Sweetie's Shadow

by Note Sketch


5. Good Morning

His body heavy, Sombra felt a strange drain of his power the further he walked away from Sweetie Belle's room. There was no doubt about it. The further he got away from her, the less strength he possessed to even move his limbs. Still, he wasn't about to spend the night in the filly's room. The purple mare...what was her name? The new princess, she would surely have his head if he was found outside of the prison she had made for him. He couldn't risk that, despite his attitude about meeting the royal sisters, he had no plans of allowing himself to die again. Not now, not until he achieves his goal.

A strange rustling from the lower floor knocked Sombra back to reality. Sniffing the air around him, the stallion crouched down and began to walk slowly downstairs. Stalking in the shadows, he moved around carefully as he tried to see what the commotion was about. Did the princess return early? Was he to meet his fate once more? He would not have that. Still...with this much strength, there was little he could do if his fears were true.

"Found them yet?" A voice asked out as more rustling was heard. The sound of drawers opening back and forth filled the air. No doubt these were not the princesses.

"They're over here, look at all these gems and jewels!"

"Quiet down you idiot. We got it, let's get out of here before we get caught." Another voice said as it smacked his companion on the head.

Sombra pondered whether to attack or not. Obviously they were stealing something, but really, what did he have to gain from sticking his neck out like that? He had a limited amount of dark magic he wasn't willing to use, especially not for the benefit of one of his murderers. Instead, he simply allowed the thieves to walk away, though as they did, he couldn't help but analyze the area around him.

Though he had only heard two voices speak around the corner, he heard six pair of hoof steps. Four for each, that meant there were actually three ponies making their way out. No, wait, the hoof steps sounded off for some reason. Sombra let out a puff of air through his nose before he turned around and walked back upstairs. He didn't need that extra bit of information, but his brain couldn't help but process it. It was an automatic habit that had helped him survive up until...well, never mind.

Sombra was back to 'his room', or rather, the white mare's work room. There wasn't exactly a lot of room available in her home, and it just so happened that his imprisonment took place in this one. Opening the door, his eyes squinted at the light the cage of magic was giving off. With a heartfelt sigh, he looked at his new resting place and immediately felt grimace.

"What exactly am I to do?" He asked himself as he walked over to the cage. He turned around and leaned his back against the bars as he slid down and rested in a sitting position. "Come on, think of a way out of this..."

Sombra's mind raced. All sorts of scenarios came to him. All he needed was a short window to escape. That, and for the filly to release her hold on him. For that to happen, however, he had to recall how they even came to form such a contract. Why did Sombra agree to such outrageous terms? These sort of things have to be agreed upon by both parties, so why did he do it?

Closing his eyes, Sombra tried his best to try to recall that point in time, though all he could remember was the cold feeling of death's icy grip. It wasn't the same freezing feeling he experienced when he was trapped in ice by the Royal Sisters, this was something different. How much time passed while in that state? Sombra couldn't recall. It could have been years, or maybe just a minute. Whatever it was, it felt like he had been dragged into a strange void. A realm with no time, no space, no light. Just... Empty.

Some pony help me...

He recalled a voice. A young voice. It sounded so much like...like she did.

Live!

Was the next statement he remembered, though it was as if he had missed a chunk somewhere in the middle. It didn't mattered now, for Sombra began to do as the voice had told him. He began to be alive once more.

Pain, lots of pain. What Sombra remembered after that was a surge of pain spreading across the body he had forgotten he had. No, it was like his body was being reconstructed. It was like every cell he possessed was fighting to return to their rightful place. It was suffocating to feel so much strain at once, thought suffocation was too accurate of a description. Then, he felt relief. In what seemed to be his second 'first breath', Sombra felt his lungs filling with air again. It jolted him back to the land of living. It was his time of resurrection. And then he heard it. His name.

"King Sombra..." The dark stallion said to himself as he remembered the white mare who was examining him when he first came to. "That was a spiteful memory I don't wish to recall again...though it does bring up some questions..." He said as he slowly looked up.

"I wonder how long commands extend to..." Sombra said as he stood back up. Looking over at 'his' cage, he hesitantly began to turn his body into that of a intangible shadow, a form he had used once against a paladin back when he was trying to retake his empire. He needed to jump in quick, squeeze in through bars in a single jump, because once one part came inside that cage, he would no longer be able to use his magic, and catching himself half way would spell bad news.

"If that filly commanded me to 'live', so that I may come back to life, that means that I must follow that command. Even if I don't want to, my body will move on it's own to fulfill her request. So if she told me to live...my body will do everything it can to keep me alive." Sombra said as he railed himself up before dashing forward and shifting his body into a shadow before it was forced back into flesh once he was inside.

"If I anger the Princesses, if I make them want to kill me, my body will react and make me defend myself. If The filly commands me to stop, the two commands will be in conflict. I doubt she placed some sort of safety against this loophole. That means...." Sombra said as he began to lay down, crossing his front hooves as he rested his head on them. "The commands will cancel out, and if I'm lucky, so will the contract. Even if it isn't the latter, I will still have a small window of opportunity while the filly reacts to whatever happens when the commands go against themselves. That is all I will need."

A chuckle escaped him as he began to plot everything out in his head. Every possible action from the mares, every possible reaction on his part. He needed to find a fool proof plan. He was good at these sort of things, after all, the only reason he lost his empire upon his return the first time, was because for some odd reason, the baby dragon wasn't at the purple mare's side when she triggered the trap he laid.

With an evil smirk upon his face, Sombra closed his eyelids and began to drift off to sleep. He would need his rest. The battle ahead of him would be a tough one with his limited magic. Still, he was sure of his abilities to, if nothing else, escape.

《=●=》

Sleep is to be in a peaceful state. You are resting, gathering energy, and more than anything, comfortable. Though as fate demanded, Sombra would have none of these things. After all, the world has it out for him, nothing ever goes his way...

AHHHHHH!

Quickly raising his head in a reaction to the loud screech, Sombra jumped to his hooves as he was jolted back to the land of the living. A sudden rush of pain entered his head as he raised a hoof to his injury. He let out a small yelp as he glanced up to see himself still within his cage that seemed to be too small for him and was the cause for his headache now.

"Cursed cage." He muttered to himself as he tried to lay back down, though the aching on his head was not helping him feel relaxed exactly.

"Some pony took my jewels!" Some pony shouted from the floor below. With a sigh Sombra did his best to ignore the shouted and sounds of the mare running around fantastically. He could almost imagine everything she was doing, she telegraphed everything through sound alone, and it was hilarious to imagine her losing her horse apples over the gems that were stolen. But suddenly, there was a strange silence.

Sombra raised an eye brow along with an ear as he strained his hearing. Did something happen? Why did she stop shouted? Oh wait....

The door to the room slammed open and a very angry mare stood at the entrance, outrage in her eyes. One could say fire was ignited in her pupils like his flames of fear on his own eyes. Quite a parallel to draw, but it was certainly still not an image that could frighten Sombra.

"Can I help you?" He asked, almost mockingly.

"You stole my jewels and gems!" Rarity shouted out as she pointed a hoof at him. The accusation was seen coming, but in a sarcastic fashion, Sombra exaggerated a reaction as he gasped.

"Me? I would never do such a thing. How could you think so low of me?" He asked as he forced back a smirk. His exaggerated gestures did not help the mare calm down, and instead she began to walk closer to him in anger.

"You took them! We all heard you when you were running rampant. You're obsessed with crystals! You probably thought they looked like crystals and stole them!"

"Oh please." Sombra began as he reverted back to his own persona. "Why would I want your gems? Firstly, I know the difference between a crystal and a gem. Secondly, you all misheard. I was just trying to get my slaves back, but instead of saying 'Crystal Slaves', I shortened it to 'Crystals'. And lastly..." Sombra said as he reached out and knocked on the cage of light, a strange echo immigrating from it as his hoof made contact with it to suggest he was still trapped. It was cutting it close to lying, but he never said that he was trapped in here all night.

"Oh....right." Rarity said as she remembered the cage he was in. Taking a few steps back to gather her bearings, she cuffed into her hoof as an embarrassed blush spread across her face. "You're right. You couldn't have possibly have done it. You're trapped."

"Some thieves came by last night, they made off with your gems." He finished as he laid his head back on his hooves.

"Y-You saw them? Do you know who they are? What they look like?"

"No, I just heard them from the second floor."

"I-I see." Rarity said as she looked down at him. He had long since stopped making eye contact and began to ignore her presence. She couldn't blame him, she did just barge in to throw accusations at him...and she was sorta kinda responsible for his death. Still, this was not a situation she was comfortable with. "Ahem, well, I'll be going then."

"Ta-ta." The stallion responded as he waved his hoof from under his chin, his eyes closed and inattentive to her.

The mare softly began to backtrack and leave the room, quietly closing the door behind her. With the new barrier between them, she was able to breathe easy. It was a strange feeling to say the least. He was so...passive right now. He wasn't angry, or pretentious, or acting like a tyrant at all. Was he always like this? it was certainly unsettling since he tried to kill her just the day prior.

"Good morning Rarity...." Sweetie Belle said as she reached her older sister with a hoof to her eye as she rubbed away from of the eyelid crush from the morning.

"Oh, good morning Sweetie, you're up early."

"You were screaming." The filly responded as she placed her hoof down and looked over at the room she had come from. Then, a realization came to her as she remembered her small act of kindness from last night. "W-W-W-Were you talking with Mister Sombra?" She asked out meekly.

"Yes. Some pesky thieves seemed to have made my boutique their target last night. Made off with many of my gems and jewels. I thought Sombra was the one behind it, but he couldn't have possibly have done it, he is still trapped in his cage."

"He is?!" She shouted out in shock. Her sister stared back with a raised eyebrow as she tried to make sense of her actions.

"Well don't sound so surprised." Rarity said with a laugh, quickly dismissing how . "Twilight is good with her magic, her spell wouldn't wear out just over night." She said as she began to walk downstairs, her sister on her heels.

"Oh, right." Sweetie Belle said hesitantly, not exactly sure what was going on, but happy that she wasn't in trouble for letting Sombra out.

"Speaking of which, Twilight still isn't here..." The white mare said as she began to pick her mess up. The one she made looking for her stone items. It was a fair assessment that a hurricane would have left less of a mess than she had just now. "She said she would be here with the other princesses first thing in the morning."

"Maybe she got held up."

"Yeah, though Twilight said she didn't exactly tell them why she wanted them over. Perhaps they don't seem to have any sort of urgency because they don't know that the Tyrant King of the Crystal Empire is living under my roof." Rarity said with a sigh, never before did she think she would ever have to say those words in the same sentence. Really now, who would have ever thought of anything this crazy happening to them.

With a soft glance at Sweetie Belle who was also trying to clean up the mess, Rarity couldn't help but feel like she needed to do something to get them out of this strange circumstance. This was definitely not the ideal environment for a filly to grow up in. Sombra had to go. Shaking the thought out of her head, Rarity decided to instead try to focus on other things, like breakfast for example. Slowly she began to move towards the kitchen and ready the environment for their meal by taking out ingredients she would need.

"He's nicer than you think." Sweetie said, getting her sister out of the strange daze she was in. At first Rarity thought she wanted to help out with cooking, but for once, she seemed to have no interest in lending a hoof.

"What was that?" The mare asked out, not exactly following where that last statement even came from.

"Mister Sombra. He's nice when you get to know him." She continued to say with a smile.

"Sweetie Belle, darling, this is the Tyrant that took over an entire Empire we're talking about. There isn't anything nice about him."

"You should give him a chance, maybe you'll like him." Sweetie Belle said as she began go back up stairs.

"A-And where do you think you're going?"

"To go say good morning to Mister Sombra." The filly shouted once she reached the top of the stairs. "You always told me it was rude to not tell you."

"That was me, this is Sombra. Two very different ponies!" Rarity shouted to her sister, though it was in vain, she was already gone. With a frustrated sigh, the white mare stomped her hoof as she saw her sister walk right into the lion's den. "Oooh, why doesn't that filly ever listen to me?..."

Beginning to pace back to her kitchen, the mare continued to talk to herself.

"I mean sure, King Sombra doesn't seem to be able to actually hurt her, or me since she told him not to. And yeah, she has complete control over him and can't do anything without consent since he is quite literally Sweetie's shadow...but I just don't trust him!" Rarity said as she began to take down a bowl where she placed lots of different ingredients for her meal: freshly made waffles.

"He's the Evil Unicorn King for pete's sake. I just can't allow Sweetie Belle to be around such a bad influence!"

I may be a Tyrant, but I'm not a liar

Suddenly the words Sombra said yesterday rung in her head. It was a strange statement to be sure, but it gave hint for something...else. A certain amount of morals were implied, even for what he's done, she could at least know he was honest. For whatever it matters anyway.

"Smells delicious!" Rarity heard her sister say from behind her. Blinking a few times, the mare looked down to see that she was just about done with breakfast, muscle memory had guided her while she was busy in her own thoughts.

"Why yes, I made some waffles for you and...and....Sombra?" Rarity said as she turned around. Her eyes were wide open as she saw the dark stallion walk down the stairs and stop beside her sister. "W-What is King Sombra doing out of his cage?!" She shouted out as the plate she was holding with her magic fell. Had it not been for Sombra's levitation aura, it would have shattered on the tile floor.

"Oh, I invited him for breakfast. He did skip supper last night. He must be hungry, right Mister Sombra?" Sweetie Belle asked as she looked over at her tall companion. He slowly walked over towards Rarity to held her breath as she saw him creep close. Without paying much mind to the white mare, Sombra placed the plate on the counter before beginning to take some waffles fresh out of the waffle iron.

"Yes, I'm famished. I do hope I may have a few bites of food before my impending death, no?" Sombra asked the owner of the house who began to feel agitated at his smirk. Narrowing her eyes at him, she gestured him to the table where Sweetie Belle was already sitting at. She didn't exactly had a choice, now did she?

"Yeah...he certainly is honest..." Rarity murmured to herself as she finished her thought from before the duo had arrived. "A little too honest."