//------------------------------// // Chapter 18 // Story: A Shadow of Your Former Self // by anonbecause1 //------------------------------// Twilight was pacing back and forth in front of the ICU door, only half listening to Sunburst as he lectured. “The Umbrum are so rare, nopony has seen one since before Princesses Celestia and Luna were in power!” “So you couldn’t find much?” Starlight asked as she tried to read over Sunbursts shoulder. He shook his head, “No, they were one of the first races of Equestria. According to ‘Cryptids of the North’, mother Umbrum didn’t raise their young themselves. They didn’t usually have enough resources to spare. Instead, they would leave their child near a settlement and the baby would transform into the first race it saw. Hoping it would be taken in and raised until grown. Though… there are quite a few cases of the mother Umbrum killing a parent’s real child and replacing it with theirs.” “Creepy, but what does that have to do with anything?” “I’m getting there, sheesh. The child would take that form to fit in but once it reached-“ he tried to avoid the phrase but eventually had to give in, “Sexual maturity it had full access to all it’s powers. Including shape shifting at will, transforming into shadows, hiding in shadows, controlling somepony by hoping into their shadow-“ “We get it, lots of shadows. How do we heal one?” “Theoretically, by putting him in his ideal conditions and just waiting. It’s not like they were loved enough to have a medical journal written for them. Most just want them dead.” “Like us.” Twilight muttered. “Twilight,” Starlight got up to put a hoof under her friend’s chin and tilt her head up to eye level before letting go. “You were in impossible circumstances and made the best choice you could have made. His crimes were unforgivable but you still managed to find a loophole that gave him a chance. Nopony knew he was an Umbrum, I’m not even sure he knew. Your solution to use the elements as an indisputable cosmic judge, probably knowing on some level that he would be forgiven, would have allowed him to go back to his life peacefully.” “But they didn’t. They never would have. He was doomed no matter what because I just wanted to get this entire thing over with as quickly as possible. I…should have paid more attention to Discord’s warning.” “Eh, to be fair, he’s not exactly the most forthcoming. He could have just told you.” “That’s not exactly his thing.” Twilight pointed out as she finally took a seat in the waiting room next to Spike, Starlight considered that progress. Starlight turned back to Sunburst, “On another note, did you find your original research material about the crystal heart?” Sunburt’s glasses almost fell off with how quickly he jerked his head out of his current research, he readjusted them. “Uh, yes, with Spikes help it went by much faster. I found the story in an old children’s book so it wasn’t the most credible source to begin with. But the rest of the stories in it seem true enough. There’s even an artist’s depiction of the cave but, again, it might not show the actual location.” Spike held up the book in question for Starlight to see. “That’s not much to go on.” Sunburst nodded in agreement. “And look at the cave itself, there’s barely any snow on it. That could mean it’s only visible when the snow melts in the spring. Meaning a South facing slope of a mountain.” “Great, now we just have to wait three months and check every South facing mountain slope. Oh, right, the crystal empire is bordered by the largest mountain chain in the know world!” “And highest,” Spike added. “And summer only lasts three months,” Twilight sighed, “The only pony who can tell us where it is doesn’t know or at the very least, will die before he could say.” Spike put a hand on Twilights back, “Come on Twilight, we don’t even know if it is in some cave. It might be like what Shinning Armor said and be in the castle itself.” Twilight turned to him, “But Fluttershy said that the crystal heart could easily kill him. If I was him, I would hide it as far away from me as possible.” “Seems like the Umbrum just picked the worst place to live. Equestria is dominated by light magic,” Starlight pointed out. “It didn’t used to be that way; they were left alone until ponies moved in.” “Yeah but if you can’t even raise your kid yourself are you even doing it right.” Spike sat further back in his chair pouting. Twilight looked at him with pity and gave him a nuzzle until he smiled. He had a wonderful family now, that’s all that matters. They sat in silence for a bit, no really sure what to do with themselves. It felt like they had all the pieces but they just weren’t connecting. “So, we keep him cold and in the dark and hope he gets better.” “But what about his crimes?” Starlight wavered the question away with a hoof, “Everypony saw him go through the elements judgment and live. His wounds were recompence but he untimely survived.” “So lie.” Spike folded his arms, “Applejack won’t stand for that.” “Half-truths aren’t lies,” Starlight defended. “And what would you rather have happen? A crowd of angry crystal ponies rip him limb from limb in mob justice? We keep this as much on the downlow as we can and have Princess Cadence officially banish him from the empire. Easy peasy.” Twilight sighed, “I think Starlight’s right. We’ve done all we can and…I can’t think of a way to justify this feeling but, when I thought the elements destroyed him, I knew it was wrong. It drives me crazy that I can’t put it into words but it was wrong. He should go back to his old life, he wasn’t bothering anypony. It’s over.” All three looked at Twilight but Starlight was the only one to approach, “If you say it’s over then it’s over. You’re the wisest pony I know, you earned your wings for a reason. We trust you.” “Yeah Twilight.” “I concur.” “Thank you.” Twilight took a breath; she felt a lot better about this already. “I’ll talk to the girls and the princesses about this. In the meantime, can you two tell the doctors what we learned and keep me updated on how he’s doing?” “You can count on us.” Sunburst nodded. “I appreciate it, Spike, let’s get to work.” “Right!”