> Long live the king
>  by Msande
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Train intervention
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Train intervention

“So how much longer is this train ride going to take?  The bumps are really starting to get to me,” Rarity complained, raising a hoof to adjust her mane. 

“We should be arriving sometime tomorrow morning.  I still can’t believe the royal guard was able to get the rails back into working condition.” Twilight marveled, glancing towards the snow-covered window. 

“Yeah, it still feels weird being in an area that isn’t actively monitored by the weather patr-” Rainbow Dash began, interrupted by a sharp whistle and screeching breaks. 

“W-What in the world?” stuttered Spike, pulling his head out from his covers. 

“Maybe something's in the way?”

A voice cracked through the intercom.  “I regret to inform you that we are going to have a delay in schedule.  We ask you to remain calm as we clear the tracks,”

Applejack got up off of her seat, “Com'on everypony, lets see if we can help.”

“Some help would be appreciated,” a stallion wearing maintenance gear entered their cabin.  “It’s a huge buildup of snow.  We can't move with something that big blocking the rails,  and if we have as many issues as we did on the first trip, it's in our best interest to clear this one up fast.”

“Issues?” squeaked Fluttershy.

“Issues.  Nothing dangerous, but it did delay severely,” The stallion said, worry growing in his voice.

“Well count me in,” Rainbow Dash volunteers, “The sooner we get moving the better.”  

Nodding, the stallion leads Rainbow and AJ out of the cabin. 

“I really should help as well,” Twilight mumbled as she hopped off her set.  She stretched as she let out a low yawn.

“Twilight, Darling, you really should get some sleep, all that studying kept you up last night.  Tell you what, Fluttershy and I will help, you can rest.  After all, Princess Celestia is counting on you,” Rarity strokes her mane nervously, imagining what it will become after standing outside in a blizzard.  “As much as I detest manual labor, we simply cannot let royalty wait.”

“I-I c-can still help R-Rarity,” came a voice from a pile of blankets. 

“That’s quiet alright Spike, but I can see you shivering.  I take it you don’t much care for this horrid temperature,” She smiled warmly at the shivering bundle. “I couldn’t live with myself if my little Spiky-wiky catches a cold.”

As the last of her friends vanish from the car, Twilight glanced over at Spike.  “I think you should head to bed as well,  it is past your bedtime.”

The bundle of blankets known as Spike shifted.  Small legs popped out of the bottom of the pile. Twilight smiled fondly as Spike stumbled out of the cabin towards the sleeping quarters grumbling softly.  Picking up her hoof to leave as well, a dark chill washes over her body.

“So you’re my replacement,”

Twilight's fur stood on edge as a deep and cold voice came from right behind her.

“Replacement?” Twilight echoed as she spun around, only to stare directly into a pair of dark inverted eyes. 

“King Sombra!” immediately recognizing the dark magic in his eyes, she quickly gathered up her magic to brace for an incoming attack.

The Mad King's eyes burned with tainted magic, but held little interest in the pony before him. “This is the best she could come up with?  Is she so complacent in her rule that she sends a novice to face me?” His question not really directed at anypony. 

“What do you mean replacement?” Twilight asked the towering figure.

“It is a matter from long ago, though I'm shocked she'd send you without her precious elements of Harmony.”

“How do you know about the Elements?” she demands from the Dark King.  His lips curl back into a manic grin revealing very sharp fangs.

“I know a great many things, though those should be left for another time.  I have no need to intervene here, the snow should prove hazardous enough.  For now.” the smile fading from his face.

“What kind of hazards?” Her eyes quickly glancing to the window and then back to Sombra.

“What?  Did you think I rose to power by magical strength alone?  Hardly,” giving out a low chuckle.  “This snow has its beasts just as sure as Equestria has hers.  But enough for now, I gain little from talking with you.  I have more pressing matters to deal with, such as that frustrating Alicorn.” his body beginning to fade into the shadows.  “Still It does not surprise me that she failed to mention the local wild life,” his body completely vanishing into the darkness, leaving only his glowing eyes.

Twilight leapt forward, searching through the darkness for his body, but finding no trace of it.  “Lack of information?  Replacement?  What do you mean!?”

“So many questions, and such a bright mind.  But be warned Twilight Sparkle.  The brightest sun casts the longest shadows.  I look forward to your arrival in my Empire,” with that the eyes vanish, along with the unnatural chill. 

“Twilight I heard your voice!  Is something wrong?” Spike asked flinging open the door, no longer bundled in his heap of blankets. 

“Nothing you need to worry about, just head to bed.  I'll be right behind you,” Twilight said with a smile, watching as Spike shrugged and went back out of the cabin.  Her smile vanishes quickly,  thinking of the Dark King's words and sudden appearance.  She bites her lip apprehensively, wondering if it was wise to leave the elements in Canterlot.  And What exactly was she supposed to be replacing?  The implication of his words was worrying, but then again, he is a corrupt King.  Trusting his words completely is probably a bad idea.

A shrill whistle sounds out as the train lurches forward.  Putting her thoughts aside, she heads back to the sleeping cart to finally get some rest.

As she snuggles into the warm covers, a small voice interrupts her, “Um, Twilight?  Could I um, sleep with you?  My bed's really cold.” She sighs.  “T-Twilight-t-t-t,” his teeth chattering as he stutters her name. 

She looks down at him, noticing that he seemed to be taking on a bluish tint, his big eyes looking up at her as if he was going to cry at any given second. 

'Curse those adorable green eyes,' she sighs to herself and draws back the covers to allow the baby dragon to climb in with her, a small smile appearing on her face.  His scales were ice cold, causing Twilight a brief shiver as he snuggled up against 
her fur, as if she were some kind of oversized teddy bear.


-----------------------------------


“Twilight, twilight are you asleep?” whispered a low voice as Twilight felt one eye crack open. 

“No, Pinkie,”  she grumbled, not too keen about walking up, suddenly realizing that she was feeling very hot.  “What is it?”

“Well I thought you were sleeping with spike cause he had a nightmare, so I didn’t think you were actually asleep,” Pinkie started, her voice regaining its usual volume. 

“Pinkie, focus,” Twilight stated in a calm tone as her eyes shifting for a second to make sure Spike hadn’t woke up. 

“The storm it vanished, the tracks are completely free of ice and snow.  The conductor is concerned though... Everything just suddenly stopped,” concern rising in Pinkie's normally cheerful voice. 

“Pinkie don’t look a gift-horse in the mouth, I say we all get some sleep and not dwell on it tonight.” 

“... soaked to the bone!  What I wouldn’t give for a nice warm spa bath right now,” came the voice of Rarity, as the rest of her friends entered the sleeping cabin.

“Just admit it! I moved way more snow than you Applejack.”

“Shhhh!” Twilight hissed, doing her best not to disturb Spike. Dash lowering her ears a bit,

“Sorry,” she whispered as Applejack gave a slight smirk to the Pegasus. Dash glared back as everypony settled into bed for a good nights rest.  

As the light sounds of sleep surrounded her the ever hungry mind of Equestria’s brightest couldn't stop thinking about Sombra's last words. What did he mean by 'replacement'?  What did she really know about the king.  Where did he come from, how did he rise to power?  The Princess told her he needed to be stopped, and normally that is all that matters, but his words were really bothering her.   Her eyes slowly slid down as the anxiety faded into the back of her mind.


-----------------------------------

Twilight was standing, her surroundings blurry, despite her attempts to focus.   “Hello, Twilight Sparkle,” Came a familiar voice.  Her fur rises as her head snaps to the owner,  King Sombra, draped in a red robe with a black crown resting on his head, seated on a throne of dark crystals.

She stared at him trying to scream but her mouth did not move. He chuckled a bit, with a calm smile that seemed out of place with his dark features. 

“Getting used to the new throne room? I have to admit the second throne is much nicer, is it comfortable?”

Twilight turning down saw a second throne, but this one seemed familiar. 'I have seen this throne before,' her thoughts still blurry. 'Wait! this is Princess Celestia's!'  The throne had been darkened in a similar manner to Sombra's own.

“I have to admit my dear,” he said in a cool voice as he moved closer.   “I love the new look, it suits you.” 

She looked into his eyes, but instead of her own reflection, she could only see a unicorn with a darkened coat, almost black, with only a slight tinge of purple.  Red pupils with green opaque flames staring darkly forward.  'Wait, is that... me?' she realized noticing the dark fire magic swirling around the edge of her vision.

“My love you have taken to dark magic like a bee takes to honey,” leaning forward to kiss her.

“AHH!” she bolted upright, panting heavily. 

“What is it!”

“Twi are you okay?” 

“Who is it I got a weapon!” 

“Take anything you want just don’t hurt me!” 

“EEP!” 

“Touch Twi and you die!” shouted the only masculine voice as Twilight looked down to see Spike with both fists clenched and ready to scrap. 

“Everypony calm down.  I just had a nightmare.  Nothing to worry about,” Twilight panted, trying to calm her friends down and catch her breath.  The lights flicked on stinging her eyes a bit.   Looking across the room to her friends, she noted how concerned they all looked.  They were all up and ready for anything, well, except Fluttershy, but she was always a bit jumpy.  Still, they all seemed ready to spring into action...  Maybe they were a lot more worried about her than they seemed. 

“You sure Twilight?  Dark magic isn’t something that just looks scary,” Spike's green eyes staring into her violet ones. Smiling softly, she affectionately placed a hoof onto his head messing with his scales. She felt a small twinge of pride that he was able to absorb some of the knowledge she was so happy to share with him. 

“Don’t worry Spike, I can handle a bad dream.  Especially with you here to protect me,” Spike puffing up his chest, smiling proudly.  Releasing a bit of a giggle, Twilight noticed that the rest of the tension seemed to vanish from her friends. 

“I'm going to the bathroom,” She said, rising out of her bed.

“Be a dear and turn out the light.  I really do need to get back to my beauty sleep,” Rarity whined as Twilight flicked the switch off before closing the door behind her.  

Entering the small bathroom, she turned on the sink, splashing water on her face and neck.  She glanced up to the mirror to only see her dark reflection from the nightmare. 

As she stifled another scream, the door to the cabin opened.   “Twi are you alright girl?  You seem more than a little spooked,” came Applejack's worried voice as she joined Twilight by the sink.

“I am that easy to read?” Twilight sighed, turning away from her nightmare reflection.

“Like a first grade picture book Twi,” Applejack said with a smile. “Come on sugar cube this is isn’t your' normal amount of worried.”

“My 'normal' amount of worried?” Twi joked as she grabbed a towel to dry her coat off.

“Twilight, this is serious.  What changed?  I mean I know your worried about your test, but now seem even more jittery.”

“Sombra showed up,”

“What!” 

“Shhh,” Twilight attempted to calm her friend down. “He didn't do anything, he just showed up, talked a bit and walked away.  Err, vanished.  Whatever you want to call it.  But he said a few things that shook me up.”

“Phew, I was worried that he did some dark voodoo stuff to you.” Applejack relaxed.   “Don’t think about it too much Twi, ponies like that, they have a way of twisting things.  After all, Discord sure did a number on us.  And it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to think somepony dealing with Dark magic wouldn’t be able to do the same,” Applejack said, turning away from twilight. 

“Yeah,” Twilight muttered, her voice leaving her a little bit.

“Well I need to get back to sleep.  Don’t take too long Twilight, we got a lot of things to take care of tomorrow.”

Twilight listened as her friends hooves drifted out of ear shot. Looking back at the mirror her horn glowed again, only it was much darker and colder, a very twisted version of her normal magic. 

“Yea, what kind of pony,” she said closing her eyes releasing the spell, she felt a few tear drops fall down her cheeks.  Moving away from the mirror, and her reflection, she trudges back towards the cabin, and her own warm bed.  As she left the room, she failed to notice a new reflection in the mirror.

“Interesting,” came the voice of Sombra, his eyes burning brighter as the room returned to darkness. “Perhaps a change of plans and something a little more subtle will work more efficiently.”  A sinister grin spreading across his face as a new plan begins to unfurl in his dark mind. 



Special thanks to my editor Shino Dogood who took a go idea. And edited into something with a bit more amazing to it. Thanks to him, I hope you enjoy this story even more.
> Arival
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The arrival

The train slowed to a stop, the breaks giving a low screech before stopping at the wooden platform.  “Now then careful not to drop anything Spike.”  Spike slowly emerged with a stack of luggage, each bag bursting at its seems.

“Twilight!” greeted a stallion, removing his visor to get a better look at his sister.

“Shinning Armor!  So good to see you,” Twilight said smiling. He did not smile back, maintaining the neutral expression of a soldier. 

“We can talk later, we need to get moving.  The King has been very silent as of late.” His magic taking hold of the baggage on Spike’s back.

“Thanks,” Spike panted, slumping to the ground and taking a few deep breaths. 

“No problem, we need to get moving.  He's even stronger after nightfall.”

“What?” Fluttershy squeaked.

“When's the last time you saw him?” asked Applejack.

“Last night the shadow magic he uses vanished.   Even with Cadence's help I couldn’t sense his magic, and he hasn’t appeared since.  I'm glad that Cadence finally got some sleep, but I'm worried that he might return at any moment,” he quickly explained before pausing and staring back at Applejack.   “Wait, you aren't surprised that King Sombra's here?”

Twilight nervously glanced back and forth, “I will explain later.  First we need to get out of here, I don’t want to chance a run in with him out here in the snow.”  She was really hoping to move things along as quickly as possible.  Confirming her fears, a gigantic gust of black magic swirled behind them from the snow.  A massive pair of eyes glared down at the group.

“Run!”

Everypony scattered, abandoning their luggage and galloping away from the creature as quickly as possible. The smoke like substance seeped after them, eyes glowing darkly.

“MINE!” The shadow rumbled after the group as Shinning Armor turned, blasting his magic at the dark mass.

“YOU DARE!” Eyes glaring intensely as it raced toward Shinning armor.  Shining Armor charged his magic again, the ghostly form closing in rapidly.

Twilight turned to look at the creature.  It wasn't the same as the stallion that had confronted her before.  I was less...  Coherent.

“RAHHH!” the form bellowed, engulfing her brother.

“Shinning!” she screamed, charging towards the form blasting at it wildly with her own magic.   Seeing its real target, the shadow spat out Shining Armor, sending him flying.  Twilight halted, watching her brother soar towards the Crystal Empire, before turning again to face the shadow rushing toward her.

Closing her eyes she felt something pass around her as she hit another solid body.   Figuring it was her brother, she sighed in relief.  Her eyes snapped open, recalling him being launched out of the monster. 

Darkness surrounded her. 

Twilight tried to bring forth some power, but before anything could be cast, she was blinded by a bright light.  Opening her eyes after a brief second of blinding pain, she saw that the darkness around her was gone, leaving only a white, empty expanse.  She could see her hooves and the rest of her body but nothing else.  

Blinking away some of the pain, she suddenly found herself back in Canterlot Castle.

“Are sure you can handle this?”  Twilight found herself looking up at Princess Celestia.  After a second of confusion, she tried to respond, but found that she was unable to speak.

“Sure thing! I am your student after all. I think I can handle it,” came a very male voice.  Twilight tried to look around for it, but her eyes wouldn't respond either. The voice continued, “Um, just in case though, do you think you can send some letters?  Letting them know why I am coming.  Maybe I'll bring a few guards just in case.” Her body moved on its own, and she found herself shrinking down a bit.

'Where is that voice coming from?'  It sounded incredibly close, and familiar.  She couldn't put her hoof on where she'd heard that voice before.

“Of course Prince Sombra.”   

'What?' 

“If you want, you could bring your father as well.  Ever since he relinquished the throne to me, the poor stallion hasn’t been doing much except paint.”

“Father,” the voice sighed.  “I would rather not involve the old king, or my sister Princess Platinum.  Neither have been the same since the events with Discord.” Twilight felt her body shiver. 

“Prince, I would not worry about it, it has been five years.  Luna and I are happy to help the kingdom in any way.  We feel we can help things along, even if we have to deal with all the paperwork that comes with being in charge.”

“You don’t need to explain it to me.  You taught me well, even before my father stepped down from the throne.  Part of me wishes you had arrived sooner.”


'What is going on?'  Twilight frantically tried to make sense of the series of events. 'Discord?  Princess Platinum?  This must be-'

“There isn't anything to worry about.  Just keep an eye on the Crystal Empire until they come up with a new leader.  Return swiftly when your task is complete, as I have one last test for you.” The Princess smiles down at Twilight, the mare felt her heart skip a beat, forgetting the strange circumstances, and she attempts to gather her supplies.  She flinches inwardly remembering her inability to move, as well as her own similar set of tasks set out by the Princess.

“Only one?  No more lessons?” the male voice asked, snapping her out of her memories.  He sounded...  Sad.  His voice laced with lament, probably at the thought of the finishing of his studies.  Twilight could easily relate, thinking about her own sessions with the Princess ending.  What would she do?  She was shocked to feel a tear go down her cheek, wondering if it was her own, or whatever was controlling her at the moment. 

“We shall talk more on it later, just make sure to say goodbye to your older sister.  She was none too pleased with your last sudden disappearance,”  Twilight felt her head node before trotting away.

'Prince Sombra.  Is it possible?  But...' Twilight’s mind was trying to comprehend the events as best she could, when her body turned towards a mirror. 

Standing in her place was a grey pony with bright green eyes, his black mane was combed back with a light curl at the edge, his tail equally cared for.  He looked just like Mad King, only a lot less wild. 'King Sombra!'  She must have been experiencing a memory.  As she stares at the young King, she blinks, suddenly aware of how cold she is.  Opening her eyes, she finds herself no longer in Canterlot, but surrounded by cold snow, with the shadowy creature dissipating away from her.

“Twilly, are you okay? why did you charge him?”  Her big brother pulled her to her hooves.

“I was worried about you, and thought-” she glanced up at his face.  “Oh my, your horn, it's...” she pointed to his horn. A black crystal like substance was now attached to his horn.

“Buck, its blocking out my magic.”  The unicorn cursed as he tried to concentrate on gathering some magic.

“We have no time.  We need to get to the barrier, before the King decides it’s time for a second round.”  Twilight nodding her head at shadows that were starting to merge back together.

“Why didn’t he block you horn?”   Shining pointed out as he started towards the Kingdom.  Twilight looked up,  noticing that she was crystal free. 

Twilight started galloping as well.  “Let’s get inside first.  But I've got a few things we need to talk about.  And maybe a few inconsistencies as well,” Twilight explained, keeping pace with her brother.  The two crossed over the glowing barrier into a grassy plan, where Spike and all her friends were waiting for her.

“Twilight!” came six voices, as she was swarmed by everypony.  Intense looks of concern on all their faces. 

“I am fine.  We really need to keep moving,” Twilight said ushering everyone forward.

“You sure sugar cube?”  Applejack said, resting a hoof on her friends shoulder. 

“Cr-r-yssstalll-” came a sharp howl from outside the barrier.

“Don’t worry, Cadence has her shield up, her love should be able to keep him out for a bit longer still.  She’s in the throne room,” Shinning directed the group towards the Crystal Palace. 

As everypony started trotting along, Twilight paused for a second and glanced back to the barrier.  Outside she saw a pony on the other side looking at her, eyes not glowing with anger or malice.  A smirk slipped onto his face as his horn started to glow.  Twilight quickly turned to her friends, but as she looked back to where the stallion was, there was no trace of him.

-----------------------------------


“So what you are saying is, one moment he's talking and appearing to be a normal pony, and the next he's a huge shadow-beast chasing you down like an animal?”  Cadence repeated as Twilight nodded, realizing how strange both her encounters were.  Sighing, the pink alicorn closed her eyes as she trudged back to the throne to sit down. 

“Are you okay princess?” Fluttershy asked meekly, radiating concern. 

“Well she has gotten a bit more sleep thanks to his sudden disappearance, but not nearly enough.” Shinning Armor sighed. “We haven’t even had time to question the crystal ponies.”

“Well, best start asking around.  Maybe they could tell us something, like how they kept him out before? Or how they handled similar threats.” Applejack stated resolutely.

“Hmm, it wouldn’t be a bad place to start.”  Shining faced Twilight, concern deep in his voice.  “Twily are you alright? Normally you would jump at an opportunity to learn something.”  

Everypony looked at Twilight. “...  I saw something when the smoke engulfed me, I am think Sombra was the Princess’s student at one time,” Twilight admitted as everyone just stared at her.

“Well I suppose it could be possible.  There have been many famous, and infamous, ponies that were taught by the Princess. However in recent years she's been taking on less and less.” Rarity quoted, recalling a bit of equestrian history.

“Oh not you to! This group does Not need another egghead,” Dash rolled her eyes at Rarity.

“Egghead?” she questioned, “I will have you know that when looking for inspirations for your dresses I had to do some digging. Where do you think I got inspiration for Twilight's gala dress from?  It’s based of off Starswirl the Bearded's cloak.”

“Well uh-” Dash stammered,

“As nice as all this sounds, we've got work to do.  Everypony spread out and get some information.” Applejack interjected, derailing her friends before the argument escalated further. 

“Try not to be too aggressive.  The crystal ponies are still recovering.” Cadence warned as the mane six headed out of the door.
-----------------------------------

“Hey Twilight, you okay?  You seem a bit off.  Is it cause of the test?” Rainbow Dash looked over at the lavender unicorn. 

“Test?” Twilight echoed.  “...Oh right, the test.”  Everyone stopped and stared at her like she had grown another head.  “Crap the test!” Shouting as she raced down the hall.  The others looked at each other exchanging looks of concern. 

“Don’t worry I’ll keep an eye on her.  We still need to take care of matter at hoof.” Applejack reminded everypony, starting to follow after Twilight.

“Right!  Nopony worry, I've got my night vision goggles,” Pinkie pulled out a pair of tinted goggles.

“I don’t know were she got those,” Rainbow dash face-hoofed, as Pinkie vanished in a puff of confetti. “But what good are they supposed to be in the middle of the day?” Frustration tinting her voice.

“It’s Pinkie Pie don’t question it,” Applejack stated flatly. 

The rest of the group scattered, spreading out over the capital to try and find some kind of information.  
> More memories
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

More Memories

Twilight looked at the book on crystal pony history in front of her. A smile forming as designs for a crystal heart centerpiece shaped in her mind. 

"Greetings Prince," came an unfamiliar voice as she turned to find herself inside train station.  Before her stood a crystal pony proudly shining in the light. 

"If only it could be under better circumstances," she felt her head bow politely. 

"I'm going to be honest, most of the ponies here do not want you here. We feel that your presence here is Celestia's way of butting into the affairs of another kingdom.  There are rumors that she's planning to add the Empire to her kingdom." His eyes never wavered, but the tone of his voice betrayed his unease. 

"Understandable, but I am just here for the boring day to day tasks, I have no intention of sticking around once I'm not needed," The prince replied evenly.  

Twilight studied the pony before her.  His crystal coat was covered up by standard guard  armor which she recognized from the book.  Though he didn't seem as friendly as the novel had painted the Crystal Ponies  out to be; and Sombra  didn't seem to be as dark as the Princess lead her to believe.  In fact, as far as she could tell, he really just wanted to go home.  He certainly didn't walk like a pony who had any grand evil plans or anything.

As they went towards the palace, he shifted uncomfortably.  The Crystal ponies in the streets kept a wide berth, either looking away quickly or shooting a dark glare towards the precession. 

"Twilight!" 

A  shout broke Twilight from here trance.  Rainbow  Dash rocketed towards her at an alarming rate as she braised herself for an imminent collision. No impact came, Twilight opened her eyes slowly , coming face to face with the cyan pegasus, "We got a big problem, we can't find the Crystal  Heart!”

"Oh that's nothing to worry about, I was just about to go make one anyway,"  Twilight replied waving her hoof while turning to grab the book.

"It's not just that! The Heart is a relic, and the pony that remembered it said that it's used to  power a giant shield which protects the Empire." Dash panted. 

Twilight's eyes grew wide, madly flipping through pages as she tried to recall the bit that mentioned the Crystal heart.  Information that she found last page, except that it wasn't actually the last page.   As she looked closer, she noticed the signs that a page had been torn out.

"Ha-ha-ha” Sombra's Laugh echoed through the palace,  as both mares felt their tails curl inward .  “Come now did you really think I didn't plan ahead?  You'll never find the Heart in this cast le.  Clock is ticking Twilight.  Clock.  Is.  Ticking." 

"We aren't scared of you!" Dash screamed at the faceless voice.

"Then I suppose you have yet to learn the lessons that my subjects have.  Even the princesses themselves shy away from me. They hide behind their students. Despite all these years, things have not changed."

"What are you going on about?  Show yourself, you coward!" Dash heard her words reverberate throughout the castle, with no response. 

Silence filled the hallways as they waited for some sort of response.  A door nearby opened, both mares whipped around to face it. "Twilight I couldn't find you, so I  sculpted the heart for you," came a completely different voice, as Spike emerged from around the doorway carrying a somewhat dull crystal heart.  

“What's with all the shouting?” The two ponies let out the breath that they hadn't realized that they'd been holding in, before casting their gaze around the room one final time.

"Dash I need you to let everypony know what's going on. Try to keep the Crystal Ponies happy, delay them while I start looking for the real Heart," Twilight ordered,  her mind racing figure out what to do next.  Rainbow Dash saluted, before racing off in a blur.  Glancing back to Spike, "Lets take this from the top, we need to get to the throne room.”   Twilight wrapped her magic aura around Spike and herself, teleporting them both to throne room.  She glanced out past balcony, she could see snow briefly as the shield flickered.

"Ah so nice.”  Shadows gathered around the throne, “Normally I would start corrupting this place. But with sleeping beauty,  that's a bit beyond my current capabilities." The shadow converged into shape of a unicorn with a very sharp horn. The shadow's eyes glowed red, its 'body'  resting on the throne.

Twilight readied for a fight, but the shadow just lounged across the arms of the throne.  His head hanging back, blazing eyes staring at her lazily.

She held her position, breaking the silence.  "What are you waiting for?" 

"I am waiting for this barrier to fall, with it out of the way I'll be free to  bring order to the land." He closed his eyes. "Cadence.  She is failing.  My little trip bought her some time, but she only has about an hour, two if she's lucky . I am just here to watch the show.”

"How can you even  be in here?" Twilight quickly scanned the room. 

The shadow pony materialized a mouth full of pointy teeth, smiling darkly.  "Well, I guess I could spare some ti me to teach you a few things."  Twilight felt her fur ruffle on the back of her neck.  "The problem with black magic is that, while it is powerful, it brings out the more, primal instincts.  But once you are grounded in it, you're fine.  I used that blast of magic you shot when you entered  my shadow. It grounded me, so when your brother came back to get you I hide a bit of my power in his shadow.  And when the barrier flickered, I suck in another part of me, which allows me to power my current form. So now I get watch the show, unhindered. With front row seats. Sadly I can't access most of my power, or form my true body. But once that happens, well, you'll have failed the test to say the least." He smiled.

Twilight's mind raced, 'Where could he be keeping the Heart?'  She looked up noticing the crystal above the throne. It reminded her the crystal Princess Celestia showed her back at Canterlot.  Her thoughts turned to his words earlier, 'This Castle... This isn't...'  Her magic aura started to glow black as the magic started to form at her eyes. “Only somepony like you would hide the Heart away like this,” she spat , he didn't seem to fazed at her discovery.

"Good magic, bad mouth. That’s going to cost you, be careful what you say.  I am a King after all."  Sombra smirked as the shadow cast from the crystal formed and began to spread across the ground.  The shadow revealed a long stair case down into a dark pit. Twilight released her magic, looking down and panting slightly.  "Did it feel good?  Dark magic is so intoxicating."

“No, it was very cruel and dark,” Twilight replied, shuddering slightly, “It was everything magic shouldn't feel like!”

“Get used to it, I've got a feeling you are going to have to use it more if you want to continue,” he chuckled darkly.

"Don't listen to him Twilight!  We need to find that heart and we don't have time to be messing around with him," Spike reminded, glancing worriedly at the smirking shadow.

"Ah, I see we've found the voice of reason," Sombra said as the baby dragon huddled behind twilight at the edge of the stairs. "That just won't do.  Shall we have another trip down memory lane?" his horn glowed slightly. She blinked, She was still in the throne room, though the darkness was gone.

"Prince, how nice to see you," A crystal pony was standing before the throne, his smile was friendly but his tone was cold.

"Yes, Mr...?" Sombra said as he eyed the pony. He was sporting a long blue cloak.

"Sparks, Crystal Sparks," the pony greeted, sporting a pure white coat and a  black mane. "You know that a majority of the civilians are very... displeased that Celestia is sticking her horn into our affairs. "

"I noticed, I am just here to keep everything running smoothly.  As soon as you get a new leader to do this; well you wouldn't be able to get me on the train out of here fast enough." The prince admitted. Sparks'  smile seemed to get a bit wider.

"Glad to hear it.  We will be having another civil meeting tonight, feel free to sit in, or tour the city, whichever you prefer," Sparks offered raising his hoof.

"I still need to write a letter, Princess Celestia will want confirmation that  I've settled in." Prince Sombra admitted, looking out the windows towards his old home. "Where is this meeting going to take place?  In case..." Turning back to find that the Sparks had long since vanished.

Twilight studied the memories, doing her best to try and find something she could use.  He was walking down the streets, mostly keeping to the shadows.  As he approached what looked like the post office, Twilight overheard a conversation as the prince turned an ear to some passing Crystal Ponies.  "… Have you heard Equestria gave in ? They surrendered their kingdom to a deity, you figure they would have learned their lesson the first time ."

"The worst part is that the prince of the Coward King is here. You don't think the White Queen is going to make a grab for us as well, do you?"

"Using him would be the only way.  Not even that Discord freak  could get in. What makes you think the White Queen and her sister could?"

"They did manage to beat Discord..." The second remind in a hushed voice.

Sombra ignored the rest of their conversation his ears lowering, muffling the two voices in the memory. Twilight felt a sudden burst of anger at the idea somepony, anypony, could think Princess Celestia was as bad as Discord. Her inner rant was disrupted as she felt something odd.

"Twilight!" 

She found her self being shaken. "What are you doing!  You were just standing there for almost five minuets!" Spike's gaze was shifting nervously between her and Sombra.

"Oh its been quite a bit longer than t hat. The mind is a funny thing" Sombra said grinning at her, like the cat that ate  the canary.

"Come on Twilight, we need to find that crystal, before it's too late!"

Twilight shook herself, remembering what she was doing before the dream.  "I've got a bad  feeling," She started down the long spiral stairs. "Spike keep close."

"Come on, you could let him stay here, I know you are dieing to find out what happens next." Sombra teased her as she went down the stairs. His shadow floating down, keeping pace with her perfectly.  "Come on, I know y. .."  

Sombra's sudden silence, made Twilight pause.  She almost glanced towards him, but she found that she was already at the bottom of the stairway.  Looking up she found a simple door.  It seemed normal enough, wooden, no odd shapes, just a dull crystal hanging above it.  Twilight raced towards the door, only for it to rapidly move out of the way.  She glared at it, and then glared towards Sombra, but his eyes were fixated with the door as well, his shadowy body not moving an inch.

Twilight turned back to the door, but each time she raced at it, it would move away.  "Stop toying with me!  You are just being a pest now!" she shouted at Sombra.  The shadow did not reply, it simply stared at the door, never blinking or twitching in the slightest.  Her frustration reached its peak as her horn glowed, regaining its sickly  shades, shooting a nasty looking beam, hitting the crystal dead on.  The door to halted immediately and began to glow.

"Twilight, I don't like the fact it stopped when you hit it like that," Spike said nervously, as the door opened up showing a bright light.

She ignored Spikes worry, running straight into the light, "Alright I think I found it..."

"Huh?"

She found herself back in the throne room. "Sombra, I am getting tired of your..."  She realized she was talking out loud, and seemed to be in full control of her body.

"What are you  doing here?" a hard voice inquired.  She turned to find Celestia writing on some parchment.

"I don't know, I opened the door, and..."

"And now you must, g-" The Princesses voice fizzled out with a few green sparks, green static covered the walls and floor.

"I don't need you anymore!" shouted her own voice, finding herself back in her own library only to see herself yelling Spike.

"Bu-, bu," the dragon stammered of shrinking in her doubles shadow.

"Can't you listen?  Leave!" Twilight winced at the volume.

"But I am your number one assistant, your best friend!"  His pleading was filled with panic.  Tears began to form, his whole body starting to shake, "I always thought of you as my m-"

"I don't c-"

"Leave him alone!" Twilight charged the doppelganger, unable to watch any longer.

"Twilight! I don't understand," Spike noticed the second unicorn as she collided with her clone.  On the impact the world shifted again.  This time however, the scene was unfamiliar to both of them.

"Hear ye, hear ye!"  Shouted somepony as they soon found themselves on a stage behind the cap ed from of Sombra, who was posing for the full theater.  As they walked around to the front, Twilight noticed that he had no markings of dark magic, his eyes were the same green as in his memories.  "The Great Protector of Equestia has returned ridding the world of all threats. The Diamond dogs have been civilized, the changeling army scattered and monitored, and the Crystal Ice Demons of the north subjugated for the good of the land!" the strange voice  called out.

"Demons?" Twilight asked, looking at Spike who simply shrugged.

"The wars have been averted," Sombra had a very nervous grin on his face. "...I, I,  I must go see the Princess,"  Sombra quickly ran off the stage.

"Princess?" he called out, "Princesses?"

"GET OUT!" screamed the shadow, as Twilight and Spike found themselves back at the bottom of the stairs. Twilight watched as the Sombra vanished back up the stairs.

Twilight shrugged at his odd behavior, and got back to the matter at hoof, blasting the door with her normal, non-dark magic.  The door opened, this time without the odd light or strange visions.  She quickly raced through, not sure how much time she had left only to see, "More stairs! Ugh..." hanging her head, she started racing upwards.
-----------------------------------

Standing at the top of the tower she felt a weary smile flash across her face.  The Crystal Heart was floating in the middle of the new chamber.  She could also see that the shield was at it's limit, flickering dangerously.  Quickly beginning to levitate the Crystal, she felt her consciousness start to slip away.  "Not again, I am tired of these damn memories!" trying her best to shout, "Spike get that crystal to cadence!"  Spike saluted and grabbed the crystal before her vision faded out again.

"Sparks?" Sombra called out as he entered the darkened throne room. "Sparks?"  Sombra lit his horn, attempting to get a better view.  Scanning the room he lept back, realize he'd almost walked right into a gaping pit in the center of the room .  He looked  down into the pit, and could just barely make out somepony talking.

"It seems that if we want to rid ourselves of this 'Div ne intervention,' we are going to have to get rid  of them both. Pony kind must be lead by its own, not by some cosmic deity."

"Yeah cause that's worked out so well in the past," Sombra muttered, starting down the stair s.

"So we put off  electing a new leader and then we let the public unrest grow. With the prince seemingly in charge. The populace will start to grow suspicious. We start a few rumors about a takeover, and before long we'll hang the prince and start the war to get rid of Celestia." The ponies all muttered in agreement.

"Not on my watch," Sombra did his best to look intimidating as he stood to his full height.

"Oh I don't think we'll have to worry about that," Sparks grinned as a previously unseen pony brought their hooves up, knocking the poor prince senseless. Twilight's world went dark before Sombra reopened his eyes.
Looking up the eyes focused on a door, her eyes widened as a group of Crystal  Ponies went to open the door, their hooves emanating darkness as they reached towards the door.  The crystal above the door siphoned t he dark energy as the door creaked open with a familiar bright flash of light. 

She was standing outside looking down at the world. All of Equestria was burning, a massive army holding the crystal emperor flag raised high over the burning capital of Canterlot.

"NO!" she felt her body spasm, as well as something burning at her eyes.  The memory cracked and blurred, tinted and skewed by rage.  As her vision returned, the  ponies that had been holding Sombra down were strewn around the chamber.  None of them were breathing.  She caught a glance of Sombra in a nearby crystal, seeing a familiar form, looking just like he did when Celestia was  briefing her about the mission. He pulled on a red royal cape.

Blinking, time seemed to fast-forward, she saw five years of ruling.  The coronation of the king, the subjugation of an empire, failed assassination attempts.  She no longer saw the citizens as ponies, she saw something out of a nightmare.  Each crystal pony was nothing like what she'd seen of them in the city and memories. They had sharp fangs, monster-like tails filled with snakes, wailing constantly as their bodies spasm ed unnaturally.

Time raced on as she spotted both Princess.  The king watched them both as they started freeing the monster-ponies.  Then one of the crazed beasts lashed towards Celestia, a bit of blood dripped down her leg.

"And the rest is history," came the jarring voice of King Sombra.

Twilight woke up. Standing across from her stood the King, no longer in his shadowy form.  And resting at his his hooves was the crystal heart.

"How?  When?"

"Oh please, the memories were just a distraction.”  She glanced past him to see that all of her friends  had been rounded up, Shining Armor was in chains.

"Twilight!" Shinning armor struggled to wrestle free.

"Foal, you couldn't touch me when I was at half power and mindless beast.  Just give it up." Sombra chuckled at the pitiful sight, Twilight glared at him. One of his eyes seemed to be the green shade from his memories.

"How?  I sent Spike..."

"Next time tell the foolish child not to use the stairs. He would have done better if he'd just chucked the thing off the top of the tower." Sombra continued to chuckle.

"So now what?" She looked at the newly re-crowned king.

"Hmm, good question.  I haven't quite figured that part out just yet , but I have a few ideas."  Chuckle turning to a grin as both his eyes lit with dark magic.

Au: special thanks to the editor and chief. Helping out with the editing and small additions, that made the story even better. Sorry for the space between chapter but can't rush good help.  Hope you enjoy the next chapter and I look forward to posting the next chapter.

Also anyone interested in my other works i have links to my fan fiction and Fiction press work on my profile page.
> To the victor 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

To the Victor

"Sooo, now what?" Pinkie Pie looked around nervously as everypony turned to Sombra.  He shrugged, and rose from the darkened throne.

"Cadence is cursed, leaving her powerless while she remains in my kingdom.  The diamond wall has been erected.  And Twilight is bound by her collar.  For the time being, my kingdom is secure."  Sombra grinned as Twilight noticed her new 'accessory'.  The plain black collar refused to budge, despite her laughable efforts to remove it.  Regaining his composure, Sombra continued, "Mr. Armor, feel free to send a letter to your esteemed ruler.  Needless to say, you've all failed.  Oh and mention that collar.”  His grin returned, “Ah what I wouldn't give to see the look on her face."

"What about the rest of us?"  Asked Pinkie, suddenly appearing in front of him.

"Don't know, don't care.”  Sombra deadpanned, “Twilight is bound to me and I want Cadence out of my kingdom as soon as possible, and her husband, if he has any right to that title, will be going with her.  As the rest of you have no real value as hostages, I really couldn't care less, go back to bothering ponies wherever you all came from.”  He shooed away the Pink Menace away with a quick wave of his hoof.  “With the Crystal Ponies back under my hoof, the land will be safe.  In the meantime, I shall withdraw to the Royal Library, and start reading up on last..." He brought his hoof to his chin in thought. "Mental note, figure out exactly how long I have been banished for."

"Slave!"  At his command, one of the crystal ponies ran in through a side passage, her coat was dull and she was trembling under his gaze. "Don't slack off, I want everypony back to work.  I need the fields taken care off, and make sure the cook has my dinner ready by five. Or Else," his glare intensified, knocking the shaking pony to her haunches.  She quickly scrabbled back up and bolted back down the passage she came from.

"I can't believe you, treating a fellow pony like that!"

Everypony froze, as all eyes in the room turned to Twilight. “You have got to be one the most cold, heartless ponies I have ever met!” she panted slightly, shocked at her own outburst.
King Sombra glanced down to her, eyes cold and expression unamused.  “I would hold your tongue Miss Sparkle.  You are not yet occupying space in my dungeon out what little good will I have. It would be wise not to push my limits.”  His lips curled into a nasty smirk, “Otherwise I will have you all imprisoned for the next thousand years, if I recall the favorite punishment of your beloved ruler.”  With that said, he vanished from sight in a pulse of dark magic.  As the pulse blew through the room, Shining Armor's chains disintegrated, as the magic maintaining them dissipated.

"What a meanie pants," Pinkie Pie said, frowning at where he had been standing.  Everypony exhaled the breath that they hadn't realized they'd been holding.

"Darling, that is an understatement," Rarity sighed as she walked up to Twilight, grabbing her muzzle in her hooves to inspect her head. "No scars, nothing out of place,” Rarity mumbled as she turned Twilight's head back and forth, “You seem fine, but you were out for almost an hour.  Was it a spell?"  Rarity released Twilight's face.

"I'm not sure what kind of magic it was, but I do have a nasty head ache, and about five years worth of King Sombra's memories," Twilight attempted to massage away some of the aching pain in her head.
Shining Armor had moved to lie at his wife's side.  He looked around at the dejected ponies and rose to his hooves.  

“Spike could you send a letter to the princess explaining the situation here," His magic strained as he levitated his unconscious wife onto his back. "I am going to find a proper place for Cadence to rest, she deserves to sleep in an actual bed after all that's happened,"  He said as he carried her out of the room.

Silence permeated throughout the throne-room.  Nopony was really sure what they should be doing next. "Well we can't just leave, not with out you Twilight," AJ shook her head as she glanced over at Twilight.  Her friends nodded in agreement.

Twilight looked between all of her friends, noting the concern in each of their eyes.  She rose to her hooves, determination showing in her movements."I am going to talk to Sombra, see if i can reason with him." Twilight began to walk towards the exit.

"Now Twi, I don't think that's such a good idea.  He seemed pretty mad, I think it's best we leave him alone for now," AJ said, really hoping the bit about being banished for 1000 years was just a bad joke.

"We need to find a solution fast, you all have family and jobs that need to be taken care of.  Applejack, without you will Big Mac be able to tend to the orchard all by himself?   Fluttershy you need to tend to your animals, Rarity has her shop and little sister, Rainbow Dash has the weather team, and Pinkie Pie, you have the Cakes waiting for you.  You can't stay here and give up on your own lives." Twilight kept walking. "We need to sort out this mess, and the best way is to confront him."

"Twilight we can manage having more work for us when we get back, but you getting hurt, or worse...  That's not something any of us can handle," AJ's words caused Twilight to stop and look back.

"Yeah, he is so mean.  Seriously, he makes Discord look nice.  Well Discord did give us chocolate milk rain.  Which was really amazing, but Sombra just enslaves ponies, that's not fun at all.  How can ponies have fun and parties when they're busy being all slave-y" Pinkie's expression deflated a bit.

"I know but,” Twilight closed her her eyes in concentration, “I saw his memories, and somethings not right.  I think I can get him to stand down, maybe talk some sense into him."

"If you say so Twilight, but please be careful, uh, if that's okay with you," Fluttershy whispered. 
Giving Fluttershy a nod, Twilight takes a second to compose herself before she gallops out of the room.

"So what now?" asked Pinkie Pie as she looks over at the others.

"Panic?" Fluttershy suggested.

-----------------------------------------

Twilight walked through the darkened halls of the crystal castle.  She glanced quickly into each room she passed by, rapidly growing frustrated with how hard it was to find him.  She paused when she spotted one of the dull Crystal Ponies.  The room she just entered was well furnished with a red sofa in the center with a simple coffee table to the right.  The pony appeared to be pouring a glass of tea, but she couldn't see anypony or anything else of interest. 

"Excuse me, but can you tell me were the King is?" Twilight asked, only for the Crystal Pony to drop the tea cup she was holding.

"Ah Miss Sparkle," came a voice from above.  Her gaze followed the voice upwards to see a massive spiral of stairs, lining a gigantic pillar that seemed to be made entirely of bookshelves.  Twilight felt her jaw drop at the sheer amount of books before her. "Clean that up and leave us," Sombra ordered as the slave shook at the sound of his voice, quickly wiping up the spill and racing out past Twilight.

"How?"

"This?  It's a spell of mine, a library entanglement.  It allows me to make magical duplicates of books from different libraries all throughout Equestria.  A stallion does need a hobby outside of terrorizing the local populace," he said as he pulled a book from the shelf before teleporting down into the red chair. "So, come to yell at me again?  Maybe give a speech about the powers of friendship?"  He stifled a yawn as he opened a book that Twilight had never seen before.

"Yes, well, no...  Sort of?”  She shook her head, “I have seen your memories," Twilight said, wondering what he was reading.

The King didn't respond until he'd flipped to the next page.  "That old trick?"  He only gave her a short glance before returning to his reading. "I have to admit, it was a long shot, but I figured filtering in a few years of memories would stall you.  At least long enough for me to win," he made a nonchalant gesture with his hoof.  "Wow, they actually managed to form a treaty with the griffons," he said, eyebrows raised in surprise.

"You do realize, what memories you gave me right?" she asked as tentatively as possible.

"Are you going somewhere with this?" he asked flipping another page with a slight scowl.

"That door, it corrupted you somehow didn't it?"  Sombra stopped for a second with his eyes glazed over before glancing up at her.

"What door?" he asked before going back to his book.

"The one the Crystal Ponies opened up on you," Twilight cocked her head to the side. Sombra shook his head rapidly as if trying to clear his head.

"I remember.  They were going to attack Equestria. I stopped them, and for my loyalty I was banished into the shadows for over a thousand years. That's what I remember!" he shouted as he stood up, tossing his book aside. His eyes literally burning with a massive amount of hatred.

Twilight quickly backed off.  Wondering if this was such a good idea after all.

"But in the end it was the best lesson Celestia could teach me, I became stronger, both in magic and mind.” The flames around his eyes waned, “And now even the mare herself is unwilling to confront me," he said with a smile. "I will keep order, even if I have to fight her all over again." he declared when suddenly the castle shook.

"Sombra!" shouted a very familiar, and angry voice. A cruel smile appeared on the King's face.

"Well speak of the devil.  Come on then, we shan't keep your good Princess waiting."
-----------------------------------------

"Sombra you're evil, no good, rotten to the core!"  Princess Celestia roared. 
Sombra casually walked back into the throne room.  Where an extremely irate Princess Celestia was waiting for him.

"Flattery will get you everywhere," Sombra said as Celestia turned to face Sombra and a very nervous Twilight.
Twilight had never seen Celestia this angry.

"Don't toy with me Sombra," Celestia said as she stepped over to Sombra, towering over both him and Twilight.  
Twilight felt very small and insignificant, she was almost cowering behind the fellow unicorn.  This was not a side of Celestia she was used to seeing.

Sombra stared into the eyes of the enraged goddess, "It's King Sombra, if you please.  And you toyed with me first.  Suffering through one thousand years of darkness, and then sending your niece to thumb in your own rule over the empire.  We both know that the Crystal Ponies were deathly afraid of that,"  Sombra replied in a casual tone.

"Anything would be better than you remaining on the throne," She hissed lowering her head so she could speak to him face to face.

"And as much as I would love to relinquish control, I will be keeping these crystal ponies in line. With or without your permission, so you can take your princess and your little harmony holders and get out of my castle!" Flames burst from his eyes, causing even the Princess to recoil. She quickly recovered as she stood to her full height.

"Twilight," Celestia looked at her student, beckoning her to follow. Twilight quickly walks around Sombra to get back to her mentor's side.

"I wouldn't recommend that," Sombra said as he returned to his throne in a pulse of dark magic.  "Take a look at her neck, Miss Sparkle isn't going anywhere," Sombra gave her a wicked smile. 
Celestia looked at twilight's neck, noticing the black collar.

"How?  That's...”  Celestia's face was a mixture of shock and sadness, “I can't believe you have fallen so far as to be capable of something like that." Celestia's voice was only a bit above a whisper.

"Oh you only have yourself to blame for that one. When you spend a millennia engulfed in dark magic, you learn all sorts of new tricks," he said with a smile. "You really should have seen something like this coming.  However I will be keeping my word, the rest are free to go. But how many do you think will want to leave their precious friend?"
Twilight huddled back feeling very much like a small foal between the pair.

"You dare to test my patience," Celestia snapped as she walked past Twilight. 

"Oh?  Testing?   Like the test you sent this child on?  This is the fate of an entire kingdom. What kind of pony would call that a test?" Sombra mocked. 

Twilight felt her throat tighten. 

"You can't touch me with out killing or harming Miss Sparkle in some way. I say you take a military retreat and just walk away," the calm tone returning to his voice.

Celestia looked like she was on the verge of strangling him with her bare hooves, but then she took a deep breath and relaxed her expression. "Fine," Celestia said returning to her normal regal tone. "I wish to speak with my student alone."

"Sure, but Miss Sparkle, be sure not to wander out too far.  I don't want this generations best and brightest to have an unfortunate … Accident."  Sombra taunted as he walked for the door.  “I'll round up those other freeloaders while you have your little heart to heart," he added as he teleported away.

"Celestia, what do I do?" Twilight all but shouted, the few traces of what was left of her composure vanishing.  Tears were burning her eyes. "I failed, I am so sorry, I tried really hard.  Please don't replace me," she blurted out. Celestia quickly raised a feather to her lips.

"Take a deep breath," Celestia said with as much compassion as she could muster, only to get a hiccup in response. "It seems that I have underestimated my old student.  And no you did not fail me, I failed you." Closing her eyes she turned to where Sombra once stood. "I need to do some studying it seems. In the mean time keep on eye on him, try to curb his wraith. Try and see if you can find a way out of that collar.  I need you to be careful if he hasn’t told you about it yet, it contains a bit of Black magic that will,” The Princesses paused for a second as she tried to find the right words.  “It’ will send a spark of magical energy into you spin, killing you.  But it only activates if he dies or you move to far away.  Be careful Twilight, and keep Spike close, I'll send you a letter in a weeks time." She instructed as she stood to her full height.

“Spike!” Twilight shouted she hadn’t seen him with the others. She was about to rush away in panic, but a white wing reached out cutting her off.

“He is sleeping in one of the guest bedrooms.  Remember keep him close, he is still young and Sombra is a master manipulator, so be careful,” The princess warned

"Right," Twilight lowered her head. "So, why didn't you tell me that Sombra used to be your student?" she asked.  The Princess froze for a second.

"Some days I curse your curiosity."  The princess closed her eyes to gather her thoughts. "When Luna fell to jealousy she and I were both at fault.  Discord was misguided and cruel, but I had no part in his rampage, outside of keeping his statue in my garden.  Sombra, was entirely my mistake.  I pride myself on being an excellent judge of character.  Knowing how far I can push a pony, in order for them to grow.  I have had over a thousand Captains throughout my long life.  Each as good and kind as the next.  I've had considerably less students, but I only once ever failed somepony.  I never saw it coming, I never thought he would turn out so rotten. Even now I still wonder where he hid the monster he has become when he was still my student. I never saw it coming," She admitted, her mane losing its normal sheen. "And since then I've made sure to bury all the knowledge about combat and dark magic as deeply as I possibly could.  Be careful Twilight, he knows old spells, ones that are solely meant for causing pain and ending life."

"Wait so he knows spells that nopony has seen for a thousand years?"  Twilight asked, a slight twinkle in her eye. Celestia frowned at her.  "Right, sorry.  But wait, if you taught him, and he's so strong, what happened to you back at my brother's wedding?"

"Shining Armor's love gave Queen Chrysalis more power than I had predicted, and using more power would have been dangerous for the ponies that were watching.   Luna has not stopped tormenting me on my latest defeat."  She admitted turning a bit red.

"You what?" came a voice as the two turned to see Sombra.  Twilight noticed his eyes were not burning, his fangs had also vanished.  He looked just like he was in his memories.  "I can't believe you would get beaten!" he was shouting.  As he paused his eyes re-ignited and he frowned, "Err, Not that I care."

Everypony following the crazed King saw Celestia and started talking at once. 

"I should have helped but I was," 

"We did our best," 

"I am soooooo sorry,"

"Princess it is my fault I couldn't keep the shield up!" 

"I would have helped but he blocked of my magic,"

"Quiet!" Twilight shouted, effectively silencing everypony.

"And then I was multiplied,"

Almost everypony.

Celestia gave a light cough, drawing everypony's attention.  "Since our," The Princess looked at the king who was now resting in the throne. "Attempts to clean the city failed, I have been asked to pull you back home."

"I am not leaving with out Twilight," Rainbow Dash crossed her hooves and scowled.  Everypony voiced their own agreement.

"This was not a long term mission, and each of you have responsibilities to take care of back in Ponyville."

"Please King Sombra, don't force my friends to leave," Twilight shivered at the thought of being left alone with the mad king.

"I don't care what he thinks, I Am Staying.”  Rainbow Dash jumped up from where she was standing, “My job isn't that important, somepony else can take over for a while.  And I would be dipped in chocolate before leaving a friend behind!"  Rainbow Dash flew right in front of Sombra. "I am I clear?"

"Get out of my face." Sombra growled as he glared back.  
Dash quickly lost her confidence and slowly lowered her head, her wings slowing as she dropped to the ground.
Celestia gave a low sigh, "Please," she pleaded, looking at the Sombra.  Everypony was now looking at him, but his face remained as unreadable as stone. 

"Only two," and with that he vanished as a familiar dark wave of energy pulsed from the throne, washing over it as the once colorful crystal shifted to a purple that was only a shade away from pitch black.

"Celestia there has to be something we can do, I can't stand the idea of Twily staying here with that... Thing," Shining Armor shivered.  Cadence didn't say anything her eyes remained downcast.

"My hooves are tied, I would like nothing more than to rid the world of him.  But that did not work out too well last time." She admitted.  "Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, you two will stay here, and keep an eye on Twilight and Spike.  For now the rest of us will head home."

"There must be something we can do," Applejack looked up at the Princess.

"I have some plans, but they will take time.  For now a far greater test of your friendship awaits." She said, "Come my little ponies.”

"But why Pinkie Pie?" asked Rarity.

"For one, the rolls of weather pony and assistant baker are easy to temporarily replace.  Also neither have any family in Ponyville." Celestia reasoned. "Besides, Loyalty and Laughter are going to be what will carry you through these troubling events," she continued, looking at Twilight.  "In the mean time, send me any letters you want Twilight to receive.  And let us hope we can keep this crisis from affecting all of Equestria."  With a bow of her head and goodbyes all around the Princess lead away the sad group of ponies.

"So what happens next?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Twilight looked at the corrupted throne. She closed her eyes.

"We wait and see."

> Why keep her
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Why keep her
"Twilight, we have been looking all over for him. I mean, can't we do something else?  It's clear the nut doesn't want to be found," Dash said as she followed Twilight around the castle. Sombra had suddenly gone missing after the Princess arrived. They had been searching for him for the past three hours with no luck. 

"I said soup! Now get this snow cleaned up before I have your head mounted on my wall!" a voice screamed.

"I think we found Mr. Grumpy," Pinkie Pie with a slight chirp as a Crystal pony raced passed them.  

"Do we really have to go talk to him," Spike said, whining a bit as his claws dug into Twilight's shoulders. Twilight gave a solid nod. "I was afraid of that," Spike said. They found Sombra in a large wardrobe-like room. He was putting on his red cape again and the floor was littered in snow.

"Excuse me, King-," twilight started to say.

"What do you want!" he snapped as he glared at them. "I am not in the mood. If you are hungry, head to the kitchen. If you are tired, there are guest beds, and if you wish to leave, tough. But do not bother me!" he yelled. Spike was shaking on her back, hiding behind her head.

Twilight felt her little assistant shaking, and then she glared at the king. "I just had a few questions, you don't need to yell!" Twilight snapped back, glaring up at the king. The two glared at each other, but after a second, the king's glare broke 
into a calm smile.

"Well if that's all, you can ask your questions," he said, his temper suddenly vanishing. Dash and Pinkie Pie glanced at each other with the sudden change.

Twilight took a moment to take in the change. Studying his stance and everything, she thought of a theory, and she wanted to test it. "I want to know why me out of all the ponies. Why keep me here? In terms of bargaining chips, both Cadence and my big brother would be worth a lot more," Twilight said.

"You raise a good point, Miss Sparkle," Sombra admitted, nodding his head. "To educate you, nothing more. That and you and the Elements; you’re the only things that would stop Celestia from trying to banish me into the shadows again. A normal crystal pony, or the entire capital. All expendable at best but those Elements, now those are irreplaceable." 

"So as long as you don't do anything stupid," Twilight said, completing his explanation.  

"So I live, you live. You die, well I don't much like the odds, well yet anyway," he said, smiling and baring his fangs. 

"Once I work around that, well, I would still be keep you around. I find you fascinating," he finished as he eyed the purple unicorn. 

Twilight felt her face heat up before Dash popped up in front of her. "No ideas, the Princess will find a way around your collar and when she does-"

"It won't make your defeat any easier to swallow. In fact, out of all of the ponies she could have left, I am surprised she left you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dash asked.

"Dash, he is-," Twilight interjected, tried to calm her down.

"Prideful, arrogant, hotheaded, and conceited. You are like the worst traits of any pony wrapped into a pegasi. Why do I get the feeling if you were ever given true fame or power, you would desert your friends faster than I could make a pony wet itself?”

"How dare you!" Dash shouted.

"In fact, it is interesting. We have an Element of honesty that lies, an Element of loyalty that if the stars aligned would leave her home for fame and fortune, an Element of generosity that is clearly greedy, and an Element of laughter who would let chaos rain for her own fun. You are all just one bad or good day away, depending on your view, from turning into a person just like me. Well except for maybe kindness, but even she has had her moments of cruelty. Definitely not my first picks.”

"That's not true," Twilight said. "Friendship isn't perfect and neither are ponies. How dare you pick apart my friends!"

"Truth is the perfect weapon, Miss Sparkle. You can't say these events never happened," he chuckled. Dash was just standing there silent. "I could pick you apart one by one. But to be honest, I have some studies to get back to. Maybe even find the one responsible for Celestia's defeat.”

"No, you don't get to run off!" Twilight shouted, teleporting in front of him. "For every act you can claim, they have done more than any other pony. Discord, Nightmare Moon, and even doing what they could against you. For those few acts, they have still done more than any pony has the right to be asked off. You can't deny that!" Twilight shouted. 

"Fair point," he shrugged. “Now if you don't mind, I think your Element of loyalty is having a bit of a crisis. If you need me, I will be in the library." And with that he vanished. 

"Well someone thinks they know it all," Pinkie said with a huff. "All that chocolate rain would have meant know flour, and no flour would mean no cake. AND THAT WOULD BE A GREATER LOSE THAN CHOCOLATE RAIN!"

"That's a very good point, Pinkie," Twilight said with a smile.

"Is he gone?" asked Spike. Twilight’s ears twitched as she remembered Spike was still on her back.

"Yes Spike, he left," Twilight reassured. Spike dropped off her back. 

"Why can't he just go away? I think he likes his mind games way too much," Spike said as he looked away from Twilight.

"Spike, are you-" Her thoughts stopped as she realized Dash still hadn't moved. Moving gingerly towards her friend, she rested a hoof on her shoulder. Dash almost jumped out of her skin. "Dash, don't let him shake you up. It's just like Discord, only mind games.”

"It's not just mind games, Twilight. I want to be a Wonderbolt. When I do became one, it will take me away from my friends. And let's be honest, Twilight, fame hasn't been something I have been able to shoulder with grace and humility." 

"Well my hoof didn't really help much. I still feel you let us off on that one," Twilight admitted. Dash just shrugged.

"No big deal, what is a big deal is finding where we are going to sleep tonight. That and getting that collar off as soon as possible," Dash said with a nod. 

The four moved along the halls, looking for the guest rooms. "Everything seems so much colder now," Dash commented.

"Spooky, but they still reflect your image," Pinkie Pie reminded, stopping to look at a polished suit of armor. "Ohh," she said in awe as she moved back and forth, staring at her reflection. The three shared a good laugh at their pink friend’s antics.

"Crystal!" echoed around them. 

"Well that sounds a bit more like the Sombra we know," Pinkie Pie said. Dash took flight, ready to investigate.

"I have had enough of him. I am going to let his majesty have his temper tantrum," Twilight said in a cold tone. Dash nodded.

Spike and Pinkie Pie glanced at each other. "Adventure time!" Pinkie Pie shouted as she flipped Spike onto her back. 

"Time to brave the Great King Sombra.”

"I am not really in the mood for an adventure right now," Spike said as his claws dug into Pinkie's coat. If she felt it or not, her smile never wavered from her face.

"You know that reminds me of a song," Pinkie said with a smile as she looked back at Spike. Spike titled his head. "Did Twilight tell you about our first adventure with the scary tree faces?" Spike shook his head. "Well it involves you standing up tall and facing your fears," Pinkie said, leaping into the air. 

"I don't much like this idea," Spike said in a low voice as Pinkie hopped down the hall with him on her back. 
The pair moved quickly when a vase suddenly flew out of one of the room shattering against the wall. "I think we found him," Pinkie said in a low whisper.  Peeking her head around the corner, her Pinkie Sense tingled as she pulled her head back. A magical blast hit the corner, deflecting away from her and Spike.

"Crystal!" Sombra screamed as ripping sounds could be heard from inside the room. "Fight, protect, TRAITORS!" he screamed out as Pinkie chanced a glance, only to see an empty room. A very destroyed room; the carpeting had been torn up, there were had massive holes in everything. The few pictures had been de-framed and one was even torn to shreds and smoldering on the ground. 

Pinkie slowly started moving in as Spike held on for dear life. "This doesn't seem like a good idea," Spike whispered. Pinkie simply ignored him.

She stood in the center of the room. "Well that's odd. I could have sworn someone was in here," Pinkie said as she sat down with a dull thump. Spike slid of her back, landing on the ground as well.

"Maybe he teleported away?" Spike asked when her tail started twitching suddenly.  She grabbed Spike and quickly leaped to the side as King Sombra dropped to the ground. He was growling at her like a feral animal. 

"Why, you here?" he said in a very broken Equestrian.

"Just looking around," Spike said with a very panicked smile on his face. "Pinkie, do something," Spike whispered.

"Okay," she chirped. "Come little children..." Pinkie started singing, giving off a haunting melody as the growling slowly died on the King’s lips. The King seemed to slow as he looked down at the pink ball of energy. Continuing to sing, Pinkie watched the King slowly walk to the destroyed sofa and then flop onto it, seemingly sound asleep.

"I heard singing. What, what happened here?" Dash asked as she landed on the ground. 

"King was cranky so I sang to him so he could sleep."  Pinkie said.

"It was weird, it was just like when he chaced us. He could only say a few words, and outside of that, just seemed really angry," Spike said in a tightly controlled voice.

"Well, let’s book it," Dash said, ready to make a run for it.

"I can't leave," Twilight admitted. "So long as I have this collar, I am stuck here."

"Well then, I say we start this like all adventures," Pinkie Pie said as the others all glanced at her. "To the library!" she said, raising her voice.

"Shhhh," the other three hushed, everyone looking at Sombra.  He moved as he reached out and rubbed his nose before turning away from them. 

"No, no, no," Twilight frowned as she looked through another book. A lot of studies, history, and even some adventure stories that were long out of print was all they had found. "Argh, nothing on black magic!"

"What, do you think something like that would be left out in a library?" Dash asked as Pinkie dropped back to the ground before jumping up to look at another book.

"Wishful thinking on my part, anyway," Twilight admitted. Putting a hoof to her chin, she started to think. "Okay, if I was an evil book of spells and knowledge, where would I be?" she asked out loud.

"Oh, ohhh, pick me!" Pinkie said as she held her front hoof in the air. "Please pick me," she said in a strained tone.

"Pinkie Pie," Twilight groaned as her eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"Under my mattress," Pinkie answering as she finally let her hoof fall to the ground.

"Pinkie," Dash said a slight smile on her face as she shook her head. 

"Wait, outside of the throne room? That would be the last place anypony would be willing to go, maybe even less so." Spike said as Twilight looked at her assistant than at Pinkie Pie.

"Such an idea, I could kiss you both," Twilight said. Spike turned red.

"Hey, I could go for a kiss," Pinkie Pie said with a bright smile. Twilight felt her smile falter for a second.

"Maybe later," Twilight said, feeling her own face brighten up a bit. 

The group moved around the castle unhindered. The few ponies that were around never made eye contact. Twilight felt her chest pain her as she watched them pass. "We need to fix this fast, I can't stand seeing ponies being treated like this," Twilight said. Everyone nodded in agreement. 

"So does anyone know where his bedroom is?" asked Dash as another crystal pony passed by.

"M-may I ask why?" she asked in very subdued voice.

"We-" Twilight started only to be cut off by Pinkie.

"She is his new concubine. He has a thing for Pegasi," Pinkie said. "And he asked us to deliver her to his room," Pinkie explained. Twilight and Dash were at a loss for words.

"Twilight, what’s a concubine?" asked Spike. Twilight forced up a big grin as urge to kill a certain pony rose up. 

"Nothing, Spike. I will tell you when you are older," she snapped, hoping the question wouldn’t come up again.

"In all my time, he never seemed the slightest bit interested-"

"That's nice, can you direct us?" Twilight said, really not wanting to think about it.

"Well, head down that hall, and it's at the end. You can't miss it," she said as she walked off. 

"Pinkie," Dash growled, glaring at the pink pony. She just rubbed the back of her neck, smiling sheepishly.

"I still don't know what a concubine is," Spike said still very confused.

"Well, a concubine is a-," Pinkie tried to explain only for Twilight cover her mouth.

"When you’re older, Spike," Twilight snapped at her assistant. "Now then, before we decide to forget we have a young dragon in our company," Twilight emphasized as she looked Pinkie in the eye. "So before he wakes up, let's head to his room."

"Wow, you really would have a hard time missing that door," Dash said. "I mean, even Derpy would have a hard time missing it," Dash said, remembering her wall-eyed friend.  The door took up the end of the hallway; it was pure black with blue like flames erupting from the bottom.

Twilight raised her head and cast a spell, opening the door.  The room was a massive circle with each window covered in thick drapes, only allowing a small amount of light in. The center bed was massive, easily big enough to fit a small family and then some.  A few shelves lined the wall, but nothing really caught her eye. 

"And to think, he is currently sleeping on the destroyed sofa," Pinkie said, quickly leaping on his bed and giggling like a school girl.

Twilight went to the bookshelf first; none of the books had titles so she picked one at eye level and opened it. 


Date log number 89
We have been working on a mean's to combat Discord, however progress has been slow. The king’s adviser has had us delving into a new kind of magic that makes our eyes glow and our magic black. He has dubbed this magic, sadly enough, black magic. Not a very original name but it fits. The magic's power is seemingly limitless, allowing us to lift and cast spells with a massive kick. However, today we have come across an interesting discovery. One of our subjects started to show a decrease in intelligence. Awaiting further study.

High Wizard Starswirl the Bearded
Twilight put the book back before grabbing another one.

Kings log 5
Working on a way around the intelligence issue is a big issue. Without it, fighting Celestia or even keeping the Empire under my hoof will be impossible. It's the reason the adviser advised against it. However, I have figured out a way around it. By linking with another pony, I have been able to reclaim my intelligence. The Crystal pony showed no signs of any issues, even after massive use of the black magic. Now with this knowledge, I plan to crush all resistance and bring this Empire under my rule. 

Kings log 9
My plan has worked, my magical power is three times my old skill and so long as I keep a Crystal pony, *mental note: test it on other species of pony* I can keep both my intelligence and my power. But something seems wrong, I feel a thirst, I want more power when I shouldn't. This needs to be looked into. Maybe black magic has an addicting quality. I need to find a limit cap before this becomes an issue.

Twilight looked over the small logs, each one was more confusing than the next.  At some points, he seemed like a well-meaning extremist; other days, he seemed more like a dictator detailing plans for capturing Equestria. She flipped to the back page.

Kings new log 1

My mind is a hazy fog. Sometimes I can think with no issues, and other times I feel incapable of understanding how to boil water. The small works I have collected on black magic are not helping. Some days the Crystal ponies look like monsters. Others they are normal but I will always know they are a threat. I am worried the black magic may be affecting my perspective. My memories come and go as they please. Sometimes Celestia is a dictator, a force of nature that shouldn't be in charge. However, some nights I can see my mentor as kind and compassionate as I remember. I need an apprentice, someone to watch. I need to understand this magic. Thankfully the Empire was not allowed to continue with its original plans. Celestia or not, I will never allow anything to happen to my home.

"Hey I found a friendship report," Dash said as Twilight rushed to her side to see a scroll rolled up in a bin next to a suit of armor. "Get this, ‘Dear Princess Celestia, I do not understand how a report is supposed to work on life lessons. But I do enjoy sending letters to you all the same. However I must ask as to why call back the troops. These incest like creatures, they have been changing into others. I think it would be wise to rid the world of them now, not to mention all the other creatures we have encountered. I understand all life is valued but some of these things are not something I want anypony to run into. Also, went out to the bar with the boys. Nothing eventful happened. Except for Commander Hurricane – she got wasted. I had to be a little rough with her – she almost walked off with a night walker. That however did not stop her from hitting on me. I don't know if I should be flattered or uncomfortable about it. She is a lot older than me. She apologized about the pass when she sobered up the next morning. But I let it slide, nothing worth worrying about. Still, she is an attractive mare." At this point, Dash started laughing.

"I take it the idea of a historical figure getting wasted is amusing to you?" Twilight asked as Dash rolled around on the floor. 

"Yes," she wheezed out. "I mean, I looked up to her, but just the idea of her being just another mare. It's a twist I wasn't prepared for," Dash said, sighing as she got back to her feet.

"Well that cements it; he was a student and a leader. I wonder what changed him so much?" Twilight said as she replayed the memories in her mind. "So many. The door, try to find something about a door showing you your worst nightmare.”

"That sounds interesting," Dash perked up.

"No it's downright terrifying," Spike said as he suddenly appeared next to twilight. She almost jumped at his sudden appearance. She inspected him; the door shook him up a lot more than it had her. Putting her hoof around Spike gave him a bit more comfort.

"I will never let you go Spike, no matter how old you get," she whispered in his ear.

"Still, it would be interesting," Rainbow Dash said, the idea still mingling in her head.

"Well I know now what will not be an acceptable punishment," said Sombra as every hair on their necks stood up straight. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t keep you locked up?" he grunted as he stormed into his room.

"Cause you didn't say we couldn't," Pinkie chirped, bounding off his bed.

"I guess I didn't.  You, pink one, I like you," he said with a slight smile.

"Yay," she celebrated. Twilight face hoofed as she shook her head. He moved over to his bookshelf, looking it over. A knowing grin formed on his face as he looked at Twilight. 

"Well, if you’re that interested, I think I can teach you some black magic," he said with a grin.

"Maybe, but to be honest, I am more interested in the door in your throne room.”

"That would be a crystal artifact, so very little. All I know is that it feeds off black magic, but was built before black magic was secretly discovered in Equestria.”

"Any clues as to who made it?" Twilight asked.

"Not a one, and anyone who would know is currently in the dungeon and probably not all that big on talking," he said with a shrug. 

"Can I talk to them?" Twilight asked.

"Sure, just stay out of my room. Except you, Miss Pinkie Pie. I would like to talk with you, in private," he said as he looked over at Pinkie Pie.

"But I thought Dashie was going to be your new concubine?" Pinkie said.

"What?" Sombra asked, his face reddening.

"Pinkie!" Twilight and Dash shouted at the same time. 

"What's a concubine?” Spike asked again.

"It's a special type of company for lonely adults, and it is looked down on in pony society. It is not something you ask a mare, or stallion. Unless you are mature enough and are very comfortable around them. Am I clear?" Sombra explained.

"Yes Sir," he squeaked out. With a nod, he turned away as Dash, Spike, and Twilight all moved out of his room. The door clicked shut.  The small group waited before Pinkie Pie started giggling behind the door. 

"Hey, stop giggling and stop jumping on the bed!" he shouted. Not long after the final outburst, Pinkie walked out of the room.

"What was that all about?" Dash asked as Pinkie walked down the hall.

"Client confidentiality," she chirped back as Twilight and Dash shared a confused look. The two walked out of the hall, leaving the king to his room.

"Pinkie, I am going to get you back for that concubine comment," Dash said as she smiled at the baker. 

"Spike, I need you to take a letter," Twilight said as she made it the guest room she claimed as her own.

"Um, okay," he said as she levitated a paper and quill.

"Dear Princess Celestia, I have recently discovered black magic was discovered during Discord’s reign as a means to fight him. Somehow King Sombra has acquired this knowledge, and I believe he has found a way around the draw back. Or at the very least, an imperfect one since he does show signs from time to time. However, the implication of his corruption seems to stem from a mirror. This mirror feeds off of black magic, but predates our discovery on the subjective.  The mirror seems to show a pony's worst fears, and the implications of its existence do not bode well. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”
> Knowledge and plans 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A door way to the mind

Dear Twilight

The door raises many concerns and possibilities. Part of me is glad that my former student was not some manipulator who fooled me. Be careful, this door is beyond my knowledge so deal with it in baby steps. I would tell you to leave it alone, but I know how you are, and I am not having much luck. Black magic is not a specialty I am familiar with. However, we have had some recent changes in the north. My fears of the corruption spreading are coming true. If this continues, I fear the consequences.

Your mentor and friend, Celestia

Twilight laid on her back as she stared up at the blackened ceiling. Pinkie Pie and Spike both flanking her as they snuggled into her fur. Dash was resting on a cloud that was floating above them. The group decided to all sleep in the same room for safety's sake but even Pinkie wasn't willing to call it a slumber party.

Shifting into the soft bed, she found it impossible to get comfortable with her two friends nuzzling into her sides. Not that she could sleep if they weren't, her mind was racing and she had no idea were to start. They had nothing on the door, just a memory and she wasn't sure how legit it was, since the King seemed to change his outlook at the drop of a hat. 

Entering into it and replicating the memory was as stupid an idea as one could get. However without anyway to safely test the theory, it was a dead end. "Wait, if it's effecting his mind, maybe a more direct approach is needed," she told herself. "If I can get a good scan of his head, maybe I can find what exactly is altering his perspective," she thought. The idea was starting to sound much better as she said it out loud.

Suddenly her stomach grumbled. "Well I don't see me getting much sleep," she grumbled as she teleported out of the bed. She watched as Pinkie and Spike moved and started snuggling each other now that she was missing. "Well glad to see I was so valued," she said with an amused smirk.

Moving out into the hall, Twilight channeled a bit of magic into her horn to light the way.  "Where are you?" asked a voice as Twilight felt her ears perk up. "I need to find you." She decided to follow the voice.

Walking into the main throne room, she was momentarily stunned. The room was a full map of Equestria and the Crystal Empire's territory.  The maps were full three dimensional and seemed to work similar to Princess Celestia's flash back, only it lacked color. Sombra raised his hoof and the map suddenly spun as he inspected it before him. "Planning an invasion?" Twilight asked as she made her presence known. 

"With what army? No, I have my hooves full keeping the Crystal ponies from doing anything stupid. I guess you could say I am hunting," he said with a smile. "As much as I hate the state of things, Celestia has done amazing work in keeping the peace. Not perfect, but nothing rarely is."

"May I ask for what?"

"For anything that is a threat to the well being and survival of ponykind. More specifically Queen Chyrsalis."

"Why? She was beaten, and with the defenses back up, we have nothing to fear of her," Twilight asked.

"Right," Sombra rolled his eyes. "If she lives, she is a threat. Hydras and Diamond Dogs. What has she done to the military? Never before have I been so tempted to just overthrow that woman myself!" he shouted, slamming his hoof on the arm of his throne. 

A long silence hung between them as Twilight watched his eyes shift back and forth.  The map suddenly vanished as the crystal floated back to the throne. "So what are you doing up so late?" Twilight finally asked.

"Same thing I have been doing since I got my throne back. Updating, and I find it depressing," he admitted. 

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"There have been advances in magic, but it's over a thousand years. The royal family - I can't fathom so little advancement in magical studies." His words seemed to stumble as if he couldn't seem to find them. "Why, why so little? I don't feel like I am a thousand years in the future."

"You feel overwhelmed?" Twilight asked, as he nodded his head.

"Well have you got to medical, the arts, or some of the softer things? They have been thriving. Now that i think about it, have you seen a doctor as of late?" Twilight asked.

"Well you're right. But I was never one interested in art, but medical advances?"

"Yeah, that was the prime concern, the average life span of a pony has almost tripled since your time. In fact, for the longest time, that was what Clelestia focused on the most. But have you seen a doctor as of late?" Twilight repeated.

"No, that should be fairly obvious," Sombra said as he locked eyes with her.

"I do have some first aid. If you want, I could do a quick medical scan," Twilight offered as she felt a nervous grin form on her face. Sombra's face hardened, giving nothing away as the two simply stared at each other. He cupped his hooves in front of his mouth as Twilight could feel the hair on her neck starting to stand up. "But if you would rather not, I can't force you," Twilight said in a low voice as she turned to leave.

"I believe a doctor would be a good idea. If you feel you can do something now, I will not turn it away. However I can't let this kindness go on rewarded."

"No thanks, helping others is enough," Twilight said with a smile. His eyes opened a fraction before returning to there half opened state.

"How about a book then?" he asked and Twilight almost jumped at the idea. He must have noticed her spike in interest. "Nothing too dark but I got a feeling this is not something you will find in a library," he said as he levitated a book, tossing it to her feet.

"Basic combat magic?" she read out loud. "Why would I need this? I have my magical blast and it works just fine," she replied, hoping she didn't sound to ungrateful. He simply smiled.

"Should be an interesting read all the same," he relaxed on his throne. "Now then, if you would be so kind, Doc," he said as Twilight approached him.

Her magic formed around him as she checked his body over. Moving quickly, she then made it to her target - a head scan. He tensed up as she started scanning. Then she got to the brain. "Something wrong?" he asked.

"No, nothings wrong, just unusual. How far is your knowledge on the brain?" 

"Brain, I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to that."

"There is something off about you're frontal lobe. It controls memory and some ponies believe personality. A large amount black magic has ebbed onto it. What it does, I have no idea," Twilight replied. "Or one heck of a bad attitude" she told herself. 

Cutting off her magic, she took a step back. Sombra lowered his head. "That makes sense, my memories have been a bit scattered. Well I am going to head to bed, I need my sleep." And with that he vanished from his throne, leaving Twilight alone. 

"I need something. I need a way to study this magic. I can't just use it on my friends." She closed her eyes. She looked at the book. "If I want to solve this problem," she sighed as she flipped open the book.

*******

"No, no, no, no!" Celestia repeated her voice getting louder and louder with each passing second. "I had everything set up, everything was going to work out perfectly. But that damn idiot somehow recovered just enough, just enough to royally buck everything!" she tossed a book at the wall. "Calm down, have some faith. Twilight hasn't let you down yet. If there is still enough of that good pony left. He won't try to corrupt Twilight. I have time," she told herself. "I need something, but Ii can't break my spells or else all the small towns will be in danger. So I need work with the magical reserves that I have. Okay, i need to stop the crystals. They are growing into Equestria and if this keeps up, he will invade, and if he does, Discord will break out. I can't have him break out. I can't handle that many problems at once without something bad happening." She took a deep breath inbetween her panicking. "And worse, my student has rekindled hope in my heart, I can't just banish him again with even the idea of it not being his fault." She fell onto her bed. "Everything would have been fine. I need something," she told herself as she started tapping her hooves on her head. But despite her best efforts, her magical knowledge was not giving her an out. 

"Sister, are you still trying to find the easy way out?" asked Luna as she walked into her sisters room. Her horn glowed as she pushed the books to the side to give her some space to walk in the cluttered room.

"My easy way out is hardly easy. But if I can find a way to get that bucking collar of her neck, I can take care of Sombra at my leisure."

"You honestly think he can be redeemed? He took over an entire kingdom, forced them into slavery. And now he is slowly corrupting all of Equestria. Even if it does work, the crystal ponies are not going to just let him go."

"At this point, they would probably be too scared to go after him."

"For how long? Your please-everyone-attitude as of late is going to cause a lot of problems. Not to mention, your hopes for Twilight are washing down the drain every second she is with that mad stallion." 

"Twilight is a good mare, and she would never allow herself to be corrupted. Besides, everything has worked out much better than my old style since you got your sanity back. Not to mention, the reason we are in this mess is cause of my lack of empathy in the old days."

"And yet, he lives, just like Discord, the Queen. and every other villain you have let run around. This isn't something you can find a cure-all ending to. You're going to have to face facts. It's your two students or all of Equestria," Luna replied.

"I don't deal in absolutes." Celestia's temper flared up as she glared at her sister. "I will not punish Twilight for my mistakes. I will find a solution because if I didn't, I would be short one sister." Celestia glared as she approached her younger sister. Luna quickly back pedaled. "And my emotions for my students may be boggling my mind, but let us not forget yours on the matter as well," Celestia said as Luna's fear quickly switched to anger.

"Don't you dare bring that up!" Luna spat back. The two were almost pressing their faces into each other. 

"Now then, I need to get back to my studies. I may need to pay the Crystal Library a visit. This black magic is starting to worry me."

"What do you mean?" asked Luna.

"Interestingly, Twilight has found a magical artifact in the throne room of the Empire."

"So he is creating new toys, big deal."

"It predates his rule," Celestia said, causing Luna to freeze.

"Impossible," Luna said as she felt her jaw go slack.

"You forget we know very little of the Crystal Empire," Celestia reminded. The two stood in silence, failing to notice that a small orb had floated out of the room.

*********

Twilight woke up with a start. Pinkie and Spike were still sleeping but Dash was no longer in the room. She grabbed the book Sombra had given her and decided to head to the library. She was a few feet down the hall when her stomach started grumbling. "Looks like a change of plans," she told herself. If only she could remember which way the kitchen was.

"And so, they all but forced the date down my throat, could you imagine?" Sombra said as she noticed one of the doors was open, and what smelled like potatoes.

"Your kidding?" Dash said as Twilight walked into a very old looking kitchen. 

"Yeah, the royals were big on the idea of their kids being Alicorns so one of the requirements to her rule was she had to date. So she changed the rules once when she got into office. Princess became the highest order and so she didn't have to date anyone." Sombra said as he burst out in laughter. 

"I still can't believe you went out on a date with Celestia," Dash said, doing her best to container her laughter. Sombra nodded with an amused smile on his face. The sizzling of hash browns filling the air. 

"That is something she left out of the history book," Twilight said as she entered the room. Sombra shrugged his shoulders.

"Doesn't surprise me with the recent history I have been reading. She seems to have created an image of herself. The idea that she was being bossed around by royalty, well it wouldn't sit to well," he said with a huff. 

Dash opened her mouth but Twilight shot her a quick look, She frowned but didn't say anything. "What is your grief with Celestia?" Twilight asked.

"Trapping me for over a thousand years in the cold, unforgiving ice. The very fact that I did what I did because I would have died or worse, someone would have just taken my place. The best she could do was send me on a thousand year trip to be some test for another. I think that's reason enough."

"It doesn't work like that not every pony here is out to start a war. By this point, you have probably broken them of that idea," Twilight replied.

"You think it's as simple as that?" Sombra shouted. "I just walk away, knowing the pony with the biggest mouth is going to take over. And what do you think his platform is going to be: hunting me down or going after the kingdom I came from?" 

"Ponies don't work that way. There hasn't been a war in over a thousand years!" Twilight retorted. "You're just holding onto power because you can't stand the idea of being without it."

"Thanks to Celestia, but these ponies don't run like that. They predate her rule, just like I do. You saw my memories; do you honestly think this will end without blood shed if I step down?" Sombra shouted

"It doesn't mater what I think but what you think in such a situation," Twilight replied. The room went silent as he glared down at Twilight. 

"It's a matter of not having blind faith in other ponies. Surely, everypony you have met shares your belief in the magic of friendship?" he asked. "All it takes," he moved closer, towering over Twilight, "is one charismatic moron and it will be blood." He relaxed his stance. "But maybe you're right. But I am not willing to bet my life and the well being of Equestria on it. And neither should you," he said as he vanished. 

Dash and Twilight glanced at each other when suddenly a burning smell hit their noises. "The hash browns!" Dash exclaimed as she quickly took the food of the old black stone.  

"I am starting to understand him," Twilight said in a calm voice as Dash tried to scrap the burned food off the pan. 

"Really? Well that's cool I guess. But how is that going to help us?" Dash asked as she inspected the food in the pan. 

"I have a few idea's but I am not sure how or even if they will work. But best be prepared, time to get something to eat," Twilight said with a calm smile on her face. 

"Be careful, Twilight. I really don't want to see you get hurt," Dash said, abandoning her food as she rested a hoof on her shoulder.  The real concern hung above them as Twilight smiled.

"I have faith in Celestia's lessons, even if he has lost his," she said. "But I plan to use the safer Idea for now," she said only for Dash to tilt her head to the side in confusion. Twilight remembered the book he had given her. "Well I guess a new spell wouldn't hurt," she thought to herself.

"Well before you all carry on your escape plans, or whatever, could you, um, help with breakfast?" Dash asked. She rubbed the back of her head. "I have no idea how to cook."  Twilight smiled a bit as she moved over, letting her magic take over. 
> Strike back
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Strike Back

Sombra was silently sitting on his throne, resting his chin on his hoof. His eyes slowly started to drop as he kept staring at the door as if expecting somepony to rush in at any given moment. Suddenly the clash of steel rung into his ear as he shot up in his seat. "Is someone changing my right to rule?" he said in a low voice, but the clanging continued and nobody entered the throne room. 

Suddenly a loud snap echoed as well. "Buck it!" Twilight shouted, as the king got off his throne to investigate. After all, who would be dumb enough to enter his castle anyway?

Twilight closed her eyes as her horn started to glow again. A purple shape appeared in front of her, forming a long staff-like shape as a she tried again. It slowly started to detail, forming a purple blade with a slightly darker hilt. "You can do it, Twilight. Just a bit more and you'll have another spell under your belt," Spike said encouragingly as he balled his fists. Pinkie and Dash stood next to him as she tried the spell again. The glow dimmed as she looked over the second sword she had successively formed.

Using her magic she swung it experimentally. A suit of armor stood to her side holding a sword of its own. She hit the sword lightly, testing the magically created one. Each time her strikes fell a bit harder before going in full swing, only for hers to snap at the point of impact. She dropped the spell and the shards and two halves vanish. 

"Not bad," Sombra said as he entered the library. Spike was the first to glare at him as the others each watched him enter the room.

"Um, thanks," Twilight said.

"However, you lack not only practice but proper knowledge of swords." His horn glowed black as a sword rapidly formed above him. Swinging it at the sword Twilight had tested, it sheared off most of the blade. Twilight watched as the liberated metal dropped to the floor. "You need to know about real swords, nothing to amazing, but basic from and structure would help," he advised. 

"Really?" Twilight said as she did her best to keep from looking at the black sword hovering above Sombra. 

"So how about some basic sword fighting lessons? Having the ability to make a sword does little good if you cannot use it," he said as he pulled two swords off the wall. His magical one vanished as he spun the weapon in his hoof.

"Um," Twilight said nervously,

"Right, sorry." His horn glowed as a dull grey blanketed the weapons. "There now we can't hurt each other. But first proper forms."

"Can I learn next?" asked Dash, her eyes brightening up a bit. "Not that I want to learn from someone like you," she said, glancing away.

"One student at a time, now then." He set his sword to the side and walked around Twilight, moving uncomfortably. "Start by holding the sword close." She held the weapon up as Sombra moved his arm around her gently, adjusting her position. 

Twilight could feel his warm breath as he explained sword fighting, detailing stances, moves and other basic information she would need as well. "Right," she nodded as she took the knowledge in.

"So let's start. The only way to learn is to start accumulating bruises. Luna really did like the more hooves on learning style," he said with a cocky grin, his eyes losing the normal red glow. 

"Luna taught you?" Twilight asked as everypony looked at him in interest.

"In a manner of speaking, but she learned a lot more from me. But I am not really in the mood to talk about it," he said, his eyes glowing again. "Come at me or I shall take the fight to you!" he shouted as everyone in the room jumped. 

"Kick his flank!" shouted Dash as Twilight felt the weight of the weapon. Racing at him on her hind hooves, metal met metal.  Then he moved and she felt a rough tap on her side.  She spun around, only for her hind leg to get a rough tap as well. She did her best to swat the attacks away, only to take a hit to the shoulder. Falling back, she landed on her flank, looking up at the smiling king.

"Surely, Princess Celestia taught you better than that," he taunted. Twilight felt her blood run cold as she used both hooves to support the weapon. Swinging wildly, Sombra backed away, dodging each blow with infuriating ease. She could feel her arms grow tired with each swing. But that mocking smile that flashed his canaries seemed to egg her on.  He caught her blade on a downward swing as she put all her weight down, hoping in vain to overpower him.

"Twilight!" Spike and Pinkie chanted. Then a simple idea flashed in her mind. Bending to the side, she let him win the battle of power as she turned the sword away from her enemy, only to deck him in the face with the bottom of the hilt. 

"Ah," he cried out as he fell back, his hoof covering up his eye as she suddenly felt a sting in the exact same place on her face. 

"So awesome," Dash said as the chanting stopped. Twilight gasped at her own accomplishment as Sombra glared out of his uninjured eye.

"Not bad," he said, smiling as he stood on all fours, carrying himself proudly despite the now blackening eye. "Now then, now that you know a little bit, I shall be taking my leave. I have a few things to take care of."

"That was nerve wracking," Twilight admitted as she looked at the sword, allowing herself to feel a bit of pride for getting that strike in.

"You know for a - ," Dash was about to say only for Pinkie to cover up her mouth. 

"Don't jinx it, Dashie," Pinkie warned as Dash swatted her hoof away from her mouth.

Twilight looked back at the book as she started skimming over the information laid out in front of her. As she started looking over the information, suddenly the clip-clop of hooves rushed in as a dull looking crystal pony entered the room.

"Must find," he gasped out, "the king. We have an emergency."  The three looked at each other.

"You just missed him. What is going on?" 

"A yeti, a yeti is heading for us and without the shield to protect us," the pony had a crazed look in his eye. "We need to find the king!" he shouted as hysteria started to set in on him.Twilight rushed past the pony as Dash and Pinkie raced after her.

"Something attacking a pony civilization, that hasn't happened in recorded history," Twilight said. "This is not good," she said as she raced down the corridor to the the throne room. 

"Yeah, the last thing we need is the very ponies we are trying to free getting gobbled up," Pinkie replied. Twilight shook her head. Only Pinkie could take such a concerning situation and simplify it to such a degree.

"Sombra!" Twilight shouted only to see the King adjusting his metal breast plate. "There is-,"

"Yeti getting too close to the city. Yes, I am well aware."

"Oh, well."

"Doing something about it right now, Miss Sparkle. Now then, I have a city to protect," he said as the metal boots clicked lightly as he approached the throne room's main door. 

"That's good?" Twilight said as she glanced at the others than back at Sombra.

"Yes well, being a dictator with no military means I need to be both smart and all powerful." The black magic seemed to intensify at his eyes. "Now then, don't cause any problems. I'll be back before nightfall. Make sure the slaves get dinner prepared," he ordered as he suddenly vanished from the room. 

Twilight stood in the hall, staring at where Sombra had been. "Well that was weird," Spike noted. "Normally you get sent out on these kinds of jobs," Spike reminded. 

"Seems weird," Dash admitted. "But hey, if I am going to be off work, you can find me in the library," she said as she hovered in the air before flying off.  Pinkie and Spike soon vanished as well while the purple unicorn sat in the throne room with the book she was given. The moon had replaced the sun in the sky when one of the Crystal ponies started light up candles. The smell of warm food hit her snout as the door burst open. Startled, the studious unicorn almost dropped her book as Sombra trudged in, covered in snow.

He shook his body as ice and snow dropped onto the ground. With his head lowered he glared as he moved to his throne, the servants quickly cleaning up the mess he had left. Throwing his cape back on, he dropped into his throne as he stared at the food. 

"I want soup, tomato not chicken noodle. You idiots!" he shouted blasting the bowl as it shattered on the floor. The ponies quickly scurried around in a panic as he glared. Twilight clung to the book as his cold gaze settled on her. Suddenly a chain materialized in his hoof, connected to her collar. He pulled roughly, dragging her up to his throne.

"Wha-," she was cut of as one of the Crystal ponies approached with a bowl of soup. 

"Make yourself useful and feed me," he demanded as he handed her a spoon. Twilight wasn't sure how to respond as she looked at the king than back at the spoon. "I just fought a damn Yeti. The least you can do is let me rest. Now do you know how to use a damn spoon?" he shouted. Twilight fought the urge to yell back but the look he was giving made it difficult.

Slowly she filled the spoon, her body shaking a bit as she gently started feeding him. After the fifth bite, she noticed something that caught her eye - his hooves were shaking. His eyes were drooping and his breathing was shallow.  Suddenly he just stopped eating. 

Waving her hoof in front of his face gave her no response. Slowly she grabbed onto his breast plate and pulled it off, doing her best not to bother the sleeping king. She almost dropped it; under the breast plate his left side had a bad gash, with black magic pulsating over the wound. 

Taking the spoon she slowly reach under his arm to touch the black magic like substance. The magic grabbed into the spoon as she quickly flicked it into the bowl. The magic squirmed in the bottom of the bowl. Twilight watched it, making sure it wouldn't vanish on her. Using her magic she put a seal over the top of the bowl. Suddenly the bowl jumped as the black magic leaped onto the seal and started feeding of her magical energy like a leach. 

"What in the world," she murmured, watching with morbid curiosity as the worm like entity seemed to slowly feed off magic. She picked up the book, flipped opened to the back and quickly started noting the strange magical creature.. She turned back to his wound, only to see a few bare patches of skin where the wound once was. "So many questions, maybe Celestia can tell me what this thing is." She lifted the bowl up with the strange worm like creature still feeding of the magic keeping it trapped.

"So many strings," Sombra muttered as he turned over in his throne. Twilight turned as he curled up. "Celestia, I," he suddenly stopped talking as he continued to sleep.

****

Dear Princess Celestia
Something has been brought up that is very alarming. The King had returned after a long night with a gash that seemed to have black magic feeding off the wound. It vanished not to long after but I was able to get a sample. This magic seems to feed of off mine. I would prefer it if you sent an expert over to look the thing over. As quickly as possible, since I am not sure how long it will last. Other things like very a bad mood, seemed to pop as well. Whether this is all side effects of the black magic or the cause, I am not sure but I intend to keep my eyes open for any possibilities.

Your faithful Student Twilight Sparkle 	


The princess dropped the letter to the ground. Magic was often fueled by compassion, company, and other things easy attended through the magic of friendship. If this black magic fed off the good emotions that powered it, that was dangerously close to changeling magic.

"Princess, I wish to talk to you," Shining said, calling for her from the other side of the door.

"Shining Armor, I need a favor from you," she said as her magic opened up the door, startling the young Captain of the Guards.

"I need you and Cadance to head back north. I need you to inspect something that your sister has discovered that may be a clue to solving our Sombra issue," Celestia said, He instantly brightened at the thought.

"As you command," he said with a bow, his mood brightening instantly. Celestia smirked, having figured that was the reason he had approached her room in the first place. Quickly she wrote down her instructions.

"Give this to your wife with my blessing and well as this." She handed him a few documents. "You will have diplomatic immunity that will allow you into the Empire with no issues. Just be careful, I can only do so much with a simple piece of paper," she warned the stallion. He quickly grabbed the documents and raced off. 

Shining Armor quickly dashed down the corridor. He was more than willing to make the trip if it meant making sure his sister was safe. That dark bastard was going to get it if he had so much found a hair out of place. His thoughts and his body stopped as he ran into somepony much bigger than he was.

"Princess Luna!" he realized as he quickly backed off, bowing his head. The princess didn't respond at first when she looked down at him, her dark blue mane flowing behind her.

"It is all right, Prince Armor," she replied. "May I ask why you are in such a hurry?"

"Cadance and I are heading north again," Shining said, doing his best to keep a stock face even if he was ready to run if it gave him a few more seconds. 

"Interesting," Luna said with an even tone. "I would like you to do me a favor," she said as she regained Shining's attention.

"A favor, well sure, but I really," he started.

"Yes, I know, this will take but a moment," Luna said, dismissing his concern. Her horn glowed and in her hoof a small crescent like shape took form.She passed the object to the captain. He looked up at her a little confused. "Put this on the crystal thrown, don't care how or when so long as its done."

"This won't harm my sister will it?" he asked, a little concerned.

"No, this is just a listening device," Luna said easing his concerns. Nodding, Shining quickly dashed off more than reading to go. Luna glanced down at the floor.

"Shining I hope for both our sakes Twilight is strong because I don't want to rob you of a sibling. But I will for the good of the land."
> Getting facts straight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Loosening up

"Special delivery!" shouted a voice as Sombra quickly galloped into his throne room. He skidded to a halt as he came face to face with a grey Pegasus with a wall eye. "Hello Mister. Are you the owner of this estate?" she asked politely as Sombra just stood there staring at her with his mouth open. "Mister, are you okay? Your eyes look they are on fire, are you in pain? Do I need to get some water?" she asked as a frown appeared on her face.

"Hi Derpy!" cried Pinkie Pie as she raced into the room. "Is that my delivery?" she asked. She nodded as she grabbed onto a clipboard.Pinkie grabbed the pen with her mouth and quickly signed. 

"Is he going to be okay?" asked Derpy as she looked at Pinkie Pie. Pinkie just smiled.

"Yeah, he will be just fine. Now where is the package?" Pinkie asked as Derpy vanished for a second, only to return dragging a large box inside of the throne room. The box was easily three times the size of the delivery pony, but she only seemed to struggle with it so much.

Pinkie gave the Pegasus her do before she vanished of wobbling a little as she flew away. "How did she get in here without me knowing?" Sombra asked as Pinkie tore off the brown paper to reveal a very big cardboard box. she quickly dived in, scattering packing peanuts over the floor. "Seriously, the security is slacking, how the buck did she get in?"

Pinkie popped out of the box, white peanuts stuck in her mane as she spit a few out of her mouth and onto the floor. "That was Derpy. She's really good at getting things around. She just delivered all my party supplies." Pinkie said.

"Party supplies?" Sombra repeated as she vanished back into the box. Suddenly a massive hat flew out and landed on his head. "What in the world?" he asked, pushing the round brim above his eyes.

"It's a sombrero," she explained, as she tossed a record player onto the ground. "It looks good on you," she said with a smile.

"You think so," he said, not so sure as Pinkie pulled out a massive cannon. "Hit the Deck!" he shouted as he started charging up a shield only to get hit with a blast of confetti. 

"It's time to party!" she shouted as all kinds of streamers and balloons started to litter the throne room. All of a sudden, the record started playing music. "We need more ponies!" Pinkie declared as she suddenly vanished. The king took the hat off as his ears twitched at the music. Suddenly Pinkie returned carrying a massive amount of Crystal ponies.

"What is the meaning-" He was cut off as Pinkie suddenly grabbed him by the hooves and started twirling him around the throne room. 

"Wohoo!" Pinkie shouted as she spun Sombra around the room with no sense of rhythm or rhyme. She let go and he went spiraling into his throne as all the Crystal ponies gasped in shock.  

The king opened his eyes, finding himself sitting upside down in his throne. Blowing his hair out of his face he just looked at Pinkie Pie. "Fine, have your fun. But if you need me, I am going to be in the library." And with that, the king took his leave.

Twilight kept going over the book as the purple sword levitated above her. The book was about sword crafting and she was doing her best to get the shape and structure down. Suddenly her ears picked up on a teleporting spell.

"Is everypony in the place crazy?" Sombra asked as he came into view, still sporting the oversize sombrero.

"Nice hat," Twilight said as the king jumped. 

"Dear Celestia, don't do that," he shouted his eyes flaring up for a brief second. "Honestly is no place sacred? I just want to have some time to think," he said as he glared at Twilight. 

"No need to get mean about it," Twilight said as her eyelids fell a bit.

"That pink pony has turned my throne room into a party. Of all things to happen, this is going to be mildly annoying at best. I should have just kept you here," he grumbled. 

"Were she goes I go!" declared Spike as the two looked up to see him on one of the rolling ladders.

"I seriously doubt that. So where are his parents?" Sombra asked as the two glanced at each other.  Twilight opened her mouth when suddenly the door burst open. 

"Twilight, Pinkie has got the party rolling. Finally something to besides read books," Dash said as she shot behind Twilight, quickly pushing her to the door. Sombra suddenly found himself scooped up as well. 

"I just left," he declared. But Dash dragged the two unicorns out of the library. 

"Nice hat," Dash said, ignoring his comment as Spike raced out after them. 

"I am half-tempted to get sealed back up just to get away from you all," he shouted. Dash stopped shoving and then he found himself back at the party. The whole room was alive as all the Crystal ponies seemed to be smiling and having a good time. "No," he started repeating. 

"Conga!" shouted Pinkie.

"No," Sombra said again as Pinkie grabbed his waist and everyone started lining up. The King of Fear was pushed around the throne room with everyone dancing behind him. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he shouted but Pinkie Pie and the others seemed to ignore him. 

The hall opened up as Shining and Cadance walked in but they found themselves planted at the sight they had witnessed. The two looked at each other. 

The room was a mess and in the center of it was Sombra hanging upside down by the banner. "I have lost all control of the situation. I am starting to question my sanity for letting the pink one stay."

"That was the best party ever!" Pinkie shouted as Sombra untangled his leg. 

"I would still like to know how I got up there," he mused to himself. 

"I wouldn't worry about questioning it, trust me you'll just drive yourself mad," Twilight said, recalling her own attempts at explaining it.

"You know it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be," Cadance admitted as Sombra turned his attention to the new arrivals.

"And why are you here?" Sombra demanded, his calm demeanor going out the window as he teleported in front of the two. Shining rose up meeting him eye to eye. 

"Dear, we are not here to start a fight," Cadance reminded as Twilight teleported next to Sombra.

"Don't start," Twilight said in an even tone as Sombra glanced over at her. "He is my brother and i won't stand for any fighting."

"What do you want?" Sombra said as he relaxed his shoulders. Cadance gave a light smile as Shining glanced over at his wife.

"No," Shining suddenly said.

"What, I am not," Cadance argued.

"No," he repeated firmly.

"It's not that big, it's a small spell," she continued, a knowing look in her eye.

"No." The two went back and forth as Sombra and Twilight glanced at each other, twin looks of confusion on their faces.

"Is there a reason you are wasting my time?" Sombra said in a cold voice, snapping them out of their argument.

"Yeah, we were asked to deliver this to you," Cadance said as she offered him a scroll. 

"Okay, feel free to use one of the guest rooms during your visit. If you need me I will be in my room."

"You're not going to open it up here?" Twilight asked as he levitated the scroll over his head.

"I prefer to read these alone," he admitted. "I'll see you in the library later. And Miss Pie, no more parties for now. There is a reason for the misery. I can't have you messing it up." And with that, he vanished.

"Okay," Shining said as he looked at Twilight. "You're not hurt, are you? Everything in one piece, he didn't touch you, did he?" Shining asked, big brother mode activated. He quickly grabbed her shoulders, giving her a quick look over.Twilight brushed her brothers hooves off.

"I am fine," she said, hoping that he would relax a bit. "Things have been interesting, to say the least, but nothing bad. Well, outside of the entire city put back into a slave-like state." Everyone seemed to lower their ears a bit at the overall feeling of defeat. "Sorry but I did learn some new things, watch this," Twilight squinted her eyes as she formed the purple sword again. The two watched in shock as she brandished the magical blade. 

"Amazing," Shining said as he watched the blade form.

"I am not to comfortable with the idea of combat magic, but it looks pretty," Cadance admitted. Twilight nodded her head in agreement as the sword vanished.

"Yeah but from what I saw in his memories, he feels it's justified."

"Wait, you saw his memories," the two said at the same time.

"It's interesting. Come to the library, I'll bring you up to speed on what's been going on," Twilight said as she lead the way. "Dash, you want to come along?" Twilight offered.

"Not so loud," Dash said as she curled up on the cloud she was floating on above the throne room. 

"To much punch," Twilight said as she shook her head. 

"Let's take this to the library. So why did Celestia send you back up here?" Twilight asked. 

"Another plan," Shining Armor cut in. "Look, I understand not putting every apple in the same barrel. But it's just a collar," Shining said as he reached out.

"Shining, don't," Twilight tried to stop but her big brother was to fast. 

"AHH!" Black energy blasted out of the collar, sending him flying into the wall. The black energy cut off as Shining dropped to the floor. "That. Was. Not. A good. Idea," he admitted weakly.

"Shining," Cadance said as she and Twilight rushed to his side. "We need to get him to a doctor."

"I am fine, just a mild case of electricity," Shining said, waving them off as he stood up. "I had to make sure. I wasn't able to sleep knowing I just left you here with that monster," Shining admitted.

"You didn't need to electrocute yourself," Twilight said as Shining slowly stood up.

"I really feel like I deserved it, considering how useless I have been lately," he said as his head slumped to the ground. Cadance nuzzled against his head.

"You do a good job every day. Everypony makes mistakes," she reminded before pulling her head back. He pushed himself back up to his feet.

"Well my mistakes cause a lot more damage than everypony else,"  he said in a low voice. The two walked in silence to the library. Shining took a seat in one of the chairs but he looked beat, and not in the physical sense.

"Now then, why are you here?" asked Twilight.

"Two reasons," Cadance replied.  "Mostly to do with our 'new' friend.  One, I want to use my magic and see if it will break whatever hold the black magic has on him. And if that doesn't work, see if getting him away from the doorway has any effects.  Celestia sent him a pair of tickets to Gala," Cadance admitted with a smile.  Shining and Twilight blinked owlishly at that bit of information.

"You could have told me that anywhere," Twilight said casually. 

"There is one more plan but, um," Cadence said, rubbing her hoof.

"I am totally against it," Shining said stomping his hoof down on the cushion. Twilight glanced between the two, not understanding what they were talking about. 

"Well-" Cadance started.

"That's enough. We have enough ideas in the air as it is. We don't need anypony else adding to it. We start down the list and see what we get from what we have."  Twilight said, shutting down the conversation. "As the old saying goes, too many cooks spoil the soup."

"Fair point," Cadance admitted. Shining Armor sighed in relief as he slumped back in the chair. 

"So how are Rarity and the others holding up?" Twilight asked. The three talked back and forth, hitting on small talk and recent gossip. Cadance filled most of the silence, going on about the little things. 

"As well as possible, Applejack keeps sending letters but there is nothing to report," Shining said with a defeated look on his face. "Has he tried anything?"

"No, he has been a gentlecolt. Well as far as one can be in this kind of situation. I do know one thing, he thinks he is doing the right thing. From what I gathered from his memories and the books in the library, some of the leaders of this land had a great mistrust of Celestia after Discord was defeated. Some planned on starting a war to ouster her early on. However, the student and the prince decided to put a stop to it," Twilight said. "And now whether out of fear or anger, he holds his position in a state of limbo. Neither able to move forward or go back. Not to mention, the black magic seems to have some mental effects. The extent of which, I have no idea." Twilight explained.

The two glanced at each other for a brief moment. "It seems the story is not as black and white as we first believed," Cadance said in an even tone.

'Crunch, crunch, crunch,' came the sound of what seemed like snapping crystals.

"Spike, if you ruin your dinner," she groaned as she walked out into the hallway, only to stop cold. 

"Nothing like a good ruby wouldn't you say?"  asked King Sombra as he tossed another into the air. 

"How are you eating that?" Twilight asked as he walked past the room.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he said, winking at her.

"You go threw more personality changes than a woman. Pick a personality and stick with it!" Twilight shouted at him. He spun around, his red cape flowing behind him. 

"Oh Miss Sparkle, having a hard time figuring out a man is not as linear as those in you romance novels?" he asked as he walked right up to her. She quickly backpedaled, trying to keep some distance.  

"Don't come any closer," she snapped, trying to intimidate him as Cadance and Shining Armor entered the hallway.

"Well, if you really want to know, I guess you'll just have to figure it out on your own." he said as he walked around her. "In the meantime, try not to let all those plans you got up in the air crash together. Sometimes keeping things simple is the best way to go."  

"I am going to kill him,"  Shining said as he glared at the King. Cadance restrained as a faint glow appeared around the stallion. He kept walking, not noticing. Twilight watched as a black energy swirled around with so many other different colors, none stopping or keeping the same shape or consistency.

"That explains it," Cadance said as she cut her magic off. The two siblings glanced at her, a little confused. "His emotions are in a constant state of flux. But somehow he is capable of keeping sane. I would think at this point he would be a mess of crazy and incomprehensible babble. I can't help but wonder what's holding him together?" Cadence mused as she eyed the king as he vanished around the corner.

"Will power?" asked Shining Armor.

"Emotions hold a bit more power over a pony than you give them credit for," Cadance said as she looked at her husband.

"Still, I think it would be our best bet to banish him from the land and not deal with all these emotional problems."  Shining said with a dark frown.

"Sadly that plan's been tossed out the window. Let's try getting him out of the area first and see if that does anything," Cadance said in an even tone.

"This whole situation is a bucking mess," Shining cursed. His wife glared at him for his curse word.

"Well I'll go talk to him then. How long will you be sticking around?" Twilight asked, mentally hoping it was a long time.

"Not long, sadly. Just enough to talk and let you know we haven't been sitting on our thumbs as of late." Shining said, clearly agitated with the times table.

"Well let's go talk to the king," Cadance said as she headed off after the king.

____


"You want me to what!" he asked as his voice echoed around the throne room. "What, pray tell, could you possibly say that would convince me to go to a political party in Canterlot?" he asked.

"How about please?" asked Pinkie Pie as a smile stretched across her face.

"One more smart remark and I am sending you to the door," he threatened as he glared at the pink pony.

"Door?" Pinkie asked as she tilted her head when suddenly a claw and hoof quickly covered her mouth.

"Nothing, I was thinking it would be the perfect opportunity to explore the changes in the world firsthand. Besides, the library has grown a bit quiet since your last visit," Twilight said thoughtfully.

"Fine," he grunted out as his hoof suddenly went to his head.

"Are you okay?" asked Twilight as he shook his head.

"Just a headache. And I will need somepony to keep an eye on the Empire while I am gone."

"I am sure Princess Celestia could find someone to keep an eye on things for you," Cadance offered. "I wouldn't mind doing it, since I hate these social parties anyway."

"Now that I think about it, you never did go to one. Or Princess Luna for that matter," Twilight mused. "Well I am glad you are taking it into consideration."

"Yeah," he said, drawing the word out. He paused a bit as he got off his throne, walking away a bit. "I will be taking the Crystal Heart into the waste land. Just to be safe. If I have any trouble getting back in, I will make sure you will regret it," he threatened. The group quickly nodded. "I need to to get my clothing squared away."

"I don't think so. We are going to Ponyville, I have a friend of mine who can get you in the best tux possible. The last thing you want to do is embarrass yourself," Twilight said, already thinking about damage control.

"Any particular reason?" asked Sombra as he raised an eyebrow at Twilight.

"Let's just say last time we all went, it was a night remember to say the least,"  Spike said folding his arms. Dash, Pinkie, and Twilight all seized up at the memory.
> A trip back home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A trip back home.

"So this home huh?" asked Sombra as he looked out the window of the train. "All pink is kind of weird," he commented in an even tone.

"It's going to be nice to be back. I hope Owlowiscious is okay," Twilight said.

"Owlowiscious?" Sombra asked.

"Oh yes, my night time assistant. He is an owl that helps me out when Spike is asleep," Twilight explained as Sombra nodded, glancing out of the window. "You okay? You seem very quiet."

"Just thinking. It's funny, I defended Celestia, her plans, and ideas. And I was right. Everything is as I envisioned it would be under her rule. I wish I could enjoy it but those damned fools in charge of the Empire, I know they would deny it."

"How do you know?" asked Twilight. "I would think Celestia would be more than prepared to step in, and take care of it."

"Like she took on that invasion? It proves Celestia is not ready for me to step down. If it costs the happiness of one city state over an entire nation, so be it."

"How can you say that? I am sure everything would have worked out fine if you hadn't gotten so possessive," Twilight said.

"Well I do not share your optimism. I just hope this doesn't blow up in my face. I am taking an incredibly large risk taking this little trip."

"Than why are you taking it in the first place?" Twilight asked.

"My home, I wish to see my old home. It has been a long time, and to be honest I am mildly interested. While I have read up, I wish to see first hand how this world has changed."

"Well you're riding one," Twilight reminded. Sombra didn't reply as he shifted in his seat. 

"I was trying to push that out of the back of my mind," he growled but despite all his unrest, he seemed much more stable.

"Wow, it's been so long since I have seen Gummy. I hope he isn't lonely. Oh and the Cakes! I wonder if they will throw us a welcome back party. Oh no, I wonder if we have any new ponies, and I wasn't there to throw them a welcome to Ponyville party!" she exclaimed.

"No more parties. I am still jarred from the last one," he said, shaking his head. Twilight glanced out of the window and saw the small town slowly coming closer and closer. 

"I am kind of happy that Pinkie is with us. I really don't like the idea of getting a party considering the company." she thought to herself. When she realized she had no idea how the rest of Equestria was handling the return of the Crystal Empire or if they even knew. "Fish and custard," she belated, considering the information fairly important. "Of all the things to forget to ask," she frowned when the train suddenly lurched as it slowed down.

The train finally crawled to a stop as the conductor announced Ponyville. "Well, we will take the train to Canterlot tomorrow," Twilight explained. "I already have a dress picked out, but you may want to dress up as well," Twilight said as Sombra simply grunted. "I am not sure what you are going to do, but I live at the library. It's a tree in the center of town in case we get separated."

"I have some place I wish to go alone," Sombra said as his eyes glowed. The collar reflected it before dimming back to normal. "We now have no real distance issues, since I have a bit of walking to do."

"Okay but could you at least get fitted for a suit?" Twilight asked. His eyes suddenly flashed from his normal green and red to a more normal white and blue.

"Sure thing," Sombra said, not really listening. Twilight took one step off the train when she was suddenly mobbed.

"WE WERE SO WORRIED!" cried out Rarity as she grabbed Twilight. Rarity was suddenly joined by Applejack and Fluttershy as well. 

"GROUP HUG!" shouted Pinkie Pie as she dragged Dash into a massive hug. 

"Can't breathe," Twilight cried out. She was finally released and she glanced back. "Where is Sombra?" she asked as everypony glanced around for a moment. She glanced back to see him simply waiting for the group of mares to move out of the way. The group shifted in unison to the side as he stepped off.  

"I have no memory of this place," he said as a red stallion walked up to the group.

"Big Mac," Applejack said wearily as the two stallions stood at eye level of each other. Neither stallion had a readable expression and nobody seemed to even twitch.

"You don't seem like much of a villain," Big Mac finally said.

"How many ponies do you meet that see themselves as a villain?" Sombra asked.

"I reckon that's true," Big Mac said as he stepped to the side, "If you get lost, I'd be more than happy to help. I live on the old orchard outside of town, hard to miss."

"Appreciate the offer, but I don't intend to head in that direction," Sombra said, glancing at Twilight. "I plan to be back before sunset. If not, don't wait up," he said as he trotted off. Everyone released a sigh of relief.

______

"Well, one small step," Sombra said to himself as he headed into the Everfree Forest. "I am not looking forward to this," he said out loud.

"To what?" Spike asked. Sombra spun around to see the baby dragon standing behind him. 

"What are you doing here? This is no place for a child," Sombra said as he approached Spike, towering over him.

"Well, you see," Spike tried to say as his toes scratched at the ground. "I know you are new and everything, so I thought I would keep an eye out for you. Besides its dangerous to go into the Forest, even during the day." Spike pointed out. Sombra looked back at the forest.

"This is a personal matter, and I have no desire to babysit. So head home to your mother or sister, friend, lover, or what ever you call Twilight,"  Sombra ordered as he pointed his hoof back at Ponyville.

"Lover," Spike said in a disgusted voice, but it twisted into a more thoughtful one. "I guess sister would work," Spike said, more to himself.

"Great, now that your deep inner turmoil has been fixed, go!" Sombra ordered.

"Okay, but I may let it slip what you are up to. And then Twilight would come running, all worried and stuff," Spike said as he looked down at the ground. Then he turned and headed off.

"Fine, but try to keep up. And I'm not responsible for you if you get lost,"  Sombra said dismissively as he continued deeper into the Forest.

"So can I ride on your back? it's hard to keep up with you," Spike asked after a good half hour of traveling.  Sombra glanced over his back to see Spike was panting rather hard.

"Fine," he said as Spike ran up to him. Spike stood there for a moment before Sombra rolled his eyes and crouched down so Spike could jump on his back. "Don't you have things you need to do at home? A pet or something you can be bothering?"

Meanwhile ...

"Okay then Spike, I need you to take a quick look over, make sure every think is in place. Spike?" Twilight asked as she glanced back to see her dragon was missing in action.

______

"Nope" Spike said as he glanced upwards.

"I must not be as terrifying as I used to be," Sombra  mumbled to himself.

"Who says I am not?" Spike asked, Sombra glanced back, a bit confused, "Oh, terrified of you, actually. Since seeing everything you have done, I can honestly say you are even more terrifying than Discord."

"What?" Sombra asked, clearly wanting some clarity.

"Oh yeah, he got out of his prison," Spike said with a slight shrug. "But Twilight took care of him," Spike said with a bit of pride in his voice. 

"Really, tell me more," asked Sombra. Spike had no issues talking about, well, anything.

"So do you talk a lot when you are scared?" asked Sombra and Spike nodded.

"Yeah, how did you know?" asked Spike as he glanced around the dark trees of the Everfree Forest. Sombra glanced down his back to see Spike's claws had dug into his side.

"Kid, I am the most powerful thing in this forest," Sombra said, rather sure of himself. "Now then, it shouldn't be much longer and I should be able to see my old home."

"So does that make you a prince, or maybe a student like Twilight?" asked Spike.

"I..."  Sombra started, only to be cut off.

"Roar!"  A massive shadow crashed out of the trees as three Timberwolves emerged.

"Ahhhhh!" Spike screamed as he jumped off Sombra's back and started running around in circles.

"Timberwolves, and here I thought Celestia would have gotten rid of these things," Sombra said to himself as Spike raced passed him again. "Or had something to keep them from getting to close to civilization. I have yet to even see any form of law enforcement."

"Ahhh!"  Spike continued as the Timberwolves started to close in.

"I am not in the mood," Sombra snapped as he grabbed all three of the wolves, and tossed them back into woods. His eyes flared up as he glared at the brush. "Challenge me," he said in a cold tone. After a single moment, he heard some low whimpering before the wolves scattered. "Now then, shall we be on our way?" Sombra asked as he noticed Spike was missing. "Buck," he growled.

He glanced around and spotted some broken branches. He followed the baby dragon. He rushed forward when he finally spotted the dragon at the edge of a sea of blue flowers. "Wait, stop!" Spike cried out as Sombra put his hind legs to work, only to fall straight into the flowers.

"Sombra!" Spike cried out as the Dark King vanished into the flowers. "Sombra, are you okay?"

"Go away," said a very small voice. He glanced around but Spike couldn't see anypony.

"Sombra, this is poison joke. We need to get you to Zecora," Spike urged.

"Who is Zecora? Is she mean?" came the small voice. A white head popped up, with no horn to be seen.

"Sombra?" Spike asked as he tilted his head.

"Yes?" he said, his ears going flat against his head. "You're not mad, are you? am I not suppose to be in the flowers?" He had light blue eyes and a short straight white mane. The colt looked like a small ghost.

"Well getting out would be a good start. Poison joke can be bad for you. What to do what to do?"

"Spike and a colt, what is all this all about?" the zebra asked.

"Well, Zecora, allow me to introduce you to Sombra," Spike said as he introduced a much smaller Sombra. He suddenly shot back into the flowers.

“Not the Joke, oh that poor bloke,” she realized.

“Sombra, she can help us, you need to come out of the flowers." Spike told him.

“No,” he squeaked. Spike glanced Zecora.

"This is going to be so embarrassing," Spike frowned as he held his nose and leaped into the blue flowers, headfirst.

Fluttershy picked up her head when she heard knocking at the door. "Coming," she said in a sing song voice. She opened the door, only to see a massive reptile like eye staring at her. "Dragon!" she cried out in panic as she slammed the door shut.

"Fluttershy, it's me. I need you to deliver something to Twilight for me," said Spike as he towered over her house.

"Spike?" she asked in a very quiet voice.

"Poison joke,"  he said as she slowly moved to the window. "Zecora is working on the cure but can you take somepony to Twilight?"

"Who?" she asked in such a quiet voice he could hardly make it out.

"Um, King Sombra," he said. She snapped back into her house. He lowered his hand and showed the shaking pure white colt.

"Too high," he whimpered out as Spike slide him off his middle claw into the window. As the pure white colt slide in, shaking like a leaf, he covered his eyes and slid under the bed, gently bumping into Fluttershy.

"AHHHH!" they both screamed as they raced out from under the bed. The two raced around the room. Fluttershy stopped when she realized her voice was the only one. Sombra slammed into her front legs before falling to the ground. He looked up at her with big blue eyes.

"Oh my," she said as Sombra dashed back under her bed. She reached under and grabbed his short tail with her mouth and dragged him out from under the bed. "And who might you be, little guy?" she asked in a sweet voice.

"My name is, um, Sombra," he said as he glanced back at her from under his hooves.  She glanced up and she looked at the window.

"Twilight!" Rainbow Dash screamed as she tackled the unicorn into the ground."Spike. Big. Outside of Ponyville!" she cried out in in between breaths. 

"Well that explains all the screaming," Twilight said with a sidewards glance. "Has he destroyed anything yet?"

"Actually, no. He is laying down outside the Everfree Forest," Rainbow Dash said casually,

"Did you go investigate or try to talk to him?" Twilight asked.

"Um, no," she admitted.

"So everyone is in a panic over a Dragon that's just resting?" Twilight asked. "Let's go investigate this before the whole of Ponyville accidentally causes more damage than Spike," she said with a sigh, "The last thing we need is to destroy everything before our first day back is finished."

"Spike? What happened?" Twilight asked, looking up at the massive purple and green dragon. 

"Oh my Spike, you have put on some weight. And here I was worried they wouldn't be feeding you," Rarity said.

"Well um, I followed King Sombra and he kind of fell into the poison joke, after I ran off," Spike explained.

"What? This i have got to see," Dash said as she burst out laughing.

"And let me guess? You went in after him?" Twilight asked as her eyes narrowed.

"I had to dive in after him. He wouldn't come out," Spike admitted.

"Why is that?" Twilight asked.

"You're gonna want to see this for yourself," Spike said, pointing at Fluttershy's cottage.

"This is going to be rich," Dash cackled, more then ready to see someone else on the receiving end.

"Well what goes around comes around. Twilight, why don't you go first?" Rarity urged.

"Hi, Twilight!" Pinkie said as she popped up over one of Spikes spines.

"Pinkie, when did you get here?"

"Where else would I be if I wanted to run around a massive dragon?" she asked.

"What in tar-nation? Why in the world is Spike super-sized again?" Applejack asked, walking up to the group. Pinkie Pie slide down off of Spike's back.

"Spike got into some poison joke," Pinkie Pie said and Applejack nodded.

"So where is Fluttershy?"

"Ten to one says she hiding under her bed," Rainbow Dash said offhandedly.

"-and this little hoof goes wee, wee, wee," came her voice as everyone turned to face the cottage. They quickly moved to the door as Twilight knocked. The door opened up from the force.

"Fluttershy?" Twilight asked. She was sitting on the floor with a pure white colt. 

"Oh hi, Twilight," she said as the colt promptly vanished behind Fluttershy. "Say hi to Sombra," she introduced as she pushed him out from behind her. The colt had the most terrified look on his face and he quickly rushed back behind her. "Oh my," she said.

"Say what?" Twilight said, her voice dripping with disbelief. Nopony said a word, they just stared at each other.

"Is that possible? I mean poison joke can do some crazy things, but can it alter personalities?" Applejack asked. "And doesn't it take some time for it to take effect?"

"Sombra kind of trampled them. Zecora said if the flowers are threatened, they act faster. Since Sombra caused a lot of damage, she thinks they regressed him and stripped him of his magic." Spike said, paraphrasing the zebra's words.

"So he has no memories, no magical power, and is basically no treat whatsoever like this?" asked Rainbow Dash, "Well problem solved, let;s go home," Rainbow Dash said as she brushed her hooves together. 

"I don't know, that seems kind of cruel," Twilight said. "Especially since we have the ability to turn him back,"  Twilight said, not too keen on the idea.

"What will happen to the colt?" Fluttershy asked, glancing back at the pure white pony. 

"Spike I need you take. Wait, I need a quill. This is not going to be easy," Twilight said. Fluttershy pulled open a drawer, Sombra remaining attached to her rear leg. Twilight levitated both quill and parchment as she quickly wrote a note to the princess. Then she galloped outside. "Spike, stand still." she ordered as she climbed over her assistant. making her way to his mouth. "I need you to send this letter to Celestia," she ordered. Spike opened his mouth up and could easily eat her whole but instead loosed a jet of green flame that could easily fry a house.

"Twilight!" her freinds cried out.

"Bad idea!" Twilight kept repeating as she leaped out of the way, falling to the ground. Not even a minute later, Spike bleached out a scroll. Twilight grabbed it with her magic. "She is on her way." she said as she glanced to her friends.
> The Dilemna
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Hello, Miss Sparkle," colt Sombra said in very quiet voice. The group was now waiting at the Library for Celestia.

"Good job," Fluttershy complimented since he had finally said something. "Now, let's go to the kitchen and I will make you some lunch," she said, leading him out of the room. The door closed behind them as Twilight cast a spell.

"Now then, in order to cure Spike, it's going to take a few days, so Sombra is going to stay like that for at least a few days too," Applejack explained. "Good thing we are in good standing with the town or else this would cost us some bits."

"Yeah, well he is putting up some issues with his size, so the Mayor wants to take care of him first," Rainbow Dash added. "Not to mention, she was very happy to have me back," she said with a confident smile.

"That is nice Dash, but we have come across an issue; do we cure Sombra or not?" asked Rarity. "I say, collar or not, it would be best to let him live out a new life. I think it would be a good idea, a blank slate for him per say. Not to mention, a thousand years difference in lifestyle. I just think it would better all around," Rarity explained.

"It seems like we are lying, robbing him of his life just cause it's convenient," Applejack reminded, playing devils advocate. "Not to mention, we have no idea if this is permanent. Do you want to deal with him when he get's his memories back, or worse the effects just wear off?" Applejack said.

"Who cares? Sombra is now out of the way and we can all go back to our lives. I got things I need to take care of here in Ponyville," Rainbow Dash said.

"We have no way of knowing if we can get this collar off without his knowledge. I would much rather redeem him or cure whatever it is that turned him into the monster he was," Twilight replied, putting in her two bits.

"What about the colt? What is he, is he Sombra? A memory? A new pony? Oh, should we throw him a party or something?" Pinkie asked, rubbing her head. "All this thinking is making my brain hurt," she groaned.

"Sombra wasn't pure white growing up. He always had the horn as well. I think the poison joke may have stripped him of everything he valued; his magic, his size, his knowledge, and maybe even color. Even if it did regress his mind, what we have is almost a separate pony entirely," Twilight quickly rambled off. 

"So then where is Sombra?" asked Applejack. "As far as I see it, Sombra is being played a fool and we should cure him as soon as possible," she said with a nod of her head.

"But darling, do we really want to pass up this opportunity to be ride of Sombra? He gets a new life and we all move on," Rarity said, all but rehashing what they had already said.

"What about the collar?" asked Twilight. "I am linked to him, colt or otherwise, I couldn't let him get out of my sight," Twilight replied.

"I think the choice is clear. Just being on the safe side, we should cure him," Applejack said with a nod, more convinced of her side.

"But he was sure he would never get out of his position. Even with the dark magic, he was sure he would never get out. If this gives him that way out, could I let him keep this? Let him out of his self made prison?" Twilight asked as she looked at Applejack.

"Well, sugar-cube, that's," Applejack couldn't seem to keep her words. 

"But you said you would be stuck with him cause of the collar. You would be tied to him at least in area, not to mention, you would have to keep an eye on him in case his memories comes back. And colts and fillies are so hard to take care of as it is. Could we ask somepony to care for a colt, no matter what he acts like, not knowing if Sombra would come back?" asked Pinkie Pie. The discussion just stopped as everyone just looked at Pinkie Pie in surprise. 

"Taking that for what it is worth, it's true. If we leave him like this, he is and always will be our responsibility," Rarity said as she glanced down at the ground. "I mean giving a dress away or watching my sister is one thing but this being responsible on a completely different level."  

Silence rained over them as not a single one had an answer anymore. "I think we need more information. Princess Celestia will know what to do. In the mean time, I have a few experiments I want to preform," Twilight said, fetching a white coat and putting her hair up in a bun. 

"Oh boy, are we going to the basement again?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"Something like that," Twilight said. "Can somepony escort him downstairs? Spike, I," she frowned as she realized he couldn't help. "It seems I am short one assistant."

"Pick me!" shouted Pinkie Pie as she jumped up and down, holding her hoof in the air. The unicorn looked at Rarity Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

"Well have fun with that, egghead," Rainbow Dash said as she zipped out of the door.

"Sorry Twi, I got things I need to take care of. The farm won't run itself," Applejack replied.

"Darling, I have some time if you want some help," Rarity replied.

"Thanks, and you as well Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie, I need you to find some hair from Sombra's bags. And Rarity, let Fluttershy know we need her and Sombra downstairs."

"Got something planned?" Rarity asked.

"I want to see just how deep this rabbit hole goes," Twilight said. as she headed down stairs. The lights flicked on as she looked over her machinery. She needed some kind of answer, now more than ever. The wheels in her mind were racing. "Could the black magic he used be why? Or maybe the damage to the flower he caused," Twilight mused as she shook her head.

"Um, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked as she floated into the room with Pinkie bounding in as she cartwheeled down the stairs, a piece of black hair in her hoof. Before she hit the last step, she curved in, falling off the stairs as she crashed into the ground.

After everyone shared a wince in sympathy, Twilight shook her head as she retrieved the tuft of fur. "Thank you Pinkie Pie," Twilight said with a smile as Pinkie shared it as she bounced back to her hooves. 

"So what are you doing?" asked Fluttershy as she ushered Sombra down the stairs. 

"I know his fur is not naturally white and I want to know how much the poison joke has changed. I am going to need a piece of his fur, if possible," Twilight replied.

"Ep," he said, shrinking back.

"I dare say, darling, you could go for a haircut anyway. Just hold still," Rarity said as she levitated a pair of scissors.

"Rarity, your scaring him," Fluttershy said with a disapproving frown. Rarity glanced between them, looking at the wood floor in shame as she lowered the scissors. "Can we please have a bit of your fur? It's very, very, very important," she said, pleading with him.

He looked down at his hoof, kicking it gently against the floor before he turned to Rarity. He held out his hoof like it was a board as he closed his eyes as if expecting some great pain to befall him.

"Thank you," Rarity replied as she walked down back the stairs. Sombra opened one eye as as he glanced at his hoof. He tested it against the ground and he winced. He blinked in surprise when he found no pain.

"That wasn't so bad was it?" Fluttershy asked. He shook his head and gave her a happy smile.

Pinkie bounced around the lab floor as Twilight worked with the equipment. Twilight looked at some of the papers. "Well, Celestia didn't keep the equipment here state of the art, so it will take some time."

Suddenly there was a low gurgling. "Sounds like someone is hungry. Don't worry, Spike, I can w-." She stopped, realizing Spike wasn't in the house with her. She glanced back to see Sombra blushing as he brushed his hoof against the floor.

"Sorry, I haven't eaten anything lately," he said in a small almost ashamed voice. 

"Sorry, Twilight," Fluttershy interjected timidly. "We were going to have a snack but then we got distracted with Owlowiscioius."

"It's no problem. In fact, you are all welcome to stay here and join us for dinner. I just wish Applejack and Rainbow Dash had stuck around to join us as well," Twilight said.

"Would you like some help with that? Feeding so many would be such a tiresome task," Rarity reminded as they all headed upstairs.

Twilight opened the fridge only for a rank smell to come out. "What is that smell?" asked Fluttershy as Rarity waved a hoof in front of her noise. Twilight slammed the fridge door closed. 

"Seems I forgot how long I have been away." she said in an even voice. The door opened up as they all popped out of the kitchen.

"Oh my," said a male voice as everyone stared at him.

"Hi, Doctor Hooves," Pinkie Pie said as she waved at the brown stallion with the hourglass cutie mark.

"Oh, my I wasn't expecting you back, Miss Sparkle," he said as he took a step back.

"Um, who are you?" Twilight asked.

"Oh that's Doctor Hooves. He is Mayor Mare's assistant, he takes care of the clocks in Ponyville. Oh and he was the librarian before Twilight moved in," Pinkie Pie explained.

"Quiet right, well when Miss Sparkle headed north, I took over the Library duty in her absence. So sorry to intrude - I didn't know you had returned," he apologized as he made his way for the door.

"Doctor, you wouldn't happen to know of a cheap place we can get something to eat. It seems my fridge has gone bad," Twilight said as she glanced at the door.

"Oh sorry, I wasn't sure about your food and things, so I just kept to the books. Um yes there is this one place the Mayor likes to frequent. I could take you there if you like," he said, nodding to the door.

"That sounds lovely. Thank you so much Mr. Hooves." Rarity said with a smile, and a flash of her lashes.  He turned red.

"Anyway, It's not too far along. Oh and who might that be?" he asked as he noticed Sombra.

"Hello Mr.," Sombra said in a low voice.

"Is he a relative?" he asked.

"He is a friend of the family. I am watching him for the time being," Twilight said as a rather forced smile appeared on her face.

"Quite right," he said, "well, if we will be off, I will show you the way."

Twilight glanced down at Sombra who glanced up at her. "Yeap, I think," he said in uncertain agreement. The group followed him out as he escorted them to dinner.

"You don't have to pay, I can cover it," Twilight replied.

"Nonsense, use it for your refrigerator I neglected. It's the least I can do," he insisted as he pushed his bits over the table.

The waiter collected Doctor Hooves money as he walked off. Twilight sighed in a huff. "Don't think this is over," she said, eying him. He grinned nervously when he pulled out a pocket watch. 

"Oh my look at the time. Well, it's good to have you back Miss Sparkle, but I have a schedule to keep. If you do have to leave for a long time, leave a note with us so we can keep the library open in your absence," he reminded. "And sorry about the refrigerator."

"Will do," she said with a nod as he hurried off into the distance. "I guess the smell must have tipped him off," she admitted as Rarity giggled.

"He is rather gentlecolt-like to cover the bill for three mares and a young colt," Rarity admitted. "But it was nice to talk to one of Ponyville's most eligible bachelors," she said.

"You know, I never met him up till now," Twilight admitted as she looked over at Sombra, who was doing his best interpretation of the now missing stallion. 

"Yeah, he came buy for a tie and collar not to long ago. Such a shame he wasn't sporting it now," Rarity replied, thinking back on the order.

"If you say so," Fluttershy said in a low voice, having not talked for the stallion's entire visit.

"He was nice, but the distraction is gone. I do need to check to see if my results are in," Twilight said as she got out of her seat. 

"I can't believe he did it," Rarity giggled as Fluttershy gave her friend a confused look. "Nothing," she said with a smile. Fluttershy shook her head as she shook it of as just local gossip. 

"Crap!" Twilight exclaimed as she spotted the chariot.

"You think having the Princess here would have caused a bit more of a stir," Rarity replied as she did her best to gallop after Twilight. Fluttershy grabbed Sombra by the scruff of his neck.

"Mafe everfhony is gotfen use to her," Fluttershy said with her mouth full. All three mares burst into the library where Celestia stood with Luna next to her.

"I am so sorry, Princess. I just went out for a bite to eat," Twilight apologized. Fluttershy set Sombra down, closing the door behind him.

"It is quite all right," she said giving a brief smile. But Luna did not seem as kind.

"So, were is King Sombra? I wish to deal with him, I will not be brushed to the side on this matter. Where is he!" Luna shouted as nearly everypony in the room jumped. 

"Eep," came a cry as Rarity and Twilight split, looking back to see Fluttershy cowering near the book shelf. In her hooves would be a very small colt just as terrified as she was.

Celestia moved past them as her shadow stretched over the pair. "Are you sure?" she asked as she looked the colt over. "Sombra was not a white colt before he was corrupted. "He was grey, well kinda," she admitted.

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"Well he never told me the color of his real coat. He used magic to keep it a dull green, claiming that it wasn't a very masculine color," she said, a bit amused. "I doubt white would have been much of a problem for him."

"What is this poison joke you talk off?" Luna asked as she calmed down a bit having seen the reason for her grief was now cowering in the corner.

"Well, it's," Twilight started to explain but Celestia answered before her.

"A remnant of chaotic energy. Normally if antagonized, it plays a harmless prank. But on more harsh acts, a more aggressive retaliation is in order. I have a feeling Sombra had a bad run in," Celestia admitted as she looked down at the colt. Her horn glowed with bright light as she picked Sombra up. The colt looked so terrified as he struggled in her grasp.

"Princess," Fluttershy said as she reached out for him for a brief second. 

"I have to admit, Sombra must have mislead me about his his history. He never mention being so, timid," she said having found the right word as she set him down in front of her. She kept looking him over as if looking for some kind of answer.

Suddenly a low ding rung and Twilight suddenly vanished. "Twilight, my dear student, what is it?" 

"Well since he looked so different, I went out on a hunch, and well," she said. "He isn't Sombra. His DNA - it has next to no connections with the pony himself."

Every eye fell on  the colt as he seemed to shrink from all the attention. "Who is Sombra?" he asked.

"Let me see that," Celestia said as she glanced over the paper. "Twilight, it is Sombra. It's his memories that are the issue. You seem to forget that poison joke changes a pony. It's not too surprising it would strip him of the traits he prided himself on; his size, magic, anything that he enjoyed, it seems even his courage. But to see him like this," she said, clearly troubled.

"I say we keep him like this," Luna said with a frown as she glared at the colt. 

"Tempting," Celestia admitted. "If we didn't have other issues," she reminded as she glanced at Twilight. "I have a feeling you've already thought about it."

"Yes, we have," Twilight said with a solid nod. "We talked about it and here is what I think is our best interests," she started.
> Royal Blood
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"I think it would be safer just to cure him," Twilight admitted, glancing at the colt. "I just hope this is the right decision," she admitted.

"Whatever,"Luna said, rolling her eyes. Celestia gave her a cold glare. "What?" she asked.

"Don't get smart. I will respect your decision. In the meantime, I need to get back to my library. I have a few more leads I need to inspect," Celestia replied as she turned. 

"Twilight, I feel this is a bad decision. But if you need any help on the cure, I am happy to help," Luna offered. Twilight twisted her hoof and could feel the disappointment from the moon princess. "Sorry, Sombra and I have some unfinished business. But I shouldn't take this out out on you. If you ever have any questions on magic and can't get a hold of my sister, feel free to talk to me," Luna said, opening the door to the student.

"Could I?" Twilight asked as she leaned on the tips of her hooves. Luna reared her head back in surprise at the sudden motion.

"Sure, I don't really have much to do outside of the star skies and keeping watch. So sure," she said with a shrug as she relaxed a bit.

"Don't you help with the research?" Twilight asked.

"This is something Celestia is set on doing. She doesn't trust me too much when it comes to Sombra," Luna admitted solemnly. 

"How come?" asked Twilight.

"That's something you can ask Sombra. It goes a bit deeper than just a teacher and student betrayal," she said as she made her leave as well.

Twilight glanced over at Sombra. "Well now all we can do is wait. I need you to stay inside, okay?" she asked as he nodded dumbly.  

"Well we still have a few days before we will have enough for Sombra. So, do you want me to watch him until then?" asked Fluttershy as she looked at the colt.

"No I can take care of him. After all, I took care of Spike," Twilight said. "I think i can handle Sombra for one
day," she said.

"Um, if you are sure, but if you need any help, all you need to do is ask," she said as she rubbed her opposite hoof.

"You want to watch him don't you?" asked Twilight as she looked at her friend.

"Well, um yes. You see I always wanted to have a little brother or sister to help care for, and well it would be nice to help," Fluttershy said as she kept looking at the ground as if it would give the answer she wanted.

"Sure, I need to do some cleaning anyway and it would help," Twilight said, remembering the refrigerator. 

"Thank you!" she said in a loud voice for her as she scooped Twilight into a hug.  She dropped her back to her feet before joining Sombra. 

Twilight tilted her head when Owlowiscious flew in. Sombra noticed the bird. "Is he yours?" he asked as the owl suddenly landed on his back. He started to walk around the room as if parading the bird.

"Yeah his name is Owlowiscious," she said with a smile. "This is Sombra," she told the owl, introducing the two.

"Who?" the bird seemed to ask.

"My name is not Sombra," he said with a frown.

"Oh sorry, what is your name?" Twilight asked.

"Um," he paused as he seemed to search for an answer. "Snow Slate?" he said after a moment, not really sure. He tilted his head and the bird followed.

"Sure," she said. She felt a ping in her heart, knowing whoever was standing in front of her was going to vanish in a few days. He trotted off as Twilight made her way to the kitchen. She pulled the food out, levitating it all to the garbage. She paused. "Spike, I need a bucket of soapy water!" she called out. She paused when she heard the water running but Spike wasn't there. The next moment, a white blur scampered into the kitchen with a bucket on his back almost as big as he was. He suddenly slipped, skidding on his belly as he slowed. The bucket seemed to jump as he hit the cupboards. 

"Um, Spike isn't here," he reminded as his eyes shift as if ashamed. 

"Thank you," she said with a giggle as she pulled the bucket off and started to brush the refrigerator. 

She soon found him popping up around the house, helping find books and doing his best to keep her company at night before falling asleep from being up to late. Snow Slate was the model of good behavior, and as time went on, Twilight couldn't help but wonder about the nature of the colt, be it Sombra or Snow Slate. 


--A few Days Later--

Twilight kept a straight face as she nudged the colt into the bathtub with the poison joke cure. His mane was dripping  wet and before long his body started to grow back into the Dark King she remembered. "Say anything, and I will gut you," he said as he sat in the bathtub, looking like a drowned rat.

"Sorry it took so long but they wanted Spike out of the way as well," Twilight apologized as Sombra levitated a bath towel over to dry off with. He stepped out off the bath.

"Now then, I have something I need to take care of before I was so rudely interrupted," he said with a huff.

"Are you feeling alright? That was the worst case of poison joke I have ever seen," Twilight said as she rushed after him.

"Um, Sombra," Spike tried to say. Sombra only stopped for a brief second.

"Stay here," he said as he continued out the door. Spike stopped, looking down as his spikes dropped a bit. Twilight bit her lip but followed after Sombra. He quickly made it to the edge of the Forest again only for Twilight to appear in front of him.

"Where are you going?" she shouted as she glared at him.

"Home!" he bellowed. And with that, he walked around her. "And if you don't mind, I would like to get moving." He picked up his hooves as he headed back down the trail. 

Twilight kept close as she glanced around the forest, the small cliff, the broken bridge, the river and the trees. She smiled at each one as they soon returned to the  old castle.

Twilight looked at the main gate and was about to step forward, only to see Sombra had head off. He kept his eyes narrowed as he glanced over the ruins, and they flashed back to a normal green. He looked over each rock and seemed to stop at an over grown field. He shook his head as he soon made his way to a small tower, far away from the ruins.

"What is this place?" she asked as she looked at the small crumbling tower. It could only have been about three stories high.  It was in decent shape, but it seemed so far away from the rest of the ruins.

He pushed open the door and it groaned in protest. His horn lit up as the torches on the wall caught, revealing a small room with a round bed at the back, a few book shelves and some old pieces of wood that might have been toys a long time ago.

"Amazing,"  she said as she looked over all the books; she reached out to touch one.

"Don't, these books are a lot older than me. If you want them, you are going to need a spell to turn back time or something," he said off hoof. He glanced at the bed as he sat down. Twilight looked over the books. Fighting For All, Honor in Servitude, Military Tactics, Historical Battles, The Royal Line books, Foundations of Equestrian History. Each book looked to be well over a thousand years old. She stopped next to an object on one of the shelves, a half fixed egg shell. She smiled fondly thinking back to Spike's birth so long ago. 

"Did you hatch a dragon?" she asked as she glanced at him with a slight smile. He spotted the dragon shell as he gave a light smirk.

"Nope, that is my shell. I was hatched from a dragon egg," he admitted. "What did you think I would do with all those crystals?" he asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"But that would make you half-dragon, that's possible?" she asked. 

"Yeah, did you not see Luna's night guard? Where do you think they got the leather wings from?" he asked. "Normally, it needs to be a female pony and male dragon. But my father used unicorn magic to fertilize a dragon egg. That's why I am so much taller and have the unnatural horn."

"What kind of effects would that have? she asked as her head spun to look at Sombra.

"Well, dragon-blooded ponies have increased strength in earth ponies, speed and durability in pegasi and the leather wing. Unicorns have a greater magic output. But if the blood gets deluded, these things can become weakened or, in rarer cases, become just momentary spikes in performance," he said as he backed up.

"So how come this was never documented?" she asked. Sombra pulled his head back as he kept pelting back, the gleam in her eye unnerving him.

"Well it was a war secret. My father reminded us it was something to keep only for mouth to mouth. My father wanted to have a son but all he got was a daughter. So he asked for a dragon egg. They gave him one, not expecting him to be able to do anything with it. So he used magic, that magic made me very strong even for a unicorn. He wanted to make a warrior out of me, but the three pony races made a  peace treaty so I was put to the side."

"Interesting, so how much do you know about dragons? What kind of magic did they teach? How advanced was the technology?" she inquired, barely pausing between questions.

"Well, not much. They lived far too long for us to ask for a dead body. It was only cause my father was such a powerful magic user he was even able to get an egg. As for your earlier question, what little documentation is right here. But it's so old and brittle, I'm afraid to touch it," Sombra said.

"So as a half-blood dragon, any other side effects?" she asked.

"Well, um, the more things I have in my possession, the more potent and powerful my magic is," he admitted.

"Which would explain the slaves and the constant mining. So what are you planning with all that magical power?" asked Twilight as she moved closer to him.

"Well, ah," he glanced down and suddenly he started to turn red. Twilight tilted her head as he averted his eyes."Could you, um, back off a bit?" he asked nervously, his voice going very quiet.

Twilight glanced down to realize she was standing on his bed. "Sure," she said with a forced grin as she quickly backed off the bed. 

"I am going to stay here, so um I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" he asked as he glanced back at the bed.

"Are you feeling alright?" Twilight asked. "You don't seem to be yourself," she said, noting his behavior.  He suddenly slumped onto his bed as he ignored her. 

"I haven't been myself in a long time, Miss Sparkle. I can feel it coming back but I don't know," he said as he got off the bed. "I don't know where the king starts and the prince ends. All the same, I remember being Slate," he said as he looked at Twilight. "And I would like to thank you for the fun. I didn't have much of a childhood," he admitted. 

"Um, no problem." Twilight said as her face lit up.

"It may not seem like much, but you can have any of books you want. You may want to talk to Celestia for help with restoring them. Consider it a thanks for looking after me when I couldn't."

"I did what any good mare would do," she said certainly.

"That is a bit more optimistic than I would be inclined to believe. Still it's a nice sentiment. But the books are yours, I have no need of them," he said as he swept his hoof over the bookshelf.

"Thank you," she repeated over and over again as she leaped into the air before suddenly swallowing him up in a hug.

"Your welcome," he said as she quickly pulled back but he didn't seem to bothered by the physical touch.

"I mean, the history, everything is so valuable to the world, thank you," she said.

"Tell Fluttershy i said thank you as well, and if you don't mind, I would like to go to sleep," he said as he gave her a faint smile.

"No problem," she said, nodding as she quickly went to the door. 

"Twilight," he said as she got to the door. She stopped and looked at him, "I kinda wish you would have you kept me at that age," he said. Twilight nodded sadly and closed the door to the tower behind her.
> Shadow of himself
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Princess Celestia
I have need of a bookkeeper, someone with skills and the ability to handle books far older than anything I have ever handled myself.
Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle


She soon found herself a little flush. She had returned to Sombra, only to see a group of the Nights Guard standing outside of his tower. "I didn't think she would act to quickly," she mused to herself. She sent the letter last night and yet, here they were. 

She approached the door but was not surprised when they parted for her to pass. Her ears flickered a bit; she was always worried that one day the royal guard would not let her pass. A childish but constant fear she had always that had followed her since her early years.

"Fascinating," said a bored and rather stuffy tone. She followed the voice to a pegasus hovering over the top shelves with a paper and quill in hoof. He had a brown coat and a long golden yellow mane and tail. His mane seemed to be lazily combed to the side. He landed on the floor as he noticed Twilight. 

"Hello Miss Sparkle," he greeted as he glanced over at her.

"Do I know you?" she asked.

"No, but I know you all the same. I am Stories High," he introduced. "And I was called in to take a look at these books and scrolls. "Luckily, the original author had placed spells on them. Nothing too serious outside of some mild water damage and bad binding."

"Oh well, that is good to hear," she admitted.

"Yes, I should have these repaired, copied and documented before the end of the month. Any place in particular you wanted them dropped off at?" he asked as he walked around her to the door.

"The library in Canterlot. I can have them forwarded from there. How do you know me?" she asked. The comment had bothered her just enough to warrant the question.

"Who doesn't know of the great Twilight Sparkle?" he asked as he raised an eyebrow.  He pushed the door closed with his rear hoof, leaving a group of ponies behind. Twilight made a quick glance and didn't see Sombra around so she glanced around a corner and spotted some stairs. 

As she walked up the stairs, she could hear some heavy breathing. She quickly trotted up, only to be stunned. Sombra was lying on the desk and using a book as a pillow. "Poor book," she thought as she pulled it out from under him. She spotted a small water mark as she realized a bit of droll had dripped onto the book.   His head returned to the desk with a resounding thump.

She ignored the heavy sleeper as she closed the book to check the spine. "Basic offensive and defensive magical spells. I remember this book," she told herself. It was a self defense book. She took a moment to wonder why somepony like Sombra would be interested in a book like this, all things considered.

"Ouch," he groaned as he woke up. "Why do i have such a headache?" he questioned as he rubbed his head.

"So glad to see you are awake," Twilight said as she set the book down on the desk. He glanced at it for a second.

"Right," he said as he glanced at the book then back to her. 

"Rarity wanted to get your measurements so we need to get moving. It's a long trot," she reminded.

"Sure," he said as he stood up, his hoof still rubbing his head. "Right," he said with a sudden readiness in his voice. He picked up his feet as a bright smirk appeared on his face.

"Uhhhh," was all that came out of Twilight's mouth. He paused as he glanced back at her with a sly grin. 

"Unless you would rather stay here, alone. With me," he said with a very suggestive grin.

"Moving on," she said hastily as her face light up. 

It wasn't long before Rarity was drawing up the measurements. Despite who she was measuring she kept an even level of professionalism.

"Grey and black, hmm," she mused as bit on a small needle. "Hmm." She turned away from him as she opened up a chest, tossing different colors over her shoulder. She tossed another back with her magic and it caught him on the nose.

"Hmm, white," she suddenly said as she quickly started to work.

"White?" he questioned. She started to sew together a suit. 

"Yes, white, and a dash of red," she said, as she levitated a vest into the air that had a silver shimmer to it. She glanced at a long red cloth. "Now what kind of tie?" she wondered. "Well I have the measurements, we should be good. Now shoo, I need to work," she said, waving a hoof at him.

He frowned at the treatment but said nothing as he walked out of the shop. He took a glance around, seemly unsure what to do with himself in his spare time. He checked his cape and heard the small jingle of bits. Twilight gave him some pocket change. But in all honesty, he had little interest in using it.

Frowning, he realized even in the old days he did very little outside of lead armies and protect people. He glanced to one side and saw a green mare sitting upright on a bench, chatting with a friend of hers. A group of school age fillies were chatting away at the cafe. He soon realized he had absolutely nothing to do, no rule to impose, no grand master plan. He glanced out of town and saw an apple orchard. He gave a slight shrug, "Maybe they would be willing to accept some free help."

Not in any real hurry, he glanced over the trees. Each was filled with an assortment of apples. It didn't take long to find somepony hard at work and he soon trotted up to find Applejack.

"Howdy, what can I do-o," she lost her enthusiasm when she noticed who it was. "What are you doing here?" she asked in a rather neutral tone.

"I am bored," he said in reply.

"Well I, ain't here to entertain ya," she said as she slammed both her back hooves into the nearest tree. It loosed a half a dozen apples into buckets resting in the grass.

"I didn't mean it like that, just keeping my answers short. Need any help?" he asked, watching her head to the next tree.

"What makes ya think I would want yer help?" Applejack asked, keeping a bit of a thorn in her voice.

"Well I never knew a business mare to turn down free labor," Sombra replied off hoof. She paused a bit and glanced him over.

"Well, when you put it that way," she said, tapping her chin as she glanced upward in thought. "Nope," she said as she bucked another tree. 

"Brake her for her insolence!"[/i" cried out a voice. He felt another pain in his skull but he pushed it back as he ignored his dark impulse. 

"Please, I really have nothing to do," he said in a low voice, clearly not happy with having to almost beg to help somepony. She took a long look as she glanced over the trees.

"Fine, no magic. Ya do it the earth pony way or not at all," she said insistently.

"Fine," he said as he nodded his head. "You don't mind if I watch you in order to get the idea, do you?" he asked casually.

"Um, sure," she allowed as she glanced at him through narrow eyes. She headed to the next tree and she bucked it, a bead of sweat dripping out from under her hat. She glanced over at him as he continued to watch her. His eyes gave nothing away. She took care off two more trees before she started feeling a bit self conscious. 

He finally took a step forward and, with one well placed kick from his right hind leg, dropped all the apples from the tree. She felt her face drop for a fraction of a second before recovering. Only one stallion had that level of power and control, and that was Big Mac.

She felt her hoof scratch at the grass. She was not going to let some dark friend-stealing stallion out do her at her own game. She slammed a hoof into the tree and focused every muscle into the task.

He picked up on the challenge, and before long the two were heading down the rows. Three sets of eyes fell on them. 

"We need to halp my sis," said Applebloom as she looked at her two friends.

"Doing what exactly?" asked Sweetie Belle as she looked at her red maned friend. "What'd he do?"

"Challenging a fellow Apple, and kidnapping a friend," she said as she pounded one hoof over her other.

"This doesn't seem to be a smart move," she cautioned.

"Please, we could get our evil vanquishing cutie mark," Scootaloo said as the realization left a twinkle in her eye. Concern seemed to vanish from the three as they each gave the other confidence. 

"Charge!" all three shouted. Sombra paused as he heard the battle cry and he soon found he had added weight to each of his legs.

"Fillies, how cute," he thought as he felt an amused chuckle escape his lips as he ignored the extra weight. Suddenly a ripple of pain erupted from his skull. He caught himself on the tree with his free hoof.

"Did we get him?" Scootaloo asked as she glanced at Applebloom. 

"Sombra," Applejack all but shouted as she realized he slumped against the tree. The three fillies scattered.

"She is only concerned for her friend," Sombra said in a bitter realization as the pain seemed to bind his tongue. Then a web of sadness hit him.

"Well brat, another day is safe," said a familiar voice. He suddenly felt very smothered, as if something was wrapping him in a blanket. He felt a release for a brief second and he could feel fresh air.

"What happened?" he said as he dropped to the ground.

"Sombra?" came a voice. He could see a purple image blur in and out of focus.

"Yes," he said. He shot up, the blankets falling to his side. "Sorry," he said as he grabbed the blanket with his magic. He stepped off the bed, placing the blanket back. 

"You seem okay. How are you feeling? You just took a long nap," Twilight said as she glanced at the ground for a brief second.

"I feel rested and at peace. I haven't felt this relaxed in a long time. So how long do we have before the gala starts up?" he asked.

"Well, tomorrow actually. I was worried you wouldn't wake up in time to go," she said. He glanced at her.

"How sweet," he said with a light chuckle. "I hope Applejack and the other fillies were not too jarred at my sudden need for rest."

"Applejack was worried. The girls, however, seemed a bit more odd. They seemed to think they had hurt you and were crying, worried they were the cause."

"Those three, well they have spirit and a lot of courage. Admirable so I think we should check up on Rarity." he said as he took a deep breath. "Shall we," he said as he bowed his head and held out his hoof.

"Such a gentlecolt," she said with a bit of mirth. 

"You want to come, Spike?" asked Sombra as he glanced back at the baby dragon.

"You're not mad at me?" he asked.

"Mad? It's understandable, you panicked. Just realize that running away from someone who is trying to protect you is not a wise decision, especially in a dark forest," he said. "Now hop on, I would like to get going," he said with a nod of his head. Twilight watched in surprise as Spike hopped onto his shoulders as he made for the door.

"Something wrong, Twilight?" 

"Nothing," she said as she shook her head. The three walked on with no issues. Sombra noticed he was getting some confused glances.

"So, how are you feeling?" Twilight asked.

"You know something," Sombra said and she felt her feet freeze, "I feel great. Like all the little worries and paranoia was nothing more than silly worry. It feels good, if not a bit odd. A war between ponies, I think Celestia would be able to defuse such an issue," he said, more to himself than Twilight.

"Glad you are coming around," Twilight as she regained her ability to walk.

"Something bothering you?" he asked as he glanced at her.

"Nothing you need to worry about," she insisted.

"If you say so," he said as they found themselves in front of Rarity's shop.

"Hello," she greeted. "Ah, Twilight, Spike, and King Sombra. I take it you are here to see your suit?" she asked.

"Yep," he said with a smile. "Not that I am looking forward to all this. The Gala was always a politician's game and I always preferred well, being productive."

"Don't get us started. Why they invited us again after last time, I will never know," Twilight said with a huff.

"I shall not even begin," Rarity said as she gritted her teeth. He raised an eyebrow, but Rarity required no more prompting. "That Prince Blueblood, such chivalry. I was so humiliated when he used me as a shield," she continued to growl about the night as Spike seemed to tighten his grip on Sombra's coat. He twitched, almost losing Spike as he chuckled nervously.

"Seems like a jerk," Sombra said as she brought his suit over to him. 

"You have no idea, darling," she said as her rant ended. He quickly put the silvery vest on as well as the white coat and straightened the tie around his neck.

"Not bad at all," he complemented as he looked at himself. "I do prefer armor over cotton but this is by far the best suit i have ever worn." He slowly gathered up his cap and armor. "You wouldn't mind me keeping this at your house, would you?" he asked but he noticed Twilight was not listening.

"It's just a crystal rock," he said as he glanced at his cutie mark. "Unless that is not what you are looking at."

"What?" she shouted as her eyes went wide.

"Oh my," Rarity said as she turned away. Spike gave a confused expression. 

"Nothing like that. I was just wondering about your cutie mark; I expected a sword or shield or something along those lines," she said hastily. 

"Actually it is magical, I can do something few can do. I can bend and control crystals. I prefer using magical blasts but it is my talent and something I can back onto if I need it," he explained.

"Oh, that would be useful," she said.

"Oh yes, I can use it to hold magic like a battery. My favorite little trick was bending sunlight." he said

"Lot of use for that sort of thing, I take it?" asked Twilight.

"Not as much as you would think. Everyone was tame after Discord so even a political debate that involved even a small bit of mud slinging was considered shocking. But we did have our fair share of issues. Changlings, Diamond Dogs, and other creatures saw it more as an opportunity then a time of harmony. So me and what few that kept their wits and their sword were the only thing outside of the Princess keeping the peace."

"Sounds terrible," Rarity replied. Sombra nodded as he removed his suit.

"So when are we heading out?" he asked.

"Tomorrow evening," Twilight replied. "We are going to hire a cab this time." she said as Rarity gave her friend an amused smirk.

"Sounds good," Sombra said. "Well we have a lot of time to kill. Any ideas?" he asked.

"Well I have orders I need to work on," Rarity said as she glanced back at her drawing board.

"I have some research I need to do," Twilight admitted. 

"Don't tell me you have things to do as well,"  Sombra said as he looked at Spike.

"Well this is Ponyville, it's a small town," Spike said with a shrug.

"Well I guess so. I think it is time to head to the library then, maybe find a good book to read," he said and with that he made his leave.

"Need any help, Rarity?" Spike asked as he looked at the white unicorn.

"Thank you, darling, but I am fine. It's mostly small things, nothing too serious," Rarity said. "I do admit I feel sorry for him. He doesn't really have much to preoccupy his time with."

"Yeah and he only knows us and we don't exactly have a good history with him. But he is getting better. I just have no idea what he is going to do if he does reform," Twilight admitted.

"Well, that's that, I guess," Rarity said, turning away as well, heading to her work. Spike cocked his head to the side. Twilight realized it was as close to an I told you so as Rarity was going to give.

For Twilight, it was easy; before she discovered the friendship of magic, she had a drive, but he had no real drive outside. "I wonder," she mused out loud.
> Gala (yes something bad is going happen its the damn Gala)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"So any plans at the Gala?" asked Spike as the carriage. Sombra glanced at each mare, noticing that they seemed to look somber. Even Pinkie Pie looked dejected.

"Bad time?" Sombra asked as Spike nodded with a smile on his face.

"You have no idea," Rarity said.

"Bad date?" Sombra asked.

"Bad date," everyone agreed in unison. 

"Well, if you want I could be your escort," Sombra replied.

"A royal escort?" she shouted before quickly composing herself. "Well it is rather poor for a king to attend without a lady," she said, trying to pretend she was only mildly interested. "Revenge," she said with a slight smile as she rubbed her hooves together. Sombra chuckled as he placed his crown on his head. 

"Pinkie Pie, you okay? You have been awfully quiet; considering the last party in the north, I figured this would be a dream come true," Sombra said as he glanced over at her.

"Oh yeah, lots of fun," she said with a light smile.

"You all must have missed the after party.  But I take it the stiffs didn't much care for your style?" Sombra asked. She nodded, her hair not looking as bubbly as before. "Must have canceled the city party," he said with a frown.

"City party?" she repeated, her ears perking up a bit.

"Well the Gala is for the whole city. Well it was; for the full night, there were ponies in the street, champagne, wine, music. But I guess they would cancel it, since the morning after everyone called off from work. They were too hungover to get out of bed," he chuckled.

Dash glanced out the window and spotted a familiar pony setting up a stage on the main street. "Pinkie, I know what we are going to do tonight," she said as she grabbed both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.

"Oh know, ya don't" said Applejack. "Not with out me," she said with a smile. "Somepony needs to keep an eye on you lot."

"Unless you want to wake up in a ditch, I would advice the guard party. It's a lot more fun but not as crazy as the streets. Something tells me it would be a bit easier for you to handle the next morning." Sombra advised.

"Guard party?" Twilight asked as the carriage rolled to a stop outside the castle.

"What, did you ever think a the upper crust would be caught dead partying with the help? There is always more than one party going on during the Gala," he replied. "It's usually where I went when I had enough of the politicians," he said with a chuckle. "But I have an appearance to make tonight."

"Ah, King Sombra," greeted Celestia.

"Your Majesty," he said bowing as he looked up at Celestia at the top of the stairs."So nice to see you, Your Grace," he said with another low bow.

"You seem well," she replied as he walked up to her. 

"You as well," he said, smiling and showing off his pointed teeth. "I hope you get some use out of the small library I gave to Twilight," he said, being rather pleasant. 

"Yes, that was interesting, I sent my best book doctor over and he seems to think some will need to be magically repaired. But overall a good addition."

"Glad to hear it. But I don't want to hold up your line to much, so we shall be off. I hope to see you later," he said and with that, he moved on to the ball room. The sound of music filled the air as the upper class mingled.

"Boring!" Pinkie Pie cried out as the music cut out for a second. A lot of ponies glanced at the group nervously and Sombra realized they were not staring at him.

"Well?" Sombra asked as he looked at the classical band. They quickly started back up as the chatting continued. 

"Greetings," came a rather deep voice as Sombra glanced over to see something he never expected. 

"A griffon," he said, his surprise spilling over before he quickly recomposed himself.

"Not just a griffon, King Rumi, lord of the griffins." Rarity said in a low whisper.

"Ah, I apologize. I never imagined meeting a leader of another country here," Sombra apologized as his political courtesy took over and he bowed.

"Sombra," he offered a claw as the two shook. "I hear you are the King of the Crystal Empire."

"Temporarily, issues that plagued it then are still in effect," Sombra replied. "Still, I am looking out for it's best interests," he said as he looked at the griffin.

"Fair point, all in the interest of one's nation," he agreed, nodding.

"Not sure if you have met, but these are my guests: Miss Sparkle, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie," he introduced.

"Pleasure, and this is my escort," he said as he gestured to another griffin.

"Gilda?" Rainbow Dash said as she recognized her old friend. Fluttershy quickly ducked behind Applejack, as the newest addition to the conversation started to talk.

"Sup dweebs," she said her eyes half-open and clearly uninterested in the group.

"Dash," Sombra addressed as she looked at him. "The other party, it should be down the hall on your right. So long as they haven't moved things around to much."

"But," she was going to say but she followed his gaze to Fluttershy. "Right, come on, everypony this is a bit above our pay grade," she said as everyone but Rarity and Twilight made their leave. 

"I take it you are hoping to open up trade with the Empire?" Sombra asked.

"Not really, I know of the way you run things. Perhaps a trade of knowledge is more in order. But to be honest, you don't seem as cold and cruel as your legend makes you out to be."

"Fear is a tool, and I use it well. The Empire is in good shape and ponies are no more obstructed there then they are here. They just fear me instead of love me," he said with a shrug.

"Is better to be loved or feared?" he asked.

"Best to be both if you can afford it," Sombra replied. He felt a swelling of respect for the leader before him.

"Can I go?" Gilda asked.

"But of course, just don't cause any trouble," he said as the female griffin left as well. "Daughters," he grunted.

"Wouldn't know," Sombra admitted. "So what is it you want?" Sombra asked, no longer wanting to dance around the subject.

"Knowledge; what did you do to keep Celestia of your back," he admitted.

"It isn't something you could use," Sombra answered. "I made my life a bit more valuable in her eyes," he said cryptically.

"Ah a hostage, should have guessed. Still, if you need a minor favor."

"Minor is in the eye of the beholder. But If something comes up, I have little issue in asking," he said. "Now, I do believe I need to dance. I fear my companion looks a bit bored," he said as he glanced at Rarity.

"Pardon?" she blinked, not realizing she was being used as a means to get away.

"Of course, it was informative," the griffin said. And with that, he walked away.

"So what did you thin-" Twilight started, only for Sombra to ignore her as he escorted Rarity to the dance floor. She felt a spike of jealousy.

"Well that was interesting. Anypony get the feeling there was more going on then meets the eye?" asked Spike, but Twilight was more interested in the dancers at this point.

------

Fluttershy glanced back as her ears twitched; she could have sworn she had heard something behind her.  It wasn't long before she could hear the sounds of shouting and laughter as the group soon found themselves in a much smaller hall filled with a large group of stallions and mares, all dancing and drinking and shouting at each other. She soon spotted a familiar face in DJ-Pon3, who was letting her library play some nostalgic music in the background as she chewed on some bubble gum.

Everyone seemed to pause a bit as eyes started to fall on the group of additions. Then everyone paused and the music stopped. Then everyone started to bang their hooves on the floor. A few soldiers saluted as the saviors of Equestria were given their due.  She quickly pulled back behind the door.

"Wow, finally some respect," Dash said as she swooped up into the air. A low rumble of laughter echoed in the hall as the music started back up and everyone returned to the party.

"Ah'll say, its a bit more lively. Now lets see if anypony here can dosey doe," Applejack said as she headed into the crowd.  Dash shook her head at the comment as she glanced back at Fluttershy.

"Something wrong?" she asked as the yellow pegasus smiled and shook her head.

"I will walk around  go have fun," she said in a low whisper as she walked farther down the hall. She glanced and suddenly spotted a shadow skitter across the hall. "What are you doing here, little guy?" she questioned as she moved after the creature.

She popped her head around a corner, inside a dark room, however there was a slight glint. "Oh my," she opened the door as the light bled in showing off a massive crystal cave. 

"Darling, you are simply marvelous," Rarity said with a smile as she and Sombra walked away from the dance floor.

"Well it is required of royal blood to sweep a lady off her feet," he said, chuckling. "Ah, it has been a long time,"  he admitted.

"Good to see you are enjoying yourself. Where are the others?"  she asked, noticing the rest of the Element bearers were missing.

"I let it slip where the real party is," Sombra said as he pulled out a stool and sat down. "I am surprised, this music was new back in my day," he said with a light chuckle. He glanced to see Celestia staring at him. "What, you look like you have seen a ghost," he said, his smile fading into a smirk.

"Nothing, it's nice to see you in such high spirits," she said as she smiled at Twilight.

"Care to dance?" he asked as he offered her a hoof.

"Sure," she said uncertainty as he led her to the dance floor. The two stood on their rear hooves as he poked at her collar.

"I really need to get rid of it," he said as he frowned.

"Oh, I had forgotten about it to be honest," she admitted as she became aware of the collar again."It was to keep the Princess from attacking you again."

"Like she would do that," he said as he spun her around. His hooves grabbed behind her neck as he slowly closed the distance. And then despite the music, she heard metal clang to the ground. She felt her breath hitch as she looked at him and realized the collar was gone.

"Ahhhh!" came out a voice as the two spun. The music cut off in a harsh tone as a mare dashed off the stage with a pink bow tie. But that was not what caught their eye. Where the stage had once been was now a massive crystal spike charged with pure black magic. Twilight looked at him.

"I had nothing to do with that," he replied, his eyes wide as he looked at her. They both dropped down to all fours when somepony slammed into Sombra and he vanished. The two slid across the ball room floor.

Pain shot into his side as he spotted the gold gleam of armor. He planted his two right hooves as they dug into the stone tile.  The pegasi knight flew off as he pulled his head back to avoid a blast of magic. He glared as his anger flared then dimmed. He was soon charged by about half a dozen guards. He needed to keep a cool head; it had been a long time since he had to fight. His horn glowed a bright white as an almost translucent shield formed, easily deflecting the hits. In fact, the blasts were almost ignorable. He let the shield down and one blast hit him in the head. It felt like a blunt punch as it forced his head to the side.

His magic erupted as white Latin suddenly glowed on the floor in a circle around him. Chains erupted out of the ground and they swarmed around Sombra.

"Enough! What have you instigated?" Celestia roared as she descended onto the ground. The guards kept at the ready as Sombra gave a testing tug on the chain wrapped around his front hoof.

"I have done nothing to warrant an attack," he said in a calm voice as he held his head up.

"Princess," Twilight tried to interrupt, but Celestia did not seem to hear her.

"This is foolishness on my part, but I want him escorted to dungeon room zero," she said when she was suddenly struck in the side by a rather poor aim. She turned to see who would be foolish enough, only to see Twilight staring at her.

"Don't ignore me," Twilight said as she felt a tinge of anger as she recalled the royal wedding. "He did nothing wrong."

"Twilight, I have no enemies outside of Sombra, who delves into crystals and black magic." Her thoughts were soon cut off as she glanced down to see what had struck her side. It was the collar that had once been around Twilight's neck.

"What about an ally?" Sombra asked as she turned back to him. He pulled forward, the white chains digging into his fur, and then with a mighty pull, they snapped.

"I do believe the idea was keep me away from that door." Everyone looked at him as he glanced to the main window. More crystals spiked out of the ground. "Did you warn Cadance or Shinning Armor to stay away from it?" Sombra asked as a bolt of red lighting flashed on the castle grounds.

"Heh, heh," Celestia said, grimacing as she avoided Sombra's gaze.

"We need to evacuate the area, now!" he exclaimed as his eyes seemed to spark with fear.

"Why?" Celestia asked.

"The crystal caves!" Twilight realized. More screaming echoed down the hall.

"Why do I have a crystal caves?" Celestia asked, glaring at Sombra.

"Well..., it seemed like a good idea for the guy in charge of the army to have a last resort as a just in case,"  he said with a very sheepish smile.

"You have got to be kidding me! You put that there?" Twilight said as she huffed at him, "That place was a nightmare," she said, remembering her time in the caves.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time, I didn't think I would get corrupted or anything!" he shouted back, clearly offended at the remark. 

"Well, he is back," Celestia said as she blew her mane out of her face.

"Okay, we need to get everyone out of the area. The crystal caves take up about a five mile radius outside of the castle wall. We need the guards moving everypony out. Twilight, find your friends and the Elements. We need to work fast cause if we get a storm outside, that means her power is going to escalate." he said his tone going dead.

"Oh my," Rarity said easily summing up the issue.

"What about you?" Celestia asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"I am going to buy some time and clear out some of these brain washed soldiers." he said as he glanced at the intruders. He sent out a massive shield of magic as he kept the corrupted crystal ponies at bay. "Well, what are you waiting for? We've got things to do!" he shouted. They quickly got to work as Celestia started escorting the noble ponies of the upper class out of the area.
> To and back again
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	
The room was cleared out, however he still had a small group of red glowing, each one slamming their front hooves down on the shield he had erected in defense. However it was not on the impending figures. "If they haven't disrupted my stash I should have an armory in the caves," Sombra reminded himself as his shield fell back before rapidly expanding, slamming all the attackers back. He bolted into the hall and he spotted a few more attackers. A mass of white swords appeared above him as he set them flying. 

Each sword hit its mark as all three of the crystal ponies were dropped to the floor. "Now, where is my - that will work," he said as he found a massive hole in the floor. He dropped down into the caves and he glanced around. His ears pricked as the sound of panic and screaming echoed above him. 

"Hello?" came out a voice. He would never have picked it up if it were not for the echo that carried the quiet voice. 

"Oh dandy, just what i need, more civilians to deal with," he said, shaking his head as a massive eight-legged shadow appeared behind him.

"Where are you?" Fluttershy asked, glancing around. She could have sworn she had heard something skittering around, but what kind of creature would live in such a dark cave?  The sound she was chasing was soon replaced and she silently lowered herself. "This bad, very, very bad," she kept repeating until she turned around to spot a massive spider, easily as a tall as Celestia herself, lowering down at a pony. "Oh, no, you don't," she said, picking up her pace to slide in front of the spider and glare at it. The spider was grey and black furred with big black eyes dotting its head. "Don't you dare touch that pony while his back is turned!" she shouted. The spider's legs suddenly curled up, clearly panicked.

"Fluttershy?" asked Sombra as he turned around. She blinked as he stood there in a silver crystal armor that seemed to shine even in the dark.

"King Sombra." she said in a low squeak. His green eyes went to her before slowly going up at the spider.

"Speedy?" he asked. The spider dropped to the ground but the impact threw them both straight up in the air. "How in the world are you still alive?" he asked, completely ignoring Fluttershy.

"Um Mr. Sombra, King, sir, what are you doing here?" she said in a low whisper.

"Did you get stuck in a crystal," he mused to himself, "Well I guess with magic, anything is possible. But a spider surviving in an age old Unicorn bunker."

"Bunker?" Fluttershy asked, holding her hoof out as if to tap his shoulder and get his attention.

"Well let us see, if you did get trapped, the recent shifts could have released you. Ah whatever, if an all powerful celestial being can live for a thousand years, why not a spider," he said, shrugging it off. "Come on Miss Shy, and do try not to mumble too much - a pony would think you were talking to yourself. We need to make sure every pony is evacuating."

"Why?" she asked. A mass of crystal spikes shot out of the ground under her. "Eep!" she cried, leaping and grabbing onto Sombra's neck. More multi-colored rocks began to pulse red as they started to grow. Fluttershy leaped off Sombra, screaming in a low voice. The spider dropped to the ground, it's pincers a good head higher than Sombra himself. He leaped up onto the spider's back, his armor glowing as the visor slide down over his face.

"Get on the spider if you want to live," he told Fluttershy, holding out his hoof. Fluttershy hesitated but with even his horn covered up by a normal looking one, she could pretend he was something other than the dark ruler. She grabbed onto his armored hoof and she was pulled onto the spider just as a spike shot up from were she was. 

The spider didn't bother to hesitate as all eight legs scurried back to the opening, going straight up onto the ceiling and climbing out of the hole while they both clung to the spider. It leaped out of the hole as the whole castle seemed to shake. 

"Speedy, give me some thread!" Sombra ordered. The spider obeyed and each of the beaten crystal ponies was soon wrapped in webbing before being dragged through the halls.

The spider slid around the corner. A group of solders were being beaten back by a much larger group as well as what looked like an blue and orange Pegasus.  "Pull back and reform, shields out!" Sombra roared over the fighting. They all scrambled back; his magic flowed over his helmeted horn and let out a massive shield to let the guards catch their breath. 

The shield snapped as the guards lined up. The enraged ponies clashed against the shields as spears came down.

"Eek," Fluttershy cried out in panic as she covered her eyes. 

"No discipline," Sombra growled, his horn glowing. He shot out a spiral of magic, each bolt raining down and slamming each of the attackers to the ground. He pulled up a mass of spider silk and quickly used his magic to wrap them up as well. The ground broke apart behind them. "Everyone out!" he roared, pointing his hoof forward. Not even bothering to question him, the guards bolted forward. 

"Who is this guy?"  one of the guards asked.

"I am a stallion on the big spider, trying to protect an element. Any more questions?" he shouted. There was no reply. "No, we need to escort ponies outside of the evacuation area. Get them out of the way!" he shouted, glaring through his helmet.  "Bah, you're all useless." His horn glowed as the attackers were pulled up by their hindfeet and knocked together. "We don't have much time. Everyone take a route out and make a quick sweep for any stranglers!" 

The group nodded. "Where did all these crystals come from?" Futtershy asked. But Sombra seemed to ignore her.

"I was nervous about Princess Celestia and Luna when they first came into being. I was paranoid, so when they started to work on the castle for Canterlot, I put in the groundwork for the cave. I kept my mouth shut and had the rail way built to monitor their growth in the long term."

"Oh, um, why didn't you use it when you came back?"

"Not sure, my time as it is a bit blurry but if what happened to Luna is anything to go by." 

"You are not ride of me yet,"

"Sombra?" Fluttershy asked as he felt a cold shiver run through his back. 

"It's a corrupting agent. It does not change what we intended to do but how we do it. Luna wanted attention and appreciation, I wanted to protect my home. We got we wanted in the end."

"That is a harsh price," Fluttershy replied but Sombra didn't comment.

"All guards, this is Celestia. The area has been fully evacuated. All remaining guards, please retreat outside ". Celestia called out in a mass mental telepathic message.

Nearly everypony froze as they all looked at each other. "Did you know know she could do that?" asked one of the guards. Another other shook his head as they all looked at Sombra.

"I just got here, how the buck should I know? Celestia are there any crystal ponies still inside?"  Sombra shouted out.  But there was no response.

"Um," Flutershy started but Sombra cut her off.

"I am going to do a quick sweep and double check.  You take Miss Kindness out."

"Wait!" she called but he had already vanished in a burst of magic. 

"Did you really think I was gone, your craving for power? No, black magic doesn't just dissipate after getting a little distance from the door. And now thanks to that foolish Alicorn, my corrupting power is amplified."

"What are you?" Sombra hissed, pressing his hooves against his skull.

"I am Sombra. It's so sad you can't even remember your own name. Nightmare Moon, and now Bloody Mary. But we both know they are chump change compared to the true bringer of darkness. The fear is growing again, and so are we. You felt it - Pinkie Pie, Twilight, they dulled the fear you created. And with the door vanishing in the distance, the last piece clicked into place."

"So are you me, part me. I don't understand; when I called on your power, I lost my sanity, how are we even talking?" Sombra questioned.

"I like the theory you are concocting. Hmmm, a drop before a resurgence. Maybe they didn't go far enough with the black magic. But we can worry about it later. I think we should find our old student, Luna. I hear she got a taste of black magic during our absence," the voice whispered.

"No, Luna would kill us, i am not as strong as we were before. And those crystal ponies, they are doing exactly what I said they would, but she wouldn't listen. We kill them first, all of them, and we fix the problem," Sombra said aloud. "No, no, we didn't tell her to stay away from the door. Everything is fine, Celestia ruled for a long time. Her ideals worked out," he slowly told himself.

"Luna got corrupted after we took the city with us. Something is wrong, the ponies need protection, and Celestia was beaten. They deserve a better, more powerful ruler," it reminded. "She has gotten soft, she sent a student after us and expected it to win."

"Twilight, she is grooming Twilight. If she won, she would be stronger for it, she beat us once," Sombra told himself. A crystal shot out down the hall.

""She had help, she always had help. The elements, you gave her everything. You gave up the throne for her, you gave up your authority, and even your right as mentor. You ave her everything, and let this insect run around. And she throws a student, ill prepared, into a fight. She slandered you, denied you! She sees in you a threat and she will kill us! You know it! You have dragon blood in you, you will live long, maybe longer then her. You can do it, take the throne back," his dark half whispered in his head. More spikes shot into the hall, destroying the walls and priceless paintings. "We loved her."

"Shut up!" Sombra cried out, tossing his helmet to side, unaware of the danger surrounding him. "I don't need a reminder!" he cried out.

"We know what she truly is and not what she pretends to be. We are a threat, she will end us just like we always believed she would. Strike her down, we have the power. We can control the sun, we are the true heir!"

"I am."

"Sombra!" said a voice.  He looked up.

"Celestia?" he asked. "I am not Sombra, have you forgotten my name?" he asked, his eyes wide as she pulled back. "I can't remember my real name," he murmured. She levitated him and she settled him on her back. He curled up around her body.

"It's okay, we are going to get you out," she told him. He looked up at her smiling face.

"It's still in me, and its growing. I feed off fear, and she is creating fear," he said, his voice dwindling.

"Just hold on," she picked up his helmet with her mouth and slipped it back on his head. "We will be safe soon," she said in a soothing voice. 

"She is going to kill you."

> First Dawn and Good Intentions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Warning, this is a flashback chapter. Since a few readers complained about the confusion, this will be there to help clear up the history in a much more direct fashion, explain Sombra and my head cannon as well as my take on what an Alicorn is and why Celestia and Luna are different from those like Cadence. Sorry if you don't like them but this is my big Myths chapter were I plan on going nuts with the past, so have fun and hope you like


Celestia levitated the crystal armor, setting it carefully to the side of the deep red tent the royal guard had set up. Thanks to Sombra's cave, a good portion of wealthy ponies had been pushed out of their homes. Twilight and the other Elements soon entered as well. "Always double checking everything? You could never just trust me on anything, could you?" Celestia said as she looked down at Sombra's body.

"I take it this is a regular thing?" Twilight asked. Celestia glanced at Twilight and released a long breath.

"In a sense. Sombra gave me a lot of grief during my early years, and it was only after he and the Crystal Empire went missing did things click. He had a habit of doing things that hampered my ability to rule," she admitted. Twilight and the others remained silent as she continued. 

"Well, after we set everything up, he started to go behind my back a lot, making it increasingly difficult to rule. He burned a lot of magical knowledge and hid histories away from me. After Discord, few ponies were able to recall a lot of events - even the historical origins could be called into question. Outside of very basic information, we lost a lot of history for each of the pony clans. He seemed intent on destroying so much. He vanished for long periods of time, taking the military with him. I tried to teach him the magic of friendship, but it seemed very hit and miss. After a while, I started working him on as many projects as possible which led him to the Crystal Empire. I had plans for him, but I wasn't sure he would succeed. But I kept a straight face for his sake."

"So how many students have you had?" Pinkie Pie asked, leaping at the back of the tent.

"How about we get a bit more on Sombra, this door, and how we are going to deal with Cadance?" Applejack interrupted.

"Well, Luna and I were in a tower of the old castle, you should be a bit familiar with it. What was going on before is very sketchy but it was where we first appeared, and where we met Sombra."

"So you have no recollection before this point? A mom, a dad?" Twilight asked. "Well Cadance, wait, how do Alicorns come into being?" Twilight asked, never even thinking about such an beginning.

"Normally it's about earning it, but neither me nor Luna have any recollection on the matter. Let me tell the story before anymore questions," Celestia said.

"Now then, where was I?" Celestia wondered before she regained her train of thought.

"I remember it like it was yesterday" Sombra mouthed as Pinkie Pie tilted her head. She raised her hoof but everypony glared at her so she put it down but kept an eye on Sombra.


~ Over a thousand years ago ~


A young stallion with a crescent horn glanced up at the sky. "Moooooooo!" came out a large cry as a cow drifted along the horizon. It seemed to be chewing something as it floated across the yellow colored sky. "What do you call random when it becomes common place?"

He moved along the castle walls as his older sister sat in her platinum gown, pushing herself along the hall by her front hooves. 

He stopped in front of a massive door with a sun and a moon on it. The Celestial Tower where the unicorns used to move the sun and the moon. It had almost been a decade since the last group had come out. His hoof twitched in the direction, but he hesitated. He stared at the tiles on the floor. He glanced down the hall with a row of twelve massive statues of Alicorns. Fourteen Alicorns as well one painted onto the tiles, a moon and a sun orbiting it.

Each Alicorn represented a virtue, while another Alicorn represented it's opposite. And in past years, some had even claimed that Alicorns had been born by understanding a virtue or a vice to it's fullest extent.  He glanced down the hall as he arched his neck. One time a statue had even come to life and tried to vaporize him.

"Boom!" he heard while a low thrum echoed in the hall. He leaped into the air, shooting behind a decorative suit of armor. The thrum echoed again and then there was a low knock on the far door.

"Hello?" the stallion asked as his long skinny legs started moving. The knock echoed in the hall again and he made his way back to the start of the hall. He snapped his hoof at the first tile but it didn't move this time. He took a deep breath and  started down the long hall. The sun moved in the sky as the vices with bat-like wings seemed cast long cruel shadows over him when he looked at them. Selfishness, Despair, Cruelty, Greed, Falsehood, Hate, and Fear.

The final Alicorn glared, it's stone eyes gleaming red. The stallion tripped over his long legs, falling back onto the tile floor. He charged back as the tiles started to fall apart into a swirling pink and purple abyss.  He skidded to a halt; the knocking at the door was a little quieter. 

He looked back at the Alicorn and a cruel laugh echoed along the castle. He spun on his hooves, charging the door and cracking it open as his horn glowed purple.  He opened it up as his eyes went wide. Two Allcorns fillies, going by their size, sat there. One was white with a pink mane and a sun for a cutie mark, the second was slightly smaller with a dark blue coat and a black splotch around her moon cutie mark. 

"Food," said the smallest one as she kicked absently where the door was once at.  The older one didn't move as his shadow loomed over the both of them. 

"Aren't you a little short to be an Alicorn?" he wondered out loud, picking up the pair with his magic. He dropped the smaller on on his back as he picked up the pink and white one. He glanced back at the hall and he sniffed at it. He walked back, hoping the kitchen had not run away again. He stopped and glanced at the Alicorn representing fear. Then, like the royal, he pointed his nose in the air before trotting off down the hall. The door suddenly slammed and he all but dropped the two, scurrying off down the hall to find the kitchen.

He sat down on the floor while the smaller Alicorn nipped on a cookie. "Hi, my name is Luna!" she chirped as as she continued to feast on the over-sized cookie. It was almost as big as she was. 

"Yes, and I am Celestia. Do you have a name?" said the older, who had just finished off a Dandelion sandwich and a piece of cake.

"Um, you can talk," he said. The fillies looked at each other.

"Yes, is that not normal?" Celestia asked, looking up at him.  The colt glanced down at her, still not sure how to take the fact that a filly had some how been given the honor of being an Alicorn, yet was still smaller then his own lankly teenage form. 

"It's been a long tyme since speech has been implemented in these grand halls."

"Why you talk so funny?" asked Luna as she titled her head. He pulled his head back.

"Tis required for we are in the presence of ladies and divine Alicorns. Tis also a sign of my station in the noble house of the Unicorn Kingdom," he replied, swallowing.

"Alicorn?" she asked. The stallion sighed.

"Why do I get the feeling you are going to be popped full of questions?" the stallion asked. The filly of course turned red at the comment.

"Well, that is rather silly. I am much more interested as to how you moved that cookie from the top shelf without even touching it," Celestia said.

"It's called magic, how do you not know about magic? You have a unicorn horn and at your age, surely you know how to do some magic?" the teen colt said critically. 

She scowled at him. "Teach me," she ordered. The stallion paused before looking at Luna as if the younger filly would tell him something he had missed. She ignored them, still eating a cookie. 

"Great, another bratty filly," he said out loud. Celestia puffed up her checks at the comment but followed after him.

"He really was up tight and very cautious, he had this weird thing about avoiding certain tiles, but always had his nose in the air in a very prideful way. It did not make the best of first impressions." 

"I had no idea back then on how to deal with ponies in general. I fell back on tradition, figuring it was the best way to impress. Little did I know, I could have walked around on my front hooves and they would have called it normal at the time." 

"He spent a lot of time teaching us basic magic and even a bit of history. We got to see the effects Discord was having, even inside the old Castle. It wasn't long before I started looking for a way to put an end to his cruelty."


~ Not to much later ~

"So what are these Elements of Harmony?" Luna asked as she looked up from an book titled 'Ye old Legends and other stories for Children'.

"An old mare's tale," Sombra said, flicking his tail at the book. "Something about the great virtues vanquishing a great evil," he said, shrugging his shoulders as he glanced over the dusty shelves. He went to reach out for a book on the lower shelf but the dust moved suddenly away from his hoof. 

"Sounds just like what we need!" Luna declared, shutting the book and disrupting her sister's concentration. A massive pile of books fell to the ground. 

"To be honest, at the time neither me nor Sombra even thought such an artifact existed. Both of us had to deal with a lot of I-told-you-so moments from Luna for a good while after."

"Luna, it's an old tale, so old it even predates Equestrian speech. No pony is even sure which race even came up with the story," Sombra said, trying to explain why it would be impossible to even attempt to find it.  

"But we could go searching the world over for them, and then we could blast Discord away with a massive rainbow!" she said, leaping into the air and allowing her wings to let her hover for a brief second.

"No," the other two said at the same time. "Sis, this is not a discussion. We are not going on a wild goose chase."

The stallion and Celestia winced as a low scrapping noise echoed around them. They both watched Luna run around the royal vault. 

"Oh, what is this?" she asked, pulling a battle ax out from behind a shelf of books. 

"That would be a battle ax, now put that back before you hurt yourself," he said and she let go of it.

"This is so boring," Celestia moaned as she slumped onto her belly. 

"Well, practice your magic then," Sombra said. Celestia didn't reply but did so as Sombra slowly watched Luna scurry about.

"I had just closed my eyes for a second and before I knew it, I was out."

"After Sombra went out cold, Luna and I started running around."

"Celestia, are you sure this is a good idea? The stallion might get lonely," Luna complained as she glanced back.

"Look, something is wrong and we are going to fix it,"  Celestia said. "Now then, if I were a big book on getting rid of monsters of chaos, where would I be?" Celestia asked out loud.

"Next to the Elements of Harmony?" Luna asked. Celestia just shook her head. The two wandered off, leaving Sombra in the armory.
> First Dawn: Chaos reckoning 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Time moved oddly, with the sun and the moon on the fritz. But we did grow quickly. Discord was never all that active for a while. And my sister and I spent what felt like years trying to find some solution. Luna always kept an eye out for the Elements of Harmony. Sombra remained in the castle. I don't have to much of an idea but he did send messages to me. Directions and spells and other tidbits of magical history. We did a lot of globetrotting, not that it did a lot of good; with everything changing, we ended up in all kinds of places just trying to walk down the street. Discord was making it clear that he needed to be stopped. But outside of my sister's idea of the Elements, neither of us could come up with anything. Until we got a message from Sombra via a green flame." 

"It seems he found something," Luna commented.  Celestia reread the letter and noted the urgency of it. "I wonder if he looked into the Elements."

"Luna, I very much doubt it," Celestia said, looking down at her younger sister. "Well, he might have but something has gone down. I don't have a good feeling about all this," she admitted. The two opened their wings up and a red cloud suddenly puffed into existence. Little furry animals began to drop down, landing with a squeak. One landed on Celestia's muzzle as she looked at the animal that seemed to smile at her.   

"Is that a chinchilla?" Luna asked. Her older sister squeaked out a sneeze and the furry creature flew off her nose. 

"So it would seem. I have no idea how anypony can function in this world. Something needs to be done,"  Celestia said as wrinkled her nose.

"Maybe something that is an opposite of chaos, perhaps order related?" Luna asked.

"Luna, unless we can find some kind of artifact or somehow manage to beat somepony who is capable of doing whatever he wants at a whim, I don't have a lot of hope," she admitted. With that, she took off into the sky. Luna flew up after her sister and the two soared around the unusually colored clouds and objects that littered the air space.

"Sister, I think we can do something. I have been having dreams about a tree. It has some markings on it and seems to made out of crystal," Luna said, glancing away. Celestia glanced back at her sister.

"Does it show you anything about the tree?"  Celestia asked.

"I think it may help us; it wouldn't hurt to look into it," Luna said, perking up at her sister's interest. She bit her lip, shifting her eyes as she contemplating the possibility. 

"We can see if Sombra knows anything. Despite all of our traveling, we still don't know the land. No thanks to Discord," Celestia grumbled.

"He did warn us this would likely happen," Luna reminded but her sibling seemed to ignore the comment. The pair spotted Sombra walking out of the castle.  The two landed in front of the castle as Sombra walked out with a scroll in his mouth, trotting away. He stopped and looked at them.

"Wow perfect timing," he said, glancing at the pair and levitating the scroll away so he could talk.

"What do you mean we just - ?"

"Wait, when did you get so big? Is this normal, I mean, you have only been gone a few months at best," Sombra interjected.

"We have been gone for quite more than that," Luna said. "Many seasons have passed, yet you have remained the same. Why hath thou summoned us?" Luna asked, showing him the scroll. 

"I just wrote that," he said, revealing the very same scroll. "Give me a second," he said, holding the scroll up to his mouth and a green flame burnt the message before the smoke carried it away.

"Well, let me show you something. After you left, I felt the need to look into something that could help get rid of Discord. And Luna got me thinking. So I did some research; I didn't really find much but I did find something in the Tower of Days where I found you. I am not sure what it is but hopefully it will help," Sombra explained as they entered the tower. There were words etched into the wall.

Find the Tree of Harmony 

"Well that's not much of a clue," Celestia replied.

"Well, normally you would be right. However, not everything has been written down, but the," he paused to glance over at Luna, "Elements of Harmony are presumed in some very small, very obscure legends to be the means of transporting the Elements of Harmony from the northern Kingdom of the Unicorns. This was all back before the Crystal Empire was even a possibility."  

"Told you!" Luna cried out as she jumped around, slapping her wings in celebration.


"Crystal Empire?" Celestia asked and Sombra sighed.

"So full of questions, even if you are bigger then me. The Empire was born from the Earth ponies that had stayed in the north, taking the lesson of the Windigos to heart, thriving on love and the Crystal Heart. They eventually got a coat that became a signature. Most wizards classify them as a subset of Earth pony, but outside of the coat, they are not all that special," he said with a shrug.

"So where do we find the Tree and the Elements of Harmony?" Luna asked, cutting off Celestia's string of questions.

"Not a clue, but if I were to wager a guess, someplace close to this castle. If it can do even half of what the legends say, it's got to be close and where better to find a tree than in a forest?" Sombra asked. "But I am afraid that is all I found. I figured, since somepony really liked the theory and that, well, it's the best hope we have," he said, shrugging his shoulders as if he didn't really care at all.

"After that, it was all just a matter of time. We found the Elements and with them defeated Discord. There was a lot of work getting everything organized afterwards, with the king all but witless and the Royal Family reduced to Sombra, I was put in charge.  Sombra took to teaching Luna and I magic full time. He was a very helpful adviser.  However, it was about that time Sombra started making requests."

"And correct," Sombra said as he set the book aside. "Everything seems to be in order; you've passed your magic evaluation," Sombra said as he closed the book. Celestia pranced in place and giggled at the accomplishment

"Well then, now what?" she asked. She looked back, only for a mare to point at the door. "Right, thanks. I appreciate you going through all the work to help test me. Would you like to walk with me?" she offered.  

Sombra dropped his neck over the arm of the sofa, his eyes looked a bit dull. "Sure," he said, rolling onto the floor. 

"You okay? You seem to be very inactive," Celestia noted as the two walked through the stone halls. Sombra looked at the mare behind them before he glanced back at her.

"There is nothing I feel inclined to do. The military is still in it's infancy and there is little more I can do but run them through drills at this point. And as for the day to day work of ruling a country, that has fallen on your shoulders. Not that I blame anypony, I am not fit for leading anything besides an army. But I have been so bored; no book can hold my attention and now activity can only distract me for long," Sombra replied as he shrugged.

"Well if you want, I could send you around to keep the peace and help rebuild some order," Celestia offered. "I think Commander Hurricane has been active and driving some of the ponies here up the wall," she replied. "But um, I do have an alternate motive. I want you to make some friends, so not everypony I am sending is military, okay?"  

"Okay," Sombra said with a sarcastic tone.

"Don't take that tone with me. You have been stuck here for a long time, you need to socialize." she said. "I mean, you only talk to my sister and I. Two ponies do not make a social pony."

"Like you're one to talk. You surround yourself with advisers and help, not friends," Sombra said, glancing back at the mare who had shifted trying to use Celestia as a cover from his gaze.

"Sombra I am friends with all ponies, and you should do the same. Authority does not make you a different or better pony above others," Celestia replied. Sombra raised an eyebrow at this.

"Perhaps you need to take off those rose tinted glasses. By being an authority, you separate yourself from others. And it is not an action that breeds friends. Because what is good for all or some, is not always the same for those who help the few."

"I do not believe in something so unbendable," Celestia replied, looking down at him.

"If you say so," Sombra grunted in response. "I will take you up on that, all the same. I could use some space and some air."

"I knew then that Celestia was on thinner ice then I thought. I knew if her rule was to last, I needed to go out and make damn sure no pony, griffin, or anything else in the world was gathering up some kind of power to take over. I needed to make sure there was not another war and this little friendship mission was my ticket out." 

"After that, it was all downhill. When he went down that path, he did not come back the same. He appeared to have friends, but he didn't seem to be any happier or better. He did things behind my back, battlements and the like. He seemed to have devolved into paranoia, always expecting the worst, even more so then before."
> First Dawn: Services Rendered
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"So things went down from there, huh," Applejack said as she looked at Celestia who nodded.

"And for the longest period of time, I believed that his little exploit in the Crystal Empire was just his final gambit," she admitted. "I believed him as a war stallion and a prince who wished his lands returned to him." 

"Well that explains a thing or two," Sombra grunted, rolling out of bed and to his feet. "But I very much believe you mistook my actions."

"How so?" Celestia asked skeptically.

"If anything happens to you and you sister, do have anyone trained in taking over the kingdom?" he asked.

"Princess Cadance," she replied without a second thought.

"Well, on the off chance you did kill me, she would be ruling the Crystal Empire. Does she have any ruling experience? Heck, does Luna know the day to day events?" Sombra asked. Celestia bit her lip.

"I knew this would happen. You put an immortal in charge and she never stops to consider the idea that something may happen to her. Or Faust forbid you want to take some time off! I put regulations in line so you wouldn't have to worry," he continued. "Not to mention, you have no security forces anywhere."

"We have enough issues with my foreign policies. An army of any size would only cause more issues," Celestia argued.

"Yes, because timberwolves and hydra are just so reasonable. I had planned out laws that would allow you to have a police force,  a judicial system. I bet you still deal with nearly every issue personally, don't you?" he accused. She grimaced.

"The royal guard...."

"Answers to you, a few stones, and a group trained to follow you around. Do you even send them out on patrols? And the Wonderbolts are our best sky performance and yet, they get sent in against a dragon? Celestia, I love what you did with the place, but you let the Changling population get so big, it attacked you. And the only thing that saved you was a last second power of love from Cadance. It should not have been allowed to happen."

"What is that supposed to mean?" she declared, her temper flaring up.

"We preen them off. Things have been getting out of control with magical issues. Not to mention how out of control the Everfree Forest has gotten," Sombra said.

"Oh, like you would be able to do better," she said. Everypony began to cower as she looked down at him.

"You have not had a single bit of opposition in the political world, have you? Did anyone even think to add more troops or hunt down the changelings? You still have a queen, those take near five hundred years to mature properly. And if she had won, do you have any backup plans, anypony fit to take over that does not live in Canterlot?" Celestia slammed her hoof down.

"I have had everything under control for over a thousand years. You may seem to think you have all the answers," she said, looming over him.

"I am here, Cadance has been corrupted and you have lost your castle. You have no army and our only hope is ridding the world of Cadance or that your magic stones may have some unforeseen side effect. You seem to have been running on blind luck, and luck runs out," he returned. "What is your solution now?" 

"Send in the Elements. Purifying Cadance should be more then enough to bring everything back down to normal," Celestia said.

"And you think it will be as simple as that. There is only one way in that will not be guarded. I set it up so no Crystal pony could come in or out without me being able to get rid of them," he said with a smug smile. "You want in, you're going to need me," he replied evenly.

"I very much doubt that," Celestia countered.

"If she is using the Crystal heart, not even I could get in. What makes you think you or the elements could? That barrier is going to be fueled by hate. So unless your magic skills have been allowed to grow, you're not getting in," Sombra held firm.

"I have been learning."

"Not nearly enough. Your skill is not powerful enough if a Queen is capable of downing you with a single magical, blast," he reiterated, looking her dead in the eye. "Hit me with your best shot. Silence me properly. Prove to me you have been growing," he challenged.  Celestia's horn began to glow and everyone - including Pinkie - was now shivering in concern and worry.

The blast went off, hitting Sombra square in the horn before vanishing. Sombra had simply absorbed it. "You used to be a force of good, a being who - with your sister - was able to take down forces much greater then yourself. This is sad," he replied in an even voice.  With no buildup she sent off another blast. This time, Sombra retaliated. The magic sizzled while the two forces pushed against one another.

Twilight watched in awe at the show of pure magical force. She had lost all fear while the pair had been moving. But then she noticed something: Celestia was sweating. Sombra was pushing her to her limits. She glanced over and saw that Sombra was, in fact, losing his cool but he was still restrained. The energy began to fall back to Celestia, inching closer to her horn. Sombra cut it off and she was suddenly hoisted into the air with a levitation spell.

"I demand you put me down this instant!" she shouted, pumping her legs.

"Oh demand, my young student. You may have lapped up everything I taught you, but you have yet to learn everything I know. You are very lucky that few ponies remembered their combat skills or else you would have been dealing with a lot of rebellions after my defeat. And I was half-crazed when we last met. I may be your student in the magic of friendship, but I am still the foremost authority on magic," he declared, dropping her unceremoniously to the floor. "Come talk to me when you are ready to move out," he said, looking at Twilight. "I do believe you have a brother to save." And with that he walked out of the tent.

"Little does she know, I had no right to the throne. And nopony would follow me even if I did take her out," he thought sourly, a frown pulling at the corners of his mouth.

"Sombra," Luna called and the two looked at each other. "Harassing my sister, I take it?"

"Let's just say, forcing her to realize that she is in fact not nearly as all powerful as the ponies of this time would like to believe. I recall you used to be her opposition. No one should go with out a critic, especially a ruler. And if my ability to get under her skin is anything to go by, she has not had one in some time." 

"There was never much of a need."

"Need or not, we all must be privy to both sides. I had hoped you would know that better then anypony," he replied.

"I did and all it got me a thousand years on the moon. Your teachings have flaws, ones that caused my sister and I a lot of grief."

"Nothing is perfect, but I am sorry. A thousand years is a very long time to be with out a sibling."

"You wouldn't happen to have any explanation for that would you?" Luna asked as she eyed him suspiciously. 

"I may have a very, very weak theory. But I would rather not say until I have some proof of it. You may want play peacekeeper. I don't think Celestia is very happy with me pointing out her flaws in front of her student. I have already taken pains to steal Twilight from her."

He moved around her and he walked away when she called back at him. "Do not hurt Twilight. She looks up to Celestia more than anypony," Luna warned.

"You wound me. My interest is only to pass on my own magical knowledge. If she was male, my emotions would be the same. There is only one mare in all of history who has ever moved my heart. Besides, Twilight is much too young for me," he replied, sauntering off into the forest of tents. 

"Stallions," Luna said with a huff, walking into their ow tent.  As soon as she entered, she felt Celestia's nose press against hers. "Hello, sister," she greeted.

"Where is that arrogant prick?" she asked. Luna glanced back over her shoulder.

"He vanished into the tents," Luna admitted.

"Humiliating me like that," Celestia growled. "The nerve of that stallion. Twilight, go find him and make sure he is getting ready to go. I would rather not let this problem stew anymore than it has," Celestia ordered and Twilight scampered off to find him. 

"I have never seen her so worked up before. Not even discord ever ruffled her feathers this much," Rarity whispered. Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement. 

"Of all the no good rotten things. She is not even a fraction of the skill from when she took me down. This is insulting," Sombra snarled, glaring as he blasted a rock. His eyes flashed red again but it vanished just as quickly. He paced back and forth ,grumbling and growling through sharp teeth while a stream of smoke billowed from his mouth.

"That was not very wise," Twilight said. Sombra froze and glared at her. She felt her ears fall back from the malice in his eyes. For a second, she was worried he was relapsing. "Something bothering you?" Twilight asked, knowing full well it was a stupid question. But the fact was, if she didn't ask, he would most likely keep grumbling.

"Yes, she learned nothing. All of that time I spent teaching, all of my time and energy wasted. She was stronger; once, she was more than my match so many hundreds of years ago. And for me, more or less a normal unicorn. I'll admit, there is some play in my power. But that's not the point! She shouldn't be having too many issues. This, it's got no structure, no defenses, no support. She is so content and confident in her power that the idea of setting up some kind of government to take over rattles here. If she dies, the whole place of Equestria will collapse in on itself."

"I have faith that things will go on. You make it sound like the rest of the world relies on her. Ponyville is self sustaining; in fact, Canterlot is the only city she actively works in. Even if something did happen," Twilight started to say.

"Your faith in the world is touching, but forgive me for not sharing in your optimism," Sombra said with a frown. "Maybe I don't want it to be true," he admitted.

"What do you mean?" she asked, sitting down and looking at him.

"I was born to be a warrior, to act in the best interest of the pony race. If Celestia is right, I am worthless. Everything I am and tried to do just causes more pain and problems. That's not an easy concept to let in. I would rather not think of it as true." he admitted, letting his head drop.

"I am sure someone with your skills could be infinitely effective in helping the world, not just Equestria." Twilight said, resting a hoof on his shoulder.

"Hmm," he grunted, looking up at the sky. He closed his eyes and thought back.

	"Are you sure of this? It seems like a needless law," an ambassador griped.

"It's emergency power. It will allow a line of succession, something to make sure there is a leader if anything happens." Sombra said. "Just make sure it gets to the council. At this rate, she is going to be running everything on her own. And that is dangerous and draining."

"She's been doing fine. In fact, without her," a brown stallion was saying before being cut off.

"I know the facts; I don't need you telling me. I was at her side every day since Discord was taken care of. I don't need a reminder; I need to remind you that nothing lasts forever. There needs to be some kind of fail safe," he said, slamming his hoof on the table. The politician jumped at the sudden motion.

The two were arguing over the idea of enacting a few laws. But the group was still trying to pick themselves back up and so, any type of lawmaking outside of Celestia was almost out of the question.

"She has her younger sister and besides, your father and sister are in no shape to lead anyone. The only other pony with the credentials is you," he said, looking away from him. He looked out of the stone window and down into Luna's night.

Sombra sighed; it always came back to that. Anyone who could became the third in line could be seen as a trouble maker at best or someone who craved power. No one wanted to be painted that, and Celestia and Luna were not putting out any laws that would put anypony in that position.

"It does not need to be a monarchy. Put a vote or something, any kind of fail safe." Sombra said, waving his hoof.

"But then the council would look bad. We have gone through too much. It's best to put these things off for now. Let it settle and see if Celestia needs one. It's been so long since an Alicorn graced us, who know how long she will live."

Sombra choked down his words; he knew the details of Discord's defeat. He knew that if he ever got out that Celestia would be a target and if something were to happen to the Elements, they would be screwed and that was only one possibility. If the Elements existed, there could be a mirror version of them that would be just as destructive.

"I understand, Sombra, I really do but it's better this way. I think it's time for the royal family to step down and let the world heal," he said. Sombra flinched at the colt's touch. 

"You understand nothing," he said in a hushed whisper. He watched the stallion go, spotting a shadow in the hall up to the tower but the figure vanished.

Sombra suddenly realized Twilight was waving her hoof in front of his muzzle. "You okay?" she asked as she looked at him.

"Sorry, just remembering," he admitted, standing to his full height. 

"So I have a question: what did Alicorns represent back then?" Twilight asked.

"Nothing really, it was originally just pony legend, a union of the three major races. However, we did have one for a little while. My grandma said that we had one born from fully understanding loyalty, some Earth pony and she became very important. But History was a bit sketchy on the details. It was during that time that  we crafted the seven aspects of a good life. Loyalty, laughter, kindness, generosity, honesty, love, and hope."

"A lot of those sound like the Elements of Harmony."

"Doesn't surprise me; the Tree of Harmony was a form of inspiration for many legends," Sombra replied. "But that is history and hardly worth worrying. I wonder," he said, pausing.

"About?" she asked calmly, watching him.

"The Elements were not the only magical artifacts of legend in my time. There was the mirror Elements, one of which I was been named after back in the day," he said, letting out a chuckle that held no real humor.

"Really?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, the Stallion of Fear. And with Cadance taking on as the Mare of Fear, you best hope we don't start running into older legends. The last thing we need is the likes of Grogar to come back," he said with a shudder.

"Who?" Twilight asked but Sombra didn't reply instantly.

"A very, very, old legend, one that would have showed up a long time ago if he still existed. But it does bring up some questions and maybe something to keep me occupied after we deal with your sister-in-law."

"Ah, I was wondering if you had any recommendations for traveling,"  Twilight said. "We shouldn't dilly dally in this and get moving tomorrow morning at dawn."

"Good idea. As for traveling, the crystal train would make good time but I wouldn't take it to far. I've got a feeling, we should be keeping to the shadows on your next trip north." And with that, Sombra vanished in a mass of darkness and smoke.
> An expected Journey 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"Well," AppleJack said as the group road the tracks in relative silence, as everyone kept silent. Everyone was letting Sombra have his space.

"We will have to stop the train before we get to the station. I have no idea what a corrupted Alicorn will do or if the she will be keeping an eye out. So we play it safe," Sombra advised only for everyone to look at him blankly. "I see, feel free to take that under advisement, I may have been crazy but i still hold secrets and means that will make this easier than your last visit," He said grimly. 

"Right, Sorry we have been rather warm but you giving orders is really rubbing me the wrong way." AppleJack admitted as Sombra shrugged.

"But his voice is so deep and cool, I mean it just screams listen to me," Pinkie commented getting a resounding.

"Pinkie!" from everyone with Sombra as the exception.

"So anyway i was wondering and I don't think I ask, or maybe I did but what is up with your horn is it like mutated or do you get when you become evillllllll. But Nightmare moon didn't have one but she wasn't really evil, but then again it turns out neither were you just a corrupted Stallion who took things to far." Applejack rushed to play damage control as Sombra just stared at the pink one.

"Pinkie, you can just ask about stuff like that," Rarity chided even if nearly everyone seemed very interested in the answer. 

"I was born that way," He said with a shrug, "But sadly Discord's reign kind of killed a lot of lore and even basic knowledge so if there is something behind it I am not aware of it,"

"Still, do you know any ways in?" Twilight asked,

"There is a secret entrance to the north it was built as an old escape but can be used to get it in. It will take us to," Sombra frowned as he  glanced over them. 

"It leads us to the dungeon doesn't it?" Rainbow Dash asked her eyes half open in a rather board expression. 

"How did you know?" Sombra asked,

"Seventh book in the Daring Do series has Daring Do infiltrate an old castle she uses and old escape rough that takes her to the dungeon. were she is captured by her arch rival Ahuizotl captured her expecting this action, and," Rainbow Dash paused as now everyone including Sombra was looked at her for a long second.

"I am starting to think an alternative plan is now needed," Sombra admitted, "What is an Ahu-zolo. Huh?" he asked just looking at her.

"You have never heard of the greatest book series ever?!" Rainbow Dash asked suddenly appearing in his face. "We have plenty of time you should be able to at least get through the first book, if you don't take any breaks," she said, "I will be right back, i have the whole collection at my house," 

"Hold it, we don't got no time for such stuff," Applejack said lassoing Rainbow as Sombra just stared at Twilight in concern.

"The more i am around you the more i question Celestia's sanity for putting the fate of the land in your hooves," Sombra said as he glanced over. The six mares all frowned at him as shook his head.

"Anyway any other ideas?" Twilight asked,

"Give me a hour a quill, and some paper and I could compile a good sized list but i think my first idea,"

"And Why is that?" Applejack asked, 

"Cause if i am as Evil as i am presented handling a divided group of Elements rather than all at once would in face be much easier so i don't think Dividing would be well received nor would I advice it." he admitted.

"That seems reasonable," Fluttershy admitted,  Twilight elbowed Applejack, as she gave the fame girl a uncertain look before glancing at Sombra. 

"So, were is Spike at?" Rarity asked casually hoping to keep the train car from going silent, and Twilight seemed all to happy to oblige. 

"He is staying at the Library to keep everything going while we are gone I don't want him to see what we all think we are going to see,"

"Cadance dressed up like Nighmare moon?" Pinkie pipped in. Twilight drooped her head as her ears fell flat, as she looked a Sombra.

"I know we helped nightmare moon but do you think it will do what it did to Princess Luna all those years ago?" Twilight asked, everyone glanced away nobody was sure the Elements had an odd track record of doing different things. 

"Magic of this level is never predictable, but since we do have something to go buy you should have little trouble with just purifying her, it's the rest of the place that has me worried." Sombra said out loud. 

Little was said, Twilight was lost in her own concerns and while everything was rather smooth, the trip north reignited past concerns; and Sombra's cold complaints and criticisms did little to win friends on the matter.  It wasn't long before the train slowed and came to as stop as everyone looked to the left out of the train to see that they had made it as far north as they would be taken.

"Okay everypony, time mosey,"

"Mosey," Pinkie Pie giggled as they all got into there winter wrap up gear while Sombra threw a grey cloak over his form. 
They dropped into the snow as the wind whipped around them. Sombra glanced at the castle that now seemed to have a cruel red glow to it.  His horn glowed purple as the snow was tunneled into he lowered his head as he lead the way.

"How in the world are we going to see were we are going Darling?" Rarity asked, as Pinkie Pie suddenly pulled down a periscope 

"Like this silly," Pinkie Pie said as Sombra stopped and looked at the object. 

"what in the world?" Sombra asked as he looked at the object and the pony in question. "Magic, it was always wondered if earth ponies had magic and I have seen the proof. As for location. He pulled out a compass, I see we will have little issue in the mater."

Sombra kept yo the pace as he kept going forward checking his position on occasion with the compass and Pinkie Pie's periscope. "Would you like me to take over for you?" She offered as Sombra paused to look at her, and with a shrug backed off.

"So what do plan to do your knowledge?" Sombra asked casually as he looked at her.

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked,

"Well, Celestia rules with her knowledge, your brother protects, and I fight, are you going to blaze your own trail or do you have something in mind?" Sombra asked, Twilight didn't respond, she thought to herself on the idea, "She had done both she had taken charge on some occasions while many other she was an agent of protection.  And while most of the protecting she did involved fighting she never saw her self as combatant.  

"Why do you want to know?" she asked, 

"Well I what you plan to do will determine what i do," He admitted,"If I feel you don't need me I plan on globe trotting, maybe find a new student and explore the world, I have been gone a long time.  But if you need someone with a bit more skill and a bit more hands on I wouldn't mind hanging around." 

"Oh," she replied,

"I am going to say what will keep me around so you answer the question truthfully,"  Sombra admitted, and with that he took cast his own spell doubling the speed they were moving at. 

The two finally came to a stop as Twilight uncovered a circle, Sombra levitated above his head and everyone  headed down into the dark and cold stone of the escape route.  Rarity light up the way, Twilight lead the way as Sombra as he levitated the cover back above and then collapsed the snow tunnel. 

He dropped down next to fluttershy who hung her head away from him. Sombra glanced down at her for a second before looking forward decided that he had nothing to say. 

"Thanks for agreeing with me, I appreciate it," with that he kept quiet.

"This so boring can we just charge in or something? man and you guys are so slow," Rainbow Dash complained clearly upset with all the sneaking around.

"Rainbow Dash darling you would think after all this time you would be use to things taking some time, after all Daring Due only gets a new book once every other year or so," Rarity commented, casually

"I know, its so hard to dell with but you guys could at least pick your hooves up a bit more," She replied,

"As a lady i will not be rushed," Rarity insisted, 

"Oh brother," Rainbow Dash Commented, rolling her eyes at Rarity's comment.

"Is Big Mac her, who's brother?" Pinkie Pie asked as she hopped along.

"Were is your periscope?" Sombra asked, "Don't tell me you left out in the snow," he said realizing he may have just lost her object permanently. 

"Oh i have plenty of those no big deal," she said waving it off, as she hopped next to Sombra, "Hey I have an idea do you think you can..." she whispered as Sombra's eyes went wide as he looked at her.

"I don't see why not, he said casually, Rainbow would you like to have a race to the end?" he asked casually with a sly grin on his face. 

"Please like you could beat me I could walk all the way fast than you could get there," Sombra said casually as he polished his hoof on his chest. 

"Is that a fact, fine than this will so easy, I will have you beat in ten seconds flat." she boasted

"Prove it,"  Sombra challenged she race of in a blur of colors  when suddenly she shouted from far behind them.

"What did you do!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Just having a bit of fun, the race still on unless your giving up," Sombra said casually as rainbow Dash flew and flew and flew each time leaving a rainboom and he wake but still managing to make it no farther as Pinkie Pie just giggled along the way. Twilight was eyeing them  clearly torn between calling them out and enjoying the show.

Dash finally fell out of the sky next to Sombra as she tried to pull her wings in but they flopped to the side.  "Hmm you lasted as long as old Hurricane she was a trooper as well."  He said with a smile.

"Really?" she insistently perked up at the comment.

"Yeah the old war horse and I use to transp around kicking flank and protecting the realm," He said his chest swelling with pride. "We even took down a changeling Queen once. Oh man that was one heck of ride, we almost took each others head off that night. Ah boy that was so much fun, it wasn't at the time but, I miss her so much," 

"Don't tell me your going get all sappy what's next did you get married or something?" Dash asked rolling her eyes but she paused a bit longer.

"Well, no, ahem," he cleared his throat. "She was never that kind of mare and I was a bit to much of a spoiled royal brat, but I had my uses." he said laughing out loud as fluttershy turned every shade of red.

The group reached a point as Dash froze at it, "What spell did you cast?" Twilight asked as her magic rippled across what seemed to be a wall.

"just a simple space spell, i put a spell on it that meant anyone going faster than a trot would be find themselves at the other opening at the very start. It's rather fun you can have one at your home and one in the castle library and jump back and forth between them. I never did teach that one," He realized as he bit his lip at the oversight.

""But that goes against the rules star swirl put down," Twilight replied, "you can't sustain the spell,"

"Star swirl? was a loon bound by the rules he persevered since when did magic or friendship need to abide by a set of rules?" he asked smirking.

His horn glowed purple as the wall vanished show a stone arch way that seemed to be bricked off. His horn kept glowing as the stone parted away showing of more darkness as well as a mass of cells.

"You know I never understood why we have those they never seem to get any use," Rarity replied casually.

"Oh these ones got used," Sombra said, 

"You really know how to kill a mood you know that Sombra?" Applejack asked raising an eyebrow.

"I know Take the stairs head straight up and keep your head down I want to check the cells just in case," Sombra replied as he walked to the left.

"We should stay with you help you search," Twilight advised.

"Do you really want to see something like this? see Your Cadence marked any more than you will have to when you see her again?" Sombra asked, She nodded as Sombra walked away from them his horn glowing brightly as he walked away.

He mentally counted them as he walked by his cloak felt like his old cape as the dark magic that had left nothing more than a small spark in him burned a little hotter. He stopped outside of a door and it slowly opened. Inside was the skeleton of a pony, the one that was leading the group against his presence. The pony had starved to death during his reign, "You should have been tried not killed, no pony deserves to die like this," he said letting his shame and regret was over him.

"Help!" cried out a voice as his head jerked up. 

"By the Faust no," He rushed around a corner when his eyes met Shinning's The captain of the guard was locked up his coat was dirty and the stallion looked have starved. 

"You!" he shouted as his eyes wide, as he fell back, as Sombra cast a spell opening the cell up as Shinning just stared at him in confusion.

"The whole world has gone mad!" he declared. "Candace is locking me up and your freeing me, I must be having a nightmare,"

"Here eat something, your wife opened up a door, and got corrupted your sister and her friends are here to help, and if we are lucky the world will be better place if not everything will be back to normal and I will be locking up and Candace can break you out."

"I can't tell if you are making a joke or not," Shinning replied looking at the stallion had to heads.

"The Hummer of this land is filled with puns, I cannot stand it," he shuddered at the thought. 

"What in tartarus Happened to you?" Shinning Armor asked incredulously. 

"The same thing that happened to your wife, now come on your sister is going to need your help," Sombra replied, Shinning was out the cell around the corner as before Sombra was half done. He raced after them when a crystal pony fell down the stairs rolling hard as Sombra and Shinning noticed the pony had a red tint to it.

"I still don't understand why are they red," Shinning said,

"The feed of of emotion, what ever Cadance has done with that damn heart has lopped back its a connection, I don't remember everything but the heart and the crystal ponies are connected," Sombra explained as the pony hissed at them, Shinning frowned realizing the pony was not in the right state of mine and kicked the pony down the stairs.

"Ten pits says my sister is up there," Shinning said as he charged up the stairs.  The two got up and both ducked as a pony crashed down the stairs both winced as the crystal pony seemed to hit each step on the way down.

The glanced over to see all six breathing heavy but every single one was standing and ready to keep going.  Shinning whisteled at the amount of flank that was kicked.

"Perhaps i was to hasty in my initial judgments," Sombra admitted,

"You wouldn't mind repeating that to Princess Celestia would you?" Twilight asked with a sly grin. 

"Everyone needs a critic,"  he replied casually, as he took a deep breath.

"Sooooooooooooooooooooooooo, what's next," asked Pinkie Pie,

"I have no idea," Twilight admitted.

"I think she's in the throne Room!" Pinkie Pie shouted,

"How would you know that?" Apple Jack asked,

"It's were i would be," she replied everypony glanced as they had no argument or alternative the group raced off as Shinning Armor took point concern and worry etched on his face.