Prologue: The Interrogation
The Greatest Poverty
by Fallen Astral
“The world as a whole is full of lies, and we as people become filled with them. The lies of today may greatly outnumber the truths, but the truth is still greater in power, and remains as the only thing that can end poverty and sin.” - Fallen Astral; FiMFiction, 2014
Prologue:
The Interrogation
There’s not much I can recall from my life. Most of what I can remember spans from my early to late childhood. I can even remember who I was, and who I was even friends with. Unfortunately, those memories are over two-thousand years old. Two-thousand years I lost sight of who I was, and who I was destined to be.
I was destined to someday rule the Crystal Empire. That day may have came to pass, but it wasn’t in the same way that I had intended. But that’s how life works, right? Fate never lets things happen the way one intends, nor will it ever.
Even though I can’t remember much from my life, I do have some things to remember. At most, the clearest memory I can recall is what and who I used to be. I can also recall what I became. It’s the very reason for my banishment. It’s the reason that every living, breathing creature in this world loathes even the mere mention of my name.
Sombra. My name alone even sounds menacing and cruel and evil, just like my old self. I hated my old self, and any crime or torture that evil Sombra committed upon the masses. The pain that my own sins created was overbearing, and almost too much for me to handle. Hm. My own pain, from my own sins. Sins that never should have been committed.
It sounds like things were never my fault, that I was never to blame for the horrid things I’d done, doesn’t it? But I assure you, the sins my evil side had done are all my own, each one another weight upon my heaving shoulders. And I doubt that anyone will have forgiven me for what I’ve done...no, what he’s done, but the best I can do is hope that there are a few out there who will.
My greatest fear, however, remains. I fear that my childhood friends will never be able to forgive me for the sins I have committed. I fear they will shut me out, and ignore me, or maybe they would even try to banish me once more, just like they had done in the past. But above all this, I fear that my friends will only see me as a monster. Another threat.
That is what I fear most. I fear that others will not see me and identify me by the good that I’ve done, but they’ll rather only be able to remember me by the bad that I never intended. They will only see me as a monster, another thing that has to be destroyed at all costs. If you once treated others like a monster, how else will they see you, no matter what you do to fix things?
And if they do forgive, what am I to do? Do I stay? Do I leave? Am I to try and make amends with those who I tortured and punished? After thousands of years, how will I adapt to society? What do I do? These questions, and many others I know I will never escape, unless ponies decide to accept me for who I am now, and forgive me for the evil I’d done.
If the day that all my questions, and any others I might have, are answered, then that day is not today. If the day that society accepts the new me does one day come, it will certainly not be any time soon. I can only wait, and hope. Hope. The one thing I have left in this world that I can call mine. Too bad that it could just as easily be taken from me.
The first pony that I did meet, however, was one that I did not expect to meet at all. In fact, had I stayed evil, I guarantee that I would have remembered her, and maybe even her friends. They were the ones who restored the goodness in my heart, after all. Thanks to them, I have finally escaped the evil, black-hearted version of myself.
It all started a few months ago, a time in which I could recall few memories from the mind of evil Sombra. If I remember correctly, he had been defeated by the Crystal Heart just after he had risen back from his banishment, ready to take back what is rightfully his (or, if you want to be politically correct, what was supposed to be mine).
I could feel a great wave of light and happiness rush through me, its rays tickling every fiber of my being. I could hear evil Sombra scream as we were pushed away, flying off into the distance. For a moment, I felt like the unused trash that had been thrown away. After a rough landing in the green fields beyond the kingdom, I felt darkness rush over me, and I blacked out.
For a few moments, everything is black. My mind tries to quickly process what had just happened, each thought running through my brain at a million miles per hour. Few thoughts stood out, but there were a few that repeated themselves several times over in my head.
Where am I? Am I in my bed? No...My bed isn’t hard. Where could I possibly- My thoughts cease as light shone through the thin layer of skin that covered my eyes.
I grunted and groaned, letting my eyes flutter open. The light stings my eyes and all I see is a blurred mesh of gray and brown and white. I blink a couple of times and things get a little clearer. I blink again and I see rocks and dirt and grass. Beyond all that is a blur of bright colors and shapes, each one gleaming brightly in the sunlight.
I’m lying on the ground? I thought. I take the time to look around quickly. Why am I lying on the ground? Where am I?
I slowly try to move, pain rushing through my body. Although the pain was light, it was just enough to make me wince as I moved. When the worst of the pain subsided, I checked myself over, making sure I had no major injuries. Luckily, I only had a few minor cuts and bruises. I also had a spliting headache which I knew wasn’t going away anytime soon.
Then I noticed something. I had legs, yes, but my front legs weren’t there. In their place was...hands? I stared confused for a moment, moving the hands around, making sure that they were mine, and that I wasn’t going crazy. Sure enough, they were mine. They responded to each of my commands, moving fluidly through the air.
I realized that I was human again! The blast from the Crystal Heart did more than defeat the evil Sombra, it restored the good me! I got ready to stand on my legs, but as soon as I stood, I fell right back down. “OW!” I yelled, rubbing my backside in pain. I was confused. Why can’t I stand up right? I was once human, so why should something as simple as standing become so difficult?
I then realized that since the evil Sombra was always a pony, he was forced to walk on four legs instead of two. Thousands of years made him forget how to walk on just two legs. I slowly rose back up from the ground, making sure that I kept control of my balance. When I was fully upright, I checked to make sure I wouldn’t fall, and took the first step.
“Alright,” I whispered to myself. “It’s just one step. You can do this.” My own reassurance of my ability wasn’t working very well. Sweat escaped from my brow, and streamed down my face as I lifted my leg and pushed it forward, letting it land softly on the grass. “Yes!” I yelled. I immediately covered my mouth, and looked around to make sure that no one was watching.
When I was sure that the coast was clear, I tried the less-simpler, but still quite easy act of walking forwards. Since I restored balance, the movement was easy and fluid, and I enjoyed every second of moving on my own since the time when-
NO! I yelled at myself, the thought bouncing around in my head. I knew I had to keep that particular memory repressed, or it might trigger something. I sighed, calming myself as I continued to walk around. Even though the movements were very easy, I wanted to make sure that I was capable before trying to do anything else.
After I felt capable of walking again without falling, I tried running. Now, it might have looked awkward to see me running, but I needed to know that I could run, just in case if I ever needed to actually run from something. When I had run a good distance, I continued putting my new (or is it old?) body through it paces.
I eventually finished the quick check. I stood proudly on a large hill that overlooked the rest of the fields, staring at the glistening castle that accented the skylines of the Crystal Empire. Good feelings ran through my veins as I looked on, ponies walking around in the distance. Then a thought occurred to me.
Wait, why are ponies occupying the Crystal Empire? I thought it was ruled and run by humans!? I continued to stare, not noticing the pegasus staring me down from above…She began to fly down at me, clearly having me for a target. I stared at the crystal city for a few more seconds, until the whoosh produced by the pegasus made me look up at her.
WHACK!
I could see a small group of multi-colored ponies approach me along with the pegasus that had attacked me unprovoked. I held for a few moments longer, until my conscious gave way, and I slipped into the blackness of unconsciousness.
‘[=]’[=]’[=]’[=]’
“What are you!? Where did you come from!? Who are you!? Answer me!”
The first of the long string of questions that would be asked of me. Rarely did they ever cross my mind, but after hearing them being spoken for the first time, I knew that I would never hear the end of them. My eyes slowly opened to a bright light that shined directly into my corneas, which made me flinch. I tried to shield my eyes from the light, but my arms were held down by cold, clanking metal.
I beared the pain of light, and opened my eyes. As I looked down, I could see that my arms were held down and my hands together by a set of handcuffs. I groaned, rubbing my head with what little of my arm I could pull up. I felt the air around me heavy, and saw that I was being held midair by a field of magic.
The room I was trapped in had a single lamp hanging above me. The rest of the room was shrouded in darkness, and there was no clear sign of escape for me. I looked around, hoping to find someone who could give answers to my many questions. I gave thought on which one to ask first, but settled with the first one that came to mind.
“Where am I?” I asked, slightly unsure if I should even ask. One half of me wanted to struggle and try to escape, the other telling me to demand that my captors let me go. I decided against both decisions. I listened intently as a lavender pony emerged from the darkness.
“Look who’s awake.”
I scanned her form, looking for any signs of her being a threat. After finding none, I looked back to her face, and pursed my lips, ready to repeat my question. “Where am I? Why am I here?”
“You’re in the Crystal Castle Throne room.” Another pony stepped out from the darkness. This one bore a horn and wings, and was a bright shade of pink. Her hair was multi-colored, and she was accompanied by two royal guards.
“Who are you? Why am I here?” I questioned sternly.
“We’ll be the ones asking the questions around here.” The same pegasus which had attacked me earlier stepped forward. She gave me a look over, just as I did her. Our eyes met when we found no threats. “Who, and...what are you!?” She yelled in a mixed tone. For a second I refused to speak, instead keeping my mouth shut, should any words provoke another attack.
“Rainbow Dash! I’ll be asking the questions, not you!” The lavender yelled at, who I assumed, was Rainbow Dash. She immediately looked back at me, making me push back as far as I could. I kept staring at her as she continued. “Now, who and what are you?” She asked. She got in my face as she did so, making me want to thrust her back, not that I could, anyway.
I waited before answering. Sighing, I opened my lips, and spoke out for the first time in over two millenia. “My name is Sombra. I’m a human being.”
The three gave confused looks as several more ponies walked out from the darkness. “Sorry for interrupting, Twilight, but I must ask. What in the world is a h-oo man?” A white pony pronounced each syllable like a little school girl learning her first words. It made me laugh a little just by thinking about it.
“More like how are you Sombra!?” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “We destroyed him! How can you be King Sombra? You two look nothing alike!” She screamed, throwing her hooves around in the air. It was quite annoying in my opinion.
“Well, if you’d listen-” I began, but Rainbow Dash cut me off...again.
“We’re not listening to a thing you say, you...you...monster!” She yelled, throwing her face at mine. I said nothing in return as we stared at each other. I noticed that the other ponies in the room held a similar expression, either that, or they had let their mouths hang agape.
“Yeah, that’s right! I said it” She yelled triumphantly. A million thoughts ran through my head, making me ignore her completely. “I called you a monster! Monster, monster, monster!” She chanted, throwing her hooves around, doing what I considered to be her victory dance. Instead of responding at all, I let tears stream down my face. I showed my weakness.
“Rainbow Dash!” The same white unicorn yelled to her as she looked between her and I. I ignored them both and let the waterfall of emotions continue to flow. “What a thing to say! You don’t even know this thing, nor who he is, and you dare yell at him, calling him a monster!? How dare you!”
I continued crying, something I had never done. Why? Someone had actually called me a monster. One of my worst fears came true. I didn’t know how else to react, so I just let the tears and the wailing come. I said nothing while the white unicorn walked up to me. “I’m sorry for Rainbow Dash’s harsh words, um...sir. She tends to think that yelling gets her anything she wants or needs.”
I wiped a few tears away, and sniffled. “Thank you.” I collected what little was left of my thoughts. “It’s just that...knowing ponies and humans, they would never forgive what evil Sombra had done. I feared that anything he’d done would be pinned on me instead, and everyone would call me a monster. That everyone would act like I shouldn’t even exist…”
“Well, let’s just hope that nopony else does that to you.” the lavender unicorn walked forward again, and looked me in the eye. “I’m sorry as well, for Rainbow’s actions. She shouldn’t be behaving that way.” She said sternly, glaring at Rainbow Dash. She then looked back to me, and the magic field that held me disappeared. “My name’s Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends.”
She relieved me of my arm and hand restraints, and let me stand. Not surprisingly, I was significantly taller than most of the ponies in the room. Twilight looked to the pink mare with the horn and wings, and nodded, after which the darkness of the room disappeared with the raising of a few window shades.
“You can call me Twilight. All my friends do.” She said with a reassuring smile. But it was immediately gone, and her serious face came back. “You’re still gonna need to answer our questions, though. No getting out of that.”
I sniffled once more, and nodded. “Yeah, sure. Just make sure that no one else calls me ‘monster’, will you? And, I’m gonna need help adjusting to society if I’m gonna live here.”
“That’s fine. We just need to be sure that you won’t be a threat to Equestria like the evil King Sombra was. After that, you’ll be good to go.” Twilight assured. We began to walk from the throne room, followed by all of her friends.
“By the way, I’m Cadance.” The same pink mare walked next to me. I nodded, letting her know that I had acknowledged her statement. I looked back at who I considered my new friends, but I couldn’t help but to wonder where my old friends were. What could Celestia, Luna, or even Discord be doing right now?
Back at the Royal Canterlot Gardens…
“So, how does it feel to be trapped in stone for a second time, Discord?” Luna asked triumphantly. She proudly trotted around him, a happy grin upon her face.
“Sister, please stop pestering Discord.” The Princess of the Night looked over to see her older sister walk towards her. Celestia held a less than pleased expression as she walked, but it lessened when she approached the statue. “Besides, we don’t want to upset our little prisoner…” She said with a grin.
“So, how are Twilight and her friends in the Crystal Empire?” Luna asked.
Celestia continued taunting the statue of the Chaos Spirit while she answered. “Oh, I haven’t received a letter since she left two weeks ago. I expect she’ll send one soon, though.” She looked up to the sky to see the sun ready to set below the horizon. “It’s time to raise the moon, Luna.”
Luna nodded, and the two moved their respective bodies to their places below and above the horizon. They continued to watch as the sun and moon moved, the last glimpse of light shimmering just as the sun pulled below the peaks of the mountains. Just after their tasks were done, Luna looked over to her sister with a look of worry.
“Sister?”
“Hm?” Celestia answered.
“I have a strange feeling.”
Celestia looked over to Luna. “What do you mean by that?” She started to walk over while Luna continued.
“I just feel that something bad will happen. Like something out there isn’t right, and somepony has just set off a chain of events that will soon lead to our destruction.” She said, barely believing her own thoughts.
“Don’t worry about it, dear sister. Now, I will sleep. I will see you come dawn.” Celestia said, putting a hoof on Luna’s shoulder. Luna nodded, and the two parted for the night as Celestia trotted to her bedchambers and Luna remained in the gardens. Soon after her sister left, Luna grinned at the statue of Discord.
“Now, Discord. Where were we?”
