The Company We Keep

by Ice Star

Chapter 8: Uncontrollable Temper

Seventeen shot me a disgusted look. "For somepony who is reading a book, you sure are at a loss for words."

It wasn't quite the snarkiness I was used to, the way he said it, which almost made me sad at just how mean he really sounded. This pony wasn't anything like my self-absorbed friend at all. In fact, I'd say this guy was entirely devoid of a sense of humor, which the real Sombra wasn't. I decided that I would not tell him the reply that entered my mind.

His legs were still shaking. Why did they do that? What reason did he have to be angry?

Seventeen snatched my book away with a sudden burst of crimson aura that scared me. "Answer me whenever I speak to you."

I didn't want to look at him. This monster wasn't him. I knew he wasn't nice, but this was different. There wasn't a single trace of Sombra that I could see in him, a single trace of empathy of any kind that even somepony as aloof as Sombra managed to express. He'd been so much nicer to me on our trip together. Why was he so hateful at this age? He wanted to be a king!

He shoved a hoof under my chin, forcing me to look at him from where I was sitting. I could see nothing but malice in his eyes, which didn't need to have a demonic appearance to show me just how heartless this stranger was. He really did want to kill me. Nopony but the changelings have ever wanted me dead. Why would another pony want to hurt me?

"Now."

Don't cry. He's not anypony you know or care about, I don't think he's even a pony at all. A demon. A monster. Seventeen is something from Tartarus, but he's definitely not a pony or anything that can think and feel in the same way that all natural creatures can.

"You were clearly thinking of replying to me. Tell me exactly what it was. Verbatim."

I closed my eyes. No I will not look at you, Seventeen. Maybe you do not exist. You guiltless, awful creature. Go back to Tartarus. Maybe you are only a creature that looks like him that took his place, like the changeling queen took mine at my own wedding.

"TELL ME, PINK ONE!"

All I could know is that something in me snapped. He didn't have the right to scream that in my face, or use Sombra's nickname for me. I smacked his hoof away with more force then I thought I had in me.

"I was going to say that it was impossible to pity a heartless tyrant like you!"

He took no time in moving and I didn't see the hoof coming. He didn't flinch in the aftermath. We both knew that this might as well have been the most innocent thing he's ever done.

It probably was, but I didn't want to stay and think about it, instead I pushed him out of my way and tried to run out of the room before he could stop me.

...

I found a closet that was full of old furniture from the time before the Empire was banished. It was cold and dark but I thought that was better than staying with Seventeen. In fact, I'm not sure if he even knew of this place. The white sheets everywhere didn't reflect any crystal sheen in the windowless room, and I preferred it that way.

I slid onto the floor and closed my eyes. All I could see was the unknown mountain - a clue only I knew - that was as cold and distant as ever.

It was quiet except for the sound of my breathing, but after a while even I began to catch my breath and my breathing became quiet, and all was silent. When my eyes began to smart, I reached a hoof up to dry them. On my shoes were tears from my eyes and blood from when he hit me. Using a bit of the only magic I had, I tore away some of the sheet covering on a nearby chair, and pressed it to my cheek, trying to stop as much of the bleeding as I could.

I stared at the blood with distaste, knowing I couldn't think about how he had hit me with such little hesitation... I also wasn't somepony who was too comfortable with the sight.

But, I thought that maybe I had to if I wanted to understand what was happening.

Sombra had said that he never met his family. Could that have meant he was homeless or raised in an orphanage? Something like that could have had a bad affect on him and explain why he was so different from everypony else.

Except that I knew foals and how they acted, and how their minds worked. It was part of being a great foalsitter.

Sombra didn't have abandonment issues and didn't seem to care about any possible family he might have, which was so alien to think about. Why wouldn't somepony want to know their family? If I had the chance to know the identity of my birth family, I'd want to.

An orphanage would have been a likely option considering the time period he was born in, although I had no idea where he was born. Regular unicorns didn't live in the Empire.

Yet, that still wasn't adding up to the lack of concern for possible family he expressed. Sombra didn't seem to care about anypony at all, which was absolutely frightening. It also hardly explained how he somehow has a higher education - which if I went with this hypothesis, would mean he must have been apprenticed or graduated into society upon adulthood. This all seems incredibly unlikely as he is too anti-social and appears to be self-taught in almost all his skills. I can't see him ever being okay with living close to ponies either.

Okay, well my second idea: he was homeless. It didn't seem to add up to much, considering had he been on his own for this long he should have ended up much, much worse, right? Ponies that didn't develop around other ponies weren't a good thing. Plus, I'm pretty sure if he'd have to be at least five years old at the time, which would have resulted in him knowing his family because he had to learn to speak somehow.

Unless there are suppressed memories or amnesia involved. Things would get very weird then. Maybe he lost memories when he was banished? Or went completely crazy? I really don't know. It also doesn't explain how he amassed so much knowledge. Was he a treasure hunter or thief-turned usurper? Just what happened to him in the past? He doesn't seem to be that cruel - at least, not the Sombra I know - so why would he be a tyrant? Is he sorry for something?

I rested my muzzle on the chair's arm.

"Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like had I ended up the Princess of Foal Psychology. Weird, probably."

Thankfully the chair didn't talk back. And still, I was no closer to finding out anything about Seventeen and his uncontrollable temper. Or the Reflector Star.

"Maybe I should just try to go on my own," I mumbled.

And do what, part of me wanted to know, search an entire mountain range for something about the size of a hoof, concealed who knows where? Puh-leeze.

Then, I realized there was another pony who knew of this clue, but unlike me they knew the exact location of this trinket. After all, he was the one who hid it in the first place. I banged my head against the chair and wondered how much more screaming I would have to endure.

Hopefully, nothing will explode, I thought.

I slunk back toward my bunker under another veil of shadow. I just needed to ask him one thing, and make sure - somehow - that he told the truth, however horrible it would be.

Author's Note:

This as well as the previous chapter was edited by Word Worthy.

Comments

[Word Worthy]

No wonder this chapter seemed so familiar

This Sombra ... probably not him but rather ... Onyx.

[Kaleido]

Don't cry. He's not anypony you know or care about, I don't think he's even a pony at all. A demon. A monster. Seventeen is something from Tartarus, but he's definitely not a pony or anything that can think and feel in the same way that all natural creatures can.

uh oh, going down that thought train is probably not a good idea

"Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like had I ended up the Princess of Foal Psychology. Weird, probably."

that would be an oddly specific princesshood