> Cast Shadows At Midnight > by BeezlubWrites > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Ch. 1: The Unfortunate Nature of Exposition > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sombra was having a roughly decent day. Of course, he was under constant supervision as the former dictator of the Crystal Empire, with guards on watch even if he couldn’t see them, and most of the town despised or remained maddeningly cautious around him, but in some ways, he saw that as a benefit. Constant guard? Just like when he was royalty. Ponies don’t like him? He thrived on his own. It was a good day, and after finding a surprisingly sturdy tree, he managed to scramble up it, magic-free, and take the time to just breathe and relax. Unfortunately, his rest was interrupted by the feeling of a lingering gaze on him. He shook it off at first, thinking he’d just detected one of the hidden guards, until he realized where it was coming from. He opened his eyes, scowling, to see a smiling Shining Armor staring at him from the ground below. “What?” He growled. “Lunch. You know the rules.” Of course. The rules. When he’d been found that day, rooting through a bakery trash can for leftovers, his famed enemies, the rulers of the Crystal Empire, Shining Armor and Cadance had set up a set of rules to keep him on the road to recovery, and overall keep him from dying. Rule number 4: No skipping meals. He sighed, looking at the ground below, and feeling a sudden sinking feeling in his chest. He got up here without thinking about how he was going to get down. “You can’t get down, can you?” Damn the irritatingly perceptive prince. “...No.” Rule number 3: Pride is irrelevant, ask for help. “Should I get a ladder, or will you be okay if I float you down?” Sombra hesitated, his general irritation ebbing away slightly as fear began to sink it’s ugly fangs into his mind. He could feel his body start going into high alert, and he desperately tried to shut it down before Shining Armor could notice, or heaven forbid, comment on it, but he was too late. Shining Armor frowned, ears folding as he trotted off to find a ladder, and Sombra desperately tried to force his fear down before either the prince came back, or he went into a full blown panic attack. Whichever came first, honestly. His fear of having spells cast on him was a newfound one, discovered after a magical health scan sent him into full blown hysterics. He was, despite the humiliation of it, somewhat glad his horn didn’t seem to be working, primarily because he was nearly certain that even the feeling of casting a spell could send him spiraling down a road he didn’t want to be on. The mere hum of magic was enough to get his heart rate increasing at this point in his recovery, and he was more than ashamed to admit that if Shining Armor had levitated him down, he probably would’ve gone into hysterics again, and that wasn’t something he wanted to happen in front of the prince. A whistle pulled him from his thoughts as the creaking of a wooden ladder brought his attention to Shining Armor’s return, as he braced a ladder against the branch Sombra was laying on, making absolutely sure that it wouldn’t fall before giving him the go ahead to come down. Maybe it was his own paranoia, but he nudged the ladder a few times, making sure it was stable, before climbing down as steadily as he possibly could. “Alright, now that you’re no longer stuck in a tree, it’s time to go eat something.” He merely grumbled in response, but he didn’t fight back. It was possibly the most ridiculous way of thinking about it, but Shining Armor cared about people in a forceful way, and for some reason, Sombra was included in that people. You can’t not take care of yourself when Shining Armor was around to witness it, and Sombra had learned that the hard way. The one time Sombra had tried to fight rule four, he was slung over Shining Armor’s back like luggage and dragged to the dining room of the castle, all while Shining Armor smiled and hummed and greeted his fellow guard. Then, he was sat down and forced to stay in his seat until he finished the entire absurd portion of food he’d been given, leaving him so lethargic that by dinner time he had to force himself out of bed just so he wouldn’t have to experience the whole ordeal a second time. It was an experience that to this day practically haunted him, and he refused to undergo it a second time. The worst part was he had to eat with Shining Armor and Cadance. To say he despised them wasn’t accurate. Honestly hate was a strong word. He really only felt a lingering contempt that they had stolen his throne, but be it the effectiveness of whatever reformation training they were giving him, or just the effects of being blasted into smoke a few times, he wasn’t particularly keen on trying to take it back. What he hated about eating lunch with them is that they pried too much. His past was a mystery, both to the people of the Crystal Empire, and to their new rulers, and he would prefer to keep it that way. Which is what makes a daily lunch where they try and milk him of any information about his past that they can, very, very irritating. “So is it true that you’re a living shadow?” He nearly choked on his bread. “Where-hic- in the world did you hear that!?” He looked at Shining Armor audaciously, and the prince shrugged, looking semi-sheepish. “Hey, you won’t give us anything, so I went looking for rumors. I knew it was ridiculous, but I heard it from like five different ponies, so I grabbed onto it a little more than I should have.” Shining Armor continued pouring an obscene amount of hummus on his sandwich as if he hadn’t just unveiled Sombra’s best kept secret through a Celestia-damned rumor. “You have to admit, it does make sense considering how you’ve appeared to us half the time.” He looked up from his desecrated sandwich to find Sombra’s head planted firmly into the table. “I get it was a stupid question, but that seems excessive.” Sombra peeled his head off the table. “You have got to be kidding.” Sombra sighed, rubbing at his temples. “No, no. Actually, it makes perfect sense that you’d figure that out by accident.” Both Cadance and Shining Armor looked at him, astonished. “You’re kidding.” “I wish.” Sombra growled. Cadance laughed, and Sombra glared at her. “I’m an umbrum. My body is composed of living shadow. We’re what you would call old news. Technically, we’re evil.” Cadance hummed. “Technically?” “We’re buried somewhere underneath here. The crystal heart destroys us, so my people want it gone. Some dark crystal gave me my powers out in the frozen north, and you know the rest. We aren’t exactly loving people, and my people want to conquer Equestria, though, from what I’ve seen, we’d fall to you two alone, let alone if Twilight and her friends get involved.” He grumbled, barely understanding why he was telling them this. It practically fell out of his mouth, he couldn’t stop it. He waited for their response, tracing the grain of his bread with his eyes. And after not receiving any, he waited for a little longer. And a little longer still. Until eventually, he looked up. “What?” The two were tearing up, with wide smiles so bright that practically forced his eyes closed. He held a hoof in front of his face. “Hello, vulnerable to light. Might disintegrate again if you keep this up.” “That might just be the first time you willingly told us something about you.” Cadance’s voice was strained, like she was genuinely holding back tears. “Back on topic, the Crystal Heart destroys you? That wasn’t just a shadow form thing?” He gave a dry smile. “Either I leave the empire next Crystal Festival or you’re gonna be sweeping me off the pavement.” His bit of dark humor had the intended effect, the both of them looking visibly stressed at the idea. “I’ll be fine in the Frozen North for one day. Probably. It’s far off, so I’ll figure something out.” “That’s our job, not yours.” Shining Armor said it astoundingly matter of fact, as if he hadn’t just figured out what Sombra was. “Thanks for telling us, we’ll try to help you however we can.” He limited his smile, keeping his mouth closed, and Sombra silently thanked him for it. “For now, I just want a nap. Can I go to sleep?” The two released him from the lunch, (they said he could leave when he wanted, but he always felt like he had to ask permission) and he left for the temporary bedroom they’d established for him in the castle, likely not to be out of bed again until dinner. Of course, not being present, he didn’t watch as a smirk slowly crept onto Cadance’s face. “Don’t say it.” “So-” “Please don’t say it.” “Do you think an Umbrum-” “No.” “Is enough of a monster to consider you a teratophile?” In a bold, showstopping imitation of Sombra only minutes earlier, Shining Armor elegantly planted his face into the table. > Ch. 2: Memories of Rules Ten > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sombra doesn’t dream. It’s impossible. He doesn’t know what makes the umbrum different from ponies, but the umbrum do not dream. He’d barely classify what he does as sleep to begin with, more like a trance of sorts, as he was not so blissfully unaware of the world around him as ponies were. No, it was more like the space around him was rigged with metaphysical tripwires, leaving him aware of anything in his general vicinity that moved. And when he managed to tune out the feeling of tripwires, he still didn’t dream. His memories cycled, played on the movie screen of his eyelids. And still he didn’t dream.