The Conversing.
There she was. Powerless, weak, alone, and completely at his mercy. Her friends were nowhere to be seen, and the King of Shadows circled her like a shark ready to feed. Purple smoke whisked from the corners of her glowing eyes, and she held her head low as she sat in the middle of the echoing chamber. His dark tone began to chuckle as she felt his chill breath on her.
"I've looked into your mind, and I saw hunger." He purred, sinister tones dancing in his voice. "A powerful lust, even stronger than the one that caused me to become the powerful being I am today."
His tone sent shivers down her spine. She knew that she couldn't resist his knowledge of her mind. He no doubt knew her greatest fears, and would use that against her. She could hear her friends pounding at the door in an attempt to free her, to get in, to fight. But she knew it was of no use.
"I've seen what you are capable of, Applejack." He purred. The way he said her name sent shivers down her spine. "I've always known you'd make a worthy ally. So tell me... what is it you hunger for? Power? Magic? Money? Say what you want, and join me. You can have anything you ask for..."
"Cheese."
Her flat, Honest answer caught him off guard. The King froze in his tracks, and slowly turned his head to look her in the eye.
"Come again?"
"Ah've always wondered what cheese tastes like."
Sombra was in shock. He knew she was telling the truth, he had made sure that she had no way of resisting his dark magic, but... this was her most nagging hunger? A freaking piece of cheese?
He circled back around to face her. "wh-... what kind of cheese?" He inquired as he lifted an eyebrow, and sat down in front of her. She looked up to meet his gaze, and spoke again in a dead tone.
"No specific cheese. Just... cheese."
"You've never. Had. Cheese." Sombra said flatly. His mind at the moment was a mass of confusion, dumped into a sea of pure liquid 'Huh?'.
"But... you live on a farm..." he sighed, rubbing his temples.
"And?"
"Don't you have cows? Milk? Cream?"
Applejack lowered her head again, and started to cry. Sombra was taken aback by this. He usually loved it when ponies cried before him, but these weren't tears of fear, they were despair. There were a sadness and pathetic tone in her sobs that he hadn't heard for a long time. Before he could stop it, he found himself lifting her face up by her chin so she would look him in the eye.
"Tell me," he sighed. Still under his spell, Applejack opened up without hesitation.
"Ah had countless chances to see what cheese tastes like, and Ah blew all of them off, because something important came up." She sobbed. "The Galas, my family reunions, town festivals, they all had various cheeses. But something always caught my attention.
"It's not that my family is poor or something, we're just... practical. We have milk, why would we need cheese? And we use all our cream for coffee, so there's never any left for me to try and make my own cheese. And even if there were, Ah wouldn't know ho to make it. Y'know, Ah've had the taste of cheeses described to me, but never once has even a single slice crossed my tongue? There was always something else to take care of..."
Sombra lowered his hoof, and found himself gazing into her pained eyes. He still saw the effects of his spell, but when he looked even deeper, he saw something admirable.
"... Do you know what it's like to constantly serve others, and almost never get a chance to serve yourself?" She asked, looking back into his eyes. "Ah love my friends as much as anypony could, and I'm happy to see them happy. But it's hard to be so caught up in your work, and your friend's well-being, that in nineteen years, you've never tasted cheese."
Sombra lowered his head. "No." he muttered sorrowfully, causing Applejack to eye him in surprise. "I don't know what that's like. I'd always been too busy pleasuring myself to worry about others, to worry about... what I'd done to them.
"I've always fed off of ponies' fear of threats, and love every second of it. But I never liked feeding off of my subject's misery. It always left me... empty." He sighed. "What does it feel like? To make others happy, instead of yourself?"
Applejack set a hoof on his shoulder, and his spell started to wear off of her. "It's one of the hardest things to do, but the most satisfying as well. Just that single moment of looking upon another pony, and seeing the smile on their face, is worth--"
"-- Is worth more than the riches of a thousand diamonds." Sombra finished with a smile, Applejack looked at him with wide eyes. "My mother used to tell me that, back when I was still a foal. I never truly believed her."
"Why not?"
He looked up to the mare, and saw that his power over her was gone: in place of the pain in her eyes, there was compassion. She had set a hoof gently upon his shoulder.
"Even as a foal, I felt a difference between useful fact, and useless emotion. I disregarded her talks as emotional bumf, but she was the kindest pony I ever knew." He sighed. "I believed that if it didn't help you boost your income, it wasn't useful to me, or the Empire as a whole."
Applejack looked him in the eye. "Are you willing to see what it is like?"
Sombra hesitated. Thought. Then he slowly smiled, and nodded.
Just then, there was a tremendous bang from the breaking door, and it flew open: letting the other five Element-Bearers charge in with battle cries. They froze in shock and confusion, however, when they saw the scene before them.
Sombra and Applejack, both wrapped in a tight hug by the other, and both shedding a single tear.
-=-=-=-= Three Years Later =-=-=-=-
"More Cheshire, dear?" Sombra asked, levitating the tray of cheeses, apples, and crackers over to a smiling Applejack.
"Yes please!" She beamed, taking about ten slices of each, and placing them on her plate. "How was work today?"
Sombra's expression darkened. "Nothing of note, really."
Applejack noticed, stood, and walked over to his side. "What happened?"
Sombra sighed, and pulled a small satchel over towards them. "I had a meeting with Celestia today..."
Applejack gasped, she didn't like where this was going. "A-a-and?"
He opened the bag, and pulled out his ceremonial guard helmet. He walked over to a mirror, and put it on.
"Oh, sugarcube..." Applejack sighed, walking back over to him.
"Honey," he breathed, "... you are looking at the new Captain of the Royal Guard!" He said excitedly.
Applejack froze, and a variable montage of expressions crossed her face: ranging from shocked, to angry, until finally resting on tearfully joyful.
"You stinker!" She cried, pulling him into a tight embrace. Sombra was laughing his head off as Applejack beamed with pride: "You did it! You finally done did it!"
"You think this calls for some... champagne?" Sombra offered, pulling away from the hug and strutting towards a cabinet. Applejack was hesitant.
"Ah'm afraid Ah won't be able to drink any, but feel free to enjoy yourself!" She replied softly.
"Suit yourself." Sombra shrugged, taking a sip from his glass. Then her words hit him, and he spat the liquid into the sink.
"What do you mean, you can't have any?" He asked, slightly worried.
She smiled at him. "You ain't the only one with big news, Sombra." She said coolly, swaggering up to him. When she got face-to-face with him, she took his forehoof in hers, and guided it to her stomach.
"What are you doing?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
She let her eyes sit half-lidded, and put on a smirk. "Three, two, one..."
Kick.
Sombra recoiled his hoof, and stared at it for a moment. He looked between Applejack, her stomach, and his hoof. Again, and again, and again until a light bulb clicked in his head. He stared at her with wide eyes, causing her to snicker and snort.
"No... no way..."
He beamed with pride. Today couldn't get any better...