A Shadow of Your Former Self

by anonbecause1

Chapter 19

As with the first time he awoke in the crystal empire, he could not comprehend that he was a thinking being, all he knew were sensations. Unpleasant ones mostly. Pain could be interpreted like pressure and tingling if you weren’t focusing on it. He could feel himself slipping away bit by bit, it felt good to let go.

But it also felt good to be cold, and he was cold here. He opened his eyes but was met with more darkness, it took a moment to adjust, but his eyes were made for the dark and he soon found himself in a strange room.

It was a hospital room; he knew that from TV but this was the first time he’s seen one in real life. It looked odd from this angle. There were things IN his body, he could feel them, they should hurt but he was mostly just uncomfortable with them being there.

‘Waking up alone and in pain. Seems familiar.’

He tried to sit up but his body screamed at him that it was a bad idea, like if he moved too much, he would shatter into a million pieces. He lifted a hoof in front of his eyes and noted with a surprising amount of disassociation that there were large gaps IN his body. They didn’t bleed or expose muscles and bone, only wisps of darkness escaping slowly.

He lay there for a bit not thinking about much, then all of a sudden, he knew that if he left his body that everything would work out. So he allowed his mind and body to work without interference and slip away into a living shadow. Now he WAS the room, his being encompassing all the available space. But his movement caused panic among the hospital staff, machines blared alerts as ponies rushed in to check on him; disturbing the door that kept the light away, he screamed. The staff panicked, he panicked. He fled to the only place dark enough to sustain him.

He leapt into shadow.

He was now in a safer place; light couldn’t reach here. It was the realm of darkness between shadow and light. To the eye, it looked like a never-ending expanse of darkness with the ‘shadows’ of ponies, places, and all manner of physical things that cast a shadow in the real word acting as windows. They moved and stretched as the source of light or the body casting it moved. A kaleidoscopic ceiling made of life as we know it. Sombra could slip through any one of these and be anywhere in the world.

‘Home. I want to go home.’

But where was home? In the metaphoric or literal sense, he didn’t know. But he was hungry.

‘Where is a safe place with food and rest?’

He knew the answer to that instantly. Now the only question was where was it? He moved from ‘window’ to ‘window’ and found many places. There was the town around the hospital with ponies going about their day, there was the glittering capital of Canterlot where the shadows were darkest, and there was his home city but that is not where he needed to go.

He used the city as a main point to navigate to his destination, far along the coast up north.

‘There.’

A small cottage in a retirement neighborhood. He could see the kitchen, the occupants in the garden, a bowel of fruit on the counter. Now, how to get it? He tried to climb out of the shadow but the sun burned his body so he retreated back down. He hummed to himself, ‘it’s like fishing in reverse.’

That gave him an idea. He slithered his was around the property until he found the shed where Cartwheel kept his fishing gear. A shadow of a tree dark enough for him to slip through and close enough to cover most sunlight to the shed. He gathered his nerve and shot out to grab his prize and slip back in without too much damage to his body. A fishing rod.

‘Perfect!’

Sombra retuned to the kitchen and cast his line out, it snagged on the bowel the first try. ‘I am legitimately having the best day.’ He tugged once and the bowel toppled over, fruit landing close enough for him to grab. He ate every bit, even the peals and seeds.

He felt much better after eating, stronger, he might be able to slip out in daylight again. He was about to climb out when he suddenly got the feeling of being watched. He turned and was surprised to find he wasn’t alone. A horse made of dark smoke with glowing green eyes was watching him. He got the feeling it was curious. Sombra followed its eyes to the fishing pole floating near him, he held it out to it without a second thought.

“Do you need this?”

The creature approached Sombra with caution but tentatively took the rod from him. Sombra smiled and left the creature to examine its new toy, they would figure it out.

Sombra waited in the shadows of the cupboard until night fell.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“What do you mean he’s gone!”

The staff winced as the alicorn flared her wings in fury, no matter how old or how established you were, everypony felt like a naughty foal in the presence of an angry alicorn.

“We, we received and alert that the vitals monitor and IV were disconnected at about 3pm yesterday. When we rushed into the room to check on him, all we saw were these large floating green eyes. Then it seemed like, I don’t know, half the darkness in the room along with the eyes just…jumped into Band Aid’s shadow.” The nurse pointed at another nurse pony covered in a blanket, rocking back and forth shaking. “He, ah, hasn’t been the same since.”

Twilight made a noise of displeasure before trotting out of the hospital. “Now what Spike? What must he be thinking? What does a pon-I mean Umbrum think after waking up from a botched execution?”

“Um, ‘I have to get out of here before they finish the job’?” Twilight rounded on him.

“Exactly! He was peaceful last time but now, who knows! He could have gotten all his memories back and run off to the crystal empire to take it back. How could I mess up this badly?! We should have just let him be the first time. ‘Oh, yes hello King Sombra, how are you? Oh, you’ve redeemed yourself and are living peacefully with your friends? Fantastic! All is forgiven because that is what we want for all villains. No need to almost kill you in front of an angry mob and jog your memory just enough to seek revenge or anything!’”

“Woah, that was quite a rant.”

“Ranting helps me think!” Twilight slammed her head into the nearest flat surface, a bus stop. Spike, thinking fast, pulled one of the pamphlet schedules out of a holder on the sign to show Twilight.

“We don’t know that, look, lets call your friends and ask them to visit his old friends. And let Shinning Armor and Cadence know to be on the lookout. The bus to the train station is in 10-6 minutes; we can get a ride to Shady Sholes and visit that nice old couple. I still need to get surfing lessons.”

“And tell them what? Sorry for trying to kill your friend, by the way, we lost him.” Twilight muttered with her face still pressed against the side of the bus bench weather covering. Spike pushed her away from the wall, no telling what germs were on there.

“Daisy took the news of his trial really well. You never know.” Spike pulled out his emergency note taking quill and paper to start writing. “Think of it this way, it’s a really good excuse to use that new instant message spell you’ve been developing.”

Twilight smiled down at him, “What would I do without you?” Her expression shifted to determination. “Ok, we’ll find Sombra and deal with the situation one step at a time.”

Comments

[Silent Whisper]

Sombra retuned to the kitchen and cast his line out, it snagged on the bowel the first try. ‘I am legitimately having the best day.’ He tugged once and the bowel toppled over, fruit landing close enough for him to grab. He ate every bit, even the peals and seeds.

This story... may need a bit of editing.

[Midknight Defender]

Shinning Armor

Now that's a name for armor for a guy that likes to kick you in the shins far too often.

a bowel of fruit

And that must be some really crappy fruit. O__o Why does Equestrian room service have to be so terrible?

[Ice Star]

As glad as I am to see he is okay, I can't help but feel that the story really switched focus around the mid-point, no longer focusing on Sombra and whether he was guilty or innocent - or even how he felt about his ordeal and trial. Don't get me wrong, I really like this story, but it isn't without its own flaws. I want to see you grow as a writer, and I already see the potential for a 'verse derived from what you're doing here, especially with Moondancer's feelings and a possible quest for the Crystal Heart.

[Majordomo]

it snagged on the bowel the first try.

This caught me off guard, I never expected someone to casually just have guts sitting on a table covered in fruit. Weird way to store them but K.

[Yubella]

I love how chaotically terribly they mess everything up.