King Sombra, the tyrant of Crystal Empire is back, only to be imprisoned by princesses and put through reformation with Twilight Sparkle as his teacher. Can somepony with heart as black as night be reformed? Twilight believes so.
King Sombra, the tyrant of Crystal Empire is back, only to be imprisoned by princesses and put through reformation with Twilight Sparkle as his teacher. Can somepony with heart as black as night be reformed? Twilight believes so. Sombra in other hoof isn't so sure but something in that mare makes him try.
This is going to be one of my longest stories this far. Marked Teen for sexual innuendo and slightly gory-ish scenes. Nothing too bad though. Also this will not be a story that deserves a dark marking.
Emptiness. No light, no darkness, no nothing. Just emptiness. Was it some kind of purgatory? Or maybe it was hell. No. There would have surely been others if that had been the case. No. There was just him. All alone in the vast emptiness. No body, no form, no nothing. Only his thoughts were there. And oh how dark they were… He didn’t know how long he had been there. He had stopped counting days after reaching two thousand, five hundred and fifty-six. So he had been in that… void for more than seven long years, his mind getting weaker and his thoughts getting even more grim as the time passed on. Oh how many times he thought about the ones who put him in this wretched place. Those six mares and that damn dragon. For him he had some special plans. Plans that many times included different kinds of ideas of how to use red-hot knives to bring great discomfort for the little menace. Even though he had a special place in his dark heart for the poor dragon, he hadn’t forgotten the other fools that had caused his current state. Princesses, especially that princess of love. Ugh. Only the thought of her made his rage grow. Then there were those six mares. The elements. Oh how he hated them. The one called Twilight Sparkle. She was the one who passed all his traps and had violated the sanctity of his stairs. Stairs were made to walk, not to slide. It had been a dirty trick from her. Then, last but not least, those dirty plebeians of The Crystal Empire. How dared they rise against him, their only ruler. Their king. His mind kept cursing all of them for a while, before returning to the starting point, thinking if he was in some kind of hell. No. There would have been others in there for sure. It was no hell. How long had he been there? More than seven years, that he knew. He also remembered those who put him in there… How he hated all of…
Suddenly he felt something. He felt something. He hadn’t felt anything for more than seven years. Now he felt a breeze. Breeze that started to grow into a storm. The emptiness started to slowly part away to something that resembled a thunderstorm that almost made his sensory system to go on an overdrive. He started to feel even more. His senses started to come back in violent spasms. He could see colors. He could feel something that was much more intense than anything he remembered. What was it? Pain? Yes. It was clearly just that. He would have enjoyed the fact that he was once again feeling something, but of course the feeling had to be pain. But to feel pain you must have a body, so that meant that he was going back to existence. The feeling of pain started spreading across his body. He couldn’t help but laugh as he realized that he had beaten death.
* * *
The room was dark and the cold stone walls were wet from condensed water, making the whole room feel rather unpleasant. There was only one light source in the room. A high powered floodlight that was pointed straight towards the center of the room, where a lone curved, red horn was laying on the cold floor. Beyond the spotlight there were three alicorns and a unicorn in his royal battle armor. The purple color of his plate armor and the blue crest on top of his helmet were indicators of his rank as the captain of the Royal Guard. He was Shining Armor. Three princesses stood next to him in their formal outfits too. The pink coated alicorn called Cadence stood next to her husband. Her long mane was violet with golden and rose colored stripes and her purple eyes were nervously glancing towards Shining Armor. Luna and Celestia stood a bit further away from those two. Their faces had a stern look on them and their manes seemed to flow in calm wind, though they were deep underground. Luna’s starry mane cast a small amount of light around her. The light reflected from the chest plates of the guards that stood by the room’s walls. There were many of them. All of them were unicorns and personally picked by Shining Armor. They all had their spears with them, but their real weapon was their strong magical abilities.
There was a long and deep silence in the room. It was so thick that you could feel it. Everypony was staring at the lone horn in the spotlight, like waiting for it to do something. It never did. Princesses and Shining Armor looked quickly at each other, before returning their gazes back to the horn.
“Should we start?” Shining Armor asked slowly, without breaking his stare from the horn. Princess Celestia took a deep breath and sighed before answering with a simple nod. Shining Armor didn’t waste time and ordered with his authoritative voice, “Spears in front! Whatever happens, keep your magic ready. Use it only when I command so!” Without a word all the guards stepped forward and lowered their spears towards the horn. The atmosphere in the room was getting even more tense by the second. Celestia cleared her throat and announced, “Let’s proceed.”
Cadence gave a quick nuzzle to her husband’s cheek before she stepped back and joined her fellow princesses. They gave quick looks to each other before nodding in unison. Then they closed their eyes and their horns started to glow, each in their own color. Soon three beams of magical energy collided in front of them: Two blues and one golden. They melted into a one solid stream of golden magic aura, that slowly slithered towards the horn like a giant golden snake. Soon it touched the surface of the red horn, immediately wrapping itself around the lifeless horn and lifting it to the air. The tip of every guards spear followed the horn while it climbed up towards the ceiling, stopping just about thirty centimeters above their own heads. There it hung, in an invisible string as the golden magic ‘snake’ started to absorb into the horn. Soon it was fully gone into the red horn, that kept levitating on it’s place.
“Get ready!” Shining Armor said when a small breeze could be felt in the room, and every guard in the room perked up. As if on cue the horn started to glow reddish light. Soon the horn started to pour black smoke from the part where it had been cut off. The breeze turned into a strong wind that started to spin around the horn, making the black smoke to start spinning downwards. There were loud gasps among the guards when the horn started to grow. Soon it was an its full length. It didn’t stop there. Now they could see the top of a skull starting to appear. They watched as a white skeleton started to form in front of them. Celestia saw how some of the guards had terrified looks on their faces. She could relate. It wasn’t a pretty sight at all. As soon as the skeleton was ready and it’s hooves touched the ground, it collapsed, startling a group of guards. What happened next was something out of nightmares. Shining Armor felt his stomach turning as the muscles and internal organs started to form onto the skeleton. As soon as the muscles started to form, that nightmarish thing on the floor started to twitch. Cadence pressed herself closer to Luna, who had her ears folded against the back of her head. The thing on the floor jerked and as its vocal cords and lungs began to form, it started to growl and gasp for air. Some of the guards were now shaking on their places, but they kept their pose, spears aimed towards the thing. Suddenly a hollow, raspy laughing filled the room. It came from the thing on the floor that was now forming it’s skin. A dark grey coat started to grow on it’s newly created skin and a thick, black mane started to grow on it’s head. It flowed down to its shoulders and for a moment the raging wind in the room played with the black mane.
Then everything stopped. On the floor laid a unicorn brought back from death. His eyes were closed, and for a moment it seemed like he was still just a lifeless body. Then he slowly took a deep breath, clearly savoring the feeling. The guards raised their spears to a fighting stance, and for a moment in the dark room only the slow breathing of the stallion on the cold floor. He then slowly moved his front hooves under his body, starting to lift himself onto all fours. The tips of all the guards spears followed near his face, but he still didn’t open his eyes. He stood still in the middle of the spotlight. There was long silence again. Celestia, Luna and Cadence all shared nervous glances with each other, before Celestia said with her calm voice, that was this time clearly forced, “Can you hear me?”The dark coated stallions eyes opened quickly, and instantly a deep blue magic flowed from the corner of his eyes. His eyes were frightening. They were green and his red irises were fixated towards the princess Celestia. She bravely returned the stare, not even blinking. The stallion’s eyes moved towards her sister, who too returned the stare with her ears still folded. When his stare reached Cadence, his eyes went wide. He growled and revealed his teeth… Or fangs actually. Anger was clearly visible on his face as he took a step towards her, only to feel a coldness of a blade pressing against his throat. He saw a sword held in a light rose colored magical grasp. He soon noticed the wielder, and his mind was filled with even more rage. No other than Shining Armor stood there, glaring angrily at him.
“One more step towards her and you’re finished… Sombra.” Shining Armor hissed and lifted the blade a little, making him wince. Sombra stared at him, but saw no hesitation in Shining Armors eyes. They kept staring at each other for a while, before Sombra let a dark chuckle escape from his lips. He took a step backwards and returned his gaze towards the oldest princess.
“This is quite an unpleasant reception for an old friend, Celestia,” he said with his slippery, yet cold voice that made the guards feel nervous.
Celestia frowned and said, “You never were our friend.”
“Maybe,” he answered slowly. He was looking around himself. He was clearly in Canterlot, or under it to be exact. He would have recognized the dungeons if they would have been in The Crystal Empire. All the good times he had spent in those dungeons. He returned to look at the two sisters and said, “But enough about our relationship. May I inquire why I have the honor of meeting you again? I thought that you would have been happy with me staying dead.” T he princesses quickly looked at each other. Sombra used this time to have a better look at his surroundings. He wasn’t going to stay here long, he needed a way out.
“I never thought that I would say this but…” Celestia started. “...But we have decided to give you another chance.”
That surprised Sombra greatly. After a moment of confusion he started to laugh again. It made Celestia frown. Her wings twitched a little and she asked, “What is so funny about it?”
Sombras laughter died down, but he kept smiling evilly.
“It is just so… amusing,” Sombra answered. He looked towards Cadence and asked, “And where did you get such a crazy idea from? Hmm?”
Cadence didn’t look him in the eyes. He liked it. He could feel that she was scared of him. Sombra chuckled darkly again and turned towards Celestia, waiting for an answer. Celestia sighed and then said slowly, “Every other enemy of the nation has been granted one chance to change their ways.”
“One chance,” Shining Armor repeated and lifted the sword a bit more again. Sombra snorted angrily and gave him a threatening look. It was then when he noticed a glint of light reflecting from something behind Shining Armor. He realise that it was a door. Surely it was magically sealed. He wouldn’t be able to open it, but surely one of the guards would.
“Has any of my fellow comrades actually accepted your proposition?” Sombra asked with a smirk.
Celestia returned it and answered, “Yes. Discord for instance has turned to the good side. He uses his powers for good now.”
She didn’t get the surprised reaction from him that she wanted. Instead Sombra just sighed, clearly not surprised.
“I never met him but what can you expect from a person who has been trapped into a stone for so long. It can make anypony go crazy. No wonder he started to use his powers for ‘good’,” Sombra said with sarcastic emphasis on the word good.
“At least for most of the time he use them for good,” Luna added.
Sombra didn’t give any attention to her. He then continued with low voice, “How about ‘Queen’ Chrysalis?”
“She and Tirek declined our offer...” Luna started, but Sombra cut in with an annoyed look on his face.
“Please… Adults are talking.”
That made all of the princesses frown, but Celestia decided to continue, “Yes. I understand Chrysalis’ point. Her kind needs to feed on love to survive, so she couldn’t accept the offer. Tirek in other hoof was just too stubborn to accept it.”
“What a surprise,” Sombra said a bit amusedly.
Luna gave him a threatening look and said coldly, “Another thousand years in Tartarus should change his mind.”
There was a quick stare fight between them, but Sombra decided that she wasn’t worth wasting anymore time with. He instead turned back to Celestia and asked, “And what if I don’t accept this generous offer?”
He felt how the edge of the sword under his chin rose again. It stung and soon there were couple drops of blood running down the wide blade of Shining Armors sword.
“I’m afraid that you won’t leave us any choice, Sombra,” Celestia said, sounding almost sorry for him. That made Sombra chuckle. He pushed his chin against the sword, so that it cut more deeply into his flesh. From the corner of his vision he saw Cadence wincing at the sight.
“I don’t remember you being like this Celestia… Ending somepony’s life without even thinking twice… Don’t get me wrong. I find it quite... charming.” he spoke slowly with constant grin on his face. None of the ponies in the room answered to him. That made Sombra laugh heartily. His laughing echoed from the walls of the small room, and he was still chuckling a little when he asked, “Are you even sure that you can do it if necessary?”
He felt the sword quickly jerking upwards, making him jump a little. He turned his head slowly towards the white coated unicorn. Sombra was starting to get rather fed up with the tough guy act Shining Armor was trying to pull. Maybe it was a good time to put end to it.
“I guarantee I can,” Shining Armor said with stern look on his face.
Sombra’s grin grew wider when he said in low tone, “You can try.”
With that he exploded into a big cloud of black smoke, startling everypony around him. Shining was quick to react and swung his sword towards the spot where Sombra had stood, but the sword just went right through the smoke. All the guards were charging their horns and some of them even managed to shoot the magic projectiles, but they didn’t have a target and the shots just ricocheted off the walls and bounced in the room for a second before disappearing.
“Stop firing! You might hit the princesses!” Shining Armor commanded as he backed up against the wall with Cadence behind her. Celestia and Luna were both trying to cast illumination spells but the smoke was too thick for their magic to actually do something.
“It’s no use sister! I can’t see him!” Luna cried and looked at Celestia for help.
She was looking as panicked as Luna herself, but she kept strong and said, “Sombra! You can’t get out of here!”
They heard deep laughter. It came from all directions around them, not having a real source where to aim. Then they heard Sombra say with an loud, echoing voice, “Oh Celestia… you are underestimating me…”
“Protect the princesses!” Shining Armour shouted and soon there was at least seven guards around Celestia and Luna.
That made Sombra laugh again. Then he shouted with roaring voice, “Fear me!”
With that all of the guards, including Shining Armor’s eyes turned green and their pupils shrank to the size of pinpricks. They started to shake and soon a couple of them fell to the floor and started to cry.The princesses were frightened seeing their subjects like that. Luna quickly knelt in front of the nearest guard and tried to calm him down. It didn’t take long for Shining to collapse on the floor too, crying out loud, “Cadence! Cadence don’t leave me! Please!”
“Shining! Shiny I’m right here!” Cadence screamed and knelt next to her husband. He was still crying and his eyes were full of fear. Celestia was trying to locate Sombra in the thick smoke, without succeeding. She cursed out loud and used all her willpower to make her spell more effective, the light from her spell still didn’t cut through the black smoke well enough. She saw Luna looking at her for help but for her horror she saw a toothy grin and a pair of greenly glowing eyes behind her younger sister. Celestie let out a terrified cry and send a magical projectile towards the widely grinning smile, only to see it fade away before the shot hit it’s target. Then they heard another cold laugh.
“It has been fun playing around with you dear princesses, but I have a empire to conquer,” Sombra’s voice spoke.
Suddenly they heard Shining asking, “What!? If I open the door you won’t go away?”
“No!” Celestia cried, but Shining didn’t hear her. Luna had heard that too, and they both started to sprint towards the door, but they were too slow. They heard the heavy door creaking open, and immediately Sombra’s laughing filled the room again. The smoke disappeared from the room through the doorway, taking the the sound of laughter with it. Sombra rushed down the torch lit corridors, extinguishing every torch he passed. The guards that dared to stand in his way were either pushed down by the brute force of Sombra’s shadowy form, or swept into terrifying nightmares. Sombra reached a long spiralled staircase that lead upwards. There was light coming from the top of the stairs. Sombra heard guards coming after him in the corridors. The metallic clanking of their horseshoes echoed in the dungeons. He smirked and flew against the staircase, dissolving into it’s structures. A good ten meters of the staircase turned into a black, shiny crystal, before shattering like glass. Sombra emerged from the remains of the staircase, before starting to fly upwards. The guards wouldn’t have stood a chance against him, so he wouldn’t have needed to break the stairs, but he liked the idea of them getting trapped into the dungeons for a little bit longer. It had been just for his own amusement. It didn’t take long for him to reach the end of the spiralling stairs. He was greeted by more guards. Sombra sighed annoyedly. When were they going to learn. The guards had little time to react before all of them were caressed by his dark magic, their worst nightmares coming to life in front of them. Sombra decided that the fastest route would be straight up. The shadowy form he was in started to take shape. Sombra’s head emerged from the smoke, ten times bigger than normal. His long, sharp horn pointed upwards, and he let out a loud roar before pushing himself through the ceiling.
Meanwhile in the crowded streets of Canterlot, ponies were going on with their daily businesses in peace. The market around a fountain that was shaped like the two sisters was full of life with vendors shouting their offers to the passing ponies and foals running between the many stands, all while Celestia’s sun shone as bright as ever. Everything seemed to be normal. But then the ground started to shake. Everypony stopped on their tracks and some of the mares started to scream. Foals quickly ran to their parents, who held them tightly. Then everything stopped as quickly and abruptly as it started. Scared ponies glanced at each other, before sighing from relief. Then, without a warning, the fountain exploded into a big cloud of white dust, sending big pieces of rock flying around the market. Now everypony was screaming and ducking behind the stands, trying to cover themselves from the flying debris. When the pieces of fountain stopped raining, there was a moment when everything was quiet. Soon couple of curious ponies lifted their heads from behind the stands to see better. The big white cloud of dust was still hanging in the air, but it started to fall down slowly. First they saw a big red horn slowly appearing from the dust. Then two big green eyes with red pupils staring at them. Last they saw a grin of long, razor sharp fangs. Sombra slowly rose from the remains of the fountain, everypony too scared to do nothing else than stare at him. He chuckled faintly before letting out a ear hurting roar. Now a full panic seized the whole market, screaming ponies running everywhere. Sombra watched the puny ponies running away from him in fear. He kept laughing at them for a moment, but he had more important things to do. He flew high up in the air and turned to look towards the frozen north. He smiled victoriously for a second, before starting to fly towards his empire.
* * *
The sight in the room was terrifying. All the guards were either crying or shaking on their places, white as a sheet. Celestia and Luna stared at the opened door and Cadence was petting the mane of crying Shining Armor.
“We must go after him!” Luna said to Celestia who nodded. Luna then quickly turned towards Cadence and said with a sad look, “Take care of the guards and send a letter to Twilight immediately. We will go after him. Tell her to catch up as quick as possible and tell her to get the elements. We have to do this right this time.”
Cadence nodded and kept petting her husbands mane. She then looked up and sniffed, “But where do I tell her to go?”
“You know where he is going,” Celestia said with grim voice before she and Luna vanished in a bright flash, leaving Cadence alone with the guards and her sobbing husband in the darkness of the dungeons.
The air was getting colder and the ground below them had a thin layer of snow covering it. The landscape was flat and the sky got darker as they travelled. Dark clouds were making their way towards the same destination where they were headed. They noticed that the clouds were moving faster than they should have. Actually they should have been moving in the opposite direction, because a strong wind was blowing against their faces. It was the first indicator of something being wrong in The Crystal Empire.
“How is it even possible for him to return!?” purple alicorn shouted, still in disbelief. Her sapphire mane was clinging to her face as the cold wind blew against her face. She struggled to keep up with her cyan coated friend and held her crown with her hooves. She was the newest princess of Equestria, Twilight Sparkle.
“You’re the egghead so you tell me!” Rainbow Dash shouted over the wind. She didn’t seem to struggle against the wind, but she had been flying ever since she was a filly, unlike Twilight. Normally she would have been exhausted after so much of physical struggling, but knowing that her fellow princesses and friends were in danger drove her forward. She was still in shock after receiving the letter that held the grim news of King Sombra’s return. Twilight looked behind herself and saw the chariot flown by two royal guards. It was carrying rest of her friends about two hundred meters behind her and Rainbow Dash. Seeing them made her calm down a bit. They had been through worse, and when all the elements were together, Sombra couldn’t stand a chance against them. Knowing that didn’t make her feel any less nervous about facing Sombra again. Last time he had almost won. The crystal heart had been just inches from him before Cadence had stopped him. She felt a shudder crawl on her back when she thought about what Sombra could have done to her and her friends if he would have succeeded… And now he was free again.
“Are you okay!?” Rainbow shouted again, making Twilight snap away from her thoughts.
She looked towards Rainbow and shouted, “What!?”
“I asked if you were okay!” Rainbow shouted and glided closer to Twilight. She had a concerned look on her face. Twilight blinked slowly before what she had said sunk in.
Twilight just waved her hoof and said, “I’m fine! Just a bit worried!”
Rainbow nodded and looked behind her. The chariot was still following behind them. She then said with concern, “You should go and ride in the chariot.”
“What!? Why!?” Twilight protested.
Rainbow just shrugged and said, “You must not get tired or anything, or we might be in trouble!”
“Hah!” Twilight exclaimed. “We’ve been through worse! Besides, I’m fine, really.”
“Whatever you say!” Rainbow said, but still kept flying close to Twilight.
Actually Twilight was almost ready to drop from the sky due to fatigue, but she didn’t say it. It wasn’t time to whine or rest. Celestia and Luna could be in danger, and the faster she would get to The Crystal Empire, the faster she could make sure that they weren’t harmed in any way. Still Twilight started to feel the soreness in her wings and how her breathing was getting deeper. The cold air started to hurt her throat and she coughed couple of times. Rainbow Dash noticed it and looked at her with worried expression for a moment, before shouting, “Twilight!”
“What again!?” Twilight shouted a bit irritatedly.
Rainbow Dash frowned and said, “You really need to rest! I see that you are ready to fall to the ground!”
Twilight inhaled deeply, and felt the cold air hurting her throat again. She glanced towards Rainbow Dash, and then towards the direction where the dark clouds were travelling. They still had a long way to go. She didn’t like it, but Rainbow Dash was right.
“You’re right Rainbow…” Twilight started, but her voice was drowned by a loud boom from the distance.
The mares stared in front of them, and soon saw a flash in the horizon. The sound of explosion came a moment after. It was clear that Sombra had reached Crystal Empire before they had. Twilight and Rainbow Dash stared towards the dark horizon for a moment longer, before Twilight let out and angry snort and speeded forward. Rainbow Dash was awestruck by the speed Twilight flew. She stopped for a moment, her jaw hanging open. Soon the chariot reached her and she saw her friends looking questionable at her.
“Where did Twilight go!?” she heard Applejack shout from the chariot.
Rainbow shook her head to clear it before silently flying over to the guards who flew the chariot. The guards gave her a confused looks when she positioned herself between them, grabbing the harness with her teeth.
“Ghirls! Hang ohn!” she shouted.
With that she accelerated into full speed. The guards had trouble keeping up with her pace and they looked at each other with scared looks in their eyes. All the mares in the chariot screamed in horror, or maybe Pinkie Pie was screaming out of excitement when the chariot speeded across the stormy sky, leaving a rainbow colored streak behind it.
* * *
Sombra growled at the two Alicorns flying around his shadow form that was almost a hundred feet tall. The only part of his body that could be seen was his head, which also was a lot bigger than normal. He was towering over the city that once had belonged to him. Sombra ignored the two alicorns and tried to get through the forcefield around The Crystal Empire. He rushed against it, but did no damage to it and bounced backwards. He roared and shot a beam of dark magic towards the shield, only to see the bolt of his magic being hit by a beam of blue magic, exploding the shot before it reached the shield. The explosion blinded him for a moment, and when he could see again, he saw Luna flying past his face. Sombra roared and lunged towards her. Before he reached her, he felt pain exploding on the right side of his face. Meanwhile Luna disappeared into the dark clouds above him. He turned to his right and saw Celestia levitating near his face in all her glory.
“Sombra stop this madness right this second!” she demanded and shot another beam of golden light towards him. Sombra managed to dodge the shot, which landed into the snow behind him, exploding into a big ball of fire. Sombra lunged towards Celestia, but she was too quick for his massive form. She was rather agile for her age, he had to give her that. Sombra’s thoughts came to a stop when Luna’s magic hit him on the other side of his face. This time he felt the strike actually doing damage to him. He let out a long, ear hurting roar and retreated from the force shield surrounding the city. The left side of his face was smoking and he saw both of the sisters circling each other in front of him. Sombra growled. He knew that he wouldn’t stand against those two for much longer. Sombra looked towards the city, and then at the two sisters. He came to the conclusion that those two must be destroyed before attacking the city. He chuckled darkly. That way they wouldn’t be harassing him after the city was his. Why hadn’t he thought of this earlier?
His green eyes started to glow even brighter and his long tongue licked his fangs before his next attack. The sisters quickly parted away, gliding to the both sides of his head. Sombra had predicted this after observing their battle tactics for the last half an hour. He interrupted his lunge by turning towards Luna in quick motion. He could hear Celestia shouting something with scared voice. Probably calling for Luna’s name. Sombra saw Luna’s eyes go wide and how she tried to slow down enough to dodge Sombra’s attack, but Sombra knew that whatever she would do, it would not help her. Sombra let out a satisfied laugh before opening his mouth wide open, revealing the rows of white, razor sharp fangs. Luna let out a terrified scream… Oh how he liked the sound of it. It was just a matter of meters before that brat would meet her maker.
He never reached her with his fangs. Instead Sombra’s whole world shook in pain and bright light. He had to retreat in agony, not able to hold his shadowy form any longer. He felt his body coming to a physical form and his hooves touched the cold snow. His body felt numb for a moment, his battle armor feeling heavy. His cape was burned and he threw it away before he looked up towards the skies. The thing he saw was something he would have never believed to see, and immediately his blood started to boil. Up in the sky flew a purple alicorn he recognized as Twilight Sparkle. The one who had passed all his traps to find the crystal heart. He kept staring at her, and saw that she was now speaking with the two sisters. He remembered that last time they had met she had been just plain unicorn. Somehow she had been changed into a alicorn. It, if nothing else,this made his rage grow.
“It seems that every plebeian can become a princess nowadays…” he muttered angrily, before turning into his shadow form again.
This time all the princesses started to fall back, which surprised Sombra greatly. He watched them fly towards the ground, and soon his gaze met a chariot full of ponies landing to the snow. His eyes started to glow brighter as he recognized every one of them. They were the exact same ponies he had seen in the The Crystal Empire, ruining his plans more than seven years ago. He started to growl, but then chuckled. The day was becoming even more pleasant. He would firstly kill the two annoying sisters and their new companion, and then he would take care of these commoners, before finally taking what was rightfully his. He let out a laugh that resembled more like a roar. Then he started to move towards his prey. None of them seemed to fall back or even wince as he approached, not even the yellow pegasus in pink mane. They had clearly accepted their fate. Sombra was grinning, looking pleased. It would grant him more time to spent finishing them. He thought how much he would enjoy that as he flowed closer to them. It was at that point he noticed that Twilight Sparkle had a wide smirk on her face. Sombra sensed something not being right. They seemed too calm, and he remembered how fiercely those two sisters had fought before. When he noticed that the six mares in front of him started to glow, it was already too late.
“Now!” Twilight Sparkle shouted and felt how the energy from her friends flowed into her, building up inside her. The energy from them felt warm and pure. All the good memories they had shared flowed into Twilight’s mind. She saw Sombra’s expression go from victorious into a surprised in mere seconds. Twilight formed a smile on her lips as she felt how the energy stopped flowing, now ready to be released. Her eyes started to glow with white light from the powerful magic she was working with and her mane started to flow upwards, defying gravity. She turned her horn towards the former tyrant and released the magical energy in one big burst. The light from the shot made it impossible for Sombra to see anything. He roared and tried to get out of the way, but it didn’t help. The shot hit him straight in the his shadowy body. Sombra felt the magic working inside of him, making him feel strange. It went on for a while, but then it stopped, the light slowly fading away. Sombra waited with his eyes closed for a while, but nothing happened. He carefully opened his eyes and looked at his body. Everything seemed to be fine. He turned towards the ponies on the ground in front of him with deadpan look. Was that all they had?
“You’re mine…” he started in his low voice, but felt something inside of himself stirring. It was first just a little tingling feeling, but soon it started to grow into a strong force that made him feel like being pulled down. Then he started to glow a bright golden light that peered from his eyes and cracks that formed onto his skin. When the realisation hit him, he screamed. It was happening again, and now he wouldn’t have a second chance. Still, he did not feel any regrets, only hate and rage. Twilight and others saw a giant ball of pure light exploding in the middle of Sombra. It blinded them and also made them deaf with the loud boom it made. Twilight and her friends covered their eyes and waited for the ruckus to be over.
When Twilight opened her eyes she saw that her friends were all cowering behind the chariot with the guards. Fluttershy was holding the other guard in her tight grasp, but when she noticed it, she let go of him with apology. Twilight turned around and saw that Sombra was nowhere to be seen. Only wind howling around them was heard, and the black clouds started to part away slowly. She looked at Celestia and Luna, who were panting and sitting on their haunches. They gave a proud look to Twilight, before Celestia patted Luna on the back with a smile. The Crystal Empire was safe again. All of Twilight's friends and the guards started to cheer. They jumped on the snow and hugged each other. Rainbow Dash snatched Applejack into her hooves and took off, spinning her around couple of meters from the ground. Fluttershy and Rarity hugged and Pinkie Pie was arming her party cannon while jumping on her place. The guards just cheered and clapped their hooves together. Seeing all this made Twilight smile, but then she felt the soreness and fatigue in her body returning. She sat down onto her haunches, the cold snow making her wince. She then took a deep breath and laid to her stomach.
“Twilight, are you alright?” Celestia asked as she walked next to her.
Twilight nodded and answered with tired smile, “Yes. I’m just a bit worn out that’s all.”
Celestia smiled warmly at her and sat next to her. She placed a hoof onto Twilight back and said, “You did well today…”
She was cut off by Fluttershy shrieking. They turned to look at the yellow mare and saw her pointing towards the direction where Sombra had been. They quickly spun their heads to the way she was pointing, and saw a figure of a stallion trying to get onto his hooves. They both gasped and stared at the figure for a long second, before they heard Luna shouting, “Guards!”
The guards quickly pulled their swords from their scabbards and started to gallop towards the stallion with the swords in their mouths.
Sombra was struggling to keep his balance. His battle armor was badly damaged around the chest and it smoked. It was too heavy for him to carry, and he collapsed back to the ground. Sombra gasped for air and felt how all the energy from his body started to fade away, burning pain around his chest making it hard to breathe. His vision was blurry, but he could see three figures galloping towards him. As they got closer he recognized the golden armor of the guards, and the mane filled with stars. He wanted to curse them, but he didn’t have the strength to do so. The guards soon got to him, but stayed couple of steps away from him. Luna soon caught up with them and stood next to them. She looked at him with clear disgust in her eyes. He returned the glare as best as he could. Luna then stepped closer and nodded to the guards. Other one stuck his sword back to its scabbard and walked behind Sombra, pulling his head up from his mane. It hurt but Sombra stayed quiet. He knew what they were about to do, but damnit! If he was to go down, he was going to do it with dignity. The other guard looked at Luna, who hesitated for a moment before nodding slowly. Sombra’s look was calm, he had been there once, and knew what was coming so he wasn’t afraid. He stared right into the eyes of the guard in front of him. He didn’t look back. Instead he slowly twisted his neck and held the sword high. Sombra kept staring at him. Then the sword swung down.
Sombra watched as in slow motion when the sword was wrapped in purple magic and broke into millions of pieces, leaving only the handle into the surprised Guard’s mouth. The guard blinked stupidly and then looked at the other guard. The other one was quick to react and let go of Sombra’s mane, letting him flop back to the snow. Sombra heard the blade slipping out of its scabbard, but then he heard a voice shout, “Stop!”
Everypony turned towards the voice and saw Twilight Sparkle galloping towards them with Celestia near behind her. The guard did as asked.
“Stop!” Twilight repeated and skidded to a stop in front of them. She panted and looked at them with shocked look on her face. She turned towards Luna and asked with quiet voice, “Are you going to kill him?”
Everypony was quiet.
“But he’s defeated!” Twilight said and pointed at the weak stallion in the snow.
The older princesses glanced at each other before returning to look at Twilight. Luna sighed and said, “We see it as a mandatory action at this point.”
The surprise that spread on Twilight’s face made Luna look away. Twilight looked at Celestia for help, but she too looked away. Twilight let out a small gasp and looked at Sombra, who breathed deeply and returned the look.
Sombra was getting more and more interested about this new princess. He saw a naive filly in her that believed in good and evil… Very cute. Suddenly he was struck by an idea. He looked towards Twilight and now he saw a naive filly… that he could use. Oh yes! That’s it. He would have the whole Equestria in his hooves, not only The Crystal Empire, that started to look like a filthy backwater compared to whole Equestria. He kept looking at the purple mare in front of him, his vision of him sitting on Celestia’s place strong in his mind. The idea was appealing, but now he had to figure out a way to use that filly in his advance. And it had to happen fast. He felt his powers getting weaker. He felt vulnerable… vulnerable… Yes! He needed to be vulnerable to gain this new princess’s protection. He thought for a moment. He already had plan, but it would be a risky move. It could also ruin everything. He kept balancing between opinions, but soon realised that it would be death for him if he would not make his move now. So what would he lose? Nopony noticed it, but his eyes started to glow in faint green color.
“Can’t you just capture and imprison him?” Twilight asked.
Luna cleared her throat and said, “We can’t risk him escaping again.”
“So killing him is better option?” Twilight asked, drooping her ears sadly.
Celestia sighed and started, “Twilight…”
“No, I understand your point… But can’t we just prevent him from using his magic? Then he couldn’t escape from even an ordinary prison,” Twilight tried.
Celestia took a step forward and said, “Twilight, even the most powerful magic preventing artifacts can’t stop a pony as powerful as him. And he’s evil, Twilight.”
“So was Nightmare Moon...” Twilight protested quietly, making Luna grimace.
Celestia frowned and she said, “That’s a different thing Twilight! Sombra has never been good, not even before he became what he is now, unlike Luna when she became Nightmare Moon.”
“I don’t like this any more than you do Twilight, but it’s have to be done,” Celestia said abit more calmly and looked at the stallion in the snow. Twilight stared at her for a moment before nodding faintly.
“It just doesn’t feel right...” Twilight said sadly and turned to look away. She didn’t need to see this. In a nation that hasn’t been in a war since the first time Sombra had rose to power, execution was a word nopony wanted to use. Nopony had been executed in Equestria for more than five hundred years. It was something that made Twilight Sparkle proud of her nation. She knew that Sombra was a evil thing, and that it had to be done, but it didn’t make it any easier for her. The deed that was going to happen behind her was fighting against all her nature. She noticed her friends looking back at her from the chariot. Would they have been with her in this thing, or against her?
There was a long silence between everypony. Only the cold wind howled around them. Luna was staring at Sombra with that venomy look, but Celestia was looking at Twilight with concerned and sad look on her face. Luna gave a questioning look towards her sister, who nodded slightly. Luna turned to give a one last look towards the ex-tyrant. Sombra noticed her expression softening for a moment, before she ordered the guards to proceed.
Just then Sombra started growling. Everypony took a step back and Twilight yelped. She quickly jumped up and spun around, taking a fighting stance, but what she saw caught her by surprise. The grey coated stallion was growling in pain. Then the growl turned into a scream as the blue magic from his eyes started to slip away from him, dissolving into the ground, leaving dark spots where it touched the snow. Everypony around him watched in shock and didn’t know what to do as the stallion spasmed on the snow. The battle armor around his body started to fade away in a cloud of smoke. When it was completely vanished, Sombra’s eyes shot open, staring right at Twilight. She saw how the sclera of his eyes started to turn white. After it was done, he and Twilight stared at each other for a short moment, before Sombra’s head flopped back to the snow, his mind drifting into restless unconsciousness.
Everypony stood on their places, waiting for the motionless stallion to do something. It took a moment before they realised that the stallion was truly unconscious. The guard chuckled nervously and moved closer, readying his sword to swing down upon him. The guard didn’t notice it, but as he stepped closer to Sombra, his other rear leg touched the dark spot in the snow where the blue magic from Sombra’s eyes had dissolved. The spot immediately started to climb up his leg, making him yelp. Princesses were alarmed by this, and they noticed the dark shadows quickly crawling up the guards back, soon reaching his eyes. The guard screamed as the shadows forced into his eyes that started to turn green.
“Bastion!” The other guard screamed as fangs started to form in his friend’s mouth. He tried to reach towards him, only to be lashed at by shadows that formed from from his eyes. He yelped and backed away from his now growling friend.
“What is happening!?” Twilight asked from no one in special. She was starting to panic, not knowing what to do. Luckily, princess Celestia knew.
“Enough!” she commanded with her wings flared out, her horn starting to glow brightly. Bastion, or what ever was in him started to hiss like a snake and backed away from the light. Celestia walked towards him, hopping over Sombra’s unconscious body. Bastion roared and Twilight noticed how much he sounded like Sombra. She, Luna and the other guard watched as Celestia pointed her horn towards Bastion. She seemed to know what she was doing, because the shadows started to retreat from the poor guard. As the last shadow had exited from his eyes, Bastion dropped to the snow, leaving a big cloud of shadows floating in the air. They saw familiar green eyes staring back at Celestia, who grunted and send another wave of bright light towards the shadow. The shadows seemed to be hurt by that, and after giving a last angry glare towards the princesses, it started to flee towards the tundra of Frozen North in unbelievable speed.
Celestia watched the shadow go, and it seemed for a second that she was about to go after it. She didn’t do it though. Instead she inhaled deeply and turned towards the downed guard.
“Take your friend to the chariot quickly,” she said to the other guard, who nodded and trotted next to his companion. Celestia lifted the limp guard with her magic to his friend’s back and he started to gallop towards the chariot. Twilight saw her friends helping to lift Bastion to the chariot.
“What about him?” Luna asked, pointing at Sombra. Celestia turned to look at the stallion, before looking towards the way the shadow had fled. If that shadow had been what she thought it was, maybe...
“What was that?” Twilight asked, her wings still stiff from nervousness. She saw Luna and Celestia stepping closer to the limp Sombra, craning their necks towards him. It seemed almost like they were sniffing the air around him.
Twilight started to get confused when Celestia spoke, “What can you feel sister?”
Luna leaned backwards with confused frown on her face. She looked at Celestia and said quietly, “I feel… Nothing…”
They stared at each other for a long moment, before looking towards the way the shadow had fled. They then glanced at Sombra, both clearly in their thoughts. Twilight stepped forward and gave confused looks to both of the older princesses. She then looked at Sombra, who was peacefully lying in the cold snow. He hardly breathed.
“Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia started, earning her attention. Celestia seemed a bit hesitating before she spoke, “Do you really think he is worth saving?”
That made Twilight gulp. Celestia had given her the chance to decide if one should live or not. She started to breath faster, her heart beating like crazy. This was too much handle, why didn’t they just decide it, or finish what they had started. Twilight had just managed to accept the fact that Sombra had to be ended, in order to protect the nation, but now they asked for her opinion.
“I-I don’t…” Twilight muttered, clearly a bit nervous. “I thought that it was necessary to… You said that...”
“But what do you say?” Celestia asked slowly. Twilight drooped her ears. She opened and closed her mouth couple of times.
“I-I…” she started, stammering too badly to continue. She had to clear her throat before continuing, “I think so…”
“You think he is worth saving?” Luna asked with raised eyebrow. Twilight looked at Sombra. He didn’t look so horrible pony now... Now... Now he looked vulnerable… Helpless... Something in seeing him made Twilight almost sad. As she looked at the helpless stallion, her thoughts became cleaner. She wouldn’t kill a helpless pony, not if it was for her to decide. Twilight inhaled deeply, her ears rising up. She had confident look in her eyes when she said, “Yes.”
Sombra’s eyes shot open, but the intense throbbing in his head forced him to close his eyes again. He started to open his eyes slowly this time, grim thoughts forming in his head as he realised that he was in a cold, wet prison cell made of stone. He looked around in the dim room, and saw that one wall was made of metal bars with a door in the middle of it. Behind those bars stood two unicorn guards. Sombra moved a little to see better around himself. He was lying in the middle of the room, whoever had put him there hadn’t even bothered to lay him on the bed. Not that the bed would have been any more comfortable. It was made of stone. Sombra groaned as he turned his head, making his neck crackle uncomfortably. Other guard noticed it and stepped to lean against the bars.
“You awake?” he asked bluntly. Sombra didn’t bother to answer, and slowly rose up, not giving even a glance at him. The guard grunted and trotted away, leaving other one to stand guard. There was a sound of door opening and closing.
Sombra walked with stiff legs towards the bed and sat down. His head was on fire. He didn’t show it though. He decided to go through it like a stallion. He took a better look at the room he was in. There wasn’t much to add into his earlier observations. There was a filthy looking toilet in the corner. Sombra felt a shudder when he looked at it. He quickly turned his head away from the repulsive sight and noticed something on the opposite wall. A small piece of mirror hung there. He couldn’t understand why there was a mirror in a prison cell. Maybe it was so prisoner could see himself being all alone, every day. Sombra didn’t mind. He liked to be alone.
At that moment he realised that he was in fact still alive. The memory of what had happened who knows how long ago, in the ice cold snow of the frozen north came back to him. Somehow he had avoided being beheaded after he had passed out. Sombra guessed that one certain purple alicorn had something to do with it. He tried to grasp the small mirror with his magic, but felt that something was wrong. He couldn’t feel the magic rushing through his horn, but getting blocked in the half way. He slowly lifted his front hoof and touched his horn. There was something metallic around it. Sombra cursed mentally, and rose up from the bed. He lazily walked over to the mirror and noticed that his predictions were true. Around his horn was a small metal ring that had weird symbols carved into it. It prevented him from using his magic. Sombra let out a small sigh and turned back towards the bed. The guard heard the faint sigh and started to chuckle.
“You ain’t so impressive now huh?” he asked and started to laugh. Sombra gave him absolutely no reply. He would have wanted to tell him how wrong he was, but it wasn’t part of his plan so he kept his mouth shut. As he walked towards the bed, he felt how his legs were hurting. He sat down to the bed and started to notice other sore places too. His chest was on fire like his head, his legs hurt, light hurt his eyes and he had been stripped out of his magic. He was vulnerable as planned in order to get under protection of Twilight Sparkle… And he hated it. He, King Sombra being completely stripped of all his titles and abilities. His right eye started to twitch, but otherwise he was emotionless. It was hard but he managed.
There was sound of door opening and closing again. Then the guard that left couple of minutes ago came back to Sombra’s vision and said with loud voice, “Prisoner against the wall!”
That made a jolt of pain run down Sombra’s throbbing head. He gave a deadpan look at the guard and did nothing to obey his command. The guard seemed angry, and was about to shout commands at him again, but then Sombra heard another more familiar voice saying, “It’s fine commander.”
The guard nodded to someone behind the wall, and soon none other than all four princesses stepped into Sombra’s vision. They walked in front of the bars and stood there, looking at Sombra. Twilight Sparkle stood next to Cadence, who was looking angry and hateful while eyeing at the stallion in the cell. Twilight noticed how Sombra’s appearance had changed a little. His horn was curved like always, and she could see the tip of his fangs from his mouth. Those things had stayed like they had been, but his mane and eyes were different. His black, thick mane flowed down onto his shoulders, not flowing menacingly in a invisible breeze, and his eyes were white like normal pony’s. His red irises were fixated to the wall in front of him. His cutie mark surprised Twilight. It was a crystal like Twilight had though, but it wasn’t black, it was clear blue.
“Are you willing to talk?” Celestia asked from him, waiting for an answer. Sombra did not move for a while. He kept staring at the wall. The princesses shifted their weight from hoof to hoof when the answer didn’t seem to come.
“What is there to talk about?” Sombra asked with his low, cold voice, not breaking his stare away from the wall.
“We have…” Celestia started and gulped before continuing, “Decided to give you yet another chance, now that you are imprisoned and stripped of your magic.”
“A mistake if you ask me,” Cadence said with venom in her voice. That made Sombra break the stare away from the wall.
He gave Cadence his trademark toothy grin and asked with teasing tone, “Dear Cadence… How is Shining Armor doing?”
Cadence was silent for a while, before turning around and walking away with couple of visible tears in the corner of her eyes. That pleased Sombra and he continued to stare the wall with a proud smile on his face. Twilight’s ears drooped and she started to stare at the floor.
“Did you enjoy thyself?” Luna asked angrily, in which Sombra replied.
“Yes.”
There was a long silence, before Sombra spoke again, “Who do I have to thank for being in here? For being still… alive.”
He knew the answer, but he had to ask it. Celestia and Luna gave a quick glance at Twilight. Sombra saw this from the corner of his eye and suddenly stood up. He slowly made his way towards Twilight, stopping just before the bars. He stared down at her, seeing that she didn’t return his stare.
“Is it you, perhaps?” he asked and leaned closer to the purple alicorn who nodded. He looked at the two sister and saw that they were looking cautious. Sombra then leaned backwards from Twilight and said, “I am grateful miss…”
“Twilight Sparkle,” the mare answered and glanced towards him.
“Twilight Sparkle,” Sombra repeated and then started to walk back towards the bed. He laid down to it and said, “I have nothing else to talk about… For now. I will think about your offer.”
After that he closed his eyes. Princesses stared at him for a moment, and then turned towards the door. Before leaving, Twilight took a last look towards Sombra, and saw for a fraction of second that Sombra was looking at her, before he closed his eyes again.
“We started to hate him even more!” Luna growled as they strolled down a long, torch lit corridor. She was walking with her ears still folded against her head.
Celestia chuckled and said, “You can drop that ‘we’ and ‘thy’ act now sister. There’s nopony here except us.”
Luna sighed before she looked at Twilight, who was surprisingly quiet.
“Is something troubling you Twilight? You are awfully quiet,” Luna stated, making Twilight wince.
She quickly shook her head and said, “I was just in my thoughts”
“I see,” Luna said slowly, making Twilight look at her with strange look.
Twilight narrowed her eyes and asked, “What?”
“Nothing,” Luna said and continued to watch in front of her. After a moment she spoke again, “Why were you defending him Twilight Sparkle?”
“Sister…” Celestia started, but Twilight answered with soft voice.
“I believe that there is good in everypony, no matter how evil they seem.”
There was another silence, before Luna sighed deeply and said quietly, “I wish I could still see the world like you do, Twilight.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked. Luna looked at her sister, before answering, “Sometimes ponies are just too corrupted to be healed.”
Twilight frowned and snorted, “I refuse to believe that!”
“And that is why you are a great ruler,” Celestia said, ending their small conversation. She softly touched Twilights side with the tip of her wing. Twilight blushed and muttered something that sounded like thank you. Celestia smiled at her and then looked at Luna.
“I don’t know about you two, but I could use a long bubble bath and a big slice of cake.”
* * *
Sombra laid on his bed. He was weak, his limbs were heavy and his stomach hurt. It had taken quite some time before he had realised what the weird feeling was. Hunger. He realised that it was something he hadn’t felt in more than thousand years. Not since… He pushed the thought away and shook his head. He tried to focus on feeling sorry for himself. Of course he didn’t show that he was hungry in any way, no. There were guards on the other side of the bars of his cell. Suddenly his stomach rumbled. He cursed mentally. Luckily the guards outside hadn’t heard and Sombra moved his hoof slowly and as quietly as possible to hold his stomach. The pain was something new, and it was there constantly. He felt like agreeing into Celestia’s terms just for a meal, but then his mind got clearer. He would rather die than dance under her command… But he was hungry. Sombra looked out again. He could ask the guard to bring him something to eat. The idea quickly washed away. Of course Sombra would not do that. He would not beg some dirty peasant to bring him a stalled piece of loaf. It wasn’t worth it. His stomach rumbled again, making him wince. More than anything, it was embarrassing. Sombra felt like shouting. How did he get himself into this situation?
As if on cue, he heard the door opening again. He perked up and looked towards the way where the visitor would be entering his vision. It was just the pony he wanted to see. Twilight Sparkle. What she had with her made Sombra’s eyes go wide and he could feel his mouth starting to water. Twilight was carrying a cup filled with something steaming, probably some kind of a soup, and a slice of bread. He was ready to rush to the door but the urge to keep his calmness managed to kill the thought.
“Hello,” Twilight greeted from the door. Sombra looked at her with his head resting on his folded forelegs, not saying a word. Twilight nervously looked at the ceiling, before signaling a guard to open the door. The guard did so and Twilight stepped into the cell, levitating the cup of soup and the slice of bread next to Sombra. When the smell of the hot soup reached his nostrils, Sombra almost couldn’t restrain himself from just gobbling it all up. Luckily he could, and he took only a small sip from the cup. It was almost like a piece of heaven. Sombra felt the warmth of the soup travelling down to his stomach. He just had to take another sip, before turning towards Twilight. There was a small silence between them, before Twilight decided that it was time to speak.
“So have you made up your mind yet? Have you made your decision?” she asked and carefully watched where she would sit in the floor.
Sombra stared at her for a second, before taking a small sip of soup and answering, “I don’t even know what the proposition is. All I was told is that I will get a second chance.”
A small confusion spread onto Twilight’s face. She frowned and asked, “They didn’t tell you?”
Sombra didn’t answer. He was too busy soaking his slice of bread into the soup and greedily eating it.
“Uhh… So basically,” Twilight started, waiting to get Sombra’s attention. “You are given a chance to be reformed!”
“Reformed?” Sombra almost growled.
Twilight gulped and started to explain, “Yes. You will be taught about the meaning of friendship and then we will find you a place in society.”
“And how exactly will it happen, Twilight Sparkle?” Sombra asked while scooping the rest of his soup with the last piece of bread. Twilight didn’t like how Sombra said her name. The way he said it sounded like he was mocking her.
Twilight didn’t let that bother her too much and she answered, “I will be your teacher and custodian while you are under reforming, so let me handle that.”
It was all Sombra wanted to hear. His plan was proceeding with him doing nothing. Almost too easy... Sombra looked at Twilight, and saw that she was rather tensed. She kept glancing towards everything but him. It was good time for Sombra to check her out. What he saw was just a normal mare with deep purple, striped mane and tail, long eyelashes around violet eyes and well kept coat. Nothing too spectacular.
“Why weren’t you there when the princesses summoned me, Twilight Sparkle?” he suddenly asked, making Twilight wince. She didn’t like how Sombra said her name. The way he said it sounded like it was a m looked at him with surprised look and open mouth.
“Princesses summoned you?” she asked. That made Sombra chuckle. Just like he had predicted. The new princess wasn’t told all the details.
“Like I thought…” he said slowly. “They aren’t telling you everything.”
That made Twilight silent. She stared at the floor and rubbed her front hooves together. Sombra kept talking, "Is it hard to be the youngest?”
Twilight was still silent. She suddenly remembered what Sombra had said when they first time visited him in that cell. Something about Shining Armor's well being? She lifted her gaze back towards Sombra and said quietly, "You know, Shining Armor is my brother."
"Ah..." Sombra said and eyed at the young princess. "I have to say that he fought bravely..."
"Is he alright?" Twilight asked and looked sadly at him. Sombra would have wanted to tell her about all those nightmares he had given to her brother, but decided that it was probably not a good idea.
"Yes. He will recover," Sombra said and Twilight started to stare at the floor again. The conversation didn't go as Sombra hoped, so he changed the subject, “Why did you protect me, Twilight Sparkle?”
That made Twilight look up at him. She didn’t seem so nervous when she said, “I don’t like the idea of killing… And I believe that everypony should have second chance.”
Sombra saw something Twilight Sparkle’s eyes. She clearly believed in what she had just said.
“Even a pony like me?” Sombra asked with sarcastic voice. “The tyrant of Crystal Empire? The ‘slave’ king?”
Twilight stared him in the eyes, before nodding and calmly saying, “Yes.”
Sombra broke his stare from her and looked at the bars. He had planned on accepting the offer from the beginning, as part of his plan, but now he had some kind of a crazy thought about actually accepting it. It was something about that mare... It washed off quickly though, but he still knew he had to accept the offer.
“I accept your offer, Twilight Sparkle.”
“You do?” Twilight asked with surprise clearly visible on her face and her wings twitching a little.
Sombra slowly nodded, before saying, “I might regret it later, so go now.”
Twilight’s jaw was hanging and for a moment she couldn’t do nothing. Sombra became irritated by her staring at him like that, so he pushed the cup to the floor, snapping Twilight out of her trance.
“Oh… heh… I’m happy to hear that,” she said and took the cup into her magical grasp. She then rose up to all fours and walked to the door. The guard quickly opened the door and again locked it after Twilight had gone through. From the other side of the bars she looked at Sombra and said, “I will get you transported to my castle in couple of days at max.”
Sombra nodded. Then Twilight did something strange. She smiled at Sombra before leaving the room. Something nopony had done to him ever since he conquered Crystal Empire. It stirred something inside of him but he pushed it angrily away, cursing how his mind was starting to play against him after his powers were gone. He noticed his chest burning a bit more painfully than before. Sombra lifted his hoof and rubbed his chest.
“Oh what did I get myself into…” he groaned silently and rested his head onto his folded forelegs again.
The train rocked gently as it made it’s way towards Ponyville through the hilly landscape. The sun shone brightly, making the temperature in the train car slightly uncomfortable. Especially when the train car was stuffed with guards. Hoofcuffed Sombra was sitting between two guards on a bench opposite from Twilight Sparkle. Besides her sat that cyan pegasus called Rainbow Dash. The rest of her friends sat on the other side of the aisle, trying to be as silent as possible. Sombra liked the deep silence, he hated it when puny ponies like them tried to converse with him. It was like talking to small foals. He shifted on his place a little, making the two guards immediately tense up. He could smell the fear on them. They practially reeked of it. A small wry grin appeared on his lips and he suddenly turned his head towards the guard on his right in a quick motion, almost making him drop down from the bench. Sombra chuckled amusedly and continued to stare in front of him.
His gaze caught the cyan pegasus staring right at him. Sombra returned the stare, but unlike others, she did not look the other way. She was tough and didn’t smell of fear like everypony else in the crowded train car. She was stupid enough to not be scared by him. Her cerise eyes kept staring at him, like she was daring him to look away. He did not do that. Instead Sombra slowly started to smile, revealing his fangs. He saw the mare’s ears fold a bit backwards, before she looked another way. That made Sombra chuckle victoriously.
“Okay, that’s it!” Twilight suddenly exclaimed quite angrily. Sombra gave her a deadpan look. Twilight was looking annoyed when she continued, “You stop scaring my friends right now!”
“I wasn’t scared!” Rainbow protested but winced when Sombra turned to look at her again. Twilight didn’t mind her friend and continued, “If we want to get along, we need to have some rules!”
Sombra snorted when she said that, making Twilight glare at him annoyedly. She then sighed and continued, “When we reach Ponyville, You will act nicely towards the townsfolk. You will not go scaring them in anyway. Am I clear?”
“Ponyville?” Sombra asked confusedly. “I thought that ‘princess’ like you would be living in someplace a bit more… Appropriate for a mare of your rank… And not in some backwater town like Ponyville.”
“Backwater!?” Rarity exclaimed from her place in shock. “Why Ponyville most certainly is not a…”
She was silenced with a single look from Sombra. That made Applejack grunt angrily and she rose up from her place and stomped in front of Sombra.
“Ah know Twilight here wants us to get along n’ all… But if I hear another bad word about my hometown from you, I’ll kick yer flank so hard that your mother will feel it,” she hissed, her accent growing strong as she spoke.
Sombra narrowed his eyes and said slowly, “I’d like to see you try... hillbilly.”
Applejacks eyes went wide and she was about to give him an flank whooping of a lifetime, but suddenly she was hauled back to her place by purple magic. Sombra turned towards Twilight and was about to say something, but couldn’t open his mouth. It was sealed shut with magic.
“I you don’t have anything nice to say, you can keep your mouth shut!” she snapped at Sombra, her horn still glowing. Sombra just rolled his eyes and started to stare in front of him again. He could feel the hate in the train car. He liked the feeling. The next thirty minutes went in complete silence. Only the clanking sound of train’s wheels was heard. Everypony just tried to calm down from the small incident earlier. Sombra could tell that it wasn’t working. Occasionally everypony glanced at him angrily. It made a little proud smile appear on his lips. It fuelled everypony’s hate toward him, a feeling he savored.
“Next up Ponyville!” he suddenly heard conductor announcing from behind him. He twisted his neck to see towards the way they were going and what he saw made his eyes wide, and if his jaw weren’t magically shut, it would have dropped to the floor. In the middle of the normal looking town stood a large tree like building with castle on top of it… Made completely out of crystal. Sun’s light reflected from it’s surface and hit his eyes, but he couldn’t take his eyes off from it. The crystal called him. The castle got bigger as they got closer. He could see the flag waving at him in a slight breeze. It had a symbol resembling Twilight Sparkle’s cutie mark stitched into it. The roof was made of gold, and over the tallest tower levitated a big crystal, shining almost as brightly as the sun itself. Sombra had to look away from it, so he wouldn’t become blind. His gaze soon went back to the castle though. It was just so… magnificent. The train slowly glided to the train station, where a bunch of guards were waiting for them. Sombra was still so baffled about Twilight’s castle that he didn’t even notice the train stopping. Others noticed his awed expression, and as they started to went towards the exits, Applejack could contain herself from whispering into his ear, “Quite a backwater, eh?”
That made Sombra snap away from his trance. He folded his ears to the back of his head and growled at her, but it only made Applejack tilt her stetson to the back of her head and laugh.
“Okay Sombra,” Twilight said as she stood up from her bench. “I think you are pretty excited the see the castle, aren’t you?” Sombra was silent, but rose up quickly. Twilight snickered and started to lead the way. Sombra followed her clumsily, his front hooves still cuffed.
* * *
The insides of Twilight Sparkle’ castle was as impressive as the exterior of it. The throne room where they stood was amazing. There were seven thrones made of crystal in a circle. Six of them had symbols in them. Sombra realised that they were the cutie marks of Twilight and her six annoying friends. The last throne was right next to Twilight Sparkle’s, and it didn’t have any symbols in it. Sombra didn’t pay any attention to it, and continued to examine the room. The walls were deep blue, and big crystal windows filtered the sun’s light into every color of rainbow. There were four big pillars of crystal shaped as the branches of a tree, climbing towards the round ceiling, connecting in the middle of it. Confusion spread on Sombra’s face when he saw a throne on the ceiling. He gave Twilight a questioning look and she started to snicker.
“Oh that is Discord’s throne. He didn’t like the idea of it being on the ground. He said that it was dull,” Twilight explained while covering her mouth with her hoof as she giggled.
Sombra turned back to marvel at the design of her castle. He kept looking at the room for couple of minutes longer, before turning towards Twilight and saying, “When are we going to start?”
Twilight blinked couple of times, before understanding what he meant. She then smiled and said, “We can start right away if you want!”
“Agreed,” was all that Sombra said, before following Twilight deeper into the castle. Twilight motioned to the guards who were standing near the entrance, so they would stand guard there. Both of them saluted and turned towards the door.
When they started to climb up towards the upper floors of her castle, Twilight asked, “What do you think?”
“About what?” Sombra asked calmly.
“About the castle,” Twilight said and looked at him over her shoulder. Sombra was astonished by her castle, but he wouldn’t give that to her.
Instead he just shrugged and said, “It could use more stairs.”
That made Twilight snort and frown annoyedly. Sombra chuckled quietly.
They soon reached the living quarters. There was a big, round living room with two long sofas and couple of armchairs around a long pinewood table. Long bookshelves covered almost the entire wall of the room. The floor there was covered with fitted carpet to make it more comfortable to walk on. There was couple of pictures and paintings on the deep blue walls on the spots that weren’t covered in books. On the opposite wall from the sofas and armchairs was a big fireplace with two big bean bags in front of it. Sombra looked up and saw a big chandelier hanging from the middle of the round ceiling. The windows around the chandelier were made of crystal glass, and they had big stained glass picture of her friends and their adventures. All the friendship in the room made him shudder in disgust. He saw a doorway leading to another room, that he recognized as a kitchen. There was a staircase leading into another floor.
“This is the living room,” Twilight told him. “That there is a kitchen and on the second floor is my bed chambers and the guest room where you will be staying. If you like to read, you are free to borrow any book from the shelves.”
Sombra walked around the bookshelves. He noticed that all the books were just fiction and romance novels, cookbooks and other useless literature like that. The whole shelf that was named ‘The theory of magic’ was empty, just like the shells like ‘Magical artifacts of Equestria’ and ‘The history of Equestria’. Sombra looked at Twilight with raised eyebrow. Twilight chuckled nervously and said, “All those books are moved to my own personal study.”
She pointed to the direction, and Sombra saw a doorway to the study. He walked towards it, only to bang against an invisible wall. He held his muzzle and cursed loudly, causing Twilight to grimace. Sombra rubbed his sore muzzle and glared angrily towards Twilight.
“Heh…” Twilight mumbled and rubbed her front legs together nervously, “Princess Celestia asked me to lock all those books away from you.”
Sombra rolled his eyes and stared towards the study. He somehow felt that there he would find whatever the thing he was looking for was. Something that would help him to gain access to powers beyond his wildest dreams, but first he would just need to get there, so now he just had to follow his plan and play along.
“So…” he started and walked to one of the long sofas around the table. He laid onto the sofa. He let out a small groan of comfort. The sofa was much much more comfortable than the stone bed in his cell. He made himself feel comfortable, before saying, “I am ready to begin my first lesson.”
That made Twilight giggle. Sombra looked at her with one raised eyebrow. Twilight stopped giggling, and said with a smile, “Oh no. First we need to make a complete study program!”
“Study program?” Sombra asked confusedly. Twilight hopped to the armchair that was next to the sofa and her horn started to glow. Soon Sombra saw a big pile of papers, quills, couple of inkwells and many long parchments flying from her study in purple magic aura. They fell to the table with loud bang that made both of them jump couple of inches into air.
“Now we start planning!” Twilight announced, her wings flaring open and her eyes full of excitement.
* * *
Sombra had done more checklists, planning sheets, diagrams and double-checklists than he had done in his whole long life. Every time he closed his eyes he saw checklists. Every time he opened his eyes… he saw checklists. Twilight was beaming as she wrote more and more things for him to learn into a parchment that was longer than the pinewood table. Sombra’s head drooped now and then, his eyelids feeling heavy. It was hard to stay focused into the job at hoof. He wasn’t sure how long time ago he had stopped actually listening what Twilight was telling him. He just kept grunting his answers. Trying to stay awake was his top priority at the moment.
“And then when that is done, we can start double-checking the list one…” Twilight said and glanced at Sombra, noticing how his eyes were closed and his head rested on the back of the sofa.
“Are you tired?” she asked with a teasing smile, making Sombra wince out of his rest. He shook his head to clear it and forced his eyes open.
“No.”
“Are you sure? You look pretty sleepy,” Twilight snickered. Sombra shook his head, but then he yawned loudly, cursing out loud right after. Twilight snickered and put down the quill she had in her magical grasp.
“Maybe we can call it a day for now,” she said and looked at a clock that hung over the doorway to kitchen. The clock was five past eleven. She hadn’t even noticed how fast the time had passed. She smiled and turned back towards Sombra, who was again leaning his head against the back of the sofa. She cleared her throat and Sombra jerked awake. He grunted and rubbed his eyes with his fetlock. He looked at Twilight with and she saw how he struggled to keep his eyes open.
“I am tired…” Sombra admitted with defeated voice. Twilight chuckled and said, “Well maybe you should go to bed the?”
“It’s strange…” Sombra continued, half asleep.
Twilight gave him a puzzled look and asked, “What’s strange?”
“I haven’t been tired in more than thousand years…” Sombra told her and yawned again. “But after I lost my powers I have started to feel hunger and tiredness again…”
Hearing that made Twilight ponder on something. She tapped her hoof against her chin and examined the sleepy stallion in front of her. She then leaned forward on the armchair and asked quietly, “Sombra, why did you lose your powers?”
“I don’t know,” he lied. Even he was sleepy, he would not fail to keep his thoughts on his mission. It was important part of his plan to make Twilight think that he was as unknowing about the loss of his powers as Twilight.
“Maybe it was that wretched ‘magic of friendship’ of yours,” he said, imitating Twilight’s voice poorly.
She frowned and said, “Somepony’s getting grumpy.”
Sombra grunted and rose to all fours. He staggered a bit when he stood straight. Then he gave Twilight a annoyed look and asked, “Where are my personal quarters?”
“Personal quarters…” Twilight giggled. “Here we call it ‘guest room’.”
Sombra didn’t bother to say anything. Instead he stretched his neck, making it crack awfully. Twilight grimaced and she too rose up. She stretched her wings and could feel tiredness in her too. She flapped her wings couple of times before saying, “Your room is upstairs, just follow me.”
Sombra did as he was told and followed Twilight into the second floor. There was a long corridor with many doors. Twilight walked in front of him, counting the rooms as she went. She stopped at the seventh door on the right and opened the door.
"These are your ‘personal quarters’,” she said with teasing tone. Sombra didn’t answer but bluntly walked past her into the dim room. There was a big, comfortable looking bed and nightstand besides it. Window was large, it too made from a crystal glass. There were thick curtains on both sides of it. On the ceiling was a lamp made from crystal.
“I’ll leave you be now,” Twilight announced from the door. Sombra didn’t answer. Twilight then said a bit more loudly, “Good night.”
Sombra didn’t answer. He could hear Twilight grunting in the doorway, before closing the door.
The room got a lot more darker, and Sombra felt his mind getting fuzzy from the tiredness. One thing kept spinning in his mind though. How could Twilight Sparkle be so hospitable towards him? If he were in her place, Twilight Sparkle would be rotting in a dungeon right now. That mare kept surprising him with the way she thought. Was she really thinking that he could be reformed with ‘the magic of friendship’? He didn’t complain though. He got a comfortable looking bed and food to eat… And soon he would get something much better... Sombra yawned again and slowly made his way to the bed. He poked it with his hoof. It was soft. So, so soft. It made a shutter crawl up his spine. He quickly pulled back the blanket and slipped under it, letting a satisfied sigh escape his lips. The bed was soft and it caressed his body. He immediately felt his eyelids closing on their own. He hoped to get a good night’s sleep... But somehow he knew that he wouldn’t.
Sombra woke up from his slumber with a gasp. He looked around the room but could not see anything out of ordinary there. Everything was on their places and the window was closed. But he could feel them there. The temperature had dropped in the dark room, and Sombra’s breath could be seen. He calmed down a little, knowing what was happening, not taking too much stress about it. He felt cold waves on his skin and his horn started to resonate with something. There was nothing to be seen, but soon Sombra heard it.
“Have you been missing us?” a voice with no source asked.
Sombra smiled and said in low voice, “You can’t believe how much. I hate being helpless.”
“Shh… there are guards by the door,” another, slightly different voice said matter of factly. Sombra nodded.
Then yet another voice spoke, “Have you made any progress?”
“Not yet, but I know where we will find what we are looking for,” Sombra whispered. The voices mumbled something, probably to each other before one of them spoke again.
“And what is that we are looking for?”
“I don’t know yet, but I know that we will find it in the study room of Twilight Sparkle,” Sombra whispered, noticing how the voiced mumbled something again.
Then he felt a cold wave against his cheek and the voices spoke in unison, “Get in there then… Time is short…”
“I know that,” Sombra growled. “But we must not act too hastily… That mare is clever…”
“Get rid of her…” the voices spoke in unison again.
Sombra shook his head. He rolled over to his back and whispered, “Not yet. It might be too early. If we can’t find what ever we are looking for, we might be too weak to face the princesses again.”
There was silence in the room for a while. Then one of the voices spoke, “You might be right…”
“But don’t wait too long!” other voice said. “We need a master… we will vanish without you…”
“...And you will vanish without us,” they said in unison, making a deep frown appear onto his face. He knew it. It had been part of the deal… Sombra quickly shook the thought away and started to smile wryly.
He then said, “Don’t worry… It won’t take long before I find whatever it is we need and then Equestria will be mine.”
The voices mumbled their agreements, before Sombra felt their presence fading away. One of the curtains moved a little, and then there was deep silence again. Sombra’s smile faded away. The voices were right. He didn’t have too much time. He rolled back to his side, thinking how to win the trust of the new princess. It would be hard task, but he still believed in young Twilight’s naivety, and that she was easily manipulated. He chuckled at the thought. By the time he was finished with his mission, Twilight Sparkle would hope that she had let the guard do his job in the first place. Sombra sighed and closed his eyes, falling back into restless sleep.
Sombra woke up. The sun’s light peered through the window, tickling his nose. It annoyed him so he turned his back towards the window, grunting and pulling the covers over his head. He laid there for a while, before his stomach grumbled. Sombra groaned. He didn’t like how his body was acting up without his powers. Oh, how much easier it was while being in power. He never felt hungry, didn’t need rest or even wanted it. Now it was different. He was reminded about his weakness with every grumble of his stomach and every yawn. He hated it so much. His stomach grumbled again, and he had to force himself out of the bed. He hadn’t noticed the door next to his bed last night. He stared at it and yawned before standing up and opening the door. He found out that it was a bathroom. What a pleasant surprise. There was a shower and nice clean toilet. He still got shivers while thinking about the toilet in his cell. Then there was also a sink and mirror. On the edge of the sink was a hairbrush, comb and a glass where was an unused toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste. Sombra eyed the shower for a moment, before turning towards the mirror. When he saw his reflection, he grimaced. He had a bad case of bedmane and his fur was tangled. Sombra growled. He was King. He should not show himself around those peasants with him looking like that. With that he decided to take a shower.
The warm water felt nice after being locked into a small, filthy cell for couple of days. He scrubbed his mane until it squeaked under his touch. He stepped out of the shower and very un-royally shook himself dry, sending drops of water flying all over the place. After that he brushed his coat, which proved to be lot harder without his magic. He cursed out loud and thought how earth ponies could live with themselves. After about half an hour of struggling he was ready to brush his thick, black mane. It wasn’t as hard, and he did finishing touches with the comb. He was satisfied to the results, and quickly brushed his fangs. After he was done, he flashed a toothy grin towards the mirror, and his fangs literally shined. Sombra stared at the mirror for a moment, before giving himself a half lidded, handsome smile, thinking how doable he looked. He chuckled after that and left the bathroom. He briskly walked to the door of his room and opened it, and his good mood died immediately. He was greeted by two hooves pressed against his chest.
“Where are you going?” asked an orange pegasus in his flashy armour and poked Sombra in the chest again.
The other one immediately continued, “Answer him!”
Sombra inhaled deeply and stared at the guards. Both of them slowly lowered their hooves from his chest and backed away. Then Sombra said, very slowly, like speaking to a foal, “I’d like to go and have breakfast.”
The guards were quiet, but gestured him to follow. He did so, walking in between them. They trotted down to the living room, where the big stained glass windows greeted him, like teasing him. He shot an irritated glance towards them as he walked towards the kitchen. He could smell a salty aroma that made his mouth water and his stomach to grumble. It got stronger as he got closer to the doorway, thinking to see Twilight Sparkle making breakfast. He thought wrong.
He froze on his place and his eyes grew wide when saw the cook. It was a purple dragon, who Sombra recognized in mere seconds. The dragon had grown a lot since the last time they had met. He stood on two legs and was about the size of a normal pony. Even though he looked different, Sombra could easily remember the damned dragon who ruined his plans more than seven years ago. He was happily humming while frying something on a pan, stretching his leathery wings from time to time.
“Good m…” Spike started and turned towards him, only to freeze in panic with a spatula still in his hand. He and Sombra both stared at each other for a long moment, Sombra’s right eye twitching a little. Spike blinked couple of times, before speaking with shaky voice, “K-King Sombra?”
With that Sombra roared his war cry and dashed towards Spike with his head held down and his horn pointed at the poor dragon. Spike screamed and dropped the spatula, lifting his hands in front of himself for cover. Sombra galloped towards him, determined to impale that damn lizard against the kitchen wall. Sombra didn’t get too close to him though, before both guards jumped over him, pinning him to the floor. He roared and tried to struggle free. Even though he was a big stallion, almost a head taller than the guards, he couldn’t get away from the iron grip of the guards. He kept squirming for a while, his eyes fixated to the scared dragon who was cowering behind a chair.
“What in heavens is going on in here!?” they heard Twilight Sparkle asking from the doorway. They all turned to look at her. She clearly had been woken up by the ruckus in the kitchen. Her mane was tangled and her feathers pointed in all directions. She looked at the scene in front of her with confused look on her face. She first looked at Sombra being held down by the two guards, before looking at Spike, who was still cowering behind the chair. She glanced between those two for a moment before everything became clear to her. An angry frown appeared on her face and she stomped next to Sombra and knelt down in front of him. She pushed herself close to Sombra’s face, showing her teeth as she spoke with unusual coldness in her voice, “If you ever hurt Spike, I will end you in a blink of an eye. Is that clear?”
Sombra was taken back by her sudden anger. He decided to play tough and stared angrily back at her, growling a little. Twilight didn’t take something like that from him in that matter and stomped her hoof right next to Sombra’s face, before asking again, with louder voice, “Is that clear!?”
Sombra was almost terrified by her now. He returned the stern stare Twilight was giving her, but after couple of seconds he looked away from her violet eyes and muttered just barely audibly, “Yes.”
“Good,” Twilight said and nodded to the guards, who hesitated a moment before letting Sombra go. He rubbed his neck while muttering curses to the guard, the princess and especially to the dragon that was standing in the corner of the kitchen, holding his chest. Twilight walked to the kitchen table and sat down. Spike quickly gave her a plate with daisy sandwich on it, keeping his green eyes on Sombra, just in case.
“Can we act like civilized ponies now?” she asked from Sombra, before taking a bite of her sandwich. Sombra was still sitting on the floor, but rose up and walked to the table, quietly sitting down. Twilight levitated a plate of hayfries in front of him. Sombra wrinkled his nose. They served him peasant food? He would never... A lovely greasy aroma reached Sombra’s nose. Somehow the simple dish started to seem a lot more tempting. He started to eat his hayfries while sulking at Twilight. She just chuckled at his childish behaviour and said, “You’re acting like a little foal who’s being scolded.”
Sombra kept silent, and soon Spike leaned close to Twilight whispering into her ear, “You didn’t thought about telling me that King Sombra was here?”
“It kinda slipped my mind,” Twilight said with a sheepish smile.
Spike rolled his eyes and then whispered again, “He almost killed me!”
“Noo…” Twilight dragged the word. “He wouldn’t do that… Right Sombra?”
Sombra was silent, eating his hay fries slowly, his red eyes fixated to his plate.
It was at that moment when Twilight noticed his appearance. He had brushed his coat and mane. It wasn’t tangly and messy like when she first time saw him in the cell under Canterlot. For a moment she felt a bit embarrassed sitting in the same table with him, with her messy mane and unkempt wings. She could almost hear Rarity scolding at her. Twilight blushed faintly and rose up from the table.
“I… uhh. I’m going to go and freshen up a bit…” she muttered and started to quickly walk towards the doorway where the guards were standing.
Spike nervously glanced at Sombra, and then called at Twilight, “You’re going to leave me with him?”
“Oh Spike. He’s not going to do anything stupid,” Twilight chirped, but stopped next to the orange-coated guard and whispered into his ear, “Keep an eye on him.”
“Understood,” The guard said and saluted.
Twilight rolled her eyes at him and started to trot upstairs, leaving sulking Sombra and scared Spike alone with the guards. Spike trembled a bit as he carefully sat down to the other side of the table. He watched Sombra eating slowly, catching glimpses of his fangs. He gulped loudly before asking with shaky voice, “So uh… no bad feelings about the… uh… crystal heart thing?”
Sombra was quiet. Spike glanced at the clock on the wall, and when he returned his gaze towards Sombra, his heart jumped to his throat. Sombra’s face was just inches away from his own, making Spike yell and fall backwards with the chair. He landed to the floor with a loud thud, and started to quickly back away on the floor. Sombra just chuckled coldly with a deadpan look on his face. He leaned back to his chair and said in his low, cold voice, “We are going to have fun someday lizard.”
* * *
Later that day Sombra was standing in the middle of the throne room of Twilight Sparkle’s castle. This time he wasn’t admiring the design of the place, because he was under the scrutiny of six pairs of judging eyes. He stood in middle of the elements of harmony, emotionless look on his face. The six mares each were looking at her, and glancing at each other occasionally. Sombra now knew that the seventh throne was made for that puny dragon, Spike. For some reason he wasn’t there with them.
“So, Sombra,” Twilight finally spoke, earning his attention. “These are the elements of harmony.”
Sombra gave a quick look around himself. Quite a colorful bunch she had there. He then turned back towards Twilight, waiting for more.
“They are going to teach you about the magic of friendship,” Twilight explained and clapped her hooves together as she spoke.
“There is the element of honesty, Applejack,” Twilight said and pointed at the mare in question. Applejack was sitting with her trademark stetson on the back of her head, glaring at Sombra angrily. He gave little attention to a hillbilly like her.
“Element of kindness, Fluttershy,” Twilight said, pointing to Fluttershy now. Sombra looked at her, and saw that this was a funny case. She hid herself behind her mane, clearly scared of him. Sombra liked the scent of her fear.
“Element of laughter, Pinkie Pie,” Twilight said and Sombra turned towards the next throne. He jumped a bit backwards when his vision was blocked by a poofy pink mess of a mane.
“That’s me!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed and shoved a lollipop into Sombra’s mouth. She then cartwheeled back to her place, leaving Sombra stare after her with shocked look on his face. Sombra soon got all sorted out in his head and spat the lollipop to the floor, and turned towards the next throne.
“Element of generosity, Rarity,” he heard Twilight announce and looked at the classy looking mare in front of him. She sat with her rear legs crossed in elegant way. She looked at Sombra with some kind of an sparkling in her eyes. Sombra didn’t like it.
“And the element of loyalty, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said as Sombra turned towards Rainbow Dash. She had her front hooves crossed over her chest and her ears twitched as she stared at him. Sombra narrowed his eyes for a moment, before turning back towards Twilight.
He stared at Twilight Sparkle for a moment before the corner of his mouth started to twitch. First he just chuckled faintly, but then it became a full laugh that echoed in the throne room. Everypony looked at him with confusion beaming on their faces. When Sombra started to get his laughing under control, he started to speak between chuckles, “I know that this was going to be rather interesting, but…”
Sombra laughed loudly again, before he continued, pointing at Applejack, “But a hillb…”
“Hrhm..”
“...A farmer!” he quickly corrected, still laughing. Then he moved his hoof towards Fluttershy. “A full grown mare who is afraid of her own shadow!”
Fluttershy let out a small ‘eep’, only fuelling his amusement. Now it was Pinkie Pie’s turn. She seemed happy as always. Sombra still chuckled and said, “A village idiot…”
“That’s me alright!” Pinkie chirped in return.
Sombra kept snickering and looked at Rarity. She already had a hurt look on her face, but Sombra still kept going, “A diva…”
Rarity gasped and her lower lip started to tremble. Then Sombra turned towards Rainbow Dash and grinned.
“And a wannabe stunt flyer.”
“That’s it!” Rainbow Dash shouted “You can call me anything you want, but you do not make my friends sad!”
“Bring it on you little…” Sombra started and took a fighting stance, but felt how his mouth was once again sewn shut by magic. Also his were legs being tied together with invisible rope. Sombra tried to balance himself for a second, but fell over to his side with a loud thud. He hurt his side when all his weight came onto it, but did not even wince.
“I’m getting real tired with you Sombra!” Twilight shouted, clearly angry. She jumped down from her throne and walked over to him. Her horn glowed and Sombra was lifted up from his legs, so that he was facing Twilight Sparkle while hanging upside down.
“I know you are still sulking from the thing that happened in the morning, but that doesn’t give you a right to mock my friends!”
Sombra was staring at her with narrowed eyes. Twilight returned the glare, but soon she sighed and looked at her friends.
“I’m sorry girls. I guess this is it for today. I’ll be contacting you when I need you, okay?” she said and gave them a sad smile. Her friends murmured their agreements, before trotting towards the main doors. Rainbow Dash flew past Sombra, giving him a spin before leaving. He spun around violently, getting really nauseous. Twilight didn’t do anything to stop him from spinning, and started to drag a pale faced Sombra towards the living room.
* * *
Sombra was still tied up hours after the incident with the elements. He was laying in one of the armchairs, head hanging from the edge of it. He was staring towards the kitchen where he knew Twilight was. His legs were numb and all the blood rushed to his head, making him feel light-headed. Yet, he had not begged for mercy, and so none had been given. He heard Twilight coming from heard kitchen, and soon she trotted towards her study, not giving any attention to him. Sombra soon heard Twilight coming back towards him, and saw her laying down to the sofa in front of him. They stared at each other for a moment, before Twilight said matter-of-factly, “Before I say anything else, I ask you; will you behave?”
Sombra knew that if he didn’t, he would probably need to spent the rest of the night right where he was, so he nodded calmly. Twilight’s horn came to life and suddenly Sombra’s legs were free and his mouth could be opened again. He flopped to the armchair, his head still upside down. He quickly turned around and sat more comfortably to the chair.
“I am still a bit upset about today’s incident,” Twilight said, but then added, “But I know it is hard trying to get used to this all. You must be feeling completely helpless without your magic.”
Sombra had to agree with her, and he nodded slowly. Twilight smiled sadly at her, and said, “I promise it gets easier after while. And besides, you will get your magic back in time.”
He would have wanted to tell her how right she was, but kept his mouth shut. Twilight levitated a parchment to the table in front of her, and soon a quill followed. Sombra looked at the parchment with interest, and Twilight saw that. She levitated it closer to herself and explained, “Celestia asked me to collect some information about you. You know, I ask a couple of questions and you answer. Is that okay with you?”
Sombra nodded. He had nothing against it. That made Twilight smile again. Sombra was starting to grow used to the smile she always wore. It was a quite nice sight actually.
“So first question,” Twilight said. “Why did you lose your powers?”
“I told you, I don’t know,” Sombra answered. Twilight wrote a line or two in the parchment and nodded.
She then asked the second question, “Do you think that elements had something to do with it?”
“It could be so,” he said in his low voice.
Twilight looked up from the parchment and asked, “What do you mean ‘it could be so’?”
“It happened right after you…” he started but was quiet for couple of seconds, before continuing, “...defeated me.”
“I see…” Twilight said and wrote something down to the parchment. She then looked up again and asked, “Now I can see that we don’t have any clear info about the incident at The Crystal Empire.”
“Agreed.”
“So I’m going to jump over these couple of questions that are related to it,” Twilight said and found the right spot. “Here we are. These questions are about your past. Are you okay with it?”
“Yes,” was Sombra’s answer.
Twilight nodded and started asking, “Where did you learn dark magic? This is pretty important one.”
Sombra thought for a moment. Should he even answer that? Twilight meanwhile waited, looking at Sombra with those violet eyes of her’s. Sombra sighed and told, “I stole lot of books from the royal library when I was young.”
Sombra nodded and said, “From the royal library of the The Crystal Empire.”
“Oh…” Twilight said and wrote something down again.
She then asked the next question, “How would you describe the dark magic? How does it affect it’s user and what are it’s advantages and disadvantages?”
That question made warning bells ring in Sombra’s head. He examined the purple mare in front of him, and saw that she was nervous looking. He narrowed his eyes and said slowly, “I don’t know… But I know that Celestia knows enough about dark magic that she wouldn’t need my answers to clarify it.”
“I… uh… I don’t know… That’s what it says here!” she protested, poking at the parchment. Sombra examined her nervous look, folded ears and twitching wings.
He started to scratch his chin with his hoof and asked, “Could I see the list?”
“No!” Twilight exclaimed, before she chuckled nervously and started to ramble, “I mean… It’s classified. It’s for my eyes only, and your eyes aren’t my eyes so you can’t look at it and…”
She was interrupted by Sombra starting to laugh a little. She folded her ears against the back of her head when Sombra gave the most amused look to her.
“You made those questions up,” Sombra stated and laughed a bit more.
Twilight flushed scarlet red and said, “No I didn’t!”
“So they aren’t telling you?” Sombra asked while giving her a knowing look. “They won’t tell the scary stories to the youngest one… You are their little precious princess…”
“Stop that!” Twilight said sadly. Sombra noticed that he had it the spot, so why stop there?
He grinned and leaned closer, saying, “It must be hard to be the young little Twilight Sparkle. The foal among the princesses.”
“Stop that now! It’s not true!” Twilight said angrily, and Sombra could see her eyes getting wet.
His grin grew wider and he continued, “They don’t let you do what you please… They are holding you down Twilight Sparkle! They won’t let you rule on your own! Remember how they didn’t care about your opinion when I was about to be executed? They would have done it, even you tried to protest.”
“They did care about my opinion! You would be dead if they didn’t! Besides, we are equal as princesses,” Twilight said and looked away, trying to spot the guards.
“Are you?” Sombra asked. “Then why didn’t the other princesses tell you about their plans about bringing me back? What if there is other things that they haven’t told you about? How many secrets do they share with each other… and how many do they share with you?”
“Guards!” Twilight called, and soon the two guards ran into the room, immediately grabbing Sombra.
“You know how it felt to use dark magic, Twilight Sparkle?” Sombra hissed from the grasp of the guards. Twilight gave him a watery eyed glance, and Sombra continued to hiss, “I had the absolute power to do whatever I pleased, unlike you do, Twilight Sparkle.”
“Take him to his room and don’t let him go until the morning,” Twilight sobbed and started to gallop towards the stairs.
“You are a puppet Twilight Sparkle! Your job is only to look good!” Sombra laughed menacingly, before Twilight disappeared into the long corridor. Soon after they heard the door of her bed chambers close with a loud bang, and immediately Sombra felt a hoof connect his side with a force that blew the air out of his lungs.
Sombra fell to his knees and held his side, surprised by the sudden attack. He didn’t even manage to look up before another strike came onto his back and he fell forward, faceplanting to the floor.
“Never do that again!” he heard the other guard shout. He turned to look at him and saw that it was the orange-colored pegasus. He was showing his teeth to him, and his wings were flared open. Sombra rose up to all fours, only to to be struck by another hoof in the kneecap of his left rear leg. As Sombra fell to the floor, he noticed that the other guard didn’t seem to accept the doings of his fellow companion, but didn’t step between them.
“You might not care about the princess, but I do!” the orange-colored pegasus growled. Sombra didn’t sense any fear from him. He was defending her… That made Sombra realise the fact why he was being beaten. His mouth twisted into an amused smirk.
“You love her!” he laughed, but it hurt his side too much to continue. The pegasus backed away and looked away for a moment. That look on his face gave him away. Sombra chuckled a bit more and said, “It must be terrible to love somepony who you aren’t allowed to love… Am I right?”
That made the orange pegasus snort angrily and he lunged towards Sombra. Sombra wasn’t going to stand anything like that. He had fought his way up to the throne of The Crystal Empire, walking over the foes he had smitten with his blade. He wasn’t going to let some farmer’s son jump on him. In a swift move for a stallion of his size he dodged the lunge of the orange stallion, tripping him with his front leg. The stallion went stumbling over and landed on his face. The other guard let out a gasp and Sombra heard a blade slipping out of it’s scabbard. He swung around and a well-aimed kick of his front leg he hit the sword’s handle while most of the blade was still in it’s scabbard, breaking blade clean off, leaving only the handle in the guards mouth. He chuckled and thought that the Equestrian blades were not made for war, unlike the crystal blades his army had used. They stared at each other for a moment. The guard was terrified, Sombra could smell that. The orange pegasus behind him rose up, making Sombra to back up towards the staircase.
“If you foals are done playing games, I’d like to go to bed now,” he said calmly and watched the two guards glancing at each other. The orange coated one swore to himself before nodding. Sombra smiled wryly and said in his low bass voice, “You two can escort me like you promised to the princess!” The guards mumbled something to each other, before they started to walk towards the stairs.
“Chop chop!” Sombra hurried them with amused grin. The guards walked past him, towards the stairs and Sombra followed them. He hummed to himself, feeling rather proud of himself. They soon reached his room, and Sombra walked in. He turned towards the guards, leaning closer to the orange coated pegasus before saying, “You did good soldiers. I’ll be sure to tell princess Twilight how well you managed your duties…”
The guards were quiet. Sombra glanced between them, before he started to laugh and slammed the door shut in front of them. He walked to his bed and jumped onto it. He thought about how much he had achieved that day. He had broken Twilight Sparkle and a couple of her guards… All in a day’s work! Still he couldn’t help but to think that he just might have caused a major setback to his plans. He laid his head on the pillow. Now that he thought about it, maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea to make Twilight Sparkle snap like that. Sombra rolled to his side, staring out of the window. He remembered the way Twilight had looked at him in the eyes earlier. The image of her crying made Sombra squirm uncomfortably in his bed for some unknown reason. His chest felt a bit hot. Sombra scratched his chest, only to notice that it really was hot.
“What in Tartarus?” he mumbled to himself, the image of Twilight escaping from his thoughts as the pain in his chest grew. His chest burned for a moment longer, before it ceased to do so. He kept rubbing his chest, thinking if he had some kind of internal injuries from the battle couple of days ago. It made him a bit worried, but soon sleep caught him and he fell into a deep sleep.
Twilight Sparkle’s room was dark. All the windows were covered by curtains, except the one in front of Twilight Sparkle’s desk. Twilight herself was quivering under three quilts, her quiet sobbing only thing that could be heard in the room. She was rather upset with Sombra. She tried so hard to be as nice and hospitable towards him, and all he did was mock her friends, and then her. Twilight knew that she shouldn’t be so surprised by all that, but somehow she was. For a moment it had looked like Sombra was actually behaving quite nicely… Who was she trying to fool here? Sombra had only been under reformation for a couple of days . Surely he wouldn’t have changed his ways so quickly, so why was Twilight so sad about it? She sniffed under her blankets and dried her eyes on her pillow. She hugged it afterwards. Really, why was she so sad about it? Maybe in some way she thought that Sombra’s words had some truth behind them after all. Why hadn’t the princesses informed her about their plans for bringing Sombra back? It wasn’t like them to keep such things to themselves. After all, they were all equal with each other. Weren’t they?
“We are...” Twilight sobbed and buried her face into her pillow. She sniffed before lifting her face from the pillow. What if Sombra was actually right about what he was telling her? A deep depression filled her mind as the fear of being outcast brewing in her head. She quickly threw the blanket away and jumped to the floor. She quickly made her way to her desk in front of a window where she could see the whole of Ponyville. The sights weren’t the reason why she sat in front of her desk though. Her horn started to glow, illuminating the desk and giving her enough light to work in. She pulled a parchment and a quill from a drawer in the table, and started to write.
“Dear Princesses. I have been thinking, and I have grown really unsure about my status as a princess. Why wasn’t I informed about the plans for bringing Sombra back? Why? I believe you had your reasons, but could you at least tell me why I wasn’t there when my brother, sister-in-law and my fellow princesses were in danger? I know I am probably just overreacting and I might sound a bit like a foal when I say this, but I feel like I am not being equal with you. Is it because of my age? Or I am just being worried about nothing again… I don’t know. Please answer as soon as possible. This is driving me crazy.
Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight had calmed down a bit. She wasn’t crying anymore, and felt better after writing the letter. She looked at it for a moment, before snickering to herself. What was she even thinking when she wrote it? It wouldn’t be first time she had overreacted from nothing. Still, while she looked at the letter, she started to feel the uneasiness drifting back to her. She wondered if she should still send it. Maybe she would get some answer, and work everything out with the princesses. Twilight frowned. She would send the letter. She had a reason to do so. It wasn’t fair if the other princesses kept things like Sombra returning from her.
She thought for a moment longer, before wrapping the parchment into a roll and sealing it with hot wax and a royal seal. She then took the parchment and started to trot towards her room’s door. As silently as she could, she opened the door and peeked into the corridor. She saw the guards standing in front of Sombra’s room. She felt a bit angry as the day’s events flooded back into her mind. She pushed them away though, and quietly walked towards nearby room. There was ‘Spike’ written onto the door. She looked at the letter for a moment, before sighing and opening the door. She stepped in and was greeted by a smell of sulfur. She saw the teenage dragon slumping on his bed, all his pillows and blanket on the floor. He snored loudly, and every time he exhaled, a small green fire escaped from his mouth. The sight made Twilight smile, thinking how it was possible that he hasn’t burned down his bed yet. But now she had to wake him up.
“Spike,” she called and walked next to his bed. When she didn’t get Spike’s attention, she called a bit louder, “Spike!”
Spike murmured and grunted couple of times before muttering, “Five more minutes mom…”
Twilight frowned. She was about to shake him up, but got an idea as Spike continued to snore. She smirked and lifted the parchment over Spike’s snout with her magic. She bit her lower lip in anticipation, and as Spike exhaled again, the green fire caught the parchment, immediately vanishing it into the flames. Twilight smiled happily, only for her expression to drop quickly after. She had actually sent the letter to the princesses. A slight panic started to seize her again. What would the other princesses think about her letter? What if they had a good reason not to tell her? Oh, what had she done!? With that Twilight let out a little squeak and rushed of the room, slamming the door shut after her.
“Huh?” Spike asked as he woke up from something. He took a quick look around himself, but saw nopony. With a shrug his head fell back to the pillow.
* * *
Twilight Sparkle’s eyes opened. She didn’t find her surroundings troubling in any way. Not even the fact that she was a small filly version of herself, sitting inside a sandbox that drifted in emptiness seemed to cause any confusion in her. She giggled happily and grabbed a small shovel and bucket with her magic. She started filling the bucket with sand, flapping her wings happily. Suddenly she heard giggling from behind her. She turned around and saw all the other princesses in the other side of the sandbox, building an exact copy of Canterlot out of sand. They were also in their filly forms. Celestia’s mane was pink and her body was a bit chubby. Luna’s mane was light blue and she smiled broadly. Cadence’s mane was tied on a ponytail, and there were cute freckles around her muzzle. Twilight let out a high pitched gasp of delight. She then looked at her own work of art, a bucket full of sand. She liked the other princesses work better. Twilight rose to her small legs and started to wobble towards the others princesses, letting out a small giggles. She sat down right behind the others, waiting for them to notice her.
“Celly!” she called out, earning the filly Celestia’s attention. Celestia turned to look at Twilight for a second, before rolling her eyes and turning back towards the sandcastle. Twilight looked confusedly at her, before turning towards Luna.
“Woona?” she asked in her quiet voice, giving a small smile towards the blue filly. She too just glanced towards her, not paying any more attention to her. Twilight was getting really frustrated from not getting to play with them. She gave one last small whimper towards Cadence, who didn’t even turn to look at her. Twilight shifted on her place for a moment, before deciding that she would just go and join their fun. She rose up and walked towards the castle with plans to start building the Star Swirl the Bearded wing of archives, but as soon as Celestia noticed her approaching, she outstretched her rear leg, holding small Twilight away from the castle. Twilight whimpered and tried to push forward, only making Celestia more and more annoyed by her. Suddenly Twilight was wrapped in Celestia’s golden magical grasp, being pushed away from the three princesses and their castle. Filly Twilight whimpered sadly, trying to push forward. She couldn’t, Celestia was too strong. after a while Twilight stopped trying and slumped down to the sand with a sad pout on her face. The three other princesses calmly continued building their sandcastle. Twilight was laying on the ground, tears starting to roll down her cheeks. She buried her head into her forelegs, now sobbing and sniffing loudly.
“Begone!” a loud voice suddenly commanded, the sandbox, three filly princesses and their mighty sandcastle turning into a smoke and fading away. Twilight opened her eyes and noticed that she was now a grown up alicorn like she should have been. Suddenly the things that had happened just a moment ago seemed weird and rather amusing in their own, disturbing way.
“Luna?” Twilight asked, now knowing that she was in a dream. Soon the princess of night walked from behind an invisible curtain in all her glory. The stars in Luna’s dark blue mane glimmered with white light. Twilight felt kinda embarrassed in front of Luna. She had clearly followed her dream, that had been a bit… childish.
“Twilight Sparkle, are you alright?” Luna asked with concern in her voice.
Twilight nodded shyly before answering, “I am. My dignity just got a little hurt right now.”
Luna gave her a confused look, before understanding that she meant the dream she had been seeing. Luna smiled warmly and said, “Don’t be embarrassed by your dreams Twilight. You should see the dreams that my sister sometimes sees.”
Twilight chuckled a bit, but then Luna continued, “But what I saw was rather disturbing. Is that how you really feel right now Twilight. Do you really mean what you wrote in that letter?”
“Oh… Yeah, the letter,” Twilight mumbled, nervously scratching the back of her head. She then looked Luna in the eyes, seeing how worried she looked. Twilight drooped her ears and nodded.
“Twilight,” Luna said slowly, sitting down. “I know how you feel actually.”
“What?” Twilight asked and sat next to her.
Luna sighed and said, “When I came back from the moon, there was a period of time when I didn’t do anything else than lifted the moon to the sky. Celestia kept me away from the politics and such. She didn’t trust me at the time.”
Twilight’s eyes went wide and she asked, “Celestia doesn’t trust me!?”
“No no no!” Luna quickly calmed her down, lifting a hoof on her shoulder. “I just said that I know how you feel. Us not telling you about Sombra’s return has nothing to do with us not trusting you.”
“Then what was it about?” Twilight asked, clearly confused.
Luna was looking troubled. She was quiet for a moment, before saying, “Celestia cares about you Twilight.”
Twilight frowned. Of course Celestia cares about her. Twilight cares about Celestia too. Luna seemed to know what she was thinking, and added, “It’s more than just that. She cares about you like a…. mother cares about her foal.”
“What!?” Twilight gasped, her cheeks turning red.
Luna nodded and continued, “I tried to convince her to take you with us, down into the dungeons when we brought Sombra back, but she disagreed strongly. She said that she wanted you to stay in Ponyville, in case something happened... But I sensed that she wanted to keep you away from him.”
“That doesn’t sound like Celestia to me,” Twilight said a bit uncertainly. “And she let Sombra come with me to Ponyville.”
After a long sigh Luna said, looking a bit sad, “You can’t even imagine how nervous she was when you told her about your plans to take Sombra to Ponyville with you. I have never seen anypony drink so much coffee before... She hasn’t been quite herself after you became a princess. She was a great teacher, but then she turned into a …”
“Overprotective mother…” Twilight ended her sentence. She was staring in front of her, starting to outline the situation.
“Yes.” Luna said. “She says that you are the best thing that has happened to our nation since the fall of… Nightmare Moon… She doesn’t want you to get in danger.”
Luna seemed to go back into old times in her head. She was silent and stared in front of her with emotionless look on her face. After a while she broke away from her trance and said,”The letter you sent to her made her quite upset.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Twilight said, still a bit confused by the situation she was in. She was talking with Luna in her dream about Celestia being overprotective towards her. It was something that didn’t happen everyday. Or night.
“We talked about it for a while,” Luna continued, “She didn’t take it easily when I told her to ease up on you.”
“I have never seen that side of her,” Twilight admitted.
Luna nodded and said, sounding almost sad, “I have. It was before I turned into Nightmare Moon. She looked at me like she now looks at you.”
“I’m sorry,” Twilight said and gave Luna an apologetic look.
Luna chuckled sadly and said, “Don’t be. It was me who turned into Nightmare Moon.”
There was an awkward moment between them, before Luna seemed to remember something. Her horn glowed and soon a letter appeared in front of her. She gave it to Twilight and said, “It’s from Celestia. She wishes that you read it when you wake up.”
“When do I wake up?” Twilight asked.
Luna just smirked and said, “Just open your eyes Twilight.”
* * *
Twilight Sparkle woke up with a gasp. The sun was already up and it peered through the window in front of her desk. Twilight yawned and stretched her wings and neck, before slowly slipping away from under the blankets. As she did, a letter dropped onto the floor. Twilight stared at the letter with her mouth open for a second, before her dreams flooded back to her. She felt heat rising to her cheeks again as she remembered Luna telling her about Celestia’s affection towards her. She quickly levitated the letter in front of her and opened it, revealing a quickly made letter with few lines only.
“Dear Twilight. I believe Luna has told you everything already. She can be a real pain in a royal hiney sometimes… But she is right. You are a princess now, and deserve to have the same responsibilities as all of us. It caused be great shame in me to realize how you felt. I could write everything on my mind right now into this paper, but it doesn’t have enough space to tell you how I feel. I would like to see you in person, so we can make everything right. I hope to hear from you soon.
Celestia.
P.S. Good luck with Sombra, don’t be too soft on him. I truly trust that you can handle him by yourself.”
Twilight smiled when she read the letter. Everything seemed to be falling into their right places now. She was still a bit uncomfortable about Celestia’s newfound affection towards her, but now that she knew that Sombra’s words weren’t true, she had nothing to worry about. A smirk appeared onto her face when she read the part that encouraged her not to be ‘too soft on him’.
“That’s not going to be a problem,” she said to herself smugly, deciding to give Sombra his first lesson.
Sombra trotted down the stairs to the living room. He couldn’t wait to see the look on Twilight Sparkle’s face and how the guards would awkwardly make room for him. He smiled mischievously when he stepped to the doorway that led to the kitchen. He saw Twilight Sparkle and Spike sitting around the kitchen table, drinking tea and eating cereal. To his surprise, Twilight didn’t seem troubled by his presence, and neither did Spike. He frowned, and was about to enter the kitchen when two guards stepped from both sides of the doorway, standing in his way. Sombra glared at them annoyedly. It seemed that the small lesson he had given them last night had not sunk into their thick skulls. For a moment he thought about mentioning the small rumble they had had last night to Twilight, but decided that he didn’t need help from a mare on such matters. The guards looked nervous, but did not move. Sombra let out a small ‘hmph’ and tried to push through them, without succeeding. The guards stood on their places like statues. Sombra grunted and turned to look at Twilight, who was giving him a deadpan look.
“Order your goons to get out of my way!” Sombra hissed.
Twilight shook her head and said, “I will not do that.”
“What!?” Sombra growled, now angry. He was hungry and wanted to eat. Twilight was clearly paying back at him for the things he had said last night.
“I am not going to take this from you!” Sombra protested and tried to push past the guards again, still not succeeding.
Twilight laughed teasingly and said, “Don’t be like that. This is your first lesson.”
“The subject of our first lesson is…” Twilight started, then holding a small pause and giving Sombra a wry smirk before continuing “... Apologizing.”
Sombra started to fizzle from rage. He saw what Twilight was trying. He would never apologize to her. The orange-coated guard in front of him had the most pleased look on his face. He must have been enjoying himself that moment.
“So you will keep me in hunger until I tell that I am -” Sombra let out a chuckle “- sorry?”
“That’s pretty much what I planned on doing, yes,” Twilight answered while levitating a spoonful of cereal into her mouth, munching it with teasing look on her face.
Sombra snorted loudly before saying, “Are you going to starve me to death woman!? This is torture! You can’t treat your prisoner like this!”
Suddenly Twilight rose to lean against the table with her front hooves. She had angry look on her face that made Sombra wince.
“You don’t tell me how to treat my prisoners, slave king,” she shouted, making Spike feel rather nervous. He didn’t want to be on Twilight’s bad side.
“Besides,” Twilight continued, sitting down to her chair again. “You are lucky enough to be my student, not my prisoner.”
Student. That made Sombra grind his teeth angrily. He glared daggers at the mare for a second, before turning around and slowly starting to walk away. He knew that getting food from the town was out of the question. All the exits, including windows were magically sealed shut, preventing him from exiting the castle. He decided that he could outdo that annoying princess. Sombra was sure that she wouldn’t continue her game for long.
“Just couple of magic words and you can eat all the food you want!” Twilight calmly called after him.
Sombra was quiet and laid down to the comfortable armchair in the living room. Those stained glass paintings staring down at him. It felt like they were laughing at him. Sombra made a mental note to shatter those windows someday. He then glanced towards the kitchen and muttered quietly, “I’d rather die than apologize to her…”
* * *
Sombra was dying. Or that’s how it felt at least. His stomach was burning from the lack of food. Somehow it felt worse than when he had been hungry in the dark cell in the dungeons of Canterlot. Maybe it was because he now knew how it felt to have a full stomach. Ugh… Only thinking about having his stomach full made Sombra’s stomach twist in pain. He was still laying in the armchair, it didn’t hurt as much if he stayed still. It was already a well past mid day. Sombra knew that the dragon was going to start preparing dinner soon. It only made his stomach growl and hurt even more. Sombra tore his thoughts away from the food, and started to think about that purple mane responsible for his miserable state. Twilight Sparkle was tough opponent. She hadn’t given up yet, and Sombra started to fear that he would soon need to bend to her will and… apologize from her. As if on cue the mare in question walked past his sulking form. The guards in the doorway made way to her with a small bow, and Twilight disappeared into the kitchen. She didn’t pay any attention to him.
“Spike!” Sombra heard Twilight shouting from the kitchen.
“What?” the dragon asked from top of the stairs. Twilight didn’t answer so he started to walk lazily down the stairs, keeping his eyes on Sombra, in case he would suddenly lunge at him or something. He didn’t, and Spike quickly slipped to the kitchen.
“What?” Sombra could hear Spike asking again.
“Oh I was just thinking that we should eat something really fancy today,” Twilight almost shouted. Sombra growled quietly.
He heard Spike asking, “Geez Twilight, why do you yell like that? I’m right here.”
Sombra knew why she was yelling like that. She wanted to fuel his hunger. Next she would probably start describing the meal they would have.
“I was thinking that maybe we could eat roasted artichoke chipotle aioli for starters, then for the main course we could have fresh herbed risotto with sun-dried tomatoes…” Twilight announce with loud voice, making Sombra squirm on his place. He felt how the drool started to form in his mouth again, cursing his newfound needs. They were weaknesses in his opinion. Everything had been so much easier when he had his powers. He never felt fatigue, no hunger, no need to use a toilet, no nothing! He groaned and buried his face into his front hooves.
“And for the dessert,” Twilight continued shouting in the kitchen. “A big carrot cake from Sugarcube Corner.”
Sombra’s stomach screamed and begged him to give up. Sombra grinned. He heard Spike saying that he doesn’t know how to make fancy meals like that. Twilight answered that he wouldn’t need to, and that she would go and order it from a nearby restaurant. Sombra soon saw her trotting out of the kitchen, making her way towards the stairs that lead to the lower levels of the castle. She gracefully walked past him, Sombra following her with his red eyes. He probably would have stayed quiet, but for a short moment Twilight looked back at him.
“I apologize…” he muttered into his hooves, making Twilight froze in the middle of a step. She stayed like that for a moment, before slowly turning around, blinking her eyes.
She stepped closer, asking, “What?”
Sombra grunted, clearly annoyed. It was embarrassing enough to bend in her will, and now she was rubbing it to his face.
“I apologize,” Sombra repeated, growing even more frustrated of her. Twilight started to smile. First it was a stupid, wide smile, that slowly turned into a teasing grin.
“I still didn’t hear you,” she snickered, making Sombra fold his ears backwards. Twilight snickered a bit more and leaned against the armchair while speaking, “I must be hearing things! I thought I heard you saying that you were sorry.”
“I am sorry! Okay!?” Sombra suddenly snapped at Twilight, startling her. She backed up a bit and the guards started to move towards Sombra, but Twilight motioned them to stay put.
“Sorry.” Twilight chuckled with a sheepish smile. “I got a bit carried away there.”
Sombra didn’t say anything. He instead looked towards the kitchen for a while, before asking, “Are you happy? Can I eat now?”
“I am. Go ahead,” Twilight said and with that Sombra rose up from the armchair and walked towards the the kitchen, stopping in front of the guards. They slowly stepped away from his way. Sombra gave a victorious look at the orange-coated pegasus, before stepping inside the kitchen. Twilight soon followed him, and when she stepped into the kitchen, he saw Sombra making one of the biggest sandwiches she had ever seen. He noticed Twilight staring at him and his meal with her mouth open and eyes wide.
“Weren’t you supposed to go and order our dinner from the restaurant nearby, Twilight Sparkle?” he asked and took a big bite out of his sandwich.
“You know, you managed pretty well,” Twilight said after the surprise had cleared from her. All she got was a deadpan look from him.
Sombra took another big bite from the sandwich, before asking, “What do you mean?”
“Well… You gave up that stubbornness of yours,” Twilight said. “You managed to even apologize from me, which I didn’t think would happen… At least not so quickly. You were sulking only for seven hours. I was betting for ten.”
“Yeah! You owe me twenty bits!” Spike called from the upper floors, making Twilight chuckle nervously.
“Uhh… Anyway, You did well,” she said, not getting an answer from the eating stallion. Twilight then turned towards the doorway to leave so she would get to the restaurant before the biggest rush hour.
“You did well,” she replied.
She suddenly heard Sombra saying behind her, “Thank you, Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight froze. There was a deep silence between everypony. Twilight spun around and gave Sombra a confused look. Sombra didn’t return it. He just stared at the sandwich in front of him with surprised look in his eyes. He then kept eating the sandwich in silence. Twilight blinked and then slowly turned around, heading towards the stairs. When she was out of his vision, Twilight started to smile stupidly again. She started to see the stallion behind Sombra’s bad reputation. A stubborn, mischievous, grumpy, almost childlike stallion. She snickered a bit as she started to walk down the stairs. With a bit of harsh schooling she could get some results from him. Twilight quickly trotted through the throne room to the front doors. She opened the doors with her magic, thinking that she just had to find the thing that would make him push forward.
* * *
What had gotten into him!? Sombra couldn’t sleep. The small slip up earlier that day was still haunting him. How did he let himself slip like that? It didn’t make any sense. He was enjoying his meal in silence, and then he said… that. Sombra angrily paced around his room. He kicked the nightstand every time he passed it, and it already had a small dent in it. He was furious. Not to her, not to the guards, not even at the damn dragon, but to himself. He was starting to slip. After the embarrassing apology and the even more embarrassing thank-you between him and Twilight Sparkle, he had even half nodded to Spike when he had passed the salt to Sombra. It was unforgivable! A king thanking a peasant like him. He snorted angrily and flopped to his bed, trying to settle into a comfortable position that he could not find. He kept trying for a moment, before he decided that it was a lost cause. He jumped out of the bed and started to pace again, his black tail swishing behind him. He stopped in front of the only window in his room, looking out into the night. Luna had outdone herself with the night sky again. Sombra couldn’t help but to admire it. All the stars looked like tiny crystals. The sight truly was nice.
No! What was happening again!? Sombra quickly looked away and continued to pace. He growled quietly, thinking what was wrong with him. He hadn’t admired useless things like the night sky in a long time, but now he had begun to form a strange liking towards things like that. He had started to like soft things and spicy food, a hot shower, the feeling of a clean mane and the way how Twilight Sparkle’s castle was built. He shook his head angrily. He hadn’t felt those things in so long time that he had thought they didn’t even exist anymore. When he had his powers, he felt strong… but numb at the same time. Only feeling he could feel was anger, but now… Well he was angry right now, but now he was also a bit fearful of what was happening to him. He felt helpless. He knew that it was part of his plan, but it still caused a lot of stress to him.
He once again kicked the nightstand. This time it let out a loud crunching sound, and a big crack appeared into it. Sombra didn’t care, and he turned towards the door. He knew that the guards were behind it. They always were. He hated that orange-coated one. He decided that when he would get his powers back, he would make him suffer. Just like everypony else. Those five annoying mares, the dragon, Shining Armor, Cadence, Celestia, Luna, Twil… Sombra felt the strange burning sensation in his chest again. He stopped and sat down, holding his chest with his both front hooves. What the devil was it? He thought that it would pass soon, like last time. Where were he? Oh right, Twilight Sparkle. Sombra’s train of thought came to a stop again. What would he do to her? The burning in his chest was still present. He rubbed his chest. Would he kill her? Sure, why not? What was stopping him? Sombra grimaced as the pain in his chest grew a bit, but he could manage. His thoughts centered around Twilight Sparkle now. Maybe… Just maybe, he wouldn’t need to kill her? If his plans would go well, and he would rise to the throne of Equestria, he would need a queen by his side… A queen? Sombra growled and shook his head. Where did that come from? His body was acting up. That’s what it had to be. All those strange feelings and… dreams of a queen… Hah! He doesn’t need anypony to his side! He is meant to be alone! To rule alone! That’s what he learned a long time ago, and that is what he will do! He will not be distracted by some former librarian hussy that plays to be a princess!
Sombra held his chest tightly and looked towards the door. Something made him almost sad at the moment. Was it the miserable shape in which he currently was, or was it the old unhappy memories that currently flooded his mind… or was it her? He didn’t know. What he knew was that he wasn’t right. Something in him was not like it should be. He was being emotional. Something that a good ruler should not be. Emotions were weaknesses. He heard faint talking from behind the door. The guards were talking to each other, but he didn’t care. He had his own concerns at the moment. He sighed and slowly walked to his bed. He flopped down to it and started to once again squirm in his place, looking for that comfortable position that he couldn’t seem to find.
The corridor that lead towards the personal chambers of Twilight Sparkle was well illuminated by many crystal lamps that hung from the ceiling. They shed blue light around them, making the atmosphere calm. Still, one of the guards that stood in guard in front of a door was anything else than calm. He grinded his teeth, earning the attention of the other guard that stood on the other side of the door they were guarding. They knew that it was almost time for princess Twilight Sparkle to wake up. It meant that their shift was about to end, only to continue after three hours of sleep. That wasn’t what made the orange-coated guard so nervous.
Suddenly there was a loud thud heard from behind the door they were guarding.
“You heard that?” white coated guard with blonde mane and tail asked from the orange-coated pegasus with blue mane.
“What?” the orange pegasus asked, arranging his armor so it would feel a bit more comfortable. “I didn’t hear anything.”
“It was like something was being broken back there,” the white stallion said and pointed towards the door behind him.
The orange stallion shrugged and said, “He’s been thrashing back there for who knows how long.”
“Aren’t you worried that he might be doing something back there?” the white stallion asked. His companion gave him a sour look.
“What do you think? The former tyrant of my birthplace living here, this close to Twilight. I am a bit more than just worried,” he said and glanced behind him.
“Princess Twilight Sparkle,” the other one said calmly.
“What are you trying to say?” the orange-coated pegasus hissed from between his teeth. The other one looked a bit troubled, and shifted his weight from hoof to other for a moment.
“Is it true what he said?” the white one suddenly asked.
“What?” his friend asked.
“That you… you know…” the white guard muttered and rubbed his neck. “...love her?”
That question made the orange coated pegasus fall silent. He turned to stare in front of him. That gave him away to his friend.
“Flash…” the white pony said slowly and shook his head slowly. “She’s a princess...”
“So!?” Flash Sentry barked back at him, making him jump backwards a little bit. Flash then returned to stare the wall in front of him, clearly angry about something.
“And you are a guard,” his friend said, sounding almost sad.
Flash Sentry frowned and said, “We don’t have a caste system here in Equestria…”
“But she’s a princess,” his fellow guard said with a consolationing look. Flash Sentry inhaled deeply, before sighing and drooping his head sadly.
"I know…” he said slowly and quietly. “But I can’t help myself.”
“I understand,” his friend said and patted him on the back.
“She is just so…” Flash started, looking towards her bed chambers. “So perfect.”
There was a deep silence between them after that.
They both just stared in front of them for next ten minutes. Then Flash Sentry suddenly sat down and took off his helmet. His friend gave him a strange look.
“You know what Sam?” Flash Sentry asked from his fellow guard. Sam just looked at him in a bit worried way.
“I signed myself to the guard training after Sombra was defeated,” Flash explained quietly and looked at his helmet. He then continued, “Do you know what made me do such a stupid thing like that?”
“I can’t say that I do,” Sam answered.
“When I got to the castle after the battle, I saw the crystal heart on it’s place… Seeing something I had only heard in stories… You know about the curse, right?”
Sam nodded. Then Flash continued, “When I first time saw it, I… I knew that this is how it was supposed to be. Now I can’t even remember how the things were before…”
“Why are you telling me this?” Sam cut in.
“Do you know who saved us?” Flash asked quietly, and Sam realised where he was going. He gave Flash a raised eyebrow.
“So…” Sam started slowly. “Is that why you are…”
“When I saw her as a princess for the first time…” Flash said and fondled his helmet in his hooves. “On that moment I decided that she was something I wanted to protect…”
“That’s way too cheesy for me,” Sam said annoyedly. Flash chuckled and put his helmet back on. He then stood up and continued to stand in silence.
Sam was a considered as an oldtimer amongst the guards. He glanced towards the lovesick stallion… or a colt, depending how you look at things. He felt bad for the boy. A guard of humble beginnings having a crush on a princess. Amusing, but at the same time quite sad story. Sam started to smile a small smile, thinking that at least Flash would be better candidate than the stallion they were guarding right now. Heh… King Sombra and princess Twilight. Like that would never happen.
Suddenly they heard the doors of Twilight Sparkle’s personal chambers open. They both perked up. They heard clattering of hooves coming towards them, and soon they saw princess herself trotting towards them in that blue light that the crystal lamps emitted. Sam grunted when he saw the dreamy look on Flash Sentry’s face.
“Snap out of it kid,” Sam murmured from the corner of his mouth, making Flash perk up again.
“Good morning,” Twilight greeted them as she stopped in front of them. “Has he caused any trouble?”
“Good morning princess,” Sam and Flash greeted in unison and nodded to her. Twilight smiled to them and nodded back. Even though she didn’t demand her guards to greet her so formally, she still liked it.
“He’s been making ruckus all night,” Sam answered to her question. Twilight seemed surprised. Usually Sombra had been still in sleep when she woke up.
“What kind of ruckus?” she asked. Sam shrugged and said, “He’s been pacing around the whole night, or at least that’s how it sounded like.”
“I wonder what’s up with him…” Twilight pondered out loud, rubbing her chin in thought. She then said, “I better go have a look.”
“Princess!” Flash suddenly said, stepping in front of Twilight, who gave him a confused look. Sam face-hoofed himself when Twilight wasn’t looking and Flash started to smile sheepishly. He then started to stammer, “I-uh… He might be doing… some.. uhh… stuff?”
Twilight looked at him with a confused frown and Sam face-hoofed again.
“Flash… Are you feeling alright?” Twilight asked. Flash looked surprised.
“Excuse me?” he asked.
“You are sweating and your words don’t make any sense. Are you sure that you are feeling alright? Those could be symptoms of a fever,” Twilight lectured and put a hoof on Flash forehead, making him blush like mad.
“Your face is all red, but you don’t feel hot. That could be an indicator to something else than just fever,” Twilight pondered out loud again. She then smiled and said, “I would recommend you to see a doctor.”
“I’m quite alright princess…” Flash said, clearly nervous. “Besides it would mean that Sam here would be left to guard the castle all alone.”
“Oh I can manage,” Sam said with grin. Flash’s eyes went wide and his mouth hung open.
“Oh,” Twilight exclaimed happily. “See Flash? It’s alright. Sam can take care of the castle when you are gone. Tell you what… You can have the day off if it’s okay for Sam.”
Flash glared daggers at his fellow guard, who just shook his head and said, “No problem. You go and rest at the barrack for the day. Get yourself some medicine and clear your head.”
Flash noticed the emphasis on the last part. He knew that it was not worth starting to argue, so he just nodded. Twilight smiled and said, “You have such a good friend. Not everypony is willing to do somepony elses job for free.”
“Tell me about it,” Flash said with a hint of venom in his voice.
Twilight didn’t notice it and said with a smile, “Have a nice day.”
She then opened the door and walked into the guest room. Flash and Sam stared at the door for a moment, before Flash sighed and started to walk away. Sam stopped him by grabbing him from the neck and pulling him closer to himself.
“Pull yourself together boy,” he hissed and shook the youngster a little. “You’re going to make us look bad someday… I just know it.”
“It’s none of your business,” Flash retorted.
Sam shook him a bit more harshly and then said, almost like in a fatherly tone, “Really… get your thoughts settled.”
There was a short, intense silence between them, before Sam shoved Flash to move forward and said, “Now get the buck out of here.”
“Have a nice day,” Twilight chirped to Flash sentry and opened the door to the guest room. She stepped in and closed the door after her, before turning towards the bed. She didn’t see Sombra laying there, which was rather odd. He usually was still sleeping at this hour. She saw that he had been laying on the bed though, because the covers were in a big bundle in the middle of the bed. Twilight’s horn glowed and she quickly made the bed without even looking at it. She then noticed that the nightstand was toppled over. She walked to it and frowned. It had a big crack in it’s side. Again her horn glowed, and the nightstand rose back to it’s feet. She thought what has upsetted Sombra so that he had started to rampage in his room. She turned around. And where was he? She walked towards the bathroom door and heard the water running. He was probably in the shower. Twilight thought that she’d wait for him to finish, but after a moment she decided that she wanted to know the reason for Sombra’s grumpiness. Besides, ponies were naked most of the time so seeing him in the shower was nothing too weird. Right? She still heard the water running.
She nodded to herself and knocked on the door before slowly opening it. The door creaked and Twilight pushed her head from the gap between the door and the doorframe.
“Sombra, explain to me wh…” Twilight started but stopped when she saw him. He was indeed in the shower, standing under the water. He stared calmly at Twilight with his red eyes, his long mane straight from the weight of the water, clinging to his face and neck. His wet coat was gleaming and it was pressed tightly against his body… His well formed body. He was rather muscular pony. Not like Bulk Biceps, no. His muscles weren’t formed by bodybuilding… They were a lot like Big Macintosh’s, results of hard work. His chest was wide and Twilight could clearly see the muscles in his side through his skin. They connected to his strong backside. His legs were strongly built too, with his big black hooves clattering against the tile floor of the shower. Twilight found herself starting to blush and her eyes went wide. Sombra was still staring at her, waiting for her to continue.
“I’m so sorry!” Twilight suddenly squeaked and quickly pulled herself away from the gap, slamming the door shut and propping her back against it. She panted and her ears were folded against the sides of her head. The wild blush was still visible on her cheeks. Twilight kept leaning into the door and thought about what had just happened? Seeing Sombra like that had made her… get rather excited. Twilight didn’t have too much time to think about it though. She could hear the water going off in the bathroom. She yelped and vanished in a bright purple flash, just before Sombra opened the door. He could still smell the electricity in the air. He chuckled and brushed the wet mane from his eyes before retreating back to the bathroom.
* * *
After about ten minutes Sombra came down to the living room where Twilight Sparkle was. He had dried up his mane, tail and coat, brushed his fangs. He had used some extra attention to make himself look as good as possible, in hopes of making Twilight Sparkle feel uncomfortable around him. The thought made him chuckle. To his amusement, his predictions proved to be true. Twilight Sparkle seemed to be rather tense around him as he walked to sit on the opposite side of the long table in the living room. He eyed the mare that seemed to be looking everywhere but at him. Sombra smiled wryly.
“May I inquire the reason of you suddenly appearing into my bathroom?” Sombra asked, holding back a snicker when Twilight started to blush again.
She squirmed on her place a little, before stammering, “I-I wanted to know the reason for you breaking furniture in my castle.”
Sombra’s wry grin disappeared when the events of last night came back to him. He didn’t answer to her, and just rose up from the sofa and walked towards the kitchen. Twilight Sparkle noticed the sudden change of his mood, and rose up too. She walked after him, asking, “Is something bothering you?”
“Besides being stripped of my title as a king and being turned into a worthless peasant?” Sombra asked, glancing daggers at Twilight. She was surprised by the sudden outburst from him, and stopped in to the doorway that lead to the kitchen. Sombra was clearly annoyed by something. Something he wasn’t telling her. Hmm…
“Anything else?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. Sombra opened the refrigerator and started to look for something to eat, not saying a word. Twilight frowned and said, “If there’s something that makes you upset, I want to know it. I won’t let you ruin the day of others with your sulking.”
“Hah!” Sombra exclaimed loudly, shutting the door of the fridge. He looked at Twilight with irritated expression. “Who else’s day can I ruin in here!? There is nopony else than me and you and that damn dragon in here!”
Twilight was about to say that the guards were there too, but then a sudden idea came to her mind. How long had Sombra been there? Couple of days? And before that he had been in that prison cell for a while. Twilight realised that he hasn’t been outside for all that time.
“Oh…” she said slowly, earning a scowl from Sombra. “You are being grumpy because you haven’t been able to socialize with other ponies in a while!”
Confusion spread onto Sombra’s face. That he hadn’t expected. Where did she even get those ideas? Why would he want to ‘socialize’ with some plebeians? Twilight started to smiled like she had just gotten the best idea in the world. She trotted to the kitchen table and sat down to a chair, looking at Sombra.
“If that’s the case,” she started and Sombra looked at her with the confusion still on his face. She motioned him to sit down before continuing, “We can change today’s lesson a bit.”
“Today’s lesson?” Sombra asked when he sat down.
Twilight nodded and said, “Yes. The one that was marked into your calendar that we made when we were making the study program. You do have it somewhere don't you?”
Sombra did have it somewhere. In his room’s trash bin that is.
“Anyway, we can change the lesson into a bit more practical, so that way we can go out and spent some time outside. I can show you around the town if you like,” Twilight said, levitating a bowl and a box of cereal towards herself. Sombra liked the idea in some way. He was tired of just sitting in the living room, doing nothing. He still didn’t know what the ‘lesson’ he was supposed to learn was.
“What is the subject of our ‘lesson’ this time?” Sombra said with a sarcastic emphasis on the word lesson. Twilight poured some cereal into her bowl and said, “I thought that you’d know.”
“I don’t,” was Sombra’s answer.
Twilight frowned and asked, “Haven’t you looked at the study program at all?”
“No.”
“Hrmh,” Twilight grunted. She then said with an annoyed tone in her voice, “Today’s lesson is about good manners. I must say that completely ignoring your study program is a good example of bad manners.”
“I can’t help myself,” Sombra grinned, earning a deep sigh from Twilight. Sombra then asked, “How are we going to change the lesson into more practical like you said?”
Twilight perked up and said, “I was thinking that we should start from greeting. So while we are out, you will say ‘hello’ and ‘good morning’ to ponies who passes us.”
“Never.” Sombra quickly retorted.
“I wasn’t asking,” Twilight said, narrowing her eyes.
Sombra glared at her, asking with his cold voice, “And what if I refuse, Twilight Sparkle?”
Twilight’s horn started to glow and Sombra’s eyes widened in horror.
* * *
“Come on. It’s not that awful,” Twilight snickered at Sombra, who walked with his head hanging low. He had never felt so embarrassed in his entire long life. Ponies stared at him, but not with the fear he deserved. He saw them laughing at him, holding back snickers and giggles. On that moment he wanted to die, or that the ones who laughed at him would do that actually. Even the nice weather didn’t cheer him up, it almost made him feel even more angry by the second. Sombra looked downwards to the band that hung around his chest. It had words ‘Under reformation’ printed onto it with big black letters. He had tried to take it off when Twilight first time made it appear around his chest, but every time he tried to take it off, the letters grew in size. He soon realised that he would only make things worse by fighting, so he had accepted his defeat and so they had left to the town.
If the embarrassing band around his neck and those ponies laughing at him was left out, he was enjoying the bright day. It felt good to be out of the castle and away from the mocking eyes of those stained glass windows. He didn’t show it, but he liked the feeling of the small breeze on his coat that made his mane flow a little. But for his great displeasure, the embarrassing band around his neck and those ponies laughing at him weren’t left out. They ruined the few pleasures he had had, making the day awful for him.
“Ooh!” Twilight exclaimed quietly when an older blue coated mare with pink mane came to her view. “There’s mrs. Cake. She always greets me where ever we meet. I bet it has something to do with me being princess.”
“Really?” Somba asked with large amounts of sarcasm in his voice. Twilight didn’t pay too much attention to his remark.
“Now do like I told you,” Twilight whispered to Sombra as mrs. Cake came closer to them. She had a wide, warm smile on her lips, but seeing Sombra made her a bit nervous. Twilight wasn’t sure if mrs. Cake knew who Sombra was, but the ‘under reformation’ band around his chest and his overall menacing look were enough to make anypony feel uneasy around him.
“Good morning princess Twilight Sparkle,” mrs. Cake said and gave her a deep nod that resembled almost a bow. She then glanced at Sombra, but quickly turned her gaze back to Twilight when Sombra actually looked back at her. Something in his eyes made Cup feel rather nervous.
“I see you have a… friend with you. May I ask his name?” mrs. Cake spoke with a nervous smile.
Twilight smiled back at her, making the older mare feel a bit more at ease. Twilight then looked at Sombra, but Spoke to mrs. Cake, “Good morning mrs. Cake. This is my newest student. -” Sombra snorted “- Go on, introduce yourself.”
Sombra looked back at Twilight with a deadpan look, before shrugging and quickly turning towards mrs. Cake. He leaned closer to the smaller mare and spoke with cold, almost angry voice, “My name is King Sombra, the tyrant of The Crystal Empire, the slave king, the stallion with heart as black as night… Do you want to hear more?”
Mrs. Cake seemed to shrink under his gaze. Her ears were folded backwards and she muttered with just barely audible voice, “N-No thank you. I-I think I left the o-oven on.”
She quickly packed away and said to Twilight without breaking her stare from Sombra, “Have a nice day princess Twilight.”
With that she dashed off towards Sugarcube Corner with speed that surprised Sombra. He didn’t know a mare with her figure and age could run so fast.
Sombra didn’t have a lot of time to ponder about it though, because he was suddenly jerked downwards by his ear, making him yelp from the sudden pain. He growled and looked at Twilight Sparkle, who was holding his head at same level with her’s with her magic.
“That wasn’t nice!” she said with angry frown on her face.
“She asked, I answered,” Sombra replied calmly. He then grimaced as Twilight twisted his ear with her magic.
“You know that’s not what I meant!” Twilight said. She then sighed and continued, “Let’s try that again, shall we?”
Sombra gave her a sour look, in which Twilight replied by saying, “Don’t make me summon flowers into your mane.”
“You wouldn’t,” Sombra said with wide eyes.
“Try me,” Twilight challenged with narrowed eyes.
Sombra stared daggers at Twilight for a moment, before simply nodding. Twilight let go of his ear. Sombra straightened his neck with a audible crackle. He then muttered, “So what now?”
“We’ll find somepony and you will say ‘good morning’. That should be simple enough,” Twilight answered and they started to walk forward. She then added with mocking tone, “Can you manage to do that?”
“Why do I have to practice useless things like this?” Sombra asked and folded his ears when somepony laughed at his appearance again.
“Because if you don’t have the basic knowledge about being nice to other ponies, how do you think you can learn about friendship? Being polite to other ponies is a big part of friendship,” Twilight lectured him, earning only a roll of eyes from Sombra.
“There’s Ditzy Doo. She’s always friendly to everypony,” Twilight said and nudged her head towards the mare in question. Sombra turned to look towards the direction and saw a gray pegasus mare with blonde mane and tail. She was facing the other way from Sombra.
“Let’s go,” Twilight hurried and started to walk towards Ditzy Doo. Sombra sighed and followed her, thinking about different ways to scare his next target. The pegasus seemed to have quite petite build, while Sombra was just the opposite. Surely just his size would be enough to make the poor thing tremble. Sombra smiled wryly, which did not go unnoticed by Twilight Sparkle.
“I promise you,” She started, and then held a small, threatening pause. “If you make her sad, I will do something horrible to you. She’s being bullied around the town, and she doesn’t deserve any more mocking from you.”
That sentence made Sombra look at Twilight with a raised eyebrow. He noticed Twilight’s strange expression when she was looking towards the grey mare in front of them. She looked almost sad. This made Sombra’s grin disappear.
He and Twilight stopped couple of steps behind Ditzy Doo, and Twilight cleared her throat. The gray pegasus turned around when she heard Twilight’s voice. When Sombra saw the mare’s face, his expression changed into a surprised one. Ditzy Doo was a pretty little thing, but her golden eyes looked strange to him. It took a moment before he realised that she had a bad case of strabismus. Her golden eyes didn’t look in the same direction. Her right eye looked at Twilight and him, while her left one stared past them, making it hard to look her in the eyes. It was clear why someponies mocked and bullied her.
“Oh hi Twilight!” she exclaimed and closed her left eye to see better. Sombra didn’t know why, but he felt the same goddamn burning in his chest when he looked at Ditzy Doo.
“Hello Ditzy,” Twilight greeted her. “I was just walking with my new student and thought that maybe I should drop by.”
“That’s so nice of you. I’m so happy that you didn’t become all snobby and stuff when you became a princess,” Ditzy chirped happily.
“So who’s your buddy?” she asked and turned to smile at Sombra, not looking scared at all. It made speaking hard to Sombra. Ditzy looked at the silent stallion for a moment, before turning towards Twilight and asking, “He doesn’t speak too much, huh?”
“He normally does…” Twilight said, almost as surprised as Sombra was himself. What was wrong with him? Something in seeing that wall eyed mare smiling made him feel more than just uncomfortable. He felt bad.
“I… King… ugh…” Sombra muttered, not remembering what he had to say. He somehow didn’t feel like scaring that goofy looking mare in front of him. He quickly glanced at Twilight Sparkle, who had a confused, but in the same time curious look on her face. Sombra cursed on his mind, he was going to regret this…
“Good morning,” he said with defeated voice, his ears drooping a little. In the corner of his vision he could see Twilight smiling a victorious smile.
“Morning,” Ditzy said with a smile. Then Sombra was silent again.
“So what’s up?” Ditzy asked, tilting her head. Sombra opened and closed his mouth couple of times, not knowing what to say. He then looked up and remembered Twilight speaking something about the weather being a good way to break the ice or something.
“It’s…” Sombra started, clear discomfort in his voice. “It’s a nice day.”
Twilight covered her mouth with her fetlock and snickered, all while Ditzy Doo was clueless about Sombra’s strange behaviour. She looked up and said, “It sure is nice! I like sunny weather. And rainy weather, and thunder, and clouds. I like all kind of weathers. Everything’s nice.”
There was a really short silence, before Ditzy asked, tilting her head a little, “What’s your name big boy?”
Sombra was dumbfounded by her boldness. She clearly didn’t know him.
“King Sombra,” he answered slowly.
“Ooh, a king!” Ditzy exclaimed and her eyes had some kind of a strange excitement in them.
“We have reformed a princess and a god of chaos, but not a evil king yet…” she started, then held a small pause and looked at him with her good eye. “Yeah. That’s awesome.”
She then flapped her wings once. “But I really need to go now. It was nice meeting you.”
Twilight nodded and then looked at Sombra and asked, “And what do you say?”
Sombra glared daggers at her, but forced out just barely audible reply towards Ditzy Doo, “Have a... nice day.”
“Yeah, you too big boy!” Ditzy said happily and nudged him in the chest with her hoof. Then she left Twilight Sparkle and Sombra, who felt like the last pieces of the dignity he had left had been ripped away from him.
“That went really well!” Twilight exclaimed happily, her wings quivering a little from excitement. She was about to say something, but Sombra started to walk away quietly. Twilight sighed and trotted after him.
“What’s wrong now?” she asked. “You are being all grumpy again.”
Sombra was silent.
“Come on!” Twilight shouted, sounding annoyed. “Stop being like that! We’re making progress! It’s a good thing!”
That was the thing. They were making progress, which Sombra didn’t want. He had his own plans, and none of them included actually learning anything from Twilight Sparkle. It was scary almost. He getting all mushy with a wall eyed peasant. Why was he acting up like that again? Why did Ditzy Doo, of all ponies make him feel like that. She was just the local laughing-stock.
Sombra suddenly stopped mid-step, his right front-hoof still in the air. He blinked couple of times, his eyes wide. Dear Celestia, was it compassion that he was feeling towards the gray pegasus. No no no! It was bad. He knew that he couldn’t afford to feel compassion towards anypony. It was a big problem considering his plan. What if he started to feel compassion towards his enemies? No, he had to be ruthless and merciless.
“Are you alright?” Twilight suddenly asked, pulling himself away from his thoughts. He turned to look at the purple mare, seeing that she had a worried look on her face. Sombra felt the same terrible feeling of compassion when he thought how much Twilight would be deceived when he finally would put his plans to action. This was bad.
“Yes!” he quickly answered, looking away from the mare. “I’m just… Getting a headache.”
“Oh! I have a spell that’ll take it away,” Twilight said and her horn started to glow. “There! All better?”
Sombra cursed in his mind.
“Yes,” he said slowly. “May I ask you if I could go back to my own personal chambers now?”
“Aww,” Twilight said, clearly annoyed, “You were doing so well! Why stop now?”
“Because I don’t feel like doing it anymore,” Sombra said and turned to look straight ahead of himself.
Twilight was about to say something, but knew that he wouldn’t change his mind, so she just said, “Okay. I’d say that you’ve done enough for the day.”
“Agreed,” was all that Sombra said, before starting to walk towards the large castle that towered over the other houses.
“Are you hungry?” Twilight asked when she caught up with him. Sombra nodded.
“What would you like to eat?” Twilight continued. Sombra thought for a moment, before turning to look at Twilight.
“What would you like to eat, Twilight Sparkle?” he asked with his slippery voice, as politely as he could. He saw how Twilight’s eyes started to sparkle and a small smile appeared onto her face.
“Let me think...” she started and rubbed her chin with her hoof. “I would love some fried beetroots with potatoes and gravy.”
“Well,” Sombra said and gave a sly smile towards her. “Then we won’t be eating that.”
Twilight Sparkle’s expression changed from happy to surprise, and then into angry one. Sombra couldn’t help himself but to laugh mischievously. He then looked at the purple alicorn next to him, and saw that she looked angry. She held her nose up and didn’t look at him. It made him feel a bit bad about himself. He bit his lower lip and cursed mentally.
“Would it please you if we ordered something from the restaurant?”
“I must say that this has to be the most repulsive building I have seen in my entire long life,” Sombra said matter-of-factly as he gazed at Sugarcube Corner. It reminded him of some old germaneian childrens tale he had once heard. It looked like the slates of the roof were made of gingerbread with frosting on the edges. The pillars that supported the canopy were big candy canes, and there was a large cupcake sitting on top of the whole building with three pony-sized candles. The most terrible thing about the building was it’s color though. All the doors and window panes were painted with bright pink color, making Sombra almost gag. He didn’t need to think twice what was the purpose of this building, the big sign with a picture of a cupcake painted on it only making it easier to recognise the building as a bakery.
“Why are you always like that? You should be happy to attend your first major lesson in friendship. Besides, I know that Pinkie Pie can make you laugh for sure,” Twilight said and pushed the door to the bakery open, letting Sombra enter first. Like he had expected, the interior of the building was just as horrible as it’s exterior. There were booths alongside the walls and couple of… ugh… pink tables around the open space. Counters were full of pastries and there was a sweet smell of baked goods in the air, which was the only thing Sombra liked in there. The room’s walls looked like they really would have been made out of gingerbread. There were balloons and all kind of banners everywhere, making it seem like that a party for some foal would be held there. It was horrible.
“Welcome to Sugarcube Corner!” Ms Cake announced from behind the corner, only to realise who the visitors were. Her ears immediately dropped and she started to back away towards the doorway behind her, muttering, “I’ll get Pinkie right away…”
Sombra chuckled at her, making Twilight frown. Her horn glowed and he pulled Sombra downwards from his mane, until their faces were on the same level. She gave him an intimidating look and said, “Look what you did! She’s still scared of you!”
“Good,” Sombra said, realising that it was a wrong answer. He felt how Twilight’s magic pulled his mane upwards until it hurt. He hissed through his teeth, giving an angry look at Twilight. He made a mental note to punish her someday for that.
“Heyaa! What’s happening over here?” They heard a cheery voice from next to them. Both of them winced as they noticed a poofy mess of a pink mane right next to them. Pinkie Pie greeted them with her trademark ear to ear smile.
“Oh…” Twilight exhaled and held her chest. “You startled me Pinkie.”
The pink mare just giggled and said, “Yeah well not as much as Gummy did when he was hiding in the same bathtub with you.”
A wild blush appeared on Twilight’s face when Sombra looked at her with questioning look. She chuckled nervously and said, “Uhuh… That… was quite a scare yes… But anyway! We’re here now!”
Pinkie turned her blue eyes towards Sombra, still smiling. Sombra didn’t return the smile.
“So you’re the grumpy grumpinsson who we are supposed to get smiling?” she asked, making a jolt of anger rush inside Sombra’s head. He didn’t have time to answer before two pink hooves were pushing the corners of his mouth upwards, making him look like he was smiling a lewd smile. For a good five seconds he couldn’t do anything while his mind was trying to understand what had just happened. The hooves were still holding his mouth in a weird smile when he finally snapped away from his shock.
Sombra shook those two hooves of from his face and snorted angrily. He eyed at the the pink mare and snarled, “What do you think you are doing!?”
“Trying to make you smile!” Pinkie Pie answered with happy voice, tilting her head and blinking. Sombra snorted and pushed her away from himself. He then gave Twilight Sparkle a look that asked ‘are you serious?’.
“Pinkie Pie is the funniest pony I know,” she said. “I bet that she can get make you laugh.”
“And that’s what I’m going to do alright!” Pinkie said with determination. “I know that everypony has their weak spot when it comes to laughing!”
Sombra chuckled darkly.
“Then tell me, village idiot, what is my weak spot?” he asked and watched as Pinkie Pie started to rub her chin in thought.
Meanwhile Twilight Sparkle whispered angrily into his ear, “Stop calling her that! I’m serious.”
“Nah, it’s okay Twilight. I kinda like it.” Pinkie said, getting their attention. Her eyes sparkled a little when she continued, “Pinkie Pie, the village idiot. It’s like a title or something.”
“I don’t know if you should use it though,” Twilight said.
“Why not? It suits her,” he snickered, but before she could answer, Pinkie Pie pointed at him with a smile on her lips.
“You just laughed!” she said.
Sombra shook his head.
“You did! It was maybe just a little chuckle or something, but it’s just like real laughing, only a bit quieter,” she explained while Sombra rubbed his forehead.
Twilight noticed this and said,”Pinkie Pie is your teacher for the day, so you listen to what she has to say.”
“She’s my teacher?” Sombra asked with deadpan stare, pointing at Pinkie Pie who was now sitting on the floor, chewing her own tail. Twilight smiled sheepishly and rubbed her neck.
“Well…” she started slowly. “Trust me, she’s good at what she does.”
There was a short silence between everypony, before Sombra sighed deeply and nodded. He then turned towards that hyperactive mare and asked, “How are we supposed to do this?”
That made Pinkie spit her tail from her mouth. She jumped up and grabbed Sombra from his hoof. She started to pull him towards one of the booths in the shop and said, “Take a seat you two, and I’ll get ready for my thing.”
“Your thing?” both Sombra and Twilight said in unison as they sat down into one of the booths. When they turned to look at her again, both of them got equally surprised. Pinkie Pie had somehow managed to dress up into a one man’s band. There were drums, banjo, couple of cymbals, a tambourine and a harmonica. All there.
“W-what? How?” Sombra muttered, glancing towards Twilight.
“You’ll get used to it,” Twilight said with a shrug, before turning towards her friend and asking, “Pinkie, what are you doing?”
“I’m going to sing a random song of course.”
“Excuse me... what?” Sombra asked, trying to understand what was going on.
“Yeah!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Everytime I meet somepony new… Well you I have met before, but I think that it’s a bit different now. Anyway, When I meet somepony I have never seen before, I introduce myself, which I already have done with you. Then I sing a random song, and we will become instant best friends!”
Sombra stared at her with deadpan look. He didn’t even bother to tell her how stupid that sounded. Twilight instead was smiling at her friends wacky antics.
“No random songs,” Sombra commanded, making Pinkie’s mane deflate a bit.
“Aww…” she said sadly. “Then how will we become instant best friends?”
“I don’t want to be…” Sombra started, but stopped when he felt a sharp kick land on his rear leg under the table. He turned to look at Twilight, who stared at him sternly. What Sombra did next, surprised himself as much as it surprised Twilight.
“Please, no songs,” he said, his expression quickly changing into an embarrassed frown.
Twilight stared at her with confused look, but then Pinkie started to speak again with the usual cheeriness in her voice, “Okey dokey lokey. I bet that we can become best friends some other way.”
She then stripped out of all the musical instruments almost as quickly as she had dressed up into them. She then kicked the instruments behind the counter, where they landed with a loud crash. She or Twilight didn’t seem to think that her behaviour was strange in any way, but Sombra started to think that Pinkie wasn’t quite normal.
“So now we need to make you smile!” Pinkie Pie announced and threw her hoof around Sombra’s neck, earning a shutter from him.
Twilight giggled and said, “Well lets get started then!”
* * *
“How about stand-up?” Pinkie Pie asked from Sombra, who was leaning into his other front hoof, looking bored as ever. Pinkie didn’t wait for an answer, and pulled a mic and a chair seemingly from nowhere, sitting down and starting her show, “Two guys are out at a restaurant, the first has just got back from travelling. He says, ‘I saw a pony-eating tiger the last week!’ And the other guy says, ‘Ha, well I’m seeing a pony eating a carrot right now!’”
There was a deep, deep silence between everypony. Even the couple of customers in the shop were quiet, eyeing at the walls and ceiling awkwardly. Twilight and Sombra kept staring at Pinkie Pie with a ‘are you serious’ look, which she seemed to notice.
“Heh… Maybe that wasn’t the best one out there,” she said sheepishly, sitting down besides Twilight. Then both mares looked at the bored stallion, who returned the stare.
“We’ve been sitting here for two hours, and you haven’t laughed even once,” Twilight said and leaned into her forehooves.
Sombra just shrugged and said, ”I don’t find any of this, nonsense amusing.”
Then he rubbed his forehead with his hoof and said slowly, “I don’t think that this is going to work.”
“Don’t give up!” Pinkie Pie cried and jumped onto the table. “There must be someway to make you laugh!”
“There isn’t,” Sombra answered dryly.
“Yes there is!” Pinkie Pie shouted and jumped down from the table. “What about slapstick?”
“Can’t you understand that I am not keen on humour!?” Sombra barked at her, but her enthusiasm didn’t die down. She quickly trotted behind the counter and started to pull a cart full of pies with her.
She stopped in front of the booth where Twilight and Sombra sat, and started to lecture them, “Very basic element of slapstick is practical humour. For example, one of the most recognizable jokes is a pony getting pie thrown to his or hers face.”
She giggled, picked up a pie from the cart and then continued, “It’s one of my favorites too.”
“Pinkie, no pie throwing,” Twilight said with stern voice. “Remember what happened last time?”
“Heh… Yeah… I forgot that. Mayor Mare wouldn’t be happy if that happened again,” Pinkie muttered with a sheepish smile on her lips. Sombra was interested about what had happened last time, but didn’t dare to ask.
There was a long silence between everypony. Even Pinkie Pie started to show some signs of giving up. Her mane was lacking it’s usual curliness and it seemed heavy, hanging down to her shoulders weirdly. A sight that Sombra for some reason didn’t like.
“I’m starting to run out of ideas Twilight,” Pinkie admitted sadly.
“It’s okay Pinkie. He’s just a bit irritated by all this fuzz going on around him.” Twilight reassured Pinkie and patted her on the back with her wing. She then looked at Sombra with intimidating look and asked, “Isn’t that right, Sombra?”
“indeed…” Sombra said slowly. Twilight was right. The fuzz around him really made him irritated. Angry even. He took a deep breath, before saying, “I am… I am sorry, but I don’t think that this will work.”
“Are you sure?” Twilight asked, still patting the sad looking party pony on the back with her wing. “Surely there is something you like… or liked?”
What Sombra likes? A image of clear blue crystal flashed in his mind for a second, but that wasn’t probably the answer that Twilight wanted. What about the things in his past? He had had his hooves full while running his kingdom, and didn’t have time to do anything he considered amusing in any way… Or maybe he got some kind of dark, twisted pleasure from seeing all his subjects being used as slaves, but that wasn’t probably a good answer either.
“How about dancing?” Twilight thought out loud.
“Did you say dancing?” Pinkie Pie asked from him with her eyes wide. Her mane sprung back to it’s normal poofy form with audible pof. She lifted her hooves to her cheeks and exclaimed in glee, “Dancing! Why didn’t I think of that?” In a blink of an eye she was gone, leaving only a pony-shaped cloud of dust where she had been second ago. Twilight dispersed it with her wing.
“I must say that it has been while since I have danced last time,” Sombra admitted.
“You actually know how to dance?” she asked with incredulous look.
“Of course I know how to dance! I’m a king!” Sombra barked at her. “Dancing skills were mandatory during the grand galas that me and my associates held to each other.”
“Associates?” Twilight asked. She was sure that she could see a nostalgic look spreading on his face.
“Yes… I remember how Countess Bathbrony proved the belief that bat ponies are clumsy on their feet wrong...” Sombra continued, but was quickly interrupted by surprised looking Twilight.
“Countess Bathbrony?” she asked with shocked expression. Sombra nodded.
“She was a marvelous dancer… and her fur was so smooth and her looks so… youngish.”
“She lived more than thousand years ago!” Twilight said, with incredulous frown. Sombra just smirked, showing his fangs.
“So did I.”
Twilight looked at him with eyes wide from shock. She hadn’t thought about it until now, but Sombra actually had lived through many eras of Equestria’s history. That ignited Twilight’s curiosity. She realised that there, in front of her sat a pony who had seen the history’s events unfold with his own eyes. Of course Celestia and Luna had been there too, even longer than he had, but he could give her completely new perspective. Celestia and Luna knew the history written by the righteous kings and queens, but knew just a little of the dark side of Equestria compared to Sombra.
They didn’t have time to continue, because Pinkie returned to her place as suddenly as she had left. She had a wide smile on her lips and there was a new looking gramophone on the table in front of her. There was also a big pile of different vinyl record cases. Sombra was baffled by her sudden appearance again, but Twilight seemed as calm as always.
Pinkie Pie almost couldn’t stay put when she spoke, “I have lot’s of records here so lets get dancing!”
Again nopony didn’t have time to reply, because Pinkie quickly pulled Sombra away from the booth. He looked at Twilight for help, but she just shrugged and smiled a little. Pinkie looked at the gramophone and exclaimed, “Let’s go!”
With a sharp kick to the side of the device she somehow turned it on, and the music filled the air quickly. It was something with fast tempo and lot off bass, which came out as a flat thumbing due the lack of bass-element. There wasn’t lyrics of any kind, only artificial sounding riffs. Pinkie Pie was clearly taken away with it. She was dancing in the rhythm of the music, thrashing her head from side to side with a constant smile on her face. Twilight was also tapping her other rear hoof against the floor in synch with the repetitive song. Sombra had never heard anything like it. It was…
Terrible.
“What is this rubbish!?” he shouted, making Pinkie Pie stop her crazy dancing. With another sharp kick to the device the music stopped. She then turned back to Sombra and said, “It’s techno!”
“What?” Sombra asked confusedly. He had never heard of it.
“Techno! It’s like the best party music there is!” Pinkie explained, waving her hooves in the air for emphasis.
“I hate it,” Sombra said with narrowed eyes.
“Oh!” Pinkie said, but didn’t seem to be offended. Instead she just kept smiling and said, “You must be one of those ponies who like old music and slow dancing! That’s cool.”
Without saying another word, she gave the gramophone one more kick. Sombra felt like his mind was starting to fall apart as a new, completely new song started to play, and the record hadn’t even been changed! It was a slow song with piano playing a big part in it, accompanied by violins and different kind of flutes. The tempo was regular one-two-three pattern, great for dancing. While Sombra’s mind was trying to understand how could Pinkie Pie be so… Pinkie Pie, she had already grasped Sombra into a tight closed position, both of them balancing on their rear legs with their left hooves held together, while Sombra’s right hoof was on Pinkie’s waist, and her right hoof on his shoulder. Twilight snickered. Their size was so greatly different that Sombra had to bend forward a little.
“Ya ready?” she asked from Sombra, who snapped away from his confused state.
“I-Ugh… huh?” was all that he could say in response. He looked away from the mare in front of him, embarrassed by his inability to answer her properly.
Pinkie Pie giggled at him and said, “I take that as a yes.”
With that she started to move to the left, almost dragging Sombra behind her. He noticed that the pink mare muttered ‘one, two, three’ silently as she stepped, looking down at her rear legs. They spun in wide circles in the rhythm of the music, making everypony in the shop stare at them with curiosity. Even mrs. and mr. Cake were peeking from the doorway that lead to the bakery itself, staring at the pair.
“Come on. Move a little!” Pinkie couraged Sombra, who was still very confused by all that was happening around him. He realised that Pinkie Pie was leading the dance. He frowned. It was unacceptable. A stallion was always in charge of leading the dance. Pinkie Pie started to giggle as Sombra started to perk up. He held his head high and started to move in the rhythm of the music.
“That’s more like it!” his pink companion cheered.
“Hush now!” Sombra. hissed. He didn’t want her to ruin his mood, which started to lighten up slowly. His steps were bit off, but he hadn’t been dancing in ages, so it didn’t bother him. It didn’t take long until he started to move more gracefully. Pinkie was smiling, so was Twilight. Sombra wasn’t, but he was feeling rather good. Slowly he and Pinkie Pie spun around the floor while the music continued to play. There were many eyes fixated to them now, but this time Sombra didn’t find it irritating. Maybe it was the dancing that made him feel that way, or maybe it was the nostalgic memories that flooded his mind. Anyhow, he didn’t find the many stares irritating in any way.
“How does a village idiot like you dance so well?” Sombra asked from Pinkie, who stopped counting her steps to answer.
“I am a party pony!” was her answer.
“That doesn’t really answer anything,” Sombra said with deadpan look.
“I mean that I do all kinds of parties,” Pinkie explained, then paused to count her steps again. After she was back in rhythm she continued, “Sometimes I have to throw a party to Octavia and her friends. They taught me how to dance.” “Interesting,” Sombra said slowly. “Anyhow, You dance quite well.”
That made Pinkie smile with glee. He caught a glimpse of Twilight Sparkle, still sitting in the booth. She was smiling too. Before he couldn’t do anything to stop it, corners of his mouth twitched upwards, making the expression on his face resemble something like a smile. It wasn’t like his usual wicked, mischievous grin, no. It was something different. His smile was a genuine, pleased smile.
“Twilight! Look!” Pinkie exclaimed happily.
“Hush!” Sombra again said, not wanting the mood to get ruined. That didn’t stop Pinkie Pie from happily smiling. She giggled as Sombra once again spun her around, which in turn made his smile grew wider too. He didn’t know what had gotten into him. Again, maybe it was the dancing that made him smile, or the smiles of the two mares he was with were so catchy that he couldn’t defend himself from them.
“You’re really good at this!” Pinkie giggled while she and Sombra glided on the floor.
“Of course I am,” Sombra snorted smugly. He could hear Twilight Sparkle letting out a small annoyed grunt in response. She really didn’t like his complacent nature.
“Now you just need to laugh a little,” Pinkie told Sombra while still counting the steps silently. For a second it looked like Sombra’s smile was about to vanish.
“Don’t push it,” he said, but it didn’t sound as threatening as he had hoped and it just earned couple of giggles from Pinkie Pie. Her blue eyes were staring back into Sombra’s red ones, which he found very disturbing. It was almost like she would have been judging him. Soon Sombra had to ask, “What?”
“You don’t seem such bad pony… Not bad at all,” Pinkie answered, still staring him right in the eye. That made a confused frown appear onto his face. He didn’t know how to answer, so he didn’t. Instead he kept spinning around slowly with that pink mare.
The song was clearly starting to reach it’s end. The tempo was getting more frantic by the second, and so was their dance. They stopped moving around the room as the tempo was getting faster and faster. Instead they just spun in circle, as a blur of Pink tangly hair.
“Wheee!” Pinkie screamed and started to laugh. Sombra heard that the song was just about to end. He did one more spin, before leaning forward, earning a surprised yelp from his dancing partner. The song ended with a single note from the piano which hung in the air for a short moment. Sombra was standing on three legs with surprised Pinkie Pie under him. His left front hoof was behind Pinkie Pie’s back, holding her in a dramatic ending pose with her head hanging downwards. Pinkie slowly lifted her head and stared at him with wide eyes, holding herself with her front hooves around his neck, panting slightly. After couple of seconds she started to snicker. It caught to Sombra, who too started to chuckle. Slowly the snickers turned into laughs. They stayed in the dramatic pose and laughed heartily.
Sombra wouldn’t want to admit it, but he felt good. The laughing felt almost like a refreshing wave washing over him. It took a moment for him to realise that he and Pinkie Pie weren’t the only ones laughing. He looked towards Twilight Sparkle and saw that she too was looking rather amused, clapping her fore-hooves together.
“Bravo!” she exclaimed. “That was amazing! I didn’t know that both of you were such a great dancers.”
Both Sombra and Pinkie Pie looked at her, before turning to face each other, still in their very close position. Pinkie started to smile and said, “You hear that? We were amazing!”
“Ugh…” Sombra muttered and let go of the mare who flopped to the floor, still smiling though.
“And we got a laugh out of you!” she reminded him from the floor as Sombra made his way back to the booth where Twilight was sitting. He sat down and looked around the shop, where he saw many pair of eyes still fixated to him. Immediately the annoyance came back to him, making his good mood disappear.
“Aww… Back to your old grumpy self?” Pinkie asked, sitting right next to Sombra. He shifted a bit further away from the mare and sighed. Twilight and Pinkie looked at each other, like asking ‘what’s wrong this time?’.
Twilight just rolled her eyes and turned to look at Sombra, but spoke to Pinkie Pie, “Don’t mind about him. He’s just being immature like always.”
Sombra snorted. He wasn’t being immature. He just hated how he suddenly had been reminded about his current state. Back in the day ponies didn’t even dare to look at him, but now every single pair of eyes in the shop were staring at him. It made him realise that they didn’t fear him at all… Because he was just like them… just a pony.
Sombra turned towards her and asked with deadpan stare, “Really?”
“Yeah! Its hard to believe, right?” Pinkie said with her usual enthusiasm. Something in her attitude didn’t let Sombra sulk. He flashed a small smile at her and chuckled.
“There we go,” Pinkie chirped.
Twilight giggled at her and then spoke to Sombra, “So did you enjoy dancing?”
Sombra nodded.
“So we are best friends now?” Pinkie asked. Sombra slowly turned his head towards her, before shaking it. Pinkie looked a bit sad. Twilight exhaled angrily on the other side of the table.
“Friends at least?” the pink mare asked. Sombra was about to shake his head again, but Pinkie did her best to resemble a puppy with her big, blue eyes and lower lip quivering a little.
“N-ugh…” Sombra started, but felt his throat getting dry. For some reason the negative answer didn't seem to come. He gulped and then said, with a defeated tone in his voice, “Friends…”
Pinkie Pie let out a loud squeal and threw her front-hooves around Sombra’s chest, hugging him tightly. Their cheeks were pressed together, and Sombra could feel the heat from her body. His body reacted to the sudden hug with only response it knew, making him blush. Unable to do anything due the shock, he just stared in front of him.
“Would you look at that!” Twilight snickered. “You already made your first friend!”
Sombra was sure that she was teasing him, but when he looked at her, she was smiling, not smirking. Somehow he found it enjoyable.
Princess Twilight Sparkle, ex-evil king Sombra and Spike the dragon were sitting around the kitchen table. They were eating fancy, three-course dinner, following the proper dinner etiquette and formal dining settings, which proved to be rather difficult for Spike, who didn’t seem to know wich spoon and what fork he should use at the moment. Twilight Sparkle and Sombra didn’t find it difficult, as the royals they were. Sombra had some troubles using the silverware without his magic, but he could manage. He didn’t notice it, but for some reason his wine glass was never empty.
“So how’s the food?” Twilight asked. They were eating the main course at the moment.
“It’s nice, but I still can’t remember what fork to use,” Spike answered a bit embarrassedly.
Like he had expected, Sombra let out amused snort. He turned towards Spike and said with slightly slurred voice, “I somehow knew that easy things like dining would be challenging to a simple dragon like you.”
He earned disapproving look from Twilight and an annoyed glance from Spike. His scowl turned into a teasing smirk though, and he said, “Well… A simple dragon like me pretty much ruined your plans of conquering the Crystal Empire.”
Deep silence seized the room. The dark stallion and the purple dragon changed poison dripping glances with each other, until Twilight Sparkle cleared her throat and commanded with stern tone, “Stop, both of you!”
Both, the stallion and the dragon turned to look at their plates. Twilight sighed deeply and said with tired tone, “Why do you two always have to fight with each other?”
Everypony turned back to eat their meals. Sombra once again emptied his glass of wine, and Twilight immediately filled it. Spike looked at her a bit quizzically. He leaned closer to Twilight and whispered to her ear, “I don’t think that you should give him any more wine, he’s getting drunk.”
Twilight smiled smugly and whispered back to him, “I know.”
Spike glanced towards Sombra, who took a very un-kinglike gulp from the glass. Spike then turned back to Twilight and whispered again, “What are you up to, and are you sure it’s a good idea?”
“Trust me,” Twilight said, not giving an answer to his first question. Spike knew that he could trust Twilight. After all, she rarely gave him a reason not to trust her.
The dinner went along nicely, Sombra slowly getting more drunk, making him more talkative. Twilight was slightly surprised by the large amount of wine it took to get him into that mood. Well, he was a big stallion, so that might explain it. They were eating the dessert when Twilight finally moved along with her plan.
“So Sombra,” she started. Sombra turned to look at her with a drunken look on his face. The sight was amusing, but Twilight managed to keep herself in control and continued, “Remember how you spoke about your associates back when we were visiting Pinkie Pie yesterday?”
“I do,” Sombra answered. He then turned back to his dessert. It was lemon meringue pie. He tried to take the dessert fork into his hoof, but failed. He didn’t try twice. Instead he just took a bite from the pie.
Twilight snickered quietly, and Spike muttered something under his breath. Sombra didn’t seem to pay any more attention to Twilight’s question, so she had to continue, “I was just thinking that maybe you could tell me about them a little?”
For a second Sombra looked sober again. He was probably judging her question, trying to figure out if she was trying to trick him somehow. Twilight gave him a small, pleading smile, and lucky to her, the alcohol inside Sombra did it’s job.
“What exactly would I tell about them?” Sombra asked.
“Maybe some history about them? How were they in person? Did you like them or not? Anything you want to tell,” Twilight told him. “And wouldn’t it be nice to reminisce?”
Sombra stared at the purple alicorn for a long moment. She wasn’t sure, but it seemed like he was struggling with something inside of him. He glanced towards the half-full wine glass, then he drank it empty before slurring, “Where should I start?”
A wide smile appeared onto Twilight Sparkle’s face and her horn started to glow. Soon they saw two thick books, quill, inkwell and a notebook floated from the doorway, landing to the table in front of her with a loud thud. They both were big, heavy looking books with worn covers. The other book was titled ‘Rulers, lords and self-appointed leaders of Equestria and it’s colonies’. The title barely fit into the back of the book. The other one’s title was named simply ‘History of Equestria’. It was equally worn-looking, but more than twice as thick as the first one. Sombra saw many different colored bookmarks peeking from between the pages.
“I was hoping if we could start from the earliest rulers that you might have been associated with. I did some thinking and I assume that Emperor Mero would be one of the earliest emperors you may have known. After all you rose to the throne when he was still in power in…” Twilight Sparkle spoke while setting up her notebook and inkwell. She stopped when he felt both Spike and Sombra staring at her. She slowly looked at both of them. They had deadpan look on their faces.
“I suspect that you planned this all along, Twilight Sparkle,” Sombra spoke, focusing hard to speaking.
“Noo…” Twilight dragged the word and had as serious expression as she could “What makes you think like that?”
Sombra and Spike were quiet. They shared a look that said ‘is she serious?’, before Spike rose from the table and took his empty plates. He turned towards Twilight and said, “Thanks for the dinner Twily.”
“Aren’t you going to stay and listen? Learning about Equestria’s history is exciting,” Twilight asked from Spike, who seemed a bit troubled.
“Ugh… Its not that…” Spike started, trying to come up with a good excuse. He didn’t manage to do that. “I just have some… Really important… stuff going on. Yeah. That’s it.”
“Oh. Okay then,” Twilight said, a bit disappointment. She had hoped that Spike would have been there with them. He might have learned something new.
“Yeah, well…” Spike started. “I better go and start doing that stuff right now.”
“You do that,” Sombra said a bit irritated. He saw what Spike was up to, not really caring if he was interested or not, but his pathetic efforts for explanations were annoying.
Spike shot an annoyed glance towards him, before muttering, “I will. Bye Twilight.”
“Bye Spike. Be home before ten,” Twilight said.
Spike rolled his eyes and said with sarcastic tone, “Yes, mom.”
With that he left, avoiding a deadly boring lecture about things he didn’t really care. Sombra didn’t know which annoyed him more; Spike’s attitude or the fact that Twilight Sparkle didn’t seem to even notice that Spike was lying to her. Sombra frowned and thought that why should he care if Spike was lying to her… And why did he care…
“Shame. It would have been nice to have Spike here with us,” Twilight Sparkle said, looking towards the doorway where Spike had disappeared. Then she started to smile and said, “Well, I’ll give him a recap when he returns.”
That made Sombra smile mischievously. It made him feel better to know that Spike didn’t escape so easily.
“So shall we get started?” Twilight asked, Opening the ‘Rulers, lords and self-appointed leaders of Equestria and it’s colonies’. She flipped the pages until she reached the first bookmark. Sombra craned his neck and saw that on that page was a picture of a pony with lots of info under it.
“So did you know Emperor Mero?” Twilight Sparkle asked, levitating her quill over her notebook, ready to write everything down. Sombra just eyed the book for a moment, before turning it so he could read it. Even the words seemed blurry, he could still read them if he focused. Twilight watched as he read, hoping that he could give him some new information about the infamous Romane Emperor. She tapped the quill to the edge of the table as Sombra took his time to read the whole article about Mero. After he was done, he looked up and said, “I did know him.”
“Aha,” Twilight said and wrote something down. “Did you find anything to correct in the article?”
Sombra looked down at the book and then said angrily, “There wasn’t mentioned that he was a childish, quick-tempered foal who could not lead his own empire.”
Twilight Sparkle blinked confusedly. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to get Sombra so drunk. It might have affected his ability to give constructive comments. Anyway, Twilight could tell that Sombra clearly hadn’t liked Mero too much. After she was recovered from his blunt answer, she asked, “What do you mean by that?”
Sombra chuckled darkly before answering, “He didn’t think through his actions and about the consequences. Too many times he let his emotions affect his decisions… And the worst mistake he did was that he gave too much power to his subjects. In the end it was what made him drive a dagger to his throat.”
There was drunken disgust in his voice. It made Twilight feel a slightly uncomfortable. Sombra was acting aggressively.
“S-so you didn’t agree with his way of ruling?” Twilight asked, gathering her composure. That made him snort disapprovingly.
“Yes. Only things he was good at was paying and drinking… That reminds me,” Sombra said and offered his glass towards Twilight, who levitated a bottle of red wine and refilled it. Sombra took a sip before continuing, “He had the best of wines and he was the most generous employer.”
“What!?” Twilight shouted, a shocked look on her face. “Employer!?”
“Yes. A pony that pays salary to the workers in exchange for the worker's labor,” Sombra said with a sluggish, still sarcastic voice.
Twilight frowned and said angrily, “I know what employer is! I was just surprised that you were working for Emperor Mero!”
“I wouldn’t say that I was working for him… He didn’t maybe know it, but he was working for me,” Sombra said with almost proud grin on his face. “He just happened to have some financial and military assets that I needed.”
Twilight was writing everything down without breaking eye contact with Sombra. She asked with almost respectful tone, “Financial and military assets? Did you just use him to get what you needed?”
“Exactly!” Sombra exclaimed, lifting his wine glass like he was toasting. “It was easy! I was a simple mercenary back then, pretending to be looking for a steady paying job…”
He leaned closer to Twilight and whispered, “It was all part of my plan.”
“Which was?” Twilight asked, making Sombra frown.
“Be patient Twilight Sparkle,” he scolded. “Everything on it’s time.”
Twilight folded her ears backwards in irritated manner, but let Sombra continue, “It was easy to impress Mero by doing his dirty work. He paid me well and after one particular job he started to respect me more, making him more vulnerable to my manipulation.”
“What did you do to gain his trust? What was the ‘job’ you were talking about?” Twilight asked, leaning a bit closer to him. Sombra smiled smugly and took a sip from his glass before answering.
“It was just a little arson,” he answered. Twilight wrote something down, before her eyes went wide and the quill accidentally went through the paper. She looked up to the grinning stallion in front of her.
“You did not…” she started, but Sombra finished her sentence.
“Set the city of Roam on fire? No. I did not. It was just a small little house of a senator who Mero did not like.”
“Oh…” Twilight exhaled, relieved by the fact that Sombra wasn’t responsible of the Great Fire of Roam. “Well, were you still working him when the Great Fire started?”
“Yes. I was,” Sombra said, looking at the book. “It was then when I realized that his empire was starting to fall down.”
“And you were right,” Twilight commented.
“Yes. Now we get to the plan you are so interested about,” Sombra told Twilight, who turned a new page in her notebook. She looked at Sombra with anticipation.
Sombra did not keep her waiting, and started to proudly explain his plan, “During the years I had rose up in the chain of command in the army. I had many companions in the ranks of officers. They were good soldiers with similar backgrounds like myself. They were working for Mero only for their own benefits. I told them that if they followed me, they would be granted great fortunes and high places in my private army.”
“And they followed you?” Twilight asked, flipping to a new page of her notebook.
“Yes. All of them,” Sombra answered.
“And what did you do after that?” Twilight asked, even she already had an idea about what they did after leaving from Romane Empire.
“We travelled to The Crystal Empire and in series of precise attacks we conquered it. I’m sure that you know the rest of the story.”
“I do,” Twilight answered. “But what happened to the soldiers you got from Roam?”
“I send a message to Mero, telling that I have traitors who abandoned him with me. I handed them over to him and took the power all to myself. Mero did not have the strenght or guts to try to rise against me, so he just let it be,” Sombra told calmly, making Twilight stare at him with shocked look, her ears folded backwards, her mouth a bit open.
“That’s terrible!” she shouted with shocked voice.
“That’s life,” Sombra retorted.
“How could you do that? Even after all that they had done to you? You told that they were like you. Didn’t you feel any remorse?” Twilight asked, crossing her front hooves over her chest.
“I wouldn’t trust myself, so why would I trust anypony who was like me?”
That made Twilight fall quiet. It made her think. If he wouldn’t trust himself, why would she trust him? She looked at the dark coated stallion in front of her. He was looking rather calm. Drunk, but calm. Like he really wasn’t feeling any remorse of what he had done. Maybe he didn’t actually feel it? For somepony like Twilight Sparkle it seemed like impossible idea. Surely the soldiers that Sombra got from Roam haven’t been too kind ponies themselves, conquering The Crystal Empire and all. Still, betraying them without hesitation was something that felt wrong to her.
“I-I need a drink,” she muttered.
“By all means,” Sombra answered with a small grin. He lifted the bottle and poured a full glass to Twilight Sparkle.
“Thank you,” Twilight said from a reflex and took a sip.
The mood had rose since Twilight took that one glass of wine. She was still taking notes, but they were a lot less detailed than when she started. She and Sombra were still going through the ‘Rulers, lords and self-appointed leaders of Equestria and it’s colonies’, and they hadn’t even touched the ‘History of Equestria’. Their progress was slow and most of the time Twilight didn’t get any useful information from Sombra. Usually he told how the lord, emperor, king or queen preferred the company of same sex or what embarrassing habits they had. Twilight didn’t mind though, she was giggling at his stories and Sombra seemed to like it.
“Did you know this one?” Twilight asked, pointing at one of the pictures in the book. She leaned to her front hooves with her glass in her magical grasp. Sombra had to close his other eye to be able to focus on the picture. When he recognized the blood red unicorn with long, thin moustache, he chuckled a bit.
“That’s Vladimar the ‘impaler’,” Sombra chuckled with a grin, earning a raised eyebrow from Twilight. She sat up more straight before speaking.
“What’s so funny about it. Do you know how he got that nickname?” she asked with disapproving look on her face.
“I’m not amused by his rather brutal accomplishments as a leader,” Sombra told her. He then quickly added, “Which were quite effective to keep the peasants in a leash by the way.”
Twilight let out a small grunt, which made Sombra realise that maybe he shouldn’t continue on the subject. Instead he continued to tell her what he found so amusing about the pony they were talking about.
“Did you know that he wasn’t much of an ‘impaler’ with ladies,” Sombra snickered. Twilight frowned, not understanding what he meant.
“He didn’t kill mares? That’s a good thing… He showed at least some kind of honor with that,” Twilight said, now clearly starting to get confused.
“Oh he did that, but enough about it,” Sombra said and rubbed his forehead. He thought for a moment how to say it, and then proceeded, “Lets just say that he had trouble… pleasing a mare.”
Twilight tilted her head, still not understanding what Sombra meant. He gave Twilight a deadpan look, wondering how she could not understand what he was trying to say. He sighed, took a sip of his wine and leaned forward, saying, “He had trouble getting it up.”
“Getting what up?” Twilight asked with confused frown. Sombra could nothing else than just sigh deeply. He then nodded downwards.
It took couple of seconds before Twilight finally realized what he was trying to imply.
“Eww!” she exclaimed and started to giggle. Sombra too snickered, and they both sipped their wines. Sombra then tried to look as serious as he could.
“What’s so funny about that? It’s a serious problem,” he spoke, trying to keep a straight face. Twilight started to smirk and leaned onto her forehooves.
“It sounds like you would know about those kind of problems,” she said with teasing tone. Sombra chuckled at her attempt of provocation. He leaned even more forward, so that their faces were just inches away from each other, which made Twilight back up a bit.
“I can say that I never have had a problem with pleasing mares, Twilight Sparkle.”
He then leaned backwards and admired his handiwork. Twilight Sparkle was blushing, she couldn’t look straight at him and she was rubbing her front-hooves together nervously. Sombra laughed at the sight and took a long sip from his glass. Twilight in turn gulped down everything she had in her glass and continued to stare at the table. Sombra hated to admit it, but the blushing shy mare in front of him looked appealing to the eye, but he blamed the alcohol for it. For a long moment, neither of them spoke. Sombra kept grinning and Twilight tried to think how to change the subject and how to control her blushing. After a while she noticed the opened book on the table and cleared her throat.
“Shall we move on?” she asked, carefully glancing towards Sombra.
“Just show me the way to your bedroom,” he retorted with a suggestive, still teasing look that made Twilight gasp loudly.
The crimson red returned to her cheeks and she exclaimed angrily, “Are you trying to flirt with me!? Because it’s not working very well!”
“Are you sure?” Sombra asked with his slippery voice.
Twilight gave him an angry pout and said, a bit shyly, “Yes.”
There was a small silence between them again, before Sombra said, “Alright. We’ll move on.”
With that he took the book into his hooves and flipped to the next page. His amused expression disappearing immediately, being replaced by a confused look, which slowly darkened. Subconsciously he showed his fangs and Twilight could hear him growl. She could see hate radiating from him as he stared at the book. It made her tense up, everything had changed in a blink of an eye.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, snapping Sombra away from his trance. He looked at Twilight, the same hateful expression on his face. Without a word, he rose up from the table and started to walk away, his tail swishing behind him.
“Sombra? Where are you going!?” Twilight asked, about to go after him. The stare Sombra gave her made Twilight reconsider. In his red eyes she saw a look so menacing that it made her hold her breath. Before she could say anything else, Sombra disappeared into the doorway that lead to the living room. Twilight could hear him making his way up the stairs, towards the guest room.
Twilight was waiting quietly, like something bad was about to happen. Luckily nothing bad really happened, and she exhaled with relief. It didn’t take long before Flash Sentry entered the room with worried look on his face.
“Princess! We heard you yell and I saw Sombra leaving towards his room,” he asked and bowed his head a little.
“Everything is fine, thank you,” Twilight said slowly, still trying to figure out what had happened. Then she remembered what Sombra did just before he turned from flirty, drunk stallion into something that resembled the all too familiar evil king he had been before.
“Would you go and make sure he doesn’t hurt himself or do anything stupid. He’s upset about something,” Twilight told Flash, who obeyed like a good guard he was. When he left the room, Twilight took a hold of the ‘Rulers, lords and self-appointed leaders of Equestria and it’s colonies’ with her magic and held it in front of her. A sudden wave of troubled feelings washed over her as she read the title; King Halite of The Crystal Empire
She recognized the face that she had seen in many history books so many times. She kept reading.
"…King Halite is mostly known for his accomplishments in re-building most of The Crystal Empire’s older districts…"
Twilight read the article onward for a while, not finding anything specific. She almost reached the end of the article, when she came upon one part.
"…King Halite was the last king that ruled before King Sombra took over The Crystal Empire, laying the curse over the kingdom and banishing the ruling couple to the Frozen North. That was last recorded time King Halite and his wife, Queen Sylvite were seen. They presumably were killed by the harsh environment and coldness of the Frozen North…"
Twilight stared at the words on the page. Surely Sombra had had a reason to attack and conquer The Crystal Empire, but she hadn’t really thought about it until now. Maybe it was because of personal reasons? Had Sombra had grudge against King Halite?
“This is getting interesting…” she muttered to herself, adding some notes to her notebook and pouring herself a new glass of wine. There was clearly some bigger picture there, but she couldn’t see it yet. She took a long sip from her glass and thought with determination that she would find out what Sombra had had against King Halite.
She returned to look at the book. There were some notes in the end. Twilight noticed a small text that said ‘See King Sombra, page 867’. She flipped through the pages and soon found the right page. She had actually put a bookmark on that page. It was a short article. Only couple of paragraphs long. In the picture she saw a drawn picture, that resembled Sombra. Twilight thought that whoever the artist was, he or she really had managed to capture Sombra’s dark, threatening look. She stared at the picture for a moment, feeling almost sorry for him. Then she started to read the story.
"A little is known about King Sombra. A young, unicorn warrior with mercenaries as his aid appeared on the gates of The Crystal Empire, ambushing several separate groups of The Royal Crystal Guards. The attacks went on for weeks, lowering the military’s morale, affecting the outcome of the invasion. It’s not sure if this was planned, but today historians believe that it was, considering King Sombra’s other, well planned campaigns. It didn’t take long until King Sombra’s troops managed to infiltrate the city, forcing King Halite to surrender. King Halite and his wife Queen Sylvite were banished to the Frozen North. (See King Halite page 591, and Queen Sylvite page 592)
From there started King Sombra’s reign. Not much is known from there times either. He was known as a Slave King because he put all the crystal ponies under slavery, forcing them to mine crystal for him for unknown reasons. He is considered to be possibly the least recorded ruler in the history of Equestria. There are no recorded actions for many hundred years, until Royal sisters (See pages 1299 and 1300) started to interfere with his acts against the laws of Equestria. There were battles between his troops and the Royal sister’s, in which he was victorious. His troops never left The Crystal Empire’s borders.
King Sombra’s reign ended to his defeat, after the Royal sisters personally defeated him in combat, turned him into a shadow and imprisoned him to the ice of The Frozen North as a punishment for his crimes.
King Sombra returned after gaining powers from inexplicable sources, but was defeated by the Elements of Harmony, presumably killing him."
Twilight read the article in thought. It wasn’t the first time she had read it, but this time it seemed to give her even more to think about than usually. Clearly Sombra had nothing against other kingdoms, only The Crystal Empire. And what’s up with the crystals? Even his cutie mark is a crystals. Twilight looked at the infos next to the picture.
"No known relatives. No known heirs. No known associates."
Twilight looked at her notes. Maybe she could update the book a bit after she would get Sombra to tell her about himself. It would be a task, she knew it.
“Princess Twilight Sparkle?” she heard somepony saying from the doorway. Twilight turned towards the sound and saw Flash Sentry.
“What is it Flash?” she asked.
“It’s him. He’s pacing around his room again, talking to himself,” Flash told Twilight, who seemed confused.
“Talking to himself?” she asked. Flash nodded. Twilight thought for a minute, before shrugging and saying, “He’s just drunk. That would explain it.”
With that Flash nodded and left towards his post again, leaving Twilight alone with her thoughts. What kind of history that dark stallion really had?
Sombra slammed the door of his room shut behind him, staggering a little. He tried to sit down to the side of his bed, but couldn’t stay put for long. He already knew it. He wouldn’t sleep that night. No, there was too much emotions boiling inside him for now. Sombra growled and started to pace around the dim room once again. He felt a bit annoyed because he had been enjoying his time with Twilight that evening. He shouldn’t let himself slip like that again... Or maybe he was annoyed by the fact that they were having fun, and it of course had to be ruined because of him.
“Why can’t you leave me alone even after you are dead?” he slurred to nopony in the room. He stopped his pacing in front of the big window in his room and pulled the curtain out of his way, revealing the town of Ponyville to him. The sun was still in the sky, but it was getting lower slowly. Sombra saw ponies going on with their daily life. They seemed happy.
Maybe it was the alcohol in him, but he felt the constant urge to talk, even if it was just to himself, “Look at them smiling like they had some reason to do so!”
Suddenly Sombra felt a cold wave wash over him, his drunkenness disappearing immediately, leaving a bad taste into his mouth. He knew that they had just entered the room.
“Oh but they have a reason to smile,” one of the voices said calmly.
“Unlike you,” the other voice said bluntly, making Sombra frown. The third voice continued after a short moment, sounding almost sad, “Poor master… All the rights for a normal life taken away so harshly…”
“Shut up,” Sombra commanded angrily, but the second, angry one continued.
“You can’t deny it! Would you be in this situation if he hadn’t done what he did?” the voice asked from him, making Sombra sigh.
“No, I wouldn’t,” he admitted.
The third, sad sounding voice continued from here, “You would have a family, a career… a future.”
“I have a future!” Sombra said loudly. The voices mumbled something, before the calm voice continued.
“Of course you have a future… with us,” the voice told Sombra. He looked out from the window, thinking if the voices were right or not.
As if they would have read his thoughts, the same voice continued, “Look outside. Do you think that you could live like them? They have friends and family… You have neither one.”
Sombra growled, but didn’t answer the voices. He knew that they were right. Normal life wasn’t an option. Not anymore.
“Touchy subject?” the angrier voice asked, but did not wait for an answer, “So what if you can’t have the life that they have? You can have so much more! The Crystal Empire… -” The two other voices joined it. “- The whole of Equestria!”
Then the calm one continued with steady, yet cold voice, “Besides… Surely you want to punish those brats for making you go into that icy hell for so many years?”
Sombra felt a chill go down his spine. Only remembering the decade he spent in the ice of the frozen north made him feel like his whole body was cast in ice again.
“Of course I do, and I will. I will get my revenge,” he answered.
“Revenge…” the angry voice dragged teasingly. “You already have some first-hoof experience in that matter, don’t you master?”
“Shut up,” was Sombra’s cold reply.
“Revenge…” the sad voice spoke with sorrowful tone. “What else could you have done to make your suffering stop?”
“It didn’t, and it never will,” Sombra retorted. He sat down to the floor and hung his head. “My revenge wasn’t about me not about me, it was about them. You should already understand that.”
“You had to punish the ones that did wrong to your lov...”
“I told you never to spoke of them again!” he interrupted angrily. He sprung up from the floor, trying to locate the source of the formless voice with angry frown on his face and his teeth exposed. Sombra was sure that he heard quiet whispering around him. He breathed heavily, almost blinded by rage and grief that his history held within, and the voices seemed to notice it. They kept silent as he hissed curses to nopony in special and kicked the poor nightstand, sending it to a short flight towards the corner of the room. He paced around the room for a moment, before finally letting out one last curse, slumping down to the floor and calming down. It took another short moment before the calm voice started asking.
“How is our little plan coming along? How much progress have you made? Have you already found a way to gain enough power to crush the two sisters… to rise on the throne of Equestria!?” the voice spoke, rising it’s voice a bit, making Sombra feel troubled to answer. His sudden aggression was now gone, replaced by a bit of hesitation.
“I have had a couple of setbacks…” he answered slowly, and could feel the temperature dropping in the room drastically.
“What!?” the angry voice shouted. “How can you not have gotten anything done!? All you have been doing is hanging around with that wretched mare…”
The voice stopped, and everything was silent for couple of seconds, before the sad voice wailed, “Oh poor master! He has fallen for a mare!”
“Never,” Sombra answered, angrily gritting his teeth. He lowered his voice a bit before speaking, knowing that there might be a guard behind the door, “Twilight Sparkle is just a pawn…”
“You better keep it that way!” the angry voice yelled at him. “You know what will happen to her when we reach our goal… After all, she too is one of Equestria’s princesses, responsible for your most recent defeat!”
“Of course I know what will happen to her!” Sombra growled. He was getting irritated by the voice.
“Don’t get mad master,” the calm voice spoke, trying to calm Sombra down. “We just don’t want to have any problems that could do harm to our mission.”
“Why do you think that it would be trouble!?” Sombra growled even louder.
“She will give you only more suffering,” the sad voice sighed. “Stay away from her.”
“Yes! Just stay away from her!” the angry voice commanded. “Or even better, kill her.”
That sentence made Sombra frown. He had thought about his plan more than enough during the last couple of days, but every time he started to think about what to do with that purple alicorn, his planning came to a stop. Would he kill her? Sombra felt the strange heat returning to his chest once again. He already knew that it was somehow related to the struggle with his damned feelings. He quickly shook of his thoughts of Twilight Sparkle.
“Calm down,” the calm voice told to the other two, which seemed to obey. “We still aren’t powerful enough to challenge the two sisters.”
“I agree,” Sombra said.
“But soon we will be,” the voice said. “And then you must not hesitate…”
“I won’t,” Sombra answered annoyedly.
“We know you won’t,” the second and third voices spoke. “We will make sure of that.”
Sombra tried to look like he hadn’t paid any mind to the voices, and listened as the calm one spoke, “We must go now. Do not act suspiciously. We must not act before we are ready.”
“Don’t worry,” Sombra assured with grim look on his face.
“I’m sure that nopony suspects a thing.”
* * *
“I suspect that Sombra is up to no good!”
“Calm down sister,” Luna said and watched from her comfortable cushion as her sister paced around their personal quarters. Celestia shot a nervous look towards her. For a moment the only sounds heard were the clattering of Celestia’s hooves against the marble floor and the crackling of wood in the fireplace behind Luna. Celestia did a couple of circles around the table Luna was sitting in front of before turning towards her younger sister.
“How can I calm down?” Celestia asked and returned to pace around the tea table, where Luna was sitting and enjoying her tea. “King Sombra is back and he’s living in the same castle with our newest princess? How do you think that I could calm down?”
“Maybe some chamomile tea?” Luna offered with a smile. Celestia paid no attention to her and continued walking.
“What if he’s already done something terrible to my Twilight? She hasn’t sent me a message today!” Celestia spoke, maybe to herself.
“Princess Twilight,” Luna said with a raised eyebrow.
Again, Celestia paid no attention Luna’s remark. She rolled her eyes and as Celestia passed her again, she snapped her teeth into her sister’s multi-colored tail and pulled her down to the cushion next to herself. Celestia gave her a strange look.
“Sister,” Luna started and poured Celestia some tea. “I think we should talk.”
“About what?” Celestia asked, grabbing the teacup with her golden magical aura.
Luna thought for moment bow to approach the situation, before saying with a sheepish smile, “Sorry. It is my first time as a voice of reason between the two of us.”
“Voice of reason?” Celestia asked and took a sip, looking at Luna with suspicious look on her face.
“Yes,” Luna said and nodded. She decided to go straight to the point, “Your obsession with princess Twilight Sparkle is starting to go a bit too far Celestia.”
Celestia did a spit-take when Luna said that, and the table got covered in tea. She quickly used her magic to vaporize the tea from the tablecloth and poured herself some more. Then she turned to speak to Luna, “Obsession? Luna, are you really implying that I’m obsessed to Twilight Sparkle?”
“Yes.”
“Why that is just crazy!” Celestia almost shouted.
“Is it?” Luna exclaimed. “What about all the spells you secretly cast upon her castle without her knowing?”
“Just a precaution,” Celestia answered calmly.
“Then can you explain a whole brigade of your guards stationed in Ponyville’s borders?” Luna continued her bombardment. Again, Celestia had answer.
“With the recent events in Ponyville I decided that the town needs more law enforcements in case of one certain god of chaos returning to his old habits for example,” she answered, making Luna sigh deeply. Celestia seldomly was as stubborn as she was now, it usually was Luna’s job.
“The spy you send to watch over her?” she asked.
“I cancelled that order!” Celestia answered and held her hoof up in her defence.
“It was me who had to cancel that order!” Luna snapped at her and waved her hooves in the air for emphasis.
“Oh…” Celestia said slowly. “I forgot about that.”
Then there was a deep silence fell between them. They both continued to drink their tea in silence, listening to the all little sounds that could be heard in the room. Celestia spun a spoon in her cup with her magic, staring at it without even blinking. Luna knew that her sister wouldn’t continue on the subject, so she had to.
“Sister,” she started gently. Celestia lifted her gaze towards her, staring at her through her thick mane. Luna thought that for a second she saw almost an embarrassed look in her older sister’s magenta eyes.
“You know how Twilight Sparkle feels about all this,” Luna said. “It makes her feel like she is being treated not equal with us, which is not true. We both know that.”
“I know,” Celestia sighed, hanging her head a bit. Luna smiled a little. Now they were making progress.
“I…” Celestia started, clearly hesitating. “I just don’t want to repeat my mistakes.”
“Mistakes?” Luna asked with a raised eyebrow. Celestia didn’t answer with words. Instead she just glanced nervously towards Luna, whose eyes grew wide when she got what Celestia had mean with ‘mistakes’.
“You… You don’t mean Nightmare Moon do you?” she asked quietly.
There wasn’t words, but silence spoke volumes between the sisters.
“Celly,” Luna said, sounding almost sad. “Only pony responsible for it is me. Nopony else.”
“But I didn’t see your distress, and wasn’t there for you when you needed me. If I would only have know that you were so upset…” Celestia spoke with a almost quivering voice, which made Luna feel strange. She hadn’t seen Celestia like that. Luna herself was in peace with her past, but Celestia clearly wasn’t.
“I didn’t show it to anypony,” Luna said with uneasy look on her face. “Now I regret it.
“Oh I was so lonely,” Celestia said, and looked Luna in the eye. Luna returned the stare, seeing the sorrow in her sister’s eyes.
“I regretted my decision every day and night,” Celestia continued. “Please Luna, do believe me. If I could undo all of it, I would.”
“Of course I believe you Celly,” Luna said with awkward smile on her face. Their conversation was getting in the wrong direction, and Celestia was getting emotional. If Luna hadn’t been feeling so uncomfortable about it, she might have found the situation amusing. She didn’t know how to react. After a couple of seconds she decided to go with a solution that would most likely work. It usually worked on Luna herself when she was getting angsty or stuff like that.
Luna reached forward, and closed her older sister into a tight hug. She had to rise up to her hind legs to reach Celestia over the table. Celestia slowly lifted her front-hooves over Luna’s neck and hugged her back, rubbing their cheeks together. They stayed like that for a minute, before it became too awkward for Luna, and she broke the hug. She noticed that Celestia was smiling again, and that she looked more like her normal, calm self.
“Thank you Luna,” she said and smiled. “I must say that I no longer wonder how a single hug can calm you down when you are upset.”
“So you feel better now?” Luna asked and rubbed Celestia’s cheek with her hoof, earning a wider smile from her.
“Yes. I’ve needed that for a while now actually,” Celestia answered, gently swiping Luna’s hoof away.
“Glad I could help,” Luna said, and then her smile turned into a serious stare. “But now we need to get this whole Twilight mess solved.”
Celestia frowned, but nodded. She then looked past Luna’s shoulder, out from a window behind her.
“I know that my I might be a bit too protective towards Twilight Sparkle, but…” she started, but Luna cut in.
“Might? A bit?” she asked with annoyed frown. Celestia returned the look, making Luna fold her ears backwards.
“Will you let me finish?” Celestia snapped at her, making Luna shut her mouth. Celestia then continued, “You must understand me Luna. Twilight Sparkle is the most valuable student I have ever had, not to mention that she is a fellow princess and a very close friend of mine.”
“Yes, yes,” Luna answered. “But it still doesn’t give you a right to make decisions on her behalf. She is a grown mare and a princess.”
“What you say is true,” Celestia said, a sad look appearing onto her face again. “But even though she is an adult mare, she is still so very young… and so very pure.”
“Pure?” Luna asked, sounding confused.
Celestia gave her a faint nod and explained, “She is one of the elements. She represents one of the six forces that held our kingdom together… -” she held a small pause “- and she is very powerful.”
“Where are you getting with this?” Luna asked from Celestia, who gave her the most grimm look before answering.
“What if her powers were to be used for evil?” Celestia said, making Luna frown.
“Evil? We both know that Twilight could never…” Luna started, but now Celestia interrupted her.
“Of course, but what about if there is a force that might… corrupt her?” Celestia spoke quietly, making Luna’s frown melt away. Celestia was sure that there might have been a glimmer of worry in her eyes, but it disappeared quickly.
“Sombra? Bah!” Luna said and chuckled. “He doesn’t even have his powers now. What could he do? Besides, Twilight Sparkle is not a force he would like to mess with, not after getting hit by the elements.”
There was a short silence, before Luna added, a bit more shyly, “And the element’s could reform me, so why not him?”
“We both know that his evilness has no borders. Who knows if he is planning to regain his powers right now?” Celestia asked from Luna, who shrugged in response. Celestia then continued, “A stallion so wicked and sick-minded… A stallion with a heart as black as night… We can’t even imagine what troubling thoughts goes through his head, and what he is capable of.”
“I know that we must be careful with him, but this is important for Twilight too,” Luna said to Celestia. “If she can -” A shudder crawled down her spine “- find a place for Sombra in society, she will prove herself once and for all. Think of the confidence she will gain from it! And besides, you were the one who let him live in the first place.”
“I know Luna,” Celestia said and sipped her now cold tea.
“But doesn’t that mean that at least in some subconscious level you trust that she won't be harmed by him?” Luna asked with hopeful tone.
“I-ah… Yes. I think,” Celestia answered and rubbed her front-hooves together with a thoughtful look on her face. Luna started to smile.
“It is a start, my sister,” she said and patted Celestia on the head, earning a mixed expression of annoyance and amusement from Celestia.
“And if it bothers you so, we can go Ponyville together, to see how Twilight Sparkle is coming along Sombra,” Luna offered, in which Celestia was quick to answer.
“Oh, I forgot to mention that Twilight actually asked us to visit her after she has completed her studies with Sombra. She told that it will take her couple of weeks,” Celestia told Luna, who wasn’t so pleased by the fact that she wasn’t informed.
“When did she sent the invitation? Why wasn’t I informed?” she asked from her sister, who looked awkwardly away and told her the reason.
“It was when you visited her dreams and caused the small outburst from her… She proposed that we would… Settle some things with me during our visit.”
“Oh…” Luna sighed. “I will drop this topic right away.”
“Much appreciated sister,” Celestia said with a smile. After that there was a bit longer silence between them.
“I know that you have a really close relationship with Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said, waiting for a reply, which she got.
“She is like a child to me,” Celestia admitted. Luna had decided they had discussed of that topic long enough for one day, and wanted to lighten up the mood.
“Yes, that brings us to the other topic I have wanted to discuss with you,” Luna told Celestia, a small mischievous grin appearing onto her face. “You should really start thinking about making a real child for yourself to pamper, instead of Twilight Sparkle.”
“Luna!” Celestia scolded her little sister, who was giggling to her hoof. There was also a small hint of blush on Celestia’s cheeks. She cleared her throat and asked, trying to sound serious, “And who would like an old hack like me?”
“Oh I’ve seen you and that admiral changing some looks when you think nopony’s watching,” Luna said with a wide smirk, making Celesia blush like a small school filly.
“Me and Admiral Vanner have nothing romantic going on between us,” Celestia denied, only to earn even wider grin from Luna.
“How did you know which admiral did I mean?” she asked from her older sister, who blushed scarlet red as she realised that she had spoken herself into a trap. Luna started to giggle and soon Celestia joined her, before speaking.
“You can’t deny it, sailors are cute,” she said, and the sisters giggled some more, before Luna stopped laughing with a long sigh.
“I’ve missed times when we spent time together like this, talking about colts,” she admitted to Celestia, who smiled a loving smile to Luna.
“Me too Luna,” she said and closed her little sister into another hug.
“Are you coming or not?” Twilight asked as she peeked over her shoulder, towards Sombra who was hanging his head, not feeling very well. He gave a murdering look towards her.
“I already said that I’m sorry! How could I have known that a spell for curing headache wouldn’t work on hangover as well!” Twilight said to him, earning a groan.
Unlucky for Sombra as his nightly visitors left, his intoxication levels rose again. WHat was even more unfortunate was that Twilight’s spell had not taken away his hangover, only the headache part of it. Twilight grimaced at the look Sombra gave her, and continued to look forward. They were walking on a dirt road that went through a hilly landscape, in a small valley that was covered in apple trees. Big and healthy looking red apples hung in the trees, the light from the rising sun shone from their surface. She happily trotted down the road towards a big barn, which roof she could see over the top of the apple trees. The air was fresh and breathing it made Twilight feel energized. She was always happy to visit Sweet Apple Acres.
She again looked behind her. Clearly the same couldn’t be said about Sombra. He was hanging his head and his eyes were half closed. Twilight saw that he was breathing deeply and time to time he gagged. Again she grimaced, feeling sorry for not being able to cure his hangover completely, which was in a way her fault.
“Are you alright back there?” she asked and slowed down, waiting for Sombra to reach her side. He didn’t answer right away. He took a deep breath, then slowly lifted his head and looked at Twilight coldly.
“No, Twilight Sparkle. I most certainly am not feeling fine,” he answered, his voice calm and still it was dripping venom.
“Look,” Twilight started. “I’m sorry, but I knew that you wouldn’t tell me anything about yourself without… a bit of wine.”
“You are right,” Sombra said. “I wouldn’t have, and it was a dirty trick what you did.”
Twilight let out a disapproving ‘hmph’, before saying, “Look who’s talking. I think that slaving an entire empire is considered a ‘dirty trick’.”
Sombra’s expression grew colder, and he changed the subject by saying, “Why were you so interested about my history anyway?”
“I want to know what makes you tick,” Twilight joked with a smile, which was countered by a frown. She gulped and looked forward, continuing with serious tone, “I need to know about your history in order to know what… What made you become what you are.”
Twilight saw a glassy gaze take over Sombra’s eyes, as his mind probably went back in time. It was only for a moment though. Twilight lowered her ears at the grim glance Sombra gave her, realising to drop the subject. She started to think about different things to say.
“Why are we here?” Sombra asked, saving Twilight from the trouble. He then scowled and added, “At this hour?”
“Oh,” Twilight exclaimed. Why didn’t she think of that. “We are going to visit Sweet Apple Acres.”
“Why?” Sombra asked. Twilight sighed. He hadn’t read his calendar, which didn’t really surprise her. She gave him an annoyed look and explained, “Today you are going to learn about honesty.”
“So we will be visiting that hillb…” Sombra started, but was silenced by an angry glare from Twilight.
“You better behave. These are Apple family’s lands, and you are a visitor,” Twilight told Sombra, who yawned. It made her roll her eyes. She saw that they were already close to the farm itself. The main gate that led towards the Apple family’s house was already visible.
“You didn’t really give answer to my second question,” Sombra said.
“Oh yeah. Applejack gets up early, and spends almost the whole day working, especially now, when it’s apple bucking season,” Twilight told Sombra, who grunted and turned towards Twilight.
“And that’s the reason why I had to get up before the sun wasn’t even up, feeling like my head is filled with lead?” Sombra asked, his tail swishing behind him angrily.
“Well…” Twilight started slowly, carefully glancing at Sombra. “We will be helping her with her daily chores…”
“What!?” Sombra exclaimed, stopping on his track. Twilight too stopped and turned to face Sombra.
“It’s nothing big. Just helping her around a little here and there,” she told Sombra, who was still looking outraged by the idea of him doing farm work.
“You expect me to do plebeian work for a hillbilly like her!?” he asked, leaning closer to Twilight in challenging manner. Twilight returned the challenge, leaning forward so that their foreheads hit each other with a small thud. She winced, but did not back down. Not when it came to her friends.
“For the millionth and the last time,” Twilight said quietly, her ears folded backwards. She then pushed forward, saying slowly, punctuating every word, “Don’t. Call. Her. That!”
They stared at each other intensively for a long moment, neither of them saying a word. Both of them had fire burning in their eyes. Sombra’s was fuelled with rage and annoyance, while the fire in Twilight’s eyes was feeding from her need to protect her friends. The silent battle raged on, until they heard a voice coming from near them.
“If you two are done smoochin’, get yer flanks movin’. We ain’t got all day and the chores won’t be doin’ themselves!”
Their eyes widened in surprise at the comment. Also there was a visible blush on Twilight’s cheeks. They both stepped away from each other and spun towards the sound, where an orange earthpony with blonde mane and tail waited for them. Applejack tilted her stetson to the back of her head, curiously watching at the two ponies, a slightly teasing look in her green eyes. Twilight clearly hadn’t noticed it, and she started to mumble.
“I-He… No! It wasn’t anything like that! We-we were just…” Twilight kept going, the blush on her cheeks growing stronger. Sombra in turn did nothing but stared coldly at the apple bucking mare.
“Whoa Nelly!” Applejack calmed Twilight down as she trotted towards her. “I was foolin’ around with ya two.”
Twilight frowned and Applejack chuckled. She then said, “It’s good to see you Twi. Haven’t got time to meet after… -” she turned and gave Sombra a resentful look. “- the incident at The Crystal Empire.”
Sombra returned the look. There was daggers glared from both parties, but fortunately Twilight broke off the stare war between them by saying, “Sombra, what did I tell you about being polite?”
The level of loathe in Sombra’s gaze made both of the mares lower their ears, but for their great surprise, Sombra took a deep sigh and turned towards Applejack and spoke in a monotone, bored voice with a deadpan look on his face, “Good morning. The weather is pleasing.”
After that he walked past Applejack, towards the gate that lead towards the Apple family’s ranch. Applejack herself stayed on her place, looking towards him with her jaw hanging. She turned towards Twilight, who smiled proudly at her.
“We had to practise that for almost the whole time we spent walking here,” she said and again both of the mares looked at the stallion, who was now examining the sign that hung from the gate.
“Well I’ll be…” Applejack finally muttered. She then gave a respectful nod towards Twilight and said, “You actually managed to teach him something.”
“It’s not that he’s not capable of learning. It’s his attitude. I think that he in a way feels like being a nicer pony to others, but he also feels like he would like to do just the opposite. It’s hard to explain really,” Twilight told Applejack, who looked like she was thinking about something.
“I know what ya mean Twi…” she started and scratched her chin. “I just don’t know if it is like that. He doesn’t seem an awfully nice and friendly pony to me.”
Twilight couldn’t say that she agreed, but she also couldn’t say that she disagreed with her either. She had known Sombra as what he was now for such a short time that it was still hard to see what kind of pony he really was. Twilight looked at the dark stallion again, thinking that at least they were making progress.
“Alright then. Those apples won’t buck themselves,” Applejack announced and pulled her hat lower onto her forehead.
* * *
What was left of Sombra’s hangover was killed by physical work and the rise in temperature. He was sweating, but it was cold sweat. He was feeling better though, but just slightly. He cursed at the sun that shone without mercy from the cloudless sky. He didn’t even have energy to complain anymore, which Applejack was thankful for. Every time Applejack or Twilight Sparkle didn’t look, he panted like a dog. It was downright embarrassing to see that Applejack didn’t seem to even break sweat, while he looked like he had taken a dip in the nearby pond. His dark fur was glued tightly to his skin, and beads of sweat poured down on his frown. Overall, he looked very un-royal at the moment. Fortunately his companions didn’t seem to mind. And besides, Applejack was at least equally dirty as Sombra was.
Sombra took a closer look at the mare in question. She was just about to buck an apple tree, while talking to Twilight Sparkle. Her blonde mane and tail were tied to a ponytail, very practical. Something he valued. He never had been one for all those lovely suits or well-shaped manecuts that other royals had, but he had to admit that he couldn’t resist red silk capes.
He was shaken away from his trance as Applejack bucked the tree in one swift motion, making the apples fall down from the branches, landing nicely in the baskets placed under them. She was strong, he had to give her that. Sombra himself had to give the trees couple of kicks, before the apples fell, which Applejack could do with one quick kick with those powerful hind legs of hers. Sombra could see the big muscles moving under Applejacks skin. His gaze rose up her hind legs, following the curve of her flank all the way up to the base of her tail, before he realised what he was doing.
Sombra quickly turned away and stared into the distance. His face felt hot and his mind kept going back to the sight he had seen just seconds ago. What was that? Like he had felt some kind of a need towards that farm pony. He gulped and peeked over his shoulder. Applejack for some reason looked rather appealing to the eye, not to mention Twilight with her well-kept wings and smooth mane, elegant figure and big purple eyes. For some reason Applejack still got most of his attention. He quickly looked away again, trying to figure out why he was acting like that. He hadn’t felt anything like that for who knows how many years. Mostly he was angry to himself for getting all excited from a mare like her.
“Yoo-hoo?” Applejack suddenly called and waved her hoof in front of Sombra’s face, making him wince from surprise. He looked to his right and saw two big, green eyes looking at her with suspicious look in them. The look made him feel rather unease.
“You kinda spaced out there,” Applejack said, and Sombra did not answer. He just stared at Applejack with a dumb look on his face. After she didn’t get any answer from him, Applejack continued, “Twilight and I spoke.”
“So?” Sombra finally asked bluntly.
“So are we ready to start?” she asked, a hint of anger in her voice. Sombra started to wonder how he found her attractive a moment ago.
“Yes, we should proceed,” Sombra said. “Where do we start.”
With that Applejack turned around and started to walk towards the farm that could be seen from between the many apple trees. Twilight and Sombra followed, and she said, “It’ll be a lot more nicer to talk on the porch, don’t ya think?”
“I’d like that,” Twilight answered, and Applejack nodded with a smile.
They came to a large, empty field surrounded by a rotten looking wood fence. The ground looked dry and there hadn’t probably been any crops growing there for a lifetime. The whole image was made perfect by an old, rusty plow sadly sitting in the middle of the field. It was really a sad sight actually.
“We can take a shortcut through this here ol’ cornfield,” Applejack said and swung open a gate that lead to the field. She then added, “Me and Big Mac have thought about startin’ to grow corn again.”
“I thought you were apple farmers?” Sombra had to ask. The field didn’t look big enough for growing corn to be financially profitable.
“We are, but we can’t eat apples every darn day,” Applejack said. Twilight sensed friction between Applejack and Sombra, which was understandable.
“Well sorry for asking,” Sombra replied, looking equally annoyed as Applejack. They walked through the field slowly, in silence. They reached the rusty plow, and Sombra felt strange pity towards it. Maybe because he too knew how it felt to be abandoned, or banished actually. Left to rust in the middle of nowhere.
“Now…” Applejack suddenly started. “I’m new to this teaching stuff, so I hope that even some of it makes sense. First of all, what do you know of honesty?”
“Don’t lie?” Sombra answered. That’s pretty much what honesty was in his opinion.
“Well yes, that is one part of it, sure,” Applejack said. Meanwhile Twilight fell couple of steps behind them, levitating a notebook and a pencil from the saddlebag she was carrying. She had decided to write as many notes as she could.
“Well, Applejack,” Sombra spoke. “Tell me what honesty really is? Please, use simple words, for your own sake.”
Twilight’s pen snapped in half in her magical hold. She shot a fiery glance towards Sombra, ready to make Sombra suffer the same fate that her pen had. Luckily, Applejack was more patient, but still they could hear her grinding her teeth together.
“Honesty also means a lot more than just telling the truth,” Applejack told him. “Honesty is the way you act.”
“Explain,” Sombra demanded.
“Being honest means you act in a way that you know is the right thing to do,” she told him.
“What about if you don’t know what is right or what is wrong?” Sombra retorted.
“Nopony’s that rotten,” Applejack said and chuckled. They reached the end of the field, and Applejack pushed open the gate that lead almost straight to the front yard of the Apple family’s house. She then glanced at Sombra and asked, “Or are you tryin’ to tell me that you don’t know right from wrong? That is just plain stupid.”
Sombra didn’t answer. He decided to keep his mouth shut. Twilight was still closely listening the conversation, and she commented, “Is that how you really feel? What about when you met Ditzy? Why were you so polite and nice to her?”
Both Sombra’s and Applejack’s eyes went wide, but soon a teasing smirk appeared on Applejack’s face. She hit Sombra playfully on the shoulder and said, “You met Ditzy? Now why in the whole wide Equestria would you go acting nicely to a filly like her? Maybe you were feelin’ compassion towards her? But wait, that would mean that ya can actually know that it would be mean to call her names...”
Sombra’s face was neutral, but his tail swished angrily behind him. They rose the steps to the porch of the Apple family’s house, and sat down to chairs that were placed so that they were facing each other.
“Now that we have made sure that ya really have a conscience of some kind, we can move on,” Applejack told. Sombra noticed the small smile Applejack had on her face as she spoke. It annoyed him.
“You were talking about… honesty being the way you act. I still don’t understand,” Sombra said.
“Yes,” Applejack said with a nod. “Ya see… When you do something you know is wrong, or when you have to hide your actions because you know they are wrong, you are not bein’ honest. Even if you don’t lie, doesn’t mean that you can’t be dishonest in other way. Let’s say that you’re cheating. You are breaking the rules you have agreed on. Maybe you are stealin’ or doing something else that feels morally wrong to you.”
“Yes...” Sombra said, scratching his mane. He needed some good arguments. “But what if you don’t consider your actions… morally wrong? What if your actions feel completely justified, not wrong at all?”
“This gets us to the next part,” Applejack said and tilted her hat to the back of her head.
“Being honest to yourself.”
“And what do you mean by that,” Sombra asked with raised eyebrow. “You can’t lie to yourself.”
“Are you so sure? Being honest with yourself means you really know why you are acting in a certain way or whether what you tell yourself is true,” Applejack told. “You should treat yourself as honestly as you should treat others.”
Sombra rubbed his chin in thought. He needed some time to think for a proper reply. After couple of seconds he got one, “Why would somepony lie to himself?”
“You tell me,” Applejack said and stared him in the eyes. Sombra got her hint.
“Are you implying that I’m ‘not being honest with myself?’” he asked, gritting his teeth.
“That’s right. Otherwise you would feel pretty darn bad about slaving an entire empire of honest, hard-working ponies,” Applejack said and crossed her forehooves over her chest. Twilight glanced between the two, feeling the heavy tension in the air.
“I don’t regret my actions,” Sombra said slowly, and then his voice lowered into a growl, “Not even in the slightest.”
“Then why did you accept to be reformed?” Applejack asked with victorious.
“I don’t know!” Somba barked.
“You don’t know?” Applejack almost chuckled.
“Maybe you just thought that maybe it would be nice to be good for a change?” Twilight asked with hopeful smile that made Sombra grind his teeth.
He glared at Applejack and asked, “Do you want an honest answer?”
“Of course!” she answered. With that Sombra told her.
“I don’t know why! I am confused! I don’t like this one bit but for some reason I still keep doing this! I don’t even understand it myself! There are weird feelings in my head, something that I can’t explain! I hate it, but in the same time I want it!” Sombra spoke loudly and waved his hooves in frustration. He panted for a second before exclaiming, “I am confused!”
The mares were staring at him, wide-eyed. They then shared a glance at each other. Meanwhile Sombra was angrily staring at the floorboards of the porch. He couldn’t tell Applejack and Twilight that he had accepted to be reformed in order to just fool everypony into thinking that he was actually trying to be good, before betraying them and taking over their kingdom. Because that’s what he was going to do.
Wasn’t it?
Sombra closed his eyes. Even though he told himself that his reformation was all part of his own plans, he couldn’t help but to wonder about his recent times spent with Twilight Sparkle. It had had it’s ups and downs, but unfortunately she had managed to make him think about his history in a different way couple of times. He told himself that what he had said was just lies, but when he thought about that, the odd burning hurt his chest again, which he knew as a sign of something being wrong. And somewhere deep inside of him a small, almost completely quiet voice told him that maybe he had spoken the truth. Has he been completely honest with himself after all?
“That… That was something I did not expect,” Applejack said and scratched her right ear.
“Yeah,” Twilight said slowly.
“Well…” Applejack said and tilted her hat so that it almost dropped off. “That sounded like you were being a bit more honest with us.”
“I don’t know,” Sombra sighed and leaned into his forehooves. “I hate this.”
“Now why in Celestia would ya hate this?” Applejack asked.
“You all think that everything is so simple,” Sombra answered. “That I just turn good and forget everything that has happened.”
“Of course you can’t forget everything,” Applejack said and rubbed his hooves together, trying to think for a good answer. After couple of seconds she said, “But you can make a peace with it.”
“With the things I’ve done? No. No you can’t,” Sombra chuckled darkly.
“Are you sure?” Applejack asked. “You just have to face them first.”
Face them? Sombra turned to look at her. Her green eyes looked back at him with something that Sombra did not recognize at first. Then he realized that it was something resembling compassion. It made him feel strange and awkward. Nopony had looked at him like that in a while.
“I… I have to think about what you said, Applejack.”
Twilight then said encouragingly, “At least it made you think. That’s a good start.”
“Phew,” Applejack sighed and rearranged her hat on her head. “I thought that I was just wastin’ my time with you, but now I at least can hope that ya learned something.”
She and Twilight chuckled, before Twilight saw the uncomfortable look on Sombra’s face. She stretched a bit and then said, “I think we can finish up here for now.”
“Alright, I still need to get that darn barn door fixed anyway,” Applejack said and rose up. Sombra and Twilight followed.
“You should really think about what Applejack told you,” Twilight said to Sombra, who gave her a sideways glance.
“I will,” he answered to her. When he didn’t say anything else, Twilight gave a small kick to his hind leg and nodded towards Applejack. Sombra knew what she wanted him to do, and with a sigh and a roll of his eyes he turned to face the orange farm pony.
“I am thankful for your time Applejack Apple,” he said, earning a nod of approval from Twilight and a small nod from Applejack too.
“I can’t say that I consider you one of the ponies on my top ten list… Hay, not even in the top one hundred, but I have to say that at least you can be reasoned with,” she said with a bit awkward look, before adding under her breath, “Unlike with one certain pegasus.”
“And I can say that I honestly don’t want to meet with you under these circumstances ever again,” Sombra said with a small grin, earning a chuckle from her.
“Yeah, on that we can agree on,” Applejack said, and now Sombra chuckled. They both smirked at each other for a moment, before Applejack’s expression turned serious.
“Now get the buck of my farm.”
* * *
Twilight Sparkle and Sombra were making their way towards Ponyville and her castle. They were walking on a dirt road that lead them out of the apple orchards. Sombra was smelling of sweat and his coat was still glued to his skin. What made Twilight a bit confused was the fact that his mane and tail were still looking like they always did, thick and smooth, flowing in the wind a bit.
“So how did you like Applejack?” Twilight asked from the stallion besides her.
“I didn’t,” Sombra answered with stoic stare.
“Come on,” Twilight dragged. “I don’t know anypony who is more sincere pony than she is. Of course today could have gone better, but I don’t believe that you don’t like her one bit.”
Sombra gave her a deadpan look, before sighing, “Do you want my honest opinion about her?”
“Yes,” Twilight answered, and Sombra nodded. He stared in front of him and thought for couple of seconds before answering.
“I don’t like her. Clearly she is a stubborn and stupid mare,” Sombra said calmly, earning a groan of annoyance. Twilight was about to scold him, but he was quicker to respond, “But I found her attractive.”
Twilight’s ears drooped and her jaw hung open, her left eye twitching. Sombra didn’t notice it at first, but Twilight had stopped walking. He noticed it after he had walked couple of meters pass her. Sombra spun around, only to see that Twilight was still in her shocked stance. He didn’t know why though.
“Twilight Sparkle, is there something wrong?” he asked, not sure why. It wasn’t like he cared, right?
Twilight blinked and closed her mouth with a smack. The shock on her face turned into suspicious look and she asked with her voice cracking a little, “Attractive!?”
“Yes,” Sombra answered calmly. “You seem to think otherwise?”
“I-uh, no!” Twilight muttered. “Nothing like that! You just surprised me a bit…”
“How so? I do believe that it is completely normal for a stallion to find mares desirable,” Sombra told her, making Twilight’s ears pin down again.
“Desirable!? Now that’s a bit more than just finding her attractive!” Twilight exclaimed, her cheeks getting red. “And that’s my friend you are talking about!”
“We’re all grown up ponies here,” Sombra said. “And I can’t help it. She has such a great…”
“La la la, I don’t want to hear it!” Twilight almost screamed and started to trot again. She went past Sombra and he followed. There was a deep, awkward silence between them, but soon Twilight’s curiosity got the better of her.
“Wasn’t it you who kept reminding how much of an hillbilly she was? Now you say that she is… -” The blush re-appeared on her face. “- …desirable?”
“I guess opposites attract each other,” Sombra answered. Then he saw Twilight’s blush getting even brighter. With amusement he waited what was coming next.
“W-what is making her so… desirable?” she asked and glanced sneakily at Sombra. He grinned and then spoke.
“She has such an ideal hips for reproducing.”
Twilight’s eyes shot wide open and she looked at him with disgusted look on her face.
“Ew ew ew!” she exclaimed and shook her head, picking up her pace and walking couple of steps in front of Sombra. She was getting further away from him, still repeating the ‘ews’. Sombra couldn’t help but to laugh.
“Yours are not too bad either…” he said quietly with a smirk.
The study room of Twilight Sparkle was a real mess. Mainly due all the books that she had moved there from the living room, away from curious Sombra. There were many stacks of unsorted papers on the piles of books that were as high as a grown pony. Her desk was also under a big pile of book, papers, quills and other equipment that she needed. That included some basic things like theodolite, anemometer and high-end microscope. Yeah. Everyday things like that. Most of the books were piled on a spot where they weren’t too much in the way. In front of the only window that is. They blocked most of the sun’s light, making the room quite dark.
In the middle of all that chaos sat Twilight Sparkle, her horn glowing. She was levitating books and papers all around in her, making it look like there was actually some kind of an order in the room, and that she knew exactly where everything was. The truth was that she didn’t.
“Argh! Where is it?” she exclaimed annoyedly, levitating book after book in front of her. She always read the tittle and when she noticed that it was wrong book, she placed it back onto the place from where she had taken it. She kept at it for a while, groaning from frustration and dropping all the things in her magical grasp. She stood up and flapped her wings couple of time making some of the nearby paper stacks fall down, spreading all over the floor. That only fuelled her frustration.
“I know it is here somewhere, I know I saw it when we were moving the books around,” she spoke to herself. She spun around couple of times, desperately trying to locate the thing she was trying to find for the last time. She didn’t manage. Twilight hung her head and sighed deeply. She knew that there was only one option left, and she didn’t like it. She brushed her hoof through her long mane and lifted her head.
“Spike!”
“What!?” was the dragon’s answer. Twilight heard her number one assistant making his way towards her study. It didn’t take long before Spike’s head popped from the doorway, questioning look on his face.
“Where is the copy of ‘The Magic Studies of Star Swirl the Bearded?’” Twilight asked from Spike, who looked around the room.
“How did this happen?” he asked with a grin. “You are the one single most well organized pony I know.”
“I’ve been busy!” she answered annoyedly. “Now do you know where the book is or not?”
“Which volume?” Spike asked and knelt down in front of a small pile of books right next to the door. He picked them up and showed them to Twilight, who groaned. All of the volumes were there, in his hands.
“Sixth, thank you,” she said with her ears folded. Her answer made Spike look at her curiously, one brow raised.
“Sixth? You almost never read that one,” he wondered out loud. Twilight levitated the books from his hands, landing them to her desk after making some room. Spike walked over and examined the theodolite, asking, “What’s it about?”
“Don’t touch that,” Twilight scolded and snatched the instrument from Spike’s hands with her magic. Then she answered, a bit hesitatingly, “It has all the studies of Star Swirl the Bearded written down.”
“What studies? There’s like twenty volumes. Surely they all have their own subject matters,” Spike asked, sensing that Twilight was trying to dodge his question. His doubts were proven right as Twilight started to rub her front legs together, a troubled look on her face. She carefully glanced towards Spike, before starting to fiddle with her own mane.
“Dark magic,” she finally mumbled.
“Dark magic?” Spike asked, sounding more worried than surprised. “Come on Twi. You know that you shouldn’t be messing around with that stuff. Look what happened to Sombra!”
“Pfft. Stop being such an baby,” Twilight said to Spike, who still looked worried. That made Twilight smile warmly at him. She placed her hoof on his hand and asked, with gentle tone “And do you really think that I could ever do anything that would harm you or our friends?”
Spike took a hold of her hoof with his both hands, staring down at it. He then looked up at Twilight, a small smile on his lips. He rubbed her hoof with his thumbs and said, “Of course not Twilight. But be careful, okay?”
“Of course Spike,” Twilight said, before giving him a quick hug. They chuckled at each other after the hug, before Spike let go of her hoof, and said, “I have to go and help Rarity at Carousel Boutique. I might visit Applebloom after that.”
“Have you finished your chores already?” Twilight asked, and Spike nodded in response.
“I finished them half an hour ago,” Spike said as he started to walk away from her study.
“Don’t be too late!” Twilight called after him.
“Have I ever been late?” Spike shouted to her from the living room, making Twilight giggle. She knew that Spike wouldn’t be late. He never was. Still, something made her always remind him about things like wearing enough warm clothes in the winter and reminding him about the importance of eating his vegetables.
After Twilight heard the door of the living room opening and closing, she turned towards her desk and pulled a chair closer to it with her magic. She sat down and took the sixth volume of ‘The Magic Studies of Star Swirl the Bearded’ from between the books Spike had given her. It had a small layer of dust on it, which she blew away. She read the title with excited sparkle in her eyes.
“The complete study of dark magic,” she read out loud, her wings quivering a bit. With a swift move she opened the book, revealing the table of contents.
“History… Voodoo… True name spells… Immortality rituals… Necromancy… Curses and hexes…” she mumbled as she read the titles. All those words were sparking up her interest towards the branch of magic she was not so familiar with. She wasn’t sure why she hadn’t studied it more in the past. Probably because Celestia had always found something more important for her to do. Yes. That had to be it.
Without hesitating any longer, she flipped the first real page of the book, which subject was History of dark magic. To her unpleasant surprise, there wasn’t any text on the page that had anything to do with it. Instead there were two little sentences.
“Dark Magic is really dangerous. You shouldn’t read about it Twilight Sparkle.
Yours truly, princess Celestia.”
Clearly just a warning from Celestia. Twilight flipped to the next page, but it was empty too. A small amount of worry started to build up in her as the three other pages were empty too. She then lifted the book up with her magic, going through the whole book quickly. All the pages were blank.
Something in Twilight snapped. She folded her ears against her skull, gritting her teeth. There was an angry frown on her face and there was even smoke rising from her nostrils. She suddenly sprung up from her chair, sending it to a short flight across the room. Her wings flared open and she angrily started to pace around the room, toppling every pile of books or stack of papers that was unlucky enough to be on her way. She huffed and puffed as the angry look on her face grew even angrier, almost menacing like scowl. She still levitated the empty book in front of her face, before slowly lowering it, staring blankly in front of her.
“I’ve had enough!” she suddenly shouted in her royal Canterlot voice and the book flew against the wall across from her.
“I am a princess!” she continued to rage. “She can’t do this to me! I can study all I want, whenever I like!”
Twilight breathed quickly and then let out the rest of her frustration by shouting, “I’m a grown up mare for buck’s sake!”
She held her breath for couple of seconds, before letting the rest of her rage out by shouting as loud as she could, “Buck!” After her outburst was completed, she fell down to her stomach, panting a bit. She was a bit embarrassed by herself, but knew that she had a good reason to be mad. She thought that maybe she should send an angry letter to Celestia, but remembered that Spike was away from the castle, and that she would handle everything like a princess she was. No need to get any more angrier towards her fellow princess.
Twilight suddenly heard hoofsteps coming closer. Soon Flash Sentry and Sam rushed to the room with startled looks on their faces.
“Princess Twilight! Are you alright?” Flash inquired and looked around for a possible intruder.
“I’m fine Flash,” Twilight groaned and swept a hoof across her face. “I just overreacted a bit. No need to be alarmed.”
“Oh,” Flash said slowly. “Well if you need anything, just call us princess Twilight.”
“Yes yes, I will,” Twilight said and dismissed them by waving her hoof towards the door, where the guards soon left. After that Twilight stood up, swept her hoof through her now tangled mane while sighing deeply. She then took a deep breath and levitated the book that had caused all the ruckus towards her. For the one last time she opened it, and noted that it was still empty. With a frustrated groan she threw it on her desk, while lifting the chair back to it’s place. She sat down and thought. Celestia had given those books for her when she was just a filly, and surely she had thought that dark magic wasn’t a thing a filly like Twilight should be playing with. Still, it made Twilight really angry at Celestia, whether if she had meant good or not.
She flapped her wings a couple of times, before retracting them firmly against her sides. Her rage had calmed down, but her need for learning hadn’t. Actually it had just gotten even stronger. What could she do now? Her only book about the subject was no use, and it would take days before she could get a new one from the royal library, if Celestia would even allow the library staff to send her one. The situation was making her nervous and annoyed. Where could she learn about dark magic now?
She suddenly perked up, realizing that she knew a pony that knew more than enough about the subject. Even better, he was in her castle, unable to escape. With a quick flap of her wings, Twilight hopped up to her hooves. With a determined stare on her face, she started to walk towards the living room. Not even Celestia could stop her now. Sombra would tell her everything she wanted to know, she would make sure of that.
“Flash?” she called as she walked through the living room. The door’s that lead towards the staircase opened a little, and Flash Sentry peeked inside.
“You called princess?” the orange pegasus asked
“Yes. Where is Sombra?” Twilight asked and walked towards the guard, who opened the door for her. Sam was standing in pose on the other side of it.
“We saw him in the lower halls,” Sam told her. “ He was wandering around and looking at paintings.”
“I will have a conversation with him. Do not disturb us,” she told them, and the guard ponies saluted, Flash not looking too happy. Normally Twilight would have told them not to salute her, but this time she didn’t care.
With that she left the guards and started to trot down the spiralling stairs, towards the lower parts of her castle. She realized that she hadn’t asked that in which floor Sombra was, but she knew that most of the paintings her castle had were in the second floor, right over the big throne room. She soon reached her destination, and opened the heavy doors with her magic, revealing a long, dark corridor behind them. It was almost identical to the many corridors in Canterlot’s Castle. The walls had paintings evenly spaced on both sides of the corridor. The paintings were showing the rulers of Equestria in chronological order, meaning that Twilight herself was in the far end of the corridor from her spot.
Twilight stared into the dark corridor for a moment. Had it always been so poorly illuminated?
“Sombra?” she called, but did not get an answer. Her enthusiasm died down a little when she stared down towards the darkness. She didn’t let it stop her though. With a little concentration her horn came to life, starting to glow in bright white light. It illuminated the corridor for about twenty meters forward, and she started to move. Somehow she knew that Sombra had to be there.
“Sombra? I know you are here,” she called again, with same results as before. She continued to trot towards the darkness, passing by the pictures of her predecessors. She soon slowed down, into a steady walking pace. She kept thinking that she should really get some torches there or something.
“Looking for me? Twilight Sparkle?” she heard familiar, deep voice from behind her. She yelped and spun around. She got into her defensive stance, her head held low, wings erected and her horn ready for action. Sombra’s big form stood behind her, grinning. The white light from her horn made his facial features seem overemphasised. The light also reflected from his curvy red horn and the magic-preventing cuff around it.
“Why so jumpy, Twilight Sparkle?” He asked from the startled mare.Twilight panted from surprise and then cursed, which was very unladylike.
Sombra started to chuckle, before saying, “I still seem to have it in me.”
Twilight let out an angry snort, before shouting, “You idiot! I could have hurt you!”
“I doubt that,” was his answer. Not saying anything more, he turned towards the nearest painting and examined it with an interested look on his face. Twilight too turned towards the painting, and to her surprise it was a painting of herself, in her representative dress.
“How did you even do that?” she asked from him.
“Dramatic entrance is the key to everything,” Sombra said and kept staring at Twilight’s picture, which made her feel rather awkward.
“What are you doing in here?” Twilight asked, trying to not think about the fact that Sombra was now staring at her picture so… weirdly.
“It’s nice and dark in here,” Sombra said. “Quiet too.”
He then turned towards Twilight, his mane swaying over his face. He didn’t let that bother him as he asked, “How about you?”
Twilight had to think for a moment, before actually remembering why she was there.
“I-I need some information from you,” she answered his question.
“What kind of information are we talking about?” Sombra asked, a frown on his face. “I’ve told you many times that I won’t be answering any questions about my past. Not after your last trick.”
“I know, and It’s not about you,” Twilight told. “I want you to…”
She trailed off as Sombra kept looking at her with deadpan look. The tips of his fangs could be seen peeking from between his lips, and his red eyes were fixated to hers. For a moment, him staring at her made Twilight feel hot around her cheeks.
“Yes?” Sombra asked, clearly a bit annoyed now. It soon caught Twilight too.
“I want you to tell me about dark magic.”
Sombra looked surprised for a moment, before he cracked a laugh. An eerie laugh.
“Oh. Twilight Sparkle, the princess of friendship wants to know about dark magic?” he mocked. He then leaned a bit closer towards her and asked, “Aren’t you a bit too young to know about such things?”
“You better watch your tongue right now,” Twilight hissed. “I’m not in a mood for fooling around today.”
“So did I hear,” Sombra said with a smirk, referring to her earlier outburst. Twilight blushed because of his remark. He then continued, “I have to say I was quite amused by it. You don’t hear a princess screaming such uncouth words like that everyday.”
“I told you, I’m on the edge right now!” Twilight snapped. She then sighed, and spoke in a bit calmer manner.
“Are you going to tell me about dark magic or not? Because I’m going to make you speak if you refuse,” Twilight spoke calmly, yet sternly. That made Sombra smile.
“That’s good. You spoke in a way that made me think that I had a choice, before you made clear that I don’t,” he said with a chuckle. That made Twilight frown at him angrily. He saw it and quickly said, “It seems that I don’t actually have any choice.”
“No. You don’t.”
“Alright. Shall we start?” Sombra asked and lied down to his stomach, folding his forelegs. Twilight gave him a wide eyed stare.
“What? Here?” she asked with confused look.
“Why not? I find this place the most fitting for a subject like this,” Sombra explained. After that they were quiet for a moment, just staring at each other. Twilight was trying to determine if Sombra was just trying to mess with her, but after a while she groaned and lied down in front of him.
“So…” Sombra dragged. “What would you like to know?”
“Everything,” Twilight answered with a nod, earning only a deep laugh from the stallion in front of her. She frowned and asked, “What is so funny about it?”
“Oh, nothing… nothing…” Sombra answered, still laughing a bit. “It is just that even I don’t know everything about dark magic.” Twilight’s ears were drooped, and her eyes wide.
“B-but you are one of the most powerful wizards know to ponykind. It’s because of you that the term dark magic was invented!” she said, waving her other hoof for emphasis.
“That’s very flattering,” he smiled. “But that still doesn’t mean that I know everything about that branch of magic.”
“Well what do you know then?” Twilight asked, an irritated frown appearing onto her face.
Sombra eyed at her quietly for a moment. He then started to speak.
“What I know is that the magic you master is completely different from the magic I master, all while our magic is in fact the very same thing,” he told her.
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.
“That they are same force,” Sombra said, earning a suspicious look from Twilight.
“What are you talking about? Good magic is good magic. Dark magic is dark magic,” Twilight protested.
“For an alicorn, you are quite stupid one,” Sombra said, but the murdering look on Twilight’s face made him quickly add, “Or of course it is because you have never used dark magic yourself.”
“I have used dark magic!” Twilight said. “And it didn’t feel too different to me. Just a lot harder to do than normal magic.”
“You may have used dark magic, but have you never used it?” Sombra asked, raising his eyebrow. Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but closed it as she thought about the sentence he had said.
“That makes no sense!” she said and crossed her front hooves.
“It makes all the sense,” Sombra answered with a nod. “You may have done some simple spells that your precious princess Celestia has taught you, but you have never even scratched the surface.”
“Surface?” Twilight asked, looking as confused as ever.
“Yes…” Sombra said with a grim look on his face. “When you really start to understand the powers of dark magic, you start to feel the effects on yourself too.”
“What kind of effects?” Twilight asked, leaning closer towards him.
“First it is just weariness, fatigue and trouble sleeping…” Sombra told, before holding a small thinking pause. “You see, mostly dark magic is used for actions of ill nature. It eats pony’s soul bit by bit…”
“Magic is making the pony using it turn evil?” Twilight cut in, wide eyed.
“No. Somepony interrupting them is making them evil,” Sombra said, making Twilight zip her mouth. Then Sombra continued, “But no. The magic itself is not making the user ‘turn evil’ as you put it. What I was trying to say that the actions those ponies do will eat their soul bit by bit. Not the magic. I do believe that it is just the opposite.”
“What?” Twilight asked. “What do you mean by that? That the things the ponies do is affecting their magic?”
“Exactly,” Sombra said and nodded. “You see Twilight Sparkle... Dark magic feeds on the feelings like hatred and greed, while this ‘magic of friendship’ of yours feeds on…”
He spun his hoof slowly in circles, and Twilight realized to continue, “Friendship.”
“Yes, something like that.” he answered. “I think that you know that when you truly believe in the elements of harmony, and act by them, then your magic is a lot stronger, yes?”
“T-that’s actually what I was studying before you showed up…” Twilight muttered, maybe to herself.
“And what comes to dark magic, when you reek of hatred, act greedily, crawl in sorrow or anything like that, your powers get even stronger.”
“What about… lets say evil unicorns like you. There have been many of them before, and not all of them have used dark magic in any form,” Twilight spoke, earning a nod from Sombra.
“Yes. As you know, every unicorn will learn to use their magic for day-to-day needs, but how many can do anything besides that?” Sombra asked.
“Not too many,” Twilight answered, starting to see what he was trying to say.
“Like any magic, dark magic needs years and years of practice before you can master it like I do.”
“I-I think that I understand…” Twilight said slowly. Then she looked like she was wondering on something. “Do you know anything about magical artifact that use dark magic?”
She kept a small pause, trying to think for a good example. She got one, and then she dropped the bomb.
“Like the Alicorn Amulet?”
Suddenly the air was heavy with intense silence. Sombra’s eyes were fixated to her’s, an strange, dark look in them.
“What did you say?” Sombra asked with stern voice.
“The Alicorn Amulet. You don’t know about it?” Twilight asked, making Sombra’s expression turn more serious. Twilight took the silence as ‘no’.
“The amulet that Trixie wore when she went all evil only to humiliate me?” she continued.
“Who is this Trixie? Where is she?” Sombra asked.
“You don’t even know Trixie!?” Twilight asked with a confused look. Then she remembered that Sombra has been out of the picture for more than seven years, so no wonder that he didn’t know about the whole Alicorn Amulet accident.
“Sorry. I forgot that you were…” she started, but didn’t finish as she didn’t want to remind him anymore about it. Instead she skipped couple of words and continued, “Well I think I have all the newspapers stashed around the living room shelves if you are interested in knowing more.”
“Where does this Trixie live?” Sombra said with a strange, curious look in his eyes that Twilight did not notice. Unfortunate for her.
“I don’t know,” Twilight said with a shrug. “I haven’t seen her since she left after we got the amulet away from her.”
“Do you have it?” Sombra asked with his eyes wide. “That amulet, do you have it here in this castle?”
“No,” Twilight said. “I gave it to Zecora so she would hide it somewhere where nopony would find it. It’s too dangerous.”
“Do you know where she hid it?” Sombra asked, and Twilight started to wonder why he was so interested about the Alicorn Amulet.
“Why you ask?” she asked.
Sombra looked away from her and said casually, “It just sounds interesting. I would love to study such an artifact like that. I used to gather things like that when I was still in power. I had quite an collection back in the day.”
“Really!?” Twilight asked excitedly. “What kind of artifacts are we talking about?”
“Everything that was related to dark magic actually. There were runes, enchanted jewelry, cursed weapons… Almost everything.”
“Where are they now? I would pay to get to see them.” Twilight said, dreaming about the lairs of magical things to study with her complex equipment in order to learn their secrets.
“They were destroyed...”
“Oh.”
“...By Celestia.”
“I see…” Twilight said slowly, remembering why she had raged earlier. “Well anyway, the Alicorn Amulet made the magical powers of it’s wearer grow. Trixie could do spells she will never be able to do, even with intense training, it is impossible for her to learn such spells.”
“But there is a downside for using the Amulet, isn’t there?” Sombra asked.
“Yes. It corrupts it’s user, making even the nicest pony turn evil to the bone. How did you know?” Twilight asked with a raised brow.
“Just a lucky guess. Nothing in dark magic comes without a price,” Sombra said.
There was a silence between them again. Twilight thought about what Sombra had said. ‘Nothing in dark magic comes without a price. Was he talking about his own experiences? What had been the price Sombra had paid?
“Were you talking about yourself? What did you pay?” she asked quietly.
Sombra’s expression grew serious.
“I thought that we were not supposed to talk about me or my past,” he said coldly.
“No! I didn’t mean it like that!” Twilight tried.
They stared at each other for a moment longer, before Sombra closed his eyes and stood up. Twilight was confused by his actions and asked, “Where are you going.”
“Somewhere else,” was his blunt answer.
Twilight was getting fed up with his constant running away when the conversation turned towards his past.
“You can’t just keep walking away every time! Why did you learn dark magic!?” she shouted after Sombra, as he was walking towards the darkness of the corridor, towards the way where Twilight had came from.
“I had a lot of hatred and sorrow to work with. Let’s leave it at that.”
Twilight was dumbfounded by his answer. Actually she hadn’t waited for an answer of any kind, and now when she got it she didn’t know what to say. She looked towards Sombra, and saw him peeking over his shoulder, towards her. For a moment when their gazes met, Twilight thought that she saw pain in his eyes. Before she was sure, he turned away and disappeared into the darkness.
“Wait! I still have questions!” she called after him.
“Maybe some other time,” Sombra answered.
“Why The Crystal Empire?” Twilight continued. “Tell me about your cutiemark!”
“Some other time,” Sombra answered, his voice echoing in the corridor. His hoofsteps got further away, and soon Twilight saw light at the other end of the corridor as Sombra opened the door and walked out, leaving her alone.
Behind the doors, Sombra sat down, leaning against them. He stared at the wall across the staircase, not actually seeing it. There was too much going on his head at the moment. It was still in existence? The Alicorn Amulet. That wasn’t the best of names for the sign of ultimate power, the crystal ponies didn’t have much of an imagination during those times. He personally liked the name that it had had before he wore it around his neck thousand years ago.
“The King’s Gem,” Sombra muttered and continued to stare at the wall.
Once again it was a pleasant day in Equestria. Of course it was. Sombra was getting fed up with the sunny weather and warm breeze. Where was the refreshing rain and the brisk morning frost? Everything was so fine in Equestria. It made Sombra almost angry. The fact that he had found out that one of his most powerful magical artifacts was being held in custody by Twilight Sparkle wasn’t helping his bad mood. He was constantly on the edge.
Sombra glanced towards the mare he was thinking about. She happily trotted next to him, a constant smile on her face. How could she be so carefree around him? He was a bad, evil pony who could do terrible things to her, but she just smiled.
The duo was almost at the cottage of one certain shy pegasus. Twilight had arranged a new meeting with one of the elements. Fluttershy was her name. Sombra remembered her from the throne room. She had smelled of fear. They were getting closer to the edge of the Everfree Forest. Sombra was getting weird chills from the dark looking forest, not sure why. Something in that forest didn’t feel right.
Sombra shook those feelings away, thinking why he was there in first place. He wasn’t happy about the meeting Twilight had arranged to him, but at least she hadn’t started to scold him about their little scene in her castle day before.
“About yesterday…” Twilight suddenly started.
There we go.
“What about it?” Sombra asked bluntly. Twilight stopped and so did Sombra. Twilight had that determined look that she always wore when she wanted results.
“I think that you acted really rude by leaving in the middle of our conversation,” Twilight told him, earning a roll of eyes from Sombra.
“I didn’t like the way it was going,” Sombra told her.
Twilight sighed and her expression softened a little, and she spoke gently, “Keeping quiet about your past won’t help you in any way. If you would just talk about it, I’m sure that…”
“That everything would become clear and I would be happy? All the pain would go away and I would live my life happily ever after?” Sombra suddenly barked at her, making her backup a couple of steps with her ears folded backwards.
“Well it doesn’t always work like that, Twilight Sparkle,” Sombra spat and then waited for an answer that took a while to come. Twilight opened and closed her mouth couple of times, before she gave him an answer he wasn’t expecting.
“I’m sorry.”
“What?” Sombra asked, with confused look. Twilight looked at him with wide eyes and her ears still folded. Sombra kept staring at her until she spoke.
“I’m sorry…” Twilight muttered. “I guess that… That I was being too intrusive about your past...”
“Stop” Sombra said annoyedly as he saw the sad look on her face. “Stop this right now. Forget all we spoke about and for the love of void don’t start to cry.”
“I really mean it,” Twilight said quickly. Her posture slumped a bit when she spoke “I see that it is a hard subject for you.”
“It is. Now stop,” Sombra almost begged.
“But remember,” Twilight continued despite his objections. “When you feel ready to talk, I will be there for you.”
“Oh for the love of…” Sombra mumbled to himself.
“It’s okay,” Twilight said. “We will talk when you are ready.”
“I appreciate that,” Sombra said in irritated tone. “Now could we just continue walking? We don’t have all day.”
With that they started to walk again. Sombra noticed that Twilight Sparkle was still slumping and she was walking a couple of steps behind him, looking almost embarrassed. Something in seeing her like that made Sombra feel wrong.
“Stop sulking,” he commanded, earning a strange look from her. He then added, “You are calling yourself a princess, so start acting like one.”
“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked confusedly.
“Walk with your head up straight. It annoys me to see you like that. Also stop worrying about me. My past isn’t your problem after all, and it won’t be going anywhere. We will talk about it someday,” Sombra told her, and she did as he told her. Sombra was pretty surprised by his own answer. Why had he promised such a thing to her? Was it just a way to cheer her up, and if it was, why would he want her to cheer up? Nothing made sense. Twilight soon trotted next to him and eyed at him carefully.
“What?” Sombra asked as she kept staring.
“Nothing,” Twilight quickly said and started to stare in front of her. Sombra glanced at her with suspicious look. Twilight was aware about that, but kept looking forward with calm look on her face. Actually her thoughts were racing. Was Sombra showing some kind of caring towards her by telling her not to worry about him. Didn’t that mean that he didn’t want her to trouble herself because of him?
They walked for a minute longer, before Twilight announced, “Here we are.”
Even though Sombra had never seen the house itself, it was easy to spot. There were many dog houses, rabbit holes and bird- and hen houses around the small cottage that told him that it had to be the right place. There were also a couple of mean looking, grey colored hounds lying on a small bridge that crossed a small stream. Sombra didn’t like the looks of them. It seemed that they didn’t like the looks of him either, because as he got closer, they started to growl and both of them showed their teeth to him. Sombra did the same, and the dogs slowly backed away, their tails between their hind legs.
“I advise that you don’t do that when around Fluttershy,” Twilight told him. “I’ve seen her buck a fully grown stallion across a road when he kicked one of her kittens.”
“That is quite hard to believe from her,” Sombra said skeptically.
Twilight chuckled and said, “Don’t try your luck. She also has a…. bodyguard of some sort.”
“A bodyguard?” Sombra asked with amused voice. “Why on Equestria does she need a bodyguard?”
“She was so afraid to see you that she had to call for him to be with her during our visit,” Twilight told him. She then smiled and said, “But he won’t be any trouble if you behave, which I think won’t be a problem.”
“I will behave if they don’t give me a reason not to,” Sombra said, and received a nod from Twilight.
They stopped in front of the door of the cottage. It was a cozy looking building with round windows and a roof covered with moss. There were lots of bird houses attached to the building and nearby trees, but there were only a couple of the birds to be seen. Somehow the lack of animals didn’t seem right. Curtains were pulled over the windows, but there was clearly somepony inside because they saw light through the curtains.
“Things to remember?” Twilight asked from Sombra, who took a deep breath before speaking.
“Good manners, don’t scare her to death, be nice to the animals, learn about kindness,” he listed.
“Very good,” Twilight smiled and then knocked on the door.
There was a long moment before nothing happened. Sombra was sure that nopony would come to open the door, but Twilight waited patiently. Like she had predicted, the door creaked open just enough that a big, cyan eye could be seen from between the gap between the door and the wall.
“Um… Hi Twilight,” Fluttershy greeted with a barely audible voice. “I-I have been waiting for you.”
“Hi Fluttershy,” Twilight said with a smile. “Is your guest already here?”
“Oh yes,” Fluttershy answered, still not opening the door completely. “We were actually just having tea.”
Sombra was feeling kinda sad for the mare. Even when it was one of her best friends at the door, she couldn’t let her in without fearing that something bad would happen. She reeked of fear, something he might have liked a while back, but now it was making him feel bad for the mare. It was something like when he met with the wall-eyed mare, Ditzy. Against his nature, Sombra decided to act nicely. Not because of the bodyguard Twilight was talking about, but because of his newfound feeling of compassion. Even if he didn’t like it, he was alright with it.
“Umm… Is he there?” Fluttershy asked shyly, in which Twilight nodded. She then pulled Sombra towards herself from his hoof so the shy mare could see him from the small gap. Immediately as the big frame of stallion was in front of her, Fluttershy’s pupils shrank to the size of pinpricks. For a moment she didn’t say anything, but then she muttered, “G-g-good day… M-mister S-S-Sombra…”
Sombra forced himself to smile and he said as gently as he could, “Good day miss Fluttershy.”
Twilight was proud of his nice greeting, and she said, “He’s not so bad when you get to know him. Stubborn and stupid maybe, but not as bad as you would think.”
Sombra snorted angrily at her remark, but before he could say anything, Twilight asked from Fluttershy, “Can we come in? We have a lot to talk about.”
“Oh,” Fluttershy squeaked. “Of course Umm… Would you mind to scrub your hooves on the doormat? Um… If that’s okay with you of course.”
The door opened, but Fluttershy kept hiding behind it. Twilight and Sombra scrubbed their hooves to the doormat as she had asked and went inside. Sombra found out that the cottage wasn’t made for a pony as big as him. There were even more birdhouses inside the house, hanging from the ceiling. There were also small staircases around the ceiling beams and some of them lead on top of an old baking oven. Sombra had to be careful on every step so he wouldn’t topple down something. There were no animals in the cottage though, which was rather odd in Sombra’s opinion. There didn’t seem to be anypony besides them in the house, but Sombra knew that there surely was somepony else in there. Or something actually.
“P-please have a seat,” Fluttershy trembled.
Sombra and Twilight nodded and they sat on a green sofa in front of a window with curtains pulled over it. Sombra carefully sat down on the fragile looking furniture. The last thing he wanted to do was break Fluttershy’s belongings. Fluttershy sat down on a green armchair that was next to the sofa.
There was a small coffee table between the armchair and sofa, and on it was a rather weird looking lamp. Sombra eyed it carefully. It was a creature with a snake like body, tail of a dragon, different pair of wings and horns, goats head with one fang. It’s other arm was like a lions paw, while the other one was like an eagles claw. In it’s hands was a light bulb. The legs were a different pair too. A real abomination.
“That is quite a queer looking lamp,” Sombra commented.
“Oh,” Fluttershy winced when he spoke. She hid behind her mane like she had done something bad and said quietly, “That’s not a lamp actually.”
“What?” Sombra asked and leaned closer towards the weird object for a better look. He almost leapt out of his skin when the eyes of the lamp blinked.
“Gah! What is that?” he asked with wide eyes as the creature moved. What surprised him even more was that the little thing on the coffee table answered in a deep, somewhat charismatic voice.
“So this is the new one? King Somber was it?” The small creature spoke and jumped down to the floor, looking at Sombra with annoying smile. Sombra in turn just stared with his eyes wide and jaw hanging. The mares were rolling their eyes.
“What are you?” Sombra finally asked from the ‘lamp’ that was fiddling the light bulb in it’s hands.
“Oh of course. Where are my manners?” the creature spoke. In the next second there was a small popping sound heard, and there, in front of Sombra stood the same creature. Only that now it was a lot bigger than he was. Sombra had to look up at it when it spoke, “I am Discord. The lord of chaos. Surely you have heard of my exploits?”
Sombra stared at Discord for a short moment, before he managed to answer, “I have.”
“Wonderful!” Discord exclaimed and shook his hoof. “That saves us a lot of time by me not having to introduce myself. And what comes to you, I know more than enough.”
Somba didn’t say anything. Discord said that he knew more than enough about him. What did Discord mean with that? Like Discord would have read his mind, he threw the light bulb into his mouth and chew on it while talking to the more or less confused Sombra, “King Sombra. The tyrant of Crystal Empire. Quite an accomplishment if you ask me. I just don’t understand why you made the whole empire so dull.”
Again, silence. Discord frowned and leaned towards Twilight, whispering, “Is he slow or something?”
Twilight shrugged and Discord sighed. He turned towards Sombra. He held his talon up and had his lion paw behind his back as he spoke matter-of-factly, “And I also know that you have failed as a villain, like the rest of us.”
“Rest of us?” Sombra asked, realising that it was just the thing Discord wanted him to ask. He smirked and snapped his talons. There was a loud pop, and a big cloud of smoke. Sombra was surprised as there, in front of him was a big painting that Discord held in his hands. His jaw dropped as he recognized himself in the picture, among couple of other ponies and creatures.
“See?” Discord asked. “There is you and me, I took some artistic freedoms and painted this little jester hat on you. Then there is Tirek, Nightmare Moon, Queen Chrysalis and Trixie Lulamoon with her Alicorn Amulet. All of us were defeated by who else than our beloved princess, Twilight Sparkle.”
Sombra didn’t answer. He was staring at the mare called Trixie, or what was around her neck actually.
It was his Alicorn Amulet. There wasn’t any doubt about it.
“Dissy,” Fluttershy said quietly, and Discord made the painting disappear, breaking Sombra’s train of thought.
“Yes Fluttershy?” he asked from the cream yellow pegasus, who was smiling a small smile at him.
“We have some business to do, so would you please give us some privacy?” Fluttershy spoke, not in the scared tone she spoke in when she was talking to Sombra. It was strange to him.
“Of course dear Fluttershy,” Discord answered. Even more strange to Sombra was that Discord actually obeyed her. He watched as Discord was about to snap his talons again, but Fluttershy quickly whispered to him, “Don’t go too far.”
“Of course not,” Discord said with a smile and snapped his talons. He disappeared but soon they heard his sleek voice say from somewhere behind them, “I will be just hanging around here.”
They looked behind themselves and saw his familiar grin and a pair of yellow eyes with red irises in the curtains that hung on both sides of the window.
“Really?” Twilight asked with deadpan look. “That’s the best you got?”
“On a short notice like this, yes,” Discord answered calmly, and Twilight rolled her eyes. She then turned back towards Sombra and Fluttershy.
“Now shall we begin?” she asked and dug the same notebook from her saddleback that she had had on the Apple family’s farm.
Sombra nodded and turned towards the cream colored mare with pink mane. He noticed how she was again hiding her face behind her pink mane, only one of her big, cyan eyes visible. She averted his gaze and rubbed her front-hooves together nervously. Her long pink tail swished from time to time, a sign of nervousness. Her wings twitched a bit too. Sombra found the sight quite adorable in it’s own way. She was so delicate and fragile looking and still she had tamed the god of chaos himself. She was far more than you could see on the outside.
“Miss Fluttershy,” Sombra started, and the mare winced. Sombra felt like walking on a shaky bridge while talking to her. He turned towards Twilight for help, but she just waved her hoof at him a sign to continue.
A bit hesitantly he continued, “Please, tell me about kindness.”
Twilight scribbled something down with a smile.
“A-Umm…” Fluttershy mumbled. She gathered all her courage and then quickly said, “Kindness is being nice to others...”
Then she was quiet, staring at her hooves. Everypony else in the cottage waited for her to continue. She didn’t. Twilight was first one to say something.
“Maybe a bit more detailed version would be nice?” she asked. Fluttershy opened and closed her mouth and her eyes went from Twilight to Sombra.
“It’s not that hard,” Twilight said a bit annoyed. Sombra could see the yellow mare getting more stressed out by Twilight’s scolding. Fluttershy grabbed her own tail and fiddled with it nervously, still opening and closing her mouth like a fish on land. Sombra couldn’t watch it anymore.
“Stop pressuring her,” Sombra said. “We have all the time in the world.”
Both of the mares and Discord looked at him strangely. Discord was heard chuckling amusedly. Sombra gave an angry glance towards the curtains, but Twilight soothed him down by saying, “You’re right. Sorry Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy was still staring at Sombra, her tail still in her hooves. Both Sombra and Twilight noticed it. It took a while before Fluttershy noticed that they were staring back, and immediately her cheeks flushed bright red and she covered behind her mane.
“Oh that’s okay Twilight,” the shy pegasus mumbled and took a peek at Twilight from behind her mane. She then turned her gaze towards Sombra and said quietly, “T-Thank you. That was really k-kind of you.”
Twilight wrote something down and then turned towards Fluttershy. She blinked confusedly as Twilight said, “I told you that he isn’t as bad as he looks.”
There was again a long silence, but this time nopony hurried Fluttershy. She rubbed her front-hooves together and kept staring at them. After a while others started to glance at each other, thinking that maybe she wasn’t going to say anything. As if on cue, Fluttershy spoke.
“Kindness… It is something that my mom taught me,” Fluttershy spoke quietly, looking almost sad. “I was bullied in Cloudsdale, but she told me to kill them… with kindness.”
“A bit harsh metaphor, don’t you think?” Discord commented, but nopony paid any attention to him.
“When I was younger, I didn’t actually get what she meant with that,” Fluttershy admitted. “But when I got older, I realised what she meant.”
Sombra was listening to her story, actually waiting for the explanation to the weird metaphor. He saw Fluttershy smiling a bit when she continued, “I killed the bully in the ponies by being kind to them. Did you know that Rainbow Dash actually bullied me when we were younger?”
“What?” Twilight asked with eyes wide from surprise. “But she’s the element of loyalty!”
“Yes, but we weren’t friends at first,” Fluttershy told her and shook her head. “But no matter what she said to me, I was always nice to her, helped her in her homework and things like that.”
“Why?” Sombra asked, finally joining the conversation. He couldn’t understand why would somepony treat an enemy like a friend? He wouldn’t.
Fluttershy was taken a bit back by his question. She managed to give an answer though, “Because I saw good in them? -” Her voice lowered into a small squeak. “- I guess…”
“And she became your friend?” Sombra asked and Fluttershy nodded.
“We became best of friends,” Fluttershy smiled. Then the familiar blush appeared onto her face and she smiled shyly as she added, “I think she had a… thing for me back then too…”
Twilight looked shocked and Sombra didn’t seem to be too upset about it, while Discord was laughing out loud.
After the scene was over, Sombra continued, “But why did she become your friend? Why did she want to befriend a pony she considered less worthy than herself?”
Twilight was writing in her notebook again.
“She wasn’t a bad pony,” Fluttershy spoke quietly with gentle voice. “She was just confused and young. She needed a friend.”
Sombra was quiet, so Fluttershy continued, “When you are acting truly kind, you sacrifice yourself to help others. That’s what I did with Rainbow Dash.”
“You sacrificed yourself only to make somepony else happy? Even it meant yourself getting bullied? Makes no sense!” Sombra exclaimed. He was getting confused.
“I got my reward,” Fluttershy smiled. “I got the most loyal friend a pony could ever have.”
Sombra noticed that she was getting more confident. She looked at him when they spoke, but not in the eyes. Not yet. Her posture was far more straight than when they started. Her cyan eyes were sparkling with pride when she spoke of her friend. Sombra liked that.
He glanced towards the curtains, where he saw the pair of yellow eyes with red irises staring back at him. He then turned towards the shy pegasus and asked, “Did it work with him too?”
“Excellent question!” Discord said and the curtains flapped happily. “Please dear Fluttershy, tell him how it happened.”
“If you want,” Fluttershy said and turned towards Sombra. She then started to tell the story how Discord was reformed, “When princess Celestia decided to reform him, she gave the task to me.”
“I reckon it went well?” Sombra chuckled.
“Oh yes,” Fluttershy answered. “My friends weren’t too happy about it, but I was sure that inside, Discord was a nice Draconequus. I let him do all those… chaotic things to my house and I even promised not to use my element against him.”
“And I still think that it was too risky a move,” Twilight said, giving a sideways glance towards the curtains.
“But why Twilight Sparkle!” Discord said in the most hurt voice. “How could you not have trusted me?”
“Because I’m not stupid…” she said slowly. Soon there was a verbal war going on between her and Discord.
“Please continue,” Sombra said to Fluttershy as Twilight and Discord continued to argue. Fluttershy also decided not to get in middle of an wrangling between a princess and a god, so she nodded shyly.
“M-My mom always tells me to give everypony a chance, and they will give you a chance. I gave Discord a chance to be my friend, and he returned the favor. We are really close now,” Fluttershy explained. “Everypony needs a friend.”
Sombra went silent. A friend… He stared at the yellow pegasus in front of him, ignoring the controversy going behind him. He never had had too many friends. Not until that crazy pink mare, but he had a hunch that she was everypony’s best friend.
Fluttershy was staring at him carefully too. When she noticed that she was doing it, she retreated behind her mane and mumbled something that sounded like apologies. Sombra chuckled at her, but then his face went serious. He cleared his throat to get her attention. When he got it, he asked, “Miss Fluttershy… Do I have a chance in your opinion?”
Fluttershy peeked from behind her mane, her cyan eyes examining him carefully. After a moment she blushed and looked towards the floor.
“I-I can’t say that I know you very well, and I’m still a bit scared of you...” she said, her voice trailing off. She was squirming in her place and then said “But you don’t seem like an evil pony.”
“But you know about my past actions,” Sombra said. Fluttershy nodded slowly, before turning her head towards him.
“Giving somepony another chance is a big part of kindness. Besides, even if your a-actions were wrong, there must have been a reason behind them.” Fluttershy said.
Finally somepony understood. Of course there was a reason behind Sombra’s actions. A damn good reason in fact, but he didn’t want to bother that shy mare with his grim past. Instead he smiled at the yellow mare and said, “Miss Fluttershy, you are a lot more than you let ponies see.”
Fluttershy blushed again. She squeaked and looked away from him, earning a chuckle from him. Sombra then continued, “You see good in ponies, even they can’t see it themselves... I must say that I truly hope that you are right about me.”
“Me too,” Fluttershy almost whispered and glanced at him, giving him a small smile. They then stared at each other, the blush intensifying on Fluttershy’s cheeks.
A loud yelp of pain broke their stare and Fluttershy too yelped from surprise. They turned towards the sound and saw angry looking Twilight standing in front of the curtains where Discord was hiding. The curtains were pulled to the sides of the window, so that Discords other eye was in the right curtain and the other in the left. They were glaring angrily back at the purple mare.
“That hurt!” Discord shouted.
“Good!” Twilight retorted.
There was a long silence between everypony. Sombra and Fluttershy were waiting for a new fight between the angry princess and the god of chaos. Luckily it never came, as Twilight took couple of deep breaths and turned towards Sombra and Fluttershy.
“Now where were we?” she asked with pretentiously calm voice.
“Actually…” Fluttershy started. “I-I think that we are done here.”
“What?” Twilight asked in disbelief. “You can’t be done! I didn’t have time to write down my notes!”
“Too bad,” Sombra answered. “I did learn awful lot today.”
“Sorry Twilight,” Fluttershy said and hung her head. “He was a fast learner.”
“No, no, no,” Twilight sighed and calmed down. “I’m happy that you managed to teach him even something while Discord was intentionally trying to make me angry.”
“I did succeed in it, no?” Discord laughed from the curtains. Twilight didn’t pay any attention to him.
“So are we really done here?” Twilight asked. “You don’t want to ask anything else from Fluttershy?”
“No thank you,” Sombra said and turned towards the mare in question. He bowed his head a bit and said, “It was nice meeting you, miss Fluttershy.”
“Just call me Fluttershy,” the mare said with a shy smile. She then blushed and mumbled, “If you want to of course…”
“I will,” Sombra said. Then he bowed his head again and said, “Have a nice day, Fluttershy.”
“Yout too,” she said happily. “And you too Twilight.”
With that Sombra and Twilight started to make their way towards the door. Sombra stopped in front of the window with Discord-curtains. He eyed at them for a moment, before saying, “Pull yourself together.”
“Hah!” Twilight exclaimed and showed her tongue towards Discord before following Sombra towards the front door.
* * *
Sombra was feeling rather great after his meeting with Fluttershy. She had so much positive energy radiating from her that it had caught on Sombra. As he and Twilight Sparkle walked towards her castle, the always sunny weather didn’t seem to bother him at all. Twilight noticed that.
“You seemed to like her,” she noted, and Sombra nodded. Twilight then smirked teasingly and said, “I hope that you didn’t see her as desirable as you saw Applejack.”
“No,” Sombra said. “Of course not. I liked her, she wasn’t judging me.”
“She’s really nice,” Twilight agreed with a happy nod. “Everypony likes her, but they sometimes use her kindness to their own advantage.”
“Of course they do,” Sombra said and frowned. He had a feeling that if he would have been his old self, he would have done just that.
As that thought crossed his head, he blinked confusedly. Wasn’t he the same Sombra that he used to be? The ruthless tyrant that wanted power, no matter what it took to get it. He thought that the old Sombra wouldn’t even have thoughts like that. He wouldn’t feel compassion towards a mare with strange eyes, no desire towards a farmer, he wouldn’t laugh while dancing with a crazy baker and the old Sombra most definitely would not be considering reformation as a real option. With that thought a frown appeared onto his face. He actually was considering about being reformed. It made him confused and angry. Everything was so complicated.
Sombra had not noticed it, but they were already at the castle. The massive building towered over them and Sombra had snapped out of his trance. They walked to the big front doors and Twilight was about to push them open, but Sombra got an idea.
“Allow me,” he said and pushed the door open, letting the smiling mare go first.
“Thank you,” Twilight chirped. “That was really kind of you.”
“Trying my best,” Sombra chuckled and closed the door behind him.
...And so our hero found his princess. Together they rode off to the sunset, build a castle in the western regions of the nation and had many children and lived happily ever after.
But that is completely different story.
“Bah!” Sombra exclaimed and closed the book. He threw it into the growing pile of books he had been reading the past few days. He was lying on his back, taking things lazily. His room was dark, as usual. There were only a couple of candles here and there, illuminating the room just enough for him to be able to read. The cuff around his horn felt heavy and his head had started to hurt because of it. The darkness helped a bit.
He reached for another book on the nightstand. It was a thriller of some sort with a really noir styled covers. He thought that maybe it would be a bit better than all the terrible romance novels he had forced himself through. He opened the book and began to read. After a while he noticed that the the book was well kept. It looked like brand new copy. Twilight Sparkle sure kept good care of her books.
Sombra couldn’t focus on the book anymore. He had had these moment before. Mostly when he was alone. Usually it occurred when he was alone, and when the thought of Twilight Sparkle crossed his mind, it started to wander. Mostly they revolved around her though.
What was it about her that made him think about her so much. Probably because she annoyed him so much. Yeah. That had to be it. Sombra told that to himself, almost every time he started to question his own thoughts. Of course she had some good looks, and she was an alicorn. Not just any unicorn would be turned into an alicorn by the two sisters, no. She clearly wasn’t just like her friends. They all had their own elements of harmony, while Twilight Sparkle was the element of magic, the thing that ties all of the other elements together. It was something that he kept thinking about.
After a while there was a knock on the door and Sombra rolled off from his bed. He lazily walked to the door and opened it a bit, not letting too much light in. Behind the door stood who else than the mare he had been thinking about. Twilight Sparkle smiled at him when their gazes met.
“Hi,” Twilight said happily.
“Good day,” Sombra said properly, like a king should. “What do you want?”
Twilight looked like she was a bit offended by his answer, that wasn’t intentionally so blunt. He still had trouble with his expressions.
“I’m just checking on you,” she said. “To see if everything is alright.”
“Everything is fine. I have been reading,” Sombra answered. His reply seemed to spark something in Twilight.
“Oh!” She exclaimed. “Did you like the books I gave you?”
“No,” Sombra answered, but he tried to sound less blunt. Twilight’s ears drooped a bit, and Sombra quickly said, “I don’t like novels so much.”
“Ah okay,” Twilight said with a bit happier look on her face. She then asked, “What kind of literature do you like then?”
“I prefer historical writings,” Sombra answered, and Twilight smiled.
“You know that I can’t let you read those documents that I have in my work study,” she said and blew her mane out of her eyes. “Not yet.”
“Well I tried,” Sombra chuckled. Twilight joined him.
Sombra knew that he had to get to Twilight Sparkle’s study in order to find out the exact location of his Alicorn Amulet. He knew that she had some kind of report about it somewhere. She was a mare that made a report about everything.
Twilight said something, but Sombra didn’t hear it. He was in his thoughts again. Even though he had started to think reformation as a real option, he still needed to find out where the Alicorn Amulet was. It was the last thing he had left that reminded him of them. He was a stallion that didn’t leave things unresolved. He just had to find the amulet. Maybe then he would get some clarity to his troubled mind.
“Did you listen at all?” Twilight asked, suddenly snapping Sombra back to real life from his thoughts.
“I’m sorry,” Sombra said. “I was in my thoughts.”
“Hrmh,” Twilight groaned. “I said that supper will be ready in half an hour.”
“Ah, yes. I will be there. In time.” Sombra said slowly. Twilight gave him a suspicious look with one brow raised. Sombra nervously looked away and continued, “Are you going to stand there for the whole day?” Twilight frowned and let out an annoyed ‘hmph’. Sombra felt a pang of guilt as he realised how angrily he had spoken to Twilight. He didn’t have any time to correct himself before Twilight spun around and started to walk towards the stairs.
“Half an hour,” she said and held her nose up in hurt manner. Sombra swept his other hoof across his face and groaned. He hadn’t meant to make her mad at him. He had to do something, so he opened the door and stepped out of his room, looking after Twilight.
“Twilight Sparkle, I didn’t mean to offend you,” he said. “I am just… Um… I have been feeling uneasy lately.”
Twilight glanced over her shoulder, her expression softening when she saw the apologetic look that Sombra wore. She slowly turned towards him and asked, a sounding a bit curious, “What’s making you feel uneasy?”
Of course Sombra couldn’t tell her the real reason. He needed a good answer, quickly.
“I am tired of just sitting around this castle all day.”
Sombra mentally slapped himself. He could already see her eyes spark in a way they always did when she was about to have the single most greatest idea of all time. She started to walk towards Sombra, who was thinking what the consequences of his words were going to be.
“I think I might have a solution for that,” Twilight happily announced.
“And what would that be?” Sombra asked, trying to sound as calm as he could.
“Do you know the new restaurant at the town center? The classy one?” she asked, but Sombra gave her a deadpan look and she started to smile sheepishly. She just made things worse as she started to nervously blabber, “Of course you don’t... Because if you knew that would have meant that you would have been there and you wouldn’t be bored here… in this… boring old castle...”
“Be quiet now. There is nothing wrong with the castle. I just… -” Sombra had to think for a reason for his boredom. “-...don’t like to lie down all day.”
“Well then it’s settled!” Twilight said happily. “We’ll go out tonight!”
A sly smirk appeared on Sombra’s lips.
“Twilight Sparkle,” he started with his slick voice. “Are you asking me to go out with you, on a… What do they call it nowadays… Ah. A date?”
The look on Twilight’s face was priceless. Her eyes went wide and her pupils shrank to a size of pinpricks. Her ears drooped and a wild blush covered almost all of her face. For a second it looked like she had frozen to her place, but then she started to stutter, “W-What!? No! I-I thought that because you were so bored that w-we could go out for a supper… As a gesture of goodwill!”
“Are you sure?” Sombra continued to speak to the blushing mare. “What if there were some other, subliminal reasons you didn’t even notice?”
Twilight stared at him angrily, but the stare wasn’t so effective with her ears drooped and the blush on her face.
“I know what my reasons are!” she exclaimed angrily.
Sombra chuckled and said, “I’m sorry Twilight Sparkle, I was just teasing you. Of course I would like to go.”
“Hmph,” was Twilight’s answer.
“Oh don’t be like that,” he said. “Wouldn’t it be nice to eat good food and tell some old stories together?”
“Old stories?” Twilight asked, a curious expression taking over the angry one. “What kind of old stories?”
“Oh I don’t know,” Sombra started lazily, then looking her right in the eye. “Maybe something from around thousand years ago?”
Twilight pondered at his answer for a couple of seconds, her eyes judging the dark unicorn in front of her. She glanced towards the staircase and then at Sombra. She thought for a moment longer before she made up her mind.
“I’ll be ready in fifteen minutes.”
* * *
The night was still young as the pair finally sat in the booth that Twilight Sparkle managed to get on such an short notice from the new local high class restaurant called ‘The Stables’. The name could really make you think differently about the classiness of the place, but it was highly misleading. Many of the ‘upper class’ ponies who lived in Ponyville had avoided that fine establishment like plague. Only after Twilight herself had put out a good word for the restaurant, ponies had started to see the true quality of the restaurant.
The lights and colors were warm, making the space feel cozy. The cushions of the seats were red silk they were comfortable to sit on. There was a clean white tablecloth on every table and on them were vases with fresh, red roses in them. The waiters walked between the many tables with delicious looking dishes, everyone of them more delicious looking than the previous one. The restaurant itself was on the second floor of the building, in a large penthouse apartment. From the long windows on the wall across the entrance opened a sight towards the town center, right towards the fountain. There was also a small dance floor that seemed somehow tempting for Sombra.
Twilight Sparkle and Sombra were sitting on one of the window seats. The waiter had just left with their orders. They could see the sun getting lower on the sky. Soon it would start to fall behind the horizon, making the sky turn beautifully orange, all while the sweet scent of the roses was heavy in the air. It was rather romantic setting.
If you were into such things.
“I’m sorry that we didn’t have time to get you a real suit. That tie looks good on you though,” Twilight Sparkle spoke with a smile. Sombra didn’t answer immediately. He was staring at her too focusedly.
Twilight Sparkle was wearing the most simple dress Sombra had seen on royalty. It was a yellow pull up dress with a white hem. A pink band went around her neck and was tied into a ribbon over her chest. She said that the dress was really important to her for a reason Sombra did not know. Her mane had grown a bit, just enough so that she had to blow it out of her eyes from time to time. If Sombra saw right, her lipstick and eyeshadow were a darker shade of purple than usual. Her well preened wings rested against her sides peacefully and Sombra thought how her feathers would feel like under his hooves. He still didn’t quite like these new feelings. They made him get distracted. He still couldn’t help himself though.
It took a while before he snapped out of it and answered. “Oh… That is alright. This doesn’t bother me.”
“Glad to hear it,” Twilight said and leaned into her front-hooves. Now it was her who stared at the stallion in front of her. Sombra’s mane was well combed, like always. Somehow it still managed to look fluffy and flowing, while being a bit messy looking in the same time. He had a red tie around his neck, making him look like a office worker, but a better looking one. Twilight coughed into her hoof when that thought crossed her mind, but she continued to stare. Sombra’s red eyes scanned the space around him, and Twilight could see his fangs peeking from between his lips. He had grown a small amount of beard on the tip of his chin, something that Twilight found likeable.
Sombra turned to look at her, and she quickly glanced away. When she did so, she could see the fearful looks that the ponies in the neighbouring tables gave Sombra. The news about a tyrant living in their hometown had spread fast.
“I don’t mind them,” she heard Sombra saying. Twilight turned to look at him and saw that he too had noticed the curious, almost scared ponies around them.
“They have all the reasons to be cautious around me,” he said and smiled his trademark toothy grin towards one blue unicorn with a white suit on. The pony in question let out a quiet yelp and quickly looked away. Twilight almost giggled, but forced herself not to.
They looked around themselves for a moment, before Twilight asked, “So what kind of old stories were you going to tell me?”
Sombra placed his glass a bit clumsily. He had forgotten why they were there in the first place. What would he tell her? Of course he wouldn’t tell anything that could possibly ruin his plans, or nothing too personal from his past either... Thinking seemed hard and unfortunately for him, Applejack’s words rang in his head. He didn’t want to tell just some made up story to Twilight. He had to think for something, and while he was at it, his gaze wandered. Luckily Twilight didn’t notice as his gaze went down her body, to her dress covered cutiemark.
Cutiemark. That’s it.
“I bet that you wondered about the story behind my cutiemark,” Sombra said and sipped his wine. He saw the excitement in Twilight Sparkle’s eyes.
“I have!” Twilight exclaimed. Then there was a small pop and Sombra saw a familiar notebook appearing in front of the mare in front of him. Another pop and a pen appeared. Sombra grunted annoyedly and snatched the pen and the notebook from mid air and threw them to the floor, making Twilight gasp.
“I do not care what you have written about me before this, but you will not write down anything from the conversation we will have now,” Sombra said sternly. after couple of seconds he then added, “Otherwise you can forget my offer.”
Twilight pouted and did her best puppy dog eyes, but Sombra managed to resist them and shook his head. Twilight sighed deeply and said, “Fine.” The notebook and the pen disappeared in a another pop and Twilight turned towards Sombra. She looked sour and asked, “Happy now?”
“Very,” Sombra answered and Twilight rolled her eyes. He then continued, “What would you like to know, Twilight Sparkle?”
“Everything!” Twilight said in excited, hushed voice. Her wings twitched a bit as an emphasis for her answer.
Sombra chuckled and shook his head a little as he said, “Once again you want to know everything, Twilight Sparkle.”
She was about to tell him to cut the chatter, but Sombra was faster and added, “But fortunately for you, this topic doesn’t have anything to do with the… Memories that I am not too fond of.”
Twilight nodded with a serious face, showing that she understood.
“Well now,” Sombra started and Twilight leaned forward into her front-hooves. Sombra then glanced at his own flank, at the cutiemark shaped like a blue crystal.
“I got my cutiemark at age of seven,” Sombra told and turned to look at Twilight. “It didn’t surprise me actually. I had knew what I wanted to do with my life for a long time before that, but it was then when I realised how I would start to pursue my goals in life.”
“But what does it mean? Why the crystal?” Twilight asked, craning her neck so that she could see his cutiemark better.
“Ah… The crystal,” Sombra said slowly, leaning backwards in his chair. “Crystal is quite fascinating material. Did you know that the original Crystal Empire was build in just two years? The whole castle and a couple of houses for the settlers.”
“I did,” Twilight said. “King Calcite was one of the most powerful alicorns at the time, and he used his magic to manipulate the crystal in order to construct the castle.”
“Yes, and he also left a lot of notes and documents about his studies behind him,” Sombra said with a smirk. Twilight gave Sombra a confused look.
“Did you find them somehow? I know that some ponies have tried to find them for decades, and nothing has been found,” Twilight spoke with skeptical voice.
“I didn’t need to look for them actually. The knowledge was passed on from pony to pony after the documents were ruined. I was one of the lucky ones,” Sombra said.
“How did that happen? It couldn’t be just any stranger that told you how to build castles from just crystal,” Twilight asked with a frown.
“No. It wasn’t,” Sombra said and without any further explanations continued, “When I learned how to use the spells, I started to practise shaping crystal. That’s when I got my cutiemark.”
Sombra held a small thinking pause before continuing, “First I could do only simple objects like knives and teacups, but later on my skills developed, and I could start shaping the crystal into whole buildings. But even that wasn’t my goal in life. I wanted to make something more...”
Suddenly the waiter brought them their dishes, interrupting them. Sombra had noodles with mushroom sauce and fresh vegetables, while Twilight’s dish was steamed vegetables and cauliflower stew with gravy. Both of the dishes were decorated with flowers. Sombra didn’t get that. Why were there flowers in his food? Of course they were edible, but it made the whole dish look a bit weird.
“So…” Twilight started after couple of mouthfuls. “So what did you do after you got your cutiemark. What was the thing you wanted to do?”
Sombra chuckled and took a sip of wine.
“I wanted to create beautiful things, Twilight Sparkle.”
They both were silent again. Twilight swallowed the food she had been chewing on and washed her mouth with a sip of white wine. After that she asked, “Things?”
“Beautiful things,” Sombra corrected her. “I wanted to build towers that would touch the sky, bridges that would make ponies stop when they were walking on them to amaze on it’s details and castles fit for kings.”
“You were a construction worker?” surprised Twilight asked, trying not to smile teasingly, but failing. “Who would have thought of that.”
“I wasn’t a construction worker,” Sombra grunted annoyedly. “I was an artist.”
Twilight smiled. She saw that the corners of Sombra’s mouth were also pointed slightly upwards, resembling a smile.
“I bet that your speciality was stairs,” Twilight giggled. Sombra gave her a deadpan stare.
“Sorry. Did your dream come true?” Twilight asked after she stopped giggling.
“I… I did build a castle, but it wasn’t quite what I had dreamed of when I was younger,” Sombra said in awkward manner, and Twilight realised that he meant his version of The Crystal Empire’s castle. She dropped the matter.
“What was the first building you build using crystal?” she asked.
“My first structure made only from crystal was a small bridge over a thin river. It was the first time I used only crystal as a building material for bigger projects. It turned out to become beautiful. When sun shines towards it in a right angle, it becomes almost transparent. Everypony loved it,” Sombra told her and put another forkful of noodles into his mouth. He had really gotten better at using the silverware with his hooves.
“So did you have a business of some kind?” Twilight asked. She noticed Sombra’s strange stare.
Sombra kept staring at her for a second, chewing on his food slowly. He then gulped it down and slowly placed the fork to the table next to his plate. Twilight could see the troubled frown on his forehead.
“You could say that,” he said, the excitement gone from his voice.
Twilight was becoming worried by the look on his face. She lowered her voice and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“It… It was a family business,” Sombra said quietly, not looking straight at her.
Twilight’s eyes went wide. This was the first time Sombra had talked about his family in any way. Of course she had thought about his background, but it was now when Twilight Sparkle started to connect some pieces together. Sombra didn’t want to speak about his past too openly, and it clearly had something to do with King Halite and… his family? Twilight wasn’t sure, but the way Sombra squirmed on his place was almost enough evidence for her.
“Did... Did your parents teach you to use that magic?” Twilight asked, glaring carefully at the stallion for a moment. She saw the familiar angry scowl on his face and she was sure that he would start hissing curses at her again and leave. Surprisingly he didn’t. Instead he sighed deeply and nodded. Twilight knew that this could be her best chance to get something more out of him, so she decided to continue, “Would you like to tell me about your family?”
Sombra seemed hesitant. He gulped down all of his wine in the glass before speaking, “We were part of one of the most wealthiest houses of the city.”
“What city?” Twilight sighed excitedly. She was actually getting some answers from him this time. Great success.
“The Crystal Empire,” Sombra whispered, and Twilight’s ears drooped. He and his family had lived in The Crystal Empire? Maybe she could do some background checking next time she would visit his brother and Cadence.
“My father was from a family of great architects. The knowledge about King Calcite’s studies were passed on from one generation to another in our family, and eventually it was passed on to me from my father,” Sombra told her, not too excited about the conversation.
“How about your mother?” Twilight asked curiously.
Sombra answered her question with voice that was just above a whisper, “She was a daughter of a banker.”
“What were they like?” Twilight kept asking, but this time Sombra’s face twisted into an uncomfortable, grim look that never meant anything good. Twilight waited for an answer that didn’t seem to come.
Sombra lifted his gaze to meet with hers. There was some visible doubt in his look, and Twilight could tell that he was struggling with himself. He opened and closed his mouth couple of times, before answering, “I don’t remember.”
Twilight groaned. Again Sombra started to give excuses when she tried to ask about his past. She gave an annoyed look towards the stallion, and just as she was going to give him an earful, somepony interrupted her.
“Ladies and gentlecolts,” a blue coated waitress announced. “The band will start playing in a minute, and the dance floor is open for anypony who wants to dance. Thank you.”
Twilight turned back towards Sombra, who was looking away from her. She could already tell that he wasn’t going to tell her anything about his family anymore. The opportunity had passed and there was no use in arguing with him anymore.
“All this talking about the old times is making me quite bored,” Sombra said and rubbed his forehead, his eyes closed. There was a long moment when none of them spoke, and they kept eating in an awkward atmosphere. The small band of four ponies in red suits started to play in a small stand next to the dance floor. Sombra eyed at the band for a while, before he gave a sly look towards Twilight, who sensed that he was up to something.
“Would the princess care for a dance?” he asked, immediately making Twilight tense up. She nervously rubbed her front-hooves together and looked everywhere else except him.
“I-I am a lousy dancer,” she said shyly.
“I can teach you,” Sombra offered with a smile. “And it is all in a good fun.”
Twilight stared at her hooves nervously. She glanced at Sombra, who smiled. His smile wasn’t the prettiest one there is due to his fangs, but it seemed genuine.
“I-umm… Sure. We can dance,” she muttered. “All in a good fun, right?”
“Absolutely,” Sombra said before leaving the table, walking over to Twilight’s side, helping her up. They told the waiter that they would eat their desserts after the dance. Twilight was already blushing when everypony stared at them as they made their way towards the dance floor, where a couple of pairs were already dancing in circles as the band played a slow tune.
“I-I’m not so sure about this,” Twilight said as many eyes in the restaurant were fixated on them.
“A princess like you shouldn’t be afraid of ponies like these,” Sombra scoffed.
“I’m not afraid,” Twilight answered. “It is just that, what if I fall down or something? Everypony will think that I am some fool or something.”
“Pfft,” Sombra exclaimed as they stopped on the dance floor, facing each other. He then smirked and said, “If it looks like you are falling down, I will catch you.”
Twilight blushed and mumbled something that he didn’t hear. Then Sombra improved his posture. Twilight did the same.
“That looks pretty hard,” Twilight said as she looked at another pair, who were dancing on their rear legs.
“If that village idiot friend of your’s can dance like that, you should too,” Sombra chuckled. “Now place your left hoof over my shoulder.”
Twilight did so, and Sombra mimicked her.
“Now when we rise up, place you other hoof on my other shoulder for support, then slide the left one into my hoof,” Sombra explained. “Then I will place my other hoof onto your hip and we will start to spin in circles slowly. Simple.”
“I don’t know…”
“On three. One, two…
“Wait!”
“Three.”
Twilight yelped as they rose to their hindlegs. She felt super embarrassed by the looks other ponies in the restaurant gave her, but at least she could keep her balance. Now she would just need to maintain it.
“Now we just spin in circles to the rhythm of the music,” Sombra said, and with that he started to lead the dance slowly. At first Twilight had to keep her eyes at her back-hooves so she wouldn’t topple down. When she got a hang of it, she turned to look at Sombra. He was staring back at her with a small smile on his lips that made Twilight smile shyly too. They kept spinning for a while, before Sombra spoke, surprising Twilight.
“I think that your castle is amazing,” he said in low voice. They were in quite a closed position and Twilight could feel his breath on her face. Dancing so closely with somepony was something that she hadn’t done before, and it was making it hard for her to think. It seemed so intimate.
“Oh,” she exclaimed when she realised that she should give him an answer. “Do you really think so?”
“Yes,” Sombra answered, seeing her flustered state. “The architecture is amazing and the fact that it is made completely out of crystal is exciting. I have only one question that troubles me.”
“And what is that?” Twilight asked and glanced at her rear-hooves again.
Sombra seemed serious as he asked, “Where are all your servants? I have only seen those two guards and that dragon in you castle.”
“Why would I need any servants when I can do everything on my own.” Twilight said with a smile. “Besides I don’t feel comfortable when commanding ponies.”
“I see…” Sombra said, not really understanding her motives. He still didn’t continue on the subject matter. Instead he added some speed to their moves.
“Hey, I’m still just learning!” Twilight chuckled nervously, and she had to press herself more against Sombra in order not to fall down. Her face felt like it was on fire.
“And you will,” Sombra said. He liked how she held him close to herself, her smaller body against his. Twilight in the meantime could feel the muscles under Sombra’s dark fur, which was a bit softer and longer than she had expected. Her ears drooped as she felt even more flustered. Why couldn’t she control her feelings better?
Sombra had similar thoughts going on his head. He hated the fact that he was once again starting to feel the need for a mare. He knew that it would only bring trouble to him, but at the moment he didn’t care.
They spun for a while longer, Twilight’s curiosity taking better of her. She examined the ponies that were scattered around the tables in the restaurant. Surprisingly not too many of them were even interested in them anymore. It was good, and it only fuelled her curiosity. It wouldn’t hurt anypony if she rested her head on her shoulder for a short moment. Nopony was even watching and it was all in a good fun, right?
She bit her lower lip and quickly glanced at Sombra, who was currently watching over her, towards something behind her. She gulped and slowly leaned forward, resting her head on Sombra’s strong shoulder. He winced and looked down at the mare, whose ears were drooped and her shy stare was fixated in front of her. Sombra looked at her with wide eyes for a moment, their pace slowing down a little.
He could smell lavender from her mane. Once again strange feelings filled his mind. He felt comfortable with this mare in his hooves. He was calm and his grip around her tightened. The strange heat in his chest was there too, but this time it was more like a warm feeling. Feeling that made his mind unclear and fuzzy.
Twilight was feeling rather awkward in his hooves, but in a good way. She didn’t like the silence though, and she thought that maybe she could continue her little inquiry.
“Your parents. What were they like?” Twilight asked and lifted her head from his shoulder, staring into his eyes. He didn’t look back.
“I can’t even remember…” Sombra sighed, earning an irritated groan from Twilight. He knew that she was thinking that he was once again trying to avoid the conversation.
“I am not lying,” he said quietly. “I really can’t remember them.”
Twilight’s expression softened, and she stared at him with asking, almost worried look.
“I remember their names and just some fuzzy memories from the past. It keeps troubling me. Everything else I remember like it would have happened yesterday, but my parents, they are like a big blur to me. What were they like? I don’t remember. All I know is that...”
He held a small pause and gulped, before he continued quietly, “That I miss my family.”
They stopped spinning and just stood there, holding each other up. Sombra’s posture wasn’t the same upright and royal one that it had been when the dance had started. He was still holding her tightly, but his eyes were looking tired and even his mane was looking less fluffy than usually.
“Why am I even telling this?” Sombra asked, maybe to himself. Twilight was staring at him with mixed feelings. On the other hoof she was happy that Sombra was opening up to her, but it also made her feel sad to see him in such a bad shape. She had never seen him like that. He was… sad. Clearly there was much pain related to the memories about his parents, and she didn’t want to bring them up. Maybe she should change the subject.
“Did you have any siblings?” Twilight asked carefully, hoping that maybe that question could be something that would brighten Sombra’s mood, or maybe if he didn’t have any, their conversation would change it’s course towards something else than his parents.
She was wrong.
“I don’t remember,” Sombra snorted, clearly lying this time. That meant that he had had siblings, and by the angry tone in his voice Twilight could tell that she had hit a sensitive spot on him.
“I don’t feel like dancing anymore,” Sombra said angrily, trying to break their dancing pose.
Twilight sighed and looked him in the eyes. He stared back with a cold stare, and none of the sad and pained expression was seen on his face anymore. The evening was not going as she had hoped for. Actually it was going straight towards a catastrophe, which she didn’t want to happen. She knew that she had to use drastic measures. Twilight had done some bold things that evening, so why not one more?
Twilight Sparkle broke their dancing pose, only to wrap her forehooves around Sombra’s upper body. She again rested her head on his shoulder and squeezed his body against her. Sombra was more than surprised when she did so.
“What are you doing?” he asked with surprised voice, trying to push the clingy mare off from him. “Stop! Get off me.”
“Not until you feel better,” Twilight answered and kept hugging him.
“No!” Sombra hissed and pushed harder, but the purple mare didn’t move. Where did she get all that strength from?
“You can’t run from your past forever,” Twilight scolded him.
“I will try dammit!” Sombra snorted.
Twilight lifted her head and smiled warmly. The smile made Sombra calm down, and it almost caught onto him too. He tried to look as angry as he could, but it didn’t seem to work. Twilight giggled at his expression and said, “Don’t be so grumpy.”
“Shut up, Twilight Sparkle,” Sombra scoffed.
“This isn’t getting you anywhere Sombra,” Twilight said, tightening the hug even more, driving Sombra over the edge. He pushed her backwards a bit and pressed his forehead against hers.
“I had a sister!” he hissed from between his teeth.
Twilight stared back at him with terrified expression. She could almost see fire burning in his red eyes. His fangs were exposed and he panted, Twilight feeling his breath on her face. For a moment they stared at each other, before Sombra sighed deeply, his expression turning into tired look of sadness again.
“I am sorry, Twilight Sparkle,” he whispered and leaned away from her. He then gently unwrapped Twilight’s hooves from around him and then they just stood face-to-face in silence. Sombra glanced towards their table, seeing that almost everypony who was close to the dance floor were staring at them. He could already see the headlines in the next day’s newspapers that were telling how princess Twilight Sparkle shared a dance with a Tyrant. At least Twilight was a smart mare, who could solve the small media hassle with ease. Sombra himself just didn’t care.
He sighed again and said in tired voice, “I wouldn’t want to speak about this subject anymore.”
“I-I-I understand,” Twilight muttered, still a bit shaken by his outburst. Sombra saw that and without thinking, gently touched her cheek with his other hoof, saying, “Let’s enjoy the rest of the evening, no questions about the past. Lets just live in the moment.”
Twilight winced at his touch, and he quickly pulled his hoof back from the blushing mare. She opened and closed her mouth couple of times and touched the spot from where he had touched him. Sombra was cursing mentally. Why had he done that?
“O-okay.”
“What?” Sombra asked a bit confusedly.
“No questions about the past,” Twilight muttered. She then added shyly, “Lets just enjoy the rest of the evening.”
Sombra was a bit baffled, but when he got back to his senses, a smile spread on his lips. The evening was not completely ruined yet, and he thought that he might have an idea how to lift up their mood. Maybe it would also help him push the painful memories from his head.
A white stallion stood on a balcony facing a dark night sky. Under his gaze opened a sight of a sleeping city that was peacefully unaware that the pony who had once enslaved them was on the loose again. The stallion breathed in the breezy wind and exhaled it out from his nostrils, leaning over the handrail of the balcony. He could see a powerful, ice blue light radiating from under the mighty castle he and her wife called home. The light told him that everything was right. The Crystal Heart was still in it’s place, protecting his empire from all the evil that haunts it.
The evil that made him wake up almost every night, cold sweat on his brow and the horrible images of red eyes with green glowing sclera and purple flames burning around them still in front of him. Like so many nights before, he had once again woken up from the same nightmare, but this night he had business to do.
The stallion stared at the glow under him for a long moment, before he noticed a silhouette of a flying pegasus swooshing from under the castle. The shadow quickly rose upwards on the sky, and was soon on his level. As it got closer, he could see the moon’s light reflecting from the pegasus’ golden breastplate and helmet. His visitor flew over his head, before making a sharp turn and flaring his wings open to reduce his speed quickly. The orange stallion landed with a quiet thud and quickly snapped into a salute.
“Corporal Flash Sentry reporting in, Sir,” the orange pony said sternly.
“At ease Flash,” Shining Armor said to Flash, who lowered his right fore-hoof from his forehead. Shining continued, “How did your trip here go?”
“It went well Sir,” Flash answered. He looked at Shining with a troubled look and said, “I didn’t like telling lies to Twilight, but I did as you asked.”
“Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Shining Armor noted, glancing at him with raised eyebrow.
Flash chuckled sheepishly, and then quickly said “Yes, of course Sir.”
Shining Armor sighed and turned around, looking at his empire again. He nodded his head towards his left, and Flash Sentry trotted next to him. He too eyed at the sleeping city.
“I am not stupid Flash,” Shining said, and Flash Sentry gulped.
“What do you mean Sir?” Flash asked, his voice breaking a bit.
Shining Armor kept looking at the city when he spoke, “I know that you are very fond of my sister.”
Flash didn’t know what to say, but luckily he didn’t need to. Shining Armor turned to look straight at him, making him feel rather uncomfortable.
Shining Armor continued with serious tone, “That is why I am trusting you with this job. I know that you would never hurt Twily.”
“Of course not!” Flash said with stern look in his eyes. “I could never do that!”
Shining nodded approvingly, but the stern look in Flash eyes turned into a expression of confuse, and he asked, a bit less eager this time, “Um… What kind of a job are we talking here, Sir?”
Shining Armor seemed to hesitate for a moment, a troubled frown on his face.
“I believe that you aren’t any more happier about the visitor that lives in Twilight’s castle than I am?” he asked from the orange stallion, whose expression got grimmer.
“I am not, Sir,” Flash said, visible hatred on his face. Shining liked that. It seemed that he had picked up the right pony.
“I know that Twilight thinks that she is safe, but we both know that we can never trust that… that monster,” Shining said quietly.
“I agree,” Flash said. “He hasn’t changed. I can feel it Sir, but Twi… Princess Twilight doesn’t see that.”
Shining nodded. He gave Flash a serious look, and said, “I want you to protect my sister from him. From now on you will report straight to me every friday, telling me what has happened, or if you have any suspicions about Sombra’s intention with my sister.” He was silent for a short moment, before he added, “And do whatever to keep her safe, kill him if it comes to that.”
“I will do as you command, Sir,” Flash said, but then he added with a bit unsure tone, “But I am sure that Princess Twilight won’t agree with this.”
Pained expression spread on Shining Armor’s face, and he closed his eyes. He took a deep breath before answering with voice just barely audible, “She doesn’t need to know.”
“But Sir…” Flash started.
“No buts,” Shining said angrily. “You are under my command and you will do as I tell you.”
Flash was quiet, and there was almost fear visible in his eyes. Shining saw that and sighed deeply, before saying, “Sorry Flash. I’m a bit on the edge right now, but please understand, Twilight is everything to me.”
“I do understand Sir,” Flash said to him. They were quiet for a short moment, before Flash continued, “I will do as you command, Sir.”
“Thank you Flash,” Shining said and gave him a small smile.
A sudden sound from behind them startled them, and they saw light being lit behind the curtains of the big glass doors that led to Shining Armor’s and his wife’s bedroom. They glanced at each other quickly, and Flash jumped on the handrail of the balcony. The light was getting closer, and Shining Armor hurried Flash, “Get going already! Return to Ponyville tomorrow, don’t gather any unwanted attention towards yourself!”
“Yes Sir!” Flash exclaimed quietly, but then he thought about the question again, and said, “I mean… No Sir?”
Shining rolled his eyes at him. Flash coughed nervously and leaned over the handrail. He took a final look towards Shining Armor.
“She means everything to me too, Sir,” he said with straight face and jumped down to the night sky. Just in time.
“Shining? What are you doing out here?” a beautiful voice asked and Shining Armor turned around, only to see a sight that made him sigh. There stood a pink alicorn with messy violet mane with cerise and light blue streaks in it. Her tail was as messy as her mane was, showing that she had just woken up. Her wings weren’t preened either, couple of feathers sticking in different directions from the rest of them.
She looked at her husband with worried look in her purple eyes, asking, “Nightmares again?”
“Noo…” Shining Armor dragged the word, only fuelling his wife’s suspicions. Shining knew that and after couple of seconds he said, “Yes.”
He told himself that he wasn’t lying to her, because nightmare had actually woken him up earlier.
“Oh Shining,” Cadence said sadly and trotted next to his husband, wrapping a wing around him. “Is it the same?”
“Yes,” he answered again. “Almost every night after… after he...”
He couldn’t finish. He gathered courage and continued, “I see you leaving me again, but this time I see him too, doing horrible things to Twilight…”
He stopped, not able to continue. He craned his neck to muzzle Cadence’s cheek. She returned the gesture. before saying with angry tone that resembled almost a growl, “I promise you… That monster will pay.”
Shining gave a weird look towards her, before a hateful frown appeared onto his face too. He pressed his cheek against hers and whispered, “I know he will. And if he even touches Twily…”
Cadence shushed at him, calming him down a bit. She then gave his lips a small peck and said, “Then he will not see the next morning, but you must trust your little sister.”
“I know, I know,” Shining Armor said. “But if it depended on me, I would send Sombra back to the permafrost.”
“We both would,” Cadence said calmly. “But we don’t want to do the same mistakes that auntie did. Twilight is still a bit unsure of herself because of it I think.”
“Yeah…” Shining sighed. “You have to understand though… Brothers protect their sisters. That’s the thing we do. At any cost.”
“Of course,” Cadence said gently. “I understand, and you also protect her by trusting her. That is something not many others do.”
“I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her in any way,” Shining Armor said and stared at the city down below him.
He felt his wife’s muzzle rubbing against his neck affectionately. Her wing around him held him a bit tighter and she gave a soft kiss to his cheek.
“I know honey,” she said quietly, and they just stared at their empire in silence for a while. Cadence shifted against his side and said, “I’m going back to bed. Come with me honey.”
“Why bother?” Shining said a bit sadly. “I can’t sleep anyway.”
Cadence smirked and turned around, swatting his nose with her tail. Shining grunted annoyedly, but when he turned to look at his wife, she had the most seductive look in her purple eyes.
“Who spoke anything about sleeping?” she asked and winked temptingly. With that she turned around and started to walk towards the door that lead to their bed chambers, surely swaying her hips more than usually and stretching her disheveled wings.
Shining Armor stared after her, wide eyed. He stood still for a moment, before snorting excitedly and trotting after his wife.
“How about this,” Twilight said to Spike. “You will clean up your room and after that is done you can go see Apple Bloom.”
“I don’t know why I‘m even listening to you,” Spike said with his arms crossed over his chest. “I am a grown up dragon after all.”
“You aren’t even eighteen yet,” Twilight calmly remarked while sorting out some royal parchments in her study, making Spike roll his eyes in irritated manner.
“Well…” he said, thinking for a good reply. “You’re not my mom or anything.”
“But you are my assistant,” Twilight said and smiled towards the purple dragon. “My number one assistant.”
Spike pouted and tried to look angry, failing in that. Twilight giggled and said, “Remember to mop under the shelves too.”
“Yeah yeah…” Spike muttered and started to stomp towards his room, but as Twilight glanced over her shoulder, she saw a small smile on his lips.
He was a good boy. Always there to help her and her friends. They just had a bad habit of forgetting about him sometimes. Twilight knew how that made him feel, and lately she had become worried by it. Luckily Spike was a social young dragon, and had lot of friends of his age, which made her actually a bit sad. It was because Spike spent more time with his friends than with Twilight herself. She didn’t know why that made her feel like that, but she was sure that it had something to do with them spending almost all of their life together.
A familiar deep voice snapped away from her thoughts.
“I see that you are very close with the dragon,” Sombra said from the door of her study. Twilight winced and turned to look at him.
“Wh- Oh. Yes. We are,” she managed to say after recovering from her surprised state.
Sombra leaned against the invisible magic barrier that guarded her study from him. He examined the room with his eyes.
“What is your story with him?” Sombra asked curiously. “How did a princess like you get a dragon like him as your servant.”
“I wasn’t a princess back then,” Twilight said and laid the parchments on her working table. She kept an eye on Sombra, who was still eying at her study.
“That didn’t really answer my question,” Sombra commented from the door.
Twilight lifted her gaze from the parchments towards him, still remembering their little dinner yesterday. The thought of it made her grimace. What had gotten into her?
“When I was just a little filly, I applied to Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns,” Twilight told him. “As a qualifying test I had to make dragon egg hatch. That’s how Spike was born.”
“So you are like his mother?” Sombra asked casually from the door.
Twilight winced at his words. She confusedly looked at Sombra and said, “No. I didn’t give birth to him or anything.”
“Technically, you did,” Sombra said and smirked at her.
Twilight frowned angrily and asked, “Where are you trying to get with this?”
“Nowhere,” was Sombra’s answer. “I just wanted to know something about you. We’ve been talking a lot about me lately, and it is getting boring.”
Twilight could see that he was joking with her again. That meant that he was bored out of his mind again. This time she couldn’t help him though. She was too busy with her duties as a princess, so she just said, “Don’t you have somepony else to bother? I’m a bit busy right now.”
“Splendid idea,” Sombra chuckled and turned around. He started to walk away from her study and Twilight could hear him calling, “Oh Flash? Where are you?”
“He’s not in the town right now. He left yesterday to visit his mother in Crystal Empire,” Twilight called after him, and soon Sombra was back in the doorway, a disappointed look on his face.
“What a shame,” Sombra sighed. “Who will I bother now?”
“Sam is still here. He is probably having a quick dinner in the crew quarters at this hour,” Twilight told Sombra, and he seemed to think about her proposition.
“I might give him a try,” Sombra said, maybe to himself, before leaving towards the crew quarters where the unlucky guard was.
Even though Twilight disagreed with Sombra teasing her guards, she couldn’t help but to giggle a little. She continued to sign the parchments she had on her table, but quickly her mind wandered back to what Sombra had said. She had technically given birth to Spike, and she had raised him to be the dragon he was now. She had fed him through a bottle and changed his diapers when he was just a baby. She thought how she had made Spike feel better when he had hurt himself, and how she had scolded him for doing something wrong. She had also punished him a couple of times. She had not like it at all, but sometimes it was necessary. She drooped her ears and smiled when she thought that it must have been really embarrassing for Spike.
She turned around and walked towards the window in her study. She looked out and saw the busy ponies going about in Ponyville’s streets. She kept thinking about her times with Spike. She realised that she felt proud when looking at him. A handsome, well mannered, educated dragon. If he was a pony, he would be everything a normal pony would want from one’s son.
Twilight sighed and pressed her snout against the glass of the window. Spike didn’t know his mother, and Twilight herself raised him. Was she actually like a mother to Spike? She herself didn’t know what to think about it, but was it really important? She loved Spike, and Spike surely loved her. Wasn’t that enough?
“I cleaned my room!” she heard Spike calling to her from the living room. “I’ll go now!”
“Wait!” Twilight shouted after Spike and trotted to the door of her study, where she could see Spike standing near the big front doors of the living room with somehow confused and waiting look on his face. Twilight trotted over to him and lunged towards him, wrapping her front-hooves around his chest.
“Twilight?” Spike asked confusedly as the mare embraced him. “What’s gotten into you?”
“I just needed a hug from you,” Twilight said, burying her face into his chest. Spike stared at her confusedly for a moment, before carefully hugging her back, patting her on the back awkwardly.
“Okayy,” he dragged and slowly pushed the mare away from him.
Twilight smiled widely at him and said, “Did you remember to swipe the dust from top top of the lamp?”
“Yes,” Spike said annoyedly, but Twilight just giggled and hugged him again.
“Get going already,” she said when she released the poor dragon, who was equally confused and happy by her sudden affection.
“Alright,” he chuckled. “I’ll be going now. Bye”
“Bye Spike. Be back before ten,” Twilight said and waved her hoof at the dragon, who waved back with a goofy smile on his lips. He shook his head amusedly, and closed the big door behind him.
Twilight waited until the door was closed before sighing deeply. If the feelings what she felt towards Spike weren’t motherly affection, then she didn’t know what they were. She slowly turned around, and saw Sombra standing atop of the living room stairs. He smiled mischievously.
“Sam is boring,” he said and started to descends the stairs. “He doesn’t respond to my provocation.”
“Why are you always bullying my guards?” Twilight asked from him when he walked past her, settling comfortably to the other couch. He stretched his fore-legs and yawed.
“I’m not bullying them, I’m just having fun with their expense,” he said, and Twilight groaned, rubbing her forehead.
She walked over to him, sat next to him and said, “That’s not very kind you know.”
Twilight just rolled her eyes. She stood up and headed towards her study. She decided that she would finish those parchments at last.
“Don’t go,” Sombra said. “I might die because of boredom if you do.”
Twilight glanced at him. He had that sly look on him again, and he surely just wanted to make a fool of her again. Fat chance. Still, she just couldn’t leave without saying something.
“And how would me staying here help at all?” she asked and kept on walking.
“You are an interesting conversation partner,” Sombra said, and Twilight stopped walking. She turned around and had a deadpan look on her face.
“Suddenly you want to talk?” she asked suspiciously.
“Why not?” Sombra asked. Twilight thought for a moment. What was he plotting? She hesitated, but decided to play along for now.
“Okay,” she said and sat down to the couch again. “What do you want to talk about?”
“Well… We have been talking a lot about me and my unfortunate past,” he spoke with that same sly smirk on his face. “So why wouldn’t we talk a bit about you?”
“Okay,” Twilight said calmly, and she could see the smirk disappearing from Sombra’s face. She almost smiled, knowing that she hadn’t acted the way he had wanted. Sombra was quick to recover though, and the smile crept on his lips again.
“I am sorry if seem a bit… intrusive, but I have been wondering one thing lately,” he spoke with his deep voice as slick as silver. Twilight had bad feeling about it.
“Yes,” she asked carefully.
“How come that a mare like you has not found a prince for herself yet?”
Dammit. He did it again. Twilight was dumbfounded by his question, which was either him simply trying to make her feel awkward, or maybe he was curious. Why would he be curious or even care? Did… Did he find her attractive in some way? Oh dear Celestia. It wouldn’t be good for her image. And she didn’t even find him attractive with his deep voice and fluffy mane, his muscular body and those red eyes… Damn. What should she say? What was the question again?
“What?” was all that she could mutter.
“I am just wondering why haven’t you married anypony yet,” Sombra said, making a shocked look spread on Twilight’s face.
“I’m twenty-three years old!” Twilight exclaimed, completely confused by his words.
“I know that you are a bit over the ideal age, but I think that you still have all the right features to be a wife for a prince of some wealthy nation. Think what benefits it would bring to your kingdom.”
Twilight stared at him with her mouth open and ears drooped, a goofy look in her eyes. She blinked confusedly and muttered, “Ideal age? Benefits? Right features!? What do you even mean by that!?”
“Well you are a princess of one of the most wealthiest kingdoms in the world, an element of harmony, smart for a mare and you aren’t too bad looking either.”
“A..uh..” Twilight muttered. She had to gather her thoughts for a second, before she improved her posture and gave Sombra a piece of her mind, “I would never marry just any stranger just to benefit Equestria. I think that I am selfish in that way.”
“Why?” Sombra asked, the grin widening on his lips. Twilight knew that she was walking right into his trap, but she just had to continue.
“Because that’s would be just awful!” she said and crossed her fore-hooves over her chest. “A marriage without love is something that I don’t want.”
“Every other nation is doing it,” Sombra said, and Twilight rolled her eyes.
“Why am I even talking about this… With you?” she asked with her ears folded.
There was a short silence between them. Twilight Sparkle sulked silently and Sombra just kept smiling teasingly. Why was he like that again? Did he like annoying her like that? If he did, he was a complete jerk. Her angry expression was failing when she started to think about the things he had said she was.
“You think I’m smart?” she asked, still trying to sound angry.
Sombra nodded and said, “You have to be. I believe that Celestia wouldn’t have picked you if you were as dumb as your friend Applejack.”
“Hey! Do I still have to tell you to stop bullying my friends?” Twilight exclaimed, but in a way she liked how Sombra had praised her.
Sombra shot an apologetic look to her, which seemed surprisingly genuine to her. It made her calm slightly, and she carefully said the other thing that she was thinking about, “You said that I was good looking.”
“Yes I did,” Sombra said calmly. He didn’t continue after that, like what he had said would have been nothing serious, and technically it wasn’t. For Twilight it was serious.
“What… makes you think that?” she asked and rubbed her front-hooves together.
“You have some good physical traits that a stallion can admire on,” Sombra spoke, clearly knowing that that answer would drive her mad.
It almost did. With great efforts of self-control Twilight could restrain herself from starting to blush and instead she asked with just slightly trembling tone, “W-what traits are you talking about exactly?”
Sombra chuckled and stood up slowly, saying with his slick voice “You know that Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight watched at him with wide eyes and her ears drooped. She didn’t want to ask what exactly he meant with that, but it bothered her greatly. She didn’t have time to gather enough courage to ask for more specific answer, when Sombra turned around and walked towards the stairs again.
“Where are you going?” she asked from the dark stallion, who gave her a teasing smile.
Sombra ascended couple of stairs before saying, “To find dear Sam again.”
“What? We are in a middle of conversation here,” Twilight said and watched as he kept climbing the stairs.
“I know,” Sombra chuckled. “And I like the way how uncomfortable my insufficient answer is making you.”
Twilight grunted angrily and a deep, annoyed frown appeared onto her face. So Sombra really had been just teasing her on purpose.
“That’s really mean!” she said angrily.
“I know,” Sombra chuckled. “But it is amusing.”
“Hmph!” Twilight snorted. She then turned around and sat with her nose up in the air. She didn’t look at him when she said, “Fine. It’s not like I care or anything.”
“Sure thing princess Twilight Sparkle,” Sombra said in a way that made it sound like he was meaning just the opposite. With that he disappeared to the corridor on top of the stairs, leaving Twilight alone. She didn’t turn around for a moment, still holding her nose up in the air. Carefully she glanced towards the doorway on top of the stairs, and saw nopony.
“What a jerk,” Twilight grunted moved towards her study. She stopped after a couple of steps. Sombra’s words still ringing in her head, even though she knew that he was just messing with her.
She craned her neck and stretched her other wing. She examined it carefully. Her feathers were well kept and long, something a pegasus stallion could find likeable. Weren’t pegasi considered brutes? Sombra was a brute, maybe he had some pegasus blood in him or something? Twilight rested her wing against her side again.
Next she looked upwards at her horn. She was originally an unicorn. She was smart and well educated. Something that unicorns valued in each other. Sombra was an unicorn, and something told Twilight that he wasn’t the stupidest of ponies either.
Okay. So two out of three tribes could find her attractive in someway. So what does earth ponies like in their partners? They need a strong body in their lives. She blushed a bit and glanced towards her rear. She lifted her other rear leg and stared at her cutiemark. She didn’t have Applejack’s hips gained by hard work, but she didn’t see anything wrong with her own flank either. She blushed again, looking up towards the ceiling. She thought that pretty much every stallion liked the more physical features of a mare, no matter from what tribe he was.
Twilight shook her head and sighed. She was all messed up again. She needed to calm down somehow, and what better way is there than to do some royal paperwork, and maybe a couple of hard algebras, just to calm her nerves. She glanced towards the doorway on top of the stairs again. There was nopony. She sighed and walked towards her study again.
She didn’t know that there indeed was somepony in the doorway, hiding in the shadows. The dark stallion had been lurking there for the whole time, enjoying the show that the purple alicorn had been putting out in front of him. Sombra leaned against the wall and watched as she entered her study. He was chuckling to himself. There was something in that mare that made him feel like a young colt around her, tempting him to do stupid mischief like that.
“Damn you Twilight Sparkle,” he muttered amusedly and shook his head, before heading towards his room.
The same emptiness was all over him again, but this time it was different somehow. Ah, he had a body this time. Sombra lifted his right front-hoof in front of his face to examine it. Yes. He definitely had a body. The emptiness though, it was the very same he had spent almost seven years in. The world felt numb around him, just like last time. Everywhere he looked, he saw nothing. He knew that it was just a dream, but what he didn’t know was the nature of the dream. Would it be just a regular dream, or a nightmare? In a way he hoped that it would be a nightmare, because he didn’t even remember the last time he had had one.
He decided to walk for a bit, but stopped almost instantly. In the formless emptiness walking felt like he hadn’t moved at all, so he just laid down and thought that he would wait until something would happen. He wasn’t in a rush after all. Like he had predicted, something happened after a while. Something that he didn’t like.
He felt cold. He started to hear a wind whistling around him. He felt snow under his hooves, but not just any kind of snow, no. It was snow that felt like it was draining all the warmth from his body, and he was all too familiar with the feeling. The only place a pony was going to find a snow like that was in the Frozen North.
He was there again.
“I don’t like where this is going,” Sombra muttered to himself as he was enveloped into a thick snowfall that made seeing beyond ten meters impossible. Slowly he got covered by a small layer of snow, the coldness making his body numb. His teeth clattered and his breathing got faster, but he did not give up. He knew that it was a dream, so nothing bad could happen to him, right?
"Let’s see which one of us gets bored waiting first,” he challenged the dream.
After a while the numbness was getting stronger, and he started to think that falling into a hypothermia was a real threat. Sombra shivered uncontrollably, and his will was starting to crack. His skin started to feel like burning from the coldness, and he knew that he had to get moving soon, just to end his misery. With a defeated grunt he got up from the ground and shook off the snow off him.
Almost immediately he felt it. The numbness of his body disappeared, filling his body with vigor and feeling of raw power. His mood changed into a sadistic version of happiness. He felt undefeatable, like he was able to crush everything under his hooves.
Sombra snorted angrily. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath of cold air of the Frozen North. His thoughts grew clear. He knew what was happening, and he just let himself be taken away by it. What he felt next was something he could clearly remember from his past.
It was hate.
He hated the snow, he hated the cold, he hated everything that he saw at the moment. He hated many other things he did not see at that moment, and as he started to think about it, he felt his powers gained strenght. The borders of reality and dream started to fade as he felt his powers getting stronger. He thought how he hated the two sisters, he hated their kingdom, he hated King Halite… He hated Twilight Sparkle. So why stop there?
Sombra opened his eyes, purple fires bursting from them as his scleras turned glowing green. The feeling of power grew and he looked upwards, at the cuff around his horn. It exploded into pieces and he laughed hollowly at the great feeling of freedom it gave him. His voice became strangely distorted and his thoughts grew even grimmer. He was now completely enveloped by his dream-reality, and the feelings within it. Those feelings made him remember what he was after.
Revenge.
It was an answer to everything. He needed it. This revenge wasn’t the same that had made him become what he was now, no. This was for those who had taken away his kingdom. He had taken it, to even out his grudge with King Halite, only to be banished by some mares that knew absolutely nothing about him or his motives! He stomped the snow angrily, and started to walk in circles. Soon he would make them pay. He also knew what he would need in order to do it...
The King’s Gem… The Alicorn Amulet.
He noticed that it was strange, how even now, thousand years after, his thoughts were still revolving around that damned amulet. Maybe it was because it was the only thing he had left. After all, revenge was everything he he had wanted. They had kept their part of the deal. Now he had his own part to pay, and all he had left was memories.
He grunted and decided that there was no time to cry over the past, and that he had a kingdom to conquer. He smiled wickedly as his physical form started to change. With a dark laugh his body exploded into a thick cloud of black smoke, leaving many small, black crystal growing through the snow where he had stood. The cloud started to move forwards like a gigantic black snake through the skies. His two green eyes with red irises were staring menacingly forward, a toothy grin under them.
“Equestria will be mine,” he snarled, subconsciously understanding how cliché his words were.
He didn’t get far before he heard a voice calling him.
“Sombra!” it called, oddly clearly and loudly over the howling of the wind around him. The voice was high and beautiful, clearly belonging to a mare at least as beautiful as the voice itself.
Yet it made Sombra almost freeze to the bone and filled his mind with dread.
His smoky form crashed to the ground, lifting up a big, white cloud of snow to the air, from where Sombra soon emerged. He was now wearing his red silk cape and battered battle armor made of steel, where one could still see the marks of many blades that had tried to end his life. On top of his head was his the notorious crown. He spun around in the snow, trying to find the source of the familiar voice he had heard. It didn’t take long before he finally saw the mare to whom the voice belonged.
In front of him stood a grey-coated unicorn mare with a charcoal-black mane and tail, just like his own, but they were longer and less messier than his. Her mane and tail flowed in the powerful breeze of the Frozen North, and her big, green eyes were looking at Sombra with sadness in them. Her ears were folded against the back of her head, but she bravely stared back at him.
Sombra was baffled by the sight he saw. He slowly walked towards the mare, feeling his heart beating like mad. The sight in front of him was too good to be true, but as he got closer, the mare seemed all more real. She was younger than him. Sombra saw the small features of her that he remembered from so so many years ago. Her long eyelashes, her slightly shorter horn, her cutiemark resembling a star shaped crystal, her graceful posture and those beautiful green eyes that had once shined to him with love and affection.
They were now filled with disgust.
Sombra saw that, and he got confused. Wasn’t she happy to see him? After all those years apart? Why was she looking at him like that? He gently lifted his other fore-hoof towards the mare, just to touch her cheek gently, like he had done so many times before, but she swatted it away from her angrily. Sombra stared at him with his mouth open, his eyes wide from surprise.
“Crystal?” he asked confusedly, his voice still hollow and cold.
“Go to hell Sombra,” the mare said, starting to sniffle a little. She swept her mane out of her face and Sombra saw the tears rolling down her cheeks. She held back a full on cry and hissed at him, “Why did you do this to yourself?”
“Crystal,” Sombra said quietly, stepping forward. “What do you mean?”
“What do I mean!?” she exclaimed. “You… You have become something terrible!”
Sombra looked down at his body. He knew that he wasn’t the same pony that he had been before, but he had done everything just to make sure that she would be safe. Or that was what he told to himself.
Sombra stepped forward, but she stepped backwards. “I did everything for you,” Sombra said to her, and saw that she became enraged by his words.
“No you didn’t!” the mare spat at him. “You let your own lust for revenge blind you, and now look what you have become!”
“What!?” Sombra asked with shocked voice, the purple flames in his eyes growing. “All I wanted was you to be safe! For us to get our lives back!”
The mare stepped forward, her ears still folded backwards. She poked Sombra in the chest, and said angrily, “You wanted revenge. Nothing more.”
Sombra didn’t say anything for a moment. He just kept staring at the green eyed mare. He then lifted his fore-hoof towards her cheek again, and this time she let him do it. He gently swept tears from her cheek. She rubbed her cheek against his hoof affectionately. It went on for a moment, before Sombra said quietly, “It was the right choice.”
Then he felt a hoof connect to his right cheek with a loud slap. There was a quick white flash in his eyes, and he lifted his hoof to the sore spot on his face. He stared at the crying mare in front of him, whose eyes were burning with anger.
“You think that it was right choise to throw your life away?” she asked and turned around, to stare into the nothingness of the storm.
Sombra was still holding his cheek when he said, “I did it for you, please believe me.”
“I can’t,” the mare said to him, turning to glance at him over her shoulder. She was crying freely now, not trying to hold it back. The sight made the odd burning in Sombra’s chest return, which angered him more than anything at the moment.
“Mom and dad would have wanted us to move forward, but no!,” she said angrily, her eyes red from crying. “You just had to do… whatever you did to become like that!”
“Crystal I…” Sombra tried, but he was cut off.
“Shut up!” she hissed. “Mom and dad would be turning around in their graves if they would see you now.”
Those words hurt. She, if anyone, should know how much they had meant to Sombra, even though he did not remember them clearly anymore. He opened his mouth with his eyes filled with anger. The purple flames flowed towards the dark mare in front of him as he leaned towards her.
“How can you not understand!” he growled, showing his fangs. Crystal fell down to her haunches and had a terrified look on her face as Sombra continued, “How could I just let him go unpunished after what he had done!?”
“He made a mistake! Unlike you, who knowingly threw your life away!” Crystal cried, only fuelling Sombra’s rage.
“I did what I had to do!” Sombra shouted, making Crystal wince and cover herself with her front-hooves. Sombra panted and realised what he had done.
A frightened expression spread on his face, and he knelt in front of her. He opened and closed his mouth before he tried to say something, only to be stopped by her.
“I remember how you were, a loving brother, but look at you now,” she sobbed, her mane falling over her face. “You are so filled with hate that it glows from you.”
Sombra couldn’t answer. They just stared at each other for a long while.
“Goodbye Sombra,” Crystal then said, her ears drooping. She rose up from the before starting to walk away from him. Sombra wanted to go after her, but he couldn’t move.
“Crystal!” she shouted after her. “Don’t go! I am your brother!”
“You were my brother,” Crystal said and took a last glance at him. “But now you are a monster.”
“Crystal! Please Don’t go!” Sombra pegged, the purple flames growing even bigger. He fell down to his haunches and looked after his little sister, who calmly walked towards the storm. He could only see the silhouette of her anymore. Suddenly, even with all that power he had, he felt weak and lonely. The only thing he had wanted to protect was now walking away, leaving him. All alone.
He held his head with his hooves, shouting curses at nopony, or maybe at himself. Her sister’s silhouette disappeared into the storm, making Sombra just scream into the wind, not knowing how it would help at all. All that he had left from his life was now gone.
Suddenly he heard her voice for the last time, like she would have been standing right next to him, whispering into his ear.
“Don’t lose her like you lost me.”
* * *
“Gah!” Sombra exclaimed as he woke up from his dream, springing to a sitting position. A cold sweat poured on his brow and his breathing was frantic. His eyes scanned the room quickly, before, with a relieved sigh, he flopped onto his back again. It had just been a dream. He had known that actually, or at least until it had taken complete power over him.
He rubbed his eyes and looked towards the window. The curtains were pulled over it, but he could tell that it was still dark outside. Fearing that he would return to that terrible flashback he feared so much, it still made him shiver, he pulled his blanket all the way up to his chin. He thought about his nightmare, and didn’t know what was worse in it. The fact that Crystal, his little sister had abandoned him, or that he was starting to see why...
He shook his head to clear it. He was becoming a real mess. Everything was falling apart. His feelings raged on freely, he had actually enjoyed his time in Ponyville… Well, most of the time. His plan wasn’t doing so well and the worst terrible thing was that he was actually starting to think reformation as a real opinion. Sombra frowned. Now that he thought about it, there was one thing even worse than that. He found Twilight Sparkle’s company enjoyable.
He could hear his sisters words in his head again. Weren’t they his thoughts in a way? After all those were his dreams, and he remembered hearing something about dreams just being ponies’ way to solve or understand their problems. If that was it, then why would losing Twilight Sparkle bother Sombra? He had no interest in her, other than the fact that he would use her to his own advantage, like he had originally planned.
Sombra rolled to his other side. His mane fell over his face annoyingly, but he ignored it, and thought about his plan. What had it been originally? To use Twilight Sparkle in order to find a way to get revenge on the two sisters, who had imprisoned him to the ice of the Frozen North? He closed his eyes and thought that his life had been just revenge after revenge. He chuckled darkly at that, and thought that maybe his reformation would be the end for that cycle. He realised that he was once again thinking about reformation. Could he really start a new life? He sighed. Sombra knew that there was one thing that would decide that.
The Alicorn Amulet.
He had to find it. It was more like an obsession to him now than anything. He needed to find it. Sombra knew that when he would, he would know what to do. He rubbed his eyes again, thinking that then he would know if Twilight Sparkle’s work would have had any effect on him. If not, he could just conquer Equestria and continue his reign of terror. After all, if that is to happen, then it is meant to go that way.
But what if when he finds the Alicorn Amulet, and decides that he wouldn’t need it? What if he wants to be the good guy for a change? He didn’t know what he would do then, because he had never lived a life like that. Not for long at least. It would be easy to just continue from where he had left, ruling as a tyrant, but he slowly had started to envy Ponyvilleans. They were happy with their lives, which were filled with friends and loved ones. Sombra didn’t have either. Not anymore.
He stared blankly in front of him for a long while, unmoving, barely even blinking. Wasn’t he supposed to make friends? That’s what Twilight Sparkle always said. How in the hay was he supposed to make any friends while being locked in a damn castle? He thought about it for a second, before he snorted and rolled to his other side.
He made a mental note to make some friends in the future, just to see what it was like, before falling back to sleep. This time he could rest without seeing ghosts from his past.
Sombra and Twilight Sparkle were walking towards Carousel Boutique. Sombra yawned as he walked. His eyes had small bags under them and his head hurt. Even though the rest of the night had gone without another nightmare, he was still feeling a strong fatigue. He took a deep breath, only to yawn again. He could still see the horrible, snowy scene in front of him when he closed his eyes. It was troubling at the very least.
“Are you okay?” Twilight asked from him.
“Yes,” Sombra answered. “I just had too little sleep last night.”
“Trouble sleeping? Are you having nightmares?” Twilight asked worriedly. Sombra didn’t want to lie, so he stayed quiet. That made Twilight walk a couple of steps closer to him when she asked, “Do you need some help with that? I have some good spell to take care of a nightmare, or if you think that they have a meaning, I could ask Luna about them. She is good at explaining dreams.”
“No!” Sombra grunted. “Nopony is going inside my dreams.”
Twilight gave him a curious look and asked, “How did you know that Luna can visit other ponies’ dreams?”
“You don’t seem to remember that she has been living for much longer time than I have, Twilight Sparkle,” Sombra said. “I was just a small colt when adults used to tell us that a princess from another country had a talent to go inside your dreams and control your life by doing so.”
“What?” Twilight asked with amused tone. “That’s absurd! Why would she do something like that?”
“It was propaganda,” Sombra said with a shrug. “The relations between Equestria and The Crystal Empire were not so good at the time.”
“Oh…” Twilight said with a surprised look. “I didn’t know that.”
“The princesses haven’t told you?” Sombra asked with a raised eyebrow.
“A… uhh…” Twilight mumbled. She wasn’t too pleased with the way where their conversation was going. “Well anyway, she could help you with those nightmares.”
“No,” he answered.
“Fine,” Twilight huffed. “If you change your mind, I can contact her about it.”
“I will remember it.”
They kept walking, and soon Sombra spotted their destination. It wasn’t hard to guess that the building in front of them belonged to a dressmaker. Carousel Boutique, like it’s name told, was shaped like a carousel. It stood out from the rest of the buildings with it’s decorated facade. There were renaissance styled windows and pillars around the round building, and the walls were painted full of different kinds of decorative symbols, mainly fleur-de-lis. The building narrowed towards the second floor, making it look like a small tower on top of the building itself. There was a round balcony going around the whole second floor, where a pony could get a good view of the town and a field that opened behind the shop. On top of the small tower-like structure was a small flagpole, where a small red banner flapped happily in the wind, telling that the owner of the shop was present.
Sombra couldn’t help but think what was wrong with Twilight Sparkle’s friends. Why couldn’t they just live in normal houses like all the other ponies? Well, that farmer Applejack had a nice, normal house, but she was pretty down-to-earth mare. Unlike Rarity it would seem.
They got closer to that rather pompous looking building, which started to seem even bigger as they got closer to it. Sombra realised that all of Twilight Sparkle’s friends were in quite a good financial situations. All the one’s he had met lived in a houses that couldn’t be bought by just anypony. Still, the one he was facing right now was probably the most expensive one by it’s looks, so Rarity really had to make some bits with her work.
On both sides of the door there were big spiral like pillars. Twilight trotted over to the door and rang the doorbell. From inside the building they heard a muffled melody, making Sombra roll his eyes. Luckily Twilight Sparkle did not see it. She was just changing her weight from side to side, humming quietly.
Soon they heard a small click and the door started to open. Behind it stood Rarity. White, well kept coat and stylishly curled violet mane that flowed down her neck. Her eyelashes were long and she had lightly blue eyeshadow, highlighting her azure eyes. On her muzzle rested red glasses, giving her a slightly more mature look. Her horn was glowing in light blue color, it’s magical aura holding a measuring tape.
“Welcome to the Carousel Boutique, where every garment is…” she started with her sophisticated, slightly snobbish tone, but stopped mid-sentence when she saw who her visitors were. She blinked confusedly and then a calm, professional-like expression spread on her face.
“Oh hello Twilight,” she greeted and the two mares shared a quick hug. “Nice to see you again.”
“Sorry about the short notice. I have been having my hooves full lately,” Twilight said when they broke the hug, glancing a bit annoyedly towards Sombra.
That made a slight smirk appear on Rarity’s lips, but it went unnoticed by both Twilight and Sombra. She just chuckled very daintily and then said with suggestive tone, “So I’ve heard.”
Both of her guests gave her a confused, asking look, but before either one of them had time to ask anything, she started to smile and said, “Please come in. I hope that you don’t mind me working while we speak.”
Twilight drooped her ears and scratched her neck. She smiled sheepishly and started to speak, “Well actually I kinda promised that you would make a suit for Sombra so…”
Rarity seemed to think about it, eyeing Sombra up and down. He felt more than awkward under her gaze, so he had to say something.
“Miss Rarity…” he started, but Rarity corrected him.
“Missis Rarity,” she said, then giving Sombra a small nod to continue.
“Missis Rarity. I want to tell you that I am sorry for calling you a…” Sombra started, not quite remembering what he had called her when they had last met.
“A diva,” Rarity helped him, looking at him down her nose in a pretty judging way. Sombra grimaced and nodded. Rarity then sighed and said calmly, yet sternly, “As a lady I will appreciate your apology, but you must behave like a real gentlecolt for me to accept it.”
Sombra looked at her a bit strangely. What did she mean with him having to behave like a real gentlecolt? Did his apology not please her in someway? Had he not done it properly or something? He gave her a bit better look. She was clearly a mare with good sense of proper etiquette. Maybe she would appreciate a proper apology?
Sombra shrugged and decided to go with it. He reached his right front-hoof towards Rarity’s, snatching it into his own. Both Rarity and Twilight were too surprised to do anything before he lowered his head, giving a light kiss to Rarity’s well kept hoof.
“Missis Rarity, I am sorry for my mocking words,” he said and let go of her hoof and lifted his head. To his surprise, the mare in front of him was staring at him with her eyes wide, mouth open and her ears drooped. Confused by this, Sombra gave a questioning look towards Twilight Sparkle, but she too was staring at him with similiar look on her face. What was wrong? He thought that maybe he had done something wrong?
“W-Well that I did not expect…” Rarity said, still blinking a little from the surprise. She then glanced at Twilight, who shrugged with her wings. Sombra was stone-faced himself. Everypony was quiet for a while.
“Uhm… Come in, please,” Rarity said after recovering from her shock, motioning them to enter. Sombra nodded deeply and walked past the white mare, entering the building. Twilight quickly trotted next to Rarity, who asked from her with hushed voice, “What was that?”
“I don’t know!” Twilight whispered back at her. “He’s been acting all strange lately!”
With that Rarity started to smile mysteriously.
“I wonder what’s the reason to that...” she said in a way that told that she might have an idea about the reason of Sombra’s strange behavior. Twilight noticed it.
“What did you mean with that?” she exclaimed quietly, but Rarity just smiled that mysterious smile and started to trot after the dark stallion.
“Rarity!” Twilight tried to whisper after her, but she was already gone. Twilight sighed and decided to follow her. Rarity was playing her games again.
Sombra was already examining the large workspace of Rarity’s boutique. The inside of Carousel Boutique was filled with mirrors and mannequins with different kind of dresses on them, every one more unique than the previous. Shelves were full of different kind of fabrics, from simple wool to the smoothest of silks. Most of the tables there were full of different kind of needles, threads, cutting instruments and a big, expensive looking sewing machine. Many papers with charcoal sketches of Rarity’s creations were pinned to the walls with thumbtacks.
“Just have a seat while I finish this seam,” Rarity said to her guests and trotted over to a red dress, continuing her work.
Twilight laid down on a long divan, laying her saddlebag down besides herself, digging her notebook out of it. Sombra noticed it, but did not say anything. He sat down on a decorated armchair that was too soft for his taste, but it had to do. It didn’t take long before Rarity joined them, sitting down on the same divan where Twilight was lying. She took her glasses from her muzzle and placed them down on the table next to the divan. Then she cleared her throat and asked, “Well have you thought about what kind of suit you would like?”
Sombra lifted his hoof to his chin, tapping it couple of times. Just as he was about to answer, Twilight cut in, “I was thinking something simple, maybe dark grey color?”
Rarity blinked, before looking towards Sombra with skeptical look. Sombra in turn snorted and looked at Twilight amusedly, he swept his hoof through his mane and asked from Twilight, “Grey suit against my coat?”
“Yes, I thought that it would look good on you,” Twilight answering, making Rarity look upwards with a look on her face that told that she was disagreeing with her.
Sombra noticed it and said, “I have to disagree with you.”
“I would want to be on your side dear, but I think that black would suit him better,” Rarity said with serious expression. “Grey suit would simply fade against his fur.”
Sombra nodded, satisfied that Rarity knew her job. Twilight kept looking between him and Rarity, confused. She then let out a small ‘hmph’ and said with bitter voice, “Fine. Go ahead and tell us what kind of an suit do you want.”
She shot an challenging stare at Sombra, who just calmly fixed his pose. He turned towards Rarity and told her, “If I could choose, I would like to have a classic fit black tuxedo with a peak lapel, center vent, flap and chest pocket. Two buttons of course. I believe that a simple white undershirt, primitive red vest and a tie of same color would go fine with it. I don’t know if it is too much, but I would like a red pocket silk too.”
The mares almost couldn’t believe that they had heard him right. Sombra smirked at their incredulous expressions, and said to Rarity, “What do you think, missis Rarity?”
It took couple of seconds before she managed to answer, “I think that… it would actually suit you, yes.”
“Wait a minute,” Twilight said with suspicious look on her face. “I think that I remember you telling me that you didn’t like wearing suits? Weren’t you into some more ‘practical’ clothes?”
“That is right,” Sombra answered with a nod. “But if I have to wear a suit, it might as well look good on me.”
Twilight gave him a sour look, but Rarity smiled a little weirdly. She levitated a paper and a black charcoal to her and started to sketch while she spoke, “I didn’t know that you know about fashion so much. I always kept you as some kind of an brute.”
“He is a brute,” Twilight retorted, but none Rarity or Sombra paid any attention to.
“But Fluttershy told me that he acted rather nicely, even when Discord was trying to tease him,” Rarity said, making Sombra look slightly surprised.
“I thought that she was scared by him?” Twilight asked.
“Oh yes. She’s absolutely terrified by him,” Rarity said with a nod. Sombra grunted, and Rarity continued, “But she said that he acted really polite.”
Twilight rolled her eyes and said, “That’s because he probably is crushing on her too, just like Applejack.”
“Am I hearing a jealous undertone?” Sombra asked with an raised eyebrow.
“What? No!” Twilight exclaimed. Rarity kept eying between those two, curious sparkles in her eyes.
“Whatever, Twilight Sparkle,” Sombra said and turned towards Rarity again. Rarity quickly swept her excited expression away.
“I don’t know nothing about fashion, but I don’t want to look like some plebeian when I present myself to ponies,” Sombra said.
“Of course not darling,” Rarity said.
Darling. Sombra didn’t like it when she called him that. She kept drawing lines on her paper for a moment longer, before stopping to examine the sketch. She soon nodded in approving manner and stood up, facing Sombra.
“Shall we get started? I have to take some measurements first,” she asked, and Sombra answered with a nod.
“Excellent!” Rarity exclaimed. She then pointed towards a small space surrounded by mirrors, and said, “You go stand there, while I get my things ready.”
Rarity went to get her measuring tapes and such. Sombra in turn walked to the mirrors, and waited. It didn’t take long before Rarity arrived with a measuring tape hanging around her neck. She stopped in front of the big stallion and looked up at him.
“I believe that I must also try to tell you what generosity is, no?” she asked while levitating the measurement tape around Sombra, placing it so it was stretched out between his shoulders.
“Yes, it is the main reason for our visit,” Sombra said to her.
Rarity wrote down the measurements and then sighed, “I have to admit that I am not quite fond to teaching. It is hard enough to try to teach sewing to Sweetie Belle.”
She placed the tape against his right front-hoof and continued, “What do you think that generosity is?”
“I know that it has something to do with giving somepony something without wanting anything back, for some weird reason,” Sombra said and shrugged.
“Well… yes,” Rarity said slowly. “Lift up your leg.”
He did so and the tape wrapped itself around his ankle.
“Generosity is that, but it also has a lot deeper meaning for me,” Rarity told him, moving the tape around his chest. “Many times I offer more than just material things in order to help the ones that don’t have the same benefits that I have in my life.”
She thought for a moment before continuing, “I offer my skills as a fashionista for this town at very cheap prices. -” There was a small pause, and she started to smile. “- And they really need my help. These poor ponies have no sense of fashion at all.”
“Hey!” Twilight exclaimed from her place.
“I didn’t mean you honey,” Rarity said with a smile. “You are the single most gorgeous mare I have seen… Isn’t she?”
The question was aimed at Sombra, who gave Rarity a blank stare. He didn’t give her the answer that she clearly wanted, and instead asked, “But why would I want to be generous? It sound that somepony could use my generosity for their own advantage.”
“Oh yes…” Rarity said with a troubled tone. “That has actually happened to me once. I was attending a fashion week in manehattan. I had the most beautiful fabric a pony has ever created, and this mare called Suri Polomare stole my design… Oh it was the worst possible thing…”
“Generosity sounds like a weakness,” Sombra said with a frown. “I don’t like weaknesses.”
“Oh no no no!” Rarity exclaimed, holding her chest in shocked manner. “Generosity is a wonderful thing! I love to make ponies happy! You could say that I am like Pinkie Pie… But a little bit less… random. I like to see a pony smiling, knowing that it was because of me.”
“So you actually are getting something in return?” Sombra asked with a raised eyebrow.
“In way yes… I guess that you are right,” Rarity said a bit thoughtfully. “But It doesn’t really matter. I think that what I am trying to say is that by making others happy, you will be happy too, and what better way to make that happen than by helping others?”
Sombra looked at the white mare into her azure eyes, that were full of determination. Like the other element bearers, she too was passionate towards her beliefs. Even though Sombra did not find her explanation for generosity reasonable at all, he had to admire her passion towards it.
“Missis Rarity,” Sombra said slowly. “I have to admit that I don’t see the logic behind your explanation.”
Rarity and Twilight both seemed to frown at his answer, but Sombra then continued with a slight smile, “But after spending so much time with Twilight Sparkle, I know that some of these crazy sounding things actually work. Who knows, maybe I will someday understand how they work, but not today.”
Twilight wrote frantically to her little notebook, while Rarity pouted. She huffed and then said a bit snobbishly, “The perfectionist in me doesn’t like that answer, but it must have to do for now.”
“I can assure you, missis Rarity, that I learned a lot more than I expected to,” Sombra said a bit embarrassed by it.
“I was a bit unsure about this meeting too,” Twilight said. She then started to smile awkwardly, saying, “I thought that you might be acting… over-dramatically.”
“Over-dramatically? Me!?” Rarity gasped, lifting her hoof over her mouth. “How can you say something like that!?”
Sombra and Twilight shared a knowing look, before turning to look at the fashionista with a deadpan stare. Rarity saw it and pouted embarrassedly. She then cleared her throat and started to gather the measurements that she had taken from Sombra.
“The suit will be ready in couple of days,” she said. “I hope that it will come out to be like you wanted it.”
“I trust that you know how to do your job, missis Rarity,” was Sombra’s answer. Rarity nodded with a smile, before turning towards Twilight.
“Twilight, darling, could you help me with one thing?” she asked matter-of-factly, pointing towards the back room of her workspace. First Twilight didn’t understand why she needed her help. She didn’t know anything about suits!
“Where do you need my help for?” she asked and Rarity sighed, rolling her eyes.
She jerked her head towards the door that lead towards the back room and said with hushed tone, “I need you help with something. In the back room.”
“Oh… Oh! You need my help,” she said when she started to realise that Rarity wanted to talk in private. “Sure I’ll help you right away.”
She got up from the divan, and followed Rarity. Sombra just snorted and called after them, “Don’t gossip for too long.”
“How did he know?” Twilight asked from Rarity, who sighed deeply.
“I truly don’t know Twilight…” she said with deadpan stare.
They got into the back room that was filled with different kinds of older dresses and fabrics. Rarity waited for Twilight to enter the room, before closing the door and without warning tackling the surprised alicorn against the wall, pinning her between her own front legs.
“What the hay Rarity!?” Twilight exclaimed, trying to struggle free. Rarity didn’t budge, and had the most strange, goofy smile on her lips.
“What’s going on between you two!?” Rarity asked in hushed, yet excited tone, making Twilight droop her ears.
She opened her mouth in confusion, before asking with wide eyes , “What!?”
“Oh don’t you try to act like you two wouldn’t have got anything going on between each other,” Rarity said, pressing her snout against Twilights, a frown on her face.
“We don’t!” Twilight squaked.
“Then how do you explain this?” Rarity asked with a smirk, as her horn came to life. Soon a magazine enveloped in a light blue magical aura flow down from one of the shelves. When Twilight saw the front page, her left lower eyelid started to twitch, and her ears drooped.
In front of the magazine was a big picture of herself… Dancing with Sombra in very intimate position. How had somepony managed to take a picture without them noticing? What would Celestia say if she would see that?
“I-I-I…” was all that she could muster up, before gulping and mumbling, “It was just a dance!”
“Do you even believe that yourself honey?” Rarity snickered, letting go of Twilight. She wrapped a hoof around the baffled mare’s shoulder, giggling a little. She smiled at Twilight and said, “I am not judging you though, after all my special somepony is pegasus who barely knows the very basic table manners.”
“He’s not my very special somepony!” Twilight grunted, blushing wildly. “What makes you even think like that!? He’s totally not my type!”
“Then what is your type?” Rarity asked with teasing smirk.
“I-ah… uhh Well I don’t know! But I know that he’s not my type!” Twilight mumbled, crossing her hooves over her chest.
“Whatever you say darling,” Rarity said amusedly. “Whatever you say.”
On the other side of the door Sombra waited for the duo to return patiently. He used the time to walk around the large room, examining the many dresses made by Rarity. It took a while before those two mares came out from the linen storage and walked towards him. Rarity was smiling a mysterious smile while Twilight had hard times trying to keep a straight face, and the slight blush on her cheeks didn’t help at all. Sombra gave a teasing smirk towards them.
“If I wouldn’t know better, I would think that you two would have done something rather… intimate back there,” he chuckled. “Judging by Twilight Sparkle’s face at least.”
“What!?” Twilight exclaimed, the blush getting darker.
Rarity in turn rolled her eyes and said, “What is it with all the stallions? They always think that every time when ladies like ourselves spent time with each other they are doing something naughty? I am not that kind of an mare.”
Sombra chuckled and said, “Pardon me missis Rarity.”
“Oh it is alright,” Rarity said, before she smiled teasingly and continued, “But I’m afraid that I have broken many poor mare’s heart though.”
Sombra shot an asking glance towards Twilight, who nodded. It seemed that Rarity wasn’t considered desirable only between stallions. Sombra turned to look back at Rarity, who was now looking at him weirdly.
“It is kinda sad,” she sighed. After that she walked past Sombra, swatting him on the muzzle with her tail, saying, “But I like big, hunky stallions.”
Sombra snorted and looked at Twilight surprisingly. She too had at least as confused look on her face. Rarity circled Sombra, stopping right next to him. Sombra felt rather uncomfortable with her staring at him in such way. Sombra was almost sure that she was playing some weird games with him, so he decided to meet fire with fire.
“I’m sure that a mare as graceful as you doesn’t have any problems finding one,” he said with a sleek voice, earning a giggle from the white mare.
“Oh I most surely don’t,” Rarity said seductively, making Sombra grin. Then Rarity continued, “Because I already have one.”
Sombra chuckled. He had been right about Rarity trying to play tricks on him.
“Isn’t that nice,” he said and Rarity chuckled. He then added, “It’s a shame actually.”
“Is it now?” Rarity asked with half lidded eyes. “I’ve thought that you would have been more interested about some… other mare I know?”
“Do you mean that farmer?” Sombra asked with a frown appearing onto his forehead. “I can assure you that she is nothing like you are, missis Rarity.”
That answer seemed to please Rarity, but it wasn’t the one she was looking for.
“Well thank you,” she purred like a happy cat. “But I wasn’t speaking of her. I was thinking more like somepony who is…”
She turned towards the pony she was supposed to refer to, but to her surprise there wasn’t anypony else in the room besides her and Sombra. She spun around and then frowned.
“Now where in heavens did Twilight go?” she asked, and Sombra just shrugged.
The answer to their question came in the form of Carouselle Boutique’s door slamming shut quite angrily. Both of them looked at each other with confused looks on their faces.
“What was all that about?” Rarity asked.
“That,” Sombra started and held a small pause before saying, “That was my cue to leave.”
“Oh yes, of course,” Rarity said, accompanying Sombra to the front door. “We don’t want to make Twilight angry by her having to wait.”
“No, we do not,” Sombra said. “And I know that from experience.”
Rarity giggled and opened the front door with her magic, and she could see that Twilight was already walking away from her boutique. It was more than odd behaviour for Twilight, and Rarity scratched her chin in thought. Sombra didn’t seem to care about Twilight acting weirdly.
“Before I go,” Sombra said and turned towards Rarity. He bowed a little and said, “I wish that you consider my apology.”
Rarity snapped away from her thoughts and it took a couple of seconds before her brain managed to register Sombra’s words. When she finally understood what he had said, she just waved her hoof and said, “Oh it is already forgotten my dear. After all you acted like a proper gentlecolt, and you did make quite a good impression to Fluttershy too. That counts a lot in my books.”
Sombra chuckled and gave her one last nod, before saying his goodbyes and starting to trot after Twilight Sparkle.
Rarity closed the door calmly, but then dashed to the nearest window, looking after the pair. She started to smile victoriously when she saw Twilight angrily folding her ears backwards as Sombra reached her side. She saw how Sombra said something, and only got an irritated glance from Twilight in return.
“Jealous are we?” she asked, before starting to snicker and rubbing her front-hooves together as she thought how right she once again was.
* * *
Sombra was walking down the corridor that lead towards the living room. They had gotten back from Rarity’s boutique a good while ago, and he was bored again. He heard a clatter of hooves from the living room, and from the brisk pace he could tell it was Twilight Sparkle. She had been acting strangely after they had left Rarity’s place, which meant that she was a very open target for provocation. She would be a perfect target to relieve some stress.
He nodded to himself and entered the living room. From the top of the stairs he watched Twilight Sparkle trotting around the bookshelves, while levitating a long paper and a quill in front of her. She read the titles on the spines of the books, making small crosses on her long paper as she went. It took a moment for Sombra to realize what she was doing. He had heard Spike talking something about reshelving day. This had to be it.
He kept watching as she walked around the shelves for a while longer, before stopping on her tracks and looking at her list with a broad smile.
“There!” she exclaimed and turned to look the last book she had checked. “ZZZ, guide to sleeping is under Z.”
She did the one final cross to her list and then just stood there, looking around the shelves. She perked up, her horn came to life and enveloped all the books into a purple glow. Sombra’s eyes went wide when he saw what happened next. All the books were pulled away from the shelves simultaneously, floating in the air for a moment, before tumbling down to the floor. He watched with his mouth open as Twilight walked to the closest pile of books, starting to go through all those books again. One by one.
“Is there a reasonable explanation behind all this?” Sombra asked, making Twilight turn towards him for a moment. She then folded her ears and said quite bluntly, “Yes.”
“Aha...” Sombra mumbled and started to walk down the stairs. “But why did you do that? Didn’t the order please you?”
“It was perfect,” Twilight answered shortly, only fuelling his confusion. Twilight didn’t turn to look at him when she said, “I just like to make a double check, just to be sure that everything is on it’s place.”
“It must take a lot of time,” Sombra said, snatching one of the books with his teeth carefully, then trotting to the sofa. He laid down to his back and opened the book with a smug smile on his lips.
Twilight continued to work in silence, not answering his question. She already had almost half of the first a wall long shelf organized. Sombra didn’t try to continue the conversation, and kept reading the book. He liked it. It had some nice pictures in it. After a while he rested the book to his chest and lifted his head enough to see over the backrest of the sofa. He saw that Twilight was about halfway done. He glanced at the book on his chest and then said with a playful tone, which sounded a bit weird on him, “Do you need any help, Twilight Sparkle?”
She clearly was surprised by his friendly gesture and seemed to forgot that she was supposed to sulk at him. Actually she was so surprised that she didn’t even see what was coming.
“A-uhh.. Sure!” she muttered, before starting to smile. She thought how Sombra could help her, and then said, “Just say the name of the book and I’ll tell you where to put it.”
Somba chuckled quietly, then lifted the book up for Twilight to see and spoke.
“Where does The Pony Sutra go?”
He bit his lower lip, waiting for the answer with excitement. He could almost feel the embarrassed atmosphere in the room, before a purple glow covered the book in question, lifting it off from Sombra’s hooves.
“I-It goes under T in manuals…” Twilight answered, trying to sound as calm and professional as she could. It didn’t work out too well and her voice broke into a high pitched squeak.
Sombra laughed, rising to a sitting position so he could see Twilight. The sight was more than amusing. Twilight levitated the book over to it’s right shelf, walking with stiff legs and a visible discomfort on her face.
“Twilight Sparkle, you don’t need to feel embarrassed by things like this. It is just some lighthearted fun.”
“It is not fun in my opinion,” Twilight muttered, still not able to look at him with serious face. She hated it when Sombra did things like that.
“I think that you should really loosen up Twilight Sparkle,” Sombra said and watched as she kept working. “No wonder that you are so boring. You don’t have a sense of humor.”
“Do you consider making me embarrassed humor?” she asked, pretty vexed by his constant teasing. “Because I think that it is annoying and stupid!”
The way Twilight Sparkle’s volume rose surprised Sombra. He looked at the purple mare with a raised eyebrow, before saying, “What is troubling you Twilight Sparkle?”
That made something snap in Twilight’s head, and she spun around with her ears folded.
“What’s troubling me?” She asked and then chuckled quite weirdly. “Oh I don’t know. Maybe it is that you just keep making me crazy with all those stupid jokes that you do!”
She took a deep breath, before continuing to almost shout at a surprised Sombra, “And that’s not all! I try to help you and all you do is go crushing on my friends!”
“What?” Sombra said with a expression of surprise mixed with amusement on his face.
“Yeah!” Twilight exclaimed, starting to walk in circles. “First there was Applejack…”
“I only said that she is quite attractive,” Sombra said with a frown, but Twilight didn’t seem to notice his remark.
“And then there was Fluttershy,” she continued, shaking her head.
Sombra bettered his posture and said with louder voice, “I remember saying that she was a lovely mare, but I don’t have any intentions towards her!”
“Well what about Rarity then?” Twilight asked, eying at Sombra angrily. “You seemed to enjoy her company today!”
“Well she was a mare who…” Sombra started with a small grin on his lips, but suddenly his eyes went wide. He turned towards Twilight Sparkle, who was staring at him. The corners of his mouth slowly moved upwards, forming a teasing grin on his face.
“Twilight Sparkle,” he spoke slowly, leaning over the backrest of the sofa.
“Are you jealous?” he asked, and Twilight’s ears drooped. Sombra started to smile as a visible blush covered her cheeks.
“You are!” he exclaimed and clapped his front-hooves together.
Twilight turned around and trotted back to the shelf that she had been reorganizing and continued her work. Sombra kept laughing for couple of seconds, before saying, “I have to say that I am quite flattered by all this. A mare like you finding a stallion like me…”
“I don’t find you attractive!” Twilight defended herself, but Sombra’s grin only grew.
“I was going to say interesting,” Sombra chuckled, making Twilight let out a loud groan. She continued to put the books back to the shelf as Sombra got up from the sofa.
“You shouldn’t be angry at yourself for feeling..:” he started, but Twilight interrupted him.
“I’m not angry at myself!” she exclaimed angrily. “I’m angry at you!”
Sombra stared calmly at her. She returned the stare with her ears folded backwards for a moment, before she snorted and continued her work. Sombra sighed. He knew that it would be more than awkward to live with a mare that was sulking at him. He had to do something.
“Twilight Sparkle,” he said in his deep voice. There was no response from her, so he continued, “I am sorry for making fun of you.”
Again no response. Sombra grunted and said more loudly, “It’s not very princess like to be sulking over some stupid thing like this!”
No response. Sombra started to get annoyed.
“Fine,” he huffed. “Be childish if you like.”
With that he slumped back down to the sofa. They both were quiet, but there was glances shared between them. Every time when their gazes met, they huffed and looked away. After a while it started to feel stupid to be acting like a damn foal, at least Sombra thought so.
Sombra looked at the scowl on Twilight’s face. It was somehow amusing, but at the same time it made him feel weird around his chest. It wasn’t the same burning that he felt during his worst emotional bursts, but it felt uncomfortable. He rubbed his chest, looking at the purple mare flexing her wings angrily. Seeing her pout made Sombra roll his eyes. He didn’t like how it made him feel to see her like that, and worst of all, he got a stupid idea.
Twilight kept lifting books to the shelves with that irritated pout on her face for a while. Suddenly she was surprised by Sombra’s deep voice asking, “Does Chess 101 go under C in manuals?”
Twilight spun around. Sombra had the mentioned book in his hoof, and he was staring at the floor in front of Twilight. She blinked confusedly, before giving a slight nod to him. Without a word Sombra walked to the right self, placing the book on it’s right place. He then clumsily picked up another book, read the title. Twilight saw that it was the Hitchhiker’s guide to nightsky. Sombra opened the book and read couple of lines, before closing it and placing it under H in science fiction.
She kept looking at him, lifting books with his teeth and placing them on the right shelves, not even asking for help. She kept staring at him for a while more, before she too joined him, reshelving the many books on the floor. After about twenty books, Twilight stopped and turned towards Sombra. He too was looking at her.
“Thanks for the help,” she said shyly, and lifted up another book.
Sombra chuckled and he too took picked up another book from the floor.
“I truly am sorry Twilight Sparkle,” he said, giving a sideways glance towards the purple mare. He saw how she started to smile shyly.
“About that little scene I put up…” she said slowly, blush re-appearing to her face. Sombra didn’t let her continue though.
“It is nothing,” Sombra said. “I deserved to be scolded.”
They were quiet for a while. Before a Sombra started to smile weirdly. It took a while for Twilight to realize why the smile on him looked so weird, but soon she got it.
It was a warm, friendly smile. Something that she hadn’t seen on him. She soon realized that she was staring, and quickly looked away. Why was he smiling at her like that?
“I hope that you will not get angry with me again when say this,” he said carefully, still smiling that smile. Somehow Twilight was sure that she would get angry.
“But your friends have none of the charming features that you have.”
She didn’t get angry. Embarrassed and flustered maybe, but not angry. She was sure that her face was red as a tomato, and she had some troubles with her voice.
“T-t-thanks,” she stuttered and flashed a meek smile to Sombra.
He didn’t answer, but the smile grew wider on his lips.
The door of a certain cloud-house opened, and it’s exhausted owner lazily walked inside, closing the door behind her. Her sweaty, rainbow-colored mane was a clinging to her face and the deep blue uniform felt uncomfortably tight over her cyan coat. She squirmed out of the horrible piece of clothing, and send it flying across the room with a sharp kick of her hind-leg. After that she flexed her wings couple of times and trotted towards her bathroom, dodging a happy looking flying tortoise, which banged against the soft cloud-wall. Luckily it did not suffer any injuries. One of the perks in living a house made of clouds was that it was almost impossible for a pony to hurt oneself while tumbling down the stairs or some other mishaps like that.
She patted the tortoise on the head and flashed a small smile to it, before stepping into her bathroom and taking a quick, warm shower. After she was done and she had preened her wings, she fed the flying tortoise named Tank and headed upstairs, towards her bedroom, where her queen-sized bed made from cumulus clouds waited for her. Oh... Her eyes started to feel heavy even thinking about that.
Moments later she flopped down to the bed, sighing deeply from satisfaction. A nap was what she needed after three hours of hard workout with the wonderbolts. She hugged her pillow and yawned. Everything was perfect. Nothing could ruin her afternoon nap now...
Except a loud voice of a doorbell.
She exclaimed in surprise, springing up from her bed. It took a couple of seconds before she recovered from her sudden and rude awakening. She started to stomp back downstairs while mumbling curses that would have made a sailor blush. She practically kicked the door open, ready to kill the one that disturbed her slumber.
Unfortunately for her, behind the door stood one of those ponies that she could not kill for two reasons. One, because the visitor was one of her best friends, and two, because she was one of the co-rulers of Equestria.
“Hi Rainbow Dash!” Twilight greeted happily at Rainbow Dash. “I hope that I didn’t interrupt anything.”
“Hi Twilight…” Dash answered slowly, pouting. “I was just about to take a nap but hey, I’m up now.”
“Great!” Twilight exclaimed and pushed past Dash, who let out a sigh.
She knew that there had to be something absolutely, utterly annoying coming up. Otherwise Twilight wouldn’t have come to visit her, because of her recent ‘royal duties’. She followed the purple alicorn, who sat down to one of her easy-chairs.
“So Twilight, my princess. How may I help you?” Dash asked with a hint of sarcasm in her voice, laying down to floor.
Without noticing Dash’s comment, Twilight started to explain with excited voice and her wings quivering a little, “As you probably know, you are the last element yet to meet Sombra.”
Dash suddenly started to feel uncomfortable, and she asked, “So?”
“So I was thinking if you had some free time this week? So I could arrange a meeting for you two,” Twilight spoke and looked at her friend with a hopeful, pegging expression on her face.
Rainbow Dash stared back at Twilight for couple of seconds, before she swept her hooves over her face and exhaled loudly.
“Great, great…” she mumbled, earning a confused look from Twilight.
“Is something wrong Rainbow?” Twilight asked.
“Yes!” she answered bluntly, surprising Twilight. Dash continued, “It’s just that I don’t like him. At all!”
“Oh you’ll see that he’s not as bad as he seems,” Twilight said with a wave of her hoof. “Even Fluttershy said that he’s nice.”
“Did she?” Dash asked, and Twilight looked up at the ceiling.
“Well… She said that he acted very politely,” she mumbled, and Dash face-hoofed. Annoyed by that, Twilight said, “But he’s really nice nowadays.”
“But he is Sombra!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, looking at Twilight with worried expression. “He is King Sombra! The slave king and all that!”
There was a short silence and intense stare between those mares, before Rainbow Dash added almost angrily, “He is evil!”
“No he isn’t,” Twilight snorted. “Sure he is cranky and sometimes a bit mischievous, but he’s changed.”
“And how do you know?” Rainbow asked seriously, rising up from the floor. “I can’t believe that anypony else isn’t seeing it? He surely is just plotting to get rid of us when he gets the chance!”
“You haven’t even met him!” Twilight exclaimed, her wings twitching behind her back.
Dash’s wings moved in same, irritated way when she scolded Twilight, “I have met him! He last time she mocked me, before that he tried to kill you, Luna and Celestia and before that he almost killed Spike!”
Twilight folded her ears against the back of her head, but she didn’t say anything. Dash took that as cue to continue, so she trotted to a table in front of a window. She took a magazine into her teeth and then with a quick twist of her neck, threw the magazine to the floor in front of Twilight. It was the same magazine that Rarity had shown to her couple of days earlier.
“It was just a dance,” Twilight grunted and crossed her front-hooves over her chest.
“Sure, sure!” Rainbow Dash mocked her. “Don’t you see? He’s just playing with you to do… I don’t know… Evil stuff!”
Twilight’s expression turned even angrier, so Dash hung her head and sighed, calming down. With a worried look on her face she said, “I’m just worried about you Twi…”
“Maybe you should just mind your own business?” Twilight suddenly snapped at Rainbow Dash, completely baffling her. Dash stared at Twilight with wide eyes and drooped ears. Twilight’s wings were completely extended into a threatening pose, and she angrily stared at Dash.
“Twi… Uh..” she mumbled, unable to think anything reasonable to say. Twilight noticed that and jumped down from the easy-chair, making her way towards the front door. Dash snapped away from her baffled state and trotted after her.
“Okay okay! I’ll meet him, jeez!” she said and stopped to the door of her house, seeing that Twilight was standing on the edge of her porch. She stood there for a short moment, before her posture slumped, and she turned to look at Rainbow Dash with the most embarrassed look.
“I’m sorry Rainbow,” she sighed. “I didn’t mean to get angry with you.”
“Hey, maybe I deserved it or something,” Dash smiled at her a bit worriedly. “But seriously, be careful.”
Twilight nodded, but then said, “But really, he’s nice.”
“Sure thing Twi.”
They then said goodbyes and Twilight jumped down to the sky, gliding towards Ponyville, where her castle’s big silhouette could be seen reflecting sun’s light. Rainbow Dash sat down to the porch and scratched the back of her head with a thoughtful pout on her face. She watched the purple alicorn flying until she couldn’t recognize her figure anymore.
There surely was something going on with Twilight, that was for sure. It wasn’t hard to guess the reason behind her odd behaviour, and Rainbow Dash didn’t like that. She flapped her wings couple of times, before getting up from the floor, and puffing out her chest. It was her duty as Twilight Sparkle’s friend and as the element of loyalty to help her with whatever was troubling her. Or whoever was troubling her.
“It’s time to get the girls together,” she said to herself sternly.
With a grunt she jumped down from the porch and flared her wings open, gliding towards her first stop.
“It’s not like I need sleep anyway...“ she mumbled and then yawned.
* * *
After a while, Rainbow Dash was trotting back and forth in front of one table in Sugarcube Corner. Around the table sat four very close friends of her. She eyed them with anticipation but her stare was mostly met with confused looks.
“Alright girls,” she started speaking in her well-practiced Wonderbolt commanding voice. “I’m glad that we all are here, and I believe that everypony knows why.”
“Umm…” Applejack started carefully. “Ah’ have no Idea actually.”
“Me neither…” Fluttershy joined Applejack, carefully glancing between the two mares.
“Rainbow Dash Darling,” Rarity sighed. “Is this one of your weird pranks again?”
Dash stared at those three with shocked expression. She opened and closed her mouth, blinking confusedly, before turning towards the last pony in the table.
“Pinkie… You know what I’m talking about. Right?” she asked from Pinkie Pie, who smiled and nodded.
“I think that you are right,” Pinkie said happily, and Rainbow Dash smiled. Even somepony was on her side.
Her relief was short-lived though, because Pinkie Pie spoke again, “Ponyville needs more pop bands.”
“What!?” Dash exclaimed, and the others looked at the pink mare a bit weirdly too. Rainbow Dash then mumbled something about why Pinkie had to be so random all the time, before irritatedly saying, “No no no! We’re here to kick Sombra’s sorry flank!”
A deep silence spread over the group of friends, and Rainbow just kept staring at them with angry an expression. When she finally noticed that the others weren’t in the same excited state of mind, her ears drooped and her expression softened.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I might ask the same from you darling,” Rarity said worriedly.
“Yeah Rainbow,” Applejack said, tilting her hat backwards. “Ya seem awfully aggressive today sugarcube.”
That made Rainbow grunt and look away embarrassedly.
“I told you not to use that name in public,” she muttered under her breath.
“I use it all the time!” Applejack said amusedly.
“Yeah, but it means… something different to me! And you know that!” Rainbow said and looked at the orange earth pony seriously. “So don’t say it when I’m around...”
Fluttershy and Rarity shared a knowing glance, while Pinkie just giggled at the pair. When they noticed it, both Applejack and Rainbow Dash started to blush.
“Alright alright!” Applejack exclaimed, tipping her stetson so that it was hiding her red cheeks. “So what’s the matter Dash?”
That got Dash snap back to attention.
“What’s the matter!?” she asked mockingly. “Sombra is the problem!”
“Hey!” Pinkie shouted, scaring Fluttershy. “That’s not cool! He’s my friend!”
“Friend?” everypony asked in unison.
“Yeah!” Pinkie said proudly. “And he’s a great dancer too!”
Rainbow Dash grunted annoyedly, before throwing her hooves up and saying loudly, “You are just like Twilight! Can’t you remember how he tried to kill the princesses!?”
Again, everypony was quiet, glancing at each other. Rarity was the first one to speak up, “Hrhm… Am I sensing some worry about Twilight?”
“Damn right you are!” Rainbow Dash retorted.
“Why?” Fluttershy asked. “Last time I saw her she was looking really happy.”
“That’s the point! Can’t you see how Sombra is just playing his evil mind-games to do some evil things to do some… evil stuff! It’s all part of his evil plan!” Rainbow tried to explain.
“Whoa nelly,” Applejack chuckled. “That’s mighty many evils right there.”
“But it’s still true!” Rainbow snorted.
“Now Ah’ know that he’s not the easiest pony to spent time with, but I have high hopes for that poor bastard,” Applejack said with a stern nod.
“You’re supposed to be on my side AJ,” Dash whispered towards her, but Applejack just smiled.
“Not when you’re talking hoohaa like that sugarcube,” she snickered, making Dash pout.
“Don’t be such a grumpyface Dashie,” Pinkie tried to cheer her up. “Sombra is actually a really fun when you get to know him better! He’s a real trickster!”
“And he’s really polite when he’s in the right mood. He also knows how to treat a lady it seems,” Rarity said.
“And he’s handsome,” Fluttershy said with a dreamy look on her face. Everypony turned towards her, and it took a moment before she realized it. She let out a high-pitched squeak and hid behind her pink mane.
“I-I like big stallions…” she said with a voice just above a whisper.
Applejack stared at her with her eyes wide, before she said seriously, “Now don’t ya go breaking my brother’s heart missy.”
One by one others turned to stare back at Rainbow Dash, who was looking rather angry.
“Really?” she asked. “Nopony else is realizing that it is Sombra who we are talking about? It’s not the first time he has done these things!”
She looked at Rarity, “You’re just a hopeless romantic, who want’s to see her and that jerk together!”
“What?” others asked, making Rarity look towards the ceiling awkwardly.
Rainbow then turned towards Pinkie Pie.
“And you are just too random!” she sighed.
“Thanks!” Pinkie said with a wide smile.
Now it was Fluttershy’s turn, and she was already hiding behind her own mane when Rainbow Dash said, “You’re crushing on him…”
And finally she turned towards Applejack, who was staring at her with a deadpan stare.
“And you aren’t backing up your own marefriend!” she said sadly, earning nothing but a roll of eyes from Applejack.
“Dashie,” Applejack started slowly. “We used the elements on him. It has worked with other bad guys, so why not on him?”
Rainbow Dash was about to say something, but stopped. She drooped her ears in defeated way. She hadn’t even thought about that. She started to draw invisible circles to the floor with her right front-hoof and said, “I don’t know… I guess that it is just because Twi’s my friend…”
“She’s our friend too,” Pinkie said happily.
“Yeah Dash,” Applejack joined her. “And we trust her.”
“A-and maybe you should trust her too?” Fluttershy more like asked than suggested.
“Fluttershy’s right Darling,” Rarity said and laid a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder, who smiled meekly.
Dash sat down with a deep sigh. Her ears were folded against the back of her head and she kept glancing between her friends. They all were smiling at her encouragingly, but somehow she still felt like giving a good old flank whooping to Sombra. She knew that she wouldn’t do it though. Not for now at least. She frowned and thought that she would have to keep an eye on Sombra. Just in case.
“Hmph…” she huffed. “Fine. I’ll meet him and I will not kill him while I’m at it.”
“Atta’ girl,” Applejack said and leaned closer to her, nuzzling her cheek with her muzzle. Other’s snickered at Dash’s expression.
“Cut it,” she ordered, but started to smile.
Just as they got their laughter under control, the pony who they had been talking about rushed through the doors of the bakery. Twilight Sparkle had a huge grin on her face and she clearly was excited about something.
“Hi girls! It’s good to see that all of you are here!” she exclaimed and sat besides Rarity. She didn’t even notice all the awkward expressions around her, and continued to speak, “I got really exciting news! Guess what it is?”
Nopony guessed, so her horn came to life and from under her left wing she pulled a parchment with a royal sign on it.
“Princesses are coming in for a visit next saturday!” she exclaimed, earning surprised reactions from her friends. All but Rainbow Dash started to speak about the upcoming meeting with the princesses. Dash glanced at her friends, before sighing quietly. Why didn’t her friends see that Sombra clearly was up to no good?
Twilight Sparkle hummed as she flew towards her castle. The day had gone well after all, even if it had started quite poorly. News about the princesses coming for a visit was a pleasant surprise. She smiled mischievously when she thought about what Sombra would say. Soon she reached her castle, and she landed in front of the big front doors. She flexed her wings a couple of times, before cracking her neck. Then she felt a strange urge to look up, like almost every time when she stood in front of that castle.
She slowly lifted her head upwards. Her gaze followed the curves of the crystal tree, all the way up to the part where the castle itself started. It was resting on the massive branches of that crystal tree, towering over her majestically. The golden tips of the towers above her reflected the sun’s light. She examined the floating crystal above the main tower. It was strange that it always shone blue light around it, but it didn’t hurt one’s eyes to look straight at it, unlike the sun for example. Lastly her gaze met with the large banner that had her symbol resembling her cutiemark sewn on it. It wasn’t windy at all, so the banner stayed on it’s place.
Twilight stared at the castle for a moment longer.
It was her castle. It was still hard to understand it, even if she had been a princess for a couple of years now. Celestia had told her that she would get used to it in a decade or two, but it was a long time for a mare as young as she. Twilight snorted and lowered her gaze. She trotted to the large front doors and opened them with her magic. Behind them was her throne room, where she was greeted by a strange, rather surprising sight.
She saw Sombra on the other side of the throne room, sitting on her throne. The crystal windows made the sun’s light shine through them in a ghostly blue color, and somehow all the rays of light seemed to point right at him. Twilight stopped mid step and kept looking at him with her eyes wide. She had to admit that he looked quite royal in that setting, even his black mane seemed to be flowing a little. He calmly stared back at her, and it went on for a moment, before Twilight came back to her senses.
“What the hay are you doing on my throne!?” she shouted, and her horn came to life.
Clear surprise spread on Sombra’s face when he felt being lifted away from the throne forcefully, before being thrown down on the floor. He was agile for a stallion of his size though, and managed to land on his hooves. He turned to face Twilight with a frown on his face.
“Why so fierce, Twilight Sparkle?” he asked.
“You were sitting on my throne!” Twilight answered and walked towards him.
“I don’t see that as reason to go throwing other ponies around with your magic,” Sombra answered and looked at Twilight annoyedly.
“Oh really?” Twilight asked and looked at him with squinted eyes. “Back in the day, what would you have done if somepony would have sat on your throne?”
Sombra opened his mouth to answer, but closed it when he realized that he would probably have done something much much worse to the poor pony who would have dared to sit on his throne.
“I take back what I said,” Sombra answered slowly.
“Good,” Twilight said sternly. “Now why were you sitting there?”
“Oh I was just remembering the old times,” Sombra said and started to look around the big room. He looked up towards the round ceiling and said, “It’s been awhile since I have sat on a throne.”
“Being nostalgic I see,” Twilight said, getting more curious. She then asked, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice, “Do you feel like sharing some of those thoughts?”
Sombra pouted thoughtfully, scratching his chin with his hoof. After couple of seconds he shrugged and said, “I don’t see why not.”
For a moment Twilight looked more than surprised. Clearly she hadn’t expected Sombra to actually give her a positive answer. Soon a smile spread on her lips, and she forgot the big news that she was supposed to tell him.
“Great!” Twilight exclaimed, already feeling a bit excited. “We can go to the living room if you want.”
Sombra nodded, and they started to walk towards the stairs leading up to the upper levels of the castle. They climbed the long, round staircase that coiled inside the ‘trunk’ of the massive crystal tree. On top of the stairs was a round room, with three big corridors, large decorated chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and long banners with symbols of friendship and all sort of things like that. They lead to the other, mostly unused wings of Twilight’s castle, like the armory and the grand hall.
“Twilight Sparkle,” Sombra said to get her attention. “I have to ask why most of your castle seem almost like it’s… deserted?”
Twilight took a quick look at the corridors, before answering, “I don’t like having staff around the castle all the time.”
“So you have to do all the work by yourself?” Sombra asked as they started to climb yet another stair that lead towards Twilight’s living quarters. “It just seems odd to me.”
“Rarity keeps telling me that,” Twilight chuckled. An uncomfortable look spread on her face when she continued, “I tried having royal staff when I became an alicorn, but it didn’t work out. Everypony kept bowing to me and there were guards everywhere and the butler… He didn’t even knew how to arrange my daily routines. I mean what the hay was he thinking, arranging a meeting with Mayor Mare after dinner? Having dinner after the meeting would have speeded up the process by twelve point seven percent and...”
She stopped when she noticed Sombra giving her a weird look. She cleared her throat and said calmly, “Anyway… I think that I can handle things better by myself.”
“I see…” Sombra said slowly, smiling a little. “But how about cleaning?”
“With magic everything is easy,” Twilight said, and Sombra nodded, glancing upwards to the cuff around his horn. The pressure of all the unreleased magic was still present, but he had learned to ignore it. Oh how easy life would be when that damn cuff would be gone, and it was just a matter of time. No matter how things would turn out...
Sombra shook those thoughts away when they reached the doors that lead to the living quarters of Twilight Sparkle. Flash Sentry was there too, standing in attention in front of Twilight’s study. Immediately when Sombra entered the living room, Flash’s eyes were fixated on him. It wasn’t unusual. He always stared at Sombra, but that time it felt different. Sombra felt like Flash Sentry would have been examining him with a far colder look than normally, and he soon realized why. That orange-coated pegasus was glancing between him and Twilight Sparkle, who was oblivious about the strange stare that the colt was giving her and Sombra.
Sombra squinted his eyes and looked at Flash. There was something strange going on with him. Soon Twilight noticed the intense stare between the stallions, and she let out a small sigh and rolled her eyes.
“You two just don’t get along now do you?” she asked from them, before she walked towards Flash and said, “Flash, could we have some privacy, we are going to have a small conversation.”
For a second the guard seemed troubled, but he then nodded and said with humble tone, “Of course my princess.”
Twilight flashed a smile at him, before he started to walk towards the doors where Sombra stood. As he passed the dark-coated stallion, he gave him a suspicious look that made Sombra grunt annoyedly. Flash then closed the doors and Sombra was left alone with Twilight Sparkle.
He decided that he would have a chat with Flash later, but now it would have to wait. He started to walk towards Twilight Sparkle and looked around the many bookshelves and then up towards those stained glass windows he hated so much. The room was something that didn’t seem to fit to the rest of the castle with it cozy architecture and he just had to ask one more question about the castle.
“I have to say that your personal quarters are quite strange,” Sombra commented, but when he got a weird look from Twilight, he added, “comparing to the rest of the castle.”
“Oh,” Twilight said with an understanding look. “Yeah… It wasn’t in the original version of the castle. It is designed so that it would seem similar with my previous home. Celestia paid a good sum of bits do to it. I really like it.”
“Your previous home?” Sombra asked when he sat down to a sofa.
“Yes. It… It was destroyed by Tirek,” Twilight said sadly.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Sombra said.
Twilight nodded, but then started to smile. She sat down to the opposite side of the living room table from Sombra and said, “But hey, I got an castle.”
Sombra chuckled at her. Then he remembered why they were there. He took a comfortable position, and so did Twilight.
“So what were those old times you were remembering about back there?” Twilight asked from Sombra, who started to smile a weird smile.
“I was remembering the times when everything was simple, before I came to power.” he answered.
“Simple?” Twilight asked with an amused look. “I thought that being a tyrant would be simple. Your slaves doing all the job and things like that.”
“No… You have gotten it all wrong,” Sombra told her with a sad look. “ Being a tyrant is keeping the slaves under control while trying to hide everything from countries like Equestria and keeping good relations with other… Great leaders like myself. I didn’t like political hassle like that…”
“Huh…” Twilight huffed. “Then what do you mean with those simple times you were talking about?”
Sombra started to smile and his posture got a lot better.
“I mean the times when I was just a mercenary,” he said with a nostalgic look on his face. “Everything was so clear… I knew what I wanted and how to get it.”
Twilight had a slightly confused look on her face, and she asked, “You say that being a mercenary was easy? You have to fight in wars and… and...”
She stopped when she didn’t come up with any other good reasons. Sombra just chuckled and said “Exactly. All I had to do was to fight. I remember how I fought with great generals to build my name, fuelled by the need for...”
He stopped and frowned, but just for a second. This didn’t go unnoticed by Twilight, but Sombra continued before she could say anything, “I remember how I finally met with Mero. Oh how victorious I felt when I got an army of my own. Loyal soldiers…”
Twilight saw his expression starting to change, from nostalgic smile to something much more dark.
“And I remembered how I felt when I saw the silhouette of the magic barrier that surrounded The Crystal Empire…” he spoke slowly, his deep voice sounding cold all of the sudden. Twilight was starting to feel more than uncomfortable with Sombra staring right at her.
“....How I fought my way through the streets and when I finally kicked open the door to the throne room of the castle…”
Twilight squirmed up on her spot, her ears folded. This wasn’t something she had hoped to hear, and it seemed like Sombra hadn’t been supposed to tell her that in the first place. The calm and piercing look that he usually had in his eyes was replaced by a cold, menacing stare that almost made Twilight scared.
“...And when I finally sat on that throne,” he continued with a voice that sounded almost like a growl. “I remember how I felt… I had reached my goal. I had gotten what I wanted.”
Twilight was scared to ask, but she couldn’t help herself. With quiet voice she asked, “Was it p-power that you wanted?”
With that a outraged frown appeared on Sombra’s face, and he angrily snapped at Twilight.
“Revenge!” he shouted, making Twilight jump backwards on her spot. “It was revenge that I wanted!”
Sombra’s fangs were showing as he stared at the frightened mare for a moment. Twilight was leaning backwards on her place, her ears still folded and her eyes wide. She couldn’t dare to take her eyes off from his, and Sombra could see and smell her fear.
Then it hit him. When his brain could finally analyze the frightened look in Twilight Sparkle’s purple eyes, the burning he hadn’t felt in a while returned with full force, almost making him grunt from pain. He closed his eyes and turned away from the alicorn’s stare.
“I am sorry Twilight Sparkle,” he said, not looking at her. He rose up from the sofa and said, still not turning towards her, “I didn’t want our conversation to go this way.”
With that he started to walk towards the stairs, rubbing his chest discreetly as possible. He didn’t even reach the stairs when he heard Twilight speaking.
“Revenge for what?” she asked with quiet, careful voice.
Sombra stopped walking and stayed still for couple of seconds. He glanced at Twilight Sparkle over his shoulder and saw that she was still sitting on the sofa, her ears hanging downwards. Now her frightened look was gone and it was replaced by a worried, almost sad look. For a reason he did not know himself, he felt a need to talk. At least the burning in his chest told him so.
He sighed deeply, before slowly walking back to the sofa, flopping down on it in a very unroyal way. He brushed his hoof through his mane and sighed again, before making eye contact with Twilight. She was still looking at him with those big, purple eyes of hers in a way that made him look away.
He gulped and then said with tired voice, “My family was everything to me.”
Twilight blinked confusedly, but didn’t say anything.
“Our house was very close to the crown. I don’t remember much about those times anymore, but I have a faint memory of my my parents telling about my ancestors being part of the actual royal family,” Sombra told Twilight, who still didn’t say anything. Sombra sighed sadly and said, “I can’t even remember the name of my house...”
Sombra looked up at the stained glass windows above them and continued to tell Twilight his story, “King Halite was a stallion with strong opinions about houses that profited from the crown. He thought that they were just using their status in order to get easy bits, without doing anything to help their own nation. Sadly, our family was mostly working for the crow. ”
“But your family was helping, weren’t they?” Twilight asked.
Sombra chuckled darkly.
“They were, but there was a truth behind his accusations, many upper class families and houses mostly misused their status, doing fraud and inside deals to fool the commoners and even the crown.”
“That sound too familiar,” Twilight muttered. “The upper class of Canterlot acts the same way.”
Sombra nodded, and then continued, his tone getting even more tired as he spoke, “Halite did some changes that took away great slices of the power from the rich families, giving it to the common ponies…”
He said the last part with almost disgust. Twilight felt the atmosphere growing colder again. She didn’t like it.
“Needless to say,” Sombra continued and again brushed his mane. “Rich families weren’t too keen on the idea, and whispers started to spread around the houses.”
“What kind of whispers?” Twilight asked with interested voice. “Did they plot something against the crown?”
“I don’t know,” Sombra said with a shake of his head. “But when Halite got a hint about something going on between some families, he didn’t give them time to act against him.”
Twilight gulped nervously. She rubbed her front hooves together and asked, “D-did he do something?”
Sombra gave her an deadpan stare, which made her look at him sheepishly.
“Yes… He did,” Sombra said slowly. “Those houses that he suspected to be behind whatever was going on were immediately arrested.”
Twilight’s eyes went wide when an idea came to her mind. She opened and closed her mouth couple of times, before asking carefully, “What about your family?”
Sombra was quiet, and that only confirmed Twilight’s suspicions. She lifted her hoof to her mouth and looked at the dark coated stallion in front of her. Sombra was staring at the floor, and his mane hung on both side of his face in depressing way. He was completely still and Twilight saw deep pain in his eyes.
“But why!?” Twilight exclaimed confusedly. “Did they have a reason to do so!?”
“I don’t know!” Sombra said angrily, making Twilight shut her mouth. Then Sombra sighed and said, “I don’t know. I was only seventeen when it happened if I remember right. Maybe eighteen. I didn’t know anything about my parents businesses.”
He was silent for a while, before saying angrily, “But I tell myself that they didn’t have anything to do with whatever was going on, if there ever even was anything.”
Twilight didn’t know what to say. Maybe she shouldn’t say anything, yet. She could learn a lot from this conversation if she would just stay quiet.
“They came at night,” Sombra said through his teeth, and Twilight leaned closer. “That’s all that I remember. That and the way how Crystal cried.”
“Crystal?” Twilight asked, unable to stay quiet.
Sombra lifted his gaze from the floor, and it met with Twilight’s eyes. He had same kind of look in his eyes as when he had snapped at her during their dance days ago.
“My sister,” he growled.
Of course, Twilight should have realized that, but the look in Sombra’s eyes was distracting at the very least. The grief mixed up with all that anger was hypnotizing, almost attractive in it’s weird kind of way. The king that she had once thought to be just a ruthless warrior was a pony like she or anypony else after all...
Without thinking any further, Twilight rose up, her eyes still locked with Sombra, whose features seemed tired. Twilight circled the table, Sombra’s stare fixed to her all the time. She stopped right next to him, and looked down at him with a face that couldn’t tell him anything. Her unreadable expression started to change, and a small smile appeared on her lips and she looked at him a with warm look in her eyes. Sombra knew what was coming, but this time he decided not to fight it. With a long sigh he surrendered to his defeat.
And then Twilight Sparkle leaned closer to wrap her hooves around his neck, bringing his head to rest against her chest. Her wings closed him into a tight embrace and Twilight Sparkle laid her head on top of Sombra’s, who was engaging in an inner battle with his feelings once again. He felt the warmness of Twilight Sparkle’s body, and the soothing feeling of her soft wings around him. All that versus his own mind, that tried to keep those feelings away from him. He didn’t need them.
But he wanted them.
Nopony had held him like that for more than a millennium, and he liked it. It reminded him of his sister. Sombra didn’t notice it himself, but he leaned against the mare for a moment. The warm feelings that it made him feel were intoxicating.
“Do you want to continue?” Twilight asked, still keeping him in that tight hug. Sombra snapped away from his trance, bettered his posture and said, “I would prefer not to.”
Twilight nodded, before letting him go. Sombra turned to look at her with slightly embarrassed look on his face. He brushed his mane into a better shape, before he asked with his normal, calm voice, “How did we end up into this situation?”
“I don’t know,” Twilight said with a blush starting to form on her cheeks. Now that the scene was over, her own actions seemed drastic and embarrassing. She nervously looked upwards and mumbled. “But it helped, didn’t it?”
Sombra chuckled and looked at the ceiling too, before answering, “It did. Thank you.”
Twilight smiled towards the ceiling, and suddenly remembered the great news she had to tell Sombra. For a moment she thought if she should tell him right at the moment, considering the situation they had just been. After thinking about it, she decided that sooner or later she would have to drop the bomb on him. She lowered her gaze from the ceiling and cleared her throat, gaining the dark stallion’s attention.
“So… Uh,” Twilight started, scratching her neck. Sombra gave her and questioning look, and she started to smile sheepishly. She then said carefully, “The princesses are coming for a visit next saturday.
Sombra was turning in his bed. The princesses, coming here, to meet him, in a couple of days? He didn’t know if he was even ready yet. He had changed, sure. But still, when he thought about the royal sisters and Cadence… Especially Cadence, he felt some of that hate that he had left in him twist somewhere inside of him. The memory of the royal sisters ripping his empire from him, banishing him into the coldness of The Frozen North and Cadence snatching the Crystal Heart from right in front of him made him frown. He sighed deeply and turned so that he was facing the windows. He knew that Twilight Sparkle trusted him, and it was stirring some mixed feelings in his head. He wanted to make her happy by impressing the princesses, but even the thought of seeing them made him feel completely the opposite way.
He sighed again, and stared blankly at the windows, from where he could see the black night sky and all those frost flowers growing in the glass.
His eyes went wide and he rose up to a sitting position, staring at the glass. The frost started to climb up the windows, and he knew what was coming. Soon his breath could be seen and he felt chilly. He jumped down from the bed and walked to the window, swiping it with his hoof. It helped a little, but the glass was frozen almost instantly again. He noticed how the temperature kept dropping, and he shivered a little.
“You better have made some progress!” the familiar, angry voice said to Sombra, but this time it felt like it would have had a source instead of being a figureless sound.
“I… have,” Sombra said slowly. “I am just a couple of steps from getting what we need.”
“is that so?” the calm voice asked, and Sombra felt a cold wave brush his neck. He turned around and saw three shadows moving around the room. He could see them as blurry forms without clear outlines. He knew that it meant that they were running out of time. They would have to act soon. He wasn’t ready yet.
“We are becoming impatient with all this waiting,” it told Sombra, who frowned.
“I am working as fast as I can!” he said to his defence. “It has not been easy. Twilight Sparkle has not given me a good opening to proceed!”
“Yes, we know,” the sad voice sighed and one of the shadows moved. “You have been meeting her friends, dining with her… getting to know her.”
“You are slipping!” the angry one shouted and one of the shadows started to move around him in circles. Sombra was sure that he could hear the clattering of hooves while it moved.
“I am not slipping,” Sombra growled. “I am waiting for the right opportunity!”
“Master,” the calm one said. “We have been ravaging the forest for prey, but they can only feed us for so long… Critters are not a great source of powers that we feast on.”
“Do you think that it has been easy for me either?” Sombra asked and waved his hoof towards one of the shadows, that quickly moved moved out of his reach
“Surely it has been hard to enjoy the hospitality of Twilight Sparkle,” the calm one said coldly. “Just remember that she is one of those who are responsible for your current situation.”
Sombra snorted and turned to stare at the frozen window.
“Of course,” he answered, but he could sense that the voices had some doubts. He heard the same clattering of hooves that he had heard earlier. The floor seemed to freeze where the shadows moved, and the temperature was getting even colder.
The sad one let out a long, sad groan, before saying, “She is not Crystal.”
That made Sombra’s face twist into a angry grin. He let out a loud growl, before swinging his hoof at the shadows again with the same results as before.
“Never say her name again you…” he started, but his sentence ended into a loud gasp.
Sombra felt like a pair of icy claws would have been wrapped around his throat, making it impossible for him to breath. He stared at the shadows with a shocked, angry look in his red eyes. He hissed with his fangs showing, but he was lifted upwards from his neck by those cold claws.
“She is not Crystal!” the angry voice shouted and let out a loud, challenging snort. Somba tried to stare angrily at the shadow, but the lack of oxygen made it difficult.
The sad one spoke next, “Does master still remember what you promised for her?”
Sombra’s eyes went wide with that question.
“You promised that she was going to be the only pony that you would care for, in the whole world,” it continued. “But now it looks like there’s a new mare in your life.”
“S-shut up!” Sombra growled through his teeth.
The calm one then spoke, “And does master remember what he asked from us?”
Sombra knew where they were going with that.
“You wanted to have the power to get back your previous life for you and your sister,” it told him.
Sombra hissed and started to struggle, lifting his hooves to his throat.
“We agreed with you, and gave you that power,” the voice continued, it’s voice getting colder. “We granted you the revenge that you so much desired.”
“S-she never w-wanted me to h-have that!” Sombra wheezed with his last powers.
“That is not our problem! You asked for revenge, we gave it to you! We kept our part of the deal!” the angry voice shouted, and the grip around his neck tightened. “And you repay us how!? By playing your tricks with that mare! You are becoming a lovesick colt!”
“That is not part of our deal,” the calm one said, it’s voice echoing through the room. Sombra was released from the irony grip around his throat and was dropped back to the floor. He gasped for air, his vision getting clear again. He slowly looked up, and his gaze met with three pairs of blue, glowing eyes circling him. They seemed to float in the shadows, and all of them were fixated to him.
“We have kept our part of the deal,” they spoke in unison, making Sombra wince. He rose up and the ghostly glowing eyes kept spinning around him.
“We trust that you do the same?” they asked in unison, the speed of their circling growing, making Sombra’s mane and tail flow in the air current they were creating. Sombra spun around once, eyeing angrily at the shadows. He hated to admit it, but the voices were right. He had agreed to their terms when agreeing their deal. He also hated to admit the fact that they were right about Crystal too. He had promised to take care of her. No matter what it would take.Sadly, he had realized that it hadn’t been the right choice, but he also didn’t have anything else left.
He watched as the glowing, blue eyes spun around him fastly, and he sighed deeply.
“Yes,” was his answer.
“Splendid,” the calm one said with it’s cold voice. “We will be back soon, and you will find The King’s Gem. Are we understating each other?”
“Clearly,” Sombra said, and the shadows let out a hollow chuckle, before disappearing as quickly as they had appeared, a sound of clattering hooves getting distant before vanishing into the air. Sombra was left alone with his thoughts and a sore throat.
“The King’s Gem,” Sombra mumbled, sitting down to his haunches. He watched at the frost-flowers melting away on the window’s glass, thinking why everything was so hard for him. He had his grudges against The Crystal Empire, but on the other hoof he could hear his sister’s words ringing in his head, and that disgusted look she gave him in his dream was still haunting him. He wasn’t sure about anything anymore.
He lifted his front-hooves to his eyes and mumbled, “What have I gotten myself into?”
* * *
“He’s going at it again,” Flash Sentry noted to Sam, who walked next to him. They had just passed Sombra’s room, from where they had heard weird noises. Nothing too odd, they had gotten used to it.
“Yeah, so it would seem,” Sam said., and they continued their patrol.
After a while Sam noticed how the orange-coated pegasus seemed to have something on his mind. He sighed quietly. Surely Flash would soon start to tell him what was wrong.
“I can’t believe how she trusts that guy!” he exclaimed when they were on a safe distance away from the door to Sombra’s room.
“Here we go again,” Sam muttered to himself, before asking, “And by she you probably mean our princess?”
“Yes of course, who else would I mean?” Flash asked, not seeing where Sam was going on with his question.
“Son, you are dangerously close to mixing your private life with your work,” Sam said to Flash, who shot an irritated look at the older stallion.
“What do you mean?” he asked, but Sam blocked the question with another one.
“So how was your mother?” he asked, making Flash nervously look in front of him. Sam then continued, “You’ve been awfully quiet about your trip to The Crystal Empire.”
“So what? Can’t a stallion visit his mother?” Flash asked and looked at Sam angrily.
“Of course he can, but it’s just pretty suspicious when a guy leaves on the evening to visit his mother, only to come back the next morning.”
Flash went quiet for a while, and they walked to the lower levels of the castle, into the throne room. There they did a quick check to make sure that the doors were closed, before Flash stopped to stare at the throne of Twilight Sparkle.
“I’m sure that I’m doing the right thing here,” he said, earning Sam’s attention. He took a deep breath before turning towars the younger stallion.
“Okay kiddo, listen up,” he said with clear annoyance in his voice. “I don’t see anything wrong with you being head-over-hooves in love with princess Twilight, but my job’s on the line too.”
Flash opened his mouth to say something, but Sam stopped him by poking him in the chest and saying, “We’re here to protect and serve princess Twilight. We do as she wishes. If she says that we should give Sombra a good beating, I would be at it in the blink of an eye. But I do not agree with your vigilante work a couple of weeks ago.”
Flash’s eyes went wide when Sam said that. He stepped closer to the white-coated guard and asked, “Are you still mad at me for giving him a couple of small hits?”
“Yes!” Sam exclaimed. “I don’t beat up ponies without orders! I don’t mix my emotions with my work!”
“I am just protecting her!” Flash tried to protect himself.
“You are plotting something behind her back! Do you really think that nopony wouldn’t notice you shadowing him and creeping up to his door almost every night? And that’s not even the worst part! You do it so clearly that I noticed it! Now I got dragged into this mess with you!” Sam exclaimed, taking of his helmet and letting his blonde mane fall down his face.
“Well sorry for trying to do the right thing!” Flash almost shouted, but Sam just waved his hoof at him.
“Don’t say anything else! You’re already neck deep in problems. What if the princess will find out whatever it is that you are doing?” he asked with an almost pleading look on his face.
“You’re making it sound like I would be the bad guy here,” Flash said with hurt tone of voice, that made Sam grunt.
“No I‘m not! I know that you mean good, but you’re doing it all wrong,” Sam said. “You’re supposed to support our princess in everything she does.”
“But he keeps luring her into trusting him,” Flash said with voice of mixed anger and sadness. “I can’t let it happen! I’ve been ignored by Twilight for too long! By doing this I can finally show her that I’m there for her! I want to show her how I feel!”
Sam stared at him with his eyes wide and his mouth open. He knew that youngsters these days can make a real drama out of everything, but Flash Sentry seemed to be a master of it. Sam let out a loud sigh and brushed his hoof through his mane, before looking at Flash with a gaze that said ‘are you kidding me?’.
“So you really think that you’re in love with her?” he asked more calmly than before.
Flash nodded eagerly and said, “I love her!”
“That’s okay,” Sam said slowly, before giving him a stern stare. “But keep it professional.”
“How can I keep it professional?” Flash asked annoyedly. “She doesn’t have time for me when I’m not on the shift.”
“Start small. Buy her flowers and give them to her when you pass her on the hallways or something. That will only take a second or two, but it will make her remember you for it.”
“Really?” Flash asked suspiciously.
“Really,” Sam said and had a convincing smile on his lips.
Soon Flash too started to smile a little, but as soon as Sam saw it, he pushed Flash forcefully forward and said in his calm, professional voice, “We have a patrol to finish, and I want to have some shuteye before morning patrol so move it.”
The next saturday, after Sombra’s meeting with the voices, and Twilight Sparkle’s castle was full of life that day. It was the day when the princesses were going to visit Ponyville. The hallways were filled with running royal guards in their flashy armor and the officers were giving commands to their troops. Still it seemed like all of them were running around like headless chickens, probably due the unfamiliar grounds they were in. In the middle of all that mayhem one dark coated stallion with a black mane and a red, curved horn walked calmly through the same hallways where all those guards ran. Sombra grinned at the guards who almost leapt out of their skin when they noticed him. Some of them quickly trotted to the other side of the hallway when they had to walk past him, while others just froze on their places. He liked it. A lot. It seemed that he still had some of his threatening charm in him. It almost shook the the grim memories from the uncomfortable meeting with the voices.
Sombra gulped and rubbed his throat when he remembered that. He sighed started to walk towards the grand hall, interested in seeing it for the first time.
It didn’t take long before Sombra found it. He pushed open the big, well embellished double doors and stepped into the grand hall. Besides soldiers, there were also many locals inside the hall. They all were doing different kind of things like decorating the many pillars that were in the hall with flowers, banners and ribbons of different color. The grand hall was in the south wing of the castle and it had large windows on three of it’s four walls. Sombra frowned when he saw that those windows too had enormous pictures in them, but at least they probably had pictures of Equestria’s history, not Twilight’s friends.
Sombra nodded and whistled, impressed by the large space in front of him. He noticed how all the noise and movement ceased, every single pair of eyes in the hall turning towards him. It felt weird almost, but he didn’t let it bother himself. He started to walk towards the other end of the room, where he could see Twilight Sparkle. Most of the ponies continued their work while some of them were still staring at him.
He started to see familiar faces when he walked across the hall. There was that grey mare with funny eyes, tangled in a long ribbon. Sombra couldn’t help but to chuckle at the sight. Then he noticed Applejack hauling a heavy looking table across the floor. He saw how she stopped for a moment, lifted her brown stetson off from her head and swept sweat from her brow. Then she noticed Sombra.
“Howdy,” she said a bit dryly,
“Good day,” Sombra said, stopping in front of her. Then there was silence.
After a while Applejack broke the silence, “Been honest lately?”
“Very,” Sombra answered.
Applejack snorted and put her hat back on her head, before saying, “Say something honest.”
Sombra thought for a moment with a troubled frown on his face. What should he say? ‘I am feeling rather nervous about the those demonic voices that haunt me and tell me to get rid of you and your friends’, or maybe ‘I am thinking about betraying you all because I cannot control my past life’? No. He couldn’t say those things.
He came up with something else that was completely honest. He smiled slyly and said, “I find your flank very attractive.”
There was another short moment of silence between them, Applejack’s eyes pointing in slightly different directions. She then shook her head and gave him a weird look.
“I don’t know if Ah should take that as a compliment or sexual harassment, but I guess that’s… nice?” she said awkwardly.
Again silence. Both of them staring at each other. Suddenly both of them snickered and Applejack huffed, “Jackass.”
“Hillbilly,” Sombra chuckled.
They then nodded to each other, and Applejack continued to push the table forward. With a smug smile on his lips Sombra took a quick glance towards the mare who was pushing the table, her rear held slightly upwards.
Sombra then noticed that in the direction where she was pushing the table, stood that pink mare he had had his first lesson with. Pinkie Pie was her name? She was with the other local bakers, placing all kinds of pastries to the tables. He just had to go there for some weird reason. Maybe it was because she had been the first pony to make him really laugh in the past millenium. Pinkie started to smile widely when Sombra trotted over to her. That smile made him feel quite the opposite of happy. She was so unaware of the shadows that hung over him. She thought that he was her friend, and he was about to break her trust.
“Hiya Sombry!” Pinkie greeted him. Sombra frowned at the stupid nickname.
“Hello Pinkie Pie,” Sombra sighed. “How are you?”
“Super,” was her answer. “I’ve been working with this -” she pointed her hoof at a cake, massive in size “- It’s a cake made completely out of chocolate.”
Sombra crunched up his face. He wasn’t too fond of sweets, and also he couldn’t understand one thing.
“If it is made completely out of chocolate, how can it be a cake?” he asked and gave a questioning look at the pink mare. She giggled opened her mouth to answer, but then closed it, hear ears drooping.
“Oh yeah…” she said slowly and turned to look at the ‘cake’. Her confused state didn’t last for long though, and she soon turned towards Sombra and chirped happily, “Well it can be a giant chocolate badge.”
Sombra had to laugh at the wacky mare and waved at her for goodbye. She did the same, before both of them continued with their business, and Sombra felt a bit better.
He looked around himself, not noticing a small mare right in front of him. He bumped into her, making her let out a loud scream and flared her wings open, rocketing upwards. She landed on a bird stand made from a big branch of a tree, making the birds dash in all directions.
Sombra stared at the scared mare with wide eyes. It was Fluttershy, the local vet or something like that. She stared back at him through her pink mane, still holding the stand.
“I am sorry for startling you miss Fluttershy,” Sombra said when he could speak again.
She mumbled something, probably saying that it was okay.
“Do you need help getting down from there?” he asked, knowing that it was a pretty stupid question. She was a pegasus after all. She shook her head shyly, hugging the branch-like bird stand even tighter. Sombra thought for a moment before nodding and turning away. It was a shame that he had scared her so. Well… She had a good reason to be scared of him. At least that way she wouldn’t feel so hurt when he would find the King’s Gem. She could say ‘I told you so’ to her friends. Sombra hoped that they wouldn’t need to go to that. That he could resist the Gem’s powers but the odds were not on his favor on that one...
“Umm…” he heard from behind him, making him wince out of his melancholy thoughts. He turned towards the yellow mare and saw that she was shyly looking towards him.
“Actually…” she continued quietly. “I can’t get down.”
“But you are a pegasus,” Sombra noted with a confused look on his face.
“Y-yes, but my wings don’t work when I’m… scared,” she said, the last part being more like a whisper. Sombra chuckled and walked over to the bird stand. He snapped his fangs into the stand, tilting it backwards. The stand wasn’t the lightest of things, and Sombra seemed to be handling it with ease. Fluttershy carefully jumped down on the floor, before Sombra started to pull the stand backwards, his hooves slipping on the marble floor a little. He grunted and managed to get it upright, before letting go and leaving fang marks on the bark of the branch.
“T-thank y-you,” Fluttershy said meekly, blushing a little.
“It was nothing,” Sombra said with a proud smile. “And I just wouldn’t leave a mare as lovely as you in trouble.”
That made the blush on Fluttershy’s cheeks even redder.
“Have a nice day,” Sombra said to her with a small bow.
“Y-you too…” Fluttershy squeaked from behind her mane. Sombra then started to walk away from her. She stared after him with that blush still on her cheeks for a short moment with her other hoof on her mouth, before starting to gather her birds back together.
Sombra pouted. Damn it was hard to get from one door to one purple alicorn. Twilight Sparkle’s friends had put him on a guilt trip that was hitting him harder than he had hoped. He once again thought that his plan was getting ruined, even if there really was any plan anymore. Now he was just trying to survive in the middle of all the chaos around him. Sombra hung his head and growled quietly. He didn’t like being like that. Weak. That was what he was. He was afraid of some little mares, and worst of all, not because they could hurt him, but because he could hurt them.
He took a deep breath and looked around. He saw a white fashionista instructing some locals on how to tie a bow to the pillars. He trotted over to her.
“I see that you can handle event design as well as dressmaking, missis Rarity,” he said to Rarity, who spun around with a surprised look on her face.
“Oh yes of course,” she exclaimed after she had gotten over her surprise. “Besides I just have to. It’s the least I can do in order to make the day go as planned.”
“So this is the generosity that you were talking about?” Sombra asked, making Rarity better her posture.
She nodded and told him, “And as you can see, it is already working like a charm.”
She pointed towards Twilight Sparkle, and Sombra saw that she was smiling while making marks to her checklist. Sombra turned back towards Rarity, who was smiling that same mysterious smile that he had seen her wearing during his visit to the Carousel Boutique.
“I can’t pretend that I would not sense that something strange is going on,” he said while looking at Rarity with a lifted eyebrow.
“Pish posh,” she huffed and waved her hoof at him. “I’m just saying that it really works.”
Sombra took another glance towards Twilight Sparkle, who was now speaking with her other guard, what was his name again? Not Flash, but the other one. She seemed happy.
“Well at least somepony is having fun,” Sombra sighed, earning Rarity’s interest.
“And you aren’t?” she asked.
“How could I be?” he huffed. “I have to meet three ponies I ha… don’t like so much, and I know that the meeting will not be like the friendly chit-chats that we have been having.”
Rarity’s expression turned more serious. She seemed to understand Sombra in some way at least. She sighed and looked at Twilight Sparkle again. Sombra noticed it and he too turned to look at that purple alicorn again.
Rarity glanced at Sombra and said, “I think that this would be a great opportunity to practise being generous.”
“What do you mean with that?” Sombra asked.
“What I meant was that if it you don’t want to do this for yourself, do it for Twilight,” she explained to Sombra, who frowned. She then added with a small, suggestive smile, “She would like that very much.”
“Are you implying something?” Somba asked with an annoyed look, and Rarity just snickered.
“Oh darling,” she said, emphasizing the word ‘darling’. “Of course not. I just said that Twilight would like it.”
“Somehow I don’t believe that,” Sombra told her, and Rarity just smiled. They then looked at the purple princess for a while, before Rarity spoke.
“Well I better get back to my work,” she sighed. “Be a dear and don’t keep Twilight waiting.”
Sombra snorted in irritated manner, before saying, “Have a nice day missis Rarity.”
“You too darling,” she answered.
Sombra started to trot forward. It was hard to understand that he had spent almost twenty minutes walking from the doors of the grand hall to it’s other end. He decided not to get involved into any more conversations, and headed right towards Twilight Sparkle.
“Has the curtains been moved here from The Carousel Boutique already?” Twilight asked from some local mare with an orange mane and tail. She nodded, making Twilight smile and scribbling a mark to her checklist. She noticed a scared expression on the orange-maned mare’s face, before said mare started to back away from her. Twilight sighed, knowing what was going on. She turned around and saw Sombra walking towards her.
“There’s our ray of sunshine,” she greeted Sombra, who gave her a deadpan stare.
“I just wanted to inform you that your guards are quite incompetent. They aren’t guarding the right places in my opinion.” He said to Twilight, who rolled her eyes.
“They aren’t incompetent,” she said. “And they aren’t my guards. They are Celestia’s.”
That made a confused look spread on Sombra’s face. He then chuckled and asked, “Those guards are responsible of her safety?”
“I think that she can handle herself just fine. The guards are pretty much just working as law enforcements,” Twilight told him and watched as a couple guards bumped against each other.
“I prefer the night guards,” Sombra suddenly said. “They are true soldiers and they have an intimidating appearance. They are a foe that I could see myself fighting against.”
He said that with a strange, nostalgic smile on his lips that made Twilight look at him a bit worriedly. She didn’t like the sudden admiration of violence that Sombra was talking to her about.
“Say Sombra,” she said slowly and turned towards him. “You always speak about your military career. You told me that you miss those times.”
“Yes,” Sombra answered. “Where are you going at with this?”
“I was just thinking, do you miss the times when you were working as an architect?” she asked and saw how a frown appeared on Sombra’s face.
“Of course I do,” he answered. “Why are you asking something like that?”
Twilight looked at him nervously and answered, “Because you never speak of those times like you do about your mercenary life.”
Sombra went quiet, but nodded to show that he understood what she meant. It took awhile for Sombra to come up with an answer.
“I think that it is because I have spent more time as a soldier,” he answered slowly and Twilight could see that he was feeling uncomfortable. He continued, “When my talent was not useful for me anymore, I guess that it got replaced by another goal in life.”
“Which was?” Twilight asked, earning a slightly angry look from Sombra.
“You know what it was, Twilight Sparkle,” he said bluntly.
Twilight nodded with her ears lowered. She knew what it had been. Revenge.
“Let’s not talk about it anymore,” she said to Sombra, who nodded.
Sombra examined Twilight for a moment as many ponies came to tell her how things were coming up. He got bored soon, and started to walk around the hall again. He watched how the town folk did preparations for the upcoming arrival of the princesses. After that he started to examine the big stained glass windows that let in the light of the sun to the big hall. Many of them were telling stories about the history of Equestria and it’s princesses. One of them told a story of Celestia and Luna imprisoning Discord in stone, and another one showed Twilight Sparkle and her friends freeing him. In one he saw a meeting of the leaders of the tree tribes taking place. He remembered some old stories about that meeting from his youth. He walked forward, before coming to a stop in front of one window.
He stared at it with glassy gaze in his eyes. In the window was a picture of The Crystal Empire’s castle, surrounded by a black smoke. In the middle of the castle was the Crystal Heart, shining it’s blue light all around it, ponies cheering around it. He could see the six mare’s who were responsible for returning the Crystal Heart. He recognized them as Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Spike was there too, and princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armor. All that hadn’t gotten his attention. There was one pony more in that picture, in the middle of that black smoke that was surrounding the castle.
It was him.
His face was twisted into a silent scream filled with hate and pain. Pillars of blue light were shooting out of his eyes and mouth, and the same light was glowing from the cracks on his skin. He remembered that clearly, how he had felt when he had realized that he had once again failed. He didn’t want to admit it, but he had felt some fear too. He was sure that he was going to die. In a way he had felt relieved that somepony had finally ended everything for him, but the monster in him was furious. Later he had hoped for death, when he had woken up in the void of nothingness, where he spent the long seven years.
A sudden female voice broke him away from his thoughts.
“Brings up some good memories, doesn’t it?” the voice asked, and Sombra turned towards the voice. He saw a cyan colored pegasus with a rainbow colored mane resting on the edge of one of the many pillars that surrounded the hall.
“Rainbow Dash,” he noted, and the mare jumped down, gliding towards him. He had to duck so that her hooves wouldn’t hit him as she swooped over him. Rainbow Dash did a sharp turn and landed so that she slid forward on the marble floor, stopping right in front of Sombra. She gave him the bravest, most challenging stare that Sombra had seen. He also noticed that many other ponies around them were curiously glancing towards them.
“How did it feel to be defeated by a couple of young mares and a baby dragon?” she asked with squinted eyes. Sombra returned the stare as calmly as he could.
“Painful,” he answered.
“So I hoped,” she remarked, making Sombra snort.
“What do you want, Rainbow Dash?” he asked, leaning closer towards the cyan mare, who bravely stood in her place, even though he was much bigger than her. “Are you here only to taunt me, because it is not working so well.”
“I am supposed to teach you something about loyalty,” was her answer, which made Sombra chuckle. Rainbow then continued, “But first I want to make some things clear with you.”
“Alright,” Sombra answered. “Please, continue.”
Rainbow Dash grunted, and then started to speak, “My friends might be gullible enough not to see that you are clearly plotting something. I am not. It’s just not right for somepony like you suddenly turning all good and stuff!”
Sombra frowned. He saw how even more ponies stopped on their tracks and staring at them when Rainbow Dash’s voice had grown louder. He didn’t like the attention he was getting.
“Why not?” he asked. “Why don’t you believe me?”
“Give me a reason why I should believe you? Slave King” Rainbow said, emphasising the last two words.
“Well there is Nightmare Moon and Discord for example,” he answered, making Rainbow Dash scowl.
“They are different!” she hissed. “Luna was just misunderstood, and Discord wasn’t really bad. He just wanted to fool around. You were plain evil! You just wanted to enslave everypony...”
She didn’t have time to finish her sentence, because Sombra suddenly cut in, pressing his forehead against hers, “You don’t know anything, Rainbow Dash!”
She quickly backed away with her wings flared open, and she took a defensive pose with her ears folded backwards. Sombra could see and smell that she had gotten scared by his outburst.
He quickly turned to face the many curious ponies near them and gave them an angry glare with his fangs showing, his ears folded. They winced and quickly trotted to different directions, some of them tumbling over their own hooves. Sombra then turned back towards Rainbow Dash.
“I can smell your fear, Rainbow Dash,” he said coldly and stepped forward, making her wince. He walked right in front of her, and he saw that she was showing her teeth to him. They stared at each other sternly for a second, before he said with softer, almost tired tone, “But I assure you, I do not want you to be afraid of me.”
That made Rainbow Dash’s pose ease up a bit, and she looked at him weirdly. Sombra in turn gave her almost pleading look.
“I am trying, miss Rainbow Dash,” he said.
“Never call me miss again,” she noted, and then continued, “And you better try harder, because you’re not impressing me.”
Sombra grunted and turned to look at the stained glass window again.
“I don’t need you to be impressed, Rainbow Dash. I just need your advice,” he said, making Dash look at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Advice?” she asked, and Sombra nodded, his red eyes turning towards her.
“Yes,” he answered. “I have sworn loyalty to only one pony in my life, but that was over a thousand years ago. After that I have betrayed my own soldiers for my own advantage.”
“And you’re asking us to trust you!?” Rainbow Dash asked with an almost angry look on her face. “I don’t know about the others but I won’t give you any sympathy.”
“Have I asked any?” Sombra huffed, making Rainbow Dash fold her ears backwards.
They were quiet for a while, staring at each other angrily. Sombra saw fire burning in that cyan mare’s cerise eyes. She clearly was a fighter, like him. He sighed. He knew that it would be hard to win that mare’s trust.
“Rainbow Dash,” he said slowly. “Could you please tell me about loyalty?”
Rainbow Dash huffed, flapping her wings once.
“I can try,” she said, before she started to walk. Sombra followed her.
“I am loyal to my friends,” Rainbow Dash told him. “I always put them before my needs, always.”
“Why?” Sombra asked. A rather simple question, but it seemed to make Rainbow Dash troubled.
“Now why do you care?” she asked, the answer making Sombra quite interested. What was she hiding? He gave a questioning stare towards her.
“I just want to know what it takes to be loyal to somepony,” he said, making Rainbow Dash flap her wings again. She stopped walking, and looked into Sombra’s eyes.
“I was a jerk back in the day, okay?” she said, and an understanding look spread on Sombra’s face.
“Ah,” he said. “I remember dear Fluttershy speaking about it when we met.”
“What!?” Rainbow exclaimed, shocked by what she had heard. “She told you!?”
“Yes,” Sombra answered. “She also told how she made you change by being kind to you. I have to say that it was quite a touching story.”
“Shut up,” Rainbow Dash snorted, and continued walking. “Anyway, after she made me realize what a jerk I was, I started to make it up to her.”
“Honorable deed,” Sombra commented.
“Yeah. Soon I realized that I felt like really good when I protected her from all the bullies when we were at flight camp. I then started to do so with all those who deserved it.”
“Who deserved it?” Sombra asked.
“Yeah, ponies that are not like you,” she answered, making Sombra chuckle.
“Your approval is hard to win, Rainbow Dash,” Sombra said ammusedly.
“You won’t win it,” she said annoyedly.
Sombra shrugged and said, “It’s not necessary. Just teach me.”
Rainbow Dash muttered something under her breath, before she stopped again and eyed at Sombra angrily.
“I am loyal to Twilight,” she said sternly. “That means that I protect her from ponies like you.”
“Please Rainbow Dash,” Sombra said with a faked hurt voice. “Your words hurt me.”
“I don’t care!” she exclaimed. Again the same ponies were slowly gathering near them, pretending to be doing something important. Rainbow Dash then continued, “If I could decide, You would be back to being banished!”
“But you don’t decide that,” Sombra said with a teasing smirk.
Rainbow Dash’s wings ruffled a little, as a sign of annoyance. She then said, “But I stand behind Twilight’s decisions. Whether I like it, or not.”
Sombra stared at her for a while, before a small smile appeared onto his lips.
“I see where you are going with this,” he said, making Rainbow Dash snort.
“Then you’re not as stupid as you look,” she said. “I am trying to tell you that you have to be on her side. Always. Even if she would make mistakes like this sometimes.”
“Are you referring to me as a mistake?” Sombra asked with a grin.
“Yes,” she answered.
They were silent for awhile again, staring at each other. The same fire was still burning in that cyan-coated mare’s eyes. Sombra found that admirable. She clearly wasn’t too keen on the idea of him being reformed, but she doesn’t stop it from happening. She was loyal. He had to give her that.
“I have to admit some of my actions can be seen as failures, but I am trying to make up for them,” Sombra told to Rainbow Dash, who just rolled her eyes.
“Twilight keeps saying that,” she answered. “And I stand by her side.”
“So you believe that I am truly trying to become good?” Sombra asked with a raised eyebrow. He heard small whispering from the ponies around them. Rainbow Dash seemed to notice it.
“Some privacy please?” she groaned, and again the group of ponies started to disperse hastily. Rainbow Dash waited until the group was back to their jobs before she spoke.
“I don’t know what to believe,” she answered to Sombra’s question. “But I support Twilight’s decisions.”
“And I thank you for it,” Sombra said, making Rainbow look at him with an irritated frown.
They walked towards Twilight, who noticed them getting closer. Dash seemed to remember something as they got closer.
“And don’t you dare to think that we’re friends,” she muttered so that Twilight wouldn’t hear her.
“That’s a shame,” Sombra said. “You have a fighter’s spirit. I like that.”
“Shut up,” she murmured.
Twilight Sparkle smiled when she saw that Sombra was talking with Rainbow Dash. She glanced at her checklist, before rolling it into a neat roll and trotting towards them.
“I see that you two have been chatting,” she said with a smile.
“Yes we have,” Sombra said calmly. “Rainbow Dash told me about loyalty.”
“How nice,” Twilight said, before turning towards Dash and asking, “Did he learn anything?”
“I don’t know,” Rainbow said. “I guess so.”
Twilight looked at Sombra and asked, “Did you learn anything?”
Sombra was feeling almost proud to announce, “I did. I learned that I should stand on my friend’s side, even if they would make something that would not be considered as a wise action. Am I right, Rainbow Dash?”
He said her name with a teasing smirk, that made Rainbow pout annoyedly.
“Yeah, that’s right,” she answered, making Twilight’s smile grow.
“Great!” she exclaimed. “You were just in time too. Princesses should be there any minute now. All the preparations are done and I was just about to go get dressed. You should go put on your new suit.”
“My new suit?” Sombra asked confusedly.
“Yes. Rarity told me that your suit is ready. I took liberty to have it taken to your room,” Twilight told him. She then turned towards Rainbow Dash and spoke, “Thanks for this Rainbow Dash. It really means alot to me.”
“No problem Twi,” she said a bit strangely, glancing at Sombra. Twilight didn’t notice that and she continued.
“I’ll go now. See you in a bit,” she said, and nodded to them. With that she started to trot towards the front-doors of the grand hall, leaving Sombra alone with Dash.
They turned to look at each other.
“Like I said, don’t think that I’m your friend now,” she said.
“Of course not,” Sombra said. “And if I am honest, I don’t really care. If you do not believe me, then you do not believe me. I would like it if you would, but in the end it is your decision to make.”
Rainbow Dash was staring at him suspiciously. She ruffled her wings and said, quite angrily, “I won’t change my mind so easily, just you know that.”
“I know,” Sombra said to her, and she snorted.
“I’m keeping my eye on you,” she said and extended her wings. With a couple of strong flaps of her wings she was airborne, flying upwards back on top of the pillar where she had been sitting on moments earlier. Sombra stared after her for a moment, before starting to trot towards the doors from where Twilight had left moment ago.
She was a real fighter. He could tell that. She also was the only one of Twilight’s friends that was smart enough not to trust him. Oh Celestia. Twilight would really need more friends like her, and not friends like him... And what was that? He wasn’t even her friend. Friends don’t plan on using an ancient evil powers to overthrow the other friend and continue to rule as a tyrant after that. It’s not like he had a choice though.
He sighed loudly and shook his head. He didn’t have too much time before the princesses would be there. He decided to go and try on his new suit.
Twilight Sparkle ran through the hallways in all her glory. She was wearing a formal looking light-purple dress with pure white hem and a silk veil going around her upper body. She was also wearing her crown and her golden slippers that clinked against the marble floor annoyingly.
It didn’t take long before she heard trumpets playing a small fanfare just outside the castle. She let out a excited squee and speeded up. She was excited because she was just about to meet her mentor and co-rulers after not seeing them for so long. She arrived to the front door and let her breathing calm down a little. After she thought that she was okay to go, she nodded to herself encouragingly. She made sure that her dress was okay, before flaring her wings open like Cadence had taught her to do when making public appearances with other princesses. It makes them look more elegant and royal in the eyes of their subjects. After everything was done, she took a deep breath and pushed open the big front doors with her magic, stepping outside.
She was immediately greeted by a fanfare of trumpets as well as cheering ponies. It seemed that she was just in time. The town folks weren’t cheering for her, she personally knew almost every resident of Ponyville, so she wouldn’t even want them to cheer for her. It would have felt weird for her. The ponies around the front of the castle were applauding for the ponies that were sitting in a large, golden chariot that just landed on the other end of the red carpet, on which Twilight was standing. Twilight couldn’t keep herself from smiling when she saw the passengers getting out of the chariot.
There was Celestia in all her majestic beauty, her multi-colored mane and tail flowing in an nonexistent wind against her white coat. Behind that mane were a pair of magenta eyes and below them a warm, motherly smile. She had her wings flexed, just like Twilight herself, but her wings were long and beautiful, just like a swan’s.
Twilight’s smile only grew when Luna walked besides her sister, her mane and tail too flowing in the same nonexistent wind as her sister’s, making the stars in her mane dance. Her cyan eyes had a stern look in them that could have fooled somepony to think that she wasn’t pleased to see Twilight, but she knew better. She carefully opened her dark blue wings, to match the pose of her sister. Twilight couldn’t almost stand for the formalities to be over. She just wanted to rush towards them when she saw the next visitors.
Princess Cadence walked while waving her other front-hoof to the crowd behind the guards. She smiled lovingly to them before turning towards Twilight with a smile on her face and a look of the same excitement in her purple eyes that Twilight had. Besides her walked her husband, Shining Armor. He was wearing his armor with a blue crest on his helmet as a sign of his title as a captain. He held his head up proudly as he walked next to Cadence, under her flexed pink wing.
The crowd’s cheering was dying down slowly, and Twilight was already placing her weight from side to side. Finally her visitors started to walk towards her, and she perked up, holding her chin up and smiling.
“Welcome to Ponyville!” Twilight greeted them happily and bowed her head. “We are honored to have you here.”
They mimicked her bow, and then Celestia spoke, “Princess Twilight Sparkle, it is wonderful to see that you are feeling well, considering the recent events.”
“I’m completely fine, thank you,” she answered with a happy nod. “The task you gave me hasn’t been challenging at all.”
Celestia smiled like she always did, which made Twilight feel proud of herself.
“Please come in,” she said and stepped aside, letting her visitors enter first. Celestia nodded and walked past her, so did Luna, Cadence and Shining Armor.
The heavy doors behind them were closed by two guards. Immediately after the voices of the outside world weren’t heard, Twilight let out a loud, excited squee and jumped to hug her brother tightly.
“Oh Shining Armor!” she exclaimed as she buried her face into his neck. “I’ve missed you so much BBBFF!”
The other princesses gave amused looks to each other, and Shining Armor smiled. He then patted her on the back gently and said with slightly awkward tone, “I’ve missed you too LSBFF.”
The clingy mare let go of her older brother, who took of his helmet and let his blue mane fall down freely. His warm smile soon turned to a serious stare.
“Has he caused any trouble?” Shining asked.
Twilight huffed annoyedly. She had hardly managed to say ‘hi’ to him, and he was already asking questions like that. She didn’t have to guess twice to know who he was talking about. She didn’t stop smiling though. She knew how brothers were.
“Do you really think that I couldn’t handle one evil king on my own? I handled an angsty teenage brother when I was only eight years old,” she asked with her smile turning into a teasing smirk. The other princesses laughed at her remark, and her brother’s cheeks were turning red from embarrassment.
He took his defeat like the stallion he was and said to Twilight, “You won this one Twily.”
Then there was another quick hug between the siblings, before Twilight turned towards the trio of princesses.
Her and Cadence’s eyes met, and the mares lunged at each other, hugging each other with joy. Being the bigger of the two, Cadence pulled Twilight’s head against her chest and giggled.
“Should we do it?” she asked from Twilight, who gave her an muffled answer. Cadence didn’t quite hear that due Twilight’s face being squashed against her chest, and Twilight sensed it. She gave a small nod against her chest. With a happy giggle Cadence let go of Twilight, who gasped for air. She too started to smile and they started their little ritual.
“Sunshine, sunshine,” they sang, jumping on their hooves, before laying on their belly and covering their eyes.
“Ladybugs awake!” they exclaimed, taking their hooves from their eyes.
“Clap your hooves and....” they continued and clapped their front-hooves together, before jumping up.
“...Do a little shake!” they giggled, shaking their rumps in the air a little. They giggled a little more and hugged again. There was a moment of pure sisterhood felt between those two.
“I’m so happy to see that you are okay Twilight,” Cadence said with a relieved smile.
Twilight frowned confusedly and asked, “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”
There was a small silence between everypony. Silence that spoke volumes. Twilight let out a frustrated groan and looked at her sister-in-law with annoyed look.
“That brings us to the matter at hoof,” she said with his calm voice, making Twilight turn towards the royal sisters. For a moment she felt embarrassed under Celestia’s gaze, and she was almost sure that there was a similar kind of feelings visible in her azure eyes too.
“I’ve read from your reports that you have done great progress, considering Sombra’s reformation,” Celestia continued, and Twilight nodded.
“I have,” she answered. “And… I think that you are here to see it for yourselves?”
Her guess was proven right by simultaneous nods from her visitors.
“In a way I knew that this wasn’t going to be just a friendly visit,” Twilight admitted. “But it is still great to see you all.”
“Indeed,” Luna answered. She then smiled at Twilight and said, “I want to tell you that I have all my faith in you, Twilight Sparkle.”
“Thanks Luna,” Twilight said with a wide smile. Luna had always been the princess that she knew wouldn’t be judging her actions. “I’m glad that you trust me.”
Luna glanced at the other visitors that she had brought with. Her tone was almost a scolding one when she said, “I do. Unlike some of us.”
Twilight’s ears twitched at the remark, and she saw how Celestia was trying to avoid eye contact with her. Twilight closed her eyes, took a deep breath, exhaled, and then spoke.
“If you don’t believe me, then please let me show you,” she said and turned to look at Shining Armor, who was shying away from her gaze.
With a loud grunt Twilight started to walk towards the stairs that lead towards the upper levels of the castle. Luna was quickly by her side, and others followed with more or less awkward and troubled looks on their faces.
Luna glanced at Twilight, and noticed the annoyed frown on her face. She thought for a second, and then spoke, “I have to ask something about your reports.”
“Hmm?” Twilight asked, snapping away from her sulking. “What was that?”
“I was just thinking…” Luna started slowly. “Did Sombra actually tell you all those things that you have been writing us about? His past with Mero for example? And what about his grudge for King Halite?”
“Yes,” Twilight answered. “He has proven to be a lot more than what I thought he’d be. There’s still many things that he hasn’t been comfortable enough to share with me.”
“Things like what?” Luna asked, clearly interested.
“A-umm…” Twilight started, but began to think if she would tell Luna about some things that Sombra had told her. They seemed very personal things to him.
“Well…” she began again. “There’s his family…”
“Family?” Luna asked, her eyes wide. She then clearly pondered about something, before asking, “But in your reports, you told us that he was in a house that was close to the crown, yes?”
“I did, but there’s something else there too,” Twilight said, looking at Luna. “I know that his family has something to do with his… actions.”
“I see…” Luna said slowly, ending their small conversation.
They reached the room on top of the stairs, and they continued towards the grand hall. The guards posted to those corridors bowed to the princesses and saluted to Shining Armor. Luna glanced over her shoulder, towards her sister.
“Speaking of family…” she started and turned to look at Twilight. “I think that my sister would want to speak with you.”
Twilight too glanced over her shoulder, and saw that Luna was right. Celestia’s pace was getting faster and she soon was right at Twilight’s side. Celestia and Luna shared an awkward glance between each other, and Luna let herself fall a couple of steps behind from them, giving them some privacy.
“Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia started. “I have waited for this meeting with both anticipation and concern.”
Twilight smiled a little and said with ensuring tone in her voice, “I promise that he will act nicely. There’s no need to worry about it.”
Celestia’s expression seemed to turn even more awkward when she turned to face Twilight, worrying look in her azure eyes.
“Oh Twilight I am sure of that,” she said with a smile, making Twilight more or less confused.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, and Celestia answered.
“I would like to apologise to you Twilight,” she said, hanging her head down in a depressed way.
Twilight stared at her with a confused frown on her face, her mouth open a little. She blinked slowly, before asking, “Princess… Why would you want to apology to me?”
The surprised tone she spoke in turn made Celestia look at least as confused as Twilight. They stared at each other as they walked for a second, before Celestia answered.
“I… I have been acting so possessively towards you…” she said sadly.
Twilight’s expression changed. She was stared blankly down the hallway that they were walking. She then said slowly, “Oh… That.”
“Please Twilight,” Celestia said in hushed tone, so that the other ponies besides Twilight wouldn’t hear it. "The message you sent me that one night… It really shook me.”
Celestia clearly hadn’t spoken quiet enough, because they heard Luna clearing her throat loudly. Celestia shot an annoyed look towards her sister, before saying to Twilight, “And maybe Luna had something to do with it too.”
Twilight chuckled a little.
Celestia flashed her a troubled smile, and then continued, “I feeling truly horrible about it, and I wish that we could sort everything out.”
Twilight’s ears flickered and she stopped walking. They were in front of the big doors that lead to the grand hall, one guard standing on both sides of them. Twilight turned to look at Celestia with a smile.
“I’m sure we can settle everything,” she said to Celestia, who returned the smile.
They were silent for a second, before Celestia perked up and announced, “I think it’s time to face him once again.”
Twilight Sparkle and the others nodded, and so the guards pushed open the heavy doors. Behind them stood Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity Rainbow Dash and Spike, whose tie Rarity quickly fixed with her magic. Everything was just like Twilight had planned. They stood on both sides of a red carpet that went through the hall, leading towards a set of thrones. They usually weren’t in the hall, but they had been moved there for the occasion. On both sides of the red carpet stood other ponies too. They were the ones that had helped with the preparations, thus gaining the invitation as a reward for their efforts.
Twilight sighed. Everything seemed to be as planned, and she started to walk on the red carpet, her visitors following her. Her friends bowed to the princesses, and so did everypony else. Twilight knew that Sombra would be waiting in the end of that red carpet, and hopefully he would keep himself from trying to be the cocky stallion that he was.
She really hoped so.
They came to the end of the carpet, and the ponies started to retreat towards the doors, while Twilight’s friends stayed in the hall. There were six thrones. Five of them were facing towards one, which was more like a regular armchair than a throne. Those five thrones were reserved for the princesses and the captain of the royal guard, while the lone one was for the ex-tyrant. Now that Twilight thought about it, it looked like there was going to be a court held there, which in a way was true. She didn’t think about it too much though, because Sombra was nowhere to be seen. He wasn’t standing on his spot where he should have been.
Twilight looked around herself nervously. She noticed that her visitors were also turning their heads, trying to locate him.
“We see that he is not in the mood to meet us,” Luna spoke, changing back to the royal accent that she used in front of common ponies.
Twilight’s ears drooped and she chuckled nervously, before answering, “Maybe he is just afraid to meet you?”
“Hah!” Shining Armor exclaimed. “I wouldn’t be surprised. We gave him quite a beating when we last met.”
“I am not afraid,” said a deep voice, startling Shining Armor and Cadence. “And if I remember right, you had nothing to do with my defeat.”
Sombra’s face emerged from behind the backrest of the chair reserved for him. He had a cold expression on his face as he spat, “Shining Armor.”
Twilight sensed strong hostile feelings between those two stallions, so she quickly cut in before anything bad would happen, “Oh there you are!”
Sombra’s head went back behind the backrest, and there was no answer. Celestia and Luna glanced at each other, while Cadence was pressing herself against Shining Armor for safety. It clearly wasn’t easy for her to meet Sombra. The monster that had tormented her subjects for centuries was there, in front of her.
Twilight’s ears folded against the back of her head, and an angry frown appeared onto her face. She stomped her other front-hoof to the floor and demanded, “Sombra, come welcome our guests. You are acting rudely.”
There was sigh heard, and then Sombra jumped down from the chair. The princesses looked at him a bit weirdly when they saw his suit. Like Twilight had expected, it fit him very well. The smooth lines of the jacket made his features a bit more subtle than his trustworthy battle armor, but it still didn’t take his sinister look away from him. Also Rarity had found a red pocket silk for him. It was a cherry on top of the cake. Twilight groaned when she noticed his mane. It was bushy and long like always, just like his tail. She had hoped that he would have even combed it into a little more presentable shape, but no.
His hooves clattered against the marble floor heavily as he walked. His red eyes were fixated to Celestia, who stared back at him calmly.
“Sombra,” Twilight started. “Meet princess Celestia, Luna and…”
She stopped mid sentence when Sombra gave her a deadpan stare. He slowly turned his eyes back towards the white alicorn and said, “I know who they are.”
“And we know who you are,” Celestia said, making Sombra chuckle darkly.
“Then there is no need for introductions I see,” he said, before falling silent again. Twilight waited for him to continue, but when he didn’t she gave a small subtle kick to his hind-leg.
“Go on,” she told him, and he groaned quietly.
Sombra hesitated for a second, but then spoke with defeated tone in his deep voice, “I do hope that your trip here was pleasant.”
That surprised the three princesses and Shining Armor greatly. They all stared at him with wide eyes and their mouths open a little. Twilight smiled proudly. She had hoped for reactions like that.
Luna was first one to break away from her baffled state, and she spoke to Twilight, “We see that there has been progress made with him.”
“Indeed,” Celestia muttered. Her expression returned back to the calm stare when she continued, “But the fact that you can speak politely alone isn’t enough for us to judge you.”
“I would be offended if it would be enough,” Sombra said with a small grin, making Luna chuckle.
Sombra turned to look at her, and she stopped chuckling.
“Princess Luna,” Sombra said with his red eyes scanning the blue coated princess. “Are you still the same warmongering princess that you were thousand years ago?”
“The very same,” Luna said with a small nod. She then smirked in challenging manner and asked, “Are thou the same tyrant that thou were a thousand years ago?”
Sombra frowned. He looked past the smirking mare and muttered, “It is for you to decide I assume.”
His gaze met with the purple eyes of Cadence, and it stayed there for a second longer that it should have. He saw the fearful gaze in her eyes, but in a blink of an eye her snout crunched up and there was disturbingly strong disgust visible in her eyes. Sombra’s mouth opened a little. The gaze reminded him of one of his dreams.
He quickly looked away, saying, “I would like to get over this as soon as possible, if it is not too much to ask.”
“You aren’t the only one,” Shining remarked at him, making Sombra glare at him with an annoyed look on his face.
Celestia noticed this, and so did Twilight. They shared a quick look of concern between each other, and then Celestia announced, “I guess that we can skip the cake and get started right away.”
Luna chuckled and said, “It must be really important if our sister skips the cake.”
Sombra looked towards the older sister with a raised eyebrow, and for a small moment he thought that there was a small hint of embarrassment visible on her face.
“Alright then,” Twilight said. “Lets get started then.”
Everypony nodded, and they walked over to their seats.
Sombra slumped down to his own chair, which was rather uncomfortable actually. The princesses sat down in their own places, so that Celestia sat down to the throne in the center with Luna on the throne to her right side , while Twilight was next to Luna and Cadence on their left. Shining Armor sat down next to Cadence and placed his helmet next to himself. Sombra kept eyeing each one of them with his red eyes, almost like judging them.
“Are we ready to begin?” Celestia asked from everypony, and all except Sombra nodded. He just leaned against his right hoof and kept staring. Celestia frowned at that, but kept speaking as calmly as ever, “We are here today in order to see the progress of the reformation of King Sombra, the tyrant of The Crystal Empire.”
Sombra just blinked in response, so Celestia continued, pointing towards Twilight, “Princess Twilight Sparkle, the element of magic has been working as your personal mentor. Isn’t that right?”
Sombra nodded.
Celestia was about to say something, but Luna was quicker, “Before we proceed, We have to say that we are greatly confused by thy wear.”
Sombra looked down at his suit, and explained to her, “I usually do not wear suits, but I have to admit that missis Rarity did a fine job.”
“That reminds me,” Twilight said and turned towards the direction of her friends.
“Girls! Spike!” she called and waved her hoof. “Come over here please.”
The princesses turned their heads towards the five mares and a dragon who started to walk towards them. They soon turned their attention back towards Sombra.
“I believe that you have met with the elements of harmony already?” Celestia asked from Sombra.
“I have,” Sombra answered. “They are quite an... Odd bunch if you ask me.”
“We agree,” Luna said with a nod. “Especially that pink one.”
Sombra smiled a bit. Just then the pink mare in question bounced next to his chair, smiling an ear to ear smile. When she saw the smile on Sombra’s lips, her smile got even wider, if it was even possible.
“Heyy!” she chirped. “Look at that! Sombry’s actually smiling!”
“Sombry?” Cadence asked with her mouth open. She then shared a confused look with Shining Armor.
“Yeah!” Pinkie said happily, ruffling Sombra’s mane with a hoof. He swatted her hoof away, but Pinkie kept smiling and said, “It’s my nickname for him.”
“I see…” Celestia said slowly and glanced at Twilight, before giving her a proud looking smile.
Rarity trotted towards them with a silver plate in her magical grasp. On it were cups of tea, one for everyone in the room. She smiled and bowed in front of Celestia’s throne. Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy joined her, bowing to them before positioning themselves on Twilight’s side. Spike didn’t seem to remember to bow, but a scolding look from Rarity made him remember. He chuckled nervously and bowed deeply. Sombra saw that Rainbow Dash wasn’t too happy looking. He didn’t mind it though.
“Would the princesses have some chamomile tea?” Rarity asked, and they nodded. Rarity levitated a cup for all of them, but Shining Armor refused with a polite wave of his hoof. Rarity then turned towards Sombra, offering the plate towards him and asking, “How about you dear?”
“No thank you,” Sombra said and she nodded.
After the tea was served, Celestia continued from where she had left, “You do seem to be behaving well.”
“I am trying,” Sombra answered bluntly. “Twilight Sparkle doesn’t make it easy sometimes.”
Shining Armor snorted and said proudly, “I believe that. She doesn’t flinch from a pony like you. From Ursa Minor to Tirek, she had beat them all.”
“I didn’t beat the Ursa Minor,” Twilight commented. “I just lulled it to fall asleep.”
“Anyway,” Shining Armor said, turning to glare at Sombra. “I trust that she can handle a punk like you anytime.”
Sombra frowned. He had never heard a story about Ursa Minor and Twilight before. He decided to ask about it later, but now he had more important things to do.
Like showing Shining Armor that he wasn’t going to hear things like that from him.
“Punk like me?” Sombra asked. He had a challenging look in his red eyes when he spoke to Shining Armor, “A punk like me could best you in a duel anytime.”
“Hah! What makes you think so?” Shining asked, squinting his eyes. Cadence was looking terrified about the situation in where she was in. Twilight in turn was looking between her brother and Sombra nervously. She took a quick look at Celestia and Luna, who were trying to look as calm as they could, but there was a hint of anxiety on their faces.
“Because I have battled with much greater foes than you,” Sombra answered and leaned backwards in his chair. “It was not easy to live in a castle made of crystal during a frost dragon migration.”
“There aren’t any frost dragons living in those parts of the Frozen North,” Twilight commented skeptically.
Sombra chuckled and said, “Not anymore.”
Spike looked mortified by Sombra’s words, but he didn’t care about him. What made him troubled was the way how Fluttershy looked at him. He didn’t have time to feel bad though, because Shining Armor continued, “Oh now you are bragging about how you killed some dragons that were just hungry?” Shining asked with a angry look in his blue eyes. “I know how you are, and…”
Saying that made Sombra spring up from his chair, startling the mares and the white stallion. He pointed his other front-hoof towards Shining Armor.
“How am I!?” he asked with a loud voice filled with anger. “You do not even know who I am!”
Everypony were staring at him with wide eyes, and Fluttershy was hiding behind Rainbow Dash, who was in a fighting stance.
“Who am I?” Sombra asked, not getting the answer.
“Answer me!” Sombra demanded after a moment, not getting the answer again. Shining opened and closed his mouth like a fish on a dry land, but the answer didn’t come. Sombra slowly lowered his hoof and his eyes went over every single pony in front of him, before he spat, “None of you knows who I am...”
“Who are you?”
Sombra stopped speaking, and turned towards the pony who had asked the question. It was Celestia. Her gaze was so overpowering that Sombra couldn’t return it. With a loud grunt he laid down to his chair, folding his fore-hooves under his body. He didn’t look at the white alicorn when he answered with a low voice, “I am not sure anymore…”
“Why?” Celestia continued.
“I don’t know,” Sombra answered grudgingly, looking towards the five mares that were standing next to Twilight Sparkle’s throne. Four of them he saw as his friends in some way at least. The dragon wasn’t that bad either. At least he made good hayfries.
They were looking back at him quite weirdly, but then Pinkie Pie flashed him a small smile. It made him feel better. At least there was somepony that was on his side.
There was a moment of silence in the hall. Celestia took a quick look towards the direction where Sombra was looking, and an idea came to her. She smiled and chuckled a little, before asking from those five mares, “Girls, do you know what kind of pony he is?”
Sombra grunted at that, but saw that Rarity bravely stepped forward.
“He’s a stallion who can behave like a real gentlecolt if he want’s to,” she said with a serious face.
“And he’s a great dancer!” Pinkie joined her friend. “He like really knows how to dance.”
Sombra swept his hooves over his face. He saw where they were going with that. He saw how Applejack stepped forward and took of her hat, pressing it against her chest when speaking to the oldest princess.
“Now Ah’m not sure about the things that those two said, but I know that he can be honest,” she said convincingly. “But sometimes it comes out a bit wrong or… Awkward.”
She put on her hat and nodded towards him. He didn’t return the gesture.
Fluttershy drew invisible circles to the floor with her hoof and hid behind her mane. Her green eyes were going between princess Celestia and Sombra.
“H-He’s n-nice…” she muttered quietly, making Luna chuckle.
“That is a lot when coming from the kind Fluttershy,” she said, and Celestia nodded. Then they focused to Rainbow Dash, who blew her hair out of her eyes.
“I got nothing to add,” was her blunt answer that made Twilight frown.
“I think he’s a jerk,” Spike exclaimed, earning a murdering look from Sombra. Twilight in turn slapped her face with her hoof.
“What about you, Twilight Sparkle?” Luna asked and Twilight winced. She noticed that the princess sisters were staring at her with waiting look, while her brother was staring at her with a stern expression. She knew that he wasn’t going to like her answer.
“Well…” she started and scratched her neck nervously. Sombra looked at her from the corner of his eye, and his look made her even more nervous. There was pressure coming from all sides.
“He is troublesome at times, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t try.” Twilight said slowly, taking things carefully. “He can be just like my friends told you, but sometimes it seems that it is too hard for him.”
Sombra snorted.
“He tries to be the bad guy he used to be,” Twilight spoke. Her tone was getting more assertive as she continued, “But I can see how he tries to act against those feelings.”
Sombra rolled his eyes.
Twilight drooped her ears and looked at Sombra. His expression was calm, but there was almost a pleading look in his red eyes.
“I… I think that he doesn’t want to tell us about it yet,” she admitted.
“I do not... Thank you,” Sombra agreed, making Luna frown.
“Maybe you should,” Cadence suddenly said. It seemed that she had gathered enough courage to finally speak out loud.
“Beg you pardon?” Somba asked.
Cadence rose up from her throne, and Shining tried to grab her hoof, but she swatted his hoof away with her wing. The same disgusted look was on her face again, and it made shiver crawl up Sombra’s spine.
“I don’t know about my aunts and my sister-in-law, but you can’t make me trust you so easily…”
“Cadence…” Celestia said with a confused frown, but the pink coated alicorn didn’t even notice it. Instead she continued angrily, “You slaved an entire empire, and tried to kill my friends! It will take a lot more than you pretending to be a good pony for me to even consider forgiving you. Just you know that.”
Sombra stared at her. There was fire burning in her eyes, and Sombra didn’t know what had triggered it. His presence was probably enough to do just that.
“Princess Cadence,” he started as humbly as he could, “I want you to know that I felt justified to do so.”
“Justified!?” Cadence asked with shocked voice, her wings flaring open. “What would make you see your actions as justified!?”
“I do not want to talk about it,” Sombra answered with a shake of his head. He then saw the terrified looks on the faces of Twilight Sparkle and her friends, so he added, “And I did not mean that I felt justified to hurt you. Just the empire part.”
“Do you think that we can forgive you if we don’t even know your reasons?” Cadence asked, walking closer to him. “I don’t know if I can forgive you even if I knew them, and how about the ponies of The Crystal Empire? Do you think that they will forgive you?”
“I know that they will not,” Sombra answered surprisingly calmly. “After all, I have not forgiven King Halite for what he did, and my actions were far worse.”
Everypony looked surprised after he said that. Twilight had a hunch about what he was talking about, but couldn’t be sure yet.
“What did he do to then?” Luna asked with interested frown on her face.
Sombra sighed.
“He took everything that was important to me,” he muttered, making everypony fall silent. Nopony said a word so Sombra continued, “I hope that that answer is enough for now.”
“Well it isn’t!” Cadence continued her attack. “You almost took everything that is important to me! Now you want us to be on your side all of the sudden! It seems like you are thinking that you’re the victim here.”
“You don’t know everything, Mi Amore De Cadenza,” Sombra snorted.
“Well correct me if I’m wrong,” Cadence hissed. “Tell us why you are a monster.”
“I said I don’t want to talk about it,” Sombra answered again.
Cadence’s ears flattened against the back of her head and she exclaimed angrily, “At least tell us why you don’t want to answer me!”
“Because it hurts!” Sombra suddenly shouted and rose up from his chair again, making Cadence wince backwards. Shining Armor was at her side faster than Sombra could have believed that a stallion of his size could move. The situation was looking dangerously close to blowing up, so Twilight decided to do something. Her horn came to life and Sombra was closed into a purple field of magic, before being pushed back to his seat. He cursed at Twilight, before settling in for a better position. Cadence and Shining Armor too sat back down to their places, Cadence shaking a little and taking deep breaths. After everypony had calmed down, Celestia cleared her throat.
Sombra was quiet.
“I do not force you to tell us about them for now,” Celestia told him. “But you do understand that keeping silent about them will only make the healing process longer.”
Sombra returned her gaze, before answering, “Thank you princess Celestia. I appreciate that you understand.”
“I can’t say that I understand,” she corrected him. “I just know that forcing you to tell something that you are not willing to tell is not the right way.”
There was deep silence again. Twilight looked at Sombra with drooped ears and a small, comforting smile. She then coughed and said, “Is there something else that you would like to know?”
Celestia and Luna looked at each other. It was like they were speaking without actually speaking. They nodded exactly the same time and then turned towards the purple alicorn.
“We have come to a conclusion,” Luna stated, earning everypony’s attention. Even Sombra seemed nervous.
Celestia nodded, and then declared, “King Sombra has been coming along in his reformation, but there are still matters that needs to be cleared out in the future. One of them being his past. We do not want to see whatever made him do the terrible things at the Crystal Empire happen to anypony else.”
Sombra seemed troubled as Celestia held a pause. Twilight noticed it. Celestia continued to speak with proud tone, “Twilight Sparkle has proven that she once again has managed in something that everypony else thought as an impossible task.”
Twilight blushed, and Celestia started to smile.
“I wish for you to continue your work with Sombra. All your royal duties are delegated to me and my sister, so you don’t have to worry about them,” she told Twilight who smiled. Celestia didn’t take her eyes off from Twilight as she continued, “Sombra will continue to live here, in princess Twilight Sparkle’s castle, as a way to show that we do trust her with all of our hearts.”
Twilight’s smile grew wider. She knew what Celestia was trying to say.
“You may have full command over his freedoms. When you believe that he is ready for his magic to be given back to him, you have all the rights to do so.”
“Really!?” Twilight asked with her eyes going wide. “T-That’s quite a responsibility.”
“And we are sure that we can trust in your judgement,” Celestia added with a wink that made Twilight smile with her ears drooped. If she wouldn’t have been in front of her friends and Sombra, she would have lunged and hugged Celestia.
“Thank you, princess,” Twilight said, trying to keep the gleeful smile away from her face. She wasn’t succeeding so well.
Celestia then turned towards Cadence Shining Armor and said with a bit more serious tone, “I believe that princess Cadence and Captain Shining Armor have something on their mind.”
“Yes we do aunt,” Cadence said and she rose up. So did Shining Armor. “We want you -” she pointed her hoof at Sombra. “- to know that you are considered as a criminal in The Crystal Empire, and that the ponies of The Crystal Empire want justice.”
There were some confused whispers between Twilight’s friends, but none of them said a thing. After all, what Cadence said was true.
“I do understand,” Sombra answered.
“Then there is nothing more for us to talk about,” Shining said sternly. “For now.”
“Splendid,” Luna said with a small smile. “We can already see how Our sister keeps staring at that cake.”
“Luna,” Celestia scolded but couldn’t help but to smile a little. She sighed and turned towards Twilight Sparkle and her friends, saying, “I think that we are more than pleased with the progress of Sombra’s reformation. Keep up the good work everypony.”
Twilight Sparkle and her friends nodded eagerly. Even Spike was looking relieved. Satisfied, Celestia rose up from her tone and stretched her wings.
“Now that you mentioned it Luna, could I have a small slice of that cake,” she chuckled, making Luna smile knowingly.
“Am I free to go now?” Sombra asked.
“Stay and socialize with our guests,” Twilight told him with an encouraging smile.
Sombra just chuckled at her and jumped down from his chair. He gave that purple mare a look that asked ‘are you serious’, before he said, “You are funny, Twilight Sparkle.”
With that he started to walk towards the doors of the hall, leaving the scene.
Everypony stared after him for a moment, before Celestia stretched her wings again and said, “He doesn’t seem to be the most social pony that there is.”
“No he is not,” Twilight answered, before she too stretched her wings. She didn’t want to bother herself with that anymore, and she jumped down from her throne.
“Would it be possible to talk in private with you Twilight?” Celestia asked as the rest of the visitors and Twilight’s friends started to walk towards the table that was filled with pastries from the Sugarcube Corner.
“Of course, princess,” Twilight answered. She smiled a broad smile and touched Celestia’s side with the tip of her other wing. “Even though I have to say that I have already forgiven you.”
Celestia smiled at least as big smile as Twilight. She then turned to look towards the table where the chocolate cake was. Her smile turned into a sheepish one when she said, “But first cake. I can’t resist it.”
“Of course,” Twilight giggled and they started to walk side by side.
They didn’t get far before they heard a familiar female voice speaking.
“Princess Celestia, Twilight,” the voice said and they turned towards it. They saw serious looking Rainbow Dash standing near them. Twilight already started to feel that something bad was about to happen.
“Yes Rainbow Dash?” Celestia asked.
“Oh it’s nothing too important…” Rainbow Dash said and walked closer, glancing towards Twilight a bit weirdly. “I was just thinking.... Are you a fan of tabloids? You know… Trashy magazines and all that?”
Twilight’s ears drooped.
“I have to say that I am not,” Celestia said with a confused smile on her lips. “Why are you asking such questions?”
Rainbow Dash reached for something from under her left wing. Soon she pulled something from under her wing and held it in her teeth. Twilight let out a small squeak of panic, while Celestia’s eyes went wide.
“I just thought that this article might be interesting for you, princess.”
Sombra quickly climbed up the stairs that lead towards his room. He was feeling rather tired, which was understandable. The meeting he had been in was pretty much the most important one after his defeat. Even though everypony told him that the meeting wasn’t a big deal, but he knew that wasn’t completely true. He sighed tiredly and thought that it wasn’t so important now. The meeting had gone moderately well, if his small outburst wasn’t counted.
As he reached his door, he immediately got a feeling that something was wrong. His suspicion were proven true. The door to his room was slightly open, and he could see that the lights were turned on. He always closed the door behind him.
Inside the room was somepony who wasn’t supposed to be there. Flash Sentry was nervously going through the drawers of Sombra’s desk that Twilight Sparkle had gotten for him. He opened some of the many books that Sombra had piled on the desk and kept looking around the room for something. He peeked under Sombra’s bed before he moved to open the wardrobe, only to find out that it was empty. He tilted his helmet backwards a little and scratched his forehead, looking around confusedly.
“There has to be something…” he muttered silently to himself.
“Looking for something?” a deep voice asked, making the fur on Flash’s neck stand up. He quickly spun around and found himself facing Sombra. His red eyes were squinted suspiciously, staring at Flash with a look that made him gulp.
“I can say that you will not find anything of interest from here,” Sombra continued and stepped closer to Flash.
“You were supposed to be with the princesses…”Flash muttered.
“I suppose that I could say the same to you,” Sombra retorted. He then looked around his room and continued calmly, “But it seems that you had some more important matters to attend to.”
Flash was silent, and Sombra walked past him. Flash tried to slip away from the room when Sombra wasn’t looking, but Sombra said, “Stay Flash Sentry. Lets have a small chat.”
“Why should I want to speak with you?” Flash asked and grabbed the handle of the door.
“Do you remember the little brawl we had some time ago?”
Flash froze with his hoof still on the handle. Sombra grinned, knowing that he had hit the right spot. He then sat down to the side of his bed, facing Flash. He slipped out of his jacket and neatly folded it, keeping his eyes on Flash for the whole time. Flash could feel Sombra’s eyes on him, making him even more nervous than he already was. Sombra unbuttoned his white shirt and clumsily lifted the red tie from around his neck. When he was finally free from the clothes, he stood up, cleared his throat and spoke, “Now Flash… What are you scheming?”
Flash slowly turned around and said nervously, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh is that so?” Sombra asked. “So you don’t know anything about somepony sneaking behind my door at late hours, and what about the almost murdering looks that you have been giving me?”
Flash was quiet, staring at Sombra with an angry frown on his face. Sombra returned the stare. The mental war between them raged on for a moment, before Flash spoke, “I don’t know anything about that.”
Sombra let out a deep sigh and rolled his eyes. It seemed like he was giving up the fight with Flash, but knowing his temper, that wasn’t going to happen.
In a quick motion Sombra grabbed the neck opening of Flash’s armor, pulling him closer to himself so that their foreheads hit each other. Despite Flash was wearing his helmet, he saw stars for a moment, while Sombra just winced a little.
“Do you think that I am stupid!?” Sombra growled to Flash, showing his fangs to the terrified colt, who was too shocked to answer.
“I just caught you going through my personal belongings and you still tell me that there is nothing suspicious going on?” Sombra continued to growl. Again, he didn’t get an answer. The stubbornness of Flash Sentry was making him angry. He gave a little shake to younger stallion and said, “Stop whatever you are doing!”
He waited for a second before he grunted one last thing, “Or else...”
Sombra pushed Flash backwards and said slowly with a victorious grin spreading onto his lips, “Or else I might tell Twilight Sparkle that you attacked me.”
“You wouldn’t do that,” Flash said with confidence. “Besides, you’d get in trouble too.”
“Oh I have been torn to pieces and sent to a place that made me wish for death for seven years. I do not think that Twilight Sparkle would give me a punishment worse than that.”
Flash was staring at him with wide eyes. If what Sombra had told him was true, Flash indeed had the short end of the stick. Sombra noticed the slight panic on Flash’s face and he liked it. Damn, he enjoyed it. But enough with amusements. He had a proposition to make.
Sombra let go of Flash’s armor and spoke calmly, like the previous outburst hadn’t even happened, “Of course I could consider not telling her…”
He held a small pause, before he continued, “But there is a price.”
“What price?” Flash quickly asked. Sombra realized that the orange colt was in his control now. Flash didn’t want his ‘love’ to know how he had done something that she wouldn’t approve, and Sombra wanted to be left alone. Sombra saw a possible solution for that problem.
“You will stop whatever you are doing, and I will not tell a word to Twilight Sparkle…” Sombra spoke slowly. He smiled teasingly at Flash and continued, “That way I can keep rolling in self-pity while you can keep trying to make Twilight Sparkle see how…-”Sombra chuckled a bit “-How much she means to you. I would say that it’s a win-win situation.”
Flash frowned and his tail swung in irritated way. He clearly was wondering about Sombra’s proposition. He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, hanging his head. After a short moment he perked up and said, “We have a deal.”
“Splendid!” Sombra exclaimed. “If I will catch you sneaking around my room again I will do as I threatened. Just you remember that.”
Flash frowned angrily, but he forced himself to answer, “And if I hear that you have done something bad to her, I will come and give you a new beating.”
Sombra laughed out loud, before he said, still chuckling a little, “Oh that is cute. Now get along you. I don’t have all day.”
Flash muttered something under his breath. Probably something like ‘this isn’t over’ or something like that. Sombra sat down in front of his desk and opened a book while Flash opened the door. At that moment they both heard a loud clattering of hooves coming from down the hallway. They shared a quick, confused look.
“Corporal Sentry!” A new voice shouted. “Have you seen him anywhere?”
Flash just looked confused. Soon a white unicorn guard appeared to the door, panting from running. The white unicorn started to speak, “Princess Celestia ordered to…”
He stopped when he noticed the ever so confused looking Sombra behind Flash. There was a second of silence and wide eyed stares between the ponies, before the guard suddenly shouted, “Corporal found him!”
With that two more unicorn guards rushed past Flash, into the room with spears in their magical grasps. An angry frown appeared on Sombra’s face when he stood up. He stepped closer to the threatening looking guards and asked with a voice just below shouting, “What is the meaning of th…”
He didn’t get to finish his sentence before two spearheads were pointing at his throat, almost touching his skin. He stared at the pointy ends of the spears for a second, before he huffed, “Well that is not so important right now.”
* * *
Meanwhile an intense discussion was going on in the library of Twilight Sparkle’s castle.
“Sister, you are making an unnecessary scene out of this!” Luna scolded Celestia, who was walking around in circles with her ears folded angrily. There weren’t any commoners around so she didn’t need to use her royal Canterlot voice.
Celestia glared at Luna and asked, “Unnecessary!? Can’t you see how he is manipulating Twilight?”
“I am right here!” Twilight exclaimed annoyedly, stomping her forehooves to the ground. “Why do you keep making a such a number about this?”
Celestia turned towards Twilight with her eyes wide.
“Why?” she asked. “Because I can’t just stand aside while he tries to woo you, only to break you when he does something terrible! That’s why!”
“Woo me? He isn’t wooing me, and he isn’t planning anything terrible!” Twilight exclaimed with a slight blush on her cheeks. “And besides, what makes you think that I would be stupid enough to fall for something like that?”
“She is right,” Luna commented. “Even Twilight’s friends think that Sombra is really trying to become a good pony. I trust them… Even though they are quite a strange bunch.”
“We are right here!” the five mares and one dragon in the same room exclaimed, making Luna look at them with an apologetic expression.
Celestia looked like she hadn’t even heard that and continued with an almost motherly tone that made Twilight frown, “Now Twilight… I know that you may see him as a nice and interesting pony, but you must remember that he still is King Sombra.”
“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked. Celestia was acting way too motherly once again. Now that Twilight thought about it, this wasn’t the first time when she had acted like that. Twilight just hadn’t noticed it.
“I’m talking about this,” Celestia said and poked the magazine on the floor. That made Twilight fold her ears.
“It was just a dance!” she exclaimed angrily. “Why is that so hard for you to understand!?”
“Because I care about you Twilight!” Celestia answered. She walked closer to Twilight and said softly, “You are the best thing to happen to our country. I couldn’t stand it if something bad happened to you.”
Twilight stared at her mentor for a moment, her ears still folded backwards. Her friends and princess Luna glanced at each other with worried looks. Princess Cadence and Shining Armor weren’t in the library. Cadence couldn’t watch as her aunt and her sister-in-law were fighting, and Shining Armor was trying to find Sombra. Twilight Sparkle was about to say something, but the doors of the library opened, interrupting her.
“We found him,” Shining Armor announced as he walked towards the mares.
“Bring him here,” Celestia said to him, and he saluted quickly, before waving his hoof to a couple of unicorn guards. The guards in turn raised the spears that they held in their magical hold and forced a dark coated stallion forward.
“What is the meaning of this!?” was Sombra’s first question. He was looking more than angry about the guards poking him with their spears.
“Shut up,” Shining answered.
Sombra did so, but the look he gave to Shining Armor made the white stallion fall silent too. He stopped in front of the three princesses and demanded “I demand a proper answer!”
“You are not in a position to demand anything!” Celestia exclaimed.
“Yes he is!” Twilight retorted. “He hasn’t done anything wrong!”
Celestia squinted her eyes and stared at Sombra, before she asked, “How do you explain this?”
She slid the magazine on the floor so that Sombra could see the cover image. Sombra quickly realized what was going on with the white alicorn, and he certainly didn’t want to fuel her annoyance any more. He had to proceed cautiously.
“Princess Celestia,” he started slowly, thinking what to say next. He decided to try his luck and he said, “I do not see what is the problem here.”
“What a surprise!” Celestia snorted. “Of course you don’t. That’s because this is all just a part of some twisted plan that you are working on!”
“I am shocked by your accusations,” Sombra said. “Where did that friendly behaviour that I saw in you go all of the sudden?”
“It went away as soon as I realized that you are trying to seduce Twilight!” Celestia spat at him. Sombra coughed in surprise, while Twilight’s cheeks turned red. Sombra just didn’t have an answer for that.
“Princess...” Twilight tried shyly, but Celestia just continued.
“I can’t just stand aside when you -” she pointed at Sombra. “- are trying to make Twilight...”
“Sister,” Luna interrupted her. “Thou are making a jester out of thine self.”
Celestia groaned and said annoyedly, “Speak normally Luna!”
“What!?” she asked with her ears drooping. “We can speak however We like!”
Sombra saw how the situation was getting out of hoof. If he wouldn’t have been a part of it, he might have found it amusing. But as he was a big part of it, he found the situation where he was in very threatening.
“Just please Luna,” Celestia said, rubbing her forehead. “I just don’t have the energy right now…”
“Thee don’t command Us!” Luna exclaimed, seemingly upset about her sisters words. She poked Celestia in the chest and said, “We are getting sick of Thee always trying to control Us! We are a grown up pony for heavens sake!”
Twilight and Sombra glanced at each other worriedly. Behind them Rainbow Dash was regretting that she had showed the magazine to princess Celestia. It maybe hadn’t been the wisest decision. Others seemed to think so too.
“Ah can’t believe that you showed that magazine to her!” Applejack whispered angrily at the cyan pegasus. She didn’t answer put a scold from her marefriend didn't feel good at all.
“Yeah,” Pinkie whispered as Celestia and Luna continued to argue. “I baked that cake for three hours and now we can’t even eat it because of this. I’m really upset!”
“W-why do we have to be here anyway?” Fluttershy mumbled, running her hooves through her pink mane. “I don’t like it when they are fighting…”
Rarity patted her on the shoulder and comforted her, “There there… I’m sure that they can sort everything out…”
She glanced towards the two alicorn that were engaged in a verbal war.
“At least I hope so…” she added quietly.
“Yeah,” Spike muttered. “I don’t want to live in the same castle with Twilight if things go sour between her and Celestia…”
“And We can’t even go out for a walk without Thine guards following Us around!” Luna said, her voice rising.
“I just want you to be safe!” Celestia defended herself. “Just like I want for Twilight to be safe!”
“I can handle myself!” Twilight commented loudly.
“I know Twilight,” Celestia started softly. “But you are still so very young and I just couldn’t stand it if something bad would happen to you.”
She then glanced at Sombra with a deep frown on her face.
“And that’s why I am stopping this project,” Celestia announced with a nod. She then looked at Twilight sadly and added, “It is for your own good. You are not ready yet.”
Silence fell over the library. Sombra was looking calm, but a drop of sweat was rolling down his forehead. He knew what the end of his reformation would mean. He could almost hear the metal door of the damp cell under Canterlot closing in front of him. He glanced at Twilight Sparkle, who staring at her mentor with her eyes wide and mouth open. She was completely motionless, her wings hanging downwards sadly, her purple eyes glimmering a little.
The sight made Sombra’s chest hurt. He had already realized that it was connected to those feelings he had been having lately, but this time it was different. It wasn’t that odd burning that he sometimes felt, no. It was something different. Like he would have felt the pain that Twilight Sparkle was feeling right that moment.
It was terrible.
Maybe it was because of that, or because he didn’t want to get back into that cell, or maybe it was both, but he took actions.
“She is more than ready!” he announced, earning everypony’s action. She walked forward, staring straight at Celestia.
“Nopony asked you a thing,” Shining commented, but he was ignored.
“I admit,” Sombra continued with slightly embarrassed look. “I have had some ups and downs during the time that I have been spending in Ponyville, but look at me now.”
He slowly looked at both of the princesses, Twilight, her friends, some of the guards, Shining Armor, Spike and then back at Celestia.
“I am here, in front of you, as a pony,” he said. “Not as the monster that I used to be.”
His expression changed into a troubled one when he continued, “I cannot say that I regret all of my past actions. Most of them I do, but not all of them.”
He turned his head towards a wide-eyed Twilight and said, “But I do not want to become the thing that I was in the past. I have betrayed my own soldiers and… And in a way my family too... I don’t want that to happen again.”
Twilight flashed a small, sad smile at him, which he didn’t return. He just kept speaking.
“I assure you that Twilight Sparkle is an extraordinary mare. Without her help, I would not be like this, no. She has taught me that there is hope for me. And I am truly thankful for that. She has made me actually think reformation as a real option. Before that I saw it as a punishment.”
Sombra kept a small pause before continuing, “I will stand by her, and I will trust her completely, whatever she does. After all, she and her… my friends… And the dragon are the only things I have left. I don’t have a home anymore… I don’t have... a family anymore. Without them, I have no future either. They are trying to help me. The only thing that I can offer them now is my complete support.” Sombra spoke with his head held up, making Twilight droop her ears and blush.
Her friends were smiling a small, worried smiles, and Spike was rolling his eyes. Even Rainbow Dash’s expression was softening. Sombra turned to look precisely at her and said, “I will stand by her side.”
Rainbow Dash gulped nervously. Sombra seemed so serious when he spoke. It was making that cyan pegasus confused.
Sombra then added one last thing, turning to look at Celestia with almost an pleading look in his red eyes, “I truly hope that you would do the same.”
Celestia was quiet, eyeing Sombra up and down with a judging look in her azure eyes. Luna was looking at her sister with hopeful glimmer in her eyes, while Sombra felt his heart racing. Twilight Sparkle was still staring at Sombra with a thankful smile on her lips. Sombra’s words had meant much for her.
Celestia finally shuffled her wings a little, let out a disappointed grunt and said with her voice cold as a winter, “Your honeyed words don’t fool me, Slave King.”
Twilight and her friends gasped. Celestia gave a small nod towards Shining Armor, who in turn turned towards the two guards that had brought Sombra there.
“Take him away,” Shining told the guards.
That was when Twilight snapped.
“No!” she exclaimed loudly, her wings flaring open. The guards stopped moving and turned to look at Shining Armor for help.
“Twily…” Shining tried, but the purple mare turned towards him with a furious look on her face.
“As a princess I command you to stop!” she shouted. “And as a captain of a royal guard you will obey me!”
“Twilight Sparkle!” princess Celestia said in a shocked tone. “What are you doing!?”
Twilight didn’t answer that question. Instead she spun around towards Celestia and stomped closer to her.
“You can’t tell me what to do with my student!” she hissed at Celestia, who looked shocked and hurt.
The expression soon turned into a disgusted frown and she turned to stare at Sombra. She pointed at him and said, “Now look how he has made turn Twilight against me!”
“It was you who made me turn against you!” Twilight exclaimed, making Celestia back up with her ears folded.
She looked at Twilight sadly and muttered, “Me? I-I was just trying to protect you Twi…”
“You’re not my mother!” Twilight shouted in her royal Canterlot voice, scaring everypony in the room. Even Celestia looked frightened.
When nopony said anything, Twilight continued in her normal voice, “Can’t you see that I am a grown up mare? I can handle myself and so does Luna! You can’t treat us like this!”
“B-but…” Celestia muttered.
“No!” Twilight shouted. “I can’t believe how I haven’t seen this earlier! How can you even say that we are equal, if you keep telling us what to do?”
She took a deep breath, before continuing more calmly, “I know that you meant good, but now I have had enough! Sombra is my student, a guest in my castle and he is myfriend, so I and only I can decide what to do to him.”
The doors of the library flew open and Cadence rushed in.
“Is everything alright? I heard…” she started but fell silent when she saw the angry look on Twilight’s face, and the terrified one on everypony else’s face. She gulped and stayed put on the place where she had stopped.
Twilight gave the most challenging look to Celestia and said slowly, “From now on I will rule as an equal co-ruler of Equestria, as we all shall. We will be equal. No decisions are made without all three of us knowing about it. You will stop towering over us three. We. Can. Handle. Ourselves.”
“But Twilight…” Celestia tried with a shocked look on her face. “You must understand that I was just protecting you…”
“I appreciate that, but now it must stop,” Twilight spoke with her tone getting softer. She looked sadly at the white alicorn and said, “How can I become ready to rule on my own if I you will keep doing everything for me?”
Celestia was quiet, staring at the floor. She glanced upwards quickly, returned to stare at the floor and said, “I can’t let anything bad happen to you Twi…”
“Stop,” Twilight pleaded and Celestia did as she asked. Twilight took deep breath and continued with that same soft voice, “Celestia please. I am not asking you to stop mothering me -” she glanced at Luna. “- Us. I am telling you to stop it.”
She stared at Celestia pleadingly, before adding one last thing, “Do you agree with me, or not?”
Celestia and Luna stared at her with confused, almost shocked expression. Luna was first one to react. She smiled proudly.
“With joy, We agree Thine terms, princess Twilight Sparkle,” she announced formally and turned towards Cadence.
“I-I don’t know what’s going on but I am too scared to say no,” she muttered, before nodding and confirming, “Yes. I agree too.”
Shining Armor stepped by her to whisper her what was going on.
Everypony else turned to stare at Celestia with a waiting look on their faces. The white alicorn had apparently lost her ability to speak, and she just stared at the purple mare in front of her. The air was filled with thick tension, everypony waiting for her answer. Pinkie Pie was so nervous that she was biting her own hooves.
Celestia started to open and close her mouth, her ears drooping downwards. Her legs shook under her and she slumped down to her haunches. Everypony looked worried as she hung her head towards the floor. She closed her eyes and sighed, “I agree...”
With that she was closed into a tight hug. She sighed and muttered, “Twilight I…”
She opened her eyes and saw that Twilight was still standing in front of her.. Celestia blinked confusedly and realized that it was pair of deep blue hooves that were squeezing her. Luna nuzzled her sister’s cheek and happily said, “We- I am so happy that you came to your senses sister.”
Celestia laid her hooves on Luna’s, a bit embarrassed by the fact that her sister was hugging her in front of her guards and Sombra. She sighed and said, “I still don’t like this at all.”
Everypony seemed confused, and Twilight grunted. Celestia was quick to add with a sad look in her azure eyes, “But I don’t want to hurt either one of you any longer.”
“Oh sister,” Luna chuckled. “You aren’t hurting us.”
“Yes,” Twilight said slowly. “There hasn’t been any real damage done.”
She smiled in a bit forced way and said, “And you are still the one who I can always rely on when I need help. This hasn’t changed anything between us.”
Celestia smiled a little, her ears still drooped. She squeezed Luna’s hoof a little harder and said, “You will always be my best student, Twilight Sparkle.”
“And you will always be my mentor and friend,” Twilight answered, before walking up to her and helping her to get up. Even though Twilight was acting calmer than moments ago, her expressions and tone of voice felt strangely cold to Celestia. She didn’t like it.
Meanwhile Sombra sighed from relief. For a moment he had feared for the worst. He then couldn’t help but to think that the ponies he was spending time with were just odd. He had just witnessed a drama that would have been taken straight from a play. Sometimes he felt like being just an actor in a soap opera.
Celestia soon regained her posture. She hesitated a little before turning towards Sombra and saying, “I shall withdraw your punishment. You are free to go.”
“I am grateful for that,” Sombra said with a bow.
Celestia looked away and said bluntly, “Don’t be. You’re still a criminal in my books.”
Sombra frowned deeply and his right ear flickered annoyedly.
“So be it,” he answered.
Sombra didn’t want to spend any more time and energy talking to a pony who didn’t like him, so he turned towards Twilight and spoke with an uncharacteristically warm smile, “Thank you Twilight Sparkle, for standing up for me.”
“Well…” Twilight said and looked shyly at him. “Actually I was kinda defending myself and Luna but… I guess that it maybe had something to do with that little speech that you held too…”
“Oh that,” Sombra said awkwardly. “I hope that it was not too… How do they say it... Cheesy?”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“And do not be too mad at Celestia,” Sombra said, surprising Twilight. She gave him a confused look in which Sombra answered, “You are important to her, and she just wants to protect you.”
There was a short moment of silence and a weird, almost sad smile spread on Sombra’s lips. He looked at Twilight and sighed, “She reminds me of somepony I used to know.”
“Who do you mean?” Twilight asked, never getting an answer from him.
He just gave her one last smile, before he turned around and started to make his way away from the library. Twilight stared after him with his words spinning around her mind and a heavy feeling in her heart. He was sad again. She hated it.
Meanwhile Cadence was staring at the purple alicorn with her mouth open and eyes wide. As a princess of love she was a master in reading ponies, and the look on Twilight’s face as she stared at Sombra made alarm bells ring in her head. Why? Probably because she didn’t want to believe that she was right once again. No way. She was just under a lot of stress. There was no way that Twilight Sparkle and Sombra would be falling in…
“Love?” Shining Armor asked. “Are you alright?”
Cadence snapped out of her trance, blinked confusedly and turned towards her husband, asking, “What?”
“Are you alright?” Shining repeated with a raised eyebrow. “You kinda spaced out for a moment there.”
“Oh,” Cadence said, slightly embarrassed. “I’m just a bit confused right now.”
“I think we all are,” Shining said. He looked worriedly towards Twilight and said, “I have never seen Twilight angry like that. I wonder what got into her...”
“Yes…” Cadence muttered, turning her gaze towards the purple alicorn in question. She then sighed worriedly, “What indeed…”
* * *
The meeting was over, the cake and the other pastries were devoured, goodbyes had been said and Twilight Sparkle’s guests were making their leave, being escorted through the castle by a couple of Twilight Sparkle’s guards.
Celestia was walking a couple of steps behind the rest of the grew. She was sighing sad, deep sighs and kept her ears drooped. Her posture was slightly slumped and suddenly she wasn’t looking so royal at all. She didn’t know it, but the other one of Twilight’s guards kept taking sideways glances at her with a worried look on his face.
They soon reached the big front doors, where two other guards waited by both sides of the doors. They could already hear the loud voices of ponies talking behind the doors, waiting to see the princesses again. Luna frowned when she turned to look at Celestia.
“Cheer up Sister,” she scolded Celestia. “We can’t let the plebeians see Thee like that.”
“Subjects Luna,” Cadence corrected. “We have been speaking about this.”
“Why can’t We call them plebeians like in the good old days?” Luna asked with a pout, forgetting her gloomy sister. “How about commoners? The word ‘subject’ feels odd in Our tongue…”
With that the two guards opened the doors, and the crowd started to cheer once again. Luna, Cadence and Shining Armor walked outside, but Celestia stayed inside for a moment longer. She chuckled sadly when she heard Luna addressing the crowd as ‘commoners’. Normally that would have made her smile out of amusement, but not that day.
She sighed deeply once again, but winced when somepony spoke.
“Don’t be upset your majesty,” the voice said.
Celestia winced and turned towards the calm voice. She saw a white-coated stallion, dressed up in the standard guards armor. He wore an expressionless look on his face, like a proper guard should, but in his eyes she saw a consoling look.
“Excuse me?” she asked after she recovered from the surprise.
“Princess Twilight Sparkle is just a little upset,” the guard continued. “She has a lot of burdens on her shoulders right now. Believe me, I know.”
Celestia didn’t know who that white pony was, but he clearly seemed like a nice pony. Other guards gave him a weird, but somehow respectful looks, even though he was just a corporal.
Celestia pouted. She wasn’t sure why, but she spoke to that guard, “I am aware of that, corporal. I just feel like a terrible pony for making Twilight Sparkle so angry.”
“She won’t stay angry for long,” The corporal said. “Not at you at least.”
“What do you mean with that corporal?” Celestia asked, and the guard stepped a little closer. The expressionless look changing into a small smile.
“Princess Twilight Sparkle adores you,” he said. “She would never stay angry at you.”
“I think that I have made a mistake that might change that,” Celestia said with her ears drooping.
The guard shook his head and spoke, “Nothing can change the way how she sees you. Like she said, you are her mentor and more importantly a friend. She even has a picture of you on her nightstand.”
“Really?” Celestia asked with a raised eyebrow. “And how do you know that corporal? Have you been sneaking into her bed chambers?”
“No your majesty,” the guard chuckled. “I saw it one time when she asked for me to bring a new pile of parchments from her room when Spike the dragon wasn’t in the castle.”
The guard then chuckled a little more and he then added, “And she needed those parchments to write a letter to you.”
Celestia chuckled a little. That white-coated earth pony in his golden armor somehow had said the right words to make her feel a little bit better about everything that had happened.
“Are you sure that she won’t stay angry at me corporal?” she asked. “She sounded quite cold when we said our goodbyes.”
“She is confused and housing Sombra isn’t easy either. I guarantee you that she won’t stay mad at you,” the corporal answered her.
Celestia began to smile. Maybe that corporal was right. His small smile was also helping her somehow.
“I don’t think that I got you name corporal,” Celestia said to the corporal.
“My name is Sam,” Sam said with a small bow.
“Sam?” Celestia asked with a slightly confused look on her face. “Isn’t that a bit strange name for a pony?”
“My full name is actually Sam Hill, your majesty,” Sam told her.
“That only makes it more confusing,” Celestia said.
“When my father saw me for the first time, I kicked a jug of water all over him,” Sam told Celestia, who gave him a deadpan stare. Sam smiled a little and said, “He yelled ‘what in the Sam Hill is going on in here’. That’s how I got my name your majesty.”
Celestia laughed a little and said, “Sometimes it seems like ponies name their foals with strangest of names.
“I’m happy with it,” Sam said.
Celestia then remembered something.
“Aren’t you one of Twilight Sparkle’s personal guards?” she asked.
“I am,” Sam answered with a nod. “You were the one who sent me here along with Flash Sentry.”
“I'm happy to see that she is guarded by good ponies like you,” Celestia said to Sam, who bowed deeply.
“I’m here to protect and serve,” he said seriously.
There was a moment of silence between them, before Celestia turned towards the open front doors. Luna was already looking frustrated by the having to wait for her older sister.
“I believe that it is time for me to leave now,” she said and turned to face Sam again. She smiled and said, “Thank you for your words Sam Hill. I appreciate them.”
Sam took of his helmet, letting his blonde mane fall downwards. He bowed and repeated himself, “I’m here to protect and serve your majesty.”
“Please stop calling me ‘your majesty’,” Celestia said. “It makes me feel uneasy.”
“As you wish, my princess,” Sam corrected himself, earning a roll of eyes from Celestia.
“I hope that we meet again, corporal,” Celestia said, smiling at Sam, who placed his helmet back onto his head.
“I’m looking forward to it,” He answered. With that Celestia started to walk towards the cheering crowd and the golden chariots where her frustrated looking sister waited. The guard that had opened the front doors closed them after the white alicorn passed him, the doors muffling the voices of the excited crowd.
There was deep silence between the guards, every one of them staring at Sam weirdly. He noticed it, frowned annoyedly and asked, “What?”
“I remember you speaking something about keeping your private life apart from your work,” Flash Sentry said with a teasing grin on his lips. Sam kept his cool but he seemed a bit troubled by Flash’s hinting.
He started to walk towards the throne room and said to Flash, “Princess was looking upset, so I made her feel better. I was just doing my job you brat.”
“Sure thing…” Flash dragged out, before starting to laugh, other guards joining him.
Sam felt his cheeks getting hotter when everypony was laughing at him. He groaned and started to trot back towards his post, mumbling curses at Flash Sentry.
“Do you think that I was too harsh on her?” Twilight Sparkle asked Spike, who stood in the doorway of her study. Twilight Sparkle was sitting in front of her desk, an empty parchment on it with a bottle of ink and a quil next to it. “Should I send a letter to her?”
“You’ve been asking that for the past four hours,” Spike said. “Are you alright Twilight?”
Twilight pouted.
“I am,” She answered. “I just feel like a terrible pony for making Celestia so upset.”
“Do you regret it?” Spike asked.
“Not really… Well maybe. I’m not so sure. I think that I just overreacted a bit,” Twilight pondered out loud. “I don’t want her to control me like she did, but she is still princess Celestia. She’s my mentor.”
She looked at Spike and asked, “Would you sent a letter to her?”
“I dunno,” Spike said with a shrug, and Twilight groaned. She looked frustratedly at the empty piece of paper in front of her. There was a moment of silence, before Spike snapped his fingers when he got an idea.
“Hey Twilight,” he said, earning the mare’s attention. “I’m your assistant, right?”
“My number one assistant,” Twilight corrected him.
“Yeah yeah… Anyway, do you think that our relationship is anywhere even near the relationship between you and Celestia?”
Twilight frowned in thought and after a second she answered, “I think so. Why?”
“Well we fight sometimes, don’t we?” Spike asked with a grin.
“We do,” Twilight answered.
Spike waited for her to see where he was going, but it didn’t happen, so he added, “We are still friends aren’t we?”
Twilight pouted again. She hadn’t even thought it like that.
“Oh my gosh,” she said and started to smile. “I think you’re right Spike!”
“Of course I’m right,” Spike said. “I know both of you, and I know that you two are closer than anypony. She isn’t mad at you.”
Twilight smiled widely at the purple dragon standing in the doorway. Spike was so very much more than he let everypony see. He was her pride. Everything seemed clearer now, thanks to Spike, there was still one question in Twilight’s mind.
“But should I write her about it?”
Spike groaned and slapped his face.
“I don’t know,” he muttered and started to walk away from her study. Twilight called after him, and he poke his head from the doorway, looking at Twilight with a waiting look.
Twilight smiled warmly at Spike and said, “You’re more important to me than anything.”
Spike gave her a confused, a bit embarrassed look and asked, “What does that have to do with anything?”
“I just wanted you to know,” Twilight chirped, still smiling at him.
Spike chuckled and said quietly, “Thanks.”
Then he left, leaving Twilight alone with her empty parchment and a lot lighter heart. She stared at the doorway for a moment, before turning towards the paper, that still mocked her by being empty. She tried to focus on writing for a moment, but nothing came out. She let out a frustrated grunt and rose up. If she didn’t feel like writing, she shouldn’t force herself anymore.
With an annoyed huff she walked to the living room and settling down on one of the sofas. She closed her eyes for a moment, almost slipping to sleep. It had been a rough week. Her slumber was interrupted by Spike calling her from the kitchen.
“Did you write to Celestia?” he asked loudly.
“No,” Twilight answered. “I just can’t think what to write.”
There was a small silence, before Spike carefully asked, “Maybe… You should write to Rainbow Dash then?”
“No,” was Twilight’s answer, her ears folding backwards. “She didn’t even stay to sort it out after Celestia left. I think that I don’t even want to see her for a while.”
“Come on Twilight,” Spike dragged out. “She’s your friend.”
“Hmph,” Twilight huffed. “Friends don’t act like she did.”
“She meant good…” Spike said.
“I don’t care,” Twilight said and crossed her hooves over her chest, lifting her nose up. She huffed again and added, “I’ll write to her when I feel like it.”
Spike appeared in the doorway and looked at her worriedly for a moment. Twilight didn’t return the stare so he sighed, “Alright.”
Then he went back to the kitchen.
Twilight huffed and fell onto her back. She stared up at the circular ceiling of the living room, where she saw the stained glass windows that surrounded the crystal chandelier. There she saw the pictures of her and her friends. The picture of Rainbow Dash made her frown.
Argh. Only thinking about her made Twilight’s blood boil. How could she have been so stupid to do something like that? Rainbow Dash had not only jeopardized Sombra’s chance to be reformed, but also Twilight’s chance to prove that she is ready to rule independently. And if that wasn’t enough, she had fled from the castle before they could sort it out.
Twilight grunted and wrapped her wings around her body. didn’t really care if Rainbow Dash was Sombra’s friend or not, but Rainbow Dash was her friend. She stared at the picture of the cyan pegasus in the window, thinking that she wouldn’t have ever done anything like that to Dash.
“Royalty my flank…” Twilight muttered and rolled to her side. She kept sulking for a moment longer, before a sound of somepony walking down the stairs was heard. She quickly sprung up and fixed her wings before turning towards the visitor.
It was Sombra. He glanced at Twilight and settled himself on the sofa opposite from her, calmly crossing his forehooves under his chest. He then turned to stare at Twilight with a waiting look on his face.
“What?” She asked more bluntly than she had intended.
“Nothing…” Sombra said and turned to look at the ceiling. “I was just wondering about some things…”
Twilight rolled her eyes. Why couldn’t he just say what he wanted?
“What were you wondering about?” Twilight sighed, making Sombra smile a little.
“I was just thinking... “ he started, holding a small, dramatic pause and turning to look at Twilight very seriously. He then asked, “When am I getting my magic back?”
Twilight got surprised for a moment. So much time had gone by without Sombra asking that question that she had almost forgotten that he still couldn’t use his magic. He had gotten so good at using his hooves to do everything that it seemed almost natural.
“Not anytime soon,” Twilight answered him, making him frown.
With that a sour look appeared on his face, Sombra asked, “Why not?”
“Because you are not done with your reformation,” Twilight said. She noticed the look that Sombra gave her, and she added, “That’s why.”
“How come?” Sombra asked confusedly. “I have learned alot from your friends, I can behave and I even got approval from the other princesses too… In a way.”
He held a small pause, snorted and asked annoyedly, “What else do you want from me, Twilight Sparkle?”
Twilight stared at him calmly, making him feel a bit unease. He returned the stare as best as he could.
“I want to trust you,” Twilight told Sombra, only fuelling his confusion.
“You can trust me,” Sombra said, a bang of guilt rushing over him. It went away quickly though.
“No I can’t,” Twilight answered with her ears drooping and her expression growing sad. “Not until I know the whole story.”
“What?” Sombra asked. “What do you mean with that?”
“Tell me about your family,” Twilight said quietly, making Sombra squint his eyes skeptically. He snorted again and looked away from her, towards one of the bookshelves. Of course. He should have seen that one coming.
“No,” he said bluntly.
“Okay…” Twilight sighed and gave a somewhat frustrated look towards him, before rising up from the sofa and heading towards her study. At the doorway she turned to look at him and said, “It’s up to you now. I can’t help you if you won’t tell me anything.”
“I do not need help with my past,” Sombra growled, not looking at Twilight. She sighed again and disappeared to her study, leaving Sombra alone.
When he was sure that Twilight nor Spike could see, he flopped down on the sofa, looking up at the stained glass windows. He stared at the pictures of the six friends with a strange look in his red eyes. The pictures stared back at him, awakening very uneasy feelings in Sombra. Mostly sad ones. He turned away from the stares of those mares, before sighing deeply and rubbing his face with his hooves, the burning returning his chest.
“Damn you Twilight Sparkle...” he muttered to himself. “Do not make me do this…”
He lifted his head so that he could see the doorway to Twilight’s study. He stared there for a short moment, his chest burning , pleading him to tell her everything. He lifted his right hoof to hold his chest, hissing a little because of the pain. Why did he feel such an sudden urge to talk to her, to bleed his heart out for her, to… to tell her what he was?
Why?
Would it make the pain of his past go away? No. That he was sure of.
Would it help him to carry out his plan? Maybe, but it wasn’t that.
What if he wanted to be reformed so badly that it hurt? No. The urge wasn’t so bad.
What if it would please Twilight Sparkle? Surely it would. It wouldn’t only please her, it would make her happy and then she would smile that adorable smile of hers...
Sombra’s eyes went wide and his heart jumped on it’s place. He froze to his place and the world seemed to come rumbling down on him. His ears drooped and his throat felt so dry that he had to gulp.
“No…” Sombra muttered and quickly rose up. He shook his head a little and asked from himself, a little louder than he intended, “What is this? What is wrong with me!?”
He then took a last glance at the door to the study, before he trotted up the stairs and down the hall to his own room. He slammed the door closed so that the voice echoed in the hallway.
* * *
Hours had passed since Twilight Sparkle had seen Sombra. He was still in his room, and hadn’t came down for dinner. It was already late evening when Twilight couldn’t help herself anymore. The feeling of something not being right was too powerful for her to stand, so she made her way to the door of Sombra’s room.
“Sombra,” she called as she knocked on the door. “Are you alright?”
No answer.
“Can I come in?” she then asked, pressing her ear against the door. “Say something if you want to be alone.”
Nothing.
“Alright,” Twilight said sternly. “I’m coming in.”
“I want to be alone,” she heard Sombra say from inside the room, his voice muffled by the door.
“I’m still coming in,” Twilight announced and heard how Sombra groaned. She didn’t wait any longer and opened the door with her magic, stepping inside Sombra’s dim, almost dark room. The lack of light was unsettling, so Twilight’s horn started to glow a clean white light.
“Sombra?” she asked worriedly, looking around herself. She didn’t get an answer, but soon spotted the dark-coated stallion. He was sitting on the floor, in front of the window.
“Go away Twilight Sparkle,” he sighed. “I said thatI want to be alone.”
“Quit that sulking,” Twilight said, stepping closer towards him. “What’s wrong?”
Sombra didn’t answer. He just kept staring outside. Twilight huffed and said annoyedly, “I am not going anywhere before you tell me what is wrong.”
With that she sat down on the edge of Sombra’s bed, crossing her front-hooves over her chest. They both sat there, in the silent, dark room for a good fifteen minutes, before Twilight started to lose her temper.
“I am starting to get mad here,” she announced. “You are acting like a damn teenager…”
“Crystal had a dark grey mane like I do.”
Twilight fell silent when Sombra spoke in a tired, deep voice. He sighed and leaned forward, his horn scraping against the glass of the window.
“She was a pretty mare,” Sombra continued slowly. “I remember her like she would be standing right in front of me. Her big, green eyes and the long tail. She was pretty, Twilight Sparkle.”
There was a silence. Twilight didn’t know what to say. Luckily she didn’t have to, because Sombra continued to speak in a quiet, sad voice, “You have a brother. You love him, like he loves you, like I loved Crystal. We were close. We faced every single obstacle together… Until I became the obstacle.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, only earning a annoyed growl from Sombra.
“What do you think, Twilight Sparkle?” he asked with venom dripping from his voice. He calmed down for a second, before he continued, “I am from a family which name I do not remember. A child of parents whose name I do not remember. Only thing I remember is my sister, and I will never forget her. She was why I became what I am today…”
Suddenly Twilight realized what was happening. Sombra was about to tell her… Everything. The shock was quickly over and enthusiasm kicked in. She leaned closer to the dark-coated stallion, almost smiling from excitement. She had waited for that moment so long and now…
Sombra turned to give her a sideways glance. A glance filled with so much pain and suffering that it caught onto Twilight too, her enthusiasm dying down, being replaced by compassion and sadness.
The feeling was so hard that she forced herself to utter, “You don’t have to tell anything if you don’t want to.”
“I do,” Sombra sighed, hanging his head down, earning a confused look from Twilight.
“Why? Nopony’s forcing you,” she said quietly, realizing that she was in a way doing just that. She didn’t add that though.
Sombra stared at her with a strange look in his red eyes. Like he would have been hesitating about something. He then muttered, “I just need to do it...”
Sombra turned to look out of the window again. He took a deep breath before starting his tragic story, “Like I told you, my family was a wealthy one. King Halite arrested us for “treason”. What happened after that, you do not know.”
He sighed and swept a hoof through his black mane.
“I was young, while Crystal was even younger. We were not taken in front of The Crystal Council, but our parents were. Meanwhile me and Crystal were afraid, in a dark cell under the city… It was a wet and cold place. Crystal kept crying and no matter how much I tried to tell her that “there was nothing to be afraid” of or that “everything was going to be alright”… She just kept crying.”
“That’s terrible,” Twilight said with her ears hanging downwards.
“It gets worse,” Sombra guaranteed. “After the Council had come to conclusion, we were retrieved from the dungeons. We were filthy and both of us cried… It was humiliating for me, scary too of course. I had to carry Crystal on my back after she refused to walk. Guards pushed us forward with the back of their spears, and soon we were in the throne room of the Castle. Our parents were there. I don’t remember what they said to us. Probably something about me taking care of Crystal or something like that... But I remember what King Halite, the little stallion on the throne with his bushy beard and that golden gem around his neck...”
Twilight was now sitting on the floor, closer to Sombra. She could see the clear disgust radiating from Sombra as he spoke of King Halite. Twilight listened with her face serious and her ears folded. The tension was unbearable.
“D-did he k-ki…” she muttered, not able to control her lips properly.
“No…” Sombra sighed. “He… He sentenced my parents and us to a life in prison.”
Twilight gulped. She then said with a shaking voice, “Y-y-you were children!”
“From that moment our childhood was over,” Sombra corrected her.
“But your family had done nothing wrong, right?” Twilight asked with a sad look in her purple eyes.
“Of course they had!” Sombra suddenly snapped at her, startling Twilight Sparkle. Sombra stared angrily at her and shouted, “Don’t be naive Twilight Sparkle! Do you think that when a rich family hears that their wealth is handed out to some commoners, they would not start to act against the pony who decided so?”
“B-but…” Twilight muttered, covering herself with her front-hooves. Sombra just grunted and backed away, returning to stare out of the window.
“I was young, not stupid. I knew what was going on,” Sombra spoke quietly. “But it changes nothing…”
There was a long silence between them. Only their breathing was heard in the room, and Sombra was staring outside with a blank look in his red eyes. Twilight was leaning against Sombra’s bed, her ears drooped and her wings limply hanging on her sides. Even looking at the stallion in front of her made her feel melancholy wash over her. Slave King or not, his story was tragic.
“Eight years we spent in that same cell, not seeing sunlight even once,” Sombra continued, pressing his forehead against the window again, his voice turning cold. “Crystal grew into a mare and I became a stallion while our parents got older, so very much weaker… We both knew what was going to happen. It was just a matter of time until they would leave us all alone, but still Crystal kept hoping that everything would sort out…”
Somba looked at Twilight with an icy stare and growled, “But hope didn’t hear her. Our parents died eventually. I don’t remember when exactly, but I remember how devastated Crystal was… She cried nonstop through the nights, stopped eating and she lost weight fast. I could see her bones through her skin and her eyes sank to their sockets. I feared that I would lost her… just like my parents.”
Twilight felt how a tear started to form in the corner of her eye. No matter how much she tried, she could stop it. Hearing something like that would make even Rainbow Dash cry.
“That was when I realized that I had to act,” Sombra said. “We had to escape before Crystal would suffer the same fate as my parents did. She had maybe given up, but not me. ”
“How did you do that? How did you escape?” Twilight asked as clearly as she could, but there was still a hint of sniffles in her voice.
Sombra frowned and told her, “There was this one guard. He felt sorry for us, and so he sometimes smuggled a couple of books into the cell. I think that he had some kind of feelings towards Crystal…”
Suddenly he exhaled deeply and rubbed his face with his hoof. The voice he spoke in was filled with something like regret as he continued, “One day he brought us a book that should not have been there. It was ‘The Magic Studies of Star Swirl the Bearded’ volume…”
“...Six,” Twilight finished his sentence, seeing where he was going.
Sombra nodded sadly and continued, “The moment I opened that book, I knew that it was our key to escape. I studied it hard, reading it day and night, only to fail everytime when I tried to do the simplest of spells that the book had. I started to get desperate as I saw how Crystal started to sleep more than she was awake. She was getting weaker by the day, so I knew that I had to act.”
“What did you do?” Twilight asked quietly´, almost afraid to hear what Sombra would tell her. It couldn’t be anything good.
“Nothing,” Sombra answered her, making Twilight look at him confusedly.
“What do you mean ‘nothing’?” she asked with a frown on her face. “Surely you did something!”
“Well of course I did something, but I did not trigger it…” Sombra explained slowly. “You see, I didn’t find the powers of dark magic by myself.”
“Then how did you find them?” Twilight asked inching closer to Sombra, whose expression was turning darker again.
“One day I realized that Crystal was not moving…” he told Twilight, whose ears drooped again. He sighed and continued, “She was alive, but just barely. I called for the guards, and when they came, I thought that they would help her and I told them that she was dying…”
There was a long silence that felt heavy on the two ponies sitting in the dark. Twilight didn’t want to ask what happened next, but she had to.
“What did they do?” she asked carefully.
Sombra snorted and answered coldly, “They said ‘what are we supposed to do about it’ and left her there, to die.”
Sombra’s voice grew as he continued to speak with an angry tone, “That’s when everything turned red. I felt how hatred towards those ponies filled me. I had learned every single spell in that book by heart, but only now I knew how to cast them. It was strange and terrifying… But I felt so powerful...”
He went silent, so Twilight asked with shaky voice and her eyes wide, “And then you escaped?”
“Yes,” Sombra said. “I don’t remember anything about it. After that I remember how to cast all the spells in the book, but they weren’t too powerful compared to what I can do now... Anyway, what I remember is waking up in the snow with Crystal in my hooves… Which were covered in blood…”
Twilight winced backwards from Sombra, who sighed sadly.
“I tried to protect her from the cold… But she was in such a fragile state. I knew that she would not last for long,” he spoke in a raspy voice, and Twilight lifted her hooves over her muzzle. The way he spoke made the tears reappear in her eyes.
“I cursed in the wind and swore that I would revenge to King Halite for what he had done. Crystal kept telling me that she did not want that, and that our parents would be very disappointed about me. She kept repeating those things until she closed her eyes…”
Twilight sniffled a little.
“She was alive… but she was getting colder. I protected her from the wind with my own body, but I knew what was going to happen… I promised myself that King Halite would get to suffer the same fate as my sister was about to, and if anypony was to get in my way, I would tear them in half. I screamed my promise to the wind, my heart filled with hatred, anger, fear and at the same time… sadness,” Sombra said, his voice shaking just a little bit.
Twilight swept a tear from her cheek.
“It was then when I heard it,” Sombra said. “Clattering of hooves and ghostly neighing.”
Twilight perked up. What did he just say?
“Then they came… Three tall, icy horses with their manes like snowstorm and their eyes like frozen starts. They were like angels… But angels do not chill you to the bone when you look at them.”
“Windigos!?” Twilight exclaimed, shocked by what Sombra was telling her.
He just shrugged and said, “I don’t know what they were, but they offered me a deal.”
“A deal?” Twilight asked. “And you accepted it!? A deal from Windigos and you accepted it? What were you thi…”
Sombra rose up from the floor quickly, towering over Twilight. His red eyes stared right at her and his fangs were exposed. Twilight let out a scared yelp when he hissed, “My sister was dying and I couldn’t do anything to help her! What would you do if Shining Armor would be freezing to death in your own hooves!?”
Twilight sniffled and covered herself with her hooves and wings, making Sombra’s chest burn. He exclaimed angrily and turned around, staring out of the window.
“They told me that they could save Crystal. I would have agreed to do whatever they wanted in return at that very moment, but then they gave me even more. They asked me if saving Crystal was enough? They told me that they could give me so much more than just that… The Crystal Empire…”
He held a small pause.
“...Power for revenge.”
Twilight Sparkle just kept sniffling, so Sombra continued, “All I had to do was to feed them. That was my part of the deal.”
“F-f-feed?” Twilight uttered from the floor.
“Yes,” Sombra answered. “They needed hatred and fear for them to consume. And I knew how to get it. Or where to get it from…”
“T-The Crystal Empire…” Twilight Sparkle said quietly, seeing all the pieces now. She had one question in her mind though.
“But why all that crystal? Where did you need it for?” she asked, making Sombra chuckle.
“Why not?” he asked. “I had always loved crystals. Besides, all those slaves looked so boring just sitting in the cells all day.”
“Oh…” Twilight sighed.
Sombra got back to his story, “I agreed to their terms, and they gave me everything I wanted. They saved Crystal from death, and gave me so much power that you cannot even imagine it. Suddenly I knew all that a pony can know about dark magic and even more! It was overwhelming! Of course there were some cons in it too, some physical -” he glanced up at his horn “- and some mental... But that meant nothing to me. All I wanted was revenge.”
“What happened to Crystal?” Twilight asked, seeing how Sombra’s posture slumped down a little bit.
“She said that I had become a monster,” he said. “She said that she would rather die in the snow than see me like this. In a way I cannot judge her. I do not feel too proud about myself nowadays, but at the time I was so blinded by the power I felt that I did not care about her anymore.”
For a moment he did not say anything. Then he turned towards Twilight Sparkle and his gaze was filled with sadness.
“What a fool I was. She left me all alone, disappearing into the tundra. I lost the last thing that I loved… That loved me, getting nothing good in return. Then I lost myself completely, losing control over everything. My own body and soul. I got what I had asked, and I had to give them what they wanted. A simple deal.” he told and sat down in front of Twilight Sparkle. He looked her in those purple eyes of hers and said, “And the rest you already know.”
Twilight Sparkle returned his gaze, her purple eyes glossy, glimmering in the white light of her horn. She then began to sniffle again, a couple of tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Why are you crying, Twilight Sparkle?” Sombra asked with a tired voice. “I did not scare you now did I?”
“No,” Twilight sniffled. “I am just feeling so bad for you!”
“What?” Sombra asked, almost amused, yet tired. “Why would you feel bad for me, the Slave King? I don't need your pity Twilight Sparkle, nor do I want it.”
Then he was closed into a tight hug, surprising him completely. He lifted his eyes back up at the purple mare that was clinging onto him, her hooves wrapped around his lower body, the side of her face resting against his chest, the light coming from her horn almost making him blind.
“Turn that off,” Sombra commanded, covering his eyes with his hoof.
Twilight did so and said a bit sheepishly, “Sorry…”
After the light was off, Sombra scolded her, “Twilight Sparkle, you are making a fool out of yourself.”
He tried to push her off, but she did not let him do that.
“I am sorry, “ Twilight said. “For everything that has happened to you.”
Sombra grunted and rolled his eyes. He then said quite annoyedly, “Why would you be sorry for something that you have not done!? Why does everypony always keep saying that they are sorry for something that they have not caus...”
He was cut off by Twilight Sparkle’s horn coming to life, glowing a purple light. He didn’t know what she was doing, but soon he felt like his head would have become lighter, his thoughts much clearer. He winced when he heard a loud clang from next to him as something metallic dropped to the floor. It took a moment before he understood what it was. He let out a small, unbelieving gasp and lifted his hoof to touch his horn.
It wasn’t there. The cuff was gone.
“You told me everything,” Twilight said quietly. “Like I asked.”
Her horn started to glow a white light again, only that time it was dimmer. The light revealed her face to Sombra, who saw a wide, warm smile on her face and pure happiness in her purple, wet eyes. The sight made Sombra remember his earlier feelings from that day, but that time they did not feel strange or wrong in any way. There was also an odd sensation in his chest again, but not pain. No. It was far from it. He cherished it.
“I trust you,” Twilight said and rested her head against his chest again. She then repeated “I trust you, Sombra”
Sombra opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, unable to say anything. What could he even say in a situation like that? After a moment he realized that there was only one thing to say.
“Thank you, Twilight Sparkle” he said quietly, lifting his hooves behind Twilight’s neck, pulling her even closer to himself. She winced a little, but let him press herself against his chest. Sombra then rested his chin carefully atop of her head, returning a hug for the first time in more than a millenium.
It was night. Everything in Twilight Sparkle’s castle was quiet, and only Flash Sentry and Sam Hill sometimes passed through the hall that lead towards princess’ bed chambers. Everything seemed normal and calm to them, but none of them knew what wicked things were about to happen that night.
Sombra was awake in his dark room, laying still on his bed. His horn glowed red, illuminating the room a little. Over him he levitated a book that was telling the story of some brave knight, but he couldn’t understand anything about it. He was too distracted. Partly it was because he enjoyed the feeling of using magic again, but that was just a little thing compared to the one that kept him awake.
Soon would be the time to choose which path he would take.
He threw the book on the table. He knew that Twilight Sparkle would have scolded him for treating a book like that, but he didn’t care. He rubbed his eyes with his fetlocks and kept thinking about the situation he was in. His demons would be there soon, there was no doubt about it. Just thinking about it made a shiver crawl up his spine. Why did they still bother him so? Then he remembered.
The Alicorn Amulet, The King’s Gem.
Sombra couldn’t help himself. That little necklace with a red crystal embedded into it. How could such a small gem cause so much restlessness of mind to a mighty warrior like Sombra? It was because he knew that at the very moment he would lay his eyes upon it, he would knew what his future would look like.
First he would need to find it.
He sighed and used magic to levitate a new book to him, enjoying the feeling shortly. After a while he gave up reading. Sleep didn’t come to him, so why did he even try. He got up from the bed and pressed his ear against the door. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but he wanted out of his room. There was no sounds heard from behind the door, so he stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind him. Almost Immediately he heard quiet talking behind him.
“I finally got the new sword by the way,” Sam said to Flash as they turned to the hallway.
“Yeah,” Flash said in a bit irritated way. “You think that I didn’t notice it in your scabbard?”
“I was just trying to get an conversation going on,” Sam huffed. “Why do you have to be so nettlesome all the time?”
Flash frowned. He shrugged and said, “There’s just so many things going on and…”
Flash stopped suddenly, and quickly looked behind himself. Confused, Sam too glanced behind his back. There was nothing there, just a dimly lit, almost dark hallway.
“What’s wrong?” Sam asked from the pegasus.
“I…” Flash muttered and looked around the hallway. “I felt like somepony was watching me.”
“It’s just the dark that’s getting to your nerves son,” Sam said calmly and continued to walk forward. “That and the lack of rest.”
Flash kept looking around himself for a moment longer, before he trotted after the older guard, thinking that Sam was right.
Well, he wasn’t.
As the two guards went around the corner, the shadows in the hallway started to shift. They stretched along the walls silently, gathering to a one point and then ran down to the floor. From the mass of shadows emerged a shape resembling a large stallion with green eyes, and blue fire flowing from them. Sombra turned back to his physical from the ghostly figure. He panted a little after his small trick. He was a bit rusty after living without his magic for so long. The purple fires in his eyes faded away and they turned back to their normal colors.
He almost got caught. That was too close for comfort in Sombra’s opinion, so he quickly made his way to the living room before the guards would come back again. In the living room he stared at the door to Twilight Sparkle’s study for a long time. He thought if he should proceed with his plan, or to wait a bit longer. Well what the hell, now was as good a time as any.
Sombra walked closer to the door, knowing that the magic barrier was still there. He thought for a moment how to deal with the problem. Should he go with force, or without causing any unwanted attention. He decided to go with the second opinion, that way he wouldn’t need to use dark magic and risk Twilight Sparkle sensing it.
He cracked his neck and began to work. His horn started to glow red and he casted a simple spell that would make every spell that Twilight Sparkle had created visible. Easy. Now in front of him he saw a purple, glass like wall that he knew was stronger than any physical material in the world. Yet, only a small grin appeared to his lips. He had been living for far too long to be stopped by a simple spell like that. He gently touched the surface of the barrier with the tip of his curvy horn, which still glowed red light. The barrier was cut in half like a invisible knife would have cut through it.
“Foalsplay,” Sombra chuckled and stepped into her study.
He illuminated the dark room with his magic, taking in his surroundings. The many books that were moved there from the living room were stacked to high piles around the room. He knew that he wouldn’t find anything useful from them, so he began to move them with his magic, revealing many shelves and tables from behind them. None of them looked like a place to keep important files or notes that he needed, no. What he needed was a safe or a locked chest.
Sombra kept going through the books for a while, but did not find anything that would have been interesting. The guards could come there any minute and frustration started to build up, so he began to move the books more aggressively. After moving one pile he almost jumped out of his skin as Celestia herself was staring at him. He realized that he had discovered just a painting, but his heart kept pounding like crazy for a while after. He stared at the white alicorn for a moment, before chuckling quietly and turning away.
Then he stopped.
“Twilight Sparkle,” he said quietly. “You wouldn’t be that stupid…”
He turned to face the painting again, and lifted the heavy painting with his magic. He let out a disappointed sigh when he saw a safe embedded to the wall where the painting had been.
“Tsk tsk tsk…” Sombra muttered as he touched the lock with his horn. There was a small click heard and the door of the safe opened with a creak.
“Here we go,” Sombra said as he saw many notes arranged into folders from A to Z. He picked the folder with big A on it and spent a small moment going through it.
“What the…” Sombra asked confusedly. There was no notes about Alicorn Amulet in the folder A. There were many kind of stupid notes such as ‘A Bird in the Hoof’ and ‘Applebuck Season’ and many more. They made no sense! Sombra read a couple of them, and they proved to be notes about some events that Twilight Sparkle and her friends had had together.
Sombra groaned a bit louder than he had meant to, but luckily Flash and Sam weren’t close. Sombra realized that he had to go through the folders until he would find what he was looking for.
Cursing silently he began to do so. He found a mention about that Trixie in a folder B in a note called ‘Boast Busters’. How in the world had Twilight come up with those names? Not spending too much time on that he continued. It took a while but in the folder M he found a note called ‘Magic Duel’.
“At last…” he said when he saw the words ‘Alicorn Amulet’ in the text. He kept reading, and found out that the story was rather interesting. He also felt almost bad for that mare, Trixie. He knew the powers of The Alicorn Amulet, and how they would affect a common pony like her. He soon found a part that told about the current whereabouts of The King’s Gem.
“...I gave the Alicorn Amulet to Zecora, so that she could hide it to a place where nopony would even imagine to look for it. It is now hidden in -”
The rest of the sentence was covered with a black ink. Sombra just rolled his eyes. Did she really think that it would stop somepony with even a slightest knowledge of magic? He cast a spell that made the ink disappear.
“- The Castle of Two Sisters, under a foot of a statue resembling Celestia and Luna. It is cast into the rock and sealed into a magicproof chest so nopony can sense it from outside.”
Sombra nodded to himself, before folding the paper in half and making it disappear into a small cloud of red smoke. Then he quickly cleaned up in the room and stepped outside. He casted a spell that made the magical barrier around the study fix itself like a big needle would have sewn it back together. He was done there.
He avoided the guards again and made it to his own room, where he laid down to his bed and made the note to appear again. He read it over and over again, until his eyes hurt. In a way he was relieved now that he had what he needed, but at the same time it made him feel very very uncomfortable.
Sombra turned to his side. His feelings were fighting with each other, making the former king confused and frustrated. The other side of him commanded him to seek even more power now that he could actually get it, and the other side of him pegged for him to leave his past life behind, so he could continue his studies with Twilight Sparkle.
Twilight Sparkle… Even thinking about her made Sombra uncomfortable. Not that he disliked her, no. It was quite the opposite. He liked her, that was the problem. Sombra could already see the sorrowful, heartbroken look on her face when she would discover his betrayal.
Sombra snorted annoyedly and turned his side again. Why should he care? Why did he care? Sombra did have an idea why, but he didn’t want to admit it.
“Why did she have to make everything so complicated?” Sombra cursed and rose into a half-sitting position, leaning against the back of the bed. He took a deep breath, and then exhaled, only to notice that something was wrong.
Sombra could see his breath.He blinked confusedly, before jumping down from his bed and looking around himself. Had his room been that dark when he had left?
There was a short, menacing silence, before the shadows started to move, three pairs of blue eyes appearing into the mass of shadows, staring at him coldly.
“What do you have there, my master?” the calm voice asked from Sombra, who held the note in his magical grasp. “Oh! And I see that you have gotten your magic back! Splendid!”
“I have,” Sombra answered bluntly. He then glanced at the noted. He hesitated a bit before saying, “And I have found The King’s Gem.”
The voices seemed to get excited about the news, even the sad one exclaimed, “Oh how wonderful!”
“That means that we need to act!” the angry one exclaimed. “Right now!”
“You are right, my brethren,” the calm voice agreed with almost delighted tone. “Are you ready to go, my master? Your kingdom awaits!”
Sombra was silent, just staring at the shadows that kept moving on the walls that started to freeze slowly. Was he ready to go? He didn’t know. All that he needed to say was ‘yes’, and he would get all the power he wanted, and he could take revenge on those two alicorns for taking his kingdom away from him. ‘Yes’ was all that he needed, but it didn’t seem to come.
“Well?” the angry one asked quite frustratedly. “Let us go already!”
Sombra blinked and turned away towards the only window in his room. It was frozen and full of small flower-like ice formations.
“I do believe that I need more time,” he finally answered, and a deep silence fell to the room.
After a moment there was a nervous chuckle heard and the sad one asked, “Master is trying to fool us isn’t he?”
“He damn well better be…” the angry one almost growled, one of the shadows and two blue eyes moving closer to Sombra across the walls.
“Calm down!” the calm one commanded powerfully, and the other two went quiet. It then continued by asking from Sombra, “Master, why would you want to wait any longer?”
Sombra hesitated for a while, but then he quietly answered, “I am not sure if this is the right thing to do anymore. It does not feel like a reasonable thing to do. I am… not sure if I want it any longer.”
There was a shocked silence between the voices, and the shadows started to move very restlessly along the walls and the temperature was dropping drastically in the room. Sombra could tell that his answer hadn’t pleased the voices.
“Master is abandoning us!” the sad one wailed.
“This is an outrage!” the angry one continued to shout. “We will not tolerate this!”
“Then do not!” Sombra snapped at them, and they fell silent.
“We are done playing games, master,” the calm one suddenly said, very sternly.
“I do not care!” Sombra answered angrily. “I am tired of all this! I just want to get my head clear enough to think properly! I do not need you now!”
After a small moment of eerie silence the calm voice spoke with a cold, echoing voice, “You need us, Sombra.”
The voice calling him by name made Sombra realize that something bad was going to happen. The same voice continued with that same threatening tone, “More importantly… We need you.”
“We need hatred!” they all suddenly said in unison, making Sombra wince and turn back to face the shadows. They moved slowly towards him with their blue eyes fixated to him.
“We need sorrow!” they continued.
Sombra gasped as it became hard to breath for him. The coldness was tightening around his throat and it burned his lungs. He saw how the shadows were towering over him as he collapsed down to his knees, an odd feeling washing over him. It wasn’t something that he had felt in so long time.
It was fear.
The shadows over him made him tremble, and not only from the coldness.
“We need fear…” the shadows said slowly, sounding like they would have enjoyed it. Sombra was close to passing out from the lack of oxygen, and his vision started to fade. A sudden sharp pain in his lungs startled him so that he regained his consciousness.
His very soul started to freeze, making him feel numb and lifeless. His eyes started to burn, tears of pain starting to roll down his cheeks, freezing almost instantly.
“We are done playing games,” the calm voice repeated with it’s voice cold and emotionless. Sombra gasped when the frozen tears on his cheeks burst into blue flames without his control.
Then the realization hit him.
He didn’t want it. The Alicorn Amulet wouldn’t have changed his mind anymore, he knew that he didn’t want it. Not the power… Not the revenge… definitely not the coldness… He didn’t want to lose anypony anymore.... He wanted to be with Twilight Sparkle.
He struggled as much as he could, but he was powerless. He groaned painfully.
“N-No!” he groaned. “I d-do not... want it!”
The cold grip around his lungs tightened, the flames bursting from his eyes growing. He knew that he had to stay strong, but he felt very tired.
“No! I-I do... not… allow… it!” he said with all the strenght that he had left.
The blue eyes stared at him coldly, but he felt how the pain in his lungs eased up. There was a long silence, his vision getting blurry again, before fading into black. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen. Maybe he was dying? Actually it didn’t seem as bad idea anymore.
Yet, he wouldn’t give up.
Suddenly the oxygen rushed back to his lungs, the terrible feeling of numbness letting go of him. He flopped his head against the floor and gasped for air, the coldness of the room still burning his lungs, but at least he could breath now. His coat was covered in frost, and his mane and tail were frozen stiff.
“Very well” the calm voice surprisingly said.
“We will get a new puppet then!” the angry one spat at Sombra.
“She won’t be as good as you, master,” the sad one sighed. “Not even close.”
“She?” Sombra coughed painfully, his eyes wide. “What do you mean!?”
“You know what we mean...” the calm one said slowly. “It will take awhile to get used to control a mare but I think that she’ll be just fine. She’s a fighter.”
“No!” Sombra exclaimed with a raspy voice.
“You leave us no choice,” the calm one continued. “There is no fear, sadness or anger enough in these lands to feed us anymore. Not without somepony causing them. You were a very gifted one at doing just that.”
Sombra didn’t say anything, so the calm one continued, “Now we know that we gave you enough power to resist us if you want to. I think that giving you so much power wasn’t the brightest of our ideas, but what can you do…”
The angry one chuckled darkly and continued, “But we know that she doesn’t have powers like you. She is naive and young… Easy to be tamed.”
“You leave her out of this!” Sombra growled.
“It is sad to break a pretty thing like her…” the sad one sighed. “So sad…”
“You will not touch her!” Sombra growled. “She has nothing to do with this!”
“Don’t do it!” he commanded, the royal note away from his voice. “Not her!”
“Only you can prevent it, Sombra,” the calm one said with a softer tone. “We need a pony to guide, no matter who it will be.”
Sombra cursed out loud and with shaky hooves he got up from the floor. He bared his teeth at the shadows in front of him, his red eyes staring right at them with a venomous fire in them, stomping his front-legs to the floor and cursing some more. He clenched his eyes shut and hoped that Twilight Sparkle could forgive him in the next life.
“I’ll do as you wish,” he growled with a defeated tone.
“Then what are we waiting for? Take us to The King’s Gem.”
* * *
Twilight Sparkle got startled awake by something. She wasn’t sure what it was, but she rose up to a sitting position and yawned.
“Brr…” she muttered and her teeth clattered a little. “How is it so cold all of a sudden?”
Then she heard the sound that had awoken her. Somepony knocked on the door. She quickly pulled her blanket over her shivering body and called, “Come in!”
The door opened and Flash Sentry stepped inside, bowed a little and announced, “Pardon me for waking you up my princess, but you have a visitor.”
“A visitor?” Twilight asked confusedly. “In the middle of the night!?”
“Yes,” Flash answered with a nod. “It is miss Fluttershy.”
“Fluttershy!?” Twilight asked and immediately jumped down from her bed. She wrapped her blanket around herself because of the cold and asked, “Why in the world would Fluttershy come here when it’s still dark outside?”
“It must be something really important,” Flash said. “She seemed distressed.”
“Oh my…” Twilight muttered. It was was not only weird for Fluttershy to get out of her cabin during the night, it was... unnatural. Flash was probably right. It had to be really important.
“She is waiting in the living room,” Flash said.
Flash excused himself and went back to his patrol and Twilight quickly trotted to the living room, where Fluttershy was waiting for her.
“Hi Fluttershy,” Twilight said and yawed. Fluttershy was facing the other way and got surprised by Twilight. She winced backwards when she turned to look at Twilight, who was wrapped in her own blanket and with a bad case of bedmane.
“O-Oh hi Twilight,” Fluttershy said quietly. “I hope that I didn’t wake you up…”
“It’s the middle of the night Fluttershy,” Twilight answered with a deadpan stare.
Fluttershy hid behind her mane and muttered quietly, “Oh uh… I’m really really sorry… I just thought… Oh never mind…”
“It’s okay Fluttershy,” Twilight calmed her down. “I know that whatever made you come here at night has to be important. Now what’s wrong?”
Fluttershy tensed up. She sat down and started to rub her front-hooves together nervously. The look in her cyan eyes was so disturbingly worried that Twilight too sat down in front of her.
“What’s wrong?” she asked from Fluttershy.
Fluttershy gulped and looked at the floor as she whispered, “There are strange things happening in the Everfree forest.”
“That wasn’t anything new,” Twilight answered to her.
“This is d-different,” Fluttershy said.
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, lowering her voice again.
“My animals!” Fluttershy squeaked. “They are acting very strangely!”
Twilight frowned. She had learned that when Fluttershy was speaking about animals, she was almost certainly right. If something had made her so upset about her animals, it could be something really bad.
“Why haven’t you told me earlier?” Twilight asked. “Is it serious?”
“I didn’t want to make everypony nervous… And the princesses were visiting here and I just thought that it… Would maybe stress you even more and… And… Please don’t be mad at me.”
Twilight smiled and assured, “I’m not mad at you. I just want to know if the thing you are talking about something bad. So what exactly is going on with the animals?”
Fluttershy seemed a little bit more confident when she continued, “Well… Some of my animals went missing a couple of weeks ago, only to come back after couple of days. When they did, they were acting really strangely.”
“How exactly?” Twilight asked.
“T-They were scared. Terrified! They were shivering and they got startled when I tried to touch them! It was scary Twilight… Some of them were even angry!” Fluttershy spoke with her ears folded down.
“Was that the only time something like that happened?” Twilight asked.
“No. And that’s the worst part of it,” Fluttershy sighed. “I never got a real answer from the ones that went missing… And then there were more missing all of the sudden. They all came back though… But they were all… So s-scared.”
Fluttershy’s eyes were getting damp now, and Twilight patted her on the back with her wings, saying, “That doesn’t sound too good…”
There was a small moment of silence, before Twilight asked, “Why did you come here right now? You could have waited until morning.”
Fluttershy tensed up again, and she looked right into Twilight’s eyes.
“I saw something today,” Fluttershy whispered.
“What did you see?” Twilight asked, leaning closer towards Fluttershy. “Does it have something to do with your animals?”
Fluttershy was very nervous when she spoke, “I woke up when my chickens were making a lot of noise, so I looked out of my window…”
She held a small pause and she seemed to shiver a little when she said, “And I saw something moving through my yard…”
“Something?” Twilight asked worriedly.
“Yes. It looked like a pony, but it moved really strangely… Like a… A shadow maybe,” Fluttershy said.
“A shadow?” Twilight asked confusedly. “Are you sure that you weren’t just imagining things? It was dark outside and...”
“I know what I saw!” Fluttershy exclaimed, what was more like just saying something with a normal voice.
“Okay okay!” Twilight quickly said. “That just sounds a bit... unbelievable if you may.”
“I know that… But it is real!” Fluttershy whined. “And that’s not even all of it.”
“There’s more?” Twilight asked.
“Yes.” Fluttershy answered. “After that… thing was gone I quickly ran to get my chickens inside… And the whole ground was frozen.”
“Frozen? That sounds weird,” Twilight wondered out loud.
“Yes. I tried to sleep after that, but I was too scared and I thought that you should know about that,” Fluttershy spoke and hid behind her mane again.
“You did the right thing, Fluttershy,” Twilight said and laid her hoof on the pegasus’s shoulder. “I promise to take a look at it soon.”
“Thank you,” Fluttershy said with a small smile.
They sat there for a short moment, before Fluttershy slowly got up.
“I think that I should get going now…” she said with slightly shaky voice.
“It’s pretty dark outside,” Twilight noted.
“I-I’ll be fine… Probably…” Fluttershy said, clearly very troubled.
Twilight rolled her eyes, before smiling and saying, “You can sleep here for the night.”
Fluttershy sighed in a very relieved way, before saying, “Oh thank you Twilight. I don’t like to be outside at night…”
She smiled a bit sheepishly, a little blush appearing onto her cheeks when she said, “I’m afraid of the dark.”
“I know,” Twilight chuckled. “I would never force you to walk all the way to your home during the dark.”
Fluttershy nodded thankfully.
“Come on, let’s get a blanket for you. You can sleep with me now that Sombra is taking the guest room,” Twilight said and they started to walk towards her bedroom.
* * *
Twilight still couldn’t sleep. Fluttershy was sleeping with no problem, but something about her story kept Twilight awoke. Shadow like figure that freezed the ground where it moved? She couldn’t help to connect those details to somepony she knew. She refused to do so however. She knew that Sombra wouldn’t do anything like that anymore. Besides, those animals that Fluttershy was speaking about, they had gone missing while Sombra was still unable to use his magic. It couldn’t be him, no way. He was a good pony, no matter what everypony were talking about him. He didn’t want to be the thing that he used to be, and Twilight knew it. Yet she couldn’t sleep. The eerie feeling in her kept getting even bigger and she just had to make sure that she was right.
She carefully stepped out of her bed, so that Fluttershy wouldn’t wake up. She then carefully tiptoed to the door and opened it with her magic. She closed the door behind her and walked down the hallway, towards Sombra’s room. She tried to listen for any sounds, but there were none. She braced herself, hoping that she would see a sleeping stallion in the room, and opened the door.
“Sombra?” she asked. “Are you here?”
No answer.
Twilight used her magic to light up the room, only to gasp when she didn’t see anypony in the room.
“No no no…” she muttered and quickly trotted to the bathroom door. Without knocking she opened it, only to see a dark bathroom with nopony in it. She stared at the darkness for a moment with a shocked look on her face. No. It couldn’t be possible.
After recovering from the shock she ran to her study, and immediately started to go through her many books and shelves. Everything seemed to be in their places, and Twilight felt a wave of relief wash over her. Maybe Sombra had just slipped out to see the town? Maybe he didn’t have anything to do with that shadowy figure that Fluttershy had seen? She did one last check, and everything indeed seemed to be in their right places. Nothing was missing.
She sighed and was just about to go and try to find Sombra from the town, when she noticed something. The picture of princess Celestia was peeking at her from behind one of the book piles.
“Oh no…” she said when she remembered what was behind that picture. She almost ripped the picture from the wall and opened the wall safe quickly. In there everything seemed to be in order too, but Twilight started to go through the folders with her magic. She remembered all her notes by heart, and it didn’t take long before she noticed which one was missing
“Magic Duel?” she asked from herself confusedly. “Why would he want that one?”
She sat down and wondered out loud, “Magic Duel… I fought with Trixie and she beat me with the Alicorn Amulet. Then Zecora taught me magic and Fluttershy sneaked out of the town to…”
Her eyes went wide.
“The Alicorn Amulet!” she wailed and lifted her hooves to her cheeks. She then flopped down to the floor and stared blankly in front of her. If Sombra would get his hooves on that amulet, nopony could even imagine what kind of powers would he get. He could become so powerful that not even the elements of harmony could stop him.
“I should have known…” Twilight sniffled and a couple of tears started to roll down her cheeks. How could she have been so stupid? Only one day after Sombra got his magic back, and he was already betraying her. She wiped the tears away and covered her eyes with her hooves. She had worked so hard to make him a good pony and that was how he thanked her? Oh, he would pay for that. She would never let him use her like that without consequences. More importantly, she would have to stop him from getting what he wanted, otherwise the whole Equestria would be in danger.
Twilight slowly rose up, her ears still folded, but her wings flared open and her purple eyes burning with rage. She sniffled as she thought how she had believed that Sombra had actually been her friend and… Maybe even more? That was the worst thing.
She exhaled and wiped the small tears away from her cheeks again, before turning to look out of the window, towards the edge of the Everfree Forest.
After sneaking through town and a journey through the Everfree Forest, Sombra finally stood in front of an old castle that had it’s better days. Some of the towers had collapsed, and most part of the roof were missing and the stone walls were covered in moss and vines. A sight that surely would make most visitors turn around, but not Sombra. He just thought that rain would give the scene the finishing touch that it needed to be right out of a horror novel.
He slowly walked and opened the gigantic front doors, stepping into a big hall with stairs on both sides of the room, leading probably towards a throne room. On the walls there hung banners which colors had been faded by the sun and moisture. The air smelled of mold.
Sombra didn’t really care about all that, because in front of him stood a several meters high statue which details were worn off due the exposure to the weather for many years. Still he could see the unmistakable figures of two alicorn sisters.
“Here we are,” he said and closed the front doors.
“Good,” the calm voice said. “Now get to it.”
Sombra felt cold shivers in his back as the voice spoke, and he could see the shadows moving in the corner of his eyes. He hesitated for a moment, before he felt a cold wave wash over him. They were getting impatient with Sombra, and he couldn’t blame them. The journey there had gone slowly, mainly because Sombra wasn’t too enthusiastic about anything anymore.
With a deep sigh he walked closer to the statue, his horn starting to glow. The whole statue was enveloped into a red aura, and soon big cracks started to appear on it’s surface. Loud cracking was heard as the cracks got bigger and bigger, until the whole statue collapsed on the floor with a loud crash, lifting up a big cloud of dust. Sombra coughed a bit and walked over to the pile of broken marble, using his magic to shove the pieces further away on the floor. Like he had predicted, he saw a chest in a small hole on the floor where the statue had been.
“Here it is,” he said and lifted the box from the hole, turning it around in his magical grasp, examining it.
“Don’t waste anymore of our time and open it!” the angry voice shouted.
“What if it is trapped somehow?” Sombra asked. He didn’t really care though.
“Well there’s only one way to find out, isn’t there?” the angry voice retorted.
Sombra snorted and laid the chest to the floor. It had a message carved onto it’s lid. It simply said ‘Do not open’. Sombra chuckled darkly, and was about to open the chest, but he couldn’t. Not because there would have been some kind of an spell preventing it, but because he didn’t want to. He knew that under that lid there was something that he didn’t want to see. For his own sake.
“Open it!” all the voices commanded, making Sombra wince. He then bit his lower lip and grabbed the lid with his magical grasp. He hesitated for a moment, before quickly jerking it open.
The content of the chest reeked of something sinister, and Sombra jumped backwards. He stared inside the chest with his eyes fixated to a small necklace shaped like an alicorn with a red gem in the middle of it. He scrunched up his snout as he felt the negative feelings hit him like a train, reminding him of his reign of terror. He could feel the hate radiating from the gem, calling his name.
For a moment Sombra felt the need to place it around his neck once again, but immediately his chest started to burn like never before. He sat down and held his chest with his hooves, hissing from between his teeth.
The pain reminded him of Twilight Sparkle’s friends... His friends. Applejack, the one with a great flank. Pinkie Pie, who could make him laugh. Missis Rarity, who was a real lady. Fluttershy, she didn’t judge Sombra. Rainbow Dash… Well she… She stood loyally besides Twilight Sparkle, even Twilight herself didn’t seem to notice it. He even thought of Spike.
A new tug of pain in his chest made him though about Twilight Sparkle. She had all the features that her friends had. She didn’t judge him, she was a real lady, she could make him laugh, she stood by him and she had a great flank. She was an extraordinary mare.
“Take it out,” the voices commanded in unison, breaking Sombra away from his thoughts. For a moment he was about to resist the voices, but then he remembered why he was there in the first place.
With the pain still in his chest and with shaky hooves he lifted the necklace out of the chest. His ears were folded and the smell of that wicked gem filled his nose. The red gem in it seemed like it would have been staring at him, it’s gaze full of hunger.
“The King’s Gem,” Sombra said slowly, like tasting the word in his mouth. It tasted like ash. It awoke many very very bad memories in him.
“We know what it is!” the angry one shouted. “Just put it on already!”
Sombra rose up slowly, his eyes still fixated to the red gem. To his disbelief he saw his sister staring back at him from it’s reflective surface. Crystal stared at him with the most pleading look in her green eyes that a pony can imagine. Sombra shook his head a little and looked again. This time it was him staring back from the gem.
“What are you waiting for Sombra?” the calm voice asked.
“I hope that he hasn’t gotten any second thoughts,” the sad one sighed. “It would be a pity to get all the way here, just to go back again.”
“I have not gotten any second thoughts,” Sombra said annoyedly. “Just let me have a moment at least.”
“Denied,” the angry one laughed.
With a depressed sigh Sombra hung his head downwards. He knew that there would be no return after he would slip that necklace around his neck, and he wanted to say something while he could.
“I am sorry Crystal…” he muttered and closed his eyes. He then lifted the necklace over his head, ready to slip it to it’s place. “I am sorry Twi…"
“Stop!” a familiar voice suddenly shouted from the doors, making Sombra wince and turn towards the voice, only to see a white flash in his eyes.
* * *
Twilight Sparkle galloped towards the castle of the two sisters, still feeling a bit dizzy. She had teleported most of the way, but she had her limits and trying to push them only earned her a major headache. Of course she could have used her magic to take the pain away, but teleporting and healing magic takes a lot of energy, so the headache would still be there and she would only waste energy. She couldn’t do that. She needed it to fight Sombra, and at the time her headache was the least of her worries. She was completely focused in stopping Sombra at all cost.
She ran for a moment longer, before feeling that her head was clear enough to fly. With a couple of strong flaps she was airborne. She dodged a couple of branches and quickly rose above the foliage and started to gain altitude. She could see the castle in the horizon, bathing in the moonlight. Nothing suggested that Sombra had found the amulet yet. Or of course he could have found it, but knowing him Twilight could be certain that he would make a dramatic entrance like thunderstorms or snow storms… Or snow storms with thunder. Something like that.
Twilight grunted and speeded up. No matter what kind of storm it would be, there wasn’t any. A good sign, a sign that she still could stop him. As she got closer towards the castle, her mind got even more troubled. What if she couldn’t stop him? He got the Alicorn Amulet after all, and she couldn’t handle even Trixie when she was wearing it.
Even more troubling was the feeling that she felt. What if she couldn’t defeat him, even if it would be possible? What if she could get there before Sombra would get to use the Alicorn Amulet? Then she could have a chance against him, but he would probably not surrender. Would she have to… Kill him? In a way she and her friends had done it once before, but it had been different. Now she would need to stare him in the eyes and actually deliver the final blow…
Twilight shook that terrible thought away and hoped that she wouldn’t need to go that far.
It didn’t take long for her to finally arrive at her destination, where she landed on the steps of the castle. She galloped to the front doors and was about to swing it open, but suddenly it became almost impossible for her to do. It felt like she wouldn’t want to face what was behind those doors.
She took a deep breath and pushed the door carefully, immediately feeling a wave of coldness escaping from the cap between the doors. She shivered, and not only from the cold. Now she was sure that Sombra was there. She gulped and continued to push the door even more. She carefully stepped inside with her whole body tensed, careful not to make a sound. Moonlight peered through the broken roof, and Twilight gasped.
She saw Sombra. He was standing in the middle of a pile of dust and pieces of marble which had been a statue last time she had been there. In front of him was a empty chest, and Twilight knew what it was. Sombra’s head was hung downwards, and to Twilight’s horror, he held the Alicorn Amulet over his head, in his red magical grasp, ready to slip it around his neck.
Twilight couldn’t let that happen.
“Stop!”she shouted and readied her horn. Without giving Sombra a chance to do anything, she fired a bolt of purple lighting at him. She managed to see the surprised look on Sombra’s face, before the magic projectile exploded in front of him. Sombra flew backwards, landing on his side with a loud thud. The Alicorn Amulet flew down on the floor, roughly in between them. Twilight didn’t waste any time and she charged towards the gem.
“No!” Sombra shouted and got up surprisingly quickly, considering the blow he had just gotten. His eyes started to glow in green color and blue fires rose from their corners. He then stomped his other front-hoof to the floor.
Twilight’s eyes went wide as black crystals started to spurt from the floor in front of Sombra, reaching towards the Alicorn Amulet. She lunged towards the gem, but the crystals were faster. Her dive was cut short by a wall of black crystals rising from the ground in front of her. She hit it, face first.
“Oww…” Twilight groaned and rubbed her snout, before looking towards the Alicorn Amulet. She tried to get up but the crystals grew even more, and four spiky crystal poles rushed up from the ground, trapping Twilight in the middle of them. She exclaimed scaredly and saw how Sombra’s eyes stopped glowing.
“Do not try to escape, Twilight Sparkle,” he said with a raspy voice.
He began to walk towards the Alicorn Amulet, that was still on the floor. Twilight struggled inside her little prison, only to wince as the thorns scraped against her.
“Don’t do it!” she shouted to Sombra, trying to get the amulet with her magic, but her magic refused to work. The black crystal around her was working like the trap on top of the Crystal Castle. She began to panic and begged, “Please Sombra! Don’t do it!”
Sombra didn’t answer. He stopped in front of the Alicorn Amulet, lifting it with his magic.
“Sombra look at me!” Twilight commanded, and Sombra carefully glanced at her.
“I thought that we were friends!” Twilight spat with her ears folded backwards.
Sombra quickly looked away, and Twilight was sure that she had seen guilt in his eyes.
“We were,” he answered and his posture slumped down. “It is not possible any longer.”
“You betrayed me!” Twilight continued, sensing that he had found his weak spot. “You betrayed your friends!”
“Do you think that I wanted to do so?” Sombra asked quite angrily, and Twilight fell silent.
After a second she asked, “What did you say?”
Sombra frowned when he realized what he had slipped and answered bluntly, “Nothing. Be quiet Twilight Sparkle.”
“You don’t want to do this?” Twilight asked.
“I said be quiet!” Sombra huffed. “Do not talk.”
Twilight sensed that something was off with Sombra. He didn’t seem like he was the same stallion that he was when they had met for the first time. He was like… Like when he spent time with her. No matter what was going on, Twilight had to prevent it.
“I can’t let you do this Sombra!” Twilight continued. “Let me go!”
Sombra was quiet, his red eyes staring at the amulet in his magical grasp.
“You don’t know what that amulet will do to you if you use it,” Twilight tried, but Sombra shook his head a little.
“Sadly, yes I do, Twilight Sparkle,” he said and Twilight’s eyes went wide.
“What?” she asked. “What are you talking about?”
Sombra sighed and folded his ears, still staring at the amulet.
“I made it,” Sombra answered.
Twilight’s ears drooped and she stared at the dark stallion with her mouth open. Sombra had made the Alicorn Amulet? She didn’t have much time to think about it though, because she had to stop Sombra.
Twilight struggled against the spikes again and begged, “You don’t have to do this Sombra!”
“Yes I do,” Sombra said.
“Why!?” Twilight asked loudly, her voice breaking. “Look me in the eyes and tell me why you are doing this!”
Sombra turned to look at Twilight with sadness visible in his eyes. He hesitated for a second, before speaking, “To protect you,Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight stared at him with a very confused look on her face.
“To protect me!?” she asked. “What is that supposed to mean!?”
“Do not speak anymore,” Sombra begged. “It makes everything so much harder.”
“I can help you!” Twilight said. “Let me go so we can sort this out, okay?”
Sombra chuckled darkly and said, “There is only one way to sort this out, and you know it Twilight Sparkle.”
“There is always another way!” Twilight tried. “You have changed Sombra! Don’t let your past control yourself anymore!”
“I have to!” Sombra almost shouted. “I do not want it but I have no other choice!”
“Whatever is going on, you have to resist!” Twilight wailed. “I know you can do it!”
“And I know that you cannot!” Sombra retorted loudly and stomped his front-hooves to the ground, making Twilight shut up. Sombra took a couple of steps towards Twilight, pointed at her and said, “This is the only way to keep them away from you! I will not let them hurt you or your friends like they hurt me and Crystal!”
“Who are you talking about?” Twilight asked. “The Wendigos?”
Sombra frowned and walked a bit closer towards Twilight, before sitting down to his haunches. He stared at Twilight with a tired look in his red eyes.
“You remind me of Crystal, Twilight Sparkle,” Sombra spoke. “She was innocent and kind hearted, just like you.”
Twilight didn’t know what to say, so she didn’t say anything. Sombra sighed deeply and asked from her, “Do you remember why I became what I am now?”
“Yes…” Twilight said carefully. “How does that have to do…”
“I did it to protect her… Or so I thought,” Sombra said in a troubled way. “And now I am doing this to protect you.”
“That makes no sense!” Twilight retorted from her small prison. “Why are you speaking such nonsense all of the sudden!?”
“It is you or me Twilight Sparkle,” Sombra said and got up. “And better me than you. I am the monster, remember?”
Twilight then almost cried, “I can help you!”
Sombra chuckled darkly and muttered, “Princess helping a monster. In most of the stories the monster is defeated by a pony of royal origins…”
There was a silence between them. They stared at each other and Sombra saw a tear rolling down Twilight’s cheek. His chest began to burn so he turned to look the other way.
“Please defeat me, Twilight Sparkle,” Sombra suddenly said, making Twilight stare at him with a begging look. He then began to lift the amulet around his neck.
“No!” Twilight cried out, but it was too late, and Sombra slipped the amulet around his neck.
For a moment it seemed like nothing was happening, but then Twilight heard a ghostly neighing that didn’t seem to have a physical source. She gulped as the air got even colder, and in the corner of her eye she saw a shadow moving in very unnatural way. She turned her head towards the movement and saw that a shadowy figure indeed moved across the hall, towards Sombra. Right behind it two more shadows appeared, they too making a beeline towards the dark stallion.
“What’s happening!?” she asked from Sombra, who stared at her with an apologetic look on his face, but he didn’t answer.
Twilight then saw how the shadows were merging into each other in mid-air, forming one large mass of dark, almost smoke like substance. She gasped as two green eyes opened in the middle of the smoke, staring at Sombra hungrily. It was the same thing she had seen the day when Sombra was captured.
“Sombra no!” she screamed, and the stallion winced. He looked at Twilight with his ears drooped and a hint of fear in his eyes.
Twilight shrieked scaredly as the smoke engulfed Sombra, preventing her from seeing anything. To her surprise the spiky poles around her shattered to pieces, and she flopped down to her belly. She coughed because of the smoke-like fog around her, and rose up with her legs shaking.
“Sombra!?” she yelled. “Sombra where are you!?”
As if on cue the smoke started to fade away and she could see a figure of a stallion in the middle of it. She moved towards it with her ears folded backwards and her whole body tensed. The figure moved, and an eerie feeling took a hold of Twilight.
“Sombra?” she asked again and took a couple of steps closer towards him again, only to let out a sorrowful gasp when the smoke finally perished.
Sombra stood in front of her, the apologetic look in his eyes gone. Now it was replaced with an empty, cold stare that made shivers run up Twilight’s spine. The scleras of his eyes had turned green and the menacing, purple flames rose from their corners, slowly dancing in the air. His dark mane flowed in a wind that Twilight didn’t feel. The threatening crown rested on his head and his loyal battle armor was covering his chest while a red cape rested on his back. Twilight could see the many marks that the swords of his enemies had left to his chestplate. Twilight’s eyes then were fixated to the Alicorn Amulet hanging over his chest, almost like pulsating dark energy all around it. It was like it was made to fit Sombra, which backed up his claims that he had actually made it. Again, Twilight didn’t have time to think about that right at that moment.
“Sombra I know that you can…” Twilight started, but was cut off by Sombra.
“‘Hear me?’” Sombra continued her sentence mockingly. His voice was strangely distorted and it made Twilight gulp. He chuckled darkly, and not in his usual, teasing way, no. That laugh was just plain mocking. He grinned so that his fangs were showing and said with his creepy voice, “Of course I can hear you, Twilight Sparkle. I am right next to you.”
“I mean the real Sombra!” Twilight said angrily. “Not you!”
“But I am the real Sombra,” he said and walked closer towards Twilight, who backed away. He had a satisfied smile on his lips as he said, “The one, true King Sombra.”
Twilight almost fell over as she stumbled on some loose rocks, but she could keep her balance. She kept backing away from Sombra, who steadily kept coming closer to her.
“You are not yourself!” Twilight shouted, but Sombra just laughed and kept walking. Twilight glanced over her shoulder, and saw that soon she would run out of space. She took a deep breath and thought that she could try something quite bold.
“What would Crystal say if she could see you now?” she scolded Sombra.
Sombra stopped mid-step, his other front-hoof still in the air. For a moment Twilight thought that it had worked, as Sombra’s cold expression softened, but was quickly proven wrong. The flames coming from Sombra’s eyes grew in size and he let out a loud snort.
“You will not speak of her!” he shouted angrily and his horn started to glow in same blue color as the fires in his eyes. Twilight yelped and managed to teleport out of the harm’s way just in time befores Sombra’s powerful attack took away a big chunk of wall behind her.
Twilight appeared behind Sombra, in a fighting stance with her wings erected. Her horn started to glow and she shouted, “You can fight them!”
“Shut up!” Sombra shouted as he spun towards Twilight, firing another magical projectile towards her, which she again dodged. The projectile took down a pillar across the hall. Twilight jumped up and with a couple strong flaps of her wings she was over Sombra. Sombra growled at her, but now it was his time to get some blows. Twilight shot purple lightings at the dark stallion but to Twilight’s bad luck, Sombra managed to turn into a mass of shadows just before the bolts of lightning hit him.
“Is that all you got, Twilight Sparkle!?” Sombra growled as he reformed back to his physical form.
“Nope,” Twilight called down at him from the ceiling level. “I’m just getting started!”
Sombra eyed at her carefully, before frowning.
“I would rather not kill you, Twilight Sparkle. That would make me really upset,” he told Twilight, who kept flying in circles.
“I would say the same to you!” Twilight shouted. She then flew up through the the broken part of the roof, landing to the edge of it. Her hooves slipped on the steep, slippery roof, but she managed to keep her balance. From there she looked downwards at Sombra.
“We can solve this!” she shouted. “Just take off the Alicorn Amulet!”
“Hah!” Sombra exclaimed. “You know that it is not possible!”
Twilight drooped her ears. She really didn’t want everything to end like that, but it started to look like there wouldn’t be any options. Still, deep in her guts she had a feeling that there must be something that can make Sombra fight against whatever it was that possessed him.
“Please Sombra!” she begged. “Don’t let the past happen again! Think of Crystal, please!
Sombra frowned and his tail wished angrily behind him.
“I said that I do not want to kill you,” he growled. “But now you really are trying my patience!”
With that he stomped both of his front-hooves to the ground, and a massive spike of black crystal rushed through the floor, Sombra on top of it. He grinned as the spike headed towards Twilight with great speed. Twilight gasped and jumped backwards. The Spike impaled the roof where she had stood just seconds before, and Sombra jumped to the roof. He didn’t give Twilight a change to recover, before another spike of crystal broke the roof under Twilight, sending her flying backwards with a surprised shriek. She landed on her side with a loud thud, sliding down on the sloping surface for a short distance. She groaned painfully and got up to her hooves, before noticing that Sombra was coming closer towards her.
“I won’t give up!” she announced, and Sombra snorted.
“Neither will I,” he said, and his horn started to glow, and so did the Alicorn Amulet. A small cloud of black smoke appeared in front of him, shaping itself into a shape of something thin and long. With a audible pof the shadows turned into a sword with a black handle and almost transparent, wide and sharp blade made of crystal.
“Uh…That’s… That’s a sword...” Twilight muttered, her ears drooping downwards. It was really really sharp looking sword.
“Well noticed Twilight Sparkle,” Sombra chuckled.
“Where did it come from?” Twilight asked and backed up, frightened by the long sword.
“Simple,” Sombra said and started to approach Twilight. “It is just like that damn notebook of yours. An easy little teleportation spell. It has been stuck in a side of a rock somewhere in the Frozen North’s tundra for thousand years. It is still freezing cold...”
“I w-would really drop that if I were you,” Twilight muttered as Sombra got closer.
“Or what Twilight Sparkle?” Sombra growled. “What could you possibly do to make me stop now?”
“I… Uhh…” Twilight mumbled. “I will make you feel really bad about yourself?”
Sombra snorted.
“Think how much progress we have made!” Twilight started. “You made friends and even faced your past! Do you remember how we danced together? Are you going to throw all that away now?”
Sombra stopped approaching Twilight, eyeing at her carefully with a strange look on his face. For a moment Twilight hoped that her words had worked.
Suddenly Sombra laughed in a mean manner, swung the sword in his magical grasp and asked, “So how about a one last dance then, Twilight Sparkle?”
* * *
Two figures danced a lethal dance in a moonlight, on a roof of the castle of the two sisters. From time to time purple and deep blue lightning bolts flew across the roof, some of them hitting the few last towers that were still standing, and some of the projectiles landing somewhere to the surrounding forest.
Twilight Sparkle panted heavily as she stared right at Sombra, who was pulling his crystal blade from the roof, where it had stuck during his last attack. He didn’t look even a bit worn down by their battle that had lasted for a good fifteen minutes. His hooves didn’t even seem to slip on the slippery, moss covered roof, unlike Twilight who had hard times keeping her footing. Twilight knew that the Alicorn Amulet was most likely the reason for that. She remembered the last time she had fought with him, and that time he hadn’t been that though.
Sombra got the blade pulled out of the roof, gave it a light swing and started to approach Twilight. She took a fighting stance, but she knew that Sombra would best her in a long run. She decided to try persuasion once again.
“Let’s stop this Sombra,” she panted. “Together we can help you.”
“I doubt it,” Sombra answered and kept getting closer to her.
Twilight took a deep breath and tensed up.
“You have two options Sombra,” Twilight told Sombra with a stern tone. “One, you give up and let me help you. Two, we will fight until one of us loses.”
Sombra grinned and said with a low voice, “I think that we both know which one I will choose.”
With that he lunged forward, thrusting the sword towards Twilight, who barely dodged it by jumping to her side. She used her magic to block the next swing, but her powers were draining fast, and she felt how the blade almost cut through her shield. If she wasn’t afraid earlier, she was now.
“We are friends!” Twilight cried as she ducked as the sword swung over her head.
“I have no friends!” Sombra replied before delivering a vertical swing of his sword towards Twilight. She teleported to safety, and the sword hit the roof, slicing through it easily.
“I know that it’s not you speaking right now!” Twilight said as she jumped up to air, spreading her wings.
“That Sombra was weak!” Sombra shouted, firing a projectile of dark magic after Twilight, who had to crash down to the roof in order to avoid it. She in turn returned the blow with similar attack, but Sombra reflected it with his blade. He then hissed through his teeth, “Now I am powerful and I can get what I want!”
“Even with that you can’t get Crystal back!” Twilight shouted with her ears folded backwards. “At least honor her by doing something that would make her proud of you!”
Sombra stopped his attacks for a second, staring at Twilight with an expressionless look on his face. It slowly turned to a look of hatred and his eyes turned completely green. He panted a little and the Alicorn Amulet over his chest started to glow in brighter hue of red. He snorted before lifting his sword for another attack.
“I’m avenging her!” he shouted and swung the sword with incredible force. Twilight used her magic to parry the attack, but to her horror, the sword cut right through it. The tip of the blade was just millimeters away from her face, slicing a curl of her mane away. She yelped and backed away, but Sombra’s horn started to glow. Twilight had no time to do anything, and a hot, white flash was all that she saw.
Next she woke up, laying on the roof with the tip of the transparent blade resting against her neck, and she could see a faint reflection of a full moon from it’s surface. Sombra towered over her, his eyes still solid green in color, the blue flames raging around his eyes.
“Please Sombra,” she begged with a tears of pain forming into her eyes. “Stop this…”
“Oh I am going to stop this…” Sombra said slowly, a sadistic grin appearing onto his lips. His horn started to glow in deep blue color. “I am going to end it right now!”
Twilight screamed when her hooves were suddenly cast in black crystal, making it impossible for her to move. It surprised her, and she tried to fire at Sombra with a beam of magic, which he easily dodged by stepping to his side.
Sombra laughed heartily as he watched how Twilight struggled. He walked next to her, his eyes still completely green, the blade still resting against her neck. He leaned closer to the terrified Twilight, whispering, “There is no point in struggling.”
“Sombra…” she whined with a couple of more tears forming into her eyes. “Let me go! I-I can help you!”
“Again with that ‘I can help you’!” Sombra chuckled. “The truth though... Is no, you cannot. You cannot even help yourself right now!”
“I-I know that you have changed inside!” Twilight told him, and Sombra frowned. Twilight didn’t let him to say anything, as she continued, “You are not this!”
“This is exactly what I am!” Sombra said loudly. “Actually I have been what I am now for more than I have been anything else!”
“Revenge won’t get you anything good!” Twilight said while trying to pull her legs free, not succeeding. “Only a broken heart!”
“Maybe,” Sombra admitted with a shrug. “But it is all that I have now.”
“But you have so much more!” Twilight shouted. “You have friends and a future now!”
“Friends? That I am not sure of,” Sombra said with a shake of his head. “Future? Now that I have. A glorious future that is! I maybe cannot get my vengeance to King Halite for a second time, but I bet that making princess Celestia and Luna pay will be just as pleasing.”
He snickered and added, “And Equestria as my kingdom doesn’t sound too bad either.”
Twilight kept struggling for and Sombra examined her for a moment. She didn’t seem like giving up, so he yawned and said, “Well I better get on with this…”
With that he lifted the blade of his sword upwards, the point still aiming at Twilight’s neck. She was frozen, her ears hanging downwards like her wings. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she stared at sword that was pointing at her.
“I-I…” she muttered, and looked at Sombra in the eyes. “Don’t do this Sombra… Please...”
Sombra stared back at her, seeing how the tears ran down her cheeks and chin, leaving streaks to her now ragged fur. The look of fear and sadness in her eyes and the way how she shivered as she stared at the blade.... Usually seeing his enemies in that condition would have caused waves of euphoria in Sombra, but now… Now she reminded him of somepony that he had known a long time ago. Somepony that he had loved.
Deep inside he felt something shift. A burning sensation pushed through his blurry consciousness, making it impossible for him to do what the other, much more sinister force was telling him to do. Sombra did not feel sympathy towards the purple, helpless mare laying in front of him, no. The force that resisted the dark forces making his mind feel numb was just too powerful for him to disobey. He didn’t know what it was, and most of all he didn’t like it.
The sword started to shake a little in his magical grasp, but his face was cold and expressionless. Twilight kept staring at the shivering sword with terrified, wide eyes, waiting for the final strike that didn’t seem to come. To her surprise and relief, Sombra lowered the sword from atop of her, before it vanished into a small cloud of black smoke.
“T-thank you…” Twilight muttered, sniffling a little.
A disgusted look appeared on Sombra’s face as he spat, “I did not spare you because I care about you, Twilight Sparkle! I do not know what is wrong with me, but I will let you live.”
Twilight looked confused, but she then let out a scared meep as Sombra leaned closer to her and growled, “Do not follow me. Do not try to stop me. If you do that, I will kill you, no matter what!”
Twilight didn’t answer. What had just happened? Sombra turned around, his red cape flowing in the wind. His horn then started to glow in deep blue color, and to Twilight’s surprise the black crystals that prevented her from moving shattered. She blinked confusedly and glanced at Sombra.
Like sensing her eyes on him, Sombra repeated, “Do not try to stop me, Twilight Sparkle I will leave now and head to Canterlot. You will stay here or go to your home. I do not care where really.”
Twilight slowly rose up and Sombra started to walk towards the edge of the roof.
Twilight stared after him quietly, her eyes wide. Sombra had spared her. That had to mean that… That there was still hope? But why had he spared her? Twilight needed to know that so that she could use it against the evil forces controlling Sombra. What ever it had been, it was so powerful that even the energy of the Alicorn Amulet couldn’t resist it? Twilight only knew one force that was so powerful...
The power of friendship.
A realization hit her like a speeding train. The real Sombra indeed was there, but he could only do so little to control himself. It would take some drastic measures to get the real Sombra back to control, but Twilight already had an idea what to do. She started to trot after Sombra, whose other ear flicked as he heard Twilight’s approach.
“Did I not make myself clear?” he asked, the blue flames cornering his eyes grew in size. He glanced over his shoulder and growled, “Do not make me kill you!”
“Why are you hesitating?” Twilight asked boldly, surprising Sombra, who stopped a couple of steps from the edge. He slowly turned to look at Twilight Sparkle, his eyes still cold and lifeless. He didn’t answer, so Twilight continued, “Was it because you care about me?
Sombra chuckled darkly.
“Care? About you?” he asked, sounding almost amused. “You are fu...”
“I care about you.”
Sombra stopped mid sentence, quickly glancing towards Twilight, who stood close behind him, her ears drooped and a sad look on her face.
“What did you say?” Sombra asked, raising his other eyebrow.
“I care about you,” Twilight repeated. “I don’t want you to do this, because I care about you.”
Sombra was confused, staring at Twilight for a moment with his eyebrow still raised. He then began chuckle, “You are out of your mind.”
“No,” twilight said and shook her head. “I mean it.”
Sombra just chuckled a bit more and stepped closer to the edge of the roof, his physical form already starting to change into a smoky figure.
Twilight gulped and then said with a shaky voice, “And I know that you care about me too...”
Sombra shook his head and sighed. He started to turn his head towards Twilight for one last time, he was about to say something mocking. He was cut off by something soft and warm pressing against his cheek.
His whole body froze still when he realized what it was. A pair of lips. Twilight Sparkle was standing next to him, her muzzle pressed up against the side of his face. Both of them stayed like that for a moment, and Twilight could feel how cold Sombra’s body was. Her lips started to feel numb, so she broke the small kiss between them, only to wrap the ice-cold stallions body into a tight hug, burying her face into his dark mane and wrapping her wings around him. The moment seemed to last forever for those two.
Twilight finally broke the silence by whispering, “I care about you…”
Sombra didn’t hear that. He didn’t hear anything actually. Or actually he did hear, he heard everything that Twilight said. Very well exactly. He could hear it. The dark numbing feeling inside him didn’t disorient it in anyway.
“I-I…” he suddenly muttered, and Twilight leaned backwards to stare at him. The blue fires that surrounded his eyes were raging, but in a way that it looked like they would have been fighting to stay burning. A confused, almost scared look spread on Sombra’s face and his breath became erratic. He turned to look into Twilight’s purple, tearful eyes.
“What have you done to me, Twilight Sparkle?” Sombra asked with his ears folded backwards. After saying that the blue fire in his eyes vanquished and the scleras of his eyes turned back to their normal color. A pained expression spread on his face, and he wrenched himself away from Twilight, backing away from her.
“Sombra? What are you doing?” Twilight asked worriedly when she saw the expression on his face. Sombra didn’t answer, but his breathing got even quicker and he started to shook his head a little.
“What have you done to me?” he asked again, before using his magic to lift his crown from his head, tossing it to the roof, where it slided over the edge and fell down towards the ground. He then untied the cape from his shoulders, which was taken to the sky by the wind. There the wind played with the red cloth for a second, before taking it towards the surrounding forest. Now Sombra was wearing only his battle armor and the Alicorn Amulet that rested on his chest.
Sombra took last glance towards Twilight, before ripping the sinister necklace from around his neck. He got seemingly weaker right after, and he collapsed to his knees with a heavy sigh, dropping the Alicorn Amulet on the roof. Even Twilight was in a emotional turmoil at the moment, she acted quickly when the opportunity came. Her horn started to glow, and the amulet was gone in a purple flash. A wave of great relief washed over her when the Alicorn Amulet was safe and secured, in a place that only she knew.
It almost seemed like the situation would have been over, as Twilight stared at Sombra, who was covering his face with his hooves, laying on his belly. He was almost like hiding from Twilight’s gaze. He seemed to be in an steady condition and probably wouldn’t need any medical treatment. Knowing that, all the tension from Twilight’s body was gone, and her hooves became shaky and she too dropped down to her belly and started to pant.
Her relief was short-lived, for Sombra suddenly started to gasp like he would have been suffocating. Twilight perked up and saw that Sombra was twitching and spasming in a fetal-position, his eyes wide from horror.
Sombra didn’t answer, and his eyes turned green once again. Twilight gasped and quickly rose up. She saw how the black smoke that she had seen earlier started to push out of corner of Sombra’s eyes, slithering to the air like a smoky snake. Twilight didn’t know what to do, and soon the last of the smoke pushed out of Sombra’s eyes, leaving him to whimper.
Twilight’s heart jumped up to her throat, and she was almost paralyzed with fear as the smoky snake started to divide into three different snakes, that started to form big stallion like figures. Her ears drooped when the shadows opened their blue, icy eyes that stared right at her. A sudden coldness made her shiver. It made her realize what she was up against.
“W-Wendigos…” she muttered, and the smoke figures started to take their physical forms. They were terrible looking creatures. They seemed more like ghosts than anything else. Their coats were snow-white and their long tails and manes flowed behind them, before fading away at some point that nopony could clearly define. Their legs were long and thin. and their hooves froze the roof-tiles that they touched. Twilight could see the ribs through their skin, and their facial features were resembling somepony who would have been famished for weeks. Worst of all was their eyes. Those blue, icy, lifeless eyes that were staring right at Twilight Sparkle. She felt their stare freezing her very soul, and it was hard to take her eyes off those foul creatures.
“Twilight Sparkle…” an echoing voice suddenly spoke, startling Twilight.
“Who’s that?” she asked, realizing that it was pretty dumb question actually.
“Oh pardon me for not introducing us,” the voice said, sounding almost amused. Then one of the Wendigos moved it’s head towards it’s companion, and the voice spoke, “This is Hatred, the other one is called Sadness…”
“I prefer Sorrow, but you never listen to me...” a new voice said, and one of the Windigos snorted.
“Of course,” the first voice said. Then the one that was looking at his friend turned to stare at Twilight again, before saying, “And I am Hatred, I am Sorrow, I am iniquity, I am cruelty, I am… A Wendigo.”
Twilight was quiet. She didn’t quite understand.
“Aren’t you all Windigos?” she asked. “Why are they…”
She was cut off by the voice speaking, “Well yes, we are. But you see Twilight Sparkle, I am the oldest of us three. I watched as ponies took over Equestria, I was there when our kind realized how much food could ponies provide us with…”
“Food…” Twilight muttered.
“Yes. Food,” the voice spoke. “Ponies are so hot tempered. Where are ponies, there are disagreements and disputes… Anger and sorrow… All kind of negative feelings that we so much enjoy… Anyway, my companions here are just younglings compared to me. They have… Let’s say ‘specialized’ in just one feeling that they feed on, while I am omnivorous. There are now so much feelings to choose from, so I can understand them. For that reason they like to be called Sorrow and Hatred.”
Twilight felt the coldness getting stronger, and the Wendigos were still staring at her, not moving at all. Why were they just standing there, telling her all that?
Sombra’s painful groans broke Twilight away from her thoughts, and she glanced at him. He was laying behind the ghostly creatures. He was unconscious, but his constant whimpering proved that he was alive.
“W-what did you do to him!?” Twilight asked, taking a fighting pose.
“He did this to himself,” the same voice spoke, held a small pause and continued, “He forced us out of his mind and body… Or actually it was you, Twilight Sparkle.”
“What!?” Twilight asked confusedly. “I didn’t do anything!”
“Oh but you did!” the voice exclaimed. “You managed something that nopony has ever done! You pushed us out of his body! Believe me Twilight Sparkle, in all my years of living, I have never seen anypony do anything like that. We even had The King’s Gem and you made him take it off!”
Twilight was confused. She had done that? Well yes, she kinda knew that, but the Windigos seemed to be oblivious that she had only triggered Sombra to do that all by himself.
“We have clearly underestimated your powers Twilight Sparkle. The magic that you used was something new to us, and something so very powerful… Something so pure,” the voice spoke. Twilight knew only one kind of magic that could do that. She was it’s princess after all.
Suddenly one of the Windigos stepped closer, making Twilight jump backwards.
“Stay away!” she commanded, but the Windigo kept coming closer, freezing the roof under it’s hooves.
“With your help we could get all the food that we would need to keep our kind alive,” the voice spoke and the Windigo lowered it’s head to Twilight’s eye-level. Then the voice spoke with almost seducing tone, “And you could get everything that you desired. Knowledge, power, wealth… Anything you name can be given by us. We just need to make a deal...”
There was a small pause, before the voice added, “We always keep our promises.”
That made Twilight frown angrily.
“I would never accept your deal! Especially now that I know how you made Sombra into such a monster he was!”
The Wendigo in front of Twilight didn’t even blink. It just stared at her with those lifeless eyes of it’s. Twilight bravely returned the stare and said sternly through her teeth, “Never!”
There was more than one voice heard chuckling eerily. Twilight saw how the two other Wendigos started to move closer towards her as the voice said, “I’m afraid that you have no opinion, Twilight Sparkle.”
With that the eyes of the Wendigo that was staring at Twilight began to glow bright white light, making it impossible for Twilight to take her eyes off them. She stared at those glowing eyes with her mouth a bit open and her ears drooped.
“If you do not want to make a deal the it is your lost, Twilight Sparkle. We will simply do this the hard way and the result will be same,” the voice said and the light got brighter.
Twilight was hypnotized by the light. In it she saw glimpses of her worst nightmares. Her friends leaving her, Celestia and Luna rejecting her, Cadence hating her and Shining Armor saying that she wasn’t his sister. It was terrible, but in a way she knew that it was just an illusion. She had been there before, when she was trying to get to the Crystal Heart years back. Every time the illusion tried to get her trapped, she could escape. She wouldn’t be fooled by them again. She shook her head and her mind came back to reality.
“You have to be better than that to…” She started to say, but was cut off by a sight even more terrifying than her illusions.
Sombra was laying on the roof, one of the Windigos pressing it’s other front-hoof down upon his throat. Somba struggled and made sickening sounds as he tried to gasp air into his lungs. His fur froze on the part where the cold hoof touched him.
“Stop!” Twilight commanded, but the Windigo only pressed harder upon the stallion’s neck, earning a loud grunt of pain from him.
“You were stronger than we expected,” the voice spoke. “But what about when there is somepony else’s life on the line?”
Twilight couldn’t watch any longer, and in a quick motion she jumped towards that Wendigo, firing a purple ball of pure magical energy at the nightmarish creature. It was one of her most powerful attacks, and it made her a little dizzy. To her horror, the projectile seemed to pass through the Windigo, flying high up to the sky. She didn’t give up, and fired three more similar attacks, all with the same result.
“What the…” she mumbled, but then a sudden jolt of pain went through her body, forcing her to her knees. She saw a scared expression on Sombra, who was staring back at her. Twilight painfully craned her neck to see her back, and immediately she let out a scared yelp. Half of her back and most of her left wing was covered in thick frost. The pain hit her again, for the ice was so cold that it felt like burning through her skin.
“Look at Sombra,” the voice spoke and Twilight glanced at Sombra, who was almost passing out, his eyes fixated to hers.
“He will die,” the voice noted, and the Wendigo over him pressed a little harder. Sombra was now fighting to keep his eyes open.
“No…” Twilight whimpered, her whole back burning. She tried to cast a spell but a sharp pain in her horn stopped her. She noticed that her horn too was covered in that frost.
One of the Wendigos craned it’s neck so that it was staring at Twilight in the eyes.
“There is only one way to stop this,” It told to Twilight, who glanced at Sombra again. He shook his head a little with his last bits of energy, and the Wendigo pressed it’s hoof downwards even harder. Twilight whimpered as Sombra fell unconscious.
She stared at the passed out stallion with tears and fear in her eyes. If she would accept the evil deal with those creatures, Sombra would be saved, but she would be doomed. Logically thinking she should refuse and let Sombra die. The decision wasn’t so easy though. Sombra was dying in front of her. Because of her. She wouldn’t let that happen. There had to be another way to…
“There is no other way,” the voice said like it would have read her mind.
Twilight stared at Sombra for a second, tears starting to roll down her cheeks. No pony had died because of her, nopony would die because of her.
Twilight didn’t notice it, but her eyes started to turn green, and her pupils became red. Small dark-blue flames started to rise from the corners of her eyes. She cried and drooped her head, feeling how a sudden coldness started to numb her mind. She was afraid, but the numbness in her body was surprisingly soothing. She glanced upwards and saw that the icy hoof on Sombra’s neck had been lifted away, and that he was again gasping for air. When their eyes met, Sombra’s face was overcome with an expression of pure shock and disbelief mixed up with fear and sadness. It was something that made Twilight close her eyes. He maybe couldn’t forgive her, but at least he was alive…
Twilight’s mind was closing itself completely, letting foreign forces to control her body. In the last moments of her awareness she heard a clattering of hooves, small poof, something slicing through the air, ending with a disgusting crunch and painful neighing.
Then everything was clear again. She was back at her own body and mind, kneeling down in front of the three Wendigos. This time there was fourth stallion aside them, and one of those foul creatures was neighing painfully and holding trashing it’s head back and forth. Twilight saw Sombra standing between her and the Wendigos, his horn glowing red. In his magical grasp was the sword that Twilight had seen earlier. It’s wide blade was deep inside the chest of one of the Windigos.
“You leave her alone,” Sombra growled with his fangs exposed, before pulling the sword out of the Wendigo, which kept neighing hysterically.
The Wendigos started to turn into fog-like form, their manes flowing upwards, denying the laws of gravity. The one that had been stabbed kept it’s other front-hoof over it’s wound, protecting it. They quickly started to move around the pair with their eyes glowing in bright blue color. Sombra kept facing them, keeping himself between them and Twilight.
The pair noticed how the sky had gotten darker, and soon the wind got a lot more powerful. It didn’t take long before a heavy snowfall appeared, making it hard to see properly. Sombra’s mane kept getting into his eyes and the Wendigos started to try his defences. One by one they tried to attack, but he managed to keep them away with good sword play.
“Run Twilight Sparkle!” Sombra shouted over the wind as he swung his sword at one of the Wendigos, failing to hit it.
“What!? Why!? I‘m not going to leave you!” Twilight screamed. “What are you going to do!?”
“Something that I should have done a long time ago, Twilight Sparkle,” Sombra answered seriously, swinging his sword at the same Wendigo again, this time hitting it just barely, earning a high pitched neigh of pain from it.
“You’re killing yourself!” Twilight shouted. “You can’t fight against them alone!”
“As long as you are safe, I have nothing to worry about,” Sombra answered, turning to glance at Twilight with a small smile on his face. Twilight couldn’t help herself but to return it.
“Sombra…” she started but never finished her sentence, for one of the Wendigos had seen it’s opportunity
It let out a war cry and rushed towards Sombra with it’s head held down and it’s ears folded backwards. Twilight let out a yelp and Sombra was too slow to react in time, and was hit by a pair of two strong front-legs. The strike was so powerful that it forced Sombra to his knees. Twilight screamed as the other two attacked. The second strike was aimed at his back, bashing him down to his belly. Twilight was powerless to help him with her magic still tied up by the weird frost. She could only watch as the third Wendigo swooped down towards Sombra, it’s hooves aimed at his head. A lethal strike for sure, but Sombra managed to dodge and the Wendigo’s hooves crushed part of the roof where his head had been. Sombra quickly got up to his hooves.
Only to be hit in the back by the other two simultaneously.
Twilight screamed as Sombra flew several meters forwards, then sliding down towards the big hole in the roof that lead to the big hall. His limp body stopped right at the edge of the hole, slowly starting to slip downwards At that moment everything happened so quickly. Twilight forced herself to run towards the hole even though her whole back was freezing and burned as if on fire. She then flapped her wings, even if it hurt like hell. Just before Sombra slipped down from the edge, Twilight jumped towards him, managing to wrap her hooves around his waist.
Unfortunately the stallion was too heavy for the not so good flyer Twilight Sparkle, especially now that her wing was damaged. With a yell they dropped down towards the floor. Twilight tried to flap her wings as hard as she could, managing to slow down their fall only a little, and the impact was quite hard. They hit the floor with a loud smack.
Twilight and Sombra both groaned painfully, but only Twilight could get up. Sombra was disoriented and only moved his hooves a little. His battle armor had a big dent on it too. Twilight was worried about him, but she couldn’t help him before the Wendigos were dealt with. She noticed the sword that Sombra had used laying near them. It had probably fell down there with them.
Twilight thought that as her magic didn’t work, and Sombra’s sword seemed to hurt those beasts for some reason, that sword would be their only defence at the moment. She a took a hold of it with her teeth. It was surprisingly light and easy to maneuver. She gave it a couple of test swings and then retreated back to Sombra, who was getting more clear headed.
“Ugh…” he muttered, before noticing Twilight with the sword in her mouth. He then looked around himself and asked, “What happened?”
Twilight dropped the sword and answered, “We fell down from the roof.”
“Are you alright?” Sombra asked worriedly and tried to get up. As soon as he put weight on his left rear-leg, he hissed from between his teeth and fell back to the floor.
“You can’t stand up?” Twilight asked and Sombra nodded. Twilight then sighed and said quite annoyedly, “Every time something like this happens…”
Sombra looked apologetic, and Twilight started to smile a little.
“By the way thanks for saving me back up there,” she said a bit shyly, and Sombra’s expression turned dark. He looked away and said quietly, “Do not thank me. I do not deserve it. I could not let you do what you were doing. I already betrayed you today... I could not have watched you destroy yourself too.”
He held a small pause and then sighed, “I am so so sorry Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight smiled sadly with her ears hanging downwards. She knelt in front of Sombra and said, “I don’t think that you ‘betrayed’ me from your free will?”
“Of course not!” Sombra exclaimed, turning to look at her. “I would never…”
He stopped and looked past Twilight’s shoulder. She too turned to look at that direction, and saw the wendigos standing at the edge of the broken roof, their ghostly silhouettes clearly visible against the snow storm that raged outside. The big hall got a lot colder and soon the trio of monsters jumped down from the broken roof, gliding down to the ground in their fog-like form. They landed with no sound and turned towards Sombra and Twilight.
“Take the sword,” Sombra commanded.
Twilight took a hold of the sword’s handle with her teeth. She then rose up and stood in front of Sombra, facing the Wendigos with her good wing stretched open and her stance stern.
“That sword is our only weapon right now,” Sombra told Twilight, who gave him an asking look.
Sombra noticed it and explained, “That sword belonged to somepony who had fought against things like those long before I was even born. His father and many before him have held that sword while fighting sinister forces like… Like myself for example.”
“Whose is it?” Twilight muttered with the handle of the sword in her mouth.
Sombra seemed troubled as he answered, “King Halite. I took it as a trophy...”
Twilight’s eyes went wide. She was holding a sword that had belonged to a great king a millenium ago. In a way she was sad because she knew what had happened to it’s previous owner...
“It has ancient magic in it,” Sombra said. “Nopony knows who forged it but it had been in the ruling family of The Crystal Empire for decades. Many have tried to replicate it, but none has succeeded. It is the only one in the world as far I know.”
“Amazing…” Twilight mumbled.
“Yes yes…” Sombra grunted annoyedly. “Now focus! Always aim for the neck and the artery.”
Twilight nodded and decided that she should do as he said. She could ask some question from Sombra later... If there would be later.
The Windigos glanced at each other, before starting to walk towards them slowly.
“I don’t think I’m in a fighting shape, Twilight Sparkle,” Sombra said from the floor, and Twilight shook her head. Sombra took that as a sign that she wasn’t too optimistic about the situation either.
Sombra looked at the approaching monster and felt his heart pounding like crazy. He gulped and glanced at Twilight, saying, “I am not sure if this will end well for us Twilight Sparkle.”
“Yep,” Twilight muttered, nodding a little. She then started to back up towards Sombra, stopping when she was just next to him. The Wendigos got closer and closer, but Twilight laid the sword down to the ground so she could say what she had to say.
“No matter what happens now, we will not give up, right?” she asked from Sombra, who started to smile.
“Never!” he agreed, before looking at the Wendigos and spitting towards them. He laughed mockingly and said, “They could not even defeat a cute little mare like you so they will not stand a chance against both of us!”
There was second of silence, before Twilight asked, “Cute little mare like me?”
Sombra rolled his eyes and said a bit annoyedly, “Well you are not the biggest of ponies I know. In fact you are one of the smallest…”
He was cut off by Twilight wrapping her front-hooves around his neck, crushing his head against her chest, into a tight embrace. Wendigos were now just meters away from them, and the coldness was getting stronger and stronger, making both of them shiver. Sombra then lifted his hooves behind Twilight Sparkle’s back, and pulled her closer. She sighed and rested her good wing over him, the warmness of their bodies making the coldness almost go away. The heat grew and grew the longer they were that way, but soon they realized that they had been like that for a surprisingly long time.
They carefully broke the hug and saw that the Wendigos had stopped approaching them, their blue eyes fixated to them. There was no sign of them attacking, which was odd. Unsettling disgust was seen in their icy eyes.
"Why did they stop?" Twilight asked quietly, her ears lowered.
"I do not know," Sombra answered with a confused frown on his face. "They seem to be hesitating..."
"A-are they afraid?" Twilight asked with shaky voice, earning a small huff from Sombra.
"Why would they be afraid?" Sombra chuckled darkly and turned to look at Twilight. "I would say that they are… Cautious. They are not afraid of a wounded stallion and a small mare like y..."
Seeing Twilight's face made him stop. Her fur was ruffled, there was a small cut on her other cheek and her mane was a real mess. She wasn't in her ragged look that made Sombra stop speaking. It was the look in her purple eyes. The way how she looked at him made him feel the same strange feeling that she felt on the roof a while back.
Twilight Sparkle's gaze was exactly like the one's that had loved him a lifetime ago. He couldn't let anything hurt a pony like that now could he? Not again. No. He wouldn't.
Sombra turned to stare at the icy horses in front of them. If something that was between him and Twilight Sparkle made those monsters hesitate, it definitely was worth fighting for.
A determined frown appeared to his face and he commanded, "Help me up Twilight Sparkle."
Sombra and Twilight Sparkle were standing side-by-side, facing the three Wendigos. Sombra leaned against the smaller Twilight Sparkle, who did not compline. She bravely held him up and helped him to move. She let out small grunts as Sombra sometimes swayed due his injuries.
Sombra used his magic to snatch his sword from the ground, lifting it in front of them. He then lowered his head to whisper right into Twilight’s ear, “Listen now, Twilight Sparkle. Can you use your magic?”
“Barely,” Twilight answered with a sad pout and looked up at her frozen horn. “It still hurts my horn to cast magic.”
“How much does it hurt?” Sombra asked.
“A lot,” was Twilight’s blunt answer.
“I see,” Sombra muttered and thought about something. “Then I guess that the offense is up to me. I cannot move properly, so you have to help me. You do what I tell you to do. Do not get in my way when I attack, that way there will be no accidents. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” Twilight answered. “I move, you attack.”
“Exactly,” Sombra continued to whisper. “Now there’s three of them, and only two of us. It is more than likely that they all will attack at the same time. If so, we need to work together. I will watch your back, and you will do the same for me.”
“Got it,” Twilight said, feeling the nervousness starting to build up.
“We have to find a gap for our attacks. They have to be quick and precise, but you can leave that to me. Just keep your guard up and focus.”
He held a small pause before saying, “We will be fine.”
Twilight gulped and said, “I hope so…”
Sombra chuckled a little and whispered into her ear, “I will not let anything bad happen to you Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight looked up at him with a small shy smile and she asked, “Really?”
“I cannot promise anything,” Sombra said more seriously, earning a worried look from Twilight. “But I will try.”
With that he nudged himself forward, and Twilight followed. Nervousness was starting to grow in her, and she bit her lower lip. Sombra dragged his sword behind him lazily. He kept making painful faces as he limped forward, but he showed no signs of giving up.
The Wendigo that Sombra had wounded was moving around fearfully, and when Sombra saw it, he started to grin widely. For the first time in so long he knew what he wanted. He wanted to destroy these evil creatures he was facing. They resembled the past he wanted to forget. He wanted to be free. If he and Twilight Sparkle would succeed this day, he would be just that. Free. Free to be with her.
Fuelled by that thought the warrior in Sombra woke up. He lifted his sword to hover in front of him, it’s wide blade facing the closest Wendigo.
He gave it a challenging look and announced loudly, “Let us not waste any more time. We will settle this right now.”
As you wish,” the voices said coldly in unison, startling both of them. The Wendigos didn’t give them much time to react, as the first one was already dashing towards them before their sentence was even over.
“Left!” Sombra commanded to a scared Twilight, who obeyed. They turned towards the attacking Windigo just in time for Sombra to swing his sword at the attacking beast. It had to do a quick evasive move. The second Wendigo attacked right after the first one’s attack had failed, and the wounded one flanked Sombra and Twilight.
“I will take the wounded one, you take the other!” Sombra shouted and followed the wounded one’s moves with the tip of his sword.
“How!?” Twilight almost screamed. “I can’t use my magic!”
“You have to!” Sombra shouted as the wounded one attacked him.
Twilight whimpered as the other one started it’s attack. She bit her lower lip and cast a shielding spell, hoping that it would work better than her previous spells. The jolt of pain in her head was almost too much for her, but to her relief, her shield held the monster back. It almost seemed like her magic was stronger now that she was so close to Sombra…
Sombra focused onto the wounded Wendigo. As it tried to bash through his defences, Sombra managed to keep it at bay. He knew that he had to wait for the perfect opportunity.
Which he eventually got. He noticed that the Wendigo attacking Twilight was further away now, giving them just enough time to act. He waited until the wounded Wendigo started to attack, before shouting, “Help Twilight Sparkle!”
Twilight moved on reflex, and spun around with her magical shield as Wendigo was about to reach Sombra. The Wendigo neighed as the shield stopped it’s attack, making the monster rise on it’s hind-legs. Sombra smirked and readied his sword.
One swift swing.
One clean kill.
Everything seemed to stop as the Wendigo in front of them fell down to the ground without sound, in two pieces. There it laid for a short second, before it vanished in a thick cloud of snow, leaving only a frozen figure of the body to the stone floor.
“We did it!” Twilight cheered, while Sombra panted heavily.
He stared at the frozen figure of a body on the floor. He had actually done it. He had won part of his dark past, giving way to his new life. Good life.
His thoughts were cut short by the cold voices speaking.
“Sorrow... “ the voice said sadly. “One of our last brethren… Dead.”
Twilight and Sombra turned towards the two remaining Wendigos, ready to fight. To their surprise the Wendigos were standing further away from them.
The voice took a new, angry tone as it spoke, “Are you happy now, Sombra!?”
“Very,” was his calm answer.
“You are only making our decision easier!” the angry voice shouted, and the other Wendigo stomped it’s front-hooves to the floor. “You just sealed your fate! And hers too!”
“What?” Twilight asked, giving Sombra a confused, slightly worried look.
“Do not mind them,” Sombra said. “Focus.”
Twilight’s worried gaze lingered on him for a second, before she turned to stare at the Wendigos again.
“Sombra,” the calm voice continued again. “Do you remember how we met?”
Sombra didn’t answer.
“Do you remember why we met?” the voice continued. “If not, let me remind you. A pony that you loved was dying, because of the wrongness that you and her had suffered. Do you remember?”
“Don’t listen to them,” Twilight warned Sombra, who was still silent.
“You and Crystal were a victims of injustice, and we saved you, helped you to avenge yourself and her. Do you remember? You said that you would give anything to save her, and all we wanted was to feed.”
A deep frown appeared on Sombra’s face.
“We saved your sister, Sombra,” the voice said. “And what did she do?”
“You shut up!” Twilight shouted at the Wendigos. “He’s not going to listen to you! Right Somb…”
She stopped when she saw how Sombra’s blade was lowered, and his scleras were turning green. Twilight’s ears immediately dropped downwards and she let out a horrified gasp.
“That’s right Sombra,” the voice said and held a dramatic pause before continuing, “She left you. She said that you are a monster. She didn’t love you anymore.”
“Snap out of it Sombra!” Twilight begged as the familiar purple flames started to slip upwards from the corner of Sombra’s eyes. “They are just trying to get into your head! You must fight them like last time!”
“You may have bested one of us, but you know how this will end Sombra. It will be either you or her. What makes you think that Twilight Sparkle will stay with you if it will be her?” the voice asked, making Twilight stare at the Wendigos with her eyes wide and her mouth open.
“First of all, It will never be me, whatever you are talking about! Second, of course I will stay with him!” she shouted at them. “I know that he isn’t a monster!”
“You are a monster, Sombra,” the voice spat. “No matter what she says. She would leave you in a blink of an eye if she would be given the change! If you would be powerful like you used to be, she would be yours forever!”
“No!” Twilight almost screamed in frustration, looking at Sombra, who was motionless. His scleras were now completely green and the purple flames were growing bigger, while his gaze was empty. A disgusted frown was seen on his face. Twilight feared to imagine what kind of thoughts were raging inside of his head.
“So do you want to be left alone once again? Without your powers and your kingdom?” the voice asked. “Or will you take it all? It is your call, and this is your last change. Otherwise you will see another mare that you cared about leave you.”
Twilight started to feel panic growing inside of her as Sombra’s sword started to lower, and the fact that the Wendigos stated to approach them didn’t help at all. She tried to come up with something to say.
“Sombra…” Twilight said quietly and lifted her other front hoof to Sombra’s cheek, turning his face towards her. Sombra stared at her, but at the same time past her.
Twilight smiled sadly and started, “I know that you aren’t a…”
“Would you leave me?” Somba suddenly asked with a low voice, his eyes suddenly sharp and staring right at her, making Twilight wince. She quickly recovered from her surprise and started right into those red eyes of his.
She smiled and said sternly, “I would never leave you.”
Suddenly a warm smile appeared to Sombra’s lips and he said, “That is all I need to hear.”
With that he stomped his other front-hoof into the stone floor, from where black crystal spike sprouted and headed towards the Wendigos. One was fast enough to react and got out of the harms way. The other one wasn’t so lucky.
A long, sharp spike of black crystal rushed up from the ground beneath it, impaling it right from under it’s ribcage. Three more spikes impaled the foul creature while it let out high-pitched scream of pain.
“You… You killed me!” the angry voice shouted at Sombra, who was grinning madly.
“You… You son of a..!” the angry voice started to shout, but stopped as the impaled Wendigo burst into a cloud of snow, leaving four spikes pointing upwards from the ground. Sombra laughed menacingly, and even Twilight didn’t say anything, she was horrified. Her most powerful magical attacks didn’t even make the Wendigos wince and she could just barely block their attacks, while Sombra’s dark magic could destroy them with ease. She was just staring at the stallion with the blood thirsty grin, thinking what kind of powers Sombra actually had... She just couldn't take her eyes off from him.
That might have been the reason for her not reacting quickly enough to block the other Wendigo’s attack.
The impact was hard, and the pair of ponies were separated. Twilight Sparkle landed face first on the floor after a flight of a couple of meters, slid on the floor and finally hit one of the pillars in the hall. The impact made her disoriented, and when she finally got her head clear, she didn’t see Sombra anywhere.
And the last Wendigo was right in front of her.
“You…” it growled with it’s head right in front of Twilight. She felt the same coldness take over her that she had felt earlier that day. She knew what that meant, and she had no way to defend herself now.
“Sombra?” she groaned, trying to locate the dark stallion somewhere, hoping that he was okay. “Where are you!?”
“You are an extraordinary mare, Twilight Sparkle,” the Wendigo said slowly as she was trying to struggle against it’s powers. “You made Sombra kill two of us with your strange powers. It is something that nopony has never done before, and I have to say… I am more than interested about those powers that you possess. Are they something that the alicorn sisters have taught you? Some kind of ancient magic that even we don’t know about?”
Twilight chuckled a little, but it ended into a painful cough as the coldness took more and more of her into it’s tight grip.
“What is so funny Twilight Sparkle?” the Windigo spat.
“It is The Magic of Friendship! Of course you don’t know it!” Twilight laughed with a painful, yet amused grin on her face.
The Wendigo laughed coldly and said, “Magic of Friendship? Let me laugh. You are clearly lying.”
“Guess again!”
Twilight recognized the voice to belong to Sombra, and immediately a spark of hope lit in her heart. Before either she or the Wendigo could react, something flew right past the Wendigos head, cutting some of it’s icy mane, before impaling the pillar that Twilight Sparkle was leaning against. It was Sombra’s crystal blade, that was deep inside the pillar.
Both Twilight and the Wendigo turned to look towards the voice. There they saw Sombra. His scleras were still green and the purple fires were burning from his eyes. Blood was dripping from his muzzle and mouth, down his fangs and finally it dropped to his battered armor, making him look demonic
Ignoring his appearance Twilight screamed in joy, “Sombra! You’re alive!”
“Didn’t I kill you already?” the Wendigo asked annoyedly.
“You tried,” Sombra said and spat blood to the floor.
Everypony was quiet for a moment, before the Wendigo bettered it’s pose and spoke, You missed.”
Sombra shrugged and said, “My aim is not what it used to be.”
The Wendigo then sighed and began to speak“What do you win with this? Nothing. You are almost falling apart. I will kill you now, and let’s pretend that if you actually could kill me, you would still…”
“Actually I already killed you,” Sombra cut in with a victorious grin on his face.
The Windigo just laughed and asked, “And how did you do that?”
“Or it was not me actually,” Sombra said, nodding towards Twilight Sparkle. The Windigo turned to look towards the purple alicorn, who had ripped the sword from the pillar and was now holding it in her magical grip. An angry frown appeared on her face and her wings stretched open.
“Magic of Friendship!” she said angrily and thrusted the sword deep into the chest of the Windigo towering over her. It neighed from pain and rose on it’s hind-legs, the sword still sticking in it’s chest. Visible rage burned in it’s cold eyes as it aimed it’s front-hooves towards Twilight. Maybe she should have aimed at it’s neck like Sombra had told her?
“Dammit,” Twilight muttered as those deadly hooves started to approach her with lethal speed. Just before they could hit her in the head, they turned into clouds of white smoke and snow.
“No!” the Windigo managed to shout, before it was gone in the cloud of snow and smoke. The sword dropped to the floor with a loud clank, but after that everything was so very very quiet. She felt how the terrible feeling of coldness started to slowly vanish from her wings and horn as the weird frost melted away.
Twilight felt how the air started to get warmer, and she saw how the dark clouds from above the old castle started to fade away, revealing the starry night-sky. She slowly rose up and stared at the sky. The atmosphere was feeling unreal. There was a small layer of melting snow everywhere, and dust slowly falling towards the floor. She thought that she even heard a bird chirping somewhere nearby. If somepony would have walked into the room at that moment, he or she wouldn’t have guessed that there had been a battle just minutes before.
Well if you wouldn’t count the obvious signs of battle like black crystal spikes spurting from the floor and one giant spike of similar origins impaling the roof, not to mention dark spots on the walls which were still smoking after the magic projectiles had hit them. Twilight sighed annoyedly. Why did Sombra have to do that? Now the whole interior was ruined…
“Sombra!” Twilight exclaimed as she realized that the dark stallion was nowhere to be seen. She spun around quickly, but did not see him anywhere.
“Where did you go!?” she called, but there was no answer. Twilight scanned her surroundings quickly, before noticing that the front door of the hall was slightly open. She quickly jumped into the air and glided to the door, where she saw a couple of drops of blood on the floor.
“Sombra?” she called from the door, peeking outside. She still didn’t see Sombra anywhere, so she stepped outside.
She then jumped back into the air, and with strong flaps of her wings she gained altitude. She circled around the castle for a good ten minutes, not seeing anything. She started to get worried. Sombra was injured. Who knows what could happen to him in the Everfree Forest.
She decided to expand the search area, which was a good idea. It didn’t take long for Twilight to spot Sombra. He was limping forward on a small road near the edge of the forest at the south end of the castle. Twilight sighed from relief, but started to wonder why he was heading that way. There was nothing of interest there.
Twilight glided towards Sombra, landing next to him with a small thud. Sombra winced at the sound, but when he saw that it was Twilight, he continued to limp onward.
“Where are you going!?” Twilight asked angrily. “You are hurt!”
“I am going to find a place to die,” Sombra answered bluntly, making Twilight confused.
“What?” she asked with almost amused tone in her voice. “Now why in the world would you do that?”
Sombra stopped, turned to look at Twilight with a guilty look in his red eyes. He hesitated for a moment, but then answered to her question, “I betrayed you Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight stared at him for a moment. He was right, but the info that Twilight had gotten that night was saying that he had had some good reasons to do so. She decided to ask about them.
“And why did you do that?” she asked, and Somba frowned. He started to limp forward again.
After a couple of painful steps he answered, “To protect you.”
“See?” Twilight said and trotted next to him. “I’m not going to ask you how you thought you were trying to protect me, but you did it because of that!”
Sombra was quiet, staring at the ground. He then lifted his gaze towards Twilight Sparkle and asked with a serious voice, “Where is The King’s Gem?”
“The Alicorn Amulet?” Twilight asked, and Sombra nodded. Twilight then said, “It is in a safe place for now.”
Sombra was quiet, and continued to limp. Twilight sighed and followed him.
“You know Ponyville is that way,” she noted and pointed to the right way with her wing.
“I already told you that I cannot live with you anymore,” Sombra said angrily. “You cannot live with a monster that almost killed you.”
Twilight groaned annoyedly.
“Why do you always have to be so melodramatic!?” she asked with a loud voice, making Sombra stop. She stomped in front of him and stared right into his eyes before asking “Did you see how the Wendigos stopped when we were hugging?”
“Yes I saw…” Sombra said averting her gaze.
Twilight huffed and then asked, “Do you know what that meant?”
“Of course I know,” Sombra answered awkwardly. “But I do not…”
Twilight cut in with a stern tone in her voice, “That means that there had to be a strong friendship between someponies in that room, and I highly doubt that it wasn’t between you and the Wendigos, and it damn sure wasn’t between me and them!”
“No need to curse Twilight Sparkle,” Sombra commented, but shut his mouth when Twilight snorted angrily.
She then took a couple of deep breaths and then continued, slightly calmer than before, “What I meant is that if there was such a strong bond between us that the Wendigos hesitated to attack us when they had the chance, I can and will forgive you for doing this.”
She then hesitated for a moment before asking, “Do you remember what I said up at the roof?”
“Yes,” Sombra answered a bit awkwardly. “Every word.”
“I meant every one of them,” Twilight quickly said with a warm smile on her lips.
Sombra carefully lifted his eyes to meet with Twilight’s purple ones. He then sighed and said with defeated tone, “Alright Twilight Sparkle… You win this time.”
“I always win,” Twilight chirped, and then made Sombra turn around.
“Let’s go home,” she said to Sombra, who huffed and hung his head a little.
“My home was destroyed a thousand years ago,” he sighed, but then felt a soft wing landing on his back. Sombra looked at the smaller mare walking next to him, and she was wearing a smile that made his heart melt.
“Your home is where my home is,” Twilight said to Sombra, who too began to smile.
“Thank you, Twilight Sparkle,” Sombra said and lowered his head so that they were in some sort of an hug-resembling pose for a second. Sombra felt how Twilight’s grip was getting tighter, and he started to feel more awkward by the second.
Sombra pushed Twilight a little backwards, breaking their hug and said, “Don’t get any ideas Twilight Sparkle.”
“Hmph,” Twilight replied, but she was smiling.
Then they continued to walk through the Everfree Forest under the moonlight.
