Sombra: A Tragedy

Sombra had been dreading this part of the day ever since he woke up this morning. The party that followed the presentation was so dull. It was easily more boring than the Grand Galloping Gala. At least at that event you could find some middle-class ponies. Not here. Here it was all of the upper crust. And all they ever did was stand around and talk. Not that talking was terrible because it was possible to have a very lively and interesting conversation. All these ponies were only interested in talking about themselves. Whether it was about their success or their fashion choices or anything else, it was sure to be boring.

Sombra went through his usual routine for these kinds of events. He would wait for some pony to find an interest in him and make light conversation. Of course he never paid any attention to them and as soon as they were done would head over to the refreshment table and hang out their the rest of the night. The only exception to this would be if one of his friends invited him to join a conversation.

Sombra was looking through the options of food to see if their was anything he wanted. That's when Luna joined him.

"It seems one can never get used to these events." Luna said.

"No kidding," Sombra said. "I am so ready for this to be over."

"Me too."

"We could just leave."

"I wish, but as a Princess I have to stay."

"Right. That whole 'Princess of Equestria' thing."

"I do it for my subjects."

"And your sister."

Luna looked down at that. "Yes."

"Why?"

Luna gave Sombra a stern look. "We are not having this conversation."

Just then two ponies, a mare and a stallion, came up and greeted Luna.

"Well, hello Princess Luna. You are quite a sight to see," the stallion said.

The mare gave him a nudge.

"Oops!" the stallion said, "I didn't mean for it to come out like that."

"Oh, that's quite alright. I'm sure it was just a mistake." Luna responded.

The mare positioned herself between Luna and the stallion and said, "I think he was meaning to say what a privilege it is to be in the presence of an alicorn."

Luna blushed at that. "Oh, thank you."

At that, Sombra went back to looking at food.

The stallion moved the mare out of the way. "Even though it's been three years, I still am amazed that we have two alicorn princesses in Equestria!"

"Um... I don't believe I got your names." Luna said.

"Oh, I am so sorry. You must excuse my poor manners." the mare said. "I am Mrs. Orange and-"

"And I'm Mr. Orange." said the stallion interrupting.

"Pleasure to meet you." said Luna

"Well, sadly, we have more socializing to do so we'll have to leave you."

"That's too bad."

"Yes it is." Mrs. Orange said. "I'm sure you have other guests to entertain. Goodbye, princess."

And with that the Oranges left to socialize with some other ponies.

Luna turned back to Sombra. "I'm sorry," she said.

Sombra didn't look up from the table. "Don't be. It's not your fault."

"Sombra, if I understood what had happened, then I would do everything in my power to fix this."

"What is there to fix. Obviously, you and Celestia were meant to be alicorns and I wasn't."

"But it still bothers you."

Sombra didn't answer. The truth was it did bother him. How was it that out of the six ponies that had harnessed the Elements of Harmony, only two of them became alicorns? And even if it was just a unicorn thing, why did Sombra not change? He just couldn't get over it.

"Let's just try to enjoy ourselves, ok?" Luna said

Sombra looked at Luna. "I'll try." He then turned and made is way to the doors that would lead him to the Canterlot Gardens. Luna knew it would be useless to try and keep him here so she went to join her sister.

Sombra enjoyed walking through the gardens. It was always the best thing to do when he needed to calm down. He also loved looking at all the gardens statues and would make his way to that statue area of the gardens.

When he came to the statues, the first one he saw was a depiction of three fillies playing. Each one represented one of the pony tribes. It was supposed to represent when the three tribes came together and founded Equestria. The next statue was of a pony holding up a flag. Sombra wasn't sure what that one meant.

As Sombra was approaching the next statue, something caught the corner of his eye. He turned and saw the last of a critter darting into the tall plants. Sombra waited to see if it would make another appearance. It didn't. Using his magic, he sifted through the plants to see if he could find whatever that critter was. After a while of no success, he decided to give up. That's when someone spoke to him from behind.

"It has been a while since the last time we saw one another, Sombra."

Sombra stiffened. He knew that voice. A voice that you could never forget no matter how hard you tried. A voice that to this day still haunted Sombra's dreams. He turned around to face the one who had addressed him, though he already knew who it was.

Discord.