• Published 18th Aug 2013
  • 3,963 Views, 404 Comments

Sombra. Saga of Hatred - HiddenUnderACouch



Some names are respected. Some are ignored. Some are loved. There is only one name in the whole world of Equestria that became the synonym for cruelty. This name is Sombra, and this is his story.

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The Wooden Pegasus

The huge mansion hadn't changed at all since Sombra had seen it last. However, judging by the dulled paint and the dirty windows, the building was abandoned. The thick layer of dust on the glass was visible even from the distance and the very walls looked old and even rotten in places. Nopony had taken care of this building for a long time.

Sombra wilted a bit, Misty Pearl's family must have left immediately after discovering what happened. What did they do to the body, though?

Sombra clenched his teeth as the old wounds reopened, filling his heart with grief and his mind with hatred. If only he could have saved her that time... he could have done at least something.

The house was like a putrescent wound on his body. A life had been ended there by those who didn't deserve to live.

On one hoof, Sombra was partly happy that there was nopony here; it meant much less trouble for him. On the other, he was disappointed to know that he couldn’t look Star Gem in the eyes… right before he would crush his thorax into bloody jelly.

Iron Wheel looked around carefully, gnawing on his left hoof nervously.

"Sombra, we should go. The guards might find us and then we'll get in trouble," his worried voice reached Sombra's ears but didn't seem to faze him.

"I'm not going away until I get what I want. Let's go. See if the door's open," Sombra growled darkly. Iron Wheel wondered what could anger him right now.

The unicorn quickly approached the door and tried to bash it open, but the rusty hinges were still quite sturdy. Sombra tried ramming it several more times, but to no avail. Frustrated, he turned around and bucked it as hard as he could. The door screeched painfully, but still didn't open.

"Old piece of shit!" Sombra hissed angrily. He bucked it several more times which caused the door to creak so loud, it felt like it was going to fall apart, but nothing happened. "Don't just stand there, moron, help me!"

Iron Wheel reluctantly approached the door and turned about-face, preparing to buck it.

"One, two, three... go!"

Their combined power was enough to break the door open. The hinges cracked as the door fell inward, sending clouds of dust flying into the air.

Sombra entered the house and wordlessly proceeded to the centre of the entrance hall. He breathed the stale, dust-filled air and started coughing. So many years had passed, but this place still smelled of roses and misery.

The hall looked quite intact albeit very dusty. The huge candelabra hanging under the ceiling was merrily rocking back and forth, disturbed by the sudden wind which originated from the forcefully opened door. Its creaks filled the air, scaring Iron Wheel. He quickly jumped over the doorstep and approached Sombra.

"Ugh... this place looks like a haunted house!" he whispered, nervously looking around. Sombra gritted his teeth.

"It is."

The quick reply scared the color out of Iron Wheel as he squeaked like a filly, trying to keep close to his friend. Sombra moved forward, looking around with interest. His memories slowly stirred as if awaking from a sleep and, when he reached the center of the rug, he felt something painful in his heart.

This was the very place where his mother had died. Here, in a pool of her own blood, she had drawn her last breath and left the world of the living. Sombra closed his eyes, suppressing the sudden tears.

"I hate this place," he spoke, his voice firm even though his tears. "You can go wherever you want. Trash everything. There is a particular room I want to visit."

"May I go home?" Iron Wheel asked whereupon Sombra cast an acrid gaze to him which made him nod reluctantly. "Okay... I shall go break some vases."

Sombra walked up the stairs, hearing the sound of shattering porcelain. Iron Wheel carefully pushed vases off the places they stood upon, one by one, looking around after each one fell down as if checking that nopony could see him.

There was no need to worry, this house was abandoned; not even guards came near it.

Sombra passed through the corridors, slowly making his way towards Star Gem's room. He wondered what he would see there, what kind of atrocities he would find under his pillow. Maybe there were some more secrets this wretched family was trying to hide.

Sombra checked if the door was locked — which it wasn’t — and tried pushing it ajar. The door creaked and gave way under the pressure; the old mechanism wasn't nearly as sturdy as the one on the entrance door, for it yielded after one swift buck.

The room wasn't too big. There was a quite nicely tidied, big bed with a cupboard right beside it. To the right, there was a big closet wherein Star Gem had presumably kept his clothes. Sombra approached the once proud wardrobe and opened it. Several fancy jackets and a collection of scarves were still hanging on the racks. It seemed he had left in a big hurry, if he had left so many of his belongings behind.

Sombra started looking through the piles, looking for a diary in the hope that the sentimental arsehole had left it behind. However, he found no such thing except an album.

Sombra remembered it. He used to draw so much in it — different shapes, figures, ponies. He had learned drawing in this album; his first, full picture was presumably still therein.

He stared at its dusty surface for about a minute. The colors had faded from the cover long ago and the small book which used to bring him so much joy brought only pain now. It struck like a needle, puncturing the skin and piercing the heart. Sombra started to regret coming here.

He looked at the shelf and noticed a small wooden figure covered in webs. He wrapped it in his magical aura, moving it on eyelevel. It was the wooden Pegasus toy, the toy that Star Gem used to show him from time to time. He had loved it so much.

The toy was bit rough around the edges, but still looked quite presentable and nice. Sombra couldn't stand looking at it; it filled him with such anger, such grief, such hatred for the one who took his mother’s life. He clenched his teeth, feeling a cold tear streaming down his cheek.

"I- I still remember... I remember... You bastard!" he whispered as the memories he had been suppressing for so long returned. Coming here had been a mistake.

"You bastard!" Sombra screamed and threw the toy against the nearest wall. Upon collision, the toy lost one of its wings and fell down into a corner with a loud crack. When he looked into the toy's motionless eyes, he felt sadness. The wooden pegasus stared at him with its featureless eyes, watching him as if asking, ‘why?'

"Shut up! Shut the hell up! Stop!" he screamed suddenly while his eyes filled with tears. He couldn't hold back any longer, the emotions were overwhelming him. He couldn't stand this house and yet everything reminded him of better times. Everything here, every single corner reminded him of Willemite, of innocent games in the garden and fun chess games — these wars on microscopic scale.

He shouted at this part of the cold, heartless past which lay before him. All his happiness, all his joy, it was all kept in these dusty, old toys.

He hated them. He hated them so much, because they had belonged to him. Yet... he still loved them. Their rough, dusty surface, their weird lines and motionless smiles, it was all so dear to him.

Tears sprinkled from Sombra's eyes as he fell down onto his haunches, the images of the better past swarming in his head. He had thought he had left it all behind, that he had forgotten everything about the past. He had been wrong, so terribly wrong.

Coming here had been a huge mistake, for this place, like a dirty knife, pierced the long healed wound, opening it once again, infecting it with horrible diseases. Sombra couldn't avert his eyes from the horrendous images of his past and the happy, yet hurting portrait of his mother. Her image was forever inside these toys.

"I hate you all!" he growled, rising from the ground, his heart pounding like a bird in the cage, his eyes turning red from popped capillaries, and his mind slowly losing itself in the ocean of hatred.

"Silence!" he finally shouted as the light in his eyes started to become dimmer. The darkness clouded everything. He only felt anger and hatred consuming him from inside.

His horn coruscated with dark energies, trembling and becoming thicker, as tears ran down his cheeks. The air was cracking and the powerful energy that radiated from his horn rapidly heated the room. Sombra raised his head and looked straight into the wall.

"You're all past! Begone!"

A powerful explosion of energy shook the ground, making the candelabra violently shake from side to side before, eventually, the weak chains connecting it to the ceiling snapped and it crushed into the floor, breaking through it and falling down into the basement. The walls of Star Gem's room were scorched and everything near them had been turned into ash. Sombra looked down upon the floor to see the smoldering remains of the pegasus toy.

The wardrobe behind him was set aflame and Sombra bust out of the room before he suffocated in the smoke.

"Iron Wheel! Let's get the hell out of here!" he shouted, noticing Iron crawl out from his cover, an old pillar, and look at Sombra.

"What the hell happened up there?" his apprehensive voice reached Sombra. "Did you detonate something up there?"

"Kind of!" Sombra replied, quickly swiping away a stray tear. "Whatever I did, it's causing the house to collapse!"

He was right, the house was slowly crumbling because of the shockwave; pieces of the ceiling were falling down onto the floor and dust filled the air, making it hard to breathe.

Iron Wheel quickly dashed towards the exit, but Sombra quickly jumped down and grabbed his tail with magic.

"Wait!" Sombra screamed as a giant piece of rubble slammed into the floor right before his eyes, blocking off the main exit. Iron Wheel pursed his lips and cast down his eyes in abashment as he realized that he’d almost been crushed.

"Well, shit!" Sombra growled, looking at Wheel's tearing eyes. It seemed that his little vendetta against his past had failed. The past was going to drag him into oblivion along with itself. He had to come up with something or else his little tantrum might cost him his life. "Step back, Iron Wheel!"

Iron Wheel looked at Sombra with fear, but, even though reluctantly, he took a step back from his friend who was staring at the rubble in front of him.

Sombra prayed that it would work this time, and that he wouldn't lose control. He closed his eyes and started gathering energy while the air around him became hotter and hotter. He accessed his hatred for this place, hoping that it wouldn't explode in another shockwave.

The streams yielded and broke, allowing Sombra to fuel the primary charge. He heard a crack and a bolt of dark energy flashed near his left ear, almost setting his mane on fire.

"So- Sombra... what are you doing?" Iron Wheel asked, pointing at the spear-shaped dark energy that slowly took shape near Sombra.

"Just stay still and hold onto something!" he screamed before he sent the spear flying into the rubble.

Another explosion made the ground tremble, this time a huge cloud of dust and smoke breaking through the main entrance, almost completely ruining the front wall of the house. From the dusty veil, the two friends escaped quickly.

Sombra didn't look behind. The sounds of cracking kept him going, kept him running away from his past.

It was done. His past was plentiful in that house, and now, it lay in ruins. Sombra had won. He had defeated his past for the time being.


Sombra and Iron Wheel stood upon the distant hill, watching the ruins of the house slowly burn down and turn into ash. The fire Sombra started in that wardrobe continued to rage even after the house had collapsed, and now, the fire had engulfed the once proud manor completely.

A long trail of black smoke ascended into the sky, rushing for the setting crimson sun. Sombra sighed heavily and checked his little bag; there were still a few cigarettes left. He emotionlessly lifted two into the air.

"Want one?" he asked Iron Wheel who shook his head in reply. "Well, I will."

This is the last one, I swear! Sombra thought to himself, talking to Krystal who, as he imagined, would look at him displeasingly now.

The bitter smoke filled his lungs, making him cough for a second after which he breathed a small cloud out. An unusual silence filled the air while he and Iron Wheel just stared down at the burning wreckage — such unusual silence.

Sombra tried to figure out why the explosion happened, but the answer was nearby. It was the spell. He had accidentally casted it when he had thrown the tantrum in Star Gem's room. Considering just how much he hated the place, the spell had likely overcharged and because Sombra had never actually released the energy, it had exploded in a shockwave. It was a miracle they had emerged again alive.

But maybe it had been predestined. Maybe he was supposed to conquer this last challenge to take full control of his life.

"You know... sometimes I wonder how it all came down to this," Iron Wheel suddenly spoke up. "It was so different in the first grades. We were different."

"Yes," Sombra replied to Iron's surprise. He would usually avoid a conversation about such topics or turn it into a joke. "We were different. I was weak, worthless, pathetic. Now..." he looked at himself: at his strong body, at his new habits — good and bad — and his new powers which were enough to bring down an old mansion and set it on fire. He looked at his life which used to be empty and filled with pain and suffering, but now was blooming with life and love which originated from Krystal’s pale blue eyes. She was the most important pony in his life, a haven to which he could always return. She had changed his life for better.

"Now I stand proud above the remains of my past. Do you remember how pathetically I used to sit at that table bending in pain by stomach aches I had because of hunger? It's all over, it’s all burning down in flames — just like this house," he said, pointing at the mansion.

He didn't regret anything. Every single choice he had made. He didn't regret stealing on the streets, robbing Sweet Tooth, his dance with Krystal, and his acceptance of her secret and confession. Smoking, rudeness, attitude, complete disregard for rules: he did all of it to feel freedom. Now, he had proven it to himself.

He was free of his past, finally — time to look into the future.

"Perfect. Just perfect," Sombra sighed wistfully. "This life is just beautiful. I love it." Sombra suddenly turned to Iron Wheel, giving him a bright and honest smile. "I'm done with my trashy past. Time to be free, friend! Come here, you little queer!" he exclaimed happily and gave Iron a friendly hug.

The maroon colored crystal pony smiled as his head rested on Sombra’s strong chest, coughing a bit from the cigarette smoke. He didn't feel offended by Sombra's remark; it was all in good fun. Why would he want to ruin his friend's perfect mood just because of an unfunny joke?

Sombra felt at peace, though he would certainly need some workout, too. He still had some leftover energy inside of him that he could waste.

"Hey, Iron... want us to grab some purses?"

Author's Note:

A short one this time. Though, I still hope you'll enjoy it!