Twilight receives a letter from Celestia and it says she must come to Canterlot alone! Of course she cannot ignore an urgent letter like that! When she gets there, is it as urgent as it seems?
Twilight get a letter from Celestia on a regular day, but it says that she must come to Canterlot immediately and with nopony else. Quickly, Twilight leaves Ponyville to aid Celestia in her time of need. But, when she gets there; it turns out what she raced there for, was not what she expected. As a matter of fact, she felt like just letting loose a thousand of parasprites in the castle for what Princess Celestia called her for. I mean out of all the ponies in Equestria...why is she in love with Sombra!?!
I don't know the name of the artist for the cover art...sorry
It had been months since the Crystal Empire event. After that day, a few of the Mane 6 worried about Sombra's return, but the feeling soon died down and they felt content once again, especially after a few reassuring words from their leader, Twilight Sparkle. They almost always seek advice from her since she's the one who had an idea or a plan. It's true that she had a lecture up her (metaphorical) sleeve, but this time it was different, even she wasn't sure if Sombra would return. Its times like this, Twilight's glad that she isn't the Element of Honesty. Within time, she calmed down and forgot about all the possibilities of his return. She decided that there is absolutely no reason to worry. At least, that's what she hoped for.
Twilight sat in her house reading a book called History of Equestria. She has read this 900 paged book five times already, but she just thought it was so fascinating that she needed to read it again. Twilight was on chapter three of the history book, until she heard her number one assistant, Spike, call her. She groaned and angrily trotted upstairs. "Why did he have to interrupt me? I was on the best part of the book. It better be important this time, unlike the time he got his tail stuck in the tub's drain," She stopped walking and sighed, "okay that was important. But, he made this sound like the world is gonna end!" Twilight continued up the steps.
Spike paced back and forth very anxious for Twilight to get upstairs. He quickly turned around once he heard her hoof-steps. Twilight groaned, "Okay Spike, what is it?"
He answered trying to not show too much concern, "It's a letter from the Princess. She sent a note saying that I wasn't allowed to read it. I guess she wants you to read it in private."
Twilight started getting really frightened. If she was told to read it alone, then it must be urgent. She levitated the letter out of Spike's claw and opened it up. A ticket for the train fell out, whatever the trouble is; it needed to be done immediately. Spike exclaimed, "Come on! Read the letter! It's not like she'll know if I heard it."
"What! No, Spike, you can't hear or see the letter. It doesn't concern you." Twilight ranted. Spike moaned and went downstairs. Thinking that Spike is probably still within ear shot, she read the letter in her head. The letter said:
My faithful student, Twilight,
I must keep this letter short for it is important for you to come to Canterlot, immediately. You cannot tell ANYONE about this, not even your friends. I put a train ticket in the letter. You must come immediately after you're done reading this. I'll explain the problem once you get here. Help me Twilight Sparkle, you are my only hope.
Signed,
Princess Celestia
Not wanting to waste any time, Twilight tucked the note underneath her pillow, grabbed the ticket, and started heading out. She was just at the door until, she forgot to come up with an alibi. Her friends are bound to come by; also, it is a library after all somepony was guaranteed to check out a book. Twilight turned around and told Spike, "I need you to tell anypony that comes by that I'm on a trip to…um…Manehattan."
"What if they ask 'why'?" Spike asked. She groaned, loudly. She didn't have time for this. "Just tell them I'm at a convention. Look, I really have to go!" Twilight hastily said. She ran out the door and made her way to the train station. Spike sighed, "I sure hope it isn't anything too evil."
Twilight was so happy that she made it to the train station while it was still docked. She showed the Ticket Inspector her ticket and galloped on board. She sat in a booth all by herself; she needed to let everything sink in. It made her nervous that she couldn't tell anypony, especially her friends. Was it a type of test where she has to see if she can trust anyone? Or was it too drastic of a situation to tell anypony? Whatever it is, she hoped the princesses were okay.
Twilight dashed through town, trying to get to the castle. She didn't even stop to chat with her old friends; there's something serious going on in the castle, and she needed to be there A.S.A.P. Twilight was so pleased when she got to the castle. When she got to the door, she was stopped by two royal guard's spears. They both recited, "Nopony goes in to see Princess Celestia or Princess Luna, unless it's royal business."
Twilight was about to state her business but, swiftly covered her mouth. Was she allowed to tell the guards? Do they know the problem? Behind her a voice ordered, "It's alright, she may enter."
She turned around and saw Luna. The two guards opened the doors and allowed the two in. Twilight heard one of the guards whisper something but she wasn't concentrating on what he said. The two walked through the Main Hall in silence until, Luna said, "We are very happy to see you here, Twilight Sparkle."
She wasn't too sure if Luna was talking about her and her sister, or just herself, but she didn't really mind. Twilight replied, "I'm just relieved to be here. Is Princess Celestia okay?"
"We are not sure," She's addressing herself as 'we', "we haven't seen our sister like this before. She seemed very anxious and she has been getting lost in her thoughts." Luna responded. Twilight reassured, "Well, I'm here to help."
Luna nodded to her. The two stopped at Celestia's large bedroom door. Luna ordered, "Wait here."
She walked inside her sister's room and left Twilight alone. Twilight fiddled with her hooves, nervously. She heard their whispering grew louder, and it only made her more panicky. Luna walked out of the bedroom and said, "You may go in."
Twilight galloped inside the room. She heard Luna giggle as she passed her, but again, she didn't think much of it. She saw Celestia lying on her bed, poking her hoof at the floor. Twilight cleared her throat; she thought that she didn't see her. Celestia looked up and apologized, "Sorry, Twilight. I've just been off today."
"No reason to apologize, Princess." Twilight replied. Celestia got up and walked towards her student. Her face showed a lot of concern. She stopped in front of Twilight and bowed her head to think. She began, "You know that I brought you here for an important reason. I even had trouble discussing it with Luna."
"No matter what the problem is, I won't leave your side." Twilight stated. Celestia was relieved to hear her say that. She continued, "Twilight Sparkle."
Twilight's eyes grew huge. She was very scared and excited to hear about the problem. Celestia went on, "I want you to…meet somepony."
Twilight cocked her head in confusion. Is that it? Was that the drastic situation that got her so worried? She asked "Just meeting somepony? That's it?"
"Well, the pony is actually my…uh…special somepony." Celestia bashfully clarified. Twilight's eyes sparkled (pun intended). Her mentor has a special somepony! More importantly, who is he? She asked, "Who is it? Where is he?"
She answered, "He's staying in the guest room. It's down the hall, to the right, but Twilight-"
Twilight galloped down the hall before she could finish. Celestia instantly began galloping after her. The sound of her hooves was drowned out by Twilight's thought. She just kept thinking about the type of pony Celestia would fall in love with. It obviously had to be someone fair and kind. She would never fall in love with someone who's cruel and vicious. As she was running, she saw a hallway to her right and instantly turned. Her running was stopped by bumping into somepony. Twilight winced at the new headache she received. She gasped, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bump into you. Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine," said a colt in a strict tone. The colt's voice was very deep and ominous, but she swore she has heard it before. Twilight looked up and gasped.
Twilight scornfully fumed, "King Sombra! What are you doing here!?"
Sombra smiled mockingly at her obliviousness. Feeling angered, her horn began to glow, and it only rapidly intensified. Celestia finally caught up with Twilight. She placed her foreleg in front of her. Twilight's horn dimmed down and she stared up at her mentor confusingly. Celestia went by Sombra's side and smiled blushingly. She cleared her throat and began, "Twilight Sparkle, King Sombra is the special somepony I told you about."
Twilight sat down and gave the two a blank stare. She didn't understand. I don't get it. What is Sombra doing here? Twilight thought puzzlingly. It didn't seem to make sense to her. They got rid of Sombra months ago, so why is he still here? Why is here in Canterlot, inside the Princess's castle? She finally spoke out, "Okay. So, what is he doing here?"
"Not really the brightest pony, is she?" Sombra asked. Celestia just gave him a concerned look. She placed her hoof on Twilight's shoulder and slowly explained, "Sombra is here because I found him in the Arctic North, alone and defenseless, due to him losing a bit of his magic. I brought Sombra back to Canterlot to aid him, to regain a little bit of his power. If, he was going to stay away from the Crystal Empire then I will help him. But, that was the main intention. I guess, after a few weeks we started feeling a bond for each other. The next thing you know, after a month we fell in love. And like I said before, he became my special somepony."
She just nodded her understandingly. She replied, "Okay, I understand. But, I still don't understand one thing."
"What's that?" The Princess asked. She answered, "What is he doing-"
A ding went off in Twilight's head. She couldn't believe what she heard. Sombra and Celestia are in love! It just didn't add up. What could she see in him? Celestia asked, "Twilight, are you-"
Before she could finish her question, Twilight broke off in a full gallop. She wanted to leave the castle, she didn't know why but she just needed to leave and get back home. Celestia was about to go after her, but Sombra put his hoof in front of her. "I'll handle it." He said reassuringly. His body turned into smoke and it followed Twilight's path. Celestia sighed, "I should've told her about this earlier. I just hope Twilight doesn't do anything too risky."
Twilight kept running down the hallway. She couldn't wait to get back home and sort this all out. There's no way that Celestia could actually be in love with that villain. As she was running she accidentally ran into Luna. Luna saw her distraught expression. She reassured, "Twilight, please do not fear. My sister will be fine with Sombra, I promise."
Without thinking, Twilight shook her head and retorted, "How could you possibly promise that!?"
She got up and started galloping again. Luna was about to go get her, but she saw something black whiz past her. There was no doubt that it was Sombra, she didn't even try to stop him. She guessed the way to let Twilight deal with her problem is by facing the problem itself. Twilight bolted out the door and started making her way to the train station. She constantly had to keep apologizing to ponies; she kept either bumping into them or she blocked their path. A smile beamed across her face when she saw the train docked. The smile didn't last very long, as she saw some smoke get in front of her, especially when she saw that smoke turn into Sombra. Twilight skidded to a halt, her breath sawed in and out of her lungs. She wheezed, "Move…Sombra!"
"Not until you answer my question first." He demanded. She eyed the train for a second but then looked back at Sombra. For a response she sat down and listened. He asked, "Once you get back to your home in Ponyville, what were you planning on doing?"
"Well, I was going to go sort out how you hypnotized Celestia and then…wait! How do you know where I live?" She exclaimed, "You lived in the Crystal Empire during your reign and when you got destroyed. There's no way you could've learned where I live!"
Sombra answered, "During the past few months I've been here, Celly has been telling me about you and your friends."
Twilight gagged when he said "Celly". "Plus, what makes you think I hypnotized the Princess?" He asked suspiciously. She rolled her eyes at him, as if the answer wasn't obvious. She explained, "Well for one thing, you're evil! And I doubt many evil ponies would have that type of feeling for another pony. Also, she is a princess after all. You could've hypnotized her into thinking that you like her, thus making you closer to ruling Canterlot. And oh yeah, YOU ARE EVIL! Do I even have to mention you enslaved your own kind!?"
There was a loud whistle and a sound of an engine. Twilight looked at the train and saw it moving on to the next area. She galloped towards the moving train and shouted, "No wait! Come back!"
She groaned as she saw it going along its course. She looked over her shoulder and glared at Sombra. He gave her a confusing look. She walked over to him, got in his face, and shouted, "You made me late!"
He gave her an apathetic stare. "Can't you just teleport yourself there?" He questioned. She responded, "I could but, it takes up so much magic. So, unless you have a bright-"
She looked up and saw the black aura around Sombra's horn. The aura strengthened and shot out towards Twilight. She gasped, "No, your magic it's t-"
Before she could finish, the beam hit her and it caused her extreme pain. In a bright flash, she disappeared. Sombra looked at the scorched Twilight-less spot. He smiled in satisfaction and started trotting back to the castle. He told himself, "She'll thank me later."
Rainbow Dash and Applejack stood (well for Rainbow Dash she hovered) angrily in Twilight's house. Spike kept telling them that she was at a convention but they didn't buy it. She wouldn't just leave them without saying a word. Spike repeated, "I told you already, she's at a convention in Manehattan."
Rainbow flew in his face and shouted, "Oh yeah! If she's at a convention, what is it about?"
Applejack pulled on Rainbow's tail, so she wouldn't be scaring Spike too much. Applejack reassured, "Just tell us where she's at, sugarcube. We won't get mad." She looked at Rainbow's angered expression, "Well, at least Ah won't."
He thought for a bit and answered, "She's at a convention about…uh…Manega."
The two athletes exchanged confused looks. They didn't know Twilight liked Manega. A dark flash came from the upstairs; the three looked at the flash as it started dimming. Curiosity overcame them and they started walking up the steps. The flash came from Twilight's bedroom. Spike slowly put his claw on the doorknob, cautiously turned it, and opened the door. They gasped when they saw a burnt and smoking Twilight swaying. Rainbow asked, "Twilight, what happened to you?"
"I'm…okay." She slurred. With that, Twilight fell to the ground in pain. Rainbow and Applejack looked at Spike. He just smiled nervously at them. AJ huffed, "Ya'll got a lot of explainin' ta do."
It was nighttime in Ponyville, an anxious Twilight paced back and forth in her dining room. The rest of the Mane 6 sat anxiously at the table, waiting for their friend's response. Twilight finally stopped pacing and turned around to face her friends. She started, "Now, I know all of you remember the affair that happened in the Crystal Empire."
They all replied with "mmm-hmms". She had hoped one of them at least tried to forget; now she was even more nervous than ever. She tried her best not to show her anxiety and continued, "I know you guys worried about Sombra's return and I know I said he wouldn't. Well, uh…he has come back."
Her friends gasped, except for Rainbow, who tried to hold it back and look brave. Fluttershy asked in her whispered voice, "H-How did he c-c-come back?"
Twilight had a strong desire to lie, but they're her friends, she can't do that. Plus, it was inevitable that they'll find out sooner or later. She just had to think of a way to not make Princess Celestia look bad. She explained, "Uh, Princess Celestia found him in the middle of the Arctic North, and he lost all of his magic. So, she, uh, may have, um…"
Pinkie exclaimed, "Come on, Twilight! Spit it out! Oh, don't spit everything out, just the words. If you spit everything out of your body, it'll hurt."
She just rolled her eyes at Pinkie's comment and finally put out, "She took him in and helped regain his magic back."
They couldn't believe what they were hearing; why would Princess Celestia bring in somepony as evil as Sombra. "That's not all. Sombra and Celestia might be in a…relationship."
"So…when's the wedding?" Rarity joked. Twilight glared at the fashonista. She nervously giggled, "I was only joking."
"How long has this been goin' on?" Applejack asked. She raised her hoof to her chin and tried to remember what Celestia said. She was so in shocked that she doesn't even remember half of the conversation. Then again, Sombra did say during the past few months. Considering that he got destroyed seven months ago, they could've started seeing each other after three or four months later. So, she answered, "It hasn't been that long, probably only 3 or 4 months."
They all shared awkward looks with each other. It was hard to process all of this, especially since it's unusual for the princess to have those types of feelings….well for a villain. "I-I guess, that's good for Celestia." Fluttershy whispered. The five raised a brow at their friend. Rainbow questioned, "How in the hay is that a good thing?"
"Well, it's nice for her to have somepony in love with her. I would like to have a special somepony in my life. You of all ponies should understand, Twilight." She explained. Twilight did know what it's like to be in love. She and Flash Sentry have been going out for a whole year, but Flash isn't evil, so there is a huge difference. Twilight replied, "Yes, but Sombra is evil."
"Ain't Sombra's heart suppose' ta be as black as nigh'?" AJ asked. Twilight held back the urge to roll her eyes, but she still nodded her head. She went on, "So, how's he in love wit tha' Princess, if he's so evil?"
Now, she was more confused than ever. Then she remembered thinking it was a spell, but she didn't have any facts to back it up, so saying something like that wouldn't make much sense. The last thing Twilight wanted to do was to admit that Celestia is actually in love with him. Rarity saw her friend's confused expression, so she said, "Twilight, maybe they are in love with each other."
"I guess it makes sense. Sombra is a handsome pony." Pinkie agreed. Her friends looked at her with confusion. She did nothing but smile at them. They looked back at Twilight to see if she had anything else to see. She sighed, "Maybe you all are right."
Applejack walked up to her friend and gave her a consoling hug. She informed, "Now don't be sad, sugarcube. Ah reckon' Celestia knew you'd feel this way. A understand th't Sombra's as mean as a snake, but maybe…just maybe he could've changed."
The rest agreed along with her. Twilight just nodded her head. With that, her friends said their goodnight's and left the tree-house. Twilight walked up the steps to her bedroom and tried thinking hard about what her friends said to her.
Celestia paced around her bedroom worried about her student. She expected her to have that reaction, but to run off the way she did, made her assume the worse. Sombra, lying down in bed, watched his partner pace around the room. He reassured, "There's a possibility she won't even tell anypony."
She didn't answer him and kept pacing around. Celestia felt a strong force around her and noticed that she was levitating. It brought her to her bed. She turned and saw Sombra using his magic. He started nuzzling her nose and consoled, "Everything will be fine, trust me."
He used his magic to open the windows. The wind came through and blew out the fire; the moon light illuminated the room. Sombra wrapped his foreleg around Celestia's body and continued, "Besides, it's not like you can make her stay here with the both of us. Well, goodnight, Celly."
"Goodnight, my king," then the two fell asleep, at least it seemed that way, but Celestia instantly woke up. She was thinking about what Sombra said about making Twilight stay. It might be a crazy idea, then again, she is desperate. She slowly got out of bed, trying not to disrupt Sombra's slumber, and walked over to her podium. Her magic started levitating some paper and a quill over towards her. She then began writing her message to Twilight. It filled her with anxiety as she was writing for two reasons. One: She didn't know how her student will react to the letter. Two: What will happen if she accepts the letter and stays at the castle? Unfortunately, there was only one way to find. When she was done, she levitated some ribbon over towards the paper and wrapped the ribbon around it. Instead of sending the letter immediately, she put the message underneath one of their pillows. Celestia sighed in relief. "It has to be this way, in order for her to accept him."
Quietly, she walked back into bed and lay down beside Sombra. One of his eyes opened up, still looking groggy. He asked, "What were you doing?"
The next day, Twilight and her friends were having a picnic together at the swimming hole. They all were talking about their plans for the day, all of them except for Twilight; she was quiet throughout half of the picnic. There was something that had been lingering over her head the whole morning and it's been bothering her. She hoped that no one would notice her silence and just keep on talking. She had been so deep in her thoughts; she didn't hear one thing Rarity said. Rarity repeated, "What about you, Twilight?"
Twilight rose her head up and gave her friends a puzzled stare. They exchanged suspicious glances with one another. They have never seen their friend act so abnormal before, it caused them to get nervous. Applejack asked, "Are ya'll alright?"
She didn't know how to answer her friend's question. The note that she had received in the morning had made her worried. She didn't know how to break it to her friends, especially since she didn't know how they'd react. Their concerned looks intensified on the quiet unicorn. Twilight sighed and began, "Alright, I'll tell you. I received a letter from Princess Celestia this morning. It was about me staying in the Canterlot Castle, The Princess wants me to stay, because she thinks it'll help me create a bond with Sombra. Do you think I should go along with it?"
Fluttershy answered, "W-Well, if Celestia wants you to."
"But, I don't want to!" Twilight shouted. The timid Pegasus gasped and whispered, "Oh, I'm sorry, forget I said anything."
Twilight sighed and shook her head. She admitted that Fluttershy is right; she can't disobey a letter from the Princess, despite the circumstances. She sighed. It looked like she didn't have much of a choice. She concluded, "You're right, Fluttershy. I should go, but not for Sombra, for Celestia."
"Are you sure?" Pinkie asked kind of worried for her friend. Twilight nodded without hesitation. They all gave each other curious looks, but they rather not argue with the determined unicorn. Twilight rose to her hooves, said goodbye, and started walking away. They all figured that the letter met she was to leave now. The one bad thing is that they weren't really able to witness Sombra's power, so they hope their friend comes back in one piece.
Celestia, Luna, and a few servants were getting a bedroom ready for Twilight. They wanted her to feel at home, so she can at least have someplace to unwind since that she's staying with a villain. Sombra refused to help, thinking that Twilight will give him nothing but grief the whole stay there. Although, he wasn't very nervous about Twilight coming, Celestia was the one that was nervous. She doubted that the visit will go as smoothly as she hoped. Sometimes, she would even suggest making a few things magic proof, just in case someone may want to use things as weapons. But, everyone would always think she was overreacting. Celestia was messing with the decorations in the room, when Luna came up to her and asked, "My sister, you must calm down. We wish not to see you like this any longer."
"I know I need to, but what if everything goes wrong. Twilight won't trust me anymore." Celestia forlornly said. The young sister consoled, "Even if everything goes wrong, we think the last thing Twilight would do is distrust her own mentor."
She smiled fondly at Luna and hugged her. They heard the door to the bedroom open up and one of the guards stood at the entrance. He announced, "Twilight is here, your highness."
The two sisters looked sent each other looks filled with mixed emotions, but they soon followed the guard.
Twilight walked around the castle, feeling to unsettled to just stand around. The unsettlement started right when she boarded the train and still continued on. She still couldn't believe Celestia wanted her to do this, even when she knows she doesn't like Sombra. But, Twilight tried to convince herself that it's for the best, so far it hasn't worked. As she was walking, she heard somepony ask, "Aren't you supposed to be waiting for Celestia?"
She turned around and frowned at Sombra. The last thing she wanted to see was him, despite that's the reason she came to the castle. She groaned and started walking back to the main entrance, avoiding eye contact with him. He walked up to her side and asked, "Why don't I walk with you?"
"I'm good." She said dryly, "I think I can do this on my own."
Despite her answer, he still kept walking by her side. The two walked down the corridor in silence, a really unnerving silence. "So, are you excited about staying here?" Sombra broke the silence. She didn't feel like really talking to anyone at the moment. She sighed and answered, "Not really, but I'm hoping it won't last long."
"Well, it will last long if we don't get along." He informed the unicorn. She stopped walking and stood still for a second. Sombra stopped as well and turned around. Before he could ask anything, Twilight fumed, "Why are you acting this way? I can't believe I'm say this, but this isn't you! Just like Celestia said your heart is as black as night, but yet you're being an absolute gentlecolt. I mean, I know I should be happy, but it doesn't make sense! You're Sombra, the tyrannical king of the Crystal Empire," Sombra's eyes widened and one started to twitch, "the one who enslaved all crystal ponies to do his own bidding," he found himself to be smiling wickedly, "and can do feats of strong black magic that could possibly change reality! Yet, you want to "get along" with me! I mean, what the hay is wrong with you?!"
She breathed heavily right after her rant. She looked up at Sombra and saw his weird expression. She walked up to him and waved her hoof in front of his face. Sombra shook his head and stared out in a daze. She asked with actual concern, "Are you okay?"
He looked down at Twilight and glared at her. He demanded, "Don't ever mention that, again! I left that desire months ago, I don't care for it any longer."
With that, Sombra started walking ahead of Twilight. She looked at him very puzzled. How could he just stop wanting slaves or even wanting to rule? She shook the thought out of her head and started following him. Instead of not wanting to know anything about Sombra, she was actually intrigued to learn more.
Twilight and Sombra made it the guest room without making one sound to each other. Sombra reason is because he was still upset at her bringing up the whole "evil tyrant" thing, and Twilight just didn't was a little afraid to speak to him after that little episode. They didn't see Celestia anywhere as they were walking so they assumed that she would be in here, unfortunately they were wrong. Sombra groaned with a tiny bit of irritation, "I'll go look for her; you just make yourself comfortable."
Twilight turned her head to thank him, but he was already far down the hall and she didn't want to shout feeling that it would be rude. She just sighed and walked inside of her temporary room. The bedroom made her feel unsettled; it was a little too luxurious for her taste, despite the fact it's not the first time she has lived in Canterlot, but she was so used to her tree-house. The canopy bed had purple curtains with a galaxy-like design, the frame of the bed was made of mahogany, and the columns had little bit of silver lining wrapped around them; there were two small white dressers on both sides of the bed, the back wall was a window overlooking what looked like almost all of Equestria, two walls were turned into bookshelves which had (what else?) books and a few ancient scrolls, and there was also a golden chandelier. She stuck out like a sore hoof just by looking at the design of the room. Twilight set her saddlebag on the bed and said, "I might as well get used to this. I'm doing this for Celestia."
"Twilight!" A voice gleefully exclaimed. She turned around and saw Celestia beaming in front of the doorway. The purple unicorn smiled, trotted over to her mentor, and bowed. She greeted, "Good morning, Celestia."
Celestia apologized, "I'm sorry if the room isn't to your liking. I tried to make it resemble your home back at Ponyville."
Twilight quickly examined the room once more and whispered sarcastically, "Nailed it."
There was tiny bit of silence between them until Celestia said, "Uh, Twilight," she looked up at the alicorn, "you do realize I'm doing this for your own good. You don't have to do it if you feel uncomfortable."
She shook her head. "No, it's perfectly fine. It's probably for the best."
"Well, if you need anything I'll be in my chambers," Twilight nodded and closed the door. As Celestia began walking away, Luna came peeking out from a corner and asked, "What did she say?"
"She said that she was perfectly fine with the idea of staying here," She replied. Her sister questioned with interest, "Do you believe her?"
She thought for a few seconds and said plainly, "Absolutely not."
Her answered caused her sister to giggle a little, despite that she already knew her answer. The two already knew that this isn't going to end well, but who can really tell what the future holds.
A few minutes after unpacking her things, Twilight walked out of her room and started making her way towards the library. She didn't know what she would find, but she was hoping to find a book on the Crystal Empire. She was hoping to find more information on Sombra. The empire was bound to at least export some of their books to Canterlot or neighboring cities. As she was walking, she stopped midway, realizing that completely forgot where the library is exactly. She groaned, "Well, this was pointless."
As she was about to go back to her room, she heard hoof-steps behind her. She spun around and saw that there was another pony going in the opposite direction as her. The pony was a male unicorn; he had a white mane (styled like Doctor Whooves except in a ponytail) and tail, a blue coat, and is bespectacled. His cutie mark is a closed scroll; so he has to know where the archive is. She trotted towards him, and requested, "Hey, can you show me where the library is? I'm kind of lost."
He answered, "Of course, I can. Just follow me."
Twilight grinned and began walking alongside him. Trying not to seem shy, she spoke out, "I've never seen you around here. Did you just move here?"
He chuckled warmly, "No, I've always lived in Canterlot. I just don't normally come into the castle unless Princess Celestia summons me."
She just nodded and kept on following him. She wanted to know what Celestia summons him for, but she figured that wasn't really her business. Twilight had an urge to ask what he was doing here know; who knows, maybe he wasn't here for royal duty. A hesitated look was plastered all over face; it made the blue unicorn a little worried. "Are you alright?" He stopped and turned to her, "Is there anything I can do to help?"
She fibbed, "Well, I just feel a little edgy not knowing exactly who you are, that's all," at the end she smiled widely, feeling a little stupid, thinking that he could tell that she was lying. He sent an unbelievable gaze at her, but soon shrugged it off. "I guess that makes sense," he continued walking, "if you must know, my name is Scholar. What about yours?"
"Twilight Sparkle," She replied with ease. He exclaimed, "Ah! You're that mare that saved Equestria twice!"
Not trying to seem too conceited, she just giggled and nodded. The rest of the time they spent walking was in silence. Twilight was happy that she got help from Scholar, they passed by so many turns that it would've been inevitable for her to get lost. When they made it to the archive, Scholar questioned, "Here we are. Do you think you can find your way back?"
She replied, "I think I can manage, but I do have one more thing to ask you Scholar," his ears perked up with attentiveness, "Do you know if books from the Crystal Empire are here?"
He raised his hoof to his chin and thought for a bit. Twilight felt like shouting "hurry up" to him, but she knew that would be rude, so she just kept quiet. He put down his hoof and gave her a disappointing look. She just only sighed and said, "Thanks for the help anyway."
He began walking away from her, until he remembered something. He turned around and gleamed, "Actually there might be something about the Crystal Empire in certain scrolls, but the only unfortunate thing is that some scrolls may be archaic."
She remembered seeing a few scrolls in her bedroom; one of them was bound to have something about Sombra. She hesitated, "Uh, Scholar, do you possibly know how to read any ancient Equestrian?"
He narrowed his eyes at her hesitation, he pondered, "Yes I can, why do you need it?"
"Well, I just need a little help reading it so…uh…I can learn more about, King Sombra," Twilight stuttered. Scholar sighed; he really didn't know what to do. He remembered hearing Celestia talking about Sombra about Twilight; about how she really doesn't want him here and feels like he is just faking it all. He doesn't agree with her, but he doesn't really want to make her to hate Sombra even more. He stressed, "Uh, Twilight, I don't think-"
Before he could finish, she wrapped her forelegs around his right front leg. She begged, "Please, oh please, Scholar! It would mean so much to me! Pleeeeeeeeeassssseee!"
"Oh, alright," He gave into her plea. She nuzzled his leg and cheered, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you…"
Scholar tried shaking her off, but to no avail she stayed on. He sighed and began walking back to Twilight's room with the pleased unicorn on his leg.
