Prologue 2: Cant(a colt just find a way in or do they have to brake in)alot
Sombra walks up the mountain, the sun only just now starting to set, he could go faster but he had two reasons not to: for one, he was still exhausted from walking all the way up and to the mountain, but another was to watch the sun set, he never got to really watch the sun set, not without seeing all the snow blocking most of its light, but this, this was beautiful.
The Umbrum ‘walked’ closely behind the young colt, close enough to see Infront of them, yet far enough that nopony would see them.
The Umbrum quickly dashes besides Sombra “and here we are!” they pointed to Cantalot, they were just outside, so close… only problem was that the bridge was up, and a moat surrounded it. “Oh… I forgot about the moat…”
Sombra simply looked up at the Umbrum, his face painted with a combination of anger and annoyance, “We spent all that time getting here, and we can’t EVEN ENTER!”
“Don’t worry,” -The Umbrum quickly looked around for some way to enter, before seeing the holes in the walls- “we could break in, I mean look at those, who puts holes near a gate? All we need to do is get past the moat.”
Sombra sighed to himself, “And how are we supposed to get past the moat?”
“Simple,” The Umbrum smiled. “We, and by we I mean you, can swim over there.” They float over to the pond area of the stream, “just stay away from the stream and you’ll be ok.”
But Sombra was still concerned, “Are you sure this will work?”
The Umbrum smiled, “One hundred percent”
Reluctantly, the Colt walked over to the Umbrum, slightly putting one of their hoofs in, and simply stair at his reflection.
The Umbrum, waited for a bit, before pushing Sombra into the water, “come on, we don’t want to be here all night.”
With a splash, Sombra fell into the water, and disappeared, The Umbrum waited for Sombra to pop up, but he didn’t, then he realized one thing he forgot to do. “Wait… Dose he even know how to swim?” Panic set in as the Umbrum realized what he did, “Oh no…. DON’T WORRY SOMBRA, IM COMING IN!” The Umbrum quickly leaped under the water, going under the struggling colt’s body, before pushing him up to the water’s surface, “Ok, that was my mistake.”
“MISTAKE?” Sombra yelled, “I almost died!”
“Ya, ya, I know, should have asked beforehand.” -The Umbrum got to the land, putting Sombra down- “I’m sorry ok?”
Sombra didn’t respond to the Umbrums question, simply coughing up some water that got into his lungs before looking up at the holes carved into the wall, “How am I supposed to-?” -but before Sombra could finish, the Umbrum lifted him up to the hole- “uhhhhh, thanks…” Slowly, Sombra stepped through, before sliding down the wall, and placing his back hoofs on the ground before returning to all fours.
Walking forward, he saw the buildings and the amount of ponies everywhere, he was stunned as he looked around, all the sights, all the sounds, the smell of baked goods, he was going to live here, and he couldn’t wait to-
Suddenly, he was picked up from the back of the neck, a Unicorn in armour walking up to the young Colt, “Don’t think I saw that.” The Stallion walked over to the entrance, getting another stallion wearing armour to lower the bridge before dropping Sombra off at the other side of the moat and raising the bridge.
The Umbrum popped back up besides Sombra “Well that sucks, let’s see if we can break in again!”
Sombra looks back at Cantalot, filled with determination, nodded his head.
The Umbrum looked at Cantalot, spotting another way in, “Idea!” once more, they fly to the pond. “but, in case this doesn’t work, I need to teach you to swim, after all, I don’t need to take you across every single time”
Sombra looked over to the pond, scared to go in it, which was fair considering he almost ended up dying in said pond, he turned to the south and started to walk away.
“Not on my watch that I don’t have.” The Umbrum picked him up and placed Sombra near the pond. “Now, let’s see if I can find-” -The Umbrum spots a rabbit, quickly grabbing it- “There we go. Now Sombra, keep an eye on this Rabbit I’m holding.” They quickly chuck the rabbit into the water.
Quickly, the rabbit swims to the top and starts paddling to the other side. “See that? That rabbit is swimming, now, to swim you kick your hind hoofs underneath you to move you forward and keep you afloat and use your front hoofs to swim forward and angle yourself to change direction.” They grab Sombra and slowly slide him into the pond, “So start swimming!”
Sombra quickly started moving his hoofs as fast as he could, and the moment the Umbrum lets go, Sombra swims forward…. For about 5 seconds before he slowly sunk, The Umbrum quickly dived under the water, went under Sombra and lifted his head above the surface. “That’s a start, but we’ll need to do some more practice, now, see that large bush over there, climb it and jump to that balcony”
Sombra walked once more onto the land and walked over to the bush, slowly he put one front hoof into the bush, and pulled himself up, then he the other one above it and pulled himself up more, and then his back hoofs before starting to properly climb, he climbed and climbed and climbed, once he reached the top, he noticed the gap between the bush and the balcony.
He froze, if he failed the jump there was a very likely chance he would break his bones, but seeing what layed behind its walls, the chance to see Hope in the future, it was worth the risk, bracing himself, he leaped to the balcony, his front hoofs slammed on the edge, the rest of this body hanging off the balcony, with some struggle, Sombra quickly pulled himself up, and with a heavy breathing, he stood up, looking down into Cantalot, then he felt a tug at the back of his neck.
“No,” -The unicorn, using their magic, picked him up- “Bad colt.” -they then proceeded to lift the young colt to the other side of the moat- “Now stay on that side of the moat.” And like that, the Unicorn went into the building the balcony was attached to.
The Umbrum re-emerged from their hiding spot. “Well, looks like we’ll need to find another way in, let’s see if we can borrow a hot air ballon.”
Awhile latter, Sombra was on a hot air balloon, getting closer to Cantalot, then a hot air balloon floated to him, an annoyed unicorn in it. “Nice try, but no.”
Back at the moat the Umbrum thought again, “Maybe there’s an underground tunnel?”
Sombra walked within the Crystal caves, having made a map of the place, two actually, and then he felt a familiar tug on the back of his neck, “No way, also,” -they take one of the maps from him- “Thanks for the map, I’ll be sure to credit you.”
The Umbrum thought harder, Sombra getting more annoyed. “Could a cannon work?”
Sombra held on tight, the cannon about to fire, quickly he ducked inside, BANG, Sombra flew through the air, he was going to land in Cantalot, right in the hedge maze, only problem was, the unicorn had an empty cannon he just lit in Sombra’s line of path, and in a few seconds, Sombra went inside the cannon.
The unicorn scoffed, “How many times do I have to tell you, please stay on the other side of the moat.”
Bam, the cannon Shot Sombra out of Cantalot and into the pond, The Umbrum floated over to him and assisted them back onto the land, giving him a grappling hook. “Will this work?”
A few seconds later the unicorn brought scissors to the rope, “Kid… how did you even get all this stuff… you know what, never mind.” He quickly cut the rope, Sombra fell to the ground.
After the unicorn left, the Umbrum floated to Sombra once more, “let’s try a disguise?”
A young colt wearing armour knocked on the bridge, an earth pony in armour looked outside the hole to see who it was, before starting to lower the bridge. Once the colt stepped on it he went directly inside. When the unicorn tugged at the back of his neck. “First of all,” -they look at the earth pony - “I’m sending you on brake since you can’t tell the difference between a guard, and a colt wearing guard armour, speaking of,”-the look down at Sombra- “HOW DID YOU EVEN GET THAT ARMOUR IN THE FIRST PLACE! You know what, never mind.” They quickly take the armour off him, place him on the other side of the moat and lifted the bridge up.
Once more, the Umbrum re-emerged from the shadows and floated besides Sombra, “Ok… Stay here, I’m going to look inside and see if I can find away in.” The Umbrum floated inside, staying in the shadows as they look for another way in, however instead they overhear a conversation between the guards.
“I’m pretty sure I’m at my limit, of that colt gets in again, I might just give up and go on vacation” the unicorn said, signing a few piles of paperwork.
The Umbrum quickly flew to Sombra once more. “Now, let’s try this one last ti-”
Suddenly, a pegasus walked atop the frame, scared the Umbrum hid as Sombra’s shadow, whispering to him. “bad news kid, I won’t be able to help, somepony is watching us and unless you can get them to go away, they’ll spot me.”
“How do I go that?” Sombra asked full of a blended mix of annoyance and concern.
“I don’t know, think of something.”
Sombra quickly looked around, finding a grey doll, he picked it up and went over to the pond, reluctantly he dived in.
The Pegasus watched the colt dived, waiting for them to pop back up, a limp body emerged to the surface, getting close to the river before its pulled in, it dose not move as it reaches the waterfall, panicked, the Pegasus flew down faster then they ever did before.
Sombra swam up to the surface of the pond with a heavy breath, swimming to the other side of the moat before pulling himself up, half of him couldn’t believe his plan worked, the other half was just thankful the plan worked, quickly he looked for some way in, noticing a loose brick, quickly he used his magic to tug the brick out of the wall.
The Pegasus flew up with the ‘body’ in his hoofs, quickly he placed it down and attempted to give it CPR, before realizing that it was a doll, “Oh no, I’ve been tricked!” the Pegasus flew to the side of the entrance seeing Sombra pull out a brick. “Wait no stop!”
The Pegasus swooped down at Sombra, but before he could grab him, Sombra crawled through the hole they made, The Pegasus on the other hoof crashed into the wall.
Sombra stood up, once more in Cantalot, all the sights, all the sounds, the smell of baked goods, he was going to live here, all he needed to do was avoid-
The unicorn picked him up. “How many times do I have to…” they stop themselves, before putting Sombra down, “You know what, I give up, I’m going on vacation.”
The Pegasus flew in ready to grab Sombra, The unicorn stopped him and gave him his armour before lowering the bridge and leaving, the Pegasus was confused, but since his boss stopped him he assumed the colt was allowed to stay and turned to leave, but quickly turned around and gave Sombra the doll, “Please don’t do that again, I almost had a heart attack.”
As the Pegasus turned away, Sombra looked around, already thinking on what he might do, but first of all, he hasn’t eaten all day, so, what was he going to eat tonight?
Author's Note
This AU takes place where somethings happen earlier then in Cannon (I.E. Sombra leaving as a Colt instead of being a young stallion and Radiant Hope getting the letter from Starswirl Instead of Celestia and Luna, getting it as a filly instead of a young mare.) and one Umbrum was smatter then the rest
Prologue: The Umbrum
The snow slowly fell, slow and hard, hoofs printed themselves in the snow as a young colt ran through the snow, tears running down his face quickly turning into shards of ice that fade away under the white frost of snowflakes, soon enough he collapsed in the snow, he wanted to run from it all, to run from his home, to run from his friends, to run from his problems, but most off all, he wanted to run from his destiny, but in trying to run from his destiny, he ran to it.
“Sombra my dear. What is wrong? Why have you come here to see me? Is your work done already?” a husk, echoing voice called out to the grey colt.
The Colt named Sombra raised his head in fear and confusion, “Who?”
“Don’t you recognize your own mother when you see her?” The red crystal echoed, “I’m the one who brought you into this world.”
“I don’t understand.” Sombra said, leaning up, turning to the crystal, “The crystal guards found me out here.”
“And haven’t you ever wondered how you got here? haven’t you ever wondered why you are different then everyone else? Why you don’t have one of those silly little-”
A husk, mocking voice echoed through the snow. “Oh, don’t listen to those Bozos”
Sombra Flinched, quickly looking around, “W-who said that.”
Suddenly, a purple smoky skull charged at Sombra, in a matter of seconds he quickly got up and was about to run, when it stopped and started to laugh, slowly revealing its whole body. “Oh, you should have seen the look on your face.”
Sombra, slightly paralyzed, shuddered looking up at the… thing, semi-towering over him, “W-w-who are you, W-w-what are you.”
The Purple skeletal figure looked down, their white eyes giving Sombra the feeling it’s stare was piercing his soul, “Who Am I?” they turn away, before bending backwards, bending till they were looking right at Sombra, “What am I?” Their head slowly tilted 180 Degrees, simply staring at Sombra… before it cheerfully yelled “Well I’m glad you asked!” It quickly ducked down under Sombra, popping up besides Sombra with a more relevant size to him, pointing at themselves. “I am an Umbrum, like you,” -they point at Sombra, slightly pushing him- “And like those Bozos stuck in that gem”
Sombra was even more confused and concerned, “W-w-what do you mean I’m an Umbrum?”
“Oh right,” -The Umbrum put their purple hoof like limb to the bottom of their skull, pondering- “I guess they never taught you what we were in that little School in the crystal empire, So let me make this simple.” -they extend their hoof to Sombra- “You’re not like the other ponies, you’re an Umbrum, a shadow pony, like me and those bozos stuck in that gem.”
“We can hear you; you know!” the red crystal said.
“Oh, just ignore those bozos, their just mad I didn’t get trapped like the rest of them” The Umbrum taunted before turning his head back to Sombra. “You see, those silly little ponies are afraid of us umbrums, they want use gone, and for a fair reason considering the fact we use to destroy their empire like every 15 moons or so.”
Sombra, visibly shaken tucked his head between his hoofs, “B-b-but they’re not afraid of me… right?”
The Umbrum gave Sombra a pat on the back, “Not you in particular, they don’t even know your one of us. Those silly little ponies think your just one of them, a silly little Colt. The crystal heart on the other hand, or as you ponies say; hoof, knows what you are.”
“I-I-is that why every crystal fair I can’t move, why I feel sick to my stomach. Why I almost…” the Colt couldn’t finish his sentence, he didn’t want to think on what would happen if hope wasn’t with him when that happened.
“That’s right,” the Umbrum exclaimed, “That crystal heart is used to keep dark magic out, that’s why every time the fair comes around, the love of all the ponies charge it up, and it targets all that magic onto any source of dark magic, I.E. you”
The red crystal attempted to intrude on the conversation, “That’s why you must destroy it, before it destroys-”
The Umbrum threw a snowball at the red crystal, “Oh shut it, we’re way too far for the crystal heart to even affect us, as long as you’re out here, that little trinket of theirs will never touch us.”
Sombra slightly cowered less, removing the hoofs from his head, “You mean, I won’t be in danger out here?” he curiously asked.
“Well from the crystal heart yes, but we don’t want you go get buried in the snow now, do we?” asked the Umbrum.
Sombra shook his head.
“Well good news my friend,” -they grabbed sombra and turned him to the south- “I know just the place, a place with waaaay less snow than what’s out here, one with many a pony, a place so far, yet so, so, worth it.”
“W-w-where?” Sombra asked curiously.
“To the only other town here in Equestria, Cantalot.” The Umbrum said slowly sliding his hoof through the air.
Sombra hesitated for a bit, he had heard about Cantalot, after all that was where Radiant hope was going there to train under a great unicorn Starswirl besides two others, but would they allow him to even stay at Cantalot, what if they found out what he was and threw him out, or worse, but there was also the chance to see Radiant hope again once she left the Crystal empire, a low but still possible chance to see her every now and then, and that was a chance the young colt couldn’t refuse.
The Umbrum opened its mouth, but before they could even speak Sombra yelled out one would, “YES!!!”
“You know, you should really wait for someone to finish their sentence, but what the heck, let’s go!” The Umbrum enthusiastically said, slowly ‘walking’ besides Sombra.
The red crystal attempted to call out for Sombra in one last plead, “Sombra, If you have not removed Amore’s weapon The Heart by the next Crystal Fair, it will destroy you, DESTROY YOU!”
But the Umbrum shrugged it off, “ya, ya, destroy him, yada, yada, who cares, he’s not going to be in its range!” and with that, The Umbrum walked off with Sombra.
The Snow raged on and on, like it normally did, Sombra and the Umbrum simply continued, the Umbrum circling around Sombra like a crow circling something shiny, hours pass, Sombra almost falling over on more than one occasion, the colt shivered time to time, the simple red scarf and Trapper hat weren’t the best at keeping him warm, but soon enough, the number of snowflakes started to decrease.
“We’re almost out of the cold.” The Umbrum said to reassure Sombra, and slowly, the snow faded as the dark grey cloud stopped, and the white grass became green, flowers scattered through the grass, all different and vibrant colors.
Sombra was stunned by the sight of it all “this Cantalot.” The colt said in wonder.
“Nope,” -The Umbrum pointed far out, pointing to the mountain far away- “see that mountain over there, far, far, very far away, from here you might not see it, but that’s where Cantalot is, come on, let’s get going!” The Umbrum quickly dashed away, leading to Sombra giving chase.
“Hay, wait for me” he yelled, but one thing was for sure, it was going to take the rest of the day to get there.
