Twilight only became aware of the change in her location when she opened her eyes to blink up into the shadows of a dimly lit ceiling. As she turned her head about in confusion, she quickly noticed that the ruined balcony and parapets of the Beast’s castle were gone, replaced by the looming shapes of furniture in the surrounding dark.
Beauty and the Beast had apparently reached its end. Any other time, she would have been eager to find out what new fairy tale the storybook had dropped her into, but she was too distracted by the rapid pounding of her heart... and the lingering warmth of Sombra’s kiss. Even though the previous story had faded in conclusion, they hadn’t separated, completely unaware of the disappearing landscape around them.
Her brain wouldn't stop focusing on that moment, sending a tingling sensation across her fur as the last words Sombra had said to her repeated through her mind.
“Friendship will not suffice.”
Twilight felt the heat of her embarrassment burn hotter across her face with every repetition. It… it wasn't as if he had said that he loved her… but… The meaning behind those words...
She quickly shook her head to tear herself away from the daydream. The room suddenly felt incredibly stuffy, and she needed some air to clear her thoughts.
Sliding from the bed she found herself on, Twilight felt a brush of light fabric whisper against her fur, and delicate horseshoes clink lightly against the marble floor when she trotted toward the curtained windows. She pushed them aside, allowing the bright sunlight of a new day to spill in. Quickly shielding her eyes, she stepped out onto a short balcony overlooking a quaint garden bordered by tan stone walls.
Blinking against the light, Twilight laid her front hooves upon the railing and took a deep breath of the fresh air before letting it out as a lengthy sigh. Resting her head against her legs, she sat peacefully for a moment, soaking in the warmth of the sun’s rays and twitching her ears at the soft twitters of birdsong.
She wasn’t there for very long before the giggle of a young foal joined the ambiance of the garden below, and Twilight’s ears quickly perked when she recognized the bubbling laughter. Leaning further over the railing, she was surprised to see Flurry Heart fluttering across the lawn with tiny and adorable creatures scampering beneath her hooves. Small birds circled around her in a playful display, and a young fawn even pranced happily alongside her.
“Flurry?” Twilight called out, and Flurry Heart spun around before waving excitedly when she noticed her aunt, but she didn’t fly up to greet her. The animals accompanying her appeared to be keeping her distracted.
Twilight leaned back with a relieved sigh, content that Flurry appeared to be safe and sound—and more importantly, no longer a teacup. Despite her distance from the garden, she couldn’t help but notice the elegant, golden bands over Flurry’s mane near her horn, much like the clips that had appeared during her Crystalling. Twilight was certain that the storybook had given her niece the role of a young princess… but where did that leave herself?
Turning away from the open window and stepping back into the sunlit room, Twilight switched her gaze to the elegant furnishings that sparkled back at her in the glow, clearly belonging to a figure of royalty, or at least of great wealth. A tall mirror glinted at her from the other end of the room, resting at the top of a short dais, and Twilight trotted closer, unable to resist her curiosity.
The golden tiara that she spotted on her mane wasn’t much of a surprise, but what was unexpected was the style of the dress she found herself wearing. The shimmering silver of the purple silk was elegant and fascinating to look at, but the black cape that draped over her shoulders just seemed a bit too… dramatic.
Placing a hoof on the mirror’s frame and leaning in to get a closer look, she lowered an ear in confusion as she studied her reflection in the mirror. “Does this mean I’m another princess?” she mumbled to herself.
“Do not belittle yourself by any means,” a deep, familiar voice startled Twilight in the quiet of the room. Her head whipped around, but she saw nopony else, even as it continued, “Your true title is far more important, my Queen.”
“Queen!?” Twilight adjusted the crown behind her horn and cautiously stepped back in front of the mirror. She noticed a dark mist swirling in the depths, and a faint shape formed in its reflection. “You… can’t mean me.” Her feathers ruffled in a slight panic. “I-I can’t be a queen… that would mean...”
“Your subjects bow without hesitation,” the voice explained, and Twilight finally recognized Zecora’s voice emanating from the glass. “For you are the absolute ruler of this nation.”
“That can’t be right!” Twilight turned and began to pace around the room, a horrible realization dawning on her as the pieces fell into place. A magic mirror owned by a Queen... “No, no, no, no, no! How can I be the main villain? If I’m the Queen… then... Flurry is the Princess?”
“You, my Queen, are fair, it’s true,” Zecora’s voice interrupted her before she could get her thoughts straight. “But Flurry Heart is a thousand times fairer than you.”
“Fairer?” Twilight repeated, flattening her ears at the answer to a question she hadn’t even asked. Her heart began to race as she sprinted back to the balcony to watch Flurry playfully romping below. “The Queen tries to hurt her, but I don’t want to do anything like that to Flurry!” Twilight jumped up onto the railing and spread her wings.
“If you wish to brew a curse with discretion—” the Zecora-mirror started.
“That wasn’t a question!” Twilight shouted back irritably before launching into the air and gliding down to the garden. When she thudded onto the grass near Flurry Heart, the woodland creatures following her jumped up and scattered, immediately scrambling into the nearby bushes to hide.
Flurry, however, squealed excitedly and flew up to hug her aunt around her neck. Lifting a leg to embrace her tightly, Twilight quickly leaned away with a worried expression. “Flurry, I need you to listen to me.”
Flurry Heart giggled softly, but was otherwise quiet, appearing to be giving Twilight all her attention.
“I need you to get as far as you can from the castle, do you understand?” Twilight’s brows knit in concern, hoping that her young niece would be able to grasp the danger of the situation through her serious tone. “It’s not safe here.”
Flurry Heart nodded as if she understood, but when she lifted herself from Twilight’s hold, she grabbed her aunt’s hoof and started tugging as if to have her follow. Twilight reached up and scooped Flurry into her legs again and nuzzled her cheek. “I can’t come.” She raised her gaze to see Flurry’s large eyes blink at her in confusion. “You need to leave on your own. Can you do that?”
Her niece only responded with a whimper and leaned forward to tightly hug Twilight again. Twilight grit her teeth and tugged her niece away, giving her a stern look, but at the sad frown that Flurry gave her, Twilight’s expression softened. “I’m sorry, Flurry. How about we play a game instead?”
Her ears quickly perking with interest, Flurry Heart clapped her hooves expectantly.
“There are a group of young ponies in the woods, and you need to find them.” Twilight smiled softly, nuzzling her nose against Flurry’s and drawing a happy gurgle from her niece. “You have to hide with them, and I’ll come looking for you later, alright? Ready? 1… 2… 3...”
At her count, Flurry Heart jumped into the air with a giggle, flapping her wings to fly out of the garden as fast as she could move. The small animals that had been hiding in the bushes slowly revealed themselves and followed after her, warily glancing back at Twilight as she watched with a somber expression. Once Flurry Heart was gone from her sight, Twilight jumped up and started to gallop back to the castle.
As she ran toward an archway that led inside, two guards standing attention to either side looked at her in alarm. “My Queen, is everything all—”
“Perfectly fine!” Twilight shouted when she sprinted by.
“But what about—” one of the guards started to ask, but she disappeared down a hallway without sticking around to listen. She didn’t really know where she was going, but she was certain she would find out something if she explored the castle. She needed to find Spike and Sombra, and there were only two more important roles that she could recall: the prince that finds Snow White, and the—
As she galloped around a corner, she slammed head-first into another pony, her ears ringing from the sound of metal. Twilight’s crown toppled from her head and clattered to the floor, and she might have fallen with it had a strong leg not wrapped around her middle to catch her.
“It has been far too long since we’ve started in the same place,” a deep voice rumbled in her ear, and Twilight’s gaze shot up to see Sombra’s fangs glistening at her in a quiet smirk. “I didn’t expect to run into you so soon.”
“Ab… ah… I uh…” Twilight stammered while Sombra helped her back to her hooves, using his magic to pick her tiara off of the floor and return it to her. After placing it on her mane, his eyes briefly lingered on the crown atop her head, and he grinned mischievously before reaching out to grasp her leg.
“Your Highness.” He bowed and pulled her hoof to his lips, and Twilight’s heart fluttered wildly.
She could feel a blush blooming over her cheeks already, her worry about the story consumed by returning thoughts of their earlier kiss. With a shake of her head, Twilight yanked her hoof out of his and stomped it against the floor with a shout. “Stop distracting me!”
“Oh? Am I really…” Sombra began with a teasing tone, but the expression she gave him must have looked grim, because his grin quickly faded. “What’s wrong?”
“Wrong?” Twilight asked, thumping a hoof against her chest. “What’s wrong is that I’m the Wicked Queen!” She began to pace along the hall, her wings fluttering in her mounting panic. “The main antagonist! One of the most famous villains in the history of fairy tales! And Flurry Heart is the Princess!”
Sombra was silent at this, staring at her with a baffled look before he snorted out a laugh. “I didn’t take you for the jealous type.”
Twilight balked and gaped at him. “Jealous!? I’m worried about her!” Her feathers ruffled as she moved to stomp down the corridor, and Sombra jumped to his hooves to quickly fall into step beside her.
“Personally, I think the title of Queen suits you better.” Sombra chuckled with a soft smile, something warm and different from his usual expression.
Twilight frowned at him, but lowered her ears with a tired look. “Not this queen. We’re in ‘Snow White,’ and in this fairy tale, she does terrible things to the Princess just because a magic mirror told her she’s not ‘fairest of them all.’” Twilight stopped and took a deep breath. “I don’t want to do anything that will hurt Flurry.”
“I doubt you would allow her to come to harm,” Sombra reassured her with a stern snort. “Where is your niece now?”
“I… I told her to find the ponies from the story and hide with them.” Twilight fidgeted uncomfortably while staring at her hooves. Now that she had said it out loud… she wasn’t certain it had been such a good idea. Maybe the storybook would guide her, but didn’t Snow White get lost in the dark woods? She had been alone and afraid before meeting up with the seven other foals... “It’s where the storybook would have led her after the Queen… tries to have her killed.”
Sombra wrinkled his snout with a frown. “You didn’t… try anything, did you?”
“No!” Twilight shouted and lifted her head in shock. “No, I… When I realized what fairy tale we were in, I had her leave the castle.” She lowered her ears and rubbed her hooves together, a concerned look crossing her face. “I didn’t even think about whether or not it would allow that…”
“If your niece was supposed to flee the castle and meet with these ponies, it may have taken that as a step in your nefarious scheme.” At the cross look she gave him, Sombra chuckled softly. “Is it not a welcome change to the original? What happens after the Princess leaves?”
“I… the Queen finds where she’s hiding, disguises herself as an old mare… and poisons her with an apple.” Twilight paused, feeling as if she were forgetting something more important, but she only summed it up to her worry about Flurry’s safety. Some versions of Snow White included other 'nefarious schemes' than just poison. “But a prince finds her and awakens her with a kiss.”
“It doesn’t sound so terrible, then.” Sombra’s expression soured as he looked down at himself. “I'm not the Prince again, am I?”
“No…” She eyed his armor, which was not unlike the neck plate he had worn back in the Empire. There was even a silver circlet beneath his horn, similar to his crown, but with the addition of leather cuffs on his legs and a shorter, less regal-looking cape over his shoulders. “I think you’re the hunter…” Twilight tilted her head while tapping her chin in thought. “But I don’t know if you have a role now since I already sent Flurry Heart away.”
“Good.” Sombra suddenly smirked and stepped closer to her. “Because I would rather continue where we left off,” he said with a low growl in his throat.
“W-what do you—” Twilight’s heart jolted when he quickly leaned in, cutting off her words by covering her mouth in a kiss. She tried to jerk away, but immediately found her back pressed against the wall. Twilight had half a mind to push him off, but the other half was too busy melting from the feeling of electricity rushing along her spine.
All too quickly, Sombra lifted his head, and she almost felt disappointed when she thought he was done, so she was surprised when his warm breath began sliding down her neck. He left a slow, teasing trail of kisses in his wake, and Twilight gasped softly at the sensation, burying her muzzle against his shoulder and mumbling into his fur, “We s-should really—AAHH!!!”
Twilight actually squeaked in surprise when she felt the sharp point of his fang graze the shoulder of her wing, followed by a ticklish tug against her feathers. It sent a shiver rippling through her, and Twilight immediately pushed against his chest and held him out at leg length. “W-what are you doing!?” Her face felt like it was on fire, and she was certain that he could see the glow of it, even in the bright corridor.
“I said I was continuing,” Sombra rumbled with an annoyed tone, his mouth set in a straight frown while he glared down at her legs. His teasing grin quickly returned, however, when he leaned over as far as he could. “It appears that you have the same weakness as a pegasus when it comes to their wings.”
“T-that’s not the point!” Twilight let out a panicked shout, feeling herself grow more embarrassed by her own thoughts. How in Equestria did he know something so… so... “I-I need to figure out how to save Flurry! A-and besides... don't you... feel like you’re m-moving too fast?”
“How so?” Sombra grumbled, giving her an impatient look. His eyes slowly roved over her, and Twilight felt a nervous twinge in her gut, even though he was just taking in the dress that she was wearing… probably.
“I… It’s just... it's obvious that this feeling is... more than friendship.” Twilight spoke slowly and lowered her gaze, her pulse pounding so heavily that she thought Sombra might feel it through his armor. “And I’m n-not very experienced with this kind of thing,” she mumbled before lifting her eyes to see him blinking at her in surprise. “For me it’s… very new and exciting, b-but terrifying at the same time—n-not because of you!” she quickly added. “It’s just… a little overwhelming, if I’m honest and I—I don’t know what that... makes us.”
Sombra’s expression softened, and without hesitation, he lifted his hoof to her cheek and brushed it gently. “You are important to me.”
Twilight’s heart gave a heavy thump, and her eyelids lowered when she tilted her head into the touch of his hoof. Important. Hearing him say that kind of word out loud gave her a warm feeling in her chest.
“Does this mean I was your first kiss?” Sombra teasingly asked while his expression morphed into a wide grin.
Twilight’s snout wrinkled when her eyes fluttered open. “Really? That’s your concern?”
Sombra chuckled and lifted his front legs to curl around hers. “It is a matter of interest. If you really are so inexperienced, then it’s left to me to teach you.”
Twilight’s ears perked at the word “teach,” but she gave him a stern frown. “I'm not that inexperienced.”
“Whatever you call that moment with your bug-prince doesn’t count.” Sombra snorted. “And you were practically unconscious for our first.”
“Thorax is a changeling,” Twilight grumbled. “And I was awake for our... f-first kiss. It’s not so complicated that I need a lesson about it.”
“Naive princess,” Sombra rumbled and folded her legs so that he could slide closer. “It is so much more than you know.” He then straightened up, planting his hooves on the floor while smirking at her. “But if you think yourself so knowledgeable, then show me.”
“W-what?” Twilight blushed when she understood what he meant—what he wanted… and her heart jumped at the idea of it. Sure, they had kissed a couple of times already, and again just a moment ago. But she hadn’t actually… herself...
“Kiss me,” Sombra commanded in a deep tone, leaning over and looking at her expectantly.
“Ah...” Twilight’s wings rustled along her back, and she took in a sharp breath. “Uh… a-alright…” Twilight tried to settle her nerves, carefully inching closer until there were only a few centimeters between them. Slowly lifting her hooves, she touched his muzzle lightly and, even though her legs shook, managed to lower his head and pull him closer.
His breath warmed against her face, and she felt the rumble of a low chuckle in his throat when she paused to calm her racing pulse. Her feathers ruffled up and her fur stood on end, but she gulped loudly, trying to combat the anxious feeling weighing in her stomach before managing to tilt her own body forward. Instead of kissing him on the mouth, however, Twilight lowered his head further and softly touched her lips to the bridge of his snout. Their horns lightly grazed one another, and Twilight felt a weak zap of magic pass between them, like the sting of a static shock.
Sombra grunted deeply against her, but he did not make a move to press further, so Twilight closed her eyes, enjoying the gentle contact. She didn’t know if Sombra had the same feelings, but for Twilight… oh, for Twilight, this definitely counted as something. From the quivering of her wings, to the weakness in her knees, she could not deny that Sombra had become somepony special to her.
Sombra suddenly lifted his head, breaking away with a snort and startling Twilight out of her blissful moment. “I can’t stand this...”
Twilight didn’t get a chance to wonder what she had done wrong when Sombra suddenly pounced on her, knocking her to the floor while his legs slipped beneath her wings and trapped her in his embrace. “I will not let you interrupt me again,” Sombra breathed out in a low growl before crushing his lips against hers.
Twilight’s heart thudded rapidly in her chest, her shocked yelp smothered before it had a chance to escape. With his heavy weight lowering over her, she felt his heartbeat thumping in a rhythm that matched hers, and every muscle seemed tense, shaking with an excitement and longing that buzzed through her own nerves. His fangs grazed her fur, and Twilight shivered beneath him, her mind fogging over in a feeling of euphoria.
“Your Majesty?”
A shock of cold shot through Twilight, and her heart practically jumped into her throat at the sound of another pony’s voice. She reacted instinctively by trying to pull magic into her horn—only to be surprised when a familiar bang deafened her ears. The world immediately disappeared behind the light of a brilliant flash.
The next thing Twilight knew, she found herself hugging a wooden beam on the ceiling rather than the warmth of Sombra’s fur. Her gaze shot down to see him blinking up at her in shock, leaving him in an awkward position that made it appear as if he had been trying to make out with the floor.
“Ah… pardon me, Highness,” the guard continued on, looking only slightly perturbed by what he might have seen. “But there is urgent news I need to report.”
“Right!” Twilight’s high-pitched voice squeaked out, and she fluttered her wings in embarrassment while clearing her throat and trying again with a normal tone. “Right… I mean. Uhm…” She lifted away from the rafters and drifted back toward the floor, wobbling unsteadily from the jittery sensation rushing along her body.
She tried to look composed when she landed, rather than the completely flustered way that she actually felt. Her wings wouldn’t settle straight against her sides, and she was certain that there were several hairs out of place in her mane. “Please report.”
The guard bowed before speaking. “Soldiers stationed by the garden entrance have reported that Princess Flurry Heart has gone missing. We have already begun searching the castle, but so far none of us have found any signs of her.”
Twilight’s wings wilted when she let out a relieved sigh. “That’s what this is about? Everything is fine.”
“But, we can’t find her on the castle grounds—”
“We were playing hide and seek,” Twilight interjected before he could finish. “She’s just hiding. Let the other soldiers know that Flurry Heart is perfectly safe where she is.”
“O-oh.” The guard blinked in confusion before nodding with uncertainty. “I’ll go… inform them then.”
“Wait!” Twilight cried out before he could leave and he turned back around at attention. “Have you seen a small purple dragon anywhere?”
“A dragon?” The guard gave her a confused look before shaking his head. “I can’t say that I have. Should I alert the other guards to the threat, Your Highness?”
“No!” Twilight shouted, then cleared her throat and managed to collect herself. “No, no. Please make sure to tell them that the dragon is a friend, and not to hurt him,” she stressed with a worried look. “And let me know when you find him.”
The guard nodded and turned again to leave. Once he had marched out of view around the corner, Sombra finally spoke up, staring at her with a bewildered expression. “How were you able to teleport?”
“Maybe it’s the Queen’s role?” Twilight looked back at Sombra with wide eyes. “She’s known for being a powerful sorceress. It’s how she was able to curse Snow White.”
“Do you think it is strong enough to free us from the storybook?” Sombra looked at her with a glint in his eye.
“I can try…” Twilight closed her eyes, trying to get a better feel of her own magic. She’d been too worried about Flurry Heart to think about checking—not to mention too distracted by her thoughts of a certain somepony when she had first arrived.
Having been limited by the storybook for so long, it was almost alien to feel that extensive source of magic respond to her once again. She felt a sense of familiarity at the reaction she got, as if greeting an old friend.
If it wasn’t enough to release them from the storybook, she didn’t want to waste any with small experiments. So as she directed the magic toward her horn, she could feel the familiar tingle flow through her, and she heard Sombra’s sudden inhalation of breath when her horn lit up with a glow. Now she just had to figure out the best spell.
A teleportation spell perhaps, if it was a location? But now that she was delving into her magic again, feeling out the wisps of power around her, Twilight could sense an ominous wall blocking her at a distance. Anything she tried to target beyond that area refused to cast.
So teleporting was immediately out. She instead focused on the storybook itself, weaving a spell in her mind that would dismiss the enchantment altogether. The power didn’t refuse and quickly bent to her will, constructing an unseen force that would breathe life into her unspoken commands. Once the intricate details had been laid out, she took a deep breath and released her magic.
There was a quiet pause before everything horribly backfired. Twilight felt a crackle of energy shoot along her horn, straight through her body. The world spun in her vision, and she couldn’t hear anything past the explosion in her ears.
The force of the blast must have knocked her over, because the next thing Twilight knew, she was on the floor, looking up at Sombra and blinking her eyes in confusion as a wisp of arcane smoke trailed off of her horn.
“Twilight!? Are you alright?” Sombra’s expression was frantic as he cradled her gently. In the midst of her disorientation, she briefly thought it was sweet of him to do before the numbness faded from her limbs and she groaned from the ache radiating across her body.
“I… the darkness…” Twilight squeezed her eyes shut, trying to fight off her dizziness. “I tried to dispel the enchantment on the storybook, but I think the dark magic stopped me.”
“It was a rather strong spell,” Sombra grumbled while wrinkling his nose in disgust. “We will simply have to allow the fairy tale to play out as it does traditionally.”
“We can’t do that!” Twilight shouted, wincing when a sharp pain shot through her. She fell back against Sombra’s legs, cradling her head.
“Why?” Sombra rumbled, lifting his hoof to nudge her own aside and gently massage her temples. Twilight quieted down, but only because it actually made her feel better. “Your niece’s life is not in any danger. The prince you spoke of will revive her at the end of the tale.”
“But she’s only a baby.” Twilight looked at him with a worried expression. “She has a more impressionable mind. Maybe you can just shake off a near-death experience, but something like that could scar her, not to mention how it might affect her thoughts toward me.”
“If she is strong, she will persevere.” He leaned closer, nuzzling her in a way that briefly distracted her from the dull ache in her body. “As long as you are safe, where the story leads otherwise is none of my concern.”
Twilight opened her mouth to argue more when her voice suddenly caught in her throat, Sombra’s words triggering a thought in her mind. She had been so preoccupied worrying about Flurry’s fate that she had completely forgotten to be concerned about her own.
Sombra must have noticed her discomfort, because he quickly narrowed his eyes. “You’re making a face again.”
“I… I remembered… something important,” Twilight mumbled, her brows knit as she scrambled to sit up despite the noise that Sombra made in protest. “At the end of the fairy tale... the Queen is… defeated.”
“Defeated?” Sombra leaned closer, his tone sounding strained. She was quiet for a moment while she tried to run through the story in her own head. “Twilight. What happens to the Queen?”
Twilight’s breath came out rapidly, slightly distracted as she mentally dug through all of her knowledge of the Snow White variations. “In every version of the story I’ve ever read, the Queen is… is repaid for her wicked deeds… with death.”
“What!?” Sombra snapped, jumping up to his hooves and standing over her, as if something would try to strike her down that very moment. “How? When?” He lowered his head and pushed his muzzle against hers. “Why didn’t you mention this sooner!?”
“I was worried about Flurry Heart!”
“Your niece will revive!” He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, the anger in his expression sending a terrified chill through her. “You—!!” Sombra suddenly closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his grit teeth before pulling her into a tight embrace. “You… worry too much about others for your own good…”
Twilight hesitantly lifted her hooves in response, a bit stunned at how quickly he had shifted his mood, but she eventually reached up to wrap her legs around him, feeling the strong muscles beneath his fur tense with agitation. She could have sworn he relaxed slightly beneath her touch as she rested her head against his chest. “We’ll have to find a way to delay the story… I can try to break the spell over the storybook again.”
Sombra pushed away to look her in the eye with a quick shake of his head. “We will change this fairy tale. We can reach an ending where you don’t perish.”
“I…” Twilight’s voice broke as her ears flattened. “I don’t know if it will work. The Queen always meets some terrible fate… there’s nothing that can help her like the little mermare…”
“The little mermare did not die, because I kissed you.” Sombra leaned closer and rested his chin atop her mane. “Maybe there is something I can do to change your fate,” he mumbled before he snorted softly with a sad laugh. “I will kiss you as many times as it takes.”
Twilight couldn’t help the small blush that rose to her face. “I don’t think any amount of kissing will save the Queen. It… it’s more often some… terrible punishment befitting of her crimes.” She nuzzled deeper into his fur, finding comfort in their embrace to combat the disturbing images that flashed through her mind. “Like being forced to wear hot-iron horseshoes… or cracking her magic mirror and turning into dust...”
“What do these authors have against the Queen?” Sombra grumbled angrily, bearing his fangs in a growl and squeezing Twilight tighter against him.
“I think they liked the idea of her getting her comeuppance,” Twilight said with a sigh, moving her head to the crook of his neck. “Older times were a little darker…”
“We will find a way,” Sombra assured her, giving her a little bit of hope with the determination in his voice. “This story does not need you as its villain.”
“But it needs me to move forward. How can it continue without the Queen?” Twilight asked quietly. It wasn’t as if she wanted it to be true, but going through the options in her head, she saw no other way. There was no salvation for the Queen in any retelling of Snow White she had encountered.
“How are you feeling now?” Sombra suddenly asked, leaning back with an odd look crossing his face as he scrutinized her. “Your eyes look bloodshot.”
“Umm… better.” Twilight arched an eyebrow at him. “My headache is gone. Why?”
“Because I have an idea,” Sombra responded while suddenly releasing her. Without warning, he jumped up and shoved his head beneath her stomach to scoop her over his neck.
Twilight bounced onto his back with a breathless grunt, finding her voice after a moment and yelling in surprise when he bolted down the hallway. “S-Sombra!? What are you doing!?”
Sombra afforded her a quick sideways smirk when he glanced back. “Retelling this story!” He swiftly galloped past the guards at the entrance of the castle, and they cried out in alarm, but they were too late to stop Sombra as he left them in his dust. With a sinister laugh, Sombra shouted back, as if he were taunting them. “I'm kidnapping the Queen!”
“This is the worst possible outcome… it has to be,” Twilight groaned, staring at a wanted poster fluttering in the breeze against the notice board before her. A crude image of her face glared back at her while the castle they had recently escaped from rose up menacingly in the distance. Behind her, a sparse crowd of ponies murmured softly as they went about their business in the small town square.
“They put these up fast,” Sombra grumbled, narrowing his eyes at another leaflet with his own picture sketched on it.
“This is your fault…” Twilight turned to frown at him. “The guards think I have something to do with Flurry Heart’s disappearance, so you ‘kidnapping’ me only made it look as if we were running away!”
“You do have something to do with it, though.” Sombra grinned mischievously. “Everything to do with it, actually.”
“I know!” Twilight cried out and rubbed her head in frustration, messing up her mane in the process. “But I would never hurt her! I just need time to come up with a way for us to finish this story in one piece!”
“And avoid your death?” Sombra added with a displeased frown. “Perhaps you should think of that once we've found a place to lie low.” He stared across the road with a suspicious look, his gaze following after a guard that whistled while he trotted past.
“They won't bother us,” Twilight assured him, even though she watched the pony warily when he stopped at a fruit stand and took out another wanted poster to show to the vendor. “With the storybook giving me a little more magic as the Queen, my ‘leave it, ignore it’ spell will protect us.”
“It is only a temporary solution.” Sombra gave her a stern frown. “We should travel farther, outside of the kingdom—” Twilight’s stomach chose that moment to gurgle loudly, enough so that Sombra’s ears perked at the noise. “—After we get a bite to eat.”
“We don't need to eat.” Twilight rubbed her belly with a frown. For something that was supposed to be an illusion, it didn’t feel all that fake. “We need to find a better ending for this story.”
“We will be more productive on full stomachs, even if the food isn’t real.” He lifted his head and looked around, his nose twitching before an eager grin spread over his face. Without a word, he trotted around her and made a beeline for one of the nearby buildings.
“Fine,” Twilight grumbled, following after him toward what appeared to be a local tavern, where the scent of food drifted her way and teased her hunger as she moved closer. “But only so I don't have to keep hearing my stomach.”
Sombra held the door open for her when they reached the entrance, and despite his earlier concerns, not a single pony looked up when they stepped through. The place was busy, bustling with activity during the evening meal-time, and they weren’t even given a quick “hello,” when they sat down at an empty table near the front.
Twilight raised her hoof as a server neared them, but he trotted past without so much as a glance at them.
“Guess we won't be getting food,” Twilight grumbled.
“Wait here,” Sombra said before quickly ducking away. Twilight didn’t even get a chance to object when he practically disappeared into the shadows.
She stared out into the tavern with a blank look before settling against the table and rubbing her hooves together nervously. He would be safe… hopefully. It wasn’t as if somepony would be able to see him past the glamour of the spell… if it was strong enough. So far it had worked in evading the guards that had chased them from the castle, and none of the ponies in town had shown any interest in them despite all the wanted signs.
While waiting for him to return, Twilight’s thoughts drifted to the storybook, trying to be productive and come up with alternate ideas that might lead them to a happier ending. So far, the story was definitely turning out much differently from the versions she was used to. Had they managed to change their roles? Or was this simply a divergent path on route to a script the story traditionally followed?
“Bon appetit!” Sombra’s deep voice startled her out of her thoughts right before a platter levitated into her vision. He laid the plate before her, and Twilight blinked at the contents while Sombra settled in across from her with a similar meal.
“You ordered this?” Twilight pointed at the dish, uncertain about the slab of pink sitting in the middle of the plate, even if it had been garnished with leaves of parsley and a small daisy.
“I couldn’t get a server’s attention, but I didn’t think they would miss an extra entrée or two.” Sombra chuckled before picking up a fork in his magic and tucking a cloth napkin over his armor piece. “Thanks to your spell, I was able to walk right into the kitchen. In all the ruckus, they didn’t even notice me or two missing meals.”
“What is it?” Twilight wrinkled her nose at the scent. There was something salty and… heavy to it. Like the stink of something... dead. She shivered from the chill that ran down her spine.
“Baked salmon.” Sombra grinned and scooped a portion of it into his mouth, sighing through his lips as he chewed. He pointed his empty fork at her and swallowed quickly. “I think you’ll enjoy it if you give it a try.”
“I don’t eat fish.” Twilight stuck out her tongue and turned her head away, a slight feeling of nausea rising through her stomach; the stench was impossible to ignore.
“It’s not that uncommon, you know,” Sombra said before taking another bite, mumbling around his mouthful of food. “Plenty of denizens in the Crystal Empire are used to it. Fruits and vegetables can become scarce when you live in the center of a perpetual blizzard.”
With her nose still wrinkled, Twilight gave the salmon another glance, apprehensive about letting it anywhere near her taste buds, but for some reason, her stomach gurgled loudly when the smell invaded her nose. Even if the stink was enough to curl her insides, it still recognized the scent of food.
“We are still trapped in the storybook,” Sombra pointed out with a grin. “It may have the same taste, but it was never actually a living being.”
“Fffffine.” Twilight finally gave in with a huff and hesitantly picked up her own fork.
It took her a full five minutes to actually spear some on her cutlery, because the fish kept flaking and falling apart when she tried to lift it, which only grossed her out even more. When she finally managed to catch a portion of it, she left it hovering in front of her mouth, moving it slowly back and forth while she switched between hunger and repulsion.
“Would you try it already before I shove it in your mouth?” Sombra growled impatiently, already having finished his own meal. His plate was completely clean; even the parsley hadn’t been spared.
With a nervous gulp, Twilight quickly took the bite off of the fork, not wanting him to make good with the threat. She squeezed her eyes shut at the offending flavor... and immediately froze from shock. It didn’t actually taste the same way it smelled, and Twilight was surprised by a sweet sauce that added a citrusy zest.
Twilight swallowed the first bite and stared at the dish for a moment, glancing up at Sombra before taking another. The corners of his mouth turned up in a triumphant smirk. “I knew you would enjoy it.”
Twilight lifted her hoof to point at him with a stern look. “When you meet my friends, you will never—EVER mention this... especially not to Fluttershy.” She roughly stabbed another piece of fish onto her fork. “Otherwise, I’ll throw you into ice for another thousand years myself.”
Sombra nodded with a chuckle, raising his front legs in surrender. “Fair enough.”
He gave her some time to finish her meal in peace, while outside the windows of the tavern, the sun set quickly below the horizon. Night had fallen by the time Twilight finished eating, and she was disturbed by the fact that she had enjoyed it enough to wonder about trying the real thing when they eventually escaped… if she escaped her fairy tale fate.
“We can’t just leave the kingdom and run away from all of this,” Twilight said when she finally pushed her plate aside, using her napkin to wipe away the remnant of sauce. “Flurry Heart is stuck in the forest with those ponies, and Spike is still out there somewhere.”
“We should leave quickly and keep our distance until everything at least settles down.” Sombra motioned his head toward the back, and Twilight moved her gaze behind him to see a trio of soldiers at the bar, quietly discussing something with what looked like the owner of the tavern. “We don’t know how long your spell will conceal us, or if the storybook will even allow it to continue. Leaving here will give us time to come up with another plan.”
“Maybe we could go back to the castle and talk to the magic mirror?” Twilight asked, and at Sombra’s blank look, she quickly explained, “It’s enchanted to answer questions. Maybe it knows something that we don’t… like an alternate path to a happy ending?”
“It sounds like a long shot…” Sombra lifted a pair of drinks from the tray of a server as they quickly trotted by. “Would it not simply behave like the other characters in all of these tales?”
“It would be worth a try—”
“If the castle was not filled with soldiers still looking for us,” Sombra interjected, taking a long sip from one of the mugs while setting the other in front of Twilight. “We wait for an opportunity, one that won’t risk your capture… or worse.”
A sudden commotion across the tavern drew their attention, and Twilight noticed it was coming from the server with the tray of drinks as the poor pony appeared panicked. She gave Sombra a cross look before he slipped from his chair and grabbed her leg to quickly pull her outside.
They were both silent as they trotted down the road, putting as much distance between themselves and the town as possible. They moved along a low ridge where the dark trees of a forest turned the area below them into a dark swath of land, the crescent moon giving off little light as the stars winked above them.
“Where are we going?” Twilight finally whispered to him, even though there was nopony else to be seen along the road with them. “We can’t just wander around without a destination. I don’t even know if there are any other places to go in this story...”
“There has to be another kingdom nearby. We’ll go there and try—” Sombra suddenly slammed to a stop, his words cutting off with a pained grunt. With a shake of his head, he jumped back with a snarl, snapping his eyes around as if he were expecting somepony to jump out at them.
“What's wrong?” Twilight moved up next to him and tentatively reached out a hoof. Even though she could clearly see the road continuing on, her leg met a solid, invisible barrier. She turned to him with her brows knit in worry. “There's a wall here…”
“An ambush?” Sombra grit his teeth as his eyes searched the landscape behind them and growled when his gaze flicked down the road. While there were no guards in sight, there was a small, rickety-looking cart headed their way, with a lantern swaying as it bobbed toward them.
The wagon slowly rattled closer, pulled by an older stallion that nodded in friendly greeting as he drew nearer. “Evening folks. Beautiful night, isn’t it?”
“Oh… umm, yes.” Twilight flicked an ear flat while exchanging a confused look with Sombra, turning back only when she realized the pony was headed straight for the invisible wall. “Wait! There's a—” As Twilight tried to warn him, the pony stepped through without any problems before his form slowly started to fade. The cart followed along after him, as if he were still pulling it, until the entire wagon and old stallion were gone: vanished as though they had never been there.
“It… it's a boundary…” Twilight whispered while lifting her hoof again just to check that the wall was still there.
“What?!” Sombra turned to her with a furious-looking sneer, though she had a feeling it wasn’t directed at her. “Nothing like this has ever occurred before!”
“We've never tried to leave the area,” Twilight mused as she rubbed her chin. “There was something blocking me when I tried to teleport… maybe this is what I felt. The storybook can only create the settings in the fairy tale. Everything beyond that… doesn’t exist.”
“Which means…” Sombra's voice sank along with her own hopes.
“We can't leave.” Twilight's ears flattened. “We have to finish the story.”
“NO!!” Sombra shouted with a growl, stomping back up to the barrier again. His horn flickered, and he managed to light it with a spark of darkness. The thin beam of magic hit the border, and Twilight saw the air shimmer, spreading outward like ripples over a pond. When Sombra’s magic reserve eventually fizzled out, the barrier returned to normal as if nothing was there.
Sombra let out an enraged snarl, lowering his head before suddenly charging right at the wall. Twilight flared her wings in surprise, but couldn’t stop him before he slammed against it, stabbing it with his wicked horn and stomping at the dirt. “I will not allow this cowardly—manipulative—thing to bar our way!”
Naturally, the barrier held strong against him, so Sombra pulled away and started beating at it with his hooves, grunting with each furious kick.
“Why!?” Sombra’s shouts grew desperate in the quiet of the night, his enraged swings growing less aggressive as he appeared to wear down. “Why can’t I have this!?”
He turned his head and rammed the barrier with his shoulder, his hooves digging into the soil and gouging deep grooves into the dirt, as if he might be able to simply push it out of the way. But the spell did not budge against his physical assaults, and Sombra’s body slowly slipped along the invisible surface as his sides heaved. “Why can’t I have… this one thing...”
Twilight watched him warily as he huffed and panted on the ground, eventually moving toward him once it looked as if he had spent himself. She slid her front legs around his neck in a gentle hug without saying a word. With everything seemingly stacked against them in this story, she didn’t want to tell him that they would find another way when she didn’t believe it herself.
They were both tired and worn, even though their night hadn’t been filled with as much excitement as the other fairy tales. Twilight had to pull Sombra up from the middle of the road, supporting him as he slumped against her and finding another path that led down the sloping ridge and into the nearby forest. Even if it was the dead of night, they still had the guards to avoid.
Trudging through the trees, Twilight warded off the shadows with the soft glow of her horn, eventually coming upon a place beneath a fallen trunk, where the roots arched above a small cave in the ground to create a reasonable shelter. She slipped inside, and with a low grumble, Sombra soon followed.
The night was cold, but despite this, Twilight didn’t make a fire, as the smoke might draw any guards still searching for them. Instead, she created a softly glowing orb that at least gave them a little light to see by. Unfortunately, it didn’t emit any heat.
“I’m really, really tired of being cold,” Twilight complained while she settled against the hard ground beneath her and fluffed her wings, shivering lightly in the chill. “First ‘The Snow Queen,’ then the blizzard from the windigo… why do so many fairy tales center around ice and snow?”
“It is a chilling element to set a story around,” Sombra suggested with a snort, easing himself to the dirt across from her.
“I’d love a blanket… or my bed.” Twilight closed her eyes, unable to help imagining her soft, comfy sheets. “At least the Beast’s castle had beds.”
Sombra cleared his throat, and Twilight opened her eyes to see him patting the soil beside him. “You don’t need a blanket to keep warm; you have a perfectly good spot here.”
Twilight flushed lightly, but she didn’t make a move.
“Twilight.” She twitched when he spoke her name in a deep tone. “Come here.”
A tremble rippled up her spine before she took a tentative step forward, approaching him with extreme caution... as if he were a predator—which, quite frankly, he might as well have been with those vicious fangs of his. She slowly stepped up, but Sombra didn’t make any sudden moves or say anything more, as if he could possibly scare her away. He simply smiled at her as she moved around to settle against him.
His warmth quickly spread to her as their fur meshed together, and she stiffened when his front leg curled around her chest to pull her closer. She no longer had any problem with the cold air thanks to the heat rising to her ears and face.
“Comfortable, Princess?” Sombra teased.
“You’re enjoying this too much,” Twilight mumbled.
“Of course I am.” He chuckled and pressed his head against her neck, kissing her softly beneath the chin. “The expression you're making is adorable.”
As he nuzzled her gently, Twilight carefully laid her head down, supported by Sombra’s firm muscles beneath her. His tail flicked up over her flank, and she flinched in surprise only once before settling down again, finally relaxing beside him.
With so many different thoughts racing through her mind, it was a wonder she was even able to fall asleep.