Chapter 15: A Friend in the Shadows
“You’re alive?!” Sombra exclaimed.
I gracefully straightened my posture and looked around. We now were in a crater, no doubt from the explosion I had felt before I entered the Heart. I stretched out my left wing, now back at my side.
“The Wraith… is she dead?”
“Umm… yes,” said Sombra, deciding to look at the ground instead of engage in his usual one-sided glaring contests.
“I’m the Crystal Empress.” I briefly explained some of what happened when I was in the Crystal Heart, leaving out most of what was probably For Crystal Alicorn Eyes Only.
“Huh… so that’s why the Heart was glowing.”
Now to see if what I feared had come true.
“Sombra… I heard what you said before… and it… it’s not…”
Sombra instantly looked disgusted.
“NO! It’s not! Why would it be you?!” He made a huffing noise. "Do you know what a mess that would be? I'm not even remotely interested in you."
I looked at the sky. “We had best get going, friend.”
Sombra jerked his head around.
“Friend?!”
I nodded.
“Yes, you are my friend. You have saved my life on multiple occasions, come to my aid, and most importantly you have saved my kingdom. If Celestia won’t knight you like I want her to then I will go into saying how you gave up your most-precious-secret-”
“How did you guess that it was you little-“ he grumbled.
“-to save my kingdom and if the Element Bearers and Twilight try anything, they will have to go through me. Okay, friend?”
Sombra glared at me, as if trying to detect a lie.
“Knighted?”
“Of course!”
“Hmph.”
I took that grunt as an okay, but then again, with Sombra, you can never be sure.
There was silence for a moment as we turned from the ruins and began to head back south.
“Fine,” he muttered out of the blue.
“What?”
He sighed in a slightly annoyed manner.
“I can’t believe I’m even considering this, but I'll tell you… who she is.”
I giggled and scooped up the Heart, cradling it gently in one of my wings. All of my gear with the exception of my now holey cloak had now perished, and while I missed my bow I'm glad it wasn't me that had been lost. Or my kingdom.
“Whisper it, the wind might hear you,” I teased.
He frowned, and gave me an eye roll on top of it all just to show how irritated he was. “YOU OWE ME!”
I plucked a gem from the headdress and tossed it to him.
Sombra shoved it in his bags. “That'll do, Princess.”
He whispered a name in my ear. My eyes widened. I couldn't believe it... yet in the strangest way I knew his words were true.
“Let me guess, I don’t even have a chance,” he mumbled.
I giggled once more, feeling like the silly teenage alicorn who read dorky novels to Twilight and snuck her into all the romantic comedies I could in Canterlot theaters when I wasn't with Shiny. It was just too good for me not to ship, although there was no way I'd get into explaining that to Sombra since I doubt he'd appreciate my art.
“Take it from the Princess of Love: you have a shot, and I wish you luck.”
For the first time, I think I saw him smile.
Or was I just hallucinating…?
...
Only Celestia was at Canterlot; Luna was at a meeting in Baltimare, which made my meeting with her less dramatic than if Luna and Twilight had been there, but it also meant I had to wait a while to tell them I was okay.
It took a lot of explaining to Princess Celestia to clarify why Sombra shouldn’t be banished again, but I managed to convince her while a bitter Sombra engaged in a staring match with Auntie. She even refused to mention him by name, much less return his gaze. After she heard me explain everything but the secret Sombra revealed; Celestia explained she would not knight him, after all the role of knight in Equestria comes with significant power. Instead Celestia grudgingly proposed the take-it-or-leave-it offer of making him a realmless duke.
“Like Blueblood?”
“No,” Celestia said calmly “Blueblood has an estate to his name.”
Sombra, who had been reduced to standing behind me, cleared his throat loudly.
“What is it?” Celestia asked tonelessly, contrary to the look in her eyes, which resembled burning coals shooting sparks at Sombra.
“Can I leave?”
She raised an eyebrow.
“I can’t just have you wander around the castle, where will you go?”
He snorted a bit. “How about away from you, O Eternally Irritating One?”
Celestia drew an angry breath, but maintained much of her composure. “Guards, if you please escort this stallion to another room.”
I suppose it was only a matter of time before some drama was stirred up because of him, and I think things are going to get pretty interesting around here to say the least.
...
Three days later…
I was nervous.
Canterlot Hall was filled with well-dressed ponies who looked both intrigued and worried at the same time. Twilight, who was beside Princess Luna on the platform, waved to her friends among the front rows of attendees. I was all decked out as Crystal Princess. I waved to Shining Armor, who unlike our kingdom was not instantly healed with the restoration of the Heart; he couldn’t climb the platform with that leg of his. Meanwhile, Princess Luna stood off to the far left and looked as reluctant as I was. Leave it to Celestia to be the only pony comfortable in an immense hall filled with ponies. I loved to be around ponies too, the more the merrier and all - but sometimes there could just be too big of a crowd, and I was worried how Sombra would handle all this, since I doubted everypony would be friendly to him if he were going to attempt to socialize.
Center stage was Sombra, who was still sporting an overgrown mane and tail along with his singed cloak. The sword that I let him keep was sheathed at his side. Sombra was shooting a downright murderous look at Blueblood, who unfortunately was standing next to me, fretting over what to do and clearly repulsed by Sombra's presence, even though I think Sombra makes for much better company... even if he kinda is, ya know, a ex-tyrant and all.
Princess Celestia cleared her throat, signaling the beginning of the ceremony.
“I, Princess Celestia of the Two Sisters, Diarch of Equestria, do hereby grant the affix of Boundless Duke upon this pony. You may have completed a task of great merit with the aide of the Crystal Princess, but alone you have committed greater, almost overshadowing crimes. Do not think that they will be forgotten. Now, to the oaths.”
We were all quiet as she began, as Celestia's now disdainful gaze still seared, boring down on Sombra, who was only about the same height as Luna, maybe an inch or two shorter.
“Do you, Sombra of no inheritance or house,” she began eloquently, “swear to uphold the laws of Equestria, its vassals, its allies, and its states?”
“Yeah, I might,” he grumbled, although his tone made it sound like he would have rather said a less sure 'maybe'. There was already murmurs of fear in the crowd, and Celestia, who certainly hadn't expected this, was starting to look a bit pink, her anger only obvious to Luna, Twilight, and myself.
In the audience, Rarity almost fainted at his lack of formality towards the princess, whereas Celestia then seemed to coolly let his curtness slide.
“Do you, Sombra of Unknown Parentage, swear to protect Equestria, her rulers, subjects, allies, vassals, and states, as if they were your own?”
“I do,” Sombra stated, “swear to protect Equestria, its rulers, subjects, allies, states, and vassals from harm and-” his gaze met Celestia's.
“-from tyrants.”
A collective gasp could be heard, and the cocky grin that found it's way onto Sombra's face was a direct foil to Auntie Celestia's hot-coal stare. The crowds were dismissed and Princess Celestia shot me a we'll-talk-later-look.
I nodded and trotted over to Shiny, whose leg was in a cast. My crystalline coat was still in effect, and my thoughts drifted over to Sombra. Something told me this wouldn’t be his last adventure, if any pony could change Equestria, it was my friend: Sombra, Duke of Nowhere and Nothing.
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7668447 Pardon?
7746167 You pointed out that would be OOC for Cadance - and that's sort of where Cady's flaws can lie. She is very nice and trusting and her longing for adventure can get her into some problematic situations.
Thank you for both the praise and the critique - I love to hear both. The fast pacing of the first few chapters was my intention - it helps showcase Cady as an Action Girl - no sitting around for her!
This story was a blast to read. I especially loved tension between Celestia and Sombra at the end. Took me 5 minutes before I could stop laughing. Can't way to read the next part.
7854406 Thanks! I hope you enjoy the others as well!
7885914 it wasn't an intentional reference but is hilarious in hindsight.
7994471 It might not have an impact yet. And yes, that might be it.
8197638 16 is actually the age of majority in this 'verse, so they're more like college aged.
8197642 Still significantly younger than portrayed in the show.
8203676 Not really. There's nothing that states their ages in the show; it's all implied. And from what is implied and how the Mane 6 are treated/interact/think and anything involving EqG, the Mane 6 appear to be young adults. Their ages also appear to correlate with human ages more then horses (at her birthday party, Sweetie wasn't an adult, for example). This means that the Mane 6 are probably anywhere from 15-25. There's really not much to suggest how old they are in the show.
8203676 Not to mention, when Twilight goes into the EQG universe, shes a high schooler. You can stick your fingers in your ear at that and go "nyah nyah nyah not canon" and thats fine, but dont act like theres explicit evidence towards their age that this story is disregarding.
8204121 EqG being canon throws a wrench in any linear age mapping for the cast as a whole, but as the author did mention the age of majority being lower than I'd expected I suppose it's a moot point.
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
8576009
Use your words, 🅱. :P
8640592
Truly the mightiest of arcane knowledge.
Absolutely brilliant. How you fit so much story into 20k words amazed me. It feels like I just read an entire trilogy. The inter-mixing of the Lore of Yore stories with the story itself was so smooth and perfectly done. The dynamic between the two was, if anything, realistic, and took a nice angle with Sombra, one that isn't at all far-fetched. I could go on and on, but if I were to type all of my praise out on this tiny ass keyboard my thumbs would fall off.
I wish I had read this sooner. Thanks for the journey, I wish I could go back and forget everything so I can re-live the experience.
8735267
Thank you for the good vibes!
And there is a sequel...
8735276
There is that sequel...
We're only half-way into the drive thus far, and as much as I'd like to work on my own stories, I absolutely have to delve into that big thing. I'll comment as I read.
8735281
Thank you for being such an active reader!
8735286
I think its almost an insult to read and not comment along the way. Its one of my greatest pet peeves tbh.
8735289
Oh dear, I'm quite guilty of that!
This begs the question... did Sombra originally own the empire and the sisters took it from him?
8903806
He's a stallion full of secrets! I'd be spoiling quite a bit if I said something.
Oh, and by the way, thank you for being an active reader! I enjoy speculation and other things in my comments! And since you're near the end of this tale: please be sure to upvote if you enjoy!
ya it was pret gud
This was a fun read! Lots of great adventure vibes and fun Sombra and Cadance moments. I think the high points of the story were definitely the train ride and the fight with the Wraith, but I think the train scenes could have been built upon more to help bring some authenticity to how 'buddy-buddy' Cadance and Sombra's relationship developed. Overall, it was a fun arc, and I'm impressed you managed to cram all this story into a bite-sized short novel.
and now i ignore the sequel9060617
Pls don't ignore 😢
I loved this story, bonus points for having my favorite Princess and my favorite villain in center roles.
9623715
Oh jeez you read FAST 👀
hope you like the others too
9623931
I read a lot during my breaks at work, plus during any serious downtime, which lately there has been a lot because there are so many changes happening that my area is actually sometimes empty of things to do. I also tend to read before going to bed.
10092228
Oh yeah, I've done plenty of research into horsey nonsense for my own writing, ages included, so I knew about that bit but kinda tossed it aside for a more 'human' approach. I like the way you've done things better though, I might consider doing something similar if that's alright with you?
Always did sort of consider Twilight a sorta college student, but seeing she was in Celestia's school as a child it does make sense to treat it as a more traditional school.
And Sombra hasn't exactly been off ice for long enough to know anything about the modern world or the past thousand years of History. Didn't think the banishment had much to do with it, but thought it worth asking! Never did think much about the Princesses' ages, but now that you've mentioned it, the general age does make sense for Luna.
Also I now need a timeline of major Equestrian events. There's so many.
Him being in his 23. Wow, you can really tell I don't proof read comments.I mean his animation model does have that 'eye bags' look they give to the more middle aged characters, so maybe that has something to do with it? Guess it could also depend on the backstory of choice when writing.Thank you for the explanation, and I am absolutely prepared for more! I love reading others' world building, because not only can it be interesting, it also gets me thinking about my own.
10092262
Omg people actually read my rambling comments
>>>Always did sort of consider Twilight a sorta college student, but seeing she was in Celestia's school as a child it does make sense to treat it as a more traditional school.
She certainly does seem equivalent to one! Though, she’s never had a job or hit the other marks of maturity many college students have. She could be in an accelerated program or between uni and high school. Who knows!
Okay so I've officially finished this story and I gotta say it was really good! I was very engaged within the last few chapters, and the whole deal with the Big Bad was really interesting too, I like how it was slowly told through a book.
And of course, Sombra and Cadence's interaction was fun throughout the story. They make a fun duo and I can't wait to see more.
Onto the next one! ...After I get some writing done myself, of course.
Also I just noticed the comments related to pony ages somehow made their way to this page? Weird.
10093895
Unfortunately, suffering is very good at finding poor Sombra
10093929
Everything is not fine :)
10093951
Their interactions are only going to increase so I hope you enjoy that. Thanks for reading this one! Cady and Sombra are one of my favorite pairs to write, and it’s to the point that ‘All That Lingers’ was partially inspired by the good dynamic these two evolved to have.
You can has review!
10261209
Sombra and Cadance have tons of friendship fun together and hopefully, no pony gets hurt.
10261444
It is his day job, so he won't be quitting any time soon.
10262259
Ah, I see.
10262857
She will protect her ponies like the glass ornaments they are.
10264446
Technically, couldn't Cadence have him prosecuted for negligent homicide?
10264488
Then and there? Probably not. It also depends on if he could have actually teleported all the other ponies, or even just more of them. A case would have had to establish that in that moment, he was perfectly capable of preventing those events and locating each and every pony, etc.
He chose to save a world leader in his immediate proximity than try and wrangle a bunch of other ponies as a catastrophe was in progress. While he was callous about it, a fair amount of people/ponies in his position would probably do the same. However, their attitudes and reasons for doing so would probably differ.
10264529
Fair point. They had to save their own lives and he was not obligated and possibly not capable of a rescue mission. Still callous.
Sombra's snark is perfect. Love his and Cadence's dynamic. From king to duke. I know they wanted to honor him, but damn that's a demotion.
10264851
He's a very callous boy.
10265004
Snarky perfect babies are the best kind.
10274267
First-person narrators are the best for deploying Top Tier Funnies in un-funny situations don't @ me
10274258
He only gets smugger with each story!
(Also, you read fast!)
10276375
"read fast": i have tons of practice & backlog
"top tier funnies": oh yes we appreciate those
10276673
I hope you enjoy the backlog! Even though I have to give this whole first arc of fics (and arc zero uh oh) polish to get them ready for printing (eventually; current projects take priority help how does time work) it's awesome knowing that people still really love 'em as much as I do.
10276676
so far i am enjoying the backlog
and yeah, so far the side stories have felt more polished than the main ones, but we've barely scratched the surface of the main arcs so we'll see how it goes
1 down. 118 to go. I will enjoy every story, and nobody can stop me. I might be crazy.
Great story, will be reading more. (applause)
10607063
Damn, you read fucking fast. Thanks, gamer.
10620221
It was really cute, honestly! I can't help but imagine he has horns that kinda look like bunny ears, now.
10621411
Okay heck, I might have to use this idea in the revision.
I enjoyed it, though you're right about it needing a rewrite. Mostly for the grammar mistakes, like how some sentences read as if you left a half-finished thought jutting through them at an angle, or chose to reword things and neglected to delete the previous version. And there are some times it feels as if you tell instead of show, which kinda disrupts the immersion a bit. But it does get better as it goes on.
I'll probably read the sequel and any following stories, though right now I think I need a break to do some writing of my own. Gotta get back into the swing of things.