Space
To say that Sombra felt recharged after a much needed night´s sleep, would not be completely accurate. He could still feel his limbs ache and protest against any sort of activity, but it was at least softened.
Still feeling the hard surface of the crystal model structure against his side, Sombra slowly pushed himself up into a seating position, his eyes gently keeping focus on the structure, as it was the catalyst and the centre of his ideas.
He stared a few moments, taking in the feeling of seeing the spire his old, No, his new castle. This structure was the plans he had. But in a full size.
Now, he needed to somehow find a place to actually build this thing, a place that was inconspicuous. If he could just get out of the mountain, he would be able get an overlook and then pick a much better place to stay. Somewhere remote where his failures at least would be isolated, contained so to say. Though thinking about it, Subterranean would probably be the best option. The sudden appearance of a tower on top of a mountain would no doubt send unwanted attention his way.
‘Would also be nice to have some place… much quieter’ he thought.
A small sting from his horn, reminded him that it also would need to be a place where he would not have to produce all the raw materials with his own crystals. With his weakened magic, they wouldn't be strong enough on their own to hold up any sort of structure. But looking upon his little miniature, he could see that at least they could be used in the construction process.
As to where, he looked around himself, considering the cave he had fallen into the earlier day. Sombra scratched his chin slightly. It did look like an alright place, but couldn't exactly take to such a mountainous task, without really knowing the dimensions of the place. For all he knew, the entrance was at the foot of a mountain, and the most obvious place you'd ever go looking for, well, anything.
“That won't do…” Sombra said to himself. “It needs to be… remote…” He mused, as he slowly walked just below the hole in the ceiling. He needed to find a better place, that much was obvious. But to find any place other than here, he'd need to get out of the hole first.
He looked up at the gap on the ceiling . It wasn't that high up, but much higher than he could jump.
“Shadow form would make this so much easier…” he mumbled, before sighing, remembering the pain and humiliation of the numerous whiplashes yesterday. “I'll have to think of something else.” He concluded.
After about a minute of judging the wall and the height, Sombra came up with an idea.
He focussed just a small amount of his magic, and sent several dark beams of his energy, periodically up the wall. At each spot it hit dawned a sturdy black crystal, hanging out vertically.
Confident with his makeshift ladder, Sombra took to crawling up the wall. With a minimum amount of shaky crystals, Sombra reached the top of the hole and was able to crawl out.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Sombra gave only a fleeting glimpse behind him towards the hole before continuing on his path.
It took a bit to find his way out of the mountain again, as the tunnels twisted in all sort of directions. Luckily, Sombra knew much about being in the field. Being born in an Empire already cold was helping quite a bit as well. Plus, if he had to count how many caves he had been in throughout his life, he'd starve to death before he finished.
Sombra shook his head lightly. He didn't want to think about that. If his situation now felt bad, it would be even worse if he started to think about the past.
“Let the dead… stay dead…” he mumbled, knowing the irony of the statement.
The tunnels were rather twisted and confusing to the average pony, but finally Sombra reached the end of one of the corridors and stepped out into the immense white of the snow covered landscape.
Sombra actually had to shield his eyes at first to slowly allow them to adapt to the difference between the pitch darkness of the caves, to the sudden stark white contrast.
As he slowly regained his sight, Sombra could see more of the outlines of the actual landscape. The mountain ranges were all over the horizon, in all directions. He could also see from the way they were placed though that there were lots of valleys in between the many mountains.
Yes Valleys, the cradle of civilization, as some historians called it.
“So lets not go in that direction.” He concluded, before looking back at the mountain he had just exited. He was completely at the foot of the natural wonder that seemed to simply stretch on and on and on.
A slight growl of his stomach, reminded Sombra of how he, in theory, was starving since he had never actually eaten with this newly formed body. So food would have to demand a higher amount of attention rather than finding a foundation. However, remembering some of his training, he thought of the possibility of finding both.
Scanning the mountain with his red eyes, he saw a couple of places that would be easy to crawl up and picked one at random. From nature, Ponies had been granted hooves, making them excellent at walking up steep slopes, making it no problem for Sombra.
The cold wasn't that harsh either. The winds were surprisingly calm, and it was a bright sunny day for once, making the top snow very crisp and crunchy.
While Sombra still could feel the stinging of his newly formed muscles, it was severely reduced compared to the day prior. The trek across the mountain was not the harshest condition he had ever found himself in. Even though it was from more than a millennia ago, small thoughts from his boot camp days in the Crystal Empire came rushing back. He'd have to use some of the tricks he learned from back then to make it through this.
Sombra sighed, not wanting to think about that at all. Everything about his past was a painful memory he did not want to recall. .
“Urgh… Just… Keep… walking…” He told himself, forcing his own focus into reality.
He couldn't be sure how long he had been trekking up the mountain through its tricky sides and slopes, and deeper inside the centre of the entire mountain range.
Sombra stopped to catch his breath and get his bearings. The mountain peaks were now all around him, even now as he was sitting on the side of one of the greatest of the mountains. Of those he had seen at least.
“So… There should be something… Right… around… Here.”
Sombra looked over, seeing a slight flattened out piece of the mountain. It had a nice little niche on its side, being the perfect cover from the wind. Had great angles for sunlight and most likely also a good access to water in the ground. Everything was flawless for the small bushes that dotted most of the small plateau, the plants Sombra had been looking for.
“Ice Berries.” He said with a small sense of relief, increasing his pace slightly to get to their location.
Just as he had seen, the small, darkly barked and gray leaved bushes were standing proudly against the elements; most of their branches carried icy blue berries.
Picking up a dozen or so from the branches with a simple levitation spell, Sombra could not help but smile a bit. He had managed to find at least a good amount of food that could supply him for a few days at least. Now all that was left was to find a foundation for his new home.
His hunger took priority however, as he almost instinctively was quick to clear a couple of bushes of berries with animalistic joy from just getting sustenance.
Ice berries mostly consisted of water in the form of ice, as the reason for the name, but what little nutrition they had was critical for his survival.
They were crunchy, like chewing through a delicate ice cube, yet still having enough flesh to feel, even the tiniest bit nourishing.
The downside of this of course was the sudden drop in his body temperature.
In his rush to gain sustenance, he had completely forgotten the side effect of these peculiar berries…
“Brrrr” He shuddered, focussing his magic into his being, artificially returning magical heat to his organs and joints.
“I´ll need to get out of this weather…” He realized. Once again, his short term wish for gratification had ended up biting him in the flank.
Though at least he still made some kind of progress. He had this grove now, and he would be able to survive starvation for a time. All he needed now was to find a place to start his sanctuary.
Another brush of cold wind down his spine urged him along to search for a place to stay.
It didn't actually take that long, as the grove had several animal paths leading out of it, allowing Sombra to move quickly amongst the mountain peaks, spikes, and generally rocky terrain.
Within the hour, Sombra found himself in the opening of a discrete little cave.
The entrance was small enough to sort of fall into the background of the mountain, at least when looked upon from a distance, and inside, there was a long enough tunnel with just enough twists in order to make the cave network warmer than the outside.
It looked adequate. With enough effort, Sombra could clear away the stalagmites and stalactites, and at the same time get a small pile of resources he could use at a later time. The cave was just large enough to have an intimate feeling and comforting atmosphere of a real bedroom, if only he could make it so.
Looking back at the tunnel he had used to enter, Sombra was confident in the length of the corridor and the remoteness of its nature. It would be highly unlikely that any animals or interlopers would find his sanctuary.
“Well then. Best get to it.” He mused, turning back to the room. “Time to break some rocks.”
With the little energy he had gained from the ice berries, Sombra began to clear away the offending pieces of rock. He took great care to moderate his use of magic today however, as he didn't want to hit his peak like he had so stupidly done yesterday. This meant that the process would take time.
A lot, Of time.
The large amount of whiplashes yesterday had set Sombra´s magic peak very low. Even lower when considering that his body was still pretty new. Had he been the average unicorn, he might not have even been able to handle a levitation spell. But Sombra not only was a talented magic user, he also fueled his magic differently than most. Instead of the stubborn focus of the simple magical energies found within the body of every Unicorn, he empowered it with his emotions. His low bubbling anger that still was warmed by the weighted feeling of defeat and failure. With each spell he shot out, his eyes shone a bright green and he growled loudly.
Sombra started with simply cracking the Stalagmites at the base, and rolling them aside, as so they would be easier to store for when he needed them. However, the extra effort needed, and the long time stretch for Sombra, really was grating at his nerves.
“Urgh, This is taking forever…” he groaned in frustration, as he was focusing his magic into slowly cutting another stalagmite.
As much as he didn't want to feel the magic forcefully push through his skull and back into his system, this was just taking way too long for his liking.
When the stalagmite finally gave in to gravity, Sombra did so as well, flopping onto his back with a tired sigh.
“This is ridiculous…” he said, wiping sweat away from his forehead. He leaned his head back, enough so that his horn clicked against the floor, and looked at the pile of Stalagmites he had already cut down.
He had a neat pile in the corner, though there were still just about half the stalagmites left. And that meant that he was only finished with barely a quarter of the room.
“Oh, I was wrong… This is going to take forever…” He sighed, rolling around on his stomach and planting his face into the floor. He gently rubbed his temples, trying to alleviate the frustration of realizing how much more work there was to do. He didn't want to keep cutting down rock, it was so hard… So much more frustrating rather than working with Crystal. That he could mold as he desired, make it hard, fragile, thin, long, the possibilities were endless!
With that in mind, Sombra looked up at the Quarter of the room he had cleared. He had started in the deepest end, mainly on a whim, and now there was actually a good little area open and ready.
For about a minute, Sombra looked at the open area, taking it into his mind and began to imagine what it could be.
A large bed in the corner there. A circular one, with space for lots of soft sheets and pillows and anything else he'd want in it. Maybe a dresser to its left, with a mirror for personal items and more superficial needs to the right of the bed.
His eyes then drifted gently on from the corner, taking in the entirety of the room.
‘Maybe a large crystal chandelier there? No, that should more be for a courtroom, or like, a large entrance hall… How about a large carpet in the middle then. Yes, That would be much more fitting, and preferably more snug to be on.’ Sombra thought, slowly getting more engrossed into his own little planning fantasy. And he could not help but smile slightly.
‘Yes, Then, A couple of large doors there, as to give me my privacy. Oh and a large fireplace over there! Something that could really make the room feel warm and cozy, Oh I cannot remember last when I felt real heat that wasn't magically formed. Wait, wouldn't a Fireplace more fit for a library maybe? Something with a large fainting couch? Oh No matter! I'll have two of both. Or maybe I could just have two Fireplaces and one fainting couch I could move around when i´d want to…’
“Yes…” Sombra said to no one in particular, his smile still clinging to his face. “That would be… wonderful…”
With newfound determination occupying his thoughts, Sombra rose up to his hooves again.
“Best get to it then!” He declared with great determination.
The following hours were filled with hard work. Sombra exerted every part of him to start to give his vision the tiniest bit of life. He cleared out a quarter of the ceiling, letting the stalactites simply fall and crash to the floor, granting him the materials he needed for the first thing he wanted.
He piled up the smaller pieces of rocks in small piles, making sure they were balanced, before he magically coated them in black crystal. It was a long and very tiring process, but Sombra could not help but have a little smile on his face as he continued to work. He was actually progressing at something! He was actually doing something that couldn't possibly go wrong. And what if it did? He would just start over!
He didn't need to start over however. He was actually very precise with every placement of rocks and every spell flowing over them.
Finally, after hours of precise stacking, focussed spells and a determination which could rival any soldier before him, It was finished. The frame for his bed.
Inspired by the same kind of crystal beddings he had once laid himself on back in the day, it was almost like a bowl, lifting its edges up to around his knees, granting the hollow area in the middle lots of space for sheets and pillows.
Now he´d just need some of those. Though where he´d find those were much more of an issue.
“Oh Who cares, Its a start.” Sombra commented brightly to himself. He could not help but feel a bit proud in his progress. He was barely a day out of his escape from death and he was slowly getting back into form. Only a matter of time before he'd return to his real height of power again.
“Maybe then I could expand this even further. After all, this is just a bedroom, but if I expand even further, I could get myself a study… And A Cellar, And a large entrance hall. The mountain certainly has enough space for all of this. And if I just build in more floors, rather than expanding on the same one constantly-” Sombra was cut off by the sound of his own growling stomach. He smiled softly still though. He was hungry again. Understandable considering the hard work and the only small amount of food he had gotten earlier. But the difference now was, He actually had a source of food nearby!
“Well, Best get to gathering some of it. Now I know where I can store it as well.”
Sombra left his sanctuary in process, and headed out onto the mountain again.
Much to his dismay, the nicer weather from earlier had been replaced by a much grayer sky and a howling wind which sent shivers down his spine.
It reminded him that he'd need some extra heat inside his new sanctuary. Perhaps some heated crystals could work, but they might be too hard to create, considering his condition.
It was thoughts like these that occupied Sombra´s mind as she trekked across the mountain, following his own personal path towards the clearing he had found earlier. He was so distracted that he couldn't really feel the wind against him, even as it was settling small icicles in his fur and cooling his body towards more dangerous levels.
It took a howl to pull him out of his thoughts.
Sombra´s focus was returned to reality as the howl hit his ears. It was sharp even through the wind, and it did not take him long to connect the sound to its owner.
The creature he looked at, didn't come close though. But some others did.
As the Wolf howled, more shapes began to emerge from behind the peak. Most of them went past the howling leader, and went down the side of the mountain, in a direction away from Sombra, but there were exactly three of them who noticed Sombra. Slowly, and menacingly, the Wolves descended down the hill towards Sombra, bringing their true forms into sight, and confirming his first thought.
They were Frost Wolves.
Unlike the Timber Wolves of much warmer climates, These did not consist of Magically gathered Timber, but they were completely composed of Ice, snow and frost. Their teeth were sawlike and jagged, formed to grind flesh from its still living body, and a pair of long canines were protruding from their snouts, sharper than scimitars and shaped similarly, they were their most dangerous weapon. Since they consisted of ice, they could sink their canines into their victims, and simply grow new ones within minutes.
As they were closing in to Sombra, he could see their icy breath, freezing the snow together beneath them for each step they took. Their hallowed black eyes narrowing in Sombra´s direction as they were closing in.
Now, A normal pony would most likely run away, get as far away as quickly as possible from the dangerous menace who was ready to tear into their flesh and eat them. But this was not Sombra´s first time meeting with these creatures. And he held his ground, staring at the wolves defiantly.
“I am only going to say this once…” He calmly spoke, as the three wolves now began to circle around Sombra, still walking slowly and carefully, observing every move of their prey. “You leave now, and I won't crush you into tiny ice cubes… I'm sure you have some pups to take care of?”
The Frost wolves simply growled in return. It was easy to see that they were eying him up, trying to find a weakness in the Pony´s posture and preparing to pounce.
“Well then, I guess your pups will have to starve…” he said nonchalantly.
With that comment, Sombra suddenly charged forwards towards one of the wolves circling him. The Frost beast was quick to back off, knowing their own pack tactics, protecting itself from being trampled, while allowing its two packmates to charge for the flanks of the charging prey. But they couldn't calculate for Sombra.
Sombra had charged for the one wolf, but barely a metre away from it, he stopped, spinning around and in a smooth move, charged up his horn with the same magic that had crushed rock earlier and fired it straight into the face of one the Frost wolves.
The magic met ice, and with an almost ear piercing death howl, the wolf exploded into hundreds of tiny pieces of ice, flying to all sides like small projectiles. The sudden explosion staggered the second wolf, and gave Sombra time to focus on the one behind him.
Before it could take the opportunity to take a bite of him, he sank into his forehooves and bucked the wolf straight in the face, knocking the head clean off.
The Ice wolf body fell limp on the snow, needing time to reform its head.
Now Sombra´s eyes returned to the last remaining active wolf, who was slowly realizing it had no more packmates to attack with. It´s paws skitted a the ground and tried to flee the scene.
It was too late.
Sombra charged his horn once again, being careful to not overfuel the spell as he knew there were more wolves in the area, and blew the last wolf into little cubes of ice, scattered all over the mountainside.
Now, Sombra was alone on his side of the Mountain. He sighed in relief, letting his magic settle itself back in.
“Stupid Wolves…” He grumbled, turning to return on his path to his berries, but was stopped as he noticed the body of the one wolf he had only bucked. The body was twitching slightly. It was trying to reform the head out of the snow and icy winds that already was there. Maybe if he just left it there, it might be able to survive. Maybe get back to its pack and take care of its pups.
“Can't have that…” Sombra concluded, rearing back on his hind hooves before stomping down and cracking up the remaining of the body. He kept on stomping and stomping, spreading every single piece of the Ice wolf´s body as far from the other as was possible.
With a last grunt, Sombra kicked the last block of ice far over the side of the mountain.
“And stay dead…” He growled. He'd had enough of things returning from the land of the dead.
All he just wanted now, was to get to his berries, get some food and…
That was when a thought struck Sombra. He looked up where he had first seen the wolves, then looked in the direction most of the pack had headed.
“Wait… If they're going that way…” He said aloud, only then realizing the implications. “Oh no…” He said.
Sombra set off in a gallop. He hoped with every part of him that he was wrong. That somehow, logic and reality decided to slip up again, and that the metaphorical die would roll in his favour today.
But today, it seemed fate played with loaded dice.
Reaching the small peak, Sombra looked out upon his food source, the just perfect ice berry grove he had found merely hours ago.
And now it was being ravaged.
From the top of the hill, he could see the rest of the Frost Wolf pack, circling around the grove, stepping on the berry bushes indiscriminately, trampling weeks worth of food, all the while circling around one thing.
In the middle of the grove, and encircled by the pack of wolves, stood a gray Earth Pony.
It was clearly a Stallion, far too big and bulky for it to be any mare Sombra had ever met. He was also covered up in actual warm clothes, A Scarf wrapped around his face, extra coats as to add to his inherent fur, and a pair of saddlebags over his back.
Too bad warm clothes weren't that helpful against a bunch of aggressive predators.
The Pony was doing his best to try and ward off the beasts. He was yelling at them, trying to look dangerous, and each time any of them lunged, he kicked them in return. It certainly seemed that he was strong though, as the few kicks Sombra saw him give, was enough to shatter half of the attacking wolf.
That was all Sombra was able to see from where he was standing, and that was all he was interested in. His grove was being continuously trampled by a bunch of ravenous frost wolves and a desperate for survival earth pony. He could just let the wolves kill the pony and hope that they'd only eat him, and leave some of the clothes behind. But that would mean sacrificing most, if not all of his food.
There was no argument here. He wouldn't survive if he didn't intervene now. That pony would just have to be an, unfortunate side effect.
Sombra leapt off of the peak he was standing on, and galloped down towards the grove.
It looked almost like divine intervention. One moment, the pony was standing alone against a huge amount of Frost wolves, and the next moment, a black unicorn had leapt from the skies, and into the circle to aid him.
Sombra slid about a metre before turning to face one of the wolves. He growled in anger at the beasts who were destroying his food supply, and charged up his horn.
“LEAVE!” Sombra bellowed at the Wolves, his Horn pulsing with dark light and his eyes burst into bright green flames.
The wolves hesitated, but stayed in their circle, defying any command given by the sudden new appearance.
Sombra didn't give them a second chance.
Sombra´s beam struck up into the clouds above, parting them quickly from each other, as if the clouds were running for their own metaphorical lives and revealed the Sun above.
Just as Sombra knew they would, the moment the clouds parted, and sunlight struck the grove, the Wolves demeanor changed from determined to panicked. They whimpered and howled in retreat, turning tail and running for the hills. Away from the bright ball of fire in the sky that would reduce them to a puddle.
Relief washed over Sombra as his plan had worked, if with a few side effects.
Like for example, he was slowly losing feeling in his hooves.
The other pony however, stared at Sombra for a few moments with an incredulous look plastered on his face behind the scarf. Then in an instant he burst.
“That was totally AMAZING!” The pony yelled with glee, running up so close that any sense of personal space had vanished. “You save my life! With your... With your...” he hesitated a moment as his eyes glanced up at Sombra´s horn.
His train of thought was halted completely however as Sombra´s hooves collapsed underneath him.
“Woa there! Are you alright!?” The gray pony asked, leaning his head down to eyes high of the now downed Sombra.
Sombra was still awake, though he really couldn't feel his hooves. The sudden magic whiplash must have cut through his nerves this time. He was being stupid, having strained his completely new body enough for a couple of lifetimes within only two days.
He rolled his eyes. “I'm perfectly fine… I just felt like collapsing.” He replied snarkily.
The gray stallion looked around the grove in confusion. “But, there is snow on the ground… You shouldn't be collapsing around here… Its cold.” he said.
Sombra looked up at the pony, trying to search for any sign that he was being snarky or sarcastic. But found none.
Sombra sighed. “Never Mind…” he said, now taking a moment to look around the grove, trying to take in the damages the wolves had caused. Almost all of the ripe berries had been squashed, and several of the bushes had been trampled to pieces. “Damn Wolves…” He grumbled.
“Yea they're kind of Annoying aren't they?” The gray pony commented. He pulled down the scarf from his muzzle, as to show his entire face. He had a pair of soft green eyes, and now much closer, Sombra actually noticed his mane, or what little there was of it. It looked almost militarily cut, but he saw no sign of this pony being any sort of rank of anything. If so, Then military standards had certainly dropped this last millenium.
The gray pony then also looked at the grove. His face fell slightly as he saw the destruction. “Aww, They squashed all the Ice Berries…”
Sombra rolled his eyes, still stuck on the ground. “You dont say…”
“But I just did.” The pony said without a hint of joking.
“Never mind.” Sombra groaned.
“You really like saying that!” The pony said with a small chuckle. Though then lifting a hoof to his chin contemplatingly. “Come to think of it, a Lot of ponies like saying that around me… Hmm…” he mused aloud, trying to crack the enigma of the information he had just gathered.
Sombra wished he could facehoof right now… But all he was doing was making his legs twitch. They were very slowly returning, but not at the speed he wanted.
The Pony then stopped thinking on the subject and smiled down at Sombra again. “Anyways! That was amazing! Thank you so much for Saving me!”
“I wasn't trying to.” Sombra mumbled, trying to get back onto his hooves, by now having just enough feel to make them slowly move.
“Of course you weren't! You just did it!” The pony declared with a smile that was bright enough to make a lightbulb jealous.
“Right…” Sombra said through his teeth, trying to raise himself, his hooves shaking heavily under his relatively lean body.
The gray pony finally noticed how shaky Sombra seemed, and leaned his head down, looking upon him with concern. “Uhm, Do you need some help Mister… What is your name?” He asked, not yet having a name to go from. Neither did Sombra. But there was a major difference between the two. Sombra didn't care.
“I'm fine! And that doesn't concern you!” Sombra snapped back at him.
”It doesn't? But how else am I going to talk to you without just calling you, Mister Dark Unicorn?” The gray pony asked in concern.
Sombra refused to look at the idiot any further. He wished he had the strength to run, because then he'd already be over the hills. Or maybe just had something sharp around him. Then he could easily dispose of the gray furred nuisance.
The pony however kept on looking at Sombra. It was rather weird he didn’t get a response, and the nice Unicorn just tried to constantly stand… why didn’t he just do it?
And then the connection clicked together. “Ooooooohhh, are you tired Mister Dark? Let me help you!”
“I don’t need any heeeeeeeeiiiiiii!!” Sombra started out protesting ended up in an awkward squeal as he was suddenly just picked up and flung over the back of the gray pony. “Unhoof me you damned rockhead!”
“I'm not Rockhead! I’m Brick! Gray Brick to be precise!” The gray pony said with a bright smile. “It´s very nice to meet you Mister Dark!”
“Well You certainly are as Thick as one! You could have been eaten back there! And stop calling me Mister Dark!” Sombra complained as he was trying to hold his balance on top of Brick´s back. It was a bit awkward considering the pair of saddlebags that also was draped over the Pony's back.
“Then what should I call you?” Brick asked, looking back over his shoulder at Sombra.
“Just don't call me anything!” Sombra borderline yelled back in his face.
Brick just tilted his head in confusion. “But I didn't call you ‘Anything’, I called you Mister Dark.” Brick said, then turned his head, a thought suddenly distracting him.
“That’s the same damn thing-.... Urgh! Never mind!” Sombra groaned. “Just put me down!”
“But you're tired! I can't just leave you to die here in the snow! You saved my life!” Brick said, starting to walk in a brisk jog, shaking up both saddlebacks and Sombra who could do nothing but hold on for dear life.
“Where do you think you're going!?” Sombra asked, as Brick was walking them in a direction away from the grove.
“Home!” Brick announced. “You need to get some rest, and the snow is no place to sleep!”
“What!? No! We are not going to your home!” Sombra cut in, immediately grasping a bit tighter around Brick´s throat, though it was much more for emphasis and to not fall off the Pony´s back. “I am not going anywhere!”
“But I have to bring you home.” Brick rationalized, looking confused.
“I don't have a home!!!” Sombra almost screamed into the Pony´s face.
Brick´s jog came to a complete halt. It was as if Sombra´s words had directly stunned him. He just stared back at Sombra in worried disbelief.
“You don't have a home, Mister?” Brick asked, the look in his eyes much reminiscent of a foal being told Santa Hooves wasn't real.
Sombra then turned his face away and cleared his throat. “ I had one… But, Not Anymore… I am building a new one…” Sombra admitted lowly. “Somewhere far off, Somewhere nopony knows.” Sombra conceded, not completely sure if it was a good idea to even be saying this. But considering his weakly disposition, he was at the mercy of this, random Pony.
“So…” Brick started asking in confirmation. “You wanna be alone?”
“Yes.” Sombra answered without hesitation. That was what he wanted. He wanted to be back in his little cave, and work on its transformation. Work on what could become his Sanctuary, his isolated haven from anything and everyone. “I want to be alone…”
“Is it because ponies make fun of you because of your horn?” Brick asked innocently.
This was the first time in a while Sombra actually felt very self conscious, as he lifted a hoof up to feel his curved horn. “No! It's not my horn! It's…” Sombra snapped at Brick, but then stopped. He wasn't sure what to say. He didn't want to say anything… This pony’s interrogation was affecting him...somehow. Urgh this was infuriating. He should just crawl off his back, try to drag himself home maybe. Hopefully lose him. The thought made him internally facehoof. Try to lose him at crawling speed? Way to come up with a plan there.
“It's Ok.” Brick said, forcing Sombra´s focus back to the pony that was carrying him. “You don't have to tell me. I get it.” he said in a sickeningly sweet voice. Why did he have to sound so sympathetic? It was always the biggest Idiots that sounded so sickeningly cute when they were sincere. Sombra was tempted to groan, but kept himself contained.
“So… Where do you want me to bring you?” Brick offered, turning around and looking back at the mountains again. “You live here in the mountains, Right? How about you just point and I´ll carry?”
“Urgh, if it will stop your incessant questioning!” Sombra conceded with much frustration.
“Awesome! Don't you worry! I'll have you back in a Jiffy!” Brick announced with borderline glee as he set off in a brisk jog, with both saddlebags and Sombra on his back.
While at first reluctant, Sombra had to concede to the fact that he'd need some help to get back home. He really had used too much magic to fail at saving his food source.
And now that Brick was carrying him, he had the time to think about it and it began to weigh him down.
He couldn't even save a bunch of plants that was essential to his own survival. He had once been one of the most powerful magical beings in the entire world. And now he failed to protect his own food from random wildlife? How much more did he have to fall? How much more could he fail?
Sombra´s direction giving was reduced to an occasional glance and a bit of pointing. He didn't want to look at the world right now. He didn't want to be reminded how much he had screwed up, and how even his new plans had failed. He didn't want anypony to find his new sanctuary, and here he was, guiding somepony directly there because he was too weak to walk there on his own.
‘I bet that bitch is laughing right now… Enjoying the thought of me either dead or dying somewhere. Enjoying her palace surrounded by those ponies I worked so hard for...’
“Wow, So this is where you live?”
Brick´s voice forced Sombra to return to his sad reality, which was only seeming grimmer than before, even with this hapless idiot helping him. He hadn’t realized how much time had passed lying limply on Brick’s back, but he was immediately put back into perspective seeing his workspace cluttered with unfinished work The unfinished work in front of him was still there, waiting for the architect´s return.
Sombra didn't answer Brick´s question, He just flopped off of the pony´s back. He had a bit more strength in his limbs, but his landing still ended in an awkward stumble.
Brick looked in slight confusion upon Sombra as his savior just awkwardly dragged himself towards the strange bowl shape in the corner.
“Uhm, Are you going to be Ok?” Brick asked, seeing the downed Sombra.
“I'm fine.” Sombra responded weakly, as he just rolled himself into his hard crystal bed frame, taking in what little comfort the replacement for home would grant him yet. He didn't bother looking at Brick. He didn't want him there anymore. He just wanted to stay with his own thoughts, and hopefully make that stinging feeling in his heart go away.
Brick looked awkwardly away for a moment, before clearing his throat. “I guess, I´ll be going then… Oh! And Don't worry, I won't tell anypony about this place!” He assured, smiling brightly to try and show his honesty, even if Sombra wasnt looking at him.
‘Good, then I don't have to hunt you down later’ the dark unicorn thought, but up responding with a: “Thank you…” He felt tired, both physically and mentally. He didn't want to give too much thought to that damned pony.
“Uhm, Goodbye then?” Brick asked.
Sombra did not respond to that. He wanted solace. He knew things looked grim. He would have to somehow find some new food tomorrow. And tonight he would starve again. Everything just seemed to have it out for him. Perhaps it was justice? This was punishment from beyond that he should suffer for those times he had defied Princess Sonnet?
“Oh! Another thing!” Brick suddenly quipped.
Sombra was not happy about the Pony staying. He growled loudly, having been interrupted mid brooding. “Oh what Now!?” He asked as he turned around to see… Brick handing him a pair of saddlebags and his scarf.
“You must be cold out here… And I did kinda squish your food…” Brick said with a sheepish smile. “So I thought, Maybe this could help you until I can you some more food?”
“More food?” Sombra asked in confusion.
“Yea! I mean, I ended up messing up your food, And you saved my life. So I guess its only fair I return the favour, Right?”
Sombra searched once again for any sign of irony or hint of a joke, but found absolutely none in the gray stallion. He was actually offering him to give him more food. Sombra could barely believe it. How big an idiot had he saved?
Carefully he accepted the saddlebags and the scarf, settling the items down on the side of the bed frame before scoffing slightly.
“Sure…” Sombra started, turning away from Brick again, and settling himself down in his hard bed frame. “You bring me enough food so I can survive out here on my own… Oh and while you are on it, Why not bring me some cooking utensils as well, A fainting Couch and a mattress. And some mining Equipment, I plan on digging out the east wing this week, that would be wonderful.” Sombra snarkily finished, as he rested his head back on the hard bed frame, hoping that perhaps the idiot would get the hint.
“Okay! I´ll see what I can do!”
Sombra´s jaw dropped and he turned around again, seeing Brick on his way out of the cave, waving at him.
“And Thanks again for saving my life!” He called back with a bright smile, before disappearing into the tunnel, and out into the real world.
Leaving alone an almost completely dumbfounded Sombra and with only a few words that came to mind.
“What… an idiot…” He said to himself, before settling back down. He sighed in relief, finally getting the peace he had wanted.
Although, now there was the question of the offending items he had just received. He first picked up the Scarf, bringing it into view.
It was actually rather long, and slightly damp due to the combination of body heat and snowflakes from earlier, but it was so soft to the touch. It wasn't fancy, it was just regular wool, most likely created in cooperation with some sheep. But still it just felt… Comforting.
Rolling his eyes slightly at the admission of its comfort, Sombra wrapped the scarf around his throat and moved on to checking out the contents of the saddlebag.
There was an almost instinctual excitement that just leapt inside of him as he opened the bag and found actual food. There were crackers and different types small containers for addition. There were packets of nuts, small parcels of hay and even rye based bread!
“Oh… My… Sweet… I am going to feast tonight.” Sombra realized.
“Maybe saving that idiot wasn't such a bad idea…”
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Yes! this is going to be so awesome! This chapter was excellent and I look forward to more.
4979540
Im Glad you´re enjoying it!
The story image makes it look like a comedy. Is this a comedy?
4984120 It is going to become more light hearted on certain issues of the story. And a good part of it is going to be, Well, I hope, Funny. I just didnt feel that I could label it a comedy if it also has such depressing issues as Sombra is going through. I kind of felt that both sides cancled each other out... but I am not sure.