Umbrum ad Infinitum

by Pixel_Spark

Lingering Doubts

Sombra rolled out of bed the next afternoon, having slept like a log after the exhaustion of the night.

As he sat up with a yawn, a glimmer of light caught his eyes, and he stared absently at a replica miniature of the Crystal Heart draped around his neck-

All thoughts of breakfast/lunch/what time was it anyway? stopped there, and his eyes widened.

"BUCK ME-!" he swore, shooting out the door.

The guard standing a short ways down the hall heard Sombra swear and started towards the room, wondering what further strife the stallion could’ve gotten into? But as he reached the doors, he was nearly bowled over by the aforementioned pony when he came barrelling out of the room.

He shook his head in befuddlement as Sombra charged by. The pony raced down a flight of stairs and was gone! But instead of a look of panic as seemed to be the case lately, he seen Sombra was smiling, a look of hope all over his face...

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Sombra pelted through the halls, feeling more hopeful than he dared dream-!

Up ahead, a group of the palace's political staff were convening in front of one of the offices.

Realising he couldn’t slow in time, Sombra activated his magic. With two sharp flashes he disappeared and reappeared on the other side of them.

"Sorry!" he yelled back over his shoulder as he pelted down the stair well, heart feeling about to burst with anticipation.

"What’s gotten into him?" one of the ponies asked.

“Who knows? He seems to exist in his own world from what I’ve heard!” One older pony sniffed a little snootily “rumour has it that Scorpan business did some permanent damage to his head!”

“I dunno..” a younger one piped up “BEFORE? Now THAT was damaged!”

What HAD gotten into Sombra? An immunity.

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As he headed down the stairs, his memories replayed the moment the heart had said he was now immune to it, and he wanted to make sure this dream had come true-!

"Where are you running?" his friend and confidant, Discord, appeared floating leisurely alongside. Sombra grinned.

"Out to see the heart!" he called.

"Why would you do that- OHHH." Discord caught up and the two exchanged grins. Together they charged out the door and straight to the crystal heart. It pulsed slightly as Sombra slowed down. Heart thudding he approached, took a deep breath and reached out to touch it.

Nothing. No pain, no headaches. He tapped it with his hoof. A small, ecstatic laugh escaped him.

"Well would you look at that.." Discord grinned "how does it feel?"

"Nothing, like...nothing!" Sombra let out a loud laugh that attracted the stares of a couple of guards and some passers-by, as he turned to look at his friend. "It has no effect at ALL!"

Discord made confetti appear from thin air, which made Sombra smile again.

"I cant believe it..." Sombra whispered, this was a dream come true "I can make them ALL immune!"

"Indeed you can, silly Sombra! Heh, bet that's a load off, hm?" Discord added, scratching behind Sombra's left ear whilst watching the pony’s expressions. Sombra looked relieved, and slightly dazed.

“Now I need to figure out how to transfer it to the others?”

“You’ve done it once before already!” Discord reminded him “remember?”

Of course! When he'd calmed the Umbrum's rage he'd dispersed a great deal of magic from his crystal form.

It was so clear now…

Sombra felt like his mind was going a mile a minute, as he struggled to think clearly amidst the excitement of having this final piece of the puzzle in his hooves.

“Let's go!” Discord wrapped his tail around Sombra's middle as he'd done many times before and took off inside. Being hijacked so randomly made Sombra laugh out loud, still giddy with relief that he hadn’t imagined the Hearts visit last night!

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Discord raced for the cave where the Umbrum were. They whizzed past the guards standing vigil by the Umbrum's temporary home.

“What...did I just see?” one asked.

“A blur that bid us good morning?”

“Thought so, just checking.”

After about two seconds, curiosity got the better of the two of them. He and the other guard ran down the steps, in time to witness an unusual sight.

They seen Sombra, his crystal form shining with a radiant light, standing in the middle of the room. The Umbrum ghosts were appearing from the crystal embedded in the walls. Hundreds of pony shaped wisps were packing into the cavern, and two more solid looking ones stood in front of him.

The guards came to a halt at the bottom of the steps, mesmerised...

Sombra raised his head, smiling happily.

"It starts now!" he whispered, then the light exploded outwards. It was bright and beautiful, combining many different colours.

The Umbrum closed their eyes, but soon opened them when they felt what was in the light. A guarantee of hope, of safety. Even those who wouldn't fit in the room, that were slumbering still inside the crystal stasis could feel it, KNEW what was going on even in the depths of slumber.

At last the light faded, and Sombra lowered his wings.

"Infinitum-!" Excel looked at him "how-?"

"The Heart, it came from the Crystal Heart. It showed up last night, said it wished to give me an immunity to its influence. And that’d I’d know how to give it to you..."

She hugged him tightly, starting to cry in joy.

"Then...we can go outside properly now?" Firefly asked.

Sombra nodded.

Discord looked at the guards, who looked stunned.

"What just happened?" one asked at last.

"Before now, the Crystal Heart was dangerous to Umbrum's, it caused them such agony that they lost control. The Crystal Heart showed up last night, intent on helping Sombra become immune to it. Get me?" Discord finished.

"Whoa."

"Pretty neat, no?" the Draconequus was grinning widely "his ponies will be safe at last, and he can finally start to relax."

"YAYY!" Firefly whizzed past "I wanna go see it!"

"Firefly!” Sombra and Excel groaned, that kid had no off switch it seemed!

"I'll get her!" Sombra assured Excel, before racing past the guards and after the small child.

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When he reached her she was doing the most hilarious thing possible.

The Heart normally hovered between two crystal spikes, slowly rotating. Little Firefly was clinging to the heart, giggling in glee as it spun around. Needless to say, this was attracting a crowd.

"Firefly-!" The crowd looked over at Sombra as he face-hoofed on seeing what she was doing, "that’s not a toy!"

"But it dun hurt!" she giggled "it's nice now!"

Sombra chuckled, striding over to her and using his magic to scoop her off it. She giggled as he sat her on his back, snuggling up to the crystal wings.

"Sorry," Sombra said to the crowd, seeing their bewildered expressions "she's just discovered the Crystal Heart's magic wont damage our kind any more. She's a little hyper."

"What do you mean, won't damage you?" one pony asked.

Another piped up before Sombra could, "the Crystal heart used to hurt them, that's what started the whole accidental war according to the Princess!" the mare looked to Sombra for confirmation.

"We had no way of being immune. I had a very slight immunity, but all that did was stave it off for a while, eventually its influence got to me too," he sighed sadly as he recalled it "it was so gradual now I think back. I didn’t see it."

"The heart did that?" one pony said sadly.

"Its.." Sombra sighed, thinking "it's like a virus, I suppose. Imagine its confined to a village. Those that have lived around it all their lives will be immune, their body’s adapted. But say somepony comes to live there from outside the village. An outsiders immune system wont recognise it, and will get sick. A tough immune system may suffer lesser effects, but it will still take its toll."

"Wow.." a familiar voice piped up "you study science and medicine?"

Sombra looked over, seeing Twilight Sparkle at the front of the crowd.

"Princess," he did as the crowd were doing, and gave a polite bow "in answer to your question, I have been reading many books in both Canterlot and here. There is a lot to catch up on!"

Twilight Sparkle beamed, "an excellent idea, books are a great source of-"

"Coming through!" Rainbow Dash's voice cut Twilight Sparkle off as she zoomed up, followed by Pinkie Pie and the others.

Sombra greeted the young mares, their dragon, and Princess Celestia.

"You’re looking much better Sombra," Celestia smiled warmly "it's good to see you!"

Sombra nodded, he was happy to see them all again!

"Hello!" hearing new voices, Firefly poked her head up from over Sombra's wing.

"AWWW!" Rarity squeed "she’s just darling!"

Firefly buzzed her wings and flew over to the new ponies. The girls loved her enthusiasm as they introduced themselves. When she seen Celestia's mane, she was entranced.

"It's so pretty!" she cried, eyes sparkling. Celestia chuckled happily, and offered the little Umbrum pegasus a ride on her back.

"We have SO much to tell you, darling!" Rarity was beaming ear to ear.

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Cadance welcomed Twilight Sparkle with their signature "sunshine" song and a big hug. Spike caught Sombra's attention during this time, telling him he'd brought new comics to show him! This made Sombra smile, he was growing quite fond of those illustrated tales.

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After they'd all finished reuniting, Sombra dropped Firefly off with Excel and the others. The Umbrum were delighted to meet the two Princesses along with the five friends. After a half hour visit, Pinkie Pie had to be towed away, as she was so happy chasing Firefly and letting the ghostly ponies pat her bouncy mane.

"We'll visit soon." Sombra chuckled.

"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie Pie grinned!

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As they headed for the room reserved for their meeting, Sombra seen a group of guards walking a pony who was under restraint. Sombra wondered who it was, that pony gave him an unsettled feeling deep inside...

But this was soon forgotten as the door clicked shut behind him.

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Celestia explained the letters she'd been sent had detailed all the incidents that'd happened. The attempted revival of the tyrannical side of Sombra, and his efforts with the citizens of the Empire.

"I’m so glad to see the Umbrum are OK," Twilight Sparkle smiled "it's amazing that this race hasn’t been seen in so long!"

"I'm just relieved I was able to calm them. They were furious when I encountered them again. They didn’t recognise what I was until I dropped the illusion," he looked up at Celestia and smiled faintly "then again, I’m sure Discord's letters told you that already?"

"You knew it was him?" she asked, seeming surprised.

"He said something once before that made me realise," Sombra smiled "specifically about it being easier if I didn’t have to keep repeating those memories."

Fluttershy smiled, she was glad to see Discord seemed to be getting more used to being a proper friend. She'd asked Discord to try help Sombra, but she hadn’t expected the reluctant Draconequus to do much beyond try using his magic to make it less traumatic for Sombra to remember the information they had desperately sought. Instead, he'd ended up befriending the lost pony, cheering him up in a dark time. Also, lots of coconut puns.

Celestia brought out a map, showing Sombra a big stretch of land nestled between mountain ranges and a forest.

"It's big, a bit overgrown, but I have teams out there clearing it, what do you think?" she asked.

"It looks perfect!" Sombra felt a surge of relief and happiness.

"It's peaceful, not too secluded, but you'll all have plenty of space to live and expand…" Celestia explained.

"They'll love it." Sombra nodded, feeling almost light headed. He was immensely relieved, grateful, and overwhelmed.

But they weren't done yet.

"We realised there’d need to be a lot of building work done, so we asked around~" Twilight piped up.

Applejack pulled some letters from her bag.

"See, what we did was go around tellin' everypony what tha story was. That we wanted to help our friend build a whole new home, and we would rightly appreciate any help they could give! They were pretty surprised, but..."

"Once we told them the WHOLE story, they were quite open to giving the benefit of the doubt as it were, darling! We’ve got a lot of materials and quite a workforce waiting!" Rarity finished.

"Ooh! Guess who else said they’d help?" Pinkie Pie grinned.

"Who?" Sombra asked.

"The King and Queen of the gargoyle kingdom." Fluttershy said, smiling softly.

"Haydon and Vorak.." Sombra remembered, they'd been so kind to him after what Scorpan had done.

"They said they’d be honoured to help. They’re pretty cool." Rainbow Dash added.

"They certainly are." Sombra agreed, looking over everything that’d been placed before him. "I cannot thank you enough for all of this! I had no idea how to start finding them a home."

"Aww, is okay!" Pinkie Pie glomp-hugged him, her mane tickling his nose and making him laugh "that’s what friends are for~!"

"So I’ve learned." Sombra said, and she grinned even wider as she let him go, and did a celebratory bounce around the room!

"How's the wings?" Rainbow Dash asked, peering at the crystal appendages.

"Easier, they’re getting easier." Sombra smiled "I still cant land very well, however."

"You should have SEEN him do a perfect face-plant landing!" A familiar voice snickered.

"Discord." Sombra half sighed, half laughed.

"Who else!" he appeared behind Sombra and tweaked his ears, as was his custom.

"Face-plant?" Rainbow Dash giggled.

"Hay!" Sombra glowered at Discord "that wasn’t ALL my fault! That twisted spell was messing with my head!"

In a display of maturity, Discord just blew a raspberry.

Sombra snorted, shook his head and laughed.

Celestia rolled her eyes in amusement, but she couldn’t help smiling. Sombra seemed much brighter, few of the shadows that’d haunted his eyes remained there now. His coat was looking shinier, an indicator his health must be improving. He'd also filled out a bit more, looking less undernourished then the last time she'd seen him! He looked like a healthy, happy pony.

But the fact he smiled easily now was the biggest relief. Discord had described Sombra's struggles with his prior crimes, and the fact the Umbrum had asked him to be their ruler once more hadn’t surprised her. Sombra understood them, longed to see them free. He was destined to to lead them.

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Once the others had gone ahead for dinner, she asked Sombra to stay with her awhile.

"Discord told me of the Umbrum's request..." she began, and Sombra winced.

"I still cant get my head around it," he admitted, shoulders slumping as he let out a sigh "it feels so awkward!"

"You find you can't accept it?" she asked.

Sombra sighed guilty, and closed his eyes, teleporting a box from his room to the table in front of him.

"This is the crown they made for me. I know I promised I would honor their choice, Discord was quick to remind me of that! He even tried to forewarn me I think. He said I may not expect their decision. He was right. I never expected they'd choose ME."

"Did you really try to give up hope?" she asked. He nodded.

"I didn’t WANT to potentially lose them. But I was sick of hiding the past, so I gave them every single memory, even the bad ones. I was convinced they’d find me a monster, that they’d understand why I offered THEM the choice."

"They understood more than you expected, didn’t they?" she read his expression, and he nodded.

"They said they seen no danger, that they wished I would stop punishing myself. But I’m not sure I know HOW!"

He got up, pacing over to the window and peering out at the shimmering Empire. His heart ached as he recalled the fun of the parade. The necklace Golden Glitter had given him hung around his neck, reminding him of that happy memory.

"I caused so much trouble back then, I was surprised they could be so kind. That day at the parade? It was wonderful."

"Yes, Discord sent the newspaper, it had a photo." Celestia smiled and pulled the article from her bag.

"There was a newspaper-?" Sombra cut off as the paper came to a stop floating in front of him. He held it in his own magic, and let his gaze roam over the text.

"The celebratory parade very nearly came to a halt after a rogue spell escaped from storage. Transported from outside the Empire in a shipment, it was accidentally awoken and proceeded to rampage its way to the parade prep area. Damage was minimal, thanks in whole to the intervention of Sombra. Opinions have, to date, varied over whether his efforts to reform his behaviour have been real, despite the princesses speeches. The events of the parade have tilted the balance in Sombra's favour, naysayers present mentioned they were surprised to finally see him outside of the palace, as it was rumoured he refused to leave the palace.

One of the floats designers, Golden Glitter, was happy to let us interview her:

"I was surprised when he showed up, all crystal like that! It looked so beautiful. I’d heard rumours about it, but I’d never seen something so elegant! He made that little critter mad enough to attack HIM, then gave it a good thrashing! He said it was likely a vengeful spell, set by somepony who didn’t know what they were doing! His magic's something else!"

We asked what her impression of the former terror of the crystal Empire was, and she had this to say:

"He's very nice! I was surprised by how quiet he was. But he's obviously very clever, and seems to notice more then he lets on. He fixed our float, made it better than ever! All the others wanted him to help them too, they really admired his efforts! But he seemed so fidgety, they were afraid he'd turn them down! But he didn't, he spruced up each and every one of them! That’s how our parade turned out twice as awesome as it started!

I’m glad he decided to stay and watch. he looked a little nervous, like he might fly away if anypony startled him, but he stayed even after it was over! He still looks the same, but he doesn’t remind me of the past at all. A smile suits him!"

Her colt-friend, Speed Streak asked if he could add a message for the former King; "Thanks for your help, dude! PS – chicks were digging the wings!"

Sombra spluttered and went red in embarrassment at that bit, making Celestia chuckle. His expressions were amusing, and showed so much...

"There you have it," the article finished "proof from the pony himself this isn’t the fear from the past. A dormant leader for a long missing race, we wish him best of luck in getting his kind free and re-homed!"

Then he spotted the photo Celestia mentioned. He was keeping one hoof on his right wing, trying to keep the flighty appendage under control. But there was no hiding the smile, subtle as it was. He seen himself as they did. Nervous, but happy to feel welcome there.

"Seems you’ve made a good impression so far." Celestia smiled.

"I didn’t realise..." Sombra trailed off, voice coming to a halt, unsure what to say.

Celestia walked over and held out what’d been inside the box. The crown he still strove to avoid wearing.

"The next step is THIS. Discord says you still shy away from it. I got the impression he let slip some of the tales of my early days."

Sombra chuckled "he uh, did mention that yes..."

"I wasn’t always this capable. When Luna and I were young, why, we fretted day in day out whether we were doing right, whether the populace liked us. Its a scary road. But you’re smart, and clear headed enough to get it right this time. So..?" She held up the wonderfully crafted crown. He stared at it a moment, then nodded. She smiled proudly and set it on his head.

"There’s an enchantment on it, what does it do?" she asked.

"It links to a set of armor. Discord gave them a hand making it-!" with a flash Sombra followed the spells path and said armor appeared on him, its perfect fit settling onto his frame.

"Impressive..." Celestia examined it "it suits you!"

"I don’t know how Discord and the Umbrum made it like that, but it's a marvel..."

While he absently admired the panelling covering his crystal wings, Celestia stepped back to get a good look at him. Armored and wearing the subtle, yet fancy crown, he looked suited for the role.

He seemed to be becoming more used to his full crystal form too. He'd been wearing it the whole time since they’d encountered him outside the palace. She could swear its colours had darkened slightly from his first manifestation.

"Shall we head to dinner?" she suggested. He nodded, the crown forgotten about. But as they approached the door, it was flung open, startling them both. Sombra's wings went POMF, which made Celestia chuckle softly.

"There you are-!" The guard did a double take at the armored Umbrum, eyebrows raised "wow, okay..."

"Something wrong?" Sombra asked, spotting the gaze fixing on his crown and wondering if he could whip the thing off and hide it before too many questions arose.

"We're interrogating the ring leader of that group that tried to send you insane. He wouldn't say a single word no matter what we said so far, now suddenly he says he'll only talk to YOU. That he has a special surprise he wants to give personally. Naturally, we believe it's a trap."

"If it is, I’ll take care of it. Let's go." Sombra said firmly. Celestia said she'd tell the girls they’d see him later. He thanked her gratefully, before heading after the guard.

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The guards weren’t too surprised to see Sombra arrive wearing the full armor and crown. Rumours about his ascent to a higher status in the Umbrum hierarchy had been going around ever since Discord had first told the short version of the tale to those two guards.

The prisoner, currently under magical restraint, grinned maniacally when he spotted the Umbrum pony.

"It IS you!" He cackled in glee.

"What do you want, you deranged charlatan?" Sombra snapped.

"Oh that’s rich, coming from YOU!" the pony laughed "so much power, so much cruelty, reigned in by Celestia lies-"

"Shut up!" Sombra barked, with such ferocity it actually silenced his opponent. He tried not to raise his voice as he had in the past, but at times like this it slipped back in.

"See? You cant ever escape who you are," the prisoner grinned "lie all you want, nopony will believe you-"

"Silence!" even Sombra jolted slightly as one of the guards snapped at the prisoner "your nonsense wont sway anypony here, least of all the one your aiming it at!" he shot a somewhat reassuring glance at Sombra, his back to the prisoner so the pony couldn’t see it.

The rising nausea settled a little, as Sombra got his anger and fear under control as the prisoner continued.

"It's a crime, seeing something like YOU just another pawn for those goody goody Alicorn- hahaa....you’ve even taken THAT aspect on! Bit presumptuous isn’t it?"

"All efforts to be rid of them soon taught me you cant fight a prophecy that’s waited a thousand years and then some to activate." Sombra said coldly. The guards wondered what he meant by that "all efforts" bit. Had he tried to remove them by himself?

"Well, they wont help you NOW! See, when that deranged Draconequus buddy of yours showed up, tearing all our plans to shreds, I knew the fail-safe was our last hope before these drones hauled me in!" he indicated the guards.

Sombra didn’t speak, just glared.

"It's been how long now..." the pony grinned "a matter of 2 days?"

Sombra felt the early warning bells begin to ring. But he kept his face carefully neutral.

"Why do you think I waited to desperately volunteer a confession?" he grinned "I wanted to have you here so you'd finally realise your existence here is not to be loved and adored, it's be to be feared and followed!"

Sombra lost all patience now. The guards had all backed off bar the one ahead of him. Catching the prisoners eye, Sombra snapped the massive wingspan out to maximum, at fast speed. This produced that unique snapping sound, like something shattering. It was a startling sound, almost jarring, like a whip-crack.

This, combined with the unwavering anger in Sombra's eyes, it was enough to inject a sliver of fear into the prisoners bravado.

"What. Have. You. DONE?!" His voice rose on the final word, a command fired like a magical bolt.

All the guards present couldn't help but think if they were facing an irate Sombra, they'd tell him whatever the buck he wanted! It wasn’t just the intimidating presence of the pony, it was the strength in his gaze. Whatever this idiot prisoner was planning, one way or another Sombra would get the details. That was the impression this show of force was giving...

The prisoner grinned "oh my, now THAT'S something. Heh, you want to know? I dare say that bodyguard of yours told you how he messed up our plans for this empires future, all for the goal of preserving his precious "friend"." He spat these last words out, and Sombra was again reminded of everything Discord had done for him.

"Well," the idiot continued, as Sombra fought to keep his temper in check "I designed a fail-safe in case the guard ever got wind of our plan, and tried to stuff their noses in. If I’m gone for more than 2 days, that place is set to BLOW."

This sent a wave of shock through the whole room. Sombra's insides felt like they turned to ice. Oh, buck.

"Its a very highly tuned spell. Tick tock, times a wasting. Try all you like, you’re too late!" he laughed madly.

"Where is that house?" he asked the head guard.

"I-it's on that map sir," the closest guard indicated the map pinned to the wall. Sombra raced over, memorizing it in a second.

"Nothing you can do!!" the prisoner kicked his restraints and laughed merrily.

"There’s a squad out there, combing it for evidence!" another guard went pale as the realisation sunk in.

"Time's running out gentlemen! Soon as the sun sets, you’ll have a lovely crater in your precious Empire! You see.." he caught Sombra's eye as the pony turned from the map "we didn’t just study everything we could about YOU, we studied your magic. You’re the greatest dark magic user Equestria has ever had. We strove to reach a level like yours, and all that work went into that spell!"

"You bucking-" Sombra started, then realised there was no time to waste. He closed his eyes and prepared to teleport out. Outside the window, the sun was slowly descending...

"You'll never make it, even if you can get there in time, how will you disable it?"

"To stop degenerate filth like you?" Sombra snapped "I’ll FIND a way."

With a thunderclap of magic dispersal, he vanished in a blaze of light. Left behind, the guards only hoped he'd get there in time. As that loon had said, Sombra was a master of dark magic. If anypony could find a way, surely it'd be him?

"Sweet Celestia he'd better live through this..." the head interrogator muttered.

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Sombra teleported outside, flying up to maximum height. He shot by several ponies, narrowly avoiding smacking into one steering a cloud.

He looked around, before spotting the place from the map. He put as much speed behind his wings as he could, diving towards the ground to build momentum.

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He shot through the tall buildings, flying lower to avoid the traffic higher up, moving on instinct.

One street he rounded was draped with party bunting. It was strung from window to window over the street, at every level, even across the lampposts. He zipped up and down between the ropes, tucking his wings in at times to avoid getting caught. At this speed, he'd likely break a wing if he fell! Another split second turn in mid air took him over the heads of some party goers.

"WHOA!" He heard in the slipstream left behind.

"Who's he racing this time?" the pony speaking had been present when Discord had brought Sombra out to a street festival by persuading the Umbrum to race him!

"I don’t think it was for funsies, he looked worried!" one mare raised an eyebrow "is something happening?"

"All I know is, he's a good flyer for a pony that refuses to USE his wings, or so I heard."

They were left discussing the Sombra torpedo, and what on Equestria he could be up to?

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Sombra hit the ground running as he approached the house. His heart was hammering as he seen the guards carrying boxes out of the house.

"Get out of the way!!" he yelled, using the element of surprise to make them scatter out of his way as he charged in. They were left in the dust as he ran to the basement, anxiously scanning for the spell that madpony had alluded to-

There-! It was hidden well beyond most ponies understand of dark magic.

He stamped a hoof on the floor, realising he couldn’t use magic to blast it, that’d risk setting the explosion off.

"Freeze!" he heard the official tone of a guard and gave it no heed. He reared up on and slammed his hooves down with as much force as he dared. This cracked the floor boards, and he used his armoured hooves to break the boards away. Even grabbing one plank with his teeth and ripping it off and throwing it aside.

"What the-?!" The guard coughed as a wave of dust hit him, and he squinted blurredly at what this nutjob was up to " in the princesses name, you’re under arrest!"

Sombra dimly heard the sound of a spear being levelled in his direction, felt the hum of a unicorns magic powering up, but he couldn’t stop-

"Fire!" the lead yelled, just as Sombra stumbled back, task done at last. He snarled in pain as a magical bolt shot across his upper hind leg, where the armor didn’t cover!

"Prepare to say hello to the inside of a cell you-"

But the guard's threats died off when the dust cleared, and Sombra pulled something from the hole he'd fractured in the heavy wooden flooring.

It was an ordinary looking box. Except for the fact it was surrounded by a rapidly growing aura of energy.

"What IS that? How-?"

"This is high level dark magic, created so you’d never find it amongst all the false trails laid down in this place!" Sombra blurted as he faced the guards head on.

"I frankly don’t care if you bucking well slam me in prison for the rest of my life! If I don’t get rid of this thing, there wont be anything left to even pack into an evidence bag! This thing is set to blow and I don’t have time for games!"

He charged at them as he spoke, and they scattered once more. He ran outside, building up as much speed as he could and leaping into flight once more. His wings left that sonic cracking sound in their wake as he shot away into the darkening sky.

"Where’s he going with that thing?!" one guard said at last.

"I'd like to know what just happened?! What was that spell, and how did he know it was here?"

"We need to get this to Captain Shining Armor.." was the eventual response.

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He'd never flown this fast in his life, and his wings were aching from the sudden overload in exercise! But still Sombra pushed himself ever faster, the world blurring by as he flew. The box was cradled in one foreleg, and he could feel the heat of the mounting charge even through his armor!

--Almost there, I just have to get the outskirts…!-- but he knew it was still too far-

"What do I do?!" he gasped to the roaring wind. Then he seen the shadows being cast by the encroaching night.

When he’d tried to take over the second time, he'd used the shadows to cover a large distance!

In a stroke of luck, an array of fireworks blasted into the air behind him, lengthening and sharpening the shadows for just a second. He didn’t hesitate, just dove towards them-

As he swooped down he spotted the edge of the Empire, cloaked in shadow. That was his target!

Everything became nothing for a moment, as he twisted his own form and that of the box to flit through the shadows, and shoot like an arrow into the sky bordering the Empire-!

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Snow and cold hit him as he punched through the shield that kept the Empire safe and warm.

He flew as far as he could, darkness and flurries of snow his only companions.

There was no time left, he had to hope it was far enough-!

He flung it towards the heavy snowdrifts below. But he'd overestimated the time left. It detonated half way to the ground. The ensuing shock wave hit him like a hammer blow, something clipping his head and punching him out of the air, on a collision course with the snow!

He blacked out briefly, head pounding. Then he felt a trickle of something liquid running down his face. Forcing his eyes open, he seen the snow by his head was staining reddish-pink.

Focusing his wonky vision, he seen shards of debris littering the once pristine snow.

--Made it..-- he sighed in relief. He was on the verge of giving in to relief and fading adrenaline when something hit him.

The idiot that’d staged this little escapade had called HIM a monster. That madpony had been willing to wipe innocent civilians and guards off the map out of sheer spite. Fury boiled over, and he got to his hooves, all thoughts of rest discarded. He had a bone to pick with that pony.

He paused only to gather the larger shards of debris, then flew back up again towards the barrier!

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Back in the room where the crazed prisoner was being held, the guard were attempting to get an answer out of their captive, but all he did was giggle madly.

"Your precious little pawn is dead!" he cackled "if he attempted to disable it, he'll have wiped himself off the map!"

There was a sudden flash of light, and a ball of magic appeared in front of the prisoner. The guards backed up, wondering what was going on. The ball expanded, forcing them back even further. The prisoner felt his bravado slip a little more. What was this??

With a familiar snapping sound, the energy vanished and Sombra appeared.

He stood as tall as his build allowed, wings raised and their sharp points curving towards the prisoner. He reminded the rooms occupants of a bird of prey ready to pounce. Blood was staining his crystal body from the cut on his head. It stood out against his crystalline fur, shining wetly in the overhead lights. His expression was cold, but his body language radiated sheer fury.

Wisely, the guard all backed up and away, staring in shock.

Sombra didn’t speak, just levitated something that'd been tucked inside his armor. The prisoner's jaw dropped as shards of debris pattered to the floor, debris which he recognised.

"How-?!" he gaped "it should've erased you, and anypony foolish enough to meddle with it! How did you-"

"Easy, I didn’t need to disable it, just get it out of the Empire's boundary." Sombra said bluntly.

"That distance, no way-?" the prisoner was starting to panic now. He'd failed to make those miserable guards, or the traitor King, pay for their interference!

"You forget who you are dealing with. Not only is my magic not the same as it was before, but neither am *I*. Your parameters were wrong." Sombra said triumphantly. He stepped even closer, looming over the babbling captive.

"You wanted to resurrect a nightmare? Well, nightmares come to an end. They can even become good dreams if you no longer have reason to BE scared!" Sombra ignored everypony else in the room, directing his anger at the one who deserved it.

The captive had run out of words, in the face of such fury. This wasn’t the King he'd sought after, this was something MORE. An entirely different force.

"You wanted a monster?" Sombra asked. He swung one wing around so the reflective feathers mirrored the targets image "well congratulations, you've got one!" he swept the wing back so they were eye to eye once more. If you want to be like me so badly, then you too can carry an inescapable guilt for the rest of your LIFE!"

He continued, while the target of his angry words just opened and shut his mouth like a fish, eyes on stalks.

"Think you can accept a burden like that? If I were you’d I’d throw yourself on their mercy, provided they have any left. Trust me, you WILL regret this.”

He stepped back, wings folding down partway to allow the guards to approach. Finally regaining control of his voice, the one in charge declared;

"Take him back to his cell and have a doctor check him over! Once the shocks worn off I want to talk to him!"

Sombra stayed where he was as this went on, staring at the chair the prisoner had occupied. His heart was hammering. He'd just showed the side of him the ponies had to have feared. But his fury over that idiots actions had driven him to the edge. The Empire didn’t deserve another like him...

"-u OK?" the words pierced the haze, and Sombra became aware the ringing in his ears was fading as the adrenaline levels dropped.

"W-what?" he stammered, shaking his head and twitching his ears "I didn’t hear you..."

"Are you OK?" the guard repeated. Sombra made to say he was fine, but he didn’t FEEL fine.

He swallowed the words down, having trouble focusing. Why was the room closing in around him?

He fought to take a deep breath, lungs locked up in tight restraints it felt like-

In the reflections of his semi-raised wings, he could see glimpses of the guards still surrounding him. They were sharing glances he couldn’t read into, but his panicked mind insisted were looks of appalled disgust at seeing Sombra's true nature.

A shred of common sense tried to point out he was being ridiculous, he had to stop letting his fears play smoke and mirrors with his head. But his own shock was setting in, and reason flew the coop.

“That was insane...” one guard remarked, and Sombra winced instinctively.

“Oops, that is-” realising this may have been a poor choice of words to a pony whose vocabulary was a thousand years behind, the guard tried to backtrack. “not INSANE insane, I mean-”

Sombra shook his head, feeling the pressure mounting "It's nothing- I need some air." he forced out, rallying his magic and ordering it to teleport him to the tower at the top of the palace. It'd be peaceful there...

"Hay-!" the guard yelped as Sombra suddenly vanished in another blast of teleport.

"Whoa, shiny dots!” he shook his head, eyes crossed, as the light faded "Hay, where’d he go?"

"I don’t know!" the senior guard barked "but we need to find him!"

"Why?” another guard pony asked “I mean, he essentially just did our job and scared that guy straight by the looks of it, what else needs to be done? Besides a statement of some kind."

"Forget the statement, that can wait! That pony was at the starter stages of shock himself! The inability to focus on what was being said to him, the rapid breathing...all that and a blow to the head! He's a risk to himself if he doesn’t get medical attention."

He dispatched the guards to check the palace and find the errant stallion...

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Sombra felt the panic loosen as he appeared outside. He was alright-

Then he opened his eyes and realised he was hanging in the air WAY above the top of the palace. He'd overshot by a huge margin in his haste to leave!

He let out a loud yelp as his realisation cut the magic holding him aloft, and he plummeted towards the ground!

He tried to flap his wings but they wouldn’t move, it was as if they were frozen! His magic sputtered and died-

-Nonono…!!- Just as he was about to black out from panic, he hit something semi-solid and yet soft...

It knocked the air from his lungs, but at least it stopped his fall. He shut his eyes, not willing to open them just yet. That’d been too weird.

"S'okay hon, your not gonna fall! Can ya hear me in there?"

Sombra opened his eyes, seeing a pale green pegasus pony with yellow mane and tail peering at him. She had a broad accent, and a bow in her mane.

"Ah, there we go! You got a mighty wallop to the head there, it looks like! Don’t worry, that clouds perfectly safe..."

"H-how?" Sombra patted the cloud with a shaking hoof.

"Yer sporting a set of wings there hon. Pegasi and Alicorn can easily walk on clouds! What, ya never tried it?"

Sombra shook his head. “I only recently learnt how to fly properly!”

"What were you doing up there? You just plummeted straight outta the sky! You weren’t tryin' ta...ya know?" she made a gesture reminiscent of something hitting something else. "..pavement pizza?" she finished tactfully.

Sombra realised she thought he'd been trying to-

"No, nothing of that sort, I assure you! Why-" he shook his head vehemently, feeling himself flush.

"Sorry, it just looked a little worrying. You popped inta existence and went diving downwards! Also, you weren’t trying to flap ya wings.."

Sombra tried to flap them now, and found he still couldn’t move them. He found it hurt to TRY.

"They wouldn’t move when I fell, they still WON'T!" he told her.

She frowned, head titled to one side, then asked "can I check 'em?"

"Sure..." Sombra wasn’t sure what that’d tell her, but didn’t fidget as she came closer. He removed the armor panels from his wings and winced at how tense the flight appendages were. She checked them in a manner similar to how Primary Flight had that day, wincing as she did so.

"Whoo....yup, its wing-lock!" she said as she let his wing rest back on the cloud. As he shakily reattached the armor, he asked what she meant.

"Wing lock's a psychological condition, causes the wings ta just lock up and refuse to fly. Usually extreme stress is your culprit. Something happen?"

Sombra let out a loud sigh and buried his head on his hooves, his voice muffled but still audible as he began:

"Well now, to start with I’ve copied an immunity against the Crystal Hearts influence to an ENTIRE race, then a near-miss with a spell that would’ve blown up half the street if it wasn’t disposed of. Ah, and I think there’s a cheesed off guard out for my arrest. That about covers it."

"Whoa, rough day then huh?" she said at last. Sombra raised his head to look at her, managing a nod.

"My head hurts." he managed at last with a weary sigh.

"No surprise, ya got a nasty cut there...ah, here she is!"

"Heyyy, I’m like, totally here with the kit!" a soft lazy drawl reached Sombra's ears as another pony approached. She was a pinkish orange with pale green wavy mane. Flowers were braided into her hair.

"Flower Power!" the other pony sighed "I thought you’d gotten lost!"

"Sorry," The second mare smiled "I had to stop and help nudge a few clouds. Everything’s harmonious Thunder Fire!"

Thunder Fire met Sombra's eyes and shrugged as if to say "what can you do?"

"Ouch man, lets take a look here..." Flower Power perched on the cloud in front of Sombra, opening the kit.

She did a few checks, making sure he wasn’t concussed too badly. He was able to answer her questions well enough.

"And finally, lets patch this up!" she set a bandage over the cleaned cut, having used butterfly stitches to close it. "You’re like, super lucky, it looks worse than it is! Head wounds are TOTAL bleeders!"

"I see, thank you." Sombra said softly, and Flower Power beamed.

"No worries dude! Your voice is like, totally awesome by the way..."

Bemused, Sombra managed a smile.

"Ooh, is that a crown? It's like, so cool!" she'd spotted the darn thing. All the ruckus had allowed it to slip his mind. He happily removed it and let her examine it. She turned it over, cooing over the finery of its design and the engraving in the Umbrum language.

"Ooh, what’s it say? This writing is like, all curly whirly..."

"It's the Umbrum language," Sombra smiled at the two ponies. Talking about his beloved race made him feel a strong sense of happiness and pride, allowed him to forget his worry for a while "It translates to "our guiding shadow”."

"Neat!" Thunder Fire noted "it's very fancy! Did the Umbrum make it for you? I heard a few rumours..."

Sombra nodded "Yes, they gave it to me. Truthfully? I did not expect them to do it."

"Why? Because of the past?" Flower Power asked. Sombra felt himself flush self consciously, letting his gaze shift to the bright lights of the Empire below. At last, he nodded.

"I heard that, like, you told them everything! The whole truth..." Flower Power said.

“They deserved that much,” Sombra said heavily, resting his head on his forelegs. His ears twitched, and his expression was thoughtful “I could not stand to lie to them, not after everything they’d endured. They deserved to know the truth, and I was sick of running from it.”

The two pegasi watched him with expressions of kindness and sympathy. The way he talked made it clear the repentance Cadance spoke of was real.

"It's cool man, its all groovy.” Flower Power flew so she was facing him, meeting his gaze “the Princess said you totally saved her and the Prince. They said you were the hero of Canterlot, it sounded like, EPIC!"

"We all read the papers when they reached here!" Thunder Fire explained "it was a surprise, I’ll tell ya! The Princess made her statement, and the papers printed a transcript for those who didn’t attend. Within a DAY, the whole Empire knew!"

"Honesty is like, super important!" Flower Power smiled brightly "I think it was a cool thing to do, man! And your ponies obviously aren’t mad, otherwise they wouldn’t have asked you to lead them, you know?”

She tilted her head to one side, staring at the Alicorn Umbrum.

“Your aura went all sad back there..." Flower Power said, which made Sombra blink.

“My what?” he asked.

"Flower-! What did I tell you about that.." Thunder Fire sighed in amusement "not everypony needs to know how their colours are doing!"

"You have, like, an axe hovering over you. In YOUR aura colour. Are you still punishing yourself for something?"

"Shouldn’t I be?" Sombra asked, genuinely baffled "you know who I am."

"Eh, not really hon.." Thunder Fire shrugged. He looked at her in confusion.

"I seen that picture in the papers. That you saved the parade and fixed all the floats. None of us really know who YOU are. What you like, what you don’t etc. Everypony's curious, but you’re like a guarded secret. Everypony wonder what keeps you secluded. Are you afraid you'll get lynched or something?"

Sombra winced guiltily as that was quite close to the truth, even if he didn’t admit it.

"Well take it from me, you’ll be fine..." Thunder Fire smiled "I get ta hear all tha gossip from the guys and girls on this team, and yeah, some ponies still want more proof, but their just reluctant to admit things have changed so much. The whole parade thing and saving the Princess? Surprised 'em. The fact you went nuts partly by accident kinda threw them for a loop, too."

"You got like, major points for the Canterlot thing, man!" Flower Power flipped her fringe out of her eyes "they’re willing to let, like, bygones be bygones."

"They are?" Sombra murmured, looking at the Empire below, hope rising.

"If the Princess said it's cool, then they know it's cool. She’s like, totally groovy and her auras all hearts!"

Thunder Fire rolled her eyes, but smiled at her air-headed friend.

"So, shoo!" Flower waved a hoof at the imaginary sentence Sombra was still holding over himself.

It did work, in a funny way. Sombra felt lighter, he even laughed a little. Her simple way of pointing out what he'd been hiding from made him feel better.

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"There you are!" a serious voice interrupted Flower Power before she could finish her latest trick, burping the Empire’s anthem. Thunder Fire despaired of her friend sometimes, but it seemed to make Sombra laugh.

They all looked up as the two pegasi guards approached. Sombra's stomach sank, were they ones sent by that pony that had wanted him arrested?

"We've been looking for you all over, sir" the first one said "our squad leader was concerned about your injuries."

"They are fine, it was only a cut to the head and a few bruises. Miss Flower Power here was kind enough to patch me up!" he indicated the mare, who bobbed her head and saluted.

"Its cool guys.." she said with a laid back smile "he'll be all good once he gets some rest! I’m the teams trained medic, so it's all groovy!"

"Thank you ma'am," the guards said "we can inform the doctor you’re all clear."

Sombra nodded, and ambled to his feet. He still expected to fall through the cloud, and tensed up fearfully for a second.

"Sorry," he coughed "I didn’t know I could balance on clouds.."

"Have wings, will cloudwalk," one guard nodded in understanding "you’ll get used to it."

--Not if I’m landed in prison I wont..-- Sombra thought. But he kept the thought unvoiced as he steadied himself.

"Try flying, you’ve been relaxing pretty good since I checked your wings." Thunder Fire said to Sombra, who nodded and gave the wings a few flexes to test them.

She briefly explained the wing lock to the guards as Sombra gave a few cautious flaps, and was able to hover. He was still a little wobbly, however...

"Totally cool!" Flower Power nodded at the wings "those are are far out, all the colours!"

"We live in the Empire to help with the weather, feel free to come find us!" Thunder Fire said to Sombra as he made to go.

He thanked them for their help with his injuries, and the guards moved to flank him as he flew off the cloud.

At the last second, Flower Power realised she was still holding his crown, and shot after the trio to give it back to Sombra.

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The guards led Sombra back to the same room he had done his vanishing act from earlier.

As they walked in, Sombra recognised a familiar group of soldiers, especially the one that’d threatened to arrest him. His heart sank, and he prepared for trouble. He'd essentially attacked the group when you thought about it...

"Oh good, they found you. We’ve been searching the palace top to bottom." the guard who spoke was the one who'd been bellowing for Sombra's arrest.

"My teleport backfired, I was aiming for the tower, but I ended up in the sky. Two pegasi stopped me before I had a meeting with the ground below."

"Wing lock, sir. Prevented him from flying according to the mares at the scene." One of Sombra's guides explained.

A nod from the guard in charge of the squad as he turned back to Sombra, "Understood, I’ve read about wing lock. You’ll want to take it easy for a few days."

Sombra nodded, wishing he'd get to the point and tell him how much trouble he was in already!

"I'll be frank," the guard began, seeming not to notice Sombra's expression as the pony tensed up "I owe you an apology for earlier."

"Huh?" Sombra looked genuinely surprised, it wasn’t what he'd expected.

The guard chuckled at Sombra's stunned expression “You heard me, soldier. I got the full story when I got here. Had you delayed a moment longer, things could've ended badly for a LOT of ponies. I was told you disposed of the spell!”

"It detonated, yes. I was able to get it far from the city limits before it deployed. It packed quite a punch." Sombra recalled the heavy impact, his stomach and ribs still ached a little, not to mention his back.

"It's remarkable you got off with so few injuries. You got guts, and you got my respect. I acted in haste in declaring you a wanted target. My squad owes you their lives for getting that explosive spell to safety, so consider the matter dismissed! You have my sincere apologies Sire.”

“It's nothing to worry about, and don’t you mean 'Sir'?” Sombra frowned slightly.

The guard chuckled and nodded his head at the crown “I didn’t make a mistake, what do you think that thing on your head signifies?”

“Trouble..?” Sombra muttered, REALLY wishing he'd hidden the damn thing. This was what he'd tried to explain to Celestia earlier. It felt awkward trying to explain the story behind it.

“You’ll adjust.” The guard stated, as if he wasn’t buying Sombra's reluctance. Again Sombra picked up on the fact everypony ELSE seemed to think he could do it, so was it JUST his doubt? Was Flower Power right, was HE the only one hurting him?

"At any rate, you have our gratitude for averting that incident. Captain Shining Armor wished to speak with you in the throne room once we located you."

Sombra nodded, the two guards offered to escort him but he said he was fine, and walked by himself towards the throne room.

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Shining and Cadance both looked up from their conversation with another guard when Sombra walked in.

"No kidding, that’s pretty swish armor.." Shining Armor mused aloud as Sombra came to a halt in the doorway. They dismissed the guard and indicated Sombra to walk over.

"What happened?" Shining Armor asked as Sombra came to a halt before them, politely bowing his head.

--What a pretty crown…-- Cadance thought, as she got a look at it when Sombra straightened up from the bow.

And so, Sombra began telling the story. They sat there, mouths open. At least it explained the bandages on his head...

"It exploded?! How did you manage to get away with just a cut?" Shining Armor said at last.

"A mix of the armor, and undoubtedly what Discord has referred to as me being "too dense to notice"." Sombra mused.

That made Shining Armor snigger, especially when delivered in Sombra's serious voice.

"He was prepared to blow up an entire street to get back at...us?" Cadance sighed heavily.

"I wouldn’t take their views as anything but farcical," Sombra piped up "they were mad enough to want a monster in charge again. I cannot take anything they say seriously."

"They were prepared to kill you too, evidently." Shining Armor said, thinking Sombra was still very critical of himself "From the accounts of the guards, he deliberately goaded you into going after that spell, no doubt hoping it'd wipe you off the map."

"When they couldn’t get what they wanted they just decided to go for broke and eliminate you too," Cadance shook her head "no regard for the sanctity of life at all."

"They wanted a monster, Princess, and they got one. But they didn’t need ME." Sombra closed his eyes, shaking his head, feeling like he was going to collapse. Now the incident was catching up to him, and he felt abruptly dizzy.

"You alright?" he heard Shining Armor ask.

"It's nothing. I’m just tired..." Sombra said weakly.

“Please look after yourself,” Cadance said, surprising him “you’ve had a crazy few days, its a lot to cope with.”

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He elected to skip dinner and just go to bed. But found he couldn’t sleep properly.

It came to a peak in his dreams, when he found himself standing in the centre of a crowd. Seeing his reflection in a crystal building, he seen he was wearing the armor and crown. The crowd were closing in on him, anger on their faces.

"So, you’re putting yourself in control AGAIN?" one mare sneered.

"Yeah!" another cried "why should you have that honour?"

"I..." Sombra struggled to speak "I tried to dissuade them! I gave them every reason to choose another..."

"Liar!" a stallion yelled.

"Why should we trust you? Your already a freak and a monster!"

"I’m sorry-"

"You think that’s enough somehow?!" more cried.

Sombra began to panic, and tried to fly away, but ropes snapped out and wrapped around his wings, slamming him into the floor.

Hearing a faint hum, he looked up. There was now a shadowy axe hovering over his head. He gave a desperate cry, and tried to tear the ropes with his teeth, making a panicked snarling sound.

"Hayyy!" a pegasi burst through to the front. He recognised her as Flower Power.

"Hey, chillax man." she walked over and patted his mane gently, like she was comforting a scared foal "it's OK. Just some bad vibes!"

"But-" he began, and she shook her head.

"That axe is YOUR fear. All of this is. It's like, not true that they want to hurt you, remember?"

Sombra fought to think back, and recalled the prior days.

He recalled how the ponies had gathered around him after Discord had left. He recalled their expressions had been curious, not angry. But he'd been in too much of a blind panic to see it, and had fled before giving them the chance.

"I’ve....avoided them..." he whispered as realization sunk in. She nodded.

"How am I supposed to prove it to them, if they never see me?" he asked himself. Looking up, he seen the crowd had backed up, and they were smiling now.

"See?" Flower nodded "you’re just scaring yourself. You’re like, totally not a bad pony any more."

Sombra nodded, and with a loud cry, he tore free of the ropes, then turned on the axe as it came swooping towards him. He geared up his magic and fired at it-

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He awoke with a jolt, heart hammering. With an uneasy groan, he got out of bed and opened the doors to the balcony. The pale moonlight fell upon the crown, sat innocently by his bedside. He lifted it up, bringing it with him as he sat outside.

--Why DO I keep running from this? AM I afraid of how everypony will react if I go out in public wearing it? Was that what that dream was about?--

"Probably..." he sighed.

"Probably what?" a voice spoke up. Sombra let out a loud yelp, the crown slipping from his hold and bouncing onto the floor.

He looked up, expecting to see Discord, but-

"Princess Luna?" he said in surprise.

"We did not mean to startle thee, we were just visiting our sister and seen thee talking to thyself! To an inanimate object, also?" she indicated the crown that had rolled into the space between them.

"Ah, yes..." Sombra sighed "I just had an odd dream about this thing!”

"So I sensed. Sister says you refuse to wear it outside the palace. Why would you? They gave you the job did they not? Your ponies.."

“Yes, even after I revealed the truth about my mistakes.”

"There! It shows how they care for thee, that they cared not a jot for the past! Thy reluctance is written all over thy face. I do not know what will make thee feel better, but I offer one bit of advice: do not torment thyself forever. We did that, created a nightmare that haunted us every night, to remind us. It got out of hoof, nearly caused a big incident. But Twilight Sparkle and the others saved us, showed us we HAVE changed, we don’t need to punish ourselves any further."

Sombra looked at the Empire below him "I didn’t understand how they could have such faith in me after everything. Maybe I was hoping they'd confirm what I was telling myself, that I’m nothing more than a monster. It was easier to hold onto that piece of my identity then try carve a new one."

"When in fact you did that as early as Canterlot," Luna seen him blink in surprise "a black hearted monster would’ve let our sister and the others perish and fall to that thing. Twilight Sparkle tells us you fought Scorpan's direct control to free them and protect her friends. That takes real determination and strength. Dost thou agree with us?"

A little nod.

"We can see a struggle similar to ours. Forget not, we too caused Equestria and our sister great distress. But they forgave us, and eventually grew accustomed to us. You have already made such steps. Talking, listening. Saving a parade and even fixing the floats. These actions have shown them you are not what they once thought you were. Yes, you will face doubt for some time to come, but it is up to you. If you do not believe thyself capable, they will not either."

Sombra picked up the crown and stared down at it, ruminating on how...RIGHT it had felt on his head earlier.

"It goes here!" Luna got fed up waiting for him to quit staring at it and grabbed the crown, plonking it on his head.

"Ow- hay!" he complained as she flicked his right ear so the crown would sit properly.

She studied how perfectly suited to Sombra the regalia was. The way it didn’t resemble the one he'd worn previously at all. This one was fitting to a changed pony. All the facts from her sister said he'd declined the right to rule the Umbrum from the start, instead letting the Umbrum decide whether they could place their trust in him once more. And they'd decided they wanted Sombra to be their ruler.

Only Sombra still seemed to be dragging his heels a bit.

"Why dost thou keep being so stubborn?" Luna asked.

"It...it feels somewhat hypocritical!" Sombra blurted at last.

“Explain!” Luna demanded.

“Think how it must appear! They will assume I couldn’t give up my lust for power. Lets face it, its easy to assume, given the evidence.”

"Ridiculous!" Luna shot back, rolling her eyes "Sister told us the paper's and citizen's opinions have not been unkind to thee. Thou wouldst know that if thou stopped hiding away in the palace and having to be dragged outside by thy friends!"

"I know, Princess, I know...” Sombra surprised her by admitting it, and he smiled weakly “that's what that dream was about, I’m sure of it. I’ve been oblivious to too much.”

“Tell us.” Luna said, less harshly. So he gave her the run-down of the dream, seeing how she nodded in understanding. When he finished, she actually smiled.

“It seems I need not berate thee afterall. You have come to the correct conclusion by your own method.”

“Funny, it took an aura-seeing pegasus to get the point across...”

“A what now?” Luna frowned in befuddlement, so he explained Flower Power to her.

“How unusual, but we applaud her efforts!” Luna decided.

Sombra's smile was a little less shaky this time.

"The way we see thine situation; thou were created to look after them. Its in thy nature, even when thine own magic and grief drove thee round the proverbial bend." Luna said "By all accounts in discords letters, thou hath been spending all thy time helping them. Their anger has been soothed, and they no longer suffer the crystal hearts influence because you gave them the immunity.”

“They were so happy when they realised it was over, they didn't have to be afraid.” Sombra flashed back to the happy occasion, how they'd cheered and celebrated.

“Indeed! The war would've started afresh had thou not convinced them. THAT'S why they wanted thee to accept the job. They too, were trapped in anger and madness until thou showed them the truth. Thou understandeth them at a level no other pony can emulate. Why settle for somepony else, when they can have the one who has every bit of knowledge to understand them?"

A sleepy Sombra nodded, it'd been an illuminating night for sure.

"Get some sleep," Luna suggested at last "thou hath need of a good nights rest."

Sombra nodded, yawning softly as she flew away, and he stumbled to bed.

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Sombra joined the six colourful friends for breakfast the next morning.

"Are ya OK?" Applejack asked "Celestia was sayin' ya had a run in with some fruitcake!"

Sombra told them the short version, explaining the whole weird saga.

"Whoa..." Pinkie Pie said in the silence that followed "that’s nutso!"

"What a horrid bunch!" Rarity sniffed "trying to destroy all you’d done!"

"That’s what I said!" Discord appeared and tweaked Sombra's ears, before sitting himself down at the table beside his friends.

"Hello!" Fluttershy greeted him warmly, and was rewarded with a hug from the grinning Draconequus.

The morning was spent sorting out more of the fiddly details of Sombra's new home.

The day after that Cadance suggested they have a public meeting to announce the Umbrum's new home!

Sombra talked this over with Excel, who agreed to address the Empire to introduce their species alongside him.

Sombra hoped he'd be able to retrieve one more crystal from the wastes. His mother. The Umbrum were happy with the sanctity their lives now had, she could be awoken too...

He hoped she'd be proud when she seen the Umbrum free and happy.

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"I wanna see outside again!" Firefly pouted, as she trailed after Sombra as he left to go back up to the palace."Excel said they have these things called cameras now. I could bring pictures back to everypony! Please?"

The big announcement at the stadium had been scheduled for the day after. Sombra thought about the time it started, and figured he’d have plenty of time to show Firefly the fun of the Empire before flying to the stadium. As per that dream, he realised he needed to go out a bit more, and not flee at the first sign of contact. Cadance had said they’d have everything set up by the time he got there...

"Alright!" He smiled at her "tomorrow morning?"

"Yes!" she did a happy dance that made Sombra chuckle!

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Excel asked if she could borrow the crown, and Sombra happily lent it to her.

"Don’t be nervous, Infinitum, everything will be alright!" she assured him.

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The next morning as promised, Sombra dressed in his armour, changed into his Umbrum form, and went to pick up Firefly. Cadance had given her an instant camera, and a fairly big stack of paper to put in it. Firefly had already taken some photos of the Princess and the guards as well.

When Sombra showed up she happily hugged the pony.

"Fini!" she said contentedly, and Sombra chuckled, asking was she ready to go?

She nodded, and they walked outside.

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First stop was a food market, where Sombra bought her treats from the various stalls. The vendors cooed over the little filly, whose big wide eyes and beaming grin won them over.

"Yayyy!" Firefly cheered, then burped.

"Manners, little one.." Sombra chided, but he was reminded of Flower Power belching the anthem.

He looked up at the sky and smiled, wondering where the duo he'd met were that day?

"Where next, Fini?" Firefly asked.

"You'll see.." he teased, and set off with his little charge sat on his back once more.

"What’d she call 'im? Fini? Is that an Umbrum word?" a confused pony piped up. The crowd murmured, wondering what a Fini was?

"Its short for "Umbrum Ad Infinitum"!" a nearby guard overheard them and spoke up "it means "eternal crystal shadow" so far as I know. Seems that’s what they use to refer to an Alicorn from their legends."

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Sombra showed the little filly the best bits of the Empire. The library, the jousting grounds, and many others. As he was walking towards a theatre, a group of ponies exited the door ahead. One recognised the armored pony and grinned, racing over.

"Hiii!" She called, and Sombra recognised her as Golden Glitter.

"Good morning," he smiled "how are you, miss?"

"Just peachy!" She grinned "rehearsals are done- ooh!" She'd spotted Firefly "who's this?"

"I'm Firefly!" the little Umbrum waved a short little hoof at this excitable pony.

"She is so cute!" Golden Glitter beamed and introduced herself and her friends to the two.

Sombra smiled proudly as Firefly asked could she take a photo?

"Sure!" Golden Glitter gestured them all to gather round and pose! Firefly giggled happily, these ponies were super nice!

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As the two bid the group goodbye, Golden Glitter was pleased to see Sombra still wore the crystal heart necklace she'd given him that day at the parade.

"Everypony's gonna love these!” Firefly squeed "so much pretty!"

"Want to see the clouds?" Sombra asked on a whim, happy to see her so overjoyed. Soon, ALL the Umbrum would see the world the way Firefly did.

"Yeah!" she clapped her hooves excitedly.

Sombra summoned a little hammock she could be safely carried in, yet still hold the camera.

"Ready?" he queried, unfolding the wings and spreading them to their full size. Ponies nearby stopped to take in the crystal appendages, the way each feather seemed to reflect a dazzling array of light!

"Yeah!" she cheered, snuggled into the hammock "lets fly, Fini!"

"Dingus away!" recalling and repeating Discord's parting cry that last occasion, Sombra heard several of the surrounding crowd laugh as he launched up into the air!

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"WHEEEEE!" Firefly screeched in delight as Sombra flew leisurely through the sky, showing her Empire from above. He hovered once or twice so she could take another picture, grinning up at him.

Up ahead he seen two familiar faces amongst the pegasi. Thunder Fire and Flower Power. They seen him hovering there and flew over.

"You're looking, like, much better!" Flower Power greeted Sombra "and your auras clearing up! The axe is gone, Groovy!"

"Wha's an aura?" Firefly asked. Flower beamed at her.

"An aura's like, your energy, your spirit. Yours is yellow, like sunshine! It's a happy aura.."

"Yay!" Firefly said, pleased to hear this.

Thunder Fire greeted Firefly, and on seeing the little wings, she asked how she was doing with flying?

"I mostly hover. I haven't practised much."

"Once the new home is finished, you’ll have a big sky to soar in!" Sombra promised her.

"Yay!" she grinned "I wanna fly like you do Fini, though I don’t think my wings will be as big.."

"If they were I wouldn’t be able to see you in them!" Sombra chuckled, making her giggle.

"You wanna join us?" Thunder Fire gestured to the race course "let's see how you fair, big wings!"

"Ooh, yeah!" Firefly tugged at Sombra's mane, eyes hopeful.

"OK, OK." Sombra made sure she was safe then flew over with the other two.

The rest of the pegasi did double takes. The two mares had shared their story about meeting Sombra the evening he'd come plummeting out of thin air, how he'd been having a rough day.

So to actually meet him was a surprise.

"We're gonna race too!" Firefly said "right?"

"You got it, lets see if that wingspan is any good!" Thunder Fire grinned at Sombra.

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He was a bit shaky setting off, still reluctant at a base level. But, seeing the grins on the other pegasi reminded him of his race with Discord, and he felt a surge of competitive spirit!

He gave into the feeling of freedom like he had that day. It felt good!

Several jaws dropped as Sombra suddenly seemed to snap out of his funk and go into overdrive! Streamlining his wings so he could swerve nimbly in and out of the clouds, then spreading said wings wide to catch the air. Soon, he was matching the lead ponies, Firefly hollaring in delight the whole while!

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"Well well!" Thunder Fire grinned as Sombra finished next to the best flyers, herself included "seems you’re a natural with those!"

Sombra looked flushed, but the way he was smiling showed he was happy.

"That was so cool!" Firefly grinned up at Sombra "can we fly some more?"

"What time-ack!" Sombra glanced at a nearby clock tower, and realised he was going to be late if he didn't move! He turned to the group and bowed apologetically.

"I'm very sorry, but I must take my leave. I'm expected at the stadium.."

"Aw, dang.." one pegasi sighed "that was a cool race!"

"Take care Sombra! See ya little Firefly!" Thunder Fire grinned.

"Keep your spirits bright!" Flower Power added as she waved at the departing duo.

"His aura's looking happy, cool," she said to herself "can't wait to tell my cousin when she comes to visit from Ponyville!"

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Panicking as he flew, Sombra figured a teleport would close the remaining distance. He told Firefly to hold on tight-

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While this was going on, the meeting with the empires citizens had begun already! Cadance had planned it so Excel could tell the story of why they’d asked Sombra to be their king. Luna had mentioned to Celestia that that one aspect still bothered Sombra, and Excel aimed to dispel any remaining rumours.

Excel held the crown cradled in one hoof as she stepped up to the mic.

"Good morning all of you. My name is Excel. I'd like to tell you our story..."

"A long time ago we were on the brink of starvation. Desperate for help, we finally left our secluded home and went to the Empire for help. But things went wrong. We did not know the crystal heart would hurt us. Its power was sent across the sky, and drove us crazy from the pain. And so, we attacked the Empire, believing they'd done it on purpose. They overwhelmed us and sealed us away beneath the palace. But one of us survived. She went to the wastes, where she hibernated in her crystal form. With the last of her power, she created one more of our kind. A child who, she prayed, would grow up to fulfil the ancient prophecy. To save us all. That child was Sombra.."

Curious murmurs raced around the crowd as Excel continued. Seated behind, at the back of the stage, Twilight Sparkle and friends watched curiously.

"But while she was able to grant him a minute immunity to the hearts power, it wasn’t enough. It got to him too, slowly over time. for years he lived close by, unaware of its threat to him. Eventually he reunited with the mother crystal, and his powers were awoken. But it was too much. the hearts corrosive influence meant he couldn’t handle finding out he wasn’t a normal pony, and the madness came full circle. You know the rest, as that was when he appeared to you."

She looked sad as she came to her next topic "we were so angry when we suddenly became aware again. We swarmed the palace, thinking we needed to fight for freedom. Then, he appeared. An Umbrum Ad Infinitum. I believe you call them Alicorn's in your terminology. To us, an Infinitum is a legend. Back at the start, our first ruler was an Infinitum, but they seemed to vanish, and soon we came to believe they were a myth. But he's real. He calmed our anger by giving us part of his power. He showed us the Crystal Ponies were not our enemy, that the whole war was a mistake. They didn’t know we were coming to them for aid, and we didn’t know the Heart's power is a sign of celebration, not an attack."

Wiping away tears, she smiled softly "the ancient prophecy stated the Infinitum was the one who would rule us. Our King. But he did not accept that. Rather, he gave the choice to us, and gave us his memories. Everything he did when he was here, he gave to us. We realised he'd suffered the same as us, and that he wanted us to know everything about him, no matter how painful to him. He could’ve hidden the truth, taken the role. But he let us decide. But that wasn’t all we seen. Infinitum's friend came to us, told us of our saviours actions in the city of Canterlot. How he wished only to say he was sorry to you all, rather then fix his injuries. We knew then, that we didn’t want anypony else. Infinitum understands our suffering as well as he knows his own. He understands US."

She held up the crown, and Cadance magnified the view of the stage so it was visible to the entire stadium.

"Together with Sombra's closest friend, we crafted a suit of armor, and THIS. It is a replica of the crown from our legends. We made sure it got to Infinitum, along with our reasons WHY we wanted him despite the fact he still seeks nothing but punishment for his past. We care about him, and we know he cares about us, we could never have asked anypony else. He IS us. But, it seems he feels unable to wear his crown. Princess Celestia told us her sister spoke with Sombra, where he told her he felt it hypocritical that he should bear the title after his past."

Curiosity swarmed the stadium, ponies admitting they were surprised at Sombra's open honesty. Excel echoed this as she spoke;

"He took the risk that telling us everything might turn us against him. But he did not wish to hide any more. Rather, to be honest and pray for a second chance if you or we could grant it. We believe he has paid the price, and we want him at our helm. We'd like him to accept this-" indicating the crown "once and for all. But we need your help."

She bowed her head, and asked the crowd one big, yet simple request.

The crowd agreed by way of a massive cheer, swayed by the Umbrum's obvious love for Sombra, and Sombra's open admission of his own guilt. He'd saved their Princess and Prince back in Canterlot, and begged them to convey his apology. He wanted a second chance more than he dared say, it seemed, he was just afraid to get his hopes up.

Had he gone the other way, ignored his past and demanded his race be set free, things would've been different. But he gone through a battle and nightmare of his own with Scorpan, and this had seemingly humbled the former haughty King.

"He will arrive shortly. I asked to speak with you by myself, as Infinitum will not raise the issue for himself. His focus has been on US, showing us the world is a good place, and sharing his new-found immunity so the crystal hearts power will no longer cause us suffering. I cannot begin to say how happy it makes me to see the outside world here today. It is more beautiful then I ever dared dream. The Princess has invited us all to next years crystal faire, and we cannot wait!" she smiled at Cadance, who beamed happily.

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A ball of energy suddenly flared to life on stage, and soon it expanded, revealing the Umbrum Alicorn. Those watching the enhanced view via Cadance's spell seen a littler pony snuggled into a hammock draped around Sombra's neck. She was clutching a camera and staring with wide eyes at the crowd.

"What’s..?" Sombra stared at the massive crowds, then at Cadance and Excel "am I-?"

"You aren’t late, Infinitum," Excel smiled up at him "I asked I be given the chance to speak to the citizens before you arrived."

"And they have a request!" Cadance gestured to the crowd, who began cheering. Sombra figured out the words, and they made his heart pound;

They were saying "Take the crown".

He looked toe Excel, confused. His ears shivered in apprehension, yet also hope.

"I know you’ve held back from fully accepting it Infinitum, and we understand your fear. But times have changed, as too have YOU. We don’t see the darkness of the past in you any more. This isn’t the same pony taking the crown, its a new one. This side of you has been seen by many, your friend was adamant we get you to see it. You’ve hidden yourself away from them, and they want to let you know how they feel."

Sombra could still hear them chanting those words. They...understood? They didn’t think him a hypocrite for accepting the role?

"So please, will you...?"

Sombra looked at her, then out at the waving crowd. Closer ponies waved and some even SMILED at him. Seeing the range of emotions in his eyes as he listened to Excel, it confirmed her speech to them.

Sombra clearly had a brilliant mind and a good heart. He was just afraid to use them, for fear of repeating his past...

One of those who smiled was Golden Glitter! She grinned and managed to hollar loud enough to make him hear;

"Go on!"

"She’s right you know!" Sombra looked at Discord as he popped into existence.

"I know..." Sombra said, his voice barely audible he was so relieved.

He looked back to Excel, who was holding the pretty crown up to him.

"Go on 'Fini." Firefly said softly. He nodded at last, and Excel teared up in relief. Firefly buzzed free of her cocoon, leaving the camera in the pouch. She hefted the crown in her short little legs, and buzzed her wings so as to fly up and set the crown atop Sombra's head. She buzzed back to perch on Excel's back as the crowd cheered.

Sombra looked a little light headed, but he was able to join Excel as the two of them gave an elegant bow to the crowd. Sombra silently thanked them, knowing words would never do his gratitude justice.

"Now, we have more news regarding the future home of the Umbrum!" Cadance smiled.

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From there she brought Twilight Sparkle and the others on stage, where, alongside a still reeling Sombra, they outlined the planned development of Sombra's new home.

"Constructions under way, and we’ve had a butt-load of offers fer help!" Applejack grinned up at Sombra, who smiled. This all felt like a dream.

"But we could always use more help, i-if it's OK." Fluttershy said, blinking up at the massive crowds.

"We have a lot of ground to cover, so please come by the palace if you can spare time or anything else!" Cadance finished "thank you all!"

"You look a little dumbfounded," Discord remarked to Sombra as he just STOOD there "you OK in there?"

"What? Yes, no. Probably..." Sombra trailed off "what, sorry?"

Discord snorted, shaking his head and tweaking Sombra's ears "that wasn’t even a complete sentence, silly Sombra! Bit of an overload is it?"

They were stood to one side, as Cadance finished the last of her announcements. While Sombra wasn’t paying attention, Discord moved one hand in a signal to a certain pony...

"You weren’t expecting a mini coronation huh?"

"W-well, no!" Sombra stammered, staring at his friend "I avoided it because I knew the past would end up interfering. I didn’t dare hope-"

"That they'd forgive you?" Discord was having to prompt Sombra to talk, the stallion was battling to sort everything out by the looks of it.

"Yes..." Sombra sighed at last, closing his eyes to block out the sensory overload of bright light and colour "I knew I had no right to ask them to, so I tried not to think too far. As it is, I don’t think I CAN ever repay them. The word "thankful" seems inadequate. But if there were a way by which I might-"

"Just look after your subjects, do what you’ve BEEN doing this whole time, silly Sombra. And don’t worry about telling them, that’s already taken care of."

"Huh?" Sombra opened his eyes, suddenly feeling like something was amiss. That, and- since when did his voice echo?!

"What are you-?" He cut off as he spotted a pink pony standing close by him and Discord, with a mic in her mouth. She grinned, eyebrows waggling as if to say "gotcha!".

"Oh..." Sombra switched linguistic tack to use a slightly rude Umbrum word, that made Excel burst out laughing. This made the crowd laugh too, as it was plainly obvious it was a curse word.

"If I didn’t take the option out of your hooves Sombra, you'd just cocoon yourself inside." Discord defeated Sombra's pre-emptive rant with a few well chosen words.

"I.." Sombra trailed off, and to discords surprise, he stopped looking so tense and instead laughed happily. "Haha...thank you, truly."

"That’s the spirit!" Discord clapped him on the back.

"I'm serious.." Sombra looked down at Pinkie Pie, who was still holding up the mic, as if expecting he had more to say. His gaze went distant as he flashed back to the past.

"I thought ambition and power would satisfy the darkness inside, I was so furious at realising my whole life had been a lie. I didn’t see that I had a new life just waiting with the Umbrum. Instead I let my anger get the better of me, and it was at that point my magic took over, accelerating the damage done by the heart. And I was all too happy to let it. In that state, I couldn’t stand to confront what id been told. I used it to hide away from what I refused to understand. I was still a selfish child. I thought changing to an adult would give me the strength needed to get what I wanted."

Everypony was caught up in his story, studying his thoughtful, yet sad expression. He raised his head, the sunlight glittering off his crown as he did.

"When I woke up, confronted by Scorpan, used and abused by a power hungry maniac, I realised how my tyranny must have seemed to YOU. So convinced what he was doing was for the greater good he ignored how much suffering he caused. Much as I had. I knew I couldn’t let him take my magic, but I had no choice." he shivered as he recalled those days, a flash of that bleakness showing in his expression "chained up in darkness, I was convinced my own death was the only way out. Even after The young Princess and her friends rescued me, I still tried to destroy myself. But, after a certain "someone" intervened and made me decide I didn’t want to die deep down, I started hoping I could find a life out here."

Some of the crowd looked saddened, a couple were teary eyed. It was evident from the expressions on Sombra's face as he spoke that recalling all this was hard for him. That he'd been so desperate to end his own existence hinted at how bad Scorpan's torture had been.

"You have heard of the battle of Canterlot. I was finally able to do something worthwhile that day. That was when I realised I wanted to get a message to all of you, to express how sorry I was, that I could understand why you were afraid of me. I never expected to see the Empire again, heck, I never expected to wake up from stasis after the battle.

To be alive and out of danger was a shock, I didn’t know how to cope with it. But when I was told the Umbrum were waking, I realised I had to come back to the Empire. To be reunited with them again, with my mind finally free, was the most wonderful occasion. I was no longer alone, I had a big family to look after. So many just like me."

Firefly couldn’t sit still and flew over, declaring "Fini!" and hugging him. He held her in the crook of one foreleg, smiling down at her.

"Today I took this little scamp out for a tour of the Empire so she could take photos. And I finally realised I’d been running away every time anypony tried to approach me before. I apologise for that. I was so fixated on keeping an eye out for the proverbial flaming torches and pitchforks I couldn’t see the efforts you were making going on right under my muzzle. It's all too easy for me to become so caught up in my own world I threaten to become absorbed by it. A lesson one individual has been trying to hammer home since day one."

Behind his back, Discord made a giant neon finger appear, aiming at himself and grinning. Firefly giggled as she peered at him over Sombra's shoulder.

"But that’s what a friend is for, that and making faces behind my back- YES, I CAN see you Discord." Sombra said, deadpan. Discord realised the polished walls of the stadium were acting like mirrors and hid all evidence, whistling. Sombra laughed, the sound rich and clear over the mic. It was genuine, he sounded happy.

The crowd had heard all the evidence it needed, and as one they stood up, cheering to the rafters. Sombra blinked, then smiled. Cadance's spell was still in effect, meaning the crowd had been able to see his expressions the whole time. The smile lit up his normally serious face. He no longer looked threatening and scary...

"I've made one other decision. As soon as is possible, I intend to move to the new building site to help with the construction."

"You’re gonna what, sugarcube?" Applejack did a double take.

"I'm going to stay out there for a period of time. I feel I can do more out there using my raw magic than I can here, at this point in time. I will make sure the Umbrum have a suitable caretaker before I go."

Excel looked relieved to hear that, but she silently cheered his decision. The Infinitum's magic was the strongest of all of theirs, and he'd be able to do a world of good out there. They’d all miss him, but they’d see him again soon.

"Whatever we can do ta help, just say!" Applejack nodded.

"Yup!" Pinkie Pie grinned.

"Who’s a responsible little ruler?" Discord teased, tweaking Sombra's ears. Sombra laughed, giving the Draconequus a mock-glare...

"Oh!" he recalled the other thing that had been on his mind.

"There's something I’d like to try. A fireworks spell. I got the idea after witnessing the glitter fireworks at the parade." He looked to Cadance, who nodded.

"Ooh, what is?!" Pinkie Pie squeaked, reminding him she'd been holding that mic all this time...

"Ah, I should have taken that thing from you. My apologies, miss Pie."

"Its Pinkie Pie to my friends, and no worries, I used my hair!" he did a double take when he realised she had, in fact, used her bouncy mane to hold it. This brought a fresh urge to laugh, which he had to quash as he handed Firefly over to Excel.

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Checking to make sure the sky above was clear, he flew up, wings outstretched. A shimmering purple magic swirled round him like a globe, then spun outwards like a fireworks display.

But these ones didn’t just explode into showers of sparks. Rather, they formed shapes of delicate crystal in the sky. Of the crystal palace, and on either side, its two rulers. The final one formed the shape of a crystal heart which, in a mimicry of its true self, pulsed and sent a wave of light across the sky.

The air filled with glittery sparks, and Sombra flew up higher to unleash a final volley that detonated in shooting stars of various colours. those below recognised their mane and coats colours, realising the display was in part a thank you for THEM.

"Best display EVER!" Pinkie Pie screeched, grinning ear to ear.

Discord grinned proudly as he watched the pony darting through the sky, the colours reflecting in his crystal wings as he angled down towards them.

Soon as Sombra landed he was surrounded by a rush of ponies in a massive hug. All the while this was going on, the crowds of ponies were applauding the display.

"Good job." was all Discord needed to say. Sombra smiled, and accepted it with a nod.

"You know what this calls for? A PARTY!" Pinkie Pie hollared.

"Why not?" Cadance laughed, making Pinkie Pie grin widely.

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Sure enough, she DID throw a party a scant few hours later. Outside the palace, she set up rows and rows of tables piled high with food, and it became an open invitation for as many ponies as could fit. Sombra naturally was the party’s guest of honour, alongside Excel and Firefly!

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Sombra was genuinely touched when several local business came up to him, to offer lumber, glass, crystal and many other things to help build the new home for the Umbrum. Some came up just to say hello, and personally tell him they’d forgiven him. And that they hoped he'd finally live the life he'd dreamed of with his ponies.

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"Of course, soon as it's built, we're gonna swing by on a diplomatic visit~" Shining Armor said later on, after finally getting Sombra's attention from all the curious crowds. The stallion was really making up for his obliviousness in talking to the crystal ponies.

"I look forward to it," Sombra smiled "I cannot wait until their home is finished."

"It's YOUR home too don’t forget," Shining added "are you still planning to stay out there to work?"

"I'd feel like I’m doing something good for them if I could get involved in building their home. I'm sure my magic could help in some way, however small."

"I can arrange transport on the next materials train, if that suits you?”

"That's more than ideal, thank you. There is just one last thing I wish to do before I leave, however..."

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Three days later Sombra returned to where he'd last seen the mother crystal. It waited, still glowing softly.

He closed his eyes, aware of Shining Armor and a trio of guards a short distance behind him.

Glowing power began to swirl up around him, gathering in mass until Sombra's form was almost obscured by it. Then it dispersed from him and wrapped itself around the red crystal.

Sombra concentrated on extracting the one hidden inside..

As the spectators watched, the crystal shone and began to alter its shape, becoming pony-shaped.

There was a final flash and a tall, red-shaded unicorn appeared. She was a little shorter then Sombra, with a reddish-orange body and red mane.

She opened her eyes, and when she seen Sombra, her SON, she hugged him tightly, tears falling down her cheeks.

Sombra hugged her back, before wrapping a spare cloak around her.

"Are they?" she asked.

He nodded "they’re awake, and they need you."

She noticed something felt different, there was a NEW power inside.

"It's immunity, the heart won't hurt us any more." Sombra told her proudly. She hugged him again.

"I'm so proud of you my child." she whispered, and Sombra felt happier than he could say to hear that.

"The heart itself granted it to me. It was willing to give us what we needed the most."

"I knew you could do it child!" she said, taking in how much better he looked since she'd seen him last. The ghosts no longer haunted him as they had before.

Sombra approached the guards and Shining Armor, who all bowed to this Umbrum pony.

"Pleasure to meet you," Shining Armor introduced himself and his guards "lets get you back to the Empire ma'am. May I ask your name?"

"I'm Umbra." she smiled.

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They brought her back to the palace, where she met Cadance, and the others Sombra had befriended. She startled Discord by giving HIM a hug.

"Thank you looking after my son." she said gratefully.

Discord smiled, and informed her that her son was one of the few he held close, alongside Fluttershy!

"Who's she again?" Rainbow Dash whispered as this was going on.

"She's his mother," Twilight Sparkle whispered "Cadance mentioned that first meeting when Sombra arrived here."

"I can see tha resemblance. Her mane kinda looks like his, also the eyes!" Applejack affirmed.

Umbra was given a very kind greeting by the six ponies, Cadance and even Celestia.

Discord overheard the guards preparing for a shift change and recalled a bet he'd made with Sombra...

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And so, as the big group wandered down the hall towards the dining hall. Discord ran down the guards hall, which was to their left, dressed in a banana suit, loudly proclaiming he was the king of the penguins! Much to the bewilderment of the guards walking by.

Then he vanished into the far wall.

Everypony stood there, utterly confused, Except one.

Sombra let out an unconstrained guffaw, and couldn’t stop himself from laughing.

"What’s-? huh?" Rainbow Dash looked at Sombra, who was laughing so hard he was on the verge of getting the hiccups.

"Okay, what do you know about this?" Pinkie Pie sidled up to Sombra "c'mon, tell Pinkie Pie!"

Sombra at last calmed down, and tried to explain himself;

"It was...a bet," Sombra wiped his eyes, still sniggering "he made a bet I could not beat him in a flying race. But I did, and the stipulation was the loser had to do THAT."

Celestia giggled, shaking her head "only Discord.." she said in amusement. Everypony else was giggling now too, and Umbra seen the way her son was opening up, he'd changed a lot since she'd seen him last. That smile was one she sensed had long been hidden from him.

Discord reappeared, minus the suit, and held up a hand for Sombra to high-five.

"Honestly!" Rarity sighed, but she was smiling nonetheless.

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After a good meal, Umbra went with her son to be reunited with the Umbrum. Sombra explained he intended to go be a part of the task force building the new home. So he needed her to look after the Umbrum alongside Cadance and Shining Armor.

"There is much you can teach them, and Princess Twilight Sparkle will voraciously devour any new information you give her!" he added, knowing Twilight Sparkle would be over the moon to get her hooves on new details!

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Sombra spent a further few days with his mother, showing her the Empire, and telling her everything that had happened. She was so proud to hear him speak of his time with the crystal ponies.

"I'm just happy to see you smile, child." she told him, as they walked around the gardens.

"I was too frightened of losing everything to let anything get close!" Sombra sighed "I was a fool."

"You were a child when this began, you coped as best you could. I wish I could’ve helped you more. You were our last hope but it was such a burden to bear.."

"I've been given another chance to decide what kind of pony I want to be. I'm not going to waste it this time..." Sombra smiled "so don’t worry."

"That’s my Sombra!" she smiled proudly.

"I have to ask, did you pick that name?" Sombra asked. She nodded.

"I did my best to implant it in your memory. It is a name from our history, a proud name. And you’ve grown to fit it..."

Author's Note:

Sorry this took so long, i havent been that well lately, and there was too much going for for me to focus properly.

Comments

[Skye Mist]

Amazing!Simply splendid!
And this part is so frinkin funny:

Discord overheard the guards preparing for a shift change and recalled a bet he'd made with Sombra...
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And so, as the big group wandered down the hall towards the dining hall. Discord ran down the guards hall, which was to their left, dressed in a banana suit, loudly proclaiming he was the king of the penguins! Much to the bewilderment of the guards walking by.
Then he vanished into the far wall.
Everypony stood there, utterly confused, Except one.
Sombra let out an unconstrained guffaw, and couldn’t stop himself from laughing.
"What’s-? huh?" Rainbow Dash looked at Sombra, who was laughing so hard he was on the verge of getting the hiccups.
"Okay, what do you know about this?" Pinkie Pie sidled up to Sombra "c'mon, tell Pinkie Pie!"
Sombra at last calmed down, and tried to explain himself;
"It was...a bet," Sombra wiped his eyes, still sniggering "he made a bet I could not beat him in a flying race. But I did, and the stipulation was the loser had to do THAT."
Celestia giggled, shaking her head "only Discord.." she said in amusement. Everypony else was giggling now too, and Umbra seen the way her son was opening up, he'd changed a lot since she'd seen him last. That smile was one she sensed had long been hidden from him.
Discord reappeared, minus the suit, and held up a hand for Sombra to high-five.
"Honestly!" Rarity sighed, but she was smiling nonetheless.

[rileyknudson]

how in the world does this have 5 dislikes its awesome

[Coco Candy]

Aww, that was a beautiful chapter. There is so much to say but I'm just going to say that for now.

[Lullaby_for_a_ brony]

Thanks for this cap. It moved me