A Shadow of Your Former Self

by anonbecause1

Chapter 8

Sombra yanked open his bedroom door, though he didn’t know why he bothered, he just had to wait another two minutes and the vibrations from Rocky Rolls base would swing it back open again.

“Will you turn that down!”

Rocky flicked her tail at him in a deliberate fast motion, flipped him off, and continued to shake her mane along with the beat, “Fuck off, I’m doing homework!”

Sombra marched over to unplug her speakers, “So am I!” Rocky knew what he was going to do and leapt up to stop him. They met halfway in a shoving match in the center of the room, grunting back and forth. Sombra was physically stronger and was gaining ground, pushing Rocky closer to the speakers but she fought dirty and kicked him in the shins. Sombra yelped but refused to go down without taking her with him, he pinned her to the floor, Rocky reared her head up and bit him on the ear, hard.

“Owh!” Sombra let her go and backed up, his ear felt wet, he used his hoof to wipe off her spit but came away with blood. More drops followed in a steady drip. “You fucking bit me!” Sombra left her to inspect his ear in the bathroom mirror, his entire ear and right cheek was covered in blood. He tried to find something even remotely clean to wide it away and inspect the damage, all he could find was toilet paper so he grabbed a wad of it and wetted it down in the sink. He carefully wiped his ear down just enough to discover an almost perfectly circular hole straight through before it filled up with more blood and obscured the injury. “You bit a hole in my ear! What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Sombra clamped down hard on the injury to stop the flow, did they even have a first aid kit? Who could even tell with all the fucking shampoo bottles in the way! Sombra smacked every bottle, comb, hairbrush, and curling iron off the sink counter out of frustration.

Rocky Roll hovered in the bathroom doorway nervously shifting her weight from hoof to hoof. Sombra glared at her, not really sure what to do, he used his magic to keep the pressure on his ear and shoved past her to his room. Rocky followed at a safe distance as Sombra yanked out his suitcase and began to toss his stuff inside without any care for what it was or how it was packed. “Where are you going?” Sombra decided he could come back for the rest later.

“To the DA’s office. Stay there for the night and find a new roommate in the morning.” He picked up his suitcase and moved to shove past her again but Rocky blocked his way.

“No, you can’t go!”

“I am bleeding from my ear; I have every right to go!” Sombra lit up his horn in warning but Rocky stood her ground with her arms outstretched, blocking the exit to his room.

“I can’t lose another roommate over a citation! They’ll kick me out of school!”

“Not my problem.” Sombra used his magic to levitate her off the floor and onto the bed. He made it out the door and half way through the living room before she shot past him to block the main entrance.

“If you tell the DA on me, I’ll tell them about what you keep in the fridge.”

“They would have to get over the trauma of three-week-old Chinese food first. What do I keep in the fridge that you think they care about?”

Rocky folded her arms in an attempt to look as smug as possible. “The meat. Do you think they care about a little blood after I tell them you are an actual cannibal?”

“First of all, I don’t think you know what that word means. You would be the cannibal because you are the one who bit off an actual chunk on my flesh! The meat I keep in the fridge is chicken and fish, as far from quadruped as I could get. I need to eat it because I need the protein for my magic, it takes a lot more energy then normal unicorn magic and if I don’t eat it I feel terrible.”

“And that’s another thing,” Rocky taunted as she began to circle like a shark (they had a lot in common). “You use dark magic, all the time as a matter of fact. You may fancy yourself as some edgy dark king, what with the crown and the filed teeth, and I have been gracious enough to write you off as some lame goth but the administration…” Rocky stopped her circle right in front of his face and leaned in real close. “You’ll be lucky if they don’t send you to jail.”

Sombra matched her stare with one of his own, he knew his very existence was shady and suspect, Sombra smirked, so he had been preparing to be confronted like this. Luckily, he had the actual books on hoof to boot. He levitated three books from the living room shelf without having to look and floated them with the marked pages open right in front of Rocky’s face. “Equestrian law volume two subsection 647, Equestria vs Night Wind. Though dark magic is not looked upon favorably, as long as the user does not violate the law, dark magic itself is not illegal to use. It’s a tool, not a definitive crime.” Sombra floated the next book in front of Rocky for her to read for herself. “Equestria trade legislation and food safety, chapter 7 page 250. Meat is served in specialty shops and restaurants under strict food safety regulations but is legal to raise, slaughter, cook, sell, and serve in Equestria. So long as I don’t make it for somepony else, I don’t need a commerce license.” Sombra floated the last book over, Equestrian history. “Sheep, pigs, chicken, and fish have been raised and slaughtered for export since 800 B.C.L.”

Sombra looked at Rocky incredibly smug as he floated the books onto his back. He definitely needed to take these tonight, they weren’t the only copies in Equestria but it was a pain to find the reference pages and if she got it in her head to ‘burn his evidence’ then they needed to come with him. He made to float her away from the door again when she began to cry.

Sombra just looked at her suspended in his dark magic field with her eyes all large, watery, and pathetic. “Am I supposed to pity you? Because I’m still bleeding on the carpet and have a minimal amount of sympathy on a good day.” Rocky began to wail louder, Sombra rolled his eyes and set her down behind him. He wasn’t going to leave right away but he was going to be the one closest to the door. Rocky sat sniffing and crying into her hooves on the dingy carpet, after a bit, she calmed down enough to try to defend herself through her tears.

“You- you don’t know what it’s like for- for me. You- ou never even bothered to ask! My par-ents would be devastated if I got kicked out of another school. My-my talent is rock music but I could ne-never get a gig, no matter how hard I tried. My parents are forcing me to get a ‘real job’ but this-is what I’m meant to do. And I’m terrible at it!” Rocky started up a new round of tears and collapsed on the ground.

Her speech hadn’t moved Sombra an inch. She was messy, rude, selfish, and hadn’t even bothered to try to get to know him since he moved in. He wasn’t going to waste his time with somepony who could hurt somepony else physically and only feel bad for herself afterwards. He wasn’t a saint.

Sombra walked out the door without a second thought.

Comments

[Samellan]

That's Sombra who rocks here!

[Holydude]

Right on sombra. I always hate those people like her.

[Ice Star]

“They would have to get over the trauma of three-week-old Chinese food first. What do I keep in the fridge that you think they care about?”

'Chinese' doesn't belong in a ponyfic.

“First of all, I don’t think you know what that word means. You would be the cannibal because you are the one who bit off an actual chunk on my flesh! The meat I keep in the fridge is chicken and fish, as far from quadruped as I could get. I need to eat it because I need the protein for my magic, it takes a lot more energy then normal unicorn magic and if I don’t eat it I feel terrible.”

Sombra being a cannibal means he would be another pony, not another quadruped. His refutation is presented awkwardly because of this.

Equestria vs Night Wind

This is not a legal subsection. It's a court case, and the name needs to be in italics if it is a title.

B.C.L.

What does this mean? It appears to be a calendar system exclusive to this story, but I don't recall the acronym being disclosed in a previous chapter. Without the meaning being known, it's hard to know what this could mean and what time this date is supposed to correspond with. Also, it's weird that the law doesn't exclude animals that are sapient, since many species in the show are.

[Villiam]

By B.C.L you mean (Before Celestia and Luna)?🤔

[Theresa]

Maybe if she didn't behave like a spoiled brat she be able to keep a roommate. Blackmail is definitely not cool. If she really thought he was doing something wrong she have already told.