Millennia after being banished from the face of Equestria, King Sombra stirs restlessly in his lightless prison, held alive only by his dark magic and the desire to take vengeance against the Elements of Harmony. Especially the one who sent him there.
Harmony, however, is an inscrutable force. One willing to grant him a second chance in a world far different from the one he remembers.
For now though, he only needs to head towards the light.
Many thanks to Equimorto for spending almost two months on meticulously proofreading and critiquing this story.
Chapters (14)
Solid start; this is a good blend of Sombra. I'm looking forward to seeing what you've prepared for him.
A decent start. Forcing Sombra to throw away his crown in order to escape was particularly devious. Perhaps it's indicative of deeper changes wrought by his banishment; perhaps it's just ruthless, utilitarian determination. Either way, I look forwards to what's coming next
I’m excited to read this story and see its interpretation of King Sombra.
You are doing a good job incorporating Sombra into the world of G5 so far! I also like the way you're writing Izzy, keep it up!
Heh heh, I guess soon, we'll see if this is a true Sombra reformation story or an alternate telling of Sunny's possible fight against Sombra in the show. Or both.
11196328
Oh there will be a lot in store for everyone involved
King Sombra will be very surprised when he sees that Sunny's wings and horn are made of energy.
Wow, Sombra's already dropped the act, shit's already going to hit the fan. Definitely felt his frustration looking at that picture of Discord, but I also felt so sorry for Izzy, even more sorry than I felt for Sunny, when she learned that her new friend wasn't who she thought he was. I laughed last chapter knowing that Hitch was going to be vindicated, but I'm not laughing now.
So it sounds like Sunny recognises him. Of course it should be ready enough to keep his cover story as long as he doesn't do anything stupid- like try to take over the world.
Ah, he could have gotten so many important answers, or at least clues and fragments, by playing along a little longer. I expect one of those clues to be his downfall.
11200187
Maybe he should have read a bit more... It's a bit weird no one knows about the crystal ponies
Ah, Sombra. You should've waited longer!
...I wonder what's gonna happen now.
Things suddenly took a turn for the Lovecraftian. What's the rationale behind the colored text? Or rather, since we're reading this from Sombra's POV, how does he perceive it?
11201854
The story will finally earn its Other character tag!
11202540
I hope that's a good thing. Writing the description of the creature and the decoy pony was probably one of the hardest parts of making this fic. I'm pretty inexperienced with describing appearances but during the being's screentime it's basically only that.
In my mind the words can still be understood, but only very faintly, due to the noise that mixes into it:
11202542
Well, it certainly has me intrigued! I'm very interested in seeing what your story will reveal of the transitional period from G4 to G5.
This story is really moving too fast for my tastes, especially compared with the first 5 chapters. Sombra just teleports to the empire, and then touches the crystal heart and becomes friends with the G5 ponies unceremoniously? I don't get it.11204475
11204259
You must have skimmed over some details or confused some of the parts narrated from Sombra's perspective with parts narrated from Sunny or Twilight Sparkle's perspective because he's not suddenly friends with the G5 cast. He gave up the ruse pretending to be Izzy's friend and hasn't interacted with the G5 ponies since, that's Twilight's spirit he's talking to. He's not friends with her or the G4 cast all of a sudden either, the chapter ends with him still not wanting to trust Twilight.
I for one think the story is moving along at a reasonable pace and quite enjoy the explanation for the absence of the Windigos and how magic left Equestria. I also love how both Twilight and Sombra have their reasons not to trust each other, it helps the character dynamic and makes the conflict feel less black-and-white.
11204348
Oh. Ohhhhh. I'm an illiterate fuck. I thought the first section of this chapter was written from Sombra's perspective.
Cheers, then
What a very interesting chapter. I'm giving you six stars for doing a good job. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
11205786
Thank you! Things will only ramp up from here.
Cool to see the full focus being on the town for this chapter. My reader's instinct tells me that Sprout is preparing to try something reckless by himself to make up for his past wrongs, but only time will tell.
I hope they can stop Sombra before he causes a lot of destruction. The secret of our success is that we never, never give up.
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I'm glad you liked it. I was a bit worried that it might be a bit too slow, but a bit of downtime was necessary because things are going to ramp up from here pretty hard.
11207433
I suspect that destruction isn't on Sombra's mind here. Tyrant or no, he has a duty to fulfill. After all, what worth is a kingdom that's doomed to fall?
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Well, whatever it is. He must be stop at once.
11207549
You don't get it. He's gonna give up his magic to the entity from earlier to stop the creature.
11207602 I see. So, it's a good thing?
11205789
You're welcome
I'm giving you good vibes, hope you like it! ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️💞💞💞💞💞💞💖💖💖💖💖💖
Reviewfilly, your story is amazing, I like it! Hope to see more of your upcoming chapters soon, keep up the good work! Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.
King Sombra returns
Sunny would know him from the journal and researches
I THINK HE IS HEADING TO CANTERLOT
I wonder where that portal is sending Sombra to? I better wait and find out. This new chapter is going very well, Reviewfilly. I like it! Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.
Loved the chilling atmosphere of this chapter, and the turn things took with it now seeming like Sombra is going to do the right thing...really interesting.
You legit almost had me with that fake-out of "Twilight's betrayal", that would've been quite the twist if the moral of the story was "never try to redeem yourself".
A very engaging chapter, I'm really looking forward to seeing where things will go with Sombra now and how Sprout will play a part in this.
11211113
Ouch, yeah, that would've been a bit too dark for this story, but it certainly would have been a twist.
You might find out sooner than you think!
I'm glad you're enjoying the story.
11209748
Thanks dude.
nahhh fuck off twilight, why in the hell would he help you? you george foreman grilled that fucker without any mercy.
You're welcome, reviewfilly.
That was very good, Reviewfilly. I hope Sunny is feeling alright after what Sombra said to her.
It's incredible, the kind of vitriol Sombra can spout while still being so lovable to me. I also really like this characterization of Sprout, he has every right to be upset over being framed as "the one villain" when it was also everyone else's (especially his mother's) fault.
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Oh, she'll have ample opportunity to give him a piece of her mind soon enough.
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I'm glad you think so! There is one more scene that I'd say has a greater emotional impact for him than this, but, in terms of just pure rage and venting frustration, this is definitely a peak in this story.
That is very nice to hear as well. I'm not very happy with how he seems to be sidelined in the newer G5 media after the film, so I wanted to give him too a proper arc.
11212243
Okay, thanks.
Really like the way you're developing Sprout here also, I really agree on the point how some people make him seem like its all his fault, even though what happened was the eventual outcoming of what he'd been taught since he was a child. But anyways, can't wait for the next chapter to come, really phenomenal work right now!!
Why does this feel very reminiscent of 'The Fall of Numenor'? Aside from the chapter names being inspired straight from 'The Silmarillion'?
11213373
Could you please elaborate? I have read LotR and I very much like it, but I never had any of Tolkien's works in my mind while writing.
Actually I was mostly inspired by Goldenwing's Horizons series when it comes to the titles. I gave Silmarillion a shot a while ago, but it fell to the wayside after a while.
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'The Fall of Numenor' chronicles the story of how Sauron played the long game with the last king of the Numenoreans, Aragorn's ancestors. He pretended to be captured and played the king like Wormtongue to Theoden. When he finally succeeded, he was defeated by Isildur, and he forever cursed his line. Also the Island of Numenor sunk into the sea.
This story was featured in 'The Silmarillion' novel, though heavily oversimplified.