The Return of the King

by MisterEdd

Interview with an Umbrum (I)

Sombra awoke with a groan and his eyes flickered open, observing the low lighting in the room.

At least this time they remembered to draw the blinds.

After spending a millennium without sunlight, he'd become accustomed to sleeping in the dark and oddly found comfort in it. If there was even the teeniest bit of light, then sleep would be impossible to attain. That is, if he slept.

Since his nightmare the other night, even the simple act of taking a nap seemed impossible and Sombra was quickly becoming very aggravating. Combined with his limited mobility and mind-numbing boredom, he was extremely close to having a nervous breakdown. Rubbing his face and muttering in umbrumese, he reached for his glass of water when he paused and realized that he wasn't alone.

"Twilight? What are you doing here?"

The purple alicorn smiled nervously. "Well, I came to talk to you but I saw that you were sleeping so I decided to wait until you woke up. P-Princess Celestia said that you weren't sleeping well so I figured that you'd wake up soon."

"You were watching me sleep?"

Twilight waved her hoof around in little circles on the floor. "Well, when you put it like that, it doesn't sound good, does it?"

Sombra groaned slightly as he sat up. "Not that I'm unhappy to see you but why are you here?"

Twilight sighed and seemed to carefully mull over her words. "First I wanted to see if you were alright. I heard about your injuries and I was worried." Sombra nodded, touched about her concern but weary of an ulterior motive. "Secondly...well, ever since the incident at the crystal castle, I've been thinking about how little I actually know about you. The history books are of no help and Princess Celestia has confirmed that most, if not all, of the information is incorrect." A raspberry-pink glow surrounded one side of her saddle bag and a quill and notebook floated out. "I want to get the true story straight from the source."

Sombra watched her curiously. She was anxious but hopeful, excited and yet also...scared? Maybe she was afraid of what he'd tell her. Then again, it wasn't as though he had anything better to do and it would disperse the boredom that'd accumulated around him like a storm cloud.

And perhaps maybe, just maybe, everypony could know the unadulterated truth of the account of the "Shadow King".

"Alright then. I will do it."

Twilight yipped and did a hoof thrust, only to realize how she looked and cleared her throat, a blush quickly reddening her cheeks. "Ahem. So, um...what is your earliest memory?"

"I was perhaps a few months old, maybe a year. I remember traveling in a large caravan with my parents and many other umbrums. Unlike what the history books would tell you, my kind had established settlements ages before the first ponies appeared. We were largely nomadic, traveling place to place, getting a feel for the land. I remember foals running around playing and my parents interacting with the other adults, laughing and singing." His lips turned upward in a warm smile. "My mother had a lovely voice and would dance while my father played his flute."

Sombra's smile vanished. "We finally set down roots in the Frozen North, in a place that we dubbed 'Hnefaleikarinn' or 'Giant's Fist'. It was then we came across the crystal ponies, who had also laid claim to the area and gave it its modern name: 'Dravite Hill.'"

Twilight visibly winced but kept writing.

"The crystal ponies were scared at first but soon began trading with us and an agreement was reached that we'd keep Dravite Hill and stick to that area, never setting hoof in the Crystal Empire. That worked for us; we had no use for their city. And then, the war arrived."

"The Umbrum-Draconequus War?"

"The very same. My village may've been an umbrum settlement, but we had long since removed ourselves from our kind's empire and wanted nothing to do with the war. The crystal ponies were asked by the other equine races for aid but stayed out of the first two years of the war. That is, until a crystal pony trading outpost was decimated in an umbrum attack for aiding wounded earth pony and pegasus soldiers. Then the Crystal Empire had no choice but to answer the call to war.

The village chieftain met with King Carnelian, then ruler of the Crystal Empire, and asked to turn Dravite Hill into a refugee camp for umbrum settlers that wished to escape the fighting and he agreed. I was five or six by the time the war reached its end."

Sombra's vision had fogged over and tears dotted his cheeks but he didn't notice and Twilight didn't bring it up.

"The draconequui were all but extinct and the Umbrum Empire had joined up with the Army of Light. It looked as though it was all over and peace had finally been reached." His voice then took on a colder, harsher tone. "But looks can be deceiving."

"My village had a protective barrier placed around it to keep enemy forces out but allowed the bulk of the crystal pony armies to enter uncontested. It was an hour after dawn when the crystal ponies descended upon us. I remember the bell in the village's square being rung and my father running to aid the chieftain. My mother grabbed me and we started running amidst the blood and fire and chaos."

Twilight scribbled furiously in her notebook but kept her attention solely focused on Sombra, her expression one of horror but also rapt fascination, like the face of one witnessing a house fire.

"As I said before, the barrier was designed to keep things out. Unfortunately, it also appeared to keep things in as well. Anything non-crystal pony." Sombra's hooves twisted the bed sheets. "There were villagers throwing themselves at the barrier, just...a crowd of them snapping and shoving at one another in an attempt to escape the slaughter. I don't know how many were killed by the soldiers or by their fellow umbrums but by the end of the ordeal, over three-hundred and fifty umbrum stallions, mares and foals laid dead in the snow."

Twilight finally spoke, her voice hoarse and quaking.

"How-how did you survive?"

He turned in her direction, his red eyes depositing a steady stream of angry tears.

"During the massacre, my mother was running with me clasped to her chest as she fled to our hut. Just as she made her way to the entrance, three soldiers caught up with her and hurled their spears at her. She fell and I ended up beneath her. I guess the soldiers had more work to do so they just went to retrieve their weapons and moved on.

"I don't know how long I remained beneath my mother's corpse, drenched in her blood and trapped under her weight. It could've hours, maybe minutes, just stuck there with the stench and the fear, the knowledge that the soldiers could be back. I prayed to the gods to keep the monsters away. I begged them to let me live. I guess they heard me."

The notebook and quill clattered to the floor. Twilight was sobbing now, wiping at her face as she wept.

"Why?" She whimpered, violet eyes sparkling through her tears. "Why would they do something so..so...horrible?" It was painful to see her in such distress but it wasn't as though Sombra could anything. What could he do? "I don't understand."

Sombra swallowed and exhaled through his nostrils. "Queen Concordia and the other Army members realized that with the draconequui gone, the umbrums posed the greatest threat to the new nation and their alliance with King Erebus would end in either his betrayal or theirs so they took the initiative. After disposing of the king and his forces they believed that the settlers would retaliate and they weren't going to take that risk."

"I...read about the Dravite Hill Massacre in-in the royal archives but the details were limited." Twilight sniffled, staring at him apologetically. "I had no idea that it was that awful."

"Now do you understand why I took up my crusade? Justice needs to be enacted, the guilty punished and Equestria liberated of its current regime. It requires new leadership, one that only demands obedience in return for peace and security. Nothing comes without a price, Twilight. Not even freedom."

The alicorn stood with her mouth agape. "Sombra, I understand your pain. What was done to your people-your mother-was wrong beyond description and I'm so sorry for what happened to you. But getting revenge on Princess Celestia and Princess Luna won't bring them back or take your own pain away. Revenge isn't an option."

"When you have nothing left," Sombra leaned forward. "Revenge is the only option."

Unexpectedly, Twilight's hoof reached out to touch the tip of Sombra's.

"You do have something Sombra. What about Cadence? What about your daughter?"

Sombra's shoulders hunched over, his face no longer angry or bitter.

"She wants nothing to do with me."

"Just give her time. Your last two encounters weren't exactly the best impressions."

"What if," Sombra asked, his voice small and dry, "It were better if she stayed away?"

Twilight wrapped her hoof around his pastern and unlike the two other mares, Sombra didn't mind her touch.

"Then neither one of you would ever know what it'd be like to be in the other's life."

The umbrum squeezed Twilight's hoof. He felt like a foal all over again and it was deeply troubling.

"Then...could you give me something to write with and help me write her a letter. And then send it to her when I'm finished?"

"Of course, Sombra. This time, you aren't alone."

Comments

[Wallens Sparkle]

The story behind the umbrums was a heart breaking💔,sombra went through a lot of tragic events)):

[MisterEdd]

9758343
Thanks (I think). As much as I love the lore of the show, I wanted to show a different side to the establishment of Equestria. It's hard to believe that a land that big didn't already have indigenous races and that no conflicts arose between them and the new settlers. It's also to demonstrate that yes, for once, one of the antagonists actually has a valid point and the audience could sympathize with.

[Redwolf777sg]

Queen Concordia is a backstabbing bitch... and I spit on her bones!