• Published 6th Jan 2014
  • 17,735 Views, 827 Comments

The Not-So-Normal Adventures of King Sombra and Pinkie Pie - Harmony Charmer



Sequel to "The Cake Batter Incident". An unlikely bond is formed when Pinkie is tasked to reform Sombra, the ex-king of the Crystal Empire.

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Chapter 27: Telling The Story

Pinkie awoke with a groan as she put a hoof up to her aching head, the pain of which slowly subsided as she cracked her sleepy eyes open. It was bright in the room she was in, and it hurt her eyes, which she instantly shielded with a hoof.

"Pinks?" questioned a groggy voice.

Pinkie blinked her eyes open as she put her hoof down and she froze as her sight returned to her. He was there. Sombra was next to her bedside.

And he was normal.

His horn hadn't been changed, but he bore none of the malice the counterpart had. His eyes were soft and kind, but they held a fatigue, no doubt from countless hours of waiting for her waking.

"S-Sombra?" Pinkie breathed out, her eyes wide as she attempted to process what was happening.

How was he there? Conscience had said that he wasn't there anymore, hadn't he? Had he lied to her? And if so, why?

"Pinkie, I know that you're probably wondering what all has happened in the past couple of hours, and I can tell from your face that you're already having trouble coming to terms with everything now. But, believe me when I say that--"

Sombra didn't get to finish his sentence as Pinkie leaped at him and pulled him into a tight embrace as she planted a kiss on his lips, her straight mane expanding in all directions as it curled into it's normal craziness. Sweet Celestia, how much she missed doing that!

"I take it you're not upset, then..." Sombra said as Pinkie planted dozens of kisses all over his tired face.

"I'm... Just... Glad... You're... You... Again," Pinkie told him between each kiss.

"Er, should we leave y'all alone, or...?"

Pinkie froze mid-kiss as she turned to look at who had spoken. Much to her embarrassment, all six of her friends were looking at her with wide eyes.

"Uh..." Pinkie drawled out, her face becoming as red as a tomato, "How long have they been there?"

Sombra chuckled. "Try not to worry about it. We've been waiting for some time for you to wake up."

"Not like Sombra over here!" Spike exclaimed as he jerked a thumb in Sombra's direction, "He's been waiting longer than all of us combined! Poor guy hasn't slept a wink!"

Pinkie's attention returned to Sombra and she soon saw the truth in Spike's words. Dark bags dug under his eyes while his mane was in complete disarray, exhaustion deep within his red eyes.

"How long have you been here?" Pinkie asked as she looked him over.

Sombra gave her a tired smile. "Don't worry about me, Pinks. I'm just glad you're alright."

Pinkie frowned as she recalled how far from alright she had been before Sombra's arrival, the reason of which she had yet to know.

"Sombra, what happened? I mean, before Conscience and The Shadow started fighting, he told me that you were... that you were..."

"Gone?" Sombra finished.

Pinkie nodded, unable to continue verbally.

"Conscience said that because he didn't want The Shadow to know I was still around. He'd let his guard down knowing that only one of us was hanging about instead of two of us, especially since everypony knows two heads are better than one."

Pinkie blinked in shock. "Wait a second, back up... Are you saying you two planned something together?"

Sombra's smile remained, though it changed in tone. "We did it to make sure we could stop him, Pinks. Also..." Sombra put his hoof over hers. "...to keep you safe."

"W-Wait... What was your plan, exactly?"

* * *

"Alright, so you understand the plan?" Conscience asked Sombra.

Sombra nodded. "Once we manage to separate-- which is a pretty big risk in itself --we sneak into the Empire in disguises and once we do, we go to the palace where Pinkie is, right?"

Conscience mirrored his nod. "Yeah, what else?"

"Then, one of us finds out where The Shadow is hiding and then the other makes sure that Twilight and the others find out as soon as his presence is detected."

"And, regardless of who does what, Pinkie is protected no matter what," Conscience finished.

"Let's not forget how we're going to beat him, alright? Seeing as how I have an understanding of dark magic, I know that it'll be best to land an attack on him whenever he uses it."

Conscience frowned. "What are we going to do if he manages to land a hit on somepony, or, Celestia forbid, Pinkie?"

Sombra smirked. "Easy. If he touches her, I kill him."

* * *

"Wait a minute, so you guys did separate?" Pinkie questioned, completely confused.

"More or less, we did. However, as I'm sure you've figured out by now, there were some... complications regarding the spell."

"C-Complications?" Pinkie repeated fearfully, "Are you alright?"

"It's not me who was affected, Pinkie. Conscience is-- was the one to be affected, however," Sombra told her.

"What? Is he alright?"

* * *

Arriving in the Empire had been difficult for Sombra. First, he had to take on the form of a Crystal Pony, which was easier said than done. Despite having received his magic due to a strange reaction from separating with Conscience, it would be extremely difficult to regain control of something he hadn't had in a very long time.

Secondly, he had to get into the palace, where Pinkie and the others were no doubt residing in while they prepared for The Shadow's inevitable attack.

'He's not getting anywhere close to that throne, or Pinkie, for that matter,' Sombra thought, 'not while I'm around to stop him.'

"Ya know, if you're wondering how you're going to get into the palace, don't ya think it'd be easier to just imagine being there?" Conscience suggested as he looked at Sombra's troubled expression, "I mean, you did live there for awhile, ya know."

Sombra opened his mouth to argue, but stopped as he realized the truth in Conscience's words.

He sighed. "I really hate it when you make me feel foolish."

Conscience laughed. "Not as hard to do as you think, Dumbra."

Sombra frowned. "Let's just get to the palace, alright? And keep an eye out for The Shadow while we're at it."

"Gotcha, Chief!"

Sombra sighed once more before he sparked his horn alive and teleported into the palace, in a place he knew nopony would see him.


"Why did I decide that letting you teleport us into the palace was a good idea?" Conscience muttered to himself as he tossed off a jock strap.

"Nopony can see us in here," Sombra explained to him as he climbed out of the pile of garbage, "not a lot of ponies hang around in the dirty laundry room."

Conscience gagged as he shook off another strap that hung on his ear. "Whatever. It's just that this is super freakin' gross."

"Would you rather that I have teleported us into the wide open, where everypony and their mother could see us? Or are you happy that we at least have the element of surprise on our side?"

Conscience mulled over Sombra's words for a moment before saying, "Does having the element of surprise involve smelling like garbage?"

"Only if you let it," Sombra told him as he made his way over to the door, only for his path to be blocked by Conscience, "What?"

"We won't get far if everypony's wondering where the heck that awful smell is coming from," Conscience said, then added in a stage whisper, "hint: it's us."

Sombra groaned irritably. "Fine. Give me a second."

Sombra's horn glowed slightly as a sweet aroma filled the air and soon, everything in the room smelled undeniably good.

"...Sombra?"

"Yes?"

"Were you thinking about Pinkie when you cast that spell?"

"...Perhaps. Why?"

"Because it smells like her."

* * *

Pinkie giggled. "So that's why you smell like cake..."

Sombra frowned. "Please don't tell me it's still there..."

"Fine, I won't," Pinkie told him as she pulled him into another embrace. After she took in a whiff of the cake smell, she added, "but you do smell nice."

Sombra cleared his throat as the others attempted to hush their giggles. "Getting back to the story..."

* * *

"So, now that we're out here, let's get to work on our search," Sombra told Conscience, "The Shadow is bound to strike at any given moment."

Conscience nodded. "And remember, Pinkie's our top priority. The Empire's safety can wait, but hers can't."

"I know that. And before I forget, if you happen to find The Shadow, don't tell him that I'm here. It'll only play against us, not with us."

"Duh, I'm not stupid. Remember, when I pull out my weapon-- which also works as a signal-- and when I attack The Shadow, you'll know where to find us."

"And I you," Sombra told him, "be careful about him. He's gotten even more powerful now that everypony's doubting everything and their fears are at their peak."

"I'll be sure to keep that with me when I kick his ass for what he did to me a thousand years ago," Conscience told him with that same cynically humorous tone, "and believe me when I say that he's got hell to pay if he puts his hooves on Pinkie."

Sombra smirked. "I'll be sure to keep that with me when I kill him."


Sombra didn't know how long his search had been going on. All he knew that was that he was beyond tired and stressed about doing so.

'It's getting tedious, all this sneaking around,' Sombra thought to himself, 'I never thought I'd be happy to want something to attack...'

"Do you think we should have let her go off like that?"

Sombra froze as he reached the corner for a hall and he didn't dare move as he recognized the voice's owner.

"Maybe we shouldn't have been acting the way we had with her, Twilight," said the all-too-familiar regal tone of Rarity. Sombra never thought he'd miss her as much as he did then.

Twilight sighed. "I know that. But, after everything that's happened, she's been so depressed and I didn't want her to suffer through it alone."

'Pinkie's... depressed?' Sombra thought, an image of his special pony with straight hair flickering into his mind. He shivered as he recalled the first time it had done so.

"Ya know, back on the train, Ah woke up in the middle of the night to her sniffling and whimpering. Poor thing was havin' an nightmare, no doubt because of... ya know."

'Nightmares?' Sombra felt another pinch of worry as he processed Applejack's comment.

"But we all know that what happened wasn't his fault!" Sombra heard Spike protest, "Sombra was under some weird influence, right? You said so, Twilight!"

'Wait a second, what are they talking about? What led them to believe my actions weren't my own?'

"It's... complicated, Spike. On one hoof, we have this weird darkness that has sworn to take back the Empire and on another, we have a strange voice in Sombra's head that Pinkie told us about just yesterday."

'They know about Conscience?'

"And, while we do know that Sombra isn't what he seems, there's so much for us to figure out before we attempt to make a move on him. For all we know, Sombra could still be in league with that darkness!"

"What?" Sombra blurted out loud, then immediately regretted doing so.

"Who said that?" Fluttershy whispered, "And where did it come from?"

"It sounded like it came from over there!" called Rainbow Dash, the sound of hoofsteps following shortly after.

Sombra felt panic take over him as he thought out his options. While he very well could have escaped, that would mean going into a top-speed pursuit, which were not in his best interests at the time.

However, he wasn't exactly keen on meeting up Twilight when she was still on the fence about his intentions. Not that he was scared of her, of course.

Without much thought, Sombra dashed away from his spot by the group of mares that would no doubt want to interrogate him on everything that's been happening. He knew that if he slowed down enough for them to catch them, it'd be the end of his plans and he wouldn't be able to stop the coming evil that was his inner darkness.

"Girls, I just saw somepony run away from us!" Twilight exclaimed as Sombra rounded a corner.

"Maybe they were listening in on our conversation!" Fluttershy cried, "What if it was that darkness?"

"Don't worry, I'll get him!" Rainbow Dash proclaimed, the sound of wings flapping following.

* * *

"Oh, no, did she get you?!" Pinkie exclaimed fearfully, "Did she stop you from getting to Conscience?"

Sombra gave her a deadpan look. "Sometimes, you frighten me with your oblivion."

"What oblivion?"

Sombra sighed. "Anyway, to answer your earlier question, no, Rainbow did not catch me. Well, she did, but I managed to elude her when I got something that motivated my mission..."

* * *

Sombra wasn't prepared for the hardcore tackle that Rainbow enacted upon him, which caused him to tumble forward with her still clinging onto his form.

"Girls, I caught him!" Rainbow exclaimed as she finally managed to slow down their tumbles. When she got Sombra pinned to the floor on his stomach with her on his back, Rainbow shouted incredulously, "Sombra?! What are you doing here?"

"I... don't have... time to... explain..." Sombra grunted as he tried to shake off of Rainbow, "Get off!"

"No way!" Rainbow shouted as she purposefully pushed him against the floor, "You've got some explaining to do, Dumbra!"

"Rainbow, listen, if this is about your wing--"

"I don't care about that!" Rainbow shoved his face against the floor. "I want to know why you did what you did to Pinkie!"

Sombra muttered something against the floor, though it came out muffled and incoherent.

"What did he say?" questioned Twilight, who dashed in after Rainbow with the others following her.

Sombra lifted his head up from the floor. "I said that I don't have time for this! You five are ruining everything!"

"Six!" Spike exclaimed as he pointed a claw to the sky in a proclaiming manner, then put it down as he said to himself, "Wait..."

Sombra let out a growl of frustration. "Look, I can't explain what's happening right now! I have to--"

Sombra froze as he felt a small pulsation within his temples, the familiar one that he felt when he and Conscience were testing out their signal system. He remained still as he hoped and prayed that it wasn't his imagination, or perhaps a migraine in the making due to Rainbow Dash.

But, when the pulsation tugged at him to go down a specific path, he knew that Conscience had indeed found The Shadow.

"Sorry, Rainbow," Sombra said as he bucked off the Pegasus and ran out of the group's sight.

* * *

"I'm still mad about that!" Rainbow exclaimed as she crossed her forelegs resolutely.

"I said I was sorry!" Sombra argued as he turned his attention away from Pinkie.

"You didn't have to be so harsh about it!"

"Hey, at least you weren't the one who got crushed by Rainbow's giant flank!" Applejack shouted.

"Guys!" Pinkie exclaimed, earning the room's attention, "Can we please get back to the story?"

Sombra spared Rainbow a small glare before he returned his gaze back to Pinkie. "As I was saying..."

* * *

Sombra dashed through the halls of the palace, the pulsation urging him to go in several, dizzying directions. Of course, the only thing that made his pursuit for The Shadow difficult was the fact that he himself was being pursued.

"Sombra!" Twilight called out to him as she made her way to the front of the hunting pack, "Come back here! We want answers!"

"And you'll get them!" Sombra shouted over his shoulder, "Just... not right now!"

"Where are you going. anyway?" Applejack exclaimed, "I thought you'd be hiding in the shadows or something malevolent!"

"I'm not here to hurt anypony! I'm here to--"

A series of loud screams interrupted him, the sound of which causing all of them to stop in their tracks. Sombra felt the pulsation within his mind speed up and grow in volume, which meant only one thing: Conscience was injured.

"What was that?" Twilight called out, the first one to question what was happening.

"It's Conscience," Sombra said in a low tone, "something's wrong. The Shadow has gotten him!"

"The Shadow...?" Twilight repeated, then gasped, "Wait a minute, are you saying that you're not...?"

"No," Sombra told her firmly as he readied himself for another sprint, "And believe me when I say that he better not have gotten to Pinkie."

"So you do love her!" Rarity exclaimed gleefully, "I knew you would never hurt her like this!"

Sombra paid her no mind as he resumed his dash through the halls, the five mares and baby dragon rushing after him.

* * *

"And after that, I guess it's safe to say you know what happened," Sombra told her.

"Wait... So, when The Shadow attacked Conscience, did he...?" Pinkie trailed off as she found she couldn't finish her question.

Sombra nodded solemnly. "Unfortunately, while I remained unaffected by our separation, Conscience's body was... unstable, and The Shadow's attack ended up being the end of him. Twilight theorized it had to do with the fact that I was the main host and that Conscience was merely a part of my mind and creation."

"So... He's gone?"

Sombra gave her a reassuring smile. "You should be happy for him. He spent a millennium trapped within darkness, away from the one thing that truly mattered to him. And I think he's just glad he got to hold her one last time."

Pinkie blinked. "Huh?"

Sombra chuckled. "Nothing. Just something he told me once."

Pinkie wanted to question him on the subject, but found that she held no right to do so. "So... if Conscience is gone, what about... The Shadow? Is he gone, too?"

"Gone like the wind," Sombra told her, "I doubt we'll be seeing him ever again."

Pinkie leaned into his form beside her and embraced him, her head snuggled into his neck in the most affectionate manner. "I'm glad that everything's normal again."

"Darling, if we're together, nothing is ever going to be normal," Sombra told her as he returned her embrace, "You do realize that, don't you?"

"Alright, so things aren't that normal after all. But, ya gotta admit we have pretty fun adventures!"

"I'm starting to wonder if you even know what that word means..." Sombra mused aloud, "How was any of what we went through considered 'fun'?"

"Because, in the end, we got a happy ending, didn't we?" Pinkie looked up at him with bright eyes as she smiled at him.

"Indeed you did!" Rarity exclaimed as she placed herself beside the couple, "You two are going to have quite the story to tell one day!"

"Huh?" Rainbow blurted out, "Who the heck are they gonna tell it to?"

"Oh, please!" Applejack said with a laugh, "With the amount of bone jumping these two do, I'm surprised that they don't have foals to tell their story to!"

"Applejack!" Everypony shouted while Pinkie and Sombra remained frozen in shock.

"Twilight, what's 'bone jumping'?" Spike asked innocently.

"Not until you're older," Sombra, Twilight and Pinkie said at the same time.

"Oh, come on!"

Author's Note:

I quoted Spiderwilliam13 with that bone jumping comment... HAHAHA!