The Ballad of the Prince-Formerly-Known-As-King-Sombra

by MisterEdd

Nightmares & Dreamscapegoats

Warning: This chapter contains violent and disturbing imagery. Viewer discretion is advised.

Mist seeped through the air, covering the land in a thick blanket and obscuring much of the city's interior. Sombra slowly made his way through the vacant city, the eerie silence punctuated by the echoing clomps of his hooves on the pavement. The mist began to dissipate somewhat, affording him a view of the ruined buildings and smashed households. Broken crystals littered the ground and upon inspecting a large chunk, he drew himself back in disgust. It was part of a crystal pony's skull and eye, staring up at him in unblinking terror. What happened here? The Crystal Empire lay in ruins, the once-great kingdom now a dull, colorless mausoleum of snow and debris.

A clattering sound drew Sombra's attention, his eyes catching a glimpse of a figure in the distance. "Wait! Come back!" He chased the figure further into the fog until he came out in what appeared to be Canterlot, the shining beacon of Equestria reduced to a pile of rubble. He stared awestruck at the remains of the castle, which had been completely demolished and lay unceremoniously like a corpse on the mountainside. This doesn't make any sense! The Elements of Harmony should've been able to protect both Canterlot and the Crystal Empire. What went wrong? The figure sped by and Sombra once more gave chase, both distressed and annoyed by the stranger and whatever game that they were playing. And if there was one thing Sombra hated, it was somepony playing games when something important was on the line.

He swam through the thick fog to find himself in Ponyville, a flaming wreck of ash and carcasses, which were piled up by the hundreds and picked at by fat carrion birds. "No, no...!" Pinkie Pie hung from the end of a rope, her normally bubbly and carefree face twisted into one of fear and agony. Rainbow Dash had been pinned to a nearby wall with a spear and her wings sprayed open with large rusty nails. "Ah, no...!" He found Fluttershy cradling her bunny Angel, their heads laying nearby along with a disemboweled Rarity and Applejack, the latter's mouth and throat stuffed with apple cores. Young Spike had every bone in his little dragon broken and his head twisted around three-hundred and sixty degrees like a doll. "Spike...not you. No..."

Something flashed by in his peripheral and despite his urge to look away, Sombra found his eyes forced wide open and, fighting back the tears and bile, he sank to his hocks and wept loudly. He found his beloved Twilight Sparkle's body had been suspended upright in some sort of iron cradle, the flesh of her chest and stomach stretched back with cruel-looking hooks, exposing her rotting insides. "Twilight! No...no, no, no, no!" He beat at the ground with his hooves, slamming them hard enough to leave bloody marks on the cobblestone street.

"Well, well, well. Isn't thisssss...a tragic sight?"

That voice... He slowly turned his head to discover a gloating male umbrum, his single eye shimmering with sadistic glee as he grinned proudly at the macabre display. "...Father?"

Erebus chuckled malevolently. "Did you miss me? I must say, this is a much better sight than the old place."

Sombra rose to his hooves, fury raging in his chest like an inferno. "You...you did this!"

"Me?" Erebus cocked his head inquisitively. "Oh my dear son," he smirked, "You give me far too much credit. I have YOU to thank for all of this." The fog vanished, revealing that Canterlot, the Crystal Empire and Ponyville were all located in the same vicinity, a twisted combination of the three merged together into a single site of death and destruction.

"No, no...you're lying!" Sombra roared.

"Am I?" A second figure appeared next to Erebus, his features hidden beneath a thick, hooded robe. Sombra recognized him; It was the same figure he'd been chasing this whole time. Erebus put a foreleg around the figure. "This, my son, is the true architect of this masterpiece." He pulled back the figure's hood, revealing another umbrum male, his solid crimson eyes surrounded by wisps of purple smoke. "I assume you're already acquainted with each other?"

Sombra stared with horror at the second umbrum, who sneered at him with a devilish grin. "It's not...it's not possible. You're gone! You both are! Dead and buried! I'm not like you! I'm...I'm good! I'm good!"

The two umbrums both cackled, a discordant sound like the scraping of glass across a metal surface. They seemed to merge into one another, the flesh of their faces and bodies connected by strands of skin. They then both spoke, a horrifying mixture of both voices: "We know otherwise, don't we? You may have a pair of wings, but you'll never escape us! Behind the soft heart and sad, penitent visage, you will always be King Sombra. You will always be...US!"

"ENOUGH!" A voice boomed, filling the town square with a silvery light and when it dissolved, the King Sombra-Erebus figure was no more, as were the city ruins and piles of dead bodies. The landscape instead became the interior of Golden Oaks and to his relief, Sombra was face-to-face with the Princess of the Night herself. "Hello Sombra. Art thou alright?"

Sombra wiped away his tears and nodded. "Y-yes. Ahem, yes, I think so. Thank you, Princess Luna."

The alicorn smiled, "Of course. Thou art, after all, one of my subjects as well as a prince-to-be. I would've been derelict in my duties had I not come." She looked away shamefully, sorrow written across her face. "I apologize for my tardiness. Thou shalt not have had to bear witness to such atrocities as you have for the past week." It was truly amazing how far the two had come. They'd once been mortal enemies. Now she was actually worried about him!

"Still, I'm glad you came when you did. It could've become much worse. Thank you."

Luna looked once more at Sombra and a light smile touched her lips. "You're welcome. Now then, let's get rid of these nightmares so that you can-..."

"No."

Luna stared incredulously at Sombra. "'No'? What do you mean, 'no'?"

Sombra sighed heavily. "Luna...so much has changed in only a few months' time. I've found love, I've regained my honor, I said a proper goodbye to my mother. And look." He spread his large gray wings. "Now I'm an alicorn, soon to be a ruler of Equestria." His wings folded back up at his sides as he took a seat. "But none of that can erase what I've done. These nightmares are my penance. They remind me of what I could've become had Twilight not come into my life. I don't deserve a second chance and yet a second chance is what I have. I wish I could take back everything I've said and done...but I can't. Crowns, wings and friends can't change the fact that I will always be King Sombra."

A gentle wing came to rest on Sombra's shoulder. "I understand, more than you can possibly imagine. Though I am Princess Luna, Nightmare Moon will always stain both my name and my soul. I too feel as though I don't deserve redemption but here I am. I will grant you this but remember, you have friends and a marefriend that loves you. Please keep that in mind."

"Thank you, Luna. And I will. Also, please...don't tell Twilight about this. She worries enough as it is."

Luna smiled and tapped Sombra's foreleg with a gentle hoof. "I won't. But you should."

Once she'd left, Sombra exhaled wearily. "Easier said than done."

Author's Note:

Sorry for the dark chapter; I swear, this is the only one like this.

I imagine that Princess Luna had already created the tantabus to try to repent for her actions so she's very sympathetic to Sombra's feelings.

Comments

[Edguy0009]

Well that was an interesting chapter?

[MisterEdd]

9461666
Thanks!

[Edguy0009]

9462180
Your welcome.