The Ruler of Ponies and Men

by Boopy Doopy


(9-4) Many Words

Sombra was watching the scene from the safety of his and Alex’s head, and found his jaw hanging down in shock at Amore’s words. It was the very last thing he was expecting, and he took a step closer to the screen that showed her to see what more he had to say.
“I’m a bit confused,” Alex started. “What are you apologizing for? I only know the general story that Luna gave me forever ago and what I read about you. Remind me what happened between you two?”
“That is quite the story, I must admit, with a lot of…  shall we say, mistreatment. I believe that's the best word to use, unfortunate as it is. Although, while I’m sure he might think I was being malicious, I would like him to know that wasn’t my intention.”
“Yes it was!” Sombra yelled at Alex as he watched the scene. “She was malicious! Tell her that she was!”
“He says to tell you that you were malicious,” Alex told the mare. “Actually, I remember that when he and I shared one mind, he hated you, more than anyone else. I’m still partial to Cadance and Celestia, Celestia especially. Although from what I understand, you’re a part of why this happened to me, too, although more indirect, so I’ll give you a pass.”
“And what exactly are you, if I may ask?” Amore inquired curiously.
“As I said, that’s a long story that doesn’t have a clear answer, practically a novel at this point. But here I am anyway, standing before you because Sombra’s too much of a coward to face you directly.”
"I'm not a coward! If you knew how she treated me, knew how she was..."
“I see. Well, if you could give him the message, please, I’d like to offer my sincere apology. When I spoke to you before, I shouldn’t have tried to excuse my actions. The way I went about having you raised was… not correct. I should’ve seen that, but I didn’t. Well, by the time Hope told me you were running away from the Empire into the snow, I realized, but by then, it was far too late to fix my mistakes.”
“No! She’s lying!” Sombra yelled. “It took her that long to see what she was doing was hurting me? I don’t believe her! She’s making excuses to justify her actions! Just like I said she would!”
“Then why don’t you tell her that yourself?” Alex asked aloud. “What do you need me out here for? You can just tell her you don’t believe her without me.”
“You need to be out there to protect me! If I go out there, they’ll have no reason to keep me safe! I just know it!”
“Ugh, whatever. He said you’re making excuses,” Alex told her. 
“I’m not trying to excuse my actions, and I don’t mean for it to come off that way. I’m only trying to explain what I was thinking so you understand. I have no expectation of forgiveness from you. I only want you to hear what I was thinking, and know that I wasn’t trying to be malicious.”
“You were hurting me and you admitted you knew you were hurting me! How can that be anything but malicious? You knew it was wrong and did it anyway!”
“If you want to tell her that, just tell her,” Alex said aloud. “What do you need me for? Just go out there yourself!” With that, Alex forced Sombra out into the world again, who immediately changed from a growling angry expression to a fearful one.
“Don’t hurt me,” he said lowly as he backed away some until he bumped into the bed. “I know you want to do that to me. Don’t you hurt me. I will fight back if you do.”
“I’m so sorry I’ve made you terrified of me, Sombra,” Amore told him, keeping a respectful distance. “While it was my intention to have what happened when you were a foal happen in a way, I wasn’t trying to be malicious. I hope you can see that-”
“I can't!” he yelled, causing all in the room except for Amore to jump. “How can you possibly say you weren’t being malicious? How can you possibly be so misguided as to think it was okay? I was a foal! And yet you thought…”
He trailed off, getting nervous again as Amore and the room kept their eyes on him. He looked around anxiously before trying to take another fearful step back.
“I know you all want to believe her, but she is malicious! I’m telling you that she is! She let that Crystal Heart burn me every day when I was a foal for no reason! I- I can’t stay out here…” 
“Don’t you- god damnit,” Alex frowned, looking down at his hooves for a moment as he was forced into the world in his counterpart’s wake before turning his attention back to Amore. “Just hurry up and tell him what you want to say so we can be done with this, please. He can hear us anyway, so it’s not like it’s on deaf ears.”
“Well then…” she trailed off, blinking a bit before starting, “Sombra? Do you remember that time, when you were a foal?” Amore asked, chuckling a little bit as she continued, “By the princess, you’re still a foal now, you and Radiant Hope both. You've hardly grown into adults by my eyes. But do you remember when you saw your reflection in the Crystal Heart so long ago? I asked you what you saw, and you told me you saw a shadow? I saw that very same thing in your reflection. A monster. A villain who was intent on conquering the Crystal Empire and destroying everything around him. I should’ve known that wouldn’t be what you would become, but I let that reflection cloud my judgment.”
Sombra stood at the screen that showed the outside world, forcing himself to watch and hanging onto her words, wondering where this was going.
“I thought the Crystal Heart’s power would purge you of whatever darkness you had in you and keep you away from the destiny it foretold. I knew you were hurting, but I thought my actions were keeping you away from that path that was told in the Heart’s reflection. I should have seen though that what I was doing was setting you on that path. No, rather, that you were never on that path to begin with, at least, not until my actions were introduced.
“I don’t know what it is that happened since I was trapped in the statue you put me in, but I can see how much I’ve hurt you, and for that, I can only apologize. I wish I had figured out what I was doing sooner, but that’s not to take blame away from what I’ve done. I’m sorry.”
Amore was looking right at him when she finished, seemingly almost through Alex and at Sombra, and it made him blink in surprise. As he did, he noticed the tears he had and shut his eyes tightly, growling with anger.
“No. She doesn’t get to apologize to me. I…” He had to use his hooves to wipe away his tears, which Alex found to be dripping out in real life.
“You’re making him cry, you know that?” Alex told her. “His sadness is making me sad. I don’t think he wants to hear your apology.”
“I understand. I only wanted to explain to him my reasoning, and let him know that I truly was sorry…”
“I don’t care!” Sombra yelled as he stayed in the safety of his and Alex’s head. “I don’t want to hear your apology! You’re just trying to make excuses for your actions! Just go away! Leave me alone!”
“Do you remember the last thing I said to you?” Amore asked after a second when Alex remained silent, listening to Sombra. “That you had the potential to be better? Well, I was a bit incorrect in saying that. You didn’t have the potential to be better because you always were better. I should have seen that sooner than I did, before it caused a thousand years to pass in the blink of an eye.”
“Make her go away…” Sombra begged, his head turned away from the screen. “Please, Alex. Just make her leave me alone...”
“I think you should just leave him alone, honestly, if you really are sorry,” Alex said, having a bit of sympathy for the tear-filled pony in his head. “He doesn’t want to hear anything else from you.”
“I understand,” she replied simply. “I’ll leave you alone now.”