The way back to the village was a little easier than they actually thought it would be. The four of them had set off the next morning, almost without mentioning a word between the two older ponies.
Sombra guided the route after taking the path downstream as a reference. Twilight, on the other hoof, stood at a distance behind him, next to the colts and with her eyes down from everything that was swirling in her mind at that moment, even though it was not the right time to do so.
Several of her doubts, and even some of the important ones, had been resolved and with that there were no problems, but just to be fair and balanced, she was compensated with others that did not leave her alone; hovering in her mind like annoying flies. The simple fact that the most important one to her wasn't answered reflected it quite well. But something "good" had come out of that, and that was that at least now she was sure that they were in a different reality from that of their homeland.
Twilight was still trying to figure out if that was good or bad. On the one hoof there was the fact that they were trapped, even if there was somehow a way out, but on the other hoof, looking at it with different eyes, it really was an incredible discovery that could make her reconsider everything she knew about magic up to that point, especially how little she knew about its more forbidden side. All of that made her feel excited, she couldn't help it.
Twilight raised her head when she heard the rustle of a branch on the road in front of her, causing her to pay attention to her other companion. She stared at him for an instant in which her face formed a thoughtful expression.
She had not yet shared with him the discovery she had made in that place, and she was surprised that Sombra did not mention anything either, or took it upon himself to go after the sudden fright they had with that creature. Maybe it was for a reason, since a part of her mind was still telling her that he must know this. Or at least a portion of that.
But there was something else that intrigued her.
All those creatures... It was too rare that they always appeared at the wrong time from the first night. Twilight already had a suspicion as to why this was happening, she just needed concrete proof to validate it.
"Could it be that..."
"We're almost there." Twilight jumped slightly as the stallion's voice reached her and interrupted her thoughts. Sombra glanced at her sideways for a moment. "And this hellish stop will soon be over."
Although he couldn't see her at the time, Twilight gave her a slight nod along with a sigh that escaped her lips.
"I'm comforted to know that at least it wasn't entirely in vain," she whispered in a low tone.
It didn't take long for the path in front of them to become clearer still, which proved the unicorn's previous point. The warm sunlight that had been beating against the stones of the road greeted them as they finally left the forest out. Although in reality, they imagined that they would come out a bit closer to the village.
"I think maybe we got a bit sidetracked..."
"Do you really believe it?" Sombra hinted as he saw the alicorn's hoof pointing into the distance, all the way down the river. He snorted wearily as he resumed. "We just followed it again."
Twilight shrugged and led the foals behind her all the way down the stretch. It didn't take long for them to see the village in the distance and hasten their way to its entrance. Their little companions were thrilled, though there was still as bit activity as the day Twilight and the others had arrived.
Something that didn't take long to change when one of the ponies saw them arrive with the two little ones they were carrying on their backs. And in less than a minute most of the ponies had surrounded them.
After that there had been the uproar, the cries of the anguished parents of those they had not found, the relieved words of the respective parents of the little ones, and the general gratitude they had been forced to receive.
But as much as Twilight enjoyed a bit internally the suffering Sombra was subjected to with all those ponies around him, she still had something, or rather someone else, that she needed to see. She slipped away from the crowd of villagers around her and followed the path to the farthest house of all.
A murmur of voices inside made her pause for a moment before she knocked on the front door. Twilight leaned in and put her ear a little closer.
"I recently heard a commotion at the entrance, I'm sure they were greeted by the other ponies," said the earth pony's voice, apparently in an attempt to calm down a smaller one.
"That's why I want to go and go out to meet her, she needs me now..."
Twilight smiled. That was undoubtedly Spike's voice, so it was time for her to leave her hiding place.
"Maybe that's not quite necessary, Spike," she smiled as she let herself be shown. "I'm already here."
At the sound of her voice, Spike turned his head and blinked rapidly as his gaze met the same as those purple eyes he was so fond of. Without waiting a second, he ran to where Twilight was waiting for him, her hooves open. Even if the young dragon didn't like physical contact too much, he wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to show her how worried he'd been.
"I went away for a whole day and without warning... I'm so sorry if I worried you, Spike," she said as she ran a comfort hoof over her head.
Spike pulled away and shook his head with a slight snort.
"Now, don't worry so much about that," he pointed with a claw uncovered under his cloak in the direction where the other mare had gone. "She told me part of what happened after I woke up, but now I want to know your whole side of the story."
Twilight adjusted the bangs on her forehead and sighed, in her mind preparing to recount the recent adventure she had had with the unicorn. She told him everything, keeping almost nothing to herself except a part of the information she had discovered.
Spike sat very patiently and calmly, he was quiet the whole time he lasted except for a few occasions when he inevitably couldn't do it or had to ask. And even more so when Twilight got to the last part.
"By Celestia... Did you really meet that thing again?" he asked, his face wincing in disgust.
"Yes, but at least nothing happened." Twilight gave another sigh and thanked in her mind whoever it was that had given them a little luck this time.
Spike put a claw on his chin before speaking again.
"The other thing that surprises me the most is the fact that who you know would have cooperated with you, you know, because of all that stuff that he's still a pony that's not supposed to be trusted," Spike frowned a bit as she lowered her head in a thoughtful expression. "Or at least I think so."
"I... Maybe I can have some idea what to think about that," she clarified.
Spike immediately proceeded to raise an eyebrow, his expression a clear question of what she meant. Twilight swallowed and shrugged slightly.
"I think maybe it might be possible to show Sombra... The path we've helped other ponies follow before."
When she finished saying that, the dragon's eyes widened in surprise.
"You mean...?"
"Yes, all of this will be much easier if I can make him more than just an ally..." she whispered as she looked at her hooves. "And somehow he proved it to me... When we were in that place."
"How was that?" he asked.
Twilight lowered her head a bit and rubbed both hooves as a small shiver ran through her as she remembered everything they encountered from the first moment they set foot in the cave. She also remembered the fact that he hadn't been as enthusiastic as she had been about putting a single one of his hooves in those places.
"I guess it's because he didn't even want to be there, or because somehow... Can I say he helped me?" Twilight shook her head to clear her mind a bit. "Anyway, I think it may be that during the short time we've been here, maybe we've changed his mind a little bit towards us, or at least a little towards me." After that hesitant moment she sighed and shook her head. "It's just that I'm not quite sure yet."
"Well, but if what you say can be correct, and your assumption is true..." Spike continued with a claw on his chin. "Wouldn't that make it easier?"
"Objectively speaking, it would, and you know why," she replied with a nod.
Spike mimicked her gesture and ended up running a claw across his forehead as he passed. Then he smiled a little smile that sought to convey some reassurance.
"I hope you're right, so I'll be supporting you on that."
Twilight smiled as well and stood up from her place.
"Thank you, Spike."
"But something else, too..." he said, crossing his arms and shaking his head. "Don't wait for me to get along with him so soon. You're the one who's going to take care of that for now."
Twilight let out a good laugh at the haughtiness with which he had suddenly said that. It was definitely her dragon friend being him. Once she lured him with one of her hooves from the side, into an impromptu embrace.
"Okay, I'll deal with Sombra and whatever we meet in the meantime."
Twilight let go of him after she suppressed another chuckle between her hooves, Spike on the other hoof did not do the same with his when she let him go. They both calmed down as soon as the distant noise that could be heard outside became more and more present.
"What happens now?"
Spike's question was answered the moment Twilight turned to slide the door back from its original position, opening it a bit wider to find out what was going on at that moment.
She was a little surprised when she felt Sombra suddenly push her away and close the door behind her. Twilight backed away without hesitation and uttered a complaint, frowning in annoyance at seeing him settle down a bit beyond them.
"Hey! And now what's wrong with you?"
"Don't ask me anything right now, it was your idea to leave me alone with all of them," Sombra replied in a annoyed voice, without even looking at her.
Twilight sighed, she was sure something like that would happen, but her priority had been something else when she left him on his own a while ago. So she walked back to the door, and as Spike gave the unicorn a half-hearted look, she was going to see and hold on to what the other ponies wanted.
And while she dealt with the crowd, the other two who had been left there were content to simply ignore each other, or at least that was the way it was for the unicorn. Spike ended up running to another corner after taking him one last look.
"She's certainly able to calm them down," Spike startled when he heard the unicorn's sudden voice in the small room. Sombra looked out the window at the assembled ponies. "To do everything that is supposed to be done by somepony who leads them, somepony whose leadership is not questioned."
"Uhm, it seems," the dragon replied after showing a confused look. Was he really addressing him or was he just talking to himself?
The unicorn ignored him, which proved Spike partly right. Then Sombra sat down and closed his eyes, whispering something the young dragon didn't hear.
"Maybe it's because she's never been in any situation that questions it."
Twilight appeared a few minutes later with a tired expression, but at the same time a smile. Having to face the thanks of an entire town was still not easy for her, although she should be used to it by now.
"I'm sorry if I took a bit while," she said as she ran a hoof across her forehead. "But I think our hostess will be happy when she sees all that the villagers left at the side of her house."
"Was that all?" asked Spike with a slight tilt of his head.
"Hmm? No, it was just the thanks for what we did," she replied with a smile. "That's why they let us stay another night, too."
"Good news for a change, at last," cried the dragon with a sigh.
Twilight looked in his direction and gave him a small reassuring smile. The unicorn, on the other hoof, just snorted and settled into place.
"They've figured it out, and now they think we're a threat," Sombra said suddenly. "Even if it wasn't, they wouldn't let us stay long."
Twilight didn't say anything else after he said that, just looked down and moved over to where Spike was. Anyway, she knew that in some of that, Sombra was right.
"Then we have to take this chance..." she murmured in a sigh. "And tomorrow we'll continue."
Spike nodded at the latter, while Sombra simply decided to look away.
The rest of the afternoon and the rest of the night while relatively quickly while they gave themselves a moment of mental relaxation... For now.
The next morning they would begin again their little personal hell in the direction of their goal.
It had been only a few hours since the three of them had resumed their journey, and to their surprise they had managed to advance further than they had at first imagined when the cold forest behind them sent them out into the open space beyond.
And for some reason none of them were convinced by the fact that they were forced to cross it. In an inner hunch for them, the easier path felt too exposed.
"Uhm, I think it would be good for us to continue along the edge of the forest," Spike spoke as he made a sign with his claw, demonstrating his point and his desire.
"I think you might be right..." Twilight let out a quick sigh, then looked back at the unicorn. "What do you say, Sombra?"
Not even she could foresee his final reaction.
"That for once I agree with you," he replied without looking at her and without showing the slight surprise he had felt at the fact that she needed his opinion.
"Okay..." Twilight murmured after seeing Spike raise his eyebrows.
"Wow, that was easier than I thought."
Twilight shrugged, conveying a silent "I guess" in her gesture. She took another brief look to make sure that the stallion was following them and not that he had just decided to take another break.
She knew he was very capable of that.
The hours passed swiftly on their long walk across the tree line. They only took a few breaks whenever tiredness or hunger began to set in in the group. But it wasn't long before they picked it up again.
Twilight was already carrying Spike on her back a few hours before night fell, perhaps in a quest to alleviate the dragon's constant complaints about the pain in his short legs and wings. Luckily she still had the stamina to endure him without falling from exhaustion.
"Spike, stay still for a while, if you keep moving you're going to end up on the floor," she scolded him as she glanced over her shoulder.
He gave a quick snort and sat down in a better way while crossing both arms. The alicorn rolled her eyes slightly, though she still let out a tiny smile. She thought that sometimes he was still like a little child.
"How long do you think it will be until nightfall?" he asked, and looked beyond the treetops. Twilight mimicked his gesture for a brief moment.
"Hmm, I reckon in two hours..." she replied as she rubbed the side of her head with a hoof. "We should stop for today."
"Uhm, I guess," he ended up shrugging. "I don't know if you agree, but seeing all these trees so often give me a headache."
Half an hour later, the three of them had managed to settle into a small clearing that was not too far from the plain. From their position they could see the open space beyond quite well.
As they ate their impromptu dinner of vegetables with a sprinkling of fruit, courtesy of the villagers, the alicorn's ears suddenly turned in a certain direction as she heard a snort very close to her.
"Tsk, is this supposed to be what I'm supposed to keep eating until I get out of here?" The stallion said, looking at his own ration with a frown.
At the unicorn's complaint, Twilight looked up from her food and let out her own snort. Then she looked at him again.
"Well, what else do you suggest we eat?"
Sombra closed his eyes and gave a long sigh.
"A bit meat would be nice," he shrugged slightly, and didn't notice when the duo suddenly paralyzed.
"W-what? A-are you serious?"
Twilight blinked quickly to snap out of her stupor. Spike, on the other hoof, turned his gaze and continued eating, trying to ignore what they were going to say next.
The stallion simply looked at her.
"I'm a bit surprised that you, apparently having enough knowledge about the Crystal Empire, don't know something about that aspect," Sombra replied as he resumed his dinner. "You should know that in the worst winter months it is very difficult to get fresh fruits and vegetables, especially if you live in the center of a perpetual snowstorm."
Twilight was aware of what he was saying. Crystal ponies in the past had been required to get the amount of protein they required from other than ordinary sources, but they almost always had to look for it in the icy tundra. As it also happened to the ponies that spent many seasons at sea.
She knew, she just didn't expect him to say that just now.
"I know something about that," Twilight said with a slight grumble. "I was just a bit surprised that you mentioned it just now."
"I just said it as a suggestion," he shrugged again and said nothing more.
Twilight immediately gave him a simple suspicious look.
"Fine..." she whispered to herself and lowered her head back to her ration.
Night fell upon them as they were getting ready for sleep. Twilight was thankful that she had the good sense to take the pair of cloaks and the blanket to cover herself, because otherwise she really wouldn't have known how to face the heavy cold that settled in that place every night.
To add insult to injury, Sombra had forbidden them to light any kind of fire to warm themselves. And that, according to him, was to prevent them from attracting something unwanted. Twilight had snorted over it. If something as dangerous as what they had encountered before existed in that place, they would have been attacked long ago.
"I really can't stand this," she whispered with a shudder, as she huddled a bit closer to Spike. He had long since fallen asleep and endured it thanks to his fire. At least that was useful to her, too.
Twilight glanced at Sombra's dark form, lying as he was a few feet away from them and seemingly with his eyes closed. She still wondered how he could stand it, or so it seemed.
"It's necessary," Sombra exclaimed suddenly, causing Twilight to look at him again. "Before, we couldn't feel it because we were under the shelter and the apparent calm and security that a solid roof offers. However, this is no longer the case."
"It's how lucky they are." Twilight remembered for the moment everything that had happened in that place. "Or something like that."
"Just like us, they're stuck with an enemy they don't know when they can attack," he said as the nuance of his voice deepened. "And they don't even have the power to stop it."
Twilight sighed, realizing in his words the similarity of their own situations. But there was something that wasn't quite right.
"They don't have that power because a possible truce isn't valid in their case," Twilight cocked her head as she looked away. Maybe she could bring that up in the moment. "Instead, we have the opportunity to change our situation. Quite simply, there can be some kind of alliance."
Suddenly, Sombra began to look at her suspiciously.
"What are you talking about?"
"That same, Sombra," she answered. "Is it really necessary for us to be enemies after all we have done to help each other, even if it has been indirectly?"
Sombra didn't immediately answer after Twilight raised her question. A few minutes passed as he stared, it seemed, into the nighttime nothingness beyond.
"Maybe it's something we can't escape," Sombra theorized after that time had passed. "If we are, it's because fate wanted us to be."
"I don't believe in something like that," she replied, looking down as she frowned a bit more. "And the truth is, I don't want to be your enemy," she admitted with a bit reluctance. "But I will be if I need be. So I guess the fact that whether we're allies or not... It's up to you."
Twilight then got up from her seat next to Spike and went to where he was. She sat down and held out one of her hooves to the stallion. Sombra stared at the limb for a moment as if it contained some kind of nasty bug.
"What is that supposed to be?" he asked as he puckered his nose in a grimace of disgust.
"An offer of friendship. Officially." Twilight lowered her hoof for a moment. "While we're here, why not? We can try to get out of this together, do teamwork, instead of just tolerating our existence. We escaped from this place, we returned to our home, you may try to reconquer the empire again, however, if you choose that and it happens, I..." Twilight sighed and frowned sadly. "I'll be forced to stop you."
"And what makes you think you can do it?" he asked in a somewhat arrogant voice.
Twilight ignored his tone and just shrugged.
"I don't know... But even if I could, I don't really prefer it." She suddenly looked up as a certain sparkle settled in her eyes. "Not when I'm willing to help others."
Sombra watched slowly as she lifted her hoof again and laid it out in his direction. The alicorn could have said something else after that, but at the time he didn't listen to her.
All his life, he had been shown what happened when he let others take the trust he had given them, how they used it as they pleased and then simply discarded it like trash in the cursed snows of frozen tundra. Even when he was able to fulfill his destiny, he never dared to leave it with anypony else again.
Ponies weren't at all trustworthy after all, not even those born with dark magic.
However, times were changing.
Although he had always been used to others showing what made them vulnerable to him. He couldn't blame them, after all few, very few, had managed to keep that facade calm, seemingly controlled when they found themselves in the presence of the King of the Shadows.
Hate, resentment, anger, fear... especially fear.
All those emotions he had always detected in his subjects, emotions powerful enough to fuel his magic. That was how it had previously been, with them fearing him and him being the source of their fear.
However, now that that little pony was standing in front of him, it wasn't fear or any other negative emotion that he could actually feel.
No, that pony exuded a strong aura of determination that he had seldom felt, and yet one more feeling was harbored within her, one that represented the light of her soul as a whole. One he hadn't felt for a long time: hope.
She had the hope that he would actually accept her proposal.
But was he willing to do it?
"Then what do you say, Sombra?" she asked in a slight hint.
He looked at her outstretched hoof and, through it all, emitted a small dark laugh before getting closer.
"Looks like you really think you can stop me," he growled.
Twilight's ears flattened in disappointment when she saw that he didn't seem to agree with her. Or that was until he returned to the same position.
"However," he began again, and Twilight's ears turned. "I can't deny that you've been quite a bit to me... help," he confessed reluctantly. "And even though it's partly your fault that we've ended up in this place forgotten by the world, I'm willing to cooperate with you until we can get out of here, even if it has to be for that method that forces two ponies to get along."
Twilight gave a slight roll of her eyes accompanied by a snort.
"It's really the only option right now, and as far as help goes, friends should always be there for others..."
"Yeah, yeah, I can already say that you convinced me without needing that answer," he interrupted her as he waved a hoof in the air and then dropped it into Twilight's. She reacted by shaking hers slightly. "I might be willing to give a bit importance to this... friendship."
Twilight nodded after that, letting out a small smile at will as she got up again and walked back to her original spot. She had already settled once more next to her little dragon when the voice coming from the unicorn in front of her caused her to turn her head towards him again.
"Since we're supposed to be now... friends," Sombra said suddenly, announcing himself with a clearing of his throat. "I think you should tell me what you found. Or was our trip to that cave in vain?"
Twilight blinked rapidly, not forgetting the slight bewilderment. So long he'd had... And he was asking just at that moment?"
"Are you serious? Do you have to ask me that right now?" Twilight replied without changing the seriousness of her face. Then she raised her hoof to hide a tired yawn. "You can ask me tomorrow... when we're more rested."
"Really?" he grumbled. "Tomorrow so many things can happen for..." He was quickly interrupted by the alicorn.
"I said tomorrow."
Twilight had already covered herself with her blanket, and yet she could perfectly hear the stallion's disgruntled growl after that. Sombra only glanced at her again, before ignoring her and settling down to rest.
Twilight let a funny little smile form on her face after seeing his attitude with the one eye she had open. Finally she left everything and concentrated on delving once into the charms of a possible dreamless rest.
In the end, the night ended up being much colder than on previous occasions.