The princess in all her glory came trotting away from her carriage, her two pegasi escorts seemingly exhausted just from the trip made thus far. She came up to the purple, glass-like sphere, her image distorted greatly. The three fillies behind Spike bowed, and so did he before grabbing Sombra by the shoulder, who still stood.
"Dude, bow," he whispered. "It's the princess..."
Sombra shrugged the claw off his body crudely, and looked up at her magnificence without a trace of childishness in his eyes. "I may not be a king anymore, but that doesn't make me below royalty." He looked at Spike, his voice maturing, and losing just a hint of its high pitch. "It would be belittling of Celestia to allow me to do such a thing in public."
All four stared at him, but that mass of attention would soon be redirected to Princess Celestia. She bowed before young Sombra graciously, beyond the shielding, and then rose to ask, "Is it alright if I enter?"
Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and even Spike stood there in the dirt with their mouths agape. Under any circumstance, Spike had particularly never seen, nor thought it accurately polite for a princess to bow, let alone ask permission to enter the home of another. That was that thing, though. This was technically Sombra's home.
"Uh..." Sombra looked up at the vacant window above head before saying, "You'd have to ask Twilight about that."
At that time, the student had left the building, and was approaching Sombra, calling over to her mentor, "Yes, I'm here! Come in, please! By all means, your highness..."
Celestia smiled, but didn't move. It became quiet for a brief second or two before she said, "You may take the force field down, Twilight."
"Err..." The unicorn's muzzle scrunched in concern. "You're sure that's a good idea? I mean, I still don't trust Sombra when it comes to escaping."
Her highness merely laughed lightly, and said, "He won't run away, I assure you. Not when I'm so close by." She looked down at the young being to ask, "Will you, Sombra?"
He crossed his arms, and answered with a simple, "No..."
Twilight could only look from him to her mentor, and soon released the library from her magical captivity. Directly following that, Sombra sighed. "I guess it's time for me to go, then, huh?"
The question he'd just let leave his lips lingered for a minute, because the atmosphere they'd been in was still air. Nothing moved within except the living being that inhabited the space, but with the shield gone, winds blew on every pony quite noticeably. Sombra could even feel himself forming a chilly sweat. Celestia stood looking down at him, smiling ever onward. "Why, that won't do."
"Huh?"
The colt looked at Celestia, more animated, more confused, but happy. Celestia simply looked at the new friends he'd made that day, and said, "You're still it."
Even Spike smiled at that, and as for Sombra, he hadn't yet allowed it to sink in. He questioned with a cocked eyebrow, "Err... what?"
"The game of tag that you were playing with everypony. You're still it."
Twilight commented, "In other words, Sombra, you can have a few more minutes with your friends before you have to leave and go to Canterlot."
He gasped, his eyes lighting up with excitement. "You mean it?"
All Celestia did was nod, and they were off, the girls and the dragon running away at full speed from the colt who turned and charged in their direction. While they played in the sun for a bit longer, the teacher and her student went inside and up the stairs to watch them all, and talk in privacy. "So," Princess Celestia said as she walked in, and then up to the window. "He's been well, then?"
"Yes," Twilight said with hesitation. "The thing is, he's... a normal, growing colt who's yet to find his cutie mark. That's what it seems to be..." She stayed like that for a bit, her head lowered. She still looked Celestia in the eyes, her mouth opening to talk, but not a sound coming out. "He still..." She gulped. "Well, he makes remarks about wanting to escape, and then forgets why... His eyes go all purple whenever he's thinking or acting upon dark thoughts. It's..." She held her head with a hoof while Celestia kept watching the five kids down there go in circles.
"I know."
"It's confusing. I guess... I'd like to know. Do you know what's happening to Sombra?"
Celestia's head bowed, and she as well opened her mouth. No words came, though. She first inhaled, and then exhaled through her nose, and then said, "It's from a viewpoint that Sombra didn't have enough dark energy at the time to reform his entire body. Consequently, he's lost most of his memories along with lots of his stallion physique, and he is losing his memories from before little by little. While new ones are made, old experiences are erased, or replaced. That's why he's coming to Canterlot, so that Luna can investigate his hidden memories while he sleeps."
Twilight nodded. "So that you can try and find out what kind of pony he was before becoming the king of the Crystal Empire."
Her highness nodded with worry. "Dangerous... I hadn't thought this up myself, by the way. Luna suggested the notion, and I'm sure you would agree with what she says, that this is a good thing to do. Right?"
Twilight looked down, her eyes weary. "I... don't know. I like the new Sombra. Did you know," she began while looking back at Celestia deeply. "He knows how to say please and thank you?"
Her eyebrows raised. "Really? How... interesting. Which might mean, he really wasn't born into the role of a leader." She sighed while glancing away. "We'll... know later on, I suppose." She focused in on the front lawn again, and this time noticed Sombra walking with Sweetie Belle. For the most part, they seemed alone, and Sombra even appeared happy. "Looks as if he's making it hard on me to take him away from all that."
Twilight looked, too, but she smiled wider. "That... is too sweet."
"No need in holding the departure off any longer, I suppose." To that, Twilight nodded in cooperation, and Celestia resumed, "He'll be back soon enough. I just hope he's not too much trouble at the castle."
Before following Celestia out of the room and down the stairs again, Twilight said, "I couldn't really see that happening. Considering how surprisingly well behaved he's been for Spike and I, he shouldn't be a problem." Just before exiting all the way, however, Twilight knocked on the wooden door frame three times, just to be sure to undo any jinxes she might've caused by saying this.