The Return of the King

by MisterEdd

Closer Yet Still So Far

Twilight let out a soft moan and sighed, her entire body relaxed at the muscles went completely slack. She laid on her side and her body situated atop Sombra's, her head resting on his chest. Every slow breath was hers to savor, his every heartbeat a lulling melody in her ear. A gentle hoof caressed the back of Twilight's head, gently brushing through her mane with the delicateness of a glassmaker shaping a priceless vase. Words could not describe the state of sheer bliss she had entered.

"What was the happiest moment of your life?"

Sombra's gently-spoken query snapped Twilight out of her semi-sleeping state and back into full consciousness.

"Well, let me see. That would be...the day I earned my cutie mark."

"Do tell."

Twilight let out a soft chuckle. "When I was a filly, all I wanted was to attend Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns and become the next Star Swirl the Bearded. I spent days, weeks even, studying in hopes of getting in. One day, my parents got a letter saying that I had been accepted for a chance to enter. All I had to do was pass the entrance exam: hatch a dragon's egg.

"I was so nervous and the judges were so...well, judgmental. I mean, that goes without saying, but they were really giving me the judging eyes. Anyway, I tried and despite my best efforts, nothing happened. My little heart broke. It looked like my biggest dream was slipping out of my grasp right in front of me."

The hoof continued its loving strokes. "So what happened?"

"I heard this loud bang and felt something, as though a surge of energy were coursing through me. It wasn't until years later that I learned that at that exact moment, Rainbow Dash was performing her first Sonic Rainboom. Suddenly, my horn ignited and the next thing I knew, I had hatched the dragon egg! But then my magic went haywire and..."

"And what?" Sombra asked, his voice full of intrigue.

"I, well...also levitated the judges, turned my parents into houseplants and transformed the baby dragon into a behemoth. The next thing I know, I'm glowing and spasming before Princess Celestia herself appears and everything goes back to normal. I was so embarrassed! I thought for sure she was going to scold me. Imagine my surprise when she told me that she wanted to train me as her own personal student! Just when I thought things couldn't get any better, lo and behold, I had earned my cutie mark!"

"That's amazing, Twilight. Truly. And what, may I ask, happened to that baby dragon?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. It was that same tone Sombra used when he was asking a question that he already knew the answer to. "Princess Celestia took custody of him and he later became my sort-of baby brother and assistant Spike."

A deep chuckle tickled her ear. "You two really are as thick as thieves. That was one of the best first-cutie-mark stories that I'd ever heard."

They slipped back into silence, a common occurrence when words ran their course but neither of them had a problem with that. Whether chatting the hours away discussing academics or simply enjoying each other's company, they were just fortunate to spend time together. A question formed in Twilight's inquisitive mind, one that she was afraid of voicing but was too curious to let go of. The seconds stretched on to minutes until finally, she couldn't take it anymore.

"Sombra? Could I ask you a personal question?"

Possibly picking up on her trepidation, Sombra laid a hoof on Twilight's back. "Yes, you may."

Twilight bit her lip. "It's something that I've been wondering for a while but only now did the question actually form. A-and you don't have to answer it if you don't want to. I don't want to bring back any bad memories or upset you. You know I don't want to make you uncomfortable or-..."

"Twilight, breathe. Now, calm down and ask it," Sombra said patiently.

Gulping in air, Twilight exhaled and steeled herself. "What...what was it like to die?"

Silence. The hoof on her head abruptly halted its ministrations. Twilight craned her neck to gaze up at Sombra, afraid that she'd offended him. Instead, his face took on the look of somepony caught deep in thought and figuring out how to phrase their explanation. Twilight sighed, exhaling relief but waiting with anticipation at the response. At least he wasn't upset with her.

Sombra started off slow, introspective even, as though he himself were discovering the answer alongside her. "It was like...imagine the worst pain that you've ever felt and then picture it happening in every part of your body all at once." His eyes stared off into space. "Burning agony, the kind of which that has your every muscle and nerve ending screaming all in the same instance. My flesh was cracking and splitting open, my bones breaking and my insides erupting like a volcano."

Twilight winced, the hairs of her neck standing at attention. The description alone make her feel sick to her stomach. She thought she'd gotten the scope of it but Sombra wasn't finished.

"And the moment came. As I started to explode, my first thought was, 'Thank Faust it's over.' But it wasn't. The pain was magnified as every last part of me was torn apart and cast to every direction of the winds. I watched myself being scattered across the Crystal Empire, felt the sensation of becoming shreds of crystalized flesh and raining down upon the snow. Then came the Void."

His grip tightened on Twilight's head and back, though not enough to cause her any discomfort.

"It was as if I were back in my prison beneath the ice only this time, it was different. Back then, I knew that I was without form but I still had some awareness of being me. After my death...do you remember the feeling of your hindleg falling asleep? I felt that everywhere. A numbness. Only my mind could move. I was beyond fear, hatred or even pain. I was nothing yet something, floating around between the lands of the living and the dead. Just...floating."

He sighed, his hooves relaxing and laying limp.

"Sorry if I upset you."

Twilight found her voice, albeit scratchy and barely perceptible.

"Don't be. I'm alright."

That was a lie; she was far from alright. Whatever atrocities Sombra had committed in the past were irrelevant. Nopony deserved what he'd gone through. Twilight wouldn't wish that fate upon any of her most hated enemies. The pain in his voice alone told the alicorn everything that she needed to hear.

"You know, Spike had nightmares for weeks. He hadn't meant for...what happened to you."

"I don't blame him. Not anymore. No child should have to endure such a sight."

"No indeed."

Silence found them once again as Sombra's hoof resumed its tender stroking.

"Twilight?"

She turned her head. "Yes, Sombra?"

The gaze that met her own was so tender that she felt her chest ache.

"Thank you. For listening."

Twilight smiled and pecked the tip of his nose.

"Anytime."

And then she added:

"What was your happiest moment?"

Sombra contemplated the out-of-left-field inquiry.

"When Garnet was born."

Twilight let the answer sink in. She then asked, "Whatever happened to her?"

Sombra blanched. "I'll tell you another time."

"Why not now?"

"Let it go, Twilight," Sombra replied a more forcefully, a bit of a growl creeping into his voice. Recognizing his tone, he then pleaded, "Please. Don't ask me again."

Sombra never begged so the sight was startling to say the least.

"I promise."

Content with her answer, Sombra wrapped Twilight tightly in his forelegs and pressed her against his chest. "Thank you. So much. I promise that one day I will tell you. Just not now."

Even with the loving promise and the close embrace, Twilight felt a chill run down her spine.