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// Sunday in the Park with Sombra 
// Story: All Hail, Midnight Sparkle! 
// by MisterEdd 
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In the heart of Manehattan, there lay an expansive park that was a popular site for locals and tourists for the past two hundred years, an eight hundred and forty-three acre recreational center of hills, rolling fields and wooded areas. It was dotted with ponds, lakes, and playgrounds, making it the perfect location for families and couples. Today, it was abuzz with activity as ponies flocked to it to enjoy the beautiful day as Princess Celestia's sun shone overhead and was accompanied with a gentle breeze. Amidst the revelry, a lone stallion stood next to the bank of a small pond, seemingly unaware of the festivities occurring around him as he stared into the rippling surface. Despite being a unicorn, he tossed some clumps of bread into the pond with his hooves, watching them fatten with moisture and float atop the water before disappearing into the bills of a passing flock of ducks.    

In the eyes of the public, he was just a stallion with a red-brown coat and blue-gray mane and tail, the image of a question mark adorning his flank. The truth was, however, he was none other than Sombra, former ruler of the Crystal Empire and criminal fugitive. This was due to the glamour charm he wore, disguising his true appearance and thus allowing him to navigate his way through the bustling metropolis undisturbed. Emptying the bread bag, Sombra dumped it into a nearby trashcan and slung his saddlebags onto a wooden bench before taking a seat next to it. Anonymity was a double-edged sword: there was nopony who bothered you out of recognition but on the same token, you were completely and utterly alone.   

Sombra unfurled a newspaper and skimmed through it, musing how interesting it was that current day-to-day events were compartmentalized for the usage of the commoner. Princess Celestia met with the scorponies to grant them their own lands, agreeing to permit them a stretch of land ranging from the Badlands to Mackintosh Hills and a sliver of the Mysterious South to colonize. An Abyssinian witch was caught foalnapping and her hut was torched to the ground, the arsonists managing to rescue a young pegasus filly she'd captured from the inferno. Strange seismic activity was reported in the Frozen North and vanishing just as quickly. Patients in a Canterlot mental institution were all gibbering about a rising darkness and a "returning emperor."   

So good news all around?

Snorting contemptuously, Sombra crumpled the newspaper up and stuffed it back into his saddlebags. He turned and found an earth pony filly seated next to him, her large golden eyes unblinkingly inspecting him. She had a light rose coat, orchidish gray mane and a cutie mark of three bright red strawberries. Sombra had very little experience dealing with foals and thus shrank slightly as the filly beamed at him, pushing himself and his saddlebags further down the bench. The filly's grin never wavered, however, and she pulled her swirly lollipop out of her mouth to address him.

"Hi there! I'm Strawberry Fields! What's your name?"

"Um...Guess Who?" 

"Hi Guess Who!"

Sombra eyed her curiously. "Where are your parents?"

"Well Daddy is at the record company managing a band and Mommy is over at the stand getting ice cream."

Ah yes, ice cream. Sombra had become familiar with the frozen treat during his travels and had become quite fond of it. Between ice cream and cookies, he was fearing that he was going to become a big fat slob and it took all of his willpower to refrain from partaking in such sugary delights every day. It was not just the food that'd changed during his banishment and subsequent imprisonment but also the music, mandolins and flutes giving way to guitars and switchboards. Although he preferred classical, rock n' roll and jazz were both enjoyable to listen to.  

"How come you're sitting all alone?"

"Because I am alone."

Strawberry stared up at him sadly. "No family? Friends? A special somepony?"

Sombra sighed and stared off into the distance. "I...have a special somepony. But it's complicated."

"How come?"

He turned once more to face the filly. "Because relationships are never simple."

"Mommy and Daddy sometimes fight but then tell me that they're not fighting, they're just 'disagreeing.' Are you and your special somepony disagreeing?" 

Sombra's initial discomfort vanished, replaced with the need for companionship, even if his current companion was too young to understand his situation. "No but like I said, it's complicated. Her friends don't like me very much. Not that I blame them." 

Time away from Equestria had changed much of Sombra's views, affording him opportunity for self-reflection. Oh he was still angry with Celestia but his rage had been tempered quite exponentially, leaving him more irritated than enraged. It pained him to betray the trust of Twilight and her friends, who had tried so hard to get to know him and try to make his life easier. His quest for vengeance had hurt him more than Celestia. He was still a fugitive and despite their demoralizing encounter, which ended in Celestia being publicly beaten, the alicorn was still in charge and ruling Equestria.     

"Why, did you do something bad?" Strawberry innocently inquired. 

Snapping out of his musings, Sombra peered down at her. "I did. And now, I can't be around my special somepony. The fact is I can't do anything to make things right."

"Did you try apologizing? My Mommy says, 'Sorry is the hardest word in the Ponish language to say but the easiest one to spell.' I think, er, yes." 

For once since their conversation started, Sombra smiled at Strawberry. Foals were paradoxically both simple-minded and complex thinkers, their naivete and straightforwardness containing an odd kind of wisdom. He hadn't spoken to Twilight in months, keeping his distance so as to evade arrest and to keep her safe but as a result, it seems to have strained their relationship. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to reach out to her, at least in a limited capacity. He stood up and pulled on his saddlebags, this time remembering to use his magic.  

"Thank you, Strawberry Fields. Have a nice day." 

"You too!" The filly shouted, wildly waving a hoof. 

As he exited the park, Sombra contemplated his options for contacting Twilight and repairing their relationship. He'd tried astral projection several times but something seemed to be blocking his astral form from entering the castle, which was the only place that he could safely speak to her. The last time that he'd checked, Celestia had only warded Twilight's home from physical intrusions so perhaps the solar princess wised up to his tricks. Using Zecora as an intermediary was no longer an option as the normally reclusive zebra's constant visits would raise too many questions. Making a hard right, Sombra continued his journey downtown, vigilantly watching passersby should his glamour slip up. 

At one point, Sombra had considered moving to Ponyville and adopting an assumed identity but that idea had quickly been scrapped. There would be census and tax records to be filled out on a yearly basis and there would be inquiries into the past of a newcomer to a small town. Then, of course, there was the fact that it was the home of Celestia's former student and she was known to pop in for a visit every now and then. As much as he liked Twilight's friends, with the exception of Rainbow Dash, he didn't trust them to keep his identity a secret, as their loyalties were tightly bound to Celestia and the good of Equestria. Not that he entirely blamed them, mind you.      

The environment gradually changed, morphing from pristine skyscrapers and squeaky-clean intersections to dilapidated buildings and trash-littered streets. Downtown Manehattan was the poorer section of the city, an area where the noponies lived and this made it the perfect place for a fugitive to stay. In the slums of Downtown Manehattan, nopony cared who you were or what you did and as long as you lived your life without issue, nopony asked any questions. One might think that a former king would take umbrage with living in squalor but Sombra wasn't always royalty and considered a filthy, graffiti-covered apartment building a step up from the icy wastes of the Frozen North. For all of his faults, one of Sombra's shinning virtues was that he was a survivor.    

Entering an alleyway that led to the building, Sombra froze upon hearing a crashing sound nearby and checking to confirm his current solitude, dropped his glamour, once more assuming his natural form. He carefully strode towards a stack of crumbling cardboard boxes, his horn burning with a red glow and ready to thrash the fool who wished to challenge him. Manually tossing a few of the boxes aside, he paused once he found the source of the racket. It was a puppy sniffing at a broken jar of rotten pickles before spotting the umbrum and wagging his tail jubilantly. Sombra powered down his horn and heaved a sigh before lifting the puppy up by the scruff of its neck.

"So you're the one making all of this noise?" 

The puppy yipped, panting at him with a large grin. It, or he rather, was a dark brown with shades of red, a splotch of white over his right eye and black tips on his floppy ears. His fur was coated with mud, soot and other kinds of filth, evidently never receiving a proper bath. Sombra sniffed at the puppy and recoiled, the stench of rancid fruit assaulting his nostrils. He cocked his head at the mutt's dopey grin.

"You're not afraid of me?" 

Another excited yip escaped the puppy's muzzle. Frowning, Sombra bared his fangs at the puppy in the largest scowl he could muster, his eyes glowing green with streams of purple fog. In response, something moist shot out and lapped at his nose, causing him to draw back in shock. The green retreated to reveal Sombra's bewildered red eyes. 

"D-did you just lick me?"  

The puppy happily barked seemingly in confirmation. 

A smile worked its way onto Sombra's face. "Very well then. I suppose I can't leave you out here to gnaw at scraps. Come, Sir-Licks-A-Lot, I'll give you a bath and some proper food. Maybe the closest orphanage will have better use for you." 

With that, Sombra cradled the puppy in his free foreleg and gingerly carried him inside the apartment building, once more adorning his disguise.