Frozen Shadows

by Hail King Sombra

7. Confronting the Shadows

Derpy and The Doctor were quiet until they turned three turns down the long corridors, then the mail mare practically gasped out, “Should we really leave Dark Watch with that - monster?!?”

Whooves butted her flank to urge her along when she slowed, looking back. “We’ve no choice, Derps!” he said grimly. “He barely used a flicker of his magic to nearly crush my wrist and he has enough physical strength to keep a fully grown, powerful stallion like Dark Watch under hoof as much as he was struggling. I doubt there is much King Sombra couldn’t do to us if he really wanted to.”

“There’s something else I don’t understand, Doctor.”

“What’s that Derpy?”

“If that isn’t our Nyx, but an earlier version from before we met her in Celestia’s palace, then that means she should remember us, right?”

“You mean her older self? The one who saw us again when she came to plead Sombra’s case to the Two Sisters?”

“Uh huh.”

That stopped the Doctor for a moment. “Yes…” the Doctor said slowly, mulling it over. “I don’t know. Memory damage from the concussion? This earlier version of her never regains consciousness now, while she’s here with us?” He looked back down the corridors towards where they had left them. “Truthfully, I am more worried as to where our Nyx is.”

The pegasus looked down, thinking about that. “Oh yeah. That’s a good point.”

The Time Pony resumed trotting. “And there’s the whole once his Majesty’s assured Nyx is recovering, what’s to stop him from taking over the Tardis problem.” He shook his head, his wild, brown mane made more unruly by the act. “There’s just too much going on at the moment to get our answers until something else happens and I sincerely hope it isn’t another catastrophe like we’ve been having ever since that Time Witch of his came on board.”

As impulsive as Luna’s guard had acted already this trip, he felt no such need to push his luck now with an opponent like King Sombra who had already shown he could best the bat pony both in sheer brute physicality and by force of magic. Groping for another advantage in the moment the Shadow King was preoccupied with his consort, he ran through his list of options and came up with only two - his wits and if Sombra had a shred of warrior’s code to his name.

They were really the only other defenses he had left to him.

Sombra turned his attention back to Dark Watch. The bat pony assumed the stance one would when in the presence of his commanders. While Sombra was not one of them, he was a King in this time period - even if he were a King of the enemy’s side.

Watch was careful to keep eye contact with him yet not give an air of challenging his authority. Sombra would respect strength and averting one’s eyes was always a sign of either weakness, submissiveness or worse, cowardice.

“Hmmm…” Sombra looked over at Watch’s flank, taking in the broadsword cutie mark pointing downward, Luna’s crescent moon cutting across the hilt. It was glowing with a soft, purple hue. “Broadswords, I am informed, are no longer utilized in your time. Is that correct?”

“No, they are not.”

The tyrant’s gaze came back to rest directly on his. “Peculiar one is your cutie mark, do you not think?”

“It has crossed my mind from time to time,” he replied, not daring to take his eyes off his enemy's. “My parents and squad mates were not surprised. They always said I was - “

“ - at one with my sword,” Sombra chimed in as Dark Watch completed the thought with exactly the same phrase.

The bat pony frowned. “How did you know,” he asked, his even tone cracking with a hint of surprise.

It was Sombra’s turn for the unreadable mask to drop slightly. “A hunch not yet proven,” he said thoughtfully. “But that can be rectified. Nyx is resting at the moment and we should carry our discussion elsewhere as to not disturb her rest. Is there an area for combat practice on this vessel?”

“‘Combat practice’?” Watch echoed. “You mean for us to - “

“I missed my practice with Iron Blade due to this ‘time emergency’ and feel the need to expend some energy in a constructive way,” Sombra grinned. “As a warrior do you not feel the need to - what is the term in your time for this?”

“Blow off some steam?” Dark Watch offered.

“If you like, though why steam is involved, eludes me,” Sombra shook his dark mane.

Watch actually laughed at this. “I am always ready for a good fight. If you promise not to actually kill me this time, I may yet prove a challenge for you, given a fighting chance.”

“A fair request,” the King nodded, finding himself falling into an almost easy manner with the bat pony. He followed the guard out into the corridor, who turned the opposite direction Whooves and Derpy had taken back to the control room.

At a junction, Watch slowed. “I need a moment to get my bearings,” he said, venturing a few paces down one corridor. “All these blasted corridors look the same.”

Sombra watched as the guard of the Night Princess moved further away, a motion at his flank catching his eye. The glow surrounding Watch’s cutie mark appeared to fade.

“No,” the bat pony shook his head, coming back. “I think it is this way.” The glow returned to his flank as he came back towards Sombra. He let the guard move past him and go the other way. The same thing happened. The glow faded the further away he went from the Crystal King.

‘I thought so,’ Sombra breathed. ‘Yet how…’

“It’s this way, your - “Watch caught himself before he said, Majesty. “This way,” he amended. 'Why do I keep wanting to give him his titles?' he chided himself. 'I’m not part of his army. I’m not obligated to.' Shaking his head, he grunted, leading the way towards the practice field.

Sombra followed, keeping his thoughts to himself for the moment, and caught up with Dark Watch as they walked on.

They soon came to a door labeled “sports field”. Watch led them in and gave King Sombra a chance to take in the area. The dark stallion’s unreadable gaze moved over the large, squarish room that Dark Watch gauged was roughly the size of a football field, which was good. They would need room to run.

Secretly, Luna’s guard was worried. He knew no more than what the legends said about King Sombra. Kings in any era of Equestrian history were only occasionally warriors and rarely had the time to stay in peak physical shape after taking on the responsibilities of their position. Gauging from Sombra’s strong, muscular build and the way he himself had been so easily subdued by the Tyrant King, history had damnably left out the fact that the Shadow Pony defied the royal norm in both ways.

Watch gave the King some room before pulling his sword out and casually twirling it at his side. His opponent reviewed the cache of fencing swords in a rack by the side of the field, frowning. None of these would do against Dark Watch’s weapon, which, Sombra noticed, was not a standard issue military sword. He pulled three swords out of the rack, reshaping them at the molecular level with his magic as he spoke. “I noticed your sword is not typical of Luna’s guard, unless they have changed over the years.”

“It’s my own,” Watch acknowledged.

“It is of viridian. That is an abundant metal in the Empire in my era,” Sombra told him. He hefted his newly created weapon, one of equal weight and no apparent unfair advantages beyond Watch’s own sword. “Rare outside it.”

“Still is,” the guard nodded, refusing to say more his enemy might find potentially useful.

Sombra began his circle, studying Dark Watch’s stance. The way the bat pony twirled his sword, swept it in front of him and ended the display, hilt towards his enemy, raised the King’s eyebrow. More and more interesting, he thought to himself. The bat pony quickly took up position, ears perked up, circling his opponent in turn, wings tensed, though held down by his sides.

“Where did you obtain it?” Sombra asked.

“It was a gift from - “

“ - my father,” Sombra completed the thought.

Watch reared back. “How in Tartarus did you know?”

The Crystal King didn’t answer; instead, he took advantage of his prey’s surprise to attack. Despite being caught off guard by the remark, Dark Watch blocked the blow easily, driving its force into the space beside instead of into his skull. He swung quickly back up, forcing Sombra’s blade back hard towards the pony’s left shoulder.

Sombra blocked in turn as if he had anticipated the move, cantering back a step and the two trotted backwards, disengaging. Luna’s guard had not even broken stride nor sweat, his eyes scanning Sombra’s form, assessing his stance and moves. He only had a second to do so as the King attacked, his moves designed to test Watch’s weak spots.

The lunar guard trotted back and to the side, taking advantage of the space. Sombra followed and suddenly the guard was on the offensive as the tyrant hammered him from all sides. Dark Watch countered each blow, bothered by the distracting idea slowly forming that somehow this opponent or at least his methods were familiar to him.

It would have shocked him that King Sombra thought exactly the same thing, but for different reasons.

Needing a space to think for a second, Watch took to the air, but stayed there barely a heartbeat as Sombra’s magic reached out and grabbed him, slamming him back down to earth.

“Don’t like my advantage, eh?” Watch smiled, shaking his head, getting back up. At least Sombra was observing etiquette enough to let him recover without attacking an opponent while he was down.

“It would be an advantage to you with any other opponent,” Sombra rumbled, charging again.

The bat pony raised his sword in a lightening move, piercing Sombra’s gorget, burying his weapon in the tyrant’s right shoulder.

Sombra snarled, fighting the pain of the hit. “You took a chance you were going to end me, creature!”

“Hey, a stallion has to try, right?” Watch grinned but then frowned in turn, surprised his opponent had not been quickly felled by the blow. “You weather a crippling blow well, your Majesty.”

“And you risked Nyx’s wrath if you had succeeded in killing me, unless of course, you already knew you could not.”

Ignoring the comment, the guard attempted to withdraw his sword, but some force grabbed it in an iron grip, refusing to give the weapon up. “What the Tartarus?!” he muttered, perplexed, tugging as hard as he could.

An evil laugh caused him to look up. It was King Sombra. The sword came loose finally when Dark Watch’s surprised gaze met his hot green eyes. Incredibly, the pierced armor mended itself as a black, shadowy substance like a living thing reached out from inside Sombra’s body and pulled the metal back into place, mended it and apparently the damage to his shoulder, then disappeared back behind the gorget.

“You are a demon!” Watch said uneasily, stumbling back in shock.

“We both have, shall we say, advantages?” the King smiled, baring his fangs.

Watch gave a cry and attacked with all his might. He landed two more blows that should have crippled or killed Sombra, but were merely pushed out of the shadow pony’s body by either some bizarre quirk of physiology and/or dark magic. By the end of the volley of attacks and counter attacks, Dark Watch was trembling with exertion and fear.

If anything, Sombra appear only to be merely slightly winded, but his magic appeared undrained and even stronger than when they had begun the fight, glowing in his unnatural red crystal eyes behind the hideous green overlay, expelling lavender mists at their edges.

The King buried his sword in the topsoil of the playing field and extended his hoof to the bat pony. “You fought well, as I expected,” he complimented the guard.

As the glow in Sombra’s eyes faded, Watch felt his fear fade too. He took the proffered hoof and gripped it. “You fought better than I expected,” he admitted. “You still unnerve the Tartarus out of me, though, demon king.”

To his surprise, Sombra laughed, a deep rich sound. “A title not unknown to me, Watch,” he nodded.

When the guard got his breath back, he led them to the edge of the field where the stallion pulled out several bottles of water and handed one to his opponent. Sombra looked at it curiously, noting how Dark Watch twisted the plastic top off to open it. He imitated him, sniffed the water cautiously. “Hmm...interesting contrivance.”

“It’s called ‘plastic’,” Watch replied, guzzling the contents down in one mighty swing. Sombra refused to take a drink of his own bottle at first. The bat pony extended his hoof. “Here, allow me.” Sombra floated the jug over to him. Watch took a small sip, and then floated it back over to the King. “Must be bothersome having to always watch for poison.”

Sombra took a deep pull from the container. “Very little in the way of poisons can harm me, though I have taken the liberty of trying them all as insurance,” he rumbled, recalling an identical discussion what seemed like a century ago now. “Tell me about yourself, Watch. Where do you hail from?”

“Canterlot,” the stallion replied simply. “It was always my dream to be in Luna’s Night Guard, though she never mentioned I would be taking on such unusual assignments as this.”

“Traveling with a time traveler?”

“Aye,” Watch replied. “You must have your hooves full with Nyx as well, yes?”

“More than ye can imagine,” The Dark King chuckled. He paused, seemingly weighing options in his head. “How far are we currently in the future, Watch?”

“Far,” the guard replied vaguely.

The King narrowed his slitted eyes. “You have a talent for both ignorance and lying at the same moment, my savage friend.” He paused, studying his opponent. Dark Watch might wear his impulsive, surface emotions on his sleeve, but something was keeping his deeper intentions so far buried, the Shadow King was not only unable to discern them, he felt even the bat pony was unaware of their existence.

Dark Watch in turn studied King Sombra, trying to solve the impossible riddle of his existence as a creature made of the shadows, impervious to weapons. And yet, as frightening as the creature was who he saw so rightfully earned the title, “King of Shadows”, once he was allowed to live, the night guard’s fear had settled down remarkably fast, he even finding a kindred spirit of sorts in the company of such a monster.

'How can that even be?' he wondered.

“And your cutie mark,” Sombra gestured to his flank. “Does it often glow like that?”

“No - what?” the stallion was caught off guard. He looked to his own side. What the Dark King said was true. It glowed with a deep purple hue not unlike the violet mist seeping from Sombra’s own eyes. “It has never done that!” he breathed, staring at it.

“A cover not quite perfect and yet, would never be revealed in the court at Canterlot,” Sombra said almost casually.

A faint warning bell went off in the bat pony’s head, but the King spoke before he could even mull over what was causing it behind his enemy’s words.

“For how could it if I were never there to trigger such a reaction, eh Watch?” Still the casual tone, but the red crystal eyes boring into his soul belied its innocence.

Confusion warred with his trepidation as the night guard looked the Dark Pony King in the eyes. “And what do you mean by that?”

Sombra rose from his haunches, standing at his full height. Watch was again uncomfortably reminded of how hopelessly outmatched he was physically as well as magically against this foe and rose reflexively in defense.

“It is rather obvious your vessel is from a future far ahead of mine own,” the Umbrum rumbled, looking almost bored at his hoof. “This ‘technology’ belies that much. And since my long range goal of repaying Celestia for her intervention in the courtship I once enjoyed with her sister involves hanging the Sun Princess’s oh so pure white hide from the side of my throne, your presence here leads me to the conclusion I am not around in that future to bring my plans against her to bear.”

“What makes you say that?”

Sombra ceased the fascination with his hoof, seeing Dark Watch had already ascertained he was in trouble halfway through his speech. He gestured to the crescent buckle on Watch’s armor. “If I had succeeded in eliminating Celestia, Princess Luna would be the new sun bearer and your armor would have changed. If I had ended the sun witch, you would have bowed down to me as your King if she were still Princess of the Night, turned Queen of the North Aurora by our marriage.”

'Queen of the North Aurora,' Dark Watch mulled over, his head spinning dizzily. If this were another of King Sombra’s royal titles, it was not in the history books. Yet somehow, someway, he knew the term - knew it well…

He slapped the mare hard with his hoof. To him it didn’t matter she wore a crown. She was in shackles, bowed before them and the hundreds in the two armies and that was enough. “You will address his Majesty by his titles, wench!” he heard himself saying. “He is now your Sovereign, the King of the - “

“ - the North Aurora,” the bat pony muttered, falling to his knees, the room around them slowly coming back into focus. He stared, afraid, at his hoof, still stinging from the memory of that slap.

Sombra watched him closely, silently for a moment. There was a strong amount of fear in the night guard’s mind, the Umbrum noted, and it was very close to the surface, as if he were fighting every one of King Sombra’s words, afraid of what they meant. But it was more than fighting, he had the impression. There was only one way to find out…

His eyes flared briefly, feeding on the bat pony’s fear to expand his temporal senses, speaking as he did so. “As to where we are in the time streams, while I am fairly new to this form of temporal magic, my senses inform me we have barely moved.”

“‘Your’ temporal senses?” Watch gasped, stunned. “You - you CAN'T have temporal magic!” he cried. “We believed that only Nyx possessed such witchery!” ‘I've got to get to Whooves… warn him…! ‘ Beads of sweat glistened on his forehead. Forcing himself to recover his wits and balance, he drug himself up from the ground he had fallen to on his knees before this enemy.

Finally Sombra began taking slow, measured, even predatory steps towards the bat pony. Recovered, Watch back-pedaled, keeping his senses at the ready, his magical aura now a low, constant glow around the hilt of his sword.

“But there are pieces to this puzzle that still are unclear to me,” Sombra rumbled. “and hidden from you.”

“From me?” Watch echoed.

“Yes, hidden,” Sombra replied. “Time travel is a tricky and dangerous business, hence why I believe you were sent ahead of us. The spies in Kajeiri - even in my future - have done their work well in preparing you for this.”

The night guard quickly ran through what he knew of the city of Kajeiri. The closest city to the Crystal Empire during King Sombra’s reign, it no longer existed in modern times. Legends had it Princess Celestia had gone there to assist in quelling a rebellion after Sombra was defeated - they had been staunch allies and defenders of the Tyrant King’s rule in the North and were furious at his defeat, preparing an army to invade Canterlot to take down the Two Sisters for their part in his banishment. Rumors went further, saying Celestia had destroyed the once thriving city out of necessity, but it sounded exactly like the kind of rumors Celestia’s enemies would spread to undermine her reign. That Sombra believed Dark Watch was part of their spy network in the future may have been a natural assumption on his part, so he kept his reaction to the offhand comment strictly to himself.

“And what is it that you believe is hidden from myself, demon,” he questioned Sombra aloud, trying to buy time as he glanced around the field, searching for something he could use to better defend himself.

“Something the Kajeiri network has conditioned you to forget,” the Umbrum rumbled, turning to smoke and surrounding the guard in an instant.

Watch uttered a curse and reflexively closed his eyes before the flash of hot green in his face could plunge his mind into his worst nightmares.

“Of course you knew to do that,” Sombra rumbled from the darkness, pleased. “Useless, of course, but your reflex to do so confirms my suspicions even more about your origins.”

Dark Watch frowned. “I wouldn't call it useless, demon,“ he replied. “I am still in command of my faculties. You do not manipulate my fears.”

Watch felt the cold, soft touch of a shadowy tentacle upon his shoulder. Something about Sombra’s words bothered him. “My origins?” he echoed.

“Which are not what you believe them to be, my savage friend,” the smooth, rich voice of the King rumbled. “But it was a test, not my intent to cripple you.” He flowed closer around the stallion, his head bobbing directly in front of his victim’s face.

“Then what are your intentions,” the guard asked, not daring to open his eyes. In response, he felt himself go weightless, floating just above the playing field. Darkness clung to his hide, sank into it.

“Relax,” Sombra commanded softly, his eyes now a steady, deep emerald green, his aura holding his victim aloft.

It was only when Dark Watch’s muscles relaxed completely, against his will, did he realize he had lost control of his body to the Shadow King. His thoughts raced, mind flailing.

“This conditioning has perhaps been useful up to now,” the Umbrum rumbled. “but now I intend to overcome it…”

Dark Watch’s eyes popped open. “What? No - wait!” he pleaded.

Outside, in the normally quiet corridor, the bat pony guard’s scream could be heard, but was suddenly cut off...

Comments

[The Bricklayer]

Oh boy, so Sombra's got a full body again or at least control of one? Yikes, everybody run for the hills! (Except of course for if your name is the Doctor or Derpy, then which you face him head on!)

Also, I think this theme would be PERFECT for Sombra as it's just creepy enough to work.

[Ice Star]

Sombra ceased the fascination with his hoof, seeing Dark Watch had already ascertained he was in trouble halfway through his speech. He gestured to the crescent buckle on Watch’s armor. “If I had succeeded in eliminating Celestia, Princess Luna would be the new sun bearer and your armor would have changed. If I had ended the sun witch, you would have bowed down to me as your King if she were still Princess of the Night, turned Queen of the North Aurora by our marriage.”

That's gotta be one of the most badass titles possible. Bearer of the sun and moon, guardian of dreams, and queen of the flippin' northern lights? That's a 3-in-1 deal right there.