Of Gods and Men

Sombra hummed as he levitated about the Canterlot Castle Library, in only a pair of linen slacks, whilst humming 'Winter Wrap-Up' and approaching the thousands of journals the princesses kept in honor of retired Captains of Royal Guards, Servants, and even several students. However, the ones Sombra enjoyed were the beaten, tattered, and torn, leather-back journals from the old days, where freedom was pretty much restricted, meaning he could learn from his mistakes as well as the ones of other would-be masters of Equestria.

As he passed over into the 'Dark Ages' where chaos was free and always ruining everyday life, he read those because getting hit by pies raining from the sky was comedic relief whenever he was feeling down, he noticed a section completely barren save a single book. It was gray in color with a binding of crimson rope, a fist in thickness and about as big as his torso, with silver pages that felt like skin to him as he opened it, after landing lest he drop it and ruin it, littered with blood red letters written by quill.

"Imprisoned...", "...betrayed by kind and kin...", "...left to rot..."

Sombra flips through the pages, reading small chunks as he goes.

"...a blade to slay the tyrant...", "...awaiting death's sweet embrace...", "...truly a monster to be feared...", "...slayer of Alicorns and all who dare oppose him...", "...ally of chaos, lust, and wrath...", "...known as 'Grim Reaper'...", "...cannibal."

He flips to the very end and pales, his body glistening with sweat despite the chilly air and reads:

"...birth of a shadow, the first tyrant in eons, that shall shroud a kingdom for a millennia, only to fall at love's power. Son of Grim, may you learn about your father at his prison, the Atlas Stone."

Sombra flipped through the book, trying to read the whole story, but the words became faded, as if time had finally caught up with it, then the book started to wreak, as if it was a rotting corpse. Upon inspection, Sombra discovers what looks like scarring on the back that read: "Tome of Tan kap vini, his last visions carved from his very flesh."

Sombra screamed, a bloodcurdling, bass filled noise, threw the book away from him as his legs gave away, dropping to his hands and knees as he retched, vomiting the contents of his breakfast onto the floor as a maid arrived, then collapsing from a sudden wave of exhaustion.

Upon waking, Sombra finds himself at the base of a blood red, octagon pillar, with what appears to be a reverse mountain of granite pushing down. He was at the Atlas Stone, the foundation of the city of Canterlot.. As he rose, he cut his foot, leaving a bloody smear on the ground in it's wake, and if the crystal wasn't ominous enough, the blood seamed to trigger a pulse from the crystal that began pulling the blood towards the crystal as as shadowy figure formed in the middle of it, reaching a tendril towards it.

"Sad, isn't it?" A soft, melodic, sad, and powerful voice chimed, causing Sombra to turn around and find himself staring at a glorious creature. It was a male Alicorn, taller than Celestia, clad in a simple toga, his coat a silver sheen with gray along his arms, his mane a crimson hue, and his eyes simple white orbs. "Grim had such a wonderful life, only to be tainted by fate."

"Pardon my language, ancient one, but who the fuck are you?" Sombra asked, glaring at the Alicorn. "And how the fuck did I get here?"

"You know know me as Tan kap vini, and worry not, I'm merely an after image, brought about by your touch. I brought you here so you may know of your father... and maybe grant him a second chance, as Llum did for you."

"I don't know a mare named-"

"Her name in the present would be 'Celestia'."

Sombra sat down as the shadowy figure approach the blood, revealing it to be nothing but a horribly altered skull, with a set of fang-like, pure white teeth, accompanied by a unicorn horn on it's forehead, atop an above average sized skeletal structure, almost as if it was a hybrid of sort.

"He's a Kirin, the first hybrid to be exact. Born to a wandering scholar named Aurora, and a black dragon named Orion. He was born with talents such as the ability to talk to dragons, using dragon breath and change it's property with magic, and break granite with his bare hands. He was, in every sense of the word, a masterpiece."

Sombra choked as he suppressed a laugh, finding it hard to find the creature trapped as a 'masterpiece'.

"Let me tell you his story, and THEN tell me if he's unworthy."

"Deal."

Grim lounged in his hammock, whistling little tune as he enjoyed the blistering heat of the Badlands' merciless sun.

The Badlands were the one place the Alicorns dared not venture, making it an ideal home (not including the giant serpents, scorpions, and other creatures) for heretics. In his time, Grim watched as several dozen ponies crossed the gorge separating the Badlands from the Motherland, on nothing but an old rope bridge... and built a settlement from scratch.

One of the first thing the newcomers did, were tame beasts named 'Wyverns', armless cousins of the dragons hiding in the Motherland, and used them on what would be labeled as 'raids', swooping from the sky to take much needed supplies: food, lumber, and water.

After about a decade of those, the city of Haven became reality, where resources, save earthen minerals, were abundant and the Wyvern Masters were tasked with covert retrieval of new heretics. Despite his wishes to be alone, the heretics came to him, offering a new home, more food, and protection... that was until he chased them away by breathing fire... and they returned offering coin for rare earth he finds. Being part dragon, he couldn't resist a hoard.

He now lives in the Mining district of Haven, able to relax until the people needed him, either to mine for gems, hunt legendary creatures, or craft equipment for the masses. In his free time, he made many friends, forgetting their names... except Odin, King of Haven, he was kind of important.

Alas this peace he had been enjoying for decades comes to an end when somebody shouted,

"The four are upon us, all is lost."