//------------------------------// // Dark Revelations // Story: Sombra's Redemption // by Orion97 //------------------------------// After a long day and certainly eventful day I had prepared to sleep. Once I laid down and thought about it, the day had not been terrible to me. I saved the life of Midnight Hope, I was seen as a hero by Serenity, and Thunder Clap likewise praised what I did. The one thing that continued to nibble at me however...was that book, my curiosity for what else was within that dark tome was great. I felt tempting to stay up and read it while the others slept, but I was too tired to move and thus, slumber came to me quickly...as well as the nightmares... "AAAAAAAHHHH RUNN THEY'RE HERE! EVERYPONY RUN!!" A terrified shriek rang throughout the city, ponies ran for their lives in every direction, the sky was an ominous crimson hue and the air itself seemed to convey fear and desperation. I looked around to see what they were all running from, seeing nothing but a curious black mist approaching the town patiently. I took off to the Crystal Spire. Surely there would be some authority there trying to control the situation, whatever it was. The entire way there I saw countless more ponies bolting down the street, some tried to hide in alleys, some in empty shops and houses, even more just kept running. Finally I reached my destination, which to my own surprise was full of guards and similar authority figures. "Hello? What in the world is going on!? Why is everyone running?" A couple guards turned their attention to me, including the captain of the guard, their expressions changed almost instantly from surprise to anger. "YOU! You brought the darkness here! The city is dying and you're to blame!" The captain of the shouted angrily to me. "W-What? But...I d-didn't do anything!" I stuttered in fear, both from him and the thought that I had actually caused this chaos somehow. "You lying monster! Leave at one before we kill you where you stand!" The captain pointed a spear at me. The guards next to him did likewise and they slowly advanced upon me. Heeding what he said I ran away as fast as I could back down the street I came, confused and terrified, I had no idea what to do. "Somepony help! Get away you monster! Help!!" A scream tore into the air from a house just a little further down the road, the voice sounded strangely famili-wait...that was Serenity's Voice! I ran as fast as I could to the house I heard her from. The door had already been broken open and was barely hanging on by a hinge. I climbed the stairs with haste and into an open bedroom. Inside a large, pale pony looking creature approached a cornered Serenity. I quickly began to blast the abomination with magic. What should have destroyed it seemed to only irritate the creature. The pale monster swung its head to me and hissed, it looked like a pony save for several important differences. When its mouth opened two large fangs were visible and the eyes were revealed to be blood red, the eyes felt as if they were gazing into my soul and tried to seize a piece of it. Just as I prepared to defend myself the creature leaped out of the second story window and to the street below, giving chase to an unfortunate pair of ponies. With whatever it was gone, I approached Serenity. She almost looked like she was in shock. "Serenity? It's okay now, that thing is gone." "You monster! How could you do this to us! You brought the undead with you as well and we are all going to die! Leave now! I'm appalled that my own husband would do this to me!" she yelled in fear and hatred. Wait, her husband? and how could I have possibly done this? Why was she- My thoughts were cut off as a knife flew by me, just grazing my cheek with it's razor sharp edge. "Hey! Stop throwing things!" Unfortunately she ignored me and more knives flew by. I used my magic to take the knives she had left and threw them into the far wall. "What's wrong with me? What am I guilty of??" She silently pointed to a broken mirror directly to my left, I was shocked at what I saw among the broken glass. Looking back at me was a large, black unicorn. My own eyes had changed to a dark, foreboding color and purple mist came from them. My horn curved and was red at the tip, along my side rode a red cape, it seemed expensive and something royalty might buy as luxury, and finally atop my head sat a crown. This was who I had become. "I hope you're happy, my king..." she said with poison in her words, but as I turned back to where she was, she was gone without a trace. "Serenity? I...don't know how this happened..." I turned around to head out the way I came from but the doorway was blocked by several more of the pale creatures, that at this point I could only relate to vampires or some kind of undead. They began to surround me and they closed in quickly, just as they were about to rip me apart I heard a ghostly voice from somewhere... It said "I have returned at last..." and then...I woke up. When I woke up it was still very early in the morning, the sun would not come up for about another hour. I slowly sat up and noticed that my friends were standing next to me, apparently I had talked in my sleep or done something to get their attention. "Sombra...is everything okay? Serenity asked. It took me a moment to realize that what I saw before was just a dream and that this was the real Serenity. I can barely describe the relief I felt when I saw her safe and not angry at me. I looked at my hooves as well, no black, just their normal light gray color. "Yeah...I'm alright...bad dream is all." I finished looking over myself to make sure I was normal, then looked in her eyes as if to further reassure myself the terrible nightmare was over. "You were talking in your sleep, and you were trying to move a lot too, you seemed to be terrified of something." Thunder Clap told me, confirming my suspicion that I wasn't sleeping very quietly. "What did you hear?" I asked to neither of them specifically. "We're not sure but you sounded confused and scared, you mentioned my name a few times as well...what was your nightmare about?" Serenity asked with a concerned look that told me she wouldn't accept anything less than the truth. So I told them the entire story, not sparing any details, though it didn't help to watch their growing looks of worry, concern, and terror. As they sat silently I was beginning to wonder if I had said something to scare or anger them somehow, just as I almost said something about it, Serenity walked closed and gave me a tight hug, a few tears in her eyes. "It's okay...we'll always be here for you and you know I'd never do that to you, you're my best friend..." She almost whispered, a couple tears landing on my shoulder. As much as I hated to see her cry it lifted my spirits greatly to see how much she cared. Thunder Clap and Midnight Hope soon joined in to form a group hug around me...I had never felt so loved and cared for, sure I had my parents but I knew they'd always care for me. After the hug ended a few long moments later we soon decided it would be best if we left at dawn and went home as soon as possible. We leisurely ate our breakfast, finishing what little food we had in the first place and packed up our things, I made sure to pack away the book as well...I still should have burned that cursed tome... At dawn we left as agreed, thankfully the weather had improved greatly since last night. The violent storm had died down to nothing more than a gentle breeze at best, allowing us to get home quickly. Once back inside the city we said our goodbyes and departed towards our homes, school would start soon and we'd have to go like any other day...assuming our parents wouldn't kill us for going missing the entire day. Rather needless to say...we were grounded for weeks on end, though with yesterday's events still fresh in my mind, I didn't plan on exploring anymore ruins for some time.