The darkness never once ceased to haunt the air. Everywhere you would look, it was a vast, empty darkness. Nothing was there and there was nothing to be found. It would crush the spirits of most for good reasons. You wouldn't want to be there if you could avoid it.
Twilight was in the thick of it, not being able to see anything, not even herself. She looked down and couldn't see her own hooves, let alone her body. She called out for Sombra to come to her aid, but there was no answer. He was gone, and there was no way he would come back.
But something else happened shortly after. The darkness took a distinct yellow shade, and her eyes were burning from it. She tried to move away, but it grew brighter in color the more she resisted.
That was when she realized she was awake. She opened her eyes and discovered that she was in a completely different room. In comparison to the dark stones that aligned her former castle walls, these were bright and cheerful. Yellow and white shades were everywhere, and the room was twice as large as her chambers.
She looked down below her waist, and saw that she was in another bed. The blanket was white, and adorned a familiar sun symbol. Her head was burning, and she rubbed it with a front hoof. But she stopped when she felt the bandages wrapped around her forehead.
The sun was burning bright in her room, so she turned to her left. An open door lead to a balcony outdoors. That was when it hit her that she was in Canterlot, and immediately recognized the pony that was raising the sun near her resting place.
She was in Celestia's castle again. And she woke up right when Celestia was in the middle of her most vital royal duty.
Everything from last night hit her, and she was terrified of what was about to happen to her. She hid under the blanket and feigned being asleep, hoping that Celestia did not catch her waking up. She couldn't bear to look her in the eye after what she did last night.
Her legs trembled while she hid herself away, and a part of her hoped Sombra was here. A very small part. But it was not meant to be.
She watched in horror as the top of her blanket was gripped by a yellow aura. Knowing what was coming, she covered her face with her front hooves. The blanket was pulled away, and she felt naked for the first time in her life.
To her surprise, she wasn't yelled at or torn to pieces. Rather, when that familiar voice talked to her, it was with the sweetest expression in its tone.
"Twilight, please. Don't be afraid to look at me."
That was enough to bring down a fraction of her walls. She finally opened her eyes and faced the truth.
Celestia was sitting by her side, free of her royal attire. It was the first time in years she had seen her teacher like that. And her expression was not that of fury or bitterness, but rather that of sorrow and concern. She lowered down and nuzzled Twilight's neck with her muzzle.
But it only served to pain Twilight even further. There was no way this could end well, no matter what.
"Twilight...I'm so sorry he did all those things to you. That was something I should have stopped before it began."
"Wait...you're not mad at me? Even though its all my fault?" Twilight questioned.
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm the one who should have stopped him. I could have turned him in, before he did anything to me. And I'm the one who killed those guards in the courtyard. I know it was really me..."
"Twilight...please stop blaming yourself," Celestia said, her shaky voice suggesting she was on the verge of tears herself. "Even then I know it was him. He controlled you through dark magic, that was his nature."
"So...I let him fool me..."
She let out a cry so piercing to the heart, it pained Celestia to hear it. She wrapped her left wing around Twilight, doing whatever she could to help her at that time. There was no way to get around the pain, only to look it right in the soul.
Eventually, the tears tampered off. Yet Twilight was still a shell of herself, and Celestia knew there was more to come. That much was clear with Twilight's expression.
"Why do you still trust me with the princess title?" Twilight finally asked.
"What do you mean?" questioned Celestia.
"I should have been smarter about all of this. He almost killed my brotherand Cadence, and I still trusted him with my heart. How could I have been so stupid..."
"As much as I understand, you need to stop blaming yourself for what happened. He deceived you better than anypony has done in years. Most ponies would have done far worse than you. At least you could be saved when I found you."
"But I shouldn't have been like that to begin with..."
"Maybe, but even though you almost killed my sister, I'm just happy you're still with us at this point. At least you can improve on this. And...you're not with him anymore."
That brought another sharp cry from Twilight's throat, even stronger than the previous one. That was when it was clear how deep his deception had gotten.
"I...I'm so sorry. I didn't know how deeply you loved him with your heart..."
"That makes it worse!" Twilight yelled. "He was my first love, and I really miss him, but he was lying even when he kissed me, wasn't he?"
"As unwise as this seems, I must tell you the truth. When I confronted him, I was convinced he truly loved you as well."
How long Twilight cried after that, Celestia lost count after 15 minutes.
-----
Once more, the crying had faded away. But Celestia still kept the poor filly under her wing, and Twilight had even held onto it for support a few times. It hurt when anypony held onto her sensitive wing like that, but she would let it pass for this occasion.
Time seemed to stand still in that room. Neither pony spoke up, but no more words were needed to express what they were thinking.
Any time Twilight tried to hide from Celestia, the sun princess would close in the space and either hugged or nuzzled her, reminding her of her mother when she was a foal. She didn't try to push her away; there was no point in resisting her help when it was clear she was a hot mess of herself.
The whimpering was almost gone, but she didn't show much more life. She was still and quiet, the quietest she had ever been.
By then it was a couple of hours into the day, and the rest of Canterlot would carry on with the day. There were rumors about what really happened to Princess Twilight Sparkle, but they were only rumors beyond that point for now.
"Don't you need to perform your royal duties?" Twilight spoke up.
"Luna is carrying most of them out for me, at least for today. She's giving me all the time I need to make sure you're OK."
"Then what is going to happen to me?"
"You do what you need to do. I don't want you alone and I would rather you be in Canterlot with me, but you do exactly what you have to do to get better. I'm not giving you any further duties as princess for at least a month, likely for a while. Nothing that would give you any more problems."
Twilight nodded, sighing with relief. Her worst fear, that she would be killed for her actions, were indeed unfounded.
She wondered what they did with Sombra's body, since he really did try to bring ruin to Equestria for the second time in his life. They probably threw it away where nopony would find or recognize it. And perhaps that was for the best.
But her heart still felt like it was torn to pieces. She felt stupid for allowing Sombra to deceive her, seduce and even rut her, that a hoofful of guards still died because she didn't stop Sombra, and that their love was actually real for a day or two.
But she was still alive. There was time to right her wrongs, and sometimes that was all she needed. And a ton of help.
"Will I ever get past this?" she thought out loud.
Celestia turned to her, a bit surprised, but not unexpected.
"Of course you can. You will have to work to fully recover from it, but it’s not impossible as long as you know it was Sombra that did all of this to you, and not entirely by your hoof."
"So...are you telling me, you don't find me responsible for all of this?"
"Some of it, but not most of it. The only thing that I can say was your fault was when you attacked my sister, but even then I know Sombra put you up to it.
"In the end, he was aiming to corrupt you, and that Twilight Sparkle I found in his castle is not the same Twilight Sparkle I am looking at. I can see that as we speak. In the end, you were his victim, not his partner. Thank the stars I came when I did, or else it would have been a different story."
More signs of life were returning to Twilight, which was enough to convince Celestia that the recovery had already begun.
"So I just need to be smarter about ponies and figure out if they're lying to me. It will help me avoid traps like this in the future," Twilight figured out.
"But you still need to recover mentally from the things he put you through, and I can help. We can all help."
Twilight stopped in the middle of her thoughts, and twitched her ear to the door. She could hear the clopping of hooves and familiar voices.
"They're here with us, aren't they?"
"They were very concerned about you, and to be honest, some of them thought you were killed last night. It was to be expected after everything we've been through."
"Can I go see them?"
"Only if you want to. I asked them to give you privacy."
"Thank you, but I want to see them now if I can. I'm not hurt or anything, am I?"
"You're physically weaker than usual, and your horn will only be able to do levitation spells for a week. But you're not seriously hurt anymore."
Twilight nodded in understanding, and decided to give it a shot. She concentrated on the blanket in front of her, and she levitated it neatly to the side. Celestia moved out of the way to give her room.
She proceeded to slide out of bed and dropped down on her hooves to the ground. Her legs were shaky and she almost fell over once or twice, but she gained her balance in no time.
After a few seconds, she was ready to see her friends. She took a deep breath, hoping they would forgive her as easily as her teacher did, and trotted to the door.
The chatter on the other side stopped as she approached the door. Apparently, they could hear her coming. She took one final deep breath to prepare for the moment, and swung the door wide open with her magic.
Right there, waiting for her at the doorstep, were her five best friends. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie. Spike was there as well, along with her parents, her BBBFF Shining Armor, and her foalsitter Cadence.
She imagined that they would be sad, mad even, but when she gave them a slight smile, they were the most relieved she had ever seen them in her life, sighing and smiling alike. And she didn't even have to say a word to them.
Within a few seconds, she found herself in the middle of the biggest group hug ever. Every single pony and dragon went up to hug her, just to say they were thrilled that she was here with them again. And sometimes, that is all that needed to be said.
As they kept hugging her, that was the moment she was truly knew everything was going to be OK. The road to recovery would be long, yes, but at least she knew she wouldn't do it alone. That was the moment she finally saw the magic of friendship at its truest value.
And deep down, the only wish she had yet to see fulfilled is that Sombra's influence would leave her forever. That she would move on from that time she spent in his castle.
And so far, she was convinced it would come true.
Only that there was one more obstacle to overcome. Just one.