Heart of Darkness

by Revenant Wings

Chapter 3 - Biology, Chemistry, and Wizardry

Celestia’s letter first stunned Twilight. Before even reading it, the boldface font and the slight grooves made by pressing hard with a quill had cued her to something of obvious importance and firm instruction. But it was so rarely used by the princess that to Twilight it ended up meaning something else: Celestia was obviously panicked. But why?

There was one thing that seemed obvious. Celestia could be under duress; revealing Sombra’s true origins to him might mean the black unicorn would go into a frenzy and become violent. This presented a whole host of problems within itself, but Twilight suspected a deeper reasoning. Years of listening to and watching her mentor told her that Celestia never did anything without deeper reasoning and understanding of the consequences. Something else must have come across to Celestia when Twilight had sent her letter.

But what?

Twilight looked quickly around the dark room and went to the candle above her bed and lit the note on fire, placing it into the empty stone fireplace built into the trunk of the giant oak so that it could burn out naturally. Twilight went to the hallway to find Garnet Heart and Revenant Wings located just outside the door to Sombra’s room.

“Is he asleep?” Twilight asked.

“Last I checked, he was snoring,” Garnet Heart answered.

“Can you unlock the door?”

Garnet Heart nodded and unlocked the door. He and Revenant Wings held their spears at the ready and pointed it into the room. In the dim light of the single lamp in the hall, Twilight could see Sombra’s eyes were closed and his chest was rising and falling slowly. His mouth was open slightly and a very quiet snore came from it every couple of breaths.

Twilight quickly sneaked into the room and scanned the bookshelf where Sombra kept the books that Twilight let him and the old textbooks that Celestia had sent. Twilight scanned and searched for the book of magic: a thick purple book with silver markings. Twilight carefully pulled it out with her own magic, listening for movement from Sombra. The black unicorn yawned once and turned over though otherwise remained asleep as Twilight crept out of the room. Garnet Heart shut the door and locked it again as Twilight returned to her own room and the guards returned to their posts.

Twilight took the candle above her bed and lit the small lamp above her desk in the room. Very quickly, she began to write.

These are my observations regarding the rehabilitation of the black unicorn Sombra, former tyrant of the Crystal Empire who was corrupted by dark magic. After strange events in the Crystal Empire upon its return after one thousand years, here is what is currently known about the situation.

Fact 1: The Elements of Harmony were used on Sombra. Sombra was rendered dizzy and unable to summon magic. Two weeks after said incident, Sombra’s magic is weak and still recovering. Inference 1: without their original power, the Elements were weak and caused significant though not their usual damage.

Fact 2: Replacing the Crystal Heart caused a magical wave to sweep over the Crystal Empire. The wave destroyed the crystals created by Sombra’s dark magic and eventually engulfed Sombra. Sombra was later found outside the Crystal Empire with his former magic gone and in a coma; how he survived both the Elements of Harmony and the Crystal Heart still unknown.

Fact 3: Sombra appears to be suffering from a case of amnesia. He still acts as though he’s never been corrupted by dark magic, and remembers the events of a thousand years ago as though it happened not long ago. Incident occurred in Canterlot Castle dungeon wherein the mention of Starswirl the Bearded being dead seemed to cause great stress and shock; Sombra broke down crying at the mention. At all cost must avoid things that could cause culture shock.

Fact 4: If angered, Sombra tends to show traces of his corrupted form. Such changes include his cornea turning from white to green, his eyes turning from a deep pink to crimson, and purple smoke appearing from the corners of his eyes. Inference 2: such findings suggest that despite previous thoughts of the Elements of Harmony having cured him that in reality traces of the dark magic might remain…

The thought struck Twilight so suddenly it took her off-guard though she admitted to herself a few seconds later she should have seen it coming. But how did Celestia not notice it? How come the dark magic locator she sent to the Crystal Empire didn’t find the small traces of dark magic in Sombra?

There would be answers somewhere. Dark magic was an almost forbidden knowledge and the fact that no book in her library would have answers wasn’t lost on Twilight. She gingerly pulled the magic book over towards her and opened it towards the final section: a small introduction to dark magic.

Twilight had long since learned the art of scanning; she searched for key words and phrases that might stick out, relating to her interest. It took her a long time of scanning through nearly fifty pages of rather small text and very detailed diagrams before something stood out that she wasn’t looking for.

“‘Dark Magic and Anatomy’?” Twilight murmured quietly upon seeing the large heading.

Twilight began to see things that scared her. Things that should only happen in the rare diseases came with usage of dark magic in large amounts. Things like white blood cell counts decreasing, lung damage, blood pressure spikes, severe arrhythmia, seizures, irreversible iris damage, damage to the amygdala and cortex. All described in a manner that made Twilight want to vomit.

It was in the section on blood, which came last in the book’s organization, that Twilight found a passage.

It is for various reasons that dark magic is sometimes known as ‘blood magic’. But the various blood-based diseases that come with using dark magic are not how it got this name. Rather, dark magic does not reside in the usual centers of a pony where magic is stored – commonly in vesicles at the base of the horn or wings – but in the bloodstream of a pony. Those with extensive usage of dark magic in their system may have traces still lingering among their possibly diseased or damaged blood even years after their last usage.

Following this passage were three methods commonly used to check if dark magic was still lingering in the bloodstream after extensive usage. All three were extremely complicated and sometimes took days to complete, and the results were often considered hazardous; dark magic appeared to be volatile even in small amounts. Twilight returned to the parchment she had been working on.

Experiment 1: Old book on magic suggests dark magic may be present in bloodstream. Will attempt to assess Sombra’s blood using simple sample. Intend to begin procedure tomorrow afternoon. Inference 3: perhaps traces of dark magic existing in Sombra’s bloodstream may account for occasional relapses.

But, as Twilight went back to the book and continued reading, another passage disturbed her.

The lingering traces of dark magic are almost impossible to remove completely without a transfusion lasting for weeks. If left untreated, the dark magic may have strong effects on the amygdala, hippocampus, and cortical regions, creating increased affinity for various psychological disorders, the most common of which is a dark magic withdrawal – not using dark magic for a long time may cause the traces to hijack various areas until it has been used.

Twilight wanted to scream. As much as she frequently trusted Celestia’s judgment and her reasoning was usually right, she had to question the decision to send her what was a chemical, biological, and magical time bomb.

Twilight looked over to a glass case nearby. In it lay the Elements of Harmony, safely protected and easily reachable in case of emergency ever since the Changelings had invaded Canterlot. Almost immediately, Twilight realized why Celestia had sent Sombra to her instead of keeping him in Canterlot: it was a simple matter of grouping the Elements together and using them to their fullest extent if necessary to diffuse the bomb.

Twilight, who had intended to give the book back to Sombra, decided to keep it. She couldn’t leave this around for him to discover. But, for some reason, it wasn’t because of the dark magic spells that were contained within. It was because she feared him discovering the possible side effects.

Besides, she would need it to look out for those signs.

By the time Twilight decided she probably needed to sleep, the moon had disappeared. It would soon be time for the sun to begin to rise. Twilight hid the magic book and her parchment with notes. She opened the door and moved her head out to look at the guards in the hall. Both turned to look towards her.

“I’ve been up kind of late tonight,” Twilight said. “If I’m not up, wake me when you’re about to get off your shift.”

“Of course, Miss Twilight,” Garnet Heart replied softly. “Get some sleep. Sombra’s not had any problems tonight.”

Twilight thanked them again and collapsed in her bed, soon falling into a deep sleep.

* * *

Twilight was jolted awake by three sharp knocks at her door.

“Miss Twilight!” came a rough voice from outside that wasn’t Garnet Heart. “It’s Iron Shield. Garnet said you wanted to be woken up when they were getting off their shift. It’s about seven.”

Twilight lifted herself slowly from the bed and yawned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes with a hoof. The early morning air was still crisp, cool, and fresh, revitalizing her from what was originally a later night than she’d had in a while. Furthermore, it made her mission somewhat less daunting as it filled her with renewed verve.

If Sombra’s tutoring was to be not only taken seriously but effectively carried out, it would need to start right. Twilight got herself out of bed and walked over to open the door. Iron Shield was still standing outside and saluted as Twilight came into his view.

“How is Sombra?” Twilight asked seriously. “How did he sleep?”

“No fits last night, according to Garnet,” Iron Shield said.

“How long ago did the other two guards leave?”

“Five minutes ago,” Iron Shield said. “Stout Blade is already at his post.”

Twilight nodded. “Wake Sombra up in forty minutes,” she said, “and bring him to the kitchen.”

Iron Shield nodded and cleared out of the way as Twilight maneuvered through the tree before reaching the kitchen. She quickly made up some dough and arranged it in a large bread pan before putting it in a small wood fire-based oven in her kitchen. Once the dough was cooking, she began to take a few oranges and juiced them before moving to cooking other things.

By the time Sombra appeared escorted by the guards, Twilight had cooked up a feast. Four settings were up with freshly-baked and toasted bread and jam, freshly-squeezed orange juice, a helping of scrambled eggs with thinly-sliced tomato and a fruit medley and few very small sausage links. Sombra’s mouth dropped at the sight.

“Good morning,” Twilight said.

“Good… morning?” Sombra replied, still stunned.

“Today’s the first day of your tutoring,” Twilight said. “Starting with some biology.”

Sombra nodded. “So it is…”

“Come over here and sit down,” Twilight said. “You too, guards.”

The guards nodded and directed Sombra to a seat across from Twilight. One guard placed themselves beside each unicorn and all four set down to eat, Sombra a little slower to start than the others. Iron Shield and Stout Blade both had their eyes trained on Sombra, who had his eyes trained on Twilight, who kept eating quite happily as though ignorant of the intense stares of the guards and the confused but wary gaze of Sombra.

Once breakfast was finished, Twilight had them all go down to the library’s base floor, where the bottom had been cleared out and a large clean area made. Twilight asked one of the guard to lead her and Sombra in some basic leg stretches they learned from training. Stout Blade volunteered, and began to lead Twilight and Sombra, who was constantly groaning and rolling his eyes.

“What is the point of this?” Sombra said. “What is this going to have to do with my training and tutoring? Shouldn’t we be pouring over books?”

“I’ve done a little of that part already,” Twilight said. “And trust me, this part will be crucial.”

After nearly fifteen minutes, Twilight told Stout Blade to stop.

“How are you feeling?” Twilight asked Sombra.

Sombra groaned, but not out of annoyance.

“We’ll take it easy today,” Twilight said. “Just to the edge of Ponyville and back.”

“Doing what?” Sombra nearly growled.

“Jogging,” Twilight said, unusually perky. “We’re just going to have a short bit of exercise every morning before training.”

“What are you? A drill sergeant?”

Stout Blade nervously itched the back of his head with a hoof. He was soon stopped by Iron Shield, who lightly bonked him on the head with the shaft of his spear.

“No,” Twilight responded. “But if we get you awake and focused with a good breakfast and some exercise, you’ll be able to absorb more information.”

Sombra gave off a “harrumph” and snorted angrily.

“It might also get your magic back quicker…” Twilight said in a sort of sing-song voice.

Sombra shook his head and his eyes widened. “…you mean that?”

“It’ll give us someplace to start,” Twilight said.

Sombra steeled himself, then nodded. “Alright. Whenever you’re ready.”

Twilight opened the door of the library. From there, it was a straight shot down a somewhat long, wide road to the entrance of Sweet Apple Acres. “From here, we’ll keep an easy but constant pace to the end of the road. Then, if you’re up to it, we could have a little competition.”

Sombra smirked. “A competition, eh? Ha ha, it’s been a while since I’ve had a little sport.”

“Pace yourself,” Twilight said.

With a few deep breaths, Twiliight started trotting off down the road. Sombra soon took off shortly behind Twilight, while the two guards took to the air and flew alongside Sombra. The odd arrangement coupled by the presence of the oily-black unicorn began to draw a few looks from the ponies that were coming out and about for their daily business.

“I quite like this place,” Sombra said. “Fresh air, clear skies, wonderful temperature. How come they never said anything about this back home?”

“Ponyville was still in its early stages,” Twilight said, noticing the occasional groups looking at the cavalcade and murmuring to one another as though either surprised or anxious. But she continued talking as though it was normal. “Its development is recent enough news probably hadn’t gotten to the Crystal Empire yet.”

“Certainly embiggens the spirit, doesn’t it?” Sombra said.

Twilight kept walking, but turned around and looked at Sombra with confusion. “…what?”

“Embiggens,” Sombra said again. “Starswirl used it often. He said it meant ‘to make bigger’ or ‘to cause to grow’.”

“Well, I’ve never heard of it,” Twilight said. “Much less from Starswirl.”

“Oh, he was often mad,” Sombra said. “Used strange words like that if he didn’t want anyone to know what he was talking about. But he was absolutely brilliant and most found it quite cromulent.”

“…and what’s that word supposed to mean?”

“Starswirl said it was ‘acceptable’.”

“Why don’t you use the terms that ponies will actually know instead of Starswirl’s mad talk?” Despite trying to sound serious, Twilight was finding it hard to stifle the laughter coming up.

“I was around him for seven years,” Sombra said with a wink. “It’s hard to break the habit.”

Twilight giggled yet again.

Sombra did, however, manage to keep pace until the end of the street and even a little further outside of Ponyville. There, they stopped by a stream where a panting Sombra bent down and drank thirstily for a minute or so before stretching.

“This place is quite large for something that looks like a small town,” Sombra said.

“It seems we need to embiggen your lungs,” Twilight said.

Sombra growled at Twilight for a moment before busting out laughing. “Hey! You used ‘embiggen’!” And he rolled around on the ground laughing.

“It’s only because you used it not long ago,” Twilight said indignantly. “And since you provided me with a definition, my mind automatically made sense of it.”

“Shouldn’t trust your mind so much, you know,” Sombra said as he got up. “Otherwise you’ll be using foreign words without knowing what they mean.”

“Ooh… you keep using those, you’re going to get me into a ha—I’ve got an idea.”

“What sort of an idea?”

“The return trek can be a sort of competition. Whoever gets to the library faster and touches the door wins.”

“Alright. But it isn’t a true competition unless you place some sort of wager.”

“Oh, I have that figured out. If I win, you have to stop using those weird words.”

“And what about if I win?”

“I do some mild research on the side. In my next report, I have to use both of those words: ‘embiggen’ and ‘cromulent’.”

Sombra considered those options for a moment. “To whom do you send the report to?”

“Princess Celestia.”

Sombra smiled. “Make it the next two reports. It’ll be hard to get rid of that habit…”

Twilight nodded. “Deal.”

Iron Shield drew a line in the dirt and Twilight and Sombra approached it. Iron Shield flew over Twilight, while Stout Blade flew alongside Sombra. Iron Shield raised his hoof to begin their race.

“On my count. Three… two… one… go!”

Sombra bolted off the starting line with a fast gallop, leaving a cantering Twilight behind. But Twilight kept her easy pace and watched with amusement as Sombra darted ahead, leaving a trail of dust in his wake. Ponies flew to the sides to keep away from the black unicorn roaring down the street, weaving through them like flags in a skiing competition.

Twilight kept up her moderate pace, gently sidestepping the ponies around who occasionally waved to her like it was nothing. A small crowd gathered up ahead, and Twilight passed by with mild confidence to see that Sombra had tripped over a lone cauliflower head that had fallen from a farmer’s cart; Stout Blade was overhead, looking on as Sombra picked himself up and shook the dirt off himself, but by then Twilight was far ahead.

The library’s features were now getting clearer. Twilight figured it was time to start breaking into a gallop. With a gently practiced ease, she gradually gained speed until she was running at a full gallop, hooves pounding the earthen road beneath her.

“RRRAAAAAAAAAGH!”

Twilight barely had time to turn around before Sombra crashed into her hooves first. Twilight found herself rolling head over hoof, face crushed into the black hair on Sombra’s chest as they rolled and bumped their way down the street, eventually slamming into the door. The purple unicorn shook her head around to clear it before examining what happened.

Both Twilight and Sombra were flat on their backs, their rear legs and hooves leaning on the door and their front hooves splayed out to the sides. Sombra lifted his head up and started laughing. “So, who wins?” he asked.

Twilight found herself smiling. “I think that’s a draw.”

“Ha ha! I can keep using the word!”

Twilight lightly punched Sombra’s shoulder. “That’s not what that means.”

“What does it mean, then? It’s no fun if it just nulls it.”

“Alright, then. I’ll use either ‘embiggen’ or ‘cromulent’ in one report, and you have to stop using them for a month.”

Sombra laughed, but it wasn’t his riotous or belittling laughter. It was almost a good-natured laugh that sounded warm from his deeper voice. What surprised Twilight more was that, when Sombra looked over to her, his eyes were a brighter pink than normal. “Alright. I’d say that seems fair.” He rolled over on his side and easily picked himself back up. “Need any help?” Sombra asked as he held out a hoof towards Twilight.

Twilight nodded. Sombra gently rolled Twilight over and helped her back on her feet. “Thank you,” Twilight said, still stunned.

Sombra smiled and opened the door.

Twilight looked around and saw the guards standing with spears at the ready not far away. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I’m okay. It was… actually quite fun.”

“All the same,” Iron Shield said as he lowered his weapon. “I would rather not get the idea in his head that it’s fun.”

Twilight had to somewhat agree with the guard. The roar was mildly violent and Sombra’s somewhat larger stature and more muscle and weight had hurt running into her. But the pain soon vanished as Twilight set Sombra up with a hoof attachment to hold a quill and a few sheets of parchment and began going through the biology book.

The rest of the day was rather quiet. Sombra was very attentive and took such a large amount of notes it almost made Twilight proud of herself and admittedly a little giddy to see that he was almost as detailed as she was. After the introductory section, they stopped for a short lunch of sandwiches with chips before returning and going over the first chapter of the biology textbook. Sombra continued making notes and Twilight worked through the chapter until evening came. Twilight gave Sombra the textbook to read as she cooked dinner and once more allowed the guards to dine with them.

By the time night fell and the guards were being changed, Sombra was tired enough he was asking to go to bed.

“Alright. But let me get a small blood sample.”

Sombra sat down patiently as Twilight applied a small amount of rubbing alcohol onto his skin. “What for?”

Twilight gently pricked the needle of a small syringe into Sombra’s foreleg and drew out a small amount of blood, mostly colored a normal red but with strange black and green blobs. “The Ponyville Hospital needs a small blood sample, but they’re not doing house calls yet.”

“How come you don’t just take me there?”

“You recently had a physical assessment at Canterlot. This is all they need.”

“Fair enough,” Sombra said through a yawn.

Twilight cleaned the wound and placed a small bandage over the hole. “That will hold overnight. We’ll pull it off and clean it again tomorrow.”

Sombra nodded. “What’s tomorrow’s lesson?”

“Chemistry. Nothing too much, just some fundamentals and basic math for it.”

“Sounds good. You’re actually quite brilliant, you know. Almost as much as Starswirl.”

Twilight found herself blushing. “Well, I don’t claim to know as much as he does…”

“I know. I didn’t say I thought you could surpass him as a teacher.”

Twilight went even redder, but Sombra’s laugh was once again good-natured.

“Alright, gentlemen,” Sombra said to the guards, “lead on!” And the two guards took Sombra up to his bedroom.

When Twilight was sure that Sombra was in his room, Twilight took the book on magic from her main study and the syringe of blood and went down to the basement. The syringe was gently placed on the counter and Twilight opened up to the magic book’s segment on testing for amount of dark magic.

Step one, Twilight read, place the contents of the syringe in a glass vial. Stopper immediately with a rubber top and be careful as the the solution may be volatile.

Twilight took the syringe, emptied the contents into a small vial and pulled out a black rubber cap, which she plugged into the top of the vial immediately. The magic-infused blood began resisting its confinement, pushing against the stopper and almost pushing it off, but Twilight clamped her hooves around the vial and squished it shut. So, instead, it pushed her and slammed into Twilight’s chest with the vial, knocking the wind out of her for a second. It took placing the vial into a small metallic chest and locking it shut for the vial to stop squirming around.

Step two Twilight read quickly, dilute 50 milliliters of a .1 molar solution of sulfuric acid.

Twilight scanned the contents of her shelves and found a bottle labled “H2SO4”. Calculations were done on a separate paper and the correct amounts of purified water and the sulfuric acid were placed into a vial and filled to a combined total of 50 millileters.

Step three: set up your equipment to accommodate both a titration and a distillation, with a burner under the titration flask set for medium heat.

Twilight pulled out two stands and numerous clamps, setting up a long metal tube that poured into a strange flask with two openings, one straight up and another off to the side, suspended over a small orange flame with a blue inner flame. The opening on top went up to the metal tube, and the opening to the side had a plastic tube attached to it that led up to another, large round flask on the opposite stand.

Step four: place 50 milliliters of the blood of the pony in question into the flask below the glass tube and place the diluted sulfuric acid into the glass tube.

Twilight carefully transferred the sulfuric acid into the glass tube and unlocked the chest, quickly grabbing and unstopping the vial above the glass tube. The blood tainted with dark magic rocketed out of the vial and dropped almost immediately into the bottom of the flask under the glass tube. Seizing the small moment of reprieve, Twilight quickly clamped the glass tube of sulfuric acid onto the flask so that the blood was trapped in the flask.

Step five: slowly drip the sulfuric acid into the blood. The low acidity of the solution will balance out the small basic pH of the blood and render it neutral. This will cause the dark magic remnants to slowly be released out the side opening, through the distillation tube, and into a separate flask without the blood.

Using a special lever, Twilight opened the passage between the glass tube and the flask and let it slowly drip into the blood, causing it to allow one good-sized drop every ten seconds. After five drops, the first glob of dark magic – a little black sphere with a dark green shine around it. It travelled up the plastic tube and deposited like molasses into the bottom of the distillation flask. After that, every little drop released another small, similar blob that went up the tube and into the flask in much the same way.

Step six: once all the dark magic has been deposited into the flask (in most cases, five minutes after the last drop of sulfuric acid), stopper it and let it sit in a dark space for half an hour. It will slowly lose its volatile nature and can be used for further research. Be careful when handling the pure dark magic; much like mercury, it can be slowly absorbed through the skin and will enter your bloodstream.

Twilight quickly unhooked the bottle once the process was over and capped it with another rubber stopper before placing it in the locked chest. Carefully as she could manage, Twilight unassembled the setup and cleaned the materials with water and set them under a small heat lamp to dry before going back to reading the book.

As dark magic can infuse itself with the blood, it is nearly impossible to tell how much dark magic is actually in the blood as the dark magic will slowly reduce the volume immediately apparent in the blood. Titrating the blood with a weak acid will cause it to separate from the blood and return to its original volume, and distilling it will take the dark magic out of the blood into a separate container.

For interpreting the results: magic in the volume of zero to 10 milliliters per 50 milliliters of blood is generally considered safe enough for mild use and won’t cause lasting damage. Magic in the volume of 10 milliliters to 20 milliliters can cause minor damage, but it can be healed though the longer the magic has been in the blood, the more severe it is. Magic above 20 milliliter mark can cause lasting damage that in some cases may never be healed, and amounts above 45 millileters can cause corruption in an individual. Cases involving corruption are rare and for the most part unstudied, as most don’t survive the damage long enough to reach that stage and most who do are killed. It is recommended by all medical institutions that users of dark magic frequently report to a physician to have the levels of magic in the blood checked to make sure it stays in the safe zone of zero to 10 milliliters.

Twilight examined the amount of blood in the vial. It had by now settled down and created a small amount of approximately 1.2 milliliters of dark magic. With the results analyzed, Twilight replaced the vial into the locked chest and returned to her parchment paper with the notes in her study.

Fact 5: Experiment to extract dark magic completed. Fifty milliliters of Sombra’s blood were used and extraction revealed 1.2 milliliters of dark magic; defined by the procedure in the magic book as being of a “low” level. Will be testing again at the end of the week to see if the amount embiggens increases to higher, more dangerous levels.

With the experiment completed and observations recorded, Twilight checked the time. Nearly three hours had passed since she had taken the sample of blood from Sombra. She let out a yawn as she went out to find Garnet Heart and Revenant Wings in the hall.

“I’m going to bed,” Twilight said. “Will you wake me up again tomorrow?”

“Of course, Twilight,” Garnet Heart said softly. “Sombra’s sleeping peacefully. Go ahead and get some rest. We’ll try and let you know before we leave tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” Twilight said, and once again collapsed on the bed and fell asleep.

* * *

The rest of the week ended up continuing in much the same way.

Every morning Garnet Heart would wake Twilight up as he and Revenant Wings were about to leave. Twilight would then make breakfast and prepare it for herself, Sombra, Iron Shield and Stout Blade. Once breakfast was finished, Stout Blade would lead Twilight and Sombra in exercise, after which they would trot to the outskirts of Ponyville and canter back.

Once they had returned, Twilight would get into the lesson for the day, only stopping for a half-hour lunch break around noon. Afterwards the lesson would continue for another few hours and Sombra would be allowed to read while Twilight cooked dinner. Sombra, having spent nearly two weeks doing nearly nothing, would be quickly worn out and would often go to bed within an hour or two after dinner had finished and the guards had once again switched positions.

The final lesson of the week was the magic lesson. Twilight spent the entire morning going over the basics of magical theory and explanation before going into a short anatomy lesson so that by lunch Sombra knew all the basic theories and locations of magic storage and usage in earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns and could recite them all back by memory.

At lunch of toast, small sardines, and a vegetable mixture, Twilight decided to break the news. “Today we’ll be trying to do some basic levitation.”

Sombra’s eyes opened wide and he grinned, revealing his two fangs. Twilight did her best to ignore the sharp points. “About time!” Sombra said. “I’ve been waiting for this.”

“Now, now, you’ll have to be careful,” Twilight chided gently. “Just because you can use magic doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. You’ve been two weeks with that ring on your head, so you probably don’t have a lot readily available. We can work your way back up, though.”

Sombra nodded. “Starswirl said that the longer magic was not used, the harder it would be to take back.”

“Do you know why? Think back to our magic theory lesson.”

“Because magic stored in the various vesicles around the heart and brain must first be taken out of storage and brought to the horn, then allowed time to return. Repeated use will allow for faster recovery and stronger re-use the next time it is present.”

“Exactly. Now, we’re just going to do a short lesson on the principles of levitation before going into actually using it. Knowledge of how the process works will be as important as actually being able to perform it.”

Twilight’s afternoon lesson was, by comparison, short. After an hour simply going over the basics of levitation and connection to magical theory, Sombra was about ready to try and use magic again.

As Twilight set up a few simple objects for Sombra to try, she felt nervous. Doing the practice session meant that Sombra would be relieved of his anti-magic ring. There was a sneaking suspicion that the anti-magic ring was the only thing holding Sombra back from accessing his dark magic, and that it would quickly spring to the surface given first chance. The guards seemed to sense this, too, as they were holding their spears closer and tighter and were both pointing them at Sombra.

Twilight sighed and went over to Sombra. She looked up at him.

“You’re hesitant,” Sombra observed.

“Admittedly,” Twilight said. “There is possible worry of magical backlash; it’s been cooped up for so long it could release itself in a blast.”

Sombra nodded.

“Alright, let me just move it slowly off…”

Twilight stood on her back legs and grabbed the anti-magic ring with her hooves. Very slowly, she moved it up from the base of Sombra’s horn and began to slide it up to the tip. Sombra sat patiently as Twilight removed the ring.

“Is it going to be off permanently?” Sombra asked.

Twilight nearly dropped the ring, but steadied her grip and continued on. “Not yet.”

“Figures,” Sombra said, part irritated and part… something else Twilight couldn’t understand.

“It’ll only be that way for a few more weeks,” Twilight said. “After a few weeks, we’ll take it off for good.”

Twilight carefully slid the anti-magic ring off the tip of Sombra’s horn. Twilight flinched as though expecting a rush of magic or for Sombra to suddenly change back into his tyrant form. But when nothing happened, Twilight opened her eyes to see Sombra having flinched himself and daring to open one eye to see if anything was going on.

“You’re in the clear,” Twilight said.

Sombra took a hoof and rubbed the horn as Twilight went over to the first item.

“First, try lifting this quarter-sheet of paper,” Twilight said. “It will be both light and not very dense, so it shouldn’t take as much energy.”

Sombra closed his eyes and started tensing. A weak field began to appear around his horn, but it was clear and didn’t have a definitive color.

“Remember your magical theory lesson,” Twilight said. “Focus on the areas where magic is stored. Often times, magic from the vesicle close to the heart is the easiest to retrieve.”

Sombra tensed up even further. The magic slowly started to change to a bright blue, but for a moment flashed a pure, oily black. A magical field started to form around the quarter-sheet of paper, though when it flashed black Sombra lost his grip. But he continued onwards and Twilight started cheering him on.

“Yes, yes! Sombra, you’re getting it!”

Sombra was heaving and tensing, and barely managed to open one eye to see his progress. The quarter sheet was surrounded in a steady blue glow and lifted a few inches off the table. Sombra smiled, but quickly dropped the quarter sheet and collapsed on the floor, panting and sweating from the exertion.

“You did it, Sombra!” Twilight said. “You successfully levitated the paper!”

“I didn’t think… it’d be so hard…” Sombra said through his panting.

Twilight motioned to Stout Blade, who nodded and ran off. It wasn’t long before he came back with a bottle of apple juice and a straw. Twilight gave it to Sombra, who drank from it greedily.

“Your magic is coming back to you,” Twilight said, “but slowly.”

“I can feel it now,” Sombra said. “It’s there, but low.”

“How do you feel it?”

“It feels like it’s coursing through my blood, but… some of it feels warm and some of it is fiery hot.”

“Give it time,” Twilight said. “It will stabilize the more you use it. Do you want to try again?”

“Yes. Something harder.”

Twilight directed Sombra’s attention to a pencil. “Same as before.”

Sombra tensed and soon began heaving and panting again as the pencil was covered in a light shade of blue. The pencil went up quicker than the sheet of paper and jerked around a bit, but Sombra was already sweating profusely.

Twilight was about to tell Sombra to back off when the aura both around Sombra’s horn and the pencil went black and the pencil pointed straight towards Twilight, the recently-sharpened lead pointing right to the lavender unicorn’s heart. Sombra gave off a roar and his eyes opened wide, revealing the entire eye was coated in green and the small lines of purple smoke had appeared yet again.

Twilight was afraid about where it would go when Sombra collapsed from the exhaustion. The black aura went back to blue and faded away, causing the pencil to clatter around on the table and fall off onto the floor, rolling harmlessly away. Sombra soon curled himself into a ball and Twilight could hear what she thought sounded like the black unicorn was choking.

“Sombra…?” Twilight asked tentatively, taking a few slow steps towards him. “Sombra, are you okay?”

“No!” Sombra screamed. He pushed Twilight’s hoof away and went back to being curled in a ball, sniffing and sobbing. “Twilight, why… why do I feel so… angry?”

“You’re probably just irritated your magic isn’t coming back as fast.”

“It’s not like that!” Sombra cried. “I feel so angry. It’s like… it’s like I want to hurt something.”

Twilight thought of how the pencil had pointed right towards her chest. Had it been any longer, it probably would have been lodged in her.

“What’s going on?” Sombra sobbed. “Why am I like this? What happened to me!?”

“It was a magical explosion,” Twilight tried to reason. “That’s all it—”

“Magical explosions don’t just cause ponies to become angry!” Sombra tried to growl, but it got stuck in his throat and became a cough mixed with a sob. He lay there on the floor in a ball for a long while. “I’m sorry,” he finally sputtered out once the majority of it had passed. “I… I want to go to bed.”

Twilight replaced the anti-magic ring and nodded to the guards, but followed behind Sombra herself as the black unicorn made his way up and into his room.

“Do you want a book?” Twilight asked. “Or something to drink?”

“No,” Sombra said. He sniffed as a tear rolled down his nose. “I just… I just want to think.”

And so Twilight stood by as Sombra went into his room, slammed the door, and began once more crying loudly, trying to come up with even a single idea of what she could do to convince him it wasn’t his fault. But she couldn’t come up with one.

Comments

[SageBrony07]

Wow. Intense. I wonder then where the dark Magic is coming from Sombra. It has to be in there somewhere. Great chapter and thanks for the update.

[Bloodstone38]

I hope things turn out Ok for Sombra.

[Zarclone]

It is very enjoyable so far. I like your characterization of Sombra and the cast feel in character. I like to see more.