The door opened, and what I saw was not at all what I expected. This wasn't some library or laboratory, this was a private study. A single bookshelf, a fireplace, a comfy chair, a cabinet with wine glasses, and a few bottles of wine on a stand. The most notable, however, was a lectern with a single, closed book on it. The book itself had a... feel about it. Some kind of foreboding, like you're not meant to go near it. So, instead of doing the obvious thing and opening it, I decided to investigate the rest of the room first.

The first thing I took a look at was the wine shelf. Now, I don't know much about wine, and I don't care for it myself, but Sombra kept a few bottles of some ancient vintage. Then again, given that the place was out for a thousand years, this may be a very cheap wine that just sat for an eon, again, i don't know much about the drink itself, but it does tell me that Sombra liked to sit in here, read his books, and enjoy a good/bad wine.

So, what made him into the snarling, mumbling beast everyone described him as? Next, I checked the bookshelf. It contained some advanced spell books, and, oddly enough, was mostly medical journals. Why would a powerful wizard have medical journals? Enough pondering, time to look at the book on the lectern.

As I drew nearer to it, the book seemed to shudder, as though the inanimate object was afraid and, despite being unable to move, was trying desperately to flee. This would be the object housing Sombra's soul, I was certain of it.

"Hey now, none of that." I told the book. "You let me in, after all. Now then, show me everything." As I opened the book, the world twisted and tore, like scraps of paper being ripped away, to reveal... the same room? Only, this time, there was someone sitting in the chair.

"Hello, Sombra." I said. He scoffed in reply. I stood there, glaring at him for a time, till it became clear to him that simply ignoring me wouldn't make me go away.

"Well then, what do you want?" He asked in a thick Spanish accent.

"Quiero apprender." I want to learn. That, at the very least, got his attention. Thank you first year Spanish, where I watched Dora and learned how to make salsa.

"Hmm." He climbed out of his chair. "You show up to my home, threaten me with immolation and death, then ask for a favor?" His eyes burst with flame as he seemed to look through me. I wasn't afraid though, not of this mere fragment of a person. He seemed satisfied with my lack of response.

"Oh your heart is wonderfully dark. Very well, what do you want to know?"

"Only two things. How you became immortal, and why."

"Very well, but you must do something for me, in return."

"And that is?" I asked.

"Take me out of this place. Those two ponies outside aren't nearly as dull as most. It's only a matter of time before they manage to get in here. When the book housing my soul is found, it's likely they'll destroy it.

"Deal."

The world twisted and warped again. This time showing a different room, and a child Sombra, his horn straight and swirled, like that of a normal unicorn, and no evil about him, standing next to a pair of graves. He was weeping silently. I could feel a deep sense of sadness permeating the air as I realized that I was inside one of Sombra's memories. He wasn't going to tell me, he was going to show me. It didn't linger on this image for long, shifting to one of an older, teenage Sombra, in a doctor's office.

"I'm sorry." The began. "There's nothing I can do. Not enough is known about the disease to give a proper treatment. I know it's difficult, and I know it's not fair."

"Just like my parents then? But they got sick well into adulthood, why is it happening to me so early?"

The doctor only sighed and shook his head.

The next few scenes were Sombra, looking older and more frail with each passing scene, sitting in this study, with a progressively larger pile of books surrounding him. I heard his voice, not the image's but King Sombra's speaking.

"My madre and padre died of a wasting disease. No matter what they did, their bodies slowly wasted away to nothing. I watched as they grew weaker with each passing day, until they eventually closed their eyes forever, and left me alone in this world. The doctors knew nothing, other than that this was the kind of disease that passed from parent to child. It usually begins well into adulthood, but mine began while I was still a teenager. Just like my parents, I was to waste away and die, before even reaching the prime of life."

"I tried everything. I used spells to make myself younger, which only affected my age, not the progression of the disease. It felt like I finally had the answer when I surged my body with magic, forcing cell division. I could regenerate quickly, and almost overnight the effects of my disease seemed to disappear, but the sickness was still there. I had slowed it, but I was still withering. That was when I thought of the alicorns."

The next image was the crystal heart, shimmering and shining, like a beacon in a black void.

"An aspect of creation itself. Any who are bound to it possess incredible longevity, and Princess Cadence, who became it's bearer at a young age due to her boundless love for others, became an immortal alicorn. I was not bound to the heart, because I was an outsider who moved to the empire. That was when I found... a book. This book was written by a mage from a distant land. A zebra shamaness who passed through. Zaria. She was a priestess of some old zebra god, and she knew a thing or two about souls. I managed to convince her to let me have it. I'll... uh... leave out how. the first thing I did is bind a small fragment of my soul to it, and keep it in this library."

"So then you became immortal." I finished. "But then why did you mess with the heart?"

"Only a fragment of my soul resides in the book, the piece you're talking to now. Do you have any idea what it feels like? To have the culmination of your entire being ripped apart? You don't know because you feel nothing. You'd think having your soul ripped to pieces would be painful, but it's not. As long as no part of it is destroyed, you don't feel a thing. Here I was, in this book, and the rest of me continued thinking the experiment was a failure, that the book wasn't powerful enough to contain me... him. So he started looking for something that could house all of him. The heart."

"After that, I think I know the rest of it." I replied. "You used your magic to make crystals, which you forced the crystal ponies to mine endlessly so they'd be miserable, weaken their connection to the heart so you'd be able to pour your soul into it, which was purged when Cadence purified it." The room twisted back into the one with Sombra sitting in his chair.

"He lost his mind. He corrupted the heart so it could contain him, but that very same corruption spread to him. He knew he needed the ponies to mine, but he no longer knew why. All he knew was that he needed more 'Cryyysssttaaallllsss' and that they were as precious to him as life itself. He became some snarling monster of rage and greed while I sat in here, reading my books and drinking my wine, in total seclusion for a thousand years. It's my hope to stay here for the rest of eternity. You want to live forever? Take my advice, don't split yourself up. The sheer agony of having a part of you die while the rest lives on is unbearable."

"That being said, I may not be ready to do it but... when I am, I have another problem."

"Which is?" Sombra inquired.

"I haven't even the slightest idea of how to use soul magic, and I'd rather not fuck it up."

"That's too bad, I'm not doing it for you."

"What? Why not?"

"Because I don't feel like it. And don't think you can threaten me into doing it. I'll agree and then cut you to ribbons when you're vulnerable. I had to learn to do it myself, why should you get the easy way out?" I sighed, then nodded in agreement, before walking over to the book on the lectern and closing it. The world came back together, and the book stopped shuddering. I put the fragment of Sombra into my backpack, along with some of the more interesting spell books, such as the one detailing Sombra's method of forcing cell division, and left the room.

I closed the door behind me. Just to check, I opened it again and saw that everything was still there, not the empty room it was before. So I went back in, grabbed a bottle of wine as well, then left again. The two ponies I shooed out were still standing outside.

"Ahem... ladies. Sorry about earlier."

"Oh.. uh, no, that's okay."

"No, I really mean it. I was rude and inconsiderate, so, by way of apology, here you go!" I tossed them the deed to the building. They looked at me all confused.

"What?"

"Well, I managed to get in. There wasn't really all that much in there. Some medical journals and spell books you can find at a lot of book stores, namely ones in Canterlot. Oh, it also has a wine rack. I took a bottle with me. The place is all yours now. Nothing of interest to me. Wow, I really got a bad deal. I was sure this would have what I was looking for. Oh well, guess I keep looking."

With that, I left the pair of scholars to their business. They were all excited to finally get in. Well, I mostly told them the truth. Other than the part about the ripoff necronomicon in my backpack, housing the soul of a dead tyrant king, I omitted nothing. You really could find any of those books, albiet more modern versions, in Canterlot bookstores. Time to find Gilda and Seth at the hotel.