The King of Storiesby BaroqueChaptersChapter 1: In With the New, In With the OldChapter 2: Their Legacy, Our DutyChapter 3: Between History and MythsChapter 4: A Meeting of RoyalsChapter 1: In With the New, In With the OldAmong the wild shrubbery that surrounded Maretime Bay, a stallion looked at his armored hooves with an expression of utter befuddlement. He was quite a tall individual, surpassing a few centimeters of your average pony's height. At a glance, he might have appeared to be a unicorn, but on a closer inspection, one could see many differences that would set him apart from the formerly magically-attuned tribe. The first and most striking characteristic was his horn. Instead of a conical protrusion of magically infused keratin, it was a curved, knife-like construct of potent dark magic. It glowed a faint, yet still strikingly red light. His mane flowed in an unseen wind, channeling the overflowing dark energy from within. Each individual hair so dark that it blended into one another, making it seem like a billowing void. Most of his ash-grey coat was covered by a magnificent red cape, lined with pristine ermine, along with overlapping plates of armor along his neck and hooves. "Well... at least I'm not a mare." The human-turned-former King Sombra then turned his head towards the nearby seaside town with a recognizable facility looming over it. "One hell of a way to start the new year..." He shook his head and sighed, "Of all the possible eras, it's the one where everyone is dead. Oh well..." And to think, just a few hours ago, he was writing another fanfic, on new year's eve, all by himself, cooped in his dingy little apartment... Well, looks like those random guys on the internet can go shove it up where the sun don't shine, because he's King-freakin'-Sombra now! "Heh, hail to the King..." the former human muttered. He stood up and began to take a few steps. To his surprise, he was able to move rather easily, despite what most fan content had taught him. Sombra went from trotting, to cantering, to galloping as a means to test out his mobility. And for once, in his admittedly monotonous life, he felt genuinely free. The former human let out a laugh as he ran across the green fields that surrounded Maretime Bay. He shouted in glee, reveling in his situation. "I'm a pony, baby! Woo!" After a few minutes of running around like a toddler, he threw himself down on to the soft yet prickly grass in exhaustion. Sombra panted and wiped the sweat off of his forehead before he let out a sigh of satisfaction. He may not be in the correct era, but at least he was still here, in Equestria, the land of friendship and magical shenanigans! A world rich with history and culture! A world that he held close to his heart. He frowned at the reminder. Thinking it over once more, practically every character that he knew and liked were probably nothing more than bones in long forgotten graves now... It... certainly wasn't a comforting thought. The former human got up to his hooves and looked back to the distant sight of Maretime Bay to clear his mind. His eyes widened when he noticed a familiar orange figure excitedly making its way down the lighthouse. Sombra turned his gaze towards the town proper, and realized that he could only see earth ponies walking along its streets. Not even a pegasus or unicorn in sight. "Huh... so that means..." Another moving figure in the distance caught his eye. This time, it was a shade of purple. He quickly put two and two together, before feeling something click in his mind, and... "Oh... ohoho... I think I've got an idea~!" A smile began to spread across his face. If it wasn't for his intimidating visage, it would have looked cheeky instead of devious. "But first..." Sombra looked around his immediate area, gathering any small object that he could find. It took him a moment, considering the lack of fingers, but he managed to collect a small stack of stones and twigs in small pile. The former human then pointed his horn towards said pile. "Alright... now how do I-" As if reading his mind, his blade-like horn crackled with purple energy, followed by purple wisps emerging from the corners of his eyes. The pile was engulfed in his dark magic and began to levitate, moving along wherever he willed it to go. Sombra looked at the floating pile in disbelief, "That easy? Surely not." He continued to practice his magic by manipulating each item in the pile. It didn't take him long to start levitating each stone and twig separately, having them orbit around him in a ring. After a while, he gently placed the objects back on the ground. The transformed human held a look of genuine awe. "Ooookay then... good at levitation." He tapped his chin in thought, if he can float around things that easily, would that also apply to the real Sombra's other abilities as well? Could he actually... Sombra braced himself and executed the same exact procedure with his levitation by focusing his thoughts on the specific task he wanted to do. At first, it was subtle. He felt like he was being submerged in slightly colder water. Strange, but not too uncomfortable. Then, his hooves started to dematerialize, followed by his legs, torso, and head. The entire process took place in less than a second, leaving the former human dazed after his transformation. "Okay, okay! Good! Nothing too bad..." Sombra looked over his form. It writhed and billowed with each movement he made. It was surreal to see your own body act like a cloud of smoke, yet still fully capable of sensing everything around himself like usual. He tried to move forward, and found that his smog-like form move whenever he thought of walking. Sombra felt it was just like walking and running, just without feeling the effort required to do so. "So if want go up, does that mean..." He thought about jumping, and sure enough, his smoky form ascended accordingly. "What about going upstairs, or... climbing?" With another thought, his entire form steadily ascended whilst moving forward. Sombra then thought of going down a flight of stairs, and began a slow, forward descent. Slower than thinking of falling, he soon found out as well. Good to know that the controls weren't all that sophisticated. Simple, but bears the potential of being highly versatile if he had the time to fiddle with it more. "Great, great. Going to assume it's the same way if I want to..." Another thought, and his smog coalesced back into a solid form without much issue, barring some disorientation. He would need to be careful, then. Thinking of transforming back mid-air could be a pretty big issue. Sombra gave himself a once-over and, after confirming he had all of his body parts intact, nodded to himself in satisfaction. "All good here." For a moment, he thought about experimenting with more specialized magic, but soon disregarded it. He won't be needing that until much, much later. Not that he won't be practicing it in his spare time, that is. Another glance at the accumulating ponies near the towering form of the Canterlogic facility, and he was off in a sweeping burst of shadows. Eager to tamper with the strands of fate. "Operation Legacy is a go!" "Where the hell are those two?" Sombra muttered to himself as he trotted along an alleyway in the earth pony town. He had hoped to encounter Izzy right before she made her presence known and caused mass hysteria. Unfortunately, it seemed like luck simply wasn't on his side, as he had been searching for the energetic unicorn for exactly two hours, according to a nearby clocktower. "I swear, they should be-" "AAAHHH!" His ears swiveled towards the sound of screaming in the distance. The former human held back the urge to facehoof, and opted to groan instead. "Welp, plan B it is..." He was engulfed by shadows once again, and zipped towards all the ruckus. This time, it didn't take him too long to find the familiar sight of two ponies from differing tribes meeting each other for the first time in what was likely a very long time. "There you are." He hesitated for a moment, observing the shocked and fearful looks of the crowd surrounding them. Should he reveal himself now, and revel in their reaction to magic, or should he wait until they return to the lighthouse? Showing up now would surely cause even more panic than Izzy would with just her presence, and Sunny would likely be too dumbfounded by his magic to react properly. But then again... it would make a pretty sweet entrance. "Choices, choices..." Sombra paused in thought. He needed to make up his mind quickly, as he could see Sunny slowly recovering from her tumble. "Ah, fuck it." She couldn't believe her eyes. There, right in front of her, an actual, real-life unicorn! After all these years... Sunny Starscout quickly got up to her hooves. eyes locked onto the unicor- Izzy's pointed horn. She wrangled her thoughts together to mutter a single word. "U-u-unic-" Just then, right beside the purple unicorn, a mass of... shadows? Fell straight from the sky, before merging together into the form of yet another unicorn. But this one... this one seemed a lot more intimidating. Oddly similar to the way unicorns are generally depicted around town. Izzy turned to the second unicorn with a smile. "Oh! Hello there! Are you also here to find a friend?" she asked cheerfully. The second unicorn had an unreadable expression on his face as he seemingly examined the two of them. All Sunny could think of at that moment was- "M-magic? Did you just do magic?!" He snapped his gaze to her, his red eyes seemingly boring through her soul. Sunny flinched backwards, feeling a chill go down her spine. 'Intimidating'? Make that 'terrifying'. To her relief, the dark unicorn instead gave her a smile, letting his sharp canines peek from the corners of his mouth. Unfortunately for the three of them, this was the last straw for the rest of the citizens. Immediately, everypony who wasn't a unicorn or Sunny Starscout went into hysterics, frantically scrambling to their hooves and galloping away to Harmony knows where, trying to avoid the quickly multiplying unicorn attack. Hitch and Sprout, hearing the sudden commotion, barged through the doors of the town's sheriff station, The sheriff quickly caught the sight of the two unicorns in his gaze and swiftly pressed the emergency alarm button on the station's wall. "Unicorn attack! This is not a drill! I repeat, this is NOT. A. DRILL!" Seeing the unicorn traps emerging from the ground, the second unicorn... sighed? And finally addressed her verbally. "Let's pick this up back at your place." he said before turning back into smoke and engulfing her along with the other unicorn in complete darkness. It all happened so fast that Sunny didn't even get to reply. One minute everything was dark, the next, she was zooming through Maretime Bay, along with two unicorns, while being caught in—presumably—a magical spell. The poor mare didn't know if she should faint out of sheer excitement, or out of absolute terror. Author's Note HAIL TO THE KING! HUZZAH! Get ready for another adventure with yet another eccentric human! This time, we're dealing with, you already know this but I'll say it again anyway, King Sombra! Yaaay! Just like my other multi-chapter Human-to-Pony stories of the Green God-Multiverse, this story will be filled with our characters getting into shenanigans as our dear Sombra vehemently tries to guide the new Harmony's Chosen towards more... archaeological endeavors, let's just say. If you want to share ideas on how this story should go, consider commenting! Corrections and criticisms are more than welcome, I can't improve without those now, can I? Have a good existence! :) "Remembered forever, the land of Equestria" Chapter 2: Their Legacy, Our Duty'That really could've gone better...' Sombra thought to himself as he carried the two soon-to-be heroes in his magic through town, quickly dodging panicking ponies and infrastructure all the while. He thought that he would at least have the time to introduce himself! Some ponies... Well, at least he can continue their conversation at the lighthouse. The former human turned back to his 'passengers', hoping his currently green eyes won't frighten them too much. "What's the quickest way to-" He realized he could only see one pony, and abruptly stopped. Sunny gave him an awkward smile and shrugged, "Um, she sort of... jumped off near the theater?" Sombra's eye twitched. He had a feeling this would be an annoyingly common occurrence, for some odd reason. Letting out another sigh, he gently lowered the earth pony from his magical grasp and turned back into his solid form. Sunny felt the cold sensation on her coat disappear as he did so, and ran a hoof along a foreleg curiously. "We need to find her. I'm going to assume you know the way?" She turned back to the armored pony. Now that she could properly listen to him speaking, his surprisingly high voice caught her off-guard. With the way he looked. one would've expected a deep, gravelly voice instead. Sunny shook her head and stored away those thoughts for later. They needed to find Izzy before she gets in trouble. Assuming she wasn't already in one. "Right!" she exclaimed. The young mare made quick turn and gestured Sombra to follow her, "This way!" As the two approached the town's movie theater, they were able to see the energetic mare obliviously trotting into a trap, as her eyes were stuck on the giant prop of a terminator pony. Sombra sniffed in amusement at the sight of it. Sunny quickly dashed past him, calling out to her, "Izzy! Wait!" "Huh-" was all the unicorn could utter before she was encased in a metal box, with only her horn poking out of a small port. Sunny slid to a stop right in front of the trap. Sombra decided to stay hidden, this part was integral into getting Hitch to go after them when they depart to Zephyr Heights. Sure enough, the sheriff arrived with his deputy in tow, confidently announcing Izzy's capture and attempting to calm down the citizens. The former human felt disheartened at the frightful looks that everypony still bore even after she had been trapped. Just how far has Equestria fallen? "Still not beyond rescuing...." He filed away those thoughts for later, no time for wallowing right now. Sombra transformed back into his gaseous form and prepared to snatch the two right as Sunny hit the release button. In a tide of shadows, Sombra flew by the theater, grasping both Sunny and a freed Izzy while simultaneously causing the crowd to panic once again. He couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of the townsponies getting caught in their own traps as they frantically tried to hide themselves. The dark unicorn turned back towards the encroaching form of the lighthouse, and felt a spike of uncertainty starting to rise in his mind. 'Now for the finicky part...' The door to the lighthouse slammed opened as Sombra's smog-like form flooded through. Both Sunny and Izzy were thrown right onto a nearby couch, landing with their bodies upside-down. Sombra quickly turned back and slammed the door closed with his magic, not forgetting to straighten the picture frame beside it. After taking a moment to take a breather and gather his thoughts, he turned to the dazed ponies on the couch. He gave them a small smile and sat down in front of them, "Now! I believe it's time for an explanation." Sunny spun herself and Izzy around right-side-up on their seat before jumping to her hooves, "That... was... AMAZING! I meet two unicorns in one day and get to have a first-hoof experience with magic?! Best. Day. EVER!" She paused her explosive celebration as a sudden realization dawned on her. "Wait... no, this bad! Oh what have I done?!" Izzy, seemingly ignoring the earth pony's personal crisis, trotted over to her fellow unicorn curiously. The young mare got up close to his face—too close for comfort, admittedly—and tapped a hoof on her chin. "Hm... I don't think I've seen you in Bridlewood before..." she muttered. Sombra nodded, "Well, that's bec-" The armored pony was rudely interrupted when Sunny pulled out her notebook, completely disregarding her previous train of thought. Though both unicorns could see a hint of anxiety in her eyes. "Okay! We can start now! 'One hundred and forty-two questions for a unicorn'!" she took another glance at her guests, "Or, uh, two unicorns, I guess!" Feeling that humoring her would take up precious time, he trotted up to her with a stern yet also calm look. "Sunny Starscout-" Sunny gasped, "So you can read minds!" she gave him an awkward chuckle, "Um, please don't go through too much." "I can't- well... maybe, but that's besides-" She continued, ignoring him entirely. "Next question! Where do you live?" "Please, you need to lis-" "Bridlewood!" Izzy answered immediately. The earth pony gasped again, "I knew it! Do unicorns live in trees? Do they eat pizza? If so what..." And so she went on, pelting both Sombra and Izzy with a barrage of naive, silly, but oddly endearing questions. While the former human did find said questions amusing, it was only a matter of time before Hitch got there with his megaphone. He barely got a word out before Sunny shot him another question. "Could you do that floaty thing with your horn again?" Sombra rolled his eyes and grunted, but did as instructed. He looked around for any object he could pick up and settled for a can of beans. The dark unicorn's horn lit up with his crackling magic and enveloped the can. He then proceeded to move it around in the air, levitating it this way and that. A glance at the two other ponies in the room showed them staring at it with clear awe. "Wow! I never thought it'd look so... bubbly?" Sunny muttered as she cautiously brushed a hoof on the purple aura. The earth pony then turned to the other unicorn, "Is it different for each unicorn?" Izzy shook her head, "No, actually. We haven't had magic for a very, veeeery long time." she nodded her head towards Sombra and giggled, "Except for him!" Sunny tilted her head, "Huh? What do you mean?" The dark unicorn breathed an audible sigh of relief, "Yes! That's what I've been trying to talk about! Thank you, Izzy." He straightened his posture and trotted up towards the young mare, his intimidating visage causing her to lean back. 'It's all on the presentation.' "Sunny Starscout. You, along with four—and later, five—other ponies have been chosen by Harmony itself to return the Magic of Friendship back to Equestria!" He grabbed a nearby stool with his magic and stood on it, "I myself have been tasked with aiding and guiding you in your quest to reunite the three original tribes of this land, as well as continuing the legacy of the legendary Mane SIx as Equestria's mighty protectors!" Sombra proudly proclaimed. Mustering all the confidence he would usually only have when talking on the internet. Izzy clapped her hooves, "Woah! You're saying we're going to be heroes?" It took her a moment to register everything that he had said. "Wha- saviors? Harmony? Quest? Legacy? Equestria's mighty protectors?!" Sombra stepped off the stool and nodded, "Yes. You may or may not have already realized, I am not a part of this era." Sunny paused in thought. She leveled her gaze towards the dark unicorn, trying to figure out what he meant. Her eyes widened as she remembered a story her father had once told her. The story of an ancient empire made of crystals, a tyrant ruling over with fearsome dark magic, and his defeat by the teamwork of Twilight Sparkle and her friends. She remembered getting nightmares about him for days. And her dad's descriptions of the tyrant... it fit the pony standing in front of her to a tee. Slowly, she backed away from him, a sudden wave of fear washing over her. Izzy looked at her with a confused expression, not realizing the significance of the earth pony's realization. "You... you're... you're-" He nodded solemnly, "You know me as King Sombra. Former King Sombra, to be more specific." Sombra shook his head, "But judging from your reaction, it seems like you haven't heard the entirety of my tale." The earth pony gulped, she could feel her hooves starting to tremble. "W-what do you mean?" Right as he was about to continue, the distinct crackling sound of a megaphone made itself known from outside the lighthouse. It caused Sunny to jump to surprisingly high, knocking over a basket of fruit all the while. "Sunny Starscout! I know you're in there with those unicorns! Come out with your hooves up and surrender!" Sombra couldn't hold in it anymore, and smacked his face with both of his hooves out of exasperation. Clank! "Ow..." Sunny quickly gathered herself and ran up to window to take a peek outside. She huffed when she noticed Hitch and Sprout waiting for them outside. "Uh-oh!" she took a tentative glance at Sombra, "Um... you don't happen to know any sneaky spells, do you?" The former human coughed into his hoof, "Ah, well-" "Oh relax you two! I'll go talk to them. I'm sure this was all just a big misunderstanding." Izzy affirmed before stepping out of the front door. Sunny rushed after her, "No, wait!" Sombra could only shake his head as he followed the two heroes. "Harmony and Lauren Faust help me..." He was just about to exit when he remembered something. "Oh! Almost forgot!" After quick trip to the top floor of the lighthouse, he went out in another surge of shadows, swiftly catching up to the two ponies who were now at the edge of the seaside town. Author's Note And here's chapter two! One more chapter, and I'll be going back to Fire Horse until an interlude after chapter ten! Writing a story within a story and making it coherent is... surprisingly confusing, but it's fun to find out how to work it all out. And I apologize if Sombra's chapters seem shorter compared to my other stories, I honestly don't have an explanation as to why it is... Also! Featured! Again... why do you people like these stories so much? Anyway, that's all, really. Lots and lots of stories to work on and create! If you want to share ideas on how this story should go, consider commenting! Corrections and criticisms are more than welcome, I can't improve without those now, can I? Have a good existence! :) "Remembered forever, the land of Equestria" Chapter 3: Between History and MythsSombra took a deep, refreshing breath as he trotted through a grassland alongside his charges. Having lived in a mostly urban environment, it was rare for him to see such vast expanses of nature in his life. It was an incredible feeling, even if he was covered in armor, with the unpolluted wind brushing against his face. The former human briefly closed his eyes in contentment, enjoying the serenity of it all. Or at least, until he was dragged back to reality by the tapping of a hoof on his greave. Reluctantly, he opened his eyes, and was met with the sight of a startled Sunny. The earth pony chuckled warily, "Sorry! I just... wanted to ask about earlier I-if you don't mind, that is!" He held back a sigh. It was good that she's not too afraid of him, but it was a whole lot better when she was totally oblivious to his new identity. At least she would've been more confident when addressing him. "About your Grand Quest, or Equestria's past?" "Uh... yes?" The armored pony turned towards the distance, noting Izzy skipping up ahead. "Where do you want me to begin?" Sunny looked down in thought, before looking towards him again, "Start with the whole... 'Grand Quest' thing. I didn't get what you meant by, well, all of that." Sombra nodded, "You see, Sunny Starsc-" "Just 'Sunny', please." He paused for a moment, before giving her another nod, "You see, Sunny. From what I understand... you, as well as Izzy, your old friend Hitch, and the two princesses of the pegasi are destined to reunite the three pony tribes and return magic back to Equestria. "Harmony has chosen the five of you specifically to be its representatives, just as Twilight Sparkle and her friends were oh-so-long ago. With you, standing in the forefront as their leading figure and Equestria's guiding light." 'I'll tell her about Misty once we get Magic back...' The earth pony shook her head lightly, "But... why me? Why us? Aren't there other ponies out there who'd be more, uh, qualified?" The shadow-unicorn chuckled, "The answer is quite simple, actually. Out of all that remains of your respective tribes, you were the only ones who believed. You believed that peace and friendship amongst the three tribes would bring forth a brighter future, you believed that there was more to your fellow ponies beyond those terrible myths, you believed in the legacy left behind by your forebears and strived to keep it alive." Sombra turned to her, his gaze looking oddly forlorn, "You, Sunny Starscout, are destined to become something greater than you could ever have imagined." A moment of silence passed between them as they continued their trot through the grassland, said silence only broken by Izzy's occasional humming. Sunny let the information settle in her mind and mulled it over. Her? A leader? She would've doubted such a bold statement if it wasn't for the fact that the pony who told her this being a walking, talking relic. The earth pony heaved a sigh, "And... where do you fit into everything?" "To guide you, I suppose." the shadow pony answered. Sunny felt like there was a hint of uncertainty in his voice. She raised an eyebrow, "'You suppose'?" 'Should I even... eh, it's not like she knows.' He glanced towards her, but kept his head forwards, "I was... brought here. I don't remember much of what happened before I was, ah, 'temporally displaced', but I do know that Harmony has given me quite a fair bit of knowledge of this era. It is my personal belief that I have been given a purpose, and that purpose is to guide you, the new generation of Harmony's Chosen. Why else would I be given such knowledge?" 'Take a few liberties for some pizzazz.' Sunny nodded, "Huh... alright then." The two continued to trot in silence, watching Izzy continue to mind her own business while prancing around them. That is until Sunny abruptly stopped, nearly toppling over as a result. "Wait, where exactly are we going? Have we been wandering about in the middle of nowhere?" Izzy giggled as she passed by the earth pony once more, "Oh! Aren't we making our way to the pegasus city?" Sunny looked at her with confusion, "Huh?" Sombra nodded in agreement, "Izzy is correct." he pointed towards a mountain range in the distance, a part of a metallic structure peeked through the thick clouds, "And we've been making good time. We may need to rest for the night, however, the sun is quickly setting." He tapped a hoof to his chin, "I wonder if that means Celestia is still out there somewhere? I doubt they passed from old age." Sunny gave him a curious look, "Celestia? You mean the ruler of Equestria before Princess Twilight? What does she have to do with the sun?" Now that got Sombra's attention, how could she not know? "This is... concerning. You don't know about Celestia's, er, 'main characteristic'? One of her primary roles as an alicorn?" The earth pony scratched her head, "Um, I know she's associated with the sun. I remember my dad saying that she used to raise the sun? But I doubt she actually did..." Sombra shook his head, "Your father was correct, actually. Both Celestia and her sister Luna were the co-rulers of Equestria before they passed it down to Twilight." He gestured a hoof towards the sky, "Alongside ruling the entire nation, they were also responsible for raising the sun and moon respectively. They possessed incredible amounts of magical power. Why, if they wanted to, they could leave either celestial bodies in the sky permanently, causing an apocalyptic event." Glancing back towards Sunny showed the earth pony fervently writing on her notebook. The former human had a feeling this'll be a common affair, and smiled inwardly. Slowly but surely, he'll make sure their history will be remembered properly. "What in the..." Princess Zephryna Storm—referrred to by her friends and family as 'Zipp'—muttered as she saw an oddly clothed unicorn materialize out of a cloud of smoke, along with an earth pony and another unicorn who were... floating? 'Looks like this day just got a whole lot more interesting.' she thought to herself. Curious, she hopped off from her spot and glided down closer to the mysterious group. Just what would an earth pony and two unicorns be doing up here? The pegasus hid herself behind a large boulder and turned her ears towards the visitors. "...should be meeting one of the princesses around here somewhere." 'One of the princesses? Are they talking about... me?' Shaking her head, Zipp wondered if she should take a better peek of the trio. Whoever these ponies were, they seem to be more than a group of lost travellers. "Helloooooo! Princess! Are ya there?! We-mph!" She jumped as one of the unicorns yelled. Looks like they're really looking for her now. She huffed, "Alright... let's see where this goes." Slowly, Sombra lowered his hoof from Izzy's mouth. His eyes frantically looked around the rocky terrain as he did so. "Don't! We need to have her come to us naturally. She'll likely be less accepting of our presence if we just... go after her!" The energetic unicorn briefly held a blank look before she gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry!" He held back an admittedly rude remark and let out a sigh, "Just... wait for her to-" "Um, King Sombra?" The dark unicorn turned to Sunny with a raised eyebrow. "You can just call me 'Sombra'." She replied with a slight nod. Sombra noticed that she seemed a bit distracted, and brushed it off as her being excited about visiting the city of pegasi. "Oh, er... alright then." the earth pony pointed a hoof beyond him, "You might want to turn around, though." Sombra gave her a confused look, but complied anyway. He steadily turned his head around, and let out a startled noise when he saw a pony standing only a few feet behind him. "Gah!" Izzy quickly skipped in front of the startled shadow-pony with a big, friendly smile plastered on her face. "Hi there! Are you a princess?" The pony, who appeared to be a pegasus, examined the trio with a curious look before nodding slowly. "Yeah. Looking for me?" she replied coolly. Sombra gently pulled back Izzy with his magic and placed her beside Sunny as he stepped up to meet her. "You are Princess Zephryna Storm, eldest daughter of Queen Haven as well as the heir to the throne, yes?" The pegasus raised an eyebrow, "Uh-huh? Haven't answered my question, though." Sombra quickly nodded, "Ah, yes, well, you see-" It was then that the sound of clanking metal boots made itself known. Zipp whipped her head around, and saw two guards quickly approaching. "Uh, hold that thought." She quickly ran past the trio, almost knocking over Sunny in the process. The princess briefly looked back at them with a stern expression. "Don't tell them you saw me." She then immediately dove down from the edge of the cliff, disappearing into the clouds below. Sunny took a step to go after her, but was stopped by Sombra's magic. The armored pony then cleared his throat before tilting his head towards the approaching guards. The earth pony's face brightened. Looks like this is her chance to interview these pegasi! Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, Sombra stifled an irritated grunt. What is it with these ponies and interrupting him? Author's Note Right! So after this, I'll be back to Fire Horse! Sombra's willing to get constantly pelted by questions, if it means making sure Equestria's history is remembered correctly. Looks like it's time for the Royals to meet as well! If you want to share ideas on how this story should go, consider commenting! Corrections and criticisms are more than welcome, I can't improve without those now, can I? Have a good existence! :) "Remembered forever, the land of Equestria" Chapter 4: A Meeting of Royals'That feels so weird...' Sombra thought to himself as he was guided by the two pegasus guards alongside Sunny and Izzy through the mountaintop city. Right after their initial encounter, which resulted in a lot of frightened screaming from the stallion of the two, they decided to place tennis balls upon the horns of the two unicorns as a way to restrain them, referring to the balls as 'shields'. While Izzy seemed to be unbothered, as seen by her and Sunny's reactions to the jumbotrons that were broadcasting Princess Pipp's livestream, Sombra was visibly uncomfortable with the whole ordeal. It felt like he had a stuffy nose and clogged ears at the same time, but specifically localized in his horn. 'Maybe these pegasi were onto something.' As the group continued to be led by the guards towards the Royal Palace, he felt the familiar feeling of tapping on one of his greaves. The shadow pony turned his head towards the source and raised a curious eyebrow. Sunny nodded her head towards one of the massive screens spread throughout the city, "You don't seem very surprised by... well, everything here. I thought you'd be more, uh, shocked, by the technology." Sombra glanced at a nearby jumbotron and shook his head. He remembered a certain scene during an episode, one featuring a certain Pink Pony touring a group of ancient heroes around a city. "Large screens like these have already existed even before Zephyr Heights was built. However, they were primarily projected via magic rather than technology. While definitely not as modernized as this city, Manehattan was considered to be quite advanced for its time." 'Could just be Pinkie being Pinkie... eh, everything did actually get lit up.' He looked back towards the earth pony mare and saw her using her mouth to write in her journal. She wobbled slightly, due to the fact that she was only using three legs to walk. Sombra turned back to the looming form of the Royal Palace. He took a long, calming breath as he mentally prepared himself for their meeting. A part of him wanted to stay quiet and hope that everything went similarly to the movie, so that he could chime in again when Zipp eventually visits them in the... 'dungeon'. 'Not a lot I can change before they get magic back...' It was unfortunate, really. He wished that he could just grab all five of them in one fell swoop and use his powers to force everypony to unite once again, but Friendship and Harmony didn't work like that. Heck, he doubted the crystals would even work if he did speedrun the entire movie like he wanted. A real, genuine bond had to form between the Mane Five, and if he got in the way of that, it could lead to issues that would spoil the entire reason he was doing this in the first place. He would need to take a back seat for the time being, whilst being a handy—hoofy?—living archive whenever they needed help in clarifying lost or forgotten history. 'But after that? You better look out, Arcana.' Sombra didn't realize it, but a faint trail of dark magic had formed from the corners of his eyes. Everypony around him felt a chill go down their spines as he thought about the pony who ruined everything. Both literally and metaphorically. A sense of dread and anxiety began to creep into their minds alongside the lowering of the surrounding temperature. Izzy's skipping turned to a cautious trot, Sunny's writing looked less coherent, and the two guards, Thunder and Zoom, felt their wings twitch as if they were about to fly away. Things only went back to normal once the group entered the elevator to the palace's throne room. But even then, the feeling of dread never truly went away. "Bow before our Queen!" Thunder announced as the five of them entered the throne room. Beside them, two rows of guards marched into position, their expressions ranging from confusion to visible trepidation at the presence of the three outsiders. Right in front of the dais, another row of guards blew into their trumpets, catching the attention of everypony present before bowing as they finished their tune. Sombra discreetly nudged his companions to bow alongside the guards, to which they quickly followed. Not a moment passed before a... small, fluffy winged dog walked in front of the center throne. Despite its small size, the aura of haughtiness it gave off could be clearly felt in the air. Sunny turned towards Sombra with a look of confusion, her head still bowed low. Izzy took a small peek before quickly lowering her head when she received a harsh glare from the dog. "Uh... is that-" "Wait for it..." A beam of light shone upon the small dog, causing it to jump and bark in joy. Unable to contain her curiosity, Sunny looked up from her position to see where the source of the light was. It didn't take long before the silhouettes of three flying pegasi made themselves visible, descending as an admittedly funky tune played in the background. The young mare couldn't help but stare at the majestic sight. Her father had told her countless stories of the pegasi and their role in managing ancient Equestria's weather. To see them twirl around in the air like birds... truly, it was a sight to behold. Izzy swiftly shot up from her position as well. Her eyes wandered towards one of the descending ponies, locking onto one of the brightly-colored and strangely familiar one of the three. Realizing that his attempt at following proper decorum had utterly failed, Sombra stood up with an exasperated look on his face. He wanted to tune out the rest of this interaction and proceed into the dungeon by himself, but that wouldn't help in catching Zipp's interest in the three of them. Or at least, more interested than she was already. The ex-human observed Queen Haven's blabbering with visible disinterest. While he found it interesting how the pegasi turned their society into a monarchy as opposed to something more akin to a stratocracy, he wasn't exactly invested in most characters beyond the Mane Five. 'I wonder how Commander Hurricane would react to Zephyr Heights?' Sombra was pulled out of his thoughts when Thunder and Zoom moved off beside his group, presenting them to their queen. Just as he expected, the way Haven reacted was nearly identical to the movie. The three outsiders watched the monarch blabber to herself as both of her daughters gave their own drastically different reactions. Feeling the need to entertain himself throughout the entire ordeal, he patiently waited for Pipp to turn her phone's camera towards them. Once she did so, the shadow pony flashed a large toothy grin, showing off his long and sharp canines. He also flicked his head to make his mane billow towards the side of his head. The royal pop star's eyes widened as Sombra showed himself off. She immediately turned her phone's camera back towards her face and excitedly addressed her now incredibly frightened audience. "Whoa! Did you all just see that?! You saw it here first, Pippsqueaks! Unicorns. Have. FANGS!" Noticing that her daughter was causing a potential PR nightmare scenario, Queen Haven swiped her phone away and attempted to calm her citizens down. Sombra snorted in amusement. It was a nice reprieve from constantly getting asked and being forced to sit back for the next twenty-four or so hours. The former human breathed out a calming sigh and patiently waited for them all to be pulled away. 'Soon...' Izzy giggled as she twirled Sombra's flowing mane around her hoof. The dark unicorn was lying down on his stomach, enjoying the short recess from his little adventure. "Ooo... I really like your mane! It's all swooshy and wispy!" "Mhm..." He didn't know how long the two ponies beside him waited for in the movie, but judging from how long they had been there, Zipp must have really taken her sweet time. 'And she's supposed to take Rainbow's place?' Sunny turned back from the barred window towards Sombra. She took a seat on the massage chair that Izzy should have been in before shooting him a question. "So... is there any reason why we haven't seen anypony fly besides the royals?" The shadow pony carefully rested a hoof under his head, making sure his sharp greaves didn't prick him. "No magic, no flight. None of them can. Haven and her daughters are using cables. All smoke and mirrors." The earth pony remained silent after his answer. Oh, how she wished she had her journal with her right n- "Hey!" Sombra's eyes snapped open as he turned his head towards the gold-plated bars of their 'prison'. Zipp looked from side to side conspiratorially before addressing them. "I'm sorry you three got thrown in here, but... I have to talk to you." All three of them stood up from their resting spots and trotted up to the princess. Zipp discreetly took a step back as Sombra's taller form loomed over her. "Princess Zeph-" "Zipp. Call me 'Zipp'." Sunny smiled and gave her a nod, "Okay, Zipp! I'm Sunny, and these are my friends." "Izzy Moonbow~" "Sombra." The eldest princess craned her head back. She raised an eyebrow as she looked towards the stallion of the three. "You're kinda, uh... freaky." she quickly shook her head apologetically, "Sorry, just had to get that out..." Sombra bowed his head courteously, "I take no offense. My visage can be quite intimidating for some." 'He was pretty scary as a kid, honestly.' "Right. Anyway! Sunny, Izzy, Sombra, I really need to ask you something important..." Zipp leaned in closer to the trio and lowered her voice to a whisper. "About magic." Sunny stepped closer to her, "That's exactly why we're here! All of the magic in Equestria disappeared a looong time ago, and we're trying to bring it back!" The pegasus princess looked at her incredulously, "Woah, 'disappeared'? As in... no magic?" The three prisoners shook their heads simultaneously. Their synchronicity was a surprisingly eerie sight, though it was likely only because of Sombra's presence. Zipp nodded in understanding. She looked down in thought for a moment before turning to the trio once more. "Well... that changes things..." she muttered, "Listen, I might have some information that could help. But first, you need to tell me about this." The pegasus unfolded a wing and reached under it with her hoof. Sunny caught a glimpse of what she was grabbing and gasped in surprise. "My journal! Thank you, Zipp!" Sombra tuned out the rest of the interaction yet again. This entire part was where the three of them—'three' as in Sunny, Izzy, and Zipp—would begin to form a bond. He dared not to barge in at this moment unless directly addressed, as this interaction would also lead him to the abandoned air station. 'Give 'em the old Lore Dump MonologueTM ' He turned his head toward the other end of the hall where their cell was situated in. The sound of trumpets and the sudden appearance of a roll of red carpet signaled the arrival of Pipp, who trotted up to her sister fabulously. Sombra didn't know why, but it really was quite a fabulous trot. "Zipp? What are you doing here?!" The sisters began their quick and minor squabble just as he expected. The former human also remembered to flash another fanged smile as Izzy pulled him and Sunny to join in on the royal pop star's selfie as it continued. Sunny didn't get to ask her a question regarding the royals' ability to fly, as she had already been informed of the loss of magic. 'Wonder if that's gonna cause an issue?' With a buzz of her phone calling her away to a dress rehearsal, Pipp trotted away whilst practicing her voice alongside her two assigned guards. Both diligently rolling the carpet back up again. Zipp waited for them to fully leave the premises before turning back to the trio. "I have to show you something." With a final heave, Hitch pulled himself up to a flat cliff and plopped himself onto the ground, not caring about the dirt and dust that would stick to his coat. A pair of incredibly fluffy bunnies ran up to him and rubbed themselves on his cheeks. The sheriff forced himself back up on his hooves before wiping off some sweat from his forehead. "You're in so much trouble, Sunny." He mumbled, as an entire swarm of curious bunnies began to surround him. Author's Note I know that most of you are probably wondering: "Baroque, why does Sombra only get one to two thousand words per chapter while Midnight and Daybreaker get over three thousand?" Well, it's mostly because I'm trying to avoid blitzing through the entire movie. Just like what Sombra mentioned in his thoughts, if he speedran the entire adventure in one go, the bonds that formed between the Mane 5 and the tribes would be much less genuine. This means that the Unity Crystals might not combine and Sunny might not become a pseudo-alicorn. Think of the G5 movie like the Mane 5's Nightmare Moon EventTM. Anything that happens before and during it should be treated with caution because any small changes could be detrimental to the rest of the timeline. Anything after that is free game, as a certain purple alicorn would know very well. Anyway, that's chapter 4 for you! We'll be focusing on the Pegasus Crystal heist on the next one, so stay tuned! If you want to share ideas on how this story should go, consider commenting! Corrections and criticisms are more than welcome, I can't improve without those now, can I? Have a good existence! :) "Remembered forever, the Land of Equestria"
Chapter 1: In With the New, In With the OldAmong the wild shrubbery that surrounded Maretime Bay, a stallion looked at his armored hooves with an expression of utter befuddlement. He was quite a tall individual, surpassing a few centimeters of your average pony's height. At a glance, he might have appeared to be a unicorn, but on a closer inspection, one could see many differences that would set him apart from the formerly magically-attuned tribe. The first and most striking characteristic was his horn. Instead of a conical protrusion of magically infused keratin, it was a curved, knife-like construct of potent dark magic. It glowed a faint, yet still strikingly red light. His mane flowed in an unseen wind, channeling the overflowing dark energy from within. Each individual hair so dark that it blended into one another, making it seem like a billowing void. Most of his ash-grey coat was covered by a magnificent red cape, lined with pristine ermine, along with overlapping plates of armor along his neck and hooves. "Well... at least I'm not a mare." The human-turned-former King Sombra then turned his head towards the nearby seaside town with a recognizable facility looming over it. "One hell of a way to start the new year..." He shook his head and sighed, "Of all the possible eras, it's the one where everyone is dead. Oh well..." And to think, just a few hours ago, he was writing another fanfic, on new year's eve, all by himself, cooped in his dingy little apartment... Well, looks like those random guys on the internet can go shove it up where the sun don't shine, because he's King-freakin'-Sombra now! "Heh, hail to the King..." the former human muttered. He stood up and began to take a few steps. To his surprise, he was able to move rather easily, despite what most fan content had taught him. Sombra went from trotting, to cantering, to galloping as a means to test out his mobility. And for once, in his admittedly monotonous life, he felt genuinely free. The former human let out a laugh as he ran across the green fields that surrounded Maretime Bay. He shouted in glee, reveling in his situation. "I'm a pony, baby! Woo!" After a few minutes of running around like a toddler, he threw himself down on to the soft yet prickly grass in exhaustion. Sombra panted and wiped the sweat off of his forehead before he let out a sigh of satisfaction. He may not be in the correct era, but at least he was still here, in Equestria, the land of friendship and magical shenanigans! A world rich with history and culture! A world that he held close to his heart. He frowned at the reminder. Thinking it over once more, practically every character that he knew and liked were probably nothing more than bones in long forgotten graves now... It... certainly wasn't a comforting thought. The former human got up to his hooves and looked back to the distant sight of Maretime Bay to clear his mind. His eyes widened when he noticed a familiar orange figure excitedly making its way down the lighthouse. Sombra turned his gaze towards the town proper, and realized that he could only see earth ponies walking along its streets. Not even a pegasus or unicorn in sight. "Huh... so that means..." Another moving figure in the distance caught his eye. This time, it was a shade of purple. He quickly put two and two together, before feeling something click in his mind, and... "Oh... ohoho... I think I've got an idea~!" A smile began to spread across his face. If it wasn't for his intimidating visage, it would have looked cheeky instead of devious. "But first..." Sombra looked around his immediate area, gathering any small object that he could find. It took him a moment, considering the lack of fingers, but he managed to collect a small stack of stones and twigs in small pile. The former human then pointed his horn towards said pile. "Alright... now how do I-" As if reading his mind, his blade-like horn crackled with purple energy, followed by purple wisps emerging from the corners of his eyes. The pile was engulfed in his dark magic and began to levitate, moving along wherever he willed it to go. Sombra looked at the floating pile in disbelief, "That easy? Surely not." He continued to practice his magic by manipulating each item in the pile. It didn't take him long to start levitating each stone and twig separately, having them orbit around him in a ring. After a while, he gently placed the objects back on the ground. The transformed human held a look of genuine awe. "Ooookay then... good at levitation." He tapped his chin in thought, if he can float around things that easily, would that also apply to the real Sombra's other abilities as well? Could he actually... Sombra braced himself and executed the same exact procedure with his levitation by focusing his thoughts on the specific task he wanted to do. At first, it was subtle. He felt like he was being submerged in slightly colder water. Strange, but not too uncomfortable. Then, his hooves started to dematerialize, followed by his legs, torso, and head. The entire process took place in less than a second, leaving the former human dazed after his transformation. "Okay, okay! Good! Nothing too bad..." Sombra looked over his form. It writhed and billowed with each movement he made. It was surreal to see your own body act like a cloud of smoke, yet still fully capable of sensing everything around himself like usual. He tried to move forward, and found that his smog-like form move whenever he thought of walking. Sombra felt it was just like walking and running, just without feeling the effort required to do so. "So if want go up, does that mean..." He thought about jumping, and sure enough, his smoky form ascended accordingly. "What about going upstairs, or... climbing?" With another thought, his entire form steadily ascended whilst moving forward. Sombra then thought of going down a flight of stairs, and began a slow, forward descent. Slower than thinking of falling, he soon found out as well. Good to know that the controls weren't all that sophisticated. Simple, but bears the potential of being highly versatile if he had the time to fiddle with it more. "Great, great. Going to assume it's the same way if I want to..." Another thought, and his smog coalesced back into a solid form without much issue, barring some disorientation. He would need to be careful, then. Thinking of transforming back mid-air could be a pretty big issue. Sombra gave himself a once-over and, after confirming he had all of his body parts intact, nodded to himself in satisfaction. "All good here." For a moment, he thought about experimenting with more specialized magic, but soon disregarded it. He won't be needing that until much, much later. Not that he won't be practicing it in his spare time, that is. Another glance at the accumulating ponies near the towering form of the Canterlogic facility, and he was off in a sweeping burst of shadows. Eager to tamper with the strands of fate. "Operation Legacy is a go!" "Where the hell are those two?" Sombra muttered to himself as he trotted along an alleyway in the earth pony town. He had hoped to encounter Izzy right before she made her presence known and caused mass hysteria. Unfortunately, it seemed like luck simply wasn't on his side, as he had been searching for the energetic unicorn for exactly two hours, according to a nearby clocktower. "I swear, they should be-" "AAAHHH!" His ears swiveled towards the sound of screaming in the distance. The former human held back the urge to facehoof, and opted to groan instead. "Welp, plan B it is..." He was engulfed by shadows once again, and zipped towards all the ruckus. This time, it didn't take him too long to find the familiar sight of two ponies from differing tribes meeting each other for the first time in what was likely a very long time. "There you are." He hesitated for a moment, observing the shocked and fearful looks of the crowd surrounding them. Should he reveal himself now, and revel in their reaction to magic, or should he wait until they return to the lighthouse? Showing up now would surely cause even more panic than Izzy would with just her presence, and Sunny would likely be too dumbfounded by his magic to react properly. But then again... it would make a pretty sweet entrance. "Choices, choices..." Sombra paused in thought. He needed to make up his mind quickly, as he could see Sunny slowly recovering from her tumble. "Ah, fuck it." She couldn't believe her eyes. There, right in front of her, an actual, real-life unicorn! After all these years... Sunny Starscout quickly got up to her hooves. eyes locked onto the unicor- Izzy's pointed horn. She wrangled her thoughts together to mutter a single word. "U-u-unic-" Just then, right beside the purple unicorn, a mass of... shadows? Fell straight from the sky, before merging together into the form of yet another unicorn. But this one... this one seemed a lot more intimidating. Oddly similar to the way unicorns are generally depicted around town. Izzy turned to the second unicorn with a smile. "Oh! Hello there! Are you also here to find a friend?" she asked cheerfully. The second unicorn had an unreadable expression on his face as he seemingly examined the two of them. All Sunny could think of at that moment was- "M-magic? Did you just do magic?!" He snapped his gaze to her, his red eyes seemingly boring through her soul. Sunny flinched backwards, feeling a chill go down her spine. 'Intimidating'? Make that 'terrifying'. To her relief, the dark unicorn instead gave her a smile, letting his sharp canines peek from the corners of his mouth. Unfortunately for the three of them, this was the last straw for the rest of the citizens. Immediately, everypony who wasn't a unicorn or Sunny Starscout went into hysterics, frantically scrambling to their hooves and galloping away to Harmony knows where, trying to avoid the quickly multiplying unicorn attack. Hitch and Sprout, hearing the sudden commotion, barged through the doors of the town's sheriff station, The sheriff quickly caught the sight of the two unicorns in his gaze and swiftly pressed the emergency alarm button on the station's wall. "Unicorn attack! This is not a drill! I repeat, this is NOT. A. DRILL!" Seeing the unicorn traps emerging from the ground, the second unicorn... sighed? And finally addressed her verbally. "Let's pick this up back at your place." he said before turning back into smoke and engulfing her along with the other unicorn in complete darkness. It all happened so fast that Sunny didn't even get to reply. One minute everything was dark, the next, she was zooming through Maretime Bay, along with two unicorns, while being caught in—presumably—a magical spell. The poor mare didn't know if she should faint out of sheer excitement, or out of absolute terror. Author's Note HAIL TO THE KING! HUZZAH! Get ready for another adventure with yet another eccentric human! This time, we're dealing with, you already know this but I'll say it again anyway, King Sombra! Yaaay! Just like my other multi-chapter Human-to-Pony stories of the Green God-Multiverse, this story will be filled with our characters getting into shenanigans as our dear Sombra vehemently tries to guide the new Harmony's Chosen towards more... archaeological endeavors, let's just say. If you want to share ideas on how this story should go, consider commenting! Corrections and criticisms are more than welcome, I can't improve without those now, can I? Have a good existence! :) "Remembered forever, the land of Equestria"
Chapter 2: Their Legacy, Our Duty'That really could've gone better...' Sombra thought to himself as he carried the two soon-to-be heroes in his magic through town, quickly dodging panicking ponies and infrastructure all the while. He thought that he would at least have the time to introduce himself! Some ponies... Well, at least he can continue their conversation at the lighthouse. The former human turned back to his 'passengers', hoping his currently green eyes won't frighten them too much. "What's the quickest way to-" He realized he could only see one pony, and abruptly stopped. Sunny gave him an awkward smile and shrugged, "Um, she sort of... jumped off near the theater?" Sombra's eye twitched. He had a feeling this would be an annoyingly common occurrence, for some odd reason. Letting out another sigh, he gently lowered the earth pony from his magical grasp and turned back into his solid form. Sunny felt the cold sensation on her coat disappear as he did so, and ran a hoof along a foreleg curiously. "We need to find her. I'm going to assume you know the way?" She turned back to the armored pony. Now that she could properly listen to him speaking, his surprisingly high voice caught her off-guard. With the way he looked. one would've expected a deep, gravelly voice instead. Sunny shook her head and stored away those thoughts for later. They needed to find Izzy before she gets in trouble. Assuming she wasn't already in one. "Right!" she exclaimed. The young mare made quick turn and gestured Sombra to follow her, "This way!" As the two approached the town's movie theater, they were able to see the energetic mare obliviously trotting into a trap, as her eyes were stuck on the giant prop of a terminator pony. Sombra sniffed in amusement at the sight of it. Sunny quickly dashed past him, calling out to her, "Izzy! Wait!" "Huh-" was all the unicorn could utter before she was encased in a metal box, with only her horn poking out of a small port. Sunny slid to a stop right in front of the trap. Sombra decided to stay hidden, this part was integral into getting Hitch to go after them when they depart to Zephyr Heights. Sure enough, the sheriff arrived with his deputy in tow, confidently announcing Izzy's capture and attempting to calm down the citizens. The former human felt disheartened at the frightful looks that everypony still bore even after she had been trapped. Just how far has Equestria fallen? "Still not beyond rescuing...." He filed away those thoughts for later, no time for wallowing right now. Sombra transformed back into his gaseous form and prepared to snatch the two right as Sunny hit the release button. In a tide of shadows, Sombra flew by the theater, grasping both Sunny and a freed Izzy while simultaneously causing the crowd to panic once again. He couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of the townsponies getting caught in their own traps as they frantically tried to hide themselves. The dark unicorn turned back towards the encroaching form of the lighthouse, and felt a spike of uncertainty starting to rise in his mind. 'Now for the finicky part...' The door to the lighthouse slammed opened as Sombra's smog-like form flooded through. Both Sunny and Izzy were thrown right onto a nearby couch, landing with their bodies upside-down. Sombra quickly turned back and slammed the door closed with his magic, not forgetting to straighten the picture frame beside it. After taking a moment to take a breather and gather his thoughts, he turned to the dazed ponies on the couch. He gave them a small smile and sat down in front of them, "Now! I believe it's time for an explanation." Sunny spun herself and Izzy around right-side-up on their seat before jumping to her hooves, "That... was... AMAZING! I meet two unicorns in one day and get to have a first-hoof experience with magic?! Best. Day. EVER!" She paused her explosive celebration as a sudden realization dawned on her. "Wait... no, this bad! Oh what have I done?!" Izzy, seemingly ignoring the earth pony's personal crisis, trotted over to her fellow unicorn curiously. The young mare got up close to his face—too close for comfort, admittedly—and tapped a hoof on her chin. "Hm... I don't think I've seen you in Bridlewood before..." she muttered. Sombra nodded, "Well, that's bec-" The armored pony was rudely interrupted when Sunny pulled out her notebook, completely disregarding her previous train of thought. Though both unicorns could see a hint of anxiety in her eyes. "Okay! We can start now! 'One hundred and forty-two questions for a unicorn'!" she took another glance at her guests, "Or, uh, two unicorns, I guess!" Feeling that humoring her would take up precious time, he trotted up to her with a stern yet also calm look. "Sunny Starscout-" Sunny gasped, "So you can read minds!" she gave him an awkward chuckle, "Um, please don't go through too much." "I can't- well... maybe, but that's besides-" She continued, ignoring him entirely. "Next question! Where do you live?" "Please, you need to lis-" "Bridlewood!" Izzy answered immediately. The earth pony gasped again, "I knew it! Do unicorns live in trees? Do they eat pizza? If so what..." And so she went on, pelting both Sombra and Izzy with a barrage of naive, silly, but oddly endearing questions. While the former human did find said questions amusing, it was only a matter of time before Hitch got there with his megaphone. He barely got a word out before Sunny shot him another question. "Could you do that floaty thing with your horn again?" Sombra rolled his eyes and grunted, but did as instructed. He looked around for any object he could pick up and settled for a can of beans. The dark unicorn's horn lit up with his crackling magic and enveloped the can. He then proceeded to move it around in the air, levitating it this way and that. A glance at the two other ponies in the room showed them staring at it with clear awe. "Wow! I never thought it'd look so... bubbly?" Sunny muttered as she cautiously brushed a hoof on the purple aura. The earth pony then turned to the other unicorn, "Is it different for each unicorn?" Izzy shook her head, "No, actually. We haven't had magic for a very, veeeery long time." she nodded her head towards Sombra and giggled, "Except for him!" Sunny tilted her head, "Huh? What do you mean?" The dark unicorn breathed an audible sigh of relief, "Yes! That's what I've been trying to talk about! Thank you, Izzy." He straightened his posture and trotted up towards the young mare, his intimidating visage causing her to lean back. 'It's all on the presentation.' "Sunny Starscout. You, along with four—and later, five—other ponies have been chosen by Harmony itself to return the Magic of Friendship back to Equestria!" He grabbed a nearby stool with his magic and stood on it, "I myself have been tasked with aiding and guiding you in your quest to reunite the three original tribes of this land, as well as continuing the legacy of the legendary Mane SIx as Equestria's mighty protectors!" Sombra proudly proclaimed. Mustering all the confidence he would usually only have when talking on the internet. Izzy clapped her hooves, "Woah! You're saying we're going to be heroes?" It took her a moment to register everything that he had said. "Wha- saviors? Harmony? Quest? Legacy? Equestria's mighty protectors?!" Sombra stepped off the stool and nodded, "Yes. You may or may not have already realized, I am not a part of this era." Sunny paused in thought. She leveled her gaze towards the dark unicorn, trying to figure out what he meant. Her eyes widened as she remembered a story her father had once told her. The story of an ancient empire made of crystals, a tyrant ruling over with fearsome dark magic, and his defeat by the teamwork of Twilight Sparkle and her friends. She remembered getting nightmares about him for days. And her dad's descriptions of the tyrant... it fit the pony standing in front of her to a tee. Slowly, she backed away from him, a sudden wave of fear washing over her. Izzy looked at her with a confused expression, not realizing the significance of the earth pony's realization. "You... you're... you're-" He nodded solemnly, "You know me as King Sombra. Former King Sombra, to be more specific." Sombra shook his head, "But judging from your reaction, it seems like you haven't heard the entirety of my tale." The earth pony gulped, she could feel her hooves starting to tremble. "W-what do you mean?" Right as he was about to continue, the distinct crackling sound of a megaphone made itself known from outside the lighthouse. It caused Sunny to jump to surprisingly high, knocking over a basket of fruit all the while. "Sunny Starscout! I know you're in there with those unicorns! Come out with your hooves up and surrender!" Sombra couldn't hold in it anymore, and smacked his face with both of his hooves out of exasperation. Clank! "Ow..." Sunny quickly gathered herself and ran up to window to take a peek outside. She huffed when she noticed Hitch and Sprout waiting for them outside. "Uh-oh!" she took a tentative glance at Sombra, "Um... you don't happen to know any sneaky spells, do you?" The former human coughed into his hoof, "Ah, well-" "Oh relax you two! I'll go talk to them. I'm sure this was all just a big misunderstanding." Izzy affirmed before stepping out of the front door. Sunny rushed after her, "No, wait!" Sombra could only shake his head as he followed the two heroes. "Harmony and Lauren Faust help me..." He was just about to exit when he remembered something. "Oh! Almost forgot!" After quick trip to the top floor of the lighthouse, he went out in another surge of shadows, swiftly catching up to the two ponies who were now at the edge of the seaside town. Author's Note And here's chapter two! One more chapter, and I'll be going back to Fire Horse until an interlude after chapter ten! Writing a story within a story and making it coherent is... surprisingly confusing, but it's fun to find out how to work it all out. And I apologize if Sombra's chapters seem shorter compared to my other stories, I honestly don't have an explanation as to why it is... Also! Featured! Again... why do you people like these stories so much? Anyway, that's all, really. Lots and lots of stories to work on and create! If you want to share ideas on how this story should go, consider commenting! Corrections and criticisms are more than welcome, I can't improve without those now, can I? Have a good existence! :) "Remembered forever, the land of Equestria"
Chapter 3: Between History and MythsSombra took a deep, refreshing breath as he trotted through a grassland alongside his charges. Having lived in a mostly urban environment, it was rare for him to see such vast expanses of nature in his life. It was an incredible feeling, even if he was covered in armor, with the unpolluted wind brushing against his face. The former human briefly closed his eyes in contentment, enjoying the serenity of it all. Or at least, until he was dragged back to reality by the tapping of a hoof on his greave. Reluctantly, he opened his eyes, and was met with the sight of a startled Sunny. The earth pony chuckled warily, "Sorry! I just... wanted to ask about earlier I-if you don't mind, that is!" He held back a sigh. It was good that she's not too afraid of him, but it was a whole lot better when she was totally oblivious to his new identity. At least she would've been more confident when addressing him. "About your Grand Quest, or Equestria's past?" "Uh... yes?" The armored pony turned towards the distance, noting Izzy skipping up ahead. "Where do you want me to begin?" Sunny looked down in thought, before looking towards him again, "Start with the whole... 'Grand Quest' thing. I didn't get what you meant by, well, all of that." Sombra nodded, "You see, Sunny Starsc-" "Just 'Sunny', please." He paused for a moment, before giving her another nod, "You see, Sunny. From what I understand... you, as well as Izzy, your old friend Hitch, and the two princesses of the pegasi are destined to reunite the three pony tribes and return magic back to Equestria. "Harmony has chosen the five of you specifically to be its representatives, just as Twilight Sparkle and her friends were oh-so-long ago. With you, standing in the forefront as their leading figure and Equestria's guiding light." 'I'll tell her about Misty once we get Magic back...' The earth pony shook her head lightly, "But... why me? Why us? Aren't there other ponies out there who'd be more, uh, qualified?" The shadow-unicorn chuckled, "The answer is quite simple, actually. Out of all that remains of your respective tribes, you were the only ones who believed. You believed that peace and friendship amongst the three tribes would bring forth a brighter future, you believed that there was more to your fellow ponies beyond those terrible myths, you believed in the legacy left behind by your forebears and strived to keep it alive." Sombra turned to her, his gaze looking oddly forlorn, "You, Sunny Starscout, are destined to become something greater than you could ever have imagined." A moment of silence passed between them as they continued their trot through the grassland, said silence only broken by Izzy's occasional humming. Sunny let the information settle in her mind and mulled it over. Her? A leader? She would've doubted such a bold statement if it wasn't for the fact that the pony who told her this being a walking, talking relic. The earth pony heaved a sigh, "And... where do you fit into everything?" "To guide you, I suppose." the shadow pony answered. Sunny felt like there was a hint of uncertainty in his voice. She raised an eyebrow, "'You suppose'?" 'Should I even... eh, it's not like she knows.' He glanced towards her, but kept his head forwards, "I was... brought here. I don't remember much of what happened before I was, ah, 'temporally displaced', but I do know that Harmony has given me quite a fair bit of knowledge of this era. It is my personal belief that I have been given a purpose, and that purpose is to guide you, the new generation of Harmony's Chosen. Why else would I be given such knowledge?" 'Take a few liberties for some pizzazz.' Sunny nodded, "Huh... alright then." The two continued to trot in silence, watching Izzy continue to mind her own business while prancing around them. That is until Sunny abruptly stopped, nearly toppling over as a result. "Wait, where exactly are we going? Have we been wandering about in the middle of nowhere?" Izzy giggled as she passed by the earth pony once more, "Oh! Aren't we making our way to the pegasus city?" Sunny looked at her with confusion, "Huh?" Sombra nodded in agreement, "Izzy is correct." he pointed towards a mountain range in the distance, a part of a metallic structure peeked through the thick clouds, "And we've been making good time. We may need to rest for the night, however, the sun is quickly setting." He tapped a hoof to his chin, "I wonder if that means Celestia is still out there somewhere? I doubt they passed from old age." Sunny gave him a curious look, "Celestia? You mean the ruler of Equestria before Princess Twilight? What does she have to do with the sun?" Now that got Sombra's attention, how could she not know? "This is... concerning. You don't know about Celestia's, er, 'main characteristic'? One of her primary roles as an alicorn?" The earth pony scratched her head, "Um, I know she's associated with the sun. I remember my dad saying that she used to raise the sun? But I doubt she actually did..." Sombra shook his head, "Your father was correct, actually. Both Celestia and her sister Luna were the co-rulers of Equestria before they passed it down to Twilight." He gestured a hoof towards the sky, "Alongside ruling the entire nation, they were also responsible for raising the sun and moon respectively. They possessed incredible amounts of magical power. Why, if they wanted to, they could leave either celestial bodies in the sky permanently, causing an apocalyptic event." Glancing back towards Sunny showed the earth pony fervently writing on her notebook. The former human had a feeling this'll be a common affair, and smiled inwardly. Slowly but surely, he'll make sure their history will be remembered properly. "What in the..." Princess Zephryna Storm—referrred to by her friends and family as 'Zipp'—muttered as she saw an oddly clothed unicorn materialize out of a cloud of smoke, along with an earth pony and another unicorn who were... floating? 'Looks like this day just got a whole lot more interesting.' she thought to herself. Curious, she hopped off from her spot and glided down closer to the mysterious group. Just what would an earth pony and two unicorns be doing up here? The pegasus hid herself behind a large boulder and turned her ears towards the visitors. "...should be meeting one of the princesses around here somewhere." 'One of the princesses? Are they talking about... me?' Shaking her head, Zipp wondered if she should take a better peek of the trio. Whoever these ponies were, they seem to be more than a group of lost travellers. "Helloooooo! Princess! Are ya there?! We-mph!" She jumped as one of the unicorns yelled. Looks like they're really looking for her now. She huffed, "Alright... let's see where this goes." Slowly, Sombra lowered his hoof from Izzy's mouth. His eyes frantically looked around the rocky terrain as he did so. "Don't! We need to have her come to us naturally. She'll likely be less accepting of our presence if we just... go after her!" The energetic unicorn briefly held a blank look before she gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry!" He held back an admittedly rude remark and let out a sigh, "Just... wait for her to-" "Um, King Sombra?" The dark unicorn turned to Sunny with a raised eyebrow. "You can just call me 'Sombra'." She replied with a slight nod. Sombra noticed that she seemed a bit distracted, and brushed it off as her being excited about visiting the city of pegasi. "Oh, er... alright then." the earth pony pointed a hoof beyond him, "You might want to turn around, though." Sombra gave her a confused look, but complied anyway. He steadily turned his head around, and let out a startled noise when he saw a pony standing only a few feet behind him. "Gah!" Izzy quickly skipped in front of the startled shadow-pony with a big, friendly smile plastered on her face. "Hi there! Are you a princess?" The pony, who appeared to be a pegasus, examined the trio with a curious look before nodding slowly. "Yeah. Looking for me?" she replied coolly. Sombra gently pulled back Izzy with his magic and placed her beside Sunny as he stepped up to meet her. "You are Princess Zephryna Storm, eldest daughter of Queen Haven as well as the heir to the throne, yes?" The pegasus raised an eyebrow, "Uh-huh? Haven't answered my question, though." Sombra quickly nodded, "Ah, yes, well, you see-" It was then that the sound of clanking metal boots made itself known. Zipp whipped her head around, and saw two guards quickly approaching. "Uh, hold that thought." She quickly ran past the trio, almost knocking over Sunny in the process. The princess briefly looked back at them with a stern expression. "Don't tell them you saw me." She then immediately dove down from the edge of the cliff, disappearing into the clouds below. Sunny took a step to go after her, but was stopped by Sombra's magic. The armored pony then cleared his throat before tilting his head towards the approaching guards. The earth pony's face brightened. Looks like this is her chance to interview these pegasi! Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, Sombra stifled an irritated grunt. What is it with these ponies and interrupting him? Author's Note Right! So after this, I'll be back to Fire Horse! Sombra's willing to get constantly pelted by questions, if it means making sure Equestria's history is remembered correctly. Looks like it's time for the Royals to meet as well! If you want to share ideas on how this story should go, consider commenting! Corrections and criticisms are more than welcome, I can't improve without those now, can I? Have a good existence! :) "Remembered forever, the land of Equestria"
Chapter 4: A Meeting of Royals'That feels so weird...' Sombra thought to himself as he was guided by the two pegasus guards alongside Sunny and Izzy through the mountaintop city. Right after their initial encounter, which resulted in a lot of frightened screaming from the stallion of the two, they decided to place tennis balls upon the horns of the two unicorns as a way to restrain them, referring to the balls as 'shields'. While Izzy seemed to be unbothered, as seen by her and Sunny's reactions to the jumbotrons that were broadcasting Princess Pipp's livestream, Sombra was visibly uncomfortable with the whole ordeal. It felt like he had a stuffy nose and clogged ears at the same time, but specifically localized in his horn. 'Maybe these pegasi were onto something.' As the group continued to be led by the guards towards the Royal Palace, he felt the familiar feeling of tapping on one of his greaves. The shadow pony turned his head towards the source and raised a curious eyebrow. Sunny nodded her head towards one of the massive screens spread throughout the city, "You don't seem very surprised by... well, everything here. I thought you'd be more, uh, shocked, by the technology." Sombra glanced at a nearby jumbotron and shook his head. He remembered a certain scene during an episode, one featuring a certain Pink Pony touring a group of ancient heroes around a city. "Large screens like these have already existed even before Zephyr Heights was built. However, they were primarily projected via magic rather than technology. While definitely not as modernized as this city, Manehattan was considered to be quite advanced for its time." 'Could just be Pinkie being Pinkie... eh, everything did actually get lit up.' He looked back towards the earth pony mare and saw her using her mouth to write in her journal. She wobbled slightly, due to the fact that she was only using three legs to walk. Sombra turned back to the looming form of the Royal Palace. He took a long, calming breath as he mentally prepared himself for their meeting. A part of him wanted to stay quiet and hope that everything went similarly to the movie, so that he could chime in again when Zipp eventually visits them in the... 'dungeon'. 'Not a lot I can change before they get magic back...' It was unfortunate, really. He wished that he could just grab all five of them in one fell swoop and use his powers to force everypony to unite once again, but Friendship and Harmony didn't work like that. Heck, he doubted the crystals would even work if he did speedrun the entire movie like he wanted. A real, genuine bond had to form between the Mane Five, and if he got in the way of that, it could lead to issues that would spoil the entire reason he was doing this in the first place. He would need to take a back seat for the time being, whilst being a handy—hoofy?—living archive whenever they needed help in clarifying lost or forgotten history. 'But after that? You better look out, Arcana.' Sombra didn't realize it, but a faint trail of dark magic had formed from the corners of his eyes. Everypony around him felt a chill go down their spines as he thought about the pony who ruined everything. Both literally and metaphorically. A sense of dread and anxiety began to creep into their minds alongside the lowering of the surrounding temperature. Izzy's skipping turned to a cautious trot, Sunny's writing looked less coherent, and the two guards, Thunder and Zoom, felt their wings twitch as if they were about to fly away. Things only went back to normal once the group entered the elevator to the palace's throne room. But even then, the feeling of dread never truly went away. "Bow before our Queen!" Thunder announced as the five of them entered the throne room. Beside them, two rows of guards marched into position, their expressions ranging from confusion to visible trepidation at the presence of the three outsiders. Right in front of the dais, another row of guards blew into their trumpets, catching the attention of everypony present before bowing as they finished their tune. Sombra discreetly nudged his companions to bow alongside the guards, to which they quickly followed. Not a moment passed before a... small, fluffy winged dog walked in front of the center throne. Despite its small size, the aura of haughtiness it gave off could be clearly felt in the air. Sunny turned towards Sombra with a look of confusion, her head still bowed low. Izzy took a small peek before quickly lowering her head when she received a harsh glare from the dog. "Uh... is that-" "Wait for it..." A beam of light shone upon the small dog, causing it to jump and bark in joy. Unable to contain her curiosity, Sunny looked up from her position to see where the source of the light was. It didn't take long before the silhouettes of three flying pegasi made themselves visible, descending as an admittedly funky tune played in the background. The young mare couldn't help but stare at the majestic sight. Her father had told her countless stories of the pegasi and their role in managing ancient Equestria's weather. To see them twirl around in the air like birds... truly, it was a sight to behold. Izzy swiftly shot up from her position as well. Her eyes wandered towards one of the descending ponies, locking onto one of the brightly-colored and strangely familiar one of the three. Realizing that his attempt at following proper decorum had utterly failed, Sombra stood up with an exasperated look on his face. He wanted to tune out the rest of this interaction and proceed into the dungeon by himself, but that wouldn't help in catching Zipp's interest in the three of them. Or at least, more interested than she was already. The ex-human observed Queen Haven's blabbering with visible disinterest. While he found it interesting how the pegasi turned their society into a monarchy as opposed to something more akin to a stratocracy, he wasn't exactly invested in most characters beyond the Mane Five. 'I wonder how Commander Hurricane would react to Zephyr Heights?' Sombra was pulled out of his thoughts when Thunder and Zoom moved off beside his group, presenting them to their queen. Just as he expected, the way Haven reacted was nearly identical to the movie. The three outsiders watched the monarch blabber to herself as both of her daughters gave their own drastically different reactions. Feeling the need to entertain himself throughout the entire ordeal, he patiently waited for Pipp to turn her phone's camera towards them. Once she did so, the shadow pony flashed a large toothy grin, showing off his long and sharp canines. He also flicked his head to make his mane billow towards the side of his head. The royal pop star's eyes widened as Sombra showed himself off. She immediately turned her phone's camera back towards her face and excitedly addressed her now incredibly frightened audience. "Whoa! Did you all just see that?! You saw it here first, Pippsqueaks! Unicorns. Have. FANGS!" Noticing that her daughter was causing a potential PR nightmare scenario, Queen Haven swiped her phone away and attempted to calm her citizens down. Sombra snorted in amusement. It was a nice reprieve from constantly getting asked and being forced to sit back for the next twenty-four or so hours. The former human breathed out a calming sigh and patiently waited for them all to be pulled away. 'Soon...' Izzy giggled as she twirled Sombra's flowing mane around her hoof. The dark unicorn was lying down on his stomach, enjoying the short recess from his little adventure. "Ooo... I really like your mane! It's all swooshy and wispy!" "Mhm..." He didn't know how long the two ponies beside him waited for in the movie, but judging from how long they had been there, Zipp must have really taken her sweet time. 'And she's supposed to take Rainbow's place?' Sunny turned back from the barred window towards Sombra. She took a seat on the massage chair that Izzy should have been in before shooting him a question. "So... is there any reason why we haven't seen anypony fly besides the royals?" The shadow pony carefully rested a hoof under his head, making sure his sharp greaves didn't prick him. "No magic, no flight. None of them can. Haven and her daughters are using cables. All smoke and mirrors." The earth pony remained silent after his answer. Oh, how she wished she had her journal with her right n- "Hey!" Sombra's eyes snapped open as he turned his head towards the gold-plated bars of their 'prison'. Zipp looked from side to side conspiratorially before addressing them. "I'm sorry you three got thrown in here, but... I have to talk to you." All three of them stood up from their resting spots and trotted up to the princess. Zipp discreetly took a step back as Sombra's taller form loomed over her. "Princess Zeph-" "Zipp. Call me 'Zipp'." Sunny smiled and gave her a nod, "Okay, Zipp! I'm Sunny, and these are my friends." "Izzy Moonbow~" "Sombra." The eldest princess craned her head back. She raised an eyebrow as she looked towards the stallion of the three. "You're kinda, uh... freaky." she quickly shook her head apologetically, "Sorry, just had to get that out..." Sombra bowed his head courteously, "I take no offense. My visage can be quite intimidating for some." 'He was pretty scary as a kid, honestly.' "Right. Anyway! Sunny, Izzy, Sombra, I really need to ask you something important..." Zipp leaned in closer to the trio and lowered her voice to a whisper. "About magic." Sunny stepped closer to her, "That's exactly why we're here! All of the magic in Equestria disappeared a looong time ago, and we're trying to bring it back!" The pegasus princess looked at her incredulously, "Woah, 'disappeared'? As in... no magic?" The three prisoners shook their heads simultaneously. Their synchronicity was a surprisingly eerie sight, though it was likely only because of Sombra's presence. Zipp nodded in understanding. She looked down in thought for a moment before turning to the trio once more. "Well... that changes things..." she muttered, "Listen, I might have some information that could help. But first, you need to tell me about this." The pegasus unfolded a wing and reached under it with her hoof. Sunny caught a glimpse of what she was grabbing and gasped in surprise. "My journal! Thank you, Zipp!" Sombra tuned out the rest of the interaction yet again. This entire part was where the three of them—'three' as in Sunny, Izzy, and Zipp—would begin to form a bond. He dared not to barge in at this moment unless directly addressed, as this interaction would also lead him to the abandoned air station. 'Give 'em the old Lore Dump MonologueTM ' He turned his head toward the other end of the hall where their cell was situated in. The sound of trumpets and the sudden appearance of a roll of red carpet signaled the arrival of Pipp, who trotted up to her sister fabulously. Sombra didn't know why, but it really was quite a fabulous trot. "Zipp? What are you doing here?!" The sisters began their quick and minor squabble just as he expected. The former human also remembered to flash another fanged smile as Izzy pulled him and Sunny to join in on the royal pop star's selfie as it continued. Sunny didn't get to ask her a question regarding the royals' ability to fly, as she had already been informed of the loss of magic. 'Wonder if that's gonna cause an issue?' With a buzz of her phone calling her away to a dress rehearsal, Pipp trotted away whilst practicing her voice alongside her two assigned guards. Both diligently rolling the carpet back up again. Zipp waited for them to fully leave the premises before turning back to the trio. "I have to show you something." With a final heave, Hitch pulled himself up to a flat cliff and plopped himself onto the ground, not caring about the dirt and dust that would stick to his coat. A pair of incredibly fluffy bunnies ran up to him and rubbed themselves on his cheeks. The sheriff forced himself back up on his hooves before wiping off some sweat from his forehead. "You're in so much trouble, Sunny." He mumbled, as an entire swarm of curious bunnies began to surround him. Author's Note I know that most of you are probably wondering: "Baroque, why does Sombra only get one to two thousand words per chapter while Midnight and Daybreaker get over three thousand?" Well, it's mostly because I'm trying to avoid blitzing through the entire movie. Just like what Sombra mentioned in his thoughts, if he speedran the entire adventure in one go, the bonds that formed between the Mane 5 and the tribes would be much less genuine. This means that the Unity Crystals might not combine and Sunny might not become a pseudo-alicorn. Think of the G5 movie like the Mane 5's Nightmare Moon EventTM. Anything that happens before and during it should be treated with caution because any small changes could be detrimental to the rest of the timeline. Anything after that is free game, as a certain purple alicorn would know very well. Anyway, that's chapter 4 for you! We'll be focusing on the Pegasus Crystal heist on the next one, so stay tuned! If you want to share ideas on how this story should go, consider commenting! Corrections and criticisms are more than welcome, I can't improve without those now, can I? Have a good existence! :) "Remembered forever, the Land of Equestria"
