A Noble’s Shadow

by LSTS Connor

8- Birds of a Feather

Author's Note:

No title image for now, currently away from my PC where I keep the required photoshop template I created. Will add it when I am back home.

Six didn’t know where she was. Her surroundings were that of a blank, white room with a crystalline window she couldn’t see out of. Light shone down upon her from the four corners of the ceiling making her cast no shadow upon the padded flooring. She was wearing her undersuit, though its armor plating was gone, and her front legs tingled with pins and needles.

Getting up on all fours from her previous position on the floor the Spartan inspected the room, tripping slightly over her numb hooves with each step. ‘How did I get here?’ she wondered, trying to recall the events leading up to her awakening in this padded room. Her mind was in a fuzz—like static within her neurons obscuring the recent past.

“Subject Fourteen has awoken, beginning preliminary testing,” a female voice boomed, seemingly within her mind. It bounced around inside her skull forcing a hoof to her temple.

With a shimmering haze, the wall in front of her vanished, on the other side lay a chunk of light blue crystal. Her forehead began to tingle the same as her front hooves as she inspected the formation. Something about it just made her feel…wrong. The Spartan couldn’t quite put it into words, but being near that formation just made her limbs tingle uncomfortably.

“Destroy the crystal,” the voice boomed within her once more.

Six, in her stoicism, ignored the order and instead began to move around the room, putting her hooves against the walls looking for a way out.

“Subject Fourteen, destroy the crystal,” the voice ordered more forcefully, drawing another hoof to her temple as Six stared daggers into the room, eyes darting around to identify wherever this voice was watching her from. Still, she refused to follow its orders and continued to look for a way out.

“Okay, well, if playing nice isn’t going to work, let’s move on to plan B, Subject Fourteen. Dr. Radiant, your assistance please.” All went quiet for several seconds, the anxious tingling in her front-end persisting.

*’Destroy the target.’*

The world went black, her entire body turning numb as her consciousness was suddenly shunted out of her mind. She was now floating in a dark void, muted sounds of breaking glass and broken wood permeating the inky blackness as she floated aimlessly, not knowing what was up and what was down. Her lungs felt empty, her breath caught in her throat, drowning and choking on nothing for what felt like an eternity.

Then suddenly, she was back in the room. The crystal she had been ordered to destroy by the voice were gone, and a fine powder now covered her hooves. A small crack down its horn seeped blood.

Six looked back up at the one-way glass, panting heavily as she felt a trickle of blood run down her forehead. Her eyes focused on her reflection as she brought her hoof up to her face. Growing out from her skull was an obsidian jagged horn.

The world began to fall away from the Spartan as a final sentence from the voice serenaded her return to oblivion.

“Very good, Subject Fourteen. Now get some rest. We resume testing in an hour. And next time, don’t make me get the good Doctor.”

---

The Shadow King watched the slow rise and fall of the Spartan’s chest in interest, his unnatural horn glowing as he worked his magic upon the mare. He cursed himself slightly for allowing the urge to damage the Spartan so severely.

His goal was to incapacitate the mare to make sure she wouldn’t interfere with his takeover, and while he did complete this goal it meant what was to come next would take far more effort than he initially expected.

Having watched this sibling in arms from the shadows since she first appeared on his metaphorical radar he couldn’t help but feel a connection and an… obligation to help this soldier experience the same freedom he now has. It is what she would have wanted him to do were they here now…

But Six was too stubborn to listen to him, too loyal to her gilded cage because she had experienced nothing else. Sombra bit back a growl as his own memories were brought forward to his mind's eye involuntarily.

Images of the atrocities he had committed in the name of that Wicked Queen and her Empire were thrust into the light before he bit his tongue and forced them back. His gaze once more rested upon the unconscious Spartan, the mare gritting their teeth in their sleep as Sombra’s spell revealed the cage… by showing her his.

He would have her see through his eyes, through his memories, and illuminate her with the truth. She would see the error in her ways, and he would show her what true freedom was. That nopony other than herself had the right to wield her power! Even if that meant some temporary discomfort.

The sound of approaching hoofsteps and the turn of the door handle forced Sombra back out of the material plane as he melded himself with the shadows in a wisp of smoke like magic. He watched as the nurse came in to check up on the grimacing mare who was beginning to sweat in her sleep.

A pang of sympathy coursed through Sombra’s immaterial veins before he steeled himself once more. His road to freedom had to undergo the same hardships, it would be the only way she would learn.

Reaching out with his soul, he wrapped himself with magic as he returned to his home away from home. When the magic fell away he was back in his study, his own little realm within the Anthema. The unwanted feeling of comfort embraced his being as he felt his magic wish to meld into the Anthema.

He sighed into the empty and unkempt room. First, cleaning. Then he would deal with that. While the spell to briefly rip open the planes was useful the draft it tended to create was always Tartarus to clean up, especially with all his manuscripts lying around as they were.

Well, if there was one upside that made this bout of spring cleaning worth it, it’s that the bait had been taken. He had been very careful over the past millennia to conceal his existence, so for those little weapons of harmonic destruction to see just how… active he had been behind the scenes is sure to have them shaking in their hooves. Psychological warfare was his specialty of course.

With a flick of his horn, he began to reorganize his study, putting everything right back where it belonged, taking extra care with his manuscripts and the picture frame on his desk. He frowned when he saw that a corner of the frame had been damaged when it fell to the ground as his guests were expelled.

Opening one of the many drawers of his desk, he searched for a replacement frame as simply repairing the damage through magic would not do in his mind. He soon found what he was looking for and smiled slightly to himself as he got to work.

Working as softly and carefully as he could, he removed the ancient snapshot from its damaged frame. He allowed it to slowly drift into its hoof as if it were a delicate feather while his magic prepared the replacement frame. Without the magical filters he had placed upon each frame, the picture's true age was revealed. With yellowing edges and fading color it felt as if the smallest of breezes could reduce the picture to ash.

The fading psychic imprint of the magical snapshot brought memories of a happier time to the forefront of Sombra’s mind. The warmth of her smile, the sound of her laugh, the softness of her lips… How he could just melt into those feelings, it would all seem so simple the-

The photo began to fall as his hoof turned dangerously transparent. Cursing himself for his slip in concentration in his current state, he quickly reformed his hoof and finished his initial task.

With the picture reframed and his study cleaned, it was time for him to deal with his condition. A remnant of his time as Amore’s guard dog, but it was something easily fixed. Regardless, he winced at the thought.

Exiting his study, he stepped through the portal and into the main ‘hub’ of his little realm. He gave a cursory glance towards the spiral staircase that led into the material plane, sealing it off with a flick of his horn. It had served its purpose, there was no need for it to remain.

Focusing his full attention on the large painting that took up the far wall, he steeled himself for what was to come.

“In spe, libertas,” he spoke aloud in the ancient crystalline tongue.

The painting began to shimmer, accepting his passphrase as the King approached. He walked through the centre of the image as if it weren't there, its surface rippling like water until he had passed all the way through.

Behind the painting was a simple small room, with a casket made of glass at its far end. The body of a pink unicorn lay within, her face forever stuck in a loving smile, and a dagger of pink crystal piercing her chest. The sound of a gentle beat of magic untouched by the Anthema around them radiates outwards in faint light-blue pulses across the dark crystalline walls.

Sombra almost shied away, but continued forward until he stood by the casket's side. He placed his hoof upon the casket glass above where her heart was meant to be. The faint beat of her crystal heart made the Anthema within him scream.

He did not care however at the pain this proximity was causing him as he leaned down to touch his horn against the glass and prepared to speak his three most hated words in the ancient crystal dialect.

“Servio… Regina… Amore.”

Within an instant, a bolt of pale blue light pulsed out from the casket and was absorbed into the King's being. First, there was a bolt of pain as the Anthema’s hold within him was burned away.

He fell to the ground panting, struggling to catch his breath with his heart beating out of his body. He brought a hoof to his chest as he worked to calm his breathing. He was fully corporeal once more, for a while at least. Taking deep lungfuls of air he worked to slow his breathing as he moved to stand back up on his four hooves.

The sudden feeling of a pair of hooves hugging him from behind filled him with warmth.

“It's good to see you, Radiant,” he spoke in a soft tone as he lifted a hoof to the ghostly hooves around his neck, his flesh passing through them. “I should have come sooner, but then again… I haven't used the Anthema as much until now.”

He turned and found the ghostly image of the mare he loved, her form whispy and transparent. Glowing in a pale blue light powered by the beating of her crystal heart. Her face morphed into a smile as she beckoned with her eyes for the King to continue, to speak for time was always short between the two of them.

“I found another, Radiant. Another creature like how I was before you. Her name is ‘Six’.”

Her visage took on a shocked and sad expression, like she had been stabbed through her heart all over again. Unable to see his tortured beloved so sad, Sombra closed the distance to nuzzle the apparition. His nose tickled from her ghostly vapour but his own heart ached as he felt no resistance as he comforted the mare. It felt as if he were nuzzling a winter breeze.

“Don’t you worry about it, my little star. I will help her and with her by my side we will find a way to save you.” The ghostly mare looked up with spectral tears glistening in the corner of her eyes as she was already beginning to fade once more. “Once the Empire is back in my hooves, I will stop at nothing to have you by my side again.” His lips began to close the distance between hers. She did the same even as her body began to vanish.

But then just as they were about to connect, she was gone. Only the silence of her tomb and the laughing of long dead queens remained with him now as he moved to sit by the coffin's side without a word. He eyed the dagger piercing her chest, the dagger of the accursed Queen that had taken everything from him, its hilt still glowing in her sickening magic that forever kept his beloved between the cusp of life and death. Forever keeping the duo that had toppled kingdoms apart in one final act of spite.

He ripped his gaze away from the weapon before his emotions called forth the Anthema unnecessarily as he focused on Radiant Hope's serene face. He planted a gentle kiss on its glass before gazing into her closed eyes, dreaming about what might have been in the millennia stolen from them both.

But dreams would not bring back Radiant, only his actions would. Only once the denizens of the Empire that had enslaved him and called for his death when he was no longer needed repaid him in turn would he finally allow himself to dream.

The King quickly ran through some calculations in his head as he laid his weary head against the glass. If he incorporated the knowledge he had gained from the ponies over the millennia he could…

Sombra’s eyes began to widen as he did the math over and over again in his head before lighting his horn and writing it in the air to make absolutely certain. His calculations didn’t lie, if with only the lowest of efficiency averages for incorporating modern equestrian technology into his plan Amore’s vault could be cracked in less than a month! And in two, with enough encouragement for his penal workforce, he would be finally reunited with his beloved!

“No…No, don’t start planning the wedding yet you old fool,” he spoke to himself, slowing his mind and tempering his expectations. “Those arrogant Sisters won’t let you just keep the Empire unopposed, and you won’t have enough time or the resources to prepare another tesseract spell.” His hopes seemed to be withering right before his eyes until he remembered Six.

She could, and had, taken on whole battalions without a scratch. Her reputation is known as far as his was millenia ago, perhaps further. With her by his side the princesses wouldn’t dare interfere, and if she didn’t comply willin-NO!

He bit his tongue and growled as he once more focused his mind on containing the Anthema’s influence. “Either she helps me of her own free will or she doesn’t help me at all. If have to use her as a temporary hostage, I will. But I WILL NOT. BECOME. LIKE. THEM!” the King of Shadows and End of Empires shouted out into the void with conviction.

All went silent in his realm for minutes afterward, only the sound of his heavy breathing piercing the shroud. He regained his composure and centred himself once more. A minor outburst nothing more. It seems his extended time apart from Radiant and inside the Anthema had taken its toll on his psyche, its urge remaining unchecked for too long. No matter, it was only temporary, afterall. Once Radiant was revived all would be fixed, and he could finally get that beachfront cabin in Griffonia the two of them had dreamed about millennia ago.

Then he could finally leave this life behind, and start a new one with the one he loves unbound by the legacy of the Empire that had created them.

Comments

[Black--Soul]

With chapters like this i doubt we get Spike the brave and glorious in this story:
cdn-img.fimfiction.net/story/367f-1702943106-547682-medium

[Black--Soul]

The Spartan was humbled, she internal started as:
camo.fimfiction.net/j8-PFp-8KRZyIlSb_RIt4mST6qFQxbr5P94837si4Z0?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.gr-assets.com%2Fhostedimages%2F1491075897ra%2F22374064.gif

To pretty mutch this:
camo.fimfiction.net/-KWjE6HW8qbwbrSla0d2go0TvKzF1VTxQmgmMTOJvj4?url=https%3A%2F%2Fc.tenor.com%2F9k8Gs6o2A30AAAAC%2Fbill-paxton-aliens.gif

Though what will Twilight and others,suffer touched by Sombras spells?
cdn-img.fimfiction.net/story/zo0c-1432468421-81363-medium

I can see Twilight nightmare to become a Sombra 2.0 version:
camo.fimfiction.net/GFzrKq87qWIVzghq8aMBVNhKOtQjS3P2fiE34toerv0?url=https%3A%2F%2Fderpicdn.net%2Fimg%2Fview%2F2018%2F9%2F4%2F1824315.png

[Silent Wing]

11813524
Good, I never liked that part! And in all honesty, I hope Sombra manages to save her.

Also, it looks like the sisters never new the full story. Or they simply didn't care.

[Jahbraz]

Holy crap, this Sombra not like other versions of himself...

He may be a tyrant (at least, in the eyes of others), but he did what he did in this timeline for a reason. Here, we see callbacks to his lover from the comics, and it is particular note that he reminisces on how he had to basically fight to attain freedom (something which surprised me, considering the canon version of Sombra literally had slaves). This could be a classic 'Anakin to Darth Vader' sort of thing where a noble character goes down a dark path in an effort to safeguard their loved one(s) (or bring them back to life, if dead) and becomes corrupted/evil along the way, having dived too deep into the dark side (in Sombra's case, Dark Magic). However, this could also be something else entirely!

There's also the surprising amount of care he gives towards Six (despite her being a massive, massive threat to him, which some other versions of Sombra who were less... amicable, would have just killed her outright). The thoughts of freedom come up here again, and he genuinely sympathizes (maybe even empathizes) with her, wanting to help her break out of what he sees as her 'cage', and is frustrated to see that Six, not knowing anything other than the life of a soldier, doesn't even recognize that she is not truly free.

There was also a very, very ominous line of thought from Sombra, where he has a small flashback revealing that he had apparently served the Crystal Empire's queen before the Empire itself had fallen, and that she (and the Empire) had ordered him to do terrible things, which suddenly casts the Empire and its' monarchs in a much darker light. Near the end of the chapter Sombra nearly loses his composure when the corruption of the Dark Magic he uses causes him to nearly contemplate using said magic to basically enslave or mind-control Six (at least, from what I can infer), and he shouts his defiance of said thoughts to the void, saying "I will not become like THEM!"

With how his vitriol towards enslavement and/or the subjugation and subsequent loss of free will are this bad, there is a high chance that Sombra was mind-controlled (or even enslaved outright) by the Empire's former monarch, forced to commit unspeakable atrocities against his will.

It seems like the Crystal Empire hides more secrets than the ponies may have thought... and not all of them are good ones. Not only that, but this paints the Princesses in a more uncertain light. Did they know about the suffering Sombra went through, and thus, his reasons for conquering the Empire? Did they willfully ignore that knowledge, or did they just not know?

[Silent Wing]

11813532
Not impossible, though I like RD's nightmane the most.images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/0c268442-6ea4-403a-a5ba-a6d240f2756b/ddn40u9-f0656704-9e62-4dd7-9a84-58384a215dff.jpg/v1/fill/w_1024,h_3660,q_75,strp/rainbow_s_worst_nightmare_by_silverbuller_ddn40u9-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MzY2MCIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzBjMjY4NDQyLTZlYTQtNDAzYS1hNWJhLWE2ZDI0MGYyNzU2YlwvZGRuNDB1OS1mMDY1NjcwNC05ZTYyLTRkZDctOWE4NC01ODM4NGEyMTVkZmYuanBnIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTEwMjQifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.RQPjgxWysDLao6vzFDIGg_6_DDZiCk2i5yuAMINZHPk

[Black--Soul]

11813541
Sombra about when Alicorns disregard the smaller picture for the greater goals:

Though i could be wrong...
camo.fimfiction.net/NLCm5uqyF5w-yUyUmc28_crZlcjQNEYOE8_GEVVNL6E?url=https%3A%2F%2Fs-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2F736x%2F68%2F73%2Fa3%2F6873a30c83d41a4dc3c304396becc7d6.jpg

Imagen if Sombra was all along right, with the Alicorns actually being in the wrong:
............................................________
....................................,.-‘”...................``~.,
.............................,.-”...................................“-.,
.........................,/...............................................”:,
.....................,?......................................................\,
.................../...........................................................,}
................./......................................................,:`^`..}
.............../...................................................,:”........./
..............?.....__.........................................:`.........../
............./__.(.....“~-,_..............................,:`........../
.........../(_....”~,_........“~,_....................,:`........_/
..........{.._$;_......”=,_.......“-,_.......,.-~-,},.~”;/....}
...........((.....*~_.......”=-._......“;,,./`..../”............../
...,,,___.\`~,......“~.,....................`.....}............../
............(....`=-,,.......`........................(......;_,,-”
............/.`~,......`-...............................\....../\
.............\`~.*-,.....................................|,./.....\,__
,,_..........}.>-._\...................................|..............`=~-,
.....`=~-,_\_......`\,.................................\
...................`=~-,,.\,...............................\
................................`:,,...........................`\..............__
.....................................`=-,...................,%`>--==``
........................................_\..........._,-%.......`\
...................................,<`.._|_,-&``................`\
What a beautiful mess that would be...

Either way, one thing is for certain:

[Black--Soul]

11813550
Fuck... That is horrendously over the line!
It would be more mercyfull to have her feathers ripped away one by one, than having her wings skinner without pain killers only to let them get cut off in the end.
Damn... Silent Wing... i had no idea how dark your imagination could reach

[Silent Wing]

11813555
There is a line? Where? Haven't found any yet.

[LSTS Connor]

11813548
Good, I did not want to just retread the cliche that is Sombra in my story. He is something else, something deeper and more than a 2D villain from the show

[Average_NZ_Bronie]

Man I love this story and all but coming here from themysteriousmuffin’s suicide post isn’t the best

[tsaukpaetra]

Interesting. All the roads in hell, as they say.
So, we have to wonder, is the crystal en-stuck-ifying Chrysalis in the same manner as the one in Amore?
Seems like Sombra is already dead but for the strength of his will.
Curious, does he not know Six's actual origins or is he filling in gaps and making assumptions?

[Anonymousprimes]

Very interesting take on sombra's background story wonder where you'll take it

Ps. Pls more chapters

[bkam]

I have so many questions.

Great chapter though, LSTS.

[Sylvian]

I hope he gets that cabin.

[LSTS Connor]

11813871
By all means:
Ask them

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

Not sure about this direction.

[Silentwoodfire]

Sombre with alternative motives? Interesting

[dragonus85]

I like this sombra

[44burn]

Going for a Victor Freeze I see.

I wonder what would have happened if the main six found Radiant Hope (or an illusion of Radiant Hope) only to be stopped and informed by Sombra that that is the Queen's blade in her heart. The best weapon against the Equestria ponies is sympathy

[Black--Soul]

We be running red alert for a while until the situation is resolved:
camo.fimfiction.net/3w3Dwfru-LgMxrxtHd0cYWkhNpOSqd5KumlX_BUyg94?url=https%3A%2F%2Fderpicdn.net%2Fimg%2F2013%2F9%2F19%2F430894%2Ffull.gif

[RustyHinge]

You know, I wonder if Sombra, Twi n' friends or the other Spartans will get a glimpse into Six's past before she became a pony since dark magic is involved. If they do, Celestia only knows how they would react.

[Temptress]

New episodes 🫢🤯

[NobleLeader6]

If Six somehow gets a way to show Sombra what SIII training was like, what the Human-Covenant war was like, I wonder how he'd respond? Six still seems immensely loyal to humanity and ONI, as most SIII's were, to the point where I still don't think she's told anyone the real details (though it's been a while since I read the first story). Sombra's whole "live free or die a slave" vibe vs (albeit tempered) SIII conditioning would be an interesting battle of wills, I think anyway.

[janszgamer]

Hello, I just wanted to tell you that I love your story and your writing style, I finished the first story in 2 days because I was so captivated and I don't even know how to read in English, I read your story with Google translate 😅 honestly keep it up.👍

[Sunkiller]

11877254
i really hope that doesnt happen

[Jack-Pony]

11877331
Why not? I already see a great deal of love and care between the two, they just need a nudge to become intimate…and if Cadence is game for it?

[ProjectRabbid]

Great Chapter!
I finally got myself to catch up with your story today - I was a bit in a drought from last year !
I hope you are working on more and I wish all your Projects the best of Luck!

May Six return once more~