Redemption's Shadow

Ponyville - Blue's House

As quickly as they fell asleep, the morning sun would rise, as Blue had already gotten himself up and prepared for the trip to Canterlot. Grabbing the necessary things he needed he would be in the kitchen making himself a small breakfast while he waited for Sombra, who at this point had also woken up descending the stairs, tugging on the collar of his shirt.

"...would you be so kind to fry up a steak for me? Last evening, as wonderful as it was, wasn't... sating my appetite." The stallion, though dressed neatly, was bleary-eyed and tired. He loathed waking early. And if he could, he would have crawled back to bed.

Blue nodded "Yep, I already have one cooking up." He said "Though if you prefer something uh...raw? I have more in the freezer."

"...Thank you, Blue."

Blue smiled as he finished making his own food, a rather quick one of Toast and Eggs, with a side of some other fruits and stuff while Sombra moved away, digging into the freezer with a slight frown. He wondered if he could have an audience alone with Celestia, once they were there. That would be something for him to find out on his own accord. Sombra returned a little later, preferring to eat alone today, deep in thought.

"Are you ready to head out?"

"Yep, let's go" He said, walking over to the door.

Sombra responded in kind, and walks out of the door after him. The two of them would make the trip to the Ponyville Train Station...admittedly it wasn't Sombra's favorite place, that bright pink train was enough to give him an eye soar. However he trudged through it and boarded the train to get to a secluded cabin. For the first 30 minutes or so, Sombra says nothing, until suddenly leaning forward ever so slightly:

"Blue, can I ask you a question?"

"Yea?" He asked, looking at him. Blue had grabbed a book from the house and opted to read while they where on the ride there, the stallion setting the book down as he heard Sombra speak.

"...If you could change your race into something else... would you?"

Blue hummed for a moment "That's a good question actually...I've always been curious what it was like to use Magic as a Unicorn personally...or what it would be like to be a Kirin"

Sombra nodded: "Sometimes, I do wonder what it would be like to really be a pony. I wonder if it would feel different."

"Hm...I wish I could help explain it in all honesty but I don't know what its like to be an Umbrum Pony Hybrid..." Blue said, the stallion then giving him a re-assuring look "But...I like you the way you are now...pony or not.."

Sombra averted his gaze, blushing with a gruntled look: "You're being syrupy. I order you to stop it."

Blue chuckled softly at that "Sorry your highness, but I don't take orders from ya" He said, making sure that Sombra knew it was a joke and not a mock.

"Mnh...back in my time talking back to a royal like that would be cause for sever punishment..." He huffed "Culture has...changed since I was last fully here..."

"I think a lot of things ended with the old culture with The Nightmare Night" Blue said humming softly.

Sombra raised a brow with a questioning look: "It wasn't so much for fun... Well, yes and no... There was always festivals and such to keep you entertained, but... There were a lot more monsters and wild areas in the past. Foals just...didn't necessarily survive for long. If anything, Crystal Empire had some of the highest chances of foals living to adulthood, due to the Crystal Heart. That is...if you could reach the empire and not expire before getting there." Sombra frowned a little and took a pause, looking more confused: "...Nightmare...night?"

"Yea, technically I should say Summer Sun Celebration, because Nightmare Night is a bit different...but regardless after the day Celestia banished Luna to the moon the culture had changed significantly, with her having to rule on her own for over 1000 Years. I mean it really says something when no pony even knew Celestia had a sister by the time she came back" Blue said.

"Or of the empire even existing or...me existing." Sombra's face changed a bit: "...I hate to give her credit, but she is good at condemning a person's memory."

"Well I mean, Celestia had no choice with Luna, id even say she posed a slight bigger threat then you did" He said.

Sombra narrowed his eyes with a growl: "You're pushing it, but... not necessarily entirely... wrong. Just a small, tiny kernel of truth."

"Are you not aware with what happened with Luna?" Blue asked, tilting his head slightly.

"No? I was under the ice for a thousand years, and a bit...otherwise focused afterwards. And it is not like Luna would reveal something like that to me, considering my magic could... well, I can already spin a few ways to make her absolutely suffer with that information..." Sombra waved his hooves nonchalantly: "... such a weakness to exploit... Wise of her to not tell."

"Well...this happened shortly after you were banished under the ice." Blue said, explaining the situation "Luna had become jealous of Celestia, due to the fact everypony seemed to enjoy the daytime rather than the night. Luna never got any kind of recognition for her duties as Princess of the Night, and then one day she snapped. Using the most powerful dark magic curse in existence, she cursed herself. Turning into a powerful being called Nightmare Moon. She then raised the moon and refused to lower it, claiming that the night would last forever, casting Equestria into eternal darkness. She even created her own army by corrupting the Bat Ponies." Blue said "Celestia and Luna fought a huge battle which destroyed there castle entirely, and left Celestia extremely hurt, giving her no other choice but to use the Elements of Harmony to banish her to the moon for 1000 Years"

Sombra was silent for a moment, his shoulders shaking. Blue saw the stallion begin to laugh, leaning back: "Hhaaahhhahahahahaahah...haahh...I am starting to see Celestia enjoys some dark humor herself then. She casts her moon controlling sister to the moon, me under the tundra from where I came from, roughly. Discord was a statue in their garden, getting all the attention he wanted... Cruel irony."

"Actually I never even thought about that" Blue said, chuckling softly "You make a point there, I suppose she does have a very cruel sense of irony" He said "But yea...after Luna was banished Celestia ruled for over 1000 years, with the Summer Sun Celebration then being created, marking the exact day which Luna was defeated" Blue went quiet for a moment tapping his chin "Actually now that I think about it a lot of our holidays where created when villains where defeated..."

"...I am...ever so happy she decided not to make a festival of my defeat." Sombra's laughter died down: "...it was...maddening thousand years, trapped in a small cavern alone, counting the seconds knowing you cannot die, cannot get free, cannot end your suffering. Start hearing things, seeing things...and the hunger...The nonending hunger I thought I would never have to experience again..."

Blue saw the stallion withdraw, teeth grit: "...and when I got out, I couldn't...I couldn't control myself, couldn't word anything, it was like I was mute again.." The stallion was breathing faster, eyes mere pinpricks and his ears pinned down as he remembered his punishment. Blue could feel the stallion start shaking violently.

Blue would recognize this immediately, the stallion seeing the physical toll that was being put onto the stallion in front of him, Blue wasn't exactly trained for this type of situation, he knew some things from books and other things but he didn't know if they would work 100% of the time. The best thing he could do was think in his mind, he knew one thing that could work so he went for it, the stallion suddenly grabbing Sombra, wrapping his good wing around him in a warm blanket, as well as pressing his entire body on him. Blue blushed ever so softly as he kept him in a warm, tight hug.

Sombra's breathing was irregular, in high, desperate gasps, he wanted to bolt, to just transform into a shadow and disappear...He needed to think, but thinking wasn't happening, he couldn't plan, couldn't anticipate, couldn't---
It took him a moment to even notice the wing around him, or the way Blue's heart beat, but slowly its rhythm was guiding him, calming him. Slowly his breathing calmed and while he still felt nauseated and like he was stuck, his body was slowly getting over his adrenaline rush.

"Its ok..." He said, softly holding him "I'm here..." He softly spoke, using his hoof to rub Sombra's back, the stallion being gentle with his movements as he just continued to hold him "Your safe..."

Sombra didn't answer, focusing on his breathing. It took well over ten minutes for the stallion to slow to a state of... alright enough. He leaned to Blue, looking exhausted: "...I... hope you do not mind that I'm... damaged."

"...we are both damaged in our own ways Sombra...and despite that, I still care about you..." He said softly.

The stallion smiles faintly, and leans against the pegasus. "Thank you."

Canterlot

By the time they arrived in Canterlot it was around 11am, the castle wasn't too far of a trot from the station, as both of them where the oldest buildings in the city. As they walked, ponies would look upon Sombra, not use to seeing a once mad tyrant roaming the streets so casually. Blue wasn't in armor of corse, as this was somewhat of a mix between casual and business. Eventually they would reach the castle, once they entered, some guards would notice. They knew Blue of course, so they trusted him. Granted they gave him and Sombra looks for well...the fact it was Sombra, but they didn't speak or say anything. They would then reach the throne room of the courtroom waiting outside the doors.

Sombra took a deep breath, and stepped forward: "...well, at least it isn't a sentencing."

"Hay, I'm sure things will be ok" He said "The princess's will understand our situation once we explain ourselves." Blue said, Sombra nodded softly and the two made their way into the door, and before them where Celestia and Luna.

Sombra wore a neutral face, but chose to take a step forward and speak first, manners be damned: "... I assume you are aware of yesterday's news?"

If Celestia was annoyed by Sombra's brazen disrespect, it was hardly visible in anything other than a slight over-straightening of her back. In face, she wore her usual calm smile, and the wise, motherly disposition she was known for. Luna stood to the side; more defensive and rigid in her posture, her ears high up in alert.

"We did, yes." Celestia's voice was calm, measuredly so. Sombra narrowed his eyes. It was hard to read what Celestia actually thought, thousand years of masking of her true emotions was indeed formidable. But she was not above a little jab:
"Have you grown careless?"

Sombra's muzzle scrunched in displeasure. There was a tension there, and one that felt almost suffocating to Luna and Blue. The kind of tension that, if it snapped, would result in somepony thrown out of the window.

Sombra opted to not answer.

"With respect ma'am, Sombra has not grown careless, he has shown to me that he is a very well thought out pony who thinks before he acts" Blue said, the stallion stepping forward. "We...where both caught off guard by the tabloid, this wasn't just his fault, as his protector and guardian I should have been more aware of the surrounding's."

Celestia smiled with a slightly more genuine warmth at Blue. Now it was Luna's turn to respond: "What do you intend to do about this?"

"...Hm...I think we should stay in Canterlot for a few days, but the article itself... removing it is out of the question and far too late. I expected some rabble rousing but I expected Ponyville to react, not Canterlot newspapers. It doesn't really make sense why this city's journalists would tail me first, unless they've been doing it for a long time." Sombra tapped his hoof to his chin, going through the possibilities.

"Staying in Canterlot is a bold move...I would imagine going back to Ponyville would be a wiser decision no?" Luna spoke up.

"We both came to an agreement we would not let some report scare us away. If anything we want to flush him out...I wanna know who gave them the right to breach our privacy." Blue said sternly.

"That is... I assume none of you four are behind this?" Again, Sombra seemed to give a rat's ass about talking casually to the nobility in front of him, but instead of hostility.

Celestia shook her head "No, neither of us, Cadence or Twilight are in the habit of employing spies. If I remember right, you preferred a vast spy-network on occasion, not us.." Celestia decided it best to stay hush-hush about Twilight's occasional foray into studying ponies at range.

Sombra shrugged: "...'tis efficient. And for the record, Winter Veil served me well even if she defected in the end."

Blue cleared his throat "Regardless of who did who and what. At the end of the day Sombra does bring up a valid point. There is somepony clearly trying to get a story of some kind out of Sombra to publish." Blue said* "I personally believe that this could hinder not only my job as Sombras protector but also in Sombras own reformation and safety." He said, the stallion remaining professional "And...that is why myself and Sombra had came...to explain ourselves about the article and what actually happened."

Celestia cocked her head to the side, curious but smiling; she didn't fault the pegasus for falling for Sombra, after all the stallion was ruggedly handsome, and possessed a certain charm that, in another world Celestia had fallen for herself. And yet, Blue remained professional. "And what did happen in your own words, Blue?"

"As you know, my job As Sombras protector and therapist requires me to get to know Sombra, however it was becoming increasingly difficult to only keep Sombra within the confides of my home. If we are to truly undergo a reform of him I thought it wise to have him venture into the outside world, to allow him to get familiar with modern day and what it was like. So I took him out to dinner at a local restaurant. Shortly after we went on a nice walk through the park. Sombra kissing me was in his own words, a way of thanking me for the meal and chance to do something other then be in my home" He said, the stallion carefully choosing his words.

Luna raised a brow with a questioning look: "Are you not in a relationship, then?"

Sombra glanced at Blue, considering Luna's question before Blue spoke up "There...there is no relationship no..." He said, the stallion next to him looking slightly off put at the comment, yet...Blue's own feelings felt...off about what he just said.

Celestia chose to not comment: "Let's hope the media finds something else to glamor about. The upcoming Grand Galloping Gala should keep them busy at least for a week, two if I manage to persuade Luna to wear the dress I bought her."

Luna's nose scrunched: "...'tis because it is hideous, sister."

"Yes it is true that myself and Sombra have gotten close, Id even consider him a good friend" Blue said, letting his guard down slightly yet smiling to Sombra "However I'd like to emphasize that this has not in any way effected my job or duties ma'am. I take my job seriously and I won't let these new things effect it, and I think that Sombra also knows and respects that as well."

"Yes, you are annoyingly serious at times, it is true." Sombra smirked.

"Well... I suppose this settles it for a while, I think... though there is something I would wish to discuss with you in private, Celestia." Sombra straightened his back, a slight frown on his face. "It is a private matter, one that doesn't require attention of Princess Luna or Blue."

Celestia stood up and nodded: "Walk with me to the parlor, then." Sombra nodded and followed the tall alicorn to a room at the side of the throne room, with guards visibly tensing nearby.

Celestia's wing twitched in unconscious alert, but it didn't reflect in her voice: "...what bothers you, Sombra?"

Sombra thought for a moment: "...I was wondering if... if you could transform me fully into a pony. I know a spell exists capable of it, but its duration is limited."

Celestia stopped, turning her head abruptly enough that even Sombra took a step backward out of sheer surprise: "Why would you want that?"

Sombra frowned, his ears flat and a growl died on his lips: "... I'm half Umbrum, reforming me is...difficult." When Celestia didn't answer, Sombra explained "Because the way I eat is unpleasant at best and at worst...dangerous, I wager. First; I eat fear, meaning it means either terrorizing your little ponies, or chasing animals like a rapid dog. One would get me imprisoned, the other incarcerated in a bedlam house. It's...not particularly pleasant for me either. I have to be careful to not overfeed, Tartarus damn it, I have to worry about going hungry. Second; If I were to take an extreme approach and starve myself because...reasons, I would eventually give in and...it's not something I can repeat again."

Celestia looked surprised, she hadn't expected the stallion to be so forthcoming: "...There is a spell, and I could, yes. But there is a cost, unfortunately. Your mental health would suffer from a body that it doesn't recognize, or want." The mare took a deep breath and carefully unfurled a wing around Sombra, they may have been bitter enemies once, and seeing his face still gave her pain, but even then she didn't enjoy the implications the stallion didn't say. But it was true what Sombra said, an umbrum was rather difficult to integrate into society of creatures that didn't exactly appreciate being terrified on a nightly basis.

"We'll figure something out. But...this is a big thing to ask, and I cannot just...whip up a spell on a whim. You said you were going to stay in Canterlot for a few days? How about I cast the temporary one on you for a the few days as...as a trial run? And if you're satisfied, we can turn it permanent? But only, absolutely only if you are truly satisfied."

Sombra frowned but nodded: "...I expected something of the sort. Do it."

With some hesitation, the mare aimed her horn on Sombra, focusing: "...I could make you a unicorn, but I don't know what that would do to your magic, are you really certain..."

"Just blast me already, you didn't have this much trouble 1000 years back."

Celestia frowned more: "...just for that I should make you an earth pony."

"Do it and I will shove my hoof so far up under your-OW!!" The stallion yelped as he was suddenly blasted by a thin yellow magic beam, "That hurt you bloody old nag!"

"Well, how do you feel?"

"... I feel... nothing? Did it work?" Sombra asked

Celestia nodded: "Inwardly, yes, outwardly, you're still you."

"Fangs and all?"

"Fangs and all."

Meanwhile Blue was with Luna, discussing some of Ponyville's night time activities. Explaining to her some of the things he had seen from not only the citizens but also active Night Guards on duty as well. He had taken some notes from the recent guard station updates and figured he'd give them to Luna so she could process them. Alas even the General had to do paperwork every now and then. Blue heard the door open, seeing Sombra and Celestia step out, nothing seeming to have happened.

"Everything alright?" Blue asked as the two of them approached.

"Mmhm, just asked for advice." Sombra nodded, but couldn't resist: "She's an old enough bint that her advice occasionally merits listening to."

Celestia snorted with a surprised and slightly annoyed manner.

Blue sighed slightly "Right...well I believe I know of a place where me and Sombra can stay a few nights. I will send a night guardsman to inform you of the location once we get settled in" Blue said, looking to Luna.

Luna nodded and the two took their leave, with Sombra quietly admitting to the pegasus: "... Thank you for waiting. Now... where are you taking me?"

"I know a nice hotel near the castle that has a very nice view of the cliffside" Blue said smiling "I think it would be a very nice place do you not think?" he asked.

"Sounds like it... and I assume they're discreet?"

"Lets just say, my position as the Night General grants me some benefits" He said, giving Sombra a slight devilish look.

"Ahh..." the stallion snickered back: "What sort of cheap love nest are you taking me into~?" The stallion teased him, "Sneaked in like a prostitute."

Blue let out a fake gasp "Me? bring in a prostitude, why I never" He said, putting a hoof over his forehead in a dramatic pose, both stallions letting out a laugh "Don't worry its not a cheep love nest, its actually pretty nice."

"What sort of benefits does the Night guard employ, hmm?" the stallion teased, tail brushing just a bit too high on Blue's leg to be an accident, a bold move on Sombra's part, which promptly cause Blue to flinch, and blush a bit, but Blue didn't bring it up. "Mainly that I can make them be silent on who checks in, I've had to go undercover more then a few times before."

Sombra was silent for a moment, imagining Blue undercover. Imagining the stallion as a gangster or a hooker was indeed amusing, the stallion snickered to himself, still he figured that Blue knew what he was talking about as he lead them through the streets of Canterlot and too the Hotel.