The Shadow of Sombra

by Lupus_Umbra

Chapter 12

Sombra’s POV

After my talk with the princess, I didn’t need to stay in bed for very long after. The nurses came in and did a final check-up to make sure that I didn’t have any lasting damage. I didn’t have anything terrible besides the stitches that were across my chest and stomach. The Princess left to give me some privacy when I was given my clothes and possessions. When I got them, I nearly panicked when I saw that I was missing some very important things, like my knives and my gun. Though I was relieved that no one saw it to ask me questions, I didn’t know where it was, only where it could be. That being the back alley that the fight had taken place in. I needed to find them before someone else did and accidentally shot themselves. So I made Celestia leave, assuring her I had no troubles changing, and changed my clothes. That left me in the situation that I was in right now as I went to the front desk to check out.

While I was making my way to the front desk, Celestia kept talking to me, telling me that my magic was something that many have wanted to learn and that I could answer so many unanswered questions. I didn’t know how to feel about her, I had barely met her less than an hour ago, and yet she already wanted me to be her little project. Though I was interested in learning about my new magic, I wasn’t sure about signing my life away to a ruler of a country. I’ve worked with plenty of their kind and the ones who hired a mercenary to deal with whatever they were having problems with usually weren’t the good kind. They would usually try to force me to work under their service or betray me to get out of paying me. Most learned that I wasn’t that easy to kill and ended up paying me, others paid blood. So yeah, I wasn’t that sure about being a part of Celestia’s little project.

“I’m not sure about this Princess,” I said, walking down the suddenly open hall. The nurses and doctors had given us a large girth as we walked to the main lobby. Well, they gave Celestia a large girth, but I was close enough to enjoy the space I was given. “All this talk makes it sound like you want me to be your experiment.”

“What do you mean by my experiment?” She questioned, looking offended as she spoke. “You will never be experimented on, we only wish to make observations with your magic. Yes, we might ask you to experiment with some speculations of Umbral magic, but you are allowed to refuse.”

My eye twitched as she explained the definition of experiment, but I sighed “Let’s say that I was to go through with your exper-” she glared at me “test.” the glare disappeared. “What can you give me that will make this worth my time?”

She blinked. “Excuse me?”

“What will you give me that will make me want to do this?” I repeated, turning a corner and following the signs. “You don’t expect me to just go along with all these tests and not get something in return, do you?”

She blinked again, before regaining her composure. “I shouldn’t have to offer you anything Sombra, I am offering you a chance to study magic with one of my pupils. Most would see that as payment enough.”

“I don’t see that as payment at all.” Her eyes narrowed. “I’ve lived my entire life without magic and I got by just fine. Sure there might have been a few situations where it could have helped, but I don’t need it. I’ll just walk away from this and my life won't be any different. I’ll be the same guy that I was yesterday before I found out about my magic.”

“Do you truly think it is that simple Sombra?” She asked her tone patient but strained. She wasn’t used to being challenged like this, most people just agreeing with what she wanted. Another thing I got used to with royalty, though Celestia was already doing better than most by holding her frustration. “Magic is not something that can just be ignored, it is a part of you, Sombra, and if not properly handled, it could cause damage to more than just you. Others can and will be affected should you be ignored.”

“How do you know that will happen, princess?”

“You only just found out about magic and you already think that you’re unique Sombra.” By this point, we had completely stopped walking, too engrossed by our talk to do both at once. “I’ve lived for thousands of years and with these years came to the experience, Sombra. Let me tell you that you will lose control, Sombra, just like last night. Magic is linked to emotions, Sombra, lose control of any of them and you will have a situation like last night.”

“I am in complete control of myself, Celestia.” At that, she only raised her brow. It almost made my face flush with the way I had responded. I had no real idea of how this magic worked, and I had been in control of myself when I was in my later years. I once again thought about the downsides of this young body. But I stood my ground and stared back at her.

“Really now?” she said in exasperation. “In complete control you say?”

“Yes,” I confirmed, before continuing my walk to the front desk. I heard her sigh before I heard her catching up to me. I honestly just wanted to try to get away from her at this point. She was trying so hard to get my permission for their experiments, giving me a bad feeling.

“Tell me Sombra, What makes you think that you are in complete control of yourself?” she inquired.

“Because I needed to be if I wanted to survive.” I didn’t even need to think about it, as it wasn’t even a lie. When you are living in the streets, you can’t just lose control. The moment that you did, you were dead. You can’t cry when the bigger kids take your food from you, you need to get off your ass and look for more, otherwise, you weren’t eating. You can't be surprised when someone you buy from sells you out to a gang, otherwise, you won't make it out alive. My entire life I had to try to keep myself in control. I wasn’t perfect, last night proving that, but who was in life.

My response seemed to make her pause, her eyes showing concern for what I just said. I just kept walking, the front desk was not too far from me and I just wanted to leave as soon as I could. I rounded a corner and found a set of stairs, Celestia caught up to me once again and stayed silent. We stayed like that until we reached the bottom floor, I enjoyed the quiet, thinking that I finally got through to her that I wasn’t comfortable with this.

“Sombra.” Nevermind. “I know that you explained your life to us in your room and it sounds like you had a hard life. I won't say something like I understand what your going through or try to relate to you, because I don’t.”

“Well, at least you're smart enough to do that much.” I grumbled, but she kept going.

“But you don’t have to continue that life just because it’s the only one you know.” That got me to pause, both in my steps and my words. “The nurse told me about all of your scars, it's more than what anyone twice your age should have and speaks more stories than words ever could.”

I guess there’s no such thing as doctor-patient confidentiality here.

“You don’t have to do the tests Sombra, neither I nor Luna will force you, but at least let us help you. If you don't want to be observed, then at least be taught, we will pay you for any observation of your magic that you want to spare.”

I looked at her once again, seeing if she was telling the truth. She looked like she did want to help what she thought was a child in her eyes. A child that was about to take a path that wouldn’t end well. It might have been this world affecting me, but I wanted to believe her. I was on the verge of completely trusting her with my body, but the experience from years of contracts and jobs just would let her have it.

“I want more than just money.” She perked up at my word. “As you can probably tell, I’m traveling and don’t have much to my name besides what on my person.” I spread my arms and gestured to my clothes, she nodded. “I want a place to live, it doesn’t need to be anything big or grand, but I want a house.”

“That may be a problem Sombra.” She winced, I gestured for her to go on. “While getting you a house wouldn’t be hard for me to do, there are other complications.”

“Like what?”

“Well for one, judging from your appearance, I would guess that you’re somewhere around fifteen years old.” I nodded, though I wasn’t sure if she was right, even back on earth I was never sure how old I was. “In Equestria, you can live alone as young as sixteen, though it would need to be approved by that area’s court. That process can take quite some time, about six months. Even if I were to interfere with that process and move you up the list. There is still the second issue that we have to worry about. You’re not an Equestrian citizen Sombra.”

“You guys have citizenship here?” I asked before I could stop myself, this world just kept surprising me more and more. Celestia tilted her head at my question.

“Of course, why wouldn’t we.”

“Nevermind that,” I said, waving away Celestia’s question. “How can I become a citizen?”

“Well before we can talk about that, first you will need a place to stay,” she explained as we turned another corner. I saw the exit for the patient area was up ahead, and quickly made my way towards it. “And with that place, you will need a guardian to take care of you as well as help you become a citizen.”

“I need a guardian?” she nodded her head. “Damn, this just got a lot more complicated.” I groaned. Once again, Celestia nodded as we passed through the door. As we passed through, I spotted the front desk and a man who was talking animately to the clerk. I didn’t really hear what he had to say, but he left a note and quickly walked out the hospital exit. I didn’t really give it much thought. The clerk saw us approaching and immediately stiffened at the sight of Celestia.

“P-Princess.” The clerked greeted, unsure if she should give a bow or she should stand straight. Luckily for her, the princess saved her the trouble of deciding between the two.

“Hello dear.” Celestia greeted, giving the clerk a smile that seemed all too natural. “How are you today?”

“I’m good Princess, thank you for asking.” The clerk looked at me and gave me a small greeting in a smile. “Is there anything that I can help you two with today?”

“Yes, I’m going to be checking out of this hospital,” I explained, before realizing that I would probably be charged for everything that they did to me. That was going to be a problem, seeing as I have every last bit of the gems that I stole to Mrs. Cake.

“I’m suddenly wishing that I wasn’t a hero last night,” I remembered the prices that some hospitals would give after treating you. And let me tell you, I was better off learning how to do my own stitched and healing myself. Hospitals could have some of the kindest doctors that will give you everything they got to save your life, but when that bill came, they were no better than the devil. I remember when I asked for a receipt of all the things they charged me for, I found out that they charged me just for bringing me to the operating room from the waiting room.

“Oh okay, can you please tell me your room number?” I did as she asked, thanking my past self for having the foresight to look at the room before he left. “Okay Angelus, so at this point, we would usually give you a bill to pay for all the hospital did for you.” I wanted to roll my eyes, but the clerk didn’t deserve such disrespect. Celestia opened her mouth to say something, but the clerk continued before she could speak.“But you’re in luck, someone has already paid your bill.”

“Really?” Celestia asked and my eyes widened.

“Yes.” The nurse replied, reaching out and giving me a piece of paper. “I was going to ask nurse Red Heart if she could deliver this to your room, but since you’re here, It will save us the trouble.”

“What is this?” I asked, taking the paper and squinting my eyes as I looked at the nearly illegible writing. It was in cursive, but the words were so close together and were obviously written in a hurry.

“It’s a note from the man who paid your bills, his name is Filthy Rich.” I resisted the urge to smack my face. “He’s the father of the girl that came along with you, I believe her name was Diamond Tiara.”

“Is she still at the hospital? Diamond Tiara I mean?” I asked though I had a feeling that I already knew the answer. And the clerk only confirmed it when she shook her head.

“I’m sorry, but she left earlier with her mother. But if you want to see her, you might find her at her father’s shop. I believe he writes that down on that note that he gave you.” I flipped the paper around and showed her the glorified chicken scratch. “Oh my, he has bad cursive, that’s a surprise.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because his normal handwriting is very good.” She answered, and I sighed.

“Fucking rich people and their weird habits.”

“Well, if you want to meet up with him, Mr. Rich is usually at his shop.” She took on a thoughtful expression for a moment. “I think it’s call Barnyard Bargains, it’s a general store on the east side of Ponyvile. He really wants to thank you, but he couldn’t find time in his schedule to give you a proper one. He only had time to deliver this note because he was making a deal around the area.”

“I see, well that’s too bad,” I said, though I wasn’t entirely genuine with those words. I had honestly felt like I needed a break with the interactions. Though with the way things have been going this entire time, something tells me that I wasn’t going to get that bre-

“Princess! Sombra!”

“I knew it.”

“Why, hello girls.” Celestia greeted, I rolled my neck, getting ready for the continued interaction.

“Hello,” I said dryly, if anyone noticed the tone, they didn’t show it. “Where’s the other princess, Luna?”

“She said that she would go back to the castle first.” Twilight explained, I noticed that she was holding onto a book. It was an old-looking book that looked like it could use a duster. “Though this matter is important, she also has her royal duties at night, so she said that she would go back and get some rest.”

“I see.” Celestia nodded. “That makes sense, she hasn’t gotten any sleep since yesterday.”

“So Angelus?” Pinkie said before the awkward silence could kick in. “Are you ready for your tour of Ponyvile?”

I paused at that. “We’re still doing that?”

“Well of course silly.” She playfully knocked a knuckle to my head. “Don’t tell me that you plan to go back on that.”

“Well, I sorta thought that me having stitches and barely leaving the hospital would at least postpone it.”

“Do you need to have a few days?” Fluttershy asked, the concern in her soft voice nearly made my heart melt.

“No.” I sighed, taking in a deep breath and shaking out the stiffness in my body. “I’ve been through worse. I’ll just need a minute to limber up.”

Once again, that wasn’t the right thing to say, as the girls gave each other concerned glances as I stretched out my body. Even Celestia winced at that one.

“I got to get better at this whole socializing thing if I’m going to be here.” It really wasn’t my fault that socializing wasn’t my strong suit. Okay maybe it was, but I had a good reason, the mercenary life didn’t leave a lot of room for making friends. Sure, you probably had associates, or people you could call to help you with a job, but you didn’t have friends. Although, my teacher did have a sociable personality that most mercenaries, making conversations with the people he bought from and getting to know them. I never bothered to ask why he did that, as he would usually answer with some cryptic ‘Figure it out yourself’ bullcrap, so I didn’t even bother.

“Are you ready to head out Angelus?” AppleJack asked, and I nodded.

“Yep, I’m ready to go.” I followed the girls outside, with the princess walking beside me. When we got out the door, Celestia tapped on my shoulder.

“I need to go back to Canterlot Angelus, but I do hope that we can further discuss our deal later.”

“Yeah, I can do it later, something tells me that I won’t be very busy anytime soon.”

“Excellent, I will message Twilight to let you know when I can meet you. In the meantime, please start taking magic lessons. Twilight will be the one to help you, and anything that you wish to share with us can be sent through Spike.”

“Got it,” I said, not at all surprised at the fact that Twilight would be my teacher. Celestia pretty much exposed it when she said that my teacher would be one of her students. “I hope to see you soon Princess.”

“As do I Angelus.” After that, she gave everyone her goodbyes and with a flash of light, she completely disappeared.

“Alright, even I have to admit that that was cool.” With Celestia gone, I walked up to the girls and walked towards that town that would soon become a temporary home.

Author's Note:

Okay, I'm back with a chapter, sadly, I don't have too much to say about this chapter. What I do have to say, is that chapters my release slower as I now have school again.

That's all I can really think to say, but maybe you have more to say. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Comments

[John bostock]

Woohoo! Can't wait keep up the good work hopefully this doesn't have a bad ending we're he does something awful to the girls don't care for what he does to gangs and such

[Mitril]

Why he is waiting that long to get his things back!?
Just go before someone finds it first

Also, don't become a citizen or get a house,at least not from the crown.
In both situations, he would be forced,required to help them with their problems.
As citizen , he probably will need to swear his loyalty to the country or something like that.

A mercenary should know what to do in that situation,how to deal with it.
As for citizenship, there has to be something temporary like a Visa

[Sub-Zero]

Ah school the bane of all children and teenagers but good to see you back and to know this story isn't dead