Chapter 3: Resolution
The basement doors opened, a desolate-looking Pinkie stepping out of the darkness. Twilight looked to Pinkie from the letter she was writing at the desk near the side of the room.
“Hey, Pinkie, did things go well?” Twilight asked, arching an eyebrow at the pink mare’s saddened mood. “I’m about to write a letter to the Princess about any improvements on Sombra’s reforming condition. Some good news would help.”
“Well, he hasn’t been that bad,” Pinkie said, making her way closer to Twilight. “Actually, he kinda is, but not as awful as everypony makes him out to be. He’s just really grumpy all the time.”
“I would say he’s more than just grumpy. He’s used to being a tyrant and a power hungry maniac,” Twilight pointed out.
“Yeah, but he couldn’t have always been like that! Maybe he even used to be a good pony once.” Pinkie tapped her chin for a moment in thought. “Well… actually, that’s pushing it. Maybe he’s just never learned about the power of friendship before? I’m sure I can teach it to him!”
Twilight chuckled, scribbling down her message on the letter. “Well, that’s the reason I chose you in the first place, Pinkie. You never give up on anything. If anypony can teach Sombra to be good, it’s definitely you.”
“Aw, thanks, Twi,” Pinkie said, her glum mood cast away as she wrapped a foreleg around her friend in her very well-known Pinkie hug. “It really means a ton that you can trust me with something as important as this.”
“No worries, Pinkie,” Twilight replied, hugging her friend as well just as she finished the letter. “And I do believe I finally have good news to send to Celestia now. With you on the case, she’ll be able to not worry too hard on Sombra.”
“Actually, I wanted to ask you something about Sombra.” Pinkie scooped Twilight’s cheeks in her hooves and stared intently at her eyes. “Can you let Sombra out of the rope and cage in the basement?”
“What? Pinkie, no way that’s happening,” Twilight replied, pushing her over-ambitious friend off herself. “He’s too much of a threat to be in the library. Even without powers, Sombra can be a danger to us all.”
“But, Twilight, all he is now is a lonely stallion cooped up in a basement,” Pinkie pointed out, going on her knees and hooves in an overdramatized begging pose. “If he’s going to change, we need to change. Starting with giving more freedom.”
“And how is letting him in the library going to change him?” Twilight asked, staring at Pinkie, unimpressed.
“Um… well, reading,” Pinkie said with a shrug. “Maybe reading a bunch of books can turn him into a nerd. And everypony knows nerds aren’t evil or threatening.”
“Hey!” Twilight protested.
“What, that was a compliment?”
“Just… never mind,” Twilight sighed, rubbing at her temple at another of Pinkie’s antics. “I don’t really think a book will suddenly convince Sombra not be evil anymore.”
“Not just books! We can take him out, too!” Pinkie said excitedly, her body practically shaking with pent-up energy. “Go on walks through Ponyville! Introduce him to other ponies! Ooh, ooh, I can even throw him a–”
“No, no, no!” Twilight shouted, holding a hoof up to Pinkie’s face to silence her. “We are not going to have a party for Sombra. For one thing, he definitely doesn’t deserve one. Another is that he’s a secret, not some prize we show off to the rest of the town.”
Pinkie’s smile drooped to a miserable frown, her lower lip quivering. “But, Twilight, Sombra isn’t going to improve if he’s locked up all day. Please let him out.”
“I don’t know…”
“Pleeeeeeeeeeeease?” Pinkie begged, her eyes growing impossibly huge as her pupils widened to new levels of adorableness.
Twilight facehoofed. “Fine, fine, okay. I’ll let him out of the basement.”
Twilight fell on her back, a tightly hugging Pinkie Pie wrapping her arms around Twilight’s middle. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! Now that Sombry can get out, he’ll be much happier!”
“Ooph!” Twilight coughed, feeling her oxygen levels decreasing dramatically from Pinkie’s strong grip. “Wait… did you just say Sombry?”
“Oh yeah, that’s my nickname for him. I think he’s starting to like it. Eventually.” Pinkie released Twilight, checking overhead at the clock fixated against the wall. “Talking about eventually, Mrs. Cake is expecting me eventually as well. I have to head to Sugarcube Corner.”
Twilight breathed in a huge gasp of air, too weak from Pinkie’s backbreaking hug to move. “Yeah, swell. Have a fun time.”
“Oh, I’ll be sure to! I’m going to bake a special batch of cookies just for Sombry!” Pinkie bounced over Twilight and made her way to the door. Resting her hoof on the handle and glancing back, she said, “Also, how did Sombry come to love chocolate so much anyways?”
Twilight got back to all fours and cracked her back, wincing slightly. “He managed to find an old, half-eaten candy bar in the trash the night Spike found him. He managed to eat all of it, wrapper and all.”
“Wow, did he eat anything else from the trashcan?” Pinkie asked, holding back a giggle but failing miserably.
“Not exactly sure, but from the sounds he made while puking in the bathroom, it must’ve have been awful.” Twilight laughed, Pinkie joining in as well.
The basement doors slammed open, the light from the main room of the library shining right into the room. Pinkie hopped down the steps, calling out, “Sombry, Pinkie’s home!”
Sombra groaned and rolled over, muttering, “Five more minutes, and then I’ll destroy you later…”
Pinkie jumped down the last step and did a flip off her front hooves, landing right before Sombra’s cage. Taking a look inside, she noticed in the dim light the empty bowl and melted chocolate covering Sombra’s face. “Wow, you did eat all the ice cream.”
A burp escaped Sombra’s lips, followed by a snort and smack of his lips as his eyes opened up. “Yeah, was the best meal I’ve had in years. A thousand, to be exact. Now leave me and my nap be.”
“Aw, but I was just about to tell you good news!” Pinkie said, sticking her head in between the bars.
Sombra arched an eyebrow at her. “Let me guess. You’re going to leave me alone and jump off a cliff?
Pinkie stuck her tongue out at him. “Sillyhead, that isn’t good news.”
“It would be to me.”
Withdrawing the key from her mane, she unlocked his cage and made her way inside. “The real good news is that you’re not gonna be stuck in the basement anymore! Doesn’t that sound awesome?”
“I don’t even know what awesome means.”
“It means you get to stay in the library with Twilight!” Pinkie explained, going over to him and untying his rope binding. “Isn’t that wonderful?”
“Oh, most definitely,” Sombra said with snark, feeling relief from no longer being suffocated by the rope’s hold. “I always wanted to be trapped in a library with a moron for a mare who thinks she’s all high and mighty for being a prissy princess.”
Pinkie finished with untying Sombra’s ropes, chucking the rope binding to the side. “Well, what’s wrong with princesses?”
Sombra stared at Pinkie with a blank look for several seconds. “Two princesses trapped me in an abyss of eternal darkness for a thousand years. Then another princess defeated me with the help of some pint-sized dragon when I went to reclaim my empire. Now, try and guess why I hate princesses with a burning passion.”
Pinkie tapped her chin in thought for a few moments. “Hmmm… you don’t like crowns?”
Sombra facehoofed.
“Wait, no, tiaras!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Or what about necklaces? Do you have an opinion on bracelets?”
Sombra growled and got to his hooves, wincing from the sharp pricks in his legs as his blood started flowing freely again. Pinkie just went on and on, as she usually did, but her close proximity made it difficult for Sombra to ignore her. “Don’t you ever shut up?” Sombra snapped at her.
Sombra’s face scrunched up when he turned around to find Pinkie rubbing her face in his luxurious cape. “Wow, I bet you don’t hate velvet then!” she exclaimed, tugging his red with white trimmings cape to snuggle with.
“Give me that!” Sombra demanded, swiping his cape back and looking at the area she face mashed with it with disgust. “Commoners do not touch the royal cape with their dirty, peasant hooves!”
“But I just washed my hooves,” Pinkie said, lifting hers up and sniffing them just to make sure. Laying a hoof on his steel plated armor, she asked, “Can I touch this then?”
Sombra slapped her hoof away. “Never touch me, you lower class scum,” he growled, flashing her his razor sharp fangs. “A king is not to be dirtied by filth such as yourself.”
Pinkie sniffed her arm. “I don’t know why you keep on saying I’m dirty. I took a shower today. Wanna see?” she asked, lifting her leg to his face.
“Didn’t I say not to touch me?” Sombra pointed out, staring at her with daggers as he walked past her to exit the cage. “Just you being in my nearby vicinity sickens me to no end.”
Pinkie kept up with her cheery appearance and followed Sombra up the stairs with nary a negative reaction to his words. Sombra found this more annoying than if she was angered at his rude remarks. This never ending fountain of jolliness that was Pinkie Pie irked him to no end.
Up the stairs, Sombra was confronted by a sight that annoyed him almost as much as Pinkie. The deep contrast with her was Twilight, glaring at him with disapproval as usual.
“Well, well, well, looks like somepony isn’t happy to see me,” Sombra noticed, grinning mildly at Twilight’s frown deepened. “What’s wrong, princess? Did Prince Charming not buy you flowers today?”
“I’m single,” Twilight said, “and I would appreciate it if you kept your snarky comments to a minimum.”
“Or what?” he laughed, grinning wickedly with a dark intent in his green glowing eyes. “Lock me in your basement again? My compliments on figuring out darkness is my one weakness. How long did that take you, princess?”
Before Twilight could reply with a comeback, Pinkie’s face broke her view of Sombra when it was suddenly shoved in her face. “Heya, Twi, where’s Sombry gonna sleep now?”
“Sombra! My name is Sombra, you pathetic excuse for vermin!” Sombra shouted, his crimson pupils shining brighter for a few moments. “And I will be sleeping in the finest luxury bed you have available.”
“You’ll get the cot behind the stairs,” Twilight said with a smirk.
“Absolutely not!” Sombra argued, shoving Pinkie out of the way to confront Twilight. “As royalty, I deserve only the best living conditions known to ponykind. Staying cooped up in that basement forcibly by your hoof shall not be wise to repeat, princess.”
Twilight scowled and moved her face closer, her and the king’s nose nearly touching. “First off, don’t call me princess. Secondly, you’ll sleep wherever I say while you stay under my roof.”
Sombra snarled his teeth, fangs gleaming in the light.
“Are you guys going to kiss now?” Pinkie giggled, barely able to hold back a laugh at the amusing sight.
Twilight’s face immediately blushed furiously as she backed away fast, while Sombra just grinned slyly at Twilight. Wiggling his eyebrows, he asked, “Well, are you?”
Gagging, she said, “Forget it, crystal-for-brains.”
Sombra chuckled, glancing around at his new surroundings. he only got a quick look before he was locked down below in the basement. Books covered shelves reaching from the floor to the ceiling, with the smell of the olden tomes permeating in the air.
“While these housing conditions are less than adequate to what I am used to, they will suffice,” he said, his nostrils flaring as a new scent entered the area. “Are those… cookies?”
“Yessiree!” Pinkie called from behind the kitchen doors, bouncing in the library with a fresh batch of cookies steaming on a tray atop her head. “I brought them right from Sugarcube Corner! Freshly baked and super sweet!” Setting the tray on the table nearby, she dug around in the fluff of her mane and revealed a pitcher of milk she somehow managed to store there. “With milk, too!”
Sombra’s mouth was drooling profusely, though he attempted to hide it behind a lick of his lips. “Excellent! Looks like you are useful, after all.”
Making his way to the table that held the delicious treats of baked chocolate delights, his hoof was stopped by a force field over the tray when he went to reach over for a cookie.
“Ah, ah, ah,” Twilight tutted, her horn glowing the same color of the force field. “You only get cookies on two conditions.”
Holding back a curse, Sombra asked, “And what would that be, your majesty?”
“No escaping,” Twilight said, releasing control of the force field as it dispelled. “Just in case you ever decided to try, I made a special magical signal to go off if you ever leave the house or the border of Ponyville. Do that and you can expect yourself back in the basement in chains.”
Rolling his eyes at her unthreatening remark, he asked, “Anything else?”
“Say thank you to Pinkie Pie.”
Pinkie perked up at these words, staring at Sombra intently with creepily wide eyes.
Looking at the steaming pile of cookies, then back at Pinkie, Sombra gulped. Mumbling profanities under his breath, he muttered, “Yeah, thanks, you aren’t a pathetic waste of space as I once thought. Happy?”
“WHOOOOOOOOOO!” Pinkie squealed, grappling onto Sombra's neck and hugging him with all her might. "You do like me!"
Luckily for Sombra, his armor managed to protect him from the worse of the dreaded Pinkie Pie hug of happiness. But her strong grip prevented him from reaching out for a cookie, tormenting him at their closeness.
"Damn you, Pinkie," Sombra choked out, holding back vomit because of her touch. "I will destroy you!"
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Uh
Think you meant something else. 
Good chapter!
this is the best pairing ever... of all time
I fire a teapot at you good sir! -Nerd3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7j75lThw-M
Excellent. This can only get better
Sombra in a nutshell right now
That's some real Pinkie Pie writing there. Completelly in character - poor Sombra. Thanks for the laughing, this tale is developing greatly.
So Sombra is Harry Potter now?
I personally thought she would say a stick. Party works too.
There's probably a reason for that, the word awesome (and fun, from 'Nightmare Night) is less than a thousand years old, most of our words are. Here's something that came out 1000 years ago.And now the Lord's prayer, 1000 years ago.
Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum si þin nama gehalgod tobecume þin rice gewurþe þin willa on eorðan swa swa on heofonum urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us to dæg and forgyf us ure gyltas swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge ac alys us of yfele soþlice.
Completely different.
I have yet to see a fic that accurately portrays what this would do to a person. People go crazy after a few months of just social isolation. Personally I don't know what's worse among Nightmare Moon's, Discord's, and Sombra's imprisonments. Nightmare Moon had 1000 years stranded on a monochromatic wasteland, watching the kingdom, the world, she loved floating just out of reach. Discord got 1000 years as a statue, unable to move, blink, or breath, as days and years bore on, slowly being forgotten by the ponies he once ruled, reduced to not even a myth like Nightmare Moon, but just an object. Then Sombra, nothing but darkness and his own thoughts for those 1000 years. It's no wonder he prefers the dark, keep a animal in a cage long enough, it won't want to leave it when you set it free.
I cant wait for pinkie to get sombra to talk about his past. a tragic backstory helps make a villain real and relatable
One full moon at the peak of the night strange sounds were coming from the kitchen so twilight went to investigate
then she saw a shadow at the fridge eating delicious cookies she starred at it for several seconds than she said
"SOMBRA!! GET THE HELL OUT OF MY KITCHEN!!!!!"
then the shadow raised its face blushing like
... this is the best reformation story ever I just had to write that!
It's fanfiction for your fanfictional story
this is just perfect. The dialogue between Pinkie and King Sombra is excellent. It really captures the characters. Can't wait for the next chapter.
3166612 Ever noticed they all got free after 1000? I just did.
3166868 Eh, I saw 1000 just as a general number, nothing hard. Like to mean between 1000 and 2000 years ago, for it's more complicated to say the exact number. Except for Luna's however, her's was foretold so we can be sure of it's accuracy.
XD TwiSombra ship!
3165116 and that is the point. Apple switched to intel processors in 2006. Mine is 9 years old... 2 years prior, and uses an IBM Power PC processor. NO ONE updates for PPC. Flash, java, even Firefox and Safari themselves are both dropped from recieving ANY updates. That is why my old machine is a useless pile. That is why I'm replacing it. Life will be so much better, and filled with so much less spinning rainbow beachball of death!
And yet, 9 years old, and years out of date, I still have never had a virus or worm or registry problem, and it has been known to run months on end without requiring a restart or experiencing a hard crash.
There is a reason I'm building a kick flank PC, only to NOT instal Windows on it. It'll be a Hackintosh, so it can be the superior machine! The reasonable price of PC hardware without Apple's insane markup, combined with Apple's superior OS... It's truly a win-win! Put it in a beautiful case mod, and that's the MMMM on top!
And then they kissed.
Shit, Pinkie does not know any bounds for personal space
On the other hoof, I'm sensing that Sombra is slightly warming up to her....even if it's only by a millimeter, better then nothing eh? Damn, this is funny as hell, I love how no one but Pinkie is willing to give Sombra a chance, wonder what will happen when he meets Spike again, the Crystal Savior as I given him the title which he has earned, it comes with a backstory and full use of anyone who cares to use it, plus it really fits him in my option, but anyway...wonder what the other four will think once they see Sombra trotting around Twilight's house?
Pinkie, I hate you!
W-why would you prevent Sombra from having cookies like that? You... you monster. I can't even look at you right now .
Aaanyway, this just gets better and better. The interactions between these two really make it work. This is definitely one of my favorites of yours, Bob. And I'm starting to like the idea of Pinkiebra... no, that doesn't work. SombraPie? Doesn't sound too delicious. Eh, I'll come up with something.
Imagine... two dark and twisted souls- or rather just two jerks.
3166572
Due to Sombra's general ineffectiveness, I'm personally hearing something more like this:
Loving this story - keep up the great work!
"Well, that’s the reason I chose you in the first place, Pinkie." Dident the first chapter say twilight tried all her other friends first?
I like how Pinkie's always getting shipped with all the villains.
Now I just need to see her shipped with Chrysalis and maybe even Sunset Shimmer. So, anybody up for it? 
3167194
pretty much....
“While these housing conditions are less than adequate than what I am used to"
I don't think this sentence is grammatically correct. You could try taking out the first "than" or replacing the second "than" with "compared to".
Other than that, a nice little chapter. I eagerly await more!
Well, this was an interesting read so far Bobby. Right off the bat, I was skeptical honestly. Two concepts that I hated: reforming villians, and Pinkie Pie (ugh... F***** Pinkie!!) were in a story together. So did reading it make me like the two concepts more?
No.... but that didn't matter cause the story was good on it's own right. Everyone was believable, especially Sombra. I loved his personality in this story. He makes this story for me; his annoyance and constant agitation with Pinkie drives the comedy forward and makes him more dimensional then in the show. Pinkie is also in character... which is a good thing for this fic.
I will say though, Celestia has to be the dumbest princess ever, to even consider a former slave owner, a tyrant redeemable. I could somewhat understand Discord, but Sombra? Really Celestia? Also, Sombra seems to like his milk/cookies/ice cream a little too much. Might want to get some proteins, fiber, or anything of substance in that diet otherwise, you might as well consider your skinny days over.
Overall, it was an enjoyable read. It was cute, in character, and the personality you gave Sombra was something I would expect from an imprisoned king. However, I'm going to be honest, the only thing holding me back from upvoting and faving right now is my biased on Pinkie, and my skeptical of the reformation concept. You can make a believer out of me though, and I think you will, cause throwing away all biases, you got yourself a fun fic that any comedy/romance fan (Pinkie loving or not) can enjoy. Now please, finish this one. Too many incomplete and you're gonna make some people cry
Final verdict for Feeling Pinkie Mean is a solid 8/10
I must say, tis just gets better...
Resist all you want, Sombra... You will break...
~Skeeter The Lurker
I can just imagine Sombra's eyebrow wiggle. I think we might need to have a trolling contest!
When I read this, I started laughing. Twas funny.
And Sombra, you and I think a like my man! Cookies are awesome! Especially when they're fresh out of the oven and you have milk with them! Pinkie, I'm disappointed in you. You absolutely cannot deny a former King his rights to cookies!
Funny chapter Bob and I look forward to the next one.
~ Super-Brony12
This is one of my favorite fics on this website!
Please, please finish this one. It's amazing!
Well... Its interesting.
If any one ever wants to change or reform ultimately it is up to the indivual but we all need a little push this quote should explain it. Shackled by the sins of your past, break the bond in the present save your future
Oh...My Tsudere King!
Pinkie and Twi' are so in character in this. It's better than some of the worse episodes in the show. Good job, Bob!
If I was in Sombra's position, I would feel the pain too.
Inches from the cookie, INCHES!
Oh dear is pinkie trying to ship the two of them? Sombra X Twilight does seem popular lately.
3166612
NMM was imprisoned IN the moon, not on the surface. Based on comments by Lauren Faust, she wasn't just sitting up there on a lifeless rock and boo-hooing as Luna or NMM for a thousand years. If anything it was more like an incorporeal stasis, which would explain the "Mare in the Moon" effect and its disappearance following her escape.
Discord's was likely the worst, being a creature of change and madness locked into the most orderly state imaginable. Good on the Princesses for that idea.
Sombra was already insane, he turned his entire empire into a slave army. Depending on his level of psychosis he might not have even minded the imprisonment on a psychological scale.
Now...kiss
hahaha brilliant!
3168476
Ah, alright, didn't know that.
And the thing with Discord and Sombra, if they weren't insane before, they defiantly would be now. Just because they are crazy doesn't mean we can do horrible things to them, we would probably just make it worse (granted, it took mental hospitals a long time to figure that out). Heck, if they were completely aware for the whole time, they're lucky they still remember how to talk, let alone use magic or rule a empire.
I'm not sure how much control the Princesses and later the Mane 6 have over the Elements, take NMM and Luna for example, they had the ability to 'cure' her (still not convinced they didn't just brainwash her), so why did they banish her the first time? And if they can 'cure' people, why do they only stonify Discord? Is he not truly evil, just a force of nature? And there is probably some reason they didn't bring them with them when they went to confront Sombra.
Just keep it coming!
He...will...love...me...
CCCCOOOOOOOKKKKKIIIIIIEEEEESSSSS????? Kisses.....
but Sombry! if you kill Pinkie you wont get all the great chocolatey things she can make!
although, i can see him going over to Bon Bon's(that is if she has a chocolatier's in this reality) for choco goodness every chance he gets some day
Dear Princess Celestia,
Sombra's resistance to Pinkie Pie is considerable.
It will be some time before we can extract legitimate laughter from him.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
Stockholm Syndrome - it works for Pinkie Pie and you can make it work for you too!
Sombra... do you ever stop to think it's a good idea to stop and ACT like you're good, then turn on them all later?
Meh, still love this story, RainbowBob. ONWARDS!
ship?
ship?
ship?
ship?
ship?
ship?
ship?
Man do I love this story, I hope it goes swell.
3168674
They banished her because Celestia could only use FIVE of the SIX Elements. She stated this. Celestia did not have Magic. She had Kindness, Generosity, Loyalty, Honesty, and Laughter. Magic was the lost element, or at least lost to her - since according to her she and Luna wielded the Elements together. Without Luna (being possessed by the Nightmare entity), she could not use their full powers.
It was a choice between losing to NMM and dooming the entire world to a frozen death (Lauren Faust stated NMM was a genocide-level villain, Eternal Night was an extinction event planetwide) or possibly killing NMM (might kill Luna since it's her body) and spending eternity without her only family and closest friend. Or the third option, unleashing the Elements and hoping the result would be favorable - which it was, removing the threat to Harmony and the world and giving Luna a fighting chance later on when the Elements could be claimed by others who had the affinity to wield them in their full power, and free her of possession. I know which I'd pick in a heartbeat.
Really, we have too many "villain apologists" out there who are always trying to say the bad guys don't deserve their punishments. A slap on the wrist in comparison. Discord's reign is immortalized as three ponies dancing on strings like puppets above flames. His rulership of Equestria was so tyrannical that Celestia and Luna's first known act to current history was to face him together and bring forth the Elements in their first known use - and after he escaped, the unflappable Celestia could only bear a look of pure hatred for him. - Whatever he did, it was not fun and games and mischief, it had to have been horrifying.
Sombra doesn't deserve to be locked away as a disembodied shadow for a thousand years? I beg to differ... he turned his entire nation in a slave army. He was gearing his peaceful ponies to go forth and slaughter their own fellow ponies, to make war. He had them in chains... their lives were nothing to him if he meant to use them as soldiers against their will. If Celestia and Luna hadn't stepped in, he might have permanently ruined the Crystal Ponies forever. Can you possibly imagine what that life could do to a mind? They'd be broken, mindless beasts, who only understand that they must shed blood in order to keep their mind from healing - so the guilt of their forced actions does not come rushing back to claim them. The only mercy for them and for the safety of Equestria would have been to put them all to the sword, every stallion, mare, and foal that Sombra corrupted into a bloodthirsty conqueror.
So we have Nightmare Moon, who was set to destroy all life in the world. We have Discord, whose god-like power and complete lack of oversight, and nature as a Chaotic being could drive him from harmless pranks to wholesale slaughter and torture the likes of which you are not adequately equipped to envision. And Sombra, who made slaves of his people for the intent of widespread massacre and invasion.
And you say being banished and locked away for all those years is TOO MUCH? If anything it was too kind. Now, in Luna's case, the Nightmare was (hopefully) killed by the Elements when they separated the evil entity from her (it was not brainwashing, stop trying to say the good guys are the evil ones in this). I don't believe Discord is 'reformed' but I do hope that now that he's loose he's being kept under close watch, essentially a prison with a bit more elbow room. And /hopefully/ Sombra died when struck with the power of the Crystal Heart channeling the power of the entire Crystal Pony race. Because there are things a person, real or fictional, are capable of - that disqualify them from being considered a person. When they cross the line from 'person' to 'monster', to 'demon'. When they have done things so unbelievably horrifying and wrong that you can't call it a mistake or use this or that excuse to try and make it any less their fault - because the deed is still theirs.
Even if it did influence them... what about the victims? Should we ignore the people who have been so greatly wronged? Should we spite them to fawn concern over their malefactor? No, and that is what justice is. Punishment to those who do true wrongs, who do unspeakable things that set them at odds with what a person is meant to be - evil for evil's sake, furthering their own goals and agendas on the blood of the innocent.
Imprisonment was a kindness, I will say again. They had all that time, more time than a human can truly imagine, to think about what they'd done - alone with their thoughts, even amidst insanity they already had and possible insanity from their prison, they had the time to re-evaluate what they'd done that landed them in that mess. Yet when freed, they went immediately back to their old tricks, without fail. They were granted a second chance, and wasted it on the spot. Gloves are off after that.