Umbrum ad Infinitum

by Pixel_Spark

Return of the King?

As their saviour slept, the Umbrum pored over everything he'd given them. They gathered together and witnessed his memories. They seen the reason he'd been so sorrowful, why he'd been crying. Understood why he'd denied his place as their ruler, instead offering the choice to them.

They read the pages of his diary in the memory, seen he was telling the truth. It'd all been a deeply regrettable accident, mistaken as an act of war, not the actions of desperate shadow ponies in intense pain. The hearts light had been a celebration, not an attack…

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The next morning the Umbrum came together to gather the magic that had been restored in part by Sombra's spell. In clearing their hatred, he'd also given a part of himself, a part of his power. The littlest one was given the power to show her form, and a box to bring to Sombra. It held the decision he'd asked them for…

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And so the little pegasus filly made of the same crystal as Sombra's infinitum form, snuck out of the crystal cavern. Past the sleepy guards who'd been there all night, and out into the palace.

She stared in shock at how pretty the palace was! The world was so so big, and so pretty! She temporarily forgot about her task as she zoomed around the palace in stunned amazement. New sights and sounds were around every corner...

“Hay, halt!” a guard finally clocked a tiny crystal pony whizzing about balancing a box on it's back and bellowed for her to stop. She got such a fright that she zoomed off, dropping the box in the chaos.

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While he was checking to make sure his normal form was back in place, and the wings were wrapped up by a white silken ribbon, Sombra heard a faint shriek whiz past where his room was situated. Curious, he stuck his head out the door but the sound was gone. Then a guard came running up seconds later, out of breath.

“What was that sound?” Sombra asked him.

“It was a child, sir,” the guard shook his head and nodded at the wings folded and tied to Sombra's sides “she was as see through as those!”

“Crystal? Oh, buck.” Sombra swore, grabbing his new cloak and slinging it on “where did she go?”

“That way-!” The guard was left in the dust as Sombra shot off, a look of panic on his face.

As he ran, Sombra tapped into his Umbrum abilities to reach out for the tiny thread of magic the little one had to be emitting. At last finding the fading trail, he followed it outside…

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Cadance was giving a speech to the empires citizens, who'd gathered outside the castle. It was a part two to the speech she'd made concerning Sombra less than a week earlier. She told them now of the misunderstanding, how the Umbrum weren't violent, they'd simply been driven crazy by pain. That their anger had been appeased by Sombra, who'd promised to find them a home.

“Right now, we're looking on the maps to find a place where an entire civilization can start anew, after so long asleep-!”

Suddenly a small filly popped up on the podium, wings buzzing franticly. Whispers abounded as they spotted she was made of crystal, who was she?

“Hi!” she said, then spotted Cadance's pretty crown “ooh, shiny!” she cooed.

“Well hello-” Cadance had to chuckle “where’d you come from?”

“The crystal!” she said simply, beaming up at the Princess “I was sent to find Infini....iflibum!”

“Infinitum? Sombra?” Cadance asked, the kid nodded.

The crowd stared, so THIS was an Umbrum pony? She looked like a living ornament, shining in the sun.

“Lets see...he should be in his room-”

“Little one-!” a voice cried out, sounding out of breath. The little child peered round Cadance, seeing Sombra atop the temporary stage. He hesitated at the edge of it, stomach dropping at the sight of the crowd. The whispers grew in intensity, and he had to close his eyes a moment, taking a deep breath before opening them.

“Found you!” the filly cheered “I gotta give a message, everypony asked me to!” she sounded proud of this honour, eyes sparkling.

“There you are!” Cadance smiled at the little filly “but you shouldn’t wander too far, you could get lost!”

“I’m sorry pretty lady!” the kid giggled.

“I’m Princess Cadance, what’s your name?” the amused Princess asked.

“My name is Firefly your majesty!” the kid said proudly. Sombra smiled, seeing the little Umbrum introducing herself to a Princess so sweetly. The surrounding crowd seen the smile, how content he looked.

It was just like their princess had said, he wasn’t the same any more. She'd said he just wanted a secluded life, to guide this fledgling clan of his. The remarkable abilities he had were for protecting his ponies!

They were stunned into wondering silence as they contemplated this once terrifying creature. But he didn’t even seem to notice them, his attention on the happy little Umbrum relishing her freedom and chattering to Cadance!

What Sombra or the crowd failed to notice was one group of ponies in particular. During Sombra's insane takeover, there’d been a group that had worshipped him, seeing him as some kind of counter to the Princesses rule. Who'd been angry at his defeat. Since then they'd bided their time, hoping for a way to resurrect him.

When news had arrived that Sombra was alive, they'd rejoiced, only to discover he now worked for Celestia. Defending Canterlot and the current rulers of the empire in a battle too. This was not the King they'd bowed to, the ruthless ruler they desired. They had to get him back.

They'd plotted to go to Canterlot and unleash their plan from there, but then one of their number had overheard that Sombra was HERE, in the empire. They'd scrambled in haste to get to the meeting the Princess was hosting, in hopes of finding a way to sneak into the palace in the fuss.

The spell was ready, and by a stroke of luck the target was standing on the stage, telling the little Umbrum filly she needed to come back inside. They had a clear shot.

“We welcome you home, our King!” the spellcaster cackled softly, leaping onto a nearby stool vacated by one of the spectators. He aimed, then FIRED.

At the same moment the little filly flew to Sombra, forelegs held out to glomp-hug him, the blast seared across the gap and struck Sombra's muzzle. But it also clipped the filly's hoof, her cry lost beneath the yells of surprise from the crowd.

Pain lanced through him and he felt the wind slam out of his lungs as he hit the stage. But he heard the child's cry, and fought to get up.

“Kid-!” he said blindly, looking for her. There!

“Sir, please hold still-” he heard a stern voice, and briefly identified it as belonging to one of the crystal guard. But he didn’t care if he was bleeding, he had to get to the little one!

He pushed the guards aside and rushed over to the child, who'd landed near the podium. Cadance was crouched beside her, trying to check her over.

She whimpered and held her hoof out to Sombra, who scooped her up. Then she began to cry.

Her tears were loud, like crystalline music, but so sad. They echoed over the crowd, who fell silent in horror as they realised a child had been hit in the altercation.

While Sombra tried to comfort her, the guards had already pounced on the one who'd fired. The rest of the group scattered, not wanting to be caught before their King returned to them.

“Just wait!” the loon that’d attacked Sombra cackled as the guard wrestled him away “the real you will be back soon, you can't run!”

“Get him out of here!” Cadance cried, shaken by the incident.

Sombra took this to mean they didn’t believe he’d tried to do something with this second chance, that he wasn't there to hurt them. His heart sank and shattered at the same time, he'd both hoped yet expected this all along. But the crying child he held sparked something inside...

“Its alright...” he said softly, but she held up a bleeding right hoof.

Sombra cursed softly and set her down. Without hesitation he flipped his cloak aside and tore the ribbon he'd used that morning to tie his wings down. He tore a short section off and discarded the rest.

Without the support to tie them down, the wings slithered free, aching badly. The pain had gotten worse since last night. They didn’t stand up the way wings normally did, just fanned limply across the stage as he hurriedly cleaned the blood and tied the bandage over her hoof.

Her tears slowed a little as she looked up at him. What she said next stunned him and everypony else standing nearby.

“I don’t wanna live here...”

“What?” Sombra blinked, thinking she meant the empire “don't worry, you'll have a home of your own-”

“NO, I don’t wanna live HERE, this world is bad, its scary!!” she wailed.

Sombra realised this was her first impression of the new world and she was devastated by its harshness.

“Listen, Firefly...” he said, and in the studied silence his voice carried surprisingly far “you mustn’t blame this world, it isn’t what you think.”

“Then why did it hurt?” she hiccuped.

“It wasn’t out for YOU, it was out for ME.” Sombra said heavily.

“I dun understand….why?” she sniffled.

“It's a long story, perhaps it's best you ask your elders about it, those that seen the memories I gave them.”

“But, we ALL seen 'em!” she said, confused. Sombra's stomach plummeted, so now they knew ALL his history.

“Then you know the truth, why I said you choose a worthy ruler for yourselves. Prophecy or no, I’m a monster, and you shouldn't have to carry that curse. I'll find a home for you, I haven't forgotten the promise-spell I gave to excel.”

“The necklace?”

He nodded, looking down at her as he opened his eyes, the world looking almost painfully bright “yes, its a powerful spell, one princess Celestia showed me after I was brought to Canterlot to recover. You know who she is correct?”

Firefly nodded, then said “But those memories, they were sad. And that bad thing that took your magic...Excel wouldn’t let us see those, she just told us what he tried to take. But they were all sad afterwards.”

Sombra could understand Excel's logic, the memories weren’t something a child should see.

“Don't dwell on them little one, that creature is gone, locked away by the sense of justice this world has. You needn’t fear that thing. But I suspect it is a fate I will soon meet. That is why I need you to have everything set up for you.”

Cadance, speechless this whole time, went “whu-?” to herself, and shot a look at the crowd. They looked and confused as she felt. Why was Sombra saying these things?

Cadance had asked they trust her, and trust that Sombra would not hurt them. Yes they'd been angry he was alive, but their princess would not lie to them. Sombra had protected Cadance and Shining Armor after all, when he could have easily taken them out during the fight. If she said the past was behind him, then they were prepared to accept his existence for the time being. Let HIM prove to them Princess Cadance's faith was not misplaced.

Had the Princess not informed him of this? He seemed to believe he would be imprisoned now he'd come back, forcing himself to accept it even as he seemed to want nothing more than to watch over the Umbrum's. Was he...scared of them? Scared his fate was out of his control? Did he think the atatck meant they were ALL baying for blood? Beneath his calm voice lay a real sadness and trepidation. Those close enough to see him seen something in his eyes that gave them pause.

Firefly looked lost too, and fresh tears started. “B-but...” she stammered.

Sombra nuzzled the top of her head, closed his eyes and this time his words were addressed to the crowd, voice raised loud enough for them to hear.

“I want to give them a home, they’ve been locked up so long, they deserve this. They aren’t like me, they’re good, clever ponies. There is one among them that holds their memories, she can teach you much of what this race has accomplished.” he spoke of course, of the mother crystal.

“Don’t hold to them the same hatred you hold to me, please. The war between them and the empire of the past was an unfortunate accident, perhaps had the timing been a little later, it could’ve been avoided, I don’t know. All they wanted was a helping hoof so they didn’t starve and die out.”

It felt like relief to get this off his chest, to say this out loud.

Firefly sniffled, she didn’t like what he was saying, was he going to leave them?

“Once I know they’re safe, that they have their king or queen or whomever they choose, and their home is secure, I..” he trailed off, opening his eyes and looking down at the tiny filly “I can let them find their own path, and whatever vengeance you seek you can take. Mistake it not for pity, I truly don’t care what fate I meet once this is over, I just want the Umbrum to see the light once more, have a fresh start. They waited long enough because of my mistakes.”

Firefly shook her head “nuh-uh..”

“It's the way it has to be..” Sombra began, but she pushed him away.

“You can't!” Firefly wailed, tearing away from him and skittering to a halt by the edge of the stage, looking at the crowd with big tear filled eyes.

“The big heart power mad everyone hurt and get angry, we didn’t mean it! We wanted friends, food...but the pain made us all so sad we attacked instead! We wanted the pain to go bye bye, that’s what Excel said!”

They were hooked, listening to her every word. A stunned Sombra was watching her too. He tried to stand, but the wings cramped up and he was forced to sit back down.

“Excel showed us the Inifi...iflim...” she struggled to pronounce the word, settling for indicating Sombra with one hoof “- his memories! The heart power was bad for him too! It didn’t hurt straight away like it did for us. It was like a fever, it burnt slowly, muddled everything in his head.” she looked sad “we got to sleep, away from that pain. But he didn’t, he had to live every day with it! Id be feeling loopy-doopy if that happened to me!”

Many of the crowd nodded, hearing this child’s innocent translation of Sombra's suffering.

“But you can't have him!” The kid cried defiantly “get angry if you want, but we need him too! He's lying, he's NOT a monster, not any more.”

A muted crack cut her off, as it was mixed with a cry of pain from Sombra. She ran back over, looking up at him, then she seen what was wrong.

A crack had appeared in one wing at the joint where the wings angled outwards. It looked painful.

Confused gossip raced around the crowd as Cadance ran over.

“Oh b-” she stopped herself before she cursed in front of a child, and tried to think why this was happening.

“I don’t know..” Sombra said in response to her questioning look “they’ve been hurting for awhile now, since I freed them during the confrontation with the Umbrum.”

“What about changing to your Umbrum form, would that reset them?” Cadance was grasping at straws.

“Try it!” The little one cried, anxious to see Sombra pain go away.

Sombra shut his eyes, and a second later a flash of magic raced over him, shifting him to the crystal form. This also hid the blood from the attack, but the cut made by the spell was still there, a crack across his muzzle.

“Yayy!” Firefly cried “is so pretty!”

Many a jaw dropped, seeing Sombra now resembled the little filly in that they were both made of stunning crystal.

But when Sombra tried to move the wings, it became evident that although the crack in the appendage was gone, the pain was still there.

“Excuse me!” a voice called out. Cadance turned, seeing a pastel-blue mare with white mane clamber up onto the stage.

“My names Primary Flight, I’m a sports therapist. I’ve worked with the Wonderbolts, maybe I can check them?” She indicated the painful wings.

Cadance lowered her voice and asked Sombra if he'd be alright with it. He gave a nod.

Primary approached, and carefully lifted the wing. She noticed the way Sombra subtly flinched, muffling a growl of pain.

“I'm sorry, this may be a little painful..” she spoke gently, her curiosity winning over any fear of Sombra she had. Besides, he didn’t seem threatening, despite his intimidating appearance. She examined the crystal wings as if they were the same as any other, marvelling silently at how soft they felt despite their rigid look. For though they seemed solid enough, the wings actually had a similar feel to regular wings, albeit a little heavier then any she'd seen.

“Forgive me for asking hon,” she began, spotting the discarded ribbon from earlier, one eyebrow raising as she spoke “-but have you had them under restraint?”

“They were bandaged prior to a day or so ago, there was significant damage.” Cadance put in, sparing Sombra a little.

“I see, and since then?” she looked at Sombra this time, who flushed guiltily.

“I prefer they be kept out of sight.” he muttered.

“There’s the problem. Keeping them cramped up this way is causing the muscles to atrophy, they’re starting to lock up basically. Any longer and you risk permanent damage.”

Firefly titled her head to the side “don’t you wanna fly?” she asked, buzzing her own wings to hover “I can't wait till mine are big so I can fly around, the sky looks sooo pretty!”

“It's best I don’t.” Sombra said shortly.

“Hon, you’re an Umbrum Alicorn, its hardly news by now! What pony HASN'T seen the papers from Canterlot!” Primary flight shook her head, but gave him a frank look “they need to get some use, have you flown at all lately?”

“Only the once, when they were required. In order to stop Scorpan's attack I had to utilize them, he was impossible to hit otherwise.” Sombra explained, recalling that fight. Come to think of it, he hadn’t really had time to take in how flying had felt, but his memories spoke of freedom and fresh air…

“Only once?” Primary’s eyebrows raised “then you DEFINATELY need to give them some breathing room. Those pains are the muscles desperately and instinctively wanting to stretch. Keeping them tied down when they’re still new will only damage them.”

“Flappity flap!” Firefly encouraged, peering up at Sombra “you gotta fly, those wings are so pretty! Dontcha like 'em…?”

“No-! Well, I- That is-” he stammered, flushing slightly, not saying a whole lot despite his rambling. Primary caught the guilty expression on Sombra's face as he tried to think what to say.

“I'd go so far as to say you should accept they’re here to stay,” she said honestly “you’ll suffer worse and worse pain the longer you keep them tied down. Wings are made to be free!”

He nodded.

“Aside from that, I can't suggest much else right now. I'll compile some exercises I teach my clients that should help keep them in shape even if you decide not to fly with them. I'll drop them off at the palace tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” Sombra said softly “much appreciated...”

“That’s quite alright,” she smiled. She was surprised by Sombra. He seemed to be so intelligent, beneath that fierce façade that had once terrorized them. “I’ve never seen wings like these, they’re beautiful. I'd love to learn more about your kind..”

“Yay!” Firefly cheered.

“Once they’re awake and safe, you are more than welcome to come converse with them, I'm sure they wont mind.”

Cadance once more noted Sombra's phrasing, as if he was expecting to not be there.

“Sombra...” she said softly.

He got to his feet, but wobbled a little.

“AHHH!” Firefly suddenly yelled really loudly, drawing everypony's attention.

“W-what's the matter?” Sombra stammered, startled by the kid. He could swear his heart was doing laps around his ribcage.

Firefly stared up at him, looking frantic “I lost the box! The special box Excel gave me to give to YOU!” she looked up at Sombra. Now the fuss was over, her task had finally come back to the forefront of her memory.

“Where did you lose it?” Sombra asked, glancing across the stage to see if he could spot a box. He seen quite a few members of the crowd tilt their heads to catch his eye, and felt unexpectedly bewildered by their curious, open expressions. So many faces...

“I dunno!” she cried, racing off.

“H-hay! Come back!” Sombra blurted, bidding Primary a hasty goodbye before diving off the stage after her. The crowd could hear his voice off into the distance;

“Slow down Firefly! We'll never find it this way!!”

A couple of ponies chuckled, seeing Sombra acting like a worried parent for the little filly.

“I think he'll look after them just fine...” Cadance remarked on a whim, “don’t you?”

More amused laughs, and many thinking he was weirdly good with kids!

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Sombra did catch up to Firefly, and together they wandered the path shed taken through the palace, eventually discovering the guard that’d chased her earlier had found it.

“See? No reason to panic..” Sombra told her as they walked away from the guards break room.

“Yeah!” she cheered “oh, is for you!” she handed him the box.

Sombra smiled softly.

“Excel said once you've opened it and read the letter, come see us all..OK?”

He nodded, before she said she'd better get back to the others. Sombra escorted her down there and made sure she got back safely.

Once that was over he decided to go for a nap, his head ached and he didn’t feel so good….

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He curled up on his bed and slept through until later afternoon, just as the sun was starting to set.

His head ached a little, but he got up regardless, and wandered out onto the balcony of his room. He stared out at the empire, the last days events still running through his mind. So much was happening and so fast that he felt dizzy. There was also a strange pain underlying everything else, one he couldn’t identify.

“Boo!”

“EYAGH!” Sombra yelled and stumbled back, seeing-

“Discord...” he sighed softly, but glad it was him.

“Wherever have you been all day, there's a festival going on!” Discord was munching on some sweets.

“I uh...I was asleep...” Sombra coughed.

“Cadance said you had some trouble earlier, some whackjob took a shot at you?”

“Yes, I...feared such a thing, but it was still a surprise.” Sombra sighed.

“She ALSO said most of the crowd were as alarmed as she was. I don’t think it was a majority vote to try pop you off, if that’s what you’re worrying about!” Discord shot Sombra's defence full of holes with one sentence. The stallion went quiet, unsure what else to say.

Discord peered at the cut on Sombra's crystal body, as the pony hadn’t bothered changing back prior to sleeping.

“I know a LITTLE healing, hold still!” quick as a flash, he ran a finger over the cut, and Sombra felt a faint stinging pain for a moment.

“There, gone!” Discord whipped a mirror out of thin air to shown him “am I a genius or what?”

“That's much better, thank you.” Sombra had to laugh at Discord's smug grin.

“Wanna go see what’s going on?” Discord gestured to the festival off in the distance “so much sweets! You DO know what those are, right?”

“I'm familiar with...cake?” Sombra said with a shrug.

“We need to get you a shedload of sugar, stat.” the Draconequus dead-panned “sugar is fun, c'mon!”

He started to fly off, then realised Sombra wasn't following. The pony was standing on the balcony, wings raised but not moving, he was staring at the floor instead.

“Alright, what’s eating you?” Discord asked.

“I haven’t flown since...well, you know.”

“Scorpan?”

“Yes..” Sombra said, still staring distantly. Discord hung upside down so he could get Sombra's attention.

“Over here, no way that tiling is THAT fascinating. Stop hiding and come outside!”

He changed into a pegasus pony with a grin, and snapped his wings out.

“Lets have some fun, fancy a race?”

Sombra's wings twitched, the mere suggestion of freedom making them move, and the pony cast him a sidelong glance from under his mane.

“If you can beat me to that fountain,” Discord decided to have a laugh “i'll run down the guards corridor during shift change, dressed as a banana, declaring I’m the king of the penguins!”

A muffled snort of laughter.

“And if I WIN, well, YOU have to do it!” Discord sniggered, just imagining.

Sombra tried to ignore him, but when he glanced at the other out of the corner of his eye, Discord was wearing a banana costume. It DID look pretty amusing, Sombra had to admit.

“Very well.” Sombra couldn’t suppress the urge to laugh any more, he was imagining the reaction of the guards, recalling the pranks he'd watched Discord play back in Canterlot.

Discord flapped his wings and flew up. With some unease still in his heart, but figuring he would be safe enough just flying for a short while, Sombra let instinct take over and flexed the powerful wings. Soon he was hovering beside Discord. The air under his wings felt good…

“GO!” Discord cackled, zooming off. Sombra took off after him, the air ruffling his mane. Discord was speeding ahead, and Sombra suddenly felt a surge of competition. He wanted to win this-

Focusing his attention on the wind, he dipped and banked, catching the wind and letting the wings carry him, then beating them fast to shoot faster through the dusk sky!

“Wha?” Discord did a double take as Sombra not only caught up but shot by.

“Oh it is ON, silly Sombra!” he hollared. Sombra's response was a laugh of genuine glee.

They matched side by side for awhile, laughing and taunting. Up here, Sombra felt like his freedom wasn’t at stake, that he wasn’t a monster or a freakish creation. He felt free, strangely happy…

Discord grinned smugly, hearing the reclusive Sombra laughing in total abandon. Seen the grin on the pony's face as he strove to beat him.

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Up ahead, Sombra spotted the fountain, his vision narrowing to that alone. With a contented laugh, he put on a final burst of speed, zooming ahead and landing neatly atop the fountains upper section.

“Show off!” Discord panted as he hovered in front of Sombra, turning back to a Draconequus.

“Heh.” Sombra laughed.

“Whoa..” a voice broke into Sombra's gloating and he froze, as he realised the fountain was at the center of the festival. He glared at Discord, the look seeming to say “you did this on purpose!”

“Well you won't leave your room otherwise! It's not healthy to stay cooped up! You spend too long in captivity, silly Sombra...”

Defiant, Sombra snapped the wings out, crouched and ready to spring back up into the sky. The wings stretched to their full size, each fractal patterned feather catching the light, making the Umbrum pony look like a marvel of crystal and life.

“Wait-!” an unknown voice called. Sombra yelped, his momentum distracted, and his hoof slipped off the edge of the fountain-

He tried to steady himself, flapping his wings, but when Discord grabbed hold of him to try and steady him, he seen room for revenge…

So he LET himself fall into the massive fountain basin beneath them, soaking them both. But, given HE was crystal…

A soaked through Discord folded his arms and glared at Sombra as they sat up in the water.

“Now you're just being silly.” he snorted in amusement.

“I don't know what you're talking about!” Sombra clambered out, and shook himself a little.

“Ok, I guess I deserved that one!” Discord said at last, and dried them both off with a snap of his fingers. “Smartass!”

Sombra smirked and made to respond, but a sharp pain abruptly assailed his head and the world briefly went black. He stumbled, slumping to the paving, his whole body felt like it was filled with lead. What was happening?

He was dimly aware of someone supporting him, keeping him sat upright against them. Voices echoed back and forth in the background. That darkness, it scared him, it felt like it was invading his head. At last it cleared, and his vision refocused.

“Sombra?” Discord peered at him “can you hear me?”

“Yes, I..” Sombra winced, as talking made his head pound briefly, but he managed to keep talking “it's nothing-”

“That didn't look like nothing, it looked like painful to me!” Discord raised an eyebrow. Sombra fumbled for an excuse;

“Its probably just backlash from earlier. I’m alright..” Sombra managed a weak smile.

“Maybe we should get you back to the palace-?” Discord began. Several of the crowd made disappointed noises, and Sombra was surprised.

“Here,” the same voice that'd startled him belonged to a worried looking mare holding out a tasty looking cup of punch “maybe your blood-sugars too low?”

“He hasn’t had too much exposure to sugar,” Discord chuckled as Sombra thanked her and took a drink of the stuff “I told him this place was a treasure trove!”

On hearing this, many vendors insisted on bringing the dazed stallion various sugary confections, asking what he thought?

Sombra seemed to perk up a little after these sugary treats...

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Indeed, as time went by, his condition improved and he seemed less dizzy. Sat by the fountain, the darkening evening seemed to make his crystal form glow softly from the inside. He truly did look like a living statue, and many ponies couldn’t help stopping and staring.

Despite the sugar, Sombra started to feel tired once more, and Discord suggested they fly back before he grew too sleepy. Sombra nodded, and the crowd that'd been hovering nearby backed up to give the stallion room to spread his wings.

He and Discord thanked those that'd brought them the sweets, and Discord was even carrying a bag full of them, no doubt for snacking later!

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“See, that wasn’t so bad was it?” Discord said as they flew back. Sombra shook his head, it'd been a strange thing to be out in public. He didn't know what he'd expected. A riot mob? He felt confused, yet there was a tiny spark of hope.

His head ached AGAIN as they approached the castle, he winced and dropped his angle of approach without realising, and as a result clipped the balcony and hit the floor with a thud.

“Classy.” Discord chuckled, then heard a groan of pain “wait, did you actually hurt yourself? Silly Som-”

But his joke died on his lips as Sombra curled up on the floor, shaking.

“Something's very wrong with you-”

“Haven’t heard THAT one before...” Sombra joked through gritted teeth.

“Now is not the time for jokes, I hate to say it!” Discord shot off to get a Doctor. Sombra called out, but his words fell on deaf ears. His stomach roiled and he ran for the bathroom, being painfully sick seconds later.

--Ugh, what’s going on? This is as bad as when those nightmares still tormented me..-- he shuddered in remembrance of the Scorpan nightmare.

He heard voices in the main room, someone hammering on the bathroom door. He got up and staggered out, muttering he was fine.

“Even so, you need a check up!” The Doctor said sternly. Sombra was too tired to argue, and instead curled up on the bed as he was examined.

He was dimly aware of the Doctor saying something about a serious fever, and he needed to fetch some medicine. Discord told him of Sombra's dizzy fir earlier, but that he'd seemed better…

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Sombra drifted asleep then. His dreams were tormented by nightmares images, which became steadily more garish and lucid as they went on. They showed him what he was capable of, once more ruling the empire with an iron hoof.

--No!!-- he cried out in his sleep –Please..--

“-Stop!” he gasped brokenly.

“Relax, Sombra...” a familiar voice said soothingly. A cold compress was placed on his head and he drifted away again.

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He thought the dreams were over, but they began again in earnest. Amidst the worst of them, it was with what little strength he could muster that he tore free and bolted up in bed, gasping as the real world came into blissful focus.

“No more..” he shuddered, seeing flashbacks every time he closed his eyes.

“No more what?” a sleepy voice asked. Sombra linked, seeing a half-awake Draconequus dozing in mid air.

“The nightmares-” Sombra began, but couldn’t find the words..

“Of Scorpan?” Discord asked, but Sombra shook his head, a strange fear in his eyes.

“Then what?” somewhat concerned, Discord sat down on the floor, peering in the dim light at the delirious stallion “it's just fever dreams, you have a temperature higher than a giraffe on a trampoline! Fever makes you trip balls, but besides that you're fine-”

“No, these...these aren't fevers...” Sombra shook his head fiercely, but the words he sought seemed to evade him once more “something's wrong, very wrong-!”

He winced again and curled up on the bed, scrunching the covers under his hooves as another round assaulted his brain. It felt like he was being demanded to act, that the dreams HAD to become reality “I don't want to become that again..”

Discord was utterly lost by this point, so he decided to try another tactic. His chaos abilities extended to a strange sort of telepathy. Placing a hand atop Sombra's head he focused all his power into splicing his consciousness into Sombra's visions.

In the barrage of images that hit him, he could see why Sombra was afraid. The images exhorted Sombra to become what he'd once been, a tyrant, a monster. Cruel mocking laughter echoed in Discord's head as he watched in horror.

--Why is this happening?-- he heard Sombra whimper back in the real world and backed out of the dream, fast. Where he'd healed Sombra's muzzle earlier, getting rid of the cut, the wound had reappeared, fresh blood gleaming on Sombra's crystal skin.

--This makes no sense…-- the Draconequus racked his brain, trying to think of a solution. Why was this cut back? Shouldn’t it have been healed? Unless it was infected by something….

Cadance had told him what'd happened, how somepony had taken a shot at Sombra, and the kid had gotten caught in the crossfire. He wondered if there was more to the attack than he first thought. In the glimpses of the nightmares he'd seen a recurring symbol, of a circle with two crescents either side.

It hit him a second later this was not that dissimilar to the design on Sombra's crown from his former rule. Why was this imagery there?

“I'll find a way to help you, just stay put, alright?” he told Sombra.

“I don’t want to sleep...” Sombra croaked. Discord frowned, then reluctantly conjured up a pot of coffee.

“This will help, but I’ll have the emergency night Doctor come by as soon as he can! Just hold on, get it?”

Ignoring Sombra's protests he sped out the door. Behind in the room, Sombra picked up the pot of coffee and settled for drinking it from the jug. But the violent tremors didn't abate, and he found only with direct concentration could he think straight.

A sharp shock ran over him, and he realised his illusion spell had returned, returning him to his normal pony appearance.

--I-i didn't activate it, what’s going on?-- he thought fuzzily. But instinct told him sleeping was a bad idea, he was sure if he fell asleep now, he wouldn't be the same when he woke up.

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He had no idea how much time had passed as he paced the room, biting back growls of fear every time the flashbacks overrode reality. In one he was overseeing the revival of his race, putting them under his control alongside the crystal ponies. In another he was trying a new set of armor, even more formidable then his previous one.

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The next vision was accompanied by a strange sense of displacement, then he stood at the balcony, staring out over the enslaved ponies once more-

“No!” he back-pedalled and the image fell apart. He realised he was actually standing on the balcony, heart hammering painfully. How-?

Attracted by the sound, a guard stuck his head round the corner of the hall.

“Hay!” He called, seeing Sombra looked pale and dizzy “you need a doctor?”

Sombra turned towards him, ready to ask that he help him, but then a teleport spell suddenly kicked in and he vanished.

“Huh, that didn’t seem like he planned it.” The guard frowned “some thing’s up...”

He went to fetch his superior, this was getting weird....

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Sombra, meanwhile, found himself in a new flashback, this time atop the tower. He was looking at a chained up crystal heart, a sense of triumph rising.

--Stop it!!-- he yelled at the vision, and again the illusion dropped and he was standing alone in the same tower.

“I need to find Discord...” surely the chaos being would know something...anything...but where had he said he was going?!

He gathered his scatter-shot magic and teleported in the direction of his room. But the spell seemed to short circuit, depositing him in the middle of an empty corridor.

“Almost..” he groaned, trying again. But all that happened was he fell onto the floor from about three feet up!

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The guard and his boss rounded the corner just in time to see Sombra hit the floor from the mid-air teleport.

“Stay there!” the guard declared “your magic’s malfunctioning-”

“I know that already!” Sombra declared in exasperation. Closer now, they noticed the bleeding cut on the pony’s muzzle.

No sooner had the pony managed to stand then he teleported out again.

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This time it was closer range, and they only had to go down one flight of stairs to locate him.

“What’s going on?” The lead guard asked, when they located Sombra in front of the throne room door.

“I don’t know!” Sombra looked on the verge of collapse.

After a few seconds he determined it would be safe enough to risk WALKING back to his room now. He asked if they'd seen Discord, and they shook their heads.

“I need to find him.” Sombra said wearily.

“I'll go see if I can locate him, stay with him!” the head guard said to the lower ranked one. The guard nodded. But as they approached Sombra's room, another guard was already standing there, about to knock.

“Oh! There you are, I'm sorry to disturb you,” the guard was a pale orange with blue mane “but the Umbrum ghosts are crying out for your help down there, you need to come with me!”

“The Umbrum are-” Sombra's immediate concern for his ponies overrode the pain he was in and he ran off without a second glance.

He heard the guards calling out behind him, as they tried to keep up.

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Sombra stumbled down the stairs, his momentum driving him forward until he reached the room where the staircase to the Umbrum cave lay.

Three guards gathered by the entrance to the cave looked up as the sound of thundering hooves approached. They smartly shot out of the way as Sombra hurtled by without even slowing, his hooves striking the crystal steps in a series of melodic sounds.

Flash Sentry slowed to a stop, and slithered to the floor in an exhausted heap followed by the other guard.

“He's...fast..” he wheezed.

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Excel held a bawling Firefly as Sombra raced in.

“Infinitum, oh thank Celestia!” She cried “something is wrong with the little one!”

Sombra looked at the bawling child, seen the bandage around her hoof was soaked through.

“Why is this happening?” he croaked.

“She’s been having terrible nightmares about you, that some darkness was making you into a monster...”

Sombra shook his head “those same dreams...” All this had started after that attack earlier. Something had infected them both, he realised. He didn’t know what, but it HAD to be magical in origin, and magic, he COULD deal with. A spark of hope flared up in him...

“Little one-” he said, as Excel set the tiny filly in his hold.

“Sombra!” she sniffled “the bad dreams-”

“I know little one, I see them too. I’m sorry….”

“Why do they want you to do so much bad stuff?” she whimpered.

“I don’t know,” Sombra said, chest aching from the reminders of what he'd been “but I wont let it come to pass, not again. I made those mistakes in the past, I wont make them twice. Not while I’m still able to fight it!”

“Can you make them go away?” she hiccuped.

“Of course..” Sombra promised “you'll have better sleeps very soon. Close your eyes...”

She did so, and Sombra gently set her down on the ground. He closed his eyes, begging his rapidly depleting magic to hep him now.

A ball of magic wrapped around Firefly, and she winced a little.

“Be brave little one,” Sombra's soothing voice made her feel less scared “this will be brief.”

To Firefly it felt like a sting, but suddenly her head didn’t hurt! Sombra had done it!

She opened her eyes in time to see the jagged magic be absorbed into the bigger pony’s body. Sombra shuddered and seemed on the verge of collapse, but stayed awake.

“Infinitum..” Excel moved towards him, but he shook his head.

“Keep back...” he begged “its unstable. I can contain it, but I cant be rid of it-”

Dark sparks of magic briefly darted across his coat, attempting a teleport, but it sputtered and died, as his magic reserve ran dry…all he had left was sheer willpower to fight the fearful visions!

He crumpled to the floor, fighting to stay conscious, and he heard the Umbrum calling out, heard hoof steps, and a voice he dimly recognised as belonging to the blue maned guard;

“Hay, stay with me big guy!”

Sombra tried, managing to get his vision to focus on the pony, but it didn’t last long. The sweet temptation to let himself slip into oblivion and dreams was so strong…

He began to drift asleep once more..

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Soon as he'd left Sombra's room, Discord had made his way to the cells where those under arrest were kept. He knocked the guard out and appeared in the cell where Sombra's attacker was confined.

“Who're you?” the pony spat, but he backed up on instinct.

“I am Discord, the lord of chaos, and I’m here for answers!” Discord snapped his fingers, plunging the room around them into darkness, save for a spotlight that shone down on them.

“Now, what did you DO to Sombra earlier?” the Draconequus snarled “answer me you pathetic roach!”

“What did I do?” the pony's grin stretched from ear to ear “I did what was necessary to get our once great King back!” he laughed madly.

“What?!” Discord shook his head, fury rising “what are you talking about, you madpony!”

“We’ve been searching for a way to bring our rightful ruler back, but what do we hear that somepony else beat us to it! To hear that Celestia corrupted our King, forcing him to become her newest servant, is a travesty! But now, he'll be back with us soon!”

“You-! That attack, those nightmares-” Discord was furious, this scum bag was the reason Sombra was suffering…

“Yes, just a little trigger for him to enjoy, to remind him who he is-urk!” Discords hand snapped out and latched around the ponies throat, lifting him in the air.

“You..” Discord was the image of anger and fury, eyes burning red “will PAY for this. Sombra is so much more than that, so much better. I will not see the likes of you take away his rightful chance. Now tell me how to undo that spell, or I’ll show you what REAL nightmares are about-”

The pony glared at him, and laughed “you think ill tell you? No, I’ll see his majesty rise once more before I tell you one word! Even now, you’re too late to save him!”

“He's fighting,” Discord said coldly, looking at the pony with disdain “even as I speak, I KNOW he’s not letting you win. He knows what’s worth fighting for, and its not that past. You wont tell me willingly, very well.”

As he'd done in the past, he used his “discording” ability to scramble the pony's view of the world.

“Get off me!” When the stallion wriggled once again, Discord let him go, knowing he couldn’t escape.

The foolish pony, believing he'd won, tried to run away. But he soon realised he was gravely mistaken. At every turn he seen his worst nightmares made real, laughing and taunting. And always present was that same creature, Discord. Watching coldly, uncaring.

“Give me what I want, and it can stop.” Discord said, unmoving.

“Alright!” the pony cried, backing into a corner as the nightmares pressed in “just make it stop!!”

“Give me the spell I want.” Discord demanded once more.

“I-i don’t have it, i-it's at headquarters! Once he was reminded of who he was, we wouldn’t need the spell to remind him, so we planned to remove it once he'd taken back his throne!”

“Then you can wait here until I get back,” Discord stated, “let this be a lesson not to mess with what I hold dear.”

“Y-you said it'd be over-!” The stallion panicked when the nightmares didn’t back off, glancing desperately at the Draconequus.

“Oh those? Consider this as payback for hurting my friend,” Discord said coldly “now for the rest of your scum bag friends. I don't care what happens to you, all I care about is saving Sombra. So whatever way I get the answers I want, I win.”

The dazed and freaked out coward who'd tried to destroy Sombra's future, realised he was dealing with something very dangerous in Discord.

Frantic, he blurted out the street the house was located in, if it would just stop the strange being from conjuring these visions-!

Feeling generous, Discord settled for knocking the pony out cold rather then terrify him any more.

“Never let it be said I don’t show SOME mercy.” He grumbled as he left. He knew Sombra would likely be extremely concerned by the methods Discord used, but he didn’t have time to waste.

Next stop, the guards room.

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They got a fright when Discord appeared in a flash. The head guard, who'd been seeking Discord all along, gave a sigh of relief.

“Thank Celestia, Sombra was looking for you-”

“And right now he's in terrible danger, so I’m afraid he'll have to hold on until I figure out how to save him.” Discord said curtly.

“What do you mean?”

“That attack earlier, it wasn’t an attempted assassination, far from it! That spell carried another within it. One that is trying to alter his mind, set it back to how it was before!”

“What?!” all of them stared in confusion.

“It seems you’ve had a group in your midst all along, that sought a way to revive the crazed version of Sombra. They thought their dream had come true when they found out Scorpan had revived him. But it seems they dislike the fact he's recovered his marbles and had a change of heart. That spell was targeted to make him remember who he was before, something he’s bucking desperate to avoids, understand?”

They nodded, Discord didn’t seem like he was joking about any of this, his expression a mix of fury and determination.

“The roach you have in jail down there finally saw fit to tell me what I wanted. Armor up boys, you have a raid to do!”

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The rest of the lunatic group weren’t expecting what came charging through their door. A roiling cloud of black smoke, reminiscent of-

“Your highness!” the one closest grinned in triumph “you've returned-!”

“Far from it!” a voice spoke up, and Discord appeared before them, glaring coldly.

“Run!” another cried, but the smoke had surrounded them all, they couldn't get through it. Any attempt to just teleported them back into the centre of the circle Discord had subtly herded them into. As if THAT wasn’t enough, when one tried to teleport out he hit a magic dampener Discord had summoned. They were trapped and cornered, so close to their triumph….

“You cannot stop the King's return!” one cried.

“Oh yeah? Watch me!” the Draconequus spat.

Nightmarish visages flickered in the smoke and some of the ponies began to panic, each seeing what they dreaded made real. It’d been a while since he'd expended this much magic at once, but Discord wasn’t done yet.

“All yours!” Discord opened a gap in the smoke, and let the royal guard stream in, spears pointed at the groups members.

“How-?” one sputtered.

“A magician never reveals his tricks,” Discord sneered “now, you have something I want.”

“I don't know what you’re talking about-” the same pony protested weakly.

“Where’s the counter spell!” Discord snarled.

“I’m not telling you, let the King of shadows teach you a lesson when he rises!” the pony laughed. The others all grinned, mocking the guard and Discord for being too late.

“You don’t know who Sombra is, you REALLY don’t. And I can guarantee you that!” Discord said firmly. But out of the corner of his eye he seen one mare twitch, her eyes darting desperately to a corner of the room as the pressure got to her.

With a snap of his fingers he was over there, darting through the barriers he'd erected and opening a locked box by simply blasting the lock off it. Inside, protected by spells of quite some magnitude, was a scroll. He ripped the defences apart, unravelling the scroll.

“Is that it?” one guard asked as Discord reappeared through the smoke.

“Yes,” Discord smirked at the furious ponies. “can I trust you'll take care of these mongrels?”

“You got it!” the lead guard nodded “go put an end to this!”

Discord nodded, and vanished right away.

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Sombra was on the verge of of letting go completely, and letting the darkness win, He couldn’t hold on, no matter how much he wished to..

Flash Sentry panicked and shook him as Sombra seemed on the verge of falling into slumber.

There was a loud declaration of “GANGWAY!” and the guards hovering at the bottom of the steps dove aside as Discord shot in, skidding to a halt in front of Sombra. Flash barely dove aside in time to avoid being run over!

“Up you get!” Discord declared loudly, hauling Sombra upright. Sombra was barely able to keep his balance, staring fuzzily at Discord.

“Oh it's you...good...I think I have a Discord, problem-!”

“I'd go with “alcohol” is if I didn’t know what was going on! Focus now, silly Sombra!” Discord let him go, and was relieved to see he stayed upright.

“This will let you sleep freely, just hold on a moment...” he unravelled the scroll, read its contents, and unleashed the spell. A bright gleam of light ran over the dangerously exhausted pony’s body, finally freeing Sombra from the nightmares hold..the spells hold shattered, his mind finally freed from the nightmarish visions.

The second the spell faded, Discord had to quickly catch Sombra before he hit the floor.

“Easy there...” he remarked “don’t pick a fight with the floor, it plays dirty!”

Sombra made a faint groaning sound Discord was sure was aimed at the awful joke, then he at last lapsed into a peaceful, safe sleep.

“Talk about cutting it close, barely made it...” Discord sighed in relief.

“Is he going to be alright?” Excel asked.

“He was hurting a lot...” Firefly sniffled, patting Sombra's foreleg, peering up at the slumbering pony.

“He took the darkness that was making the little one hurt,” Excel explained to both Discord and the approaching guards “and bore it himself. He didn’t have any more magic left, those nightmares drained it I believe.”

“I can tell. He needs bed and a doctor, asap.” Discord told her “he'll be alright, but it may be a few days before he can visit!”

“Aww...” Firefly said sleepily “okayy...”

Discord patted her on the head, noting how she alone seemed to have the most solid form, wondering briefly if that was Sombra's doing?

Figuring it could wait, he picked the snoozing pony up, and flew out of the cave.

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There he was met by the squad that'd raided the house to find the cure alongside him.

“Ah, did you-” the boss guard asked, cutting off as he spotted the sleeping pony Discord was carrying. Discord nodded.

“Barely made it. That was some seriously nasty, corruptive magic. Its quite a feat he was able to stave it off this long. Things could've been a lot worse if he wasn’t so inherently stubborn.”

The guard agreed silently, Sombra was an extremely tough being, not one they wanted a second confrontation with!

Sombra slept on, oblivious to all this.

“Do me a favour, send the doctor up to Sombra's room, I think he'll need him!” with that, the Draconequus and his sleeping charge were gone.

Author's Note:

Blarp. Bed now. Sleepy.

Comments

[Skye Mist]

Ooh...
I want more!
This is just so interesting!
...Favorite!

[Pixel_Spark]

6699842 yay! I'm so glad you like it! I'm starting the next bit asap~

[rileyknudson]

to cool

[Lyife]

Well before this fic I would never have thought I would be shipping a Discord Sombra pairing ... Yet here we are lol

[Coco Candy]

When will poor Sombra get his peace and quiet?!?!?!?!!?!??!!?!?! Also, are we shipping Discord and Sombra?

[grim dash]

“Easy there...” he remarked “don’t pick a fight with the floor, it plays dirty!”

so true