Author's Note
Reminder that the story takes place before season 9, just so I don't get anything wrong. Also the story has mentions of the MLP comics, since Sombra is such an unknown character when it comes to his story.
A familiar face
Light poured into the dimly lit cell, darkness that caressed the sleeping stallions body cowered away in nearby corners. Laying in the center was a wounded stallion, caged away like a rabid animal.
He was heavily sedated after a sudden burst of rage, despite his cooperation over the past couple weeks — the stallion had, quite literally, lost his temper. The guards had no commiseration for the ex-tyrant and his mental condition, man-handling him with incredible strength, holding him down before he was painfully knocked out.
Magic needed to be powerful in order to tranquilize Sombra. Quite powerful, actually. The magic wrapped around his brain and aimlessly searched for a way to make him fall asleep, causing monumental surges of pain to electrify his entire body. He had begged like a helpless foal for it to end, but it had only continued.
Sombra jolted awake, saliva dribbled down his chin in a thin trail. His muzzle scrunched up in disgust as he realized he had been drooling. He raised a hoof to his mouth and wiped away the disgusting liquid with his front pastern.
His brain still hurt like all Hell. Celestia really had it in her still ever since last time. Sombra steadied himself as he stood to his hooves, wobbling at the movement. He made a soft ‘ugh!’ as he fell back to the floor, landing directly on his croup.
Sombra allowed his muscles to push himself up, granting permission to the weak stallion to at least sit on his rump.
“You need to stop moving. You will only hurt yourself more.” A squeaky, concerned voice pitched into the silence.
Sombra looked over his shoulder, frowning at the familiar lilac colored mare, last time he saw her — she lacked wings. Her handful of friends stood protectively behind her, Sombra could sense fear from a few — but most stood their ground. He rolled his eyes Twilights way, forcing his throbbing head to face the blank cell wall, he only emitted a low grunt in disapproval of her comforting words.
There was quiet whispering behind him, the mares protested against Twilight and her decision to visit the stallion. They were not very good whisperers.. If his head wasn’t pounding against his skull and if the world around him wasn’t spinning, he would have definitely came up with a snarky comment.
The cells gate slowly opened, causing an irritating screech. Sombra gritted his teeth at the sound, it only pained his sensitive brain some more.
Twilights hooves clacked against the stone before it stopped, “I understand you might be going through some confusion, Sombra, but we’re here to help.”
“I do not need any assistance!” Sombra growled, “Especially not from some doltish ponies.”
“Hey—! Wait, what does doltish mean?” An annoying voice chimed in, Sombra was too tired to care which one of the mares blurted it. He was becoming more irritated as the seconds hurried along, he couldn’t help but feel aggravated with their appearances. Sombra felt someone in their band of misfits was missing, it took him just a moment to realize it was the purple infant dragon.
Twilight hadn’t said anything else for the time being, but she must’ve motioned something to the mares behind his back — because hooves began clacking against the floor outside. The sounds of quiet chatter and hoof steps soon evaded the heavily guarded location.
Sombra flattened his ears against his head, his expression twisted in pain while a migraine wrapped around his head and squeezed his brain. If he had admitted he would rather die than listen to this mares speech, he would’ve been mentally evaluated as usual. Last time Sombra had went on a mental instability rollercoaster ride, he ended up threatening to kill himself.
Obviously, the princesses didn’t enjoy his threat too much and decided to retrieve a stallion that checked in on him every now and again. This stallion appeared in a pattern, it gave him an understanding of the time of day, at least. He never spoke to the stallion, despite his desperate attempts in getting Sombra to speak his emotions truthfully. The princesses also made sure Sombra didn’t purge the food he was given, in attempts to starve himself. Very smart.
The sisters wanted him alive and mentally stable, Sombra wasn’t sure why and he didn’t bother to ask. Thinking back on the wild goose chase he had the princesses on, it made him question how long he’s truly been in the Canterlot prison.
The mare hesitantly sat besides Sombra, her wings folded inward and rested against her back. Sombra caught a quickened glance from her in his peripheral vision, her eyebrows were pushed together — forming ugly wrinkles to sit on her forehead. Her head hung ever so slightly, lips parting with a quiet smack, “We just want you to cooperate, Sombra. We don’t want to hurt you, you’re not a monster.”
Sombra looked at her, raising a hoof. For a moment, Twilight sat wide-eyed like a frightened deer; cowering away from his hoof. He frowned once he heard guards order him to put his hoof back down.
“I was not going to cause any bodily harm on you, mare,” Sombra abided to the commands and rested his hoof back down, it would’ve been useless putting up a fight against five heavily armored stallions. The clanking of armor faded back into the silence, “You claim I am not a monster, yet you fear me as if I am one,” He nodded towards faint scratches and his own dried blood that coated his body, “I had meant to point at my plethora of wounds.”
Twilights tightened muscles relaxed themselves after his explanation, her soft, purple eyes glanced towards his many scratches until she focused on the blank wall ahead of them. She decided not to reply on the topic of his wounds, “We would like to offer you a second chance.”
These ponies were pathetic, fueled on kindness and friendship — offering it to anyone who stepped in their path. It was revolting and cringe-worthy. He was well aware that even if he declined their offer, they would still force it on him. He had no rights like a regular pony would, he never did, anyways. He licked his lips, chuckling lightly at her willingness to help him. Sombra knew he was a real piece of work, needless to say.
But despite knowing the answer to his question, he decided to ask it anyways, “And if I decline?”
Twilight shrugged, “I’ll leave it up for the princesses to decide.”
That wasn’t the answer he was expecting.
Quite honestly, he was expecting a cheerful smile and a speech about friendship and gross ... happiness ... things. It made his body want to flip itself inside out. Albeit it sounded a lot better than having to deal with Celestia and Luna and their anomalies.
Twilight got to her hooves, “I will give you some time to think about it, Sombra,” Her front hoof inched forward, before she set it back in its spot, “We aren’t the bad guys here. We just want to help you. We believe everypony deserves a second chance, even you.”
Sombra didn’t respond, but he could discern a form of happiness in the mare. He couldn’t tell if she was happy or determined, but it fueled her heart to the very brim — he hated it. Sensing other ponies happiness and love was one thing he despised, it was utterly dreadful. It’s been millennia since he became King Sombra that he honestly forgot what made him this way.
Behind him, the heavy door shut softly. Twilights fragile words caused quite a lot of contemplation to strike the stallion. The idea of total world domination wasn’t of interest anymore, it was odd not feeling the strong emotion to rule all of Equestria and the Crystal Empire.
Without the burning rage that pursued his devotion of tyranny, he was .. nothing. He was able to convince himself over a short period of time that it would return, but even running on false hope became tiring. Sombra was incapacitated, all activities resulted in him sleeping for a prolonged period of time afterwards.
He couldn’t help but feel a piece of him was absent. But Sombra couldn’t figure out if it was the internal brewing of hatred, his old personality or something far more contemplated than he could understand. Sombra rubbed at his forehead with his hoof, massaging into the growing headache.
Sombra couldn’t remember what he did to earn a state of forced tranquility, but all he could remember was Celestia’s panicked expression while Luna stood behind her. At some parts, he did become aware of what was at work before he fell unconscious again — it was painful to endure.
With a groan, Sombra laid himself down on the floor. Despite a perfectly functional mattress that was pushed into the corner of the cell, he would rather sleep on the stone that was cold to the touch. Sleeping off the pain was the best idea he had in mind at the moment.
***
Twilight caught up with her group of friends, examining their concerned and displeased expressions. Ashamed she let her friends down, she hung her head, “I understand you girls might be upset over my decision, but... The princesses and I are giving King Sombra a chance. He’s thinking over it.”
The mares exchanged worried looks to one another, a few rubbed their front legs together and looked away from Twilight.
“Yeah, like, waaaay upset Twi,” Rainbow Dash hovered above the group of mares. “You’re giving this guy a chance when he could just use us, then destroy all of Equestria!”
Fluttershy looked up at her friend, giving a stern glare — warning her to watch what she said. “Rainbow.”
The blue pegasus flattened her ears at Fluttershy’s warning, making puppy eyes. “Sorry Twi, I just don’t think this dude deserves a chance. I mean seriously! He enslaved the Crystal Empire and killed a ton of innocent ponies, he’s a bad guy!”
A orange farm-pony nodded in agreement with Rainbow Dashes outburst. “Ah gotta agree with Rainbow. Sombra ain’t a good feller.”
Twilight Sparkle nodded her head, sighing softly. In a way, she agreed with her two concerned friends. But, Sombra was a pony — just like everypony else. Even if he might’ve done some questionable things in the past, she was determined to help him understand he had ponies that just wanted to help him. “I... I understand, girls. But it’s worth a try! Sombra is just confused and I can tell something’s different about him!”
Fluttershy nodded, she took a few steps toward and stood besides the purple alicorn. “I agree with Twilight. I think everypony deserves another chance, even King Sombra.” Fluttershy held back a shudder at the brutes name. “Even though he is kind of scary..”
Pinkie Pie pursed her lips, tilting her head to the side. “Maybe Twilight’s right! He did call us doltish, though. What the hay does that even mean!?” She looked around the group of mares, expecting a definition.
An elegant unicorn looked her way. “He called us stupid, dear.”
“Ooh.. well, that wasn’t very nice!”
Rarity face-hoofed.
Twilight shook her head. “Please girls, let’s focus on the task at hoof here!” Twilight motioned the mares to follow her, she began walking down the narrow hallway towards the exit. “If King Sombra accepts the offer, he will stay with me at the castle.”
Applejack looked at Twilight, dumbfounded. “Sugar cube, you sure you can handle, er.. Sombra?”
Well. Twilight wasn’t sure if she exactly could handle him by herself, he was a complete mess — even if he didn’t speak much, she could definitely see it. But, the mare raised her head proudly and smiled. “Of course, AJ. We handled Discord, the incarnate of chaos, right? What’s so different with Sombra?”
“Uh! He killed a bunch of crystal ponies, he enslaved the Crystal Empire, he’s super dark and spooky an—“
Rarity held a hoof up to Pinkie Pie’s muzzle, silencing her from going on about King Sombra’s dark past as a tyrant. The pink mare apologized through her hoof.
Twilight held the doors of the Canterlot castle open, a faint purple aura wrapping around the doors handles. “We have a lot to think about, King Sombra does too,” Twilight commented, “We’ll come back to Canterlot tomorrow morning to see Sombra. I have to discuss Sombra with the princesses.”
Her friends bid her farewell, Fluttershy gave Twilight a gentle hug before hurrying back with the group of colorful ponies.
Internally, Twilight was a wreck. She wasn’t sure if she could quite handle King Sombra. The new princess was worried she would mess it up for Sombra and teach him the wrong things — that is, if he accepts the offer.
She raised a hoof and hesitantly waved her friends goodbye, the doors slowly shutting until they were cut out of her view. Twilight sighed and flattened her ears, staring at the large marble doors.
Princess Cadence and Shining Armor weren’t even aware King Sombra has returned, possibly in hopes to refrain the new mother from stressing herself out. In a way, Twilight felt guilty having to keep Sombra a secret away from certain ponies. But, she guessed it was for the better of Equestria.
Eventually, word of Sombra’s return will arrive at ponies doorsteps. She knew very well that it would shock many and anger the rest.
How he was found was still unknown to Twilight, better yet — how he was still alive.
***
Twilight pushed herself away from the doors, quietly sauntering down to the throne room. The sunlight peered into the hallway, casting a certain glow through the windows and onto the crimson rug.
“Hello, Twilight. I presume you spoke with King Sombra?”
Twilight halted in her tracks, Celestia emerged from an unknown hallway behind the thrones. “Yes.” She half smiled awkwardly.
Celestia walked in front of Twilight, her long legs caused her to tower over the smaller princess. “And?”
“He.. Was -“ Twilight shook her head “- he was slightly cooperative,” she looked up at the much older princess. “I don’t think I can do this, Celestia. What if — what if I teach Sombra the wrong things?! What if—“
Celestia smiled. “I believe in you, Twilight Sparkle. Sombra may have a corrupted past, but that doesn’t mean he cannot have a better future,” Celestia raised a hoof and placed it over Twilight’s heart. “He needs a group of friends to help him, I do not know any other pony that cherishes friendship as much as you do.”
Twilight smiled, tears sat at the edge of her eyes before she brought Celestia into a friendly hug. “Thank you, Celestia. I will try my very best to help King Sombra be a better stallion!” She blinked away the tears and moved out of the hug. “What if.. He declines the offer?”
Celestia hummed, casting a frown on her expression. “Luna and I have yet to discuss that. We cannot force friendship on Sombra, remember that, Twilight. It’s... Been very long since he has had a friend.”
Twilight furrowed her eyebrows at the sudden change of tone, her proud voice now sounded very pained and troubled. She wasn’t sure what she meant by ‘it’s been very long since he has had a friend’.
The smaller mare gave into her own curiosity. “What do you mean, Celestia?”
Celestia raised her ears at Twilights question. “Sombra had a wonderful friend once. Many moons ago, a young mare by the name of Radiant Hope came to Luna and I in desperate need of help -” she turned around and made her way to her designated throne “- Sombra had lost control of himself and his powers, turning against the crystal ponies in a wave of hatred.”
The sun princess sat on her throne, her stature still remaining proud and tall. “That is all Luna and I know. Maybe one day, Sombra can explain the rest of his story to you.”
“Oh,” Twilight muttered “I just — I don’t know if I’m ready for this.”
Celestia chuckled. “Sometimes, our stars align our destiny in a strange way. I have full faith in you and your friends, Twilight. It may not be the destiny you’d expect, but Sombra is counting on you. Even if he may deny it.” Celestia flashed a playful wink Twilights way.
If she was going to be honest, Sombra kind of scared Twilight. She had put on false bravery and determination while in his cell, but her bones were rattling in her very form once she gathered the courage to actually step inside.
She wasn’t sure how she managed to sit besides him, but she was sure it was the wash of realization he needed help... serious help.
Twilight exhaled a large breath from her lungs, feathers ruffling as she exhaled. “Thank you, Celestia...”
