//------------------------------// // Checkmate with a Pawn, Part 3 // Story: Kiss of the Dark // by Soothing Stone //------------------------------// The time before the dusk always seemed to carry a creepy atmosphere to it. Transitioning from the dying daylight to the moonlight created a faint orange glow every single day. And while most ponies didn't mind it at all, it managed to make the Wispy Woods feel like they were hiding something. Most of the tree branches blocked the sunlight from flowing into the forest, where Twilight and Forest were going. The sound of leaves crunching punctuated every hoofstep they made on the way to their destination. What awaited her when she saw the surprise was anypony's guess. She was cautiously optimistic about it in the meantime, given how the day was full of pleasant surprises to that point. Seeing Forest Mist grinning from ear to ear helped to soothe any worries away that she might have had. He was very content with himself in her eyes, and there was no way it could be a bad surprise when he was acting like that. But he kept a close eye on her as well. Everything he had worked tirelessly for, every ounce of patience he spent on the princess, it was all coming together for this chance. They kept close together, the two of them, through the rest of the Wispy Woods. The Guards were far away from them by then, and nopony could see or hear what they were doing. The sound of the stream filled her ears after a while. She recognized it almost immediately as that stream. It didn't hurt that he raced right to the river as soon as they saw it. She ran right after him, not sure why the hay he was running out of the blue. "Wait for me!" she yelled. "I know you're excited to show me the surprise, but we don't have to run a marathon to get there either!" But he stopped as soon as he started, dragging his hooves into the ground to halt his progress. She halted right behind him, and turned to see what he was staring at. The banks of the stream greeted her with the sound of flowing water. A few pads rode the weak current to wherever it led. There were even a few fish inside, but not that many. The shallow banks did not allow much room for swimming. "This is where we first met," he said, seeing that Twilight caught up with him. "This very stream. It wasn't more than two weeks ago, but it felt longer to me." "I was thinking the same thing," she responded. "I remember how cautious I was." "Yes, you had two Royal Guards with you, if I remember right." Wait a minute, she thought. I hid them away so that he wouldn't be intimated by a huge security presence. "What do you mean, Royal Guards?" "I'm not inexperienced with Guards, you know. They might be the Guard to your rule as well as Celestia's, but they love to snack whenever they have the chance. All that smacking didn't help." Twilight laughed, and she was relieved to know that's all he meant. "Yeah, they need to work on that..." Then she was greeted by silence. But this was different than the time at the fountain. It was the uncomfortable kind of silence. She fidgeted her hooves, and she was unsure what was coming next. The surprise wasn't here, and he seemed to be waiting for something. All it did was keep her asking herself what was going on. If anything, his grin was beginning to weird her out. It would help if she had some idea where he was going with this, but she was in the dark. And that only made things more tense. "Forest Mist, what exactly are we doing here?" she asked. "Waiting." "Waiting for what?" "The surprise. It should be here any moment. In fact, I see it coming now." She turned around, searching high and low for the surprise. What she saw took her by surprise. At first, all she could see was an outline of another pony coming to meet them. He had a black scarf around his neck, but she couldn't make out any other features. Then she saw something that blew her mind. The pony was a unicorn, his horn glowing from using magic. His snout was long and slender. Not as masculine as Big Mac, but you knew it was a stallion at the same time. The coat was green and the mane blue, and his body was slender. It was another Forest Mist. "You were right about one thing," said the copy. "I had some talent in magic after all. Maybe not the raw talent you carry, but talent all the same. We can't all be Twilight Sparkles." Her jaw was flat on the floor. How was...was this even possible? Two Forest Mists? She took a few steps back, as the two stallions joined each other side by side. "I...I don't understand..." she mumbled. "Are you...twins? Clones? I don't get it..." "It's a simple explanation, really," said the stranger clone. "Do you notice that my horn is glowing, but the other one is not?" The Forest Mist that went out with her started to vanish. His features started to disappear, as a sphere of magic formed in the middle of his backside. He was sucked into it without a fight, until he was nothing more than a big green ball. The sphere then went into the real Forest Mist's horn, crackling with green magic for a while. He never acknowledged how unusual this was to his date. "Again, I can explain this. You have probably noticed I'm older than you by a few years, at least," he chuckled. "So I know about a few spells you never heard of. In this case, the duplication spell. Using it, you can create a duplicate of yourself and have full control of it as you please. Difficult to control it and your own body at the same time, but I found a way." Twilight's mouth was agape. She felt like running at that moment, but she wasn't sure why. "So I wasn't really with you today," she figured out. "But why would you do that? Why would you send out a duplicate of yourself to go out on a date with me?" "Ah, so the intellect inside you comes out with many questions. I do like that about you. It's not often I meet somepony that can match my brains. But do you not remember that we went out to the Crystal Empire for lunch today?" "What does that have to do with this?" she puzzled. "You're not making any sense with what you're doing." "You of all ponies should know why I had to send out a duplicate instead of the real thing, after all..." His horn glowed again, brighter than ever. His body lifted off the ground, and magical energy surrounded every part of Forest Mist. She couldn't keep watching him from the harsh light, and had to shield her eyes with her hooves. When the magic got to work, every part of Forest Mist changed before her eyes. His green coat transformed into grey. His mane became as black as the night, and his horn was unnaturally red. When it was over, he landed on the ground with a bigger sense of pride in his movements. He was Sombra, King of Shadows. "...you should know the Crystal Heart would block me out. You were the pony that played a role in my defeat after all." Twilight gasped when it was made clear who Forest really was. And as soon as she realized it was Sombra, her horn beamed with the strength of an offensive spell, prepared to attack him right then and there. He only shrugged at her efforts. But that didn't faze her. She used a fire spell and launched it directly at Sombra. But he employed a blue shield to protect him quickly, and the fire spell clattered right with it. A cloud of smoke enveloped around him, but he emerged out of it in no time. "Impressive," he commented. "You know how to think fast, but so do I." She huffed and stomped her hooves on the ground. She was willing to fight him to the death. "What are you doing here, King Sombra?" she questioned, with a strong edge in her voice. "I should bring the Guards here right now, or let Celestia know you're here!" "Would you really do that?" he asked. "I seem to recall that you were leaning on my shoulder not that long ago..." "No more games!" she interrupted. "I know what you're doing. You're going to try to kill me, aren't you?" He shook his head quietly. "I know that you'll either manage to kill me yourself, or you'll run away before I can kill you. But would you really do that to me now?" "Why not?" she shot back. "You hid the Crystal Empire for a thousand years, terrorized many ponies in the meantime, tried to kill my brother and my sister, and I know you want the throne for yourself!" "I did at one point," he shrugged. "But that was the old me." "'Old me'? What are you talking about?" "Have you noticed that I have been masquerading as Forest Mist for a while now, right in front of your eyes?" "Yes, I guess you did. But what do you mean by that?" "Have you ever thought about what I have done for you, while masquerading as Forest Mist?" "Such as..." He grumbled something under his breath, knowing this was going to be a long night. "What have I done while I was Forest Mist? What have I done? I did nothing but the most thoughtful things I could have done for my former enemies. Think about it. I gave you a book from THE Starswirl the Bearded, and I didn't force you into any deal to earn it. I just gave it to you, and that was all!" Twilight was prepared to shoot back at him with something, anything, when she realized that he wasn't exactly lying either. She did get a book from him with no requirements, on a book about dark magic... Wait...dark magic... "You gave me a book about dark magic. That's your field. You even said yourself that the reason nopony practiced it anymore was because of you." "But you do acknowledge that it IS a Starswirl book, no? You would know his style of writing anywhere, and it is difficult to replicate. And you would spot a true Starswirl book a mile away. And was it a true Starswirl book?" She blinked. He was telling the truth... "It was...down to the last detail," she admitted. "But that doesn't change anything. You're still a tyrant that tried to kill my sister." "You must have a bad memory, Twilight Sparkle. The last time I met your sister, I kissed her hoof and had a nice and commendable lunch with her in her own palace. I treated her with respect and honor, and acknowledged that she was the new ruler of the Crystal Empire." "But...you used the duplication spell to get inside the Empire," she pointed out. "Yet I know enough about that spell that I could have attacked her, while we were inside the Empire. You know it as well as I do that I treated her well. I had no game to play with Cadence, and we left because I wasn't feeling that good." Twilight wanted so desperately to fight back against his argument, given that he was King Sombra of all ponies, but she realized she had nothing to use against his words. Everything she questioned, he had a good answer. Then again, she did have one question... "Why are you doing all of this, though? I don't understand why you went through all that trouble just to impress Princess Cadence. It doesn't make any sense!" "Because I wanted to show to you that I've changed, Twilight," he explained. "When I tried to take Equestria as my own, I had to lock myself away for a thousand years with the Crystal Empire. Do you know what it's like to live in exile for that long? It's a neverending prison! "And then you and Spike came into the Crystal Empire to stop me. I tried to prevent you from taking the Empire away from my hooves, but I lost. You saw me fall yourself. I was mere inches away from death's door, and only recently have I gained the strength to take a physical form again. "So I know I had to change. If I couldn't do it my way, then I shouldn't have been trying to be king after all. I heard how Princess Luna and Discord reformed themselves, and now they're allowed to roam free as Equestrian loyalty and citizens again. And they did terrible things in their wake, just as bad as I have. "And on top of that, would you have believed that I changed, had I done everything in my true form? Answer me." Twilight's jaw dropped again. She knew he had put her into a corner, and she was in a state of shock to hear this. It was true...she would have never given him a chance in his true state. Like how she did with Discord, and he changed eventually... There was another uncomfortable silence, even though she knew what she wanted to say. "I know you have an answer for me, and I would like to hear it." "No..." she confessed, thinking she was in the wrong. "I would have reported to Celestia that you came back near Ponyville, and I would have hunted you down myself until I knew you were dead or captured." "Exactly. I can understand even now, but that's what you would have done. So I had to show you through my actions that I have changed for good. And now you know that I'm reformed. I want to change, Twilight. I really do. There would be no good ending for me if I struck out again to Celestia's rule." After that outburst, after everything he had said, Twilight felt a strange sensation: Guilt. For not trusting him, and even willing to fight him when he revealed himself. And to think, she was starting to like him... But at the same time, her mind was still racing to see if there was anything to suggest that he was up to no good. There had to be something to use. Anything. Then she found one thing she could use. He tried to go out with her. "But why did you try to romance me?" she finally asked. "There has to be a reason why you did that. Not even Discord tried to romance Fluttershy when he was released, and he's the craziest person I know." In response, he came by and held her hoof in his again. "Why not romance you? You are a remarkable pony, Twilight Sparkle. Together with your friends, you have saved Equestria from doom four times now, including my own defeat. That is remarkable. And you are one of the smartest ponies I know. Celestia was wise to give you the title of princess over this land you have saved so many times. "If anything, I'm surprised no stallion has tried to court you yet. They would be very lucky to have you as their marefriend." This managed to put Twilight in a state of shock. She didn't know how to feel about his words, whenever to reject them as another tactic of the enemy or to be flattered by them. Sombra hugged her above her waist in the meantime, and she did not push back. She still didn't know what she should be doing for that moment. "I'm still keeping an eye on you," she finally said in his grasp. He pulled away and seemed just as stunned as she was. "What do you mean? Have I not proved to you through logic that I have changed for good?" "I need to be sure," she explained herself. "I can't just let you do as you please right away. I still think you might have something to hide, and I want to make sure that you have changed." He sighed. "And how would you do that?" "The first moment I think you might be up to something, I'm going to send a letter to Celestia that you're here. One attempt to convince me to not listen to Celestia or my friends, one attempt to get me to leave Ponyville, or any moves that suggest you might be doing this as part of a plan, I will end you. Is that understood?" He nodded. "Understood. You did this with Discord as well, didn't you?" "I had to. You don't allow a powerful being that tried to take over Equestria to just roam free unchecked. Are we clear?" Sombra nodded again. "I promise you will never have the need to do such a thing. And besides, I'm not that subtle. 'CRRRRYYYYSSSSTALLLS!'" he yelled, mocking his actions inside the Empire. "Yes, you would know when I'm up to something immediately." "Then that's settled," she said, trying to repress a laugh. "I think we're clear about things now. I'll be on my way home now." "Do you want me to come home with you?" he asked. "I could turn back to Forest Mist so nopony would suspect a thing." "No, no, no," she shook her head. "Not tonight. I want time to think about this, about us." "Ah, time to take it all in. It was a lot to absorb, wasn't it?" "It really was...and I really want to believe that I can trust you, after all you said tonight. But it's so hard to believe you when you almost killed my brother and sister-in-law..." "It won't happen again. I promise." After he was finished, his body started to disappear again. It slowly transformed into a cloud of black mist, just as big as he was. When the transformation was complete, he left the Wispy Woods there, going off into the direction of his castle. By then, the dusk gave way to the night. The daylight was diminished and the moon coated the forest in a blue glow. It was like being in a different place altogether. The air was heavy with doubt and anxiety, and the feeling that something was here still resided. But it was just Twilight sitting there by the stream. All by herself with her thoughts, all dozens upon dozens of them. She didn't know if she wanted to move. She would get sleepy and really hungry soon, but she wasn't aware of that. All she was thinking was everything Sombra said to her. And she still didn't know how to feel about the situation. The shock would take a while to get over.