Sunny Knight: a Pony's Tale

by TheothersideofSunny968

Who's your Pappy?

Sombra had moved his remaining troops to the center of a mountain far north of the Eauestrian boarder nearest to Gryffin stone, with the help of a tall, pink mare clad in black and silver armor similar to the shadow king's own. At first, anypony who knew her would say that she was the missing princess of the Crystal Empire, herself. The one who's ancestors locked away the living shadows known as the umbrum. Who started the crystal fair and brought joy to the Crystal Empire for years, who also left the Empire in Sombra's hooves when she went missing. Princess Cadence's namesake herself. Princess Amore. But when you look into the mare's eyes, you would see darkness, rage, and anger, the emotions that fed on fear. The mare was not herself, and a certain old colt knew the reason why.

Pappy had found Sombra and his army no problem. They had travled to the same mountain that he himself fled to once 'he' emerged from the prison and roamed Equeatria, earning himself the title of 'the howling mountain'. He would climb to the top of the mountain and release his battle cry to keep every creature away.. the howls themselves echoed off the mountains carried for miles. But that was in the past. Pappy's plan was simple. Check the place out and see if he could get in and out, finding what Sombra had stolen, and get out of there before he was spotted. Despite his age, Pappy easily slipped past the guards, finding and leaving a little backup plan, and made a mental map of the entire fortress Sombra and Amore seemed to build. But after searching the place high and low, he didn't find either of the two things he was searching for and knew where they must have been.

Sombra had been talking with Amore in a room they deamed a war room and were planning some sort of attack on the Crystal Empire when Pappy just strolled right in, not trying to hide his presence at all. Two Sombra guards noticed him and moved to restrain him. And Pappy being Pappy, knew it was best to let them do so. The less fighting the better. After the guards cuffed Pappy's front and rear hooves, they pushed him forward, their spear tips pointed right at him, to be presented to King Sombra and Amore. Both of which were suprised to see him.

"Pappy? What are you doing here?" Sombra raised a raised brow, feeling very confused by the old colt's sudden appearance.

"Well, Sombra boy, I heard you've been causing an awful lot of trouble, and I've either come here ta tell ya ta stop, or ta stop ya mahself." Pappy honestly answered, his wrinkled muzzle grew a small smile.

"You failed us, husband of mine" Amore stepped forward, her head held high, shooting off a hard glare she started down with glowing red and green eyes at the old colt.

"Well, wife o'mine. Maybe it's you who failed all of us" Pappy's cheerful and relaxed expression fadded, his eyes sharpened and bounced between Sombra and Amore, and his accent was dropped, showing, just like Sunny, that he was serious. "If you two knew what was good for you, and all Equestria, you would stop this right now. And honey, give the princess back her body."

Amore wrinchled her nose at Pappy. "Arrogent deserter. This body is mine to use as long as I see fit. And 'You' are in no position to give me orders."

Amore stomped her hoof and the guards poked Pappy slightly with their spears.

Pappy didn't hesitate at the minor pain, but the old colt did shake his head as his own burning eyes shot bacl at Amore and Sombra, heavily disappointed. "This path you both are taking will only lead to even more pain."

"Our kind has been sealed for over 1000 years! They are the same as us. Umbrum. They are our kin. Our family." Sombra growled so he stomped his dominant hoof.

"What about the family you turned away from here?" Pappy asked, his expression nutrual, but the words he spoke were daggers to Sombra. "Your son misses you so much. He thinks about you all the time. Yet you fight for creatures you don't even know. But I do. I lived down there with them, my whole life. They aren't like you and I, son. They know only know when they are hungry, and what to do about that hunger. They won't stop until all of Equestria, maybe the world is coated in darkness, all creatures are living in fear, and they get to enjoy every drop of it. Until there is nothing left to drain."

"It pains me to hear you speak about our family like that, husband of mine" Amore's words slithered from her mouth as she walked around Pappy, hovering over him ever watchful like a vulture.

"My eyes were opened when I met princess Amore" Pappy kept his tone flat but made sure every creature in the room heard him. "I was shown what 'real' love is, what kindness, generosity, honesty, loyalty, and laughter were. They were all magical. Friendships I've made with ponies here were magical. More precious then any metal or diamond any crown would ever be made of... you know that, don't you Sombra? Son? Because despite all you've done, there are those who would sooner forgive and welcome you with open hooves."

King Sombra listened to his father's every word, he knew what the elements of harmony were and how they seemed to influence others. The concepts are admirable, Sombra had to admit… but it wasn't for them. Not for Umbrum. Not for creatures of darkness, of shadow and fear. "Umbrum don't need friendship, father. You should have never betrayed us."

"Like you betrayed Sunny? Sealed him away to be tortured for 1000 years?" A sliver of anger rang out in Pappy's tone. "I won't bother to bring up all the innocent crystal ponies you tortured, you don't care about them. Not any more, atleast. But he was your son! You hurt him! You also hurt 'her' as well."

Knowing instantly who it was Pappy was talking about, Sombra growled, purple flames emerged from the corners of his eyes as he stomped his hooves at the ground around Pappy, creating a jagged cage of sharp and crooked, black crystals, pushing Sombra's own guards away. Sombra turned to shadow and reappeared in solid form right infront of Pappy, glaring into his eyes with a burning glare. "SHE BETRAYED ME! WHEN SHE FOUND OUT WHAT I WAS! SHE PLOTED TO TURN AGAISNT ME AND HER OWN SON!"

Cooly stairing back at his own son's rage filled eyes, Pappy just plainly asked "If she was going to betray you and Sunny, why hasn't she done so to him yet? Doesn't something seem off to you? Maybe, perhapse, things didn't happen as you think they did?"

"That is enough" Amore stomped her hoof, taking over the dark crystals surounding Pappy, bending them to her own design, and rebuilding them into large pillars that restrained the old colt. "You have something I want on your person, and you will give it to me. Then you will rejoin our 'real' family and let them decide your fate!"

Amore approached Pappy and pulled the yellow triangular corner stone from him, smiling at her prize, she raised it above her head and began laughing triumphantly with a sickeningly twisted smile. "That's two! Two of the pieces we need to set our kind free!"

Turning to Sombra, Pappy tried to plead with him one last time. "This won't end well for anycreature. But you can stop this. Please, my son. End this dark crusade of yours. Don't become your mother's tool, like I was."

This tore Amore from her malefic bliss, now glaring down at the shriveled old colt, Amore began to think of a proper punishment for her husband. She didn't have to wait long before a brilliant and justifiable punishment popped into her head. "You know, dear husband, I think you need to pay our family a little visit. See how they feel about you abandoning them. Explain your reasoning to them. Maybe 'they' will show you mercy, love, and tolerance …"

Pappy's eyes went wide from a moment, but he quickly put on a fierce expression, not wanting to give his wife the enjoyment of his fear. "I'm not afraid of you. I only fear for those I care about."

"Bold words" Amore smiled as she pranced away from Pappy, putting about ten feet or so between him and her. She then turned to Sombra and told her son "you may want to step back, oh, about another ten feet or so. Don't want to be caught up in the blast, do you?"

Not knowing exactly what to expect, Sombra stepped back and watched, eyes focused on the scene before him. Amore began to charge magic into her horn, not dark magic, but a magical aura that was light blue in color, much like the crystal heart.

Seemingly, Pappy knew what was about to happen, and turned to his son for one final farewell speech. "You were their hero. Be the pony they know you can be-"

Before Pappy could say anything else, he was blasted with Amore's spell, which covered him in a blue light and cast him out of their secret layer, and hurdaling into the sky. Beyond that, Sombra didn't know what Pappy's fate would be. But Amore knew. Once Pappy was out of sight, the magical blast did what it was supposed to, and carried him all the way into the marker in the middle of the arctic tundra not far from the Crystal Empire, that marked the prison of the Umbrum. The red crystal sensed the arrival of a new prisoner, and began to glow scarlet, allowing the crystal the ability to take in the arrival. Pappy being carried by the magical blast was shot directly into the crystal, and was thus transported deep, deep, deep underground, just barely farther then tartarus itself, in a world of darkness, where the creatures of shadow could call home. There were no cells in this prison of theirs, but there were dirt like houses that although were stable enough for beings of shadow to rest and take up lodging, most creatures would find unpleasant and uninhabitantable.

Emerged into the darkness once more, Pappy's pony disguise disputed, revealing the smoky shifting body that was his true form. The black orb that he borrowed from Sunny, that Pappy had given to his own son, was a magical tool used to give umbrum new form. He had used it to escape the prison before, but for safe keeping, Pappy gave the orb to somepony he trusted with keys to Equeatria's future.

Once he landed in the prison, Pappy was quickly greated by his kin. The wild umbrum who were starving for fear. But they cannot simply feed on one another. They need someone or something that holds something near and dear to them. Only by caring for something or another can one truly know fear. Fear of their own well being is fear, but it is like crackers to them. Filling, but you need alot of them. Fear for losing possessions, that's a step up, like a light salad. But fear for others, those you care about, that was a meal! Pappy had learned what it was like to love, laugh, and live with the ponies. He made friends with Princess Amore who knew what he was and wanted him to learn about their ways in hopes of teaching his own kind one day. But Pappy knew he never could. Princess Amore put alot of faith in him, she was his first real friend, but he never told her what the other Umbrum were like. Like locus, starved with only one thing on their minds. As he looked up, his old eyes taking in the burning looks of his own kin, knowing they smell fear in his heart, Pappy knew he had made the right choise. It was never 'he' who would bring peace to their kind, and still doubted if that was even possible. If there was such a fate for the Umbrum, it would only be through one…

The shadows enclosed around Pappy, feeding off his fear for those he loved, those he cared about, and those he hoped would be OK without him. He felt those fears intensify by the umbrum's dark magic, like they were seasoning a meal, hypnotizing the old umbrum to see what lay in store for those he cared about, nightmares come to life. It seemed like the umbrum fed on the old colt for hours, until all the fear was drained out of him. Once they were done, the shadowy beings scattered like birds, leaving behind a small puddle of shadow, unable to keep his pony like form and longer. Once he awakens, he would be incredibly weak and unable to feed unless some creature trips in him. And no creature would dare enter the prison of the umbrum.

Back at their secret Hideout, Sombra approached Amore, who appeared to be in pain, eyes closed shut with tears streaming from them, shaking her head from side to side, her voice sounding more soft and gentle then before as she muttered Pappy's name.

"Mother, are you alright?" Sombra spoke up after watching for a moment.

Amore's eyes opened from the sound of his voice, her now golden eyes looked at Sombra with great sadness before flashing back to their previous crimson color, her tears dried up and her trembling stopped on a dime. After taking a few breaths, Amore rose her head and looked down on her son, a cold glare in her eyes as told Sombra "Remember, my son. Never betray your family. There's a price to pay for betrayal. Trust nopony."

His mother's words spoken through princess Amore's mouth rang like bronze bells in Sombra's head. It was a warning and a threat in one message. Just then, something popped into Sombra's head, and he left his mother to deal with something, or rather, somepony.

Radiant Hope had made it about half a mile away from the hide out before the shadowy smoke surrounded her. She knew that she had been caught as Sombra's head formed in the center of the condensed smoke.

"What do you think you are doing?" both Sombra's tone and expression were fierce as he adressed Radiant Hope. More fierce then he had ever looked at her with before.

Upset by the sight of her friend, but wanting to show that she was not afraid of him, Radiant gathered her courage and yelled at him "I'm fixing one of your mistakes!"

"You are betraying me?! ME!?" Sombra's voice became booming like thunder. "You were my oldest friend, and yet you were about to betray me?!"

"I AM your friend, Sombra" Radiant Hope corrected the shadowy being. "And as your friend, I'm going to risk everything to save you from yourself."

Radiant pulled out of her saddle bag an item wrapped in a cloth, and began to unravel it, slowly, tears forming in the corners of her eyes as she never looked away from Sombra's burning gaze. Sombra was on guard, curious as to what it was that Hope had and was about to use on him, when a flash of light shinned from the item as it unraveled more. Out of panic, Sombra quickcly cast the spell and fired it at Radiant Hope, sealing her in crystal, in a sleep like state, and the item in quesgion fell and landed in the snow. Breathing heavily, fear and panic from all that transpired, Sombra looked from his frozen friend down to the item she was about to use on him. And when he realized what it was, his heart sank, heavy with guilt and regret.

It was a photo. More importantly, it was one that Radiant had put togeather and had planned to give to Sombra. She had taken, cut and pasted pictures of herself, Sombra, Princess Celestia, Sunny and the mare Sunny had been seeing, Applejack, Sombra recalled her name. Hope had made a family picture of them all by cutting and pasting different pictures togeather. Sombra looked at the picture in his hooves for the longest time, wishing he could take a real one just like it… but he knew the path he now walked, that this was the closet he would ever again come to a family photo. Tucking it away, Sombra retreated back to the hideout, sending several of his guards out to retrieve Hope and bring her back safely inside. He would keep her imprisoned in that state until his kind were set free.

What Sombra did not notice, though, was a little sleepy ferret who popped its head out of the snow, yawned, then proceeded to return home to the apple farm. Around his neck, a small bag with a very special missing piece of a stone draconaquis…