My Little Pony: Queen of Shadows

Twilight's P.O.V.

I awoke to see my cage open by that tyrant King Sombra. Only, he seemed different then when he imprisoned me. Almost looking at me in sympathy.

"...How very strange..." He said as he brought me out. "I took a look through your memories while you slept and saw what you saw from that door I installed. The door in question is meant to show you your worst fear and yet..." He said before checking me over. "It seems your greatest fear is Celestia disowning you as her student. Nothing more. Most would see their friends and their family betray them and yet you are different. I find this fact fascinating." Sombra continued.

"Why are you letting me out?" I asked him.

"Because while me and that sister in law of yours reached for the crystal heart, suddenly a mysterious shadow came out of nowhere and snatched the heart. The thing hasn't been seen since. So for the time being, a cease fire has been called." King Sombra said. "So long as the princesses, your friends, or your brother, don't attack the crystal empire until the heart has been found then I am perfectly fine with any of them visiting you here." He said. "And that also, you get to live too. I suppose keeping myself relegated to the Crystal Empire was a nice bonus." King Sombra added before he removed the dark crystals from my horn. "Besides, you fascinate me. You were able to effortlessly use Dark Magic as if it was nothing, and what's more, your soul remains pure. Normally, one would find their soul being eaten alive by the dark magic, yet for you, not even a single dent in your soul has been made." King Sombra said.

"What's your point King Sombra? And why are you being nice?" I asked.

"Simply put, I don't want to see you grieve. That, and I'm wondering just how skilled you are at wielding magic. Specifically the same magic I've used this entire time." King Sombra said.

"Grieve? What do you know about grieving?" I asked.

"I know more then you think. The Princess were right about one thing: I am a tyrant. But I act like one towards those crystal ponies out of necessity. I don't want what happened in my past to happen to anyone else." King Sombra said.

"Well...since we'll be here for a while...I want to know about what happened to you. If you don't mind that is." I said. This would be a rare opportunity for me.

"I suppose I could tell you, but only if you swear to not tell another soul." King Sombra said.

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." I said, going through the motions of a Pinkie Pie Promise. Seeing the confused look on King Sombra's face, I decided to explain. "Um...it's a thing one of my friends made. It's called a Pinkie Pie Promise. And Pinkie Pie is very religious about upholding one. I suppose you could call it our version of a swear. Only we make sure we uphold these swears because Pinkie Pie will get upset about it every way to Sunday." I explained.

"It seems I am going to need to learn about your past just as much as you are wanting to learn of mine." King Sombra said.

"Yeah." I said.

"But for now, I will explain myself." King Sombra said.

Sombra's Flashback - Sombra's P.O.V.

Believe it or not, I am a hybrid: a cross between a normal pony and an Umbrum. A fact that caused me to become senselessly bullied as a child. A scene showing a young child Sombra being bullied in various ways

Throughout my childhood, I was starting to grow bitter and filled with hate; wanting to take my anger out on all the various ponies. That is...until she approached me. A teenage Sombra is shown being picked on before being approached by a single mare

Her name was Radiant Hope. And I'll be the first to admit, it was love at first sight. And to her, it did not matter what I was in blood, because she admitted that she thought that gave me individuality to a degree no other pony could ever claim. That's Right. Radiant Hope saw not the surface but instead what lied within. She wanted to like me for me. And admittedly, I let her. Mostly because she was so easy to hang out with, no matter who decided to reticule me or her. Teenage Sombra is shown playing with Radiant Hope in various activities

I was on top of the world but then... Radiant Hope is suddenly shown tied to a wooden stake the ponies decided that enough was enough and that they needed to send a message: Hybrids would never be accepted in society. So, to send a warning to all those who dare grow close to hybrids, the townsfolk decided to do the unthinkable: They decided to execute Radiant Dawn by burning her at the stake. The wooden Stake is suddenly caught on fire and Radiant Hope is burnt beyond recognition

However no one know that killing Radiant Hope would allow all my anger to come out in full force. It was from that point forward I decided to become a tyrant, not for the sake of ruling a kingdom, but rather for the sake of making sure no one; and I mean no one; ever suffered through the kind of grief I've suffered.

Present Day - Twilight's P.O.V.

"And that is why I became the tyrant I am today. All to make sure no one can ever go through what I've went through. Sure, I make it look like I rule through fear, but my motivation is grief; grief powerful enough to push me to that sort of extreme." Sombra said.

"Ironically, I can relate. Once, back when I was writing weekly friendship letters to Princess Celestia, one week I had come to the realization that I had yet to learn anything new in regards to friendship so I ended up trying to cause a friendship problem to solve. Didn't really work out so well. Thankfully, with some help from my friends, I was able to get out of that situation with Celestia before she could force me back to Canterlot." I said. "So yeah, I suppose one can say I've tried taking something to the extreme before this." I added. Sombra was shocked.

"Interesting...this explains why your fear was limited to Princess Celestia disowning you as her student: That incident made you realize that no matter what, your friends will always stick by your side even in your darkest hour." Sombra said. "I think I understand what has made you so special. Still, you owe me an explanation of your own past." He added. "I don't think I've gotten your name though." Sombra pointed out.

"It's Twilight Sparkle." I said. "But if you want, you can just call me Twilight..." I added. Sombra smiled.

"Then I suppose you can just call me Sombra when we're not in public." Sombra said.

It was a small bit of progress, but I could already see the stallion underneath the monstrous façade Sombra put up for so long. This time, there wouldn't be any execution to stop me from growing close to Sombra. Maybe; just maybe; if I can warm my way into his heart, he will stop being evil. Celestia would be no doubt proud of me.

…

If only I had realized back then just how far my actions would go to that end.

TO BE CONTINUED