//------------------------------//
// Truths and Forgiveness 
// Story: When Darkness Falls 
// by MisterEdd 
//------------------------------//

"So wha in tha hay happened back there?" Applejack inquired. "We hit 'im with tha Elements of Harmony but he's okay. No banishment, no turnin' into stone. Did they even work?" 

Everypony, with the exception of Cadence and Shining Armor, were gathered in the Canterlot throne room, assembled around a crystal ball. In the ball's reflective surface, they could see the Crystal Empire's former ruler awaiting his trial in a private cell deep beneath the castle. King Sombra, now stripped of his crown and armor, was garbed in an orange jumpsuit, the numbers "00001" stitched over his heart. He had the "honor" of being the first prisoner of the royal dungeon in over one-thousand years. He stared blankly ahead, his chest quickly heaving with thick, angry breaths. 

"After taking Sombra into custody, Luna and I performed a scan on him," Princess Celestia explained, with Luna nodding for confirmation. "It appears that the Elements were somehow able to...suppress or even remove his magic. He couldn't even lift a spoon, no matter how hard he'd concentrate." 

Twilight's ears folded backward. "Is it permanent?"  

Celestia shook her head. "I...don't know." 

Luna added, "We could not detect even a flicker of magical activity in his body. If it is only temporary, it could take months, maybe even years for his magic to return. But yes, the possibility is there. Sombra may never be able to cast magic again."   

"Your Majesties?" Both mares noticed Twilight's reserved demeanor. "Could it be possible...for me to speak to him?" 

"Are you nuts?!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "Did you forget that psycho tried to kill us?" 

"Not really your best idea, Darling."

"I wouldn't go down there if I were you. But it's your choice if you want to."

Pinkie Pie scratched vigorously at her nose. "Finally! I can scratch that itch!" 

"And why, pray tell, would you ever want to converse with King Sombra?" 

"Luna's right, Twilight. I'm not refusing, but I would like to know your line of reasoning."

Twilight looked between the faces of the Royal Sisters and her friends, taking time to gather her thoughts and try to make them as coherent as possible. "Look, we can all agree that the Elements taking away Sombra's magic is weird. But maybe, just maybe, this is a sign. They could've frozen him or banished him to another world. Maybe he's not completely evil." 

She failed to mention that she had strange feelings regarding the shadow-pony. Confession of love aside, Sombra's words back at the Crystal Empire had her thinking about Celestia and Equestria in general. Was he right? Were things made out to be black and white due to those in power? Was the public unfairly biased towards creatures like bat-ponies and changelings? Were Twilight and the other Elements actually contributing to the problem rather than the solution? 

Celestia could tell that Twilight was holding something back but decided not to push. "Very well then. Just be very careful. Even without his powers, Sombra is not somepony you should underestimate."

With two pegasus royal guards flanking her, Twilight bowed and left the room without another word. 


~*~


Princess Cadence sat in the hallway amongst the stained glass windows, her eyes glued to an infamous window: the defeat of King Sombra at Spike's claws. Since returning to Canterlot to oversee Sombra's imprisonment, she couldn't help but feel guilty at the look of betrayal in Sombra's eyes when he was being loaded into the paddy wagon. She did the right thing, didn't she? She stopped Sombra's plans for taking over Equestria so why did she feel so terrible? 

"I thought I might find you here."

Cadence's lips curled up in a ghost of a smile. "I just...needed to be alone." 

Princess Celestia seated herself next to Cadence, making sure that the young mare had enough space. They had not had the chance to talk, both being emotionally exhausted from their ordeal in the Crystal Empire and Cadence's refusal to personally see to Sombra's imprisonment. 

A minute and a half of silence passed before she began, "You know, the day that window was put in was one of my proudest and saddest. I was overjoyed at seeing Spike emerging as a hero and role model to the crystal ponies." Her face darkened. "I'd also thought that for the second time, I'd lost the stallion I'd once loved, this time on a more permanent basis. I told nopony this but I mourned his death." 

Cadence sighed and turned away from the window. "Was everything said about him a lie?" 

The white alicorn's gaze was cast downward. 

"Luna and I...we had the historians record what we told them to. At the time, I was so heartbroken at Sombra's fall and subsequent actions and I knew that he was too far gone to help. Yes, I lied. By exaggerating his wrongdoings, I thought that it would serve as a warning to all those who crossed us. You don't know the things he did, or what he planned to do."

She reached over and, hearing no objections, took Cadence's hoof in her own. 

"I know that you don't trust me. I mean, why should you? I regret every single day that I had to lie to you, not acknowledging you as my flesh and blood. It killed me inside but I thought the truth would hurt too much, for you and myself. You deserve happiness in your life, not the burden of knowing who your father is and what he's done hanging over your head." 

She brushed Cadence's mane out of her face and smiled through her tears. 

"I can only hope that one day I can earn your forgiveness."   

Cadence stared into the pink eyes of the mare in front of her and saw her, really saw her, for the first time. Aside from being princess of Equestria and all of the responsibilities that came with it, Celestia was a mare that had to have made some very difficult decisions, decisions that weighed her down for more than a thousand years. She sacrificed her own happiness to give her daughter a good life and loving parents, suffering from afar at not raising her herself. This wasn't Princess Celestia, Princess of the Day and matriarch to all of ponykind. This was a fellow mare, a mother begging for forgiveness.   

A pink hoof gently cupped Celestia's cheek. 

"You don't need to earn my forgiveness. You're my mother and that means that I'll forgive you no matter what." She was nearly crushed by Celestia's surprise attack hug and softly chuckled at the display. "Just promise me there'll be no more lies." 

"I promise," Celestia muttered into her mane and she meant it. 


~*~


"Thank you; that'll be all." 

Twilight bid her two guards farewell and slowly approached the cell, her thoughts drowned out by the quickening of her heartbeat. Sombra stood in the center, his scarlet eyes watching her, attempting to detect any signs of trickery. His magic may've been nullified, but his shadow-bending was a natural ability of his race, which is why a specially-designed enchanted collar was fixed around his neck, in case he got any funny ideas about escape. It occurred to Twilight that she found him oddly attractive, the way the jumpsuit was taut around his muscled chest and sinewy forelegs-

"Hello Twilight. I wasn't expecting you to be here."

"Neither was I," Twilight answered truthfully, trying to keep her attention off of his body. "How-how are you?"  

Sombra leaned forward, his hooves wrapping around the bars. "Oh, you know, I've just been denied my righteous vengeance, my own daughter betrayed me for my mortal enemy, I'm stuck in a dungeon and my magic's been stripped away, possibly forever. I'm feeling just peachy." 

Despite the facetious attitude, he kept his voice low and sullen. 

"I was just asking! No need to be rude." While she could understand his frustrations to a degree, Twilight didn't care for his disrespectful tone. "I'll be heading home in a few hours so I thought I'd check up on you."

Sombra watched her carefully, as though suspicious of her intentions. 

"My apologies." He then added much more gently, "There was a time when I didn't know who I was but I felt as though I didn't belong anywhere. The only thing that made me feel anything was my magic. And now, it's like...a part of me is missing." 

Now this was something Twilight could empathize with. Ever since she was a filly, she had strong magical talents and spent years perfecting her craft, pushing her body and mind to the limit in the pursuit of knowledge. Without that drive and dedication, she never would've been made Celestia's student, met her friends nor earned the title of princess. If she ever lost her magic, she'd be an absolute wreck. She actually found it kind of amazing that Sombra was taking it was as well as he was. 

Twilight took an unconscious step forward. "I think I know how you feel, Sombra." 

He nodded and neither one of them spoke for several minutes, letting silence fill the vacant room. Believing that their conversation was over, Twilight turned and made her way towards the exit.

"You should forget about me."

Twilight stopped in mid-step and whirled around. "What did you say?"

The umbrum's mouth clamped shut. He then repeated, "You should forget about me. The stallion that courted you? That was Parcel Post but with my thoughts and opinions. He wasn't real. You should find yourself somepony new because we both know that you and I can never be. Go find a new stallion, settle down, maybe have a foal or two. Just...be happy." 

Twilight inched closer to the bars of Sombra's cell, her face a foot away from his own. "Sombra-..."

Sombra leaned forward, his curved horn poking through the bars. 

"Just go, Twilight. These bars aren't going to hold me forever. I will get out and retribution will be mine. And when that day comes, I hope you'll have the common sense to stay out of my way," he warned her, his eyes glistening like pools of blood in the light. "Now go." 

"Fine." With a heavy heart, Twilight began to leave but then turned, discovering Sombra was seated on the floor with his back to her. "You know, I think that deep down, you're a good person. You've just forgotten how to be."

Sombra remained where he was. 

"You're mistaken. I may not be the monster that they say I am but make no mistake: I am a monster nonetheless." 

"If you say so." 

She then trotted up the stairs and out the door.