“What was that thing? It wasn’t like anything I had seen before. And how could it run so quickly on just two legs?”
I had been theorizing as to the identity of what the creature I had encountered outside the borders of my empire was, but so far my mind was coming up blank. The body structure reminded me of a minotaur at first, yet its movements as it fled from me seemed much more monkey-like.
“And it knew how to use a crossbow…” I rubbed the spot where the arrow had hit my horn once more. “Not a bad shot either… would’ve made for a good archer in my army.”
“Damnit, Sombra. You know better than to get distracted like that! So what if something that looked like… her had run into your peripheral vision! That’s no excuse to take your eyes off of the threat right in front of you! No matter how weak you think it is!”
I began to pace around the small outpost I had taken refuge in. It was an old military outpost, abandoned shortly after I assumed the throne and took the Empire on the offensive against The Sisters to the south.
“It’s the Yak’s all over again.” One of my greatest embarrassments. I had let my confidence that the Yak’s wouldn’t intervene in my war against the sisters blind me so much I left the border completely undefended. And when they did attack, my Empire practically collapsed in on itself!
I walked up to the remnants of the second floor of the outpost, providing an excellent view of my empire.
“Just who is keeping that shield up? I doubt it was that white unicorn who saved the creature earlier. I wonder if… that would be just like her, wouldn’t it? For Celestia to send a puppet to claim my throne.” Oh, how I detested the Solar Monarch. She always had a tendency to intervene when she was not wanted or needed. Even after I had taken the throne, she still tried to meddle in the politics of my Empire.
And don’t get me started on her sister. She was truly detestable. I will admit that she earned my respect on the field of battle on a few occasions, but she was clearly deranged. No sane pony talks to themselves in the middle of a battle!
“No sane pony talks to themselves at all!” I yelled out, speaking to… myself. “Like I’m doing… right now.” A sigh escaped my lips as I looked out at my empire once more.
“Was that biped also sent by her? It wouldn’t surprise me. He’s probably the usurper's guard. Not a very good one, but a guard nonetheless.”
You know what? I don’t care where the biped came from. If it was sent by Celestia, or came here of its own accord, or if it was brought here by somepony else. All I know is this.
Next time, I’m not hesitating. I am killing that thing, and that is final.
Is Sombra referring to Megan Williams from G1 MLP? Is this going to turn out to be a hybrid continuity?
11691235
Megan Williams? I've only ever watched g4 could you give me a little recap?
11691235
I've never seen Gen1 so I have no clue what you're talking about lmao.
11691235
Probably his marefriend, Radiant Hope.
Nice I love it good more
11691250
11691283
She was the main human character from G1 who was entrusted with the Rainbow of Light, basically the lethal G1 precursor of the Elements of Harmony the Mane 6 use but contained in a heart shaped locket.
11691283
It's cool that people know all the small details from the older generations of the show but I always feel kinda bad cuz I've never gotten around to watching/learning about them (°_°)
11691287
...
What, bro that's sick!
If it was Megan, that’d require some crazy explanation… a manifestation of Harmony to intervene on behalf of Jackson? Possibly.
I think Radiant Hope is supposed to be around according to lots of Fanfics and maybe the comics… I don’t think she has telepathy, though…
11691294
Indeed. Not too surprising, though. After all, MLP:FIM utilizes inefficient & horrifying standards for forgiveness & punishment, several of which Celestia was part of. Their logic & reasoning alone is so entwined with xenophobia or ponies first hypocrisy that it's a wonder there was no real legal consequences for Twilight. You'd certainly be surprised how horrifying the original versions of fairy tales are.
Also, apparently there was even a pony from G1 that did some fairly messed up stuff with her magic. The YouTuber Silverquill did a video about her.
11691341
So when I said sick, I meant Sick as in wow that's really cool. Not sick as in, oh my god how could they use a rainbow death laser of doom. But I agree with you on the fact of how unjust the punishments are.
Oh hey, lookit dat! Some actual eff'ing nuance for the antagonist rather than a cardboard cutout. It's almost like he has depth, and motivations! Who would've thought Sombra could use those!
Seriously though this is cool, makes it less clear wheather or not Cadence and SA are here under false pretenses and Celestia's playing a gambit for a neighboring country. Muddy the waters a bit.
11691382
Not terrible for 500 words, huh?
In all seriousness, yeah. I wanted to make Sombra a bit more of a nuanced villain. Sure, he's still an evil asshole, but that's not the whole story here. :)
11691329
That's one way. Another is if this is a hybrid continuity where elements of G1 are part of G4. So Megan could have been a human brought to Equestria a thousand years ago during the time of Sombra. She did defeat G1 Tirek so it wouldn't be that difficult to add her in. It would explain why Sombra was distracted by Jackson, if that's who he was referring to. I reread the chapter and I can see Sombra may have been referring to his old friend, Hope.
11691353
Ah, I see. Been awhile since I heard anyone use it like that.
Now I'm wondering which would win, the Rainbow of Light or the Elements of Harmony, if used against one another?
Love the tone for Sombra.
A very nice chapter.
It is interesting to look into the POV of a villain, as it gives them a bit of nuance.
Sombra, while ruthless, also seems capable of strategic planning.
Will you explore his motivations for tyranny and try and give him more depth beyond "I love being evul?"
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Absolutely. While I originally had no plans to tell any part of this story from Sombra's POV, or to focus much on Sombra as a character before his defeat, I am going to take the opportunity to do his character justice by exploring his motivations and why he did the things that he did.
Everyone has a starting point, after all. Part of the fun for villains for me is seeing when, where, and how they snap.