The wooden monoliths that were the book cases of Sombra's library stretched several stories tall. Thousands upon thousands of books, scripts, and tomes lay in disorganized piles, while others that had been logged and alphabetically categorized were neatly stacked and set aside to be shelved. Fluttershy, being the founder of the only interspecies book club in Equestria, had always been a bit of a bibliophile, and she was given free reign of the house while Sombra busied himself in the overseeing of some of the home's projects. The library was a perfect respite for her. It was closed off for everyone but her and her king until its disposition was complete. It was there that she could wrap herself in her blanket of solitude, to shield herself from the prying eyes of her subjects. The attention she was receiving conjured unpleasant memories of when she was a model for Photo Finish - only worse. Ponies then only wanted her autograph or a picture taken with her; they weren't calling her a queen, or kneeling before her, or drinking to her name. She wanted so badly to just run away from it all, to curl up in a small, dark corner and simply cease to be - but since that wasn't an option, the library was the next best choice.
Fluttershy singled out a book from a pile and examined its beautiful soft blue cover, its ornate gold trim, the fancy red ribbon that served as a bookmark. She opened it, decided it wasn't for her after reading a few paragraphs, then discarded it. How could such a beautiful-looking book be so boring? She scanned down a neatly stacked row of novels for something containing an intricately woven fantasy world in which she could escape the bitter woes of reality for a few hours: There and Back Again, Daring Doo and The Lusty Dragon Maid, Of Mice and Ponies, To Kill A Cockatrice, A Song of Wind and Water, Interview With The Bat Pony... Nothing. There was nothing in the pile that she hadn't either read a thousand times or simply couldn't be bothered with.
"Who goes?" A voice challenged. "I'm terribly sorry, but the library isn't open to the public yet."
"Oh!" Fluttershy said, startled. She whirled around and noticed an earth pony weaving through the book stacks. He had angled features, a neatly trimmed albeit long goatee, and a pair of circular gold-rimmed spectacles sitting at the end of his nose. His hair was parted perfectly down the middle, and it shined with the same gold intensity as the polished buttons on his formfitting waistcoat. "I'll, uh, I'll just come back later."
Upon hearing her voice, the stallion adjusted his glasses and squinted in Fluttershy's direction. "Oh, my apologies, I wasn't sure who you were." The stallion grunted as he was forced to crawl over a particularly large stack of unorganized literature to get to her. "I didn't know you were the queen. Are you here for an inspection?" He slid down the mountain of books, coming to a slow stop just before her. "Forgive me my rudeness, my queen. It's only me working here, but I'm making progress." The stallion fished a tube out of an old worn leather satchel he was wearing and drew from it a scroll. "These are the titles I've cataloged so far. I'm about an eighth of the way finished. As soon as the carpenters bring me more cases I'll start putting them away."
"Uhm..." Fluttershy scanned the calligraphic script that was the stallion's writing - its spidery slashes, its elegant swoops and hoops, It was so fancy that she was barely able to read it. "Impressive," she said.
"I'm glad you think so," said the librarian. "It took all night to catalog all these titles."
"Oh," Fluttershy said. "I, uh, was talking about your penmanship. You have very nice writing."
"Yes, I suppose." The stallion glimpsed his writing on the scroll before rolling it back up. "Which section would you like to inspect first?"
"I'm not here for an inspection," Fluttershy replied. I'm looking for an escape, she almost said. "I'm just looking for a little something that will help me pass the time."
"Any title or particular author that you're looking for?"
"No, just..." It was then that Fluttershy's eye glimpsed something. Among the large pile of books the librarian had just used as a slide, she found something that caught her sudden interest. The book was bound in old leather. The illustration on the cover was pitch black with a depiction of two burning green eyes. The title was marked in bright red ink, in an old equestrian style font. The words were artfully written out as if they were consumed in flames: The Darkness Rising. It was an old story based on Sombra's rise to power and his ultimate defeat at the hooves of the princesses. For whatever reason it peaked the queen's interest. She could remember her and her brother clinging to each other in front of the fireplace as her mother read it to them when they were naught but foals. It was known through history as one of the darkest fairytales ever written. "I think I'll just browse around for a bit," Fluttershy said to the librarian.
"Alright, then." The stallion sighed as he looked over the desert that was his library, the voluminous dunes of uncatalogued literature he had yet to meticulously trudge through. "I have my work cut out for me. You're free to borrow any book you'd like, and, please, do give a holler if you need anything."
"I will, thank you." Fluttershy watched him until he disappeared around a book case. She plucked the book out from the pile with her teeth, and managed to find a secluded nook recessed in the wall high above. She would never have been able to reach it if not for her wings, for the latter that was once used to gain access to the lofty study had long sense succumbed to the ravages of time. The library, now that she could see it clearly, was a large circular room, with large panes letting in the sunlight through its upper most regions. It was up here that she had domain over the claustrophobic columns of cases that were spaced much too close to each other to accommodate all the knowledge they held. She turned to survey the small study which she decided would now be her sanctuary whenever she needed some time to herself. A small stained glass window filtered in the light from the sun just below the arched ceiling at the far end of the room. There were bronze candle sconces mounted to a wall over a wooden desk and stool that had withstood the test of time with their sturdy oaken frames. A neglected cast iron hearth was standing against the corner, covered in untold layers of soot and dust. This cozy little nook, fluttershy thought, felt so much like home. Once she dusted, swept, shoveled out the hearth, polished the desk, mounted some scented candles to those sconces, and laid down some rushes, maybe add a little circular table complete with a fruit bowl to close up the space in the center of the room, it would be perfect.
Fluttershy brushed away the layers of dust that had accumulated on the desk and set her book down. She pulled out the stool and took a seat. She then took a moment to examine the art work. She remembered it well from her childhood. The eyes in the illustration somehow seemed even more vicious than her husband's actually were. They looked more like snake eyes than anything else, with their thin irises. She turned the cover over and read the prologue:
It is in the birthing chamber, located deep within the bowels of the Crystal Castle, where this tale begins. The mother and current queen of the Chrystal Empire at the time, who had consorted with a thousand demons, spawned the creature that would be named Sombra. Sombra: the old Equestrian word for 'monster,' ripped his mother open, his teeth gnashing, his horn gouging, he tore his mother's womb open. Red eyes pierced through the darkness from the ruined corpse that once was the queen, and It was there that the grieving king looked on in horror at what his demon-loving bride had wrought.
Fluttershy lost count of all the hours she had spent at that desk. When the light behind the stained glass window became too dim for her to read by, she located the librarian and had him bring her some tallow and tinder. It was by the glow of the candles mounted to their bronze sconces that she had reached the fairytale's epilogue.
And so, it had come to pass that Sombra was defeated at the hooves of the divine sisters. Too weak to move, too injured to fight, he laid there and awaited the finishing blow to fall down upon him. Celestia looked on him with pity and offered him one last chance to reform his ways. He needed only repent for all the suffering he had wrought, and all would be forgiven. Remorse, however, was an emotion that was lost on the beast. So consumed with seething black hatred was his heart, that there was simply no room for anything else. Sombra spat Celestia's offer back in her face and cursed her for a whore, and by doing so, he sealed his fate.
Fluttershy closed the book. She looked up and focused on the flame dancing on the wick of the candle, its glowing aura expanding and contracting in a hypnotic rhythm. Her experiences with the king challenged every preconceived notion she had about him. It was difficult to separate fact from fiction - myth from monster... There was one thing she knew though, beyond the shadow of a doubt. She clamped the book firmly between her teeth, held it over the flame of the candle, then threw it as it burned in to the hearth.
It's absolute nonsense.