Heart of Darkness

by Revenant Wings

Chapter 1 - Things Left Unanswered

Twilight rode the train in silence, her eyes focused on the stretcher that contained the black unicorn stallion. He was lying on his back with his head on a pillow and covered with a white sheet, through which Twilight could see the rise and fall of his belly as he slept. An IV slowly dripped a nutritional supplement into his front hooves.

She still couldn’t believe the events that happened. They had taken great pains to bring the unicorn into the Crystal Palace without a single Crystal pony noticing. Medics came around and checked his vital signs; he was knocked out from two waves of magic blasts. It wasn’t long before Celestia and Luna were contacted and a special delivery made with an item that could detect dark magic and an old photo. By the end of the day, it was confirmed that the unicorn was, in fact, King Sombra. Well… it wasn’t exactly right to describe him as “king”. But Twilight had difficulty calling him just “Sombra”.

As to how Sombra had been able to survive the magical blast… no one was entirely sure. Twilight had one theory: the Elements of Harmony hadn’t been enough to defeat him but managed to weaken the hold of dark magic on him. And when Cadence activated the Crystal Heart, it had purified him of it.

But, in the two days since the chaos at the Crystal Empire, Sombra had not been allowed to waken. He was kept knocked out with a powerful sedative once his vitals were confirmed and IVs had been hooked into his hooves, inserting bare nutritional needs and medicine for his wounds. This was to sustain him until he’d been placed into custody in Canterlot.

“Twilight, darling, are you still in here?”

Twilight turned around. Rarity was standing at the door of the train car as it made its way back south towards Canterlot. “I’m not sure if this was the right thing to do,” Twilight said. “I mean, he could still be dangerous. And what of his memories? What if… what if he reverts?”

Rarity hazarded a few steps closer to Twilight. “It’s better that he’s going to Canterlot,” she said. “I mean, there the Guard can keep him under control, Princess Celestia can see what went wrong, and he can’t mess with the Crystal Empire again.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Twilight sighed as she looked out the window at the sunset.

“And he can’t ruin the beauty of the place anymore.”

Twilight turned around and glared at Rarity. “Really?”

Rarity laughed nervously. “You get what I mean, though, don’t you? Those black crystals of his really tore things up around there.”

Twilight sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m just so confused about it.”

Rarity came over and placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “You need some rest, darling. We should be back in Canterlot by morning. Come on; eat with us and sleep for a while.”

Twilight, feeling her stomach rumble for the first time in a long time, followed Rarity out of the car but not before taking one last look at Sombra’s sleeping form. The others were already at a table in the adjacent dining car, eating vegetable soups, green salads, and sandwiches.

“Hey, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash called. “You nearly missed dinner.”

“And dessert!” Pinkie Pie chirped up through a mouthful of a cookie.

“I was doing some thinking, that’s all,” Twilight said as she sat down with the others. “I have to figure out what to tell Princess Celestia about what happened.”

“It’s not exactly gonna be easy to explain, that’s for sure,” Applejack said. “But I’m sure she’ll trust you. You’re her student. Just tell her what happened and I’m sure she’ll understand. She likes you a lot if she trusted you with this whole mission in the first place.”

“It’s not like it’s the first time this sort of thing happened,” Fluttershy commented. “The same thing happened when we freed Princess Luna from Nightmare Moon.”

“But we knew Luna was supposed to be good almost immediately after we freed her and she apologized,” Twilight said between sips of her soup. “We don’t know if Sombra will be different or the same.”

“That’s why we’re taking her to Celestia, darling,” Rarity said. “She was alive long enough to know of Sombra before his reign and his banishment.”

“And in this form,” Rainbow Dash put in, “I’m sure we could take him on if he becomes a problem, no sweat!”

Twilight smiled. “Thank you for the support. But… do you all think you could help me when time comes to speak with Celestia?”

“Of course, sugarcube,” Applejack said. “We all can confirm what we saw.”

Dinner was finished relatively pleasantly and the six headed to bed; Spike, worn out from the praise he received for retrieving the Crystal Heart, had fallen asleep long ago. One by one, the ponies drifted off to sleep.

Twilight fell asleep, too, but her mind was filled with terrible dreams. She had visions of Sombra somehow turning back into shadow and going back to the Crystal Empire to imprison Cadence and make Shining Armor his slave. She had dreams of Sombra using dark magic and corrupting or trying to kill Celestia. And she had dreams of herself becoming trapped in crystals, green and black, unable to move and her magic stripped away.

Eventually, Twilight woke up. It was still dark and the others were still asleep, Pinkie giving off some ridiculous-sounding snore. Twilight quietly left her bed and went through the dark cars to where Sombra was still lying on his stretcher. In the light of the moon, Twilight could see the IV bag was full again, likely changed by the medic from the guard onboard the train to keep Sombra sedated.

Twilight looked over Sombra’s form in the moonlight. She was amazed how different he looked from the evil tyrant of lore in the Crystal Empire. His features were softer and less angular. His mane and tail were smooth and were soft to the touch. His dark-grey coat was neat and groomed and his cutie mark even seemed to hold a slight shimmer more like a diamond than a crystal.

What started Twilight the most was how much he looked like her brother. He looked about his age, probably a year or two younger. And yet… yet he’d been imprisoned for almost a thousand years. How many memories did he have of his time before he was a tyrant? How long had he been a tyrant before his imprisonment?

There came a low moan from the black form. Twilight gasped, not because Sombra had made a noise, but because it sounded so different from the growl she was used to hearing. It was smooth, more the sound of a pony who had bad dreams than anything else.

Twilight went and knocked on the door at the other end of the car. A white pegasus guard with a blue mane and tail and bright, sky blue eyes poked his head out the door. “Something wrong, Miss Twilight?”

Twilight pointed to Sombra. “He… just moaned.”

“Don’t worry about it,” the guard said. “I just gave him the sedative. He might be trying to poke through, but he’ll be back asleep from the medicine shortly.”

“You’re… not afraid of being in here with him?”

“Truthfully? Of course. No sane guard wouldn’t be. But, if it’s what needs to be done, then it’s my job to do it.”

Twilight looked back at Sombra’s sleeping form.

“I assure you every precaution has been taken,” the guard said. “He’s bound to the table, the sedative administered, and an anti-magic ring is on his horn. Have you been awake all night?”

“No,” Twilight said, looking back to the guard. “Only a few minutes. I’m having trouble sleeping.”

“Check the dining car. It might have some tea available. A cup of tea with milk helps me out when I’m having trouble. We should be at Canterlot by early morning.”

Twilight looked out the window. She guessed that dawn would be in two hours. She smiled at the guard. “Thank you. I’ll try that out.”

“You’re welcome. Take care, Miss Twilight.” And he shut the door.

Twilight did as the guard said and found the hot water and the tea bags. She mixed herself up a cup of green tea with lemon and honey and sat at a table close to the window, sipping the tea and letting it warm her. By the time she was finished, the sun was just coming over the horizon. The tea did make her feel better, and she managed to go back to sleep.

By the time Twilight woke up, the sun was above the horizon and the train had entered Canterlot. But instead of stopping at the station like normal, the train headed a little further towards a private station at the end of the line closer to Canterlot Castle. Twilight had enough time for some buttered toast with jam before the train stopped and the ponies stepped out into the early morning sun.

Hardly anyone was out in Canterlot; it was a day off and most of the ponies were sleeping in. The group used it to their advantage; the guard was hooked up to the stretcher containing Sombra, and Twilight and her friends walked around it, hiding the black unicorn from prying eyes, walking a few blocks to the entrance of Canterlot Castle.

Almost immediately upon seeing the guard and the six ponies following him, the castle guard moved out of their way. The guard went to the prison to drop off Sombra at the prison clinic before leaving the six ponies in a room and ordering them to wait while he went off to inform Princess Celestia of their arrival.

They were not kept long. The guard was soon back in the room and poking his head in. The six ponies started to get up before the guard shook his head.

“Princess Celestia requested she only speak with Twilight.”

“But why?” Rainbow Dash complained. “We went with her. We helped!” She tried to fly out of the room.

Rarity took a hold of Dash’s tail with her magic. “Calm down, Rainbow Dash,” she said, holding a now hanging Dash up by her tail. “If Princess Celestia wants to speak with Twilight personally, then it’s not our place to interfere.”

“We can always step in if she wants us to,” Fluttershy said. “I’m sure she wouldn’t mind. But… m-maybe it’s best that Twilight go first.”

Rainbow Dash flapped her wings again, but set herself on the floor, hooves crossed over her chest. “Oh, alright…”

Twilight smiled at her friends before leaving and following the guard along through the corridors to a familiar pair of double doors that lead to Celestia’s throne room. The guard opened the door and motioned for Twilight to come in, holding it open before her and closing it behind her before flying to the end of the hall and saluting to Celestia.

“Miss Twilight Sparkle, returning from the Crystal Empire,” the guard said.

Princess Celestia, sitting calmly on her throne with a pleasant expression, nodded. “Thank you, Iron Shield,” she said to the pegasus guard. “Please, wait here for a second.”

The guard nodded in return and set himself down next to Princess Celestia.

Twilight Sparkle nervously approached the throne. Celestia’s expression still seemed pleasant, so she decided it was safe to speak. “Princess Celestia,” she said. “I… I’m back.”

“And in one piece,” Princess Celestia said warmly. “The lights from the Crystal Empire were quite the show last night, and very relieving to know things were alright.”

“Well, yes,” Twilight said, feeling her cheeks get hot. “It wasn’t exactly easy, and Spike ended up finishing the mission instead of me.”

“But your actions were not unnoticed,” Princess Celestia said. “Twilight, I heard about what happened from Cadence. You were valiant and courageous in the face of adversity, something the ponies of the Crystal Empire needed.”

Twilight nodded.

“Something disturbs you?” Princess Celestia said. “You have saved Equestria yet again, and yet you are troubled?”

“Princess… there was something that happened that nopony expected.”

Princess Celestia closed her eyes. “Sombra survived the blast.”

“Did Princess Cadence tell you about that, too?”

“Yes. A very strange situation, indeed. First in that you were able to summon the powers of the Elements despite not having them with you. Secondly in that such a blast would normally have killed a pony from the darkness in their heart.”

“What happened, Princess? How come he wasn’t killed?”

“Why do you think, Twilight?”

“Well… perhaps the Elements were weak.”

“But why wasn’t he killed?”

“Because the dark magic was purged from him with the Elements?”

Celestia simply smiled.

“Do you have an answer, Princess?” Twilight asked. “Was I right?”

“Time will tell if you’re right,” Princess Celestia said.

“What do we do?”

“I’ll let him wake up. I have many questions of my own I wish to ask him.”

“…will you kill him?”

“Perhaps I won’t have to. Certainly, he was a threat, but who knows what the magic has done to him. Don’t worry, Twilight; every precaution will be taken for this meeting. For now, you and your friends can take a room here in the castle. I will make contact with you shortly.”

Twilight nodded and left the room. She headed along back through the halls until she came to the room where the others were waiting.

“So?” Applejack asked. “What did she say?”

“She believes us,” Twilight said. “Princess Cadence sent word ahead of what happened.”

“So what’s going to happen with Sombra?”

“Well, Princess Celestia is going to let him wake up, then she and Luna are going to go and ask him a few questions about what happened.”

“Wait, what!?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “All that – empire nearly taken over, ponies almost made slaves – and they’re just going to chat with him?”

“It’s been strange,” Twilight replied. “Princess Celestia said it’s different than what was expected and didn’t give me a straight answer as to what was happening. We… we just have to stay here a day or two and wait.”

“Whatever for?” Rarity asked.

“Probably so she can ask you what happened,” Twilight responded.

Rarity sighed and smiled. “Well, I’m not one to pass up a Canterlot vacation. Come on, girls! Let’s see what Celestia’s set up for our stay, shall we?”

* * *

Twilight found herself waking up the next morning after the first full night of sleep she’d had in days. The nights before the Crystal Empire were full of apprehension and anxiety, the nights after filled with confusion and unanswered questions. Maybe Luna had ensured her a peaceful sleep or she was simply back in a familiar place, but Twilight finally felt like things were returning back to normal.

Breakfast was brought to the room and the ponies gorged themselves on a hearty meal of a sourdough loaf with raisins and nuts, a couple of fried eggs, a bowl of fresh fruit, and glasses of orange juice and milk. Twilight felt like she hadn’t eaten in days and quickly filled herself with food until she simply felt lazy. It felt good to be receiving this treatment by Celestia’s generous order, though Twilight wondered why all of them were supposed to stay.

But later that afternoon, Luna began calling the other Elements one by one to her chambers to discuss what happened in the Crystal Empire, starting with Applejack. Twilight was not to be called in as she had already explained herself to Celestia, but she was going to be on-call in case Celestia needed her.

And, after Rarity was called in to speak with Luna, she was.

Iron Shield came around to the girls’ chambers. “Miss Twilight, Princess Celestia requests your presence in the dungeons.”

Twilight nodded. “Lead the way.”

Rainbow Dash and Applejack started to follow.

“I’m sorry,” Iron Shield said, blocking the exit with his spear. “I’m afraid Twilight alone is allowed in the dungeons.”

“But King Sombra’s down there, right?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“What if extra hoofpower’s needed to keep him restrained?” Applejack added.

“You forget that the Royal Guard are trained to respond in emergency situations,” Iron Shield said firmly. “There is already a troop down below, and with Celestia and Twilight both present, I’m sure we have enough. This session is private.”

Rainbow Dash glowered and Applejack frowned in disappointment as the doors closed and Twilight followed Iron Shield through the castle to a small, dark staircase at a corner that few others were allowed.

“Will I be able to tell them anything?” Twilight asked.

“If you desire,” Iron Shield said, voice calmer and more sympathetic as he stopped at the top of the stairs. “But the princess requested that this initial meeting have no one else present.”

“Does she not want the extra attention or distractions?”

“No. Sombra has woken up and, as it stands, is confused. Beg pardon, but Princess Celestia believes your friends to be a bit headstrong and doesn’t want them acting rashly.”

Twilight nodded and didn’t say another word as Iron Shield led her down the stairs and into the dungeons. The dungeons were unlike what Twilight had expected; they were brightly lit and smelled as though they’d recently been cleaned.

Princess Celestia was standing in front of a cell at one of the far reaches of the dungeon with a host of guards sprinkled throughout the hallways. Iron Shield beckoned Twilight to approach and took a spot a few cells away. Twilight walked forwards and found on the cell the black unicorn stallion, his mane and tail now appearing slightly disheveled and his formerly crimson eyes now brighter to the point where they were almost pink. The anti-magic ring was also off his horn, though it had left a small area lighter than its surroundings

“Ah, Twilight, you’ve arrived,” Celestia said as Twilight approached. “Sombra, this is Twilight Sparkle. She was the one that brought you here from the Crystal Empire.”

Twilight couldn’t help but stare in intrigue at the stallion. He looked back at her curiously, even fearfully.

‘Sombra’ carefully took a few attentive steps towards her. “You,” he said, his voice smooth but dry-sounding as though he hadn’t drank anything in days. “You… brought me here? But… what of my home?”

Twilight gulped. “Where was your home?” she ventured to ask.

“On the far reaches of the Crystal Empire,” the stallion said. “I had a home at the end of one of the avenues. My mother… my mother was a jeweler, and my father was a shopkeeper for her store.”

“…what did you do?”

“I was going to follow in my mother’s footsteps, but with my skill I eventually found myself under the tutelage of Starswirl the Bearded. I have been his pupil for almost seven years, I think.”

Twilight felt her own mouth go dry.

‘Sombra’ looked back to Celestia. “Where is my mentor? How is he? I… can’t remember anything from the past few days.”

Whereas Twilight gasped at the stallion’s inquiry, Celestia seemed unfazed. “I’m afraid your mentor attempted a rather risky spell and is no longer with us.”

That much was true, Twilight knew of her magical history lessons. Starswirl – once considered Equestria’s most powerful unicorn after the princesses, and rumored to be slightly mad – had been working with a rather strange device when he suddenly disappeared and never returned. But that in itself happened over nine hundred years ago; decades after ‘King’ Sombra had been banished and taken the Crystal Empire with him.

But while for Twilight it was an old lesson in the history books, this seemed to be a recent development for ‘Sombra’, who at once collapsed against the bars and began crying. It was pained, likely a result of his body weakened from the induced coma and his dry throat, and Twilight found herself disturbed by it.

Twilight went to ask another question, but Celestia put up a hoof to her chest. Twilight immediately swallowed her question and the two waited until the stallion had cried himself out. When he did, Celestia was the first to speak. “What do you remember last studying under Starswirl?”

Sombra collected himself and wiped away the tears from his eyes. “He… he was just teaching me about the powers of dark magic. How it was dangerous, how it could corrupt ponies. There was… there was a simple spell he was going to teach me with it, because he believed I could withstand its corruption.”

Which, in the end, turned out horribly, Twilight thought.

Celestia nodded. “And how old are you now?”

“Well… I had been working at the shop for two years… tutored under Starswirl for seven… about twenty three.”

He was only two years younger than Shining Armor… Twilight thought.

Sombra looked around. “What happened to me? …how come I can’t remember anything from the past few days?”

“You were knocked out,” Celestia said. “Your body was wracked by a magical blast. I’d wager you probably can’t perform any spells from the severity.”

Sombra tried performing magic. He barely managed to get a dark pink, close to red aura around his horn, but nothing moved or happened and it seemed he was straining and exerting himself to even get that. He stopped trying and gasped for air, panting for a few seconds before returning to normal breathing. “It feels like I have no magic in me. It’s small, but I can’t hardly reach it…”

Sombra started growling and threw himself at the bars of the cage, causing Twilight to jump backwards, Celestia to take a step backwards, and a guard to bring over the anti-magic ring. “What’s happening to me!?” Sombra shouted, his hooves grasping for anyone and anything. “What happened to my magic? Why am I here instead of the Crystal Empire!? Answer me!”

Twilight tried to take a step closer to Celestia, but it put her in range of Sombra’s hooves. He grabbed onto her shoulders and pulled her to the bars. “Explain!” he shouted, voice almost returning to the dark guttural noise she had heard in the Crystal Empire, hot breath spewing over Twilight and making her too dizzy to do anything. “Tell me why I’m trapped in here like a prisoner! I have done nothing wrong!”

Suddenly, Iron Shield was positioned between Sombra and Twilight. Twilight was against the cages at the other side of the hall and Iron Shield had placed the point of his spear to Sombra’s chest. Immediately upon feeling the sharp point, Sombra stopped flailing. His eyes were wide with panic and still flaring with anger, but he didn’t move an inch.

“You would do well to mind yourself,” Iron Shield said. “I won’t hesitate to act if necessary.”

“Do not pressure him, Iron Shield,” Celestia said calmly. “He has only recently awoken. It is natural he would like to know what happened. Lower your spear.”

Iron Shield looked from Celestia to Sombra then back to Celestia. Slowly, he lowered his spear, but he still kept it pointed in Sombra’s direction and backed up so that he was next to Twilight as though ready to defend her yet again if need be.

Celestia walked over to Sombra. “Part of the fallout from Starswirl’s spell destroyed some of the surrounding area, including your home. You were found in the wreckage, alive but unconscious. We had to place you into an induced coma in order to make sure you healed fully and that the magic hadn’t caused any other adverse effects.”

“That does not explain why I’m trapped like a criminal,” Sombra said, still growling but not in the terrible way that made Twilight want to plug her ears.

“Admittedly a poor choice,” Celestia said. “I will have you transferred to a room up above where you can get some sunlight.”

Sombra bowed slightly. “Thank you. I would appreciate that. I’m sorry for lashing out.”

“It is alright. It may take some time for you to reorient yourself and for your magic to return. Please be patient.”

Sombra nodded.

Celestia turned to Twilight. “Do you have any questions you wish to ask?”

Twilight carefully approached Sombra, looking into the stallion’s eyes. He looked so strange. When his anger had flared, Twilight almost saw the old tyrant. But now, he looked like a defenseless, even weak stallion. If he hadn’t attacked the Crystal Empire, Twilight would have almost thought of him like her brother. “What is the last thing you can remember?”

Sombra closed his eyes and was silent for a while. “I was looking through a book of spells. There was a group of Changelings coming towards the Crystal Empire. I found a spell and thought it might be useful.”

“Do you remember the details of the spell?”

Sombra shook his head and his eyes opened to face her again. “No.”

“How did the magic feel when you tried casting it just now?”

“Resilient, weak, cold… angry. As though abused or neglected, even damaged.”

“If you were to leave… what would you like to do?”

“I would have liked to go back to Starswirl. But now that he’s dead and my home destroyed… I have no idea what to do.”

There was a certain pain in those words that stunned Twilight. She stepped back a little bit and stood there almost in shock. Everything seemed dulled for a while, but she remembered Iron Shield slowly nudging her forward and back along the corridors and up the stairs to the main castle, where the sun was beginning to set. She was sat down somewhere and Iron Shield disappeared for a few minutes before returning to her with a glass of water, which she drank eagerly.

“What now?” Twilight asked.

“Princess Celestia requested you wait here,” Iron Shield responded. “She should be up in a few minutes.”

Just like Iron Shield said, it wasn’t long before Princess Celestia climbed the staircase and appeared out in the hall. She went over to Twilight and brought the unicorn’s head to face her own. “You seem to have a lot of thoughts going through your head right now,” Celestia said. “What are you thinking about?”

“Why didn’t you tell him the truth?” Twilight asked. “About what happened?”

“Did you see his reaction to the death of Starswirl? No, now is not the right time. Let him come to, and perhaps the memories of what happened will come back to him in time. And perhaps he will be ready to move on and begin anew.”

“But what of the magic?”

“Our devices and spells have confirmed that Sombra has been purified of the dark magic inside him. I have no worries.”

“But… when he grabbed me, didn’t you hear it? The growling?”

“Yes. But that is no more than a frustrated, scared, fearful pony would do in that situation.”

“But what about the memories of those spells? Wouldn’t those come back to him?”

Celestia fell silent. “Perhaps,” she said after a long while. “We’ll have to keep a close eye on him, perhaps even keep the anti-magic ring on him.”

Princess Celestia looked out the window. “I have to lower the sun. But keep in mind what you’ve seen the powers of friendship and love do. They’ve taken down mad ponies, kept this world from falling into chaos, and even repelled armies. Certainly they can afford to give even a pony like Sombra another chance.”

Twilight walked back to the room alone. She felt drained of energy. She buried herself under the covers and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning at breakfast, Iron Shield came in with a different sort of message.

“Princess Celestia has paid for your tickets back to Ponyville.”

“What, today?” Rarity said. “I thought she would have needed us for something else.”

“All the information she wanted has been compiled,” Iron Shield says. “Your train leaves at one this afternoon.”

“But what about Sombra?” Twilight asked. “What’s going on?”

“As of this moment, I’ve not been updated since we left the prison,” Iron Shield said with a shake of his head. “Princess Celestia has said she’ll update you when the time comes, but for now, there’s nothing more.”

There was nothing more to do, so the ponies spent the rest of the morning in Canterlot before heading on the train that went back to Ponyville. But Twilight couldn’t help but think of what could happen to Sombra. Something about the fear of him possibly not being fully reformed, or as fully as Celestia had thought he might be, led her to have horrible thoughts of him going out of control much as he had in the prisons.

Luckily, Celestia had listened to her warnings this time. She swore that Sombra would not only have members of the guard on him at all times but also would have the anti-magic ring on his horn at all times.

Twilight’s dreams on the night of her return to Ponyville were filled with visions of being trapped in green and red crystals, but this time she could hear a faint sobbing sound somewhere within.

A week passed. Twilight slowly forgot about Sombra. The library was full of foals checking out books for their spring reports; she and Spike spent the days keeping things under control and their evenings resorting the shelves. She had no time to think about the black unicorn currently in Canterlot Castle amongst her library work and her continuing experiments.

Finally the end of the week came. A party for Twilight and Spike had been arranged at Sugarcube Corner for their return from the Crystal Empire. Pinkie Pie was leading the affair as usual, and Twilight found herself surrounded by foals and grown mares and stallions alike eager to hear the tales of what happened; for most of them, the Crystal Empire was a myth, something only heard of in history books but none knew what it was.

“…and so Princess Cadence rallied together the Crystal Ponies, and the power of their love and friendship was enough to blast away the evil unicorn and restore the Empire to its former glory.” Twilight bowed her head and finished her tale.

Pinkie Pie came bounding up and put a hoof around Twilight’s shoulders. “Hey, everypony! Let’s give a hoof for Twilight’s defeat of King Sombra! Hip hip hooray!”

“Hip hip hooray!” the crowd shouted in turn, and there was soon the stamping of hooves in celebration.

Once the crowds had lessened, Twilight snuck off to a corner. The event was not something she would forget easily, but she had not thought about what might happen to Sombra for a while. She wondered what Celestia was doing as she lazily ate her way through a cupcake.

“Hey, Twilight!”

Pinkie Pie with her poofy mane came dropping down from above Twilight, her face upside-down.

“Hey, Pinkie,” Twilight said unenthusiastically.

“What’s the matter?” Pinkie asked. “This party’s for you! Go ahead and turn your frown” – she hopped over Twilight and set herself down right-side up – “upside down!”

“I’m still thinking about Sombra.”

“Yeah,” Pinkie admitted. “We never did give him a ‘Yay! You’re reformed!’ party, did we? ‘Course, I forgot to bring my party cannon and neither Celestia nor Luna seemed to like the idea of having him meet a bunch of ponies and making friends right off the bat. Hey! He kinda sounds like you when you first came here!”

“Not like that! I mean what he could do now that he’s back here and not in the Crystal Empire.”

“Oh… yeah, he was a big meanie-pants wasn’t he? Oh, well. I’ll still stick by my comparison: he’s kinda like you when you first arrived.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you were all by yourself and didn’t have any friends, and when you got friends around you, you lightened up and were a lot more fun even if our ideas of fun aren’t exactly the same. I mean, I like wild, large parties and you like small gatherings more, but you still were having fun with friends.”

“Okay… and what does that have to do with Sombra?”

“Maybe… maybe he didn’t have a lot of friends before. Maybe now we can show him to have fun and he’ll get past being a big meanie-pants and be kinda nice underneath, you know?”

Twilight smiled. “Sometimes, I wish I could be as optimistic as you are.”

“Well, optimism’s my middle name! Pinkie ‘Optimism’ Pie! Or… was it ‘Fun’?”

Twilight soon lost Pinkie’s train of thought as she finished her cupcake. It wasn’t until late that night that Twilight left, tired and happy, and fell asleep in her bed almost immediately.

The next morning, Twilight awoke to the sound of someone knocking at the door. Almost immediately, Twilight was irritated. This was the day off for her; the time when she resorted the library in the morning then had the whole day to herself. But when the knocking came again, Twilight forced herself out of bed and down the stairs.

The knock came again, this time somewhat more forceful. “Alright, alright, I’m coming!” Twilight shouted as she crossed the floor to the door. She opened the top of the door and found a royal guard standing outside her door in the sunlight of early morning.

“…Iron Shield?” Twilight asked, groggy and unbelieving of what she was seeing.

“Yes, Miss Twilight,” Iron Shield said, bowing. Twilight saw another guard standing slightly back and off to the side, one she didn’t recognize before. “I’ve come with a message from Princess Celestia.” He reached over to a small saddlebag on his back and pulled out a scroll emblazoned with the royal seal.

Twilight opened the letter and read it.

My faithful student Twilight:

By now, you should know how much trust and faith I have in you. And that is why I have to make a very special request of you. I have been thinking this over for a while and think this is the best way; as of right now, both Luna and myself have too many duties and cannot add anything more into our schedules, and neither do we wish to pull you out of Ponyville and replace you here in Canterlot away from your friends.

To help him return to some semblance of normality, we ask that you house Sombra and slowly help him regain strength. Show him around town. Help him make friends. Teach him magic that can be of use to the ponies, and perhaps try and enter him in a profession of sorts when he’s stronger. He has passed psychological, intellectual, and medical tests, and we think placing him in a nurturing environment similar to what he had before might prevent him from going down the path of darkness once again.

I know this is a hard task and how much you were hesitant when you were in Canterlot. You will have two guards – Iron Shield and Stout Blade, two of the strongest I can afford to send – to help watch Sombra. But do not dispirit him; try to teach him, and make him feel welcomed. And don’t forget: I am available whenever you need me.

Princess Celestia.

Twilight looked up from the letter. Iron Shield moved out of the way to reveal the black stallion; strong and sturdy with a full mane and tail, his deep pink eyes staring intently at her with a small smile on his face that Twilight did not like at all.

“It seems we’ll be getting to know each other rather well, Miss Twilight,” Sombra said.

Author's Note:

Surprisingly, out of all the things in this chapter I'm proud of, Pinkie's dialogue takes top spot.

Comments

[Dapper Guy]

Well I do enjoy a good villain shown in a good light. Sombra is a pretty enigmatic character, not much is personally known about him so seeing him being absolved of everything does make this story interesting. You've kept the characters in context with the show, I hate it when an author flips their personalities.

A few things I'd like to point out are:

Twilight felt like she hadn’t eaten in days and quickly filled herself with food until she simply felt lazy.

This is a bit confusing, maybe simply felt drowsy or stuffed to the brim. Just a thought. The flow is pretty good but sometimes it seems to speed up a lot when we reach Sombra's interrogation. All of his history was pretty much thrown in there at once. Feel like you could have expanded it a bit more. I would have expected him to be a bit more reluctant to ponies who put him in a cell and start drilling him for answers.

All in all, you deserve a fave. Can't wait for next update.

[SageBrony07]

Sweet story. I love it. I can't wait for the next chapter. I wonder will this be a Sombralight shipping or will Sombra return to evil when he finds out how much has been hidden from him.

[AmethynniaTheDragon]

“That’s why we’re taking her to Celestia, darling,”

I believe you meant to say ‘him’

Twilight felt like she hadn’t eaten in days and quickly filled herself with food until she simply felt lazy. It felt good

I think your using the word ‘felt’ a little too much.

This is very interesting so far! Kind of reminds me of one of my ideas, whether I will write that - well, it may be a while
I'll be reading!