A Tyrant To A King

by ShuTodoroki

Chapter 25: The Ending of the End, Part 2

"We've faced enemies of Equestria before. And we've always succeeded, no matter the odds. That wouldn't be possible without all of you."

Sombra was standing in the throne room as he listened to Twilight speak. A few hours had passed since Discord had revealed his massive misjudgment which was now threatening Equestria's very existence, and they had prepared the best they could.

He prepared by ensuring that his dark magic skills were sharp, materializing dark crystals in his castle suite which doubled as offense and defense. He wasn't sure if mind control could work on three of Equestria's most feared enemies, but he figured it was worth a try, if it came to that.

"You're welcome!"

Discord's increasingly hated voice interrupted his thoughts as he tried to plan out what he would do when Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow would inevitably attack, and he shot a glare in the draconequus' direction like everyone else, considering his stupidity was the reason they were even in this situation.

"Dude, read the room." Spike muttered, as Twilight continued.

"So I ask for your help again today in what is our biggest battle yet. All of Equestria is at stake, and I can't do this alone. But I'm not afraid. Because with friendship as our armor and teamwork as our power, nopony can ever bring us down!"

Even if that sounded slightly cheesy, Sombra did have to admit that was quite a motivating speech, and Twilight would make a good-

"Oh, come on!"

Sombra froze as he recognized that child-like voice. He knew that voice; it was the filly he had briefly met in "Grogar's" lair. He whirled around to face Cozy Glow, expression stoic and not showing any fear even if she dropped a bunch of defeated royal guards from-

That was when he noticed the alicorn wings, and that was when he noticed the horn, and then he felt a twinge of fear. Since when did she become an alicorn? No matter; if he could put up a fight against Celestia and Luna, he could put up a fight against a filly.

"Where'd you get that? A daily affirmations calendar? Yeesh." Cozy mocked, standing on top of the fallen royal guards.

"Cozy Glow!?! You're-" Twilight couldn't even finish her shocked exclamation, as Cozy interrupted her.

"About to wipe the floor with you!"

A powerful blast of magic knocked Twilight out of the air, a fairly loud "thud" permeating the throne room. Everyone gasped in shock, not expecting Cizy to have so much power. Even Sombra thought that it was just a front, but Cozy seemed much more powerful than when he first met her, indeed. However, he didn't let himself feel intimidated.

"Wow! It's true! Alicorns really do have more fun!" Cozy shot out a powerful blast of magic headed straight for everyone gathered in the throne room, intent on defeating everyone with one blast. Sombra thwarted it quickly with a wall of dark crystal, providing a quick barrier of protection from Cozy Glow to buy them time.

"You know my dark crystals block any type of magic, but it's just going to buy us some time before Cozy destroys it without magic. You need to think of something quickly, Twilight." Sombra said in a hushed tone, while Cozy's enraged yelling could be heard from the other side.

"I used to think you were cool, Sombra, then you sold yourself out like Discord!"

"I take major offense to that!" Discord retorted, Sombra shooting him a glare since this wasn't the time.

"Thanks, Sombra, pay her no mind. The royal guards can provide a first offense, while Princess Celestia, Luna, and I will attack in support. The rest of you should hide for a surprise attack when I signal." Twilight ordered.

"Hide? Wouldn't attacking all at once overwhelm the filly enough that we can defeat her?" Sombra asked.

"I don't know when Tirek and Chrysalis will arrive, and I need you and my friends to fight them in case we're preoccupied with Cozy Glow." Twilight explained, which Sombra found adequate, even if he didn't like the idea of hiding.

"We'll await your signal." Sombra said before he hid behind the massive throne with Twilight's friends and Discord.

It was just in the nick of time too, as Cozy took a large pillar that was holding up the throne room and smashed it right through the dark crystal wall, breaking it easily which left Twilight and the princesses vulnerable again.

"Finally! Now the real fun can begin!" Cozy laughed evilly as she formed a shield around herself when the royal guards started firing magic blasts at her, before eventually when the royal guards charged at her she made a portal which made them fall into the river outside the castle.

"Stand down, Cozy Glow!" Celestia ordered, which Sombra scoffed at since the filly obviously wouldn't follow that command.

"Gee, I guess I could. But…I'm having too much fun!"

Sombra couldn't see what was going on since he was hiding behind the throne, but he could assume that Cozy sent a large magic blast their way, which Twilight probably blocked.

"Ready, sister?" Celestia asked, to which Luna gave a nod as they flew into the air above Cozy.

"Wait, what are you…?" Twilight started, but before she could finish Celestia and Luna fired a combined beam of magic in an attempt to defeat Cozy.

Sombra then heard what sounded like a bell, and his eyes widened. Cozy had Grogar's Bell, which meant she could steal unicorns' magic. She had been luring Celestia and Luna to attack. Their anguished cries had only been confirmation of his suspicions, as Twilight ran over to them with an anguished cry.

"That's the problem with you magic-types. You're so reliant on all your special power, you forget to use your brains!" Cozy taunted, rubbing the loss of Celestia and Luna in their faces.

What a hypocrite, considering she's relying on alicorn magic. Sombra thought, as Twilight was filled with more determination than ever. "Keep telling yourself that. Now!"

Given the signal, Sombra along with Twilight's friends ran out from their hiding place behind the throne, and all he was focused on was taking the annoying brat down. He vaguely registered what the others were doing, as he threw up dark crystals left and right, attempting to throw Cozy off guard.

He grew too confident though and decided maybe showing Cozy her greatest fear would do even more to help with taking her down, as his eyes turned that ominous green with purple smoke coming from them. Once he sent that pulse of dark magic, however, he had barely registered it before Cozy held the Bell in front of her.

His desperate attempt to take back his magic failed as he felt it being sucked right out of him, much like Celestia and Luna probably lost theirs. The agonizing feeling went on for what felt like minutes before he fell to the floor, gasps coming from his allies which he barely registered as he tried to recover.

Cozy laughed evilly at seeing Sombra so easily defeated, rendered powerless without his dark magic. "Now I have Discord, the princesses, and Sombra's magic! Dark magic could really do a number on this place…"

"You f-fool…" Sombra grunted as he stood up, his mane no longer flowing as he tried to look defiant, despite how weak he felt. "Nopony except me can wield it."

"We'll see about-AAH!"

Cozy had been lassoed to the ground as Twilight and her friends quickly surrounded her, while she held onto the Bell protectively.

Twilight towered above Cozy with her wings outstretched, horn glowing eerily, that is until a bright light came from the stained glass above the throne, not even a second passing before it exploded. Everyone was sent flying by the blast as Tirek and Chrysalis flew in, the centaur pushing aside the throne which Discord was hiding behind.

A protective shield formed by Twilight protected them from the three villains' wrath, but not for long as they stood up inside it, facing Equestria's most dangerous threats.

"You think your pathetic shield can stop us?" Chrysalis taunted, laughing right in their faces. "The Pillars have been defeated. Your school is abandoned. Face it, Twilight. You've lost! Even with Sombra's treachery."

"I never pledged any allegiance to you, vile insect." Sombra spat in defiance, even if he was obviously on the losing side now.

"Yes, and look where it's gotten you? You should've stayed with the winning team." Chrysalis said with a smirk, before Twilight promptly shut her up.

"He's much wiser than you are! Attack us all you want, and we may fall. But Equestria will still stand, united in friendship. And we won't stop until we defeat you, no matter how many ponies you take down!"

The villains didn't take this seriously however, laughing as unbeknownst to Twilight and the others, Equestria was no longer united in friendship.

"Didn't you all notice something was wrong in Equestria? We've been busy." Tirek said, as he laid a claw on the shield.

"A whisper here, a rumor there…" Chrysalis added.

"Destroy some crops, cause some damage…" Tirek continued.

"Turn pony against pony…" Cozy said, as she flew by the back of the shield.

"Until your whole kingdom is on edge, waiting for just one tiny thing to push them over the brink!" Chrysalis finished, determined to break their morale.

"There's no backup friends or rainbow magic to save you now!" Tirek added with a sadistic grin.

"Golly, I think it's time for some redecorating!"

Without another word, the three villains turned around and shot a giant hole through the thrones of Equestria, causing the throne room to crumble around them.

"You know what's stronger than friendship, Twilight? Fear!" Chrysalis then pounced on the shield, and Twilight's shock caused the shield to break, leaving them all vulnerable to attack.

"'Cause when you have to protect yourself, you don't have time for anypony else." Tirke then levitated Twilight in the air and grabbed her by the wings, intent on killing her.

"Too bad you never taught that in school." Cozy taunted, while the three villains charged up their magic to destroy Twilight once and for all. That is, until Rarity worked up the strength to hurl a giant boulder from the rubble at Tirek, setting Twilight free.

The three villains, enraged by this, sent another powerful beam of magic towards Twilight, who held up a big slab of debris as a makeshift shield. Twilight's friends all quickly ran up to help support the slab, Sombra doing the same as he held the slab with his front hooves.

"Go, Twilight! Get help!" Rarity yelled.

"We'll hold 'em 'til you get back!" Applejack assured, putting all her might into holding the slab up to protect themselves.

Twilight was horrified by this. She'd just leave her friends when they needed her the most? She couldn't! "No! I can't leave you here!"

"It's our only chance!" Fluttershy pleaded.

"You'll come up with something to save the day!" Rainbow asserted, trying to give Twilight confidence.

"You always do!" Pinkie added.

"We believe in you!" Spike said, before he flew in to help as well.

"Just go! You're our only chance." Sombra muttered, admitting that he was of little use now, without his dark magic.

"Fly, you foal!!!" Discord yelled, grabbing Twilight and pushing her out of the line of fire.

The zap of teleportation magic was the only indication Sombra had that Twilight had escaped, right in the nick of time as the slab finally fractured, and they were all blasted backwards by the barrage of magic.

"Twilight may have escaped, but she's nothing without you all." Chrysalis said with a grin, while Tirek looked more concerned.

"How can you say that!?! You can't underestimate her. She's dangerous."

"Never mind her! Let's just take our new prisoners into the dungeon." Cozy said with an evil grin, Sombra knowing exactly what they were referring to. He had hoped to never see the dungeons of Canterlot again, but he was going there, whether he liked it or not.

"Exactly. You'd better follow us, or be immediately destroyed." Chrysalis intimidated, and as much as Sombra wanted to laugh in her face and disregard her authority, he knew that would end in defeat. He had learned from his prior mistakes, and backing down until he had a concrete plan was especially important since he had no dark magic at his disposal.

They were all silent as they were led into the dungeons of Canterlot, chains bound to their hooves to ensure they wouldn't be going anywhere. It reminded him of how he treated his slaves when he used to rule the Crystal Empire, and it certainly was a humbling experience when he was the slave himself.

"Why would you associate yourself with them, Sombra? You don't gain anything from it, as you can see now. A former king, now in chains like a slave, and magic less. I would've expected you to be more prudent." Chrysalis muttered, keeping a close eye on Sombra as she followed him from the back, ensuring he wouldn't try anything.

Sombra found it laughable, considering he had no magic to retaliate with, otherwise these chains would hold no power over him. "Obviously, you three weren't going to save me when I was defeated, so why would I decide to join you of all ponies? You know what? I don't have to explain myself to you. My reasons are my own, and mark my words, Chrysalis. You will pay for this."

"Who's gonna make her pay for it? There's nopony out there to stop us besides Twilight, and we'll find and destroy her soon enough!" Cozy said with a shrill laugh. "All that time in the ether must've made you lose your mind."

"Besides, Grogar here thought you were gone, so we weren't going to retrieve you from banishment if it meant you'd refuse to team up and fail again. Obviously, even if Discord was pretending to be Grogar, he was right." Tirek smirked, basically calling Sombra a failure.

"Now hold on, I didn't say-" Discord started, trying to defend himself somewhat, before Chrysalis shut him up.

"Oh please, we all know you thought Sombra wasn't worth reviving again because he was of no use to you. Haven't you lied enough, Grogar? It was just a coincidence that Sombra actually survived."

Discord didn't say anything more after that, hanging his head down in shame while Celestia spoke up. "Sombra has been more honorable than all of you, and you'll soon learn that friendship will always triumph over fear in the end."

"Yadda yadda, bore us to death, why don't you? We're here already, so get in your cells!" Cozy's horn glowed ominously as they reached the bottom of the staircase leading to the dungeons of Canterlot, a place Sombra hoped to never see again.

Discord was thrown into a cavern with chains still around his torso so he couldn't go anywhere, Sombra into an adjacent one as he was unceremoniously lifted into the air and thrown, knocking off his crown. He growled as he put it back on, the only shred of decency he had left as he was determined to get his revenge when he had his dark magic back.

Twilight's friends were corralled into another cavern, the entrance sealed with sticky goo courtesy of Chrysalis. Cozy laughed evilly in delight, ready to enact her reign of terror on her former professors. "And now for your complete destruction! Won't that be fun?"

"Patience, Cozy. Destruction is so…permanent. We need to show the rest of Equestria that we've broken their heroes first. Besides, we should have fun with our guests." Chrysalis interrupted, looking around at all of the heroes they had imprisoned.

"No! We should hunt down Twilight Sparkle. As long as she's out there, she's dangerous." Tirek disagreed, not wanting to take any chances.

"Is that big, strong minotaur that scared of one little pony? Relax. It's not like her friends are going anywhere." Chrysalis flew up to land on Starlight's cage, pointing out the shards from her former throne.

"The fools brought the remains of my throne to Canterlot to protect themselves. Hah! Those shards block their magic."

Cozy then approached the cavern with Twilight's friends, intent on getting her revenge before Chrysalis stopped her. "Careful. Too close and the shards cancel even our powers. But on this side of the cavern, we're the most powerful beings in Equestria, thanks to Grogar's Bell. Isn't that right, 'Grogar?'"

Chrysalis yanked Discord's chain, making him fall to the ground and hit his face on the cavern floor. Sombra watched with not very much pity, but he had to admit that it looked fairly painful, and the draconequus was getting his punishment for his stupidity.

Cozy then made a beeline for Grogar's Bell, obviously wanting more power. Tirek quickly stopped her, looking very angry. "What are you doing!?! You saw what happened when you tried to take Discord's chaos magic."

"Yeah, but there's Alicorn princess magic in there now, too! I could be so much more powerful if I just could have-" Cozy grabbed the Bell again, before Chrysalis flew up to her, pointing a hoof at her accusingly.

"What do you mean you could be?"

"Um, hello? I'm the best one out of all of us! Nobody sees-"

The three villains then proceeded to start arguing vehemently, Sombra noting this as he watched silently, preferring not to bring attention to himself as he schemed. Obviously, their combined efforts were only done through common goals; it seemed more like a "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" situation more than a true team.

If they could exploit that weakness in their alliance…perhaps they might have a chance at defeating the three, after all. Defeating them separately would be much easier, rather than trying to take them on all at once with no magic.

"I'm so sorry. It made so much sense in my head. Twilight defeats her worst enemies and is filled with confidence. I truly did have the best intentions. I swear I'll make it up to you."

Discord's voice interrupted his thoughts, after he had successfully tuned out whatever else was going on. His only response to the draconequus' apology was a scowl, what he wanted to say basically summed up in Rainbow's response.

"That's gonna need to be a pretty epic make-up."

"Stay away from the Bell, you pest!"

Everyone's attention was drawn to Tirek, who angrily shot a blast of magic at the ground since Cozy was trying to take the magic for herself. "None of us can use the Alicorns' magic until we figure out how to handle that fool's ridiculous chaos magic!"

"I could always tell you how. It would give you power over all reality. But you'd have to ask nicely and spare my friends." Discord offered, tossing a rock up and down.

Sombra's eyes went wide, as he truly feared what Discord was planning. Yes, it was good he was thinking about his friends for once, but tell them how to use his chaos magic!?! That was just asking for disaster, but he doubted Discord could truly be that stupid, right? He must have a reason or some hidden plan he didn't know about…

Comments

[Bronycommander]

Hehe, unknown to them, sombra is right all along

[DingoAte]

11560357
I bet he’s going to tell them how to not use it

[Bronycommander]

11560400
Mhm

[Misty Shadow]

Really love how Sombra's inclusion is done here, especially with this reworked finale taking its time. Just one chapter dedicated to each part wouldn't suffice.

[ShuTodoroki]

11562004
Yep! With Sombra included, I need more chapters for the finale. Glad you think I incorporated him well!