King's Rise

by Jaded

Rating: mature
Tags: Adventure, Alternate Universe, Dark, Comedy
Length: 1746

FOE: Sombra's returns to find the wasteland is a very different place than the world he knew.

After the events in FoE, King Sombra is able to pull himself together hundreds of years after the fall, just after the Lightbringer tamed the sky. The former King learns the hard way that things change.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-09-11 03:19:10 UTC

Performance issues.

Untold years alone in the swirling darkness, aware only vaguely that time had passed. Only glimpses of the nightmares of ponies to keep me company in my banishment. I wasn't in the ice any more, I wasn't trapped underground, no, that was better than this...

Something had happened, I know not what, but some force, some magical energy so strong it ripped apart the very foundations of magic had drawn me from my prison sucked my magic, my essence, my soul across the frozen landscape towards the sky.

It was like the earth itself took a great breath drawing me in, ripping me apart and then there was an explosion that scattered me across the land.

The last thing I remember seeing was Cloudsdale, then a blinding light and the world was rent into chaos.

Displaced, disembodied, seeing the world only through fragments of consciousness I was trapped by the curse of Celestia. The Crystal Heart has weakened me, drove me out, but it was Celestia's original spell which kept me from reforming... until now.

Another thing I did not know or understand, I was collecting quite the list, was why Celestia's magic faded away. She would have had to have been destroyed her bones burned to ash for her magic to dissipate so completely. Had my long time enemy finally died?! Was it possible?!

As I endured the agony of pulling my essence together, knitting my flesh and blood into a solid shape once more I held no greater hope that Celestia's folly had gotten her killed and I had outlived her.

Everything she loved, her glorious kingdom would be mine! Canterlot would fall to my dark power and then the Crystal Empire would be mine once more!!!

The sounds which erupted from my still forming mouth were sick and wet, hardly anything like laughter but it was good enough.. Soon Canterlot.. soon you would be mine!!

Weeks later:

I was laying on the ground under the shade of a dead tree branch to protect myself from the sun. My body healed, my strength returning, I had been able to see now for several days but it was just this day I had been able to stand and not just drag myself through the dirt.

I had no idea where this place was. It didn't seem to be part of my empire and everything looked so dead. The plants were withered, barely alive, and the animals, what few I saw, were strangely large.

A rodent of unusual size attempted to eat my leg while I was healing. The rodent's life force was strange, twisted somehow. Even as it struggled in the grip of my dark magic, I could hardly stomach the foulness of it. It was as if the creature had been touched by the same twisted necromancy that subtly tainted the land. Distasteful or not, one must do what it takes to survive. It's life force sustained my magic and it's flesh gave my body energy.

Days later:

Having regained my strength enough to stand I realized for the first time in what seems like thousands of years I was hungry, thirsty and I craved the comfort of a proper slave.

Rising unsteadily to my hooves I adjusted my crown, cleaned the dirt and dead grass from my person and cloak then began walking towards the setting sun.

The dark was always comforting and I looked forward to meeting this sunset but I did not travel far before finding my first set of ponies in this strange land.

They were armored with some strange kind of barding, painted with blood and adorned with spikes. One of them, a green-apple colored, earth pony, carried a large primitive war hammer, another purple unicorn had a long metal object with a wooden handle. It seemed to end in two openings as if it was hollow.

Hardly an effective design for a cudgel! The weapon would surely bend if you hit someone in armor with it. The last of the trio was a white unicorn who had a primitive, flat bladed weapon.

Seeing me coming towards them the three of them looked at each other with an odd glance. Perhaps they had never seen royalty before? They certainly smelled like primitive, back woods ponies. "Wh-ell, what do we have here? We'ze having a costume party and no one told me?" the large earth pony asks the one with the tube like weapon.

Forgiving his ignorance and the snickering of his friends... for now, I strode up to them and introduced myself so that they would be properly afraid. "I am King Sombra, once and future ruler of the Crystal Empire, future ruler of Equestria! I make you this offer, be the first to join my army and together we will"

*BLAM*

Three days later:

I had a dream of the strangest sensation of my face leaving through the back of my head. All I remember was a bright light coming from both opening in that tube like weapon the unicorn had.

As I lay there gasping for my first breath, again, wondered what in the Empire had happened. It must have been some kind of thunder-weapons made by pegasus.

Rising and shaking the mud off of my body I reached up with my magic to clean off my crown and cloak only to discover they were not there!!

No, no, it's not... no one would dare.. it.. who did they think they were?! How dare they!? No! No! It's just not possible!! "Robbed?!! I've been robbed!! GUARDS!!!!" of course there were no guards to hear my call, "Never around when I need them.." I muttered.

A strange voice spoke behind me making me spin about in alarm. "They took everything?" A strange silver orb was hovering in the air, it looked like a parasprite but larger and made of metal. Some form of mechanical contrivance and it talked!

"Yes! Robbed! Me!" I said still somewhat in shock. "I.. I.. How!? I.. Robbed!?"

While the mechanical creature's voice was very flat I could swear that it was laughing at me then it went silent for a long moment before it spoke again sounding winded, "Welcome to the wastelands. " them the mechanical bug offered, "There is a small city just west of here, Arbu. I think you may be able to find what you need there. "

Looking to the sun to get my baring for a moment I looked back to the strange mechanic creature and said, "Thank you, strange metal creature. I will.. consider your advice." The indignity! Robbed and forced to take advice from some strange child's toy. These robbers would surely pay with a long life of suffering!!

I spun towards the west in what would have been a dramatic flare of my cape, should I have actually had one and strode towards this town called Arbu. It would have the honor of being the first to be claimed by the new King of Equestria!

Hovering silently the spritebot watched as King Sombra stalked angrily towards Arbu. In his cave Watcher had laughed so hard that he has wept great, tears. "I almost feel sorry for him.. Almost." the dragon said as he looked to his other monitors only to start chuckling again.

The town of Arbu had seen better days. It hardly seemed large enough to be called a town. Several of the buildings appeared to have been torn down and for some reason they had built a half-pony high, stone wall around the small village.

As I got closer two earth ponies, both armed with what I could only assume was some version of the pegasus thunder-sticks, stepped up to the wall and called out to me, "Trade or travel!" the one speaking was a mare with a mint-green colored coat and a cropped red mane. The other one was a dull brown earth pony, or at least he could have been, he looked like he might just be that dirty. Perhaps rolling in the mud was a past time in this city...

"Conquest!" I replied as I tapped the dark, seething pool of hate within my heart and focused the energy into my horn...

A shadow stretched out from my body as I felt the dark power surge through me and at my hooves great, dark crystals started to form.. and then the magic fizzled and the spell faded.

In stead of a mighty eruption of crystals to rip apart my enemies I looked down to find a few black, bit sized crystals sticking out of the dirt.

"Con-what?" the dirt covered pony asked the mare who seemed confused as well, "I think he means he wants to come whore'n. You know, bang'n flank!"

I most certainly did not! Just the idea of it made my empty stomach churn. Once more I closed my eyes and reached down into the depth of my soul, all my hate, all my anger, all that pain and loss I.. I couldn't find it.. I.. felt.. numb.

"Well, why didn't he just say so?" the dirt pony asked as he slung the thunder-stick onto his back. "But he don't have no saddle bags, what is he gonna pay with?" the stallion asked the mare who then turned to me and said, "You ain't got no saddle bags! What are you gonna pay with?"

I once again tried to summon the dark magic from within me, I might not have been strong enough to crush them with crystals but I could take control of the female. I summoned up all my rage at being robbed, all the rage I felt being left for dead and looked deep into her soul...

"Cherry Punch, why is he look'n at you like that?" the stallion asked. The mare leaned closer to him and said in a hushed tone, "Maybe you atta go get doc.. I think he's.. you know.. " then she reached up with her hoof and twirled it next to her temple.

Nothing! Nothing! I felt the power within me but it was so weak, so distant! I strained and strained trying to force my way into her mind, to draw out her fear and then the ground was hitting me in the face...

I remember hearing the voice of Cherry Punch saying with a sigh, "Great, he fainted! Better drag him inside 'fore the radigators get him." then once more my world faded away.