Sombra stood in front of the entrance to the Crystal Castle. He was wearing a red tuxedo with a black bow around his neck. The mask Ornate had given him was black and looked like it was made of crystals.
He was waiting for Ornate to show up. She had made him go without her. He couldn’t wait to see her. He had been waiting for her for ten minutes and he still didn’t see her. He began to get nervous, but then, he saw her.
She wore a long dress. The top was black with a green collar and a light green ribbon around her waist. The skirt of the dress was green with a black edge. On top of it was a sage green veil with dark green tiger stripes across it. Her mask was dark green with a blood red rose in the top corner of the mask. Under the rose were feathers and ribbons. On the other side of the mask were light green feathers. In the middle of the mask were more stripes.
Sombra stared at her. He couldn’t believe how beautiful she was. As she walked by him, he noticed that her red hair was down instead of in a ponytail as usual.
She stopped in front of him and looked at him with a mean glare. He was confused as to why she was angry.
“Why didn’t you tell me that you were in Princess Celestia’s custody?” she harshly whispered.
He immediately went pale.
“I,” he started, “I didn’t want to worry you. How did you--”
“Princess Luna talked to me today at the spa. But that’s beside the point. You remember your name?”
“Rightful Honor,” he nodded.
“Right, now let’s go.”
As they walked through the entrance, Sombra glanced ahead to see Princess Celestia welcoming each pony. He started to worry about being discovered.
When they reached the front of the line, Celestia shook their hooves.
“What are your names?” she asked.
“Fiery Blossom and Rightful Honor, your highness,” Ornate responded.
Celestia studied them for a minute before shooing them away. Sombra relaxed. They walked down the hall and into the ballroom. The place was filled with both Canterlot and Crystal ponies. They all were all dressed in their fancy clothes, talking and enjoying themselves. The place was decorated with dark blue and gold ribbons hanging from the ceiling. Balloons and streamers were found all over. It had quite the welcome effect.
Just the sight of the ball room made Ornate very excited. She quickly walked further into the ballroom until they had found the stage. A band was playing a classical song while the ponies danced with their partner. Ornate quickly pulled on Sombra’s arm, forcing him to come with her. They danced in the crowd for what seemed like an hour.
Suddenly, all the other ponies around them quickly walked to the edge of the ball room. Ornate and Sombra found themselves alone in the middle of the dancing area. A spotlight turned on and shined brightly upon them. Sombra looked at Ornate. She looked beautiful in the spotlight. He held out his hoof towards her. She graciously accepted it. The band began playing, queuing them to start dancing.
***
Luna stood at the edge of the ballroom, watching the ponies dance. She sat at an empty table, sipping a small drink. Her gown was blue with white stars. Her mask was made with two crescent moons. She sighed. She only hoped that Sombra was having a good time.
As Luna began to sip her drink again, she was greeted with a surprise when Princess Celestia walked up to her. Her dress was white with gold trimmings. Her mask consisted of two suns.
“Hello sister,” she began, sitting next to her.
“Hello, Celestia,” Luna responded, recovering from the apple cider she had almost choked on.
“You don’t look like you’re having fun.”
“What about you? You’re not at the door greeting ponies.”
“No one was coming. I assumed all that wanted to come are already here.”
“Oh.”
“Sister,” Celestia began after a few moments of silence. “There’s something I wanted to ask you.”
“What is it?”
“Where were you after I talked with Sombra?”
Luna froze. It was the question she had been dreading. Trying to buy more time, she finished off her cider as slow as she could. She set her cup down and eyed her sister.
“I walked into my room after we had that chat,” she responded.
“Is that so? Well that is interesting.”
“What?”
“One of the guards told me you entered his cell. Another one found you walking out with someone who hadn’t walked in. He said they were wearing a cloak.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Celestia growled, but immediately stopped. Both of them had their attention stolen when a pony couple began to dance within the center of the ball room. Luna recognized them immediately, but Celestia eyed them suspiciously. Luna began to worry about Celestia recognizing them, but she turned her attention to the couple.
They danced so elegantly. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She never knew Sombra danced so well. That’s when she heard it. Celestia gasped. She had realized who they were, and she was not in the mood for mercy.
***
Ornate danced with Sombra. She had never danced in her life, but all she had to do was let Sombra lead. As she did, they had the audience entranced with their partnership. She found herself staring at Sombra. She had never realized how attractive he was. Until now, that is. She began to feel her heart pound. Was she really in love?
That’s when Sombra dipped her, making the music stop. She looked at him, a little worried about his grip on her. He quickly pulled her back up. The audience clapped loud. They had thoroughly enjoyed the performance. But before they could leave the area, they heard something land behind him. They slowly glanced back to find Princess Celestia. She was very angry.
“Fillies and Gentlecoalts,” she pronounced. “I am sorry to bring you such horrible news, but I’m afraid King Sombra is back.”
Everyone gasped. Ornate’s eyes widened. She glanced at Sombra, who returned the look. Celestia pointed to them.
“He is right here! He was living amongst you!”
Celestia used her magic to pry Sombra’s mask off his face. Sombra quickly put his hoof in front of Ornate. He growled deeply, glaring at Celestia.
“Let go of her,” she growled back. “She’s been your hostage long enough.”
“No,” Ornate responded. This made Sombra surprised. “I love him. I was with him willingly. He had nothing to do with it.”
“Then you are a traitor!” Celestia shouted.
She stomped hard on the ground, breaking the floor. Each pony ran out of the ball room quickly. Sombra grabbed Ornate and ran quickly outside. He used his magic to place her on his back and ran down the street. He looked back to see Princess Celestia running after him. He quickened his pace and turned into an alleyway. He jumped over trash cans and dodged parts of buildings that were sticking out.
As he ran out of the alleyway and into the middle of the street, he found guards charging towards him in both directions. He ran into the alleyway straight ahead. He began to dodge more items in the alleyway. But when he jumped over some boards from an old fence, Ornate was knocked off his back. He stopped and turned around, but before he could jump back, Ornate stopped him.
“Go!” she shouted. “Keep running!”
Sombra nodded and ran straight ahead. Ornate quickly crawled through the gap. Her dress got snagged on a nail and tore half of it off. She turned around to grab the fabric, but saw the guards gaining. She quickly turned into another alleyway and ran. She tripped over things, bruising and scraping her body. Her mask had fallen off and her dress became even more ruined.
Ornate kept running. But it wasn’t long before she hit a dead end. Finding nowhere to run, she was forced to get cornered. The guards slowly approached her, forcing her to walk backwards. She didn’t hit the wall, she hit something soft. She slowly looked up to find Princess Celestia. Her horn began to glow gold.
“Shame,” she muttered. “You could have avoided all of this if you just kept walking.”
She shot a gold magic beam at Ornate, forcing her to sink down into a deep sleep.