“Come on Som, you gotta keep up the pace,” Pye cheered Sombra, excitedly waving at him as if he was a distant spectacle she wanted to garner attention from.
The thin tyrant begrudgingly trudged towards the filly through the aisle of Meadowbrook’s apothecary shop. He cautiously moved his hooves, anxious to fall onto another of Meadowbrook’s shelves and topple her organic products again. He already endured enough of a mouthful from the mare as it was.
Speaking of which, Sombra was painfully aware of her constantly staring at him from the counter of the shop. Meadowbrook greeted the guest that circled around him. She held a seemingly serious conversation with them that was annoyingly too faint for him to hear. All of them took glances at him, but none dared to look him in the eyes as she would.
Did she fear for her precious pupil around Sombra? Was she concerned that he would corrupt this filly’s naive mind using his knowledge of the dark arts?
Sombra chuckled at the thought of this. Such a feat would no doubt be foal’s play for him. However, to have some common mudpony serve under him left an icky taste in his pride. If Sombra were to assemble servants, he would only approve of the most beautiful and dapper. They would need to be worthy of serving so closely to his splendor.
As Sombra frolicked in his thoughts, he failed to avoid a sharp pain when Pye tapped hard on his hoof. Sombra recoiled from the pain and rushed to soothe his hoof with the other. He then glared his ruby eyes at the filly.
“What!?” Sombra questioned her.
He displayed his sharp fangs at the filly, hoping to instill fear into her. He could not allow this act to pass unpunished.
Despite the grizzly face he gave, Pye appeared wholly unaffected by him. In fact, the filly approached him and rose up to grab a hold of both his cheeks.
“You can’t be spacing out like that, Som,” Pye said. Her reaction knocked Sombra into confusion. Did this filly not understand a threat when she sees one? “How’re you gonna remember all the herbs we sell if your head’s in the clouds ?”
Sombra swatted the filly’s hooves off from him. To his surprise, it required more force than he liked to admit. Either his body was taking far longer to recover or these country fillies had different anatomies compared to regular ponies. Thankfully, he did not need to exert any supernatural force to get his way. It would be best not to alarm the burly stallions observing him from a distance.
The two stallions who stuck close to Elder Moab enlisted themselves as security for Meadowbrook’s shop. However, their services were not solely meant for potential robbers and hecklers. No. This senile stallion had the audacity to make these muscle-heads his wardens.
The sheer thought of this enraged Sombra. But what was he to do? Sombra needed his body to recover if he hoped to match with their physique. Magic was not an option for him as long as he had the accursed ring adorned on his horn. With his current state, his predicament was the poorest it could possibly be.
Well, that’d only be if the princess arrived before he was restored to his prime.
Sombra could only hope that the tides would shift to his favor. He needed something miraculous to save him from this harrowing state. He couldn’t allow his pride to endure this shame forever.
“We gotta do everything we can to help Ms. Meadow,” Pye said with a puffed chest. “This is your first day, so I want to do everything I can to get you accommodated with the place. Hee hee, I always wanted to use that word. Accommodated,” Pye giggled at the word.
Sombra took a few steps away from Pye. He refused to give this filly another opportunity to touch his face.
“I am not here to be the servant of a mudpony,” Sombra retorted. “I’ll have you know that this unusual punishment is forced upon me by your leader.”
“Oh Somby,” Pye attempted to pat her hoof on his side, the tyrant instinctively took a step back from her. She still did not lose her smile. “You’re thinking about this the wrong way. Don’t you see that this is your chance to make friends?”
Sombra raised a brow at this.
“A lot of ponies come here to buy Ms. Meadow’s herbs,” Pye waved at the aisle of shelved jars and casings. “This was the best way for me to introduce myself to everyone here. It’s how I met my best friend, Pom. He’s a silly colt, but he’s creative and fun to be around. I also got to know about the passions many ponies around here have. You’d be surprised by the herbs they need for things they do.”
Sombra could only look dejectedly at the filly’s rambling. Her spout about friendship meant nothing to the tyrant. The only thing he required was power and he refused to lower himself to these animals for some ridiculous concept as friendship. The very idea of relying upon such filth that had become a bane to his ruling couldn’t seethe his rage more. He did not want to experience friendship. He wanted it destroyed, burned to a crisp, and thrown away to a time where it would never be remembered.
Though Sombra felt annoyed by Pye’s talk, there was one thing that astounded him. Despite knowing the truth of Sombra’s identity, this filly continued to talk casually to him with that dopey face of hers. It was as if his name did not bear any weight to her. He had to wonder if this filly held astonishing courage or was wholly stupid.
Pye suddenly surprised Sombra with an exhilarated jump. Perhaps it was the latter. “Ooh,” Pye said. “How about we move to this shelf over here?” Pye walked off to a nearby shelf that held colorful waxes spotted with dark tones. Knowing the filly would grab him should he be defiant, Sombra reluctantly joined her side. “These candles were made by me and Ms. Meadow. We mixed these with numerous fruits and herbs to help soothe the body of creatures. My favorite is the apple-scented one.”
“Of course, it is,” Sombra said in a bored voice.
Perhaps Twilight’s hasty arrival wouldn’t be too bad if it’d save him from this conversation.
Meadowbrook watched the pair from afar at her counter. She didn’t feel comfortable leaving her pupil with the unruly stallion, but she couldn’t invest her time in them at the moment. Her shop had gained an incredible number of customers she had to juggle through. They came in waves that kept her constricted to the counter and she couldn’t foresee the tides waning anytime soon.
Pye was the only pony she knew who wouldn’t start an incident with him. Her pupil was remarkably excited to be put in charge of Sombra’s orientation at the shop. The last thing Meadowbrook wanted was to damper her joy. Meadowbrook’s customers would have seen to that.
Meadowbrook knew their motive for being here from the look of their eyes. They marveled at Sombra from behind and whispered to each other with sullen faces.
They were curious.
Ever since the meeting with Elder Moab had passed, Meadowbrook noticed wary eyes upon her and Sombra. The residents spoke fearfully of the pair.
“Why do you think Meadowbrook kept him a secret?”
“Maybe he has her under his control? Did you know he has the power to manipulate others?”
“But he has that ring on his horn, right? How could he do that?”
“What? So, you mean Meadowbrook knowingly kept him a secret from all of us?”
“But why would she do that? Doesn’t she know that he’s a monster?”
“You don’t think she’s plotting something, do ya?”
Throngs of customers entered Meadowbrook’s shop and paraded her with questions about him. They’d ask her with the biggest anxiety and wariness she ever saw from her community.
Meadowbrook tried her best to assure them, promising that all was fine. But they didn’t believe her. She knew it from the faces they shared amongst each other. Meadowbrook wondered if their fear for Sombra would forever cloud their faith in her words.
Or perhaps they no longer trusted her.
She felt an uncomfortable distance from the residents. They seemed too cautious with their words and looked at her eerily as if she was someone not to be trusted. She wondered if she truly made a good call to keep Sombra a secret.
Meadowbrook had argued to herself that she did it to protect them.
How could her folks live peacefully if they had to worry about a tyrant living in their midst?
She did it for the sole act of protecting their minds from panicking.
And it wasn’t like she could abandon Sombra in the swamp. He was a meek creature, small and vulnerable. He required protection and healing. Everyone should’ve noticed that from the moment they gandered at his lanky form. She didn’t do this out of pride as a healer. There was no way she would be so prideful as to take precedence over her community, right?
“Of course, I wouldn’t,” Meadowbrook assured herself. She felt foolish for thinking such a silly thought. “I would never do that…”
Meadowbrook took more time than she liked to close her shop. Her shop continued to be flushed with customers from opening hours to closing time. The residents stared at Sombra from afar as if he was a rare animal at a zoo. Meadowbrook had to walk all of the folks out to shut down her shop. She didn’t like to be forceful with others, but sometimes folks don't give you much of a choice. At least the fishers were kind enough to help Meadowbrook escort the customers out before departing from her.
However, from the looks of things, Meadowbrook feared her day would only grow more hectic once she and Sombra were out in the open.
“Please don’t speak to anyone if you have nothing too good to say,” Meadowbrook urged Sombra as the pair walked across the bridge of Hayseed Swamp.
The residents gawked at them and gossiped amongst each other. Meadowbrook could only imagine the dreadful thoughts waning in their mind.
However, Sombra could care less.
“By the looks of things, I won’t have to concern myself about that,” Sombra responded. He adorned a grin on his face as if proud of the village’s reaction. “Look at them. They are scourged in delicious fear. Despite being a bunch of forest bumpkins, they at least recognize my majesty.”
“I’ve never heard someone use the word ‘majesty’ before,” Pye had spoken from between the pair.
Despite Meadowbrook’s advice to return home, Pye strongly insisted that she join their tour around the village.
Elder Moab instructed Meadowbrook to introduce Sombra to every part of their community. He wanted to be certain that everyone was aware of Sombra’s presence so that they’d remain vigilant while he stayed at Hayseed Swamp.
Meadowbrook had found the whole thing to be unnecessary. It was already bad enough that folks were wary of him at her shop, but to have him walking around the crevices of their home would no doubt alarm them.
At least, that was what she thought at first.
The residents were anxious, which was evident on their faces. However, none of them screamed once they saw him or picked a fight with him. Frankly, they were taking in his presence braver than she imagined. Meadowbrook wondered if she underestimated the villagers. She didn’t trust them to adjust to Sombra’s presence. And because she couldn’t trust them, they appeared to look at her darkly.
Am I heartless? Meadowbrook wondered to herself.
“That’s a silly thought, Ms. Meadow,” Pye chuckled. “There’s no pony else with a kind heart like yours.”
Meadowbrook blinked at Pye’s response, realizing that she accidentally voiced the question she was thinking. She then stroked the filly’s mane and smiled. That excellent drive to learn and Pye’s unbridled compassion would no doubt make her a remarkable healer.
“Thank you, Pye.” Meadowbrook said with gratitude.
With a pint of motivation in her spirit, Meadowbrook heartily showed Sombra through Hayseed Swamp. If she was going to do this then she should put all of her heart into it.
They first stopped by the port of Hayseed Swamp where canoes were decked at a long bridged jetty. The fishers would sail through the warren rivers to hunt for minnows and bass. They made good oil and sauce products that proved profitable for the village.
Meadowbrook then took him to the farmland near the coast of Hayseed Swamp. Farmers preserved the growth of mulberry and walnut trees. Mulberries were favored across the village and were also a large part of Equestria. The farmers took pride when Princess Celestia once visited the village to observe the growth of their delectable fruit trees.
Lastly, Meadowbrook showed Sombra through a wide bridge within the village where creatures laid out their stands to sell products and services. Homemade toys and tools were sold by residents to passing creatures. There was even an elder mare that posed as a fortune teller among their midst. Many creatures who met her would commonly ask her questions about their fortune, asking about success in their endeavors or hopefully meeting their kindred spirit.
Sombra found it to be hogwash and wished to challenge the elderly mare’s prediction. However, his aggressive approach to the mare scared her off. Meadowbrook had to reel him back with a hoof to prevent him from giving chase.
Sombra did not appear impressed by the tour. Even with Meadowbrook being informative and Pye seasoning the event with her jolly shenanigans, Sombra relentlessly complained of how wretched their home was. He would constantly make contrasts between Hayseed Swamp and the Crystal Empire. He found the structure of their home to be grimy and poorly maintained. He defined the residents to be uncivilized brutes without the least ample decor he would expect from commoners.
He viewed Hayseed Swamp as a stark disgrace compared to his home. And that unnerved Meadowbrook.
Meadowbrook was about ready to cut the tour short before she’d no longer contain her fury. Never did she think a stallion could fill her kind soul with such malevolence. She thought she’d be used to this stallion’s toxic language by now, but it would appear that there were just some things even beyond her.
“Look at that shrimp over there,” Meadowbrook noted the voice of a green stallion among a group of other stallions near the edge of a bridge. They were gathered around a barrel with cards and dice atop its lid. “Can you believe that’s supposed to be a tyrant who threatened Equestria? Hah, I bet I could snap his hoof with a light tap from mine.”
The green stallion tapped softly on the barrel, invoking a round of laughs from his fellow stallions. Meadowbrook could only frown at their open talk of violence upon others. Though, she had little room to judge after the last few weeks.
Her melancholy came to a swift end when she noted Sombra taking a step towards them. Meadowbrook quickly rushed in front of him and pressed on his chest.
“Hey,” she called to him. “Don’t worry about them. How ‘bout we head back to the house? You should eat somethin’ after all this walkin’.”
Sombra never looked at Meadowbrook. His eyes bore solely at the green stallion. “You say you can break me?” Sombra called out to the green stallion. The group of stallions beamed at Sombra, surprised by the sudden approach. “I would like to see you try.”
Sombra walked around Meadowbrook and confronted the group of stallions. The green stallion jerked his neck back and blinked rapidly at Sombra. But after looking down on Sombra's form again, the stallion chuckled and stood before Sombra. The green stallion stood inches above Sombra, and his body was burly and thick compared to Sombra’s limber state.
“You got some guts comin’ here, runt,” the stallion guffawed. “Didn’t like what I said, did ya? Well, what’re you gonna do about it? You gonna pound me to death with those scrawny little hooves of yours?”
Sombra twitched his eyes at the stallion’s blatant insult. Meadowbrook feared he would swing a hoof at the stallion. And he certainly would have had Pye not interjected in time.
Pye puffed her chest at the green stallion and sported a cocky grin. “You think you can beat Sombra? Hah, you couldn’t even wrap your hoof around a bass. That’s right, I saw that time you fell in the river trying to catch a loose fish from your net.”
The green stallion gaped at the young filly. “How did you”—he then heard his friends snickering behind—“Hey, shut it! That was only one time, okay?”
“Ah, so you’re an idiot,” Sombra concluded. “I figured a meathead such as you would often make a clown of yourself. That head of yours must be as vacant as the fish you bathe with.”
“You talk a lot of smack for a stallion who lost a lot,” the stallion countered.
“Perhaps. But at least I was not bested by marine life.”
The green stallion took another step toward Sombra, bearing his blue eyes closely upon Sombra’s. “Enough talk. What do you plan to do about it, huh?”
“Ooh, ooh,” Pye said as she raised her hoof excitedly. “You guys could settle things in a hoof wrestle. That’s the stallion-duel that’s done the most, right?”
“Hah, I like that,” the green stallion chuckled. “Maybe I’ll get to snap that thin little hoof of yours after all. Unless you’re not stallion enough to put your hoof on the table.”
Sombra immediately approached the barrel, prompting the other stallions to back away. He rested his knee on the lid and glared at the green stallion. “ Put that hoof of yours on this barrel. It will be a pleasure to humiliate you.”
Meadowbrook rushed over to Sombra's side and whispered to his ear, “Sombra, wait. You have nothin’ to prove here.”
“Back away from me,” Sombra barked, which prompted her into taking a couple of steps until she landed on her flank, her skirt rippling a bit. “I won’t let this peasant talk this way to me, and I have no interest in being considered a weakling to him.”
“You’re supposed to be gettin’ along with the folks here, not causin’ a ruckus! How’s this supposed to help?”
“Let him vent, Meadow,” the green stallion said as he joined his hoof on the barrel. “Somebody’s gotta put him in his place. And from the looks of it, that somebody will be me.”
A stallion who immediately enlisted himself as the referee tied both Sombra and the green stallion’s hoof together with bandages. Looking upon the physique of both of their hooves, Meadowbrook was anxious because she knew Sombra was going to end up with a cast soon. However Sombra wished to demean the stallion, and it was something that baffled Meadowbrook because the green stallion was stronger and more resolute.
How could Sombra possibly think he could win this matchup?
The referee initiated the match without a second to spare, and right when the wrestling got started Sombra was on the brink of losing. His thin muscles were straining as struggled to retain the little space he had from the barrel.
Meadowbrook noticed the bystanders gathering around them and cheering on for the match. Creatures were making bets and touted for their champion’s victory. This was the last thing Meadowbrook wanted today.
“Looks like you were all talk,” the green stallion guffawed. “Hey, think I might get a medal from Princess Twilight after I wipe the floor with ya?”
Sombra gritted his teeth. Meadowbrook sensed an uncomfortable aura around him. It felt cold and unnerving,which made her skin jump.
And then she saw it. They all saw it.
A strange blackness seeped out of Sombra’s skin. It crawled and latched onto his strained hoof like a horde of leeches.
“What is that?” The stallion asked.
He attempted to jerk his hoof away from the darkness crawling on Sombra, but the bandage held him tight. Not only that, he yelped when Sombra tightened his grip upon the stallion.
“This is your reckoning,” Sombra said.
Sombra quickly turned the tide of the match by pushing the stallion’s hoof toward the other side of the barrel. The stallion squirmed and grunted as he desperately tried to protect the little space he had left.
“That’s right, Som,” Pye cheered. “Keep it going! You’re nearly there!”
“That better not be magic,” the stallion growled.
“You see the ring,” Sombra responded. “This is all-natural. But that should be the least of your worries. You should be hoping that this nasty hoof of yours doesn’t snap off.”
“Oh, don’t get on your high horse yet!” The stallion retaliated. “You ain’t seen the best of me yet!”
The stallion gritted his teeth and popped veins off of his hoof as he was trying to push down Sombra’s blackened hoof. Meadowbrook saw the tyrant grinning at the stallion’s desperate hurdle, relishing at his agony like the horrid tyrant he was claimed to be.
But then, she noted the smile gradually draining from his face. The darkness that coated his hoof began to dissipate, withering away like dust.
The green stallion could see himself garnering space and with a single burst, the stallion slammed Sombra’s hoof to the lid of the barrel. The stallion popped off from the barrel and raised his other hoof toward the crowd.
As the stallion boasted the cheering crowd, Meadowbrook unwrapped the bandage from their hooves. Meadowbrook was aware of his stunned look upon his hoof. She could already tell his rage was festering fast.
“Come on,” Meadowbrook said. “Let’s go back.”
“No,” Sombra retorted, before turning his attention to the stallion. “I demand a best out of three. I can assure you won’t have the same luck again.”
“Probably not,” the stallion admitted. “You got some weird stuff crawling in your muscles. I had to give everything I got just to get my win. You might be scrawny, but you’re definitely strong.”
“That’s right,” Pye chimed and patted his hoof on Sombra’s back. “You shouldn’t underestimate Som like that. He’s full of surprises.”
“Enough with the excuses,” Sombra growled. He placed his hoof on the barrel again. It appeared stained with nasty bruises and gashes.
Meadowbrook gaped upon the wound before hissing. “Stop,”
She pinched Sombra’s ear and pulled him hard from the barrel. Sombra yelped at the sharp pain, compelled to follow Meadowbrook’s miraculous force.
“Ow, ow, ow,” Sombra yelped. “What’re you doing!? Release me this instant!”
“Woah, what happened to his hoof,” the green stallion said when he noted Sombra’s hoof. He then looked appallingly at his own hoof, which shared a few cuts of its own. “What happened to mine!?”
“Pye, fix ’im up, will ya?” Meadowbrook asked.
Pye saluted her and came to the stallion’s aid. Maybe his small wound will teach him not to boast bravado so carelessly, although...Meadowbrook felt she may never understand how stallions could be so thick-headed like that.
Meadowbrook dragged Sombra to a coast a distance away from the bridge. Miraculously, it was just her and Sombra in the area. She felt a sense of peace with nobody staring at her, but she had little focus to relish at the moment.
“What are you doing?” Sombra questioned as he finally managed to separate himself from Meadowbrook. He pressed upon his reddened ear, desperately trying to soothe the pain. “How dare you interrupt my duel.”
“Give me your hoof?” Meadowbrook requested. She did not wait for his consent, knowing this stallion would be too proud to comply. She seized hold of his hoof and showed him nasty gashes. “Look at this. It’s your fault that this happened. You’re supposed to allow your body to heal but instead, you push it to do things it’s not yet ready for. What was that darkness anyways?”
“My body is not like the average pony,” Sombra responded. “It embraced the darkness and was trained to maintain it. A simple hoof wrestling with a mudpony would be a simple feat for someone such as I. At least, it was supposed to be.”
Meadowbrook glared at him for an uncomfortable moment and then sighed. She withdrew bandages from her bag and began to wrap his hoof.
“Whatever that was, I don’t want you doing it again,” Meadowbrook advised. “You hear?”
“Are you not going to prod for more information about my peculiar talent?”
“Would you tell me if I asked?”
“…No. But you’re taking this rather calmly. Too calmly, I dare say.”
“You’re an idiot, you know that,” Meadowbrook snapped. “You let one stallion bad out you and ya decide to challenge him in some petty fight. Is your dignity so important that you have to explode on everyone?”
“Of course it is,” Sombra said matter-of-factly, earning a tightening on his bandage that elected a yelp from Sombra. “I don’t regret my decision. I’ve always had to endure others looking down on me. It frequently fell on me to defend myself because no pony else would do so in my stead.”
Meadowbrook wrapped the end of the bandage in a ribbon before she gave a droopy look at Sombra. “Was it really that bad at the Crystal Empire?”
“Ponies looked oddly at me because I was different. They couldn’t love me for what I was, so they ignored me and kept their distance. That sense of rejection festered in my soul for a long time. But, not anymore. I don’t intend on letting anyone force me to feel that way again. That is why I must defend my name. Because that is all that’s left to protect.”
“Then let me help you,” Meadowbrook said. Her offer stunned Sombra, raising a brow at her. “You don’t have to feel rejected by others. Even if all the creatures in the world refuse to accept you, you could at least have me and Pye for company.”
“You expect me to settle for a pair of swamp dwellers ?” Sombra sighed and turned towards the wide river before them. “You still underestimate my greed. But, something tells me that I am also underestimating yours as well.”
“I’m not greedy,” She finished her bandaging, “I just want to show you that there’s more to life than just liberating the world,”
Suddenly Meadowbrook walked off a bit before turning to face him, “We aren’t as different as you think we are, really.”
“And what makes you say that?” Sombra responded with a raised eyebrow.
“Both of us are ponies that’re from time periods long gone from this one,” Meadowbrook stated. “The eras we were born in ended a thousand years ago but we’re still here, walking among a world that’s far unlike our own. Some things may appear the same, but the creatures of this generation aren’t like the ones we knew from before. I’d say it’s something that’s hard to swallow everyday, ain’t it?”
“That is a bold claim to make,” Sombra argued. “You hail from a forest tribe of shamans while I ruled a kingdom with an iron hoof. The only reason you were taken to limbo, Mage Meadowbrook, was to save Equestria from a growing evil. I, on the other hand, was banished as punishment for the acts of tyranny I inflicted on the citizens of the Crystal Empire.”
“Then why not let me be the first,” Meadowbrook claimed. “I know the horrible things you have done, and I can see that there’s more to you than the terrible tyrant to claim to be. All I’m tryin’ to do is offer you something more precious than some fancy status.”
Sombra gazed into Meadowbrook’s turquoise eyes. He saw the firm resolution burning in her eyes. Her kindness was genuine. There wasn’t a shed of darkness within them he could expose.
But that only confused him even more. There had to be something this mare was plotting to get out of him. No pony could nonchalantly give themselves to someone without something in return.
Not even Radiant, in the end, could do that for him.
“You make it sound so simple,” Sombra sighed. “But I know, that we both know, that’s not the case.”
“Maybe not,” Meadowbrook admitted, and yet her face gleamed with confidence.
Staring at her stirred something strange within Sombra. Something he hasn’t felt in a long time that he believed to have died.
This mare is dangerous. Despite his claim, Sombra couldn’t help but reward the mare with a grin. Or was this his smile?
“But I’m still willin’ to try,” Meadowbrook said. “How ’bout you?”