Celestia sat at the throne. She kept filling out paperwork. Every time she finished a stack, a new two stacks would appear. Feeling uneasy, she decided to go outside and take a break. She stood up from her throne and walked down the hall to her personal balcony.
She watched as the sun got closer to the horizon. It, soon, would be time to lower the sun for Luna, her precious sister. Her horn glowed with gold magic, making the sun quicken the pace to lower below the hills in the distance.
She watched as the moon started to slowly-but surely-rise from the horizon and took its place in the sky. She looked over at the other balcony to see Luna. Her sister saw her and smiled, waving her hoof in the air.
Celestia smiled and waved back. She was glad that her sister had forgiven her after all those years of imprisonment. Having her sister back with her was a reward of its own.
Celestia looked out above Equestria. The night was soft and quiet. It was dark and all were sleeping. As she looked around, her attention was caught on the Equestrian Mountains. Flashes of light seemed to leap from its peak. Something was wrong. She would send for guards at the break of dawn. She might even go there herself.
***
Sombra walked around the outskirts of the ice palace. He had left Snow Ire in the prisons below the palace, still bound and without her crown to use magic. Now he was scanning the grounds to find the imbalance. The spell kept lighting up the ground instead of pin-pointing the exact location. This began to irritate him.
After a while, he stopped to take a break. He knew he was getting nowhere at this rate. He wondered if the imbalance was inside the palace rather than outside. He stood up and walked into the icy castle.
He began to cast his spell around the palace. Still the magic lit up the floor. He walked around while performing his magic. He noticed that since he took Snow Ire's crown, all the ice ponies and guards had frozen in time. She was probably controlling them the whole time.
He wondered about how someone could live for so long and not miss the company of other ponies. He knew that he was an evil king at one point of his life, but he changed and he knew it.
Sombra walked down the hallway to the prisons where Snow Ire was held. Walking past the empty cells, he stopped in front of Snow Ire’s cell. She was lying on her side, curled up in her light blue royal robe that she had worn that first day. With a leather strap around her waist, her wings were restricted to her body and a magic spell kept the strap in place. Her mane was still in a braid, but it was starting to lose perfection and was fraying.
As if she could sense his presence, Snow Ire sat up and looked at him. Her icy glare shocked him a little, but he was angry for what she had done to Ornate. Their eyes locked onto each other and they stared for what seemed endless.
Finally, Snow Ire stood up and walked over to the door of the cell. Her icy blue eyes were filled with betrayal and hate.
“What do you want?” she finally asked.
“Ornate is still trapped,” he responded. “I need her out of the crystal ball.”
“Why? It’s much better to keep her in there,” Snow Ire’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
Sombra growled angrily and slammed his hoof into the ground.
“You’re the one who put her in there!” he screamed. “You know how to get her out!”
Snow Ire looked away with ignorance.
“I don’t know how to get her OUT,” she replied, “I only knew how to get her IN.”
Sombra felt her words stab him through the heart. Was it true? Did she not know how to get her out? Would Ornate be trapped forever? Sombra tried to shake the feeling away, but it haunted him.
Quickly, he ran out of the dungeon and down the hall. He sped to his room as fast as he could. He needed to know Ornate was okay. His legs clopped against the ice floor loudly until he reached his destination.
He ran into his room and looked around. His room was neat and clean with the bed made with new sheets and a new comforter. On the bed sat the crystal ball with little Ornate curled up at the bottom of her prison.
Quietly, he walked over to her and sat next to the ball. He watched her back rise and fall with each breath she took. His heart would not settle and hurt with the thought of her being stuck there forever.
With a sudden start, Ornate woke up and looked around. It seemed as though she couldn’t see him at all. She panicked and paced around a little. Sombra was confused. What was happening?
“Who are you?” Ornate asked, looking around.
“Ornate?” Sombra asked aloud.
Ornate looked like she didn’t even hear him. She ran around frantically. Sombra was mortified. She couldn’t hear him? He had to get her attention. He pushed the crystal a little to the left. She didn’t even budge. It was as if the crystal ball was projecting an image instead of wielding his lover.
Suddenly, the ball clouded with black smoke. Frantically, Sombra tapped on the ball, trying to see what was happening. After a minute, the smoke cleared and Ornate couldn’t be found.
Sombra’s eyes widened in disbelief. Was she really gone? Tears formed in his eyes. He couldn’t lose her again.
Standing up, he ran out of his room and towards the entrance of the palace. Running outside, he aimed his horn to the air and a purple beam of magic shot from it and burst through the clouds above. Sombra could only hope that Celestia would get his signal.