899529
"......morning..." Pyre said as she looked at him, "................."

899841

'Morning," he commented, looking up from the fire to Pyre, "... is everything alright? You seem a little down."

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"........I had a bad dream....again....." She looked deep into the flame and it's glow reflected in her orange eyes.

901662

Getting as comfortable as he could, Sombra again found his fatherly instincts rise to the surface.

"Maybe talking about will help, if you feel ready to share?"

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"....Why would you care?" She said as she closed her eyes, "You wouldn't understand..."

901890
"You'd be surprised...," he answered cryptically, averting his gaze as he spoke.

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She noticed his sincerity and sighed, "It was... the same nightmare I've been having ever since that day...." She looked back into the flame, "The day..... I lost my home and family..."

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A twinge of guilt went through Sombra's chest, but he kept his composure.

"May I ask how it happened...," he said softly, wanting to know how much had happened since his lat memory and if he'd caused this mare so much depression.

902114
"I was a filly.....and...I...." She looked heavily into the fire, "I was playing in the fields outside my home town of Timberhill... and... my horn... created a spark... it set a flower on fire.... it started to spread... and reached my hometown...." She closed her eyes and began to sob, but no tears would come, "I ran there... I was.. immune to the flames.... and.. I saw.. everypony... burn... and die... I ran to my house... it was ablaze... the Fire took my father... my mother... and my baby sister....."

She held her head in her hooves and sobbed, her tears abandoning her.

902150

Against his better judgement, Sombra walked through the fire that separated them and hugged the crying mare to his chest. He felt her body shudder as she cried, while he sympathetically ran a calming hoof through her mane.

The warmth of her body managed to pierce the empty sensations his body felt, giving him a brief feeling of something repairing the burns until the pain vanished. He was unsure if it was the corruption keeping him alive or the mare's abilities, but now was not the time to ask.

"I'm sorry for your loss... I cannot fully understand the pain you endured, but I know the agony of losing a loved one," Sombra said as he comforted her.

902259
Pyre looked up to his face, her eyes red from sobbing, "Who... are you...? You're not the same..."

902301

"I am Sombra," he answered in a confused tone, "the 12th king of the unicorn empire, sire of Princess Platinum and spouse of the late... Queen Ligero."

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".............You're different...." She removed herself from his embrace, "I.... I'm sorry... I'm so confused..." She got to her hooves and walked away from the fire.

"......You.. held me captive...for Echidna...."

902441

"... Echidna? Who's Echid-," the words caught in his throat as he remembered something, something possibly linked to the pony the mare referred to.

"So it was her..." he said slowly.

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"You don't remember.... do you....?" Pyre moved closer to him.

904736
"No, but if what you say is true... I'll string that pegasus up by her wings," Sombra said as he bristled slightly.

Noticing the mare's approach, he quickly concealed the anger that rose in him. He would keep it for the one that deserved it.

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"Pegasus?" Pyre looked confusingly at Sombra, "What pegasus....? There wasn't any pegasus...."

906062

Hearing her, Sombra's anger turned to a similar state of confusion. "You mean she isn't a pegasus?... Then I truly do not know who this, Echidna, you speak of is."

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Pyre was silent, and all Sombra could hear was the crackling flame.

906952

"... May I ask you a question, miss?" he asked to break the silence.

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The ashen mare nodded, still silent.

908154

"Why have you not left if I've done such terrible things to you?"

Silence permeated the cave as he watched the fire dance. Pyrokinesis was a rare ability, and he'd never watched it in use. He'd only heard tales of the pseudo-dragons that had been unknowingly forced into service, after the death of his general.

908210
The flames twirled around the ashen mare's face and across over to Sombra's.

"You were.... different...."

908236

He didn't draw away as the flames neared his face, instead he kept his eyes fixed on Pyre.

"...I didn't hurt you... did I?" he asked, the flames faltering briefly.

908278
"No... not you... Echidna..." Pyre rubbed the back of her neck where the white demon had pressed her hoof into.

"She.... wanted my Fire...." She looked down into the burning flame, and she closed her eyes.

908315

"She wanted your ability?" He said, trying to think if such a thing was possible.

908369
"No.... My Fire..." Looks deeper into the fire, "He's my friend... my only friend....."

908437

Still a little confused, he took her answer in stride. Perhaps after having her abilities going out of control she'd given the flame a name, similiar to an imaginary friend.

It's probably unlikely for her to have a friend named Quartz he reminisced, having memories once again dredged up by the mare's familiar appearance. He continued to daydream for afew seconds before another thought invaded his mind.

He wasn't sure if he still needed food, but he hadn't seen the mare eat or drink since he'd reawoken. Slowly he go to his hooves, before walking towards the cave's entrance.

"Feel up to finding some breakfast?" He called over his shoulder, "perhaps Fire can help us melt some of the ice for water."

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".....I can melt you some ice for water... but I need none... Fire feeds me....." Pyre said without turning away from the flame. She was deeply entranced into it, rarely blinking her burnt orange eyes.

909557

"...Okay then," he said in response, sitting by the cave entrance as he squinted into the distance.

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"Anything...?" Pyre said as she moved her fire to the icicles.

912617
"Hmm?" He turned to look at the mare after hearing her question.

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"Anything to eat...?" She made the flame dance around the icicles, melt drops of water down.

915054

"I think some water would b... Are those lights?" Sombra said with a start, after looking back out into the snow.

Sure enough, balls of light shone in the distance, outlining building silouettes.

915758
"......................." Pyre gets up and walk towards Sombra and looks out.

"What is that place..?"

916086

"I'm not completely... if it's been snowing this whole time...! The Crystal Empire, of course!" he said, placing a hoof by his horn. "It isn't winter. I've... we've been sitting inside this cave this whole time without noticing we were in the northern reaches."

Feeling a little foalish for missing that crucial aspect, Sombra excitedly stepped onto the freshly fallen snow. He paused and offered a hoof with a, "shalll we miss?," before he could forget in his giddiness.

916657
"........I don't like the cold snow..." She shivered a bit, "It hurts me..."

917112

Thinking over her statement, he walked back inside towards the mare. Removing his thick cloak, with his magic, he draped it over Pyre's shoulders as he lowered himself before her.

"I can't just abandon you in this cave... If the snow will hurt, I'll just carry you over it." He said to her, over his shoulder.

917359
Pyre was absolutely speechless; nopony ever offered her such a kindness. This couldn't be the same Sombra at all.... then who is he..?

Pyre climbed onto Sombra's back, albeit blushing a little. She felt warm on his back and tightened the cloak around herself.

"I'm ready..."

918639

Taking her for her word, he slowly got to his hooves so he didn't throw her. Taking a few tentative steps in the thick snow, he quickly compensated for the uneven terrain as he trudged towards the illuminated city in the distance.

919076
"It's so pretty...." Pyre gazed at the glistening utopia.

919101

"If memory serves me, the artisan's sculpt crystals of varying density to best reflect the sun's warmth," Sombra commented as he noticed his passenger's interest.

He started listing off facts of the silhouetted buildings and how they made life possible in the cold. Finally coming to the end of an explaination on crystals sometimes being able to contain power, he finished by explaining it had been part of the peace conference.

"... It was quite the surprising day when the ponies of the three realms meet outside of the battlefield. I had been the only ruler left standing, after the sheild and sword factions had been routed, leaving the other tribes to send a delegate." He said as he lifted the both of them over a collapsed tree trunk in the snow.

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"....What..?" Everything Sombra talked about last went straight over Pyre's head. "I'm sorry... I don't know... anything about that..."

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Giving a small chuckle, Sombra lightly shook his head.

He hadn't expected for the mare to know of such things. It wasn't until he'd been given the detailed tour, did he find out about crystals and their various properties.

927330
"I just noticed how pretty they were..." Pyre nuzzled in the cloak blanket.

939540

"I thought the same when I entered the crystal empire," Sombra said as they neared the light. He grinned as he felt her move on his back, glad he was able to help another.

"I remember buying a small pony of quartz for my...," he continued before going silent, shaking his head as if something was in his eye.

941540
"........Is something wrong...?" Pyre looked at the back of his head.

944815

"I... Can I ask you something miss?" Was the question she received as they continued on their journey.

His voice cracked as he finished the question. It seemed like whatever he was about to ask had been bugging him for awhile.

945632
".........sure..." Pyre was surprised by his anxiousness.

945866
"Have you... do you now anything about my daughter... Princess Platinum Poise?" He said in a hushed voice as he turned his head to regard the mare.