(3-2) What Should Have Been Done
“That went so much better than we could have ever expected, Alex,” Radiant Hope told me as she kissed me, the two of us back in our room, the sun now fully set below the horizon. “The look on her face was incredible! It was perfect!”
“I told you it would be good,” I responded, smiling back at her. “This is so much better than sending her to Tartarus. I’m giving her exactly what she deserves, and made sure everypony knows what happened.”
“Although, you know I have to ask if you really do plan on bringing Celestia back,” she continued. “And will you be putting her on trial as well?”
“It’s not a statement I can take back now, seeing as I said it publicly, but that won’t be for a while. Ponies might even forget about it once enough time has passed.” I let out a breath I’d been unconsciously holding in, saying, “She honestly deserves a thousand years, both of them actually, seeing as that’s the punishment Celestia was fond of handing out. One, a thousand years banished, and the other, a thousand years in Tartarus. But I’ll be letting them both off easy. Also, remind me later to do something about Cozy Glow. Why they sent a filly to Tartarus is entirely beyond me, and doesn’t sit well with me.”
“I can do that, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea to let her out, at least not so soon…”
“Why not?”
“Well,” Hope started, “I mean… just think about how it looks, especially for us two…” I raised an eyebrow at her, and she continued, “I mean… ponies already don’t like us, and like Cadance was saying, some ponies probably still look at us as terrifying villains, so if we start releasing-”
“They still look at me as a terrifying villain,” I corrected her. “I doubt they see Luna that way, and I know they don’t see you like that. The risk falls entirely on me.”
“I’ll be part of it, too, seeing as we're already a pair, especially if what happened gets out…” she told me, her voice getting quieter.
“If what gets out?”
“There’s still… a certain pony who’s imprisoned in the Crystal Empire who I lead to the Crystal Empire under the guise that I would let her take over Equestria and take revenge on Starlight Glimmer,” she whispered, looking around the bedroom as though someone might be listening in on her. “My excuse is extremely weak, and I know Luna and Cadance didn’t believe me. How Luna seemed to forget about it and how Cadance didn’t bring it up, I don’t know, but if we start releasing ponies from Tartarus, even if they’re fillies, they might remember that fact again.”
“I hardly think that’ll be an issue,” I told her. “I’m certain Luna didn’t forget, she’s just either forgiven you or decided to overlook it. And we’ve already proved to Equestria that Cadance isn’t a credible source of information.”
“I really, really don’t like the risk though…” she trailed off. “I’d really appreciate it if you could look out for me…”
I couldn’t help but turn away and grumble at that, huffing as I said, “Of course you want me to look out for you, even though I know you don’t look out for me.”
“What?” she got out, sounding completely confused, and a bit taken aback. “When have I not looked out for you, Alex?”
“Every day,” I told her bitterly, “when you tell me you love me or tell me if I just wait out my suffering it’ll get better. You act just like them, telling me I should just sit here and suffer and go crazy because I don’t know who I am! I’m losing myself, and you’re not doing anything even though you’re supposed to be my friend!” By the time I finished, I was turned back to her and yelling at her.
“What do you want me to do?” she yelled back. “I know you already blame me and hate me for hurting you once, and if I do anything else, you’ll just blame me and hate me more!”
“You could at least be looking-”
“Don’t you think I've tried?" she asked. "Don't you think if I could do something, I would? And even if there was something I could do, what do you expect me to do? Do you know how fast they’ll turn against us if I sent Alex away? If you think they won’t, you’re absolutely wrong. And if I send Sombra away, then I’ll lose the only friend I have forever. I’ve basically already lost you already...”
She closed her eyes once she was finished, clearly holding back her tears. Seeing her this way made my ears flatten against my head. Even as much as I blamed her for what happened, even as much as I couldn’t stand her for it, I couldn’t help the emotional connection I shared with her, which, of course, only made me more frustrated.
“I wish you would have just stayed there,” she continued, a few of her tears dripping onto the floor. “You told me you knew I would come, and yet you couldn’t just wait for me. I had the perfect plan, and all you had to do was stay in your room in the Crystal Empire and wait for me, and none of this would be happening and we’d both be ruling the Crystal Empire. It would’ve been perfect! You knew I was coming, and yet you couldn’t just... wait for me! And now you hate me because of that dumb mare… argh!” She stomped her hoof as she yelled, adding, “She deserves to be in Tartarus! Not roaming free to do whatever she wants! She deserves it because now you hate me because of what she did, and there’s nothing I can do!”
She shivered out a few more tears before using her hoof to wipe them away, sniffling as she did so. I hated seeing her like this, and couldn’t help but move up to her and press my cheek against hers, rubbing my coat into hers.
“I know, Hope,” I told her softly. “I absolutely hate this, too. It’s partly my fault for trusting her. And I know you know that even though this is killing me, even as much as I can’t stand you for this and can’t help but blame you, you know I absolutely adore you. The fact that I have you by my side as ruler of Equestria is proof enough. You know I love you with my whole heart, even if I don’t love you at all at the same time.”
“I know,” she sniffed out in a whisper, her voice cracking a bit. “I know you love me, but it doesn’t make me feel much better though knowing you hate me… You know I hate seeing you like this. I know you don’t want me to say this, but I love you, and I want you back, Sombra.”
I moved away from her again at that, frowning and turning my head.
“It absolutely tears me up inside, and it’s never going to change. I hope Starlight can come up with something, because I honestly feel like I might as well be dead. What's the point of going on like this? God, I hate this all so much…” I sighed, adding, "The only reason I haven't done anything is because if I do, then all of this would've been for nothing, and just the thought of that kills me more."
“I really honestly think if you just wait it out, you'll feel better,” she told me. "I really think you're getting better, honestly."
“Wait it out isn’t working,” I told her quickly. “This being I am, Alex, truly exists. Even if nothing I remember happening when I was a human was real, I still exist, and am still truly, wholly this person. I'm still a human. And I’m losing myself. Or, less losing myself and more… I don’t know. It’s so conflicting, and it absolutely kills me…”
“I’m sorry, Alex,” Hope apologized quietly as she looked down at her hooves.
“Oh, I miss my life and my family so much, every single day...”
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This is just the natural method of reproduction for supervillains; mitosis. Now that there's two people in one body, they are going to split apart and boom! Two villains!
10728947
Yup, that's how they all do it! Nightmare moon, the other Sombra in the mirror world, Rabia when she gave birth to him, Chrysalis and her changelings...
Oh come on! Don't go easy on her. Celestia DESERVES her punishment for a thousand years. Plus, it's karma for what happened to Poor Luna.
10729087
I agree pretty strongly with this sentiment. Cadence is absolutely right for feeling the way she does about getting cheated. She may have gone overboard in trying to seek out personal justice for being wronged, but the entire plot of this story is just Sombra doing the exact same thing, and he's the hero.
Really compare what Cadence did and what Sombra did. She was cheated and hurt by authority figures in her life, and tried to take over a Kingdom for safety and revenge. Sombra did the exact same thing, except that he succeeded, and he's the "protagonist" so we are supposed to like him and not Cadence.
Really, this whole story is a revenge fantasy from the perspective of a pony who did the exact same thing as the main villain, but he gets to be the hero for no other reason than because that's how the story was written.
And that's regardless of if he actually was a human named Alex or just Sombra the whole time.
10729121
And i strongly agree with you there.
In what fantasy world can a tyrant the likes of which the world has never seen that uses mind enslaving magic be the main protagonist no matter if he has an extra soul inside him??? The body and soul of Sombra is STILL THERE and hes not held acountable for pretty much being the pony version of a certain german warlord, but even worse as he actually had MIND altering soul enslaving magic......
Why was in all thats holy and sacred he even given a chance to breathe? Creatures with less of a rep sheet of crimes would be immediately stoned or killed (aka Cozy, Tirek, Chrysalis and Grogar/Discord) And then he has the balls to even moan about how Cadence is the greatest villian to ever exist while feeling sorry for the others???
God Iwish i was there to say grow up you hypocrite and take a look at yourself tyrant.
Luna fell to dark mind altering magic. What is Sombras excuse? Oh the crystal empire wanted to kill me by giving me a chance to live and study under a princess/empress and now bu-hu i kill all cuz warlord trope edgy emo ect ect.......
Unbelievable
10729217
The fact that Sombra has suffered form his ice prison, and his current crisis of identity help me forgive a lot of what he's doing. And honestly, the average pony is no worse off for Sombra being on the throne, and I'm happy about Twilight not being burdened with rulership...
I'm just really conflicted reading this story. Sombra is constantly frustrated and angsty throughout this story for his own reasons, and I'm also frustrated and angsty as a reader, but for different reasons. The story is definitely succeeding in putting me in the headspace of the point-of-view character in a roundabout way.
It just feels like everypony is villifying Cadence a bit too much, even to the point of threatening her eternal relationship with her daughter, and no one recognizing that this is just perpetuating the cycle of jealousy, lashing out, getting punished, and brooding.
I am just seriously conflicted every time this story updates, but there's plenty to keep me here.
10729217
Yes, Amore/ the Empire did give him a chance to live, but that's basically it. Amore knew he was an Umbrum and allowed him in the city KNOWING the Heart would be dangerous to him, but didn't warn him or try to protect him. If it weren't for Hope, he would've died during the last Crystal Fair. It wasn't long after that she was offered a position as the Sisters' student and prepared to leave the Empire and Sombra behind. He ran away and found out the truth from the Umbrum and was confronted by Amore after he tried to steal the Heart and he destroyed her.
Here's the minimum crimes she could be charged with considering she knew what was happening and why, doing nothing to stop it: Reckless endangerment of a child, multiple accounts of assault against a minor, neglect, abusing her power, and at least one attempt at murder.
What did Sombra do? He was more than justified in his actions against Amore, so we'll let him off the hook on those since that was basically self defense when his life was at stake. He usurped the throne (which depending on the laws of Succession back then was legal), and enslaved the Empire (that knowingly or not, assisted Amore's crimes against him) in an attempt to free the Umbrum. That's basically it.
10729259
Yeah, no one in the show seemed to understand that either, except for Twilight when she reformed Starlight...
Honestly, there are two turning points in the story. The first was then Celestia made Twilight an alicorn. There was nothing that was going to stop the events that lead to Cadance's anger at that point. The second was when Alex broke the string. Had it been untied like it should've been, Alex would've disappeared, Sombra and Hope would be ruling the Crystal Empire, Cadance would be ruling Equestria, and all would be right with the world. Cadance honestly had the perfect plan, but she didn't count on just that one tiny little mistake.
Yeah, Alex is angsty and angry, and probably will always because even if he became completely dominant over Sombra since he's in a place he doesn't want to be in a life he doesn't want to live, but I honestly think Sombra would be much nicer/happier if he became completely dominant since he has what he set out to get, he's taken his revenge over those who've wronged him, he wouldn't have to deal with Alex, and he'd have Radiant Hope. He'd be much closer to mirror world Sombra IMO than he would be to whatever mess the creators made him in Season 9 (of course, there's a few problems that arise from that scenario in regards to other characters if that happens)
Also, I'm really sorry this story is frustrating you... :c
10729494
As much as I gripe, you are genuinely doing a good job with the story. Most of your stories end up in the feature box when they update, so you know you must be doing a lot right.
I just always put myself in the shoes of the protagonist, and a lot of Sombra's frustrations rub off on me. I'm in favor Cadence's public shaming, but then certain arbitrary lines get crossed and then suddenly I second guess my own thoughts about the whole thing...
I'm sorry that I get overly critical when tensions rise.
10729494
10729430
And i also regret venting out my frustrations about the story. I get invested far too much and when something just doesent make sense or is just plain overlooked im like.... hold up, back the f up. What just happened? Is this really happening!? And my mind just freaking takes of at lightspeed griping about it.
I no matter the situation with Sombra, will never be on his side. PERIOD!!!
I dont even personally care that Amore did what she did. She could have just as easily tossed him as a foal back into the blizzard and be done with an umbrum. The very fact she tried, and the key is tried guys..... tells alot about what kind of leader she was to give even an enemy in wartime/turmoil a chance to learn and a chance to defeat their nature.
Crystal heart was and is at the time of old and current a VERY powerful artifact on par with Tree of harmony. Powered by light of love and happiness.
If something like that had no effect to help Sombra even when Radiant and Amore did everything in their limited powers to help then he should have just left. But no he had to get revenge. Get it?? He willingly chose to kill, enslave, ect ect....
Could he have died to Crystal heart? Maybe, but maybe he would have been saved by its power. We have no way of knowing due to umbrums and crystal hearts nature clashing....
He did get remade into a pony in the comics and it did happen under the light of the heart and in Radiant Hearts hooves......
Out of all this i PERSONALLY hate Alex/Sombra the most. Completely unlikeable character with almost no reedeming qualities that is currently the victor and the victor writes the history in Cadences case......
He can basically do anything now that hes on the main Equestrian throne and hes doing a damn fine job of abusing that power to get personal revenge. Cadence was right and i really do hope she manages to get the last laugh..... i Really trully do.
Luna by far is almost out of character defending a known tyrant/villian due to being convinced that Alex is free of crime while Sombra is a saint i guess.... But who cares about Celestia, shes some strange pony who looks like her after 1000 years when Luna came back, so basically a stranger am i right? Luna probably just aknowledges her existance as an entity that is so far removed from who she was 1000 years ago that she might aswell be another pony or dead with how much effort she putting into making things right between them.
10729817
Amore did offer to help in the comic, but the problem is she waited until after he learned that the Heart is what was weakenning and almost killed him. He chose revenge, yes, but the only incentive he had to leave was his own life as he didn't know whether or not the Sisters would've allowed him to come with Hope. Meanwhile, he had basically his entire life to repay Amore for what she did/ allowed to happen, and while he did enslave a country, it was with the intent of freeing an entire race.
I'm not saying he's right, I am saying he had more reasons to petrify and shatter Amore (who he embarks to put back together in the comics) and use the empire to free his people than he did to trust her or run away. Revenge wasn't even his original goal in the comic, he was only interested in the heart until Amore basically said he should trust her when she's held a knife to his throat since day one. She knew what he was since day one, she knew he was suffering and almost died, but made no attempt to reach out until after he learned the truth and was beyond reason or rational thought. Everything that happened is as much on her head as his.
10729494
Honestly surprised by the contempt for Alex/Sombra and the defense of Cadance, like they're being too hard on her...when she just got pardoned for attempted world domination and attempted murder while Sombra had to die twice. Are we forgetting that Cadance did not just make a selfish decision to try and take over Equestria for herself, she stripped a human of his real life and attempted to murder him to save her own flank? This character of Cadance is not supposed to be likable, the same way this character of Sombra, inspired by the comics where he was redeemed, is a villain we're supposed to want to see be redeemed. You're still not supposed to like him or think "his villainy is acceptable", just hope for him to be reformed for Alex's sake, since it isn't right for him to lose his human life over Cadance's selfish decision.
I hate to be "that writer's pet defending the story", but I honestly feel some people just forget these extra details.
Loses her only friend if she gets rid of Sombra? Not really. If she gets rid of Sombra that pretty much guarantees that Alex becomes her friend. Sure he won't be in love with her, but she'd have someone she knows she can depend on.
It really is concerning that everyone assumes the only possible solutions will destroy one of the personalities.
Really, they both should be destroyed...
10736733
But that means to kill one friend in favor of another. Their best bet at this point is for Starlight to find a way to split Alex and Sombra into two separate bodies. Alex won't get a ticket back especially if he really is created by Sombra, but he'll have his own life and identity while Sombra... I guess he deserves to go straight to Tartarus unless he learn hate management as well.
Another option would be to merge them, but that's equal to killing them both and creating a brand new and likely also unhappy personality. So, it's even worse than killing either one of them.
10773196
With so many dislike, i guess there are readers who truly like alex or sombra
11298795
It happens. Sometimes were not so eloquent with words.
10730062
I entirely agree with you.