The Life and Times of King Sombra

His name was King Sombra, the almighty ruler of the Crystal Empire. Or at least he was, before the imperious Royal Pony Sisters had seen fit to meddle in his affairs. His life had started from such small beginnings, and it now seemed to have come to an abrupt end.

Sombra had started out as a lowly duke, holding a position of minor authority within the Empire. However, his overblown ego and lust for power would not allow that - He wanted so much more. Ever since he was a colt, he had held the unshakeable belief that he was destined for greatness, and one day, he discovered a way to achieve this greatness.

On one particulary dark and cloudy night, he snuck into the Crystal Empire's library, right under the noses of the Empire's guards, and into the fabled "forbidden" section, which contained tomes that, from what Sombra had heard, detailed the ways of dark magic. Sombra knew that if he could master the dark arts, he would have have more then enough power to take whatever he wanted. He started his policy of taking by taking all the tomes he could carry with his telekinesis, quickly returning for the rest.

The theft of the tomes was soon made known to the public at large, but the duplicitous Sombra had covered his tracks well, leaving no traces of his person at the crime scene., And being a stallion of noble blood, he knew he would never come under any real suspicion. With that in mind, he hid himself away in his private estate, and spent every waking hour learning the ways of dark magic.

The learning process was slow at first; Sombra's body was not used to channeling such unnatural energies. Over time, however, he became acclimated to it, and gradually gained more and more skill, mastering the spells with irregular speed. Extended use of the dark magicks altered Sombra's body little by little over the ensuing months, until one day he discovered that he could become one with the darkness itself, and with a single touch, turn the bright crystals of the Empire into blackened stones, which would in turn spread their darkness across the land.

Having finally mastered the ways of dark magic, Sombra made his move. In a swift and vicious coup, he overthrew the Crystal Empire's ruler, declared himself king, and enslaved the Crystal Ponies. To ensure total obedience in his slaves, Sombra hid away the Crystal Heart, the source of the Crystal Empire's power, to let them know that he was the unequivoclal master of their homeland. Their spirits broken, the Crystal Ponies become passive and depressed, unable to muster any sort of resistance against their new king, and under his rule, worked themselves to exhaustion.

Sombra finally achieved the greatness he had long believed he was destined for. But even becoming the unquestioned ruler of an entire empire wasn't enough for him. On the contrary, it simply made him hunger for more power, more glory. He soon made plans to conquer the whole world, using his blackened crystals to spread darkness and despair far and wide.

Just as things were going so well, Sombra encountered opposition from the Royal Pony Sisters, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, who sought to stop his plans.

'How dare they?!' Sombra had thought to himself when he learned of their coming. 'How dare they try to interfere in my rightful destiny?!'

Though Sombra was well aware of the sisters' victory over Discord, the spirit of chaos, the power and position he had gained had made him arrogant. He believed without a doubt that he could defeat the Royal Ponies, so he arrogantly went out by himself to meet them as they arrived, without the aid of his Royal Guard. The Sisters at first attempted to reason with Sombra, but he refused to listen to their "twaddle", as he called it, and they realised they had no choice but to resort to force.

And so, a great battle for the fate of Equestria was fought. Unfortunately, as strong as Sombra's powers were, they were ultimately no match for the combined might of the Princesses of Day and Night. Finally, the Sisters combined their magic into a single unstoppable beam that utterly destroyed Sombra's physical form, reducing him to mere shadow. Then, to add insult to injury, they trapped him within a massive expanse of ice, sealing him away, for what they no doubt assumed would be forever.

Sombra was defeated, but he wouldn't go out without a fight. First, he invoked a curse on the Crystal Empire and the Crystal Ponies, causing them to vanish into thin air, and to return only when he was on the verge of freeing himself from the ice.

Secondly, he reached out his shadowy essence, and placed the tiniest sliver into Princess Luna. During their battle, Sombra had sensed feelings of bitterness and resentment within the Princess of the Night, and now he was capitalising on them. Over time, the darkness within would grow and fester, warping Princess Luna's mind, corrupting her personality, making those feelings of bitterness and jealousy stronger and stronger, until eventually, she would turn on Celestia. Sombra believed that, when that time would come, the two Princesses would end up destroying each other, leaving Equestria defenceless.

It was through that thought of his enemies' destruction that Sombra was able to weather his long imprisonment. For all his power, Sombra was still just a unicorn pony at his core, and any normal unicorn pony would have gone mad from isolation in a matter of days. But not Sombra, not while he could focus on the outcome of his spiteful closing strategy.

'Enjoy my little parting gift, Princesses'. Sombra thought maliciously. 'For when I return - and I will - the Crystal Empire, and all of Equestria shall be mine, for there will be nopony left to stop me!'

The End... For Now.

(My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and all associated characters are the property of Lauren Faust and Hasbro.)