***

From then on it was the same technique, the purple mist would appear and something terrifying from his deepest fears would emerge. Whether it be spiders,Fluttershy dying, or being homeless on the street. But as Discord went on, he realized that this was starting to tire him. These fears came with a warning, the purple mist, but that didn't save him from the shock and pure crushing sadness or fear that would follow.

These fabricated visions of Discord's fears came like volts of electricity that shock to him through his body, each one more fierce than the next. But despite all of this, Discord forced himself to tread on with what little of his heart he had left to find King Sombra, wherever the heck he was.

What discord didn't know was that Sombra was watching in the darkness....

"Rrrrgh...he caught on to my technique...I was going to save this...but I guess I'll have to pull out the big guns..."

***

Discord's chest began to flood with anxiety as he tread through the light crushing darkness. He was looking back, waiting for the dreaded purple mist of fears. But after several moments, nothing happened. Discord still kept his guard up, he was ready for whatever was going to happen next. Moments turned to minutes, and minutes seemed like hours to him.

"Heh heh...Discord...you have done extremely well..." a deep voice echoed through the darkness.

Discord glanced around, "Sombra you coward!" he gritted his teeth, "Taking over my unconscious mind and triggering my up most terrifying fears! How pathetic is that? A real king would draw his sword!"

"Oh Discord, have you already forgotten that I have already drawn my sword?" Sombra hissed, "And you didn't deserve such an honorable death considering you fell like a chopped down oak tree... Lord Tirek was right, you have truly gone soft… And this is the only way I can get rid of you... In the worst way possible...

Discord let his fists ball up in a mix of fear and anger, "Are you joking? You must me if you think this is the worst way to die!" he laughed, "Bring on the chaos if you DARE!"

Sombra laughed coldly, "Oh I dare..."

"Then bring it on!"

All of a sudden, Sombra's laughter became harsher with longer echoes. A black arrow soared through the darkness, hitting Discord straight in the heart.

Discord howled in pain and confusion, "Ah! Where is the third vision, cheater?"

"Oh I realized I don't need that third vision anymore, you caught onto my technique and you would win… And I just can't let that happen... So I realized the only way I'm ever really going to beat you, is to stop you forever... By making you who you once were...making everyone kneel before you as you destroy their home!"

Discord's heart began to pound wildly in his chest, "How come you didn't do it sooner? You had many opportunities to do this before!"

Sombra laughed, "The reason I didn't do it sooner was I had to think about if I should use this method, I didn't want to waste it on anypony you know, just the lowest excuse for a villain... A villain who wants to be reformed, and has "seen the error of their ways"... I can only do this once, once every 1000 moons and only in this form as a last resort, for it drains my energy something fierce..."

"So… This is going to turn me into who I was?" Discord exclaimed.

Sombra appeared before the terrified Discord, in his robe and crown making him regal as ever, "Exactly, when this is all over you will be a true villain again, and what's better is that you will work for me and the Lord Tirek forever as we take over Equestria!"

Discord completely panicked and tried to pull the black arrow out of his chest, but it was stuck in place like the sword in the stone. What was worse, was the fact that a numb tingling feeling was starting to spread all over his body starting at the chest and working its way down to the tips of his claws and ears. "You can't do this!" he protested.

"You brought this on yourself, if you had just stayed a villain, this would never of happened…you would have taken over the world by now! But instead you have became soft like a pony and even became infatuated with one!"

"Please, I beg you, don't turn me back into a villian… When I began my reformation, I didn't want to change… But after living with Fluttershy my eyes were open to all the pain and misery, and not to mention annoyance, that I caused...!" Discord pleaded.

Sombra growled, "It was all that Fluttershy's fault...your love for her has made you weak..."

Discord saw that the arrow was emitting a black mist, that began to envelop him, "You're wrong...S-Sombra..." he struggled to get each and every word out as the mist was sucking the breath out of his lungs, "My love f-for Fluttershy has made me...b-better...ponies actually l-like me...and they want to b-be my...friend..." Discord winced as a sharp pain shot through him. "A-At one...time...you...y-you used to know how that felt..." he murmured, "The Crystal Ponies adored you...you b-brought them p-peace...and joy...u-until you demanded their love...and decided to force it out of them..."

"They stopped being loyal..."

"Only one stopped being loyal...the only pony you ever loved...oh, what was her name again? I have such a fuzzy memory..." Discord's voice was no longer laced with pain and fear, but regaining his coyness and pride in it, though it was still weak.

Sombra's eyes lost their terrifying glare and gained a look of pain, "Velvet Crystal...she betrayed me...she cheated on me with another Stallion..."

Discord laughed a bit, "Did she? Did she really cheat on you?" he asked, "It seem you didn't get the whole story..."

"What didn't I get?" Sombra roared, "I SAW HER KISS THAT STALLION ON THE CHEEK!"

"Ohohoho! Oh this is priceless!" Discord pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, "That stallion was her uncle! Moon Stone! He was visiting from Manehatten and she hadn't seen him and forever! And by the way," he nudged Sombra's shoulder, "He doesn't trot that way, he's into stallions!"

Sombra teleported out of Discord's space, "She told me that! But she was a compulsive liar! She said she was rich when she was poor, she said she had a brother when she had a sister, and she'd play sick to get out of working in the Crystal Mines!" he growled.

"Oh trust me, I know, she lied about everything," Discord said, "But she wasn't lying about this..."

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HER? YOU NEVER MET HER!"

Discord sighed, "You're right...I never did meet her...but Celestia did..."

Sombra's eyes widened, "What?"

Discord snapped his fingers and a TV appeared, "I wonder what's on TV?" he searched through the channels, "Tosh .0? No way, Big Bang Theory? That Sheldon fellow sure is into Star Trek...My Little Human? Oooh I am such a fan!" he soon reached a channel where Celestia was shown, "Here we go! It's called, History of the Crystal Empire! Sit down and take notes because you failed the last test!"

Sombra then watched the screen...

***

It was midnight in Canterlot, and Celestia along with her sister Luna were sitting at their thrones when all of a sudden the throne room doors swung open, revealing a royal guard with a small velvet colored earth pony with a curly darker velvet mane and soft tired brown eyes.

"Let's go you!" the guard growled as he shoved the mare forward.

The mare whimpered at the sudden force of motion.

Celestia looked down at her, "What is the meaning of this?"

"This burglar was sneaking around the royal gardens looking for an entrance!"

The mare glared at the guard, "I'm not a burglar! I wish to speak to the princesses!"

Luna spoke, "What do you need to speak with us about?"

"My name is Velvet Crystal! I come from the Crystal Empire, and I come bearing horrible news...and it's all my fault..." the pony said.

Celestia observed Velvet Crystal, she looked tired, as if she ran all the way from her Empire. Her cute mark was a bright blood red crystal shard, so she must have been a crystal miner. "What has happened?" Celestia asked as she stood up.

Velvet began to tremble in fear as tears began to form in the corners of her eyes, "It's King Sombra..." she whimpered, "He went mad a few days ago over thinking I...I c-cheated on him with another stallion..."

Luna went to her sister's side, "And did you?"

"No I didn't! I may have kept things from him but I would never cheat on him! I loved him with all my heart! My mother always taught me that cheating gets you nowhere!" Velvet told Celestia.

"Why did you keep things from him?" Luna pondered.

Velvet turned away "W-Well..he's big...powerful...and I'm small...weak...I wanted to seem big and powerful too...so he would love me..."

Celestia's hoof cupped Velvet's chin so their eyes met, "And I'm supposing he saw through all of the lies..."

When Celestia withdrew her hoof, Velvet nodded sadly.

Luna glanced at her sister and then back at the crystal pony, "No wonder he didn't believe you..."

Velvet Crystal let out a sob, "I-I meant no harm by it! I r-really didn't!" she wailed, "But now, he's demanding everyone's loyalty! He e-even found th-this dark m-magic spell that s-sealed off the...whole empire...no one can get in or out for a thousand years!"

"That's impossible!" Luna exclaimed.

Velvet pulled out a spell book, "It's possible...turn to the page with the warning on it..."

Celestia did so and looked back at Luna, "It's true..."

Luna glanced at the pages, "That's so strange..."

"There's nothing we can do now..." Celestia sighed, "Not for a thousand years..."

Velvet was crying now, more than she ever had in her life. She knelt down in despair, "This is all my fault!"

Celestia looked down at Velvet Crystal, "This is only partly your fault...and for being dishonest you should be punished..."

"But we believe this is punishment enough if you promise to be honest in the future..." Luna said.

"I promise! I promise!" Velvet wailed.

***

Sombra stood there in shock, "I loved her...no matter the wealth...no matter the family...I loved her so much...but when she said she didn't love that stallion, I just couldn't believe her...I couldn't trust her... tears fell from his eyes in a glimmer of grief, "If I couldn't trust her...who could I trust?"

"That's the thing about love...it's all about trust...if you really loved her you would trust her...lair or not..." Discord told the broken king, "Is there a line to how much one can lie? Yes, of course there is...but...when it comes to your love...you must trust her no matter what it may be...and if she abuses that...than she never loved you...but Velvet did love you...she isn't crying for her home...she's crying for you..."

Sombra fell to the floor, "I've been such a fool! I enslaved my empire for nothing! Velvet!"

Discord struggled to walk over to Sombra, "I'm sure she forgives you...and I'm sure she wants you to help me defeat Tirek..."

Sombra smiled, "I think she would like that..."

Author's Note

Thanks for reading!