Short Shorts

by Coranth

86. I, Sombra #1 (Author SI in King Sombra's Body)

How long have I been here in this cell?

Months?

Years?

Centuries?

I... can no longer tell.

Truth be told, I don't bear the Equestrians any ill will; they think I am one of their greatest villains, simply because I inhabit his body. Thus, here I reside, day after day, in a cell deep within the Palace of the Crystal Empire, surrounded by thousands upon thousands of the strongest anti-magic, shielding, and containment wards for... for... what? What did I - or rather, King Sombra - do that was so horrible as to deserve this fate? I do not know, but whatever he must have done, it must've been truly horrible...

During my time here, I have met very few Equestrians - and with good reason, if the stories of Sombra are to be believed - but there are some who visit me. The guards whom bring me just enough food to keep me alive. A doctor and a nurse to ensure I am in good health for those times when I am taken to be paraded throughout the Empire in chains. Princess Cadence... who seems always to have a sad look in her eyes. But by far, the worst of them all is Shining Armor, her husband. He hides it well from his beloved wife, but when she's not about, the kindly Prince becomes a monster of the worst sort. When he isn't cutting me with barbs and insults, he - along with a number of guards - is beating me to within an inch of my life--and immediately after said beatings, he has my doctor patch me up again... and again... and again...

I'd always remained silent. What was I supposed to tell them? "Oh, hey, I know I look like your King Sombra, but I'm actually not; I'm just inhabiting his body?" No... they wouldn't believe me. One day, however - during one of Princess Cadence's visits, when I was at my lowest, heartsick with depression - I slowly raised my head to look at the pink alicorn princess through the bars of my cell... and - my face wet with countless tears - I softly sang:

"I'm a silhouette, asking every now and then
Is it over yet? Will I ever feel again?
I'm a silhouette, chasing rainbows on my own
But the more I try to move on, the more I feel alone
So I watch the summer stars to lead me home..."

Immediately, Cadence's guards made to enter my cell - perhaps to silence me - but the Princess stopped them with a hoof gesture. "What is that song?" asked she of me.

At first, her question didn't register - so long was I used to ignoring barbs and insults that I'd forgotten what it was like to be spoken to, kindly - but when she repeated the question, "It is called 'Silhouette'," answered I. Taking a few tentative steps closer toward my cell, softly she breathed, "Sing it for me, please..." and so, I did. When the song ended, the pink alicorn's face was wet with tears whilst aside her, her guardmares struggled mightily to contain their own. When at last she was able to regain a semblance of her dignity, Cadence softly stated, "You are not Sombra."

"No," I said, "my name is David."

That was how it began. Between the long bouts of isolation and loneliness of my cell and the cruelty inflicted upon me by Shining Armor, gradually, Princess Cadence became my friend. At first she and I merely talked through the bars of my cell. She told me of the world outside my Cell, of Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns, and of the Alicorn Princesses who controlled Sun and Moon. I told her of my home world, Earth, and the wonders, terrors, and other things found therein; how I'd lived a rather uneventful life only to be transported here after witnessing the death of the real King Sombra's shade upon the pearly steps. This near-blew her mind.

Charming, funny, and possessed of utterly hilarious wit, she became the light of my life and I became her shadow; that was what she called me when she would touch hooves with me, or nose me affectionately through the bars as her guards looked on in horror. I should have been more suspicious, perhaps, but I wasn't; things just seemed to develop so naturally between us as our friendship grew. I should have become mildly suspicious when she started visiting me without her guards, or even when she began bringing me my food herself; proper food rather than the prison slop I was usually fed. But again, I wasn't; I was just glad for the better food, and - more importantly - the company of my now good friend.

"Judging by the look on the organ-grinder,
He'll judge me by the fact that my face don't fit.
It's touching that the monkey sits on my shoulder.
He's waiting for the day when he gets me,
But I don't need no alibi, I'm a puppet on a string.
I just need this stage to be seen.
We all need a pantomime to remind us what is real.
Hold my eye and know what it means."

Sang she, giggling as she brought my food. Yes, I'd taught her all manner of songs from Earth. I'm not sure when it was that I began to fall for her. I don't think she knew when she began to fall for me, either. But somehow... it happened. And no, it wasn't some torrid affair, or whirlwind thing. This was something very slow-burning, built atop solid foundations of good food, drink, conversation, and of course music. Between long looks at each other, it took us forever to work up the nerve to even kiss... but when we did they were soft, little, fleeting things done in secret 'neath the moon...

I should've become really suspicious when one night she simply opened the door of my cell, broke my wards, and then held me tightly, desperately, weeping into my fur. "Shining Armor," she said, once she'd regained control of herself, "used to be a good pony... but now, he is angry, always angry..." and so the story came out. How Shining Armor - instead of coming home - would spend his nights getting drunk at the local bar, only to come home and hurl the worst abuse at poor Cadence and hurt and sully her in other ways; though he never physically hurt her, or - heaven forbid - abused her sexually. As a pair married... they were failing... "'Tis my fault, Cadence, indirectly..." I murmured, my tone low, soft, though lacking the 'growl' of the real King Sombra. When she made to protest, I bade her listen. "It is," I stated with grim finality. "Long have I been here, contained. He cannot kill me. Equestrian Law - and perhaps some part inside of him - prevents him from doing so, and this eats away at him. To have King Sombra within his reach - so close - and yet be unable to end it..."

"But you are not King Sombra!" cried she. "You are not! Oh, if only Shiny would listen..."

"But he will not. Shining Armor sees only King Sombra and the old, old history of what he did to the Empire..."

"History that you, David - the kind human trapped inside his form - are paying for when you should not be!" With that, she turned and fled, weeping, even as I tried to reach out to her. Sometime after that... Shining Armor discovered that Cadence had been visiting me in secret. He was not amused. Wasting no words, he and his guards entered my cell and therein proceeded to beat me brutally, to within an inch of my life. He bruised, battered, stomped, and crushed, 'til I coughed and vomited blood--and he might've killed me, too, if not for - "SHINING ARMOR!" - the Royal Canterlot Voices that stopped him cold. Shining Armor turned about... and then he paled for standing before him were all four Princesses of Equestria - Celestia, Luna, Twilight and Cadence - and their expressions were utterly thunderous!

A curt gesture from Celestia saw Shining Armor wrestled away from me by two burly Dawn Custodes - Celestia's Elite Guard - and then he was clapped in irons and an inhibitor as Cadence raced to my side, cradling my broken form in her forehooves as she wept near-silently in anguish. As a team of doctors and nurses made to gather me onto a stretcher, Celestia approached me. "You are not Sombra..." stated she softly in awe, after examining my mind with a powerful spell.

"No..." stated I, weakly, "... never... have been."

"What do you want?" asked she.

"To see... sun..." I murmured through a mouthful of blood. "Be... with Cady... if... she'll have me." Walking at my side as the physicians carried me, Cadence blinked back tears and nodded, nosing me gently here and there.

"Then it shall be so," Celestia stated.