Saving the king

A few hours later Fluttershy and Sombra found themselves sitting back to back on a cloud floating around above Ponyville. Like earlier in the day things were peaceful and Fluttershy felt a lot lighter than normal thanks to the earlier 'event'. Sombra took notice of Fluttershy's change but decided not to say anything and just let it happen.

"Sooo…" Fluttershy stated.

"Hmm?" Sombra replied. Sombra could hear Fluttershy's struggle to find the right words.

"I did not have a plan for the rest of the day. So.. What now?" Fluttershy asked under her breath. On the inside, Fluttershy thanked the stars she came up with that question instead of the one she actually wanted to ask. She hoped to divine high heaven Sombra didn't tease her about it.

"That's ultimately up to you, Child. I just hope it's not boring" Sombra spoke flatly. He stared down at Ponyville below him- seeing the town's citizens go about their daily lives not knowing what's just above their heads. The thought of taking over Ponyville quickly came to mind and it wouldn't be that much of a hassle either even with Princess Twilight and her friends. However, what would come afterwards is nothing short of a quick death in a week if he did not expand his territory quickly enough. So with a quick shake of his head Sombra killed the idea and went with the next best thing: continue to watch Ponyville go about its day. Then something caught his eye. Something he never really seen before-- Fluttershy's pink friend from earlier shaking violently to the point it was really not natural. "Is something wrong with your friend, Child?"

Fluttershy took a look at Pinkie Pie and immediately went blue in the face. Sombra raised an eyebrow because even he couldn't get Fluttershy to show the pure raw fear in her eyes she displayed right now. Before Sombra could say anything to Fluttershy she took off to Pinkie Pie below.

Sombra stood up and disguised himself again "Well at least this will be interesting." Then he teleported himself right behind Fluttershy when she landed on the ground.

"Pinkie, please tell me that's an uncontrollable sugar rush and not "Ponyville is in level five danger" shake" Fluttershy spoke while trying to hold her shaking friend down. It didn't work and Pinkie only made that sinking feeling worse by shaking her head.

"I keep on feeling these little earthquakes! I think it's coming from the Everfree Forest and we might have another Ursa problem" Pinkie said while still shaking. Fluttershy went wide-eyed and the memory of the other night came to her. If Pinkie's feelings were correct they were about to have a serious problem on their hands.

"Pinkie, can you go get Twilight and tell her to meet us by the Everfree Forest?" Fluttershy requested.

"She'll be there faster than you can say fast-forward then the speed of fast light!" Pinkie replied with a giant smile and fingers in a salute manner which honestly made Fluttershy feel a little better. With that, Fluttershy gave a big nod and took off towards the Everfree Forest with Hot Flame right behind her.

"So what do you think this is?" Hot Flame asked.

"Do you remember those Ursa's we saved?"

"Yeah? What about them--wait you think the son-?"

"Yes unfortunately. Listen.. If things get rough.."

"You want me to take care of it?" Sombra spoke seriously. Fluttershy kept running without answering the question and Sombra simply nodded along.

A few minutes later Fluttershy and Hot Flame reached Fluttershy's home. they were not expecting to see Discord on the roof eating popcorn.

"Well, well, well, you two certainly got in some trouble. I can only imagine what you did to piss off a Ursa Major. Did you kill its son, Sombra? Because that would make sense" Discord Stated. He turned around to see Fluttershy walking up with Hot Flame. "That look looks really bad on you by the way, Sombra." Sombra ignored the comment and went on the roof with Discord.

"We stopped those Ursa's from fighting some Timberwolves. It could've been much worse, but I guess it got that way anyway. Ugh.. Wish I could fix this!" Fluttershy frustratingly stated and rubbing her forehead.

"Just kill the creature and be done with it" Discord and Sombra voiced at the same time. Fluttershy shot them both an angry expression. Discord shut up but Sombra took it as a challenge.

"If I've done that you would NOT be here right now. Or have you forgotten that, Discord? And you, Sombra, I suggest you remind yourself what situation you're in!" Fluttershy said completely seriously.

Sombra chuckled at the statement "Okay okay, Child you got it. Just calm down and focus on the task at hand." Fluttershy sighed and simply waited for her friends to show up.

"You mind telling me what that was? That's not like you, Sombra hehehe. Is She rubbing off on you?" Discord whispered in Sombra's ear.

"Don't make me toss you into whatever version of hell you deserve, draconequus." Sombra spoke back.

"Whatever sad ex-king! Do you think this will go badly?" Sombra thought about the question tossed at him. He looked to his right and saw Twilight heading toward them, turning back he saw Fluttershy just staring at the Everfree Forest . Then Sombra sighed in frustration.

"I'll help if you help and we will never speak about this again do you hear you me?" Sombra murmured. Discord shrugged in agreement and both of them shot magic at Fluttershy which caused her to stumble forward.

"Hey, You two! what was that for!?" Twilight questioned landing next to Fluttershy checking to see if she was okay.

"Where are your other friends, Princess? I thought they would be with you" Discord said.

"I told the others to stay back just in case something else happens. In any case why are you here, Discord?"

"The enjoyment of the situation! That's why!" Discord proudly exclaimed. Twilight helped Fluttershy up and the same moment she did, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something coming their way really fast. In the moment she picked Fluttershy up and got out-of-the-way. A big rock flew by and then the Ursa Major herself. "Wait, it's bigger than normal! Why is it bigger?" Twilight questioned.

The Ursa suddenly stopped and sniffed the air. It looked around finding Fluttershy and Twilight floating above it. It roared at Fluttershy and Twilight making them shake in their boots. But then the Ursa didn't do anything but sniff the air again and look for whatever it was looking for. Again it stopped, turned its attention to Discord and Hot Flame then it charged at them.

"GUY'S MOVE!" Twilight yelled. They moved out-of-the-way landing on the ground below in front of the cottage. The Ursa did not give up as it chased after them. Discord and Hot Flame split up to confuse the creature-- it didn't work as it tried to attack Hot Flame.

Sombra looked like he enjoyed just dancing around the creature dodging the wide swipes that came his way. Sombra stopped running and stood still baiting the Ursa to attack him. The Ursa stopped and opened its mouth to roar again. That's what Sombra thought-- until a giant purple fireball came his way. He thought about dodging it but then Sombra realized he stood in the direction of Ponyville and that fireball wouldn't stop until it hit something. Sombra quickly looked around for any other options, he could tank the hit but that might cause another host of problems and showing off wasn't an option either so the only other alternative would be deflecting it. Sombra got himself ready by putting some magic around his body, especially his hands and when the fireball made contact Sombra felt like the very first pieces of wood hitting a raging fireplace. The hot feeling didn't last long because the moment Sombra sent the fireball into the sky above his head the Ursa Major moved behind him and with the force and speed of a raging beast sent Sombra flying into the Everfree Forest with a loud crashing sound to complete the moment much to the complete shock of everyone there. Except Discord who fell backwards onto the ground belly laughing.

Fluttershy had to stop herself from screaming Sombra's name and flying to him to see if he was okay. Right now, she had to stop the angry Ursa from hurting anyone else and she started by letting Twilight lock down the Ursa Major in a magical cage. Twilight struggled to hold the Ursa down which meant Fluttershy had to act quickly. She went inside the cage, onto the top of the Ursa's head, and using the magic Discord gave her she locked the Ursa down even further by putting a tighter cage around leaving the raging creature unable to move. All it could was roar which did scare Fluttershy but she held her ground. Without saying a word Fluttershy closed her eyes, placed her left hand on the Ursa's head, moved her right index finger in front of her lips, and started whispering something. Soon enough the raging Ursa Major became mellow and right after it went into a deep sleep. Good thing to because Twilight's cage disappeared.

"Fluttershy you did it!" Twilight exclaimed obviously winded from holding her spell. She landed on the ground next to the sleeping Ursa and felt a little creeped out being this close to it. "This is new for me hehe…How did you do that by the way?" She posed Fluttershy.

"Discord and Hot Flame gave me some one time use magic. I think the results speak for themselves don't you say?" Fluttershy hopped off the Ursa and heard clapping behind her.

"Good job my dear friends! That fantastic show was simply amazing to witness!" Discord declared making Fluttershy and Twilight roll their eyes. "Now what will you do with this creature?" Discord queried, looking at Twilight along with Fluttershy.

"What? Don't look at me? I didn't think I'd get far!" Twilight stated while going into thinking mode. "Let's see.. Sending it back into the Everfree Forest without taking care of the source of its anger is going to bite us in the flank later.. Do you either of y-"

"It's son is dead.. It got wounded in a fight against some Timberwolves. I don't think it made it through the next few nights" Fluttershy said flatly.

"Wait, Fluttershy you were-"

"I was there along with Hot Flame when it happened. We managed to stop the fight from getting worse but well.. You saw what just happened."

Twilight groaned in frustration "That's just great! Ughh.. Well I hate to say it but we might have to erase the memories of the child from the mother." Fluttershy went wide-eyed and Discord started laughing again.

"Come on, Princess Twilight! You know you won't let yourself sleep peacefully at night if you do that. So what's plan B?"

"I…Agree with Twilight. We can't kill it and sending it back home won't do anything. So--Discord can you do it?" Fluttershy asked with heavy regret in her voice.

"Fluttershy are you-"

"Yes, Twilight I'm sure. Discord, make sure it won't wake up for a while to. I don't want it charging back here immediately-- as weak as that sounds."

Discord chuckled "Yes ma'am!" Discord snapped his fingers and a magic circle appeared under the sleeping Ursa. On top of doing what he was asked, Discord saved the girls some trouble and teleported the Ursa back into the Everfree Forest . "Okay now that's done what now?"

"I need to go check on Hot. That hit he took might have been a little too much" Fluttershy pronounced calmly.

"Oh my gosh! You're right! Come on we need to help him!" Twilight exclaimed getting ready to take off in the sky. Fluttershy stopped her immediately.

"Twilight, you need to go back to Ponyville and make sure nothing happened there. Don't worry about my friend, he's a tank" Fluttershy spoke with a smile.

"But, Fluttershy it's-" Fluttershy placed a finger on Twilight's lips and turned her around facing Ponyville.

"Princess, Trust me okay?"

"I! Okay fine. Just please be careful okay?"

"Always!" Fluttershy replied with that same smile and a hug on top of that.

"Discord you're with me and before you say anything I'll pay you later!" Twilight Said while taking off to Ponyville. Discord simply shrugged and followed Twilight to Ponyville leaving Fluttershy to look for Sombra.

A few minutes later Fluttershy found Sombra without his mask against a knocked over tree. He looked uncharacteristically collected for someone who just took a hit that would piss off everybody Fluttershy knew. Fluttershy landed in front of him, took a knee, cupped his face with her hands, and gave him a warm smile. Sombra meant Fluttershy's eyes which quickly turned into a tight hug.

"I'm glad you're okay. Are you hurt anywhere?" Fluttershy asked quietly.

"You should know by now-- you do not have to worry about me" Sombra replied.

Fluttershy hugged Sombra tighter "You know I'm not going to do that"

"So how long were you planning on doing this hug for?" Sombra pointed out.

"It's part of my apology for what you just went through. Honestly I thought you would be a lot more upset."

"I didn't see the point in wasting my energy. Besides, I know how you're going to pay me back." For a moment Fluttershy stopped to think about what she just heard. Those words could go any number of ways and when she couldn't read Sombra's blank expression when she stopped the hug her mind obviously went dirty with a heavy blush.

"I! Umm..!"

"Wow, Sombra at least take Fluttershy out to dinner first hehe" Fluttershy and Sombra jumped at the sudden voice. They looked around to see who it was and saw Princess Celestia floating above them with a bright smile on her face.

"Oohh, Please Princess Celestia, don't do that you nearly made my soul jump out of my body!" Fluttershy spoke getting herself together. Sombra on the other hand simply rolled his eyes and groaned.

Celestia landed next to them "I apologize, Fluttershy I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine, Princess. Why are you here though?" Fluttershy questioned.

"I heard about that Ursa's Major situation and I figured I'd handle it myself. I'm not surprised to find that you and your friends already handled it. But I gotta say I didn't expect Sombra here to take that hit the way he did."

"Wait-- you watched that entire thing?"

The Princess nodded "Again, you made me feel proud about my decision to pick you, Fluttershy. Although I never expected you to end up In this position." Celestia let that word hang in the air until Fluttershy picked up what the Princess was putting down. Fluttershy immediately stood up embarrassed which made Chuckle at the reaction. "Relax, Fluttershy I'm only teasing"

"That's all well and good, Celestia but, why are you here?!" Sombra interjected.

Celestia looked at the watch that did not have "Because you're going to need medical attention in three, two, one-" As if fate demanded it happen, Sombra felt a massive amount of pain come to him. It felt like he just got hit by a bleeding effect stacking itself one-hundred times and the result-- Sombra losing sixty-five percent of his blood in an instant. Everything went dark.

Several days later in Cantorlot Hospital at night

"... Ughh.. Ah!.. My head--What happened!.."
Sombra pushed himself up-right and opened his eyes to himself in a hospital bed. He looked to his right to find an open window with the night sky behind it.

"So you're finally awake. That's good." Sombra looked to his left to find Princess Celestia sitting in a chair reading a book. She looked tired herself.

"What happened to me?" Sombra asked.

"That Ursa Major hit you with a bleeding curse. Congratulations on surviving that, most ponies don't live to tell the tale" Celestia responded. She closed the book and looked at Sombra "I took you here for obvious reasons. Now that you're awake I have to say you look jetlagged and by that I mean you look like shit." Sombra looked around at the rest of the room to find nothing special.

"You could've just left me there you know" Sombra murmured. Celestia's ears perked up and she shook her head.

"No. You know I couldn't. Besides, Fluttershy would never forgive me."

Sombra sucked his teeth "You know she's helping me get my power back right?"

"I've had my suspensions after the book situation. To be honest with you I'm not at all surprised that she's helping you. In fact I would've been worried if Fluttershy didn't."

"And you don't care about the repercussions of her actions?"

Celestia laid back into her chair and crossed her legs "Of course I have. The night before I made before me and Luna made the decision to give you another chance, the situation of you coming back for revenge after returning to full power kept coming back up. It still does when I look at you even now."

"And you thought she would be my best shot in your eyes?"

"I thought she might have been able to talk you out of revenge. Or even make you a close friend like Discord and I still believe she will."

"Here I'm thinking you were playing some elaborate game. Turns out it's just pure hopeless hope not to see my end? You're still naive, Tia. You always were."

Celestia tilted her head "Then why are you here in a hospital bed? You could've avoided the hit yet you didn't and that's the interesting part about this. Why did you do it, Sombra?" Celestia asked curiously.

"Because I wanted to that's all" Sombra replied while laying back onto the bed.

Celestia sadly sighed and stood up "I know you like her, Sombra. It's okay if you don't want to admit it to me. But please don't lay there and continue to lie to yourself." With those finals Celestia teleported out of the room leaving Sombra alone with his thoughts.

"It's not a lie"