Alternate Timeline: King Sombra has sieged Canterlot after a grand war and now is facing all 4 of the Princesses on his own. Not caring what could happen.
His magical eyes couldn't believe it. He was in the Throne Room of gods, finally after all this time.
He and his men had sieged the capital of Canterlot sometime back, the royals were not prepared but he guessed, they would never be. As he watched the princesses, the four princesses watched him back with fury in their eyes. He didn't talk, he didn't want to waste time to laugh at this precious moment. "Oh Sombra." Princess Celestia asked with a flame in her golden eyes. "Why can't you just give up one day?" That question loomed in his head before a bolt of energy shocked him to the ground- "Oh you want to play like that huh?" King Sombra smiled. "Fine."
The grand fight lasted quite awhile, more than he had expected. The Princesses clashed and bashed him, but he was much stronger. Using dark magic and crystals to his advantage he threw them across the walls of the room, shattering the panels and ripping some of the carpet.
Before long, he had injured all the Princesses, but not without laughing horribly. "You really are pathetic without your 'friendship'. Nothing helps." As he said those words, all four of them mixed their ancient magic together in a last ditch attempt and suddenly, Sombra heard a excruciating big bang and there was a sonic-boom. He was face first onto the floor. He turned around, and saw a swirl of crushing energy come his way- The princesses created a time drift with all their magic!
The time drift was infinite, he was staring into what seemed to be a abyss. All dimensions were split and he couldn't fully take the grasp of it all. The massive time portal was unbelievable, he could see the the fabric of reality in front of his eyes, it stared back at him mangled. Sombra saw what he never thought anyone would, energy and magic of all forms beyond his reach. He tried to crawl from the hole as fast as he could, but it was pushing him in with force he had never seen before. Before he knew it, Sombra was engulfed inside it. He was in, bright seizure lights blinded him as he floated and twisted in the abyss. He saw many years and moments in front of him past and go like they were nothing but dust and ash. Swirling around in the hell hole of time, he yelled in the mystical void, no one seemed to have heard the king but himself.
After ages it seemed like, the portal stopped its trail and King Sombra was pushed into the hard ground again. On to rough sand, hitting his head and bruising himself. Sombra slowly rose again with his sandy cape and horned dark crown of the ancients. He was angry and very utterly confused, he had just gone through what seemed to be a eternity and he was ready to strike the Princesses once again. But but- where was he? He was in a desert of course, perhaps but he had never seen such sand like this before. It was softer than most and must have been here for many years, blown from the south by the outrageous winds in ages. "Arg, this damn sand- it's getting everywhere. " He decided to remove his royal boots before they were buckets of sand. He looked around his 'humble' surroundings. Sand, just gravel for miles, he did not see any noticeable structures but distant mountains which were also covered in sand.
"This will be a long road. Great." The king muttered.
Using his shape-shifting magic was almost impossible now, it seemed whatever happened with the energy portal. It disabled his powerful magic for good. Sombra couldn't believe this fact at all, he tried and tried using spells until his head hurt and was dizzy. He had lived his whole life surrounded by this sort of magic aura, it kept him alive through pain and devastation for a millennia and a half. And now he could barely use it, it was the beginning of the end and he knew he would age slowly because of it. Sombra walked that gloomy night, whispering in his head over and over. "Sleep in day. Walk at night Sombra." He was trained for this certain thing when he was a just a colt, trained for torture from the higher aboves. He would not give up at a hardship as he proceeded to his goal. The first night, he looked up into the evening sky, but he didn't see much besides chaos. The dark skies looked like they had a repulsive battle, stars bled with light and galaxies were simply ripped apart. As he looked into the stars, he was very startled and horrified. "What.. kind of.." The stars were not something anyone could simply mess with. It would take generations of spells to even move a single star. "I must be in a different realm.. What a odd place indeed." He assured himself. "No, i can't be. Discord must have done something to this horrendous place. That fool. Perhaps another grand King. My sons perhaps. If I had any in secret." Walking though the almost empty desert reminded him of his imprisonment in the north, and he was much more mad. He talked to himself once again, fury built up in his eyes. "I'm a damn king! I shouldn't be walking like a vagrant! Where is a drink of wine when you need one? Perhaps some Marley with a good steak." Without his impressive magic, he swore to kill anyone he came across, mercilessly and without remorse.
All in short vain.
Before the morning came, he made himself a bed with the covered sand and didn't dream of much, the heat burned his skin and obsidian hair, but his royal garment protected him for some bit. This wasn't torture but it sure seemed to be a challenge for Sombra. He ate the scorpions and snakes roaming around, to the bone no less.
The sands massed in triumph over everything else besides a verbose path with sunken stones. The king thought of this as a opportunity to some civilization that had lived in these lands, to conquer the tribals and beginning settlers. He wondered if he was even in Equestria due to the kind of production that was imposed to him. It was disturbing to know he had to walk more in this forsaken place.
Without much direction or focus, it seemed like it was random chance Sombra would stumble upon ruins of something as he walked the pulverized path. Covered in the hills of sand, there were.. houses and seemingly old roads to connect them then. The roofs of the homes had collapsed under the weight of time. It was a village of sorts, but it was abandoned for plenty of years. A removed wall stretched out across the entirety of the architecture.There was something odd he could tell about this place, a grand structure was popping out more than any of the homes could. A tree, a crystal castle from more than millennia ago. There was something sticking out, a piece of a infamous cutie mark dried in the desert color. "Twilight Sparkle.." Sombra knew that cutie mark from the start, bad memories filled his head right away of the Crystal Empire and her 'friends'. "Is this Ponyville? Serves you damn right, rats." Sombra snickered. He decided on the action and checked out the collapsed castle as best as he could, there wasn't much to see besides gravel in all the rooms. The carpets were ripped, the banners were gone and the crystals didn't seem to shine so bright anymore."If i'm in the same place. Hmm. How long has it been? A few decades? That won't matter in a time of a Alicorn." The king walked to the Throne Room of 'harmony' steadfast with his crown and cape flying in the prying wind.
The gracious throne room was demolished, the map was broken in half and the chairs were simply missing all except Twilight's. "She still here, the book hermit?" Sombra thought to himself while looking at the old cutie mark once again, almost afraid of what could happen to him without powers. "What happened here? Some kind of bigger force than me? Ha!.. Well if the six are gone, I kinda wonder what else is as well! Hell, this is good! So good! I could snatch some ponies without much trouble. Make a army in no time." The devilish king in his red cape laughed violently, friendship was almost certainly gone unless they moved. He slowly checked the rooms after, seeing if ol' Twilight was still around these parts. He couldn't face anyone at the moment, especially her if anyone. The library seemed to be in some sort of good condition, books weren't badly burned or torn, but Sombra never cared for such history books. The King left the abandoned castle with some relief, and a dark happiness in his already blackened and hardened soul. "I must go East, towards Canterlot. That must still be here, I know very well it can survive a few years even with all this sand around. Could be a bastion if I know."
He kicked Twilight's seat down to the floor and left the castle laughing.
It took him days, or months to reach the place, he didn't pay much attention to the time. Even if he started aging once again, it would take years before he could simply grow a beard or grow out his hair. Walking to places did not help either, he felt tired out as his hooves ached with sweat. After some time, he saw the shadow of Canterlot.. it wasn't on the mountain anymore. It had literally fallen from the height. "Well now." He looked at the destroyed figure of Equestria's Capital. "Canterlot has fallen!" He laughed at his own joke, continuing down the slight road. "... Its definitely been a few centuries then... Well I've still got the Crystal Empire, that could never really fall because of time-lasting crystals. Let's see if any prey is still alive huh? Some depressed survivors." He journeyed to the elegant fortress, his steel crown and cape as clean as they could ever be. Walking in the dim sun, he finally reached the wretch he fought for his entire life against. The colossus structure was in the same place it would have been if it was on the monstrous mountain. Some remaining parts on their side, while the castle and tower were fully intact and upright. It was highly magnificent for years old remains. Sombra walked carefully in the dark, not to step on any left brick or glass. Eventually making it to the ruined castle, he yelled jokingly. "Oh Princess Celestia! Celestia! Wonder where you are.. I've came for enslavement!" It echoed through the dark labyrinth of lifeless hallways and rooms.
As the dark king stepped in, he casted a light spell with his dull magic. He never thought he would use such pitiful magic again, especially here. He felt a breeze from the damp air in here. The hallways of Canterlot were unexpectedly pleasant and clean. He descended deeper and deeper. But something was wrong, something was completely wrong. There was no sign that Celestia's empire even existed here. Different panels were on the cracked stained glass walls, depicting figures Sombra never seen before in history. A different symbol was laid all around the complex, a dragon cutie mark with its red tongue out and sharp teeth. Tiny milky stars were all around it, faded into yellow. It was something you would see on groups of bandits, not the damned royal palace of a empire. "Who the hell took charge of this place? Some rodents they found on the street?" After scavenging and looking around the castle for something, someone. Sombra finally made it to the shadow of a throne room he saw earlier in the time loop. The panels were much different and the red carpet was ripped into pieces, the discolored and mystic banners that were always above were now of clans and kingdoms of the future, Sombra appreciated the one with a crystal as their flag. The Throne or Thrones were now made more of steel and iron than it was of bronze, a skeleton of a warrior was sitting on the steel throne, sword and spear pierced in his head and chest. He worn a glistening circlet. Sombra eyed the figure in his visage, seeing if there were any traits about the dead Stallion."I see. Celestia is gone for good. But who in Tartarus is this?"
He came closer to the figure, and closer. He could feel the pulsing dark magic and slight whispers in his sandy ears. As Sombra reached for the dark sword in his chest, his vision became very blurred and he knew what was happening right-away. This kind of dark magic was called 'Lux', the grim spirits of the dead could talk in objects if they had enough psychical strength, and the old king or warrior choose the saber that was stabbed inside him for just a moment. The whisper moaned in pain, gasping like it had no breath left. "Help me, help me.. Unicorn of Sparkle." Sombra took shame at this and talked back. "I AM NO UNICORN TO YOU, I AM HIGH KING SOMBRA. I AM THE LORD OF ALL UMBRA!" The whisper continued without emotion, without sentiment. "Who.. who may that be.. in the halls of Drune.. of the Holy.. of the Darken?" He couldn't stand this gibberish but Sombra was less aggressive when he asked again. "Well, who are you.. peasant?" The ghost spoke with strong royalty on his side, he seemed to have had great honor even after dying. "I am King Lanias Sparkle cruel-bark of Equus, thirtieth generation of the legendary god alicorn.. Twilight Sparkle. Bless.. "
Sombra paused for a moment, hooked on what the apparition spilled out. His mind was scattered. "30 generations.. That's.. quite impossible." He looked into the eyes of the skeleton of Lanias. "How long has it been since you were speared old man?" The spirit stopped and thought for a bit "Well its been a long time.. a long time, no father or son of mine has used this castle in about 3 thousand years. Yes.. every moment I've had to spend here."
Sombra stepped back at this fact, he was farther then he had ever been before. Everyone he knew was probably dead or missing for good. He missed out on this new age of Twilight. He missed out on all the wars that shaped this world into what it was. He possibly missed the end of Equestria as well before it fell into siege of sand. "Now who ar- the ghost asked abruptly before Sombra forcefully ripped the sword out of the rib cage of the Pony, it falling into rubble and pieces on the throne and the whispers faded. "Fuck you." The King held strong with those words. He threw down the sword on the floor, it crumbled into rusted pieces. Sombra sat down for a moment, facing the ground as his clown shinned through the window. his mind filled with terrible thoughts about the Crystal Empire. His conscious yelled and screamed in righteous pain. "Where is everyone, they just leave?! Do Ponies even live in this world anymore!? Damn thirtieth.. generation. I am King Sombra, i shouldn't be treated like a damn animal. Not like Queen Chrysalis of the GODDAMN insects." He stormed out the ancient halls of Canterlot annoyed, on his way to the Crystal Empire. He would let nothing stop him until he reached his kingdom. His cimmerian home.
The fields and hills leading up to the mountains were no longer fields, they had been burned with rapid fire and flame. Ash was the only here. They looked like volcanic rock when Sombra got there. And the ones that were not burned were covered in helpless sand that only expanded. Bones of dragons and Pegasi were all layed about and Sombra expected they had some sort of battle here a long time ago. "Dragons huh.." Sombra didn't have the motivation to say a pun or laugh. He felt a emotion he hadn't in a long time, he was- utterly scared. He was scared of this world, it had forgotten him and he didn't have the magic or army to say he was king. "Thousands of years. Gone by like nothing. Millennia i missed. Eradication must have been fun." He talked to himself in his dusted cape and metal crown. As he reached Crystal Mountains of the North, he could hear nothing.. not even wind entered these dead valleys it seemed like. After spending years upon years in the Frozen North, Sombra was prepared for any cold breeze and snow that covered the mountains. He had to face the worst enemy in these hills, silence. As he came from the white fogs and miserable mountains of north, his blood red eyes were turned to a horrid sight!
The Crystal Empire. There was nothing. Absolutely nothing. But rubble and hints of wet snow. It looked like it just disappeared from a great war, nothing was recognizable to Sombra, nothing. "No it can't be." He repeated and repeated, getting more intense and spastic. He walked through his old home like it was a strangers, trying to find something in the immense wreckage. All that was there were skeletons of the past, annihilated weapons and ruined buildings that didn't even look like homes anymore. The Tower was nothing but a tremendous cavern in the ground. A bygone era came before him, where nothing remained of characters, stories, and bloodshed.
Every single thing he did or anyone did in his time was summarized in this pit: Buried and wasted, washed away like a ship at sea. It was a thing to consider, but in anger.
His blood began to boil, he went on a huge rant. "There must be something around! There must be something in this damn Equestria! After some thousands of years, i would expect something.. from here." His rant turned into whispers and murmurs. He was not the king that started off in this dark world, a bit of his spirit left him after that. Over the days, long weeks and even months he looked around the massive expansion of sandy Equestria with a growing collection, he turned into more of a explorer and survivalist than a dark royal in all his own history. He used his magic rarely as he found no use for it, not yet at least. Until one day he completely stopped in his tracks, he was exhausted and hurt of the failed countless journeys in all directions for a kingdom he could call his own. Tried of about everything, there was no royalty here. He was alone. There was no kings or lords, they were all ash and bone. Sombra realized at that moment, he wasted all his time, he now knew the coasts were empty, the grasslands deceased of Pony life and forests vacant. With that kind of luck, fucking Tartarus must have been empty too.. With red in his mind, he ripped his steel crown from his inky hair. He held down with with hooves! With all his bursting anger, with all his grief of the horrible past and defeats he tore his crown with his bare hoofs- screaming in deep rage. He threw it on the sand and left with a trembling burning in his heart, barely able to breath after.
He was King no more.
Years past.
Sombra grew a beard after he gave up his title as king. He really didn't give a care about being 'fancy' if there really was no one to be fancy above. Thrones seemed to have no meaning in this world. He also moved back to the ruins of Canterlot after exploring the known places, it was the best place for him to strive and live all things considered. With deep anger and resentment, he tried to make Canterlot a place to live in again, his new home. He cleaned up the extensive hallways of dried blood, bones and eventually the banners he did not like from the entire castle. He even set traps for any stray and starving animals that came in, and defenses against the howling winds by putting boards against the shattered panels. Even while complaining and cursing, he knew he had to do this dirty work for survival.That was all he had nowadays. His bedroom was Celestia's room- or who he could remember owning it in the first place all that time ago. For that time spent alone, he learned every nook and cranny in that place that he could so he could get places much quicker then he originally did.
He actually learned a lot about the logistics of the palace and all the hidden entrances it had behind it's faded walls and dusted cobwebs. It was truly a miracle if he had been here thousands of years ago.. It was no use now.
As he came home one night from hunting in the dark, he saw something in The Throne Room. A dog.. no, a brown wolf. Sombra yelled at him, he didn't care if the animal attacked him viciously, he was now always ready with a magic spear he crafted. He looked like a tribal. "What are you doing here? Don't make me kill you now." The dog wasn't hostile, it seemed like it got a deep wound from one of the traps and it was sitting in the Throne Room, trying to lick it away the best it could as it tried to move."Well if my damn traps won't kill you first." As Sombra looked at the bloody wound on its front leg. He felt nothing for the dog, but he still patched him up for practice on his own wounds. After, Sombra pointed to the hallway, his beard caught in the wind. "Now get the hell out of here!" The wolf's sparkling eyes looked up at him, he really didn't want to leave the old stallion's sight. The old Unicorn was disappointed in the thing. "Oh you don't want to leave my domain huh, do you mutt? Fine, be my slave.." So the wounded hound was his favorite 'assistant and adviser', hunting with him and usually keeping him company while he made traps and such. He soon treated the dog like his distant friend, it was the only thing he really had in this desolate world. He named it "Radiant" and I guess you can tell why. He even talked it as if he was a pony of the past. His benevolent past. "Wonder what we are having for dinner- agree?" The dog was silent, but the Pony in the cape continued. "Hmm perhaps some ferret huh Radiant? They are great with pepper and salt! Haven't had that since coming from New Manehattan by the Eastern Bay." He looked at the dog and thought of something interesting. "Hmm, let's check the library creature. They must have some kind of cooking books right? If the damned library has everything else I missed."
The Canterlot Library wasn't that much of a insane mess, but it was a maze of ancient books and far future novels from beyond. Sombra's voice illuminated the room, echoing. "Hmm cooking.. cooking." He watched through as rows and rows of books pasted him until he got to a stopping point. He sighed at the mountain of tomes in front of him and randomly choose one of the books to read their dust filled cover. "History of New Equestria -Volume III"
"Hmm whats this, a history book in the wrong place? Sure i have nothing else to do here. Wait for my death." He found out much from that single history book. Even if it wasn't in the right order, it seemed he was farther in the future than he thought. Almost... 10,000 years.. from all the calculations, he presumed that's why everything wasn't going his way for the past years, he was too far into the fucking apocalyptic future! He read more from the beyond old book, intrigued.
"Dragon-Pony Wars - Start of New Equestria
The Dragon Wars started the nations know today as "The new nations of Equestria" or "New Equestria" for short."
Sombra talked to himself, Radiant right by his side "Hmm the dragon bones in the grassland must have not been from that war; possibly there were more conflicts than that one? The bones must have dissolved by the time i got there." Sombra was now a man of knowledge, he wanted to know what the hell happened while he was gone. From his countless days and nights at that library, he also figured plenty of skills out he could have never knew about back when he was a king. But he always had one thing in his wicked mind he wanted to figure out from history; where the hell Celestia and The Mane Six went. His scrambling of the shelves of books never talked about the Mane Six, only Twilight and Celestia and those were in deep legend and myth. Like they never existed in the first place.
Sure, there were always mentions but this Sombra wanted the truth about what happened to his sworn enemies. With Radiant, they left Canterlot together in seek of Ponyville or what was Ponyville. As soon as they got back to the structure of Twilight's Castle, Sombra ran in avoiding rubble, not stopping until he made it into the fossilized library of the abandoned crystal fortress. "There gots to be something here. Twilight was always tricky, even if it has been 10,000 years." The books he found were thousands of years old, but still there was absolutely nothing written by Twilight herself. "Damnit, you read so many books I wonder why you never published a book... Unless she did. Who cares. It was thousands of years ago." They may have gone into dust, but magic made it possible to preserve such things. Sombra started pulling books out of the shelf, Radiant staying back not to be hit by the flying novels. It took him all day and moonless nightfall, to find some trace of the distant past. Behind all the ancient books, was a journal of some sorts. It had the Princess's cutie mark much like a flag as well as Luna's and Celestia's on the sides, it looked like it was written yesterday. "Damn magic solves everything huh? Been hundreds of millennium but this paper is fresh." As Sombra pulled the lone book from the tunnel. "Let's see about that." As the caped and bearded figure unlocked it. The Book was stained with many tears, but Sombra could still make out something from the pages.
"Twilight's Journal
- Princess Twilight Sparkle I, Princess of Friendship, Guard of Discord, the all-wizard, Grand-master of Academia."
Sombra turned to the page to the last day it was written in, not trying to be stalker in the princess's regular, boring life. Well maybe a few pages. The Last page had only a few words before it was ripped in half or stained with time, which was strange from all the others that all had paragraphs or essays of nonsense.
"I wanted to visit my friends, .. time. My royal duties are done, as my kin have rose to take my crystal throne and lead the next generation of friendship. But i also want to explore, out in the world.. out to the west, much like i have done so long ago in a distant land.. I know my kin might still need help, but they are ready. They will learn from my ways. They pres-
He could read no more of the ripped part, it seemed like she took the rest.
Sombra looked up into the dusty ceiling of the library as he coughed from the dust, slowly talking to Radiant in a heightened manner as he closed his eyes and let his beard fall a bit. "Dog, she might still be alive. I know, after all this time it is almost impossible but.. we must find out. We just must." The aged Sombra took a stack of books including the diary, to Canterlot. Almost all on the west of Equus.
It was primary and necessary for what turned into a quest. A mission for the likes of Sombra and his assistant, Radiant Hope.
Sombra peered through the books carefully. "The Far West. I've never traveled there before, across the Sparkling Sea of dunes. Not many have." Legends were imbued on that place. Of nasty monsters and mysterious lands never talked about, things that would even scare Alicorns to their bone. "We must prepare."
After a what seemed a few months or .. years of trying to successfully make some gear and a boat to ride across the ocean, Sombra grew more of a streak of passion towards the older wolf by his side, finally petting him on the head. The morning finally came, the tough boat was finished. Sombra looked at it one more time, still criticizing his own work.
"Damn, wish it was made of crystal.."
The both of them jumped in with supplies and some hardy weapons and the sail started from the shore at midday. The Unicorn watched the land he called Equestria disappear from his view until there was nothing but green and blue ocean and the orange, crimson sun above them. Sombra took off his metal chest plate and boots, the weather getting extreme enough for it. He looked into the dark abyss of ocean with his reddish eyes "Wonder if there are still sea ponies, I doubt it. last time I saw one of those, I choked it almost to death before it swam away hahah." The day faded and the old king looked up at the war of stars once again from his barge, the milky moon shining with it. He never noticed it before, but all the stars in the sky melted into and shaped all the Mane Six's symbols. Though very dis formed and unassigned like a nebula, it was magnificent if you could tell the cutie marks apart of the twisted stars. "The Mane Six, how they got so popular and infamous from friendship in that time I will never know. Power is what everyone wants, power to do something for their own." Sombra talked as he looked at Radiant, his red eyes worried as his fangs opened. "I hate them. So prideful they could change the entire world in their short lifetimes. Without a sense that with Twilight as Alicorn- they all fade." Sombra was never before sea-sick. But he was now. The sea was drunk, waves went in different patterns and directions, messing up the boat sometimes. "What the hell, you see this hound?" The figure looked over to the sparkling sea, as he pet the brown wolf on its head and closed his eyes. Weeks past in that horrendous ocean before they got a view of anything, his flesh was burning at this point even being surrounded by water. "Ha. Land. Finally.." The boat caught view of imposing lands of the west, it was mountainous and full of dense forest, rocks lined the granular shore and there was no civilization seen. The Pony crackled. "We better get off before we hit anything, this place seems dreadful with fuckin' rocks." Sombra stepped into the muddy water at ease and stopped the boat, he slowly pulled it with all his strength into a decent spot on the coast.
Sombra looked around the very tall trees and dead grass, they were here for centuries but maybe not millennia. The ancient forest clouded whatever was beyond it."Time to find The Chosen one huh? The one that's supposed to help everything right?" As the both of them entered the oak forest, Sombra pulled out a old Hatchet he had on the boat and put it in his bag, he was ready to attack anything in his sights. Fearless of this new world. Radiant the wolf barked at something in the distance, a bird! Animals truly lived and strived here, and birds chirped their songs away. Though the Unicorn disagreed to their lovely singing "Arg, fucking singing. Would be like that to piss me off." They traveled through the hills of the bushy forest and small caves, with no sign of intelligent life anywhere. "This place seems uninhabited Radiant. Wonder if nature took back. " Sombra wondered as he and the wolf took a drink of water from a source, his gaze and smell like that of the wolf beside him. With meat from slaughtered birds and deer as he cut them down with a axe, he set up a bonfire for them in the windy night. The trees like dark shadows, watching his every step.
What was he really doing here? Seeking out a enemy that may not even know him anymore. Seeking old guidance and scrolls from a possible, living Equestrian? While he was King Sombra! The lord of the shade. The merciless menace of everything just.
He looked at the fire he set ablaze as the wolf went to sleep. Bright and vibrant, flowing like waves in the gust. He began to see visions in the bonfire. His life as king filled his mind as he looked, the wild terror he caused. The ponies he enslaved. The Crystal Empire, in it's full glory. His conscious was blinded by good and splendid moments as leader, him sitting on his throne to him decapitating his foes. His useless reign. Were these memories supposed to hurt him? Were they supposed to hurt this bad? He snapped out of it, and stopped looking at the bleeding flame. Instead he looked at the barely visible ground for the night as he slept close to the dog.
The forest seemed to end at a certain point, with it ruins of civilization started to pop up everywhere. But not the ruins Sombra was imagining. This was more advanced, this was more of a age of.. extreme technology. Fancy and interesting houses were scattered across the plains. Bricks for the painted walls, glass for windows, dead gardens and lawns, neatly cut rocks and stone for walkways. "What in the entire world of Equus.. is that. Have I.. really been gone for that long?" Sombra admired the detail of the future homes, even if slightly ruined. This technology was above his expertise and really anyone from his age, it was mysterious.
He would have never dreamed of such technology on the crystal throne. Just the advancement alone and construction squashed his thoughts and scarred horn as the pony scratched his beard. If it really was this many years. The ponies came too far or too little in what was here in alone.
He walked into one of the houses with Radiant waiting outside, the door was made of marvelous oak and glass. There were exclusive paintings on the wall like it was printed and deluxe technology he had not seen before. There was a Pony sized switch on the white wall, he clicked it and the light on the ceiling seemed to turn on by itself, with no magic. Was this real? He had been through 10,000 years but was.. this really possible? He couldn't imagine all the thought put into this kind of machinery. In this new shining light, he looked around the suburban house, Sombra knew it was a beautiful place once for ponies. Now it was shattered in time. There was a ruined fireplace of sorts and a strange looking box in the living room, the red carpet was as fantastic as his cape. Old and cleaved without help.
"What kind of technology.." The bearded Unicorn looked at the strange metal box carefully and precisely, wondering what the hell it was. "Something made of metal, magic as a power source possibly." His mastery in working traps were showing "There are buttons you can press it seems like. Hmm. As well as some kind of glass screen. Seems like some sort of watcher. Maybe." He wanted to check the other rooms first before anything doing wild to it, he was in another world at this point. Another age. He walked through the classy corridor to find more rooms and a old family picture in a frame. 1 Stallion and Pegasus, with a Pegasus child in their arms. Sombra put the frame on the ground and muttered "Ah families, a waste of time for someone like me. Well, I don't know." The first room he went into was obviously a bathroom to him, a sink and broken bathtub lined the room with a rundown mirror. Sombra looked at the mirror, and commented "Haven't see the man in the mirror for a long time. Let's have it." He brushed up the stained mirror and saw himself after being at sea. The umbra was shocked. Sombra grew a streak of grey in his head hair! It was he first thing he noticed, the dusky line in his previous black. He starred at it for a good moment, he knew it was old age. He was always old on the inside, he felt it. But magic always prevented it to happen to the outside as well. Until now, until he actually got to look at himself growing once again. He admired it even if it was something small, it was the beginning of something big. His end.
"Time won't be nice. I don't think it ever was." His vampire teeth whispered, starring into his own old reflection. Starring into his violent eyes. What was he now? He soon left the bathroom, his head swallowed by the thought of time and space, all he could do was breath. Sombra went into the next room. A royal bedroom it seemed like, a glass window and curtains were the only light into the room. The bed was neatly cleaned, like it was not used in a long time. Everything else was in scrambles. Sombra went to the bed and laid on it, it was the best thing he had ever felt. Of course, he hasn't slept on the best beds over the years. But this was something new. He sat there for a moment, still thinking of his time before he leaped off into the next area of the abandoned house. The next room was the colt's room of course. As Sombra opened the door, a gust of cold air filled his flesh right down to the bone. The room was darker and colder than the others, as Sombra slowly walked in. A light blue tone filled the small room and there was a stench of dead plants, the wooden bed was demolished and the walls seemed to have been deeply scratched from within. "One mad kitty." Sombra said joking while looking around. In one of the desks was a map, or what used to be a map. It was too worn out to be called something like that. Magical words were written on the paper. With this trip into the distant future of Ponies, Sombra struggled to get out of the home without curiosity overwhelming him. He barely looked at Radiant before turning to another deserted home. He shook his head "No, I can't let this all get to me. I was on a mission after all." He walked down the road, his head down.
One night, they were walking in pitch dark. The winding howling and the moon no where to be seen. It was well weather, much more better than Equestria's. Crack- went something in the distance, perhaps a branch or bush. The hazel wolf heard the ghastly sound and ran towards it in the darkness, leaving Sombra behind. The old Unicorn followed, uncertain and annoyed "Dog, there is nothing." still it ran. After awhile, Sombra couldn't hear footsteps anymore as he followed. His stress was growing, even after all this time of being a dangerous king he fell flat towards this dog he called friend. He called again, looking around warily "Dog.." He yelled now in the abyss, uncertain if the wolf could hear him the first time around. "Dog!" He began to run without thought and determination, without stopping at all. "Hound! Where are you going!" He finally said the dog's name in mild desperation, not trying to lose his breath in the eye of the storm. "Radiant!"
He strongly remembered that name from centuries ago, Radiant Hope. It always brought happy memories to his door. When he was just a colt, she helped him with spells and such, she was one of the only friends he had in his long life, knowing very well, he cared about her. He even saw her get her cutie mark! She was always dear to him, even when he turned evil and full of hate and pain against the world. He.. loved her.
This Radiant, this wolf was the only thing he had left of her. Following the dog in the near darkness, running towards it with all his might. In this moment, he could hear this sound, his heart beating in the harsh wind. His hair as cold as ice. His memory almost frozen in time. Suddenly, he saw the shadow near a tree. The old hazel wolf was looking down at something, a dead blue jay under a pile of branches and leaves. Sombra looked at it, before.. hugging the dog with all his strength. "Radiant.. don't leave me in the darkness like that. Don't.. you ever leave me again. Please Hope." he said softly, closing his eyes and remembering his old friend, remembering the days past.
He stayed with the wolf.
They finally got to somewhere after hunting and scowling the land for remaining animals. Where the world turned into a unbelievable Wasteland, much like Equestria did. Sombra saw something in the distance, even if he had to squint. A dead, wicked tree with branches like thorns, and pale wood, barely holding on in the harsh wind blowing through it's holes. "Let's go, Radiant..." Sombra spoke with a innocence, barely having anything to say after last night. Graves, they only saw six horrible jagged stones when arriving to the tree. Graves of the Mane Six.
Sombra fell to the stone cold ground, with almost tears in his eyes. Twilight was long dead. Everyone was, he was too late. "No. I knew, but why, why didn't i listen? This world isn't mine anymore." Said the Unicorn, looking at the old graves. He came with instinct, he always knew in his gut Twilight was dead, but he didn't listen to himself. Maybe it was pride that got to him, maybe the feeling of greed, maybe it was.. isolation. Hope that he would finally find someone, even his most feared enemies. The sisters could have sufficed if they weren't a pile of bones.
There was a note on the last old grave, protected by a powerful spell. Sombra recognized it as being the rest of the page from the journal, he read it from a distance.
"The Mane Five i call them now were buried in the West, in the mighty Kingdom of Avair. They loved it there so much when we traveled there the first time, so when it came time they traveled there again to be buried by the folks. The same is happening to me. I don't think I will be returning to Equestria even if it is my homeland, i want to be buried with my friends. Who wants all the knowledge they can't handle? Who really wants to live forever?"
He kept that last sentence in his head, who really did want to live forever in this world? He sure didn't, if there was nothing to conquer, no one to enslave, no one to simply talk to except Radiant. He lived his entire life in a endless struggle, nothing was given to him in the world unless he took it for himself. And now there was nothing to take. Sombra was really doubting himself. He looked over his shoulder, there was a figure watching him. Was it someone trying to trick him? No, this was something else. A ominous figure. A slender pony, with red eyes staring at him. Sombra's eyes opened, he hadn't seen someone in a long time. "Why do you stare?" He broke down at this being he knew was Twilight, after so much time of being alone, being in the dark for what he was."WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN PRINCESS, THE PRINCESS OF HOPE? OF FRIENDSHIP." The Alicorn laid silent in the wind with Radiant, as Sombra cried to her with all his breath "PLEASE! WHY DO YOU LOOK AT ME LIKE YOU DON'T KNOW ME ANYMORE? LIKE I'M NOTHING BUT A SLAVE ON THE STREET!" Yelling to the Princess once more, he was furious and plain stuck in his confusion. "WHERE IS EVERYONE HUH YOU DAMN BITCH? WHY ARE YOU HIDING THEM?" The Pony still stared for a moment until vanishing into nothing. The old Pony had a hard gulp, his tongue as dry as the developing sand beneath him. "Hallucinations of.. we.. need to get back.. now." Sombra almost drawing tears, he was shaking.
Through the same ruins, same forest he was back on the boat. Now with a sense of being worthless. He always lived a hard life but the pain was unbearable now. A nasty feeling in his bones. He would grow old and die with nothing to remember him by. All his endeavors gone. The master of nightmares stuck in his own.It was barbaric in it's own right.
The Sparkling Sea was calm, as it's waves slowed not like the war that going inside the grey-haired Sombra's head. He barely talked, he didn't have the physical or mental strength for it anymore. He just wanted to get home. Anywhere with a good rest was hie home now.
Canterlot was as good as it was months ago. Still, it stood in impeccable ruins. Sombra took a breath before going inside again, homesick and full of grief. Animals had died on the traps long ago, and there was barely anything you could call food on it that wasn't rotten or devoured. The Throne Room looked more empty, that may have been because Sombra stored some food in there before. Celestia's Room was perfect as always, filled with wild crystals he found around the globe. As a memory to the Crystal Empire and Princess Amore. While back Sombra took up time to read again, to clear his mind of his failure and learn more about life. Life he could never see again. All but death and misery.
His mind was burdened with the realization nothing was coming for him. Thousands of years crawled within his head with no stop as he tried to 'relive' all the moments from his head from the dumb history books. How it all got to here to this ravaged place once called Equestria.
In the first year back, Sombra tried growing a garden in the desert. The second year it was destroyed by a massive Sand Storm. Time was not friendly to old Sombra. But time, time was not nice to the dog either. Everyday, every year it got weaker as it grew a white coat and now it was bitten by wild rodents, the ones you knew had disease in their damn family line. Sombra, growing small grey streaks in his hair admired Radiant's courage and confidence, trying to think of many ways to help the dog survive as he read countless books on medicine. He didn't want the dog to die. But day by day he knew, he knew how many weak spells he tried, how many workouts and runs they took together. The dog would fall to the ticking of the clock. In his crumbling hall, he stood looking at a panel of a hero long ago. "If the dog is going to die.. i must kill it myself. I must not fear. I must not be afraid. I must.. not fear." Sombra, his heart hurt and his horn faded. He walked to his grey bedroom in dread and sorrow, he hear the cries of the wolf from afar. In his room, the brown hound laid quietly, with bites across it's legs and arms and eyes dead in emotion. It could barely move on the bed. "Oh.. Radiant." He took him off the bed with magic and held the white dog in his arms, trying bringing him to one of the walls, viewing the outside window. Sombra slid down with shivering Radiant in his arms. "Nothing worked huh, buddy? Maybe it could have."
Still looking at the window, he could tell Radiant had a slower heart beat on his chest. He decided to wrap his arms around the dog's neck, almost in a grip. "You know Radiant, you were.. amazing. You helped me in so much. Remember when we traveled down to.." Sombra with his bloodshot eyes thought of Hope one more time. Her eyes, like a blazing fire. How his heart beated at them. How she hugged him in full strength. How she cried, and her tears went to his chest saying. He closed his eyes and he remembered the hug. Not wanting to see what will happen next, he spoke softly. "I'm sorry.. hope."
He broke the dog's neck with his hooves. He heard the snap play in his head over and over for awhile after. The bitten wolf went stiff as it tried to slide down to the Pony's legs, but Sombra's arms grabbed it before it could. Hugging the hound one last time, his face and nose in its white fur. That day, High King Sombra cried. He was finally broken. He lost all his energy and motivation a long time ago. He was now Old Som. He didn't care if he died anymore, he would rather be stabbed in the heart by somepony he didn't know than waste time in this pit. His beard and hair unfortunately grew into more of grey, he looked much more mature than he did previous but all the same, angry. As he buried Radiant in the Crystal Empire, 30 years had passed.
Dinner, the best meal of the day. Or what Som thought of, another day wasted in the oblivion. He spent countless dinners alone in the massive dining room after killing the dog, and this one was no different as he drank from his rusted cup and hate from his hooves a carcass of a dried up fish. "Sigh, fish again. I don't remember, was it Salmon or Carp?" He took a bite "Definitely Carp. After this, I need to get back studying Trig and- Suddenly, there was 3 solid knocks on the oak door. Sombra sat silent. They were not pushes from wild animals, nor from any gusts of wind. Almost dragging his senior hooves, he walked to the door never taking his eyes off it with a fork in his hoof. Stress and mystery loomed in the back of his head, almost as much as his depression. Closer and closer he came, there again was a another knock on the door. "Who is there? Some beast?" The old Unicorn barely whispered. He opened the door as fast as he could, with his fork out. Nothing. Nothing in the darkness of the corridor. Somstepped back "Knocks, i heard knocks didn't i?"
"Yes, you did." A voice spoke behind him.
He turned around, almost tripping on the floor, shouting. "What in Tartarus!" The empty dinner table of dust was now full of figures of the Mane Six. Sitting and staring at him intensely, Princess Twilight Sparkle seemly right behind with her vibrant eyes. His red eyes fully opened and his heart pumped to it's full extent. He walked back and stumbled on the ground. They kept smiling at him, as he looked in horror and pain. With his mouth wide open, Sombra stared at the Ponies "How, how.." Twilight smirked as her wings were brought up. "We've been watching you."
As Som got up quickly, and looked into her abyss that she called eyes. "No you haven't. You would have show yourself years ago. I know very well." He pointed to all of them and yelled. "Get away from me."
"Well why is that-" Twilight said before being interrupted by the lifelike Rainbow Dash grinning at him with vibrant colors. "Yea mister.. Silver."
Silver, Silver. He hadn't heard that word in more than a millennia. It wasn't just a simple word to him, nor a funny joke to the Elder. It was his last name. Sombra looked at Rainbow with fury of a broken man, stress under his eyes and his bushy ashen beard. "What did you say.. you..bastard? You no good.. daughter of a bitch.." Fluttershy and Rarity still smiled at him, as they gave their lovely regards. "You sure are worthless, Sombra Silver." They said his full name. He turned to them, his old cloak flowing with him. "Don't. You ever say that again." They all laughed at him brutally, before Sparkle spoke again and gave a gesture with her hoof. "Well, why not 'King' Sombra. You don't have any power anymore old Silver. Old man. Especially with that carcass of that stupid dog." She looked at his facial hair and scratched it for him. "You sure are pathetic." He was in rage as he backed away, but he didn't have the strength, the courage to hurt any of these visitors though, he hadn't see anypony in decades now. With a shout and short run, he stabbed his fork in the table, it going all the way through the primitive wood. He looked up again, hoping to see the scared look on their weak faces. But all he saw was a empty table and a half eaten plate of fish.
He babbled with his crumbling memory "I.. I.." Som abruptly fell down to the floor, laying on the ground looking at the ceiling. He was having hallucinations, maybe it was his age. maybe his frail magic. He slept that night in the dinner room, not able to go to his own in the hefty hallways in the dark. No one had ever heard his last name, not even Hope. It was a secret kept by his ancestors as they turned to first names in a desperate flee in genocide.
These ghosts haunted him for a good while, almost 50 years now. They would appear everywhere and talk to him, sometimes mock him in his failure. But they became some sort of a reality to him. It was always the same people. The Mane 6 and Celestia. They weren't that bad. they were something, they were distant friends if he had some. Sombra's dark side and light side were shown in these following years, he was battling with his old king ways while pure savagery became his go-to. His mind was between, being good and being evil and not giving a shit. Tearing books he hated the philosophy of and destroying ruins with his struggling magic. "I want to be.." He said one morning, looking at the dim sun rise. He struggled to say the word while he covered himself in mud warpaint for a war non existent, taking a few breathes before "Good. I want to be someone else.." He left the castle to wash his face in the river near by. He walked through the desert he had for many years, he was now calm as ever. Nothing could touch him into becoming the monster he once was. As he got to the river, he started to splash hoof fulls of water down his face. "Ah, so warm for water like this. So clear." He began to splash again before something stopped him.
"Hello Sombra." A familiar voice said in his ear. He turned right and saw the milky, pale Alicorn that was Princess Celestia. She was as glorious as ever, a tiny blaze in her eyes and in the golden boots and jeweled crown she worn. The past king did not look at her lightly, a tough frown developed on his face as his clear tears dissolved some of the mud. "Why do you come, after all these years. After so much time?" Sombra begged to know the answer. Her soft voice made him have chills. "I've came to talk."
Author's Note
Thank you for reading Old Som Part I! It's a idea I had since 2016 but was always focused on other stories! So here it is now, without more time to waste! Enjoy and leave any comment you desire. I may edit this first part in time during the days for a more extended version.
Sources
Desert - Bone Dry Desert from MLP
Mountains - https://www.deviantart.com/drawingjules/art/MLP-Night-Background-FREE-TO-USE-673968595
Twilight's Empire Symbol - https://www.deviantart.com/emkay-mlp/art/Stellar-Alignment-Emblem-362916970
Twilight pic - best_friends_forever_by_hungrylen
