An Underworldly Date...

It has been a year since Trixie accidentally teleported herself to Tartarus and now it is time for her to return to the City of Cages. It has also been a year since both Sombra and Trixie met and now it is time for them to reunite.

We follow both Trixie and Sombra as the two love birds reminisce on how they met and catch up after being away for so long, but something appears to be getting in the way. Will a friendship journal get in the way of their love life, or will they be able to figure it out together?

AU Note: It should be noted that this story is takes place in an alternate universe where King Sombra didn't get vaporized by nuclear beams of rainbowfied friendship and instead was forced to work as the warden of Tartarus. This story may or may not be loosely inspired by the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone.

WARNING!!! This story contains: Suggestive content, a crack ship between two of my favorite(ish) characters, Trixie x Sombra, Starlight x Sunburst, suggestive themes, a reimagined Tartarus, worldbuilding, shadow magic and tentacles, a ponified version of an EQG character (guess who), siren, sadly no tacos, and pomegranates.

This story was for the: Early 2022 Crackship Contest.

Credits:

Proofread/edited by: Brony1337
Preread by: NiCkY
Cover Art by: Climaclysm

Chapters (1)

Comments ( 7 )

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Herald of Opera

Herald of Opera #1 · Mar 2nd, 2022 · 1 · ·

pomegranates

Insert Captain America "I understood that reference" meme here.

Bride of Sombra

Bride of Sombra #2 · Mar 2nd, 2022 · 1 · ·

I’m gonna like this! This is also the 400th King Sombra story I’ve added to my bookshelf! So, thank you!!

Robipony

Robipony #3 · Mar 2nd, 2022 · · ·

11169328 Well, thank you. I'm glad you liked it.

Robipony

Robipony #4 · Mar 3rd, 2022 · · ·

11169084 Yay!

Gray Ghost

Gray Ghost #5 · May 2nd, 2022 · · ·

This was cute, I wouldn't say no to seeing more of these two.

If I had to give a bit of constructive criticism, the innuendos between the two seemed a little heavy handed, or more heavy handed than they needed to be. Besides that, I thoroughly enjoyed this. Easy 9.5/10.

Bicyclette

Bicyclette #6 · May 13th, 2022 · 2 · ·

"You're going to BUCKING Tartarus!"

oof, that would make any best friend who Trixie loves worry!

Walking over, Trixie placed a hoof on Starlight's shoulder. "It'll be fine, I'm only going to be gone for six months. Then I'll come back, and we'll spend some time together."

haha, Persephone reference? nice

"Soon, I, the great and powerful Trixie will have a familiar all to myself," Trixie cackled, "that'll show Twilight and her pesky little dragon who’s boss!"

ah, all of this happening because Trixie wanted to be more like Twilight over something so petty that nopony else would notice or care about it is just so perfectly Trixie!

Apparently, it had been recovered from some ancient ruins in the Crystal Empire, if only Twilight knew, she'd be so jealous. Well, that would come later.

ah, perfect Trixie obliviousness to an ominous narrative detail

Everypony just seemed to love the dragon. Why was that? That just didn't seem right to Trixie at all, considering how great she was. She'd worked hard, why couldn’t anypony recognize that?

so true!

Tartarus, the City of Cages, once an underground prison complex designed to contain Equestria's deadliest villains and monsters, now a hidden paradise where such could be "rehabilitated" at their own pace. This was an idea that princess Twilight Sparkle had come up with and after some discussion with the other princesses, they chose somepony to serve as Tartarus's new warden. Thus, Sombra was selected and thanks to his cunning and tenacity it would have been a glorious achievement... if it weren't for the piles of paperwork he had to do.

aww, definitely prefer this to Tartarus being magic hell-prison to throw Equestria's problems into even if they are literal children

Sitting on the desk looking back at him was a leather-bound book with the image of a purple start engraved on the cover. Ever since the... incident, Princess Twilight had insisted on him keeping a friendship journal while he went through his reformation.

love it! great mental image to see Sombra having to do this, haha

Sombra was a unicorn stallion with a charcoal coat, black flowing mane and red, ruby eyes with wisps of purple smoke softly flowing from the edges. His slim, muscular body was the byproduct of hard labor reinforced by his dark magics. On his flank was the symbol of a red crystal, hidden behind a black crown.

oh no he's hot!

A pair of hooves wrapped around Sombra's head and covered his eyes. Warm breath tickled his right ear as the mare leaned in close and whispered softly to him. "Guess who?"

aww, adorable!

"I'm not weak," Trixie grumbled.
"I know," Sombra answered, "my great and powerful bride."
Hearing those words and feeling her husband gently nuzzling her, Trixie's anger quickly melted away. Her love for him pushing its way to the forefront of her mind.
"Oh you," Trixie turned around and gently kissed her husband.

aww, love this exchange. i can just picture Trixie's pout!

Laying his hand against the back of the tub, Sombra closed his and enjoyed the warm bath. While it had taken Sombra years to enslave the Crystal Empire centuries ago, as the warden it had taken him only a few months to organize Tartarus and bend it to his will.

love that it turns out Sombra is actually a very capable administrator!

It was then that suddenly the relaxing atmosphere was disturbed by the sound of a magical portal opening and a splash of both water and soapy bubbles washed over Sombra's face. A brief frightened gasp escaped his mouth as the startling rush of water covered his face, horrifying memories from his youth popped into his mind, memories of drowning beneath the ice.

ooh, love this mysterious flashback to a previous dark and tragic incident in Sombra's past

Grinning from ear to ear, Trixie let out a gleeful squee and clapped her hooves together. "Yes! Yes! This is perfect!"
"Excuse me?"

hahaha, perfect!

"Well, for one thing I'm nopony's familiar." Sombra's horn glowed with dark magic as suddenly bands of liquid metal materialized out of the air around Trixie's neck. The silver fluid weaved together as a single purple gem appeared in the center, before the metal solidified into a collar. From the crystal came forth a spectral purple chain, which wrapped itself around Sombra's forehoof. "And second, you're in no position to be giving me orders."

oof, now that is an ominous introduction

The streets of Tartarus were bustling with life as Trixie and Sombra went on their walk. What had once been rows upon rows of cages, were now structures, serving as homes, stores, restaurants and entertainment establishments. Those roaming the streets who were once prisoners here were now citizens of this city. In addition to ponies, Trixie could see other monstrous creatures, like chimera, manticores, minotaurs, changelings, sirens, monster pony hybrids, even a gorgony or two.

hehe, "gorgony". also, it's nice to see a positive change!

Thankfully it was about then that they came upon the restaurant that Sombra was seeking out, the Bottomless Tantabus.

love the restaurant name

"Welcome to the Bottomless Tantabus," the waitress grumbled. "I'm Aria Blaze, I will be your... waitress for this evening. Table for two?"
"Yes, please," Trixie replied.
Aria Blaze rolled her eyes. "Fine, follow me."

haha, can just imagine Aria being very grumbly at this role. also, always cute to imagine the Sirens as ponies when back in Equestria!

"We'll have two stuffed mushrooms," Sombra said, "the caramel flan along with two glasses of pomegranate juice."

pomegranates, nice!

After their waitress left, Trixie and Sombra set to eating their meal. The tender mushrooms were stuffed with minced underground vegetables that had been sautéed in butter and herbs, mixed together with cheese.

dang, Tartarus sounds like a nice place to be!

"Oh, a few holes you say." Trixie raised an eyebrow.

lewd(?)

"I don't know," Sombra replied, "which is why I've been having the expeditions further into the depths moving with caution. Ancient civilizations don't just disappear for no reason."
"You made the Crystal Empire disappear." As the words left Trixie's lips, regret filled her stomach as a foul look crossed her husband's face.
"Yes, and I had good reason for that too." Sombra sipped his water.

ooh, a fascinating connection! love this idea of Tartarus being a mysterious, fallen ancient civilization that predates ponies. and Sombra is just too fitting here!

"Even when I discovered that he was looking into my eyes to see his reflection, I was able to come up with a solution."

honestly? this just makes me ship Gallus x Gallus's reflection

"Yeah, but this was an extreme circumstance," Trixie replied, "but what else was I supposed to do? Escort him around Ponyville, making wedding arrangements before digging a hole and throwing him into it?"

haha, take that, CMCs! and aww, love how this little story would fit so well into the canon episodes!

Once the two of them finished their dessert, Sombra reached into his coin purse and pulled forth twenty souls, bluish silver coins that served as the currency in Tartarus, and set them on the table to pay for the food.

ooh, love this detail. but then again, i have a thing for currency!

"Plus, I'm sure they'll miss me too," Trixie said, "it's really nice feeling wanted for once."
That elicited a chuckle from Sombra. The sensation she was describing was something he had started to experience within the last year, and it was as amusing and interesting as it was scary at times. "Yes, I suppose that's true."

aww!

She had done all sorts of insane things in an effort to find her friend, including activating an artifact that unleashed an army of Wendigos upon Equestria for a couple months.

nice payoff for that throwaway line earlier! very fun

Sombra looked side eyed at Trixie. "That sounds like something Twilight might say."
A disgusted look crossed Trixie's face. "Oh, please don't say that."

ah, Trixie just can't escape her!

"Sure, it might be a small step forward," Trixie said, "but it's a step none the less and I'm sure that Twilight would love to read about it in your journal."
Hearing Trixie's words, a small sense of pride welled up inside Sombra. Smiling, he gave his wife a nod. "I suppose you're right."

aww! progress!

well, this was a very interesting mix of elements! Sombra is still very much Sombra, but it seems his whole thing with domination and control are finding healthier and more beneficial outlets as he becomes a better pony, as symbolized by how Tartarus is blooming into a much better place in the background. loved the worldbuilding bits, and i think it was a great choice to tell this story mostly in this more-established part of their relationship. i can definitely see how Trixie's obliviousness, love of bad decisions, and excitement over power combine to make the chemistry in this crackship actually work well somehow. this was a delightful experience. thank you for it!

Robipony

Robipony #7 · May 15th, 2022 · 1 · ·

11240221 Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed reading it, I certainly enjoyed writing it. I had fun with this version of Tartarus and I just loved this idea of two of mlp's villains (though I guess that's kind of questionable with Trixie) coming together and growing.

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