The Return of the King

by MisterEdd

Choices

Downtown Canterlot was beginning to look like the center of a war zone. Smoldering craters dotted the streets, the concrete roads littered with broken glass and bits of stone and metal debris like fallen leaves. Those who foolishly elected to remain in lieu of fleeing were treated to the most knock-down, drag-out fight any of them had ever seen. How many ponies could say that they'd seen Princess Celestia duking it out with a dark sorcerer? A corner of an apartment building was smashed to rubble when the princess slammed her opponent through it, drawing out a round of adulation and applause from her loyal subjects though she hardly noticed, instead peering through the cloud of smoke to locate the umbrum.

Lost in the heat of battle, Princess Celestia had only one thought on her mind: destroy Sombra. She once allowed her complicated feelings for him rule her heart, compelling her to treat him as one might a loved one but hindsight, as they say, is twenty-twenty. Up until recently, Celestia thought that she could help Sombra, going so far as to allow her student and her friends visit him in hopes of changing him. Now she realized that you can't change somepony that doesn't want to change. It was almost sad really. Almost.

Evading a series of bolts, Celestia corkscrewed towards Sombra, her horn raining golden beams upon him only to predictably bounce off of his force field. Spinning like a fiery wheel, she dive-bombed against his force field, creating an explosion that propelled him through an office building window. She watched with satisfaction as Sombra violently tumbled across the floor, crashing through desks and cubicles before becoming buried beneath the shattered remains of a bookshelf. A viscous strip of inky blackness seeped beneath the wreckage, reforming into a glaring King Sombra. Charging towards her, he teleported all over the office, building momentum until erupting in a toxic bubbling black orb.

But Celestia was prepared for this, conjuring a wave of magic that shielded her from the force of the blast. With a cry, she redirected the energy towards Sombra, who barely managed to phase through it, rematerializing just in time to receive a hind leg to the gut. A newly-created sword descended, the very tip slicing through Sombra's right cheek when he tried to pull away. In response, he shot a familiar ray at Celestia's horn, only for the black crystals to immediately dissipate. The Princess of the Day couldn't help but smirk at this feeble attempt.

"Did you really think that I wouldn't have discovered a counter-spell to your nasty little anti-magic trick?"

Aside from a frown, which appeared more disappointed than angry, Sombra's face was surprisingly calm. It didn't matter; his little ace in the hole was useless against her now. Once Celestia valued Sombra as a powerful spell caster and cunning strategist but now she only saw him as a one-trick pony. Celestia's sword darted to and fro like a hornet, bouncing off of a trident that Sombra created. Sweat trickled down his face and Celestia took this as a sign that his endurance was finally at its end. Now she could finally end this feud. For Luna. For Equestria. For herself.

~*~

Deep within the depths of her mind, Twilight Sparkle wandered aimlessly, the landscape an eternal void of darkness and swirling violet clouds. She had no idea how long she'd been here, the existence of time appearing to be a non-factor. The last thing that she remembered was toppling over and the blue-gray carpet rushing to meet her. Twilight groaned and chastised herself for being so foolish, no doubt suffering the side-effects of magical overexertion. And it couldn't have come at the worst of times.

Princess Celestia and Sombra were no doubt engaged in a battle to the death and here she was lying in a coma due to her own ineptitude. She curled up into a ball and shoved her face into her crossed forelegs. Ever since ascending to alicorn status, she thought that life as a princess would get easier not harder and her extra bump in magical prowess and full-time access to the Royal Archives meant that she'd always be prepared for anything. Yet here she was, a silly mare once again in over her head while Canterlot was caught in the crossfire between two old enemies. Never before had she felt so helpless.

"Are you just going to lie there and feel sorry for yourself?"

Her head shot up at the voice. There, standing across from her with a disapproving glance was...

...herself.

Twilight rose to inspect her doppelganger, noticing the same fur color, same eyes and same, well, everything. Except this Twilight seemed a bit more haughty, her expression and stance speaking volumes of an arrogant individual that thought much too highly about herself. The second mare didn't budge when Twilight moved in for a closer look, slightly spooked by the arrival of her double.

"Who...who are you?"

The second Twilight snorted. "You, obviously. A much better version but still you."

"Why are you here?" Twilight asked.

Twilight Two rolled her eyes. "To watch the show, of course. Well, obviously not the King Sombra-Celestia smack-down. Although that would be a treat now, wouldn't it?"

""A treat"?! What a terrible thing to say!"

"Oh? You're not in the least bit intrigued by the idea?"

"Absolutely not! They could get hurt or worse!"

The second Twilight rubbed her nose. "And so what if Celestia lost? Are you seriously going to look me in the eye and tell me you WOULDN'T want to rule Equestria as Sombra's queen?"

Images danced across Twilight's gaze, visions of twin thrones upon which sat Sombra and her. All of Equestria bowing to them, proclaiming them as their rulers. It was actually kind of-

"No! I-I don't want that! Listen, I HAVE to stop them!"

Twilight Two sighed and shook her head. "Oh well. It you're really THAT bent out of shape about it, I suppose I could...lend you a hoof."

The original Twilight tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I will lend you some of my strength so you can play Little Miss Goody Two-Hooves. You'll crash hard but you'll still avert the end of the world as we know it or whatever. I feel fine either way but go ahead."

"'Go ahead'?"

Twilight felt herself jolt awake, her chest aching as she released several sputtering coughs.

"Twilight?" A brilliant orange pegasus leaned forward in his chair. "Thank Celestia!"

"Flash? What are you-...?"

"Twilight!"

Spike leapt onto the bed and buried his face into her chest, muttering a series of apologies. Twilight chuckled and enveloped him in the tightest hug that she could muster. As much as she missed her Number One Assistant, however, there was still some very important business that she had to resolve. She fumbled with the covers, peeling them away from her with shaking limbs.

Flash was on his hooves. "Listen, you shouldn't even be awake right now let alone moving. Just lie back and-..."

"There's no time! Where are Princess Celestia and Sombra?"

~*~

Infuriating an alicorn was, admittedly, one of the most idiotic things that one could do but Sombra did this for a specific reason. In all of his years mastering the dark arts, he'd learned how to harness his negative emotions-his rage especially-and shield himself from their influence. Anger, hatred, fear, they all empowered him, drove him forward and gave him focus. Princess Celestia, like all other practitioners of light magic, focused more on knowledge and defense, letting more of their logic dictate their craft and leaving themselves emotionally vulnerable. By manipulating Celestia's anger, Sombra could turn her into a tsunami: a powerful, destructive force but one that is directionless and short-lived.

And as luck would have it, he knew exactly how to get under her skin.

"Are you really angry about Luna? Or are you relieved that she's finally out of your life?" Lances of golden light streaked past him, embedding themselves in a newsstand. "No more baby sister to hold you back. No more holding Luna's hoof all the time."

A blast of flames nearly struck Sombra, who catapulted himself above it, spear raised to deliver a killing blow. The blade was caught in a golden aura and promptly shattered, leaving Sombra open to a punch to the ribs. This was followed up with a telekinetic right hook then a left, knocking him senseless before he was lifted up and slammed onto the roof. He rolled over to dodge a searing blast of heat, barely managing to erect a magic shield that protected him from a fiery battering ram and knocking him off the roof altogether. He changed into his shadow form and crawled down the side of the adjacent building, leaping off it to land on the pavement in his flesh-and-blood form.

Sombra felt the weight of the object inside his cape's inner pocket. When he'd bewitched Red Sulfur into breaking into the School for Gifted Unicorns, it wasn't just to stage a fake robbery and to report the existence of a supposedly missing item in order to send the Elements of Harmony on a wild goose chase. The hypothetical "Flashstone map" was not Sombra's true objective, rather it was a smaller, seemingly innocuous item that nopony would kick up a fuss over its disappearance. Thankfully, Adept Red Sulfur would see to it that such an item wouldn't show up missing in the school's artifacts inventory. Now the only issue that remained was finding a way to use it.

Celestia circled overhead like a carrion crow, mane and tail still aflame. Upon spotting her quarry, she dive-bombed towards him, striking the ground hard enough to split the concrete and create a small tremor that swept him off his hooves. Sombra bounced and rolled, slamming into a public mailbox hard enough to uproot it, laying gasping atop its hard metal surface. If it wasn't for the physical augmentation spells, the impact would've surely have broken his back instead of knocking the wind out of him and he silently thanked Grimoire for teaching him at least that much. Shakily lifting his head, Sombra found Celestia advancing on him, the flames crackling and hissing like vipers.

"I'm going to end this, once and for all," she stated darkly, her shadow falling over the fallen stallion, horn blazing with fiery light. "Letting you live was the single biggest mistake of my life."

"S-second."

Celestia stared puzzled at him. "And what was the first?"

A pair of inky tendrils seized Celestia, coiling around her barrel and neck to angle her horn so that it was pointing away from their master. Sombra rose triumphantly as a third tendril reached into his cape and removed the object, the sight of which made Celestia's eyes widen. It was a silver ring carved with intricate symbols and adorned with sapphires, which was then promptly shoved onto her horn, the glow around the appendage immediately fizzling out. The tendrils tossed Celestia to the ground and retracted back into Sombra's body. Celestia tried to focus but nothing happened.

"I wasn't one hundred percent that it would work on you," Sombra freely admitted. "But considering that it was locked up separately from the other neutralizer rings, the odds were looking favorable."

Celestia groaned in exasperation, her magic sputtering weakly. "You planned this?"

"I had to get you so angry that you couldn't think straight. By the way, Luna is still alive, just indisposed."

"But you said-..."

"I lied. Sound familiar?"

A black and purple bolt hit Celestia square in the chest. Lifting her up telekinetically, Sombra slammed her onto the ground again and again before launching her as far as he could hurl her. He grinned at the sight of Celestia smashing headfirst through a carriage and skidded to a stop, no doubt a painful experience for her. Celestia clumsily shifted herself to a half-seated position when Sombra struck her with another missile. And another. And another.

"How does it feel to be powerless? How does it feel?!"

The onlookers watched on with horror but Sombra refused to relent, feeling centuries of fury lifting off his shoulders. When he was finished, the sanctimonious and self-righteous Princess Celestia lay covered in soot at the bottom of a crater. He heard whispering and took notice of the gathering Canterlotians. Raising a hoof, Sombra gestured towards the semi-conscious alicorn.

"Behold! Here is your precious princess!"

The dread written on their faces was beyond words. Poetry could not fully portray his bliss. If Sombra could bottle their abhorrence, he would guzzle it until he burst. He wasn't enjoying the fury developing on some of their muzzles, so he summoned a magical dome around the two of them so there would be no interference. He'd waited far too long for this moment and he didn't need any unnecessary heroics. He spotted some movement out of the corner of his eye, catching a glimpse of a figure staggering out of the crater.

A shadowy tendril with a five-fingered claw grabbed Celestia roughly by the throat and smashed her onto her back, eliciting an audible shout of pain from the mare. There was a series of crackling pops before a ring of green and purple fire formed around her. Sombra crafted an ebony-bladed sword, sparks leaping off of the tip as he dragged it along the ground. In place of hatred or animosity, his face was a mask of imperceptibility. The ring of fire momentarily parted to make way for the umbrum, as if afraid to come into contact with him, and resealed itself once he was within its border.

"I...I thought I could get you to love me again. But there's no room for love in your heart, is there?"

The mask never slipped. "Not for you, no."

Planting a steel-covered forehoof on Celestia's chest, Sombra levitated the sword so that its point was aimed at her head. "In a strange way, I'm going to miss you. You know, we're alike in a way. Deep down, we're both rotten. The only difference is I can actually admit it." Tears trickled down Celestia's cheeks as the grip of the shadow-claw tightened. "Goodbye Celestia."

"Sombra, stop!"

Hearing his name, Sombra turned his head slightly, his features registering astonishment. Three pegasus royal guards landed, two of which were supporting Twilight between them, her forelegs draped over their shoulders. The third, who carried Spike on his back, was none other than Flash Sentry, the stallion's steely blue eyes burning holes into Sombra's very core. Ignoring him, Sombra instead focused on the purple alicorn.

"Twilight, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be in the Badlands."

"Sombra please, you can't do this. Let Princess Celestia go!"

His eyes darting quickly down at Celestia, Sombra once more glanced at Twilight. "It has to end, Twilight. You know this. After everything she's done and will continue to do, somepony has to stop her."

Twilight sniffled, her eyes overflowing with tears. "This isn't who you are. You're a good stallion."

"No, I'm not!" Sombra shot back. "Why do ponies insist on telling me this? I'm a black-hearted wretch and that's all I'll ever be. Stop seeing things that aren't there!"

"You're wrong!" Twilight wept. "I've seen the good in you. Just because you don't believe in yourself, it doesn't mean that others can't. I still believe in you." The sword shook in Sombra's magical grasp. "I love you, Sombra. Please...don't do this. It won't change the past. Your family wouldn't want this."

To everypony's disbelief, Sombra blinked away some stray tears that'd gathered. "I...this is all I know. The blood debt must be paid. Celestia has to be punished. This is justice."

"No it isn't. You're hurt and you want everypony else to feel as you do but you're so much more than your pain." Twilight smiled then and despite the cracking of her voice and her teary, bloodshot eyes, she'd never looked more radiant than she did now. "Just let Princess Celestia go. Prove that your kind didn't die for nothing."

"Ugh, S-Sombra..."

Sombra looked down and noticed Celestia peering up at him. He allowed the shadow-claw to loosen its grip. In turn, Celestia was able to gasp in lungfuls of air.

"I never told you..." Celestia gulped, her eyes meeting his own. "I...I'm sorry." Sombra's eyes shot open. "For everything I've done, I am so, so sorry. If...taking my life will even the score, then it's yours."

Indecision gripped Sombra, a battle internally raging inside his head while everyone watched with bated breath at his next move. Never before had he seen Celestia so vulnerable, so honest. Stripped of her royal veneer and aura of authority, she was just a mare, one that was apologizing to him. He felt the magic in his horn sputtering, causing the raised sword to shake and rattle. Here was his sworn enemy finally at his mercy and yet, he felt...nothing. No righteous indignation, pride or even hatred.

Just emptiness.

Seemingly eons passed before Sombra made his choice. Fixing Celestia with a resolute gaze, he spun the sword around and shoved it point-first into the ground, the weapon dematerializing into mist. He felt exhausted, both physically and emotionally and wanted nothing more than to rest for a century. Leaning down, his muzzle hovered over Celestia's. After a minute, he glared at her and spoke.

"I've given you your life today, which is much more than you deserve. When you think back to this moment, when you're alone at night with nothing more than your thoughts, I want you to remember that the only reason that you continue to draw breath is because I allow it. Most of all, I want you to remember that I...beat...you."

Slowly, Sombra dissipated into shadows, taking one long sorrowful glance at Twilight before vanishing.

~*~

Now that Sombra had fled the vicinity, the force field popped out of existence, followed shortly by the ring of fire. It wasn't long before a cadre of royal guards flooded the area, forming a protective barrier around Princess Celestia and keeping civilians away from her as Doctor Urgent Care tended to her injuries. Princess Luna arrived promptly, having been freed of her crystalline prison upon Sombra's departure, embracing her sister while avoiding her sore spots. A few hours later and Twilight's friends arrived back from the Badlands, having convinced the scorponies to release them with the caveat that they would ask the Royal Sisters for a meeting to expand their territory. That conversation, however, would have to be put on hold for the moment as Canterlot's upper side was in desperate need of repair.

A few stores and businesses had been demolished during the skirmish, along with some streets, sidewalks and one furious cabbage vendor's cart. The castle's throne room, roof and northwest spire had also been damaged in the fight and were restored as close as to their original appearance as possible. Construction crews worked round the clock to repair everything and they were handsomely recompensated for their time and effort. It wasn't long before shops opened back up and life seemingly went back to normal, the status quo once more reigning supreme in Canterlot. Yet the real damage had already been done.

The entire city had been driven into a panic, resulting in several instances of looting and public brawls. There were also many injuries, both as a result of the fight and from fleeing ponies trampling each other. The sight of seeing Princess Celestia beaten and near death's door was an upsetting and demoralizing one, most likely deliberately on Sombra's part as a way of tarnishing her reputation. If Princess Celestia, who'd managed to keep the peace for more than a thousand years, could no longer keep everypony safe, then who could? And they were not the only ones contemplating this.

"Luna?" Celestia asked her co-ruler once they were alone.

"Yes Sister?"

"Perhaps it's time that I looked for a replacement. One more suited and deserving of ruling Equestria than I."

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

How many chapters long will this story be?

[MisterEdd]

10311962
Only one more

[Viper Pit]

Lovely

[MisterEdd]

10380133
This is supposed to line up with the show. I couldn't kill off Luna. Besides, I love her.

[Dues ex Corvus]

"I've given you your life today, which is much more than you deserve. When you think back to this moment, when you're alone at night with nothing more than your thoughts, I want you to remember that the only reason that you continue to draw breath is because I allow it. Most of all, I want you to remember that I...beat...you."

Was this a reference to the dark knight returns?

[MisterEdd]

11023964
It was! Nice catch!

[nightshroud96]

Wished Luna could have broken out on her own instead of only by Sombra leaving.
Really just another loss for her since she was at Sombra's mercy and taken out..