Redemption's Shadow

Yellowjacket's Mansion

Yellowjacket's mansion was at a premium spot in Canterlot, which made its luxurious and immaculately maintained lawn and gardens an even clearer statement of wealth and power. The manor’s facade, columns and pillars were all made of flawless marble, carved in traditional Roaman fashion. quite large and full of expensive things, mostly trophies and some expensive-looking decorations. It came with all of the amenities that money and magic could provide. Including an excellent selection of muffling and silencing spells, to which Yellowjacket smirked as he landed at his front door.

"Welcome home sir" Yellowjacket's butler said, the unicorn bowing in respect.

"Ahh Antique...just the butler I was looking for. Please do me a favor and get me a bottle of our finest champagne...I have yet again scored a victory for my cause."

"Then I am to assume the meeting went well?" Antique, walking alongside him.

"Incredibly so...King Sombra was like butter in my hoofs! I knew that 1000 Years without contact with any kind of pony would make him vulnerable... it's why I chose him after all."

"So then...you have him cornered then?" Antique asked, the unicorn tilting his head slightly.

"I have him backed into a corner yes" Yellowjacket said, pulling out the recording again "So long as I have this, he will do whatever I tell him to do...and I have very big plans for him..."

"Very well sir...I shall get to fetching that champagne for you, your bedroom and study have been tidied up for you as well."

"As always Antique, your perfection in cleaning continues to astound me" Yellowjacket said as he trotted up the steps, walking along his hallway with several photos of himself throughout his life, one where he was still in the bolts, another from when he first became a lawyer, and then of him becoming the Council Pony of Air...truly he had accomplished much in his life. He would proceed to swing the door open to his bedroom and walk over to his bed, sitting down.

"Finally...all is coming together" He said softly to himself "I have all the pieces in place, and victory will soon be upon this land..." He said, smirking softly, he then looked over to the dresser, seeing an old photo of a mare, himself, and another stallion whose head had been ripped from the photograph.

"If...only you were still here to see it..." He said, walking over and gently picking up the frame "You would have been so proud...seeing me accomplish what we had talked about for so long..." he said, he would then turn his head at the sound of a knock at his bedroom door.

"Sir?" Antique called out.

"Yes what is it?"

"You have two guests sir, Captian Spitfire and I believe a Royal Guard..." Antique said, the unicorn sounding rather nervous at the last part.

Yellowjacket's brows furrowed as he heard those words, groaning softly he put the photo frame down "This day is going to be a long one it seems..." He said, as he left the room Yellowjacket would begin to walk down the staircase looking rather unphased by the two ponies now infrount of him. Upon reaching the bottom of the steps he would walk up to the two of them, wings folded to his sides "Captain Spitfire, I was surprised to hear you had shown up...I didn't expect it" He said, looking to Orion as he raised his brow "And who might you be?"

"Orion Snow" He said "Captian of the Royal Guard."

"My my...two captains in one room. Not every day something like this happens" Yellowjacket said, smirking as he looked to Spitfire. “Is there something I can help you with?” he asked with a very business-like tone.

Orion would look to Spitfire, and then Spitfire would look back to Orion "Is there somewhere we can talk?" Spitfire asked.

Yellowjacket squinted slightly as he turned "Yes follow me...we can go to my study." He said, leading the two ponies around the mansion. They walked for a few moments and entered a large study with books and papers, allowing the two to enter the room first Yellowjacket would then sigh softly as he closed the door behind them...

Hay and Stay Hotel - Canterlot

"...Yellowjacket was here..." Blue asked in a low tone.

"...you know each other?" Sombra frowned, his mind -so prone to paranoia- spinning it into a malicious intent. But as much as his mind told him to leave, now, that he had been let down again, he stood firm, reasons which he didn't even know himself.

Blue looked to Sombra, and for the first time since they had known each other he saw something in Blue's eyes, something he was all to familiar with pure unadulterated...hate "What did he do" He said, his voice vile, almost like a serpent.

Sombra averted his eyes, shaking his head: "I can't."

Blue walked up to Sombra "What did he say, did he threaten you?" He asked.

Sombra frowned, anxious. He could cast a silence spell, but how did Yellowjacket find everything out? Technology must have progressed so much compared to his time, he couldn't even imagine the ways... With his lips tight, Sombra was looking down, shaking his head: "...Not here."

Blue looked to Sombra, and the older stallion could see in Blue's eyes and body language he was currently ready to snap, his wings tensed up, his eyes dialed, teeth slightly gritting. It was unlike anything Sombra had seen in Blue before "Telleport us somewhere private..."

"... I'll try." Sombra let a place filter into his mind, thinking of a place where they wouldn't be bothered, or followed into. Crystal Empire's royal treasury came to mind, but so did the about 30 traps in it, and the numerous guards and the immediate trip to the dungeons if they were caught. No, it wasn't good. Finally, he settled for a place, letting it filter into his mind, the feelings it stirred and wrangled his stomach into knots. Blue felt a warmth wrap around them, and in a blink they were gone. Blue was at first hit with the stench of an unmoving, but not as cold as he expected air. The place was dark, with only Sombra's own horn's light reflecting them in ice's surface. Surface that was littered with scratch marks, old and new. Again and again, maddened, desperate, lonely. Sombra had teleported them into his old prison.

Blue looked around for a moment before looking back to Sombra "What happened."

Sombra closed his eyes, his breathing heavy as he tried to ignore the feelings he felt: "...he...he had a... I do not know what it was called... in the tv. Of me and you, my... weakness. In the train." The stallion's voice was strained, his muscles constricted and his blood ran cold.

"...what did he ask from you" Blue said, still looking to him.

The stallion's voice was shaking: "...a favor later. I... I can't think..." Blue inhaled, then exhaled, turning around before he shouted furiously, suddenly his metal wing flung open, and his metal feathers shot out from his wing, right into the wall with a loud sound of compressed air, and then the sound of the wall getting hit. Sombra laid down, feeling the mental exhaustion."...I'm sorry... I should have done something, did something... cast something... But I...I couldn't, I couldn't think. I panicked."

"No, dont you dare blame yourself" He said, walking up to Sombra as he sat down, holding his hoof "You did nothing wrong you hear me?"

Sombra took a shaky breath, his voice choking. "I... I want to hurt him. I want to hurt him so badly and slowly and give him an agonizing end."

The stallion leaned towards Blue: "I... I fooled you. I'm not strong. I'm not... I can't protect you. I'm a parasite."

"No you're not... you're not a parasite you're a victim..." Blue said, softly holding his hoof "....just like me..."

Sombra pulled the stallion close, holding onto him on the ice, tightly. "Did... did he hurt you..."

"...no...but he has something on me..." Blue said quietly "Same as you..."

The stallion frowned, holding onto him tightly his mane slowly losing its magical qualities and laying flat in thick curls. "I don't like this, I can't control any of this, I can't... understand." Sombra nuzzled Blue's cheek, but it wasn't the usual way Sombra held the stallion. It was desperate, pitiful attempt to regain control, to do something on his own. This place suffocated him, and he needed it all gone. Needed to control the situation. And where his brain failed, his instincts took over.

"I know, I know im sorry...I suspected something was going on with the Canterlot Reporter but Im an idiot for not realizing Yellowjacket was behind it all" He said softly "Dont...dont give up hope because of this please...you have come so far and I dont want to see you get hurt..."

Sombra's voice was quiet, and Blue felt a wetness against his cheek, The proud stallion was crying, not even realizing it. "I... I need to regain control..." Blue noticed how tight the larger stallion pressed against him. It felt wrong, off. Blue had to balance himself to make sure he didn't tip over from the stallion's weight.

Blue would softly wipe his tears from his cheek. The stallion made sure to let him hold onto him "What do you need from me...tell me what you want."

"I need to have control..." Sombra brushed his face against Blue's, and there was something in his voice that made Blue's hair stand on end. It was like the pegasus had been given a front row seat to just how deep Sombra's problems ran. The look on the stallion's face was crazed, wild. Sombra felt so many emotions, the disgust of his body, the pure panic of his mind, the need to claim the stallion in front of him in any way possible. It was like some feral creature took root.

Blue reacted, the stallion could tell what he was wanting, he gently used force to keep Sombra at bay, mainly pushing him away slightly "Sombra that isn't...a healthy way to cope." Blue said as he grabbed his hoof holding it. "I can help you but not like that, not with that"

Sombra didn't know what happened. he started to well and truly cry. A terribly, gut-wrenching wail of someone who had their mental walls shatter into pieces, every bit of their psyche so raw and exposed. Something so ingrained in him just came out as this beastly wail of pure, unfiltered suffering and Blue truly had no idea what to do, so he did the one thing he knew could help. He just wrapped him in that tight warm embrace again, holding him softly, rubbing his back, doing anything he could to help. Blue wished he knew what he could do but he just knew he had to be there for him.

"I'm sorry... I'm so...so sorry, please don't leave me... please don't..." Sombra's voice was rough and sore, and his entire face was wet with tears. It took almost an hour for the stallion to slowly calm down and he blushed deep red, embarrassed. "Blue..." Sombra muttered, staring into somewhere far off, his shivering body now more calm. "... I'm... I'm sorry"

"Shh shh its ok...I wont leave you...I promise you I wont" He said, softly holding onto him as he slowly rocked the stallion back and fourth "I understand...truly I do...you are not the first pony Yellowjacket has done this too and sadly not the last either..."

"I...I felt so helpless, so stupid. It...it was like I was a foal again." Sombra swallowed, even though his mouth was dry. The stallion's curls framed Blue's chest. "... I... I felt my control of the situation slip. Ever since the article. I... I couldn't... handle it, it was like I was powerless again. Worthless. He called me pathetic, and that I had no place here in this era." Sombra explained, it was more like a word vomit, the words, feelings just poured out. "...I didn't belong in mine either... I thought this one would have been better. If...If Discord could make a friend, then surely... surely I could too. A...And keep my friend too."

Blue looked to Sombra softly, moving his face to look to Blue "You don't listen to a word that stallion said ok? Yellowjacket is nothing but a dirty politician who will say anything to make himself more powerful." He said, softly wiping the tears from Sombra "You belong in this era...you may feel the opposite but you do...and things are better for you" He said as he got closer to him "...Discord made a friend...yea...but you made something better in my opinion...because what you and me have is a connection that I haven't felt myself ever before...I don't know what it is...but what I do know is that its strong."

Sombra blushed deep red, deeper than he had before, to the point that Blue was momentarily worried the poor stallion was going to aneurysm. He didn't respond for a while, his voice a meek whisper: "...B-blue...I-...I think I care for you..."

Blue smiled, slight tears in his eyes as he looked to him, wrapping him in a warm embrace "I care for you too Sombra...a lot..." Blue just continued to gently hold him, letting him take his time. He knew this was new for Sombra and he wanted to make sure all of this was confortable for him.

"It's... it's stupid..." Sombra gave a weak laugh, "... I... I always wanted somepony like you. Somepony who wouldn't leave. All my years, I either fucked it up or they weren't genuine anyway..." He wiped off his tears: "I was so hurt by not being wanted, I started to expect it. Tartarus dammit... I think I made it worse for myself." Sombra was silent for a while, head resting on Blue's shoulder: "...do you know what one of the theories for why I was in the Tundra alone, mute?"

Sombra nuzzled close to Blue: "The guards theorized, since there were no wreckage of a carriage, no tracks, nothing, that I had been intentionally left there to die. That my... muteness may have less of a trauma and more something wrong with me inherently. That my parents didn't want a faulty foal. I overheard them and it stuck. They were wrong, of course... but I lived with that assumption for what, 12 years? Then you watch as ponies younger than you, less quirky than you get happy families... even though you try so hard, you learn and you work so hard to speak."

Blue softly listened to Sombra "Life is cruel...and sometimes unfair things happen...and you ask yourself so many times why they happen to you, why you deserve it...and yet it takes forever to have it make sence" He said, softly.

Blue felt Sombra's hold tighten, but this time it felt warm. "what is he blackmailing you with...? Yellowjacket."

"...I have a death toll under my name..." Blue said softly "One that is supposed to be private. For security purposes."

"How meany?" Sombra asked, curious now, as he never really could picture Blue being a killer.

"...multiple..." He said softly "They all died and it was my fault...and I have to live with that guilt daily..." He said, suddenly some things started to make sence to Sombra. The small hints of emotionless moments, the pills on his desk, the way he freeked when he realized Yellowjacket had been to the hotel. Blue wasnt just a vet of a civil war, he had PTSD from it too.

"... Surely you didn't do it on purpose. I assume this was in the Zeebra Lands yes? casualties are impossible to stop happening. And you are not a seer. You can't see to the future." Sombra sighed softly, and let his hoof pet the pegasus' mane slowly. He knew how fighting and battles affected ponies, hell even how just adverse conditions affected ponies, even if crystal ponies had been very telling in their condition outwardly."I... don't think you deserve such guilt. You're not a malicious pony."

"....The Zeebra Land Civil War...it was a rough battle and I...I had to take over command after our general was killed in action..." Blue said softly "We...where being chased out of the country after we killed the rebel's leaders...and it was my job to get our men to safty outside the borders" He said, slightly shaking "We had two paths infrount of us...one that would take a week, another that took only 2 days....I chose the one that took two days..." He said, tears starting to form up "T-the entire path was lined with landmines...and I lead all of my men into it because I tried to take the easy way out..."

"You couldn't have known, you were thinking of their safety." Sombra held him tight.

Blue took some deep breaths as he tried to calm himself down "L-luna...she uh...she said the same...told me that I did the best I could and that id be granted General of her Night Guard despite it..." He said "B-but...the details of how and why those men died where never made public...Y-yellowjacket found out...and that's what he's holding against me. I could loose my job...and...be arrested possibly"

Sombra was silent but held the stallion close. He made his mind, he was going to make sure Yellowjacket went down, and he would go down screaming. Blue couldn't see the stallion's expression of pure hatred and conviction to avenge the smaller pegasus' suffering as well as his own. And Sombra was nothing, if not dangerous in his anger. And he had the time and the patience to pull it off. He would lay a trap so intricate and well-planned that no matter the step Yellowjacket took, Sombra would see him suffer.

"Im sorry that I wasn't careful...Yellowjacket has been a thorn in my side as well as others for a good few years now...I never thought he'd come for you..." Blue said softly as he continued to hold Sombra as well as be held by him as well.

"I want to take him down, Blue. I want to destroy his life to the point that he wishes I'd tossed him off the balcony..." the stallion growled with a furious tone. "I don't care if the Princesses do not approve, I will see him suffer to the point of madness!" Blue could only imagine situations where he had been this angry.

"I know, I know" Blue said "I want to bring him down too, but Yellowjacket is a smart pony...he's been doing this song and dance for 2 years now, he's clever."

"Well, he is about to find out that he is not the only creature that can scheme..." The stallion growled, holding onto Blue tightly, "... but that is a plan that has to be done quietly, and with patience." Sombra nuzzled him, sighing a little: "... and first, we need to leave this place." Sombra looked tired, more tired than before. The emotional meltdown had took more out of him than he expected. But at least he didn't have to send Blue away. "... I won't deny, my relationship with this place is... difficult." Sombra looked up, taking a deep breath: "... It is so painful to be here... but at the same time, it feels almost grounding. Like I am not lost."

"I honestly didnt think you bring me here...but I can understand why it was the first place you thought of" He said.

"...I... couldn't think of any other place."

"Its ok...im glad you trust me enough to take me here" He said, the stallion still holding him.

"... I know that this place is not known to ponies, none aside from Celestia and Luna. I know Cadence and Twilight do not know where this is, though they know of its existence." The stallion pulled away to tuck his hooves under his body, kind of like a cat. "...it is so strange to return. I thought I would have been more scared. Maybe it is because you are here with me."

Blue sighed, looking around slightly "Ive known you had secret places all throughout Equestria, so im not supprised we ended up in one of those places." He said "But...im glad im able to help you be less scared"

"This isn't a hidden base though... Celestia and Luna cast me here, alone for a thousand years. They tore open the earth, cast me inside and sealed the entrance." The stallion shivered, remembering the moment. "I remember emerging from here, a raving feral beast that could think of nothing except their thirst and hunger."

"Wait...this is where you where for 1,000 Years?" Blue said, supprised as he took in his sorroundings again, realizing that they where indeed in the area "I thought that it was just...a random cave...not a detailed prison."

"Hmm, the scratchings in the walls, floor and ceiling didn't clue you in..." Sombra frowned but nuzzled Blue. "... I was so lonely..."

Blue would go and lean next to him, draping his one good wing around him "Your not alone anymore..."

Sombra was content, even if the place they were in still made his heart race. He kept glancing upwards, as if expecting the Princesses to appear and close the chasm entrance of his prison.

"What do you wanna do now then? Do you want to head back?" He asked softly.

"I... do not know. There's so much that the world has changed with time that places I once knew are probably either gone... or populated with." The stallion paused: "...I never managed to stray very far from north."

"Do you like our home in Ponyville?" Blue asked, the stallion tilting his head slightly.

Sombra hummed: "I do"

"Is there anything you'd like me to get or do to help you feel more at home?" He asked softly "I wanna make sure your happy and comfortable."

Sombra smiled a little: "Nothing really. Maybe a few more book shelves perhaps." The stallion said.

"...I know this cave is... cold and terrible and..", Sombra paused, trying hard not to look at their surroundings: "...but I do not think I can teleport us out yet... I need to rest."

"That's ok...I'll be right here with you." He said, yawning slightly "We can just cuddle for a bit" He softly said, pushing his head under his chin "If you'd like..."

"I would like that very much...yes..." Sombra said, smiling softly.