Chapter 1
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A Shadow of Your Former Self

Chapter 1

Someone who has never been completely and utterly disconnected from their entire history of thoughts, feelings, memories, and preferences might find the concept of amnesia romantic or freeing. The reality is more similar to being trapped in a haunted house coupled with being at a party and you can’t remember anybody’s name.

One minute there is nothing and then, without warning, there was. His body felt heavy, his neck had a crick in it from being on the floor for too long. His eyes pried themselves open to be met with blinding crystal. A cave? No, there was a window. Fuck his body hurt. A throne room? He could hear something outside, could be somepony yelling.

His hooves were heavy, he was wearing metal shoes, what did the rest of him look like? Was he hurt? Was there a mirror? It felt like he was wearing something. He took his movements slowly, testing to see if anything was broken; wandering over to a window in the corner that looked shiny enough to cast a reflection.

He was a pony with grey hair and a black mane. Was he wearing a crown? He was in a throne room, was he a king? He didn’t feel like a king and if he was, wouldn’t somepony be around?

“Hello?!” His voice echoed off the walls but nopony answered. He was pretty sure he was physically ok, just sore. But if he was a king, nopony was around to protect him, he was alone in a throne room with no idea what was going on…

The thought should have hit him before but now it was hitting him full force. He had no idea who he was! His name, why he was here, what happened, not good, not good, not good. Everything felt like a threat, he had to get out, he hated it here he needed to leave!

He tried to creep quietly towards the door but his shoes were loud so he took them off. He pressed his ear to the polished crystal but couldn’t hear anything; he tried to peer through the cracks in the door but couldn’t see anything. He tried to push the door slowly so it wouldn’t make a noise but it was too heavy to budge so he was forced to push harder until it opened. Crystal scratched against crystal, the noise echoing off the walls in an orchestra of spine-tingling regret.

Somepony definitely heard that!

He checked the hallways before he made a run for it, ducking behind pillars, trying to find an exit. Nopony was here which was a relief to him but at the same time why? Why was he in a completely empty castle? It was too nice to be a fake castle so there should be guards, ponies of state, cleaning staff, something! The oddness of the situation raised his anxiety higher. He avoided the widest hallways because they would be the most used but it was harder to find an exit when it wasn’t prominent. He found himself in a dining hall; the kitchen would be attached! He opened the first door next to the crystal china cabinet. It led to a set of stairs going down.

Why were stairs the best thing ever right now?

He took the steps two at a time; luckily, they did lead to the kitchen. He tensed his muscles, prepping to run past any staff present but none were there. There was an open doorway that lead to a courtyard where carts and supplies would come in, again, empty. He was about to reach the street when he spotted somepony and ducked behind a stack of boxes next to the archway.

Female, she looked like she had gone through Tartarus. Lethargic, tattered, and he couldn’t be too sure but it seemed as if her fur was greyer then normal? She looked too depressed to be a threat to him… should he help her? No, he shouldn’t. He was having a shit time himself. But she might be a safe-ish pony to ask for information. She looked like she was alone, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t some kind of bait for an ambush. He checked every building’s windows and corners he could see from his hiding spot, then checked again to make sure nopony was behind him before slowly making his was out. She wasn’t looking at him and if she really wasn’t a threat, he didn’t want to scare her, he cleared his throat to get her attention.

“Um, excuse me. I don’t mean to trouble you-“ she turned to him slowly, as if in horror, her pupils shrinking as she spotted him. He finished his sentence lamely, “-but could you please tell me-“

“King Sombra!” She screamed and collapsed into a deep bow, covering her eyes with her hooves and shaking like a pony expecting to die.

How exactly do you respond to that?

“I, um, yes?” She continued to shake and cry as if not hearing him. Ok, so he was a king, his name was Sombra, and judging from that reaction, not a good pony. He didn’t know how to deal with this and he didn’t get a chance to think about it. Her commotion attracted attention, other ponies who had been hiding in their homes stuck their heads out of windows to stare at him in horror. His mind tried to come up with some logical options to handle this when a laser blast nearly detached his right hind leg from his body. “Ahh! Wha-“

“Sombra!” a purple unicorn screamed at him, she was galloping towards him at breakneck speed and soon she was joined by a blue pegasi with a rainbow mane who was much faster and equally angry. “Stay away from her you creep!”

‘Sombra’ spared a glance at the cowering mare at his feet, evaluated his options, and ran as fast as he possibly could. Pegasi were fast but they couldn’t corner well, he ducked behind the first alleyway he saw and could feel the rush of wind from the pegasi’s wings brush his flanks. “Hey! No fair! Get back here so I can shove some harmony up your flank!” He had a sneaking suspicion that her hoof was named ‘harmony.’

The alleyway was not completely clear, there was the odd trashcan here and there which slowed him considerably. The near constant nocking over of trashcans like a beacon alerting his attackers exactly where he was. He was never going to get away like this, he had to leave the city. He could see the outskirts as he made his next turn, there was a blizzard ripping the landscape apart, why wasn’t it in the city? Was there a barrier? If so, would it allow him to leave? “Found you!” The pegasi was going to divebomb him from above; no time to think. He tensed for both the jump and prepping himself for the possibility of diving headfirst into an invisible wall, the pegasi was getting closer.

He felt the blistering cold winds like a slap to the face, felt the filly’s sharp hooves as they crushed his spine, felt the all-consuming fear for his life, and felt his body dissolve into darkness.

‘Away; have to get away.’

He was one with the snow and wind, he was scattering, he was trying to hold himself together, he was tossed and turned, no up or down, he was drowning, he was dying.

“Stop!”

All at once he hit the ground, as whole as he ever was. He really hoped waking up in an odd place in pain wasn’t a usual trend. There was grass beneath his cheek, he was in a wide-open field and uncomfortably wet. He tried to stand but the ground was like a sponge, the mud sucked his hooves down the more he moved but before he could panic, he heard a voice.

Frankly, it scared the hell out of him.

“Hello there young fella, where did you come from? No trains today yet and no town for miles.” Sombra turned and saw a very old stallion on a slightly raised platform with a small hut. Beyond that were trees, he was near a swamp. The stallion had an odd hat that didn’t cover the top of his head but had a brim to cover his eyes and a green vest. The stallion himself was light green with most of his mane fallen out with age. At least the old stallion didn’t want to kill him… yet.

“Um, hello sir, I’m terribly sorry if I’m disturbing you but I’m a bit lost… and stuck.” The stallion smiled in amusement but didn’t leave his platform.

“Don’t spend much time in the swamp now do yah? You have to break the suction, just take it slow and try to increase the surface area of your body. What you got there is technically quicksand but it’s not as bad as the books make it out to be. You’ll be fine.”

Sombra didn’t really like the thought of being somepony’s entertainment but he didn’t exactly have a choice. He still wasn’t entirely sure how he got here so it’s not like he could do… whatever it was he did to get away before. He took it slow by wiggling his hooves to break the suction before taking his next step but it wasn’t going well.

“You might have to crawl on your belly. I know unicorns are all about fast solutions but sometimes the earth pony way is best.”

Was he a unicorn? He thought it was just a crown. That would explain how he got here if he could use magic. He tried to focus on himself and lift himself out of the mud but… nothing. At least the old man found it amusing. He did as the old colt suggested and got on his belly to crawl but his cape (as he recently took note of) was so bogged down with mud that it was dragging him down so he unclipped it and let it go. After a significant amount of struggling and laughter from the old man he finally got on to the platform and promptly fell on his flank from the slick mud on his hooves. In fact, he physically could not get on the flatform. “Haha as amusing as this is-“ the old stallion said while wiping a tear from his eye”- why don’t you park yourself on the trail. You know, the one that most ponies use to get here.” Sombra ignored the prickling of anger at the old man ‘he could have told me that before’ and sat himself on the dirt road; trying to scrape off the mud from his fur.

“Oh I tell you what, this is the most fun I’ve had at work in ages. Now then young colt, mind telling me what sort of trouble you’ve gotten yourself into? Perhaps old Cartwheel can help.”

Sombra was trying to rub a particularly itchy mud spot on his chin but only succeeded in smearing it around. Should he tell him? Lack of murderous intent does not a friend make, he could get away with half-truths though. “I had an accident-“ Cartwheel smiled and looked ready to add a smart comment but Sombra beat him to it and amended his monologue. “Before I slipped on mud I mean. I can’t remember a thing. I can’t go home because there are pony’s there who were… not friendly. I need food, a place to hide, work, and a bath. Somewhere where I can get back on my hooves until I can piece together how I got into this situation. Do you know where I can find a place like that? Oh.” He took off his crown and held it up for Cartwheels inspection. “This is all I have; do you think I can get some money for it? Enough for some food even?”

Cartwheel looked at him with pity, “That’s quite a story youngin. I’m sorry you’ve been through so much. Wait just a tick.” The old pony wondered into the hut on the platform. Sombra had a moment of worry that he was recognized or not believed and some sort of authorities were being contacted. But Cartwheel reemerged with a sack in his mouth and handed it to him. “You can have my lunch, it’s just a daisy sandwich but it’s better than nothing. I’ll look at the crown for yah but I imagine it’s worth something. The closest town is about a half hour train ride and tickets cost 5 bits for one stop. Princess Celestia has a program to provide emergency tickets for ponies in desperate situations like yourself. You just have to make your case to station management, and you’re lookin’ at him! I will have to ask you to clean up a bit before I call the conductor. There’s a waterfall about a 15-minute trot in the swamp, watch for gators.”

Sombra held the bag in his hooves just processing the generosity shown. “Th-Thank you Cartwheel sir I, I don’t know how to thank you I just… thank you I.” Sombra pulled the plastic wrapped sandwich out of the bag and held it up to the old man. “I can’t take your entire lunch, please take half at least.” Cartwheel gave a dry laugh and look the sandwich back to break it in half.

“You’re a nice young man, I’m sure things will look up for you. Get cleaned up, the faster you’re wet, the faster you’re dry. I’ll call the conductor, we’re not a popular spot so it may take about 1-2 hours for him to get his tail up here.” Sombra nodded with the beginning of tears in his eyes and shoved the entire half of his sandwich in his mouth in one go. It was the best thing he had ever eaten. Cartwheel waved his hoof at Sombra, “Go on and wash up, I don’t do well with cryers.” Sombra nodded his thanks again and made his way into the swamp. He still was suspicious of the old man but not demanding he hand over his crown, his only way to get some money, was a good indicator.

The trail was not well maintained and he did come to understand Cartwheels warnings when an alligator snapped at him almost the second he entered denser woods. He tried to activate magic a few times to… do something, prove he had it? But nothing happened. The waterfall did have some alligators but none of them came near the falls and there were rocks to stand on. The water was unbearably cold and far from clean but it got rid of the mud and that’s all he could ask for.

Cartwheel was waiting on the platform and found his ‘drowned rat’ look hilarious. “I wish I had a camera to take pictures for the misses. She loves a good drama more then anypony and I love a comedy. You so happen to be both!” Sombra tried not to get annoyed at the only one to actually help him but he was making it very difficult.

“You said you could look at my crown and say if it was worth anything?” Cartwheel wasn’t offended by his surly tone and took the item from him.

“I can’t promise anything. My brother’s the one in the jewelry business but I know a little from his incessant ramblings. Nopony loves talking about ‘cut and clarity’ more than him now let’s see… It ain’t silver, maybe platinum? If so, it’ll be harder to sell. Ponies don’t like investing in melting down platinum metals unless they are making armor. And it’s custom fitted for your head so… not good. You sure you don’t want to keep it?”

Sombra sighed and took the crown back. “I don’t need it; I need the money more and it’s all I have until I can get a job.” He sighed again “Also, I confirmed something when I was in the swamp; I can’t do magic, I forgot.”

“You forgot?!” Sombra didn’t know why this pony was so shocked but he nodded. “That can’t be right. My sister has two unicorn foals at home, both of them could do crazy magic before they were out of diapers. How could you forget something you could do before you could control your bowels?” Sombra winced at the crassness of the statement and the implication that he was less then an infant. Cartwheel rubbed his chin and looked at him critically, “Come to think of it, your horn looks mighty mangled. Did your accident have something to do with it?”

“Mangled!? Mangled how?!” Sombra felt his horn, it was long and sharp and matched his eyes if he remembered right. Did horns not look like that?

“Also, there’s something else odd about you. But I just can’t put my hoof on it.” The old man circled him while Sombra silently panicked. Could he tell that he was apparently a bad pony? Had he heard of an evil king before? Fuck! He was a pony who came out of nowhere with a crown! Of course, he knew! He said before about a princess? Was he in another country? Was this his country and the princess was his daughter? Did he have a family? Did that family want him dead?!

Cartwheel stopped and shrugged, “Oh well, I’ve got about an hour to figure it out. In the meantime, why don’t I tell you about what I know about, well, everything. See if it jogs your memory at all. “Sombra sighed with relief and gratification.

“Thank you. I would really appreciate it.”

Chapter 2
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A Shadow of Your Former Self

Chapter 2

“Sombra doll! Be a dear and take these to the train depo please? I’ll have some lemonade for you when you get back.”

“Yes ma’am, I’ll be right back ma’am!” Sombra called out as he sorted the last of the cherries into the color-coded buckets and shut off the conveyer belt. Cherry Jubilee regarded him with a smile as he rushed over to the crates and pushed them towards the entrance.

“You can call my Miss Jubilee sugar and you don’t have to push them; you can use magic if you want.”

Sombra stopped his work to look his boss in the eye as he addressed her. “Again ma’am, with all due respect, it’s part of a promise that I made to myself to never use magic again. Please understand.” He ended with a somber tilt of his head.

“Oh of course sugar! I don’t judge you none for your choices I just don’t want you to go and hurt yourself. Unicorns are generally not as strong physically you see.” Cherry Jubilee reasoned as she applied more lipstick to her lips. Giving him an uncomfortable amount of eye contact as she did so. It made his hair bristle.

“Yes ma’am, I am weaker than an average earth pony but I have been training and have gotten much stronger since you hired me. I will not fail you even without magic, I promise.” He ended with a smile that he hoped came off as charming. Apparently, it did because she winked suggestively at him and smacked her lips together.

“My, what a gentle colt. Keep up the good work doll and I’ll be waiting inside with your lemonade!” She put more swing in her hips then necessary as she sauntered out of the warehouse. Sombra really did appreciate the work but he had to get out of here. The constant sexual inuendoes and offensive remarks towards unicorns in general were becoming more overt. If earth ponies were the superior race then why didn’t she go after them?

He also knew it wasn’t smart to use his ‘real’ name but it was all he had left that was his. He pawned his crown for a few bits for a shower and a hotel room so he could go into a job interview with any confidence. Apparently, he was good looking despite his mangled horn if the looks and flirting from both Jubilee and other towns ponies were anything to go by but that brought him more unwanted attention. He could hide his lack of cutie mark with saddlebags or cloths but in the rare cases when somepony noticed… it just made things harder.

He loaded the boxes onto the train on time and did his daily ritual of calculating how many bits he had and how many he needed to get to his destination and start a new life. He didn’t really have a plan more than a list of wants:

1: Get out of here. He couldn’t decide if he wanted to go to Manehattan or the end of the line. Manehattan was expensive, both to get to and live in, but there were more diverse jobs and he could hide in a crowd. But at the end of the line, he could leave this land entirely and start over with a new race who didn’t know what a pony was, let alone what one was supposed to look like.

2: He wanted something to cover his horn and make it look normal and some nicer cloths. He needed to hide the fact he didn’t have a cutie mark, maybe get a tattoo?

3: Maybe go to Manehattan to shop and work for a bit and then go to the end of the line? No matter what he did he needed to visit Cartwheel one last time. He saw the old stallion once a week to have lunch so he couldn’t just disappear without saying anything. He got this job because Cartwheel vouched for him.

He sighed on his way back to ‘play coy’ with the boss. He didn’t even know who he was let alone care about who others were. Maybe he could care if he wasn’t such a constant ball of confusion and hatred. What he knew about himself could fill a postcard!

Dear me:

You are a unicorn who can’t use magic named ‘Sombra.’ You can never go home because you were an evil king and traumatized all your subjects. You don’t have a cutie mark because you are not good at anything. Try to dodge the ponies who only think you’re worth anything because you are easy on the eyes.

-Have fun with that fucktard <3

Sombra sighed again once he finally made it back to his boss’s office and put on the best smile he could before knocking. “Come on in sugar! The doors open.” He pushed the door open and found her sitting on her desk with half lidded eyes, ‘oh joy.’ Sombra forced himself to smile wider and mentally prepped himself for the interaction.

“Ma’am, you look lovely as always.” Jubilee laughed and handed him a glass full of lemonade as promised.

“You look like you’ve been working hard. Why don’t you take a load off.” She gestured to the available chair which Sombra took and sipped his drink, waiting to see where this would go. “You’ve been such a good worker these past few months, despite your refusal to use magic. So I think you deserve a little reward.~”

Sombra took another sip and met her flirtatious look with a calculating one. “Oh?” Cherry Jubilee nodded her sassy little head.

“Umhum~ I’m trying to expand my business and a vender in Manehattan has agreed to meet with me and I’ll be needing a big strong pony to come and carry the merchandise.” Sombra put his glass down to give her his full attention.

“Are you asking me to… escort you to Manehattan?” This would be a great opportunity to scout out the city and see what it would cost to live there! He only had second hand knowledge from ponies who used to live there years ago. This is a Faust sent! He might actually sleep with her like she wants if it meant a chance to never see this place, or her, again! “I would be honored ma’am. I promise that not a single cherry will be bruised on the way. You have my word.” Cheery Jubilee laughed happily at his declaration.

“I would expect nothing less. We leave in a week and I want our best stock available for the trip!”

“Yes ma’am.” They clicked their glasses in together in a toast.

Chapter 4
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A Shadow of Your Former Self

Chapter 4

Sombra was studying the directions the hotel gave him like it was a math problem. What in Tartarus do these three circles on the left represent? He kept looking a them and back up at his surroundings until he saw a cart store with a three-circle sigil, was that it? If it was, then the restaurant was supposed to be… There! Sombra stepped into the road without thinking about it and was yanked back onto the sidewalk with a bright orange magic field. He felt disoriented for a minute as he heard the angry taxi cart drivers yell at him for being in the road to begin with. He shook himself both physically and mentally before looking up at the light-yellow stallion with an orange mane who saved him. “Are you alright? You could have gotten yourself flattened.” Sombra took his offered hoof more out of politeness then actually needing the support to stand up.

“Yes. Thank you very much, I’m very sorry for the trouble. I’m from a small town and we never have to look before stepping into the road.” The stallion looked at him with understanding and gave him a farewell head nod before beginning to wander back into his own business.

“Uh wait.” Sombra didn’t really expect the colt to stop but he actually turned back to him. “I should thank you for saving me from being seriously maimed my first time in the big city. I’m on my way to a dinner date but can I buy you breakfast as thanks?” The stallion looked at him with suspicion so Sombra smiled as innocently as he could.

“I have a husband.”

“What? Oh, no, no, no, I like mares… I think. I’m just,” Sombra struggled to find words for an adequate motive, “trying to make friends?” He winced at the end out of awkwardness and waited for judgment. The stallion examined him for a long time before smiling, Sombra sighed in relief.

“I have breakfast with my husband most days at the Checkered Stirrup about 7am. Come or don’t.” He began to walk away before stopping and adding as an afterthought, “Names Ledger Cross.”

“Sombra.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Sombra arrived at the ‘Catmandoo’ restaurant he had been trying to get to before being almost flattened. At least he got a local contact out of it. The greatest sources of information were ponies closest to the source, if he was going to live here, he needed unbiased information about tedious stuff like how much are apples? Or where is the best neighborhood to live in? He didn’t expect Cherry to want to stay here very long, his hotel room was on the company dime and she already got what she wanted from the trip.

Sombra looked around the restaurant until he spotted the four cats he had met at the hotel. “Clawson, Ally, Tom, and Jerry, good to see you again.”

“Hey! The pony who likes fish!” The dark blue cat named Jerry greeted as his light purple companion, Ally, leaned closer to him and loudly stage whispered “Sombra,” to correct him.

“Right, Sombra, pull up a chair! We got a surprise for you.” Sombra placed his chair at the end of the table closest to the exit. He wondered if there would ever come a time when he trusted someone.

Tom, the cat with dark brown fur sitting closest to him, handed him an open menu and pointed to a colorful spread on the featured page. It was a buffet that was brought to your table. Different types of meat presented on skewers to sample. It was very expensive. Sombra winced and put the menu down and brought up his bit bag while doing a mental calculation. Even if his breakfast guests ordered conservatively, he didn’t have enough for both meals. His disappointment must have shown on his face because Ally spoke up.

“Our trading venture turned out a decent profit so we’re celebrating tonight. Just give us five bits for the parking pass and we’ll call it even.”

Sombra waved his hooves in front of his face, ”That’s not necessary. I’ll just order a side dish.”

“Hey buddy, little bit of advice, don’t deny Ally what she wants. The lady wants to buy you dinner let her buy you dinner. No guarantee you’ll like any of this stuff anyway.” Tom reasoned while sipping a glass of wine like he owned the world. Sombra could appreciate that attitude and it was getting him a very low-cost meal so he put his bits away.

“I’ll have to find a way to thank you some day.”

“Hah,” Jerry laughed as he came up from, by the looks of it, his third glass of cider. “You’re our entertainment for tonight buddy. Ponies typically take one look a meat and chuck their hay, I wanna see how long it takes for you to make a break for the toilet!” Jerry ended his comforting speech with an obscenely loud belch. Ally looked at her companion in disgust and switched her glass of water with Jerry’s cider.

“So, what brings you to Manehattan Sombra?” Clawson asked, apparently trying to interject some meaningful interaction into this dinner. Sombra considered lying for a moment for absolutely no reason what so ever before burying it deep down with his other odd, and unnecessary, impulses.

“Same as you all. Grunt work for my boss as she networks around town. Likely to go home tomorrow evening. I hope to get a job here and move to town, if you know of anything, please inform me.”

Clawson rolled his eyes, “Uh, why does everypony and their mom want to live here? It’s so cramped and expensive.”

“Just because you hate crowds doesn’t mean everyone does.” Tom added before flagging down a waiter. “We’ll have the skewer dinner for 5 please. Fish, pig, and… chicken?” Tom looked around the table to see if everyone was ok with the variety. Everyone nodded but the gryphon looked at Sombra a moment longer to see if he was going to order anything different. When he didn’t, she left.

Jerry leaned back and reluctantly sipped Ally’s water. “Back home there are more varieties of meat. I’m looking forward to a few months of RNR before getting back to sea.”

“Where is home for you all? I haven’t seen much of Equestria but I don’t think there are many cats.” All of his hosts looked at him offended; fuck, what did he do now?

“We’re not ‘cats,’ cats are dumb pets. We’re sphinx.”

Sombra blinked in surprise, “There are pet cats?”

They all looked at each other like they were trying to decide if he was serious. Finally, Tom asked one of the questions on their minds. “How do you know about cats but not that they’re pets?”

Sombra fiddled with his water grass while trying to think of something to say. He didn’t want to offend them; they were paying for his food. Should he be honest? Would they believe him? Better to be kicked out now then later.

“I had an accident a while ago. Brain damage. I can’t remember anything about where I came from or who I am. Sometimes factual information comes but what comes and what doesn’t… It’s a grab bag of chance. I looked at you all at the hotel and thought ‘cats on two legs’ but the ‘how’ I knew that is… not clear.”

“Is that why your horn if so fucked up?” Jerry asked and received immediate retribution from Ally as she elbowed him in the gut. Sombra self-consciously touched his horn; it was longer, sharper, a different color then his coat, and didn’t have a spiral pattern like every other unicorn he’s seen. Lots of ponies stared at it but it was less embarrassing then his lack of cutie mark. He wished he had the bits to see a doctor.

“I can’t remember the incident so I don’t know but it’s a safe bet. I only remember waking up in a strange place and being afraid enough to run as far and as fast as I could.” A bit of a white lie but not entirely false.

“I’m so sorry,” Ally said while reaching for his hoof to comfort him.

“Didn’t mean to dredge up bad memories bud.” Jerry apologized. Clawson and Tom looked like they were processing the information.

“What’s it like not having any memories? There are definitely a few things I wish I’d forget.” Ally smiled trying to lighten the mood and satisfy her own curiosity. Sombra thought about it, honestly it was difficult because he didn’t have very many life experiences in the grand scheme of things to compare it to.

“… I would rather have bad memories then no memories. I feel like a colt all the time, lost, always afraid on some level. You never know what’s a threat so you are always on edge; coming up with contingency strategies constantly. I thought of four just to get out of this restaurant; it’s not that I don’t trust you it’s just standard everywhere I go. I’m also constantly worried about running into ponies from my old life; I don’t think I was well liked.”

“Why not?”

“Don’t you want to get back to your family and friends? They must be worried about you.”

“What did the hospital and police say about all this? I’ve never personally known anyone with legitimate amnesia but from the books I’ve read say the police usually try to find next of kin.”

“I, uh…” Sombra nervously shifted his eyes from one face to the next. Lie or tell the truth? He still wasn’t completely convinced he could trust them. Questions out of concern could just as easily be probing him for information to see if he would be missed. They could tie him up and toss him on a slave ship or kill him without guilt to take what little bits he had. “They um, said they don’t have any records of me. So at least I was never arrested. I don’t know if my memories will come back and no one has claimed me as a family member yet.”

‘Fuck Sombra, just lie from the get-go and make up some backstory. Why can I never keep my mouth shut about myself? At least I didn’t tell them about being too poor to see a doctor or too afraid to talk to the police. They might have an APV out for an evil king.’

“Oh look! The food is here. Wow that was fast. I can’t wait to try everything they have. Say, I’ve been hogging the conversation here. Why don’t you tell me more about your trade deal; you said it went well.” Sombra chugged his water but ended up inhaling some and choked. His companions only spared a passing interest in the food skewers being presented to them. It was obvious they were just waiting for the staff to be gone so they could interrogate him more. Once everyone had the amount and types of meat they wanted on their plate their attention turned back to Sombra who was shoving large amounts of meat in his mouth to have an excuse not to answer any question they may ask him.

Tom, Ally, and Jerry looked to Clawson for guidance in this situation and he returned their look with a ‘why me’ one in return. Ally gestured to the distressed unicorn while Jerry shrugged helplessly. Tom, per usual, acted like he was too cool to be a part of this situation. The Bastard. Clawson sighed and rubbed his face, all he wanted was some food and different dinner guest then the idiots he has been forced to share a ship with for months on end. Well, Sombra was different, carful what you wish for. “Sombra. I’ll drop that entire conversation and start over if you just tell me one thing, and be honest about it: Are you ok? Like, are you relatively safe and can deal with the situation you’re in? if not, my duty of care may involve me insisting you find resources that can help you through this. I want to do that now but I’ll respect whatever privacy you need. We’re just strangers but I can’t watch someone spiral.”

This was the fourth time Sombra had been shocked by someone’s kindness. It made him wonder why he was so distrustful when he was shown over and over again how everyone he met was like this. Sombra tried to come up with a response for such a thoughtful question. In the grand scheme of things, he was not ok. He had suffered a severe accident and had received no medical treatment. He hadn’t even tried to find out about his past because he didn’t think he would like what he found. Not to mention he was broke at a dead-end job. He didn’t want to burden complete strangers with that.

However, Clawson’s question did get him thinking about his situation more critically. He needed a plan, a real plan, with goals and steps and resources. For now, Sombra smiled at them all with legitimate hope in his eyes. “Not yet Clawson. But I know I will be.”

Chapter 5
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A Shadow of Your Former Self

Chapter 5

Sombra had left a message at the hotels front desk for Cherry Jubilee since he hadn’t seen or heard from her since she disappeared yesterday evening. It basically said that If she got back and needed him or wanted to meet him and his new acquaintance for breakfast, to meet him at the Checkered Stirrup. This time he had scoped out the location before hoof and left an actual map along with his note. He found out the hard way that the front desk pony was no artist.

He hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before but he felt too excited to care. He had spent most of the night wandering the city taking notes and drawing up plans. He had a general idea where most things were and, thanks to some local late-night bulletin boards, knew where and how much his apartment would be. Better news, he found some job adds posted. He had a general resume written but if he could use the type writer at the ranch it would leave a better impression. Luckily the jobs posted allowed for submissions by mail or he would be in serious trouble. He decided to hold off on telling Cherry he was looking for work and only asking her to be a reference if he got a serious inquiry. Honestly, from her perspective, it was a terrible time to lose a trained employee with the expansion. So, he was going to write a simple training book for any new replacements and stay on top of his work in the meantime. Hopefully this would be enough to lessen the blow and she would give him a good reference.

Sombra arrived at the Checkered Stirrup just after it opened and got a booth right next to the door so he could wave his guests over. The extra time and solitude was ideal to work on his notes so they were less of a convoluted mess. Maybe he should index them by location instead of by topic and price? That way he could see where everything physically was.

He stopped his writing and smiled to himself. He really liked researching and organizing hah? That may be the first thing he discovered about himself that wasn’t negative. Maybe he should apply to a library? If he did, he would have to convince Cherry to give him more experience in that area to put on a resume. Shouldn’t be too hard with the business starting a new supply chain and all-

“Pardon me but are you Sombra?”

Sombra looked up and found a turquoise stallion with a white mane looking directly at him. He had no idea who this was. Sombra searched his memory with a fine-toothed comb trying to place him when he spotted a familiar light-yellow stallion not too far behind. “Oh! You must be Ledger Cross’s husband; It’s nice to meet you.”

The turquoise stallion stuck out his hoof to shake Sombra’s, “Likewise.”

Ledger kissed his husband in greeting and slid into the booth to sit across from Sombra, “This is the love of my life Skyfall; note the irony of him being an earth pony.” Skyfall ‘accidentally’ jammed his elbow into Ledgers side as he scooted into the booth right next to him.

“So, I hear my husband saved your life and by ‘hear’ I mean incessantly recounted with each version being more dramatic then the last.”

“I’m just trying to impress you.” Ledger teased as he waved his napkin directly in Skyfall’s face, Skyfall responding with a mock irritated look. Sombra was both entertained and mildly uncomfortable. It felt like he was intruding on a private moment.

“He did, I would have been killed or seriously injured had he not pulled me out of the road.”

“So, no burning orphans then?” Skyfall sassed as Ledger childishly stuck his tongue out at him.

“Be quiet, we’re getting a free omelet out of it.”

Skyfall rolled his eyes, “Is a life worth so little?”

“Mine is.” Sombra vouched.

Ledger stuck a fork at Sombra’s snout and angrily mouthed the word ‘NO’ to admonish his self-deprecation. It was not very effective. Sombra turned to Skyfall, “He seems livelier than yesterday.”

“He hasn’t had his coffee yet I’m afraid. Nor has he had to interact with Babs today.” Ledger groaned dramatically and slammed his forehead on the table.

“Why must you taint this sacred meeting with such sacrilegious words?”

“Oh hush, she’s only a foal.”

“If this is a religious meeting, can I be Luna? I’m already darkly colored,” Sombra asked.

Ledger perked right up and stuck his hoof in the air like a filly at school, “Dibs on Celestia!”

“What? No, that leaves me with Cadence,” Skyfall protested with genuine offence.

“What’s wrong with Cadence?”

“She sucks! She’s not princess of anything important. ‘Princess of love’ my flank. If you ask me you should only get to be a princess if you get to control something that matters.”

Sombra was smiling so much his cheeks hurt. He had never done this before! This felt like… play but the adult accepted sort of play where you didn’t move toys around like a schizophrenic. He took a moment to jot down the name ‘Cadence’ to look up later. He had learned about Celestia and Luna through osmosis by being around so many ponies who knew about them but a princess of love was news to him. What did that even mean? Did she sleep around a lot?

“What you got there Sombra?” Skyfall asked as Ledger did some sort of complicated summoning ritual with the waitress at the bar. Apparently, they knew each other because they were both waving their arms at each other from across the room like the inflatable tube men outside of stores; waiting to see who would cave first and officially begin the process of ordering.

“Nothing just some notes. I want to move here so I’ve been looking into what it would take.” Sombra pushed his notebook towards Skyfall to see. The turquoise stallion pointed at one of the apartments addresses and shook his head.

“Don’t move there. The rent says it’s cheap but that’s only when you first move in. They get you in a contract and raise the prices by 70%. My firm has gone after them once or twice but it’s technically all still legal.” Skyfall thought a moment then gestured to Sombra’s pen which he handed over. Skyfall wrote a name and contact information on the page then passed it back to Sombra. “So long as you can pass a background check you can call this agency. They mainly work with students but you look pretty young…” Skyfall looked at Sombra to confirm his age; Sombra shrugged and nodded. He didn’t know how old he was but if he looked young then he was young. “Are you a few years out of school? Like 2 or 3?”

Why did everypony want to know about his history? Couldn’t he just exist?

“I, um, want to get back into a trade school?...” Skyfall nodded and Sombra had to physically stop himself from sighing in relief.

“That should work. As long as you get accepted within a reasonable amount of time, you can live here with a roommate or two. What trade are you trying to get into?”

Crap. Sombra’s eyes darted around as he looked for something that can be done at a trade school. For some reason, his eyes landed on a pair of dangly crystal earrings, they reminded him of the chandeliers at the crystal palace he woke up in- “Crystal chandeliers…” Skyfall tilted his head so his ear was closer to Sombra.

“Sorry, what was that?”

FUCK!!!

“I said I want to make crystal chandeliers…?”

“Really!?” Ledger had tuned back into the conversation at exactly the wrong time. “I love crystal chandeliers! They fell out of style once the pegasi work safety movement became more popular but I just love them! You can only get antiques and they are incredibly expensive. I fully support you and want to be your first customer… But I still want a discount since, you know, I saved your life and all.”

“Who saved whose life now?” The much darker yellow waitress asked as she finally made it over to the table to take their order. Sombra hadn’t seen who won the arms waving contest, being preoccupied with forming a life’s ambition out of the blue and all. All he wanted was to move into a safer place to live where he wouldn’t be noticed and spend the rest of his life pretending that his (possible) war crimes never happened. Now he’s a college applicant with a business plan… go figure.

“Meringue, didn’t you go to trade school to be a chief? Were there other tracts there?”

‘Meringue’ rubbed her hoof on her chin in thought. “Not my school but there is one that focuses on crafts and construction near the new public library called… Rockhoof – something, I think? Why? And who almost died?”

Skyfall nudged Ledger in the side, “Tell her about the burning orphans and the Truckstop.”

So, Ledger re-accounted his heroic tale of heroism and bravery that incurred a debt that could only be repaid through omelets, coffee, and interior decorating. Meanwhile Sombra listened politely while scribbling down his new life plan and only interrupted at the end of Ledgers tale to tell Meringue the actual story. Cherry never did show up but her absence wasn’t missed as Sombra enjoyed his moderate breakfast with his new friends.

Sombra left on the train that evening with a rather Love-struck Jubilee staring longingly at Manehattan’s shrinking skyline, six empty crates of cherries, and an increasingly color-coded and well indexed journal.

Chapter 6
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A Shadow of Your Former Self

Chapter 6

3 Months Later

“So, you’re leaving us huh?” Cartwheel summed up as he watched the sunset with Sombra.

“Well obviously, I have to get as far away from you as possible.” Cartwheel took a sip of his coffee and nodded in acknowledgement of Sombra’s joke. Apparently, the old man wanted to be serious.

“I’m just wondering if you’ll ever find a place you want to settle down in. You seem like the wondering type.”

Sombra hummed in agreement, “Means I’ll be taking the train a lot.”

“Huh.” Cartwheel looked out over the field; it’s deceptively inviting if you don’t know about the mud. “I’ll be retiring in a few days. Watching a pony almost drown in the swamp was the highlight of my career. Best quit while you’re ahead I always say.”

“You don’t say that ever. I’ve listened to you ramble for hours so I would know… You might as well give me your address so I can write.” Sombra took a bite of his sandwich so he would look less sincere, it didn’t work.

“Oh, all right. Wait here, I have a package with my address on it.” Sombra took the old fool’s coffee thumris as he stood up. He might as well take a swig while the old train pony was distracted. Daisy Chain, Cartwheels wife, could brew like the best of them and this may be his last chance to have a drink. “I saw that you rotten thief!” Sombra had the decency to choke at being caught and smiled sheepishly as a very hard box left a permanent indent in his nose.

“What the fuck, you could have broken my nose!” Cartwheel didn’t look the least bit sorry as he took his thermos back since Sombra was distracted and blinded by unshed pain tears.

“I told you I don’t like cryers now pipe down and open your gift.”

Sombra was still pissed and in pain but the word ‘gift’ stopped him from committing murder or at least arson. The projectile was a brown box with the old bastard’s address on it in the ‘from’ section and it was addressed to… ‘Mud,’ Cartwheels demeaning nickname for him.

“Geeh, how thoughtful.” But Sombra opened the box anyway, his old crown lay inside, he looked back at Cartwheel in shock, “How?”

Cartwheel looked mighty pleased over Sombra’s reaction. “I saw it at the pawn shop and thought it’d be a shame if you lost the only thing you ever owned. It was also marked down because it’s gaudy and nopony wanted it. Well… except this one orange earth pony with a cowboy hat, she wanted it. Fortunately, she didn’t have the bits; I like you kid but you’re not worth getting in a bidding war over.”

Despite the multiple jabs to Sombra’s ego during the story (and the face trauma) he was genuinely touched. As far as he knew, nopony had ever done anything this thoughtful for him before. He didn’t know what to say.

Cartwheel held up his hoof to stop Sombra from trying to thank him, he seemed to know how much this meant to him. The train whistle announced its approached, the two friends stood up and gave each other one last hug.

Then Cartwheel pushed Sombra off the platform and into the swamp.

Chapter 7
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A Shadow of Your Former Self

Chapter 7

11 Months Later

“Why do you wear that crown when you study?”

“Does it affect you? No? Then get off my back.”

Rocky Roll blew air out her snout in irritation, Sombra elected to ignore her. He studied so hard to get into this school, felt so proud to get in, turns out they let anypony in who can pay the tuition. All his hard work to get a good S.E.A.C. score; just a waste of time.

At least the school had enough spare materials around for him to experiment with false horn coverings. It took a lot of adjusting but he eventually found a mettle which allowed his magic to seep through uninhibited. He also made some makeshift armor to cover his flanks. His regular look now consisted of an almost regular looking horn, his mane in a half bun, a button up shirt, a vest, and his flank armor. He thought he looked pretty good but most of his friends said he either looked like a wannabe knight or like he was trying too hard.

Jokes on them. He was always trying too hard.

Focus. If the crystals were free floating around a center ‘point’ and they returned to that point after being disturbed by a pegasi then that should eliminate the entanglement issue everypony was so worried about. It would also allow for more complex designs. The problem was how to do that. The technology to permanently enchant artifacts has been lost for thousands of years. You could enchant an item but it either faded over time or stopped when the unicorn who enchanted it died. There were lots of theories on the nature of unicorn’s connection to magic, was it an extension of the self or an expulsion of energy? There weren’t any concreate studies with conclusive results but there were plenty of spiritual theories that were as credible as THIS FUCKING SCHOOL to be honest.

Sombra took a swig of coffee. Why was he doing this? To follow through on a throwaway lie he fed his friends just for the sake of keeping it up? It got him a place to stay and a decent job at the library in the city he wanted to move to but was it worth it? He needed a break. Rocky Roll glared at him for daring to move from his desk; probably because he was disturbing her romance novel reading. He glared back at her as he grabbed his coat with his magic and opened the door to leave. Their dorm was in the basement next to the stairs which were a straight shot to the roof, it was a nice place to think if the smokers weren’t there.

The smokers were there.

Sombra slammed the roof door shut and debated the merits of wandering the streets at 1am. But if he went back, he would have to see his roommate and the stack of dishes she refused to clean because it was ‘his turn’… for three fucking weeks in a row. The chore calendar was right there Rocky!

Sombra’s magic made the choice for him as it lashed out at the first floor ‘exit’ door hard enough to leave cracks in the cement wall. Several ponies lounging on their balconies cussed him out for making such a loud noise, he made a rude gesture at their general direction and moved on.

He wanted to be at the library but he doubted showing up to do late night work would go over well with security. He decided to walk over there anyway, he could at least sit on the bench in the nature garden out front without getting into trouble.

He really did love his job now. The smell of old books, the organizing, being able to read and do homework when things were slow, even his boss was a great conversationalist. She used to work at the Canterlot Achieves and knew a lot about a wide variety of topics. She was curious about the color of his magic field, said it looked a lot like dark magic which is what got them talking in the first place. They spoke for a bit and it turned out that was exactly what he was using, apparently, most magic acted as a natural extension of your body and had nothing to do with emotion. Sombra couldn’t even imagine magic working that way; they had spent a good amount of time together experimenting with Sombra trying desperately to turn off his emotions and make his magic field a purely physical extension but it was met with little success. And the times he did manage to do it; it just gave him a headache. She was surprised, most ponies experienced it the opposite way, with dark magic causing physical pain and unicorn magic feeling natural.

He was also surprised to learn how taboo dark magic was, it was all he could use, why was it bad? According to her, since it was fueled by emotion, it was more unstable and harder to control. Some even claimed it had a mind of its own. Most who used it went mad.

Sombra didn’t feel that way. He had been using it with no problem for almost two years now, he didn’t think he was crazy. After thinking about it for a while, he came to the conclusion that dark magic was a more… primal magic. It wasn’t a tool it was who you are. His magic didn’t have a ‘mind of its own.’ If he hadn’t thought of it then he couldn’t do it. It was limited by his imagination where as normal unicorn magic was limited by what you had trained in. He had done several things in class like teleport and levitate very heavy objects and only realized they were advanced techniques after everypony reacted like he had done the impossible.

He was grateful that the first pony who discovered he was using dark magic was her. Somepony educated and open minded who got to know him before jumping to conclusions. He was also grateful he wasn’t fired over it.

He looked into the glass windows at the front entranceway of the library and regarded his reflection. He was immediately embarrassed to discover he had never taken off his crown so he removed it and tried to shove it in his coat pocket. Too big. He thought about what he had been theorizing with dark magic and focused on the crown, it shrank just enough to fit in his pocket.

Was that an advanced spell? Fuck if he knew. He was just glad it worked and he hoped he could reverse it later at home. He wore the crown when he needed a bit of confidence but he never left the house with it on. He already had enough fear about being recognized by somepony from his past without it thank-you-very-much.

He sat down on the bench adjacent to the entrance and just looked at the inside of the building. He wasn’t thinking about much, just tracing the lines of the counter and fantasized about making a book fort next to the fireplace. Read about artifacts and magic theory until the sun came up. He liked the picture next to the printer behind the front desk, it was a young mare who had become some kind of legend because she never returned a book late a day in her life. He thought she was cute and had a kind smile. He never wanted to meet her but her picture was nice.

He leaned his head back on the bench to look up at the night sky. The only thing he missed about working for Cherry Jubilee was being able to see the stars at night, now all he had was the moon. His breath made puffs of smoke in the air as he breathed, he pretended to be a dragon for a bit.

The bell tower chimed in the distance, 2am, might as well go to bed. He hopped off the bench and decided to walk in the light snow on the grass rather than the clean sidewalk so he could make hoof prints. As he walked, he came upon a rock with more snow on it then anywhere else, just begging to be doodled on. He decided to go with a simple face shape and raised his hoof to draw it-

“HOLY FUCK!”

Sombra leapt back like he could dislodge his feet but the monstrous things remained attached. They were claws, dragon claws, as grey and black as the rest of him. He ran back to the shiny glass of the library window and examined the rest of himself. A black and grey dragon stared back at him with glowing green eyes that smoked purple at the edges. “What the ever loving-“

He looked around the deserted streets and tried to shove his body into some nearby bushes. Surprisingly, his scales prevented him from feeling the unpleasant prickling of the branches as he settled as far back into the shrubbery as he possibly could. It was not a good hiding spot; he was not a small pony by anyponies standards and that seemed to translate into his dragon body. He was broad chested, winged, with a long neck and two red horns which angled forward like a bulls.

Ok, ok, ok, you’re ok, you’re not hurt, nopony saw. Why am I a dragon? Magic, dark magic, it acted on my emotions. Perhaps when I’m calm and not thinking anything in particular I can activate it with passing thoughts? Then why didn’t I get transported into the library with a book fort instead?! This is so much more complex!

Sombra looked at his claws then felt his new horns. Can I use magic without a unicorn horn? I don’t think dragons can use magic. He placed his ‘hand’ over his chest and focused on his breathing. In, out, in, out, in… 1,2,3,4…out…Can I breathe fire? No, he should focus on turning back…

Sombra poked his head out of his hiding spot, nopony was around and there was a designated area around back that had a fire pit for ‘bedtime story community events.’ Sombra did one final check before booking it behind the decretive mural wall a few feet away. He flattened himself against the bricks, looking around to see if anypony saw, all clear. The last obstacle was the gate which closed off the back garden of the library, ordinarily he wouldn’t be able to make it but with his added height…

Sombra flexed his new wings; best to test out new body parts one at a time.

One final look around before he made a run for the wall and leapt over it; gracelessly landing dead center, desperately clutching the top of the barrier, barely hanging on by his claws.

New life goal: go the gym on a regular basis.

He lugged the rest of his new bulky body over the wall and landed with a graceless ‘kathunk’ on the other side. He was no longer excited to find out if he could breathe fire, now he just wanted to get this chore over with out of spite.

Sombra made his way over to the fire pit in the center of the outdoor stone bleacher circle. Here he was pretty sure he wouldn’t cause any property damage if he messed up, not much to burn. Sombra took a big breath in and breathed out in a pathetic breathy imitation of a roar, like a pony imitating a dragon but not an actual dragon. No fire came out but his breath did have the same smoky effect everypony else’s breath did in the cold.

Sombra was disappointed, did he not have the right biology? Just the appearance? Sombra once again reminded himself about the function and purpose of dark magic, if he imagined he could do it, it should happen. He took another deep breath in and imagined what it would feel like to actually breathe fire. He imagined something like acid reflux, a burning that began in your stomach and traveled up your throat like vomit. Not a pleasant thought but he did begin to feel something. A bubbly sensation formed in his stomach, it gathered and grew until he couldn’t keep it in any longer. It traveled up his throat and began to feel more like a belch then the beginnings of a majestic display of fire and power. He aimed for the fire pit in front of him and let it out. Black whisping flames with purple centers at their hottest points engulfed the fire pit in heat and smoke.

He was doing it! He could breathe fire! This was the best use of magic he had ever done! I am SOMBRA! Destroyer of villages! Master of the skies! I will rain fire and death on- woho.

The flames responded to Sombra’s internal play monologue and turned up the fire’s intensity.

‘No, no, no stop it! I was joking! Stop, stop, stop!’

Sombra closed his mouth but the fire only built up inside until he physically couldn’t keep it in any longer and had to let go. All he could do was mitigate the damage by only focusing on the firepit as it began to melt away.

‘I am so fired! The only thing besides my friends I actually like in this city and I ruined it! What is wrong with me? Now all I have is school and I can’t go like this. I would probably burn my homework on the way-‘

…He hadn’t finished his math homework before he came here. It was due at 8am. 26 problems front and back. How could he have forgotten?

As the shock settled into Sombra’s mind the flames slowly died down until it was only Sombra standing there with his mouth hanging open. He didn’t even bother to close it as he looked down at the bubbling remains of the firepit, then back up at the horrified night watch pony standing there mouth agape. Staring at the fire breathing dragon destroying public property.

The guard never took his eyes off of the transformed Sombra as he moved his shoulder radio towards his mouth to call for backup. But before he could utter a single syllable, the beast was gone. Up and over the fence to disappear into the night. The police looked high and low that night but they only managed to find a tired looking trade school pony on his way back from the gas station with a calculator and an ungodly amount of coffee. They warned the young cold about the threat spotted in the area and he thanked the officers kindly. He would be sure to keep a lookout.

The only clue they managed to find was a coat near the front entrance of the library with a crown in the pocket. A senior officer at the station recognized it as an item of interest.

Apparently, the Princess of Friendship herself and the Elements of Harmony had been looking for it for some time.

Chapter 8
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A Shadow of Your Former Self

Chapter 8

Sombra yanked open his bedroom door, though he didn’t know why he bothered, he just had to wait another two minutes and the vibrations from Rocky Rolls base would swing it back open again.

“Will you turn that down!”

Rocky flicked her tail at him in a deliberate fast motion, flipped him off, and continued to shake her mane along with the beat, “Fuck off, I’m doing homework!”

Sombra marched over to unplug her speakers, “So am I!” Rocky knew what he was going to do and leapt up to stop him. They met halfway in a shoving match in the center of the room, grunting back and forth. Sombra was physically stronger and was gaining ground, pushing Rocky closer to the speakers but she fought dirty and kicked him in the shins. Sombra yelped but refused to go down without taking her with him, he pinned her to the floor, Rocky reared her head up and bit him on the ear, hard.

“Owh!” Sombra let her go and backed up, his ear felt wet, he used his hoof to wipe off her spit but came away with blood. More drops followed in a steady drip. “You fucking bit me!” Sombra left her to inspect his ear in the bathroom mirror, his entire ear and right cheek was covered in blood. He tried to find something even remotely clean to wide it away and inspect the damage, all he could find was toilet paper so he grabbed a wad of it and wetted it down in the sink. He carefully wiped his ear down just enough to discover an almost perfectly circular hole straight through before it filled up with more blood and obscured the injury. “You bit a hole in my ear! What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Sombra clamped down hard on the injury to stop the flow, did they even have a first aid kit? Who could even tell with all the fucking shampoo bottles in the way! Sombra smacked every bottle, comb, hairbrush, and curling iron off the sink counter out of frustration.

Rocky Roll hovered in the bathroom doorway nervously shifting her weight from hoof to hoof. Sombra glared at her, not really sure what to do, he used his magic to keep the pressure on his ear and shoved past her to his room. Rocky followed at a safe distance as Sombra yanked out his suitcase and began to toss his stuff inside without any care for what it was or how it was packed. “Where are you going?” Sombra decided he could come back for the rest later.

“To the DA’s office. Stay there for the night and find a new roommate in the morning.” He picked up his suitcase and moved to shove past her again but Rocky blocked his way.

“No, you can’t go!”

“I am bleeding from my ear; I have every right to go!” Sombra lit up his horn in warning but Rocky stood her ground with her arms outstretched, blocking the exit to his room.

“I can’t lose another roommate over a citation! They’ll kick me out of school!”

“Not my problem.” Sombra used his magic to levitate her off the floor and onto the bed. He made it out the door and half way through the living room before she shot past him to block the main entrance.

“If you tell the DA on me, I’ll tell them about what you keep in the fridge.”

“They would have to get over the trauma of three-week-old Chinese food first. What do I keep in the fridge that you think they care about?”

Rocky folded her arms in an attempt to look as smug as possible. “The meat. Do you think they care about a little blood after I tell them you are an actual cannibal?”

“First of all, I don’t think you know what that word means. You would be the cannibal because you are the one who bit off an actual chunk on my flesh! The meat I keep in the fridge is chicken and fish, as far from quadruped as I could get. I need to eat it because I need the protein for my magic, it takes a lot more energy then normal unicorn magic and if I don’t eat it I feel terrible.”

“And that’s another thing,” Rocky taunted as she began to circle like a shark (they had a lot in common). “You use dark magic, all the time as a matter of fact. You may fancy yourself as some edgy dark king, what with the crown and the filed teeth, and I have been gracious enough to write you off as some lame goth but the administration…” Rocky stopped her circle right in front of his face and leaned in real close. “You’ll be lucky if they don’t send you to jail.”

Sombra matched her stare with one of his own, he knew his very existence was shady and suspect, Sombra smirked, so he had been preparing to be confronted like this. Luckily, he had the actual books on hoof to boot. He levitated three books from the living room shelf without having to look and floated them with the marked pages open right in front of Rocky’s face. “Equestrian law volume two subsection 647, Equestria vs Night Wind. Though dark magic is not looked upon favorably, as long as the user does not violate the law, dark magic itself is not illegal to use. It’s a tool, not a definitive crime.” Sombra floated the next book in front of Rocky for her to read for herself. “Equestria trade legislation and food safety, chapter 7 page 250. Meat is served in specialty shops and restaurants under strict food safety regulations but is legal to raise, slaughter, cook, sell, and serve in Equestria. So long as I don’t make it for somepony else, I don’t need a commerce license.” Sombra floated the last book over, Equestrian history. “Sheep, pigs, chicken, and fish have been raised and slaughtered for export since 800 B.C.L.”

Sombra looked at Rocky incredibly smug as he floated the books onto his back. He definitely needed to take these tonight, they weren’t the only copies in Equestria but it was a pain to find the reference pages and if she got it in her head to ‘burn his evidence’ then they needed to come with him. He made to float her away from the door again when she began to cry.

Sombra just looked at her suspended in his dark magic field with her eyes all large, watery, and pathetic. “Am I supposed to pity you? Because I’m still bleeding on the carpet and have a minimal amount of sympathy on a good day.” Rocky began to wail louder, Sombra rolled his eyes and set her down behind him. He wasn’t going to leave right away but he was going to be the one closest to the door. Rocky sat sniffing and crying into her hooves on the dingy carpet, after a bit, she calmed down enough to try to defend herself through her tears.

“You- you don’t know what it’s like for- for me. You- ou never even bothered to ask! My par-ents would be devastated if I got kicked out of another school. My-my talent is rock music but I could ne-never get a gig, no matter how hard I tried. My parents are forcing me to get a ‘real job’ but this-is what I’m meant to do. And I’m terrible at it!” Rocky started up a new round of tears and collapsed on the ground.

Her speech hadn’t moved Sombra an inch. She was messy, rude, selfish, and hadn’t even bothered to try to get to know him since he moved in. He wasn’t going to waste his time with somepony who could hurt somepony else physically and only feel bad for herself afterwards. He wasn’t a saint.

Sombra walked out the door without a second thought.

Chapter 9
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A Shadow of Your Former Self

Chapter 9

Sombra pushed the cart of new returns down to the history section where most of them belonged, having the decency to wince at the melted fire pit covered in crime scene tape he could see out the window. It was the first time he has seen it in broad daylight. He had spent the beginning of his shift listening to the new safety spiel with the rest of the staff. A dragon had been spotted on the grounds during the weekend when the library was closed and melted it. But that wasn’t all, a task force of ‘very important ponies’ wanted to interview the staff and they were all to remain available for it. Sombra fiddled with his horn covering, he wore it all day every day except to shower and sleep but he was always worried somepony would notice.

He found the section he needed and began to put the books away but stopped the second he spotted a set of familiar buildings. The book he currently held in his levitation field had a picture for its cover of a bright city made of crystal, “History of the Crystal Empire by Sunburst.”

Sombra placed the book back on the cart, staring at it.

He had been avoiding this exact subject since he woke up in the throne room. It was his past, he should be curious, it should have been the first thing he did after fleeing the castle. He continued to look at the book, as if he had just seen it open wide to show gnashing teeth then close as if nothing had happened.

‘Coward. You’re a coward. Open and read the book. Do it. Do it.’

A familiar cream-colored mare walked right by him headed towards the front desk. “Hey Moon Dancer?” The mare stopped in her tracks and turned to him, Sombra held up the book and floated it over to her. “If you’re headed to the front desk; could you do me a favor and put this on hold for me?” Moon Dancer rolled her eyes, very put upon, but nodded and took the book anyway and continued on her way to clock in.

Now he had two-to-three weeks to tell himself to read the book but never actually do it until it was time to return it to the library. Brilliant. Sombra laid his head on the cart trying to collect his courage to move on with the day. He must have been there too long because Moon Dancer came up next to him with her own cart of archeology returns; the sections blead into each other. “You look like you were run over by a bus. And what happened to your ear?”

“Like you said, I was run over by a bus.” Sombra sassed with his face still full of books. He turned his head to look at the mare he was talking to, noticing for the first time that she didn’t look much better. “What happened to you? Did the bus get you too?”

Moon Dancer pushed up the glasses on her snout, “Yes, Somepony needs to really catch that thing.” Sombra smiled and got back to sorting, Moon Dancer pushed her cart closer to the end of the row where the archeology section started. Sombra had fewer returns then she did so it wasn’t long before he was close enough to justify a conversation.

“You remember Rocky Roll my roommate?” Moon Dancer nodded her head without fully taking her attention off her task.

“The messy one with loud music like some kind of sitcom cliché?”

“She almost bit my ear off and I had to sleep in the DA’s apartment for the night.” Moon Dancer gave him her entire attention.

“What did you do?”

“Why do you assume I did something?” Moon Dancer gave him a skeptical look, Sombra wanted to be mad but he understood by now that she needed at least three perspectives on any given event before she made a judgment call of any kind. “Her music was too loud for me to study, I yelled at her to turn it down, she refused, I went to go unplug her speakers and she blocked me. We wrestled on the floor and then she gave me a spontaneous piercing.” Sombra slammed the last book back on the shelf harder than strictly necessary, “Happy?”

“Ecstatic.” She deadpanned.

Sombra didn’t feel like ending the discussion so he took the liberty of grabbing some books from Moon Dancer’s cart and sorting them back himself. “Your turn. Why do you look half dead?”

Moon Dancer made a dismissive tick noise but allowed him to help her sort the section with her. “You know the ponies who are going to interview the staff today?”

“Not personally but as a general event on the calendar then yes.”

“I… Used to know one of them. Not very good memories. I also put in my resignation.”

Sombra dropped the books he was levitating like they burned, “What?! Why?” Moon Dancer shushed him for being too loud.

“Personal reasons. One of which is that I want to move back to Canterlot.”

“But-but, you can’t go. Why would you go? You are the manager of the floor staff and you have a spotless reputation. You’re a sure win for any promotion opportunities to come up if money is your concern. Everypony loves you and if you leave, they’ll hire Page Turner in your place.” Sombra grabbed the mare and shook her for emphasis, “PAGE TURNER.”

Moon Dancer shoved him off her and smoothed out the wrinkles in her sweater. “I understand your concerns but I honestly think this is the best opportunity for me. And, I’m pretty sure that by ‘everypony loves you’ you mean just you. I’m not very well liked among the staff.”

“Screw em!” Sombra yelled, this time loud enough that multiple ponies shushed him. Sombra was irritated but lowered his voice. “Don’t leave me alone with these idiots.”

Moon Dancer just smiled and took the now empty cart back to the front desk, Sombra followed like a lost puppy. “We can have dinner my last night in town. And you can write me if you want some intelligent conversation. But I’m afraid my mind is made up and I really want to get out of here before the interrogators arrive. I just came by this morning to talk to HR and needed something to keep me busy until they opened.” She deposited the cart back where it belonged, Sombra stood directly behind her looking miserable. The one pony he loved working with was leaving for good, his life was just a rotating door of guest stars wasn’t it? Nopony ever seemed to stick around.

Moon Dancer patted him on the shoulder, “You’ll be ok, Page Turner isn’t so bad. At the very least he’s negligent so you could probably get all your homework done on shift.”

Moon Dancer seemed to think of something and took out a box from under the counter where all the extra event brochures were kept. She pulled one out and handed it to Sombra, “I’m sure you would have seen this on your own but there is a traveling exhibit of magic artifacts coming to town. You might learn something about perpetual magical energy.” Sombra looked over the lame consolation prize for loosing his favorite boss. He would go but it would have been much more fun and productive to go with her. His disappointment shown all over his face but she only gave him a look of mild sympathy. “I have to talk to HR now. Why don’t we have dinner at our usual lunch spot on the 14th? About 6?” Her expression suddenly shifted to a darker one of hidden trauma. “Don’t be late or forget.”

Sombra knew being late to an appointment was a touchy subject he never felt like he had the right to poke at. “I won’t.”

Moon Dancer smiled and walked past him to the stairs. “6pm, the 14th, write it down.” She looked back at him with a frown, “I said write it down.” Sombra lifted his hooves up in surrender and made a show of grabbing a pen and scribbling on the back of the brochure. She seemed satisfied enough and continued up the steps. Sombra sighed and slipped the brochure in his shirt. Could today get any worse?

“Excuse me, we have an appointment with Grassy Glaze today at 10am. Is she around by chance?” Sombra took a moment to put on his customer service face and turned to help the guest.

His smile didn’t faulter but his pupils shrank in both recognition and panic. Before him stood an alicorn and that would be enough for most ponies to panic but that wasn’t what his eyes were focused on.

Behind her flew a blue pegasi with a rainbow mane.

The same mare who tried to kill him.

Sombra was frozen, a cold sweat began to seep through his fur. She didn’t seem to recognize him, looking around with disinterest at the rest of the library. The purple alicorn smiled awkwardly and coughed to clear her throat. “Is something the matter?”

“N-no I’m very sorry but she’s in her office. Feel free to wait in the sitting area while I go get her. Any-Anything to drink while you wait?” He doesn’t know why he said that. They don’t have drinks for guests.

“Oh, how thoughtful. I would love a water actually. Rainbow Dash?” The pegasi rubbed her chin in thought.

“Uh, got any soda?”

Page Turner actually had a large supply of rainbow crush soda nopony was allowed to touch. “Is rainbow crush ok?”

“Awesome, with ice.”

“Of course.”

Sombra walked as calmly as he could to the door behind the counter where the breakroom was, smile firmly in place. As soon as the door was closed he panicked, running the rest of the way to get their drinks as fast as he could. Luckily only Sunlight Cast was in there, if it had been Page Turner he would have had to fight for the soda. He grabbed the only two matching cups in the entire breakroom cupboard and filled them with ice, he held one under the nozzle in the sink while levitating the soda out of the fridge.

“Sombra, what’s going on?”

“I offered the inspectors drinks because I don’t handle stress well.” He floated the drinks over to her which she caught in her own magic field just in time. “Could you deliver these while I get Mrs. Glaze please, please, please?”

“Um, ok, what do they look like?”

Sombra took care to stand in the center of the room where he couldn’t teleport anything along with himself accidentally. “One of them’s an alicorn.”

“Oh, ok. Wait, WHAT!?” But Sombra was gone.

Chapter 10
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A Shadow of Your Former Self

Chapter 10

“Thank you for your cooperation Mrs. Glaze. This is the first lead we have had in a long time and any information helps.”

“Not at all Princess Twilight Sparkle. Our entire staff is ready and willing to answer any questions you have but I’m afraid the attack happened after closing. All of our staff were home by then.” Twilight waved her hoof dismissively.

“I doubt this is the first time King Sombra has been here. You don’t just show up and destroy one fire pit for no reason. Especially not him. Was there anything significant about that part of the library in particular?”

Grassy Glaze tapped her chin, “Not that I know of. I would understand if this library was on or was an ancient ruin but it’s only 10 years old. Nothing here I know of a 1,000-year-old dictator would want.”

Twilight sighed; Dash pulled her further away to have a more private conversation. “This is so dumb. Why here?”

“I don’t know.” Twilight pulled the crown out of her bag, still shrunk down to its pocket size like it was discovered. “Applejack said she saw the crown at a pawn shop in Dodge Junction and now it’s here. What’s the connection?”

“Maybe the pony who bought it just lives here?” Twilight shook her head and held the crown up.

“It was regular size when Applejack saw it at the pawn shop. The train station pony said he gave it to his godson as a gift but that he didn’t like it and got rid of it right away.”

Dash rolled her eyes, “What a brat, I sure wish we could have caught up with him if only to pound him for being such a jerk.”

“I do too. But look at this crown, there’s a residual dark magic aura on it. King Sombra is the only pony who could have shrunken it down. And that fire pit was definitely destroyed by dark magic. Plus, the guard pony said it was a black and grey dragon with red horns.”

“So?”

“You’ve been through a transformation spell before; your species changes but your appearance doesn’t. That was definitely King Sombra who destroyed the fire pit. I just can’t figure out why. And now that we know he’s kept himself hidden by transforming, he could be anywhere as anything!”

Dash put a hoof on her friends’ shoulder, “Twilight, calm down, you are way smarter than this King Sombra guy and if we can’t find anything here. I’m sure Spike, Fluttershy, and Rarity will find something in the dragon lands. He hasn’t done anything yet and it’s been like, two years.”

“But that’s what worries me.” Twilight began to pace the room, “What does he want? What is he planning? Cadence and Shinning Armor have lived at the palace all this time and they still can’t find the crystal heart. He has to have it with him, where else could it be? Why the two most random places in Equestria? Why leave his crown? Is it just a red herring? What?!” Twilight was on the verge of pulling out her mane when Pinky Pie popped out of the seemingly empty space behind her back with a Sherclop Holmes hat and a bubble pipe.

“Sheesh, someponies Twilighting hard right now.”

“Pinky! Did you find any clues?”

“Nope. But I did find out that a pony quit today. Does that help?” Pinky blew more bubbles from her pipe as Twilight leapt up in excitement.

“Of course! King Sombra would have access to whatever he wanted if he worked here.”

“I can’t imagine that creep working for anypony.” Dash said as she popped some of Pinkies bubbles as they floated away.

“Did you find anything else out about the pony who quit?”

“Apparently that would break confidentiality buuut I did manage to get a peeky weeky at a corner of their file. Their reason for leaving was because they were moving to Canterlot.”

“Canterlot…” Twilights wings sagged down to the ground as the weight of realization fell on her. Rainbow Dash looked at her friend in concern.

“Twilight-“

“I have to warn the princesses! If it took two years of planning then whatever he’s going to do has to be big. I’ll have to teleport, can you two meet me there as soon as you can?”

“Okie dokie lokie. But what about the interviews?”

“Get whatever information you can. Gather them in a group and only interview the ponies who saw anything suspicious that night or recently. Also ask about the pony who quit. Tell me everything when you get to Canterlot.”

“Twilight, I think you might be jumping to conclu-“ Twilight disappeared in a flash of light, “…sions. Celestia damn it.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Sombra was going to vomit, he was in a lineup with all of his co-workers and he was going to vomit. The alicorn left a while ago but his attempted murderer and a Pink pony who was somehow more terrifying was bouncing joyously in place as the pegasi marched up and down the line like a drill instructor. She would occasionally stop to give a pony a once over but would move on just as fast. So far, he hadn’t been singled out but that could change at any moment.

“Alright listen up. One of you knows something so you better spill,” Sombra was finally singled out as she suddenly jammed their muzzles together to look him dead in the eye, “or else.”

Sombra’s cold sweat became even more obvious but he nodded his understanding like everypony else. “Good.” The pegasi left his personal space so he could breathe again.

“First off, did anypony hear or see anything out of the ordinary before the fire pit was melted? Did anypony strange come in? Were there any cases of weird or strong magic being used? Was anypony hanging around the fire pit for no reason? Anything.”

They all looked at each other before Page Turner raised his hoof to answer. The pegasi pointed at him, “Yes, you.”

“I just wanted to point out that this is a public library in a major metropolis. Literally all those things happen every day.”

“Multiple times,” Sunlight Cast added.

The pegasi face hoofed, “Uhg. Have you seen anypony use dark magic? Or talk about it?”

Sombra was definitely going to vomit.

One of the other trade school ponies raised her hoof, the pegasi called on her. “Our floor manager talks about dark magic theory sometimes.”

“She talks about everything sometimes,” another pony added.

Page Turner nodded, “She was an odd duck. She quit this morning.” Some ponies gasped; it wasn’t widely known yet.

“Interesting.” The pegasi remarked while flying at a leisurely pace back and forth before rounding on Page Turner. “Wait, did you say ‘she’ as in a mare?”

Page Turner was startled but nodded, “Ye-yeah, why?” the pegasi seemed to consider this before flying back to her pink companion. They spoke in hushed tones for a bit before the pink one shrugged and shook her head like she didn’t know.

The pegasi sighed then turned back to the group. “Thank you for your time, we’ll call if we need you… Don’t leave town.”

Sombra might leave town.

The pegasi picked up the pink earth pony and flew her out the door. The earth pony seemed to enjoy it. The staff collectively sighed as Mrs. Glaze thanked everypony for their time and asked them to return to their regular duties. Sombra was about to make a B-line to the bathroom when Sunlight Cast caught his arm.

“Hey Sombra, Moon Dancer talked to you more than anypony. Why didn’t you say anything about her talking about dark magic?”

Sombra looked at her like she was nuts, “Because it was just talk. She didn’t use dark magic.”

Sunlight shrugged, “How would we know? Have you ever seen dark magic? I haven’t. I’ve only ever heard of really high-level unicorns using it in Celestia’s school. Didn’t she used to go there?”

Sombra was struggling with the realization of how blind everypony he worked with was as well as keeping his breakfast where it belonged. Was that really why nopony outed him as a dark magic user? They didn’t know? How! He never hid it. And why didn’t the inspectors call him out for his name! Did they not bother to look at the employee list?

“Sunlight, I really don’t think Moon Dancer did anything wrong but I really need to get to the rest room. I drank a lot because I didn’t think the interview would be that long.”

“Oh, sorry Sombra, go ahead.”

“Thanks!”

He made it just in time, he stood heaving over the bowel, hoping the tears pricking his eyes were from the acidic burns from his throat and not because he knew he was close to getting caught. He wiped his mouth and returned to the front desk; spotting the book Moon Dancer had placed on hold for him in the in the cupboard under the computer. He pulled it out and scanned it with his library card; his shift ended at 7 and the library closed at 9. That gave himself a few hours to find out why this was happening to him.

He just hoped he could handle it.

Chapter 11
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A Shadow of Your Former Self

Chapter 11

It was as comfortable as he could be under the circumstances. He reserved a private study room and got some tea to keep him alert, the book was here along with some note paper and he was still in the library so he could run and grab any reference material he may need.

Yep, the perfect place to learn about your war crimes.

Sombra gave himself one more moment of peace before he opened the book. He didn’t usually read the preface very closely in any book because it was usually just the author showing off. His eyes scanned over the pages until he spotted his name and stopped to read the full paragraph.

‘The reader should keep in mind that this is an incomplete work and several updated versions may follow due to developing information. During the reign of King Sombra, hundreds of records were destroyed to conceal several topics of information. We may never know the full story of the Crystal Empire…’

Sombra sighed and wrote down his first crime in his notes:

Cultural genocide: destroyed records of historical significance p 4 HCE Sunburst.

He skimmed the rest of the preface until he came to the first chapter. It talked about the history of the land before the Crystal Empire was built. It was a frozen wasteland rich in minerals. Grogar, the first emperor and father of monsters, gave life to shadows who evolved into the Umbrum. Though there is some debate among genealogists if they are somehow related to the wendigos due to their similar appearance, lack of physical form, and appreciation for the cold.

Sombra made a note to look up Grogar, the Umbrum, and Wendigos with reference to the original text he first saw them mentioned.

Ponies still tried to populate the area due to its abundance of minerals. They faced the most hardship from the Umbrum. The Umbrum didn’t have a complex social society, so they didn’t farm, instead they acted as scavengers. They would steal earth pony crops and any other supplies they needed. It wasn’t until a pony by the name of Amora found a powerful magic artifact called the crystal heart in the bones of an ancient dragon and brought it to her village did they have a fighting chance.

That was too vague. Sombra made a note of the story as clipped notes. A magical artifact found in the carcass of a dragon? That needed some looking into.

The crystal heart was a powerful magical artifact with the power to store energy and redistribute it for protection. Amora became the protector of the village which grew into a city and she became its princess. She reigned from 100 B.C.L to 27 A.C.L; her rule was brought to an end when King Sombra killed her for the crown…

Sombra picked up his pen:

Killed an ancient princess p 17 HCE Sunburst.

Chapter’s 2, 3, and 4 could mostly be skipped. They talked about how happy and peaceful the empire was as well as its traditions and commerce. There was one paragraph in chapter 3 that mention Princess Amor sealing the entire Umbrum race underground which Sombra found unfair. An entire race written off because you didn’t like them? Everyone punished without discrimination? Did they all die from starvation in their imprisonment? It didn’t seem right.

Chapter 5 began with his reign… He took the throne with sheer power alone. Once he killed the princess and stole the crystal heart, there were no weapons that could stop him. He… enslaved every colt, mare, and foal under his rule and forced them to mine in appalling conditions day and night. There was a death count…

Sombra braced himself and recorded the statistics. Due to the records being destroyed, they weren’t exact but…

57 died from exposure. 19 from illness. Suicides spiked and some of the bodies were never recovered but it’s estimated to be in the high 70’s. 30 guards died in combat…

One month? He only reigned for one month? That can’t be right!

Sombra re-read the page, it was one month to the day of his conquest that Princesses Celestia and Luna brought him down. In his rage, before he was killed, he banished the entire empire to the ether along with himself to heal and fight another day. The banishment caused memory loss for a majority of citizens but all of them seem to suffer from PTSD on some level.

Sombra set the book down. All that damage. All that death. In one month? And what he did… He put his head in his hooves. How. How could he do all of that? WHY would he do all of that? The King in this book, it didn’t seem like him. He couldn’t picture doing all of this. Any of this.

What should he do?

The right thing to do was turn himself in and be executed for his crimes. Give those worried about him coming back some peace of mind. But he didn’t want to die! He wanted to just live his life peacefully and alone. He bitched about things but he loved his life, he had a good job and great friends. He wanted to find a way to enchant crystals and create a perpetual magic source and if he couldn’t do that then he wanted to try inventing something else that helped ponies.

He thought about Rocky Roll.

He was just like her but a million times worse. He even inadvertently gotten Moon Dancer in trouble because he was such a coward. Coward. Coward. Coward. Hypocrite. Coward.

He swallowed the rest of his tea. Might as well get this over with.

It was hard reading about what happened during his reign, there were even interviews from his victims. He lost it when he read about a mother who smothered her foal because she couldn’t see a future for it. At one point one of his co-workers came to kick him out but allowed him to stay after hours if he locked up.

‘He might get in trouble for that, it’s a safety risk considering an evil dragon is on the loose.’

But he was grateful, and a coward, for not worrying about somepony else’s job. Selfish. Selfish. Selfish.

He was numb and exhausted and only two thirds away from finishing the book when he decided he needed to sleep. The DA would let him stay one more night.

But he just couldn’t do it.

He wondered out into the street; he knew where he had to go. The trains weren’t running this late but he was going to walk as far as he could until they opened.

He had to do this now, before he lost his nerve.

Chapter 12
View Online

A Shadow of Your Former Self

Chapter 12

It was a bright and cheerful morning in Canterlot. Guards walked the streets in glittering armor, the citizens dressed to the nines, smells of gourmet food and perfumes were everywhere you may trot. Steel Plate was currently enjoying his post out near the front entrance just pony watching and soaking up Celestia’s sun. His brother, Onyx Plate, claimed that working on Luna’s guard was far superior due to the lovely town lights and peaceful working conditions but Steel Plate would always disagree. He was so relaxed that he almost missed an odd pony coming through the gate. Steel Plate and his partner Ten Hut quickly lowered their spears in the new comers way, “Halt!”

Steel Plate’s eyes widened as he took in the stranger’s appearance, “Celestia have mercy.”

It was a tall stallion, his hooves were split and bleeding from walking, his ear was bandaged, and he looked like he hadn’t slept in a month. The stallion tried to speak but it was obvious he was too dehydrated. Steel Plate abandoned his post to get a canteen from the guard station, Ten Hut yelled at him to remain at attention but he just couldn’t do that. His oath was to serve and protect the princess and her citizens and this was the most in need pony he had ever seen. Ten Hut glared at him as he returned but he obviously didn’t need help keeping the odd pony there; it looked like a strong breeze could make him keel over. “Here, drink.”

The stallion nodded in thanks and guzzled down the entire canteen at once, choking near the end as the excess ran down his muzzle. Ten Hut jabbed the stranger in his side with the blunt end of his spear. “Can we get you anything else your majesty, huh? Would you like private green here to give you a massage?” The pony only responded to the insult by shaking his head ‘no.’

“I’m here to, to turn myself in.”

“Turn yourself in?” Steel Plate asked.

“I am King Sombra.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Twilight was pacing the floor of the throne room while Celestia, Luna, and Cadence watched from their respective thrones.

“This is definitely a trap.”

“The guards said he did not look so well. Perhaps he was just ill equipped to thrive on his own?” Luna theorized, looking to her older sister for her thoughts.

“The best way to find out what King Sombra wants is to ask. He was never shy about talking about himself.”

“I agree with aunt Celestia. If he is so weak, then he is no match against four alicorn princesses.”

“I still wish my friends were here. The elements of harmony would be ideal in this situation.”

“They may not be necessary, come Twilight, he is almost here.”

Twilight took her mentors advice and sat on her temporary throne. She had been agonizing, no, dreading this exact moment since she failed the test all those years ago. She had been building him up in her head, a master manipulator biding his time until he could strike. The incarnation of fear itself. Facing him would be her greatest challenge yet and she didn’t even have her friends to support her. The guards made ready to pull the doors open and reveal the monster for their own eyes; she glanced to the other princesses for moral support. They nodded their heads; they were all in this together. Twilight took a deep breath and prepared to face her fears head on.

Sombra was shackled, dizzy, filthy, and starved. He came into the room not as a King of nightmares but as a creature on the verge of collapse. His hooves and ear were bleeding and it was obvious nopony even bothered to correct or treat either. His head hung low; he couldn’t even stand before his executioners so he sat. His eyes glazed over, puffy and read from crying.

Twilight was…disappointed and quite frankly, mildly sickened. She turned to the nearest guard, “What happened to him?”

“He came to the gate like this your grace.”

“King Sombra.” Celestia’s voice cut through the room like a knife, she didn’t even flinch at his appearance. “You say you have come to turn yourself in for your crimes against Equestria. I find this suspect, given your history of scheming, in your own words; tell us your reasoning.”

Sombra’s eyes looked back up at her but it was clear he couldn’t keep the eye contact for long. Out of shame or fatigue, it was anyponies guess. “Why does everypony keep insisting I’m some tactical genius? I haven’t done a single intelligent thing in my life. Who takes over a kingdom? Only an idiot would want that job. You’re blamed for everything that goes wrong no matter what, not to mention constantly stressed and overworked. Nopony smart gets into politics.” Sombra eyes rolled up to meet each princesses faces one by one, they all looked some level of mildly offended. “That was a joke if you couldn’t tell.”

“Save whatever wit you think you possess,” Luna commanded. Sombra just shrugged.

“Fair enough I guess.”

“Enough of this!” Cadence stood with her wings spread, “What have you done with the Crystal Heart?”

Sombra shrugged, “Don’t know.”

“If you have any remorse in you left. Tell us were you have hidden it now!”

“I do have remorse and I really don’t know.” He tapped his hoof to his head, the bleeding started up again in its cracks, “Haven’t been able to remember a thing since I woke up in the castle. First memory I have is of being pile driven into the snow by a blue pegasi.”

“At least Rainbow Dash will be happy to know that.” Twilight muttered to herself under her breath. Celestia seemed to have heard her but kept her expression neutral.

“How do we know you are telling the truth?”

Sombra shrugged, “If you don’t believe me then that’s your problem. It doesn’t matter anyway. I’ll be put to death regardless.”

“And whom has said this?” Luna asked, Sombra glared at her from across the room. His tone was lurking, dangerous.

“I’ve read what I’ve done. There is no atonement.” His gaze shifted to Cadence, “You’re the new ruler of the Crystal Empire right? Don’t you want justice for your citizens? Wouldn’t they feel better after their slaver, conqueror, and murderer can never touch them again?”

Sombra stood up, his back strait, eyes forward. The air around him shifted from one of victim to one of King, it was the first and only time he held this much attention and respect. He looked at Cadence dead in the eye and made his demand:

“I will be executed publicly in front of the masses. Only then will your nation heal.”

Twilight gasped but Celestia and Luna held firm. Celestia stood from her throne, her tone just as commanding. “We have heard your demands but this is not a choice that can be easily made. We will deliberate on your fate but in the meantime, you will reside in the Canterlot dungeons.” Celestia only had to tilt her head for the guards to descend on Sombra, escorting him away.

Sombra went willingly without a fight and Twilights expectations were nearly completely shattered.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Twilight was tired, they had spent most of the rest of the day re-working the same talking points but nopony was really all that willing to make a choice yet. There hadn’t been an execution in Equestria since the time of the founders, what would it meant to break that precedent?

Sombra had requested her presence at his cell. Cadence and Luna both said she shouldn’t go but Celestia said she should do what felt right, so here she was. The guards would be standing with her the entire time and she was the element of magic, at the very least she could get away and warn the princesses. Sombra’s cell was in the deepest part of the castle, Twilight had never been down here before. It was damp and musky with no sunlight or moonshine. A pony could go mad down here.

Sombra sat near the back of his cell shifting papers from side to side until she cleared her throat to get his attention. His head shot up and he actually gave her a genuine smile.

“Thank you for coming. I wasn’t sure you would.” He picked up the papers he had been playing with and brought them to her; they were letters. “I should have done this before I left but coming here was a… spur of the moment decision.” Twilight took the letters; Sombra pointed to the one on top. She noticed his wounds were still not treated. “I only have the addresses for two places but I gave as much information as I could about where to find the others. If you can’t or don’t want to have them delivered, that’s fine. Not like I can force you. But the top one is the most important.”

Twilight read who the top letter was addressed to and froze. “Moon Dancer?”

Sombra nodded, “She was a suspect at the library. She had nothing to do with the melted fire pit, or me. We theorized about dark magic together but she didn’t know who I was.” Sombra sat back on his rump, “Also that really was an accident. I didn’t mean to turn into a dragon. But once I did, I wanted to see if I could breath fire. I didn’t think it would be hot enough to melt iron.” Sombra mimed flipping two the next letter, Twilight followed suite.

“The next ones are for my boss at the library and my school. They should know where I went. The one for the school also has one for my ex-roommate in it. I wanted to let her know no hard feelings about biting a hole in my ear.”

“What?!” Sombra ignored her and mimed flipping to the next letter, Twilight grumpily complied.

“The next few are for my friends. Cartwheel, his wife Daisy Chain, Clawson, Ally, Tom, and Jerry. Ledger Cross and his husband Skyfall.”

“… you have a lot of friends.” Sombra nodded.

“They are all wonderful people and I should have told them I love them in person but… stuff happens.” Sombra laughed awkwardly as he held up one last letter. “This one isn’t done yet but it will be soon. I don’t know this pony but he wrote a really good book about the crystal empire, it’s what brought me here. It deserves a good review.” He put the letter down, the smile disappeared from his face.

“I won’t say I’m not angry. I feel cheated from a life I didn’t get to live and I’m scared. But I believe that ponies who hurt other ponies should be sorry and punished for it. Will you deliver the letters for me?”

Twilight held the letters to her chest, “I give you my word as the Princess of Friendship to tell your friends goodbye for you.”

Sombra nodded his thanks, “Good.”

Chapter 13
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A Shadow of Your Former Self

Chapter 13

Grassy Glaze set the letter aside, finally done reading it. “I’m glad this is just a resignation. When he didn’t show up to work after staying late, I feared the worst with the recent attack. Right Hoof felt so guilty about allowing him to stay after closing.”

“Yes he’s… ok and is very sorry about not giving advanced notice.”

Grassy Glaze nodded, “That happens when you hire students sometimes but I really did think he was one of the good ones. He seemed like he really enjoyed working here. I’m more surprised that you are delivering this for him, I didn’t think you two were close.”

“They’re not,” Spike answered for Twilight, “it was just… on our way…?” Grassy Glaze seemed to accept this.

“Well thank you for dropping it off. He said he was going to donate his last pay check to the library to help fix the fire pit so I have to ask HR if he could technically do that; it hasn’t exactly ever come up before.”

“Thank you for your time Mrs. Glaze. Spike, you have the next address?”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Rocky Roll tossed the letter aside after she was done reading it. The Dean said he would handle the paperwork for Sombra dropping out himself under the circumstances and it just so happened that his daughter, Sombra’s old roommate, was here today.

Rocky Roll looked more like she got a parking ticket then an apology letter from the most notorious dictator in Equestrian history. Twilight technically had no further reason to be here after handing the letter over but she wanted to be there when each letter was opened and read. It was the best chance to get an insight into Sombra’s life after the Empires returned.

“So… Sombra said you two didn’t get along so well.” Rocky Roll shrugged.

“I don’t get along with anypony.”

“Um, what did the letter say?” Spike asked, his hands full of free candy from the waiting room candy bowel.

“ ‘I’m not sorry for leaving but I do forgive you for taking a bite of my ear and won’t press charges’ basically.” Rocky Roll picked up a magazine from the side table. She examined the cover before muttering under her breath about her father being a cheap skate and not keeping the magazines up to date before opening it to read anyway.

“Look,” Twilight said as she set her cup of tea down to give the mare her full attention. “Sombra’s going to be on trial, you have probably spent the most time with him out of anypony considering you two lived together. You are also the first one I met who had a violent altercation with him. Your thoughts are invaluable on the matter.”

Rocky tossed the magazine aside, “What do you want me to say? He was an annoying know-it-all who spent all his free time studying. Always bitching about how I didn’t do my share of the chores. Creepy as fuck. He lasted longer than most of my roommates but he was nowhere near my favorite.”

“Could you tell us about what happened the day he left?”

Rocky leaned as far forward as the chair would allow, “I was trying to study. He came in to bitch about the music being too loud, I told him to eat shit. He tried to fuck with my speakers but they are expensive so I tackled his ass before he could touch them. Rolled around on the ground for a bit but he wound up on top. He was crushing me and I wanted him off so I bit the first thing within mouth distance. I didn’t mean to bite that hard. He started crying about his ear bleeding and ran away like a pussy.”

Twilight waited a couple of minutes after Rocky was done before uncovering Spikes ears. She had never heard a pony tell a story with that many unnecessary expletives before. “Um, did you ever feel unsafe with Sombra? You said he was creepy?”

“- as fuck.” Rocky re-quoted, Twilight tried to quickly re-cover Spikes ear but it was too late and Spike shooed her hooves away. He had heard them all before.

Rocky sighed, “Honestly until this shit, I just thought he was a wannabe goth nerd trying to be special. The guy is super old without a cutie mark? How lame is that? He eats meat which is super gross but at least I never had to see him do it. So, to answer your question, no. It never occurred to me I was constantly fucking with a legitimate threat. Never did shit to me until the day he moved out.”

Spike and Twilight shared a look, “Thank you for your time Rocky Roll. You have been a big help.”

“Whatever.”

Twilight and Spike exited the office, as soon as the door closed Twilight shuttered with disgust. “I feel like I need to wash my ears out with soap.”

“What’s your fucking problem?” Spike asked innocently.

Twilight smacked him.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ally had the beginnings of tears in her eyes but Jerry was all out bawling. Clawson’s ears were back in displeasure but he seemed to be taking it well. Tom was leaning against a lamp post next to Twilight and Spike; said it was too crowded to read over their shoulders and he would read it later.

“Got to admit, it’ll be hard not being greeted by the little weirdo every time we come into port.” Twilight turned to Tom.

“He came to meet you at port?” he nodded.

“Always showed up the second we got in to help us unload and hear about our travels. I was really looking forward to see if his little experiments would work out; perpetually floating crystals sounded pretty cool.”

“Perpetually floating crystals?” Spike asked.

Tom pulled out a crystal from his jacket to show Spike. It was blue and diamond shaped with a swirling black mass in the center. “This was the last prototype he made, the enchantments from the one before faded over time but this one seems to be holding strong. It floats in the dark and offers a little bit of light. I used it to help fix the engine once or twice.”

“May I?” Twilight asked before picking up the crystal in a magic field. Up close, she could see that its cut edges weren’t smooth like they seemed. They were actually covered in runes, she recognized nearly all of them. “It looks like the floating characteristics of the crystal are actually barrier magic? It’s not floating but repelling the ground and anything else close to it. The residual dark magic is acting like a battery like most enchanted objects but the runes help regulate the output. This is extraordinary!” Twilight pranced in place, thinking of all the possibilities this type of magic could have. “The problem with enchanted objects is that they have no regulated output so they expend the pent-up magic inside too quickly. This allows gradual loss of magical energy, only allowing the item to activate when it’s most useful.” Twilight grabbed Tom’s shoulders and shook him, “Do you know what this means!”

“Does… does it mean Sombra will be spared?”

Twilight was jarred by the sudden emotional shift. She looked to the purple female cat who had spoken and felt immediately guilty. While she and Tom were discussing what Sombra had been researching, the rest of them had actually been reading Sombra’s letter. They were obviously devastated based on its contents but Twilight’s outburst had given them hope. Tom’s ears flattened against his head, “Spared?”

Tom pushed Twilights hooves off of him and went to join his companions. Clawson handed him the letter to read for himself. Tom’s eyes scanned over the pages, gradually growing more and more distressed. He must have gotten to the most important part because his head shot up to look at Twilight, “… you can’t.”

Twilight just shook her head, “He was the one who requested the punishment. We’re still deliberating but it looks like-“

“You can not do this!” Tom cried out, attracting the attention of every creature nearby. Ally reached for his arm to try to comfort him but he yanked the appendage away, marching over to Twilight to point a claw in her face. “This is exactly the type of shit happening in Catmando. Years of bloody civil war with everycat beheading whoever they disagreed with. MY OWN MOTHER was hung on traitor’s lane, do you know why? Our neighbor wanted to marry my father so she came to the counsel with wild accusations. They sentenced her to death in half an hour!”

Twilight backed up from the angry sphinx, “I’m very sorry about your mother, it wasn’t right, but this is different. Sombra-“

“This is exactly the same! Sombra has amnesia, no way to defend himself. He has always been nothing but kind. If he really was the last ruler of some empire, who would stand to gain from having him publicly disgraced and executed?”

Spike gasped, Twilight flared her wings in rage, “You’re not trying to say Cadence wants him dead so she can rule uncontested. That’s insane! King Sombra’s crimes are well documented and not remembering them doesn’t absolve him of guilt.”

Tom stood back up to his full height and looked down his nose at the princess, “I didn’t say anything.”

Twilight’s horn flared as Spike rolled up his metaphorical sleeves. Tom unsheathed his claws and prepared to pounce.

“TOM! Enough, we don’t have a say in any of this. This isn’t our country.”

“But it is our friend.” Jerry pointed out.

“We should have been more forceful about our offer to sail with us. We could have been far away by now…” Ally rolled up Sombra’s letter, “I assume you need a copy of this for trial? Does Sombra’s defense need character witnesses?”

Twilight used Cadences breathing technique to calm herself before floating the letter out of Ally’s paws to use a duplicate spell on it. This one she really did need to read herself and since the recipient was giving her some kind of permission, it should be ok. “I’m afraid there won’t be a trial. Like I said, King Sombra’s crimes are well documented. It’s up to the princesses to decide how best to maintain peace in this land.”

“Judge, Jury, and executioner huh?” Tom scoffed, “I’m not surprised. Seems this princess Cadence wants things over with quickly.”

Twilights temper flared all over again, “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Neither do you.”

Clawson shoved Tom back over to the ship before things could escalate any further, Jerry and Ally took the hint and lead him back the rest of the way. Clawson rubbed his neck and looked at the princess of friendship before sighing and kneeling down to speak with her eye to eye. “I meant what I said, we have no say in this but I still want you to consider something.”

Twilight breathed out, “I’m listening.”

“Execution is sometimes necessary. If the criminal won’t stop no matter what then it’s best they get taken out before they can do more damage… but that has already happened to Sombra. ‘King Sombra’ no longer exists; the Sombra we know has never once spoken ill of any creature. Has lived peacefully in your society without issue or signs of being a threat for years. Isn’t that the definition of ‘rehabilitated’?”

Twilight broke eye contact to look at the ground. Clawson rose back up to his full height and pointed behind himself at the ship. “I should check on Tom and the others. I…Hope things work out.”

“Me too.” Twilight admitted.

Clawson nodded his final farewell and ran back to his home, leaving Twilight and Spike back on the docks.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ledger Cross and Skyfall weren’t much better.

Twilight read Sombra’s letter to the sphinxes on the cab ride over. Nothing he said was misleading or untrue. He told them who he was as well as what he has done. He said he was looking forward to justice being carried out…

The two stallions were sitting on their living room couch in tense silence. They had been beyond thrilled to have a princess for a guest and broke out their best tea and cakes for the occasion. Now the food was going mostly untouched as Ledger moved his tea cup back and forth on its saucer; the scraping of pericline the only sound in the room.

Ledger looked up at Twilight with a forced smile and laugh, “You know I saved his life the day we met? Guess I should have let him be run over.” He took a sip of tea.

“Oh hush,” Skyfall hissed out. Ledger slammed his cup on the coffee table.

“What do you expect me to say? We were having breakfast every Sunday with the incarnation of fear without realizing it. How do you react to that!?”

“Ooh yes, the incarnation of fear. He was so evil, he helped me organize a crochet charity event for foals with cancer!”

“He’s a mass murderer! He tricked us!”

“Tricked us? The first thing we found out about him was that he didn’t know who he was.”

“That could have been a lie! He could have been lying to us the whole time!”

“For what purpose!? To eat pancakes with a couple of queers on 9th and 9th? What evil mastermind plan involves that?! You just want drama- “

“We were in direct contact with the tyrant of the Crystal Empire; that is the definition of drama!”

“Fine,” Skyfall said as he got up and moved over to a book shelf, picking up a colorful vase. “Since we’re pretending he didn’t exist then you don’t need the vase he got you at the flea market.” He tossed it to the floor, Ledger gasped but caught it just in time before it hit the floor in a magic field.

“Are you nuts! This is a Tiffany vase.”

“I am so sick of you loving somepony up until they do something wrong and then suddenly, they were the worst creature you ever knew. You knew it all along! ‘I always hated them; I just never told my husband because he seemed to like them sooo much’.” Skyfall picked up a framed picture, it seemed to be depicting the charity event he mentioned earlier. A crowd of ponies holding knitted hats, Sombra in front with his arm around a smiling Ledger as Skyfall held up a sign with the event name and date. He tossed it to the floor, Ledger caught that too.

“Stop pretending to be morally superior to everypony! You did this with the Oranges, the Painters, and even our own daughter! She comes back from college with a bag of weed and you toss her out! I found her crying on the apartment steps. Never mind that you occasionally smoke when work is ‘too stressful’ yourself!”

“I apologized!” Ledger grabbed his husband by the ear to drag him a few feet away for more privacy. “And not in front of the princess.” He whispered through his clenched teeth. Skyfall wrenched his head free and turned to address Twilight.

“I think you should go now.” Twilight raised her hoof to suggest staying and helping to hash this problem out with them but Spike stopped her.

“We completely understand. Thanks for the tea!” Spike grabbed a couple more cakes for the road and pushed Twilight out the door. He closed the apartment door behind them just as the yelling started up again.

“Spike! Why did you make us leave? We could have helped them.”

“You’re the Princess of Friendship, not the Princess of domestic disputes. This is more Cadences territory.” Spike tossed a cake up in the air and caught it in his mouth. “Down’t worhy, I’ll send a letter to Cadence about them.”

Chapter 15
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A Shadow of Your Former Self

Chapter 15

Fluttershy fiddled with the fringe of her pillow, ignoring the tea and sandwiches for now along with Twilight. “I’ve never seen you so troubled Twilight. None of us have, we’re really worried for you.”

“I wish I had taken you girls with me. I had no idea this issue would be so complicated.”

“We should get together at the castle and talk this out together. You know I’m against capital punishment but that’s me. I can’t imagine what it’s like for you or the other princesses.”

“I think I’m the only one on the fence. Celestia, Luna, and Cadence all seem like they’re leaning towards going through with it. I might be ok with it too if I hadn’t spoken to all of his friends.”

“It sounds like he’s reformed himself. It’s very admirable, Discord has come a long way but it’s still hard for him to like anypony besides me.”

“That’s the thing, we’ve reformed villains before, I ask myself why is Sombra different. But then I remember he’s the only one with a body count.”

“Well that’s not entirely true.” Twilight jumped up with a yelp as she felt her chair move and whisper in her ear. She turned around to see that Discord had transformed himself into Fluttershy’s arm chair. His form twisting and shaping until he was back to normal.

“Do you have to sneak up on me!”

“I didn’t want to interrupt.” Fluttershy didn’t seem a bit surprised as she floated over with a plate of sandwich crusts. Discord happily took a few, and by took a few she means he gave them legs and walked them into his open mouth. Fluttershy giggled happily at the show before returning to her seat on the duvet, Discord following shortly after.

Twilight buried her frustration, as she usually had to do with Discord, before returning to her seat (checking to make sure it wasn’t alive first). “What do you mean by ‘that’s not entirely true’?”

Discord stroked his beard, formulating his answer. “I mean he may not be the only one with casualties as a result of his actions. Chaos reigned in Equestria for about 50 year and during that time there certainly weren’t any hospitals or police. Chrysalis, nopony died during her takeover of Canterlot but she has killed before. About 20% of changeling feedings end in death. And Tirek didn’t get far but if he had, you could expect the citizens of Equestria being worked to death as slaves. And didn’t Starlight Glimmer cause several apocalypses? Millions of dead there.”

“Is this supposed to make me feel better? Because it’s not!”

“All I’m saying is that King Sombra’s only fault was that he was a good records keeper. You can quantify his crime more easily then any of the other villains.”

Twilight looked to Fluttershy to see if she was hearing the same thing she was. Fluttershy looked down sadly but seemed to be ok, they had definitely talked about this before.

Twilight turned back to Discord, “So you’re saying he should be forgiven?”

“I’m not saying anything. I’m just wondering why you feel like you have to get so personal with this.”

“Personal?! I may have to sentence a pony to death. How is that not personal!?”

“But you have never had to do that before.” Discord was apparently getting bored because he possessed Fluttershy’s bonsai tree on the coffee table. “You have defeated all kinds of villains before, corrected all the mistakes Lulu and Kay Kay have made in the past. Then a villain shows up pre-reformed and you kill him for it? Not a very good message. Or are you only satisfied when you get to blast a villain with rainbows?” Rainbow confetti suddenly blasted Twilight in the face, giving Discord the time to materialize right next to her. She pushed him away.

“Celestia and Luna never made mistakes with the elements of harmony.”

“Oh really?” Discord pulled a chart out of nowhere, comparing and contrasting what the elements did when the sisters used them vs what they did with Twilight and her friends did. “I was turned to stone by the elements, Fluttershy reformed me. Lulu was banished by her sister, you set her free. Need I go on?”

“Get to the point Discord.”

“Ugh, why do you hate fun?” Fluttershy’s house was suddenly a lecture hall complete with stadium seating and a white board. Images of Celestia and Luna taking the elements of harmony from the tree of harmony as stick figures drawn behind him. “Kay Kay and Lulu took the elements of harmony from the tree. The elements manifested in you and your friends. The elements chose you but not the princesses. They could technically activate them but they did not get the best results.”

The lecture hall disappeared leaving Twilight with a single desk and a ‘test’ with a connect the dots bubble question. “Get it?”

Twilight looked at Discord in irritation then back at her bubble test. What was he getting at? The elements work better with her and her friends then they did with the princesses? If so then what did that have to do with Sombra? A question on her ‘test’ asked ‘how do the elements work?’ with the rest being variations on ‘who is the most handsome Draconequus?’ and ‘who is smarter the Twilight?’

How did the elements work? They set wrongs to right. Does that mean they should let Sombra be judged by the elements of harmony? That…would be a good solution actually. If he was good then nothing to worry about, if he was bad then the elements would be the judge. An impartial one!

“That’s it! Thank you Discord.”

“I knew you would get it eventually.”

“Fluttershy, gather our friends. We need the elements of harmony.”

“That’s the spi…Wait what?”

But it was too late, Twilight was already gone leaving Discord to scratch his head as Fluttershy hovered next to him in concern.

“Maybe she is only happy if she can blast somepony with rainbows.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“And that concludes my 27-point slide presentation on why we should use the elements of harmony on Sombra. Any questions?”

Rainbow Dash yawned as Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinky Pie, Spike and the princesses struggled to remain awake.

“Thank you, Twilight, that was very…thorough.” Celestia praised, Luna glared at her sister for being so alert after all that. Cadence was about to fall asleep but Shinning Armor elbowed her in the side and she jostled right awake. To be fair, it had been her turn to tend to the baby last night.

“Excellent, so we can stage a public judging by the elements of harmony?” The princesses looked to each other before nodding. Celestia smiled at her faithful student.

“So long as the elements do not leave the tree of harmony for too long, then yes, we agree.”

The room erupted in celebration; Twilight almost fainted from relief.

Whatever happened next, it would definitely be the right thing to do.

Chapter 16
View Online

A Shadow of Your Former Self

Chapter 16

After much consideration, it was decided to hold Sombra’s trial at the castle of the two sisters. Where the elements of harmony could be taken and returned almost immediately. Anypony could come provided they were of legal age and fully understood what they were about to see. Citizens of the Crystal Empire flooded Ponyville by the hundreds but those who just wanted to see the elements of harmony in action also came.

Sombra only had issues when they began to sell merchandise, “I had hoped my death could be more… dignified.”

“This might not be your end; you can increase the chances of the elements showing you mercy. Please, for the final time, where is the Crystal Heart?” Sombra sighed, he found the pink princess to be the most annoying.

“For the final time, I. Don’t. Know. Where. It. Is.”

Cadence stomped a hoof in frustration, Shinning Armor picked that hoof up to give it a calming squeeze. Cadence gave him a loving look in thanks and re-fortified herself. “Let’s try this another way. If you had to hide something very important, where would it be?”

Sombra huffed but complied, “I would use phycology, hide it in plain sight so most eyes gloss over it. Make it look ordinary…But if it was Extremely important, I would also have it close by, in a room where it wouldn’t be strange for me to be for hours at a time.”

“The throne room?” Shinning Armor asked his wife.

“Maybe…”

Sombra rocked his head back and forth, thinking. “I would also make it inconvenient to get to so somepony wouldn’t just casually touch it and discover it. The first time I learned about the heart was in a book, oh!”

“Yes?”
“What is it?”

“The crystal heart was discovered in an ancient dragon carcass-“

“It was?” Shinning looked mildly sick.

“…Yes, has that place become a tourist trap?”

Cadence shook her head, “No, I don’t even know where that would be.”

“Perfect!” Sombra clopped his hooves together but instantly regretted it when his chains clanked together. “Owh; I might have hidden it back where it was discovered. Who would look somewhere they already looked?”

“Who was the author of that book?”

“Sunburst. I lost my notes or I would give you the reference material.”

“Sunburst?” Cadence looked to her husband, “Is he here?”

“I’ll go check.” Shinning went galloping off stage to search the crowd.

Cadence watched him go, “Thank you Sombra.”

“My pleasure.” He grumbled as he adjusted his chains, “Are these necessary? I’m here willingly.”

“I think it’s just standard.” Cadence thought for a moment before levitating the key off of a guard’s armor. The guard gave her an odd look, she smiled apologetically before turning back to Sombra. “But you can have them off for now I think.” The lock clicked open and they fell to the floor. Sombra rubbed his wrists and tested his movement.

“Thank you.”

“You are welcome…”

Sombra turned his attention to the space in-between the curtain where he could see the crowd. Cadence looked at him, he seemed so normal compared to the ancient paintings. Twilight made sure a medic bandaged his split hooves but the medic went the extra mile for his ear. Apparently, the medical pony found it amusing that the hole was a perfect circle and gave him an earring for it. Sombra went along with it and now it seemed intentional. Rarity was disgusted by his ruined shirt and vest and had tailored him a replacement suit jacket for the occasion. She also had his hoof bandages replaced to match their natural color. If he wasn’t so tired and stressed, he would look like any other pony going to a party.

Sombra caught her staring but didn’t seem to mind, “Question, you’re the Princess of Love right?”

“…Yes?”

“Is it a good or bad sign when the pony you have a crush on shows up to your execution?”

“It-um. Depends on their reaction?...Who is it?” Sombra pointed somewhere at the third row.

“The cream-colored mare in the sweater.” Cadence took his place to look out at the crowd, eyes scanning over the seats at least twice before she circled back to the only mare with that description. She was surprised, not only that somepony like Sombra could have those feelings but… Objectively speaking Sombra was an unusually attractive stallion. Good bone structure, tall, flowing mane, decent muscles. The mare he pointed out was objectively plain looking and disheveled, not who she would have thought. Cadence backed up and plastered a kind smile to her face.

“How…did you two meet?”

Sombra’s smile was more authentically nostalgic. “She was my boss at the library. Incredibly smart and well read; doesn’t take shi- I mean, speaks her mind. She was the only one I felt safe with, I could bring up any topic and she would teat it all the same, as an academic discussion. This one time, I felt horrible for having this…inappropriate dream but I could tell her about it in full and she didn’t judge me at all. We spent our break together looking up the function of dreams and what they meant. Turns out, phycology wise, I just wanted to have a better relationship with them. So, I put more effort into that and I haven’t had one like it since. I felt a lot better.” Sombra looked at the ground sadly, “Not like a freak.”

Sombra looked back out at the crowd, “I see her but nopony else I know…Do you know if there’s a ‘friends and family section?’ haha.”

“I…Don’t.” Cadence looked around to find some excuse to leave. She found one when she spotted Twilight, the others wouldn’t be far behind. “Excuse me.”

Sombra watched her fly away then went back to scanning the crowd but discovered the gap in the curtain was no longer there. A mismatched set of yellow and red eyes in their place. “Enjoying the view?”

“Ga-fuck!” Sombra leapt back, slipping on his discarded chains and falling on his flank. A tall creature with different assortments of body parts slipped through the curtains as if they were a rip in reality instead of the side of a stage.

“Ah, sorry about that. I should really find a better way to enter a room.” Suddenly, a second version of the creature appeared behind the first, dressed as a black jack dealer. “Why don’t you send a telegram?” A telegram appearing in his hand.

“Oooh, that could work.” The first version took the telegram from the second and handed it to Sombra, the second version disappeared soon after.

Sombra rubbed his lower back as he got up but still took the telegram. It said ‘Discord, Lord of Chaos’ with smaller print adding: ‘of the House Targaryen, the Fist of His Name, The Unburnt, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Protector of the Realm, Lord Regent of the Seven Kingdoms, Breaker of Chains and Father of Dragons.’

Sombra pointed at the small text, “I’ve seen this show. Only got to season 4 though.” Sombra handed Discord back the telegram.

“I wouldn’t bother finishing it. Not that you have much of a choice I hear.” Discord said while crumpling up the telegram and tossing it in his mouth.

“Doesn’t that taste bad?”

“Depends on the quality of the writing.” Discord leaned in very close to whisper in Sombra’s ear, “Some fanfictions give me the runs for days.”

“Then…Don’t eat them?”

“Eh, I’m weak.” Discord snapped his finders and the surrounding area turned into a therapist’s office, Sombra on the couch with Discord in a sweater vest and a clip board. “Back to business,” He pulled out a pair of glasses and set them on his nose.

Sombra looked around his new setting, “That’s handy.”

“It’s good to be helping. Now then, how do you feel about this situation? Stressed? Angry? Cheated? Afraid?”

“Numb.”

“Humm,” Discord doodled a hang man on the clip board. “So, you have accepted the inevitable I see, very mature way to handle it. But you seemed very successful at hiding, why come back?”

“I should pay for what I have done.”

“Why?”

Sombra looked at him with a sneer, “WHY?” He got off the couch and began to pace. “I enslaved other ponies! They suffered and died because of me. Assuming the elements do deem me ‘worthy,’ how can I live with that?!”

“Sounds to me like you want an easy out.” Discord drew the hangman’s head and torso.

“Oh, I’m sorry, of course I should live. I can make it up to the crystal ponies by volunteering at the soup kitchen, pick up trash. They would totally forgive me for what I did then.”

“Humm,” Discord rubbed his chin and pointed his pen at Sombra, leaving his clip board to float in the air. “So, you want forgiveness from the crystal ponies?”

“I can’t ask for something that can never happen,” He sat back on the couch and put his head in his hooves.

“Sure, you can! Ponies do it all the time. Wealth, power, a large house, for people to accept that you are cannonly married to Fluttershy in the show’s finally. All impossible.” Discords fingers had been growing in number during his list but they all broke off and turned into airplanes which flew towards a literal pie in the sky and crashed. Exploding the pie all over the room. Sombra wiped the blue burry filling off his cheek.

“Perhaps but I prefer to be more realistic. You just can’t get away with what I did, memory or no memory.”

“Yes, but what is a memory? What is a personality? Is it the body that dictates the self or is it the soul? And what is a soul except that it resides at the bottom of your feet.” Discords feet detached themselves to grow angel wings and fly away. He saluted them as they left with a tear in his eye.

“Are you saying that I am cosmically innocent but guilty because I’m in a guilty body and the body is all that counts because it’s what is perceived by others and therefore our only means to exist and interact in the world?”

Suddenly, the office disappeared to be the stage once more. Discord’s feet remained planted but his body stretched impossibly far to grab Twilight by the shoulders, she let out a yelp in surprise but got over it quickly.

“Twilight, we need him, he speaks nonsense you have to!” He shook her back and forth, her element of harmony crown almost falling off.

Fluttershy flew over to place a hoof on his head, “Now Discord, we don’t know what the elements will do. Sombra may be perfectly fine at the end.”

“We don’t know that! That tree spat out a flower that spat out a box that spat out an abomination of a castle; the tree of harmony is crazy!”

“Your one to talk,” Rainbow Dash sassed as she flew nearby. Discord appeared in front of her with a crown on his head and a diploma floating just behind him.

“I’m an authority on crazy because I’m the Lord of Chaos. And I couldn’t even come up with that!”

Applejack tugged on Discord’s tail to get his to give Rainbow Dash some space. He just detached it and appeared next to her to snatch it back, literally screwing it back on. She rolled her eyes, “Fluttershy is right, the elements have never done us wrong before.”

Fluttershy flew back up to Discord, “Have faith in us, everything will be alright.” Discord looked at her, at the floor for a moment, then back at her and smiled.

“Of course, Fluttershy.” The mare smiled and flew off to stand with her friends, it was almost time. Discord watched as Sombra was led to where he was supposed to stand, the princesses and elements taking up position. He bit his knuckles before disappearing to who knows where, the curtain rose.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

What was once the throne room of the two sisters had been converted to a temporary stage for the event. Seating taking up every available space of what was once the main floor as pegasi flew overhead. Crystal ponies shouted angrily at the stage, their volume only increasing as the curtain rose to reveal the former King. Some threw their food and drink purchased at the event; Rarity winced as a full soda hit the stallion on the side and broke open, staining his suit jacket beyond repair. The princesses shared a disappointed look with one another, Cadence showing the most embarrassment over her citizens behavior. Celestia raised her wings and stepped forward, her presence enough to silence the crowd.

“Welcome citizens of Equestria and the Crystal Empire. Today represents an unprecedented trial. Before this moment, the leaders of Equestria have only used the elements of harmony during times of great misfortune and conflict on the field of battle. Their judgment, swift and deliberate, uncontested. The pony on trial today has committed unspeakable tragedies in the past. The Murder of Princess Amora, the enslavement of the citizens of the Crystal Empire, and the theft of the Crystal Heart. Under normal circumstances, as soon as the Empire returned from banishment, our elements of harmony and heroes of Equestria would storm the crystal castle. Meet the King of Fear in open battle, and destroy him to bring peace across the land.”

The crowd erupted into cheers, eager for just that to happen. Celestia raised her hoof and the crowd silenced once more.

“However, this is not what came to pass. King Sombra awoke with no memory of his past crimes, indeed, no past at all. He fled the kingdom he had claimed and began a new, peaceful life among us. Without malicious intent or ambition. In this new, humble life, he made friends, attended school, and strived to improve Equestria with revolutionary technology. But is this enough? Once he re-discovered his past transgressions, he submitted himself to prosecution and sentencing, fully aware of what may happen to him. Princess Cadence, Prince Shinning Armor, Princess Twilight Sparkle, The Elements of Harmony, Princess Luna, and myself have all agreed to place both King Sombra and the stallion on stage now on trial. Both past and present will be rectified so that we may share a bright future together. By the highest power in the land, the essence of harmony itself, we accept this judgment.”

The Princess of the sun fell back in line so that the elements of harmony could take center stage. All lined up as Sombra was brought forward. He was shaking with cold sweats, as ready to die as anypony could be, but wanting to run so badly.

The heroes of Equestria shared a look before allowing the elements to activate and glow. They rose in the air as a rainbow of light and color enveloped them.

The citizens of Equestria ‘oohed’ and ‘awed.’

The citizens of the crystal empire cheered for death.

For sphinx’s held each other to keep from falling.

Two stallions covered their mouths in horror.

An old mare and colt held hooves but wept silently.

A young mare prayed for the first time in her life.

And a lone figure high above snapped his fingers.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Pain. There was so much pain.

Burning, blinding, all-consuming, burning.

He should have just asked to have his head cut off.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It was too bright for anypony to see what happened until the mane six landed on the ground once more.

A smoldering spot on the stage where Sombra once stood.

The crowd cheered wildly, ponies clapped for the both the light show and the death of a terrible villain. Nopony bothered to notice the few who cried, screamed, shattered, or regretted. The elements shared a look, the right decision finally clear after the deed had been done. Celestia gestured to the stage hands to lower the curtain which fell with a sickening finality.

“I…I can’t believe it.” Twilight said, almost to herself.

“Well…that’s that then.” Applejack said as she put her hat back on. Rainbow Dash flew right to her to glare directly in her eyes.

“Is that all you have to say?!”

“Well what do you want me to say Rainbow? We all decided that the elements knew best when we went into this. Obviously Sombra was beyond redemption.”

“But…He had so many friends who loved him. I thought friendship was the most important force on earth.” Twilight began to cry, Rarity put a hoof around her in comfort.

“Of course it is darling. We have seen that time and time again…Perhaps Sombra just hadn’t changed enough?”

“Y-yeah” Pinky added as she came over to hug Twilight as well. “He was a big, big meany pants in the past. Maybe he was just faking?”

“He wasn’t” Everypony turned to see a cream-colored mare in a sweater panting from running. A guard came up to apprehend her but Princess Cadence stopped him with a wave of her hoof.

“It’s ok Spear Head, let her speak.”

“Moon Dancer?” Twilight trotted over to great her fillyhood friend, reaching out to hold her. “I’m so, so sorry about Som-“ Moon Dancer punched her.

Twilight fell to the floor clutching her cheek, her friends moved to defend her but it was clear the mare wasn’t done. “You don’t get to brush this off as easily as you did our friendship. If any of you spent more than 5 minutes with him then you would know. You would know that he was a rash, impulsive, selfless, bastard! Who wore his heart on his sleeve, because his face always told you exactly what he was thinking and feeling. You would know, that even if he was put upon or irritated, he never allowed himself to hurt anypony. He would hang around your house for hours because he didn’t want to hurt your feelings by leaving until you had to kick him out by force! He would genuinely care about everything you had to say. Never want to let you down. He invented an entire rune craft because he was too awkward to admit that he panicked in a conversation and didn’t want to disappoint Ledger who wanted one. He turned himself in because he couldn’t stand the thought of somepony being upset with him for any reason.” The tears that had been building up in her eyes during her rant were starting to take over. “He-he wrote us letters. But it never even occurred to you that we might want to say goodbye too?”

She wiped the worst of her tears away but they were quickly replaced. She glared at Twilight one last time, “Some Princess of Friendship you are.”

“Moon Dancer, I-“

“DON’T ever contact me again.” And with that, the mare fled.

All of Twilights friends went to comfort her, soon joined by her sister-in-law. Luna and Celestia stood by to watch yet another of their mistakes unfold.

“What have I done?”

Chapter 17
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A Shadow of Your Former Self

Chapter 17

“I feel just awful about all of this.” Fluttershy admitted during her Tuesday tea with Discord.

“Yes well, nothing to do but move on and deal with the consequences.” Discord said while inspecting his tea cup before taking a bite. “Is this clay my dear? How thoughtful of you to mix it up. Porcelain is good but it was getting a bit old.”

“I’m glad.” But her face did not concur, perhaps now was a good time.

“You know that was not the conclusion I wanted Twilight to make.”

“I know.”

“You did?” Discord disappeared from his spot on the ceiling to face Fluttershy more directly, “Then why didn’t you stop her!”

“I thought it would work out. It usually does. But now everything is a mess and everypony is so upset.”

“Everypony except the ponies from the crystal empire and the small-minded equestrians who liked the pretty light show.” Discord pointed out, he snapped his fingers and a portal to his dimension opened up. “Why don’t we move this to my place? I’m feeling too chaotic for this conversation.”

“Oh, of course.” Fluttershy set her tea cup down and grabbed a couple of butterfly nets just in case. “Did the seeds I give you for your garden grow?”

“They did,” Discord ushered the mare into the portal, pointing at the underside of some floating debris in the ether. “You were right, planting them in a place where the air would be less stifling did them wonders.”

After inspecting Discords garden, Fluttershy suggested some fertilizer just to be safe and they entered his home to continue their visit. Fluttershy found a seat on a lamp instead of a chair, she found lamps more comfortable in this dimension and it seemed to make Discord happy when she embraced the absurdity.

“I like your new soda fountain in the sideboard. Did you think of that because of the alliteration?”

“Oh, you know me so well my dear. Soon I won’t be able to surprise you at all.”

Fluttershy giggled, “I doubt that. May I catch some butter-fly flies?”

“You’ll need this.” He snapped his fingers and a Venus fly trap made of bread appeared. Fluttershy giggled again as she took it.

“See? You surprise me every day.” She looked at Discord like the world had been lifted from her shoulders. “Thank you, I needed this.”

“Anytime.”

They both ran around the house holding their carnivorous wheat products, trying to get close enough to the condiments for the ‘plants’ to snap. After enough flies made out of butter or butterflies made out of peanut butter were caught, a ‘leaf’ would grow a perfect crustless sandwich for them to enjoy. Fluttershy was having so much fun that she almost didn’t hear the moaning.

“Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Discord asked, hoping the noise would not repeat. It did.

“That. It sounds like it’s coming from down stairs.” Fluttershy began to make her way upstairs knowing it would eventually loop around. Discord appeared in her way. “It’s probably nothing, realm of chaos and all, odd noises all the time for no reason.” Fluttershy looked at him oddly and flew past him.

“I’m sorry to disagree but no. There is always a reason for noises here, maybe the boiler has a tummy ache again. We don’t want it to cough up orang sludge all over the house.”

Discord reappeared in her way again, this time in a plumber’s outfit. “I love orange sludge, it’s the best sludge, reminds me of my friend the Smooz. You remember him? He says hi by the way.” He began to push the mare back the way she came. “I’ll take a look at it when you go home. In the meantime, have I showed you my latest vacation photos?”

Fluttershy gasped, Discord looked around and froze. He had forgotten that in this realm, the fastest way to your destination was to turn back when you were almost there. He had inadvertently pushed Fluttershy where he least wanted her to go.

“Oh, poop.”

“Discord.” Fluttershy flew over to the hospital bed; a steady drip of shadowy ooze feeding into a comatose Sombra. “Oh my, he doesn’t look good at all.” She tentatively touched the stallions resting hoof.

Sombra was alive but that was about all you could say. His skin had cracked like porcelain to reveal whips of smoking shadow. He looked to be in great pain and barley breathing. Discord wandered up to stand behind Fluttershy, she looked at him with pleading eyes.

“Please tell me the truth.”

Discord sighed, “I knew that even if Sombra was ‘good’ that the elements would kill him. He’s a Umbrum, not a pony. They’re very strong but incredibly weak to even the simplest of light magic. The crystal heart is barely anything in the grand scheme of things and even that would kill him. I wanted Twilight to realize that she was already the best judge and to make a choice on her own. You all have too much faith in the elements as artifacts, they can be dangerous too.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I tried! I even tried convincing Sombra to advocate for himself but the fool was so set on being a martyr; it was over too fast! The mare who punched Twilight had a point you know.”

Fluttershy looked sadly at the sleeping male, “Is there anything we can do?” She looked back at Discord, “Why didn’t you tell me you saved him? Twilight is so upset.”

Discord tapped his claws together nervously, “I…Still wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do, even after it was done. It seems like whenever I make a choice that I feel is the right choice, it all goes terribly wrong.” He got down on his knees to look Fluttershy in the eye better, “I can’t hurt you again. I won’t be able to stand it.”

Fluttershy placed her hooves on either side of Discords face, he leaned into the touch, she smiled. “Is that why you’re kneeling?”

Discord looked a bit confused until he thought about what he just said again and laughed. Fluttershy soon joined him as they held each other. Sombra started to cough and ruined the moment, Fluttershy flew back to his bedside.

“We should get him to a real hospital.”

Discord got ready to snap his fingers, “If that is what you think is right.”

Chapter 18
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A Shadow of Your Former Self

Chapter 18

Twilight was pacing back and forth in front of the ICU door, only half listening to Sunburst as he lectured.

“The Umbrum are so rare, nopony has seen one since before Princesses Celestia and Luna were in power!”

“So you couldn’t find much?” Starlight asked as she tried to read over Sunbursts shoulder.

He shook his head, “No, they were one of the first races of Equestria. According to ‘Cryptids of the North’, mother Umbrum didn’t raise their young themselves. They didn’t usually have enough resources to spare. Instead, they would leave their child near a settlement and the baby would transform into the first race it saw. Hoping it would be taken in and raised until grown. Though… there are quite a few cases of the mother Umbrum killing a parent’s real child and replacing it with theirs.”

“Creepy, but what does that have to do with anything?”

“I’m getting there, sheesh. The child would take that form to fit in but once it reached-“ he tried to avoid the phrase but eventually had to give in, “Sexual maturity it had full access to all it’s powers. Including shape shifting at will, transforming into shadows, hiding in shadows, controlling somepony by hoping into their shadow-“

“We get it, lots of shadows. How do we heal one?”

“Theoretically, by putting him in his ideal conditions and just waiting. It’s not like they were loved enough to have a medical journal written for them. Most just want them dead.”

“Like us.” Twilight muttered.

“Twilight,” Starlight got up to put a hoof under her friend’s chin and tilt her head up to eye level before letting go. “You were in impossible circumstances and made the best choice you could have made. His crimes were unforgivable but you still managed to find a loophole that gave him a chance. Nopony knew he was an Umbrum, I’m not even sure he knew. Your solution to use the elements as an indisputable cosmic judge, probably knowing on some level that he would be forgiven, would have allowed him to go back to his life peacefully.”

“But they didn’t. They never would have. He was doomed no matter what because I just wanted to get this entire thing over with as quickly as possible. I…should have paid more attention to Discord’s warning.”

“Eh, to be fair, he’s not exactly the most forthcoming. He could have just told you.”

“That’s not exactly his thing.” Twilight pointed out as she finally took a seat in the waiting room next to Spike, Starlight considered that progress.

Starlight turned back to Sunburst, “On another note, did you find your original research material about the crystal heart?”

Sunburt’s glasses almost fell off with how quickly he jerked his head out of his current research, he readjusted them. “Uh, yes, with Spikes help it went by much faster. I found the story in an old children’s book so it wasn’t the most credible source to begin with. But the rest of the stories in it seem true enough. There’s even an artist’s depiction of the cave but, again, it might not show the actual location.” Spike held up the book in question for Starlight to see.

“That’s not much to go on.” Sunburst nodded in agreement.

“And look at the cave itself, there’s barely any snow on it. That could mean it’s only visible when the snow melts in the spring. Meaning a South facing slope of a mountain.”

“Great, now we just have to wait three months and check every South facing mountain slope. Oh, right, the crystal empire is bordered by the largest mountain chain in the know world!”

“And highest,” Spike added.

“And summer only lasts three months,” Twilight sighed, “The only pony who can tell us where it is doesn’t know or at the very least, will die before he could say.”

Spike put a hand on Twilights back, “Come on Twilight, we don’t even know if it is in some cave. It might be like what Shinning Armor said and be in the castle itself.”

Twilight turned to him, “But Fluttershy said that the crystal heart could easily kill him. If I was him, I would hide it as far away from me as possible.”

“Seems like the Umbrum just picked the worst place to live. Equestria is dominated by light magic,” Starlight pointed out.

“It didn’t used to be that way; they were left alone until ponies moved in.”

“Yeah but if you can’t even raise your kid yourself are you even doing it right.” Spike sat further back in his chair pouting. Twilight looked at him with pity and gave him a nuzzle until he smiled. He had a wonderful family now, that’s all that matters.

They sat in silence for a bit, no really sure what to do with themselves. It felt like they had all the pieces but they just weren’t connecting.

“So, we keep him cold and in the dark and hope he gets better.”

“But what about his crimes?”

Starlight wavered the question away with a hoof, “Everypony saw him go through the elements judgment and live. His wounds were recompence but he untimely survived.”

“So lie.” Spike folded his arms, “Applejack won’t stand for that.”

“Half-truths aren’t lies,” Starlight defended. “And what would you rather have happen? A crowd of angry crystal ponies rip him limb from limb in mob justice? We keep this as much on the downlow as we can and have Princess Cadence officially banish him from the empire. Easy peasy.”

Twilight sighed, “I think Starlight’s right. We’ve done all we can and…I can’t think of a way to justify this feeling but, when I thought the elements destroyed him, I knew it was wrong. It drives me crazy that I can’t put it into words but it was wrong. He should go back to his old life, he wasn’t bothering anypony. It’s over.”

All three looked at Twilight but Starlight was the only one to approach, “If you say it’s over then it’s over. You’re the wisest pony I know, you earned your wings for a reason. We trust you.”

“Yeah Twilight.”

“I concur.”

“Thank you.” Twilight took a breath; she felt a lot better about this already. “I’ll talk to the girls and the princesses about this. In the meantime, can you two tell the doctors what we learned and keep me updated on how he’s doing?”

“You can count on us.” Sunburst nodded.

“I appreciate it, Spike, let’s get to work.”

“Right!”

Chapter 19
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A Shadow of Your Former Self

Chapter 19

As with the first time he awoke in the crystal empire, he could not comprehend that he was a thinking being, all he knew were sensations. Unpleasant ones mostly. Pain could be interpreted like pressure and tingling if you weren’t focusing on it. He could feel himself slipping away bit by bit, it felt good to let go.

But it also felt good to be cold, and he was cold here. He opened his eyes but was met with more darkness, it took a moment to adjust, but his eyes were made for the dark and he soon found himself in a strange room.

It was a hospital room; he knew that from TV but this was the first time he’s seen one in real life. It looked odd from this angle. There were things IN his body, he could feel them, they should hurt but he was mostly just uncomfortable with them being there.

‘Waking up alone and in pain. Seems familiar.’

He tried to sit up but his body screamed at him that it was a bad idea, like if he moved too much, he would shatter into a million pieces. He lifted a hoof in front of his eyes and noted with a surprising amount of disassociation that there were large gaps IN his body. They didn’t bleed or expose muscles and bone, only wisps of darkness escaping slowly.

He lay there for a bit not thinking about much, then all of a sudden, he knew that if he left his body that everything would work out. So he allowed his mind and body to work without interference and slip away into a living shadow. Now he WAS the room, his being encompassing all the available space. But his movement caused panic among the hospital staff, machines blared alerts as ponies rushed in to check on him; disturbing the door that kept the light away, he screamed. The staff panicked, he panicked. He fled to the only place dark enough to sustain him.

He leapt into shadow.

He was now in a safer place; light couldn’t reach here. It was the realm of darkness between shadow and light. To the eye, it looked like a never-ending expanse of darkness with the ‘shadows’ of ponies, places, and all manner of physical things that cast a shadow in the real word acting as windows. They moved and stretched as the source of light or the body casting it moved. A kaleidoscopic ceiling made of life as we know it. Sombra could slip through any one of these and be anywhere in the world.

‘Home. I want to go home.’

But where was home? In the metaphoric or literal sense, he didn’t know. But he was hungry.

‘Where is a safe place with food and rest?’

He knew the answer to that instantly. Now the only question was where was it? He moved from ‘window’ to ‘window’ and found many places. There was the town around the hospital with ponies going about their day, there was the glittering capital of Canterlot where the shadows were darkest, and there was his home city but that is not where he needed to go.

He used the city as a main point to navigate to his destination, far along the coast up north.

‘There.’

A small cottage in a retirement neighborhood. He could see the kitchen, the occupants in the garden, a bowel of fruit on the counter. Now, how to get it? He tried to climb out of the shadow but the sun burned his body so he retreated back down. He hummed to himself, ‘it’s like fishing in reverse.’

That gave him an idea. He slithered his was around the property until he found the shed where Cartwheel kept his fishing gear. A shadow of a tree dark enough for him to slip through and close enough to cover most sunlight to the shed. He gathered his nerve and shot out to grab his prize and slip back in without too much damage to his body. A fishing rod.

‘Perfect!’

Sombra retuned to the kitchen and cast his line out, it snagged on the bowel the first try. ‘I am legitimately having the best day.’ He tugged once and the bowel toppled over, fruit landing close enough for him to grab. He ate every bit, even the peals and seeds.

He felt much better after eating, stronger, he might be able to slip out in daylight again. He was about to climb out when he suddenly got the feeling of being watched. He turned and was surprised to find he wasn’t alone. A horse made of dark smoke with glowing green eyes was watching him. He got the feeling it was curious. Sombra followed its eyes to the fishing pole floating near him, he held it out to it without a second thought.

“Do you need this?”

The creature approached Sombra with caution but tentatively took the rod from him. Sombra smiled and left the creature to examine its new toy, they would figure it out.

Sombra waited in the shadows of the cupboard until night fell.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“What do you mean he’s gone!”

The staff winced as the alicorn flared her wings in fury, no matter how old or how established you were, everypony felt like a naughty foal in the presence of an angry alicorn.

“We, we received and alert that the vitals monitor and IV were disconnected at about 3pm yesterday. When we rushed into the room to check on him, all we saw were these large floating green eyes. Then it seemed like, I don’t know, half the darkness in the room along with the eyes just…jumped into Band Aid’s shadow.” The nurse pointed at another nurse pony covered in a blanket, rocking back and forth shaking. “He, ah, hasn’t been the same since.”

Twilight made a noise of displeasure before trotting out of the hospital. “Now what Spike? What must he be thinking? What does a pon-I mean Umbrum think after waking up from a botched execution?”

“Um, ‘I have to get out of here before they finish the job’?” Twilight rounded on him.

“Exactly! He was peaceful last time but now, who knows! He could have gotten all his memories back and run off to the crystal empire to take it back. How could I mess up this badly?! We should have just let him be the first time. ‘Oh, yes hello King Sombra, how are you? Oh, you’ve redeemed yourself and are living peacefully with your friends? Fantastic! All is forgiven because that is what we want for all villains. No need to almost kill you in front of an angry mob and jog your memory just enough to seek revenge or anything!’”

“Woah, that was quite a rant.”

“Ranting helps me think!” Twilight slammed her head into the nearest flat surface, a bus stop. Spike, thinking fast, pulled one of the pamphlet schedules out of a holder on the sign to show Twilight.

“We don’t know that, look, lets call your friends and ask them to visit his old friends. And let Shinning Armor and Cadence know to be on the lookout. The bus to the train station is in 10-6 minutes; we can get a ride to Shady Sholes and visit that nice old couple. I still need to get surfing lessons.”

“And tell them what? Sorry for trying to kill your friend, by the way, we lost him.” Twilight muttered with her face still pressed against the side of the bus bench weather covering. Spike pushed her away from the wall, no telling what germs were on there.

“Daisy took the news of his trial really well. You never know.” Spike pulled out his emergency note taking quill and paper to start writing. “Think of it this way, it’s a really good excuse to use that new instant message spell you’ve been developing.”

Twilight smiled down at him, “What would I do without you?” Her expression shifted to determination. “Ok, we’ll find Sombra and deal with the situation one step at a time.”

Chapter 20
View Online

A Shadow of Your Former Self

Chapter 20

“Nope. Can’t say I’ve seen’em. Now git!” Daisy smacked her husband upside the head before leaning down towards Spike.

“Are you still up for those surfer lessons?”

“You batcha.”

“Terrific, there’s a filly sized wet suit that just might fit you in the shed next to the boards. Go get that and pick out a body board, they look like small surf boards. In the meantime, you two,” she gestured to Cartwheel and Twilight, “can talk in the kitchen. And Cartwheel,” she gave her husband a meaningful look, “be sure to put the cookies in the jar for the party tonight. About three at a time or they get crushed. Understand?”

“…I get yah women. Follow me princess.” Twilight and Spike shared a look but did as their hosts said. Spike following Daisy outback towards the beach as Twilight and Cartwheel headed inside. They walked right past the perfectly functional front room seating area to the kitchen beyond. Twilight stopped to pet the parrot sitting on his perch trying to have a nap. The bird startled at the touch but allowed it. Cartwheel offered her a seat at the kitchen table as he grabbed a tray of freshly baked cookies and a very large cookie jar and set them on the table. “Can I get yah something to drink Princess Twilight Sparkle?” Cartwheel said a bit louder then strictly necessary as he opened a cupboard full of tea.

“I, guess tea works?” Twilight reached for one of the cookies.

“Yah can have some of those but not all! They’re for the party.”

“I understand. My friend Pinky Pie throws parties all the time, I know how much effort goes into baking for them. What kind of party is it?”

“Duhm, grandfillies graduation party, from the 5th grade…dumbest thing I ever heard in my life.” Cartwheel grumpily set the kettle on the stove and turned it on. “Takes a bit to heat up, old stove.”

“That’s fine.”

Cartwheel sat across from Twilight and grabbed three cookies, he quickly put them in the jar then replaced the top. “So, what can I do you for princess? I have some more friends you can put to death, though to be honest, all you have to do is wait for most of them.”

Twilight stomped her hoof on the table in a huff, “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t think the elements would actually hurt Sombra. I didn’t find out until much later that he stood no chance.”

Cartwheel scooted the jar closer to him and dropped three more cookies in. “What do yah mean by that?”

She sighed, “I found out later that Sombra isn’t a unicorn, or even a pony, he’s an Umbrum.”

“What’s that?”

“They are one of the first races in Equestria. Beings made of shadow. The elements of harmony are the most powerful light magic artifacts known to pony kind; he stood no chance.” Twilight looked down, ashamed. Cartwheel tapped his hoof on the table in thought.

“I ain’t never heard of these Umbrum and I’m one of the oldest creatures in Equestria. But it’s too bazar a story for you to lie. Assuming you are right, then where does that leave him? If he survived like you claim, does that mean he’s free?”

Twilight hesitated for a moment before nodding, “Yes, he faced the elements of harmony and survived. Princess Cadence will still forbid him from returning to the Crystal Empire but he is free to go.”

Cartwheel hopped up so fast that the cookie jar almost fell over but he caught it just in time. “I want it in writing! A Princesses word is the highest authority in the land, I don’t want you weaseling out of this.” He pointed a hoof threateningly in her face but Twilight stood firm raising her chin.

“You have my word, and Spike is more then qualified to draft an official decree.”

“Well then I’ll go get’im right now.” Cartwheel began to rush off but stopped just long enough to drop three more cookies in the jar before racing down the beach to find his wife and the dragon. Twilight took a cookie to nibble on and looked at the jar.

“They’re not very subtle you know?” The jar remained quiet; Twilight made herself more comfortable in her chair. “I really am sorry about how this all turned out. I knew the executing you was wrong the entire time; that’s why I agreed to give your friends those letters. I thought if I could find a really good reason to spare you then it wouldn’t happen. But I could never find enough justification beyond my gut feeling. My head said putting you on trial was right but my heart told me it was wrong; it drove me mad to not find a connection between the two.”

The jar didn’t speak.

“Discord is the one who saved you you know. He tried to warn me and when that didn’t work, he got you out in time. I know for a fact you’ll want to thank him, if you keep me posted on where you end up, I’ll introduce you two properly…what do you say?”

“I say why are you talking to a jar?”

“AH!” Twilight turned around to face the parrot, the bird flew from his perch to land in front of the princess on the table. Up close, Twilight could see Sombra’s eyes in the bird’s face, she raised her arms in exasperation. “What is with ex-dictators of Equestria sneaking up on me!? And why are you so colorful? You’re not supposed to be able to do that!” The bird raised his wing to show the colorful paint ending underneath.

“It was itchy around the armpit area.”

Twilight put her head in her hooves and groaned. “I’ve been a princess for one year and already want to retire. How did Celestia manage it?”

The bird shrugged, “I think you’re doing ok. You were the only one who advocated for me the entire time. I’ll never be able to repay you for that.”

Twilight looked back up at him, “So you’re not mad? Or itching to go on a revenge conquest of the crystal empire?”

“That’s very specific. No, I actually feel more at peace with things then I ever have before. I guess third times the charm or something.” Sombra shrugged his little bird wings, Twilight couldn’t help it, she pet his head. Sombra pushed her hoof away, “Stop that, it took Cartwheel two hours to paint me.”

Twilight giggled, “Sorry.” She smiled down at Sombra as he helped himself to a cookie. “How do you feel? You were hurt really badly a day ago but you seem fine now.”

Sombra swallowed what was in his mouth before answering her. “I just needed some darkness, cold, and some food.” He gestured towards the refrigerator, “All provided with the comforts of home. My new form not only helps me hide but I can fit in there no problem.”

“So, you have your shapeshifting under control? No more late-night barbecues?” Twilight teased, Sombra rolled his eyes.

“Not very under control but close. I heard about what you said about me being an Umbrum, being another species explains a lot but now I have so many questions.”

“I can imagine, Sunburst found quite a few books on the subject you could probably barrow. He really appreciated your review by the way.” Sombra fluffed up his feathers in pride.

“He deserved it. I wasn’t a fan of my own actions but considering what he had to go through to find out what he did, I’m impressed.”

“I’m glad you’re glad,” Twilight’s expression shifted into one more serious, “It took a lot of bravery to turn yourself in like that, you should be proud of yourself. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that before.”

Sombra fluffed up a bit more and had to shake himself to calm his feathers, Twilight wished Fluttershy was here to see how cute it was. Though, Fluttershy already had enough all-powerful overlords under her hoof, she didn’t need more.

“I really need to transform back. I think with new forms comes new annoying species related tics.”

Twilight laughed at the same time the door swung open to revel Spike, Daisy, and Cartwheel all soaked and arguing about who tried to drown who in the ocean. Sombra pointed over to where the towels were kept so she could levitate them over to the bickering trio. After everypony was calmed down enough, Spike got to work drafting Twilights royal pardon, signed and witnessed on the same coffee table. Now that Sombra and Twilight had reconciled, Daisy and Cartwheel were more genuinely welcoming and they had a celebratory dinner on the beach that night. They said their goodbyes, Sombra decided he would stay as a secret pet bird until there was an official announcement and things calmed down. As Twilight and Spike were making their way home, Twilight suddenly stopped dead in her tracks and picked up Spike in excitement.

“It’s the parrot, not the cookie jar!” She didn’t stop shaking the poor dragon as he tried to speak.

“Wu-wu-wha-t er y-you t-t-taking ab-abo-ut ahug?”

“The crystal heart! We thought the crystal heart was in the cookie jar because it was right in front of us. But it was the parrot the whole time! The crystal heart is in the castle dressed up to look like it belongs. I’m sure of it!”

Twilight dropped the poor dragon and teleported them to the crystal empire before he hit the ground. Spike stood up disoriented as Twilight rushed to look at the castle, eyes scanning over every surface. Spike barely had time to catch up and admonish her from using so much of her magic on something that could have waited till morning when she suddenly pointed to the very top of the tower. “There!”

Twilight made to take off but a headrush caught her before she could even flap. Spike pushed her down before she could hurt herself.

“Twilight, wherever you need to look, I’ll look. I have wings now remember?” He flapped them for emphasis. Twilight looked torn between doing this herself and going with the safest option, she nodded and pointed back up at the tower.

“Look around the spire and be as thorough as you possibly can. Not one crystal unturned, got it?” Spike nodded and flew off. It was sunset so there wasn’t a lot of light to go off of but that’s what fire breathing was for. Spike started at the highest point and circled slowly downwards, the sides were smooth and unmolested, no sign that they were cut to make a compartment or add something decretive. He flew until he got to the rotunda and stopped to rest on the guard rail. It was a very pretty view, he remembered Shinning Armor saying that they couldn’t find any stairs to this place, such a shame, it would be popular. Spike sighed and hopped down to walk around the rotunda but the second he stepped on the center tile, it lit up like an alarm going off.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Daisy and Cartwheel were getting ready for bed as Sombra picked the checker pieces off the floor. He had accidentally knocked the board over during the game, wings were so clumsy.

Suddenly, he let out the loudest squawk he ever made without warning, Daisy and Cartwheel ran in.

“What happened?”
“Are you alright?”

“Somepony touched my stuff!” Sombra screeched, they all stood in silence, trying to decipher that random comment. Eventually Sombra raised his wings over his head in defeat, “I don’t get it either!”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Spike braced for something to happen and was not disappointed as spikes raised from the floor, barely missing him. Spike collected himself then began looking all around the room, he triggered a booby trap, there had to be something here! He searched all over the room before looking up and stopped. Above him was a decretive mural made out of crystal with a literal crystal heart at the dead center.

“It can’t be that easy.”

Spike flew up to it and inspected its edges, there were gaps but that could be from just installing it in the first place. No pictures of the crystal heart survived and its image was a constant blank spot in the crystal ponies memories. It couldn’t be a literal heart, could it?

Spike sent a silent apology to his adopted siblings for breaking their house and tugged as hard as he could, the heart popped out.

‘Ok, so I have this…Now what?’

Spike combed his memory for a method to test if this was the real crystal heart and found one. “There was a magic pedestal for it at the base of the castle!”

Spike flew down to where the pedestal theoretically was, a circular tile pattern on the ground. Nervous about what happened last time, he held up the heart as far away from himself as possible and shut his eyes.

The pedestals sprang up out of the foundation and ceiling to hold the heart in suspension. The heart radiated light from its very center in a blinding display as it spun and gleamed. Every single pony in the crystal empire could feel the hearts return and ran out into the streets to see that Spike the dragon had found and returned the crystal heart to its rightful place. Ponies cheered; Twilight came to congratulate him in a crushing hug. Cadence, Shinning Armor, and Flurry Heart came to proclaim him Spike, the Brave and Glorious, hero of the Crystal Empire.

As the cheers began to settle, Cadence knelt further down to be at eye level with him. “You’re so quiet, don’t have anything to say on your triumphant day?” Spikes left eye twitched.

“You never thought to look in your own house!!!!!”