Violated

Every day Sombra would bring me something from Sugarcube Corner.  Sometimes it was cupcakes, and other times it was donuts.  Once he even managed to bring me five boxes of cream-filled crepes, and they were delicious.  He’d watch me eat, and then take the garbage wherever he decided to take it, so it didn’t litter up the chamber.  We’d sometimes chat while I scarfed down the food, and he’d occasionally ask for a bit or two.  I’d usually just give him a whole donut, or a cupcake, or whatever he happened to bring.  I never even thought to ask him about something, except one day when he spoke up about it....

I was shoving two donuts in my mouth at the same time, because the previous day Sombra hadn’t visited at all, so I didn’t get anything to eat.  I was ravenous.  “Mmmmm....These are delicious!” I said after I swallowed.  “Thanks a ton, Sombra.”

Sombra simply nodded.  He was staring at the box of donuts with a lustful look in his eyes.

I paused before I shoved another donut into my mouth.  I tapped him on the arm with my hoof as I held up the donut with my magic.  “Want one?”

His face lit up as he took the donut with his magic.  He shoved it into his mouth, chewed twice, and swallowed.

I frowned.  “If you were hungry, why didn’t you eat some of them on the way over here?”

He looked down to the ground and scuffed his bare feet - since he continued to get food for me, he said, he was less of a sore thumb if he didn’t wear anything out in public.  He mumbled something incoherent.

“Sorry, couldn’t hear you,” I said, watching him intently.

“I wanted you to eat them all...” he repeated.

I frowned.  “If you’re hungry, then go ahead and eat a couple!  It’s not very good for me to be eating sweets every day, anyway.  In fact, I’m getting tired of sweets.  Here,” I said, levitating the box over to him and dropping it at his feet.  “You eat the rest.  I’ll be fine for the rest of the day.”  My stomach, being of horrid timing, decided to rumble right as I finished that sentence.  I smiled and shrugged it off.  “See?  It’s digesting.  I’ll be fine.”

Sombra frowned at me, but took the donut box anyway.  Before long he was shoving donuts into his mouth at an even quicker speed than I had been.

I waited until he was finished eating before I asked him my question.  “Sombra?  Why are you here with Chrysalis?”

Sombra looked to the ground.  “Sssshe ssssaid that sssshe’d tell everypony about what I did...and I don’t want them to know...”

“What could you have done that was so bad?” I asked, smiling in a friendly way.

He shook his head.  “I was mean to an entire racccce.”

“Who, the Crystal Ponies?” I asked, smiling.  “That’s water under the bridge.  I’m sure everypony’s forgotten about that now.”

“No...I wassss the reasssson Nightmare Moon came to be about.  I teamed up with Chryssssalisss and Disssscord and changed Luna into that hideousssss beasssst.  Now I’m paying for my crimesssss in this dungeon.”

“Technically, this is a room or cavern.  But I get what you’re saying.”

“Glad ssssssomepony undersssstandssss.”

“Is that why you have that speech impediment?”

“What?  My ssssspeech ssssssounds funny to you?”

“A little bit, yes.”

“I need to work on sssssspeaking better, then.”

“Oh, it’s fine.  I just wondered why you talked like that.”

He shrugged.  “I don’t know.  I’ve alwayssssss sssssspoken like this.”

I nodded.  Suddenly, I thought of something.  “Sombra?  Why is Chrysalis in here?  Is she making you stay here?”

He nodded.  “I don’t know why Chryssssalisss isssss in here.  Sssssshe isssss making me sssstay, though.  I don’t want to sssssstay, but ssssshe won’t take ‘no’ for an anssssswer.”

I frowned.  “Can’t you just levitate out of here?”

“Changelingsssssss in the next chamber, remember?”

My frown increased.  “Oh.  And lemme guess: they’re trained to kill anypony who disagrees with or disobeys Chrysalis.”

Sombra nodded.  “Yessssss, unfortunately.”

“Chrysalis allows you to go out and get food, though.  What if you didn’t come back?”

“The changelingsssss would find me and hurt me and any other poniesssss who were around me.  I don’t want any other poniessss to get hurt because of me ever again.”

I nodded, placing a hoof on his back.  “We’ll get out of here somehow.  I just know it.”

“I promissssssse you I’ll try to find a way out of here.  I’ll sssssave you.”

I frowned, quickly taking back my hoof.  “I don’t need saving from anypony but myself.”

Sombra looked at me, his eyes taking on a blue tint.  “But you need ssssaving now.  Why aren’t you sssssaving yourself?”

I sighed.  “Because I need help.”

“I can help, I guessssss....”

“Sure.  You can help me get out of here.”

He nodded, a smile on his face.  “Sssssssounds good.”

I stared at the ground for a moment, collecting my thoughts.  “You know, Sombra, when I first heard you resided here, I didn’t want any part of it.  We’d come in contact in the past, and...well, you remember how horrible it was back then.  I didn’t want any part of what Chrysalis had planned, or with what you had planned.  But now that I’ve gotten to know you, I understand that you’re a good guy; you’ve just been misled and told that doing the wrong thing is right.”

Sombra nodded as he stared at the empty donut box.  “I want to be a good pony...”

“And you’ll eventually be one.  It’ll just take some time for the other ponies to come around.  But they’ll eventually admit that you are better now.  You’re not quite so evil and bad.”

He smiled as he looked at me, but his smile melted into a slight frown.  “You have crumbs on your mouth.”

I laughed.  “You should see your own mouth!  There are so many crumbs on there, I can barely see the lips underneath!”

He chuckled, but his chuckling faded away as he stared at me.

I was a bit unnerved.  “Why are you staring at me like that?” I asked quietly as I stopped laughing.

He tilted his head, still staring at me.

I squirmed as I stood up, and slowly started backing away.  “Please, Sombra...don’t do anything you’ll regret later...”

He stood up and walked towards me; every step I took, he took two.  He quickly caught up with me as I slammed into the wall behind me.

I whimpered.  “P-p-p-please....I....I...I thought I could believe in you....”

He tilted his head again, a smile playing at his lips.  He leaned forward and gently pressed his lips against mine.

To say I freaked out is an understatement.  I jumped and jerked away from him faster than a pig on bath day.  When I’d calmed down, I glanced over at him, my eyes wide with fear.

After observing my reaction, his demeanor took on a sulky air.  “I’m ssssssorry.  I wasssss too rough, wasssssn’t I?”

I was out of breath.  “N-n-n-n-no.  You were very...gentle.”

He glanced up at me.  “Then why did you run away?”

“It’s....too soon, Sombra.  I still haven’t forgotten what you and Chrysalis did to me.”

He frowned.  “I’ve changed!  That wasssssssss in the passssssssst!”

I sighed.  “I know, I know.  I understand you’re not like that anymore.  But it’s going to be a long time before I fully trust somepony again.”

He sat down and sulked.  “Chryssssalisss ruins everything.”

I thought for a moment as I looked at him.  “That doesn’t sound like a very good friendship, now does it?”

“No,” he mumbled.  “It’s not a friendship at all...it’ssssssss jusssssst....a ssssssstupid acquaintance.”

I shook my head.  “Did she ever make you do anything that you didn’t want to do?”

He blushed and looked away.  “Ssssssssshe sometimesssss ussssssses her magic on me; sssssshe makesssss me do thingssssss I’ve only ever wanted to do with a sssssspecial ssssomepony, and then ssssshe focessssss me to do them with ssssssomepony elssssse.  I get very ssssssad that sssssshe does that.”

I scoffed.  “What a twisted friendship.”

“She’sssssss not even my friend.  It’ssssss more of a twisssssssted relationship than a twisssssssted friendship.”

I smiled and sat next to him.  “We can still be friends, though.  If you don’t mind, I mean.  Is that okay?” I held out my hoof, waiting for him to either shake it or bump it.

He stared at my white hoof for awhile, and then smiled.  He reached out and shook it with his own grey hoof.  “I’d be glad to be friendsssssss with you.”