Forge Your Own Destiny
Chapter 9
It had been some time since the battle against King Sombra and freeing the Crystal Empire from its curse and his control. The Empire was once again a thriving city and its crystal ponies were happy that they no longer had to worry about Sombra’s rein. Or at least, it should have remained that way if it weren’t for the actions of a single pony.
One thousand years ago, she was once a resident of the Crystal Empire during Princess Amore’s rule, but lived as an orphan and did not socialize with many ponies. Her name was Radiant Hope, and she was Sombra’s first and only friend. When Radiant Hope first acquired her cutie mark, after healing Sombra and stopping his body from breaking apart into shadow, she was sent to study and pursue the magical arts under Celestia’s and Luna’s tutelage. However, the young mare could not bare the weight of worry in her heart any longer and left Canterlot to find her own path since Sombra was exiled. It was then, during her travels through the Arctic Wastes, did she discover the origin of Sombra’s people, the Umbrum. At first, the Umbrum came off as friendly creatures who informed Hope that they wanted to help Sombra as well. So she spent the next thousand years in their world, never aging, and learning all she could. Unfortunately, for the misguided mare, her naïveté would be her and the Empire’s downfall.
Using the aid of the Flim Flam bothers, Iron Will, and Lighting Dust as a distraction for the main six, Hope was able to restore Sombra’s body. Only for Sombra to trap the main six, overpower Celestia and Luna and turn them to stone, and seize control of the Crystal Empire. Hope was distraught with Sombra’s actions, but refused to believe he was evil and wanted to prove to him and everypony else who and what he could really be. Within the Crystal Palace, Hope was confronted by Princess Cadence and tried to convince her that the Umbrum were not the monsters she believed them to be. How wrong Hope would soon realize she was, when she actually brought Cadence to the world of the Umbrum and the shadow ponies revealed their true forms as grotesque monsters. Despite learning the truth, and attempting once again to appeal to Sombra to not free them, it was all inevitable in the end once Sombra freed the Umbrum after their long imprisonment.
Now the Crystal Empire was once again a shadow of its former self. Sombra was in control, Twilight and Cadence were in shackles, the rest managing to escape capture but on the run, and the Umbrum were free and unstoppable under Sombra’s rule. Just when Sombra had learned of the other main six’s location and when he was about to turn Twilight and Cadence into stone, Twilight managed to convince the Umbrum and Sombra to make a big show of their stone transformation as a sign of his total dominion of Equestria. The only task Sombra had to do now was to fetch his one and only friend so that she may witness the spectacle and second step of world domination.
Now that Sombra thought about it, as he made his way to Hope’s room, she had distanced herself from him when she should have been by his side. He took back the Crystal Empire, defeated his enemies, and soon the world. Sombra eventually arrived at Hope’s room and gave it a few knocks.
“Hope, are you awake?” Sombra called out. When he entered the room, he found his friend sitting by the window with an expressionless look on her face. Hope gazed at the ominous clouds that passed overhead and didn’t bother to look in Sombra’s direction. “There you are. I was worried that I would wake you. Should I have somepony bring you dinner?” Despite his cold demeanor to nearly everypony else, he still viewed Hope as his dear friend. “We’ve just turned the Sun and Moon Princesses to stone and we’re about to do the same to the remaining two Princesses out on the dais.”
“On the dais?” Hope repeated, still not looking at Sombra.
“Yes, where the heart used to be. We’ll put an end to them where everypony can see them,” Sombra confirmed.
“That will be good, then you’ll have won, right? Then we can live happily ever after?” Hope asked sarcastically.
“Well, not quite yet. If we take Cloudsdale by surprise, we’ll have the high ground to assault Canterlot.”
“Oh. So then you’ll be done?” She asked again.
“Hope! This is only the beginning!” Sombra pleaded to his only friend. “Then there’s the griffons and the yaks!”
“And I am to be your Empress in this? I’ll stand by your side and watch-ow!” Hope winced, the attack she shielded him from Twilight still aching.
“Hope!” Sombra said, attempting to help her.
“Get back!” Hope snapped. “I’ll do it myself! If I’m going to be an Empress of monsters, I ought to at least be able to stand on my own.”
“Hope…I’m sorry,” Sombra frowned.
“Are you, Sombra?” Hope questioned brazenly. “They told me this who you would become, but I didn’t believe it. I knew there was something better in you.”
“But Hope, I-”
“No! I was a fool. You told me yourself that you were a monster. I should have listened. But I had…hope. Foolish, foolish hope.”
“You don’t understand!” Sombra shook his head. “When we looked in the Crystal Heart that day, I saw this! I saw what I am now! I saw my destiny. The Umbrum confirmed it. They told me I was a weapon. They made me the way I am so I could release the other monsters. I was born to be a monster!”
“Is that truly what you believe?”
Both ponies snapped their heads to the door opening to see someone else walk in. At first, Sombra did not recognize the strange bipedal creature that walked in on his own. Until he saw the cane in his hand and the old-looking face.
“You?! What are you doing here?!” Sombra demanded. “How did you get past the Umbrum?!”
“Wait, you know this creature?” Hope asked curiously as the old man closed the door and walked in.
“I had a feeling that we would one day meet again, Sombra,” the old man said as he slowly approached the two. “I only wish it were under better circumstances.”
“I don’t know how you got in here, but I shall personally see to it that you are thrown out! I have no time for your interference!”
“Sombra, don’t!” Hope said, hobbling in front of the old me before Sombra charged up his horn. “The Princesses are one thing, but you would go so far as to harm an elderly creature like him?”
“Move aside, Hope, I should have dealt with this one long ago!”
“I will not!”
“Sombra, even in the presence of your friend, who has always stood by your side, you would continue to inflict violence upon others?” The old man frowned.
“Do not speak to me ass if you know me, old fool!” Sombra barked. “I am what I am! A shadow pony! One of the Umbrum! A monster! It is what the Heart showed me, I an just fulfilling what destiny had in store for me!”
“And you would allow a relic to define who and what you are?” The old man asked.
“There is no escaping destiny, so why bother trying to avoid the inevitable?”
“That is where you are wrong, Sombra,” the old man shook his head. “Destiny can always be rewritten, so long as you have the will to do so. I too was once in the same position as you, I once lived as a criminal and had always been told it was something I would do for the rest of my life.” The old man then shared his life as a mafioso to the shadow pony and Hope. “Despite all my transgressions, I was able to pull myself away from it all.”
“Your life and my choices do not concern each other, old man, the difference between you and I is that I had no choice.”
“Sombra, look at me,” Hope said. “When we looked into that heart, you hid what you saw and I told you what I saw. What did I see?”
“You saw yourself as a princess,” Sombra said.
“And am I a Princess?” Hope questioned.
“Aren’t you?”
“No. After what happened with you I left my training. I went out to try and find you. To try and help you.”
“So you never became a Princess because of me?” Sombra sounded surprised and Hope nodded.
“That’s right.”
“How interesting,” the old man hummed. “The chance of a lifetime that most could only dream of, and she chose to forgo it all for the sake of her friend.”
“Then that means I robbed you of your great destiny,” Sombra said sadly. “I’m so sorry, Hope.”
“Ugh, Sombra, you’re a fool!” Hope groaned, confusing Sombra. “It’s just as this old man said, I chose to not become a Princess. You didn’t rob me of anything!”
“But…your destiny.”
“Who gives a flying horseshoe about destiny! You think I cared about Somme dumb princess title? You think I’d let an old relic tell me who and what I was meant to be? I only went along with it because I thought it was the best way to help you! But then you got exiled and I couldn’t focus on anything else! You were my friend, Sombra, you were just too blinded by your own fear of your destiny to see the truth!”
“If you cared so much…if she cared so much, then why did I still turn out the way I am?!” Sombra barked. “Why didn’t anypony help me when I needed it most?! Why couldn’t Amore just tell me the truth before things escalated to this point?!”
“Blaming others is hardly fair, Sombra,” the old man said.
“What do you know?! Was it not your destiny to live as a criminal?!”
“No, it wasn’t, because I had the will to change it,” The old man said. “Perhaps you would be right in a way, I often thought that it was my destiny to live my days as a criminal after the war. But if I continued down that path, my future would only continue to be bleak and unforgiving. I might’ve never come back. I tried to appeal to you once, to help you see that your actions would come at the expense of other’s suffering, but I was mistaken to try and reach out to you in that way since you were still driven by your self-proclaimed destiny. You say there is no escaping destiny, Sombra, but look at this young mare, look at me.”
“I agree, Sombra,” Hope said. “Besides, I never believed in destiny anyway and neither should you.”
“But what the heart showed me rang to be true in the end!” Sombra argued defiantly. “I became a cold hearted pony, bent on destroying my enemies, and I couldn’t do a thing to prevent it! It was my unavoidable destiny!”
“Who ever said destiny is absolute? Who or what has the authority to shape what one becomes in their life?” The old man asked. “I had many individuals tell me what I should or shouldn’t do, and I went along with it for a time. The realization came later rather than sooner, but I was able to come to the epiphany that my destiny is my own. The same should apply to you, Sombra, just because you have more to lose rather than gain than you realize.”
“And what exactly is it that I have to lose?” Sombra questioned.
“Your individuality, your small trace of goodness, and most of all your one and only friend,” the old man said.
Sombra looked to the floor after all he had been told. Was it truly possible to reject his destiny and become something more than what he was? He had caused so much pain and suffering already, and yet Hope, his only friend, and this strange old man, who is now appealing to him for the second time, told him it was indeed possible.
“You both make it sound so…simple. To be in charge of my own destiny and shape it how I, and I alone, see fit.”
“That’s because it is,” Hope said as she used her magic to lift her cloak and open her saddlebag. “I was holding on to this for safe keeping, but maybe you should take one last look at it.” Hope then pulled out the very relic that revealed to him his apparent destiny, the Crystal Heart itself.
“The Crystal Heart? You had it all this time?” Sombra questioned as he used his magic to hold it.
“It’s the lock that keeps the Umbrum imprisoned. As long as it’s whole, the Umbrum can be locked away for good. If you smash it…”
“Then the Umbram shall remain free forever,” Sombra finished.
“I recall you saying that it showed you two your destinies,” the old man said as Sombra looked into the Heart. “So tell us, Sombra, what is it that you see now?”
“Just me…” Sombra said as his reflection stared back at him. “Just my reflection.”
“Remember, Sombra,” the old man said as he turned to walk away. “Rejection is merely a redirection; a course correction to your destiny.”
“Is that what you told yourself in order to give up the life of crime you had lived?” Sombra asked as the old man opened the door.
“Who can say?” The old man shrugged. “But now comes a thought to ponder that will define what happens next. Who are you? What do you want?” And with that lingering thought, the old man left the room and shut the door, leaving the two ponies to contemplate with one another.
“Hope?” Sombra said as he hid the Heart under his cloak.
“Yes, Sombra?” Hope saw an ever so faint smile form on Sombra’s face.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For helping me see the truth.” Sombra said as he walked towards the door. “Now I believe it’s time I see if the words you and that old man have said ring true. I shall attempt to forge my own destiny.”
No pony saw it coming, not even the wicked Umbram expected this sudden turn of events. Just when they thought Sombra was going to make an example of Princess Cadence and Twilight, he revealed the Crystal Heart out of nowhere from under his cloak and placed the Heart back on its dais. It all happened so fast, that all the Umbram could do was roar in horror and rage that their plans of world domination were completely snuffed out in a blink of an eye. As Sombra began to fade away after thanking his one and truest friend for believing in him, she used her magic to stop the Heart’s magic from sending him away again. After witnessing Sombra’s heroic acts and change of heart, the four Princesses also lent a hoof with their magic and helped break the dark curse that afflicted the shadow pony. Now reformed as a normal-looking unicorn stallion, Sombra had informed Celestia that he will use his second chance to rekindle a lost friendship by tracking down the scattered pieces of Princess Amore’s statue. Though it would be a long journey for Sombra, both physically and mentally, he now had a bright and clear mind thanks to his now beloved childhood friend and lover. As Sombra and Hope departed together from the Crystal Empire to begin their search, the old man stood on the same cliff’s edge, afar from the Empire, where he witnessed Sombra’s defeat. Only this time, the old man was smiling proudly that with the aid of Hope, he was able to finally get through Sombra’s cold heart.
“I wish you luck on your journey, young ones, all it takes in the end is having a little faith in yourselves.” With that, the old man left from where he stood. All that remained for him to do now is wait once more for another who was also lost.
Others do not define who and what we are.
Side Note:
So terribly sorry that this took so freaking long. I was doing a bunch of research for this and contemplated whether or not it all sounded right. Plus, life got in the way a little. Hopefully, it does and the old man’s words make sense. Also, here’s what Sombra looks like reformed!
Hope you enjoyed!
~WurkyWilk has left the building…
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Makes me think of this
Not a bad way to reform him, although I expected it to come from his show return. Shame about the umbrum though. It would have been funny to see them reform.
Good choice. Though, Sombra should look a little different in my opinion. Darker in color and still have red eyes. But overall: Good way of doing it.
It's funny that this old man always shows up when there's at a major event. Also, Twilight is a alicorn in this story? Dammit.
I blame Hope for selling out her people as well as all of Equestria for her obsession with her boyfriend. She threw everything, everyone, under the bus, without a plan, without a shred of visible remorse. Hope is a TERRIBLE person.
10943617
Uh, this takes place some time during season nine I believe.
Bruh this chapter is almost the same as the canon story (from the comics).
All the other ones bring something new to the table, but this one is just narration.
I made an account just to say this.
10944955 It's the comic for Sombra, a backstory which was not used at all in the show, and was clearly cast aside in Season 9 when Sombra was raised from the dead by Discord pretending to be Grogar, then blown up again in the same episode after being used as a 'test' of Twilight by Discord...
If you think that sounds dumb, you're not alone.
10941389 Obsessive infatuation always leads to catastrophe.
10957697
Though I always thought what she did was mean. He was hurting for years never able to the one thing he wanted to do more than anything else and she knew why and refused to help him.
I want to stop you THERE. Destiny can't be moved, unless there is OUTSIDE force. If a man becomes a sailor, it's his destiny. He will love the sea, or he will enncounter interesting sailors to follow, or something. Only if someone comes to his life he can't change the way. He might become a solider, if he sees the need(fleet is not needed, but army is), or interest(funny soldier). But then it becomes his destiny. He would not beomc eanyone ELSE but the sailor. Or the soldier.
11464996
Destiny is like a road or path you will never know your full destiny for your life until the very end of it for you can't be something your entire life all the time while there are those that do a man or woman has the right to choose what there path maybe