Fallen Shadow

Sombra...

Sombra opened his eyes. He appeared in the whiteness. He looked at himself and saw that he had his former body.

Sombra...

He turned around, looking for the source of voice. He could only see the whiteness.

"Sombra."

He jumped in surprise and saw a colt version of himself.

"What?"

"Sombra?"

They stared at each other.

"Wha... Why are you... No, why... Uh..."

"Sombra?" the colt replied, sadness in his eyes.

"Why am I here? I mean, other I. I mean, you?"

"Sombra?" the colt tilted his head in confusion.

The stallion took a step towards his younger counterpart. The later screamed in terror and ran away, quickly fading into gray smoke.

Suddenly, Sombra felt terrified. He wanted to scream in terror, a fear of neverending pain struck him like a lightning.

And then Sombra woke up.

Sombra quickly got up from the bed he was sleeping on and tried to cry, but only a faint wheeze escaped his mouth. He coughed and fell on the crystal floor. The fall made him feel even worse as all of his body was aching.

He groaned in pain once more and got up. Soon enough, he stumbled and fell, luckily on the soft bed.

"Just a nightmare... Just a nightmare." Sombra muttered to himself white adjusting on the soft bed for better comfort. "Where am I?"

He looked around. He noticed the crystal walls, ceiling and floor, which reminded him of Crystal Empire's castle. His room had a large window with a glass door which led to the small balcony. There was another door, to the right side of the bed, big and made of pinewood. It was closed. There was yet another door, a little smaller and made of wood that was painted white. The door was opened and led to the bathroom and toilet.

There was a small table and a chair in the corner of the room. There was a pile of paper and a quill with inkwell on the table, as well as some books.

And only now Sombra understood how dirty he is. He got up from his bed and walked to the bathroom on his shaking legs. He closed the door behind him and slid into bathtub. Using what remained of his magic, he let the water flow. He adjusted the temperature so it would be comfortable, and relaxed.

"Why did Twilight Sparkle let me stay in her castle after what I've done?" he asked himself, moaning in pleasure as warm water touched his skin. "If she wanted me dead, or imprisoned, or worse, she could have done it yesterday. Or has it all happened two days ago? How long have I been asleep?"

As dirt was washed away, Sombra was becoming better and better. He washed his mane and tail, scratched his fur. He found a piece of soap and used it to soften his fur and mane.

After completing washing procedures, Sombra slowly stood up and stood on the white tiled floor. He found a towel and dried himself. He felt himself much better then.

He opened the door and entered his room. He walked around the bed and tried to open the big wooden door. It was locked. Sombra groaned and went to lie on his bed. He was too weak to do anything else anyway.

Five minutes later the big door opened and a lavender alicorn walked into the room. Sombra seemed to be asleep, and Twilight slowly made her way to the bed. She put a gentle hoof on Sombra's back. Suddenly, he rolled on his other side and met her with a pair of eyes filled with hatred. His sharp tail swung and nearly pierced Twilight, but she managed to dodge the blow.

"Sombra!" she yelled. "Why are you doing this?!"

"Do not touch me!" He wheezed. "Do not come near me! You are the cause of what I am now, and I hate you for that! Why am I in this room?"

"I..."

"Is it because you want to toy with me and then throw me out?"

"No, I..."

"Is it because you want to watch me suffer while I can't do anything to you?"

"Sombra..."

"Or are you going to announce that all of the Crystal Empire is invited and will rip me apart?"

"No, I won't do any of this!" Twilight yelled. "Sombra, stop!"

"Stop what? Telling the truth? All ponies did was hurting me! Why should I believe you won't do just the same?"

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but closed it. Indeed, why should Sombra trust one of his mortal enemies?

"I see you have nothing to say, Twilight Sparkle." he said, snarling two last words. "You don't have the answer, do you?"

"You are right, there is no reason for you to trust me, not yet." Twilight replied. "But I will do whatever possible to earn your trust, Sombra. I am not your enemy, I am not going to hurt you."

"And why did you hurt me when we first met?"

"Because I didn't know your story. All I knew is that you enslaved the Empire. I knew nothing else, I swear! If I knew, I would never hurt you!"

"I see no lie right now." Sombra replied and fell back on his bed, sighing. "Leave me for some time."

"But..."

"Leave."

"You can't just drown in your misery, Sombra." Twilight said and exited the room, closing the door behind her.

Some hours later.

"Twilight, how is Sombra?" Fluttershy asked. She and Twilight were walking along the river bank.

"He is in pain," Twilight replied with a sad sigh. "I don't even know how can we help him. He thinks that ponies only hurt him. Well, he is right, from his point of view. I don't think he sees himself as evil, and he wasn't evil when he was just a colt. It is what that red crystal thing did to him. It flooded his mind with anger and hate he had for the crystal ponies who didn't want to accept him."

"But... If he wasn't evil when he was a colt, there was sure a pony who helped him not to become one."

"There was. But she wasn't enough..." Twilight sighed. "Her name was Radiant Hope, and she was Sombra's only friend. She cared for him, she healed him when he was almost destroyed by the crystal heart. She always was there for him. But more than a thousand years have passed since then."

"Twilight, maybe it's a key? Kindness?"

"I don't know anypony who Sombra doesn't hate which is not complete stranger. Crystal ponies will never accept him, Celestia and Luna are enemies to him, and we are too. He doesn't trust me, he won't trust you or any of our friends."

"Maybe if we remove the curse he has he'll trust us?"

"I have no idea how to do it. I have studied Sombra while he slept. And nothing, the magic is too strong for me to undo. The only part of it that I managed to remove was the eternal hunger curse."

"Oh my, that crystal was sure evil! Cursing its own son... I can't imagine anypony doing that! It is too cruel, even for Sombra. And after what you told us a year ago, I don't think Sombra was evil at all. Well, not super-scary-world-consuming type of villain, that is."

"Thanks for support, Fluttershy. I really needed to talk to somepony about this all." Twilight smiled at Fluttershy.

"It's no problem at all, Twilight. Friends help friends, that is." Fluttershy smiled back.

Back at the Castle Friendship, fifteen minutes later.

Sombra was pacing back and forth, sudden hunger took better of him.

"Why am I so hungry? Why does it hurt so much? I feel like I need something to eat, and fast." the stallion groaned. "Food, precious food. Apples... Daisy sandwich... Anything!"

Suddenly, he heard the door opening. Twilight entered the room, a plate of food was being levitated behind her. Sombra looked hungrily at the plate and gulped, swallowing his saliva. He saw hay fries, three big, red apples, two daisy sandwiches and a glass of crystal clear water.

"It is for you." Twilight said. Sombra quickly took a hold of the plate using his own magic and levitated the plate to himself. He quickly started consuming all the food it had. He ate it in ten seconds flat, and drank all the water from the glass.

"You have my gratitude." Sombra said. He felt himself much better now.

"I managed to remove a part of your curse while you slept." Twilight said. "Sorry, this is all I could do. Now, you are no longer at the edge of starvation. You will be able to eat and recover."

Sombra silently stared at Twilight, disbelief in his widened eyes. Quickly, his expression became neutral.

"I owe you now, Twilight Sparkle." Sombra spoke. "Is there anything you wish to know?"

Twilight hesitated. Finally, she asked the question.

"Can you, please, tell me more about Radiant Hope?"

Sombra glared at Twilight.

"Out of question."

"I... I am sorry..." Twilight replied. "If it pains you to remember..."

"Oh, you don't know how much it does." Sombra snarled. "I wish no longer to talk."

Twilight sighed and left the room. She closed the door and headed downstairs.

'I shouldn't have asked...'

Back inside the room, Sombra was quietly sobbing.