Shadowy Love

by FinnPony

Chapter 26

Twilight Sparkle ran through the hallways in all her glory. She was wearing a formal looking light-purple dress with pure white hem and a silk veil going around her upper body. She was also wearing her crown and her golden slippers that clinked against the marble floor annoyingly.

 It didn’t take long before she heard trumpets playing a small fanfare just outside the castle. She let out a excited squee and speeded up. She was excited because she was just about to meet her mentor and co-rulers after not seeing them for so long. She arrived to the front door and let her breathing calm down a little. After she thought that she was okay to go, she nodded to herself encouragingly. She made sure that her dress was okay, before flaring her wings open like Cadence had taught her to do when making public appearances with other princesses. It makes them look more elegant and royal in the eyes of their subjects. After everything was done, she took a deep breath and pushed open the big front doors with her magic, stepping outside.

She was immediately greeted by a fanfare of trumpets as well as cheering ponies. It seemed that she was just in time. The town folks weren’t cheering for her, she personally knew almost every resident of Ponyville, so she wouldn’t even want them to cheer for her. It would have felt weird for her. The ponies around the front of the castle were applauding for the ponies that were sitting in a large, golden chariot that just landed on the other end of the red carpet, on which Twilight was standing. Twilight couldn’t keep herself from smiling when she saw the passengers getting out of the chariot.

There was Celestia in all her majestic beauty, her multi-colored mane and tail flowing in an nonexistent wind against her white coat. Behind that mane were a pair of magenta eyes and below them a warm, motherly smile. She had her wings flexed, just like Twilight herself, but her wings were long and beautiful, just like a swan’s.

Twilight’s smile only grew when Luna walked besides her sister, her mane and tail too flowing in the same nonexistent wind as her sister’s, making the stars in her mane dance. Her cyan eyes had a stern look in them that could have fooled somepony to think that she wasn’t pleased to see Twilight, but she knew better. She carefully opened her dark blue wings, to match the pose of her sister. Twilight couldn’t almost stand for the formalities to be over. She just wanted to rush towards them when she saw the next visitors.

Princess Cadence walked while waving her other front-hoof to the crowd behind the guards. She smiled lovingly to them before turning towards Twilight with a smile on her face and a look of the same excitement in her purple eyes that Twilight had. Besides her walked her husband, Shining Armor. He was wearing his armor with a blue crest on his helmet as a sign of his title as a captain. He held his head up proudly as he walked next to Cadence, under her flexed pink wing.

The crowd’s cheering was dying down slowly, and Twilight was already placing her weight from side to side. Finally her visitors started to walk towards her, and she perked up, holding her chin up and smiling.
“Welcome to Ponyville!” Twilight greeted them happily and bowed her head. “We are honored to have you here.”
They mimicked her bow, and then Celestia spoke, “Princess Twilight Sparkle, it is wonderful to see that you are feeling well, considering the recent events.”
“I’m completely fine, thank you,” she answered with a happy nod. “The task you gave me hasn’t been challenging at all.”
Celestia smiled like she always did, which made Twilight feel proud of herself.
“Please come in,” she said and stepped aside, letting her visitors enter first. Celestia nodded and walked past her, so did Luna, Cadence and Shining Armor.

The heavy doors behind them were closed by two guards. Immediately after the voices of the outside world weren’t heard, Twilight let out a loud, excited squee and jumped to hug her brother tightly.
“Oh Shining Armor!” she exclaimed as she buried her face into his neck. “I’ve missed you so much BBBFF!”
The other princesses gave amused looks to each other, and Shining Armor smiled. He then patted her on the back gently and said with slightly awkward tone, “I’ve missed you too LSBFF.”
The clingy mare let go of her older brother, who took of his helmet and let his blue mane fall down freely. His warm smile soon turned to a serious stare.
“Has he caused any trouble?” Shining asked.
Twilight huffed annoyedly. She had hardly managed to say ‘hi’ to him, and he was already asking questions like that. She didn’t have to guess twice to know who he was talking about. She didn’t stop smiling though. She knew how brothers were.
“Do you really think that I couldn’t handle one evil king on my own? I handled an angsty teenage brother when I was only eight years old,” she asked with her smile turning into a teasing smirk. The other princesses laughed at her remark, and her brother’s cheeks were turning red from embarrassment.
He took his defeat like the stallion he was and said to Twilight, “You won this one Twily.”
Then there was another quick hug between the siblings, before Twilight turned towards the trio of princesses.

Her and Cadence’s eyes met, and the mares lunged at each other, hugging each other with joy. Being the bigger of the two, Cadence pulled Twilight’s head against her chest and giggled.
“Should we do it?” she asked from Twilight, who gave her an muffled answer. Cadence didn’t quite hear that due Twilight’s face being squashed against her chest, and Twilight sensed it. She gave a small nod against her chest. With a happy giggle Cadence let go of Twilight, who gasped for air. She too started to smile and they started their little ritual.

“Sunshine, sunshine,” they sang, jumping on their hooves, before laying on their belly and covering their eyes.
 “Ladybugs awake!” they exclaimed, taking their hooves from their eyes.
“Clap your hooves and....” they continued and clapped their front-hooves together, before jumping up.
“...Do a little shake!” they giggled, shaking their rumps in the air a little. They giggled a little more and hugged again. There was a moment of pure sisterhood felt between those two.
“I’m so happy to see that you are okay Twilight,” Cadence said with a relieved smile.
Twilight frowned confusedly and asked, “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”

There was a small silence between everypony. Silence that spoke volumes. Twilight let out a frustrated groan and looked at her sister-in-law with annoyed look.

“That brings us to the matter at hoof,” she said with his calm voice, making Twilight turn towards the royal sisters. For a moment she felt embarrassed under Celestia’s gaze, and she was almost sure that there was a similar kind of feelings visible in her azure eyes too.
“I’ve read from your reports that you have done great progress, considering Sombra’s reformation,” Celestia continued, and Twilight nodded.
“I have,” she answered. “And… I think that you are here to see it for yourselves?”
Her guess was proven right by simultaneous nods from her visitors.
“In a way I knew that this wasn’t going to be just a friendly visit,” Twilight admitted. “But it is still great to see you all.”
“Indeed,” Luna answered. She then smiled at Twilight and said, “I want to tell you that I have all my faith in you, Twilight Sparkle.”
“Thanks Luna,” Twilight said with a wide smile. Luna had always been the princess that she knew wouldn’t be judging her actions. “I’m glad that you trust me.”
Luna glanced at the other visitors that she had brought with. Her tone was almost a scolding one when she said, “I do. Unlike some of us.”
Twilight’s ears twitched at the remark, and she saw how Celestia was trying to avoid eye contact with her. Twilight closed her eyes, took a deep breath, exhaled, and then spoke.
“If you don’t believe me, then please let me show you,” she said and turned to look at Shining Armor, who was shying away from her gaze.

With a loud grunt Twilight started to walk towards the stairs that lead towards the upper levels of the castle. Luna was quickly by her side, and others followed with more or less awkward and troubled looks on their faces.
Luna glanced at Twilight, and noticed the annoyed frown on her face. She thought for a second, and then spoke, “I have to ask something about your reports.”
“Hmm?” Twilight asked, snapping away from her sulking. “What was that?”
“I was just thinking…” Luna started slowly. “Did Sombra actually tell you all those things that you have been writing us about? His past with Mero for example? And what about his grudge for King Halite?”
“Yes,” Twilight answered. “He has proven to be a lot more than what I thought he’d be. There’s still many things that he hasn’t been comfortable enough to share with me.”
“Things like what?” Luna asked, clearly interested.
“A-umm…” Twilight started, but began to think if she would tell Luna about some things that Sombra had told her. They seemed very personal things to him.
“Well…” she began again. “There’s his family…”
“Family?” Luna asked, her eyes wide. She then clearly pondered about something, before asking, “But in your reports, you told us that he was in a house that was close to the crown, yes?”
“I did, but there’s something else there too,” Twilight said, looking at Luna. “I know that his family has something to do with his… actions.”
“I see…” Luna said slowly, ending their small conversation.

They reached the room on top of the stairs, and they continued towards the grand hall. The guards posted to those corridors bowed to the princesses and saluted to Shining Armor. Luna glanced over her shoulder, towards her sister.
“Speaking of family…” she started and turned to look at Twilight. “I think that my sister would want to speak with you.”
Twilight too glanced over her shoulder, and saw that Luna was right. Celestia’s pace was getting faster and she soon was right at Twilight’s side. Celestia and Luna shared an awkward glance between each other, and Luna let herself fall a couple of steps behind from them, giving them some privacy.

“Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia started. “I have waited for this meeting with both anticipation and concern.”
Twilight smiled a little and said with ensuring tone in her voice, “I promise that he will act nicely. There’s no need to worry about it.”
Celestia’s expression seemed to turn even more awkward when she turned to face Twilight, worrying look in her azure eyes.
“Oh Twilight I am sure of that,” she said with a smile, making Twilight more or less confused.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, and Celestia answered.
“I would like to apologise to you Twilight,” she said, hanging her head down in a depressed way.
Twilight stared at her with a confused frown on her face, her mouth open a little. She blinked slowly, before asking, “Princess… Why would you want to apology to me?”
The surprised tone she spoke in turn made Celestia look at least as confused as Twilight. They stared at each other as they walked for a second, before Celestia answered.
“I… I have been acting so possessively towards you…” she said sadly.
Twilight’s expression changed. She was stared blankly down the hallway that they were walking. She then said slowly, “Oh… That.”
“Please Twilight,” Celestia said in hushed tone, so that the other ponies besides Twilight wouldn’t hear it. "The message you sent me that one night… It really shook me.”
Celestia clearly hadn’t spoken quiet enough, because they heard Luna clearing her throat loudly. Celestia shot an annoyed look towards her sister, before saying to Twilight, “And maybe Luna had something to do with it too.”
Twilight chuckled a little.
Celestia flashed her a troubled smile, and then continued, “I feeling truly horrible about it, and I wish that we could sort everything out.”
Twilight’s ears flickered and she stopped walking. They were in front of the big doors that lead to the grand hall, one guard standing on both sides of them. Twilight turned to look at Celestia with a smile.
“I’m sure we can settle everything,” she said to Celestia, who returned the smile.
They were silent for a second, before Celestia perked up and announced, “I think it’s time to face him once again.”

Twilight Sparkle and the others nodded, and so the guards pushed open the heavy doors. Behind them stood Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity Rainbow Dash and Spike, whose tie Rarity quickly fixed with her magic. Everything was just like Twilight had planned. They stood on both sides of a red carpet that went through the hall, leading towards a set of thrones. They usually weren’t in the hall, but they had been moved there for the occasion. On both sides of the red carpet stood other ponies too. They were the ones that had helped with the preparations, thus gaining the invitation as a reward for their efforts.

Twilight sighed. Everything seemed to be as planned, and she started to walk on the red carpet, her visitors following her. Her friends bowed to the princesses, and so did everypony else. Twilight knew that Sombra would be waiting in the end of that red carpet, and hopefully he would keep himself from trying to be the cocky stallion that he was.

She really hoped so.

They came to the end of the carpet, and the ponies started to retreat towards the doors, while Twilight’s friends stayed in the hall. There were six thrones. Five of them were facing towards one, which was more like a regular armchair than a throne. Those five thrones were reserved for the princesses and the captain of the royal guard, while the lone one was for the ex-tyrant. Now that Twilight thought about it, it looked like there was going to be a court held there, which in a way was true. She didn’t think about it too much though, because Sombra was nowhere to be seen. He wasn’t standing on his spot where he should have been.

Twilight looked around herself nervously. She noticed that her visitors were also turning their heads, trying to locate him.
“We see that he is not in the mood to meet us,” Luna spoke, changing back to the royal accent that she used in front of common ponies.
Twilight’s ears drooped and she chuckled nervously, before answering, “Maybe he is just afraid to meet you?”
“Hah!” Shining Armor exclaimed. “I wouldn’t be surprised. We gave him quite a beating when we last met.”

“I am not afraid,” said a deep voice, startling Shining Armor and Cadence. “And if I remember right, you had nothing to do with my defeat.”
Sombra’s face emerged from behind the backrest of the chair reserved for him. He had a cold expression on his face as he spat, “Shining Armor.”
Twilight sensed strong hostile feelings between those two stallions, so she quickly cut in before anything bad would happen, “Oh there you are!”
Sombra’s head went back behind the backrest, and there was no answer. Celestia and Luna glanced at each other, while Cadence was pressing herself against Shining Armor for safety. It clearly wasn’t easy for her to meet Sombra. The monster that had tormented her subjects for centuries was there, in front of her.

Twilight’s ears folded against the back of her head, and an angry frown appeared onto her face. She stomped her other front-hoof to the floor and demanded, “Sombra, come welcome our guests. You are acting rudely.”

There was sigh heard, and then Sombra jumped down from the chair. The princesses looked at him a bit weirdly when they saw his suit. Like Twilight had expected, it fit him very well. The smooth lines of the jacket made his features a bit more subtle than his trustworthy battle armor, but it still didn’t take his sinister look away from him. Also Rarity had found a red pocket silk for him. It was a cherry on top of the cake. Twilight groaned when she noticed his mane. It was bushy and long like always, just like his tail. She had hoped that he would have even combed it into a little more presentable shape, but no.

His hooves clattered against the marble floor heavily as he walked. His red eyes were fixated to Celestia, who stared back at him calmly.
“Sombra,” Twilight started. “Meet princess Celestia, Luna and…”
She stopped mid sentence when Sombra gave her a deadpan stare. He slowly turned his eyes back towards the white alicorn and said, “I know who they are.”
“And we know who you are,” Celestia said, making Sombra chuckle darkly.
“Then there is no need for introductions I see,” he said, before falling silent again. Twilight waited for him to continue, but when he didn’t she gave a small subtle kick to his hind-leg.
“Go on,” she told him, and he groaned quietly.
Sombra hesitated for a second, but then spoke with defeated tone in his deep voice, “I do hope that your trip here was pleasant.”

That surprised the three princesses and Shining Armor greatly. They all stared at him with wide eyes and their mouths open a little. Twilight smiled proudly. She had hoped for reactions like that.
Luna was first one to break away from her baffled state, and she spoke to Twilight, “We see that there has been progress made with him.”
“Indeed,” Celestia muttered. Her expression returned back to the calm stare when she continued, “But the fact that you can speak politely alone isn’t enough for us to judge you.”
“I would be offended if it would be enough,” Sombra said with a small grin, making Luna chuckle.
Sombra turned to look at her, and she stopped chuckling.
“Princess Luna,” Sombra said with his red eyes scanning the blue coated princess. “Are you still the same warmongering princess that you were thousand years ago?”
“The very same,” Luna said with a small nod. She then smirked in challenging manner and asked, “Are thou the same tyrant that thou were a thousand years ago?”
Sombra frowned. He looked past the smirking mare and muttered, “It is for you to decide I assume.”
        
His gaze met with the purple eyes of Cadence, and it stayed there for a second longer that it should have. He saw the fearful gaze in her eyes, but in a blink of an eye her snout crunched up and there was disturbingly strong disgust visible in her eyes. Sombra’s mouth opened a little. The gaze reminded him of one of his dreams.

He quickly looked away, saying, “I would like to get over this as soon as possible, if it is not too much to ask.”
“You aren’t the only one,” Shining remarked at him, making Sombra glare at him with an annoyed look on his face.
Celestia noticed this, and so did Twilight. They shared a quick look of concern between each other, and then Celestia announced, “I guess that we can skip the cake and get started right away.”
Luna chuckled and said, “It must be really important if our sister skips the cake.”
Sombra looked towards the older sister with a raised eyebrow, and for a small moment he thought that there was a small hint of embarrassment visible on her face.
“Alright then,” Twilight said. “Lets get started then.”
Everypony nodded, and they walked over to their seats.

Sombra slumped down to his own chair, which was rather uncomfortable actually. The princesses sat down in their own places, so that Celestia sat down to the throne in the center with Luna on the throne to her right side , while Twilight was next to Luna and Cadence on their left. Shining Armor sat down next to Cadence and placed his helmet next to himself. Sombra kept eyeing each one of them with his red eyes, almost like judging them.
“Are we ready to begin?” Celestia asked from everypony, and all except Sombra nodded. He just leaned against his right hoof and kept staring. Celestia frowned at that, but kept speaking as calmly as ever, “We are here today in order to see the progress of the reformation of King Sombra, the tyrant of The Crystal Empire.”
Sombra just blinked in response, so Celestia continued, pointing towards Twilight, “Princess Twilight Sparkle, the element of magic has been working as your personal mentor. Isn’t that right?”
Sombra nodded.
Celestia was about to say something, but Luna was quicker, “Before we proceed, We have to say that we are greatly confused by thy wear.”
Sombra looked down at his suit, and explained to her, “I usually do not wear suits, but I have to admit that missis Rarity did a fine job.”
“That reminds me,” Twilight said and turned towards the direction of her friends.
“Girls! Spike!” she called and waved her hoof. “Come over here please.”

The princesses turned their heads towards the five mares and a dragon who started to walk towards them. They soon turned their attention back towards Sombra.
“I believe that you have met with the elements of harmony already?” Celestia asked from Sombra.
“I have,” Sombra answered. “They are quite an... Odd bunch if you ask me.”
“We agree,” Luna said with a nod. “Especially that pink one.”
Sombra smiled a bit. Just then the pink mare in question bounced next to his chair, smiling an ear to ear smile. When she saw the smile on Sombra’s lips, her smile got even wider, if it was even possible.
“Heyy!” she chirped. “Look at that! Sombry’s actually smiling!”
“Sombry?” Cadence asked with her mouth open. She then shared a confused look with Shining Armor.
“Yeah!” Pinkie said happily, ruffling Sombra’s mane with a hoof. He swatted her hoof away, but Pinkie kept smiling and said, “It’s my nickname for him.”
“I see…” Celestia said slowly and glanced at Twilight, before giving her a proud looking smile.
Rarity trotted towards them with a silver plate in her magical grasp. On it were cups of tea, one for everyone in the room. She smiled and bowed in front of Celestia’s throne. Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy joined her, bowing to them before positioning themselves on Twilight’s side. Spike didn’t seem to remember to bow, but a scolding look from Rarity made him remember. He chuckled nervously and bowed deeply. Sombra saw that Rainbow Dash wasn’t too happy looking. He didn’t mind it though.

“Would the princesses have some chamomile tea?” Rarity asked, and they nodded. Rarity levitated a cup for all of them, but Shining Armor refused with a polite wave of his hoof. Rarity then turned towards Sombra, offering the plate towards him and asking, “How about you dear?”
“No thank you,” Sombra said and she nodded.

After the tea was served, Celestia continued from where she had left, “You do seem to be behaving well.”
“I am trying,” Sombra answered bluntly. “Twilight Sparkle doesn’t make it easy sometimes.”
Shining Armor snorted and said proudly, “I believe that. She doesn’t flinch from a pony like you. From Ursa Minor to Tirek, she had beat them all.”
 “I didn’t beat the Ursa Minor,” Twilight commented. “I just lulled it to fall asleep.”
“Anyway,” Shining Armor said, turning to glare at Sombra. “I trust that she can handle a punk like you anytime.”
Sombra frowned. He had never heard a story about Ursa Minor and Twilight  before. He decided to ask about it later, but now he had more important things to do.

Like showing Shining Armor that he wasn’t going to hear things like that from him.

“Punk like me?” Sombra asked. He had a challenging look in his red eyes when he spoke to Shining Armor, “A punk like me could best you in a duel anytime.”
“Hah! What makes you think so?” Shining asked, squinting his eyes. Cadence was looking terrified about the situation in where she was in. Twilight in turn was looking between her brother and Sombra nervously. She took a quick look at Celestia and Luna, who were trying to look as calm as they could, but there was a hint of anxiety on their faces.
“Because I have battled with much greater foes than you,” Sombra answered and leaned backwards in his chair. “It was not easy to live in a castle made of crystal during a frost dragon migration.”
“There aren’t any frost dragons living in those parts of the Frozen North,” Twilight commented skeptically.
Sombra chuckled and said, “Not anymore.”
Spike looked mortified by Sombra’s words, but he didn’t care about him. What made him troubled was the way how Fluttershy looked at him. He didn’t have time to feel bad though, because Shining Armor continued, “Oh now you are bragging about how you killed some dragons that were just hungry?” Shining asked with a angry look in his blue eyes. “I know how you are, and…”

Saying that made Sombra spring up from his chair, startling the mares and the white stallion. He pointed his other front-hoof towards Shining Armor.
“How am I!?”  he asked with a loud voice filled with anger. “You do not even know who I am!”
Everypony were staring at him with wide eyes, and Fluttershy was hiding behind Rainbow Dash, who was in a fighting stance.
“Who am I?” Sombra asked, not getting the answer.
“Answer me!” Sombra demanded after a moment, not getting the answer again. Shining opened and closed his mouth like a fish on a dry land, but the answer didn’t come. Sombra slowly lowered his hoof and his eyes went over every single pony in front of him, before he spat, “None of you knows who I am...”

“Who are you?”

Sombra stopped speaking, and turned towards the pony who had asked the question. It was Celestia. Her gaze was so overpowering that Sombra couldn’t return it. With a loud grunt he laid down to his chair, folding his fore-hooves under his body. He didn’t look at the white alicorn when he answered with a low voice, “I am not sure anymore…”
“Why?” Celestia continued.
“I don’t know,” Sombra answered grudgingly, looking towards the five mares that were standing next to Twilight Sparkle’s throne. Four of them he saw as his friends in some way at least. The dragon wasn’t that bad either. At least he made good hayfries.

They were looking back at him quite weirdly, but then Pinkie Pie flashed him a small smile. It made him feel better. At least there was somepony that was on his side.

There was a moment of silence in the hall. Celestia took a quick look towards the direction where Sombra was looking, and an idea came to her. She smiled and chuckled a little, before asking from those five mares, “Girls, do you know what kind of pony he is?”
Sombra grunted at that, but saw that Rarity bravely stepped forward.
“He’s a stallion who can behave like a real gentlecolt if he want’s to,” she said with a serious face.
“And he’s a great dancer!” Pinkie joined her friend. “He like really knows how to dance.”
Sombra swept his hooves over his face. He saw where they were going with that. He saw how Applejack stepped forward and took of her hat, pressing it against her chest when speaking to the oldest princess.
“Now Ah’m not sure about the things that those two said, but I know that he can be honest,” she said convincingly. “But sometimes it comes out a bit wrong or… Awkward.”
She put on her hat and nodded towards him. He didn’t return the gesture.
Fluttershy drew invisible circles to the floor with her hoof and hid behind her mane. Her green eyes were going between princess Celestia and Sombra.
“H-He’s n-nice…” she muttered quietly, making Luna chuckle.
“That is a lot when coming from the kind Fluttershy,” she said, and Celestia nodded. Then they focused to Rainbow Dash, who blew her hair out of her eyes.
“I got nothing to add,” was her blunt answer that made Twilight frown.
“I think he’s a jerk,” Spike exclaimed, earning a murdering look from Sombra. Twilight in turn slapped her face with her hoof.

“What about you, Twilight Sparkle?” Luna asked and Twilight winced. She noticed that the princess sisters were staring at her with waiting look, while her brother was staring at her with a stern expression. She knew that he wasn’t going to like her answer.
 “Well…” she started and scratched her neck nervously. Sombra looked at her from the corner of his eye, and his look made her even more nervous. There was pressure coming from all sides.
“He is troublesome at times, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t try.” Twilight said slowly, taking things carefully. “He can be just like my friends told you, but sometimes it seems that it is too hard for him.”
Sombra snorted.
“He tries to be the bad guy he used to be,” Twilight spoke. Her tone was getting more assertive as she continued, “But I can see how he tries to act against those feelings.”
Sombra rolled his eyes.

Twilight drooped her ears and looked at Sombra. His expression was calm, but there was almost a pleading look in his red eyes.
“I… I think that he doesn’t want to tell us about it yet,” she admitted.
“I do not... Thank you,” Sombra agreed, making Luna frown.

“Maybe you should,” Cadence suddenly said. It seemed that she had gathered enough courage to finally speak out loud.
“Beg you pardon?” Somba asked.
Cadence rose up from her throne, and Shining tried to grab her hoof, but she swatted his hoof away with her wing. The same disgusted look was on her face again, and it made shiver crawl up Sombra’s spine.
“I don’t know about my aunts and my sister-in-law, but you can’t make me trust you so easily…”
“Cadence…” Celestia said with a confused frown, but the pink coated alicorn didn’t even notice it. Instead she continued angrily, “You slaved an entire empire, and tried to kill my friends! It will take a lot more than you pretending to be a good pony for me to even consider forgiving you. Just you know that.”
Sombra stared at her. There was fire burning in her eyes, and Sombra didn’t know what had triggered it. His presence was probably enough to do just that.
“Princess Cadence,” he started as humbly as he could, “I want you to know that I felt justified to do so.”
“Justified!?” Cadence asked with shocked voice, her wings flaring open. “What would make you see your actions as justified!?”
“I do not want to talk about it,” Sombra answered with a shake of his head. He then saw the terrified looks on the faces of Twilight Sparkle and her friends, so he added, “And I did not mean that I felt justified to hurt you. Just the empire part.”
“Do you think that we can forgive you if we don’t even know your reasons?” Cadence asked, walking closer to him. “I don’t know if I can forgive you even if I knew them, and how about the ponies of The Crystal Empire? Do you think that they will forgive you?”
“I know that they will not,” Sombra answered surprisingly calmly. “After all, I have not forgiven King Halite for what he did, and my actions were far worse.”
Everypony looked surprised after he said that. Twilight had a hunch about what he was talking about, but couldn’t be sure yet.
“What did he do to then?” Luna asked with interested frown on her face.
Sombra sighed.

“He took everything that was important to me,” he muttered, making everypony fall silent. Nopony said a word so Sombra continued, “I hope that that answer is enough for now.”
“Well it isn’t!” Cadence continued her attack. “You almost took everything that is important to me! Now you want us to be on your side all of the sudden! It seems like you are thinking that you’re the victim here.”
“You don’t know everything, Mi Amore De Cadenza,” Sombra snorted.
“Well correct me if I’m wrong,” Cadence hissed. “Tell us why you are a monster.”
 “I said I don’t want to talk about it,” Sombra answered again.
Cadence’s ears flattened against the back of her head and she exclaimed angrily, “At least tell us why you don’t want to answer me!”

“Because it hurts!” Sombra suddenly shouted and rose up from his chair again, making Cadence wince backwards. Shining Armor was at her side faster than Sombra could have believed that a stallion of his size could move. The situation was looking dangerously close to blowing up, so Twilight decided to do something. Her horn came to life and Sombra was closed into a purple field of magic, before being pushed back to his seat. He cursed at Twilight, before settling in for a better position. Cadence and Shining Armor too sat back down to their places, Cadence shaking a little and taking deep breaths. After everypony had calmed down, Celestia cleared her throat.

Sombra was quiet.
“I do not force you to tell us about them for now,” Celestia told him. “But you do understand that keeping silent about them will only make the healing process longer.”
Sombra returned her gaze, before answering, “Thank you princess Celestia. I appreciate that you understand.”
“I can’t say that I understand,” she corrected him. “I just know that forcing you to tell something that you are not willing to tell is not the right way.”

There was deep silence again. Twilight looked at Sombra with drooped ears and a small, comforting smile. She then coughed and said, “Is there something else that you would like to know?”
Celestia and Luna looked at each other. It was like they were speaking without actually speaking. They nodded exactly the same time and then turned towards the purple alicorn.
“We have come to a conclusion,” Luna stated, earning everypony’s attention. Even Sombra seemed nervous.
Celestia nodded, and then declared, “King Sombra has been coming along in his reformation, but there are still matters that needs to be cleared out in the future. One of them being his past. We do not want to see whatever made him do the terrible things at the Crystal Empire happen to anypony else.”
Sombra seemed troubled as Celestia held a pause. Twilight noticed it. Celestia continued to speak with proud tone, “Twilight Sparkle has proven that she once again has managed in something that everypony else thought as an impossible task.”
Twilight blushed, and Celestia started to smile.
“I wish for you to continue your work with Sombra. All your royal duties are delegated to me and my sister, so you don’t have to worry about them,” she told Twilight who smiled. Celestia didn’t take her eyes off from Twilight as she continued, “Sombra will continue to live here, in princess Twilight Sparkle’s castle, as a way to show that we do trust her with all of our hearts.”
Twilight’s smile grew wider. She knew what Celestia was trying to say.
“You may have full command over his freedoms. When you believe that he is ready for his magic to be given back to him, you have all the rights to do so.”
“Really!?” Twilight asked with her eyes going wide. “T-That’s quite a responsibility.”
“And we are sure that we can trust in your judgement,” Celestia added with a wink that made Twilight smile with her ears drooped. If she wouldn’t have been in front of her friends and Sombra, she would have lunged and hugged Celestia.
“Thank you, princess,” Twilight said, trying to keep the gleeful smile away from her face. She wasn’t succeeding so well.

Celestia then turned towards Cadence Shining Armor and said with a bit more serious tone, “I believe that princess Cadence and Captain Shining Armor have something on their mind.”
“Yes we do aunt,” Cadence said and she rose up. So did Shining Armor. “We want you -” she pointed her hoof at Sombra. “- to know that you are considered as a criminal in The Crystal Empire, and that the ponies of The Crystal Empire want justice.”
There were some confused whispers between Twilight’s friends, but none of them said a thing. After all, what Cadence said was true.
“I do understand,” Sombra answered.
“Then there is nothing more for us to talk about,” Shining said sternly. “For now.”

“Splendid,” Luna said with a small smile. “We can already see how Our sister keeps staring at that cake.”
“Luna,” Celestia scolded but couldn’t help but to smile a little. She sighed and turned towards Twilight Sparkle and her friends, saying, “I think that we are more than pleased with the progress of Sombra’s reformation. Keep up the good work everypony.”
Twilight Sparkle and her friends nodded eagerly. Even Spike was looking relieved. Satisfied, Celestia rose up from her tone and stretched her wings.
“Now that you mentioned it Luna, could I have a small slice of that cake,” she chuckled, making Luna smile knowingly.
“Am I free to go now?” Sombra asked.
“Stay and socialize with our guests,” Twilight told him with an encouraging smile.
Sombra just chuckled at her and jumped down from his chair. He gave that purple mare a look that asked ‘are you serious’, before he said, “You are funny, Twilight Sparkle.”
With that he started to walk towards the doors of the hall, leaving the scene.

Everypony stared after him for a moment, before Celestia stretched her wings again and said, “He doesn’t seem to be the most social pony that there is.”
“No he is not,” Twilight answered, before she too stretched her wings. She didn’t want to bother herself with that anymore, and she jumped down from her throne.
“Would it be possible to talk in private with you Twilight?” Celestia asked as the rest of the visitors and Twilight’s friends started to walk towards the table that was filled with pastries from the Sugarcube Corner.
“Of course, princess,” Twilight answered. She smiled a broad smile and touched Celestia’s side with the tip of her other wing.  “Even though I have to say that I have already forgiven you.”
Celestia smiled at least as big smile as Twilight. She then turned to look towards the table where the chocolate cake was. Her smile turned into a sheepish one when she said, “But first cake. I can’t resist it.”
“Of course,” Twilight giggled and they started to walk side by side.

They didn’t get far before they heard a familiar female voice speaking.
“Princess Celestia, Twilight,” the voice said and they turned towards it. They saw serious looking Rainbow Dash standing near them. Twilight already started to feel that something bad was about to happen.
“Yes Rainbow Dash?” Celestia asked.
“Oh it’s nothing too important…” Rainbow Dash said and walked closer, glancing towards Twilight a bit weirdly. “I was just thinking.... Are you a fan of tabloids? You know… Trashy magazines and all that?”
Twilight’s ears drooped.
“I have to say that I am not,” Celestia said with a confused smile on her lips. “Why are you asking such questions?”
Rainbow Dash reached for something from under her left wing. Soon she pulled something from under her wing and held it in her teeth. Twilight let out a small squeak of panic, while Celestia’s eyes went wide.

“I just thought that this article might be interesting for you, princess.”