Sombra let out a tired groan as he put a hoof to his temple in aggravated pain, his eyes closed as he tried to regain some sense of coherent thought.

"Damn you, Conscience..." Sombra huffed irritably, "Must you be so enigmatic?"

"I prefer 'mysterious', but I like that one better!" Sombra heard the voice shout excitedly, though it didn't sound like a thought within his head.

With a heavy head and a throbbing ache in his bones, Sombra opened his clenched eyes to see that his lighter counterpart held a physical form, the difference being that his body wasn't transparent like before.

Sombra took the time to gaze across the barren surroundings, a darkish gray swirling around in endless tides. Sombra had to force himself to look away before he got sick just from looking at it.

Conscience gave Sombra a wry grin as he cocked his head to the side in a somewhat charming manner. "What's the matter, Sombry? Ya don't like it when ponies force you into repression?"

Sombra frowned at him and shakily brought himself to his hooves. "You are such a nuisance."

"Aw, don't be like that!" Conscience told him, "I only did this so you could see what it was that you needed to know!"

"Where am I, anyway?" Sombra snapped angrily, his gaze going to the dizzying gray area briefly, "This place is unfamiliar to me."

Conscience chuckled lightly. "Haven't you ever stopped to wonder where I go off to whenever I leave you be?"

"As long as you're gone, I don't care what you do."

"Wow, that's just rude. I wonder why Pinks likes you so much."

Sombra let out an aggravated snarl at the mention of his beloved and at the use of his nickname for her. "You brought me here to show me the truth, you idiot. And I don't have time for your dawdling, mainly because of the fact that that demon is still roaming free!"

Conscience lost his smile, a troubled look replacing his blitheness. "I know that, Sombra. That's why it's so important you watch what happens."

Without another word, Conscience's horn sparked alive, a red aura surrounding the segmented appendage. Sombra's eyes widened in surprise at the aura color, his eyes going to his own horn as he recalled his aura being black in color.

But, Sombra didn't have time to question the aura differences as the gray area turned morphed and flashed into several different scenes and sometimes, random, psychedelic colors. He cringed as the area grew brighter and shielded his eyes from the blinding light with a foreleg, his eyes clenched close as he protected his retinas.

"What are you doing?" Sombra exclaimed, attempting to look over his hoof before exclaiming in surprise at the bright light.

"I can't even begin to tell you about the things I went through that lead to your creation, Sombra," Conscience told him, "but, I think I can sum it all up like this..."

"You think?" Sombra repeated, "We have a time limit, Conscience!"

"I know that! What, would you rather I go into full biography mode and start off like, 'I was born on a Tuesday'? No, this will have to do and you are going to sit down, shut up and enjoy the bucking show."

Sombra let out an aggravated groan. "Well, would it kill you to turn off the light show? I can't see anything like this!"

"The lights have been off, Dumbra," Conscience told him flatly, "just take a look for yourself."

Feeling like he had little choice in the matter, Sombra put his foreleg down and allowed his spotty vision to dissipate as he tried to focus in on his surroundings. He blinked in surprise as he saw that the gray swirls had turned into a shoddy looking village, which still appeared to be under development.

"Where are we?" Sombra questioned, his eyes widening as he took in the surroundings.

"Mexicolt," Conscience answered stoically, "my home."

Sombra glanced over at his counterpart with wide eyes, then back at at the village surrounding them. Little colts and fillies ran about, giggling and screaming as they were wont to do while the adults just watched with half-interest while they conversed with one another on simple matters.

"This was your home?" Sombra repeated, "Just where did you live in this rundown place?"

Conscience shrugged. "Around. I was a bit of a roamer, here and there. I'd come to this town the most, mainly 'cause they were the most receptive crowd."

"Crowd? Wait a second... What are you saying?"

Conscience gave Sombra a devious grin. "What, you think this face can't go around without somepony noticing?"

Sombra gave him a frown. "So, you just roamed around and managed to survive off your looks? Do you have any idea what that leads me to believe?"

Conscience's eyes widened. "¡Ay, bruto! You did not just say that!"

"What did you do, then?" Sombra inquired, "You're not making any--"

"¡Miren!" cried a little filly, cutting through Sombra's interrogation, "¡Es Sombra!"

Sombra looked over at the gathering crowd to see the familiar face of his counterpart, the same mischievous grin on his features as he made his way down the town's interior. He returned greetings in his native tongue, to which the foals jumped around excitedly at his acknowledgement.

"Why are you so popular with them?" Sombra questioned, his gaze going back to Conscience.

Conscience smiled nostalgically. "Kids love performers, Sombra. It's a fact you have to realize, if you and Pinks are gonna have any foals, which surprises me you haven't already, what with all the stuff you two do."

"Sweet Tartarus, you have been watching us!" Sombra cried, his eyes widening in horror, "You're sick!"

Conscience laughed. "You wish, ya weirdo!"

Sombra let out an angry growl, then ceased as Conscience's earlier statement finally sunk in. "Wait a minute... You were a performer?"

Conscience shrugged. "I think of myself as a gypsy, to be honest."

"Wasn't that a bit... old-fashioned, even back then?" Sombra questioned, a brow arched interestedly.

"Eh, more or less. I mean, I learned from my mother, who learned from her parents and so on and so forth," Conscience told him.

"So... I'm the creation of a multi-generation gypsy stallion?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

Sombra frowned as his ears flattened against his head. "Great."

Conscience laughed. "Yeah, well, it could be worse. I mean, like you said earlier, I could just as easily have been a--"

"Don't finish that sentence," Sombra interrupted with closed eyes, a hoof on his face as he shook his head, "I will hate you far more than you could ever know."

"Sheesh, whatcha got against gypsies?" Conscience questioned, a brow arched teasingly, "Anyway, getting back to the story, I roamed town to town performing for ponies to get by."

With another flash of his horn, Conscience changed the scenery from the rugged town's interior to a construction area of an up and coming city. Sombra's eyes widened as he recognized the familiar statue of a mare holding a torch, the copper having yet to turn green from the sea's salty air.

"Are we in..." Sombra paused as he struggled to remember the name of the city, "Manehatten?"

Conscience nodded. "Yep! This is when it was in it's early development! Doesn't it look amazing?"

Sombra found his gaze going across the in-progress city, the bustle of passing ponies so foreign to him as he was used to the calm and peaceful nature of Ponyville. At the remembrance of the home he had come to love since his reformation process began, he frowned to himself.

"You say this is important to the story," Sombra said to Conscience, "How so?"

Conscience pointed a hoof into the city. "Take a look for yourself."

Sombra looked on once more, his eyes narrowing in scrutiny as he tried to find something that pertained to his foggy past. His eyes widened as he caught sight of his young unicorn self on a street corner, performing random acts to gain the gratuity of bits from passersby onlookers.

At first, he began to dance while he sang out lyrics to a song he didn't know the meaning, which then led to him dance around specific ponies, the mares especially. While at first surprised at the dancer's advancements, they would eventually give into the performance and giggle and laugh as he enticed them with sway of his body.

Sombra spared Conscience a sideways glance, a somewhat perturbed look on his features.

"What?" Conscience blurted out irritably, "Stallion's gotta make a living somehow!"

Sombra's ear flattened against his head in irritation. "Sometimes you just give me something and I just don't know what to do with it."

"Good, it'd be weird if you got something out of this other than knowledge," Conscience said, then looked at Sombra with wide eyes, "You're not getting something out of this other than that, right?"

Sombra frowned. "Just because the door swings both ways, it doesn't mean it does for everyone."

Conscience sighed in relief. "Good... Hey, wait!"

Sombra ignored his counterpart as his attention went back to the dancing stallion. "I don't understand; you just walked around and danced for ponies all over Equestria?"

"Yes," Conscience answered exasperatedly, "Why is that so hard for you to understand?"

Sombra let out a huff of annoyed air as he stood up and held up his rear somewhat predominantly. "Because of this, you twit!"

Conscience's eyes went to Sombra's flank for a moment, then back to Sombra's face. "What was that about not getting something out of it...?"

Sombra growled angrily. "No, you idiot! I'm talking about my blasted cutie mark!"

"Ooooh," Conscience drawled, his gaze going back to Sombra's flank briefly, "What about it?"

Sombra let out a couple sputters of incoherent anger, trying immensely not to yell at his counterpart. "Because, if you remember correctly, my cutie mark has nothing to do with dancing or performing whatsoever! It's involved with crystals, Conscience!"

Conscience gave Sombra a deadpan look. "Do you remember that trip to Carousel Boutique all those months ago?"

Sombra let out an aggravated yell. "What does that have to do with anything?!"

Conscience sighed. "If you remembered correctly, Dumbra, you'd remember I told you, flat-out, that your cutie mark didn't always look the way it did."

Sombra opened his mouth to argue, but stopped short as he realized the truth in Conscience's words. He sighed heavily as he sat back down and put a hoof to his face tiredly.

"This is so frustrating..." he muttered raggedly, his head shaking left to right in exasperation.

"Aaaaaaaand, if you haven't noticed already, you'll see that I don't have my cutie mark," Conscience told him, pointing a hoof down at the dancing stallion below, "at least, not yet."

"What?" Sombra blurted out, his gaze going back down to the city to look.

"Ha, didn't know ya wanted to look so badly!" Conscience exclaimed, "If ya wanna know what it looks like, here's a sneak peek!"

Sombra frowned as Conscience mimicked his earlier position and shook his head. "Still not swinging that way."

Conscience frowned. "I feel like I should be offended."

"You should be," Sombra told him flatly, then looked back at the mark on Conscience's hide with interest, "It looks like mine, only it's red. Care to explain?"

"Ah, ah, ah!" Conscience exclaimed, tapping Sombra on the nose with every word, "Spoilers!"

Sombra smacked his counterpart's hoof away. "Just get on with the blasted story..."

"As you wish, Your Highness!" Conscience called out, sparking his horn to life to change the scenery once more.

Sombra watched in awe as the stallion's positions seemed to flow perfectly together while the scenes changed from Manehatten's construction sites to the regal attired city of Canterlot, which seemed to gleam in the sun's light beautifully. It later shifted to a rugged looking western town, then to another city and then to a bay view area, the stallion seeming to age as the scenes changed.

"How long did you travel?" Sombra found himself asking Conscience, who was busy moving the spell forward.

"Years," Conscience told him, "I didn't have any parents to watch over me and I knew that if I stayed in one place too long, it wouldn't be good for business."

"What? Didn't you say that your mother taught you how to... perform?"

Conscience's spell faltered for a brief moment, his eyes flashing with pain. "She... She died when I was younger. There was an incident regarding a fan and..."

Conscience went silent as he continued to work through the spell, though it lacked its' usual flourish and flow.

Sombra felt a pang of sympathy for him, his anger towards his counterpart disappearing. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Conscience shrugged it off, though it was apparent recalling the incident was painful for him. "It's alright, you didn't know. Besides, I already knew everything I needed to and she was going to retire, anyway."

Sombra blinked in surprise, but decided not to question the stallion's nonchalant behavior. His gaze went back to the spectacle of magic, the transitions between the towns and cities growing more and more flowing as Conscience regained his composure.

Finally, Sombra found himself freezing in shock as it shifted to the Crystal Empire, the brilliance of the crystal palace catching him off-guard.

Conscience chuckled lightly. "I reacted the same way. Mama told me about this place when I was a colt, but I always thought it was just fairy tales. I mean, ponies with crystal coats? How crazy is that?"

Sombra found himself grinning as he nodded in agreement. "It is rather strange."

Conscience's horn flared up brighter as he shifted himself and Sombra's positions to where they were at the opening of the city, rather than just admirers from the distance.

"Why did you move us closer?" Sombra questioned, his brow arched with interest as he looked around at the crystalline surroundings.

"You'll see!" Conscience told him, practically vibrating from excitement.

As if on cue, Sombra caught sight of his past self galloping into the Empire, a wide grin on his face. Remembering Conscience's comment about thinking the Empire was a fairy tale, it was clear to him that he was obviously excited at the idea of entering such a magical looking place.

"This is amazing!" he heard him shout, a laugh following afterwards.

Sombra looked over at Conscience with an interested look, to which his counterpart frowned.

"I had never seen the Empire before, alright? It was kinda awesome to see it for real!"

Sombra grinned as he returned his attention to the galloping stallion, who was no doubt gaining the attention of passing ponies. But, if he cared, it didn't show through his laughing as he mindlessly ran about.

"Wait for it..." Conscience told him, holding up a hoof as he excitedly waited in anticipation.

"Wait for what?" Sombra questioned, "He's just prancing about!"

"Hey, I was not-- Oh, wait, I was... Never mind, then. Just look, will you?"

Sombra let out a small huff as he looked at the stallion run through the crystalline streets, his eyes peering through the crowd to see if there was anything to be anxious about.

Suddenly, he heard an all-too-familiar voice.

"Hiya, Crystal Arrow!" said the high-octave voice of Pinkie, or rather, her Crystal Pony counterpart, "How's your morning been?"

"Oh, sweet Tartarus," Sombra breathed, his eyes wide with shock.

"Oh, Golden Glitter, your mane looks so sparkleriffic today! I hope Castle Rook notices!" she called out over her shoulder, her dazzling smile flashing brightly.

Sombra could only watch in shock as he saw Pinkie bounce through the streets, so much like she did back in Ponyville. His heart clenched in his chest as he recalled how this Pinkie looked compared to the one he saw last, the contrast between the two causing his insides to wrench violently.

Tartarus, how awful he felt causing her such pain.

"Wait for it..." Conscience said once more, "It's about to get great."

Sombra said nothing as he watched Pinkie hop into the path of his blind-running counterpart, who was laughing like a schoolcolt who had just been let out of school. The preoccupied pair were not aware of the other's presence, completely immersed in their own joy and blitheness to notice the dangerous collision that was to come.

Just as Sombra presumed they would, they knocked into each other, the force of their collision causing them both to fall backwards onto their backs.

"¡Ay yi yi!" he heard himself cry, "¡Fíjese por donde va!"

Pinkie jerked upwards with a scowl on her face, a rare sight to be seen. "¿Qué fue eso?" she snapped angrily, her eyes narrowed to thin slits

Sombra felt his jaw drop. "Did she just--?"

"Yep!" Conscience exclaimed giddily, "And let me tell ya, it was love at first sight at that point!"

Sombra gave him an incredulous look. "Her yelling at you in your language made you fall in love with her?"

Conscience grinned at him. "I like mares with fight in 'em!"

Sombra's attention went back to the pair before him, his eyes going to the stunned stallion who was gaping at Pinkie in pure silence.

Pinkie gasped and put a hoof to her mouth in shock. "Sorry! I didn't mean to yell at you!"

Sombra watched his past self shake his head briefly before giving Pinkie a reassuring smile. "It's quite alright," he told her, his voice laced with a foreign accent, "I wasn't watching where I was going."

Pinkie blushed at his comment. "O-Oh, it's alright!" she told him, a nervous laugh following.

"What's your name?" he asked, a brow quirked in interest, "I'm interested to know the name of such a lovely face."

Sombra felt a flicker of jealousy as Pinkie blushed profusely. "R-Rose Quartz..."

"Rose Quartz?" Sombra repeated, his brow arching in thought, "Wait a second.."

'It's just something Rose Quartz told me about,' Conscience had told him earlier, back when they were walking with Cadence.

Could it be possible he meant this one?

"Rose," he heard his past self repeat, breaking him out of his thoughts, "beautiful name for a beautiful mare."

Sombra frowned. "Oh, please don't let this be a 'colt-meets-filly' story..."

Conscience frowned at him. "Well, it's a bit more complicated than that, but now that ya mention it, yeah, it is like that."

Sombra frowned as he watched the pair continue to talk to one another, each showing signs of obvious affection towards the other. "Things can't have been like this so easily..."

Conscience sighed. "In a way, you're right. But, I didn't really care about that at the time."

The scene shifted to Rose and his past self walking together down the streets at night, the streets lit up by lanterns, giving the night a warm glow. Sombra couldn't help but notice how Rose's flank was pressed against his own as they talked together, laughing over the most ridiculous of things.

"It was the first time I had ever been in love," Conscience said softly, his gaze going over the loving couple briefly, "I had seen and met many mares, but none were like her."

Rose gasped as she pointed at a small quartet of musicians, who were playing a slow, romantic song, a smile playing across her features as she bounced over. With a hoof held out for him to hold onto, she giggled happily as he accepted her offer and danced with her, spinning and twirling her around as if they were in a ballroom.

"She was so wonderful to me," Conscience continued, "but... I made a really big mistake."

The scene shifted to where it showed Rose and himself laying in bed together, embracing one another in their sleepy stupor. Sombra couldn't help but notice that he was wide awake, his eyes open as he looked on with a troubled expression.

"I..." Conscience tried to say, sounding uncharacteristically resigned, "I had forgotten the biggest rule of being a travelling performer..."

Sombra was in shock as the stallion climbed out of bed, his ears turned downwards as he looked over at Rose's sleeping form. Without a sound to disturb her, he left the room, his head hung low.

"You can't fall in love," Conscience finished, "it's not meant to be for the life of a gypsy."

"What?" Sombra blurted out, "Why didn't you just quit being a performer, then? If you loved her so damn much, you should have stayed!"

Conscience looked down in shame. "I wish I could back and change what I did. I really do. Because if I could, I would do everything in my power to keep her. I wouldn't lose her even if I could't help it."

Conscience looked up at him with tears in his eyes. "I loved her. Dammit, I still love her! I would give anything to get to hold her again, Sombra! Because just waking up next to her every morning was a gift from the gods themselves, dammit! And I threw it all away because I was a bucking idiot!"

Sombra went silent as Conscience screwed his eyes shut, tears rolling down his face. "I made such a big mistake leaving her... I wish I could back, but I can't..."

"Conscience..." Sombra said softly as put his hoof on his shoulder, "I know what you're going through."

Conscience sighed raggedly. "I know that. And that's why I'm doing this. Because I want to make sure you don't lose her the way I did."

The scene changed, but the transition was blurry, no doubt because of Conscience's mental breakdown. It was himself in a dark room, illuminated by the light of several candles surrounding him. He was in the middle of reading a book, his eyes narrowed in scrutiny as he peered over the words.

"After I left, I didn't have it in me to perform anymore. When I did, I would find myself thinking of her and the way she would dance with me during performances..."

Conscience took a ragged breath to keep his composure. "After I realized my mistake, I knew she wouldn't take me the way I was. She deserved a stallion who would support her; who could support her. So, I started studying magic and started practicing it..."

"But..." Sombra added, knowing it would be the next word.

Conscience sighed. "But, I found something... something I wish I had left well enough alone."

Sombra's gaze flickered back over to his past self, who was in the middle of putting up a book on the library shelf. But, as he put the book up, he accidentally knocked several off the shelf, a series of hushed curses following afterwards. Sombra just then noticed the dark circles under his eyes, no doubt from late nights of studying binges.

One of the books cracked open, revealing a series of incantations that caused Sombra's eyes to widen in horror.

"That's..." Sombra breathed, then swallowed hard as he continued, "that's a dark magic spell book..."

Conscience nodded, his eyes shining with painful regret as the scene disappeared. "I made a huge mistake in reading that book. And an even huger mistake when deciding to use the magic it held."

"Is that how I came to be?" Sombra questioned, "Am I just a creation of the darkness that ruined your life?"

Conscience shook his head. "No. You weren't created from the darkness I made."

Another scene appeared, showing an older, more refined looking Sombra walking into the Empire, a determined look upon his features. Sombra couldn't help but notice the red crystals that adorned his flank as he trotted towards the palace, though the reason behind his journey were unknown.

"Why were you going to the palace?" Sombra found himself asking, his gaze going to Conscience, who was watching the scene before him with pain.

"I... I went to see Rose again," he told him, "every year, around that time, she would go down to the palace for the annual Crystal Ball."

Sombra blinked in recognition of the name. "That's right! The Empire did it the night before the Crystal Fair every year."

Conscience nodded sadly. "I know. And that's why I was so determined to go that night. But, when I got there..."

Sombra looked back at the scene before him to see himself walking into the ballroom, his gaze wandering left and right as he searched for Rose.

"What happened?" Sombra questioned, his gaze going over the ballroom.

Conscience took a ragged breath. "Look for yourself."

Sombra looked around once more, stopping short as he caught sight of Rose Quartz dancing across the floor. She looked absolutely beautiful, as always. Her mane was made into an intricate headdress with beautiful blue crystals woven into it while her torso was covered with a blue, crystal dress with gold accents and jewelry adorned her ears neck.

But she wasn't alone.

Sombra felt his heart clench as he caught the sight of a stallion, who gracefully danced around with her in his grasp with a bright smile on his face.

He had never felt so broken right then and there, seeing her happy with another pony.

"No..." Sombra whispered, his heart aching, "Please, no, Pinkie..."

"Sombra, that isn't Pinkie," Conscience reminded him, "you have to remember that."

Sombra shook his head as he forced the pain away, his gaze shakily returning to the dancing pair. They didn't notice him, or maybe they did and ignored his presence, too caught up in their own happiness to care for his lack of it.

"I had never felt so much pain in my life," Conscience whispered, "I loved her, and she... she moved on with her life without me."

Sombra kept forcing away the pain in his heart, constantly reminding himself that it wasn't Pinkie who was out there, but a mare who resembled her in many ways.

"What did you do?" Sombra questioned, "You say this is the night where everything went wrong."

Conscience sighed raggedly and took a deep breath. "Just watch."

Sombra returned his gaze back to himself and the dancing pair, only to see Rose glance over at him. He felt his heart freeze as she froze, completely immersed in shock.

His heart broke in two when he saw the cold, hard glare she gave him before returning to her dance.

Sombra watched as he saw himself grimace in anger after a moment of shock, his eyes narrowing to thin slits. A dark shadow fell over his features as tears flowed down his face, a familiar air of darkness overtaking the stallion's face.

After that, the vision disappeared, leaving Sombra and Conscience in the gray swirls of his inner turmoil.

"What happened?" Sombra exclaimed, looking around, "Where is the vision?"

"There is none."

Sombra turned to Conscience with wide eyes. "What?"

"I don't have a vision of what I did..." Conscience told him, "I just remember getting so angry and, and I... I can't remember!"

Sombra shook his head. "There has to be more to the story! What did he do, Conscience? I know there's something you're not telling me!"

"He killed her!" Conscience exclaimed, "That bastard killed her!"

Sombra froze in horror. "Wait a second... Is that what he meant when he said he didn't want your anger to get the better of you again?"

Conscience nodded, his eyes downcast.

Sombra could only stare in shock as a horrific realization overcame him. "The Shadow... That's how he was created."

Conscience nodded shamefully. "It's because of me that he was created... I-I made a monster, Sombra! But, no matter what I did during his tyrannical rule, I couldn't stop what was happening. I was so weak and unable to use all the things I learned..."

Sombra shook his head. "There has to be something we can use to stop him."

"There is," Conscience told him, looking back up at him, "you."

Sombra shook his head once more. "No, no, no, I told you, I can't use my magic. Not after what happened earlier."

"Sombra, you're the one thing that he didn't count on happening. You were once a part of him, but ever since you arrived in Ponyville and you met Pinkie, you've been able to break away from him and now you're your own pony. But, believe me when I say that he isn't going to give you up without a fight."

"What do you expect me to do?" Sombra exclaimed, "I have no power! I can't do anything to stop him even if I wanted to!"

"Are you saying you don't want to stop him?" Conscience countered, his eyes narrowing, "You have a mare out there who is vulnerable and weak because of that bastard! You have to do something to stop him!"

Sombra felt a flicker of anger at the mention of Pinkie. "Don't talk about her like that!"

"She's all alone out there and you're here, sitting here and doing nothing to help her! Do you have any idea what I'd give to save Rose from that monster?"

Sombra froze at the mention of Pinkie's Crystal Pony counterpart, his eyes widening in horror as he realized the horrible fate that would befall her if he remained unmoved.

Sombra took a deep, heavy breath. "What do I have to do?"

"It's not going to be easy, what we're going to do," Conscience told him, "it'll take a lot of effort but it just might save our flanks."

"What's the plan?"

Conscience grinned cheekily, his normal spunk returning to him. "Sombra, I think it's time you brushed up on your magic..."

Author's Notes:

Ah, there's nothing like listening to Selena when writing about your OTP! Also, if anyone has found a picture of Sombra dressed like a gypsy, or, better yet, Esmeralda from Hunchback of Notre Dame, please leave a link below~!

And if you're wondering what Sombra meant by, "Just because the door swings both ways, it doesn't mean it does for everyone," here's a link to a story that will better clarify it's meaning:
Same Love?