//------------------------------//
// 5~Familiar Unfamiliarity 
// Story: The Shadow's Edge 
// by Centurion Pike-Wall 
//------------------------------//

Shining's eyes opened up, suddenly feeling wide awake. 

Despite his mind telling him to awaken, his body felt as if a carriage had run over him. Every segment of his body seemed to throb with a dull agony. His face and forelegs was the focal point of that pain, accompanied by a strange feeling like he was covered in congealed mud. 

His eyes were drawn to the roof over his head; mainly the fact it was an actual roof, and not the top of the cave or the artificial dome of the Frozen North. Lines of wooden beams ran along the roof, with another beam running perpendicular to them acting as a support. The roof itself appeared to be made out of a kind of thick white cloth. Strange designs ran along the wooden beams, as well as... an array of small bones, handing on wooden cords, dangling from the ceiling. 

Despite the protestation of his body, he managed to force himself to sit up, throwing off a fur blanket. He looked around, seeing he sat in an empty room of sorts. The room was circular, with several beds lining the walls interspaced by chests and tables filled with small bundles of burning plants that filled the room with a sweet, somewhat acrid smoke. In the center of the room sat a large stove, which sent a small plume of smoke upwards that exited out a hole in the center of the room. 

Looking down, he saw that his forelegs were indeed covered in something. It was a kind of off-white paste, caked onto his forelegs and spiderwebbed in cracks. He brought up one of his hooves, eyes going wide as he saw the thicker fur that accompanied his natural form. 

He looked around, running a hoof along both of his shoulders in search of the charm containing his disguise. Nothing turned up from his search; it must have broken off and been lost when he was being dragged away by Sombra. 

Speaking of the Tyrant, a shifting out of the corner of his eyes revealed that he wasn't completely alone. Lying in his own bed, almost directly across from him, was King Sombra. His form tossed and turned, his regalia missing and a towel laid over his eyes. Shining stared at the sleeping form of his pursuer, eyes wide and staring. 

"Hey, you're awake!", a voice said, drawing his attention away from Sombra and towards the door. 

Standing at the entrance to the room, pushing aside a flap of leather that acted as a door, stood one of the Umbrum who found him. The Umbrum was female, standing a little bit shorter than himself and with her fur much longer. Her coat was a dark purple, her pale green mane divided into an array of braids running down the back of her neck. She wore a heavy coat, lined with fur and held in place by bone-white buttons, along with a heavy scarf and leather bracers along each foreleg. 

She was upon him in a matter of seconds, placing a bowl of water between his legs and grabbing ahold of his head. "Alright, good, good. Your burns are healing nicely. Note to self: Get more of those berries next time we're near that grove. Anyway, let's see... Eyes look good, no flickering." She stopped, lifting his jaw upwards and examining him from all angles. "By the Spirits, your teeth are so clean."

Finally managing to wiggle out of the Umbrum's grip, Shining shuffled away as far as he could. He met her curious expression with a glare, asking, "Who are you? W-where am I?"

"Ah, disorientation. That's to be expected", the Umbrum said, before grabbing the bowl and beginning to remove the paste applied to his forelegs and face. "As for names, mine's Ciaran. What's yours?"

"Sh-shining Armor", Shining replied. 

Ciaran cocked her head, giving him a quizzical look. "That's an odd name."

"Y-yeah?", Shining said. "I'm... not from around here?"

"Must be from one of the Keeps", another voice said. This one revealed the male Umbrum that had found him; a figure even bigger than Shining. His fur was a light black, with a mane colored a dark shade of gray and pulled back into a braid. He wore similar clothes to that of Ciaran, save for his coat being a dark blue and accompanied by a conical fur hat. "So where are you from? Atvis Heights? Nalakit? ...Sombrashaven?"

"Simmer down, Shroud", Ciaran said. "He's likely still disorientated from... whatever happened. Give him a few hours, and he should be more than capable of answering you or your father's questions."

Shroud blew air out through his teeth; a strange, deep whistling noise. He redirected his attention away from Shining and towards the unconscious Sombra. "That one still hasn't woken up yet?"

"Not that I've seen", Ciaran said, finally finishing washing away the paste. Shining shivered, the cold water soaking into his fur, before fading away due to the inherent warmth of the room. "Your burns have healed nicely", Ciaran remarked, gesturing to the faded lines of singed fur. "You'll be staying in here for a few days, which should give your fur enough time to grow back in right. Now, don't go... trying to wrestle a Will-o-Wisp or whatever you did to earn these burns."

"Yeah, you were banged up pretty bad", Shroud said. "You and your friend over there were almost-"

"He's not my friend", Shining said. "He attacked me and my wife."

"Ah", Shroud said. "Know who he is? We might be able to give him over to the Tsereg if it was serious enough."

"King Sombra, if you've heard of him."

At that name, both of them froze solid, the bowl of water in Ciaran's magic falling to the ground and spraying the wooden floor with water. They stared at him, before both of them turning their gaze's over to the sleeping form of Sombra. Leaning over slightly, Shining saw an emotion he never thought he'd see when discussing an enemy of Equestria: Awe. Ciaran asked, "You're sure?"

"Yeah", Shining said. "Why?"

"I... I'm going to go get father", Shroud said, turning back to look at Shining. "He'll want to talk to you. About... all of this."