The beginnings and ends of shadow lie between the light and darkness and may be infinitely diminished and infinitely increased. Shadow is the means by which bodies display their form. The forms of bodies could not be understood in detail but for shadow.
~Leonardo DaVinci
"Good mornin' Twi! We'd best get a move on if we want to catch the early train back home!"
Begrudgingly, Twilight opened her eyes to find Applejack inside her room and pulling open the curtains to reveal the early morning sun. Trying to hide her bloodshot eyes, the alicorn stumbled out of bed. "You alright there sugarcube?" Shaking her head, Twilight merely said, "I'll be fine don't worry about me. Let's get down to the train station and make sure everypony has their elements ready. I fully expect Sombra to be as poorly behaved as Discord was when we first started out with him. Where's Spike?"
"He went on ahead to help Rarity with her eeeNORmous amount of luggage since you were still snoozin'."
By the time Applejack and Twilight arrived at the train station, the rest of their friends where packed up and ready to go, yet there had been no sign of Sombra as of yet. "That creep hasn't even bothered to show yet, he's going to make us late, IF he even shows his face at all." No sooner had those words left Rainbow's mouth than did Sombra greet them "Hello insects"; striding out of the shadows behind Fluttershy, and in the process very nearly giving the poor yellow pegasus a heart attack. "Speaking of the devil" mumbled Rainbow to herself, but Sombra heard her anyways. "And here I had expected something more sophisticated than flattery to win me over for team Celestia" he mocked.
"That's enough Sombra. Everypony on the train, it's still a long trip till ponyville." Commanded Twilight. Before Rarity and Spike could board she first pulled them aside. "Rarity, I'm going to have to ask a big favor of you for the time that we are reforming Sombra."
Without hesitation Rarity said, "but of course darling, anything for my friends!"
"Thank you Rarity, it would mean ever so much to me if you could please take care of Spike and let him live with you while Sombra stays at the library, I...." At this point the young dragon protested loudly, saying that there would be no way no how he would leave Twilight alone with that creep.
Cutting him off, Twilight assured him, "It is very noble of you to want to be there for me and protect me Spike, but you don't have an element of harmony to protect you, and I simply couldn't bear it if something were to happen to you. Besides, with my magic and element I am the most safe of anypony in Ponyville, wouldn't you agree it'd be more noble of you to protect somepony else?"
It slowly dawned on Spike what she meant as he looked up at Rarity. Nodding slowly to show he understood, he started walking to the train care with Rarity to board, with one last remark: "Just be careful Twilight, and remember that I'll always come running if you need me."
"Thank you Spike, I will."
"That was all very touching, but perhaps we can hurry it along" Said Sombra dryly from inside the train car. Twilight sighed, it was going to be a long day indeed.
Still smiling, Sombra kept his burning stare on the purple alicorn for the entire train ride to ponyville. Everything was going perfectly to plan. Not only had he guaranteed his safety and found out where the lavender scum lived, but through her own pride managed even to worm himself into living in the same domain as her. Just so far today he had gathered enough information to determine the source of the whelp's strength. These friends of hers provided her the strength and qualities she needed to prove even a hint of a threat to him he sneered to himself.
Tempting as it may have been to simply slaughter her friends however, he knew it would still be to risky, too hasty. Discord before him had easily confused and corrupted them once before, but that had only served to make Twilight all the more determined, all the more powerful in a rush to defend the friendships she held so dear. Thought it sickened him to be surrounded by such filth, he would have to let them all live. It would have to be on the young princess herself that he focused on. Too powerful to risk simply killing, he would instead need to find a way past her guard, perhaps even corrupt her with the dark path if he could. Without her the other elements would be powerless, and Sombra would be free once again.
Look at this slime, he thought to himself, I haven't even begun to press my shadowy might against her mind, and already see how she squirms under my stare. To Sombra, victory was simply a matter of time.
Twilight on the other hand was quite relieved when they finally arrived at the ponyville train station. She had tried to distract herself with attempts at conversation with her friends, but with Sombra in the same train had made their moods so tense that conversation quickly fell back into strained silence. The entire trip, though she had to refused to look at Sombra at all, she had felt the force of his eyes on her, like a pack of timberwolves just waiting for their chance to pounce. "Alright ponies, lets head home and get unpacked. Spike if you could please assist Rarity for now please, then we'll move the rest of your belongings over later. Sombra, I want a word with you alone." Hesitating at first, her friends filed out of the train car.
Sombra grinned, it seems he had gotten under her skin even more easily than anticipated. "To what do I owe the honor of your unexpected coun..... rrraaaah" Before King Sombra could have uttered another word, Twilight had faced him less than a stride away, closed her eyes, and unleashed a blinding flash of light from her horn. Eyes stinging, Sombra glared up at the insolent bitch, his face locked halfway between a snarl and a growl. "That is your first lesson Sombra, it is very rude to stare at a pony, especially for extended periods of time. If you have learned your lesson then you may follow me outside. If you have not, then I can always repeat the lesson for you as many times as you need." With that, the alicorn turned around in a swift 180, adding insult to injury by smacking Sombra in the snout with her tail, and promptly left the train car. Now wearing a smile that seemed to promise vengeance and death, the King stood up and followed her. Now, he thought to himself, now I'm going to ENJOY this.