1. Alliance
Waiting alone in her chambers, Celestia looked down at her crown on the dresser. She remained still as thoughts raced in her mind. Everything that happened, and everything that was about to happen, it all filled her with a nervousness she had not experienced in years.
Her eyes remained locked on her crown. Its beautiful design and priced gems once held a great deal of pride for her, but now it was no more than an accessory she used for formality. Yet it was this very piece of royal headwear that had driven her to make this decision. A decision she was not completely sure was the right one.
"Sister?" A voice called out from behind her. The sudden sound of her voice surprised Celestia and quickly made her turn around. "You called for me?"
"Ah, Luna. Come in, there's something I need to talk to you about." She said as she calmed herself and used her magic to place her crown back on her head while feigning a smile. One Luna could see right through.
"What's wrong? You don't seem like yourself." Luna said as she walked in. Her sister used her bright yellow magic to shut the door behind her, only making her worry more because of it. "Is everything alright?"
"I want to say yes." Celestia began. "But I think I might have made a mistake."
"A mistake? You mean this party you're hosting?" Luna asked as he sister began to direct her to the balcony. Together they walked out into the cool night breeze passing by. Their manes gently swayed in the wind's direction as they glowed to illuminate the rather dark area. "I must admit, this caught me and many ponies by surprise. To host a party at a time like this, and with such little notice."
"Yes, the party was rather rushed, but more so because of this new...acquaintance." Celestia said as she leaned against the edge of the balcony.
"The new ally you spoke about?"
"Yes..."
"You've been rather vague on who this pony is. I assume you wanted it to be a surprise?"
"No, well yes in a way. I just didn't want to make any pony nervous about this...ordeal." Celestia said as she looked away at the Kingdom of Canterlot. Luna wrinkled her brows in worry at seeing her sister so down and melancholy.
"Your vagueness is making me nervous, sister."
"I know it is. Which is why I brought you here before the party began. Before anypony saw what is about to happen." She said as she finally returned her gaze to her sister.
"W-What is it?" Luna asked in a dread filled tone.
"Whatever happens, I need you to remain calm. You have to promise me that, alright?"
"Sister?" Luna gulped, small beads of sweat beginning to form at her forehead from raw anxiety of seeing Celestia so grim.
Her attention, however, was quickly diverted back into the chamber when she heard a hoof hit the ground. Luna's eyes slowly widened as she instantly recognized the pony making his way towards them from the shadows. She gritted her teeth as she narrowed her eyes in anger, but Celestia's hoof on her shoulder held her back.
"Luna. Please. Hear me out."
<=•=>
"Doesn't this place look simply divine?" Rarity asked in her usual exaggerated manner. Her eyes remained glued to the sparkling decorations all around the banquet halls they were in. She had the same look in her eyes she always got when she found an inspiration for a new fashion line, no doubt she would be busy at work in the coming weeks.
"It does look rather pretty." Fluttershy echoed her friend. "What do you think Twilight?"
Both mares turned to look at their friend for a response, but as they did, grew weary at the distant expression she carried. At the moment the three of them sat at a large table that had been reserved for them, all the Elements of Harmony. While the other three had gone off to take care of a few things before the party began, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight were content enough to sit and talk, or so it had seemed.
"Everything alright Twilight?" Rarity asked as she gently nudged her friend.
"Wha- huh?" Twilight replied as she was quickly brought back into reality, shaking her head to regain some composure. "I'm sorry, what was that?"
"Are you okay?"
"Oh, yeah. Why do you ask?"
"Well you've been a little, er, out of it Darling."
"Oh..." Twilight began as she brought her drink closer with her magic. Gently shaking the glass to mix the ice inside, she sighed. "I was just thinking."
"You've been doing that a lot lately." Fluttershy said softly. "You get really really quiet and shut everypony else off."
"I don't mean to. It's just things have been really..."
"Stressful?" Rarity finished for her.
"Yes. Things between Equestria and Taurusia has gotten on edge." She said as she finally took a drink. "First the Minotaurs began to demand a larger payment for some of their trade. Then we had the incident at Manehattan. One thing led to another and now we have both ponies and Minotaurs hating each other over trivial things. If we're not careful things could spiral out of control."
"Well, if it's any consolation, you at least have more Princess Duties to take care of like you wanted." Rarity said, trying to look at the brighter side of things. Twilight's only response was to allow her head fall onto the table in a deep exaggerated sigh.
Both Fluttershy and Rarity laughed nervously as they tried to think of a way to lift their friend's spirits. The unicorn did the only thing she knew would help even for a moment.
"Excuse me?" She called out to a waiter. "Could we get a couple more drinks?"
<=•=>
"How boring!" A voice shouted from above the mare taking a stroll along the castle garden. Rolling her eyes, she looked up and replied.
"If ya didn't wanna come, ya shoulda stayed with everypony else." Applejack said to her friend.
"I thought something exciting would happen!"
"Ah told ya, Ah just wanted to stretch my legs is all."
"Yeah, with that look on your face? No, you were trying to make sure there weren't any spies or something hanging around the castle."
"Rainbow, are ya trying to look for trouble? It's that kinda mentality that started this whole mess. We can't go 'round pointing hooves at everypony we see. This is just a get together Princess Celestia threw together to lift everypony's spirits." Applejack said as she rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, except that Princess Celestia is hosting a party out of the blue right after that thing in Manehattan. I thought for sure something would at least explode." Rainbow Dash said as she flew lower to be at a more audible distance from her friend.
"Jeez, it's like yer the only pony actually hoping we break out into war or somethin'."
"Ha, those bulls wouldn't stand a chance against us if we did!"
"It shouldn't have to come to that!" Applejack said, raising her voice subconsciously. The last thing she wanted to worry about was war over taking Equestria, or worse yet, a draft.
"Yeah yeah, whatever." Rainbow responded, though it certainly didn't give her friend a reassurance that the conversation was over. Sighing, Applejack decided to take the route to avoid an argument.
"How 'bout we go back to the others? Ah've stretched my legs enough."
"Sure, it's boring out here anyway." Rainbow said as she flew higher up and darted towards the grand hall. As she left, Applejack came to a stop.
She took a moment to look up at the sky, the sun was long gone and in its place now stood the shining stars and grandiose moon. Smiling softly, she awaited for them to pass by. The same two shooting stars that appeared in the night sky whenever she wished for guidance.
"Please don't let war come." Applejack said softly before turning around to begin her trip back to her table. Though a certain pink mane was all she saw as she looked ahead.
"Hi!" Pinkie shouted, causing Applejack to jumped back a little.
"Gah! Pinkie, don't do that!" She said as her hoof clutched at her chest. "Almost gave me a heart attack!"
"Sorry!" Pinkie apologized, though the giggles she let out didn't exactly express it. "But you looked so sad, I thought I could cheer you up!"
"By tryin' to make me jump outta my fur?"
"I've never jumped out of my fur before, think it would be fun?!"
"Ah doubt it's a pleasant experience to be honest." Applejack said with a brow raised as she and Pinkie began to make their way back into the castle. AJ's calm walk in to the highly decorated halls of Canterlot Castle was ill complimented by Pinkie's skipping and hopping beside her, though by now ponies had stopped looked at her in a crazy manner. Likely because they already knew what to expect from the from her.
Quite some time had passed since their first visit to the Castle. Quite some time since the disaster they had caused at the Gala. Their names had since then grown in fame and word of their victories echoed in many ears. Now they could care less about what sort of mess or mishap they make when they take into consideration how many times they've saved Equestria, most ponies anyway. Others, for the sake of their own pride, continued to keep them at hoof's length until they've proven themselves worthy in their eyes. Notably, ponies like Blue Blood and his grand following.
"Say Pinkie." Applejack began, not exactly liking how quiet her friend was for a change. "Whatcha make of this party?"
"It's fun, missing a lot of balloons and confetti, but I guess they don't like those kind of things in high society parties like these. So I suppose it's okay."
"No, Ah mean, whatcha make of how we were all invited to this party?" Applejack continued to express her concern. "In the invitations Princess Celestia urged us to come. Made it sound like it was very important. Not to mention this whole gig was put together in like a day. Don't these sort of things usually get announced like a year in advanced?"
"Hmmm, I dunno." Pinkie replied bluntly. "But if it was put together really fast, that would explain why there aren't any balloons!" She said with a snorted laugh.
Applejack smiled softly at her, not really wanting to push her own worries on onto Pinkie's pep, she just nodded in agreement and continued forward. Perhaps she was simply reading too much into everything.
<=•=>
Finally landing at the doors to the party, Rainbow felt the ground beneath her hooves and instantly felt out of place. Rarely would she leave the air, but even she knew that it wasn't the time or place for it. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the doors open and returned once more to the crowded interior of the castle. She instantly began to regret her decision of leaving the air.
"Oh come on." She said softly as she began to squeeze her way through everypony. Waiters would expertly avoid dropping the treys they carried, no doubt they've plenty of experience. Rainbow, on the other hoof, struggled to keep herself balanced as ponies bumped into her.
Thankfully there were certain parts of the room not too cramped and she did her best to aim herself in those directions to breath in fresh air in between her dives into the mass perfume and cologne that was drenched in the ocean of ponies. As she pushed her way out of a tight fit, she accidentally ran forward into somepony.
"Argh, sorry." She said as she rubbed her head, not even looking at who stood in front of her. "Hard to get around."
"My oh my, you best be careful then. We wouldn't want you to get hurt now would we?" A stallion's voice said.
Rainbow Dash froze. Her eyes opened wide ad she instantly recognized the voice she heard. Slowly she looked up at whom she now knew was a towering figure compared to her. With a sly smile, he chuckle softly at her reaction. His crimson eyes looked down at her in an almost menacing stare, yet the soft allure of his smile contradicted it. She couldn't tell if he was leering or glaring, either way, his presence alone brought dread to her heart.
"So...Som..." Rainbow tried to speak, but the shock of seeing his silver crown and red royal cape only made the task of saying his name more daunting. After all, he should be dead. "Sombra."
Again he chuckled. "It's 'King' Sombra, though I'm sure you already knew that." He said as he began to make his way around the mare and towards a crown of ponies to start up conversation.
Rainbow Dash slowly broke out of her shock. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she quickly grabbed a hold of one of the waiters passing by and pulled him close, making him drop his trey of drinks.
"Go to table E6, tell them to get here, pronto!" Rainbow Dash said as she pushed him away before taking flight. In a brash assault, she charged at the dark stallion. Sombra's smile was unwavering as he saw her approach. Only growing larger as his eyes were lit aflame in a purple blaze.
<=•=>
"Hello Applejack, Pinkie Pie." Rarity said as she waved at her friends coming their way. "How was your walk?"
"Super fun!" Pinkie shouted in delight. "Applejack and I had a super deep sister conversation on the way here!"
"Ah wouldn't call it that." Applejack said with a raised brow. "But it was kinda nice to just walk around. Ah dunno how ya'll can just sit around all night."
"It's better than walking around." Fluttershy spoke out. "There are too many ponies as it is. I got bumped into so many times just getting something to drink."
"Oh Darling, that's why we send others to get our drinks for us."
"But I wouldn't want to impose..."
"It's their job, dear, you're not imposing on anypony." Rarity said as she placed a reassuring hoof on her friend. "Oh look, he's coming back already. Wait a second, where are our drinks?"
"Uh, uhm. Excuse me." The waiter said hesitantly. "I was told by a rainbow maned mare to ask you all to come find her at the gathering hall down the corridor."
"Why couldn't she come tell us herself?" Applejack asked in annoyance.
"Probably because she began fighting one of the guests." He responded, though as the words left his mouth, the sound of a cup hitting the ground was heard.
All of the mares were in shock, though their silence was quickly broken when they heard the roaring scream of ponies running away from elsewhere. They immediately stood up and began running in their direction.
"Oh, I almost forgot." Rarity said mid gallop. Quickly turning back, she levitated a small gem and placed it on the waiter's pocket. "Thank you for the tip, here's your tip." She said as she resumed her run, leaving the stallion with his mouth open in surprise. "Don't forget about those drinks now.~"
"What in the world is that girl thinking?" Twilight asked out as she ran. "Doesn't she know this will make things worse for us?!"
"She better have a good reason for this." Applejack echoed her disapproval.
It was easy to find where Rainbow Dash was, all they had to do was run in the opposite direction everypony else was running from. Soon enough they reached the gathering hall where the fight was taking place. Quickly turning the corner to go into the large room, the group collectively gasped as they saw Sombra standing alone with debris spread all around him.
Looking around, they quickly found their friend bound in chains near the ceiling. Black metal chains wrapped around the pegasus, keeping her rooted in place. The chains all seemed to have been attached to a small black crystal that latched on to flat surfaces like the walls, ceiling, or floor.
"Gah!" Rainbow shouted as she struggled against her bindings.
"I think Rainbow Dash had a good reason after all." Fluttershy said meekly as she took a step back, hiding behind Rarity as she finally joined.
"Sombra!" Twilight shouted as she walked forward towards the stallion.
"Oh, hello there. Twilight Sparkle right?" Sombra asked as he turned to face her. "Do forgive me, I didn't want it to come to this, but your friend left me no choice."
"Release her!" She growled.
"As you wish." He replied with a shrug before stomping twice on the ground. The chains wrapped around Rainbow Dash quickly disappeared and she was left free.
Stabilizing herself mid fall, Rainbow Dash quickly flew over to her friends and took a combat stance as she recovered from the pain of the shackles.
"What are you doing here?!" Twilight continued her demands.
"I came to enjoy the party, like you I would assume." Sombra replied with a smug smile. "Or would you rather try to interrogate me all night?"
Something about his calm demeanor made him all the more menacing. His eyes lit in his dark magic as he seeped away the fear of the ponies around him, only empowering him more. Twilight knew that fighting him extensively would probably just make things worse. Instead, she sought to end it quick.
"Girls, get into your positions." She said as she took a step forward. Everypony did as they were told and soon they all began to glow.
"Ah, transforming, like you did against Tirek." Sombra said as he slowly began to walk forward. "I'm sorry, but I simply cannot allow it."
Jumping to the side, Sombra clapped his fore hooves together and magically created a black chain. Using it like a whip, he threw it at Applejack where it locked into a shackle. He then pulled her out of place and across the room, disrupting the group's transformation.
"Applejack!" The mares shouted out as they saw their friend crash into a table, knocking everything up into the air.
The shackled mare struggled to her hooves, the heaving chain at her torso making it hard for her to move at all. Gritting her teeth, she took hold of the chain and began to pull on it.
"A chain works both ways Sombra!" She shouted as she used one powerful yank to pull him to the side and knock him off balance. Shocked at her burst of strength, Sombra quickly recovered and used his magic to summon a crystal pillar from which he attacked his end of the chain.
"My oh my, you're certainly stronger than your pegasus friend." He said as he dusted his cape off. "This might be more entertaining than I anticipated."
"Enough!" A voice echoed through the gathering hall. In a flash of light, Celestia materialized herself above Sombra and came crashing down in a large dust cloud, hiding both her and Sombra's presence.
Murmurs were heard as ponies came to see the fight. Applejack's chain slowly began to disappear, allowing her to stand up right and await for the dust to settle.
"If you wanted me to set her free, all you had to do was ask you know." Sombra said casually as he continued to clean himself off. Celestia stood next to him with glaring eyes. Her powerful crash had managed to break the crystal pillar he had summoned, but had actually left Sombra unscathed.
"This was not part of the agreement Sombra!" Celestia shouted out.
"Neither was the part where I was attacked, but you don't see me crying about it." He replied with a cheeky smile, only irking her more.
"Princess Celestia, what's going on?" Twilight asked out as she and her friends rushed over to Applejack. "Why aren't you attacking him?"
"Because." Celestia said reluctantly. "Sombra is a friend."
"A friend?! Since when?"
"Since just over twenty-seven hours ago." Sombra interjected. "Actually, this entire party was made in my honor."
"You? You're the new ally mentioned in the invitation?!"
"The one and only." Sombra said with a small bow. "I'm Sombra, King of Tartarus and new supporter of Equestria. A pleasure to be formally introduced to each of you."
Left wide eyed and astonished by his statement, the mares looked over to Celestia for confirmation. She reluctantly nodded proving his words true. This only surprised them more and were left speechless for a moment.
The waiter from before slowly poked his head out of the crowd just outside the gathering hall. He made his way to Rarity with a trey full of drinks and placed it on a stable table close by before talking to her.
"Y-Your drinks."
"Umm, thank you kind sir." She said softly as she broke out of her shock. "Though considering the events we just witnessed, we're going to need more." As if on cue, a ceiling tile fell and broke the silence that had seeped back in. "A lot more."
Waking to the sound of chains rattling, Celestia strained her eyes to see in the dark environment she found herself in. She felt weak, or rather, drained. Like if something fowl had taken hold of her and placed a spell to keep her down. As she composed herself and began to understand her surroundings, she found the source of the noise she was hearing.
She was currently on top a spire-like construct in a rather vacant area of dark mountains. At the edge of it, two chains moved upward as they pulled something up to the plateau she was on. Being that she was already on the tallest construct for miles around, she could not fathom what these chains were attached to as they continued to rattle their way up. Then again, nothing was making much sense.
Finally things began to click she recalled this dark place.
"Tartarus..." She whispered as she looked around. The last thing she remembered was using a mirror portal to enter this realm in search of that energy that peaked her interest last she visited. Not that her last visit was a pleasant one.
"But how did I arrive all the way over here?" She asked as she tried to stand, though felt a tug at her hind leg as she did. Looking back, she found herself shackled to a small dark crystal spike with the same kind of chain as the other two.
"Cerberus brought you here." A voice answer. Celestia opened her eyes wide in surprise as the deep voice cut into her ears. "Found you wandering the place, felt the need to bring you to me considering that you were a prisoner at one point."
"Sombra..." She said softly as she remained locked in place, not willing to turn her head to look at him to confirm her thoughts. Instead of waiting for her to do so, Sombra began to make his way towards her instead.
"And my oh my what a prize he found. I'm going to have to give him a treat for this. Make that three t make it fair, one for each head." He continued on, circling around to finally face the glaring mare. "What do you think? One or three?"
"I knew it."
"Hmm?" He asked as he raised a brow, not at all concerned with the mare in front of him. "Knew what?"
"When Tirek trapped us here. I felt it. Felt the presence of dark magic. I feared it might have been you. Now I know for certain."
"My, and now that you confirmed this little bit of information, what are you going to do?" He asked with a chuckle. Coming ever closer, Sombra and Celestia's faces were inches away from one another as she stared back at his smirking face with piercing eyes.
She didn't respond. Truth be told, she wasn't prepared for this. She knew the risk of coming alone, but thought she could hold her own. Or at the very least escape. Never in her worst of nightmares would she believe she would be blindsided and brought to her knees by a simple chain. A chain she continued to struggle against as she stared into Sombra's crimson eyes.
"Don't bother trying to break that chain." Sombra said as he finally took a step back. “The chains crafted here in Tartarus cannot be broken by either brute strength or magic. They are the chains that bind souls to this forsaken realm."
"What are you planning?" She began to interrogate despite her conditions.
"What's with the sudden accusations?" He replied with a laugh. "I simply want to chat."
"We can do that without the chains."
"I suppose we could, but I need you to remain completely still for when our third member of this reunion arrives."
"What?" Celestia asked as she furrowed her brows.
"Ah, here he is now."
The chains that had, to this moment, continued to pull something up, finally brought their cargo. A large cage. As Celestia gazed upon the creature trapped inside, dread and fear filled her being. Though old and weak, she recognized him instantly.
"Tirek!?"
"So nice of you to remember me Princess." The centaur said as he crept to the edge of his cage and held onto his bars. "This is absolutely perfect. Sombra, hurry up and release me. I want to drain her magic again!"
"We'll get to that topic later." Sombra said as he stood between the two, blocking Tirek's view of the mare. "Firstly, I wanted to explain myself." He said as he turned to face Celestia.
"Explain? What exactly about?"
"Explain how this all came to be."
"What's the point. She'll be dead soon anyway." Tirek shouted from his cage. Sombra raised his hoof to signal him to keep silence, strangely enough it worked. He had turned his head slightly to the side and peered at Tirek with just one eye, but that alone seemed enough to frighten the once powerful centaur.
"There is a point to my madness." Sombra said as he walked towards Celestia. "I want her to know the how's and what's."
"To what end?" Celestia asked out in spite. "So you can gloat over your victory? You want to tell me where I went wrong and how you outsmarted me? Is that it?"
"Though I feel tempted." He said as he kneeled next to her to get on her eye level. "I simply think you deserve an explanation."
"How did you survive?" Celestia asked after a moment of silence. She thought humoring him a perfect way to buy time to figure a way out of this predicament.
"I was never in any danger to begin with." He responded as he waved his hoof in dismissal of the mere idea he could have gotten hurt. "It was an act."
"But why?"
"Let me tell you a little story..." Sombra said as he took another few steps backwards towards the ledge of the spire. "When I was a young colt I had a dream, more of a nightmare really, where I came here. I saw this place with my very own eyes."
"Tartarus?"
"Yes. This realm of the forsaken. This amazingly distraught place of pain and suffering. Once I laid eyes on it, I knew it had to be mine. I was to rule this place."
Sombra turned around to look at his newly acquired 'kingdom'. Darkness and rocks, that was the only constant of this place. Ponies and other creatures of the sort could be seen walking around almost aimlessly venturing the world in search of something. A deadpan expression was the only emotion they gave off, the face of complete and utter defeat.
"Fitting. After what you did to the Crystal Empire I shouldn't be surprised that you'd want to rule something like Tartarus." Celestia said as she continued to tinker with the chain tying her down now that he had turned away.
"True. I did some horrible things to the Empire. Then again, how else would I have gotten your attention? After sneaking into Starswirl's secret library, Canterlot was already searching for me. I just needed to light a beacon to lure you to me."
"So you could be banished for a thousand years?"
Immediately Sombra bursted into laughter. He turned to face the mare and she quickly stopped pulling at her shackle, not that he didn't already know what she was doing. Purposely ignoring that she was trying to escape, he began to make his way to Tirek's cage as his laugh died down into a deep chuckle.
"So I could move freely for a thousand years." He ended with a smirk. "Did you really think I would be beaten as easily as having a bright light shined on me and suddenly be engulfed in ice?"
"Well, I-"
"No. For you see, when I broke into Starswirl's library I discovered his mirror portals. I used them to come here, come to Tartarus. It was here that I met this old friend of yours. Right Tirek?"
"Quite." The centaur said as he finally spoke up again. "I hate the pony kind, but after the 'changes' you went through, I could hardly consider you a pony at all."
"Yes, so we made a deal."
"W-What kind of deal?" Celestia asked as she gulped at being stared down by the two opposing forces.
"Nothing you don't already know. I break him out and leave him to replenish his energy. The tricky part was figuring out a way to do so. Took quite a long time for me to gain Cerberus' trust. Once I did, I let him out for a walk while I freed him. Not long after, I made my dramatic return to lure your attention back to me so he could hide."
"After that." Tirek continued from where Sombra left off. "It would be my turn to return the favor. I would drain magic from anypony I met to lure your eyes away from Tartarus. Sombra would make the necessary arrangements to become its King. I would rule Equestria, and he Tartarus. A fair trade I would say."
"So that's how you were able to open a portal to Tartarus so easily." Celestia said as she recalled her time in her weakened, magicless state when she, her sister, and Cadence were banished to chains here. "Even I could never open a portal without a mirror as a medium."
"Something like that is easy for the King of Tartarus." Sombra said pridefully. "And here we are now. I poked my head around your imprisonment so you could catch scent of my magic just to bring you back here to me."
"Enough talk, allow me to feast Sombra." Tirek shouted as he began to rattle the cage he was in, though his actions and words were completely ignored by Sombra. He instead began to come full circle back to Celestia.
"Princess Celly." He said teasingly. "I want to make a deal with you."
"What?"
"WHAT?!" Tirek shouted loudest.
"You see, my entire life's purpose was to become king of this place. I have achieved it, and now wish to spread news of this victory of mine."
"Sombra, seize your joking and let me- Erk!" Tirek's shouts were quickly quieted as a powerful grip of a chain wrapped itself around his neck. Quickly more chains began to spawn from the edges of his cage and attached themselves to each of his limbs, leaving him immobile, but more importantly, silent.
"Truth be told the only reason I'm even having this conversation with you is because you rule Equestria. I thought it only fair for you to have a say in it." He said as he lowered his hoof which he had used to guide the chains to bind onto Tirek.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with Tirek. Enough, this jesting is not funny." Celestia asked out in astonishment at what he had done.
"It is no jest." Sombra said as he reached out his hoof towards her. She flinched the moment she saw him begin to cast magic in fear of being attacked, but instead, she felt herself become energized once more. Her shackle was gone. "I am King of Tartarus and I wish others to know. Now I give you a choice. I can become Equestria's enemy; live up to my Tyrant fame and spread my name in infamy. Or we could take the more sensible choice."
"Which is?" Celestia asked hesitantly.
"Form an alliance with me. Allow me to become your ally and help me spread word of this news through your kingdom's influences. I assure you having the King of this realm as a friend would be a worthy addition to your board of trusties." He said as he smiled once more, joking and hinting at things he already knew about Celestia and how she managed her own kingdom.
"And if I chose a third option?" Celestia asked as she took a step back into a battle ready stance.
"Then you would end up the same as Tirek over there and I'd continue on with plan A." He said as he lifted his hoof to bring out more chains from around him.
"I...I cannot make a choice like this out of nowhere..." She said as she noticed herself slowly become surrounded by more and more chains he manifested into existence. Again she tried to think of a way out but could find no clear answer.
"Celly, please, don't make this more complicated than it really is." Sombra said in a calm voice as he closed the distance between them. "The choice is simple, do you want a new ally or a new enemy?"
<=•=>
"And so I picked the only real choice I could make." Celestia finished her story as the other mares listened intently.
"It doesn't really sound like you had much of a choice though." Rarity was the first to say.
"Oh she had a choice, it just happened she had to choose between a bad decision and a sound one." Sombra said from the corner of the room.
Since the little battle between the mares and him, they had all moved to a more private location to tell the tale of how this alliance came to be. He had grown bored of the story midway and had instead retreated to reading a book from a nearby shelf. It certainly made Twilight and her friends more at ease having him farther away.
"Ya expect us to believe ya just up and turned good overnight?" Applejack asked as she stood up to face him.
"I haven't changed my ways in the slightest if that's what you're getting at." Sombra said as he closed the book and looked back at the mares. "But I am on your side."
"How can we really be certain of that?" Twilight spoke out as she stood up as well. Soon everypony stood as well and face off against him. The flurry of glares aimed at him only made him crack a smile as he replied.
"Because you're all still alive." He said as he placed the book down and began to walk to them. With each step he took everypony's hearts began to race faster and faster. Something about the confidence in his step made him all the more intimidating to look at.
"W-What does he mean by that?..." Fluttershy asked in a muffled cry.
"It means I know how to defeat you." He said as he come to a halt. "Actually, I already showed you how. You're power comes from standing united as one. If even one of you is missing, you have nothing. I could easily imprison any one of you in Tartarus and bring you team down one at a time." Sombra said as he directed his attention specifically at Fluttershy only making her cower behind Rarity.
"But won't." Celestia said as stepped between the clashing forces. "You wouldn't hurt your new friends now would you Sombra?"
"Of course not. I was just answering dear Fluttershy's question. Theoretically speaking of course, I know how to win a fight against them. I would never go against our alliance."
"Good." A voice said as the door to the room opened. Luna walked in with an irritated look on her face as she closed the door behind her. "Because the guests need some reassurance after that little scene you caused."
"Me? I was not the one to begin the fight here."
"How was I supposed to know I shouldn't attack the big baddie we had previously attacked?" Rainbow defended herself as she pointed her hoof at him.
"You weren't." Celestia said with a sigh. "Sombra was supposed to stay in the library until his formal presentation. That way, we could have avoided something like this from happening."
"You expected me to stay hidden away when there are these exotic ponies out there to mingle and converse with? Your library is dreadfully boring in comparison."
"I will choose to ignore your comment on my collection of literature." Celestia retorted.
"Ah yes, ignorance is indeed bliss is it not?" He chuckled.
"In any case." Luna interrupted before the argument got more out of hand. "I managed to gather everypony for his presentation as a supporter of Equestrian Society."
"Splendid." Sombra said cheerfully as he began to make his way to the exit, but was stopped as Luna extended her wing to block his path. Raising a brow and turning to her, he waited for an explanation.
"I don't trust you Sombra." She began as she narrowed her eyes to him. "You forced this decision on my sister and are now forcing us to play passive because of the circumstances."
"So you're not entirely naive after all." Sombra smirked to irk Luna's patience. "Yes, I played my cards carefully to make sure things go my way, but rest assured that I have no ill intentions towards you." Turning to face the Elements and Celestia he continued. "Or any of you either."
"I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt." Celestia said as she used her magic to gently close Luna's feathery limb and open the path to the door. "We've stressed our guests enough I think. Let us all return quickly and continue with Sombra's introduction.
In heavy reluctance, each one of the mares looked at Celestia who nodded for them to go. In a combination of sighs and gulps, they did so and made their way past Sombra and Luna who were still at the door frame. After they had all exited, Sombra gestured with his hoof to allow the Night Princess first.
"Ladies first." He said softly.
"Hmph." Luna grunted as she walked out. Surprisingly, Sombra didn't take offence to the attitude, simply waited for Celestia to pass as well.
"Give them time. I'm sure they'll come around." Celestia said as she moved by Sombra.
"What about you?" He replied, stopping her in her tracks. "Why aren't you fighting against the idea of having me here?"
"I like to believe there is good in everypony's hearts. I once thought I knew what lied in yours, but what happened in Tartarus made me think otherwise."
"Oh?" Sombra said as he raised a brow.
<=•=>
Tirek struggled against his chains in vain. Sombra's control over the metal shackles at his limbs didn't allow him to even pull and loosen the grip on his neck. Soon what little breath had had would run out and he would suffocate while trapped like a mouse.
"Release Tirek, you're killing him!" Celestia shouted as she poked her head to the side, looking over Sombra's shoulder to see her old enemy slowly lose consciousness.
Sombra took a moment to analyze the situation and after making sure it wasn't just some last minute attempt at a distraction, turned his head to see Tirek at the end of his rope.
"Why? He tried to kill you and your friends."
"No pony deserves to die, especially not like this!" Celestia shouted back. Looking into her violet eyes, Sombra took pity upon the centaur as requested. He ignited his eyes and summoned his dark magic to undo the chain bindings on him.
"There." Sombra said as he moved to the side to allow his guest a better view. "Though you realize I was doing you a favor right?"
Celestia ignored Sombra's comment and ran to Tirek to see if he was still breathing. Confirming that he was simply unconscious, she sighed in relief. Soon she was joined by Sombra whom stomped his hoof twice to allow the cage to slowly descend back to where it was last.
"Thank you." Celestia spoke softly as she looked over to Sombra.
"He'll try to escape and take your kingdom again, you know that right?"
"Yes, but I cannot bear the thought of having somepony killed. Especially after he's already received his punishment."
"Being banished to Tartarus is hardly enough a punishment in my eyes."
"Well it's a good thing I don't have your eyes now isn't it?" Celestia said with a small laugh as she turned to him. But as she made eye contact, she suddenly realize she was holding a rather normal conversation with Sombra. Her smile quickly died out as she looked at him, but his glance back at her remained the same.
It wasn't until now that Celestia came to realize just how normal and almost friendly his speech had been towards her. All this time she had thought him trying to have her lower her guard to attack, but it seemed that his words had been genuine from the start.
"Alright." She finally said.
"Hmm?"
"Let us create an alliance."
<=•=>
"Announcing King Sombra, Ruler of Tartarus and new supporter of Equestria!" A stallion shouted out as Sombra was brought forth from the top of the stairs alongside Celestia and Luna. The crowd stomped their hooves on the ground briefly to welcome him in, completely ignoring the battle that had taken place only moments ago.
"Thank you everypony." Sombra began as he waved his hoof out at them. "I am terribly sorry for the fighting some of you had the displeasure of witnessing. Still, if anything I would hope it proved that I am a worthy pony to have as a comrade, especially in this rather unstable time for your society. I pary I haven't scared any of you enough to avoid me. Please, let this party continue!"
The crowd all stomped a few more times before they began to disperse out back to where they were. Luna too began to move away to speak with friends, leaving Celestia and Sombra alone to walked down the stairs slowly.
"That was a rather nice speech." Celestia started.
"Nothing I rehearsed in front of the mirror if that's where you're getting at."
"Perhaps not, but I'm sure you did put some thought into it."
"A small portion. Most was improvised because of the fight."
"Which doesn't seem to bother you one bit."
"Should it? I don't blame them for wanting to fight me on sight. I certainly gave them reason to, only seems fair."
"You seem rather obsessed with fairness."
"It's my job."
"How so?"
Sombra could only chuckle at her question. Giving her a sly smile, he began to move away to join a random crowd in their conversation. He was quickly accepted in and they exchanged words for a moment, leaving Celestia alone to her own thoughts.
He might not be as outwardly evil as she had thought, but he certainly kept his secrets.
