Late Night Encounter [Invite Only]

[dragonofruin]

Sombra was entirely unaware of what was going on with Raven, assuming she was asleep and that there was nothing else. Albeit, he was a little worried as it was over the enchantment's oddity- if he knew what was going on, he might be more than a little worried, not that he'd ever show it. As it was now, he took up occupation inside of Raven's study again, reading the rest of the passage about the alicorn amulet and how its location was often mysterious and unknown, a dark artifact often lost to time. If he knew such artifacts, however, it would have to be hidden somewhere nopony would have the chance to find it.. Perhaps somewhere dangerous that'd discourage explorers.

 

It was an assumption, and though he hated to make them, it was all he had. Sombra spent some of his time nosing around Raven's study in search of a map. When he found one, neatly rolled up, he spread it out on the table to eye the continent and all the labeled places, the towns and cities.. What he'd learned about Equestria told him it could be anywhere, like the Everfree Forest or somewhere in the Frozen North.. Even the Badlands. Maybe the 'Ghastly Gorge' too, though he was less certain about it. Still, he couldn't rule out anything.. Mentally marking this little project of his as something to do the next time he took to traveling Equestria again, Sombra rolled the map up and put it back where he found it.

 

He took a few, wandering steps around the room, staring up at all the books on Raven's shelves. There was so much to read here, and he could spend time reading any of it to while away the time until Raven woke up again.. Sombra nibbled on his lower lip with a fang and plopped himself down in front of one shelf, staring up at it in thought. He'd have no idea when the mare would wake, not unless she came back to this room.. he wasn't about to willingly disturb her while she rested.

 

[I'd agree, O: it does sound like a pretty interesting idea. He'd be surprised if she managed that]

[Alivda]

Raven laid on the floor for Celestia knows how long lost in her fear before managing to contain it. Keeping her head down to avoid looking in the mirror again, she decided that she could buck the bath, and instead would go get some food. She got to her hooves, her legs shaking from the barely contained emotions, and headed to the kitchen. Each step of the way was a struggle, but it got easier the farther she got from the mirror, as if she was leaving her troubles there. She passed by the study on her way, and thought about seeing if Sombra was in, but then shuddered as she thought about stopping, her fear spiking. No, she had to keep moving, to leave the pain and fear behind, like she did so long ago...

 

She finally made it to the kitchen, where she simply made a sandwich, and carefully carried it outside. The sun was starting to go down, but Raven stayed out there for a while, letting the garden and the cool night air calm her. Finally, she decided to go get a book and read, her body feeling tired, but her magic caused twinges of pain if she tried to use it. She stopped outside the study, breathing a bit before heading in...

[dragonofruin]

The king did his best to keep himself occupied in Raven's absence, pulling down another book of interest to idly flip through. His mind didn't particularly want to focus when he was so interested in what Raven's new enchantment might do. Sombra looked through what he could concentrate on, and absorbed what he could of the information while he was still simply biding his time. A couple of books were taken off the shelves and put back by the time he thought he heard soft hoofsteps approaching the study.. and then walk right by. He didn't think it was Raven's uncle, the hoofsteps were too soft for a stallion. At least, a stallion that wasn't himself, who could move silently if he so wished.

 

Sombra pushed himself to his hooves and cracked open the study door, peering out onto the hallway. He spied Raven's retreating backside, heading elsewhere in the house rather than straight back here. Something was up. Frowning, the umbrum stepped out, closing the door behind him with a flicker of his magic and heading after the mare to see what was up with her. For all he knew, her spell could've had some sort of negative side effect on herself.. what did he know?

 

In following her, Sombra could pick up on her fear like some sort of trail he could feel from afar. It was strange.. What was she afraid of? Him? Some small part of him dreaded the thought. He shadowed the mare through her house, trying to figure it out all the while without outright trying to approach her. It wasn't until she'd made her way back around to the study that he finally thought to make himself known, stepping up behind her and voicing his question, his low rumble breaking the tense silence.

 

"Why are you afraid?"

[Alivda]

Raven nearly lept, her horn glowing for a briefest of seconds before she grimaced, let out a very pained gasp, and slowly turned around. "I... I'm not afraid..." She lied, a little upset that Sombra had scared her. Once her heart had stopped racing as if she was in the running of the leaves, she took a deep breath. "Sorry, forgot for a second that you can eat fear... Makes sense you'd be able to sense it as well... I'm... I'm used to having to be strong by myself, and the nobles will prey on almost any weakness... Truth is... it's, it's my horn." A sigh left her lips as she looked down in shame. 

 

"I know it's a little silly, considering I've already kinda learned to deal with it, but... well, I'm pretty sure when I overcasted that enchantment, it made the break bigger. I mean, it's hard to tell, but when I was younger... I... I kinda obsessed over my horn, worried that I was going to be a magic-less unicorn... and seeing the crack grow larger... it... it took me back to when I first woke up after the accident..." Raven was almost crying as she finished, her eyes watering, but managed to hold it back. She just stared at a spot on the floor in front of her, unable to even attempt to look up at Sombra. She hoped he'd understand her trying to lie to him... After all, he was a true friend, so he wouldn't get angry at her, right?

[dragonofruin]

Some amusement flickered through him when Raven flinched, and her response was met with an arched eyebrow. A low noise rumbled up to his throat, close to becoming a chuckle and he nodded to her realization. The fear he'd felt coming off of her was a lot stronger than their initial meeting, and she hadn't been very scared of him. "Your horn?" he repeated, lowering his head to try to get a glimpse of her face.

 

"It's because you try to hard to force the magic through channels that have been damaged. I've made this clear to you before," Sombra pointed out, and although his words might've been harsh, his voice wasn't. He reached forward, cupping Raven's chin with a hoof so that he could try to lift her face towards his again. His eyes flicked up to her horn, studying it. It was slight, but he was certain it was a little longer than it had been before. Perhaps it hadn't been a good idea to let her attempt enchantments for the first time while she was still struggling with her magic.

 

Sombra glimpsed the glitter of unshed tears in her eyes. She was close to crying.. and he didn't know how to feel about that. He had no experience with crying, and when he usually stuffed his own feelings down deep. Seeing her watering eyes left him feeling awkward.. What was he to do? His ears twitched back against his black mane and he searched through his limited options until he reflected upon what Raven had done earlier that'd surprised him so much. It took him a moment's struggle to even force himself to move and he awkwardly wrapped his forelegs around Raven in an attempt to hug her.

[Alivda]

Raven stiffened slightly when Sombra hugged her. It wasn't that she didn't want it, more she never expected him to offer one. After a few seconds of sitting there stunned, she hugged him back. She almost seemed to melt into the hug, as she felt relieved. Tears started to flow, though it was just the release, not any real emotion behind them.

 

When Raven finally stopped crying, she pulled back softly, smiling softly. "Sorry about that... thanks though... I... I think I'm going to go soak in some hot water, just relax for a bit..." Softly she spoke, turning and starting to head off, before thinking of something. "Would... this is silly... Would you mind helping me either cover up, or remove the mirror in my bathroom for now? It'd be a load off my mind." She subtly pointed at her horn, hoping he would understand that she meant that she really didn't want to look at her horn for a bit...

[dragonofruin]

Sombra held Raven as long as it took for her to relax into his embrace, and he was sure he felt the faint wetness of tears on his grey fur. He sat there, somewhat stiffly in his awkwardness, and let her cry, never saying anything or moving to attempt to comfort her further. He did, however, quietly whisper something in her ear. "If you tell anypony about this, I'll aggressively deny it." He let her go, feeling her move away in his forelegs, and dropped his hooves back to the plush carpet, quietly clearing his throat and responding to her gratitude with a small shrug of one of his shoulders.

 

"Perhaps you should, and later.. I'm curious about how well your enchantment has worked. It's certainly managed to change the shape of the decoration I made for you." Sombra rose to his hooves after casually dropping that little fact, his head twitching in a small nod to her request. He'd help her with that. It wasn't like he had anything better to do. Besides, he'd taken a sort of liking to Raven. If moving a mirror was all he had to do, he would, and then he'd come right back to the study so that he could continue poking through Raven's collection of books.

 

The king stepped after the mare, indicating to her that he'd follow her.

 

 

[Alivda]

Raven led the way back to her room, a tired but happy spring in her step. She was comfortable just walking down the hall in silence with Sombra there with her. It was weird, for someone who fed on fear and despair, he seemed to actually make her feel so much better, the way her mother and father had back when they were around. Her worries and fears just disappeared when she was beside him, as if he was a shield against the darkness in life. An idea came to her. "I... I don't mean to pry, but..." she began, trying to think of her word choice carefully. "I know you said you grew up in an orphanage... did... did you ever have a family? I mean, I remember you talking about the crystal talking to you, but a family that was there for you..."

 

She bit her lip slightly, realizing that her question could hurt, but didn't know how to pull that blow. She didn't want to hurt him, after all, not when he had done nothing but help her, but maybe... maybe he would have been different if he knew a family's love. She thought hard about what would be needed if she was going to put her plan in motion, though she wouldn't be able to act on it till she could cast again... and there was the decoration, a thought that made her giddy with excitment...

[dragonofruin]

King Sombra was content enough to follow Raven in silence, despite the slight awkwardness of following her back to her room. It was only for a mirror, he knew, it was just something he didn't exactly do. An ear twitched towards the mare when she broke that silence, a nervous stutter in her voice for only a moment before she seemed to gain enough courage to ask her question. It caught him by surprise and his steps faltered, though he didn't let himself come to a complete stop. Have a family? Maybe, as a foal, it was something he might've thought about sometimes but now, it had hardly ever crossed his mind. To be asked such a thing by somepony else seemed to bring his attention to one of many things he'd lacked.

 

"No," Sombra replied after a few minutes' silence. "I never did. I grew up in that orphanage. A few foals might've gotten adopted off into families, but I never was. I never really considered having a family, though I've often thought about what it might be like to have.. parents. I may have talked to something that called itself my mother in that crystal, but.." he trailed off, his jaw moving in the intent to say more, but he couldn't find the words. He shook his head. "It's all foreign to me. I don't know what any of it is like. I doubt it would've been the same way with ponies even if I had been raised by the umbrum."

 

He used his longer stride to move up by Raven's side, looking down at the mare with something thoughtful in his default, scowling expression. "Why, exactly, do you ask?" Was it simply curiosity on her part, or something else? It was an odd question, and it felt so out of the blue. It bothered him, too, how much the question got to him and how it made him feel. How it reminded him he'd never know anything that ponies took for granted.

[Alivda]

Raven bit her lip as she continued down the hall. She didn't want to tell Sombra her idea, wanting instead to surprise him, but maybe... maybe he would be fine with the reason she got the idea? "Well... I... I was just thinking, What you've done for me so far... It's... It's like what I've always imagined an older brother would be like. My parents always wanted a little colt, and I would often think of what having a brother would be like, how I could teach him things like magic and how to fit in... But some of the other nobles I know have older brothers, and they would often talk about them..."

 

She hoped that would tide him over, that he would let the subject drop. There was so much she had to do if she wanted to bring him into her family... Things like get him cleared for his crimes, most of them happened long ago, but many of the ones he'd wronged were still around, if her memory served correctly. So, she started making a mental list. She'd have to make a trip to talk to Princess Cadence, try to get Cadence to pardon Sombra, a task that was so monumental her mind swam whenever she contemplated it, then get the other Princesses to also forgive him, and finally actually extend the honors of joining the House Dupone to him... It was a lot to get done, and it would all have to wait till she was better. She stopped outside her room, and spoke softly. "It's in there... Thanks for... For everything, really..."

[dragonofruin]

This mare almost seemed to know what to say to shock him into silence. She was implying that he was like an older brother to her. They'd only known each other a couple of days and she felt that way about him?

 

King Sombra fell into a deep silence the rest of the way to Raven's room, unable to come up with anything to say to what she'd just revealed to him. He wordlessly strode past her into her room when she indicated that the mirror was inside. He paused just beyond the threshold of her room, quietly eying her personal quarters before he located the mirror. Stepping over to it, Sombra caught a glimpse of his own face in the reflection before he moved the mirror, lifting it from where it hung on the wall and turning it around so that Raven would see nothing but the back of it. He leaned it against the wall below where it'd hung and left it there.

 

The grey stallion strode out of Raven's room and moved aside, leaving the mare plenty of room to head inside so she could take her bath. He was still stunned, although he was starting to recover a little. Questions swarmed inside his mind and he was trying to figure out why she felt that way about him, and why she might consider him like a brother at all. Whatever was going on inside her head was beyond his ability to currently figure it out. Grunting softly, Sombra awkwardly gestured to her room. "It's out of the way. I'll be.. in your study, if you need me."

[Alivda]

"Thanks..." Raven said softly as she watched Sombra walk off. She sighed, hoping she didn't upset him. She shouldn't have brought it up, and now her mind was on how to make it up to him. She went into her room, a frown on her face.

 

She saw he had leaned the mirror up, and Raven carefully moved it, stashing it by her closet, before running the hot water. As her bath got ready, she thought until deciding that she would make him breakfast, though she didn't know what he would like... She'd just have to make a lot of different things. This thought put a smile on her face, and she hopped into the tub, soaking in the hot water for a while, before heading to bed...

[dragonofruin]

The dark king responded with a slight twitch of his head before he let her be, picking his way back through Raven's large house to the study. In the midst of his wandering confusion about what she'd just revealed to him, he was attempting to pick up the threads of his earlier thoughts. He struggled to grasp for them, knowing it was about the alicorn amulet. Its.. possible locations? Certain that that was where he'd left off, Sombra tried to push his focus back onto this new interest rather than what had so thoroughly stunned him.

 

How could anypony consider him anything close to family? It almost didn't matter that it'd only been two days since he first met Raven- it escaped his understanding. Which was, perhaps, the one of many firsts. She didn't just accept him and let him into her home, she sympathized with him, and it was genuine. It was enough for him to long for more of that normality. It was just difficult to open up after he'd locked himself up tight for so long. Protecting himself from betrayal. Yet he knew that Raven couldn't have a single, traitorous bone in her body, as the pony saying went- to an extent.

 

Sombra's mulling followed him to the study, and to bed when he finally chose to retire for the night. He was taking too much joy in being able to sleep safely in a bed without fear of somepony making a poor assassination attempt, as well as simply enjoying sleep again. Despite what still hung over his head, he drifted into sleep easily enough.

[Alivda]

Raven woke with the sun, sighing as she stretched. She felt better today, almost like she was recharged. She actually felt giddy as she got ready, running a brush through her mane. She smiled as she headed down to the kitchen. She didn't know what Sombra enjoyed eating, but she wanted to show how much she appreciated what he had done for her. She decided that she would fix pancakes with different fruit in them, singing softly as she made them.

 

When they were done, she carefully put them on a tray, and headed for Sombra's room, the tray carefully balanced on her back, instead of floating it in her magic. While she thought that she wouldn't have any trouble carrying it, she didn't want to risk it. When she made it to his room, she giggled a little as she knocked, before speaking in a sing-song voice. "Room Service!" She took a step back, waiting for the door to open.

[dragonofruin]

A brief moment of silence followed the announcement of 'room service!', though after a few minutes it would be easy to hear the heavy sounds of a stallion's hoofsteps approaching the door, the soft click of the latch.. and the door swung open to reveal a disgruntled Sombra, eyes heavy from sleep, his head lowered, and his long, normally flowing mane currently askew and tumbling down around either side of his neck.

 

He'd been comfortably asleep beneath his covers, all throughout Raven's early morning activities and breakfast making, and as much as he'd wanted to go back to sleep once the sound of a certain familiar voice calling something out from outside his bedroom door, he'd forced himself to get up anyway just to see what exactly this room service was. Sombra blinked blearily down at Raven, his half asleep mind taking its time registering what it was he was looking at. He knew it was Raven, but she had something on her back, and he could smell food. The umbrum lifted his head a little, wordlessly sniffing the air.

 

"Mmrph?" Sombra grunted questioningly. Words were still currently beyond him while the rest of him was still attempting to wake up at an hour he considered ungodly. He cocked his head and stepped back, disappearing into the darkness of his room again and crawling back up onto his bed, flopping down heavily. With his limbs curled up underneath him, he looked back towards the light coming through the open doorway and at Raven herself. King Sombra could figure that she'd probably explain- and, if he was going to eat anything, he might as well make himself comfortable.

[Alivda]

Raven smiled sweetly as she headed in, setting the tray down near Sombra. "I'm sorry for getting you up so early," She began to explain. "But, I just felt that I should do something for you. I mean, after everything you've done for me in the last few days, I really owe you my thanks. Plus... I'm kinda sorry for last night, I didn't think things would get that heavy... I really need to learn to think before I just let out a question like that..."

 

Raven looked sheepish for a second as she spoke, before smiling at Sombra again. "Anyway, I figured breakfast in bed would be a good start! Feel free to leave the tray by your door, I'll get it later." Heading back out, She bowed playfully towards him on her way. She headed for the study, intending to read some today, just pulling storybooks and such off the shelves...

[dragonofruin]

The soft glow of King Sombra's red eyes followed Raven's movements from the dimness of his room, watching as she approached his bed to leave the tray of food. Leaning forward, he curiously sniffed at it to see what sort of breakfast food she'd brought him, and one ear was perked towards the mare's voice. He was still in the midst of waking up, but he was more awake than when he'd first opened his door. Enough so that he was a little taken aback by her apology. It was -- appreciated, but unneeded. Still, Sombra could appreciate that she was making the effort.

 

"You don't.. need to apologize to me about that. You merely caught me by surprise and -- it left me thinking about things I haven't thought about in a very long time. Sorting through those.. feelings was confusing." The word was said with some effort, as if he didn't want to acknowledge that he had any feelings at all, but he couldn't deny he had them. Nor could anypony else. He quietly cleared his throat and looked down at the tray again, somewhat awkward about the admittance. But Raven made it terribly easy for him to open up, without fear of betrayal, or malicious use of that information.

 

Sombra's head jerked up a little and he caught a glimpse of her playful bow. An amused sound rippled up his throat. "Very well." After he ate, Sombra planned going back to sleep. At least, to have a little post-breakfast nap. It wasn't like he'd ever allowed himself such a thing before. He watched Raven go and turned his attention to his food, plucking up the provided fork and slowly beginning to eat.

[Alivda]

Raven spent most of the morning reading old storybooks, and fussing around in the study. After a bit, she began to notice a warmth inside of her, like when her magic reserves were full, but somehow, it was over on the table, where the decoration rested. She couldn't really remember what she had been thinking when she cast the enchantment, but she smiled as she looked at the decoration. 

 

She was proud, no doubt about it, proud of casting a whole new category of spells, without even practicing once, though it did hurt a lot when she overdid it... After reading a couple of stories, Raven went to go get Sombra's tray, and to wash the dishes, before heading back to the study, this time to just stare at the decoration, wishing she felt that she was fully rested so she could try it...

[dragonofruin]

The king ate what he felt like eating and left the tray on the hall just outside his door, which would be closed by the time Raven came by to pick it up. He'd gone back to bed, dropping right back into the comfortable spot he'd been occupying before and curled up. It wasn't difficult for him to find the last trail of sleep and follow it, and he slept through the rest of the morning, never waking again until after noon, and all while Raven was busy in her study.

 

Sombra felt fully refreshed when he woke up, albeit with some slight grogginess after his sleep had been interrupted. Slipping out of bed, he swept on his cape, fastening the clasp around his neck on the way out of his bedroom. It didn't take long for him to reach the study, where he could only assume Raven might be around this time of day, and quietly stepped inside. A glance told him that his assumption was correct. The mare was in here, staring down at the strange horn decoration that still lay on the table where it'd last been touched. He wordlessly made his way over to her and sat down nearby, peering at the changes to the spiraling metal and looking back towards Raven.

 

"So, how do you feel today?" he queried, intent on figuring out the state of her. If she'd recovered from yesterday, then perhaps they'd be able to test out the enchantments to see if it worked the way he wanted to intend it to work. If it didn't.. he could always break the enchantment to ensure Raven would be fine and attempt it himself.

[Alivda]

Raven tensed up for a second, as she was so engrossed in her staring at the horn she hadn't noticed Sombra. "Well, I think I'm almost one hundred percent, though for some reason, being in here is making it hard for me to figure out if I'm fully restored, magicly speaking..." She spoke as she calmed down. She shook her head as she found her attention returning to the decoration. It was weird, almost like it was luring her, like it was some kinda siren song...

 

After a while of having to forcefully keep her concentration elsewhere, she withdrew from the table, heading to the opposite side of the room. "I did notice something though..." She pulled down a scientific textbook as she continued the conversation. "It would seem in overcasting the spell, I changed the weave a bit, making the metal resemble the inner structure of a horn, see?" She opened the textbook to a page, upon which there was a diagram of a unicorn's horn, the opposite page being a full sketch of a Pegasus' wing...

[dragonofruin]

An amused noise rolled up his throat, seeing Raven tense up. It seemed he was making a habit of taking her by surprise. "It sounds like you may be doing well enough to try it on. I've been eager to see how well your enchantment will work. Mind, if it has unintended or unwanted results, I'm prepared to break the enchantment so that you'll not come to harm," Sombra replied, red eyes shifting away from Raven again and back to the spiral of metal. They studied it for a moment and switched to watch Raven again as she retrieved one of her textbooks, and he leaned in to study the interesting diagram of a unicorn's horn.

 

Sombra had known it was just bone, but he'd never gotten to see actual detail on it and the way it would work. Of course, it was for a normal unicorn's horn- he might never get to learn about a horn like his own, though it might be similar. The stallion grunted softly and casually glanced over at the other diagram, this of a wing. Tilting his head, he studied it out of curiosity for a minute before he finally straightened up and glanced over at the silver decoration. Now that he'd seen the diagram, its shape made much more sense. "Indeed you did," he agreed quietly.

 

"Do you want to try it?" He might never sound as eager as he claimed to be, but inside he was. It was somewhat exciting to get to practice and try out magic with another pony, as well as helping them with it.

[Alivda]

Raven thought for a second. "I would be lying if I didn't admit I really want to...  If you think you can break the enchantment if things go crazy, I suppose we can try it!" She smiled excitedly as she spoke, moving back to the table. She almost started giggling with how excited she was as she took the decoration in her magic, and slowly, gently, moved it to slide down her horn. 

 

As the decoration touched Raven's horn, however, things quickly messed up. When the decoration slipped over, her eyes lit up, the same color as her magic. Her eyes widened in surprise as she felt her magic slide wildly out of control. Soon, the air became thick with her aura as a wind from nowhere started to blow around the room. As she started to lift off the ground, held in the grip of the magic energy pouring off of her, she started panicking. "Getitoffgetitoffgetitoff!" She screamed at Sombra, her words to her seeming to be distorted and weird...

[dragonofruin]

The king merely nodded and observed, a silent opposite to the excited and giggly Raven. His body was tense, prepared against the worst if it should happen.. and it did. Within seconds of Raven slipping the decoration onto her horn, he saw the way her eyes changed- it wasn't just the odd glow, but the fear in them. Knowing that her enchantment had indeed gone sour, Sombra bore the whipping wind that tore around the room and reared up, aiming to wrap his forelegs around the mare's waist. His own eyes were glowing, but with the unsettling neon green glow of dark magic- so bright, that his eyes were entirely green.

 

Purple wisps curled out from the outer corners of his eyes, and a black bolt of dark magic arched up from his horn towards Raven's, carrying out his intent to break the enchantments in the metal. If he could destroy them, tear them away, then everything could return to normal. Or so he hoped. There was no telling what exactly her enchantment was trying to do as it was, or if there would be any after effects of such a thing. There was one thing Sombra knew, and that was that he'd have to simply enchant the metal himself. It was, perhaps, a little beyond Raven's ability currently.

 

Sombra mentally berated himself for pushing Raven into this, and letting her undertake something as difficult as enchanting. Especially so soon, when she still had trouble casting magic. Guilt rose in him and lurked like a dark and clinging fog, bothering him in the midst of the maelstrom. It didn't help that Raven was screaming.

[Alivda]

When Sombra's magic hit the decoration, Raven let out a pained scream as the decoration glowed before breaking. She fell to the ground, panting for a bit. She stood slowly, her legs shaking. "That... That was unpleasent... I... I couldn't control it... So much power surging through me... controlling me..." She said, a fully body shudder running down her. She slowly made it to a chair, where she flopped down.

 

She... She was scared, and it took a second to remember that Sombra would sense it. "I... I've never really had magic surges like that... What do we do now?" She didn't have a clue where to go now. Her enchantment was a failure, a thought that almost made her start breaking down crying. She wasn't sure why though... maybe it was because it seemed even Sombra really wanted it to succeed, and she had failed him... maybe she had even disappointed him, a thought that did make her start crying...

[dragonofruin]

Her scream had him pinning back his ears in order to protect them. It wasn't the biggest issue here, and hearing her scream that way made him feel worse than what physical discomfort it caused. The stallion tried to support her on her way back to the ground and released her with a troubled frown. Her enchantment really had backfired, and he supposed it might be easy to figure out how it had. The wrong sort of intent or a flaw.. overcharging the spell..

 

The thought could've been biting if Sombra held any negative feelings towards Raven, but he didn't. She was merely trying to learn magic. Sombra moved, following the mare over to her chair and wordlessly reached out to wrap his forelegs around her. It was a little easier this time, but no less awkward for him. "Mistakes come with practicing magic, and experimenting with it. It was your first enchantment, after all. It is a difficult magic," he put in. "With better control of your magic, you'll be able to manage it. Don't think you can get it right overnight." A part of him wanted to add you're not as great as me, after all as an attempt at humor, and ultimately decided against it. It wouldn't go over well.

 

Sombra tried to pull Raven close against him, if he could, hoping to calm her.