King Sombra, the former tyrannical dictator of the Crystal Empire, couldn’t complain. Ever since he’d been resurrected by Twilight Sparkle and given a chance at redemption, he was surprised when he realized living a mundane life in Ponyville might not actually be the complete torture he expected it to be. He was given three substantial meals a day, and so far nopony had treated him with anything but kindness despite his long history of enslaving and conquering innocents. Even the somewhat tedious friendship classes he had to endure per order of the Princess and her Council of Friendship, while sappy and overly “cute” at times, weren’t as agonizing as he had initially thought. He’d even taken a liking to having his own dorm in the School of Friendship, where he could retreat to anytime in which he felt too overstimulated by the residents of Ponyville. The dethroned unicorn king had to admit that while things might not have gone exactly the way he had planned, they were pretty okay overall. Sure, it was a far cry from the luxurious life of a king that he once led, but it was still better than being dead.
Well, just about anything was better than being dead.
One lovely summer morning, Sombra was completing his friendship homework in his dorm. The sun was shining through the window and onto the unicorn’s dark gray coat as he sat at his desk, leaning his head to the side against his hoof. It was a Saturday, and none of his work was due until Monday, but he still preferred to complete all of his assignments as soon as possible so he wouldn’t have to deal with them later. The gray stallion was in the middle of filling out a worksheet titled How To Show Empathy when he heard a loud knocking at the door. Sombra was a pony who did not like to be interrupted while he was in the middle of something, and he was also a pony who was known to become easily angered. Feeling his temper begin to rise, Sombra had the urge to yell at his visitor in rage, but he attempted to control himself as he recalled the recent lessons he had been working on that focused on self-control.
“Come in, I am available,” he said, in as patient-sounding a tone as possible.
The door of the ex-King’s dorm swung open, revealing the one pony he particularly did not want to see at that moment. Rushing Winds was an energetic pegasus mare who inhabited Ponyville and had taken to “befriending” Sombra not long after his reformation had begun. Because of this, Princess Twilight had assigned her to be his “training friend” who would help him to apply the friendship lessons he’d be learning at the school. The royal blue pony was quirky and incredibly talkative, so sometimes she was a little too much for the more introverted Sombra to take, but he needed to put up with her at least occasionally in order to please his professors. Sombra suspected that Rush had at least some degree of romantic feelings towards him. She would often hang out with Sombra on the weekends, when he wasn’t studying and she wasn’t working, but she didn’t usually show up at his dorm to get him quite this early in the morning.
“Hiya Sombra!” the pegasus exclaimed cheerfully, her golden-orange eyes glowing with excitement. “I know that it’s early and all, but I have an extra special activity planned for us today, and I just couldn’t wait to get started!” She immediately began bouncing up and down as she finished her sentence, causing her brown and purple striped mane to swish around wildly atop her head.
Sombra stared at his friend quizzically, still somewhat dismayed that his work had been interrupted due to another one of Rush's visits. “Extra special activity? What does this so-called activity entail, exactly? It better not be another one of those “roller coaster rides” like the one you took me on before.”
Sombra recalled the time a few weeks ago when Rush had taken him on an odd mechanical contraption known as a roller coaster. They hadn’t been around in his day, so he had been slightly curious to experience what it was like to ride one. However, he had deeply regretted it when that nightmare-inducing ride had made him very sick to his stomach for the next few hours. Given Rush’s history of supposedly “fun” activities that were in reality unpleasant or unbearable, Sombra was skeptical and wary of what Rush’s latest idea of “fun” might be.
“Of course not, silly! We’re going to do something enjoyable, I promise! There will be no roller coasters or motion sickness this time around! I just need you to do one tiny little thing for me!”
“And… what might that be?” the former tyrant questioned, now intrigued.
“All ya gotta do is take some sips of this juice I made just for you!” Rush shoved a small glass of what appeared to be grape juice into Sombra’s hooves. “Drink up, now!”
Sombra glanced down at the beverage he had just received. It just seemed to be an ordinary glass of juice, and he did feel somewhat thirsty, so he decided to indulge Rush and drink the beverage. But, after downing the whole thing, Sombra realized he didn’t feel so well. He started to feel weak and drowsy, and his vision became blurred.
“Wh… what did… yyyoouu d--”
Before the former king could even finish his sentence, his strong, muscular legs gave way underneath him, and his sturdy body crashed to the floor with a painful thump. He quickly began to lose consciousness, and he stared dizzily up at Rush, trying to figure out what in Tartarus was going on. But, he was not strong enough to remain awake, and the last thing Sombra heard before he blacked out completely was the cheerful voice of Rush, whispering joyfully into his ear.
“See you real soon!”