Umbrum ad Infinitum

by Pixel_Spark

"I Promise You're Safe..."

Celestia was surprised to see a group of Breezies fly into the throne room, but soon recognised who they were.

Twilight Sparkle blurted out they needed a soft bed, lots of blankets and a doctor for Sombra! Celestia had them bring him to the medical area, to a private room.

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The parrot gently set its wounded passenger down atop the bed. Even in his Breezie form it was obvious he was in pain. He winced and made a faint sound as he was gently laid down.

The bird made a worried chirp. It felt bad for the Pony it'd met, then helped rescue. Despite the fact that the other pony's had referred to him as a tyrant, the parrot was somewhat fond of him. Sombra had given it bread, even when he was the one in desperate need.

As the bird flew back to perch atop Fluttershy's head, Twilight used the spell to return them all to pony form.

Fluttershy winced anew as she seen Sombra's injuries again. In the brightly lit room they looked worse then before. Even Celestia was taken aback by how badly hurt he was.

The contact of the warm bed against his injured body, now back in normal form, was enough to stir Sombra. He just barely managed to sit up, violent tremors making him nearly crumple back to the soft sheets. There were specks of blood absorbing into the linen, as the movement opened old wounds. On realising he wasn’t alone, Sombra's first reaction was to freeze up, making that same antagonized snarl. His ears were flattened completely down, as he began to grow more lucid...

Celestia was standing closest, and her big flowy mane obscured his peripheral vision as she stepped closer.

“Easy..” she said softly, her voice very soft. He flinched, head whipping round to fixate on her. He looked conflicted, as if unsure whether she was real or not…how could he be sure this wasn't just a hallucination?

This situation was diametrically opposed to the one he could recall before being turned into a Breezie. This wasn’t a hellish nightmare of cold stone, chains and painful magical extraction. This room was warm, sunny…

He was sure he recognised this blurry pony with the ever moving hair. Something to do with the sun? Something about his….death?

That was it, hadn’t she...disposed of him before? Was she here to do it again?

Almost in a daze, he lifted one hoof out towards her, convinced she wasn't there. Celestia let the hoof rest atop her golden shod one as she lifted it.

"I'm real." She whispered. Behind her, the view of all this was blocked by the Princesses mane, tail and wings, the Six wodnered what she was saying?

Celestia seen confusion spread to Sombra's eyes as he felt the solidity of her hoof. He withdrew his, looking fearful once more. She was real, she could hurt him...His memory was scatter-shot, small fragments with severed connections.

She said something he couldn’t hear, then there was a soft golden glow of magic, and he blanked out.

Celestia caught and set him down carefully once more. In the minute he'd been awake, she'd seen such fear in his eyes. It was an understatement to say she was worried.

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The doctor arrived, seen who it was and naturally had a million questions.

“What the-?! PRINCESS, WHAT IN-mmpphh!”

For Rainbow Dash had shot out a hoof and slapped it over his mouth.

“Quuiieettt!” she hissed. “You got a problem with him asleep? Wake him up again and you'll really have a hard time! You have no idea how long it took Fluttershy to coax him into calming down when WE found him!”

“Its alright,” Celestia said, looking over at Sombra “He wont stir easily. I've used the heaviest sleeping spell I can. It'd take direct magical intervention to wake him suddenly.”

Rainbow Dash coughed and grinned apologetically as the doctor frowned at her, but she let him go.

“I will answer all questions in time, when I have the information to hoof. Right now I am as devoid of the answer to this situation as you are,” Celestia told the doctor as he ventured closer to Sombra, now he knew the stallion was out cold “but its something very serious, and Sombra is the only key we have to stopping it.”

Fluttershy trotted over to the doctor, speaking softly.

“I know you don’t like him, but...” her eyes misted as she recalled what Sombra had been through “he hasn’t done anything this time. A cruel monster was using him for his magic, ripping it away from him!”

The doctor was a unicorn, and this description made him wince instinctively.

“He viciously broke his leg so he wouldn’t be able to stand even if he could get free!” She gestured to the makeshift bandage she'd put on it “I tried to make it better, so it wouldn’t hurt so much...”

The doctor checked the bandage as he removed it “well you did an excellent job Miss, I’ll do what I can to fix it up.” He sounded more sympathetic after Fluttershy's tearful appeal.

“Thank you...” the pegasus said sincerely, stepping back to let him work. The doctor made a cursory check of the injuries he could discern at first glance.

“Sweet merciful YOU, Princess..” he muttered “what are we dealing with that could do THIS sort of damage? This guy's hardly a pushover!”

“That’s what we need to find out,” Celestia said seriously “and to do that, we need him.”

“I'll bring you my report when I’m done.” the doctor told her. She nodded, and they left, leaving the doctor to patch up Sombra.

He shook his head, muttering obscenities as he cut the cloak off the patients body, seeing what lay beneath. Injured ribs, cuts and scratches, a few looked on the verge of infection. He guessed Sombra had literally been licking his wounds, and it was this that'd probably kept him alive, on that front at least.

He began making a catalog of the patients injuries...

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Celestia made them all tea, and had some birdseed fetched for the valiant parrot. When she heard the whole tale, she went white. The story of Scorpan's deliberate infliction of pain, the way he'd said Sombra was a stand in for both the Princesses AND all other ponies.

"Tirek's brother, I remember him.." she whispered, shaking her head "he was the one who came to warn us about Tirek the first time. He seemed a kind soul..."

“I recall visiting that kingdom once, but goodness me its been a while..” Discord muttered “Why has he waited all this time?”

“I wish I knew.” Celestia sighed.

"We dunno yer highness, but he ran his mouth in front of Sombra plenty of times I’ll warrant. Maybe he can tell ya?" Applejack suggested.

"I will need to speak with him, once he is well enough."

"Mentally speaking, you'll be waiting awhile.." Discord remarked.

"How do you mean?" Celestia asked.

"That pony's a few wrong moves away from breaking" Discord said bluntly, "one wrong step and he'll shatter, Princess. It took dear Fluttershy here awhile to safely approach, and even Princess Twilight offering a bottle of water seemed to scare him!"

"I see. So there’s been considerable damage.." Celestia sighed "this isn’t good."

"Your majesty?" the doctor and his aide stood in the doorway.

"How bad is it?" Twilight Sparkle asked, Celestia nodding.

"The worst I’ve ever seen." The Doctor said gravely "he's got three fractured ribs, several deep lacerations all over his body, abrasion cuts from what look like restraints, and his right hind leg has been broken repeatedly. He's dangerously underweight for his body type and will need antibotics. I've set his leg as well I can for now, but he may have a permanent limp at best..."

"Will he recover?" Celestia asked.

The doctor paused, then nodded "I cant vouch for what state his mind may be in, but physically speaking, he's dehydrated and probably needs some decent food in his system before he'll be well enough to leave his bed! I've set up an emergency drip feed, but he has a nasty fever and will require constant care until he's out of danger."

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Celestia found a room with a big king sized bed that could hold Sombra. She placed wards on the windows, to stop him potentially escaping out of one, and the doors as well. She made sure the servants put the softest, nicest sheets on, and fluffy feather-filled blankets.

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A doctor and a guard were assigned to keep watch over Sombra that night. The battered pony drifted in and out of consciousness, occasionally attempting to speak, but what he said made no sense, and he soon passed out not long after. The doctor noted he didn't seem aware of where he was, or who was in the room with him.

The girls were all staying in the palace, and even Discord had been offered a place.

But he couldn't sleep, he was bored. And so, on the second night after Sombra's descent into the hellish fever, he paid him a visit. Mostly out of curiosity to see if Sombra had pulled through yet.

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The room was dark, the candle had burnt down. The doctor was asleep in a chair by the bed. But Sombra was awake. He was hunched up on the bed, staring fearfully at the near pitch darkness surrounding him. Discord snapped a finger, and a candle appeared, burning softly. Sombra flinched, shutting his eyes against the sudden illumination.

"W-who's there..?" he gasped raggedly. He glanced around, realised he didn’t have the strength to move, and braced himself for whatever cruel impact was coming.

"Geez, he really did a number on you didn’t he?" the voice was familiar. Sombra hesitantly opened his eyes, faintly recognising Discord from when he'd unlocked the chains.

To the Draconequus it was a strange sight, seeing a former tyrant shivering in fear, his mind fractured and lost. So much pain and fear concentrated in one pony's body...he'd never seen anything like it.

"Go to sleep." He said bluntly, and tapped the pony’s nose gently. This unleashed a well used hypnosis spell, and Sombra was far too weak to ignore the suggestion. He blacked out, looking more at ease now he was asleep.

With Sombra sufficiently asleep, Discord startled the doctor awake. The sleepy pony got up and ambled over to Sombra, sighing in relief as he checked his temperature and breathing;

"Fevers finally burnt out," he muttered "I didn’t think his body could take much more. Hopefully now he'll sleep in peace. He's been waking up in a panic, but I couldn’t risk giving him any more sedative, he's too weak to process any heavy amount of medicine.”

"If someone is prepared to do this to HIM, makes me wonder what we're up against.." Discord muttered. The doctor shuddered.

"I dread to think. To even think of resurrecting this guy, he must be desperate. How does Celestia plan to control him once he recovers?"

"Any other method but this one-!" Discord snorted, indicating Sombra's injuries "knowing Celestia, she'll try and get the girls to talk to him."

"What will that do?" the doctor asked.

"Well, they managed to reform ME, didn’t they- shut up." Discord seen the sceptical look on the doc's face "just ask my dear friend Fluttershy! I'm much better now!"

He trailed off, contemplating how Flutters would react "she'd say he deserves the same chance, and undoubtedly he will be offered it. Whether he accepts it is entirely up to him."

The doc had to admit the Draconequus had a point...

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Sombra's head throbbed painfully. He opened his eyes, the bright light of the room causing him to whimper in agony and pull the covers over his head. Wait...covers?

That snapped him out of his daze, and he hurriedly raised his head, eyes settling oh the soft down quilt covering him. Its softness felt good against his skin. Looking around he seen he was in a sparsely decorated, but still fancy room. He threw the covers off, and took stock of himself.

The dried blood had been cleaned from his coat, and the worst cuts were neatly stitched. Others were bandaged, and on his right right hind leg there was a metal brace, keeping it in a set position. Somepony had taken great care to patch him up. What did they want from him?

Heart in his throat he managed to get up from the bed. The room spun and he fought back a wave of nausea. But eventually he was able to stand steady on the three uninjured legs, avoiding standing on the broken one. Although it wasn’t as agonizing as it'd been before, he could still feel echoes of the torment all over.

The open window yielded no way out, besides being too high up, it was blocked by magic. The door was the same, he could sense it, it was powerful magic. He began to panic, stumbling back to the window and peering out. He couldn’t breathe, he was trapped!

"No...no..." he croaked, fear making him feel violently ill. Tremors accosted his body as he backed away. A second later he heard hoof steps behind him, felt a hoof brush his back-

Fear sent warning stabs of pain through his body, and he felt close to blacking out for a split second-

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" he yelled with as much volume as his aching throat would allow. He stumbled back, realised he was penned in and turned to face his attacker. The wall pressed against his back as he pressed close to it, the solid surface reassuring amidst the fear.

Then he slowly realised who it was and his heart lifted...

"It IS you," he said with a funny, fractured laugh "good! I don’t care how you do it, just end this. Me. Now!" he laughed "I have no magic left, there's nothing I can give YOU!"

He waited, hope clawing at his chest, would this finally be over now..?

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Celestia was startled by his violent response to a simple touch. The way he cried out, the fear was very real. He was like a cornered animal, desperate to escape. Then he seemed to recognise her, for he got a funny look on his face, and babbled about her being there to...

--Does he think I’m here to kill him?-- Celestia seen what Discord meant. Sombra was fractured as badly as some of his bones had been. His world consisted of pain and abuse right now, and he likened her to a peaceful end from it. Twilight Sparkle said he'd asked the same thing of HER, was she there to stop him?

"I'm not here to destroy you," she said calmly. It concerned her how upset he seemed by this news once he processed it, "your not in any danger."

He shook his head as if unable to comprehend this, that the one hope he'd held onto wasn’t coming true. So he took desperate action, and lunged for her. But she'd expected he might lash out, and quickly danced aside. He stumbled and slumped to the floor with a gasp. She pinned him down using one foreleg and her right wing, but using little force, as he was in enough discomfort. This way he could see her face, see the honest expression on it.

“Sombra!” she said sharply, as he tried to push her away with as much strength as his injured body could give “listen to me!”

“Just get off me!!” he yelled. His garnet red eyes were filled with undisguised fear, she could FEEL how much he was shaking. She swiftly realised he'd developed an aversion to contact. So she took a chance on getting to her hooves, backing away a little. He slumped in relief, ears flat.

“There, you’re alright.” She repeated.

Sombra laughed, the sound tinged with desperation as he at last lifted his head to look at her "I don’t have anything you want. What point is there in keeping me alive?" he shut his eyes, "I’d welcome that darkness again, whether its permanent or not."

"You’re still in a lot of pain. The doctors did the best they could for you. I will fetch them shortly to administer something to make you feel better."

"Why..?" he croaked with a bleak emptiness "what do you want?"

"Twilight Sparkle told me what Scorpan said-" she noted how Sombra looked queasy at the mention of that name "we need to stop him."

Sombra said nothing. She kept in mind what Discord had said, and wondered if offering Sombra a guarantee of safety would ease his fear? But how would she prove her sincerity when he'd been given no good example of a promise.

"I promise you will be safe here." she said firmly. Sombra got to his hooves, and limped away from her, sitting so the bed was propping him up. He absently drew the blanket towards him, the warmth seemed to comfort him. She could see he was retreating into his head, trying to to mask what'd happened.

"Why do you care?" he asked, sounding oddly lucid "once you get what you want, you'll seal me away. Don’t think I can't see through you."

"I’m not going to do that.” Celestia said firmly. “We're not going to treat you like Scorpan did. He could’ve killed you-”

Sombra shook his head, gazing into the distance as she watched him "no...he couldn’t. He said he needed me alive. I'm the last Umbrum, he said I have a destiny."

Celestia's eyes widened "what did you say?!" she asked. It couldn’t be-?

"Umbrum..." Sombra looked at her, still blank "didn't you notice I wasn’t a normal pony?"

Celestia shook her head.

"The Umbrum are a legend," she said softly "a legendary race of ponies gifted with....arcane magic.." she trailed off.

Sombra stared wordlessly at her.

"That’s how you came to be a master of dark magic," she said at last "if you’re an Umbrum pony. I didn’t think any existed..."

Sombra shivered "I’m the last free Umbrum.." he whispered.

"Free?" she asked.

"Beneath the Empire, my entire race awaits…" this fact had returned during one of the nightmare fuelled nights while he'd been trapped in the fevers grip. Visions of the castle, of what he'd been told somehow, by a faceless voice, that he had to seek. But this was the first he'd tried as far as vocalising it had gone.

Celestia stood there, mouth open, mind a whirl.

"You should see your face." for a moment Sombra seemed back to his old self, but when she took a step towards him he edged back, body tensed. She stopped, raising a hoof to indicate she'd stay put. This gesture he recognised from those filly's that’d appeared in the cave.

--This was what he wanted the Empire for..-- she realised at last. She was shocked by the pieces finally fitting together. Sombra had used the enslaved ponies to try and dig up his former race. But where'd HE come from?

When she asked this, he shook his head.

"The memory is lost to me," he whispered. “so much is...”

"That’s likely trauma, they may come back. Let yourself recover.” She sighed guiltily “This is a heavy thing to ask of you, but what does Scorpan want?"

He shuddered, hunching over.

"He wants his brother." he whispered. One hoof moved to his neck, recalling the hands almost choking the life out of him. The marks were still visible on his coat, she noticed.

"And he's prepared to use whatever he can to get him back…" he continued, voice rasping a little even after plenty of fluids.

"Dark magic." Celestia said. A weak nod from Sombra.

"He's been storing it. Everyday he'd rip it from my body, use whatever spells he could to replenish it, over and over." he shut his eyes as the memory came back, of the heart-stuttering pain of having what formed such a core part of him torn away by force.

“Inexcusable.” Celestia managed to speak, shaking her head.

Sombra laughed softly, indicating he didn’t buy what she was saying.

He had a foreleg wrapped around his stomach, but this wasn’t keeping it at bay, for a second later he got to his hooves, running into the adjoining bathroom and kicking the door shut. Celestia winced as she heard him be violently sick. When those sounds faded, she heard muffled gasps and faint cries.

--How much pain is he in..?-- she wondered. The sound of water running, then the door clicked open...

She backed away from the bathroom as he at last stumbled out. Seeing she was at a safe distance he relaxed a little, curling up atop the plush bed, his injured leg set in its brace angled so he wasn’t leaning on it.

He seemed resigned to the fact he was captured once more.

"A prison is a prison, even if it is warm.." he said drowsily "no doubt you’re here to stop my magic regenerating, aren’t you?"

To his surprise, Celestia shook her head "you are here to recover." she stressed. "I want to stop Scorpan before he makes the same mistakes as his brother. You are not to blame in this incident. You were a pawn in his game."

"I can never be free, and you know it," Sombra seemed to have reached some sort of truth that he was prepared to accept, as his voice didn’t shake as much when he spoke.

"You could be, if you’re prepared to change enough." Celestia surprised him.

"....?" he looked confused.

"You’re alive, and I’m not going to kill you, or seal you away Sombra." she took in his battered appearance "with your help, I can protect Equestria, and you could have a fresh start. It wont be easy, but do you truly want to die?"

He looked torn between his fear and what she offered him.

"But.." he whispered, looking down at his bandaged hoofs. He heard her hoofsteps and tensed once more. He tried to sit back up, but having been held in chains for so long, his muscles were prone to cramping up when he tried to move too much, and it set every other injury complaining. The fight abruptly left him, and he collapsed on top of the bed, head resting on his forelegs. He closed his eyes….

"I cannot fight you," he said hoarsely, and she was surprised to hear his voice tremble "do what you will."

It hit her hard how badly he'd been scarred, as she seen crystalline tears fall to the bedspread.

"I just want it to stop." she heard him croak.

She had an idea, and took off her neck-plate jewellery. With a quick spell she changed it into a simplified design, still with a similar shape, but now a slimmer golden band, the jewel at the front. she floated this over to the bed and set it beside him. He raised his head, fresh pained tears hovering on his lashes, staring at it in confusion.

"Its a guarantee, not a trap." she said "on my honour and that of this world I help guide, if you can help us stop Scorpan's plans, you can have whatever life you want for yourself. We can find a place far away, if you do not wish to live in a city."

"What makes you think you can trust me?" he said hollowly "aren’t I insane?"

"Far from it now," she replied "before, you were cunning, efficient, even calculating. But insane? Not any more. You were not this level of comprehending when first we encountered you."

He didn’t say a word.

"Keep it with you, if you choose to accept it or not, I will still endeavour to keep you from harm. You're the key factor in how this plot turns, vital to both sides. Scorpan wont take your escape lying down."

She urged him to sleep, consider her offer. He managed a nod, and fell asleep seconds later. Before she left, she placed the blanket back over him, to keep him warm. It was a strange sight, seeing him so vulnerable, so afraid. The girls had told her about the torture imposed on him by Scorpan, and poor Fluttershy had cried in sympathy. But seeing him now, she realised that, for him to break down that way in front of her, he truly held no faith in anypony or common decency now.

For them to save Equestria from Scorpan, they would need to show Sombra why he could trust them, no small feat.

And what of the rest of his race, beneath the Empire? She needed to do some searching...

Author's Note:

Next bit. Thank you all for reading~

It took a few readings for me to spot Discord in the Fiendship is Magic issue about Tirek, He's only in two panels as far as i can see...

Comments

[kniznik]

I guess despite being friends with Celesta Amore did keep some secrets away from her.
Nicely done, it's going to be interesting to se crystal empires and it's royals reaction to the truth, sombras resurection and his protection by Celestia.

[NevadaMadness]

Do the grammatical errors lessen throughout the story as this author learns, or is there consistent grammatical errors throughout this story?

[Coco Candy]

Oh, Sombra...