieval version of Batman.
...was that Celestia?
4969750
You mean if Starswirl hadn't taken him in? So basically, it's Starswirl and Clover's fault that Sombra became one of the most evil beings ever known to Equestria instead of a hero?
Nice job breaking it, heroes.
Awesome ... I wasn't quite expecting Sombra to have been a sewer dweller ... I just love those scares ... it's like Home Alone meets Earnest Scared Stupid. I especially liked the fish guts. *sings* Gobs and gobs of greasy, grimy guppy guts! And for some reason, I'm hearing Starswirl sounding like Ian McKellen here; seen Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit too many times, I guess. Hmmm ... an odd idea occurred to me ... could Sombra have planned a corruption-purging resurrection all along, starting from when he began to fall in earnest?
4969963
I can see I am not the only one who casts Sir Ian McKellen as Mr. Swirly.
As for Sombra’s plan, well, if there’s one thing we have observed about this Sombra, it’s that he is nothing if not exceptionally clever. I wouldn’t put it past him to Xanatos his way out of his current predicament.
4970025 Of course he is; the only question is how, and how much of it will be planned out and how much will be improvised. Given his performance here, I'd put him somewhere between Batman and Pinkie Pie ... hella prepared, but with a LOT of improvisation and flexibility.
Oh, any thoughts/inclinations towards Clover or Colt!Sombra?
4969910
Clover The Clever.
Nice story. Surprising that a Sombra said something so corny that he wanted to puke.
I didn't expect. Sombra to have met Starswirl or Clover.
Interesting. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
Okay, this has some serious potential - showing Sombra as an innocent, rough youth, but with just enough delight in the macabre to justify his eventual corruption (which I doubt will have been entirely a result of dark magic).
However, I do have to wonder about the timescale - this clearly happens before the hearth's warming story, so before the unification of Equestria (which brings up the question of where the crystal empire fits into that), yet Sombra was only defeated 1000 years before the show's time (give or take a few hundred). I somehow doubt that the founding of Equestria, building into a unified power, Discord's reign and defeat and the princesses' rise to power, not to mention how many years, centuries or even millennia passed between these events, or any that haven't been revealed or merely slipped my mind, all happened within one pony's lifetime.
That said, I'm sure this will be revealed in the coming chapters, but it makes me wonder is all. Heck, maybe this isn't the first thousand-year-gambit Sombra's pulled off.
4956678
Unless that Vulcanoe erupts - Then the artifact is thrown, depending on the strength of the eruption, a few hundred or thousand meters up and several (dozen) kilometres away. And it would be inside a rock. As hard to find, but less hard to get when you found it.
Any word on the next chapter of Saving Sombra?
5470143
When I can get to it.
I LOVE this story so far! I like how it`s really funny too. (even though it is a commedy anyways!)
I LOVE THIS CHAPTER. umm. Can`t wait for your next one!
oh, that reminds me of a scene in a Diskworld book: a group of monks who believed that if they listened hard enough, they could catch an echo of the words of God when he made the world...to be eligible, someone needed hearing good enough to tell if a flipped coin had landed heads or tails...
and that part about the volcano made me think of an obscure novel...the protagonist and his fellows had overthrown their evil master, capturing most of his power in a jewel and dropping him into a volcano. but then they started arguing about what to do with the jewel...eventually they dropped it into the SAME volcano-BIG mistake!
As the adpted son of Penny Whistle I'd imagine