A dull, throbbing pain in his leg. A pulsing headache. Contusions splattered across his skin. Cuts on his neck.

His once healthy body reduced to a broken mess.

"He's awake," One of the nurses uttered to another.

"3 days! I thought he wasn't going to wake up," Another commented.

Sombra opened his eyes, closing them immediately. The white-gold lights of the room scalded them , while ambiguous figures frisked around the ward.

"Sombra!" A familiar voice called, relieved but desperate.

"Jet!" Sombra rasped, wincing at the searing dryness in his throat.

He blinked multiple times, the distorted blobs shifting into people. Jet lay in a hospital bed a few feet away from him, a clear liquid pulsing into his arm while nurses monitored them.

"How was your beauty rest?" Jet asked, groaning as he rolled over to face his brother.

"Well let's just say I'm not ready for modeling," Sombra joked. "Do you know what happened after I threw the Molotov?"

"You passed out. The vampires got busted by Celestia and Chrissy, but managed to throw another Molotov at them. Specter and Ebony fled the Starry Nightclub. Luna's safe. I think she's in the hospital as well," Jet filled him in.

A nurse burst in, pushing a tray. "Good morning boys! My name is Skyla and I'll be your nurse for the next few days. Now, I have your lunches ready."

Sombra licked his lips, as he was starving from not eating for 3 days. His main dish contained juicy steak resting on a bed of pearly white rice, while off to the side was a ripe avocado sprinkled with salt. A tiny container held a mixture of dried fruit, and the meal came with what looked like a milkshake.

He grabbed his utensils, ready to cut into his steak-

"My hand! Jet, it's fixed!" Sombra exclaimed, testing it out.

It was normal. Beautifully, outrageously, painstakingly normal.

Sombra's heart grew wings and broke through the ceiling-his dreams of being a magician could now come true! He imagined himself going to the Canterlot School of Magic. He'd graduate with flying colors, winning valedictorian and the respect of his classmates. He'd be able to follow his passion in magic, going on to become one of the greats. His name would appear in books, he'd be the one they'd be talking about. He'd spend his days with Jet, Luna and Chrissy.

He opened his eyes, his untouched meal staring back at him.

Even powerful magicians need to eat. At least have your "Victory Meal" first, he thought, picking up his fork.

The almost micro-sized portions of everything made his heart sink. Slight underwhelming for a victory meal. Oh well.

He cut off a piece of steak. It was bursting in rich flavor, tender and salty and perfect.

I could eat two of these meals!

But as he continued, he found trying to finish the meal a great effort.

The brothers ate in silence, relishing the delicious food.

"Funny, isn't it? The best meal I've had in my life is hospital food," Jet commented, cramming a handful of dried fruit into his mouth.

Sombra half-shrugged and continued sipping his chocolate almond protein shake. "It's still food. Good as any!"

Jet nodded, popping a berry from his protein shake into his mouth.

Sombra drank the last bit of his shake, his stomach churning. He wasn't used to such rich food, and after not eating for 3 days, holding his lunch down was a proven challenge.

He groaned and rolled over to face his bed-side table, astonished to find a rather neat pile of books. A note on top read "I'd prefer you not die of boredom. It'd be rather unfortunate. -Luna".

Smiling as he picked up the book on the top of the pile, which was about magicians and the way their magic worked, he started greedily soaking up the knowledge, hanging onto every word. Once again falling into a trance of fantasies and glory, he yearned for the day he would get out of this hospital bed, the walls already looking too familiar.

************

2 days, 21 hours and 46 minutes later, Sombra was officially discharged from the Canterlot General Hospital.

Fresh air had never tasted so good. He emerged from the building with a kind of determined energy Jet had never seen in him.

He strolled along the cobblestone path, bundled up in his coat, glad for the surplus warmth it provided him with. On the way home, he heard a bunch of commotion coming from a nearby alleyway.

Naturally curious, he crept toward it, the stench of mold and blood ruling supreme.

"Please! I swear I won't tell anyone!" A boy who looked no more than 12 begged, backed up against a wall by three other boys three years his senior.

"Aw, is the kid trying to look tough?" One mocked, while the others laughed.

"Well, we don't like smart mouths," Another grumbled, drawing a pathetic knife, rusted with dried blood.

"Please don't!" The little boy begged, tears streaming down his face, his frail boy shaking violently with fear.

Those words immediately sprang up deep memories from the past, the kind Sombra would shove away and pretend never existed.....

Keep your head down. Blend in with the crowd. Be just another kid. I'm really worried, as Bijou and his gang are following me. I'm scared. Jet, please be nearby!

It's the first day of 7th grade but things aren't looking so good.

"Red-eyed tartarus spawn!" A girl sneers, throwing her head back to laugh. Her worthless little friends snicker as well, mimicking her.

"Red-eyed tartarus spawn! Red-eyed tartarus spawn!" The rest of the students chant, deranged cheerleaders rallying my public shaming.

"Trout-sniffing creep!" A boy counters. His friends back him up. "Trout-sniffing creep! Trout-sniffing creep!"

I grit my teeth and continue running. Bijou and his gang outnumber me 5 to 1. They're three years older than me and if I fight back I won't stand a chance against them. The best thing I can do is get out of here.

"Hey! Look who it is!" Bijou taunts. Everyone laughs, though it's more of a nervous laughter, everyone dangerously on edge.

Our house stinks of blood and liquor. Moaning sounds are ever-present in mom's bedroom. Every night there's a new pair of shoes at our door. My parents are leeches: surrounded by their havens of bottles and escorts, they drain our wallets dry. If dad knows what mom gets up to in her room, he must be too drunk to care.

They target me because my parents don't care. I don't really have any support apart from Jet. Bijou's family holds a permanent grudge against our mother, though we have no idea why. And everyone knows not to mess with Bijou's family.

Thump! One of the boys has caught up to me. He grabs my sweatshirt and spins me around to face him.

"Bijou! I got the little punk!" Jasper, Bijou's current right-hand man yells.

I instinctively lash out, kicking him in the groin, delivering an elbow to the face and pushing him off me.

The other students titter amongst themselves, murmurs growing louder by the second.

"Hey tartarus spawn!" Bijou waves. He's surrounded by six others this time, one of them being a muscular girl with hooded eyes and a giant tattoo on her bicep.

I spot my math classroom a door away so I scramble through the door, slamming it shut behind me. I take a seat at a middle-row desk, setting my school bag down beside me.

"These guys and a girl were all chasing me!" I run over to tell the math teacher.

I'm safe now. I'm surrounded by other students and there's an authority figure in the room.

"And I care because?" The math teacher drawls lazily, holding a joint between his teeth, his feet up on the table.

The group bursts in. "We gotcha this time!"

I leap onto a student's desk, throwing off my sweater so it's harder to grab me. Hands lash out at me like vipers, but I'm small and agile. I'm a gazelle, able to evade the lions' attacks.

Until I'm not. Two hands grab me at once, snapping my neck back. I gasp for air.

"Lee, do you want the first punch?" Bijou asks the girl.

Lee smirks, spitting out her cigarette. "Hell yeah. I'll mess him up real bad!"

Her hand grabs my chin, forcing my face towards her.

"I'll be interested in wrecking this pretty face of his. I think I'll start with breaking his nose," Lee hisses, readying her fist.

Everything else is a blurry of pain, lashes, torture and humiliation. The laughter's like snakes, coiling around me and tearing me apart. Cannabis fills my nose, while I lie there on the rough ground, choking on my blood and on my pride.

Never had I felt so ashamed. I'm Sombra. I'm strong. Not some weakling who begs for mercy and grovels at the feet of cowards.

Lee throws her cigarette on me, shaking the ashes over my nose and mouth.

Fire fills my lungs and I gasp for air, pools and pools of blood-red the only thing visible.

"Surrender?" Bijou asks before drawing Lee in and kissing her.

"Ne-ver," I wheeze, my neck swollen and raw.

"You're a tough one, aren't you?" Lee asks, kneeling down to look at me. "Well, we're tougher."

For a second the world swirls blue and black and purple and green and red, and then Lee is screaming hysterically.

"Ah! It burns! It burns!" She screeches.

I don't see, only feel. My body courses with energy through my hands, this buzzing, electricity-like feeling. It makes me feel alive. And as I hear everyone's cries of horror, a small, small smile snakes its way onto my face.

Sombra jolted back to reality. He was back near the alleyway, while the little boy was pinned against the wall, screaming his throat raw.

The kid's assailants were all 15 or 16. Well-fed, healthy magicians, Sombra didn't stand a chance against them.

If I tried to help the kid, they'd easily overpower me. I just got out of the hospital! There's no way I could win. I could end up dead.

Even though that kid reminds me so much of my past self....I turn away. For I'm selfish. I'm a selfish coward, no better than Bijou. When did my safety ever matter? My well-being? And another part of me is jealous. Jealous that he has a potential savior. For I never did. It's despicable,  but I want someone else to experience the pain I experienced, know what I had to go through.

My heart tugs in desperation, needing to save the kid....but I care about my survival. And in games of survival, the strong come out on top, while the weak kneel at their feet. In games like this, no one plays fair.   

Hey guys! Remember to vote and tell me what you think in the comments if you enjoyed this chapter. What do you think of Sombra's choice? Of his memories?