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Description
my favorite boi is back again
decided to make a full 'refsheet' (not really) for him so I could get more of a gauge on his storyline in my au. i have notes on his backstory and whatnot, and really have no place to put them, so here we are.
ya'll seem to like my headcanons, so have at it my fellow gremlins

King Sombra is one of the oldest and most well-known persisting anarchists in Equestrian history. Born in the early 1800s, Sombra is easily thousands of years old, and for a long time was believed to be the last remaining member of the Umbrum species, a pony relative that was thought to be extinct.
King Sombra is best known for the tyrannical regime he instituted over the Crystal Empire, a series of states situated in the northernmost area of the Equestrian continent, and one of the oldest parts of Equestria. Alongside being the most well-known former enemy of the empire, Sombra is also known as the most brutal. Under his brutal policies, thousands of citizens of the Crystal Empire were enslaved, tortured, and murdered to serve his own purposes. The common folk of the states were taken as slaves and forced to work mindlessly in the network of ancient mines that had been carved into the various mountain ranges around the empire. He ruled as emperor over of the Crystal Empire twice, only to be swiftly defeated shortly after. His longest reign was his first one, lasting fifty years or so. After he was defeated by the Elements of Harmony for a second time, he remained dormant until he was released early from imprisonment. He was then instituted into Queen Twilight Sparkle's reformation program, and is now king of his own kingdom to the northeast of the Crystal Empire.
(season 8 doesn't happen in my universe, and even then Sombra ruled for like two seconds anyway, so it doesn't count)
Further investigations were made into Sombra's family history. Though he is an Umbrum as many first suspected, he is actually a pony-Umbrum hybrid. His mother, Crystalline Love, was a personal student under Princess Celestia and moved to the Crystal Empire shortly after the central state had been fully completed construction-wise. It is unknown, then, how she managed to encounter Sombra's father, the since-deceased Umbrum king, Gunnar. The location of Gunnar is unknown, and Crystalline Love died of Alzheimer's disease ten years after Sombra was born. Seeing as Sombra had a relatively ordinary life for the majority of his youth, the cause of his sudden desire to become emperor is unknown, as he himself later explained that he showed absolutely no ambition for it in his early life. In any case, he began his first regime by rather brutally slaughtering Empress Amore and proclaiming himself emperor. His hybrid blood makes him the first hybrid alicorn recorded in history, and the first Umbrum alicorn ever discovered. The Umbrum were discovered shortly after he ascended to alicorn-hood, and he became the start of a fresh line of royal blood, siring one son and one daughter with his husband, Sunburst Flare. Though accidental, he also sired a son with King Discord prior to their marriages to their respective partners.
Sombra's ascension is a rather interesting case. The genes for Alzheimer's disease were present throughout the majority of his mother's bloodline, and he began to suffer the effects of Alzheimer's shortly before his first rule ended. Despite being imprisoned in ice for nearly five-hundred years, the disease progressed, and his mind continued to deteriorate until he was liberated early from his imprisonment by a border patrol squadron five miles from the outskirts of the Crystal Empire. After being placed under the care of Sunburst Flare, Sombra was officially diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and Stage 4 Dementia. He was under Sunburst's care for four years. On the arriving date of his terminal lucidity, Sombra fell unconscious beside the Crystal Heart, and was left alone for a moment for his caretakers to discuss his burial. What transpired after this is unclear. But long story short, Sombra gained wings, and was put into a coma for two months before he finally awoke, seemingly recovering his ability to retain memories. Though he almost fully recovered from the effects of dementia, he is still almost entirely unable to recall memories from prior to his coma, though they became accessible to him after he woke up. After going through therapy courses for two years to fully regain all of his abilities and train him how to use alicorn magic, he was gifted his own territory to take charge of north of the Crystal Empire. He rules there to this day.
Despite his recovery, there are still a few name effects of dementia that he continues to suffer from. He has moments of what his doctors call 'anti-lucidity'. These short periods of time normally last three minutes at the absolute most. During these periods, Sombra can become extremely confused and disoriented, forgetting common names and faces, the time, his location, and even how to perform simple tasks, like speaking, walking, or eating. He is often warned about these moments by several triggers. The most common trigger is a splitting headache, though he is also warned by being easily unbalanced, slurring or stuttering in speech, and dissociating from his environment in general. Aside from his 'anti-lucidity' periods, he also still suffers from sundowning syndrome. Sombra, being an Umbrum hybrid, is partially nocturnal, and can go a very long time without sleep. At most, he sleeps five hours a night, though he most commonly only sleeps for three. The majority of Sombra's evening is spent wandering aimlessly around his palace, mumbling and hallucinating. All curtains are required to be dropped as the sun begins to set; simply observing the setting sun and nighttime for too long can easily send him into a panic. He is fully aware of his sundowning, and remembers it well. But for a semi-nocturnal species, staying up all night is nothing out of the ordinary. He claims that the anxiety and pessimism his sundowning brings about actually makes him more productive at night. His doctors have given him medication to deal with his hallucinations, but besides that, Sombra prefers to attend to his sundowning naturally, and retires only when he is truly exhausted.
Many ponies across the country still fear Sombra because of his past. Though his current regime is strict and lawful, the king is definitely more relaxed than he was before. Though still intimidating, Sombra is described as nothing short of kind and respectful to his citizens and his familiars. He has made a very swift and well-deserved recovery. From the get-go, Sombra has sought ally treaties with every country on the Equestrian continent, and is seeking to make terms with countries outside of it, as well. His city his peaceful and luxurious, quickly becoming a rather popular tourist destination in the summer, when the weather is nicer. Its ideal waterside location makes it an ideal trading and fishing city. Many meat-eating species source fish from Sombra's kingdom. Most of the fish captured off the coast, however, are used to feed the city's majorly Umbrum population, as the Umbrum are a carnivorous species. Sombra himself subsists on a largely carnivorous diet.
King Sombra's two most famous offspring, Sunstar Flare and Valentine Flare (more commonly known as Broken Heart), are also quite busy making names for themselves. Valentine, once the delinquent colt of the city, has been heavily invested in the political side of the kingdom since his marriage to Princess Flurry Heart. Sunstar has been involved in the state's military, and has since become one of Sombra's head generals. The two of them are the crown jewels of the state. They even have their faces stamped on the face of every coin produced there, heads and tails respectively (Val, of course, is printed on the tail end).
Overall, Sombra has been through one hell of a life. Now he's living better and happier as the king of his kingdom, and is the best he's ever been.
some notes!
- after he woke up from his coma, Cadence adopted him into her family, technically making him her brother. his full name is now Sombra Amore (Shining wasn't happy about it)
- him and Sunburst had one hell of a time getting married because, guess what! Sunburst's mom is a homophobe :,) Equestria isn't all sunshine and rainbows. the two of them eventually married without her blessing, and now she wants nothing to do with them (though she is VERY ADAMANT on her monthly visits with her grandchildren. Brooke and Sunstar don't like her...)
- Sombra's palace is renowned for its beauty and thick fortifications. situated on the side of a mountain, it is often called The Shelf because of how it resembles a shelf mushroom. Sombra's palace is very baroque and renaissance-esque, covered wall to wall in ornate frescoes, stained glass windows, and golden statues. its most famous feature is the throne room, topped with a stained glass dome and centered by a large fireplace. think the Palace of Versailles but on the side of a mountain
- he has tail feathers. because. idk
- he is very, very uptight, and never smiles in public. ever. seeing him relaxed and grinning is considered a privilege.
- him and Discord used to date. you cannot convince me otherwise.
- he prides himself on being the only equestrian royal with a kitchen staff made entirely of bat ponies. seeing as bat ponies are also commonly carnivorous (and ponies are often made uncomfortable by the very concept of a carnivorous diet), Sombra decided it was best if he employed them as his kitchen staff. bat ponies are commonly seen as vile, barbaric monsters by the general population, so being employed under King Sombra is considered a huge win for the species in general.
- Sombra often allows tours through certain, unfrequented parts of his palace. foals are invited and even encouraged to visit the palace gardens, of course, because Sombra loves playing with them. he doesn't get much recreational time, so making a good impression on his kingdom's youth is a priority in his day-to day life. he often visits schools in his free time, as well.
- Sombra is a part of a dying species: ponies that know how to play the piano. seeing as pianos were created mostly for creatures with opposable digits, naturally the piano was unfavored amongst ponies, who only have one digit technically. simplified pianos were created as a more suitable approach, but classical music cannot be played on such a piano except for in a simpler form. only unicorns can play the piano, as they can form digits with their magic, but most ponies find learning the piano unnecessary. i'll explain more about this later.
- his magic is capable of forming and birthing fierce, destructive snowstorms. he's still perfecting this ability
- while Cadence has the ability to strengthen bonds between ponies (she can affect them in other ways, as well), Sombra is able to see these connections. by activating a special spell, he is able to see something he likes to call 'soul strings'. he can tell how ponies are related to each other, their relationships with each other, and can even see ponies' soulmates, connected to each other by the heart with a red string. he can strengthen bonds between ponies, as well, but doesn't have nearly as much of an influence as Cadence does. unfortunately for him, he cannot see his own soulmate string, but he's pretty damn sure that if it's connected to anybody, it's connected to Sunburst

i don't have any more points, so i'll update this if i get any
enjoy

Description
my favorite boi is back again
decided to make a full 'refsheet' (not really) for him so I could get more of a gauge on his storyline in my au. i have notes on his backstory and whatnot, and really have no place to put them, so here we are.
ya'll seem to like my headcanons, so have at it my fellow gremlins

King Sombra is one of the oldest and most well-known persisting anarchists in Equestrian history. Born in the early 1800s, Sombra is easily thousands of years old, and for a long time was believed to be the last remaining member of the Umbrum species, a pony relative that was thought to be extinct.
King Sombra is best known for the tyrannical regime he instituted over the Crystal Empire, a series of states situated in the northernmost area of the Equestrian continent, and one of the oldest parts of Equestria. Alongside being the most well-known former enemy of the empire, Sombra is also known as the most brutal. Under his brutal policies, thousands of citizens of the Crystal Empire were enslaved, tortured, and murdered to serve his own purposes. The common folk of the states were taken as slaves and forced to work mindlessly in the network of ancient mines that had been carved into the various mountain ranges around the empire. He ruled as emperor over of the Crystal Empire twice, only to be swiftly defeated shortly after. His longest reign was his first one, lasting fifty years or so. After he was defeated by the Elements of Harmony for a second time, he remained dormant until he was released early from imprisonment. He was then instituted into Queen Twilight Sparkle's reformation program, and is now king of his own kingdom to the northeast of the Crystal Empire.
(season 8 doesn't happen in my universe, and even then Sombra ruled for like two seconds anyway, so it doesn't count)
Further investigations were made into Sombra's family history. Though he is an Umbrum as many first suspected, he is actually a pony-Umbrum hybrid. His mother, Crystalline Love, was a personal student under Princess Celestia and moved to the Crystal Empire shortly after the central state had been fully completed construction-wise. It is unknown, then, how she managed to encounter Sombra's father, the since-deceased Umbrum king, Gunnar. The location of Gunnar is unknown, and Crystalline Love died of Alzheimer's disease ten years after Sombra was born. Seeing as Sombra had a relatively ordinary life for the majority of his youth, the cause of his sudden desire to become emperor is unknown, as he himself later explained that he showed absolutely no ambition for it in his early life. In any case, he began his first regime by rather brutally slaughtering Empress Amore and proclaiming himself emperor. His hybrid blood makes him the first hybrid alicorn recorded in history, and the first Umbrum alicorn ever discovered. The Umbrum were discovered shortly after he ascended to alicorn-hood, and he became the start of a fresh line of royal blood, siring one son and one daughter with his husband, Sunburst Flare. Though accidental, he also sired a son with King Discord prior to their marriages to their respective partners.
Sombra's ascension is a rather interesting case. The genes for Alzheimer's disease were present throughout the majority of his mother's bloodline, and he began to suffer the effects of Alzheimer's shortly before his first rule ended. Despite being imprisoned in ice for nearly five-hundred years, the disease progressed, and his mind continued to deteriorate until he was liberated early from his imprisonment by a border patrol squadron five miles from the outskirts of the Crystal Empire. After being placed under the care of Sunburst Flare, Sombra was officially diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and Stage 4 Dementia. He was under Sunburst's care for four years. On the arriving date of his terminal lucidity, Sombra fell unconscious beside the Crystal Heart, and was left alone for a moment for his caretakers to discuss his burial. What transpired after this is unclear. But long story short, Sombra gained wings, and was put into a coma for two months before he finally awoke, seemingly recovering his ability to retain memories. Though he almost fully recovered from the effects of dementia, he is still almost entirely unable to recall memories from prior to his coma, though they became accessible to him after he woke up. After going through therapy courses for two years to fully regain all of his abilities and train him how to use alicorn magic, he was gifted his own territory to take charge of north of the Crystal Empire. He rules there to this day.
Despite his recovery, there are still a few name effects of dementia that he continues to suffer from. He has moments of what his doctors call 'anti-lucidity'. These short periods of time normally last three minutes at the absolute most. During these periods, Sombra can become extremely confused and disoriented, forgetting common names and faces, the time, his location, and even how to perform simple tasks, like speaking, walking, or eating. He is often warned about these moments by several triggers. The most common trigger is a splitting headache, though he is also warned by being easily unbalanced, slurring or stuttering in speech, and dissociating from his environment in general. Aside from his 'anti-lucidity' periods, he also still suffers from sundowning syndrome. Sombra, being an Umbrum hybrid, is partially nocturnal, and can go a very long time without sleep. At most, he sleeps five hours a night, though he most commonly only sleeps for three. The majority of Sombra's evening is spent wandering aimlessly around his palace, mumbling and hallucinating. All curtains are required to be dropped as the sun begins to set; simply observing the setting sun and nighttime for too long can easily send him into a panic. He is fully aware of his sundowning, and remembers it well. But for a semi-nocturnal species, staying up all night is nothing out of the ordinary. He claims that the anxiety and pessimism his sundowning brings about actually makes him more productive at night. His doctors have given him medication to deal with his hallucinations, but besides that, Sombra prefers to attend to his sundowning naturally, and retires only when he is truly exhausted.
Many ponies across the country still fear Sombra because of his past. Though his current regime is strict and lawful, the king is definitely more relaxed than he was before. Though still intimidating, Sombra is described as nothing short of kind and respectful to his citizens and his familiars. He has made a very swift and well-deserved recovery. From the get-go, Sombra has sought ally treaties with every country on the Equestrian continent, and is seeking to make terms with countries outside of it, as well. His city his peaceful and luxurious, quickly becoming a rather popular tourist destination in the summer, when the weather is nicer. Its ideal waterside location makes it an ideal trading and fishing city. Many meat-eating species source fish from Sombra's kingdom. Most of the fish captured off the coast, however, are used to feed the city's majorly Umbrum population, as the Umbrum are a carnivorous species. Sombra himself subsists on a largely carnivorous diet.
King Sombra's two most famous offspring, Sunstar Flare and Valentine Flare (more commonly known as Broken Heart), are also quite busy making names for themselves. Valentine, once the delinquent colt of the city, has been heavily invested in the political side of the kingdom since his marriage to Princess Flurry Heart. Sunstar has been involved in the state's military, and has since become one of Sombra's head generals. The two of them are the crown jewels of the state. They even have their faces stamped on the face of every coin produced there, heads and tails respectively (Val, of course, is printed on the tail end).
Overall, Sombra has been through one hell of a life. Now he's living better and happier as the king of his kingdom, and is the best he's ever been.
some notes!
- after he woke up from his coma, Cadence adopted him into her family, technically making him her brother. his full name is now Sombra Amore (Shining wasn't happy about it)
- him and Sunburst had one hell of a time getting married because, guess what! Sunburst's mom is a homophobe :,) Equestria isn't all sunshine and rainbows. the two of them eventually married without her blessing, and now she wants nothing to do with them (though she is VERY ADAMANT on her monthly visits with her grandchildren. Brooke and Sunstar don't like her...)
- Sombra's palace is renowned for its beauty and thick fortifications. situated on the side of a mountain, it is often called The Shelf because of how it resembles a shelf mushroom. Sombra's palace is very baroque and renaissance-esque, covered wall to wall in ornate frescoes, stained glass windows, and golden statues. its most famous feature is the throne room, topped with a stained glass dome and centered by a large fireplace. think the Palace of Versailles but on the side of a mountain
- he has tail feathers. because. idk
- he is very, very uptight, and never smiles in public. ever. seeing him relaxed and grinning is considered a privilege.
- him and Discord used to date. you cannot convince me otherwise.
- he prides himself on being the only equestrian royal with a kitchen staff made entirely of bat ponies. seeing as bat ponies are also commonly carnivorous (and ponies are often made uncomfortable by the very concept of a carnivorous diet), Sombra decided it was best if he employed them as his kitchen staff. bat ponies are commonly seen as vile, barbaric monsters by the general population, so being employed under King Sombra is considered a huge win for the species in general.
- Sombra often allows tours through certain, unfrequented parts of his palace. foals are invited and even encouraged to visit the palace gardens, of course, because Sombra loves playing with them. he doesn't get much recreational time, so making a good impression on his kingdom's youth is a priority in his day-to day life. he often visits schools in his free time, as well.
- Sombra is a part of a dying species: ponies that know how to play the piano. seeing as pianos were created mostly for creatures with opposable digits, naturally the piano was unfavored amongst ponies, who only have one digit technically. simplified pianos were created as a more suitable approach, but classical music cannot be played on such a piano except for in a simpler form. only unicorns can play the piano, as they can form digits with their magic, but most ponies find learning the piano unnecessary. i'll explain more about this later.
- his magic is capable of forming and birthing fierce, destructive snowstorms. he's still perfecting this ability
- while Cadence has the ability to strengthen bonds between ponies (she can affect them in other ways, as well), Sombra is able to see these connections. by activating a special spell, he is able to see something he likes to call 'soul strings'. he can tell how ponies are related to each other, their relationships with each other, and can even see ponies' soulmates, connected to each other by the heart with a red string. he can strengthen bonds between ponies, as well, but doesn't have nearly as much of an influence as Cadence does. unfortunately for him, he cannot see his own soulmate string, but he's pretty damn sure that if it's connected to anybody, it's connected to Sunburst

i don't have any more points, so i'll update this if i get any
enjoy