• Published 5th Aug 2016
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Favorable Alignment - Ice Star



Princess Luna disappears from Equestria with hopes of saving the world and is accompanied by the enigmatic Sombra. Meanwhile, Celestia tries to bury secrets as immortal as she is and Cadance must choose her loyalties carefully...

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Chapter 21: Every Fear That Remains Unspoken

Luna:

Rays of moonlight danced across the beach, settling on it like a soft silver blanket that made the grains glow with the pale light. At the sound of waves behind me, I dug my bare hooves farther into the soft substance, stifling a giggle as I did so since this was too joyous a silence to waste.

I'm back.

Behind me, floating far enough overhead so the ocean could not touch it was the Sky Scraper, which rocked softly in the fresh night breeze that carried the smell of life, clean and clear in the distance. Its shadow still swayed over the waves smoothly. The edges of the dark reflection were blurred by the aura I had surrounding the ship, gripping it so it wouldn't drift away and dragging it closer to the surface I had missed, where the winds are quiet.

I needed to anchor the ship while I explored the island. I turned around and lowered my head just a bit, the light of my horn steady as the ship touched the water's surface and causing a few ripples to appear, if only for a moment.

After the ship had touched the water I had my gaze rest on the hall and focused my magic differently, preparing for another spell. A faint rope of light appeared from my horn, connecting to the hull, the white light becoming more defined as I held the spell longer, calmly watching as the shimmering fog gained features that could not be mistaken to eyes as keen as mine: the links of a chain. Each bit was as translucent as the ocean water, and as delicate looking as starlight; yet it shone much softer and bore a strength no mortal craft could rival.

I took the end of the chain in my forehoof and my horn flashed once more, dancing with sparks that were too weak to tame, and faded long before they hit the sand, or so it would seemed. I was not startled when the sand beneath my hooves shifted and a stake of silver as pure as moonlight, and flawless in texture so it looked like something frictionless and intangible from a dream, poked out of the ground as if it had always been there.

Quietly, I looped the chain around the stake, securing the Sky Scraper with ease. When that was done I removed the moon-crested necklace I wore and placed it in plain view on the flat top of the stake. It hardly ever mattered to me before whether I wore it or not most of the time, as I hardly felt it, but right now the only thing I wanted was a break. The last few weeks the favored piece of jewelry that had suited me so well felt like a troublesome collar that I wished to discard, and with it, the stress I had endured.

Once that was done, I no longer needed to look at the shores that would mark both my arrival and departure, and I galloped across the shores. The rhythmic thuds of my hooves was the only sound other than the wind whooshing in my ears. The wind kissed my face and caught my mane flowing behind me, tossing it about. I raced on, towards the trees in the distance. My swift strides finding the way easily, as though I could have memorized each place to put my hooves on ever-shifting sandbars.

Somewhere within me, I was laughing, and the first happiness and seeds of relaxation I had since setting hoof on the deck of the Sky Scraper began to bloom.

It didn't take long with my stride length for my hooves to find soil beneath them instead of sand. The silver-barked trees, with their dark leaves of green and purple, rustled as I dashed by, careful not to trip over any roots that poked through the high grass.

Fleeting glimpses as I traveled through, bursting with a foal-like glee within, allowed me to note a few oddities: patches of grass that were trampled, the perplexing sight of hoofprints, and grass here and there...

...that looked as if it had been cut by a sword in haste, by somepony who was unwell...

...and scorch marks, as faint as they were on the trees like spots of blight. I needed no confirmation that they were sure signs of rage or another kind of distress.

Was it relief that flowed through me, as I looked upon these clues with nervous eyes, and my heart in my throat? I knew that there was some mixed in the turmoil that had overtaken my mind in seconds... but there was also a fear I did not know how to explain, and so many things I knew I would have to, and might even want to say. At the same time, I was dreading the only confrontation I knew that I would never want to make.

I'm not so overcome by my own emotions that I slow my run, but I no longer follow whatever original course has deserted my mind's eye. I don't know the clearing I blunder into, but in an instant I see a shape and feel something register even quicker. In that split second, I make a choice where I can't see the need for something that seems so automatic.

I tackle Sombra to the ground before I can fully make out all his features. Tears sting my eyes as I hug him as tightly as possible with an embrace that put a boa's to shame. I tried to choke out an apology, anything to show how much I missed him, and how much of a mess this is - I never thought I would have seen him again!

Instead I find myself mumbling those words - or some variation of the phrase 'I missed you' - into his neck, sobbing into his hood and unable to pay attention to anything else, including his response which consisted of loud, almost pained coughing. Even though I didn't want to let go of him - I honestly wanted to hug him tighter - I did anyway, praying silently to the stars in my feverish state that he wouldn't run away and wouldn't disappear without a word again.

He sat up slowly, and one of forehooves, with the metal boots collapsed into bands, hugged the right side of his ribs. Sombra winced as he did so, and looked like he wanted to disappear inside his cloak, which was never oversized to begin with, and shrugged around his wither.

I couldn't find his confidence, and that worried me. It was almost heartbreaking to see Sombra without that vital part of him. In my moonlight, I could see the damage that had been done to him in the time we had spent apart. His forelegs were covered with bruises, cuts, and scrapes that he hadn't attended to. It looked as if one or two of them could have minor infections, too. The circles under his eyes were almost as dark as when I first met him, and right now, knowing how much sleep he would have gone without it became painful to survey him.

Sombra's mane and tail no longer held their disheveled handsomeness, but looked limp and unkempt. I had been close enough to him to know that he had at least kept clean, he wasn't filthy like his summoner, but fatigue and emotional turmoil of his own had taken a toll with sleeplessness.

Knowing him, he hasn't eaten anything, and couldn't have even bothered to touch water much. I know that he doesn't like to eat, and that he doesn't need to eat nearly as much with the benefits of immortality, but his ribs still showed just a bit.

I wanted nothing more to hug Sombra again despite the bruises I saw his hoof pressed over.

"Y-you're a mess," I said after finally manage to swallow my nerve, yet my racing heartbeat was all I could hear, drowning out my own words and everything else.

Sombra said nothing. He gave a horribly irritated glare to me riddled with feelings, some of which seemed toxic, that he almost dared me to decipher.

"I missed you," I repeated for what must have been the sixtieth time, and watched as he scooted away from me so he could lean against a tree, his hood now pulled up so I couldn't tell if he was looking at me as he melded into shadow.

"Sombra, I n-need to talk to you, please."

No response from him.

"It's about what you said on the b-boat," I went on, begging that with all the magic and power I had he would just talk, and I could stop crying for just a little bit; he mattered so much to me, just like Celestia, but he wasn't family. I couldn't help but show my distress around him, how could I be expected to contain anything after what he said to me and then just disappeared?

All he does is look away. It feels like a knife in the chest.

"I'm just so tired. We have so much to say, or at least I do. Sombra, don't you realize how much we need to talk?"

He nods ever so slightly, and I feels as if the weight of the world has been lifted from me.

"...But I am scared, Sombra."

His reply appears to be a questioning tilt of his head, although it is hard to tell in the darkness, even with my sight, because of his hood.

"I'm afraid you'll leave once more, and that I'll wake up and find you gone and have to cry for losing you all over again."

As I sit in the trampled grass of Sombra's sort-of camp, staring across at him, I catch the soft glow of crimson and the dirt at my hooves is altered, gleaming with speckles of gray crystal that I have come to enjoy the sight of. They read:

I WON'T. YOU'RE SAFE.

I let out the breath that had become unbearable to hold, a couple tears of relief coursing down my cheek.

The message changed:

WE'LL TALK TOMORROW.

Beat, I fall to the ground and am so drained that I want nothing more than to just sleep, but have the chance to mumble one last 'I miss you'.

Seeing his nod, however unclear it was, was like a private cause for celebration.

The last thing I remember was a crimson cloak being draped over me some time in the night.

...

I yawn, stretching my forelegs and push myself off of the ground, brushing bits of grass out of my coat as I do so. The sun would need to rise soon, and for that to happen the moon must be lowered. Although, it appeared that I may have slept in just a bit. I often find myself up around three in the morning readying the castle for the day, or just relaxing but today I have slept in, and it's almost dawn.

I quickly rub my eyes and wipe away the last of yesterday's smudged makeup, momentarily regretting I slept in it, knowing I'll have to take extra care to wash it off today. My horn glows with my simple everyday duty, something that is automatic for me, but would cost thousands of mortals their lives with the strain and impossible amounts of power they would need output in order to get the moon into the sky, clearly ignoring any kind of correct placement and the subtle art to the task, as if it were but a chore.

Once I am on my hooves, I wrap Sombra's cloak around me properly, enjoying the warm feeling of the fabric while I search the still-shadowy clearing for the owner.

Sombra appeared to have occupied this clearing for some time. While I saw no evidence of a proper campfire, traces of some kind of fire and other wear in the grass was evident. Many hoofprints wove paths in and out of the clearing. Many ended nowhere at all, and were simply signs of Sombra pacing. I noticed that others looked as if he had worn his boots for some course of time.

The trees, too, showed signs of Sombra's presence. One had been chopped in half in some kind of rampage or some other occasion when emotion would have overtaken him. A second had burn marks on it and splinters of äerint buried in the split and chipped silver bark. Fate was stuck into the trunk of a third tree, as easily as if it were merely wedged into a stick of butter.

Sombra himself sat under a separate tree, whose shadow was entangled with half a dozen others that overlapped and made it harder to even see his bright eyes. After a moment of letting my eyes adjust to the rising sun's light, I could see that his eyes were closed, but he did not sleep. He looked quite alert, ears pricked to listen to any sound that was made.

I was about to walk over to him, but as soon as I moved my hoof to take the first step, he disappeared in the light of a teleportation spell, reappearing at my side not even a second later. He refused to look at me, and simply plucked his cloak off my back and slipped it back on.

I missed it as soon as he did. It had been very warm.

"Are you feeling any different, Sombra?"

He still wouldn't look at me. He didn't even move.

"Sombra, you agreed to talk to me last night, and despite all that's happened I still trust you to keep your promise to me. I know that you say what you-"

When he did look at me, there was a strange look in his eyes that I could have figured out if I had been able to look at him long enough to see what else was in that bitter stare of his and finish my statement.

"MMPH!" The butterflies in my stomach and understanding I had tried to extend to him only moments before had transformed into anger in an instant as I pushed him away.

"Absolutely not, Sombra! I came here to try and talk to you!" I wiped my mouth and shot him a cold, steely glare. "Kissing me," I spat, "is certainly not talking to me!"

Sombra stepped away, looking horror-struck. His ears were laid against his head, and his eyes held not the cynical melancholy I would expect from him, but true sadness and even shame.

"...I can't believe I... no, I just... Luna, I-" His voice was tired and his words scrambled and frantic.

"Oh don't you 'Luna' me!" I shouted, stomping a hoof, "You knew exactly what you were doing didn't you?"

"I'm a monster."

"Really? I've been called dramatic before but don't you think you are pushing this too far Sombra? 'Monster' is certainly an extreme-"

Although, perhaps it was I who played the monster in this moment. I really hadn't seen Sombra sad before, and it was almost pitiful if I wasn't so angry with him right now. I wanted to be brash, loud, and if my actions were perceived as such I would be rude if I needed to be.

But I've never seen Sombra cry. Or at least I thought he was crying, while I saw no tears it was clear that Sombra was anguished and that my reaction, as necessary as it had been, might have played a part in this.

It was agonizing to listen to his tear-less sobs. The lump in my throat had returned as I stared at him, feeling just as horrible as he looked right now.

My legs felt more like roots anchoring me so I could bear witness to this horrible sight.

"I'm so sorry, Luna, I really am! I shouldn't have but I did... and..." his rushed words devolve into coughing sobs and I still don't think I can move with a heart this heavy.

I try to say something that could help, but all I manage is to eke out is his name. Upon hearing it he looks at me, and while he may not be crying his eyes certainly look wet with tears.

"You're afraid of me now, aren't you?"

I can't meet his gaze, which is only a different kind of intense now that he's so distraught. My own stare emptily watches the ground, unable to look away. I wanted to cry out that I wasn't afraid of him, never in my life had he been somepony I should have ever feared, even when we had first met one another. What fear I had felt for him then had long since died. Instead, my throat just feels swollen.

I'm sorry, Sombra.

That would be a good place to start, so I try to focus on beating just one bout of anxiety in order to help us both and uproot my legs from this paralysis.

And I do.

I walk over to Sombra and wrap one forehoof around his neck, bringing us both down to a sitting position before I wrap my other forehoof around him so Sombra has a proper shoulder to cry on, while I take comfort from his presence.

"You can hug me back," I whisper as I hug him tighter, "I'm not mad at you anymore, it was the kiss that made me angry. You didn't ask if-"

He finally hugs me back his sputtering half-sobs only sound worse. All I think to do is feel each bruise and cut I recall yesterday and heal them all, one for each time he calls himself some variation of 'monster' in his choked sounding voice and screaming into my mane that he should just be alone where he won't hurt anypony ever again, and have everything he was once made to do thrust in his face, and how he especially didn't want to ever hurt me, and...

Sombra goes on and on, and I'm unable to reply to some of these things, and the shock that anypony finds me some sort of glorious exception to... something, anything.

He really starts wail, even if there are no tears, when I start whisper back all sorts of things in his ear, telling him that I care about him. I prove it by showing that I figured out the nasty knife stuck in his back: all those things he's said over the years about being a demon is more than just a species he half-hates being, but him seeing himself as the monster that everypony calls him. It's exactly like what I told him upon the Sky Scraper's deck: he does believe some of it.

"I don't hate myself, Luna," is all Sombra manages to say.

"You're right," I whisper in his ear, "You only hate what you are. It's why you chose to call yourself a pony. It's for more than just 'convenience'."

I feel him shaking and the barely stifled scream that comes only moments later. I keep whispering to him and telling him things I've never even considered telling Celestia, all the little dark seeds of grief throughout all the years, like that we're both better off alone in everything we've ever done, and that we really don't need anypony because isolation for the two of us is just a simple fact, a desire at times, but never a tragedy.

And his response was so filled with the bitterness he has buried from everypony else.

"Everypony needs a weapon."

I pull him even closer than he already is. "But I don't need a weapon, and you don't need me. I want Sombra."

He pulls away from me just for a moment to stare me in the eye with that same lovestruck look that mixes so well with his sardonic wit and confidence.

And he tells me that only he has ever wanted himself before.

When I nuzzle him I get to see that furious shade of scarlet that covers his cheeks, and tell him that he's not alone in wanting him any longer.

"We can be alone together," I add with a soft giggle and he agrees automatically. We don't embrace any more, but I sit next to him and he sits next to me under a tree where not even a leaf could fit between our withers while we relax in the afternoon shadows.

He definitely doesn't have a mere 'crush' on me. Sombra is too sincere about something that I have yet to discover. I won't dwell on it when I can enjoy my time with him. He'll probably tell me anyway, if I were to ask him later.

"Do you love me?" Sombra asks after a long time. He's going to need something to drink soon, all that screaming has only taken a larger toll on his voice. He only speaks quietly now.

"It's... complicated."

"So are we," is Sombra's matter-of-fact and automatic response.

"You're more than my friend."

He glares at a leaf that falls into his mane before incinerating it with magic that keeps his mane unscorched. "Right."

"I do not think of you as family, but I care about you strongly."

"I see."

"...But it doesn't feel like I love you as deeply as you love me."

I tilt my head to catch a bit more of his expression, which is stoic, or would be if his eyes didn't betray an expectant curiosity and warmth.

"Could I just have more time to give you an answer?"

"Why are you asking me? It's your choice, Luna, and you have all the time in the world to make it."

"The world might actually end, you know."

"Eh, it happens."

"But yes, it is true... and I thank you for respecting that it is my choice. More pressure is the last thing I need right now."

Sombra offered what might have been a warm smile, but it just came out looking like he was vaguely and adorably confused by something that might be caught in his teeth.

"It's not like anypony can force the love you feel," I add with a good-natured laugh.

Sombra's expression changes instantly to something much more akin to dark apprehension but I know this look from my time around him.

"I have the power to control minds, Luna."

"You're not a monster, Sombra."

"Only a monster would have that power." His tone is flat except for the tinges of misery and loathing that find their way into his words.

"Only a monster would abuse it, and you don't. Sombra, you know the misery something like that could bring from personal experience."

"But we both know that there is likely somepony out there with a twisted philosophy - like Onyx, or maybe those changelings I've heard of - that believes something like earnest love could be forced by-" Sombra shudders slightly and I wrap a forehoof around his withers to comfort him as he reluctantly speaks the last words like the plague they are to him "...those kinds of magic."

"You really are a hopeless romantic in almost every regard, aren't you?"

Sombra draws back a bit. "Who told you that?!"

I smile and snuggle closer to him. "So you are~!"

Sombra makes a face of grumpy disdain and looks away. "Hmph. I am, yes... but only a little."

"You're cute when you sulk."

"Gah! 'Cute' does not do the Right-Honourable Lord Sombra justice. I am dashing. Or handsome. I can even be overwhelmingly charming."

"You're also cute."

"I will not hesitate to kill anypony else who dares to mock me like that," Sombra grumbles as he makes no effort to hide that he's scooting closer to me before he puts a forehoof around my withers and pulls me close. I almost decided against it; I wanted to get up and stretch my legs again. Instead, I let him do so, since my time with Sombra has taught me one of the most important things: demons love to cuddle.

Or at least Sombra is quite partial to it.

"We need a rule."

Sombra pricked his ears forward and looked at me inquisitively, blinking once. "Hmm?"

"You're in love with me."

"That I am."

"But I'm not, and I did get mad at you earlier."

"Listen, I'm incredibly sorry about that-"

I nodded in understanding. "I know, but I think we need to try and set some kind of rules up, because even though I enjoy your affection," I grinned when I saw Sombra blush slightly "I don't want us to have a misunderstanding again, and I'm not very used to all this."

"I second that," he mumbled, cheeks still colored slightly.

"How about this: since we both are alright with hugging, we don't need to ask for that. Do you mind if I were to nuzzle you without asking?"

Sombra leans over and nuzzles me. "Not in the slightest."

"Alright, then that can go in with hugging," I add, leaning closer to him.

Sombra nods.

"I really didn't like it when you kissed me, Sombra..." I mutter, ducking my eyes so I didn't have to meet his haggard crimson gaze.

"It won't happen again, Luna. You have my word."

"Thank you. What about when I kissed you on the cheek? Did you dislike that or were you merely uncomfortable because I didn't know about umm, well..." I plucked a few flowers from the ground - pink and blue blossoms - and began fiddling with them as I nervously awaited his answer.

"The latter."

I fiddled with the flowers some more, linking and knotting them as I gave a sigh of relief.

"How about anything that isn't on the cheek, we ask one another? I-Is that alright?"

Sombra makes that face again, the one that makes it seem like he thinks something is caught between his teeth. "I'm comfortable with it if you are."

I smile, feeling awfully flattered. "You can't smile well, can you?"

He smirks and raises an eyebrow. "It isn't exactly something that suits me."

"Oh?"

"But smiling sure suits you."

"Oh..."

Sombra's smirk widens and my face grows hot. "I can see I'm not the only one who can blush here."

"You're the Princess of Blushing, Sombra." I say, trying to only focus on the flowers I hold in my magic, but not before I give him a friendly punch on the wither. His only response is a quizzical stare.

"I'm the Princess of Pizza," Sombra says haughtily.

"Pizza is gross."

"Damn heretic, you're lucky I love you!"

"Aww, you said it!"

"I've said it again," Sombra corrects.

I loop the last of the flowers together and raise a flower crown up, placing it on Sombra's head. His response to the new addition is merely to look up at it, unmoving with a look of apathetic contemplation.

Since he's distracted by the flower regalia, I take the chance to get up and finally stretch my legs. We had spent so long talking together that evening was soon upon us, and I would need to raise the moon shortly.

"It was frightening when you first told me; that's why I ran away."

No longer preoccupied by the gift I had bestowed upon him, Sombra turns to me. His expression is that of grim worry.

"Why?"

He stares me straight in the eye awaiting an answer that he would probably laugh at or disregard, he is a romantic after all.

"Lots of things made me run away," I begin cautiously, "but mostly fear."

"Philophobia?"

I look at Sombra, dumbstruck and then right back at the ground. My face burns with shame, and I can't bear to shake my head in a 'no', so I offer a quiet-toned correction instead: "I-I... Sombra, I just do not want to let my guard down because so much has happened and I..."

I don't know how to finish, to explain, or if I want to.

I try to hide that I'm getting teary-eyed, and want nothing more than to leave now that I feel this sudden discomfort, but Sombra gets up and rests a hoof on my wither.

"Do you think I could have fallen for somepony without the courage I've seen you display? You can't be courageous if you've never had anything to fear; even I've been afraid of things before. You've seen me afraid."

"This is so hard for me. I do really like you, it's not you Sombra. There's just so much going on in my head... it isn't just that, of course... but I still don't want to be afraid, not of you."

Sombra just stands there while I give him a hug. He wasn't going anywhere, he told me himself.

"Were you planning to go anywhere when you got up?"

I don't want to let go of him, not again. I found him after I thought I'd never see him again, and he still loves me. He isn't rushing things, or anything that I had feared. He's understanding, and part of me wouldn't mind loving him in the future.

"I wanted to get us something to eat from the ship's stock of food. I'm tired and hungry, and you need to eat something too."

I feel Sombra look up at the sky and adjusting his forehoof to hug me tighter when he feels my nerves get the better of me and make me want to run away even though my mind is screaming for me to stay. He knows that they're just nerves, that I don't want to listen to them, because I know what they as well, even though I'm so tempted to listen to them.

His forehoof strokes my mane when my legs start to shake. Sometimes I feel like I could do anything and go anywhere, and then the next second I'm a shaking mess who can't decide whether I want a hug from him or to run away.

"You can relax, Luna. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Remember what I promised last night, that you're safe? You still are. You're the one pony I would never leave, not again."

His mane smells like grass, wind, and moonlight. Sombra's much warmer than his cloak is.

"Does the ship's supply even have vegan food?" Sombra asks me quietly as we stand here hugging each other in the woods like, ah how would Cadance put it? 'Weirdos'. Yes, Sombra and I are weridos, and to be ordinary would be such a curse. I'm thankful to know there's somepony else as odd as I.

"I didn't know you were a vegan. Do grumpy vegans exist?"

"I'm one of a kind."

"Yet you like pizza..."

"Yet I'm in love with a heretic..."

He always finds a way to make me laugh, and even though I may feel horrible right now I'm laughing anyway until I feel bold enough to pull away from Sombra.

I look him in the eyes, and give him an awkward smile that's just enough to let him know that I'm feeling better.

"I'll go make you something vegan-y, since I don't recall there being any pizza and vegan cuisine."

"If your military rations are not composed of entirely pizza within the next twenty years, you can kiss half of your population nation's goodbye."

"Wouldn't you be jealous?"

"Of what?"

"Me kissing half of Equestria instead of you," I add cheekily, working up enough courage to plant a kiss on his cheek.

"F-Fine. Deprive you populace of pizza and give all the world's pizza to me instead."

"You're still blushing just a little bit," I add with a delighted squeal before running off in the direction of the Sky Scraper, stirring a few leaves as I go.

"I'll be back!"

"That's right you heretic, you better run!" Sombra shouts after me.

"You still love me!" I call back.

"I do!" was his reply, and while he wasn't gleeful or dorky like most ponies would sound saying that, I heard happiness in his tone, and knew that he was happy in his own way.

...

I returned to our clearing with a can of tomato soup that I had heated with my magic as best as one possibly could without much knowledge of cooking related magics. When I returned, I found it empty except for a bright flame of green and violet burning and floating in the air.

I took a few steps closer only to discover it moved, darting down another path in the forest, flickering me as a beckon to follow.

And follow I did until I reached a cliff in a part of the forest so dense I could not see the moon I raised from the Sky Scraper's deck if I looked from the forest floor up the moss-covered rocky barrier in search of stars.

An unmistakable voice called my name and the flame burned out, to my left stood Sombra among a few trees that acted as markers for a natural path that unfolded behind him.

He waited for me to meet him there, saying nothing and merely glancing at the remains of a plain label still on the can that did nothing more than state the contents. Thin tendrils of steam curled off and floated into the air as we started our walk in peaceful silence, I followed him to a small cave that was hardly big enough for a large bear, yet the wind had worn the perfect space for Sombra and I to stay.

"Is this where you have been residing?"

Sombra only grunted in reply before speaking of other matters. "I came here eventually after I jumped off the boat, you know."

I ducked inside to the stone abode, and settled down near the back in warm shadows where I leaned against the stone wall that was neither rough or smooth. Carefully, I levitated the soup over to him once he sat down, not far from where I was. I could see his profile against the moonlight, and felt nothing but exhaustion and began to nod off, but only a bit. My ears were still pricked forward in order to listen to what he had to say.

"I fell as a shadow, and just used the spell that allowed me to walk on water to get here. I had no idea that it was the same island you sought."

"It is," I said with a yawn, lazily watching as Sombra lit one of his strange dark fires in a small circle of stones before opening the can with his magic and then holding the floating container away from his face, his features in a look of disgust and a familiar fiery disdain returning to his eyes, which have their own vibrancy that outshine the red that colors Fate. I look sleepily to the sword, which currently leans on the right wall.

"Aren't tomatoes red?"

"Huh? Yes, why?"

"This is frothing and tar black. What exactly did you brew here, witch?" he says, but his bemused tone is offset by the playful smirk creeping across his face. With the small gap in his fangs peeking through where I knocked out a couple of teeth, and the flower crown he still wears at an awkward angle, Sombra is unbearably handsome. He catches the way I'm looking at him, widening smirk telling me he knows that he is too, right before giving a slight toss of his rather long mane on purpose and let out a short, dry chuckle.

"Were you trying to poison this princess?"

"I can't cook, Sombra."

"I can," he declares, pushing out his chest with pride, "and didn't you say you were going to get something for yourself as well?"

"Ah! Stars above, I did say that but now... maybe I can-"

"Humbly beseech your favorite demon to bring you some food and make something for himself that won't..."

He knocks the can into the fire with a dramatic wave of his forehoof, and we both watch as the two-toned flame changes color and begins to eat away the metal. Once it absorbs the 'brew' I had allegedly made is absorbed, the fire begins to burn black.

"Damn, Luna does that even need explaining?" Sombra can't tear his eyes away from the flame and can somehow manage to combine the looks of disgust and bewilderment into something so sassy and utterly Sombra.

"Yes, I, ah, humbly request that you..."

"You're falling asleep as we speak."

"...uh? I am?"

He rolls his eyes, pretending to be upset. "Just close your eyes for a bit, I'll be back once I get something for us to eat and check on Fish. I think I might have even missed that idiot."

I fell asleep soon after he left, only waking when I smelled food and saw Sombra with a bag of something next to him and staring at me while pouring tomato soup into what appeared to be black coffee.

"You're bizarre."

"You're cute when you snore," he retorted.

"I-"

Stars, he looks so smug right now...

Ravenous, I leapt toward the bag that he had brought back only to find it full of...

"Mathematics books? Sombra, how am I supposed to eat these?

"If the uncultured heathen were to look to the strange fire we had earlier, then she would find a dinner I made for her."

"She still is curious about the math books."

There was that special smirk that he reserved just for when we bantered like this - something more than playful and just a touch of warmth mixed in with his arrogance. "You think I'd settle for just this-" he thrusts the mug of coffee-mato soup under my muzzle, and while it doesn't smell bad I had no desire to eat it, "-when I can have some food for my mind as well? You might not know me as well as you think."

"Is that so?" I countered with a scoff as I grabbed the small meal-box he had brought and placed by the fire. "Then why don't we open this and see how well you know me."

I popped off the plastic lid to find a bowl of what proved to be some plain broth with vegetables to make up for the standard fare, but not much else as far as I could see, until I moved the spoon aside and gasped.

"Butterscotch candies?!"

"Now, how about you eat your words?"

I turned around to give Sombra my biggest grin yet. I don't know how he got them, or how they got into military rations - which I doubt they did. Leave it to Sombra to find out the little things about somepony and make them his accepted ally with the information, or his fiercest foe.

...

For once, I was so worn that the prospect of sleep that after eating everything in a manner that caused Sombra to look at me like I was a dragon ravaging a village and duck out of the cave for a while. I had forgotten that he could be a bit finicky when others ate around him. A few times on the Sky Scraper I would find an apple appealing and grab one as a snack. Sometimes, he didn't care and was focused on something else, but he was usually a bit off when such a thing happened. He might leave a room as soon as he came in, muttering in disgust if he saw me devouring a salad that I had whipped up from the goods stored in the enchanted icebox-esque crates that had been on the ship.

I would have offered any kind of small apology as well, but he stayed outside for a while and I drifted off to sleep. So much pressure and what-ifs that had been particularly bothersome for the course of my time alone was now lifted and gone.

As a light sleeper, I never took kindly to any kind of disturbance that didn't blend with nature's usual lullaby, and awoke in the middle of the night trying to find the source of a strange noise.

It was dark in the cave now. The the fire was put out just hours ago. Although, my eyes had no trouble at all looking for the source of the sound... if I had any clue as to what it was! I could see the distinct shapes of the plastic dinnerware and mug left over from our meal in a small pile next to the fire's remains, and the form of Sombra lying down towards the back right wall of our den while I had taken the left.

What was it that could be making such a deep rumbling sound? It was far too steady to be any kind of growl and sounded more like a gentle kind of thunder. I was reminded of the purr of a cat, yet the only cats I had known made small warbling melodies when compared to the deep sound of this purr. I had read that a few larger felines could purr, and whatever was making this sound had to be roughly the same size. Except that no felines lived on this island, and I knew of none who ever brought any here either.

"Sombra?" I called softly, sitting up slightly in case I needed to move quickly.

He didn't stir.

"Sombra, do you hear that?"

There was the sound of him clearing his throat and the purr stopped. Did the creature making it know we were talking?

"What is it, Luna?"

"Did you not hear that sound?"

"Could you clarify what sound you're referring to?" he mumbled, speech slightly slurred from being awoken - or at least I had presumed he was sleeping, since his breathing had been so quiet and he still hadn't moved.

"There was a rumbling noise that was like the purr of a cat. Did you hear it?"

He lifted his head and looked at me. I could see an expression of some kind of disbelief, but his expression was still quite fuzzy in the darkness, so his confusion was mostly in his tone.

"Cats can make that kind of sound too?"

"What? Was that you purring?"

"Yes it was. Did I scare you?"

I shook my head in case he was as tired as I and did not hear all that I said. "No, you did not frighten me. Still, I wonder how you do that - you're not a cat."

"I think it's an attribute of demons."

Too comfortable to walk, I teleported next to him, trying to soften the light of the spell so it wouldn't hurt his eyes or my own.

"Do you know how you do it?" I ask placing my head in his forehooves. He was lying down on his stomach, and that combined with purring, fangs, and other traits gave him the uncanny resemblance to a feline.

I watched as he tilted his muzzle so he could look down at me with amusement twinkling in his eyes, making his usually stoic or bored expression all the more interesting. "Of course I know how I do it. Would you like me to explain?"

I roll over so his forehooves had my mane draped across them and I can meet his eyes, smiling.

"Yes, I would like that very much."

"Alright, then. The first step is this."

He takes one of my forehooves in his magic and slowly guides it to his throat, placing it there. I hold it there once his magic lets it go, feeling nervous until I can feel him gulp as well. Maybe he feels something similar.

"Keep that there," he says, horn lighting with the aura of dark magic instead of crimson.

His horn keeps glowing for a few more seconds before the smoky magic dims and I feel that Sombra is indeed purring beneath my hoof.

I gasp with excitement, breaking into a wide grin. Sombra looks down at me and the left side of his mouth curls into a self-satisfied smirk, and he stops purring much to my sudden disappointment.

"You get such a foal-like glee out of something so simple, huh?"

I nod, my hoof still on his throat and curiosity peaked as I wait for him to purr again.

"Did you figure out how I do it?"

"No, but could you please do it again?" I ask, sticking my tongue out at him and pouting.

He sighs and chuckles faintly. "I will if it impresses you that much, but first I'd like to explain to you how I do it. Do you remember when your ax got stuck in my chest on the Sky Scraper?"

I tilt my head in the faintest nod.

"I can change different parts of my body into shadow without shifting over entirely. It does take practice, though. Some parts can be harder to change than others. I can't change my chest to shadow long like with the ax. Had that gone on any longer, I would have looked very sick. I taught myself how to change my forelegs to shadow, and you know that my mane and tail can look very shadowy when I let dark magic and my temper mingle."

I nod again, sitting up just enough so I can give him a quick kiss on his jaw before resting my head on his forelegs again. "Did you change your throat to shadow?"

"Not quite. I altered my vocal chords. Have you figured out how I can make the noise yet?"

"Well, when you're a shadow - I can't say I've seen this for myself, but Shining and some of the others reported that after your so-called defeat you could make these strange calls when you were a shadow."

"Can you figure out how I do that?" he asks, staring at the forehoof I still had pressed against his throat as if it were some kind of rival he hoped to challenge.

"Would you be upset if I guessed dark magic?"

Sombra looks unsurprised, but I see him roll his eyes anyway.

"While you are technically correct with that absolutely eloquent answer, it's much more complex like that. As a shadow, I can produce vibrations. So, if I change my vocal chords and alter my larynx, which isn't very hard for me as it feels natural to me, I can vibrate them at different frequencies and in different ranges. I can sound like different ponies or produce different sounds. The most natural of these outside of my normal range would be the purring."

"Do you know any other voices?"

"Yours and Pink One's; or at least your speaking voices."

I poked his cheek and he made a soft, startled growl-like noise in the back of his throat and shot me a rather bemused glare.

"You could be your own symphony with enough practice."

He snorts at the prospect. "I could."

"Is that how you were able to make your voice sound so unnaturally deep when I first met you, by using that unfitting and exaggerated hiss?"

"That was Onyx abusing the ability by trying to sound like a 'real evil king', and using the power near constantly and so incorrectly that I had a hard time speaking in my own voice on occasion."

"Oh..." I said sadly, reaching with my free hoof to my own throat and trying to imagine how that felt. In the years following the return of my sister and I to the land that would become Equestria I had slipped farther and further into an inescapable muteness that became more than just an inability to speak up to any other than a sister who wouldn't listen.

"I'm fine now," Sombra said as soon as he saw my expression, "but my legs aren't used to having another using them as a headrest."

"Ppht."

"You can stick your tongue out at me all you want once you get up."

"I wanted to feel you purring," I pouted.

"You can once you get up."

I comply and sit up, plucking a few bits of dirt out of my mane with a few flicks of magic and look at him for an answer of what to do next.

Sombra just rubs his forelegs slightly before rolling onto his side and closing his eyes. For a moment I stared at him, puzzled until I saw him gesture - without opening his eyes - that I could lie down near him, if I wished.

When I don't make a decision right away, I see that familiar flash of white fangs and hear that laughter that always manages to sound sardonic, no matter the occasion.

"Come on, Luna. I don't bite."

I swallowed. Small decisions were never simple when my nerves, as irrational as they were right now, wanted me to run or just go somewhere else when I knew that I didn't want to. Half of me would love to just be near Sombra and try to take one step away from this fear that never made sense around him, of all ponies, but the other half of me had plenty of reasons to keep quiet and not want to share any secrets with him or open up at all.

I wasn't afraid of something like this a few minutes ago, but every time I'm offered any choice that might make me nervous something like this happens. Sometimes I manage to do something and make a difficult choice while other times I'm... this and-

"I don't bite, Luna," he repeats.

I look into Sombra's now-open eyes and try to clear my war-torn mind. I adore Sombra, but I fear love because I never tried to get close to anypony like this, and I don't know what I'm supposed to do...

...and Sombra's purring again, still looking at me he offers a forehoof.

I take a deep breath. I adore Sombra.

Just try to focus on that.

I trust Sombra.

He's not cruel, he wouldn't hurt me.

I put one hoof in his and sit down with a thud.

I don't have to tell him about the Tantabus yet.

I hold his hoof tighter and plop onto the dirt, lying near him. It's always nice to see his eyes. He understands, and he just wants to cuddle with me, or to at least be close. I don't think I'm okay with cuddling yet.

I just have to take small steps.

I slip my hoof out of his and stretch it so it traverses the short distance between us to gingerly rest on his throat. Sombra's gaze follows it, a slight flick of his ears telling me that he doesn't mind.

When I look deeper I see something else, too. He's proud of me.

Of us both.

I allow myself a smile and laugh softly, even though it sounds nervous, it's a happy kind of nervous.

It's so nice when he purrs.

All I remember before slipping into a dreamless sleep is thinking that the negative space between us doesn't feel so bad.

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