"Ugh, this might take some time to heal," Sombra muttered to himself as he began stiching his wounds, while his mind began to wonder how that demon had managed to make its way into his city under his watch. After the fight, he had gone to his private chambers at the top of the castle to heal his wounds, since he trusted no other pony to do it for him 'There has to be more to this than I know. Could it be that a pony on the inside is trying to sabotage me? I should have figured that this would happen eventually; I'm not exactly liked,' he thought while he continued to stich his wounds, ignoring the pain as best he could.
"If you keep it up like that, you'll be doing more harm than good," a voice from his doorway said. With a smile, Sombra turned to see a certain pony standing in his doorway with a raised eyebrow and a smile on her face. Unlike most ponies though, she had fins on her head in place of ears and a tail with fins instead of a regular tail. But her eyes, as well as her scales, were the same color as the sea, a place that Sombra did his best to forget,
"Well, I can't be both a protector and a doctor at the same time," Sombra shot back as she walked over to him and picked up the suturing needle, tending to his wounds with more care and doing a better job than he was. "And I thought I told you to stay in the safe house until I came to get you. Why don't you ever listen to me, Gloria?"
"Because if I did, you'd be bleeding out on the floor right now instead of getting the treatment you deserve," she said with a shake of her head as she saw the blood in his coat. "What was that thing anyway? I've never seen a creature like it."
"That was a demon, my dear, and one of the worst ones at that," Sombra said with a wince as he felt the needle go in. "Called Daragon, the demon of light. What I want to know, is how in the hell it ended up in my city." Gloria looked at the floor as he said this, a gesture that wasn't lost on Sombra. "Do you know who did this?"
"Not exactly," she muttered as Sombra turned and placed one hoof on her shoulder.
"Please, I need to know."
"The ponies in the city having been whispering about how they want a new leader to replace you," she said with a frown. "But if they just got to know you-"
"It matters not if they know me, all that matters it that they know that I am their leader," Sombra cut her off, heading towards the window where he could look down on all the ponies, especially those that he kept in chains. "And that they know I should be feared."
"Do you have to imprison them like that?" Gloria asked as she walked up next to him, looking down on those in chains with a sad face. "Maybe they've changed. Maybe-"
"They tried to kill you," Sombra said in a cold fury as he glared down at them. "They should be thankful that putting them in chains was all I did. After all," he began as he gently nuzzled her. "You mean the world to me." Gloria returned the gesture before Sombra walked over to his potions table and grabbed one of his healing potions, downing it quickly and feeling his wounds begin the heal. "I should be back to full strength soon, but in the meantime I'm going to rest."
"Alright, well I'm going to head down to the market," Gloria said as she looked at his supplies with a shake of her head. "You're almost out of materials for your healing potions and I can't have you dying on me. Bye." Sombra watched her go with a smile as he lie down on his bed and closed his eyes, but snapped them awake almost an hour later when he heard a massive explosion outside.
"What's going on?!" he roared at one of the guards as he rushed outside. "Who is attacking me now?!" The guard looked up at him in fear, his mouth too dry to answer. But another voice did speak for the guard, one that Sombra knew all too well.
"SOMBRA! COME OUT HERE AND FACE US, YOU TYRANT!"
"Celestia," Sombra growled before running out to his balcony.
"NO!" Sombra yelled as he sat up, breathing heavily as he looked around the wagon. All the others were asleep, and once he stopped shaking he allowed himself to think. 'It was only a dream. A dream that needs to remain buried. I can't let my emotions get the best of me. Not now.' Sombra then heard hoofsteps coming towards him and he looked over to see Trixie heading his way.
"Good, you're awake," she said. "I need you to go into the city and see if you can find a doctor. I don't think a regular healing potion will work on Armora's wounds."
"Why's that?" Sombra asked as he looked over to where the changeling lay, able to hear her scarce breathing from across the room.
"Whatever was on that trident really hurt her," Trixie said with worry. "And it's stopping my magic from helping her. Please, I need you to do this." Sombra narrowed his eyes, but figured he wasn't getting any more sleep tonight. So with a grunt he got up and vanished into the shadows, heading towards Manehatten while trying to keep his memories in the past.
/T\
Early the next morning, Trixie and Armora snuck into Manehatten with cloaks to disguise them they best the could, with Sombra staying in the shadows in case something went wrong. Late in the night, Trixie had forced him to stake out the city while looking for a doctor who would be able to take care of Armora, which was not an easy task for him.
"You're certain that this doctor can heal a changeling's wounds?" Trixie whispered to the shadow trailing her as she kept an eye on all the morning ponies that walked by.
'The sign said that he'd take on any patient, no matter who they were,' Sombra whispered back from the shadows. 'And if he doesn't, I'm sure we can just persuade him to if necessary.'
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Trixie whispered as he looked at Armora, who was leaning against Trixie while breathing heavily. "How are you holding up Armora?" Armora buzzed weakly in response.
'She says that she's fine, but it's an obvious lie,' Sombra muttered from the shadows. 'She won't last much longer. Take a right here.' Trixie did as he said and came across as a small building that had the word 'Hospital' written on the sign outside, along with the slogan, 'We take all who enter, no matter who they are.'
"This is the place," he said before coming out of the shadows behind Trixie, following her inside as Trixie opened the door.
"Welcome," a voice in the back said as Trixie and Sombra entered, Armora collapsing to the floor in exhaustion. "It seems that one of you has something worse than the flu. Bring her back here and I'll see what I can do." Trixie helped Armora back up and brought her into the back of the store, looking at the shelves they passed with a curious look. They were filled with jars that contained all sorts of weird flowers, and items that Trixie was fairly certain weren't residents of Equestria. In the back room, Trixie and Sombra found that the doctor was actually a zebra, who motioned for them to join him by his cauldron.
"Thank you for doing this," Trixie said as she did her best to hide her voice. "Our friend was severely hurt during a battle and is bleeding. She needs help right away."
"Place her down over her if you would," the zebra said as he pulled off a cloth to reveal an operating table. "I would like to examine her if I could." Trixie and Sombra looked at each other from under their hoods before they moved Armora to the table, gaining a look from the zebra but nothing else. "As I said, I turn no one away. Also, my name is Dr. Verade. Now, how did your friend suffer these wounds. They look to be from a weapon of doom."
"She was impaled on a trident," Trixie explained as Verade began to look over the three holes in Armora's armor. "Don't ask how, it was..."
"Silence is my code and in my business is key. But I expect the same from the pony named 'Trixie'." Trixie took a step back as he said this, while Sombra threw off his hood and pointed his horn at the doctor.
"And just what are you going to do, now that you know that?" Sombra asked with a growl, smiling when he saw fear spring up in the doctor's eyes.
"I said that silence is key. Now please don't point your horn at me," Verade responded carefully, sighing in relief when Sombra backed off. Verade then walked over to Armora again while Trixie looked on with confusion.
"I remember a zebra by the name of 'Zecora' who also spoke in rhyme. Do all zebra's rhyme?" Trixie asked him as he pulled a jar of a greenish goo off the shelf.
"It is a tradition that most zebra's employ, but most only do it for their own joy," he responded as he smeared some of the goo over Armora's wounds, frowning as she hissed in pain. "To heal her wounds will take long into the night. In the meantime, may I suggest you take in some of the sights?" Trixie was about to argue when Armora buzzed and Sombra shook his head.
"She said that she will be fine alone," he translated.
"Do you think we should leave Armora here alone?" Trixie whispered to Sombra. "I know she's tough, but I've always been wary of doctors in back end alleys."
"Your concerns are valid," he muttered. "Should we bring Bark here or do you want us to stay? Despite him being old, he can fight if needed." Trixie thought about it for a moment before deciding that it was the safest option.
"Would you mind if we left somepony here to watch over Armora?" she asked. Verade said it was fine and Trixie teleported herself back to the wagon, getting a tackle hug from Starshine once they had entered.
"How's Armora?" Starshine asked as Trixie got back up. "Is she safe?"
"We found a zebra doctor who is willing to heal her, but we would like somepony watching over her," she said as she looked to Bark. "Would you like to do so? If not, Sombra or I could..."
"It's no problem Trixie, I would love for the chance to speak with a doctor from the land of zebras," Bark said as he got up. "Also, didn't you say that you had some things you wanted to grab. Take Sombra and Starshine with you, go have fun for a day. I'll watch Armora." Trixie nodded and the three walked out of her wagon, Trixie placing a spell over it before she teleported the three of them to the doctor's office. She brought Sombra up to speed on what was happening while Bark walked over to Armora and told her that he'd be watching over her.
"So what are we going to do then?" Starshine asked as he looked around at the huge buildings once they were outside, a huge smile on his face.
"First, we should go stock up on supplies," Trixie muttered before looking down at Starshine's mop of a mane. "Then we're going to get you a manecut." Starshine groaned as Trixie ruffled his mane, while Sombra looked around at the mass of buildings with amazement.
"I can't believe that they managed to get so many buildings this large in just a thousand years," he muttered as he put his cloak back on, Trixie following suit as the three of them walked down the main streets. It was still early in the morning, but already a number of ponies were already up and about, making Trixie and Sombra walk a bit more cautiously down the street.
"I bet you're amazed looking at all the modern technology, especially since you come from the past," Trixie said to him as he looked at a new brand of carriage go by him. "It's amazing what can be done in a thousand years." Trixie pulled a map of the town out of a stand before flipping a bit to the pony, looking over it with raised eyebrows. "It seems that we're some ways away from the hair salon, so if there are any stops you want to make on the way there, take a look at the map." Sombra and Starshine both shared the map while Trixie looked around at the buildings with a smile, remembering the times she had come here before she became the most hated pony in the world. The lights, the music, the parties at night; so many things she had fun doing in the past.
"Alright, the kid and I decided that we want to visit the magic emporium," Sombra said with a smile as he pushed the map into her face. Trixie looked at the location and found that it was right next to a supply store, so she gave in with sigh.
"Hey Trixie, do you think that we could see a movie as well?" Starshine asked as they began their trek to the emporium. "There's a really cool one called the 'Mutant Martians from the Beyond'!" Starshine said in his creepiest voice as he began to drool, while Sombra looked at the movie poster on the back of a map with a baffled look.
"Why would anypony want to see...Bloodsucking Martians taking on the helpless ponies?" Sombra asked as he turned slightly green. "I've battled bloodsuckers and this is not material that they should make a movie out of. What is a movie by the way?"
"It's when they capture actors on a camera, and add music and special effects to create a short play of sorts, that ponies watch on a screen," Trixie explained, stopping Sombra dead in his tracks as he looked down at the back of the map again.
"How long was I gone?" he asked to himself before shaking his hooded head and running after the others. "HEY! What's a camera also?" Trixie and Starshine both laughed at Sombra's lack off modern knowledge and continued to talk with each other, until they came to the entrance of the emporium, where a pair of Canterlot Guards stood at the entrance. "Grah, it's those Canterlonian fools. I'll deal with them," Sombra said with a snarl, but Trixie put a hoof in front of him to stop him.
"We don't want to start a fight here. Besides," Trixie said as she used her magic to knock over a ladder in the next yard over, causing the guards to abandon their post to go chasing after the noise. "They are easy to fool." Sombra smiled at the display and chuckled to himself as he and Starshine both went inside, leaving Trixie alone to head into the supply store next door. She was a bit worried about Starshine, but so far Sombra had been well-behaved, more so than she thought he could be.
'I have to remember to ask him for some pointers on how to talk with Armora,' she thought to herself as she entered the store and grabbed a cart. 'And maybe for some...help...with magic. Faust knows I was useless against the sea pony.' Trixie began to skim the isles, looking and taking whatever she needed, but was unable to keep her mind away from the sea pony. 'Why was that thing so powerful? I thought that the sea ponies were supposed to get stronger in water, not on land...but what's weirder is that it seemed to know Sombra. And I believe that is the first time I've seen him run from a fight like that. Does he have...that's stupid, of course he has a history with the Atlantians, but what is it? And how could they have traumatized him so?' Trixie stopped thinking when she came across the section she had been looking for, the section that kept all the books.
"Here we go," she said as she lifted one of the books off the shelf, looking at its size. It was slightly bigger than most, which suited her needs perfectly. She added it to her cart as well as a quill with ink and continued to browse until she had spent about an hour in the store. She paid for her things and left, meeting Sombra and Starshine just outside.
"Well you took your sweet time," Sombra poked as he looked at what she was carrying. "A book? Why'd you buy that?"
"So you could carry it," she said with a smirk as she tossed it to him, amazed that he actually bothered to catch it instead of letting it fall to the ground. "The two of you enjoy the emporium?" she asked Starshine.
"Yeah! I learned a lot about magic that I had never know before," Starshine said with a huge smile. "Like, that Star-Swirl had a nickname! Apparently his friends called him Beardy. Why don't you have a nickname?"
"Yeah Trix, how come you don't have a nickname?" Sombra asked before he stopped to think about what he had said. "Actually, I like that. What about you, Trix?" Trixie rolled her eyes and walked past him, leading the three of them towards the salon. Trixie and Sombra watched through the window as Starshine had his mane cut by the ponies in the salon, watching in disbelief at the trouble they had cutting through his forest of a mane. He came out twenty minutes later with his mane a third of its former length.
"You look ridiculous," Sombra said with a chuckle as he looked down at Starshine's short mane and the face on the small colt. "I can't imagine this mane being that short."
"Maybe one day," Trixie said with a smile as she imagined Sombra bald before she looked down at the map. "According to this, the movie that Starshine wants to see starts in thirty..."
"Oh please can we see it Trixie?" Starshine begged as he tackled her leg, giving her the puppy eyes. "My parents never let me watch any movies and I want to so BAD!" Trixie gave into the eyes again and Starshine leapt off of her leg with a smile as he ran towards the theaters, leaving Sombra and Trixie to run after him.
"Hey Sombra, can I ask you something?" Trixie said as they ran.
"No, I will not go out with you," Sombra said with a smirk, getting smacked by Trixie in response.
"No, I was wondering if you could teach me how to speak Armora's language," Trixie said with a frown, averting her eyes a bit. "And...if you could teach me some of the spoken magic."
"Well, well...so the powerful Trix wants to learn my magic?" Sombra teased with a smile. "I'm humbled." He got smacked again for that, but couldn't retaliate due to them arriving at the theaters. Trixie bought their tickets and they headed inside, both Trixie and Starshine smiling at the confusion on Sombra's face as he looked from the giant screen to the speakers.
"We have to bring you up to date on modern technology," Starshine said with a smile as he picked three seats on the end row, sitting on the end. Both Trixie and Sombra growled at the fact that they had to sit next to each other, but the theater went dark as the movie began to play.
"Holy hell," Sombra whispered as he watched the movie, not so much impressed by what was happening on the screen, but at the fact that ponies could do this now-a-days. Trixie found the movie to be boring and drab, with a paper thin plot that anypony could see through, but at least Starshine seemed to be enjoying himself when he wasn't hiding behind his hooves. Trixie would have been able to drown the movie out if Sombra wasn't muttering to himself every few minutes.
"Ha, creatures like this would never go for brains. It's obvious they would eat flesh," Sombra muttered.
"Shut up," Trixie muttered back.
"You have a horn fool, use it," Sombra muttered again when a mare was being chased by the aliens. "Of course you pick now to fall down." Trixie noticed that they were getting angry glares from some of the patrons, so she just sat down lower in her chair and closed her eyes, knowing what was coming next.
"Oh please, tell me Celestia's in this movie. I would love the aliens to find out that she has no brain," Sombra said with a smirk before a pony that worked at the theater walked up to him and shown his flashlight in his face.
"Sir, if you can't be quiet I'll have to ask you to leave," he said in a stern voice to Sombra, who turned with an evil smile and flipped back his hood.
"Boo." The pony screamed and ran out of the theater while Sombra laughed with glee, looking around at all the other terrified movie goers. "Anypony else want to shut me up?" He sat back down with a smile, a smile that got knocked off his face by Trixie. But around the end of the movie there was a part where the aliens had placed a pony under their control and were forcing it to attack its friends.
"Silverscreen, no, don't do this!" one of her friends said with such bad acting Trixie gagged on it. But as she looked over at Sombra, she saw that he looked completely terrified. She was about to tease him for being afraid of such a stupid movie before she realized that he wasn't looking at the movie. His eyes were in the past. Trixie tried to snap him out of it, but after a few attempts she gave up, letting the movie finish.
"Alright, we're getting out of here," Trixie said the moment the movie was done, dragging both the terrified Starshine and the paralyzed Sombra out of the theater. "That was the second worse movie I have ever seen. Why did you want to see it?"
"I don't think I'm going to sleep for a week," Starshine said as he shivered.
"You fought changelings, ancient beasts and a sea pony with a trident and this is what scares you?" Sombra said with a laugh before he dodged Trixie's hoof. "That is pathetic."
"That's different! Those creatures don't...take control of you like that," Starshine said with another shiver. Trixie expected Sombra to make fun of Starshine again, but to her constant surprise he kept his mouth shut. "But it was fun spending time with you guys. You're like the family I never had." Trixie was touched by that statement, but when she saw Sombra roll his eyes she knew she had to tease him.
"Even Sombra?" she asked.
"Yeah, but he's like the stupid older brother," Starshine replied with a smile.
"And you're like the annoying little brother," Sombra growled while putting Starshine in a headlock until Trixie broke his hold. The group went back to where Armora had been and found Bark and Verade talking with each other, while Armora sat beside them in bandages while listening.
"Come on, time to go," Trixie said as she paid the doctor, who waved to them as they left. "Enjoy your time there?" she asked Bark.
"Oh yes, it is always interesting listening to what tales a being from another land has to tell," he said with a smile. "Such tales, too. The long, golden grass on the savanna filled with all sorts of creatures. It would be a paradise."
"Yeah, well we're not going there anytime soon," Sombra grunted as he hoisted Armora onto his back. Trixie wanted to tell him something, but she decided to wait until they got back to the wagon. She was surprised that they made it out of the town without anypony stopping them, but eventually they made it back to the wagon, where Trixie waited until they were all seated until she spoke.
"Alright everypony, listen up," she said. "While we had fun and a day off, it's time to move onto the final temple...the Temple of Atlantis."
"But nopony knows where it is, right?" Starshine asked. "It sunk a thousand years ago."
"Correct, but which one of us in here just happens to be over a thousand years old?" Every head in the room turned to Sombra, who glared at Trixie with both rage and fear in his eyes.
"What makes you think I know?" he asked in his most dangerous voice.
"The evidence is there. Everytime I or somepony else brings up the sea ponies or Atlantis, you avert your eyes," Trixie began. "Plus, that sea pony went after you with a hatred it could only have if it knew you. Finally, I have read the stories of how you sank the sea kingdom all those years ago when you stole a foal for your own purposes. You managed to escape their wrath, but that's why you're afraid to go back...isn't it?" Sombra narrowed his eyes in rage and his horn began to glow. Trixie let her horn glow as well, but she didn't want a fight.
"You don't have to tell me what happened, but I will ask you to show us where Atlantis sank," she said in a calm tone. "Because if you won't go there, then you won't get your wish." Sombra growled, knowing that he wouldn't get his wish whether he showed her or not. But...
"Alright," he said as he stopped his horn. "But I'll only show you where it is. I won't go down with you."
"That's all I ask for," Trixie said as she activated her spell to move the wagon. "Come on everypony, let's rest up. We'll need our strength." The others nodded and went to rest, but Sombra stopped Trixie as she tried to pass.
"Just so you're clear, I'm going to show you where I last saw it," he said coldly. "But after that...I'm done. Done with this group; done with this wagon. I don't want to be anywhere near that place."
"Even if it costs you your revenge?" she asked him.
"You would never let me have my wish anyway, not that you could stop me now," he said with a growl. "And there are other ways to obtain the power I require. Thought I'd let you know." Trixie nodded and walked by him, leaving Sombra to look at the floor in rage. 'I can't go down there, even with them. Even if they're going to their deaths...'
/T\
Morgaine continued to stare at the mirror, the faintest of images flashing through her mind so fast that she couldn't see what they were. But she knew they were important, like something she had forgotten long ago but couldn't remember. Her thoughts were interrupted by a banging on her door.
"You have visitor," the guard said as he opened the door, allowing the red figure with the lightning bolt on his chest to enter. "You have five minutes."
"Captain Marvel," she said with a smile as he entered. "This is unexpected. Why are you here?"
"To speak with you," he said in an ethereal voice. Morgaine narrowed her eyes and realized that Captain Marvel's eyes didn't look like they should. They were a pure silver.
"You're not Marvel," she said with a growl. "Who are you.
"I am only borrowing the champion's form to speak with you," he said as he sat down, his form flickering a bit. "But we must make use of the time we have. The magicians in this world will sense me soon and I must help you." Morgaine sat down on her bed, intrigued by the magic she felt coming from "Marvel."
"What do you wish to help me with?" she asked. Marvel's response was to have a beam of silver shoot from his eyes into hers, breaking through magical barriers that were in place. Morgaine gasped as images began to come back to her, along with new images that were being shared from "Marvel".
"I am here to help you remember," Marvel said as he transformed into a silver pony. "And if you wish to save your student, you must remember it all."