(7-3) The Need To Relent
“So what’s the point of this dinner?” Sombra asked casually as seven ponies sat in relative silence. It seemed as though they were sitting clearly divided, with Hope and Fluttershy on either side of the stallion, Cadance sitting closer to Princess Luna, and Twilight and Starlight sitting in the middle, separating the two groups from each other. Hardly a word had been spoken up to that point, the ponies in the room mostly focused on eating their meals.
“We’ve been sitting here for ages not speaking to each other,” Sombra continued. “Why don’t we say what we came to say instead of wasting this moment? After all, you all invited me here, not the other way around.”
“Very well,” Luna started bluntly. “We’re gathered here to discuss the crimes you have committed against Equestria, as well as the Crystal Empire, and how to properly deal with them.”
“Ah, yes, the crimes I’ve committed because of those that were committed against me,” Sombra rolled his eyes. Cadance rolled her own eyes as well as he continued, “Even if I were in the wrong, it was crimes I was punished for already, more harshly than anypony else got for their crimes, crimes which were much worse than my own, might I add.”
“Crimes which included killing a princess, Princess Amore, who was a personal friend of mine,” Luna countered, with a bit of an edge in her voice.
“For which I was sentenced to a thousand years in an icy grave, which was only committed because she admitted to attempting to kill me first while I was a foal. And then for retaliating against my unjust sentence, I was blown apart twice. Completely ripped to shreds. No other creature in Equestria has had even close to the experience I’ve had.”
Luna opened her mouth to interject, but before she could, Sombra quickly added, “Not to mention, I didn’t even kill Princess Amore. She certainly deserved it though. It would be justifiable if I did, but I'm not like you ponies.”
The statement caused the rest of the room to remain silent for a minute as the lone stallion placed his chin on the table tiredly. Everypony else there knew the story by this point, even Fluttershy, and most of them seemed surprised by the revelation. Luna herself seemed the most in shock, her mouth hanging open dumbly as she stared at the stallion uncomprehendingly. Even Cadance looked up at him with a bit of surprise and interest. The only pony who didn’t seem fazed by the revelation was Hope, who opted to stare down at her plate of food.
“Are… are you certain?” the blue alicorn asked, sounding a bit desperate. “You did not kill her? Are you sure?”
“I’m positive she’s not dead,” he confirmed flatly, his chin still on the table. “I made sure not to kill her because I don’t believe in killing ponies, unlike you lot.”
“Then tell us where she’s at,” Cadance spoke up. “If she’s truly alive, you should know where she is. Prove it to us. And either way, it doesn’t absolve you of what you did, since what happened to Celestia is your fault.”
“That’s a weird thing to say, especially coming from the pony who committed treason,” Sombra shot back. “I’m not even sure why you’re here after what you’ve done. You don’t deserve it, especially since you’re the reason I have to deal with Alex in the first place.”
“Where is she, Sombra?” Luna asked. “If you know where she’s at, you have to tell us. We can absolve you of everything else if you tell us where she’s at.”
“Yes, absolve me, of course. And if I don’t tell you, you’ll punish me unjustly once again, even after sitting in an icy grave and being ripped apart more than once. And I assume Amore will get off without any punishment?”
“Just as you’re about to do?” Cadence accused.
“Just as you’ve gotten?” Sombra barked. “After committing treason, and attempting to kill me and your husband? Your own husband? You should be in Tartarus for your crimes, and be grateful that you even have the ability to sit before us now.”
“Crimes that were committed at your command.”
“Yes, continue to lie instead of telling the truth. Lie because you’ve gotten off easier than anypony in Equestria when we all know if it was me doing what you were doing, I’d have been ripped apart for a third time.”
“It was you doing it, and yet you get to be the ruler of Equestria whereas I’m forced into divorcing my husband and humiliating myself in front of all of Canterlot! And yet I’ve gotten off easily?”
“Can we please get back to the matter we were discussing?” Luna interrupted. “Where is Princess Amore? If she’s still living, you have to tell us where she is.”
“And then what, she attempts to kill me again? No thank you. She deserves the fate she’s received.”
“Sombra, this isn’t-”
“No! I won’t tell you! She doesn’t deserve to come back after what she did to me! That’s final!”
“I mean, you can’t really leave Amore… where is Amore?” Starlight asked. “I mean, what did you do to her? Can you tell us that at least?”
“I turned her into stone,” he answered coldly. “Then shattered her pieces and spread them across the world.”
The room once again went silent again at that, a few ponies drawing a breath before Cadance spoke up again.
“And I assume you don’t know where her pieces are, do you? Which is basically the same as her being dead. And yet you still want to get out of punishment but have me punished for something I didn’t do.”
“Of course I know where her pieces are. I’m not a fool, and I don’t kill ponies as you ponies do. But besides that, what are you even doing here? You don’t deserve to be here. I know for a fact if Alex saw you, he would throw a fit at your presence.”
“Oh, sure, bring up Alex. What a convenient excuse you have to throw me out, to escape retribution for what you did.”
“You did this to me, don’t you get that twisted,” Sombra threatened, leaning closer to her and starting to bare his teeth. “This was your fault. This was your plan. Because of you, I have to deal with having some creature else sharing headspace with me.”
“Oh, boo hoo, having somepony sharing your head when you get to be the ruler of Equestria. Maybe you should’ve thought about that before you cast that spell on yourself.”
“Can you guys please stop?” Twilight asked, putting her hooves out to separate them as they started to growl at each other. “We’re not here to talk about Alex. Can we get back to Princess Amore please?”
There was a moment of pause before Sombra relented and went back to putting his chin on the table, rolling his eyes as he said, “There’s no reason for her to be here other than to appease her, and that’s the last thing she needs. She already has quite the god complex, and doesn’t need to have it built up more.”
“Oh sure, I have a god complex. This is coming from the pony who wants to justify killing a princess.”
“Whatever! We’re not talking about that anymore! Fluttershy! What do you think we should do? About Princess Amore I mean?”
“Hmmm… well… I don’t know…” she said thoughtfully, putting a hoof to her chin. “Ummm… well… can I ask if, um, all of that is really true, Sombra? Her… trying to hurt you?”
“Of course it is,” he told her, a bit of annoyance in his voice. “I might be many things, but a liar is not one of them. As well, she didn’t try to hurt me, she did hurt me. Hope can attest to you that she spent every single Crystal Faire locked in a hospital room with me, and will tell you that Amore was the cause of it. Or, at the very least, did nothing to help ease my suffering.”
“But it wasn’t her, was it?” Starlight asked. “I mean, it was the Crystal Heart hurting you right? Because-”
“It was her,” the stallion suddenly snapped, Starlight jumping back a bit in surprise. “She knew it was hurting me and did nothing! She told me as much the last time I saw her! She could have placed me in somepony else’s care, but she didn’t, even as she knew I was being hurt! Hope can tell you that during the last Faire, I was nearly killed, and would have been had she not saved me.
“I did…” Hope whispered. “I remember it. He was almost killed by the Crystal Heart, and… well, it was Amore’s fault. Sombra’s right.”
“Um, well… if that’s true, then… well, I think she should apologize to you. But I’m sure she has a good reason. But we won’t know unless you tell us where she’s at. I mean…”
Sombra growled at that, looking down at his plate as he adressed the room, “She deserves the fate I’ve given to her. Letting me suffer ever since I was a foal… it’s unacceptable.” He lifted his gaze afterward to look into each pony’s eyes, stopping on Luna’s and frowning in contempt at her look.
“You knew didn’t you…” he growled lowly, baring his teeth again. “You knew that was happening to me and did nothing. Didn’t you?”
“I did know, yes, but not until all was said and done, once Hope described to us how you were being hurt during the Crystal Faire. Had we known about such before, we would have put a stop to it.”
“So then you do agree that what Prin- what Amore did was wrong, yes?”
“I do, however, that is still not a reason to keep her in the state she’s in. However, knowing that she is still alive makes your other crimes… easier to deal with.”
“Crimes for which were in defense of myself, after my being punished unjustly, which you’ve just admitted to.”
“No, I only said that Amore was in the wrong. Lashing out at Amore, while perhaps understandable-”
“Perhaps?” Sombra asked loudly, almost yelling as he stood to his hooves. “In what sort of Equestria is a pony unable to defend themselves from unjust harm? Or is it specifically I who’s not allowed to? Help me to understand in what way defending myself from harm is only perhaps understandable?”
“Sombra, please!” Hope told him, grabbing his hoof with her magic to his surprise. “You have to calm down. Getting angry is only going to make things worse, even if you are in the right. You have to show these ponies you’re better than they are. Please.”
He scowled at her and huffed in response, but didn’t bare his teeth as he thought her words over. He let her move closer to her and lean into him, feeling his coat being rubbed by her magic in her attempt to make him calmer.
“Please just listen to me this once? You haven’t listened to me once, and really wish you would.”
“What she did is unforgivable. You can’t just let her get away with it. Just because these ponies think it's okay to-”
“I’m not saying you have to forgive her. In fact, I’ll be the first to confront her if you want. What she did to you, to us, it wasn’t right, not one bit, but…”
“But?”
The unicorn didn’t answer, choosing instead to lock eyes with him. The look she gave him told him all he needed to know. Her eyes said that he had to concede, that if he didn’t, they would be on the outs with these ponies, more than they already were. That their position was a fragile one, and Luna was already looking for any reason to remove them from power, and that they shouldn’t give her one if they could help it, even if it was painful.
"We're better than these ponies," her eyes said. "It will be painful, but we have to be better than them. Please just listen to me..."
“Only because you were meant to be a princess, Hope…” he silently replied.
“Fine,” Sombra finally relented, not turning around, the hate for what he was about to agree to dripping into his voice. “I’ll tell you where her pieces are, but I will not go after them, nor will I be putting her back together. She doesn’t deserve that much from me after what she’s done.”
“We can work with that if you tell us where she’s at!” Twilight responded. “I can get my friends and we can find her pieces in no time!”
“I’ll make sure to tell you after this foolish dinner party is over,” the stallion rolled his eyes, doing all he could not to growl angrily again. “Was there anything else you lot wanted from me?”
Starlight and Twilight looked to the blue alicorn, who looked satisfied enough, before the latter said, “I… think that’s all. Wait, actually, no. Um, when do you plan on bringing Celestia back?”
“I wasn’t the one who sent her away,” he told them simply, sending a look to Princess Luna and Cadance. “Besides, that would be something to take up with Alex. I don’t particularly care for her, but I know that Alex absolutely despises her, deep to his core, even more than he does Cadance.”
“Oh. Well, um… I, um, I guess that’s all. There’s nothing else.”
“Well then, if you’ll excuse us-”
“Wait, that’s it?” Cadance asked angrily in protest, hitting a hoof on the table. “He gets off scot-free even after everything he’s done?”
“Perhaps then you’d like to suffer in an icy grave for a thousand years, or be completely ripped apart as I was than accept your measly punishment. Am I hearing you correctly?”
“Sombra, please let it go,” Luna told him. "There's nothing more to do here," she said, causing him to grunt in annoyance as he started off again. Then she turned to Cadance and said, “You know you’ve gotten more than you deserve with your punishment, so-”
“No, I haven't! I don’t deserve this, and you know it! Celestia would agree with me if she were here!”
“My sister is not here because of your actions, Cadance,” Luna reminded her, a bit angrily.
“She’s not here because of his actions!” she spat. “And you don’t want to believe me about it! No, not even that, you just don't care even though you know the truth! You’d rather let him humiliate me than listen to me and agree with me! You’re going to let him get away with the crimes he’s committed and yet punish me for the same thing! It’s not fair, and you know it!”
“You use the word ‘fair’ a lot, and yet you seem to forget how unfair it was to Twilight Sparkle to do what you did, hurting her confidence and depriving her of her destiny because of your actions.”
“I, uh… I’d rather not get involved in this, please…”
“And yet you seem to turn a blind eye to him doing the exact same thing,” Cadance argued. “He was in on it and you know it! Who was the one who created Alex in the first place? Who was the one who cast the spell and turned you into stone? You certainly can’t say that it was me.”
“Those things were done at your discretion. You and I both know that.”
“So then you admit that he’s also at fault, correct?”
“I’m not having this discussion with you, Cadance. After what you did to my dear sister, the way you made her behave, you deserve to be in Tartarus. Be glad that Sombra allowed you to get off as lightly as you have.”
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Nice
My brain when they were using "telepathy":
I know it's supposed to be "less than you deserve", but that typo is just too funny. Cadance agrees that she needs a Sombra-style punishment.
I also like how they all finally know now that Amore is alive, I would enjoy seeing how Sombra would interact with her while he's still not reformed.
Mentions of Tulpas? I see Twilight’s not the only person doing their research.
yeah actually can we talk about that for a second?
a bit ironic that none of the "villains" have ever killed anyone, yet the "heroes" don't even bother trying to talk to sombra, and just flat out send him into oblivion.
killing anyone for any reason is out-of-character for the mane 6, or any pony really. i know that some people might think "not everyone can be saved" or "it's not morally wrong" and i'd agree... if we weren't talking about "peaceful" ponies.
10895802
Agreed
I'm tired of Luna and Cadence, just blow a dark magic nuke or whatever
They are hypocrites and liers that should be put in their place
Alex and Sombra would agree on giving the worst punishment for long-living creatures like them,
Imprisonment of them and letting the Equestria work by democracy,being able to work without them.
When they will emerge from imprisonment,they will be seen as trash of the past that essentially treated them as chess pieces in their long game of control.
"it's quite lonely being encased in stone, but you wouldn't know that, would you? I don't turn ponies into stone!"
10898608
Villains have better morals than heros confirmed?
10898609
Don't get us started on Chrysalis! 😇
10898617
Actually maybe we should. As much as people try and pull the "She just wanted to feed her people!" card after season 6, her actions would have eother resulted in A: Matrix style slavery for AT LEAST all of ponykind, or B: slow genocide if they couldn't get them to breed more "cattle" as the older ones died from age or being fed on too much.
In any case, it not only turns out that changelings could evolve into a form that didn't require such extreme actions for their survival, but it was a form the trigger of which she had actively suppressed. Oh, and then rather than accept these new forms she'd rather abandon her people rather than go along with a way that didn't involve enslaving other races to survive.
So yeah, Crysalis definitely doesn't keep the moral high ground on her actions.
10898835
:popcorn:
Frankly, I kinda like sombra-alex more than their individual counterparts
Love the story
While I would say Amore got what she deserved, it perhaps would have been more kind to simply have killed her. If she is aware as a shattered statue, it may be kinder to just un-statue her so she just dies to put her out of her misery.
But even if he was defending himself from Amore, enslaving and doing all he did to the Empire after wasn't justified at all. Plus there's still Alex to consider.