“Hold it, you were a king?” Twilight asked.
“For a time,” Ombra began, “though it was a title earned through fear over merit.”
“So you were a bad king?”
“Would you wish to be my subject?” Ombra asked, his voice as cold as it had ever been.
“No offense, but I don’t think I would.”
“That shows intelligence. I lack the empathy to properly rule.”
Twilight shuddered a little. “How can you talk about something like that and sound like you don’t care?”
“My path demands that I not bow to emotion. It is difficult to kill a father when one cares for his foal that fails to understand why his death was necessary. It is difficult to kill that stallion when you know his family will starve over winter because there is no pony to bring money to the household. It is difficult to look into his eyes when he asks you why he is dying. I cannot afford to care.”
“Everypony can afford to care,” Twilight said quietly, “because if you don’t care, you’re just a monster.”
Ombra stood stiffly. “I am that monster. I must be that monster, for there is none other to take my place.”
“So if I died, you’d move on and forget about me? If you thought I needed to die, you’d just kill me and be done with it?”
Ombra stared at her, and Twilight thought she saw his golden eyes soften for a moment before they returned to their normal icy stare. “Yes.”
“You sure now how to make a mare feel safe.”
“I apologise, I had assumed you wished honesty.”
“I did, I just didn’t expect that answer.”
“Why?”
“Well, I’ve been raised to think ponies should care about each other.”
Ombra’s stare turned almost confused. “I thought I had explained that I could not afford to care.”
“You did, but you didn’t convince me.”
“May I provide another example?”
“Of course.”
“During my time as king, there was a small filly who took to me. Her father had left the tribe, and her mother died during her birth. I became her father for all but blood. I raised her to be what I was not. I taught her to care. I taught her to trust in other ponies. I taught her to love and be loved. Another in the tribe believed I was foolish to throw aside honour, and so he used my own values against me. I found her with her leg torn from her, left to die alone. She lived long enough to ask me why she was in pain, to tell me she didn’t understand what was happening to her. I had to watch to her, the closest thing to a true family I have ever had, die. I had to live on knowing that if I had of ignored her, she would not have died. Do you understand now why I cannot afford to care?”
Twilight was shocked and saddened. Ombra’s voice had broken during his small speech, and for that brief moment he wasn’t the cold and efficient murderer. He was simply another pony, one whose life had been different from hers in a way she could barely comprehend.
“What did you do after that?’ she asked, her voice quiet again.
“I killed the foals of the stallion that had killed mine. I threw them at his hooves so that he could watch his family die. I killed him as well. That was when I left the tribe.”
Ombra’s voice was steady and cold again. He was the Assassin again.
“What was she like? Your... daughter?”
Ombra’s eyes flashed in anger, but it was brief. “She was intelligent, kind hearted, and curious. She was always open to new things, and she had many close friends. She was very much like you.”
Twilight cocked her head, thinking a moment. “Is that why you chose to protect me instead of one of the others?”
Ombra’s eyes softened again. “Yes. Let us talk no more of the past this night. You are tired and need sleep.”
“You’re tired too,” Twilight pointed out.
“I am used to long days between rests. My judgement and skills will not be impaired for another day, perhaps two.”
“How long have you been awake so far?”
“Two days and nights.”
“That’s not possible,” Twilight stated. “After that amount of time you should be acting like a zombie. Your body can’t take that long without sleep. It just can’t.”
“Would you have believed I could break an oak door before you saw it?”
Twilight thought back to how she had met Ombra. Three stallions had brandishing weapons at her in the library when Ombra had, seemingly without effort, broken down her door with his shoulder. She also remembered how quickly he had reacted to the situation, exploding into motion faster than any pony she had ever seen, even Rainbow Dash. She shook her head.
“I am not as you are Twilight. Remember this before you doubt me. Rest now, I will guard you.”
Despite her racing mind, the unicorn laid her head down and quickly fell into the sleep of the truly exhausted. Ombra simply sat, facing the entrance to the cave with his sword at his side. As he stood guard through the long night, he remembered the young filly Twilight had called his daughter.
When she had found him, she had no name. He had taken it upon himself to name her. Cuori Fiori.
Hearts Flower.
Author's Notes And Translations
La Verità = The Truth
Cuori Fiori = Hearts Flower
Can you find Ombra's little slip? There's one in there. Just one.