Fear... Darkness... All he felt was agony and terror. Somehow, he knew he deserved it, and that this could be his punishment. twenty years before he was forced into his shadow form, then another thousand before he even tried to move again. Then he lost. One burst of energy was all it took to destroy him. Everypony else thought he was gone forever, even himself. What will happen when he's given another chance to live? Will he be able to right past wrongs? Or is it simply easier to revert to the dark?
It was a flash of light, and he was gone. There were no remains of the tyrant of the Crystal Empire. The new Crystal Princess took her throne, with the prince at her side. This was surely the end of King Sombra. But was it the end of Sombra, the unicorn? If he were given another chance, would he try to take over again, or would he try to make amends, like Luna, Discord, and Sunset Shimmer?
It had been nearly a year, and these questions still rattled in the Princess's mind. She looked at her reflection, with her element of harmony on her head, like she was supposed to make a public appearance. "Twilight?" Spike asked, walking in, "Is something wrong?"
Twilight Sparkle shook her head, "No, Spike. Everything's fine. You were out visiting Rarity, right?"
"Actually, Rarity's in Fillydelphia, showing some of her outfits. So I was talking with Sweetie Belle and her friends."
The lights went out. Though she was right next to the window, and it was early in the afternoon, Twilight was plunged into total darkness, only hearing a terrorized scream, that of a teenage stallion.
------
"Sombra, you really should come to school." Aurora Borealis said. She was white, with a multicolored mane and tail, mostly shades of deep blue and pale gold, though the colors seemed to shift constantly.
"Why?" The colt asked her, "Nopony likes me there. I learn just as much hanging around here at the library, and nopony makes fun of me here."
Aurora sighed, "C'mon, it can't be that bad. Just because you don't have a cutie mark yet--"
Sombra's eyes flared for a moment, "It's not just the cutie mark, Aurora! Everypony makes fun of me because I'm the only pony in the whole Crystal Empire who doesn't have a crystal coat!" His horn lit up with its aura and a book came down from the shelf. "Just let me get to my studies.. Please. You don't want to be late."
------
"Princess? Are you alright?" A guard stood next to Twilight.
She stood up and looked at him, "Didn't all the lights go out..?"
"Uh, Twilight..." Spike said, a worried look on his face, "You just collapsed. I sent a letter to Princess Celestia about it and rushed to get help. Not in that order, but..."
"Th-thanks, Spike, but was there some sort of scream afterwards?"
"Other than me screaming your name before running for help? No."
Suddenly, Spike looked a bit nauseous. A burst of green flame came out, and a scroll materialized.
Twilight focused for a moment, "I can't levitate it right now... My power's completely drained."
After Aurora left, Sombra stood and put the book away, "Another spell to practice.." He said to himself. The librarian watched the young unicorn leave the building and go to the fields.
------
The red and black horn glowed brightly as he focused. Dark red crystals formed around the field, growing into tall spires.The aura around Sombra's horn stopped shining as he finished the spell, looking at the rubies he'd just synthesized. "Maybe I could sell them." He thought, wondering if the vendors would believe they were real.
"Hey everypony! Look! It's the dull-coated bookworm!" A red crystal pony shouted as he approached, "He's made some rocks!"
Sombra groaned and started to walk away.
"Hold on, Sombra. You've got to take credit for your artwork. Nopony else'll want to!" He laughed, along with the three others with him; a green, a blue, and a gold.
"Look, Flare, I'm not in the mood for your taunts, so leave me alone for once." Sombra said angrily, his nostrils flaring.
"When are you going to learn to stop talking to Sunrise Flare like that?" The blue interjected. She had a pale mane and tail, and her mark was a gold harp.
"I'd rather not talk to him at all," Sombra retorted, "So, Acoustic Sapphire, how about getting your high-and-mighty flank away from me? And take Topaz and Emerald with you!"
Ten minutes later, Sombra would limp away from the field, a tear falling from his eye, and bruises blemishing his coat.
------
Twilight paced back and forth, "What could this even mean, Spike? My power, Celestia, Luna, and Cadence's power, drained all at the exact same time? Even Shining Armour was affected!"
"I don't know, Twiight," Spike said, "But Princess Celestia called you to come and meet her in the Crystal Empire castle for--Okay, seriously, stop pacing, you'll put a hole in the floor of the train--anyway, she called you for a reason.
Twilight gasped, "Oh, no! What if somepony's hurt?! Spike, what if our power was used to make some kind of attack? I mean, I've never heard of somepony's power getting hijacked like that, but it's possible, isn't it?!" She steadily got faster, "Whatif Cadence never getsherpowerback?! OrPrincessCelestia,whatifshe'spermanentlyweakened?Sheisfourthousandyearsoldand--Ow!"
Spike was standing with a tray held out to the side so that Twilight would walk into it, "Get a hold of yourself, Twilight!!"
She stopped in her tracks, "You're right, Spike. I'm sorry."
------
Cadence smiled as she saw Twilight enter the room, "Twilight!" The two princesses ran to each other, and jumped immediately into a little dance.
"Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!"
"Nice to see some familiarity in the weirdness going on the last few hours," Shining Armour mused as he entered, "Hey, Twilie. We've got to meet at some point when Equestria's not in trouble."
"Got your humor as always, Shining," Twilight rolled her eyes.
Then another surge of power was forced from all three of them. The stallion's scream echoed around all of them again, this time accompanied with a brief sight of a black unicorn, not long enough to identify who it was.
Twilight staggered to her hooves and looked around. As she looked up, she saw Celestia frantically trying to stop her unconscious sister's descent.
Twilight and Cadence only needed a moment to look at each other before they both took flight. Cadence went around Luna's right side while Twilight took her left. With magic drained, their wings were all they could use to save the Princess of the Night. The two younger princesses locked hooves around Luna's chest and flanks as they started descending in order to gently bring her descent to a halt.
Finally, they made it to the ground, and Shining Armour lifted the unconscious princess out of his family's grip to place her on the nearest bench. "What happened?" He asked shortly after.
Celestia landed, panting from her effort, "Cadence, Twilight, Thank you. There was another sudden drain of magic from us. Luna lost more power than I did, and passed out mid-flight."
Twilight nodded, "We felt the drain, too. Do we have any idea what's happening?"
"Yes. I'm not sure why, but the Crystal Heart is taking our power every now and then. That's why we came to the Crystal Empire instead of Canterlot," Celestia told her, "We're here to look at the Heart and find out what's going on."
------
"I hope you'll be okay after this," Aurora told him, "You need to avoid fighting those two."
Sombra groaned, "Actually, there were four of them this time, Aurora."
"Who showed up with them?"
"Topaz Ring and Emerald Choker."
Aurora groaned, "Of course those two would jump into this... Look, Sombra, I have a piece to dispose of. An enchanted gem. Unfortunately, it's unstable, which is why I have to take it to the larger facility so we can get rid of it safely."
Sombra nodded a bit. "Thank you, Aurora." His horn glowed a bright red and the door opened for her. As she left, Sombra gasped, "Oh, by the way, I have something for you."
"Well, then, I'll get it after the magic is removed from the gem," With that, Aurora was out the door, and gone.
Sombra walked over to the bed and opened a small box containing something he'd made. The necklace floated out. The amulet on the necklace was silver, with a single amethyst in the middle. The shape was that of a pony, as one would draw from the front, with an angular style, no legs on it, and it had wings in addition to a horn. The wings were lined with with a gold color at the top.
------
The Crystal Heart was spinning rapidly in front of them, a strange glow coming from the mix of magic taken from the ponies who were staring at it, trying to figure out why it was taking their magic from them.
"Uh, everypony?" Twilight spoke up, "There's something weird about the amount of magic in the Heart. There isn't enough to have wiped all five of us out twice and retained it. What happened to the rest of our power that was drained?"
"That is an excellent point, Twilight," Luna looked around, "It's not reverberating, either. Whatever the Heart is doing, it hasn't released any magic, meaning that some other object is also taking our power away from us."
"But why?" Twilight asked, "Why would this be happening all of a sudden?"
------
The ground shook, startling Sombra back to his hooves from his resting place on the bed. He quickly galloped outside, rushing in the direction of the sound he heard. He reached the clearing where he'd practiced, and saw something that tore him apart. There were splinters of a cart everywhere, and in the middle of it all was Aurora Borealis, her lifeless form unmoving in the sunset.
"Aurora!" Sombra shouted, galloping to her. He placed a hoof on her side and started shaking her, "Wake up! Please, Aurora, don't die on me!!" Tears flooded his eyes as he pushed his hoof into the side of her neck to check for a pulse. There was none.
"What happened here..?" Sunrise Flare walked into the clearing. His look of shock soon turned to anger, "Sombra, what did you do?"
That was it. Sombra's sadness immediately changed to anger as well, "What did I do?! You're trying to blame ME?!"
Red crystals rose from the ground around the crystal pony as dark tendrils formed at the edges of Sombra's eyes. "She was my friend!" He shouted, "My only friend it this whole place!" The necklace he'd made for Aurora slipped out of his bag, and he looked down at it. "That's it..." He said to himself, before turning back to Flare, "For this, and what the Crystal empire has done to me all this time... ALL OF YOU WILL SUFFER FOR IT!"
Sombra then shouted as his horn glowed brightly, as magic power started coming towards him. Every unicorn in the world all felt it at the same time. Their magic was drained, and flowed into the amulet.
The amethyst on the amulet turned a dark red, as well as the gold on the wings. The eye etched into it splintered, turning into an angle on the top. Sombra placed the amulet on his neck and the power coursed through him. He then turned towards the palace, leaving Flare trapped in his cage.
Princess Lumaria got to her hooves, gasping from the sudden drain she'd felt. Her gold coat shone in the sunset as the shadow of her throne extended to the door. The young princess's blue eyes scanned the kingdom from her window, as she brushed a few strands of her silver and red mane out of her eyes. "What happened..?"
"It's very simple, princess," a deepened hiss of a voice said to her from the shadows. "Every unicorn Equestria felt it as well when I took their power. Of course, they'll get it back with rest, but you?"
Sombra's shadow chuckled. All he really wanted was to show the ponies of the Empire what they'd created. Something was nagging at the back of his mind, but his anger and hatred towards them overpowered any of his previous logic. "You won't have the chance. I'm taking your throne, and I can't have a rogue alicorn wandering off to tell her superiors what caused the drain."
Lumaria turned to face the intruder, but saw nothing out of place, "Who are you?" She demanded, faking a brave face, "How did you get past the guards?"
Another laugh through the throne room, "What fool reveals his tactic to the enemy? You'll learn after you're rendered helpless."
Red crystals started growing from the floor, prompting a scream from the alicorn, who turned to flee out the window. Too late. The crystals sprouted in her way, intersecting into a woven wall. Lumaria started firing blast after blast of what little magic she had left in her attempt to fight back. Finally, she hit the floor, "Please, stop!" She begged.
Sombra materialized in front of her, "Bow."
"Wh-what?"
"I said bow. Bow to ME!" He shouted, and she quickly complied, trembling at his hooves.
Sombra pushed the guilt of attacking a princess who hadn't actually wronged him herself to the back of his mind, and laughed, his eyes turning reptilian as he looked down on her, and the tendrils of darkness became prominent. His horn glowed and the crystals faded, only to be replaced with a field showing the entire empire the scene that was unfolding, "Everypony look at the Crystal Princess, and her pathetic failure to protect you!" Another bolt of magic went straight into the sky, forming a dome of red aura around the Empire, "And watch what will happen to anypony who even tries to rise against me."
Lumaria screamed as she was tossed at the throne, her terrified face shown above the tower. Sombra smiled as his horn lit up once more. Just as the guard opened the door, there was a crimson flash and the sadness and fear was cemented throughout the empire. Lumaria's crown shattered as it hit the floor where its owner used to be.
------
Sombra sighed as he stood next to the throne, "Twenty years now, I've been in charge. Shouldn't this be good enough? They know not to mess with me now... No! I can't release them now! They'd kill me!... But they'd be afraid to try, wouldn't they? No! I can't take a chance! I can't just release them!"
Just then, he sensed a powerful force enter the Empire. He opened a chest and put the Amulet around his neck, underneath his cape, and put his act back on, "What's happening he--augh!"
Celestia didn't even allow him to finish his first exclamation before firing a bolt of light straight at him.
"I should have known you'd show up eventually!" Sombra shouted to them, "You and your sister, Princess!"
Celestia and Luna glided down towards this so-called king, and Luna was the one to respond, "We shall not permit this tyranny any longer, even with the isolation the Crystal Empire has always had."
Sombra decided to try hitting Luna's ego, "I don't believe anypony asked you anything. Let the rulers do the talking."
Luna started to retort, but Celestia shook her head, "Luna, stand back. I will take care of him myself."
Sombra smirked, "Don't think you can take me on your own. Every ounce of magic power that you can fire, I can double. How do you think I hid the situation from you?" He desperately hoped they wouldn't call his bluff. They did. Luna and Celestia both fired simultaneous magic blasts at their enemy, sending him falling from the tower. He called crystals to keep him from falling far and started his battle against the princesses.
Bursts of magic sailed through the sky, repeatedly hitting or missing their targets, until finally, Sombra got a powerful shot against Luna. It tore across her chest and her wing, sending her falling to the ground below. Celestia gasped as her sister hit the stone with a loud crack.
"You've made your last mistake, Sombra!" Celestia shouted, firing a single bolt of Sombra's dark magic at him. She then descended to her sister and opened the bag they'd brought, taking the time to check Luna for signs of life. She was relieved by the pulse and breathing she felt, but still needed to finish it.
Sombra struggled for a bit against the crystals that Celestia had conjured, before breaking free, "After only one time seeing the spell...?" He turned his attention to Celestia herself, "Did I succeed in finishing her off?" He sneered, "Or do I need to--"
He couldn't finish the sentence as bolts of light all across the spectrum hit him directly in the chest. He cried out in surprise, pain, and fear all at once as he was sent through the air. He stood slowly from where he landed, a little ways outside of the Empire.
The first thing he noticed was that his armour and cape were on the ground beside him, and the Amulet had fallen further away. He went straight to the amulet, only to find that he couldn't even touch it.
"What?!" He turned to look at the Empire, "Fine, then... The whole place will go out with me!"
------
Celestia gasped as she saw the tower at the center of the Empire vanishing. Gathering her unconscious sister, she immediately took flight and went to the border. Crystal ponies were trying to leave as well, but only Celestia and Luna could get through the barrier Sombra had set. "P-princess Celestia!" A young filly cried out, tears falling from her eyes, "Please help us!"
Immediately, Celestia started focusing to dispel the barrier, but it was too late. The filly, along with the rest of the empire, vanished right in front of her, practically erased from existence.
------
Sombra's memory was a haze of anger, fear, and hate. So much hate. After a thousand years, all he could really think of was his hatred for and domination of the Crystal Empire.
A thousand years had passed. Sombra was now nothing more than a shadow of what he once was. The stallion he'd been before lingered in his mind, unable to surface and give up the new creature's desire for power and revenge. He had all but forgotten the voice he'd once had, and the memories of Aurora were nearly gone as well.
Where were these thoughts coming from?! The creature growled, his crystal slaves would bow in terror once more when--
The Crystal Heart. Somepony had found it, and been foolish enough to activate his alarm spell around it. He growled and activated the trap connected to it, locking whoever it was in the circle. He'd finally broken through the barrier that the filly had created. She was stronger than Lumaria had been, but now it didn't matter. Nopony could stop him from taking his kingdom, and his revenge.
It was mildly amusing when he realized who was now carrying the Heart. A tiny purple dragon desperately trying to get away from the black crystals surrounding him.
On his ever-growing pillar of crystal, it would be easy to catch the dragon when he resorted to jumping, and from there, he would simply dash him on the pillar itself, leave the impaled corpse for all to see. Just as he expected, the dragon jumped towards the balcony below, only to be met by the King himself. Or so the creature expected. The filly flew past, catching the Heart and the dragon, and descending down.
He barely had time to register what was happening. The Crystal Heart was returned to its pedestal, started spinning, and a flash of light. Searing pain shot through his entire body, and it didn't stop. The blinding light stopped, but the pain did not. Sombra surfaced to nothing but excruciating agony and cold darkness.
------
Twilight paced back and forth, books levitating straight from the Empire's library in front of her face and then returning where they came, "I see nothing about this! Why is this so bucking hard to figure OUT?!"
As Twilight shouted, she burst into flame. Her fur turned white hot, her mane and tail stood on end as tongues of gold fire, and her eyes turned red. This lasted for a few seconds before she cooled down, and realized that Spike was trying to get her attention. "Twilight! The Heart! It's spinning!"
Twilight turned around to look at it, "What in equestria..? Spike, go get the other princesses. Tell them what's happening."
------
The pain stopped. The blinding light returned, and dimmed down to normal levels. Sombra shakily got to his hooves and looked around, only to realize he was now in between Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Shining Armour, and some purple alicorn. All looking at him with anger.
Run, was the only thought that came to Sombra's mind, run or they'll kill you again. RUN!
With that, the dark unicorn bolted right past the royals in front of him. "Stop him!" He heard, followed by the hoofbeats of more than one pony, and the sound of wings. He didn't even think to look behind him as he turned corner after corner, desperately trying to get away from the Empire, as he should have done over a thousand years ago. The purple one teleported in front of him, and he did the only thing he could think of. He cast his translocation spell to end up behind her again, before realizing he'd run into a corner. He looked up. Celestia. He looked to the left. Luna. He looked to the right. The corner. He looked behind himself. The purple one and Shining Armour. Cadence came from behind them, and Sombra's horn flashed. The red crystals emerged from the ground, forming a protective cage for Sombra in that corner.
Tears were streaming down his face as he curled up, knowing that some crystals wouldn't keep them separated from him for long, and he braced himself for the royals' strike.
------
The strike never came. Sombra had been just sitting there curled into a ball for nearly five minutes, and nopony had even tried to get past the crystals. He looked up to see that Celestia and Luna were having some form of whispered argument, the purple one and Cadence were talking to each other, and Shining was simply staring at him. Finally, Celestia spoke up, "Twilight. Get four members of the Royal Guard. Two unicorns and two pegasi. Shining Armour, you and those guards will watch King Sombra until we figure out what to do with him."
King Sombra... Sombra thought to himself, I had thought that title would've brought me some joy, or at least satisfaction. But I was wrong. From the start, I never really felt good about it.
If they're going to kill me, they'll be well within their rights to do so, Sombra continued to watch as the purple one bowed to Celestia and left. But what if I go back to that state? All that pain...
It didn't take long for the guards to arrive, and soon enough, the alicorns left.
------
"I don't want to hear it!" Celestia snapped, "He's a criminal, and needs to face justice!"
Luna stared her sister in the eyes, "He's died for his crimes! That's justice enough if you ask me."
"And yet he's alive," the sun Princess countered, "We have to keep him from harming anypony again."
"He's alive, yes," Luna responded, "And terrified. I saw nothing but fear in his eyes."
"Emotion in his eyes is completely irrelevant. He came back."
"Via the Crystal Heart! An object that operates on love, Tia!"
"It doesn't matter. He used it to hijack our power. He's nearly killed you twice now, Luna. And now he's back, and I will not risk letting him loose on the world!" Tia's words were getting more and more agitated.
"He needs a second chance!" Luna started to raise her voice.
"He doesn't deserve one!" Celestia matched it, "And I will not allow him to hurt anypony again."
"Well, you certainly didn't act that way with ME!"
Both of them recoiled upon realizing they'd both used the royal Canterlot voice, and had the worst timing about it as well. Cadence was standing there in the doorway, wide-eyed, "C-Celestia..? Luna..?"
Both of them looked away, showing a bit of shame, but Celestia was the first to speak, "I'm sorry if we scared you, Cadence. We were having a disagreement regarding Sombra's arrival."
Cadence shook her head, "I was more surprised than scared. But about Sombra.."
Luna sighed, "Celestia wants him punished for his past crimes. I feel he should be given a second chance."
Cadence looked between them, "To be honest, I agree with Luna. You gave her a second chance, after all, and that clearly wasn't a mistake. However..."
Both of her seniors looked at her, "Yes?"
"I want him out of the Crystal Empire."
------
Sombra woke with a start, realizing he'd fallen asleep in his 'cage.' He looked around again, finding himself somewhat more calm. He also couldn't see the guards or the prince anymore, and so he removed the crystals and started to walk away. He avoided the crystal ponies on the streets, headed for the field.
He stopped, passing a hoof across some marks on the ground, "I'm so sorry, Aurora... I let my anger take control over and I didn't even give you the proper respect." His tears fell as he crouched over the scorched spot on the field, aura lighting up once more. This time, the crystals growing were of various colors, colliding and compressing into each other. Sombra turned around and started to walk towards the border, only to find Princess Luna standing in front of him.
"Sombra," she said immediately, "Come with me."
The unicorn looked up at her shaking slightly, "What are you going to do with me?"
"Have you had a meal in the past thousand years?" Luna asked him.
Sombra's fear was quickly replaced by confusion, "What? I don't understand what this has to do with--"
"Just answer the question," Luna interrupted him, "Have you eaten?"
"Well, no..." Sombra answered softly.
"Then we'll start with that. Cadence wants you out of the Crystal Empire, but we'll get you something to eat back in Canterlot." With that, Luna turned to lead the unicorn to her carriage.
I guess I have no choice.. Sombra thought, taking one last look at the crystals he'd created. His statue of Aurora Borealis reflected the sunlight around the field.
Sombra watched out the window as the carriage pulled up to its destination.
"Why are we at a fancy buffet?" He asked.
Luna chuckled, "It's one of my favorite restaurants in Canterlot," she said as if it was obvious.
The unicorn rose an eyebrow, "That explains why you're here, but why am I here?"
"I thought you needed some food. You haven't really had anything to eat in, what, a thousand years?"
As if to confirm Luna's question, Sombra's stomach growled, and he looked away, "I don't deserve this..."
The princess placed a hoof on his shoulder, "That shouldn't keep you from accepting it."
"What about the attention this is going to bring?" He asked, "I don't think you want to be seen taking one of the most dangerous criminals in Equestrian History out to dinner."
The alicorn looked over him, "You look different enough. Your horn is straight instead of curved, there's no red on it anymore, and your mane is smoother. That and nopony saw you very often without your cape."
Sombra looked away, "Either way, I don't want to be seen right now..." He leaned against his seat, "To be honest, I'm afraid to show myself."
Luna was about to speak, when Sombra looked at her, "After what I did, how am I supposed to face anypony?!"
She stopped him, "The answer to that is very simple." She rose a hoof to the tip of her muzzle, pushing it back and up, while using the other hoof to pull out her lower lip, looking almost like a pig, "Like Thisth!"
He didn't even know what to think about that, whether to laugh or not. The result of this was a blank stare. After a couple moments, he sighed, "I don't think ridiculous faces are going to help get me on their good side." Luna's face fell when she realized her joke didn't do anything to get the unicorn to be a little lighter about the situation.
"I mean, look at me!" Sombra almost shouted, "I took over the whole Crystal Empire by force, used fear to enslave them, and took away their princess. Then I almost killed you, threw the Empire into a void, and returned a thousand years later to destroy the damn place!"
Luna let him say this, but spoke up after he finished, "I tried to plunge the whole world into eternal night. For attention."
He was taken aback by this statement, "You--What?"
"However, I do see your point. Give me a moment," with that, the princes stepped out of the carriage, talking to the driver for a moment. She stepped back in, "We'll have dinner in the royal palace."
She picked up a scroll and a quill, writing a letter and using a spell to send it.
Sombra sat up, "What spell was that? I've never seen one used like that before."
Luna shrugged, "Just a messenger spell my sister showed me, to send a letter through the flow of magic that exists all around us. It re-materializes in the fire breath of a certain dragon. She developed it to get continuous communication with Twilight Sparkle."
"That's amazing," he said, to which Luna responded with a simple shrug as the carriage started moving again.
------
"This is where we will eat this afternoon," Luna said, leading him into the grand hall. Sombra walked beside her, and looked at the table.
The hall was bigger than the one in the Crystal Palace, and certainly rivaled it in terms of grandeur. Then the table caught his attention, "Um.. Princess?"
"Yes?" Luna looked down at him.
"Why are there nine chairs at the table?"
"Don't worry, Sombra, the other seven are anything but judgmental. Besides--"
"Hi there!" A pink earth pony jumped out of nowhere, right into Sombra's face, eliciting a startled yell from the dark unicorn, who stumbled back onto his back.
Sombra's jaw dropped as he stared at this pony. That mane.. He thought, looking at the wild tangles on her head. She had three pastel-colored balloons on her flank, and her eyes were blue, That mane... She had an excited grin on her face at meeting the new pony, as she spoke, "I'm Pinkie Pie!"
Pinkie Pie continued to grin at the overwhelmed unicorn, "So. What's your name?"
A blue pegasus with a rainbow mane landed next to her, glaring a little bit at Sombra, "Pinkie, he's King Sombra, remember? The reason we're here?"
Does nopony around here have a normal mane? Sombra thought.
Pinkie let out a gasp, "YOU'RE Sombra? Oh, wow, you look so much different this time. Last time you were all big and shadowy and OOOoooOOOoooh and everything and scary Of course I never actually got to see you up close lasttime,butthewaythingsweregoingitwaskindahardtomissyouonthatgiantcrystalspikewhenyouweretryingtograbSpikeandwereyoulickingyourlipswhenthathappenedImeanwhatwaswiththat?OhandthenwhenSpikejumpedandShiningArmourthrewhiswifeatyouand..."
For the love of tartarus, Pinkie, shut up! Sombra begged internally.
The rainbow pony groaned a bit, "Pinkie Pie. We were all there, except Princess Luna. You don't need to recap."
Pinkie Pie grinned sheepishly, "Right. Sorry, Rainbow Dash."
------
Rainbow Dash turned to Luna, "Princess, what exactly are we doing here?"
"We're here to give Sombra a second chance," Luna replied. She then put on a smile, "You freed me from the darkness, after all."
The pegasus shook her head, "You were possessed, princess. We have nothing to say the same for that guy!"
The Princess responded calmly, "And he's done nothing to you personally. And while I wasn't in control when I first returned, that was only because I let it in. Besides, he doesn't even have the power he did before."
Sombra decided that continuing to listen to this conversation would be a bad idea, and went to the window, looking out over the city. It had been a long time since he had been able to cry, but the feeling had never lost its familiarity.
Sombra turned his attention to the door when he heard some kind of squeak. What he saw was another pegasus. This one was yellow, with a pink mane and tail, with butterflies on her flank. She looked like she was afraid to be here.
Behind her was an orange earth pony with a blonde mane and tail and apples on her flank. She was also wearing a large hat that Sombra didn't really know how to describe. Her expression towards Sombra said she didn't particularly trust him, but would be willing to let him have his chance.
Then the purple princess walked in, with a baby dragon sitting on her back. She didn't seem particularly interested in dining with Sombra, but she also didn't try to convince Luna about it. The dragon was snoring like a train.
That made it one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Eight if the dragon is one of them. Where was the ninth?
"Sorry I'm late, everypony," A high-strung mare's voice came from the hall. As she stepped in, her presence alone was enough to intimidate him. She was white as snow, had a purple mane that was styled almost unnaturally well, and a tail of the same nature. She had diamonds on her flank. In a word, Sombra thought, rich.
------
"Sombra, is something wrong?" Luna asked, "It's been ten minutes and you haven't touched your food."
He didn't speak, only staring at the corner of the table. These ponies were just like the majority of the Crystal Empire; completely innocent, and would never have noticed him had he not struck out. He couldn't talk to them. Not yet.
"Okay, seriously," Applejack said, "You're making Big Mac look like a chatterbox. Speak up already!"
He opened his mouth to speak, before reconsidering and shaking his head. There's nothing I can say to them.
Rainbow Dash shook her head, "He doesn't need to talk. It wouldn't be any good, anyway."
"Rainbow!" Twilight Sparkle shot a look at her friend.
Luna stared at the pegasus, "He's my guest, Rainbow Dash. He's not the same as last time."
Rainbow Dash shook her head, "And that makes it all better? Oh, I'm sorry I forcefully took over a kingdom, enslaved them, and caused them not to exist for a thousand years!" her voice turned mocking as she spoke out.
"Rainbow Dash! Show some respect!" Twilight said, trying to diffuse the situation.
Luna shook her head, "No. She needs to be able to speak her mind. Rainbow Dash. Did you forget what I did? Or Discord?"
Rainbow shook her head as well, "You were possessed, and I still don't like Discord. Besides that, Sombra's reason for taking over wasn't like you wanting to be loved."
"How would you even know that, Rainbow Dash?" Luna countered, "Sombra's origins are a mystery."
"Stop..." Sombra said, standing up, "The pegasus is right. I took over the Crystal Empire because I wanted to hurt them. Princess, where am I staying?" He didn't even try to hide his emotions. There was anger, but it was directed at himself for doing what he did, and Luna for trying to defend it. There was sadness, because he knew he deserved whatever punishment they found effective, but also fear of what it would be.
That, coupled with the tears in his eyes, was enough for Rainbow to relent on her attacks.
"Sombra, I have come to a decision," Luna said as she paced in front of the nervous stallion, "Princess Twilight Sparkle wasn't always so open to friendship. My sister sent her to learn about it a couple years ago. I have already rented an apartment for you on the edge of the town."
"You're... Sending me away from Canterlot..?" Sombra asked her, watching as she paced.
Luna replied with a nod, "Twilight Sparkle and her friends have agreed to watch you. To teach you, and keep you from falling back into that darkness you had been in. I won't have you send letters like my sister had Twilight Sparkle. Instead, we will speak face to face during the next Grand Galloping Gala."
"But.. Princess, would I even be allowed to attend?" Sombra asked, standing up, "It's a gathering for some pretty important ponies, and, well.. I'm a criminal.."
Luna looked at him, raising an eyebrow, "You will be there under my direct orders."
"Point taken," Sombra conceded. It might actually be a good idea to go to this "Ponyville" place. Further from the Empire, he thought. The dread of facing the ponies he'd harmed. Taken their princess, then their freedom, and finally their hope. But it's all in the past, right? That's not an excuse. What about Princess Luna? She took responsibility over me. Because I need to be watched.
The internal debate continued for a moment, before Luna poked him with a hoof, "Are you listening?"
"Huh?" Sombra shook out of his thoughts, "What were you saying?"
"If one of the element bearers tells you what to do, you are to listen. All of them will hold authority over you."
"Yes, Princess."
"Oh, and Sombra? If you don't start calling me Luna, I will have them lock you in a room with Pinkie Pie."
"Y-yes, Luna," Sombra responded quickly, remembering the intimidating ball of energy.
------
Pinkie Pie was grinning like an idiot. Rainbow Dash was glaring at Sombra in anger. Fluttershy was watching him warily. Rarity wasn't present. Applejack was watching him curiously. And Princess Twilight Sparkle was trying to show authority without falling apart.
"Where's the white one?" Sombra asked before he thought.
"Her name is Rarity," Rainbow Dash said angrily, "And don't forget it!"
"Rainbow!" Twilight scolded the ROY G. BIV pegasus like a mother would, "Stop treating him like that!"
"Please don't start another fight about me..." the dark unicorn mumbled, taking a step back nervously.
Rainbow Dash snapped back, "After what he did to the Crystal Empire? I don't see why we should do anything for him now!"
"You didn't feel that way about Princess Luna!"
"She was possessed!"
"And Discord?"
"I still don't like him!"
"Trixie?"
"Also possessed!"
"The first time!"
"She wasn't actually doing anything wrong!"
"Sunset Shimmer, then!"
"Who?"
Twilight stopped for a moment, "Oh right... W-well, what about--Uh..."
"Don't try to defend me, Twilight Sparkle. It won't work," Sombra said as he stood up, "I'm going to my apartment..."
Pinkie Pie jumped in, "No wait, Sombra! You're a new pony in Ponyville! You have to come to Sugarcube Corner!"
"T-to what now..?" Sombra took a step back.
"Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow said loudly in exasperation.
"It's a time-honored tradition, Dashie," Pinkie Pie said, "Besides, maybe if somepony had thrown a few more parties a thousand years ago, Sombra wouldn't have turned all mean in the first place."
"But he did! And you're going to throw a party? He doesn't deserve it!"
"Dashie, I throw the party for every new pony in Ponyville. No exceptions."
"But--"
"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy stepped in, "Princess Luna sent him to us because she believes we can change him. He's clearly very sorry for what he did, and wants to make up for it. Pinkie Pie can throw the party, and I'm definitely attending. The best way to heal the wounds he left is to help him do it."
Sombra looked at the timid pegasus in surprise, "You.. Really mean..?"
Fluttershy didn't even get the opportunity to answer before Pinkie Pie grabbed Sombra, "Come on, Sombra! We'll be late for your party!"
"Uh, you haven't planned it yet.."
"A minor inconvenience," Pinkie shrugged it off and seemingly dragged him all the way to a building that looked like a gingerbread house.
Sombra stared at the tall pastry in front of him, it was frosted white, adorned with navy blue icing, which took a nice looping pattern on the sides, and criss-crossed the front. The cake had three layers, each one bigger than the one on top of it.
"This is a cake?" the unicorn asked in awe. "It's huge, and shiny, and--Well, it's actually appealing to the eyes. Before, I only ever got cheap stuff, that may or may not have been stale. This looks.." He searched for the right word, couldn't find it, and went for a simile instead, "like a masterpiece."
Pinkie Pie grinned, "Well, it is a party in your honor. Your first party here in Ponyville, I have to make it enjoyable."
"First party at all, actually," Sombra said softly.
The earth pony gasped and looked like she was about to faint, "I didn't go nearly all out enough! Your first party? Ever? I need to get more streamers, balloons, and--"
"Pinkie Pie!" he interrupted before she could get too carried away, "This is good. Perfect, even."
"You really think so?"
"If I'm the guest of honor, this seems too good for me, actually.."
Pinkie Pie shook her head, "I don't make exceptions. You're getting this party. Besides, I've sent out the invitations already."
------
The party was loud. Exciting, rather enjoyable, but Pinkie Pie looked disappointed. Sombra could see why. Several of the guests were watching him apprehensively, and he didn't blame them.
After the cake, ice cream, and Pinkie gave him a present, which turned out to be a large box of assorted candies and chocolates, he finally decided to quietly slip out. It was still broad daylight, and several members of the town were in Sugarcube Corner. The apartment that Luna had rented was just down the street, but on the way, an orange pegasus filly on a red scooter crashed into his side.
Sombra stood quickly and stared at the filly, expecting a scream, a gasp, or at least a frightened stare. What he didn't expect was "Hi!"
"Uh... What?" Sombra blinked as he watched her.
"I said 'hi'!" she responded, "My name's Scootaloo. I haven't seen you around here before. What's your name?"
"Sombra..." The unicorn answered, still surprised that she didn't seem scared of him, "You didn't know?"
Scootaloo looked at him, "You're Sombra? You don't look--"
The filly was interrupted suddenly by the rainbow spaz, who landed between them, "Scootaloo! You shouldn't be talking to him. He can't be trusted!
With that, Sombra walked off to his apartment, not listening to the argument that would break out.
------
Zecora tossed a few leaves into the pot, the strong smell of brewing tea wafting around her hut. Her humming to herself was interrupted by a sudden tremor in the ground.
"What is this, for goodness sake?" She muttered, "Now the ground begins to quake."
She shrugged it off, "Such is the way of Everfree. I can still enjoy my tea."
The zebra was about to take a sip of her fresh cup of tea, when a deep voice interrupted her, "Habari za jioni, pundamilia kidogo."
At first, she looked around, confused, before she realized the language spoken was her own, and responded in kind, "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
"I'm simply here to take what I want." A dark grey pony with a red-tipped curved horn stepped into her view, "I'm not as powerful as before, but I can still have fun."
Zecora's scream could be heard from outside. The creature exited with a blindfolded cockatrice in tow.
Lyra walked out of Sugarcube Corner, sighing a bit as she went straight towards the park. She and BonBon had agreed to meet there for their meetings, and as usual, Lyra was to debrief BonBon on whether she'd had any violent urges. She had fifteen minutes to get there before she'd technically be in violation of her parole.
She arrived on time, sat down on the bench, and waited for BonBon to arrive. She watched Scootaloo go past, and crash into some black unicorn. There was no shouting, just a stunned look on the stallion's face as Scootaloo said what Lyra assumed was an apology. Rainbow Dash was just landing when BonBon arrived.
"Alright, Lyra, let's get through the formality, and then we can watch Fly Hard II: Fly Harder. Finally got the movie," the earth pony said, before going into a quote from the first movie, assuming a gruff voice, "Yippie kye yay, mother bucker."
Lyra laughed a bit, "Well, got to get the whole 'parole' thing done first. No, I have not wanted to hit anyone, I haven't touched a spear, sword, or firearm, even with my magic, I have kept more than 100 feet away from Prince Blueblood at all times, and I washed AppleJack's apple cart for community service. With her permission, and under her supervision."
BonBon deadpanned, "You memorized the questions, didn't you?"
The mint green unicorn smirked, "Figured it would be faster if I did."
------
Sombra leapt to his hooves upon hearing a series of explosions from the apartment below his own. He fired off his horn, quickly opening the door with his telekinetic spell, and bolted down the stairs.
He didn't see any damage at first as he approached the door the sound was coming from. The one thought in his mind was about Aurora and the accident that took her away from him. Magic slipped his mind at this point as he slammed both of his forehooves against the door. The latch glowed emerald green and opened, revealing a light green unicorn mare, looking slightly startled.
"Can I.. Help you? Is the movie too loud?" the mare asked him, looking a bit concerned, even apologetic.
"The--what?" Sombra blinked a bit, "I heard explosions, I thought somepony might be hurt."
The green unicorn shook her head, "It's just a movie."
"A what?" Sombra asked, getting more confused by the minute.
"It's a movie. A series of pictures on a screen to tell a story. How can you not-- Oh."
He couldn't think of anything to say as he stared at her, waiting for her to continue.
"You're King Sombra, aren't you?" she asked him, to which he responded with a nod, "Well, my name is Lyra. Lyra Heartstrings."
"Well, Miss Heartstrings, it's just Sombra. I'm no king. Never really was," he looked down, "and I wish I'd never tried to be."
Lyra smiled a bit, "It's in the past, Sombra. And call me Lyra. I hate titles."
The stallion nodded slightly, "Thank you, Lyra."
She laughed, and continued, "Besides, I've done time in Canterlot Penitentiary. I don't particularly care what you did. You're not doing it now, are you?"
"No. And I don't plan to do it again," he responded.
"Then come in and watch a couple movies with me and BonBon."
------
"Iron Will's course comes with a 100% satisfaction guarantee!" The minotaur shouted over the crowd, "and you've seen for yourself how well it works, everypony! Iron Will turns pushovers into powerhouses!"
"Is that so?" A black unicorn stepped onto stage with a blindfolded cockatrice dragged behind him. His horn was curved, and red at the tip.
Iron Will looked down at the pony who had the gall to interrupt his pitch.The pony looked him in the eyes.
To the audience, all that appeared to happen was the pony showing up on stage and looking Iron Will in the eyes. The unicorn's eyes flashed briefly, and Iron Will ran to a corner of the stage, curling into the fetal position and sucking his thumb.
The creature laughed to himself as he walked away, leaving the trembling minotaur and two stone goats in front of the crowd.
"Who are you, some Equestrian who saw too many movies as a colt?" The green unicorn said through a transceiver carried by Rough Charger. "Think you're some kind of hero like Brawny Steed? Brave Gunner?"
"I'm more of a fan of Silver Streak, myself," Rough Charger responded. The earth pony's tan coat was caked with blood, from a firefight he'd just been through.
"Here it comes.." Lyra whispered to Sombra, prompting a 'shush' from BonBon.
"Do you think you really have a chance against us, Mr. Cowpony?" Handsome Charmer asked him, spite in his voice.
"Yippie ki yay, mother bucker!" Lyra said with the pony on the screen.
"Shh!" BonBon hissed at Lyra, while Sombra kept watching, eyes fixed to the movie.
------
"Handsome Charmer was doomed to failure from the start," Sombra commented at the end of the movie.
"What do you mean?" Lyra asked him, "He nearly had Rough Charger on a number of occasions."
"Oh yeah?" Sombra countered, "His plan had nothing to do with Rough Charger. That was a fluke."
"Yeah, and if it weren't for that fluke, Charmer would've gotten away with it."
"And that's where you're wrong. He didn't think things through." The stallion smirked a bit, "How did he plan to get away?"
Lyra looked at him, "He was going to fake his death."
"And then what? How did he plan to leave?"
"The ambulance, of course!"
"You mean the one they locked in the garage?
"They could've unlocked it."
"Not after destroying that computer AND cutting the power. They would've had to do the same thing Argyle did, and that would've been noticed. Even if it wasn't, then somepony would've gotten suspicious about there being one more ambulance leaving then had arrived."
"Alright, fine," Lyra said, looking a bit annoyed, "That's the first time I've directly lost an argument."
"Besides your conviction, you mean?" BonBon pointed out.
"That was different!" Lyra insisted, "I was on trial!"
Sombra stopped the argument before it could really start with a question, "You mentioned Canterlot Penitentiary once before. What were you sent there for?"
------
"You wouldn't catch me dead at that so-called party," Vinyl said, "nothing but a bunch o' spoiled, stuffed-shirt swagering peacocks. And don't get me started on that damn prince!"
"Vinyl. Language," Derpy reminded her.
"Actually, get started on that prince, I'm curious," Lyra interrupted, jumping into the conversation.
Vinyl took a sip of her coffee, and looked over at the unicorn, "He's an arrogant snob with no sense of chivalry. Good enough?"
Lyra smirked a bit, "Sounds like the average rich dude."
The DJ shook her head, "He's worse. Much worse. I may be more tech oriented than ladylike, but even I can tell that he doesn't know how to treat one. He seems to think he should be pampered just because he happens to be Princess Celestia's alleged nephew. How that happened, nopony knows."
"Still doesn't sound as bad as my ex-coltfriend," the lyrist joked.
"That's because it's practically impossible to describe the a--er--the A-hole accurately," Vinyl said, shying away from her glaring pegasus friend, "You'd have to see for yourself at the Triple-G."
~~~~~~
Lyra was calm, but only on the outside. She was finally attending the Grand Galloping Gala. Her calm demeanor dropped momentarily as she reached the entrance, Omigosh omigosh! I'm shaking the hoof of Princess Celestia herself!!! she thought, before being ushered inside. For the first half hour or so, nothing too much happened. She enjoyed herself, the hors d'oeuvres, while small, didn't taste bad, and she certainly enjoyed the punch.
Then Prince Blueblood showed up. After that conversation with Ponyville's go-to DJ, Lyra was expecting worse than what she saw, though she still didn't like him much. She tried to tune his voice out for the most part, and also went out into the gardens. Successfully avoiding extended interaction with the most stuck-up unicorn on the planet, Lyra eventually decided to get her lyre from the cart she'd ridden to the Gala.
~~~~~~
Lyra sat in the gardens, the harplike instrument levitating in front of her as she began to play. She played a few classics like "Hush Now, Quiet Now," and the Hearth's Warming anthem, before Blueblood stepped into the garden.
"Would you stop playing that harp?" He demanded, as if she'd been playing in his ears the whole time she'd been there.
"It's not a harp," the mint unicorn corrected, as she kept playing, "It's a lyre."
"Well, stop playing it! You're peasantish noise is messing up my day!"
Lyre started playing a faster song, annoyed with the snob, "You have free rein throughout this castle. If my music bothers you, go somewhere else."
"I said stop playing it, you peasant!" The prince whined, a bit of a squeal in his voice, "Quit making that atrocious noise or I'll call the guards!"
Lyra glared at him, "Don't you dare insult my music again!"
"You call that music? It sounds like you're strangling a cat!"
Lyra didn't say another word. Splinters of her lyre scattered across the ground, while about half of it dropped from the side of Blueblood's head. Lyra's telekinetic field formed around the prince's chest and threw him into the air, causing him to scream like a pig. He came down where he'd gone up, only to be met with both of Lyra's back hooves, and slid into the hedge before the field gripped him again.
"You want me to stop playing?!" Lyra shouted at him, "Then I'll get serious, prince Blueballs!"
He screamed in terror as he was thrown into the fountain, getting soaked from head to hooves. He emerged from the water and started running, "Guards! Help me! There's a madmare trying to kill me!"
He didn't make it to the door as the mare gripped his horn in her magic, effectively clotheslining him and knocking him to the ground. A female guard stepped out to find out what was causing all the noise, and immediately blasted Lyra with a red bolt of magic, knocking her to the ground.
------
"So you beat this prince to a pulp and got arrested for it?" Sombra asked, trying not to laugh.
"Yeah. I found out that half the ponies who knew him wanted that to happen to him at some point, and the rest just didn't want him to come near them. So I got a restraining order and two years in jail. It was the smallest punishment the guards could give me and still get away with it," she joked, "actually, I just got Turnabout Trial to defend me in court to reduce the sentence."
"I see."
BonBon stepped into the conversation, "Two years later, he ended up getting humiliated by Rarity, the local seamstress, but you'll have to ask her about that one. For now, however, it's time for me to go home."
BonBon and Sombra both stepped out of the apartment and went their separate ways for the time being.
It was two months after Sombra had seen his first movie. Princess Twilight had been giving him daily lessons, and Lyra had been helping him catch up with the times. Language hadn't changed too much, except that royalty no longer used that ridiculous 'Royal Canterlot Voice'.
Lyra and Sombra were at Sugarcube Corner. After the first impression Sombra got from Pinkie Pie, he started to like her, since she didn't seem to care about his past. He'd mostly gotten used to her weirdness, but Pinkie was unpredictable. The only thing Sombra could call was that she was going to find a new way to surprise him.
The dark unicorn got along with the embodiments of the Elements for the most part, though he could still feel tension. He and Fluttershy had started to speak to each other, talking about how they'd both ended up rather isolated, and their struggles with bullies.
Applejack had been wary, but told him she'd give him a chance to earn her trust. They had the occasional meeting, though not much happened. Apple Bloom seemed to enjoy his occasional visits, which was the epitome of surprise to Sombra...
...Until he met Sweetie Belle. Despite Rarity's objections, the filly insisted that she get to hang around with the dark unicorn, and actually snuck out to go to his apartment once. Sombra had taken her back to Carousel Boutique as soon as he could, and Rarity let him in for a drink. After that incident, she started talking to him in a more friendly manner.
Aside from Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle seemed to be the only one who was almost completely relaxed around him. Whenever they met outside of her scheduled "friendship lessons," They would have a decent conversation, sometimes sit together for lunch or dinner, and generally act like friends. Sombra enjoyed the thought of being accepted so quickly. Somewhere, he felt he didn't deserve it.
"But isn't that what forgiveness is?" Lyra asked when he told her his concerns.
"What do you mean?" He responded, looking at his friend in confusion.
The mint unicorn smiled at him, "Well, if you earned it, you wouldn't have been forgiven. It's impossible to earn forgiveness, it has to be given freely."
The darker smirked a bit, "Where'd you get that one? Fortune cookie?"
"Yeah." They both laughed a bit, but Sombra stopped a moment later, his eyes darting over to the door as he saw a familiar pegasus. Miss Roy G. Biv herself... He thought to himself.
Rainbow dash was the only one of the Element bearers with whom Sombra did not get along. Not only did she have a habit of reminding him of what he'd done every time they met, but her egocentricity bordering on narcissism reminded him of Sunrise Flare. About the only thing separating them was that Rainbow Dash didn't like teasing other ponies.
Sombra's glare softened when he saw Scootaloo. He'd seen her several times, a filly from a broken family. Dead father, depressed mother, and no siblings in her life. She'd spoken to him several times, been the first pony, aside from Pinkie and Lyra, to try and make an honest connection with him. As much as he'd thought he should avoid foals, it worked. With bits Luna sent do him, he'd often treated her to ice cream, without letting Rainbow Spaz know about it, and eventually--
"Hi, Sombra!" Scootaloo broke him out of that train of thought.
Rainbow shot a look, and turned to the orange filly, "Scoots, what have I been telling you? He's dangerous!"
"Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle don't seem to think so!"
"They're just as young as you are!"
"And neither do their sisters!"
Sombra sighed and started to get up, "Lyra, I'm going home..."
But when he looked at Lyra's seat, he saw she wasn't in it. He turned around to see his friend glaring at Rainbow. Not at Rainbow... Sombra realized, At her milkshake.
Lyra's horn flashed and all at once, Rainbow Dash was covered from head to hoof in partially liquefied strawberry ice cream. The dark unicorn's jaw dropped, even as the cyan pegasus turned on him, "You.. Just blew up my milkshake..."
"What?!" Sombra stepped back, "That wasn't me!"
"Don't even try to lie to me!" She responded, taking on a smirk, "Take credit for that prank!"
Lyra tapped her hoof, "Actually, I blew it up. Didn't want you badmouthing him for something long past."
"Yeah," both Rainbow and Lyra said, but only Rainbow Dash continued, "So it wasn't you. Tell you what. If you can go through a day of pranking without EVER taking it too far, I'll give you a chance."
"Wait.. What?" He couldn't figure why this would be what Rainbow would give him as a way of earning her friendship. No, a chance at becoming friends.
"You heard me. Meet me here tomorrow at dawn, and be prepared to play pranks on ponies all day."
------
"Just a couple more victims..." The creature said to the cockatrice, "And then you will go free. They haven't discovered the zebra yet, and the minotaur.. Well, even I need some entertainment."
"Pinkie Pie, I need some help. Rainbow is having me join her for a day of pranks, but I've never pulled one in my life," Sombra said as he was let into the party pony's room, "And this seems to be the easiest way for me to get her trust."
Pinkie smiled at the unicorn, "You need a crash course, huh? Well, you've come to the right mare!"
She grabbed a red bottle... With her tail... That thing is prehensile?!
"This is disappearing ink. one of the best ways to prank anypony who takes a lot of notes is to switch their ink with this."
Sombra nodded slightly, "So the pony this would work best on.. Probably Princess Twilight."
Pinkie nodded, "However, it's been done to Twilight before."
"How about blowing up a milkshake?" Sombra joked.
"That's completely uninspired, my young apprentice," Pinkie responded.
------
The figure approached the town, but went into a concealed area. There, his face contorted in pain as his horn glowed. There was a cracking sound, as it started to twist, and straighten. The red colour faded, and the rest of his colour started to lighten. He suppressed the shadows in his eyes, and his mane turned gold.
"Welcome to Ponyville, Angel Mist," he said to himself. The green eyed unicorn then walked right into town, leaving the cockatrice bound and blindfolded in the bushes.
------
Sombra merely stood in the middle of the road, looking straight up. Pinkie Pie had been there with him, but because she couldn't keep from laughing, she'd gone off to do something else.
"What's up, neighbor?" Lyra said as she approached. She stopped, looking at the stallion. ". . .Sombra?" She waved a hoof over his face, "What's with the statue act?"
The darker unicorn didn't respond. He didn't even take his eyes away from the sky above.
"What're you looking at?" Lyra asked as she also started to look up.
More ponies came across the scene, each trying to determine what the unicorn was staring at.
Finally, when he even had Twilight Sparkle herself trying to find whatever was in the sky, Sombra went back to his normal manner and started walking away without a word.
Lyra followed, "What was that about?"
Sombra snickered, "I could barely keep from laughing that whole time. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie are having me do pranks to get Rainbow to trust me better."
Pinkie Pie stepped out of a haybale, laughing and snorting.
"She was with me until she couldn't stand still," The black stallion said with a smirk.
"I can't help it," Pinkie said, "It was hilarious! I think Twilight's still trying to figure out what's in the sky."
Lyra snickered a bit, but stopped as a white unicorn with a gold mane approached.
"Excuse me," the newcomer asked, "can you direct me t--"
He was interrupted by a gasp from Pinkie, "Omigosh! You're new! Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie! I need to schedule your welcome to Ponyville party. Does tonight sound good? Ican get SugarcubeCorner readyinjustacoupleofhours,y'know.What'syourname?Areyoustayingforlong?Why'reyouhere?Areyouherefor--"
Sombra stuck a hoof into Pinkie's mouth, "Sorry about that. She gets really excited."
"I. . Can see that," the white stallion said, "Can you direct me to a hotel?"
"There are a couple. Nearest one's. . .Just to the east of the town hall, I think," Lyra said.
"Thank you. And by the way, miss Pie. My name is Angel Mist, and tonight would work perfectly for your welcome party. I will be at Sugarcube Corner after I sort out my hotel room," the white unicorn said as he turned to walk away.
"Well, he seemed friendly enough," Sombra said, "I didn't expect anypony to approach me for directions."
Lyra smiled warmly, "It just goes to show how willing the ponies of Equestria are to--"
"HELP!" A filly cried out, running through the town.
"AppleBloom," Sombra looked towards the source of the voice, "Come on!"
The two unicorns ran towards AppleBloom's voice, meeting her in the middle of town.
"What happened, AppleBloom?" Sombra asked, "are you hurt?"
"No, it's Zecora," the filly said, tears in her eyes.
"Lyra, get Twilight," the stallion said. Lyra nodded and started for Twilight's library.
"Now, AppleBloom, calm down," Sombra said, "What happened to Zecora?"
Sombra shifted uncomfortably, looking across the table. Luna sat there, one of her guards on each side.
"Then what happened?" the princess asked. Sombra tried to get a read on her face. Disappointment, concern, anger, anything. Instead, she showed him no emotion.
"Seeing AppleBloom cry like that was awful," Sombra replied, "I took her to Sugarcube Corner and bought her some ice cream to help her calm down. I didn't know what else to do."
------
"Are you okay?" Sombra asked, sitting beside AppleBloom.
The filly elected not to say anything. She gave a slight nod, and sniffled.
"Oh, look who's here," The voice of a filly came from the doorway. Sombra looked over and saw two school-aged earth ponies. The one on the left was pink, with a light blue mane, highlighted in white. She wore on her head a small tiara, that matched the one on her flank. The one on the right was grey, wore silver-framed glasses, and had a spoon adorning her flank.
------
"They just started making remarks," the unicorn continued, "Just the usual comments on me being creepy, how AppleJack shouldn't be trusting me to be near her."
"And you got angry?" Luna asked.
"Not at first. I just thought it was the usual. But after a little bit, they talked about blank flanks," Sombra looked down and sighed, "it took me a moment to realize that they weren't talking about me."
------
"You sure know how to pick your role models, blank flank," Diamond Tiara said, "First the freaky zebra with the potions, now the zombie king from the Crystal Empire?"
"Leave us alone," AppleBloom said, "Zecora got petrified."
Diamond Tiara blinked for a moment, then put on a smirk, "Well, she'll make a better lawn ornament than a mentor."
"Shut up!" Sombra said, looking directly at the pink filly, "What right do you have to talk to her like this? What reason?!"
Diamond Tiara tried to stammer out a response, as a white unicorn stallion with a gold mane entered the building.
"Get out and leave AppleBloom alone!" Sombra shouted, slamming his forehooves on the table.
------
"I noticed afterwards that everypony in the building was staring at me," he said, "those two ran screaming, and I saw my reflection in the window. I saw shadows coming from my eyes, like they did back then."
"And then we were alerted," Luna said.
Sombra nodded slowly.
"This is serious," the princess told him, "you could have hurt somepony."
"I know."
"You could have undone everything you've worked to fix."
"I know."
"What do you think should be done about this?"
"I don't know," Sombra said.
"Excuse me. Princess?" The white unicorn started as he stepped into the room.
"What is it you need?" Luna asked, looking back at him.
Sombra sat in a corner, trying not to show the tears leaking from his eyes. He had a single book in his hooves, titled Magical Ailments.
"Petrification," Sombra's voice echoed in his head as he read the book, "commonly inflicted by creatures like the cockatrice or the medusae, this effect transforms a creature's flesh into stone, effectively locking them in time. While difficult, it is possible to reverse the condition using one of many ways. The most common is for the being that caused the petrification to occur to reverse it itself. For a pony, there are a few options. One involves a potion concocted from a filing off of the victim, chamomile, and cowslip, to be painted across the point where the victim was struck by the petrifying effect."
"Another involves bathing the victim in the blood of the creature that caused it to begin with. It must be the same creature, or this cure will not work. This cure is less common amongst ponies who--"
"Look at that freak," Sunrise said, getting up from his desk, "So stuffed in his book that he didn't even notice the bell ring." A gold hoof came down on the book, knocking it out of the smaller colt's grasp, "No shine to your coat, no social standing, just some orphan who happens to show up."
"Sunrise, you should lay off." Aurora approached. Sombra looked up at the filly, taking in her appearance. Her coat had the same shine as everyone else in the Empire. She seemed to shift from green to blue with each step. Her mane was pulled to the side by a clip with a fractured sapphire on the end. Her eyes kept a constant shade of light purple. All in all, she was beautiful.
A tear rolled down Sombra's cheek as he slept. He wasn't in a cell, like he was afraid he'd be. Instead, he was back in his bed. Angel Mist had defended him, a complete stranger with the reputation of a monster.
------
Despite his gratitude, the unicorn couldn't help feel that something was wrong about his defender. He walked out of his apartment, meeting Twilight Sparkle at the door.
"Good morning!" The alicorn said, in her usual, cheery tone.
"Better than it could have been," Sombra said softly.
Twilight smiled gently, "Yes. It could have been worse. You could have gone over the line. But you didn't. And I think the solution we have works just fine."
"As long as I'm in public, I'm to be accompanied by at least one Element Bearer," Sombra said, as though he was reading a script, "This condition will remain until further assessment becomes possible."
The two came upon the hospital as they continued to converse. "Any progress on curing Zecora?" Sombra asked.
"No," Twilight responded, "We can usually get the creature who did it to reverse it before the night even passes. Nopony's bothered to research a cure in a long time. On top of that, Zecora had been petrified for weeks before AppleBloom found her, meaning it's harder to cure."
"True. There are cures, though. I read a book from the Crystal Library when I was a colt about various magical ailments and how to cure them. If I remember correctly, it was simply titled Magical Ailments." The unicorn entered the room in which Zecora sat, following the young princess.
The stone zebra still had visible stripes, and her jewelry had turned to stone as well as her body. Her right foreleg stuck out at an odd angle, as if broken. A look of fear remained frozen into her face, wide-eyed and her mouth stuck in a scream. A familiar purple dragon sat in the chair in the corner, while AppleBloom stood next to the bed, watching the zebra.
"Dr. Horse says he just needs a couple herbs to try to cure Zecora," the filly said, "He says without the petrifying agent, he's going to try a general dispel mix."
"Sombra just told me about a book in the Crystal Library. Magical Ailments," Twilight said, putting a hoof over AppleBloom's shoulder, "We'll get her cured, I promise."
AppleJack walked through the door. "I've got some juice outside, if you're thirsty, AppleBloom," she said softly.
"Thanks, AJ, but I'm good for now," the filly responded.
"AppleJack," Twilight spoke up, "Good timing. I need you to stay with Sombra. He told me about a book in the Crystal Library, with a potential cure. And, well, you know he's not allowed in the Empire, so. . ."
AppleJack nodded, "I understand, sugarcube. Head on out."
Twilight took off out the door, giving a grateful smile as she did.
Sombra looked at AppleBloom, then at AppleJack, "AJ, I need to ask a favour as well."
"What do you need?" The mare asked, eyebrow raised.
------
The pair stood at the edge of Everfree, looking inside. Sombra had a pair of cherry red saddlebags on his sides, and AppleJack had her usual tan bags adorned with her cutie mark.
"Why does it seem that the two of you are going on an expedition into the most dangerous local forest?" Angel Mist asked, causing both ponies to jump.
"You've probably heard about the petrified zebra in Ponyville General," Sombra answered after a moment, "we're looking for the creature responsible."
"Not many ponies I know of would go seeking out a known danger alone," The white unicorn pointed out, "Especially not one that has already had a victim."
"Did you notice who you're talking to?" AppleJack raised an eyebrow, looking at the stranger, "Sombra, formerly a big villain of the Crystal Empire, and AppleJack, bearer of the Element of Loyalty?"
"Fair enough, I suppose," Angel shrugged, "But do be careful. I know how important the Elements are to Equestrian security."
------
"I'm not sure about him," Sombra said, "Something's. . .off."
"How d'you mean?" the farmer cocked her head to the side, "He seems like a friendly enough stranger."
"I don't know." The unicorn's aura flickered to life in order to illuminate the path, "Just--ugh. . ."
"Ugh?" AppleJack looked at her companion, "I know he was stickin' his nose in, but--You alright"
"I smell something. . .It's familiar. . .Like a pile of wet bits. . !" Sombra's horn shone brighter, "It's blood!" Without waiting for a reply, the stallion galloped down the path, leaving the mare to run in order to stay within the light.
Both ponies skidded to a halt, the light from Sombra's horn illuminating the source of the smell.
"Sweet Celestia. . ." AppleJack said, putting a hoof over her muzzle.
"What in Tartarus. . ." Sombra muttered, "So much for getting the creature to reverse it. . ."
Impaled on a branch in front of the pair was a creature with the body of a winged snake, and the head of a rooster. Its head and limbs hung limply, and the wood sticking out of its chest was still dripping.
"This. . .Just. . .Happened. . ." Sombra said, eyes quivering as he turned to AppleJack, "We need to go. Whatever happened here, it happened just now, and whatever did it is probably still around. Hold still."
He put a hoof on AppleJack's side, horn flashing brightly as he focused. In a moment, the pair were standing in the gate to Sweet Apple Acres.
"Come on, let's get you inside," He said, walking with the shocked mare into the farmhouse.
"It was just. . ." She quivered, looking at the unicorn.
"I know," Sombra said, "And it's late. Let's get your brother."
------
"Sombra," Big Mac started, as his sister finally got to sleep.
"I'm sorry," the unicorn said, before looking back at the larger stallion, "I didn't mean to subject her to that."
The earth pony shook his head, "No apology right now, y'hear? You brought her back safe, and went straight to me. Not to mention what you've done for AB. As far as I'm concerned, you're welcome at Sweet Apple Acres."
". . .Thanks," Sombra gave a nod before walking out the door.
------
"Was it him?" Sombra walked through the town, "Freshly killed cockatrice, right after seeing him outside the forest. He makes warnings, and we find exactly the dangerous creature we were looking for, but dead. If it was him. . ."
His thoughts were interrupted by the smell of smoke. He looked up, and found that he had walked a long distance, and was coming up on his apartment building.
