//------------------------------//
// Epilogue : The Trail of Blood 
// Story: Fighters Don't Have Friends 
// by BackroundVoice 
//------------------------------//

Several days have passed by since we came back from Canterlot. And today was the first I heard Dr. Slovic was moving to Manehatten. It was so abrupt that I didn't really know what else to say but goodbye. Soarin, Abby, and Rare couldn't make it to the station because of work. Fiona didn't know him too well to really see him off. And Dash and Pinkie had places to be after wishing him well. Leaving me alone with him and his last few minutes in Ponyville.

It was a cold day. Snow was starting to fall late this year, thanks to Dash's negligence as weather manager. It was nice to finally see some white. But it somehow made this moment that much sadder. Watching a friend leave.

"You can go if you have somewhere else you need to be, I understand," Sombra told me. Reassuring me that it wouldn't  hurt his feelings if I left.

"No, I want to see you leave. What else are friends for?" I said, trying to brighten the mood at least a little bit.

"Watching friends leave is what friends are for?" Sombra quoted me. "I think you've done that plenty enough in the past few months." He was referring to Vinyl again, like a constant reminder of fault left without proper blame. And there wasn't really much I could do about it either. It's like everywhere I walk nowadays I think of her. She appeared to me that one time when I almost lost to Nightmare Moon. Honestly, it unsettled me that I still didn't know who did it. It's always nipped at my mind. Who killed Vinyl? And why? Up until a few days ago, I thought Sombra had been the mastermind behind it all. But that couldn't be right. It just couldn't.

I looked down the tracks and saw the train approaching just a little bit away. Sombra picked up his luggage and stood next to me on the platform.

"Still, thank you," he said.

"For what?"

"For teaching me how to move forward with no regrets, no sadness in tow. And for seeing me off. I'll miss being here with y'all," Sombra let himself slip into a little country droll for a moment. As per the occasion, moving from a hick town to the city. The train screeched to a halt, the doors opening with the whistle blowing loud and clear.

If you don't ask him now, you might never know. I told myself. Sombra was going to board a train and go away for a very long time. And I knew I'd regret both saying and not saying this.

"Sombra," I began, getting his attention before he boarded. "Did you kill Vinyl?"

Sombra was silent for a moment. At first, I thought I had finally figured it out. That it was him all along. The doctor that could fight. But what he said next shattered that idea.

"You aren't the first one to ask me that, Twilight," Sombra began. "The others have asked me the same thing." And here I thought I was the only one to have accused him. No wonder he always acted so depressed.

"But you are a fighter, aren't you?" I asked just to make sure.

"Yes. Despite how hard I try to hide it, the eyes give it away. Everyone else figured that out too. Even Vinyl," Sombra gave me a weak smile, pulling his bags with him as he stepped onto the train. I felt terrible. This was the last time I would get to see him, and I send him off knowing that I thought he was a murderer. 

Some friend I am...

"However," Sombra grabbed my attention, his green magic holding the train car doors open as he spoke to me. "What I didn't tell the others was that I know where the King will be next." My eyes widened with horror once he said that.

"How do you know?"

"Let's just say he was a patient of mine a long time ago, and that if you want to find him, go to the 'Ring' in the Crystal Empire."

"What's the 'Ring'?"

"The underground pro fighting league of Equestria. The Griffen Empire has something similar, but more public. Knuckle Brick Corner is an extension of the 'Ring', Soarin may be able to tell you more about it." The train whistle blew, signaling that it was time to leave. It inched forward, going East to Manehatten.

"How will I know if it's him!?" I yelled as I galloped with the train.

"He wears a mask, so the only way you'll be able to tell is by his horn! It's bent backward and it's blood red! But Twilight, please do not go after him! There are ponies who want him dead as much as you do, let them take the sin of ending a pony's life!" That was the last thing I heard from Sombra before the platform ended and the train doors shut.

And now I knew. That Vinyl's killer was still out there. And I'm certain of it. That I will not stop fighting until he pays for what he did.






To Be Continued...
In...
The Symphony of Combat