Within You

by fancybloom

Chapter 2

From the very peaceful and restful sleep he was having, only a headache could take him out.

The stinging sensation that felt like it was crushing his skull forced him to open his eyes and regain the consciousness he didn't even know he had lost.

He subtly moved his gaze around him, but he could only see the same thing as before: nothing.

The total darkness that inhabited wherever he was was completely limiting his ability to see.

He had no idea where he was or what had happened. His mind was completely blank.

From the softness and sponginess that he could perceive beneath him, he deduced that he was lying on some kind of bed, so he looked for a way to move, but at the immediate moment of doing this, he felt a pain that could be described as one of the worst he had ever experienced.

He couldn't indicate where, since it had been something general; Every muscle, joint, and internal part of his body had felt like being impaled by hundreds of swords.

Nonetheless, he tried again.

He obtained almost the same result as the previous time, but with less intensity; so, ignoring the pain, he set about trying to at least sit up.

He still couldn't see anything at all, but the pressure he could feel surrounding his hooves and neck, along with the sharp, hard metallic noise of the chains rubbing against each other and hitting the ground, quickly solved the puzzle about where he was.

He wanted to test the length of the chains by walking a little forward, and also hoping to know how far his probable cell extended.

His response was obtained only a few seconds later, when he finally collided with something that, from the resounding noise it made, he knew was crystal.

"Crystal? The only crystal prisons are in..."

Everything made sense now.

In a matter of two seconds, he knew how, when and why he was where he was.

His second defeat in the empire, the magic of the crystal heart reducing his body to pieces and then having to endure the cold again as he felt every part of his body come back together, every piece of bone, muscle, skin and tissue having to rebuild without him being able to do anything about it but to suffer the torture.

And when the ordeal finally seemed to be over and his body had finished the regeneration process, someone appeared.

In his mind the memory remained blurry, he could not recognize the faces of the ponies he had seen, but he did remember seeing alicorns.

An alicorn was always synonymous with royalty. Or at least almost always.

And royalty weren't exactly people he admired.

"I have to get out of here."

He didn't waste any more time and started channeling the magic within him in an attempt to use it, however, at the first small spark that appeared in his horn, the pain that his head experienced was something he simply could not explain.

As a result of this, he couldn't help but let out a loud moan, also putting a hoove on his head with the intention of making the pain lessen its intensity a little.

"Damn it, what is it now?" He blurted out into nothingness, bewildered as to why he wasn't able to use magic.

Before he could think about anything else, the sound of several locks being opened interrupted him, little by little the light beginning to illuminate the place as a door opened.

In a short time the figure of two stallions-apparently guards-revealed themselves before the eyes of the pony who remained behind bars.

"Well, well, would you look at that?" One of the guards addressed his companion in a mocking tone, wearing a seemingly amused face. "It seems that our guest of honor has already woken up."

"How was your nap, Your Majesty?" He pronounced the last thing with sarcasm and some contempt. "Are the shackles comfortable enough?"

Although he felt like replying, he did not give in to the clear mockery of both guards; Instead, he remained silent as he stared at them.

They, upon noticing this, approached closer to the bars that separated them from the former king.

"How does it feel that after so many attempts and so much violence you have ended up here and nothing was worth it?"

"How does it feel to have once been the king and to have had all the power you wanted and now you are here like the damned wretch that you are? In a disgusting cell, without the basic pony needs... And with the princesses and the prince Shining Armor surely deciding your final sentence." He let out a loud, disdainful laugh at the end of his sentence, his companion not taking long to follow his laughter.

The gray stallion just watched them without saying a single word, quickly getting bored of their teasing and beginning to turn around to return to his bed.

It wasn't even close to being the first time someone had insulted and mocked him, and even if it were, he wouldn't care.

"Hey, hey! Wait a moment," said one of the guards as soon as he noticed the stallion turn around, "where do you think you're going, you bastard? Don't think you can just ignore us."

"That's right, we don't care if they are going to punish you later or I don't know what the hell they will do to you, but we will give you what you deserve here and now."

One of the guards rushed to take out the key that opened the cell's padlock, and when it fell to the ground, they soon entered the prison.

Although this was truly something the gray unicorn had seen coming, it didn't mean that the beating he had ended up receiving hadn't been painful, especially given how sensitive his entire body seemed to be.

Still, it was okay, a little beating from two guards smaller than him wasn't something he couldn't get over at some point.

Did it hurt? Yes, but he was fine, he would recover, he always did.

He was The King Sombra and he always came back.

---

The alicorn representative of the element of magic walked passively through the corridors of the crystal castle, getting lost in the radiance and clarity that it provided.
After the argument with her brother, she had decided that the best thing was to clear her mind to think clearly and not get too stressed, since when she did, she did not make good decisions or do things very well.

She vaguely remembered the first time she had visited the place, it had been a while ago, approximately three years; She remembered perfectly every step she had desperately taken in order to find something that would lead her to the crystal heart and thus be able to save the empire.
They were trying to stop King Sombra.

Which again led her to think about the complicated situation she found herself in.

She had no idea what the right decision might be.
On the one hand she knew that her brother was right when he said that it was too dangerous and would put the entire empire and Equestria at enormous risk. And if things didn't go well and King Sombra attacked Equestria or any part of the kingdoms, it would be all her fault.

But on the other hand there was her consciousness, she knew practically nothing about King Sombra, therefore, she also did not know the reason that had led him to commit the acts he committed; and, taking into account the previous villains who had been given the opportunity to repent and change, it would be very hypocritical and unfair if the same options were not gifted to the former king.

It really wasn't something impossible if she thought about it, many former evildoers had been reformed and so far everything had gone well. Even Princess Luna had been corrupted by dark magic and yet she had been reformed and forgiven by everyone.

And she also had to be honest with herself, she could not deny that knowing a little more about the named King of Darkness and Nightmares was not intriguing to her; She knew that this pony couldn't have been evil all his life, that he had a past and a very interesting story to tell, which made her decide to give herself the opportunity to teach him a different path and give him the opportunity to take it.

The feeling was a little like when she had a new book to read that she knew nothing about other than its title, but she knew it would be a great experience, regardless of whether it ended up being good or bad.

As a result of having walked through the corridors of the palace without totally being aware of the path she was taking, she did not know when she had approached the lower parts of the castle, she only noticed how she was now in front of the door that gave way to the dungeons that were inside.

Suddenly she felt as if her senses had split, one part of her pulling her in, while another did the complete opposite. There was a great conflict in her mind, she heard hundreds of little voices, some telling her that entering was the most sensible idea, and others warning her not to take a single step there.

She was quick to wipe the sweat from her forehead that she hadn't even noticed had begun to break out.

She quickly pondered her options once more.

She took a deep breath and gained courage.

And on impulse, she entered.

---

The guards had not even asked her or said anything at all, they simply let her pass; She didn't understand why, if it had to do with the fact that she was now a princess, or maybe Princess Cadence had already warned them to let her pass if she came down.

No matter what the case had been, she was grateful that she didn't have any obstacles that would stop her from what she was doing and make her doubt her actions more, since she had enough doubts about what she was doing, but she wasn't going to leave without at least considering it.

As she walked through the surprisingly several hallways of the dungeons, she noticed the many ponies within it.

She decided to hurry up and not turn to see any of them, but in any case she couldn't help but notice some of the tired or sad looks that those ponies wore; others on the other hand did not even turn to see her.

There were also some who looked at her with confusion, she ended up assuming that it was because they had been imprisoned so long ago that they did not know of the existence of any other alicorn other than the three princesses.

A few more steps and that was when she finally reached her destination, and although she had not seen who was inside, she deduced it immediately when she saw the large number of locks that that single door had, and when she saw that there were two guards guarding it, for what other reason would they guard one cell and not the others?

She felt a chill run through her entire body, at the same time she felt her stomach turn and her extremities become very cold, her nerves almost didn't let her say anything.

She gathered strength as best she could and communicated with the tall guards in front of her.

"I need to see King Sombra."

One of her guards looked at her very harshly, which made her alicorn feel intimidated and very subtly lower her head.

But the other guard quickly told her companion that Princess Cadence had said to let her pass if she asked so.

"Pardon me, princess, you may go in." They opened the door and immediately bowed to leave her passage clear.

"Do you need privacy?" They asked once she was inside.

"Uh... It wouldn't hurt me."

Without saying anything, both stallions bowed and hurried to close the doors.

The moment the guards closed, the alicorn's nerves attacked again.

There was a dead silence in the cell, she could clearly hear the typical horror movie sound of water dripping and wetting the floor, although with no idea where it could come from.

The almost total darkness that reigned in the place was going to be a problem, so she cautiously turned on her horn, thus giving a magenta luminosity to the confinement.

With her increased vision capacity, she managed to see two unlit torches placed on the side walls, which she decided to light with her magic and thus finally give fair lighting to the place, which although it was still somewhat dim, it was enough.

Following this she observed the dark pony's cell, the bars were completely made of crystal; As she had seen in the previous cells, these were made of a very common metal that was all rusted, but she understood why this specific prisoner's cells had been reinforced in that way.

She saw inside the cage and could now visualize the famous king.

Needless to say, a wave of nerves took control of her again.

He was on his back, sitting, which made his nerves jump even more than they already were; As they had told her, the pony was asleep, but it seemed that he had already woken up.

"Why have you come here?" The unicorn asked suddenly, his deep voice echoed throughout the dungeon.

The purple one let out a frightened gasp at the unexpectedness of his speech.

"I... " She could swear that she heard her heart beating in her head, so fast that she felt like she wanted to get out of there immediately.

"You what?"

It seemed that everything had conspired against her, since she had not even thought about what she was going to say to the pony, not to mention that her fear and nerves had her completely immobile and unable to say a single word.

King Sombra could be scary.

It was needless to mention the tremendous regret she felt, it had all been a totally bad idea.

"Did I make you afraid, princess?" He asked with a notable tone of mockery and extreme egocentrism.

"I... No." She stated. "I have come to talk to you about something important." She replied. Where did she get the courage? She had no idea.

"Oh, yes? And what would that be, your majesty? Have you come to give me the date on which I will be executed? It doesn't seem very sensitive of you." The sarcastic and mocking tone of his were still present.

Even though he was at one end of the cell, his harsh and deep voice continued to echo throughout the room, making the alicorn feel like she was inside some kind of horror movie.

"Uh... Date of...?" She was taken aback for a moment, did he think they were going to execute him?. "No, of course not, in fact I think what I have to tell you is good news. Or so I guess."

"Really? In that case, I'm dying to hear it." Quickly and without the princess foreseeing it, the unicorn turned around, now facing her.

Of course, she had almost jumped in fright.
She could now easily see his glowing scarlet eyes, staring at her, making her almost bend over her entire body, feeling very intimidated.

"She's the same pony as before."

He thought for a brief moment.

"Ah... Well... It turns out that... " She cleared her throat a little before continuing, even if she was scared, she had a pride and this would not allow the former king to see that he caused her fear, just as he wanted. "You could have a chance to redeem yourself."

"..."

The unicorn remained completely serious for a few seconds.

And then he laughed.

It wasn't a genuine laugh at all, it was a laugh that betrayed how silly what had just been said seemed to him.

Luckily, for the princess this was not something new nor something she had not predicted, it was almost the same with all villains.

"I have been given a mission, which is summarized in returning you to the right side." She began to explain, taking a firmer stance, completely ignoring the unicorn's mockery.

"To the 'right side'?" He repeated with sarcasm in his speech. "And which one is the right side? The side of the princesses and the colorful ponies who sing all the time and know nothing but happiness?" He slowly got out of bed and got closer to the bars, also managing to be closer to the princess.

The alicorn was about to respond, but she was interrupted.

"How can you ensure that that is really the right side? Besides, you can't 'return me', I never was." Twilight swore that she had seen how his eyes had lit up more when he mentioned those last words.

The younger remained with her mind blank for a few seconds, not really knowing what to respond.

"I admit this was funny, but get out of here, brat. I will accept my fate and let them finish me, I don't need to be on any 'right side'." He demanded, leaving aside his ironic tone, beginning to turn around, hoping that with this action the princess would get away from him and leave him alone.

"Do you actually prefer to lose the opportunity to redeem yourself and receive everyone's forgiveness than to simply resign yourself and die?"

Of course she wouldn't leave that easily, she already had in mind that the unicorn would refuse the first time.

"Forgiveness? Forgiveness for what exactly?"

The alicorn narrowed her eyes at him for a second, she couldn't believe he even dared to ask, knowing full well all the things he had done during his rule.

"'For what exactly'? Oh, I don't know, maybe for having enslaved hundreds of innocent ponies and putting a curse on them that lasted a thousand years? And as if that weren't enough... Having killed off the previous ruler of the Crystal Empire." She lowered her head and her tone of voice a little as she finished speaking.

The steed was slow to respond.

"Why don't you just ignore your mission and that's it? How are you so sure that I won't betray you and try to take over Equestria the second I leave here?" His characteristic arrogant smile once again appeared on his face.

"Uh... I... I don't know, would you do it?"

"What do you think?" He replied sarcastically and with a bit of annoyance. It was clear that the answer was a resounding yes.

"I don't know, I'm giving you the opportunity to change, risking many things, so with that I'm giving you my trust."

"So what? Why do you think I care about your trust or you giving me a chance?" He mocked again. "If you're taking a risk, that's not my problem, I haven't asked you for it, have I?"

She let out a quick stifled sigh, what he was saying was actually correct, he was beginning to put her in a difficult position.

"Well, you're right."

He responded with a short nasal laugh.

"But I just don't get it; I don't know what's going to happen after this, but it sure won't end well for you. I am giving you the opportunity to avoid that and you refuse to take it."

He just looked away.

"Are you seriously not afraid of trusting me and that I end up betraying you? I don't get that."

"Not really, as weak as you are, you wouldn't even have a chance." She responded using a winning tone.

"What would I gain from this?"

An inner spark was lit in the princess of friendship; For him to imply that, it meant that he was considering it.

"You can discover that by yourself. But one thing I can assure you is that you lose absolutely nothing." She insisted, her hope growing more and more, she was apparently achieving her goal.

The opacity of the light did not allow them to see much of each other's features. Knowing this, the former king smiled, plotting something.

"Well... Then I think I accept."

Through the bars, both of them joined their hooves, as if closing a deal.

"I'm glad, you'll see that you made the right decision."

"Yes, of course."

This could go right as well as it could go wrong, but taking into account the king's true intentions, the princess would possibly regret having dealt with the Lord of Darkness.

Author's Note:

Hi!

Just wanted to say that I'm sorry for getting some 'pony terms' wrong; I'll try to fix them, but most of the time I forget which ones they are, so if you ever want to point some of them out, you're free to do so

Comments

[DarkSnowGaming]

Here's a suggestion, 1 magic inhibitor, 30 guards around the the castle of friendship (assuming that's where she will be reforming him), and 1 Discord.

He could never face Discord without being destroyed in under 5 seconds, if Sombra were to attack Equestria that would mean he would be attacking Fluttershy and if he attacked Fluttershy then Discord would be pissed.

Just because Sombra is evil doesn't mean he's powerful, Shining Armor seems to be having a hard time putting that through his thick skull. If there's anything that I hate more, it is Shining Armor being an idiot sometimes.