The Crystal Empire. A great kingdom, new in its birth, and unproven, but with much to gain if it moves fast. It holds enough troops to put up a great deal of resistance, especially when led by a stallion who has no moral obligations, and magic no other pony has ever used.
On the other side, we have Equestria. At peace for so long, and yet, still having a strong, standing army. Its length gives itself plenty of resources, but to cross such terrain takes time. Led by a powerful bureaucrat, and supposedly no sister, Celestia is a force few would wish to deal with, and many are inspired by.
Who wins when these two clash?
If anyone else thinks of Germany and Russia here, you know why I made this. I hope to look at all the ways Sombra could fail, or even perhaps, win. I have plenty of thoughts on the matter myself, but if you would like to suggest a way for this timeline to go for either side's favor, please, let me know, I will take it into consideration.
Thank you to RK_Striker and StardustSurvivor.
I HEART IT SO FAR
Humm mixed feelings, though I am tending to lean toward any victory Sombra has being a short term one. Two reasons come to mind. Sombra is tyrant and tyrants inevitably fall because they don't care about their people only power, eventually even obedience isn't enough to please the tyrant and even the loyal are punished, and once obedience offers no protection even his supporters will turn on him. Second reason is Equestria exists in a world ruled by destiny and harmony, and Sombra can't change that no matter what he does, he can only knock things "off track", eventual the powers that be WILL cause his down fall. The nature of tyrants and of the world he lives in are always against him, a foe he can't slay or enslave.
Is this story at all based off of that one alternate timeline from The Cutie Re-mark?
6699219 Yes, or at least mostly.