“A monster that refused, sometimes, to behave like a monster. When a monster stopped behaving like a monster, did it stop being a monster? Did it become something else?”
-Kristin Cashore
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Loneliness is a feeling that one even dreads to describe. Something feels empty, a lonely pony knows, but they can never pinpoint just what it is. All noise is magnified to deafening decibels. Even the most mundane spot on the wall becomes the fixation of your attention. But the worst thing about Loneliness, by far, is that desperate, rising feeling in your chest that begs for it to stop. In my humble opinion, nothing could evoke the burning feeling of loneliness better than the dark, spiraling hallways of the Canterlot Dungeon, and I'd only been here for ten minutes; ten minutes too long. I felt lonely, but the feelings that came with it were violently overridden with a sudden, horrifying realization.
I would not be alone for long.
The ground was wet, and every step I took emitted a gentle, faint splash. It was just dark enough to see the small, simplistic doors that would enter her peripheral every few seconds or so; with every one she saw, I wondered who, or what, lurked within them. There was not a lot of crime in Equestria, I knew, but it did happen, and it was unsettling to know that the most vile ponies ever to trounce upon Equesrtrian soil were mere feet away from her at any given moment; the bars between them did nothing to solace me.
Murderers. Rapists. Slavers. There were ponies in here that I had a hard time believing even existed, and yet I was walking among them. Occasionally, I would hear a faint noise from behind the wooden doors; incoherent muttering, a snap or a crack, and in one instance the steady sound of a weeping mare, causing my fur to stand up on end. It was hard to feel sympathy, in a place such as this, but somehow I found it popping up amongst a variety of emotions currently running high within me.
There were plenty of evil ponies in these dungeons, but no mare or stallion was as vicious, cruel, murderous, sadistic, and downright evil as the recently incarcerated King Sombra, Tyrant of the Crystal Empire and embodiment of darkness. Coincidentally, he was also the very pony I had come to see.
The doors were becoming more spaced out. I could just barely make out the wall beginning a curve to the right; I would be in front of his cell door soon. The only image I ever had of Sombra was our battle in the epicenter of the Crystal Empire, in physical form and through a hallucination I had experienced in the Crystal Palace. Once that hallucination was over, I had cleared my head of what it had showed me and, in the end, made sure the Crystal Empire did not fall into his hands again. I had told Princess Celestia I wanted to do this because I wanted to find out what made a villain, what caused them to act in this way, but that was a lie; it was a different reason entirely.
Sombra had not just come to Canterlot; he had reentered my mind. It only happened in sleep, but every time I closed my eyes, not able withstand the might of my fatigue any longer, he would manifest in my head like some sort of virus. the dreams--nightmares--changed every night, but they all featured horrific scenes of pillage, murder, torture, and every other despicable act a pony can think of; with Sombra the pony carrying them out. This had been going on ever since I had heard the news that Sombra had been incarcerated a month ago, and I believed that I could finally put the horrific visions to rest if I met face to face with the beast himself.
"Princess Twilight?"
I suddenly found myself staring at another wooden door, though with two differences. This one was not along a hallway, but at the end of it, and there were two fully armed guards standing beside the door. They were both unicorns, I noticed, though I had never seen them before. It had been the one on the left, a young but gruff looking Stallion, who's fur and mane color I could not accurately discern in the darkness, that spoke to me.
"I'm sorry, I just...never mind. I'm here to see Sombra, as I'm sure the Princess has told you both," I said. Almost mechanically, the guard on the right quickly pulled the locking mechanism back and upwards. The loud clank that resulted in the act carried through the entire dungeon for what seemed like an eternity.
"She did," said the right guard, who looked eerily similar to the one on the left. "But I must warn you, Princess Twilight...that freak, he's dangerous, even when chained. Please be careful."
I gave a curt nod to make sure the guard knew he was acknowledged. "Of course. Thank you for your service. Now, if you will..."
The guard, who had still been holding onto the handle, brought his hoof into his body, which caused the door to slowly open outwards. It made a shrill, droning creak as it opened, sending yet another chill down my spine; I had an unpleasant feeling that it wouldn't be the last.
Does everything in this dungeon have to be creepy and unsettling? I thought to myself as I walked through the door. Once I was fully inside the cell, the small wooden door closed behind her with a thunderous boom, but I didn't notice; I was too busy looking upon the figure in front of me.
Sombra was here, alright, but not in the manner I had expected. He was chained on all four hooves, suspended in the air; two chains came from the ceiling that wrapped around his front legs, and two chains preluded from the ground and secured his hind legs. His mighty and horrifyingly beautiful armor was stripped of him, leaving his light grey fur exposed. The flickering candlelight allowed me to make out his dark black mane, though it sometimes faded from my view and retreated back into the shadows. Up close, I realized, he was a very handsome stallion; he looked as young as I was, despite being alive for years upon end. I was about to speak, but then he opened his eyes.
It was just as I had remembered. Sickly green sclera, which almost emanated more light than the candle. Dark, red eyes, the color of freshly spilled blood, and the indigo mist steadily preluding from the sockets. I had seen them before, yes, but never this close; any thought of rational speech I had prepared quickly died in my throat. Unfortunately, Sombra noticed.
"You are not the first," he said simply. His voice was low and weathered, its frequency almost repelling. Everything about the stallion, I had decided, was the true embodiment of fear; it came as no surprise that countless ponies spoke his name only in whispers during his time as the Crystal Empire's monarch. I had zoned out again, I realized, and when I came back to reality I saw Sombra glaring at my...body?
"Wings," he said. "Much has changed since I've reformed." I quickly remembered that I wasn't a Princess when I had defeated Sombra.
"Recent." I said. "But I'm not here to talk about that. I'm here to discuss-"
"A Princess," interrupted Sombra. "Like Mi Amore before you, and the sisters before her...I was a king, once." His tone of voice changed at the last part, sounding almost reminiscent, an emotion that I had not come to expect from the Master of Darkness. Nonetheless, I wasn't going to be caught off guard.
"You weren't a very good one," I remarked.
Sombra didn't say anything for the longest time; it was all body language. He stood lifeless for a second, helplessly hanging from his chains, quietly staring at the floor beneath hum, but then came a grin. It slowly moved across his face, like a spilled liquid crawling across a flat surface, and once it had reached his peak, Sombra laughed. Quietly, at first, though the laughter became gradually louder, and as a result, more shrill; it carried through the air with a sickening pulse, and I actually found myself cringing. When the laughter finally perished in the air, he spoke.
"Do you believe in destiny, Twilight Sparkle? The notion--" Sombra paused. "No, the belief that everything happens for a reason?"
It's was my turn for silence. When I had walked into this dungeon, I hadn't expected to be asked any questions, and this one was particularly important. As cruel, evil and vile as Sombra was, reveling in the darkness, wearing his atrocities like a fine coat, he was the only pony who could take away my horrid visions and night terrors; in fact, he may have even been causing them. Grudgingly, I gave him an answer, knowing that befriending Sombra would make him talk that much easier, or so I hoped.
"Well," I began, after a long pause. "Princess Celestia told me that becoming a Princess was my destiny. That everything I've accomplished, including the creation of magic, and...defeating you, that it was all leading up to this very moment." That response garnered a head shake from the former king.
"I ask not of Celestia," he spat, a scowl on his face. "I ask you."
I gave a long, drawn out sigh. If I was going to win Sombra's favor, I knew, I would have to tell the truth.
"Yes," I said simply. "I do."
Again, all was quiet. For the thousandth time during their encounter, you could hear a pin drop, and it was starting to annoy the me. I assumed he wasn't a stallion of many words, I thought, but even Big Mac could carry a better conversation than this!
"Do you know what I am? Where I came from?" asked Sombra, shattering my train of thought. I was about to give an answer, but Sombra didn't let me.
"I once knew a mare. She was so, so sweet...I never thought the barren wastes of the Crystal Empire could hold so much warmth. Every time she was there, near me, I felt...joy. Love. Affection. Can you believe it? I still remember her name, as it will never leave me...Radiant Hope. That she was, for an orphan born of the shadows." I cocked my head to the side.
"Born of the shadows? What-"
"I was drawn to a crystal, one day. I woke up, and I was just pulled towards it, as if the universe was mocking my free will. When I arrived, it's gleaming scarlet hue shimmering through the snow...it spoke to me. It told me it was my mother, and as irrational as it sounds, I believed her. I am an Umbrum, Twilight Sparkle; a being of pure destruction and darkness, and according to the crystal that spoke to me that day, it is my destiny to rule the Crystal Empire."
"That's ridiculous. You're lying to me," I retorted immediately, and, as I found out moments later, it was the wrong thing to say.
"SILENCE!" screamed Sombra. His voice ripped through my chest like a cannonball, and the echo bounced around the room much longer than I would have preferred it to. His voice carried so much force, in fact, that I had stumbled back about a foot, and I realized my face finally displayed that one emotion Sombra was so skillful at bringing out; fear.
"Ah," he said softly, and gave a genuine smile. "You put on quite the show, Twilight Sparkle. Standing headfast before an umbrum, and carrying yourself like the vastly superior pony you believe you are. And to think, I almost believed it." My face burned with rage now, causing Sombra's smile to widen further.
"Just get to the point," I spat; the faster he did his little soliloquy, the sooner I could get the information I wanted. With that, Sombra's smile vanished completely, leaving the serious face I had come to know so well in the passing minutes.
"My point, Twilight Sparkle," he began, "Is that it was your destiny to be a princess. To be one of the most powerful beings on this planet. To receive the love and adoration of Equestria's citizens. To defeat...me," he said, the last sentence causing his face to scrunch up in disgust.
"My destiny is to lie with the Shadows. To strike fear in the heart of any who stare into my eyes. My destiny...is to stay bound in chains. To forever be looked upon with the disgusted faces of all who look upon mine. My destiny, Twilight Sparkle...Is to be the King of All Monsters. all that is horrid, evil, distorted, mangled and vile, tremble as the bow to my hooves." said Sombra. He finished the sentence in a soft tone, as if it was difficult for him to say it.
And then I understood. Sombra believed it was his destiny to be filled with evil and darkness, and there wasn't a day that had gone by when he wasn't regretting it. It was an internal struggle, I could tell, one that he must have been experiencing since he learned of his heritage, and it almost made me feel sympathy for the mad king.
Almost.
"You're wrong, Sombra." I began. "You don't have to be the King of All Monsters. You don't have to be filled with this darkness and hate. I believe in destiny, Sombra, but I also believe that it's impossible to know what that is until it happens. No mage, shaman, or "crystal" can tell you what you're going to become; only you can do that yourself. All the ruin you have caused, the torture, the agony, it...it didn't have to happen. But we can erase that, Sombra, just as I have done to Discord and countless others. I believe, Sombra, that all ponies are redeemable."
I was expecting something. A real smile. A sparkle in his eyes, maybe, any sign of realization. However, my hopes were shot down as Sombra merely laughed again.
"Do you call this reformation?" he asked, bringing his limbs violently inward; the chains tightened hard upon his hooves, which looked extremely painful as the dug into him, and they made a horrid ring that carried into the air. "You're all afraid of me. No matter what you think, or Celestia, or Luna, everypony under your rule will tremble before me. Trust, Twilight Sparkle, is much like a mirror; you can fix a broken mirror, but you will always see through the cracks. You mean to tell me that Discord, the god of all chaos, hasn't fallen out of line since you've "reformed" him?" My stare at the ground gave Sombra his answer.
"And there you see it. Some ponies, Twilight, are born to be evil. The world as you and I know it cannot, will not function without darkness. When Equestria gets too peaceful, too quiet, too...relaxed, an evil will come. Discord. Tirek. Myself. And I'm sure it doesn't stop there." My continued silence told Sombra he was right again.
"Is there anything else? Or are you going to ask the ground some questions now?" asked Sombra. I looked up at him from the floor, and stared at him ominously; Sombra had expected it to stop soon, but the seconds dragged on, my stare like a beam of light shining in his eyes. Sombra's face twisted in anger when he'd had enough.
"Well? Speak!" he commanded. Despite his ferocity, I stared a little longer before asking my question.
"Radiant Hope. Where is she now?"
It was almost cliché, the silences Sombra would take when asked a question that hit close to home. I had become accustomed to silence, being so isolated in my youth, and the first time this had happened in our conversation, I had been deathly afraid. Before this moment, Sombra was a monster, a pony who would slaughter just to see the life leave somepony's eyes, and rule just to see his subjects suffer miserably. But now? Sombra was no monster. Sombra was a pony, a pony who loathed and hated everything any everyone around him, but hated nothing more than himself.
"Dead." he said simply. His tone was dripping his rage, and it was blaringly obvious that it stung to say it. It's incredible, I thought, how a façade can shatter to pieces with a word.
"You killed her," I said softly. "The only friend you ever had. And all these years, you've hated yourself for it." Sombra wasted no time with his reply, anger becoming more and more apparent in every word.
"I tried everything to get her back. I went to the ends of Equus. I talked to the Zebra shamans, the Griffon priests. They all turned me away. They did nothing to help me. It was impossible, they said. Radiant Hope...would be radiant no more," finished. He had an almost psychotic look, a look that allowed me to estimate the fate of the spiritual leaders in question.
"And whose fault is that?" I asked him. I got the response I had expected.
"My heritage," he quickly answered. I mentally prepared herself; Sombra's voice was rising. "Those who refused to accept me. The weak who would not help me--" he began, though I loudly cut him off.
"No," I began, "You did. I don't know what you did to her, and I won't ask, but whatever happened, it was nopony's fault but your own. I've been having nightmares of you lately, Sombra, every night I go to sleep. I didn't know if you were causing them, or if it was just the presence of your dark magic in the area, but none of that matters anymore, because I'm going to sleep very comfortable for a long time," I said, a serious tone emanating from my voice. Sombra said nothing in response, so I continued, although this time, I spoke with sympathy.
"You may be an Umbrum, Sombra, but you're a pony, too. You've done horrific things in the past, but I stand by what I said; all ponies are redeemable. And you know what? This isn't reformation, and these chains will do nothing but inspire anger, and rightfully so. I promise you'll be in much better conditions by the end of the night, Sombra, and if...if you ever feel like you want to talk about Radiant Hope, tell the guards. I'll be there for you," I told him.
Stubborn, was the Mad King. I supposed I may have humiliated him, because Sombra simply would not speak. He stared at the ground, his teeth gritted, and his breathing become labored. It was absolutely clear he had nothing more to say, so I slowly turned around and headed for the door. When I was within two steps of it, however, Sombra spoke a word.
"Why?"
I turned my head to face the fallen king, who was now staring directly at me, a look of angered desperation on his face. "Why what?" I asked him.
"Why will you sleep comfortably? Why will your nightmares no longer haunt you?" he asked. There it was; Sombra was not, in fact, causing my night terrors. I may have refused to believe that an hour ago, but now, after speaking with him, it made perfect sense. I stared right into those sickly green eyes as I gave him my answer.
"You may be the King of All Monsters, Sombra," I began, "But you are not one of them."
Author's Note
Just a short little piece to quell my writers block while writing my current story, "Excelsi Regis". If I had the chance to speak with any MLP villain one on one, it'd certainly be Sombra, and it was that thought that inspired the creation of this story.
How about you guys? If you could have a one on one conversation with ANY MLP antagonist, who would it be?
