The Fourth Chance

by James Pwyll

Another Visit

"Grow, damn you, grow!" Sombra looked on irritably at the poor excuse for a crop he'd managed to grow for himself. Had anypony wandered by and seen this patch of tilled earth outside of his shack, they'd have been well within their rights to assume that nothing but weeds were growing in it. Despite all the toil he'd put into the endeavour, all that lay in the earth before him caused him nothing except disappointment. Stomping the ground angrily, he reached forward, grabbing the stalk of the closest vegetable and yanking it out of the ground. His eyes narrowed at the shrivelled thing. "All those months and this is all I get for it." He grumbled under his breath, then begrudgingly placed it in his mouth. It had quite a chew to it, and he hated every single moment of it. But with a grumbling stomach he knew he couldn't just stop. So, moving over to his favourite rock, he sat down, the only sound that of his continued chewing. "Better than starving...but only just," he muttered through his teeth.

"I seem to recall a fair grocery store in town, if you were interested," a familiar voice spoke.

Sombra sighed, not bothering to turn and face the newcomer. "I don't want to go there, and they don't want me there either. After your last little check-up on me it got out who I was. There's likely nopony in town they'd want to see less than me." A dry chuckle escaped him. "Heck, I'd even wager they'd be happier seeing that mare who practically brainwashed them over me."

Celestia, walking around so she was in his line of sight, looked to the pitiful stallion who had been her enemy for so many centuries. "If you'd have told me that one day I'd be standing before the mighty King Sombra while he was trying in vain to grow a small patch of vegetables, I'd have called you mad."

For the first time, Sombra gave her his full attention. "Calling them vegetables is being generous, Celestia. But if it means I don't have to talk to anypony, I'll tolerate them."

Celestia frowned. "You don't want company?"

Sombra frowned right back. "I believe I made my position on social interaction abundantly clear the last time we met."

For a time, Celestia said nothing, but after a while her horn ignited and she glanced to the side. Before long Sombra watched as a small table and an unmistakeable chess set was hovered over between them, setting up perfectly upon the dry earth. As graceful as she always was, Celestia sat upon one side, gesturing to the table. "Perhaps you may enjoy a little conversation and activity more than you think?"

Swallowing his meagre meal, Sombra considered that, slowly getting up and taking the time to quickly look around himself. As before, he fully suspected that there were plenty of the Royal Guard out there somewhere, hidden just in case he tried something. But if that was the case then they were well-hidden. Taking a step forward, he looked to the board. "I've never really been one for games."

Celestia eyed him carefully. "No patience for it?"

Sombra, taking a seat himself, shook his head. "Never really cared for the thinking of it. A game like this..." he gestured to the board himself. "It's about strategy. Outthinking your enemy. Me? You know my ways."

Celestia nodded solemnly. "Indeed. Direct. Brute force. Overwhelming power."

For the first time today, Sombra smirked. "Why come up with some intricate plan when I could simply smash what was in my way?"

Celestia, clearly not happy thinking about that kind of thing, made her first move. "Have you tried using it. Your power?"

Sombra made a move himself, shaking his head again. "Didn't see the need. My magic had one purpose and one purpose only in my life. To get me to the top. It's no good for growing crops or anything my new life requires. Using it would...simply bring unwanted attention."

Another move from Celestia. "A wise choice. Besides, in the end your power was always overcome, was it not?"

"Not for lack of trying on my part," Sombra countered.

A moment passed before Celestia made her next move. "I took the liberty of asking around town before coming here. Seeing what you've been up to. Seems you were genuine in your declaration last time. The life of a hermit it is, it would seem."

"Beats death. The Aether was no place to want to go back to, I can assure you. Even you, who have seen the depths of Tartarus itself, would prefer that to the cold abyss that was my destination."

Seeing him move his next piece, Celestia glanced to him warily. "To return from death itself is no small thing, Sombra. And for you it has occurred more than once. Most would be overjoyed, yet in you I feel only emptiness."

"When last I returned, I wanted nothing but my old life, my old conquests. It failed me, as it did so many times before. Part of me wonders if it might have been better for all if my last defeat...was the last this world would ever see of me." He scoffed. "I doubt anypony would complain."

To that, Celestia paused. She didn't make her next move, and was soon deep in thought, which Sombra picked up on immediately. He said nothing, instead waiting for the former ruler of Equestria to finally say what she needed to. "I won't lie to you, Sombra. There are many who think as you do. You enslaved a nation. Twice. You left scars on ponykind the likes of which they'll likely never truly recover from. You destroyed the symbols of all that was good in our world for little more than spite. And all in an effort to take those in this world and grind them down beneath your hooves."

Sombra's look was steely. "So, here ends the façade of the friendly visit then?"

Celestia's own look was her famous poker face as she continued. "Sombra...the number of people from this world's history who are more hatred than you could probably be counted on a single dragon's hand...and still leave claws to spare."

The dark stallion looked away, to the vast and empty horizon that this dusty place had in such abundance. "Guess I'll be remembered, if nothing else."

"For all the wrong reasons," Celestia replied immediately. "You are a symbol of oppression. A being whose image conjures feelings of nothing but fear and dread. By your own hoof, you have made yourself a monster in the eye of all who would ever look upon you...including me."

To that, Sombra looked back to her, his eyes narrowing. "I am what I am, Celestia. We can't all be beloved bringers of sunlight." After a lengthy pause, he moved his next piece. "You sit there, thinking that being a good and admired being is so easy, so simple. When in reality nothing could be further from the truth. I am one whose power and domain is that of the shadows. That of fear. My magic does its work and the ponies around me are faced with that they fear most. Their deepest, darkest, most chilling nightmares. With power such as that, what could I have ever been, save for a villain?"

Celestia's own eyes narrowed in response. "Do you mean to presume that you being the tyrant that you are was the product of circumstance? You could have chosen to refrain from exercising that power. Could have chosen to withhold your...talent. But instead, you used it, willingly. You revelled in it and you took delight in making others writhe before you when surrounded with the fears you so ably control."

Seeing her move a piece of her own, Sombra nodded. "Correct. I did choose. And do you know what I learned from those choices? You know what grand lesson came to me after all my deeds?" Slowly, he leaned forward. "To be evil is easy. Those like you, who walk in the light and strive to be better, you struggle your whole lives with it. Every day is a slog of benevolence and kindness and well-wishes. By my path? It was one of pure freedom. I could do what I wished, whenever I wished, and I never needed to put a single ounce of effort into it. So tell me, Celestia, why would anypony do right when doing wrong comes so much quicker?"

Celestia would have likely looked the epitome of offended at that remark, had she not her famed self-control. "Because it is right."

Amusement came to the thrice-defeated foe before her. "I am under no obligation to live for the sake of others, Princess. Neither are you or anypony else. The notion that there is some higher law, some greater morality that I must be subject to appals me. I will decide my life, not some obscure, hypothetical idea of what is just."

"To live your life selfishly will never end well, either for you or for anypony else." For a moment, all she did was take in her surroundings, this bleak and desolate place even compared to what the nearby village used to be. "Given all you have been through, the many times you have fallen, I'd have thought that would be clear to you by now."

"Point out my downfalls as many times as you like, Celestia. But now, as then, I live for myself. My choice to be here, in exile, is nothing to do with wanting to keep ponies safe from me, or because I feel I deserve penance for my past actions. It is simply to ensure my own existence. Crossing you and your underlings has left me beaten and broken, so if I am to carry on with my life, the solution is to simply stay out of your way. There is no morality or selflessness at play here, I can assure you."

A long sigh escaped the former mare of the sun. "I realise that. Though perhaps I had hoped, in some small way, there had been a change in you, Sombra. I have seen many enemies of Equestria become better than they were. And though you remain among the most notorious of our foes, I had thought there might be some chance the same could be said of you." She shook her head. "But perhaps that was foolish of me. The hopes of a young princess of a thousand years past who clung to ideals long after she should have realised that she should have let them go." When at last she opened her eyes again, her gaze was fixed on him. "Failing to vanquish you, knowing in my heart of hearts that my failure to rid the world of you also condemned the Crystal Empire to a millennia of limbo...it has haunted me. And maybe...that is where this hope has dwelt all this time. That if you could come out of the other side as a good person, it might have made it all, in some small way...worth it."

Sombra smiled, clearly glad to have caused her such difficulty. "No, Celestia. It was not worth it. My deeds cannot be undone. No matter how hard you wish and pray. There is no spell or miracle for you to wash away my actions. And while I am grateful to you to continue to allow me to live, we both know that I will never be the atoner you want me to be." Leaning back slightly, he snickered. "I suppose, in the end, that's a happy ending for me. I live in the knowledge that, though absolute power escaped me forever, I inflicted pain upon my enemies for untold centuries." He shrugged. "A victory."

After a long silence, Celestia nodded. "Yes, it is." Reaching forward, Celestia took one of her pieces and moved it, putting Sombra into what he recognised immediately as a checkmate. "And the only one you will ever know."

Comments

[horses are fuckin weird]

Speaking of death, am I the only one who found it... odd? That ponies would go as far as to kill him? Just never seemed like something they'd be keen on.

[Summer Script]

Never expected this story to see a continuation; quite the pleasant surprise if I do say so myself!

[duckmagee]

10780724
that was the result of their actions not their intent, take his final defeat, i dont think any of the mane six actually realized there friendship rainbow would kill sombra, just defeat him

[Bobbles]

I'm not sure how I feel about this continuation. It traded humility for nihilism, and that is a much different, and much more bitter read.

[PhycoKrusk]

10780751
I'm there too, I think. But, look at the other side of it: Sombra's one victory is also the only one that no other creature in existence has achieved.

So, you know. That's something.

[Baree]

10780724
I mean, they banished a (very young) minor to Tartarus. They give very mixed messages.

[Illi]

This doesn't feel necessary.

[horses are fuckin weird]

10780996
yeah, that was uh... an interesting decision.

[Ice Star]

This is definitely a realistic ending, and I enjoyed seeing more from this story. However, I feel that there is still more that could be added. It doesn't feel complete, and even just offering readers a variety of other possible endings to browse through could really enrich the story. A bad end here, a charming one, a nihilistic one, a fluffy one, and so forth. While it makes sense for Celestia to be this figure full of regrets and antiquated in her outlook, her philosophy really only is her philosophy. Sombra shows himself to be determined and willing to put effort into bettering himself. Even if he can't control what other ponies think of him, he always shows that he has the power to create his own future in this story.

[Enduring Man-Child]

Wow. Deep!

[Yoshifan30]

Dang that is pretty deep sometimes Old Wounds don't heal and King Sombra felt like you'll never fit into the world after his reputation but Princess Celestia still a chance that he can make a difference he just has to find it until then she's not going to push it he'll find his own path but anyway this was a pretty good story keep up the good work