Between Peaceful Dusk and Redemptive Dawn

Up north, beyond the reaches of Equestria is a land blanketed by snow. Inches upon inches of the soft white powder lined the fields, mountains, and valleys. During the peaceful reign of Celestia and Luna, mountain villages survived the cold with the hope and glory of the sun and the moon working together. Celestia and Luna, however, really did not control what happened in the mountains of North Equestria. But still, the love and light spread to the villagers in the frigid tundra.

In the valley of one of the tallest peaks in the range, a village burned like a torch. Smoke as black as a dragon’s spewed from the village as colts, mares, and fillies screamed and trotted away. The galloping blaze continued to spread for hours until a white ash of crystalline snow fell upon the inferno. The extinguished village was quiet. Nopony stirred. All of them had left. Then from the ashes arose two stallions. One was a unicorn with raging red and green eyes. The other was a disturbed navy blue pegasus who looked at his brother with absolute disdain and disappointment. The pegasus looked around at the destruction of his brother.

“They had it coming. After what they did to our family,” said the uncaring unicorn. He was almost unaffected by the destruction.

“This is evil, Sombra,” replied the pegasus. “What you did here was unnecessary and avaricious. They refused to feed you because they were out of food, not because of our street rat reputation.”

Sombra grunted at this reply. “You know just as well as I do that you wanted revenge on this town for what they did to our mother.”

“Do not associate me with this monstrous act that you did, Sombra!” retorted the pegasus now angry with his brother. “This town is not responsible for what happened to mom.”

“Be that way then, Shadowscare!” yelled Sombra as his red horn glowed with red hot hate. “I’m going to find something to eat in what’s left of this place.”

Shadowscare, the pegasus, looked around at the buildings charred black with hate. He pushed his white and lightning yellow hair out of the way. And then he heard a noise. It was a bit of a cry and a cough. He grabbed a blackened piece of debris out of the way to reveal a young lilac colored unicorn colt that was freezing in the snow. Shadowscare heard Sombra turn around in the snow. He quickly grabbed the colt and hid him under his wing.

“What have you found?” asked Sombra while he scrutinized the mess.

“Nothing.” Shadowscare lied.

“You’re lying to me!” screamed the dark Sombra.

“Why would I lie to my own brother?” remarked Shadowscare.

“You know. This town is an example of father’s greatest lesson. Survival of the fittest. Obviously, you and I are the fittest here, but in order to survive we need to eat. Now what do you have?”

“I have nothing.”

“Then maybe I should eat you,” joked Sombra with a cruel laugh that echoed through the ruined town. He then walked off and continued digging in the ruins of the bakery.

Shadowscare looked beneath his wing at the peaceful little colt that slept through the whole conversation. Then Shadowscare looked at his brother who was now incinerating the walls of a building to get inside. Shadowscare yelled down to his brother. “I am going back to our camp. It’s making me sick just looking at this disaster.” Shadowscare trotted off to the camp. Sombra noticed the trotting and questioned why his brother would trot when he could clearly fly back to camp faster. He was hungrier than he was curious, and so he continued to pillage the village shops.

Shadowscare arrived back at the camp a few minutes later. He was a little out of breath from trotting to the camp so quick. Usually he flew everywhere he went. However, he could not fly with a young colt under his wing. He had rescued this unicorn. Shadowscare wondered if the parents might return to look for their lost child, but he doubted they would. He wanted to have hope, but in the snowstorms that arose daily, one could easily get lost. Even with his knowledge of Northern Equestria, Shadowscare had always feared he would get caught in a storm and never be seen again. Then he wondered if, among the rubble of the building he had rescued the young unicorn from, are the parents. Shadowscare did not want to think that way. His optimism is often what kept him going. Sombra might have given up years ago if it were not for his enlightened thoughts. Shadowscare placed the colt in a warm blanket hidden in the tent. The colt continued to sleep soundly. Shadowscare then decided to build a fire. However he did not light the fire with magic. Usually Sombra used his magic to start fires. Tonight was different. Shadowscare had some flint and steel amongst his meager supplies which he used to ignite the flame that would provide warmth for him and the colt.

The sun began to retreat below the horizon. The moon began to rise with its peaceful serenity. Over the hill of freshly fallen snow trotted Sombra with his glowing red eyes as he carried a sack full of flour, some dandelions, some new cooking equipment, tea, and milk. “Be glad I brought back anything at all,” stated Sombra as he placed down the supplies. “I was hungry.”

“Thank you, brother,” sighed Shadowscare.

“Hey, my little brother started his own fire today,” joked Sombra as he looked at the flames gushing out of the fire pit.

“Did you see anyone else after I left?” asked Shadowscare.

“Aye,” retorted Sombra. “I noticed two pegasi fly over the village. They looked like Celestial agents, but I doubt they cared enough to inspect the village. Probably just taking a shortcut to Saddle Arabia.”

This news was unexpected. Never before had any of Celestia’s agents flown in between the mountain range. This was a dangerous task. High winds could easily knock a pegasus off balance and cause him or her to crash.

“Well, I’m going to hit the hay.” said Sombra with a yawn. “Help yourself to what I brought back.” Sombra then collapsed onto his pile of hay and drifted off to sleep.

Before Shadowscare had a single thought of feeding himself, he checked on the colt. He walked in and the colt watched him sit down. The colt seemed upset. Shadowscare guessed that he was hungry, and trotted to the supplies that Sombra dropped in the camp. With the cooking equipment, he fashioned together a makeshift bottle and filled it with milk. Shadowscare quickly brought the bottle to the young unicorn that starts drinking immediately. The colt was quiet. Could he hide this little colt from Sombra forever? And second, if Sombra found out, would he try to raise him based on hatred and violence? The topic came to Shadowscare again. A topic that shook him every time he thought about it. He wondered whether it would be best to abandon his brother and start a productive life in the growing harmonic cities of Equestria. If he did, his brother might not survive the winter and that would be his fault. Maybe Sombra deserved it. He had just destroyed the village that they were both born in. They came from a poor family that barely had enough money to feed each mouth in the house. Shadowscare’s father was a very harsh, but wise man that left one day and never returned. Both he and Sombra agreed that their father vanished in one of the snowstorms. His mother had kept all of them alive during this hardship. But sickness got the best of her. Sombra blamed the village for not helping any of them in their dire moment of need. Shadowscare knew that the doctor was busy with just about a dozen other patients in the village and that he had arrived too late. They became street rats. They sold the cottage and used whatever they could collect to stay alive. Shadowscare had often asked Sombra if he wanted to travel to the Crystal Empire. People in the town often gossiped about how wondrous it was. An entire empire made of crystal! But it was a dream that would not happen. The Crystal Empire contained some of the richest ponies of Northern Equestria. He had tried to buy a ticket one day with some saved money, but it was only enough for Shadowscare. He refused to abandon his only brother. As much as a brute as Sombra was, Shadowscare loved his brother. But he had just destroyed the lives of an entire village and orphaned a poor young unicorn. Shadowscare loved his brother, but he promised himself that he would save this colt from his and Sombra’s current fate. Sombra would have to understand. Shadowscare decided that it must be done. He would make a makeshift saddle and carry the child to Equestria. He could ask Sombra to go, but when Shadowscare had asked this question in the past, Sombra told him that he would have to walk. The journey would take days, and they might not make it across the tundra.

Flying, however, was a different story. He could easily make it to Canterlot in less than two days by flying. Shadowscare then wrote a note to Sombra:
To my brother,

Sombra, your actions yesterday were despicable. Your decision to destroy our home village was something I hope you regret for the rest of your days. Because of you, a young unicorn was orphaned. I plan to fly away. This area is infertile and will never yield us a better life. I am going to travel to Equestria to save this young pony’s life and to start my life anew. I know you will be angry when you read this, but I need you to understand that I am doing this for someone other than myself. I may not even make it to inner Equestria. But I will try. And I will put this colt before myself in every decision I make. Remember that dream you had, where we were in the Crystal Empire and you smiled at me and said, “We made it.” Well, I hope I get to see that someday. I still love you, my brother.
-Shadowscare

When the saddle was made, Shadowscare hooked the colt up, and he trotted off to the village to check for anything that could help him find his way to inner Equestria. In the village, Shadowscare found a map, a compass, some crackers, and a sword. It was a prized possession of the saloon. He looked around and searched for any ponies that may have come back, but all was quiet. Shadowscare gathered the extra equipment, trotted to flat part of town, and flew off into the approaching dawn as the moon cast a glance of sorrow over the barren tundra.