Sombra was conscious, and for the moment that was all that mattered. This thought was the first thing to greet him upon waking, and he felt a comfort in blindly accepting it as true. He didn't know where it came from, why he couldn't recognize his own thoughts in the first place, or why none of his senses brought him any information, but he wanted to curl up in a corner and believe it. He wanted to believe that everything was okay, and that realization was what brought him out of his haze; everything was not okay, and he had to figure out what was happening to him.
He settled for the simplest task, moving to open his eyes, and instantly felt a wave of dysphoria wash over him- the feeling that he was an intruder, and anything he experienced wasn't for him. He suddenly felt very cold, and the eyes shut again from whatever definition of open they had previously been under. His own senses continued to try and soothe him back to rest, and he very nearly gave in, letting himself relax from whatever waited outside.
A single, shrill sound cut through the fog, and he forced himself to open his eyes again. For the first time since he woke up, his senses returned to him, and he awoke in time to see a Robin's eggs blue Crystal Pony standing before him, looking up at him. Her rhinestone eyes enthralled and captivated him, and he found himself wishing he could admire her beauty for eternity.
She collapsed to the ground, a faint death rattle leaving with her last breath as her life winked out and the knife she had unsuccessfully tried to conceal clattered to the ground. The Crystal King of the Umbrum carelessly stepped over her and continued his march to the silver spire-shaped castle, reaching up to the flaming sky above.
Sombra's illusion of security was shattered instantly, and what was left lay in ruin around him as he struggled to pick up more clues, his own body still failing to respond. As he silently screamed, his view broadened out to fully take in the hellish landscape. Translucent soldiers marched besides him, all decked in the same cold metal helmet. The few hints of the wearers eyes were emotionless, betraying the death their bodies otherwise failed to communicate as they steadfastly marched alongside their leader.
The longer Sombra took in the view around them, the more control he slowly felt trickling back into him, and he allowed himself a moment of hope. He could still fix this! All he needed was to move, and he could fix all of this!
As he strained harder and harder, a sudden shadow passed over his consciousness like a moth wing obscuring the moon, and he felt himself being pulled back into darkness. But his soul refused, pushing forward, and after a moment of struggle, he was thrust back into the seat.
A different view greeted him this time; a crystal statue of a powerful, imposing pony- an alicorn, he remembered. As soon as it occurred to him how realistic it was, his own hooves leapt forward, shattering the head. Blow after blow rained upon it, and as Sombra struggled to regain control, darkness swallowed him again.
Yet again a different scene greeted him upon his return, and already he could feel the presence pushing him back grow weaker. He didn't know how long he could keep his hold for, but the second his eyes opened his will came flooding back. Another Alicorn stood before him, wings outstretched and horn lowered, maintaining the grace of a swan while adopting the fury of a bull. The magic field around her horn throbbed ominously as a spear rose besides her, and her eyes narrowed.
The spear flew towards him, and he unthinkingly parried, mind racing as he realized he was in control. Another thrust, another block, and he began to panic, unsure what to do anymore. Thrust, block, thrust, block, and with every move he made he could feel himself slipping away. His lack of skill was betraying him, and he realized what he had to do a second too late. A sharp gasp slipped from his lips as the spear planted itself deep in his chest, and her rage turned to triumph as she sneeringly bared her teeth at him. He suddenly found breathing to be much harder than he instinctively remembered it being.
The last thing he felt and saw before losing control was his horn lighting up one final time, and the shock of the Alicorn's face as the crystal walls around them began to crumble into dust, with each particle disappearing into thin air.
---*---
But something refused. He was alive, and as soon as he realized this he felt like crying, but nothing came out. Instead, whatever remained of his consciousness screamed into the silent void until it responded.
Hush now. You must rest. It will be safer, quieter, more peaceful. Just rest, and all will be okay.
The voice whispered directly into his stream of thoughts, becoming indistinguishable from his own. The more they whispered, the more he wanted to believe them, and the easier it became to settle on an option; relaxing, and letting the void tuck him into sleep.
Forget your troubles, come on, get happy.
As Sombra began to peacefully fade away, a fragment of horn buried deep under a wasteland of snow lit up, lightly illuminating the miles of ruined land surrounding it.