> What a wonderful world
>  by a touch of sparkles
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: A new life
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deep in the North, far from charted land was the Eye. Where the storms never touched and snow gently drifted down onto the frosted land. The nearly mountainous hills were littered with caves. Each a dedicated home to an umbrum tribe. One in particular had a very small tribe in it, but that family was introducing a new life.

A dam licked her new-born clean. The colt’s large green eyes looked curiously at his dam’s crimson ones. It was all he could see through his blurry eyes as they met light for the first time. But as they adjusted he saw the rest of his family. The single pair of red eyes were his dam’s. Then there were three blue pairs, four yellow pairs and one orange pair. They all looked the same. Dark grey fur and flowy black manes. 

“huavee yoou thuo’gitee ofii aa naaimaee?” he heard the feminine voice come from one with yellow eyes. He didn’t know what it meant.

“leite’s ssoee ifi huee’s hueea’laithuee fiirssoutee” his dam replied. Just as he got hungry and attempted to get his mouth to her teats, her legs unfolded from beneath her and straightened out. Rising her warm belly above him along with his food. He stared up at her wondering why she would do such a thing. 

He felt something push his rump upwards and his gangly hind legs scrambled to get beneath it. Who he assumed was his sire with blue eyes started to nudge his front legs to do the same things, not before his hind legs gave way and his back half flopped on the ground. 

“leeit huimaii dio itee huimai’soelafii” His dam told his sire.

“jeusoutee giveinai’ aa huinatee” replied his sire, the back of his lips curling up slightly.

He lay on the floor shuffling his legs around, trying to understand the lanky appendages. He copied what his dam did, putting the hard bits at the end squarely on the stony floor, then he pushed up with all his might. His body rose up as his shaky legs wobbled under the weight of him. Then they slipped from under him making him land flat on his belly with his legs either side of him. He heard multiple voices in the cave make almost bumpy noises.

“yoou caanai dio itee” his dam said to him, despite not knowing what she said it spurred him to try again. This time when he rose he managed to keep control of his legs. He pushed each one forward and his body shifted. Finally, as he craned his neck upwards, he got his first meal. 

“Vacio, wahutee naaimaee didii wee seetelee onai?” 

“eerr, Sombra wasou’naitee itee?” his parents spoke to each other. Then his dam turned to him.

“huelaiowe Sombra” he didn’t know what Sombra meant. But all he knew is that it belonged to him. 





“GET BACK HERE” his sire called out to his runaway colt. The pair sprinted along the snowy cliff side, snow flying up beneath them.

“sorry” he apologised as he tried not to barrel over a tribe as his son weaved between their legs. It was only a week after Sombra was born yet his unrivalled energy was already becoming a hassle. He was already learning his words and what they meant (even if he couldn’t speak well) and he was a fast learner. As fast as his lanky legs carried him across the snow. He stuck his little silver tongue out at his sire. 

Just as a very large pair of purple hooves grabbed him around his middle and lifted him of the ground. He recognised the hooves as the ones that belonged to his god, Umbralis. Sombra squirmed in his hooves trying to get free. Not out of fear, just pure energy. 

“thank you. I don’t think I would’ve caught him” his sire thanked their God. His bottom half dissolved into shadow as he floated up, taking his colt into his for legs.

“you have your hooves full with this one. From what I have seen he is the most energetic one of the bunch this year” Umbralis told his father. Sombra watched with curiosity as he rose and his membrane wings took him to the sky. Heavy wing beats filled the air.

“let’s get you back, foods cooked”

“FOOD” Sombra wriggled out of his grasp.

“OH for the love of the North!” his hind legs reformed as he chased his colt again. At least this time he was going in a desirable direction. When they got back to their cave, Sombra was caught by his uncle Folwin. Folwin was his sire’s younger brother and had the same eyes. 

“RABIA, WHAT DID YOU EAT TO GIVE HIM THIS MUCH ENERGY?” Folwin shouted to the mare in the other half of the cave.

“I ATE PERFECTLY NORMAL THANK YOU VERY MUCH” she shouted back to him. A pair of not quite as gangly foals appeared through the archway. Sombra seeing his cousins bucked his uncle and ran over to join them. Yesqen and Yesric were twins. Apart from the different genders, they were perfectly identical. 

The twins were a hundred years older than Sombra, still very much foals for umbrum. They would be so until they hit five hundred and puberty started and lasted for another five hundred years. For Sombra they were siblings. 

“foods done!” called Nevada. Nevada was his granddam, from his sires’ side. His other grandparents were still in their other tribe, whom he was yet to meet. She was the cook of the tribe, she had her way with food. It made Sombra’s mouth water by the sight of it, let alone the smell. Unfortunately he was still on milk. He sat next to his dam while she helped equally serve out the reindeer kebabs. He watched in jealously as the twins got their portion. Then she outstretched one of her hind legs and pulled him in with her tail.

“you can eat once you turn one sweaty. But for now you still have to drink” she said to him softly while he reluctantly drank. While he did so his father finally made it back to the cave. Exhausted from the three hours he had spent playing chase he flopped down next to his wife. The beads around his neck rattling as they hit the floor. Rabia nudged his meal over towards him.

“thanks” 

After tea the foals were much calmer. They sat and played with their bricks building little structures. Currently Sombra had built a little box hut for his favourite toy Binkie. The little umbrum plush was his first toy which he got the day he was born. It was made of leather and its mane was made of his dam’s hair, its tail made of his sire’s hair, along with being stuffed with it. It was squishy and floppy and Sombra adored it. He had used the blocks to make a home for it.

“Dammi look! I made a cave for Binkie” Sombra happily clapped his hooves together as he showed his dam.

“Well aren’t you clever” she grabbed the leather bag with her teeth, despite being a unicorn.

“Why don’t we make it bigger” together they placed more blocks on top of the hut. Then there was a clatter.

“Hey, why’d you do that!” they heard Yesric complain.

“I didn’t knock it down you did” Yesqen argued with him.

“Did not”

“Did too”

“Did not”

“Did too”

“Did n-“

“Kids” their sire Folre appeared beside them. They stopped arguing.

“What did they do?” there dam Amarilla asked over her shoulder.

“One knocked the others tower over” 

Sombra returned back to his hut, placing more blocks. Slowly the structure got taller and taller. He sat and reached up with both his front legs, but as he leaned forwards his body fell and he hit his chest and chin on the blocks. With a squeak from the fall his eyes started to water.

“Oh Sombra, I’m sorry I didn’t see you. Come here” she pulled him in and held him to her chest. He huddled up as his eyes welled with more tears. 

“Is he alright?” Vacio hurried over when he heard the clatter. 

“He fell on the bricks” Rabia told him while giving small licks to his cheek to calm him down. Vacio pushed the bricks out the way and pulled Binkie out and gave it to his son, who cuddled it tightly. It wasn’t long until the pain left his chest and chin, but even so he was worked up. 

“I think that’s enough play for you” Rabia said as she bought him over to the campfire where he curled up by her belly. Slowly with the warmth of the fire and his dam he drifted to sleep.
> Chapter 2: The world outside the eye
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sombra had finally turned one. Officially a yearling he was not only of his dam’s milk, but he was able to join the rest of the tribe when they left. Up until now he stayed behind with his dam. It was dangerous for him to leave so young but it was important to learn survival.

Meanwhile the tribe were packing. His dam and sire wore nothing. Apart from Nevada and Vulmon, his grandparents with greying mouths and hoof fur, the others had heavy packs strapped to their backs. Mostly consisting of firewood, frozen meats and berries and blankets. Along with the toy bricks. Sombra was almost bouncing of the walls when his sire tried to clasp a jacket around him.

“Calm down bud. I get you’re excited. But I gotta get this on you. You’ll freeze otherwise, your fur hasn’t fully developed yet” He said as he wrestled with his bubbly colt, finally getting the gemstone clasp to click. The buckles were tied to keep it close to his body and his hood was pulled over his ears. 

“Now if you get cold you jump on mine or your dams back ok” he informed his colt who nodded fast enough to give himself whiplash. 

“Ok are we all set to go” his grandsire and chieftain, Vulmon, asked them all. They all said they were ready, except Sombra who ran back into the other part of the cave to grab Binkie. 

“I’ll have Binkie little guy. That way we don’t lose him and he won’t get hurt” Folwin said to him as Binkie flew up in darkness into the small packs he carried. Folwin had a smaller figure then the others so he wasn’t made to carry as much, apparently he was more agile than the typical umbrum. 

With that they left their cave, sealing it with solid black which Sombra was still yet to figure out where it came from. It had something to do with their horns giving out dark stuff that had green fire at the end. Then they started to climb up the tall hills, Sombra scrambled up while they easily walked. When they reached the top he could see the sky visibly move in swirls and arcs.

“Remember, on our backs if you get cold. If you start to fall behind grab onto a tail alright” his sire retold him. Sombra nodded confidently as he hopped by the side of his dam. Then they started to trudge forwards through the thickening snow. Then as they descended the outer slopes of the eye, the wind hit.

It came upon them like a wave as the bitter cold barraged them. Snow whipped up around them. Sombra suddenly didn’t feel so confident. His thin hooves sunk into the deep snow slowing him down. Meanwhile the rest of the tribe had larger hooves on the front and large hind claws which stopped them sinking. He heard his grandsire shout over the winds.

“We’ll get to the glaciers, we’ll rest their then continue to the territory” 

“We don’t usually stop there” Yesric shouted over.

“For Sombra’s sake. He won’t make it without the hot springs” Nevada replied. They continued to push through wind and snow. Sombra could hardly see past his dam who was stood right next to him. 

He had lost count of how many times they had ascended over a hill then descended down it. They climbed in some places up the sides of mountains and cliffs. They never stood on flat land. Yet slowly Sombra felt himself get colder and colder. He felt like there was ice in his bones. And then his legs got slower and less responsive. He fell behind quickly. He tried to bite his dam’s tail, but his legs buckled and he landed in the deep snow. He whined and called out for them, but the wind covered his voice. So he screamed with all the might he had left.

“DAMMI! SIRY!” nine heads turned in panic as they all rushed back. He felt his dam pull him in closely to her chest.

“He’s so cold” she rocked him back and forth with sheer guilt. There was a scramble to wrap him up in blankets. Then he was strapped on her back as Sombra’s legs were tucked into him. 

“I think I know a shortcut, but it does risk a stalker” Nevada stated.

“If it gets him to warmth” he heard his sire say, yet his hearing seemed to be fading. Then he felt the ride increase in pace as they resulted to a fast trot down the cliff. That continued across what seemed to be very flat land. Then he felt the wind hit his face faster as they descended into a canter. Sombra simply closed his eyes and tucked himself deeper into his blankets.



When he woke up it was warm. So pleasantly warm. He could hear faint fizzing and bubbling. Sounds he had never heard before. When he came to his senses all he knew was: he was covered in blankets, heard his tribe’s voices and he had his Binkie.

“Binkie” he said quietly to himself.

“He’s coming around” He heard his dam’s worried voice and the sounds of hoof and footsteps all surrounding him. Sombra felt more warmth around him as he fully awoke from his near freezing. 

“You ok bud?” his sires voice asked him, he sounded terribly weak. Sombra lightly nodded while rubbing his eyes. He heard some more talk than a wooden bowl appeared in front of him, warm de-fizzing water was pushed to his snout. 

“Drink this, it will keep you warm” Amarilla told him. He lapped up the warm water, his organs greatly appreciating the warmth. Although he realised his mouth tasted bitter.

“Are you sure you’re alright Vacio” His dam asked her mate, worry was littered in her voice.

“I had to. I couldn’t just jet him…go” Sombra looked up at him. He seemed week. While his hair was held down in braids the ends weren’t floating in shadow like they should be. There was a small wound on his shoulder with silver blood dribbling down. Next to him there was a silvery stem both ends badly cut. Closer to Sombra’s face there was a beheaded flower. He had heard of the roses, the ones that heal wounds. Apparently there was a second, but he was too young to understand what it was. It was large and had many petals. It was white but seemed grey like it had been drained of colour.

“I know but, your life”

“My son is worth more than a hundred of my elder years” there was a silence amongst the group, it was so solemn that it crushed them. The only noise was the fizzing water. 

“You’re a good sire” Folwin told his brother. Then Folwin and Amarilla curled up to him as he lay his head down. However Sombra was experiencing the opposite of his sire, he started to feel energy flowing back through his veins. He finally saw where he was.

They were in a large cavern with a large opening at the other end. The fizzing was multiple pools of water sparkling and bubbling. They heated the cavern without any need of fire. He also noticed a dead creature pushed to the side. He looked around until he found the twins.

“Come on, the water’s really fun” Yesqen said excitedly in her naivety of the situation. He followed the pair to the edge of the rumbling water. He had never swum before and it took his recovering brain a few seconds to recognise this as water.  He dipped his hoof in and felt the waves of bubbles barrage his hooves. He looked up to see his cousins floating above the water by the sheer force of the fizz. 

“Oh Sombra. hold on. Let me teach you how to swim first” His dam trotted up to him, picked him up by the scruff of his neck and dragged him over to a shallower pool. One that wasn’t so heavily bubbling. 

“You shouldn’t really be so active, but I guess that’s just you” she said to herself as she slinked into the water, her hooves and claws just reached the bottom. She helped Sombra awkwardly wobble into the water, holding him afloat in her hooves. 

“Now just trot, like you normally would but in the water” he followed what she said and he started to feel himself float around and move on his own. Her hooves drifted from his side as he got a hang of it and stated to swim in circles. They started to play in the water, splashing each other and chasing each other. Eventually Sombra got tired and she dragged him out and wrapped him in a blanket. The twins had gotten tired as well and the foals were laid on each other, the adults circled them as a barrier in case anything else wandered in during the night. 



The next day they were all packing again, it was insisted that Sombra stayed on his dams back the rest of the walk. Then the brutal winds hit Sombra again as they continued walking. At this point he had forgotten why, they said something about controlling something back at home.

He lost track of how long they walked by that point. Often it was hard to judge time in the North. Days and nights lasted six months each so it was a task to pinpoint exactly where you were in the year. But if everything started to melt and the sun was up it was the middle of the year. 

It was the early day so the world hadn’t quite melted yet, but icicles on the underside of mountain hangs dripped. Snow collapsed as it melted hour by hour, exposing the glassy cobalt rock the North was made of. The storms slowly came to a stop, the occasional one whipped by, but none were as bad as the one directly outside the eye. A small stream had started to build in the valley floor that made its journey ahead of them. Sombra wondered where it went. 

They kept going until eventually the valley opened and they stopped at a cave. This cave was much less roomy than their home. As bags were unloaded and a fire started Sombra asked again what exactly what they were doing.

“Population control. For the sake of those pitiful ponies down south” his grandsire scowled. 

“Why don’t we like ponies?” Yesqen asked her parents.

“It’s just sire who’s not too keen on them” Amarilla told her. Then their father added…

“Their fine until you got to get a curious one home without them getting you killed in the process” Hearing that Sombra looked to his sire in curiosity. Wondering what exactly seemed so dangerous. His tilted head and inquisitive eyes got the answer out.

“The wyverns like breeding here when the summer comes because of the salmon. We have to keep the population, how many there are, down so they don’t wander south” he told him. Vacio had recovered somewhat from his ordeal and his hair was floating again. Although he was still under the weather.

“Vacio, you stay with the foals, you’re too week to fight” His dam told him, she petted his cheek fuzz. He leant away from her navy hoof with an offended look.

“I’ll be fine”

“No, you won’t. You stay here” his dam ordered him. While he did pout he looked down at Sombra.

“That means you get the month with me” he said while grabbing Sombra then rolling onto his back, holding Sombra above him. The pair laughed as they rough and tumbled with each other. Sombra’s little hooves batted his sire’s muscles while he was nibbled lightly by his sire, despite the giant sharp teeth. 

“All right, so Vacio stays with the foals, the rest of us go. We leave tomorrow” confirmed Vulmon as the settled down for the “night”. 

They all awoke after a few hours of sleep, it was all they needed after all. However for Sombra he slept all the way through most of the preparation. He only just woke up when the last of the group was being looked over for any flaws in their conformation.

“Watch where you put your eyes sire” he heard his own say.

“Why would I look at yours when I’ve got my own mare to ogle at?” replied his grandsire with a laugh.

“Well I don’t exactly have my youth anymore”

“Oh shut it you’re as gorgeous as you were three thousand years ago” with that Vulmon cheeked over Rabia. Noting how she’s recovered well after a birth with an overdeveloped horn.

“With that were all ready to go” the tribe then slowly filtered out the entrance way, Rabia being the last as she kissed her husband. Sombra however didn’t want her to go. He ran towards her just as she went to leave.

“Alright, one last hug” he squeezed her within an inch of her life before his sire pulled him away so she could leave with the rest of the tribe. Leaving just Sombra, Vacio and the twins in the cave.
> Chapter 3: Gems and Braids
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the first few hours the three foals were more than happy enough to play with their bricks. However like all foals they got bored after they built every tower they could think of. So they turned their attention to the beads and gemstones the adult’s wear.

“What do the gems mean?” Yesric asked poking the beads around his uncle’s neck. 

“Well, emeralds are innocence and purity- “

“Why?” asked Yesqen.

“Because a foal’s eyes are always green, they only change colour when you become a teen. Anyway, opals are beauty and grace, diamonds are wisdom, rubies are love and err, other stuff- “

“What’s the other stuff?” the twins asked in unison.

“We’ll tell you when you’re older, erm, amethysts are strength, topaz are cowardice and turquoise is creativity” he finished listing of the meaning of each gem. But he had missed a few. Sombra reached a hoof up and pushed it against his neck. Apart from the regular necklaces with rubies and amethyst, he had two chockers around his neck. One was lined with pale pink gems, the other was a strip of leather, which string hung of it with an orb of a smoky grey gem.

“Oh those. The pinks ones are rose quartz, they show that you’ve mated. This one is smoky quartz. Its shows that your a parent, you have one for every foal, technically they both mean the same thing, since your only classed as mated once you've had a foal, but you can give a half full rose quartz to say your a couple. Sombra, this smokey quartz is for you.” 

“So why are they so tight to your neck?” Yesric asked.

“Because they’re the most important ones, held as close to your blood as possible” then the two twins started to guess what theirs would be, mocking each other with whichever they thought were weaker. 

“I bet it’s really embarrassing to have a topaz one” Yesric decided, which his sister agreed.

“Now just because someone wears topaz doesn’t mean they’re a wimp. Your uncle wears them and he doesn’t cower in fear. They all have other deeper meanings. Folwin tends to double check everything, which can save your life when he fixes a knot in a rope.” They went silent for a bit before Yesqen asked another question.

“Do they fall off if you turn to shadow?” they had seen members of their tribe shift before yet they always noticed the gems never fell and when they reformed they were there in perfect place.

“Well, they don’t necessarily fall off, the body dissolves and they are kept in the shadow by our magic. When we reform we move them out the way then put them on, so we don’t accidently merge into them.” he showed them by dissolving away into shadow, only his eyes were left glowing amidst the dark. They could all see the necklaces and chokers floating around. Then when he shifted back into a physical form they did in fact float out the way of his neck only to rise up and slip over his head before his horn formed. But then their attention was drawn away from the necklaces to the hair that was automatically re-braiding itself. 

“Why do we always have our hair done up?” Yesqen asked yet another question.

“It’s mostly for convenience. Sombra you won’t remember this, but you two will. When me and Rabia were making Binkie we pulled our hair out for various parts of it. you may remember that it grew back by the next day. Because of the way our hair grows back its pointless to cut it, so we braid it instead. There’s no specific ways and meanings like the gems have, you just where them a way you think expresses you best” every member of the tribe wore their hair differently (tails are usually left untouched). Vacio in particular wore his hair only partly in braids. The braids that were their were thin, throughout silver loops were weaved in. Those braids sat on top of the loose hair, effectively holding it down.

“I like your hair” Yesric complimented him.

“Thank you. I think Sombra likes his dam’s hair” Sombra nodded in response. Rabia tied all of her hair into one thick braid. There were no metals woven throughout, but at the end a large gold loop was tied in. Sombra had a tendency to tug on it when he wanted her attention. His sire didn’t have that loop, so now he was tapping his leg profusely. 

“What’s up bud?”

“I’m hungry” 

“Me too” the twins said as well. 

“Alright I’ll get some food. I’ll seal you in” He left the three in the cave as he sealed it off. The twins noticed Sombra beginning to shake, so they huddled next to him which helped him stay calm. It was something all umbrum learned from their parents, it felt like safety. It only took ten minutes for Vacio to return with four fat salmons.

Before long the salmons were cooked over the fire. He had grabbed a load of water from wherever he went. He had put the bowl over the fire and the water evaporated and left salt behind. Which he used to season the fish.

“It’s not as good as your granddams but its still food so you lot won’t mind” he said as the twins started to greedily chomp down the fish, every bone and organ. Sombra was still getting used to solid food and he wouldn’t be able to eat the bones until his adult teeth grew in. They all ate in silence, Sombra after trying to chomp through the bones gave up and gave them to his sire. The three foals fell asleep after their meal which gave Vacio his own time to get a nap before they woke up full of energy.
> Chapter 4: The hunt
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sombra was now in his early five hundred’s. After years of watching and learning he was finally able to join in with the hunt. He learnt the territory his tribe covers is a risky one, where the frozen wyverns breed in the day. They were the largest beasts of the North, the only creatures to exist to harness raw unfiltered dark magic, if you didn't count Umbralis. It was fortunate however that they were all muscle and no brain. But even so they could take your life before you know it.

For once no one was left in the cave as they all headed out. By now the eggs had hatched and each wyvern was being followed around by one or two hatchlings. They kept records on each female. Only letting them produce three clutches of eggs before she had to be taken down. For every expedition they took down at least one male, typically the oldest, or severely sick if there was one.

“That one has hatchlings, it’s got two rings though” Sombra whispered to his dam as they silently wandered the breeding grounds.

“That means it’s on its last clutch, let’s get a ring on it for next year” Nevada whispered back. She nodded to Folwin and Folre as they snuck over slowly to the beast’s tail. Out of all of them they were the most competent in magic. They positioned themselves either side and their magic began to form a solid black ring around its tail. Then they retreated just as quietly. 

With that last one marked they finished their routine. As they headed back to the cave Sombra felt as if one was following them, as he turned his head he saw the ugly feathered, furred and scaled face of the monster following them. 

“Dam”

“Yeah-ooh hello we got company” the rest of the tribe turned to the dastardly creature behind them. Within a blink of an eye they were in action.

The group split up. Sombra, Rabia, the twins and the elders were in charge of setting the ropes. They bounded between its legs binding them tightly. Meanwhile Amarilla and Folre were in shadow, spinning more ropes around its maw to stop it firing raw dark magic at them. Then there was Vacio and Folwin climbing over its back, digging in with their claws. Annoying it. Making it spin on its tied feet as it tried to get to them. It swivelled and tripped over its own feet and wings landing heavily on its back. When it did they jumped onto its chest. Its weakest point was the rib cage like structure that had delicate muscle and skin under it, left exposed. Using their teeth and horns they dug down to its lungs, which they then ripped open the fragile organ, then left it to suffocate. like that, it was over.

While Sombra didn’t pull of the kill, the thrill that coursed through his veins like a drug. It was his first kill that he was allowed to take part in. It felt right, this was his job as an umbrum. To control the creatures of the North to protect the south and these ponies he was yet to meet. His sire approached him still covered in the silver blood of the beast.

“You look happy” he commented on his still adrenaline filled son.

“Can we do it again?”

“Not till next year when the next lot breed like rabbits” His sire told him. Sombra looked over to the others who were busy carving up the muscles on their legs. The wyverns while ugly in looks certainly didn’t have an ugly flavour. The tribes that hunted them were well praised for bringing such good meat back to the eye.

Sombra didn’t have to help hauling the meat and bags home. Afterall he was only just becoming a teen and still was quite small. But when they did get home he did help with carving down into smaller pieces and selling them off to tribes in exchange for metals, gems or berries from the tribes that returned from the crystal mountains. 

But when they returned to the eye a panic had stirred. Many tribes had gone down past the crystal mountains to breed, but they hadn’t returned. They should’ve by now. A few tribes were sent to find them. They didn’t return either.
> Chapter 5: Tribe by Tribe
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Please all of you calm down. Stay here and I will go see what’s happening” Umbralis instructed his umbrum. However in response there was a collection of disagreements. Many along the lines of him being too important to potentially loose, for them and the world.

“We should all go. Whatever’s down their can’t take us all” one Umbrum shouted out to the colossal mass of tribes.

“We don’t know what’s doing it. What if it can take us all?” another called back. Umbralis scanned over the mass that was all shouting at each other, panic controlling them. Then he called out

“Khaldith, Galacian, Paseai” 

“that’s us” Sombra whispered to his sire. They were the Galacian’s. the three tribes made their way through the crowd towards their god. Sombra looked up at the majestic stallion.

“You three tribes are the ones I trust the most to go into the most dangerous parts of the North. I want you three to go South and investigate. If there is something new do not approach it, come back and report to me. Now go, and make sure you come back” Umbralis commanded them, with a nod and a bow the three tribes left to their caves.

Sombra, despite leaving the safety of the eye hundreds of times suddenly felt fear coursing through him. He and his family, his tribe, were being sent to a place where tribes were disappearing. Tribes always come back, even the ones who braved the open waters came back, at least he thought they all did. It just wasn’t right.

He ignored what most of his tribe said, he wanted to stay home yet what if he never saw them again? But he didn’t want to be labelled a wimp as he was in one of the most trusted tribes. He grabbed Binkie and cuddled it tightly. 

“Sombra” He heard his sire. 

“Coming” he responded dully. He held Binkie in his mouth, not wanting to let go of his one and only possession. Sombra followed his family as they headed towards the edge of the eye to head south. His dam turned to him, he could see the unease in her eyes.

“Sombra. I know you love your Binkie and you hug it when scared. But this time leave it behind. If we have to make a sudden move you may not get to pick him up and you’ll lose him” she said calmly to him. 

“But what if someone steals him?” his voice was slightly muffled by the plush.

“Please, just leave it here” he nodded as he turned back. But he didn’t head towards their cave. Instead he trotted his way back over to Umbralis. The god had now laid down in the heavy snow, his wings rested out by his sides.

“Do they want you to stay here?” he asked. Sombra shook his head then placed Binkie in the snow in front of Umbralis’s hooves.

“Can you look after Binkie please” 

“Oh. Of course I can” Umbralis took the plush in his magic, a swirl of black with green fire. Sombra watched Binkie fly away and dissolved to shadow in the god’s giant mane. 

“Sombra!” he heard his family call out to him, he nuzzled Umbralis in thanks before cantering back over to his tribe. They all left the calm of the eye, he was used to the perilous winds by now. Sombra saw the other two tribes to their sides, which were closing in towards them. Then the three tribes stopped as the chieftains met in the centre of the conjoined group. As they spoke he looked around the sea of grey and black.

He saw different beads of all colours, some mated others not. There were some with children which had grown up. But Sombra noticed he was by far the youngest, only having just left his foal years at five hundred. He slinked under his sire’s legs, his long chest and belly fur glided across his back. 

“You ok bud?” Sombra let out a measly squeak in response. Such a small squeak was enough to garner his dam’s attention, who knelt down and crossed their horns. 

“You’re going to be ok, just stay with me and your sire” she comforted him with a gentle voice.

“To be fair, this isn’t our territory, even I don’t know what’s down here” His sire stated. Then his dam straitened and looked him in the eyes.

“You’re not helping” 

“Well it's better than lying to him”

The tribes began to move again which Sombra left his sires legs. They all moved in one group, the chieftains were all at the front as they combined. The large tracks left in the snow were soon to be blown away, the snow becoming untouched. Unfamiliar mountains and plateaus surrounded them. Only one tribe knew where they were as their heads were high and their ears didn’t flick with every sound. 

Sombra however was distracted by a creature sitting atop one umbrum’s back. A pure white bird with void black eyes. Its head seemed to grow its own feather crown. He left his parents side, trotting over to see the bird closer. It looked down at him, despite its black eyes it looked so comforting and friendly. Even though the bird hadn’t shifted the Umbrum seemed to know that Sombra was next to her.

“have you never met a Lumos?” the mare asked him.

“No”

“So you haven’t heard the rhyme yet?”

“No” she had picked his interest now. Then she started to speak.

“When your life is bleak,

And your head becomes weak,

Take your sorrow,

And cry to a shadow,

In hours to come,

The bird will show up,

With feathers of light,

And make your life bright” 

The rhyme captivated Sombra, he had seen a few of the birds flying around yet he didn’t know about the rhyme that bought them to you. Even if his blissfully ignorant mind didn't quite understand the meaning. He felt his sire grab him by the scruff.

“Sorry”

“No its ok. He was just curious”

His sire dragged him back to his own tribe where they all continued the walk south. They didn’t stop for hours and hours. Sombra lost count of how long they had been going and he grew tired. He gave a large yawn, but now he was too large to rest on another’s back. 

In the distance he could see one of the tallest mountains he had ever seen. It reached high into the sky like a spire. There was many other mountains surrounding it which got smaller and smaller. There seemed to be a glow behind them.

The tribes split of again into their three families. His tribe spilt of to the right and followed the mountains around. The clambered over the unknown edges, Sombra tired legs slipped but he still kept control of them.

“There’s a cave up there we can rest in” Folwin pointed out. It didn’t take much convincing for the tribe to make the short climb up. The cave was small, more of an indent in the side of the mountain, but they still crammed themselves in anyway. Sombra drifted of within moments of lying down between his parents. 

After his half hour nap he found the rest of his family still in there’s. He shuffled out from between his parents. They were awkwardly cuddling, they hadn’t moved their lower halves in order to not wake him. He took a peek outside and over the other side of the mountain. 

It was almost as if the North just stopped. There was a giant circle where the snow and wind didn’t touch. The ground was a strange green and there was a dense ring of trees around its border. In the middle however there was a strange structure. Even through the snow it blinded him with how shiny it was. 

“It’s so…strange” Yesqen said from behind him, she and her brother had both woken up and followed him outside. 

“Yeah…” he replied. Their curious minds were stirring. Not thinking of danger.

“Is that green stuff grass?” Yesric asked squinting his eyes at the grass, which was so green it reflected yellow.

“But it’s not normally that green is it? Isn’t it supposed to be really dark?” Sombra stated, his mind flashing back to when the snowy plateau melted and the long forgotten and buried grass sprung back to life. They stood their marvelling at the strange patch of brightness, completely ignoring the rising adults preparing to start walking again. 

“Are you sure we should go down? I think we should head back instead” Folwin asked Vulmon concerned for their safety.

“We can hide in those trees. We can see what’s going on for a few turns then we can head back” Vulmon replied staring out to the dense forest.

“A couple sleeps should be enough. Anymore maybe risky if other tribes are disappearing” Nevada stated. The tribe held their trust in their Chieftain and Chieftains mate and agreed silently. And so they slowly made their way down the mountain, more elegantly now that they had energy in their systems. As they descended Sombra noticed how some of the trees were significantly taller than the others. The trees closest to the North were lightly dusted with snow.

They descended and eventually they were at the bottom of the mountain which now towered above them. Sombra’s nose was assaulted with all sorts of new smells. He could smell strange new animals when he sniffed the trees, along with seeing little, tiny critters scuttle up and down. he attempted to sniff the branches of the trees put their pointy leaves poked him in the nose. Sombra bounced around in this new patch of world, at least he did.

“Sombra. we don’t know what’s out here. Stop playing” his dam told him off. He calmed down but he wasn’t happy about it. They started to skulk through the trees slowly getting closer to the strange structure in the centre.
> Chapter 6: Split
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The level of unease throughout the tribe was something even a butterfly could pick up on. Their heads were down, hiding the soft skin of their necks. Sombra and the twins were surrounded by the adults. Even so they didn’t feel quite safe. All of them were staring in between trees, only Vulmon who was leading the group looked forwards. 

Sombra could swear he heard extra hoof steps. All around them. Much quieter and smaller than theirs. There was a new smell that he couldn’t quite identify. He could smell it all around him. They eventually came to an edge, a mini cliff in the forest.

“Let’s stay here. It’s a decent viewpoint but still sheltered. Someone can stay up and keep watch” Vulmon told them all as they made a makeshift camp. Everything but a campfire was made. They were already too warm in a place without snow. 

“I’ll go find some food” Folre told them. He was staring through the trees, he had spotted game.

“Not on your own. Rabia, look after the twins” Amarilla asked her. Rabia nodded already sitting next to the three foals. However the twins jumped up and trotted over to their parents.

“Stay here. I love you two ok. So does your sire” she said sweetly as she hugged them, when she lifted her head she looked at her mate, huffed to get his attention, then motioned to the twins. Breaking out of his watching he also gave his twins a hug, in the form of lowering his head so they could grab his neck. Then the two parents parted from the tribe of to hunt.

What the the young foals noticed within a few hours was that the sun moved faster where they were. It had started to set and the sky was turning dark.

“The sun doesn’t usually do that does it?” asked Sombra as he looked through the treetops at the golden sky, three crows flew from tree to tree sticking out in the bright sky, the odd bird or two swooped down.

“The days and nights shift faster the further South you go” Nevada informed them. Within the hours the sun set they become more and more aware of Amarilla and Folre not returning. The twins were the first to notice. 

“where’s dammi and siry?”  Yesric asked as they became unsettled. The combination of disappearances and their parents not returning brewed into a toxic mix in their mind. 

“I’m sure they’ll be back soon. just try to sleep” Rabia comforted them as they huddled tighter to her. Sombra cowered into his sire’s forelegs, he didn’t like being out in the open with no solid walls to cover them. Especially with their predicaments now. Slowly however they started to sleep, with Folwin offering to stay up. 

Deep into their sleep however Folwin nudged them all awake. Within moments of their ears adjusting they heard the faint hoof steps again. Heads turned on pivots, staring through the blackness between the trees. Everything moved even if it didn’t in the dark, they felt they were watching shapes that didn’t exist. 

There was a creak and a crunch in the black. From in that darkness sprung forth a figure. It latched onto Vulmon’s neck, he thrashed around to try and shake it off. Then another came and clasped around Nevada’s neck. As more and more came the group became flustered and panicked. As Sombra turned to see his dam grabbed another jumped on him, his nose covered by a thick liquid soaked fabric. A sweet smell set in, almost putrid. The thing on his back was too heavy for him, he watched through blurry eyes as his family collapsed, then unnatural sleep hit him to. 



When he woke it was dark and damp. His neck and legs felt heavy, he found large metal chains wrapped around them. Sombra could hardly breath as something tight clasped around his neck. He thought he was in a cave, but the walls were too straight and uniform to be natural. But the front was made out of bars, he could see into an equally dark place made of the same damp stone.

“Get the next one” he heard a voice call out, but he didn’t know what it said.

“Which one?” another called back seemingly annoyed.

“The Princess wants one of the foals. Either one will do”

A very small almost umbrum like creature appeared before him. It wasn’t very large though. It was a least the same size as him yet it seemed fully grown. Its fur was a bright turquoise and its hair was yellow. It was so abrasive on the eyes, the only nice things were the gemstones that seemed to grow out of them. Another couple of them appeared beside it. They unlocked the door in the bars then the extra two forced Sombra against the wall harshly.

Sombra kicked at them and wriggled but they held him firm, one shoved a hoof under his chin forcing his head against the wall, shutting his mouth. The other attached a chain to his neck then yanked it pulling his over. 

“Shift it” with a yank of the chain Sombra walked reluctantly alongside the creature. He thought back to what his grandsire said about “pitiful ponies” all those years ago. Are these ponies? He thought to himself. The pony that was leading him was eye level with Sombra, if he was in his usual state of mind he would be wondering how small their foals were. 

Sombra was lead down the dark corridor then he was guided to a slightly brighter room. It at least had torches in it. In it there was a much taller pony, peachy fur and a long curled mane that faded from pink to purple. She was a unicorn, but her horn was dead straight. She too had crystals growing out of her, just far more. 

“I asked for one of the large ones did I not?” she said sternly to the pony leading him.

“They have been taken already princess, the ones that looked like twins were inseparable, so they went together” Replied what Sombra now knew was a stallion based of the deep voice. 

“Fine. Give it here” The unicorn scowled as she forcefully, with golden magic, took the lead chain connected to Sombra’s throat. She tugged it even harsher to the point he was nearly pulled of his hooves. This “princess” wore a blue crown and necklace with golden hearts. He was dragged by the neck into another room where he was dumped. 

In that room there were three umbrum. One of the chieftains from the other tribes, a stallion and then…

“Dammi!” Sombra attempted to sprint over too her only for the chains to hinder him. But he stumbled into his dams forlegs and they held each other tightly. He could smell blood. He looked down his dam’s side to see lacerations across her back, shiny silver blood had slightly dribbled down, creating silver droplets.

“I’ll be fine” Despite that she didn’t sound fine, her voice was shaking ever so slightly. She also wore the heavy chains around her neck and legs, weighing her down. Sombra shuffled and laid down next to her, she wrapped his tail around him. 

The door clanked open again, the princess was there again. She strode in, chains floating around her. One zipped over to the far stallion and wrapped around his mouth tying it shut. The other pulled his legs out from under him. A strange container was then drifted over his legs, it tipped and a liquid poured out, drenching his legs. There was a quiet hissing and sizzling, his legs turned bright white. He screamed through gritted teeth as the bottle moved from leg to leg and finally his neck. The princess wore a twisted smile. 

The stallion collapsed as his legs burnt while she moved to the chieftain. The same process repeated as they were drenched in the corrosive acid. After he collapsed she moved to Sombra. The chains wrapping around his much smaller figure. His dam then let out a petrifying roar, all her teeth bared. Ones built to rip and tear meat from flesh, all on display in that princess face. She barely flinched as she swung the bottle over, dumping acid in his dam’s eyes. she grimaced as she screwed her eyes shut. But even so she didn’t stop trying to protect her son, despite being unable to see.

A chain flew over and wrapped itself around her then she was pulled against the wall. The princess took that chance and drenched Sombra. He felt the searing pain in his legs and neck as the acid bit and gnawed away at his skin. He could barely focus when she finished and started on his dam.
> Chapter 7: Welcome to your new home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

They were left in that room for some time after the acid was dumped on them. The princess was wanted it seemed, Sombra didn’t know, he couldn’t understand them. They were left there to suffer as the acid never stopped burning. Eventually though, the princess did come back.

The chains floated behind her again and the clipped onto their collars. They were yanked to their feet and hooves, their aching legs wobbled as they pushed forwards. They were dragged down the corridor, the heavy chains around their necks made them appear smaller as their heads hung low. There legs didn’t move with the usual grace they did, weighed down and landing heavy. 

They were led into a nicer part of the building lined with lavender crystal, the sudden darkness to light was harsh on the eyes. They continued to be pulled through the building following the princess. Eventually they were outside and they saw the world around them. 

There were many of those ponies in one big crowd. Sombra noticed that there was a podium on one end. An umbrum was on that stage also in chains as a pony stood next to them. Yelling random things and pointing at the crowd. Sombra looked around some more to find many large box like crystals, hollowed out like caves all around them. Before them however was the giant crystal in the centre.

It stood on four legs then rose into the sky like a spire. It shined so bright Sombra could swear it could set something on fire. Sombra was used to mountains towering above him, but they felt almost welcome. This did not, and they were being led straight to it. 

Each leg of the castle had a door on it, they were dragged over to one which when opened had a staircase both ascending and descending. Another two of the ponies, yet more bulky and wearing armour the same blue as the princess's jewellery, stood at the entrance. The spears they held were used to poke and prod them, pushing them down the staircase. Sombra winced as he tried to hide under his dam, he stumbled down the steps as he was forced to go down the steps faster than his weakened legs could carry him. 

They were shoved into a room in which they were led to another. There was no more pretty crystal along the walls, just beige and grey stone. The smell of blood attacked his nose so violently his head recoiled and his nostrils flared in disapproval. The room they were taken to had three heavy metal doors. There were two guards on the side of either door, like statues.

The princess gave a single stomp of her hoof and the guards came life. They grabbed the lead chains out of the magic and pulled them all away from each other. Sombra tried to reach for his dam but a guard bucked him to the ground. 

Sombra struggled as the guard pressed him down with his hooves, his ribs whined under the pressure. He looked up to see his dam and the others all struggling against other guards. He watched as the one on his dam dragged a tool to and thro across her horn. She grimaced as it cut through slowly but when it hit the soft veiny core she screamed in agony as the blood supply was sliced. 

Sombra wriggled trying to get free, he wanted to help her so desperately. But the guard’s hooves pushed down harder and the was a sickening pop and crunch as his still developing rib bones snapped. He wailed as the splitting pain racked his body. 

His dams head shot upwards on instincts, the saw slipped in the guards hooved, pulling the last thread of her horn off and tearing her eye straight open. She lunged forward and in a single stride her jaw, lined with pointed teeth, clasped around the guard’s head. Despite the armour his skull crunched and his body went limp. The strange red blood splashed down on Sombra’s face. She wore a face of pure rage, her toothy smile directed at every guard and the princess. 

“I think we got a mother and foal” a guard said to the princess.

“I gathered that” she scowled back to him. 

The other umbrum had now cowered into a corner, spears pointed at their necks. The guards seemed both scared and expecting such a thing to happen. The lead chains were wearily reconnected. The guard that approached Sombra and his dam was visibly shaking. The princess however was having none of it.

“Give it here” she bucked the soldier in the head, making him drop the chains. She swiftly linked the chains back on their collars, then she clasped a metal band around his dam’s mouth. It was tied on by a thick leather strap that went behind her head. She thought with it but she could just open her mouth to let air in. 

They were taken through one of the heavy doors where they were greeted with more of the bar lined cells. While the ones on the right were empty, the other each had an umbrum in. They too were wrapped in chains and their skin had been corroded away. some cowered in the corners, other who were more strong willed tried to snap at the passing guards.

Sombra limped as it hurt to move his front legs, he leaned partly against his dam’s. His breathing was laboured and the foul smell didn’t help. A bar door opened and screeched. The elder stallion was shoved inside, his already weak body didn’t help his chances of fighting back. Then the other stallion was forced into another.

The princess attempted to separate Sombra from his dam. He whined in panic as he was lifted up in gold. She swiftly had her side sliced open by his dams flying hind claws. Despite not being deep, it made her drop Sombra. His dam stepped over him as he crumpled on the floor. A hiss was forced out through her lips. 

“Were not getting you separated are we” the princess hissed back, she rejected the help of her guard with her wound. She caught her breath then dragged them further down the rows of cells. They got to the end where the larger cell sat in the middle. Then they were almost thrown in.

“Welcome to your new home Freaks”
> Chapter 8: Princess of "love"
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sombra and his dam were left in that cell. There was nothing in it just stone walls and the bars. Sombra laid on his back trying to take pressure of his ribs, but he wasn’t finding any relief. He struggled to breath, he had never broken a bone before. Let alone multiple at once. His dam licked his chest trying to sooth him, she had managed to push the muffle down a bit so she could partly open her mouth.

“what about your eye?” he asked with concern, looking up at the blood soaked cheek beneath an eye that was torn down the middle. 

“I’ll be fine. But your ribs could puncture your lungs”

“but it looks like it hurts”

“sshh. The more you talk the more you will hurt” she continued to lick his chest fur after giving a peck on the cheek. He couldn’t help but look up at her ruined eye, it made his stomach churn as he could see the spilt down the centre. 

The pair had lost count of how long it had been. It had been more than forty eight hours as their last meals had left them, left as a pile in the corner. But apart from that they did not know how long they had been stuck in the cell. They had however learnt from the other umbrum that the princess was called Amore. Supposedly a princess of love, but they were struggling to see it. 

Amore walked in then, she seemed to take pride in seeing them in pain. She strides in with her head high, looking down on them through the bars. She turned to one, an evil smirk across her face. She made her way other to his and his dam’s cell, who was already standing above him.

“You’ve been a bad girl, I think it’s only right you get a punishment. I bet you won’t leave without him. If he can move that is. You should give him to me, I could take so much better care of him then you could” she said through the bars, another twisted smile accompanied it. His dam hissed and snarled at her as Amore unlocked the cage door. There chains were reattached and they were yanked out. 

Sombra chest ripped itself open with pain again, even though he collapsed he was dragged along the ground. His dam pushed him up with her foot and he continued to follow back into the central room, despite his body’s complaints.

In the centre of the joining room they were chained to the floor. His dam stood over him again as the twisted princess pranced around the room. She opened up the cabinets that were hidden in the walls. She pulled out a long leather whip a flicked it around like she was dancing with it before it snapped on his dam’s flank. She hissed at the princess more with annoyance then pain.

His dam lowered further down above him as Amore’s aim got lower. The whip wacked her legs as she moved around Sombra to protect him. The very chains put there to hurt them protected her legs from the whip. Eventually Amore gave up on trying to get Sombra and went for his dam. 

Crack.

Crack.

Crack.

Crack.

Crack.

Pop.

“AAAAA” She screamed as the whip hit the already damaged eye. One half exploded from the pressure, the other half was turned in the socket, its muscle ripped as the inside was pulled out. It flooded with silver and slight yellow pus. The tear ducts flooded but the eyelids refused to close. Amore grinned as the mare cringed in agony. 

Sombra grasped his dam’s leg, trying to comfort her as her eyelids caused more pain as they tried to blink. However his shoulder was left exposed and the whip slammed down on it, the joint half snapping as the young bones bent. His dams remaining eye burned with maternal fire. 

The floor chain pulled taught in mere moments as she flung herself forward. Sombra watched weakly as his dam tried to snap at the princess head. The single chain around her neck restrained her, except she swung her hind and tail around throwing the princess to the ground. Before Amore could even get of her back the giant mare had stood above her, head flying down. The princess’s horn got caught between the leather strap of the restraint and the grey skull. With a swift pull upwards the restraint was torn of. 

Sombra watched as Amore swung her head left and right to avoid the grasping teeth. He would help with his own little teeth, but he could hardly move. Eventually however his dam did snag something, but it was only hair. But even so she tugged at it, the princess head twisted as the skin was pulled. He heard the snapping of hair as it ripped from the roots. It was Amore’s turn to scream, but hers bought in the guards who instantly started to prod and poke them. Then they were dragged back to the cell. 

Again Sombra was licked by his dam, despite the fact that her eye socket was now bulging. She held him in her forelegs tightly. Once the heavy door was sealed the other Umbrum spoke.

“You put up a fight didn’t you” the one closet to them said. 

“she hurt him” she scowled back.

“she hurt him? Look at you. You don’t have an eye anymore”

“I am well aware”

“someone’s clearly never had a foal” another mare sarcastically stated. They fell silent after that. Another presumed day went by and they weren’t fed again.
> Chapter 9: The place that kills
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sombra and his dam gave up long ago with counting the fast paced days and nights. Their body clocks were gone and stomachs rumbled as they lived of the strange plants the pony’s called scraps. He had gotten used to the pain in his chest. Amore hadn’t attempted to re-muzzle his dam, after all every attempt led to a nearly gashed neck. Although she hadn’t let up on the random beatings. Weather it was the whip (her favourite by the common use), the burning hot rod or a saw grated across joints.

Sombra spent most of his time sleeping, he had gotten bored of finding shapes in the cracked bricks. He missed his family, he wondered wear his sire was. He wasn’t here and neither was the others. Just as he was drifting back of the Princess unlocked the heavy door again. 

The caged umbrum were dragged out by the neck, he noticed it was primarily the stallions. She had never taken away so many before but now she had taken three and was approaching them. His dam growled at the unicorn, fully expecting another beating.

“Oh don’t worry. There’s no guarantee you will get hurt this time” she grinned at them before yanking them out the cells, they had given up fighting that part. They followed her and the guards out of the cell lined corridor. One by one they were led back up the stairs to the surface, something they hadn’t seen for a very long time. 

The air was crisp and fresh, the natural light was at first harsh but quickly became pleasant. However they quickly noticed just how many umbrum had been captured as many ponies walked with them on chains. In front of them however was a large ornate carriage which one of the stallions were being strapped into its harness. They could see the spikes of nails lining the inside. Little droplets of silver smeared beneath the leather. 

They were then dragged to the side of the carriage, his dam was chained to it then he was tied to her. The other stallion was tied to the other side. Amore climbed up the steps and laid down on the cushioned seat, the raspberry velvet was lined with silver. She sat prim and proper, a sweet smile spread on her face as she waved softly to a nearby foal. A pony stallion in a vest then took seat on the wooden planks in front of her, then with a short whip to the flank, the umbrum started to push forwards. They all followed.

Under normal strength the umbrum should have easily been able to pull the carriage, however after being starved he was much weaker. The nails dug into his thinning flesh as he walked forwards. Sombra struggled as his ribs ached once more as he plodded by his dam. There were many other Umbrums tied to less ornate carriages or some simply lead by hoof. However they were all going in the same direction into the distance. 

Past the trees there was a large structure. It was only half built but it was still tall, made up of arches made of bricks. It loomed over the spruces and even dominated the redwoods. It was nestled into the side of the mountain yet its grey stone stuck out amongst the white snow and glossy cobalt rock. Those mountains were his home, they hurt to look at. 

They began the trek up the side of the mountain, a crystal path had been carved through the natural parting of the trees. His dams head started to hang low as she became weary of their surroundings, her nostrils flared. Sombra walked a little closer to her sensing the slight fear and worry in her. They continued up the path drawing closer and closer to the structure. 

As they left the trees they stood directly in front of it, towering over them. Sombra watched as the crowd spit in two. The regular carriages were tied down, the umbrum pulling them were also tied down. Sombra watched as many ponies filtered into a front entrance, they dropped a piece of shiny gold into a box before they entered. He however kept walking with the princess’s carriage as they approached the back. 

Amore dismounted the carriage daintily, her hoof steps light on the ground which the sun reflected of. With her magic the two side stallions along with him and his dam were disconnected. They were dragged along in her golden magic towards the back entrance. 

“Princess! How has your day been?” He heard a pony call out to her, he held a clipboard in his hooves.

“I’m doing lovely. How are you?” 

“I’m doing as good as always. Ah, are these your contestants?” He asked, pointing at them.

“The stallions are. But the mare I have other ideas for. There’s now more of them coming into the auction, we will run out eventually.” They began to make their way into the damp and cold stone corridors. Sombra could here hundreds of voices above. 

“There has been some evidence that they don’t have a normal life span Princess. Seemingly new-born foals don’t appear to age as quickly.”

“Really? How much longer is it then?”

“We are still unsure on that part”

“I may not be the best at magic, but I’m sure I could make something to age them faster if it’s too slow to be useful. But I’m not going to waste her, I’ll make sure she gets bred by a useful stallion.” 

The conversation continued but it went straight over Sombra’s head. He couldn’t understand what they were saying but either way he didn’t like it. They were led around towards a gateway. It had a large, bared door and he could see a large flat area through it. there were many umbrum chained to the walls, each of which were thinning and dirty. The five of them were chained to the walls next to all the others. 

“The foals still with it?” the pony asked the princess.

“It has already killed one of my guards, took his head off. It’s not worth trying to separate the pair. I did assume it would be easier considering animals are known for abandoning young” the last part Sombra noticed that it seemed the pony wanted to say something in response, but he stopped himself. He returned back to writing on the chalk board by them that they belonged to Amore. It was the first time Sombra had seen them writing, it was strange how it went from left to right, not top to bottom. 

He sat there with his dam as they waited. Sombra stared through the large gateway, there was another directly opposite. However it was double lined withs bars and there was still a heavy door behind it. He leaned his head forward to see that in the walls of the structure hundreds of shiny ponies all gathered. He could hear their cheery voices, full of excitement. Suddenly there was an unbearably loud voice that echoed in the air.

“ALL RIGHT MARES AND STALLIONS THIS IS OFFICALLY THE SECOND COMPETION AND COUNTING. IT’S BEEN A DOOZY TO GET THESE CREATERS IN WITHOUT THE SISTERS CATCHING ON, BUT WE MANAGED TO GET OUR HOOVES ON QUITE A LARGE PACK OF TIMBERWOLVES. NOW AS A REMINDER ALL THE FREAKS HAVE TO DO IS GET TO THE OTHER SIDE IN THE SAFTEY ZONE” 

Sombra cuddled into his dam, despite his inability to understand he still felt the need to hide. There was more speech and one of the guard’s strides down the corridor full of Umbrums. He took hold of a chain then dragged one over to the gate in front of them, a stiff lever was pulled and the gate rattled as it hulled itself upwards. With little remorse the guard bucked them umbrum forcing it into the open before promptly shutting the gate. 

The other gate had started to lift, the thick wooden doors pulled back. Sombra watched as twenty glowing green eyes turned towards the light. The figures came into the arena and he became confused. 

“What in the North are they?” He heard his dam ask above him.

“I’m more questioning the fact they are made of wood and are somehow animals” a stallion replied. Sombra felt his dams heavy leg wrap over him, the other pulled him closer to her. 

The wolves were on chains, all ten tied to the inside of the chamber they came from. They unfortunately had more than enough slack for the wolves to cover the full distance. Slowly they spread out to surround the umbrum, who was flicking their eyes around to find a weakness on a creature they’ve never seen. The umbrum darted as a wolf lunged at them, quickly followed by another to cover the distance. The other eight dashed and bounded, getting ahead. The umbrum attempted to jump over but his legs were heavy and weak. He was caught mid-air and his attempts to escape only lead to wooden teeth tearing flesh further. 

His dam pulled him fully behind her body, using her mane and tail like curtains. She covered his eyes with her foreleg, even if they were already screwed shut. Sombra couldn’t tell if the crowed was enjoying or upset with the scene. He couldn’t tell what their voices meant. He didn’t see how the wolves didn’t eat as they were reeled back in. How the remains were left out, shimmering in the sun. 

Another Umbrum was thrown in.

Then another.

Some lived, others died.

Many managed to get to the safety zone.

Many died after from their injuries.

Slowly the number of Umbrum in the corridor dwindled. The sun slowly started to set as many of the ponies left and returned down the path. Sombra couldn’t think for the rest of that day. even when he walked alongside the carriage and was thrown back into his cell. All his dam could do for him nuzzle and groom him. The only thing that put him to sleep was the force of deprivation.

Those glowing green eyes haunted him throughout, they would stalk and follow him. Through trees and grasslands. The stars weren’t the little white twinkles, but more green eyes. the trees twisted unnaturally and moved in the corner of his eyes. he could sense them circle around him, weaving around the spruces. Slowly they closed in on him. Just before he was torn apart by splinter teeth, his dam woke him.

“shh, shh its ok. I’m here. Dammi’s here.” She sweetly told him while cradling him in her tail. He whimpered and whined, his eyes foggy with tears. He shook as he swore he could see those eyes in the darkness.
> Chapter 10: To use and abuse (warning)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

They didn’t believe it was long until they were dragged out the cell again. There was no carriage to pull, they were led by Amore’s magic. They were led out the castle and down different streets. The different crystal structures lined them, Sombra believed they were homes. He could see ponies entering and leaving after all. They reached a large grand house, not as dramatic as the spire. But it still loomed over him. The princess gave a nock to the heavy door, which after a moment or two a stallion with a slick mane opened the door. 

“Ah Princess. A little late, but it’s better than what others do”

“Well a bunch of new paperwork came in and I got distracted by rearranging horns. It was my assistant who reminded me”

“Better late than never”

“Exactly” 

They were yanked by the chain as they were pulled inside, the crystal walls nearly out shone the ponies. Through the large entrance room they were taken down to this building’s cells. There weren’t nearly as many yet they were all empty, except one. A lone stallion.

“The others?” Amore asked, raising an eyebrow.

“All cleaning. Dust really takes the shine out of the house” he replied while unlocking the cage door. The stallion was in similar conditions to them, his white eyes had turned grey. 

“So the foal. That from before?”

“Yes well, she’s a stubborn one. Took a guards head of, I don’t wish to write anymore letters home” she laughed half-heartedly as she pulled his dam forward towards the stallion. The stallion looked at her shamefully, she only stuck her nose up at him while also glaring down at the princess. 

“Let’s get this done with shall we” the princess stated as she pulled on his dam’s tail, pulling her around. Sombra shuffled between her legs as she refused and turned back. 

“I have something that might encourage them, let me go get it” the pony made his way back leaving the three umbrum with Amore. Still she attempted to get his dams back end in front of the stallion, who was avoiding it at all costs. Sombra didn’t understand what was happening, but he knew neither was happy about it. The pony returned and there was a yelp from the larger stallion. Sombra watched as a liquid was injected into his flank.

“Is that your encouragement?” the princess asked while struggling with the feisty mare.

“Well, let’s just say its…happy juice at so high a dose it should wipe out this guy’s morals” 

“Was this your creation?” she asked while trying to restrain the stallion as he started to groan and wobble on his legs.

“Well, my daughter’s creation more. She’s got a set of mares and the stallions were just as reluctant. So she went around trying to find a way to get it in their system considering they seem smart enough to not eat it. ended up with this”

His dam forced his head down with a hoof, she forced him on his side where his ears were folded. Her hoof obscured his vision and his hearing was almost fully blocked. He could very faintly here the stallion say…

“I’m…sorry”





“ggrrrraaaa…bloody…glaciers…sorry” Rabia growled as a contraction wrecked her. The unwanted foal had nearly sucked her dry of any nutrients she had left. Her body had long since turned to its natural blubber for food. Sombra didn’t exactly know what was happening, so he held her forelegs tight as a form of comfort. He watched as she winced and her teeth bared through the contractions. Sombra didn’t know how to help her, that was until there was a wet squelch. 

“Do me a favour...get back there and-ngg- and pull it out would you” she told him as Sombra wearily got up and went to her backside. The white sack hung out of her, inside two spindly hooves. They slid back and forth with every push his dam made. He however, still had no clue what to do.

“Pull gently ok. Not too hard or fast” he heard a nearby mare say to him. She was pushed right up the corner of her cell, forelegs through the bars. Sombra, as much as his young mind could understand, attempted to grab the wet foal. 

“Time it. pull when she pushes” she told him. His hooves slipped as he helped his dam, eventually after an hour of her crying in pain the foal was born. However, Sombra didn’t see much maternal love in his dam’s eye. She didn’t look at her new foal with love like she did when Sombra was born. The heavy door unlocked, guards had been waiting outside. Listening for when the birth was done. There hooves landed uncertainly as they made their way over. A pale purple one with wings and a golden one

“why do we have to do this” the pegasus asked.

“we can’t risk the princess anymore” stated the other.

“this one crushed my mate’s skull in”

“the princess wants the foal. let’s just get it and leave” 

His dam looked at Sombra and the new foal back and forth. He could see her choosing whether to defend it or not. But rather quickly her forelegs wrapped around him, she tuned her rump to the premature foal that was just breathing. The cage was unlocked and she didn’t budge, she let them take away the foal. However Sombra was still kept tight in her grasp. The guards dragged the foal away, yet both were equally shocked at the ease of removal, the pony slung it over his back.

“I thought that would be harder” the gold one said.

“perhaps she loves the other one more”

“are you stupid? These things don’t show love”

“then why does she sacrifice her own sight for them”
> Chapter 11: A touch of hope (mild warning i think)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It continued like that for years. Every year his dam was breed by stallions removed of their morals. Then Sombra, with worryingly growing expertise, would help her deliver it. Then it was promptly whisked away. While she could never manage full term, it was at most a year for each one. One hundred eighty seven. Rabia and the other mare were surprised she was still going. While the umbrum did lack in biological knowledge they certainly knew it was too far. They felt that the magic Amore had cast on her multiple times had something to do with it. 

Sombra sat numb to the scene of his dam being bred. He still didn’t look either way. But this time it seemed different, the stallion seemed to have faint control of himself. His head positioned next to his dams, whispering incredibly silently in her ear.

“Listen. There’s some talk going around about a revolution. We’re waiting until the plan is between all of us. It may take some time but listen for the wyvern howl. That’s when we break free”

“We’re underground. We won’t hear, it’s a castle prison not a basement…whatever those are”

“Someone will want the princess. They find you”

“Fine, I’ll tell the others”

“Oh. And some ponies are with us”

“Really?”

“Yes”

-{+}-

It was a couple years after and for the first time a true sense of hope came to them. It was what they assumed night as they could hear no noise through the door. However the metal clicked and it opened very slowly. A small faint purple pegasus guard with silver eyes slinked through the door. He had a large saddlebag on which was teeming with fruits and veg. Another entered behind him, a green mare with blond hair. She two had a saddlebag, but much less full. 

“I’ll spread the food. The one at the bottom, she’s the breeder but her eye worries me more. Watch the foal though”

With a small nod the mare made her way over towards Sombra and his dam, who was already guarding him. When she approached she made an attempt at some botched Umbrull.

“I…huelpae” despite the lack of skill both could make out her offer of help. His dam shifted slightly closer, turning her head to get a good look at the mare. Then slowly she pulled herself over to the bars. The mare reached through and held his dams chin lightly. Turning her head so she could get a good look at the mangled eye.

“ew” the eye had now devolved into a state of puss and coagulated blood. The actual eye had long deflated and collapsed as its fluid leaked out. 

“How did you last for…Celestia forbid two hundred years without an infection. In fact you probably have ten by now” she lightly pushed at the bulged inflamed eyelids, pus dribbled and popped. She reached into her bag and pulled out a small cloth and a bottle of liquid.

“wiil hurtee. Ite’s gioodi” both Sombra and his dam didn’t know how “hurt” and “good” fit together, but it didn’t prepare his dam for the stinging pain to shoot through her skull. She hissed at the poor mare who recoiled in fear at the sudden exposure of pointed, rotting teeth. 

“sorrrry, sorry I guess that didn’t get across.” She stroked his dam’s cheek softly. The greasy but still dry fur bent and stayed in place. The mare went in again with the cotton, Sombra watched his dam hold a breath. After the light rubbing the mare used another to push out the septic that had made its home, he could throw up if he had a full stomach. However his attention was drawn by the pile of fruit and veg that rolled towards the cell.

The strange food items were colourful. The other umbrum didn’t seem to be bothered but Sombra had never seen such things before. At most back in the recesses of his mind, long forgotten, he could remember some of the smaller one being frozen in ice and carried in leather pouches. While he would much prefer the meats of tribal cooking, his growling untouched stomach forced him to reach through the bars. Pulling the berries, leaving the strange long orange thing and the strange leaves, he gobbled them down relentlessly. 

His dams head joined him to eat, except less fussy, while the mare moved on to the other umbrum. Wiping down the burns and cuts left by chains and encounters with the southern monsters in the colosseum. The outside of wounds were lightly cleaned and no bandages were applied. Sombra put it together in his head that these were the helping ponies, they were trying to be discrete to not be noticed by the others. He wondered what was happening on the surface. How many of those ponies were sick and twisted, enjoying them being in pain. Or others that may hate those, the ones that were here now that wanted to help them. He noticed that the guards changed out regularly every fifty years. So he assumed maybe the younger ones were different. When the two left, they spoke.

“Those must be the ones with us then” one stallion said.

“certainly nicer than that princess” another replied

“she’s just dead hide anyway” his dam scowled. 

“let’s hope that howl is soon. I can’t stand seeing…that any longer” the first stallion said as he looked into the cell in front of him. From what he was told the umbrum in there was dead. He didn’t know what it meant, his dam simply told him its when something stopped living. Through the bars of that cell he saw a large flower sticking through. Pink tipped black petals spiralled out of a silvery stem.
> Chapter 12: Bittersweet (Gore warning)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I need that foal! If it can’t produce ones that live then I will take the one it’s got!” they heard the princess yell through the heavy metal door. It slammed open putting a dent in the wall behind it. The figure of an enraged Amore stood in the doorway, staring Sombra down with the power of a thousand suns. He cowered behind his dam who was already on guard. Heavy hoof steps pounded the ground as she made her way towards their cell. The other Umbrum cowered into the corners of theirs. 

“Princess please you know it’s too risky! It took a guards head- “

“I know she took a head of but quite frankly that corridor of competitors is getting rather empty!” the door to their cell was furiously unlocked and yanked open in a splash of gold.

“Let’s get this done with shall we” 

His dam let out a long slow growl, every teeth bared in a raging smile. Despite the heavy chains she stood tall, every bone jutting out and muscle receded into the gaps. Even so she towered over her.

“Oh I know what that smile means and you better put it away missy” Amore spat at her. Chains slipped out of the wall cupboards and swiftly slithered through the bars in her golden magic. One wrapped around his dam’s neck, the other headed straight to Sombra. However, his dam lowered her body so it bashed into her. 

“If you work with me then no one will get hurt” the chains wrapped around his dam’s neck to pull her away, but she gripped it in her teeth as she yanked the princess to the floor. Sombra watched in the corner as the guard frantically shoved his spear through the bars at his dam’s flanks. Now Amore was pinned down by giant cracked hooves. 

She twisted and turned her neck as the jaws of the ferocious dam above her lunged and snapped. Sombra, wanting to help, wrapped his teeth around her left shoulder. Bitter red blood leaked into his mouth and the other whelming urge to eat took over. He tugged at the pink hide and flesh, his jaw wasn’t small and he grated the leg down his teeth. His bite despite being young, was an iron grip and his teeth sliced down to bone. Amore screamed as her leg was torn, but it turned to a groan as she blasted a barrier of magic, slamming him and his dam into the wall. 

Through his stunned eyes and mind he watched the guard pull the amputated princess out of the cell, he could still hear her weak breathing. It was then that he realised her leg was still in his mouth. He started to nibble at the torn flesh. It was bitter and vile yet food was food. His dam having woken up started to take her own portion. The bones crushed to dust in her jaws.

At a freighting rate the leg was stripped from its bone. Every vein, artery and capillary was turned to mush. But nothing was left behind. Bond was grinded to pulp and the only thing that remained was the decorative ancle bracelet as they licked the blood from the floor. Finally their stomach had something proper to churn.



At night the door clicked open again, the same pair of ponies snuck in again to do their usual routine. They were, however, more weary of him and his dam. Afterall they had eaten part of their princess, even if they detested her it shook their nerves. They spread out the plants and wounds were partially cleaned. Although now Sombra had a bit of a functioning mind, he was standing at the bars, examining the stallion’s wings. Sombra wasn’t too familiar with feathered wings. The wyverns had them but he never found himself examining them. Umbralis’s wings were only half feathered and they were hidden beneath membrane. Yet he was still rather fascinated with the extra limbs. The stallion noticed and, although only half trusting, fanned his wing out through the bars.

“You never seen a wing before? I guess you are all unicorns” he said as Sombra nuzzled the soft feathers, his dam watching closely. He sneezed abruptly after shoving his nose into the feather. The mare came up next to them, examining the rather overcrowded cell.

“Two more days and they’ll be out” she said noticing the small spare space left.

“hopefully. Having Amore in that state might help them as well”

“There’s still the heart. She can use that from a distance”

“Lets just hope, besides they’ve proven to be fast runners. They could outrun it”

“Either way…come on. we better go before your caught off your post and I’m found” the pair left.

“I think we might be getting out soon” one stallion said as the door locked shut. 

“Do I get to see Siri again Dammi?” Sombra asked.

“Hopefully. you miss him?” he nodded his head.

“I miss Binkie too”

“I’m sure Umbralis is looking after him” she told him as he snuggled into her chest. It wasn’t as soft despite her fur, he could feel the bones beneath her skin.
> Chapter 13: The Revolution
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

They sat and they waited. Two days is what they understood. The tension of waiting without seeing the sky made it worse. However Sombra noticed his dam looked… nervous. Throughout their time in this cell he realised she seemed upset about him. She would look over his weak emaciated body. 

“Dammi, you ok?” he asked, giving her a small lick on the chin.

“I’m fine” he didn’t believe her. He stared at her, she winced as she started to cry.

“It’s just…you should have started growing…and you haven’t” he didn’t understand her. He believed he was growing, the cell had gotten smaller.

“You’re in your seven hundreds, you should of finished growing in height by now. Your back hooves should have spit by know and they haven’t…I fear you’ve been stunted and I don’t know if you can recover from it” she sunk down to the floor. “I’m useless. No matter how much I gave up food for you, you still haven’t grown and I couldn’t even stop that. I should of let you stay with Umbralis and you wouldn’t be here and you would be safe” she crumpled down even more and tears streamed down her cheeks. Laboured breathing shook her ribs as she wept into her forelegs. Sombra had never seen her truly cry before but he certainly didn’t like it. He nibbled and licked her withers, ignoring the foul taste of waste and blood on his tongue. 

But she didn’t get long to cry.

The door was pushed open and the two ponies came rushing in, each wearing a black neck bow. They went across the cells unlocking each cell door. He could hear the commotion outside. Their cell was unlocked and his dam almost turned to normal, jumping to her hooves and claws. The stallion gave them a smile before they all bolted out the door. There was a struggle to get up the stairs as none wanted to go single file, although as they burst through the castle pillar they became part of the chaos. 

There were umbrum and ponies left and right. Him and his dam made a run for the mountains but they were intercepted by incredibly angry guards. They weren’t slow to poke them with spears and others came to the side spraying them down with acid. His dam fort through and with a newfound vigour picked them up in her jaws and lobbed them into walls. 

Another pony sprinted towards them, she too had a black bow. Instead of attacking she pulled them to the side of a house where her and another couple unwrapped the chains. They didn’t leave however without pain as they had to slowly pull them out of skin that had attempted to grow over the chains. While they burned they felt so much lighter and faster as they were let go. 

Sombra ran by his dam and he watched as umbrum slaughtered the ponies that had kept them prisoners for so long. They ran through red puddles as they aimed for the mountains, weaving between the houses as they attempted to avoid the guards. His hoof caught on a piece of crystal that had fell to the ground, slicing his already abused legs and making him fall.

“Come on get up!” his dam nearly yelled at him as she grabbed him by the scruff and hauled his frail body up. They continued to run when a heavy net of weighted rope pulled his dam down. Guards came from the sides along with angry owners who held her down with spears or rods.

“RUN!” she screamed to him as she fought the rope as her hip was impaled and she was held to the grassy floor. Sombra just ran. Bounding between buildings he got further and further from the castle. Being much smaller many struggled to get a good hit or aim at him. Until he felt a piercing pain shoot through his rump making him collapse again. He saw a long piece of wood with halved feathers on its end stick out of him. It bleed down his leg as he attempted to get up. An aggravated stallion pinned him down, a long blade held in his mouth. Sombra screwed his eyes shut as he tried to shake of the pony, just as the blade came down the stallion was de-spined above him. 

He looked up to see two familiar yellow eyed umbrum. His cousins.

“Come on let’s go!” Yesqen pulled him up while Yesric bucked a guard in the head. The trio began sprinting towards the snow capped mountains again. They seemed much healthier than him, having a little meat on their bones. He struggled to keep up but his adrenaline kept him up to pace. 

A bright blinding glow started to shine from the base of the castle. The wind swirled as magic was drawn from the air. 

They kept sprinting down the crystal road as the glow grew. Just as they made it to the grass the twins were shot multiple times, they fell to the ground just as that glow turned into a giant magical blast. As of which Sombra just avoided it as he ran through the grasslands, his tail hairs at most were eviscerated. 

He kept running but eventually he grew tired. A large tree nearby drew his eye. Its branches hung down like a waterfall. It seemed safe. His tired legs took him towards it, he could hear the calming rush of water nearby. Memories of the melting North in the day came back to him. He passed the gentle branches and flopped down at the base of the trunk. He nestled himself between its sprawling roots, the canopy of leaves comforted him. 

As the adrenaline wore away he felt the pain all over again. Everywhere stung and burned and he was exhausted. But he couldn’t fall asleep. The rushing water made him realise just how thirsty he was. Weakly he pulled himself up and poked back through the leaves. A wide river rushed down from the North, crystal clear water made from the glaciers sprinted past him. He greedily lapped up the water eventually turning to biting the water to get a mouth full. 

He turned back to the castle with dripping lips. It seemed calm now. He let out a measly whinny. Then another. But he got no response, not even from a completely unrelated umbrum. Defeated he turned back to the tree and rested back down in the roots. It was only then did his mind deem it safe enough to sleep, even if he didn’t understand why. But he couldn’t deny it. So he drifted away in those roots.
> Chapter 14: Miss Chestnuts orphanage for lost foals
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rustle, Rustle.

Sombra opened his eyes to see the familiar pegasus guard poking his head through the leaves. His whole body ached as he moved. 

“Heyya bud. I bought you something” the guard softly told him while placing a bag on the floor.

“I heard about what your diet is. So I went to one of the local hunters to get you something better to eat” Sombra inched a little closer to the bag only to see the familiar look of meat. At the sight it was like his legs kicked in and he hastily grabbed the large leg and instantly started to gobble it down. He even sucked out the marrow which was the most his rotted teeth could handle. For a moment they stared at each other silently, the rushing river filled it.

“Let’s get you somewhere safe…I wouldn’t forgive myself if I gave you in” the guard said, looping a wing under Sombra’s body and leading him from the willow. The stallion constantly talked to him gently as they crossed the grassy plane.

“Were going to the outside of town, its less likely they’ll find you there”…

“I would keep you myself but I can’t, but Velvet’s a lovely mare, she’ll look after you”…

“She was against Amore as well, she helped in the same way we did” Sombra’s legs slowly started to grow weak again.

“Nearly their bud, you can collapse on a nice cosy bed”…

The grass turned to hard crystal as they entered the sparse town edge. There were little building scattered all over, although Sombra could still see the remnants of chaos like collapsed lampposts. Apart from that it looked as if nothing happened. 

They came up to a large lilac building. On its front there was a large sign which Sombra couldn’t read. Knocking on the wooden door they waited for a short time. It then opened and a tawny mare with long dark brown hair stood in front of them. Her fur shimmered brightly in the sunlight.

“Good morning sir- oh my, come in” she said surprised as she moved out the way, the guard led him into the building. Sombra could loads of voices, all relatively high pitched.

“I can’t believe you found one, let alone a foal” the mare said as she looked Sombra over, brushing hair out of his face, although her nose wrinkled.

“I’d rather be hanged than send a foal to their death, that’s why I bought him to you” there was a brief silence between the pair.

“Thank you for bringing him to me, you better get going. Let’s get you a bath sweetie” with a nod the guard left, he heard wing beats through the door. Sombra was led by the mare down a well-lit cosy corridor which split of many ways. He was then led upstairs and round a corner to a colder white tiled room. She started to turn on the taps.

“Just let that run for a little…so do you have a name?” she asked him, but he stared at her blankly.

“Oh right erm…naaimaee?” she asked again, in rather fluent Umbrull.

“Sombra” he barely croaked out air. 

“well, I’m Miss Chestnut. Me and my col…collea…my friends will be looking after you from now on ok” she said incredibly well, he understood every word. That alone made him trust her, so when she helped him into the shallow water he didn’t doubt her. Despite the harsh sting.

“I might just leave that in there…” she said to herself as she poked the arrow in his rump. Miss Chestnut began to spill water down his back, it was warm but not hot and soon the sting disappeared. Gently with a flannel she wiped down his wounds, removing the dirt and filth that had built up. The water beneath him had turned brown and a layer of oil floated on top after it had finally been removed from his matted fur. The feeling of being clean relaxed him as he felt almost three pounds lighter.

“feeling better?” he nodded his head quickly.

“you smell better too” she said, then she helped him out the tub. She turned to grab a towel, but Sombra had already shook of half the water, flinging it everywhere. Miss Chestnut was stunned when she heard the water fling and was even more so to see the soaked bathroom. 

“Please don’t do that on a daily basis…” she said quietly to both herself and him. She still rubbed him down with the soft towel, going lighter over his wounds. Once dried she lightly brushed out his mane and tail after prying the knots out. Their noses booped together as they were similar hights. Sombra licked her nose.

“Hey!...Right, let’s get you downstairs and get a nurse round, that arrow doesn’t look good, I’ve seen what they use on you poor things as well” she said solemnly as she led him out the bathroom down the stairs again. Entering another room lined with cabinets with a table in the middle, Sombra saw sparkling blue gas swirl around a handle.

“Nicking biscuits again are we Hope?” Miss Chestnut sternly said. A small squeal and the gas disappeared. A dull magenta filly appeared from behind the table, she didn’t shimmer like the other ponies. An incredibly guilty look was plastered on her face. 

“Sorry Miss Chestnut…” she apologised looking down at her hooves.

“How about this, if you can resist the shops biscuits in the cupboard, then you can help me make fresh ones at the weekend” 

“Really!” her face lit up.

“Of course”

“yay!...hey” the filly looked at Sombra with wide eyes. But they widened more and her ears folded. The little horn on her head ignited with the sparkly gas and a cabinets contents flew out in front of Miss Chestnut, who placed a hoof over them. 

“I’m getting a medic in for him Hope. Just go back to the playroom ok” Miss Chestnut told her, the filly trotted away with flat ears. He watched her leave and listened to her hoof steps as she travelled through the building. He was startled by the scraping of the seat across the stone floor.

“Just sit here, I’ll call the medic” Miss Chestnut told him, Sombra could faintly here her talking to nobody. As he sat there he became a little nervous. He trusted the mare yet at the same time he didn’t. It was only now did he realise fully that his dam wasn’t with him. He didn’t feel safe without her, he didn’t want to be without her. He missed her warmth and her fur. He missed the way she gently wrapped her tail around him. A single tear started to well in his eyes.

“Are you ok? You poor thing has everything just hit you?” Miss Chestnut asked as she returned to the kitchen. She held him closely, her curly mane provided a nice cushion for his head. Her gentle touch only calmed him partly, it wasn’t his dam. 

“Ssh, ssh it’s ok” she whispered to him. 

“Velvet?” He looked up to see a new mare, she was yellow with a green mane. 

“Yes Lemon?” 

“It’s lunch, er, where did he come from?”

“We got him an hour or two ago now”

“Have we even got a spare room? we did have an influx of new orphans”

“I think thirty two’s free. I’ll take him up now. send the nurse up when she arrives ok” 

“Sure thing” The other mare walked away and Miss Chestnut led Sombra back up the stairs. He couldn’t see much through his blurry eyes but he just knew he was led down a long corridor and into a room. She gently wiped his eyes and he was able to see. He was sat on a large soft rectangle. There was a wooden box next to it with a strange hut like thing on top. Then one of the walls had see-through holes in it.

“Right. You’ve lived in caves your whole life…or cells. Are there even words in Umbrull for this? this” she placed a hoof on what he was sitting on “you sleep on. then this next to it you can put things in. this” she poked the hut “is a light. That you can see through, but you can’t go through it. just don’t hit it, it will break” she pointed at the opposite wall. He could in fact see more buildings through it along with the lower branches off a tree. He started to poke the soft blanket beneath him, it was made of something he hadn’t seen before. It wasn’t leather or fur. But it was very soft, like very thin fur woven together. 

“Hey Velvet, the nurse is here” the other mare said through the door.

“Oh that was fast. Hello miss” She said to the nurse. The nurse was minty green with a white mane tied up.

“Hello. Is this the…not so little guy?” 

“Yes this is Sombra. It’s this arrow I’m most worried about” Miss Chestnut pointed at the arrow still lodged inside him. The nurse gritted her teeth at the sight.

“well good news, it seems to have missed anything major. He would have been dead by now. Can I have a look?” she asked after the quick assessment.

“Of course. Can you look at his neck and legs as well, there much worse than I’ve seen on other Umbrum” Miss Chestnut asked her.

“Oh yeah there bad as well. What happened to you?...ah that’s a nasty arrow” The nurse said as she lightly poked around. She pulled some stretchy material over her hooves. Then she delved into her bag and pulled out a bottle and a soft piece of material. Soaking some into the fabric she dabbed it into the puncture. His eyes narrowed as the burn spread into him. He winced and whined and squirmed.

“It’s okay, it won’t hurt in a moment” the nurse said as she petted the fur on his back. Slowly the burning disappeared and he felt that small area of his body go numb.

“Just hold him while I pull this out ok. It may still hurt” The nurse told Miss Chestnut, she held his forelegs gently. 

The nurse began to pull the arrow out of his flesh. It stung and Sombra winced as he felt the awful sensation down his leg. Slowly the arrow was pulled from within him, the tip was nasty, it wasn’t the standard sharpened metal point. Instead it was more like the stereotypical triangle, but many more were linked on, creating a brutal grapple that hooked meat.

“Oh yeah that was a nasty one. You’re a lucky boy you are. If that had gone any deeper or slightly to the right you would have been gone moments after impact” She told him, putting the arrow in a bag. She then stitched him up. 

“Make sure he doesn’t strain that leg to much, speaking of which you did say he was a different case than most Umbrums, it seems like some pony really hatted them. These are acid burns, repeated dousing most likely” she said as she lifted his hind leg examining the wounds.

“Ointment and clean bandages can help these, just have them a little looser on his neck so it can bend. I’ll put the first ones on, do you know how to tie them?”

“I’ve wrapped a few legs in my time”

“Alright then, I’ll be back in a couple weeks to see how he’s doing”

“Thank you” The Nurse left, and Sombra now sitting up played with the fabric around his legs. It was itchy and wet.

“Don’t play with them, just leave them be” Miss Chestnut told him. So he shifted his attention to something else. Being the gemstones that stuck out of her skin around her shoulders, hips, cheeks and above her hooves. Poking them with his nose they wouldn’t budge as they simply pulled skin around them. Miss Chestnut pushed his head away.

“They won’t come off, they grow out of us” She told him while he stared at the gemstones, the light reflecting of her fur bounced around inside them. They were pale yellow and he could see his face in them. 

There was a small knock at the door. Sombra saw that little filly again, above her two bowls floated in mid-air.

“Mrs Drops asked me to bring these up” she said, still seeming slightly guilty from earlier. Sombra could see little, tiny rocks forming on her skin.

“Oh thank you Hope, just place them on the bedstand” Miss Chestnut told her, Sombra watched the bowls float over and land (on what he know knew was) the bedstand. She looked up at him with big eyes again.

“Are you feeling better?” she asked him. Sombra looked between her and Miss Chestnut. All he knew was she asked a question simply based of her voice. 

“He’ll be feeling better soon Hope”

“Ok” She began to walk out the door. However Miss Chestnut called her back.

“Hope, You say the other foals don’t like playing with you don’t you”

“They say I’m dirty”

“Right, don’t listen to them. But how about you be Sombra’s buddy?”

“Really!?”

“Why not” the little filly jumped up onto the bed with Sombra. 

“Hey. I’m Radiant Hope!”
> Chapter 15: Buddys
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sombra liked Hope. That was the easiest way to put it. Miss Chestnut had told her that Sombra may have difficulty understanding her (which he did), so the first thing she did was grab what was called ‘books’. He only partly understood what the stories were but as she spoke he followed her eyes and the number of words she said, and slowly he started to relate certain letter combinations with those words.

“Hey, do you have your own language?” Hope asked with heavy curiosity. Sombra nodded and she eagerly sat in front of him.

“What’s hello?”

“Hueeleio” Sombra told her rather quietly, he had lapped down the bowl of water yet his voice was still a little weak.

“weelio?”

“Hueeleio”

“Hueeleio…That good?” she asked. Sombra nodded again but with more enthusiasm.

“So if you have a language do you have writing as well? Like this” Hope asked pointing at the letters in the book. Nodding again Hope got a little excited. She sprinted out of the room for a moment before retuning with a ‘notebook’ and pencil. Opening it onto a blank page she gave him the pencil. 

Sombra could remember his parents teaching him the alphabet at one point. They didn’t often write but him and his cousins did sometimes scratch and stain rocks. So using what he remembered he wrote down the versions of Umbrull letters. They for one went down the page which fascinated Hope along with their swirling shapes. 

“So, how do you say them?” Sombra just stared at her, before it clicked what she must have meant, he took a deep breath.

“aa, bee, cuu, di, ee, fi, gi, hue, ii, jee, kai, lei, mai, nai, oo, pai, quu, ree, sou, tee, uu, vee, wee, xii, you, zee” 

“that’s like ours!” she then repeated out theirs which did indeed sound similar. The pair of them sat there for the next hour matching together the letters that link. Doing so Sombra started to learn Ponish, while Hope started to learn Umbrull. But they weren’t very good at teaching each other. Then there was the ring of a bell.

“Tea’s ready kids!” they heard shouted through the floor. Hope leaped of the bed.

“Come on, food” she said to him, just as she bumped into Miss Chestnuts legs. 

“mm? srr hp” her muffled voice apologised through the plate in her mouth. It smelt good  surprisingly since Sombra had a feeling it consisted entirely of plants. Walking around Hope she placed it down on the bedside table. 

“Go have your tea Hope”

“Okay” Hope left leaving Sombra and Miss Chestnut in the room again. Looking at the plate Sombra saw a red chunky liquid with large green veggies in it. then there was a flat weird thing. He had no clue what he was looking at.

“It’s green bean curry and nann. I know you eat meat but we don’t have that” She picked up a fork while stabbing one of the beans lifting up the red sauce as well. She pointed at his nose which Sombra sniffed curiously before he slightly opened his mouth, only for Miss Chestnut to force the food in. He expected to crunch but instead it was oddly soft. Despite that it was an herbal taste that came to his tongue which he didn’t half mind.

“That nice?” she asked him, the fact that he swallowed was enough confirmation for her. So she picked up another fork full to feed to him. Rather quickly did the curry disappear, in fact Sombra cleared his plate, he even liked his lips. 

“So, do you like Hope?” she asked him, silently hoping at least someone would like her. She got another nod.

“well that’s good” then she noticed the papers strewn across the bed. She noticed what they were teaching each other.

“I guess I might as well teach you how to speak” she said as she ruffled through the papers. Sombra watched the door creak open again and was rather happy to see Hope there. She trotted through hand hopped onto the bed to sit next to him. 

“did you eat all your tea Hope?”

“yep” 

“I’ll leave you two together then until bed” Miss Chestnut started to leave the room, but just as her tail was about to leave Hope called out to her.

“Do you know Umbrull miss?” she asked. Miss Chestnut reappeared in the doorway again.

“Yes I do. Let me guess, you want me to teach you it”

“Please” Hoped begged her.

“Alright, I’ll start teaching you tomorrow shall I. Sombra needs to learn ponish anyway” with that promise she left. They sat there for a little while in silence, until Hope yawned. Sombra noticed how tired and lazy she suddenly was, he felt the same. Looking behind him he saw the sky had turned gold and red. It was his turn to yawn and his face split open all the way to the back, half rotten teeth lined it. Hope stared at him in shock.

“Why is your mouth so big?” she asked, he looked at her confused. Neither new how to answer in their tired state. Sombra just thought his mouth was normal and her yawn was small. They sat there again in silence for a long time, each nodding of as the sun set. It was Sombra though who was the first to properly drift off.



The word was dark and damp around him. He didn’t know where he was. But there was mud beneath him, and he could hear the trees rustle. Standing up he looked around him. There was only the light of the stars to illuminate his way for the moon was new. It was eerily silent, he couldn’t hear his own breathing. He continued forward through the mud, he could see a light in the distance. A faint golden glow like a fire.

He found something lying in the mud. He could smell blood, it was a body. Looking down upon it Sombra noted how it was pin cushioned with arrows. Despite the dark he could recognise the face.

“sirry?” he believed he spoke, he couldn’t hear himself. He nuzzled the stallions head desperately, for at least some form of a response. Yet there was none. 

“wake up!” he shouted as he tugged at his sire’s ear. 

“please!” he begged without noticing the golden light drawing nearer. He tugged at his sire again and again only for his face to start crumbling. Tears started to drip from his eyes as he collapsed down next to his sire. 

Something tall and gangly approached. But it was fast despite seemingly walking. The glow was atop its head and it was pony like. Then it lunged and Sombra looked up in terror to see a set of gnarly teeth

 

“AAAAA” he shot upwards from his sleep, sweat trickled down his head. He panted and whimpered. He curled up into his sheets, hiding under the covers by instincts. Shivering he cried. He didn’t fall asleep again that night.
> Chapter 16: Fast learner
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sombra had resided under the bed. He could see all around him, he could see something before it could see him. He could hear the shuffling of hooves outside his room as the other foals got up. He could also hear the two mares waking up others. Then his door opened slowly and he saw a familiar flow of brown hair.

“Sombra? where are you?” Miss Chestnut asked. He watched her hooves walk around the bed. Opening the curtains light flooded into the room, he felt safer yet his legs wouldn’t budge. 

“Sombra?” she called out to him again. He watched her front hooves place in front of the bed. One lifted up slightly, before setting down again. They folded down along with her hair piling up and he saw her concerned face appear in the gap.

“What are you doing under the bed sweety?” she said to him softly. He tried to get closer to him yet his legs still wouldn’t move. She slipped a hoof out towards him, stroking his knee softly.

“I knew I shouldn’t have left you alone last night” she told herself. Sombra finally managed to force his legs to pull himself out from under the bed, where he cuddled up into her despite being the same size. She lightly squeezed him while he cowered in her chest. 

“let’s get you down to breakfast, then we’ll start your lessons” she told him as she coaxed him to stand up. He followed her out and she led him to a cosy room with a fireplace in it.

“Stay here, I won’t be gone for long” she told him. When she left he looked around. There was large crates labelled “toys” and there was plush seats on the edges of the room. When Miss Chestnut returned with a small bowl and spoon, Hope was trailing her. 

“Morning!” Hope practically bounced over to him. Miss Chestnut placed his breakfast down in front of him. He looked at the thick liquid with the fruit scattered in it.

“It’s yogurt! It will be softer for your teeth” Hope told him, she was a little too excited to see him. 

“Calm down Hope. Let him eat and then we’ll get to your lessons” She told Hope as she sat on one of the sofa’s and watched them. Sombra sniffed at the food before taking a hesitant lick. It didn’t taste like much, yet his night of being up made him hungry and the fruit added some taste. He ate it without the spoon, not quite understanding it.

“Why don’t you use the spoon? You’re a unicorn so you can use your magic” Hope asked him, taping his horn. He flinched from her tapping which he looked at her confused.

“you know, like this” she demonstrated by igniting her horn and lifting the spoon in sparkles. But Sombra didn’t watch the spoon, he instead stared at her horn. He seen their horns glow before. Amore’s was gold, yet Hope’s was blue. He believed he did have magic. But he rarely saw other umbrum use it. At most he could remember Folwin and Folre using a black fiery version of it. 

“You know how to use it right?” she asked him, which he shook his head again. 

“You just…erm…I dunno…think about lifting stuff?” she questioned herself. Sombra stared at the spoon, he imagined it floating. Nothing happened. He clenched imaginary muscles in his horn and the ones in his forehead. Nothing happened. 

“If your finished we need to get you two to your lessons” Miss Chestnut said, interrupting his third attempts. They both turned to see she had already got up and was about to leave the room. Hope coaxed him to follow, his legs ached but he willed himself through it.

He followed the pair outside briefly before they entered another smaller building. There were many more rooms which where all connected to one corridor. Miss Chestnut took them into a relatively small room with rows of seats. She sat them down opposite her.

“Right, you two just sit here. Hope, I’ll go get your books” She said just before she left the room. Hope turned to him looking less excited.

“She’ll make me do maths, I hate maths” Hope said bluntly as she rested her head on her hoof with a pout. Miss Chestnut quickly returned with some books balancing on her rump. She placed one in front of Hope and her expression dropped even more.

“Whyyy?” 

“Because the others are doing maths, so will you” Miss Chestnut told her while sitting down in front of them. She placed another book in front of Sombra.

“I assume you know how to read and write a little bit based of yesterday, I’ll just help you get the hang of our language” she said as she opened his book. Miss Chestnut over the hour taught him how to hold his pencil properly after it being her turn to learn he can’t use magic. Slowly he learnt how to write a few odd words.

“I guess you’re a fast learner, or maybe you’ve been so under stimulated for two hundred years your brains became a sponge” Miss Chestnut joked.

“I’m done” Hope said as she dropped her pencil, boredom written all over her face. There was a brief quiet as Miss Chestnut marked hers and Sombra continued to copy out the sentences she'd given him. 

“Ok, just go over those two”

“…fine” Hope mumbled as she picked up her pencil again. Miss Chestnut looked over to see Sombra had finished his lines. 

“Wow, you are fast aren’t you” she commented as she took his book and looked over it.

“Just need to work on your e’s” 

RING, RING, RIING

“Break! Come on let’s go!” Hope cheered as she leapt out her seat. She motioned for him to follow her.

“I want to keep Sombra for a little bit, just go wait outside Hope” Miss Chestnut said to her.

“Oh…ok” Hope replied leaving the room. Miss Chestnut turned to face him again.

“So, what happened last night? Why were you under the bed?” she asked him softly. Her eyes had softened much more than usual and she now held his hoof. Yet he didn’t say anything, he didn’t really know how to say anything to be fair. At least in ponish.

“You really aren’t much of a talker are you? Was it a bad dream?” he nodded in response, he believed it was a bad dream anyway. He had had nightmares before but none were as bad as last night.

“Maybe it’s better if you draw it” Miss Chestnut said to neither of them as she rustled through another draw, pulling out a piece of paper and a few crayons. Sombra picked up one of the crayons and started to draw what he saw. Miss Chestnuts face dropped as he drew him, his sire and the strange floating jaw with the golden glow. She was unable to form words as her jaw trembled slightly at the picture. 

“I’m…I’m not surprised you were under the bed…Goodness” she rubbed her face, before taking a deep breath. 

“I can see if I can stay over for a few nights, that way if you have another you can come get me” she suggested, Sombra lightly nodded in response. 

“Alright then, I’ll see what I can do. Now go on outside, Hopes waiting” she told him as he retraced his hoof steps back out through the door. And as she said, Hope was sitting right outside the door. 

“What took you so long?” she asked quickly hopping up to her hooves. 

“Come on, talk, I know you can” she pleaded wanting something more than a nod. He didn’t know why he couldn’t get words out, he had done it yesterday. All he could let out was a mewl. 

RING, RING, RING

“we didn’t even get to play” Hope mumbled as she walked back into the building. Sombra followed her back to their room while the other foals filtered in behind them. they sat back down in their seats for another lesson.

-{+}-

They day had gone by relatively quickly. Sombra didn’t quite know where it went. At least the school half of the day did, now it was just free time. The other foals were in the main room playing. Miss Chestnut had told him its best to keep him as far away from public view, so he was stuck in the bedrooms. But instead of his, he was in Hopes.

Her room was the same as his but flipped around. Although having lived in it for seven years she had a collection of things. The big one being candles. Different colours and scents lined her bedside table. She was currently picking one, glancing between them. she settled on a yellow one which appeared untouched. Striking a match she lit the wick.

“I haven’t tried this one yet” she mentioned as she put out the match after. She trotted back to the door.

“Lemme go get something” she told him as she trotted of down the hall. Sombra sat in the middle of her room, watching the sky change colours through the window. He could just see the peak of a mountain blurred out in the distance. His attention shifted when he smelt the aroma coming from the candle. A fruity one, but it got more pungent. 

“I got it” Hope’s voice started him as she appeared in the doorway. There was a flat box floating next to her. She sat down with him and emptied out the contents. There was a folded up board, a small cube and four coloured pieces.

“Snakes and Ladders!” he stared at her blankly.

“…you don’t know it do you…er pick one” she placed the coloured pieces in front of him. He picked the red one, then she took the blue one.

“Place it here then you roll the dice” she said placing her piece at the begging, he did the same, pushing it with his hoof onto the board. Hope picked up the dice and flipped it in her magic. It landed on a six.

“So I move six spaced forward” she said as she floated her piece from one to six.

“your turn” she told Sombra giving him the dice. He picked it up in his hooves then tossed it forwards, landing on a two. He pushed his piece forwards two, there was a shape on it.

“You landed on a ladder, you go up ladders, so you go to twenty three” it took Sombra a moment to process it, before he just shuffled his piece up the ladder, to what he assumed was twenty three.

“If you land on a snake you go down, that’s about it. You just have to get to a hundred and you win” Hope then took her turn moving forward again, then it was his turn. They kept going, often going up then down. eventually Hope was on nighty six, rolling a four she would get to a hundred and win. However she only moved three, landing on a snake that took her down to twenty six. Sombra looked at her confused, tilting his head slightly.

“I want you to win” she said kindly. It wasn’t too long before Sombra won. Hope smiled and clapped her hooves. But Sombra didn’t feel like he won, she did just give it to him. If he was going to win, he wanted too properly. So he pushed his piece back to the begging, and they played again. By the end of the night they were even after four games.

“Time for bed you two” Mrs Drops said through the door. She surprised Sombra as he still wasn’t quite familiar with her. As he stood up Hope grabbed his leg then pulled him into a cuddle.

“Good night!” she said tiredly as she let him go. 

“come on you two, to bed” Miss Drops repeated which Sombra followed her out, leaving Hope to go to bed. Sombra headed back to his own room and climbed into his bed, he preferred having the curtains open as they let a bit of light in. just as he laid his head on the pillow his door opened.

“Oh, you’re already in bed” Miss Chestnut said.

“I’m able to stay over for a couple nights, so if you need me just follow the nightlights down the corridor. My room has the blue one next to it ok” she informed him as she walked in and gave him a light kiss on the head, before leaving and closing the door. 



He woke up in the same place, muddy and wet. He could see the trees around him, and that same glow in the distance. Yet he did not trust it this time. He looked around the darkness. He decided to go in the exact opposite direction of the light. He wandered and hid between the trees. He noticed the glowing light was shifting in the same direction as before. He could see just in the glow it was almost equine shaped, but extremely gangly and thin. 

He continued a little faster, he still couldn’t hear that well, but he had a feeling it could hear very well. In the distance he could see a small shack, it was slightly hidden by trees. He hurried over to it, yet he attempted to keep his hoof steps quiet. Looking back he could see the figure eating something from the ground. 

He finally entered the little shack. It was rattly and withered yet he felt it was more shelter than anywhere else. He cowered inside of it. he pressed his body up against the wall trying to make himself flat. He peeked around, the glow had gotten a little bigger. Every now and again he peaked and he noticed something he hadn’t thought about. It was following his trail. He panicked when he realised it as slowly the glow started to leak into the shack. He pressed his dark body into the equally dark corner. 

Long strands of hair started to hand over him, he felt a heavy rotten breath wash over him. He braved a look upwards. A face with a ripped open toothy grin and wide veiny eyes stared at him. He screamed as its jaws opened wide as it bit down into his spine. His body was lifted as he was dropped and grabbed again.

 

Sombra woke up with cold sweats. Tears dripped down his face as he stared at the ceiling. His body trembled and he could swear his back hurt. Rolling onto his front he contemplated the door as more tears slowly dripped down his face, landing in the soft cotton. It took him a minute to think, he didn’t like the dark, but he could see the faint shimmer of the nightlights. As he got up on shaky legs he didn’t see one teardrop shimmer softly as it landed. 

Sombra poked his head out into the corridor. He saw the line of lights which he followed out into the dark. The crystal walls reflected creating unwanted shadows that moved. He came to a t-cross where he looked down one side and saw the little blue light. He pushed open the door next to it, to see a much larger lump in the bed which he assumed was Miss Chestnut. He lightly walked over nuzzling her leg, stirring her from her peaceful sleep.

“wha…oh…Sombra…you okay?” she asked groggily. He nuzzled her again with a whimper. She pulled the blanket aside and shuffled over closer to the wall. Sombra crawled up to her and snuggled into her chest. It was an awkward fit as they were both similar sizes, but Miss Chestnut slowly petted his head as he continued to tremble. She made sure to stay awake until he drifted off again
> Chapter 17: In hours to come
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sombra was awoken by Miss Chestnut lightly shaking his shoulder. She had almost fully woken up but was unable to move due to Sombra tightly gripping one of her legs. 

“Time to get up Sombra” she whispered to him. It took him a moment to stir from sleep and to let go of her leg. When his eyes adjusted it was the first time he had seen Miss Chestnut not groomed. Her floor length hair, despite being tied up was a matted mess and her thin fur stuck out in every direction. Sombra let out a small mewl as he shifted his stiff legs.

“Where you alright last night? Was it a nightmare or did you just want a cuddle?” she asked while lightly rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. 

“mmn, nigh…mer” he croaked out.

“It’s a little early, you sleep a little longer while I get ready, then we’ll go down for breakfast and you can tell me it ok” She said while gently climbing over Sombra to leave the bed. Resting his head down on the pillow he drifted between waking and sleeping, for the half hour it took for her to get ready. 

“You there Sombra?” she asked him, nudging his shoulder waking him up. Lifting his head, he looked at her, shook his head and licked his nose. Then he yawned and his face spilt open, showing all his little still rotten teeth.

“I really hope those fall out…right, let’s get you to breakfast” Miss Chestnut told him, she led him back down to the kitchen. Sombra could hear the room next to it with the sounds of the other foals, he could pick out each individual voice.

“I should get your bandages changed as well…you should probably have the yogurt again…should actually call a dentist maybe…might ask that nurse if she knows any…” Miss Chestnut lifted off to herself. While she poked around in the fridge Sombra heard a familiar voice. He trotted out of the kitchen and peaked around the corner to the dining room. Mrs Drops was in there seating the foals, the most recent one to be Hope. The other foals looked at him, they whispered to each other.

“Is that the new one?”

“I think so”

“He’s weird looking”

“Isn’t he one of those giant ponies?”

“Maybe” their hushed whispers continued, Hope turned to see him. She tried to get out of her chair but Mrs Drops sat her down. The yellow mare approached him forcing him to take a step back from the doorway, despite such an assertive manner, she spoke softly. Although with a hint of fear. 

“I thinks its best you don’t eat with them for now. Let them get used to you first” she told him, her voice slightly wobbled. He felt a hoof on his leg and Miss Chestnut stood with a bowl in her mouth. He followed her back to the living room where he sat and ate his breakfast again. 

“I hope you’ve considered the problems of having him here” he heard Mrs Drops whisper to Miss Chestnut.

“I know you don’t like them Lemon-“

“This has nothing to do with that. Have you considered if a parent sees him and that information gets to the princess?”

“Yes. I have. If I can keep him in his room during visiting hours everything should be alright. Although I do wish I could take him home with me, I just can’t leave him on his own”

“I can tell you’ve already fallen for him”

Sombra finished his breakfast, licking the remains off his lips. He trotted over to Miss Chestnut with the bowl in his mouth. He had regained some of his energy with the food, and his now slightly glistening green eyes only further melted Miss Chestnuts heart. 

“Alright, let’s get you to your lessons, you can tell me about that nightmare as well ok” she said as she walked off with him back to the school after putting his bowl in the sink.

After sitting down with her again (this time without Hope, for she was with the others) he did another drawing of his nightmare. But as he now had an image of the monsters face, he drew it. while it was mostly black and grey in his nightmare, something compelled him to the pink, purple and peach crayons. It was only the face he drew, with the twisted smile, widened popping eyes and the shaggy mane. Miss Chestnut stared at it terrified. 

“I knew foals can have…concerning imaginations…but…sweet Celestia” she stammered. 

“wait…” she stared at the image.

“that’s…she owned you…oh no come here” Miss Chestnut practically ran around the table to pull him into an embrace. 

“she was known to treat Umbrum the worst as well” Miss Chestnut almost cried into him as she squeezed him. 

“I just wish I had some pony at home to help look after you” she lamented as she let go of him. 

“Alright, compose yourself Velvet, let’s get your lesson done shall we, we’ll focus on your speech” she said as she took a deep breath. She sat back down in front of him, giving him his book from yesterday.

“We’ll start by reading out those lines”





Hope and Sombra sat in his room, they hadn’t gotten a chance to talk most of the day. So now they were sitting doodling on scrap papers. Sombra looked over to see Hope had drawn three little ponies with big butterfly wings. One was green, another yellow and another dark blue.

“There my fairy friends. Only I can see them. I based them of different butterflies” Hope said as she coloured in the fairy’s. While Sombra could speak he still wasn’t sure how to respond to many things. so he tilted his head and looked at her with curiosity.

“The green one is a…green birdwing! That’s it” she remembered pointing to the left fairy. Its pale green body had short black hair. The wings were large and bright green, but the top wing had a black centre, the smaller had three black dots.

“This one is a blue morpho, she’s the big one” the fairy was a dull brown. She too had black hair but it was much longer with blue streeks. The wings were almost disproportionality large and they were bright blue.

“Then this one’s a monarch, she’s the leader” the last was a golden yellow, its wings were normally sized with elegant black stripes and white spots. Her golden hair was held up in a tight bun and she had a little silver crown. 

“I…like…them” Sombra told her slowly, still finding the words unnatural. But even so him speaking made Hope incredibly happy.

“Thanks…you’re the first to like them…the others call me crazy”

“…No?” Sombra said, confused why too she would be. 

“They think its silly to have imaginary friends” she said quietly, and then she changed the subject back to her fairy’s.

“when they fly they have a trail of sparkles. Stella, the blue one leaves the most because she has the biggest wings” she told him while adding little blue dots behind the giant wings.

“The green ones Clover and the other is Tulip” Hope continued as she added their sparkles. Sombra’s paper was still empty.

“You gonna draw anything?” she asked him, pushing the crayons towards him. He shrugged his shoulders, he didn’t know what to draw to be fair.

“You want to play with the dominos?” 

“…ok” He replied confused to the new word. Hope bounced of and quickly returned with a box. She dumped out the little rectangles covered in dots. 

“There’s a proper way to play it, but I like to stand them up and push them over” she said as she lifted each one and stood them on end. Arranging them in waves and lines before pushing the end one over. The satisfying clicks rung in his ears as they tumbled over. She giggled as she lifted them all up again and replacing them in different places. Sombra took one in his mouth and attempted to place it down, however his nose butted into one and the chains toppled over. 

“It might be easier if you use your magi- oh wait…you can’t use it” she remembered as she went around re-standing the dominos. Unfortunately they didn’t get much time as Miss Chestnut arrived to put them to bed. 

“Come on Hope, lets get you to your room” she asked sweetly. Hope using her magic put the dominos away swiftly, before hugging Sombra again. She then trotted off to bed.

“alright, lets get those bandages changed shall we” she said as she placed the roll, water and ointment down, then sitting with him. She gently lifted his leg and lightly pulled of the now dirty bandage. She lightly dabbed the already healing wounds with the water, causing little stings. 

“Sorry, I should probably get you bathed tomorrow, they're healing nicely though” she said as she continued to wipe down his wounds. After applying the ointment she wrapped his leg with the fresh bandage, then moved onto doing his other legs and his neck.

“Alright, good night Sombra. I hope you sleep better tonight, but I’m still here if you need me” Miss chestnut told him. She kissed his check and left him to sleep.





For once Sombra was getting a peaceful sleep. There was no dreams nor nightmares, just sweet sleep. Unfortunately it was about midnight when he was woken up by a bright light. He had a habit of not closing his curtains (of the few times he’d slept in this room) but it was only now did that suddenly become a hindrance. 

Groaning and rubbing his eyes as he woke up, he looked through blurry eyes at the white coming from his windows. The light faltered and wavered as the tree branches shifted in the wind. Something was sitting in the tree and as his eyes adjusted he saw a shape withing the glow. Sombra crawled out of bed and wobbly walked over to the window. The light as if on cue faded, revealing a pure white bird. 

It had a long, elegant neck and head with deep black eyes. it was perched upon a branch that was hanging from the weight, attempting to sit as close to the window as possible. Its tail, however, was draping down a good few feet, it was just as white as the rest of the birds body, except for the pale blue and gold marking on its face and feathers. Creating little eyes in its tail. The bird took a step closer, testing the narrow branch.

They stared at each other through the glass, the way the bird gazed into his eyes made it seem far too intelligent for what it was. Something compelled Sombra to open the window, which doing so allowed the bird to flutter and clamber in. Landing in front of him the bird looked up at him, its long tail glided across the carpet. 

“hey” Sombra said in his own language, it felt so normal on the tongue. The bird almost smiled at him in response. They stood staring at each other for a few seconds, until Sombra’s mind decided it was time for sleep. He didn’t know what quite to do with the bird in his room, but he grabbed a spare pillow and plopped it down at the end of his bed, before tucking in himself. 

As he drifted of to sleep he felt a twang like pain in his head, which quickly faded into nothing. As he slept he felt a light weight on his shoulder.
> Chapter 18: A feathery friend and a forest
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(“Can you hear me?”) a male voice asked him as Sombra woke up. But it wasn’t so much said to him, as it came from his mind. He looked around his room yet the only other being in the room was the bird.

(“Can you hear me?”) the voice said again, the bird stared at him. He thought it was a stretch, but Sombra got the feeling the bird was talking. So he nodded.

(“Good. Don’t worry, you’re not going crazy, but you are talking to a bird via your mind so expect other to think so”) said the bird. Sombra was left with his jaw open. This wasn’t what he expected to be doing in the morning. Although one thing that did help was the birds fluency in Umbrull.

“H-How?” Sombra said out loud, however his question was interrupted by Miss Chestnut coming to wake him up.

“Good morning Som-…why do you…have…a…peacock?” she questioned, rightfully confused.

(“would you please tell her I’m a Lumos, for I am not one of those pathetic trumpet birds”) 

“He’s a Lumos” Sombra said abruptly.

“…I’m sorry what” there was a brief silence between them.

“Did he come around last night?” she asked him. He nodded his head.

“Okay. Right. So, now you have a bird. Um. We don’t allow…pets”

(“the audacity”)

“If you can get him to stay here while you have breakfast then we can have a talk about it after ok” Miss Chestnut told him, she left to go wake up the next foal. 

(“I can stay here”) the bird said as Sombra got up to leave. The bird sat in the place he slept as it was warm. Sombra made his way down to breakfast which he sat and ate alone again in the living room.

“Right Sombra. This bird you have, what happened for you to get him?” Miss Chestnut sat down next to him. She knew she would get a simple half formed answer, as he wasn’t good at constructing longer sentences.

“He was bright light in tree. I let in, he can talk to me” 

“So he was just in the tree by your window?”

“mhm”

“and he can…talk? What, how?”

“Like…in head” He said while tapping his forehead, Miss Chestnut sat in her own thoughts for a while.

“Right, so once you finish just go get him so we can sort this out, it’s the weekend so you haven’t got school today” she told him, Sombra nodded as he licked away the last of his breakfast. He put his bowl back and trotted back up the stairs to his room. He found the bird in the same place, his long neck stood above his body.

(“So, before all of this happens, you obviously have a name”) 

“Sombra”

(“Well Sombra, I’m Opal. From now on we are linked by our souls and mental chords, so your stuck with me. I know you didn’t get a say in the matter, but hey! At least you got one of us with a sense of humour, at least I believe I have one. Anyway, we Lumos, or what little left there are of us, come to Umbrum in need and considering you’re the only one alive I think you’re in need”) Opal said, Miss Chestnut popped her head into the room.

“Sombra, I just remembered. I spoke to an umbrum once when I was dispersing food, they mentioned something about a white bird being special or something. So I guess you can keep him, as long as he doesn’t bring any suspicion to the princess about you being here” Miss Chestnut told him, just as she went to speak again there was a clatter and shouts from the foals downstairs, so she hurriedly trotted of.

(“Well, I guess that’s just pony foals, getting in a kerfuffle, though she’s probably used to it owning an orphanage”) Opal commented, Sombra looked at him with slight confusion.

(“You’re an orphan. You’re a foal without parents. That’s why you’re here. Actually  how old are you?”)

“seven hundred-ish?”

(“What? Mate you look no older than five hundred even late bloomers have started puberty by now…but I guess you weren’t really fed for two hundred years so you’re probably going to be a runt”)

“Is that a bad thing?”

(“As long as everything grows in correctly you should be fine, you just might be a little short. But by now at the age of seven hundred you should have went through mental maturity and at least have your teeth fall out and regrow, your horn should have started fading, bending and serating and your eyes should have changed colour. Hopefully once you start eating properly they should start. Then you have to prepare yourself for three hundred years of growing pains, raging hormones and your hind hooves splitting in three”)

“what”

(“Fun times. Also you don’t have to physically speak to me, you should be able to sense my mind via a telepathic chord, then just speak to me in your head, it’s had a night to stabilise”) Sombra reached out his mind, sensing an invisible string between him and Opal. Yet he struggled to get a word through, as a sting of pain shot through his head.

(“Don’t worry, it will take a while for you to get used to it, the pain won’t happen when you do”) Opal said before fluttering down to the floor next to Sombra.

(“I am supposed to help you out with your problems, given you called to me after a nightmare. But I think its best if I teach you a few things. considering you’re not exactly safe anywhere, lets start with-“) 

“Mornin!” Greeted Hope through the door. Her eyes instantly landed on Opal.

“Hey, I like your bird, he’s pretty”

(“You flatter me”)

“So, we go on a walk in a bit, do you wanna come?” Hope asked Sombra trotting over to sit with him. She reached a hoof out wanting to pet Opal, however he pushed his head away.

(“No”)

“Ok, I come” Sombra replied to her.

“Yay, we normally go at ten then come back for lunch, so we can…do…something” she said, sitting there not sure what to do. 

“Where did your bird come from?” she asked him. 

“He just appeared”

“Oh, does he have a name?”

“Opal” the pair made their way downstairs, where the two mares were gathering the other foals. Some were happy and excited, others were fed up and annoyed. Opal had plodded along next to them, drawing the attention of the foals.

“Hey cool bird”

“But…I thought we weren’t allowed pets?”

“Yeah you told us we can only have fish but he gets a bird!”

“Alright kids listen, those birds are special to Sombra’s ponies, I can’t split them up” Miss Chestnut said, trying to calm the jealous foals.

“But I always wanted a budgie, they’re smaller than peacocks” One filly asked.

“Maybe if you came out of your room more during visiting hours you would get new parents and you can ask them nicely and they might just get you one” Miss Chestnut told her, trying to sugar coat her sarcasm. She then turned to Sombra and Hope.

“At least we're on the edge of town, no one should see you, were just going around the forest” Miss Chestnut said as she gave Hope her jacket.

“Is it going to rain?” Hope asked as she did up the buttons.

“There’s a rather large black cloud coming over, but hopefully we’ll be back by the time it gets here” with that the mares took them outside. 

There was no sign that there was ever a revolution. At most there was a dented or bent lamppost. There were no signs of the dead anywhere on the street. Despite the fact it had only been a few days (yet it certainly didn’t feel like it) it seemed as if nothing had ever happened. They left the crystal path for a dirty one as the group headed towards the forest. 

“Do we remember what the trees are called?” Mrs Drops asked the foals in front, being behind them all. 

“Ooo the big ones are redwoods!” one blurted out, getting the answer before the others.

“Yes, and the smaller ones?”

“There spruces!” another answered.

“And what do we use spruces for?”

“Hearts warming trees!” a trio nearly shouted.

They entered the forest a couple minutes later, a gateway between two giant redwoods. 

(“Those are at least a thousand years old, some of the larger will be hitting their two thousands at least”) Opal told Sombra, he was now perched upon his withers. The trees surrounded them on all sides with scattered sun beams shimmering through. 

“shall we go a different way for once you reckon?” Miss Chestnut asked her colleague.

“As long as we don’t get lost again” 

“Do you trust me?”

“Sure”

-{+}-

They had been walking for a while, him and Hope had exhausted their conversations. There was no set path, and the mares only seemed to half know where they were going. If he looked up just through the tops of the redwoods he could see the giant mountain in the distance. When he looked around he saw something he could recognise. He had to squint to see the little mini cliff a good way away in the trees, yet he wondered if everything was still there, like their leathers and supplies. He started to trot swiftly over.

“Wait! Sombra you can’t just- take the kids out the forest I think the rains getting closer” Miss Chestnut told Mrs Drops as she cantered up to him. Sombra however didn’t stop until he reached that ledge, clambering up it to the makeshift campsite. The logs and stick packs were still there, along with the leathers, blankets, now rotten food bags and the little building block set. All of it was still there, now weathered severely.

Miss Chestnut slowly pulled herself up the ledge. She was out of breath and was puffing slightly. She watched him untie the packs. The stored away blankets tumbled out. They were protected by their packs, yet there was still a little wear and tear on them. Yet the blanket he pulled out, despite being over two hundred years unworn, deep within the fibres and leather there was an incredibly familiar scent. He collapsed into the warm embrace of the past, the comfort of his sire almost holding him again. He wrapped himself up in the giant blanket.

“Sombra?” He heard miss Chestnut ask through the thick fabric. He poked his head out to see her. She laid down next to him.

“Did all this belong to you before?” she asked, lightly touching the weak leather. Sombra nodded as he shoved his muzzle into the blanket.

“We can’t take all of it, but maybe you can take a few things. You might feel more at home” she suggested as she looked through the rest of the pack. Her nose scrunched up as a bag had been rotted away by long gone berries. She pulled out a small bowl with a tied on lid. Opening it there was a near translucent powder inside.

“What’s this?”

“Dammi say it keeps stuff good” what he wanted to say was when she told it was a form of preservative made from magic, but he didn’t know how to say that in a way she would understand. But she got the idea.

“If it preserves things we can put some on your blanket when we get in, do you want these blocks?” she asked pulling out the bag filled with the decorative building blocks. He nodded as he took the bag in his hooves, the stone blocks rattling. She found another small bundle, filled with silver rings. Sombra recognised them as the spare rings his sire would weave into his braids. 

“These are pretty, you want them to?” she asked and he nodded. 

“Alright, that’s all we’re taking ok, let’s get back to the others” Miss Chestnut told him. She took the bags in her mouth and he followed her down and out through the trees again. The group was waiting for them as slight droplets fell from the sky.

“We found his old things. he took a few things, it might make him feel at home” Miss Chestnut said, her voice muffled. 

“Oh, ok. Let’s get home I think the rains coming “Mrs Drops said as the mares led the foals back to the orphanage, just as they entered the rain started to get heavier. Sombra trotted up to his room with Miss Chestnut who helped him put his new things away. She folded up his blanket and placed it within his draws. His blocks were placed on top along with the powder and rings.

“You’ll find once you start to put things in your room you may feel more at home, these should help. Did you enjoy your walk?”

“mhm”

“Alright, lunch will be about half hour” Miss Chestnut told him before leaving back downstairs. He sat down on the bed completely forgetting about Opal being on his shoulders. He fluttered and sat next to him. 

(“So, this blanket, does it belong to someone in your family?”)

“Sirri”

(“Is that why you liked it so much?”)

“Yeah”

(“Well, tell me if you start missing them, that’s sort of my job to comfort you”)

“Can I have a hug?”

““I’m not a hugger, I’m also a bird””

“you will be” Sombra grabbed the bird into an iron grip of a hug. Opal flapped his wings and wriggled.

(“No please my plumage!”) He complained as he twisted and turned. He gave up eventually. He was saved by lunch.
> Chapter 19: From love to soup on face (i dunno)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sombra had now been at the orphanage for three months. Even so Hope was the only other foal who had warmed up to him. Sombra had also moved into the lessons with the rest of the class and was getting more fluent in Ponish, yet his writing was still rather off. Although he was enjoying his time, he often had horrid nightmares, many of which always had him hunted down by that monster. But there was always Opal there, and often Hope and Miss Chestnut. 

Recently however Sombra and the other residents at the orphanage has noticed Miss Chestnut had become very light on her hooves, very smiley and rather cheerful. As all curious foals did, him and the rest of them (albeit a lot less as many were adopted) had hidden themselves around the corner listening to the two mares in the kitchen.

“You know, you’ve been a lot happier recently, something good happen?” Mrs Drops asked.

“Oh, no, nothing in particular” Miss Chestnut responded flustered.

“Come on, your never like this. Somethings changed”

“No, nothing”

“Nothing?”

“Nothing” there was a brief silence.

“You’re in love”

“What. No! why would I be in love?”

“You’re beautiful, you’re caring, you’re affectionate-“

“I literally don’t talk to any pony outside of work”

“You’re in love, I can tell. No pony goes around almost floating and in some daze and distracted if they’re not in love”

“You don’t have to be in love to be like that”

“Oh really then what’s that blue feather in your hair?”

“What feather?”

“That feather”

“Oh this, it probably just fell off a bird and into my hair”

“A we don’t get blue birds around here, B giant wing feathers don’t just fall out mid-flight, C I think you would have noticed a feather that big falling on you”

“Well what if I wanted to keep it?”

“Then you would have put it in your bag and not tied it into your hair ribbons” there was another silence,

“Fine. You got me…don’t look at me like that, I’m not telling you everything about him”

“Oh come on”

“No”

“Fine, I’ll wait, but I’m guessing it’s a blue pegasus so I’ll be keeping my eye out” the foals heard her hoof steps leave the kitchen so they all silently scrambled back to their rooms. Sombra joined Hope in her room again, in which Opal had stayed behind now cuddled up next to the wax burner.

“Do you really think she’s in love?” Hope asked a little excited

“Maybe” Sombra replied.

“I’m pretty sure she is” Hope bounced over to her calendar on the wall. There was a small drawing on one box.

“Whoever it is, she’ll probably be going to the faire with him, it’s like the time for couples to go on dates” Hope was practically bubbling with excitement for reasons Sombra didn’t quite understand, she wasn’t exactly the one in love. 

“Faire?” Sombra asked.

“Yeah, basically it’s a giant party which us being happy powers the crystal heart up and stuff. I mostly like the food” 

“Ok, that sounds fun”

“Apparently there were some rumours about Amore putting a spell on the heart or something, I just think she was making sure it wasn’t cracked or something” Hope said as she sat down on her bed. Sombra laid down next to her, kicking his legs out to the side to avoid putting any pressure on the still sensitive, but near healed, wounds. His bandages were gone, but there were nasty pitted and patchy scares left behind. Hope was staring at them much more now that they were no longer covered. 

“How’d you get those?” she asked, pointing at his new scars.

(“She is too young, leave her unknowing until she grows up and understands that some things are better left silent, she will blab it’s what foals do. Ignorance is bliss”) Opal said to him, his void eyes were stern. A command, not a suggestion. And so Sombra stayed silent, leaving Hope waiting for an answer she wouldn’t get. Realising that made her move onto another topic.

“Didn’t you use to live in the North?” she asked, Sombra glanced over at Opal and received a small nod.

“Yeah” Hope hopped of the bed and trotted to the window. She pointed out.

“So do you have a name for that mountain there?” she asked, Sombra walked over next to her, it was that giant mountain that towered over the rest.

“I don’t think so”

“We call it Mt Everhoof. It’s the tallest mountain in Equestria, then to the west apparently there’s some creatures called yaks, there like pony goats but really hairy, I haven’t met one though” Hope said, she opened her desk with her magic and pulled out a book, its back pages extended out into a map.

“We’re up here” she said, pointing to the top of the map where the mountains were. “Crystal Empire” was labelled within a ring of much smaller mountains. Sombra could see Mt Everhoof was also labelled. He also read the words “Frozen North” on the very top, yet he felt it was too small to be the whole of the North, the Eye wasn’t on their either.

(“we live on uncharted territory, the North is much larger as it spreads to the other side of the planet, they cannot survive the summer of the North, let alone the winter. Even if they fought of the cold. So they never mapped it”) Opal said to him. Sombra looked further down the map, there were many more labels and lines sprawled over the land. They all originated from one place.

“Canterlot is where the princesses live, it’s also the capital of Equestria. I want to go there one day but the train tickets are really expensive”

(“It’s also not covered in snow and is above zero on average”) Sombra partly ignored Opal however, as his mind was stuck on “princesses”.

“There’s…multiple princesses?” Sombra asked with fear.

“Yeah there two sisters, Celestia is the princess of the sun and Luna is the princess of the moon”

“Are they both like…her?”

“Who, like Amore? Well, I think Celestia’s more like her, apparently Luna’s hides away a bit more, they also wield the elements of harmony, that’s how they defeated discord anyway” Hope told him, causing so many things to go through Sombra’s head, he could sense the confusion on Opals end as well. If they were all like Amore, did they all murder for entertainment? What was harmonious about that? There was a ringing of bells down the corridor. They joined the foals as they made their way down to tea.

Sombra sat down in his usual spot in front of the fire. He didn’t like sitting with the other foals, he was unsure why, he just didn’t like them. He sat with Miss Chestnut, who indeed had a royal blue feather in her hair, as he ate his bread and soup. It was mostly quiet, until there was a small commotion in the main dining room. There was a small scream and Mrs Drops voice silenced the commotion. Sombra could her the slight sniffles of a filly be taken to the kitchen. Miss Chestnut left Sombra in the living room while she went to do her job. She returned with a whimpering Hope, who was pushing a wet paper towel to her face. 

“Go sit down” Miss Chestnut softly said, Hope barely picked up her hooves as she walked over. She flopped down next to Sombra and hid her face in her tail. Swallowing the last of his bread he nuzzled her, he didn’t like it when she cried. 

“What happened?” Miss Chestnut asked to her colleague. 

“One of the colts, I didn’t see who, they chucked some of their soup at her, fresh stuff out of the pot. She should be ok, I had a look it just got her cheek”

“Ok, you have a better authoritative voice than me, you go sort them out and I will stay with Hope” Miss Chestnut said, she sat down with Hope and Sombra. Hope still whimpered into her tail.

“Hope, I know this is the third time they’ve done this this month ok, but please don’t let it get to your head-“

“B-but I’m d-dirty”

“No you’re not, you don’t have to be shiny to be pretty” Miss Chestnut told her, lifting her chin and brushing her hair from her face. 

“How’s your cheek?”

“It h-hurts”

“It is a little red isn’t it, just keep that cold”

“Okay” Hope’s sniffling calmed down, Sombra curved his tail around her and started to nibble at her shoulders. He dragged hair through his rotten teeth, grooming that little patch of thin metallic fur. 

“Hey, that tickles” Hope giggled, Sombra kept grooming her shoulder until he accidently bit down on the small gemstone starting to grow out of her skin. His head shot back as his front teeth bent over flat, causing his white gums to bleed silver. While it didn’t hurt like he expected it to, the sensation of the teeth tugging as they were pushed was equally concerning.

“You ok?” Miss Chestnut asked him. Sombra opened his mouth so she could see his teeth. 

“…I should really get that dentist sorted, I er can’t just take you in, if you can just leave them be and don’t play with them you should be alright” she said as she prodded his bottom lip. There was another clatter, this time from the kitchen.

“Oh now what” Miss Chestnut complained as she went to see what happened. She met Mrs Drops in the corridor.

“I made them do the dishes”

“Who?”

“Caramel, Prince and Rocky, they admitted to throwing the soup at Hope and I just found a bucket of mud propped up on top of her door, just like they did last week. They’ve also admitted to every other little “prank””

“Have you done anything else? I think this deserves more than doing the dishes”

“Well they have no pudding for a month, they are also banned from the playground for a week”

“Ok good, I need to get Sombra to the dentist so maybe in a day or two you might have to do tea on your own”

“Alright then…have you not got that done already?”

“I’m struggling to find one that’s willing to work with him without directly revealing I have an umbrum in my care, but he’s just bent his teeth backwards so I definitely need to get him in somewhere. Have the others gone upstairs?”

“Yes there in their rooms now”

“Alright, I’ll take this pair up” Miss Chestnut returned and took their bowls away. They followed her and kept in their snickers when they saw the three colts looking miserable as two more bowls and spoons were placed in the water. Hope and Sombra returned to their room for the night, in which Hope wanted to be alone for a little bit, so Sombra let her be.
> Chapter 20: Open wide
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Oh come on!”

“Your due to go Hope, you might as well go with him”

“But I hate the dentist!” Hope complained as she furiously sat down on the carpet.

“Oh don’t be silly it’s not that bad” Miss Chestnut told her, pulling her back up onto her hooves.

“Sombra might want a friend with him as well, I doubt his is going to be any more fun” she said while pushing Hope forwards towards the door. Sombra was already standing and waiting. It was relatively late at night, most had retired to their houses for the day and many business were closed. Hope was nearly dragged out the door as Miss Chestnut took them down the empty pathways. It didn’t take too long to reach the practice, in which they were expected as the staff were still around. Given that they were the only patients they were taken straight to the dentist’s room. The stallions hair was so slicked back that a hair net wasn’t necessary. 

“So we have Radiant Hope and Sombra, and Hope was in for a general check-up but Sombra’s teeth are severely rotted”

“Yes well if you can get Hope done first she doesn’t like…er…dentists…so”

“No, no that’s fine. If you just sit here Hope we’ll get it over and done with okay” He said to her, she simply nodded as she sat down on the chair. He pushed around a shelf of tools and he started to prod around in Hopes mouth. He wrote small things down on a document as he went around her mouth. So far, Sombra couldn’t see anything that would scare her. Sombra found it interesting (he somehow hadn’t noticed it before) that Hope didn’t have any canine teeth, she only had the front teeth visible so he just assumed there was a gap before her back teeth

“So far so good, just make sure you get to these back ones a little more” he told Hope, who quickly shut her mouth and hopped of the chair. She shuffled back over to Sombra looking a little less grumpy.

“Oh, Sombra sort of bent his teeth yesterday, its er not pretty” Miss Chestnut said to the dentist. She motioned to Sombra to go take Hopes place on the chair. 

“Bent his teeth?”

“They’re very rotten, I’m just hoping his adult teeth are alright, if he does have adult teeth”

“Easiest way to tell is to look, open up bud” Sombra opened his mouth slightly, which the dentist had to pull his jaw down a little more to get a better look. The dentist blinked rapidly in a brief shock.

“…wow…I don’t even need the magnifying glass for this” the dentist lightly prodded at his teeth and gums. He couldn’t feel his teeth, but his gums stung at each touch, but he let the dentist do whatever he had to do.

“I’m no expert on umbrum teeth but…they’re bad”

“So would he have to have some pulled?” Miss Chestnut asked.

“Well the problem with pulling baby teeth is that it can cause problems with how the adult teeth grow in, I also don’t want his first dentist appointment being him having all of his teeth removed, however if we do nothing his adult teeth may already be rotting as the infection spreads down, and I have had the unfortunate circumstance of having an Umbrum smile at me and with how giant their adult teeth are I have a feeling the roots are just as long, so an infection getting to there could lead to further infection in his head” the dentist said, he prodded at his teeth where each wobbled to varying amounts. One of his upper incisors fell out on impact.

“Let me just grab that…actually…” the dentist picked up the small magnifying glass “I think your adult incisors are erupting…yep definitely…I might just get these out the way” the dentist said after grabbing the rotten tooth and placing it in a small box. 

“So your taking out the front ones?”

“I think its for the best” 

“Ok, I will pay some more then, I’m sorry I’m making you work for much longer” she apologised. Hope seemed to panic a little, her eyes had widened.

“Oh sorry, I have to sit outside with her, she’s not to keen on the concept of extractions” Miss Chestnut said. The dentist gave her a nod, Miss Chestnut gave Sombra a quick kiss to the forehead before leaving with Hope. 

“Alright bud, just lift your hoof if it hurts, I’ll be as gentle as I can” the dentist said softly as Sombra’s mouth was gently opened again. Sombra sat there, with a mix of patience, concern, fear and trust. The dentist worked away gently pulling out each tooth, making sure they didn’t break as they were pulled. He was thankful he couldn’t exactly feel his teeth, he was sure this would be much worse if he could. 

“All finished! You did well bud, I guess it helps they were pretty much dead” the dentist congratulated him. Sombra licked the soft gums that had been left, the holes felt oddly soft but he could feel sharp pin pricks in the centre of each. The dentist lead him out of the room where he found Hope looking as if she was expecting him to come out dead. She bounded into his for-legs and hugged him tight, not letting him go throughout the entire transaction between the adults. She only let go when they were led out of the practice, it was now near darkness and they were the only ones on the street. As they walked Sombra heard some distant wing beats. The trio looked up, Miss Chestnut stopped and she waved.

The pegasus she waved to glided down to the pathway, landing next to them. From the faint light of the streetlamps they stood between he could see the stallion had two toned hair and dark fur. Unlike the last pegasus he knew Sombra could see the layers of feathers on the stallions body which were puffed up in the cold air. 

“Ok I must ask what your doing so late at night with two foals” he asked Miss Chestnut, his voice was rich and smooth. It took Sombra a moment to process as he was used to most male voices being gruff and near raspy, he always wondered how his sire didn’t permanently have a sore throat.

“Didn’t I tell you? I had to take Sombra to the dentist because his teeth are terrible”

“Oh right yeah, I guess your taking them home now?”

“well, yes, what else would I be doing?”

“I dunno, I was just bored and went out for a night flight and I saw a grown pony with two foals late at night and my brain went places it shouldn’t have” he replied, Miss Chestnut got a little closer to him, half closing her eyes.

“How about I take the foals back, then we go to my place and have fun, would that get rid of your boredom?”

“Velvet there are two foals standing next to you”

“Well they won’t know about that for another few years…actually Sombra’s most likely already seen it but doesn’t understand-“

“Lets just get the pair back to the orphanage” the group walked back mostly in silence, Hope was consistently taking glances between the stallion and the feather in Miss Chestnuts hair. They returned to the orphanage where they were taken to bed rather quickly. 

(“well that was hastier then usual”)

“She met a stallion and started being weird” Sombra said, some of his letters didn’t quite form.

(“Oh you wait…anyway how’s your teeth?”) Sombra raised his lips showing the gap in the front of his mouth.

(“WHAT THE FUuuuddgge…yeah…fudge…that’s…er…I guess it could have been worse…heh heh”)
> Chapter 21: How do math-hey that's a big leaf (warning for the end)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sombra looked at his teeth in the mirror. Miss Chestnut had started to teach him how to brush his teeth. She was worried before that her brushing would lead to his teeth getting more damaged, but now that he had some erupting adult teeth she felt more comfortable doing so. The tips of his new teeth were much whiter in comparison but they weren’t exactly useful, for one he was still living primarily of soft food which was getting increasingly boring.

He made his way down to breakfast where he again sat and ate his yogurt. Hope had now fully given up on sitting with the others, so every day she was practically joined to Sombra’s hip. Sombra didn’t mind at all though, he had lost count of how many games they had played over time and they had built up a small collection of messy paintings. 

Hope was incredibly excited though today, shovelling her cereal into her mouth. Her teeth chewed at speed, until she started to choke on the three mouthfuls that attempted to go down at once. Sombra batted her in the back and she coughed up the chewed up cereal, before swallowing it in smaller chunks.

“Why are you so happy?” Sombra asked, his letters were still half forming.

“Because it’s the crystal faire tomorrow! and I love the faire because I get to spend all of my pocket money I’ve saved up!” Hope said excitedly as she gobbled down the last bit of her breakfast. 

“Ok”

“That means you get to have your first faire and you can have your first crystal corn, cherry pies, hard candies-“

“Sombra will not be going to the crystal faire Hope” the unusual stern voice of Miss Chestnut interrupted her.

“Why not?”

“Because we cannot risk having him seen”

“But we go on walks and you took him to the dentist”

“Because I can trust that dentist as he helped in the revolution, and we are not far from the edge of town so there is a lower risk of being seen. But there is far too high a risk in a crowd of ponies and guards”

“But why can’t he be seen?”

“Enough, Sombra will not be going”

“…Okay” Hope quietly said as she went back over to Sombra, waiting for him to finish his breakfast.

“You can still go Hope”

“But I want to be with Sombra”

“Then you can stay here, ok”

“okay”





“Take seventy four divided by three, you’re going to divide seven by three which gives you two tens. You put the two on top but you have one left over as you will only get six. So you put six beneath the seven, then do seven minus six which equals one…”

(“are you getting this?”) Opal asked as the teacher demonstrated on the chalk board. Sombra nodded as he copied down what the teacher wrote, quickly converting it into Umbral numbers. 

(“how?”) Opal continued to stare at the numbers on the board, even seeing them translated into Umbrull didn’t help his understanding of maths. 

(“It’s easy dimwit”)

(“Oh lovely your first words to me in telepathy is calling me a dimwit thanks buddy”) Opal said, Sombra didn’t even realise he had said anything telepathically. It wasn’t as hard as he thought it was, he just had to think about talking to Opal and the mental chord would kick in. As the numbers easily arranged themselves in Sombra’s brain, Opal and every other foal just stared at the board confused.

As the lesson went on, foals one after the other put their pencils down in defeat, Hope was one of the first. Her ears were folded the entire time and silent mutterings of “what” came out of her mouth every now and again. She had at least tried unlike others, but many of her bus stops were scribbled out. When break came the class near sprinted out the doors, except for Hope who waited for Sombra to neatly put things away in his desk. 

“How do you understand that?” Hope whined after having her brain fried. 

“It’s easy”

“It isn’t” the pair made their way out to their little area of the playground. Their place was in the branches of a relatively young oak tree, but it was still able to hold their weight. While they sat on the larger branches Opal perched on the much smaller ones. 

“I wish Miss Chestnut would let you go to the faire, I normally get left out” Hope mumbled as she leaned on the branch behind her. 

(“If you wish, you can tell her that technically you are not a pony and Amore doesn’t like that, but for now wait until she’s older to get to the nitty gritty”)

(“Ok)…Um, Amore doesn’t like me…because apparently I’m not a pony” 

“Is that it? doesn’t seem like much”

(“Is it morally acceptable to tell a seven year old that her princess is a murderer?”)

(“So should I tell her”)

(“…No, just say that dislike is past hate on the scale”)

“…the dislike is more like…really strong hate”

“Oh…is that why you’re not allowed outside?”

“I think so”

(“Don’t tell her this, but I’m pretty sure the reason Missy keeps you inside as much as possible is because you would either be killed or put back into slavery”)

(“…thanks”) 

After a moment of quiet where they just listened to the strange games the other foals would play, Hope spotted something in the leaves. She stood up and balanced herself on the branches. She grabbed a giant leaf in her mouth, severing it with her teeth. She shuffled back down to their place on top of the trunk.

“Look, it’s like twice the size of the other ones”

“Why’d you pick it?” 

“I just wanna keep it”

“Wont it die?”

(“Didn’t you pick up some preservation powder? It works on leather, which is skin, so it should work on leaves. It will keep it alive in a sense”)

“Opal said that powder I picked up can be used to keep it alive”

“Do you think it will last till school ends?”

(“I can take it inside and put it in some water, that should help”)

“Opal says he can put it in some water to help it” Sombra told her, Hope excitedly gave the oversized leaf to Opal, who took it in his claw and flew off. The bell rung and they hopped of the tree and went back to their lesson, which to many foals relief wasn’t math.





The pair scrambled back to Sombra’s room to find Opal sitting by a cup of water which the leaf was sitting in. He also had a small kitchen flannel. The pair sat down as Opal laid out the stuff on the floor.

“How’s it work?” Hope asked. Opal took the leaf out the water and laid it on the floor. He lifted the lid of the wooden pot with his beak. With his talons he dipped the end of the flannel into the water then picked up some of the clear powder on the end. Lightly he rubbed a part of the leaf in circular motions, that area of the leaf glittered purple. After completing a small area he pushed the flannel over to Hope.

(“tell her that she cannot use her magic as the light will not mix well with the dark”) Sombra relayed the information to Hope, who took the flannel in her hoof and continued to work over the leaf. It didn’t take long until the leaf was fully preserved. She held it up with a big smile.

“How long will it last?”

“I think it lasts a while”

“Great!...I’ll try not to use all of it” Hope said in glee as she trotted off with her leaf. The rest of the day went over normally, many of the foals went to sleep excited for the fair the next day, however most were so excited they didn’t sleep much.

 

Once again Sombra found himself in the dark. Except there was no forest around him, there wasn’t a sky either. There was cold stone beneath him and that stone was all he could see. This time however he could hear and smell. All he could smell was rotten flesh that burnt through his nose. He took a few cautious steps and he could her the tap of his hooves. As he could hear his hooves he felt the need to step even softer, to the point is finely tuned ears could just hear the tap.

Ever so slowly he wandered across the flat spread of stone. There was next to nothing in the place around him. As he wandered the silence caused his ears to flick to sounds of the faintest kind, even if he couldn’t tell he was actually hearing them or imagining them. 

He could hear something, a series of soft tapping, it was in every direction and almost on top of him yet in the horizon. He stopped in his tracks to try and sense where it was, he could feel something watching him. 

He continued slowly making sure to not make any noise when he took a step. However a shape started to appear in front of him. It was something lying down, something purply and pale blue. There was a mess of liquid red, gelatinous chunks within it. cables of guts were splayed out across the stone. A contorted face had its eyes ripped out, leaving tears of blood. And yet still Sombra could recognise that face.

“H-Hope…no” his voice squeaked. He collapsed down next to her body, she was long cold beyond saving. There was a sickening giggle behind him and a stake was forced into his ribs, pinning him to the stone. He feared a look upwards and the twisted toothy smile with wide open eyes stared him down, the stake was a skinny leg. The abomination giggled again before it lowered its head, keeping its eyes locked on Sombra’s. Sombra tried to wriggle but he couldn’t move his muscles. Its jaw opened revelling layers and layers of razor teeth. Sombra tried to scream as its jaws wrapped around Sombra’s hind legs and tail. He sat hopelessly as tears streamed down his face. As his legs slipped into the maw of the thing he felt more teeth dig in all the way down its gullet, slicing his legs and tail continuously. More and more of his body was engulfed and his now skinless legs hit acid which had an all too familiar burn to it. Sombra gave up as the creature clamped down and yanked its head back, tearing away his rear and his silver guts spread across the stone. His blood spilled out of its mouth between his teeth. Sombra’s vision slowly started to fade as he was pushed onto his back. He barely saw as the thing reared up and slammed its stick legs into his eyes.

Sombra woke in cold sweats as he sat up on his bed. He panted as he pulled his sire’s blanket closer to him. 

(“Another nightmare?”) Opal asked despite knowing, his feathers were glowing turning him into a night light. Sombra grabbed his blanket and climbed out of bed, the fur lined leather dragged across the floor. 

(“where are you going?”) Sombra poked his head out the door and checked the darkness. He stepped quietly through the corridor until he reached Hopes door. He slightly pushed it open. He saw the slow rise and fall of Hopes chest as she snored softly. Her eyes were closed softly as she slept peacefully, probably dreaming about her fairy’s. Sombra placed his blanket on the bed before climbing up and curling around her. He pulled the blanket over which to his surprise didn’t stir her as she slept like a rock. 

At least she was breathing and was in one piece.
> Chapter 22: What was supposed to be a fun day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey…why are you *yawn* in my…bed?” A groggy Hope asked, she had rolled over hours later and realised that Sombra was next to her. Sombra whimpered and held her tighter nearly stopping her breathing.

“Ow” hearing her made Sombra loosen his grasp and he shifted to lay side by side. Her horn lit up as she shifted the candles around on her bedside table. He watched as she pulled one forward, struck a match and lit the three wicks. They burned softly and warmed the room with a gentle glow. 

“What’s wrong?” she asked him, Sombra whimpered and pushed his head into her pillow. 

“Did you have another nightmare?” Sombra responded by swiftly nodding his head, a tear found its way out of his eye while the smell of lavender entered his nose. 

“Please don’t cry” Hope said while pulling Sombra into an awkward hug as he was twice her size. She held him while Sombra cried, remembering what he saw. Part of him felt a slight sense of guilt, he had woken up Hope and started of whatever a crystal faire was badly. There was a knock at the door and it opened slightly. As always Miss Chestnut had come to wake them up. It took her a moment too realise that there were two foals in front of her. 

“Are you two alright?”

“I think he had another nightmare”

“Right, you go down for breakfast Hope, I’ll look after Sombra” Miss Chestnut told Hope who left slowly. Sombra looked up at Miss Chestnut who had placed a hoof on his shoulder.

“Let’s get you to your room” she softly said as he pushed himself off Hopes bed. Miss Chestnut wiped away the tears that had rolled down Sombra’s face. He followed her back to his room where he curled back up onto his bed. He calmed down a little more before going through the process of telling her what he saw in his nightmare.

“Ssh, ssh it’s okay, I think that’s your worst one isn’t it?” she asked while soothing him with gentle strokes. Sombra whined as he nodded, the tears had caused his eyes to start stinging and he could swear it felt as if his hind legs were being crushed. 

“Let’s get you some breakfast, then as you can’t go to the faire I’ll stay with you and we can play some games to take your mind off it okay?” Miss Chestnut said. They went downstairs to find that the foals were all jumbled at the door. Mrs Drops was scrambling to get them to calm down. All of them had little saddle bags stuffed full of pocket money. There was a stallion Sombra hadn’t seen before but based of the matching rings in Mrs drops and his left ears Sombra assumed he was her husband. Miss Chestnut shoved Sombra behind the corner of the wall and whispered to him to stay hidden. 

“Do we have to have half each Velvet?” Mrs Drops asked.

“Yes, well one of them came down with something that’s left them in bed so I will have to stay here”

“Alright then, come on you lot let’s go!” there was a noise of cheers as the foals were taken outside. The door was shut and Miss Chestnut called Sombra out from the corner.

“Sorry about that, I don’t know her husband well enough to trust him” she said to him while taking him to the kitchen to get his breakfast. Hope was just sitting in her chair waiting, and when she saw Sombra she was instantly out of it. She hugged him then booped his nose.

“You feeling better?” she asked him, Sombra shrugged his shoulders before getting on the seat next to hers. Miss Chestnut placed a bowl in front of him which for once didn’t have yogurt in.

“I know you were getting bored of the yogurt, so I’ll try you on cereal. Just eat small amounts at a time and you should be alright” she told him. Sombra stared at the small yellow rings floating in the milk. He picked up his spoon (which he was still struggling to use) and scooped up some cereal. He put it in his mouth and crunched on it lightly. The crunch was a nice change to mush and he got a slight sweetness from it. However it slightly hurt to eat with the rotten molars that were still in his mouth.

“Do you like it?” Miss Chestnut asked him. He swallowed his first spoon of cereal.

“Its…better” Sombra said. There was something he had been craving for years now and that was his Grandams cooking. He would do anything for one of those skewers. 

(“Once all your teeth have grown in I’ll take you hunting”) Opal said to him sensing his desire. Sombra kept munching his breakfast while Hope sat and just twiddled her hooves. She appeared almost bored, but her unfocused eyes suggested she was in some daydream. The trio was mostly quite while he ate, it didn’t take him long to finish, however.

“So you two, what do you want to do?” Miss Chestnut asked them.

“I dunno” Hope mumbled, she was slouched over the table with her for legs stretched out in front of her.

“We have the whole craft box to ourselves” Sombra told her, Hopes ears picked up and so did the rest of her. The pair scampered of to the craft room.

“I guess that’s settled” Miss Chestnut quietly laughed.

-{+}-

Hope and Sombra had pulled out most of the craft supplies. From the glitter glue to the powder paint that just needed water, they pulled out everything. They had already covered an A3 sheet with hundreds of scruffy doodles with either pencils, crayons, pens or any other thing they could find. They had even drawn stuff with glue, chucked glitter on it and blew away the excess. There was pipe cleaner animals with glued on pompoms and paper springs. There was a complete disregard for waste, which Miss Chestnut had given up on enforcing an hour ago. Opal had also given up on protecting his feathers and now sat with a pompom stuffed in his crown. 

“Look! Do you like it?” Hope asked as she propped up her picture. She had painted a squirrel with a single peacock feather for a tail and her fairy Clover was with it.

“Why does it have a feather tail?”

“He just does, do you like it?”

“It’s cute”

“Clover can talk to animals, she’s telling him about pecan pie” she said as she added some more green to clovers wings. Hope was rather good with paints, at least in terms of being able to stay in her outlines, or at least make something that could be identified. 

From the other side of the Orphanage they heard the front door open, Miss Chestnut was bought to attention and she swiftly trotted off. She returned a minute later with the same pegasus they had met on the way back from the dentist. Now in better lighting Sombra could match his dark blue fur and feathers to the feather in Miss Chestnuts hair. His hair was a half and half split of white and turquoise.

“…I also got you this, I now you have a bunch of pictures in your draw so I thought you might want to keep them somewhere nicer” the stallion said. Hope and Sombra looked over to see him giving Miss Chestnut a thick book. She looked over at the pair.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I think I know a pair that might get better use out of it than me” she said softly to him.

“No, not at all if it’s this pair” he replied, Miss Chestnut walked over and placed the book on the cleanest spot of the table. 

“I think you two might like this” she said, Hope stared at it for a brief moment before getting upper excited. 

“It’s a scrapbook! We can put pictures of us in it!” she happily told Sombra before flicking through the blank pages. Those pages were pitch black and the side of the book that opened had a ribbon, which Sombra assumed was to tie it shut, at least he believed he assumed, his mind was foggy. He couldn’t seem to concentrate and his stomach started to ache. The world seemed to wobble beneath his chair and his vision shifted from crisp to blurry. 

(“What’s happened? Are you alright?”) Opal asked him, yet his voice was faint and Sombra struggled to hear him. He saw a magenta thing wave in front of his face. He could faintly hear other voices around him. A sudden chill washed over him and he began to shiver violently. He believed he was groaning but everything started to disappear.

He felt movement, like he was being carried. He was placed on something soft, his bed maybe. Something heavy was placed over him, it smelt familiar, like his…sire. His stomach was churning and his muscles whined with every little movement. But it was the cold that overwhelmed everything, piercing through every cell of his body. He couldn’t hear much but he felt whimpers in his throat with stuttered breathing. There was someone petting his forehead gently. 

Time didn’t seem to end, he shivered for what felt like days. His stomach so desperately wanted to throw up but there was nothing in it to do so, it just ached painfully. There was someone else petting him now, a little more forceful, but more of an accidental force, just heavy hooved. His mind faded in and out, how much longer would this last?

-{+}-

Last time Sombra checked it was light outside, now it was dark. His chill started to go away and so did everything else. He could see properly at least, he rolled over onto his side to find Hope sitting next to his bed. She appeared to have been crying lightly based of her slightly bloodshot eyes, or he had been out of it for days and she hadn’t gone to bed. With him moving she perked up and ran off shouting for…someone. Hope returned with Miss Chestnut in tow, whose face of concern turned to relief upon seeing him not shivering or whimpering. 

“Are you feeling better?” she asked him while holding his hoof. Sombra weakly nodded which apparently wasn’t good enough.

“Are you sure? You still look out of it” she said while using the skin above her hoof to feel his forehead. Sombra reached a hoof out weakly, which Miss Chestnut took hold of and lightly rubbed. 

“I think maybe you should rest for a while, if you’re hungry I can get you some food?” she asked him, Sombra only groaned as another pang of pain shot through his stomach. He curled up on himself and resided deeper in his blankets. Miss Chestnut sighed as she gave him s kiss on the forehead.

“Hope, stay with him up to lights out ok, I’ll bring up some food and water for him in case he does want to eat” she said before leaving him with Hope. Sombra laid there as he felt the bed shift as Hope snuggled up next to him.

“When you feel better we’ll decorate that scrapbook” Hope told him, Sombra had forgotten about that scrapbook, she seemed so excited about it. he felt bad, he had ruined her day basically. She couldn’t go to the faire, then he became ill. He hoped he was better tomorrow.
> Chapter 23: Finally
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sombra felt better, at least mostly so. He didn’t feel sick, he just ached. But he was functional and he would take that. The others foals were in the craft room so they didn’t have everything to themselves. Miss Chestnut told him to stay in bed for another day just to rest, so Hope had bought a few things up. They sat together on his bed with the few supplies she had managed to snag. They had glue, glitter and a little bit of paint. 

“We could put a hoof print on the front” Hope suggested. She was still sounded a little upset by his sudden illness, but the scrap book was still making her happy.

“How?” Sombra asked.

“We can paint our hooves then press them onto the front cover” she said, she lifted a paint brush in her magic and painted onto her hoof wall. Her hoof now coated in green, she pressed it onto the front cover of the scrap book. She removed her hoof and there was a green cloven shape printed onto the book.

“See” she said, Sombra took the brush in his teeth, he did the same thing leaving a much larger and wider cloven shape. There was room on the cover for one more. The pair looked over at Opal who was perched on the frame at the bottom of the bed. 

(“Ah, ah no way in the North are you putting that stuff on me- GET OFF MEEEEE!”) He shouted as Hopes magic encompassed him, dragging him over. Opal wasn’t in a good mood either, as part of Sombra’s symptoms had passed over to him. The peacock wrestled with the magic uselessly.

(“She just want your footprint”) 

(“IF THAT GETS ON ANY OF MY FEATHERS”)

(“If you don’t wriggle then it won’t”)

(“…Fine”) Opal stopped wriggling and let Hope paint his talons. His foot was pushed into the book which he physically recoiled, once he was released he almost instantly flew off.

(“I DID IT, BE HAPPY”) he mentally yelled. The pair looked down at the book to find the print of three spindly toes and a small dot where the back toe just pricked the book. There was only one thing missing now.

“We need a picture on the front” Hope said, she put her hoof to her chin thinking for a moment. 

“I’ll go ask Miss Chestnut” she said as she hopped of the bed and trotted of downstairs. While she was gone Opal returned.

(“Where has she gone?”) he asked.

(“She went to get Miss Chestnut, something about a picture”)

(“Alright then, I am not needed to paint anything else am I?”)

(“I don’t think so”)

(“Good”) 

“She already had some!” Hopes voice bounded off the walls. In her magic there were many pictures, all of them. None of them were coloured, just black and white versions of themselves. She floated them in front of him expecting him to choose which was important enough to be on the front cover. His eyes darted between them all but there was one that just drew his eyes. 

He hadn’t even realised that a picture of that moment had been taken. It was the day him and Hope realised that the small oak was unclaimed by any of the foals. Sombra was laying on a branch. Left legs on one side the right on the other. Hope stood below him, she was curious on how he so easily climbed a tree. He had told her he just imagined it as a mountain, she didn’t understand. Opal was their too, sitting on a lower branch and watching.

“I like this one” He said pushing the floating picture towards her with his nose.

“I didn’t realise she took a picture of that”

“Neither”

“This will be nice on the front because it’s the only one with a full picture of Opal in it” Hope said as she taped the picture onto the front, which Sombra assumed Miss Chestnut had given her the tape. Hope held it up so he could look at the front of the scrap book. There green hoof prints and singular talon prints had dried, almost creating a flower shape, above it was the picture. For the next half an hour the pair organised the other pictures, with the help of Miss Chestnuts habit to date the pictures, they were able to put them in chronological order. Considering Sombra had only been around for a few months, they had quite a few pictures.

“You two having fun?” Miss Chestnut asked them, appearing at the door.

“Look what we made!” Hope said, excitedly holding up the scrap book for Miss Chestnut to see.

“Oh, very clever, although you may need to pack it away”

“Why?” Hope asked, she paused, then she burst into excitement.

“Am I finally getting adopted!”

“You both are”

“Really? Who by?!”

“Well, I have someone at home now to look after you-“

“YOU ARE DATING HIM!” Hope yelled as she launched herself around Miss Chestnuts neck.

“Calm down, you might have to wait a bit, its quite a long walk I want Sombra to fully recover first” Miss Chestnut told her. Hope stretched her neck back so she was looking at Sombra up-side-down.

“You can walk cant you?” she asked him. Sombra stretched his legs a little to test the muscles, they didn’t ache to a point he couldn’t bare it, they just felt tired as if he had sprinted a mile. As he could move them without much strain, he nodded. 

“See we can go tonight!”

“Oh, ok, if Sombra is still good to then we can leave tonight”

-{+}-

Evening came and Hope and Sombra had packed. Sombra didn’t have much. Just his sires blanket, the preserving powder, and the silver rings that used to belong to his sire as well. Hope however had more things, but her bag was so heavy from her candles that she couldn’t carry it. They were waiting at the door while the two mares talked to each other.

“You know, for an Umbrum he’s not as bad as I thought he’d be” Mrs Drops said quietly.

“To be fair, he has no reason to attack you” Miss Chestnut told her.

“I guess so, I didn’t exactly do anything to him like mum and dad did…just be careful ok, I’m not completely convinced” 

“I’ll be fine, I still work here, your going to see me everyday”

“Yes well, just go take your foals home, you’ve put so much attention to them they may as well have come from your own loins so-“

“’scuse me?”

“Just go I’ll look after the others”

“Okay” Miss Chestnut walked back over where she took the pair out of the orphanage for the last time. Miss Chestnut had Hopes bag while Sombra had a very empty bag. His legs weren’t to happy about the walking but he pushed forwards, Opal was strutting alongside him. Hope was in front of both him and Miss Chestnut happily trotting ahead, she had to wait at every corner. 

The walk was indeed rather long and Sombra’s legs slowly started to complain more and more. They passed many irregular crystal homes, many had large gardens which some were left unkempt and others had neat hedge rows and blooming flowers. They kept going down long roads and the odd turn, until they stopped at a pale blue house with neat rose bushes lining the front garden. 

“We’re here” Miss Chestnut said as she passed the white roses. Hope happily bounced on her hooves as her new mother opened the front door. The cool blue walls were contrasted by warm woods and fabrics on the inside. Hope continued to bounce around in her new home, while the blue stallion appeared from the kitchen. 

“Just in time, just finished cooking” he said, Sombra could smell the food, it was fresh from the oven by the wafting spices and fragrances. Right now though, his legs were complaining and those plush seats were very enticing. He dropped his bag and flopped down on the sofa. He tucked his legs in to allow him to sink into the fabric. 

“Are you not hungry Sombra?” Miss Chestnut asked. Sombra looked up at her then tried to move his legs, but they had already given in.

“Oh come on, let them eat on the sofa for their first day”

“Fine, just don’t make it a bad habit”

“Your so posh”

“I am not posh Cloud” Miss Chestnut told him annoyed, the couple dished out the fresh food and served it on plates. Hope had taken a seat next to him and their plates were given to them. The food was small fat triangular pastries, Sombra bit into them but was blasted in the face and mouth by heat.

“Careful bud, they’ll be a bit hot” the pegasi told him, so Sombra sat and waited for his food to cool down. Once they did he could definitely say it was the best in terms of vegetable food he had eaten, it was less boring if anything having the pastry mixed in. 

After their food they were taken to their new rooms. Hopes room was relatively small again but she seemed quite happy with the better bed and proper wardrobe and shelving units. The walls however were rather barren.

“We thought you might want to decorate your own rooms” Cloud said to them, Hope dragged her bag into her room where she started to organise her candles. She put most in colour order on her shelves, her little wax burner was placed on her bedside table. 

Sombra was taken up a staircase again, up through a wide square hole into the attic. Unlike Hopes room it seemed half completed. It was a circular room (due to the shape of the house being more tower like), there was a circular window that stretched out from the slanted ceiling, a painters dream view of the North mountains was in clear sight. He didn’t have much in the way of storage, but his bed was rather interesting. It was a double bed, but at its end their seemed to be a single bed adding to its length. 

“I was told you would become quite a giant so…er…I tried to make some form of a giant bed but still have it fit in here” Cloud laughed to himself. Sombra jumped on his bed which had a much softer duvet then the one at the orphanage. He threw his sires blanket over the bed, everything else had to go on the floor for now. 

“It’s not quite finished yet”

“That’s fine” Sombra said he rolled over onto his back. His eye was drawn to the window, rolling off the bed he found the windowsill could easily be used as a seat. He stared out to the snow capped mountains. 

Sombra noticed how grey the rocks were, they were much bluer deeper into the North. The base of the mountains were disguised by the giant trees that encircled the empire. Their was a pang on his heart as he looked out into the Norths horizon, that way was home.  

(“Home sick?”) Opal asked him. Sombra lightly nodded as Opal fluttered up next to him. 

“I’ll be downstairs with the others if you need us” Cloud said behind him before descending down the rickety staircase. Sombra continued to stare out into mountains, aimlessly, this window was his own little snippet of his home.
> Chapter 24: A life skill
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been about a month since Hope and Sombra were adopted. There were many changes in their lives. One being they could no longer be joined at the hip every hour of the day, as Hope was sent to school but Sombra was kept home. Cloud being someone who works at home was able to teach Sombra the simplicity of primary school, although Sombra was aware that he would be sent to high school. 

Currently Sombra was sitting in his window, it was three o’clock and he was waiting for Hope to return from school. He was always eager for her to return, even though he often didn’t have any news or things to give to her, they just weren’t quite used to being separated yet. He watched the path leading up to the house.

(“You know, you seem to miss being around her more than your own family”) Opal told him. Sombra’s eyebrows lowered along with his ears.

(“Or do you block that out because you know it would hurt more?”) Sombra shrugged his shoulders, he did certainly miss his family. Although Opal did hit the nail on the head, Sombra found that if he ignored the stuff that happened then he didn’t cry as much. 

(“Did your parents ever get a chance to teach you how to hunt the animals down here?”) Opal asked him.

(“I only know about wyverns”)

(“In that case, when Hope returns you can play with her and I’ll take you hunting close to sunset”)

(“You know how to hunt?”)

(“You’re not my first”) Sombra left it at that, he continued to watch the pathway. In the distance at the end he saw a blue figure and a little magenta one. Sombra sprung of the windowsill and scampered down the rickety staircase then the more stable one. He waited on the sofa for them to come through the door. It clicked and Hope leaped into the house.

“Hello!” she greeted him as she bounced onto the sofa next to him. She squeezed him tightly in a hug which he returned. Hope delved into her bookbag and pulled out three wool bracelets. They were red, white and pink braids, one significantly shorter than the others. 

“They’re friendship bracelets!” she said as she wrapped one around her ankle with her magic, she wrapped another around Sombra’s ankle which had already developed quite a bit of fluff. In order to get it tight she had to squish a bunch of fur. Hope turned to Opal and raised the smaller braid.

“And one for you” she tied the braid into a little necklace, but she left it much looser. Opal ruffled his feathers to get the braid in a comfortable position, it settled with a few feathers laying on top. 

“You wanna go in the sand?” Hope asked Sombra.

“Ok” the pair trotted off leaving Opal behind, who wasn’t a fan of sand. In the kitchen, Cloud was busy chopping vegetables. The pair assumed by the large pot and fresh baguettes they were having stew. Hope lifted the keys of the hook and flipped through the odd amount of keys.

“You pair going outside?” Cloud asked them, he turned to help her with the keys easily pointing out the correct one. They unlocked the door and scampered out to the sand pit, where they collected their buckets and shovels out of the box. 

The back garden was much bigger than the front, this was partly due to the giant amount of grassy space between houses. There were three things in the garden: the sand pit, a patio with a table and chairs and an apple tree. The tree was currently covered in white blooms which would soon turn into…not very nice apples. At least if you’re a foal who tries to eat them raw and learn the bitter taste of uncooked cooking apples the hard way. The pair played in their sand, building castles and other makeshift shapes until they were called in for tea. 

“Make sure you scrape your hooves off” Cloud told them, blocking their entrance to the kitchen with his wings. The pair dragged their hooves across the coarse brush that was bolted to the stone, scrapping the sand out of their hooves. They sat back down in the kitchen and their bowls of hot soup were placed in front of them. Opal sat on the edge of the table and pecked at breadcrumbs. He was given scraps of vegetables by Cloud and Opal only half minded.

(“Don’t eat too much, you have to eat your hunts after all”) Opal told him.

(“What are we hunting?”)

(“Well, from what I have seen around here there is mostly hares, foxes and weasels for small prey, then there is moose and bears but you aren’t big enough yet for them, you can’t fly…well you can you just leave a giant trail which isn’t exactly stealth, however I will peck you tongue out if I catch you eating a bird”)

(“ok”) Sombra ate the rest of his vegetables but left his bread. 

“You finished bud?” Cloud asked him.

“Opal said he’s going to take me hunting”

“O-oh…right…yeah sure…”

(“Hunting won’t sit right with them, just give them some time to…remember what your proper diet is”)

-{+}-

They waited a couple hours for it to get past five so there was time for adults to get home from work. After they were convinced the rush our had finished they prepared to leave, which didn’t consist of much preparing. Sombra just removed the little bracelet, he didn’t want it too get dirty.

“Are you leaving now Sombra?” Cloud asked him. Him and Hope were flopped on the sofa for the afternoon. Sombra nodded as he left for the door with Opal on his back. They made their way down the street, which was now mostly quiet, it was just the odd sound of a few birds and a light breeze. 

(“I remember seeing a river near by”) Opal commented.

(“By the willow”)

(“Do you know how to fish?”)

(“Not really”)

(“Let’s start their then…we are going the wrong way”)

(“Are we?”)

(“It runs down at the West of the empire, we are going East”) they turned around and took a different path. Heading the right direction they soon left the crystal path into the grassland, they could see the dent in the land where the river ran. Sombra began to trot merrily through the grass, Opal shifted places on Sombra to avoid as much bouncing as possible. 

They arrived at the river which was as clear as it was a few months ago. Sombra could see the silhouettes of fish swimming through the water. It was just Sombra and Opal alone in the entire grassland. 

(“My sire did a bit of fishing”)

(“were you a fishing tribe?)

(“No, our territory was just by the sea”)

(“Did he ever teach you?”)

(“not…really…I was normally kept at home while the others went hunting”)

(“So it’s my job to do something your parents should have done around abouts now? yeah I can do that”)

(“You don’t sound so confident”)

(“Well my last umbrum was a full grown adult and not a foal with only half a brain- no offence, so I never had to teach basic life skills before”)

(“okay, so how do I fish?”)

(“…look at…the water”)

(“k”) sombra looked at the water. He could feel the mental chord still active as Opal racked his mind.

(“Right, so this is usually more useful when your fully grown and more proportional, but if you see where your head naturally reaches the floor you put your hoof to that distance, but in the water, and any fish that get near are within range”) Sombra stared blankly taking a moment to understand, before stepping away from the water and doing what he said. Attempting to memorise the distance between his hooves, Sombra placed one in the cool water. 

(“When one gets near…er…bite it. You have teeth, use them”) Sombra waited for a fish to get near his hoof. He waited. He spotted one, he dove, he missed. The fish swerved and Sombra glared at the water as if it had insulted him. 

(“Try again, you won’t get it perfect the first time”) and so Sombra stood and waited, watching the fish for the one that got close. He lunged and he fought with a fish to get it to stay in the clasp of his jaw. Its tail end stuck in its mouth it flopped around eventually wriggling its way out. The fish flopped on the dirt and Sombra pinned it with his hoof. 

(“What now?”) Sombra asked.

(“It will suffocate soon, leave it to one side and catch another”) Sombra put the fish to the side and slowly it stopped flopping about. He returned to the water where it took him a few more attempts to get another fish. He put it next to the other fish.

(“You mentioned you had a family member who did the cooking, do you remember if they did anything with fish?”) Opal asked.

(“Well, Grandam used to cut the fish into like slabs, then she put some like veg or fruit on them while she cooked them on some sticks over the fire…but the fishes were giant with big mouths”)

(“Pike? These definitely aren’t them, but you can still grill these, do you remember how to make a campfire?”)

“um…” Sombra said aloud as he wandered off to a nearby tree. He scooped up some dead leaves and twigs and placed them in a pile in front of Opal.

(“When it comes to a place with plants you need to find a spot that won’t catch on fire in all directions”) Opal said. Sombra looked around, but there was grass and trees everywhere.

(“Everywhere has grass”)

(“So you must find somewhere suitable”) Sombra looked further around and saw a large rock in the distance.

(“Would that work?”)

(“Does it look flammable?”)  they gave each other a judgmental glare before Sombra trotted off to the rock, Opal following. They walked for a few minutes before they reached the large rock, it was mostly flat on top which should allow a fire to be made. Climbing atop it  Sombra dumped his sticks and leaves and arranged them into a pile. 

(“No like this”) Opal said, he used his talons to arranged the sticks into a square and placed the leaves in the middle. 

(“Get some larger sticks, it terms of width”) he told Sombra. Sombra leapt down from the rock and back to the odd trees. There wasn’t many thick twigs on the ground, so Sombra reached up to the branches.

(“They need to be dry, so not straight from the tree”) Sombra landed on his hooves heavily, gave a quick glare from the distance and trotted off to get some thicker sticks. Managing to find a few he returned to the rocks. Although Opal struggled with the larger pieces he arranged them into a large square stack.

(“Do you know how to light a fire?”)

(“No”)

(“You can use flint, or any smooth rock that sparks, and a knife…or just whack it on with your magic”) with that Opal’s feathers shimmered and a blaze ignited on the leaves between the sticks. He places the small twigs on top in a smaller grid pattern. Continuing with his magic that Sombra didn’t know he had, Opal (rather un elegantly) gutted the fish by ripping their bellies open and dumping it off the edge of the rock. Then splitting them in half he laid them on the fire. The flickers of fire grazed the fish. Sombra noticed a tiredness to Opals eyes and his feather drooped when they stopped glowing.

(“We are not we adapted to magic, although we are more competent then umbrum”)

(“What do you mean?”)

(“Despite being unicorns you are more built to hunt and kill compared to doing magic, hence why your horns are curved and serrated”) Opal said, Sombra glanced up at his horn, which was straight and smooth.

(“It grows in, for your dams sake. Some umbrum can use magic, but very simply”)

(“I think my two uncles did magic”)

(“Did your parents?”)

(“No”)

(“Then you probably won’t either, sorry bud”) the pair went quiet as the fish was grilled, occasionally turned over. The sky slowly turned gold as the sun set, casting cosy hues over the land. A gentle night breeze made its way across the grass making it wave. The shimmer of the sun reflected off the running water of the river. 

(“They are ready”) Opal said, using a talon to drag a fish of the grill, which was thoroughly charred, and placed it in front of Sombra. Taking a chunk, it had some flavour, but it was mostly just fishy.

(“it’s not the best”) Sombra commented.

(“Definitely better when properly cooked with other things, if you are able to make this a comfortable subject, you could get Missy or Peggy to get you a bag so you can carry stuff home…normally we use leather but they won’t have that here but-“)

(“What about the old camp? We had food bags”)

(“those are long lost to mold and rot, I don’t think they are salvageable, meat doesn’t last long let alone two hundred years”) they went silent again as they ate the rest of the fish, the sun lowered in the distance.

(“We should go back, they probably want me back before dark”) Sombra said as the sky slowly shifted to black. 

(“I will have to stay here to watch the fire for a bit, you know the way back?”)

(“Yep…why do you have to watch the fire?”)

(“Just to make sure it actually goes out”)

(“Okay”) Sombra left Opal on the rock, seeing him pull apart the twigs and using the last bits of his magic to lift dirt onto the embers. Trotting off through the grass Sombra made his way back to the crystal homes. Within the gras he found a single flower. Like a daisy, but with far more petals making a thick band around the yellow centre. He picked it, he knew who would like it. He held it gently in his mouth. His hooved landed on the crystal path as he trotted past the sparse houses, a couple half built. Finding the roses he made his way to the back door of the house.

“Hello! Did you like your trip?” Hope asked meeting him in the kitchen. He pushed his head forward offering her the flower.

“Oh, thank you” Hope took the flower in her magic, making Sombra’s tongue tingle. He noticed a little bit of red flush into her face. 

“Where’s Opal?”

“He’ll be back in a bit-“

(“OI”) Sombra jumped at the shout from his mind, turning to the door he saw an unimpressed Opal, staring through the glass. Opening the door Opal strided in, he looked over the pair. Hope was examining the flower, turning it around in her magic.  

(“You got her a flower?”)

(“mhm”)

(“She seems to like it”) Hope gave a wide yawn which Sombra repeated. 

“Come on you two, bedtime” Miss Chestnut said around the door, having returned a few hours ago. 

“But he just got home! I wanna play” Hope whined. 

“No, No, it’s half eight” Miss Chestnut insisted. Giving Sombra a sympathetic look she trundled off up to her room. 

“You two Sombra” Miss Chestnut told him, he climbed up to his room where he curled onto his bed.

(“You wont sleep for a bit, you’ve just ate”) Opal said as he perched on the bedframe. Sombra pulled blankets over him and rested his head into the pillow, he realised it was fresh. Miss Chestnut must have done it before he came back, he tried to, but he wasn’t strong enough to lift the blankets let alone not tie himself in knots. He did fall asleep eventually as his eyelids grew heavy.
> Chapter 25: Part two of I don't know what to name this chapter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the past week Sombra had been leaving to hunt every night. He was still mostly on fish, but a couple days ago he was taken back to the dentist to get the rest of his rotten teeth removed. Opal had told him when they are all grown in too a substantial amount he could start hunting things like rabbits. 

Right now Sombra was sitting at the kitchen table with Cloud doing his Ponish. As Cloud was a writer, he was able to teach Sombra the basics of the language, him being able to work from home also meant he could teach Sombra the simple primary school math. He finished writing small sentences with adjectives when he moved onto the next task.

“Right so, the next is to write a small description about your home” Cloud told him. Sombra flipped his page and stared briefly at the blank paper.

“With the adjectives?” he asked, the pencil in his mouth bounced with his words.

“Yes, just a paragraph”

“Okay” Sombra pressed his pencil into the paper. However he didn’t write about the crystal building with its little windows and the rose garden. Instead he wrote about a cave with two chambers, each with a fire. About the stacks of leathers, meats and fruit that were pushed against the walls. 

“You miss home don’t you?” Cloud said softly to him. Dropping his pencil Sombra shrugged his shoulders, now that he had gone out hunting he was missing home more and more. 

“Well, look, I need to go get Hope from school and then after you can tell me about home ok”

“Okay” Sombra left his seat, leaving his work on the table. Back in his room he sat on his windowsill, gazing out towards the mountains. He just wanted to go home with his family. Yet he felt that he was safer here, at least in this house with three ponies that actually liked him. He had a feeling he wouldn’t make it in the North on his own anyway. 

However he could only stare out a window towards home for so long, not wanting to just sit their sad Sombra made his way back down the stairs. Halfway down though he found the door to the adults bedroom open, he could see the desk that Clouds different drafts and papers were sprawled over. Knowing he had about twenty minutes, he decided a small look couldn’t hurt. 

Amongst all the papers and stories Sombra found one titled “What makes something a monster”. There were scruffy sketches of creatures he had never seen, like Manticores and Timberwolves (although he could swear he had seen them before). There were different attributes written next to them, such as sharp teeth, claws, not pony and meat eater. Next to them Sombra saw an Umbrum, with the same things such as sharp teeth, claws ad meat eating, but there was equine and intelligence. He didn’t understand any of it, or at least why Cloud would be laying out such things. Sombra left for the stairs again.

-{+}-

When Cloud returned with Hope, his wing was around her. The moment the small sniffles hit Sombras ears he found himself automatically hurrying over to nuzzle and groom her. They curled up on the sofa and Cloud sat down in front of them.

“You want to tell me what’s wrong now?” Cloud asked her, he wiped away a tear and Sombra nuzzled her withers.

“S-Suzieloo got her c-cuite m-mark and now I’m the only one without” she whined. 

“We’ve told you this before there not that special”

“b-but they are, they tell you what y-your gonna do”

“If that was the case then your mother would have no choice but to farm chestnuts”

“But they’re still important” Hope argued, the small nibbles from Sombra had calmed her down.

“Yes, but they don’t decide your whole life”

“Well that depends, I could have had writing as a hobby but I turned it to my job”

“But shouldn’t I have got mine by now?”

“I wasn’t a perfect writer at age seven, I couldn’t even spell”

“So I just have to…wait?”

“Yes” Hope went silent for a moment.

“But that’s boring!”

“Keep trying new things and you will get yours eventually” Cloud told her, he patted her head then stood up and left to the kitchen. The back door was opened alongside a flutter of wings.

(“What’s happened? you only groom her when she’s upset”) Opal asked him, Sombra and Hope were still curled up together.

(“It’s those cutie mark things again, she’s the last one to have one or something”)

(“I assume she’s recovered? She seems quite contempt with you nibbling her ears”) 

“That still tickles” Hope giggles, she bent into an awkward position to boop his nose. 

“Hey Opal” she said as she rolled onto her back, she looped her legs around Sombra and rolled them of the chair, landing on top of Sombra. 

“Close your eyes, count too thirty and come find me!” she told him, bouncing away.

“Um…okay, one, two, three…” he counted with his eyes closed. He heard a faint pitter patter of hooves on the stairs, then almost nothing but Cloud in the kitchen. Once he got to thirty he opened his eyes as she was gone.

(“Did you see where she went?”) he asked Opal

(“I’m a hundred percent sure that’s breaking the rules”)

(“Do you know the rules?”)

(“Well, no. I just get the feeling I’m not supposed to tell you where she went to hide as you have to go find her”)

(“Ok”) Sombra stood up and headed for the stairs, he was positive she went up so he started there. He didn’t hear his rickety set so he assumed she was somewhere on the second floor. 

Entering her little bedroom he checked under the bed, patted the duvet and searched her dresser. Although he doubted she could fit in those drawers. Not finding her he moved to the bathroom, the door was open which typically meant no one was in there. He checked the bath but she wasn’t there. Then he noticed stuff on the windowsill that was typically inside the cabinet. He opened the door to find Hope somehow curled up inside.

“How did you get in their?” Sombra asked her.

“I took the things out…did that give it away?”

“Yeah I think so”

“oops, your turn” hope said, she climbed out of the cabinet and shut her eyes and started to count. Sombra having picked up the games rules quietly but quickly walked off, he saw the tree from the window. He attempted to scamper quietly down the stairs.

“ten, eleven, twelve…”

Making it too the kitchen he found cloud sitting in the open back door with a coffee, letting the breeze pass through his feathers. Sombra could no longer hear hope but he guessed he was past half time. Leaping into the apple tree he applied some of his knowledge on climbing a mountain to the tree. The hardest part was the trunk but he got to the branches and hid withing the leaves.

(“Opal go somewhere that isn’t here”)

(“Okie dokey”) Opal fluttered off. Sombra waited without movement, waiting for a good few minutes. There wasn’t many small places he could hide like Hope but she was probably checking anyway. Yet he sat like a statue, his hair was the only thing that slightly drifted. He waited. Eventually she appeared outside, looking very confused. Opal was with her. She searched the box and the sandpit and looked around every bush and the corners of the house. She turned to Opal looking defeated.

“Is he in the house?” Opal shook his head.

“Is he outside?” Opal nodded.

“…but he isn’t”

(“I think she’s given up you know”) Sombra jumped out the tree, Hope glared at him, but he could see how she was telling herself how obvious it was. She blew off her annoyance with a huff and they played again, up to tea.

(“I just thought of something that is borderline cheating”)

(“What”)

(“You’re an umbrum, you can turn to shadow, you can hide in shadows as miniscule as the ones in the carpet, you could become the floor”)

(“How?”)

(“Did I not tell you how to shadow?”)

(“No”)

(“Oh, well there’s a plan, tomorrow?”)

(“Ok”)
> Chapter 25: Roses
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(“Right look, I’m not too sure how to describe it, you just got to like…imagine spreading out?”)

(“Imagine?”)

(“Yeah I guess, has Bean ever told you about like, just imagining things floating and it happens”)

(“Who’s Bean?”)

(“Hope, has she ever told you that?”)

(“Maybe?”)

(“Alright, just like, you know, push like outwards in your chest and think about shifting to shadow”)

(“Ok”) Sombra did as he was told. He squeezed his eyes shut, a soft tingle spread slightly in his chest before it vanished.

(“anything?”)

(“Like, a small tingle, that’s it”)

(“small progress is good progress, it’ll come better over time”) Opal told him in a slightly more encouraging tone.

(“Why can’t you do it?”) Sombra was wondering why Opal couldn’t just demonstrate, like his sire did so many years ago.

(“I’m not exactly an umbrum, nor do I run of dark magic”)

(“Why?”)

(“I dunno ask biology, or Bean, she’s a damn sponge for it, I’m a good thousand years old and she’s made me feel like an idiot and she’s seven”) Sombra remembered back to the day where Hope boggled the minds off everyone as she explained how the horn worked. Nothing stuck.

(“I’m gonna try again”) Sombra said, he did the same process. Shut his eyes and blew his chest out. This time the tingling spread and for a brief moment his hooves ever so slightly lifted of the wooden floor of his bedroom. He lost his grip on the change and returned back to normal with a soft clink of his hooves. 

(“did I do it?”)

(“When you start to float it normally means you’ve dissolved your organs, so yeah getting closer”) the description made Sombra a little wide eyed.

(“there really isn’t a nice way to say that your pulling yourself apart to a cellular level, or the fact that eventually you can half shift and blood still pumps normally, so there’s no nice description and don’t question anything alright?”)

(“…Okay”) there was a ringing from downstairs, it was the bell for food. From bellow him Sombra heard Hope scamper out of her bedroom and down the stairs. The pair made their way down to lunch as well to find fresh bread and different spreads, a usual lunch. There were four plates. One had three slices, two had two slices and another had one. They all sat down to eat, while Opal lifted chunks of his bread in his talons. 

“You wanna do some painting?” Hope asked him, she took another bite of her jammy bread.

“Ok” the pair ate their bread quickly and left the Cloud to slowly chew away while they went to Hopes room. She had a candle lit, a red one. Like spicy apples and cherries. Hope levitated a bunch of paper out onto the floor with the block water paints. Sombra grabbed the little pot out of her drawer and got some water from the bathroom. 

They sat down on her floor together, smushing the cheap brushes into the water and blocks of paint. Creating colourful bubbles on the chunks and dragging the colour across the paper. Hope had more control thanks to her magic, making her lines much smoother in comparison to Sombra’s, who was relying mostly on his mouth. He looked over to see Hope had drawn her fairy’s again. 

“Who’s that one again?” Sombra asked.

“This ones Tulip, she’s the monarch” Hope told him. Tulip was holding different crowns, as if she was deciding which she wanted to wear. She was decked out in jewellery Sombra noticed, it was a little smudged. 

“She likes shiny things, she’s a little mean sometimes” Hope continued to paint the golden fairy.

“What are you painting?” she asked him. Sombra looked down at his picture where he wasn’t really focusing on what he was painting. But he had drawn stick versions of his tribe.

“Are they your family?” Sombra nodded. 

“There’s me, then dammi and sirri, there’s granddam and grandsire, there’s auntie and uncle Amarilla and Folre, my cousins Yesqen and Yesric, then uncle Folwin”

“Wow, you have a big family, how are you an orphan?” Sombra stayed silent, although he mostly didn’t know. He just knew they weren’t here. He grabbed his paint brush and added in a barely visible white Opal next to his little figure. 

“What about your family?” Sombra asked her.

“I dunno, I only remember the orphanage, but I must have a mommy and daddy somewhere right?”

“But you say Miss Chestnut and Cloud are your parents”

“But they’re not my actually parents, they just adopted me…” she had said something else, but Sombra noticed a change in his mind. It was Opal, he often forgot he was there, there was a form of sadness in him.

(“What’s wrong?”)

(“Nothing”)

(“Do you know what happened to her parents?”)

(“You are too young to understand”) there was a light thump next to him and the scrap book was on the floor. It had a couple more pictures in it now, mostly of them in the sandpit which Cloud had taken from the patio, Miss Chestnut wasn’t home often enough to take them. Hope patted his painting gently, it had dried up quickly. 

“I think it should go in here”

“Why? What about yours?”

“I put my old one with all three of my fairies in already” Hope put the paper into the back of the scrap book where Sombra saw her other drawing. They sat there for a few more hours, drawing and painting random things. They went through too many papers by the time they got hungry again. While Hope just got a snack, Sombra was allowed out to hunt.

(“I think there used to it now”) Sombra told Opal.

(“They’ve probably realised it’s this or you starve”) 

(“Can we go East today?”)

(“…sure”) they walked silently, there was a few ponies out on the street. They mostly kept to the ally’s between houses, occasionally crossing over. Again they crossed into the middle grass land and headed towards a forest. Halfway through Sombra found a dirty pathway. The grass was slowly claiming it and the soil had spilled over.

(“Look, a path, we should follow it”) Sombra said.

(“Er, well game doesn’t usually follow pathways, theirs not exactly grass on it, and you would stick out easier”) 

(“I still want to follow it, but I’ll get like, a rabbit first. I think my teeth are big enough now”) Sombra turned from the pathway, scanning for holes in the grass and dirt. He knew they were often by trees and undergrowth, but there was no harm in checking. He had learnt where the burrows exactly were on the other side of the empire. It didn’t take long though for him to spot a pair of long grey ears sticking up through the grass. The back of the ears, he was behind it. He hunkered down, but he kept his leg mobile beneath him. 

(“Tilt your head, your horn has grown a little now, it sticks up straight. Tilting it will make it look like it’s just something fallen over, and not propped up by a skull”) Opal told him. Sombra jutted to a halt as the rabbit shifted, the inner ear flicking at him. It went back to its grass, his hind legs tensed. Muscles coiled like a spring. Wait. Wait. He pounced and clamped down.

(“I did it!”) the rabbit’s last strain of movement wriggled between his teeth and then it stopped. 

(“You did well for your first rabbit. Many struggle considering how skittish they are”)

(“How do I cook it?”)

(“Honestly, I don’t know. I think most just eat them as is. They never sold for much so there just eaten”) Sombra put the dead rabbit down and ripped its belly open. It had been so long since he had the taste of meat. The last time was a piece of Amore, at least rabbit tasted better. The blood was still arm, the bones crunched between his teeth. What he would do for a good slab of wyvern, spiced with whatever magic his grandam seemed to use. Tormentors were alright, but it depended what part you got. He liked the legs the best, boiled in the shell. The rabbit was gone now, just a slightly damp patch of soil was left. 

(“Can I follow the path now?”)

(“You…you do remember what’s up their right?”) Sombra stared at him blankly.

(“You’re not taking no for an answer are you”)

(“No”)

(“You know what, sometimes it’s best to learn things the hard way…but I guess that’s the only way to learn this so off we go I guess”) Opal hopped onto his rump, sounding oddly enthusiastic, as Sombra stood up. He trotted back over to the path, then followed it into the trees. Patches of snow were resting sparsely over the ground.

(“She’s reduced the barrier to hide it, how clever”) Sombra twisted his head back to look at him.

(“Snows very good at burying stuff, especially from the North”) Sombra continued up the path, which was getting steeper. He could just about trot up it now, he used the giant roots of the redwoods like stairs. He looked to one side.

Between the trees there was a sea of pitch black. Yet there was colourful patches. Often there was a patch of no colour, amongst the blues, reds, yellows and every other colour but green. If he looked beneath them, there was a tangle of silver. He took some steps towards it. He realised they were flowers. Large petal dense black flowers, like roses. Each petal was tipped with a vibrant colour. The colour shimmered as if it was glitter. The silver was the stems, growing out of- he stumbled backwards. He landed hard on the ground, pushing himself back to the path. 

A large skull stared him down. the silver stems of the roses sprouted from it, one from the mouth, another from the eye socket. There was still strands of half rotten black flesh strained across it. The teeth giant, roots stretching up into the nose bone. Fractured and broken. There was an echo, deep in his mind. yet it was not his voice.

(*And the black roses they bloom from our graves…*) across the chord Opal was singing to himself, yet he was not speaking to him. Slow, mellow, respectful. Sombra weekly raised back onto his legs. He trundled back to the path. And yet he found himself going up the path, not back down. 

(*Built to last till the end of our days…*) there was more roses, more dense now. Bodies piled on top of each other between the trees. Almost as if they were thrown down the steep slope. He started seeing cut bricks stacked neatly along the path.

(*But when the time comes, the black roses will fall…*) A structure came into view. Looming from the side of a mountain, archways of stone stacked on top of each other. Then there was more bodies, covered in snow now. It was in thick layers, hiding everything. The structure towered high, yet still it was hidden behind all the redwoods. 

(*Crumbling away to times embrace*) Sombra stood at an entrance way now. The stone was freezing over, frost in the cracks. There was staircases to his sides, going up to the archways. They were the only way to go from here. He climbed one, it was thin and cramped for just him. Through a smaller door like arch, he found himself looking out into a circle. The structure was a ring of seats, all focused on a central arena. 

It was mostly blanketed in snow now, wind was rebounding in a spiral inside. Not strong, but certainly cold. There was a large mound around one side. A large animal of a sort. It was weird though, it didn’t look like one thing. There was a severed insectoid like tail. Then a pair of bat like wings, its head was mostly covered by a thick mane of fur. however Sombra’s eyes were drawn to a lone body in the middle. It was preserved in frost, and it was an umbrum. Fully grown yet skin and bone, pelted with arrows. There were roses growing out of them, frozen stiff. Even through the frost, Sombra could swear he could recognise the umbrum. 

(“What are you doing? Why is your curiosity so morbid?) Opal questioned Sombra as he hopped down to the ground. He approached the umbrum. Its roses were blue tipped, so were the cracked hooves and claws. The horn was long sawn off. They were covered in more animal like scars, not so much the chains on the neck and legs. Sombra peered down onto the face. A shaggy overgrown beard and long thin hair. The eyes were half open, a foggy haze from being exposed was over them. The royal blue had faded beneath it, even so he recognised them.

“S-siri…get up” Sombra tugged at an ear, nothing moved. He tugged some more.

“Please, get up” he collapsed down to curl up into his sires cold neck. Opal stood there, a little deflated looking. His wings weren’t tightly tucked into his side. 

(“I’m sorry, he’s not getting up”)

(“Why not?”)

(“He’s dead. I won’t sugar coat it, it is something that can only be learnt the hard way”) Sombra sat there, sniffling, tears dripped into the snow. He sat their for what seemed like hours to him. 

(“We should go home, the sun is starting to set”) he reached a wing out and patted down Sombra’s eyes. It took a little coaxing to get Sombra standing again, he didn’t want to leave. But he got up in the end. They walked silently down the hill, occasionally Sombra lost his footing and slipped. Opal wasn’t sitting on his back, instead walking along side him, hopping down the root steps which were to big for him. 

By the time they got home, Hope and Cloud were having tea, Miss Chestnut wasn’t home yet. Sombra walked straight past them, and up the stairs to his bedroom. He curled up into his blankets.
> Chapter 26: A walk
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Come on, what’s wrong?” Hope begged him, patting his shoulder. Sombra hid his face under his for legs, the rest of his body was tangled between his duvet and his sires blanket. They weren’t properly pulled over him. Behind him Opal was making a crude drawing explaining what happened, the pencil was held unwieldy in his talon. Cloud watched over him, his wings loose at his sides.

“Hope, just go downstairs for a moment will you” 

“But he needs hugs” Hope gripped onto Sombra’s shoulders. He didn’t want her to leave, but at the same time he wanted to be alone. 

“Hope-“

“But-“

“Downstairs” Hope reluctantly let go off him, Sombra heard her very slowly go down the staircase. But she stopped midway, before going down. He could feel the weight of Clouds wing on top of him, but he couldn’t feel the soft feathers through the blanket. 

“Just let it out ok bud, it’s not good to keep it in” Cloud said softly, although Sombra had already let out most of his tears. His cheek fur was damp as well as a small patch of the bed under his head. All that was left was the dry tears and heavy heaves of his ragged breaths. He laid there for some time, whimpering. He wasn’t sure how long, he had lost track of how long it had been since he returned home. Slowly though, he settled and calmed down but he felt empty. He heard Hope come back up the stairs.

“I have cookies” Sombra’s ears perked up, he twisted to see a few cookies floating above Hope. One drifted over and he grabbed it in his teeth. Between his hooves he took small little bites. She sat in front of him a chewed on her own, often she gave him a sorrowful look. She looked back down at her cookie.

“Hey!”

(“Gimme the crumbs Bean”) Opal had snuck beneath her, sneaking crumbs off the wooden floor. He hopped around her hooves, tail swinging under the bed, picking up a plume of dust. A small smile flickered on Sombras face. 

They were all distracted by the front door opening and the dropping of a bag. Cloud made his way down the staircase, a little confused looking. 

“Your home early” they heard him say, they both knew who he was talking to and it prompted both of them to head down. Miss Chestnut being home was really the only thing that got Sombra out of his blankets. Hope was down the stairs well before him, hearing her grip onto her legs with a giggle. Sombra trundled down the stairs, ears still folded. 

“Oh, are you okay?” Miss Chestnut asked him, holding his chin lightly. His lip started to quiver.

“He’s err…seen some things, I think he’ll be more comfortable talking to you” Cloud told her, almost as a whisper. 

“Ok, let me put some stuff away sweetie” she told Sombra. She picked up her bag again and went up the stairs.

“Oh, why are you home early?” Cloud asked up to her.

“I got somepony else in so I can work half days” she disappeared upstairs, a couple of minutes later she returned downstairs, to find just Sombra at the door who had patiently waited. Hope had chased Cloud, jumping to bite his tail feathers.

“Alright, do you want to go for a walk? We have a few hours for tea so we can take our time” 

“O-okay” he whimpered, following her out the door with Opal perched on her rump. They walked down the street, a couple of ponies were also around. They split of into smaller pathways going South towards the crystal mountains. 

“I haven’t been this way before” Sombra told her.

“Have you not? Where do you normally go?”

“I go to the river, animals like to be by rivers” they were passing into an area that was in the process of being built. New crystals being spread up over wooden frames. Eventually they hit the grass, they went a little further until they were well away from the busy areas.

“You can tell me when you feel like it, I won’t make you” they walked for a minute as Sombra contemplated what to say. He didn’t want to relive it, yet he had to tell her. Slowly he got words out, he started with the roses, the skeleton, the colosseum, his sire. Miss Chestnut was silent the whole way through, not saying a word. Her eyes were watering, he could see her working to hold them back. She looked away to catch her breath, yet it faltered when her eyes fell onto an orchard. 

“They’re weird trees” Sombra commented, he wasn’t used to the dome like shape. The apple tree in the back yard was like it, but these were much larger.

“Its my family orchard, they grow chestnuts, hence the name” She told him, Sombra having recovered quickly, attempted to wander over, but she stopped him.

“No, they won’t like you”

“Why not?”

“They were for your slavery, most farmers were. Its another reason they don’t like me”

“Why don’t they like you?”

“I was against Amoree, it split up a lot of families…I also cant have my own foals…but you wont understand till later…lets just stay away” she pushed him back to their original rout continuing to walk a wide birth from the orchard.

“You know, I don’t think I ever got to ask you about your own tribe” she asked him. Sombra’s ears perked up, his eyes developed a little shimmer.

“Me and the twins used to jump on our sires in the morning, we normally woke our dams up doing so. But their sire was a bit grumpier than mine, but it was the both of them at the same time” he began to trot ahead of her, a couple of hops in his gait. 

“Our tribe hunted these giant wyverns, and when we killed one we would chop it up. Then when we got home my granddam would cut it up more and she would keep some for us. But most of it she would but different leafy things on it and we would trade it for metals and leather from other tribes” Miss Chestnut was trotting to keep up with him now.

“So you had a trading system?”

“Yeah! Me and my uncle would go around other tribes with smaller things to trade. Although sometimes we would take a portion of meat and we would trade it for other meat. We would go to this other tribe that hunted tormentors, and granddam would boil it in the shell and it was super good!”

“She sounded like a good cook, did anyone else cook in your tribe?”

“No not really, but dammi helped sometimes”

“Hey, slow down a little” she asked him. Sombra had trotted off, not quite realising how far he had gotten from her. He stopped and waited for her to catch up. The sun was starting to set now, the golden light making her skin stones shine. 

“Actually, we should be getting back now” they turned tail and went back down the path they came, passing the orchard again.

“Why didn’t Mrs Drops like me?” Sombra asked her.

“Oh its not that she didn’t like you, its just that she lost her parents to an incident with some umbrum, it soured her a little. I think she tried to stay unbiased around you though, but you don’t have to worry about that okay”

“Okay” they continued walking, back into the half built houses, the work ponies had left now. The small night breeze started to wash over them, Sombra heard some feathers ruffle.

(“Why are you so quite?”)

(“It was nice hearing you talk, that’s all”) they made it home, the sun mostly set. Hope was already in bed, there bedtime was a little while ago now. They sat in the kitchen together. Eating some warmed up sweet potato soup.

“Don’t eat to much, you’ll struggle to fall asleep” Miss Chestnut told him. 

“I thought it was easier to fall asleep on a full stomach?” Cloud commented, his voice was quiet and tired. 

“Well lying down straight after isn’t good either”

“I’m done” Sombra told them, his bowl half empty and most of his bread eaten. The adults exchanged some glances, then cloud took his bowl.

“Come on, let’s get you to bed”

“I literally just said-“

“I’m not fighting Hope again, come on bud” he followed Cloud up the stairs again and up into his room. He relaxed in his bed, Opal perched on its foot. 

“Good night bud” Cloud left him comfortably tucked in, relaxed on his side. But a hesitation to sleep came over him.

(“What if I have another nightmare?”)

(“You’ve been alright recently, and talking normally gets stuff off your mind, just relax alright”)

(“Ok”)
> Chapter 27: Prepare for the time skips (they do be necessary)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It has been a whole year. Sombra had kept his hunting almost strictly to the river, he stayed well away from the East. Every now and again however, it would come for him in his nightmares. He often woke up, yet he fell asleep on his own now, he felt like he was going numb to them. Perhaps maybe they won’t disturb him so much now. Unless it learns any new tricks of course.

The small family was all in the living room. The two adults were shifting through different papers and leaflets, saying things the two foals really didn’t care about. Hope and Sombra were together on the sofa as always, Hope was lightly pinned on her back, casually being used as a pillow by Sombra. 

“What’s the date?” Miss Chestnut popped up out of the blue. Cloud looked at her slightly confused by the question.

“err, twenty third offff June- no July”

“July?”

“July”

“Oh, Sombra” she turned to face him, his ears perking up.

“Do you remember when your birthday was or have you lost track?” he stared at her, and he realised he really did lose track of his own birthday. All he knew was it was at some point in the polar day, in which he hadn’t learned how the day and night was split up into months.

“I don’t know, but it was in the day…(“what months are the day?)”

(“Ari to Aur, which I believe is April to August for ponies, I assume you don’t remember how far into the day you were born do you?”)

(“No”)

“That’s…not very helpful” Miss Chestnut told him, confused.

“Day is April to august though”

“Well, today was when you were bought to me, we can make that your birthday if you want”

“Okay”

“Happy birthday” Hope bopped him on the nose. His head recoiled and lightened his grip, which Hope slipped out from under him, then she leapt on top of him.

“Now you’re the pillow” she hooked her forelegs around his neck, she laid on his still slightly bony back.

“Don’t worry bud, we’ll sort out a birthday for you next year” Cloud told him, before returning to the different papers. 

“What you lookin’ at?” Hope asked, craning her neck to try and see the words. 

“Were trying to find a school that both of you can go to…without too much trouble” Miss Chestnut said, Sombra caught a sympathetic glance towards him. He knew why she had said that, it had been quite obvious with her cautious nature in finding places to go with him. He had put two and two together a few months ago. 

(“Strawberry?”) A talon forced a strawberry into his nose.

(“No, I’m fine”)

(“Eat”)

(“I ate five minutes ago”) with a force he didn’t quite know the bird to have, Opal wretched his jaw open and shoved the strawberry in his mouth. 

(“I don’t like-“)

(“How do you not like strawberries?”)

(“I prefer peppers”)

(“Do you want me to shove a habanero in your mouth then or what”)

(“I don’t know what they are”)

(“Oh I will get you some just you wait, don’t think I don’t know how to use a market”) 

(“Fine”)

“Why are you looking at each other weirdly?” Hope asked, they looked at her like they had been caught cheating. Opal took off back to the kitchen, smacking Sombra with air. 

“You sure we can’t just home-school him? It would be easier for him and us” Miss Chestnut said, the adults still in their own conversation.

“Small problem with that, I failed high school”

“You what?”

“Don’t sound disappointed I had tonsillitis which turned into an ear infection during exam week it’s not my fault”

“Alright…actually I’ll have a look at some at the orphanage, we always send the older ones of too high school”

“Gets ‘em of your rump doesn’t it”

“well there’s also a chance that their friends family will take them in, but it does also do that” they continued there talk. It was like that for a month, it was mostly what the couple talked about. School. While Hope was utterly miserable about the subject, Sombra was almost curious. Mostly on what a school even is. The conversation changed when the crystal fair came around again. 

Sombra was in bed, it was easier that way. This time there was a looming dread that rested on him, perhaps he could try and sleep through it. But then it could come get him, or maybe he wouldn’t have the ability to dream. He was already in his blankets, just waiting for the next day to roll around. 

“I’ll be here ok, well, I won’t be here in the morning but I’ll try and get back as soon as I can alright” Miss Chestnut comforted him.

“Why can’t you stay?” his voice was already weaker, mostly from the wait.

“Oh, I wish I could but I have to take the other foals around the fair, but I’ll bring some stuff back ok” 

“Ok” he pushed his nose into his blankets. He didn’t want to go through it again, even if he really couldn’t remember much of the pain. 

“I want to go home” it took her a few seconds to prosses his words and she deflated when she did. 

“I know you do, and we’ll get you home eventually ok”

“But…I don’t have a sirri anymore” he fully hid his face in the blankets. That scene still haunted him at times. She held his hooves gently with a little squeeze.

“Look, I know he’s gone, but I promise we’ll get you back with the rest of your tribe eventually okay”

“You say ok a lot” he pointed out with a sniffle, noticing the trend in her speech.

“Oh do I? must be a force of habit…you’ll be okay, I’m sure Hope will be with you again o- er alright…right, good night” she kissed his forehead and patted down his blankets. He watched her descend down the stairs, before closing the hatch. He liked it shut. But he had his curtains open, it let some light into the room. He couldn’t stand darkness. He didn’t have a nightmare, yet he didn’t sleep. He couldn’t sleep knowing what will happen the next day. He laid and just tried to get through the night with his eyes open. 



It was blurry now, but he felt a little like the bouncing feeling this time. His muscles were barely there functionally, he didn’t dare move them if he could. He didn’t know if he could move his legs, they might be numb. He just didn’t have the energy to try. He had a feeling Hope was next to him, the blurry figure was too small. But now that he noticed it, colours seemed weird. Hope isn’t green. But it was definitely her, he could tell from her voice. He could feel what he believed was Opal on his shoulder, then his long tail draping down his side. His stomach was churning again, he was shivering as well. He hated this.

He couldn’t read his clock for the time it was when he managed to hear Miss Chestnut return. He heard the tones of voices but nothing specific, but he could smell something. It was food, sweat and salty if his nose was right. He heard Miss Chestnuts voice, very faintly.

“You feeling any better?” she asked him, he weakly lifted his head, but it dropped almost instantly.

“You should probably eat healthy, but I bought you some corn anyway, I’ll hold it for you” he felt the corn on his nose, it had a sticky coating which stuck to his fur. he took a hesitant bite, just managing to bull the corn of. Fortunately he had retained most of his taste, he could taste the smoke and salt, yet the sweetness wasn’t there. His stomach didn’t lurch when he swallowed, so he took another bite. He realised he was hungry and he hadn’t eaten the whole day, which encouraged him to use his legs to reach out. They screamed yet he denied them for the need of that corn. He felt Opal move, then a tugging on the other end of his corn. He let Opal have some corn, he was probably ill too Sombra thought. 

The day finally finished, his symptoms wore off as it went dark. He could see and move again, but he was still incredibly tired. He just went back to sleep.



A year passed again, the same as the last. His birthday wasn’t grand, he didn’t know how specifically old he was. But there defiantly wasn’t a birthday card for seven hundreds. They were all in the living room again, but the adults were packing a bag and grabbing coats. They had found what seemed to be a suitable school for the pair to go to and they had a meeting with the headteacher. 

“Come on you two, we have to be there for half four” Miss Chestnut told them, nudging them forward.

“Do I have to go?” Hope complained, her voice was a tiny bit less squeaky now.

“Well we can’t leave you here, so you’re coming with” Cloud told her, pushing her out the door. Sombra followed quietly with Opal on his back as always. They made their way down to a part of the empire Sombra hadn’t seen before. But even so it looked pretty similar to everywhere else, the only main difference was the large building they were approaching. They walked down a pathway that had a grassy area and some trees next to it, a squirrel scampered away. Sombra tried to figure out the shape of the building. There was one part that was three stories tall, there was an extension of the bottom which he believed gave it a t shape. But there were lots of extra side buildings. They went down a small set of stairs and under an overhang, where they entered.

Miss chestnut talked briefly to the receptionist, who lead them to a small room. Inside there were two ponies, a stallion and a mare. The stallion was similar colours to miss chestnut, except he had green eyes and skin stones. Then the mare was green with blond hair, her skin stones were pink and almost seemed transparent. She seemed familiar.

“Good evening Miss Chestnut and Mr Star, it’s nice to meet you, please take a seat” the stallion greeted them. They all sat down around the table, Sombra sat next to Cloud and pulled his chair a little closer to him. Hope slumped down next to him, still annoyed about the situation. 

“I received your letter about your concern, to make sure I went around my staff a couple days ago and indirectly and I’ve come to the conclusion that Sombra should be alright with my staff, I just can’t guarantee the students”

“We understand” Miss Chestnut said almost blankly.

“What we can do is make sure that Sombra is with Hope at any time possible” it was that which perked Hope’s ears up.

“I have also informed my peer students that a new student could be coming who may be a little troubled”

“At the moment, his nightmares have calmed down, there was one time where he went to far East, but so far I haven’t noticed anything to severe showing up” Miss Chestnut informed the head teacher.

(“What does she mean?”) he asked Opal.

(“Shell shock triggers and stuff, I’ve seen some Umbrum not respond to well to the sound of chains, I have noticed you sleep with the curtains open, but that wont affect you at school”)

(“Ok”) 

“This is Mrs Morning, she’s one of my history teachers, I’ve known for a while that she had rather strong opinions, she was one of the few willing to brave the castle” Sombra pierced his eyes through the mares face, he recognised her. He swear he could recognise her. Her eyes paced over his neck, mottled with fur and no fur, bumpy white scars and pits laced around. She recognised him before he did her.

“Your that foal that mare was protecting, I…didn’t expect you to get out” now he recognised her, she was with that pegasus and bought them food.

“Did your mother get out?”

“No” he told her quietly.

“oh, I’m sorry…is this your friend?” Mrs Morning lifted a hoof to touch Opals head softly. Sombra nodded, the other three adults kept talking school things, so he just kept talking to Mrs Morning. Hope stayed primarily unfocused, until Sombra nudged her face. 

“What” she complained, long and drawn out. Sombra tilted his head over to Mrs Morning.

“Are you an orphan to?” she asked.

“Yeah why?”

“I was just wondering, since you look nothing like your parents” Hope flopped her head back down on the desk, she seemed tired, although it appeared more like boredom. It was half four now, and the other adults had mostly finished talking.

“In that case I cant wait to see them in September, I’ll send you on your way, I think some pony’s getting tired” the head teacher said, the adults stood up and Hope and Sombra followed. As they were leaving Mrs Morning stopped them.

“By the way, I think the factory still has its services open, I’m pretty sure they’ve caught on to an umbrum being around”

“I’ll wait until he’s a bit older before I put him in labour” Miss Chestnut replied.

“It just might be easier if he needs medical attention at any point” Miss Chestnut just nodded as she lead them out the building. The adults talked quietly between themselves, but Sombra kept hearing “factory”. 

(“What are they talking about?”)

(“That over there”) Opal flicked his wing, following it Sombra saw a large series of box like buildings, each with giant oversized chimneys puffing smoke.

(“It’s a safe haven, but missy is right in making sure you’re a bit older before you go, you got to pay your rent in work”)

(“Have you been there?”)

(“ i used to hang out there for a while at a time, for the umbrum in there, but i never ventured to far into the empire other than there”)

(“Why?”)

(“They started to catch on with us being smarter than we seem, they shot us on sight but never quite figured out the mental chords, it is why I never came to you sooner, I was drawn to you for a long time”) they made their way home again, in which their were a few more ponies on the street leaving work. They get home and tea is put on straight away. 

“I wanna show you something” Hope told Sombra, taking him upstairs. He followed her into his room, in which she used her magic to light a candle with out to much thought. She pulled out a little notebook and she opened it to a page.

“I found that paper you put your letters on, I’ve been practicing” Sombra held the notebook to find a bunch of umbral scribbles messily written down. He flicked the page seeing the imprints of letters on the back. He could just make out the words, the letters not quite right.

We could use this at school as a secret language

Some of it was spelt wrong though, she had forgotten a few letters.

“You…fluffy” she told him slowly. There was an overwhelming silly happiness in Sombra, to see that she had started to teach herself some umbrum. He flipped to the next page where he wrote down something for her. She sat focused for a while.

“You’re…pretty…really?” she asked, Sombra nodded.

“Er…thank you” Sombra nuzzled her, than wrote down for some more things for her to translate. he told her what different animals were, and then the days, months and seasons. They went like that until they were called down for tea.
> Chapter 28: You have got to be kidding me mate
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The adults had taken Hope out, they, or more Miss Chestnut, didn’t want him out on a busy Saturday, despite him going to school in only a couple weeks. What Sombra decided to do was just have a nap, as he really didn’t have much else to do. However, when he woke up from that nap, he found Opal had left through one of his windows. It was about one o’clock when they all returned. As always, he met them in the living room. Each of the adults had a bag each but Hope also had a saddlebag and Cloud had another. 

“I want to see if this fits you” Miss Chestnut said to him, she pulled out a strip of long red and black striped fabric. She wrapped it around his neck before tying it into a tie. 

“Hopefully it will fit in a few years, I get the feeling your neck won’t be as thin as a ponies” she untied it and put it back in the bag. They told him how they had to guess what he’d like but ended up getting mostly plain stuff just in case. His saddlebag was navy and inside was a navy case which had pencils, crayons and a geometry set in. There were also a couple small pots with lids that were clamped on. Then a small fabric sleeve, inside was a green feather, its spine was carved to a tip. 

“I think it matches your eyes” Hope told him, she showed hers to him, it was white with a pink tip. Hopes saddle bag was purple with some flower embroidery over it, he caught a glimpse of her case, which seemed to match. 

(“I got your god damn peppers”) Opal flew up onto his shoulders, a brown bag in his talons, which Sombra grabbed in his teeth. He went into the kitchen and put it down on the table where he pulled out one of the peppers. It was small and round, but it had multiple hills and valleys. 

(“Go on, eat it”) there was a smugness in Opals voice, expecting a certain reaction. Sombra didn’t know what these habanero peppers were, so he just took a bite. There was a sweetness followed by a tingling burn. He didn’t mind it, what exactly was Opal expecting?

(“…mate”) Sombra took another bite, it really wasn’t that bad.

(“You have got to be god damn kidding me”) Opal was now in pure disbelief, as Sombra finished off one pepper and casually took another. He strolled over to the cupboard where he grabbed a bowl and proceeded to dump the peppers in before walking away, leaving Opal dumbfounded in the kitchen. 

“Here’s your stuff bud” Cloud looped his saddle bag onto his back so he could take it upstairs. He dumped his bag at the base of his bed and put the peppers on the bedside table. He sat on his bed, but he realised he didn’t have much to do. Then he saw Hopes ears peak above his hatch, along with her horn.

“I can see you” he told her. Her head looked over and she trotted into his room.

“Damn it” she sat on the bed with him, she had a little bag with her. She grabbed his hair in her magic and then started to brush it, which only got more violent.

“Do you not brush your hair or somthin?” she started to almost rip knots out his hair, which were pulling on the sensitive skin of his neck.

“It hurts”

“If you brush it more often then it wouldn’t hurt” she told him, still brushing tangles out of his hair. She continued for what felt like hours for Sombra. Eventually she stopped, his hair was detangled and significantly more of it was floating.

“Has your hair always floated?”

“I think so”

“Maybe if  you should brushed it more, it would float more” Sombra didn’t even attempt to argue back her sarcasm, instead he just munched on his peppers. She pulled some ribbons out her bag and started to tie them into his hair.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m just practising” she braided ribbons in, then unwound them and did it again. She tested different kinds of braids, most turning out as a jumbled mess. Through it Sombra just kept eating his peppers, eating so many caught Hopes attention.

“Are those nice?” she asked.

“Yeah” Hope lifted one in her magic, she inspected it briefly. She took a hesitant small bite. She chewed for a moment. Sombra grew concerned as her face reddened, her eyes watered, and her magic stopped working. She whimpered before sprinting off down the stairs.

“What’s wrong?!” he called out to her, not understanding what was wrong.

(“I mean, that was the reaction I was expecting…just not on her”) Sombra followed her downstairs. 

“Are you okay Hope?” Miss Chestnut was in the kitchen, Sombra found Hope with a bottle of milk in her hooves, drinking it desperately. 

“What’s wrong?” Sombra asked her.

“How do you eat those?!” she half cried and screamed at him. She was red faced and her nose was running. She took another swig of milk.

“You can keep those to yourself” She sulked.

“What’s happened” Miss Chestnut demanded from them. Sombra explained to her how Opal had bought some peppers for him, but Hope tried one and doesn’t seem to like them. 

“H-habaneros…you can just…eat them?” she asked confused.

“There not bad”

“Just…keep them to yourself okay” 

“Okay (Can I have more?)”

(“Your insane”)
> Chapter 29: fantastic first impressions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

There first day of school had come, the pair had the few things in their bags packed along with their lunch. They were trotting down the last stretch off path towards the school, the adults had just led them down so they knew where they were going. Opal wasn’t with them he was out scavenging for food. The pair walked down that same pathway, but instead they passed the reception into a pair of double doors further down. They were greeted by the head teacher and where lead to the hall just down the corridor. In the hall there were several rows of seats in front of the stage, they found a pair of seats to themselves.

“How many year sevens do you think there are?” Hope asked, there wasn’t many of them there, only about twenty seats were filled.

“They must of put enough chairs out for all of us, so probably the amount of chairs” slowly more new students came through the doors, a slow buzz of voices began to fill the hall. Hope and Sombra remained to themselves near the back, a lot of the students seemed to know each other.

“Do you know any of them?”

“Not as friends, they often bullied me”

“Why?”

“Because I’m dirty”

“But you have a bath every day”

“Not like that” the conversation ended, Sombra was left confused. He didn’t know what exactly bulling was, but Hope didn’t sound very happy about it. Their attention was turned to the headteacher standing in front of the stage before he banged his hoof on the hollow floor. The room went silent.

“Good morning year seven, it’s nice to see every pony has shown up, I’m sure that most of you have found friends from your primary school considering the grouping, but I hope you start to intermingle. Anyway…” Sombra drowned out most of the headteachers talk, he could just ask later. He was preoccupied with looking at faces or the backs of heads. Colours of all combinations where everywhere, when the sun broke through the clouds it was as if someone set a spotlight off with the sheer reflectiveness of everyone. Except him and Hope, who were still mostly alone, but there were kids closer to them now. One in front of them turned and their eyes caught his, she quickly turned back to her friend. 

“Your form tutors will give you your timetables and the daily routine, when you leave go to one of the teachers and tell them your name and they’ll direct you where to go” the headteacher finished off. The kids started to move and shift towards the same doors they came in from. Hope and Sombra followed suit, approaching a male teacher.

“What are your names?” he asked, he had a cheerful voice, he wore a waist coat and shirt, in which his waist coat was a bright red plaid.

“Radiant Hope and Sombra” Hope told him, a little quiet. The teacher scanned his eyes down a list.

“Alright, you pair are in HI three, which is on the top floor” Hope and Sombra nodded and walked off down the corridor. They had seen the side of the building which had multiple floors, so they went that way. They went down a couple steps to the centre of that part, to the right they could see the reception at the end and to the left was just a bunch of classrooms. They found a staircase and started to make their way up.

“Shouldn’t there be other ponies?” Sombra asked.

“I think it’s just us today” they kept climbing up until they made it to the top floor. The classrooms were much larger here, and there were pipes across the walls. Each door had a number on it, but they didn’t seem to be in much order. But they were all SC.

“Maybe that way?” Hope walked to their right and Sombra followed her, in which they came across the right room, it seemed much smaller than the others. They poked their heads in to see Mrs Morning at her desk.

“Oh hello, just take a seat” they walked in and Sombra noticed how each wall was covered in papers, it was quite colourful. They sat down in front of her desk, mainly because Sombra felt the need to be close to her. 

“I believe I have two more now, how are you two today?” she asked them, they both nodded and sat quietly.

“I may as well give you your timetables” she handed them a piece of paper each. On it there was a table printed on each side. A week A and B, then each day had eight rows each. The first, fourth and sixth were blank while the others had different lessons in. the next two kids came in the room, one was a filly who was red with yellow hair, the other was a colt who was white with purple hair. 

“You two must be Rasin and Ginger, just have a seat” the pair sat on the desk closest to the door. Mrs Morning went and gave them their own timetables.

“Our timetables are identical” Hope said to Sombra, having examined their routines.

“They did say they’d put us together” Sombras eyes drifted to the wall next to him. It had a tittle that said, “history of Equestria”. There were posters with different events on. Sombra noticed a lot of words and names repeated, such as “Grogar”, “Windigos” and “Tirek”. 

“So now that I have all of you I can start telling you things you need to know, first I’ll tell you when each lesson starts and finishes, there are bells to tell you but it’s just in case, if you get a pencil out, don’t worry about using your quill unless you know how to use them” Sombra pulled his pencil case out his bag and grabbed a pencil. Mrs Morning began telling them when each lesson started and finished, along with the break and lunches where the empty gaps were. 

“Now these are planners which you can use to write your homework in, it also has some useful stuff in the back” she gave them a wire bound book which had the school logo on the front. Flicking through it was mostly a calendar, but at the back was some things about Ponish and maths. Along with a strange table with letters and words. Sombra found himself counting the squares, eighty off them. Underneath the letters, there were names. Such as Mg had magnesium under it.

“By the way you’re not going to your first two lessons today, as your having a two hour lesson on quill writing. I believe you four are going to PN two, which is the first floor” just as she said that a bell rung.

“Off you go, you’re in here every day for form so I’ll see you tomorrow” the four of them stood up after putting their stuff in their bags and made their way out. They headed back down the stairs again, but only halfway this time. They walked past rooms, one was a large library, until they found the correct place. There were a lot more students waiting outside the door, a mix of red and blue ribbons around their necks. Just as they arrived the teacher let those students in. They all filed in with Hope and Sombra at the back of the line. The teacher was making the students fill in from the front, which meant they ended up near the back of the classroom. 

The teacher spent the next twenty minutes handing out papers and explaining how to write with a quill. Sombra didn’t quite understand the purpose of the quill, it seemed a pain to even have in your mouth for a second, let alone trying to wite with it. Eventually the teacher stopped talking and they were left to practice. Sombra fought with his quill, it was unwieldy in comparison to the pencil. He looked over to find Hope just effortlessly using her magic, neat cursive writing being left on the paper. 

“You’re a unicorn, you know that right?” Hope told him, Sombra stared at his quill. Nothing happened. 

“Just think about lifting it” he thought about lifting it, nothing happened. He stared a hole through the feather and still nothing happened.

(“Oi”) Sombra near jumped out of his skin. 

(“let me in”) Sombra looked outside to see a small figure of Opal on the gym across the playground.

(“how?”)

(“the window”)

(“but the teacher-”)

(“just let me in”)

(“I cant”)

(“just open the window and say your hot, which is reasonable considering the weather your built for”)

(“cant you just wait? We have break after this”)

(“sure”) he watched Opal fly over to the giant tree covering the benches just outside the hall. He perched on one of the middle branches, allowing him to look right into the classroom. 

(“are you eating feathers?”)

(“we have to wright with them, I wish my magic worked”) Opal seemed quiet for a bit.

(“can your parents use magic?”)

(“I don’t think so”)

(“then you can’t, most cant, umbrum horns aren’t built to control magic”)

(“what do they do then”)

(“charge stabbing and cutting, what else would a hunter use a horn for”) Sombra picked the quill up in his mouth again, attempting to right his name. What came from it was a barely readable S and the rest was chicken scratch. 

“I think you should stick to pencil” Hope said to him, she had now copied out the paragraph on the board neatly. Sombra grabbed his pencil and proceeded to wright his name out. The line was a consistent width, and the letters were the same hight. 

“Definitely stick to the pencil” 

“yeah” 

“How are you two doing?” the teacher had made her way around the classroom without them noticing. She eyed up their writing in which she kept her eyes on Sombra’s the most.

“Don’t worry, you’re not the only one who’s struggling, but you’ll learn with practice” the teacher walked off to go check on the next students. The pair looked at each other, Hope shrugged and Sombra huffed as he picked his quill up again.

When break finally came, they all rushed down to where they were told to eat, which was the hall, and it was attached to outdoor area. They headed to a bench under the tree, where they could just make out Opal’s tail drifting underneath. They sat down and grabbed their break time snack. Which for Sombra, was a mostly whole cooked rabbit, very different to all the salads he could see. Opal made them jump by falling straight down to land between them. 

(“don’t do that”) Sombra complained.

(“I can do what I want”)

(“no”)

(“yes, now give”) Opal gripped the edge of his lunch box.

(“you just ate!”)

(“shut”) Sombra moved his box away, trying to eat his rabbit in piece. 

“What are you two doing?” Hope asked, confused while she peacefully ate her salad. After a short time, Sombra pined Opal down with one leg and used the other to eat. 

“What do we have next?” Hope asked to herself and Sombra, grabbing her timetable at the same time. 

“Science in…Sc7” she said. Twenty minutes went by fast and soon enough they were back on the top floor in science, which Hope blazed through easily, the lesson being biology, while the rest of the class silently died inside. Sombra thought it was bad until he got to maths, which was a pain enough to get to being in a different building. The teacher stared him down with icy eyes through half-moons before he was even at the door. She cleared her throat. 

“I was not informed that students are allowed…creatures in the classroom” her voice was stiff, not a hint of empathy.

“he’s my friend” Sombra felt small despite being eye level with her.

“It can stay outside where it belongs, and next time leave it at home, we don’t need every student bringing their ‘friends’ to school with them as well”

(“I’ll wait outside, again, good luck with her”) Opal fluttered of his back and around the corner to the door, which he somehow opened the giant push bar to get out. With his head low Sombra walked into the class which he found all of the others at the back as the board said.

The whole class was sat in specific spots, unlike the science teachers plan, who seemed holy in comparison. He thought he might have a chance to sit next to Hope, that was until the teacher saw them stuck to each other and split them up. He ended up next to a filly called Fleur de Verre. She gave him a small smile and she had the same red and black ribbon as he did.

The class was dead silent, first impressions didn’t go down to well, although it was most likely what this teacher wanted. She was trigger happy with putting warnings on the board, within a quarter of the lesson one poor kid got a paddle to the shoulder. The sound of the wood on the skin and cracking on the colts skin stones echoed in his ears, his focus went. The teacher had sat down yet he could still here that cracking, he couldn’t get a decent lungful of air in, he felt Fleurs hoof on his for leg, attempting some form of silent comfort. 

(“Are you ok?”) the calm voice of Opal came to him. His mind was chaos, he felt like he was seeing things, old memories and yet they were a swirling blackness of things he couldn’t remember. All he could hear from it was sounds of cracking, flesh and sobs. 

(“you have every right to leave if you need to”) in which Sombra left. He burst through the same door which opal got through and cowered in the corner between the building and steps. Opal fluttered down in front of him. 

(“what happened?”)

(“she hit someone”)

(“I assume the sound set you off”)

(“I don’t know”)

(“follow me, I found a place you can hide if you want-“)

“ahem” the pair looked up to see the teacher standing above them.

(“lets go”) Sombra scampered off with him, around to the side of the school and into some trees and bushes behind an out building. It was filled with mostly nettles and large unkept shrubs, fern arch ways which had grown to extremes under the shade of the trees.

(“I doubt she’d go this far from the class, I’ll go find Mr Missy”)

(“don’t leave”)

(“I wont be long”) He flew away, Sombra curled into a ball and hid in some shrubs, he is away from her, he will be all right. He didn’t understand why he was so scared, she didn’t hurt him, in fact she was on the other side of the room. He’s never felt like that before, he didn’t like it.

(“I’m back”) 

“Are you alright? Come on, get out the bushes” said the head teacher who had followed Opal to him. Sombra dragged himself back up, his legs seemed tired now that the adrenalin had worn off. Weakly he walked towards the head teacher, feeling small despite their equal height. 

“There should be an office we can talk in somewhere” he said to him, starting to lead him back to the main school building. They found a small office that was free by the reception. 

“Tell me what happened” Sombra explained what happened, from what he could pick out among the blur. As he spoke, he noticed the head teachers’ eyes occasionally twitching. A face that was the definition of keeping in control for professionalism, yet the anger was still seeping through in his breathing. 

“Alright, you can stay with pastoral for the rest of the lesson, I wont send you back to her. And don’t worry about having her again” the silence that followed was only filled by the hoof steps as he took Sombra to the pastoral to wait for the rest of the lesson. 

“Damn final straw that is” the head teacher whispered under his breath as he tried not to stomp out the room. Sombra rested his head n the table and Opal sat next to him, his talons clacked on the wood. 

(“I don’t think anyone likes her”) Sombra stated.

(“It really is a great first impression”) Opal remarked sourly while preening a few wing feathers. They sat in the room, not talking to the pastoral mare who seemed busy with paperwork. Sombra was still confused on what had happened, he felt like he should be panicked or distressed for longer. 

(“I feel like I should still be upset”) 

(“it’s a little quirk mental chords give, it’s a bit like if you get hurt I’ll get weak, emotions sort of leak into the other end. So by me being calm you relaxed quicker…of course its not always a good thing”)

(“what would make it bad?”)

(“well death, you die I die, that’s the worst. There’s something else as well, which I think you’ll be told about soon”)

(“what is it?”)

(“I’ll let you hate the teacher not me”) 

(“ok)” the waited quietly for what seemed like forever, until eventually they were let go for lunch. He trotted his way down through the corridors which were still empty from the lack of students. He found Hope in the hall along with Fleur from maths. 

“Are you okay? What happened? Why’d you run out?” Hope flustered over him, nearly leaping from her chair. 

“I’m fine”

“Well, your clearly not, you broke the hinge on the door”

“What?”

“You broke the door hinge when you left class” Sombra stood a little dumb founded.

“…oh” Sombra sat down on the floor, slightly surprised. Fleur passed his bag over the table to him. He didn’t have a lunch, the whole rabbit was his daytime meal unless he got hungry later, so he just drank. Hope fussed continuously over him for the next ten minutes, until eventually she realised he was fine and she just shut up. Once the other pair had finished their lunch they returned to basic conversations, and Sombra marvelled at the stack of homework they had got of the math teacher. 

“She changed everything we learned in primary as well” Fleur whined as she shuffled the papers. 

“Why not do it later?” Sombra wondered, wasn’t lunch a break?

“I don’t want to forget stuff she sets” Hope said. 

(“I get the feeling she won’t be back”) opal silently replied.

(“whys that?”)

(“well, I saw Mr Missy head off to the maths place and considering how he looked I doubt there’s a polite conversation going on right now”) 

Lunch went by and they headed of to their old Ponish class, which consisted of them figuring out how one writes with shapes. The pronunciations were something.

“Is this even speaking?” Hope whispered confused as they listened to the teacher, who sounded like he forgot what vowels were. 

(“I thought umbrum was bad with its hisses and snarls and ponies used to speak like this…how…”) Opal faded out into his own thoughts.

(“how what?”)

(“I’m a hundred percent sure umbrum is the first spoken language, so how is it more speech like than this, how did this branch of from umbrum?”)

(“maybe Mrs morning knows”) they continued to sit confused with the rest of the class for the last, long, drawn out hour of school, before hurrying out of the building to go home. When they got home of course Miss Chestnut was waiting for specifically Sombra.

“The head teacher phoned, is everything alright?” so sombra explained again what happened, she was mad, but he managed to calm her down by telling her that head teacher was sorting stuff out. 

The next few school days were significantly uneventful in comparison. The maths teacher was gone and with the older students and siblings back the rumours spread around what happened, what he heard was about an explosive argument at lunch and an on the spot firing. He also heard stuff about himself as whispers when he walked past.
> Chapter 30: why do i insist on naming these chapters
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

With all the students back, school was significantly louder, yet still despite the daily chaos it still felt uneventful. Hope and Sombra sat in form talking between themselves, there was nothing special to talk about, mostly just what lessons they had that day. The other two-year sevens in the room where much more talkative with the older kids, although two looked alike so Sombra just assumed the talking was due to them being siblings. 

Opal was enjoying himself, he was getting plenty of attention from some of the older filly’s (who were most likely mares at this point) who were continuously petting him and giving him some of their biscuits. There was nothing for Mrs Morning to tell them so the form just got on with talking. However there was a light nock on the door, which turned out to be the head teacher. There was a quick exchange of words between him and Mrs Morning, she then walked over to Sombra.

“He wants to speak with you”

“Ok” Sombra left the room without fuss and met the head teacher in the corridor. He seemed jolly enough, but his face was a little stern.

“Don’t come in tomorrow” he told Sombra plainly.

“Why not?”

“The princess is coming in to meet the new year sevens, just don’t come in and it will be easier to pretend you’re not here”

“But what about the kids already talking about me?”

“I have a plan to convince her, but dispelling rumours would be easier if you’re not here”

“Ok”

“Go to your teachers for tomorrow at break and lunch and grab tomorrows work alright”

“Ok” he was dismissed back to form just as the bell rung.



“So it’s dangerous for you to be around the princess?” Fleur asked after Sombra explained to her, having already told Hope in lessons.

“She doesn’t like me” Hope returned to the bench they were sitting at having refilled her bottle, the three of them sat at their usual bench for break, talking between mouthfuls. 

“You still haven’t said why though, have you even met her?” Hope asked.

(“Now is definitely not the place”) Opal told him from above.

(“When do I tell them?”)

(“At home”)

“At least you get a day off” Hope seemed already fed up with school, Sombra was sure she only liked Biology and art, in which she only liked art because they could mess around easily. 

“I still have to grab tomorrows work” he muttered as he picked at his rabbit. Even if it was cooked and skinned he still got the odd, terrified look as if he had just caught it, it was putting him off eating if anything. 

“Why would you willingly give yourself work to do at home?” Fleur asked him.

“They might check”

“just take the risk, it’s what my brother did, it got him expelled but he did it like a thousand times so once shouldn’t hurt” 

“I’ll just get it at lunch” they went quiet before they headed off to maths, preparing for an hour of chaos as they were yet to hire a new teacher, and they were simply going off supplies. These supplies however didn’t once look like they understood what they were doing, so everything derailed. 

Sombra’s tactic was to just try and have a nap. It mostly worked, he just had to zone out his ears so he couldn’t hear the nonsensical screaming and the sounds of the supply loosing hope. His nap was coming on well, until he felt something hit him in the neck. Turning just his head he saw the kid behind him quickly pull his hoof away from his hair. 

“I just noticed your hair floats” he said, a mix of an apology was in there.

“Isn’t that like an alicorn thing?” the filly next to him questioned.

“Dude, are you secretly an alicorn or somethin’?” Sombra just sat confused before trying to return to his nap. 

“What do you recon his the…prince of?”

“I thought it was impossible to have a male alicorn?”

“I don’t know…” he zoned out for the last time of the lesson. Fleur had to wake him up by the end and they headed to their next lesson, which was far more tame considering they actually had a teacher. After they went to get his work during lunch, what they realised was the lessons they had tomorrow didn’t quite work with talking stuff home.

“You can’t do P.E or music, and you can’t take the oven home for cooking” Hope listed off.

“We have one at home”

“Why are you so determined to do the work?” Fleur asked still shocked by his want to do his classes. 

“You might need something from Ponish and History” Hope told him, which he nodded and started making their way to the two classes. 

“Oh, well tomorrow were just making notes on act one, so if you just do that, I’ll give you a copy” they stood in the door and watched as the teacher grabbed his work. After they went to history, which played out around the same.

“I assume this is what the head was talking to you about” Mrs morning said as she too went and got his work, which consisted of him reading over a textbook page and also making notes on it. 

“Sorry it’s not too interesting”

“Its fine”

“Have a nice day off then” the rest of the day was as normal as always, they went to their last lesson and then went home. 

“How’s school?” Cloud asked almost the moment they walked through the door, he looked a little dishevelled. 

“Sombra doesn’t have to go in tomorrow” Hope mumbled as she trundled up the stairs to her room. 

“Why? has something happened already?” Miss Chestnut asked. Sombra quickly explained what he’s been told.

“Oh ok, that’s fine then, you have work to do don’t you?” she asked him.

“Sort off, I can’t do P.E, art or cooking so I just have Ponish and History to do” 

“How about you do some cooking with him tomorrow, instead of sitting at that desk all day” she told Cloud through gritted teeth and a sarcastic face. 

“Alright then” He grumbled and Sombra looked at them confused, he hadn’t seen them so tense between each other before and it was odd to look at. Cloud huffed and walked upstairs.

“Don’t…” she groaned in defeat. Sombra nudged and nuzzled her cheek. 

“I’m fine…when your home tomorrow, make sure he doesn’t spend the whole day writing okay, I worry he’s going to hurt his neck or eyes”

“Okay” Sombra nuzzled her again and trotted up the stairs and up to his room. He sets up his homework and tomorrow’s work on his desk, he sat down and waited for Hope to come up to his room as she always does.

“Hey” extra work was dumped next to his, before plopping down next to him. The pair started to do their homework, but the silence lasted about a minute before they started talking. 

“what do you think is wrong with mom and dad?” Hope asked him.

“I think they may have had an argument? She said she’s worried he spends to long writing” 

“Well isn’t that his job? He’s probably writing a book or something” they continued to work, Sombra finding the maths significantly easier, whereas Hope blitzed the biology. Then they both hauled themselves through the old Ponish, in which their form of revision for a test that was already coming up, was just writing out the words over and over, not actually knowing what they were writing. They both got bored pretty quickly, and Hope started drifting her eyes around the room, before settling on his bedside table. 

“Do you not wear the bracelet anymore?” Sombra sat confused for a moment, before he remembered about the friendship bracelet she had made for him a while ago. 

“I didn’t want to get it dirty when I go out” 

“How would it get dirty”

“Err…”

(“Mud”)

“Mud”

“Oh, okay, does Opal where his?” Hope asked, Opal dug into his plumage with his beak and pulled out his smaller necklace. She smiled briefly.

“Oh” Hope scampered off and returned moments later, with the scrap book and a box.

“You know that powder…I may have used it all…sorry” she put down the empty pot which Sombra could only see a couple particles of the powder left. Sombra grabbed the box which he found all sorts in. There was that first leaf which was still as green as the day it was picked, along with different flowers.

“Don’t tell mom that I took one of the roses from the front” each petal was still silky. He turned to the book which he noticed seemed much fuller.

“I’ve added quite a bit” Hope said as Sombra flipped through the pages. There were a few pictures on each page, and she had written little notes next to them. Sombra didn’t even know most of the pictures where taken. 

“Moms good at taken pictures of us without us noticing” Sombra found one picture, one of Opal sitting in a wall cabinet in the kitchen, looking alarmed at the camara. Hopes note was simply an exclamation mark. 

(“I distinctly do not appreciate this”)

(“You nick food out the cupboards?”)

(“Who doesn’t”)

(“Is that why your rounder than normal?”)

(“Hey”) Sombra gabbed Opal between his hooves.

(“Definitely a little round”)

(“One day…I will not restrain my self and you may cry…or become as bad as me and if that happens I am sincerely sorry”) 

“Why do you look at each other weirdly all the time?” Hope questioned. 

“Because we can talk to each other?”

“Wait what”

“Did I never tell you?”

“Don’t think so”

“That…explains a lot”

“A lot of what?”

“That you stare into each other’s souls on a daily basis…hey did you know your eyes are changing colours” Sombra blinked as couple times in surprise, before heading over to his mirror. His eyes were defiantly still green, except they seemed to be browner in areas.

(“What colours were you parents eyes?”)

(“Red and blue”)

(“Are yours going brown or grey?”)

(“Brown”)

(“Most likely red then, your hooves should shift colour soon, then you claws should start along with your horn”)

“Opal said that my eyes are turning red” Sombra told Hope, she had moved to sit in front of the mirror with him. She sat quite close to him, which she shifted awkwardly so she wasn’t siting on his legs.

“Is that like…a thing for…”

“Umbrum?” 

“Yeah”

“I think so” Hope leaned into him, before again, awkwardly moving off him. She picked up a pot, which held his sires hair rings. 

“What are these for?”

“My sire wore them in his hair”

“Sire is your dad isn’t it?”

“Mhm” Hope lifted a ring up and threaded his hair through it, experimenting with different loops.

“I always wondered how you did your hair, I noticed a lot of you had really long hair”

“I think…I remember my sire had, like small braids with the rings looped in” the image of his sire was blurry now, he could just remember his hair style, what remained in his memory was the dead frozen version. Hope began to tie his hair into a braid, slipping rings onto the strands.

“Like this?” she showed him the half a braid she had weaved, every few twists, there was a ring. 

“That looks about right, he left a lot of it loose…what are you doing”

“The rest of it” Sombra sat and watched as Hope braided a whole bunch into his mane, she did it with a very slight smile. The only thing that stopped her was the call for tea.

The vague image of the cave returned, his sire and dam took up most of the picture. He was lying against his sires chest, watching him say something to his dam, who was braiding his hair. Some braids were neat, other messy and having fly aways. 

The memory came from nowhere, it stopped him in the middle of the hallway. He shook his head and continued down to tea.
> Chapter 31: Choc cek
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sombra was flopped on his desk, having just spent the last couple hours doing his two lessons he realised just how boring they were when there wasn’t a class clown and pencil crossbows. His hair floated above his head, except for the braids which he had kept in, as they were heavier they hung slightly lower. He tilted his head and through his mane and the slight shadow it produced he could see Opal sitting on the windowsill basking in the sun. Bored, Sombra headed down to go bother Cloud, deciding to take up Miss Chestnuts idea of doing some cooking. As was expected Cloud was sitting at his desk in the master bedroom, writing away with the occasional pause. His ears flicking back in response to Sombras presence. 

“She’s told you to bother me hasn’t she” Cloud mumbled without turning his head back.

“Maybe”

“I’m busy, go do your lessons”

“I finished”

“Already?”

“Yeah”

“Well just go do…whatever you do” Sombra, not having it, walked over and sat right next to him. Even with Cloud in a chair and him on the floor, they were eyelevel, and Sombra stared through his white and teal hair.

“You’re not leavin’ are you”

“Nope”

“alright what you want to do then?” he asked while stretching out his legs and wings, which if he was sitting any further back they would touch the wall behind them, although the room wasn’t huge. 

“One of my other lessons today was cooking” the pair walked out the bedroom and he felt Opal land on his back.

“I’m sure Velvet’s got something in the cupboards” it took Sombra a moment to remember who Velvet was.

“You still call her Miss Chestnut don’t you?” cloud asked.

“mhm”

“I guess that makes sense, you knew your parents”

“Did Hope?”

“I wouldn’t know, you’d have to ask her or Velvet” Cloud began rummaging through the kitchen cabinets, looking for any form of ingredients they could have, meanwhile Sombra found some recipe books by the bread bin. They started flicking through, realising that Miss Chestnut really only had baking books, which in their minds, was significantly better. In the end they settled on chocolate cake. Cloud then searched to fridge to find what little of the ingredients they actually had. 

“Sometimes I forget you just eat straight peppers” Cloud commented.

“Have I still got some left?”

“Yeah” Sombra shoved his head past Cloud to grab the remaining peppers that were in a bowl and began munching on them, Cloud giving him a mildly bewildered look.

“Your mad…right we don’t have any chocolate, or most of the other stuff”

“Shall we go get it then”

“your stayin’ here, if Amore’s out there’s a higher chance she’ll see you, it won’t take me long” Cloud grabbed a bag and left through the back door, before shooting up into the air.

(“Sweet Umbralis how does one take off so fast”) Opal commented in disbelief. 

(“Is that not normal”)

(“There’s fast take off and then stupid, muscles shouldn’t do that”) Opal stared at Sombra while he munched on his peppers.

(“How do you eat those so casually?”)

(“There nice”)

(“Do you have a tongue?”)

(“Yeah there nice”)

(“You deluded child”) they sat quietly in the kitchen for a little while, reading through the recipe a few more times before Cloud returned with a bag full of ingredients. They got to work on making the batter and decided to make cupcakes instead because they baked faster. They sat and ate some snakes, so they were less likely to eat all the cupcakes straight away. They took them out and iced them, then to avoided temptation, sat in the living room.  

“What are you writing?” Sombra asked out of curiosity.

“it’s only a draft at the moment, like an exploration into the North, no pony’s ever returned from it, I wanted to write something based of it, bit hard to do so when you don’t know much about the place” 

(“In about four months it will turn day again, it should be okay for pony’s”)

“Hey um, didn’t you come from the North? Your one of those unicorns in that revolution” Sombra gave a small nod. 

“You know, I’m not actually allowed to leave, I think it’s a cover up so I don’t speak ‘cause I saw it”

“Really?”

“Well yeah, pretty sure it would put you in Tartarus”

“Where?”

“We use it as a really high security prison of sorts, we used to put monsters in the North till we realised they just walked out, we also put like, worse than criminals in there”

“Oh”

“Say um, what happened before the revolution exactly? I only saw a year before it happened, I never really felt like there was a good place to ask” Sombra paused to think for a moment, until he realised…

“I don’t remember much”

“Really?”

“I remember more about home”

“I guess that makes sense, from what I saw you were never treated well, if you got a head injury at any point you might have had a bit of amnesia”

“I remember home” he began to list of the things he could remember, in a unorganised ramble. His family and their cave, the Eye, Umbralis, the wyverns and the other creatures he sometimes saw from a distance or had eaten. 

“You had a whole culture and everything, the Umbralis guy, he like a king or something?”

“Yeah”

“Damn, so there’s really not much difference, you just didn’t have solid buildings” Cloud rubbed his brow with the wrist of his wing.

“That princess is on something” he gritted through his teeth, confused.

“Maybe it’s the meat thing-“

“And dogs are a stallions best friend, what difference does it make?” there was both confusion and anger in his voice, in which Sombra couldn’t tell which was stronger. He sat still for a short time, before taking a deep breath and calming down.

“You want cake?” he asked.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Hope and Miss Chestnut?”

“Well we have to make sure there actually good” they rolled of the chairs and trotted into the kitchen, where they each picked up a cupcake, subconsciously picking the most risen one in Clouds case. They sat at the table where they took bites out of the cake, both of them offering the crumb filled wrapper to Opal.

(“Is this an insult?”)

(“I don’t think you can eat a whole one”)

(“Is that a challenge?”)

(“No”)

(“Watch me”) Opal half leapt half flew over to the tray of cupcakes, where he unwieldly picked one up in his talons. Staring Sombra in the eyes with his uncomfortably void black ones, Opal took beak fulls of cake and icing. Sombra sat and watched him for an hour, Opal slowly making his way down the cake. 

(“Is it possible for a bird to get a sugar rush?”) Sombra curiously asked.

(“I mean, we can get drunk, so I imagine yes”) Sombra looked at him confused.

(“Your tribe never lock you in the cave, go out and come back some hours later barely able to stand?”) Opal asked him. Sombra thought hard for a moment, he could vaguely remember him and the twins, with just one of the adults with them. Usually it was either his dam or his auntie Amarilla. 

(“Sometimes”)

(“Probably Jolgeirstaoir…I wonder if there’s any left…actually, probably way over aged”) Opal wondered to himself. They wandered off back upstairs, where instead of a sugar rush, Opal had a sugar crash and puffed up at the end of Sombras bed. 

A little while after three Hope got home, when he saw her she seemed a little off. He sat in her room with her, which she quietly lit one of her candles, of which he noticed she had a few more empty jars. There was a pile of books at the end of the bed which had toppled and slid across the carpet. He wondered if her room was messier because it simply had more stuff in it. 

“You good?” Sombra asked her.

“Where’s Opal, he’s normally on your rump” 

“He’s got a sugar crash”

“What, how- where are you going?” Sombra, with perked up ears, spun out the bedroom and quickly down the stairs, where he grabbed a plate, put two cakes on and bought it back up. One floated off the plate in blue sparkles as Hope almost to eagerly took a bite. Sombra put his down on the bedside table, he was more interested in her off state.

“You good?” he repeated. 

“Yeah”

“You look off”

“Cakes good” 

“What’s wrong” Hope stood completely still for a moment. Mouth opening and closing over words. 

“It was the princess…she’s really weird…her smile isn’t like…smiley, happy”

“Fake?”

“Yeah, I didn’t know she only had three legs as well” he’d forgotten about that, the sour taste came back to him. 

(“Well those are some lovely images there mate”) Opal hand lugged himself down, only to see what Sombra’s mind had conjured up again.

(“Do I tell her I took part in taking that leg off?) 

(“…No”)

(“Actually it might have been dam who did it”)

(“Still no”)

“-Was like, weirdly black”

“hmm?” Hope hadn’t noticed Opals presence, and so she had kept talking.

“Oh, hi Opal. The um, the stump of her leg isn’t like neatly cut, and has weird black scars on it” 

(“You said you bit it off, with rotten teeth there’s a chance that some dark magic seeped in through broken teeth and stained”)

(“Is that common?”)

(“Not sure, might just be something that happens to creatures of light magic”)

“You know what else was…well not weird but sad? Her guards looked beaten up, one was limping and the other had a bad eye”

“She probably hits them”

“Why do you think that?” he held back from saying experience. 

“She kept asking if we’d seen any strange black unicorns around-“

“You didn’t tell her right?” he butted in, panic setting in.

“No, she scarred me a bit, also the pegasi guard she had with her was getting us to say no, you really don’t like her do you”

“No” his response was instant, he didn’t have to think about it too much. Her figure, stick thin and twisted, appeared in front of a wall, lined with tools and stained grey. His legs and neck felt heavy, like they were being weighed down. 

“What’s wrong-“ he heard Opals wings beat, silencing Hope, who looked away. they sat together in silence until tea, and the remainder of the day went by as normal.
> Chapter 32: Time flies but school is only partly fun
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

To say school was passing by faster than Sombra expected would be an understatement. Before he knew it, hearts warming came and went and it was the next year. If he was to choose what was his favourite subject so far in the four months he’d been at school he’d have to say chemistry. Unlike the rest of the class, he found it beyond intriguing. That table at the back of his planner was called the periodic table, and those squares where the eighty elements they knew of, and how water was in fact not its own element. He also found it oddly chaotic at times, such as shoving some hydrogen and chlorine together resulted in an acid that starts to fume at roughly forty percent concentration, let alone eat through your table.

Of course they weren’t allowed to play with it, but he’d rather that then that sodium thiosulfate reaction that smells of severely rotted eggs.

Hope of course had become the go to for answers in biology, being a sponge for it. It was certainly interesting to listen to her argue with the teacher about something called DNA and how surely the bases in it must be the coding to life, and not proteins. Hope had an idea that maybe the DNA coded for the proteins. It was complete gibberish but definitely entertaining. 

What wasn’t so entertaining was whatever Fleur was turning into. Opal had described it to Sombra as a “rebel phase”. It seemed to be a personal challenge to her to break every possible rule the school could enforce, they had a feeling it was her following in her brothers hoof steps, who also seemed to break a bunch of rules based on what Fleur and the teachers said. 

There was already an incredibly long list of what she was breaking. In science she refused to stop playing with the taps, in art she cracked the water colour blocks, or mixing colours directly on the white, according to Hope she had clogged sinks and toilets in the mares bathroom multiple times. That was only some of the things, Fleur always had detentions which only progressed up to the hour as she never attended them. Because of this she was rarely in lesson because she was in isolation, if she was in lesson on the rare occasion, she was directly in front of the teacher. 

Him and Hope were still sitting with her, but it was tiring to listen to all of her devious plots and plans, especially the more recent ones of January where she started to target students who they had never even heard the names of. For now though, they were managing to stay out of her trouble.

And once again the terms passed by and it was the summer holiday, and also Sombra’s made up birthday. He slumped out of bed as normal and stretched, his tail arched over, the spine of it now long enough to touch his ears, although the plume of hair on the end obscured his face, which was already covered by his mane. From his front down position he stretched into the opposite, cracking his spine the other way. 

(“Mornin’ mate”) Opal mentally grumbled, stretching out his neck and ruffling his feathers.

(“Morning”)

(“It’s your birthday or something isn’t it?”)

(“Think so”)

(“You wanna practice shadowing again, you haven’t tried in a while”)

(“Sure”) Sombra lifted his hoof up and stared at it, trying to get just it to shift, preferably not wanting to dissolve all his organs away as Opal liked to describe it. Nothing quite happened and he headed down the steps, bashing his withers on the opening was a common pain now. He yawned wide and-

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” Hope screamed at him as she bursted through her doorway. His whole body splatted onto the opposing wall in a inky shadow, before quickly reforming, still pressed into the wall in terror. A white feather drifted down in front of his face, from Opals equal reaction, just without the splat. 

“Too loud?” she asked, before a more reasonable question came out.

“Did you just explode?” 

(“Biologically yes”) Opal responded still out of breath, which Sombra passed over with a nod. Sombra peeled himself off the wall, also realising he had just completely dissolved to shadow, looked at the wall to see no blood splatter like he had expected. He decided to not question it, like Opal told him too. 

The trio went downstairs where they had breakfast, which Miss Chestnut had made some fresh bread, which had only come out the oven a few hours ago. There was small talk as usual, in which Miss Chestnut apologised to Sombra again about not being able to get him much just like in hearts warming. They still hadn’t figured out what his main interests were, or any of his hobbies. Although Sombra did admit the fact he didn’t have many hobbies. After breakfast, Hope was first to give him his present.

“I figured since you go out to the forest a lot” he ripped open the paper to find a small book, “a guide to plants and animals in the crystal lands”.

“I also want to…go with you…maybe” she said softly, almost barely audible while turning her face away from him. Sombra stood for a moment, trying to figure out how in the North he would hunt without traumatising her, and also assuming that the crystal lands was just the area between the North and whatever was further south. 

“Sure” he put the book on the table, then Miss Chestnut bought him another present. He opened it to find a fancy grooming kit, specifically for thick fur.

“When was the last time you groomed scruffy?” she raised her eyebrows at him, which would have been more intimidating if he wasn’t taller. 

“Yesterday” he lied.

“I’ll be checking mister” 

“Come on, give him a break-“ Cloud tried to back him up.

“He goes out to school as a scruff every day!-“

“Did you groom today?” he asked her, which Miss Chestnut walked out the kitchen, clearly defeated but kept her head up. In that short time, Sombra hadn’t realised Hope had took the kit and was looking at the different brushes, combs and scissors inside. 

“These are really nice” she commented, levitating a comb and pulling it through the end strands of Sombra’s mane. She absentmindedly started to comb through the fur on his shoulder.

“So um, if I knew Hope had gotten you something plant based I might not have gotten this, but you should like it…it’s also another book, sorry ‘bout that” Cloud passed him his gift, which was indeed another plant theme, but more specific. 

“Grow my own peppers?”

“Yeah, I figured you might like growing your own, but I think you need to wait for march, I read something about planting about then” 

“I guess I can just take the seeds out the market ones?”

“I’d assume so” Sombra looked over to his side when he felt a tug on his leg, to find Hope still brushing out his fur, a distinct line of smooth fur going down. She was only pulled out of her trance when she looked up.

“Oh um…I’ll take these up for you” she swiftly gathered up his presents, stumbled and went upstairs. He stood slightly bewildered, before turning back to cloud, who had another book in his hand, except it had no tittle.  

“This isn’t so much a fun present, it’s just Velvet told me about the nightmares you had, I found writing them down useful when I was younger” Cloud told him, the book had a simple leather cover along with an attached string braid which was slotted between pages. While Sombra didn’t have much knowledge on the way items were produced, he could tell this seemed home made if he compared it to the other book. Its pages showed signs of scissor slips and its spine was bound with string. The book was very stiff to open and he found the pages to be blank.

“I figured in the middle of the night you might find it easier to scribble instead of write, but you can always make your own lines” 

“Thanks” as he turned to go take it up stairs, he was met by Hope who had a envelope in her magic and attempting to hide a rather devious smirk. 

“I forgot you card” she said a little stiffly trying to keep her lips neutral. Weary of the smile Sombra took the card. He wished he had magic so he didn’t have to open what was most likely a card she made herself with his teeth. Fiddling with it between his ankle and teeth he pulled open the envelope and pulled out the card.

Which opened to a waterfall of fine glitter which buried itself into his fur. 

“Why’d you do this to me” he didn’t question but said in defeat, while Hopes snicker turned into a gleeful laugh.

“I thought I’d teach you about glitter the fun way” Sombra huffed and put the card in his hoof, in which it read “happy seven hundred something”. It was his turn to laugh, but at least he got a card. The rest of his birthday went down rather smoothly. There was a small cake which they shared along with pie and cookies which all replaced actual food. 

The smoothness ended when he went to wash, which he did instead of a bath as he could only stand in it now. Most of the glitter had shook of but even still as he scrubbed his hoof fur with a brush more miraculously appeared. 

(“While you work on that I might go check out the North, see if its tolerable for ponies and maybe Cloudy can get some ideas for that book he’s writing”)

(“K”)

(“Good luck with that”)

(“What is this stuff”) he kept scrubbing away as Opal flew out the window, only stopping when his skin hurt from scrubbing. After giving up and just finishing his wash, he dried off. However when he parted the fur of his hoof he still, after a straight half hour of scrubbing, saw little glitters. He quietly growled and crossed the hallway into Hopes bedroom door, which he then gave her a raging glare. 

“What’s wrong?”

“Just you wait until your birthday” 

“But I can just open it away from me”

“I will find a way” he left.





About a week passed before Opal returned from the North. The first thing he did was raid the kitchen cupboards and take an extra long time in preening. 

(“So what’s it like?”)

(“Well, it’s a little warmer than a usual day, being what seems to be a single negative, a pony could survive with thick enough coats, but I’m pretty sure they can buy them easily”)

(“What about all the things that would eat them?”)

(“This is strange, it seems like they’ve been…frozen? Not literally but all the predators are statues, I found a wyvern that looks to have crash landed and it didn’t respond to me at all”)

(“So everything is safe?”)

(“Well in terms of animal hazards yes, but the environment is just as bad since I imagine they aren’t skilled in walking on mountains”)

(“Well surely there’s flat areas”)

(“Yeah, there’s a variety of creatures in a valley at the moment, but we need to get behind those mountains for it, they’ll be some climbing but I’m sure there’s some level bits on the side”)

(“If not Cloud can always fly”)

(“You’ll have to ask him at breakfast tomorrow”)
> Chapter 33: dem flowers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So what your saying is that somethings happened where the predators have been put in a form of stasis” Cloud said after Sombra retold Opals information.

“That’s what Opal said”

“Right, so I would just need a really thick coat, a tent and some food”

“Yeah”

“I should be able to get that by the weekend, and going early means we’ll still catch those reindeers you mentioned right?”

“Yeah”

“Neat”

“Can I come too?” Hope chimed in.

“Hope, it would be too dangerous for you, Sombra knows how to climb and Cloud can fly, you could slip” Miss chestnut told her.

“But I want to go camping”

“Hope if you hurt your leg-“

“Relax, she’ll be fine, if she starts struggling I’m sure Sombra’s big enough to carry her for a short time” Cloud butted in. Miss Chestnut glared at him.

“Fine. But if she gets hurt, you’re the adult”

“We’ll be fine just relax for once, besides you’ll get the bed to yourself for a few nights” 



The weekend came and Cloud and Hope had went and got the thickest coats they could find. As far as they were aware having multiple linings stuffed with wool sounded rather warm. With bags packed with food and the polaroid they headed off to the forest. On Opals advice they followed the river. As they got further from the empire snow slowly built up on the ground and the branches of the trees. All three of them had an air of excitement, all for different reasons. Hope was happy to be going on a little adventure, Cloud was eager to finally get something accurate to base his book of, and for Sombra this would be the closest he would get to a resemblance of home in a long time. After a good couple hours they came to the mountains. A steep waterfall was nestled between them, cold mist floated in the air as the large river crashed down. 

(“Was this always here?”) Sombra asked, not remembering the waterfall from any angle he may have seen it from.

(“It’s a waterfall. It doesn’t just appear”) Opal replied sarcastically.

“You two gonna be good climbing this?” Cloud asked them.

“That bit looks like a stair case” Hope trotted over to the rocks of the waterfall, where she carefully started to climb up. Sombra followed behind her, often pushing her hoof further onto a rock. Cloud waited for them at the top after flying up. Fortunately the waterfall wasn’t extremely tall and it only took Hope a few minutes to climb. She pulled herself up to the top, shortly followed by Sombra. 

“You can move alright in that jacket right?” Cloud asked Hope. 

“Yeah I’m good” they continued walking along the river and snow became thicker as they went on. The mountains walled them in, and slowly the river became thinner and so did the land by its side. 

(“We’ll probably have to start climbing in a moment”) Opal said as they came to a point where the stable ground was only thick enough for a single hoof. They stopped in place and looked up the walls of the mountains for any suitable ledges. Cloud took off, although hindered by his coat, and scouted for anywhere higher up. 

“There’s a line of ledges, there not smooth or in line but we should be able to walk on them” he called down.

“You look very high up” Hope said, looking up the edges with widening eyes. 

“Do you not like heights?” Sombra asked her, already turning back to find an easy way up.

“I don’t know, I’ve never had to be high up” as she stood still Sombra found a slope of collapsed rocks that went most of the way up to the hight Cloud was hovering. Based on the hight of the last bit he assumed she would be able to pull herself up.

“You can get up here”

“ok” her voice was quiet and unconfident as she placed her hooves on the rocks, some shifting under hoof although many had ice gluing them together. Even if it was half melted. Sombra stood behind her just in case and followed her slowly up the edge, even though he could tell he could jump it despite the tent on his back. Hope got to the end of the rocks to meet the short wall, which Sombra’s legs awakened a long forgotten memory and effortlessly leapt up. He turned at the top and knelt down and offered his head and neck for Hope to hand onto, as he realised she was shorter than the ledge.

“Are you able to lift me?”

“Yeah, should be able to” she reared up and took a gentle hold of his neck, in which her legs anchored around the back of his head. He pushed his front legs up and slowly raised her up onto the ledge, with the help of Cloud lifting her rear end up too. She held onto Sombra even when completely stable, refusing to let go of his neck.

“Can you get off please” 

“…sure” Hope slowly let herself drop down onto all fours.

“You can walk next to the wall if it’s easier” Cloud told her, in which she edged her way to the wall with tiny steps.

“I don’t wanna slip” Sombra nudged her over faster, then stood next to her and continued to walk. She slowly followed as they continued on their new path. They hopped over a small fall of water which came down from the mountain to join up with the river, which was shrinking degree at a time. They managed to stay on this path for two hours, it kept going, they just got tired. At least two of them, like earlier with his leap, an unending ability to walk had returned to Sombra.

“Can we stop for a bit, I’m hungry” Hope asked, slowing down to a halt.

“Sure why not” Cloud replied, turning around and sitting down on the cold stone. He grabbed the pack from his back and pulled out the sandwiches they had made. They had bought some other things as well, such as a small camping pot and gas fire. The tent was bundled up on Sombras back, fortunately quite light so he wasn’t to bothered by it. 

“Did we bring any drinks?” Hope asked, mouth half full. 

“Err, no, now that I think about it”

“You can melt the snow, but there is the river which is already liquid” Sombra suggested. The pair looked at him like he was crazy.

“I’ll take the snow” Hope said bluntly, Cloud already getting the pot and gas out of his bag. 

(“It’s just water”) Sombra muttered silently.

(“If it doesn’t come out the tap its most likely got something suspicious in it, at least in their minds”)

(“Wouldn’t you be able to tell by the colour?”)

(“Yes, but I’ve lived around ponies for long enough to tell you most are not the brightest”)

(“Most?”)

(“I mean, they have wizards, but they make up about one percent of the population”)

(“okay, you want a drink?”)

(“sure why not”) Sombra leaned down and put his nose to the running water. He began to lap up the cold water, half going in his mouth each time and the rest splashing back down. To his side he saw Opal, struggling to reach the water. Stopping his drink, Sombra put his hoof into the water, bringing it up upside down, using the walls and underside of his hoof as a bowl. 

(“Thanks mate”) Opal jumped up onto his ankle and began to drink from his hoof. After their break they continued walking along the path, as they went the river got thinner and shallower as they got closer to its many sources. The mountains closed in and the path began to flood with water and ice, once again getting thinner.

(“I believe there’s an archway nearby that leads to a snowfield”) Opal said, and indeed Sombra could see a hole in the stone and light coming through it. He told the others and they approached the archway. 

Him and the twins bounded through the field, the tribe behind them as they ran off. Beneath there hooves was little snow, most had melted away. Grass had emerged from its long hibernation, a path cut short by the reindeers. They ran between patches of white, pink, yellow and blue.

The field before them was not so much a snow field as it was a flower field. Small bushes of flowers were sprinkled amongst the grass, but their vibrancy made up for their size. The field was surrounded by mountains and plateaus, the melted snow trapped and forming an icy cold marsh. Slashed across the field was a fissure, glowing green with a purple smoke. They were caught in a trance, only bought out by Clouds astonished curse.

“I thought no plants grow here?” Hope asked herself, also gripped by the flowers.

(“The dark magic fissure heats the land enough that in the day it is warm enough to grow”) Opal told Sombra for him to reply. There was a click as a picture was taken. They all silently agreed on heading down the side of the mountain, some more confident than others. They made it down and stood amongst the flowers. In which it wasn’t long before Cloud went and took pictures of each different flower. 

There was small white ones like cotton balls, then others that appeared like larger and flatter buttercups. There was one that grew only a couple flowers if you could call it that. Large orbs on stems caged in dark purple, there was a bud on top that was more of a flower, but it was yet to open. There was also spires of bright pink reaching above every other flower.

“Look! Over there” Hope pointed in front of them where a heard of reindeers grazed peacefully. She bounced excitedly on her hooves and she spotted a rock nearby which she darted for to try and get closer to them. Cloud followed her after also noticing the reindeer, with his camera placed on the rock. 

Sombra stood there licking his lips.

(“I don’t think I could finish one on my own”)

(“No, normally one can feed about two umbrum, three if you get a big one, although that’s rare since we try to only hunt the weak ones”)

(“ I remember something about only hunting old, sick or injured”)

(“It helps keep them strong, since if the herbivores start dying then so do the ones above them”)

(“When do you think I could eat one?”)

(“If you find a way to store meat without terrifying the neighbours, now if you want”)

(“Hmm”) he’d have to think on it. He knew salting preserved and there was an infinite supply of salt in the shops. He wondered if he could make his own special chest of food. In his midst of drooling over food, one of the reindeer noticed a clearly hungry umbrum, and bolted. 

“You scared them!” Hope yelled at him from the rock, sprinting over to him in adorable rage. 

“mm” he kept his eyes on the herd and licked his lips again. He was hungry, he could walk for ages but not on an empty stomach. But even then…

“No I’m good” he said to himself.

“Good on what?” he didn’t want to practically traumatise her, he would just eat a sandwich, full of salad.

“What sandwiches have we got?” he asked her, causing a few confused blinks.

“Oh um…there’s daisies, buttercups-“

“Preferably not the flowers”

(“I’m pretty sure buttercups killed ponies a few evolutions ago”) Opal thought in his variation of aloud. 

“Then um…cucumber?”

“Sure” he wasn’t thrilled but it would do. Hope pulled out a sandwich from Clouds pack and floated it over to Sombra. He ate it straight out the air, the crunch turning to mush into a nice watery bread flavour.

(“If you spot any carcases, tell me”)

(“On it”) Opal flew off in search of something more tolerable, albeit half eaten, but more tolerable. At least he could try and hide that meal, it wouldn’t involve him running after something, so most likely less noticeable. 

They began walking again, approaching the fissure in the field. As they got closer they felt the warmth it gave of, but despite the heat there wasn’t exactly light. It was in a sense, reverse light. “glowing” black with a green to purple flare. 

“Is it…dark magic?” Cloud wondered aloud, looking down into the swirling dark.

“I think so” Sombra felt as if he recognised it, although very vaguely. Two names came to him, Folwin and Folre, his uncles he remembered used magic, and in the back of his mind he did remember that their horns fogged up black instead of a bright sparkle.

(“I remember flying over here, if they want to set up camp I believe there is a hot spring around here heated by this fissure”) Opal returned back and flew overhead.

(“Yes over here”) Opal started to circle around an area, and Sombra got the other two to follow him over. There was a relatively steep descent, although it was made of collapsed rocks. They clambered down to find some ponds of bubbling water, steaming ever so slightly. Hope trotted over to the water, laid down and warmed the underside of her hooves on the steam. Meanwhile Cloud set up their tent, which wasn’t massive, and Sombra certainly wasn’t fitting in it now. 

“Are you gonna be able to fit in this?” Cloud asked after setting up the tent and seeing its room.

“I slept in a cave for over five hundred years, I should be fine outside the tent”

“I’m…I’m not sure I’ve ever quite understood just how old you are”

“I’m not even a thousand”

“That’s enough to cover more than ten generations of my family”

“Oh” perhaps Sombra hadn’t quite realised either. When the tent was set up, the settled down for the “night”. Sombra did end up sleeping outside the tent, although him sitting at the tent door did stop any off the foxes getting into the food as they slept. 

The next “day” came around, in which the unchanging light had confused the brains of Hope and Cloud. However they did have a plan for the day. Opal could lead them to a wyvern and tormentor stuck in place, and considering that, it was the most desirable way to get a picture of them. They set of once they had some form of breakfast, and since the other two were in the cave Sombra took the chance to go quickly hunt a hare. They set of again through the flower field and past the fissure. The field was rather large and stretched into the far reaches of their view. They had to walk and hour before an odd shape could be seen in the distance.

(“That’s it”)

(“Is it like…twisted?”) Sombra asked. The wyvern was standing to say the least.

(“It has most definitely crash landed, that’s a wing sticking up, its half rolled over”) as they got closer the silhouette became clearer. The wings were in a V position upwards, the feathers spread out to catch the air. Its tail was half raised and its legs were flat against its body. Sombra wondered if it would wake up, if it nosed dived he wouldn’t doubt the idea of its neck snapping.

“I’m not sure if this is what I was expecting or not, but either way I wasn’t expecting a fluffy dragon nor something quite so large” Cloud said in awe, an expression that changed when he saw the face.

“Damn you’re ugly” they stood at the wyverns face, its crown consisted of two large horns, which extended to double as a face armouring around the eyes and nose. Its black beady eyes were widened with surprise, most likely from experiencing sudden paralysation. A line of feathers travelled down its nose and all the way across its back and tail. Some teeth stuck out its lips and fur, both lower and upper teeth, yellowed and chipped. 

“I imagine those teeth aren’t any nicer inside its mouth”

“No, especially once it spits straight magic at you” Sombra told him.

“They do what now”

“Like really zappy dark magic, I think the exposed muscle on the chest is because it gets really hot or something, the air cools down the lungs I think sire said” He watched Cloud walk around to the chest, exposed muscles behind a second set of ribs.

“I’ll just, take some pictures”

“The hatchlings are much cuter” 

“You hung around them enough to see the babies?”

“My tribe hunted the breeding grounds”

“Oh right, so you know these things well then?”

“They taste great” Cloud gave a surprise snort at the answer he wasn’t quite expecting.

“It’s quite cute”

“Excuse me” Sombra stared at Hope in surprise.

(“She’s actually deluded”)

“It’s fluffy nose sticks out of its…face scale thing”

“h…how…it’s not” Sombra stuttered over Hopes logic.

“When has there been something fluffy and not cute?” 

(“Well by that logic at least she won’t find the tormentor cute”)

(“I’ll just let her believe what she believes”) they ignored Hopes ridiculous thought of such a thing being cute. They let Cloud take some more pictures and then continued onwards. They found themselves climbing back up the side of a mountain and then left the flower field behind. They travelled along a side and slightly up and down. Making their way towards a plateau they could see in the distance. It took most of the “morning”, if they were to guess, to get there. There was nothing spectacular on the plateau like the flower field, but it was high enough for some nice views.

“Have you got enough for your book yet?” Sombra asked.

“I’ve got setting out me rump” he took another photo of the view in front of them, an ever sprawling weave of mountains and tundra’s. 

“In this book, the uh…the protagonist dies at the end, so apart from that wyvern how else could he go out?”

“I think in the day you’re more likely to be eaten and at night if you’re not prepared you can freeze within hours…I think I nearly froze at some point”

“Really?”

“I don’t remember, I believe it was my first time out the Eye and it was either early day or late night”

“What do you mean by eye?” this one question made sombra realise how much he had forgotten. He knew the Eye was calm, he knew the Eye was home. But its size, shape, actual location? Non off it came back to him. He thought back to one geography lesson about hurricanes, one phrase stood out that he though summed it up quite well, also realising the actual origin of the name “the Eye”.

“Eye of the storm, it’s always calm there, we lived in it”

“How far away is it?”

“I don’t remember”

“That’s alright, I imagine this place is significantly bigger than what the maps say”

(“Hey the tormentors over here if you want to look at it”) Opal popped up with. Sombra and Cloud made their way over, to something Sombra for once hadn’t seen before.

He knew it was insectoid by the way his grandam boiled it in its shell. The tormentor stood above all of them on six large, armoured legs, another pair extend from its front end like a spiders, raised above in constant preparation to grab. Its face wasn’t so much a face as a just a large mouth. If it had eyes they were small and hidden. Its mouth was cone like and appeared to split into four. About where you might expect ears there was a folded up fan of membrane sticking out backwards.

“Do I want to know what this dude does?” Cloud contemplated, behind its legs Sombra could see Hope, sitting a distance away. She shook her head in an “absolutely not getting closer” manner.

“I’ve only eaten them, I know they’re called tormentors or something”

“I don’t want to know, but I really want to know”

(“Those membrane fans open up and torment you with your greatest fears, like hypnosis in a sense and it sticks you in place, it then grabs you, opens its mouth, two tendrils come out and stab you, you are now paralysed and your eaten whole”)

(“Alive?”)

(“Alive and petrified. Hence the name. They’re also really intelligent for glorified non webbing spiders and will hide in caves and against walls, with their fans out so even if you only see the fans in peripheral, your captured”) Sombra reciprocated back to Cloud, albeit not delightfully.

“ha ha yeah no” Cloud walked away after just one photo, looking fittingly terrified. They went back over to Hope, who was munching on some biscuits. 

“You done looking at it?” she floated biscuits over to them all, which two ate out the air and the other expertly stood on one talon.

“I think I’ve got enough photos, we can start heading back if you want”

“That’s probably best, I’ve ate most of the biscuits”

“Well I guess we head back, I imagine we can just head straight south right?” Cloud asked.

“I think so, do you want to camp out again before we head back?” Sombra looked around, a little bit away on another mountain he could see a relatively deep cave that they could stay in.

“Sure, might as well” Cloud followed Sombra as he set of towards the cave, making their way back down the plateau. Sombra realised how calm it was, he did remember the winds being quite aggressive. 

(“Isn’t the wind normally stronger than this?”)

(“Well it works like any weather system, and there is still some form of soothing effect trailing off from the empire, usually though the worst winds are within a few miles of the Eye”) 

(“Soothing affect?”)

(“It’s why there’s just a patch of green, I think it comes from the heart Crystal which Amore controls, she reduced the radius to hide the colosseum”)

(“Is that how the eye works?”)

(“We’re not sure why the Eye is so calm, some believe it’s due to Umbralis’s existence, but if that was the case every time he wondered of it would lose it effect, so in short we don’t know”) it didn’t take that long to get to the cave, and they set up for rest and left hours later. On Opal’s suggestion they retraced their steps, in desire to avoid the East which only Hope didn’t understand. They spent a similar amount of time going back as the did coming, although a little faster as more was downhill. Before they knew it they were back in the redwoods and walking back to the empire.

The castle still loomed over him, like it did all those years ago. He was used to the sight now, but at this angle it was outlined by the smoke flowing out the chimneys behind it. Dotted around he could make out the vague shape of T shaped pillars, not massive, but sticking out above the buildings.

“Oh by the way you two, we got a letter in the mail from your school that your DT and History teacher want to take you to the metal factory on a trip. I’m still trying to get Velvet to let you go, she’s not to keen on down town, I think if you both want to go that will convince her” Cloud told them.

“When do we go?” Hope asked him, a little more excited, she had been rather quiet and bored on the way back.

“About a week after you go back”

(“ask the name of the factory”) and so Sombra asked.

“Mustang something, I know it’s a metal factory…only because of the letter”

(“You’re going”) Opal practically commanded Sombra

(“You sound pretty sure on that”)

(“It’s the safest place you could be in this empire”)

(“How”)

(“Trust me on it”)
> Chapter 34: The decrepit brings saftey
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now in year eight, the class was being loaded onto some carriages. Some of them were being left behind, namely Fleur and another kid who had lost the right to trips. Sombra didn’t exactly fit in the closed off carriages and so he had to walk along the side, but at least he wasn’t chained to it. There were three in total to carry the class, Mrs Morning and the DT teacher. Hope sat in the one he was next to, with the little window open so they could talk. 

As they went on, heading East towards billowing chimneys, the streets got thinner and dirtier, buildings were made out of brick and wood and very little was crystalised. The houses and shops were crooked and slouched onto each other and above the net of black cable fractured the sky. The crystal road was dull and chipped, the wheels of the carriages thumped into the odd pothole. They stopped at a circular crossroad. 

“You’ll have to get off here, double pulls can’t get through from here” one of the stallions told them. The teachers unloaded all the students from the carriages in which Sombra could see would most definitely not fit through the roads. The roads, him and the others were so cramped between buildings, only the very top of the castle could be seen.

“What’s the way to the factory from here?” Mrs Morning asked.

“You’ll want to follow that road around and take a left when it splits, If you’re stuck follow the red cables to where they meet up. Also watch your umbrum lads hair and horn, the wires have been raised since but some still hang low in places”

“Oh alright then” they headed down the tight roads, sometimes pushing into buildings as slim cargo carriages came past. They walked past crumpled houses, none had gardens, and past shops which were slotted in between. Wooden posts held multitudes of cables, some had one red cable that split into fifty. On one cable joined to a house there was a lock of matted black hair which had been long glued on by rain.

They turned a corner and the road expanded and bent into a square in front of a giant brick building. There wasn’t so much a door as there was just a square hole with barred gates. By the sides there was the first signs of plants that didn’t consist of moss. Two hanging baskets overflowed with dangling leaves, the top was covered in a dome of flowers from the snowfield. “Mustang and co copper foundry” was cut out of oxidised copper. What was catching Sombra’s eyes however were rusted iron, vertical swirling letters, blending into the brick.

“the decrepit brings safety”

He was too distracted by them to notice the iron bars being opened by a large draft stallion. He looked down when Opal pecked him in the neck. The stallion was eye level with him at least, he also didn’t sparkle like every other pony, and he had no gemstones in his skin. He was largely neutral in colour, being dark brown with white socks and muzzle, along with thin black hair cut short. 

“y’all the lot comin’ round the factory I’ll assume” he had a grit to his voice.

“yes” the DT teacher had a snark to her tone and an eyebrow raised, which wasn’t uncommon for her Sombra had learnt. Especially when it came to things she deemed obvious. 

“all righ’ then you lot, you know what we make ‘ere?” he asked them. 

“copper” one kid replied, they walked into the factory, passing through a wall of blazing heat.

“and ye’r alloys?”

“you do alloys” another kid asked.

“yes”

“brass”

“and?”

“bronze”

“exactly. The brass we make here is called alpha brass, it’s a seventy thir’y copper to zinc, makes it quite malleable even when cold…” he went on about the different properties of the brass and bronze, explaining the process of how they mix, melt and pour the metal into ingots. They pasted many giant ovens, closed with thick graphite hatches. Vents pasted in and out of them in a organised rows and then left through the side of the factory. The stallion continued explaining how the ovens heated the crucibles hidden inside. A normal sized stallion, who Sombra couldn’t tell if he was crystal or not based on most of his body being covered in heavy fabric, opened up one of the furnaces. Blazing golden light shone from inside, and the heat of the room quickly increased. The stallion turned to the group.

“This one’s ready boss”

“That’s the bronze righ’?”

“Yep” the boss motioned them around the furnace from a distance. The other stallion trotted of, returned with another and a rack full of moulds. The front of the oven was closed, the top was opened up to reveal the arm the crucible hung from. The two stallions climbed up short, steep stairs to manoeuvre the crucible up and down to the moulds. With one moving the mould table, the other on the wheel of the crucible, they poured the bronze into their ingot shapes. The class watched in varying degrees of amazement, some silent, others audibly, as the bronze splashed and shimmered. They were relatively small ingots, the boss had said they were six kilograms although from the distance Sombra couldn’t quite tell how big they were, but they appeared like they could fit comfortably in two of his hooves.

“these ones ‘ll go off to the coolin’ room, I can show ya’ll the ready ones” he lead them off further into the factory, where they were bought into a large room which was filled with stacks of ingots of all sizes, all different hues of coppery gold. The boss weaved between the stacks, and pulled of a much smaller ingot, he handed it to the students to pass around.

“these li’le ones go to the jewellery crafters, since down here we can’t afford the good gold, we imitate it instead” the ingot came around to Sombra and Hope, who lifted it in her magic. On its top was an indent saying, “Mustang & co., 70/30 Brass, 1kg”. in Hopes magic, it could pull of as gold, and yet if Sombra really looked at it, he could see it was ever so slightly duller. They handed it back.

They were lead around the storage, Sombra could just about see over the stacks, each organised by grade, metal and weight. They didn’t spend too long in there until they were taken back out again, then taken to another much larger room. Inside was a row of five giant cylindrical machines.

“These are the electric genera’ors, real new tech that we managed t’ get our hooves on from Can’erlot. I can’t show you the inside, but I can try to explain” he went through the process of how they boiled water with coal, then pressurising the steam and pumping it through the many turbines within. The mechanical rotation was converted electrical energy, and they supplied the factory.

“We use the electricity more for the ligh’s and ki’chen, which in the long run is much cheaper than oil lamps and more coal”

“But what about all that coal,  surely that’s expensive” one kid pipped up, pointing to the giant crates piled up with lumps of coal.

“Well that pile can last us a good few months, but the cost of it is way overhauled by the amount of money we get from the entire empire paying us for power”

“You power the whole empire?” said another kid in surprise.

“Well yes, these five act’lly produce far t’ much power, so we make the ponies pay t’ use it, most goes to the cas’le, we get a pretty penny off them…when they pay it” the last comment was said away from them all. Most of them had lost interest with nothing glowing to look at, and they were taken out the back of the factory to a large courtyard to eat. 

Compared to the rest of the factory, it was very green. Nestled between all the cramped houses and buildings, the courtyard contained small birch trees and the factory wall was covered in sprawling ivy. They sat at the benches and ate their lunches, and while Sombra didn’t initially notice Opal leaving his side, until he returned (somehow) carrying a bowl of nuts, seeds and fruit. 

(“Where did you get those from?”)

(“Would you believe me if I told you I lived here for the last two hundred years”)

(“You didn’t tell me this entire time?”)

(“Look heat makes me drowsy alright and you are incredibly fluffy”) There was a brief silence between them

(“Why here? Why not the forest?”)

(“A, free food I don’t need to scavenge for, B simply seeing a Lumos if enough to keep some umbrum sane, so chilling around them didn’t seem to break the oath much”)

(“Oath?”)

(“I’ll explain it later, I don’t have good history with it”)

“Sombra” Mrs Morning called him, he turned to see her standing with the boss again. He left his lunch and walked over. 

“He wants to talk with you, since you’re an umbrum-in a good way” she told him. 

(“You can trust him”) Sombra nodded with a little caution and turned his attention to the boss.

“I got some stuff for ya” he followed the boss back into the factory and heavy air.

“I wasn’ expecting an umbrum in ya group to be fair, but since yer here I figured I’d just tell you yer welcome any time”

“Whys that?”

“’Cus this is the safest place in the whole empire for yer, if you didn’ gather by the front, oh and ya can call me Big J, dont question the lack of crea’ivity, big is the only description drafts seem to get”

Sombra was lead back into the storage room, and between all the stacks again. Big J rolled one to the side on its wheels, to reveal an extremely tall door, which was more a sheet of metal on hinges. 

“We rescued alotta umbrum from the rich gits, we let em camp up here until they got strong enough to go home, then none of em did because they wanted to wait for the rest of their fam’ly”

“did they work here as well?”

“they got bored eventually so they helped out” they made their way up a makeshift staircase, and at the top Sombra could see a curtain made of copper strands, pulled back like a curtain. 

They entered a large open room on a second floor Sombra hadn’t noticed. The floor was covered in hundreds of pillows, some appeared bought, others patch worked. There was electric lamps hanging from the ceiling, each with beaded pull cords. The blankets Sombra noticed, were leather, although visibly from different animals. The room was quite warm due to the ovens underneath, although it wasn’t intolerable.

“Say er, whats your sire’s name?” Big J asked Sombra, although it took him a moment to answer.

“…Vacio” saying his parents name was and felt very foreign on his tongue.

“Blue eyes”

“Yeah”

“that’s why yer name sounded familiar, s’actualy quite unfortunate” with the last bit under his breath, Big J trotted over and passed a few piles of pillows, over to one group, that had three blankets. Big J picked up a framed picture and gave it to him.

The picture was of his sire, most definitely. But then there was two others next to him. They appeared like young adults, at youngest late teens. They appeared practically identical to each other, and it was the hints of primary colour amongst the black and white that told him it was his sire, and the twins.

“…He’s gone now” Sombra wasn’t to sure about why that was the first thought that attributed itself to his sire.

“Yeah…I er…I was told…lis’en ya can come back later to talk ‘bout him yeah? Were sor’ of on a limit since you on a trip”

“…ok”

“keep the picture lad, so erm, one last place and yer can get back to ya friends”

“ok” they headed back down the stairs and back into the main factory again. They entered what was clearly a med bay, and not a fancy hospital one. It looked like the rest of the building with brick walls and a singular small window. But their was a row of beds and a row of cabinets, covered in quite a lot of bandages, some dirtier than others. Sombra could easily imagine many horrific burns happening. There were two crystal mares at the back.

“Oh hello” one almost jumped out of her seat upon seeing Sombra, the other with her hooves in the sink just waved. Sombra ended up with his cheeks being squished by one of the mares hooves. She then noticed the scares that laced his neck.

“What happened to your neck? I’ve not seen the chains do this” 

“There was um, acid”

“You were Amore’s?!” the nurse said in shock.

“How are ya alive?”

“Dam protected me”

“That explains why Vacio never found ya then, yer were in the castle prison” 

“Well, its healed…not the best, did you have bandages on?” the nurse asked.

“Yeah”

“Oh, we figured out after a while bandages prevent your white roses forming properly, they’re really on good to prevent bleeding on deep wounds” she told him, lightly stroking the fur on his neck, then she walked to his side, reached up and patted Opal on the head, who had already drifted off. 

“You found your umbrum you were sensing then” she said to Opal, who nodded slowly and half asleep. 

“You can come to us if you get injured okay, you’ll just have to sit through Cherry’s hugs. We’re in pretty much all the time, just come through that door” the other nurse spoke up from the sink, waving to the door at the end of the room.

“I’m not that bad” the two mares fell into a banter, and Sombra and Big J returned to the courtyard. Sombra put the picture of his sire and the twins in his bag. 

“Where’d you go?” Hope asked him.

“He er…just wanted to talk with me”

“Oh, ok” the trip was pretty much over, and the class were sitting in the front of the factory waiting. They didn’t sit for too long, as they weren’t waiting for the carriages. But then Big J came out the gates with a tray. There was multiple stacks of tiny ingots tied together with string. 

“I figured they migh’ want a li’le souvenir” he started handing out the little ingots. They were small two hundred gram bars of copper, brass and bronze.

“If ya keep the copper dry it should take years for it to start going green” 

“They look like little painted chocolate bars” Hope said, having untied them and looking at them individually in her magic. She, and the rest of the class packed the ingots away into their bags as they stood up so the teachers could walk them back to the carriages.

“’ey Sombra” Big J called out to him when locking up the factory gates.

“Keep your head up lad, and remember, ya can come back any time” Sombra nodded and caught up to the group back to the carriages.
> Chapter 35: C H O N K
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

With the factory trip gone, school returned back to its repetitive state. They all stood in the drive of the school waiting to be let in, a massive group of students with each year being let in one at a time, the higher up in the school, the later you’d be let in. This is usually fine, unless it was like today, in which it was pouring and windy.

(“This is miserable”) Sombra complained, having given up pushing the hair out of his face.

(“You’d think they’d let you in”)

(“They’ll only complain when we leave water everywhere”)

(“Well they’ll hate me and my water trap tail”) 

“You look miserable” Hope told Sombra, who looked a little less like a sea monster than Sombra with his hair hanging down his head and neck. They had been standing in the downpour for long enough that any effect of the natural shadow was completely negated by the weight of the water. Giving sombra a chance to truly understand how long his mane was. 

“What are you doing?” Sombra asked as Hope who was standing up against his chest.

“Using you as an umbrella” 

“Why-“

“Just grow a few more inches up and I can hide under you”

(“Congratulations, you’ve been demoted to shelter”) they stood in the rain for a little while longer until the head teacher came storming through one of the doors.

“What in Equestria are you doing?! Its chucking it down let them in Celestia dammit!” He yelled at the teacher watching them.

“But the order!”

“Fudge it! they’ll be freezing all day now!” with that he opened the doors for the hoard of drenched students to make their way into the building, motioning to the teacher to let some into the maths block, who did so begrudgingly.

As always school went by about as normal as always, they went to form, they went to first lesson. They watched Fleur and the popular girls bully some poor kid into restrained tears at break. She didn’t sit with them anymore, they hadn’t known her very long but it was odd to see how suddenly she flipped. Then when break finished they went to the next lessons and got the occasional entertainment of corridor zoo sounds. Lunch was just prolonged break and they had the joy of a returned chemistry test after (in which Sombra wished his enjoyment of the subject was mirrored in his grades) and last lesson dragged as always. 

(“If it is possible to get back the rest of you, let’s make a deal to not make school in whatever way that system is”) Opal complained as he half slept on Sombra’s back, even more bored as he just had to sit there and endure what went on with no other need to be their than Sombra being there. Finally they were given freedom.

“Hey, Hope, I’m going to head back to the factory again, can you tell Velvet?” 

“Who-who’s- oh right, yeah sure, why you heading back?” Hope asked.

“The boss said I was allowed back”

“Ok, mom will probably want you back before tea”

“Yeah sure” they parted ways, with Sombra heading back to the Eastern part of the empire. 

(“I recommend going a longer way round to avoid getting to close to the castle, perhaps on small streets or between houses to keep you somewhat hidden”)

(“ok”) with Opal on his back to guide him, Sombra made his way through the side streets, which twisted in and out of buildings and strayed away from the empires usual straight and organised method. Just like the day before, the streets got dirtier.

Given the time, Sombra didn’t expect to see so many young foals and teens. It seemed that down the path he was heading there was more than the total population of his school, which now that he thought about, there was significantly more houses. 

“Hey!” it was a young foal who stopped in front of him, with a typical young and livelier expression. Sombra simply stared at them, becoming rather aware of his intense shyness.

“Are you the umbrum that’s living in the empire?” 

“Um”

“Oh sorry, come here you” the mother, who had been distracted by her other three older children, pulled the youngest away from him.

(“We should be concerned”)

(“Why?”)

(“Well if there’s news an umbrum is around here then it has most definitely reached the castle”) Sombra strained to look up over the building and through cables to look at the castle. He certainly didn’t like that idea.

(“What would be the appropriate reaction to that”)

(“Am-well definitely…a lot of words Missy wouldn’t like you knowing”)

(“What”)

(“Continue with cautionary and calm panic”)

(“That is not reassuring”) they turned onto the road with the factory entrance and Sombra tapped on the iron bars. Fortunately there was a worker near the gate to see him and let him in. He was once again bought into the sweltering building as he was lead into a new area. The worker knocked on the door, which lead into what Sombra could only assume was Big J’s office, who opened the door just as the worker was lifting his hoof up to nock.

“Heya kid” 

“Uh”

“Figured you’d come back, come in kid” the room wasn’t massive, although the corridor wall was thinner than the door frame which added a little to the space. There was a simple wooden desk, with what seemed to be a hap-hazardly put together metal pencil pot. There was a shelving unit filled with binders and books, then a something sombra hadn’t seen before. A series of wooden platforms stacked atop each other and an elevated box with circle holes in. Said box had a pair of green eyes staring at him, or more specifically…

(“Oh come on, what is my luck”) Opal complained and Sombra felt him slump down into the dip of his hips.

(“What’s wrong?”)

(“Fudgin’ cat”) 

“Don’t worry bout yer bird, Flops is er…pretty hopeless in terms of bein a hun’er”

“I’ve not seen a cat”

“Yer haven’? guess their not too popular in the rich streets, you’ll meet ‘er eventually” Big J grabbed some pillows stashed under his desk and chucked them on the floor. They sat down and Opal found the highest point of Sombras body to sit on, being his face.

(“Do you mind”) Sombra complained.

(“No”)

(“Do you not like cats?”)

(“Yeah I absolutely love them with every inch of my heart-NO, NO I DO NOT”)

(“Your tail still touches the floor-“)

(“Shut”)

“So, I assume you wan’ed to have a chat righ’?” Sombra simply nodded in response.

“So what ya want to talk ‘bout lad?”

“I er, have a question” 

“Go on”

“If sire was here, why is he in the Colosseum?” he had thought about it last night, it bugged him through most it.

“Ah righ’, yeah so what happened was is that we told the umbrum we picked up that they could leave anytime, excep’ they didn’. They wan’ed to reform their tribes first. Some did leave but I’m not sure how far they got with guard patrols. Yer sire was one of the ones who stayed and he also planed the whole revolution, he lead it and the others followed him”

“I remember something about a howl”

“Yer sire went out to the Colosseum after some months of spreadin’ word, he knew full well that he could easily die but he genuinely hoped he would see some of his family there”

“Me and dam weren’t there that day”

“Ya managed to stay with yer dam with Amore?” Big J asked in subtle shock.

“We ate her leg” 

“…oh…reasonable” there was a light fud from the corner of the room and from around the corner of the desk came what Sombra could only imagine was Flops. An absolutely fat white cat, who, like her name suggests, flopped onto Big J’s shoulder. 

“Heya Flops” 

“Mrrow” 

(“It’s so cute”)

(“You dare”)

(“Look at it”)

(“No”)

(“I doubt it could hunt you considering it seems real fat”)

(“A fat cat can still play on element of surprise”)

(“You’re not that stupid though”)

“Anyway, er yeah yer sire I assume is resting in the Colosseum somewhere then”

“The middle”

“Righ’ then, when I get the time I’ll go pay mah respects, good stallion yer sire was. He would not shu’ up ‘bout you”

“He wouldn’t?”

“Well, no, you were his only son, but er, I also have a question…did you actually lick an icicle?”

He couldn’t see much except for ice, which was elegantly stuck to his nose. He could see the glow of the campfire around the shape and the slow drips of water sliding down the ice. There was a poke in his side and he saw Yesric teasing him.

“Maybe” he imagined he blocked out the memory entirely out of sheer embarrassment. 

(“Mate…”)

“Ok, I genuinely though that only happened in me daugh’ers books” 

“Oh” it didn’t help the shame. There was a silence when Flops got up from Big J’s shoulder and walked over to Sombra.

(“Get it away from me”)

(“Calm down”) Flops flopped again, then proceed to bat and swipe at the floating ends of Sombra’s mane.

(“See, she’s more interested in my hair”)

“Hey kid, why not tell me about yer tribe, your sire said a lot, but I imagine you have some extra stuff” Sombra had to delve into his mind for a while, trying to remember anything.

“Um…”

He was with his Granddam, weaving between the bustling crown of umbrum. It was night and all of them blended into the dark, the only way he could actually follow his grandam was by the slight illumination of the green and purple waves of light in the sky. They were traveling through the market, using the traded items from their own stall to buy some things for themself. His grandam lowered a fresh skewer down to him she had just bought from a stall, smearing the glaze over his mouth. 

It was day, he was out with the twins on the Eyes floor after fresh snowfall. They hid behind makeshift walls they had built, rolling snow up from near buy, avoiding snowballs whizzing buy their heads. Sombra threw one and it hit another foals wall, not exactly having the strongest throwing leg. Out the corner of his eye he saw Yesqen get a ball to the flank. Their fun ended when Folre came to pick them up, in which they complained and started heading back. However, in an attempt to hit either him or the twins, a snowball hit Folre in the side of his stomach. His usual blank expression shifted into a smirk, his horn ignited and a dozen snowballs floated at his side. 

“Did you ever meet your other tribe?” Big J cut asked in Sombras brief moment of thought.

“Other tribe?”

“Yer dams tribe”

“No” 

“Right, just wondered since yer sire never said anythin’ either, hey er, I’ll go get a drink and some biscuits that sound good?”

“Sure” Big J stood up and walked out the door, having to force Flops to stay in the room since the ovens were still on. He was gone for ten minutes in which Flops sat and scratched the door, adding more marks to the already battered wood. Big J came back with two cups of tea and a pack of biscuits. Flops wove between his legs as he placed the tray down. 

“Did you say you had a daughter?” Sombra asked him.

“Yeah, she’s in primary, she got ‘er cu’ie mark recently when she was doing up her friends mane” 

“Hope keeps complaining she doesn’t have hers yet”

“She a friend of yours?”

“Yeah”

“Well some marks just take a while t’ come in, a friend of mine didn’ get his till he was in his early twen’ies” they sat and drank their tea and ate their biscuits, giving fuss to Flops as she pestered them. She leaned up on Big J trying to eat the biscuit out of his mouth and darting for any crumbs that fell. 

“Nearly six huh, you should probably head on back home kid, starts getting’ dark at about eight so” 

“Okay, Miss chestnut will probably panic over me anyway” they stood and made their way back down to the front door of the factory, locking Flops in the room again. 

“You good t’ get back yeah” 

“Yep”

“Alright lad, I’ll see yer soon” Sombra took to a trot down the street, which was significantly quieter now the school rush had ended. The sun was lowering and was half cut off by the clustered buildings. 

(“Hey Opal, you mentioned an oath yesterday”)

(“Oh year that thing”)

(“What is it?”)

(“We aid our umbrum, whether it be mentally or physically, until death takes us both”) he said in a repetitive tone.

(“Did you help another umbrum before me?”)

(“Yes, she was a young mare and she was almost completely deaf from birth, she could here telepathy just fine though. I was with her for a good few hundred years until what I’m sure now is cancer took her-“)

(“So shouldn’t you be dead?”)

(“Well her dying wish was for me to break the chord and help someone else, you know, break the oath”)

(“So you did it?”)

(“Yes and then was found out, attacked and kicked out the Eye by the other Lumos with a broken wing and a ripped open chest”)

(“You don’t sound very sad about it”)

(“I’ve had many years to think”) they continued home, mostly silent, going through back and side paths once out the congested streets and into the neater ones. He entered through the back door of the house for reasons even he didn’t know but he did smell food, or specifically the herby smell of Miss Chestnuts vegetable soup. Immediately when he walked in, with only half his body in the house, did Miss Chestnut rush him down.

“Are you okay?”

“Yep”

“Did you get hurt?”

“No”

“Did anyone see you?”

“Probably”

“What do you mean probably?”

“Hi Sombra”

“Hey hope” He pushed past Miss Chestnut and sat next to Hope who had eaten most of her soup. Fortunately Sombra’s bowl was still quite warm, he assumed this was helped by the larger bowl being placed over the top of it. 

“How about you let him have some form of autonomy for once” Cloud mumbled to Miss Chestnut as she sat down.

“But there’s so many things that could go wrong-“

“He’s been walking outside for a year now-“

“But that place-“

“Pretty sure he can handle himself-“

“But the crime-“

“Do you read the paper?” Sombra turned to Hope with confusion as the pair continued arguing, in which Hope mouthed “argument” to him. They sat watching and eating, in which sombra tried to eat as fast as possible to get out the situation. It resulted in him leaving a bit of soup behind and taking the rest of his bread upstairs with Hope to her room.

“They’ve been arguing on and off since I got back”

“I gathered” Sombra hid his stumble over the mess that was Hopes room with its strewn about paper and many empty candle jars. Hope lit an orange one and then flopped on her unmade bed. 

“I don’t know why she doesn’t want you to go out, she’s so weirdly protective of you, every pony seems to be”

“Isn’t she just as protective over you?”

“I mean, I guess, she didn’t let me go to Fleurs house a while ago”

“Maybe she’s just a bit more protective then others” 

“I guess…did you do anything at the factory?”

“The boss new my sire” Hope stared at him blankly.

“Dad”

“Oh, did you know your parents?”

“Yeah” he laid on the bed with her, albeit not being able to rest his tail comfortably and one of his hind legs half hanging off the single bed. 

“Oh and the boss has a really fat cat”

“I’ve always wanted a cat”

(“Can you two NOT”)

“Opal doesn’t like cats very much”

“I guess not, since he’s a bird, how fat is the cat?”

“Very chunky, round, bit like Opal”

(“You little sh-”) Hope snorted at the site of the anger plastered all over Opals face, which her snort so conveniently covered a word slipped across the chord. They sat crumpled onto the bed as they did homework for a few hours, and decided to stay slightly thirsty if it meant not stepping hoof into the anger downstairs.
> Chapter 36: language? paint? ouch (???)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Months went by without realisation which really attested to Sombra’s mood about school. He had finally gotten to the point however, where his ears had a school drama filter on constantly. He was so unbelievably thankful that this method of education was not a thing in umbrum culture.

He and Hope were in his neat and organised room, in which he had found the blocks him and his cousins used to play with. Since they had letters on, Hope wanted to practice Umbrull on them, in which Sombra hadn’t realised she had been taking his old schoolbooks. He often re wrote class notes in Umbrull, which sometimes proved a problem with words that don’t translate. 

“I think I’m starting to understand how to write them better” Hope said as she copied the words she had built into a full sentence.

“Is that a D or an M?”

“…what”

“The D’s loop is longer than the M’s”

“why are they so similar?” Hope complained.

“I dunno” she still stumbled over letters that were similar shapes to each other. The other pairs being I and B, then G and S. Sombra realised that they didn’t have blocks for the numbers, so instead he had wrote them down for her.

Hhow good are you at speaking?” Sombra asked her.

“…er…ii…leiikaiee…er…cuuanai’dieelai’s”

“Yeah I figured” it wasn’t quite there, however he suspected it had something to do with the lack of rasp in a ponies voice.

“Do umbrum have an accent?” Hope asked.

“Not sure if it’s an accent or just…dry sounding”

“As in, need a drink dry?”

“I thin-ahk…(Hey Opal guess what brilliant comedic timing you just missed”)

(“Wot”) Opal replied from the back garden, most likely with a beak full of ants.

(“Voice cracked right as I was telling Hope about weird umbrum voices”)

“Do…do you need a drink?” Hope asked. 

“No” it was a very small no if anything. 

(“How do I get my voice back?”)

(“It should come”) Sombra stared forward just waiting. 

(“If it helps, which it won’t, most umbrum bite the tip of their tongue off because of hissing”)
(“No, no that doesn’t help”) Now Sombra sat staring forward, very aware of the position of his tongue in his mouth. He was so focused on his vocal cords and tongue that he hadn’t noticed Hope also staring at him.

“Hey were your eyes always almost completely red?”

“…I think…that’s suppose- woah” his voice had dropped significantly in pitch and there was most definitely a heavy grating at the back of his throat, along with a hiss.

“I think you’re the first colt to have their voice break at school”



Year nine came around and Sombra sounded like the oldest in the school. His voice had stopped cracking in the last couple months of year eight and while he had the six weeks to get used to it, it was hard to when it didn’t match the body it was coming out of. Apart from his new blazing red eyes he was still leaning towards colt than stallion.

It was break and he no longer could fit onto the bench and had to sit on the ground. Him and Hope hadn’t switched tables since year seven. Sombra wasn’t the happiest, for his love for chemistry, was simply not displayed by his grades.

“You’re not bad at it, you probably just struggle with test conditions” Hope tried to comfort him.

“Hmph, just wish I was like you with biology. You love it and your good in tests, when was the last time you got a B?” Sombra kept his voice quite, he often felt his larger lungs would make his voice louder, more noticeable. 

“I…I just wish I was better at chemistry to help you” Break ended, and art came around. it wasn’t the most chaotic of lessons, considering most found art, no matter how bad they were at it, more fun than maths. The desks in the art rooms were, needlessly tall, at least they were a comfortable standing hight for Sombra. 

“Alright, you lot, I’m going to trust you to use slightly nicer water colour than the blocks, however, I will not hesitate to demote you back to them” the teacher told them, a mare who seemed to lose her will to go with what her cutie mark said every day. 

“I want you all to try and paint a portrait from memory, it doesn’t have to be picture perfect, make it abstract if you want, just some form of a portrait of a friend or family member, you got that?”

“Yes miss” The class said in tandem.

“Good” She walked off to her desk.

“Right, looks like I’m in grayscale” Sombra dully joked to Hope. He stood and made his way over to the stash of tubes being raided by the other students, and he took four colours. Black, white, blue and red. It was all he needed, and he decided to ignore the offhand comment by a student about “all the ones in my dad’s basement looked the same”. Sombra stood back at his desk, to find Hope hadn’t moved.

“What…do your parents look like?” she asked, confusion on her face as she attempted to figure it out herself.

“Pretty much like me, we don’t vary much”

“Oh, right” she got up to go grab her own paints. Sombra stared at his canvas, he couldn’t choose between who to paint. He figured, to make life easier, to go with someone who didn’t have their hair loose, which put all the stallions of the board. That also included, from what he remembered, his grandam and aunt. Which left him with his dam and the twins, and they blended into one so he figured he would be going with his dam. 

He could easily remember her face, one that had a horn and two eyes. He again, ignored the fact that that face was gone, and focused on the one before which he could remember clearer in day light than in the darkness of the cell. It was almost easy for him to transfer her face onto the canvas, at a slight angle and a smile. She was looking down, it was the only angle he remembered of her, the horn and hair proved a challenge at the angle, however. But there was in fact a recognisable face on his canvas, a nice change from the usual mess of “landscape” he produced. If they started doing portraits more perhaps he would find another subject he liked.

He started to add on the paint, he added blocks of colour with relative neatness. It was then that he added details, but he didn’t try to perfectly blend them, he left each bit added as a rough mark, but intentionally left. He went down the route of more stylised colouring and shading then realism, even if the anatomy suggested so. About halfway though the lesson, he had a very recognisable image of his dam.

“How have you done that?” Hope had been watching him for most of the time, and barely made much progress on her own painting of Miss Chestnut. 

“Not sure” 

“I am useless at this” she stated while poking the canvas with her brush.

“I figured you’d have more control of the brush with your magic”

“You’d think wouldn’t  you”

“Woah” it was a voice he hadn’t heard spoken directly to him in a long time, being Fleur. Sombra wasn’t to sure what to say to her, considering he wasn’t quite sure how she seemed to switch from popular girl to the old Fleur, falling into a looser, less stuck up stance.

“How has your cutie mark not come through yet” she asked.

“Erm”

“Hey Fleur come look at this!” One of her friends called from the other side of the room. Her face twisted between devious bully and regret before she hesitantly trotted away.

“That was…weird” Hope said.

“It was a bit” they continued normally for the rest of the lesson. With sombra being the only one with a completed painting, which the class but them up on a drying rack. The interaction with Fleur through off Hope and Sombra for the rest of the day, it was just strange to see her be kind to some one for once. 

“Still confused about Fleur, she hasn’t talked to us in years” Hope said as they walked home from school

“She was just giving a compliment”

“But still, she usually ignores our existence”

(“There is a chance its peer pressure and what not causing bad behaviour, I’ve seen that happen in schools throughout the years”)

(“Who off?”)

(“Those other girls most likely”)

They got home, in which it was now very obvious that Sombra did not fit in the house anymore. In both hight and width he did not fit through the front door without bashing something (he wasn’t exactly overweight, in fact he was very slightly underweight considering the limited source of meat, but umbrum just had much wider shoulders and ribs then ponies). Then the hatch to his bedroom was scratching down his spine, although it gave him a good excuse to practise shadowing, even if still he wasn’t that good.

He did have an option, however. He had a few months back went back to the factory again, which Big J told him if he needed to he could take up the giant bedroom in the top of the factory. The only downside is that it would be quite toasty. That wouldn’t stop Sombra, most of the time he would be out hunting anyway and by the time he got back the factory would be cooling off. What was stopping him, was simply asking Miss Chestnut. But frankly, his spine had splinters, his shoulder and hips were bruised, and he routinely bashed the horn on his head he forgot about.

(“Just ask her mate”) Opal told him.

(“She already proved she hates the place”)

(“She relies on the news, the news can slander a newly hatched chick”)

(“She’ll say no, I’d rather not cause another argument”)

(“Just ask, and maybe show her the mark you’ve left on the hatch from your back rubbing against it and all the splinters I’ve pulled out”)

(“You kept them?”) Momentary disbelief passed through him and his stomach threatened to turn.

(“No, but there’s a big enough dent in the framework to say so”) 

(“I can try”) With little to no courage, he headed downstairs. Fortunately she was alone, as Cloud had gone to do some shopping. 

“You alright?” Miss Chestnut asked as he met her on the sofa.

“I um”

“Is this about the fact that you don’t fit in the house anymore” her voice shifted from sweet to expected annoyance.  

“Yes”

“I mean, their isn’t anywhere else for you to go, so you’re just going to have to be more careful when moving about”

“But I’m getting splinters all in my back”

“From where?” she asked slightly panicked.

“The hatch to my bedroom”

“Oh, well, I guess we could see if Hopes willing to swap rooms” He didn’t even want to think of moving her belongings around considering the mess they made.

“My hooves don’t fit on the stairs”

“I don’t want you sleeping downstairs though”

“It’s carpeted it wouldn’t be that bad”

“I’m not having you sleep on the floor of all places”

“I did it for seven hundred years on cold stone”

“What? No, no. If you do decide to just leave where would you go” she wasn’t exactly asking him, more angry that he would even suggest leaving.

“I um…I’ve been told if  I wanted…I er…could stay at the factory-“

“WHAT NO. Absolutely not do you now how much crime exists in that place”

“I’ve been multiple times and I’m fine” 

“You…what” he’d never been more scared of a pony almost throwing themselves of a sofa into a standing position, mixed with a scowl of a voice.

“You’ve been there, more than that ONE EXTRA TIME?! And you never told me. Do you even understand how many of them will see you and plan ways to get money to sell you off!? And with the state of that place who knows what you could end up inhaling-“

“Everyone theirs been pretty nice so far”

“So. Far. What do you know if their planning some way to get money out of you” she repeated, there was a deathly silence only filled by Miss Chestnuts breathing.

“How would you even get to school in the morning”

“Get up earlier?”

“Oh and walk around crime central at four in the morning?”

“Not sure if I’m even visible in the dark-“

“No.” Sombra didn’t feel like arguing, so he just turned and went back up the stairs, not wanting to deal with the fact she was starting to repeat herself and the conversation would go nowhere. He made his way back up the stairs his hooves where too big for, scraped his back on the hatch and collapsed on the bed he was also, too big for.

“What, just happened?” Hope popped her head up into his room. 

“I’m not to sure, but at this rate I’m going to be totally stuck in this room if I don’t figure out how to shadow properly” He mumbled half into the pillow.

“You are a bit big for the house, where would you move to?”

“The factory boss said I could stay their if I needed to”

“In a…factory?” 

“Err (I forgot she doesn’t know anything about umbrum, so the whole bedroom floor isn’t going to make sense”)

(“She’s what, fifteen now? She’ll be maturing mentally but…alright look I never planned how one would go about talking what happened to you but maybe if you…I don’t know sugar coat a little bit and drop it in slowly instead of info dumping her?”) Sombra figured Opals idea would work, he also figured it would be better on him, he didn’t particularly feel like talking about it for a long time.

“There’s like, a bedroom in the attic”

“Do some of the workers sleep their?”

“Sort of, or used to, but its still there so I’ve been told I can have it”

“Would you just have to get up earlier for school?”

“Most likely”

“I mean…when we went on that trip it seemed fine”

“It’s more the surrounding area she doesn’t like”

“That seemed fine to, Cloud would probably let you go”

“I don’t think he could win with her” 

“Maybe like, try to purposely hurt yourself more than normal, just to make a point” he didn’t know how much he was going to go along with hopes plan, as he really didn’t feel like having more bruises. 

“Oh she thought maybe we could swap rooms but-“

“Has she seen my room?”

“Don’t think so”
> Chapter 37: That was not intended
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crack.

Thud.

“…ow” it wasn’t the greatest start to the morning. Sombra was used to the stairs creaking, so when they did so but louder, he did hesitate. But he went down anyway. 

And now he was on the floor, having smashed his chin into the hatch frame and with a chunk of wood impaled in his shoulder. Within moments the rest of the family was next to him.

“you okay?” Hope asked him.

“oh yeah sure perfectly fine” he lifted himself onto his legs and bent to nuzzle his wound, which the wood in his shoulder was at least and inch thick, and frankly wasn’t very pleasant. 

“Oh Celestia where did I put that number!?” Miss Chestnut yelled in panic and she rushed straight back down the stairs. They staired at the area she was no longer standing in for a moment, before Sombra turned to see Cloud, utterly unfazed. 

“you seem extremely calm about this” Sombra said fairly bluntly, he too being a little to calm for his situation.

“if I can survive hitting the cold hard ground headfirst at fifty miles an hour and have no repercussions, I’m sure your fine”

“how did you do that?”

“failed dive”

“right, well I’m just going to head to the factory, since they have nurses there that most likely now how to deal with an impaled umbrum” still completely calm and only feeling a slight twinge as he moved his shoulder, he began to walk. Then there was a harsher sting, which looking down he saw Hope was holding a wet flannel to him. With her at his side, they managed to walk out the back of the house without tripping over the mess Miss Chestnut had made. There was little talking as they, with some speed, made their way down the back of the houses.

“Sombra”

“Yes”

“How are you not screaming right now?” Hope asked.

“Dunno, probably got nerve damage by this point”

“What, how”

“Or I’m numb to a lot of stuff”  he assumed that he’d been injured to the point of not really being able to feel anything, although he couldn’t say if he couldn’t actually feel anything, or if mentally he couldn’t. 

“Also, this was not me doing your idea of hurt myself some more”

“So you didn’t mean to fall down the stairs?”

“No, they’ve been creaking for the last couple years, I wasn’t expecting them to collapse on me”

“Right…how long until we get to wherever we’re going”

“The factory has some nurses in, there the only nurses I know so, that way”

“That’s a bit of a walk”

“I’ll be fine, just keep that flannel on, I think it’s helping” they walked for quite a while, Hope had to awkwardly stay between walk and trot to keep up with Sombras stride. Both of them were just waiting for Miss Chestnut to come charging around the corner, but by the time they got to the beginning of the decrepit houses, she hadn’t shown up. However, by that time, the walking had caused the wood in his shoulder to dislodge slightly, and he started to bleed more, he also felt as if his muscle was being pulled around by strings.

“We should hurry up, do you know any shortcuts?” Hope asked, pressing the flannel in harder.

“No, not yet” they kept going, fortunately not being bothered by too many ponies since there wasn’t many out. They eventually got back to the factory. Due to Sombra’s more frequent visits, a worker had decided to start polishing ingots by the gate, so it took no time for Sombra to be bought in and taken straight to the nurses.

“Oh hello, are you okay?” asked the nurse, but before anyone could answer, Cherry, the other noticed his shoulder. 

“What happened to your shoulder?” Cherry was straight to pushing Hopes magic away and examining his shoulder.

“I er, broke the stairs”. 

“Right, Coco are those tweezers clean?”

“Yes” the two nurses sat around his shoulder, and Sombra winced as they slowly pulled out the chunk off wood, which as they did so he felt the wound get pulled together. As the wood was fully pulled out, he watched as white roots branched and filled the wound. 

“What are those things?” Hope asked, having quietly watched trying to hide her curiosity.

“It’s a healing method special to umbrum, they grow roots which close wounds and small white flowers form the scabs, from what we know they can regrow limbs, although there are limits” Cherry told her.

“This’ll hurt” Sombra near leaped out his skin at the short notice of Coco forcing the roots apart with some tweezers and beginning to poke around inside.

“More warning next time” he complained through gritted teeth.

“Sorry, I have to get the splinters out” he felt his stomach do loops as she fished around, pulling splinters out of him, for what felt like ages. Every time she pulled splinters out the roots would bind back together, so it never got any better. 

“All done” she wiped his shoulder of the blood that had dripped down and he gingerly moved his leg around. He could feel how the roots pulled the muscle together, and yet also mimicking the muscle structure in a way it felt mostly normal after a short time.

“Why couldn’t I heal like that before, that would’ve been nice” Sombra mumbled to himself, although he still received an answer from Cherry.

“Wounds not healing can happen with malnutrition, I imagine more so with umbrum considering how intense the healing method is”.

“oh right, that makes sense”.

“When were you malnourished?” Hope asked, the curiosity she was experiencing from his shoulders healing method quickly vanishing.

“Before I came to the orphanage”.

“Were you homeless?”

“Yeah, you could say that” he wasn’t calling that cell a home anytime soon. There was a relative silence, apart from the sound of the nurses cleaning their tools and dumping the wood. That was until, for the second time, Sombra nearly leapt out of his skin.

(“SWEET UMBRALIS WHERE ARE YOU?”)

(“The factory”)

(“Ok, I’ve just been shook within an inch of my life”)

(“Chestnut?”)

(“She’s been panicking for the last twenty minutes until she remembered I can talk with you from a distance”)

(“How did you not hear me fall down the stairs”)

(“I was very much asleep”)

(“Right…do you still not get a hint of me being impaled?”)

(“Well frankly I’ve had a funky wing for a while so I didn’t question it much”)

(“Is it broken?”)

(“Remember how I said the other Lumos broke my wing”)

(“Oh, right”) 

(“I’m also used to feeling slight twinges every time you’ve walked into something”) Sombra turned to his shoulder and by instincts started to lick it, which it felt weird with the roots knotted together underneath. He decided with Hope, that it might be best if he took the day off, just to give his shoulder a rest. While they knew Miss Chestnut would be far from happy about it, but they weren’t going to argue about a free day off, even if Hope really didn’t have an excuse. 

They left the factory after the nurses gave him a check over for any other splinters, taking a more leisurely stroll back. The odd pony around gave friendly nods, and their was something rather charming about shops being fitted into slots between houses, and through the window you could see the shop keep working on products. They kept going, until Hope stopped.

“Sombra, have you got any bits on you?” she was bouncing on her hooves.

“No, their in my school bag”

“We’re coming back then”

“Why- oh, candles” there was a candle shop, it window full of all sorts of different colours and shapes. He had to drag her away with a promise that he’d bring her back at the weekend. They kept going, slowly making their way back home, in which just as they left down town Opal landed on his back per usual. 

(“How’s yer shoulder mate?”)

(“It’s been better”) 

They made it home, which by now Miss Chestnut had left to work. They heard Clouds chair shift upstairs as they headed up. Sombra noticed his staircase had been removed and the splinters cleaned up, preoccupied by it, he nearly fell over the chaos that was Hopes bedroom floor. there were more empty candle jars than he could count, stacked up against the wall. 

“How…many” his hoof slid on some old homework.

“Many” she sat on her desk, immediately lighting up an orange candle, didn’t take long for the room to smell of fruit. They spent the rest of the day chilling out, taking the chance to do any homework they had before spending hours playing boardgames. They even managed to drag Cloud out of his writing desk to join them, and when Miss Chestnut came home Hope managed to keep her less angry by showing her all the homework she had completed (which did include some old stuff) however she still had to promise to go in tomorrow. 

“So, what are we going to do about your bedroom” Miss Chestnut asked Sombra.

“I don’t really fit through the hatch anymore, I could just, sleep downstairs”.

“Where exactly?”

“Carpets softer than the floor”

“I’m not having you sleep on the floor”.

“It’s that or the factory” she went silent.

“The floor is fine then” she left.
> Chapter 38: well non of this is good
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It didn’t take long for Sombra’s shoulder to heal up to a point he was practically normal again. However Sombra had a good feeling it was going to be a terrible day of school from the moment he walked into form and locked eyes with the new kid. This crystal pony was a unicorn with cream fur and a pink mane, and the second their eyes locked, his face twisted into a malicious smirk. Sombra made his way to the back of the room which is where he sat in every class, since he was too tall and blocked everyone’s view. His group consisted of him and Hope, along with Raisin and Ginger who were in the same year as them. Sombra motioned with his head in a way to ask who the new kid was.

“Valentine, every pony already hates him, all of yesterday he wouldn’t stop bragging about how he was the princesses nephew” Ginger mumbled.

“He uses it as a fear tactic to get the teachers let him off with doing whatever he wants” Raisin added.

(“I get the feeling I might be screwed”)

(“You don’t say mate”)

(“Maybe its best I don’t come here anymore”)

(“All that would do for you is stop him tormenting you, since you can guarantee the moment he gets home Amore is going to get informed about your existence and general idea of where you are”)

(“How about we go to the head at lunch”)

(“Probably for the best”)

First lesson came around which was art, and Sombra had found quite the passion for it, very much enjoying it. But for this lesson he sat there ignoring the paper wasps being sling-shoted into his spine. He wasn’t to sure if Valentine was aware of his heightened sense of hearing, but he was very aware of Valentine mocking him about how he had to stand because he was to big to sit in the chairs.

“Does that not hurt?” Hope asked him.

“The fur helps” another one bounced of his hip, while he continued to paint the random fruit sitting on the desk.

History comes around next, and it could be summed up as the entire class feeling very uncomfortable. Valentine was sitting there, bragging to the kid sitting next to him, how he used to beat up and break the bones of the umbrum his parents owned. He talked about how he would take enjoyment about seeing them collapse to the ground, or slowly watching their minds break into submission. The closest kids next to him, especially the one that Valentine was talking directly too, had gone rather pale.

Sweet relief was break for that class. Sombra was chilling outside with Opal, in which Sombra was distracted from eating by watching from a distance, Valentine harassing Hope in the hall. He could tell from the disgust on her face she wasn’t having anything coming from Valentine’s mouth, and she managed to get away from him. Hope rushed her way over to Sombra.

“Sweet Celestia he’s insufferable”.

“I’ve gathered”

“It gets worse as well, A he’s clearly into me, B he’s trying to get me to abandon you and C he’s in all of our classes” she complained, just as she was doing so Valentine was walking up behind them, bravado plastered all over his face. There were two miserable looking ponies who appeared to be hired as henchmen, and the rest of the school on break followed behind, expecting some drama. 

“So I see you haven’t taken my advice” his voice consisted of a sickening amount of pride and Hope turned to him with scowl.

“You know, such a pretty mare like you shouldn’t hang around with…whatever that is” he waved his hoof at Sombra, adding a grimace to his point.

“I’d like to know why your so into me considering for you and the other upper class consider me as nothing more than utter dirt” Hope questioned him.

“Oh well you see, you are in fact nothing more than dirt, frankly you really shouldn’t be called crystal with the distinct lack of shine on your fur, but you are a unicorn, and you may not know this, but any crystal unicorn gets a free ticket to royalty” he took a few steps towards Hope, and she batted away a hoof that was coming up to touch her cheek.

“If your insinuating that you want me to sit next to you on some fancy throne then I would rather be caught dead then be seen sitting next to a lump of fat like you, and I doubt you could ever shed it considering how much food you must be able to afford” she spat in his face, a collective excitement from the crowd. Valentine recoiled backwards as his ego was attacked, and Sombra and Opal stood somewhat terrified at where that side of Hope had came from. It took a moment for Valentine to recover.

“Well considering you come to this school I’m sure you’ve got some money  yourself as well…but then again, I do remember seeing a rather pitiful little unicorn who looked just like you at an orphanage once. And if were being honest here, the only way you met that freak is at an orphanage, since I doubt his parent are around anymore, you should count yourself lucky that I can’t remember the name of that place” Valentine strutted away with a face of triumph just as the bell went, with an attempt to graze his tail under Hopes chin which she forces away with her magic in disgust.

(“Opal, at what point can I abandon morals?”)

(“I think Hopes already done that judging by that face”)

They made their way to the worse lesson of the weak, being a double old Ponish lesson. It was already insufferable chaos as the class slowly gave up and lost parts of their sanity to the unending two hours, but it was worse now. Fortunately for Sombra it seemed that Valentine had drawn his attention to some poor other kid. So the two hours slogged by, in which him and Hope filled it with the usual of Sombra teacher her Umbrall instead. And finally it came to lunch.

“I’m going to talk to the head, I don’t think I should be here anymore” Sombra told Hope.

“Okay, I’m going to hide in the toilets until I hear you come down the stairs”.

“Right, I’ll see you in a bit” Sombra made his way up to the teachers corridor, however they ran into the head on the way.

“Oh hello, are you alright?” his voice seemed shaken, disturbed.

“Uh yeah, can we talk for a bit?”

“Valentine?”

“Yes”

“Of course, this way” Sombra followed him into his office, where he would of taken a seat if he wasn’t a giant.

“So I can only assume based on what I saw out the window at break that Valentines been getting on your nerves” 

“Well yes, but also if he is Amore’s nephew there’s reason to believe that he’s in contact with her so it’s probably best I’m not around him” 

“Right, yes I should have seen this coming, if it is safer for you to not be in school anymore then I wont stop you, and to be frank after today I suspect I may be a dead stallion, and I worry for every family of each student given the circumstances of what I’ve had to let happen” there’s was the solemn expression of expectant doom on his face and in his voice.

“Did you have to let Valentine come here?” Sombra asked him.

“Either way I am dead, but maybe I could of made myself the only casualty and not a few hundred families” he paused with a heavy sigh, Sombra watched as the crystal shine seeped out of his fur.

“You may leave now if you wish, I wont make you go to your last lesson”.

“Oh, okay, I’m not sure I want to be around him in a chemistry practical either”.

“That is understandable, you are free to go back to lunch” Sombra turned back to head through the door.

“Oh and Sombra, if I don’t see you again, I wish you luck in finding your family and getting to go home” there was a flicker of a smile amongst the defeat, Sombra could only return one that was a bit more hopeful.

(“He’s excepted his fate”)

(“I didn’t realise Amore had such control over them”)

(“I mean, she managed to manipulate the ruler of the country into not suspecting a thing for two hundred years”)

(“How has she managed to live so long, I thought ponies only live for like eighty years”)

(“I’m not sure if I’m totally right on this, as I overheard it through a window, but something about the crystal holds more magic than the bodies, so they live for longer, I think its about five hundred years for crystal ponies”)

(“What about Cloud and Chestnut, Clouds not a crystal”)

(“I’m sure they’ve talked about that, the same will be said for you and anyone you know now”)

(“Right”) Sombra headed down the stairs and called out for Hope, who excited the toilets with Fleur to his surprise.

“How’d it go?” Hope asked.

“I’m allowed to leave after lunch”.

“Your leaving me to deal with that prat in chemistry?” Hope asked in slight anger.

“Sorry about that” he looked over to Fleur confused, since she hadn’t talked to them in years.

“oh right yeah, I’ll explain outside, how about we go out the back to try and avoid Valentine”. 

“Yeah okay, sounds good” they made their way out the back of the school. In which Fleur began to speak first.

“Ok so, I’m sorry about the last few years, I got roped into the popular mares because I have money, and from there it was just peer pressure I never actually wanted to-“

“That’s fine” Sombra interrupted her, quickly getting the idea that she never wanted to leave them. 

“I’ve been wanting to find a reason to get away from them for a while, and given that Valentine has more money than me, they’ve gone to him and he really annoys me, especially how he talked to you at break” she continued. 

“Seriously its fine” he was taken off guard by a light hug of Fleur. They spent the rest of lunch unbothered and catching up with Fleur. When lunch ended Sombra told them that he’s going to hide in a large oak tree down the pathway until they come out of school. Which he did so.

(“I wish I was as good as sitting in tress as you were”) Sombra mumbled as his hooves slipped as he tried to find his balance.

(“Comes by weird tendons and nature for me”)

(“Is it weird being a bird with an equal level of intelligence to us but then be surrounded by normal birds?”)

(“Sometimes yes, although I’m not alone, I believe phoenixes are similar to Lumos, although I am unsure if they can form telepathic links”)

(“Are Lumos like, a magically enhanced peacock of sorts, you look exactly like them”)

(“We don’t remember our origin but that wouldn’t be a stretch to assume”)

(“Didn’t you call them trumpet birds or something”)

(“Mate, you haven’t heard them yet”)

(“So what do you sound like”) 

(“Like this”)

(“No like, physically, if you made actual sound”) there was a dismissive silence from Opals end.

(“If I was to throttle you what sound would you make”)

(“Mate”) he sounded broken hearted.

(“I wouldn’t actually throttle you”) just as he said that, they heard the wheels and hooves of a carriage pull up to the school.

(“I think I can guess who that’s for”) Sombra said without being able to look with out falling out the tree. 

(“Of course it’s the most fancy, ornate god damn thing in existence, sweet Umbralis”) Opal commented being able to poke his head out the leaves. While Sombra listened, Opal watched as the school slowly filtered out. 

(“Hi Bean”) Opal stuck his head down, which Sombra attempted to lean down as well but he was very aware of his instability.

“Stay up their until that carriage leaves, theirs two guards pulling it” Hope told them, Fleur standing with her and looking back to watch the carriage. 

“He’s just got on, I’ll tell you when they are round the corner” Fleur said. They waited a few minutes until Sombra was finally given the all clear to not so elegantly fall out the tree.

“Hey, you know, I’m not sure if I actually know where you live so I can come visit” Fleur said.

“Oh, Tourmaline street, there’s boats loads of roses in the front garden you’ll see it”.

“Oh neat, I’ll come round at some time” Fleur waved them goodbye as she took a different turn to them. they made their way home, in which having moved into the living room, Cloud had cleared out a cabinet for him to put his stuff in so it didn’t need to go on the floor. So Sombra took the chance to practice his shadow again to get in and out his inaccessible bedroom. By the time he had moved his stuff around, he had gotten pretty good at dissolving and reforming. 

“So this is a thing you can just do?” Hope asked him,

“Yeah, it’s an Umbrum thing”..

“Umbrum?”.

“What I am?”.

“Oh right, so you’re not actually a massive draft unicorn who got unlucky on colour genes”.

“No” there was something adorable about that spark of innocence.

“Is the floaty hair thing also an Umbrum thing”.

“Pretty sure”

“Okay, because only natural born alicorns have floaty hair in ponies”.

“Alicorn?” it was his turn to be confused.

“A unicorn with wings, and I think its believed they have earth pony as well as they also show the ability to influence the ground and stuff”

“Right” he began to organise his little cabinet of items, keeping his blankets out for sleep but folding and stacking other little items, such as the building blocks and the long since emptied bowl of preserving powder.

Having retired for the night, and Sombra taking over the living room, Cloud and Miss Chestnut had taken their conversations to the back garden. And while Sombra knew he shouldn’t be eavesdropping, it was hard when his ears where developed to here the squeak of a mouse in high winds. Which wasn’t exactly a good excuse, but he found himself listening.

“Velvet, I, I’ve made a mistake” Cloud started.

“Being?”

“I, I’ve been flying”.

You what!?” it was not quite a shout, a restrained effort to keep her voice hushed.

“Over the last few years, I’ve just flown without thinking, then with that trip to the north that was technically me leaving…” a brief silence fell.

“you’ve never told me why you were so scared, like I know it’s not safe for you to do so, but you never told what that threat was” she asked him, in which he sighed before he started.

“When I came here, I had a feeling I got myself into some trouble the moment I saw what was actually going on, and before I knew it I was grabbed by some guards and taken to the princess. And when I got to her, she was in her bedroom and…there was this wall it was-it was just covered in severed horns and she’d even made a makeshift crown out of them. I-I don’t remember anything about the conversation except…except when she told me she’d reckon a pair of wings would look good on that wall…” that was enough, Sombra didn’t want to hear any more bad news. He quickly made his way to his corner of pillows and pretended to sleep as they walked past a short while later to go upstairs. 

(“Opal, I…I feel like I should be doing something”)

(“like what”)

(“I mean, I want to find out what happened to the rest of the umbrum, but also I want to help these ponies, it’s just…not right”)

(“I can’t say I disagree, but how would you even start with either of those goals”)

(“I guess get rid of Amore, but like you said, how”)

(“We will just need to find something to give us an idea”)
> Chapter 39: Time to question morals :D
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sombra and Hope parted ways as one headed to school and the other headed to work. Sombra figured he might as well go to the factory, at least it would give him something to do while he figured out what exactly his plan was. However, even in downtown, he felt rather unsafe.

There was guards on every road, walking in pairs with spears clipped to their sides. Their eyes roamed around, and Sombra easily assumed that the events of yesterday had led to this. He resulted to slipping into the shadows to get to the factory. He slipped between the bared gates before he reformed and found Big J re-fuelling an oven.

“Heya lad how ya doin?” his face was covered in a streaks coal dust.

“Erm, a bit shaken, given the circumstance” 

“The guards yeah?”

“Pretty sure Amore knows I exist now, since her nephew just so happened to be at school yesterday” Big J motioned for him to follow as again he was lead up to the office.

“I thought she knew of ya before hoof?”

“I think it was a rumour before, but she most likely has an idea of my whereabouts now” they settled in the office again, Big J sitting on his chair and Sombra relaxing onto some pillows. And again, Flops leaped down from her cat tree, she sat down in front of Sombra and proceeded to watch Opal with keen eyes.

(“No”)

(“She’s not doing anything”)

(“It’s looking at me”)

“So, I assume yer come ‘ere because you want somethin’ to do while you avoid school like the plague”.

“Yes”

“Righ’, well I have noticed those guards ‘ve been peering through the bars so ya might be better off up ‘ere with me”

“What do you do up here?” he couldn’t exactly think of why there would be a need to be away from the actual factory.

“The wonderful world of business my friend” Big J began to explain the business side to his trade, which he described as the boring but needs to be done part. He told Sombra that there was two main parts to what he did. There was first organising trade, which consisted of shelves full of files and papers. They were the biggest suppliers to ponies who made decorative metal bits due to the colours of the metals they made, and they were hoping to expand trade once the train tracks connected up to them. Then there was the other part, all of which was mostly stored in one massive book. It contained every houses address, the size of said house and the electricity bill.

“I would prefer a way t’ give a more precise reading, but we just estimate on the amount by size”.

“So a bigger house pays for more electricity”.

“Yeah essentially, say a small house down ‘ere might pay us only a hundred bits, bu’ a mansion should give us a couple thousand”.

“What about the castle, surely they pay the most?”.

“well they curren’ly owe us about a hundred ‘nd seventy grand”.

“Oh, is their not a punishment for not paying?”.

“I ain’ playin’ with the fire of shutting off the castles power” Sombra let him ramble about his business for a bit longer. 

“So, when can I help out here? I can shadow now so I can quickly disappear if someone looks in”.

“yeah ‘course mate, when d’ya want to start?”

He spent the next few months adjusting to the factory work, and while he did spend a lot of time handling the business side with Big J, he often helped with the multitudes of heavy lifting, whether it be a crate full of ingots or carrying bags of coal into the generator rooms. That weightlifting was much more enjoyable than he realised it would be, since before the only real muscle exertion he got was hunting, but it was nice to use different muscles as well. 

He didn’t need the money he earned, he had no real need for pony food, and he could fit in any of the cloths, so he split up his monthly eighty bits. forty went to Cloud and Miss Chestnut, while Hope and Fleur received twenty each. What typically happened after that is that he would remain in shadow and follow Hope and Fleur around, technically going shopping with them, casting a string of shadow out to nod when they tried on outfits. He did wish he could just walk with them, but the guards continued their rounds.

As he went through these months he hadn’t made much progress on the little spark of a plan he had conjured up, and he didn’t know really were to start. His only real idea was that any information on if the umbrum were even still alive would be inside the castle.

It was just him and Hope this weekend, and off course she weaved her way without thinking to the candle shop again. She handed over not even a fraction of her empty candle jars to the shop keeper, and as Sombra creeped his way up to the top corner of the shop, he noticed that the pegasus guard that had bought him to the factory was also sitting behind the counter, except he wasn’t a pegasus anymore. As Hope went to raid the shelves, Sombra formed his head up in the corner, the two stallions noticed him, and the guard smiled.

“Its nice seeing you strong enough to shadow” his voice was weak and deflated, and there wasn’t a bright glimmer in his eyes or shine to his fur. Sombra could only meekly smile in response, there wasn’t exactly a point in asking “how are you?” when the two stumps for wings said everything. 

“Um…do you still have contact with others still in the castle?”

“I should be able to reach them, your not doing something stupid are you?”

“Yes, potentially”

“Oh, right then” he stood from his chair and motioned for Sombra to follow him into the storage of the shop. Sombra slinked through the air to a small compact room filled to the brim with boxes upon boxes of candles. 

“Hey, err, I’m not sure if I ever got your name, since you essentially saved my life-“

“Silver”

“Right so, do you know if their was any conversation that went on that surrounded what actually happened to the umbrum?”

“Well, I’m pretty sure I remember something about a spell that went wrong, but I’ve had about a hundred counts of amnesia since so I’m not too sure, but I know other guards also got out so I can ask them, anything else your after? And what exactly are you doing?”

“I first want to know what’s happened to the rest of the umbrum and if I can get them back, but I’ve noticed how Amore has got all off you in some sort of controlled state of terror”.

“Yeah that’s one way you can put it”.

“I think there’s a few hundred families on a hit list now”.

“What how?!” the part that made him a guard, a need to protect his ponies, near threw Silver into the boxes.

“School, with the amount that knew of me but most likely didn’t say anything…” there was a silence where Silver shrunk into a state of despair, rubbing his head before he continued.

“I’ll get on that, what are you doing now?”

“Not sure, if they’re…if they’re all gone theirs no point doing anything so…”

“You just stay low for now, come back in a week and I should have something for you” They left the storage room and Sombra found Hope with heavy laden bags.

“How much did you get this time?”

“Enough for a few weeks”

“I’m tellin’ you lass don’t burn your house down” the shopkeeper told her.

“Its fiiine” she waved a hoof and began to trot out the shop, Sombra and the shopkeeper exchanging a look before he dissolved into Hope’s shadow again. Sombra retuned a week later, and again he met Silver in the storage room.

“Right so, my mates remembered overhearing her. Amore isn’t talented in magic so the blast at the end of the revolution was her using the crystal heart to try and kill all of you but given that she can feel a large part of power underground there is reason to believe she accidently banished them instead”.

“So, they’re alive”.

“Yes, potentially at least” Sombra heavily sighed in relief, he knew know, that besides his sire, his tribe was still out there. 

“If you need anything else from that castle, I’ll try to hook you up with it yeah”.

“Thanks” Sombra left and weaved his way back to the factory where Opal was waiting for him.

(“You get it?”) 

(“Yeah, we reckon they might be banished underground”)

(“That’s going to be a lot of digging”)

(“You’re not wrong, but then we don’t even know a precise location”)

(“We could only assume it is near by if she can sense it from the castle, and that means its most likely directly under the empire. I’ve seen many mining outposts around, but I reckon their heavily monitored so they don’t go to far under the houses and cause sink holes and stuff”)

(“Is this…going to go morally grey very fast? Given the risk of sink holes and its going to take a lot of forced labour to dig”)

(“I mean, anything more morally bright then whatever Amore did”)

(“So, I guess I might be forcing the ponies to dig under their own homes, not really sure I want to do that, seems a bit cruel”)

(“Sometimes being selfish is the only option”) 

(“If…if I’m going to do this, I should tell Hope shouldn’t I?”)

(“She seems to have caught on anyway, so it would be cruel to leave her in the dark for any longer, she should be old enough to understand now”)

(“Ok”)
> So...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

So I’ve come to a conclusion that I don't want to continue this, I will be re writing this story from the beginning and I have a few reasons.

the first is that I’ve come up with so many ideas in the process of writing this, that I’ve realised there are things that may not make sense, or I completely forgot things and only realised later on and I felt like I needed to just put them in to not leave something mentioned with no purpose. there is also one major plot hole that I realised recently, and that is there is absolutely no way that all the umbrum got captured, in as much of a realistic scenario this can be, there would be some left, and at this point I could only really make it work by rewriting. I also feel like I haven't really written Sombra that well. In this case I feel he should have a lot more trauma problems, and I have no life experience with that so even still it won’t be written perfectly. however I do have first-hand experience with grief so I got those feeling down, I just feel the need to include it more, especially as the new re-write will focus a lot more on Sombra's tribe and the closer bonds and the weaker bonds, I want it to hit him, and the twins (ha ha spoilers) much harder, or try to at least.

there is also the matter of age in this, as Sombra was so young I had like thirty chapters of just him ageing, and I feel sort of guilty for not starting the plot sooner, as it is something I get annoyed about when reading when it takes authors forever to get to the plot, and it's the main reason, me, myself, cannot actually read what I’ve written. so think of this like a first draft, and certain ideas will be carried over to the next. I will be re-writing, so the story will come back soon.

in terms of that, I’m actually going to plan large chunks at a time, in which I’m going to separate the story into chunks which will hopefully make it easier for me to compute in my chaotic mess of a brain, and hopefully it might be written better. because of this, I wont upload this story for some time, but in the meantime it gives me chance to post smaller stories, some still focusing on the AU and one I have planned is for an OC I’ve finally made and actually really liked.

So I’m sorry if you liked this story, but I don’t want to continue something I’m not enjoying writing anymore, as at this point it’s a chore. So just hold tight k.