Late Night Encounter [Invite Only]

[Alivda]

Raven decided to leave a note for Sombra in the study, reasoning that he would probably spend time in there, before heading out to town. The note stated that she was visiting some orphanages, as well as looking for supplies, and would be back in the afternoon. 

 

Raven's time out was productive for her, having donated the books she had taken with her. It always warmed her heart to see the smiles of the orphans whenever she visited. She had treated some of the orphans to a lunch at one of Canterlot's more upscale restaurants, content to give of them an awesome day. There was also the fact that she had been able to talk to some of the specialists on her list, which only made the smile on her face brighter as she headed home...

[dragonofruin]

This time the king didn't wait until it was already after noon. His sleep had been a deep one, with a few, vague dreams to fill that rest, and his waking was a groggy one. It took him some time to even wake fully enough to get out of bed, and he went about performing the usual post-waking rituals. After he'd finished brushing his mane, he slipped his cape onto his back and immediately made for Raven's study. Somehow, he wasn't surprised to find it empty. He plucked up the note she'd left on her desk upon noticing the out of place paper and read it.

 

Heading out into town? This must've been whatever errands she'd talked about running.. Well, so long as she was gone, he had full reign of her study and her archive of books. Although he had one he hadn't finished reading, Sombra took this opportunity to snatch Predictions and Prophecies from off of its shelf, planted himself into the same chair from last night, and began to read. He hardly budged except to shift into a more comfortable position in his cushy seat, sometimes with his back against one armrest and his rear legs draped over the other. It wasn't very regal, but the king hardly even cared.

 

The book and its stories were rather interesting, but the one that caught his attention the most was Luna's descent into darkness. It was all told the way ponies might tell a fairy tale to a foal, and it was no wonder to him that ponies were so surprised that something came true. They weren't prophecies at all, but an important event in Equestria's history framed as, well, a story! It disgusted him a little.

 

Sombra finally set aside Predictions and Prophecies, putting it back on its shelf with the use of his magic, and turned his attention back to the book he'd been reading just last night. It'd be what Raven could find him doing whenever she returned, the hours having slipped by while he was so invested in spells and magic theory.

[Alivda]

Raven returned in the afternoon, her packs containing odds and ends that might be useful in making her focus. She waved to her uncle as she headed in, heading for the study.

 

She opened the door and moved to a table off on one side with some scientific apparatuses on it.  "Hey, Sombra. I took the liberty of speaking to some people and getting recommendations on the focus while I was out. Nothing specific, just things like silver holds more magical potential and things like that. I also got some materials we could test stuff on, before making a prototype or two..." She said as she walked over, some of the items floating out of her pack to be set on the table, including a few ingots of silver...

[dragonofruin]

A grey ear twitched towards the door to the study when he heard the soft steps of approaching hooves, and he didn't look up until the door opened and Raven entered. The king straightened in his seat, stretching to work out the stiffness of sitting in such a position for so long. The book was set aside in favor of giving the mare his attention, and he was glad to when she made it clear she'd brought both information as well as some materials for the focus. Sombra felt a little more confident that he'd be able to help Raven make one- although he could use dark magic, it shouldn't stop him from doing normal spells.. right?

 

"Is that so? I'm eager to start on these prototypes," Sombra confessed, pulling himself to his hooves to investigate the silver ingots she'd placed on the table. He turned one over in his magic, curious. He hadn't thought about what kind of metals holding magical potential, only gems and crystals. It was a good thing that there would be some potential in metal, as it would be important to making this focus at all, be it a horn-band to fit over the crack in Raven's horn, or something else. Either way, Sombra was intent on trying to make it look more decorative than something that hid a disability.

 

"What else did you bring back?" Sombra queried, setting the ingot he'd been inspecting down to peruse the other items Raven was setting out. "If whatever you intend to use doesn't work well in holding the spells and magic needed to help you channel magic better, I think I would be open to sneaking in the Crystal Empire with you to find a few, proper crystals to do what we need."

 

 

[Alivda]

Raven smiled a warm smile at Sombra. "I got some gems as well, and was thinking we could do a hybrid design." She said as she pulled them out. She quickly got to work on sketching a design out. Her drawing skills were terrible, but the gist of it was able to be seen. Holding it up for Sombra to see, she started explaining the points.

 

"So, I was thinking if we can get the right size crystal, we use it as a back drop, as the part that goes against my horn, with this intricate silver vine-like pattern holding the gems. Hopefully, we can find one big enough, and possibly clear, but that's not a priority..." It was only then she realized that he had suggested sneaking into the Empire for her. She was stunned. After all of his stories, she would have figured he wouldn't want to go anywhere near it. "You... You would do that... For me?" She managed to stammer out, before quickly hugging Sombra. "Thank you for all your help so far, but you don't have to risk hurting yourself for me..." She finally said when she'd pulled back from the hug...

[dragonofruin]

King Sombra rumbled softly and sat down on the floor by the table, his red slit-pupiled eyes roving over the items Raven brought back from her trip out. Other than the silver ingots, there were quite a few different gems. "Is that so?" he repeated, picking up one of the gems and turning it over in his magic, eying it curiously. He looked up again to watch the mare working on a sketch, the design he presumed. As long as they had a design, it'd make their attempt to make a prototype easier, rather than trying a variety of random ideas and ending up nowhere.

 

The tall stallion leaned forward to eye the design, making a noise in his throat as he deciphered her sketch. "It may work, but we'll never know until we try," Sombra managed to say before Raven caught up with what he'd said, and reacted to it by hugging him. Surprised by the embrace, Sombra stiffened a little, his eyes widening. It'd been far too long since he'd ever had a pony dare to touch him, much less hug him and it was admittedly.. pleasant. A foreleg hesitantly twitched up, as if he unconsciously intended to wrap it around Raven, but she was soon pulling away. He dropped his hoof and cleared his throat.

 

"Well, I am not above stealing from them," he answered a little gruffly, trying to cover up how a simple hug made him feel. He was never terribly forthcoming with his emotions, not when he did it to protect himself; ponies could use them to hurt him, or find some way to get leverage over him with what they'd learned. Not that he thought Raven would do any such thing- she was too gentle, and she was so determined to help those less fortunate than herself. He could only wish that he had her strength to do anything like that, but he had too much hate and bitterness in his heart to deign to. "It would be.. worth it. So, shall we begin?"

[Alivda]

"Let's!" Raven stated simply, a wide smile on her face. While she had let her emotions control her with that hug, she had enjoyed it, and was really glad Sombra didn't push her away. She got out some enchanted tools, made to reshape metal when the metal was cold. "You know, I could probably get the crystal by going to the Empire and asking for one for research reasons. We can always have stealing be a backup plan." 

 

She started carving, making simple settings for the gems, humming a simple melody as she did so. She had some basic ideas of where to start for enchantments, but needed the item to test them on. "So, I was thinking the crystal gets a energy battery spell, and the gems get amplification spells, making it take less power to cast spells, with the idea I won't really even have to try to summon the power from myself, but just use what's in the crystal. What do you think?"

[dragonofruin]

Sombra quietly grunted and placed his forelegs on the table where Raven had laid the various materials, and he plucked up one of the unattended silver ingots again. "Possibly," he agreed, "it just wouldn't be as fun." Falling silent, he looked from the silver to the ingot that Raven started working on, carving the metal with strange tools. There was magic in them, he could feel it, which didn't particularly surprise him with how easily she was working with a hard bar of metal. He watched for a little while, forming his own ideas on what he could do for a prototype for Raven.

 

Her ideas were met with some consideration; a tilt of his head and a slight set to his lips. "The crystal may be able to hold magic on it's own, if it isn't given an outlet as it would when you channel magic.. " Sombra began thoughtfully, thinking about how the crystal of the empire and the Crystal Heart had worked together. "It might be something, but ultimately you'll end up having to recharge the crystal every so often, unless you think you can fill it with your own horn during the more idle hours of your day." He shrugged and faced the bar of silver he was still levitating. There'd been something he'd done to craft his armor during his ascension as the new king of the Crystal Empire, that involved using his own magic to twist and shape metal to his liking. Of course, the Crystal Heart had destroyed that armor, but there was no such magical artifact here to do so.

 

The faint green of his sclera brightened and the flicker of his dark magic strengthened. The silver ingot seemed to grow more malleable in his magic, its shape twisting and thinning out. As it changed, it became more of a spiral than a decorative band and looked as if it could fit on a horn and follow its shape. There was still a diamond shape of metal set over the front, at the middle of the spiraling metal where gems or a crystal could fit. Tilting it around in his magic, Sombra eyed it. "It might also be worth seeing if metal itself can't be enchanted with a gem to help adjust the flow of your magic. To help you perform spells."

[Alivda]

"I'm getting ahead of myself, aren't I...?" Raven stated flatly, putting down the tool. She sighed. "Sorry, I always get this way with new projects. They help take my mind off of... things I'd rather not think of." She shook her head, but put on a warm smile. She enjoyed hanging with Sombra, for he challenged her in ways that Raven wouldn't try normally.

 

She finally turned and saw the coiled band he had made. She was shocked at how quickly he had snapped it.  "That... That's amazing! I've never seen some one work a piece of metal that fast. Let me see it and I'll set the gems, then we can try enchanting it" She pulled several gems out and set the down, looking for the ones that were the right size and shape...

[dragonofruin]

Sombra lowered the crafted horn decoration to the table and shook his head. "No, you're not getting ahead of myself. It was a good idea. Mind you, sometimes good ideas may need some adjustments to fit exactly what you intend. Having some gems filled with magic can always be useful if you're in trouble and you're on the verge of a burnout. It'll prevent that, at far as they last. Such a situation like that will probably require you to carry quite a few magic-filled gems to ensure you'll have enough, depending on how much they can hold."

 

Her high praise of his creation was enough to bring a little, cocky smirk to the king's face and he floated it towards her. "In my lack of skills in blacksmithing, I made up for it with magic. It was a difficult thing to figure out, but.. I managed. It was how I made my armor. It was better that way, than relying on a crystal pony who might purposefully make my armor of poor quality and easily pierced by say, a sword, in some poor attempt to assassinate me. I relied on nopony during my reign, and it was better that way," he explained, almost boasting of what he'd accomplished. It was combined with a slight lift of his head and a puffing out of his chest. "If it was something I hadn't yet learned, or something I couldn't find anything on in the library, I made myself."

[Alivda]

Raven frowned in thought when Sombra started to grow about his skill in magically shaping objects. It seemed his skill was born of a desire not to be abandoned again... Although that point about betrayal was a good one too. "I see... So, you figured out a way to magically reshape metal or other objects, without complicated apparatuses... I think one day I might want to learn that, if it's possible for me to." She spoke, mulling over in her head different ways to prove that for as long as Sombra needed her, she would be there. 

 

She started setting some of the gems, using a little of her magic to help the sealant work. Her father had always been particular about his equipment from back in his REA days, and had passed along the skills to maintain them to Raven. After she was done, she started floating books over, glancing at the titles before putting them back. She would set aside ones about mana enhancement, as well as one that had the legend of the alicorn amulet in it, which she passed to Sombra for him to read...

[dragonofruin]

There was a smug air around Sombra, with one foreleg crossed in front of him on the table and that little smirk of his that bared the sharp point of one fang. His eyes, half-lidded and his brows slightly raised, an expression that altogether asked if Raven could possibly deny his greatness. "I did," he confirmed. "Using magic to change something into something else, or to alter it to make it malleable is difficult to learn, but manageable once you figure it out. The key with magic is to know what you wish to do, to focus on it, and attempt to put your intent into your casting. Magic is yours to use."

 

His posture relaxed somewhat and he leaned forward, his face settling into a more relaxed expression as he watched Raven pick out some of the gems and began to put them into the horn decoration. As soon as they were finished with the physical creation of it, they could get into the fun part: enchanting it with the spells they needed so that it would work as they wanted it to work.

 

The levitated books distracted Sombra briefly and he glanced up towards the particular one Raven passed to him. His head cocking, he took it and set it on the bare space on the table in front of him and flipped open the pages. "What is this?" he asked curiously. Were these meant to help them find the spells they intended to use, or to find something like them? They weren't particularly limited to spells that were already created, though creating spells was a difficult task as it was. Sombra idly flipped through it, making a soft noise in his throat. His casual page-flipping stopped upon coming across a peculiar illustration and he peered at the title. Was this the alicorn amulet artifact Raven mentioned earlier? Thoroughly intrigued, Sombra read about it.

[Alivda]

Raven smiled as she saw Sombra get engrossed in the book. "It's that story I was talking about, figure we might be able to get some ideas from it." She started leafing through the spell books. She stopped suddenly when she realized something. "We... We may have a problem... I've actually never learned how to cast an enchantment... How to activate them sure, but to create them..."

 

Raven's face fell as she thought more about this. If she was able to have attended Celestia's school... Though maybe she could apply after they made the focus. She brightened a little at that thought, and then a different one shone through. What... What if she learned magic from... Sombra...? That thought actually shocked her slightly, but she began to consider the possibility...

[dragonofruin]

Despite having left the Crystal Empire and his need to subjugate it behind, he couldn't shake his lust for power so easily. It remained, and now was rearing its head as he read about this alicorn amulet. A powerful, but dangerous, artifact that magnified a unicorn's magic while corrupting the user. How much could it corrupt what had already been corrupted? Sombra had suspicions that it may not affect him at all outside of making him stronger. It wouldn't be terribly smart to rely on its power over his own as it was, but it would be useful to have. He'd have the strength to face anything, even the royal sisters should they ever come to throw him in the next prison. Like Tartarus.

 

The king licked his lips and dragged his eyes up away from the page he'd been reading, realizing Raven had said something. It took him only a few seconds to catch up to what exactly it'd been. "Is that so? I may be able to help you. I have an understanding of how they work, and I may be able to help you learn how to enchant something," he offered with a slight shrug of his shoulder, slowly trying to reorient his mind towards more present matters than getting his hooves on the alicorn amulet. Sombra quietly cleared his throat and slid the book aside with a hoof, intent on keeping his attention on Raven.

 

"Creating an enchantment isn't as difficult as it may sound, or appear. You are casting a spell on an object with the intent to imbue it with that spell's effect. Some enchantments need a power source in order to remain useful, or it will wear off. Sometimes you may need to renew an enchantment. Think of it this way: an object you intend to enchant will do what you want because you will it. You control what magic does. It is your instrument. You are its source, its master and it bends to your will." King Sombra explained, describing it as he understood it. An overview of magic as a whole was an addition he felt would be useful to Raven, to help her know magic better. It wasn't something that could defy its user except in special cases. Such as cursed objects, wild magic.. He wasn't sure what else there might be.

[Alivda]

"So... if I focused on making the enchantment drain a small amount of magic from myself, and possibly from the air itself... Think that might work?" Raven questioned as she stared at the gems that were set. They looked nice, and who knows, maybe if the focus didn't work she would still wear it. She tested the gems slightly with probing touches of her magic, feeling the gems suck some of the energy off.

 

She stopped and waited for Sombra to respond however, as she could serious hurt herself if she approached this the wrong way. To say she was nervous was an understatement, and it showed in how she fiddled with things on the work bench. 

[dragonofruin]

King Sombra pondered her question, his lips drawn in a flat line. It was an interesting idea, yet he felt if the spell was given no specifics.. it could keep draining magic until she had none left, on top of already casting magic. A small amount.. It could still build up. Maybe? He rubbed at his scruffy chin with a hoof and looked down at the small gems in Raven's new horn decoration, yet untested.

 

"It's worth a try," he murmured slowly. "If it doesn't do very well, or affects you negatively.. then perhaps it would be best if it draws magic from your surroundings. Or we can simply have it hold magic and recharge it every so often, perhaps stored in one of these gems." Sombra pointed a black toe at one of the larger gems around the central one. It seemed like a safer option if the first one didn't work out particularly well. He didn't like the idea of something drawing magic off of the user very much. If the spell was cast incorrectly or something messed with it, it wouldn't bode well for the magic's user. The umbrum didn't want to imagine the results.

 

"We can always test it out until we find an enchantment that works well for you, and still does what we wish it to do- to help you with casting magic."

[Alivda]

(so, I was thinking, Raven would attempt the enchantment, getting a prototype version of it going, but knock herself out for a day or two, not unconscious, but just unable to actively use magic or really be active, what do ya think?)

 

Raven nodded, a grim look on her face as she started to focus. She had to pour all of her attention into this, focusing on not only how she wanted the spell to behave, but on the target and even linking it to herself, to harmonize it better with her internal magic stores, so they would function as one. She thought of how she wanted to power the enchantment, to have it store a small amount from her, and draw ambient energy in, converting it to where she could use it. She imagined being able to cast any spell, the formulae for them dancing through her head as she also brought her admittedly small knowledge of unicorn anatomy to come to the forefront, trying to set the spell in such a way that it mimicked a natural horn.

 

All this, and a little besides was flowing through her mind as the charge gathered, making her teeth ache with what felt like small jolts of energy passing through them as she clenched her jaw, willing more power into the spell, trying to make sure it worked. She wasn't aware that her horn was sparking, especially around the cracks, or even that she was bending the metal of the decoration slightly, changing how it was weaved at certain points. With a cry of pain, she released the spell, it flying into the decoration as she slumped, her eyes drooping slightly as she saw the decoration flash in various colors, before settling into her own magical field's color...

[dragonofruin]

The king relaxed back, loosely crossing his forelegs in front of him. Raven had made it clear by the way she'd turned her concentration onto the decorative metal coils that she was going to start on the enchantments. He didn't lift a hoof to help her, choosing only to observe. He was willing to tell her how she can perform a spell, to explain them to her so that she might learn and have a better idea about them, but he wouldn't actively help her. If he babied her, she wouldn't get to learn how to do it on her own. Sombra did, however, note with some tenseness that she was putting too much power into it again.

 

Still, however, he didn't try to step in. One shouldn't break the concentration of a unicorn in the midst of a spell- it would end badly, either for the interrupting pony, or the caster. He could only clench his teeth behind closed lips and watch the result. Her cry of pain, and the mare slumping to the table. The decoration's metal was bent a little after her exertion of magic, but it wasn't unfixable.

 

Frowning deeply, Sombra pushed himself to his hooves to gently attempt to lift the mare, and move her over into one of the comfortable seats in the study so she could be comfortable. It was the best he could do, for now, and wait until she woke up.

 

[I think it sounds good to me!]

[Alivda]

Raven opened her eyes as she felt herself be lifted. She groaned softly, every part of her body in pain. She had never overcast a spell like this before, and if not for Sombra, she would have laid on the floor for Celestia knows how long... She managed to croak out a few words, her voice as weak as the rest of her felt. "Th... thank... you. You... you're a good friend..."

 

She didn't really know what she said, but knew she considered it to be true, that she liked being around Sombra, that she wanted to spend time with him. Her eyes slowly closed once more as she drifted in and out, the ache in her body stopping her from ever fully falling asleep. She whimpered in pain every now and then, the pain feeling as if it was coming in waves. However, something buzzed at the edge of her awareness, a feeling of her magic, but not in her. "Did... Did I do it?" She asked in one of her more lucid moments.

[dragonofruin]

Sombra's ears twitched towards the weak sound of the mare's voice, almost too soft to hear, but he managed to make out the words. One particular word, friend, caught in his brain and lingered there, repeating itself over and over. Friend, friend, friend. Most of him immediately wanted to recoil emotionally from it. The one friend he'd ever had had turned out to be a traitor, and though he wouldn't tell a single soul, it'd hurt. He never wanted to experience that sort of betrayal again, that sort of abandonment. Hope had only ever been around for the good, not -- for him.

 

After he'd laid Raven down on the cushy seat, he sat back on the floor and stared off to the side, a small frown on his otherwise impassive face. Friend. Were they? Raven appeared harmless, a soft-hearted mare who only ever wanted to help ponies, help the less fortunate, with the fortune her missing parents had left behind. If he believed in any sort of real nobility, he would say that he thought it to be a noble cause. She'd even helped him, despite his terrifying appearance and upon learning what'd happened to him. His heart clenched painfully in his chest.

 

He didn't deserve it.

 

The king pushed himself to his hooves and took a step away to return to the table, only to stop when he heard the soft sound of Raven's voice. "Perhaps. We'll never know until you've recovered and try it out later," he replied, the tone of his deep voice a neutral one. Maybe.. Maybe they could be friends, if that was how she saw him. He would be slow to open up, and slow to trust, but.. it might be possible. Raven was different. They'd just have to see. Sombra moved back over to the table and sat down to study Raven's new enchantment.

[Alivda]

Raven slowly nodded, before noticing that Sombra had turned away. "Oh... Okay... Yeah... that... that sounds good." She was a little loopy right now, her thought process very muddled. Her eyes closed even as she tried to get to her hoofs, quickly falling back into the chair. She let out a soft oof as she shook her head. The ache was starting to go away, but she still felt totally drained of energy. There was this weird feeling of there being a part of her that was separate, but it felt that way in a good way... She slowly drifted off to sleep, a soft smile as her thoughts focused on the warm feeling that other part of her gave her...

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------

 

The enchantment Raven had cast wasn't what she had meant to cast, but part of it seemed to work. The decoration had an aura, one almost indistinguishable from Raven's, but it steadily increased, slowly but surely. It would be a bit before they could test it, though it looked less like a decoration, and more naturalistic, more like the internal structure of a unicorn horn...

[dragonofruin]

Sombra idly poked at the horn decoration, frowning faintly over its altered appearance. He only ever glanced up when Raven failed to rise from her chair, catching the sound of her falling back onto it. Making a soft noise in his throat, he tried to figure out what was so odd about her enchantment and why it'd changed the shape of the metal. It wasn't something he'd be able to figure out right away, not with Raven asleep, and it wasn't like he could test it himself with a horn like his: smooth and curved, nothing like a unicorn's horn. It radiated Raven's magic, that much he could tell, but there was something.. off?

 

Perhaps it was nothing except for the shape that was bothering him. She'd certainly managed to change the shape of metal, something she'd expressed interest in learning. In time, he might be able to teach her how to once she had this enchanted decoration on helping her control the flow of her magic. And, perhaps, he'd be able to help her not push so much magic into a spell. Raven, he noticed, tried too hard.

 

The king sat back after he'd eyed the decoration enough and pushed himself to his hooves, momentarily leaving the room to fetch a blanket of some sort from elsewhere in the house. If Raven was going to sleep off what she'd just put herself through, he might as well get one.

[Alivda]

Raven moaned softly as she rolled to one side in the chair, almost falling out, though she wasn't aware of it. She was fast asleep, the kind of sleep that comes from shear exhaustion. Dreamless and deep it was, but it didn't last as she shifted again, this time actually falling and hitting the floor.

 

Shaking her head, Raven slowly opened her eyes. She didn't feel as weak as before, and so tried to stand, figuring that if she was going to sleep, it would be best to do it in her bed. Her legs shaking under her weight, she slowly made her way to the door, each step hesitant. For a split second, she almost tried to open the door with her magic, but managed to stop herself in time. She slowly opened the door, and headed out into the halls, heading for her room. With each step feeling like she was dragging a large weight around, she didn't get far however, before her legs gave out and collapsed out from underneath her. 

[dragonofruin]

By the time that Sombra found a blanket to bring back to the study, he'd missed Raven attempting to head to her room on her own. By the time he returned, he came across the mare collapsed on the carpet of the hallway. A deep frown crossed his face and he unceremoniously dropped the blanket onto the mare, and lifted her up, blanket and all, in his magic to drape her over his back. He wasn't really upset, not like his actions might imply to anypony if there were any others present.

 

The shadow king chose to carry the mare throughout her large house, peeking into rooms along the way in an attempt to find her room. Most of the rooms looked bare, like they hadn't been lived in in a long, long time, if they'd ever had occupants other than his own. Taking his time, he moved on until he found a bedroom that stood out to him. A curtained bed, belongings.. It definitely appeared to be her room. It didn't particularly matter to him, so long as she had a bed to sleep in comfortably that she might recognize when she woke up. Sombra moved over to the bed and levitated her up onto it, leaving the blanket he'd found over the mare to that she'd be covered up by something while she slept.

 

Once he was satisfied she was where she needed to be, Sombra left, closing the door behind him on the way out. He'd return to the study, where he could settle down again and maybe read a little more on this alicorn amulet. If he could find such an artifact.. it would prove useful to him if and when he'd need that sort of power.

[Alivda]

Raven could forgive Sombra for assuming that she had passed out again. After all, even though her mind was still paying attention, her body was resisting her. She felt herself be picked up, her mind going back to when her father would carry her through the house, especially when she was sick. Her mom would bring her soup... It was a nice and warm memory, and she was lost in it till she felt herself land on her bed... or a bed, to be honest, she was too tired to check for sure. She tried to mumble her thanks, but fell asleep too quick, cursing her body for betraying her.

 

She slept, her dreams full of her and Sombra working on things together, spending time with each other, though it seemed they were more like brother and sister. She woke up feeling much better, like she could actually support herself for a bit. She decided to go soak in her tub, and shook the blanket off of herself to get going. She smiled a half smile as she walked into the bathroom, only to stop in shock as she looked in the mirror. "n...no..." She wimmpered out as she saw her horn. After the accident, she had spent a long while staring at the cracks in her horn, long enough to recognize that one of them had gotten larger. She slumped down, her world collapsing around her. Hearing that she wouldn't cast again at the young age she did, it was traumatizing, and seeing the crack grow larger, when it hadn't ever moved before... She was consumed by the memory, transported back to being that little filly, too scared and stunned to even process the thought. The difference now was in how she started to lose hope as well, if overcharging an enchantment had done this... She started shaking with her fear, she was damaged enough... What if she was never whole again...?

 

(So, I was thinking Raven (long term) tries to get Sombra pardoned for his crimes and brought into her family, I think it's an interesting idea, no?)