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// Black armour 
// Story: Three sets of armour 
// by a touch of sparkles 
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There was always talk about a few Umbrum managing to escape. Of course I knew one had. But I never saw him. A lot of stuff seemed to happen in those years. Mostly rebuilding our life to not revolve around slaves. 

It was about eight years after the revolution that I could tell something was changing. It became rather popular to look into the crystal heart and see what your future is. Amore, using her sweet side, used to stand there so the little foals could tell her about their future and destiny. She would always say that there not set in stone and that it’s possible to change.

There was one filly who went up to it one day. A little unicorn, Amore seemed to be offended by her entire existence. The filly’s face lit up when she looked in the heart. She saw herself as a princess. There was something rather interesting about her, particularly her hair.

Before the umbrum were enslaved they had a tradition to braid their hair. They wove different beads into each braid. There are meanings to each but I can really only remember if I’m directly told or find the paper I wrote them down on. But this little filly’s hair was braided exactly that way. Granted the beads weren’t gemstones, which we found out when we took them from the Umbrums hair, but the style was so very similar. 

It was also that filly that year’s latter got a letter from the sisters to come to their school for gifted unicorns. True healing magic. There were spells that would close a wound but only for some time. Apparently it burnt out a unicorn on the first spell. But that filly, now a mare had magic that closed wounds seamlessly with no scars.

So of course rumours started. Some believed she must have healed a bone, a logical reason. But then the rumours about that one umbrum came around. The crystal heart was now designed to kill them of if they got to close during the crystal fair. A “safety precaution” according to Amore. Some said maybe she healed one and stopped the hearts power. Like all rumours it eventually died out. 

The days were I had to walk with Amore around the empire I would sometimes see her. She didn’t ware as many braids in her hair. Just the odd one or two that were pulled up into the bun. The mare gave Amore the definitions of death stares. I always saw her on the same street, Amore noticed as well as more guards were placed there. I don’t think she trusted the mare. That was usually the most I saw of her. That changed quite quickly.

There was a panic one day down by the heart. When I got down there with the other guards we found a crystalized version of Amore. She was reared up in anger by the looks of it. probably in pain to as there was a hole straight through her neck. Then the Umbrum took his chance and took control. 

I could tell that he had planned every little bit of his takeover. In fact it was an act of revenge. Many of us were put in heavy collars and forced to dig large mine-shafts. Many gemstones and metals were found of course. So others were made to polish and shape them. he was smart. Kept the economy going so it didn’t look like we had just disappeared. 

I learned his name was Sombra. Sombra Galacian to be more precise. He remembered me which quite surprised me. He was so grateful for me giving him a second chance at life. Sombra told me that for the past few years he was planning this. the main goal was to get the umbrum free. He had managed to do some sneaking around in a form of shadow and overheard Amore saying that she could sense the hearts power underground, and that her killing spell actually just put all the umbrum in a limbo prison instead. The mare that I kept seeing was his best friend Radiant Hope. She had helped as well, telling him ideas on what to do. 

Then our new life started. Sombra was strict but at the same time he kept a balance. Everyone got three meals a day and we were even allowed to go home for bed. If you misbehaved your punishments would vary instead of just straight up beatings like Amore. So if you refused to work you may be denied one meal. There was a split between “we deserved this” and “this isn’t fair”. So fights would break out. Normally Sombra would just break it up but if it got any worse you would find yourself strung up and whipped. If you were good in terms of behaving or doing well at your job you’d get Sunday of so you could embrace your talent. We couldn’t complain, that was Hopes idea. Although sometimes his punishments did get a little brutal. Sometimes a stallion would get frisky and more often than not a mare would suffer from it. “gelding” is a better term for those stallions now.

I ended up ending quite lucky I did. Although if you didn’t agree with what Amore said and you seemed sincere about it you got better jobs and more privileges. You normally ended up as a guard because you could be trusted to some extent to not go against Sombra. I ended up as his bodyguard.

Sombra somehow managed to build a study in the castle. The staircase was rather long but for a long time I couldn’t figure out where it fit in the castle. I ended up becoming decently good friends with him considering I was around him all the time, so I got to go to his study. Turns out the staircase acts like a portal and his actual study is in the middle of the North. He said it was more comforting to be there as it was home for him. 

Between controlling rebellious ponies, ordering miners and other things Sombra told me about the life he used to have. He told me the cultures that Umbrum had from braids and diet to tribal life and a literal god. That was only a small piece, but I still wouldn’t be able to imagine losing all of it in mere moments. 

There were a few pieces of culture he didn’t lose entirely. He could braid his hair but he was never too sure on how to do so. However he did have his bird. Lumen peacocks were a sacred species of white peacock. A bird will find an umbrum it likes and their soul’s bond together. So if one dies so does the other. Opal was Sombra’s, apparently they have more umbrum like names usually as the peacocks name themselves. But Opal hadn’t so Sombra just named him after his mother’s favourite gem.

Opal acted as a messenger and a scout in a way. Him and Sombra could telepathically talk to each other so Opal would bring messages to him. Opal also flew over the land like a scout. It was almost impossible to avoid his watch unless he was ages away from you. He was commonly referred to as “the eye in the sky”. 

Opal had a weird obsession with preening my feathers, but it saved me a job so I didn’t mind. according to sombra opal said he “expected my neck to be a little more flexible, so I do it for him”. I’m still not sure if I should be insulted or not.

Being closer to those two I became closer to Radiant Hope. A lovely mare with an amazing expanse of imagination, but she still had the right amount of maturity that she wasn’t naïve. It turns out the rumour about her healing an umbrum was true. I always found magic interesting and I learnt about hers. She could heal any wound from a bruise to giant and deep cuts. Although she had to get there before shock or infection. Hope said something about her not being able to stop pathogens and diseases because of something along the lines of she would have to destroy the bug which her magic is leaned towards heal not destroy, so it wouldn’t work. I do remember her saying that her magic does not work on her at all, she couldn’t heal herself even if she tried.

Hope kept going to school. She handled making sure that Celestia didn’t suspect anything by saying the empire was fine when she returned from a holiday. She would suggest ideas on how to prevent the train track being built. There idea was snowstorms which would halt any progress along with trying to lure Northern monsters into the build site. Granted it caused quite a few casualties to tormentors, wyverns, stalkers and ice wolves. But they did really care if it meant saving an entire race.

After about seven years Sombra was informed about a structure the miners found underground. It had the same silvery aura that the heart had. So of course it caught his attention after hearing Amore say she sensed the heart power underground. With one simple dynamite test a hole was blown into the exposed corner and for a brief moment a shocked and emaciated umbrum stared back, and the hole sealed itself.

It was that brief moment that sent Sombra into a research frenzy. He had built a lab earlier as he apparently had a thing for chemistry and magical research. So he began to order chippings from the wall which still held there power even after being separated. He did many experiments and eventually decided that explosions were simply too risky. So instead he, or more Opal, decided that he could burn it away with an acid. 

Through the process of making an acid that would burn away and hinder the regenerative ability, sombra got distracted by other things. after twenty seven years of friendship Sombra’s and Hope’s relationship had slowly grown to something more. They practically skipped the dating half mostly due to them knowing each other inside out. Before long there was a foal on the way. For about two weeks. The light and dark magic in the genes clashed and it led to the self-destruction of the embryo.

It happened multiple times. It wrecked both of their hearts and slowly Sombra’s work on the acid stopped as he cared for her. Sombra sent guards to deal with fights and those that misbehaved. Rarely he helped out on his own, even then I had to pester him to tell him I could stay with Hope. Opal was normally the one to convince him though. Hope stopped going to school after that. She didn’t tell Celestia about Sombra or the empire, just the miscarriages. Celestia rightfully let her off until she recovered.

Slowly after Hope started to recover after the first few Sombra returned to his work. His overall progress had slowed mostly from the emotional assault the pair went through. I used my time during that to stay with Hope. She always said she was fine but we all know no pony ever means that. But she enjoyed my company and it kept Sombra’s mind at rest knowing someone was with her.

I suggested that we could go to the library and see if there was anything to help her. But of course there wasn’t anything. So I asked her about her magic again. I told her that technically the embryo isn’t her, so she could potentially heal the cells. We eventually settled on the idea that when it does self-destruct it’s a simple case of apoptosis, which she new she could control as its exactly what the crystal heart does to the Umbrum. she was so excited about the fact she may be able to carry a foal full term she teleported to Sombra.

Eleven months later little Magnolia was born. She was more energetic than a pegasus when it learned how to use its wings. She had her mother’s fur and size while she had her father’s black hair. She had green eyes which Sombra said must have been from him as Umbrums are born with green eyes which shift colours. 

Sombra had become very close to finding the perfect acid. It could stop the wall rebuilding for about thirty seconds. But he would need a lot of it just to potentially get one umbrum out at a time. It still needed perfecting but still Sombra decided to take time of to be a father. That time off from research lasted seven years.

Unfortunately Celestia and Luna soon found out. So Sombra sent Hope and Magnolia away. At first Opal stayed with him. But the day before the princess arrived Opal disappeared in the direction that they went.