//------------------------------// // Sympathy For The Devil // Story: Rainbow in the Dark // by BaeroRemedy //------------------------------// “I told you, I don’t have any idea who he’s talking about.” Spitfire whispered to Rainbow Dash as they strode down the hall side by side. King Sombra was walking ahead of both of them, leading them to his personal quarters to introduce Dash to somepony. “I’ve never even been in his quarters. It’s protected by wards and charms he put there himself, so nopony can get in unless he wants them to.” “Really? No idea at all?” Rainbow Dash found it hard to believe that the Captain of the Royal Guard didn’t know about something in the castle. Who were all of the immortals she could think of? Tirek, Discord, Scorpan, that slime thing that Discord knew. Cadance was a possibility maybe? Dash didn’t exactly know how old Celestia’s niece was but Sombra knew who she was, so she had to either be alive or was at some point. “No. Now just show some patience, please.” Spitfire grumbled back at the other pegasus, her head never turning to actually address Rainbow. With a sigh and a roll of her eyes, Dash obliged the request. “Your Majesty, can I talk to you for a moment?” The yellow and red unicorn from the meeting room, Sunset Shimmer, popped into existence in a flash of light right beside King Sombra. “The Saddle Arabian Ambassador has sent a request that your visit to Saddle Arabia be moved up a few weeks to right before the Carnival.” “Absolutely not.” Sombra shook his head and extended a hoof to push Sunset’s clipboard into her chest. “One thousand years since the first Crystal Carnival, I will not miss it due to Saddle Arabian impatience. Tell him the original date stays or the visit is cancelled.” Sombra started off again, Sunset right beside him and the two pegasi trailing behind. “I am not entertaining the little prince’s constant rescheduling any longer.” “Of course, Your Majesty. Consider it done.” The unicorn scribbled something down on the paper she held before speaking again. “On the note of the Crystal Carnival: Specialist Rainbow Dash was meant to kick off the festivities with a Sonic Rainboom. Considering that is now an impossibility, we need to find something else to-” “-I can still do it!” Rainbow shouted out. Her one good wing fluttered against her side as she bounded between the two unicorns. “I-I mean, if I get a prosthetic soon… Your Majesty. I can still do it.” “With all due respect, Specialist. No, you cannot.” Sunset scoffed at Rainbow, her horn lighting up with a red glow and pushing the pegasus back. “It takes ponies months to adjust to a prosthetic limb, let alone a pegasus with a fake wing. I doubt you’ll ever be as fast as you were.” “You don’t know me.” Dash growled out as she narrowed her gaze. The familiar competitive fire lit itself deep in her belly and swelled poured out of her eyes. “I’ll get used to that wing in like a day and I’ll be just as fast!” Rainbow’s glare was matched by Sunset as the two mares nearly started to butt heads. “Expedite Rainbow Dash’s wing.” Sombra raised his voice to break the two mares staring contest up. “I want it done as fast as possible. Prepare a contingency just in case she is not ready, the biggest magic fireworks you can find.” A black armored hoof pushed between Rainbow and Sunset, gradually moving them apart. Then he looked at Rainbow Dash, a slight grin creeping across his face. “Consider this a challenge: get back into form before the Carnival.” “I can do that.” Rainbow Dash nodded and then shot another look at Sunset Shimmer before returning to Spitfire’s side. “I’ll show her…” She grumbled under her breath, her chest puffing out a little more. “Very well.” Sunset huffed and disappeared in another flash of red magic. The rest of the walk to the King’s chambers was uneventful and slow. Sombra’s walking speed was leisurely and winding. Several staff members came up to speak to him, all about things that were much less interesting than what Sunset Shimmer had to say. It was about thirty minutes of meandering, each minute seeming longer than the last, before they reached the pitch black crystal door that led to King Sombra’s quarters. Rainbow Dash wasn’t much for magic. It never interested her, and as a pegasus it didn’t really make much sense nor could she do anything with it. Even without a horn or much of a sense for what magic was, Dash could feel the magic radiating from the door in front of her. It made the fur all over her body stand on end and made the glasses vibrate on her face. “Captain Spitfire, I ask that you stay out here while I speak with Rainbow Dash privately.” King Sombra didn’t look at Spitfire as he directed her, instead his horn was encompassed with a glow and the door split down the middle and swung open. “Your Majesty, I have to object. I trust Rainbow Dash but she’s still...easily confused. I don’t want her lashing out at you if she has another episode.” Each word Spitfire let loose sunk yet another dagger into Dash’s heart. Sure, this was still a lot to take in but she wasn’t going to attack King Sombra. She wasn’t suicidal. “Do you not think me capable of handling one injured pegasus, Captain?” Sombra spoke coolly as he turned around to face Spitifre. Where most ponies might wilt at the sight of King Sombra rounding on them, but the guard captain stood her ground. “Of course not, Your Majesty. It’s my duty to ensure your safety against all threats. I just want to make sure you don’t have to defend yourself if the need arises.” Spitfire didn’t even look like she was breathing as she looked up at the towering stallion. Sombra’s emerald eyes looked over his captain and then he took a step back. “I understand, but you don’t need to worry. You may stand out here and wait. I will not renew my wards so you can enter if you need to.” Sombra placed a hoof on Spitfire’s shoulder. “Only if I call you, though. Am I understood?” “Yes, Your Majesty.” Spitfire snapped a crisp salute and moved to stand beside the door. She stared ahead, her posture ramrod straight and her demeanor unflinching now. Even though they hadn’t entered the room yet, it already felt like Rainbow was alone with the usurper king. King Sombra silently turned and walked into his room, and Rainbow followed. The door closed behind her with a meaty thud, signalling now that they were truly alone. The confidence that Sunset’s attitude has brought to a new high was now fading into the background. In all of her years had she never been alone with one of their foes, usually this was Twilight’s forte. The room before her was expansive, at least twice as big as Spitifre and Rarity’s whole apartment. Suits of armor, both crystal and steel, were along the walls. A greatsword, the blade still coated with old blood, was on the wall and enclosed in a glass case. There were no windows in the space either, instead it was lit by candle-filled sconces.A massive bed dominated the far side of the room, covers of rich dark satin flowing over the mattress. It looked like a room...well, fit for a king. Instead of talking to her in here, Sombra made his way towards a door in the corner and beckoned Dash to follow. Beyond that door was his personal study. Bookshelves lined the walls from the floor up to the ceiling, and only afforded enough room for a high-backed chair with a small table beside it in front of a roaring fireplace. “Do you know what I found when I first entered Canterlot?” Before Dash could fully enter the room and look around, Sombra had stopped her at the threshold. He didn’t give her a moment to respond before he answered his own question. “Celestia’s room, replete with all of the things she sought to hide from the world.” In the throne room his voice had been bombastic and victorious, but now it was quiet and somber. Hot breath smelling slightly of charcoal washed over Rainbow with each word. “Every problem Equestria had faced that she had solved and earned so much admiration for: all half measures. All things she knew would come back to haunt the ponies of Equestria in the future, all things she knew somepony else would fix for her.” Images of Tirek, Discord, Nightmare Moon and even Sombra himself were all conjured in Rainbow Dash’s mind. All things that Celestia and Luna had dealt with long ago that the Elements of Harmony had to save the world from once again. It was always sort of weird how Celestia never helped them fix those things considering they were usually her messes in the first place. “I read about what she had done with Equestria’s foes and woes, about how she saw great saviors in the future that would be required by fate to conquer them once more.” Sombra continued with a disgusted scoff. “So I dealt with them. I sealed Tartarus up with my own magic and surrounded it with a fort, protected by my best guards. I found the deepest roots of those plunderseeds in the Everfree Forest and burned them to a crisp. When that beast of chaos was still made of stone, I lopped off his head and threw his body through that cursed mirror they kept hidden in the basement, then had it melted down to make a new sword.” Sombra finally stepped back and looked off into the study. “Where they had been content with waiting for trouble to arise, I wanted to be a proactive leader to keep Equestria safe.” Another headache shot through Dash’s skull as all of the information sank in. Discord was gone? Tirek had never been freed? No chaos or strife had ever befallen the ponies of Equestria like she had seen? It was unbelievable. That familiar sense of panic began to rise in her chest as more and more of what she thought she knew crumbled around her. “I wanted to speak to you privately about this because I saw many things. I saw Celestia and Luna banish the Crystal Empire and myself to the edges of time, only to return one thousand years on because they refused what needed to be done. I saw the dragon and the alicorn put me down once more, but not finish the job.” Dash’s blood started to turn to ice in her veins as he spoke. Whatever had shown him his fears had shown him everything. Everything. “I saw you and your friends finally do it, put me down like the mad dog I was. I saw you finally do what had to be done. You’ve seen it too, haven’t you?” “Y-yeah…?” Rainbow gulped, her throat about as dry as any desert in the world. Surely he had brought her in here to kill her as some act of revenge. Surely he was angry that now she had seen what he could do and wanted to silence her from exposing him. “Good.” Sombra nodded with a slight smile, the look in his eye more than a little unhinged. “I don’t know how those cultists did it, but they’ve shown you what should be in an attempt to turn you against me. I have no doubt about that. “ “You’re not...mad…?” Rainbow took a few deep breaths as no anger was evident in his voice. It calmed her enough, but not entirely. “I kinda figured you would want...I don’t know, revenge?” “Nonsense. Those events never happened, simply the dreams of fate.” Sombra waved his hoof at Rainbow dismissively. “I want to encourage you to think about that world critically. Think about what your life was like, what challenges you faced compared to the real world. I want you to see that fate robbed you of hard work, of the satisfaction of overcoming adversity in that world. When the universe decrees you are important, when it says you must be great, it steals both choice and the thrill of overcoming resistance from you until your part is done.” Sombra closed his eyes and bit his tongue, stopping himself from talking further. “I will let you marinate on that without further prognostication from me, Rainbow Dash. Now, I want you to meet an acquaintance of mine.” “Oh are you finally done talking, Smoky?” A snarky voice came from inside the room, one she knew and despised all too well. “Well, let’s see this mare whose time you’ve been wasting, come on!” “No…” Rainbow said beneath her breath as she rushed into the room and turned around, looking for the familiar serpentine menace that the voice belonged to. “Alright Discord, where are you?” “Up here, my dear.” Rainbow spun around to face the fireplace and looked up. Sure enough, right above the fireplace on the wall was Discord. Well, his head was up there at the very least. Mounted on a wooden plaque, cut off less than a six inches below his head at the neck, was Discord’s head. “I see you know my voice and you’ve guessed my name. How intriguing.” Everything else seemed to be in order, those mismatched red pupils in yellowed eyes, the two different horns and that single fang dipping out from a chaotic grin. “Alright, what’s your game?” Rainbow glowered up at the draconequus ferociously. “No way you’re just stuck like that. This is a trick, right? A joke?” She knew Discord well enough to know that this is something he would do to gain the upper hand in a meeting. “Oh trust me, I wish.” Discord responded with a sigh, his ears turning down. “What you see is what you get now. It turns out when your body is chucked into another dimension, there’s not much you can do. When I was first released from my stone prison, believe you me, I was as shocked as you are.” “Silence.” Sombra moved to stand between Rainbow and the prize on his mantle. “Discord, we are here because you knew Celestia and Luna. Rainbow Dash does not believe in my characterization of them. She believes them to be unassailable as rulers.” “Those two?!” If Discord had a chest, it would’ve been heaving with laughter. “They’re goody two-horseshoes, but perfect?” The decapitated draconequus shook his head. “Oh dear no. Luna was always too angsty for her own good and Celestia was always focused on ‘doing the right thing’. At any cost.” “Yeah, okay. Sorry if I don’t take his word as law.” A twinge of sympathy pinged Rainbow’s heart as she thought more about Discord. He was an annoying troublemaker, but did he deserve this? The answer was...complicated. He had hurt a lot of ponies when he first came back, and it seemed like this at least prevented that. In the other world, that world of should be, was his redemption enough to wipe away the pain he caused? “I understand, but take what he said with what you were shown. Does it line up?” Sombra rested a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder and spoke calmly. “Think on it more, and you will see everything I said to be true.” He lifted his dark hoof from the sky blue fur it sat upon. “Beyond that, I invite you to dinner tonight with myself as a ‘welcome home’ feast.” “Oooh, take me along. It’s been a good long while since I’ve been out of this wretched room.” Both ponies shot a look at Discord simultaneously. “Oh I see how it is. Come in here and wake me up from my nap just to ask me one question and leave and then not take me to dinner.” “Yeah, I’ll be there I guess.” Rainbow Dash completely ignored Discord and spoke to Sombra instead. He couldn’t cause chaos, but at least his spirits didn’t seem dampened by that at all. Maybe she would come visit him in the future if Sombra allowed it to see how much he knew about what both she and Sombra saw. “Good. I will see you then.”