Sombra is sentanced to a life of being the ultimate good guy.
Sombra is sentenced to a life of being the ultimate good guy. Though he isn't pleased with this, it's not like he really has a choice. Life doesn't play fair, and neither does Celestia after all. Will an egotistical blue unicorn be able to change him for the better? Or will he simply sink back into his dark ways?
This has become a semi-serious fic. I have no clue how.
The last thing Sombra saw before his death was the blinding light that stripped him of the very fiber of his being. Being shattered like glass and yet ripped apart. He tried to scream, call out and beg for it to stop, but it was a futile struggle and all he could do is rear back in withering pain. He felt this for what seemed like an eternity.
Yet suddenly as the suffering began, it ended. There was a moment of void and Sombra felt absolutely nothing, and his existence before that moment felt vague and blurry, like a half remembered dream.
Then he was abruptly dragged though what felt like a sea of glass shards. He collapsed on the floor, physically and mentally exhausted.
Wait...floor?
Refusing to open his eyes, he felt about with one hoof. Tapping the ground, he could determine that the floor was made up of marble or something similar. Gingerly, he opened one eye and was met with glaring light.
"Get up." A strong feminine voice commanded. Sombra attempted to comply, but gravity proved greater and he hit the floor yet again with a thud.
"Such a powerful king shriveled up to this." The voice seemed...disappointed.
"W-ho are..." Sombra eeked out.
"You know who I am all to well. If not for me you might still be ruler of something." She spat.
"Celestia." Sombra moaned.
"There was a time when I had hoped you could be something great. A legend, a hero. Those hopes were dashed log ago." Celestia maliciously growled. "I sought to ensure your dark reign not only ended, but faded from history. You wanted to leave a legacy, you wanted to be remembered. I did everything in my power to shatter any chance of you achieving your goal."
"Wasn't...my fault..." Sombra whispered.
"You think I could believe that? I saved you from utter destruction, not out of the goodness of my heart. Not this time. I brought you here so you could face your crimes." Celestia explained. "Death is not enough for what you've done. I'm sending you out, out into Equestria."
Sombra remained silent, unsure of how to process this information.
"Your wondering why? In spite of it all I'm hoping that given another chance, you might just be able to do more harm then good. I am doubtful though. I don't think I have much of a choice though."
The Lord of Dark Magic could only wonder who might still be rooting for him.
"Know that I will be watching. Hurt any of my little ponies and death would be a welcome alterative." Celestia said, narrowing her eyes.
Sombra could only nod, still collapsed on the floor. Celestia's horn lit with gleaming magic, and Sombra felt himself pulled...no yanked across space. He was stretched and crushed and stretched yet again in an instant.
When it finally stopped he felt the Sun on his back for the first time in a thousand years.
And he smelled lilacs.
Cautiously he opened one eye. A lush meadow greeted him cheerfully. He decided to lay back and enjoy the moment. As he layed back he brushed up against something on his side. Turning towards it he discovered something. A gift.
A small book and... a black and gold trimmed sombrero. Oh how the Princess of the Sun loved her little jokes, even after all this time. Still the book interested him an he tried levitating the book to him with his horn. Nothing. He reached up to the top of his head and panicked when he found no horn on his head.
Agh! I've been turned into a filthy Earth Pony! How...Revolting!. He reviled. That means Celestia is still weary of mean. Heh.
He gingerly picked up the book with his hooves and inspected the cover.
Reforming for Dummies, by Discord....Oh you must be joking. Sombra thought, face-hoofing.
With nothing better to do, Sombra put the sombrero on his head and stuffed the book under it. surveying the area, he noticed a dirt path leading away from him.
Well at least she didn't leave me in the middle of absolute nowhere...
The Great and Powerful Trixie was doing what came naturally to her, wandering. Her slow pace allowed her to think quite a bit. After that whole Alicorn Amulet fiasco a while back, she wasn't sure what to do next. So she simply traveled, occasionally performing shows to supplement income.
It didn't feel the same, however. The thrill of being on stage had lost its luster. The roar of the crowd had become a dull echo. It felt empty, and Trixie felt hollow inside because of it. There was a time where she lived for the show. Not now, not anymore.
"Perhaps Trixie will do something new! Go on an adventure to save the world like Twilight Sparkle! Maybe then Trixie will feel better." She thought out loud.
Yea right. Her logical side argued. You were better off the villain. At least ponies cared about you then. Everyone has forgotten you.
"Yes! That is exactly what we want, yes?" She asked.
I could care less...
Rather abruptly, a stallion with a coat as black as coal fell from a tree branch right in front of her. This startled her quite a bit, and she reared back.
Though the fall looked rather painful, the stallion gave no indication he felt it, nor did he call out in pain. Rather comically, a sombrero gently drifted down from the tree and landed rather gently on top of his head.
"Ow." He grunted, more to the hat then the unicorn in front of him.
"Trixie is rather confused." She stated, taking a few steps back.
"And I need to get to the nearest town." Apparently the stallion was not in a cheerful mood.
"Trixie is headed there. You will follow Trixie yes?" She offered.
Abort! Abort! Bad idea! Her logical side wailed. She smiled and ignored it.
"I suppose I don't have much of a choice." He grunted.
"Alright then!" Trixie said, and began walking again. "Will you tell Trixie your name?"
'Oh, that could be a problem.' Sombra thought. On the outside, he remained calm.
When is a rock not a rock? When it's a golem. Bits of stone held together with dark power. Golems are not kind creatures. They are what happens when nature is tainted with dark magic. When all the dark magic in the Crystal Kingdom was blasted away, it ended up pooling in areas that it could survive in. Dark magic corrupts all it touches. It drives the smartest mad, the kindest cruel and the most generous to hoard. Simply put, it destroys all that it touches.
That dark magic had crept its way to a rather curious little rock farm...
Sombra stayed quiet most of the time. He preferred action rather then discussion. Which wasn't much of a problem as Trixie was talking enough for both of them.
"- and she just humiliated Trixie in front of everypony. Just like that, can you believe it?" She asked. Sombra hadn't been paying much attention.
"Oh, yea. Sure." He sighed. Trixie smiled.
"Your such a good listener, most ponies don't want to hear about poor Trixie's problems."
"Mmhmm, sure, ok." Sombra mumbled.
"So, where are you going?" Trixie asked out of the blue. Sombra froze for a moment, contemplating a lie. He heaved a long sigh.
"No. Not really. I got no place to be." He admitted.
"Hm. Trixie has it the same way. Doomed to wander, yes?" She replied casually, as if it as simply a fact of life.
"Doomed to wander..." Sombra echoed hollowly.
That was Celestia's plan all along wasn't it? Sombra thought. She had no intent to kill me. She wants to watch me squirm. Either that or hope I'll change my ways somewhere along the road.
"So, Trixie wonders where your from?" She asked in an attempt to keep the conversation going.
"Crystal Empire actually." Sombra grinned. "I intend to go back there eventually."
"Oh? Why aren't you there now?" Trixie wondered.
"I...I messed up I guess. I can either try again or do something else with my life. I doubt I will though." Sombra shrugged.
"Trixie is also looking for something new."
"Hmf." Sombra huffed.
"Trixie thinks she sees our destination." She smiled.
"This is the most miserable excuse for civilization I have ever had the misfortune to be in the presence of." Sombra hissed, glaring at a few small wooden buildings huddled together in the middle of nothingness.
"Oh, lighten up. These kind rock farmers were nice enough to help Trixie in the past, but she was too obsessed with herself at the time to thank them." Trixie smiled weakly. "She hopes to have a chance to thank them properly this time."
The duo continued on through the town, getting a few odd looks from the dreary locals. Ignoring them the best Sombra could, they walked another half mile before reaching a farm house that looked like it might just have been older then Sombra himself.
He almost chuckled at that idea.
Almost.
"Hello?" Trixie called out to what appeared to be a rather empty farm house.
"My my my. Look who it is Igneous." a mare sid, stepping out of the farmhouse. "Trixie, so good to see you!"
Trixie smiled. "You too ma'am."
"And it appears you brought a friend." a stallion noted.
"Found him while I was headed here." Trixie shrugged, her tendency of talking in third person seemingly forgotten. "Couldn't just leave a stranger in the middle of nowhere, huh? Sombrero this is Cloudy Quartz and Igneous. "
"Um. Hello." Sombra stuttered.
"I wanted to thank you, for helping me before." Trixie said awkwardly.
"Hm. Always ready to help a stranger." Igneous nodded. "Now come inside. There are...things lurking about."
"Things?" Sombra asked.
Igneous seemed to shudder. "They aren't natural I tell ya. Livin rocks. They make a terrible mess of the farm."
Sombra's eyes narrowed. "Show me." Igneous just glared back.
"Just what do you think you can do? Look at you, dolled up like them Canterlot folk. I bet you ain't never seen a rock in your life."
Sombra growled, "I know more than a thing or two."
"Prove it." Igneous said with an amazing straight face. Sombra could only sputter before storming off angrily. He'd show them. He would show them all.
"I should...Probably make sure he doesn't get lost. Heh." Trixie said with a fake laugh, before hurrying after him.
"Why are you helping them anyway? You looked ready to strangle him." Trixie asked, ignoring the question.
He rolled his eyes. "I'm not helping them. I'm showing a couple of stupid ignorant peasant farmers what for."
Trixie shoved him, "Hey! They took Trixie in when she had nothing."
"Alright alright, calm down." Sombra muttered.
"Hey, I doubt you've ever been stuck with nothing." Trixie accused. Sombra tensed, the words stung.
"Let me tell you something." He seethed, "When you have absolutely nothing to be grateful for, I'll let you know. Sleeping in the dirt is luxury compared to the things I endured."
Sombra stormed off, leaving behind a mare just shaking her head.
"One of these days Trixie is just going to travel without picking up weirdos on the side of the road." She said with a sigh, trotting after him. She ended up finding him behind a shrub.
"What are you doing?" Trixie asked.
"Shh, get down or they might see you." Sombra calmly instructed. Trixie huddled next to him behind the bush.
"Who might see us?" She wondered.
"Golems." He said, not quite fearfully, but cautious.
"What's a golem?" Trixie asked.
"Enchanted living rock. Not usually very friendly, and not very easy to destroy." Sombra explained.
"Oh dear." Trixie said, rather worried. "So what do we do?"
"Well..." He trailed off, looking at her horn with a smile. "How good are you with magic?"
If history is always doomed to repeat itself, is the illusion of choice futile? Is change even an actual possibility? Why even attempt to choose if the end result is the same as to not choose at all? Perhaps to not choose is a choice.
These are the ideas Sombra mused while he watched Trixie being frantically chased by six, no seven golems.
"Ahhh! It didn't work! It did not work!" Trixie cried, one golem nearly crushing her with it's granite arm. Sombra chuckled darkly.
"It might have actually worked if you had any form of competence in the subject of magic." Sombra laughed, "Alright, good thing theres more then one way to break a golem. Look for it's key stone."
Trixie was barely listening, as she was half way up a tree. The small horde of rock monsters had gathered at the base of the tree, clawing at the trunk.
"Why aren't they trying to get you?!" Trixie exclaimed. Sombra shrugged.
"I know a thing or two about this kind of thing. They won't attack unless provoked. In their mind I'm invisible as long as they don't perceive me as a threat. Now as I was saying. Pull out their key stone. It's the single rock that holds them together. Their heart if you will." The Dark King explained. He trotted forwards, approaching a golem. Examining it's midsection which consisted of swirling rocks held up by red, green and purple magic, he reached in, and pulled out a seemingly insignificant pebble. The golem shuddered for a moment, and Sombra stepped back as the golem colapsed into a pile of rubble.
"Heh, see? Simple." Sombra smiled. His smile slipped as two of the golems turned to face him. Sombra backed up a few steps. "Heh. Well that's not good."
He thought for a moment about simply leaving. He could simple walk away, never see this accursed farm again, and nopony would have to know. Then he looked up at Trixie, barely gripping to a branch as the golems below shook the ground below, demanding her doom. Sombra...He just couldn't leave her there.
Closing his eyes and swearing unmentionable things in an old dead language, he charged the golems. They ran to meet him. With a spin, Sombra launched his large sombrero at the golem to his left, it didn't exactly do anything, but it drew the attention away from him as he quickly ripped the keystone from the belly of the golem to his right. While it was still clawing at the air, he shoved it's keystone into the other golem.
Without going too deep into the history theoretical magic, Starswirl the Bearded was the first to record that all entities that have a grasp of magic in fact have a unique signature in their mana essence. When a foreign magical source interacts with another magical source, any number of effects happen.
In the case of a golem that has another golem's keystone inside of it? The magical reaction can be rather violent.
The golem blew apart. Bits of rock flew everywhere as Sombra stood there, his face calm, his eyes fixed on the other four golems. They were weary now. They had witnessed three of their brothers fall to this pony. They grouped together, and waited for him to make the first move. He did not hesitate.
Slamming into one with his shoulder, Sombra winced. Still, as the monster recoiled he pulled out it's stony heart and it crumpled to the ground. Running up and inserting it into another, he bucked the beast in the chest, sending it stumbling backwards, crashing into the other golem. It detonated, taking it's companion with it into oblivion. One left.
Sombra stared at it, and it stared back. Both waited for the other to strike first. A single mistake could be fatal. Sombra blinked and the rock monster was upon him. It's hard claws dug into his side as rock met flesh. The dark pony was flung back, but the golem collapsed. Sombra clutched it's keystone in his hoof.
Maybe I'm not so terrible after all...or some...thing...I... Sombra thought. The world spun and he struggled to stand. His own hooves couldn't hold him and he collapsed, the light fading from his eyes.
Sweet Celestia. I figured he would get rid them rock things, but I didn't want him dying over it! A voice echoed through the empty black.
What...? Where am.....Who?
I can't believe this. You prodded him into doing that Igneous. Another voice, much more feminine, motherly sounding.
I...um...hello? Sombra called out from the void. Nopony called back.
Sombra...he saved me. He died to save me. Yet another voice.
Hey...that's Trixie! Wait, died? I died? Sombra felt something move in the darkness. Like it folded in on itself. Princess Celestia stood there, in the fold, her face impassive.
"Well it appears you somehow managed to do some good in this world." Celestia muttered, "Still, your not quite done yet. You shall not welcome death this time."
Sombra did not awake with a gasp. He was not miraculously better either, but a twitch of movement stretched across his otherwise dead face. A wince of pain.
Trixie gasped. "He's started breathing again!"
"Impossible..." Igneous whispered.
The once dead pony laying on the couch was now seemingly quite lively, and started coughing rather violently, and was flailing about in an attempt to get up.
"Gosh darn it hold him down or he'll manage to hurt himself further!" Igneous commanded. Trixie part tackle part hugged Sombra until he stopped panicking. Even afterwards, she continued to hold on to him.
"You did it. You really did it." She said with a smile.
