Willemite was standing right beside Valencia. She stood steadily, unmoving, but she seemed so... alive.
Her face was just as bright as it had been when she was still alive; her mane was carefully combed, so it wouldn't obstruct the view of her eyes. Her cheeks bloomed with colour, like she just escaped the biting cold by finding refuge in this little shop.
Sombra was staring at her without blinking, almost hypnotized by her eyes, which contrasted so much with the rest of her.
Her eyes were filled with tears and it seemed like even a single word would be enough to make her cry. Sombra could read great pain in her sight and it made him feel pathetic.
"M-mother?" he asked once again, looking at her. She didn't say anything, just reached out her hoof to him.
She looked so real... like she was always alive. Always there. Just... hiding. And now, she decided the time had come to reveal herself. She reached out her hoof to him and it was so close Sombra felt... warmth?
"Sombra..." She let out a whimper. Her voice was shaking, trembling, as she reached out to her only child. The weak, fragile whisper, that anypony wouldn't even notice, wouldn't even pay attention to, Sombra heard.
A single tear ran down her cheek. It ran quickly across her cheek, leaving a wet trail behind and fell on the floor, turning into a million tiny droplets.
Willemite kept her hoof extended, waiting for Sombra to take it. But he didn't. He couldn't. It didn't matter how much he tried, he couldn't. He couldn't reach her, and yet, she was so close, waiting for him.
"Mom!" he screamed at her, wanting to keep her attention just a little longer. Just a bit more and he would be free!
But Willemite couldn't wait. She closed her eyes as more tears flowed down her pretty face. She closed her eyes, but she didn't make even a sound, not a single sob.
"Mother!" Sombra finally broke his invisible bounds, and rushed towards her. The blade he’d held so tightly with his magic seconds before fell on the floor. He couldn't care less about it now.
"Mother! Wait!" he screamed, running towards her, and even though she seemed to be within his reach, he couldn't chase her down.
"Mother!"
Another scream, this time, aimed at the void.
Sombra opened his eyes and saw nothing. She was gone. She left. He’d let her leave.
He heard the loud breathing of Valencia, who struggled to keep herself from panicking. Sombra turned around and unleashed another sphere of energy, aiming at her head. It knocked her out cold.
Sombra took a look around the shop, then finally grabbed the parcel with the medicine. Before he left, he kicked the would-be weapon of murder into the corner.
He struggled to suppress the tears that gathered in his eyes as the image of his mother looking at him with her eyes full of tears was deeply engraved in his memory.
"No.... I'm not like this," he whispered, giving the final answer to this dilemma.
Just as he reached an empty valley, he leaned on the wall, put the parcel on the snow and cried. He knew he shouldn't, he hadn't cried for a long time, for real, but now, he just couldn't stop it. Her sad look cut his heart worse than any weapon, and her silent grief made him feel... so guilty.
After giving himself a moment of emotion, he swiped away the remaining tears, took a deep breath and immediately felt sick, as he realized what this strange vision had saved him from.
Maybe it was his brain, playing tricks on him. Maybe Willemite really did come back just for this moment. It didn't matter, in the long run. This strange vision saved him from falling even further.
He wasn't a killer. He didn't become one. A thief, weakling, a pathetic excuse of a stallion, anything, but he wasn't a killer.
After suppressing the bile that crawled up his throat, Sombra hurried up back to his hideout. Krystal couldn't wait any longer. He needed to deliver the medicine as fast as he could.
***
Krystal's coughs echoed through the room. With each cough she felt a little essence of her life disappear. With each cough she felt herself getting weaker as she was losing more and more blood.
It was a nightmare. Krystal thought her main problem would be the choking attacks. But she was wrong.
The towel Sombra gave her was almost completely brown with her dried blood and there were quite a few stains on the mattress already. Her pillow was wet as the fever frequently took over her, making her sweat and causing her to rave.
The constant taste of her own blood in her mouth made her feel nauseous and sick, but all this mass just stayed in her throat, refusing to climb further. Swallowing felt like she tried to fill the cup that was already full.
She didn't feel alive and, at times, she wished the death would come for her, but the warmth in her belly reminded her constantly that she had to preserve her life, to give a start to a new one. So, she would drive away those thoughts and try to sleep until she began coughing again.
Torment. This is what it was.
Suddenly, Krystal heard the creaks of the opening door. She rose from her bed and looked at her guest.
"Sombra! You—" She started coughing again. Her horn quickly lit up as she levitated the towel towards herself and covered her mouth with it. Several drops still fell on the blanket, leaving several big red stains.
Sombra quickly ran up to her and helped her to lie down.
"So much blood..." Sombra turned pale at such a sight. Krystal hurried to calm him down, by smiling, but her smile look weak and fake with the stains of blood on her lips.
"It's okay... It's just temporary... It will go away," she said, trying to keep her voice steady. "Tell me you have the medicine..."
Sombra put the parcel away and hugged Krystal.
"Yes. Yes, I do! What do we do now?" he asked, but Krystal didn't say anything as she momentarily lost conciseness. "Krystal! Talk to me! Krystal! Krystal!"
She closed her eyes and stopped moving, but her chest was still going up and down. She was still breathing. She was still alive.
However, her skin was getting paler with every moment passing. Sombra had to act quickly or he would lose her.
"Come on, Krystal! Don't you dare! Don't you fucking dare!" he growled, opening the parcel and desperately looking for the needed medicine. But what could he know about these brews? He didn't even know what each of them was for let alone how to apply it. He didn't even know what they were made of!
He constantly mumbled cuss words to himself as he desperately twirled the bottles in the air, trying to figure out which of them he should open and use first. Finally, he set his sight on a bottle full of black, weirdly smelling goo that stretched instead of flowing like any normal liquid.
"Come on, Sombra, think! Think, you idiot!" he shouted at himself. After a little bit of a struggle, he opened the bottle, and decided to try its contents. He carefully tilted it, until some of the goo crawled on the edge of it and gave it a lick.
His stomach almost imploded from the horrendous, vomit inducing taste this concoction possessed. Sombra coughed violently, scratching his tongue against his own teeth, trying to get rid of the taste as fast as he could.
So, this is how my food tastes, he thought to himself. This goo was certainly inedible, but everything else didn't seem that tasty too.
Suddenly, he remembered a little moment back from his early childhood. That time, when he tried to swim in the pond, and caught a terrible cold. Willemite rubbed some kind of goo onto his chest then. It felt warm, even hot. After a while, he stopped coughing and his temperature decreased a little bit.
Sombra smiled. Once again his mother was helping him; this time more passively, though, but still. He took a deep breath, and poured some of the goo on his hooves.
There was no time to waste. He had to hurry up.
He threw the blanket away, and started vigorously rubbing the black goo into Krystal's chest, in the area of thorax. It stuck to her fur, her quiet moans and rattles struck worry and fear into the young stallion's heart, but he didn't back away, knowing that it may hurt now, but later, she would thank him.
After Krystal's chest was almost black from the goo, he backed away, thinking of how he can help her preserve warmth now.
Of course, he covered her with a blanket immediately after he finished the procedure. Then, he threw some more wood into the dying fire and helped it with a weak fireball. The little ball exploded into a small cloud of sparks and breathed new life into this dying flame.
That was all he could do apart from activating the warmth share spell, but that wasn't an option - he was too tired and exhausted by the long walk to the pharmacy and back, as well as his emotional experiences. Something made him think these were the signs of his insanity, but all of these thoughts were abandoned as they all were unimportant. His health wasn't important right now.
Sombra decided to give Krystal warmth an old fashioned way. He quickly slipped under the blanket to her and wrapped his forehooves around her. She coughed a few times, which was a sign of progress - maybe she'll regain her conciseness soon.
"I'm here, my dear. You just... get well. Please, be well," he whispered and leaned his head closer to her.
He had to stay awake to see if Krystal awakens, so he could treat her immediately. So, instead of closing his eyes, he thought, asking himself the same question over and over again.
What happened in the pharmacy? Was it really his mother, her ghost? Or a mental projection of his conciseness that tried to prevent him from making a horrible mistake? Or maybe the hallucinations of the Dust had returned to make him succumb into addiction?
He had seen such weird stuff when under its effects. Maybe there was a chance that, if he controls the dose, he could control the hallucinations it causes as well? Sombra felt his heart shudder at a thought that he might have a chance to re-live the happiest memories of his childhood.
He took a deep breath and let that thought go. It was highly unlikely that he would be able to dose it without getting addicted and the idea of seeing his mother paled before the dream of seeing his family.
He, Krystal and his little child. That was the family he needed to think about right now. The family he needed to protect.
***
Krystal had been sleeping for quite a while now, but at least, she was actually sleeping, not unconscious. Her breath was normal, her temperature stabilized and she even snored once in a while. Meanwhile, Sombra, immediately after making sure Krystal was feeling better, was preparing a meal for her.
His stomach growled as he threw the vegetables into the boiling water, making him realize that he hadn't eaten for quite a while. For how many days — two, three, four, maybe even six? Sombra looked at the big head of cabbage and wondered: just how did traders keep their stock fresh? Magic?
No, no, earth ponies don't have magic, Sombra thought to himself, wrapping the cabbage in his grey aura and taking a bite out of it. The juice filled his mouth, making his stomach growl a little less.
How did they keep their stock fresh, though? Sombra brainstormed it a bit, picking an apple, a pear and another cabbage head to eat while thinking.
His little meal kept him a little too occupied as his hunger finally found its release. He quickly ate the apple and then started taking the bites off the cabbage, when he heard loud breathing behind him. He quickly turned around, and saw Krystal staring at him. The blanket covered only half of her body as she sat on the bed, breathing heavily.
"Krystal!" Sombra exclaimed, putting down the half eaten cabbage and turning around. "Krystal, I was so worried!"
"Sombra, I- I feel so much better," she said, and forced a weak smile out of herself. "Did I... fall asleep, or something? I remember how you entered, I wanted to greet you, but then everything went dark."
"You passed out, Krystal. You won't believe how much you scared me!" Sombra said, approaching her. "I just didn't know what to do!"
"But you did something... and now I feel so much better. My chest hurts much less," she rubbed her chest, then moved on to her belly. "Did I... say anything in my sleep?"
"Huh?" Sombra was surprised by such a question. "No, you didn't... as far as I can remember."
"Good... I just had a very weird dream... I was floating away somewhere... and there were screams... so weird," she said. She looked much better than before. Her skin had brightened up and she seemed quite energetic.
"It's just a dream. Forget about it," Sombra said, approaching her. "I made you a soup. Do you want to eat?"
She shook her head in response.
"No, not really... Sombra, what did you do when I fell unconscious? Did you try to apply any medicine?" she said, with anxiety and worry in her voice.
"Yes, I did. The black goo, which you're supposed to rub into a pony's chest. I think that's why you're feeling better," Sombra theorized.
"Oh, thank the Emperor," Krystal gasped with relief.
"Krystal, I'm not that stupid," Sombra replied with offense. "When it's better for me not to do something, I won't do it."
"Sorry, honey, I didn't want to offend you!" Krystal said, giggling. "Some of these brews can be extremely toxic when applied at incorrect time. None of them are fatal but some can... hurt the child."
Sombra sighed heavily and looked at the bottles on the table.
"Anything... anything but that..." he whispered. "So, what do we do now? Do you still need the rest of this stuff?"
"Yes," Krystal said. "I know how to use it... Let's hope it helps. Because... I am really worried about what kind of ailment I have."
"Relax," Sombra assured her. "We'll make it through this. I promise."
He approached the table and touched several bottles. The liquids in them looked very alike, only differing in colours.
"I'll make the needed preparations and you just tell me what to do, okay?" Sombra asked. "We'll get you back to health in no time. I promise."
"You promise a lot," Krystal joked, coughing a bit. "But you're right. Let's proceed."
***
"You know that having a bonfire inside a structure that can be easily set aflame isn't safe, right?" Krystal asked, looking at the flame dancing. She moved a little closer to the fire, extending her hoof towards it.
The blanket she used as protection to prevent her backside from getting frozen had a lot of holes in it, exposing the 'meat', which consisted of feathers. Sombra felt a little embarrassed that he didn't take a nicer cover for his beloved.
"Yes, I do. But what else could I have done?" Sombra replied. "Besides, I made it as safe as possible".
Krystal didn’t reply thereto and her horn lit up as she levitated a short stick and poked the smouldering charcoal. The flame livened up a bit and the soup started boiling faster.
"I didn't have that much time to think," Sombra continued. "It all happened so suddenly... you just wandered into the summer house and..."
He made a long pause, looking at her.
"What happened, anyway? I never got a chance to ask you," he said, moving closer to her. Krystal took a deep breath and touched the pendant on her neck.
Sombra felt a little guilty as this was clearly a delicate subject for Krystal to talk about. Something really serious had happened and it was possible that Sombra was poking a hornet's nest right now. Maybe he should retract that question and leave it be? What was the use of it, anyway?
No. He needed to know. Maybe it was something he could help her with. Maybe everything could be changed still.
"I don't expect you to understand. It's a noble tradition, and it won't make much sense to you," Krystal said in a saddened voice. "It's called Meet Off".
Krystal explained what the Meet Off was all about. She mustered all her memory and remembered every single detail she knew. As she spoke, Sombra face contorted more and more.
"And then, when the contract is signed, the future husband picks a day. On that day, when the bride agrees, or when she is... forced to, they meet at a certain place at a certain time. The bride's parents as well; their presence is required to ensure that their daughter's virginity is taken," she glanced at Sombra for a moment, and noticed that his face was red.
"It is said only a parent can tell if their child is innocent anymore..." she finished her speech, and almost jumped from the loud sound as Sombra smashed his forehooves into the ground.
"Who do they think they are?!" Sombra growled menacingly. "They just... just... sold you! Sold you to some prick for a piece of land and recognition!"
"Bastards!" Sombra roared, his horn starting to crackle with dark energies.
"Sombra, calm down! There's nothing we can do about it now. Just relax," Krystal tried to calm him down, but he wouldn't listen.
"These bastards! How could they do this to you?! They are your parents! They're supposed to be your family!" he continued to shout. Krystal regretted ever telling him. “I refuse to believe that parents can be that cold!”
Krystal didn't believe it too. But she accepted this fact. This was how the noble society worked. This was their way of life.
"This is... this is barbaric! This is disgusting!" Sombra continued to growl and Krystal reached out for him.
"Please... sit with me, Sombra," she said quietly. Sombra gazed at her, and his eyes slowly became clear of anger. He sat down near her and Krystal wrapped her forehooves around him, the tip of her horn touching Sombra's one, engulfed in dark energies. Slowly, but steadily, they dissipated.
"Sombra, I understand your anger, but please... I've already suffered. Don't pour more salt on my wound, and don't concern yourself with my old pain," she whispered into his ear. "You're my only family now."
Sombra shuddered at the mention of this word. His own family... He just couldn't get over it. His own family. He tilted his head closer to her, his horn scratching hers a bit.
"You know... I wanted to tell you my idea earlier... But I never had a chance," he said in a calm voice. "So, I thought... what if you and I run away from Crystal City... somewhere to the west, into the Gryphon Dominion. We'll find a forest, close to the Great Ocean, build ourselves a house... then you'll give birth to an adorable daughter..."
"Wait, you want a daughter?" Krystal asked, looking quite surprised. "I thought you’d be the type to prefer a son."
"Heh... If we have a son, he would look like me. The second me... doesn't sound like a good idea. But a mare like you — our daughter would save this world from decay. She would save the world with beauty", he said, and kissed her gently on the cheek.
"Ooh, you!" Krystal replied, coughing several times. "Stupid sore throat.”
"You've gotten so much better... This medicine worked, surprisingly enough," Sombra noted. "And here I thought that earth ponies could only make good bread."
"Well, they don't actually make these brews. They're made in Unicorn Kingdom, then sold to Earthville, who then sell it all throughout the known world," Krystal explained.
"How complicated," Sombra said, looking at the kettle. "Oh, the soup's ready! Do you want some?"
"Oh, yes, I definitely need to eat something," Krystal said, rubbing her belly. "You need food too, don't you? Ouch... Hee-hee, I think he can hear us!"
"You mean, 'she' can hear us," Sombra corrected her, moved closer to her and put his ear against her belly. "Do you think she'll be... soft?"
Krystal looked at him with surprise.
"Soft? Well, I think so. Every child is 'soft' when it's born."
"No, I didn't mean that. I meant if... her fur would be soft. That would be so cool," he whispered, closing his eyes, and, for a moment, his mind drifted away into a fantasy.
How would his daughter look like? He didn't know, but... he wanted her to look like Krystal - just as pretty, happy looking and pudgy. Krystal's whole uniqueness was in pudginess. She wouldn't be herself without it.
Of course, she would have long mane. She would fiddle around with it, trying to comb it, or struggle to make it into a braid. Then, finally, she would ask him or Krystal for help, and they would come to her aid.
Sombra suddenly turned pale, thinking: what if his daughter would inherit his manners? Just the thought of that seemed weird.
He couldn't imagine his daughter taking up a cigarette, going around and beating up ponies. That image was far too scary, but funny at the same time. He even snickered at it a bit.
"What's so funny?" Krystal asked him, snapping Sombra out of his dream.
"Ugh... nothing. Just dreaming, that's all," he replied. "Let's get to eating, shall we?"
Unfortunately, Sombra managed to get only one bowl, so they had to eat together at the same time, so the soup wouldn't turn cold.
They took turns, drinking out of the bowl. Sombra tried to drink less, so Krystal could have most of it — she was the one bearing the child. After all, the unborn filly needed food, too.
The wind continued to howl outside and the blizzard got even stronger. Soon, all the sounds that could be heard outside were replaced by wind.
"Krystal, you should go back to bed. It's getting colder," Sombra advised her. Krystal got up, still unsure on her feet, and slowly walked towards him, reeling.
"I will... Just walk with me for a bit. I've been lying in that bed for so long... and I don't think it dried out yet," she said shyly, and Sombra took a look at the mattress. Yes, she was right: it was damp with sweat. Sombra sighed heavily and let her lean on him. Every step, even with Sombra's help, was accompanied by a pain-filled rattle and a piercing pain in her chest, so they were walking slowly, carefully making their way around the abandoned hospital.
"Krystal... I wanted to ask: how did your mother react to your pregnancy? Did she... try to stop your father?" Sombra asked, when he and Krystal approached the window and peered the storm outside.
"No..." Krystal replied, leaning on Sombra. "She said nothing... nothing at all."
"That's... That's so cruel. Mothers should always listen, she should always understand, always be by your side," he sighed, tormented by the visions of his own mother and her kindness. His image of mother, forever embodied by Willemite, could not comprehend such cold towards her child. It was unimaginable.
"Yes... Yes, it is. But that is how the world of nobles works. Once you're an outcast, there's nowhere to expect help from. Nopony will help you," Krystal whispered, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.
"World of nobles... It sounds even colder than the world of commoners... And I cannot imagine a world colder than mine," Sombra said. Indeed, the world where you had to survive on your own was harsh, unforgiving, but at least, even in the bleakest of situations, you still had a fragment of hope.
In Krystal's world, once you stray from the path your elders have set for you... you're as good as dead. Or even worse: they mock you, torment you until you fall down on your knees and howl at the sky in despair, begging for pain to stop, while they're just preparing another set of needles to inject the poison with.
Their worlds were so different...
Sombra looked outside the window, the white gust devouring the world outside, consuming everything in the biting cold. What a fitting metaphor. What a fitting weather.
Krystal's world — a beauty on the outside sparkling with the offer of a comfortable and stable life, protected by the thick walls from the raging inferno of cold. Life strived and bloomed behind these walls of ignorance, bones as its foundation and fortified by trenches of blood. Show one weakness in this utopia and you’d be struck down, chased away into the raging blizzard to be torn and eaten by savages, savages like Sombra.
It was hurtful to realize that you're only garbage to those you look up to, but it was the truth. When he was just a little foal, Sombra looked up to great lords and politicians, but now, he had seen their true nature — cold, bitter, obsessed with their own little world and hate-filled towards those who didn't fill their form of their equal.
Poor Krystal... All this time, she was living like royalty, but under those linen covers and puffy pillows, there were thorns.
"Come here." Sombra nuzzled Krystal, wrapping his forelegs around her. "I wish I could shield you from all the evil in the world. I wish I could protect you from all the harm... and the bad thoughts that come into your head... Sorry... for being such a bad protector."
"You're the best protector a mare could wish for, Sombra. Don't go so heavy on yourself," she whispered, resting her head on his chest. She felt so warm and soft right now, just like back then.
"I'll... I'll try. Now, you should go to sleep. Or, at least rest. Our child needs a lot of energy," Sombra said, kissing Krystal on the forehead.
Some minutes later, Krystal was lying in her bed, staring at the ceiling, while Sombra fiddled around with the bonfire. They both were silent... but Sombra could still taste her on his lips.
"I wish I had a book to read," Krystal muttered. "It's boring here".
"I know, my precious... I can sing you a song if you want," Sombra offered, and Krystal giggled weakly.
"No, thank you..." she declined and then went silent. The silence dragged on, on and on. Suddenly, she started speaking once more.
"Sombra... if we have a daughter... how will we name her? What would be a good name for our child?"
"I don't really know, but.... How about... Nora?"
"Nora? That's a weird name... Is it even Crystallian? Where did you get this one?"
"Nowhere... just came up with it... Thought it sounds cute... Does it?"
"It does, a little bit... Has some northern feel to it... I like it," Krystal said. "And if it's a colt? How about Sombra?"
"What? Two Sombras is too much for me to handle!"
"Your name is unique. We should make it into a lineage. It must never be forgotten," Krystal said, wrapping herself in the blanket.
"Ha-ha-ha... Well, then, if you say so. If it's a colt, then Sombra the Second it shall be!"
Krystal put her head on the pillow and stared on the ceiling. The illness slowly returned, chaining her limbs with weakness and weariness. She could barely move.
"Hey, Krystal? Isn't it too early to sleep right now? It's just afternoon," he noted.
"I'm not sleeping... I just feel... weak," Krystal replied. She, however, wasn't worried at all.
"What? Should I—"
"No, Sombra, it's okay. The medicine is finally kicking in. Temporary weakness — it's the sign that my immune system is finally doing its job... Just keep us warm, and tomorrow, I'll be as good as new".
"O-okay, Krystal, if you think that's right... I'll watch over the fire; you just rest," Sombra said and focused his attention on the fire, while Krystal just closed her eyes and let her body rest