Reforming Them : A Gem So Rare

Tick tock.

There goes the day.

Tick tock.

It just flew away.

Tick tock.

They will pay.

The sun set, giving a beautiful hue to the sky as it dropped below the hills. Ponyville was still bustling and rustling with commotion. Ponies were very talkative here. If a rumor got out about you here, well.. Kiss your social life goodbye. That rumor could be anything. If you threw out an apple into the garbage, it could easily be twisted to you throwing a foal in the garbage. If you so much as say something stupid underneath your breath, the entire town was going to hear about it. Which was very entertaining at times when you could just listen to what some of the rumors were and how nonsensical they were. 'I heard Mayor Mare was caught ripping up pole votes for the opposite party!' 'Did you hear? Lyra Heartstrings is obsessed with bipedal monkeys!' 'It's so strange, I never thought Twilight Sparkle would be into demonic sacrifices. She's a Alicorn and all.'

That last rumor though.. It was half true. Twilight Sparkle, the Alicorn who supposedly 'Ruled' and 'Controlled' friendship had summoned a demon. The town was swift to hear about it.

"It snapped at a filly! I heard it's teeth were stained bright crimson and sharp as blades! It's eyes a dark crimson! Poor filly, whoever it was."

A gossiping mare spouted, telling her friend who was just across from her about it.

"I still can't believe this."

The mare's friend was still in shock by it all, obvious by the look on her face. She had the burger right infront of her face. Uneaten, untouched almost.

Fluttershy had been eavesdropping for a while now. She had been listening in on the two mare's conversation for a good ten minutes. They were at the table across from her, so she couldn't help it. What were they talking about? An animal? Hopefully it wasn't what she thought it was.

"It took the form of a grey stallion with hair that whipped through the wind like the princess's! It had a sword like horn upon it's head too! With a dark black ring around it!"

The mare continued, telling the story like it was from a story book. Fluttershy knew this wasn't an animal now. She raised her hoof for a second, attempting to get in on the mare's conversation.

"Um.. Excuse me?"

She directed her head to the mare's table completely. The mares had a hard time hearing her over the commotion in the burger joint, but they did hear her. They turned their heads and smiled.

"Yes?"

The mare who was telling the story asked. Unaware of what sort of new information Fluttershy would reveal.

"I can't help but hear you talking about my friend.. Um.."

Fluttershy stuttered quietly, the mares gasped in shock. Everypony in town knew Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie was known and loved for her parties, and Fluttetshy was known and loved for reforming a GOD.

"I would appreciate if you didn't call him a demon.. It's kinda rude.. I mean.. Only if you want to."

Fluttershy requested. She didn't exactly know these mares, and she didn't exactly have the plans to get all buddy-buddy with them either.

"He was being made fun of by two mean fillies, and he just snapped at them."

Fluttershy explained, as the two mares crowded around Fluttershy. Desperate for information on the topic, obviously. This place had things going on all the time. From moon goddesses trying to create eternal night to the everfree forest deciding to come in and mess some stuff up for no obvious reason to the public.

"You have to tell us all about it."

The mare begged, leaving her food behind at her table as she retained her smile. She was being rather polite about it, so Fluttershy didn't see why not. She would keep away that this pony was actually a evil dictator who was banished for a thousand years.

"Well, he's a friend of my friend Rarity. He's a bit short tempered, he doesn't like kids.. Well.. That's about it."

Fluttershy told the mares, scooting back her seat to get some personal space. Ever since that modeling stuff she did for Photo Finish, Fluttershy really liked her personal space.

"No, tell us the good stuff! Who is he?"

The mare pleaded, her hunger for knowledge imminent. Fluttershy was regretting her decision to let this mare know the truth already.

"Oh, I've gotta go.. Sorry."

Fluttershy made her excuse and made a mad dash for the joint's doors. Running out into the street in a awful hurry. Causing her to cause a bit of attention as she frantically ran down the paths of ponyville. She ran almost silently, keeping her head down as she ran to avoid eye contact. She felt her hooves give way under her as she slammed face first onto the ground. Fluttershy groaned, as she could see two shadows block out the sun above her.

"You're the monster's master, aren't you? After you reformed that other one, you decided to get a new one."

One of the shadows hissed, as they came into view. Fluttershy shook her head and got a clear look at who was above her. It was that pink filly once more. Diamond Tiara. Fluttershy wouldn't even bother. She got up off the ground and retook her footing. Standing up tall against the bully who had the nerve to use her riches as her vantage point. Disgusting.

"Oh, no! He's just a friend."

Fluttershy laughed, dusting off her shoulders with her hooves as she recollected herself. That was a awfully nasty trip. It looked like she had tripped on nothing. Though in reality, Silver Spoon had stuck her hoof out and made Fluttershy trip and eat the dirt that other ponies walked upon.

"You should tell you friend to not be such a demonic freak. He nearly bit me."

Diamond Tiara puffed, as Fluttershy was unfazed by the little filly's tone and demands. If she kept cool, she would show that she was the one with dominant power here. She did have a dark magic dictator at her disposal..

Wait.. Since when was Sombra a weapon she would use to only further herself? He was a pony too.. A corrupted, messed up one, but still a pony at that.

"He had a perfectly good reason to scare you off like that. You were being a bully."

Fluttershy didn't use any anger in her tone. She would be silently setting in the guilt train. Her disappointment in this filly would leak in slowly. Slowly.

"I'm not a bully, and that's not a good reason to even breath the air around me, much less disturb it!"

This filly was the most stuck up, disgusting, waste of space Fluttershy had ever laid her eyes upon. That was saying a lot. Considering that she usually only ever used 'waste of space' one other time in her entire life. Stuck up and disgusting was more common.

"He's your Cerberus. You commanded him to try and bite me, and I'm going to TELL."

Diamond Tiara threatened. Normally, Fluttershy wouldn't give two cucumbers if a filly told on her. Mostly because she was a mare, and they were a child. This time was a bit different though.

"You wouldn't dare."

Fluttershy's anger had slipped through, her eyes narrowing. A rare sight indeed. She would hardly ever get angry, other then dealing with threats that put Equestria on the line.

"I can do much more then tell, too. I can get it put on T-Shirts, Shirts, Sweaters, Dresses, Posters, you get the point."

Diamond Tiara chortled, as Silver Spoon finally joined her. For whatever reason, Silver Spoon seemed a bit busy. Looks like Fluttershy wasn't going to be playing nice cop around these two.

"Weren't you just accusing me of being a monster's master? That I am able to summon him at my command? Doesn't that concern you?"

Fluttershy grew a wild grin from her angered face, making her look rather malicious. This side was never shown off. It was never real either. A simple bit of intimidation would shut these fillies up. Possibly. Fluttershy would never get the chance to otherwise. It was good to be on the winning team for once. To have all the correct pieces in place against the enemy.

"Why, I could snap him back over here with a simple thought and a wave of my hoof. Then he would be here, as quick as a flash. Then he would be back to disturb more of your PRECIOUS air. Maybe even something MORE then that."

Fluttershy giggled. She giggled with her soft, innocent giggle. Diamond Tiara's eyes were now wide with fear. Silver Spoon was the same. Fluttershy out stretched her wings as her smile seemed to go past the limit. It went past her cheek bones, and up towards her eyes. That's what it seemed like atleast.

"So you'd BEST not call him a MONSTER AGAIN, because he is a pony."

Fluttershy then started back into her trot past the fillys, who were quivering in fear of the yellow Pegasus. It was delicious.

"I mean.. If that's okay with you.."

She said quietly as her smile subtracted down into a smaller, natural smile that didn't seem like a unholy being had possessed her. The two fillies fell right over like statues being toppled by protesters. Frozen in their pose as they clanged onto the ground. Their eyes still wide. Calculating the new information given.

If that monster was just a regular pony, Fluttershy wasn't a monster master. If she wasn't a monster master, she had no power over that pony. If she had no power over that pony, her whole monologue right there was pointless. But if she was just walking with a regular stallion who had weird teeth and a weird horn, there would be no reason for her to be told on.

This sucked.

Sombra stared at the clock, narrowing his gaze as he found the clock's rhythm. The longer arm was now nearing the top of the circle once more. The clock clunked and stuck. It no longer moved. What happened? He scratched the side of his head in confusion as he poked the clock with the end of his hoof. Hoping to get it going again. Sure enough, to his displeasure, the clock did not keep going. It was at the top of the hour too. He was literally wasting time. He didn't know what boredom was, so he just simply had the strange feeling as he stared at the clock for hours on end. The door rang, making his head woosh around to face the opposite side of the store to see the door. He still had his hoof poking at the clock, so he placed it back down on the ground. He then pushed himself up tall for his intruders. It made him feel good, so he straightened his back and kept his stale face.

"RAAAAARITY! I'm home!"

The intruder called with her high pitched voice. It made Sombra scrunch up his face and cover his ears when he heard it yell out for 'Rarity'. Two more intruders entered the home, realizing they were in the presence of Sombra. The two invaders who approached him were Tan and orange. The orange one had purple mane, while the tan one had a rosy mane. His eyes followed their trot over to him. The entire way. His stare made them shutter. It had no emotion. It was rather creepy. His blank, questioning, judging stare was pointed at them.

"Hey there mister. We'd like you uh.."

The orange one started, stopping her trot two feet in front of the grey stallion who's stare was no longer shared with her companion and herself. It was fully loaded and aimed at her. It sent chills up her spine. His blood red eyes unsettled her. She would hope that he wouldn't smile soon enough.

"Thank ya."

The tan one finished the orange one's sentence with all sincerity. She flinched when his stare was redirected at her. There was something about it. Something menacing about it. Like the force that backed it up was stronger than the princesses magic. If not stronger, then equal. That force just waiting to explode out of this stallion, like he was a stick of dynamite. Waiting to be lit. The fuse getting trimmed shorter and shorter.

Sombra didn't exactly know how to respond, seeing as he didn't know their language very well. He turned away from them and continued poking at the clock infront of him.

"That was really cool."

The orange one complimented with a smile. She felt a lot better now that he was no longer using that abyss of a stare on them. They felt like they were looking The Void straight back in the eye.

"Also, how'd ya get your horn like that? If I was a unicorn, I'd want one like that too!"

The orange one tried to start a conversation with him. How clueless. They didn't know that he couldn't talk or understand what they were saying, so he wouldn't blame them for their idiotic wrong. For now.

"Is it natural or fake?"

She continued to bother him. She approached much too close into his personal space. Luckily, the tan one had pulled her back before she did something incredibly foolish. Something that she seemed bent on doing just by looking at the filly's eyes. The reflection of her eyes showed his horn. She looked mystified by it. It was indeed a grand looking horn. Unlike anything she had seen before. Nopony here was alive to see this type of horn atop another pony's head. Sombra ignored the question. He didn't exactly mean to be rude, but if he had his memory back, he probably would have ignored the question anyways. Or tell her how foolish she was for asking him such a stupid question.

"Ya don't talk much, do ya?"

The tan one questioned, and which, of coarse, Sombra did not answer. He did turn to look back at the sand colored earth pony, but he still didn't answer.

"I can't believe you actually expected an answer."

The orange one rolled her eyes, giving Sombra his royal space back. His royal space he didn't know he had.

"Anyways, we heard Diamond Tiara callin you a Blank Flank and-"

The tan country filly was cut off by the snarl of Sombra. He lowered his head down to her level and showed his red canines off to her. Like a dog. The filly gulped and slowly started laughing. It wasn't a happy laugh. It was more like a nervous one. He came to think that Blank Flank was an insult; no matter who said it or what context it was being used in. He thought it was only directed towards him. Like it was a slur they had developed just for him. To insult him.

"Urk.. Uh.. She calls us that too.."

The tan pony reasoned, as Sombra's snarl stopped, suddenly. He saw Rarity enter the room from the kitchen. An apron on, with a tray of food in one hoof. He knew this much. If he didn't break stuff, he would get stuff to eat. This was his first meal in how long..? Over a thousand years? She brought over the metal tray and placed it down on the ground near him.

"I see you met my sister and her friends."

Rarity laughed. Her nervousness apparent in her chuckle. Sombra didn't care much about it though. He looked at the tray and its contents. There were these small circular objects littered all over they tray. They looked rather soft, as small chips stuck out of the light brown deliciousness.

"You should share your cookies with them."

Rarity suggested, as she started to leave the room as soon as she had entered it. What exactly was he supposed to eat? The grey thing or the brown things? He lowered his face down to the floor, and picked up one of the circular brown things. It seemed somewhat stuck to the grey part, so it took a little bit to take it off.

"Oh, thanks Rarity! Who is this guy?"

The orange purple maned Pegasus just kept coming out with all these questions and questions and questions. Rarity couldn't hide her secret. They would find out eventually, and it would prepare them for if he ever did decide to go haywire. Which she hoped he would never do. Rarity changed her target location, quickly turning to go back over to the young orange mare. She kneeled down to the filly's level and whispered something in her ear. Quiet enough for Sombra to be incapable of hearing it.

"King Sombra."

She mumbled into the orange mare's ear before trotting into the kitchen slowly. Leaving the little mare in confusion.

"King what?"

She repeated, her eyebrow raised as she looked over at Sombra. Sombra felt as if he could answer this question.

"S..Som..Sombrer..Sombra."

He attempted to pronounce his own name. Embarrassment flew over his head. He didn't know how to react to the strange feeling of regret. He was like a foal trying to say his first word. His voice was of a fully grown stallion, with the lisp of a snake. An unnaturally deep voice too. The deep voice and the foal like pronunciation really didn't go hoof in hoof, so it made the situation rather humorous for Rarity. Though he had finally spoke. That was good.

"Seems like you can talk after all! I'm Scootaloo! It's nice to meet you, King Sombra."

Scootaloo extended her hoof out to Sombra, who had a cookie in his hoof. The other one mysteriously disappeared. His face getting a bit dirty from the crumbs of the recently deceased cookie. He stuffed his newest chocolate chipped victim into his mouth before looking at Scootaloo's hoof questionably. After a bit, her hoof sunk down back to the ground when Sombra did not return the hoof shake.

"He doesn't have a memory of anything, apparently."

Rarity explained, finally leaving the room and going back into the kitchen to relax. Leaving Scootaloo and her friends to think over their new information.

"Well, this is Applebloom," Scootaloo gestured to the tan filly, who waved when she was referenced. "And Sweetiebelle is over there." Scootaloo pointed to the white unicorn filly known as Sweetiebelle, who was over by the front of the store. Doing something with gems. Gems that were stolen from Rarity. She was digging through a small chest of gems that were obviously locked away for a good reason. Then he saw it. It was his love. It brought itself to the front of his mind. It was his focus. The white mare pulled out a small cyan crystal from the chest and threw it behind her. Making it onto the floor. Sombra stood himself up and stampeded past Scootaloo and Applebloom and over to his loved one. He picked her up off the floor. He didn't know why, but Crystals just activated this certain desire for them. An unrelenting desire. Once that Crystal was in his hoof, he felt happy. A tiny smile upon his face. Almost invisible as he looked at the Crystal. Scootaloo and Sweetiebelle were busy getting off the ground. They groaned. He had smacked the two to the ground when he ran past them. Rather reckless of him.

His irises suddenly flashed a serpent green, glowing as suddenly looked around wide eyed. Just as soon as he got this green iris stuff, it was gone. He looked down at his hoof where the crystal was. He looked purely happy as he looked down upon the Crystal. Sombra moved back over to the clock's area. Away from the incoming gems that Sweetiebelle had been tossing. He plopped himself back down infront of the clock, facing away from Scootaloo and Applebloom.

"Cryssstallll..."

He drooled, looking at the crystal almost lustfully. He then stuffed it down the hatch, and Rarity's crystal was gone. This was only the beginning. He was slowly going to remember. When he encountered the things of his past. Things in which he loved and hated. Some things that would affect his memory more than others. This would soon be found out. Maybe a bit too late.

"Should you be eating that..?"

Applebloom questioned. Sombra's eyes widened as he suddenly understood. Everything was so much clearer. How come he couldn't understand her before? Before it just sounded like nonsense, but now.. It sounded like regular words. What had just happened? It's like he had a sudden moment of clarity. He nodded his head 'Yes'. For some reason he couldn't make simple words. Which he was rather disappointed about. He are crystals for two reasons. One is that they were a god's food. They were the most delicious, most amazing food in the world. To him anyways. The second was that it kept his teeth sharp. He didn't recall why he needed his teeth to be sharp, so really, he only ate the crystal because it tasted absolutely wonderful. It was so delicious, he couldn't describe it. He savored it, something he didn't do with the cookies.

"Alright. Sweetiebelle! Whatcha looking for over there?"

Scootaloo called over to Sweetie Belle. Finally leaving Sombra alone to stay in his silent bliss. He enjoyed his alone time, which activated after Applebloom left.

"Must I repeat myself? No."

Twilight angrily growled, rearranging her books. She had been in a rather sour mood since Fluttershy's outburst that everypony seemed to just shrug off.

"Aw, come on Twilight! Can't we go back?"

Spike whined. He was begging to go back to Rarity's home. Even he had heard the horrible rumors that had already spread through town. Hearing that Fluttershy was the master of a blood-stained monster that was caged at the local boutique. Spike didn't want to go back for the monster. He really didn't. He wanted to go back for Rarity. She worried him sick. With that beast in her home, Spike couldn't help but stress constantly. Spike had 'extremely' small crush on Rarity, so even though it was just a small crush, he was concerned for her well being. Twilight knew that he was concerned for her, but she seriously wasn't in the mood.

"If you want to go back, you can. Just be careful of this 'Monster'. Alright?"

Twilight allowed, her voice keeping a constant annoyed tone. She had wasted all her magic on that stupid spell to resurrect this now town known 'Monster'. Which obviously meant that Rarity or Fluttershy had allowed him to escape outside. From the rumors she heard, the yellow mare Fluttershy was next to a gray stallion whom had crimson red eyes and blood-stained teeth. Sharp as a spear, each one of them. Then the stallion had snapped at the observer, who happened to be a filly. This filly claimed to have ran away as soon as she was snapped at. She said she could have heard Fluttershy cackle as she ran off. Twilight knew that was fake, even though Fluttershy was acting a bit more like a wench today. Even Twilight would admit it. She wouldn't normally even put her friend's names near words such as wench, but she felt like it was fitting. Sombra had divided them so soon. What a clever stallion. He was smart enough to divide Fluttershy from her friends, despite having almost no knowledge left. He truly was a threat to be reckoned with, even with no memory of his previous rule. This confused Twilight, so she decided she would be doing some research on the Crystal Empire. Seeing if she could find something interesting. She had become curious ever since she revived Sombra. He currently wasn't a reliable source of information, he probably was never going to be a reliable anything. This was seriously pointless. Why didn't Celestia just keep him in a glass case in her palace? Showing off his horn like a trophy as visitors walked by and she would answer with a smile.

'That's the horn of one of my foes. He is forever trapped within it.'

The sun goddess would tell her visitors. Actually, maybe keeping him in the palace within a glass case wasn't the best idea. He could possibly be stolen, revived, powered up, then be told to attack Canterlot. Which he would do, because why would he?

"I promise I won't be late for dinner. I'll be right back."

Spike told his worrying purple pony pal. Dinner was about two hours from now, so Spike would have plenty of time to go check on Rarity. He had got a good workout today. He was still rather tired, but he would do anything to make sure his darling-.. His friend, Rarity, was alright. He got on his mark, going to the front door of the library. He took a deep breath, puffing up his chest as he gripped the handle.

SLAM!

The door whipped open, throwing spike up against the wall and squishing him. Spike groaned from the pain of the wooden door smacking him up against the wall.

"Spike?"

Spike could hear a soft voice call, as he peered behind the door that had been flung into him. He met eye to eye with a banana colored mare, with a cherry colored mane.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry!"

She gasped, closing the door and peeling him off the wall comically. She seemed rather frantic about something. Obviously, something had happened. She held spike in the air. Her eyes full of panic as she pulled him in for a hug. He gasped for air as her grip tightened. His puffed up chest disappeared as he felt air leave his lungs. His face started going blue.

"They think.. I'm.. A monster's master.."

Fluttershy sobbed, he could feel her grip loosening as tears poured down his back like rivers. Fluttershy was upset about that rumor, wasn't she? She was being described as a cruel, heartless pony in it, so naturally, she would be rather sad. Spike attempted in breaking her hug, but he felt like he shouldn't. She really needed somepony at this time. She had these disgusting rumors about her spiraling around. Getting worse and worse as time went on. Spike returned the hug to Fluttershy, which didn't exactly help. She just kept crying and sniffling, practically giving Spike a bath with all her tears. She was really confused with her emotions. First she was happy, then angry, then sad. She really was having her ups and downs today. It was only the first day too. Who knows what would happen tomorrow. If it was anything like today.. Well.. That wouldn't be very good. Spike was sorry to rain on Fluttershy's already rained on parade, but he had to go. He slipped out of her hooves like a greased snake. Dashing out the door, making a mad dash through ponyville. He felt extremely regretful and filled up with guilt. A frown was placed upon his face as he dashed through town. He had to get to Rarity's. He had to see if she was okay. As he ran by the regular passers by, his worries and regrets chased after him. What if that monster had eaten her? Or beaten her? He couldn't help it. He had to stop that THING from harming Rarity! Even if he had to sacrifice his own life! He wasn't scared! Actually, he was terrified! That thing that Rarity allowed to stay with her was extremely cruel. It could be plotting her demise right at this very second. Spike wouldn't stand for it!

Sombra swirled around his mound of Crystals like a shark. Growling and hissing at anything that so even moved. Even if it was a inanimate object. Rarity had been working on one of her dresses, so she had ignored the horde of crystals Sombra had gathered in the corner of the boutique. His defensive hisses were not heard over the sound of her machines working away. Sombra climbed to the top of his mound, getting a taller and better view of the boutique. Rarity wasn't even aware she had so many Crystals in the first place. She had no real use for them, except for extra extra special occasions. She mostly used them on the Princess's dresses that she designed. To be fair, she had only done about three dresses for Celestia and Luna, but a whopping twenty dresses for Twilight. She often found herself using Crystals on Twilight's dresses. Next thing you know, Sombra would be eating clothing. She would probably just keep all the crystals there. She didn't exactly want or need him inside any of her bedrooms. She also didn't have a basement. Not that she had recalled, anyways. She would often find that her sister and friends were disappearing inside her Boutique and then reappearing hours later, so it made her speculate that they had some secret basement. She turned off her machines, Sombra's hisses finally falling upon her ears once more.

"You are to stop that hissing this second."

Rarity demanded, not even bothering to look Sombra in the eye. She knew that he couldn't understand her, so he would probably just continue hissing. Which he did. Though his hisses were more hushed now. Getting weaker as he continued. He was getting either bored of hissing or just tired of staying awake. He snapped his jaws as he yawned. He yawned rather loudly, and it was the most god awful thing she had ever heard. It could wake somepony up from a coma if he so desired. She had to cover her ears just to get away from the wretched sound. She didn't know why it sounded so awful. It was too terrible for words. She cringed as the yawn finally stopped and Sombra laid upon the Crystals. Looking dreary eyes as he scanned his territory. He had built his crystal hill right by the boutique door, so Rarity had to shut the curtain. Sombra didn't mind, he hated the sun anyways. He found that out when he was outside only just an hour ago. It had burned his eyes, but he had managed to keep his cool about it. The setting sun however, was almost unbearable. So he had allowed Rarity to close the curtains when the light of the setting sun reached the window.

This was certainly going to take time. Lots of time.

It takes time to recall even the simplest memory. Wether it take a second or a few days. You'll remember it eventually. Then when you remember, you'll feel amazing. Especially if it took a while to remember in the first place. If only that memory wasn't the most horrid thing you could remember. Sometimes, your own mind could kill you. Shown by how many insane asylums there were. Someponies go insane with all the things society expects from them. They crack and smash. Beaten more and more by society and the public view as they stay inside their padded cages. In a straight jacket that rejected the thought of freedom. Sometimes, that break is silent. It effects those around you. Breaking somepony silently is hard. Sometimes that pony is loud. It's not very often you can find a pony who is silent, or who cannot speak out for themselves to break. Some ponies take incredible joy from breaking others. Mentally, and then physically. For it is true torture to question your own sanity when you hear voices. Voices yelling at you to do things you know you mustn't do. They threaten you with horrid hallucinations, making you tremble as your worst fears are brought out to be seen. With nopony to comfort you, with nopony who longer calls you sane, with nopony whom is your friend because of your lack of sanity.. That is true torture.

Desolation when you need somepony the most.