Sombasi, Brother of Sombra

by Pomp-Neigh

Chapter 34~

Dies Mercurii, Lanuarius X, CCCXXV

Warm rays of light lurking through closed purple window curtains located over Sombasi’s bed stir him from his slumber. The dark colt lifts his head from his pillow with a drawn-out yawn and surveys the room while lifting and twisting his body into a sitting position.

Across the way, Sombasi takes notice of Lobellia Blueblood, the non-crystal unicorn still lost in the fine embrace of sleep as her side of the room always causes him to roll his eyes. He could go on and on, but to sum it all up, he just couldn’t bear how obnoxiously filly it all was, complete with a large emphasis on the color white and gold, the color scheme directly reflecting Blue’s ego.

A glance over to the nearby crystalline clock, depicting magical, flaring green numerals, informs the colt that he’d awakened two hours before class started.

“It’s six in the morning…”

The annoyance in his words was all too apparent. It especially didn’t help that he’d been unable to fall asleep properly for the last four days. Not since…that happened on the southern fields.

The recollection prompts Sombasi to bring a forehoof up to his head. “Who was she?” He asked of the world. “I… I think I know her, and yet-”

A series of light knocks presents itself, causing Sombasi to shift his gaze to the crystalline chamber’s brown, wooden door.

“Sombasi?” Hope’s cheerful voice beckoned from the other side, slightly muffled. “You ready yet?”

“Coming!” He responds, practically throwing himself off the bed and hurriedly making his way over to the door.

“Ugh…” Sombasi could hear Lobellia voicing her displeasure as she turned onto her stomach and threw a cotton-white pillow over her head while the dark-gray unicorn passed by.

Sombasi shakes his head at his roommate’s actions, stands before the door, and twists on the lock to pull the barricade inward, unveiling the form of his dear friend.

“Good morning!” Hope bursts in glee. “Wanna grab a bite with me and Sombra before class starts? He should be at the cafeteria by now and- wait…” She narrows her eyes while picking Sombasi apart, “Did you just wake up? You look awful!”

“Yeah,” Sombasi answered tiresomely. “It’s been difficult to sleep early as of late. I try, but I kind of just lay there, you know?”

It was a lie. In truth, what had transpired on the southern fields had all but left its mark on the young colt, being solely responsible for his restless nights. Still, in hindsight, breakfast could be as good a time as any to bring it up.

Hope giggles. “No more sweets for you before bed. Trust me, I went a whole night without sleep just to eat a whole cookie jar. It was worth it, but my stomach paid the price.”

Sombasi recoils at that, “Ew. Too much info, Hope.”

“Will you two shut up and get out of here already?!” Lobellia’s voice boomed from nearby just as Hope was about to respond, prompting the duo to set their sights on the flaring unicorn sitting on her bed. “You’ve ruined my beauty sleep!”

“What does it matter?” Sombasi retorts. “You take hours to get ready, anyway. As far as Sombasi is concerned, he did you a favor.”

“Unlike you, Sombasi, I take pride in my appearance. A noble like me must always keep proper etiquette.”

“Since when were you a noble?” Sombasi barked and scoffed before dismissively turning away. “Let’s go, Hope,” he states while walking past her, frazzled mane and unkept appearance be banished to Tartarus.

However, unbeknownst to Sombasi, due to his dismissal and departure, he hadn’t realized just how much of an effect his words had on the white-coated, golden-maned filly within the bedroom. But the aftermath of Sombasi’s words was on full display for Hope as she looked into the chamber, her ears folding against her head from what she saw.

Lobellia’s eyes were covered by her mane as her head was tilted downward, to which Hope could practically see sorrow and anger radiating off of the white unicorn.

“Lobellia, he-”

“Get lost, Hope,” Lobellia interjects with venom in her voice. “Go join your stupid friends. I need to get ready…”

“O-ok, Bluey-”

“It’s Blueblood!” Hope falls back onto her flank from the sudden outburst. “Blue! Blood! You aren’t worthy enough to give me some ridiculous peasant nickname! Now, get! Out!”

Hope lets out a sigh while recovering from her fall, rising up and onto her hooves before turning around.

“You know something, Blueblood?” Hope began without looking back. “My fairy friends and I hope that somepony comes along who can still somehow like you even though you’re a nasty meanie.”

With that, Hope starts her departure as the sound of her hooves clopping against the crystal floor distance with every step. After a few moments, Lobellia fires up her horn in a light-amber aura and magically wills the door shut with some generous force, locking it and basking in the room’s silence, acting as her only companion.

Once she is sure of her isolation and free from unwanted eyes, the emotional dam within that she managed to hide from Sombasi and Hope—although the grayish heliotrope-coated crystal unicorn caught hints of it—finally bursts, and a trail of tears strolls down her cheeks from closed weeping arctic blue eyes.

Lobellia sobs through gritted teeth of pain as recollective memories take the front stage of her mind, courtesy of Sombasi’s words.

“Do you have her, your highness?”

“Of course. Now, here’s your payment, as we agreed. Do with my sister, Lobellia, as you deem fit, just so long as she never returns to Unicornia.”

“Very well. We know of a black marketplace down in Kludgetow-”

“Toss her into the sea for all I care, cat! Just get rid of her!”

“No! Please, brother, don’t do this!”

“Silence, you wretched brat! Long have you denied me my birthright, but no more!”

Ple-hease! Y-you can have the crown! I-I-”

“Foolish sister. You truly have no idea how things work here in Unicornia. Fret not, though… I’ll be sure to comfort Mother on your behalf.”

“No!”

“Big brother!”

“Please!”

“Come back!”

“Momma! Pappa! Anypony, please, help me!”

“Shut it, pony!”

“Put a gag on her, for Bastet’s sake. I don’t want to hear that shit on the ship. I might have nine lives, but my ears don’t.”

“You got it, boss. Come ‘ere, you little…”

Lobellia couldn’t bear to delve deeper into the memories as she now lay curled up on her bed, her form quivering as if she’d been thrown out into the wilds of the Frozen North. Ironic, seeing as that’s where she was foun-

[CLICK-THUMP-THUMP]

The fiddling on the room’s locked doorknob interrupts her sorrowful thoughts. “Blueblood?!” The unmistakably infuriated voice of Miss. Chestnut declared from the other side, causing Lobellia to rise in a panic. “Open this door immediately, young lady! You’ve already missed three whole hours of class!”

“W-what…?” Lobellia muttered in disbelief, throwing her gaze over to the clock and- sweet Amore, it was a little past eleven AM!

The filly was simply at a loss, her cheeks wet and dampened as she stared at the clock. It felt like only minutes had passed for her, and yet, she was so lost in her past experience that her perception of time was utterly lost.

Outside of the room, the sound of rattling keys made itself known as Miss. Chestnut shuffles through them with a glare present on her face. Finding the master key, the orphanage caretaker aims it directly at the locking mechanism, causing a purple rune to glow, unlocking it, and pushing the door open.

“You’d better have a good excuse for-” Miss. Chestnut began upon entering, only to find Lobellia’s tearful gaze and frequent sobbing form aimed directly at the crystal earth pony, causing a pause in their sentence. “L-Lobellia? What’s wrong, dearie?”

“I… I can’t do this anymore… Miss. Chestnut.”

Chestnut’s features softened, knowing something was bothering the unicorn. She closes the door behind her and makes her way over to the bed.

“What do you mean by that, sweetheart?”

Lobellia swallows a lump in her throat and raises her head to look into her caretaker’s eyes, another stream of tears flowing down her own.

“I haven’t been honest with you, Miss. Chestnut. You and Princess Amore. And it’s time to fix that…”

The chestnut mare sets a comforting hoof onto the distraught filly, “Talk to me, dear. You know I’m always here when any of you need me. Now, what’s this talk about honesty?”

Lobellia takes a recuperative breath and steels herself. “When Princess Amore’s guards found me, and when I was brought here, I told everypony that I was a part of a traveling noble family who’d…been killed by the dire wolf clans to the east.”

“Yes,” Chestnut responds with a nod. “And you are a very brave filly for managing to survive that, dearie. The Empire has a very fragile relationship with those wolves, and they never spare ponies who stray into their territory during their Wild Hunt.”

A momentary pause takes hold.

“...I lied about that.”

Chestnut’s eyes widen as shock takes over her form. “W-what…?”

“Some of it was true,” Lobellia quickly explained, “but other parts of the story were…fabricated.”

The shock practically radiating off of Chestnut spoke volumes in of itself. Soon, the chestnut mare controlled her emotions, and she gave the filly a stern look.

“Lobellia Blueblood. Know that I love you with all my heart. With that in mind, I respectfully suggest that you tell me exactly what is going on here.”

“Do… You promise you won’t get mad?”

“Sweetie, no. All I ask of you is the truth. Give me that, and you can rest assured that I will do everything I can to help you.”

Those words earn Chestnut a grateful nod. She then joins the filly on the bed and sits patiently alongside them, allowing them to collect their thoughts. And after several minutes of silence, Lobellia finally breaks it.

“The wolven brethren of Skoll and Hati didn’t kill my family. They did kill my captors, though, who were those catfolk from Abyssinia. I was able to escape during the chaos.”

“Oh, my goodness!” Chestnut cried out. “Lobellia, I- this is serious! Why haven’t you told anypony this before?”

“I couldn’t.” Lobellia sighed, “I didn’t know if I could trust any of you. Not after… A-after…” Hesitation and heartbreak prevent her from continuing.

Acting quickly yet gently, Chestnut embraces the filly, laying them gently against her chest.

“Shhh…” Chestnut comforts while patting the filly’s back. “Take your time, sweetheart. And if you want to stop, we can-”

“No,” interjects Lobellia as she gently pulls her face away from her caretaker’s chest. “I have to tell you one more thing. It’s just…I’m afraid of what might happen.”

“Nothing’s going to happen to you, my dear.”

“You’re only saying that because you don’t know who I am!” The filly argued. “And it involves why I ever was those abbysinians’ captive in the first place. Let me ask you this, Miss. Chestnut: do you know who I am? Who I truly am?”

Chestnut tilts her head while looking down at the filly, “With the way you said that, It’s safe to conclude that no matter what I say, it’d be wrong. So let me ask the important question, dearie: who are you, really?”

The young unicorn takes another breath to steel herself—one final piece of the puzzle she had left to offer and unveil.

“My name is Lobellia Blueblood, Princess of Unicornia and next in line of succession. But I was betrayed and sold away by my brother...Prince Erichthonius.”

Comments

[Bronycommander]

nicely done!

[Pomp-Neigh]

11770579
Thank you!

[Bronycommander]

11770596
you're welcome

[Jmunoz13]

I thought we would get to learn more of Blueblood later in the story, I didn’t expect her to be an heir to a throne. (Screw her brother!) With how I feel that means you’re doing a great job getting me emotional while reading 👍.

[Pomp-Neigh]

11770617
Thank you very much!

Yeah, her brother is a piece of work. I’ve got great things planned for Blue, of which I can’t wait to unveil.

[Jmunoz13]

11770722
My pleasure

[Misty Shadow]

What Lobellia went through with her evil brother is now making me feel bad about that bathroom joke I made about who I'd assume to be her descendant. I'm also going to abstain from making Bluey jokes.

[Pomp-Neigh]

11771323
Yeah, I wanted to throw a monkey wrench into the Blueblood name. And I'll definitely be doing the same with her eventual descendant.