Login

Shades of Black

by Edensola

Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Recovery

Load Full Story Next Chapter
Chapter 1: Recovery

 

CHAPTER 1: RECOVERY

Trekking his now tiny hooves through a field of mud, a much smaller figure with a grumpy expression made his way through the intense rain, stomping with each trot. He was currently heading towards a cave no more than a few meters ahead, and behind him, one could see the gleaming crystal empire shielded from the harsh weather in the distance. Princess Cadence no doubt doing what she could to take care of her precious subjects, no matter, she'd pay soon enough! Well, eventually she'd pay, he just needed a little time was all!

This little colt, with his long pitch black mane and pointy red tipped horn, was none other then the supposedly deceased, King Sombra himself. But there was a problem of course, he was a little small to be the previously intimidating tyrannical unicorn. Well, maybe he was still intimidating and we just weren't seeing it, he sure believed so. Either way, he made his way inside the cave, his coat covered in the nasty muck, dirt, and grime. He huffed and puffed in irritation.

As Sombra shook himself off in the cave, finally managing to find shelter from the rain, he sighed heavily before letting off a light, "Graaaaaah....." He then regained his composure, putting on a straight face and stomping a hoof. And upon speaking, it wasn't hard to notice the extreme change in his voice, which was now much higher pitched like that of a child. "Fools! Believe me dead? I will show them all what it means to take my kingdom! They will all learn the true meaning of darkness!" Sombra began pacing back and forth in the dark cave, looking at the ground as he did so. "But I cannot just waltz in and take back my kingdom, no no no, I must form a plan." He began tapping his chin with a forehoof, looking up with a raised brow. "Slave! Bring me some crystals! I am starving, I need thinking food!"

There was only silence.

"S-Slave! I demand you bring me some crystals this instant!" Stomped an enraged Sombra looking towards the back of the cave, and it actually took the colt a few seconds to realize that he no longer had any slaves. His expression sunk dramatically as he seemed sad, an embarrassed look creeping onto his features as he shook his head a second afterwords and stomped once again. "N-No matter! I don't need crystals to think of a perfect plan."

He continued to pace back and forth in the cave, looking towards the ground as he did so, there had to be something he could do to win back his kingdom, even in this lesser form there had to be some way he could best those meddlesome ponies. Of course he could just wait to grow up and take it back then, but, no that'd take forever! He needed to think of something now.

His stomach grumbled.

He gritted his teeth angrily as he shouted in exclamation of his anger. "GRAAAH!!!! If only I had my thinking stairs, or some crystals, then my plan would be concocted by now. I shall be forced to venture across the slave-lands and find some food. If I'm not mistaken there has been a strange moving cart station created to transport those without slaves to pull them, good good, I shall board this peasant cart and take it to a village to find some crystals! If they don't get me my crystals, then I shall show them the power of ultimate darkness!" He stood on his hind legs, raising his forehooves to the air and cackling in his humorously childish voice. "Bwahahahahaha!"


And so the little colt continued his venture, and arrived at the train station as planned.

As Sombra waited at a bench with his hooves crossed, it wasn't surprising that nopony recognized him, which was ultimately a good thing but still a little annoying. He glanced back and forth between the numerous ponies trotting through the station, and he couldn't help but feel a little out of place, it'd certainly been a long time since he made his way out of the crystal empire, buck, centuries even. He even wondered how Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were doing, to think he was defeated by a bunch of anonymous ponies made it even more frustrating.

As he was sitting by himself waiting for the train, he noticed a rural pony coming to approach him with her friends, all of them wearing worried looks. Sombra sighed quietly to himself "Graaaaaaah......"

One of the mare's lowered her head upon arriving in front of the little colt. "Hey there little guy, where're your parents? Are you taking the train out here alone?"

Sombra scoffed, leaning his head back. "Hah! Watch your tongue slave, a king needs no parents to escort him!"

One of the other mares chuckled, nudging her friend. "Aw, isn't he cute? He thinks he's a king."

Another of the mares snickered, smirking down at him. "Colts these days. Well, he's obviously spoiled. His parents are probably around here somewhere."

"B-But I am a ki-" Sombra began to protest, but not being able to finish due to the group of mares trotting away.

Sombra turned crimson, how dare they look down upon him?! He was the king of darkness! The tyrannical lord of the crystal empire! Ponies bowed at the sight of him! He wanted nothing more than to just shackle these mares like the slaves they were and teach them proper respect, but, he had to keep a low profile, he couldn't bring too much attention to himself. He huffed once more, gritting his teeth, snarling even, just as the train was coming.

There was suddenly an intercom message that rang out across the station.

"All Aboard! All Aboard! Next stop, Hollow Shades!"

"Graaaah..." Sombra sighed with relief, finally, the peasant cart had arrived. This was quite a big cart, and it was strange to find out there was a slave driving slaves. Perhaps he was the slave of slaves, making him like an ant, maybe he could even be considered dirt. No matter, Sombra would take the ride to Hollow Shades and find himself some crystals, then he could finally concoct the perfect plan in order to take back his kingdom!


As Sombra sat on the train, he was alone towards the back, looking out the window at the vast lands of Equestria. He had a bored expression, but also seemed a little focused, leaning his head on his forehoof with half closed eyes. Just how long had it been since he was defeated by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna? It must've been ages. Ah, Princess Luna, the name brought back so many memories to the former king, and his expression even saddened somewhat when he thought back on it. It was surprising to find that even when he thought about it, he had some regrets, well, he wouldn't call them regrets, maybe questionable choices. How different would things have been if he listened to her back then?

He recalled a particular scene, and coincidentally, it was on a day like this.

The three of them stood in the rain, in a face off with one another. Princess Celestia and Luna vs him.

It was in the middle of a barren wasteland, a canyon of sorts as even Princess Celestia's mane was different back then, instead being a bright pink, unlike the appearance it took in modern times. The two princesses wore their respective elements as they eyed the menacing unicorn, who didn't fail to regard them seriously either.

Princess Luna winced as she stomped a hoof. "Sombra, please, stand down!"

Princess Celestia sighed, shaking her head in regards to her sister. "He is beyond redemption little sister."

Princess Luna protested, taking a step towards the unicorn once more, demanding, "I said stand down Sombra!"

Sombra said nothing, as he kept his head lowered, and his horn started to glow. "Hmph..."

Princess Luna snapped, her eyes wide with desperation. "SOMBRA!"

The colt shook his head as he drifted back to present times, then just continuing to look out the window, followed by a heavy sigh, he muttered. "I really miss my stairs...."


Upon arrival to the small town of Hollow Shades, the thunder still boomed as the night had blanketed the sky by this time. It didn't matter to Sombra however, although the night played in his favor quite well, meaning he didn't really have anything to worry about. There was only one mare that could best him in this sort of setting, and she was all the way in Canterlot.

He smiled eagerly as he made his way off the train alongside the adults, and upon exiting, a shiver ran down his spine as he felt the cold chill of the night winds. By Celestia it was freezing! He really wouldn't mind having his thick red cape at a time such as this, but he had to deal, there were no luxuries for him anymore.

He was finally starting to realize that.

Sombra made his way over to the small inn of the creepy town. The surrounding forest was black, and bats could be heard all around, fluttering about between the nooks and crannies of the beaten wooden houses. The heavy rain didn't make the place anymore comforting. As the colt made his way through the entrance doors, a number of individuals eyed him almost immediately, all of them regarding him with puzzled looks. What was some lone pony colt doing all the way out in Hollow Shades by himself? Strange, but it was none of there business.

Sombra hurriedly made his way to the wooden counter, his tongue hanging out as he did so. "C-Crystals! I need Crystals!"

The stallion at the counter eye's widened as he laughed softly. "Gems, I need gems kid."

Sombra's nose wrinkled. He was going to make him pay!? What the buck!? "A king needs no gems fool!"

The stallion found this humorous, not only was this kid asking to eat crystals which they obviously didn't have, he thought he was a king. Not surprising, Hollow Shades always tended to get a bunch of weird visitors. "Yea, that's a pretty good point. Too bad you're no king."

The rest of the ponies in the inn snickered beneath their breaths, trying to remain silent in their laughter.

Sombra felt struck, his horn glowing a vibrant red and black color for a moment before it died down. He gritted his teeth angrily, opening his mouth to say something before turning away from the counter. "F-Fine! But,...But you fools will regret this in the days to come! I promise you this!" He then lowered his head angrily, puffing his cheeks as he trotted his way out of the inn in embarrassment.

The rest of the inn burst into laughter after his departure.


F-Fools! Every last one of them! He was the powerful tyrannical King Sombra! Ponies knelt before him, and only the goddesses of equestria could stop him, yet here they were insulting him left and right. He swore, the moment he got back to his full strength he'd show these ponies their place. Well, if he ever got back to full strength. No no no, he couldn't think like that, he'd definitely recover from this and strike back with full force.

But how was he going to manage to do anything if he couldn't eat, couldn't pay for a place to sleep, and didn't have any support. This was a very bad situation, and it only got worse by the second.

Sombra contemplated what to do, and as he trotted through the small town, it seemed he'd have to take a nap beneath one of the wooden porches of the houses for now. So he made his way under one, squeezing his way inside and sighing heavily.  "Graah..." What a cruel town! They weren't even going to give a colt a free pass? His eyes widened, eh, that sounded very hypocritical in his mind, for he would've done the same. But still, what kind of place was this, all he needed were some crystals! He could've repaid them with riches beyond their wildest imaginations once he was king again, instead, they'd be getting a darkness nuke right to the face the moment he recovered from this dilemma.

But like when he thought about this earlier, first he had to think of how he'd possibly get out of this situation. And the more he thought about it, the sadder he got, not even he could manage to think of any solutions at the moment.

He sighed, letting off a small "Graaah..." What am I going to do?

He lowered his head and closed his eyes, curling in some beneath the porch as he figured he might as well get some rest.

But little did the former king realize, that was the worst thing he could've possibly done in this scenario.


As Princess Luna ventured through the realm of dreams, she wore a pleased smile on her face. There didn't seem to be any severe nightmares going on tonight, and everypony seemed to be doing quite well in their sleep. All dreams looked to be going just fine, nothing out of the ordinary. Princess Luna made it a habit not to peek into too many dreams besides nightmares, for what these ponies dreamt about  was their private business.

The world around her was made of stars, and surrounded by black, the dreams of countless individuals fluttering around her like picture frames. She flapped her wings and made her way through the endless stream of dreams, like an infinite tunnel in the form of a vast database. It was the Princesses's way of organizing her dream surfing methods, easily allowing her to make her way through the dreams of countless ponies, and getting a good look at all without interfering with any. But as the Princess made her way down her infinite tunnel, there was something that caught her eye.

It was in the Hollow Shades category. There were a couple of new faces sleeping in the town it seemed, that wasn't surprising to her, there were new faces everywhere everyday, especially in Hollow Shades, but what got to her was the subject of the dream, and the dreamer himself. It appeared to be a simple colt, but, there was something about him. And as the Princess focused on the dream more, her eyes widened as she felt compelled to enter upon noticing certain details of the dream.

She now had to find out more about what was happening in this particular dream, and so she went inside.

within the dream, the colt laid upon a couch shaped throne, with a multitude of crystal pony slaves obeying his every whim. They were feeding him crystals, and massaging him thoroughly.

The colt snickered. "Ah thank you my slaves, these crystals are just perfect!" Munch munch munch.

One of the collared crystal ponies replied in suit. "Of course King Sombra, your wish is our command."

As Princess Luna made her way down the throne room, her eyes were wide with disbelief. This, was impossible. There was no way that could've been him, but, there was no mistaking it. There was only one who could have a dream such as this, and he'd died, he was already defeated. Princess Luna remained silent as she continued to make her way down the large throne room, arriving at the foot of the throne and just peering down at the colt in shock and silence, inspecting him, looking over him. How? How how how? How did he manage to-

The colt smiled as he rose to his four hooves. "Ah Princess Luna, my slave, you've arrived. Please, feed me." He opened his mouth and closed his eyes with a expectant smile. This was such a perfect dream, of course Princess Luna would be here as well to feed him, she was one of those responsible for his defeat, and his previous- well, he wasn't going to get into that. He just smiled, awaiting the fake Luna to feed him some crystals.

Princess Luna of course didn't feed him anything, she just looked down at him, wide eyed, ignoring his words. "Sombra?"

Sombra groaned. "Graaah...of course it's Sombra you idiot! Now hurry and feed me!" But as Sombra looked up towards Luna with a cocked brow, he slowly came to realize she was way too realistic and lively to be fake, that she was indeed herself. It all started to come back to him, and his expression sunk by the second as he thought about why sleeping was a fatal mistake, and what Princess Luna's powers were. And he gulped, "Oh no..."

Princess Luna vanished.

Sombra burst from his throne in a panic as he immediately began to look for something to bash himself over a head with. I've gotta wake up, I've gotta wake up! He grabbed a steel bowl, smashing himself over the head with it to no avail.

The crystal ponies all looked at their king in worry. "What's wrong my lord?" One asked curiously.

Sombra gritted his teeth. "S-Silence!" If only he had fingers to pinch himself with! This wasn't a good situation! And time in a dream was fleeting compared to time in the real world, he had to get himself out of here and fast. Every second here was like an minute there, he knew these things because, he knew much about Luna.

His expression saddened once again as he thought back to his past, but shook his head, snarling somewhat. And the little colt used his telekinetic magic to grab hold of one of the stone pillars in the throne room, and cringed at the thought of smashing it against his head but he had to do something, so he braced for impact, and then hurled it towards himself from afar, closing his eyes tight and letting the pillar do the rest.

SMASH

Sombra stumbled throughout the throne room with twirling eyes, before falling back. "Graaaaah....."


"Search everywhere!"

Sombra's eyes snapped wide as he scurried further beneath the wooden porch. He peeked between the cracks in the steps as in the distance he saw Princess Luna herself, a hoof raised, and looking flustered as she commanded her Lunar Guard to go about searching the area for him nonetheless. Sombra cringed with worry P-Princess Luna, here already? Blast her, she's always getting in my way... Sombra crept back before slowly attempting to sneak out from beneath the porch. I have to make it to the black forest, they'll find me if I stick around here. I work best in places covered with shadow anyhow. The colt smirked. Heh, sorry princess, you probably should've come during the day time.

Princess Luna paced back and forth with dread written all over her face, as her guards went about the area, searching every house there was. She turned back to the inn keeper "You said there was a colt here who'd asked for crystals yes? Did you see where he ran off to?"

The innkeeper bowed as he shook his head. "F-Forgive me princess, none of us saw where he went after he'd left the inn, he probably left town already...."

Princess Luna spoke softly, glancing to the lower right. "No, he's still here, I am certain of it."

Sombra stood between two wooden houses in a pool of shadow with a smirk. "Hmph, foolish Princess Luna, if you know it is me, then you know you've already lost."

And just as a guard was coming down his path, Sombra smirked, confidently stating in his mind. For I'm already gone..... And his horn started to glow a pitch black color as he chuckled, stomping his hoof softly, expecting to become one with the shadows.

But, as he stood there, nothing happened.

He blinked a bit, before stomping his hoof once again. "Eh?..." He stomped multiple times as he flashed his magic. WHAT!? Why wasn't it working, you can't be serious!

And as the lunar guard took notice of the colt, matching Princess Luna's description perfectly, he pointed a hoof at him. "Princess! Over here! Between these houses!"

Princess Luna's eyes snapped wide as she looked in the direction of the shouting, catching sight of the retreating colt.

And as Sombra and Luna caught glances with one another, that stare between them seemed to last for an eternity, before Sombra finally made his move and dashed for the forest in desperation.

Princess Luna was at a loss for words, he actually did survive? And not only that, he was now some colt? She shook her head, regaining her composure before stomping a hoof, yelling in her mighty canterlot voice. "Seize him!"

And with a pool of guards steadily growing behind him, Sombra gritted his teeth, dashing for the forest as he quickly as he could. And in this scenario, he only had a few seconds to make it, or he'd definitely be caught. Next Chapter: Chapter 2: Apprehension Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 36 Minutes

Return to Story Description

Login

Facebook
Login with
Facebook:
FiMFetch