Saving Sombra

by Bucking Nonsense

A Hero To The Rescue?

"Help me!"

Sombra dreamed of days long past...

The young colt looked up from his meal in surprise. He'd lived here, in the sewers, for a very long time. The vast complex of tunnels beneath the City Of Spires that served to direct the rainwater that fell onto the city out into the aquaducts was usually deserted. While a few ponies had tried to 'tosh', that is, to try and scavenge for bits and jewelry that ended up getting washed into the tunnels before getting caught in a nook or cranny, Sombra had made such activities a harrowing venture, what with there being a 'dreadful sewer monster' who would attack anypony who tried to intrude upon his domain.

Because of that, Sombra had the sewers, and all of the plunder therein, to himself. He had amassed a veritable treasury of bits, shinies, and sparklies, and now ruled over a vast kingdom as great as the city over his head. Sure, it was a kingdom of one (Well, it was a kingdom of many, actually, given the vast multitudes of rats whom he allowed to occupy his realm, but they didn't say much, and mostly paid their taxes in cheese), but it was his. Admittedly, he'd likely leave it in a heartbeat if the nobles ever made good on their plans to divert... other things than rainwater into the sewers, but for now, he had solitude, safety, and security, the three things he craved most of all, while he awaited his father's return...

Two years now, he'd been waiting.

Still, the sound of somepony screaming meant intruders, so he should see what was happening. Here in his private chamber, one could hear a pin drop anyplace in the vast network of tunnels, and a practiced ear (And Sombra's ear was superbly practiced) could tell exactly where that pin was. On a quiet day, Sombra could even tell what metal the pin was made from. He could clearly hear the hoofsteps of somepony running. Correction... several someponies. It seemed that there was a chase going on...

He couldn't have that: A chase typically ended with a murder down here, and a dead body would bring the guards. The one time Sombra had let a murder happen without doing anything, the guards had spent a week combing the sewers for clues, terribly hindering Sombra's activities. That, and the fact that the murder in question had been a grisly, extended affair that still gave Sombra nightmares had persuaded the colt to be more vigilant. He never wanted to go through that again...

The sewers were filled with tunnels, as well as tunnels that ran alongside, over, and even under other tunnels. These 'sub-tunnels' were in place so that, if a blockage were to occur, maintenance workers could bypass the barricade, and work on clearing the debris from either side, and a few sub-tunnels and air vents connected to other tunnels, allowing one to bypass the main paths with ease, provided one was a small colt. Sombra knew every tunnel, sub-tunnel, and air vent by heart. He could have navigated the tunnels blind, and at night he often did.

Since his route was much more direct than that of a pony traveling through the main tunnels, Sombra was able to reach the source of the disturbance just as the hoofsteps stopped. Looking through a spyhole, he saw that something terrible was about to go down.

A young unicorn filly, dressed in a cloak seemingly made from sackcloth, was backed against a wall grate, trapped by her pursuers. A trio of stallions, each of them with that scraggly, unwashed look, as well as that high quantity of fat mixed with muscle, that announced them to be hired thugs. The brutish look to them also implied that they were the type whose heads might rattle if shaken, the kind that was all brawn, no brain. Perfect: Thugs like these were a superstitious, cowardly lot, easy prey for Sombra's tricks. And they had chased their prey into one of the young colt's favorite haunts, a lovely little spot he liked to call 'The Terror Tunnel'.

First things first, he'd need to get that filly out of the way. That wouldn't be too hard. She was in the perfect place. All that was needed was a distraction...

Of course, Sombra was in the perfect place as well: In the small sub-chamber he currently occupied, the area over his head was filled with ropes and wires, and the walls around him filled with pipes and tubes. He could trigger tricks and traps throughout the entire tunnel...

He twanged a small wire over his head, and the noise was transformed, due to the natural acoustics of the room and the tunnel beyond, into a low, rumbling growl originating behind the trio of brutes. Startled, the three turn around, wide eyed, searching for the source of the sound. As they did so, Sombra quickly and quietly moved over to the wall grate the filly was in front of, slid it open quickly and quietly with a well practiced motion, and pulled the filly inside, shutting the opening behind them. Making a shushing motion with his hooves so that she would remain quiet, he pulled her back into the sub-chamber, where she could watch the fun that was about to begin through a small crack in the wall.

One of the thugs turned back towards where the filly had previously been, and asked, clearly confused, "Where did that filly go?"

Ah, perfect setup. Sombra stepped over to a sack filled with dry sticks and rotten tomatoes, and began stomping on the sack with enthusiasm. While normally, it would just make a disgusting sound of snapping and squishing, since it was happening right next to an air duct that connected to the main tunnel, what the thugs heard was a series of noises almost identical to a carnivore tearing up a carass coming from further up the hallway.

Another of the thugs, already terrified, stammered out, "Wh-wh-wh-wh-what was that?"

All three of them were turned towards where they though the sound was coming from. Smiling, Sombra used his horn to cut a rope overhead. A bucket, artfully concealed in a small hole in the ceiling, tipped over, spilling its contents: About three stone worth of rotten fish guts. A pain in the neck to get (Fish sometimes ended up caught in the tunnels, and expired when the floodwaters that brought them in passed. From there, it was just a matter of disassembling the remains), and it stank to high heavens, but if you wanted to freak somepony out into thinking that there was a monster in the sewers, a faux-corpse was absolutely vital.

The fish guts, humorously, landed directly upon one of the thugs, and splashed spectacularly, coating all three brutes red and purple. If they were scared before, now they were well and truly horrified. The filly, watching this all with a sort of bemused awe, smothered a chuckle, and Sombra began the next phase of the operation.

Placing his mouth next to a pipe, Sombra asked, "Who dares trespass in my domain?"

Three seconds later, Sombra's question was echoed in a voice better suited for a daemon than a small colt. The three thugs turned towards the source of the sound, which was in the opposite direction of where they'd been looking.

One of them whimpered, "It's the King of the Sewers..."

"Ah," Sombra said into another pipe, causing the sound to come from another direction, "you've heard of me." Chuckling, he added, "And yet you still decided to trespass here, within my domain. How foolish of you. Still, you brought me a tasty little morsel, so I suppose I might be merciful... this time." The three thugs relaxed. Time for the big finish.

His voice taking a sinister tone, one magnified a thousand-fold in the tunnel, Sombra said, "Tell you what: If you can outrun my subjects, I suppose you might leave here with your lives. If you can't?" He chuckled wickedly, and the voice in the tunnel laughed fit for the king of all daemons himself, then Sombra said, "Well, then they'll eat well tonight..."

Now came the tricky bit. Sombra focused, then cast his signature spell: The fear spell. Not on the thugs, who were well and truly terrified on their own, but upon the rats all throughout the sewers. The filly's eyes went wide, almost as if she knew exactly what Sombra was doing, and was impressed by it. Using the fear spell to herd the rats, Sombra sent them running towards the thugs, the stampede beginning at the end of the tunnel that the voice had just come from.

Seeing the advancing tidal wave of small, furry animals with sharp and wicked teeth, the thugs turned tail and ran like their lives depended on it, shrieking like three year old fillies the entire way, never realizing that their pursuers were just as terrified as they were...

Once the way was clear, Sombra led the filly out of the alcove. Once out into the tunnel proper, the young filly gave Sombra a gigantic hug and said, "Thank you for saving me."

Blushing slightly, Sombra said, "My pleasure." Well, it wasn't, really, but while replacing those fish guts would be a pain in the neck, and revealing himself to another pony had been a massive risk, the show had been well worth it: He'd be laughing about that one for weeks. "Just don't tell anypony I'm down here. It's taken me a long time to build up the legend of 'The King Of The Sewers': If anypony ever finds out its just a colt with a bag of tricks...

"It was an impressive bag of tricks," a voice said behind them. Both of them turned around to see a tall, greying wizard with a ridiculously elaborate getup and a spectacular beard. How he'd managed to sneak up on the two of them with all those bells was beyond Sombra's imagining. The old stallion had moved like a cat!

Sombra's eyes narrowed in suspicion, but the filly's widened in joy as she exclaimed, "Mister Starswirl!" The young filly abruptly jumped into the wizard's forelegs, giggling. It was quite clear that they knew one another.

"Clover, dear girl," the wizard, Starswirl, said, gently chiding the young filly, "I've warned you time and again not to wander off. There's more than a few ponies in this city who would gladly hurt you if they thought that they might use you to manipulate me."

The filly, contrite, said, "I'm sorry. I just wanted to go see my new baby sister."

Smiling gently, the wizard said, "I know, child, and I am sorry that we were not able to visit your family first thing when we got back. When we are done here, we will visit your parents, and your new sister, right away." Setting the young filly down gently, Starswirl turned towards Sombra, a grateful expression upon his face. "I owe you a debt, young one. I saw what you did, from start to finish. Impressive work, and not just the spell at the end, although I will freely admit that was the most amazing bit of emotional manipulation I have ever seen from any pony, let alone one so young. You've done an impressive job, setting up this tunnel. Tell me, do your parents know you are here?"

After a moment, Sombra said, "Well, mi padre told me to hide down here, while some bad folks were chasing us. He said he'd come back for me, but..." It took him a moment to admit the truth, but he finally said, "Um, that was two years ago. By now, I don't think he's coming back."

His expression sorrowful, Starswirl admitted, "No, I imagine not. Regardless, young lad, this is no place for a clever lad like yourself. You have amazing potential, and I would be happy to help you explore it. If you'd be willing to come with us, I'd gladly take you in as my newest apprentice."

Suddenly, things clicked inside of Sombra's mind: This was Starswirl the Bearded, the most legendary of the legendary wizards of this age, and the first mage to create a new spell in over a century! On his occasional trips to the surface to purchase food, Sombra had heard stories of the great sage's adventures that had made him wonder about the world outside the sewers, and the City of Spires itself. This was the chance of a lifetime, and it had just fallen right into Sombra's lap.

Sombra made a noise that, much, much later, would be known as a fanboy squee. Nodding his head vigorously, the colt said, "Yes, definitely! Just give me a few minutes to gather my things!"

It took more than an hour, actually: Two years of 'toshing' had given Sombra an impressive stash, and while Starswirl and Clover were able to help sort out the real treasure from the junk, it took a long time to go through. Still, according to both the wizard and his apprentice, the resulting pile of wealth was a small fortune...

More than enough, Starswirl suggested, and Clover agreed with a giggle, to get him a good bath, and some serious grooming, to clean the distinctive aroma of the sewers off of him...
----------------------------------

Sombra woke from his slumber, and once again cursed his rotten luck. He had found, since his 'near-death experience' began, that while he didn't actually 'need' to sleep, he would find himself drifting off when he got bored. And when he slept, he dreamed. And when he dreamed...

He began to remember things better left forgotten.

There was a block in Sombra's mind: While he did not know the reasons for it, he could tell it was his own handiwork. His own memory blocking spell was obscuring something inside his mind. He was not certain what he had hidden away, but whatever it was, it contained a large number of memories from his youth... and those memories were now starting to leak out. Something had happened that was so terrible that Sombra could not bear the thought of remembering it. Whatever it was, it terrified him: What could be so terrible that the great and terrible Sombra could not bear to remember it? Better it remained forgotten. But without his dark magic, Sombra could not restore the block, which crumbled further every day...

With a sigh, Sombra watched over Cobalt Blue through the mirror. It was less than half an hour before sunrise. The colt would need to get up soon, and then the game would begin. He just hoped that the colt was able to live up to his potential: Failure would spell disaster, not just for Sombra, but for the entire Crystal Empire...

Comments

[Bucking Nonsense]

NEW CHAPTER UP!!!

[Bucking Nonsense]

Heh, I'll go ahead and say this: If Sombra's life had turned out differently, I honestly think he could have been the medieval version of Batman.

[LordHylia89]

...was that Celestia?

[The Letter J]

4969750
You mean if Starswirl hadn't taken him in? So basically, it's Starswirl and Clover's fault that Sombra became one of the most evil beings ever known to Equestria instead of a hero?
Nice job breaking it, heroes.

[Firemind]

Awesome ... I wasn't quite expecting Sombra to have been a sewer dweller ... I just love those scares ... it's like Home Alone meets Earnest Scared Stupid. I especially liked the fish guts. *sings* Gobs and gobs of greasy, grimy guppy guts! And for some reason, I'm hearing Starswirl sounding like Ian McKellen here; seen Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit too many times, I guess. Hmmm ... an odd idea occurred to me ... could Sombra have planned a corruption-purging resurrection all along, starting from when he began to fall in earnest?

[PhycoKrusk]

4969963
I can see I am not the only one who casts Sir Ian McKellen as Mr. Swirly.

As for Sombra’s plan, well, if there’s one thing we have observed about this Sombra, it’s that he is nothing if not exceptionally clever. I wouldn’t put it past him to Xanatos his way out of his current predicament.

[Firemind]

4970025 Of course he is; the only question is how, and how much of it will be planned out and how much will be improvised. Given his performance here, I'd put him somewhere between Batman and Pinkie Pie ... hella prepared, but with a LOT of improvisation and flexibility.

Oh, any thoughts/inclinations towards Clover or Colt!Sombra?

[Bucking Nonsense]

4969910
Clover The Clever.

[Moongaze14]

I didn't expect. Sombra to have met Starswirl or Clover.

[ArchAngelGundam]

Interesting. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.

[The Iguana Man]

Okay, this has some serious potential - showing Sombra as an innocent, rough youth, but with just enough delight in the macabre to justify his eventual corruption (which I doubt will have been entirely a result of dark magic).

However, I do have to wonder about the timescale - this clearly happens before the hearth's warming story, so before the unification of Equestria (which brings up the question of where the crystal empire fits into that), yet Sombra was only defeated 1000 years before the show's time (give or take a few hundred). I somehow doubt that the founding of Equestria, building into a unified power, Discord's reign and defeat and the princesses' rise to power, not to mention how many years, centuries or even millennia passed between these events, or any that haven't been revealed or merely slipped my mind, all happened within one pony's lifetime.

That said, I'm sure this will be revealed in the coming chapters, but it makes me wonder is all. Heck, maybe this isn't the first thousand-year-gambit Sombra's pulled off.

[YetAnotherDiscord]

4956678
Unless that Vulcanoe erupts - Then the artifact is thrown, depending on the strength of the eruption, a few hundred or thousand meters up and several (dozen) kilometres away. And it would be inside a rock. As hard to find, but less hard to get when you found it.

[Bronzedragon]

Any word on the next chapter of Saving Sombra?

[Bucking Nonsense]

5470143
When I can get to it.

[Doukzor]

I LOVE THIS CHAPTER. umm. Can`t wait for your next one!

[erictheblue]

On a quiet day, Sombra could even tell what metal the pin was made from.

oh, that reminds me of a scene in a Diskworld book: a group of monks who believed that if they listened hard enough, they could catch an echo of the words of God when he made the world...to be eligible, someone needed hearing good enough to tell if a flipped coin had landed heads or tails...

and that part about the volcano made me think of an obscure novel...the protagonist and his fellows had overthrown their evil master, capturing most of his power in a jewel and dropping him into a volcano. but then they started arguing about what to do with the jewel...eventually they dropped it into the SAME volcano-BIG mistake!