Chapter 14
Shadowy Love
By FinnPony
Chapter 14
“Are you coming or not?” Twilight asked as she peeked over her shoulder, towards Sombra who was hanging his head, not feeling very well. He gave a murdering look towards her.
“I already said that I’m sorry! How could I have known that a spell for curing headache wouldn’t work on hangover as well!” Twilight said to him, earning a groan.
Unlucky for Sombra as his nightly visitors left, his intoxication levels rose again. WHat was even more unfortunate was that Twilight’s spell had not taken away his hangover, only the headache part of it. Twilight grimaced at the look Sombra gave her, and continued to look forward. They were walking on a dirt road that went through a hilly landscape, in a small valley that was covered in apple trees. Big and healthy looking red apples hung in the trees, the light from the rising sun shone from their surface. She happily trotted down the road towards a big barn, which roof she could see over the top of the apple trees. The air was fresh and breathing it made Twilight feel energized. She was always happy to visit Sweet Apple Acres.
She again looked behind her. Clearly the same couldn’t be said about Sombra. He was hanging his head and his eyes were half closed. Twilight saw that he was breathing deeply and time to time he gagged. Again she grimaced, feeling sorry for not being able to cure his hangover completely, which was in a way her fault.
“Are you alright back there?” she asked and slowed down, waiting for Sombra to reach her side. He didn’t answer right away. He took a deep breath, then slowly lifted his head and looked at Twilight coldly.
“No, Twilight Sparkle. I most certainly am not feeling fine,” he answered, his voice calm and still it was dripping venom.
“Look,” Twilight started. “I’m sorry, but I knew that you wouldn’t tell me anything about yourself without… a bit of wine.”
“You are right,” Sombra said. “I wouldn’t have, and it was a dirty trick what you did.”
Twilight let out a disapproving ‘hmph’, before saying, “Look who’s talking. I think that slaving an entire empire is considered a ‘dirty trick’.”
Sombra’s expression grew colder, and he changed the subject by saying, “Why were you so interested about my history anyway?”
“I want to know what makes you tick,” Twilight joked with a smile, which was countered by a frown. She gulped and looked forward, continuing with serious tone, “I need to know about your history in order to know what… What made you become what you are.”
Twilight saw a glassy gaze take over Sombra’s eyes, as his mind probably went back in time. It was only for a moment though. Twilight lowered her ears at the grim glance Sombra gave her, realising to drop the subject. She started to think about different things to say.
“Why are we here?” Sombra asked, saving Twilight from the trouble. He then scowled and added, “At this hour?”
“Oh,” Twilight exclaimed. Why didn’t she think of that. “We are going to visit Sweet Apple Acres.”
“Why?” Sombra asked. Twilight sighed. He hadn’t read his calendar, which didn’t really surprise her. She gave him an annoyed look and explained, “Today you are going to learn about honesty.”
“So we will be visiting that hillb…” Sombra started, but was silenced by an angry glare from Twilight.
“You better behave. These are Apple family’s lands, and you are a visitor,” Twilight told Sombra, who yawned. It made her roll her eyes. She saw that they were already close to the farm itself. The main gate that led towards the Apple family’s house was already visible.
“You didn’t really give answer to my second question,” Sombra said.
“Oh yeah. Applejack gets up early, and spends almost the whole day working, especially now, when it’s apple bucking season,” Twilight told Sombra, who grunted and turned towards Twilight.
“And that’s the reason why I had to get up before the sun wasn’t even up, feeling like my head is filled with lead?” Sombra asked, his tail swishing behind him angrily.
“Well…” Twilight started slowly, carefully glancing at Sombra. “We will be helping her with her daily chores…”
“What!?” Sombra exclaimed, stopping on his track. Twilight too stopped and turned to face Sombra.
“It’s nothing big. Just helping her around a little here and there,” she told Sombra, who was still looking outraged by the idea of him doing farm work.
“You expect me to do plebeian work for a hillbilly like her!?” he asked, leaning closer to Twilight in challenging manner. Twilight returned the challenge, leaning forward so that their foreheads hit each other with a small thud. She winced, but did not back down. Not when it came to her friends.
“For the millionth and the last time,” Twilight said quietly, her ears folded backwards. She then pushed forward, saying slowly, punctuating every word, “Don’t. Call. Her. That!”
They stared at each other intensively for a long moment, neither of them saying a word. Both of them had fire burning in their eyes. Sombra’s was fuelled with rage and annoyance, while the fire in Twilight’s eyes was feeding from her need to protect her friends. The silent battle raged on, until they heard a voice coming from near them.
“If you two are done smoochin’, get yer flanks movin’. We ain’t got all day and the chores won’t be doin’ themselves!”
Their eyes widened in surprise at the comment. Also there was a visible blush on Twilight’s cheeks. They both stepped away from each other and spun towards the sound, where an orange earthpony with blonde mane and tail waited for them. Applejack tilted her stetson to the back of her head, curiously watching at the two ponies, a slightly teasing look in her green eyes. Twilight clearly hadn’t noticed it, and she started to mumble.
“I-He… No! It wasn’t anything like that! We-we were just…” Twilight kept going, the blush on her cheeks growing stronger. Sombra in turn did nothing but stared coldly at the apple bucking mare.
“Whoa Nelly!” Applejack calmed Twilight down as she trotted towards her. “I was foolin’ around with ya two.”
Twilight frowned and Applejack chuckled. She then said, “It’s good to see you Twi. Haven’t got time to meet after… -” she turned and gave Sombra a resentful look. “- the incident at The Crystal Empire.”
Sombra returned the look. There was daggers glared from both parties, but fortunately Twilight broke off the stare war between them by saying, “Sombra, what did I tell you about being polite?”
The level of loathe in Sombra’s gaze made both of the mares lower their ears, but for their great surprise, Sombra took a deep sigh and turned towards Applejack and spoke in a monotone, bored voice with a deadpan look on his face, “Good morning. The weather is pleasing.”
After that he walked past Applejack, towards the gate that lead towards the Apple family’s ranch. Applejack herself stayed on her place, looking towards him with her jaw hanging. She turned towards Twilight, who smiled proudly at her.
“We had to practise that for almost the whole time we spent walking here,” she said and again both of the mares looked at the stallion, who was now examining the sign that hung from the gate.
“Well I’ll be…” Applejack finally muttered. She then gave a respectful nod towards Twilight and said, “You actually managed to teach him something.”
“It’s not that he’s not capable of learning. It’s his attitude. I think that he in a way feels like being a nicer pony to others, but he also feels like he would like to do just the opposite. It’s hard to explain really,” Twilight told Applejack, who looked like she was thinking about something.
“I know what ya mean Twi…” she started and scratched her chin. “I just don’t know if it is like that. He doesn’t seem an awfully nice and friendly pony to me.”
Twilight couldn’t say that she agreed, but she also couldn’t say that she disagreed with her either. She had known Sombra as what he was now for such a short time that it was still hard to see what kind of pony he really was. Twilight looked at the dark stallion again, thinking that at least they were making progress.
“Alright then. Those apples won’t buck themselves,” Applejack announced and pulled her hat lower onto her forehead.
* * *
What was left of Sombra’s hangover was killed by physical work and the rise in temperature. He was sweating, but it was cold sweat. He was feeling better though, but just slightly. He cursed at the sun that shone without mercy from the cloudless sky. He didn’t even have energy to complain anymore, which Applejack was thankful for. Every time Applejack or Twilight Sparkle didn’t look, he panted like a dog. It was downright embarrassing to see that Applejack didn’t seem to even break sweat, while he looked like he had taken a dip in the nearby pond. His dark fur was glued tightly to his skin, and beads of sweat poured down on his frown. Overall, he looked very un-royal at the moment. Fortunately his companions didn’t seem to mind. And besides, Applejack was at least equally dirty as Sombra was.
Sombra took a closer look at the mare in question. She was just about to buck an apple tree, while talking to Twilight Sparkle. Her blonde mane and tail were tied to a ponytail, very practical. Something he valued. He never had been one for all those lovely suits or well-shaped manecuts that other royals had, but he had to admit that he couldn’t resist red silk capes.
He was shaken away from his trance as Applejack bucked the tree in one swift motion, making the apples fall down from the branches, landing nicely in the baskets placed under them. She was strong, he had to give her that. Sombra himself had to give the trees couple of kicks, before the apples fell, which Applejack could do with one quick kick with those powerful hind legs of hers. Sombra could see the big muscles moving under Applejacks skin. His gaze rose up her hind legs, following the curve of her flank all the way up to the base of her tail, before he realised what he was doing.
Sombra quickly turned away and stared into the distance. His face felt hot and his mind kept going back to the sight he had seen just seconds ago. What was that? Like he had felt some kind of a need towards that farm pony. He gulped and peeked over his shoulder. Applejack for some reason looked rather appealing to the eye, not to mention Twilight with her well-kept wings and smooth mane, elegant figure and big purple eyes. For some reason Applejack still got most of his attention. He quickly looked away again, trying to figure out why he was acting like that. He hadn’t felt anything like that for who knows how many years. Mostly he was angry to himself for getting all excited from a mare like her.
“Yoo-hoo?” Applejack suddenly called and waved her hoof in front of Sombra’s face, making him wince from surprise. He looked to his right and saw two big, green eyes looking at her with suspicious look in them. The look made him feel rather unease.
“You kinda spaced out there,” Applejack said, and Sombra did not answer. He just stared at Applejack with a dumb look on his face. After she didn’t get any answer from him, Applejack continued, “Twilight and I spoke.”
“So?” Sombra finally asked bluntly.
“So are we ready to start?” she asked, a hint of anger in her voice. Sombra started to wonder how he found her attractive a moment ago.
“Yes, we should proceed,” Sombra said. “Where do we start.”
With that Applejack turned around and started to walk towards the farm that could be seen from between the many apple trees. Twilight and Sombra followed, and she said, “It’ll be a lot more nicer to talk on the porch, don’t ya think?”
“I’d like that,” Twilight answered, and Applejack nodded with a smile.
They came to a large, empty field surrounded by a rotten looking wood fence. The ground looked dry and there hadn’t probably been any crops growing there for a lifetime. The whole image was made perfect by an old, rusty plow sadly sitting in the middle of the field. It was really a sad sight actually.
“We can take a shortcut through this here ol’ cornfield,” Applejack said and swung open a gate that lead to the field. She then added, “Me and Big Mac have thought about startin’ to grow corn again.”
“I thought you were apple farmers?” Sombra had to ask. The field didn’t look big enough for growing corn to be financially profitable.
“We are, but we can’t eat apples every darn day,” Applejack said. Twilight sensed friction between Applejack and Sombra, which was understandable.
“Well sorry for asking,” Sombra replied, looking equally annoyed as Applejack. They walked through the field slowly, in silence. They reached the rusty plow, and Sombra felt strange pity towards it. Maybe because he too knew how it felt to be abandoned, or banished actually. Left to rust in the middle of nowhere.
“Now…” Applejack suddenly started. “I’m new to this teaching stuff, so I hope that even some of it makes sense. First of all, what do you know of honesty?”
“Don’t lie?” Sombra answered. That’s pretty much what honesty was in his opinion.
“Well yes, that is one part of it, sure,” Applejack said. Meanwhile Twilight fell couple of steps behind them, levitating a notebook and a pencil from the saddlebag she was carrying. She had decided to write as many notes as she could.
“Well, Applejack,” Sombra spoke. “Tell me what honesty really is? Please, use simple words, for your own sake.”
Twilight’s pen snapped in half in her magical hold. She shot a fiery glance towards Sombra, ready to make Sombra suffer the same fate that her pen had. Luckily, Applejack was more patient, but still they could hear her grinding her teeth together.
“Honesty also means a lot more than just telling the truth,” Applejack told him. “Honesty is the way you act.”
“Explain,” Sombra demanded.
“Being honest means you act in a way that you know is the right thing to do,” she told him.
“What about if you don’t know what is right or what is wrong?” Sombra retorted.
“Nopony’s that rotten,” Applejack said and chuckled. They reached the end of the field, and Applejack pushed open the gate that lead almost straight to the front yard of the Apple family’s house. She then glanced at Sombra and asked, “Or are you tryin’ to tell me that you don’t know right from wrong? That is just plain stupid.”
Sombra didn’t answer. He decided to keep his mouth shut. Twilight was still closely listening the conversation, and she commented, “Is that how you really feel? What about when you met Ditzy? Why were you so polite and nice to her?”
Both Sombra’s and Applejack’s eyes went wide, but soon a teasing smirk appeared on Applejack’s face. She hit Sombra playfully on the shoulder and said, “You met Ditzy? Now why in the whole wide Equestria would you go acting nicely to a filly like her? Maybe you were feelin’ compassion towards her? But wait, that would mean that ya can actually know that it would be mean to call her names...”
Sombra’s face was neutral, but his tail swished angrily behind him. They rose the steps to the porch of the Apple family’s house, and sat down to chairs that were placed so that they were facing each other.
“Now that we have made sure that ya really have a conscience of some kind, we can move on,” Applejack told. Sombra noticed the small smile Applejack had on her face as she spoke. It annoyed him.
“You were talking about… honesty being the way you act. I still don’t understand,” Sombra said.
“Yes,” Applejack said with a nod. “Ya see… When you do something you know is wrong, or when you have to hide your actions because you know they are wrong, you are not bein’ honest. Even if you don’t lie, doesn’t mean that you can’t be dishonest in other way. Let’s say that you’re cheating. You are breaking the rules you have agreed on. Maybe you are stealin’ or doing something else that feels morally wrong to you.”
“Yes...” Sombra said, scratching his mane. He needed some good arguments. “But what if you don’t consider your actions… morally wrong? What if your actions feel completely justified, not wrong at all?”
“This gets us to the next part,” Applejack said and tilted her hat to the back of her head.
“Being honest to yourself.”
“And what do you mean by that,” Sombra asked with raised eyebrow. “You can’t lie to yourself.”
“Are you so sure? Being honest with yourself means you really know why you are acting in a certain way or whether what you tell yourself is true,” Applejack told. “You should treat yourself as honestly as you should treat others.”
Sombra rubbed his chin in thought. He needed some time to think for a proper reply. After couple of seconds he got one, “Why would somepony lie to himself?”
“You tell me,” Applejack said and stared him in the eyes. Sombra got her hint.
“Are you implying that I’m ‘not being honest with myself?’” he asked, gritting his teeth.
“That’s right. Otherwise you would feel pretty darn bad about slaving an entire empire of honest, hard-working ponies,” Applejack said and crossed her forehooves over her chest. Twilight glanced between the two, feeling the heavy tension in the air.
“I don’t regret my actions,” Sombra said slowly, and then his voice lowered into a growl, “Not even in the slightest.”
“Then why did you accept to be reformed?” Applejack asked with victorious.
“I don’t know!” Somba barked.
“You don’t know?” Applejack almost chuckled.
“Maybe you just thought that maybe it would be nice to be good for a change?” Twilight asked with hopeful smile that made Sombra grind his teeth.
He glared at Applejack and asked, “Do you want an honest answer?”
“Of course!” she answered. With that Sombra told her.
“I don’t know why! I am confused! I don’t like this one bit but for some reason I still keep doing this! I don’t even understand it myself! There are weird feelings in my head, something that I can’t explain! I hate it, but in the same time I want it!” Sombra spoke loudly and waved his hooves in frustration. He panted for a second before exclaiming, “I am confused!”
The mares were staring at him, wide-eyed. They then shared a glance at each other. Meanwhile Sombra was angrily staring at the floorboards of the porch. He couldn’t tell Applejack and Twilight that he had accepted to be reformed in order to just fool everypony into thinking that he was actually trying to be good, before betraying them and taking over their kingdom. Because that’s what he was going to do.
Wasn’t it?
Sombra closed his eyes. Even though he told himself that his reformation was all part of his own plans, he couldn’t help but to wonder about his recent times spent with Twilight Sparkle. It had had it’s ups and downs, but unfortunately she had managed to make him think about his history in a different way couple of times. He told himself that what he had said was just lies, but when he thought about that, the odd burning hurt his chest again, which he knew as a sign of something being wrong. And somewhere deep inside of him a small, almost completely quiet voice told him that maybe he had spoken the truth. Has he been completely honest with himself after all?
“That… That was something I did not expect,” Applejack said and scratched her right ear.
“Yeah,” Twilight said slowly.
“Well…” Applejack said and tilted her hat so that it almost dropped off. “That sounded like you were being a bit more honest with us.”
“I don’t know,” Sombra sighed and leaned into his forehooves. “I hate this.”
“Now why in Celestia would ya hate this?” Applejack asked.
“You all think that everything is so simple,” Sombra answered. “That I just turn good and forget everything that has happened.”
“Of course you can’t forget everything,” Applejack said and rubbed his hooves together, trying to think for a good answer. After couple of seconds she said, “But you can make a peace with it.”
“With the things I’ve done? No. No you can’t,” Sombra chuckled darkly.
“Are you sure?” Applejack asked. “You just have to face them first.”
Face them? Sombra turned to look at her. Her green eyes looked back at him with something that Sombra did not recognize at first. Then he realized that it was something resembling compassion. It made him feel strange and awkward. Nopony had looked at him like that in a while.
“I… I have to think about what you said, Applejack.”
Twilight then said encouragingly, “At least it made you think. That’s a good start.”
“Phew,” Applejack sighed and rearranged her hat on her head. “I thought that I was just wastin’ my time with you, but now I at least can hope that ya learned something.”
She and Twilight chuckled, before Twilight saw the uncomfortable look on Sombra’s face. She stretched a bit and then said, “I think we can finish up here for now.”
“Alright, I still need to get that darn barn door fixed anyway,” Applejack said and rose up. Sombra and Twilight followed.
“You should really think about what Applejack told you,” Twilight said to Sombra, who gave her a sideways glance.
“I will,” he answered to her. When he didn’t say anything else, Twilight gave a small kick to his hind leg and nodded towards Applejack. Sombra knew what she wanted him to do, and with a sigh and a roll of his eyes he turned to face the orange farm pony.
“I am thankful for your time Applejack Apple,” he said, earning a nod of approval from Twilight and a small nod from Applejack too.
“I can’t say that I consider you one of the ponies on my top ten list… Hay, not even in the top one hundred, but I have to say that at least you can be reasoned with,” she said with a bit awkward look, before adding under her breath, “Unlike with one certain pegasus.”
“And I can say that I honestly don’t want to meet with you under these circumstances ever again,” Sombra said with a small grin, earning a chuckle from her.
“Yeah, on that we can agree on,” Applejack said, and now Sombra chuckled. They both smirked at each other for a moment, before Applejack’s expression turned serious.
“Now get the buck of my farm.”
* * *
Twilight Sparkle and Sombra were making their way towards Ponyville and her castle. They were walking on a dirt road that lead them out of the apple orchards. Sombra was smelling of sweat and his coat was still glued to his skin. What made Twilight a bit confused was the fact that his mane and tail were still looking like they always did, thick and smooth, flowing in the wind a bit.
“So how did you like Applejack?” Twilight asked from the stallion besides her.
“I didn’t,” Sombra answered with stoic stare.
“Come on,” Twilight dragged. “I don’t know anypony who is more sincere pony than she is. Of course today could have gone better, but I don’t believe that you don’t like her one bit.”
Sombra gave her a deadpan look, before sighing, “Do you want my honest opinion about her?”
“Yes,” Twilight answered, and Sombra nodded. He stared in front of him and thought for couple of seconds before answering.
“I don’t like her. Clearly she is a stubborn and stupid mare,” Sombra said calmly, earning a groan of annoyance. Twilight was about to scold him, but he was quicker to respond, “But I found her attractive.”
Twilight’s ears drooped and her jaw hung open, her left eye twitching. Sombra didn’t notice it at first, but Twilight had stopped walking. He noticed it after he had walked couple of meters pass her. Sombra spun around, only to see that Twilight was still in her shocked stance. He didn’t know why though.
“Twilight Sparkle, is there something wrong?” he asked, not sure why. It wasn’t like he cared, right?
Twilight blinked and closed her mouth with a smack. The shock on her face turned into suspicious look and she asked with her voice cracking a little, “Attractive!?”
“Yes,” Sombra answered calmly. “You seem to think otherwise?”
“I-uh, no!” Twilight muttered. “Nothing like that! You just surprised me a bit…”
“How so? I do believe that it is completely normal for a stallion to find mares desirable,” Sombra told her, making Twilight’s ears pin down again.
“Desirable!? Now that’s a bit more than just finding her attractive!” Twilight exclaimed, her cheeks getting red. “And that’s my friend you are talking about!”
“We’re all grown up ponies here,” Sombra said. “And I can’t help it. She has such a great…”
“La la la, I don’t want to hear it!” Twilight almost screamed and started to trot again. She went past Sombra and he followed. There was a deep, awkward silence between them, but soon Twilight’s curiosity got the better of her.
“Wasn’t it you who kept reminding how much of an hillbilly she was? Now you say that she is… -” The blush re-appeared on her face. “- …desirable?”
“I guess opposites attract each other,” Sombra answered. Then he saw Twilight’s blush getting even brighter. With amusement he waited what was coming next.
“W-what is making her so… desirable?” she asked and glanced sneakily at Sombra. He grinned and then spoke.
“She has such an ideal hips for reproducing.”
Twilight’s eyes shot wide open and she looked at him with disgusted look on her face.
“Ew ew ew!” she exclaimed and shook her head, picking up her pace and walking couple of steps in front of Sombra. She was getting further away from him, still repeating the ‘ews’. Sombra couldn’t help but to laugh.
“Yours are not too bad either…” he said quietly with a smirk.
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XD God I love this chapter!
Sombra finds Applejack attractive? This fanfic is getting better and better. Btw is Sombra gonna have lessons from the Mane 6? One by one?
This chapter is my new favorite. I didn't see Sombra getting an attraction towards AJ and I found the part where he reveals that to Twilight to be one of the funniest moments in the fic. I hope the next chapter comes soon...ans that Twilight snitches on Sombra about his attraction to AJ.
Sombra is a teenager.
I had to laugh on that last part where Sombra was talking to Twilight about AJ.
Nice chapter. That was so much fun to read. Good luck with the next chapter.
I adore how u wrote applejack. Very in character. Also Twilight's ewes were a riot XD
YES
Also,
This is going in my mental “Best Story Scenes” File.
4905796
Yes. He will meet everypony from the mane six. The chapters with them are really hard to write though
4906344
He hasn't had time to be a teenager before this... let's leave it at that. For now...
4906415
Thanks. I'll need it. I'm planning to do some dramatic revelations in the next chapter. Let's hope that it goes well.
I found this chapter good, so let's see what else we can do. Next should be fluttershy or Rainbow Dash. Or Should it be more Sombra Twilight action.
I burst out laughing at the last bit, and am now getting strange looks from the other passengers on the train.
4909249 Oh cool!! For support on your other chapters here are mustaches for you!
btw good luck!
4911832
No worry, You didn't offend me. Great comment btw. :)
4911832 Of course, Corrupted Twily is always a Cliche
, but it doesn't matter if this story doesn't have one.
I like the story so far, and believe me, I've read that story at least 10 times, and even if I like Corrupted Twily, is nice to find a story that doesn't have her like that, so nevermind my comment, I was just giving my opinion, of how much I would like this story to have a corrupted Twily, but alas it was not, but I'm not disappointed, because as you said, being different is a wonderful thing, and I respect that.
Wonderful chapter and great story!
4924075
Thanks
That was an amazing chapter. The end was hysterical too and twilights reaction was spot on!
Can't wait for a scene in which Twilight cheks her own assets in front of the mirror
Mhhh...perfect hips for bearing foals
. 
You can say many things about the King...but you can't deny, that Sombra got style.
4944357
You just gave me an awesome idea!
Just read all chapters so far and have come to a solid conclusion.
This is by far the best SombraxTwilight story on the site. You write with very good quality and your usage of grammar is also excellent.
Keep up the good work and I can't wait to see more. You gained a very well earned Follower and favorite my good man :)
4957897
Thank you very much for the fav and watch! I hope that you will enjoy the rest of this story too.
my head hurts from banging it on my kneecap. that is all i can say.
#PossiblyTriggered
This, THIS is good writing for reformation. I'm not the biggest fan of immediate turnaround on morality alignment, but I love the idea of good being so alien to Sombra.
That's what I wanna hear!
OMG! So cute! Exactly what I want to hear!
Aaaaaand now I think Twilight is going to go into shock.