The Triumphs and Demises of a Sombric War

by Michael Hudson

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, King Sombra, Adventure, Princess Celestia, Gore
Length: 3848

When faced against each other, who would win? Celestia, with her whole nation backing her and experience, or Sombra, a master of dark magic, and brutal beyond compare?

The Crystal Empire. A great kingdom, new in its birth, and unproven, but with much to gain if it moves fast. It holds enough troops to put up a great deal of resistance, especially when led by a stallion who has no moral obligations, and magic no other pony has ever used.

On the other side, we have Equestria. At peace for so long, and yet, still having a strong, standing army. Its length gives itself plenty of resources, but to cross such terrain takes time. Led by a powerful bureaucrat, and supposedly no sister, Celestia is a force few would wish to deal with, and many are inspired by.

Who wins when these two clash?

If anyone else thinks of Germany and Russia here, you know why I made this. I hope to look at all the ways Sombra could fail, or even perhaps, win. I have plenty of thoughts on the matter myself, but if you would like to suggest a way for this timeline to go for either side's favor, please, let me know, I will take it into consideration.

Thank you to RK_Striker and StardustSurvivor.

Published 2015-12-03 01:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2015-12-05 19:28:15 UTC

Lines

Celestia sipped on her tea, sitting within the grand, Canterlot throne room. She was waiting, reading battle reports from the front lines. They had mixed news, resulting in casualties, which always hurt Celestia’s soul to see. However, they were continuing to succeed in their twin missions, and so she merely had to continue waiting.

A soft slurp rang through the empty hall, just before the door at the other end opened, and a messenger pony ran up. She frowned for a moment, biting her lip ever so gently as she raised an eyebrow. It wouldn’t be impossible for this to be bad news, but she hoped it was what she was waiting for. What she had been praying for. “Yes?”

The white guardspony knelt before her, panting as his heart hammered in his chest. Looking up to the princess, sweat clouded his vision, and he brought one hoof up to swipe away the salt. He took in one more deep breath, before standing firm. “Sombra has requested an audience.”

Celestia’s whole body became stiff. While the war had been going on for many months, she had never spoken one on one with the false king. She put a hoof to her mouth, sucking in her lips as she thought. “Where is he?”

“Still besieged within Ghastly Gorge.”

“And his supply lines?”

“Still being allowed through.”

She nodded to herself, before standing up. “Thank you. I will go seek his company.” She shut her eyes, hoping that this was the day she had been waiting for, before blinking out of existence. The next moment, she stood within the encampment at the top of the gorge, surrounded by her ponies.

She looked around herself, smiling to the tired soldiers as they bowed to her. A creak brought her sight upwards, and she spotted Rainbow Dash flying to her, before the faithful commander brought a hoof up, saluting her princess. “Sombra awaits for you on a ledge between the armies. It is not made of crystal, and he has agreed to have our unicorns trained on him while you two speak. I will be joining you.”

Celestia nodded, beckoning the pegasus to the ground. Once there, she put a hoof upon Rainbow Dash, and softly smiled. “He is desperate.”

Rainbow looked beyond Celestia, and to wagons that were on the horizon, coming for their encampment. Dozens of transports, just to feed the large army that rested here. A cocky grin split over her muzzle. “I would hope so.” She turned around. “I’m ready, are you?”

Celestia breathed in, before nodding. The two began to walk through the other ponies. Every other time that she had been to camps like this, the ponies had been loud, a chorus of complaints or triumph that they wished to tell the princess, dependant on what the state of the war was. Today though, none wanted to put too much hope in her appearance. Not yet. She herself was by no means relaxed, despite what she thought may be the case.

They came to the edge of the gorge, and looked out upon the other army. The ponies at the bottom were hiding in their tents, making sure they could not be fired upon by the unicorns waiting above. On one ledge though, halfway up the cliff face, was a pony by himself in gray, steel armor, unlike the black that his army was clad in. That was her destination.

A short glide over, and she landed on the hard stone, before turning to the eyes of her adversary. The same, green eyes that had been tormenting her nation for almost a year by now. She remembered them well from a thousand years ago, and her own narrowed. “Hello, Sombra.”

He glared at her, slamming a hoof down. “Don’t act so casual with me.”

She forced back her anger, the casual nature being all that stopped her from trying to destroy him there and then. “I merely act to you with grace, something I would expect back from a fellow ruler.”

He growled ever so slightly, before nodding. “Then hello.”

“Much better.” She turned to Rainbow, who now had a constant glare affixed to Sombra. “I received word that you wished to speak to me. Here I am, so please, do allow me to know why.”

Sombra glanced away, baring his fangs a his own eyes scanned the edge of the gorge. Celestia did so out of her peripherals, but all she saw were her own soldiers. Standing there, waiting. “You won’t find help there.”

“I know!”

Celestia blinked while Sombra’s face was still only centimeters from her, before lifting a hoof, and pushing him back. “Please, you’ve been stuck here for what, a week? I would rather not gag at the moment.”

Sombra’s horn glowed, before the sparking of a dozen horns in his sight stopped him. “Why do you mock me?”

Celestia met his gaze head on, and said, “Because you are dead already. This is merely a formality.”

His shoulders slumped, before Sombra leaned back, getting away from the princess. “You… you don’t know that.”

Celestia shook her head, before looking to Rainbow. “Would you perhaps wish to tell him what we know?”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Gladly.” She flew up, staring down Sombra as she hovered in the air. “Your sneaky supply lines have been getting through because we know that a few hay bales every few days is not enough. We’d noticed almost a month ago that you entirely strip the land that you go through, but not of just gold. In fact, you left that behind. But never food.”

Celestia stepped forward. “When you came with such a massive army to push my own back, I was curious where they had come from. I feel like a fool for having not realized sooner that you had dipped into your farmers, and thus had to limit your supplies. And when you do that, you make active soldiers starve if you can’t salvage, just like at the bottom of a deadly gorge you did not see coming.”

Sombra’s eyes dilated, before he screamed, “Don’t mock me!” His blast radiated from his horn, jet black and straight, directed straight for Celestia’s chest. She was not a fool though, and the black knife never met, stopped by a shield that was powered by love, friendship, and a better diet than the hidden ribs underneath Sombra’s armor allowed.

She looked down upon him. “You will free your soldiers right now, and I will allow you to live in a small hut in the Crystal Empire, chained to the land, by steel and magic for the rest of your life. You will be stripped of your powers so you may hurt nopony else, and set to farm, so as to remind of your failure.”

Sombra was silent for a few moments, before looking down. “And if I would rather die?”

“Then I will grant you that mercy.”

Another long pause came, before Sombra lowered his head. When no ponies came around the bend, and a growl escaped the defeated king, Rainbow Dash turned away, just as Celestia charged her horn.

Puppetry

Celestia stood outside the Crystal empire’s capital, gazing upon the walls. She had her banner of peace flying, despite knowing that there was little hope for such a thing to come. Sombra was not the type to give in, even if she were to begin a siege. Besides, the guards on the ramparts looked at her through green slits, symbols of their armor glowing bright. Sombra would not have enslaved them to his will if he did not have a plan to use them. But then why did he not meet me in the field where we could fight, but instead let me simply walk up to his capital?

She was still musing upon this thought when a new unicorn, clad in black armor walked onto the rampart. While he moved to the protected gate, Celestia could see his horn glowing red, the same symbols as were on the barrier in front of the capital. The red cloak he bore was akin to Sombra’s, but he was too short of stature for such a thing to be possible. Finally, the dark blue stallion turned to look over the ramparts, his black mane covering one of his red eyes. “Good day fair princess. Whatever is it that brings you to the beginning of good King Sombra’s territory? Perhaps to offer your loyalty, and hoof in marriage?” The stallion chuckled as Celestia scowled.

“Where is Sombra? Is he suddenly too cowardly to face me, or does he know he lacks the troops to dare fight back against the might I bring to crush him with?”

The stallion rubbed his chin. “An interesting thought there. Can the maker of toys truly ever run out of supplies for his customers? Or is the folly in thinking that he has not had the time yet so as to out do the demand?”

Celestia grit her teeth as she rose in the air. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

He nodded to her, before whistling, and she saw more guards with carts and weaponry begin to climb onto the ramparts. “I’m sorry. It only just occurred to me that I never introduced myself. My name is Night Watch, regent for King Sombra. and the Crystal Empire. I am to run the empire while he is preoccupied.”

Celestia’s horn began to glow, as so did the unicorns behind hers did as well. “Do not think you can fool me like that! Sombra would never allow another to rule in his place. Besides, if something did not happen to him, why would you dodge my question?”

The stallion tapped his chin, humming to himself. “I suppose you could indeed be right. A thousand years ago, he probably would have killed me for offering my plan. Now though, I get to gleefully watch you squirm as I try not to ruin the surprise.”

Celestia’s eyes narrowed, but her horn stopped glowing. While she had come ready for a fight, and part of her was itching at the mockery that was going on before her, she knew that to attack immediately would be to attack blind. He knew something, and she hated that. “What must I do to know of this surprise?”

A short bark of laughter escaped Night Watch, before he wiped a tear away. “Wow, you are a delight Celestia. Oh, how I wish I were less loyal than I am, but when a man makes you a king when you were once a petty thief, that’s a bond you have to respect. Sorry, but you will not know the truth, until it’s too late.”

She searched his eyes for anything she could use, anything that would break him. His frown gave a hint to his regret to the action, but she had dealt with murderers and thieves, and most of them were hard to break when they talked of bonds. If Sombra had placed him here to stop her, she doubted that anything she could do would ever get him to speak.

She turned back to her forces, and cleared her throat. “Magical battalion two through five, get ready to break this barrier!”

Night Watch’s shoulders slumped before a sigh escaped his lips. He had hoped to help Sombra find his empire a thousand years ago, but it seemed now that he would never see it. At least I’ll have given him another day to give her Tartarus with. Good luck, my liege.

(Three Nights Before)

“So, how many?”

“About thirty from my count. Do we have the strips?”

“That’s too few. We should find a more suitable target. If we’re all making a comeback, I want-”

“Shut up Knife! And yeah, we have them. I wish we could equip them better.”

“It’ll be fine. Sombra’s enchantments are plenty strong enough, and surprise is the best thing they’ve got.”

“Knuckles is right. I just hope Sombra is okay-” The dark brown stallion stopped, with the other five unicorns freezing, looking behind him. There stood a large black stallion, a rune on his chest that barely glowed in the dark. His green eyes shone like small wisps of ghastly flame, and his bared teeth told them all his mood. He looked down to Cloak, the stallion he had stopped from speaking.

“Is okay with what?”

The stallion backpedaled to his compatriots. While they had vowed loyalty to the shadow king, they knew that things like the illusion he wore to hide his identity and giving up the empire could have done nothing good for his temperament. “With such a small town sir. We won’t have many troops after this.”

Sombra shook his head. “We are not looking for troops. We are simply looking for bodies. You all said thirty, correct?” He watched as the one mare nodded. “Good. Each of you can take five with you, while I move on. I could take this whole town in one night if I had to, but that’s only due to my power and familiarity with such magic. You all will need back up, and I want you all to split up from here, understood?’

They all stared at their king for a few moments. They had followed him a thousand years ago expecting to be able to gain loot, protection, and maybe even a title, which would be hilarious to them, as all of them had been some sort of criminal. Now they were being told Sombra didn’t even plan to take these minions away from them. The mare stepped forward, her blood red coat off setting the darkness of the night, while a blue eye shone through her dark green hair. “Sir, are you not furious? This is highly… irregular for you.”

He glanced to her, and nodded. “I understand your concern Backstab, and don’t care. You all have your orders, and if you are not acting on them within five minutes, I decide that thirty six soldiers should be a good starting number.”

All six of the brigands nodded, feeling much more comfortable with this sort of leadership than the calmer attitude of before. As they ran into the village, leaving the treeline they had been hiding in, Sombra grimaced to himself. It was not for lack of skill in his men. They may have been criminals, but they were some of the best he could find, and as long as they got their pay and power, they were normally happy. At least, a thousand years ago that was how it worked.

No, his annoyance came from their worries, for they were correct. He hated this. Every fiber of his being wanted to be on the Crystal Plains, going horn to horn with Celestia. She was his end target, and putting the princess under his hoof was his dream. However, Night Watch had persuaded him to this route, and no matter his misgivings, he knew this was better. If all of Equestria was fighting themselves while being unable to figure out the roaming puppet masters, they would win, and if this gained them victory, he would consider his honor restored. Not this honor, but the honor lost a thousand years ago, and had festered while he had been unable to seek his revenge.

Now, he would get it, and use Celestia’s own ponies to do it.

Over the next few weeks and months, Sombra’s plan went into full motion. At first, no one noticed the border towns disappearing, and while he would have easily been crushed by the larger Equestrian force, they could never find him. Even when they came over an enslaved pony, nopony could help them, as it was a brand of magic not seen in almost a thousand years. Add to that the soon to be found reports of six Sombras, and it became like finding a needle in a haystack.

The problem then went on to become exponential. Just as soon as the Equestrian garrisons and armies were getting untangled and ready to protect their towns, or move to towns where they were likely needed, the bombs on the railroads started going off. Traps placed on the rail lines to destroy them, and making catching up to these small groups next to impossible. And when they were caught, it was not by accident, and they were not small.

By six months, half of Equestria was part of the mindless horde, and marching upon the capital, regardless of health, food, or conditions. Sombra did not care about them, as they were not his people. They were a means to an end, and now he could fight beside them, only adding their unstoppable force.

Taking the capital was never to be easy though, The pooled forces their fought hard, hiding behind the walls, and trying to keep the creatures on the other side. They could only withstand so many pegasi and unicorns bypassing them, and after six days of valiant defending, Backstab threw open the gates, triumphant, and bowing as Sombra passed her.

The throne room’s doors swung open, and Sombra watched from the entrance has the fully armor clad legion that was his own muscled their way in. His enchantments wafted off of their bodies, a black ink that flung into the air as the runes glowed from activation. Not even these were enough to beat Celestia though.

The problem was, Sombra didn’t care about beating her, he wanted to control her. He floated one piece of armor up behind her, and clasped the choker around her throat. He smiled, as his royal bitch’s eyes became green.

Alicorns, am I right?

Author's Note

As a heads up, this isn't meant to be taken as seriously as others in this series.

Alicorns, am I right?

Sombra smiled as he saw the pink barrier around his capital finally fall. He had been outside those open fields for almost two days now, something that was most unacceptable. Now though, he would be able to reclaim his throne, and cast aside this shadowy visage.

His body lurched forward, black crystals forming beneath the large cloud of smoke beneath his head. He hissed into the air, and was greeted by a subject’s cries of fear. They filled him with glee as he lowered himself, becoming a large cloud of smoke that ran through the streets, chasing ponies as they attempted to flee. Despite his bit of fun, he never forgot his goal, and came ever closer to the castle.

He could feel his ethereal form begin to fade as he met the castle’s courtyard, and began raising a pillar beneath him as he rose. He could almost taste it, victory was so close. As his body came back, he contemplated what his first moves would be. Looking to the distorted reflection of his face as his hooves touched on the pillar, he knew almost exactly what first he had to accomplish. Sombra would go to a mirror, take off this armor, and begin to-

“Ding, you’ve reached your floor.”

Sombra almost froze, before looking up. Sitting on a lawn chair, an ice tea in one hoof, the crystal heart in the other, was a Celestia who wore sunglasses. Something was off though. She seemed to be shining a bit brighter, and sparks of electricity ran off of her mane. Not only that, but now there was a distinct yellow in her mane that he never recalled existing before. Then again, a thousand years had passed, and old hags were due make overs from time to time. “I would not joke if I were you. It took both your sister and you to defeat me a thousand years ago, so I should be able to-”

Sombra stopped, having felt something akin to the wind pass by his ear. While being so high up gave the wind greater force, it didn’t feel natural. What was worse, was that now, his back felt lighter, and Celestia was inspecting a red cloak with white leopard trim on the edge. “This really is a nice cloak. It’ll make a good blanket once I’m done here.”

He shook his head furiously, before snarling at the ignorant alicorn. “Give that back, and stand up! You are in no condition to face me, and yet you mock me. Do you not remember who I am?”

Celestia put a hoof over her mouth as she pulled the blanket over herself, and curled up. “Yeah, yeah, Sombra, evil shadow king, likes crystals, yadda yadda yadda.”

This was the last straw for him. Honorable or not, he was to be rid of this pest. He focused his magic, his horn glowing a pitch black. Tendrils of the aura oozed off like thick ink, before floating into the larger ball of magic forming at the tip. The ball grew with each new globule, beginning to distort the air around it as Sombra judged that it was enough. He swiveled one eye back to his target, to watch her quiver in fear.

Celestia appeared to be fast asleep, with one of her legs twitching as she hugged the Crystal Heart like a stuffed teddy bear.

One last scream ripped itself out of his lungs, and the culmination of his power, anger, hate, and pain shot towards the princess. The crystal floor cracked where it flew over, the ceiling splintered, and shattered at places, and a ghastly wail pierced the air as the dark magic made its way. Just as the area of effect would have hit the lawn chair, it met Celestia’s barrier. The explosion came with such force that despite being unable to be hurt by it, Sombra was pushed back. The floor stayed intact only due to heavy enchantments placed a thousand years ago, but the whole roof fell apart, being ripped apart by dark magic, and vaporized into dust.

When this dust cleared, Celestia took a sip of her tea again, and stood up, her barrier only now falling. “I suppose that would make it my turn then, wouldn’t it?”

Sombra opened his mouth, almost incapable of speech at this point. “How?”

Celestia slowly trotted over, before gently helping him close his mouth with a forehoof. “Well, you see, I have had a hundred years to study, learn, and discover what I may. One such thing I found was that an alicorn may take another ponies magic temporarily, but it must be willingly given. When told of your past exploits, finding volunteers was a bit less than difficult.

Sombra swallowed hard, staring into the god’s eyes as his body began to shake. “How many?”

She smiled, her horn blinding the dark king as it got ready. “Enough.”

This time, a large burst of white light radiated from the top of the castle. At first, there was darkness, boldly fighting back the vicious, all consuming magic, but as the light grew ever brighter, the darkness became smaller and smaller, shrinking until all there was, was a speck. In another moment, not even that remained.