Chapter 18: Nothing Left to Give
With the amount of attention put into the room, it really did look like the dining hall was ready for something important. So many foods were littered among the tabletop, ranging from something savory like quiche, to something sickeningly sweet like strawberry cheesecake. All things Twilight had said Shining Armor or Princess Cadance enjoyed, all made for nothing because neither of them had shown up. Not even Twilight or Star Swirl had taken much, which annoyed Starlight quite a bit.
It was fine though, really. She’d only wasted the entire morning and the evening before stressing out in the kitchen, making sure everything was perfect. It’s not like it felt a little bit insulting to have the food she’d spent so much time on being wasted.
Not that she was any better. She was too nervous to eat herself, which only added to her frustration. At least there were still plenty of ponies in the castle to eat the leftovers. Sombra certainly wouldn’t mind all the extra food, and she could probably give both Star Swirl and Sunburst some for their trips home.
“I was actually in the Empire to visit Mistmane,” Star Swirl said, casually stirring a mug of coffee, “We wandered into Sunburst while out on a walk, and chatted a bit. He made an offhoof mention of Sombra, and I got curious. I still am, actually. How curious that you would tell Mistmane of Sombra’s return, but not myself.”
“We’ve been trying to keep Sombra’s survival a secret outside of Ponyville,” Twilight explained apologetically, “I told Cadance and my brother, and they told Sunburst, so I’m assuming they did the same with Mistmane.”
“I still would’ve appreciated being told.”
“That’d probably have been easier to do if you stayed in one place.”
Star Swirl shot her something akin to a glare, and Twilight backed down a bit. She was sure he was about to retort, but a knock on the door saved her.
“Starlight?” Sunburst didn’t take a seat at the table as he entered, instead looking at his friend from the doorway, “Could we talk for a moment?”
“In the halls?” He nodded, and Starlight rose from her seat with a quick nod of her own toward Twilight. She tried not to rush out of the room, but was worried enough that she might have, and may have closed the door a little too quickly as well. “Is everything alright? Where’s Sombra?”
“Everything’s fine, Sombra just wanted some time alone,” He assured. Starlight breathed a sigh of relief, “But I need you to talk to him.”
“Right now?” She began to turn down the hall, but Sunburst held out a hoof to stop her.
“No, not right now, but soon. You’ve been hiding your past from him, why?”
“Oh, well…” Starlight’s ears twitched, and she shrank back slightly to look at anything other than him, “I just haven’t found the chance is all. There just hasn’t been a good time to bring it up.”
“Well you need to find the time,” Sunburst commanded, voice much more demanding than she’d ever expected of him. He seemed disappointed, but his expression and tone quickly softened, “You want to know more about him, right? Don’t you think that telling him about yourself might help ease him into saying something?”
“I do, but I’m worried it’d seem like I was pressuring him. Twilight told me to wait until he was comfortable enough to tell me himself, and I really don’t want to make him feel like he has to say something.”
“I really do think that talking to him would help, you’d be surprised how much you have in common.”
“What?”
Sunburst turned to his saddlebags, quickly rustling through them until pulling out a book. It was a thick yet simple one, titleless, teal in color and latched shut with two golden clasps. Starlight was confused by the sight of it, but was quick to take it when Sunburst passed it over to her.
Fiddling with the clasps, she asked, “What is this?”
“It’s Sombra’s journal, one of them at least.”
“His journal?” Starlight tried to open it, but Sunburst set a hoof over the cover before she managed to unlatch either clasp. Her ears only flinched back slightly, and she managed to hide her hint of irritation in her voice as she asked, “Where did you get this?”
“Please try and talk to him first,” He said, before lowering his hoof, “The castle is filled with secret rooms, assumedly made by Sombra, and this was in one of them. This one was hidden behind the same door he’d hidden the Crystal Heart in, though it was in an entirely different room.”
“Fascinating. I’d love to see one of these rooms someday.”
“I’d like to never see one again.”
“That bad, huh?” Sunburst made a face, and Starlight held back a laugh. All that had accomplished was making her want to see one of Sombra’s rooms even more, “You said this was only one of his journals, where are the others?”
“At the orphanage. I skimmed through the journal a bit and discovered the name of the pony who runs the place, Chestnut Falls. Cadance and I talked to her, and she mentioned still having his previous journals. Most of them were from when he was a foal, so we let her keep them.”
“I think they would have been useful.”
“Maybe, but Chestnut didn’t want to give them up,” Sunburst explained, ear twitching as he turned to look down the hall for a moment before lowering his voice, “She didn’t want to let go of what she had left of the foal she’d raised. Cadance let her keep them.”
Starlight frowned, “I still think it would have helped.”
“I still think it’d be better to talk to Sombra before nosing into his private thoughts.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” She sighed, lowering the book to look at nothing in particular, though a sound down the hall got her ears to twitch as well. Sunburst tapped the book.
“Might want to put that away somewhere,” He said, motioning down the hall, “I think Sombra’s coming.”
“Oh, right!” Starlight teleported the book, twitching her ears again to make sure somepony was actually coming. Hearing a bit of shuffling down the hall, she nudged Sunburst toward the dining room door, “Go eat some food, Sombra and I will meet you all in a moment.”
“Or you could just wait until he chooses to join us?” He suggested, quickly sighing as he realized the suggestion was in vain, “Fine.”
He was gone about right as soon as Sombra turned the corner, and Starlight instantly knew something wasn’t right. His mane was limp, and his head was lowered, but the moment she ran over to him he briefly stuck out a hoof.
“I’m fine,” He said, “Your friend is just annoying.”
“Oh.” She shrank back, a bit anxious by his irritation, “I just talked to him, did everything go smoothly?”
He shrugged.
“Do you think you passed the assessment?”
He shrugged again, “Can I just get my food now?”
“Yeah, we can do that.”
She led him into the dining room, Twilight and Star Swirl quieting themselves as Sombra sat at the table. He placed himself away from everyone else, levitating over the entire fruit bowl to snatch a pear from within. He tore into it with more viciousness than Starlight had seen from him previously, before scanning the ponies around him.
“Anypony else want to annoy me today?” He asked.
Starlight nervously tapped her hooves together, looking away. Sunburst glanced over to Twilight, who was also avoiding eye contact. Only Star Swirl didn’t look away, simply sipping his steaming mug and crossing his hooves on the table in front of him.
“I would.”
“Right.” Sombra’s left ear twitched, and he continued to feast on his fruit as he waited for Star Swirl to speak. He had a bit more respect for the elder Unicorn over almost anypony else in the room, and was curious about what he had to say, but knew just as well that Star Swirl could strike him down if he so wished.
To his annoyance, he didn’t immediately speak up, instead levitating over a kettle and pouring some sort of dark steaming liquid into his cup. Sombra eyed it unsurely, the smell that wafted from it smelling nothing like anything he’d smelled before. He wasn’t sure if he liked it or not.
Star Swirl noticed his confusion, and upon lifting the pot, asked, “Would you like some?”
“I don’t even know what that is.”
“Coffee,” Star Swirl answered, opting to pour Sombra a cup to answer all his questions, “It’s a wonderful beverage that I took a liking to long ago. Good for waking you up in the morning, and a good substitution for those instances when you just don’t have time to make breakfast.”
Though he questioned the concept of drinking this instead of eating a proper meal, Sombra accepted the mug when Star Swirl levitated it toward him. The smell of the liquid was even stronger now, and he still wasn’t sure if he liked it or not. Grabbing the mug in his hooves, he took a deeper sniff, recoiling in disgust at how much stronger it was.
“It smells burnt. Why is modern sustenance so atrocious?”
“Don’t knock it till you try it, it’s quite good.”
“Doubt it.” He shook his head, remembering the cocoa. Still, he was curious, and though well aware of the fact it was hot, he took a small sip.
He recoiled again, nearly dropping the cup.
“What is this, burnt water? It’s disgusting!”
“Ah, perhaps a bit of cream, or maybe a few sugar cubes?” Starswirl levitated the items over to Sombra. He grabbed them quickly, immediately throwing the first cube into his mouth to get rid of the taste, then tossing a few more into the coffee with a bit of the cream before taking another sip. “Better?”
“Not in the slightest,” He answered, sipping again, “It’s still awful.”
“Then why are you still drinking it?”
“Because I hate myself.”
He sipped it again, still unsure about the taste and smell. Modern food and beverage was strange, it was either greasy, watery, or burnt. Something must have gone wrong in the culinary arts at some point in time.
For some reason, Star Swirl laughed at him. Sombra lowered himself at that, not at all liking to be the center of attention in this scenario.
“I’m sure it’ll grow on you,” He said, casually waving a hoof, “Ah, I remember when I first tried coffee. It was quite a long time ago, actually, before I’d sealed us away in limbo. I had this mirror you see, Celestia and I would travel through it on occasion, and during one trip we-”
“Hey, Star Swirl,” Twilight interrupted, an awkward smile on her face as she glanced between him and Sombra, “Do you think you might have something else you might want to talk about?”
“Oh,” Star Swirl blinked, his eyes widening in some sort of realization that nopony other than he and Twilight understood, but he quickly regained himself, “Ah, forgive me, I rambled a bit. Nopony wants to hear any of my old stories, now do they?”
Sunburst meekly raised a hoof, “I do.”
“And I’d like to hear more about this traveling mirror,” Sombra added.
“No you absolutely do not,” Star Swirl answered harshly, “That one’s been destroyed anyway.”
“That one. Meaning there’s more.”
“If you even so much as think about going through any magical mirror I will personally banish you to limbo myself.”
Intrigue suddenly gone, Sombra grabbed a mini quiche and stuffed it into his mouth while looking away. He wasn’t a fan of mirrors anyway.
“Now then, perhaps we could talk about the Tree of Harmony?”
Sombra briefly choked, swallowing his mouthful and saying, “How about we don’t?”
“Fine, if you won’t, I will.” Star Swirl took a swig of his coffee before pushing the mug to the side, folding his arms in front of him to stare at Sombra, though the younger stallion didn’t even glance back, “My friends and I planted that tree.”
“Of course you did.”
“And you destroyed it.”
“Only temporarily,” Sombra added. It frustrated him that destroying the weapon apparently failed, but at least he had that going for him now, “And if it’s any consolation, it did try to kill me.”
Briefly taken aback by that, Star Swirl glanced at Twilight before saying, “I suppose it’s still quite effective, even if somepony forgot to mention that bit.”
“In my defense, a lot’s been going on recently,” Twilight responded nervously, “And most of his injuries were caused by Chrysalis, which is another issue we’ll have to deal with eventually.”
“You’ll have many more issues to deal with in due time, I’m sure,” Sombra muttered, levitating over another quiche.
“What was that?” She asked.
“I said you need to stop talking about me, let me talk about my problems when I feel like it.” He tossed the quiche into his mouth. There was already too much going on in this room, he wondered if he should leave. He didn’t care if they noticed, but Starlight would probably run after him and ask what was wrong. Ponies were annoying. Swallowing his mouthful, he asked, “Can I go back to my room now?”
“No.” Star Swirl’s firm demand made him angry, but he stayed where he sat, “I have a few other things I’d like to ask you.”
“I’m getting tired of being asked questions.”
“And I’m getting tired of unruly foals who fail to communicate with me.”
That got Sombra’s fangs bared. As much as he disliked being considered older than he was, it was significantly more infuriating to find a pony that truly was older than him. He could feel his respect for the elder fading, he didn’t like being looked down on.
“Now then,” Star Swirl crossed his arms on the table, “Perhaps we can get back on topic, hmm?”
Sombra chose not to respond, grabbing an apple and rolling it between his hooves. He was sure Star Swirl found that silence rather smart of him.
“If you’d like, you can choose where we should start,” He offered, “Perhaps what your goals were? Or maybe why you killed Princess Amore? Both of those pique my interests.”
Somepony choked on something, but Sombra didn’t look to see who it was. It could’ve been any of the three, but his bets were on Twilight. She seemed prone to overreacting, but he wouldn’t relent over such an idiotic accusation.
“I didn’t kill Amore,” He stated for the utmost time, “She’s not dead.”
“I find that rather hard to believe, especially since we have a written confession from you.”
The apple stopped rolling, but Sombra didn’t look away from it. The room was eerily silent, neither Twilight, Starlight, or Sunburst willing to speak against the great wizard.
“She’s not dead,” He repeated, voice much calmer than he felt.
“Either you’re lying, or in denial,” Star Swirl accused, tapping the table. Sombra was under the impression he wanted him to look at him, but he shut his eyes in refusal, “The proof is in the writing. You killed Amore, and I’m sure you killed countless others.”
“Amore isn’t dead. I never killed anybody.”
“I suppose we’re going for denial, or perhaps even a mental deficiency, either is possible,” He observed, casually stirring his coffee with his magic, “From what I’ve heard, you’re not the most stable in that regard.”
Sombra grit his teeth, the apple beginning to split between his hooves, but he said nothing.
“The thought brings to mind another question, doesn’t it? How many other ponies have you killed and brushed aside? Did their lives mean nothing to you?”
“You seem to have a hard time realizing that murder just isn’t my thing.”
“Then what happened to her? If you didn’t kill her, then where is she?”
“She’s still there, she just doesn’t want to show herself.”
Star Swirl shifted in his seat, a sigh escaping him. Something about that sigh managed to further anger Sombra. He was really wishing for somepony to interrupt about now, maybe tell Star Swirl to quiet himself before a fight broke out. This was exactly what he’d warned Starlight about, yet she hadn’t made a single noise since Star Swirl had started this.
“You know, I can’t help but pity you,” He said, Sombra refusing to lift his head to see his supposed pity. He didn’t need pity. “You’re so obviously unwell, and a threat to others. I don’t doubt that you can change, but the first step to that is returning to reality.”
Sombra continued his defiant silence, while Starlight finally decided to speak.
“I think that’s enough, Star Swirl,” She said, voice wavering, “You’re overstaying your welcome.”
“I disagree. This is Twilight’s castle, is it not? She has yet to tell me to leave, so you have no reason to speak out of turn.”
There was a squeak, probably from the aforementioned princess. Sombra didn’t check, his eyes were shut tight, more and more anger welling up within him. Star Swirl’s accusations were one thing, his rudeness to Starlight was another. He was steadily adding to the list of why he hated the elder.
“Sombra,” Star Swirl was still trying to get his attention, but Sombra resisted, “Just admit what you need to. You know the truth, and denying it won’t help. ”
Juice had begun to seep from the apple’s cracks, dribbling over his hooves.
“Sombra, look at me when I’m talking to you.”
He bit his tongue, holding back an insult.
“Fine, if you won’t admit to Princess Amore’s murder, perhaps you’ll confess to another?” Star Swirl suggested, noticing a shift in Sombra’s behavior, “Chestnut Falls mentioned that there was another pony who’d vanished from the Crystal Empire around the same time you took over. A pony she was rather fond of.”
“Don’t you dare say it.”
“She was your friend, wasn’t she?” Star Swirl ignored his words, that heartless accusation escaping him, “Did you kill Radiant Hope?”
The apple exploded between his hooves.
“That’s enough!” Sombra slammed his hooves onto the table and rose before anyone could stop him, shadows bursting from his eyes as he stared down at Star Swirl specifically, “You’ve gone too far!”
Gaze already focused on Sombra, Star Swirl fell under instantly. Somepony else cried out as he did, but Sombra ignored them as he faded to shadow and fled. He’d had enough, and not even a cry from Starlight could stop him.
She ran after him anyway.
Only briefly checking back at the possessed Star Swirl, unsurprised to see Twilight immediately at his side, she’d gone. She and Sunburst should be able to deal with him, as long as Sombra didn’t set him up as a weapon, but even then she was sure Twilight could contain him somehow. Yet at the same time, Star Swirl was powerful, and if he blasted either of them-
No. She shook her head, that was not a thing she wanted to think about. After all this time, Sombra wouldn’t just throw his freedom away like that, would he?
She called to him, “Sombra!”
He ignored her, his shadow turning a corner, down the same hall with the room he’d been in earlier. Starlight tried to catch up with him, but he was so much faster than her, and he’d already slipped into the room by the time she’d caught up.
“Sombra!” She tried to enter, but something kept her from doing so, “Let me in, please!”
No response. Starlight slammed both front hooves into the door.
“Sombra, please!” She shouted, slamming again, “If you don’t let me in, I’ll teleport in there and-”
“Leave me alone!”
The fierceness in his voice got her to stop with a yelp, and she hopped back. She’d endured the brunt of his frustration, and had seen him snap at Twilight, and now Star Swirl, but he’d never snapped at her out of true anger.
It scared her. She didn’t like that it scared her. Sombra wasn’t supposed to scare her.
She didn’t know what to do. She wanted to help him, but what if he turned against her too? Would he even do that, would he turn against her? He was her friend, wasn’t he?
For a moment, she was tempted to call to him again, but decided against it. Instead, she just collapsed to the floor, unsure of what to do. She couldn’t go back to the dining room, she didn’t belong there right now. Leaving wasn’t an option either, because she was sure Twilight would be scrambling over to get mad at him, and she didn’t need that kind of fight breaking out.
Her ear twitched, a small sound breaking the silence, as well as her train of thought. For a moment, she thought it was as simple as a pin dropping nearby, but that made no sense when she thought about it. Listening intently, both ears swiveling to try to identify and locate the noise. It didn’t take too long to realize it’s location, beyond the very door she was against. Setting her head against it, she could finally identify the sound.
Music.
It didn’t sound like a record player, and as far as she remembered there wasn’t even one in the room. This was much quieter, and so much softer than some of the music Sombra enjoyed. She couldn’t quite place the tune, or where it was coming from, but she stayed against that door to listen.
“Starlight?”
She shot up with a yelp, the music going quiet as she found herself face to face with a pony she hadn’t quite expected, but was relieved to see.
“Sunburst? Why are you over here?”
“Twilight sent me to check on you,” He explained, nervously eyeing the door behind her, “Is Sombra okay?”
“Sombra? What about Star Swirl? Is he okay?”
“Yeah, he’s fine. Sombra must’ve used a weak spell on him, because he was quick to recover. Twilight still wasn’t very happy.”
“I can imagine. He had it coming though,” Starlight muttered, before noticing the raised brow of disappointment on Sunburst’s face, “What? He provoked him.”
“You’re really going with that?”
“Yeah, really. Star Swirl purposely hit a sore spot, how else do you think he’d have reacted?”
“Maybe a bit more calmly?”
“How calm do you think somepony’s going to be when they’re accused of killing somepony they care about? What if he’d accused me of killing you? Or Trixie? Do you think I’d just take that?”
Sunburst looked away uncomfortably, ears slightly flattened, “No, I suppose not.”
He turned to leave, but only took a few steps before stopping.
“Did you want to go back to lunch?” He asked, “I’m sure Twilight and Star Swirl won’t be too upset if we explain everything.”
“No, you go on ahead. I think I’ve had enough social interaction for the day,” Starlight answered. Sunburst nodded, turning away to leave. He’d only taken a few more steps before she momentarily glanced at Sombra's door, “Wait, Sunburst.”
He stopped again, “Change your mind?”
“Not exactly, I just have something I want to give you.” She quickly trotted up to and in front of him, motioning with her tail for him to follow, “C’mon.”
“Ah, alright?”
He followed after, taking note as they went in the opposite direction of the dining room. As evident as it was that it wasn’t her destination, he wasn’t quite sure where she might’ve been heading. Still, he followed along, sure that whatever she had to give him was important.
Stopping beside her at a door, she opened it and invited him inside. Books and scrolls were haphazardly scattered around, a few houseplants, and some kites hanging from the ceiling. Though he’d never been in this room before, he figured out what it was, and who it belonged to, rather quickly.
“Sorry for the mess,” Starlight apologized, making way to her bedside table, “I haven’t been spending much time in this room, I’m still sharing a room with Sombra.”
“Uh-huh,” Sunburst nodded, pretending that made sense, “Why did you bring me here though?”
“I have something I want to give you.”
She dug through her drawers, confusing him further. In the process of searching, she pulled out some crumpled papers, a few candy wrappers, and a book that should have never been in contact with anything edible. He’d almost commented on that, but a glimmer of gold in Starlight’s magic silenced him.
“Gala tickets?” He looked at the golden slips curiously, stepping over to look closer. They were a bit crumpled and one was torn, but they were unmistakable to anypony, “Where’d you get those?”
“Twilight gave them to me a while ago. I want you to have them.”
Sunburst’s eyes widened, “You’re inviting me to the Grand Galloping Gala?”
“Sorry, but no,” She admit, Sunburst visibly drooping in disappointment, “I mean, I’d love to, but I’d never be able to decide between you and Trixie. You know how she gets when she’s left out.”
“I suppose that makes sense, but why give them to me?”
“So you can have your own nice time, of course.” She tried to levitate the tickets over to him, but he didn’t grab them. She just dropped them in front of him instead.
Sunburst looked down at them, “Why not just give them to Trixie? She’s in Ponyville.”
“I don’t trust her not to think of it as me playing hard to get.”
Sunburst furrowed his brows at this, though Starlight wasn’t sure if it was because of what she said or not. It might have even had to do with his next question.
“Why not take Sombra?”
His words made her flinch, “Do you really think that’s a good idea?”
“Of course. The Gala’s not for another month, that should give you some more time to placate him a bit. I think showing his improvement at such an event would show Celestia just how much you’ve done.”
“And possibly ruin the Princesses’ last Gala? I can’t do that!” She exclaimed, starting to pace, “You saw what happened today, what if it happens again? What if it happens to one of the princesses? What if everypony sees it? What if-”
Sunburst set a hoof on her shoulder, stopping her in place. She hadn’t even seen him walk over to her, or her walk over to him. She wasn’t actually sure which had happened.
“Normally, I’d say it’s not good to think about all these what ifs, but what if it’s not? You might enjoy it, and you could reassure everyone that Sombra’s changing. Don’t you think that’d be a good what if?”
He offered her the tickets, and she considered them. Hesitantly, she lifted a hoof and set it on his own, staring down at the tickets placed upon it. Her gaze was intent, her consideration stronger than she knew. She pushed his hoof away.
“No. Sombra or not, I’ve never been a fan of big get togethers like that. Add him to the mix, and we’ll be getting more judgemental stares than we would on our own, or maybe even worse,” She said, turning away to lose sight of the tickets, “It’s just not a good idea.”
“Starlight-”
“Please don’t argue, this is my choice. I’m not ready for something as big as the Gala.” She made her way to the door, opening it and saying, “I hope you and Trixie, or whoever you choose to bring, enjoy it.”
She was gone before Sunburst could argue, leaving him alone in her room. He assumed she was going to go back to where Sombra was, and he was tempted to chase after, but he resisted. With a defeated sigh, he tucked the tickets into his cape. He knew Starlight well enough not to argue, but he also knew well enough that she needed a break.
That’s what the tickets had been for, he was sure. Twilight had probably given them to her to give her a break, maybe even before Sombra’s revival. He wasn’t entirely sure, but he’d ask Twilight about it later. She’d probably wonder about the fate of Starlight’s tickets.
Patting his cape to ensure they were still there, he finally left the room. The halls were empty on both ends, his friend having run off as quickly as she had. He wished it had been to the dining hall, but he knew better.
“Oh Starlight,” He whispered, gazing down the hall, “I wish you’d just do something for yourself for once.”
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Yay, new chapter!
I WAS LITERALLY ONE CHAPTER AWAY FROM FINISHING MY RE-READ OF THIS BEFORE YOU RETURNED TO WRITINGAwesome to have you back!
10847588
I've got good timing, apparently! Here's hoping I can get back to doing at least one chapter a month.
10847597
The best part is though when Star Swirl tries to get Sombra to confess to mass murder. I felt so bad for Sombra having every right to lose his temper after he started accusing him of killing Radiant Hope, that's just cold. But I love it, since I LOVE FEELING FOR THESE CHARACTERS. If you need any help or motivation from me to get these chapters coming out on a monthly schedule again, I'm more than willing to offer you support! 
Oh, that would be glory, because this chapter was amazing! Short length was the only thing I didn't like. I literally laughed when Star Swirl brought up the mirror thing with Alternate Sombra from the comics, that was a brilliant tie-in. Also, Sombra liking cocoa but not liking coffee...did you read Ask King Sombra by any chance?
10847614
I try to keep my chapters to a certain length, but this one was a bit hard to add onto, so it's on the shorter side for my preference. I much rather hit 5k at least, but sometimes you just gotta take what you can do.
I have! A long time ago, when it was still going... I never actually finished the story though, oops. Was a big fan of that Sombra. (I've also commissioned Wiggles before)
Star Swirl's not very good at conversation, and please yes support me I am so bad at writing right now.
Thanks for the update I really enjoyed this chapter. I do wonder if Starlight is a descendant of Princess Amore or she is Princess Amore but she has regenerated into Starlight? Anyway keep up the great work I hope you will be able to update again soon please I need to know what is going to happen next.
I'm rather surprised Sombra hasn't revealed Grogar's return yet. But he's clearly dealing with a lot right now.
10847639
Whatever you need, boss! You're still an awesome writer, and we'll do whatever we can to get you back into practice!
Great chapter. Wonderful as always.
Great chapter! The emotions and tensions were high in this one!
starswirl always a dick
Starswirl: Accuses a recovering Sombra of murdering everyone he ever cared about fairly casually, at a freaking assessment of recovery
Starswirl: Talks down to Sombra constantly
Sombra: Is angry
Everyone other than Starlight: Surprised Pikachu Face
Seriously, what the heck! Like, it's completely in character, but, I wanna strangle them!
10850567
Twilight was fortunate enough to have a normal, and dare I say spoiled, upbringing. Sunburst, despite his failures & doubt, isn't too far off either. Unfortunately makes them quick to judge. As for Star Swirl? Well, he was Celestia (& Luna's) mentor, and we know how she feels about him...
Sometimes it's hard to be a reforming villain in Equestria.
Wow you are incredible at writing Star Swirl perfectly! I wanted to strangle him the entire time so well done!
10850891
This is quite possibly one of the funniest compliments I've ever been given for this story, thank you.
Haven’t seen this in a while… I think I still remember everything that happened.(Unless I’ve mixed up bits with other fanfictions again….)
10861964
Been having a bit of writer's block lately, I suppose... For a few months. I'm trying to do better now.
Wouldn't be too upset if you forgot or mixed up a few things, it happens.
10861973
I mean, it’s not a big sequel to a best seller that was supposed to be out a month ago, so I think you’ll be forgiven for the time in between chapters.
That old fool had it coming.
Ha, got the notification for this and then completely forgot about it. It'd been forever since any fic I was following got updated, props for breaking that streak.
Also more fics need the "I'm Starswirl the fucking Bearded" vibes, it's too good.
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And I will continue breaking that streak because I've got a story to write!
Awful Star Swirl is the only Star Swirl.
Ah dang it, I figured out this updated like three weeks later, or something. Ah well, better late than never.
Star Swirl, what the hell were you thinking, not paying heed to how pissing off someone that powerful, might not end all that well? You still have things to learn, it seems, lol. No really, asking if he murdered his only friend?
If anything, it would make more sense to think he lost her and that set him down a dark path... but it wouldn't be the first time he assumed the worst.10847671
It's indeed probably buried in the back of his mind at this point, with all the crap he's been through, up to and including being gaslighted/tormented by Chrysalis, aside from the straits he started in being dire to begin with. He'll probably facehoof pretty hard internally when something else comes up.
Sombra, I love you but this is unacceptable.
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Alas, despite his bitterness, this Sombra likes sweets.
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Well, I don't mind having to wait for more.
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I wonder what he'll think of black licorice.
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Interestingly enough, if you want to take season 9 into consideration, he canonically likes it. In fruit cake.
He's got some questionable tastes.
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Jawbreakers though. Sour ones.
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Time to test his tolerance for sour.
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YES PLEASE.
Moar please.
Huh, so Amore isn't dead, then? That's certainly an interesting little reveal then. Presumably what he did is either reversible somehow, or she just plain revived(?) and ran off to... somewhere.
Oh, that bit about Amore, I remember now! From the comics iirc, Amore isn't dead, Sombra petrified and shattered her into pieces. After Sombra was reformed he said that he and Hope would travel the world to find Amore's broken pieces and piece her back. So she's not dead.
If my memory on IDW is still strong that is. I think that part was in Siege of the Crystal Empire or was it Fiendship is Magic?
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You are correct! Amore was turned to stone and shattered in Fiendship is Magic #1, while Sombra mentioned her still being alive and possibly bringing her back is from the end of Siege.
That being said, her story and fate will be slightly different here!