The reformed King?

by Ravenray

King of no Kingdom

It all started one fateful night, one night that would change everything. Sombra with the power of his horn that was lying in the middle of a forest, after months and possibly over a year of trying, was now able to fully bring his body back into its full state once again. The Crystal empire wasn't on his mind this time, he had attempted and sadly failed, he wasn't foolish enough to go for a third time, though that didn't stop him in trying to be a king again. That thought caused Sombra's eyes to widen "where's my crown?!" He thought aloud as he darted his head around almost violently, that was when he began his search, he checked every bush he could find for 10 miles in every direction, the same with every tree, every hole, every small hill, everything. He then went further in every direction, again and again and again.

He searched for so long that the night went to day and the day went to night as the King slowly became more desperate, he needed his attire, it was so important to him now it would be like losing a leg or two, he finally decided to do something risky, his horn began to glow slightly, he had a magical link to his cape and crown so he knew that link would lead him straight to it, his magic began to expand creating a long line of a soft red line that began from Sombra and ventured into the crystal empire, Sombra waited until the spell was just about to make it to the castle and then let go of the spell, he couldn't just have some glowing line catching everyone's attention and he couldn't say for certain that it didn't already. However one thing that he was sure if was he needed to get into that castle, get his crown and cape and leave to go as far away from this disgusting place as possible.

His plan then got sent into motion, he used his lacking of a uniform to his advantage and forced himself to smile the way normal ponies did, he felt exposed and pathetic, what really didn't help was the fact that even with his convincing smile (that hurt his cheeks immensely) and the fact that no one seemed to put two and two together when it came to his looks (no one even looked at him) he felt as if all eyes were on him, that any screw up could have him locked up in a dungeon forced to do hard labour with nothing more than scraps for sustenance and on top of that multiple torturous lectures by the princess of love herself and if she was cruel enough, actual torture itself.

When Sombra made it near to the castle instead of trying to enter right through the front door he went around to the side where he had planted a trap door that he unlocked with his dark magic, an escape route he had in place that only he or anyone else with dark magic could make visible to the eye. He opened the door and walked in, it was a secluded area of the castle that he kept for himself, no one was aloud to enter, it was a place where he could relax and clear his head...until now. As Sombra looked around he could tell something was wrong, the door that was the main entrance usually had 5 locks on it, now there was just the one key lock, he looked at his book that he had wrote about his past life before becoming king, it was open, on the last page on top of that it wasn't cantered the way he always made sure it was.

It was clear, someone else was in here, possibly more than just one, however there was an upside to this, as whoever found his secluded area must have also found his cape and crown, both hanging off of a rack in the back of the room. Sombra went to retrieve both items but as he took them off the rack an alarm immediately began announcing his presence.

Sombra quickly put on his crown and cape as guards charged into the room, knocking the door down, normally the unicorn King would lecture someone on such behaviour, especially to one of his doors, but this was not the time or the place. Sombra rushed for the escape door he entered through but just as he opened it he was welcomed by multiple armoured ponies with spears along with princess cadence who shot the unicorn a glare so vicious it could challenge the iconic stare of Fluttershy. Sombra attempted to blast them all into oblivion, but nothing happened, his horn merely flickered slightly before returning to normal.

In this brief amount of time Sombra was taken down from behind by the guards that came in earlier and he was subdued, while Cadence at this point seemed more confused than relieved, something had happened to the unicorn King, something that needed an answer as fast as possible.

<*>

A few hours later as Celestia was just about to raise the sun while Luna began stumbling tiredly to the exit of the room in a puff of smoke a letter appeared. Luna took notice of this and stumbled back to her elder sister, passioning herself to peer over Celestias shoulder as she read the note.

Dear princess Celestia and princess Luna.

Something that I had deemed impossible has just proved itself to be true, Sombra is alive! However something is off, he's weak, very weak. On top of that he refuses to speak at all, the only reaction he seems to have is if someone goes too close to his crown or cape that he had taken from the castle. If it isn't too much trouble I must ask that the two of you come here immediately, I don't know if he's just waiting for his magic to come back or if he's genuinely lost it all.

Yours sincerely Princess Cadence.

Immediately after reading the note Luna's eyes snapped awake ones again "sister! We must be on our way immediately! We must prepare ourselves for any challenge that may unfold if Sombra is merely putting on a shameless act!"

Celestia however shook her head slowly before smiling slightly "no Luna" she began in a soft tone as she finished raising the sun "I don't believe we'll be needing anything for battle, let us just be on our way" and with that Celestia's horn began to glow and before Luna could protest in anyway the two of them disappeared from the canterlot castle and immediately summoned themselves into the Crystal Empire.

A few minutes later they were outside an interrogation room looking in at King Sombra, this time it was shining armour who attempted to speak with him at it was clear he was growing rather impatient "Sombra you need to understand that we are not here to throw you in a cell once again, we just need to know what happened and we'll decide what to do with you after that"

Sombra didn't respond, however Celestia noticed that the unicorn kings head slowly began to move and it continued till Sombra was looking directly at the two elder sisters, the glare he gave off almost made Celestia's skin crawl and Luna could not help but be shook either. They couldn't tell if they were looking at a broken unicorn or a unicorn ready to break someone else.

Once shining realised the two sisters were there he stepped out of the room and walked to them "thank goodness you are hear, I asked him anything I could but he refuses to speak, Celestia do you think you could make him comply even a little?" Shining armour asked, looking slightly concerned.

Celestia nodded in return "I'll see what I can do, till then I ask everyone to leave, if he refuses to speak I doubt he'd speak while everyone is hear to listen" Celestia explained. After that Shining armour and Luna left with the few guards that were still around. Celestia looked to Sombra to see he wasn't looking at her anymore, he was once again just staring at the wall.

Celestia slowly walked into the room and despite her arrival, Sombra didn't move. "Hello Sombra" she said in a soft and caring tone "you remember me, don't you?" She asked before taking her seat opposite him. Sombra did not respond.

Celestia looked at his mane, it was dirty and all over the place, same with the rest of his body, dried dirt marks almost made him look less black and more brown at this point "what happened to you Sombra? I doubt you'd let yourself look such a way by choice" Sombra did not respond.

Celestia of course came to the obvious conclusion that wherever he ended up he was captured soon after, though that wasn't the main mystery Celestia wanted an answer to "why did you return to the crystal empire for your crown and cape Sombra?" At this it was almost as if Sombra moved slightly back in his chair, but he did not respond. Celestia then decided to do something she may regret later, she needed to know what Sombra would do if she took his crown. Celestia used a small bit of magic and held onto the crown, suddenly Sombra looked distressed, almost afraid, he immediately put both hooves on his horn to make sure it would not leave his head. However that wasn't enough, Celestia managed to take it off, Sombra was now shaking slightly as he tried using his magic, but with the same result as before and just before Celestia could get the crown onto one of her hooves Sombra leaped onto the table and grabbed the crown off her and placed it back on his head, the glare he gave her was the most serious glare she'd ever seen, there was nothing she could compare it to, not even an enraged beast, Sombra was something else.

Then he sighed before turning his back to her "leave princess, I do not wish to speak with you, or with anyone" he exclaimed with a slight growl in his tone.

Celestia however shook her head "I'm sorry Sombra, but I can't, I need to know what is going on, you can't stay here forev-"

Celestia was quickly cut off by Sombra stomping a hoof on the table "what's going on? What's going on?!" Sombra turned to Celestia again, fully showing his rage "I'll tell you what's wrong Celestia! I ruled this kingdom! I ruled it for centuries! Then after being dead no thanks to your despicable friends everything was taken from me! My crown! My cape! Even an area in the castle I built with my own two hooves for when I needed to be away from everyone that nobody else should ever enter!... I was reborn as a king with no kingdom, I was left with no crown and no cape and if you really want to know why a King looks such a mess the answer is I looked for my crown everywhere! And since I was captured all anyone seems to want to do is take it from me!" Sombra tried to blast her, nothing happened, he tried again, nothing happened, he continued trying getting the same result over and over and over again.

Celestia couldn't help but be sorry for the unicorn King and could almost see a tear in his eye "Sombra....Sombra look at me"

Sombra suddenly charged at the princess of the sun and shouted "IT'S KING SOMBRA TO YOU" Before Sombra could reach her however Celestia suspended him in the air with her magic as Sombra tried doing everything he could to get out of her grasp.

Celestia just sighed before allowing him to descend and he just collapsed on his stomach while on the table, Celestia now realised what was wrong, he wasn't mad cause he failed, or that he was around ponies that caused his death, he was merely upset that he had lost everything and now was clinging to the only things he had left, which were his attire, it seemed as if he kept them more so to remind himself he's King more so to remind everyone else he's King.

Celestia then stood up and lifted Sombra's chin up with her hoof and gave a kind smile "I'm sorry for your loss Sombra and I'm sorry for trying to take your crown, I don't want you to just rot in a cell and you seem to have lost everything you had from your past life, so how about we help each other? "

Sombra just looked a tad annoyed and replied "what's the catch princess? You can't make me believe all will be forgiven and I can just go off and start a new" he growled.

Celestia shook her head, her face becoming more stern "of course not, you've killed too many innocent ponies Sombra, though while I have an idea it is risky but it could work, if you don't mind I'd like to take you somewhere before I explain it to you" she explained before giving him a slight smirk hoping to heighten his interest.

Luckily Sombra couldn't help but be slightly intrigued, that was probably the most interesting thing that he heard all day and so he nodded "ok Celestia~ I'll play along with what you have to say, after all if I don't comply I'll be stuck here and I'd rather die then do that, though if you don't mind I'd like to collect some things before we leave and of course I'm sure you alone don't have the authority alone to allow me to leave " Sombra raised an eyebrow with a smirk, he was interested to see how Celestia would convince the other rulers to let him even step outside the room he was in without being covered in chains.

<*>
As Celestia left Sombra she was wondering how exactly to word her idea to her fellow rulers, though she didn't have enough time as she made it to the door and on the other side there were two eagerly waiting princesses along with an annoyed shining armour who still seemed annoyed from Sombra giving him the silent treatment.

"What happened sister?" Luna asked breaking the silence in the room "did he finally speak his mind"

Celestia nodded "yes, he did actually became pretty talkative after a bit of persuasion, he's not planning anything I've gathered that much, but one things for certain he's feeling miserable in there, though I have an idea one that I wish to speak to you all on.....I want to bring Sombra to ponyvill in hopes if reforming him"

"WHAT?!?!" All three ponies shouted in unison and shining armour was quick to follow up on it "you can't be serious! He's Sombra! He deserves to rot for what he's done!"

Cadence darted towards her husband after he made the claim "nobody deserves that Shining, no one, if Celestia has a plan, we should hear her out"

Celestia nodded "from speaking with Sombra I've found that he feels as if he's lost who he once was, his kingdom, his title and so on, so I think the best course of action is to allow Sombra to gain a new outlet on life, he has an opportunity to start a new, we shouldn't waste that by putting him in a cage because of fear of the King Sombra from over a thousand years ago"

Cadence was first to nod in agreement "I see, so you are planning to reform Sombra? Forgive me if I come off as rude for questioning you Celestia but....who could possibly reform Sombra? You said you were bringing him to ponyvill so I doubt you will suggest yourself or Luna, I know Fluttershy managed to reform Discord but...this is Sombra, the difference between them is so vast you don't even need to look at either of them"

Luna then decided to chime in "indeed, Fluttershy is far too soft for someone such as Sombra, rainbow dash lives in the clouds making it impossible for her to be his reformer and-"

Celestia raised a hoof before nodding "forgive me for cutting you off Luna but yes I can see clearly where you are coming from, it's easy to see a problem with any of the girls carrying this burden, however if I told you that a kind gentle pony like Fluttershy would be capable of reforming Discord would you believe me?" Luna seemed ready to interject but decided against it and shook her head "I've given this some thought, reforming Sombra will be a much longer process than reforming Discord and Fluttershy I don't see as the one capable of doing the job. I believe the best way to reform Sombra is to make him feel like he belongs, I would suggest he stay with the apple family in attempts to assure that, though I wouldn't want to hinder Apple Jacks family and make her being one of the elements seem like a burden, so I'm suggesting someone who could potentially connect with Sombra on more than just good and evil, Sombra isn't just a tyrant after all, he's an intelligent pony who has clearly worked hard and studied a lot of magic, does that sound familiar?"

Shining armour then stood up as the pieces began to click "no! Are you suggesting-?!"

"Twilight Sparkle" Celestia finished and then the entire room went completely quite, no one truly seemed to want to agree or interject with the decision that the princess of the sun had come too, but they all needed an answer.

<*>

Sombra was sitting in the interrogation room where Celestia had recently left him, once she left Sombra had begun counting downwards from 180 once he finally made it to 1 he heard the door open, an accomplished grin stretching itself across his face as he glanced over to the door, only for him to go back to his dark lifeless look that he had before Celestia had come once he seen not only Princess Celestia but all the other princesses along with shining armour enter the room. He absolutely loved the glare that shining gave him but of course Sombra didn't react or show any signs of acknowledging him, there was no way he'd give that weakling the satisfaction of believing his stare could ever cause any living creature to feel fear.

Cadence seemed a bit concerned at the fact that Sombra's facial expression had not changed since his long lasted case of silent treatment, however Celestia on the other hand just held a soft smile "King Sombra, I have good news for you" Celestia announced, while the others seemed confused as to why the princess of the sun called him by his title if 'King'

Sombra smirked, letting out a slight chuckle "let me guess, Shining Armour has finally decided to step down?" He asked, the joke clearly angering Shining as he intended, though Celestia sighed and continued.

"No, you are allowed come with my sister and I back to ponyvill and you are allowed take whatever you wish from your room you told me about earlier" she explained and surprisingly gave Sombra a wink which caused him to blush slightly with his eyes widened.

"Uh, um, I see th-thank you" he stuttered, feeling slightly taken aback from the wink, perhaps it was a form of punishment for aggravating Shining Armour, while Sombra felt like he should instead get a reward instead, though he knew if he made the suggestion his chances of leaving would begin to lower, instead he decided to reply calmly "excellent, so should I head to pack my things now? I lost track of time a while ago though I'm assuming it's daylight and you'd like to return to your routine before anything gets out of hand"

Sombra looked up to see everyone even Celestia wide eyed, meanwhile Sombra just turned his head to the side slightly "what? Did I say something wrong?" He asked curiously, clearly bewildered by the looks he was getting.

Luna shook her head slightly to get her mind off of what just happened "forgive us, we did not expect to you to be so considerate of our daily responsibilities" Luna explained to which the others nodded in agreement.

Sombra sighed, as he placed a hoof on his forehead, while in a way he understood their surprise he also felt a bit insulted from their reaction "did you forget I'm a King? I know the struggles of running a kingdom, I understand how important it is to stay on schedule. I may be a tyrant and despise you all but I respect good leadership, so if a leader wishes to return to their kingdom I believe it or not am capable of respecting that." He explained before getting up from the chair "well then, shall we?"

Celestia smiled slightly and nodded "I'm sorry if we came off as rude their Sombra and yes you are right we should be heading off now, though you can take as much time as you wish getting ready" Celestia explained and then Sombra nodded in response before walking out, giving Shining Armour a slight grin as he did so.

As Sombra walked away the same question echoed through everyone's minds..... "Is this really happening?"

Author's Note:

Information about this story may be subject to change, anyways I hope you all enjoy this story as I post it I worked very hard in this chapter and I wanted to try and show a different side of Sombra at the beginning of this, anyways if you can please give feedback it's much appreciated 👍🏻