| “ | Umbrum ruled (the Crystal Empire) once. They burned the homes and crushed the hopes of the crystal ponies. Their coats faded. Their magic was lost. The Umbrum are cruel and unfeeling. | „ |
| ~ Queen Chrysalis describing the Umbrum. |
Umbrum (also known as Shadow Ponies) are the supporting antagonists of the Siege of the Crystal Empire arc of the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic IDW comic series.
They are an ancient race of wraith-like beings who used to terrorize the Crystal Empire before getting sealed away. They transformed one of their members into a pony to escape their prison, whom later became King Sombra. Sombra's childhood friend Radiant Hope later discovered the Umbrum, being fooled into thinking they were innocent creatures who had been wrongly imprisoned, and starts living with them, determined to some day free them.
Appearance[]
Umbrum are large, smokey beings resembling horse skeletons, with small butterfly wings, pale colors, and human-like teeth. They have pure white eyes, which often have smoke flowing from them. In their disguised forms, they are much smaller and less threatening, with small, dark gray pupils.
History[]
The Umbrum used to lay waste to the Crystal Empire, burning down the crystal ponies' homes and plunging them into despair. Princess Amore one day defeated and sealed them away with the Crystal Heart in the Shadow Prison, within a large red crystal in the tundra that others can enter and exit as they please, but the Umbrum themselves are unable to escape.
To bypass this, the Umbrum turned one of their own into a young unicorn colt, so he could leave the prison. Guards of the Crystal Empire found him lying unconscious in the tundra and took them back to the city, naming him Sombra as it was the only thing he could say. He befriended a fellow orphan named Radiant Hope, who often talked to "imaginary friends" that only she could see, as none of her peers wanted to hang out with her. Sombra one day saw his future as a dark tyrant in the Crystal Heart, and as he grew up, he fell terribly ill every year during the Crystal Fair.
One day he finds out his best friend is going to leave the city to study under Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and would likely become a princess herself, just like the future she'd seen in the Crystal Heart. He rans off, knowing that if her future is coming true, his will soon as well. He runs into the tundra, where he finds the red crystal, who reveals that it's his "mother". It tells him that he's not like the crystal ponies, and that they fear him for this. He realizes that the Crystal heart is what's been making him sick every year, and the crystal unlocks the dark magic within him.
He asks what he's supposed to do with his new power, and why only he has it, and it tells him that he needs to destroy the Crystal Heart to set an army of Umbrum free. He protests that it would mean losing his only friend, but it replies that if he doesn't, then it will destroy him by the next fair. He does so, stealing the Crystal Heart and turning Princess Amore to stone and shattering her when she confronts him and reveals she'd always known about his origin. Soon after taking over the Empire though, Celestia and Luna put a stop to Sombra with the Elements of Harmony after Hope alerts them, sealing both him and the Empire away.
Radiant Hope goes to study under the princesses, but is unable to stop thinking about Sombra, and eventually leaves. She soon happens upon the Umbrum within red crystal in the tundra, which recognizes her because of what Sombra told them, telling her he was created by them. When they ask, she reveals that Sombra has been banished, and they offer to have her visit their world to learn more about them, saying they could help her save her friend.
When she enters the Shadow Prison, she finds that the Umbrum have disguised themselves to appear harmless and she recognizes them as her childhood "imaginary friends." Believing they were falsely imprisoned, she pities the creatures, and decides to live with them from then on, the strange properties of the realm keeping her alive and unageing for a thousand years. After Sombra's eventual return, second defeat, and the restoration of the Crystal Empire, the Umbrum let Hope leave to help free them.
Radiant Hope enlists the help of Queen Chrysalis and her Changelings, Lightning Dust, Iron Will, and Flim and Flam to help her steal the Crystal Heart. At the Crystal Fair, she has her cohorts distract the attendees and guards while she takes the Heart, swapping the satchel in it with a fake when the Mane Six try to get it back. She then sneaks into the castle and enters Sombra's hidden chamber, finding him reduced to a cloud of smoke with a horn. Though he thinks she's there to destroy him, she reveals that she's actually intent on helping, using her healing magic to bring back his physical form.
She tells Sombra about her why she left her studies and how she met the Umbrum. He asks why he is the way he is if the Umbrum are friendly, and she says he was meant to be their champion who would free and protect them. He asks where the Crystal Heart is, and when she informs him that she took it, he runs out of his chamber, declaring that he'll have his revenge. The Crystal Empire's new ruler Princess Cadence sees him as Hope runs after him, going to alert Celestia and Luna of his return.
Sombra frees Hope's captured cohorts when he gets outside, and with his help, they defeat and imprison the Mane Six and Shining Armor. Celestia and Luna then show up and begin fighting Sombra and Chrysalis, but Hope intervenes, telling the princesses that she can't betray her best friend again before Sombra turns them both to stone. He then gets ready to kill Twilight Sparkle, but suddenly grows weak, with Hope saying he's overexerting himself and needs to rest. He concedes, saying he'll soon release the Umbrum and wants Twilight to see what they'll do to Equestria. Queen Chrysalis overhears this and confronts him, telling him that Hope would let her and her Changelings be free to feed off of the love of ponies before telling him that she'd seen the Umbrum devastating the Crystal Empire thousands of years ago. She states they spread despair wherever they go, and the Changelings cannot feed on it. Hope tries to tell her that the Umbrum isn't what they seem, and Sombra says that they will be freed and he'll petrify the Changeling queen if she tries to prevent it. Reluctantly, Chrysalis agrees, and Hope laments that the ponies are afraid of something they don't understand. Sombra replies that they're afraid of monsters, but she says he's not a monster.
The two the reenter the castle, where Sombra demands some time alone in his chamber, which upsets Hope. After he leaves, She sees Chrysalis and the Changelings flying away, and admits that she knew they would abandon the plan sooner or later. Princess Cadence - who had been eavesdropping on their conversation - feels bad for Hope and comes out of hiding and tells her that she can't allow her to go through with freeing the Umbrum. Hope says she's disappointed the princess won't try to understand before running after Sombra, but Cadence uses dark magic to seal off the entrance to the chamber before she can. Cadence the reiterates that the Umbrum can't escape, and Hope argues that she's lived with them for a thousand years. The princess then asks to see them, and Hope teleports the two to the red crystal.
Before they enter, Cadence says that if Hope is right about the Umbrum, she'll help her free them, but if she's wrong, she'll have to help her stop Sombra. Once they enter the Prison of Shadows, an Umbrum named Rabia greets Hope, who introduces Cadence. The princess says she wishes to get to know the Umbrum, but Rabia is wary, as it was a princess who sealed them away. Rabia has her promise that she won't use any magic inside the prison, before unveiling the Umbrums' dwellings. The other Umbrum warmly greet Cadence as Rabia takes her to meet her daughter, Ira. Cadence comments that they do seem friendly and wonders why they'd be locked away, with Radiant Hope figuring it was just a misunderstanding. They arrive at Rabia's home, where Ira is hiding in the shadows. Cadence uses magic to light up the room, revealing Ira's groutesque true form. Hope is confused, saying Ira usually looks like a smaller version of her mother, before Rabia reveals her true form as well.
Rabia lambasts Hope for failing her task to free them and bringing a princess to their realm, before yelling to Cadence that she wasn't supposed to use magic, as only Amore's love magic could reveal their true forms. Cadence replies that they used Hope, and Rabia replies that they only did what she wanted by lying to her that Sombra wasn't a monster. She then tells the two of Sombra's past, before stating that she won't let either of them stop the Umbrum from getting their freedom. The Umbrum then chase after the two, but they manage to escape.
Hope teleports them to Sombra's chamber after they get out of the red crystal, pleading with Sombra not to release the Umbrum. he then reveals that he could have freed the Umbrum for a while, but was afraid of the chance that they really were good, and he was the only monster. Hope tries telling him she was wrong about them, but the Mane Six, Spike and Shining Armor then show up, with Twilight attacking him. She's about to strike again, but Hope shields Sombra from her blast. Enraged by this, Sombra then opens the door, unleashing the Umbrum.
The Umbrum soon overtake the empire, taking Twilight and Cadence prisoner and bringing them to the throne room to be sentenced. Rabia announces that they've been charged with treason, but King Sombra is willing to lighten their sentence if they reveal where their allies are. Both refuse, so Shining Armor is brought out, with Rabia threatening to turn him to stone. Cadence reveals that they're in Canterine, after which Rabia tells Sombra he may turn Shining Armor to stone when ready. She tells the two princesses that they're far too trusting, but that their friends will be dealt with soon. Sombra then turns Shining to stone, before Rabia tells the princesses that it's their turn. Twilight says that no one will believe the statues are really them though, and if they want to crush the rebels' hopes, they should turn them to stone publicly. She suggests they be petrified in the same place the Crystal Heart once was for added effect, and the Umbrum agree to this.
Sombra goes to get Radiant Hope to witness the petrification, and she tells him she was a fool to think he could ever be anything but a monster. Sombra argues that becoming a monster was the destiny the Crystal Heart had showed him, but Hope points out that she's not a princess like the Heart had shown her. She tells him she's never believed in destiny, and he's the only thing she's ever believed in, saying it's time they forged their own destiny together.
The Umbrum greet Sombra and Hope as they exit the castle, when suddenly the rebels attack. Sombra orders them to fight back, but the Umbrum - save for Rabia - are overpowered. Rabia tells Sombra to show the rebels that there is no hope by petrifying the princesses, but Hope says what they really need to defeat the rebels is destroying the Crystal Heart. Rabia demands that Sombra smash it as the other Umbrum fight back and defeat the rebels. Sombra stares into the Heart for a moment, recounting how he saw his future as a tyrant, but now just sees his reflection. He then thanks Hope and puts the Heart into its altar, stating he's making his own destiny. The Umbrum are dragged back into the Shadow Prison, and Sombra begins to fade away, remarking that he finally got to see the Crystal Fair, and it's more beautiful than he ever imagined. Hope refuses to let him go though, and begins pulling him back with the help of the four princesses. He revives as a normal unicorn, and together, he and Radiant Hope set out to find the shattered peices of Princess Amore so they may restore her.
