//------------------------------//
// 23. Beast 
// Story: Sweetie's Shadow 
// by Note Sketch 
//------------------------------//

With the sounds of the busy streets of Ponyville once again within earshot, Sombra hurried along the edge of town. Under normal circumstances, he would slow down and carefully proceed, but time was not on his side. The now lowering sun overhead was testament that the afternoon was coming to an end, and with it, his temporary freedom from the curse's bind.  

He hadn't lost all of his composure however. Sombra took his time to look around at everypony that passed him by. He looked for signs of any kind that might lead him to find the pony that had been spying on him, not that it was helping much. Everypony was clean, not a single leaf or scratch on them to tell him otherwise. 

"Nothing..." Sombra said softly as he finally came to a stop near a corner. He looked to his side to notice a street lamp light up for the upcoming nightfall. Certainly it meant it was about time he returned to Sweetie Belle. With a reluctant sigh, he lifted his hoof to begin his travel back.

"Well look who we have here!" A voice said as Sombra was about to walk away. He immediately took on his happy persona to match the voice's attitude. 

"Dice!" Sombra said with a smile as he turned to the voice he recognized in a heartbeat. 

"I see you're still around. I had almost thought you'd left town." Dice said as he came over to talk face to face with Sombra.

"And what in the world would ever make you think that?" Sombra asked as he raised a brow.

For a fraction of a second, Dice's gleeful eyes sharpened into a glare. Had Sombra blinked, he might have missed him doing so. It shocked him for a second to see the docile stallion give him a death stare, but at the same time, he had expected him to be a monster underneath his happy facade, much like himself at times. 

"Nothing in particular." Dice said once he returned to his joyful self. 

Sombra quickly understood what his 'friend' was trying to do. That was no slip up, he was trying to intimidate him into a retreat, no doubt he's figured out he was on to him. A simple warning to let him know he should stay out of his way.

Sombra weighed his options, more importantly, his desire to simply end the charade and break his legs. It would certainly do everypony a favor if he did. Yet even now, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. It was like a pair of eyes were lingering in the shadows, watching them with a killing intent. 

Ponies around them began to take notice of the two facing off with smiles. Despite the expression they both shared, the almost sinister aura they gave off unnerved those that looked their way. At the drop of a coin, both would attack with a killing strike, no doubt Dice had a few tricks up his sleeve to insure his victory if things came down to it. With the sun coming ever closer towards the horizon, Sombra had little time to hesitate. If he was to act, he had to act now.

"Hi!" A voice shouted as a messy pink mane sprung up between them, quickly diffusing the tense atmosphere, or rather, replacing it with shock. 

Sombra took a step back in surprise and quickly looked over at the newcomer. With her mane bouncing as she turned her head, Pinkie Pie smiled as she looked back and forth between the two stallions still staring dumbfounded by her interruption.

"I'm soooo happy I could finally meet you two!" Pinkie said as she jumped up and down a few times before turning to Sombra. "Especially you!"

"M-Me?" He asked as she tried to regain his composure, a small sweat droplet  sliding down the side of his cheek. 

"Yeah! You've been in Ponyville for like an entire week!" Pinkie screamed, her hooves at her cheeks as she stretched them down at how devastating it was for her to wait so long to meet him. "But I just couldn't find the time to come see you!"

"I-I see." Sombra said, still trying to comprehend the mare. 

"And you!" Pinkie once again shouted as she turned back at Dice, catching him in a less than subtle retreat. "I've seen you all over town today and you wouldn't stop to chat! Though...you look a little different now from what I think about it." She finished as she poked her mouth with her hoof, looking him up and down a few times. 

"Right, well." Dice began as he slowly walked backwards, he too was having trouble knowing how to react to her. "Like back then, I have stuff to do. I'll just have to catch you guys later!" He said with a smile before turning and walking away, doing all he could to quickly escape the mare's gaze. 

Pinkie giggled at how quickly Dice was walking away. Carrying on with the mood, she raised her hoof high above her head as she waved good bye at the stallion turning the corner. As Dice come out of line of sight, she switched her attention at Sombra who put up a smile if only to keep his persona up.

"Oh, you don't have to do that silly!" Pinkie said as she gestured her hoof at him before laughing.

"Do what?"

"Pretend you're somepony you're not. Duh." She said as she began to walk away. "I can see right through you!" Pinkie finished with a wink before beginning to hop away, returning to whatever she was doing before hoof. 

Once more Sombra remained speechless as he watched the mare go. How could she see through his fake persona? No other pony could.  Could it be that the only reason she even popped up was to prevent the inevitable fight between him and Dice had she left it alone? Could she even predict such a thing, let alone know how to calm the atmosphere? Letting out a sigh, Sombra decided to simply let it go, he had other matters to attend to. 

Sombra turned around and began walking down the street back to the park. His pace was almost intentionally slow. Perhaps he subconsciously thought that the more he postponed his return to Sweetie Belle the more time he would have to be 'free'. It's not that he didn't wish to return to his bind. If anything, the only frustrating thing about it is that he was going back without accomplishing anything the entire afternoon. 

His muscles soon felt a decline in strength. The sun was down and it was clear his shackles of his curse were being placed back on him. First his physical strength drained from his body. It certainly made his walk more difficult on him. 

His sixth sense began to dull as well. He could almost describe relying on just his sight and hearing as being stripped of his senses entirely. Finally, the last thing that left him was his magic. The power that surged through his veins was no longer there. It was once again locked behind chain after chain of his curse. Now more than ever, he felt weak. 

With his head down and his eyes dulled in an almost lifeless shade of red, Sombra slowly moved one hoof after the other. With his eyes set on the dirt road underneath him, he almost had to force himself forward. He had to give himself a reason to not just let himself fall and rest his tired body. 

"Mister Sombra?" Sweetie Belle asked out as she came into view of him. At once, Sombra raised his head, his ears twitching at the sound of her voice. With a large grin on her face, Sweetie made her way to him. He found a reason.

Sombra immediately smiled at seeing her and straightened his posture, waiting for her to come to him. For a moment, he forgot about how weak he felt and by the time he realized it, Sweetie Belle was now close enough as to not matter anymore. 

"Done already?" He asked as he kneeled down to let her climb onto his back.

"Yeah... I lost."

"Really? But you beat the best guy in the park." Sombra said as he turned his head to see her get comfortable before walking towards the Boutique. 

"Well I got a little carried away. I was thinking five turns ahead and forgot to think about the turn I was in..." Sweetie said, looking away in slight embarrassment. Sombra chuckled, causing her to narrow her eyes and puff out her cheeks in anger. 

"That's why you should take every game seriously, not just when you play against bullies."

"I'm surprised I won against that guy though. I was so nervous through most of the game." Sweetie said as she  climbed higher into Sombra head, gently resting on his soft mane as they moved across town. "I just kinda bluffed my way through most of it."

"Nervous or not, I knew you were going to win." 

"Why?"

"Cause you're better than him. Simple as that."

Sweetie Belle propped her head on her fore hooves as she now basically laid entirely on Sombra's head. If they were easy to spot before, it was even more apparent now with such a strange sight to see. Neither of them really cared though, instead they continued to make their way home.

"But how did you know? I never once won a game against you."

"Of course you didn't. You're a thousand years too young to go against me head to head." Sombra said with a smirk that irritated the filly. "But that doesn't mean you're bad. You've improved drastically since we first began. I've seen you grow and expand your strategy. Seen you become better and better. That being said, I know each of your moves so I can counter easily. But it only makes you better as a player to be challenged."

"So..." Sweetie said as she looked down at Sombra. "You're saying the hardships I faced when playing against you made me stronger for when I played them? Neat."

"You really like quoting me, don't you?"

"Heheh, yeah."

Sombra smiled and returned his gaze to the path ahead, or lack thereof. They were now in front of the Carousel Boutique and were just in time to see the last customer of the day leave the building. Sweetie greeted her and though the mare gave them a strange look for how she was on Sombra, simply giggled and walked away.

As they walked in, Sombra looked up at the sky. No doubt it will the time to sleep would come soon, and with it another dream that might shed some more light on his past. But why wait? He'd forced a dream before, perhaps he could do it again. All he needs is to gain some distance from Sweetie Belle and close his eyes. 

Stepping into the ceramic flooring of the boutique, they were quickly met with a messy array of dresses thrown every which way. No doubt Rarity had a good day of business showing them off to somepony important. That, or a hurricane passed by and luckily only disturbed the dresses. Though considering the strange things that happen around Ponyville, either were just as likely. 

"Oh hello~!" Rarity said in a singing like voice as she did her best to put things away just barely being able to tell who had walked in. "How was your day?"

"Great! I beat up ponies and stole their lunch money." Sweetie shouted out loudly as she jumped off her dark guardian, quickly getting Sombra's attention as he raised his brows at her comment. 

"That's great darling. I made something to eat, help yourself." Rarity said as she kept her eyes glued on her dresses, not even bothered by what her sister had just said. 

"Oh Rarity." Sweetie said with a giggle before turning to Sombra. "She pretends like she's paying attention, but when it comes to her dresses, her head is always off in some faraway place."

"I-I see." Sombra said softly as he watched the filly run to the kitchen. 

"Not coming?" She asked as she reached the door frame to her destination.

"No, I think I'll just head to bed." Sombra said as he waved his hoof for her to go on ahead. 

"Long day?"

"You could say that." Sombra said as he walked over to the staircase before turning to see Sweetie Belle still watching from the door frame. She quickly waved her hoof bye with a grin on her face. He returned the gesture and began his climb to his room. He wanted to get some distance from her.

As he made it to the second floor, he could hear a loud banging of plates and bowls as the filly looked for something to eat with. Stopping where he was, Sombra thought that maybe perhaps he should have stayed with her just to make sure nothing broke in the process.  

Pushing away his afterthought, he continued to on to his room where his bed waited for him. More importantly, his dreams. Leaning on the wall as he entered, Sombra staggered at feeling of his body weaken. It was almost embarrassing so see himself struggle so much after such a short distance away from his 'master'. Celestia forbid he is ever forced to.

With a few grunts, Sombra finally managed to drag himself into bed. His eyelids almost immediately closed. A welcomed feeling of rest overwhelmed him as Sombra did his best to direct his thoughts into a dream. 


<=•=>


Sombra's vision faded to white as the world around him flashed different colors. He found himself in the strange abyss of his dreams. Being his second go at producing a dream, he took things a step forward from last time and instead of letting his subconscious run on its own, he produced things around him. 

Using what memory he had of his dreams, he started where he could. He gritted his teeth as he forced his dream to produce the cabin from before. The forest around it quickly followed and with it, came the night sky and the gentle light of the stars and moon. It was strange, however, last time it was day time when he dreamed this.

Sombra tried his best to keep still as the world around him settled on the scene. Was this the same dream as last time? Or perhaps something else. No, it was definitely different. The image of himself running towards the cabin was proof enough. He was no longer just dreaming, he was a bystander of his memory. Somehow, however, he couldn't shake the feeling that the rumbling up above wasn't a storm coming.

Sombra followed his dream self towards the cabin. For some reason, this version of him had a spiral horn and his eyes were blue, not red. Was his dream wrong? Or did something happen that changed him into what he was now.

The dream Sombra tackled the door and broke in. He stumbled forward and after shaking his head to clear the daze, stood up and continued on his path to another room. Sombra followed, but as he stepped in, noticed the dark interior changed all together. It was now day and sitting on the ground was his past self and a mare talking.

"Just a few more months." She said as she rubbed her large belly.

"Yeah." The dream Sombra said as he scooted closer to place a fore hoof around her. "Don't worry, I'll get the bits we need in no time. Lo prometo."

Sombra blinked in confusion at the couple. The change of atmosphere was just too drastic, but given the shift in time of day, he quickly understood it wasn't the same scene as before. Perhaps two memories were trying to merge into one? 

"Maybe it's because I forced a dream again." Sombra said to himself as he took a few steps back. "My memories are less stable when I draw them out." He began his retreat back through the front door as his kept his eyes on his 'family'. Was it really his family? That was definitely the mare he called out for during his last dream. His daughter's mother. 

Suddenly he began to hear the rumbling from before become louder as he reached the outside. Sombra lifted his head in time to see the sky above him now begin to crack like glass under pressure. His eyes opened wide as she saw shards and fractures begin to form, each one having a different time of day. As if that wasn't enough to worry him, the growling behind him did the job.

Sombra quickly jumped to the side as he turned to see what was making the noise. It was once again the beast from his dream. With its fangs bared out at him, it placed one paw forward as its dark fur waved in the breeze around him. It held the body of a lion, but with those sharp red eyes, it was some other monstrosity. 

Too many things were happening at once, Sombra had little time to process any of it, let alone understand what was happening. The memories, his past self, the sky, even this beast. Everything was foreign and beyond his comprehension. However, he understood one thing. The beast's blood red eyes seemed to be completely focused on him.

"C-Can you see me?" Sombra asked as he felt a bead of sweat run down his forehead. He had never felt fear like this before. Much less from something so...mundane. It was just a beast of the forest. He could easily overpower it. Yet seeing it instilled fear in him. A fear he felt stemmed from something else. What was worse, is that it was beginning to make his way to him. 

In a powerful roar, the lion like creature pounced forward at him. Sombra's reaction was slow, but he managed to side step fast enough to avoid the assault. He wanted to fight back, he wanted to cast out his magic, but he couldn't. He wasn't even able to light his eyes in flames. 

Again the beast turned to look at Sombra. Each step it could matched the screeching sound of the sky cracking further and further. Sombra's breathing became heavy as he felt his heart race and his fur stand on its ends. The beast was ready to attack again. 

"Enough!" A thundering voice shouted from high above. In a blinding light, a figure descended from the shattering sky and cast out a beam of energy at the beast just before jumping towards Sombra. 

Taking short quick breaths, Sombra took a moment to regain his composure before looking up at the mare now standing before him. She didn't seem to happy.

"Hello Luna." He said softly.

"Hello? Is that all I get for saving your dirty little plot?" She shouted back in a haughty tone.

"I was fine. Not like I can die in a dream."

"I wasn't talking about that." Luna said as she raised a hoof to the sky. "I'm talking about that!"

Turning his gaze upward, Sombra looked once again at the broken sky. The constant rumbling emanating from it had come to end but it remained cracked to the point even the gentlest of touches would make it break completely.

"What about the sky? It's a memory, no?"

"No." Luna said with annoyed eyes. "It's your mind."

"My mind?"

"Ever wonder how it looks like from the inside of your head when you get those headaches? That's how."

"You mean that those cracks are the pain I feel when I try to relive my memories?" Sombra asked as he looked at how badly it remained broken. 

"Yes. Had I arrived even a second too late, your mind would have shattered into a million tiny pieces." Luna said as she placed great emphasis on the last part, clearly not too thrilled about having to come to his rescue like this.

"Well..." Sombra said as he returned his gaze to Luna. Her heavy frown and leering eyes told him all he needed to know. "Maybe I really should thank you then. Sorry for troubling you like that. Thank you for saving me."

"You should do more than thank me!" Luna shouted as she looked away. "I told you I'd help you retrieve your forgotten past, yet here you are on your own. Not only did you ignore me, you ventured into my domain! It is Us who holds power over thine dreams. Do not forget it!"

"Okay okay." Sombra said as he rolled his eyes, quickly getting a spiteful glare from Luna. "I'm sorry, alright? But can you blame me for trying to understand who I am as quickly as possible? Being stranded like this can be tedious. I just wanted some answers."

For a moment, Luna forgot how upset she was at him. Instead she saw the sincere sadness he invoked into the world around him. This being his dream, his emotions heavily influenced the state of the dream. 

The grass they were standing on began to blow to the side as a gentle breeze carried them. The moon now positioned itself up high as clouds began to hide its light. Small drops of rain began to fall as cold reminders of the tears Sombra would not allow himself to shed. This, what little fracture of a world it may be, was Sombra's subconscious and it was close to breaking apart. 

Taking a deep breath, Luna waved her hoof to take control of the dream and quickly dissipated the clouds of rain to rid the atmosphere of the negative mournful feeling. 

"Alright, I forgive you. But do try keep from letting this happen again. I doubt your mind could take it." She said as she made her way over to him. 

"So you'll still help me?"

"I will not go back on my word. I shall aid you as far as I can, but do not ask a miracle of me." She replied in a sassy tone again, though it seemed more welcomed this time around. Sombra could definitely use her help with this. "But first, let's do something about this dreadful sky shall we?"

Luna's horn began to glow as she extended her wings and took to the sky. Sombra raised his hoof to cover his vision from the light she was casting and, though it seemed to not help any. Even with his eyes completely covered, Sombra was still overwhelmed by her power. It was almost painful.

Luna did her best to end the process quickly, the grunts down below told her it was already taking its toll on Sombra. Then again, putting one's mind back together after it's been damaged so badly isn't exactly painless. It could only be described as using a rusty needle to sow together a hole in an old, worn out piece of fragile fabric. Any wrong move or sudden pull could potentially tear the entire piece. She had to be very precise in her movements.

Suddenly the light ended and Sombra went from being blinded by white, to seeing nothing but black. His eyes did their best to adjust back to seeing normally, but it took time for him to understand the world around him. 

"What the..." Sombra said softly as he looked around with squinting eyes. 

The cabin that had been near them was gone and was instead replaced by a raging snow storm. The forest was still there behind them, though whether or not that was the same forest he couldn't tell. All he knew was that this was not the memory he had forced out. 

"Where are we?" He asked as Luna landed next to him.

"We cannot force your mind to remember these locked memories of yours. It will break you as you've already witnessed. We must let your subconscious lead us instead."

"So what are we seeing now?"

"Most likely the first memory you are unable to recall chronologically."

"So you mean..." Sombra said as he noticed his past self walking into the raging storm his horn was a red spike like his is now. It was definitely a version of him that went through a powerfully damaging event. The blood lust in his crimson eyes proved it.

"This would be the day before you were coronated as King of the Crystal Empire." Luna said as she moved forward, following the dream Sombra in his path into the winter wasteland. Sombra began to follow as well, though was hesitant to take that first step. 

His heart was beating uncontrollably. It was difficult to know why, it wasn't fear, it wasn't thrill. It was something else. Something he couldn't explain. It was just... A desire to find something. A desire so strong, so heavy in emotion his heart could burst out of his chest. 

Was what his dream self was feeling bleeding into him? What exactly happened to him all those years ago that made him change so drastically? Why are his eyes red and his horn a spike? Why is he on this mission to find something, likely the very stone he is looking for to this day? Who is he?

Only one way to find out.

"Luna, wait for me."


▂▃▅▇█▓▒░۩ Arc 1 End ۩░▒▓█▇▅▃▂