//------------------------------//
// Chapter 22: Coming To Terms With The Past Part 1 
// Story: The Not-So-Normal Adventures of King Sombra and Pinkie Pie 
// by Harmony Charmer 
//------------------------------//

	Sombra felt his entire being ache with undeniable pain as he laid within himself, the consequences of his actions weighing onto him like lead. His earlier grievances against the darkness within him finally died away as he regretfully remembered his actions towards Pinkie, his dearly beloved.

'I can't believe this...' Sombra thought, his heart aching, 'I can't ever make this up to her...'

'You say that as if you deserve to,' the dark voice said snidely.

Sombra didn't reply, but only pulled into himself further as he tried to push away the dark voice's influence.

'Aw, what's the matter?' the dark voice uttered, 'Can't handle that your little Pinks thinks you're a monster?'

Sombra felt a small flicker of anger, but pushed it down immediately. He wasn't going to let his anger get the best of him again.

'You're so pathetic,' the voice snapped, 'You used to be such a great stallion-- now all you are is a lovesick puppy who can't handle it when things don't go his way.'

'Leave him be, you monster!' Sombra heard Conscience shout angrily, 'I'm your enemy, not him!'

Sombra felt a sense of surprise take over. What did his counterpart have against this darkness?

'Oh, it's you,' the dark voice said, obviously unamused, 'Did you enjoy the show I put on for you and your friend?'

Conscience snarled at the voice, something Sombra never heard him do. 'You are a sick, parasitic leech! If I had any of my power--'

'Ah, but you don't,' the voice interrupted, a dark chuckle following afterwards, 'Your friend has finally joined your ranks, little colt. And now, with both of you out of the way, I can get back to what's rightfully mine...'

'You leave the Empire alone!' Conscience ordered, his tone holding an anger Sombra never knew he was capable of holding.

'Hold your tongue, little colt!' the dark voice snarled, 'You wouldn't want your anger to get the better of you again, now would we?'

Conscience went silent for a moment, small, incoherent noises of pure rage coming from the presence. 'You-- You bastard! That wasn't my fault and you know it!'

The dark voice laughed. 'You are still the little colt who I had the misfortune of meeting. Your words hold nothing over me, nor do your friend's. Now that both of your strength has been reduced to nothing, I can finally be free!'

Sombra felt an abrupt change within his mental imprisonment, almost as though he were being... torn.

'What's happening?' Sombra questioned, panic beginning to set in.

'You-- You can't do this!' Conscience screamed, 'I won't let you!'

'You hold no power!' the dark voice exclaimed victoriously, 'You can't stop what's happening!'

Sombra continued to feel his being be torn, excruciating pain flowing through him as he regained some sense of consciousness. He tried to scream, but found he could not, despite his undying need to do so.

Finally, the tearing sensation disappeared, but the pain did not, the throbbing within his being dulling ever-so-slowly.

'My head...' Sombra groaned, placing a hoof on his head to rub his temple.

Sombra froze mid-rub as he suddenly realized his action and opened his eyes to see his blurry hoof in front of him. Shocked by the fact he regained his physical form once again, he attempted to look around. But, to his dismay, waves of pain rushed through him at the abrupt action and he cringed as he hunkered to the ground to ease his pain.

He heard a dark laugh from in front of him, but his pain prevented him from looking. "You're too weak to do anything, you whelp," he heard the familiar darkness of the voice that haunted his head say.

Sombra let out roarous cry as he felt a sharp kick to his side, waves of aching pain reverberating through him.

'You can't let him get away with this!' he heard Conscience shout within him, 'He's got to be stopped!'

"By the expression on your face, I'm guessing that little colt in your head is urging you to stop me," the dark voice deduced aloud, a short chuckle following shortly after, "tell him this-- wait, he can probably hear me, so I'll tell him myself. Know this, little colt..."

Sombra froze as he felt a muzzle brush against his ear, a pinch of fear slowly growing into something more.

"Your Empire will fall," the voice whispered haughtily, an evil laugh following as he pulled away.

Finally, Sombra shakily opened his pained eyes and achingly looked up at his tormentor with blurred vision. His eyes widened as he took in the sight of the being before, him, his breath hitching in his throat.

It was him. Yet, also not.

Although he bore Sombra's appearance, he was adorned in the silver armor that Pinkie had destroyed all those months ago. His red eyes were encased in the glowing green that came with dark magic, purple flames licking his ears as he grinned at Sombra maliciously.

"Surprised?" he asked, though his tone held no request for an answer, "You shouldn't be. In fact, you and I were meant to be one again, dear Sombra."

Sombra could only stare, completely dumbfounded and shocked.

"I was you and you were me, once," "Sombra" told him, "you are but an accidental creation, you realize. After you regenerated your body, you made another version of yourself; neither me nor the other persona that you once were."

"What?" Sombra croaked, his eyes wide with undeniable shock.

"Sombra" chuckled. "He never told you, did he? How you came to be?"

Sombra wanted to argue with the demon before him, Tartarus, he wanted to kill him for all he had done. But, even if he managed to land a mark on him in his current state, it would do little to help his situation regarding Pinkie and the others. So, with a heavy heart and a bloody tongue, he shook his head rigidly.

"I should have figured as much. He probably fears your reaction, that little colt," "Sombra" told him with a slight shake of his head, "well, he'll have plenty of time to tell you now that you're stuck here together."

Sombra let out weak, but feral growl. "I won't l-let you... h-hurt more p-ponies..."

"Sombra" let out a laugh. "You're so resilient, despite the fact that it matters nothing. Nopony will want your 'help' now that they've seen you for what you really are."

Sombra opened his mouth to reply, but the demon walked off before he had the chance. Sombra wanted so badly to tell that monster before him that he was wrong about how the others perceived him, that he was completely able to offer his help without fear of rejection.

But, that need for arguing came and went when he remembered the look on Pinkie's face when the demon had told her those lies, his heart beginning to ache all over again as the memory replayed itself for him.

"Well, I should be on my way now," "Sombra" said, a fake sincere smile on his face, "It's always been a pleasure doing business with you two."

Then, without another word, "Sombra" dissipated into the shadows, the evil being disappearing from the two-in-one stallion's sight.

'We have to stop him!' Conscience exclaimed, 'We can't let him get away with this!'

"Don't you see?" Sombra muttered, his gaze going to the ground, "He already has."

'No, he hasn't! He won't! We just need to get to the Empire and warn everypony!'

"Who will listen?" Sombra snapped, then cringed as his ribs ached from his abrupt shout, "For all we know, Cadence has already sent word to the Empire and has already gotten the defenses readied. They don't need me to ruin anything else..."

'They won't be able to stop him if they don't know what he looks like!'

Sombra froze as he realized Conscience's concern and his eyes widened as he understood the evil being's plan.

"He's going to change his form," he whispered, completely horrified, "They won't be able to know who he is or what's he capable of."

'He's like a Changeling, that bastard! He can take on the form of anypony he wants and then destroy love within his wake while doing so!'

"By the gods..." Sombra uttered, "how are we supposed to stop him?"

Conscience sighed. 'I don't know. But I know that you're going to have to be the one to stop him!'

"Me?" Sombra questioned aloud, "Why me?"

'You're the only one with the power to end his reign of tyranny! Nopony else can stop him; not Celestia, not Luna, not even Cadence or Twilight! Hell, with the Elements of Harmony gone into the Tree, nopony is able to stop him!'

Sombra let out a frustrated growl. "Then how will I be able to stop him? I can't even light a blasted candle without my magic."

'That's because you aren't motivated to do so! Think back to all the times you used magic in the past while, including the mishap that was only a couple hours ago!'

Sombra frowned, but against his better judgement, took Conscience's advice.

"Let's see, there was the time where Sweetie Belle and myself had fallen down that trench back at Applejack's farm. But, that was only luck on my part. I didn't even mean to teleport us back to safety."

'No, you did! Think harder! What did you think before you teleported?'

"I wasn't thinking, I was panicking! I felt like such an idiot for abandoning Pinkie like that back there and just jumping into danger without a moment's thought! I wanted to be back up there with her so ba--"

Sombra froze as his eyes widened in realization. "I teleported because I wanted to see Pinkie again."

Conscience chuckled. 'Even after centuries and she's been gone, that mare is still saving my flank.'

Sombra frowned at his implication. "Alright, so you were right in that respect. But what about earlier when I--" Sombra shook his head lightly. "I mean, that demon, attacked Cadence and Rainbow Dash?"

'You only attacked because of Cadence's insults, which, in all honesty, weren't even her own doing.'

Sombra blinked. "What? But, all those things she said--"

'--weren't her own. While you and her were in the throne room together, the Shadow decided to use Cadence's hate for you to his advantage and made her act irrationally to increase your chances of turning to his side.'

"That-- That bastard!" Sombra exclaimed, his teeth gritted angrily, "How could he do such a thing?"

'That barely scratches the surface! That monster's been tampering with everyone's perceptions and views for the past while, Pinkie included!'

"What? What did that monster do to my mare?" Sombra snarled.

Conscience paused for a moment before saying, 'Did you just say Pinkie was your mare?'

"That's because she is!" Sombra snapped, "And if you know he's been doing this, why in Tartarus didn't you stop him?"

'I honestly had no idea until just a couple hours ago,' Conscience admitted shamefully, 'if I had known, I would have told you.'

Sombra sighed raggedly. "Alright, fine. You didn't know about him tampering with everyone." Sombra froze as he realized the full extent of Conscience's revelation. "Wait a second, just what did he tamper with, exactly?"

Conscience coughed nervously, which only caused Sombra to frown as he saw he was hiding something.

"Conscience..." Sombra drawled out, his eyes narrowed thinly, "What are you keeping from me?"

'...Promise not to get mad?'

Sombra let out a loud huff of annoyance. "Time is of the essence, you moron! Tell me what you know!"

'Uh, alright. I don't think you're gonna be happy when I tell you, so I'm gonna have to ask you Pinkie Swear not to yell at me.'

Sombra opened his mouth to argue, but instead sighed once more. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my freaking eye."

'You have to do the--'

"I'm not doing the motions, you twit!"

'Alright, alright! Yeesh, just trying to keep to tradition, is all.'

Sombra sucked in air through his teeth in aggravation. "My patience is beyond thin at this point..."

'Alright, so uh... Gee, how do I say this...? I mean, you're gonna be really mad, so maybe it's best I keep this to my--'

"Conscience, if you don't quit beating around the bush this instant, I will not hesitate to surrender myself to the Royal Pony Sisters and allow myself to get executed so that I never have to hear your incessant babbling again."

Conscience went silent for almost ten seconds before blurting out, 'Do you remember that morning when you and Pinkie woke up together, but couldn't remember anything that happened the night before?'

Sombra froze as his eyes widened to the size of saucers, shock taking over his entire being.

'Uh... Sombra? Ya alright?'

Sombra could only stare into nothingness as his right eye began to twitch uncontrollably.

'OK, this was not the reaction I was expecting... But I think it's better than you just screami--'

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

'...or not. Screaming is totally fine.'

Meanwhile, back in Ponyville, Mr. and Mrs.Cake were in the process of baking when they heard a loud, almost deafening roar resonate in the area around them.

"Cup, what's that noise?" Mr.Cake shouted over the noise.

"I don't know!" she replied, her eyes wide with shock.

Meanwhile, at the Canterlot Train Station(CTS), as the Mane Six and Spike boarded onto the train headed towards the Crystal Empire, they all looked up in collective surprise as they heard a loud scream reach them.

"What is that?" Spike exclaimed, his eyes wide with fear.

"It sounds like a wounded animal!" Fluttershy breathed, "The poor thing!"

Meanwhile, in Canterlot's castle, Princess Cadence was looking out the windows of her bedchambers with a blank expression as the roar reached her down turned ears.

After a moment of listening, she frowned. "Gross."

Finally, back at the desolate area Sombra was abandoned, his roar finally lowered in volume as he ran out of breath. Soon, it was reduced to small cries, which then turned to into tired, heaving pants.

'So, now that you got that out, how do you feel?'

"I'm going to kill him."

Conscience went silent for a moment. 'I'm sorry, what?'

"That bastard already messed with my love life quite enough; it brings me no solace to know that he's roaming around after tampering with my memories in such a way."

'So, you're gonna kill him for making you forget sexy times with Pinkie?'

"...Say that again. I dare you."

'Uh, no, I think I'm good. Besides, you're aggravated and I don't think it's best you do anything in this state.'

Sombra let out an aggravated growl. "I am so sick of you telling me what to do! Is it too much to ask that you piss off?"

'Wow, you're pretty stinkin' mad, huh? Well, that's extremely understandable, all things considering.'

Sombra snarled angrily. "And let's not forget how much you've been keeping from me all these blasted months! Why did you choose now to drop all this Tartarus-awful information?!"

Conscience sighed. 'It's complicated, alright? If I told you who I really was the moment I first revealed myself, would you have listened to me? No, you would've repressed me and that wouldn't have helped anypony.'

"And what about the Shadow? Why didn't you tell me about him?" Sombra countered.

Conscience sighed once more. 'Honestly, I thought that he was you in the first couple of months of knowing you. You talked the same, acted the same and treated ponies the same. I had no reason to believe you were another pony entirely.'

Sombra opened his mouth to argue, but instead closed it as he mulled over Conscience's information. He did have a point regarding the personality crisis he was going through, especially since there wasn't just two of him anymore.

"Alright, fine, you have a fair point," Sombra conceded, but then froze as he remembered the Shadow's words, "Conscience... Were the Shadow and I one and the same at one point in the past thousand years?"

Conscience went silent, almost as though he were wondering whether or not Sombra deserved to know about his creation and upbringing.

Finally, Conscience let out a ragged sigh. 'Telling you would take too long.'

Sombra let out a loud growl as he yelled out in frustration. "Damn it all! Why am I always in the dark about my own life?!"

Suddenly, Sombra felt a large wave of dizziness overcome him, his sight blurring as he shook his head nauseously. But, despite his fight to stay conscious, he found himself falling onto the ground completely as his body lost it's will to obey him.

'But, showing you won't,' Conscience finished, just as Sombra lost the world around him into darkness.