//------------------------------// // Chapter Two: Slumber Party and Scary Stories // Story: The Redemption of King Sombra // by DrewCarriker6231993 //------------------------------// Chapter Two: Slumber Party and Scary Stories Unaware of Sombra's return, Twilight Sparkle decided to throw another slumber party. Spike was at Celestia's kingdom. Applejack and Apple Bloom were busy making snacks; Pinkie Pie was jumping around happily; Rarity was giving Sweetie Belle and Fluttershy makeovers; Scootaloo was riding on Rainbow Dash's back while she was flying around the room; and Twilight Sparkle was sitting in a chair reading a book. She looks up and see's her friends, "They seem to be having a good time..." she said to herself. Rainbow Dash landed next to Twilight Sparkle. "Hey Twilight, when are we going to tell scary stories?" "Whenever Applejack and Apple Bloom are done with the snacks." she answered. Applejack and Apple Bloom came in carrying two plates of s'mores. "The snack's are ready!" Apple Bloom yelled. "Excellent! Okay everypony, it's time for scary stories!" They set their cushions around a lamp. They all seemed enthusiastic except for Fluttershy, who was wiping the mud mask off her face. Once they got their s'mores they sat on their cushions. "Who wants to tell a ghost story first?" Twilight Sparkle asked. Rainbow Dash raised a hoof. "I got one! Have you all heard the legend of the Wailing Pony?" they all looked at each other. "Nah..." Applejack answered, "But I reckon yal heard the Whinin' Fashion Designer!" she threw a piece of melted marshmallow in Rarity's face and started laughing. "Yuck!" she took a napkin, wiped it off, and took out a small mirror. "You ruined my makeup!" Applejack and Apple Bloom just laughed, but Rarity used her magic to hold up makeup supplies and sent them towards Applejack! "What in tarnat....!" after a few seconds the supplies went back to Rarity. Applejack got back up only to be laughed at. Rarity handed her a mirror; Applejack took one look at it and screamed, "AHHHH!!! I look like a clown!" "You should go to the circus!" Rainbow Dash yelled, lying on her back laughing. Applejack glared at them. "Ha ha! Very funny!" she looked over Rarity, "This means war!" she ran outside for a minute and brought in a bucket of dirt. "Take this!" she tossed the bucket in the air as Rarity ducked for cover. Twilight Sparkle quickly used her magic to stop the bucket and put it back outside. "That's enough! We're here to have fun, not fight!" Applejack and Rarity both grunted. "Now, Rainbow Dash? What were you saying?" Rainbow Dash recovered and got back on her cushion. "The Legend of the Wailing Pony: this dates back to when Ponyville was still new; it was a small village and had only about, I don't know twenty to thirty ponies. Can you imagine that? Anyway, a mother pony recently moved into the village. She recently lost her husband and was left with a son and a daughter, so she worked really hard to feed them and eventually earned enough money to build her own pottery shop. Her business was really good and eventually word got around about her pottery skills and other ponies started coming from far and wide to buy her amazing pots and bowls. Things went good for her and her children for a few years until one day she had to run some errands; her son was old enough to stay home and watch his little sister. Before she left she said to her son, 'Remember, don't let anyone or anything in the house!' 'Yes mother!' the boy said. She kissed her children and left. Hours passed and she finally returned home to find her house on fire! And her children were still in there!" They all gasped as Apple Bloom hugged her sister and Sweetie Belle nuzzled close to her sister. Scootaloo sat close to Fluttershy who seemed scared too. "All the ponies tried desperately to put out the fire. 'NOOO!!! MY CHILDREN!!!!' the mother yelled. The others tried to stop her, but she ran into the burning house in attempt to save her children. She made it out alive, but she was to late...." "That's very sad...." Fluttershy said. "Yeah, it is. But what this gotta do with the Wailin' Pony?" Applejack asked Rainbow before she continued. "I was getting to that. Her loss was unbearable; she was so devastated that she didn't go to her children's funerals, and as a result she never knew where their graves were. Since that day things got really bad for her: she lost her money to robbers; went out of business; and lost her reputation, but she didn't care. Day and night she would weep and mourn over the loss of her children; she did not eat, drink, or sleep and eventually grew ill, wasted away, and passed away. The villagers found her, but couldn't find her children's graves, so they decided to bury her somewhere else..." "How awful! How could they do that?" Rarity asked before Rainbow continued. "I don't know. After her funeral they built a statue of her and her children. 'Here lies Lalora, and her two dear children, Kay and Swella. The peace loving, artistic family' was engraved at the bottom of the statue." "But her children were buried somewhere else!" Pinkie Pie yelled out. "I know, and that was the reason..." "Reason? Reason for what?" Pinkie Pie asked again. "Let her continue..." Twilight Sparkle said. "Many months later, things started getting very spooky after dark. You know, not the same. People started hearing what sounded to be a lady's voice saying: 'Where are my children? Where are my dear, sweet children? Where? Wheeeere?'" The fillies started huddling closer to each other. "Only a few have seen the ghost and lived to tell the tale. Yes, it was the restless spirit of Lalora searching for her children! Since she started haunting the village, parent's kept their children in doors at after dark. You want to know why? Because the children who didn't know better would get captured by Lalora's ghost, and never be seen again! Night after night she would roam the village at night searching for her children, and she kidnaps children who go out after dark out of grief. And every time she would come she would moan: 'Where are my children? Where are my dear, sweet children? Where? Wheeeere?" "I'VE GOT YOU!" arms wrapped around the fillies! "AHHHHHHHH!!!!" Twilight Sparkle quickly turned the lights back on and saw it was Pinkie Pie with a bed sheet over her! She took it off and started laughing as the fillies ran over to their sisters and Fluttershy. "Pinkie Pie!" all except Rainbow Dash yelled. "Give me a hoof!" Rainbow Dash told Pinkie Pie as their hooves clacked. "We are good!" Pinkie Pie said jumping up and down. Scootaloo lets go of Fluttershy and sighs in relief. "You really got us!" "Yeah, that was great!" Sweetie Belle replied. Apple Bloom was still nuzzling Applejack. She wrapped an arm around her younger sister. "It's okay...." she said in a comforting voice. Rainbow Dash walks over to her. "It was only a story, and a joke. There's no such thing as the Wailing Pony." Apple Bloom looked up at her. "There isn't?" "Nah, just an old story made up." just then a ghost shaped like a pony came from the ceiling! "AHHHHHHHH!!!!" Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Scootaloo grabbed each other. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle hugged their sisters again all screaming in fright. Pinkie Pie jumped out of hiding with a rope in her mouth. She tried to laugh but her mouth was full. "Pinkie Pie!" She let go of the rope and the fake ghost dropped. "Ha! You should've seen the looks on your faces! Especially you Rainbow Dash!" she bursted out laughing again. Rainbow Dash let go and started chasing Pinkie Pie around the room. "Okay, okay let's settle down!" Twilight Sparkle said. Pinkie Pie grabbed a pillow and threw it at Rainbow Dash's face. "Hey!" she threw a pillow back at her, "Yay, pillow fight!" "Awe, what the heck?" Twilight Sparkle use her magic to lift two pillows and threw it at Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. Pretty soon everyone joined in. Canterlot Discord was helping Celestia who was blindfolded to a present covered in a sheet near a window. "Getting warmer...." Discord said with a sly grin on his face. "Okay, stop! You can take off the blindfold." he instructed removing the sheet. After Celestia took off the blindfold she gasped in delight. Discord has made her a a beautiful telescope; it appeared to be a telescope except it was the same color as Celestia's mane and shined in the light; it had her Cutie Mark on it; and it was about five times a telescope's normal size. "It's beautiful! Thank you!" she kissed Discord's cheek causing him to turn red. After a few seconds he got his color back. "I call it the Celestiascope! I made it so you can see things that are really far away, not to mention you can eavesdrop if you wanted to! Ha! Just kidding, you can see them but they can't see you, and you can't hear what they're saying unfortunately...." Eager, she decided to try it out. But what she saw was Discord's face. "Can you please move?" she asked. "Oh, yes of course!" after he moved out of the way she saw the moon and what was on the moon clearly! "This is perfect!" "Do you like it?" "Like it? I love it!" she and Discord hugged each other. While hugging and Celestia wasn't looking he winked an eye.She then looked through her new telescope again and this time she was looking at a island with an unfamiliar castle. "This is peculiar. Discord, come and see!" she moved so her friend could look. "A castle?" "Did you build it?" "No, but I know that island. I called it the Deserted Island; an island that has been uninhabited for centuries..." he twisted a gear on the telescope so he can look closer. "Zooming in on the master of the castle! Let's see.... black mane.... red horn.... sharp teeth.... appears to be sleeping.... he looks familiar, but what was his name again?" he moved so Celestia can look. "King Sombra?!" "Yeah, that's it!" "He has returned!" she backed up. "I thought he was long gone!" said Discord. "I did too. I don't like this...." Then Discord got an idea. "I can go check it out if you want me to." Celestia nodded. "Yes, please do. But please be careful!" "Back in a jiffy!" with that he teleported. Sombra's Castle Discord arrived at the window of Sombra's room. He looks around, "My kind of place...." he carefully opens the window and flew in. Sombra was snoring as Discord floated quietly close to the bed. "Suppose I should wake him..." he said plucking a feather from his wing. He started tickling Sombra's snout with the feather, which didn't take much to wake him. His eyes opened and glowed and his horn started charging up. He jumped up and snarled at Discord. "Whoa, hey! Take it easy! It's me, Discord!" Sombra powered down. "Discord?" "Yeah, the one and only!" Sombra grunted. "What do you want?" "No need to be rude! I just want to talk." Discord replied making two chairs appear in the room. He disappeared and reappeared in one of the chairs with a cup of tea. Sombra walked over and sat on the other chair. "Celestia has just learned of your return, and she wishes to know what you are up to." Sombra looked down at his hooves and growled. "Sombra old boy?" Discord asked. "Nothing...." King Sombra said. "Nothing? Nothing at all?" Discord asked again. "No.... I'm done...." "How unusual...." "What?" "It's just normally you would be so.... so...." "Power-hungry? Don't be afraid to say it.... After my return I came to the conclusion that evil never wins. So why bother going on?" Discord was so surprised that he spat out his tea coughing and hacking; he never thought he would hear someone who was once such a tyrant say those words. "I chose to live here in isolation, far away from the other ponies...." "Oh, I see. You fear they won't forgive you. I've been there too..." Discord then thought for a moment and said, "Look, you can't change your past. But you can still make amends, learn from the past, live in the present, and hope for the future, or whatever. It might take some time, but I'm sure the ponies will forgive you." "Leave me!" Sombra ordered. "And you need to forgive yourself...." "I said LEAVE ME!" his horn began powering up and his eyes glowed again. "Alright! Alright! No need to get all huffy! But do think about what I said!" with that Discord vanishes. Canterlot Celestia was sitting in her throne with Luna, talking about Sombra until Discord appeared in front of them. "Boo! Gotchya!" they just look at him. "I have good news and I have some bad news: the good news is that I think Sombra regrets everything he has done and probably wants to go straight." Celestia and Luna had surprised looks on their faces. "That's wonderful!" Luna said. "But what's the bad knews?" Celestia asked. "The bad news is he feels so bad that he chose to live in isolation and he fears that nopony will forgive him." "He is sad; filled with remorse...." Celestia said. "Did I forget to mention I also sensed something in him? I saw that his heart is lighting up and now there is room for friendship and love. Maybe that's what he needs! Look how I turned out when I experienced these things!" Discord said as a halo appeared above his head and a harp appeared in his paw and talon. "You are right Discord. But for now we must leave him alone to adjust...." Celestia said. Luna smiled and looked outside at the full moon. "Permission to tell Twilight Sparkle and the others, ma'am!" Discord saluted, wearing his general outfit. Celestia giggled, "Permission granted!" with that Discord teleported again. Friendship Rainbow Kingdom They all decided to decided to sleep in the middle of the throne room in their sleeping bags just for the fun of it. Applejack yawned, "I'm tuckered out!" "You and me both!" Rarity replied while brushing her mane. Rainbow Dash go into their sleeping bag, "Night guys!" Pinkie Pie got into her sleeping bag, making a farting sound. "Pinkie!" Twilight Sparkle yelled. "It wasn't me!" she looked through her sleeping bag and found a whoopee cushion. Rainbow Dash started laughing. Fluttershy got into her own sleeping bag with Angel Bunny, "Good night everyone..." Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom already got into their sleeping bags and fell asleep. Twilight Sparkle was about to get into her own sleeping bag until she saw something hiding under the covers! She powered up her horn and lifted the covers revealing Discord! They both screamed when they saw each other. "You scared me!" Twilight Sparkle said. "You scared me!" Discord replied. Fluttershy jumped up and flew towards Discord, hugging him. "How are you?" she asked. "Been doing great!" "What brings you here?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Well, I've got big news!" "What is it?" Fluttershy asked eagerly. "King Sombra has returned!" "What!?" "No way!" "For real?" "Land sakes!" "Yikes!" "Oh...." "Yes, you heard right!" Discord replied. "No way! We were there! We were all there! We all saw what happened to King Sombra that day!" Rainbow Dash cried out. "Yeah, there's no way anypony could survive that!" Pinkie Pie said. "Hold your horses! Horses? I just made a joke! Haha! Anyway, he won't be causing any problems for us anymore." Discord told everyone. "Really?" Fluttershy asked. "Really really!" Discord held out his paw and a map appeared. With his talon he pointed at an island on the map, "He now lives on Deserted Island in a very gloomy castle. Hundreds of miles Northwest from where we're standing! The poor sap is so filled with remorse, which still baffles me a little, that he wishes to be left alone. And I don't know if he would let you in if you plan to visit him. Well, got to get back to Canterlot! Good night!" he teleports again. Everyone in the room was speechless, including Twilight Sparkle. After a few minutes Twilight Sparkle asked her friends: "King Sombra?"