//------------------------------// // 9. New Threads // Story: Shadow's Enigma // by Note Sketch //------------------------------// Sombra sat in his 'study', or rather, the desk that he had taken as his own in the library. Books upon books were stacked on the small table he sat at, remaining motionless as his eyes moved across the text, he was suddenly interrupted by a loud smash. Sombra sighed as he shrugged off the noise and continued to read more of the history he had missed in his thousand year banishment. Again, another loud hit of some sort. A grunt was heard as he once again tried to concentrate on his readings until... Klak! In an annoyed reaction, Sombra leaped from his seat and made his way outside to where the noise was originating from. As he stepped out he saw the entirety of Ponyville under heavy reconstruction from the recent Ursa Major attack. None of those noises bothered him, they were much too far in the distance to hear them inside, but to his own bad luck, the library itself received a small amount of damage and was under repairs as well. "Must you be so loud?" The old king asked the red stallion whom had a hammer in his mouth at the time. The rather big farm pony slowly turned to look at him as he set the tool down. He was currently working on a damaged portion of the trunk, which left unattended could destabilize the library and have it come crushing down. "Eeyup." He responded before getting back to work. Using the hammer to nail a frame down, which is when Sombra noticed something peculiar. "Say...that loud noise from before...did it come from the sudden appearance of that large hole you're currently framing?" "Eeyup." "And what...pray tell, was the point of adding more damage to what you're repairing?" "Don't worry Sombra dear." A voice from behind him said as she grew near. "You're room is just getting a little bit of a renovation." The mare finished as she sent a rather happy smile at him; it filled him with dread. "You're the seamstress from a few days ago." Sombra said as the two came close enough to talk properly. "Why yes, Rarity is my name and it seems that a few days is all it took for you to cause trouble. I must say, having the entire town almost destroyed by an Ursa the day after you arrived, it's like Trixie all over again, of course, Trixie did not have the manners you do." To this Sombra scuffed as he turned his gaze to the door. He was all too ready to say good bye, but he was a gentlecolt, a mannerism he was almost too eager to give up on but he didn't exactly want to attract any attention in his current state. As he walked over he used red magic to open the door for the white mare, though Rarity thought it strange for him to not used his dark bubbly magic, but she shrugged it off. "So, I finally finished your new outfit, though I must say it took longer than expected due to some, um, minor damage to my boutique. Any who, shall we see how it fit?" Sombra sighed, not really wanting any interaction at the moment, but he had indeed been sitting down reading for far too long, perhaps some fitting would be a good break, after all, that's what he did during his time as king. A little nostalgic activities never hurt any pony so he nodded as he came close. With a happy smile Rarity began to unpack her saddle which held his new outfit. As she began to help the clothing on she couldn't help but ask. "Are you feeling ill dear?" "No, why do you ask?" "Well, it's just that the flames from your eyes, they seem rather small." Rarity said as she fixed some of the wrinkles on Sombra's new get up before adding more layers. Silence grew between them as he failed to give a response, and though curious, the mare knew not to push the matter 《=●=》 With a sudden sigh, Twilight held a clipboard as she used her magic to write something down. Her annoyance came from how much paperwork came with her princesshood, she never thought she would once hate having to read and reread things on paper so much. It had been a few days since the little Ursa Major fiasco and Ponyville was well in it's way to getting back to it's former glory. The building in front of her right now was SugarCube Corner, now back in tip top shape. "Thank you so much Princess Twilight." Mr. Cake said as he came out to greet her. "Don't mention it, we are prioritizing the homes of those with foals and children." She replied with a smile. Placing the clipboard under her wing she began to make her way to her next destination. As she walked through town she saw every pony at work, though it wasn't the first time this had happened, somehow she didn't feel right about this one in particular. Her recent clashing with Sombra left a bad taste in her mouth, she really did not like him getting off so easy, but then again, it wasn't like this was really his fault. Fluttershy and Pinkie made it quite clear that he was actually rather helpful when the Ursa attacked, so why did she feel so spiteful of him? Perhaps she just doesn't feel comfortable that she is sharing a roof with this 'ex tyrant'. "Hiya!" Pinkie said as she suddenly appeared in front of Twilight, with a quick yelp, the purple mare jumped back in surprise only to get a giggle from her friend. "Sorry, did I scare you?" "A little, though I guess I just wasn't paying attention." Twilight responded as she began to make her way around her friend. "Something on your mind?" "More like 'some pony'." "Oooh, Twilight has a crush?" This caused a rather deep shade of red to spread across the princess's face. "What? No! I'm talking about Sombra, I don't like that he's by himself while we're out here fixing this mess." Pinkie, now walking next to her friend, only smiled as she continued talking. "Think he's lonely?" "That's the least of my worries. I still don't trust him being by himself, I wish I didn't have to send Spike to Canterlot to finish some work for me. I really wish I could keep some sort of surveillance on him." "Well, Rarity is with him right now." "What?!" Twilight responded as she suddenly came to a stop. "Yeah, I saw her on the way over, she was going to give him his new outfit so he won't scare off ponies when they see him. I mean really, that armor and cape doesn't really scream 'reformed', you know what I mean?" Pinkie said as she waved her hoof in a rather sassy manner, no doubt for a joke, but Twilight didn't exactly see the gesture, she had already began to make her way back to the library. "Hey! Wait for me!" Pinkie soon caught up to her friend as she began to hop along side her. Twilight had a rather serious expression on her face but the pink mare paid no mind to it and just allowed her presence to work it's magic. "Why is Rarity alone with him? Isn't she the least bit worried?" "Worried about what?" "I don't know, but he's an ex tyrant! He can't be all that good, even with some 'reforming' done, I have a hard time trusting the guy." "Oh come on Twilight, even Princess Celestia thinks he's okay, plus I think he's a pretty nice friend to have." Pinkie added with a smile. "Oh Pinkie, you're friends with every pony." The two of them soon arrived at the library and as Twilight's horn glowed with a purple aura to open the door, voices were heard from inside which caused her to pause. "Be gentle please." They heard Rarity say, to which Sombra responded. "My apologies, it has been a long time since last I did this sort of thing." The pink and purple mare looked at each other for a second before both of them pressed their ears against the door to listen in. Ponies that passed by gave them an awkward look, but they were too busy eavesdropping to notice. "It's quite alright dear" Rarity's voice said. "Just try to not make a mess of things." "Easier said than done, I don't think we've had this problem if you hadn't used that strange liquid." Both Twilight's and Pinkie's face turned red as they heard the exchange, their minds going to places they shouldn't be. "Darling, just do your best to move in slowly, else you might damage the interior, I don't think it is wide enough for you to fit through very well." "Is that a design fault, or simply a miscalculation?" "A simple miscalculation, I wasn't expecting this part of you to be so thick, just slip it through as you can." "Alright, hold still." Finally, unable to contain themselves, they busted through the door. "Sombra what are you doing to Rarity?!" Twilight and Pinkie asked out as they landed in, but what they saw was rather different than they had imagined. In front of them stood Sombra who was being dressed, one of his arms having trouble slipping through the sleeve of Rarity's outfit. As it finally went through, Sombra fixed his posture to show his rather stunning attire, a dark vest with a coat over it with red linings that matched his red magic. "What do you mean Sparkle?" Sombra asked as Rarity maneuvered around him to fix up some wrinkles here and there, but for the most part it was a complete outfit. "If anything, it is this mare doing things to me." "What? Don't you like the outfit I made?" "The outfit is fine..." "But?" "Was it necessary to place that strange liquid on my hooves? They're ebony black now." Sombra said as he raised a hoof for her to see, they were, in fact, quite shiny for a stallion's hooves. "The 'liquid', is called hoof polish, and yes. You look just stunning with the outfit all together!" Rarity said as she stepped back to admire her work. Calming down after shaking off what they had imagined, the duo walked to the white mare's side to view Sombra as well. "Oh Sombrie, you do know it's not Nightmare Night yet right?" Pinkie asked with a small giggle. Twilight joined in the laugh as she turned to the designer to ask. "Yeah, why did you make it so much like a vampire's outfit?" "I believed that it suited him." Rarity said as she walked over to defend her work. Using her magic to lift the red linings on Sombra's outfit slightly, she continued to talk. "It took me a good while to match the red of his horn and eyes, plus he is from a thousand years ago, this was the attire for royalty is it not?" "Not exactly..." Sombra said as he too began to look over his odd clothing. "But it is rather comfortable. I shall wear it for now." "Yay!" Rarity said with a large smile. The thought of word spreading that she made an outfit for Sombra would surely bring in some attention her way. As the mare basked in her own delusions of the future, Sombra made his way to Twilight. "May I ask you something?" "What is it?" She asked with a step backwards when he came close. "Are there any books on dark magic? I was wondering how far they had gotten in research." Twilight narrowed her eyes as she stared at him, not sure whether to answer him or not. "No...Dark magic isn't exactly a popular subject matter." "That's a pity." The dark stallion responded as he turned back to his desk to continue his readings, his break having brought him some more energy to continue his research. As Twilight hesitantly left Sombra alone, Pinkie ran right up to him and read over his shoulder. "Whatcha reading?" "News articles of major events from the last thousand years." Sombra responded without lifting his eyes form the paper. "Why?" "Cause I have been locked away for a thousand years, if I am to be part of this world I need to be informed." Pinkie's face held a rather large smile from ear to ear. Her grin soon annoyed the old king and with a sigh, turned to face her. "Why are you smiling like so?" "In other words...You mean to say that you have to catch up on world history to be a working part of equestrian society, right?" She asked with a continued grin. "What's your point?" He asked raising an eyebrow. "Nothing, just sounds like you're looking forward to your complete reformation." Pinkie said through her smile. Sombra's eye's narrowed as he opened his mouth to responded, but was quickly quieted when a pink hoof pressed against his muzzle. "I actually have a surprise for you!" Another sigh was heard as Sombra began to rub his forehead with his now quite shiny hoof. "Yes?..." He hesitantly asked. "I am making you welcome party!" "For the love of-" "AND! Since I am still you're reformer, you have to attend every party I plan, so even if you don't want one, I can just make a random party and you'd have to attend anyway." Sombra really did not have much choice, and as things were now, will probably not have one for quite a while. As he turned around to look at the seamstress he noticed she had been staring at his flaming eyes, though now no more than just a small flicker of a fire. He was weak and he knew it. "Fine. When is it?" 《=●=》 Twilight had left the main library room where the books were at and was currently looking through some paper work she had to do up in her room. Sombra's request still echoing in her head. books on dark magic? "Why does he want to learn more anyway? He is basically the strongest dark magic unicorn user as it is..." Twilight said to herself. "Does he maybe want to stage a coup? Or strike when we least expect it? Then why would he ask me directly? None of this makes any sense!" Her mind going in circles, Twilight throws herself onto her bed, though not as dramatically as Rarity would. Staring at her ceiling she began to recall the brief moment she herself used dark magic. It was a strange sensation that had spark some curiosity in her. Were there any books on dark magic? She never found any in the Canterlot castle, but Celestia knew some dark magic, so where did she learn it? Sitting up, Twilight stared at her reflection on the mirror across from her bed as she pondered what she was about to do. Clenching her pillow, she struggled to bring out a bubbling aura from her horn...the dark magic that she had seen her teacher use once before. As she managed to bring it out, again she looked at herself, and in the mirror was a mare with purple flames erupting form her eyes. It was rather scary to look at just how a small detail could mean all the difference. Her irises would fade back and forth between purple and red as she struggled to keep her magic going. Her train of thought, however, was suddenly interrupted when green smoke appeared in front of her, and from it, emerged a scroll. The sudden shock had caused her to lose her concentration and her dark magic faded just as fast as it had arrived. Hesitantly picking up the scroll, she began to read it. "Hello Twilight, Princess Celestia told me to send you a letter. You are needed in Canterlot as soon as possible. There has been an incident." As she finished the sentence, Twilight quickly stood up and recomposed herself at the mirror, after a deep breath, she ran to her window and flew out, making her way to Canterlot. Down at the library, Sombra stared intently at the ceiling. He was sure he had felt a surge of dark energy. His eyes slowly narrowing, he couldn't shake the feeling something more was going on.