//------------------------------// // Chapter 17: Nothing More to Say // Story: Shadow of a Doubt // by MayhemMoth //------------------------------// Starlight was stressed. Not to the point of panic, but it was evidently noticeable. Twilight had already noticed, but then again perhaps she was stressed as well, seeing as she had given her a very long list of what she thought was best to do today. Starlight had looked over that list multiple times, crossing out the smallest things and shortening the list to a little under half its original length. Today might have been important, but it wasn’t ‘make sure the tablecloth is a specific length’ important. It was nice to know Twilight cared a lot about this, at least. Today, someone from the Crystal Empire would be visiting to assess Sombra, and neither Twilight or Starlight knew whether it would be Princess Cadance, Shining Armor, or even somepony else entirely. All they knew was that they needed to make them feel welcome, and that Sombra had to be on his best behavior.  That first part was easy, Twilight had suggested they make it a nice lunch to make things casual, and Starlight agreed. That’s what the list was for, intricately written instructions on setting up the table and silverware placement, as well as recipes on how to make a few foods that were either Cadance or Shining Armor’s favorites, just in case. As for Sombra, well… She could only hope he’d behave. He’d already been surprisingly placid today, Starlight had left him in another room before leaving to make lunch, where he’d been sprawled out across a couch with a bunch of grapes and a book levitated above him. She checked up on him multiple times, finding him in the same position each time, his grapes slowly disappearing.  He was far too calm for today. Starlight was sure he was planning something, or thinking about the best insults to throw at royalty. She supposed that, as long as he wasn’t actively threatening them, this would be the best outcome. Surely he wouldn’t actually go so far as to risk his freedom, right? Taking one last look over the current set up, she decided it was good enough. Silverware placement wasn’t important enough to triple check, especially since the table’s organization was the last thing anypony would be focusing on. This was supposed to be a day to assess Sombra, and since he had shown little interest in the placement of tableware, he had nothing to do with a set up. Not that they would judge him for his lack of table making skills. Hopefully. Making her way to the next room over, she saw him now sitting up on the couch, staring at the lamp, his book placed beside him with remnants of a grape twig placed on top of it. He paid little attention to Starlight as she walked in, poking the lamp with a hoof and pushing away the lampshade. He flinched back as the light inevitably blinded him, blinking to adjust his eyes before finally turning to her. “How does this work?” He asked, peering under the lampshade again, “It’s not a candle, there’s no fire, so how do you turn it off?” Starlight was briefly confused, before remembering just who she was dealing with. Of course, he probably wouldn’t know the specifics about light bulbs and electricity, even now they weren’t particularly common in the Crystal Empire. Trotting over, she pressed the clicker under the lamp’s shade, prompting Sombra’s ears to perk in curiosity as the room was bathed in darkness. “Like that,” She said, clicking it again. Sombra looked into the shade, and was once again blinded, “Can you please stop doing that? It’s bad for your eyes.” “I think I can see that,” He muttered, rubbing an eye with a hoof, “Is there fire contained in the glass? It’s very hot.” She shook her head, “No, it’s electricity.” “Electricity? You keep lightning in these?” “No, not lightning. It’s more like…” She trailed off, not sure how to explain. Sombra really didn’t know, and as exasperated as it made her to answer his questions, she really wasn’t surprised. But she didn’t want to explain every detail of a lightbulb, so she opted to say, “It’s like the refrigerator, it uses magic. Lightning magic.” It wasn’t a lie, at least not technically. It really was magic that kept everything powered, but light bulbs also had some science attached to them. It was something Sombra probably would have understood, but not something she wanted to explain. At least he seemed happy enough with the answer. She really wished he'd stop trying to blind himself though. Quickly levitating the lamp out of his reach, she asked, "So are you ready for the assessment? You've made sure that you've gotten all your aggression out before this, right?" "I don't feel aggressive unless somepony's given me a reason to be aggressive," He answered, half effortly trying to reach for the lamp, "And depending on who shows up, I may or may not be aggressive." "Sombra…" “What? You don’t expect me to respect the ponies that took my throne, do you?” Starlight gently bonked him with the lamp. He tried to whack it out of the air, flopping back down onto the couch as she moved it out of his reach. “Do you really think I’m going to maim them or something?” He asked, somewhat exasperated, “I have never benefited from physically harming another. Not even when I took over the empire did I harm the Crystal Princess or her consort, now did I?” “You held their daughter hostage.” “So? I gave her back, didn’t I?” Starlight wanted to argue, to tell him how wrong that had been, but she held back. No use frustrating him ahead of time, that’d just end up making everything worse. She’ll just give him a lecture on why holding foals, or anypony for that matter, hostage is generally frowned upon. How much longer were they going to have to wait, anyway? It had already been maddening just waiting for the day to come, and she wasn't sure how much more she could take. How had Sombra not been stressed? Actually, better question, why was he looking at her funny? "What's up with you?" She asked.  "You smell funny," He said. Starlight let out a cry of frustration, and Sombra jumped, "I was not intending to be rude. I can just smell your anxiety, and whatever smelly thing you were around last. It's an odd mix." "You can smell anxiety?" “Well, I suppose ‘smell’ isn’t the right word in this case,” Sombra said, putting a hoof to his chin in thought, “But I can sense negative emotions quite well, you already know I can sense fear, don’t you? It’s a particularly invigorating feeling when it’s not my own, and anxiety is often a key part of that so I don’t see why I wouldn’t sense it.” Right, he’d mentioned smelling her fear before, but she’d never thought much of it. It wasn’t exactly unusual for ponies to pick up on another’s mood shift, but Sombra was probably a special case due to his specialized magic. He was still looking at her funny. It was beginning to make her even more anxious. He probably sensed that too. “When was the last time you bathed?” He asked. Though less than amused at the question, Starlight still answered, “A few days ago, unfortunately I’ve been a bit too busy with the school and making things nice for your assessment to do something like that. I’ll take a quick shower tonight, does that make you feel better?” “You risk the possibility of royalty visiting, and you’re not even going to bathe for them?” “I live with a princess, you know. One that’s going to rule Equestria within a few months. She’s seen me in worse states than ‘hasn’t bathed in a couple days,” Starlight sighed. She looked down at her list again, wondering if she’d made the right foods, “Why would you even care? I thought you hated Princess Cadance and Shining Armor.” “Obviously.” Sombra was suddenly closer, and Starlight whipped around to face him with a yelp, “But you could at least have the dignity to look nice in front of me.” Without warning, he snatched her up in his arms, ears only folding back slightly when she squealed in alarm. He wrapped her up rather tightly in something that wasn’t quite an embrace, holding her against his body. Starlight squirmed in his grasp, horn sparking as a bolt of panic went through her, completely unsure of what he was planning. He held her far too tightly to escape, but right as she was going to teleport away, she felt something scrape across the top of her head.  She froze in confusion as she felt it again, and then a few more times. At that point, she was glad her coat was pink, as her face flushed in embarrassment as she realized just what his plan had been all along. “Are you grooming me?” “Yes.” Another scrape, and Starlight let out an unintelligible whine and covered her face, “What? You’re dirty, I’m cleaning you. It’s simple.” “This is so embarrassing,” She muttered, voice muffled by her hooves. She squirmed again, but Sombra held tight, biting her mane to keep her still. “I seem to recall a time of two when you were the one bathing me,” He said, nibbling a spot just behind her ear, “I am simply repaying you in a slightly more unorthodox way.” “Unorthodox? Do you know how intimate grooming is?” “We’re intimate, are we not?” “Not this intimate!” She felt him shrug, and he continued to groom her. She kept her face in her hooves as he worked, thoroughly embarrassed but unable to stop him. Not that she really wanted to, it still felt nice, but this was far from an appropriate action to take right now. “I don’t see what the big deal is to you,” He said between nibbles and the occasional gentle yank of her hair, “Both stallions and mares alike groom each other, as well as their foals, this is a perfectly normal activity.” “‘Normal’ is not the same as it was a thousand years ago.”  She went limp in his grip, allowing him to continue on easier, and hopefully quicker. She was sure he was messing her mane up, but hopefully she’d be able to comb it before anypony showed up. Considering Twilight had told her that the train had hit a delay that morning, she may have the chance to do that. That was hours ago though, so it was possible the train was on its way. Or worse, whoever was coming over was already in Ponyville. At that thought, she briefly wiggled again, tempted to teleport. Sombra’s grip stayed strong.  It wasn’t like she could scold Sombra for this either. Awkwardness aside, this was an evident sign that he truly trusted and cared for her. This was a good thing, and forcing him to stop might somehow break his trust. She didn’t want to risk that, so she decided to tolerate it for as long as she could. Hopefully that wouldn’t be very long. Both fortunately and not, it wasn’t, and at the sound of the door opening, Starlight let out a yelp and covered her face again, jolting back to hide against Sombra. All she accomplished was whacking him in the teeth, finally loosening his grip enough to escape, but she didn’t. Instead, she chose to stay hidden against his chest, refusing to look up at whoever might have come in. “Are we interrupting something?” Twilight asked.  “Your presence is always an interruption,” Sombra answered, Starlight slowly lowering further with his next words, “Who are the ponies with you? I was expecting the Crystal Princess or her consort.” Before anypony got the chance to answer, Starlight said, “I swear, whatever this looks like, it’s not that.” A new but familiar voice responded, “Actually, I think this is exactly what it looks like.” “Sunburst!” Starlight’s hooves fell away from her face, and she shot up and away from Sombra, head smacking against his jaw as she did. Much to her embarrassment, it seemed as though Sunburst wasn’t the only pony Twilight had brought with her, but she avoided the other stallion’s gaze as best as she could, “I swear, it’s nothing! It was all Sombra, he just grabbed me, and-” “Began to groom you,” Sunburst interrupted. He didn’t actually seem surprised, if anything, he seemed sympathetically interested, “It’s fine Starlight, really. Crystal Ponies mutually groom each other all the time, even in public. Having been raised in the Empire, Sombra would be no different.” “Which means you ponies really are filthy, aren’t you?” Sombra grumbled, rubbing the side of his face and looking at the array of Unicorns in front of him, “Next time just ask me to stop, I don’t care. Once again, who are these ponies?” The orange one stepped forward first, the slightest hint of worry in his voice, “You may call me Sunburst, I was sent here on Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor’s behalf.” Sombra held back a triumphant grin, “Too cowardly to face me themselves?” “No, they just didn’t want to send over anypony who has a personal vendetta against you. Unfortunately, that includes every single pony in the Crystal Empire, as well as Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor themselves.” “But not you?” He shook his head, “I was out of town when you invaded, so I have no more reason than the average pony to hate you.” “Average ponies don’t tend to have a good opinion on me.” “I guess that means you’ll have to change that opinion, won’t you?” Sombra blinked, somewhat surprised at this little stallion’s nerve to face him like he had. It didn’t insult him, but it did intrigue and impress him. Starlight had known his name too, and judging by her behavior, seemed closely acquainted with him. He wanted to question that, but he’d wait until later. Right now there was another pony to meet, an old, grey bearded stallion, much taller than the others and dressed in bell laden robes. He was familiar. Very familiar.  He stepped toward Sombra before he got the chance to ask his name, a surprisingly gentle chime sounding with each movement he made, though he didn’t move much. Once within a few paces from Sombra, he finally introduced himself and answered Sombra’s unspoken question, “And you may know me as Starswirl.”  “Starswirl?” Despite the fact he knew, Sombra was still dumbfounded, “As in ‘The Bearded’? Shouldn’t you be dead?” A look of pure horror crossed Twilight’s face, but before she got the chance to defend her idol, he responded, “Shouldn’t you?” “Eh, fair enough.” Rising from where he’d been sitting on the ground, Sombra stretched and yawned, turning back to the couch he’d been on earlier and lounging across it, “You here to assess me too or something?” “Not quite, I was in the Empire and heard of Sunburst’s visit. I’m simply interested in learning about you is all.” Something of a smile made its way to Sombra’s face, though he didn’t look toward anything other than the lamp as said, “What an honor, the great and powerful Starswirl is interested in me.” Starlight couldn’t help but notice he still seemed surprisingly calm about all of this. She wondered if she should be suspicious. So far things seemed to be going unusually well, and though she hoped it would stay that way, she wanted to get things done and over with as quickly as possible. “So,” She started, gaining everypony’s attention, except Sombra’s for some reason, “I made lunch just for this occasion. Perhaps we could talk over that?” The mention of food got Sombra’s ears perked, but Sunburst shook his head. “I appreciate the offer, but I think it’d be best if I talked to Sombra alone and with no distractions. This room will work fine.” Starlight saw Sombra’s ears lower to a point of annoyance, but she held back any visible sign of discomfort as she asked, “Are you sure?” Sunburst nodded, “This shouldn’t take long. I just want to talk to Sombra, take some notes, and then we’ll meet you in the dining room.” “That’s it, really? No interrogation or anything like that?” “I’m here to evaluate him for redemption, not try him for his crimes,” Sunburst explained, glancing back to Sombra. He was turning the lamp on and off. “Especially not since he doesn’t seem to have any sort of magic dampener on him. Why is that?” Starlight opened her mouth to speak, but got hardly a sound out before Sombra sarcastically interrupted, “It’s because I’m a good pony now.”  “Don’t push it,” She shot back, looking back to Sunburst, “He knows when to behave, trust me. He wouldn’t dare to hurt one of my friends, now would you Sombra?” He grumbled something, hitting the lamp’s switch again and darkening the room before flopping back onto the couch. He was annoyed about something, and though anypony else in the room may assume it was because he couldn’t cause carnage, Starlight knew it was because he just wanted the lunch he wasn’t getting now.  “Twilight, would you and Star Swirl like to head to the dining room?” She asked, walking over to him, “I’ll meet up with you two in a moment, I just want to talk to Sombra first.” “Of course,” Twilight nodded, looking to Star Swirl with her usual awe, but managing to stay reasonable as she said, “We expected either Cadance or Shining Armor to show up, so we made a few different foods. I don’t suppose you're hungry?” “Practically starving,” Star Swirl answered, turning out the door to follow Twilight, “It’s not a quick trip between here and the Crystal Empire after all, and that dreaded train ride kept me from eating much.” Their voices faded as they went down the hall, but the ponies within the room could still hear their conversation for a bit longer. “Well we have plenty, anything you might want in specific?”  “Hmm, do you perhaps have any coffee?” With that, Sombra slammed the door with his magic. Starlight and Sunburst jumped. “Now what was that for?” Starlight demanded. “I live to scare ponies,” He answered nonchalantly, “Now what was it you wanted to talk to me about, and what’s coffee?” “Coffee is bean juice, and I wanted to tell you-” She emphasized by gently placing a hoof against his chest, “To behave. If you do, maybe later I’ll bake you some peanut butter cookies as a treat, how’s that sound?” “Ugh, why do you ponies always bribe me with food?” “Why does it always work?” He pushed her hooves away, crossing his arms and frowning instead of answering the question. Starlight held back a laugh at his expression, and he noticed, but all he did was lower himself further against the couch.  “So I take it that the cookie bribe is working?” She asked. “Maybe…” “Good, now don’t make me worry, okay?”  Sombra nodded, and with that Starlight finally left, gently shutting the door behind her. He tried to listen to her as she went, but her hoofsteps faded quickly behind the thick castle door. Muttering at the last sign of her, he turned instead to the orange Unicorn that had come to assess him. He was digging through his saddlebags. Sombra stared at the contents within, most of which seemed to be papers, notebooks, a little wooden box, as well as something that got his eyes to narrow a bit. Another book, one that he knew did not belong to Sunburst. In fact, he knew it didn’t belong to anypony that lived in the empire, or at least, not anypony who currently lived there. Nopony should have had access to that book. Sombra chose not to say anything about it. Perhaps Sunburst would bring it up, or perhaps he had other plans with it. Tired of the silence, he asked, “So, when do we start all this? I’d like to get it over and finished with.” Sunburst let out a squeak, much more on edge than he had been when the others were in the room. He was frightened, and Sombra could sense it. A part of him wanted to toy with the Unicorn to amuse himself, but he thought it better not to disappoint Starlight. Plus he really did want those cookies. “You ponies are all very jumpy, aren’t you?” He asked. “It’s hard to not be jumpy around somepony like you.” “So much for not having an opinion on me.” “Oh, I have an opinion on you for sure,” Sunburst claimed, setting all of his needed supplies on a table near the door, “But my feelings aren’t personal. I know of everything you’ve done, from enslaving the Crystal Ponies to using Flurry Heart as a hostage, and those things alone are enough to make me know you’ve apparently never been the best pony.” “You know nothing about me.”  Sombra’s tone was now harsh, his teeth bared in something more than just insulted at this orange eyesore’s assumption. His desire to toy with him briefly blossomed into something a bit less playful, but he shoved the urge away with the bite of his tongue.  As annoying as he was proving to be, he wouldn’t dare harm Sunburst. Starlight wouldn’t like that, and for some reason far beyond him, he wanted her to be happy. “Then perhaps you can change what we know,” Sunburst stated, his voice somehow steady despite his previous anxiety, “I have several questions to ask you, and the answers you give will decide whether or not Princess Cadance thinks you deserve a chance.” “And what if I don’t answer them?” “I won’t force you to answer, just know that what you don’t say might help improve Cadance’s opinion on you.” Sombra said nothing, hiding his bared fangs and simply glaring at the Unicorn in front of him. Much to his disappointment, he didn’t flinch. Instead, Sunburst looked him over, staring a moment too long at his casted leg. “First thing first, and this has no relation to why I was sent here, but what happened to you?” “I see Princess Twilight hasn’t told you anything worth mentioning,” Sombra huffed, glancing down at his leg in annoyance, “The Changeling Queen manipulated me and pushed me off a cliff.” “What? But how-” “If it’s not an important question, don’t ask it,” He spat, readjusting himself to lay more comfortably across the couch again. He was antsy and annoyed, he hadn’t been able to run around since that outing when his mask had been removed, “Get your details by asking Starlight or Princess Twilight.” That interruption quieted Sunburst momentarily, and Sombra wasn’t sure if that was a win or a loss in his case. Silence kept him from being asked any potentially personal questions, but it also prevented him from getting away from this new pony and back to somewhere more quiet.  “Ask me what you need to ask me so we can both get out of this,” He demanded. “R-right, let’s get this started then.” Sunburst removed his glasses to wipe them clean, wasting more time and agitating Sombra further, “First off, why?” Though he already knew the implications behind the question, Sombra simply repeated, “Why?” “Why do you want the Crystal Empire? What prompted you into killing the previous princess and taking over?” Refusing to answer the question, he calmly asked in return, “What makes you think I killed her?” The lack of anger just unnerved Sunburst further. “The Crystal Ponies reported it, one day the princess was ruling peacefully, and then the next you walked out of the castle and declared the empire as your own.” “While that may be true, you’re still missing a very important piece of information; nopony ever actually found her body. So there’s no proof she’s dead, and I have no crime to confess to.” “There’s always the possibility of you disposing her body.” “You’re far too convinced of this accusation,” Sombra said with the flick of an ear, more annoyed than angry at this point, “Where exactly do you expect me to hide a body in the Crystal Empire? Even with the Crystal Heart warming everything, there’s still far too much permafrost to dig a hole deep enough, and I highly doubt anypony in the castle has opened a closet full of skeletons.” “There’s always outside of the empire, after one thousand years things are bound to get buried.” “I can assure you that, whatever happened to Amore, she never left the empire.” Another bout of silence from Sunburst, but this time it was expected. It was a rather enigmatic answer after all, but Sombra had no plans on elaborating. So he waited for the other to speak again, keeping himself occupied by levitating his book and flipping through a few pages. He’d already finished it, so there wasn’t much to read.  Finally, Sunburst broke his silence, “You didn’t answer why you took over the empire.” “And I will not.” Brief silence again, the only sound being him flipping through pages, “So was that it? Any more questions I need to ignore from you?” “Maybe a few, though I suppose an important one would be why you think you deserve redemption.” The page flipping stopped, but Sombra didn’t look away from his book. Something about his posture changed, as if his body had stiffened, but his facial expression stayed blank.  “I don’t.”  Somehow, that comment surprised Sunburst, but Sombra didn’t care. He chose instead to turn to the lamp and contemplate it as he scribbled something into a notebook. Apparently being difficult and secretive wasn’t enough to keep information away from the princess or this herald of hers. Sunburst set the notebook to the side, looking to Sombra unsurely, “Why don’t you think you deserve redemption?” “Why should I? I’m not anypony worth saving, I’m nothing more than a monster, now am I?” “Starlight doesn’t seem to think you’re a monster.” “Starlight…” Sombra bit his tongue again, trying to hold back saying something he wasn’t sure he meant, “Starlight is a naive fool.” “I wouldn’t be so sure, how much has she told you about herself?” “What’s there to tell? She’s the Princess of Friendship’s pet, somepony like her could do no wrong.” Sunburst scribbled another note in his notebook, simply saying, “I see.” Sombra barely resisted rolling his eyes at the motion. This was not going at all how he could have planned, it was much more annoying. He wanted to get out of this room now, he wanted to run around and let out some energy, but neither of those things were options for a multitude of reasons. He just wanted out. “I don’t look forward to any more of your questions,” He said. “That’s fine, because I don’t think I have many more to ask.” Sunburst looked over his notes, no doubt a short list, while Sombra looked on in annoyed confusion. “I expected more. Why are there not more?” “There are, but I don’t think they’re as important as this one,” He explained, before looking straight at Sombra, “When you took over the Crystal Empire, you mind controlled almost every resident and held Flurry Heart hostage, but you never directly hurt anypony. Was that intentional?” "I'm sure a few guards got banged up, they were getting in my way after all,” He pointed out, before scoffing, “Not a very competent lot either, throwing spears at me while I was so close to a pair of ponies with a foal." “Interesting that you mention a foal, because you didn’t touch the orphanage either.” There was a delay in Sombra’s response, “Foals are of little use to me, why should I waste my time with them?” "Well, you mind controlled a few other foals. Would you really even care if they or anypony else were casualties in your takeover?" "Ugh, does everypony think I'm just some tyrant out to spill blood?" This time, Sombra did roll his eyes, rising from the couch to look down at the Unicorn before him, “I wanted the Crystal Empire as my own, and part of the point of owning land is ruling over the ponies that live on it. Killing those ponies would give me less, and I didn't want less, I wanted more." Sunburst trembled, his fear permeating Sombra’s senses, though he stayed where he stood. It frustrated him, he wanted to scare the little Unicorn off, to give himself some form of peace. He was sure shadows were leaking from his eyes by now, but he continued to resist his temptation.  “S-so this was all about greed?” He got no confirmation, Sombra once again biting his tongue to keep from speaking and turning away. Wandering back over to the couch, he didn’t sit, instead choosing to stare at the grape twig that had fallen to the floor.  “Wouldn’t you like to know,” He muttered eventually.  “You’ll have to tell somepony eventually, you know.” “Not if I can help it.” He stepped on the twig, but it was too soft to crack. Behind him, Sunburst ruffled through his bags, but he didn’t think it interesting enough to look. There was only one thing in that bag that interested him, and he was waiting to see if it’d be returned to him. Somehow he doubted it would. A quiet thunk got his ear to twitch, but it was the gentle notes that followed that got him to widen his eyes and turn around much quicker than he had intended.  Sunburst was holding that little wooden box. Previously obscured by paper before, Sombra could now make out slight details from afar. There was a heart emblazoned upon it’s lid and at least one side, with a little metal bit sticking out of a blank side. Had it made that noise? “What is that?”  “A gift.” “A gift?” Had there not been a couch directly behind him, Sombra might have stepped back in disbelief, “For me?” Sunburst nodded. “From who?” “I think you’ll know.” He set the little box on a table, stepping away to clean his glasses. Sombra approached it slowly and unsurely, as if afraid it would blow up in his face. Closer inspection showed that it wasn’t just any heart adorning it, but the Crystal Heart, burned into the wood with every facet as perfect as it could be. The metal sticking out of it still perplexed him, and with a gentle poke it moved slightly, a few more notes ringing in the air. The tune was familiar, and it sent a pang through his chest. The music was undoubtedly coming from inside the box, and from the looks of things, the top was latched. Using his magic, he levitated the box over and gently undid the latch and took a peek at the contents. Tiny scraps of metal were organized within it, most likely attached to the tiny rod outside of it. Opening it a bit wider to let in more light, another image within caught his eye. His magic faltered with a gasp as he saw it, the box nearly falling to the floor before he recovered. Closing the box, he stared ahead at nothing, that pang in his chest worsening.  Gasping a few breaths, Sombra’s eyes began to burn as he choked out, “W-what is this?” “A music box. It was ordered special, just for you.” “Why?” “Because even after everything you’ve done, she still loves you.” The burning worsened, and Sombra had to shut his eyes to relieve himself of the feeling despite knowing just what came with it. His eyes watered, the tears threatening to fall, thankfully hidden from the pony behind him. “Why?” “Because she raised you Sombra, she knows you better than anypony out there,” Sunburst explained, shuffling in his bags again. Sombra didn’t even care about the book within them anymore. “She knows you can change Sombra, she knows you can be the pony you were before.” He shut his eyes again, teeth gritting in frustration as a tear finally fell. “I hurt her,” He whispered. “Yes, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go back and fix things.” “I can never fix any of this.” “You won’t know until you try,” Sunburst said gently, stepping toward him. Sombra snarled in response, another hoofstep sounding to show that he’d stepped right back, “I think we’re done here, I’ll be going to the dining room now. I’m sure you’ll catch up?” Sombra nodded, waiting for the door to close and Sunburst’s hoofsteps to fade before returning his attention to the music box. At some point it had gone from his magic to his hoof, now held tightly to his chest. Pulling it away, he looked down at the Crystal Heart upon it. Though it might not have shone like the true one, the contents hurt just as much as the original. Tiny sparks of his magic enveloped the metal knob and turned it gently, finally allowing the tune within the box to play out in full. Though the few notes he’d heard from it before had made him suspect, it was only now he finally knew for sure what it was. It was a lullaby. His lullaby. The very one his caretaker had sung to him on the night she had taken him in, and so many nights after.  Wiping his eyes, Sombra sank to the floor, not even caring as the tears finally fell. It wasn’t the same as hearing it from her, but it still hurt. He wished he could actually hear her sing it again. Then again, he wished for a lot of things he could never have again. Eventually, his magic weakened, the music fading along with it. For a moment, he simply sat in that silence, the pounding of his heart the only sounds to be heard.  The music hurt. The image within it hurt. He wanted to hear and see them again. Rising to a sitting position, he rubbed his eyes and nose with his arm, uncaring about the mess it made. He set the music box in front of him, turning the knob with his magic and slowly lifting the lid with a hoof. His stomach lurched as he saw the image within it again, a choked sound escaping him as fresh tears welled in his eyes. Burned within the wood were two foals, a colt and a filly, laying together. The filly’s eyes were closed happily as she laid upon the colt, who in turn was glancing back at her with a smile of his own. Both looked as innocent as could be, unknowing of what the future had in store for them. “I’m sorry,” Sombra whispered, gently tracing the lines, “I guess I should have done better.”