Deep in the Ice and Darkness

by MisterEdd

Rating: everyone
Tags: King Sombra, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sad
Length: 1791

What happened to King Sombra during his 1,000-year banishment in the Frozen North? Now you will know.

This story is a Prequel to When Darkness Falls

King Sombra has been defeated. His rebellion has been crushed, his allies scattered and now for his punishment, Princesses Celestia and Luna have used the Elements of Harmony to strip him of his mortal form, trapping him as a living shadow and imprisoning him deep underground the depths of the Frozen North. For a thousand years, he suffered a fate worse than death. Now learn what he went through as he waited for his nightmare to end.

Cover art by DragonwolfRooke

Published 2020-08-24 04:20:00 UTC
Last updated 2020-08-24 04:20:00 UTC

Prison Fit For A King

My rebellion...

It was going so well.

I had personally disposed of the rulers of the Crystal Empire, albeit to my own remorse. They'd raised me as if I were their own son, trusted me...and I turned on them. My adoptive sister Princess Garnet...she will forever be my greatest regret. She was like my flesh and blood, my only family left in the world and I tossed her aside. I am not proud of what I did to her; the nightmares plague me and though they were distracting, I hoped that they stayed as some small penance.

I had successfully invaded the Crystal Empire and within moments, the kingdom was under my domain, with me as its dark ruler. It was my wergild, the compensation for the extinction of the umbrums, my race. They'd been wiped out, victims of the alicorn Queen Concordia and the crystal ponies. Only by either fate or sheer luck, I alone survived the purge and was spared by King Carnelian and Queen Aquamarine. Little did they know, their soft-heartedness would be their downfall.

I was now king of the Frozen North and I will admit that I wasn't a fair one. The soldiers and royal guards were mind controlled and the healthiest citizens put to work in the mines, shackled and forced to harvest raw materials. War was coming to Equestria once more and I needed enough weapons and armor to supply my troops with. Aside from my less-than-willing forces, my new allies also supplied me with hordes of diamond dogs, cyclopes, thestrals and changelings, all ready to march on Canterlot. My revenge on Equestria's alicorn monarchs was nigh.

What I hadn't foreseen was the emergence of Discord, self-proclaimed Spirit of Chaos, former pet of the royal family and the last draconequus. Embracing his helter-skelter roots, he staked his claim over much of Equestria, turning it into his own little bizarre slice of insanity. True, this was an unfortunate development but plans change and I'd come too far to alter my machinations just because of some flying spaghetti monsters and chocolate rain showers. With Discord keeping the royals busy, my alliance acted and under my direction, conquered much of the continent. One positive to come out of this was that Queen Concordia was dead, leaving Canterlot demoralized and in the hooves of her inexperienced daughters.

I prided myself on my intelligence and forward thinking, always preparing for worst-case scenarios and exploiting the weakness of my opponents but no amount of stratagems or back-up plans could've prepared me for what came next. Reunited with my estranged wife Princess Celestia, we entered into a brief one-on-one duel before our old feelings reignited, causing us to forgo our animosity in favor of a much more carnal act. The days passed into months before our next encounter, during which I had learned that Celestia had delivered a filly, my daughter. Imagine my shock and horror when Celestia revealed that she'd disposed of the foal, the last link to my kind and the sole family that I had left in this gods'-forsaken land. Suffice it to say, my outrage and sorrow only deepened my hatred for Celestia's ilk and hardened my resolve to conquer the whole of Equestria and to one day have Celestia watch impotently as I burned Canterlot to the ground.

Further events conspired against me when Celestia, along with her sister Princess Luna, stumbled across a collection of relics known as the Elements of Harmony and wielded them against Discord, turning him to stone and ending his short reign. The defeat of such a powerful being made my allies nervous but I remained calm, convinced that my righteous cause would inspire them to hold strong. Sadly, their hearts were too weak and soon most of my allies abandoned me, pushing us back to the Crystal Empire, readying ourselves for the inevitable final showdown. The armies of Equestria marched on the Crystal Empire and a great battle ensued. I don't know how many fell in that conflict but I do know that it was one for the ages. My umbrum blood, the blood of proud warriors, burned in delight at the clash of swords and bursts of magical energy as the snow turned red.

At last, I alone faced down the princesses. Now, I am no novice in the ways of sorcery, having spent years honing my skill in the forbidden arts, but even I knew that I couldn't match the power of two alicorns. To that end, using alchemy and necromancy, I crafted a special item to turn the tide: the Alicorn Amulet. Not only did it serve to enhance my malefic spells and prevent me from succumbing to magic-based fatigue but it also held a portion of my soul, a sort of contingency plan should I expire in the conflict. I knew that my chances of death were high but I would not retreat; either I emerged victorious and claimed my righteous vengeance or was destroyed fighting my enemies, refusing to flee from them unlike my cowardly so-called "allies".

Our battle was fierce but alas, fate herself decreed that victory was not to be mine. Deprived of my amulet, I quickly found myself at the sisters' "mercy" and they unleashed the power of their Elements. I was stripped of my physical body and converted permanently into my shadow form before sent hurtling miles away, trapping me beneath the ice of the Frozen North. By then, they would've no doubt discovered the little surprise that I'd left for them. In the likelihood that I was defeated, I'd depowered the Crystal Heart and hidden away within the castle before enacting a curse that made the Crystal Empire vanish, ensuring that if I couldn't have it, nopony could.

..........

One might assume that being trapped beneath miles of ice and earth would be quite the frightening experience and they would be absolutely correct. I couldn't move, couldn't even turn my head to glimpse my surroundings but seeing as how there was not even a glimmer of light, that would be pointless. Then there was the issue of my body, or lack thereof. My shadow form lacked nerve endings and while that enabled me to survive the frigid temperatures without issue, it left me feeling...empty. I could feel nothing, not the stone that I laid atop of nor the ice walls around me.

Where did I go wrong?

No, I was not wrong! Celestia was the guilty party, not I! I'd suffered, paid my dues time and again, lived with the knowledge of being the last of my kind and committing horrible acts just to right the wrongs that'd been committed by Celestia and her horrid mother. I was owed compensation and I took it by right of conquest. Who was Celestia to declare that I was the villain, the tyrant?

The crystal ponies deserved their fate as my subjects. They were complicit in the extermination and defamation of my race so I ensured that they were punished. I will admit that seeing them clapped in irons and toiling away in the mines gave me pleasure. Was I not supposed to enjoy the fruits of my labor? Place anyone else in my position and they would've done the same.

I could do nothing except gaze into the darkness of the abyss. For hours on end. It didn't matter how long my eyes adjusted to the lack of light. I could see nothing, do nothing. I focused on my horn, willed it to use even the slightest bit of magic but nothing came out. No magic to illuminate my surroundings, no hooves to tap in rhythm. I couldn't even change my position.

Sleep eluded me as well, so I could not escape my torment for even the briefest of respites. I could only wait, staring out into the seemingly ending blackness before me. I don't know how long I remained in the darkness; time no longer existed. Noise became foreign to me as well, hearing neither the numerous beasts that I knew populated the tundra nor the savages winds that howled morning, noon and night. There was only silence. The maddening, deafening silence.

Soon, like the tide erasing words in the sand, my memories began to fade. I could no longer recall the warmth of sunset or the taste of bread. The chattering of birds and the caress of a midsummer breeze became lost as well. More and more of myself slipped away so that I became hollow, an empty husk of what was once Sombra. My mother's face was a blank, a white space in the canvas of my mind, another recollection torn from me and lost to the ages.

..........

How long had I been here? Months? Years? Centuries even?

So much snatched away from me but there was one thing that remained:

Anger.

Yes, anger. And from that anger, came vengeance. I craved vengeance, I thirsted for it like a dying pony in the desert yearns for water. Vengeance against Celestia for destroying my chances of fatherhood, for imprisoning me here. That alone gave me solace, some inkling of life in my otherwise deceased state. I wasn't living so I was essentially dead.

How would I make Celestia pay? Burning Canterlot seemed like the clearest option. It was the capitol of her kingdom, the city of her parents and seat of power for the alicorn empire. Yes, that would certainly do. But what else?

I doubted my imprisonment would last forever. Surely I would be brought out for some sort of trial for my misdeeds against Equestria. Would the Crystal Empire reappear before I was released? Could I escape my cell before the trial? And how many guards could I take out before they realized that I was gone? So many possibilities, so many fantasies.

..........

Sombra.

My name is Sombra.

Where was I born?

Somewhere in the north, I think.

My parents....what did they do again?

Does it matter?

..........

Garnet, I am so sorry.

Please don't leave me.

Everyone else has left me.

Please...

I'm alone...

..........

Darkness...

That's all there is.

Just the darkness.

..........

MY CRYSTAL SLAVES....

THEY WILL WEEP UPON MY RETURN.

NO, IT IS NOT FEAR THAT THEY OWE ME.

IT IS AWE.

..........

WHAT WAS THAT?

ACK! WHAT IS THAT?!

MY EYES! IT BURNS!

WHERE IS THE DARKNESS?

WHAT IS...HOWLING?

UP, UP, UP I GO.

WHITE. SO MUCH WHITE.

SNOW. YES, THAT'S IT.

AND...WIND. THE HOWLING IS WIND.

IT IS DIFFICULT TO SEE THROUGH THE STORM BUT I THINK I CAN FIND MY WAY BACK TO...

BACK TO...?

YES, I REMEMBER NOW...

FROZEN NORTH. THE CRYSTAL HEART. MY SLAVES.

YES...

MY CRYSTAL SLAVES...

I HAVE RETURNED...