Sleep is nice...
That was the first thought Sombra had the moment he found he could think. There was a quality to that truth that made him chuckle quietly, though he wasn't sure if that was actually audible or if it was in his head. Worlds spun around him, light battered his senses and sound made him feel sick, realizing he was quite hungry and dehydrated. There was no telling what was going on until he finally found an anchor point. Pillows. He was not in a cell, or locked up; he was once again in bed with the bliss of pillows comforting him. There were dreams, real dreams, which to him meant deep and restful sleep, not that he could recall how he got there. For now he was just coming out of a dream, could feel the pull of reality tugging him away from his solitary castle, his warm servants, the smell of food and wine to waking back in the white marble room. Then one memory at a time came back to him when he spotted the caved in door and two guards facing away from him outside the doorway. He wasn't sure what to make from this, memory being fogged by sleep and the possible concussion. That was when he remembered the spell that knocked him out. Sitting up quickly, expecting to be bound and so thrusting his body to fight the chains or rope or-
"Gah!" He shouted in indignant shock when he fell to the floor.
The guards turned quickly, both warry as the dark stallion stood again, suppressing the grunt of pain from his weak joints hitting the floor yet again. Though, the guards did not attack. Sombra was not bound. The cracks in the walls were still evident, and the destroyed furniture remained, though his runes were gone with no trace remaining. Next came a flash of purple light, a sphere that burst with magic and in that instant of light the princess of friendship had entered the room. The guards backed away from the door a little out of caution, though they didn't stray far and did their best to trust the Princess, feeling very outclassed by the King straight out of myth.
Sombra let out a snort of indignant displeasure and despite his sore legs, he stood proud on the marble floor staring the alicorn down, opening his mouth to start what was to him a duel of wits. Every trick in the book replaying in his head as he worked a web of lies and half truths up; anything to get him closer to freedom since he was clearly in the weaker position when it came to raw magical prowess. However, the princess spoke first.
"I put a lot of thought into what I would say to you first. I was to free you today, take you to a shelter far away from most ponies and rehabilitate you slowly with careful observation, detailed note taking, and maybe even call on my student to help given her own past..." she sighed quietly, taking a moment to collect herself, Sombra waited, wanting to see her lay her cards out. "Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor has passed away...Princess Flurry Heart sits the Crystal Empire throne, she is a natural born Alicorn and her magic surpasses even mine and far surpassed Celestia and Luna. She...is a very kind hearted mare, she thinks of her subjects every day and works very hard to make the Crystal Empire thrive and the Crystal ponies hardly want for anything in her kingdom."
Sombra felt this information had a gravity to it, though he did not fully understand it's weight as she spoke, the silence that hung let him search his memory. Clearly she was trying to tell him the Empire was beyond his reach, but the names she spoke were meaningless. Unless...
"You...you were the unicorn who got in my way." he said when his memory finally lined up.
There was a wistful smile on her face at that, it looked so pained that even he felt something of fear cross his heart when he saw the bottomless well of pain in that expression.
"Those two that-" he paused, he was out of practice when it came to politicking his speech, but he hardened himself and reinforced his desire to escape. "Princess Cadence was the avatar of love that took the Empire, that was her name?" a nod from Twilight confirmed. Then the real gravity of what she was saying set in on him. "You are telling me I cannot retake the Empire not just because of a lack of power, but fundamentally it cannot be claimed by me because of the change Cadence wrought." Again, she nodded.
"Princess Celestia told Cadence something of her secret, though not the full truth; Cadence spent her life's work preparing the Empire should you ever return, and Flurry Heart has continued that work. Generations of counter spells, protections, enchantments on the land and on the Crystal Heart itself...No one but the rightful heirs will ever sit the throne of the Crystal Empire." she ended, taking a breath and sitting down to collect herself.
Sombra did the same, not because he needed to rest, but because he needed to devote all the energy he had to processing this information. Two alicorns spending all this time building barriers made for him specifically. Anger built up in him, he felt the cold fire as frustration set in and his own years of planning wasted in simple moments of conversation, all to the fault of her.
"Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are also...gone." she continued, as if reading his thoughts.
He looked in her eyes, seeing a depth of magical talent and confirming that she was reading his thoughts, he stood up again and stomped his hoof, sending a shock of magic into the ground as he lost composure utterly.
"You think it a tidy little game to poke my thoughts and simply dissuade all notions of revenge that simply? That this changes something?! What does it change, little student, you are lying like all alicorns do, trying to deny me my right! You wanted to deter me, to sing a little song of friendship and dance now that there is nothing I can do?" he walked closer to her as he spoke, the guards looked on edge but he didn't care a wit. "I will escape here, your precious mentor tried to cripple me because she lacked the power to finish what you and that damn dragon started." he was only a few inches from her when he stopped; she did not move, not a single motion to defend herself or words to counter his.
"You, like all the others, want me to simply disappear. Quietly, if I please." he ended sharply.
Twilight stood up again, their height difference was noticeable, but Sombra was still much larger than most unicorns. The guards were on edge, both of them knew it; Twilight wanted peace, Sombra needed an excuse. They were also both intelligent enough to know that all this was bluster to provoke, yet it contained bits of truth. Twilight had come to terms with what her mentor did and resolved to right that wrong. This turning point where historians wait with baited breath was the moment for decisive action that Twilight knew she was simply horrible at. Planning, organizing, schedules, meetings; thats where she excelled. Yet she always knew in the moment she would think of something right as she was pressed to it finally.
"Let's duel, then." she stated, no grand flair or speech for him.
Leaving Sombra to blink, wondering the meaning of it, he nearly let his mouth fall open but he stopped short when he shook his head and blurted out his objections.
"WHAT?! w- wh- This-! Why would I agree to something so formal and ripe for foul play? Do you seek to make some public mockery of me?!"
She stopped him with a raise of her hoof, making him also note the guards with weapons drawn now and spells ready to cast, his small halt let her interject as the guards slowly came to calm.
"No, not public. Just us. In a month. One month, you can live here in that time, recover your strength and then we will duel. I fully expect you to fight to the death, but I will tell you now. If I win, you will be spared. You win, you can end Princess Celestia's legacy and attempt to rule Equestria in place of the Crystal Empire." she ended, smiling warmly as the depth of pain he saw turned into a wave of compassion that made his stomach roll.
"You expect me to go soft, to spend the month making friends and that I'll hesitate when it comes to it." he stated, laying her plan out in front of them both, to which she nodded in admittance. He couldn't stand that she just keeps refusing to lie...
"Sombra..." she paused, thinking for a split second then continued. "I know your true name, your family the Umbrals...I won't speak it, I don't need to, but I want you to know that I know. If you ever want to talk-." she paused, a bittersweet feeling washing over her as Sombra sat down before her, dumbfounded, angry, worried; then she finished. "I'm always ready to listen; and I'm so sorry for what happened to you, and for what Princess Celestia did. Let's just start here. My name is Twilight Sparkle."
Sombra wandered the castle hours later, guards trailed him at a distance everywhere he went but he knew he was being treated especially well and that others must have argued passionately for much worse. Probably the loudest among them would be the dragon he controlled for a moment. The castle was massive and mapping it out took all his attention at the time, though he was not unfamiliar to learning the complex layouts of royal abodes. The walking also let his hooves find old strength, even though he needed to stop frequently to rest. The magic he had stitching his muscles back together was working well in spite of his posturing and desire for knowledge on his situation. He even risked trying some charisma on the guards to gather information, though they must have been on strict no speaking rules...
Sombra soon found himself in a large lounge like room; couches and chairs all looking luxurious were scattered about with small tables here and there. A dining hall of sorts, very casual looking for a royal like Twilight. It was also a great place to rest, he found a larger framed sofa and decided to lay out, grunting and groaning as he stretched his limbs and felt all his tense joints relax just a little. It was true, what Twilight said. He was not nearly at his peak and it wouldn't take much to really hurt him, so he trusted her offer of peace for one month since he had yet to be disturbed. Still trying to sort out what she meant by using that old name...
He hardly noticed a shadow enter the room, crossing it with liquid grace and sitting across from him on an equally large sofa. He wondered just what giant cows used these particular seatings, for they were covered in brown fur and horrifically comfortable with a hay stuffing, but he eventually looked up at his visitor.
"You lay down like a cat." she started.
This irked Sombra dearly.
It was a black scaled dragon, the one who broke him out of the cell. He took in a deep breath and feigned ignorance to her opening statement.
"Greetings." he started, then truly looking at her, he noticed the arm sling and bandages that went around her upper arm and back. "Apologies..." he said, not sure what else to say, even if the word felt strange on his lips.
She shrugged, the gesture causing her to hiss in pain and rub her shoulder with her good arm. "Ah, no worries. You were scared, it happens to all of us. Dad is blowing plenty of smoke, though." she paused, then laughed quietly. "I'm Nash by the way."
Sombra was taken aback by just how quickly she forgave, wondering if she was being sincere or if this was a prop set up by Twilight. He lowered his head again and decided to ignore her.
"Ya know you normally say your name at this point!" she said, loudly.
Sombra sat up again and sighed heavily. "King Sombra. Why, did no one tell you the name of the Crystal Empires Iron King?"
"No I was told; about a thousand times by dad, but ice breakers, ya know?" she said, smiling smugly.
Sombra stood up, ignoring the pain in his legs and walking with regal stride for the door. The dragon hopped to follow.
"Listen, I thank you deeply for freeing me; but I have no use of you as you have no use for me. I am to focus on healing and don't have time for Twilight's games." he said, ending with spite in his tone.
Nastha followed without a care, not minding the hard tone he used it seemed, simply following him as she retorted. "Well, she did tell me you would be better off alone for a bit, but Hot Shot and Wind Drift here are also assigned to watch you by my dad." The guards looked at each other with small anxiety. "So, since they can't talk, and you already have company trailing you. Why not have someone you can talk to."
The pegsi in armor called to them, following quickly with the earth pony shouting. "Lieutenant! It isn't a good idea to-"
"To what? Talk to the great King Sombra? It is forbidden by the captain of the guard? Fine. Nash, you and I may talk, anything in the world to get under that dragons scales. Maybe I'll lure you to the ways of evil." he ended with a dramatic flair that put the guards on edge, despite how silly he felt saying it; and looking quite unhappy with the situation. Yet leaving him feeling proud of himself even as they walked in silence.
Sombra realized he had nothing he wanted to talk about, still.