It is… after what, 6 months?? Finally done! Sure I didn’t work on it continuously, only here and there as I felt I was struggling with commissions.

Those guards are unconscious… or maybe dead. I’ll leave that to you to decide.

Some AU stuff below:
While the comics’ take on Sombra’s backstory happens fairly straightforwardly, Sombra decides, spurred by -in his mind- justified anger, releasing the Umbrum as soon as the door was unearthed, gaining himself a far more vast, and much more advanced army more than eager to spill blood in the name of revenge. Thus, Celestia and Luna’s battle against Sombra that originally sealed him in ice, was fought to a standstill and for some time everything had a sort of ominous, uneasy peace.

That is until Sombra declares war on the two rulers by tossing the crystallized head of Princess Amore -the Sisters’ cousin not by blood but by long-lasting tutelage under Star Swirl- to their hooves during a banquet with foreign diplomats and ambassadors. As you see pictured above. This sparks a very long war, and the effect of it has an effect on both nations and their respective rulers… Who, subsequently, are both aimed at from both the war front and by those close to them. Celestia and Luna disagree on methods, which is driving a wedge between them, while Sombra has to keep Rabia -his ambitious mother- from trying to sideline him while he is away on the front lines.

Hope, meanwhile, returns to Crystal Empire with a heavy heart, not feeling like she truly belongs or agrees with either side of the conflict, however, she is determined to be Sombra’s moral compass. And so, she returns, and while it takes years for their relationship to recover to even a passing semblance of what it used to be, she is determined to work for Sombra’s emotional, mental and physical benefit, and keep him from growing into a jaded, tired warlord that he is very much in threat of becoming with each battle fought. She also steers him to less drastic measures and more peaceful options, and stands basically as a buffer against Rabia when Sombra is away. In essence, though they do not get married -not really a concept in umbrum culture after all- they’re essentially a married couple in dynamic.

To Rabia, Sombra has never been anything more than a pawn in her plans, but she is growing irate that the pawn seems to have free will, with cautious nature and a keen eye for ponies’ behavior. She’d gladly strangle her son with her proverbial apron strings to consolidate more power to herself. She pretends to be loyal, but Sombra doesn’t believe a lick of it, especially as the mare tends to try and overrule his decisions, growing bolder by the month.