The Softness of Her Heart

"You're supposed to be..."

The Softness of Her Heart
Written By KingSombraTheTyrantRuler
"You're supposed to be..."

Sombra's P.O.V:

My jaw drops. Hope was supposed to be dead...yet here she is? I recompose myself and then pinch my hoof to make sure that this wasn't a dream. "Ouch," I mutter as I follow her to the living room.

She sits on the sofa. "You must be really confused right now," she says softly, "and I don't blame you. After all, to you, I'm long dead."

"So," I ask cautiously, "how are you like," I gesture with my hooves, searching for the right word.

"Alive?" she asks, taking the words out of my mouth, and I nod. "Sombra... I never actually died."

"What do you mean?" I ask, ignoring the pain in my chest that came from seeing her again. "H-how?" was all I managed to stutter out weakly, refusing to believe what I was seeing. "It's not possible. I saw you die. You're supposed to be..."

"Dead?" she asks, completing my sentence for me. "Yes, I know. And truth be told, if things had happened as they were meant to, I would be dead. That's not to say I'm fully alive."

I'm confused. "What do you mean 'fully alive'?"

Hope sighs, her beautiful teal eyes reflecting the sadness in her heart. "Oh, Sombra. I am held between the world of the living and the dead."

"You mean to say you're undead?"

She winces. "I suppose that yes, that is the only way to describe it."

I reach out to touch her, to comfort her however I can because her pain hurts me deep down, although it has been centuries since I last saw her, but to my surprise, my hoof passes right through her body as though she were made of mist.

"Uh...Does that mean I drank too much and this is a hallucination?"

"No, you're not seeing things. This is an...illusion, Sombra. I'm reaching out to you through dream magic."

"I'm...dreaming?"

"Sort of. That's not important right now. I don't know how long I can keep this spell going for, so listen carefully. That night in the Empire, I didn't die. I was close to dying, but before my soul slipped away, Rabia captured my spirit. I died physically, but my spirit is very much alive. She's been holding me as her prisoner, waiting to use me as leverage against you. She's planning something."

I'm about to say something, but she holds her hoof up. "Go to the Empire, the place you witnessed my death."
"I-" I hesitate a little. Is this real? What if its all a trick?
Hope opens her mouth to speak more, but her form distorts, and she starts to fade.

"Hope!"

"Please Sombra, trust me. I can't live like this! It's torture! Go to the pl-"

Before she can finish, her form disappears completely, and I'm left alone, shocked beyond imagination. Hope's final plea, and the desperation in her voice haunt me as I open my eyes.

Fluttershy's standing over me, concern written all over her face, and her tone is one of worry as she queries, "Sombra? Did...did you have another nightmare?"

I sit up slowly and look around. The first thing I notice I'd that sunlight is streaming in through the window. It takes me a few minutes before I finally snap out of my stupor, and state, "We need to go to the Crystal Empire."

"The Crystal Empire?!" squeaks my marefriend, her pitch increasing, probably due to being amazed at my statement. "Why?!"

I explain my vision to her, and Fluttershy gasps when I'm done. "Sombra, I understand that you still haven't healed from losing Hope in such away but are you sure that this wasn't just a dream caused by your grief? Sometimes, when you lose somepony close to you, your mind desperately wants to-"

I shake my head firmly. "Fluttershy, it wasn't just a dream. I'm sure of it. Hope was‐"

"But-"

"Take me to Luna herself, if you must but mark my words, this is no mere dream, much less one caused by grief."

Fluttershy sighs deeply. "Fine... it'll take longer to get an audience with the Princess as I can't ask Twilight to help us, but if you're sure...then get ready, we're going to Canterlot."

The train ride took several hours and by the time we were in Canterlot, the sun was already setting. Fluttershy gets up and stretches, yawning slightly as we leave the train.

"How about we go and get something to eat before going to the Castle?" she suggests.

"We can't waste any more time. This is of the utmost importance. "

Fluttershy's stomach growls.

"Well you can go and get something to eat and I'll go to the cas-" A grumble from my own stomach cuts me off and my marefriend gives me a look. "Fine, I guess we can afford to spend some time eating and then we're going straight to the Palace."

Fluttershy's P.O.V:

Now with our hunger satisfied, Sombra and I venture towards the Palace. The guards at the gates look at us suspiciously once they see Sombra, but let us pass after I tell them he's with me. "State your purpose for coming here," demands one of the guards who's in front of the Castle doors.

"We come seeking an audience with Princess Luna," I say, doing my best to hide my nervousness. We're allowed in and are led to the throne room, where the Princess of the Night awaits us.

The Guard leaves us briefly to inform the Princess of our arrival, and returns to say that we may enter. I bow upon entering the presence of the Lunar Monarch.

"Rise," she commands, voice full of royal authority. Her gaze is cold and her expression blank, so I can't tell what she's thinking, and I shake a little. "There is no need to fear Us, Fluttershy. Be at ease, and tell Us why you have sought an audience with Us tonight." She nods in Sombra's direction. "I trust he has not harmed any of Our subjects?"

I shake my head instantly. "No, Princess Luna! While the reason we came is connected to him, he hasn't hurt anyone! The reason why we came is...well, Sombra saw something in his dream last night. It's-" I hesitate a little, not quire sure what to say. "It's related to his past. He insisted that it wasn't just a dream."

"Yes," says Sombra. "I have reasons to believe that last night, Radiant Hope communicated to me in my dream through the use of dream magic."

The Princess of the Night looks at Sombra as if he'd grown a second head. "Pardon me, but is she not dead?"

"I thought so too, but last night's events have led me to believe otherwise."

"Tell me more about this dream," Luna tells Sombra, and he relates the details of it to her.

The Princess is deep in thought when he's done. "It may be more than a simple dream, for Hope was a dream walker. We should know, for We were the ones to teach her. Yes... We shall discuss this matter with Celestia. For the time being, you both may reside in one of the guest rooms."

"Thank you, Princess," says Sombra, and upon the Monarch's directions, a guard leads us to a spare room. I almost immediately collapse on the bed, weary from this entire ordeal.

Sombra follows my lead, and I fall asleep in his embrace, my eyelids too heavy for me to keep them open a moment longer.

Author's Note:

Fear not of unannounced long hiatus' any longer...for I have planned everything out! I'm not kidding, lately since I've gotten free periods at school (since I got to choose what subjects I'll take for my GCSE) I've had more free time, and one day I realized I should put it all to use, and since I literally had like, three free periods in a row, I came up with this! It's taken me a while to polish it up though, so yeah...