Doctor Stable was hesitant but then he looked up at the taller unicorn stallion’s face and saw a real wish to help. He nodded and said, “Follow me.”
Sombra followed the doctor into the emergency room, passing a few operating tables until his eyes fell upon the patient. As did his heart sink at the poor unicorn’s obvious condition. Midnight lay prone upon a hospital bed, his sapphire coat had paled, his black mane with dark blue streaks had turned completely white like sun-bleached bone, his body had several bandages covering the burns he’d suffered, he was hooked to an IV and the only sign of life was his rising chest to indicate he was breathing.
This was hardly the hero who had stood up against the former tyrant and saved him from himself. Sombra looked to Doctor Stable, asking, “May I be alone? This shouldn’t take long.”
Doctor Stable was hesitant but nodded before leaving, and Sombra looked to Midnight and his horn glowed red as he began his examination.
“Are we really trusting Sombra to help Midnight?!” Thunderlane griped
“He’s changed, Thunderlane!" Twilight insisted, "Don’t you remember, Midnight somehow used the power of the Crystal Heart to make Sombra good again! And if Celestia trusts him, I think it’s safe to say we can as well.”
“Ah’m all fer forgive n’ forget, Twilight,” Big Mac spoke up, “but y’all weren’t th’ ones fighting fer yer life against tha’ guy.”
“Mackie, everypony deserves a second chance,” Fluttershy gently scolded her beau.
“Why would the princess send him though?” Rainbow asked the question that was at the back of everypony’s minds. “What could Sombra possibly do to help?”
“Because I could tell you what’s wrong with Midnight,” answered Sombra in deadpanned tone, standing next to Rainbow all of a sudden that she yelped and leapt into Soarin’s forelegs.
“Where’d you come from?!” Rainbow gaped at him, Pinkie popping up and patting Rainbow on the head.
“Take it from me, Dashie, it’s better not to ask.”
“Sombra, you know what’s wrong with Midnight?” Twilight asked anxiously.
“Indeed, Twilight Sparkle…” Sombra’s manner was grim. “Midnight’s soul has no darkness within whatsoever.”
“Wha’ in th’ hay does tha’ mean?” Applejack asked incredulously. “Ain’t tha’ a good thing?”
“Not at all, Miss Applejack,” Sombra explained, “Midnight’s lack of darkness within his being means his very spirit is out of balance and that is having a negative effect on his health. You see, everypony, all of existence is kept in balance by opposing forces – Good & Evil, Harmony & Discord, Order & Chaos, Night & Day, Light & Dark… Every sentient creature in this world has within them varying amounts of inner light and inner darkness. You can’t have one without the other, and because Midnight’s soul is lacking darkness his light is engulfing his spirit. Unless his darkness is restored, and soon I fear Midnight will be lost to us…”
“We have to help him!” Twilight insisted, “Surely there’s a way!”
“Well, I must understand how this happened in order to come up with a solution, Twilight Sparkle,” Sombra reasoned.
“Midnight performed some kind of ritual, he had this book with him,” Twilight showed Sombra the tome, and Sombra’s eyes widened at the language on the cover.
He took it in his aura and skipped through the pages, “Where did this come from?”
“We don’t know, but we think Midnight performed some kind of ritual from this book,” Twilight explained everything that happened when they confronted Midnight in the middle of the ritual and how the entity appeared, calling itself Midnight Terror. Sombra listened with rapt attention, for the most part remaining silent but he did ask a clarifying question here and there, as he soon began to understand. “Do you have an idea of what we described, Sombra?”
“I’m afraid I do, Twilight Sparkle. Listen well, everypony, for this is a story that goes back thousands of years ago, long before the great schism that originally split the tribes apart,” Sombra began.
“Once so very long ago, long before the Royal Sisters or even Star Swirl the Bearded, the three tribes were one tribe, where nopony distinguished another by horns, wings or a lack of either. It was a harmonious age indeed, peaceful, prosperous, happy, and bright. It was also rather innocent, for the ponies then were not so advanced as we of this age. They were more like children, living the bliss of ignorance, oblivious to the world around them. Their primary concern was day-to-day survival against the harsh wild where only the strong survived.
"They had no government, no currency, their lives were simple and pleasant. Ponies worked together, lived together, adhering to simple rules to survive.
"However, some of these ponies began to grow bored with their lives and interested in the world around them. They began to explore, broaden their horizons, make discoveries, learn what there was to be learned. These ponies grew into enlightenment, and then they began to conflict. Some of these enlightened ponies wished to teach their not-so-worldly fellow ponies while others wished to use their knowledge to subjugate and take power, believing their knowledge made them better than others and entitled to power and leadership.
"These two groups attracted the other ponies and their numbers grew. But their differences began to drive them apart, and soon the side that wanted power and control sought to better themselves further by achieving perfection.
"They began to form something akin to a cult, and boasted of their superiority that they would only further until there was nothing left to improve. Some of their followers bought into this foolishness while a few brave souls were rational enough to leave before they were sucked into the madness these radicals would create. Soon, they came to the conclusion that they had to purge themselves of impurity, of any potential for evil, believing that by becoming pure of light in soul they would become beacons of perfection that would draw all ponies to their side.”
Everypony, the friends and even the medical staff, hung on every word Sombra spoke, as the tale enthralled them more.
“These extremists created a ritual to purge themselves of all darkness within their souls… and they succeeded. However, in their obsession with achieving perfection they had disregarded the concept of balance, and in doing so they destroyed themselves, and were left to suffer a slow and suffocating death…
"Alas, the darkness they had divorced from their souls did not just cease to exist… It was the darkness shorn from hundreds of misguided ponies, and it pooled together, festering, simmering until it formed a consciousness of its own… It was an entity of the purest malevolence, and it sought to destroy the ponies that had opposed the foolish purists, simply for the reason of wanting to but also because there was nopony else to direct its bitterness towards.
"But it went about it in the most deceptive way… by whispering dark thoughts into the ponies, sowing seeds of doubt and suspicion, paranoia and loathing. Only a few ponies were able to resist and they tried to warn their neighbors of this wicked voice. Alas, their warnings fell on deaf ears, as the earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns became divided, and racism drove them into open hatred of each other.
"Rather than fighting for supremacy, the tribes split, and thus was the one of the saddest chapters of pony history, the Great Schism… As for the evil that had brought about this dark period, the few ponies that resisted its poisonous words thereafter referred to it as… the Whisperer.”
The very name, simple as it sounded, had an ominous feeling, and made sense. What was a whisperer with wicked intentions but a manipulative puppet-master, whispering dark thoughts into those foolish enough to heed the lies and be taken by sycophant nudges towards self-destruction while the manipulator would sit back and enjoy the show?
“The Whisperer was a most deceitful spirit, weaving webs of lies, false praise, and driving those it targeted into acting on their darkest wishes or committing acts of true depravity. It continued to drive a wedge between the tribes until the hatred and suspicion drew in the Windigoes that brought the cold and snow that forced the soon-to-be Founders of Equestria to unite.
"The Whisperer was furious its wedge had finally come to an end but it was not one to give up… It sought out a host, and in time it found one… in me.”
“The Whisperer was what turned you into a tyrant over the Crystal Empire?” Spike asked, everypony looking at Sombra in realization.
“Only because I was weak and foolish, young dragon,” Sombra looked down in shame. “I had been led to unknowingly betray the pony I love and she could not continue our relationship, leading her to break it off. I was heartbroken, filled with anger at the pony who had tricked me and resentment to my love for turning me away. Although I tried to find purpose in life by creating the Crystal Empire, the bitterness festered in my heart, despite my efforts to move past it. The Whisperer came to me, and it was able to influence me easily enough because of the darkness growing within my heart.
Once I gave in, the Whisperer all but took possession of me and I became known as the Unicorn whose Heart is as Black as Night. The Royal Sisters declared war against my tyranny and when it came down to the final battle, I was faced against Princess Luna while her sister had been incapacitated by my magic. Through me, the Whisperer tried to tempt Luna into siding with me, to depose her sister, and bring about a dark age from which the sun would never again rise.
"Luna was able to resist, at least at first… but the Whisperer decided it wanted an alicorn for a host instead of me. It managed to infect her, and Luna temporarily gave in, and I caught a glimpse of the monster she would become. Luna defeated me but even as I fell, I enacted a curse onto my empire and the rest, as they say is history."
“So then… Midnight Terror, Nightmare Moon,” Twilight began to put the pieces together. “Even the tyrant you once were, they’re all incarnations of this Whisperer!”
“Yes,” Sombra confirmed. “This Midnight Terror, he is a fusion of the Whisperer and Midnight Blaze’s own inner darkness. In order to save Midnight, he and Terror must be reunited and only then will I be able to help Midnight Blaze and maybe even put an end to this curse on ponykind, once and for all.”
In Ponyville Town Square, ponies walked about nervously because of the smog blotting out the sun. They could see the edges of the poisonous tempest, and hoped it would eventually go away. However, their troubles worsened as a burst of malevolent fires erupted in the middle of the square, and died down to reveal the Terror of Equestria!
He sneered as his mane and tail blazed in eagerness, “What shall I destroy first…?