Before anything could happen, Celestia spoke with authority in her voice.
“Cadance,” she said, refocusing all of the alicorn’s attention on her. Her horn was still lit up, but her expression was a little less intense now. “Calm yourself this instant.”
Calm, cool, collected. Celestia said it with certainty that she would listen to her commands, and listen she did. Cadance’s horn automatically went dark as she stared back at the princess, almost shocked.
“What in the world’s gotten into me?” she asked herself, taking a step back from the alicorn. “Sombra can’t be right about the future, can he?” She was almost ashamed of herself, folding her ears against her head, but the intensity of her anger over the situation hadn’t lessened.
“I understand that you’re upset,” Celestia told her niece, “but violence is not the solution to your anger.”
“I… I’m sorry, I just…” Her hoof was still grinding against the floor, her jaw still clenched in frustration. It was almost unbelievable how upset she was. Yes, it was something big to be upset about, but it didn’t justify what she was about to do.
“Sombra said this was what the future held for me, but I- I don’t know what’s come over me.”
“Take a breath,” the princess instructed. “You’re going to wear your right hoof thin with anger like that.”
“Don’t talk to me like that!” she suddenly yelled, unable to help herself. “Don't treat me like I'm a foal! Faust! I don’t know why this is getting to me so bad, but… argh! I hate this!”
“This is why we’re back here,” Alex commented. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but you always act exactly this way. You need therapy or something to fix yourself.”
“Actually, we tried to have you do friendship lessons,” the present version of Twilight added, “but those didn’t work. You faked them and then stole Grogar’s bell and… well… the present is not good right now. You stole Celestia’s and Luna’s magic.”
“Which is why we came back here,” Alex finished. “There are no other options. This both starts and ends with you two.”
“I…” Cadance was about to say she wouldn’t do that, but she remembered what was about to be done just a few seconds ago. She looked down at her hooves, and could see one was still grinding against the floor, almost starting to wear down. She had to force herself to stop and her jaw to unclench, but she could still feel her blood boiling.
“You know I wouldn’t intentionally do that, don’t you?” she asked, sounding desperate. “I wouldn’t do that, but… Faust, it feels like my blood is boiling! Why would you just tell me no like that when I’ve been waiting my whole life for this? What was the point of becoming an alicorn if I can’t rule?”
“I do think you would do that, Cadance,” Celestia told her, ignoring her question. “We just witnessed what you were about to do a minute ago. I understand that you’re upset, but-”
“Stop talking to me like that! There has to be something else going on!” she asserted. “I mean, isn’t it weird that Sombra is here right as that happens? He has to be using a spell or something to control my emotions! This has to be one of his plans!”
“If that’s the case,” Alex started, “then why would Twilight and I be back here in the first place? We’re here to make sure you don’t fall down the road you’re about to walk down, not to push you on it.”
She clenched her jaw again and began grinding her hoof, stopping once she realized what she was doing. She almost felt like she was spiraling, and had to force herself to keep calm. There was no way what Alex said was true. It couldn’t be. But of course, there was no way she could argue against them. Heck, Celestia was upset that Sombra… or, Alex, revealed that she was already planning to give Equestria to Twilight. It proved that what he was saying was true.
“What’s happening to me?” she asked in a whisper. “What’s gotten into me?”
“I don’t know,” Alex said, “but it’s better to acknowledge there’s a problem now than it is to let all of Equestria be destroyed because of your anger… and you, too, Celestia,” he continued, turning towards the white alicorn. “You’re no angel yourself. You have the exact same problem. Even Princess Amore agreed that the way you and her handled things was wrong. She’ll tell you that straight up.”
“I do not-”
“Don’t say that,” he interrupted. “Twilight will tell you that you have a problem, just like Cadance does.”
“It’s true,” Twilight sighed sadly. “You really did turn into Daybreaker, as hard as it is to say. And I think we can all agree that saying there’s nothing wrong with you won’t help you at all.”
“So then what do we do?” Celestia asked, sounding a bit impatient. “And where is Amore? I was promised to see her again.”
“Twilight will give you where she's at, but first, you need to promise to talk to the past version of her about friendship. And Starlight Glimmer, too. You both have a thing or two to learn about it. And trust me when I say I’ll know if you don’t.”
“I… I shall, if you insist, and so shall she,” Celestia said, sending a look Cadance’s way. It was obvious to Alex that Celestia was mostly telling him what he wanted to hear, but he figured it would be good enough. Cadance’s acknowledgement was more important that her’s.
“I still want to know why not me, though,” Cadance grumbled, still extremely upset. "I don't see why you would just cut me off after building me up for so long and promising me something greater than the Crystal Empire."
“I think your actions today, the nerve of you to light up your horn in attack, shows that you’re incapable of-”
“I’d love to have your help,” the past version of Twilight suddenly broke in, everypony turning their heads toward her. Her sister in law once again had a surprised look on her face, like it was the last thing she expected to hear.
“I mean, you’d been ruling the Crystal Empire for years now,” the purple pony continued carefully, “so that means you must have a lot of experience, right? I bet if we worked together, we’d do an amazing job.”
“Wh… what?” Cadance asked, confused, like it was the last thing she expected to hear. Celestia clearly didn’t expect it either, because she tilted her head in equal confusion as she watched her student speak.
“You would do that? Even after… all of this?”
“Mhm,” Twilight nodded, wearing a smile now. “That’s what sisters are for. I mean, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna rule together, so I don’t see why we can’t. Besides, I wouldn’t have the first clue as to what I’m doing. I’m not sure I’d be able to do it without you.”
Alex and the present version of Twilight watched in almost surprise as Cadance smiled. She actually smiled, a genuine one at that, for the first time since… well, Twilight couldn’t remember. Alex had never seen it to begin with, not in real life. It was almost uncanny to witness.
“That… that sounds like it would be nice,” Cadance commented, almost sounding happy. She glanced at Celestia, who now took her turn to look at her hooves in embarrassment, almost shame, as her ears flattened. “If you’d let me, that would be nice.”
“But you have to let her help you, too,” the present Twilight suddenly interrupted, both of them turning to her now. “I don’t want to see our relationship break because of whatever you’re going through or whatever anger you have. You have to let her help you. And you, too, Celestia.” Celestia’s ears perked up at that as the mare finished, “You both need ponies to help you work on your emotions. It… it was awful to watch both of you fall down so far.”
“Okay, let’s step out so I can talk to you alone, Twilight,” Alex suddenly said, using his magic to start to pull her with him.
“What about Princess Amore?” Celstia asked, almost desperate. “You promised you would-”
“She’ll give you that in a second. I have to talk to her alone for a minute.”
Alex quickly pulled her out of the room, Twilight able to see the wetness in his eyes as they stepped into the hallway and shut the bedroom door. She was just about to ask what was wrong before he told her.
“I still blame her,” he said simply. “I still blame her for all of this. It’s such a bitter ending to see them acting happy while I have to settle for nothing!” His voice started flat, but he was yelling by the end of it.
He took a breath to collect himself as he continued, “I don’t care if this is the past version of herself, what she did was wrong, and she should have some sort of consequence for her actions. But of course, all of this ending hinges on a happy ending for everypony else but me.”
He sighed again, and there was a long moment before Twilight said, “If it means anything, I’m sorry about how I acted when we first met. I’m sure if I would’ve stepped in and been less trusting of them and more trusting of you, this would’ve gone differently.”
“Yeah… if only, if only the woodpecker sighs,” he responded simply. “I wish a lot of things were different. But… god, I’m just so tired of it all.”
“Another thing, if it’s worth something to you, Alex,” she started again. “I think of you as a friend. And I know Fluttershy definitely does, too. I even talked to Radiant Hope a few times. She actually told me she was kind of fond of you, even if you and Sombra were in a difficult situation.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s worth something,” he agreed. Then he smiled and chuckled to himself, saying, “And I mean, I met Twilight Sparkle of all ponies. That’s supposed to be every brony’s dream, and I did that. That’s something, too, I guess.”
Twilight laughed along with him, even if she didn’t fully understand what he was saying. Then she reached out to wrap a tight hoof around him, pulling him in for a brief hug.
“Are you sure this is what you want to do?” she asked. “This… this is a permanent solution. I understand if this is what you want to do, but are you sure?”
“I don’t think it matters anymore whether or not I want it,” he answered. “What’s done is done, now. Can’t take it back, can I?” He paused for a moment before lighting up his horn. “I do want to talk to someone though,” he said. “It’ll just take a few seconds, maybe a minute at most. Can you tell Celestia where Amore’s pieces are in that time?”
“Yeah, that shouldn't be any trouble, but who is it?”
Alex didn’t answer, quickly disappearing before anything else could be said.
Fluttershy was tending to her animals when he appeared out of nowhere.
She nearly fell over at the sight of him, cowering in fear as he stalked closer. He looked… wait, what was she seeing? In front of her was clearly King Sombra, but it was almost like she was looking like a relative of his. His coat was long and shaggy, and he had a tired look in his eyes. They looked almost sad, like he was done with everything and wanted nothing more than to lay down and fall asleep. It was a strange sight to see, and it gave her the courage to try and speak.
“S-sombra?” she squeaked out fearfully, standing back up, less afraid now, but still nervous.
“Fluttershy,” he replied. “I know you don’t know who I am, but I want you to know that you are absolutely everything that everypony should strive to be.”
That was the last thing she expected to hear. Sure, she tried her best to be kind sometimes, but everything that everypony should be? And coming from King Sombra of all ponies?
“You’re wonderful and kind and amazing, and I would not be here thanking you today if you weren’t. You’re everything good a pony should be, and it’s absolutely wonderful. I wish everypony was like you, but unfortunately, they’re not.”
“Who… who are you?” she asked, stepping closer to him. He looked like he was about to start crying, but she watched him force himself to continue.
“It’s so unfair how it all turned out, but even still, I’m glad to say that I knew you in spite of it all, and that you were my friend. And you…” Now he got choked up as he finished, “I’ll still think of you if there’s anything out there left for me after this.”
The yellow mare was never one to leave a crying pony hanging, and even though it was King Sombra of all ponies, she reached out to hug him tightly. She didn’t say anything, didn’t ask him what was wrong, only held up for as long as he thought was necessary, which turned out to be more than a moment.
“Even now,” he said as he embraced her, “when you don’t know who I am and only recognize me as the villain King Sombra, you’re still unbearably kind. The Element of Kindness fits you so perfectly. It’s unreal.”
She still didn’t say anything, hugging him until the time came to finally let him go.
“Thank you for all of this,” he said. “I don’t know what I would do without you. This would be a better moment if you remembered me, but even though you don’t, you being you, you’re still just as kind as always. Thank you for having faith in me when you met me.”
“You’re welcome,” she said politely, smiling kindly. She wanted to ask what this was about, but wasn’t one to interrupt somepony in their moment, even King Sombra. She figured he would tell her when he was ready.
He didn’t though, instead lighting up his horn, deciding that this was as good an ending as he was going to get.
“This is goodbye now,” he said as he lit up his horn to bring Twilight and Sombra back to the present, leaving himself… where? He didn’t know.
“Thank you,” Alex told her sincerely.