The Mare, the Monster, and the Castle

Much to the disgust of some of the occupants near his cell, Sombra was met with cheering and applause from the other unspeakable entities confined to Tartarus as he strolled in. The unicorn greeted the indescribable abominations with waves and a very cheerful grin.

“You know what happened last time one of us escaped don’t you boy,” echoed the elderly voice of Tirek as Sombra reached the centaur’s cell.

Sombra’s smile twisted itself into a smug grin. “Yes, your greed earned you an eternal sentence. Now you’re just like the rest of us in this block.”

“Why you smug little,” the feeble looking monster reached through the bars of his cage only to grasp at air.

“Come now Tirek,” boomed a second voice. This one was on the opposite side of the corridor. “The whelp has a point.”

Sombra’s gaze turned towards the shadowy cell, seeing a pair of red eyes glare back at him from the darkness. “Doing well I see.”

A large blue ram came from out of the shadows, showing a broad grin upon his face. “You are being summoned by dark magic. That is quite the accomplishment boy.”

“High praise from you Lord Grogar.”

“Do not confuse your accomplishments with praise boy.”

“Says the necromancer who can’t magic himself out of the underworld. Oh, that’s right, your power comes from artifacts and without them you’re just a bitter old ram imprisoned forever with all the real monsters.”

Much like Tirek, Grogar found Sombra barely out of reach. “You come closer and say things like that to my face!”

“Aw, poor Lord Grogar can’t even grab a widdle unicorn,” Sombra teased. Much to his surprise, Tirek burst into laughter as the mostly dead unicorn put the ram in his place. “Nopony wants your necromancy and even if they did, they just have to find the source and I’d be sure to tell them in a heartbeat just to see the look on your face when I tell you we destroyed it.”

“Woohoo Sombra,” called a mare’s voice from further down the hall. “Take your cloak off!”

Not one to disappoint his adoring fans, Sombra tossed his cloak at the cell as he passed. As he noticed his cell door open on its own his smile slowly faded and even the wolf whistles of the nearby Shadowbolt mares couldn’t brighten his spirits. With the thundering sound of his cell door closing he looked over to the adjacent Shadowbolts, mares squabbling over his cloak while their stallion counterpart mirrored Sombra’s own bored expression.

“How many times this time,” he called across the hall to the unicorn.

“A couple times after dinner, twice in the bath, and five more in bed.”

“Hah, for a dead guy you’ve got some serious stamina.”

“What can I say, Cadenza gets my rigor going.”

“What was that,” hissed a voice from further down the hall. “Did I hear ‘Cadenza’ as in Mi Amore Cadenza?”

“Yes and she likes it when I call her that, now show yourself.”

All that Sombra caught from the other cell was a hiss and fierce green eyes.

The male Shadowbolt cleared his throat. “Anyways, what’s your angle Sombra? We’re all lifers except miss hissy over there. Word is she’s here for a thousand year stint but–”

“Yes, time’s confusing down here. So what happened to my unicorn neighbor?”

“Oh, well she found out who called you out of this place and well. Prismia’s off in a padded cell a few layers down since she went nuts.”

Sombra laughed. “She wasn’t my type anyways. Too much hate in her dead heart.”

“So what you’re up to involves this summoner of yours doesn’t it?”

“Why spoil the surprise my friend. Besides, it’s all perfectly by the books and if it doesn’t work out I might be a little deader than last time.”

“Geez, what’s past a ghost in terms of dead?”

Sombra shrugged and turned his gaze to the other Shadowbolts, still fighting over possession of his cloak. I miss you so much already Cadenza, he thought. Just tell him and call me back so we can be together.