In His Presence

by Ocean Heart


Penance in the Library

Within these endless halls lies an eternity of knowledge

One must only be willing to open their eyes and see starlight

Sombra sneered at the old Ponish script etched above the doors leading to the library. He thought them tacky, overly dramatic and judgmental; lacking most sense as well. Though, going through the doors, the sudden change in the air made his ears pop; he had to stop and fight to keep his legs from shaking, his fur bristled and skin went cold. Seeing the inside of the library was unlike anything he had seen before. The flat ground suddenly turned into a massive staircase downward for about half a flight, the marble stone was cut using magic; so fine was the edge that he knew no normal craftspony could accomplish this, and yet the real show was a statue at the bottom of the stairs that could not exist. Step by step he descended seeing the ornamental wood table that encircled the statue with ponies busily filing paperwork and organizing books onto carts. It was about five ponies, with others pushing those carts between the aisles of books. Sombra gazed back at the statue set the bottom of the staircase and stood motionless in the library that broke even the rules he could not fathom breaking.

The statue should have cut into the next two floors at the most conservative estimate he had come up with, while the bookcases themselves seemed to go on forever, far out of his view.

"Magic that warps space itself..." he said in quiet awe.

He looked again at all the rows of books and the ceiling that should have exploded outside the castle with its sheer scale and sat down at the end of the stairs. Reflecting on his own castle, he thought back to his illusions and seemingly endless stairs; a strong dispel would shatter the illusion and reality as it was would resume to the perspective of the subject in question...however...

The vast halls were no illusion or teleportation magic, but and honest warping of space to create something incredible.

"T-...This was only ever a theory by Celestia's court mage, no other pony could confirm this was a possibility. Did that old madman know? Did he foresee this?" He would have continued, but he was interrupted by a warm laugh coming from below at the foot of the stairs.

He turned and stood up, not even realized he had lost his wits and had to quickly regain them when a wash of lavender color brought his anger back in a flash.

"Queen Twilight." he said, not as if greeting, but accusing.

____

Twilight remained sitting, gazing at the statue of her old friend and couldn't suppress a wistful sigh; she knew where Sombra was at all times due to the nature of his magic creating a small void of darkness. Yet it was simply fate that they would run into each other like this. Twilight was looking for a book on gryphon history, not that he would believe her. So she simply smiled and took in his reaction to her student's incredible work. Twilight turned her head to look at and address Sombra.

"Princess is fine, but really it's unnecessary. I always have been just Twilight Sparkle."

She stood and faced him now, the dark king not recoiling, but more so priming himself. Twilight had to suppress her emotions; she found so much pity for the stallion that it was hard to see him as himself. She knew he was no stray dog to take in with simple comfort; and so she had to treat him with more respect than others might think worthy of this avatar of oppression.

"These halls are not endless as the door implies, but they are much more vast than they should be, as you noticed." she continued. "This is the work of my student Starlight Glimmer and her partner Sunburst." She motioned to the statue of Starlight that rose to such a height. "We offered to put them both here, but Sunburst wouldn't have it...I admire that mage, I do." she paused, glad to see Sombra start to relax. "He wants to change the world, yet he also doesn't want his name plastered all over. It isn't modesty, I think. I think the poor stallion is just shy." she ended with a soft laugh, a genuine one.


Sombra felt at a loss for words. Not only was it not a result of Celestia's mage, but this magical marvel was made by someone who didn't even want credit for it? He sat back down, dumbfounded that such a personality existed...

"That is just absurd." he started. "You make a breakthrough that allows the warping of space itself and you don't even want the credit? No pony is that shy. Just imagining the amount of spell layering, testing each and every effect knowing the next test could turn you inside out or cause any number of disasters; and the skill you need with weaving magic runes-." He stopped when he saw the smile on her face. Sombra felt his tail flick once in annoyance, deciding to entertain her for the sake of getting information. The king was an old hat with manipulation, the decision was made in reflex and he found words forming before he made the conscious decision to engage with Twilight. This is to say, really, he was shocked at himself for wanting to talk more about the subject in spite of his hate for the alicorn.

"What I'm trying to say is it simply makes no sense for someone to work so hard, accomplish something even the gods could not and decide not to take credit for it. It tells me this Sunburst is unfathomably sad as a pony, insecure, and probably unloved." he ended, smiling with such toxic venom in his tone. Though the last adjective was a tad reaching...

Twilight seemed unfazed; her posture didn't change nor did her expression of peaceful content, as if listening to an old friend ramble. There was a moment of silence between them and Sombra lost the smile after just a few heartbeats to look at her confused.

"No, King Sombra; Sunburst is very loved." she said with blissful warmth. Infuriating warmth to the dejected King. "If you like, I can help you find what you're looking for." she ended.

The ice king snorted and pushed his nose high before replying. "By all means, I can't argue if you wish to be the architect of your own downfall." he then looked at her, truly met her gaze with his vile eyes and added. "I promise I won't be kind to your subjects when you are disposed of..."

This finally seemed to put a chill in the mare's veins, her expression going cold and distant as something Sombra could see as 'Luna-esque" flashed in those lavender eyes. He kept the tremor from his voice masterfully and began walking, not even sure of the direction he was going into the vast labyrinth of books. "I need to catch up on the history of the Empire that I have sadly missed, and any book on your affairs would be needed. Can we manage this simple task?" he said, glaring back at her.

To his shock she was blowing out a sigh, nodding her head and then laughing to herself. He stopped in his tracks and turned to face her.

"N-no, King Sombra I am not mocking you, I swear. I apologize for the impression, but you just remind me of someone..." she paused, as if deep in thought. "Well, a few someones. It brought back some fond memories..." And with that she began trotting a slow pace in the opposing direction of his own walk.

Sombra had to catch up with a brisk jolt and looked up in suspicion, a look she noticed.

"Ah- I...I do apologize, you won't know them but maybe telling you a few stories while we look for the books will be revenge enough for your comment about my subjects. She smiled playfully and Sombra realized just how adept this mare was at getting under his skin.

"So...there's this magician named Trixie..."

____________One hour later_______________

"...And Starlight insisted that she would get revenge on us, she even solved the riddle of time magic and doomed the world a few times over just to get back at us...but, ultimately, she saw the selfishness of her actions and came to regret everything. We were almost lucky that she came to that conclusion or you and I might not ever have had this opportunity."

With that a dense tome of a book was placed in the new-old saddle bag the Princess had found for him. Unable to suppress the grunt of pain his still healing bones felt carrying the weight, Twilight looked at him with a grimace.

One copy of "The Crystal Press Archive" dated for the past ten years. Total weight 13.7 lbs
One original print of "Princess Twilight Sparkle: A New Dawn for Equestria?" Total weight 11.6 lbs
One abridged edition of "Sun and Moonfall: Life without the sisters" Total weight 24.6 lbs
And one copy of "Flurry Heart: Queen of an Empire" Total weight 10.9 lbs

Weight being carried by a very unrecovered, unsteady King: 60.8 lbs.


Sombra was breathing slowly, carefully. Their pace had long turned into a crawl while he used magic to constantly amplify his own strength at the cost of his recovery speed. Refusing to appear so weak as to carry measly books on his magic talents. Twilight had noticed this effort of his, but he persisted.

"You, of course, wouldn't know any of this because to you and to all of Equestria nothing had happened at all. Only her and I know, now..."

They had returned to the entrance and stairs, Sombra thankful for the sight and not even noticing the flash of darkness in her expression. The king paused to see Spike at the top and looking down at them both, wearing a more robust version of his normal outfit and what clearly was a piece of magic protection in the form of a gem encrusted bracer on his left arm. Sombra was versed enough in that sort of enchantment to see it a mile away if he needed to...but disliking the meaning behind it's appearance. He stood tall in spite of his pain and, though his hooves felt tired and weak, he had to let the dragon know he would rather die than cower in fear over a trinket such as that.

"Your Highness, you could have told someone you were escorting...him. The guard is here for a reason." Spike started, cut off by Sombra as he climbed the stairs.

"Oh please, dear captain if I had the opportunity to kill your precious Queen, I would have taken it already." he said with a grin as green flooded his eyes for a moment. Spike put a claw on the sword at his side and snarled very audible, Twilight stepping up to follow the King and adding hastily.

"Spike! It's alright, even he admits I can defend myself; Sombra needed help and we had a good chance to talk-" she was then cut off by a laugh from Sombra.

"Dear Queen Twilight! Is that all it was? Was it not pity or shame that drove you to help me and gnaw my ears apart?" This put Twilight on the defensive, her posture changing to quick shock and wanting to rebuke, she inhaled sharply but Sombra continued. "IF you want to help me I have a suggestion..." the pause; Sombra adored the drama. "Not tomorrow, but the next day, at noon; I want to see the city. I'm no fool, I know I am under arrest but surly there is a balcony with a view. Have the servants prepare for a...ah...A Royal Viewing." he chuckled to himself, finally reaching the top of the stairs and finding his path blocked by the dragon. "The information in these books are hardly enough without the context, and we've nothing better to do while I recover." he took a breath, trying to hide just how empty his lungs felt from the climb up simple stairs. "My magic is enough to survey a greater distance than you think, Captain, and I can't even go near a window without your guards breaking out in a panic. I was underground for the greater part of a generation, I could at any moment find myself back in that cage, my only request...a request from the great and powerful King Sombra is just an afternoon to see what I may from the castle towers." he ended. Taking a long breath as quietly as possible as he stared down the dragon.

...Then Twilight Sparkle laughed.

...

Spike and Sombra both stared squarely at her with total loss of words as her light as air laugh echoed in the depthless halls of the library, the sun seeming to grow brighter from just the presence of her joy...at what, neither of them knew.

"Is there something funny about my plea?" he shot.

Twilight sat down there in front of the statue at the bottom of the stairs, unable to remain standing as she laughed her musical, light bringing laugh as his face burned red within moments, nearly charging down the stairs were it not for the foresight that he would then have to climb them all over again.

All that she got out were just a hoofful of words.

"I-I'm sorry! I-It's jus-st...th-e G-great and P-p-powerful S-Sombra!"

Suddenly her story rushed back to him and he fumed in bitter rage and Spike felt the humor punch him in the gut and a smile painted wide on his face.

"I AM NOT THAT CHARLATAN MARE!"