Favorable Alignment

by Ice Star

Chapter 22: Even the Castle Must Fall

Luna:

"Sombra," I called, shaking the slumbering form of the demon, "it's morning; you can wake up now."

His ears flick, so I know he can finally hear me, because I'm not about to spend another twenty minutes trying to get him to wake up. Knowing that he needed rest after all the time he spent alone on this island, I decided it would be kind to forgo waking him up at the time I usually rose whenever I needed or desired to adopt a diurnal schedule. That time was around three in the morning.

During the four and a half hours I had to myself, I hadn't done much more than walked around in circles in the area surrounding the camp, or perching in trees to play with birds, and mimicking their calls after I had lowered the moon.

Sombra's current response was to paw at his bangs with his forehooves when a beam of sunlight fell across his face. He had stopped purring sometime after I had fallen asleep, and except for a few grumbling noises, he was silent now.

"I'm going to drag you out into the open by your tail and dump the entire contents of a rain cloud on you if you don't wake up in ten minutes."

Sombra just made himself more comfortable on the ground. The night's sleep had certainly done him good; he no longer looked as fatigued as he had the day before.

"I'll walk over to the Sky Scraper and get you a cup of coffee if you get up."

At the word 'coffee' Sombra lit his horn and teleported into a sitting position, eagerly searching for what wasn't there. He ran one of his forehooves through his always disheveled mane to free it from dirt, and the remains of the flower crown he had slept in before tossing it over his withers. He looked remarkably attentive, despite the lingering traces of sleep deprivation under his eyes.

"Where?"

"I-"

"I want coffee."

"...I don't have it yet. I'll go get you some."

He looked out at the weather, and saw the sky was sunny and clear-skied, which was not the preferred conditions of either of us, and blinked a few times before ducking out of the sunlight and pulling his hood up.

"Could I come with you?"

I smiled and nodded. The reason I had wanted to wake him up was so I could spend the day with him, and here he was, already volunteering to be in my company.

...

In his magic's grasp Sombra levitated my necklace and a covered cup of black coffee that he was taking infrequent sips from. I had asked him about his sudden craving for the drink, and if he had it before in his travels. He told me that the first time he had it was last night, when he was curious to what it was.

He still was wary of water, in some cases, even when I told him there was no need to be. Sombra had shrugged, falling a few paces behind me as we walked along a stretch of the beach. I hadn't caught all of his mutterings as he did, but the few scraps I had heard saddened me. I knew not whether Sombra had intended for me to hear any of them at all, but it appears that he might have a fear of being poisoned, or at least the idea of having a toxic substance of any kind in him.

'Onyx' is the name that drifts through my mind, the most toxic thing he's likely encountered. How could I blame him for developing such a fear? I know only from the margins of history that there were attempts on his life, but I can only imagine that perhaps Onyx tried to push Sombra close to death or poison him in a fit of immaturity, anger, or some other vile emotion that he had just for Sombra.

Sombra wasn't particularly fond of sand, either. While he did not loathe it, he wouldn't let his bare hooves touch the surface. He continued to follow a few steps behind me, but still close enough that we could talk if we chose to, while dawdling on the particular stretch of sand I chose for us to frequent. I don't think Sombra cared where we went.

"So what were you planning, Luna?" Sombra asks, watching as I pick up seashells strewn across the pale sand, and plop them into rinsed-out dinnerware. I had not returned it to the ship's store of cutlery for this very occasion. The soft colored material in various pastel and light tones of browns and whites no longer sparkled once my aura released them. I peeked into the container. There weren't enough yet.

Since he was too busy waiting for my reply, Sombra either didn't see or simply didn't care about the crab he almost tripped over.

I hummed a simple melody, peacefully continuing the stroll while Sombra loudly threatened to annihilate crabs from every corner of the universe. He called them 'beach-cacti' on multiple occasions, screaming that his mane looked nicer than their entire species ever could, and how dare one of them even touch anything that makes contact with him while try to pinch him with their freaky little claws.

After that ruckus dies down, he catches up with me again, his usual disgruntled expression dominating his features. For a moment, he appears distracted before my necklace, which is still in his possession and steals his attention. He walks up to me, brushing against my side a bit. I admit, that startled me slightly and I halted. That was exactly what he wanted, or so said the look he gave me. He pushed my mane out of his way with a hoof and levitated my necklace back to its place, fastening the ink-dark piece to its usual spot on my neck again.

I wanted to say something - perhaps thank you? - but felt a tad tongue-tied. So, I just bobbed my head in a grateful nod as he sipped his coffee with amusement at my mild bashfulness.

When I started walking again - maybe just a little faster than before - he followed without a word, absentmindedly casting judgemental glares at the ocean and strutting where he pleased, no longer caring about the inquiry he had made moments before. He began to poke a series of dots in the sand - a pattern too precise to be out of mere fancy - with small swishes of crimson magic that fell like little sparks no bigger than the grains themselves.

"What are you doing?"

He didn't look away but responded freely. "I'm running an algorithm and using the sand as storage."

I blinked at his smooth reply. "Pardon?"

"Do you not know what that is, or do you just need a more complex explanation?"

"I'm afraid I don't know," I reply before adding a few more seashells to my unfortunately modest collection.

I know that Sombra didn't care about my awfully bland reply - it might have been a bit disappointing to him - and not to be offensive, but because he was so engrossed in the peculiar pattern he was poking into the sand.

I hummed and continued adding more ranks to my little troop of shells until it was something to boast about, at least among the two of us. I tried to come up with an interesting tune or two to hum as I worked, something with a few notes that could be swapped around in a simple refrain, or exchanged for words if I wanted to make something more another time.

It took me a surprisingly long time to realize that the merry-sounding melody I had come up with was our names converted to simple notes over and over again...

Luna and Sombra...

Sombra and Luna...

He didn't notice... and it didn't sound half bad either, so I continued repeating the innocent refrain, feeling just a bit giddy as I did so.

Luna and Sombra...

Sombra and Luna...

...Over and over again.

...

"Here we are!" I said, proudly waving a hoof in one sweeping motion over a large undisturbed sandbank free of any signs of plants or animal tracks. I balanced the plastic container, now overflowing with shells in the other forehoof.

Sombra looked up from the long strings of dots that he made leading us here, not showing any amusement or much of a response beyond glancing over the place. His left eye twitched faintly until he shielded his eyes from the late noon sunshine with a hoof. Much to the chagrin of both of us, no clouds had rolled by to make the endless blue more interesting and a bit less... bright, at least for him. The poor fellow really enjoys a nocturnal routine.

"What are we going to do? Make a summoning circle with shells?"

"I already have a demon. Do you think I want another?"

"That's demon racist," Sombra snaps... well, I'm not sure I'd call it snapping. He just replied so quickly in a bizarre tone that makes it too hard for me to tell if he's joking, being serious, or just boasting a few eccentricities and mad little quirks.

"I... apologize," I offered awkwardly as I gave him a look, "I had forgotten that you prefer to be called a pony-"

"I was joking, Luna. You can get away with calling me that-" he winces visibly at just substituting the name of his species "-once or twice if you stay teasing, tactful, or both."

I give a sigh part relief, part grief at the thoughts that must plague him when ponies think he's at his strongest: pushed into turmoil because of the things they say, the little whispers that are just venomous myths that are passed off as justifications, and history I had only sadly glanced over, wondering what was and wasn't until I met him. Now, they are so blatantly wrong - blunt cruelty to his much-needed blunt truths - that make me want to step between whatever phantom mobs haunt him and toss their stones at Sombra. He is only innocent of the things they say, and guilty of being too different, even by modern Equestrian standards, as much as it would be denied.

The very ponies he unwillingly helped demonize him for hiding such a demonic individual like Onyx are some of his inner demons...

...Oh stars, how horrid a thing these words are, how false!

"You must hate much of popular vernacular."

His gaze gives me a once-over, trying to figure out my thoughts with more precision and inquisitiveness than I've observed in on-the-job cartographers and surveyors of old. "Not particularly. There's a few oddities to it, and the inevitable stupid term that takes root every now and then, but not much. My speech blends in better here than it did in the Tribal Era. At least the crystal ponies didn't use those pesky thees and thous of the Tribal ponies. Those really were something. Still, modern language is pretty interesting at times, both from dipping into the roots of the Old World and some things entirely-" His eyes spark with a new direction of thought. "Have I ever explained to you all the wonders of 'irony' in this day and age?"

"No, that's not what I meant. I was referring to phrases like 'demonize' and 'demonic'..."

Sombra's expression darkened, and I saw dark magic begin to creep into his eyes.

"... or even more popular notions like 'inner demons'..."

"Oh, that one I have a very personal resentment for," he snarled, fangs bared.

"...Things like that. Those are the things I never want to say again. It would feel like hitting you and spitting in your face each time, and personally dragging your name through the dirt."

His expression relaxes, eyes reflecting a mixture of gratitude, flattery, and his favorite emotion to direct towards me... one I was now able to identify.

"...Sombra, I want to show you something," I say quietly, when it becomes more than 'a bit' overwhelming to have him looking at me like that right now. I wonder how many of his lovelorn glances I had missed before now. Would that have hurt him?

Thankfully, he's perceptive enough to quietly watch as I plop onto the sand, with my seashell collection positioned next to me. He looks slightly disgusted with the idea of lying on his stomach in the sand, but lowers himself down right across from me like I wanted. He makes no effort to hide his discomfort when his eye twitches again - the one that used to be blind - he doesn't get up. Instead, he looks at my forehooves, which are spread in the area of sand between us, one that is just big enough for a design.

"Could you give me something to write with?"

Sombra's questioning gaze meets mine - which refuses to betray anything. "So we are summoning something?"

I shake my head, and with an awfully good-natured roll his eyes, dark magic flares onto his horn and I find a crude stylus of gray crystals fall into my waiting hooves. I take it eagerly and begin to outline plans into the sand that I had just smoothed, while he watches curiously, eyes following each movement of the shard gripped with turquoise magic of my own that drew out each clear stroke I had envisioned in my mind.

"Is this a siege map?"

"No, Sombra, but that was a good guess."

He grunts and rests his head on his metal-clad forehooves, eyes still following each movement as he watches in silence again. A picture of sorts starts unfolding before his eyes, which are hungry for details.

When it becomes clear to him that I might take a while, he starts to purr. The sound is softer than what I heard yesterday. None of this is going to support his claims that he isn't as cat-like as I claim, but he certainly doesn't mind right now.

Once I finish, I look at him and his eyes meet mine, subdued curiosity still lingering in them.

"Done."

Sombra yawns slightly. "Oh? Well then, what exactly are all these blueprints supposed to be for?"

I levitate a clump of sand over from a different spot on the sandbank, and place the stylus onto his muzzle. His horn blinks with magic and it disappears. Sombra sits up and watches me place the sand over a section of the 'blueprint' and begin to sculpt it.

"Come on, Sombra. Help me shape the walls!"

He still looks horribly confused, but after a minute of contemplation he lights his horn with crimson again, and his aura takes hold of the sand I was working on, mixing with my turquoise glow. Once the first quarter of the wall closest to me - we decided it was the west wall once we figured out the direction we were situated at on the island with a quick check of the sky - Sombra finally allows his boots to retract with a few soft clinks. He shyly tries to place his forehooves over the section of the west wall I work on, fighting off a look of apprehensive disdain at touching sand with his bare hooves before just throwing caution to the wind, and digging his hooves into the sand with a shudder.

Placing my hooves over his, Sombra lets me help him build our sand castle, and I didn't mind when he looked at me that way again. I was too busy trying to help him sculpt a tower that met where two walls did, and I didn't notice for some time.

I found myself tongue-tied once again as I met his gaze - and he seemed to find this delightful - before we both looked at the sand once again to continue.

...

"This is now as cold as snow," Sombra declared, frowning with disappointment and wrenching the plastic coffee cup back in the sand, where he had been keeping the nearly empty cup.

I continued to pick shells out of their temporary home and line battlements of the outer bailelies with the pretty souvenirs. After he gave another glare to the cold coffee to make his distaste with it more obvious, he returned to the same task, finding quiet amusement in inspecting each one and floating it by his careful eye to be arranged in various patterns. Sombra's efforts weren't just a parade of colors lining the structure like my decoration.

I'm surprised he's actually enjoying this... or bothering to join me for such a foalish activity. He always seemed so mature and-

"Seashell for your thoughts?" Sombra asks with a sly look, floating a small purplish conch under my muzzle.

"You are so different," I blurt after fitting another shell into its new home in the walls of our multi-walled sandcastle we had spent the whole afternoon building.

"Care to offer more detail? You're awfully good with words when you want to be."

"Oh, why thank you. You're incredibly charismatic yourself. What I meant was -" I took a moment to add a couple of shells to the walls again, careful not to ruin the construction as I pressed them in "-I've never met another arrogant pony like you."

"Why do you think that is?" Sombra said quietly, intently gazing at the little bits of seashore decor, even if they were the last thing on his mind.

"Sombra, you have got to be the most arrogant, egotistical, and confident creature I've ever met and even heard of... yet you're also one of the most caring, honest, and complex individuals I have had the pleasure to meet."

"Caring?" Sombra mutters, "That's a new one."

He knows that I can tell there's a bitterness he refuses to hide in those words.

"Yes. You're very caring and stubborn, just like me... I can't exactly say I know many ponies like that. You also happen to be a bit vain, and very aggressive, but your shrewdness is not paired with the desire for superficial things or power like most creatures of that sort I could name. I think you probably know more than most how appearances are deceiving. You judge character very well, and aren't sadistic because you think you can get away with every deed you do, which is a rarity in all the criminals I've had to deal with and the everyday pony."

"I've gotten away with plenty of things."

"But you are not without knowledge of you actions" I insisted. "I've never met a pony with the big heart you have, however guarded it may be."

"A guarded heart isn't the same as being heartless."

"I know that well. You are full of all sorts of things that make you so unique, and I am not just saying that like my sister would. I only thought such things were possible within one's internal fantasies and daydreams, where no rules need to be heeded. You are cold, but also affectionate; outspoken, yet you speak no falsehoods."

Another seashell finds its spot on the castle. "What are you trying to say?"

"You are no fool. Starswirl was a fool and Tirek was cruel. Discord, though he is my friend, has the brand of callousness I see in some children. Blueblood is worldly... but you... I think you're wonderful, Sombra. You really are better than them. When you live among ponies, you hear nothing but outrageous tales of how awful a thing pride is, in all its forms... but they really are just tales. If only I could see more ponies with true pride!"

"Ah," he says emptily, placing the last shell on the bailey he was working on.

"Do you still think I'm wrong?"

"You forgot something."

"What might that be?"

"Guilty," he says sullenly.

"Of what?" I frown slightly, worry for him filling my thoughts. He isn't a monster, no matter what he says. I would not care so much for a monster. How ugly a brand he thinks he has burned into his flesh, when it is merely a cut that I wish he would not reopen so. No matter how much it hurts, it really is not more than a cut. Won't he let me help him? Does he know how to ask for help, or will I have to wait until he's been wounded by this ugly barb around his mind?

To think of Sombra hurt... I feel pained at such a possibility. He already has been through so much in the first years of his life, much more then many would go through in twenty lifetimes.

"Everything, if you believe anything I've never said."

"Sombra-"

He growls at nothing and buries his face in his forehooves. "Have you ever read a single book about the King? Or heard his - Onyx's - crimes shifted onto me? It's all around me, even though it's been over a thousand years! Why can't everypony forget me? Why give me an impossible name to clear? I want to be hated for something I've actually done - like trying to kill Purple Eyesore multiple times."

I reach out a hoof as best as I can over the castle, and stroke what few locks of his mane are within my reach. "Shhh... do you really think I'd let anypony hurt you? I know you did something there, and I know you were used, Sombra. I don't believe a single accusation - I believe you."

"The crystal ponies - even they lied about me. Each one of those lying imbeciles recorded so-called history of things I'd never do to anypony, and now the craze of the tales of the cannibal king has resurfaced all over again, and its stronger than ever. Your horrid herd of a population has me to blame now, why wouldn't their fervor be so? Do I even need to mention the old Equestrian propaganda that was written about me by Celestia herself? I've read it!"

Those... oh, even I remember those. Through the bleak life I lead at the time, I remember all the tales Celestia would tell to make the then-mysterious Crystal King out as the most savage, tyrannical, and blood-crazed being there ever was. All the lies were just brief candles to me, and as false as they were they weren't anything personal. Nopony would have listened had I spoke out, defending the epitome of evil that wasn't even there, or anypony else in the 'histories' of my sister.

"You... you were accused of...?" I didn't want to finish.

"I've read entire detailed accounts of how I allegedly ate children."

No... no... no... "That's not true! Does anypony really believe this?!" I know that was a foolish thing to say, for Equestria knew the tales of its evils as much as it did its glory, regardless of if some really were tales. Stars, I would know how they align their beliefs. "Sombra, I can't even see you paying attention to a child-"

"There's no need to worry," he muttered with the most venomous sarcasm I had heard from him, "because there's far worse things I've been accused of. All somepony needs a crime, and I've supposedly done it. I'm so evil it doesn't matter, huh?"

My hoof stops, clutching a lock of his mane. I was furious. I had never tolerated lies like my sister did. They were toxic, every last one of them! I would grit my teeth and sit through her babbling about how everypony is special, or other lies-to-foals that weren't nearly as harmful as this! I remember how every foe we had ever faced was torn to pieces in the pages of 'history' that was merely corrupt parables forged to resemble fact, if I must say so myself.

Only Tirek, who was just as heartless as history made him out to be, was never altered. Though, the events around him were. Scorpan and Starswirl, friends? Bah, Starswirl could barely even treat a servant like they were a living creature, a true friend was not the same as the company he kept. Discord went from a mere usurper to a more wicked version of himself. He really hadn't done as much as ponies could be lead to believe. But Sombra...

...He always had the worst things written about him. I know that both Sombra and Onyx had willingly ended at least one innocent soul at some point in the course of their own lives. This act, no matter the circumstance was one Celestia considered unforgivable; as long as one directly ended a life my sister would never hear a word spoken by them, as she considered all such losses to be beyond forgiveness in any form. It could have been a duel agreed to by both parties, gone wrong, and she would still fume. If one commits any offense that she cannot find in herself to pardon, than it is fair to pin all other offenses on you, and ruin any image or life there was... or is.

I look at Sombra. While I could never forgive many true monsters - like Tirek and Starswirl - I know that Sombra is vindictive and twisted at his worst. He is not abominable or wholly brutal, nor would he torture any foe of his in the ways 'the King' was said to. He may view ponies as utterly disposable, but he feels no need to be the one to dispose of them - and he makes this quite plain! How am I to have any trouble with his perspective when that is how he chooses to act? Sombra was used; for most of his life his actions were not his own. Even if one of the crystal ponies had been felled by him, I know him too well for him to be anything short of quick and cold in his style of execution. Even though it was a strange thing to consider mercy of any kind, I could accept it.

"I'm not sorry because I wasn't close to any of them; I didn't care about a single pony, which is such a sin to your sister, but I still knew it was wrong, Luna. I didn't want to. But to refuse to lie and kiss up to anypony and make myself a slave to the deeds I've never been guilty of? To admit that I can and will be remorseless in taking at least one life? Those are apparently unforgettable."

I start humming again in hopes that it might soothe him.

"I don't want to be guilty anymore."

"Sombra?"

He doesn't lift his head. "What?"

"Do my words mean anything to you?"

"Of course they do. Do mine?"

"They mean worlds to me. Would you like to know something?"

"What?" he repeats.

"All is forgiven. I'm not sure if you believe in earning things, but you have earned my forgiveness twice over now. Perhaps you actions were guilty - you may have taken lives - but I know that your mind wasn't. You may be guilty of something, but your arrogance is hardly a vice - and one that no doubt would have made you worse in Celestia's eyes - but you aren't guilty of anything you've been accused of."

Sombra finally lifts his head and stares me straight in the eye. While he does look miserable from the thoughts that haunt him, I know he's grateful as well.

"Did you ever tell her?"

"Tell who what?"

"Did you ever tell Celestia that you kissed me?"

Now that I know him, the moment has become something else - it can feel sweet when I think about it, a sort of bizarre serendipity that I have yet to fully unravel. Right now, it feels funny and I can't help but laugh a little. "No, never. I don't think she'd be too pleased to know that my first kiss was a combat maneuver against you."

Sombra's face immediately darkens redder than his cloak. "WHAT?!"

"You do realize it was a trick, don't you?"

"IT WAS YOUR FIRST TOO?!"

"Well... yes...?" Why does this disturb him so? I can't see any reason for him to shout, as he doesn't appear mad.

Sombra swallows awkwardly.

"...Is something wrong? I thought you knew it was a trick-"

"I did, I was just wondering..."

"Wondering what, Sombra?"

"Would you ever try something similar - one that wasn't a trick?"

This sand castle sure is a magnificent piece of work...

"Luna?"

"I might."

"...Like I said, I was just wondering..."

Does he really think I can believe him when he smirks like that?

"I'm sure you were," I teased, plucking a seashell from the nearest bailey and flinging it at him. Sombra shifted to shadow so it passed through him before doing the same. We repeated this over again and soon there wasn't much castle left and we were standing and dusting sand off of ourselves as we stared at our destruction.

"It's almost dusk. Don't you have to raise the moon soon?"

"Yes... and you wanted to know what I was trying to say about your arrogance? Well, here's some more things I should have elaborated upon: for you it isn't a vice. I noticed while you will belittle others, you don't try to control those you're close to, or tell them how to live their lives. Even though you may not have wanted to, you spent all day building a sandcastle with me, and I really appreciate it. I had lots of fun spending time with you."

"Same here."

"Would you ever want to do something like that again?" I cast a few grains of sand from my main and nervously wait for an answer, trying to look as calm as possible. Although, Sombra surely knows what I'm thinking - I just really want the answer to be...

"Yeah, I don't see why not."

Oh stars, he agreed! I can't believe that he'd really want to do more things like this-

"Luna, you don't have to tackle me to the ground every time I make you happy, because I'm afraid that I won't have much of a spine left if you do."

I look down... right into Sombra's eyes. Oh...

"I had not realized that I-" I cut myself off and just decide it would be better to get up - again - and offer him a hoof, which he accepts while dusting his cloak off with small brushes of his magic. Once he is finished, Sombra gives me a smirk to let me know he's not annoyed with my antics.

"You're right, by the way. I don't really tell others how to live their lives since mine is much more interesting, but I am going to tell you one thing-"

He pulls the discarded coffee cup from the sand, dumping the leftover contents on the sand before passing it to me. "Make a stop to the Sky Scraper, if you will."

I wrinkle my muzzle. "Really?"

"Sounding humorless is my job."

"You really are funny though!"

Sombra gives me a peck on the cheek before cantering off towards the woods and leaving me alone with an empty coffee cup. Had he be anypony else, I would have threatened him with lightning.

...

Back at our camp, Sombra was reading a maths book by the light of the same two-toned dark fire in the very back of the small cave. He didn't look particularly happy, and when I sat next to him he moved away.

"Sombra, did I do something wrong?"

"I shouldn't have ordered you around - you and I, we're not the sorts who like that."

"It's fine. I do not mind a single trivial errand. You did not ask me so rudely, either."

He read on, unconvinced.

"We are friends-"

"Are we?" Sombra snapped the book closed and put it down.

"You... do not like me? Even as a friend?"

"I love you."

I want to. I promise I'm trying, Sombra. I'll get there.

"Luna, it's hard to believe you think of me as a friend, even a close one."

"What are we then?"

"We're not lovers," Sombra points out.

"Nor are we mere acquaintances."

"We aren't courting."

I slam a forehoof to the ground. "Gah! This is so difficult-"

"Well this isn't any easier for me! I've never had..." Sombra starts.

"-an equal before," I unknowingly finish, recalling the thoughts and memories that came to me on the Sky Scraper, before I had known he had vanished.

Once the words are out we both stare at the other.

"It fits," Sombra speaks, and I announce my agreement in silence with a nod.

I manage to coax him, Sombra - my equal - into a hug before we fall asleep on separate sides of the fire.

I think that I have a new enemy now.

Onyx.

We grew up sharing Starswirl's misery, but were as different as could be. He was somehow crueler than the bearded wretch and only grew worse with each passing year, the darkest parts of his truest nature known only to Sombra.

Yet that is not why I hated him. I hated Onyx for making Sombra lose so much.

I would do what is necessary to destroy him if it meant Sombra could be truly free.

Author's Note:

gah, sombra's such a dork

Comments

[Mira Starlight]

Sombra doesn't like sand?! I could make a Star Wars reference here, but I'll refrain from doing so.

I lied.
Sombra: I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough... and it gets everywhere.

[NorrisThePony]

7814665

Damn it, ya beat me to it.

[Ice Star]

8526118
Too late faget. You got out-referenced.

[Kaleido]

During the four and a half hours I had to myself, I hadn't done much more than walked around in circles in the area surrounding the camp, or perching in trees to play with birds, and mimicking their calls after I had lowered the moon.

awwww

At the word 'coffee' Sombra lit his horn and teleported into a sitting position, eagerly searching for what wasn't there. He ran one of his forehooves through his always disheveled mane to free it from dirt, and the remains of the flower crown he had slept in before tossing it over his withers. He looked remarkably attentive, despite the lingering traces of sleep deprivation under his eyes.

well somepony knows exactly what they want

I hummed a simple melody, peacefully continuing the stroll while Sombra loudly threatened to annihilate crabs from every corner of the universe. He called them 'beach-cacti' on multiple occasions, screaming that his mane looked nicer than their entire species ever could, and how dare one of them even touch anything that makes contact with him while try to pinch him with their freaky little claws.

oh dear, he's started a vendetta against another species

He didn't look away but responded freely. "I'm running an algorithm and using the sand as storage."

ooooooh

Luna and Sombra...

Sombra and Luna...

...Over and over again.

awwwww

"What are we going to do? Make a summoning circle with shells?"

doom 2016 theme starts

"You must hate much of popular vernacular."

no kidding
demons are great, but the related words are all doom and gloom and terror rather than awesome or cute or just the best

"Would you ever try something similar - one that wasn't a trick?"

oh goodness the sand castle, the chatting, the lovely moments UGH

[Ice Star]

10282168

demons are great, but the related words are all doom and gloom and terror rather than awesome or cute or just the best

I wonder if there will be a reason for that? 🤔

[MayhemMoth]

Bonding over sandcastles, how cute. I imagine that, even using magic, they're still going to be shaking sand out of their hair for a while.