Canterlot was far behind Spike now. The sun had gone down and the moon had come up, and his destination was growing closer.
Canterlot Prison was a place that few went to voluntarily, and even fewer left. It was a desolate place, fortified like a fortress from all sides. The towers loomed overhead like watchful guardians, and a gigantic metal door creaked open like the mouth of a beast to swallow the boy as he walked inside.
The reception area of the prison was clean and sterile, a stark contrast to the imposing exterior.
At the front desk sat a woman busily filing through paperwork. Spike approached her, and placed his hand on the counter.
The woman looked up, revealing her face. Her red hair was styled into a mohawk, and her eye had a scar that ran down to her chin.
“What are you doing here so late at night? Shouldn’t you be at home?” the woman asked.
“I’m here to see my dad,” Spike answered.
“Well, you’re out of luck there. Visiting hours ended a long time ago, and kids aren’t allowed to visit unsupervised,” the woman said, before returning to her paperwork.
“What about if I’m here to visit Sombra?” Spike said suggestively.
The woman froze a moment, and looked back up from her work.
“You? You’re not serious. A kid like you is Sombra’s son?” she said, not quite believing what she heard.
“You don’t have to believe it, but it’s true. My dad’s the worst criminal Canterlot’s ever seen,” Spike said, shrugging his shoulders.
In all her years working on the police force, nobody came to visit Sombra. Ever since he was incarcerated all those years ago, not a single soul in or out of the prison showed the slightest bit of care or compassion for him. Especially not herself, after Sombra nearly gouged her eye out.
For all her sensibilities, she knew she should simply send the kid on his way. However, a nagging curiosity to know what would happen if Sombra had any human contact aside from the guards made her decision for her.
“Alright. I’ll see if I can arrange for your dad to meet you. But, on the condition that I have to supervise,” the receptionist said.
“Fine with me,” Spike answered.
The receptionist dialed her phone, and briefly waited before the line was answered.
Spike exhaled quietly as he looked around the station. He hardly paid any attention to what was being said over the phone as his mind raced with what he could possibly say to his father, who he hadn’t seen in many years.
In seconds, the receptionist hung up her phone and turned to face Spike.
“Alright. Follow me,” she said
The receptionist stood from her seat, walked around her counter and opened a nearby door. She led him to the adjoining room, where small cubicles with seats were placed before a glass divider. A two-way phone was set into each, for the visitors to speak with the incarcerated.
Spike took his seat in the first cubicle, while the receptionist stood back and supervised.
Half a minute passed, and the door in the room on the opposite side of the glass opened up. In walked a man in an orange jumpsuit, who made Spike nearly lurch from seeing him.
The man’s face carried no sign of warmth or caring. His lank, black hair hung low over his green, red-pupiled eyes, which darted across the room to see the first visitor who had ever come to see him. A smile crawled onto his beastly face, revealing strangely pointed teeth. His smile remained as he walked to the cubicle, while the guard who led him in took his position by the door.
For a moment, the estranged father and son locked eyes. For the first time in years, they were able to see one another. Sombra reached up and took hold of the phone to speak into it.
“Hello, son,” Sombra said, in a deep, gravelly voice, “You look good. Grown, certainly.”
“Wish I could say the same about you, dad. You look exactly the same as I remember you,” Spike deadpanned.
“Hahahaha! Always with the jokes. You haven’t changed a bit from how I remember you. So, what brings you here? How come only now does my only son come to see his dear old dad?”
Spike paused a moment. He hadn’t actually thought about why he was speaking to his father at the moment.
“I don’t know,” Spike said, slumping in his chair. “I guess it’s because I’ve run out of people to talk to.”
“That can’t be true. There must be dozens of people to talk to, besides the most notorious killer Canterlot has ever known,” Sombra said, with a hint of joviality in his voice.
As appalled as Spike was at his father’s flippant attitude to murder, he was still attached to him as his son.
“Now, what about your mother? I haven’t seen that woman in years, but I’m sure she’s just as warm and open as she ever was. Why don’t you speak with her?” Sombra asked. He noticed his son’s despondent look, “Or are the two of you not on talking terms?”
“No. Mom’s dead…Murdered...”
“I see…” Sombra said, “That’s terrible.”
“What do you care? You’re in here because you tried to strangle her in her sleep!” Spike said.
The guard behind Spike winced internally. A boy who’s mother died, after his father tried to murder her was both at once disturbing and mesmerizing. And now, here was the killer’s son, talking as amicably as he could with his murderous parent.
“Yes. There were many times I can recall that I would have killed you or your mother. Seeing your blood on my hands would have been my greatest joy. The three of us could have existed as one. One body. One blood,” Sombra said.
“You know, most families go on vacations for a bonding experience,” Spike said.
“Oh, that humor of yours. I think I miss that the most, next to your mother’s smile. Tell me, who was it that took her from me?”
“It was a kid I knew. Garble.”
“Now, there’s a name I’ve heard, even in here,” Sombra said, shifting in his seat, “I hear even for his young age, he’s something of a name on Canterlot’s list of troublesome juveniles. What did you have to do with him?”
Spike clenched his fist on top of the counter in the cubicle. Something his father noticed, and smirked malevolently at.
“I...used to be a member of his gang,” Spike said.
“Imagine that. My boy in a gang. You’re well on your way to becoming like your old man,” Sombra said, smiling.
Spike clenched his fist tighter.
“I’m not in his gang anymore! And if he got the message I gave him, he’ll never show his face in Canterlot again!” Spike shouted into the phone.
Sombra pulled his ear away from the phone, and allowed it to stop ringing momentarily, before he started speaking again.
“Tell me, what made you stop following him? What made you decide to break away from him, and follow a more wholesome path?” Sombra wondered.
“It was a girl,” Spike sighed.
“Well, well. Haven’t you been a busy little boy? Running with gangs. Meeting a girl. Most fathers would be so fortunate to see their boy growing up,” Sombra said, suggestively.
“It wasn’t like that, dad. She made me realize what I was doing to people! I didn’t want that anymore, so I left Garble behind me!” Spike said, standing abruptly from his seat.
Sombra smiled again. Not a malevolent, toothy rictus as it was before, but a smaller, almost fatherly smile.
“In such a short time, you’re well on your way to manhood. Tell me: where is this girl of yours now?” Sombra said.
“I...I don’t know. I mean, we’re friends now, but I don’t know how much longer,” Spike said, before slumping back in his seat.
“Hrm…” Sombra thoughtfully muttered. “Spike. I know I haven’t been there as a father for you very much, so let me leave you with this advice: hold onto the things that you cherish. And steer clear of the things that drag you down the path of darkness. My time with Pharynx is what brought me here, and you would do well to avoid this.”
“Alright. Thanks, dad,” Spike said, feeling the connection between him and his father growing. However twisted their relationship was, it was the only family he had. “Dad,” Spike continued, “Who’s Pharynx?”
“He was like a brother to me once. He and I committed a string of crimes together, much like you and your friend Garble,” Sombra said, smiling sentimentally at the memories. “However, the more I stayed with him, the more difficult it was to keep you and your mother in my life. Eventually, I had to choose between them. And, I chose to keep Pharynx.”
A small chill ran down Spike’s spine, when he heard his father’s motive for nearly killing his mother. If that was all that it took for him to become what he was now, he was more relieved than ever that he left Garble, and went on to meet Discord, Twilight, Thorax and especially Sweetie Belle.
“Dad...thanks. I know what I have to do now. I have to go,” Spike said.
“Take care, son. And stay clear of Pharynx. People like him come in many forms, but they all lead down the same path,” was Sombra’s parting fatherly advice, before Spike hung up the phone, and was led out the door by the receptionist.
As unsettling as the talk with is father was, Spike’s head had been cleared of all the clutter. He was going to go back to Canterlot and look for Sweetie Belle and the others.
“Sorry you had to do all that,” the receptionist said.
“It was nothing. You get used to things like this at some point,” Spike answered. “Thanks for setting that up with my dad, officer…”
“Tempest,” the receptionist answered.
Spike left the building after hearing the receptionist’s name, and made his way back to Canterlot. It was too late at night for him to do anything much right now, as everyone else was asleep.
It had been a long difficult day for him, and the sight of the beach’s sand, and the sound of the crashing waves were never better to him. He made his way to the bungalow where he kept his bedding, and laid down for the night, drifting into a dreamless sleep.