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// I must recover my strength. 
// Story: A shadow of what I once was. 
// by FaelaArts 
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Opening his eyes, Sombra quickly took in the white hospital room as a nurse led someone into the room. Sombra stared at the ceiling, knowing that movement would just cause pain in his chest. After a moment, the pony paused, and Sombra slowly turned his head, situating her with a glare.

“Ah jus want ya to know ahm sorry for hitting ya so hard. When ah saw ya hit mah sis, I feared tha’ worse.” Applejack took off her hat and lowered her head, bowing slightly. Sombra’s eyes widened slightly, before returning to a monotone expression. Applejack put her hat back on, and stepped aside, revealing Applebloom. Sombra narrowed his eyes as they flashed briefly.

“Ahm sorry for being a bother King Sombra, ah won’t bother yah again, ah promise.” Applebloom’s ears flopped down, and she looked sadly at Sombra, eyes almost duplicates of a certain puppy expression. Sombra breathed out, and returned to a monotone expression, but said nothing as he returned his attention to the roof above him.

“Let’s go Applebloom,” the orange one spoke, and both left, leaving Sombra with a few moments of blissful silence. Closing his eyes, he breathed out once more, before glancing to the window on the right side of his bed, and looking to the sky as Pegasi moved the clouds. Sombra watched them for a while, and his eyes began to slowly close once more.

“Hiya Sombra, I was wondering if you could spare your bestest best friend Pinkie Pie a few moments.” Leaping in through the open window, Pinkie Pie was greeted with glowing eyes as Sombra’s opened wide, him jumping slightly in the bed. Wincing, one eye closed as he forced himself to remain still.

“Whoops, sorry, I forget to use the door sometimes. So anyway when you get out of the hospital I was wondering if you’d like a super special congrats on getting better party. Oh it will be great, balloons and everything. Won’t that be fun?” Pinkie Pie paused, and was absolutely silent. Sombra glared at her for a solid minute, before realising she was waiting for an answer instead of just going ahead.

“No,” he spoke, eyes flashing as he turned his head to look away from the pony. From the corner of his eye, he saw her mane deflate slightly as if by magic, before springing back up as she leaned over, obstructing his view of the roof.

“How about a really small party then, just me Twi and the other super duper friends you’ve made. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeeee?” The fact the pink one had enough breath to hold that sound for so long, was not as important as the fact of how annoying it was. Sombra swiped angrily at the pink disaster, and she merrily jumped out of the way.

“For crystals sake fine just leave me alone you wretch! I’ll feast on your lungs!” Sombra grabbed the lamp from the table nearby and tossed it at the pony, who dodged it and turned to catch it before it smashed into pieces, placing it back on the table with a gentle tap. Giggling she leaned forward and hugged Sombra, who cried out in immense pain as she had hugged him around his stomach.

“Okay Sombra! I’ll set it for the day after you get better mister grumpy pants. And don't worry, I’ll be sure to bring some special snacks just for you.” Pinkie Pie winked, and leapt out of the window, not even noticing the immense pain she had left Sombra in. After the pain finally ebbed, he noticed the white pony standing in the doorway, and cringed visibly.

“I just came off to drop off a get well soon present Sombra. If you would prefer, I can come back another time.” Rarity paused, half turned toward the exit. Sombra breathed out and closed his eyes as he looked toward the roof. Out of the six of them, the white one was the second most tolerable.

“You have thirty seconds before I throw the light maker at you.” Sombra picked up the lamp once more, and glared at the white pony. Rarity smiled and trotted over, placing the present on the now vacant desk, and deftly opening it, revealing a scarf with a very particular pattern. Hovering it over, she gently laid it on his stomach, where he could pick it up if he wished.

“It’s a scarf. I gave it that pattern because I thought it might keep you warm better than Pinkie Pie’s dried organs. I would really appreciate it if you could keep the death threats to a minimum also.” Rarity tilted her head and smiled, levitating the box and putting it back in her saddlebags. Sombra put the lamp down and picked up the fabric. It was obviously high quality, and expertly stitched.

“It is adequate,” he spoke, leaning his head forward as he draped the scarf around his neck, before lowering it once more to the pillow. Sombra raised his eyes to once more look the the ceiling. Rarity blinked, giving him a glare before breathing out and shaking her head. Giving Sombra a smile, she turned to leave the room.

“I am glad you like it, I will take my leave now.” After Rarity left, Sombra reached down and fingered the scarf for a moment, before turning his head to once more look out the window. Slowly, two Pegasi approached, and landed in the room. Sombra growled, and reached for the lamp, but was halted by the blue one’s hoof as she flew over him.

“Now listen here Sombra, I won’t let you harm Fluttershy, who came here to be nice to you for some reason above my knowledge.” Rainbow Dash glared, meeting Sombra’s, after a moment Dash took the lamp and stepped back toward the door. Sombra’s eyes flashed for a moment, before he turned and followed the path of the yellow one as she made her way to the table, placing down a basket and pulling out a small parcel, holding it out.

“I-I b-brought you s-some ch-cheese i-if that’s ok with you. T-Twilight s-said t-that the Crystal Empire doesn’t g-get much cheese from the e-ews so-so I thought you might l-like it.” Fluttershy gently placed the parcel down and picked up her basket, quickly flying out the open door. Dash flew over and put the lamp back down, motioning with her hoof to her eyes, and then to Sombra as she flew after Fluttershy.

Sombra leaned a hoof over and carefully opened the packaging, and gave the cheese a sniff. Sombra took a small bite, and then wrapped it back up and put it beside the lamp. Sombra paused, tilting his ears, checking for any more uninvited guests. Finally, he once more turned toward the window, and slowly closed his eyes.

“I know you’re awake.” Groaning, Sombra turned his eyes on the purple one, giving her a glare all of her own. Raising his head, he looked to the roof and breathed out. Twilight looked toward the slightly eaten cheese and the scarf around Sombra’s neck, and walked over. Levitating some blank papers into his face, she immediately got his attention.

“I’ll give you paper and everything you need to write, IF you answer my questions.” Twilight met Sombra’s eyes as he looked between the paper and Twilight. After a moment he closed his eyes and sighed loudly, opening them and turning to her.

“Very well.” Sombra saw Twilight's eyes widen, and his expression narrowed. Did she honestly believe he had the power to resist her demands especially now he was bedridden? Twilight opened the drawer in the table, and placed the paper and other items inside, before pulling out one with writing on it, and turning it to Sombra. It was one of the transmutation circles he had left on his desk.

“I’ve read every alchemy book we have available to us, but I’ve never even seen the basic circle of some of these shapes. Was alchemy more popular back a thousand years ago?” Twilight folded the paper, and put it back in her bag. Sombra glanced toward the window, and replied irritably.

“It was depreciated, but the knowledge was not hard to find.” Sombra winced as he accidentally moved his midsection, and breathed in sharply.

“I asked Applebloom what you talked to her about, and she said you were the second son in the line right? Were you trained for something other than ruling? This is the once chance I’ve had to really learn about Crystal royalty.” Twilight levitated a stool over, and sat down. Sombra glanced to her, and opened his mouth to respond.

“A lot of this information was originally in the Crystal Empire library, if you were smart you would have done your research first.” Sombra glared openly, hating the fact he was being used as a history book. Twilight winced, but bowed her head, it was true. Sombra sighed, and rolled his eyes to the ceiling.

“The First son shall be king, the Second’s knowledge about all things, the Third a commoner to be sent to the streets. I was trained as a scholar from birth. We fortunately did not have a third son, instead a daughter was born to my father, and traded away.” Sombra closed his eyes, and began to drift off in the silence as Twilight considered the information.

“That fear magic, I searched everywhere for information about it, but the first mention I hear of it is with you, and yet Celestia knows how to use it.” Twilight waited as Sombra slowly opened his eyes once more, and breathed out as he looked toward her.

“That would be because I was the one whom invented it.” Sombra narrowed his eyes as Twilight breathed in sharply, and opened her mouth as a question came unbidden to her lips, closing it a moment after. It was a few moments before she spoke again.

“Why?” Twilight tilted her head as Sombra regarded her, almost looking her over. After a moment, he replied with a motion of his hoof.

“What is the Crystal Empire’s one weakness? Do you not think as King, I would try to remove that weakness?” Sombra turned to look in the other direction and closed his eyes, indicating the conversation was over. Twilight stood up and quietly left the room, frowning over the new information she had gathered.