When Spike opened his eyes, he found himself in a place he had never seen before.

He remembered only vaguely how he had suddenly fallen into a deep sleep after the gloomy whirlpool had caught him unawares. After that, he also remembered all the fear he had gone through during that moment. He also had the feeling that his brain was trying to bring one more memory to the surface.

He had the memory of hearing a voice calling to him in the distance, but he just hadn't had the strength to wake up and answer it. He hadn't been able to recognize it at the time, either, but then a piece clicked inside his mind as a fleeting thought flashed through it.

"Twilight?" he stammered in a whisper.

He then realized that she had not been with him at the time the ambush occurred. But he could still remember how her voice called him through the dense fog that had clouded his mind. Maybe she had managed to get to him to rescue him? Although he wasn't sure either, his mind may have played tricks on him and made him imagine everything.

Everything was so confused in his head at that very moment that he didn't know what to believe. But if he was in a position to choose something, he preferred to listen to what he heard, or perhaps imagined, in order to keep even the slightest hope that she would go in search of him.

As Spike thought about that, he began to sit up. After the mess in his mind calmed down a bit, he tried to do some sort of analysis on what he saw at that moment. Something that was summed up in searching, as strange as it seemed, for some logic to what had happened. If it really had any.

Somehow he was already sure that he had remained unconscious the entire time he had been taken there. His head was now beginning to hurt a little, and his whole body was also aware of that fact. But he somehow forced himself not to think about the dull pain that ran down even his scales. And in the same way he was able to achieve it.

Spike opened his eyes to try to observe something around him, and it was almost as if he hadn't. He could vaguely see the silhouette of himself as he raised his claws in front of him in an attempt to get some light. But his eyes only needed to accommodate the darkness. A few seconds later he could see better and glimpse the place where he was. Although it was not much.

He crawled and touched the wall to his left with a claw. Its texture was smooth, similar to that of any cavern he had visited before, although perhaps also with some roughness that alternated with that smoothness.

Spike managed to get up completely and began to follow with his hand, and without taking it off, the path of the wall in the darkness. Everything seemed to be normal until he suddenly heard an unpleasant hiss in front of him. Spike turned quickly, but when his claw accidentally slipped in that direction, a quick snap pulled it back.

He also took a step back as he gritted his teeth and covered the claw that had collided with the invisible force field. It hurt, but he quickly verified that he had not hurt himself because of it. He had only given the impression that an electric current had whipped him when he got too close. Most likely, it was there to prevent him from escaping.

Spike moved a little farther away while holding his arm away from the discomfort. And just at that moment, an emotion that he had guarded for a long time began to resurface without warning. Because he already knew fear, and what it meant to be trapped with no apparent way out.

He soon realized that he was not alone.

It appeared suddenly, without previous indications. Spike had directed his gaze to a specific point on the side of the entrance to his confinement. His eyes had closed for a second, in the blink of an eye. But when he opened them again he saw that pair of red lights, behind the black darkness with a vague face shape that contained them.

He took a step back immediately, frightened but at the same time too confused. Seconds later he watched with intrigue as the body of the creature in front of him began to take on a more solid, tall and long-limbed shape. It almost looked like a...

Suddenly a low noise began to settle in his ears, but it soon changed. For every second that passed, the sound increased in frequency from a high-pitched tone to a constant annoyance that pierced his ears.

Spike covered both ears with his claws, but the sensation left by the tone of the annoying noise was not easy to diminish. Not even doing that. He had no choice but to sit down as best he could, bow his head and close his eyes, perhaps in the vague hope that it would eventually leave.

So loud had the noise from that creature sounded, because he was quite sure that the thing produced it, that covering his ears was practically useless. Because of that, his head began to ache and nausea threatened to appear once again.

But in the end all that stopped suddenly, to his great relief.

Spike opened his eyes again as the noise ceased and the discomfort in his head slowly disappeared. When he was finally sure that it was gone, he raised his head again, this time carefully. But as soon as he did, the murmurs around him began to be heard. The contained whispers of several voices that could be heard near and far away. Voices that he could not understand what they were saying. But it did make him realize something he couldn't have foreseen before.

At first he saw nothing, the darkness of the cave had taken over his vision again. However, that was not what was actually happening. It only took a few seconds for his eyes to focus again. But what he saw caused him to recoil again with fear growing in his eyes.

The sea of shadows that had merged in front of him suddenly separated into a small crowd of independent shapes, smaller and thinner, but still rather more solid than before. That's when Spike felt familiar in some ways.

"Almost... they seem..."

"Huh?" Spike interrupted his thought and shook his head in confusion, perhaps from the sudden hiss he managed to catch.

He didn't pay attention to it. The thing was that the creatures that had taken him away were right there in front of him, just a few steps and a containment camp away. And yet that was something Spike couldn't ignore, especially now that the last image he had of Twilight as she tried to avoid being taken away was still very fresh in his mind.

It didn't matter anymore. Fear was still there, but the fury of being forcibly taken away from her was beginning to take over. And it was because of that that he got up and gritted his teeth as he approached the entrance of his cell with every intention of facing them. It didn't matter if they listened to him or not.

But he could not arrive. Something stopped him a few steps away from them and forced him to close his muzzle. Next, Spike had to witness the strangest thing that touched him at that moment.

The shadow creatures began to mutter, but it wasn't a low, ordinary murmur. It almost seemed like breathy shrieks that none of them seemed to be able to control. And to top it off, he could understand what they were saying in his own language, only he couldn't understand the context of what they were saying, or rather they were babbling.

But in the midst of all that confusion, Spike was able to catch a word that somehow piqued his interest when he heard them mumbling and cursing about it.

He had a hunch that they weren't happy at all with whatever that was. And although he might not care too much at the time, he still couldn't help but ask himself a question from the back of his mind when they disappeared from his sight.

"Who are those beings whom those shadows called umbrums."

The thick fog that had taken over her brain ended up receding little by little, while it took with it the bad dream that she had undoubtedly had. She didn't remember the details anymore, but she knew very well that it was related to the last thing that happened.

Twilight opened her eyes and looked a little confused about the fact that her coat wasn't in contact with the ground. Her cloak had been placed over it in a way that kept her away from the earth and at the same time covered her from the environment. Out of the corner of her eye she could tell that although it was not long before dawn, darkness was still quite present in that part of the forest.

She rose, sitting still with a bit of difficulty as she tried to control the sudden nausea, dizziness, and headache that had been left with her as a result of her latest grief. It was something complicated to do but at least she managed not to return the little she had had for dinner a few hours ago.

"You finally woke up," said a deep voice caught in the direction of her left ear. The voice of somepony very difficult to match.

Twilight looked up to meet the scarlet-eyed stallion. She couldn't help but notice the slight trace of tiredness within them, even though he knew very well how to hide it.

"Sombra...," she replied in a low tone. "What...? What happened to me?"

"You fainted, again," he replied after a few seconds. "You must know that you have been like this for about an hour."

With that, Twilight looked away and directed it at her hooves while her gawking mind still finished waking. She sighed and without raising her head, asked again what she wanted to know. Although deep down she didn't want to know the answer.

"Spike...?" She said with a slight sideways glance.

Sombra slowly denied, and along with that left Twilight with the horrible certainty she already feared. And although she tried to make her voice fill with determination in the next thing she said, she unconsciously couldn't help but embrace her own cloak in an attempt to find some comfort.

"No... no, well, I guess all is not lost..." she tried to say. "Perhaps... maybe we can go after them and so on..."

"I wouldn't advise you," Sombra interrupted, then let out a light sigh. "You wouldn't be that fast, not even flying. And they would already be a good distance from us."

"How do you know?" she asked as she looked up. "Please, Sombra... Tell me everything you know about those things that attacked us."

"I'll tell you, as soon as I'm sure you won't run after your friend to 'save' him, when in any case it might end up worse."

The face Twilight showed when she looked in his direction was one of surprise, perhaps also of disappointment. But something deeper and more negative was beginning to be born inside her and she could no longer help it. Anger was already growing inside her and she had to let it out.

"How do you want me not to do it!?" She exclaimed suddenly in a cry. "Spike is with... with whatever those things are. You don't understand it, but I... I just can't leave it like that!"

"Maybe I don't understand, but that doesn't mean I can't tell when a situation is favorable or not," Sombra said in a calm tone. "And this one isn't, simple as that."

Although Sombra's words did not completely quell the bubbling anger inside the alicorn, at least it made her think. And Twilight's thoughts, like her emotions, were a mess that even she didn't want to unravel. She just wanted it all to end.

Little by little the feeling that clouded her mind faded away, slower than when it arrived. All that remained in her was the impotent emptiness that she could not help but feel and that threatened to overflow her. And that's what ended up happening.

The lump in her throat tightened even tighter. So much so that Twilight couldn't take it anymore and eventually let the tears slowly fall down her cheeks.

All that had simply overtaken her and she needed to let it out. She didn't even care that Sombra was only three feet away and was watching her. She didn't want to care anymore.

And yet, as she continued to be consumed by her own sadness, she could not imagine that her eventual consolation would come with a touch on her side from who she least expected. She only realized that Sombra had left his hoof near her left flank, perhaps in an attempt to prevent her from becoming even more exalted. Surely he just wanted her to finish as soon as possible.

However, at the time Twilight didn't care about his motives. She just wanted a little support. And although she was partly not wrong in thinking that he wanted her to stop as soon as possible, Sombra also had other facts in his mind that at that moment he did not care to understand, perhaps because he did not understand them.

But not everything was turning out as planned.

The feelings and emotions within Twilight continued in the same way, scrambled and messy. So far from stopping, her tears simply continued on its slow and exhausting journey. Until something in her actions changed again. Maybe it was just instinct, but something in her was looking for more than just a touch, that alone wasn't enough to ease everything she felt.

Because of that, Twilight turned her head and lowered it until she was lying on one of Sombra's limbs, her face hidden in his direction. She could feel how he tensed up at her sudden movement, and deep down she was grateful that he had not ended up pushing her away abruptly. She really appreciated that he tolerated it even if he had not expected it at any time.

At this action on the part of the princess, Sombra could only sigh deeply and wait for her to calm down. If he was already there, at least he was supposed to do something.

Twilight stayed like this for several more minutes, until finally her crying began to stop along with her tears. Slowly she parted her head from Sombra's limb, while she had only a slight, fleeting thought about how comfortable his coat had felt.

After noticing that her bag was still on her side, Twilight opened it with her magic and quickly pulled out a tissue to wipe away the furrow of tears left on her cheeks. All that time she didn't dare to look at Sombra again. Maybe because she was partly embarrassed.

"Already... I'm better now," she finished saying.

At this Sombra looked at her and gave a slight nod to her answer. Twilight sighed and stared back at him.

"Thank you, really," she said as she left a grateful hoof on her own chest.

Sombra turned his head in her direction again, and only shrugged his shoulders at last.

"I figured I should. Isn't that what "friends" do?" he replied calmly, not without a certain sarcasm, while he looked again at some unimportant point in front of them.

Twilight immediately opened her eyes a little wider due to the surprise that his unexpected answer left her. However, she once again lowered her head to look at her hooves as a small smile began to form on her face.

"Yes... I guess you're right," she concluded after that, letting out a gentle exhale to herself.

Circumstances may not have improved yet, but Twilight was deep down satisfied that he at least understood that little aspect. Obviously there was the fact that she there were still quite a few things to show him, but perhaps the latter could be taken as some kind of advance.

"And now what have you?"

"W-what?" Twilight was surprised and looked at him at his sudden question, though more so because of the exasperated tone in which he uttered it.

"Until a moment ago you were crying... And now you smile?" exclaimed Sombra as if making some kind of observation. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Twilight could only blink quickly after hearing that, while she gave a slight tilt of her head in her slight confusion. Although it only took a few seconds for her to compose herself in understanding what he had meant. In the end she ended up letting out a little laugh, which had the other effect of making her feel good about herself.

"I... I'm sorry," Twilight exclaimed, but she couldn't contain the snort of laughter that escaped her. Sombra narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Only I can feel a little better now, and it's partly because of what you did."

"Yeah, you don't need to thank me and remember it all the time," Sombra pointed out as he got up from his place and rearranged his cloak.

His hooves clattered slightly against the ground as he moved a little farther away from her. Twilight sighed as she looked for a better way to convey what she thought, so she didn't spend too much time on it.

"I'm just trying to say that I'm happy to at least be able to count on your support," Twilight replied in a calm smile as she left both hooves on her chest.

Sombra stopped in his walk, even though he didn't turn around. Instead, he closed his eyes and made a slight gesture of denial to himself. He thought maybe it was time to stop underestimating her.

"As you say," was all he said.

Twilight gave another short, low-key smile as she got up and walked to meet him. During that moment she also adjusted the cloak and the bag that was still with her. She partly regretted that the other things had been lost, but at least she knew that it was nothing so important that it was not in hers. Although that sorrow was still with her.

Twilight shook her head to clear herself after spending those seconds in ruminations that her mind had given way to. Once again she resumed her journey to where the unicorn was waiting for her.

Sombra sensed her presence but did not turn in her direction. Instead, he waited for her to stand next to him and approach him with the impending question that he somehow knew was on her mind.

"You probably already imagined I was going to ask this, but I still need to," Twilight sat down across from him. "Can I finally know what those things were?"

This time, Sombra resigned himself and also sat across from her while letting out a long sigh. If he was going to tell her about the things that his mind still remembered, he would do it from a position comfortable for him.

"That thing that attacked us is as simple as what your eyes saw. Shadow creatures that were created without any intention when the remnants of the magic that made and permeated this place, were widely scattered in all directions. Until eventually it gathered at a single point," He ended his explanation with a slight tilt of his head. "I suppose that answers your question, at least in part."

Twilight nodded regardless, he was right. So because of that, she was able to relate a part of what she had found out in the cave with what had happened now. She thought that if large amounts of magic had been used during the process of creating that place, it was not so strange that in the end a part of it had seeped into the confines of that land.

But what or who had created that place? Twilight knew it was best to leave that question for later.

"The truth is that it is. Thank you," Twilight said and left a hoof on her chest. "But... Why? What was their intention in setting this ambush for us?

"That's something that escapes my comprehension," said Sombra as he closed his eyes.

Something in that answer didn't quite convince Twilight. Somehow she remembered a very interesting fact that she had forgotten with all that mess, arrived in the answer to one of the questions she had raised in that cave, and even in the suspicion generated by the fact that the previous creatures attacked at the least expected moment.

So Twilight let a suspicious look on her face roll as her gaze turned to him again.

"Sombra, there's something you're not telling me at all," she said in an undoubted affirmation.

He opened his eyes and frowned in a look of slight annoyance.

"I honestly don't know why you think that."

At his answer Twilight could only let out a sigh in which perhaps she sought to try to calm herself. Then the objective was to try to make him willing to say what was necessary.

"Sombra, you know I want to trust you, but more importantly I want you to trust me too," she said. Since she was looking him straight in the eye this time, she could tell the moment when his gaze seemed to change. "Trust is the foundation of any relationship between two ponies or creatures, I really hope you understand that."

After those words Twilight looked at him better, so she could see the moment when he let go of the hardness of his gaze a little. Sombra closed his eyes and exhaled in a half-tired gesture that did not fully reflect the mess of contradictions that was now in his head.

Although on the one hoof, his more rational side, he was reluctant to trust; on the other, something told him that perhaps it was time to show himself differently. Even though his mind stressed that it wasn't really because of everything she had done, deep down he knew what the truth was. He just needed to admit it.

So in the end, only the fact of giving her the benefit of the doubt prevailed.

"I can only guess that," he said, making a slow gesture of shaking his head. "You know? I've never had somepony... who to really trust." Before Twilight could say anything about that, Sombra beat her to it. "And yet I can understand what you meant, besides all that you have done so far."

When Sombra finished saying that, Twilight looked at him carefully and nodded her head while another smile appeared on her face. This time a bit wider than the previous ones.

"That's a good thing, after all," she muttered to herself.

Sombra opened his eyes again upon hearing that, only to meet hers directly. Maybe it wouldn't have been his intention, but the fact that he stared at her so suddenly made Twilight a little uncomfortable. Enough for her to hide her throat a little and turn her head in another direction, perhaps with the intention of being more distracted.

Sombra did not let that action pass, so instead he said again the words of the subject that concerned both of them. After all, that was not going to solve itself.

"I can suppose that, from all that has happened lately, it can have been only one thing that drew them to this place and to us."

"Yes, I really had a suspicion about that," Twilight said, lowering her head and putting a hoof on her chin. "It's just that I don't like the idea. You know? I may not have told you yet about the answers I found in that place, but there was one that I couldn't help but relate to all this..."

"Now that you say it," Sombra interrupted her suddenly. "I was hoping that at some point you would decide to tell it."

"Well, you know perfectly well why I couldn't do it," she replied in a tone, despite everything while letting out a snort of slight annoyance. "And now what I want to say is that... I've been thinking that there's a way that maybe they've been able to track us."

The atmosphere around them was completely still, silent, while Twilight prepared in her mind to let go of what she thought. A second earlier she glanced at Sombra out of the corner of her eye, perhaps intending to register his current reaction more closely. However, he was stoic. Anypony who didn't know might even admit that he wouldn't be able to feel anything. But Twilight wasn't sure about it, so she gave herself a quick sigh.

"Deep down, I don't want you to think that I'm accusing you of this, when perhaps you weren't even aware of what could happen..."

"I don't think there's any need to beat around the bush, princess," he exclaimed with a hint of irritation. "I guess you're saying that it's my own magic that's been attracting all those creatures, right?"

Although Twilight was expecting it somehow, she still couldn't help but make a surprised face at the quick deduction Sombra had made. Although she regained her composure after that fact.

"Actually, I do," she whispered with a certain and sudden shyness. "And from what I see, you also imagined it if you..."

Perhaps she had hoped that the same thing would not happen this time, however once again she was interrupted, but this time by a quick hoof that the stallion had raised so that she would not continue.

"I didn't imagine it, princess," Sombra replied simply and before the slight confused look she gave him, he continued with what he was going to say. "I knew it."

Twilight took a few moments to analyze Sombra's recent words and be sure of what he had actually said. Then she closed her eyes and began to speak again, in a low tone.

"Are you trying to tell me that all this time you knew... And you didn't even tell us?" she asked, trying to be as calm and focused as possible. At last she let out another sigh. "Please, Sombra, I want to know why."

Despite her annoyance that he had withheld such important information from her, Twilight was willing to give him a chance to explain it. Sombra only looked at her for a brief moment.

"I just wasn't entirely sure about it," he said without the expression of his eyes changing. "At first, I couldn't have imagined that my own dark magic would be the one to cause all this. It was assumed that not enough had yet regenerated to cause any kind of effect."

"I mean, do you say what happened later when you realized that?"

He nodded to her question.

"That doesn't quite add up, though," Sombra continued, even though Twilight's gaze demanded an explanation for what he had said. "Magic was never, not even black magic, the main source by which they had been attracted..."

After that he fell silent, with a somewhat thoughtful expression on his face. Although Twilight expected her to continue, so she forced herself to continue.

"And you don't know what that main reason could be?" She asked while making a gesture with her hoof.

"I don't know," Sombra replied in a flat tone, shaking slightly as he closed his eyes.

Twilight took another breath and let it be. Although this time she did not insist on trying to get him to continue, she sensed that there were still things to be said. But she knew that this was not the best time to press him for an answer. So at least, for now, she was satisfied with the fact that he mentioned it.

However, another very important topic was pressing inside her mind to be addressed. And this one could not wait.

"You can imagine I need your help, again," Twilight said suddenly as he opened his eyes and looked in her direction. "So even if you don't want to, I'm willing to go by myself... And rescue Spike from wherever he was taken," she let out a sigh again. "But I really need more information, and that includes at least knowing whether or not he's in danger right now."

The atmosphere around her had gone silent while Twilight waited for Sombra to answer her; and yet the dawn began to clear everything. A few minutes passed in which the stallion did not look at her, but simply seemed to pay attention to a point beyond them.

"Sombra?"

And when she thought he wasn't going to speak to her, he finally spoke.

"I just remembered," he said, shaking his head slightly, and then looking at her. "With respect to what you asked, your friend is in a dangerous situation, it's true; but he's not going to suffer damage for now."

"What do you mean?" asked Twilight, with an expression of undoubted concern in her.

Although the mare's face had a look of doubts that needed to be clarified urgently reflected in it, Sombra was silent for a few seconds before answering.

"Those creatures, which by the way don't have a real name in this language, have a peculiar source as well as an unusual way of getting their energy," he began to say as Twilight listened. "Their victims are beings who are easily accessed through fear or nightmares that they themselves can induce, because this is how they usually feed. As you may have already suspected, on this site the only resource they can use are the habitants themselves; the descendants of ancient ponies who came here and were trapped with no real possibility for them to get out. Of course there were those who have tried to do it and did not succeed."

Sombra fell silent again, while Twilight processed his words. She didn't spend too much time on it. She just raised her head in his direction and nodded to him, while she was silent again.

At this, Sombra looked at her strangely.

"Is that it? Aren't you going to ask me?"

Twilight tilted her head slightly as she looked at the stallion's slight arched eyebrow. She couldn't help but find this reaction a bit pleasant.

"Well, yes, I actually have several questions," she admitted. "But there's one that interests me the most..." she said while her brow furrowed slightly in a worried expression. "You said that these creatures use the fear produced by nightmares as a way to feed themselves, however... What do they feed on, exactly?"

"The most basic and abundant form of energy found in this place," Sombra replied a few seconds later. "Technically and essentially, magic."

That last answer ended up setting off the alarms that were hidden in Twilight's mind. While the magic that permeated the environment around her was quite common, and not only in her own land, the inherent magic found within the living beings that possessed it, on the other hand, was a scarce resource by nature. And very tempting for certain beings who desired it in its greed.

What troubled her most, however, was the knowledge that it was often tied to the life force itself that allowed all who possessed it to maintain their normal and risk-free lives. So if they really drained the magic from their victims... It could only mean one thing.

She put her hooves to her mouth almost without realizing it, in recent horror when she realized what it all implied. So much so that she didn't hear when Sombra called her after he took into account the expression on her face.

"He's in danger... He... If they get to take all his magic..." Twilight only briefly noticed his call as she muttered rapidly. Her ears moved in his direction again, so in the end she ended up raising her head to meet the strange look that the stallion was giving her. "I really don't want to think about what could happen."

"Then don't think about it and concentrate on what you should do," he pointed out, his gaze hardened even more as he got up from his place.

Twilight lowered her head and couldn't help wrapping her hooves around her body to hug herself, perhaps in an attempt to give herself a little more comfort. Her gaze drifted to some point on the ground.

"It's difficult... And yet I have to," she whispered, as another question that arose in her mind waited to be uttered. Twilight looked up once more; this time she would not lower it again. "Do you have any idea how long it would take for that to happen?"

"I don't know exactly, that depends on how much magic the pony or creature in question possesses. However, the process can be quite slow," he said, and that kindled the flame of hope within her a bit. "Most commonly, they weaken little by little while consuming their magic and, therefore, their energy. As far as I can remember, the longest a pony could last before succumbing would be a month."

Twilight was really amazed at how much he knew about the aspects of that place. Despite the fact that at the same time he did not know everything. And now what interested her...

"Spike is a dragon, his magic reserve may be a bit more extensive than that of an average pony," she said as she left a hoof on her chin. "If all that is so..." she let out a sigh. "I hope I have a chance to find him before it's too late."

Twilight suddenly took a much longer look at him with a look full of decision.

"And you're going to help me," she announced as she got up from the site and gathered her things.

"It seems that that's really the only option I have," Sombra replied in a flat tone, almost devoid of any kind of emotion.

However, his thoughts were different.

"I suppose it was time to settle scores, inevitably."

"Actually, yes," Twilight confirmed. "Ignoring the fact that you need me to get out of here, and that I'm not going to take a step unless it's in the direction Spike is, you're also the only pony who might know his location."

"It may be...," Sombra conceded, moving closer until he was in front of her. "Although for that you must follow me and trust me," he lowered his head more and asked, with a certain tone of mockery. "Are you willing to do it, princess?"

"Absolutely," Twilight replied as she nodded her own, without taking her eyes off his eyes for a second.

Their gazes faced each other for a few more seconds, purple contrasting with red.

She had a goal in mind that she wasn't going to back down from, no matter what she had to do. The fire of her determination was reflected in her eyes once more, and she knew that she was going to do whatever it took to bring her little dragon back with her. And not even that stallion could prevent her from doing so.

Then, without even expecting it, he smiled. Sombra closed his eyes, rising again to his full imposing height as Twilight followed him with her gaze. Once more, he opened them, and let her catch up with his renewed trot in a new return of the road.

Meanwhile, Twilight thought something had changed. And she had the feeling that it was for the best.

Author's Note

I hope you enjoyed it.