Sombra had been so close to conquering the Crystal Empire after spending the last thousand years planning for every outcome that could have happened. He had lurked in the shadows, placing all sorts of traps around the boundary, making sure that the entrance to the Crystal Heart was well hidden, testing his door of horrors, and going as far as to make the giant staircase to nowhere. Even if somepony had made it that far he had a special trap waiting to ensnare whoever came to claim the Crystal Heart, where they would remain until he decided what to do with them.
His plans had succeeded past his expectations. Thanks to his constant battering on the shield he had no doubt that the Princess controlling it, the mare Cadence, was too weak to hold him back when he entered his old kingdom. His earlier fight with her precious husband, the brave and foalish Shining Armor, rendered him useless as Sombra had tainted his horn with black crystals, blocking his magic. He had even managed to trap the arrogant apprentice of his old enemy, the ever so arrogant Princess Celestia, in a special prison with the Crystal Heart that would prevent her from escaping.
The only flaw in his plans had been the fact that a baby dragon, riding on the back of a very weak Cadence, had gotten his claws on the Crystal Heart and had placed it back where it belonged. Despite his thousand years of planing Sombra had not expected Celestia to use a dragon, a baby dragon at that, to acquire the Crystal Heart and use it against him. The moment the heart was restored to its proper place Sombra and his darkness were expelled from the immediate area, restoring the empire to the shine it had before Sombra had come for it.
The ponies of the Crystal Empire watched him disappear, the pieces of his armor scattering around him while his horn hung in the air above his head. Instead of immediately landing so he could plot his revenge on the new alicorn that had ruined his plans and the ponies that helped her, Sombra found himself adrift in a tunnel of pink energy. The Crystal Empire continued to grow smaller and smaller until all he could see was Equestria itself, which was also getting much smaller. He could see the stars around him, which made him wonder if he was being cast into the moon like Luna had been during her banishment.
As he closed his eyes he knew that whatever had happened to him, thanks to the blast from the Crystal Heart, it was all the Crystal Princess' fault.
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He had no idea how long he had slept for, but when he bothered to open his eyes he was greeted with the sight of some sort of dimly lit cave. There was some cracks in the ceiling of the area he was in, giving him some light, but all he could see was a bunch of grey colored stones. Somewhere in front of him was a small stream of water, but he had no idea exactly how far away it was or if there was something guarding it. He knew that bears guarded their water sources to the death and would be ready to fight anything that came near them.
He wasn't in any shape to do anything at the moment, as his body was in pain for some reason. He didn't feel any broken bones, but when he wanted to move one of his legs he couldn't get the limb to reply at all. Whatever he had done to himself he wasn't going anywhere for a good long time. He closed his eyes, allowing the shadows to overtake him as he drifted off to sleep.
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He slept for what he assumed was a few hours, but he was interrupted by the sound of something hitting the ground nearby and shaking the entire cave. Somewhere ahead of him he heard the sound of a bear growl, like it had been surprised by the shaking, but he didn't hear it get closer to his position. Now a minute later the cave shook again, only this time he heard an echoing sound of something breaking and crashing to some sort of wooden bridge. He heard the bear growl in confusion this time, as if it was considering leaving the cave it had been in for who knows how long, before it gave up and stopped growling.
Somewhere past the bear he heard the sound of metal hitting a stone wall and the sound of giant spiders screeching as they fought with something else. A few moments later the cave was quiet again, which told him that whoever was fighting had finished and was likely moving near the bear's location. Then he heard the sound of two voices trying to whisper to each other, one male voice telling the other to either sneak around the bear or shoot it with a bow. He had expected to hear the bear growl in pain and the sound of a fight break out, but all he heard were the sounds of something light hitting the ground before moving again.
"Ralof," a voice, clearly female, whispered, "are you seeing what I'm seeing?"
"Aye Raika," the male replied, his voice louder as if he was closer to him, "Hail my fellow Nord, you had best get up before the cave comes down on top of us."
"Wh...what?" he rasped, as if he hadn't spoken a single word for almost an entire year.
"There's a dragon attacking Helgen," the male continued, as if it was urgent for them to leave, "we need to leave before he buries all of us alive!"
Wha...what dragon?" he coughed, trying to open his eyes and find that he was greeted with a blurry vision.
"Gods man, are you deaf?" the male asked, almost annoyed with him, "If we don't get out of here soon then we'll all be buried alive. Then no one will be able to warn the Jarl that there's a dragon on the loose."
"Ja...jarl?" he rasped again, wincing as the ground shook for the third time and heard the bear growl in pain as if a large boulder had crushed it.
"Oh to Oblivion with this," the female voice said, grabbing the right side of his body, "Come on and help me with this fool Ralof. If we don't get out of here soon that dragon will bury us alive and I would rather not leave someone who's hurt behind."
"Talos damn it all," the male angrily said, grabbing on to the left side of his body, "Fine. Let's get this fool to Riverwood."
"Thank you Ralof," the female replied, turning her attention to him as he started to fade out, "What's your name?"
"I don't....I don't know," he replied, allowing the darkness to pull him down once more.