He dreaded sleep. It was almost always the same. He would re-experience a memory, suppressed or not. The former being his worst. He knew because he didn't remember them. He might as well have a Nightmare Force trapped inside of him. The idea that it was a monster conjuring these nightmares made it slightly less painful. Anything would make it less painful. These nightmares added fuel to the volcano surging under him. They were adding more and more pressure to a window that he struggled to repair whenever he cracked. He was afraid of what was behind it.

Afraid of facing his self-created monsters.

Sometimes he would see a face in that window. It was horrific. It was like a skeleton with wisps of Wendigo smoke surrounding it. It had no skin, no muscle. Nothing but the smoke of light greys and very pale blues. Its eyes were empty spheres of white. On its hooves, the back of its neck and its tail looked like flowing hair. It didn't look like hair, however. It was like a twisted demonic soul. Its goat ears were always forced back in pain and misery. And that was not the worst of it.

It cried.

Behind the glass that shielded him from millennia of pain, it cried. Sometimes it sobbed. Sometimes it screamed. Behind it was an empty abyss of darkness. It amplified its screams. It was unbearable. Every time he had a nightmare where he saw the creature, he watched the glass crack. Whenever the glass cracked, the monster put a hoof against it. He couldn't run from it.

It was his demon. He couldn't escape what was inside. Sometimes he wanted to put the monster out of its misery, but that would mean he would have to break the glass. He couldn't. It was the cork in the bottle. Without that cork, he didn't know what would happen. He didn't know what the monster would do. It wanted to come out, to release its wrath upon the world. He couldn't do that.

Whenever Sombra had a little control of his dreams, he used that control to block everything out. When he did that, he was forced to see the demon. Forced to see it stand at the window. Forced to watch it copy him. A monster in a sea of black that taunted him. He hated it. He wanted it gone. But no matter how much he tried to bury it, it always came back.

Jupiter Ballad once told him that no matter where light reached, it would always find the darkness there first. If he ever managed to get some *light* back into his soul, perhaps it'd burn the monster away.

The Umbrum's eyes narrowed as he sensed an intruder. It didn't take a moron to know who it was. Not a lot of beings, Pony or Ateus, were able to travel through dreams. He knew that Grogar, Draconeqi, and even some Diamond Dogs were able to do it, but not much else. It appeared that the Lady of the Moon had come to visit his tortured mindscape. Amusingly, Luna had tried to fight him inside of his mind before.

Thanks to her little Nightmare Force, it was unlikely that she could do anything. He was how it got its host after all.

Quickly, Sombra changed his mindscape. It was now a forest. The black window was something he couldn't change or move, so he left it alone. Grogar had given a spell that turned his nightmares into guard dogs whenever an intruder came. Maybe she would be a fool and stumble among one? Knowing her, that would probably happen whether she found him first or not.

He waited for her. She was searching for the one she likely assumed to be on of her subjects. How disgustingly naive. He should visit dear old Tia and crush her under his hooves. That would make Luna suffer. Or Sombra could break her? It'd break Celestia into pieces. Celestia would need a Draconequus or a Diamond Dog to attempt to help her, and he doubted any of them would be very willing. Draconeqi naturally hated Alicorns, and Diamond Dogs didn't like ponies in total. He could break two birds with one black stone.

"Don't beest gasted. I hast cometh to help thou!" He never understood that strange way Alicorns spoke. He didn't understand Alicorns in general. He only knew two of them, both of which he despised. "Thou can cometh out. Nay needeth to fear me." The blue mare landed not too far from him. She couldn't sense him but knew that he had to be here. Not Sombra specifically, but someone. Somepony to be exact. He doubted she cared for other species.

She was in an opening and looked very different from when he last saw her. Gone was her short light blue mane, now it was replaced with one that flowed like his. She was darker than before as well, which barely surprised him. She had been infected by a Nightmare Force after all. It was a side effect to such pure dark magic.

Strangely, Sombra hadn't gone outside while it was night yet. Since Luna was a princess of the night, it made sense for her mane to look like the night. He wouldn't know. It wasn't Luna's night anyway. According to Jupiter Ballad, it was Jahmuttik's and Zontupoz's. The former was God of the Stars while the latter was God of the Night and Dusk. He didn't understand much about that religion, but Jupiter spoke so often about it that he knew all of their names. Along with what they did and one or two little tales.

None of them involved Luna. Or Celestia.

"But thou fear me." He watched her. She turned around, unable to sense when he was. He could smell her fear. It excited him. "I can smelleth thy fear. 't is so much sweeter than our first meeting." Her fur was on end, the feathers in her wings stiffening and her ears lowering. "I see thou haven't forgotten me..." Dramatically, Sombra walked out of the bushes behind her. His chest was nearly touching her when he said, "Luna."

She turned around, and unlike before, she had to look up. Luna hadn't even grown an inch since they last met, making him smile. He must be much more terrifying to her. In her moderate cyan eyes, he could see the flickering sparks of an excited nightmare. It may as well be waving at him with happiness and gratitude for granting a long-lasting food supply.

"I see. 't is a Crystal Pony I visit this night." He was irritated that she would suggest such a thing, but he calmed himself. Luna would not see him while weak. "Thou art taller than I recall."

"Not at all Luna. Thou're just a midget." She couldn't hide her fear. She was trying, but the Nightmare was so excited that it didn't let her. "It's talking to you, isn't it?" Sombra smiled, looking down at her. Now he could do it literally. "Thou can tryeth to ignore 't Lulu, but thou can only hold out for so long. 't'll englut thou whole! The Nightmare *always* turns thou into what thou tryeth so desperately to hide." His fanged grin grew even wider. "Thy *true* self."

"Silence!" She shouted, her horn shining with magic. He started to circle her, their eye contact never breaking. "Thou art nothing more than a construct of a tortured pony's mind!" She wasn't entirely wrong. The only part she got wrong was that this wasn't the mind of a pony but the mind of an Umbrum. "Begone nightmare!" She released a spell that did nothing. Well, it blew wind in his face, but that didn't count as something. Or did it? No. It didn't. "What?" Her look of horror was priceless.

"Whose mind do you think you're in?" He gave up the funny talk to be a little more serious. When it clicked in her mind, she backed away. "Are you going to run away with your tail between your legs, or are you going to face me like the tyrant you are?" He hissed at her, his pupils narrowing to slits.

"How art thou alive!?" She shouted, charging her horn with more magic. Sombra powered his own, his power canceling out hers. "Thou wast slain by the Crystal Heart!" His eyes narrowed darkly, purple smoke flowing from the corners. An ear twitched as he heard the cracking of glass, along with a low groan from the monster.

"You think that weapon was enough to slay me when neither you nor your sister had the power!?" He shouted, his lips peeling back viciously. He stamped a hoof down, his anger giving everything around them a red hue. "I have survived things that would rot you from the inside out. I have been to Tartarus and back. I was and am a student of Grogar. I am more than you'll ever be! I deserve the right to take revenge on those bastards you so adamantly protect!" The mare slowly backed away, but he only followed her.

"There is nay revenge to taketh. None but the revenge against thou for thy crimes!" His crimes? Yes, he wasn't innocent. But he wasn't the one who started this, even if he was going to be the one to finish it. "Art thou so arrogant that thou can't accept that thou art in the wrong?" Another crack in the window. Another twitch of his angrily scrunched expression.

"Me?" He hissed. "I have not slain thousands! I have not enslaved ten times that for being different! I have not tortured those barely old enough to walk! I have not brought species to extinction for *fun*!" He was shaking. Why was it so easy to anger him? He was better than this! "When your precious subjects learn of *your* crimes, they won't be so willing to bow to you anymore. You will lose your country because of your bias against Ateus." There had been good ponies in his life. He even put Lapis Falls in that category.

"One thousand years in ice hath driven thou mad. I did not think that to be possible, but hither thou art." He had a very long list of ways to prove her wrong. Perhaps he should show her his monster? Luna should know such beasts couldn't be made up. "Though, I am compelled to asketh." Did she want proof? He could give her that. It'd scar her, but he didn't care about her enough to worry about it. "Why is't that thou art enduring a nightmare? Is't thy guilt? Doth thou feeleth remorse?"

"I wasn't even ten minutes old before they pried me from my hooves and drove a spear through her skull. I feel guilty that my father made a promise to her to protect me." He scowled at the floor. "The very promise that got him executed." He missed Silver. "I feel guilty that I couldn't save all of my friends from meeting the same fate. I sometimes feel guilty that I survived and they didn't. I feel guilty about a lot of things, Princess, but my revenge against the Crystal Cunts is not one of them."

The land around them changed as his mind started another memory.

It was with Jupiter Ballad and Silver Stream. Two stallions who may as well be his fathers. Despite being a siren, Jupiter's body was that of a tall grey unicorn with a copper mane. His golden eyes melded well with Silver's emerald. Jupiter and Silver were taking Sombra to a cave on his fifth birthday. The cave was one of the most beautiful things he'd seen at that age. It was a special secret place guarded by the Wendigo.

"Listen here, kid. You canae tell nobody, alright?" Silver had said, a grin on his muzzle as the colt nested between his wings. "This is a wee secret for the Ateus and good ol' pones like myself."

"Is it because the ponies will take it away?" Sombra had said. He stood on his hind hooves and rested his body on Silver's head, crumpling his hat. "I won't tell. Promise!" Jupiter's horn glowed orange as he moved the Stetson from under the colt and put it on his head. Thanks to how small he was, he couldn't see. Sombra tried to push it up, but it kept falling over his eyes. "Aww, why won't it stay up?"

"Give it time Som," Jupiter smiled, biting the back and pulling. It was still too big for him, but at least he could see now. "When you're big like us, you'll be able to wear it fine." Silver shot a glare at Jupiter, one that Sombra didn't understand at the time. Silver was silently telling him off for making a promise that may be hard to keep. Jupiter glared back. "I bet you'll be bigger than grumpy grey here. What do you think?"

"Will I be big like the Queen?" He had been too young to understand at the time. Too young to know that the Queen was the enemy. The ponies talked about Amore like she was a goddess. Since they spoke so highly of her, he just assumed that they were right. "She's big! Even bigger than you, Jupe."

"Never call her that laddie. She's a cunt. Her and her damned herd of little cunts!" Silver was not known for censoring himself. "Ya only call that Arsehole Amore a queen if she or her herd are around. Since Jupe and I are neither, you call her Arsehole Amore. Alright?" Jupiter nodded proudly. "A witch like that doesnae deserve tae be called a queen, not after what she's done. Winged goat or not, she's nae queen of ours." Sombra nodded, the hat falling over his eyes again. "Donnae forget that laddie. She's not our queen, and she's not *your* queen."

"Arsehole Amore is not my queen!" He proclaimed loudly, Jupiter and SIlver smiling proudly at him. "If she's not my queen, then who is?"

"That'd be Jupe. He's more feminine than the color pink!" Jupiter snorted and rolled his eyes. "That makes me the King, and you the Prince." Silver stopped at the end of the cave, a smile on his face. "And this your wee kingdom." Jupiter activated a spell causing the end of the cave disappeared, revealing its hidden contents.

The cave opened up to a beautiful cavern. There was a river that became a pool that had an island in the middle of it. On that island was a Prism Tree, it was much like a Sakura tree only its leaves were every possible color there could be. The roots of the tree had grown in such a way that they became a bridge over the glowing water beneath. On the ceiling were thousands of Ice-Glow Worms that imitated the night sky. And what made the water glow were the Wendigo eggs that'd been sitting there for thousands if not millions of years.

"Wow!" said a young colt who had spent his whole life seeing nothing but crystal and snow. Sometimes Sombra wished he could feel like that again. It was a feeling he wouldn't forget.

He missed them. He wanted to see them again but he couldn't. Yes, Sombra could speak with the dead, but that just made it so much more painful. He tried to think about them when they were alive and not dead. It was difficult sometimes.

When he was just a few months shy of seventeen, he watched his father die. Arsehole Amore had decided that Silver was more trouble than he was worth. Silver didn't cower away from his fate. He stood proud, staring Amore right in the eyes with a confidence Sombra always tried to imitate. Silver Stream spat in her face before his days came to an end, and Sombra had made it a tradition. Every time he saw her from then on, he'd spit at her. Sometimes on her.

"I hast walked amongst dreams long enough to know the difference between dreams and memories." How nice of her. Purposefully, he let her see the memory of Silver's dead body. Then Jupiter's. Both of their cadavers had the queen standing above them, a cruel smile on her face. "They did mean a lot to thou."

"They're dead. Just like everyone else." He glared down as the memory faded. "You stood by her side. You helped exterminate my family and their family. You kidnapped the few ponies who tried to do the right thing, and then you brainwashed them into fighting against me. I meant what I said about your Nightmare Force." He didn't expect this to be talking and not fighting. Perhaps the silly mare had matured? If so, good for him. He'd already gotten what he wanted from her.

"Even though thy memories art convincing, I can't taketh thy word for 't." He looked to the side, his gaze meeting that of his demon's. There was a lot of cracks on the glass, but he was slowly mending them. The monster tapped the glass, trying to get free. It was getting on his nerves. "Doth thou also hast a Nightmare? 't would explain thy knowledge of such creatures."

"It's a personification of my hatred and pain. If it ever breaks through that glass, all of my bottled emotions will spill and likely destroy everything around me. Only the Empire deserves this creature. They deserve what they created." It wasn't enough to send them to the Shadow Zone. He needed to release the monster, and it had to be them who felt its wrath. "Maybe I should let you have a taste of it. Give you a little taste of what true hatred is." Despite his revenge already swirling within the false goddess, he didn't feel like it was enough. Maybe it would never be enough.

"Celestia will learneth that thou art alive. She wilt decideth thy fate."

"My fate is mine to control, not yours or Celestia's." He looked into her eyes, watching for signs of her Nightmare. "You should know by now that I am not easy to get rid of." When he saw it, he watched as it practically danced with joy. "Do you feel that? Can you feel the Nightmare dance? Good. Do you know how I know it's there?" He said darkly. "I put it there." With a flash of his horn, he pushed the mare out of his mind and in the process forced himself into the waking world.

He couldn't wait to see her again after she processed when he'd just told her.

Author's Note

Sorry. I've just started college and it's eating up all my time. I'll try to update more often.