//------------------------------// // Happy End // Story: Sombra. Saga of Hatred // by HiddenUnderACouch //------------------------------// The world was silent around them. The wind finally calmed down from its brutal rampage, and now, there was only snow peacefully falling down on the ground. The moon was high above the clouds and its light couldn't come through the thick layer of clouds. The whole world seemed to have fallen asleep. There was nopony on the streets; the windows of most houses were dark, only several had little lights dancing in them. The night was silent, calm, beautiful. Nothing could disturb this dark peace, only the weak wind whistled through the alleys and rattled the window lattices. Occasionally, a rat would run across the street, leaving a tiny trail in the snow. Suddenly, a loud, blood-chilling shriek pierced the air, echoing across the street one single time and then fading into nothing. It didn't disturb anypony's sleep... but one. Sombra lifted his heavy eyelids and felt dumb pain shooting through his head. He was dragged out of his sleep and as his brain still tried to process the world around him and wake up from his slumber. He, reeling from side to side, stood up and looked around. Even though the scream was loud, he couldn't figure out where it had come from. Was it close, or far away? His sleep-intoxicated mind couldn't come up with any ideas. Not even a single one. Another scream pierced his eardrums, and, when he finally figured out who was screaming, his blood stood still. The scream was so close to him. His Krystal was screaming. He dashed towards her bed and fell over immediately, his head engulfed by endless pain that squeezed his head like metal clamps. Exhaustion got to him, at last, but he fought it back, fought back the dizziness and pain and walked on. Why was she screaming? What happened? In addition to pain, fear and worry gripped Sombra's mind. Horrific thoughts filled his head, as he rushed to Krystal's bed. "Krystal? Krystal, what is with you?" he asked, coming near her. It was so dark that he couldn't even see her face, even though he leaned on the bed. He mustered his courage and lit a small light on the tip of his horn. Several seconds later, he had wished he hadn't. Krystal's face was white as chalk, and the expression she had was that of pain. Tears were streaming down her pale cheeks and her eyes were muddy and red. "My...my chest...." Krystal mumbled, before unleashing another shriek as the pain in her chest struck once again "Krystal... Krystal, stop it! This isn't funny! Stop!" Sombra said, thinking she was playing tricks on him. A single look of her swollen, tear-filled eyes was enough to prove to Sombra that this was no joke. "So-Sombra... I—“ She coughed, quickly covering her mouth with her right hoof. When the coughing finally ceased, she muttered: "Sombra... I don't want to die..." "Don't talk like this! We just need to give you some more medicine! Just you wait! Wait!" Sombra shouted loudly. He quickly rushed to the table where he left the medicine and wrapped the bottle of analgesic in his magical aura. Then, he dashed back to Krystal. "Come on, Krystal. Just drink it!" he urged, touching her hoof and moving it away. Krystal shook her head, refusing to obey him. "No...no...no!" She muttered, her voice sounding strange as she was gurgling something. "No! No!" He forcefully moved away her hoof and he saw blood dripping from her lips. However, he steadied his heart and proceeded to move the bottle closer to her. "Come on, Krystal. Just open your mouth. We did this before. I know it's yucky, but you have to withstand this. Come on!" he pleaded. Finally, Krystal touched the tip of the bottle with her lips and slowly sucked the transparent liquid from the bottle. From time to time, she would cough, several small drops of blood running down her neck. Sombra held the bottle, afraid that she would throw away, being in this state of panic. She was like a child right now: scared of everything, afraid to think clearly. This pain took her by surprise. "There we go... Now, now, it's okay. It's okay," Sombra whispered, after Krystal emptied the bottle. "You must not worry. It's bad for the child." "It... it didn't help," Krystal whispered. Sombra's ear twitched. "What... what did you say?" "The medicine... it didn't help... I thought it would help... but it didn't," she muttered. Sombra's blood turned cold. "What the Abyss are you talking about?" he turned pale. How could it not help? It was supposed to help. What is she talking about?! "I... was wrong. I was wrong about the medicine... It didn't help... They told me it would help... but it didn't," Krystal's voice was shaking, trembling, her body shivering. "Who? Who told you?!" "My parents... Long ago... they told me that I shouldn't stay out in the cold for too long... Else I would have to drink all of... this," she pointed at the table where the medicine was. "I thought that... it would help." "Krystal, it will help! Relax," Sombra tried to calm her down. "It just needs time to kick in. Give it some time, a day or two! You'll get better, and we'll run away together!" Krystal looked at him, and suddenly burst into tears. She hugged Sombra and stuck her muzzle into his chest. His body shuddered as her cold tears touched his skin. "It won't help... Sombra... I... I don't want to die... I don't want to die." "Shut up!" Sombra screamed, his eyes tearing up too. "Nopony will die today! I'll save you! So stop talking nonsense!" Krystal only hugged him harder and they spent the next ten minutes in silence, only interrupted by Krystal's silent sobs. Then, suddenly, she let him free and lied down on her pillow. "Sombra... Tell me... if I am gone, will you remember me?" "Shu-shut u—" Sombra muttered, his voice drowning in sobs. "You... you won't..." "Just answer. Please." "I- I will." She turned her head, looking at him, and then forced a weak smile. "I feel cold... I feel so cold... It's close. I can feel it," she uttered. "Feel what?" he asked, swiping away a single tear. He couldn't stand to see her suffer like this. He wanted to do something, give her something, cast a spell to ease her pain. But he didn't know what spell, or what medicine could help her. "Sombra... If we’d had a colt... would you love him just as much as you would a filly?" "What a stupid question. Of course I would," he said, feeling even worse as she used that subjunctive. "I believe you. I know you're speaking truth. Even when you hurt me at times, lie to me, I still know you're kind inside," she extended her hoof and touched his chest, right where his heart was. "I can feel it... Thump.... thump." Sombra got closer to her and put his ear against her chest, listening to her heartbeat. "You have the same thumps too! So don't talk like this!" he exclaimed. "Can you hear them? Thump... Thump..." "Are you... crying?" She suddenly asked. How couldn't she notice before? "No. I'm... not," Sombra replied, his voice barely keeping still. "I'm a stallion. I'm not allowed to. I mustn't." "That's a very silly drama trope. Everypony cries. There’s no shame in that." "No. There is shame. I'm supposed to be strong, so you can feel safe when I'm around you. You have to rely on me, you have to trust me." "Just because you cry doesn't mean you're weak. It just means that you’re alive. Now I know..." she touched his cheek. "That you had a soft spot for me. That's... so nice of you. I thought I would leave forgotten, and nopony would remember me — a rich filly, who thought fairytales were real." "Sombra... you have to leave before it starts... I don't want you to see or hear me... I'm afraid you can't handle it," she whispered. "I won't leave you, Krystal! I'll stay here. I'll save you!" "Oh... you silly foal," she whispered quietly. Her pendant flickered, reflecting the light of Sombra's horn. Having noticed it, Krystal touched it and her horn lit up as she took it off. Sombra stared at her, having no idea what she was doing. "In this pendant, I kept all those who were my family... Remember? Back there, in the theatre?" "Yes... Your dad with a moustache." "Exactly... Now..." she extended her hoof to him, handing him the pendant. "It's yours." "Why... are you giving me this? You said you treasure it. It's yours forever!" "No, Sombra. I don't treasure it. I treasure my family... So, please, take it... in the memory of me." Sombra hesitated, but accepted her gift and took a long good look at her. In her eyes, there was pain, sadness... and peace. Looking her in the eyes had made him happy once, but now... "Hold me... It's cold here... I don't want to feel cold." He accomplished her wish. He wrapped his forehooves around her and pressed her against himself as hard as he could. He could feel her body getting colder. He could see her eyes getting darker. He could feel her soul... escaping. "It will all be alright. You'll get better. We'll get better, anyway. It's nothing really. We've been through worse, haven't we? This is nothing," Sombra rambled. "You'll get better, and then we'll run away, far, far away from my father, from your parents, from this city. I'll be a good husband and build ourselves a nice, big house. Two floors... no, three! Three floors. The first one for guests, the second us for you and me, and the third one for the children. They'll have so much fun on the top floor; they will be able to see far, see all other ponies playing and looking around. They would make lots of friends — true friends, good friends. They will find their true love, too. They will love truly, wholeheartedly, like you and I. Our love was true, right, Krystal?" There was no answer. "Krystal?" No answer followed. "... Krystal?" He looked into her eyes once more, only to see them closed. Her body was cold, and her face was devoid of colour, an expression of deep sadness stuck on her face for all eternity. He listened to her heart... But heard only silence. *** It felt like a dream. Like a long, bad dream, that just wouldn't end. Till the last moment, as Sombra dug the grave, he hoped he would wake up from the sound of Krystal shouting at him to wake up. He had walked to the park, carrying her on her back. She was heavy, very heavy, but he walked on, like a zombie, without a purpose. After an hour of searching in the snow-filled park, where they loved to walk around, he had finally found a secluded spot. There, he started digging. He was digging for a long time, with his bare hooves. He didn't feel cold or pain. he just dug on. He dug until it was big enough for her. She looked so lonely. She looked so lonely in this pit. Sombra couldn't bear looking at her any longer. He couldn't stand her motionless face, which used to be full of life. He couldn't stand it. He couldn't. *** The grave... was completed. He’d buried her at last. For a tombstone, he picked the branch of a nearby birch that seemed the most beautiful to him. Time passed on as Sombra sat in front of the grave, looking at the tubercle on the ground. He felt... relieved. It was the most horrible point of this dream, thus he would wake up soon. He always woke up when it seemed like there was no hope. He should wake up. He wasn't waking up. Slowly and carefully, Sombra wrapped his newly acquired pendant in the grey aura, and took a long look at it. Its golden surface was flickering in the moonlight. He opened it and gazed upon the family Krystal treasured so much. Her father, her mother and herself, as a small filly. Even back then she already looked puffy and cuddly. Suddenly, Sombra noticed something weird. The edge of this picture was all rough and jammed, and stuck out as if... there was something else under it. He quickly grabbed the edge of it with his teeth and pulled. The picture came off easily, revealing another one under it. It was self-drawn, quite sloppily, in black and white, probably with a simple pencil. But he recognized who was on this picture. It was him. Though the lines were pretty sloppy around his horn, and the mane was badly coloured, probably because Krystal was shaking when drawing this, he still recognized himself on the picture. "Krystal... you... you..." he uttered, finally losing it. He looked at the fresh grave, then at his portrait, at the grave, and at the picture again. He lost control. "No!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, collapsing on the ground, drowning in his own tears. It wasn't a dream. It was reality. He was not going to wake up. His body collapsed on the ground. His dreams collapsed into the void. His life collapsed into the pit of despair. Krystal was dead and he did nothing to prevent that. He just let her fade. He let his love disappear. The wind shook the lonely birch tombstone and the snow continued to rain all over the world. Nothing could shield the young stallion from his despair. Sombra lay in the snow, near Krystal's grave, crying bitterly. His mind was filled with nothing but memories of her and his heart slowly turned to ice, frozen by the realization that he killed his love. "Why.... why you?" he whispered to himself through his own sobs. Why was it her that the fate decided to take away. Rage and bitter hate filled his soul. Hate for himself, and the hate for the world. Why, why was it still there, when she was gone? This world couldn't exist without her! It was empty. It was useless. It was dead. He was lying in the snow, drowning in his own sadness. He didn't know what to do anymore. Everything seemed so pale and dark. He saw nothing. Nothing but darkness in his way. His only source of light was lost. And he was lost, too. Lost, in the darkness. He cried like a little child. A child, abandoned in the woods by everypony it considered family. Parents, friends, toys — everypony was gone. He was alone, left alone in this world. Cold, big, scary world, and he was just a little child. All hope was lost. Everything Sombra had ever loved was gone — his mother, and now, Krystal. He couldn't see a way out of it. He couldn't see a solution. He saw only darkness. An hour had passed before Sombra turned silent. He started feeling again; he started to see once more. Getting up, he gazed on the grave. "All our dreams... were they all for nothing, then? Everything we had planned together, everything we made — all that was for nothing? We had dreams... we had hopes... We... were supposed to be together... but... but..." He covered his face with his hoof in shame. He looked into the sky, tears falling from his eyes. "If anypony.... if anything is up there... anything, that made this world possible... please, answer... Please, help me. I can't go onward without her. I am nothing... Whatever is up there, please, come down, and... and save her!" He really believed for a moment, that his voice could reach the heavens. He really believed something was up there, listening. There had to be a great judge, a great king or queen, who ruled over the world. They had to come down and help him. They had to. "Please! I beg of you! Help me! Save her!" he cried into the sky. "Take me instead of her! She didn't deserve this! The child didn't deserve this! Bring them back!" He stood in the moonlight, waiting. He looked into the sky and prayed that an all powerful being would come down and help, give an advice, calm him... help him bring her back. For a moment he started believing in miracles. For a moment he started thinking that there was hope. The illusions were short-lived, however. No answer followed his plea. Sombra stood, gazing into an empty sky, where nopony resided. His sight shifted back to her grave. Yes... of course. What was I thinking? He thought to himself. It was her thing to believe in fairytales... not yours. There's nopony up there. There are no divine beings, and if there are, they know nothing about justice... because this isn't justice. "This is unfair.... This is unfair!" he screamed, crying and looking at the grave. "Why do you have to die while all of them still live?! Why do you have to die, while they still draw breath?! This isn't fair! This isn’t fair!" He covered his face, thinking of everypony who didn't deserve life: Amethyst, Krystal's family, His teachers, Sweet Tooth, the guards, Star Gem. They all were sinners; they all took part in their suffering. And yet, they still walked the earth... while Krystal was gone. "Why are they all alive... why aren't they dead.... why you? Why you?!" he screamed, thinking that Krystal would hear him. "Why do you have to leave me.... while they... are still there..." "And why.... why do you have to take... my child along with you?" There was no answer... and even if Krystal could still talk to him... would she answer, anyway? Maybe the providence just accomplished what he really wanted. Maybe he never wanted the child and this was the only way. But Sombra knew it was all a lie. Even if it took so much time to realize it, he couldn't dream of a better gift than hugging his little kid. A dream that had been smashed harder than every other he’d had, never to be restored. "I'll... I'll never forget you... my love..." Sombra said, putting the pendant on his neck. The light was gone from his life as Sombra walked away from her grave. He headed home, for there was nowhere to go anymore. His life was in ruins, and his hopes were gone. Now, he just wanted some peace. He wanted to be left alone... forever, never to be disturbed. He needed some time alone. With himself, in the comfort of his room, and a lot of sleep. He prayed that Blanket would come this night; he felt the need to pour his feelings out, he couldn't keep them inside. There was just too much. Just too much. And there was nopony he could tell. Nopony, but himself and his imaginary mare of dreams. He didn't have anypony. Sombra was alone once more. *** Sombra cringed from the horrible pain in his chest, as he approached his little wooden house. The door, like usual, was open, though it wasn't exactly welcoming. Over the time, the wood started to darken; no proper care was taken to prevent rot. A distinct smell of dampness reached his nostrils. It wasn't so noticeable before; it seemed that the ice in the basement had melted earlier than expected. Previously, this smell would only appear in spring when that ice turned into water. Sombra quickly passed through the hallway, quickly stepping over the trash and junk that was lying on the floor and slipped into his room before his father could notice him. The window in his room was boarded up, and it wasn't the only one. Ever since Sombra finished 7th grade, Amethyst's laziness started to remind its owner of its existence and, when the landlord came to collect, of course, he had no money to pay, and the landlord had promised, that he and Sombra would be out of this house in no time. That was what he’d said. Sombra had never seen him again. It appeared that the old pony just plain forgot. With his head devoid of thoughts, Sombra collapsed on his messy, dusty bed. The blanket quickly turned wet from the molten water and sweat, and the carcass of the bed creaked under his weight, threatening to break. Sombra turned round, looking at the ceiling, images of her smile, her laughter... her tears tormenting him to no end. He prayed for it to stop, for the memories to leave him alone. They had their moments... they had a lot of moments. They were close to losing each other... but they got back together. Everything was supposed to be alright. Everything had to turn out better than this! Differently! Not like this! A loud scream of anger and despair was stuck inside Sombra's throat. He didn't want to alert anypony. He just wanted to disappear. He wanted the pain to stop. He wanted the light to shine. He wanted everything to be different. He wanted to go home, and yet, there was no home to speak of. He had no home, and no family. The sound of hoofsteps alerted him, but they couldn't break them out of his trance. Nothing could. Not even a loud explosion. If the world ceases to exist, he would not even flinch. Life lost all its meaning. His thoughts were rudely interrupted by the sounds of door opening. Sombra's stomach grumbled, and he felt like he could belch from the stench of alcohol that burst into his room. The voice he hated so much reached his ears, echoing in his brain as if he was drunk. "He-ey, you, belfry!" Amethyst muttered gloomily. "Where have you been?" Strange. His father never cared so much to ask him where he was. It seemed to Sombra that his secrecy during every escape was unnecessary; Amethyst would have just ignored him. "At school," Sombra replied bitterly. He didn't want to fight. He just wanted to be left alone. The anger had almost dispersed, why did father had to enter now? Why couldn't he leave him be? "Oh, really? At school? I love fairytales, tell me more!" He barged into his room, only reeling a little. "Leave me alone," Sombra whispered, so quietly his father couldn't even hear him. Now, he regretted not locking the door. "I'm not leaving you alone, you little brat!" Amethyst shouted, approaching the broken stallion and throwing an empty envelope at him. "I finally found out! I should have seen it long ago!" Sombra slowly turned to him, but never looked him in the eyes. He couldn't look him in the eyes. You only look equals in the eyes. "You have been stealing! All this damn time, you have been stealing from me!" Amethyst growled, looking at his son. It took him so long to realize. He probably noticed when he found out he didn't have enough money to pay for booze. That was why he was sober. "Are you just going to lie and keep silent?! Say something, you twat! Rise and look into my eyes!" he shouted madly. "There's nothing to look at. I've seen enough of your face already," Sombra said, rising, looking through the window. "Leave me, please. I'll pay it all back..." "Oh, like Abyss you will. You will pay, but before, you'll get your portion of education!" he said and Sombra felt a sudden and painful whack on the head. Sombra collapsed on the ground, his forehead pulsing with pain and his skull cracking of the loud ringing in his ears. Hatred filled Sombra's inner being as he felt his stomach contracting out of disgust for the one that made him possible. His father was scum, a disgusting stain on this world, a parasite. There were so many parasites filling this world that good ponies, like Krystal, had to die in order for them to live. It is all because of them! All because of his father! Sombra slowly got up, several drops of blood appearing on the side of his mouth. He gazed at his father and his horn was set aflame with dark energies. The magic streams around him collapsed on themselves, slowly being corrupted and turned into the pure essence of hatred. The environment around Sombra darkened and Amethyst couldn't help but feel that. "Da-dark magic? Where... where did you get it? When did you learn it?" "Silence!" Sombra shouted, wrapping Amethyst's throat in black aura and tightening it like a chain. The putrid pony rattled and fell on the ground, grasping for air. "Today... a pony that I loved died, died because of scum like you!" Sombra growled at the top of lungs, hatred inside him keeping to grow. He understood it all now. This world was filled with filth. Father and Krystal's family were one of them. They were so alike; they abandoned their own child, let them fall and die: Amethyst, Lazarus — all the same. "She died because of scum like you! You killed her!" Sombra screamed. “You murdered my Krystal!” He jerked his head to the right, and the force field shifted, slamming Amethyst into the wall. Gritting his teeth, Sombra threw Amethyst forward, smashing the doorway to his room. Amethyst barely got up, blood dripping from his mouth and the broken ribs aching horribly. But Sombra was far from done; his rage demanded release. He had suffered for too much to settle down so easily. "What... are you talking... abo—" Amethyst couldn't finish his sentence, as Sombra lifted him up in the air, tightening the magical grip around his father's neck, hearing the satisfying sound of choking. Sombra wanted to hurt him a bit more. "I'm talking about a pony I loved. A pony who was closer to me than any other," he replied to his father's question. "I met her in the first grades! But you didn't even know that!" With those words, he smashed his father into the wall like he was nothing. The wood gave away, cracking and threatening to fall apart. "You never cared about me. You only remembered that you have a son when you noticed that I'm a wreck, that I'm a criminal! Only now, when she's gone, you finally remember!" Sombra growled. "We were close. We were so close. I slept with her, for Emperor's sake... But you didn't know that too, right? You didn't even bother!" With all of his hatred, he threw Amethyst into the door, leading to the kitchen. The old hinges were destroyed, and the poor bastard broke the door, along with the table. Flinders and pieces of wood flew all around the kitchen. Amethyst struggled to lift himself up, when he felt something crawling up his throat. The retching finally got to him, as he spewed blood, coughing and rattling. Amethyst raised his head and looked at his son, with fear in his eyes. He seemed to have trouble understanding what was going on. His lips started moving and his speech suddenly cleared up as if he wasn't beaten. "You monster," Amethyst coughed. "I'm your father... How could you?" "No, no! How could you? Don't you remember all those times you made me bleed? Made me suffer? Dig your memory, father," Sombra replied, entering the room slowly, enjoying every moment of his father's torment. "It happened far too often." Sombra slowly walked up to his father and struck him angrily right into the face. Unable to keep balance, Amethyst fell back, smashing yet another chair. "I hate you! I hate you more than anything else in this world! You don't deserve to live, and yet you still do!" Sombra shouted. "Why do ponies like you live.... while those I love die?!" Amethyst tried to help himself back up, but couldn't. Months of unending drinking bouts made his magic practically useless. He couldn't concentrate well enough to cast even a single simple spell. "I should have known... should have guessed you'll follow the hoofsteps of your whore-mother!" Amethyst shouted. "You're so like her! That's why you were so close! Now, let me tell you, sonny, what your precious Willemite did!" He finally got up, blood dripping from his mouth. Sombra stood still as if frozen in place. "Your mother ran away with that rich fuck Star Gem! I saw him getting into the carriage with tons, tons of things packed. She ran away with him, and now she's serving as his personal whore!" he shouted. "She left behind both of us, you and me; she didn't need us! But you? you go even further. After having your own whore killed, you blame me, attack me! Is this fucking justice?!" He reeled a bit, but continued. He looked terrified, but his speech was bold and filled with poison. "You're a wreck, Sombra. You're nothing but a little shit who got his hooves on a power you can't understand or control. Dark magic is not a toy!" He stomped his hoof, almost falling. "It'll swallow you whole! So shut up and stand down! I command you!" Sombra stood still. His body started to shake, and his eyes were quickly filled with tears. Every fibre of his being was shaking, trembling shivering with black, poisonous hatred. "Star Gem. Personal whore?" Sombra pronounced slowly, his voice trembling. Amethyst looked at him with surprise, but his lips whispered: "Exactly." "I- I shall..." Sombra shivered, and Amethyst could almost feel him giving up. Knowing the truth hurts. "I shall tear your pathetic soul out," Sombra said coldly. Amethyst didn't say anything, as Sombra's eyes turned blood red. Amethyst could swear he felt the ground quake. These quakes made his mind even sober. Sombra was far stronger than he expected. He knew far too much about dark magic, too much for such a young pony. "You will suffer," Sombra raised his head, and the dark energies quickly grabbed Amethyst by the neck and lifted him up in the air. All Sombra could hear in his mind was hatred. All he could feel was hatred. Hatred towards the maggots that took his mother. Towards the maggots that took his Krystal. The reality started to tear apart near Sombra's head, forming a dark void, where a spear started to gather. "He killed her.... He killed her... He killed her.... And you're no better than him... You're all alike," Sombra said. The spear rocketed and flashed with red and black lights. Sombra felt pain in his eyes as dark wisps formed, burning all the tears he had, making him feel as he hadn't blinked for hours. The void grew bigger and bigger. "I hate you, father. I hate you," Sombra whispered, finally unleashing the spell. The spear tore through the streams, harnessing the hatred Sombra had for Amethyst. And it was much more than for a simple cup, much more. Amethyst gazed at his doom in the form of his son. He gazed at the tear-like wisps of smoke that streamed from his eyes turned red, his contorted face. He closed his eyes. His end had come in the form of his own son. The one he ignored for so long had grown into a killer. Sombra could feel something stirring in him, his conscience, his inner voice. It whispered 'Don't'. But Sombra ignored it completely, concentrating his attention on the Spear. He silenced all the voices, even his mother, concentrating solely on getting his revenge. Revenge. It's all that mattered. The Spear pierced the air, heating it up to extreme temperatures. The wooden debris that were touched by it were set aflame immediately. It flew quickly, but for them both, the time seemed to have slowed down. Sombra watched carefully as the Spear finally reached its target. "No, please! Don't..." The impact was devastating. Amethyst was knocked back into the wall, smashing through it, and flying out into the street. He hit the cold snow, dug through it for a bit and finally stopped. Pieces of the wall, wooden debris and flinders landed near his body. His body was steaming, having suddenly found itself in the cold environment, but also because of the Spear partially burned his flesh. It hit him right in the chest, so Sombra could notice exposed muscles and half burnt skin. The smell of burnt flesh filled Sombra's nostrils, knocking his rage out of him and returning him to the world of the living. The cold air of winter played with his mane, bringing him back into the world that followed logic. "By the Emperor...." Sombra uttered, realizing what he had done. Something that the vision stopped him from doing. He had just killed him. All the fever thoughts of justice, higher beings, revenge, scum, villains and heroes were gone after he descended into a cold bath of reality. All his pain was gone, all his tragic worry gone. It didn't matter if he hated him or not. Sombra killed him. He killed his own father. He had taken a life. His home was in ruins. The wall was gone and the fire was getting stronger, engulfing more and more of the old wooden furniture. Sombra quickly dashed into through the newly formed passage and into the street, running away quickly. Where was he going? He didn't know. He just wanted to escape this city, leave it behind. It had caused so much pain and death. He was running through the snow, ignoring everything in his path, praying that nopony had heard that explosion. It hurt... it really did. He was leaving behind so much pain... but also the joy, his studies, his memories, both good and bad, and Krystal... Who was going to take care of her grave? He wished he had time for a proper burial; she deserved much more than a hole in the reclusive site of the park with a branch for a tombstone. And this murder... Sombra would never forgive himself. It felt horrible, sickening. But he couldn't control himself. It happened so fast. He couldn't control himself... And what Amethyst said... he’d provoked him! These insults, these putrid, filthy lies... He did everything to make Sombra angry... and if his goal was to hurt him more, he’d succeeded. But still, Sombra couldn't get rid of the feeling that there was something wrong with his speech. Amethyst looked terrified, and yet... he’d spoken boldly, as if he wasn't afraid. It just didn't add up. Sombra stopped for a moment as doubt consumed his mind. Did Amethyst really say what he remembered or was Sombra hallucinating? Could he have been hallucinating? He couldn't feel any worse than this. Knowing that he killed a pony and the only excuses were his strive for revenge and mental distress. Sombra rushed forwards, to where he knew the city gates were, before madness would claim him again and he’d kill another innocent.