Training Day 33: Pt.1 Happy Birthday Beginning
Darkness. Utter blackness and swirling shadows of a deep dark beyond description. Spike had no senses, and the air was like soup. He wasn't even sure it was air. There was no seeing, smelling, hearing, tasting, and touch had been numbed. He could feel himself being led forward by something, but he was so disoriented that he wasn't able to think.
Then all at once the world came back.
Spike gasped for air and blinked rapidly, feeling like a fish out of water.
Were it not for the familiar sight of Sombra Spike would have had a panic attack. He had just come out of the most terrifying experience he could have ever imagined. Having no senses, and then having them suddenly returned was jarring to say the least, but Spike managed to hold together.
"I *huff* am never *huff* doing that again!" Spike stated before collapsing.
Sombra frowned, helping him up with a number of shadowy limbs.
"I'm sorry, I suppose I must be immune to whatever is so debilitating about the Dark Dimension. Are you going to be alright? Or do I need to go get help? I had no idea you would react so poorly." Sombra asked, sounding quite upset with himself.
Spike dusted himself off, vehemently nodding no.
"It's fine. I'm alright. We can just fly back to Canterlot tomorrow. Today is your day, and I'm not about to ruin it. It's your first ever birthday, and we're doing it up right." Spike declared.
Spike turned to their destination a few feet away with a smile, their home.
It had been over a month since they had been home, and just as long since they had had a real break. Today was special enough to warrant a day-long staycation. Not only was it Sombra's birthday, but it was also the eve of Nightmare Night.
With great relief, Spike and Sombra entered their home and took in the long-missed homey atmosphere. Sombra took a moment to paint a sigil upon the door for an easier trip the next time, even though he essentially had the technique down.
Once finished they saw everything was essentially just how they had left it, even with Lyra still living here for the meantime. Despite her rambunctious and random nature she wasn't bad at cleaning or organizing. Although it was nigh impossible to keep up with Spike's meticulous standards of cleanliness.
The mare herself came running down the stairs, dive-bombing into Spike and Sombra.
Sombra created a pair of spectral arms to catch her, allowing for a proper group hug.
"Brero! Happy birthday dude! We've got a little something-something for you in the dining-room. We weren't expecting you so soon though." Lyra greeted Sombra.
Sombra smiled, although he seemed a bit nervous.
"Yes, thank you... I just hope you didn't go too far out of your way for me." Sombra replied.
Lyra rolled her eyes, knowing Sombra had issues with people making a fuss over him. But she was confident that Sombra would be fine with the party they had ready for him. Without further delay, Lyra lead Spike and Sombra into the dining room.
There waiting for them was an assembled cast of their friends.
Bon Bon currently icing a large cake, Luna and Selene talking to one another, Celestia eying said cake longingly while pretending not to, and Fluttershy, Gilda, and Twilight all fawning over the kids. Frost seemed to have already grown a bit, sitting on the table playing with a set of blocks. Sugar Berry was still almost the same size since ponies grow at a slower rate, but she was fighting falling asleep as per usual.
Sugar was dressed in an adorable little hoodie that made her look like a raspberry.
Once everyone saw Spike and Sombra they greeted the two warmly, making Sombra feel a bit better about being the center of attention.
Bon Bon momentarily stopped her work on the cake, which was already marvel despite it's incomplete state.
It seemed to be chocolate, and was nearly black in richness and darkness. The icing itself was actually black, and it was in the process of being applied. There was another piping bag to the side, full of Sombra-colored icing for details, and a bowl of what was instantly recognizable as crystal berries from their natural shine.
"Oh... I wasn't expecting you to get here so quickly. I thought we had some more time to get ready." Bon Bon said apologetically.
Sombra smiled guiltily, avoiding Spike's gaze.
"We... Took the fast lane, so to speak. I took Spike through the Dark Dimension. It doesn't seem to be passenger friendly, so it's doubtful we'll be doing it again." Sombra explained.
To everyone's surprise, Luna giggled, while Celestia took on a somehow paler complexion. Selene seemed amused, but wanted the pleasure of explaining the situation. She ghosted through the table, (or separated herself between top and bottom, it was unclear) to meet her brother face-to-face.
"You see brother... Darkness is one of the two strongest forces in the universe. It's heavy. Even if it technically has no mass. Pure unrestrained darkness isn't good for those that aren't skilled practitioners. You should only take passengers through if they're prisoners or it's the only way to keep them safe. Celestia lost her cupcakes all over the place the first time Luna took her through." Selene giggled, punctuating her statement by float-jumping over the table and back into her seat.
"I think I would have appreciated knowing that before I took Spike through. I accidentally forced complete sensory deprivation upon him, and I felt quite bad about it." Sombra responded in agitation.
Luna rolled her eyes, but she didn't hold Sombra's innocence against him.
"We can't teach experience, Sombra. If we told you every little thing you wouldn't learn... We also kind of... forgot about it. Teleporting is much easier. Until you came along I hadn't needed to shadow jump in a couple millennia." Luna pointed out.
Sombra wasn't completely satisfied with the answer, but he wasn't going to hold it against his mentors. Least of all his adoptive sister who's memory and ability to focus was often flighty.
"Regardless, it's very nice to see everyone. I'm very grateful all of you could be here, and I apologize if the date is inconvenient. Spike just informed me of Nightmare Night a few days ago. Had I known further ahead of time I might have picked a different date." Sombra apologized to everyone in attendance.
"Don't worry about it, Fangs. The kids are too little for trick or treating anyway. Frost tore up the snow leopard costume we bought him too. Besides, nothing really goes down until after dark anyway." Gilda assured Sombra.
"Ah, yes. We've got quite the event planned tonight. Twilight was gracious enough to loan us her castle for the evening. I had meant to ask the both of you if you wanted to help, but we can get into that later. For now, I suggest we go ahead with presents to give Bon Bon time to finish the cake." Luna suggested.
Lyra disappeared into the kitchen for a moment at the suggestion, returning with the cart used to transport Spike's oversized and delicious meals. Only now it was holding a number of presents. Many of which were wrapped in colors very like Sombra's. It was a small gesture, but Sombra appreciated it nonetheless.
Lyra picked a present off the cart and floated it down in front of Sombra's spot on the table.
"This one's from me and Bonny. It's nothing fancy since we're pinching pennies for the wedding, but I think you'll like it." Lyra explained.
Sombra created an especially sharp tendril and carefully cut the packaging, as not to harm whatever was waiting for him within.
Once the wrappings had been removed, the gift was revealed to be a small case made of silver-plated stainless steel. On it's front was a black representation of his cutie mark. With a simple application of pressure on the clasp the case came open, revealing two rows of seven cigarettes made of poison joke.
"It's a smoker's carrying case. My grandfather had one, and you have old fashioned tastes. So I had a friend of mine who makes costumes and realistic props from different eras whip this up. It's good quality, and Lyra thought it would suit you." Bon Bon explained.
Sombra transferred the case to a shadow limb, getting a feel for it and even going as far as opening it and putting a joke-joint in his mouth. He placed it back inside soon after and stowed the case behind his scarf. He hadn't had a smoke since Lyra had left the castle, and it sounded admittedly relaxing.
Of course with the children present Sombra would refrain.
"Thank you very much, it will be invaluable as training continues. It will be the perfect way to relax after a long day." Sombra thanked the couple graciously.
"Next up are the two blue ones. They're ours." Gilda all but commanded.
Sombra reached over and grabbed the thin box and the larger cubic box, removing the ribbon on the thin one first.
Inside was a book with a navy blue vinyl cover, and what appeared to be plastic pages. Upon opening it, Sombra saw it was a photo album. While it was mostly empty there were a number of photos of Sombra, Spike, the children and Fluttershy. There were significantly fewer photos of Gilda, but she had taken most of them if Sombra recalled correctly.
"We thought that a photo album would be a great start at collecting memories of your new life. We made extras of all the photos from the trip to New Griffonstone too. It's a two-part present. I put the album together, and Gilda got the other half." Fluttershy began sweetly.
Sombra smiled, having a pretty good idea what was in the other box.
After a quick slicing motion with a shadowy finger, the other package was revealed to be exactly what he thought it was.
It was a camera, perfect for filling up the album with.
"It's a new model. Not even in stores yet. It uh... it fell off a cart and my friend who shall remain nameless happened upon it. If you take a picture it comes out the front right away and you shake it for some reason until it's done developing. Then you can just stick it in the photo album." Gilda explained.
Sombra took a moment to fiddle with the device before aiming the camera at the group, including himself. The versatility of his shadowy hands being quite useful. After shaking the photo as instructed, Sombra made sure it got the very first empty place in the album.
"A fine start indeed. Thank you Gilda, Fluttershy. I'm sure I'll find plenty of use for it." Sombra thanked them.
Spike couldn't help but feel relieved that Sombra was handling being the stallion of the hour calmly. Being the nexus of attention always made Sombra nervous, but he was progressing quite well. At least with close friends and family.
Twilight was the next to place a gift in front of Sombra, a parcel that was quite obviously a book.
Sombra was quite an avid reader, eagerly removing the wrapping paper to find out what stories the tome might hold.
It was revealed to be a large black book of considerable age, evident by the fact it seemed to be bound in actual leather. There were a great number of designs on the cover, although as to what they actually were was anyone's guess. The book had no recognizable lettering, symbolism, or glyphs on the outside, giving no hints as to what it's actual subject matter was.
Sombra, as well as the rest of those in the room looked to Twilight for a hint.
"It's a book Starswirl The Bearded had collected at some point in his life that got mixed in with his original works somehow. He couldn't read it, but he looked at the illustrations and it seemed to be about the study of shadows, and similar magics. If you can figure out how to read it, it might help you in your training. Or at least be an interesting read, given the subject." Twilight said hopefully.
Interested, Sombra carefully opened the book and skimmed over the page in the front of the ancient tome.
The letters were somewhat familiar to Sombra, but it took him a moment to get his bearings.
"It is a historical text of some sort, written by an individual who doesn't name themselves. A first-hoof account of his or her search for the proverbial 'things that go bump in the night'. Spirits of the dark, which they refer to as Umbra. Elementals that live in true darkness and flee from the light." Sombra summarized.
"You can read that? What language is it?" Twilight asked in astonishment.
Sombra chuckled nervously, feeling like a bit of a show off.
"I haven't the foggiest idea. It's a seemingly early dialect, making it closer to draconian than any of the languages I've seen in modern times. That made it relatively easy to decipher, although there are some discrepancies between the two I have yet to crack. Regardless, once I have some free time I would be happy to transcribe it for you, Twilight." Sombra responded, knowing Twilight was incredibly interested in the now readable tome.
The princess of friendship leaned over and hugged Sombra, making him a bit more embarrassed than uncomfortable. While he was on good terms with Twilight he wasn't overly fond of physical contact with most people just yet.
As soon as Sombra was free of the embrace Selene had an idea she needed to get out.
"Brother, is it possible that these Umbra are related to you? You control the darkness, and light magic wounds you. It would make sense." Selene offered in an effort to be helpful.
Sombra hummed thoughtfully, closing the book for the time being only moments later.
"It is possible, but there are far too many questions about my past as is. I should like to answer them before adding to the list." Sombra replied respectfully.
Luna nodded her support and moved a present over to Sombra.
It was unlike the others, in the fact that it was a simple scroll bound in purple ribbon and bearing the silver seal of Luna herself. Even at a glance, it was obvious it was an old document of some sort, of an official nature. Sombra carefully broke the seal and put the ribbons aside, unfurling the document, which was revealed to be a set rather than a single page.
Sombra's face grew more and more puzzled as time went on, and after a few minutes of suspense Sombra looked back at Luna.
"These are the deeds of ownership for the town of Farrier's Gulch, The Sleep-In Inn, and even the general store. You've given me a town, and it's businesses?" Sombra balked in disbelief.
Luna nodded, looking smug.
"The carpenter you sent my way, young Woody, sold them all to me for almost nothing. He's the official carpenter of Canterlot Castle now, and he lives in Celestia's side of the castle in a workshop. He makes excellent furniture and the like and makes likewise fitting wages. I think he would like you two to have them, for getting him out of the rut he was in if nothing else. Feel free to do whatever you like with the place. It would be a lovely retreat during the winter months. An excellent couples getaway even." Luna explained, pointing to the signatures on the deed.
There were a number of older signatures from what was most likely Woody's former relations throughout the years, then Woody, then Luna.
Selene reached into her mane of nebulous dream-stuff and retrieved a pen for Sombra to sign.
Sombra couldn't help but look to Spike for his opinion on the matter. Spike looked surprised, but he seemed to be on Luna's side in the argument. He nodded his head to cast his vote, and Sombra's mind was made up. A romantic getaway, just for the two of them whenever they felt they needed to be away for awhile.
Sombra declined the pen, and instead he signed it with his own shadowy finger as if he were laying a sigil.
"Thank you very much, Luna, Selene. I've never even thought about owning property before. Let alone a small town." Sombra thanked his adopted sister and sister-and-law.
Celestia's gift was next, floated over by the mare herself.
For whatever reason, Sombra thought she looked uncertain of herself, or at least her gift.
It was a tall box in navy colored paper decorated with golden whorls resembling suns, moons, and stars. It was topped with a white ribbon with a rung of yellow streamers around it. It was the only package that hadn't seemed to fit the overall color scheme.
Sombra carefully removed the ribbons, and then the paper. It was expertly wrapped, and Sombra didn't want to ruin such perfection by merely tearing into it. It took a bit longer than the others, but he felt it necessary.
Once the paper was removed, Sombra saw why Celestia had been so uneasy.
There, in a glass case and on a metal stand was his old horn, as if it were on display. It was just like his current horn, but instead of purple it was red, blood red almost. Sombra had no idea what to say, unsure how to feel about seeing it supported atop two metal prongs in a display case, as if it belonged in a museum.
"This was entrusted to me by the Crystal Empire shortly after we joined forces, after the... unpleasantness fifteen years ago. It's been under lock and key in a vault of dangerous artifacts deep below Canterlot where they can't influence anyone. It's only accessible at noon, on the day of a new moon's night. I go down every month to check on them, but when I saw this... I didn't think it was right to keep it knowing what I know now. It belongs to you." Celestia elaborated.
Sombra digested that, sitting in silence for a moment.
The room had suddenly become so quiet you could hear the wind outside the house. Even the children were being uncharacteristically quiet. Other than the subtle snoring coming from Sugar Berry, who had finally succumb to her tiredness.
Spike seemed the most anxious of the bunch, fearing the still somewhat fragile friendship Celestia and Sombra shared would be broken.
With everyone there as an audience, Sombra removed the glass and closed his eyes. In as short a moment as it took him to blink, his eyes changed into their alternate state and the green miasma began to flow. He looked at the horn and after a thorough scan he grabbed hold of it with his dark hands.
One held it, and the other reached into it.
Once he had a grip on whatever he had been searching for, Sombra began to pull the horn and whatever secrets it held in opposite directions. With a seemingly great effort, Sombra pulled something green and purple from within the horn. The horn itself melted and shifted into an orb of blackness.
The purple and green miasma struggled and twisted in Sombra's grasp, but it's fight was futile. In one quick clenching of his hand, Sombra destroyed the corruption and recalled the limb. After that was done, Sombra appraised the ball of darkness with his special eyes, and it seemed to meet his approval.
Dispelling the unique magics he had fostered, Sombra's eyes became their usual amethyst color.
Then, to everyone's surprise Sombra bit into the ball of dark matter as if it were a ripe fruit. In morbid fascination, they watched as Sombra ingested the darkness like it was his favorite food. In a mere hoof-full of bites, it was gone and Sombra looked remarkably content.
"Thank you, Celestia. All the training and sigil-laying had me feeling a tad thinner than normal. I feel quite refreshed. I appreciate you wanting to return it to me, and I was able to destroy a small fragment of Dootha that had lingered about far too long."
"Uh... You're very welcome, Sombra. I'm glad you liked your present." Celestia replied, extremely relieved.
Spike breathed a sigh of relief, although he couldn't help but wonder how long Sombra had been feeling low on dark power.
"Sombra, if you were running low on shadow or darkness or whatever, why don't you just grab one from somewhere? You can do that, right?" Spike asked, seeking clarification.
Sombra smirked and placed a shadowy limb on the table, and Spike watched as it flattened into a two dimensional form like a normal shadow. It was still jet black like usual, likely due to Sombra incredible levels of amassed darkness. It made it's way to Spike's looming shadow on the table, and then it grabbed hold.
With a massive tug, Spike felt himself being pulled away without actually moving. While it wasn't too significant, Spike was also made to feel quite tired. Sombra had merely pulled on his shadow, yet the reaction was incredibly effective. Spike was drained, until Sombra relinquished control over his shadow.
To his surprise, the fatigue left him as soon as Sombra let his shadow resume it's position in alignment with Spike's body.
"To lose one's shadow is to lose an important part of yourself. Some even say it is the mysterious physical location of the mana pool. You would feel endlessly tired and become easily depressed until it could restore itself. Taking shadows from inanimate objects is easy, but not filling. I would need the shadow of a truly large object to sate me, and I have no idea what repercussions it might have for the object. It is best not to take needlessly, one of the lessons I was taught in the first week of training." Sombra explained.
Luna leaned in, ready to add to the lecture.
"Also, I have no idea if a shadow that has been consumed by Sombra will restore itself. I had never tried eating one before, but after Selene posed the question one day after training we tried on a fountain pen's shadow. Neither myself, Selene, or The Nightmare are capable of it. Normally destroying someone's shadow is a good way to weaken them, but Sombra is a whole different story. It's not every day you meet someone you can cut in half and be fine later. There are too many unknowns to use such powers carelessly." Luna continued.
Spike momentarily forgot everything he had just heard as soon as Luna brought up Sombra being cut in half.
"What was that about cutting Sombra in half?" Spike asked Luna with remarkable calm.
Sombra covered his face with an oversized hand, and Luna realized she had just let the cat out of the bag. Selene could see Luna needed some emotional support in the coming battle and draped herself over her shoulders. In a fluid motion they became one again, seemingly to lessen the blow of the coming argument.
Sombra however barred them from Spike's wrath.
"Spike. I was the one who asked Luna and Selene to remain silent about the more brutal aspects of my training regiment. The only way to learn to reconstruct one's self is to first be torn apart. If you had known, you would have halted everything you were doing to ensure I was alright. I will not be responsible for slowing you down, and I was in no real danger." Sombra began, keeping a level tone.
Spike was about to say something, but Sombra placed a large shadowy finger over his mouth, silencing him.
"Can you fault me, Spike? As much as I love you and admire your protective instincts, I don't always wish to be treated like I was made of glass. I am my own person now, and I need a certain amount of independence." Sombra explained, catching the bullet aimed at Nightmare Moon.
As much as Spike wanted to argue, he would never have left Sombra if he knew he was going to be put through such pains.
It was a bitter pill to swallow, but he had to respect Sombra's determination and his wishes.
"I don't like it... But fine. I get it. I'd probably do the exact same thing if I were in your position. For right now, let's think of happier stuff. It's your birthday, and I still haven't given you a present yet." Spike settled, still fighting his instincts a bit.
With a motion of his claw, Spike summoned up a small present in purple and black wrapping. It was only about as large as a deck of cards, and Sombra couldn't recall Spike purchasing anything in the last few weeks. They had scarcely left the castle for anything other than a meal, or the occasional movie date.
Sombra was relieved Spike wanted to move on, even if he could tell he would be dwelling on it for awhile yet in secret. Either way, they didn't want to cause a scene. Let alone with children present. They would never be able to forgive themselves if they made Frost or Sugar cry because of an argument.
After accepting the present, Sombra found it was actually a box made to look like it had been wrapped. All he needed to do was remove the lid to find a sterling silver lighter. On it was an engraved version of Sombra's cutie mark, and below it was an incredibly cheesy inscription. It read, 'You make my heart burn!' in print.
While it was a simple gift, Sombra instantly fell in love with it. It was so very Spike, and Sombra had been saying he wanted a contact-lighter just like Fluttershy and Gilda's. While shadow jumping made it mostly unnecessary, their priority had made Sombra just a bit jealous. Even if it was for a good reason, something possessive and petty had been craving it.
It was of notably high quality, and he could feel Spike's magic about it.
"I know it isn't much... But with everything going on I didn't have a whole lot of time to shop around. So I made you this from scratch instead. I made all the metal parts from scales, and got the rest of the parts by dragon mail from Lyra. Then once it was put together I mailed it to Earl and he silver-plated it. I did it while you were training and Celestia had stuff to do. I did the heart and inscription myself... I just hope it isn't too corny?" Spike asked hopefully.
Sombra looked up at Spike lovingly, grasping his chin and urging his head downward.
"My dear... It is quite possibly the corniest line I've ever heard. That's how I know you were speaking from the heart. I love it, and I love you." Sombra assured Spike.
Sombra moved his shadowy hand from it's place on Spike's chin and placed it between them and the other guests. He enlarged it to a considerable size, blocking the passionate kiss that followed from view to anyone on the other side of the table.
Whether it was for the children or Twilight was uncertain, but at least one party appreciated the gesture.
Once the pair had separated Bon Bon unveiled the finished cake, a dark towering masterpiece of culinary excellence.
"One Extra-dark chocolate, triple-layered cake with crystal berry jam filling, topped with fresh berries and decorated in a black buttercream icing. A bit of a challenge for a simple candy mare, but I think I pulled it off. It's nice to do some baking now and then." Bon Bon revealed.
"It looks amazing, Bon Bon. Thank you." Sombra assured her.
"I second that. Such an interesting looking cake." Celestia chimed in eagerly.
Sombra took the liberty of cutting the first slice for himself, before passing the torch to Spike. They had opted to forgo the option of candles, as Sombra's age was anywhere in the low thousands. Regardless, the cake was divided amongst everyone, and all was well.
Although Celestia and Nightmare Moon nearly had a fight when The Nightmare joked she should have two pieces of cake.
The obvious solution was to give both of them two slices.
Once the incredibly rich cake had been slain and dishes cleared, Nightmare Moon lit her horn and summoned up a large rolled paper. Unfurling it across the table, it was revealed to be a map of Castle Twilight. There were a great number of drawings and notes added over the actual printed image.
"Fillies and Mares, stallions and colts, it's time to get ready for Nightmare Night. I've got big plans for this town tonight, and I'm recruiting the lot of you." The Nightmare grinned evilly.
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This was a pretty good chapter while I've never been in a relationship I can see ho well this one has progressed even without the prior experience. While I am engrossed by the story I do miss the quirkiness of sombrero's original good guy personality, but that's just my take. Keep up the good work, "I luv it!"
The mare in the moon Nightmare moon!!!
I love her and your story so much keep it up
So much fluff and padding. At least I feel like their is too much.