When his fangs brushed against its fur, time froze; in the blink of an eye, everything trembled with immense force.
The wolf bolted away while the stallion struggled to keep his balance amid the quake's magnitude. The ground split open into another dreadful chasm. Along the edge, a pale, glimmering shape slid across the snow , scales shining like stars under the faintest touch of sunlight, rasping against each other as they scraped the ice, like a sinister rattle.
Breathing hard, he returned to that cave where, miraculously, everything remained as he had left it. He gathered several books that might be useful, though the one that drew his attention most was a mysterious journal with a broken clasp. Into his torn, humble saddlebag he packed his provisions and set off toward his modest dwelling once more.
The fire crackled softly inside the small cabin Twilight had given him. Exhausted, he opened the pages of the journal; his eyes wandered through the author's anecdotes until the word wolf caught his attention.
> "Today I daydream again amid the cold. I've been here for months, and still I can't stop remembering…
I called him the crystal wolf. It's strange , he loves frozen berries, though he always ends up sick after eating too many. I panicked when I saw him writhing, but luckily I remembered that the branches themselves help ease the pain. He calmed down right away and looked at me as if he truly wanted to thank me.
When he lets me approach, he's so gentle… I never thought a creature made of ice and crystal could give so much warmth."
"What kind of pony would be crazy enough to get close to one of those beasts?" Sombra muttered when he finished the entry. Most of the notes were nothing more than recipes using the scarce plants of the northern wasteland, along with other oddities. He didn't think any of it was particularly important.
Though definitely a crystal pony, he thought to himself. No one else would be that… foolish.
He walked for days through that dead desert, each step crunching over hardened snow. Everything was monotonous: white mounds repeating endlessly to the horizon, the cutting wind biting at his coat, and the silence pressing down like a weight.
At last, a cluster of frozen pines appeared in the distance, forming a small forest , an oasis amid the void. Their trunks were black as raven feathers, struggling to remain alive. Instead of branches, icicles hung from them, sharp and trembling, catching the moonlight and scattering it into icy sparks.
As he advanced, the branches brushed his bristled fur, melting the snow on his back and letting small droplets trickle down his sides. The damp scent of wood mixed with frost gave him the sense of stepping into another world, far from the endless wasteland. He reached a clearing that glowed beneath the moon , a circle of light among shadows and silence.
In the heart of the forest, hidden in plain sight, stood a withered tree that had succumbed to the harshness of the land. Inside it, a nest of moss lined a narrow hollow, offering shelter to tiny creatures that squeaked faintly, almost imperceptibly. He couldn't tell what they were.
Sombra leaned closer, too close for safety… when a violent blow to his side sent him crashing to the ground.
The wolf had struck him down. Its fangs gleamed bare, and from its throat came a growl that froze the blood. Sombra understood instantly: he had found the beast's den. For a moment, despair rooted him to the spot , he knew he was doomed. Until a flicker of reason reminded him why he had come.
He responded with a defensive motion, baring his teeth in an attempt to appear dominant. Slowly, he let a small cluster of crystal berries fall to the ground.
The wolf tensed, pretending distrust, but temptation won. It crept forward, sniffed the berries, took one bite… then another… until the cluster was gone.
Its posture softened; the threat faded from its eyes. It allowed him to stay nearby, no longer driven by the instinct to tear off a limb. Then the wolf rolled over in the snow with the carefree joy of a pup, releasing a brief sigh of peace amid the frozen woods.
Sombra understood that the wolf would not attack him as long as he did not provoke it. He let himself fall onto the snow , not in submission, only exhaustion. The wolf, curious, approached and rested its muzzle against his side.
"You're testing my patience," Sombra growled.
The creature responded by sticking out its tongue and wagging its tail, as if it didn't understand the threat. Then it returned to its den and lay down beside its cubs.
At last, Sombra had discovered where it lived.
The pups squirmed in the nest like two little snowballs with coal eyes; their muzzles were bluish, like tiny icicles, instead of pink like those of any other newborn. They didn't look like the offspring of a pony-eating beast.
Sombra couldn't understand what he was looking at. That very morning, the creature had tried to kill him, and now it allowed him to follow it to its lair. Whether pony or monster, it seemed unable to grasp the intentions of those who breathed.
The wolf came closer again; its cold muzzle rested lightly on the stallion's flank, trembling faintly. Between its jaws, it carried a small bundle of fur , a freshly caught squirrel. It nudged it toward him insistently until Sombra realized what it meant.
That foolish creature thought he was one of its own.
Shaking himself violently, he turned away. Now that he knew where it lived, all that remained was to tell Twilight so she could trap it in ice or something of the sort.
That night, a strange sadness settled over him. He knew it was temporary; still, he couldn't imagine what would become of him once it ended. On second thought, it wasn't sadness , more like emptiness. He had expected to find something more, felt he needed to achieve something, though he couldn't name what it was.
Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice the silhouette approaching. Its coat blended perfectly into the night sky, giving off an air of uncertainty , and also… relief.
"So Twilight assigned you here. My, you must have driven her mad," said Luna, the Princess of the Night.
"I was the one who decided to do this," he snorted, though without energy.
"I know. I'm only teasing you. Still, it hurts that you'd rather be here than spend time with us."
"Actually, I'd rather not be with anyone."
"That's very sad."
"I haven't felt happiness since I was a colt."
"Is there anything we can do for you?"
Sombra remained silent for several seconds; even he didn't know what he needed.
"Even if you don't like Equestria, we could send you anywhere you wish. There are several kingdoms that owe Equestria favors; surely they'd be willing to grant you a new life."
"I want Hope back," Sombra said impulsively, as if the words had escaped his chest without permission.
"Sombra…" Luna lowered her voice, as though afraid to wound him more than necessary. "You and I both know that no ordinary pony could live that long."
He clenched his jaw. His eyes darkened, not with anger, but with the melancholy that consumed him.
"There's something about all this that tells me she's still here," he murmured. "I can feel her presence somewhere, and… if I can see her again, even for a moment, I know I'll be happy once more."
"I hope you're right."
Her words faded, and a sepulchral silence spilled through the room, so dense it seemed to echo against the walls. Luna took a step toward him; the sound of her hooves rang like a heartbeat in the void. She approached with a strange calm, and Sombra ,despite his proud bearing, trembled. It was a disorienting sensation: the warmth of another so close, when for years he had known only cold and shadows.
With a soft voice ,one that hardly seemed her own, the princess whispered,
"Do you know they miss you?"
He let out a dry, almost bitter laugh.
"I suppose they must be very bored without me. Though, of course… the crystal ponies must hate that I'm here."
"You nearly broke Cadence's spine."
"She was an alicorn." He lifted his gaze with irony. "I thought she'd be stronger."
Against all odds, Luna laughed, a crystalline, sincere laugh that shattered the heavy air like an unexpected ray of light.
"You can't be that cruel and that honest at the same time."
Sombra stared at her in astonishment. It wasn't the reproach that surprised him, but that bright laughter escaping from a princess who had always been so stern.
"I thought you'd be angrier about that… I mean, she's your friend."
"'Friend' is more of a hyperbole." She made a slight gesture with her hoof. "I mean, I don't hate her, but we're more like political acquaintances."
"You're not as close as I thought."
"Hey… when I returned from my banishment, she was already here." Her gaze drifted off for a moment, as if revisiting old memories. "It was my sister who raised her. Though she doesn't talk about her much."
"Is she a descendant of Amore?"
"That's what we assume."
"I never thought she had children. Back in my time, there was no one else but her. So… where could they have gone?"
"Neither Celestia nor I know much about Amore, not even about the Empire itself."
"She kept many secrets."
"She wanted to protect her own."
"That didn't help her at all," he growled, narrowing his eyes.
"It's true that Amore didn't please you much, but killing her was going too far."
"She isn't dead."
"What?"
"I only turned her to stone and scattered her pieces across the world, but I didn't kill her. I didn't have the courage to do it."
"Yet you had it when you released the Umbrum?"
He turned slowly, as if every word weighed on him.
"What were your true intentions?"
"I don't know…" His voice was dim, broken. "For the first time in a long while, I felt like I wasn't afraid anymore. My whole life was consumed by the fear of becoming a monster. And for an instant, I believed I finally knew who I really was: the king of monsters. I thought all my suffering, all the scorn I endured, meant something -that it wasn't just a mistake." He made a bitter grimace. "It's stupid, isn't it?"
"Not entirely."
"And all for what?" His eyes fixed on the ground. "I nearly destroyed the place where I lived, betrayed my own kind, and hurt the only friend I ever had. I think I became something that should never have existed."
Without a word, Luna wrapped her wing around the stallion. The touch was warm, unexpected; he blinked, surprised by such tenderness from a princess. For years he had known only cold and shadows; now, for the first time, the warmth of another pony felt strange.
His body awoke without warning in the cabin. He didn't remember returning to the lair. Darkness surrounded him completely the oil lamps had burned out hours ago.
He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, and reached for one of the lamps to refill it.
Then a deep snore startled him.
The quilt on the floor… was breathing.
The fur on his neck bristled, but soon he saw a soft glow beneath the blankets. He approached cautiously, and when he caught sight of the silvery shimmer of the coat, he understood. Luna must have brought him in from outside… and fallen asleep right there.
He hadn't expected to see the Princess of the Night so vulnerable.
Without making a sound, he left the cabin, letting the frozen silence guard her rest.
In the following days, Sombra and the wolf journeyed together across the snowy desert. The icy air cut their breath short as he gathered berries and branches to prepare salves for their bites.
The wolf, meanwhile, amused itself rolling in the snow, chasing small animals, and ruining his concentration. Each time it did, Sombra snorted in irritation… though, deep down, that clumsy liveliness brought him a strange sense of comfort.
"So this is the terrifying creature you've been fighting with…" Luna remarked with an amused smile.
Sombra went on the defensive at once, until he recognized the teasing tone of the Princess of the Moon.
"You wouldn't last ten seconds with him," he growled.
"But he's so cute…" she said, leaning down to pet the wolf. It snapped its jaws, nearly catching her hoof. Luna jumped back with a light laugh. "He's got your temperament. No wonder you get along so well."
"It's not what you think," Sombra grumbled, looking away. "Besides, he's not the danger I'm worried about."
"What do you mean?" asked Luna, straightening up.
Before he could answer, the ground began to crack with a dry rumble, the same sound Sombra had heard in his nightmares. A chill ran down his back.
"That's what I meant…" he growled, turning his gaze toward the water's eye.
"I'll bring Twilight," Luna replied firmly, and in a blink she spread her wings and took flight, vanishing into the frozen sky.
Sombra leapt into the water's eye that opened in the middle of the wasteland. The soft snow at the entrance gave way beneath his hooves, and he slid down an icy slope until plunging into the depths of the cavern.
A faint light filtered from the surface, illuminating a small pool of almost crystal-clear water. There, between the shadows and icy gleams, he saw the monster clearly for the first time.
The creature dipped its pale head into the water, the spines along its neck and back bristling with a slow drip. Its scales, shaped like diamonds, shimmered like thousands of daggers embedded in its skin. A shiver crawled down his spine. He knew he should run, but his body wouldn't obey,fear had frozen him.
Then the beast rose from the ground like an avalanche. Its body, long as a frozen river, gleamed under the moonlight seeping through the cracks. When it shook its skin, a thunderous noise echoed through the cave; hundreds of scales scattered like shards of glass before the serpentine face emerged from the abyss. Two black eyes, small as bottomless pits, stared at him.
The monster coiled around the chamber, blocking every exit. Sombra tried to summon his nightmare spell, but Twilight's enchantment still sealed his power. The serpent wrapped around him, crushing him against scales that cut like blades. Its breath, cold as the heart of winter, filled the cavern. There was no escape.
He thought it was the end, until a roar tore through the air.
The wolf lunged at the creature's neck, ripping off a chunk of flesh with a brutal bite. Warm blood ran down the reptile's body, spilling until it reached Sombra, giving him just enough friction to slip free from its grasp.
Panic mingled with a spark of fury. For the first time in months, a faint light flared from his horn,his magic was answering him again.
The serpent rose to devour the wolf, but Sombra reacted first. He unleashed his nightmare spell.
The beast's roar shook the stones. It slammed its head against the walls, maddened by the visions.
Seeing it stagger, Sombra drove his horn into the creature's eyes, tearing them from their sockets.
The serpent thrashed in its own agony, crashing through the tunnels until it vanished with a rumble that made the whole cavern tremble.
Exhausted, Sombra and the wolf followed the tunnels until they reached a small chamber. At first glance, it looked like it had been inhabited long ago: the walls blackened by soot and remnants of old fires told the story. On the floor, half-buried under frost, lay a notebook covered in dust and moisture,but still legible.
"Ice Serpent," the title read in crooked letters. Do not approach this monster; its venom freezes the skin to the bone unless this spell is used…
Sombra frowned. He didn't understand what kind of venom the diary meant,until he saw the wolf collapse inside the cave. Its eyes turned pale, its body stiffened unnaturally. A dry thud echoed, followed by a short, piercing cry. Sombra tried to move closer, but it was too late.
A thin layer of frost began to spread over the wolf's body, covering it slowly until it was sealed completely. Within seconds, the creature was still,trapped inside a prison of ice. Its form was so clear, its expression so calm, it looked asleep… as if waiting to wake at any moment.
Sombra watched in silence, the weight of it pressing on him. He stepped closer and brushed the ice with a hoof. The chill seeped into his bones, reminding him of what he already knew.
The crystal was so pure and transparent it was hard to believe life had ended behind it.
He touched it one last time, gently, with sorrow and resignation.
There was nothing left to do.
The air froze in his lungs. He had been lucky,his body could resist the venom better than most creatures, but not for long.
Silence filled the cave, heavy and final. Then he saw a glimmer among the snow,a warm spark in the midst of all that darkness. He leaned down and picked it up carefully. It was a golden brooch, engraved with the symbol of medicine at its center.
His breath hitched.
"Hope… you were here," he murmured, his voice breaking between disbelief and longing.
He compared the torn piece of the diary's cover with the brooch. They fit perfectly. It was Hope's.
She had been there.
Sombra moved deeper into the cave, his heart pounding. Everything was just as he would have imagined from her: a small study carved between blocks of ice, arranged with the precision of one who seeks to understand every secret of the world. An open book rested on an improvised table, filled with notes, diagrams, and pages rescued from ancient texts.
His chest swelled with a forgotten joy. He felt her presence in every corner, in every mark of ink. He took a navy-blue blanket folded over a chair. He recognized it instantly,it was the same one they had used as foals to build forts and huddle beneath during cold nights at the orphanage. The mere touch sent a tremor through him.
He kept exploring, trying to stay composed, until something struck his mind like a flash: a great sculpture of ice stood at the center of the chamber. He took one step, then another. The air seemed to thicken, each breath heavier than the last.
His heart quickened and ached at once, as if it already knew what his mind refused to accept.
At the far end of the cave, he saw a massive block of ice, so clear and bright it looked like a crystal forged by the gods of winter. Inside, an equine silhouette lay motionless.
Despite the frost's opacity, Sombra could see her clearly: a young mare, closer to adolescence than adulthood. Her form was ordinary, but her features carried an unmistakable grace; even frozen, she was beautiful.
She rested in an almost serene pose, though pain lingered in her expression,a tragic grimace. Her mane, suspended in the ice, fell like a luminous waterfall that blended into the crystal, becoming one with it.
Sombra felt something pierce his chest.
He didn't want to believe it.
He couldn't.
He took a step forward, dragging his hooves over the frozen ground. The air grew heavy, silence roaring in his ears. When he was close enough, he lifted his gaze,and saw it.
Her mark.
Her cutie mark.
The world shattered with him.
"No… No! Nooo!" he cried, with such pain that the entire wasteland seemed to drown in his screams.
He ran toward the surface with a wild, desperate force,without thinking, without stopping. He ran as if the ground burned beneath his hooves, as if stopping meant dying. He crossed nearly the entire frozen desert, and though he heard screams,maybe his own, maybe echoes of the wind, his ears could no longer tell. They were just sounds amid the storm of his despair.
He stumbled at the entrance of a cavern, and the snow caught him in a mound that softened the fall. His body, exhausted, began to falter; his muscles tensed, trembling, until they refused to go on. He collapsed onto the white mantle, gasping.
The cold seeped into his bones, but he no longer felt it. The pain in his chest outweighed the frost itself. Instinctively, he curled up, trying to preserve what little warmth remained, and finally closed his eyes,surrendering to the stillness.
For the first time perhaps with relief,he hoped that nightmare would finally end.