The Best Laid Plans of Shrews and Stallions

by Maltrazz

Victory from Defeat

Pain. Every day, every hour, every minute, second, and instant was filled will burning pain. And yet, with the passage of each, the power of the Crystal Heart weakened, and with it, so did that pain it brought him. 'At least this blinding pain is a change of pace from the wretched numbness of that accursed ice those light-blasted Sisters trapped me in,' he thought from within him refuge. Once a menacing and powerful King of Darkness, Sombra had been reduced to a half-life trapped within his own horn.

And yet, when the pain was not making it too difficult to think clearly, he was giddy with how well events had gone according to plan.

'What's the best way to keep your foes from hunting you down?' Sombra thought to himself smugly. 'By letting them think you are already dead, of course!'

The Umbrum King's passage of time had been distorted by pain and a reliance on magic to recreate his senses, so he did not know how long he had hidden beneath the Crystal Throne, before something stirred him from his delirious thoughts. Something familiar; Dark Magic.

When he felt it, he recognized it immediately. It was the same magic that had bypassed his traps, and located the Crystal Heart. The same magic that had foiled his plans. Using his own magic, Sombra attempted to see what the wielder of that magic looked like, although the pain prevented him from seeing clearly.

'Two figures, descending secret staircase. The first taller, mostly pink. Must be the new Crystal Princess. Annoying, but not a threat.' Sombra thought, the strain of resisting the pain and maintaining his spell keeping him from forming coherent ideas. 'The second smaller, mostly purple, powerful, using Dark Magic… wait… it could not possibly be…' His vision flashed red, before the spell fell to his incoherent rage.

'HOPE!' Sombra roared within his own mind. 'First you abandon me when I discover my own dark powers, then you learn how to harness such magic yourself!? You shall pay you treacherous excuse for a mare!'

Gathering his power, Sombra used his magic to propel his horn from its hiding spot, letting it tumble down the stairs behind the pair. Calming down to a simmering rage, he thought, 'I'm in no condition to confront you now, but once I've recovered, I shall make you pay!'

As he descended, Sombra felt the power of the Crystal Heart, and the pain it inflicted on him, fading with every step, as he got further and further from it. As he descended, he reflected on everything that had brought him to this point.

Being discovered as a foal, unable to say anything but 'Sombra', thereby naming himself.

Being raised as a normal unicorn, although ostracized for lacking Crystal Coat and cutie mark.

Befriending Radiant Hope, the only pony his age that accepted him wholeheartedly.

Catching a glimpse of his destiny in the thrice-cursed Crystal Heart, and meeting the seemingly kindhearted Princess Amore.

Anticipating the Crystal Faire, only to be bedridden for each, tortured annually by the power of the Heart.

Nearly dying, only to be saved by Radiant Hope, as she discovered her Talent for Healing.

Discovering the truth about what he was, and his destiny as ruler of the Umbrum.

The revelation of Princess Amore's negligent cruelty and turning her into crystal.

Radiant Hope abandoning him when he needed her most.

Enslaving the Crystal Ponies, making them dig down, that he might free his people.

The Two Sister arriving before he could undo the magic keeping the Umbrum trapped, and sealing him in the ice of the arctic north.

Being trapped himself for a thousand years, realizing how to free his people, but being unable to reach them.

Finally getting free, only to find a new Crystal Princess in his way.

Attacking the Empire, knowing how slim his chances of success are, and coming closer to victory than even he anticipated, only to have it snatched from him at the last moment.

'If I had not been anticipating defeat, I would be in a much worse condition than I am,' Sombra thought as he neared the bottom of the stairs. 'It might have taken me years to recover…'

Sombra was broken from his thoughts by the voices of the pair that had gone down before him. "I feel bad for him. He never got to see the Crystal Faire, and it was all he ever wanted." One voice said.

Sombra was glad that the increased distance from the Crystal Heart was making it easier to replicate his hearing with magic, but the effort of moving his horn down the staircase had left him too tired to recreate his sight well, leaving him unable to tell which one was speaking, as he wondered, 'They must have found my journal. Is that the Crystal Princess or Hope? It has been so long, I can't quite remember her voice… If it is Hope, it is far too late for pity.'

"That, and to crush the Crystal Ponies under his hoof." The other voice shot back. "I wouldn't feel too sorry for him, Twilight."

If Sombra had a mouth at that moment, he would have been growling in anger. 'That must be Hope. I shall enjoy making you pay, one day! That must make the Crystal Princess's name Twilight. Not that it matters. Once my fellow Umbrum are free, we shall leave this accursed Empire behind, and claim a new home far from the foul power of the Crystal Heart.'

As the two alicorns went back up the stairs, Sombra's horn came to a rest at the bottom. As he did, he caught one last line of the conversation between the two, "Don't worry, Sister. If there's one thing I'm sure of it's that Sombra is gone. You blew him to bits, remember?"

'So, the Crystal Princess calls Hope sister? Perhaps it's some form of endearment between Princesses.' Sombra thought. 'No matter. As for being gone…' Fueled by pride, he gathered the energy to whisper.

"Long live the King!"

After resting to recoup his strength, Sombra gathered his power, and shot a blast of Dark Magic at the floor under the spiral staircase, activating another secret door hidden there. Slipping through, the horn tumbled down another staircase, going deeper and deeper below the city. This staircase was straight, so he propelled himself forward, and let momentum and gravity do the work. As he approached his goal, his power grew once more. By the time he reached the bottom, he felt as good as he had when he had when he first broke free of the ice the Two Sisters had imprisoned him in.

Focusing his magic for a new purpose, shadows swirled around him. Slowly his horn floated from the ground, the shadows connecting to it, and shaping into a vaguely quadrupedal form. The shadows grew thicker, and the mass became noticeably equine.

And then Sombra opened his new eyes, glowing with Dark Magic, and grinned, showing off his newly formed fangs.

As his new body slowly gained definition, becoming more solid with each passing moment, he strode forward. To pass the time as he walked, he began to talk to himself, reciting a rhyme he had come up with whilst idling away the centuries trapped in ice.

As his form finished solidifying into the body he knew, Sombra continued.

Reaching his destination, Sombra entered a cavern with a giant black crystal in the center. Restoring his favored regalia, complete with armor and cape, Sombra's rhyme went on.

Turning his magic on the crystal that dominated the chamber as he continued to speak, Sombra felt the power of the Umbrum army trapped within respond. Using the same magic that the Two Sisters had once used on him, Sombra forced the trapped Umbrum into the form of living shadows, allowing them to slip free of their crystal prison, each freed Umbrum adding their own power to the spell, and speeding the process.

"In the dark of the night," Sombra finished, as the last of the Umbrum was freed, "Vengeance will be mine!"

With all the Umbrum freed, they looked to their savior expectantly. Addressing the Umbrum at large, he said, "I have dealt with Amore personally, and the Empire itself is more trouble than it is worth. However, there are others deserving of our wrath. Those that stood in the way of me freeing you. We head south, into Equestria! We shall have a home, where we can lived without facing the burning power of the Crystal Heart, or else we shall reign terror upon the lands of the Princesses who opposed me!"

This brought excited sounds from the other Umbrum, but Sombra calmed them. "The Crystal Heart is still an obstacle," he warned, "but it has been months since its power was last charged by a Crystal Faire. Channel your power into me, and I shall shield you from its power long enough for us to leave this hypocritical Empire once and for all!"

Eagerly, the Umbrum obeyed, beams of Dark Magic arcing from each one into Sombra. Feeling his power spike greater than ever, Sombra turned it upwards, in a single massive blast.

Princess Cadence smiled as she watch the train her sister-in-law was on retreating into the distance. "We really do need to get together like this more often," she commented to her husband, who stood beside her. "It's nice getting to see Twilight when there isn't some emergency going on."

Shining Armor opened his mouth to replied, but was interrupted by an explosion that shook the very ground they stood on. As if summoned by the princess' words, a pillar of darkness had burst from the ground beneath the palace, engulfing it.

…and the Crystal Heart that rested beneath it.

"The Heart!" Shining armor cried out in realization, galloping off toward the castle. Cadence hurried behind him, along with their guards.

When they arrived, it was to find the Crystal Heart encased in a globe of shadows, preventing its power from covering the Empire. Beneath it was a gaping hole in the ground, so dark that only blackness could be seen within.

"Who could have done this?" Cadence asked.

"I did." Came a deep voice from within the pit. Suddenly, and armored hoof reached over the edge of the chasm, pulling a terrifyingly familiar figure behind it.

"Sombra!" Shining Armor growled, tensing in preparation for a fight, along with the Crystal Guards that had gathered. "Didn't you learn your lesson last time?"

Sombra just chuckled, ignoring the soldiers. Instead, he look directly as the Princess, as he said, "Don't worry, I'm no longer interested in your precious Empire. However, you may yet be of use to me."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cadence asked.

"Give this message to the Two Sisters, Princess Twilight," Sombra said with a fanged grin. "Deliver unto me the princess that yet again hindered my efforts to free my people to me within a week, that I might exact my revenge against that traitorous Radiant Hope, or I shall show all of Equestria why the Umbrum were so feared!"

"Oh yeah? You and what army?" Shining Armor challenged him.

However, Sombra's grin only widened, as he said simply, "Why… this one."

At his words, the other Umbrum began emerging from the abyss, causing the surrounding guards to back up in terror. They might not have known exactly what they were seeing, but the resemblance of the shadowy being to Sombra himself was unmistakable.

Shifting back into shadow himself, Sombra declared, "The Umbrum have returned!"

With that, Sombra lead his followers away from the Empire, their shadow-like forms easily slipping past any that tried to stop them.

"Cadence, what do we do?" Shining Armor asked, still trying to his head around the sudden turn of events.

"I… I don't know. For now, I need to write a letter to Celestia." Cadence replied, but wondered to herself, 'What was that about Radiant Hope? Didn't she live 1,000 years ago? And… why did he call me Twilight?'