Author's Note

“It hurts to breathe. It hurts to live. I hate her, yet I do not think I can exist without her.”
― Charlotte Featherstone

The King's Tale

This is but one of the legends of which the ponies speak…

Once upon a time, there was a land, not entirely unlike this one, called Equestria. There, the dominant species were not humans, but actually equines, ponies if you would like. And among them, a kind was clearly superior, the unicorn race. They had magical abilities far above their peers, and were able to bend minds, control matter and produce energy at will.

In the north of Equestria existed a kingdom where a crystal power lay hidden. It was a prosperous magical land, blessed with beautiful ponies, tall mountains, and peace.

But one day, a unicorn whose heart was black as night conquered the crystal kingdom. He found the crystal power and took it for himself. Combining his magic with the crystal at his command, he spread darkness across the lands. He was called King Sombra.

He was finally overthrown by a combined attack of the other leaders of Equestria. Turned into a mere shadow of his former self, he was banished to the frozen ice caps. As a desperate countermeasure, King Sombra was able to put a curse upon the entire crystal kingdom he had conquered, a curse that caused it to vanish for a thousand years.

Or so, history goes.

The truth about really happened is a matter that only the King knew. The other leaders of Equestria thought of him as nothing more than a savage beast, barely able to speak, a homeless vagrant found by in the crystal land at the north. They said that Sombra was just a miserable opportunist who climbed ranks until he was able to take the empire throne by force. The attempts of the other leaders was to discredit Sombra, and make his defeat seem fair to everypony.

In true, Sombra’s blood was royal, the most royal in the entire land. He was the only heir of Queen Platinum, matriarch and sole leader of the unicorn race at the time of her death. The Queen fought against the sun and moon sisters for years, winged magical ponies that tried to unify the whole of Equestria under their watch.

By the time King Sombra inherited the throne, his empire was reduced to nothing more than a single city. And yet, Sombra received another blow not far after the death of his mother. This new blow came in the form of a prophecy, a prophecy that marked his whole existence.

The prophecy condemned him to be destroyed, not by a pony, but by a dragon. But there was a way to avoid that fate. The prophecy spoke about a mare, a mare that if mated with him, would make his rule last a thousand years.

“She will hold the perfection of the crystals in her body. Her heart and mind will be pure and perfect, and the moment the two of you meet each other to the eyes, her soul will resonate with yours, revealing to her that she was born to be your mate. Only when the mare and you my King are united, only then, the dragon will be unable to touch you” So had said the seer.

King Sombra took matters in his own hooves. He hated the notion that his fate could be sealed. A cruel war was started by him in order to eradicate as much dragons as he could, reducing what was once a civilized and prosperous race into reduced fragments of isolated, barely intelligent dragons. At the same time, he searched the whole land of Equestria for the crystal mare of prophecy. His attempt to avoid the prophecy became an obsession that steadily robbed him of his common sense, and in his madness he enslaved and raped every mare that seemed to hold the perfection of crystals on their bodies.

But the mare of prophecy did not appear.

Consumed by his rage and paranoia, he was an easy prey for the sun and moon sisters, and was defeated. But he survived, he couldn’t die, ironically the prophecy he so much feared had worked in his favor. With his Empire safely at his side, the King waited patiently during a thousand years in slumber, prepared to retake his rule in the future.

But his plans were halted a second time. Unable to gather his whole strength before his enemies united against him, a thousand years after his first defeat King Sombra found his definitive destruction by the actions of a simple baby dragon named Spike. Attacked with the crystal heart, in other days a weapon he himself used to search and control the mares he desired, King Sombra was blown to pieces, forever erased from Equestria.

He was too late to retake his kingdom. He was too late to notice that the prophecy could be fulfilled even by a baby dragon. And he was too late to see that the mare of prophecy was among the ones who fought against him that fateful day.

That should have been the end of King Sombra.

And yet, he existed. Dead, destroyed, his body turned into fragments, but still existing somehow. Perhaps it was because of his superior magical abilities. Perhaps it was because of the way he was killed, with the crystal heart magic. Perhaps it was because his horn survived intact.

Whatever the reason, he quickly noticed the advantages of his situation. He was beyond the veil of mortality, above the planes of physical existence. He could see present, past and future, not only of his reign, but also from an infinite number of timelines.

The quantity of different universes that he could see was massive, and increased at an exponential rate. Each one of them not only seemingly sprouted into existence each time a pony took a different decision, but as far as he could tell entire worlds were fabricated each time anypony imagined, believed, or wrote something. The timelines branched, streamed and converged, but all of them existed, all of them were real. His whole rule, his whole life, was but a mere fragment of the infinite cosmos of stories and timelines that involved ponies.

Even more impressive, was the fact that he could see far more than just ponies. Open to his eyes were an even greater number of worlds, dimensions and timelines inhabited by all sorts of creatures, some familiar and others completely alien to him. When he was a young colt and studied magic under Clover the Clever, he had learned theories about magical mirrors that were actually portals to different dimensions. He reasoned what he was seeing was actually said alternate worlds.

Keen observation revealed to him some constants among all the alternate universes.The same creatures, the same souls inhabited all of them. King Sombra could see how the same patterns repeated, the same friendships, the same loves, the same rivalries. It was as if each of this worlds were designed and watched by forces that knew exactly why and how things should be.

He saw many times in many different worlds, the ponies who fought against him, his crystal slaves, the foolish dragon who was his downfall. And even he, King Sombra, existed in many alternate realities. Much to his disappointment, most of his alternate selves were weak, pathetic mockeries of his true self.

It made King Sombra sick. It made him sick to see not only the creatures that defeated him living innumerable lives of peace and happiness. But also made him sick to see countless alternate versions of himself in the same carefree state, reformed and domesticated.

A lesser being would go mad with such revelations. But King Sombra had lived for a thousand years in a far darker oblivion, waiting for his return, for somepony like him, time had very little meaning. He decided to observe and analyze as much as he could of the new knowledge at his disposal.

He noticed an ever repeating pattern. The stupid dragon who caused his downfall in a mere fluke, always had a silly and pathetic infatuation with the same female. Even in the worlds were they were from different species, even when they could not even communicate, the same attraction repeated itself, time and time again. This individual, called Spike, no matter the time, the place or the reality, would always love a female named Rarity, no matter what she did, no matter how ridiculous, and one sided said love was.

It was then that he noticed this Rarity for the first time. She was one of the ponies that fought against him that fateful day, and with a single look at her body and the mark on her flank, he knew that she was the mare of the prophecy.

If only he had noticed her before he died. If only he had tried to talk to her.

Alas, his chance was lost. He was dead, and she was alive. But then he realized, he had an ocean of alternate universes at his disposal, with an equally high number of alternate Rarities for him to choose. If he had he way to manipulate the dimensions to his convenience, perhaps one of those femaless could be used just as well for his purposes.

Sombra searched for an ideal reality for the plan that was gestating in his consciousness. He did not wanted to make mistakes this time. He needed to cover all the possibilities. He finally found it, the perfect place. A world without hope, a world without magic. A world that was corrupted at almost every level, politics, religion, arts. A world devastated with violence. A world were power was everything. A world inhabited by beings called humans, weak creatures that were far too easily corrupted by greed, pride and lust.

In short, a world perfect for a being like him. Directing his gaze at said world, he looked for the person he would reveal himself to. A power hungry human with an evil heart. Someone who could follow his legacy.

He found someone worthy of his purposes, a man who shared his name. The unicorn king approached the chosen human during many nights, talking to him in dreams. The unicorn explained his story, his situation. And offered a deal.

The deal was simple, made so in order to facilitate the negotiation between the two very different beings from very different worlds. The human Sombra would receive all the knowledge, magic and power of the unicorn king. But in exchange for such gifts, he would look for the woman who shared the soul with the mare of prophecy, Rarity. He would take her as his mate, and in doing so, break the chains of destiny.

The human Sombra was skeptic, as was to be expected. But the King was persuasive, and the human began to feel that talking with the unicorn was almost as if he was talking to himself.

“You’re hesitant because you can’t believe the possibility. Tell me though, wouldn’t you like to take the chance to discover the thrill of true power?” the unicorn had said, successfully tempting the human.

Taking his decision, the human Sombra accepted the offer. The moment he received the knowledge and power of the unicorn king, he was invaded with an ultimate sense of superiority. The consciousness of the unicorn king disappeared, seemingly pleased that his legacy would perdure, and in that moment the human Sombra started to refer himself as King Sombra.

The new King also received the unicorn emotions and feelings. And because of that, he could sense how rage invaded him. How could it be, that a foolish baby dragon, in a fucking fluke could had defeated him? He was not going to let that crime go unpunished. He was going to search for the woman the unicorn mentioned, he would fuck her brutally and completely, and at the same time, he would pull the cruelest most horrible revenge on the stupid dragon.

Destiny and the powers beyond might have decided that King Sombra was fated to be destroyed or reformed in every other reality. But in HIS reality, the new King decided that he would break destiny, he would defeat the dragon completely, destroying his very soul forever, and he would become the almighty ruler of everything with the prophesied queen at his side. Such was the new fate he would forge for himself.

“I hope you catch my meaning, Spike” Sombra said, finally acknowledging a sobbing Spike “In one of our innumerable past lives, a dragon who shared your soul killed an unicorn who shared mine. Everything that happened here and in the previous months was our revenge against that felony.”

Spike was silent, still collapsed and facing the floor. All the fable sounded so strange, so illogical that his mind just couldn’t believe it. And yet, in his heart, he knew it could be true. Dragons, unicorns, ponies, those words made something inside him stir. Still, the story had left a small ray of hope, and even though he was utterly scared about destroying said hope it with his question, he had to know, he just had to know.

“Tell me, it was magic? It was magic what you used to transform Rarity and the reason she became this cruel version of herself?” Spike had asked the question without looking at him, fearing the answer already.

Sombra let out a long, guttural laugh before answering. “It was not magic. The prophecy was fulfilled, the moment I talked with your wife, and looked at her to the eyes, her heart knew, that she had been born to be my mate and my queen. The only reason she was with you was because she had never met me before.”

A new surge of rage against the so called King, and against Rarity surged from within Spike. But he found himself unable to move and speak. It was as if new invisible bindings were restraining his body.

Sombra kicked Spike in the stomach. “I did not used my magic on Rarity Spike, but I did used it on you. You see, even if you still don’t completely believe it, you have the soul of a dragon in your body. And I was not going to take any risks this time. For a very long time ago you have been playing in my hand. Just as I have used my new powers to increase my influence on this world, my magic allowed me to bind you, mentally and physically, in order to make you inoffensive. That is the reason why you couldn’t hurt me. That is the reason why you were stupid enough to believe every single one of your wife lies. And that is the reason why you are never going to defeat me.”

“Perhaps it can be a little comfort to know that in most of your previous and future lives Spike, you had a happy friendship with Rarity. Even then, you should remember, that the only way you two can be happy at all is that I don't get involved.” With another laugh, the King kicked with so much strength that Spike found himself turning upside down, with his back facing the floor and his eyes looking up.

He noticed that Rarity had reentered the white room. She looked happy, refreshed, completely indifferent to the suffering of her husband. He snuggled with the King, her expression showing bliss at being with the man.

"Now Spike, I could kill you right now. I could go eye for eye and took your life just as you took the life of the unicorn king. But that would not be enough." Sombra's face was one of a sinister mix of fury and joy. "I want you to live, to remember this moment for the rest of your days. To be forced by the cruel fate to always love the cruel woman that will never answer to you again. To always remember that you are my absolute inferior. That you, a dragon, the king of monsters, was mentally and phisically defeated by me."

Rarity laughed with delight. “Poor baby dragon!” she said in her evil, motherly tone. “Now Spikey Wikey, is time to say good bye.”

There was a bit of silence, and Spike wasn’t sure what was going on. Then suddenly, her wedding ring dropped right in front of his face, bouncing slightly, but not rolling away as its motions were slowed by the puddle of cum they had left in the floor. He watched it roll a little and then come to a stop in front of his face.

The world seemed to go silent for a moment as he watched the ring come to a stop. It was the perfect symbolic finish to Rarity’s game of pain and agony. Spike was so focused on the ring that it took him a moment to hear Rarity and the King open the door to leave the room.

“Was torturing him as fun as you had hoped?” King Sombra asked.

“Mmmm, better” Rarity purred in agreement, her mouth attached to the King’s. Then she said, “Should we get going darling? I want to be well rested before we meet everyone for brunch tomorrow.” Rarity laughed a charming, joyful laugh and then the lights went out and the door closed.

Spike felt a shock that pulled him back from his stupor. She was talking as if tomorrow she would just casually go off and meet friends and have wine and good times, as if stomping on his heart wasn’t life changing for her as it was for him. He would remember every second of all that happened here in excruciating detail for the rest of his life, and she was talking as if her life was going to merely go on being fun and at her leisure. The imbalance was infuriating.

It was perfectly silent and dark. Spike didn’t move at all, even though his body was free, some force was keeping him there, in the floor, naked and defenseless. He couldn’t believe he was just going to be left there. Did they intend to ignore him and forget him just like that?

Suddenly Spike went mental, fighting as hard as he could against the seemingly psychological restraints and screaming out. “HELP!! HELP!!”” He called out in hopes of someone hearing him. No one came in answer to his cries.

He had no idea what time it was. He guessed some time after midnight, but it was hard to say when. He tried to get calm and think about the situation. If it was the middle of the night, then there wouldn’t be many people around. The best thing to do would be to rest, conserve energy, and then in the morning when there might be people passing by close enough to hear him.

All the time he went through a few waves where he had a steely determination to get out of this and he imagined what he might be able to do the next day to get his revenge. Then his feelings would swing like a pendulum the other way and he felt so used, helpless and that he was destined to fail and it was all futile. He wailed and cried, knowing that there was no need to try and hold onto his manly pride by not crying. He knew Rarity and the King were far away by now and no one at all was listening to him.

Even while he lay there, the King’s words burned into him. It was true what he said that even though Rarity had been so cruel, Spike was not able to stop loving her. He refused to believe that it was just some kind of force outside of him that was making him love Rarity. As far as he knew, all the trash about alternate realities and magical unicorns was just bullshit, perhaps invented by Sombra as some mockery.

He couldn’t believe his love for Rarity was fabricated. Spike had years of building a relationship with her. A powerful, deep loving relationship. It didn’t just go away. Instead, it was there in his mind and his heart, right beside the new reality that she was sadistic and evil. The two feelings fought, and his whole psyche was caught in between, feeling unrelenting pain. He tried to believe she must be brainwashed, she must be drugged, or something that would explain that it wasn’t really her and that maybe he could get his Rarity back.

Although he had doubts about whether not he’d be able to sleep, the emotional turmoil was more exhausting than he would have imagined, and just from pure exhaustion he passed out sometime in the night. It was a fitful sleep, filled with nightmares that were just images and feelings, where he would see a Nightmarish Rarity and want her so bad, but she would ony laugh at him.

Some time later which must have been very early in the morning, Spike was discovered by two cleaners. They woke him up and were confused and concerned. Spike, however, was absolutely raging with anger. He thought they might somehow be connected with Rarity and Sombra, so he got ready to attack them the moment he got up, seemingly at total control of his body at last. However, after some confused pushing and shoving, it was clear they had absolutely no idea what was going on. They just worked at that building or were contracted to clean up this room, or something along those lines.

Spike’s clothes were in a pile in a corner of the room. He convinced the two cleaners to leave the room for a while as he dressed. He also wanted the time to get his bearings. He looked up at the two video cameras and felt a wince of anger. When he first came into the room, he wondered if they were on. Now he was certain they were, and they were going to play it back and laugh at his pain. He wanted to destroy the cameras, even though he knew the video they had filmed was somewhere else. He had nothing that could reach them, though, and he just left.

Spike came home to discover the apartment in a mess. It looked like there had been a party there. There were bottles and glasses everywhere and cigarette butts. A lot of things were broken. Some of it looked like it was broken incidentally, but some of it looked deliberate.

When he got into his bedroom, that’s when he noticed a lot of Rarity’s clothes missing. There was a huge empty space in the open closet, but Spike wasn’t interested in looking to see exactly what she took and what she left. It didn’t matter.

It became clear that Rarity had taken whatever she felt was sentimental, like some photo albums and keepsakes, but left most of her things, like she was leaving most of her life, behind. There were some details to that were designed to rub salt into Spike’s wounds. He found that of the pictures that were left, his face was burned or torn out of all of them, leaving only images of Rarity behind. It seemed she left behind anything that was a memory of him, but also ruined it so all he had was images of her. The message was clear. She mattered to him, he didn’t matter to her. In the floor, he found a black and red card with a phone number and an address for some place at the town center. He instinctively supposed it was for the King's apartment or house.

He convinced himself not to call the cops. He wanted to handle this himself, like a man. He thought that very day he might go out and get a gun and use it to kill Rarity and the King, and anyone else he might find her with at the time. Although even that plan was ambiguous. He also wanted to save Rarity from the sinister man. The King must have done something to her. In any case, whoever Spike had to kill, he didn’t care if he went to prison or even if he died in the process. The things that were done to him deserved absolute vengeance.