Pinkie laid her head down in her hooves as she closed her eyes, her exhaustion urging her to sleep the day away and forget the awful events that took place. It should've been easy, what with her overwhelming exhaustion, both physically and emotionally. But, she knew sleep would be impossible to receive, what with those terrible events involving her special somepony.
"You shouldn't be so upset, dear. It's nothing personal."
Pinkie bit back a cry as she remembered the awful words she had heard only hours before, her heart clenching in her aching chest as she took in quick, ragged breaths to keep herself calm.
'Please don't let that be my Sombry talking...' she begged silently, tears springing to her eyes once again, 'I don't want this pain to be here for a real reason...'
"Do you mind if I sit here?" she heard a voice ask, causing her to jump up in surprise.
With a cautious gaze, she turned to see Rarity, who was looking at her with the most sympathetic eyes as she gestured to the spot beside Pinkie. It was somewhat heartbreaking to see such a look in her direction, the full severity of her own sadness suddenly becoming realized.
"N-No, I don't mind..." Pinkie stammered, careful to keep the shaky sadness out of her voice, but to no avail.
Rarity furrowed her brows slightly as she looked at Pinkie's weakened state. "Darling, I can't even begin to imagine what you're going through," she told her as she sat down beside her, "this entire thing with Sombra has thrown us all for a loop."
Pinkie flinched at her comment as she struggled to keep her flurrying emotions in check. "P-Please..."
"I'm sorry if I'm overstepping my bounds, but I have to say it," Rarity said, her gaze soft and sympathetic, "I've seen the way that stallion looks at you, dear; he loves you. And with this whole business of figuring out who the real Sombra is, what with there being more than one of him, it would seem, it wouldn't surprise me if this turned out to be a mistake on another's part."
Pinkie froze at that, then rigidly turned to face Rarity. "Do you really think so?"
Rarity nodded. "I know so, darling. I knew from the get-go, since you two walked in the boutique together, that something was between you two. I honestly doubt anypony could keep the two of you apart for long."
"But, I don't know what to think," Pinkie told her, her gaze going to her hooves, "I love him, Rarity. I really do, but... but when he said what he said..."
Rarity sighed. "That must have been beyond upsetting for you, dear. But something tells me those words weren't his own, much like Cadence's words weren't her own, for whatever reason."
Pinkie shook her head. "Can we please not talk about this? It-It hurts just to think about, Rares..."
Rarity nodded in understanding. "I can tell, dear. Let's just hope this gets sorted out by the time we arrive at the Empire."
Pinkie nodded shakily. "O-OK..."
Without much else to do, Pinkie laid down in her seat and shut out the world to leave herself to her thoughts. While it was somewhat reassuring to know that Rarity hadn't given up on Sombra and his affections towards Pinkie, it was just as upsetting as she realized that there was still reassurance to be felt amongst her group of friends.
Twilight had been fascinated by the idea of there being more than one version of Sombra, and even began to draw up different theories as to how the different personalities came to be, though the process was all too confusing for Pinkie, who was still having a hard time coming to terms with everything that had taken place.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash had both agreed that Sombra's multi-personality disorder was probably the main source of her special somepony's conflict and more than likely the cause of his dark transformation that they all had seen in the hallway. Pinkie shivered in remembrance of how the dark side within him was revealed, and even more so when she recalled those awful words that still rang in her head.
Poor Fluttershy was extremely conflicted on the matter and remained silent on her thoughts, though it was quite obvious that she was pertaining Pinkie's situation to her own. The Pegasus herself was a reformer and had she not successfully done so with Discord, it would have been quite possible that Sombra wouldn't have been granted the second chance he was given. It was saddening to think that she blamed herself for Pinkie's dilemma, though none of them could have foretold the situation at hoof.
As for Spike, he hung tight to Rarity, though not merely for the sake of doing so for his crush, but because he actually held faith in Sombra's intentions. Pinkie had been somewhat surprised to see him jump into defending Sombra so quickly, especially since he was wont to lean in the decisions of his friends, Twilight and Rarity being the most influential of the six(though not in that order specifically).
Pinkie sighed as she shook her head tiredly. 'Why is this so confusing? Everything made so much more sense before...'
Pinkie shook her head vigorously. 'No. No, I won't think about it like that! I won't think about my life before Sombra! He's been there for me and he-- he cares about me! ....But, then why is this all falling apart?'
It was all so overly conflicting for her. On one hoof, she knew that Sombra had attacked Cadence and had severely injured her, along with Rainbow, who was still recovering from her encounter with Spike all those weeks ago.
On the other hoof, she knew that he had been willing to stay in Ponyville with her, even though it meant having to go after Spike, whom he had not been fond of until his rescue and return to her and the others with Spike accompanying him.
On the other other hoof, Sombra had told her before his dramatic escape that all she had been good for was... intimate exchanges and that could just as easily have been the reason for his actions in regards to staying in Ponyville.
On the fourth hoof, she knew that deep down in her broken heart, despite everything that's happened and everything that he's done in the past 24 hours and beyond... she still loved him. She still loved him with all her broken pieces, even though doing so was killing her inside and out.
'I can't think about this now...' Pinkie realized as she shook her head with a sigh, 'why can't things go back to how they were before? I didn't have to worry about this stuff before...'
Feeling even more exhausted than before, Pinkie laid her head down in her hooves as she let out a tired sigh. Her lids seemed to close on their own as sleep overtook her, her previous grievances on slumber dissipating almost immediately as she finally let go of consciousness.
* * *
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"
Pinkie froze as she heard the familiar icy tone break through her sleep, her heart skipping several beats as she prayed that she was wrong about who the voice's owner was. It had been such a long time since she had seen or heard her. Or, at least that's how it felt.
"N-No..." Pinkie whispered, fear taking over her as she looked up at her tormentor, "Y-You're not here..."
Her fear was undeniable and strong, as was her escalating heartbeat.
"You'd think, but no," the familiar voice hissed, full of venom only that of a rattler could produce, "that mirror trick kept me at bay, but now that you're weak, I came back."
Pinkie gritted her teeth. "I won't let you back in again! You weren't my friend and you never will be!"
Pinkamena cackled as she tossed back her head and flipped her flat mane back behind her in the most maniacal manner, the sound of her sickening enjoyment in Pinkie's resistance sending shivers down Pinkie's spine. "I'm not here for your friendship, idiot. I came for something else entirely..."
Pinkie shook her head rapidly. "No, no, no! You're just in my imagination!"
Pinkamena's form flickered for a brief moment, her image mimicking that of a candle being blown out by a light wind before returning to it's original solid form.
The dark mare snarled angrily as she narrowed her eyes icily at Pinkie. "It would seem you still hold your rebellious nature, even after what that stallion did to you."
Pinkie froze in shock, her jaw agape as her eyes widened as she realized Pinkamena's implication. How did she know that? Had she been watching her, and if so, for how long?
Pinkamena grinned victoriously as she looked at Pinkie's shocked look. "Hit a soft spot? Don't be so surprised, you whelp."
Pinkie gritted her teeth, but more to keep her outbursts in rather than in anger. She wouldn't allow Pinkamena to get the better of her anymore.
"I can hardly believe how strong you are, what with how you've managed to carry on without him," Pinkamena continued, her tone dripping with sarcasm, "Are you sure your affections are genuine and not thought up?"
Pinkie finally remembered how to move again and shook her head once more. "N-No! I do need him!"
Pinkamena scoffed. "Really? You're on your way to fight the stallion who ripped your heart out, dear. Love means faith and loyalty, which you hold none of in your heart for that fool."
Pinkie glared hard at her as tears ran down her face for what felt like the millionth time. "What do you know about faith and loyalty?"
Pinkamena's eyes widened in fake shock. "Why, I've been nothing but faithful to you, dear!"
"Liar!" Pinkie snarled as she took a menacing step towards her, "You made fun of me, you made me cry and you made me feel useless! Friends don't do that!"
"Neither do special someponies, but that didn't stop Sombra, now did it?"
Pinkie gasped audibly as she put a hoof up to cover her shocked expression, fresh tears welling up in her eyes. She bit back a sob and shook her head softly as the tears cascaded down her face, undeniable pain in her heart.
"H-He... He didn't..." Pinkie tried to say, but her sadness prevented her from finishing.
"Face it, dear. Sombra didn't love you. He used you to gain a modicrum of power and now that your Element has been destroyed, by your own doing, actually, he's going to plunge all of Equestria into a state of darkness."
"N-No..." Pinkie whispered as she collapsed to the ground, "I-I never meant for..."
Pinkamena grinned smugly. "Looks like my work here is done, dear. I'll be seeing you soon enough, Pinkie. And I expect to see you ripe and ready for the taking when I do."
Pinkie looked up from her tears to give Pinkamena a confused look. "W-What are you t-talking about?"
Pinkamena waved a dismissive hoof. "Oh, nothing. Just thinking out loud to myself."
Pinkamena turned away from Pinkie as she walked away, then looked over her shoulder to see Pinkie still immersed in her own sadness.
"This wasn't personal, dear. I hope you realize that."
Pinkie felt more tears well up in her eyes and she didn't hold back the whimpers that escaped her when Pinkamena disappeared from her sight.
"I-I'm sorry, Sombry..." Pinkie whispered to no one, "I never meant for things to be like this..."
* * *
A dark chuckle resonated throughout the slumbering train car, though it was low in volume as not to disturb it's occupants. Unbeknownst to them, the darkness had followed them on their journey to the icy north, the birthplace of the evil being.
'She won't sleep well tonight,' The Shadow thought, his sick grin growing even wider, 'her faith is shaken and it'll only aid me in my plan.'
The Shadow chuckled in remembrance of his discovery of the mare's inner demon, Pinkamena, who had done a great deal of damage to Pinkie's self-esteem long before he had any power to use over the incessant Element. He was impressed, to say the least, mainly because she was able to beat the joy and happiness out of her counterpart with absolute ease.
The Shadow then frowned as he remembered how her plans had failed when Pinkie learned to strike back and grew a spine to aid in her banishment of the darkness within her. It wasn't long after that when the new being within him, neither dark nor light, completely pushed her fears away with his words and, much to The Shadow's disgust, his touch.
'It was such a burden to wipe those memories away,' The Shadow thought, a grimace playing across his features, 'It was quite amusing to see their reactions the morning after, however.'
It had been somewhat difficult to manipulate their memories, especially since his power had only just begun to return, due to Pinkie's insecurities fueling his dark power. But, after his incessant counterpart interfered and "comforted" her, that source of power was diminished almost immediately. Thankfully, he held enough power to prevent them from remembering their intimate encounter, so it gave him some edge in his fight against Sombra's affections.
However, even after The Shadow managed to get some seeds of doubt not only in his counterpart, Pinkie as well, they still managed to overcome their plights and they united together in their affection, just the thought of which causing him to cringe in disgust.
But, that hadn't been his only attempt.
It had taken awhile to do so, but he managed to plant dark seeds within a few of the Elements and their little dragon, too. It had been such an accomplishment, too, until Sombra and his pink companion ruined everything.
Spike had been the easiest to manipulate, what with his hidden anger and pent up aggression from years of neglect on Twilight and her friends' part. Twilight had been somewhat difficult, what with her intellect and thinking skills, but once he got into her emotions, she had been rather quick to anger. It was only more relishing once he realized her practice in the dark arts of magic, as well.
However, the others were even more so difficult to get to, save for Rainbow and Fluttershy, who already held many doubts within Sombra from the get-go, along with a few personal experiences to further push their doubts. Applejack was headstrong and stubborn as ever, while Rarity held so much faith in the couple that it was all too much for him to bear.
'It's strange, her faith in those two...' The Shadow mused, his gaze going over to the slumbering unicorn who resided next to Pinkie. She was rather persistent in regards to their being together and The Shadow couldn't even begin to fathom why. He'd have to find a name for ponies like that, he realized.
The Shadow grinned even wider than before when he heard the mare's whimpers break through his thoughts, though quiet and barely audible, probably to keep from disturbing the others.
'She is so undeniably pathetic,' he thought, his head shaking left to right with a smirk on his face, 'and even more so now that those two fools are out of the way.'
The Shadow smirked in remembrance of how his unintentional creation reacted to his reveal and he could only imagine the horrified look on his face as he came to realize his part in the story that was about to unfold.
'Like it matters what he does,' he thought, a light scoff escaping him, 'he holds no power and no way of stopping me. But, as for The Light...'
The Light within Sombra, or rather Conscience as Sombra called him, was the original creator of himself and his conflicted counterpart. Despite being repressed for the past thousand years, he somehow managed to regain a modicrum of strength and even contacted Sombra, thus leading to his influence over the dark stallion.
'He's conflicted in my plans of joining with Sombra... But he can't do anything to stop me now, now that his power is gone and in me.'
Sparing the residents of the train car one last look, his gaze lingering over Pinkie for a couple seconds, he dissipated into the shadows once more and slithered into the darkness, awaiting the next phase of his plan.
* * *
The arrival to the Crystal Empire Train Station(CETS) came too quickly for Pinkie, who had found little solace on the way to the crystal north. With her mane hanging flatly against her shoulders and face, she trudged her tired hooves through the train station with an uncharacteristic frown upon her face, her eyes downcast and glassy.
The bright residents of the Empire were off-put by the negative air around Pinkie's brightly colored persona and as she passed, they all broke from their conversations to spare her wary glances, hushed whispers behind hooves following shortly after.
But, Pinkie cared little for the whispers she caused, her empathy having been whittled into nothing the previous day, though it felt like such a long time ago.
"Pinkie, there are guards here to escort us to the Empire," Twilight said suddenly, her words cutting through Pinkie's silent brood.
Pinkie glumly looked up from the ground to see two Crystal Guards, both of them standing at strict attention, as they were taught to do. Confused by their presence with her and group of friends, Pinkie spared Twilight a somewhat questioning look.
"They're here to make sure that you're safe," Twilight explained, careful to keep her voice light and reassuring, "with everything that's been happening, we wanted to make sure you'd be safe from... you know."
Pinkie held back a sigh as she looked at the guards, the true meaning of their presence finally being presented to her. They were undoubtedly there to keep her safe from the upcoming threat that was Sombra-- or another part of him, she wasn't sure-- and that they were meant to keep the threat under wraps.
'That explains why nopony is panicking...' Pinkie mused, her gaze going over to the chatting Crystal Ponies.
Surprisingly, one of the guards bowed before Pinkie, which caused the other to do the same, though it would appear he didn't know why.
"We're here to protect and serve you, Miss Pie," the guard told her, his eyes opening up to look at her.
"H-Huh?" Pinkie stammered, off-put by his sudden action.
"You're the Element of Laughter, are you not?" the guard questioned, though it sounded like a statement.
"Y-Yes." Why was she being so timid and shy all of the sudden?
"Therefore, you are given the same benefits of protection that Princess Twilight and Princess Cadence are given." The guard smiled at her, the first sign of any emotion that he had made since his arrival. "That is not an issue, is it?"
Much to her own surprise, Pinkie felt her cheeks heat up with embarrassment. "N-No, it's f-fine. Th-Thank you..."
"Ahem," said the other guard gruffly, "we should be making our way to the palace, Silver Spear."
The guard nodded, his mirthful expression gone in an instant. "Absolutely. We wouldn't want to keep Miss Pie in public, what with everything that's going on."
Again, Silver Spear spared Pinkie a smile, the result being her face turning almost as red as a tomato. Why was she getting so worked up over a random guard?
'Maybe I'm just really embarrassed...' she thought to herself, 'he's one of the only stallions to pay me any mind other than...'
She shook her head as she followed the guards out of the station, hoping to rid herself of the memories from yesterday. It was getting undoubtedly harder to do so, especially since she was in the place that was going to be under an attack anytime in the next couple of hours.
If you had asked her how long the trip to the palace from train station was, Pinkie wouldn't have been able to tell you. Her mind was elsewhere, as were her positive emotions, so the entire prospect of caring for landmarks and travel was the least of her ever growing worries.
'They're all thinking about how I failed at my job...' Pinkie thought sadly as she looked over at a passing Crystal Pony couple that gave her a quick once over, 'they all know that I messed up with Sombra...'
She shouldn't have been thinking about things in such a manner, she knew, but it was something she couldn't help. With every passing look from the residents of the Empire, she could feel herself sinking lower and lower into the metaphorical pit that was her sadness and guilt.
"Is something bothering you, Miss Pie?" asked Silver Spear, who seemed to have appeared at her side out of nowhere.
Pinkie jumped slightly, but recovered quickly enough to shake her head. "N-No... I'm just thinking is all..."
Silver gave her a soft look. "You realize that what happened back at Canterlot wasn't your fault, don't you?"
Pinkie froze. "W-What?"
"I was told of the incident by Princess Twilight," he explained, his eyes still looking at her sympathetically, "I can't imagine what you're going through."
Pinkie felt her jaw tighten in anger. "Everypony keeps saying that..."
"As they should. Nopony could possibly understand something so painful, if I may be bold enough to say so."
Pinkie looked at him with the most bewildered expression she could muster in her saddened state. Here she was, talking to a guard she had only just met about her diminishing love life, the reminisce of which being a huge damper on her small burst of somewhat positive emotion.
"It's not something I want to talk about..." Pinkie told him, her gaze going back to the ground dejectedly, "I just want to this to be all over with..."
"Oh, it will be..." Silver Spear said, more to himself than Pinkie.
"What?" Pinkie questioned, her eyes going back to Silver.
Silver waved a hoof dismissively. "Oh, nothing. Just thinking out loud to myself. Let's just hurry to the palace, shall we?"
Feeling even more conflicted than before, the reason unbeknownst to her, Pinkie nodded in response and continued on her way to the Crystal Palace. Little did she know, just what would transpire after her arrival.