“No. No!” she screamed, throwing her hands in front of her face. The purple demon grabbed a wrist and pulled Sunset Shimmer closer.
“This is all your fault, you know that right?” Midnight Sparkle asked, tossing the girl onto an indigo bench. “You’re failing at everything. You lost your magic, you lost your watch, and more importantly, you lost your dignity! You couldn’t defeat Nightmare Moon so you ran away with your tail between your legs. How pathetic.” Midnight Sparkle erupted into dust, leaving only her laughter behind.
Sunset Shimmer pressed the palms of her hands over her ears. “Shut up!” she screamed, pushing herself back to her feet. Golden flowers danced for as far as the eye could see. “This isn’t supposed to be happening! I thought once I left Nightmare’s Night that these nightmares would stop.”
“Every world you move on to, I get stronger.” Sunset felt the cold hands touch her shoulders, but when she looked there was nothing there, only the strange scent of Midnight Sparkle’s breath. “Every world you fail gives me strength.”
“You’re not real. You’re a figment of my subconscious. I’m too smart for this. I can beat you!”
“But you weren’t smart enough to beat Nightmare Moon. You weren’t smart enough to fight off Tirek. Now you’ve found that you weren’t even smart enough to reform Sombra. Pathetic!” The words drifted around the gazebo like wind, echoing in the open air. “Pathetic!” it repeated over and over.
For once, Sunset Shimmer tried something new. Clasping her hands over her ears, she ran from under the gazebo and out into the fields of golden flowers. Trampling over the stems and petals, she felt the pollen squish between her toes. She ran and ran, refusing to look back. Though she ran in a straight line, she only ended back at the indigo gazebo that sat on the incline. “Come on! Wake up!” she slapped her cheeks. “Wake up!”
She found herself hunched over, drool pooling out onto the vanity’s table. Rubbing the spittle from her mouth, she stared at herself in the mirror, her grey eyes staring back. “I thought I was done with those awful dreams,” she said to herself, glancing back down at the work she hadn’t yet finished. The book she received during the Resistance timeline sat in front of her, a needle and string cutting through the binding. She had made a loop of a strong twine given to her by Princess Cadance, allowing her to tie her broken watch onto the book of memories.
Having forgotten her loss of magic, she tried levitating the book and watch, but to no avail. “I should’ve talked more to Nightmare Moon about my dreams. She might have had more answers had I been a bit more forthcoming.” Packing away the memories into her backpack, she gave a look at her tired face once more. “I suppose I could talk to this world’s Princess Luna, not that I want to go back to Canterlot.”
A spark then ignited in her mind. “I could talk to Sombra! I don’t think Twilight even got the chance to do something like that! I could find out so much information on him, on the past! He seemed like a pretty intelligent stallion. I bet Twilight will blow a gasket when I see her again.” And just like that, her happiness soured. “If I see her again,” she pouted, frowning.
There were no guards at her door like the last world. Still unfamiliar with the layout, she wandered around for a bit before stumbling into the stairway. There were not many ponies who she passed in the castle halls, far less than in Canterlot Castle. It wasn’t until she made her way outside that she found a group of crystal ponies gathered around their city’s heart, smiling and swaying back and forth. She stopped and stared for a moment, wondering just why the Crystal Heart did not restore the ponies’ magic. That’s a good question for Sombra, she recognized before trotting on to the stallion’s home.
With two hard knocks, the dark stallion appeared with a somewhat cheery smile on his grey face. “Come in,” he greeted, bowing his black head. His home was not as much of a disaster as the previous visit. “My apologies for how it looked yesterday. I had my apprentices clean up and organize the clutter. We’ve found every mention of Star Swirl the Bearded and his works that I’ve collected over the years.” He led Sunset back to his kitchen where his sink was still filled with dirty dishes. On the table sat ten stacks of books each holding five different pieces of literature. “I haven’t had the chance to go through them yet. Are you a reader, by any chance?”
“More of a get out there and do stuff kind of gal, but I wouldn’t argue against someone calling me a bookworm,” Sunset answered. She glanced through each of the piles. “I know the coloring of the book, it’s a light brown.” There were about twenty different light brown books. Picking up each, she tried to remember more of the book prior to its unwarranted explosion. One with golden hemming caught her eye, a glittery gold that reminded her of Applejack’s mane. “It might be this one,” she said, pulling it toward her with both hooves.
“How can you be certain? You haven’t even opened it yet,” he remarked.
She paused and furrowed her brows, staring down at the tome written by an ancient stallion. “It’s hard to remember every event of my life. I think everyone is like that. Usually, the most boring, basic stuff gets pushed away because there’s nothing unique, nothing to create a picture in your mind. Anger is a good fuel for memories, however. When you think to the past, when you’re at your angriest, that’s when you can remember a bunch of details.” The shattering of glass. The explosion of pages. The slamming of lockers. The way she looked at me.
“That’s very astute.” Sombra sidled beside Sunset, taking a hoof and opening the cover. “And you’re definitely right. It’s hard to remember things that are monotonous. This book contains a master list of spells, mostly unfinished. Without magic, it’s rather unexciting and pointless, so my memory of the contents are fuzzy.”
Sunset held one side of the book while Sombra held the other, their cheeks close together. Each set of eyes examined through the paragraphs, though Sunset was a bit faster. She knew exactly what she was looking for. They passed a cutie mark switching spell, a mass teleportation spell, and a spell for self-geomancy transformation. Near the back of the book, they found the spell Sunset had been searching for. “This is it!” she exclaimed pointing down to the contents of the spell.
“This only goes back a week or two at most,” challenged Sombra. “You said that a pony messed with the past childhoods of your friends. That would be years upon years.”
“You’re right. This spell only goes back a couple weeks.” She clamped onto the stallion’s cheeks with both hooves. “But if someone intelligent found a way to alter it then who knows how far back they could go. Princess Twilight Sparkle wasn’t always a princess. She altered one of the spells in here, which was the very reason she was inducted into alicornhood.”
“Wit’out your magic, ‘ow do you plan on using it?” he asked, lisping his words. Snapping his head back from her grip, he rubbed his chin with the back of his hoof. “I mean, you could convince Lord Tirek to try and utilize his magic, but you’d have to solve the equation presented first.”
That made Sunset laugh. “For a magic advisor, you’re a bit slow,” she mocked, shaking her head at him.
Sombra scowled, lifting his muzzle to seem bigger than before. “Magic is barred from this world. It’s not like I can go out and examine spells and incantations for my amusement.”
“It’s not about the magic in this spell—it’s how you use it.” She winked, pushing the book closed at the same time. “I don’t need to go to the past, I just need to cancel out the magic that’s been cast on the table.”
“But if you do that, you’ll be stuck here,” argued Sombra.
Sunset held a sad smile. “I know. I’m already stuck here. Twilight Sparkle is off somewhere far away. Even if I can use the map to locate her, it’d take a miracle to try and convince her to return. But if I cancel the magic on the table it may help my Twilight Sparkle take on this Starlight Glimmer.” She lowered her head and sighed. “It’s a sacrifice. One that I’m willing to make.”
“That’s quite a valiant thing of you to do. However, I might be a slow stallion, but you should try other avenues before committing to a permanent fix.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to insult you,” Sunset apologized.
“It’s quite alright. I’d think nothing of it, but I must admit that I’m quite intimidated by you.” Sombra fumbled with his glasses. “Having only just been introduced yesterday, you’re already the smartest pony I’ve met this century. I’ve never encountered someone so inclined with magic and enthused by its complexities. I find it hard to put my anxiety aside, especially when you’re a lot like me—a reformed villain. Yet you’ve done so much more in your time since being rehabilitated, while I have only floundered with magical practices.”
Sunset stood in disbelief, her jaw to her chest. “I didn’t expect you to admit something like that.”
The stallion threw his head back with laughter. “Sorry! When I was being reformed by Princess Cadance, she helped me escape my shell. I was often quiet; I didn’t show emotion or talk about my feelings. Now, I have more trouble keeping them contained. Let me know if it becomes too much for you. My apprentices often dislike my rambling lectures on the importance of talking openly.”
“No, no. Don’t let me stop you. I’m not one to be egotistical, but I’m not against hearing myself played up,” she said, holding a hoof to her mouth to stop her giggling.
“Sorry,” he chuckled. “I don’t know enough about you to hold you up. I’d like to change that, and I’d like to help you with the spell. Princess Cadance asked me to help you and I wouldn’t want to disappoint her. You and I could visit Ponyville and investigate this map of yours, maybe I’d learn more from it. If you’d like, that is.”
Sunset shifted to one side. “Princess Cadance did say I was to be palling around with you. And it’s not like I could actually do anything if I went back to Canterlot.” She shifted to the other. “Plus, it’d be nice to find out where the other bearers are at. Yeah, sure. Why not.”
“I’ll begin packing my things,” the stallion replied with a pearly smile, exiting the kitchen.
Sunset chose to do the same, taking the newly acquired book with her back to the castle. After stuffing it into her backpack and tossing the bag over her shoulder, she was ready for the trip. She couldn’t find Princess Cadance to say her goodbyes, but she didn’t imagine they’d be in Ponyville for too long.
After boarding the train, a bout of chitchatting between the former villains melted the hours away. Sunset explained her rise to power and eventual defeat, and though she had spoken of it many times before, telling it to Sombra felt different. His eyes are lifeless, but I can see the interest flowing in those grey pools. When the conversation dived for a moment, she asked, “Have you ever run into someone else like us?”
She had her answer as soon as she saw the sad expression on his face. “No. Not exactly. One of my apprentices is rather rude at times, but nothing that designates villain status. At most—Princess Luna.” The edge of his teeth showed in a brief smile before disappearing. “But Princess Cadance did say that if any of the dragons had trouble adapting that I would be the first pony she’d think of. From what I’ve heard, however, it seems there might be too many for me to handle alone.”
I suppose it’s a good thing no other villains have shown up. She leaned to look out the window. Luna’s here, Discord’s still in stone, Sombra and Tirek are reformed. If Sombra can change so much, then perhaps Tirek could have as well. Her eyes drifted back to the dark stallion. “Do you know why the Crystal Heart did not see to defeating Tirek as well? I mean, surely the Heart recognizes evil.”
The stallion shook his head dismissively. “The Crystal Heart is bound to the crystal ponies. If they have love in their heart for the centaur who defended them, then why would the Heart see him as evil? The Crystal Heart is just a conduit, after all.”
Sunset’s brows furrowed so hard she began to squint at the stallion. “Conduit? What do you mean?”
“A conduit. Love passes through it turning into magic which then holds back the wintery storms of the north. It’s just a link. It holds no magic itself. If it did, I’d imagine Lord Tirek would have drained it,” he explained, slightly chuckling as if something he said was funny.
“Twilight Sparkle of the last world called the map a conduit. She explained that it was the tool used to connect the memories of my timeline to the rest. Do you think that’s why it only works when the bearers sit on it? It’s taking the bearers and turning the memory into magic?” Sunset asked.
His eyes lit up, a sparkle to his grey pupils. “That’d be a magnificent find if that’s truly how it works. Now I’m even more eager to see this thing!”
It wasn’t long after that the train reached its stop in Ponyville’s depot. The town had returned to normal compared to her previous visit, ponies trotting about their daily lives. “This is the furthest I’ve traveled south,” Sombra told Sunset as they walked through the quaint town. “I’ve been to Canterlot once or twice, but I rarely leave the Crystal Empire.”
“I hadn’t been to Ponyville at all until this fiasco with time,” Sunset replied. The plain, rustic homes were the same from what she had seen of the previous timelines. She assumed that the out-of-the-way town was mostly unaffected by the abrupt change in the past, other than the stagnant differences caused by the villains. As they made their way out of the town, she saw the destruction Lord Tirek caused, which was now a river with the beginnings of a dock being laid out. “And I’m unsure if I’ll ever truly get to see Ponyville for what it was supposed to be originally.”
Sombra grinned, his teeth flashing white against the greyness of his face. “You’re quite the downer. I promise you, Sunset. I’m going to do everything I can to help you home.”
“And why would you do something like that? You barely know me,” Sunset replied.
“It sounds to me like you’ve been carrying this burden on your shoulders for some time now. You have not expressed the effect of these trials on you, only their outcomes, but I can sense a heavy heart when you speak of them. It is not the normal heavy heart of those like you and I who are burdened by our past. Your heart speaks as if you failed, as if you—oh, dear, I’m rambling on about emotions again, aren’t I?”
“You are. But at least you keep the journey upbeat.” A mask of reserve covered her face. You have no idea how close to the truth you are, Sombra. Even my dreams tell me I’ve failed.
Their idle chitchat carried them through broken fields of charred trees and shattered boulders. It took Sunset some time to figure out just where the map remained. Having had to run away screaming, her sense of direction was a bit iffy. When they came across a tree split in two, a former husk of itself, Sunset was going to dismiss it, but Sombra pointed to the shine beneath the black pine needles. A slight crystal hue resonated beneath the darkness. The chairs themselves remained covered in grey ash, making them resemble rocks or stones.
When Sunset went to move the collapsed tree, the bark fell apart, dusting the table with its remnants. Without her magic, she was forced to buck the tree off the table. But when she did, the piece she kicked tore in two, splitting the tree a second time. With a hefty shove, both Sombra and Sunset pushed off the remains, getting their hooves as well as their bodies coated with soot. “I still can’t get over what power Lord Tirek holds,” Sombra commented, coughing all the while. He held his red cloak to his mouth, revealing his saddlebags underneath. Sunset began wiping down the table with the back of her hoof.
“Neither can I,” she begrudged. With a nice streak of crystal being shown, she waved a hoof at the table. “See? Crystal table.” She then stood bipedal, both hooves on the freshly cleared crystal. “Now, the map!” A holographic map rose up from out of nowhere.
Sombra came closer. His eyes dragged across the cities, the cutie marks, and the Tree of Harmony. The expanded territories of this timeline showed up well on the map. All but the southern cities had become bigger than the original world or any of the previous worlds. As they stared over the hologram, a glitch appeared for a moment. “What was that?” he asked her.
“I don’t know.” Sunset squared her eyes. Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were in Ponyville, while Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are in Cloudsdale. Princess Cadance had been right—Twilight Sparkle left Equestria. “It might have tried to find Twilight,” she started to say before another glitch happened. This time it wasn’t the whole map but just a portion. A flicker of visible static atop the Tree of Harmony. This world’s tree did not glow like the first or third, it remained silent like the second. Sunset stared at the Tree of Harmony, eyeing the dim white ornament. Keeping her focus trained allowed her to see the object disappear completely. “What just happened?” She threw her head back, examining the cutie marks. “Where’d it go?”
“What was that thing?” Sombra asked.
Sunset lifted her nose, standing as tall as she could. “That was the Tree of Harmony. C’mon.” Without any more words said between the two, she led the dark stallion away from the map. She knew the direction. The smell of putrid ash grew less the deeper into the charred woods they went, reaching a piece of the Everfree unburnt and untouched. As she came to the two worlds, standing between them, she noticed that it was as if a line had been drawn in the sand that the fire could not cross.
Continuing on into the hazy Everfree Forest, she noticed that the ashes settled amongst the canopy, giving the world below a greyer outline. It wasn’t far from where they started that they located the dried up ravine. Though it was the same ravine she’d seen in every world, this one hurt the most. The cracked mud was grey, the walls were a whitish-grey, and the charred remains of thrown trees sat dangling over the edges. Though the fire hadn’t spread, it was clear it could have. Some of the canopy had burnt tips and vines were shortened near the edges of the cliff.
As they trotted carefully down the side of the ravine, reaching the bottom, Sunset found the soot was at least an inch thick. They left hoofprints as they walked to a darkened cave hidden between the grey stones. Blackened roots of a tree protruded just above the entrance.
The entry into the cave seemed like an entirely new world, though she could not see much. The slight shining of the sunlight allowed her to make out the silhouette of the big crystalline tree. It was not black, nor was it glowing. Nor was it alive with magic.
“On the map, the tree is only grey when the Elements of Harmony are not within the branches,” she explained to Sombra as she squinted at the six-pointed star that sat in the middle of the trunk. Her eyes went to each of the branches where she had seen the tetragonal crystals placed in the last timeline. “But—this Tree of Harmony has all the Elements, I think. What’s going on? I can barely see a thing. I wish I had my magic.”
A sudden light erupted into the cavern, bouncing randomly off the walls. When she looked back, she saw the stallion playing with a mirror, his saddlebags beside him. “I never go anywhere without my tools. A mirror is great for examining many things in reverse, though I suppose it’s how you use it, right?”
She couldn’t help but smile at the stallion before turning back to the light. “A little lower,” she called, and the mirror bounced the light down the bark. The light blue of the crystal was nowhere to be seen. Instead, the tree grew pure white while the Elements of Harmony turned grey, much as they had been after Nightmare Moon’s corruption seeped into their stones. “What in Equestria?” Sunset rushed forward, placing a hoof on the tree. Her shadow casted up, reaching the six-pointed star. “This can’t be happening. Did Princess Luna attempt to use the Elements of Harmony in this timeline too? Rarity said Princess Celestia used them on Nightmare Moon. How did this happen?”
The dark stallion’s shadow grew smaller as he trotted up beside her. “Princess Celestia used the Elements of Harmony on Nightmare Moon, returning her sister back to this world. She then came down thinking she no longer needed the Elements and placed them back into the Tree of Harmony. If we can assume everything I said is true, that means something happened after they were returned.”
“But what!?” she cried out.
“I am not sure, to be quite honest with you. You’re the expert on these sort of things,” he replied. “Could returning the Elements of Harmony have made the tree dormant?”
“No. It wasn’t dormant in the first world I visited. In my world, there was a box or something that sprouted up after Princess Twilight and her friends returned the Elements of Harmony. This, whatever this is, shouldn’t be happening. We should check out the castle.” She rushed out past the mirror.
“Castle?” Sombra yelled. He quickly threw the mirror into his saddlebag and followed after Sunset.
Sunset stood at the top of the ravine, the rope bridge had been snapped in two. “The Castle of the Two Sisters.” She nudged her head in the direction of the castle. Sombra stood on the loose stones, trying to glimpse the structure she spoke of. “I don’t suppose you also carry a grappling hook and rope in that bag, do you?”
“No, I don’t,” Sombra said as he reached the top, brushing his chest against her shoulder. “But I do spot something unsafe and crazy to try. You seem like the type of mare who is bold and rash.” He lifted his hoof under her chin, pointing in the direction of a fallen tree that bridged the gap between the ravine’s sides. The side that faced the bottom was blackened but the side that faced the sky was as brown as most of the other trees.
Placing her hooves on the trunk, she glanced past the gnarled roots back at Sombra. “You don’t have to come with me if you don’t want. I’ll be back in a moment.”
“When you said you were the adventurous type, I’m glad you meant it. I rarely leave my house most days, I won’t pass this little voyage up just because of a risky bridge,” Sombra replied, a strong, knightly grin passing over his lips.
Sunset smiled back before climbing onto the log. She trailed ashy hoofprints behind her as she maintained her balance across the accidental bridge. When she reached the other side, she hopped down and glanced back. Sombra had already made it halfway. This is so surreal. This is King Sombra, the villain who brainwashed his citizens and made his city disappear for a thousand years. Yet, here is with me, Sunset Shimmer, the girl who stole an Element of Harmony and used it to almost destroy the world. She shook her head, brushing back her bangs with a soot-covered hoof. Strangest part is, I’m enjoying it.
Once Sombra was safely back on the ground, they pushed their way into the forest. The sun began to hang low in the sky, giving the Castle of the Two Sisters a more sinister appearance. The sun bleached white walls were a dark grey in the turning light, though the ash hadn’t helped its look. Pieces of stone collapsed from the inside out. As they drew through the entrance, much of the roof had been blown off, though none inside.
“The Castle of the Two Sisters, you said? Princess Celestia’s and Princess Luna’s home before the younger was banished to the moon… This is the place they settled. The place they returned to after their attempt at beating me for control of the empire,” Sombra commented. His eyes dragged amongst the ruins just as Sunset’s had when she stumbled into the castle during the Resistance timeline.
“It seems, different,” Sunset nonchalantly mentioned. As they pushed into the heart of the castle, they found claw marks on the walls, near the corners, and along the ragged crimson rugs. Weeds sprouted in the cracks of many places, and vines hung down from the open ceiling. The throne room was different from what Sunset remembered. She had felt sadness when there had been no bunnies at the chair, but this throne room’s chair had been shattered. Pieces were spread out in all directions with scorch marks at the edges. “What in the world?” she exclaimed, coming closer to examine the pieces.
Where the throne had sat was now a piece of stony rubble. Sunset looked back at Sombra and noticed the ashy hoofprints they dragged in on the rug began to fade as they traipsed about. She turned back to the pieces of chair, then to the roof above. Though large portions were missing, there wasn’t enough of an opening for the throne to be hit. “This was done deliberately by someone with magic. A fight? Could this have been done by Nightmare Moon and Celestia battling?”
“Possibly. That’s reasonable. Let’s check out the rest of the castle,” Sombra answered.
Turning back out into the corridors, they found the library next. Her eyes went wide as she discovered the library was in ruins, returning her memory of the humble zebra named Zecora. A sudden feeling of anguish shot through her. “Who did this!?” she screamed.
A few of the shelves had collapsed forward, while most of the others had a blast of energy scorching down the sides or middle, burning several books. Two of the tables were completely shattered, while the center one was only broken in two. “All this knowledge, wasted,” Sombra mourned as he stepped past Sunset into the museum of the broken past. “If this was a fight, it seems like they weren’t aiming for each other.”
Sunset was drawn to the center table, a book sat creased between the two halves. Claw marks had been dragged along the cover. Skimming through, she found a few pages were torn from the front of it. The rest of the book didn’t seem to make any sense to her, just pieces of myths and legends. Her head swiveled around the room, eyeing Sombra who was glancing through some unburnt tomes. “Sombra, do you have a copy of—” Sunset looked to the cover to see the title, but the name was scratched out “—Never mind.”
“Titles are sometimes reiterated in the back,” Sombra said as he came close, a set of books in one of his hooves. “Oh, what’s this?” The stallion suddenly leaned down next to Sunset, grasping at something beneath the broken table. When he lifted it out, she saw that it was a set of torn pages.
A curious itch made Sunset lean over the top, eyeing the upside-down words. To her surprise, a drawn picture of a centaur was at the top. “Let me see that!” She snatched the paper out of his hoof and shoved it into the sections of the book she had found, discovering that the pages had the same tears. “These were removed! Torn out!” She scanned the torn papers. Her eyes scowled as she read, her brows came together in a thoughtful frown. “This battle, it wasn’t a battle at all.”
“What was it?” the stallion asked.
“It was an angered attack on the past,” she answered. “By Tirek.”
“What would Lord Tirek be doing here?”
Perhaps in Sunset’s world, after escaping Tartarus, Tirek had also traveled to the Castle of the Two Sisters. Maybe he had set it up as his base after finding it devoid of the two he so much hated. In this world, however, he did not find the two he sought, he found something else, something more. “He was looking for Princess Celestia and Princess Luna,” Sunset replied. “Instead, he found the Elements of Harmony.”
Sombra leaned back as far as he could, extending his neck away from the fellow unicorn. “That’s a bold claim, though not an unreasonable one.” He relaxed for a moment, taking off his glasses to wipe away the streaks. “I’m not sure what these Elements of Harmony looked like before, but from what you’ve said they shouldn’t look the way they do. The Elements of Harmony are not like your map or the Crystal Heart. They contain magic, strong magic, magic that could turn a villain into stone. If Lord Tirek drained those of their magic, then…” He grimaced.
“Then he would have gone straight to Canterlot, feeling strong enough to take on the princesses. Whereas in my world, he would have come here and found nothing, eventually taking his leave to try and absorb basic magic until he became strong,” Sunset finished for him.
“It fits too coincidently for it to be a coincidence,” Sombra acknowledged with a nod of his head. “It fits with his origin story that he and the princesses spread around Equestria.”
“Could you tell me it?” She took the books he found out of his hoof, setting them aside before sitting down next to him.
The saddlebags slid down his back as he took a seat in front of her, their muzzles mere inches away from each other. “It’s quite a rousing good story, I must admit. Long ago, Lord Tirek and his brother, Scorpan, came from a faraway land. He and his brother were not accepted by ponykind due to their strange looks. Lord Tirek resented the ponies for judging them, while Scorpan continued to treaty with them, eventually making a friend in one unicorn stallion. Lord Tirek’s anger got the best of him, turning him into a power-hungry monster. Scorpan informed his friend and the princesses of his brother’s lust for power, to which they immediately stopped him, sealing him away in Tartarus. Scorpan left soon after but not before asking for mercy, a limited sentence for his brother. The stallion who claimed to be his friend lied, however, and did not tell the princesses to go easy on Lord Tirek’s imprisonment.
“For thousands of years, Lord Tirek was forced to idle within Tartarus, guarded by Cerberus. For thousands of years, he stewed, anger building up inside. When he was able to escape, his anger led him to Canterlot, which just happened to be at the same time as an invasion. The changelings tried to attack him, to drain his love, but he had none. Instead, he drained them of their ill-begotten magic. He drained every single one before reaching the changeling queen. When he found Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, they bowed to him, thanked him, and then asked why he had saved them. He did not have an answer, he was just as surprised as they were. Something in him had changed, his anger gone. That was when he parleyed. Look at the power-hungry monsters that have come to steal your magical essence, he said to the princesses. I too am a hungry monster come to steal your magic, yet even with your magic, you could not save yourselves. I, however, saved you.
“The princesses were in shock, but they understood. Princess Celestia had only recently recovered her sister from a powerful magical force, and she understood that villains could be redeemed. In return for our magic, would you guard us? she asked, and Lord Tirek was surprised by such a question. He accepted, graciously, and found that the ponies accepted him when they had not previously. Equestria had changed since the time he had first arrived with his brother. Though the ponies were wary to turn over their magic, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were there to support him, their magic removed. Soon, all of Equestria gave over their magic. Some didn’t like it, but those naysayers trailed off once he proved himself by vanquishing me and bringing the Crystal Empire back into the world.”
“I see,” Sunset replied once the stallion finished. “That’s not what it says happened in these pages, though.” She grabbed the stack of papers and handed them to Sombra.
The stallion read through them carefully. He took a while, and Sunset knew he had reread them twice at the least. “This is a more brutish version of the story,” Sombra noted. “History is told by the winners, I suppose. Still, there are remnants of this story in his. A unicorn wizard, Lord Tirek stealing power, and Scorpan telling the princesses.”
Sunset’s muzzle scrunched up. “It says right at the beginning. Both Tirek and Scorpan came to this land to steal magic. They didn’t come to make friends.”
“As I said, history is written by the winners. I’m sure there are works written about me that describe my heart as black as night, and that I always brainwashed everypony I met.”
“You didn’t?”
“Of course not. I wouldn’t have called them friends, but I did want someone to talk to,” he answered with a shrug.
For a long moment, Sunset stared blankly at the stallion. Her mind was lost in her own thoughts. I never desired companionship when I was pushing my way up at CHS. Even after becoming a demon and challenging Twilight, I didn’t once stop to think about anyone to talk to. Am I just the worst? Worse than Somba?
“Equestria to Sunset,” the stallion said. He hoisted his saddlebag back over his sides, the books he was stealing firmly inside. “You alright?” He waved a hoof in front of her face, snapping her out of her thoughtful stupor.
Sunset nodded, rising to her hooves. She wasn’t alright. Her heart ached, her stomach squeezed, and her head was throbbing. “Pathetic,” she heard a voice say, causing her to look around. “Pathetic,” it repeated over and over.
“Hey, hey!” The stallion put a hoof around one of her forelegs, pulling her close. “You don’t seem alright. Come on. Let’s get out of here and back to Ponyville.”
“Pathetic,” the voice said as she was pulled by the stallion. “This is all your fault. You’re so pathetic. You can’t do anything right, can you? You’re just a failure. You fail at everything you do. Can’t you do anything right? You’re pathetic.”
Sombra pushed out into the thick air, the sun was setting. Sunset took a step onto the ash-covered grass, feeling the grey world around her. Everything looked sickly, just as she felt inside. The stallion said something but she didn’t hear him. She saw his lips moving, his eyes looking back at her, but she didn’t hear a word. There was only one thing she could hear. One voice.
“You’re the worst.”