//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: A Shadow Among Light // by Theforrealdeal //------------------------------// Umbra jolted awake, his head shooting up from the bench. As he jerked upwards, his head slammed into the low roof above him, sending pain down his neck and shaking his vision. A round bump formed and throbbed at the point of impact. He rubbed the new injury on his temple with a hoof. His chest rapidly pulsed as both his heart and his lungs frantically raced each other. Sombra's laughter still echoed clearly in his ears. The tall unicorn searched his surroundings, blinking quickly to adjust his vision. The cramped wooden room of the caravan gave reassurance that he was not still dreaming. Relief washed over him like a rogue ocean wave. It forced a heavy sigh out of the stallion while at the same time assuaging him to sit back down. Knowing he was safe from Sombra made him relax. He thought back to the dream—back to what his father had commanded of him. Sombra wanted him to walk in his hoof-prints and enslave the Crystal Empire as he had done before. Umbra knew that it was impossible, though. He had seen how Sombra ruled his empire; he witnessed the atrocities Sombra committed upon the innocent crystal ponies. Sombra wasn't a ruler. He was a dictator, evil. Umbra knew that. He did not want to become the same. He was incapable of doing those things. The very thought of him ruling over the crystal ponies as Sombra had, as a bloodthirsty tyrant, sent shivers down his spine. Umbra took an oath to himself. He vowed to never follow in the hoofsteps of his father. He would do everything in his power to ensure he never became as Sombra. He would hold to this oath for as long as he lived. Sombra's words rang in his head, taunting him as they echoed. "They imprisoned me for a thousand years, they will do the same to you!" A thousand years imprisonment didn't sound very fun. If he was to prevent that from happening, he needed to make sure nopony ever found out who he was. So long as his identity stayed hidden, he would be able to make a life here. A normal life, away from the evil Sombra wanted for him. "They must never know who I am." With a new purpose, Umbra stood up and walked outside. He was ready to start the day, ready to start building the foundation for his new life. He looked up at the sky. The moon shone brightly amongst dozens of stars that illuminated the forest. Umbra hadn't realized how little he actually slept. He stood outside the doorway, pondering what he should do. His thoughts were interrupted by the loud grumbling of his stomach. He lifted a hoof to his belly and realized he had not eaten anything for an entire day. Technically, he hadn't eaten in a thousand years since Sombra cast his curse. He was starting to feel it. The stallion decided that it was about time he got some food. He couldn't buy any food from any local markets. He didn't have any money. "They wouldn't even be open this early," he thought. Umbra looked through the dense foliage around him, a thought crossing his mind that there could be food within the green depths. *** The sun's rays poked through the dense forest canopy, scattering its light across the ground. A light breeze blew through the trees and shook the branches above. The light was only visible in small patches leaving a serene darkness about. The sound of birdsong could be heard above the rattling of leaves in the wind, though no birds could be seen. A lone unicorn walked through the foliage. He did not notice the ominous beauty of the dark woods, nor did he care. All his thoughts were focused on locating some food. He had been searching the forest for a couple of hours already, but had yet to find anything. Not a single wild berry or fruit could be found in the forest. He was becoming aggravated. Though discouraged, Umbra continued his search. His hate of the forest increased as his stomach continued to growl. After a what felt like decades, the young stallion ended up at the forest's edge. The town was fairly visible through the trees, a row of houses sat before him. He stood at the edge of the forest and stared at the town, watching its inhabitants from a safe distance where he wouldn't be seen. Umbra could see a few ponies here and there, going about their own business. Two foals ran about chasing each other while a mare tended to her garden. A pegasus with hooves and saddlebags full of goods flew low above the ground. A small box fell out of one of the bags and a passerby picked it up and returned it to the pegasus. They both shared thanks and continued on with their lives. He sat down as thoughts from seeing those ponies live and interact filled his head. He thought of how only one pony knew about him. Only one pony knew he existed, and that pony was dead. The residents of that town knew each other, and more importantly, were known by other ponies. They were real, they existed in each others minds. Umbra however, was not known by anyone. He knew of them, but they didn't know of him. Umbra's mind wandered deep into thought. "If nopony knows about me, am I real?" The question burned in his mind. "Do I not exist, or am I just an invisible pony, living transparent to the lives of everyone else?" Umbra laid his head on his hooves. "If I go missing, nopony would even know. Then again, how could I go missing if I wasn't even there in the first place?" He looked back to the ponies in the town. "I see them; they exist to me. But they don't see me; they have never seen or even heard of me. Does that mean I don't exist to them?" He thought about himself and everything he had been through. Sneaking around the Crystal Empire, jumping off the train, finding the broken caravan in the woods, all those things were real and they had happened to him. He knew that. "I exist to myself. I know what I've done and its all been real to me. I know I'm real, even if its only to myself." He thought of how nice it must be to live in a house and not have to worry about where to get food. Having friendly neighbors that are willing to help at a moment’s notice. Knowing someone that knows you back. Being real to someone else. Having someone know you exist. Umbra sighed and looked at his hooves. "Someday I'll be known," he thought to himself. "Someday." The ground beneath his hooves began to lightly tremble. The shaking was soft, but it was enough to distract him from his thoughts. Umbra lifted his head and looked back to the town. Everypony he saw before had vanished. He looked at the buildings. All the doors were shut as well as the shutters on the windows. Curiosity, as it always had in the past, got the best of him. The unicorn left the safety of the thicket and cautiously walked towards the town. With every step closer, he scanned each house, watching the windows and doors, making sure he would remain unseen. The stallion neared the row of houses where he had seen the ponies earlier. He stood outside the alleyway between two buildings. The ground still rumbled softly beneath his hooves. Umbra stepped into the shadow of the alley and walked through. He walked to the end and slowly poked his head around the corner. The entire street was empty. All the windows and doors were shut on every building. He stepped out into the street, looking for any sign of life. Nothing. Not a single pony walked down the street. It was as if a storm warning was issued and everypony had taken shelter. Umbra walked down the street, observing the town as he went. The town was deathly quiet, too quiet. Not even the birds were singing. The ominous silence was making him nervous. "Where is everypony?" he thought anxiously. He had seen ponies earlier, they must have gone into hiding. What were they afraid of? Umbra began scanning the town for any unknown danger. He watched the roofs, around corners, he even checked behind his back several times. It was like walking through a ghost town, a very well kept ghost town. As he walked through the streets of the town, Umbra came across a set of tables in front of a restaurant. One of the tables in particular caught his eye, a single pink earth pony was seated at it. She sat low to the ground with her head resting sideways on the table. One of her forehooves swung back and forth limply across the ground, tracing a circular path in the dirt. Her ears drooped over her head that faced away from the stallion. Compared to her bright colors, the pink pony looked awfully gloomy. The only indication of life was a heavy sigh that came from the mare. Something about her seemed familiar to him. He wasn't entirely sure but it felt as if he had seen her before. He got closer to the pony and took a better look at her. Still, nothing about her brought any memories back to him. Umbra stopped next to the pink mare. She didn't even bat an ear at his presence. He wasn't entirely sure the depressed pony knew he was there. Although he had never met this pony, Umbra felt bad for her. Seeing somepony so sad have him an awful feeling. He couldn't leave her like this. She was also the only pony he had seen yet so he had to say something. Umbra opened his mouth to speak but quickly closed it. "What should I say? I've never spoken to anyone but my father before!" His mind raced as it tried to find something to say. When he finally spoke up, his voice was soft and he stumbled on his words. "Um...is everything...alright?" The pink mare's ear perked up when she heard him though she didn't move. She sighed again and spoke up. "No, nothing is alright. I know I've messed up before but this is definitely the worst!" she said while gesturing a hoof towards everything around her. Umbra followed her hoof and looked around, not seeing anything particularly wrong. He was about to ask what but the mare continued. "How am I going to live this down? Everyone in Ponyville is gonna hate me, not to mention my friends!" The pony sniffled and started whimpering. "I'm such a bad pony." Umbra felt his own mood drop and he frowned sympathetically. He couldn't just leave this poor mare like this. He needed to say something. "I-I'm not quite sure what your problem is," he spoke up. "But I know that your mistakes don't really make you who you are right?" The pink pony ended her crying with a sniff and listened. Umbra took it as a sign to continue. "Only you can decide who you are, not your mistakes. I'm sure that your friends can forgive you for whatever you've done, so long as you forgive yourself too." He patted her shoulder gently with a hoof. Without lifting her head from the table, she looked up at him, blue eyes glistening as she stared. A small but warm smile rested on her face. Umbra could see tear stains on her face and the redness in her eyes that confirmed she was crying, yet no more tears fell. With her head still on the table, the pink mare finally spoke up. "Thank you. That...that actually helped," she said with sincerity in her voice. He returned the smile she gave him. Suddenly the mare's eyes narrowed and her smile slowly faded. She stared intensely at him, Umbra's own smile slowly vanished. Her hard gaze was unsettling to him. He didn't know what to do. He just stood there awkwardly under the gaze of her blue eyes. After an uncomfortably long moment, she spoke up. "Have I seen you before?" she questioned skeptically. "Um...n-no." Umbra's heart started racing. Did she know about Sombra? His whole plan of living here could fall apart right here. The earth pony hummed in thought. Umbra was ready to make a mad dash for the forest if he had to. Her eyes reopened fully again and she spoke in a high yet deflated voice. "I guess we haven't met then!" Umbra sighed in relief. That was too close. "I'm Pinkie Pie...well at least I think I'm Pinkie Pie. Could be any one of us really." she stopped for a moment in thought before continuing. "Anyway, are you new in town?" Umbra was confused about what she had meant by 'could be any one of us'. He tried thinking about it but realized he had been asked a question. "Oh, um yeah I'm new here. My name is Umbra." "Well welcome to Ponyville, Umbra! Normally I would celebrate this occasion with one of my 'Welcome to Ponyville' parties but I'm a little busy with my uh..."me-problem" right now," she said, adding emphasis with two raised hooves. Pinkie offered a small chuckle that sounded empty and forced before sighing again. However, she quickly recovered and asked, "Anyway, where're you from?" Umbra drew a blank. He had no idea how to answer that, he hadn't thought of a good cover-up story yet. He couldn't tell her he was from the empire, so he said the first thing that came to mind. "Uh-um, I came in from... uh that way," he deadpanned, pointing in the direction of the forest. Pinkie followed the direction of his hoof. "You came through the Everfree forest?" she asked sounding quite surprised. "Um, y-yeah," he offered a sheepish grin. Umbra's stomach grumbled loudly, interrupting the conversation and making his cheeks warm with embarrassment. It also reminded him of why he left his shelter in the first place. "Well I need to get going. It was nice meeting you Pinkie Pie." Pinkie looked up at him. "Okay. I'm sorry nopony else is out here to meet you. That's kinda my fault too. I know you'll make plenty of friends here. I'll get back to you on that welcome party, as soon as I or the real Pinkie get outta this mess!" Umbra waved goodbye and continued his walk down the street. He could hear Pinkie talking to herself. Something about whether or not she was Pinkie Pie. Her voice trailed away as the distance between him and her expanded. While it had been the first time he introduced himself to someone, Umbra thought it went pretty well. It was a little odd at first but it eventually played out. Pinkie Pie seemed like a nice pony. He realized he was now known by a resident of the town. Umbra was no longer an invisible pony. It was official, somepony other than Sombra knew he existed. He existed to Pinkie Pie. She knew about him and he knew about her and because of that, Umbra was real. It felt pretty good to him. Umbra was glad he stopped by the mare. Not only did he feel good about helping her, he also learned something. He now knew that this town was called Ponyville and the forest was called the Everfree forest. The more he knew, the better off he was. His introduction with Pinkie Pie also gave him a new confidence of himself. He walked through the still deserted streets of Ponyville, taking in the sights it possessed. The small town was much different from the Crystal Empire. Even though he had only been outside the castle once, Umbra thought he preferred the town over the city. It was the little details of the town that Umbra liked. He liked how everything was spread out, plenty of open space between buildings, plenty of room to breathe. Walking on grass and dirt felt much better than crystal and rock. Above the houses and buildings he could see hills and mountains in the distance. The Crystal Empire had none of these things. Umbra rounded a corner in the road and started heading back towards the forest. A small noise shattered the peaceful silence of the empty town, making Umbra's ears stand up. The noise sounded quite a lot like a pony's voice. He stopped in the middle of the road to listen. The noise gradually became clearer and louder until Umbra could make out a single word. "Fun?" Umbra said out loud. It definitely was a pony's voice and it was repeating the word over and over again. He looked all around him, trying to locate the source of the sound. It felt like the voice was coming from all around him, yet he saw nothing to confirm that. The voice just repeated, "Fun! Fun! Fun!" over and over again with no set pattern to it. It was as if a whole parade of ponies was shouting all at different times. It was maddening. Umbra was at the point of panicking when the ground began to shake again only this time, much more violently than before. The voice became much louder behind Umbra, making him instinctively spin around to locate the sound. Umbra's eyes grew wide with fear. Down the street, a small army of hyperactive pink mares charged forward. Some ran on the ground while others bounced and hopped through the street, each of them shouting and giggling all the while. They were coming right towards him. Umbra's mind kicked into gear and he finally turned and ran. He darted behind the closest building, just as the flood of pink ponies rushed past. Umbra had to cover his ears. the sound was deafening. He sank to the ground as it shook and rumbled beneath him. It was like the town was being demolished by a pink storm. Umbra could only hold to the ground and hope it blew over soon. He felt helpless as the ground shook from the several dozen sets of hooves pounding on it. Just as it started, the pink storm slowly faded into the distance of the town. Umbra uncovered his ears and stood up. His hooves still shook and his ears still rang as painful reminders. He walked out from behind the building. Umbra could still see some of the pink mares running down the street in the distance. "I think that's enough Ponyville for today," he said to himself in a shaky voice. *** It was a short trip back to the forest. Umbra didn't want to have any more surprises so he moved quickly. Once he reached the edge of the forest, it wasn't long before he found the broken caravan. Umbra was exhausted. He had been up and walking the whole day. He never found any food in the forest and was too distracted in the town to get some. He was running on empty. Umbra opened the little door and ducked his head to get inside. He paused halfway through the door. The white dagger in the floor stared at him, Umbra stared back. The longer he stared at the blade, the more uneasy he felt. The unicorn shook his head and finally walked inside, stepping over the dagger. He closed the door behind him, making sure it was shut tight. Without much thought, Umbra laid down on his makeshift bench-bed. His stomach ached and grumbled as he laid there. Umbra could only groan in response. He let the lack of energy overcome him. It slowly forced his mind to accept the much needed rest that sleep generously offered. Umbra's eyes fell as consciousness left him and he went to sleep. *** A large iron door stood in front of him, illuminated by two torches on either side that burned with red fire. The door was covered in dirt and stained with dark spots. A thick wooden brace that ran across prevented the door from opening. Umbra looked around him. He was standing in a small stone room with barely enough room to fit him. The stone was absolutely seamless on every corner of the room. Umbra's shadow stood behind him on the wall, the only thing in the room besides Umbra himself. With no other place to go, Umbra slid the brace away and pulled the iron door open. The hinges screeched as metal scraped against metal. The room outside was completely dark. Umbra grabbed one of the torches with his magic and hovered it in the doorframe. The red light revealed a metal fence-like floor that extended into the darkness. Umbra levitated the torch close to him and stepped through the door. His hooves made loud clanking sounds on the metal floor. The sounds echoed around him in the darkness. It was the only sound he could hear above the silence. All he could do was press forward into the darkness and hope it would lead somewhere. The darkness surrounded him. What the darkness concealed, Umbra did not know. He worried about what could be lurking in the shadows. Yet despite himself, the stallion carried on. The red light of the torch illuminated a figure in the darkness ahead. The figure appeared as pony sitting on their haunches with their back facing him. Umbra stepped closer, shining the light over the figure and revealed its details. The figure was indeed a pony. Its mane and tail both had the same curled mess of deep raspberry color. The pony's coat was a very pale shade of pink. Ears were drooped by the sides of its head that looked in the opposite direction of Umbra. The light wasn't bright enough to make out the cutie mark, yet the other features of the pony brought a familiar name to mind. "P-pinkie?" Umbra quietly asked. He waited for a response. The pony didn't move. "Pinkie Pie?" he asked a bit louder. This time, the pony's ears perked up at his question. After a moment, the pink pony replied in a whisper. "Do you hate me?" Umbra recognized the voice as Pinkie's. However, the question was so quiet that he could not understand it. "I-I'm sorry?" he started. Pinkie's head slowly spun around to his direction. The rest of her body stayed in place as her head moved farther than any pony's head should. Loud cracks and pops sounded from her neck as it turned all the way around. Each crack made Umbra's stomach churn. Her head stopped with a muffled snap and she faced him. Umbra felt sick as he watched and heard the mare's head move a full 180 degrees. When the light revealed Pinkie's face, Umbra gasped in shock. Two deep black holes remained where her bright blue eyes should have been. Red drained from the empty holes, dripping from her chin onto her back. The red stained her coat as it hit. "Do you hate me?" she repeated. This time her voice was louder and shaky as if she was terrified. A heavy frown was painted across her face that showed her fear. Umbra reeled back as he saw Pinkie's mutilated face. The two black holes stared at him, waiting for an answer. His mouth hung open as he tried to fill it with words. He couldn't look away from the deep holes in her head. He didn't know what to say to her. All he did was stare in shock. Pinkie stood up, her head never moved from Umbra. Her body spun the same as her head until it faced him as well. Umbra could see red staining her hooves and chest. Her pink fur was almost completely covered in the dark red liquid that drained from her eyes. Her hooves still dripped with the red lifeblood. Umbra noticed a small fork by her hooves. It shined with the same red liquid that covered her hooves. She took a step forward and asked another question, "Am I a bad pony?" Red continued draining from the holes on her face. Pinkie took another step closer to him. Umbra took a step of his own, only he moved backwards. Pinkie began walking towards Umbra, asking him the same questions over and over. "Do you hate me? Am I a bad pony? Do you hate me?" Umbra could only walk backwards and keep his distance from the appalling creature advancing on him. His heart thumped loudly in his chest as the atrocity got closer. His rear bumped into something that brought him to a stop. Umbra spared a glance behind him to see what it was. A large wooden structure towered over him, blocking his path. He looked at the massive obstruction closer. He thought it looked like the broken caravan in the woods. Pinkie's voice sounded right in his ear. "Do you hate me?" Umbra whipped his head around to see her head not inches away from his own. He noticed that she now had a horn on her forehead with a black mane and a dark grey coat. Two gaping black holes still stood in place of eyes and red continued flowing down her cheeks. Umbra's eyes widened as he realized he was looking at his own mutilated face.