Lost into Shadow

by Lucidenn

12) Attribute Training: Loathing

"In the consciousness of the truth he has perceived, man now sees everywhere only the awfulness or the absurdity of existence and loathing seizes him."
~Friedrich Nietzsche

Ambient golden light slowly filled the cavern atmosphere, his enchanted candles burning brighter to signal the time of day above. Somewhere on the surface Princess Celestia was raising the sun into the sky to bring morning time to all her little ponies. All, but this one. She dozed in her makeshift bed dreaming peacefully still. Posture more rigid than a mountain he sat beside her bed, shadowy mane billowing in a nonexistent wind. His ruby eyes held no edge in their scrutiny, and while he watched her hair catch the fiery glow of the candles, he turned his gaze inwards to ponder the meaning of yesterday's events.

What was he doing here, teaching this silly filly the ways of black magic? What was there to stop him from rending her flesh from the bone and leaving to deal with the other princesses? There she is, right in front of him, it would be all too easy to just kill her while she slept in perceived safety.

The flash of steel falling upon illusion-Twilight cut those thoughts like butter. Why had it been her face there instead of his sister? He cast a quick spell to detect mental tampering upon himself and came up with nothing. Crafty mare, how could she invade his thoughts so easily? Unless.... The spell had been perfect, crafted flawlessly himself, and cast equally flawless by the Princess. There had been no change in formula or structure, so perhaps the illusion really was his truest, deepest fear; and if that were the case, what could it mean? Losing his beloved sister had been the final straw that nearly destroyed him, she'd been his world, and protecting her his purpose. It was preposterous, impossible! He could never fear losing Twilight like he had lost family! Never....fear....

"I know I've got terrible bed-mane, but it's still considered rude to stare like that."

Her voice brought him out of his reflections and back to reality. Lips curling upward ever so slightly, he had to fight down a chuckle. She was right about the bed-mane. "It's time to get ready, today we start your training in the attribute of Loathing."

"About that... see everypony has felt fear at least once some point in their lives, so that at least made it easier to align with; but loathing?"

"Your sheltered life has taught you to see the best of the world around you. To understand loathing, you shall have to see through eyes ripped free of that rosy veil. You shall see again the sundering of that perfect world... and this time, the world that took its place."

Her ears drooped as low as physically possible, and her eyes darkened in apprehension. "We're going back, to then aren't we?"

"Try to eat some breakfast. It's a long trip down memory lane."

Naturally, she was unable to eat a thing, resorting to giving her hay-grain pancakes pleading looks that begged for a way out. A look the pancakes blissfully ignored. There was no putting it off any more, so Twilight wrapped her food for later and went to join Sombra in the fear chamber. As her body dissolved into the shadowy form to be sucked up by the crystal and its transport matrix, she couldn't help but feel the twinge of irony. Here she was again, afraid to ascend to the fear chamber; this time not because of what the future held, but the past instead.

There he was, still and cold as a statue, waiting for her as always. As always... perhaps that exaggeration held more truth than she'd first given it thought. Every morning when she woke, indeed every time she turned around it seemed like he was there, waiting for her. Every time the most pertinent question of 'why' had been answered immediately, but perhaps there was still a question left unanswered, the most important one. What was he waiting for?

Twilight strode purposefully to him, stopping to stare him in the eye with as much pride and determination she could muster. With those crisp ruby eyes locked on hers, she spoke a lie.

"I'm ready."

King Sombra nodded in acknowledgement. The Princess was by no means a good liar, yet had he not known her better he might have been fooled by that proclamation. "Get comfortable then, this time we shall both participate in making the mind link. Either one of us will be able to break the connection at any time, however be aware you shall have no power over the course of my memories like before. Close your eyes, and focus. Reach out with your mind, and I shall do the same to begin the bridge."

He closed his own eyes, emptying his thoughts but for the darkness now surrounding him. There before him in the void bloomed a magenta form of light. Looking closely he could make out luminescent limbs and face, searching the void. Tentatively, a tendril of light stretched forth from its mind, inching towards him. Steeling himself to relive his memories once again, Sombra reached out with his own mental energy, a light born of the fiery red dawn and the shadowy influence of the night preceding it. He was not expecting, and thus not ready for it when Twilight's tendril of thought latched onto his own, and instead of a bridge it began a waterfall.

The princess had put far too much into the connection! Not only her mind but her heart and soul as well flowed into the link between them. Her emotions crashed over him in waves, the magenta light surging forward further and further into the void desperately trying to fill it. It took all his concentration, but he succeeded in keeping the link stable and yanking them both into the safety of his own subconscious.

Twilight gazed around at the familiar landscape before her. For whatever reason, it seemed so much less foreboding than it had before, the razor rocks not even giving her pause. There was a strange kind of beauty to this place, between the scatterings of crystals and rocks against the backdrop of crimson skies. Even the mountain that pierced the heavens seemed less a threat and more a monument to Sombra's determination. Thinking of Sombra, she realized that they hadn't started right off with his memories yet. Curious, she looked to her left to discover the dark King breathing heavily behind her, trying as subtly as possible to catch his breath.

"Are you ok?"

Sombra looked up from the granite of his mind. "I'm fine. When I said to reach out princess, next time try not to trample me with everything you have, it nearly destabilized the connection from the start!"

"What do you mean? I just closed my eyes and reached out with a probing thought, then I found this crimson and black figure in the darkness. It was filled with so much, and yet so empty at the same time, was that you?"

"I must prepare the memory so we may observe it as simple bystanders this time, in control. Try not to touch anything for a minute."

Twilight responded with a snort and a roll of her eyes before turning to meander the craggy plains. Sombra could not help but shake his head in disbelief. She hadn't even realized she had flooded him when connecting, it had simply come naturally to her. What was even more interesting was the feeling that had been behind it all. A powerful emotion bent on helping and healing, trying so hard to fill him just as its light filled the void between their minds. Adding to the puzzle even more, was that after the initial shock, he hadn't really disliked the feeling after all.

Enough delay, time was of the essence. He would not have forever to resolve Twilight's training. Sooner or later, the distraction barrier would be discovered, and doubtlessly all of Equestria's finest would come rushing to her aid. Right now all that mattered was to fill her with as much dark magic as possible. It was a complete gamble, whether should would prove ally or enemy, or even break from his darkness and simply become a non-issue, but it was his secret ace to keep the princesses off balance at the very least.

What appeared to be a living rock formation that Twilight was scrupulously studying suddenly melted away before her, her entire surroundings suddenly resolving themselves into a blurry tundra. Something light and greyish white covered the ground and drifted in the air. Strangely it wasn't cold, so she stuck out her tongue to taste the snow, only to shortly spit it out with a look of disgust.

"It's fresh volcanic ash."

Poor Twilight nearly jumped out of her skin, twisting around to find the voice that had snuck up on her belonged to none other than Sombra. "Ash? but I thought we were going back in your memories to the morning after... after you lost them."

"That is precisely where we are, look closer."

Puzzled, Twilight once again surveyed her surroundings, looking for anything familiar. She remembered the bouts of magma sprouting from the ground to consume the mob of crystal ponies, but surely there should be a sign of them, or anything, having existed here. A tiny, pitiful cough interrupted her thoughts. Shaking off a thick layer of ash a small black and grey colt pushed himself from the ground. His mane and coat were stained crimson with dried blood, and his entire frame drooped like he barely had the will to stand. He turned one last gaze to the depression he had climbed from, and then trudged painfully away.

" I never really said goodbye."

As the young colt disappeared from sight, Twilight walked with Sombra to the slight hole where the younger Sombra had emerged. What lay inside nearly broke her heart. Sombra's sister was at the bottom, curled up like a comfortable cat on a bed. She was so peaceful she could have been sleeping, if not for gash still evident on her throat, and the blood that had died her entire coat and the ground around it a new color.

"I remember that I spent the final moments of that night, just lying here with her, trying to ignore the sounds of murder I had unleashed, protecting her from the flows of lava and the acid rain. I wanted so badly for it all to just go away, for her to wake up so everything could go back to normal with mom and dad making breakfast and we could all move away from this nasty place."

Twilight looked at Sombra, tears streaking from her eyes, and for the first time ever, she saw the same in his. He leaned down close and nuzzled that tiny prone form with the tip of his snout, before straightening up again. "Goodbye beloved sister of mine."

For a moment neither of the moved or said anything, they simply stood shoulder to shoulder to pay respects and mourn the loss of such innocence and joy in the world. It was Twilight to first break the silence; "What was her name?"

At first he did not respond, turning away from the fresh grave to follow in the footsteps of the memory Sombra. Just as she thought he would simply ignore her attempt to connect as he'd done before, he opened up to Twilight and whispered into the wind "Indigo Melody, her name was Indigo Melody."

Meanwhile in Ponyville

"What in the hay is going on here?"

"I don't know AJ, when I went to get the egghead she wasn't home."

"And when I went to go see her last, a poor wittle bunny just absolutely terrified jumped out from her tree and brought me to the edge of the everfree to save his family, but when I got there he disappeared. I hope the poor dear isn't out there somewhere still frightened."

"Twilight told me she had to hit the books all weekend, though she really should't hit the books, its much easier to just read them!"

"That's quite odd Pinky, I visited not more than 5 minutes after you and she said she had royal duties to attend to in Canterlot."

"And every single time I try to approach the library to visit, I get word of an infestation of vampire bats cropping up on my farm; but when I get there to chase 'em away there's nothing to be found! On top of that, has anypony seen Sombra around either?"

"Hmm, nope."

"Uhhuuhh"

"Nah."

"Why no, now that you mention it, I didn't see Sombra when I stopped by Twilight, in fact I didn't even think to ask about him. You don't propose that something sinister is happening are you Apple Jack?"

"I don't know, but my gut's telling me something aint right. Twilight telling stories to avoid us or otherwise unavailable, Sombra nowhere to be seen at all? And there's more! Has anypony else noticed what the elements are doing recently? They been glowing all spooky like and I only just now realized it!"

"My gosh you're right, how could we have missed that?"

"Oh my...."

"Ooooooh, its even more sparkly!"

"So what if the elements are taking after fireflies, what's that have to do with Twilight?"

"I think whatever is causing us to keep missing Twilight kept us from taking notice of our elements, and if the elements are glowing wouldn't Twilight be the first to let us know, the first to figure it out?"

"What if that IS Twilight letting us know? What if she's in real trouble and she can't get our help so she's trying to let us know something is wrong?"

"Sombra that brute! What has he done to our poor Twilight?"

"Well what are we waiting for!? Let's blast that library door down and bust him to stone, nopony messes with our friend!"

With huzzahs, woops, and a lady-like 'hear-hear' the five friends dashed across town to the Library. This time nothing would deter their path from getting to their friend.

Memory Lane

As Twilight and Sombra trotted through the ash, following the trail of memory Sombra, he continued to open up with her about his family, particularly his sister.

"She really liked to sing, but more than anything she loved to listen. She would just walk around outside, listening and running and twirling about. I called her crazy for it, but she called it 'nature's song'. If you let her she wouldn't shut up about the rhythm of the earth, or about how you could hear the harmony of wind rushing through the grass and trees. Anywhere with water she said was the best spot to listen, because that's where the most life would be, and because water has such a strong voice she said. Rivers were her particular favorite."

Suddenly he stopped and motioned for twilight to pay attention. Just 10 meters away stood memory sombra, contemplating the shelter of the first building she'd seen so far. It was a giant mansion-style home, though it had surely seen better days. Every window was smashed, and the entire west wing had collapsed, and recently too from the smoldering smoke still seeping from it.

"What's a home like that doing out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"It's not, this house is actually on the highest hill right on the other end of town from my home."

"You mean...."

"The magma I unleashed flooded the town, everything that wasn't instantly destroyed was buried in cooling rock, and so the crystal ponies returned to earth."

Twilight stared at the barren expanse around her, horrified to think that beneath lay the bodies of hundreds of crystal ponies and their families, innocent or not. Finally, the young Sombra made up his mind and escorted himself into the house, and after a brief search began to raid the kitchen. All food that did not perish easily was thrown on a table cloth, and everything else he began to eat like he were starved.

"I didn't know where I was going, I didn't even know why I wanted to go in the first place, instead of lying down and accepting death to be with my family. It turns out I'm simply not the kind of pony to ever lay down and die without a fight. Thankfully, my next encounter gave me a sense of direction."

Just as Sombra finished narrating, the house turned out to not be empty after all. And the other occupant Twilight recognized immediatly.

"Get out of my house demon!" He screamed frantically, causing the young Sombra to leap in surprise. Twirling around the colt faced this new threat only to stare in horror to find that the owner of this house, the sole survivor of the village, and murderer of everything and everyone he loved were one and the same. Instantly he tried to charge his and strike the murderer down, only to collapse to his knees. Young Sombra was so burnt out that he couldn't even spare the energy to strike down the greatest object of his hatred after going berserk last night.

Noticing the the spark of magic crackle out from the colt's horn, the mob leader grinned wickedly and lunged forward, pressing his hoof into Sombra's throat. "You took everything from me you little scumbag, my house, my village. All my money, my father's business, everything is ruined and it's all your fault! But now you're gonna pay, oooh don't worry I'm not gonna kill you, you little shit-face. No, you're gonna come with me, and you're gonna wish you was dead till I'm tired of having scum hanging around."

With that he stepped back and looked quickly around the room. Before the spluttering colt could recover and escape pots and pans flew from their shelves, stretching and merging in the air to the screech of protesting iron. Before he knew what was happening, a thick iron chain and collar was clasped around Sombra's throat, fusing together solid so only magic or metal-smithing could remove it.

"I didn't get by just because I'm rich and good looking kiddo. My specialty is shaping metal, which made me an extremely valuable asset to the company. Since your little tantrum's gone and ruined everything, we're going on a nice long trip to see my uncle in Stalliongrad. And look how useful you'b been already, getting my food packed for the trip and everything! Now get up on your hooves you filthy excuse of shit I ain't got all day."

Twilight in the meantime, was clearly feeling very strongly conflicted. On one hand she was horrified that somepony would do this to another, and on the other she was holding back the bubbling of a new feeling to her, one that if she were actually there instead of just observing a long-past memory, she'd be overtaken by and destroy that monster herself to protect the poor colt.

"There, you're beginning to understand now. You're beginning to feel it." She glanced at Sombra, the real one, who was staring at her intently. "Welcome to the beginning of my personal hell, you'd better hold those feelings back, because we've still got a long ways to go before this story is over." He turned to regard the mob leader, now dragging young Sombra by the chain out the door and insisting that he be refereed to as 'Master' from here on out. "Time flies in our dreams, you're going to get the pleasure of experiencing the next year of my childhood in a matter of 24 hours to our real bodies."

"A full year?"

Sombra nodded, eyes still trained on 'Master', "From beginning to end of my journey with that pompous murderer, you'll get to see it all."

Comments

[Lucidenn]

Here it is! The next chapter of Twilight's training. Sorry for taking so long to get it posted, I seem to have a bad habit of completely re-writing a chapter 2 to 3 times. After all, each one has to be perfect before I post it for you guys, my awesome readers. Hope you enjoy!

[lordofmyth]

what is keeping him from dealing with the regal ones?

the fact he is vsatly outmatched.

[Moongaze14]

I'm glad to see this story updated again. I really hope the next chapter comes soon because I want to see that slaving asshole get what's coming to him. Additionally, this chapter was great with the rest of the Elements noticing Twilight's absence and Sombra's conflicting emotions regarding Twilight.

[Harmony Charmer]

Oh, Twily, you're gonna wanna get a drink for this...

[Nocturnal Soul]

Poor little Sombra.
Not a surprise to see what kind of monster he became, when you see what was his life.
And it' s just the beginning... I guess it will not be better...

Good work, can't wait to see the next chapter ^^

[djthomp]

Well, this is interesting. Count me in as a reader and a member of Team Twilight.

[The Zealot]

I require more. FEED ME!

[LuxAeterna]

Good chapter, though I can't help but wondering... why is the mob leader there? I mean, he was right there in the thick of it during the lynching, he slit Sombra's sister's throat. There's no way he would have been able to escape the lava, he was at the epicentre of Sombra's rage. Guy would've been ash.

Still, I'll ignore that little gripe and get on with the rest of the story.

[Sarged]

So is Sombra related to Octavia?

[annamaggie]

if i were twilight i would scorch the demon where he stood

[King of Kings]

5101825
I'm sure that you don't mean Sombra, right?
4668076
How do you figure that?

[King of Kings]

Her friends are going to end up doing something they will forever regret, aren't they?

[I Question That]

7040443
What? Nooo, definitely not. What made you think such a thought?