Corrupted Hearts
Chapter 1: Return of Shadows
One early morning at the peak of the Crystal Mountains, a young mare coloured white as the snow, trekked through the perilous snowstorm that occurred. The young mare was named Princess Harmony Spark, a princess of imagination and creativity in both mind and body. The alicorn trotted against the icy breath of the mountains, against the bitter, arctic temperatures. Normally, a pony with this amount of courage would turn back. But not this mare. Harmony persevered up the hostile mountain, breathing every ounce of pure air lingering in her lungs.
As she was about to collapse to the cold ground, Harmony found her destination. She found a vast, desolate cave, coloured an abyssal black with only the entrance as its light. An exhuasted but strong-willed Harmony then explored the cave when she discovered an ancient tomb, damaged and very dusty. The white mare tried to open the tomb with her every muscle of strength but try as she might, the tomb wouldn’t open. The white mare growled in frustration and angrily used her bright purple magic to blast it. The magical energy blasted a hole big enough for Harmony to reach her hoof in and then she found the horn of the deceased, evil King Sombra. Harmony then placed the horn on top of a nearby crystal in the cave. She then stood back and focussed on the crystal. Harmony used her mind power to imagine that there was nothing else in the cave except for her and the crystal.
“Okay, here it goes.” said Harmony in determination.
The alicorn began to use her magic as her magic aura turned bright, sparkling purple into a twisted black. Hazes of green and purple started to form around Harmony’s horn, while her eyes emitted a purple smoke. Suddenly, she shot the dark magic onto the crystal. The crystal and the horn both combined in a pitch black colour, smothered in dark magic. Harmony was only concentrated on the crystal as her fuelled magic was burning with pure strength. Her eyes glowed a bright green and her now red irises narrowed into slits. This magic was exhilarating, Harmony thought. All her remaining energy was running extremely low, this may kill her, but Harmony had to try. Finally, the spell was complete. Harmony then feel to the floor as she breathed heavily, thankful for keeping herself alive. Harmony's eyes and her magic then reverted to normal.
She watched in unease as the crystal connected with the horn formed a black, eye-blinding smoke, the cave grew black crystals from its walls. Then, as a red and green spark was beginning to form, Harmony realised the spark gained more energy as she leapt behind a stalagmite for cover. Then, there was a sudden explosion, fumed in collosal black smoke.
As the smoke cleared, the white alicorn carefully walked towards a black, oozing substance in the middle of the cave floor. As her hoof touched it, it began to form a hoof. Harmony gasped as she witnessed the black substance shaped itself into a tall, grey stallion with grey armour and a flowing black mane. The horn connected to the subtsance grew onto the stallion's head, along with a small pointed crown. The stallion opened his eyes coloured a blood red, vivid green and trailed purple smoke. The stallion was King Sombra.
“ It’s so good to be back!” said King Sombra as he laughed demonically. ”Tartarus was most unwelcoming. But hopefully, that’s the last time I’ll set my eyes at that hellhole. Now, who shall I thank for my rising from the dead?” he asked.
“Uh, me actually.” Harmony replied timidly.
“You?” the king replied, confused.
Harmony was quite nervous meeting this sadistic creature, but she mustered up the courage to greet him with respect as she normally would.
“Um, hello. I’m Harmony Spark, the princess of imagination. I sorta brought you back to life and I’m here to help you.” She meekly asked with an awkward smile.
King Sombra was surprised that an alicorn princess actually revived him from the dead. The fact that she was a ruler of goodness who resurrected him, a king of shadow and fears, was truly puzzling for him.
“Tell me, young mare. Why did you bring me back? Why did you come all this way just to let me live once more?” he asked.
“Well, as everypony knows, you’ve been responsible of taking over the Crystal Empire and have tried to enslave the Crystal Ponies along with it. As much I despise you for your horrific crime, I still think there’s a chance to reform you. Princess Cadance has given me permission to revive you and I wanted to help you turn over a new leaf and become a better stallion.” Harmony explained.
“Reform me? That’s your task? To bring me back and make me one of your own low-life, pitiful subjects?!” Sombra replied in a burning rage.
“Well, yeah. Scratch the ‘low-life’ bit.” Harmony replied.
As the king turned away, his anger grew stronger. How dare an insignificant mare bring him back to life and force him to become one of those pathetic, small, foolish Crystal Ponies who never respected him as a glorious king! His anger was forming massive amounts of dark magic; he was ready to annihilate the mare in front of him. But then, an idea began to form in his mind. This alicorn has revived him and wanted to reform him. Maybe if he can gain her trust b and use her royal status to learn about Cadance’s weaknesses, convince her to join his side and be ready to rule the Crystal Empire once again. Why not, he thought. She seemed an easy target and naïve. Maybe she can become his Queen if he liked her enough. He gave a conniving, malicious smile before he turned around to face Harmony.
“What was your name again, young mare?” the king finally said.
“H-Harmony Spark.” Harmony replied. Even though she was confident of meeting Sombra, his mere presence did send some chills down her spine. She wasn’t sure whether he was going to kill her or not, but something about him was enough for her to keep her spirits up a little.
“Harmony Spark, it would be an honour if a wandering, lost soul such as I would be reformed kind, thoughtful princess like you.” Said King Sombra, as he charmed the mare.
“Hm, thanks.” The princess answered as she blushed.
“Please, take me to Princess Cadance.” The king smugly requested, knowing Harmony would easily accept.
With a knowing smile, Harmony then escorted the king outside the cave’s entrance, where the harsh weather had fortunately died away. King Sombra was exuberant. With an incredibly gullible princess by his side, he will finally, after more than 1000 years, to finally take over the Crystal Empire once more and KEEP it that way. All his hopes and dreams, all that time and energy taken away from his life, clawing his way up to his true destiny. He finally had his chance in his hooves. He was about to achieve his destiny.
“Sombra, I’m really sorry about this.” Said Harmony Spark.
“What do you m-?” Before he could finish, he suddenly fell to the icy ground, he slowly looked up to the alicorn, noticing a small syringe,that levitated by her magic aura. He tried to figure what was in it, but he slowly, slowly became weaker and weaker. Then, everything went black.
End of Chapter 1
Chapter 2: Meeting Upon Fate
A weakened King Sombra slowly opened his eyes, his senses were working at full speed and his conscious was then regained. The first thing he noticed was the room. He was supposed to be at the Crystal Castle! He saw that the carpets were different; there were stained glass windows, especially the one with the Crystal Ponies in it. In fact, the more he looked around the room, the more he realised this wasn’t the Castle at all. He hadn’t been in any other castle before. What is this place? The king thought and why was he brought here? Sombra must find out.
After a few blinks, he saw the alicorn mare he just met, talking extremely close to his face and spoke in a suprisingly cheerful tone;
“Whoosh, he blinked! Whoosh, he blinked and boom! He’s back in the room. Had a good sleep, Sombra? No need to thank me, you’re quite welcome.” said Harmony Spark, who helped the grey stallion up to his hooves.
King Sombra anxiously observed the castle room, and saw four other alicorns standing before him. He immediately recognised Princesses Celestia, Luna and Cadance and also was perplexed at Twilight Sparkle; the purple mare with a blue, pink and purple mane, the pony that defeated him a year ago as he tried to take back the Crystal Empire once again, had actually gained princesshood. King Sombra then stared in confusion.
“I know, this castle is brilliant, ain’t it? In fact, this castle gets even better every time I visit. Is it the floor, or the stained glass windows? And is the castle’s windows ALL stained glass windows and-?” Harmony Spark commented then was interrupted by King Sombra’s anger.
“What is going on? Why aren’t we in the Crystal Castle?!” he shouted in rage.
“Ha-ha! You really thought that I was THAT gullible? I knew that you had the eyes set on the Crystal Empire the moment I resurrected you, so I quickly injected you with chloroform so I can take you to Canterlot, without you trying to kill everypony. Besides, you wouldn’t be a good stallion if you dictated an empire, murdered a princess, gained the energy of the Crystal Heart and sent the Crystal Ponies in an endless path of depression, wouldn’t you? ” Harmony explained, with a proud smile. This further angered Sombra.
“You conniving, treacherous fool! I was THIS CLOSE to rule the Empire once again, I waited a 1000 damn years to achieve this moment. My whole life was about to change if I stepped hoof in that place! But you… You had the nerve to blind me and trick me into your ridiculous plan! But not THIS time. NO pony will stop me now and no pony makes a fool out of me!” Sombra yelled and he was about to blast the mare with his dark magic, bubbling and flickering in energy.
Luna, Cadance and Twilight Sparkle were about to interfere, but Celestia calmly stopped them in their tracks. She knew Harmony was in control of this situation. She knew Harmony was one step ahead of Sombra.
As the king charged at her, Harmony then quickly reaches her mind. Her magic inside her imagination then constructed a weapon, a sword, made of crystals and Harmony visualized the sword into life. As the other princesses watched in concern, Harmony then quickly dodged Sombra, her horn glowed a bright purple as her magic power turned her imagined weapon from her mind into life. She quickly slashed the unicorn king across the chest with the mystical blade, grabbed him and threw him to the floor. As blood smeared across the castle floor, Sombra looked up astonished. It never came to his head that this princess had an incredible strength. He never knew that her mind power and her magic power were connected. He knew she had magical power, yes, but not this kind. He saw Harmony Spark, as she pulled a stern look and responded to the wounded stallion.
“If YOU have the nerve to attack me or ANY of my subjects, you’ll get a one-way train-ticket to Tartarus. Now do yourself a favour; shut up and listen to Celestia and NEVER use that filthy magic again. Understand?” said Harmony in an icy, still tone. She then used her magic to clean up the blood upon the floors and fixed the blood wound on the king’s chest.
King Sombra smirked at this mare’s determination and grit. As nopony questioned his authority or even stood up to him, it almost seemed like a joke to him. He may be amazed by Harmony’s extraordinary power, especially for an alicorn, he knew for a true fact that she’ll fall, she must have a weakness. And if there’s a weakness, he can use it to his advantage. But Sombra won’t go ahead of himself, he can play along. For now.
“My, your courage amazes me, Harmony. The strength of your mind and your magical ability is very powerful. Very well, since you’re the one who ‘revived’ me, I’ll obey your command and listen to what you and ‘Princess Celestia’ has to say.” said King Sombra as he arrogantly smiled. He then stood up and faced the princesses.
Princess Celestia was offended by Sombra’s words, but she stayed calm and collected;
“King Sombra, as you already know, Princess Harmony Spark has revived you from the highest peaks of the Crystal Mountains.” said Celestia to the grey stallion.
“I know, you obviously sent her there.” King Sombra replied. “Now I think about it, why did you want to bring me back anyway? That’s not like you, Celestia. Bringing a fearless and so-called ‘evil’ king up from the dead because he ‘terrorized’ an empire? Is it Cadance? Is she too pathetic a leader to perform a simple duty as ruling-“He insulted, before being interrupted.
“BE QUIET!” Twilight Sparkle growled, not taking any more of Sombra’s cruelty.
“Twilight, I’m not offending anypony, I’m merely asking a question.” He replied innocently.
“Well, Celestia can ANSWER your question, if you just be quiet.” Twilight retorted.
"Thank you, Twilight. King Sombra, as confusing this may be; I only gave PERMISSION for Harmony to revive you. It was all Harmony’s idea.”
“What?! Why?” King Sombra exclaimed as he looked at Harmony, as she smiled awkwardly. For once, he stopped in his words and began to listen.
“Harmony sent a letter to me yesterday, suggesting that she found a way of reforming you. Harmony has quite well-known in her home town for seeing the goodness in everypony, no matter how evil or corrupted they are. She even befriended the Bat Ponies, who used to live in the Everfree Forest. Now, thanks to her, they are welcomed members of society. And I knew she can use her good nature and willpower to help reform you, Sombra. So I decided to provide her the whereabouts of your remains in the Crystal Mountains and allowed her to revive you.”
Sombra was speechless. He had no idea that this whole idea was from this white mare that stood before him, he couldn’t figure it out. Why is this happening? Why did it happen to him? Sombra’s mind was swimming in thought. He was about to protest but the more princesses talked, the more he understood what’s going on. Princess Cadance now began to talk to the stallion.
“ King Sombra, since you are now becoming a member of society, there are a set of rules you must follow. Firstly, you MUST follow everything Harmony says. She will teach everything on how to become a citizen. Secondly, you must treat everypony with respect and kindness. It will be hard, but it’s the right thing to do. And finally, you will no longer be allowed to enter the Crystal Empire UNTIL you are a fully-certified citizen. If you even think about sneaking into the Empire, the forcefield will annihilate any evil that comes across and don’t think on using dark magic because the force field is resistant to any evil magic.”
The rules Cadance explained turned Sombra’s feelings from stunned curiosity into burning fury. How dare the princesses think HE should be reformed! A member of society? Him? The omnipotent and noble King Sombra? No, he thought, he can’t just be normal stallion with useless life. He was destined for greatness, he knew he would be a glorious ruler and they think that he should be good enough to be nothing more than a servant, obeying to their command? No, he won’t let these so-called “rulers” puppet him on his way of life. He wouldn’t let them. As he began to form his dark magic, Cadance continued to talk.
“And by the way, Sombra, there are some things that you need to return to me.” She added, looking at his armour and his horned crown. “You’re not a King anymore.”
End of Chapter 2
Chapter 3: The Creature
As Princess Cadance said those very words, Sombra froze in horror. What he thought was his perfect day had now turned into his worst nightmare. He had to wake up, he thought; he can’t stay any longer in this nightmare. Sombra closed his eyes, pleading and begging that this was nothing but a dream. It had to be a dream. He slowly opened his eyes, to reveal him back in the princesses’ castle. It wasn’t a dream.
“No, no. You can’t do this to me!” Sombra roared; he then glared at Harmony in sheer rage.
He forcibly smashed his front hooves to the ground, which caused large, pitch black crystals to form around Harmony Spark. The princesses tried to intervene, but Harmony stops them in their tracks. She then looks up at the tall, ominous crystals and began to hug each one. Sombra was deeply amused by this;
“Hahaha! Oh please, is that the BEST way you can think of? Giving my invincible crystals a pathetic act of love?” Sombra jeered, before his laughter died away as he gazed in shock.
Harmony’s hugging had somehow turned the crystals colours from black to a bright, glowing purple. She then used her magic to then levitate the crystals, aimed at Sombra and threw them towards the stallion. Sombra knew he had to move, but he was too busy just staring at this strange act of magic, He then closed his eyes to meet his death, but opens them, finding out that the crystals were stuck in the ground. Sombra then looked up at a stern-looking Harmony and growled softly.
“Second warning.” Harmony replied to the stallion, as she blasted the purple crystals to dust. “Now, I believe you owe Cadance a certain crown, armour and robes?” She added.
He wouldn’t dare to give over his kingly possessions, but Sombra knew that Harmony would be always ready with her perplexing magic if he refuses. He had no choice. Sombra then reluctantly handed over his robes, crown and armour. His red, green eyes with purple smoke turned into red-snake like eyes. Harmony pulled a small smile at her stallion friend, as she was hoping to ensure no hard feelings, but Sombra remained livid.
“Now, just like Cadance said, you must follow what Harmony Spark tells you. She will explain what it means to be a good friend. And to make sure none of this mess happens again, you are hereby prohibited to use any dark magic from now on. You can now only use normal magic for the rest of your life.” commanded Princess Luna, to a now horrified Sombra.
She then placed a magical spell on Sombra’s curved horn, as it created a helical ribbon of blue magical light around it. Sombra looked up to his magically-secured horn; he quickly retaliated as he used more dark magic to break the spell, but to no success.
“Thank you, sister. Twilight, I want you to accompany Harmony with Sombra back to Ponyville. You do have a spare room available in your house, Harmony?” asked Princess Celestia.
“Sure. (gasps) It’ll be just like a sleepover! Instead of one night, you’ll be staying for weeks and weeks, until you get a job! I gotta pinch myself, because I must be dreaming!” Harmony energetically answered and hugged Sombra tightly.
“How I wish it was.” Sombra bemoaned.
“Harmony will report your status to me, Sombra. And if you’re fully reformed, Luna will break the spell. However you are still banned from using any dark magic again, after you’re reformed. You may now be accused.” Celestia added.
Harmony, Sombra and Twilight both walked out of the hallway. Sombra pulled a menacing glare at the princesses, before closing the door. As they walked out of the castle into the streets of Canterlot, Sombra marvelled at the newly improved Canterlot. He had never been to Canterlot for over 1000 years. The more he saw, his anger quickly turned into wonderment. There he stood mesmerized; he looked upon the countless shops and the town viewed by all of Equestria as Celestia’s radiant sun glowed its rays onto the spacious gardens behind him.
“It’s…It’s beautiful.” Sombra muttered to himself. The sheer beauty of Canterlot’s environment had somehow got to him. If he ruled the Crystal Empire, it wouldn’t look anything like this. So prosperous, so bright. He can’t help but smile. “Canterlot is better than I remember. I haven’t been here for a long time. To be honest, I think that it was really nice of you to bring me back to life, Harmony. You’re really nice and very strong-willed. And Twilight, I wanted to say congratulations on your coronation. You truly deserve it.” said Sombra gently.
“Huh?” said Twilight and Harmony in unison. Since when did Sombra act pleasant all the sudden? That’s not like him at all. As she stared in confusion, Harmony then noticed the change in Sombra’s eyes. Curiosity began to grow inside her.
Before Sombra can reply, his eyes shone a dark green. Inside his mind, he felt something coming. It looked like a creature of some kind. Sombra cried in throbbing agony as the creature in his mind tried to overcome him. He couldn’t tell what, but he wanted it gone. His eyes glowed from normal to green whilst the creature inside him gnawed at his conscience. The creature took full control of Sombra’s body. He told him to find a knife. The ponies of Canterlot witnessed the event and galloped away as the crazed Sombra found a knife on a nearby table.
Twilight held back an anxious Harmony, as Sombra carried the knife.
He then stopped in the middle of the street, with only two alicorn mares watching in helplessness. With his teeth ground sharp, Sombra then cut his own limb. Harmony cried in distress, as blood dripped across Sombra’s limbs. Tears dripped down the stallion’s face. How he wanted it to stop, but he couldn’t. He wanted to fight it, but he couldn’t. He was powerless against the creature. Sombra then threw the knife out of the wounded leg and then collapsed to the floor.
“Sombra! What’s happened to you? Are you okay? Please wake up. Please.” She asked as she ran to Sombra’s side. To Harmony’s delight, Sombra then opened his eyes. But her delight was short-lived.
“GET OFF ME, MORTAL!” He yelled in a more twisted, demented tone. He then lunged at the two mares, about to blast them with some dark magic. But Luna’s spell kicks in and stops the unicorn in his destruction. The blue magic around Sombra’s created a magic barrier which stopped the black magic from being formed. The barrier then caused Sombra to fall on the ground, as he trembled from his bleeding wound that smeared the streets.
One's Instinct, Another's Denial
Corrupted Hearts
Chapter 1: Return of Shadows
One early morning at the peak of the Crystal Mountains, a young mare coloured white as the snow, trekked through the perilous snowstorm that occurred. The young mare was named Princess Harmony Spark, a princess of imagination and creativity in both mind and body. The alicorn trotted against the icy breath of the mountains, against the bitter, arctic temperatures. Normally, a pony with this amount of courage would turn back. But not this mare. Harmony persevered up the hostile mountain, breathing every ounce of pure air lingering in her lungs.
As she was about to collapse to the cold ground, Harmony found her destination. She found a vast, desolate cave, coloured an pitch black with only the entrance as its light. An exhuasted but strong-willed Harmony then explored the cave when she discovered an ancient tomb, damaged and very dusty. The white mare tried to open the tomb with her every muscle of strength but try as she might, the tomb wouldn’t open. The white mare growled in frustration and angrily used her bright purple magic to blast it. The magical energy blasted a hole big enough for Harmony to reach her hoof in and then she found the horn of the deceased, evil King Sombra. Harmony then placed the horn on top of a nearby crystal in the cave. She then stood back and focussed on the crystal. Harmony used her mind power to imagine that there was nothing else in the cave except for her and the crystal.
“Okay, here it goes.” said Harmony in determination.
The alicorn began to use her magic as her magic aura turned bright, sparkling purple into a twisted black. Hazes of green and purple started to form around Harmony’s horn, while her eyes emitted a purple smoke. Suddenly, she shot the dark magic onto the crystal. The crystal and the horn both combined in a pitch black colour, smothered in dark magic. Harmony was only concentrated on the crystal as her fuelled magic was burning with pure strength. Her eyes glowed a bright green and her now red irises narrowed into slits. This magic was exhilarating, Harmony thought. All her remaining energy was running extremely low, this may kill her, but Harmony had to try. Finally, the spell was complete. Harmony then feel to the floor as she breathed heavily, thankful for keeping herself alive. Harmony's eyes and her magic then reverted to normal.
She watched in unease as the crystal connected with the horn formed a black, eye-blinding smoke, the cave grew black crystals from its walls. Then, as a red and green spark was beginning to form, Harmony realised the spark gained more energy as she leapt behind a stalagmite for cover. Then, there was a sudden explosion, fumed in colossal black smoke.
As the smoke cleared, the white alicorn carefully walked towards a black, oozing substance in the middle of the cave floor. As her hoof touched it, it began to form a hoof. Harmony gasped as she witnessed the black substance shaped itself into a tall, grey stallion with grey armour and a flowing black mane. The horn connected to the subtsance grew onto the stallion's head, along with a small pointed crown. The stallion opened his eyes coloured a blood red, vivid green and trailed purple smoke. The stallion was King Sombra.
“ It’s so good to be back!” said King Sombra as he laughed demonically. ”Tartarus was most unwelcoming. But hopefully, that’s the last time I’ll set my eyes at that hellhole. Now, who shall I thank for my rising from the dead?” he asked.
“Uh, me actually.” Harmony replied timidly.
“You?” the king replied, confused.
Harmony was quite nervous meeting this sadistic creature, but she mustered up the courage to greet him with respect as she normally would.
“Um, hello. I’m Harmony Spark, the princess of imagination. I sorta brought you back to life and I’m here to help you.” She meekly asked with an awkward smile.
King Sombra was surprised that an alicorn princess actually revived him from the dead. The fact that she was a ruler of goodness who resurrected him, a king of shadow and fears, was truly puzzling for him.
“Tell me, young mare. Why did you bring me back? Why did you come all this way just to let me live once more?” he asked.
“Well, as everypony knows, you’ve been responsible of taking over the Crystal Empire and have tried to enslave the Crystal Ponies along with it. As much I despise you for your horrific crime, I still think there’s a chance to reform you. Princess Cadance has given me permission to revive you and I wanted to help you turn over a new leaf and become a better stallion.” Harmony explained.
“Reform me? That’s your task? To bring me back and make me one of your own low-life, pitiful subjects?!” Sombra replied in a burning rage.
“Well, yeah. Scratch the ‘low-life’ bit.” Harmony replied.
As the king turned away, his anger grew stronger. How dare an insignificant mare bring him back to life and force him to become one of those pathetic, small, foolish Crystal Ponies who never respected him as a glorious king! His anger was forming massive amounts of dark magic; he was ready to annihilate the mare in front of him. But then, an idea began to form in his mind. This alicorn has revived him and wanted to reform him. Maybe if he can gain her trust and use her royal status to learn about Cadance’s weaknesses, convince her to join his side and be ready to rule the Crystal Empire once again. Why not, he thought. She seemed an easy target and naïve. Maybe she can become his Queen if he liked her enough. He gave a conniving, malicious smile before he turned around to face Harmony.
“What was your name again, young mare?” the king finally said.
“H-Harmony Spark.” Harmony replied. Even though she was confident of meeting Sombra, his mere presence did send some chills down her spine. She wasn’t sure whether he was going to kill her or not, but something about him was enough for her to keep her spirits up a little.
“Harmony Spark, it would be an honour if a wandering, lost soul such as I would be reformed kind, thoughtful princess like you.” Said King Sombra, as he charmed the mare.
“Hm, thanks.” The princess answered as she blushed.
“Please, take me to Princess Cadance.” The king smugly requested, knowing Harmony would easily accept.
With a knowing smile, Harmony then escorted the king outside the cave’s entrance, where the harsh weather had fortunately died away. King Sombra was exuberant. With an incredibly gullible princess by his side, he will finally, after more than 1000 years, to finally take over the Crystal Empire once more and KEEP it that way. All his hopes and dreams, all that time and energy taken away from his life, clawing his way up to his true destiny. He finally had his chance in his hooves. He was about to achieve his destiny.
“Sombra, I’m really sorry about this.” Said Harmony Spark.
“What do you m-?” Before he could finish, he suddenly fell to the icy ground, he slowly looked up to the alicorn, noticing a small syringe,that levitated by her magic aura. He tried to figure what was in it, but he slowly, slowly became weaker and weaker. Then, everything went black.
End of Chapter 1
Chapter 2: Meeting Upon Fate
A weakened King Sombra slowly opened his eyes, his senses were working at full speed and his conscious was then regained. The first thing he noticed was the room. He was supposed to be at the Crystal Castle! He saw that the carpets were different; there were stained glass windows, especially the one with the Crystal Ponies in it. In fact, the more he looked around the room, the more he realised this wasn’t the Castle at all. He hadn’t been in any other castle before. What is this place? The king thought and why was he brought here? Sombra must find out.
After a few blinks, he saw the alicorn mare he just met, talking extremely close to his face and spoke in a suprisingly cheerful tone;
“Whoosh, he blinked! Whoosh, he blinked and boom! He’s back in the room. Had a good sleep, Sombra? No need to thank me, you’re quite welcome.” said Harmony Spark, who helped the grey stallion up to his hooves.
King Sombra anxiously observed the castle room, and saw four other alicorns standing before him. He immediately recognised Princesses Celestia, Luna and Cadance and also was perplexed at Twilight Sparkle; the purple mare with a blue, pink and purple mane, the pony that defeated him a year ago as he tried to take back the Crystal Empire once again, had actually gained princesshood. King Sombra then stared in confusion.
“I know, this castle is brilliant, ain’t it? In fact, this castle gets even better every time I visit. Is it the floor, or the stained glass windows? And is the castle’s windows ALL stained glass windows and-?” Harmony Spark commented then was interrupted by King Sombra’s anger.
“What is going on? Why aren’t we in the Crystal Castle?!” he shouted in rage.
“Ha-ha! You really thought that I was THAT gullible? I knew that you had the eyes set on the Crystal Empire the moment I resurrected you, so I quickly injected you with chloroform so I can take you to Canterlot, without you trying to kill everypony. Besides, you wouldn’t be a good stallion if you dictated an empire, murdered a princess, gained the energy of the Crystal Heart and sent the Crystal Ponies in an endless path of depression, wouldn’t you? ” Harmony explained, with a proud smile. This further angered Sombra.
“You conniving, treacherous fool! I was THIS CLOSE to rule the Empire once again, I waited a 1000 damn years to achieve this moment. My whole life was about to change if I stepped hoof in that place! But you… You had the nerve to blind me and trick me into your ridiculous plan! But not THIS time. NO pony will stop me now and no pony makes a fool out of me!” Sombra yelled and he was about to blast the mare with his dark magic, bubbling and flickering in energy.
Luna, Cadance and Twilight Sparkle were about to interfere, but Celestia calmly stopped them in their tracks. She knew Harmony was in control of this situation. She knew Harmony was one step ahead of Sombra.
As the king charged at her, Harmony then quickly reaches her mind. Her magic inside her imagination then constructed a weapon, a sword, made of crystals and Harmony visualized the sword into life. As the other princesses watched in concern, Harmony then quickly dodged Sombra, her horn glowed a bright purple as her magic power turned her imagined weapon from her mind into life. She quickly slashed the unicorn king across the chest with the mystical blade, grabbed him and threw him to the floor. As blood smeared across the castle floor, Sombra looked up astonished. It never came to his head that this princess had an incredible strength. He never knew that her mind power and her magic power were connected. He knew she had magical power, yes, but not this kind. He saw Harmony Spark, as she pulled a stern look and responded to the wounded stallion.
“If YOU have the nerve to attack me or ANY of my subjects, you’ll get a one-way train-ticket to Tartarus. Now do yourself a favour; shut up and listen to Celestia and NEVER use that filthy magic again. Understand?” said Harmony in an icy, still tone. She then used her magic to clean up the blood upon the floors and fixed the blood wound on the king’s chest.
King Sombra smirked at this mare’s determination and grit. As nopony questioned his authority or even stood up to him, it almost seemed like a joke to him. He may be amazed by Harmony’s extraordinary power, especially for an alicorn, he knew for a true fact that she’ll fall, she must have a weakness. And if there’s a weakness, he can use it to his advantage. But Sombra won’t go ahead of himself, he can play along. For now.
“My, your courage amazes me, Harmony. The strength of your mind and your magical ability is very powerful. Very well, since you’re the one who ‘revived’ me, I’ll obey your command and listen to what you and ‘Princess Celestia’ has to say.” said King Sombra as he arrogantly smiled. He then stood up and faced the princesses.
Princess Celestia was offended by Sombra’s words, but she stayed calm and collected;
“King Sombra, as you already know, Princess Harmony Spark has revived you from the highest peaks of the Crystal Mountains.” said Celestia to the grey stallion.
“I know, you obviously sent her there.” King Sombra replied. “Now I think about it, why did you want to bring me back anyway? That’s not like you, Celestia. Bringing a fearless and so-called ‘evil’ king up from the dead because he ‘terrorized’ an empire? Is it Cadance? Is she too pathetic a leader to perform a simple duty as ruling-“He insulted, before being interrupted.
“BE QUIET!” Twilight Sparkle growled, not taking any more of Sombra’s cruelty.
“Twilight, I’m not offending anypony, I’m merely asking a question.” He replied innocently.
“Well, Celestia can ANSWER your question, if you just be quiet.” Twilight retorted.
"Thank you, Twilight. King Sombra, as confusing this may be; I only gave PERMISSION for Harmony to revive you. It was all Harmony’s idea.”
“What?! Why?” King Sombra exclaimed as he looked at Harmony, as she smiled awkwardly. For once, he stopped in his words and began to listen.
“Harmony sent a letter to me yesterday, suggesting that she found a way of reforming you. Harmony has quite well-known in her home town for seeing the goodness in everypony, no matter how evil or corrupted they are. She even befriended the Bat Ponies, who used to live in the Everfree Forest. Now, thanks to her, they are welcomed members of society. And I knew she can use her good nature and willpower to help reform you, Sombra. So I decided to provide her the whereabouts of your remains in the Crystal Mountains and allowed her to revive you.”
Sombra was speechless. He had no idea that this whole idea was from this white mare that stood before him, he couldn’t figure it out. Why is this happening? Why did it happen to him? Sombra’s mind was swimming in thought. He was about to protest but the more princesses talked, the more he understood what’s going on. Princess Cadance now began to talk to the stallion.
“ King Sombra, since you are now becoming a member of society, there are a set of rules you must follow. Firstly, you MUST follow everything Harmony says. She will teach everything on how to become a citizen. Secondly, you must treat everypony with respect and kindness. It will be hard, but it’s the right thing to do. And finally, you will no longer be allowed to enter the Crystal Empire UNTIL you are a fully-certified citizen. If you even think about sneaking into the Empire, the forcefield will annihilate any evil that comes across and don’t think on using dark magic because the force field is resistant to any evil magic.”
The rules Cadance explained turned Sombra’s feelings from stunned curiosity into burning fury. How dare the princesses think HE should be reformed! A member of society? Him? The omnipotent and noble King Sombra? No, he thought, he can’t just be normal stallion with useless life. He was destined for greatness, he knew he would be a glorious ruler and they think that he should be good enough to be nothing more than a servant, obeying to their command? No, he won’t let these so-called “rulers” puppet him on his way of life. He wouldn’t let them. As he began to form his dark magic, Cadance continued to talk.
“And by the way, Sombra, there are some things that you need to return to me.” She added, looking at his armour and his horned crown. “You’re not a King anymore.”
End of Chapter 2
Chapter 3: The Creature
As Princess Cadance said those very words, Sombra froze in horror. What he thought was his perfect day had now turned into his worst nightmare. He had to wake up, he thought; he can’t stay any longer in this nightmare. Sombra closed his eyes, pleading and begging that this was nothing but a dream. It had to be a dream. He slowly opened his eyes, to reveal him back in the princesses’ castle. It wasn’t a dream.
“No, no. You can’t do this to me!” Sombra roared; he then glared at Harmony in sheer rage.
He forcibly smashed his front hooves to the ground, which caused large, pitch black crystals to form around Harmony Spark. The princesses tried to intervene, but Harmony stops them in their tracks. She then looks up at the tall, ominous crystals and began to hug each one. Sombra was deeply amused by this;
“Hahaha! Oh please, is that the BEST way you can think of? Giving my invincible crystals a pathetic act of love?” Sombra jeered, before his laughter died away as he gazed in shock.
Harmony’s hugging had somehow turned the crystals colours from black to a bright, glowing purple. She then used her magic to then levitate the crystals, aimed at Sombra and threw them towards the stallion. Sombra knew he had to move, but he was too busy just staring at this strange act of magic, He then closed his eyes to meet his death, but opens them, finding out that the crystals were stuck in the ground. Sombra then looked up at a stern-looking Harmony and growled softly.
“Second warning.” Harmony replied to the stallion, as she blasted the purple crystals to dust. “Now, I believe you owe Cadance a certain crown, armour and robes?” She added.
He wouldn’t dare to give over his kingly possessions, but Sombra knew that Harmony would be always ready with her perplexing magic if he refuses. He had no choice. Sombra then reluctantly handed over his robes, crown and armour. His red, green eyes with purple smoke turned into red-snake like eyes. Harmony pulled a small smile at her stallion friend, as she was hoping to ensure no hard feelings, but Sombra remained livid.
“Now, just like Cadance said, you must follow what Harmony Spark tells you. She will explain what it means to be a good friend. And to make sure none of this mess happens again, you are hereby prohibited to use any dark magic from now on. You can now only use normal magic for the rest of your life.” commanded Princess Luna, to a now horrified Sombra.
She then placed a magical spell on Sombra’s curved horn, as it created a helical ribbon of blue magical light around it. Sombra looked up to his magically-secured horn; he quickly retaliated as he used more dark magic to break the spell, but to no success.
“Thank you, sister. Twilight, I want you to accompany Harmony with Sombra back to Ponyville. You do have a spare room available in your house, Harmony?” asked Princess Celestia.
“Sure. (gasps) It’ll be just like a sleepover! Instead of one night, you’ll be staying for weeks and weeks, until you get a job! I gotta pinch myself, because I must be dreaming!” Harmony energetically answered and hugged Sombra tightly.
“How I wish it was.” Sombra bemoaned.
“Harmony will report your status to me, Sombra. And if you’re fully reformed, Luna will break the spell. However you are still banned from using any dark magic again, after you’re reformed. You may now be accused.” Celestia added.
Harmony, Sombra and Twilight both walked out of the hallway. Sombra pulled a menacing glare at the princesses, before closing the door. As they walked out of the castle into the streets of Canterlot, Sombra marvelled at the newly improved Canterlot. He had never been to Canterlot for over 1000 years. The more he saw, his anger quickly turned into wonderment. There he stood mesmerized; he looked upon the countless shops and the town viewed by all of Equestria as Celestia’s radiant sun glowed its rays onto the spacious gardens behind him.
“It’s…It’s beautiful.” Sombra muttered to himself. The sheer beauty of Canterlot’s environment had somehow got to him. If he ruled the Crystal Empire, it wouldn’t look anything like this. So prosperous, so bright. He can’t help but smile. “Canterlot is better than I remember. I haven’t been here for a long time. To be honest, I think that it was really nice of you to bring me back to life, Harmony. You’re really nice and very strong-willed. And Twilight, I wanted to say congratulations on your coronation. You truly deserve it.” said Sombra gently.
“Huh?” said Twilight and Harmony in unison. Since when did Sombra act pleasant all the sudden? That’s not like him at all. As she stared in confusion, Harmony then noticed the change in Sombra’s eyes. Curiosity began to grow inside her.
Before Sombra can reply, his eyes shone a dark green. Inside his mind, he felt something coming. It looked like a creature of some kind. Sombra cried in throbbing agony as the creature in his mind tried to overcome him. He couldn’t tell what, but he wanted it gone. His eyes glowed from normal to green whilst the creature inside him gnawed at his conscience. The creature took full control of Sombra’s body. He told him to find a knife. The ponies of Canterlot witnessed the event and galloped away as the crazed Sombra found a knife on a nearby table.
Twilight held back an anxious Harmony, as Sombra carried the knife.
He then stopped in the middle of the street, with only two alicorn mares watching in helplessness. With his teeth ground sharp, Sombra then cut his own limb. Harmony cried in distress, as blood dripped across Sombra’s limbs. Tears dripped down the stallion’s face. How he wanted it to stop, but he couldn’t. He wanted to fight it, but he couldn’t. He was powerless against the creature. Sombra then threw the knife out of the wounded leg and then collapsed to the floor.
“Sombra! What’s happened to you? Are you okay? Please wake up. Please.” She asked as she ran to Sombra’s side. To Harmony’s delight, Sombra then opened his eyes. But her delight was short-lived.
“GET OFF ME, MORTAL!” He yelled in a more twisted, demented tone. He then lunged at the two mares, about to blast them with some dark magic. But Luna’s spell kicks in and stops the unicorn in his destruction. The blue magic around Sombra’s created a magic barrier which stopped the black magic from being formed. The barrier then caused Sombra to fall on the ground, as he trembled from his bleeding wound that smeared the streets.
End of Chapter 3
Chapter 4: One’s Instinct, Another’s Denial
As Sombra fell into unconsciousness, Twilight and Harmony both look down upon the injured stallion. The two mares then began to argue.
“Harmony, normally your ideas are well-thought out. But this is a HORRIBLE idea! What were you thinking?! You can’t just let Sombra free and expect to reform him! What if this sort of thing happens again? What if next time, Sombra attacks the whole of Equestria?” Twilight angrily debated.
“Twilight, listen. Something’s wrong with him.” Harmony calmly answered.
“Yeah, he’s EVIL!” Twilight retorted.
“He’s NOT evil. He may act evil but inside, I see a kind, gentle soul. You saw the way he acted before this outburst. He was being friendly and sweet but then something turned him back into his cruel self.” said Harmony, as she started to examine Sombra’s unconscious body. “Now that I think about it, I think Sombra might be possessed.” She added.
“What?” Twilight exclaimed in disbelief.
“I’m not entirely sure, but the way his eyes shifted from green to normal, his crazed look and the way he cried in pain. That’s a definite sign that he’s being tortured by something. Maybe if I reform him and become his friend, maybe I can cure him from this supposed possession.” Harmony explained, as she felt confident on her decision.
Twilight knew she could trust her friend with this issue, but her worries still clouded her thoughts.
“This is too much for you to handle, Harmony. You can’t reform somepony like Sombra. And I strongly suggest you put Sombra back into Tartarus before he causes more havoc.” She calmly replied.
“Come on, Twilight. I’m not doing this just ‘cause of some random idea. I did it because; I see the good in everypony, like Celestia said, I want to become his friend because… because I care about him. If you don’t want to help, that’s fine. And if Sombra causes any more trouble, I’ll take full responsibility for his actions. But I want to become his friend, not for Celestia, not for Equestria, but for the sake of friendship. Twilight, friendship is most powerful magic there is and my instinct tells me we should give him a second chance. Please, please let me become his friend.” Harmony persuaded, as she pulled a sincerely unhappy face, not a puppy-dog look.
Twilight thought long and hard about what Harmony said and finally replied. “Okay, Harmony. I trust you. You can befriend him. And if you need any help, we’ll always be there. But we’re not gonna trust him until he’s COMPLETELY reformed. And you gotta take responsibility for his actions.”
“Of course I will. Thanks, Twilight; you truly are a great friend. And don’t worry, I’ll make sure Sombra will become a good friend soon enough!” said Harmony brightly, as she gave her alicorn friend a hug.
“I hope so.” Twilight answered, as she showed a small trusting smile.
After the two mares reconciled, Sombra awakened from the creature’s control, he was still his King Sombra self, but not in a possessed way. Sombra’s vision was blurred; his mind was still corrupted by the creature inside him. But his senses were slowing restarting.
“What? What happened to me?” He asked as he tried to regain his memory.
“Well, apart from going blimin’ insane, calling me a ‘mortal’, scaring the living daylights out of everypony and trying to cut yourself, nothing else happened.” Harmony answered “Seriously though, are you alright?” She added, as she looked at Sombra’s bleeding limb.
“I’m fine. It’s nothing.” Sombra boldly responded, as he brushed off the injury as a small scratch.
“Nothing? You almost got internal bleeding! We need to get you to a hospital quickly.” Harmony reasoned, as she carefully used a cloth to wipe her blood and dirt of the wounded limb.
“Harmony, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but after that outburst, I don’t think that the Canterlot Hospital will look after a demonic creature.” Twilight replied, before she thought over what to do. Then, she hatched an idea. “Harmony, why don’t you do it? You did pass a medical course in Trottingham University.” Twilight added positively.
“But my kit’s back in Ponyville. We’ll never be able to heal him in time if we go back there.” Harmony answered, as she dropped her ears in sorrow.
“Then we’ll just have to improvise. We’ll take Sombra back to Ponyville to stitch him up. And in the meantime, we’ll use some spare bandages to stop the wound from bleeding. Don’t worry, we can do this.” said Twilight, cheering up her friend.
With careful haste, the two mares helped the injured stallion to the train station. As the trio climbed upon the train, Twilight quickly got a pack of bandages from her saddlebags and wrapped up Sombra’s limb. Harmony wasn’t going to give up on her new friend and she was determined to show how much she cared for this tormented soul.
As the train left for Ponyville, Celestia and Luna have watched over the train as it sped from Canterlot. Luna watched in positivity but ironically enough, Celestia watched in dismay.
“Don’t worry, sister. Harmony knows what she’s doing. And my spell will prevent Sombra from casting any more dark magic.” Luna reassured her sister.
“I know, Luna. But even with his dark magic gone, he might not be so lenient.” Celestia answered.
End of Chapter 4
