Favorable Alignment

by Ice Star

Chapter 28: Let the Scars Speak for Themselves

Luna:

Many miles away, the demigod princess Twilight Sparkle will crouch over the prone form of her beloved Rarity for the last time. From their new course, the princess with memories taken from her will watch as Rarity rises from a week long slumber, her own memories of a battle where I only blocked attacks and tried to encourage reason will now be faded. Due to the natural effects of sleep upon memory, they slipped into the deepest parts of her subconscious, bound to only come to mind again once it was too late and our encounter with the two mares had long since passed.

I had no such luck with my current predicament. Like a bird in mourning, I sat perched upon a chair with my wings folded and my shadow cast over the cabin's bed, and the wall which it was pushed against.

As the Sky Scraper flew on I allotted much of my time to sitting here, waiting and working.

Mostly waiting.

Today, the effects of my spell upon the Element of Generosity will vanish and she shall see have somepony dear to be there for her while I continue to wait for Sombra to stir in his deathly sleep.

The bangs of his always-disheveled mane fall across his closed eyes. His breathing is far quieter than usual, but steadier than the loud, frantic, gasps I had heard before he slipped into this state. I had happened upon him when he was utterly drained with his mind consumed with pain and frenzy.

He has lain on his side, shivering once every couple of days, with bandages covering him from his right cheek to his his right flank. Even his stomach bore wraps of cloth under the blankets that covered him. Sombra's right forehoof was draped limply across the covers. It had been so difficult to keep him on his side the first couple of days, since I know he usually sleeps on his back.

I stretch a forehoof over and press it to what little remains uncovered by the bandages and other wraps on his cheek. He is cool, and a pallor is visible under his dark coat.

"No fever," I whisper. It was a silent joke, and a dark one at that. Of course he didn't have a fever... at least not any more. His complexion had improved too, if only barely.

"If only you were dreaming..." I brush his bangs out of his eyes and then back again. Had he been dreaming I would have been able to communicate with him, but any dreams he would have in this state are not ones I can walk in. They would be but incomplete and rapidly changing visions too surreal for me to gather any control of.

When I heard a faint groan, my heart leaped. "Sombra?" I whispered excitedly, pulling my hoof away from his face and tapping his lightly. "Are you awake?"

"Uhn?"

"I should get you some water - do not move until I get back."

"Luna?" He opens one eye, and I catch a glimpse of crimson under his mane as I move to get up.

I take a sharp breath, trying to hold back from hugging him, knowing the damage it would do to him. "What is it?"

He tries to push himself up a bit, his mane instantly falling around his face and brushing the bandages carefully placed on his cheek. Before he falls, I catch him in my forehooves, and pull him into a supportive hug. He shudders as he realizes something when his right forehoof touches my coat in a weak attempt to return the embrace.

"Something's wrong," Sombra whispers, "very wrong."

"Shhh," I coo, "I promise that it isn't what you think. Would you like me to get you something to drink?"

Sombra stiffens and pulls away. He looks dizzy and tired, crimson eyes appearing distant and even a bit feverish as he looked at his right forehoof, prodding it once and gulping.

"It really isn't?"

"Tell me what you feel," I say softly, running a forehoof through his mane and picking out a charred piece of crimson cloth. It was all that remained of his latest cloak, which I had to pull piece by piece as it reverted to magic and mingled with the burns, making them so much worse...

I held back a shudder, biting the inside of my cheek as I waited for Sombra's reply.

"N-Nothing," he stutters, transfixed by the sight of his right foreleg, "I can't feel anything from here..." He rested his left forehoof on his right and drew up to where his withers met his neck. "...to here."

I let out a long sigh. "I shall go get you something to drink before I explain the events of the last week to you."

Sombra nodded, slowly and then looked down. "An entire week? I was really out that long?"

"You were."

Sombra collapses back onto the bed with a thud, pulls the covers over his head and gave one long scream.

...

Sombra didn't even bother to look up when I offered him a glass of water. I did not blame him for this, since he would most likely be feeling worse after I recounted all that had transpired the days and nights he had rested. Even if he took this news well, I would still be there for him.

I ceased my soft humming and placed the untouched glass onto the nightstand nearby, watching the aura around it fade when I was done, and I sat in the chair once more.

"Where would you like me to start?" I asked, giving Sombra both a look of concern and my full attention.

He blew a lock of his mane out of his face, not caring when it fell back into place. "Is it night or day?"

His tone was muffled and flat, but at least he had pulled the blankets away from his face.

"The latter, and a fair day it is. I shall have plenty of time to spend with you."

He flicks an ear. "Oh."

I extend a forehoof, placing it over his right forehoof, and even though he cannot feel it, I give it a reassuring squeeze. "It is impossible for me not to note how sullen you are. Is there anything you want to tell me before I speak of the week?"

Sombra shakes his head.

"Is there something else you are feeling?"

"Exhausted, mostly, and like you said: sullen."

"Should I just start at the beginning, if that's all?" As I await his response, I lift the glass of water over to me and gulp down half of the contents.

"Could you start with why I don't have any feeling here...?" Sombra gives a halfhearted nod to his bandaged leg and side.

"Of course. You were very badly injured when I found you."

"Just how badly injured?" A hint of suspicion and apprehension in Sombra's voice.

He really retains so little memory of the event? "As soon as I had heard your screams, I put Miss Rarity into an enchanted slumber and ran to find a hysterical Twilight Sparkle-"

Sombra bolts up, eyes gleaming maliciously. "Her," he growls, "After she shot that beam of light magic at me..."

He blinks, and his vengeful stare becomes one of vague recollection and hazy-eyed confusion. "And after that..."

Light magic. The manifestation of purity and harmony. It is said to bring happiness to those who are good at heart, a power for most honorable of heroes to humbly express gratitude for and truly act as if they could make no ending for themselves. This kind of power was meant to save and bring joy like the Elements of Harmony, which are probably the best known example of any kind of light magic.

After what it did to Sombra... I know that there isn't a shred of truth in the tales meant to be passed from generation. They are all mere lies-to-foals!

When he can't come up with anything, Sombra looks to me for an answer, some of his arrogance taking light and challenging me to come up with an account that satisfies him.

"After that, Sombra, I went belowdeck and found you-" I paused and inhaled sharply at the memory, not able to look directly at Sombra for a moment. "-writhing on the ground with your own flesh burning and bleeding i-in different parts, I'd never known that light magic could-"

"Luna," Sombra says slowly, carefully running his left forehoof over the criss-crossed layers of bandages, "why can't I feel any of that?"

"I'm getting to that part. When I found you, I knew that Twilight had harmed you and cast a weaker version of the spell I saw you trying to shift to shadow."

Sombra nods, but the gesture is hollow.

"Your skin was already burned, and horribly so but when you began to change it was worse. The deep burns that-"

I quickly smack one of his hooves away from the bandages and shoot him an icy stare before continuing. "-were marring you happened to be some of the most severe I had seen. Your attempt to shift to shadow caused something to worsen as your physical form was altered. The result was me having to..."

Sombra cocks his head to the side in a way that's so cat-like and almost innocent looking. "Luna?"

"I had to use another light spell on you - a kind of warding spell - to force you..." I gulp as my voice becomes quieter, only making my voice louder once Sombra offers a look of concern.

"You needed to force me back into equinoid form?"

I just nod and wait for him to be angry with me, rocking the chair back and forth until he cloaks it with his magic and pulls the it to a stop.

"Are you mad?"

"You did what you had to do," Sombra interrupts, brusquely, "and it was to help me. I won't be mad at you for that. Luna, you don't have to keep asking me these things; I can tolerate more than you give me credit for."

I focus on the unchanging floor for the duration of my tale. I told Sombra of the toll of his actions - the unknowing result of his actions being that his shadow form allowed something, a component of the magic to act as a toxin that had spread through him when he reformed and...

"It gave me blood poisoning?!" he exclaimed, eyes wild as he suddenly clutched at his bandages again.

"Some much like it - I had to spend the first two days just trying to fix that." I gave a sigh filled with all the weariness and worry that had been running rampant through my mind for the past week, "The amount of magic I had to expend was immense, and I was very precise and while I was able to eradicate the toxin itself -" I took a much needed deep breath and looked directly into Sombra's eyes, almost as fiercely as he usually did.

"-but it did a number on you, Sombra. You've noticed that you can't move your right forehoof perfectly, haven't you?"

A slow nod from him, and look of creeping horror.

"Some of your muscle tissue was damaged beyond repair from the burn and the lingering effects of the light magic. Because of this I could not let such a dead, tainted thing remain attached to you. Though your mind might have been lost to me, you became more pained as the magic was left inside, while it is not as parasitic as the majority of what bled into you."

"Luna-"

Reaching out abruptly, I grabbed his right foreleg in mine. "I had to experiment a bit... and reduce the feeling in your leg simply for you to be able to rest well. It's not permanent! I swear, I can reverse it if..." I trail off, not sure how to finish this.

His tone is careful, but holds the undisguised intelligence that he bears when a problem must be identified and solved. I admired this analytical decisiveness about Sombra - few things could slip past his mind and even fewer past his stubborn resolve.

"These bandages-" Sombra motions to them with a momentary flick of his left foreleg "-are they enchanted?"

"They are currently all that is keeping you in decent shape. I have also bathed the things in various burn creams, so it would certainly not be wise to remove them."

"I won't be able to walk," Sombra states, one ear flopped down and the other lowered partway. His expression is dour and a distant look I have seen countless times on the both of us emerges.

"No, I am afraid you will not be able to move much on your own."

Neither of us makes a sound. The quiet is only dispelled when Sombra - without a change in expression - swiftly knocks the glass of water to the floor, where it breaks.

I don't flinch at any of this, my posture is natural but watchful, as if I were still waiting for something to happen.

"I know you needed that," I answer softly when he can't. "I'll clean it up later."

On the floor a small puddle, gleaming faintly with reflections of light and shards of the rather ordinary clear glass used to make the even plainer object packed away with the ship's supplies.

Another brief period of quiet follows, this one allows Sombra to relax as much as he can. His demeanor calms enough for him to refocus and flop backward onto his bed, staring at the ceiling with a look of his signature, near-perpetual grumpy glares of either deep thought, impending wit, or annoyance.

"Sombra, is there any way that you can heal yourself? Or do anything like it other than complete regeneration?"

"Partial regeneration, then?" Sombra responds tonelessly.

"That would be what we both need."

"'We'?" he echos.

"When you're like this, it hurts me too."

A small bit of happiness bursts to life inside me when I see a thin smirk make its way across Sombra's face. "You know, Luna, you're free to admit I'm irresistible at any time."

"On the subject of partial regeneration...!" I declare very loudly.

"Subtle, but yes. I suppose we have."

"Are you able to do partial regeneration or anything like healing?"

"Yes," he says tersely.

"Oh. Would you care to explain then?"

"You're asking for a horrible answer," Sombra warns, all traces of mischief gone.

"If it can help you, then I need you to tell me."

"Well..."

I gave Sombra an encouraging but unsmiling look. Whatever he had to say, I would listen to, and I wanted him to know this.

"I'm able to possess certain things - snowstorms, for example. It takes some work, but I can possess most things like that: snowstorms, trees, and if I really wanted too, I imagine I could inhabit a cloud as well."

"I could get a cloud for you..."

"It wouldn't work. You see, if I want to regenerate anything this severe, I'll need something proper to-" He swallows "-leech off of."

"Somepony," I correct, voice low and quiet.

"Yes," he whispers.

To heal himself... he would have to possess me...

One thousand years of cold, isolated imprisonment with a shattered mind come crashing down on me and the room's temperature plummets.

That certainly wasn't possession, but it had been close enough. I still hadn't told Sombra...

...about the Tantabus. If he were to go through with this then he would see my memories and-

"Luna? I know the answer is going to be-"

"I-I don't know!"

The chair rattles again, my wings threatening to unfold to make an escape except-

Except I cannot keep running. I have every reason to trust Sombra, to hope that he will understand the things I have done, and believe that he will help me.

Despite my cold sweat and shaky legs, I give a thin smile to reassure the both of us. His expression is troubled and shocked. "Are you saying that you would-?"

He gulps before he can finish - or perhaps he just doesn't want to, so I finish the thought, my own nervousness not concealed in any way.

"...Agree to that? I would have to think about it. It would not be an easy decision for me."

"I understand. Although, I'm not much use with my leg like this, am I?"

I scowl. "You're not an object, Sombra! Whatever 'use' you perceive yourself to have isn't worth dwelling on."

"But Luna-"

He's not getting away with this one. The chair I have been tipping back and forth and side to side careens over and I forfeit my divine grace, allowing myself to land on the floor. My forehooves catch the side of the bed and once the spectacle is over I almost look as if I am wishing upon a star, which Sombra finds amusing until he sees my expression - the exact opposite of his, and no longer bearing any smile.

"Can we go outside?"

Sombra's ears pricked forward simultaneously. "It sounds like it may be raining. Why do you want to go abovedeck now?"

I eye the walls before bringing my gaze back to my own forehooves. "I like to be outside when I'm upset. It's calming."

Sombra nods in agreement and taps me on the wither with his left forehoof. "Care to lend a hoof? I'm not in any condition to walk and I think you have something important to tell me."

"You are certainly living up to your title as the god of knowledge," I say, my voice coming out quieter then I expected before I take his hoof in mine.

...

A light rain drums against the deck and against Sombra's newest cloak, which is now streaked with rain. His right foreleg is slung around my neck to help him walk, and he holds onto me as much as he is able to before we find a spot to sit down. He follows along, head tilted up toward the sky, and distracted by the raindrops that hit his mane and muzzle as I lead him over to his favorite spot: the space next to the office door and rail where he liked to read. Sombra settled closer to the rail, glancing up at the water that dripped off the office's roof, forming a curtain of water that divided us from our dry corner and the slick deck.

"Is this about me?"

I look over to Sombra. Although he looks out at the world around him, blanketed with clouds in many shades of silver, he refuses to remove his foreleg. I don't mind.

"No," I reply, scooting closer to him. Sombra shoots me a quick glance filled with many things ranging from quiet encouragement to dispelled apprehension.

"You can start then," Sombra says quietly, his horn glowing and his cloak expands and changes into a large, plain blanket of crimson that he levitates to cover us both. "I'm not going to interrupt you for this."

Sombra's gaze isn't harsh, but he still gives me an unwavering, calculating and expectant look. That is until I rest my head on his wither, falling over as if by accident until I feel soft cloth bandages covering him. Sombra doesn't wince, but moves his forehoof to steady me.

And then he waits like this for me to stop crying.

"Sombra?"

"Are you ready to tell me?"

"Yes," I say, and the strength and urgency in my voice - though it may be through tears - does not feel forced.

The sound of rain carries on before I decide to speak again.

"When I returned from my banishment, it was the Elements of Harmony, that restored me."

This, of course we both know and I feel Sombra nod.

"Do you know what came after, Sombra?"

"Something important, I imagine?"

"It... I didn't think that I could ever be helped... and even if I was, I never thought that I could be forgiven - and most certainly not by Celestia."

"Because she's a narrow-minded imbecile?"

"Because I hurt her the most with my actions, Sombra."

"If you say so."

"I hadn't forgiven myself for what I had done. Tia was almost too forgiving. She kept telling me that all was forgiven and everypony would accept me now. She was so proud of this, Sombra. Tia wanted me to see all the progress she made with 'her little ponies'."

"I suppose they are slightly less barbaric now, Luna. Most of them can read now, even if it doesn't really show."

Despite myself, I eked out a small laugh, but it was mostly drowned out by the rain.

"I felt I was forgiven far too easily. How was I supposed to treasure my dear sister's mercy if it was given so easily? I had done nothing to deserve this, hadn't I?"

"Nopony deserves anything." Sombra's tone has an edge of suspicion in it, but that does not surprise me. Somepony as perceptive as he is would be piecing things together from the start of my tale.

"Well, then I had not earned it, and this haunted me. While I was no longer what I had been, a cruel destroyer who had sunken into the deepest despair with a mind forever in agony, I was no pure goddess, as Celestia told me I was. I was not stripped of my memories - I knew what I had done!"

I drew a sharp breath as I felt Sombra hold me closer. My next words were spoken quietly, for we both knew what I was capable of.

"I knew that I could fall back to the helm of the harbinger of despair I had become."

Sombra's grip on me tightens as much he can manage with his right leg. Does he know what was coming next?

"I-I wasn't thinking straight in those early months. The effect of happiness that came from being in my new home with my sister - now a kinder mare - had worn off, but I didn't want to let that show to Celestia. Maybe she suspected my misery, or at least a trace of it, but she gave me my space. Perhaps it was out of ignorance, and perhaps it was out of a sincere desire for my comfort. She really didn't know how bad it was, nor would she give me the chance I wanted. Even if I told her, she wouldn't understand, nor would anypony else."

I think if I were to look at Sombra right now, he would be scowling. "She tried to turn airheaded bigots obsessed with titles and money into something better - and what did she get? Pacifistic fools that would tolerate their own homes being burned in front of them, but blame a neighbor for the deed on the basis of eccentricities alone, and cannot use the resources given to them properly. It's hardly an improvement."

"She didn't know what I was doing to myself," I whisper and instantly Sombra's clutch feels like a rope's burn. When I yelp at the sudden harshness he apologizes and lets go. Cold air surrounds my withers where he had rested his foreleg.

I didn't want him to do that, but when I look at him again, I see why he could no longer bear to be around me. Sombra leans against the wall, manages a choked swallow and looks straight at me, eyes troubled.

"What in the world did you do, Luna?"

"Do you really want to hear?" In my mind, I'm begging that he'll say yes. It's the answer I need from a pony who might be able to help me and understand - somepony I care so much about and have needed to tell this to and trust with any secrets I have, old or new.

He swallows again and buries his face in his forehooves. Somehow, his voice is clear: "I think I need to."

"It felt like I had learned nothing at all, and that I would forget what little salvation I had been given. I really hadn't learned anything, and it felt like history would repeat itself sooner or later."

"You weren't right."

"But I was scared."

"And that made you unreasonable."

"It did, Sombra. It really did. I created a spirit... one that held some control of itself..."

Sombra made a choked noise somewhere in the back of his throat. Had I really been so cruel that I would forget that he shares a similar origin to the Tantabus? This story is no doubt going to trouble him even more.

I move as close as I possibly can to Sombra and give him a long hug. "The Tantabus wasn't anything like you, Sombra, and you're nothing like it. I promise. I would never, ever place the the Tantabus on the same level as you, nor could I use you as I used a minion of dreams with little semblance of a mind to call its own."

Despite the blanket around us, Sombra is shivering.

"Shhh, it's alright Sombra. May I continue now, or do you want me to stop...?"

"Continue," Sombra replies simply, and I let him go, watching as he messes with a few frayed threads of magic in the cloak-turned-blanket.

"Every time I slept, the Tantabus would recreate, to the best of its ability, a similar rush of magic. I would turn into a phantom of what I had been, and have to live that over and over again. It drew on the new power I had worked out for myself: the ability to enter the dreams of others. The full extent of this power is not known, even to me."

"Does anypony but me know that you do-"

"Did... I was found out when there was... another mistake, and one that was all my fault, of course. It happened a year ago. The Tantabus no longer is of any use to me, nor do I wish to use it again."

"What's going to be done about your problems though? You certainly haven't recovered."

"Tia started talking about a therapist, but..."

"Did you not want one?"

"No, it's just that immortal minds - and sometimes those who simply think like one - are not things that a mortal mind could ever decipher properly. For Tia and I, it did not matter how many we visited, not a single one could keep up or begin to understand me. There is no therapy fit for immortals because there are no therapists who can study immortals. Until somepony decides that they shall spend their eternity, or as much of it they can bear, learning to treat everlasting souls like you and I, there will be no such solution for this problem. Not to mention that talking about the past, and all that lived in it - well, if I were to do that I would be giving away all sorts of intelligence and who knows how many eras worth of secrets and incomprehensible workings. It would give a rather dismal definition to the modern phrase of blowing one's mind and the therapist might need some therapy themselves. There's always that eldritch part to us that make us so perplexing, and that we cannot be treated in the same way a mortal would be."

"What did you mean by 'think like an immortal'? That isn't exactly something I've heard before."

"First, imagine you had the ability to make somepony immortal. Who would you pick?"

"That's a no-brainer. I'd pick somepony with a rotten mess of a personality: submissive, meek, codependent, and more. I'd isolate them and study them after that-"

"Alright, it's clear that I shall have to explain this differently: immortal brains aren't the same as mortal ones. We're able to handle more memories, more information, greater power, and all sorts of things. While Alicorns clearly aren't entirely alien from ponies, there are significant differences that would render us unable to swap places."

"I'm well aware of this."

"I know you are," I say, inching closer to Sombra, "Consider it a refresher."

"An unneeded one, but alright."

"A mortal - an ordinary one straight off of the streets - that has immortality given to them would lose themselves. After a while, their mind would collapse. They do not think in the same ways, Sombra. Yes, they could reach the same conclusion as a draconequus or Alicorn but how they got there is different, though most importantly it is their mind and its conditions that differ. Does that analogy make sense to you?"

"Yes. Now, go on, if you will. You have my interest." He gave me a slight smirk.

"Now every so often - usually ages apart of course - there is a mortal, often with some unusual circumstances about them that truly stands out, no matter what they do. Most things about them vary, but there is usually a sense of ambition or promise about them. Something makes them feel larger than the world around them, and while they do not necessarily have great power they have a sort of endurance to them that enables these rare and enigmatic individuals to play the same game that we do."

"So, they're the remarkable to the everyday?"

"Very much so. Despite their mortality, the manage to transcend most of the gap that lies between them and an immortal. There is nothing magical about this, it is simply a wonder of this world that has continued on."

"Do you know of anypony like this?"

"I imagine Celestia has met more ponies like this than I have, but I know only two."

Sombra's eyes are bright with hints of the light of curiosity.

"I am quite that Miss Rarity could be one such soul, and you are the other. Your status as such is undisputed - even to my sister."

Sombra breaks into a smug smile. "I certainly am rather remarkable, aren't I?"

"I knew for sure that you were when the floors of the Crystal Palace vanished beneath my own hooves long ago."

As soon as I speak those words the only sound between us is the pattering of raindrops and a gasp cut short from Sombra. Him resting his head on my left wither took me by surprise.

"I wish that you hadn't had to go through that."

I don't have the heart to tell Sombra that wish is a very hollow one.

"Luna?" Sombra says, keeping his voice low.

"What is it, Sombra?" I start to hum a soft tune, like the persistent symphony of rain and adjust the blanket to keep it from being hit by any more than a dozen drops.

"Would you let me help you?"

My horn stops glowing and the only light we sat by on this cloudy afternoon dims to soft, tired shades of gray.

"With?" I ask, though his request is obvious to me. To us.

"Healing," he mumbles between a yawn, before snuggling closer to me. "I want to be there for you, if you want me to."

"Well..." I start stroking Sombra's mane "What might I have to do?"

"Talk to me."

"Surely you don't want to hear me ramble of what saddens me all the time? I don't want to bother you with silly things at all hours. I know how short your patience is with such things."

"Luna, do you really discredit me that much? When you don't want to talk to me is when I want to hear you the most. We can work through this, even though 'easy' is the last thing it will be."

That is all I have ever wanted to hear. A grateful tear slips down my cheek and falls on one of Sombra's ears. I am too busy blinking away the rest to see which one.

"Sombra, is this not something I should do alone? I don't want to drag you into anything like this."

"Then I'll drag myself in, thank you very much."

"But should I not deal with this on my own?"

"That's exactly what you shouldn't do. Of course, some things you'll always have to do alone, but I want to be there for you. Yes, the most important choices and steps of anything we'll always have to take alone. I, personally, think it's better that way. Do you think that every time I tell you that I love you that I take it lightly, or that I won't support you with things like this?"

"You aren't angry?"

"No."

"Not even a little bit?"

"It would be a huge case of the pot calling the kettle black if I were to be angry at you for this."

Pot calling the kettle black? I know the phrase but how would it apply to Som-

Oh...

I wrap my wing around him under the crimson fabric, and get Sombra to sit up for a moment so I can pull him closer until he is draped in a feathery embrace. Sombra rests his head on my wither once again, ears pointed back a bit and he looks a tad uncomfortable even though I can feel him relax slightly.

"You-"

"Tried something similar, yes," he admits.

"Were you planning to tell me?"

"It slipped out. So, no. Never."

I don't reply. There's nothing I can think to say beyond the obvious. In the brief silence between us, the melody of rain fills my ears.

"I don't suppose anypony else knows."

"Only you know anything about it, Luna."

The rain has lessened a bit, but clouds still cover the sky with dark, murky stains like a relaxing watercolor.

"Could you tell me, Sombra? I know that self-disclosure isn't something you would consider with anypony else, but I won't tell anypony, I swear upon..."

What could I swear an oath of secrecy upon that would be good enough for him?

"...your love for me, that I, Luna Galaxia will tell nopony of what you are about to disclose."

Once I spoke, I waited for his reply and not even the rain could serve as a proper distraction.

"Fine. That'll do."

"What happened?"

Sombra tenses up and ducks his head, which startles me.

"Don't interrupt, and I would appreciate it greatly if you didn't ask many questions. I'm not one to recount memories. I most certainly am not sure how to explain this one to you; it's never one I planned to tell to another soul."

"I agree."

"Good. Then I'll start..."

Comments

[Kaleido]

The bangs of his always-disheveled mane fall across his closed eyes. His breathing is far quieter than usual, but steadier than the loud, frantic, gasps I had heard before he slipped into this state. I had happened upon him when he was utterly drained with his mind consumed with pain and frenzy.

if the crystal heart didn't fuck with him, a harmony beam shouldn't have done much either, but i'm not sure exactly what magic twi threw at him
oh right, the crystal heart didn't fuck with him *mentally*, it still blew his body to bits cause of onyx

Light magic. The manifestation of purity and harmony. It is said to bring happiness to those who are good at heart, a power for most honorable of heroes to humbly express gratitude for and truly act as if they could make no ending for themselves. This kind of power was meant to save and bring joy like the Elements of Harmony, which are probably the best known example of any kind of light magic.

ohhhhh, dark magic is kinda allergic to light magic

I scowl. "You're not an object, Sombra! Whatever 'use' you perceive yourself to have isn't worth dwelling on."

awww

"I am quite that Miss Rarity could be one such soul, and you are the other. Your status as such is undisputed - even to my sister."

immortal rarity??
now there's an intriguing spinoff

more fluffy (and emotional) opening up to each other!

[MayhemMoth]

Sorry to bring up irrelevant to story things, but I think the most horrifying thing about Sombra's injuries is the fact that, after what season 9 did to kill his show self, brutal burns and flesh melting Light Magic is literally canon. Luna's right, that stuff's horrifyingly messed up.

Their interactions are still very sweet, even if things aren't great for them right now. They're just so sweet together. I'm getting repetitive.