Hey, guys, before you read the story, please read this Author Note: Manehattan is looks more like New York in the movie The Troll in Central Park and this story takes place before Twilight's niece Flurry Heart was born. And another change is: Twilight and her friends never encountered Sombra. Anywho, please enjoy.
Chapter 1: Exchanging Royal Greetings
The city called Manehattan was anything but a place of merriment, not anymore. Once, the buildings, even the skyscrapers were covered in moss and vines budding with colorful flowers; every city block dotted with trees that musical birds used to nest in; sparkling, clean rivers circling most of the urban jungle; ponies living perfectly well...
Now it was a bleak, ravage wasteland. All of the greenery lifeless, littering the streets with dead leaves; the riverbeds cracked and dry as bones, unable to provide nourishment for the trees that grievously bare, and abandoned by the birds who fled for their lives the very day an ominous black plague.
...At least, that's what the citizens of the Manehattan thought, the sight of it leaving them frozen in fear, for the proclaimed plague that was made up of black mist, covering the unprepared city like half a globe...and after several agonizing seconds, the mist vanished to reveal the razed city it is now: the buildings' windows broken and streets littered. Not only that, but even in the daytime, it was still black as night there.
As for the inhabitants? No one ever saw or heard from them. Did the devastating mist destroy them to nothing? That remained a mystery to this day...
Several years later, an alicorn princess was flying above the ruined skyscrapers in a desperate attempt to escape from the city she suddenly found herself in. She had hoped that this was all just a nightmare a minute ago but since she could feel the cold air in this woeful on her wings, she knew this was very real.
However, her presence alerted a being in shadows in the heart of the city opened his eyes that were a spine-chilling green sclera and red irises.
At first, he believed that the newcomer was foolishly trespassing, but his acolytes hidden in the shadows informed him that her scent never touched anywhere near the borderlines.
This made the leader blink in puzzlement.
"So, this unicorn mare has appeared in the middle of my city?" he asked in his deep, hissing voice.
"We believe so, but she isn't just a unicorn. She's an alicorn."
Now that struck him with shock...and deep, deep interest. "A princess, is it? Well, then, as a king, I must extend my greetings."
The terror-stricken princess was ready to make a beeline for the borderline but a rumbling sound made her look over her right shoulder to gasp in horror at a giant pillar of darkness that grew from the center of Manehattan.
The pillar transformed into a pony's head...a unicorn stallion with a mane as dark as a moonless sky and a sharp blood-red horn that matched his irises that were surrounded by green sclera, the two very different eye colors unlike any she had seen before...though they did remind her on something she had heard about from her father when she was a filly.
At the moment, she didn't care about the familiarity, for those eyes were locked on the absconding princess whom he grinned at.
Not wanting to know who or what it was, she scanned for a hiding spot, her fear getting doing the thinking for her. She hid in between the alleys of two skyscrapers and zig-zagged as fast as she could until she found something she believed would be her salvation.
On the other side of the street, she saw a towering rectangular cathedral that she knew had a magical spell on it like every other confessional: Anyone who shouts out the word "sanctuary!" would be protected from any threat or capture.
Seeing the monster stallion's shadow looming over her and the chapel, she screamed for a second before she shed tears zoomed straight through, not through the large double wooden doors, but through what was left of the circular stained glass window, not even caring about the cuts she received on her legs from bursting through the remaining glass that showered on the dusty ground.
She flapped in the middle of the massive dark altar before thrusting her head up to yelled, "Sanctuary!"
She squeezed her leaking eyes shut, waiting an excruciating couple of seconds until a white covered the every inch of the cathedral, the warmth making Twilight open her amethyst eyes to witness in awe and utmost thankfulness at the protective barrier that was coating the valued magical structure.
"Not even dark magic can refute these precious edifices," she smiled in great relief.
When the cathedral finished casting its spell, she violet mare descended on the floor, her flapping wings blowing away some of the dust off of the slightly spacious spot she stood on.
Before she could let her heart be at ease, it nearly jumped out of her chest when she heard a rumbling, echoing voice that she knew belonged to the shadow stallion who was right outside of the doors.
"How very convenient you would be close enough to an unbreakable cathedral," he said, the hint of bitterness clear in his tone which made her glad she couldn't see his face. "Oh, well, that's that."
The shadows outside disappeared and revealed the dim light the gray light could offer in the daytime, making Twilight lightheaded from the consolation of his departure.
After she sat down to catch her breath, she opened her eyes to catch a glimpse of a pony's shadow next to hers.
At first she thought somepony was here as a refugee like herself, but when she looked over her left shoulder, she caught a good, quick glimpse of a tall, dark, completely intimidating unicorn whose eyes were exactly the same as the ones on that ginormous shadow who pursued her.
"He's changed forms?!"
She tried to make a run for it, but the villain's long front legs wrapped themselves around her waist, tightly trapping her hooves and wings to keep her sitting squarely where she was, her back pressed against his chest which was covered in ice-cold armor along with his strong legs that wouldn't let her budge.
Keeping his right leg around her, he moved his left hoof to made her face look up at his that she discovered his sclera changed from green to a normal white, but the irises in his eyes remained a ghastly red that gleamed as his white fangs which gave him the appearance of a viper.
"What are you?" she had to know, her voice quivering at being this dangerously close to this pony beast.
"Don't my crown and my robe give a partial description of who I am?" he grinned, his voice sounding much different from the monstrous sound he had a minute ago, a voice that was deep and masculine as any other grown stallions'.
She studied his garbs as he wanted her to: his crown silver with two horns on each side, his red robe looking like it belonged to a...
"You're a king?"
"I am," he answered, closing his eyes as grinned in pride before putting his left hoof on his chest, "but I am not just any king." Opening his eyes to her, he added, "Though you're well aware of that already."
"I most certainly am," she replied, trying not to remember about his other form. "And...if Your Majesty would be so kind, may I have your name, please?"
Appreciating her good manners, he gladly responded, "I am King Sombra."
"King Sombra? That's definitely something I know Dad told me about." However, she couldn't remember the whole story just yet. "Wait, how did you even get in here? The cathedral prohibits the harm and seizing of any who claims sanctuary."
"It does, but there are such a thing as loopholes even for magical havens such as this. You see, so long as I remember to not threaten or attempt to force you to leave with me, I'm allowed to do anything I wish and my first intention is give my salutations," he explained with an unfaltering grin as he carefully freed her left front hoof that he held in his to bring it close to his face as he added in a soft, cool tone, "one royal to another, Princess of Friendship," before planting a small kiss to her hoof.
Twilight's face twisted in disgust and fear of being touched like this by this demon for a second before she blinked in befuddlement when he mentioned her title. "How do you know who I am?"
"Everyone knows," he answered simply. "You have made quite a reputation for yourself."
"But you must have some way of knowing everything that happens in Equestria. Otherwise, if you've done more traveling, more pieces of land would look like Manehattan," she insisted, trying not give away any sound of resentfulness in her voice when she thought of one of the most well-known, beloved civilizations that had been wiped out...along with possibly its inhabitants whose existence were still unknown.
"Clever," he commented, no sign of compunction in his tone which made Twilight's breaking heart blaze in outrage that she forced herself to control.
Then a thought occurred to her which made her look up at him with indignation in her eyes. "Then, if so, you're the reason I'm here in the first place."
The dark king blinked, taken aback at her accusation. "Am I correct in understanding you're holding me responsible for your presence here?"
Now it was Twilight's turn to blink at his words. "You're saying you have nothing to do with it?" she asked, though she was convinced he was just trying to act coy.
"If I did, little princess, why would I have you appear in the middle of my metropolitan dominion where you would try to decamp from my grasp, reduce me to give pursuit and have you take refuge in a construction whose magic would forbid me of taking you straight to my castle as I would prefer it?" he pointed out bluntly.
She let that sink deep in her mind for a moment before confessing a bit sheepishly, "When you put it like that, that does sound too careless for anypony to do."
Sombra smirked at her exposure. "I'm glad we have that cleared up."
"So, then, wait, if all of this isn't your doing, then..." She stopped as she looked at the ground, feeling at a complete loss as well as her pursuer.
"Evidently, inconclusive circumstances currently beyond both of our comprehension has brought you to my empire," he conjectured solemnly as he re-wrapped her both of her legs. His grin reappeared as he spoke close to her left ear, "So, the question now is: What can we do to unravel this conundrum?"
"He only wants to know to see if this could be useful to him somehow, not because he feels sympathy for a lost princess," she hissed bitterly to herself.
"So, as king, I welcome you to my castle where you're free to temporarily reside in until everything is solved."
"Don't count on me accepting your 'gracious offer'!" She kept her eyes to the floor in front of her instead of answering him.
Her silence told him of her visible distrust of him, not that he was surprised since he did scare her to death not too long ago. "Come now, I know you are no threat to me. I have no reason to do you harm."
"...Maybe you don't...but...I must decline."
Instead of a vexed growl that she had expected, he let out an amused "hm" before he said, "Then there's nothing I can do to change your mind. That is unfortunate. Very well, then before I take my leave."
She held herself absolutely still the very second she felt his muzzle in her mane. "What the heck is he doing?!" As he slid his face on the fur on her neck, she blushed at the thought that perhaps he was being...fresh.
Sombra felt her getting hot...which gave away the indubitable fact she was flushed by his current action, a wider grin growing on his face that he removed from her.
"A thousand apologies," he teased lightly, "but I just wanted to make sure to memorize your scent...so that I can find you."
His last words made her forget her worried thoughts of him vamping her.
"You may think you are free, but you are far, far from it," he continued. "Whether it's in this cathedral or in my castle, you are stranded."
Cupping his left hoof on her right cheek, he made her look up to see the straight, dead-serious expression on his face as he said, "You may have been brought here by mysterious forces but nevertheless, I let no one leave my province without my consent. So if you do leave the cathedral, my subjects will know and notify me as they apprehend you. And even if you somehow elude them, I will track you down and believe me, you will chase you to the ends to the world until I catch you and drag you straight back here."
His ice-cold stare told her he meant every single word he said. As long as her mysterious arrival intrigues him and she has any possible benefit, he will never set her free.
His stringent look faded as he grinned placidly before taking his legs off of her to walk to the doors.
"So now, you have a choice," he pronounced as he used his magic to open the towering doors, "eternally stay here where you won't have a friend in the world or..." Looking at her with a longer grin, he added, "allow me to escort you to my castle as my guest of honor."
Twilight felt glued to his spectral red eyes before she tore her gaze from his to look at the floor as her heart began to shatter at the options presented to her.
Sombra, knowing she wasn't going to surrender, decided to bide his time. "Fine, take all the time you want," he spoke as he stepped out. "Oh, and one more thing I'd like to brief you on."
She made herself lift her devastated face to see him turning around before his sclera turned to green again, the corner of his eyes letting out a purple aura as his voice changed into same deep, hissing sound that greeted her ears when she first saw him.
"If you ask anyone for any aid, I will know and I will do to them exactly what I've done to Manehattan," he forewarned as he turned into his snake-like shadow form, just to send her a perfectly clear message as he proceeded, "because I will not forgive any who make my objective difficult. Do we have an understanding?"
The petrified young alicorn slowly nodded before he grinned in satisfaction and turned back into a pony.
"Excellent. Now when you've had enough solitary confinement, princess, just let my retainers know and they'll see you safely to my home," he called over his left shoulder as he turned his back to her. "Also, you may want to go to the pool in the back to tend to those gashes on your legs. You shouldn't fly through glass, you know."
Twilight's eyes pricked with tears as she scowled at the disdainful so-called king who didn't see her look as he used his power to close the doors behind him, the anguished mare panting in rage at this despotism.
For those who are re-reading this chapter, I had forgotten to write this Author's Note before publishing the story: The cathedral scene where Twilight shouts sanctuary and Sombra puts his muzzle in her mane, it's a reference to Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame (which is a real classic). 3
Anyway, I hope this story is piquing your interests because I know some folks like me love the TwilightxSombra pairing. As a matter of fact, there are two stories I know called A Somber Tale by another fanfic author Maltrazz and another called Unforeseen Consequences by PurpleNightFury. I hope you'll check out their stories as well.