Defender of Justice, King Sombra!

by VashTheStampede

First published 20th of February, 2013

King Sombra wakes up in the forest with a pounding headache and horrifying memories of what he had been. Now, he sets out not to change his past, but brighten his future.

After getting blasted by a wave of happiness, Sombra wakes up months later with a completely different personality and is forced to live with the memories of what he did and what he was. However, with a little patience, and a lot of help, maybe he can change that, and become something a bit better.

Story inspired by the coverart, courtesy the lovely GigaSparkle on DeviantArt.

Fun Fact: This is the first story (and currently one of only three) on this website tagged with Redheart and Sombra.

Chapter 1

In Equestria's northern forests, a black unicorn with a smooth, red horn stirred. His head – scratch that, his everything hurt. A dull, throbbing ache penetrated his head, while the remainder of his body felt like he was constantly being prodded with needles. Sombra stood slowly, gingerly, gently increasing the weight he placed on each hoof as he rose. He shook his head in a vain attempt to dispel the headache, his long, unkempt black mane fell down over his face, sparking an ill-fated attempt to use magic to fix it. A bolt of pain shot to the front of his head, and he fell down again, pressing his hooves to his temples. He noticed his metal boots had vanished, as had his crown, and likely his regal robes as well.

Oh my head… so magic is out of the question. And my clothes are gone. Darn, I liked that robe. That’s unfortunate… but I should be happy to be alive, and to have this familiar form. A blast like that? I’m surprised I regenerated at all. Where am I? Hmm… no snow, but sizable trees. Still relatively northern, but not the Empire anymore. The Empire – oh sweet Faust the Empire. I… I’m an absolute monster, Sombra thought. The memories flooded back to him: his slaves, personal servants he treated with no respect, the ponies he had tortured or even killed, ruling over an unwilling populace by fear, not respect. Sombra sat up suddenly, trying to push away from his own hooves, those hooves that had done so many terrible things to so many ponies. As he recoiled, his mane once again fell over his face. Before his world went black, though, something purple caught in the corner of his vision. Slowly, deliberately, he brought his hooves up and pushed his mane out of his face a second time. He jerked his head slightly to the left, and to his horror, confirmed what he thought he had seen a moment ago – a wisp of purple smoke, trailing from the edges of his eyes.

He set his hooves down sharply, and stood up. A quick glance over his shoulder revealed his trivial fears about his robes to be true, and alerted him to the existence of a jet-black tail, equally as long and shaggy as his mane. Resolving to do something about this later, he charged forward, ignoring the pain that lanced up his legs with every hooffall. He ran through the woods, searching, hoping to find a pool of water, praying to the Fausticorn that the little curls of smoke were just after-effects, signs of a fading past that he could leave behind him. He dodged past a rather large tree, and looked around past it as he ran on. There – a glimmer through the woods, not too far away. Sombra turned sharply, stumbling slightly and twisting his ankle. Hobbling as fast as he could towards the small pond, he broke the treeline and shuffled towards the shore on three legs, swallowing hard before moving his head above the water.

The clear, reflective water confirmed his fears. Trails of translucent purple smoke curled up from the corners of his eyes, the telltale particles drifting ever skyward. Evil and darkness had consumed the unicorn long ago, it would not go away so easily. His green and red eyes were testament enough to that. As well as the eyes, however, he did notice other things about his appearance – namely that his mane, while unkempt, did look rather dashing, and his fangs, though intimidating, were pretty cool if he said so himself. He smiled and tried to put on a seductive look, the amusement at his own failure driving away the regret for a few moments. The cocky smile faded to a frown, the reflection that stared back at him a reminder of things that could not be so easily undone.

He stepped back, letting his rump hit the soft, sandy soil on the edge of the lake with a soft thud. This sand feels so… nice, he thought, after a thousand years trapped in ice, sand makes a rather pleasant seat. Much better than the ice and much better than the crrrrystaaaaaal throne. I don’t know why I thought that was a good idea. I also don’t know why I drew the word crystal out so long. Especially in my own thoughts. Goodness, that became a reflex while I wa-

A sudden gurgling noise brought him back from his thoughts of soft sand and crystals. He looked down at himself instinctively, the sound having seemed to come from his stomach. A second gurgle brought his suspicions to fact, and the disgraced ex-king realized he was really rather hungry. A quick glance around him informed him of no viable food sources, and another noise from his gut informed him of how badly he needed one. Sombra glanced skyward, noting the position of the sun. It was early afternoon, and the fiery orb had begun its slow westward descent. Had he had any with him, Sombra would have placed his bits that heading south would be the most likely way to find civilization, and by extension, food. Sure, the Crystal Empire was likely closer, but he would be killed or captured on sight there, and he had no intentions of going anywhere near ice for as long as he lived. Steeling himself for the trek ahead of him, Sombra turned south and began limping towards what he hoped would be some kindly town.

---

The journey proved longer and less fruitful than Sombra had hoped for. His hunger had become physically painful some hours ago, before the sun had even set. It had been some hours since then, and now he could only hope that he was headed in the proper direction. The tingling, body-covering pain had left him some time ago, and his headache had all but completely subsided. As an experiment, he had learned he could use magic again, but it was still limited and dark. The rock he’d tried to levitate had subsequently become sentient and attacked him. A second Dark Magic blast had vaporized it. I would rather live as an earth pony than use Dark Magic again, he had sworn to himself. It took serious concentration for a pony to conjure evil enough thoughts to cast Dark Magic – and Sombra had done so while trying to produce good thoughts.

Now, limping through the woods, in the pitch black of a cloudy night, Sombra felt an emotion entirely foreign to him, but not to his former subjects. Fear. King Sombra, the former iron-shod ruler of Equestria’s frozen north, was afraid of the dark. Every hoot of an owl, every time a twig snapped under his hooves, Sombra stiffened or let loose a rather un-kingly squeak of terror. More than once he walked into a tree he couldn’t see, and at one point he stepped in a puddle that he swore would be the end of him.

Not twenty minutes ago, Sombra had decided the best option would be to just lie down and sleep to let the darkness go away. However, upon finding a tree he could tuck himself against, so as not to expose his back to the scary monsters aside from himself that may have inhabited these woods, he noticed a flicker through the trees, not too far away. Any light source was better than no light source, and so he began his stately tripping sprint towards what looked to be a fire. Upon reaching the outskirts of the light, the source became apparent – it was indeed a campfire, surrounded by several small tents, one of which had the word “Counselor” painted on the side of it in sloppy red lettering. In the center of the ring of tents the campfire burned softly, ringed by some logs that served as rudimentary benches.

A lone filly sat there, idly poking at the fire with a stick. A small green beret topped her orange mane, contrasting with her light tan coat. Her head was propped up on a hoof, her green eyes struggling to stay open. A yawn escaped her.

She seems like a nice enough filly, Sombra thought, I wonder if she’d let me have any food. I could ki- no. No, I would not. I would never, the king chastised himself. As he tried to decide how to break the ice with the little filly, she spoke up.

“Are you just gonna keep standing there,” she asked, “or are you gonna explain why a big stallion is walking into a camp full of little fillies in the middle of the night?” Her voice didn’t tremble at all, but Sombra thought he detected a little bit of fear behind the sarcasm.

“I…” Sombra began, his voice growling out. He stopped himself – his voice was the voice of a tyrant. Deep, gravelly, with not the slightest trace of mercy or benevolence. The fangs adorning his maw did little to reduce the fear-inducing rumble that words turned into when he spoke. The filly had sat bolt upright and was staring intently at him, rigid, prepared to scream and run at a moment’s notice. Sombra opened his mouth again, and this time the filly was looking at him when his fangs came out.

The scream would have woken any pony within a thousand yards, were there any besides the camp.

In a second, the counselor was out of her tent and between Sombra and the little filly. Sombra’s eyes began to soften, a frown forming on his face. Soon, other fillies began to poke their heads out of the tents, sleepy eyes widening in shock at the imposing black stallion standing in their camp.

“Girls, please, just go back to sleep. Sir, I don’t know who you are, or why you’re here, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave and I’m going to report you to the authorities as soon as I can. Leave this camp and never return,” the white earth mare said, her un-styled pink mane hanging down over her shoulders. Sombra had to admit to himself that she was pretty, but also realized that now was not the time to voice that opinion.

“I… I’m sorry, I just…” he cringed at the sound of his own voice, and the white mare recoiled, the tan filly moving further behind her. Sombra began to turn and walk away, wincing slightly as he put weight on his still-tender ankle. He saw the white mare crane her head slightly, a concerned frown suddenly striking her face.

“Sir? Are you ok? Are you hurt?” She asked. Sombra’s only response was to raise his injured hoof and wave it, before gesturing dismissively and beginning to trot off again.

I’m going to get fired for this…

“Sir, come here, please, I’m a nurse. I can help,” she offered. Sombra turned and looked at her, unintentionally putting on a killer set of puppy-dog eyes. His stomach chose that exact moment to growl, quite loudly, and the pink-maned mare’s heart broke.

“I can offer you food and a place to rest. You’re clearly lost and hungry, and maybe sick, if your voice is anything to judge by. Please, sir, just… let me help you,” then, noticing the filly still attached to her back leg, she added, “Tag-a-long, you can go back to bed, I can deal with this… interloper,” she finished, jostling her leg a little to dislodge the filly. She shuffled sideways, never breaking eye contact with Sombra, and took to a tent as quickly as her side-stepping hooves allowed. The king smiled at the cute action, before returning his gaze to the kind mare in front of him. He cast her a genuine smile, taking care not to show his teeth, nodding in thanks.

“Look, I have food and a spare sleeping mat in my tent. I know you stumbled in out of the shadows and you are a rather large, well-muscled unicorn stallion, and that offering this to you goes against every instinct I have as a mare, but as a pony… I can tell you need help. Please, let me help you,” her head lowered earnestly, eyes pleading. Her tone shifted suddenly. “But I swear, if you try anything funny, I will snap your neck without a moment’s hesitation.”

Sombra gulped. He knew the look on her face; it was one he himself had worn for a thousand years prior. He knew it was the truth. He nodded.

“Good. Now come, I’ve got a first-aid kit in my tent. I can do a more thorough examination when we go back… tonight is the last night of the camping trip. We’re heading back to Ponyville tomorrow. My name is Nurse Redheart, by the way. What’s yours? Don’t worry about your voice. It may have scared me the first time, but I know it now.”

Sombra shook his head, instead picking up a stick from nearby, messily etching his name into the dirt. It was imprecise, and slow, but that was better than hearing his own voice or trying to use magic. When he finished, Nurse Redheart looked at it for a moment, as though trying to recall if she’d heard the name before.

“So your name is Sombra? Well, if you won’t speak, but you’re a unicorn, why won’t you use magic?” She asked. Sombra scratched his response into the dirt. “Bad memories. Well, I’ve heard of worse reasons for a pony to not speak or not use magic. Here, let me get that ankle of yours wrapped. We can talk more in the morning,” Nurse Redheart said as she stepped towards the stallion, Sombra backing away to give her plenty of room to do whatever it was she intended to. As it turned out, all that was was dousing the fire with a bucket of water. The hissing lasted only a moment before darkness set in, and Sombra unconsciously edged closer to his new friend. Well, perhaps ‘friend’ is a strong term for this, but perhaps it can become something. He stopped when he realized he was touching something, and stiffened.

“Big black stallion walks out of the night and is afraid of the dark, huh?” Redheart chuckled. It took her a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, and she placed a hoof over the larger stallion’s shoulder to guide him towards her tent. Ushering him inside, she stepped in behind him and zipped the tent shut.

Chapter 2

The tent itself was designed for one pony to sleep in, and as such, was rather cozy when occupied by two. Add to that the fact that Sombra was a rather larger-than-average stallion, and avoiding physical contact had rapidly gone from awkwardly difficult to accepted as impossible. Eventually, the pair had fallen asleep back-to-back, pressed against one another, blushing furiously.

Sombra awoke the next morning feeling much better. Miss Redheart had some food to offer him, even if it wasn’t much, and she had treated his ankle as best she could. She was a very nice pony, and Sombra liked her. Maybe she could be the first real friend he’d had in over a thousand years.

He still thought it was forward for her to have one of her forelegs wrapped over his shoulder with her stomach pressed into his back. Regardless, given the current state of his voice, he was unwilling to speak – especially as a way to wake somepony up. This being the case, Sombra lay, still as he could be, hoping the kindly nurse would wake up and remove herself soon. Not that he minded the physical contact – it was the first he’d felt in a millennium, and it was so… kind, even if it was unconscious. He just had a sense of foreboding, that what happened when the nurse woke up would be unpleasant if this was the situation she found herself in.

Sombra was right.

He heard a cute yawn behind him and felt her nuzzle the back of his neck, for just a moment, before the movement stopped short. Suddenly the contact of her stomach was gone, replaced by two points of pressure that were obviously hooves. She pushed against him, rolling him over to face her.

“What did you do to me? What did we do?” She growled, raising a hoof to smack the black stallion. Sombra’s only vocal response was a terrified squeak, followed by raising his forehooves in front of his face defensively and bracing for impact.

“What did we do?” Nurse Redheart repeated, her left forehoof raised to deliver the slap of the decade to the stallion she had met last night.

The stallion I so blindly trusted…

Daring to open one eye, Sombra peeked around his hooves, seeing that the furious white mare was staying her hoof, at least for a moment. She barked the question again.

Oh, she thinks we… I would never! Well, as I am. I might have a century ago… but no. This mare friendly, intelligent, and pretty. Wait… well, I shouldn’t deny that. Anyways, I would ne… oh goodness she’s going to hit me!

Sombra’s eyes widened in terror as he thought out her question and the implications, and he wildly waved his hooves in front of him in a desperate attempt to convey that he hadn’t done anything. Nurse Redheart’s glare only hardened, and he felt the last walls break down.

There, in a tent, before a mare not three-quarters his size and less than a hundredth his age, King Sombra began to cry. Not because he was afraid – well, not entirely – but because he knew that were he still the stallion he used to be, she would have every reason to be terrified that he had done something to her in her sleep.

“I’m… I’m sorry…” he sobbed, burying his face in his hooves, instantly regretting speaking. His voice, the voice of a tyrant, only made him cry harder. Unknown to him, Redheart’s visage had softened, and she was having difficulty restraining her laughter at the sight of such an imposing unicorn bawling like a foal under her baleful glare.

“Hey, hey, I should be apologizing. Your reaction alone tells me that not only would you feel awful if we had done something, you would have never tried it in the first place. I’m sorry for making assumptions. I must have rolled over onto you in my sleep,” Redheart explained, blushing a little. She gently pushed on Sombra’s shoulder, and he looked up to see her offering him a tissue. Gratefully taking it, the king wiped his eyes and blew his nose, returning it to the extended white hoof when it was offered.

“Alright, well, chin up, sir. We’re going back to Ponyville today, we can figure things out for you from there,” this is a bad idea this is a bad idea this is a bad ide- “If worst comes to worst I suppose… you could maybe… stay at my place,” Redheart offered, refusing to meet Sombra’s eyes. Had she done so, she would have seen a look of joy not rivaled before or since.

Hazarding a glance at him, she saw Sombra smiling and nodding.

“Well, that’s good,” she continued, “Well, we were going to meet up with the colts’ camp in about an hour, then go home. Come on, you made a bad impression with the foals last night. Why don’t you help them get packed up for the trip home?”

Sombra nodded enthusiastically, his smile growing. He stood up, careful to avoid tearing the tent with his horn, and walked out into the camp, through the tent flap Redheart held open for him.

A dozen little fillies stared at him, wide-eyed.

“I told you Miss Redheart brought her coltfriend,” a pegasus whispered to the earth pony next to her.

“Miss Redheart doesn’t have a coltfriend!”

“I thought she was dating Doctor Stable?”

“Nuh-uh!”

“How do you know?”

“She would have told me!”

“Why?”

“…”

“Well he is pretty handsome!”

“Yeah, he looks big and strong, too!”

“And he’s a unicorn! That’s so cool!”

Sombra recoiled, mortified at the sudden analysis of his looks. He tried to step back, return to the tent, but a hoof around his neck caught him. He turned, only to find Redheart blocking his path. She winked at him and stepped forward.

“See? She winked at him! He’s her coltfriend!”

“Minty,” Redheart said, her voice that motherly tone that was simultaneously comforting and terrifying, “He’s not my coltfriend. This is the stallion some of you saw last night. He was hungry and hurt, so I offered him food and a sleeping mat. I’ve known him for about eight hours, seven of which I was asleep. His name is Sombra, and he is a unicorn, but he won’t do magic and he can’t speak. He’s very friendly, though, so, even if he can be a little scary,” she glanced back at Sombra, who smiled sheepishly, unintentionally revealing his fangs, “be nice to him and treat him just like you’d treat me, ok?” Nurse Redheart finished with a smile.

As one, twelve fillies replied, “Yes, ma’am,” and turned to the stallion. “It’s nice to meet you, Mister Sombra!”

Sombra smiled back, keeping his lips together, and nodded back to them, putting his head low to the ground. As he did so, one little filly dashed up to him, the one from the campfire the night before, and whispered into his ear.

“You should totally ask Miss Redheart out on a date.”

Sombra flashed from black to red in an instant, and the filly returned to her friends, giggling. The troop began to scatter, hastily disassembling their tents and rolling up their little sleeping bags. Sombra tried to help, he really did, but the filly-sized tents and such proved too small for his large hooves to handle properly.

“Hey,” Redheart called over to him, as he fumbled with the straps on an earth filly’s backpack, “What did that filly say to you?”

Sombra shook his head back and forth.

“I know she said something. What did she say to you?” Redheart asked menacingly, taking a step forward. Another head shake, this time more emphatic, his black mane whipping in front of his eyes, as the two green orbs searched for any route of escape. When his eyes returned forward, Redheart was upon him.

She has really pretty eyes.

Sombra backed away slightly, shrugged, and began gesturing madly with his hooves, trying to convey body language gibberish in an attempt to dissuade the attractive – no, inquisitive – mare in front of him from getting an answer. He backed up further and put on a ridiculous smile, before turning and flourishing his forehooves in a ‘you get it, of course,’ motion. Redheart laughed at the inane display and decided to drop it, instead opting to help Minty stuff her sleeping bag into her backpack.

Sombra, having resolvied to not be entirely useless, he trotted slowly over to the foals, staring at the ground hard.

There! Ha! I can do something!

Sombra ran to the glint he noticed, picked it up. A candy wrapper. Foul garbage, I shall not allow you to destroy this ecosystem! A glance to his right. Nor you, empty plastic water bottle! Left. You cannot escape me, crumpled paper! Several minutes later, the king had declared himself the designated garbage pony of the campsite, and was collecting and bagging any waste the campers had left over from their stays in their tents. Nurse Redheart had to laugh at his appearance – the stallion had two trash bags balanced precariously on his back, and a third wedged in the crooks of his legs.

Sombra took notice of her laughter and looked over, before realizing that it must have been how ridiculous he looked. He chuckled a little himself, a deep, rolling half-laugh half-growl that came out all weird. His face fell at the sound. So did the trash bags.

Before the gray plastic sacks could fall to the ground and reset his hard work, hooves caught the bags and steadied them. Once he was certain his balance was back, he looked over to nod his thanks to the kind pony who had helped him.

He found himself staring into the most well-muscled neck, chest, and, well, pony he had ever seen. There were not many ponies Sombra had had to look up to make eye contact with. Because I had them all executed…

The hulking white pony looked down at Sombra with a crooked smile, his earrings catching in the morning sunlight. Sombra, even if he had allowed himself to speak, could not have found words to convey his feelings at the moment. Everything about this newcomer scared him, most likely mostly from being so completely out-sized. I really am not comfortable with ponies being bigger than me.

“Snowflake! Where have you been? You were supposed to be here an hour ago! You didn’t take the colts to Ghastly Gorge again, did you?”

“Yeah I did! And there weren’t any casualties this time.”

Casualties? Sombra thought in alarm.

“Who’s this guy?” ‘Snowflake’ asked, jabbing Sombra in the shoulder with a hoof. Sombra staggered to the side under the impact of the jab, and knew full-well that wasn’t all the force that could have been imparted to his shoulder. The trash bags threatened to topple once more, and the muscle-bound pony leapt airborne to steady them, his little wings buzzing furiously.

He’s a Pegasus? How on earth does he fly? Those wings…

“Snowflake, this is Sombra. He stumbled into the camp last night. He tries not to speak and he won’t use magic, but he’s very friendly,” Redheart explained. Sombra bowed his head and extended a hoof to formally meet ‘Snowflake.’ Instead, he found the trash bags weight lifted from his back, and was suddenly barreled over and pulled into what he could only describe as a ‘vicious’ hug. Sombra wheezed as the air was pressed from his lungs, and pounded fruitlessly against the larger pony’s sides in an attempt to break free before his ribcage collapsed.

Sombra gasped in a deep, ragged lungful of air when Snowflake released him, the stars in his vision taking several seconds to fade. He looked up, expecting the Pegasus to be preparing to land the killing blow, and instead found the Pegasus smiling broadly.

“You… you and I are gonna get along just fine. Not many ponies can take the full brunt of a Special Snowflake Hug,” he said, with a laugh that Sombra would have deemed ‘maniacal,’ yet everpony else seemed to consider ‘jovial.’

Sombra. You are changed. You are different. He… is different, too. He’s being nice to you… I think… so you should be nice to him. Don’t get mad, get glad. You have two friends now. That’s two more than you’ve had in the past twelve hundred years.

Sombra decided to throw himself at Snowflake and return the hug with all the ferocity it had been given, which paled in comparison to the mauling Snowflake had delivered. Still, it seemed to impress the immense Pegasus, and he smiled back down at Sombra.

“Oh yeah. I can tell. We’re gonna be real good friends. If my sister trusts you, anyways, which she does. If you don’t mind me asking, though, what, uh… what’s with your eyes?”

Sombra hung his head and sighed, reaching for a stick to draw in the ground.

“Hey, if you don’t want to say, that’s cool. Friends are allowed to not say things if they don’t want to.”

He considers me a friend?

“Hey, sis?”

He’s her BROTHER?

“Yeah, Snowflake?” Redheart called back.

“Why don’t we get on our way home, now? My colts are getting antsy.”

Redheart looked over. By ‘antsy,’ of course, Snowflake meant fighting and roughhousing. She didn’t care if they did it amongst themselves, for Celestia’s sake, it’s a bunch of young colts alone in the woods. What else would they do? But now they were just looking foolish in front of the fillies, so Redheart decided to do something about it.

“Oi! Colts! Listen up! Single file, we’re heading home!” Redheart’s authoritative voice took every colt and stallion by surprise, with the exception of Snowflake, and suddenly Sombra found himself the leader of a string of little colts. A moment later, the one standing right behind him seemed to catch on that he had been at the camp for the fillies, and voiced his thoughts.

“Hey, why were you at the fillies camp?”

Yep. Clever one, he is.

“He’s Miss Redheart’s coltfriend!” one of the fillies blurted out. Instantly, Snowflake’s head whipped around and his eyes locked on Sombra. The Pegasus’ disproportionately small wings buzzed to life, and suddenly he was right in the unicorn’s face.

“I like you. You’re friendly. My sister likes you. You’re pretty good-looking to boot. But I swear to Celestia, if you hurt one hair on her head… I. Will. End. You. Got it?” Sombra nodded weakly. “Good,” he said, all trace of his intimidating glare from moments ago completely gone, “You can date her or whatever just don’t hu-”

Redheart’s left forehoof was now in the space previously occupied by Snowflake’s head.

“He’s not my coltfriend, Snowflake, and if you keep scaring off potentials like that I’m never going to move out and you’ll never get the house to yourself like you want! And I can handle myself!”

That’s apparent, Sombra thought, glad he had been spared the slap earlier that morning. The foals laughed as the hilariously large stallion shook himself off from the blow. He watched Snowflake pick himself up and rub his cheek, chuckling.

“I’m just lookin’ out for ya, sis. That hoof of yours has gotten strong.”

“It has to be with an over-protective goof like you for a brother,” Redheart retorted, laughing, “Come on kids, ready to go home?”

“No…” they collectively groaned.

Why wouldn’t they want to go home?

Author's Notes:

Just as a heads-up, I am using "Redheart," "Miss Redheart," and "Nurse Redheart" interchangeably. For the purposes of this fic, her name is Redheart, her title/profession is Nurse Redheart, and foals refer to her as miss Redheart.

Chapter 3

So that’s why they didn’t want to go home.

King Sombra trekked out of the woods shortly behind the mare that had taken him in the night before, looking towards the building in front of him. It was in good repair, yes, brightly painted, all windows intact, and there were no holes in the roof. All in all, an excellent place to house many foals as they grew up.

Aside from the sign at the end of the path leading to the front door. “Brighter Horizons’ Home for Foals.” An orphanage. The squeals of delight and amusement coming from the foals around him became less frequent and more subdued as the group approached the building, growing completely silent as they passed the threshold of the doors.

The clean, checkered, linoleum-tiled floors led forward towards a simple wooden desk. Behind the desk sat a light yellow unicorn with a golden blond mane, with soft, green eyes and a sad smile. Her solemn expression carried an interesting feeling behind it, Sombra reading it as an unspoken, “I love my job, but I wish I didn’t have to do it.” Her smile became somewhat more genuine when she saw Miss Redheart, further morphing into a smirk below mischievous eyes when Sombra entered behind her.

“Good morning, Miss Redheart, Mister Snowflake, and welcome back, children!” She chirped happily, “I see we’re coming back plus-one, eh? Better than minus-one, I suppose.”

“Oh, haw-haw, Horizons. Very funny. I’ll introduce you later,” Redheart replied, rolling her eyes while Sombra rubbed one foreleg across the other sheepishly. “For now, I would like to report that there were no injuries and all foals are, and were for the duration, present and accounted for.”

“Well I would certainly hope so. Snowflake?”

The big white stallion saluted. “Ma’am yes ma’am. No injuries, all foals have returned safely ma’am!”

Miss Horizons giggled. “Why thank you kindly, you big handsome lug, you,” the mare said, eliciting a blush from Snowflake, the big stallion standing with his head high as his face burned red. Miss Horizons lifted her forehooves off the desk and spun around to dismount a chair beyond Sombra’s view. As she stepped into view, Sombra had to hide a blush similar to Snowflake’s – Miss Horizons was an extremely curvaceous mare, her long golden mane and tail seeming to defy gravity, filling an impossible volume. Surely the subject of many of these little colt’s dreams, Sombra thought, desperately trying to keep his eyes from her body. Still though, she lacked… something that he couldn’t quite put his hoof on. He averted his gaze, his eyes instead falling on Nurse Redheart. There – there was that something, that something he couldn’t place. A slight smile graced his lips, but he caught himself before any teeth showed.

“Come along children, let’s get you washed up, into the bathrooms with you!” she said, ushering the horde of foals through a door on the side of the entryway, leading into what Sombra assumed must be the main part of the building. As she walked through behind them, the former emperor noticed a little flick of her head, which seemed to be mare-speak for ‘we need to talk,’ as Miss Redheart immediately followed her. As the door closed, Snowflake released the breath he had been holding, and seemed to deflate a few inches in the process.

“Good job, sport, not a lot of stallions can keep their eyes from wandering as well as you did, first time they see her. Can’t say I approve of your methods, though – I catch you ogling my sister like that again,” he trailed off, and lifted his front legs off the floor. For a moment, Sombra thought it was pure force of will, but the slight buzzing that filled the room, a sound which Sombra quickly identified as the flapping of the hulk’s tiny wings, before his attention was diverted to the insolent whe- large, friendly, but quite intimidating pony invading his personal space and making crushing motions with his forehooves. “Got it, pal?” Sombra squeaked and nodded.

“I can hear you harassing him, Snowflake, and you’d better stop – I don’t mind if he looks at me like you look at Miss Horizons here!” Redheart called through the door. Sombra tried to hold in his laughter as the nearly audible blush covered everything north of Snowflake’s shoulders bright red, but failed, the deep, rolling growl filling the room – and for a moment, Sombra found himself not caring about his distorted voice. He laughed like he hadn’t in thousands of years, at a situation he hadn’t been in in thousands of years. Laughing at the misfortune of a friend. Somepony that Sombra actually considered a friend. Moreover, somepony that considered Sombra a friend. That realization fell upon him like a snowflake, and the rolling laughter began to fade, and he felt something in his heart twinge. A slight burning sensation rose to his eyes and he realized that he was crying. No dramatic, heaving sobs or wails, just… crying.

“Hey man… are you… you alright?” Snowflake’s boisterous voice dropped to a low tone of concern, one hoof moving to rest gently on Sombra’s shoulder. The king smiled and wiped one of his eyes with a hoof. His only reply was (attempting) to throw his hooves around the colossal Pegasus’ neck and hug him. Snowflake started and moved back just a little, then leaned back slightly to return the hug, this time much more tender than the bone-crushing embrace he’d given in the forest.

---

“I can hear you harassing him, Snowflake, and you’d better stop – I don’t mind if he looks at me like you look at Miss Horizons here!” Redheart yelled through the door, as her friend (and boss) giggled into a hoof. The white nursemare shook her heard and chuckled. “So what was it you wanted to talk about?”

Brighter Horizons’ expression sobered up. “Redheart.”

Oh boy.

“What in Celestia’s name were you thinking bringing your coltfriend on the camping trip? And letting him sleep in your tent at the fillies camp no less? I trust you, and you are a dear friend to me, but this is a demonstration of a serious lack of judgment on your part. What were you thinking?” Horizons shook her head emphatically, a few of her golden locks tumbling over her face, obscuring an eye. She blew a puff of air at it once, twice, a third time trying to get it out of her face, and harrumphed as she had to settle on using magic to put it back.

“He’s not my coltfriend! Goodness! I met him last night! He wandered into the camp, hurt, afraid, and quite possibly very sick. I know, this was an enormous breach of protocol, but I just…” Redheart paused for a moment, a exhaling a pained sigh through her nose, “had to help him you know? I’m a nurse by trade and a healer by destiny,” she added, pointing to her cutie mark, “I couldn’t just turn him away. Besides, I wasn’t going to make him sleep outside or with my brother. Neither of those would have helped.”

Horizons’ brought a hoof to the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. “Okay, I understand where you’re coming from. It makes sense. You shouldn’t have done it, but I understand why you did. Goodness, Redheart, you’d bring a Hydra home if it looked like it had stubbed its toe.”

“Oh please, it’s not like he’s some great threat to Equestria or anything like that. He’s just a pony. A mysterious pony with glowing green eyes that trail purple smoke, fangs, can’t talk, is a unicorn who won’t do magic, that literally walked out of the night to meet me… ok fine, I see the problem with that. But he had ample opportunity to do me harm if he had wished, and he… didn’t, and absolutely cowered under the implication that he had.”

“Alright, fine, but if anything backfires, this is on you, ok?” The mare paused, waiting for acknowledgement. Redheart nodded, and she continued. “Well… how was the trip? Everything went according to plan? Your brother seemed pretty confident there were no injuries.”

“Oh yeah, everything went fine. The children thought the Tree of Harmony was absolutely beautiful, and greatly enjoyed spending a day up at the lake. The weather really was beautiful…” Redheart trailed off.

“I’m sensing a ‘but’.”

“It’s just… Tag-a-long. I’m worried about her. She was the one that met Sombra-”

“Sombra?”

“The unicorn. That’s what he said his name was.”

“I thought you said he didn’t talk.”

“He doesn’t. Or tries not to, at least. He scratched his name in the dirt with a stick. Anyways, not the point. Tag-a-long was the one that met Sombra first – and no, that’s not why I’m concerned, either – because she was out alone late at night, just sitting by herself at the fire. She’s been doing that more lately, keeping more and more to herself and spending less time with the other kids. I know she’s been here longer than most others but… I think she’s starting to fear she’ll never get out of here.”

Brighter opened her mouth to reply, but before she could, fillies and colts started streaming back out of the bathrooms and past the two mares. Not wanting to discuss it in front of the children, the two waited until they had all shuffled past into the common area – some grabbing books, others toys, but most just sitting down and talking excitedly as young children often do.

“Snowflake?” Redheart called, “Could you come in here and keep an eye on the kids for a bit?”

“Uh… yeah, sure. Just… just gimme a minute,” the booming voice floated through the door, following by a hiss. “What are you doing? She’s gonna get mad!”

Puzzled, they shared a look, and pushed through the door into the reception hall.

---

Sombra gently pulled away from the hug, and this time Snowflake let go as well. Sitting back to enjoy the warmth of his newfound friendship, the black unicorn looked around the room, taking in his surroundings. He wanted to remember every detail of the moment he made his first new friend. Then his eyes settled on Miss Horizon’s desk – which was, quite frankly, a mess.

I can help with that! I ruled a VERY exact and precise kingdom for a very long time. Perhaps I don’t want to order the execution of the papers that get out of line, though. Odd that I can make humor of that now, though humor is a method of detachment, so they say. Might want to be careful with that. This is something I can’t just forget, but must atone for.

Standing back up, he slowly began his walk over to the desk, examining the various objects strewn about on it’s surface – a not insignificant quantity of paperwork, several pens and pencils, a lamp on a skewed angle, among other knick-knacks and a couple photo frames. Two paper baskets (neither labeled) were haphazardly misaligned on the right edge of the desk, a single accidental tap from falling onto the floor and spilling their contents everywhere. A moment’s use of magic could sort the entire thing, but Sombra wasn’t willing to chance it.

“What are you doing?” Snowflake asked, tentative.

Sombra opened his mouth to reply, thought better of it, and instead grabbed a piece of chalk and scribbled on the blackboard behind him.

“Helping,” it read. Or so Snowflake guessed, it was a little difficult to tell with how messy the writing was.

Faust above I’m out of practice, I haven’t hoof-written anything myself for the better part of two millennia.

Turning back to the desk, Sombra grabbed each of the paper baskets and set them down on the floor, to keep them out of the way, and as to prevent any accidental spillage. Next, the pens. Sombra could see four of them scattered about the desk, one of which was apparently missing its cap. He gathered them up and set them to the side, choosing the lamp as the next object of his focus. It was one of those long, skinny things meant for illuminating, well, a desk. The optimal position for it would have been at the back center of the desk, but that would obscure Miss Horizons’ view of the door as ponies entered, so he instead decided to put it in the back left corner. Switching the lamp on and off briefly to assure it still provided adequate, even brightness for the primary work area, Sombra nodded to himself and set to work on the photos and assorted other trinkets. The largest photo was also the oldest, a black and white photo depicting a young unicorn standing in front of two smiling Pegasi. The little filly in the front looked somewhat like Miss Horizons, and Sombra came to the logical conclusion the two Pegasi must be her parents. He set the photo on the back corner of the desk opposite the lamp, with the two smaller photos spaced out beside it so as not to obscure the contents of the larger frame. As far as he could tell, the smaller photos were singular portraits of the parents in the image, and Sombra thought they looked nice flanking the larger family photo.

Just as he sent them down, something grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him away from the desk.

“Sombra! You can’t just do that! You can’t go through another pony’s stuff like that without their permission, even if it is with good intentions,” Snowflake reprimanded, his tone less anger and more… empathetic, almost. Nonetheless, he raised an excellent point. Asking permission to do things was something Sombra had not had to do in a very long time, and the thought hadn’t even occurred to him.

Well, in for a bit, in for a bucket, as they say. I think. Sombra made a slow deliberate nod, and tried to gesture with his hooves as to indicate “I’m already in this deep, there’s no sense in stopping now and trying to re-mess up the desk.”

Somehow, miraculously, Snowflake seemed to (mostly) understand what Sombra was saying, and backed down, if he did still look a little nervous.

Setting back into his work, Sombra decided the next logical step was the pile of paperwork. Thankfully, there only seemed to be one sort of form on the desk at the moment, something labeled “Monthly Evaluations,” which looked to be some form of report card. Sombra smiled when he realized every paper (that was complete, at least) had an “A” in every area – objective things like academics, or personal hygiene, as well as the more abstract ideas of friendliness, or helpfulness. What he could hardly believe, however, was that the papers were not in alphabetical order. Honestly, she seems like a nice pony but how can she get anything done around here without at least alphabetizing?

“Come on Sombra, that much at least is important paperwork, don’t mess with that,” Snowflake urged.

“Snowflake!” Redheart’s voice carried through the door, “Could you come in here and keep an eye on the kids for a bit?”

“Uh… yeah, sure. Just… just gimme a minute,” Snowflake replied, in what was not the most stress-free of voices. Turning back to Sombra, he hissed, perhaps a great deal more loudly than intended. “What are you doing? She’s gonna get mad!”

The double doors pushed open, and Sombra met Miss Horizons’ gaze with the look of a teenage stallion whose parents just caught with his hooves buried in his crotch. Never breaking eye contact, he gently tapped the stack of papers against the desk twice to straighten them, then gently set them down, patting them gingerly as if to say “There, all done,” before slowly stepping away from the desk.

“What in Equestria were you doing?” Brighter began, her voice rising in both pitch and volume as the question went on, “You can’t just mess with another pony’s stuff like that!”

“I tried to tell him that, Ma’am, but he insisted on continuing cleaning anyways!” Snowflake interjected, with an emphasis on the word “cleaning” that made clear the attempt to both keep his own hooves clean while trying to pull Sombra out from underneath the metaphorical bus.

“Don’t you ‘ma’am’ me right now mister, there’s not a pony in this town, not even Big Macintosh, that you can’t stallion-handle like a foal, you full well could have… could have…” Brighter trailed off as she finally began to process how nicely her desk was arranged now. Papers were neatly stacked, pens aligned neatly, the photos actually placed logically, and the lamp out of the way. It was the cleanest her desk had been in… well, in a very long time.

Sombra sheepishly rubbed a leg, waiting for the reaming to resume again. Redheart looked at her friend, trying to determine what exactly was going on in her mind. Snowflake stood at attention, eyes locked straight at the wall above Miss Horizons’ head. A few more awkward seconds ticked past, and she spoke.

“Look, Sombra. I don’t know whether to be upset or grateful right now. So, I’m going to go with both. Thank you very much for cleaning my desk. Redheart, get him out of here.”

“Yes, Miss Horizons,” Redheart replied, putting a foreleg over Sombra’s shoulder and guiding him to the door. “Come on, let’s go grab something to eat. I’m hungry and I’m willing to bet you’re starving…”

Chapter 4

It was a rather nice day in the quaint little town of Ponyville. Well, ‘quaint’ and ‘little’ might not have been terribly accurate descriptors – it was a very homely town, but at the same time it seemed to go on forever. Part of that may have been due to Sombra being more than a little anxious, though. He wasn’t particularly used to… being around ponies, especially ones so openly friendly. He knew he wasn’t the most approachable looking stallion, being unusually large and dark in coloration, but even still, at least a dozen ponies came up to the couple walking through the town. Granted most of them were simply saying hello to Nurse Redheart, but every single one of them took the time to introduce themselves to Sombra as well. Redheart made the typical pleasantries and greetings with ponies that spoke to her, and graciously introduced Sombra so he didn’t have to himself. Here and there his unusual eyes or horn drew a questioning glance, but any comments on them ponies kept to themselves. What they didn’t keep to themselves, however, were the implications or questions about Redheart and Sombra’s relationship. Embarrassing the first time, but by the seventh an annoyance that Redheart pre-empted by introducing Sombra as “not my coltfriend.” Sombra had to excuse his own growling chuckle as a growling stomach at that.

The café Redheart intended to go to seemed to be, inconveniently, on pretty much the opposite side of town as the orphanage had been. However, being a bit more on the edge of town, most things were just about on the “opposite side” of town as Brighter Horizons’ workplace. That said, it seemed like a rather quiet café, being so out of the way, and perhaps Redheart had chosen to bring him there for that very reason.

Well that was rather nice of her, going so far out of the way to try to make me feel more comfortable. Forget the trying, actually, it’s working.

A lanky, gray, mustachioed earth pony stallion greeted them as they approached the fenced-in outdoor dining area, a nod from Redheart all the cue he needed to silently guide them to a table. It didn’t strike Sombra as too fancy of an establishment, with rather plain wooden tables and chairs, but it provided a nice atmosphere. Welcoming, warm, and as odd as it may have seemed to say, a… cheerful sort of feeling pervaded the air. Moments later the waiter returned, bearing two glasses of water and two menus. Redheart thanked the pony, and again he disappeared.

Redheart reached out and took one of the menus, clucking quietly to herself as she opened it.

“I’ve only been here once or twice before,” she began, talking both to Sombra and to nopony at all, “but I seem to recall them having an excellent daisy sandwich. I think I’ll have that. What about you, Sombra?” She looked up and across the table, only to find the dark stallion’s eyes furiously scanning the same side of the menu over and over.

There’s not a single piece of meat served in this establishment, Sombra confirmed as he read the menu a fourth time. Wait, of course there isn’t. Ponies don’t normally eat meat. What meat would I have even had up in the Crystal Empire to make me crave it so? We didn’t have pigs or cattle up there, the climate was far too hostile. The only other option could have been… oh I didn’t. Oh… oh Faust I did. Sombra felt sick.

Then Sombra was sick.

Or his body tried to be at least. Had there been anything in his stomach it would have surely been all over the table (and his gracious host). Fortunately for everyone involved save Sombra himself, his stomach had been empty for a good long while now. Instead of a spew of vomit, his throat caught painfully as it attempted to regurgitate the contents of his stomach, and he coughed and wheezed violently, unable to inhale.

“Oh heavens, are you ok?” Redheart was standing and had moved around to Sombra’s side of the table, a foreleg preemptively raised behind his back to force out whatever he might be choking on. Sombra’s vision began to spark and flash as his stomach heaved, still refusing to let his lungs take in any new air. He grasped at his water glass, and pulling it to his face, managed to take a sip. While perhaps not the method he intended, the drink did in fact work – but rather than stopping the dry heaving itself, he coughed and spluttered as he choked on the liquid. Some survival mechanism or another kicked in, and the attempted vomiting ended, and shortly thereafter the choking as well.

“Are you… are you ok?” Redheart asked, part genuine concern and part medical professional, stepping back slightly from her new companion.

Sombra nodded vigorously as he inhaled deeply through his nose, forcing his lungs to cycle a few more times as the dots in his eyes began to fade.

“Alright, well then… do you want to take another look at the menu or have you already got an idea of what you want?”

Sombra thought about shaking his head for a moment, but then decided better of it and nodded instead. Redheart nodded an acknowledgement, and waved over the waiter.

“Good afternoon, sir, ma’am,” he said, nodding to each of them in turn, “Have you decided on what you’d like to eat today?”

“Yes, thank you,” Redheart began as he turned to her, “I’d like the daisy sandwich, please, with… could I get the side salad?”

“Of course, ma’am,” the stallion replied, jotting down her order on a piece of paper, and turning to the black unicorn. “And for you, sir?”

That was the moment Sombra realized he couldn’t order food without speaking. For a couple seconds, he just stared back at the waiter, unable to break eye contact.

“Sir?”

Sombra looked at the waiter, down at his menu, across to Redheart, and back to the waiter, trying desperately to come up with some way of ordering without actually having to open his mouth and talk.

I must admit it was easier to be a king. Everypony just brought meals to me. None of this pesky ordering business. Then again, I also wasn’t voluntarily mute back then…

“Sir?” the stallion inquired again, his tone altering slightly to something between concern and annoyance.

“He’ll have the same as me,” Redheart said, grabbing the waiter’s attention away from the embarrassed unicorn, “Side salad as well. Is that ok, Sombra?”

The ex-king nodded, grateful she’d managed to find a way out of the awkward situation, even if it was more than a little embarrassing that he couldn’t have thought to just point to the item he wanted.

“Yes, of course, ma’am. Those will be right out for you.”

True to his word, the waiter was back with their sandwiches and salads in just a few minutes, setting them down on their table without so much as a sidelong glance at Sombra, before disappearing again. The former king sat with his hooves in his lap, waiting for Redheart to begin. Sure enough, she did, taking a good bite from the sandwich and chewing thoughtfully, before swallowing.

“Hmm… not the best sandwich in the world, but not bad either,” she thought aloud, before noticing Sombra had yet to start on his. “Go on, you can eat too. I mean I’m assuming you don’t have any bits so if I’m paying for this I want you to get my money’s worth.”

Sombra started as he realized what she said was true – he didn’t have a single bit to his name right now, and she was, of course, treating him to lunch. He reached forward and took the sandwich in his hooves, bringing the simple food up to his mouth before, once again, realizing he rather didn’t want to open it. Across from him, Redheart laughed.

“Oh stop being so silly, you’re facing away from the rest of the restaurant, no one’s gonna see anything if you take a bite of the sandwich,” she said, stifling another giggle behind her hoof.

Sombra blushed and looked down, then briefly checked over his shoulders. She wasn’t lying – why would she – and apart from that, there seemed to be only one other pony in the café at all, with only a pair of yellow legs visible beneath the table, and the tip of a straw sunhat visible over the top of the menu. Turning back to his meal, he brought the sandwich close to his face, and quickly took a bite. Just as Redheart had said, it was nothing special, but it wasn’t at all bad, either. But Sombra was a pony who hadn’t had anything in a week. Chewing quickly and swallowing, Sombra took another bite, then another, and soon enough the sandwich was gone.

“Well looks like I was right, somepony was starving,” his white friend said, bringing Sombra’s focus back to the real world. He blushed a little out of embarrassment when he realized she was still only about half-done with her sandwich. “Hey, hey, I’m just giving you a hard time. Don’t worry about it. I’m glad you enjoyed it – and hey, you’ve got the salad left, too.”

Sombra looked down at the leafy greens in the bowl. Why did I even let her order this for me? I don’t even like salad. No, no – a good guest always eats all the food he is given. I would have wanted it that way… though probably for different reasons. Verily, I will vanquish this salad, as a token of thanks to Miss Redheart!

Sombra took the provided fork and stabbed a piece of lettuce and a chunk of tomato, and brought it to his mouth. Gingerly opening it, he stuffed the veggies in and began to chew, trying not to make any faces as the flavorless lettuce and oddly-textured tomato contacted his tongue.

“If you don’t like it you don’t have to eat it,” the white mare offered.

Sombra looked up, swallowed, and shook his head. A tight-lipped smile came to his face as he forked another piece of lettuce and quickly chewed it. Redheart laughed again, and Sombra took another forkful of the greens in his mouth. Slowly but surely, one piece at a time, the salad disappeared into the great black stallion’s belly. Redheart, who had been taking much larger bites, finished at about the same time as Sombra himself. Producing a hooffull of bits from seemingly nowhere, she set them on the table as she stood.

“Come on, that’s enough to cover the food and leave a generous tip. I somehow doubt Miss Horizons wants us to come back this afternoon, so let’s head home, shall we?” She asked, cheerfully. Sombra smiled and nodded, standing up to follow her out.

Wait, we can't just leave our plates and bowls on the table. That’s improper. I’ll go bring them back.

Sombra turned back to the table, and deftly stacked the plates, bowls, silverware, and glasses in his hooves, and turned towards the kitchen.

“What are you doing?” Redheart asked, even if she was pretty sure she knew the answer anyways. “You don't have to do that, the staff here do it for you.”

Sombra turned, looked at her, and shrugged, and turned back to trotting towards the building. As he approached the doors to enter, though, they swung open in his face, and nearly knocked him off his hooves. Fortunately he managed to keep a hold of the plates and bowls, but the glasses weren’t so lucky. They fell to the ground and shattered like, well, glass.

“Oh my goodness sir, I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there. That was completely my fault. Though, if I may ask, what were you doing?” The gray stallion quickly asked.

“He thought it would be nice if he brought the used dishes back to you, rather than you having to come and pick them up,” Redheart explained, and added, “He’s mute,” when the waiter sent a quizzical glance her direction.

“Ah, my apologies good sir. Say, would you mind fixing these glasses with a spot of magic? I must admit I am an earth pony,” he said, waving a hoof over his forehead to indicate his lack of a horn, “but as I understand it spells for repairing things aren’t terribly difficult.”

“He also… can’t do magic,” Redheart added, Sombra sheepishly refusing to meet the waiter’s eyes.

“Oh,” the skinny stallion said.

“I can pay for the glasses if you want.”

“No, really, it’s fine. That was my mistake. If you so wish, do feel free to take the meal on the house. I’m sorry for having been so rude.”

A memory flashed unbidden into Sombra’s head. He was in his crystal castle, more than a thousand years ago, pacing around the dining hall as he waited for his meal. A young serving mare, a filly not more than fourteen, entered quietly with a glass of wine for her ruler. As she set it on the table, her hoof slipped, and she knocked the glass over. Sombra had whirled around, and remembered very clearly her shaking hooves, her wide, terror-filled eyes, and her screams as she had been dragged from the room by his guards.

Sombra shook his head emphatically, both in an attempt to dispel the painful recollection as well as to adamantly inform the waiter, No, we will pay for the meal.

“Very well then. Thank you for your patronage today. We hope you choose to visit again soon.”

Redheart nodded her acknowledgement, and led Sombra from the restaurant.

A few tables away sat the lone other patron at the café. Hiding behind a menu and beneath a large straw sunhat, a yellow Pegasus mare with a long pink mane quivered in fear. Questions were flying through her head a mile a minute – wondering how he was in Ponyville, why he was still alive, if he’d eat her, what should she do – before her mind settled on one clear thought.

Oh my goodness I need to tell Twilight.

Chapter 5

The walk back to Nurse Redheart’s home was about as eventful as the walk to the café – which is to say, apart from a few ponies stopping to say hello or ask if Sombra was her coltfriend, not eventful at all. Redheart’s house was near the center of town, and resembled most of the other buildings. A thick straw roof, visible support beams, a few windows, and painted white.

A far cry from the Crystal Castle, but that’s a good thing.

Stepping inside, however, revealed a surprisingly open and spacious living area, one that Redheart was quick to explain to him.

“So this is the house I live in with my brother. It’s not much, but it’s nice – we’ve got a full kitchen and a separate dining area, and a nice sitting room for reading or napping in,” she started, pointing out each area in turn, “I’ve always been fond of how open it is, it would be great for entertaining ponies if many ever visited. Over there are the stairs to the second floor, which doesn’t have anything on it apart from the bedrooms, the bathroom, and a storage area. Speaking of the bathroom, I’d say I would go take a shower, but frankly,” Redheart sniffed, “You need it more. Bathroom is the first door on the left. There are spare towels under the sink, and the dark blue bottle is Snowflake’s shampoo. I mean, I wouldn’t really mind if you used mine, but you would smell rather like a mare for a while.”

Sombra, for the first time, took a deep sniff through his nose, focusing on his own scent rather than those around him.

Oh goodness I smell atrocious. Maybe that’s why she brought me to the tiny café on the far side of town.

Sombra nodded his acknowledgement and slowly trotted over to the stairs, gently ascending them, each step creaking beneath his large hooves. The hallway turned to the right at the top of the stairs, much to Sombra’s momentary confusion, but sure enough, the first door on the left was the bathroom. Leaning his head down, he pulled open the drawer beneath the sink and withdrew a large (and surprisingly soft) brown bath towel, and set it on the floor in front of the shower before stepping into the tub. Reaching forward, Sombra spun the dial until it pointed to about two-thirds of the way between hot and cold. A slight hiss came from the plumbing behind the wall for a moment, then the water came out.

That should be about warm enoooOOOOOOOOO-

Sombra stiffened as the icy water hit him square in the face. Too stunned to react properly, he merely waited, eyes closed, for the icy embrace to take him. Rather to the contrary, the water gradually became warmer, until it was actually quite comfortable.

Goodness, I forgot that peas- normal showers take a moment to warm up, rather than the pre-heated baths I always had in the Crystal Empire. Now, what did she say? Dark blue bottle, right?

Oh good Faust there’s four dark blue bottles.

Downstairs, Redheart facehoofed as she remembered she had bought a different brand of shampoo and conditioner this time, and there would, in fact, be several blue bottles in the shower.

---

Twilight was alone in her libra- err, castle, reading up on some herbs for her next visit to Zecora’s hut when a timid knock came at her door. Quickly finishing the sentence she was on, she set a strip of paper down on the book to mark her place on the page, and turned to the door. Opening it, she found her good friend Fluttershy, cowering.

“Oh hey Fluttershy. What’s up? Come on in. Is something wrong?” Twilight did her best to sound cheerful, but Fluttershy had been much better with the scardey-cat gig lately, and an edge of concern crept into her voice.

“Black… black stallion…” the yellow mare squeaked as she crawled through the threshold and into the foyer of the absurdly grand building that now occupied Ponyville.

“The Black Stallion? Oh Fluttershy, you don’t have to be so scared to ask for a book, even if I have a castle now. I’ll go grab it for you,” Twilight offered, the tidbit of concern gone from her voice again.

“No, that’s not…” Fluttershy eeped, too afraid to correct the misunderstanding.

Twilight turned back around, looking back at her friend, the mare conspicuously eyeing the door.

“Fluttershy…” Twilight breathed painfully.

I must be brave. This is important. I need to tell Twilight what’s wrong. I must be brave. I must! Fluttershy screwed her eyes shut and inhaled deeply.

“I was at the café on the other side of town and I saw a pony I didn’t recognize with nurse Redheart and at first I thought that was ok because I don’t know everypony in town but then he turned around and he was a unicorn and his horn was kinda red even though the rest of him was black and he had glowing green eyes that were trailing this purple smoke and oh Twilight I think it was King Sombra!” Fluttershy’s voice drew to a squeak at the end, both due to running out of air and being a little afraid to actually say his name out loud.

Twilight blinked. She sat down. She blinked again.

“Did… did you say Sombra?”

Fluttershy nodded, eyes still shut tightly.

“With… with nurse Redheart?”

Another nod.

“Do… do you know where they were headed?”

This time Fluttershy shook her head.

“Well… maybe Miss Redheart knows where he went. Poor mare, she must be scared stiff with him. I’ll go to her house and see if she’s ok,” Twilight thought aloud, standing back up and heading to the door. When she realized she still only heard one set of hooffalls, she turned back and saw Fluttershy still stationary on the floor. “You can… stay here if you want, Fluttershy. Spike should be back in just a few minutes so you won’t be alone for too long, ok? I’m leaving now.”

And so Fluttershy remained, until Spike returned to the tree.

---

Back at Redheart’s house, Sombra emerged from the shower and toweled off feeling like a new Stallion. His coat and mane were shiny and silky smooth, having worked out all the dirt, grime, and knots in the shower. Best of all, though?

I. Smell. Amazing.

He whipped his head, throwing a bit of his mane into his face, and inhaled deeply. The soft, floral scent filled his nose, and he let the breath out with a contented sigh. He reared up to balance on his back legs as he placed the towel over one of the empty hooks on the back of the door before trotting back out into the hallway, and turning down the stairs.

Redheart looked up and blushed at the magnificent hunk of a stallion trotting down her stairs. His mane bounced and shook with each step, shaking in an absolutely glorious fashion, and she could have sworn she could see his muscles working beneath the fur on his chest. Quickly looking back down at her book before he caught her eye, she waited until he had stepped over to her to look at him again.

The large black unicorn beamed at her and shook his mane, and Redheart had to laugh as she realized he hadn’t used Snowflake’s shampoo after all.

“I’m… I’m sorry,” she managed between laughs, “I forgot… I bought different shampoo this time… there were a bunch of blue bottles oh Celestia you smell so hilariously pretty,” she finished, taking another deep breath through her nose. He must have had to wash his mane several times because the scent of the shampoo was on him thick. Sombra shrugged and snickered.

“Well, I guess I’ll go take a shower now, then,” Redheart said, setting aside her book and standing up. “There’s plenty of books on the shelves over there if you want to grab one to pass the time,” she said over her shoulder as she walked towards the stairs. However, three quick knocks on her door saw her starting back down again before she was even half-way up. I wonder who that could be.

Opening the door, Redheart’s tired frown turned into a smile at the face of her friend (and new princess), Twilight Sparkle.

“Oh hello Twilight! What brings you here today?” Redheart inquired, voice chipper.

“I heard you were out on a date at lunch and I was a bit curious as to who it was with. Do you mind if I come in?”

“My Twilight, you’ve never taken such an interest in my personal life before. Of course you can come in,” Redheart said, opening the rest of the door and stepping to the side. “It wasn’t really a date though, I was just taking –”

“King Sombra!” Twilight yelled as her eyes locked on the bulky unicorn sitting on the couch. Sombra looked up and met her eyes with terror, memories of pain – both inflicted by and upon him – flashing into his mind, the small purple mare at the forefront of them.

“King? No, he’s just los–” Redheart tried to say, before being cut off by Twilight again.

“What are you doing here? What are you doing to her? You’re supposed to be dead! I watched you shatter into a thousand pieces right in front of me!”

“Twilight what are you talking about?”

“This pony is a monster who kept the entire Crystal Empire under a rule of tyranny and fear for thousands of years, and tried to kill me, my brother, my sister-in-law, and even Spike!”

“Twilight, I’ve never really been one to question you, but I think you’re mistaken… Sombra’s no king, he was just lost and hurt in the woods. He wouldn’t hurt a fly, much less try to kill somepony. He’s practically scared of his own shadow for Celestia’s sake. I mean look how bad you’re scaring him!” Redheart gestured, drawing Twilight’s attention to the now-empty couch, the beast of a stallion huddled behind it, eyes wide with fear and ready to drop his head back down at a moment’s notice, praying the couch might protect him long enough for Redheart to talk some sense into the young Alicorn should she choose to try to fry him with magic. He remembered the pain of being shattered, broken, and scattered to the winds, and it was not an experience he wanted to repeat any time soon.

“It’s just an act, Redheart! Don’t let him fool you. He tortured and murdered ponies for fun for a thousand years, maybe more. He’s evil! He only casts dark magic!”

“He doesn’t do magic at all, Twilight. He doesn’t even speak. If he had wished me ill, he would have had plenty of opportunity last night,” Redheart looked down. “You really, really believe what you’re saying, I can tell that, but that’s just… not who Sombra is.”

“No,” Sombra growled, wincing again at that awful voice of his, “She’s right,” he continued as he stood up from behind the couch and walked over towards the two mares. Redheart stepped back a little for him to stand beside her, and Twilight lowered herself as though ready to pounce at any moment. “I am a monster. Everything she said about me is true. I… I used to be the King of the Crystal Empire, and I was not kind.”

“See? Evil!”

“Twilight, please. Sombra… if that’s who you are, then why are you being so nice to me?”

“I… it’s a long story.”

“I’m willing to listen.”

Sombra sighed heavily. “Many, many years ago, longer than I remember, an artifact was found in the Crystal Empire. I was the king then, yes, but I was beloved.”

“Yeah right,” Twilight cut in, but quieted herself when Redheart shot her an annoyed glare. “Sorry. Well, not really. But continue.”

“There are many stories of ways for a normal pony to achieve immortality. None of them are pleasant, and none of them end well, all of them resulting in the ambitious pony in question dying in vain or leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. That’s what they all said. But everypony thought they were stories,” Sombra explained, brow furrowing. “Deep beneath the Kingdom, an ancient magical artifact was found. A sealed scroll, with ancient instructions for casting a spell to grant immortality. The text was far too old a script, one that had not been written in thousands of years, even in that time, and it took many years to translate. When it was finally transcribed into a language we could read, I was very old, and dying. My mages, knowing I was a dearly beloved king, asked my permission to attempt to preform the spell on me. Being near to death as I was, I accepted their proposal, thinking nothing would come of it. What none of them realized was that the spell was not one of life, but one of death. Dark magic. Magic not meant to be used in this world. Magic not meant to be known.

“I remember waking up some time later, with my court mages dead around me. I was different, though – I was decades younger, and fitter than I had ever been. My horn had grown from what was normal, to this deformed red scar you see now, and these fangs had appeared in my mouth. The kingdom mourned the loss of the mages, the greatest magic-wielders of our time, but rejoiced that their king would live on. How could they have known, how could I have known, that it would all go so wrong? As the time went on, I continued my life as normal, ruling the kingdom as I always had. However, I gradually came to realize that food was not filling, water and wine did not quench my thirst, and I grew ever hungrier. One day, a serving mare came to deliver my evening meal. I asked her to sit with me, to keep me company while I ate. She cheerfully obliged me. I remember her clearly – a beautiful young crystal mare of sapphire, with a radiant golden mane. I have no memory of the next events, but a very clear image of their results. Plates and glasses smashed, food scattered everywhere, and her lifeless body on the ground before me. I hadn’t felt that full in months, and something changed. The… rush I had. The sense of power.

“My benevolent rule quickly turned to one of terror, ponies vanishing from their homes, with nopony knowing the true cause – myself. Years passed – years turned to decades, decades to centuries, and still I ruled my hollow kingdom. A small voice resembling a conscience attempted to stop me, but it never got through. I buried any records of myself from before my fall; I wanted nopony to know of who I was before. Many ponies attempted to kill me, and honestly I wish that one of them had succeeded. But none ever did. With my newfound thirst for flesh came an extreme resilience to death, and poisonings, stabbings, and even a beheading did nothing to stop me. Until the Princesses appeared. Two shining, wondrous beings, whose power far outmatched my own. Even then, however, they could not kill me, and merely sealed me beneath the ice, unfortunately with my Kingdom as well. A thousand years later, I finally overpowered the seal, and… Twilight, you know what happened next. After that, though, I can’t really explain what happened. I woke up in the woods, stumbled around for a few days, and then found Miss Redheart, who brought me here.”

Sombra hung his head as he finished his story. “I am an absolute monster. I have not been anything but in a very, very long time,” he said to the ground, “and I would do anything to atone for it.”

Twilight sat back on her haunches, mind attempting to process the history lesson, one told from the other side. It almost made Sombra sound sympathetic. Twilight hated it.

Redheart, on the other hoof, saw a pony who hurt, and had been hurting for longer than she could even imagine.

“Sombra…” the white nurse started, before realizing she didn’t have anything really to follow that up with.

“Miss Redheart, I want to thank you for your hospitality to me this day. I fully understand if you want me to leave, though, and perhaps if this town has some sort of… jail, or prison, you could bring me there,” Sombra offered, before turning to Twilight. “I… I understand you have some relationship with the Princesses, given the wings that were not there last time we met. Maybe you could contact one of them and see what they would have done with me.”

Twilight started. The King Sombra she had met would have fought tooth and horn to get out of a situation like this – now here stood a defeated, sad stallion on the verge of tears, seemingly willingly turning himself over to her and the Princesses for judgment. She could hardly believe it. Either he was up to something or he’d had a genuine change of heart – and being up to something seemed unlikely if what he’d said about the Princesses completely overpowering him was true.

“I… several of the rooms in my castle lock from the outside,” Twilight offered, “We don’t have any sort of official jail, but if you’d feel safer in one of those rooms, I’d be perfectly willing to have you stay there.”

“I think that would be best. Thank you, Twilight,” Sombra answered, his gratitude catching the purple Alicorn off guard. Turning to face Redheart again, Sombra bowed low, and once again thanked her for her kindness, before walking out of her home behind Twilight.

---

Spike nearly had a heart attack when Twilight led Sombra into the castle, but calmed down as the black unicorn dejectedly meandered into a room that Twilight promptly locked from the outside. Twilight had written a letter to Celestia informing her of the reappearance of Sombra, but assuring her there seemed to be no immediate threat. Despite this, Celestia replied that she would be visiting tomorrow, and Twilight had to admit it would be nice to see her again, even if under less than perfect circumstances.

Having returned to her studies on herbs and plants, the day had passed quickly, without so much as a peep or even a request for food from the voluntary prisoner. The afternoon turned to evening, and the sun fell low in the sky, and Twilight was, admittedly, having a bit of trouble staying awake reading the relatively dry book. A knock at the door jolted her back awake, though, and she quickly stood up and trotted to the door. She opened it to find Nurse Redheart, with a determined frown on her face and a picnic basket under her arm.

“Oh hello again Redheart, what brings you here?”

“Twilight.”

Well that’s a tone of voice I haven’t heard since she hushed Pinkie after the Cake twins were born.

“… yes?”

“I’m saying this as a friend. I think you’re wrong about him. I heard his story just as much as you did, and all I heard was a pony who wishes more than anything he could change the past. You have a bias, you have your own reasons not to trust him, but I don’t. As a nurse I spent five long years learning how to see things objectively. I don’t see him lying.”

Twilight snorted in irritation. Being talked down to was perhaps the one thing that annoyed her most in the world, behind not being able to figure something out at least. Today, Sombra had caused both of those. Silently nodding her agreement, she stepped to the side to let Redheart into her too-large-for-one-pony home. Without even asking, she undid the lock on Sombra’s door. He looked up in surprise, but a toothy smile broke out on his face when he saw Redheart coming in.

“Hey there. I couldn’t very well leave you all on your own now, could I?” She asked, as Sombra nearly ran to give her a hug. “Whoa, hey now, I’m happy to see you too. Hey, I brought some food,” Redheart added, extricating herself and setting down the basket. Before she could open it though, Sombra spoke.

“I’m scared,” he said, his breath catching in his throat to hold back the beginnings of a sob. Behind Redheart, the door clanked shut and he could hear the lock turn shut again. He jumped slightly as forelegs wrapped around his neck.

“Shhhh… it’s ok to be scared. I’ll be here with you.”

Chapter 6

Twilight awoke sharply at seven thirty the next morning, ready to take on the day and make the final preparations for Celestia’s arrival at ten. She brushed her teeth, took a quick, cool shower to fully awaken herself, and trotted quietly out of her room so as not to wake Spike.

Downstairs in the kitchen, she poured one, two, three bowls of oats and one, two, three glasses of milk. Leaving one bowl and glass on the table, she magically grabbed the other two breakfasts and began to walk over to the locked door. Fiddling with the magic-proof handle with her hooves, a metallic clank rewarded her efforts and the door crept open a few inches. She nudged it open with her hoof, and nearly dropped the food at the sight before her.

Sombra and Redheart lay intertwined in a rather awkward position, Sombra’s head between Redheart’s fore- and rear legs, with the white nursemare slumped over him, her head resting on his flank. It almost looked as though she had been holding his head on her lap when the two of them fell asleep. Sombra snored gently from beneath the smaller earth pony, his rhythmic breathing slowly raising and lowering her head. To say Twilight was shocked at the rather intimate sleeping position would have been an understatement – just yesterday Sombra had admitted to being one of the largest mass-murderers in the history of the world, and here slept Redheart, comforting him like a child. Blushing slightly, Twilight cleared her throat. Luckily, Redheart was a light sleeper, and jolted awake at the sudden, forced cough from the Alicorn.

“Hmm? Oh, good morning, Twilight,” Redheart mumbled groggily, eyebrows slanting in angrily for a moment, before softening. “Thank you for letting me stay with him.”

“Don’t thank me just yet. The Princess – Celestia, that is – will be here in a couple hours. Once she decides what to do with him, then you can thank me,” Twilight responded, just a touch of anger in her voice. “I… I brought you breakfast.”

“Thank you. Do you think we’d be able to use your shower? With the Princess coming like you said, I’d rather not smell like I haven’t showered.”

“Of course. There’s a shower in one of the guest bedrooms you can use. Down the hall to the left of the room you were in last night, three doors down on the right. There are other bathrooms, of course – honestly I’m not sure if I’ll ever be done finding rooms in this place – but that’s the only other one with any supplies in it. I’m afraid it only has shampoos suitable for mares, though.”

Redheart smiled. “I don’t really think he minds that much,” she said, tapping a hoof against Sombra’s side, eliciting a great snort of a snore from him. Such a snore, in fact, that he managed to wake himself up. He snuffled and wrapped his forehooves around what was presumably his pillow, before his mind registered that pillows generally don’t breathe. Or giggle, for that matter. His eyes snapped open, that purple haze drifting gently upward from their corners, and he looked around to try to figure out where he was. That’s what he would have done, at least, if his vision hadn’t been completely filled with a white stomach. Blushing madly, Sombra pulled himself up and away with great haste, very nearly catching his horn on Redheart’s throat. Shuffling away from her and backing into the corner of the room, Sombra stared down at his own forehooves as his face continued to burn red.

“Just leave your dishes by the sink in the kitchen when you’re done,” Twilight said, and turned to exit the room. She didn’t lock the door behind her, though, and Redheart had to wonder if it was a gesture of trust or if she simply didn’t want to have to come open it for them again.

The odd pair of ponies ate the breakfast, with no sound between them other than the crunching of the oats in their mouths. As they finished the oats and milk, Redheart moved to the door and shrugged, seeing nopony around to tell them not to leave. Sombra followed her out, looking around nervously as he followed his friend to the kitchen. She set the dishes on the counter, and Sombra did the same, noting a third set of breakfastware that must have been Twilight’s.

“Well, I’m going to go take Twilight up on that shower, now,” Redheart stated, half to Sombra and half to herself. “How about you just wait back in that room and wait until I’m done, ok?”

Sombra nodded, and Redheart turned and walked from the kitchen. Sombra took two steps to follow her, then realized it would perhaps be nice for Twilight if he cleaned the dishes so she didn’t have to. Heading back over to the sink, Sombra grabbed the coarse sponge from its dish on the counter, the small yellow and green device seemingly enchanted to always have a little soap in it. Taking the first bowl, he set to work.

---

About thirty minutes later, Twilight came back downstairs to find Redheart in the kitchen, idly reading a cookbook. Realizing she had yet to do the dishes from breakfast, she trotted over to the sink, only to find the three bowls and glasses sparkling clean and dry.

“Oh, well thank you Redheart, but you really didn’t have to do the dishes. I can do it myself in just a few moments with magic, or I can have Spike do it if I’m feeling, well, lazy.”

Redheart looked up from the cookbook. “I didn’t do anything of the sort.”

Twilight looked back at her, confused. If she didn’t do it, and I didn’t do it, and Spike didn’t do it… that leaves two options. Either dish-cleaning ghosts haunt this place, or Sombra did it. And I don’t know which is less likely.

---

Once again, Sombra stepped from the shower feeling refreshed and oh so pretty. Mane falling majestically to one side of his head, he took the towel into his hooves and ran it over his body, the soft fabric taking most of the water with it in a single swipe – which turned out to be a good thing, as he didn’t have a chance to do the rest. A purple aura surrounded him and lifted him off the ground, pulling him out of the bathroom, through the guest bedroom, down the hall and into the kitchen, before setting him down firmly, but not violently, in a chair next to Redheart.

“Don’t. Touch. Anything. Else,” Twilight seethed, air puffing from her nose as she pulled in deep, angry breaths.

“Twilight I don’t think-”

“I’ve seen what dark magic can do, Redheart, and it isn’t pretty. I don’t want to be attacked by sponges or bowls in my sleep,” she hissed, before turning back to Sombra. “Don’t. Touch. My. Stuff. Do I make myself clear? Celestia should be here shortly.”

Sombra swallowed and nodded, head and neck sucked in, trying to lean himself as far away from Twilight as possible.

“Twilight, let him go!”

“How can you possibly be taking his side in this?” Twilight groaned, “After all he told us, after all he himself claimed to be, how can you support him?”

“Because that’s not the pony he is anymore! Can’t you see that? Look at him!” Redheart was nearly yelling at this point, her voice drowning out the soft pop from the other room. “He’s terrified of you! Eyes wide, pupils dilated, rapid, shallow breathing – that’s a fear reaction in its purest form. Why would he be afraid of you if he was still the monster you say he is?”

“I don’t know!” Twilight shouted. “I just don’t! Maybe he’s playing the long con, maybe he just wants to lure us into a false sense of security before he kills us and starts taking back Equestria!”

“That’s not who he is anymore! I don’t know why, but I can just… I can feel it. Look at you there, though, the princess of everything friendship stands for, and you’re refusing to give a pony a chance to prove himself. You are betraying everything Celestia taught you and raised you to do. What would she think?”

“Don’t you DARE bring Celestia into this!”

“She doesn’t have to. You already did, Twilight,” Celestia said calmly.

---

Rarity smiled as she disembarked from the train with her friend. The third annual Manehattan sewing convention had been a lot of fun, of course, and she’d picked up a few new fabrics she’d love to try to add to her dresses. She had, however, been holding back the question of why, in particular, it had been Pinkie Pie to attend with her. Sewing was typically something unicorns did, as the dexterity and steady hooves required to do it by hoof eluded most ponies – and Rarity couldn’t think of a pony who had more trouble sitting still than the pink earth pony next to her. She’d held the question to herself the entire weekend, but now she simply had to know.

“Pinkie, my dear,” Rarity began, and the incessant bouncing prance Pinkie referred to as “walking” slowed to a more normal pace to listen, “Forgive me but I must ask – why the sudden interest in sewing?”

The bouncing stopped entirely and Pinkie began to walk normally for what seemed like the first time in forever.

“Well you see Rarity, Rainbow Dash has this super special Teddy Bear named Mr. Fribbles she’s had ever since she was just a little filly,” Pinkie started to explain. Rarity arched an eyebrow in suspicion, but knew better than to openly question one of Pinkie’s stories at this point, and waited for her friend to continue. “And last Thursday night she accidentally tore one of his arms off in her sleep. Which, you know, sometimes just happens with really old stuffed animals. Naturally she was really upset and wanted it fixed, but she didn’t want you or Fluttershy to know about it, because she thinks it’s embarrassing that she still sleeps with a stuffed animal, and especially since subtlety really isn’t your thing.”

Rarity had to physically bite her tongue to prevent a sarcastic reply.

“Anyways, I figured since I knew about it I’d try to learn a bit of sewing to fix it for her without anypony else knowing about dear Mr. Fribbles or the unfortunate accident he had.”

Rarity thought about it for a moment, and realizing that, given it was Pinkie after all, she supposed it made sense, except for one small detail.

“Wait, how did you find out about Mr. Fribbles?”

Pinkie gasped in horror. “Wait, how do you know about Mr. Fribbles? Who told y-”

The pink mare froze. Her tail twitched, her mane shook, her knees knocked and her eyes fluttered in a spastic combination Rarity had never seen before.

“Pinkie dear, are you ok?”

“Whoa! That one was a doozy,” Rarity flinched at the word, “I haven’t felt that one since Discord came back to Ponyville! That must be the signal for ‘A new pony is in town and they used to be a villain but now they’re reformed and they’ve come back to be friends!’” she chirped excitedly. “Oh I hope it’s Trixie or Gilda – oh, or maybe even Lighting Dust!” She paused and sniffed deeply. “And it smells like they’re at Twilight’s! Come on Rarity, we’ve got a new ex-baddie to meet!” With that, Pinkie dashed off.

Rarity, startled, stood still and blinked a couple times. “Wait, what?”

---

Twilight deflated like a popped balloon, and fell to her haunches. “Celestia?”

“Princess…” Redheart breathed, dropping down into a low bow.

Sombra eyed the door, wishing he could run, but knowing he didn’t have the strength to overpower Twilight.

“Please, my little ponies. Stand up. I came here expecting to pass judgment on one who is perhaps the single most appalling pony ever to live. Someone seems to be quite convinced that he deserves a pardon, though. That said, I’d like to hear his side first, if neither of you object.”

“Of course not, Princess,” Twilight and Redheart answered in unison, Twilight dropping the magic restraining the black unicorn.

“Very well then. Sombra,” Celestia said.

“Princess,” came his growling reply. “What you say is true, I am a disgusting excuse for a pony. I have done a great many horrible, horrible things in my time, and I cannot imagine for what reason I was spared death in the Crystal Empire this past year, or all those years ago. I stand ready to accept any punishment you have for me.”

“Is that so?” Celestia inquired. “If that is the case, I did have a punishment in mind, had you been brought back from the Crystal Empire alive. It will be extremely painful, and it will not end any time soon.” Sombra nodded.

“So be it.” Celestia stated flatly, her horn flaring for a moment as she began to cast a teleportation spell.

That was the moment Redheart found herself walking on the very thin line between bravery and stupidity.

“No.”

The magic around Celestia’s horn flickered and dissipated, and Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Oh?”

“You can’t do that to him. I know what he said, he told me, he told us, everything about what he did and how he came to be. I don’t see a pony who wants to kill or eat or subjugate anymore,” Redheart said, throat dry and threatening to choke her out of every word, her voice remarkably steady for how noticeably her body shivered. “I see a pony who needs help, who needs help perhaps more than any pony who has ever lived before, a pony who has forgotten what it’s like to be loved. I look at him and my heart just cries out for me to help him. He feels it too, I know that much. He tries to help in all the silliest, most trivial ways imaginable, trying to do nice things for other ponies without even asking, even if it’s not the most proper. He cleaned the campsite and carried the trash bags, organized the desk at the orphanage, ate a salad he clearly didn’t like just because I was the one paying for it… and that’s not all. He has a good heart now, it’s new and it’s hurting, but he wants to help. I cannot believe you would be so willing to immediately condemn him like this, Princess, when everything you stand for is forgiveness and helping other ponies in their time of need. It’s absolutely shameful. Disgraceful. Pathetic.”

Oh sweet Celestia in Canterlot I just called the Princess pathetic. Redheart suddenly found every ounce of strength drained from her as the full weight of what she had just said – and more importantly, who she had said it to – hit her, and she collapsed to the ground in a state of shock.

Celestia arched an eyebrow incredulously.

“Oh Princess, Princess I’m so sorry, I just… I don’t know-”

Celestia laughed.

“It has been a very long time since I’ve been spoken to like that. A very long time indeed,” she said with a chuckle. “Thank you, Miss Redheart. Even I am not infallible – yes Twilight, I make mistakes, many more than you ever have, you can pick your jaw up off the floor – and sometimes it takes another pony’s view to bring me back around. I have let hatred and fear cloud my judgment before, and it has only ever ended in heartbreak. You’re right, Redheart, and I can hear it in your voice and see it in your eyes. You believe in Sombra, you genuinely think he has changed, and has the ability to keep changing for the better. Very well. A somewhat less tortuous punishment is in order, and one I’m sure Twilight will be familiar with. Sombra, I’m going to ask you to stay in Ponyvvmmmph.”

A gasp longer than Redheart would have thought possible pierced the air as a fluffy pink tail covered Celestia’s face and muffled her voice, the equally fluffy pink pony attached to it hovering stationary in the air longer than an earth pony should have been able to.

“Oh my gosh, it’s not Trixie or Gilda or even Lightning Dust! It’s you! I never even got to talk to you at all! Oh this is wonderful, I can’t wait to get to know you!”

---

Sombra’s mouth hung open in shock as not one but two ponies just disrespected the Princess. The fact that one of them was in his face and talking faster than he could comprehend only added to the confusion of the situation. His eyes fell upon Redheart, the one thing that seemed to be stationary now that this fuchsia nuisance had entered the room.

Redheart stood up for me. Redheart stood up to the princess for me. Why would she do that for me, even after she knows who – no, what I really was?

Somewhere in the avalanche of words pouring out of the pink one’s mouth Sombra’s ears perked up and caught the word “party.” Suddenly snapped back to reality, the next thing he caught was Twilight yelling.

“Pinkie Pie! You can’t throw a party for him!”

The mare skidded to a halt on Twilight’s polished crystal floors, and Sombra could have sworn her hair visibly lost volume.

“But I always throw parties,” the one identified as Pinkie Pie whimpered, “Why can’t I throw one for… for… umm,” she turned to Sombra. “I’m sorry mister but I don’t think I know your name.”

“My name is Sombra,” he tried to answer in the most cheerful voice possible, wincing when instead it came out as a growl. Welp there it goes, I’ve scared her off.

“Whoaaaaa, I like your voice! It sounds all… growly and fierce!”

What?

“Yeah it sounds all… royal, and powerful!”

Can… can she read minds? But she’s an earth pony!

“No silly, your face is easier to read than most of Twilight’s books,” the mare replied almost psychically, with a giggle.

“Pinkie!”

“Yes Twilight?”

“Stop fraternizing with the enemy!”

“He’s hardly the enemy, look at him. You’ve got him magically tied up and everything. And besides, look how scared he is. Wait, why does he look so frightened?”

“Twilight and I… may have had a slight altercation in the Crystal Empire,” Sombra offered quietly.

“Well I know that, I was there. I mean right NOW?”

“Pinkie! He tried to kill Spike, and my brother, and not to mention, the rest of Equestria! How can you be so calm about this?”

“Actually, Twilight,” Celestia interrupted, “I think a party would be a grand idea.”

“Princess! Not you too…” Twilight whined as she realized she no longer had any winning move in this game.

Don’t I get a say in this?

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fun!” the pink mare promised.

Chapter 7

That night, the party was in full swing. Celestia, unfortunately, had to return to Canterlot – she was a busy pony, after all, and her impromptu trip to Ponyville had gotten her more than a little behind on the day’s meetings and paperwork. Sombra himself felt strange about the whole thing – apart from a small amount of initial fear and anger, Twilight’s other friends had accepted the news fairly readily. Well, that might have been an overstatement – the cyan Pegasus mare was having absolutely none of it, and left immediately. The orange earth pony with the apple cutie mark made a point of avoiding him for the evening, as did the other unicorn – one named Rarity, if Sombra had caught it right. He’d caught a yellow Pegasus staring at him more than once throughout the party, but any time he made eye contact she immediately looked away and hid behind the nearest pony or object.

They seem like a spirited bunch, at least.

Apart from those in Twilight’s immediate friend group, Ponyville was a town full of nice, if occasionally quirky ponies. Redheart stayed by his side throughout the night, introducing Sombra to each pony who came up to him in turn. An excited green unicorn with a mint-colored mane, a dark gray Pegasus with the most offensive mane styling Sombra had ever seen, a light brown earth pony with a thin southern accent, and many others. All cheerfully introduced themselves, and all wished him the best in his new life here in Ponyville. It was… remarkable how openly friendly they were to a complete stranger, taking his polite, tight-lipped smiles and Redheart’s word as all they needed to accept him as one of their own.

Pinkie Pie had, on several occasions, tried to pull, push, or slide Sombra into the center of the room, in a vain attempt to get him to dance. Each time she tried, the enormous gray stallion pushed back and struggled with all his might, shocked at how he could only just barely overpower the much smaller mare. As the night went on, though, he had to admit, the pulsing, pounding “music” the light cream unicorn with the most bizarre two-toned mane was playing was rather catchy, and he found his head bobbing to the beat. Then his hoof started to tap, his tail began to swish – suddenly his whole body was flowing to the beat of the music. He swayed, shimmied, and shook, hooves flying from the ground like a pro. Or so he would have liked to think. The laughter started low, and quickly turned to nearly the entire room guffawing as an extremely old pony attempted to dance to very new music. For the first time since he lost the Empire, Sombra didn’t care what anypony thought of him – because he was having fun. Real, honest, genuine fun, the likes of which he hadn’t known in thousands of years, and he wanted to share it. He took Redheart’s hoof and pulled her towards him. Redheart blushed and tried to pull away, but Sombra pleaded with his eyes, and reluctantly, she followed him to the dance floor.

Behind the DJ booth, Vinyl Scratch seemed to have caught on to what was happening. “Hey old man, here’s something more your speed!”

Who is that delinquent calling old m- oh, oh yes this is much nicer actually.

The high-octane music that Sombra couldn’t even begin to describe switched to something (a bit) more conventional – a piece of classical as played by a solo cello, but with a heavy beat behind it. This was something Sombra actually knew how dance to, and something he could lead a partner in. He took Redheart’s forehooves in his own and lifted her onto her hind legs.

“Sombra, please, I don’t know how to dance!” the nurse protested, blushing.

Sombra smiled and whispered, “I do.”

He started off slow and simple, an easy hoofwork pattern of steps and slides to get Redheart into the rhythm. It took her a few measures – the mare obviously not having held false modesty about not knowing how to dance – but, while she may not have had any prior knowledge, she was a quick learner, and she soon had the basic pattern down.

“I’m dancing,” she breathed, looking down at her hooves for a moment, “I can’t believe it, I’m actually dancing!”

A devilish smile came to Sombra’s face. “This is hardly dancing, my dear – this is stepping in time. Now that you’ve got the rhythm down, though – now we can dance,” he said, listening as the music began to rise, leading into what the “DJ” unicorn certainly would have called a… was it a flop? Something like that. At any rate – it would be the perfect opportunity for a lift. “Are you ready?”

The beat dropped.

“Ready for whaaaAA-” Sombra dropped his forehooves from his partner’s and placed them on her sides, just under her shoulders, sweeping low in a circle as he lifted her from the ground. To her credit, she didn’t freak out as she left the ground as most might have, though she may have just stiffened in surprise. Her world spun as she felt herself leave the floor, her whole weight resting briefly in Sombra’s hooves, before she found herself once again grounded. The large black stallion twirled and spun, using his own hooves to gently but deftly move Redheart’s own into place on the floor, the white mare barely having time to process each new stance before he moved her to another. She had to admit, though, Sombra was absolutely incredible at this – she felt like a plank, a stiff piece of wood caught in his rhythmic flow. Her world spun again as she realized Sombra had twirled her, and the music had all but faded from her consciousness as every fiber of her being focused on trying to follow the unicorn’s increasingly complex hoofwork. Suddenly everything stopped as the floor slid from beneath her, her hooves barely staying beneath her, forelegs instinctively sliding up around Sombra’s neck to keep from falling over. A strong hoof was behind her back, supporting more of her weight than her own limbs. Sombra’s face was close, perhaps a little too close, his large green eyes staring into her own as both ponies breathed heavily from the exertion – or rather, exertion in Sombra’s case, exhilaration for Redheart.

Sombra smiled, and a low, growly chuckle passed his lips. “That is dancing,” he said, standing back upright to rebalance himself, and pulling Redheart back to a bipedal stance. They held the standing position a moment longer, Sombra ready to lead for another dance, before he realized there was no music playing. He let go of his friend and settled back to all fours before looking around him. Every pony in the room was staring at the couple, amazement and awe written across their faces. Even the DJ, her jaw slack, had taken off her glasses to get a clearer look at the partners as they had spun and twirled around the dance floor. Sombra’s smile faded as confusion replaced the joy, and Redheart became Redface as she tried to hide from the onlookers.

Then the silence erupted into applause. Dozens of ponies clapped their hooves together or shouted for an encore, cheering and yelling their appreciation for the show they had just received. Sombra’s own jaw began to slide down in disbelief at ponies cheering for him, the excitement on their faces…

This is an emotion I haven’t seen directed at me in a very, very long time. It’s a very welcome change.

“Pinkie told me he was ten thousand years old,” the young white unicorn exclaimed, grabbing the nearest pony and yelling in their face, “Old ponies can’t dance! Why can he dance? Why can he dance better than I can?”

---

The party had picked up again shortly after that, and continued on into the wee hours of the morning. A rather irresponsibly late bedtime, Sombra had thought, but perhaps a little dalliance from a good eight hours could be acceptable, if not healthy, from time to time. Sombra had personally thanked every pony who came as they left, tears in his eyes after the third or fourth pony saying how glad they were that he’d be a part of their community from now on. These ponies were all so genuine, there was no deception or fear in their voices, their hoofshakes, their hugs, their laughter. Even the Elements of Harmony offered their introductions, if they were a little more hesitant than the rest – especially the yellow Pegasus mare, Fluttershy. She’d required a little… encouragement from Twilight, in the fashion of getting pony-handled by the Alicorn’s magic, to properly say goodnight to the former king. He learned the DJ’s name was Vinyl Scratch, a local musician and creator of something called ‘dubstep,’ the blaring, pulsing music Sombra had attempted to dance to earlier in the night. He thanked her especially – she was an unwitting catalyst to one of the greatest moments in his life for thousands of years.

Redheart herself had left a little while ago, though Sombra thought he could find her house on his own – it was, after all, flanking the second-tallest building in town, the town hall, which was clearly visible from Twilight’s front door. As the last of the guests filed out of the building, Sombra himself turned to follow, only to be stopped by a cough from Twilight.

“Miss Twilight? Do you wish for me to spend another night here?”

“No, it’s not that,” she began, quietly. “Look, I… I want to apologize, for earlier, and for last night, and with Pinkie and the Princess… I just…”

“It’s ok, Twilight. Your reaction was justified. I made my best attempt on your life, the life of your closest friends, and the lives of every pony in Equestria. Honestly, I would have been more frightened if you weren’t mad – all the more reason Miss Pie unsettles me,” Sombra finished with a chuckle. To his surprise, Twilight laughed a little, too.

“Yeah… Pinkie… Pinkie’s a special case. That’s what makes her so… so wonderful though, you know? Everypony is different, everypony is unique, and everypony is wonderful in their own way.”

“Except me.”

“No! Don’t you ever think that!” Twilight’s apologetic voice was suddenly stern, “You are a wonderful pony, Sombra. You’ve just done some… honestly pretty horrific things in your past. Look at you now, though! You’ve just made at least fifty friends, you danced the hooves off Vinyl Scratch herself, and you’ve sworn off magic because it scares you! You are changing, Sombra. You shouldn’t ever let yourself forget what you’ve done, but… I mean…” Twilight trailed off, finding herself uncharacteristically at a loss for words, for a moment, before finding some. “Don’t ever think you’re unimportant, or not worth it. You are always worth it, even if you don’t feel like it to yourself. At least to somepony else. In this case, that somepony might be our mutual friend Miss Redheart. Go on home, Sombra.”

Sombra smiled and nodded, doubting his ability to speak due to the lump rising in his throat. Bowing his head in thanks, he turned and walked out into the night.

---

The night was cool and clear, with the bright moon hanging nearly full in the sky. It provided more than enough light to walk back to Redheart’s by, the silvery orb making it extremely easy to locate the town hall. Redheart’s house probably would have proved a bit more difficult to find on it’s own, given that the houses did all look rather similar, but for the light coming through the single round window on the front of her home. He tried the door gently, and the wooden gate swung open lazily. Redheart sat at the kitchen table, asleep, a glass of water in front of her. Her head rocked gently on a single hoof, in time with her steady breathing. She looked so happy, so peaceful, so…

Beautiful, Sombra had thought, before he really realized what he was thinking. A soft smile came to his face, and he turned to close the door behind him, trying to slide the lock shut as quietly as possible. Despite his best efforts, a soft, metallic clink that seemed louder than any of the music Vinyl had played echoed through the room. He winced, and turned around, just in time to see Redheart snuffle back to consciousness.

Turning to make eye contact with him, a worried frown came to her face.

“Oh Sombra, I’m so sorry I left you I shouldn’t have –”

“It’s ok, I-” Sombra began, only to stop himself. Something was… off.

“Your voice,” Redheart said flatly.

Yeah. That’d be it.

“My voice,” Sombra echoed, dumbfounded.

It’s not growly. It’s… it’s normal.

“I… I cannot believe it,” Sombra said, sounding out a few words in his glorious new crystal clear baritone, “It sounds like a normal pony’s voice! It’s wonderful, I could just… I feel like bursting out into song!”

Redheart practically teleported across the room and covered his mouth with a hoof.

“No singing. We’re not singing. That’s not a thing that’s going to happen. Not at three in the morning while my brother is asleep. Because you will wake him up. And he will try to sing with you. And nopony – I mean nopony – wants that.”

Sombra nodded from behind the hoof, noticing how… intense Redheart’s eyebrows had gotten. She took her hoof away and followed it to the floor with her eyes, sighing.

“I… I wanted to say I am sorry for pulling you out of your comfort zone, earlier,” Sombra started, “I was just so excited about the dancing, and I… I did not really know who else to try to dance with, and-”

“It was fine, really,” Redheart cut in. “I need to get out of my comfort zone more often, to be honest, and, well,” she blushed a little, “it was a lot of fun. Maybe we can… maybe we could do it again sometime?”

Sombra found his own cheeks warming a bit, too, at the implication. “I am glad you had fun, and… I think that would be nice, too.”

“Glad we agree on that. It’s three am. I have work tomorrow. Let’s go to bed. The couch is actually a futon, I folded it out earlier for you,” Redheart said, a sudden tiredness taking her, “I got some blankets and a pillow out, too. Goodnight, Sombra.”

“Goodnight, Miss Redheart. Thank you for everything.”

“You’re welcome,” she whispered as she headed up the stairs.

Sombra turned, and sure enough, the sofa had been laid out flat and formed into a bed.

That is the cleverest thing I think I’ve ever seen.

Chapter 8

While the exceptionally clever bed-couch device was quite comfortable, Sombra found himself sleeping poorly. Haunted by nightmares of his past, and waking frequently throughout the night, he hardly got any rest at all. Flashes of faces of fear from ponies he had killed or had executed, the hatred frozen on the visage of a would-be assassin stopped in his tracks by Sombra’s guards, blood on his own hooves. He twitched and shuddered as he tossed and turned in the bed, more than once waking up with tears on the borrowed pillow.

It was early in the reborn Sombra’s reign, before he was as widely hated by the citizens of the Empire as he had eventually grown to be. Ponies had begun to fear him, yes, and rightfully so – but many still held onto hope that it was a mere phase, something that would turn for the better in a few months, or perhaps years. Sombra was eating alone in the grand dining hall in the Crystal Castle, the only other ponies around were the occasional serving mare or member of the kitchen staff. Except Law Letter – one of the king’s personal advisors, and while a pony sometimes emotionally distant, Sombra had considered him a close personal friend. The elderly, light blue crystal stallion had served with Sombra for many years, and had been with him even before his fall, and he was perhaps the one thing Sombra regretted. He was young, full of vigor and vitality, fit, and handsome as he had ever been – and Law aged on, growing ever older and frailer. It pained Sombra, but it also made him angry. Angry that he could do nothing for his friend, angry that his friend grew old, angry that he was angry about this. Sombra had accidentally clenched his magic grip on his wine glass, shattering the delicate crystalline structure. Law had been by his side in a moment, offering his concern and assistance to the king. The decrepit old horse was hardly fit to live in the Crystal Castle, much less be a personal attendant to King Sombra, he had thought, and in that moment rage took him. The confusion, the fear, the betrayal written on Law’s face had been etched into Sombra’s memories forever.

That particularly vivid night terror woke him just before dawn, or so he figured given the weak, bluish-yellow light filtering in through the window. He decided that it was no longer worth attempting to sleep, and rolled to the edge of the futon to stand out of the bed. Looking again towards the window, the thought occurred to him to just… observe the town.

Perhaps if I cannot find peace in my own life I can in the lives of others.

Gently lifting a kitchen chair, he moved it to the window and sat himself down. Despite the early hour, the town was beginning to creep to life – a large red stallion hauled a cart full of apples across the square, a wine-colored pony stumbled drunkenly through a doorway as a pink-maned mare stepped out the same. A blue blur left a rainbow-colored trail behind her as she shifted clouds into their assigned formations for the day. The sun began to peek over the hills and soft golden light filtered through the clouds and buildings, ponies casting long shadows as they trotted about. A telltale hissing came from the ceiling, water flowing through the plumbing as somepony got in the shower. Smiling softly, Sombra caught the eye of a young, light gray unicorn filly shuffling excitedly behind a pony Sombra assumed to be her mother – a plain Pegasus mare with a blonde mane and some bubbles for a cutie mark. The little filly smiled broadly, raising a hoof and shaking it violently in what looked like a wave of greeting. He returned the wave, only to find the mother looking back at him too – sort of, at least. Her big, golden eyes pointed in two different directions, one focused on him, the other on her daughter. Stopping for a moment, she reached into her saddlebag, checked through a series of letters, and stopped on one, her face lighting up. Turning from her previous path, mare and filly began to trot towards Sombra. Or rather, towards Redheart’s house, as Sombra finally put two and two together.

Pegasus, saddlebags filled with letters, job that starts early in the morning… yeah, she’s probably a mailmare. That makes sense. Why would she go off her route just to see me, though?

Sombra got out of the chair and trotted over to the door, fiddling with the lock for a moment before opening it. The two gray ponies smiled at him, and the black unicorn opened his mouth to greet them.

“Good mo-”

“Hi there! My name is Derpy Hooves!” the mare introduced herself, her voice not loud, but carrying far. “Well, that’s not my real name but that’s what everypony calls me because I’m clumsy, and I thought it was kinda cute so I just stuck with it! Say, I don’t recognize you – are you new around here? Are you the pony Pinkie threw a party for last night? Her parties are always so much fun, but it was a school night for Muffin-”

“Mooooooooom,” the little unicorn complained, smiling and giggling when her mother tousled her mane in reply.

“Sorry honey,” she said, before returning her attention to Sombra, “It was a school night for Dinky here, and since it’s just her and me I couldn’t hardly leave her home alone now could I? Oh, this is Redheart’s house isn’t it – I have a letter for you, err, for her, but could you give it to her for me?”

“Yeah, of cour-”

“Thanks! Anyways, gotta get Dinky off to school, nice meeting you, bye!” The mare said, turning and trotting off with her daughter in tow.

Seems a little early for school.

“But mooooooooom,” the petite unicorn started up again, in that same whining-but-not-really-whining tone, “School doesn’t start for an hour, and you said I could come with you on your mail route this morning! And you didn’t even get his name!”

“My name is Sombra!” the dark stallion called after them as they walked away, eliciting a giggle from both ponies. He smiled – it was so nice to meet new ponies, new ponies who weren’t trying to kill him or that he wasn’t trying to kill, and at the clearness of his new (or possible very, very old) voice. It felt so good to be able to talk freely, without fearing the sound of his own growling. A buzzing and a rather masculine yawn came from behind him, and suddenly he realized the hissing of the shower had stopped. Turning back around Sombra jumped for a moment at the sight of the hulking Pegasus hovering down the stairs before remembering that yes, indeed, Snowflake lived here too.

“Good morning,” the monstrous pony said blearily, yawning again, “Surprised to see you up so early, you sleep alright?” The floor creaked a little where he landed, protesting under the mountain of muscles.

“Actually no, but not because of the accommodations,” Sombra began, before he looked over at Snowflake, who had let out a small grunt of surprise. “Yeah, my voice changed last night. I don’t… do not really know why. Maybe I’ll ask Twilight about it later. Anyways, the couch-bed thing-”

“Futon.”

“- futon was quite comfortable. Just some bad dreams is all.”

“Ah, that stinks. Sorry to hear that. If it keeps happening maybe you could go visit Zecora. She makes all sorts of potions and brews and stuff, I’m sure she’d have something to help with nightmares,” Snowflake grumbled as he stepped into the kitchen. “Hey, you want some breakfast? I was just gonna have a bowl of oats, but if you wanna stop by Sugarcube Corner we could grab some doughnuts, they’re the best in town and it’s right on the way over to Miss Horizons’ place.”

Sombra looked at the stallion, puzzled. “What is a doughnut?”

Snowflake’s eyes widened in surprise, and he immediately started putting away the bowl he’d gotten out. “Oh man, we’re going to Sugarcube Corner. You’re in for a treat. Go on up and take a shower, my sister won't be up for a few hours yet so you’ll be fine.”

---

Sombra had emerged from the shower about ten minutes later, once again feeling exceptionally pretty and hoping Redheart wouldn’t be mad that he had used her shampoos again. Moving downstairs again as quietly as possible so as not to wake his sleeping host, he reunited with Snowflake and the pair headed out into the day. The sun was hanging only just above the horizon, but it was already a pleasantly warm day, and Sombra enjoyed the sun’s light on his body. As did a fair number of single mares, judging by the giggles and blushes he received walking with Snowflake. The pair made their way across town towards a surprisingly pink building that almost looked… frosted. Snowflake held the door aside and gestured for Sombra to enter, the unicorn nodding his thanks as he did.

“Good morning!” a plump, tired-looking blue earth mare with a swirly fuchsia mane chirped, doing her best to put on a genuine smile. “Let’s see, handsome black unicorn with unusual eyes? You must be the new pony that Pinkie wouldn’t… stop… talking about… all night…” she trailed off, seeming to slip out of consciousness for a just a moment, before continuing, “I’m Cup Cake, co-owner of and head baker at Sugarcube Corner! What can I do for you this fine… early… morning, mister…?”

“Sombra,” he filled in for her, “My name is Sombra.”

“Oh what a lovely name. Carrot!” she turned and yelled into the back room, ducking as a pink rocket fired out above the saloon-style doors, followed by an even more haggard looking yellow stallion, with two foals riding on his back.

“Oh good morning again Sombra! It’s only been about four hours since I last saw you but really it’s so wonderffffffff- MMMMMM!” Pinkie hummed in delight as Mrs. Cake stuffed a cupcake in her mouth.

“Pinkie dear, you partied with Mr. Sombra here all last night, please go back to work.”

“Oh of course Mrs. Cake! Sorry about that!” the sugary earth mare exclaimed before vanishing into the back again.

Mrs. Cake shook her head and smiled. “She’s a sweet girl, Pinkie is, but she can be… a hooffull sometimes. Anyways, this is my husband, Carrot.”

“Nice to meet you,” the stallion added, pausing and staring blankly for a moment before gesturing to the foals on his back, “This here’s my son Pumpkin Cake,” indicating the unicorn, “and my daughter, Pound Cake,” as he pointed to the Pegasus.

“Backwards, dear.”

“Oh honey I’m so sorry. I just… I haven’t slept in three days, between the twins and Pinkie…”

“It’s ok, you’re tired, I know,” Mrs. Cake consoled him with a chuckle, planting a quick, tender kiss on his cheek, “I can take care of them for a while, go get some sleep.”

Sombra watched life and hope return to the stallion’s dead eyes.

“You mean it? You can really run the place by yourself and watch the twins at the same time?”

“Absolutely. And even if I couldn’t, you’re about three days without rest past being helpful, sweetie.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Carrot Cake replied sadly, sidling up to his wife to pass off the foals, “I’m just gonna…” he paused to let out a titanic yawn, “go… take a nap.”

“You do that.”

Carrot loped off, slowly and unsteadily climbing the stairs leading to the second floor of the building.

“Is… he gonna be ok?” Snowflake asked after he disappeared.

“Oh yes, he’ll be fine. But between you and me, getting more sleep after your foals turn one is a load of frosting,” Mrs. Cake replied with a mirthless laugh. “Anyways, where were we… oh right, what would you two fine young stallions like today?”

“Well…” Sombra began.

“Sombra here’s never even heard of a doughnut, so give us two of the best you’ve got!” Snowflake butted in.

Mrs. Cake blushed a deep red. “Oh, oh my! But that’s such a sudden request! I’d have to ask my husband… I mean, how could I possibly know what –”

“Give ‘em the maple frosted with sprinkles!” Pinkie hollered from the kitchen. “Perfect beginner’s doughnut!”

Snowflake looked at the door the voice had come from for a moment, put on a contemplative frown, nodded to himself, then looked back at Mrs. Cake and nodded to her.

“Very well then, two maple frosted with sprinkles coming right up! That’ll be three bits.”

Snowflake nodded and produced the requisite bits out of thin air, placing them down on the counter, accepting the doughnuts from the mare, and passing one of them to Sombra.

He eyed the pastry suspiciously, the sugary treat already making his hooves feel sticky – but the sweet scent that wafted to his nostrils made his mouth water.

“Don’t be afraid of it, Sombra, just take a bite. You’ll love it, I promise.”

Sombra did as he was told. Biting into the doughnut, he found that Snowflake had not been lying to him. The soft, still-warm, sweetened bready flesh met his tongue first, followed by the smooth, slightly grainy maple frosting dissolving across his palette, and the crunch of the sprinkles as he bit down. Sombra chewed slowly, tenderly, carefully, before gently swallowing. He looked at Snowflake with absolute disbelief. The big stallion guffawed back at him.

“Oh man, what I wouldn’t give for you to see your own face right now,” he said through his laughter, before taking a bite of his own doughnut. He hummed contentedly to himself. “Oh ho ho, Mrs. Cake. This is fantastic. Thank you so much!”

“You’re welcome dear.”

“Come on Sombra, best part about a doughnut is you can walk and eat at the same time. We gotta get going if we – well, technically just I – don’t want to be late. And believe me – you do not want to be late for Mrs. Horizons.”

Somehow, I feel like I don’t need proof of that statement.

Chapter 9

“Good morning Snowflake!” Brighter chirped as he stepped through the door, the golden mare shuffling a foal through the doors out of the entry hall. “Sombra,” she added, her voice dropping to a low tone of nothing more than tolerance.

“Good morning ma’am!” Snowflake barked, the sharpness of the outburst taking Sombra by surprise for a moment. Miss Horizons giggled for a moment, the quieted when the dark stallion nodded his greetings to the unicorn.

“Alright, so,” she began with a huff, “Standard Monday morning. Snowflake, you’ll be taking the children to school in,” she glanced at the clock, “about twenty minutes. Sombra… you can… how about you… um…”

“Why doesn’t he go with the kids to school? I’m sure it’d prove educational, and Miss Cheerilee is a pony everypony should get to meet,” Snowflake offered.

That might be nice, I do have a few thousand years of history to catch up on, Sombra thought, nodding his own approval to the idea.

Brighter Horizons hummed to herself, pondering the thought for a moment. It would keep the well-intentioned, if somewhat over-enthusiastic stallion out of her mane, and Snowflake was right – everypony should know Miss Cheerilee. Celestia bless her soul, that mare gave everything she had to teaching and it showed. Ponyville’s tiny, single-room elementary school had a history of some of the highest standardized test scores in Equestria ever since she’d started teaching, falling behind only a few of the most exclusive Manehattan and Canterlot private academies.

“Very well, I think that is a good idea. Besides, I’m going to need some help cleaning up around here today, Snowflake, and I somehow don’t trust Sombra on his own with a broom,” Horizons voiced her answer, her tone half-way between humor and frustration at the end.

“Yes ma’am,” Snowflake replied, then turned to Sombra, “Alright, let’s go get everypony rounded up.”

The three ponies headed through the doors into the main living area.

Good Faust, I thought Discord was the god of chaos.

Toys, crayons, scraps of paper, and trash were strewn about the floor, with a few books tossed in for good measure. Colts blitzed around at relativistic speeds, fillies chattered in a pitch too high for Sombra’s old ears to hear, and he could hear crying somewhere. He stopped to take this all in, not noticing that Snowflake had also paused, leaving just Horizons walking into the room.

The golden-maned mare cleared her throat softly, and everything stopped. The colts ceased moving, and the fillies stopped talking immediately. Only the crying remained, but soft and muffled.

“Alright, you all know what time it is. I want this place cleaned up and you all ready to leave in fifteen minutes. Sombra will also be accompanying you to school today, so be nice to him. Understood?” Her tone was confusing to Sombra – it seemed happy and benevolent, but there was an air of a threat behind it.

“Yes Miss Horizons,” seventeen foals answered in unison, each one reaching down and grabbing the nearest bits of whatever didn’t belong on the floor. Sombra watched in amazement as the mess disappeared before his very eyes; the foals using the magic of teamwork to make what would have taken a single pony an hour to clean vanish in under five. As soon as the floor was clean, they began filling saddlebags or filing in and out of the bathrooms, sliding around and behind the three adults as they passed through the doors and gathered in the foyer.

“That was… that was amazing, Miss Horizons,” Sombra whispered in awe.

“Oh, so you talk now, do you?” she replied, annoyance apparent in her voice. When she noticed Sombra looking away, she continued, “Hey, I’m just teasing. Sorry about yesterday. My desk was long overdue for a cleaning, even if that wasn’t exactly how I would have liked it done. Would you mind going and waiting with the foals in the lobby? Snowflake and I will be out in just a minute.”

“Not at all, Miss,” Sombra said as he straightened up. He spun around and pressed the door open gently, wanting to make sure he didn’t accidentally hit anypony standing on the other side of it, and stepped through.

---

Snowflake now stood alone in the room with Brighter, save for one other filly. The one who had been crying. Tag-a-long.

Brighter Horizons took a few steps forward, only to be stopped by a heavy hoof coming gently to her shoulder. She looked over and saw Snowflake smiling at her.

“I’ve got this.”

The huge Pegasus stallion stepped forward, walking over to the crying filly, and sat down next to her.

“Hey.”

“H-hi.”

“What’s the matter?”

“I n-needed some he-help with my ma-math homework an-d Book Worm said I wa-s stupid for n-ot being a-able to do i-t,” she managed through the sobs. Snowflake sighed heavily through his nose. Book Worm was a very, very bright young pony, but he had a tendency to be kind of a jerk about it.

“That all?” He tried his best not to sound condescending – it was mean, sure, but Tag-a-long was eleven, this seemed a bit of an extreme reaction.

“He- also said tha-t I’d nev-ver get adopted if I was th-that stupid,” she whimpered.

Oh. Oh that’s just… wow.

“Hey, you wanna know something?” Snowflake asked, turning back around and leaning closer to the crying filly. She didn’t look up, but nodded, still sniffling into her hooves. “Snowflake isn’t my real name.”

That got the little earth filly’s attention, and she looked up, green eyes opening in confusion.

“Yep, that’s right. You wanna know something else?”

Tag-a-long nodded slowly.

“Miss Redheart isn’t actually my sister. I was adopted.”

The cream colored filly gave him a look of incredulity, or at least the closest she could muster through her tears.

“It’s true. Come on, why would I lie to you? There’s one more thing you ought to know, too. These muscles? I didn’t ask for them, I didn’t work for them,” he began to explain, “I was born with a genetic defect. There’s supposed to be this hormone, a chemical in the body that keeps your muscles from growing too big. My body doesn’t produce that hormone, so my muscles just swelled and swelled – I mean sure, I’ve got more muscle-mass than the combined population of Canterlot, but it came with it’s drawbacks,” Snowflake buzzed his small wings, “The growth of my wings was really stunted, and even if they weren’t so small I’d still struggle with flying like I do now,” Snowflake paused and chuckled. “All these muscles make me weigh a lot, and they take a lot of energy so I don’t have very much stamina. I’ve had to work really, really hard just to have as much endurance as your average pony. All through school everypony was surprised at how poorly I preformed in sports, but I just got too tired too quickly. I ended up picking up the violin as a hobby, but that’s another story. Point is, so what if you’re a bit different, or you’ve got something working against you that most others don’t, or you struggle with something somepony else doesn’t? We’re all different and we’re all unique, but most of all? You have the power to change that. Don’t let other ponies tell you what you can’t do – unless it’s something dangerous to yourself or others, being responsible is important – and if somepony tries to tell you otherwise, you go and prove them wrong, you hear?”

Tag-a-long smiled and nodded weakly, even with the tears still falling slowly. She sniffed a couple more times, then a thought hit her.

“Wait, wh-what’s your re-real name?” Tag-a-long squeaked out, trying to get her breathing back under control.

The muscular Pegasus smiled a broad, toothy, genuine smile.

“It’s Bulk Biceps. Didn’t exactly have the most creative parents, it would seem.”

That broke through the tears, the little filly’s laughter bubbling out from underneath her sorrows.

“You feeling up to going to school?” Snowflake asked.

“M-hmm,” Tag-a-long hummed, wiping a couple tears from her face, before gasping as Snowflake picked her up and gave her a hug.

“You go clean yourself up then, alright?” He suggested, setting her back down. The filly giggled again and trotted off to the bathroom.

“Alright, my turn to be impressed,” Brighter Horizons said, taking a few steps towards Snowflake, “You handled that really well.”

The white stallion just chuckled. “Honestly, I’ve been working here for over a year, I’m surprised you hadn’t seen me do something like that by now, it’s no-” he halted mid-sentence as the mare reached up and kissed him lightly on the cheek. He could feel his face burning as the blush rose in him, completely uncontainable.

“Miss Horizons, I… I…”

“Oh please, don’t act like that was unexpected. You’re smart, handsome, and spectacular with the kids. Why in Equestria would you not think I’ve fallen for you?”

Snowflake sat in silence as he desperately tried to digest the new information. He opened his mouth for a moment, reconsidered, and closed it again.

Brighter Horizons’ heart leapt to her throat. Oh, no, it can’t be – he’s gay, isn’t he? I should have known, anypony that perfect has to be gay.

“Alright, I must be dreaming, that’s it,” Snowflake stated flatly, letting out a nervous laugh, “That's why Sombra was awake so crazy early, why the doughnut tasted so good this morning, and why you’re confessing to me. That’s gotta be it.”

The unicorn mare’s heart returned to it’s assigned position in her chest as she realized that Snowflake was not in fact gay, but rather had a skull made of reactor-grade lead shielding. She grabbed his chin with her magic and pulled him close, this time kissing him square on the lips. The kiss only lasted a few moments, before she gently pulled away.

“Still think you’re dreaming?”

“If I am I don’t want to wake up,” Snowflake answered.

“Ewwwww! That’s so cheesy!”

Both adults looked down at Tag-a-long, who had just trotted back out of the little filly’s room. Out of fairness, it was now Miss Horizon’s turn to blush, and the unicorn mare did so copiously, everything north of her shoulders glowing a deep red as she sped into the bathroom and out of sight. Equally embarrassed, but being the only pony left in charge, Snowflake shuffled Tag-a-long into the lobby, stepping quickly after her.

---

“Oh Celestia I kissed him!” Miss Horizons worried in the bathroom, having locked herself in one of the stalls, “How could I have just kissed him like that?”

---

Sombra turned to look at the door as it opened into the lobby, as did all the foals who had been idly chatting or milling about. A very red Snowflake strode into the room behind a giggly little earth filly, the Pegasus looking like he was trying very hard to decide whether to be overjoyed or supremely self-conscious.

“He-” Sombra attempted to say.

“Let’s go, time to leave, come on, out the door with you lot,” Snowflake interrupted, “Time to get to school, let’s go,” he repeated, shuffling the foals (and Sombra) towards the door, hoping his burning face would cool soon.

---

The school was conveniently close to Brighter’s orphanage, and the walk over didn’t take more than a few minutes. The sun was fully above the horizon now, though not by much, and the group cast a long shadow in the bright light, the silhouette only interrupted by the occasional passing cloud. The standard, friendly nod-and-greet continued with every pony they passed, with the occasional pony who was headed vaguely the same direction walking with them and chatting for a minute or two.

The school itself was a small building, but a cheerful one – it looked as though it had been painted recently, with bright red and white paint covering the building. A small bell hung above the door, bright and golden, shining in the sun. A few young foals played outside the building, in a small, fenced-in playground area. Two were passing a ball, a couple others running around, and three were sitting off from the rest chatting quietly amongst themselves. Through the window, Sombra could see an earth mare sitting at the desk – the same one he had seen leaving the house the drunken pony had gone into earlier. She held an apple in one hoof, munching on it as she scribbled something on the piece of paper in front of her. She seemed to sense Sombra’s staring, and looked up, the two ponies making eye contact for just a second, before the big unicorn looked down and back around behind him. Snowflake was still at the back of the peloton of foals, the blush mostly – though not completely – faded from his face as he focused intently at the ground beneath his hooves.

As Sombra trotted onto the school grounds, the foals behind him burst forth and ran to greet their friends. The former king heard snippets of talk about the camping trip, and he thought he caught a word or two about himself or Miss Redheart. He hoped for her sake that any rumors the children spread wouldn’t get out of hand or be taken too seriously.

Can you imagine if one of these foals tried to cook up a date for us or something? That’d just be awkward. Not bad, but awkward.

A soft smile came to his face as he watched the foals play – little ponies had this unrestrained happiness about them. They didn’t hold back, they never faked smiles or laughter. They were honest – most of the time, anyways, and when they weren’t it was pretty easy to tell. Snowflake stood beside him, eyes high as though looking over the children, but out of focus, lost in thought. The bell over the door rang suddenly and Sombra jumped slightly, the hair on the back of his neck raising slightly. The noise seemed to jar the hulk of a Pegasus next to him back into reality, and Snowflake shook his head as his eyes refocused.

“Are you alright, Snowflake?” Sombra offered quietly.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m just… yeah, a bit more than alright, to be honest,” the pony replied with a chuckle, “Just a little confused is all. Hey, that was the bell, right? Come on, let’s head inside with the foals.”

Much to Sombra’s surprise, the children actually seemed more excited to be going into class than they had been to be playing with each other, smiles still wide on their faces as they trotted quickly through the door. The mare at the desk had finished her apple, Sombra saw, and was smiling up at everypony with cheerful green eyes.

“Good morning class! So wonderful to see you all again. I hope everypony had a wonderful weekend,” her high, clear voice filled the room with it’s loving, but authoritative tone, “Good morning to you as well, Snowflake, and… I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“My name is Sombra. It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Cheerilee,” Sombra said, bowing low – much the apparent amusement of the foals – in a formal introduction, “Snowflake has told me you are a, and I quote, ‘pony everypony should get to meet.’”

Cheerilee giggled. “Well, I hope he hasn’t told you everything about me or there wouldn’t be much point in having to meet me, would there?”

“Nah, that’s about all I told him,” Snowflake said from behind Sombra. “If you don’t mind, he’d like to shadow the class today.”

The mare lit up like a Hearth’s Warming Eve tree.

“Oh that’d be wonderful! I absolutely love new students! Come, come in,” she said, taking Sombra by the shoulder and hustling him inside, “There’s an adult-sized chair in the back, I hope you don’t mind sitting there but you’re… well, quite a lot taller than the other students, and sitting in front would obstruct their view. Just don’t distract anypony.”

“Of course, that is not a problem at all. Thank you vey much, Miss Cheerilee.”

“Hey, Sombra, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna head back to Miss Horizons’,” Snowflake stated, moving towards the door, “I’ve got some… uh… some stuff to take care of over there.”

Sombra nodded his assent, and Snowflake slipped back out into the town.

“Well, let’s not waste any time then, shall we?” Cheerilee asked, before turning to the class and clearing her throat. The room silenced immediately as all attention was focused onto the teacher.

What is with the mares in this town?

“Class, this is Sombra,” she began.

“Hello Sombra!” The class filled in happily.

“He’ll be joining us today for class, so I want you all to be extra good today. Not like you’re ever particularly bad, though,” she said. Hoofing Sombra a textbook, she directed him to his seat, and class began.

Chapter 10

This is math. Why are there so many letters? What’s this squiggly thing? This is… this is math, isn’t it?

He looked up and did a quick take of the classroom – to his relief, most of the other foals appeared to be having just as much trouble as he was, with that question at least, and seemed to be asking around. Then he noticed the little orange Pegasus next to him, who was staring into space in a rather bored fashion, everything on her paper complete.

“Umm…”

“The answer to seven is square root of two over twelve x, all to the fourth power,” she said, before turning to him and smiling. “Don’t worry, not even most adults know how to do that one. We’re not supposed to know how to do differentials yet but it just… kinda comes to me, you know? That and I asked Miss Twilight how to do it. I just find math really fun.”

“That is… impressive. I don’t think this kind of math had even been invented when I was your age,” Sombra replied, doing his best to compliment the filly. Noticing her lack of a cutie mark, he continued, “Perhaps maybe math is your special talent?”

She perked up visibly – this was a filly who had been waiting for a while, it seemed, though a pained look came to her face after a moment. She sighed.

“I know, I’ve been thinking that maybe that’s the case but… I mean I like math and all, but I really want it to be something to do with my scooter or my bike, or if I’m really lucky, flying, like Rainbow Dash!”

Sombra thought for a moment – going against one’s natural inclinations was not the way to get a cutie mark, he himself could attest to that with how long he had fought his royal bloodline, and how no matter what he was eventually drawn back to being a prince, and then a king. Though it had come in a way he hadn’t quite expected, so why couldn’t the same go for this little filly?

“Perhaps you could use your proficiency in math to design a better ramp, or to get some extra air on your bike or something?”

“Actually, yeah, that might b-”

“Scootaloo, Mister Sombra, let’s get back to the worksheet, shall we? There will be plenty of time for talking after class,” Cheerilee’s icy-cold glare cut both of them to the soul, and they immediately straightened up.

“Yes Miss Cheerilee,” they said in unison, the unicorn’s deep voice nearly completely drowning out the little filly’s. The two shared one last glance, and both smirked.

---

The day had proved most enlightening to Sombra – they had spent a fair amount of time on history after the embarrassingly difficult math section, and he had learned a great deal about what had happened in the void centuries during his isolated rule in the Crystal Empire. Nations had fallen, united, and risen anew, and birthed the country of Equestria as it was today. When he had cut all ties with the world south of his borders, the fleshy ponies had still been three separate, constantly bickering tribes of really generally awful folks.

As promised, though, there was some time to chat after the lessons had ended, and Scootaloo, as she was called, found her way over to Sombra in the schoolyard as he and the other foals from Miss Horizons’ waited for Snowflake to return.

“So… sorry about getting you in trouble earlier, Miss Cheerilee was really giving you an earful while we were at recess, wasn’t she?” the little Pegasus apologized meekly.

“Ha, rather the other way around,” Sombra laughed, “I had some more questions for her, I stayed inside of my own volition,”

“Oh,” Scootaloo said, pausing, unsure of how exactly to continue, “So… if you don’t mind me asking, we were talking about cutie marks earlier and I was curious, how did you get yours? It looks an awful lot like the Princess’.”

Sombra stood, mouth agape. The Princess? Surely not Luna or Celestia, and it wasn’t Twilight… is there a fourth Alicorn? There was – I saw her only briefly, but the pink one in the north. Her mark… it was the same as mine! One of my bloodline, a new Crystal King – no, a Crystal Princess – still lives, and reigns in the Empire? Impossible, I had all my concubines executed after they became no longer… pleasurable.

“Umm… Mister Sombra? If you don’t wanna talk about it that’s ok.”

Sombra shook his head, dispelling the thoughts. They were something he could ask Redheart, or perhaps Twilight, about, later. “Sorry, just got lost in thought for a moment. How I got my cutie mark, eh? That was a very, very long time ago indeed, let me think for a moment…”

---

A great many centuries ago…

A young black unicorn sat on the throne in the Crystal Empire. He fidgeted and wiggled uncomfortably, his father standing beside him, as the closing words were said for the day’s court. The hard, smooth throne was far from the easiest thing to sit on all day, but it was something Sombra had begged his father to let him do. He was still a child, merely seven years old, but his dad always impressed upon him the importance of hearing those under his rule. Even still, King Eclipse had been surprised that his son had wanted to overhear the day court at such a young age, especially with how hard the foal tried to shirk his other princely duties. Eclipse loved his son dearly, but the colt had a long ways to go before he was fit to be a king. Today’s willingness, no, not even willingness, outright eagerness, to fill in the role Eclipse normally played in the day court, was a very good step in the right direction.

Even being used to it for a great many years now, Eclipse knew day court was no easy task. Being that there was no real time to take a break, apart from lunch, it was one big twelve-hour stint starting when the sun rose in the morning and ending when it fell below the horizon again, with a mere thirty minutes for a meal during the day. As such, it was only held once a week, but it was one of the things Eclipse held most sacred in his rule. His own father, King Aphelion, had always been a little distant from his citizens, and Eclipse took it as his own personal life goal to be a better king than his father had been.

The old stallion voicing the closing words finished, and everypony but Sombra and his father had filed out of the room.

“You did well today, son, very well,” Eclipse told his child, “I’m very proud of you, you held up well in that great unpleasant chair, and delivered fair rulings with so little of my input. Go on, go play with your friends, you’ve earned some time this evening. Be home before it gets too dark, though.”

“Thank you so much dad! I will, you know me – I’d lose myself in the dark if I’m not careful,” Sombra said as he stood and stretched his legs, letting out a miniscule groan of pleasure as blood began to flow back into his tired muscles. He skipped to the door, waved goodbye to his dad, the elder pony smiling and waving back, and slipped through.

It didn’t take long for him to find his friends – peasants, technically, but Sombra didn’t care – in fact, he would have been happy to be in their social circle with how they always hoof-toed around him, careful not to say anything that might be upsetting, never playing as rough with him as they did with the others. No matter how often Sombra insisted they didn’t, they still treated him as their prince. He hated it, but from the stories his father told, he was grateful to have friends in the civilian class at all.

Of all his friends, though, Law Letter was the pony he considered his best friend. The blue crystal pony was a few years older than Sombra himself, and bit of a brainiac and very interested in his father’s trade of lawyer. At the same time, though, he was remarkably down-to-earth, and always enjoyed playing sports with Sombra, from hoofball to soccer to an ill-advised attempt at field hockey on a cobblestone street that had landed seven foals in the infirmary in the Crystal Castle.

This, though, this was much worse than a few bruises and a chipped tooth or two. Law lay in a ditch, the crystal pony fractured to his core, after trying his hoof at something he’d heard about called “parkour,” an activity Sombra hadn’t really understood before his friend attempted to scale a building with absolutely no safety equipment.

“Hahaha… oops,” the sapphire child coughed, his whole form shimmering in a rather unhealthy manner as he shook, “Guess I coulda thought that one through a bit better.”

“Just… just stay there!” Sombra yelled as he tried his best not to let panic set in, “I’ll go get help!”

“Not much else I can do right now, Sombra,” Law said, shuddering again.

Sombra ran. He ran through the alley, back into the street, and flew as fast as his little hooves could carry him, running to the nearest station to summon the guard.

“Please,” Sombra wheezed upon his arrival, “My friend… needs help… he’s hurt badly…”

“Yeah, just a second, kid,” the guard said from behind his book, taking a sip from his mug, “Just a min-”

“Please, if you don't hurry-”

“I said just a minute, kid!”

Something inside Sombra snapped. This was not the time for the typical royal politeness, this was urgent and required immediate action – a pony’s life was at stake, for Faust’s sake. “I am Prince Sombra, son of King Eclipse, first in line as Heir to the Crystal Throne, and if you do not come with me right this second so help me you will clean every toilet in this Empire with. Your. Teeth. Do I make myself absolutely CLEAR?”

The guard looked up, the color draining from his emerald face as he realized he really had better listen to the foal in front of him. Several ponies in the general vicinity stopped walking or talking to each other, their cheerful conversations turning to hushed whispers about the guard that seemed to be ignoring a direct order from the prince. Without another thought, though, he recognized the young heir, and the officer dropped his book and mug, the ceramic drinking cup shattering on the stone floor as the two ponies ran from the office. Sombra, still winded from his sprint to the station, ran out of steam about half way back, and the emerald officer picked him up and had the little unicorn direct him from atop his back. They found Law, right where he had been (as per Sombra’s instructions), unconscious, his breaths rapid and shallow as his fragmented torso rose and fell in time.

---

“We made it back to Law and got him transported to a hospital just in time. He was never quite as athletic again, but he remained my friend for a long time after. I apologized a lot to the guard in question as well, and got him a replacement mug, and he too became a close friend as the years went on. I did not even realize I had gotten my cutie mark until I arrived home later that evening and my mother pointed it out to me. It was the moment I had truly accepted my responsibility as a King, the moment I realized I could not just be one of my subjects, but had to use my authority to protect them and help them in their times of need. The point is, though, my dear little Scootaloo, you have to let your talents work for you, and not just focus on what you want to do, but also how you can make your natural talents work into what you want to do,” Sombra finished, the little filly drinking in his every word.

“So… so what you’re saying… is to work my natural talent at math into my passion for extreme sports?” She asked tentatively.

Sombra smiled happily. “That is exactly what I am saying. Be careful, though – always use proper safety equipment, like that helmet of yours there. One would not want to end up like Law, now would we? Fleshy ponies are a great deal more difficult to heal than a Crystal pony, believe it or not.”

“Thanks Mister Sombra! That’s actually really helpful! I’ll be sure to share that with my other friends, too, I’m sure they’d appreciate it!” Scootaloo turned and grabbed her scooter, and buzzed off to a yellow earth pony and a white unicorn. She stopped just short though, and turned to yell back at the big stallion. “Wait, how old did you say you were?”

“You are the math genius, I am sure you can figure it out!” He called back to her. Other friends, she said. She considers me a friend after having known me for only a few hours. How kind ponies have become, how fearlessly loving. Scootaloo laughed and turned back around, scooting off to her friends. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a white mare trotting towards the school, and swung his head to see that it was, in fact, Miss Redheart.

“Oh hello, Miss Redheart!” He smiled broadly and waved to her, “I was expecting Snowflake again, but seeing you is not a disappointment at all. How are you?”

She responded by yawning and rubbing a hoof over her eyes, blearily looking at Sombra, before groaning out a “hello.”

“Ah, still tired from the party last night? I was having trouble sleeping, so your brother offered to take me to breakfast and to Miss Horizons’ for the day, and one thing lead to another and I ended up going to school,” Sombra explained to his sleepy host, “It really was quite informative, Miss Cheerilee is truly brilliant at what she does.”

“Yeah, about my brother. He seems to have absconded with Brighter for the evening. I was supposed to have the morning off because I’m on call at the hospital right now, but I was needed to come in to run the place. Which I’m technically not trained to do. So that’s how my day has been.”

“I am terribly sorry about that! Would you like me to help?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

Chapter 11

“She was having the foals do differentials?” Redheart asked in disbelief as she and Sombra walked back into Miss Horizons’ place of work, “I didn’t even learn that they existed until I went to college, and the foals there aren’t more than what, eleven or twelve at most?”

Sombra nodded, “They did not exist at all when I went to school, and some of the students in her class seemed to be able to do them without much of a problem at all. One little one, named Scootaloo, didn’t even have to try. She just… knew it.”

“Oh that filly,” Redheart sighed with a smile, “She’s been in and out of the hospital more in the past three years than most ponies have in their whole lives, and half the time she says it’s because she didn’t think of the math of whatever she was trying to do before she did it. I always thought she was just trying to be funny, it never occurred to me that she was serious.”

“Seriously smart, that is,” Sombra replied, chuckling.

“I never thought to ask why a little one-room all-grades elementary school was doing almost as well as the big-city elite schools, but if that mare can teach ten-year-olds calculus, that explains a lot.”

Sombra and Redheart shared a laugh for a moment, catching each other’s eye, the large stallion blushing at how nice just… being with her felt. It gave him an idea.

“Hey, Redheart?”

“Yes?”

“Are you… are you doing anything tom-” Sombra stopped mid-sentence as Redheart’s head jerked up, her eyes going wide, then changed topics, “Are you alright? Miss Redheart?”

The white earth mare screwed her eyes shut and shook her head. “Celestia,” she cursed, “Having somepony else in your head, even for a moment, is so disconcerting. Remember how I said I was on call tonight? Yeah, I just got called in; one of the unicorns at the hospital let me know. So… uh, do you think you can hold down the fort at least until my brother and Miss Horizons get back?”

“I’m sorry, ‘hold down the fort’?” Sombra questioned – it was a phrase he genuinely had not heard before, which didn’t surprise him. Language changed with time, it was a miracle ponies even still spoke the same language he knew.

“It basically means I need you to run the place for a few hours. Think you’re up for it?”

“If I say no, does that change the fact that you need to go to the hospital?”

“Not really, no.”

“Then yes, I am completely ready to ‘hold down the fort’ as you say.”

Redheart laughed. “You’re not at all ready are you?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Great. I’ll be back as soon as I can. See you later!”

“Bye!” Sombra waved as she disappeared out the front door.

Oh I am so screwed.

---

Sombra ducked a hoofball – or rather, the magically guided projectile ducked him – as he entered the main living area of the orphanage, both to avoid getting hit by it and to avoid popping it with his horn. It was all the chaos of the morning, multiplied by an immense factor.

How can a group of ponies so small create this much of a mess in this short of a time? Sombra thought to himself, They cleaned it all up before they left, how could it be so much of a mess so quickly?

Sombra cleared his throat quietly.

Nothing happened.

He tried again, slightly louder this time.

Again, no response from the playing foals.

How do they DO that?

“Umm, excuse me, ponies,” Sombra pleaded, trying to get the attention of the foals, “Everypony… Everypony please…” His voice weakened and trailed off, momentarily at a loss. He sighed, realizing that perhaps verbal force was the only way to solve the situation.

“My little ponies!” The great stallion cried, his voice overpowering all other sound in the room. Everypony turned to look at him, more than a couple looking a little startled.

Sombra put on his best parenting tone. “Is this how Miss Horizons would want you all to be acting?”

“But she lets us!” protested one foal.

“I didn’t ask if she lets you,” Sombra admonished the small, light blue Pegasus colt, “I asked if this is how she would want you to be acting.”

The little pony looked down at his feet, muttering, “No, I guess not.”

“That’s right. Now look, I might be new, and a bit out of sorts with how society is nowadays, but I do not intend to let you walk all over me because of that,” Sombra continued, “I know for a fact that most of you have homework, now that’s something constructive all of you can set yourselves to. I don’t know when Snowflake, Miss Horizons, or Redheart might be back, but I want all of you to have your homework done tonight. None of you working on it in the morning like you were today. If you don’t have homework, you can clean up. I don’t know how you got this room this messy so fast, but it’s unacceptable. I can hardly see the floor. When you finish that, see if any of the younger children need help with their homework. Now, as it’d be unfair of me to just tell you to do this, I will help you. Does that sound fair?”

The looks on their faces said otherwise, but none of the children spoke against it.

“Excellent. Come now, let’s get to work.”

---

The ponies were somewhat less enthusiastic about carrying out Sombra’s instructions than they had been with Miss Horizons’ that morning, and it showed – it took nearly an hour to get the room cleaned up again. The fact that only three foals were actually helping Sombra as opposed to the group effort of all seventeen in the morning may have also contributed, although more came to help as they finished their homework. Only a couple were still working by the time the room was clean, and, much to Sombra’s delight, the older foals immediately offered their hoof at assisting them.

The evening wore on quietly, both to Sombra’s pleasure and the foals’ dismay, at least a little. Most seemed content with watching a movie, or chatting with friends, or reading a book, or whatever quiet, calm activities they chose to fill their time with. Dinner had been a moment of panic for Sombra, as he had absolutely no idea how to cook, but a young unicorn filly named Cream Starter offered her assistance, and the foals soon munched happily on macaroni and cheese. Occasionally a foal made conversation with Sombra himself, but for the most part he sat by the television and watched movies with the children. One in particular, a story about a young colt who became friends with a dragon, caught his attention and warmed his heart. He hadn’t caught the title, but it was a nice movie anyways. Or so he’d figured, as he had fallen asleep part of the way through, under a pile of small children who found the big pony to be a suitable pillow.

It was in this position that a returning Brighter Horizons and Snowflake discovered him.

“Sombra?” Snowflake asked quietly, prodding the sleeping unicorn with a hoof, trying to wake him without disturbing the foals. Sombra’s rhythmic breathing stuttered and he sniffed as he raised his head, eyes blinking sleepily open before focusing on a confused-looking Pegasus and a rather annoyed looking unicorn.

“Good evening, Snowflake,” Sombra said quietly, but with cheer in his voice, before looking to his companion, “Miss Horizons,” he added, his voice dropping to nothing more than a low tone of tolerance. Sombra cracked a smile when she blushed after realizing exactly why he’d addressed her like that. She recovered quickly enough, though, and was none too slow to lay on the interrogation.

“Where is Miss Redheart? Who is in charge here? Why is everything so… clean?” Her voice started angry and accusing but slid into confusion as she finished the questions, her face softening.

“Well,” Sombra began, with perhaps a bit more sass in his voice than he had intended, “Miss Redheart had to go to the hospital. As she was on call tonight, and originally not planning on having to be here, she needed someone to fill in for her when she was called in. Being the only other adult around, thanks to your mysterious absence, she asked me to watch over the place until either she or you two returned. So I have been two steps from disaster this entire evening. Speaking of which, where were you?”

Miss Horizons seemed a little startled as the tables suddenly turned against her, and was unable to muster a reply save a blush and a stutter. Snowflake, on the other hand, seemed to be completely in control of his emotions.

“Sombra, I’m terribly sorry about what we put you through,” he began.

“I was only teasing, it really was not that bad,” Sombra interjected apologetically, not wanting to cause any undue stress or guilt in his newfound friends.

“Be that as it may, I’m sorry. Brighter and I realized something earlier today and, in our moments of excitement and realization, absconded for the evening without any real consideration for the situation it would put you or my sister in. I’m sorry.”

“Really, it was no problem at all, Snowflake,” Sombra was beginning to regret the more aggressive verbal stance he had taken earlier, and continued to backpedal, “I am glad you could have some time with Miss Horizons. Though, if I may ask, what exactly were you doing?”

Snowflake no longer retained his stoicism, and scratched the back of his head with a hoof, laughing nervously as he broke eye contact with Sombra. Fortunately for him, though, Brighter seemed ready to step up now, even if she too was pointedly avoiding eye contact, and began to speak quietly.

“Well, you see… we… kinda… we’ve liked each other for a very long time and neither of us ever realized it before and I might have sort of accidentally confessed to him this morning and everything went better than expected,” Horizons paused and giggled like a schoolfilly, “We were on a date, for lack of a better term, for the evening.”

Sombra smiled broadly, glad that the two had found happiness in one another, and opened his mouth to congratulate them, when he was cut off by… which one is that again?

“Fiiiiiiiinally,” Tag-a-long sighed, sounding exasperated, “Literally the only ponies in the entire town that didn’t know how you two felt about each other were you,” she said, pointing to Snowflake, “and you,” swinging her hoof over to Miss Horizons. “There was even a betting pool on how long it would take for you two knuckleheads to make the connection. It’s been what, thirteen months and seventeen days? I think that means Mister Cake won”

“No no, it was Miss Punch – Mr. Cake wagered on thirteen months and fifteen days,” corrected a little green Pegasus, “but Miss Punch had her money on thirteen months eighteen days. I hope she buys something nice for Pinchy and doesn’t spend it all on alcohol.”

“Children!” Sombra admonished as both Snowflake and Miss Horizons blushed deeply, much to the foals’ amusement, “Please, this is a wonderful moment, not something to be making fun of. I must say, I, for one, was not aware of your mutual feelings either, and I congratulate you on your newfound romance,” Sombra continued, bowing deeply, his formality driving the foals even further into their giggle fits.

“Look Sombra I really can’t apologi-”

“Really, I truly mean this, it was not a bother in the slightest,” Sombra cut his friend off, putting forth his best smile, “I do not mind a single bit what happened here today. Nothing went wrong, the children listened, everypony got their homework done, and we had a nice, relaxing evening in. Miss Redheart, on the other hoof, might take a bit more apologizing.”

“SOMBRA?”

“Speaking of whom.”

A positively drained-looking Nurse Redheart scuffled into the room, her mane disheveled and heavy black circles hanging under her eyes. She carried herself low, her hooves barely lifting off the ground, and Sombra wondered how on earth the mare didn’t trip over herself.

“Hondo Flanks needed another emergency triple-bypass surgery on his coronary artery,” she said with a dead look in her eyes, “The poor stallion hasn't been eating right but I swear his family is going to give him such an earful now… I honestly think Sweetie Belle is going to watch him eat every meal for the rest of his life. That was the most stressful surgery I’ve ever assisted. How were the-” Redheart lost her balance and stumbled on nothing, before a hoof instinctively shot out and caught itself on –

“A bit tired there, are we?” Sombra asked, the black unicorn seemingly appearing out of nowhere to catch her. “The foals were fine, the evening went exactly as planned.”

“He made us be quiet all night!”

“I asked you what Miss Horizons would want you to do and that is what you all chose to do, I had no involvement in it.”

“That’s great,” Redheart said, as though to nopony in particular, hyper-conscious of Sombra’s reverberating chest as she leaned against the laughing stallion, but too tired (and perhaps a little too comfortable) to stand herself up again. Sombra still supporting the majority of her weight, her focus shifted back around the room and found her brother and her boss.

“Snowflake,” she began in a tone that seemed to be an attempt at reprimanding, but the exhaustion overrode it and it just came out grumpy. “Where on earth were you with my boss all day?”

“We… were on a date.”

“Oh! So that finally happened,” Redheart’s tone caught everyone off-guard, and her head bounced against Sombra’s neck as the stallion laughed again, “Tag-a-long?”

“Yes Miss Redheart?”

“How long does that make it and who won the pool?”

“Thirteen months, seventeen days. That’d make Miss Berry Punch the winner, Miss.”

“Oh good. Well, have a wonderful night you two,” Redheart continued, her momentarily cheerful tone dropping back down to flat tiredness, “I am going home and going to bed.”

Her attempt to stand up on her own was foiled by her own body, her legs once again giving out beneath her. Once again, Sombra was there to catch her before she hit the ground. The white mare blushed – both in embarrassment for being so clumsy and at how strong and supporting Sombra’s forelegs felt around her torso.

“You are in no condition to walk home by yourself,” Sombra chided playfully, “Come on, I will walk with you, and carry you if need be.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Redheart quickly replied, catching the sly smile and suggestively arched eyebrows Brighter had thrown her way, “But… I wouldn’t mind the company,” she shot an annoyed glare as Miss Horizons’ facial expression contorted and the mare dissolved into giggles. Sombra muttered something to her quietly, too quiet for anyone else to hear, a little assurance.

“I promise not to tell anypony if you want me to carry you home.”

As the pair slipped out the front doors of Brighter’s, Sombra knelt down, and Redheart gingerly climbed onto his back. She let out a small grunt of surprise as he stood back up and sighed in pleasure as she finally had all her weight off her hooves. Summoning the last of her strength, she leaned up and whispered into Sombra’s ear.

“Thank you,” she said, and sleep took her.

Chapter 12

Sombra awoke early again the next morning, the horrific memories of his nightmarish past once again refusing to let him find peace or rest. For a moment he thanked Faust for seeing fit to continue punishing him, then remembered Twilight’s words – that everypony was important and that he had changed. Or so it seemed, at least. Sombra could see the changes in his own actions and his own thoughts and responses, but he still felt like he couldn’t, or rather, shouldn’t, trust himself completely. Shaking his head as he sat up on the futon, an ear flicked reflexively as he heard some noises upstairs. The heavy, lilted hoofsteps indicated it was Snowflake trotting around, most likely getting ready for work and taking the foals to school again. Sombra smiled – school had been fun, and he had learned an awful lot, and even made a couple friends. He’d like to go again today, if at all possible, but what Scootaloo had said to him stuck out in his mind. The Princess. The other Alicorn, the one in the Empire. Scootaloo said she had the same cutie mark as I. Perhaps Twilight would know her?

Sombra rolled out of the bed rather unceremoniously, stumbling as one of his legs failed to bear weight for just a moment. He stood up and shook the limb angrily, staring at it as though it had chosen to do that of its own volition. Snowflake chuckled from the top of the stairs.

“Sleep a little better last night?” Snowflake asked as he continued his descent.

“Yes, much. Thank you. Still with the nightmares, but there’s not much to be done about that,” Sombra replied, lightly testing his leg to see if it was going to cooperate now. It did, and he began to walk towards the chiseled Pegasus.

“Glad to hear it, Somby. Eugh, no, that sounded so much better in my head. I guess I’ll just stick to Sombra,” Snowflake replied with a lopsided grin. “You wanna come with me to the orphanage again today?”

“Somby?” the unicorn questioned, trying not to laugh, “Where on earth did that come from?”

“I was just trying to come up with a nickname for ya, like sometimes ponies call me ‘Snow’ for short, instead of calling me Snowflake. Though I guess there’s not much need to shorten Sombra, and goodness Somby was a terrible choice, let’s forget I ever said that. Anyways, Miss Horizon’s place. Yes? No?”

“I was actually thinking of visiting Twilight again today. One of the foals at school yesterday mentioned another Princess, one with a cutie mark very similar to my own. I thought that, given Twilight is herself an Alicorn, she would most likely at least be familiar with the others.”

Snowflake smacked himself in the forehead. “I knew that cutie mark of yours looked familiar! I can’t believe I couldn’t place it. Yeah, the third Princess, Princess Cadance. Miss Sparkle knows her pretty well, they’re sisters-in-law and I believe Princess Cadance used to babysit Miss Sparkle when they were both much younger.”

“Sisters-in-law?”

“Yeah, Princess Cadance married Miss Sparkle’s older brother, a stallion named Shining Armor. Captain of the Royal Guard. Anyway, yeah, that’s definitely worth looking into. I’d say wait a couple hours first though, Miss Twilight gets up pretty early but she’s not exactly a morning pony. Anyway, I gotta run. Feel free to use the shower; my sister shouldn’t be up for a few more hours, so it should be fine. See ya later!” And with that, Snowflake was out the door, without so much as a glass of milk in terms of breakfast.

I wonder if he’s getting something with Miss Horizons? Sombra thought to himself with a bit of a chuckle, before he turned and headed up the stairs and into the shower.

---

“Sister,” Luna began as she entered the throne room, then paused for a yawn, “I’m sorry to interrupt you. One of our subjects is having the most horrific nightmares, the likes of which I haven’t seen since before my banishment,” Luna finished, more than a little concern in her voice. Celestia cringed – much more so inside than out – at the nonchalant mention of the single thing she regretted most in her life, but gave her sister her full attention.

“Do continue, Luna,” Celestia said, setting down her pen and pushing away the piece of parchment she was writing on, “If you felt it is worth bringing to my attention, it probably is. Who is the unfortunate pony in question, and why have you done nothing to stop it, if it bothers you so?” Celestia tried her best not to sound condescending, but somehow the words just came out wrong. Thankfully, Luna seemed to either not notice or not care.

“That is the problem itself, Celestia,” the night Alicorn started, “I cannot ease these dreams, or change them. This is the second night in a row I have felt them, and I cannot alter them, or even override them. I can merely watch in horror as they play out to completion. These dreams are of a dark time, sister, one long past in Equestria. On top of that, I cannot identify the pony having the dream – I can tell it originates from Ponyville, but the mind is clouded and dark, full of sorrow and regret, and I cannot find anything more specific than that. Strangest of all is that the dreams are all from the dreamer’s point of view, through the eyes of the pony having them. Celestia, I feel awful. What can I do to help them?”

“Memories,” Celestia said softly.

“Sister I know I cannot interfere with dreams of memories but there is not a single pony in all of Equestria who could have these memories,” Luna objected.

“There is one,” the elder Alicorn swiveled her head over to make eye contact with her sister, “Sombra.”

Luna’s eyes widened and her whole body tensed up at the name, and Celestia realized she had forgotten something rather important. “Sombra? But he was destroyed when your niece took the throne as the new Crystal Princess in the Empire. How could he… how could I be viewing his memories?”

Celestia brought her hooves to her face, gently rubbing her eyes and groaning. “Luna it seems I forgot to tell you something… when I visited Twilight last weekend, I met a rather unexpected visitor – King Sombra. He has returned, and he is different, very much so.”

“Sister… why did you not tell me? You know how I feel about Sombra and what happened with him.”

“Luna I am acutely aware of what Sombra did and the… influence it had on you, and what resulted from it and if there was any way for me to change what happened or change places with you I would. I just… I don’t know, Luna, I’m sorry.”

“Celestia,” Luna started, then trailed off and thought for a moment. “Forgive me if I am hesitant to believe that a monster such as King Sombra has just changed, but if you can look me in the eyes and tell me he is not an immediate threat, I will continue to monitor his… memories.”

Celestia locked eyes with her sister. “Sombra is not a threat. He is also no longer a king.”

Luna sighed. “Very well,” she said as she turned back to the door, “I trust you, sister. This makes me very nervous, but I trust you. I am going back to bed.” With that, she was gone.

Celestia sat quietly for a moment before cursing to herself, forgetting something that was such a touchy subject for her sister, but decided it was for the best to leave Luna to stew with it for a while, and returned to her paperwork.

---

Sombra took Snowflake’s advice, and remained idly flipping through the pages of a dictionary he found on a bookshelf until precisely nine thirty in the morning. Or nine thirty-seven, to be more accurate. He’d gotten rather distracted by a series of words beginning with “de” – denounce, denigrate, such like things, and ended up leaving a few minutes later than he had originally intended. A few more minutes couldn’t hurt, anyways, he figured.

The town was remarkably less populated even just a couple hours later, than what he had noticed yesterday at least. Everypony must have been going to work, he thought, I suppose they’re all at work now, so that’d be why nopony is out and about. Only a hoofful of ponies crossed his path, and none of them engaged him in more than a perfunctory “Hello, how are you?” for conversation. Sombra was thankful for that – he didn’t particularly want to be anti-social, but at the same time he still didn’t really feel that comfortable just talking to strangers without Miss Redheart or Snowflake nearby.

He reached Twilight’s castle – the large crystalline structure a little too reminiscent of his own past, both beautiful and out of place – after only a few minutes walking. He raised his hoof to knock on the door, but paused a moment before acting, moments from changing his mind about the whole ordeal. As he set his hoof back down, the door opened inwards, and Twilight Sparkle stopped just short of walking into the bigger, black unicorn. She recoiled in surprise, and for just a fraction of a moment it looked like fear crossed her face, but she quickly regained her composure.

“Oh, good morning, Sombra,” Twilight offered in an only slightly-forced cheerful tone, “Is there something I can help you with?”

“Ah, no, thank you, Twilight. I was just… just going,” Sombra mumbled, his lies less than convincing.

“Sombra,” Twilight began, for a moment reaching to place a hoof on his shoulder, then awkwardly withdrawing her leg, thinking perhaps the gesture wouldn’t have been appropriate. “My lib… castle is well out of the way of anywhere you’d be going,” the young Alicorn mentally punched herself for the condescending words, “You were coming to ask me for or about something, weren’t you? Here, come in. I was just about to head out and run some errands, but I have nothing else on my schedule today, and I was heading out a bit earlier than I had originally planned, anyways.”

Sombra sighed and nodded, following Twilight back into her home. “I went to the school yesterday, and, among a great many other things I learned, a little filly named Scootaloo told me there is a Princess with a cutie mark very similar to my own. This morning I spoke to Snowflake about it briefly, and he suggested I come to you about it. He mentioned you being on good terms with her, and I was… hoping to meet her, if at all possible.”

Twilight turned, blinked a couple times, and made a not-so-subtle glance aft of Sombra’s head, searching for a good look at his flank. Sombra himself shifted his rear legs slightly to give her a better view, and Twilight gasped slightly.

“You’re right – your cutie mark is almost identical to Cadance’s,” Twilight said, offering Sombra a seat with a nod of her head. The unicorn took it graciously, suddenly feeling a spark of pity and something resembling a twisted, sad form of nostalgia for Twilight, living alone in a monstrous castle with nopony but her manservant/brother/son/friend, the little dragon named Spike.

Who I tried to kill in the Crystal Empire, Sombra thought.

“If you want, I can contact Celestia in Canterlot and ask her to talk to Cadance about visiting Ponyville, would you like that?” Twilight offered, sitting back in her chair and smiling a little at the thought of seeing Cadance again.

“That would be very kind of you, Twilight, but is it really alright for you to use the Princess as a messenger like that?”

“It’s by far the fastest way to get a letter from here to the Crystal Empire, and I’ve gotten to the point where I dare call the Princess one of my…” Twilight paused for a moment, a giddy smile spreading to her lips, “one of my friends,” she continued with a squeal.

Sombra raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry,” Twilight responded to his silent question, “I just spent my entire life looking up to her as this untouchable, unapproachable, perfect object of beau- knowledge, and I’ve finally started to get it into my head how hard she tried to get down off the pedestal I always put her on. She always wanted to be friends and I always wanted to be unworthy. I guess now I don’t really have much of a choice in where my position is relative to her,” the mare said with a fluff of her wings. “Sorry, I’m rambling. Here, let me get that letter sent. Spike!”

The little dragon came out of his room on the second floor at a trot, a comic book closed in one of his hands, a claw marking his page, and a quill and a piece of parchment in the other. His eyes widened momentarily when he saw Sombra and his gait stuttered a bit, but he continued down the stairs regardless. Sombra lowered his head and refused to meet Spike’s eyes when he hit the ground floor, and continued avoiding his gaze as he approached.

“Spike, could you get me a quill and a piece of –” Twilight started, but was interrupted as Spike presented the stationary to her. “Thank you Spike. Would you mind waiting around for a moment while I write it, so we can send the letter right away?”

Spike grunted acknowledgement and hopped up on the couch next to Twilight, resting his head against her side. Twilight, almost unconsciously, slid a wing out and rested the tip on the top of Spike’s head, and the wee drake smiled from behind his comic book.

“Do you want me to explain why we would like Cadance to come?” Twilight asked as she levitated the parchment in front of her, “It might be better not to, seeing as you being here might be reason enough to make her not want to come, and she does love surprises.”

“Whatever you think is best, Miss Twilight. Thank you very much.”

“It’s fine, really. Any excuse to see Cadance again,” Twilight responded with a reassuring smile, “Dear Princess Celestia, I have a favor to ask you…”

---

Cadance was starting to nod off on the crystal throne – sure, the fall of King Sombra had added some life to the Crystal Ponies, but a large fraction of them were still rather… monotone in their speech. Being a court day, it had kind of dragged on – and it was only ten in the morning. The pink Alicorn practically fell off the throne when the letter appeared in front of her, hooves flailing to catch herself on one of the ornately hewn arms in a rather un-princess-like manner, to prevent an even less princess-like fall. The Crystal Pony before her stopped talking, eyes filling with fear and confusion.

“My apologies, good subject” Cadance offered, “If you’ll excuse me for just a moment.”

The pony nodded, and Cadance magically popped the seal on the letter.

A message from Celestia? I wonder what it could be, she thought as her eyes scanned the page. Ah, Twilight wants me to visit for a… surprise. Cadance couldn’t hide the groan. The last “surprise” ended with a pony-eating flower. Though I suppose that wasn’t Twilight’s fault. Never being one for waste, Cadance levitated a quill over and scratched a quick response on the back of the same letter, and zapped it back to her aunt.

“Now then, where were we?”

“No, it’s fine, it really…” the crystal pony trailed off, and Cadance leaned forwards.

“Yes?”

“Thank you for your time, Princess!” the Crystal Pony yelled suddenly, and turned tail and ran out of the throne room.

Oh we need to work on this.

Chapter 13

The following morning, Princess Cadance boarded the train south from the Crystal Empire. Sure, teleporting or even flying was faster, but it was less enjoyable to her. Especially considering it was nearly perpetually snowing outside of the bubble of pleasant, warm weather that surrounded her home, it just made flying unpleasant, no matter how much she enjoyed it at other times. The train didn’t take that much longer than making the flight, anyways. Teleporting was just boring, though, and could be draining over extremely long distances, unless your name is Twilight Sparkle. Cadance wasn’t exactly a slouch when it came to magical prowess, but, for example, from the Crystal Empire to Canterlot and then on Ponyville was a bit of a jump. A soft smile graced Cadance’s face – even her misgivings about Twilight’s “surprise,” she did miss her sister in law, and she had to admit a visit to Ponyville was hardly ever boring. Better than the Empire, at least.

Cadance knew she couldn’t really blame the citizens; their last monarch had been a monster the likes of which Equestria had not seen before or since. Even though Cadance was an amateur at best at leading an Empire, the inhabitants of the Crystal Empire knew she was doing her best and loved her for it. Still, court days were often less productive than they could be, when watching the shiny, translucent behind of a citizen galloping from the room was not an unusual sight. For how much the ponies loved her, the inherent fear of the leader was deep in their psyches and was unlikely to leave for a few generations. If she was lucky, Cadance might live to see her grandchildren, or great-grandchildren, leading an Empire of ponies who no longer knew the need to fear their leader.

The pink Alicorn sighed as she sat down in the train car, her suitcase (packed with only a few necessities, like soap, shampoo, and a photograph of herself and Shining Armor from their wedding day) tucked neatly underneath her seat. The train car hadn’t exactly been crowded when she got on it, but soon enough it had emptied out as both crystalline and fleshy ponies alike tried to hide fear or show deference to their Princess. She rested her head against the window for just a moment before pulling back – the glass was a bit colder than she had expected, and even in just the brief moment of contact, an outline of the side of her face had appeared on the window pane. Why are they so afraid of me? Cadance wondered. She tried so hard to be friendly and helpful and kind, but still they feared her. It’s not like I’m King Sombra’s daughter or something.

---

A day had passed since Sombra had made his request to Twilight Sparkle, and he once again returned to her home to wait for the arrival of Princess Cadance. To say he was nervous would be an understatement, he was about to meet yet another pony with deific powers who had perfectly ample reasoning to hate his guts. She might also be a very distant descendant. So there’s that, too.

Twilight had offered him some coffee, but he was on edge enough already, he hardly needed caffeine. He wondered how or why the Princess even actively kept coffee around, she didn’t seem much like the type to need it. Perhaps it was for her friends. Perhaps she just liked the flavor. Who knew? Not Sombra, and he was a little afraid to ask. Still, he sat awkwardly on the couch awaiting the arrival of Princess Cadance, idly glancing at the clock to see how many more seconds had passed since he last looked. Twilight had visited Redheart’s house last night, and told him Cadance would be arriving at about eleven in the morning. Sombra had arrived at Twilight’s castle just after ten, thinking it would be best to arrive somewhat before the Princess, and grossly overestimated the time it would take to get from Redheart’s to Twilight’s.

Despite having made the same trip literally yesterday, he mentally reprimanded himself.

Sombra looked at the clock again. Three minutes to eleven, it read. Suddenly, his throat felt incredibly dry. He stood from the couch, and set off into the kitchen at a gentle trot, trying to make as little noise as possible with his hoofsteps. The great, empty castle always felt a little off with just Twilight and Spike living there, but at the same time, it felt wrong to disturb the peace inside the crystalline halls. The memories it brought back didn’t exactly bolster his confidence either. He found Twilight in the kitchen, cleaning dishes by hoof. She’d done it yesterday, too, after sharing some tea with Sombra (which he had not really enjoyed but had gratefully swallowed down so as not to be rude), and at his questioning, had explained that every now and then it felt nice to do something, as opposed to just having it done in a flash with magic. Sombra had offered to help, but Twilight politely declined his offer.

Today, though, Sombra simply needed a drink.

“Uh,” Sombra started, before his throat closed up a little and he forgot the rest of the words in his question. Twilight lifted her head, and turned to look over her shoulder.

“Yes, Sombra?”

“Could I… um… drink… glass?”

Twilight giggled a little. “Would you like a glass of water?”

Sombra nodded, blushing. Twilight’s horn glowed softly and pulled a glass from a cabinet, filled it quickly at the sink while she worked on scrubbing some plates, and floated it over to Sombra.

“Nervous?” Twilight asked, as she turned back to the dishes.

Sombra took a sip of water and nodded, then realized Twilight was looking the other way.

“Yes,” he spat out after swallowing hastily, “It is not everyday you meet a pony who hates you, could kill you, and might also be your great-great-granddaughter.”

Twilight laughed, though Sombra had not intended to be funny. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Sombra was less sure, but before he could voice those worries, there was a knock at the door. Twilight’s head jerked up again and there was a flash of light, and suddenly the dishes were clean.

“Twilight?” A high, clear voice called through the door, “It’s Cadance! Are you there?”

“Yes! I’ll be right there,” Twilight replied loudly, before turning to Sombra, “Why don’t you wait in the kitchen for a minute or two, I’ll let you know when you should come in.”

Sombra nodded meekly, his blood colder than the water in his glass as he realized he was well past the point of no return. He gently set the glass down on the table and pulled up a chair, as he heard the delighted squeals and pleasantries the two princesses were exchanging in the other room. He noticed the intensity of his heartbeats, and for a moment feared it would burst from his chest. He sat, and waited for Twilight to call him.

In the foyer of Twilight’s castle, the two mares sat next to each other on the couch, sharing a quick hug.

“Oh Twilight, it’s so good to see you again!” Cadance practically sang, “How have you been?”

“It’s only been a few months, it’s not really much compared to the many years we spent apart after I left Canterlot,” Twilight replied matter-of-factly.

Cadance raised an eyebrow and gave the younger Alicorn a look. “Twilight?”

Twilight shrugged and laughed. “It’s good to see you too, Cadance. I’ve been well, Ponyville has been it’s usual exciting self, so there’s never been a shortage of things to do or new ponies to meet,” Twilight faltered and for just a moment considered calling out to Sombra, but thought better of it. “How has the Empire been?”

“Oh, you know, the same. Warm, sunny, the crystal ponies are terrified of me,” Cadance sighed, “The usual.”

“The ponies are scared of you?”

“Yeah, though I think it’s less afraid of me and more afraid of their leader. I mean, after that monster that controlled and tortured them for Celestia only knows how long,” Twilight’s sister-in-law replied nonchalantly, “It’s kind of hard to blame them after what King Sombra put them through.”

Twilight Sparkle was suddenly acutely aware of how loud Cadance was talking and how Sombra was in the next room, with nothing but air between them. She laughed nervously, hoping her unease wasn’t as apparent to Cadance as it felt. To her relief, Cadance didn’t seem to notice, and the two sat in silence for a moment.

“So,” Cadance started up again, “You said you had a surprise for me? I hope it’s a bit less exciting than the Tatzlwurm. That was fun, but… not exactly the kind of fun I want to have twice, you know?”

Twilight laughed again, this time more genuine. The episode with Discord and the Tatzlwurm had been interesting to say the least. It was not at all how she had envisioned spending time with her sister-in-law, but it had been… fun was a stretch of the definition, but close enough to it Twilight felt it counted.

“Yeah,” Twilight started, then paused for a moment, wondering how exactly would be the safest way to continue. She had found out the exciting way that the walls of the castle tended to reflect magic blasts rather than absorb them, and a very angry Cadance could make for a very injured group of ponies. “I… uh… there’s somepony I’d like you to meet, Cadance.”

“Is it a foal?” Cadance asked immediately, her voice rising and face contorting into a scarily broad smile.

“What? No, it’s not a foal. How could it be a foal? I wasn’t pregnant last time I saw you, and that was only a couple months ago. Wait, Cadance, you’re not…” Twilight trailed off and let the question go implied, not wanting to think about the details of the situation.

“Oh, no,” the slightly older Alicorn replied, “Though not for lack of trying…” she added wistfully.

“Ok, ok, no, done with that, this conversation is over, moving on,” Twilight said, Cadance’s response just a giggle and a slight blush. Both ponies were quiet, as Twilight rubbed her hooves over her eyes as though it could make the mental image go away.

“Is it a special friend?” Cadance asked quietly, her voice unstable, as though trying to hold back a sob, “Somepony you might have a foal with?”

“There are not going to be any foals in the near future!” Twilight yelled, and Cadance rolled over in a fit of laughter. Twilight groaned. “Alright, enough of that. Cadance, I need you to be serious for a minute.”

Cadance sat up and stopped laughing immediately. “What’s wrong Twilight, who is it?”

“It’s… it’s complicated,” Twilight responded, before turning her head towards the kitchen. “You can come in now,” she called. There was no response. “You can come in,” Twilight repeated, and Cadance cocked her head quizzically. Twilight turned back to her oldest friend and smiled weakly.

“Just a minute.”

Twilight got up off the couch and hurried to the kitchen. Rounding the dividing wall from the foyer, she found Sombra sitting in the kitchen quietly, his back to her.

“Sombra?”

He didn’t respond.

“Sombra,” Twilight started again, softer this time, gently putting a hoof on his shoulder. The big stallion jumped, and wiped a foreleg across his eyes as he turned to her. She was surprised to see he had been crying. Or rather, was crying. He sniffled and held eye contact for a moment, then turned away again.

“She c-called me a m-monster,” Sombra lurched through his sobs.

“She didn’t me-”

“Sh-she’s n-ot wrong-g,” Sombra cut in, “and she d-did me-an it.”

Twilight was still searching for an answer when she heard Cadance behind her.

“Twilight? Who is that?”

It was then, for the first time, that Twilight Sparkle was happy she lived in a crystal home, with smooth, non-absorbent, easy to clean floors. Sombra let out a shriek that a young filly finding a spider in her bed would envy, and lost all bladder control. The intimidating black stallion fell out of the chair he into a puddle of his own urine, sobbing and screaming in terror. A brief flash of purple light and the puddle was gone, but Sombra remained where he lay. His legs twitched spasmodically as his mind fought towards the flight side of “fight or flight,” wanting to gain some sort of traction or hoofhold to put as much distance between himself and the pink demigod as possible.

Cadance, on the other hoof, was letting a war between fury, fear, and confusion rage in her mind. Her heart said hate, her mind said fear, but her eyes brought her only bewilderment. Here on the floor before her was King Sombra, the stallion that had done unspeakable things for hundreds of years to the Crystal Ponies, to her ponies. He was a monster, hardly short of a demon in pony form, and had a magical prowess rivaling, if not outright exceeding, that of the Celestial Diarchy, who could easily overpower her. Now before her though, here he was, crying on the floor, shrieking in terror, and only moments before had actually peed himself in fear.

“I’m sorry!” Sombra wailed, “I’m so sorry!”

Cadance tried to vocalize a response to what she was seeing, but only managed a barely-pony sound that started as a grunt and ended as a squeal, and passed through growl, groan, sigh, and sneeze on the way through. Perhaps what was most confusing to her at the moment was that Twilight seemed to be paying more attention to the dictator than to her.

“Sombra,” Twilight yelled, trying to be heard over the ex-king’s crying, “Sombra! Get a hold of yourself!”

“I’m sorry!” The outnumbered unicorn continued between sobs, “Please don’t kill me! Please! I’m sorry! I’m sor…” the words were lost as they turned back to tears.

Another grunt-squeal escaped Cadance, before she swallowed forcefully and managed to get some words out.

“What. Is HE. Doing HERE?” Cadance scream-growled at Twilight, her horn flaring with magic as she prepared to defend herself and her sister-in-law. Twilight sighed angrily and bound Sombra’s mouth to quiet him somewhat, muffling his bawling. Standing up, Twilight stepped to the side, and Cadance found herself with just a moment to make a decision as her dearest friend was no longer in the line of fire between herself and the stallion who represented everything Cadance hated lay defenseless. With a thought, the spell was cast.

For Twilight, everything seemed to go into slow motion. She saw Cadance cast the spell, and was able to figure out what it was, where it was aimed, and that it would, in fact, kill Sombra if it connected. She cast her own spell, trying to block it, but even with her great magical ability, Twilight only partially succeeded. Instead of striking him square in the back, the pink bolt glanced off a foreleg. His crying and writhing stopped immediately.

Sombra never even heard the discharge of the magic, but for just a moment his mind registered blinding pain, and then everything went black.

Chapter 14

“What did you do?”

“What did I do? What are you doing?” Cadance snapped back as Twilight rushed over to Sombra’s inert form. She put a hoof in front of his snout and waited patiently, the fear starting to rise in her. She sighed in relief when she felt the warm air flow from his nose across her hoof, but while he was breathing, it was rapid and shallow.

“Cadance, you could have killed him!”

“It was a tazaga spell, it wouldn’t have done any more than incapacitate him,” the pink Alicorn huffed, “And why are you so concerned with the well-being of one of the worst ponies in recorded history?”

“Cadance,” Twilight began, “You were, and still are, extremely angry. You could have killed him, and probably would have if I hadn’t deflected the spell, if only slightly. You of all ponies should know how emotions affect spells you cast-”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Uh, your wedding day?” Twilight reminded, and Cadance felt a case of hoof-in-mouth coming on. “Anyways, you saw a pony lying in a pool of their own tears and urine and you decided the best option was to try to magically taze him? What is wrong with you?”

“I…” the slightly older princess trailed off. Sombra was a monster, that much was true, but Twilight had a point. Sombra had been defenseless and actively begging not to be killed, and Cadance responded by trying to do just that. Her rage lost direction and fizzled, swelled for a moment against herself, and then died again in confusion.

“I’m sorry,” Twilight looked at her sister-in-law with sympathy, her expression softening, “I didn’t really think through how this would play out. I didn’t react well when I first saw him either, and you understandably have a bit more of a problem with him than I do. I didn’t expect Sombra to freak out like that, and I didn't expect you to react that poorly. I know we have a lot of explaining to do but right now we need to get Sombra medical attention,” Twilight changed the subject, “We should bring him to the hospital because oh wow that is a lot of blood.”

Cadance followed Twilight’s gaze to Sombra’s injured foreleg.

My goodness, that is a lot of blood, she thought, and then she fainted.

---

Nurse Kindheart nearly fell out of her chair when the doors of the hospital were violently ripped from their hinges by a purple aura, followed shortly by Twilight Sparkle bursting in through where the doors used to be.

“I’ll fix that!” the Alicorn princess yelled at no one in particular, before rushing up to a very frightened Nurse Kindheart. Twilight’s horn was still glowing, and it took Kindheart a moment to spot the two ponies the purple Alicorn was carrying. A large, black unicorn stallion she’d seen once or twice around town, who was bleeding heavily from his right foreleg on Twilight’s left. To her right, a very recognizable pink figure floated serenely.

“Princess Twil-”

“There was an accident,” Twilight interrupted, out of breath, “Sombra was hurt badly. Cadance saw the blood and fainted. I don’t think she’s hurt but Sombra might bleed out,” the friendly neighborhood bookworm panted.

“Kindheart, what is going on out here?” Nurse Redheart asked tiredly as she pushed through the doors into the front room. Her eyes widened and sleepiness was replaced with shock as she first noticed the doors blown off their hinges, then Twilight Sparkle’s terrified expression, then Princess Cadance, then-

“Sombra!” Redheart rushed over to the floating, unconscious unicorn, trying her best to keep her face professional even as concern washed through her. The blood pooling in the magical field before her didn’t help. “What in Equestria happened?”

“Magical accident,” Twilight explained again, nerves evident on her face, “Can we please do something about this? I know anatomy, not medical procedures, that’s a lot of blood, I can’t fix this,” her speech was getting faster and more frantic.

Nurse Redheart put a hoof on her shoulder. “We can fix this. Just bring them in here and tell me what happened…” Redheart trailed off, and opened the doors into the main part of the hospital, Twilight following closely behind. Redheart checked a clipboard attached to the wall, seeing what rooms were open, and motioned to Twilight to follow her down the hall. Three doors down on the right, Redheart pressed the door open gently to make sure it was empty, and held the door open for Twilight to bring the patients in. Two heavy, expensive-looking beds sat about six feet apart from one another, with a clean, white curtain hanging from the ceiling between them.

“Set them down on the beds,” Redheart instructed firmly, but not unkindly, “and tell me how this happened.”

“Won’t that get the sheets messy? I mean with all the blood…”

“Set them down on the beds.”

Twilight did as she was told.

“What happened?” Redheart asked for the third time, looking closer at the gash on Sombra’s leg. The cut was deep, and bleeding heavily, but did not appear to have caused any irreparable damage.

Twilight pulled up one of the chairs intended for visitors and sat down heavily, the old wood creaking slightly beneath her.

“I sent a letter to Cadance asking her to visit, because Sombra thinks they might be related. I knew Cadance wasn’t exactly going to be happy to see him, and might come preparing for a fight or angry if I said who was waiting for her, so I just said I had a surprise,” Twilight paused for a moment as Redheart groaned, “I know, in retrospect, it was a pretty terrible idea. I don’t think anyone could have predicted how badly she reacted, though. I’ve known her for so long, I’ve never seen her that angry or violent about anything before, and she dated my brother. Sombra got really scared and instead of me gently introducing him to Cadance, Cadance very suddenly found him. Emotions flared and she tried to cast a tazaga spell – a pretty simple paralysis spell meant to deal with rowdy drunks or such like things – but, as you may or may not know, spells can be affected by the emotions of the pony casting it. Fear can cause the spell to fizzle and fail, love can cause the effects of the spell to scale a bit too much, and anger can cause even the most harmless of spells to be potentially deadly. Stack anger with a paralysis spell and you can very easily cause a spell to be fatal if it connects with a pony,” Twilight stopped for a second and sighed.

“What’s wrong?” Redheart asked, the mare silently thanking Celestia Sombra was deeply unconscious as she dabbed a peroxide-soaked cloth over the cut. This would be stinging like crazy if he were awake, and knowing Sombra, there would be an excess of whimpering and probably tears.

“It’s just… hard to imagine that if I had reacted even a tenth of a second slower, Cadance would have been a murderer,” Twilight said quietly, “I don’t really think that’s sunk in yet for me. I know she didn’t really intend for that to happen, but it could have. That scares me.”

“Twilight…” Redheart began.

“It’s just that-”

“Twilight. What Cadance did was an accident. It happened accidentally. Don’t get caught up in ‘what-ifs.’ The important thing is Sombra isn’t dead, but if I can’t stop this bleeding he’s going to need a transfusion,” Redheart trailed off, her brow furrowing in frustration, “Why won’t it stop?” The white mare punched a button on the wall, perhaps a bit too forcefully. “Lightheart? You there?”

“Heya Reds, what’s up?” A chipper voice came back through the speaker.

“I need a blood analysis on a patient right now,” Redheart replied, “He’s bleeding heavily and I can’t get it to stop, I need to know if he has hemophilia and what blood type he is if he needs a transfusion, which it’s looking like he might.”

“Oh, that’s no good! I’ll be right there!” The voice chirped back, and there was a click in the speaker. Not fifteen seconds later, a pale yellow-green unicorn ran into the room panting, and her horn lit up in a soft green glow.

“He’s… O-negative, and… yes, he does have hemophilia,” Lightheart said, eyes shut in concentration. The glow on her horn faded, and she exhaled forcefully. “O-negative? Yikes, that’s gonna be trouble if he needs a transfusion. Are there even any O-neg ponies in town?”

“Not that I know of off the top of my head,” Redheart replied, “Do you think you could check the records for me?”

“Sure thing! Need anything else?”

“No, thank you. You’ve been very helpful, Lightheart.”

“Aww, you’re welcome,” Lightheart responded, bounding over to give Redheart a quick nuzzle before speeding out of the room again.

Redheart saw the look Twilight was giving her, and headed off the question before she could ask it.

“She’s good at her job, so we tolerate the minor personal space invasions. There’s nothing too weird about it, she’s just affectionate is all,” Redheart explained. “Darn it, why does Sombra have to have hemophilia? Of all the inconvenient…” the white mare trailed off, grumbling curses under her breath.

Twilight was about to ask if she could do anything to help when Lightheart skidded back into the room.

“There are only two ponies who lives in town with O-negative blood. One is Miss Vinyl Scratch, but she’s in Manehattan for a gig right now so she’s out of the question,” Lightheart spoke rapidly and without inhaling, as though air were at a premium. “There’s also Berry Punch, but the alcohol content of her blood on any given day makes her unsuitable for a transfusion,” the pale unicorn finished, before inhaling violently in a manner that reminded Twilight a bit of her friend Pinkie Pie.

Redheart’s face fell, a mixture of emotions Twilight didn’t quite recognize, and she thought she saw tears begin to form in her eyes. A voice from behind took them both off-guard.

“I’m O-negative.”

Twilight turned around, surprised to see Cadance sitting up in the hospital bed. The mare was looking at her hooves, her normally elegant hair a bit disheveled from lying on the bed.

“I’m O-negative,” she repeated, a bit quieter than before, not looking at either of the other ponies in the room.

“Miss, if you would be willing to donate you might just save this stallion’s life,” Redheart asked, though it sounded almost as though she was begging Cadance to comply than just asking somepony to do something.

“I don’t want to,” Cadance replied flatly.

“Cadance!” Twilight practically yelled, “If you don’t, he-”

“… but I will,” the Princess of Love finished.

“Cadance…”

“I want to be clear – I do not like him. In fact, this might be the one case where I might use the word ‘hate’ and not feel I’m being to harsh. Letting him die, though, would be beyond harsh and going into cruel and unjust. You need to explain to me what exactly is going on with Sombra when we can get back to your castle, but for now…” Cadance trailed off and sighed. “I have mild hemophilia, though. That’s not a problem, is it?”

Redheart and Twilight looked at each other.

“Miss Cadenza,” Redheart started, slowly, her voice tentative as though dipping a hoof in a bath, “When did you wake up?”

“Sometime while the other nurse was talking about the other O-negative ponies in Ponyville, why?”

“Sombra is a hemophiliac, too.”

“And?”

“And you both have the same blood type, and nearly identical cutie marks.”

Cadance swallowed, not liking the implication the nursemare was making. “A-and?”

“And you are both capable of powering the Crystal Heart, something few ponies throughout recorded history have been capable of,” Twilight added. “It’s not unlikely that it can only be powered by ponies of the Crystal Empire’s Royal Bloo-”

“I’m gonna stop you right there, Twilight,” Cadance interrupted, holding her hooves out as if trying to shield herself from an impact and closing her eyes tightly, “I… I just don’t think I can handle knowing that right now.”

“Well,” Redheart said with a faked cough, “Hemophilia prevents direct transfers, but once the blood is removed from the body, it can be screened and treated and made safe for use. I’ll need to go get the kit for it, though, and Lightheart needs to do the spell to treat the blood after. Actually,” the white earth pony continued, timing another press of the call button perfectly so she didn’t even have to pause her speech, “Lightheart, we need you again in room one-oh-eight. Bring a blood-drawing kit and three bags.”

“Three bags?”

“Sombra – err, the patient has lost a lot of blood and we have a suitable donor, but she has hemophilia so we’ll need you to treat the blood after it’s drawn. Can you do that?”

“Yes ma’am! I’ll be right there!” The speaker clicked again as Lightheart set down whatever microphone she was using, and once again appeared in the door with uncanny speed.

“Whoa now hold up, you didn’t tell me she was awake!” were the first words out of Lightheart’s mouth. The mare’s entire body tensed up and she seemed to be ready to bolt if Cadance so much as ruffled a wing.

“I’m sorry, do I know you?” Cadance asked, her genuine tone offsetting the condescending phrasing. “Have you perhaps visited the Crystal Empire before?”

Twilight could almost hear Lightheart’s muscles relax.

“No, no, I just… never mind,” the unicorn replied with a nervous laugh. “You don’t recognize me?”

“No?” Wait, should I recognize her? There are an awful lot of yellowish unicorns in Equestria…

“Ok. Sorry. I just… yeah, sorry,” Lightheart seemed to lose track of her sentence, and turned to Redheart. “Three bags, are you sure?”

“Alicorn biology was fairly well documented a few hundred years ago when Princess Celestia fell ill,” Redheart offered. “Alicorns are particularly robust, as far as ponies go. While three bags would be enough to cause weakness and light-headedness, it wouldn’t be dangerous to a normal pony. Princess Cadance will be fine.”

“If you say so, boss,” Lightheart grinned back, before moving over to Cadance’s bed. “Are you sure you don’t recognize me?”

“Why do you keep asking that?”

“No reason. Alright, if you’d just lie down…”

“I don’t really like needles,” Cadance said weakly, turning her head away from her foreleg as Lightheart approached it.

“Sorry.”

---

Sombra blinked in the harsh light of the hospital room. His head – scratch that, his everything hurt. He tried to sit up, but found himself too weak to do so. He grunted with the effort, and a new lance of pain shot up his right foreleg.

“Oh, you’re awake!”

Sombra used what little strength he had to roll his head to the side, to see Nurse Redheart sitting next to the bed.

“You lost an incredible amount of blood,” she said, her voice unsettlingly happy for such a statement, “but thanks to Cadance here, you’re gonna be fine.”

Sombra tried to respond, but found his mouth unwilling to cooperate with him. Confused, he attempted to roll his head the other way, but only made it about halfway before he fell back down facing Redheart. She smiled and laughed softly, blushing just a little, and helped him move his head to face the other way. In the bed across from him, Cadance slept quietly. Twilight Sparkle’s head lay in the bed next to her sister-in-law, her body leaned forward at an awkward angle in her chair. Sombra grunted, and Redheart pulled him back over to face her.

“You lost over thirty percent of your blood,” Redheart explained, “It’s a miracle Cadance was here, she was the only compatible donor we could reach. There are also two things you should probably know. We took the liberty of comparing your blood samples while we had them out, and… well, it turns out you and Princess Cadance are, in fact, very distantly related. The high magical potency of the Empire’s Royal Bloodline or something, Twilight was going on about, I must admit I didn’t follow it too well,” Redheart laughed. “The other thing… well, take a look for yourself.”

The nurse picked up a mirror and put it in front of Sombra. To his shock, where the ugly, red scar of a horn used to be, a perfectly normal, dark gray horn protruded from his messy hair. Complete with a spiral groove around it, too. Sombra would have jumped for joy if he could move, but instead settled for a weak smile. This, this was physical evidence he was changing who he was, that he was getting better. The mirror began to shake, and it fell forward onto the pillow next to his head. Behind it, Redheart was revealed, and to Sombra’s surprise, she was crying.

“I thought you were going to die!” Redheart burst out suddenly, startling the former king. “I’m sorry, I don’t know where these tears are coming from, this is unprofessional, but I just… when you came in it was all I could do to keep calm and treat you like I needed to and I don’t know why! I just… I just… I’m so glad you’re ok…” Redheart leaned forward and collapsed onto the bed next to him.

With every ounce of strength he could muster, Sombra pulled his foreleg up, up, away from his side, towards his dear, amazing, wonderful, beautiful friend, and set his hoof on her shoulder as gently as he could.

“D… din… ner?” he croaked out, and gave his best shot at a smile.

Redheart looked up at him, smiled through her tears, and nodded.

Author's Notes:

Can you tell how little I know about medicine?

Chapter 15

Unfortunately, Nurse Redheart had to return to her work shortly after Sombra had woken up, and Sombra was still far too weak to move on his own. The dinner date would have to be delayed. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily, trying to clear his mind and get some sleep, hoping to pass the time until he had the strength to stand. At some point he drifted into a shallow sleep, but he was brought back to the land of the waking by a commotion in the hall. Twilight Sparkle was still in the room, albeit leaned back in a chair with a blanket over her instead of hunched over Cadance’s bed. Cadance herself seemed to be asleep as well, her breathing deep and rhythmic. The sounds in the hall grew closer, and soon Sombra could make out muffled words.

“Sir, I told you, you can’t go in there, visitation hours ar-”

“But she’s my wife! And besides, you said Twiley was still in there!”

“Sir, I’m sorry, but that is a special case. You’ll disturb the other patient-”

“She doesn’t even have a room to herself?”

“That’s not what I meant but no, she does not. Sir, if you would ple-”

The door to the recovery room burst open. Twilight snorted herself awake and her wings flared briefly, throwing the blanket from her body. Sombra felt his muscles try to contract in shock, but nothing much came of it except a dull, throbbing pain in his torso. Cadance’s breathing was interrupted for just a moment with a sniff, then returned to normal.

“Cady!” Sombra recognized the large white unicorn. The muscular stallion was almost as tall as Sombra himself, with a two-tone blue mane reminiscent of the DJ from the party. His face was a mixture of anger and fear, and in that moment Sombra discovered the intended purpose of a bedpan. To the black pony’s surprise, though, the other unicorn rushed right past him to Cadance’s bed, his original expression fading and changing to one of concern. With a great deal of effort, he rolled his head to the right to face the trio.

“Shining Armor!” Twilight proclaimed, somewhere between surprise, relief, and frustration. Ah yes, him, Sombra thought, practically watching the gears turning in the purple pony’s head as she tried to decide which emotion to settle on for her next sentence. “What are you can’t just be alright,” came out of her mouth, which promptly closed again as she tried to figure out how she’d mangled the sentence so badly.

“What happened? Is she going to be okay?” Shining Armor’s concern had melted into fear again. His eyes were wide and his breathing rapid and shallow, his head moved in a twitchy, erratic manner as he kept shifting his gaze from Twilight to Cadance.

“I’m sorry miss,” a chubby pink nursemare muttered apologetically from the door, “I couldn’t stop him from coming in.”

“It’s ok,” Twilight assured her, “I’m not sure if I could stop him from getting to Cadance.” Twilight exhaled fully, turned to Shining Armor, then inhaled again before continuing. “Yes,” she began, “Cadance will be fine. She’s just resting, she had a lot of blood drawn. She wasn’t hurt or in an accident or anything, she just needs some sleep. How did you know something was wrong, though? Did the hospital contact you?”

“Shiny Sense,” he answered as though that explained everything, then continued his questioning. “Why did she need to donate so much blood though? I know she has a rare blood type but… it’s not that uncommon, is it? Cady’s a hemophiliac too, doesn’t that interfere with donating blood?”

“Actually, by the hospital’s records, there are only two ponies in Ponyville with compatible blood types, one is out of town and the other has more alcohol than hemoglobin in her body,” Twilight told him, “Or so the nurse told me. Also, it would seem the problem with hemophilic blood can be filtered out once out of the body.”

“Well, if one is out of town and the other is a mare,” Shining Armor puzzled aloud, “Then who is this?” He gestured to Sombra without really looking, “I’m assuming this is the pony that needed the blood?”

“Shiny, come over here for a second.”

Shining Armor complied, and walked over to the far side of Cadance’s bed, next to Twilight. “What’s wrong?”

“You might want to be sitting down for this next bit.”

The white unicorn plopped his rump in a chair obediently.

Sombra gulped.

“That,” Twilight gestured to the big black pony, “Is the former King, Sombra, of the Crystal Empire.”

Here we go, Sombra thought.

Shining Armor worked his jaw, as though trying to stretch out a sore spot. He frowned slightly, his brow furrowed, and he turned to look over at Sombra. One arched eyebrow expressed the confusion running through his mind, and Shining Armor turned back to Twilight.

“But he died?” Shining Armor’s voice pitched up questioningly for emphasis.

“I thought that too.”

Shining Armor paused, working with the information. This was a surprise, that’s for sure, but he didn’t feel the anger he thought he would. Sombra, the monster that tortured the Crystal Empire, and made his best attempt at both his own and Cadance’s lives, was sitting in a hospital bed with several pints of his wife’s blood in him. This meant he’d been seriously injured, and liable to bleed out. Two questions came from this – well, three – well, a lot more than that, but three important ones.

“Okay. Alright. Sure. This is happening. Three questions, Twiley. How,” Shining wagged his forelegs in Sombra’s direction, “What,” one foreleg changed back to Cadance, two ponies now the target of Shining’s wiggly appendages, “And why?” His waggling shifted towards Cadance.

“As for the how, Sombra is, apparently, immortal in some capacity. I’ll let him explain it to you later, I… don’t really fully understand it, and I don’t really want to talk about it. It’s complicated, and not pretty,” Twilight stopped for a moment and looked away from her brother, eyes staring blankly at the floor tiles. She shook her head, and magicked away a bit of mane that fell over her eyes. “Sorry. What? Well, I brought Cadance here because both Sombra and I thought it would be a good idea for them to meet, both given their history together in the Crystal Empire and the similarity of their cutie marks. I neglected to tell her why I wanted her to come to Ponyville, and who she would be meeting. She reacted… understandably poorly, and almost killed Sombra. By mistake! Don’t worry, it was an accident. Why… well, that’s the interesting bit.”

Twilight levitated a sheet of paper from the table next to Cadance’s bed, floating it over to her brother. Her purple aura was gently washed away by Shining’s own blue magic as the white unicorn brought the paper closer to his face to read. Twilight watched his eyes scan down the page, stopping at a certain part and sliding back and forth over it a couple times, before he brought the paper only inches from his snout and squinted. It wasn’t really a necessary action, but Twilight forgave her brother, as the information was a bit hard to swallow and seemed unbelievable.

“Is this accurate?”

“Not completely, but with that high of a percent, it seems pretty likely.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. Bit of a revelation, isn’t it?”

“Yep.”

“I guess it explains a lot, though.”

“Yep.”

“Shining…”

“Sorry, Twiley. It’s just a lot to take in, you know? Finding out your wife is a distant descendant of…” Shining Armor searched for a word, and Sombra cringed in anticipation of the incoming insult. Instead, either due to inability to come up with the word he was looking for or actually not wanting to be that cruel, the Captain of the Guard just said, “him.”

“I am… awake you know…” Sombra tried his best to sound annoyed, but he was a little too grateful to be alive and a little too sore to manage it properly.

“Oh, uh…” Shining Armor tried to make some form of recovery for his first impression with the other unicorn, but found himself lacking the words.

“It is fine,” Sombra grunted again. “I have no right to ask you to like me. Just… please do not kill me.”

Shining Armor chuckled without humor. “I don’t really think I could, honestly.”

“Are you not the Captain of the Princess’ Royal Guard?”

“Well, yeah, but…”

“Ah, I suppose Celestia does not really do… executions, does she?”

“What? No! Of course not,” Shining Armor’s indignant voice filled the room before he realized Sombra’s tone was less confusion and more regretful. “Hey, I’m sorry, I just… I dunno. My heart is telling me to hate you for what you did to the Empire and what you tried to do to my family. At the same time, Twilight is telling me I can trust you, and Cadance willingly saved your life. You must be different. You are different. I can tell.”

“I would have expected a little more anger towards a would-be assassin from my knight in Shining Armor,” Cadance mumbled tiredly from her bed, causing two ponies to turn to her in happiness and one to look away in shame.

“Cady! You’re awake!” Shining Armor stopped himself just short from throwing his wife into a full-bodied hug and instead opted to gently caress her, as though afraid she might break.

“You don’t have to be so gentle,” she said softly, “It isn’t like I’m some recovering from surgery. I’ll just be pretty tired-” a yawn punctuated her statement, “- for a few days.”

“I know, I know, but I’m glad you’re not hurt. You aren’t hurt, right?”

“Nothing more than my pride, sweetie,” Cadance replied as she pulled away from the hug, and shifted herself in the bed so she was sitting up. She shared a brief smile with Twilight, and then turned her attention to Sombra. “I think it’s time we talk about the red heart on your flank,” the pink Alicorn said flatly, merely attempting to gain the attention of the big black unicorn. It did a bit more than that, though.

“I beg your pardon?” Sombra whirled around in the bed, medical equipment clattering together and sheets sliding over one another as his large body rotated. “Miss Redheart and I are most certainly not in a relationship of that sort!”

The other ponies in the room stared at him blankly, before Twilight Sparkle’s mouth opened in a small “oh” of realization. Sombra in turn realized he had misconstrued the statement, and looked at his hooves as he contemplated putting them in his mouth.

“You meant my cutie mark.”

“Well yes, but I don’t have to be the Princess of Love to see there’s something there,” Cadance teased, “I mean, that whole episode when you woke up…”

“You were awake?” Sombra asked, blushing deeply and avoiding Cadance’s glittering eyes.

“Yes, though I figured it was best not to interrupt you two. Who would I be to stand in the way of romance?”

“Cadance! Stop teasing the poor stallion,” Twilight exclaimed, her sister-in-law abiding by her request with a soft giggle.

“Anyways,” Shining Armor cut in, “I’m more than a little curious why your cutie marks are nearly identical. I mean, that doesn’t happen that often between even parents and their children, much less the incredibly distant relationship between Cadance and Sombra. How are they even related, anyways? I mean, the Crystal Empire and all the ponies in it were sealed away with Sombra all that time ago. How could Cadance be one of his descendants?”

“Actually, I might know that,” Cadance offered. “There was a story passed down through my family for many, many generations that once upon a time, way, way back when, the matriarch of the Cadenza bloodline was a Crystal Pony who escaped the rule of an evil tyrant after being forced to bear one of his children. I don’t remember many details beyond that. There have been several crystalline cutie marks in my family’s ancestry, but we all assumed it was just a story because it had been so long since anyone had seen a living Crystal Pony. Even with the reemergence of the Crystal Empire it was so ingrained in my memory as a fairy tale I never made the connection that Sombra might have been that evil tyrant from so long ago.”

Sombra thought for a moment. The name Cadenza sounded familiar to him, but at the same time he had never let a concubine go and had no memory of ever siring a child. It was not out of the question, however, it seemed extremely unlikely. No more unlikely than our nearly identical cutie marks, however.

“Okay, so, assuming they are related, and that your story is in fact true, why are their cutie marks the same? I mean how could Cady have the same destiny as that ssssss…” Shining Armor trailed off, changing his mind on what he was about to say, his hissing continuing as he searched for a recovery option.

“Sack of horseapples?” Sombra offered.

“…sssstallion. As that stallion. I was going to say stallion.”

“Sure you were, honey,” Cadance snickered, and Twilight rolled her eyes.

“I was! Honest! Okay, not really, I’m sorry. Anyways, do either of you have an explanation for that?”

“I might,” Sombra said, “I got my mark many, many years before my fall. Several decades, even, I was quite young when it happened. At the time, my destiny was to rule the Crystal Empire with a warm heart and love for my citizens and friends, and to power the Crystal Heart. Everything changed, though, and when I covered my flank with robes and metal, my true calling had been long forgotten, and soon enough so had I. While my personal experience with Princess Cadance might suggest otherwise,” Sombra paused for a moment and considered apologizing for the unintentional slight, but when Cadance saw it was her turn to avoid eye contact, he decided better of it, and continued, “it is not beyond the realm of possibility that she has a similar destiny. I already know she can power the Crystal Heart, and one can only assume she is doing a better job of ruling the Empire than I ever did. When you go back, Cadance, Shining Armor, do not tell the Crystal Ponies I am alive. Their king is dead, he died a very long time ago, and that is all they need to know.”

The room sat in silence for a moment, a pony occasionally opening their mouth to speak, then changing their mind and closing it again. A soft knock on the door came at one point, followed by Nurse Kindheart informing them that the paperwork checked out and that Princess Cadance was free to leave the hospital as soon as she wanted to. The nurse exited as quietly as she had entered, and the room fell silent once again. Eventually, Shining Armor began to help Cadance from her bed, and Twilight left to go check on Spike.

“I would like a word in private with the Princess,” Sombra said as Cadance and Shining Armor were about to leave, “If that is alright with you.”

Shining Armor gave his wife a questioning glance, but she nodded reassuringly, and the white unicorn trotted slowly from the room, leaving the two Crystal Rulers together. With a great deal of effort, Sombra forced himself into a sitting position, staring blankly at the wall before him rather than at Cadance.

“Look, I-” Cadance began after several seconds of awkward silence.

“I am living proof that the most terrible of things can be results of the best intentions,” Sombra interrupted, without turning his gaze from the wall. “I know this is going to sound hypocritical and be a little hard to believe, but please, hear me out. There is great light in you, Princess Cadance, just as there was in me thousands of years ago. The light will eventually flicker and fade, however. That is not a bad thing, in fact it is entirely natural. Just as the sun rises and sets, so do our lives, and going against the natural order of things leads only to pain and suffering. I know you are capable of restoring my nation to its former glory, and probably far beyond. But when it is your time to step down and leave, you must do so. Do not fight it. Do not follow in my hoofsteps. Please, Princess, promise me this. You will not do what I did. Promise me.”

“I promise,” Cadance said solemnly, “I promise.”

“Thank you, Princess. Thank you for everything. Now go, go back to your Empire, and rule it with love and light in your heart.”

Cadance smiled, turned, and left the room.

Sombra sighed and leaned back into his pillow, and began to cry. Not for sorrow, no, but for joy that the Crystal Ponies had such a wonderful mare as their leader now. Crying was how he lay down, and smiling is how he fell asleep.

Chapter 16

Sombra spent two more days recovering in the hospital before being discharged. Redheart helped him fill out the paperwork, but could not leave with him. Her shift didn’t end for several more hours, after all. Besides, Sombra needed to make some preparations. Dates didn’t just happen and restaurants weren’t free, now that Sombra was no longer king. Perhaps there were some benefits to being on top.

Redheart had helped him from the hospital bed – he was still a little weak and it would be a bold-faced lie to say his right foreleg wasn’t a bit tender – but he had insisted upon getting outside by himself, both for the sake of getting used to walking again and so as not to impose on the nursemare. He would have thought it was to show himself as a strong, powerful stallion as well but that impression had gone out the window the first night he met the white earth pony. Sombra winced a little as he pressed his right forehoof to the brand-new doors of the hospital and stepped out into the sunlight.

It was a warm day, with a hooffull of puffy, white clouds scattered across a clear, blue sky. He hadn’t noticed it while he was inside the hospital, but the air in there was slightly… wrong, slightly metallic, fake almost. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths through his nose and reveled in the earthy scent, the moist smell pervading the air from the slightly damp soil. It must have rained recently, he thought, I would have liked to see that. I haven’t seen a proper rainstorm in… I don’t remember the last time I saw a real rainstorm. It was almost always snow or hail in the Empire.

When he opened his eyes again, he noticed a familiar pony walking across the street.

“Miss Horizons!” Sombra called. The golden mare turned, tilting her head quizzically as the big black pony ran at her. His gallop was a little… off, as he was clearly favoring his right foreleg as he sprinted her way.

“Sombra, it’s good to see you up and walking around again,” she greeted, a small smile on her face. “What can I help you with?”

“I need money,” he said flatly, throwing himself on the ground before her, head low behind his forelegs, rear legs tucked beneath him in an expression of humility.

Her smile disappeared.

“Why would I just give you money?”

“I had no intentions of asking you for money and giving nothing in return. I can offer my services at the orphanage, which would ease the strain on you, Snowflake, and miss Redheart. I could also perhaps assist with more… male issues when Snowflake is unavailable.”

Brighter chuckled. “Okay, so you’re asking for a job. You do make an excellent point that we’re drastically understaffed, especially with Redheart often being on call, which has, admittedly, left very little time for Snowflake and I to pursue our relationship. Alright, sure. What do you need the money for, though?”

“I asked miss Redheart to dinner,” Sombra spoke from behind his legs. After a few moments of silence, Sombra dared a peek at the mare before him. A smile was rapidly growing on her face, only stopping when it couldn’t physically get any broader.

“You could have said that first.”

Sombra looked up, surprised at her response. Seeing the expression on his face, Brighter laughed, her smile shrinking only slightly.

“Redheart is a very old, very dear friend of mine – stand up Sombra, this is silly – and an invaluable employee at the orphanage. She’s lonelier than she’d care to admit, though, and you are a wonderful stallion.”

“That is hardly the ca-”

“No, it’s true,” Brighter cut in, offering a hoof to help Sombra stand. He winced a little as he accepted her assistance, but pulled himself up nonetheless. “Redheart told me everything yesterday, who you are and where you’re from and all that. It was… alarming at first, to be completely honest. I trust her though, and Redheart trusts you and trusts that you have changed, Sombra. You’re different now, you’re caring and kind and helpful almost to a fault. That’s not the same pony Redheart told me you claim to have once been. Now, what restaurant are you going to? I need to know how long you’ll be working to pay this off.”

“I…” Sombra paused and thought for a moment, only to realize he hadn’t given it thought; the only restaurants he knew of were the little café on the far side of town and Sugarcube Corner, and the latter hardly counted as a restaurant.

“You didn’t have a plan, did you?” Brighter Horizons’ voice hovered somewhere between amused and accusatory, but a telltale smirk and arched eyebrow gave Sombra a hint as to which side it was supposed to fall on.

“I did not, no,” Sombra admitted, looking a bit crestfallen.

“Don’t worry about it too much,” the brighter unicorn consoled him, “You’re far from the first stallion to ask a mare out and not have any sort of plan for how it’ll play out. Besides, it isn’t like you have a very deep knowledge of Ponyville. I’ve got a suggestion, though – Redheart is rather fond of pasta. There’s a restaurant in the north end run by one Miss Marilla that specializes in pasta dishes, but it’s a little on the expensive side. Oh, and you’ll need to get some flowers, too. Redheart adores red tulips, so I’ll give you some bits for those, too.”

Sombra opened his mouth to protest Horizons spending any more money than she needed to on him and his date. When he realized his primary expenses in Ponyville would be on food and, perhaps, if things went well, further dates with Redheart. He needed no clothing or entertainment, and he had a place to live and friends to share it with – though perhaps it would be proper for him to begin to pay rent of some sort if he was allowed to stay.

“Oh! You’ll also need something to wear, perhaps a bowtie of sorts? Some sort of accessory, you can’t just show up naked.”

This was too much. “Miss Horizons, I can hardly-”

“No, no, it has been far too long since Redheart has had a proper date,” Brighter stepped beside Sombra and put a foreleg over his neck, eliciting a wince from Sombra as she bumped his sore leg, “I am more than willing to help provide funds to make it right. Besides, you seem like you want to keep working at the orphanage after you finish paying me back, so it isn’t like you’d be staying much longer than you want to.”

“Well no, but-”

“It’s settled then! Come now, let’s go to Carousel Boutique and get you a bowtie.”

---

“Miss Rarity! Are you in? The sign said you were open!” Brighter called into the shop. The lights were on but the seamstress who worked there was nowhere to be seen. Sombra fidgeted uncomfortably behind Brighter Horizons, aware that, like many of the buildings in Ponyville, Carousel Boutique doubled as both a shop and as Miss Rarity’s home. As such, just walking in, even if it was a public area with an “Open” sign on the door, it felt a little too much like walking into somepony’s home without permission. It was a sensation he knew well but would rather have forgotten.

“I’ll be with you in just a moment!” Sombra’s ears perked up and flicked unconsciously towards the source of the voice, a door against the back wall. A few seconds later it opened, a light blue aura swinging the door gently shut again as a white unicorn mare with a beautiful curly mane trotted out from behind it. Sombra recognized her, and, come to think of it, he had recognized the name too. He hadn’t put it together until just this moment, however. This was Rarity, Element of Generosity, one of Twilight Sparkle’s friends, and she did not like him.

“Miss Horizons! It’s so unusual to see you around here, but not at all unpleasant! What brings you around here? Finally going to get that dress you’ve been eyeing?” Rarity’s voice was genuine, happy, bright, greeting the golden unicorn with a broad smile, “I could knock another hundred bits off for you if you want to buy it today!”

Sombra saw Brighter’s eyes flicker briefly to a slim green dress on a ponnequin near the wall as she turned her head.

“Actually, Miss Rari-”

“I’ve told you darling, you can call me Rarity, it’s fine!”

“Right. Sorry. Actually, Rarity, I’m not here for myself today,” Brighter gestured to the bigger unicorn who had been attempting to hide behind her, “My friend Sombra here has a date soon and is going to need something nice to wear. Do you have any formalwear that goes well with dark gray and black?”

Rarity blinked slowly as she observed the unicorn, Sombra putting on a sheepish smile in an attempt to look non-threatening. She blinked again, and began to speak delicately.

“Well… a dark or royal blue can work well with monochromatic colorations, though, if you don’t mind me saying, with your eyes as they are, I might suggest going for a black to match your hair. Unless you wanted to wear a hat of some sort, in which case… perhaps a dark red. Did you have a particular accessory in mind?”

“Uh…” Sombra stumbled over his words, with no idea of what he could possibly ask for. He hadn’t worn anything apart from robes and armor in so long, he barely had any idea what other clothes there were.

Before he could respond, though, Brighter Horizons let out a startled gasp.

“My goodness, Rarity, is that clock accurate?”

“It should be, darling,” Rarity glanced at the light purple time-teller on the wall, “Yes, I do believe it is. Is something the matter?”

“I need to get back, Snowflake is alone at the orphanage right now and lunch is coming up and – stop looking at me like that, Sombra, nothing of that sort is going on today. Snowflake can cook well for a small number of ponies, but cooking for large groups… he has a little too much focus on quality when quantity is more important. I need to go, Rarity you can bill me for whatever he picks, I’m sorry, but bye!” Brighter disappeared out the door, leaving Sombra alone with the fashionista.

“Well. That certainly just happened.”

“Yes. Yes it did.”

“Shall we?”

Sombra followed Rarity obediently into a different room, one with hats and ties and bows and all sorts of basic formalwear. The air felt thick; Sombra was uncomfortable being alone with Rarity, a pony he barely knew and suspected harbored a strong dislike for him. Perhaps it might be best to just try to clear the air and get everything out there to start with, he thought.

“Look, Miss Rarity, I know you do not like me, b-” Sombra began to explain, avoiding eye contact and absent-mindedly straightening a few spools of thread on the table next to him, before being cut off by Rarity.

“Mister Sombra, it’s not that I dislike you, we just… got off on the wrong hoof, is all.”

“That is an understatement.”

“Be that as it may, Twilight Sparkle is one of my dearest friends and I trust her judgment and I believe what she says about you. I am more than willing to give you a second chance, and I must apologize for my standoffish behavior last Monday, at the party. That was incredibly rude of me, and I am sorry. Please, when you decide on what you want, take it as an apology.”

Sombra was taken aback by the white unicorn’s generosity, which, in hindsight, should not have surprised him as such.

“Miss Rarity, I cann-”

“Take it!” Rarity’s voice rose to something between a shriek and a growl.

Sombra recoiled, bumping into a table and knocking down a ponnequin head with a hat displayed on it. He reached to catch it with his hooves, but knocked his right foreleg against a different table in the process. He fell to the ground, holding it instinctively in some vain attempt to reduce the pain. He was dimly aware of Rarity magicking the hat display back to the table and trotting over to him to help him up. He took her hoof and stood, wincing as he put weight back on his injured leg.

“I am alright, just rather sore,” Sombra said with a shake of his head to assuage the concerns written on the white mare’s face, “Thank you for helping me up, though.”

“Sorry for scaring you,” she replied, “I can get a little… intense sometimes.”

“It is fine, really. Now, well, I really have no idea what would be appropriate attire for this… date,” Sombra tried to change the subject back to something a bit more relevant, but the way his voice squeaked a bit in excitement betrayed his true emotions.

“Someone’s happy,” Rarity said with a giggle, “Where are you going? If I know where you plan on taking your date I might be able to help you better.”

“I… actually do not know the name of the restaurant, Miss Horizons suggested it, a pasta restaurant?”

“Marilla’s? Hmm…” Rarity tapped a hoof against her chin and looked at the wall of bows, ties, and bowties, brow furrowing as she thought. “Marilla’s is fairly upscale, but not the fanciest place… a simple bowtie would probably be just right.”

“Yes, Miss Horizons suggested that,” Sombra offered.

“That mare… she knows a bit more about fashion than she credits herself with,” Rarity commented, not exactly replying to Sombra. She looked over at him, back at the wall, and back at Sombra again.

“Black. Definitely black,” she said, and her horn flickered to life. She pulled down a small black bowtie on a white collar, floated it over to Sombra, and attached it around his neck. Sombra tucked his chin in to look down at the new item. It looked nice, he tho-

“No, too small. Much too small…” Rarity mumbled to herself and the bowtie disappeared in a white flash. Sombra jumped slightly but the younger mare didn’t seem to notice, or, if she did, she didn’t care. She pulled down another black bowtie, and once again magically attached it around Sombra’s neck.

“Still much too small…” Rarity thought aloud, and Sombra couldn’t blame her. He couldn’t even tell it was larger. “You really are quite the sizable stallion, you know? Is the date tonight?”

“No miss, it is not.”

“Do you know what day it will be?”

“No miss, I do not.”

“Really darling, you can call me Rarity. You must be a little more prepared for your date than this, though. I’ll work on a slightly larger bowtie for you, I should have it ready in a couple days. Now go, figure out what day your date is on and let me know at your earliest convenience. Now, hold still for just a moment…”

A tape measure appeared out of nowhere and floated around Sombra, wrapping firmly but not uncomfortably around his neck, then stretching from his throat down to the center of his chest. Rarity made a hoofful of different noises of acknowledgement or understanding, something of the sort at least, but said nothing. The tape measure disappeared as quickly as it had arrived.

Without a word, Rarity turned and began to walk out of the room, her eyes unfocused, deep in thought. Sombra had to step out of the mare’s way to avoid being run into, though Rarity didn’t react to him in any way. He followed her back into the main room, and slowly across the floor as she headed towards another door. She opened it and began to walk in when Sombra spoke up.

“Um, excuse me, Miss Rarity, is the-”

“Begone!” Rarity whirled around, her voice once again rising to that same growling shriek, before coming back down. She cleared her throat and spoke again, “I’m sorry, that wasn’t terribly ladylike of me. Go on now though, I said it’d take me a couple days, not a couple minutes. Besides, you have some preparations to do as well. Reservations and the like?”

“Oh, yes, of course miss! Thank you very much Miss Rarity!” Sombra bowed low, turned, and hurried out the door, not wanting to incur the wrath of the seamstress again.

He trotted unhurriedly back to Redheart’s house, for both enjoyment of the day and because it hurt his leg if he walked too quickly. He also needed to talk to Snowflake or maybe Miss Horizons about how exactly reservations worked. He smiled all the same, though – he had a date. An excited laugh left him as he walked across the town, when he noticed an elderly green earth mare struggling to carry some groceries.

Chapter 17

“Ma’am,” Sombra called softly as he hurried quickly across the street to the mare, “Ma’am, do you need any help?”

“Actually sonny, I would greatly appreciate the help,” the green-apple colored mare replied, her southern accent perking up in thanks. Sombra took the saddlebags from her and slung them across his own back, surprised at how heavy they were – it took a conscious effort to support them, and he could hardly imagine this mare was anywhere near his physical strength. With the weight lifted from her back, she took off at a surprisingly quick pace, and Sombra had to jog for a moment to catch up.

“My goodness ma’am, these are quite heavy. You were not intending on carrying them far, were you?”

“Just to the outskirts of town, I was heading home to Sweet Apple Acres,” she told him as they walked, “If you’re gonna complain about it I can do it myself though.”

“That was not exactly what I meant, ma’am,” Sombra said, a bit embarrassed, “I merely mea-”

“I know what you meant, sonny,” she replied, “I was just givin’ ya a hard time. Now, my eyesight ain’t what it used to be, but I can tell you’re a big ‘un. Only two other ponies I know as big as you, and neither of them is black. Would you be so kind as to tell me your name?”

“I am Sombra,” he explained.

“Sombra, eh? My name’s Granny Smith. It’s nice to meet ya.”

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance as well, ma’am.”

Granny Smith giggled. “Not many ponies as polite as you nowadays. Are you from around here?”

“No ma’am, I am from… the north,” he said hesitantly, not quite feeling comfortable enough to tell a stranger his true origins.

“I said my eyesight’s bad, not my ears,” the old earth mare said to him, a touch of frustration in her voice, “I heard that pause, but it’s ok if you don’t really want to tell me exactly where you’re from. You’re not my granddaughter after all.”

“Your granddaughter, ma’am?”

“Applejack! Element o’ honesty!” Granny Smith proclaimed rather loudly, scaring Sombra to pause in his stride, “Savior of Equestria several times over! Celestia sonny, you been livin’ under a rock?”

“In a manner of speaking,” he said sheepishly as he shuffled to catch up

“Oh,” Granny Smith’s bravado vanished, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“It is alright, ma’am, do not worry. You did not know. Well, if you have a granddaughter, why is she not carrying the groceries, it seems as though…” Sombra got quiet, leaving the rest of the sentence implied as he was not exactly sure how to finish it.

“Ah, that’s the thing, sonny. I’m too old and frail to work in the fields anymore, and Applebloom is in school all day, so while Applejack and Big Macintosh are out in the orchards, I’m left to go run errands. Even if it takes me a while.”

The explanation made sense to Sombra, but it still didn’t feel right. He didn’t respond for a moment, until Granny Smith prompted him for one.

“You still there sonny? Tongue fall out?”

“No ma’am, I was ju-”

“I’m just teasin’! Lighten up a little, it’s alright. And call me Granny, not ma’am.”

“Yes ma- yes, Granny,” Sombra corrected himself.

“Here, let me tell you a story while we walk, a story about how Ponyville came to be…”

---

Granny Smith’s story ended with perfect timing as they reached the front door of Sweet Apple Acres’ house. Sombra was left fascinated, and wondering just how old this mare actually was.

“Thank you kindly for helping me carry my groceries, sonny. Would you like to come in and have something to drink?”

“Oh no, Granny, I could not impo-”

“I insist,” she said again in a tone that made it clear it was not an offer. Sombra swallowed and nodded, and followed Granny Smith inside. The house was old, but in good condition, and very nice. Well-loved, but beautiful, hoof-carved furniture and cabinets were arranged in the rooms and against the walls. Family photographs dating back to before Ponyville existed were scattered around, and apple-themed paraphernalia filled the rest of the flat spaces. He followed the green mare into the kitchen, and gently set the saddlebags on the table.

“Now, what would you like to drink, Sombra? We got milk, home-made apple tea, home-made apple juice, home-made apple cider,” Granny read from the labels in the refrigerator, “home-made hard cider,” she added after a brief pause.

“Some apple juice sounds amazing, thank you,” Sombra accepted her offer, and was promptly given a glass of the gold-colored liquid. He took a sip, surprised at how crisp and sweet it was. “This is delicious. You said this is all home-made?”

“Yes siree,” she answered, “You see all those apple trees outside? What else do you think we do with them?”

Ah yes, that does make sense, Sombra thought, and continued sipping at the juice. Before he even realized it, the groceries were stored in the appropriate areas and the bags tucked away… and his juice was gone.

“Would you like to come sit and chat for a while?” Granny offered, this time her tone less commanding.

“Actually, I do think I should get going. Thank you very much for the apple juice, Granny.”

“And thank you for helping me with the groceries. It was nice to meet you, Sombra. Please feel free to drop by again sometime.”

“I will, Granny. Thank you,” Sombra said with a smile, and began to turn for the door.

“Granny! Granny are you ok? He hasn’t done anything to you, has he? I swear to Celestia, Sombra, if you lay a hoof on her…” A bright orange, and much younger, earth mare burst into the room, panting.

“Applejack, what are you on about?” Granny Smith said, a hint of anger in her voice, “This nice gentlecolt just helped me carry the groceries home. He’s a perfectly nice stallion.”

“Granny, you can’t trust him,” Applejack said, still slightly out of breath, “He’s evil!”

“Applejack, dear, you have always been a terrible liar, and we both know why.”

“Celestia, Sombra what have you done to her mind?”

“He ain’t done nothin’ to me!” Granny Smith yelled, “Girl, you are my granddaughter and I love you, but sometimes you just don’t get it. I’m fine. He’s fine. There’s nothing wrong here.”

“Actually, there is one thing I do have to question,” Sombra pointed out as a thought entered his mind, “You are cursing to Celestia and swearing to Celestia. What of the Great Creator Faust?”

“Faust?” Applejack and Granny Smith answered in unison.

“Yes, the Great Creator Faust, Mother of the Six Immortals. Your Princesses are two of those Six, in fact.”

“Sombra,” Granny began, “I’m afraid I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You were never taught history in school?”

“Yes, we were,” Applejack answered this time, “but I ain’t ever heard of a ‘Faust.’”

“How can you have never…” Sombra’s voice died in confusion. “I need to go, I need to talk to Twilight. Granny Smith, thank you kindly for your hospitality,” he said, then turned and ran out the door, leaving the dumbfounded mares alone in the kitchen.

---

Sombra had not run so far or so hard in a very long time. Onlookers might have thought he was about to drop dead from how hard he was wheezing. He knocked on the crystal door, and soon enough Twilight Sparkle answered.

“So-”

“Who is-” another gulp of air, “Faust to you?”

“I… don’t know anypony named Faust,” Twilight answered, shying away from the gasping stallion. “Are you alright?”

“I just… ran all the way… from Sweet Apple Acres…” Sombra continued to breath heavily, inhalations punctuating his sentence. “Because Applejack… said she didn’t know… who Faust was, so I thought… that maybe a pony with more reading experience… would have a better idea,” the pauses became less frequent as his breath came back to him.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t know of anything or anypony named ‘Faust,’ fictional or not,” Twilight answered slowly, trying to remember anything she might have read about, even in her fillyhood days, “Would you like to come in?”

“Yes, please,” Sombra took one more great inhalation, and stepped into the giant crystalline structure. Twilight lead him over to the sitting area, and he took a seat on the couch when offered to him.

“So who is this Faust,” Twilight began, “To you, that is, that it has you so concerned over them?”

“The Great Creator Faust, Mother of the Six Immortals,” Sombra replied as casually as answering a simple arithmetic question, “Surely a pony as well-read as you has read or at least heard of the Story of the Six Immortals, yes?”

“I can’t say that I have, actually,” Twilight said apologetically.

“The two great spheres? The brothers Tirek, Scorpan, and Discord?”

“I know those names, but I don’t know anything about ‘two great spheres,’” she answered.

“The loss of, and search for, the Gifts? None of this rings any bells?”

“No, it really doesn’t.”

“Faust’s creation of the world, the disappearance of the changelings from the Crystal Empire? Nothing?”

“I told you, no. Sombra, what in Celestia’s name are you talking about?”

Sombra was dumbfounded. Twilight did it, too. She called the name of Celestia, not that of Faust. “Miss Twilight, who created the heavens and the earth and all that fills them?”

“The Princesses.”

“Miss Twilight, who created ponies?”

“The Princesses.”

“The only ponies your Princesses created were the Crystal Ponies and the Changelings,” Sombra replied with a laugh not meant to be mirthful.

“Created the Changelings? Sombra, that’s insane. You’re insane, none of this happ-”

“‘From a shed fragment of her youngest sister’s crystalline wings, Celestia created the Crystal Ponies,’” Sombra quoted, not once breaking eye contact with the younger Alicorn.

“What are you talking about?” Twilight’s voice was rising beyond disbelief and was now bordering on anger.

“‘From a lock of Celestia’s flowing mane, Luna created the changelings,’” Sombra continued, “‘And so the new ponies spread through the land – the changelings and the Crystal Ponies going to the north.’”

“Sombra, that never happ-”

“Don’t you dare tell me what did or did not happen, Twilight Sparkle! You were not there! You did not watch them leave! You did not watch her leave!” Sombra roared, all pretenses of politeness dropped. He had gone beyond confusion and exasperation, this was anger now. Twilight took a couple steps back – both shocked that the typically meek stallion was yelling and genuinely intimidated by the fury in his eyes. She had no response to his outburst, and the two stared at each other for several moments. When Sombra spoke again, it was through gritted teeth.

“Twilight Sparkle. Your mentor has been hiding things from you. I want you to write your mentor a letter. Right now. Just a simple question. ‘Who is Faust?’ That is all you need to write. Write this letter and send it, and await the Princess’ response.”

Twilight nodded and took a piece of parchment and a quill from her desk, and penned the three words, before calling to Spike and having him send it.

A tense silence followed, only interrupted when Spike belched out the response letter.

“My dear Twilight,” the purple Alicorn began to read aloud, “I am afraid I do not know of anypony by that name. Perhaps they were a character in one of those novels you loved so much as a filly? With love, Princess Celestia.”

“What? What is she talking- she was there!” Sombra sputtered, “Has she forgotten? Have the millennia taken their toll on your Princess?”

“Don’t talk about Celestia like that!” Twilight admonished him, “She must have a reason, if anything you’ve said is true.”

“Send another letter.”

“Why?”

“Send another letter. Ask Celestia if we can come. I need to know what is going on, Twilight, please.”

The mare nodded and grabbed another piece of parchment, upon which she asked her second question, and again passed it to Spike. Another few moments passed after the first letter was immolated, another appeared from the mouth of the baby dragon.

“I suppose you can, I had nothing important scheduled for this afternoon anyways. I anticipate your visit with happiness,” Twilight read.

“How soon can we get there?”

“I can teleport us, but I usually only do one po-”

“Then do it.”

“It will be extremely uncomfortable… or so I’ve read, at least.”

“Do it.”

Twilight nodded, and the pair disappeared with a pop.

Sombra felt as though his very existence was being torn apart – flesh separated from bone, bone from spirit, and spirit from reality. As soon as the experience ended, it reversed, and when his body was whole again, and the world rushed up to meet him. He was in the halls of Canterlot, no, not just the halls – he was in the throne room. Celestia sat upon the golden chair, a small smile on her face. Sombra looked around and found an empty vase, ran to it, and vomited into it.

“‘Uncomfortable,’” Sombra panted, “My muscular flank that was ‘uncomfortable.’”

“Princess,” Twilight began, “Sombra is spouting some nonsense about how you and Luna are not the creators, about some Story of the Six Immortals – I tried to explain to him how I have read every book in the Canterlot Library, even those held back from the public, and have never heard of that book, but he is insisting it exists.”

“Allow me to bring in my sister on this matter – memory has never been my personal strong point, perhaps she will remember the story he speaks of,” Celestia responded calmly, that small smile still on her face. Her horn glowed yellow for just a moment, and seconds later Luna appeared.

“Good morning, sister. I trust you have a good reason for waking me at this hour?” Luna questioned with a cute yawn, before seeing Sombra. “What is HE doing here?” The Lunar Princess’ voice rose to room-shaking levels.

“Princess Luna,” Sombra had recovered enough to show his deference, “It is an honor to meet you on less hateful terms. I apologize for the troubles I have cause you in my past and I swear to you and to Faust that I have changed, and I am not that stallion anymore.”

“YOU are the reason I spent one thousand lonely years on the moon, with no one to guide me save the hateful, violent, anarchic messages your dark magic left i-” Luna’s fury subsided as soon as it began, and her voice grew soft again. “Did you say Faust?”

“Yes, princess.”

“So that is why you are here.”

Celestia gave her sister a quizzical glance, but said nothing to her. Instead, she turned to Sombra, opening her mouth to speak gently. “It seems you have raised this question of Faust in my star pupil’s mind, Sombra. What about it bothers you so?”

“Do you no longer teach the Story of the Six Immortals? Do you no longer teach history?” Sombra asked in disbelief, completely taken aback by Celestia’s obliviousness. He did not notice it, but Princess Luna sat up a little straighter and opened her eyes a little wider at the name.

“Sombra,” Celestia replied, accenting her pause with a sip of her tea, “I do not know of any story or book by that title.”

“Would you deny your own Mother?”

Everypony at the table noticed Luna’s reaction to this question – or they would have, at least, had Celestia not abruptly stood up, her teacup still held in her magical grip. She said nothing, but the anger in her was apparent.

“‘In the beginning, there was Faust,’” Sombra said defiantly, gaze not wavering from the great white Alicorn’s face, “‘Faust saw the emptiness around her and strove to fill it, creating the first of the two great spheres. The sphere of Earth, contai-’”

His sentence was interrupted by the sound of a teacup shattering, the delicate ceramic drinking cup exploding into a thousand tiny shards as it dropped to the table. Shortly after it, Celestia dropped to her haunches, finding she suddenly lacked the strength to stand as memories rushed back to her.

“Princess!” Twilight cried, rushing to her mentor’s side. Luna looked lost, glancing quickly from one nothing to the next, searching for something inside her mind, before disappearing with a blue pop.

“The Story of the Six Immortals,” Celestia breathed, eyes unfocused, “I… I had every copy destroyed shortly after Luna… after I…”

“Not every copy, dear sister,” Luna said as she reappeared, a very, very old book held delicately in her magical grasp. “It seems your orders to leave my room untouched since my banishment inadvertently spared my own personal copy. Have you truly forgotten?”

“How could you have forgotten?” Sombra interjected before Celestia could respond, “How could you deny the existence of your Mother and declare creation your own?”

“Because it hurt less to deny my mother than it did to remember my sisters and my brother!” Celestia yelled, her voice quavering as though on the verge of tears, “My baby sister was lost to me, and shortly after that I had to banish my only brother and my remaining sister. How could I remember what I had done? I wanted to forget, I wanted everypony to forget…” Celestia trailed off and stared sadly at the fragmented remains of her teacup. “I wanted to forget…”

“Sister…” Luna began, then paused, searching for the words, “You have not lost us. I have come back, even brother Discord has returned, with much of his sanity restored,” the blue Alicorn paused again as Twilight attempted to interrupt her, but the purple mare silenced herself quickly. “I too mourn for Chrysalis every day-”

This was too much for Twilight. “Discord I can believe,” she began, “He acted like he knew you, and, while he caused havoc en masse, he never attempted to kill you. Chrysalis wanted you dead! As much as it pains me to say it, she overpowered you and imprisoned you. How could Chrysalis be your sister?”

“She overpowered me because I was holding back, Twilight. If I had truly unleashed my power, Canterlot would be but a smoldering crater, and everything and everypony in it destroyed. I also held back at the shock of seeing my baby sister for the first time in so long… we thought she was lost and had vanished from this world, and when she came back, I was overjoyed, but to see her in such a state…” Celestia’s voice betrayed her, and Luna rushed to embrace her elder sister as the tears began to fall.

“I can’t… I don’t…” Twilight’s mind was refusing to process the information presented to her. Discord, Celestia’s brother? Ok, sure, it made some vague amount of sense, but Chrysalis as her younger sister? That was beyond belief.

“Twilight, you should read this, the first chapter at least,” Luna said, still hugging her crying sister, and floated the decaying book to the younger mare. “Be careful with it, it is from the time before my rebellion.”

Twilight gingerly opened the (surprisingly thin) tome, and began to read quietly to herself. The more she read the less she could believe.

“This is crazy! Celestia, you never taught me any of this. You never taught anypony any of this. Why have you gone through such lengths to hide this? And Chrysalis is your baby sister? Then why did she try to kill you? What is going on? Why did Sombra know about this?”

“Because I lived it, Twilight,” Sombra said flatly, “The loss of Chrysalis was during my reign before my fall, and I was still ruling when Discord was imprisoned. I was sealed before Princess Luna… before the rebellion, but this book is historical fact. I watched the changelings leave my Empire to never be seen again. I watched her… I watched the brilliance, the life, the wonder in her eyes disappear and fade forever. I saw her leave, and I never saw her again. It happened, Twilight, do not question it.”

“But-”

“It is true, Twilight,” Luna cut her off, “It is all true. Why Celestia hid it I do not know, but it is true.”

“I coul-dn’t bear to remem-ber the fa-family I lost,” Celestia broke through her tears, “It was e-easier to forget tha-n it was to accept m-y own failures.”

“Shhh… sister, sister,” Luna consoled her, “I have returned, as has Discord. Our family is becoming whole again. Perhaps one day Chrysalis too may return. Do not lose faith, sister, we can always have hope.”

Celestia sniffed deeply and buried her face in her sister’s mane, bringing her hooves up to hug her tightly. “I missed you so dearly, sister, I am sorry I was not strong enough to save you.”

“I missed you more, sister, and I am sorry for what you had to do.”

Sombra shifted awkwardly on his hooves, with the distinct feeling this was a moment not meant to be shared with anyone besides the sisters. Twilight opened her mouth to ask if they should leave, but Luna caught her before she spoke and nodded her approval. Twilight and Sombra stood quietly and moved to the door and out into the hall.

“So that’s why she never taught me about Faust,” Twilight mumbled to the floor when they were out of the throne room.

“Yeah. That got… I did not expect that reaction. I expected to be angry with the Princess, but now I just feel… I do not want to say pity, but I feel pity.”

“Yeah. Let’s go home, Sombra. Should we teleport again?”

“Not unless you want a mess in your house.”

“Fair enough. I like the train more, anyways.”

“… Miss Twilight?”

“Yes Sombra?”

“How do I make a reservation?”

Chapter 17.5: The Story of the Six Immortals

Author's Notes:

Any and all continuity errors up through the end of Season 4 are intentional. Fyeten has gone through any relevant episodes with a fine-tooth comb, and between the two of us, we have decided that any remaining errors suit the story better. This is also intended to resemble a religious text, and as such, not everything is meant to be interpreted literally. Time gaps between major events are intentionally ambiguous.

In the beginning, there was Faust. Faust saw the emptiness around her and strove to fill it, creating the first of the two great spheres. The sphere of Earth, containing the domains of water, earth, and sky. From each of these domains Faust drew forth a spirit, and to each spirit she gave a name, and two gifts of herself.

To the Spirit of the Earth and its ever-solid sturdiness, Faust gave the name Tirek, the gift of Might and the gift of Honesty, that he might rule through respect and fear. To the Spirit of the Sky and its ever-clear freedom, she gave the name Scorpan, the gift of Empathy and the gift of Generosity, that he might rule through caring and peace. To the final spirit, the Spirit of Water and its ever-changing turbulence, she gave the name Discord, the gift of imagination and the gift of laughter, that he might rule through creativity and joy. This concludes her creations in the First Great Sphere.

Faust saw her creations and saw that they were good, and left them to rule her creation. For a time, Faust was not present in this land, and moved on to create other worlds in the void.

Discord saw the creation and loved his brothers dearly, but he knew there was no point to ruling an empty land. He took from his brother Tirek some dirt from his hooves, and formed the first Earth Pony, so that they might stand as a testament to his strength forever. From Scorpan, Discord took a feather from his wing and formed the first Pegasi, so that they might stand as a testament to his grace forever. From himself he took a horn, and Discord created the first Unicorn, so that they might stand as a testament to his ingenuity forever. He and his brothers looked upon his creations and saw that they were good, and set out to create more ponies to populate the land.

Time progressed and the three brothers ruled in Harmony. With time, however, came thoughts and questions, and with their mother gone on beyond, Tirek began to wonder why the ponies loved his brothers so, but seemed to shun him. For Scorpan, while generous and empathetic beyond measure, was not a fit king, and Discord, while loved by all and always creating, was not a fit king either. Tirek began to grow jealous of his brothers, and soon thoughts of rebellion grew. When asked by Discord if anything was wrong, he denied them and lied. And so the gift of honesty was lost.

Tirek left his brothers, but was followed by Scorpan. Before he departed, Scorpan bequeathed the gift of generosity to a mortal, and when the mortal passed, the gift of Generosity was lost.

For a time Discord ruled alone. He mourned for the disappearance of his brothers, and began to seclude himself away from the ponies, eventually hiding himself away completely. And so the gift of laughter was lost.

This concludes the age of the first sphere.

Many years passed, and Faust returned to see what her creations had wrought. When she saw the fallen state of her sons, she mourned, and strove to create the Second Great Sphere to protect her son’s creations from above.

The Second Great Sphere contained the domains of the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars. Just as before, Faust drew forth a spirit from each domain, and gave each a name and two gifts of herself. To the Spirit of the Sun and its ever-shining radiance, Faust gave the name Celestia, the gift of wisdom and the gift of Kindness, that she might rule justly and softly. To the Spirit of the Moon and its ever-glowing beauty, she gave the name Luna, the gift of clairvoyance, and the gift of Magic, that she might rule with understanding and knowledge. To the final spirit, the Spirit of the Stars and their ever-shimmering wonder, she gave the name Chrysalis, the gift of passion and the gift of loyalty, that she might rule with love and devotion. This concludes her creations in the Second Great Sphere.

Faust looked down on her daughters, and saw that they were good. She instructed them to find the lost gifts. The sisters acknowledged their mothers’ request, but before they set out they each chose to create ponies as well. From a shed fragment of her youngest sister’s crystalline wings, Celestia created the Crystal Ponies, to stand as a testament to Chrysalis’ beauty forever. From a lock of Celestia’s flowing mane, Luna created the changelings, to stand as a testament to Celestia’s flexibility forever. From a cutting of hair of Luna’s cutie mark, Chrysalis created the Thestrals as a testament to Luna’s elegance forever. And so the new ponies spread through the land – the changelings and the Crystal Ponies going to the north, and the Thestrals to the east, establishing their own kingdoms with their own rulers. When the sisters saw that this was good, they followed their mother's commands, and sought the lost gifts. Celestia set out to the east, to the land of her own rising sun. Luna set out to the south, to seek the gifts in the deserts. Chrysalis set out to the north, to follow her sisters’ creations.

Soon after the birth of the three new races, Tirek and Scorpan returned in a furious rage, and the ponies sought Discord for salvation. When he could not be found, the ponies gave themselves in to the elder brothers, knowing they could not defeat them alone. For a time, Tirek and Scorpan ruled together. With the gift of empathy, however, Scorpan knew the ponies were unhappy and with time began to harbor small feelings of care for them, even going so far as to befriend a young mage given the name Starswirl. At this time, Scorpan sought Discord for counsel on the subject of their elder brother, telling him that Tirek was not right to rule by himself, and that the Mother Faust had intended for the three to rule as equals. Scorpan begged Discord to return with him to confront Tirek, but Discord would not. Scorpan returned to confront Tirek on his own, but the gift of power granted Tirek strength far surpassing that of his brother. Knowing he could not hope to defeat his brother on his own, Scorpan instead sought a peaceful resolution. Tirek’s reason had long since departed from him, however, and Scorpan was forced to leave.

In his wanderings he encountered his younger sisters, and, sensing that they may have been able to succeed where he had failed, begged them to aid the ponies in overthrowing and possibly healing his brother. They saw their elder brother’s sorrow, and agreed to return with him to assist in redeeming Tirek. With his sisters’ assistance, and the aid of the First Great Mage Starswirl the Bearded, the two brothers fought, and even with the gift of might Tirek could not overcome both Starswirl and Scorpan’s combined power. Tirek was banished to Tartarus and sealed there by Starswirl the Bearded, and his brothers mourned his loss. To cope with his sorrow, Scorpan sought peace within his own mind, and set out by himself far to the west. Discord, seeing that he could no longer rule as part of a trinity as his mother intended, ceded the throne to his sisters, and he too departed for parts unknown. So Discord was left alone, and not knowing how much he valued his friendships, eventually the madness of grief took him. For a time the three sisters reigned peacefully as one.

Many years later, Discord returned. His mind gone and psyche broken, Discord wrought chaos upon the lands. Even their powers combined were unable to match the Mad Immortal, and so they resumed their search for the lost gifts, the task their mother had set out so long ago. Celestia travelled far and found a great forest, Luna travelled far and followed the path of a great river, and Chrysalis travelled far and searched an endless desert.

After searching for a great while, Celestia found a beautiful crystal tree in the forest, with six jeweled fruits hanging from its many branches. She called out to her sisters, but only Luna responded.

In her journey to the desert, Chrysalis was confronted by a beast of many forms. He spoke lies to her, and planted in her the seed of narcissism. The beast revealed itself as Discord, and he spoke of Chrysalis’ unending beauty, and of how a creature so magnificent had no need for her sisters. Chrysalis believed the mad Immortal Discord, and she left and took the changelings with her, fleeing deep into the desert. She was never heard from again. And so the gift of Loyalty was lost.

Celestia and Luna returned to the tree of gifts, to use their power to seal Discord. Taking the gifts into themselves, the sisters used their magic to defeat Discord. So came to be the first use of the Elements of Harmony, and Discord was cast in stone for eternity to think upon his sins.

This concludes the age of the second sphere.

Chapter 18

As luck would have it, making a reservation is actually fairly easy, provided you know the time and date at which you intend to arrive. A few hurried trips between Brighter Horizons’, the hospital, and the restaurant later, Sombra had finally figured out a time that worked for both him and Miss Redheart. Given Redheart’s two jobs and Sombra’s newfound occupation with Miss Horizons, it had proven a bit more difficult than anticipated, but they finally had a true date set up. Friday night at six thirty in the evening, at Marilla’s, Sombra would be taking Redheart out for dinner.

“Well, good afternoon, Sombra,” Redheart said cheerfully as she opened the door to her house. Sombra sat on the edge of the futon they had laid out for him, idly flipping through the pages of a magazine. His head jerked up at her voice and he closed the magazine, setting it back down on the little cabinet Snowflake had pulled out of storage for him to keep what worldly objects he may acquire in. The bowtie Rarity had made for him was in the top drawer, along with a comb for his mane, and the bag of bits offered to him to cover the date was tucked in the bottom drawer. A lamp sat atop it, providing any light Sombra might find need for in the night or the early mornings.

“Miss Redheart! Good afternoon,” Sombra replied with a broad smile, “How was your shift at the hospital today?”

“Boring,” Redheart said with a sigh, but a smile still played on her lips, “That’s a good thing though, means nopony got really hurt or sick.”

“That’s good,” the unicorn answered. Redheart looked tired, but not unhappy. She always had this kind of sad, tired smile when she came back from the hospital shifts. She loved her job, that was certain, and that made her all the more beautiful. Even when she was so tired. Sombra might even suggest especially when she was so tired. He watched her walk across the room and hang her nursing cap on its peg on the wall and head towards the stairs. She paused for a moment after taking the first couple and turned back to Sombra, still wearing that same tired smile.

“You ready for this evening?”

Sombra smiled at her and nodded.

Redheart blew a puff of air out of her nose as a single laugh. “Alright then, I’ll go take a shower and start getting ready then. See you in a bit!”

Sombra watched her disappear up the stairs, and waited until he heard the shower come on. Redheart’s after-work showers usually lasted about ten minutes, maybe twelve or thirteen if she was especially tired. He paused for a moment, thinking perhaps it was a little creepy how he’d noticed that, and realized he knew Snowflake’s showers lasted about seven minutes, and his own typically around nine or ten. Perhaps it was just something he picked up on. At any rate, Sombra figured he had about eleven minutes before Redheart was out of the shower, and more time still until she was ready to leave. There was over an hour until they had to leave to get to Marilla’s, as well. Plenty of time to get to Roseluck’s flower stand and back. More than enough time – Roseluck set up shop only about three minutes from Redheart’s house, so he could easily get there, make his purchase, and return to his home before Redheart was back downstairs.

Sombra stood up and withdrew a hoofful of bits from the bag in his bottom drawer and tucked them into his mane the way Brighter had shown him to, and stepped out into the afternoon. Roseluck’s flower cart was in a different spot than normal – in fact, he could see it from Redheart’s doorway – but no farther away than any other day. Setting off at a brisk trot across the square, Sombra waved a hello at a few ponies as they passed. After a meager two weeks the townsponies were already accepting him as one of their own. Roseluck waved goodbye to a customer and noticed Sombra making a beeline for her stand, and she too raised a hoof in greeting.

“Afternoon, mister Sombra,” Roseluck said when he was close enough, “Finally going on that date?”

“Does the whole town know about that?”

“Nah, just most of it,” she shot back with a smile. “What can I do ya for?”

Sombra took a look at the price board, scanning down the list for the red tulips he needed. Two bits each, eighteen bits for a dozen. Perfect, he thought.

“I would like to purchase-”

“A dozen red tulips?” Roseluck’s smile had a hint of smugness behind it, her eyes not quite wide enough for it to look completely genuine.

“How did you know?”

Roseluck giggled. “Selling flowers is my special talent, of course. I have a bit of a knack for it.”

“Well, you are certainly… was it ‘left on the money’ I heard Snowflake saying? When you are completely correct about something?”

“’Right’ on the money, but yeah, close enough. That’ll be fifteen bits,” Roseluck said, then turned around and began to collect the tulips Sombra had asked for.

“Fifteen bits? On the sign it says-”

“On the sign it says Redheart needs to have a good time tonight, not that I need three more bits. Gosh, not many ponies would argue with being asked to pay less money than is marked on the sign. You’re kinda weird, you know that?” Roseluck was still smiling at him as she wrapped the flowers in paper and placed them on the counter.

“Thank you,” Sombra gave the mare a lopsided smile, and, taking them out of his mane, set the bits in her extended hoof.

“You can thank me by not disappointing her tonight. Redheart helped me make a full recovery when I broke my leg a couple years ago. I’ve felt kinda like I’ve owed her since. This helps a bit, you know?”

“I think I understand what you mean, feeling like you owe somepony,” or several thousand someponies, “Thank you again, Miss Roseluck. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to get back.”

“Of course, have a great night, Sombra.”

Sombra nodded and turned, trotting quickly back across the square with the flowers tucked gently in the crook of his foreleg. He was relieved to hear the shower still running when he entered the house again. Stashing the tulips in the empty middle drawer and depositing the remaining bits he’d brought back in their bag, Sombra picked his magazine again and began to flip through it once again. He heard the shower shut off, and soft hoofsteps as Redheart travelled across the hall to her bedroom. Still he flipped pages, until he heard her stepping down the stairs.

Sombra looked up to find Redheart looking positively stunning. Which is to say, just about the same as always. Her mane was up in her usual bun, no different from normal, but something about it… shone. Her coat seemed to glow and actually radiate light, but Sombra couldn’t be sure. Around her neck hung a silver pendant with a blue jewel that matched her eyes in the center; a simple, yet beautiful necklace, that complimented its wearer perfectly.

“Wow,” Sombra said.

“What, I’m not overdressed, am I?”

“No, no you aren’t, you’re just… beautiful,” the unicorn breathed.

Redheart blushed and smiled at him, bowing her head slightly and breaking eye contact, almost as though trying to physically dodge the compliment.

“I’m serious, you really are,” Sombra insisted.

“Thank you,” Redheart said, and after a short pause, “Really. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

The pair shared a few moments of a silence that straddled the delicate border between awkward and contented. Then Sombra realized they did, in fact, have somewhere to be going soon

“Soooo… how do dates usually… start?” Sombra asked.

“Well, typically, the pony who did the asking-out would go to their date’s house and, in a town as small as Ponyville, walk them over to the location of the date. However, seeing as we’re already living in the same house…” Redheart trailed off and thought about it for a minute. “You know, you having already moved in really throws a wrench in the gears of how relationships usually work. Uh… I guess I could go upstairs to my room, and you could come get me from there.”

“As you wish,” Sombra replied, nodding his agreement. Redheart smiled and blew a puff of air out her nose, and turned around to head upstairs. Turning behind him, he pulled the bowtie out from his drawer and tied it around his neck. He’d practiced securing it dozens of times, and finally could manage it without much effort. That wasn’t to say no effort, and he did fumble with the clasp a couple times before getting it to stick. He took the comb next and ran it through his mane a few times to straighten it – he’d showered earlier, but his mane had this nasty habit of not being cooperative, and tended to frizz up a bit after it dried. Opening the bottom drawer, he withdrew the bag of bits and tucked it into his mane, once again just how Brighter had shown him. Finally, he withdrew the tulips he had purchased earlier. Turning back to the stairs, Sombra inhaled deeply through his nose and blew the breath out through his mouth, and began his walk up the steps.

Having ascended the steps, he turned down the hallway and walked to Redheart’s room, and knocked on the door gently.

“Who is it?” Redheart’s clear voice came through the door, with just a hint of laughter behind it.

Sombra cleared his throat. “Good evening, miss. I was hoping you would do me the honor of accompanying me to dinner on this fine evening.”

The laughter was no longer hinted at, and rich, genuine laughs accompanied the opening of Redheart’s door.

“I already said yes three days ago, sil- wow, that bowtie suits you really well,” Redheart interrupted herself, “And are those red tulips? They're my favorite! How did you know?” The unicorn opened his mouth to answer, but Redheart continued before he could start. “Brighter told you, didn’t she? Either way, thank you very much,” she said as she removed the paper from the flowers and placed them in an empty vase on a table near her door.

“You’re very welcome. Shall we?” Sombra extended a hoof and Redheart took it, and the two walked down the hall together. Unfortunately, the stairs were only wide enough for one pony to walk down at a time – or two, if one pony wasn’t as large as Sombra – and the pair had to disconnect for a few moments. Sombra followed his date down the stairs, but took a few long strides to get in front of her and opened the door into the evening.

---

“Good evening sir, ma’am,” the unicorn mare greeted them as they walked into the restaurant, “and welcome to Marilla’s. Do you have a reservation this evening?”

“Uh, yes, we do.”

“Name, sir?” The smile on her face and the tone of her voice contradicted the exasperation in her eyes.

“Oh, right, sorry. Under Sombra?”

The mare smiled and looked down at a list behind the podium, then seemingly found what she was looking for.

“Ah, here you are. Right this way please.”

The mare led them through the restaurant, eventually stopping at a table against a wall, smiling at them and nodding her head to indicate for them to sit. Sombra stepped around her and drew out a chair, gesturing for Redheart to seat herself before him. Redheart smiled and thanked him, and took her seat. Sombra pressed the chair in for her gently, then stepped around to his own side of the table and sat down. The server levitated two menus onto their table, poured water into both of their glasses, nodded again, and silently moved away.

“So, Miss Redheart,” Sombra started slowly as the waitress walked away, “You seem to have a pretty good idea about who I am and where I’m from, given the great hurrah that’s been given for the last two weeks,” a touch of disdain entered his voice, but he shook it out after a short pause.

“And you’d like to hear a bit about me?” Redheart chuckled and Sombra nodded, a soft smile on the big unicorn’s face. “Alright, let’s see… well, I was born in Manehattan, as the younger sister to my adopted old brother.”

“Snowflake is adopted?” Sombra interrupted, then quickly closed his mouth again when he realized he’d cut her off. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine, really. Honestly more ponies are surprised when I just say he’s my brother than when I tell them he’s adopted. Anyways, My parents had some difficulties with pregnancy, which is why they adopted Snowflake, but a few years later a new medical treatment was introduced to the public, and they had me. The four of us lived in a nice house on the outskirts of the city, near my grandparents, but only for a short time after I was born. We moved to Trottingham just before I turned three, because my father got a better job there, and I lived there for about ten years, enough to get through high school. My dad got another job out here, though, and we moved out to Ponyville the summer before I went to college. I went back to Manehattan for medical school, though. When I finished my degree, I came back to Ponyville to be with my family. Unfortunately, Mom died only a couple years later, and Dad moved back to Manehattan. So now it’s just Snowflake and me. And you, too, I guess,” she added with a smile, and took a sip of her water.

“I’m sorry about your mother,” Sombra said after she finished, “My father died when I was fairly young, too. I know how it feels.”

“Thanks,” Redheart replied, breaking eye contact with her date and picking up her fork to scrutinize it, “It’s… it’s alright, really. I wouldn’t say I’ve gotten over it, but what’s happened has happened, and I can’t really change that.”

“I am acutely aware of that, too,” Sombra said sadly, but gave Redheart a reassuring smile when she looked back at him. Redheart returned his smile weakly, and the two shared a moment of content silence.

“That’s where I got my cutie mark, actually. Trottingham, that is,” the white earth pony said suddenly, “It’s not as grand or exciting a story as yours, though.”

“It’s a story I’d like to hear,” Sombra implored, “If you don’t mind, that is.”

“Oh, no, of course. Let’s see… I was seven, at the time. Playing on a hill with a friend. I had been reading a book about basic medical practice, just basic first-aid kind of stuff, for fun. I had always been kind of attracted to the idea, and my parents supported it well enough. Anyways, she fell and hurt her leg, and I helped keep her from making it worse with some makeshift splints,” she finished her little story, then quickly added, “It was nothing, really. Nothing special like what you did for your friend.”

“Oh, Miss Redheart, don’t put it down like that,” the bulky unicorn told her, “It doesn’t matter how grandiose it was, it’s how you got your cutie mark. And that’s special, beautiful, and unique to you, so don’t ever devalue it like that, alright?”

“Heh, yeah, I suppose you’re right. Oh, we should probably figure out what we want to order,” Redheart glanced down and picked up her menu. “Hmm… oh it’s been so long since I’ve been here… oh, the pesto gnocchi was fantastic. I think I’ll get that. Do you have any idea what you want?”

“To be completely honest, I have no idea,” Sombra answered, looking at the various items. He barely recognized any of the words – but once again, he was thankful that ponies even spoke the same language still, so a little difficulty with the occasional menu was a small inconvenience at worst. “Do you have any recommendations?”

“Let’s see…” Redheart made a few soft clicking noises with her tongue as she looked back down at the menu, “The fettuccini alfredo is quite good, as is the eggplant parmesan. The pesto gnocchi is my favorite, but not everypony likes pesto. Not everypony likes eggplant either, so the fettuccine alfredo is probably the safest choice.”

“Alright, I’ll have that, then. Thank you.”

“Of course. Now, where’d that waitress go… Oh well, she’ll get back around eventually. So how has your life been the last few days? Enjoying your first few days working for Miss Horizons?”

Sombra smiled and let out a small laugh. “She’s a great boss. She’s mostly had me cleaning up since I’m ‘so good at it.’ It’s fine though, it’s a good use of my time and, well, she’s not wrong.”

Redheart shared his laughter. “She still mad at you for the desk thing?”

“A little bit, yeah. It’s not that bad though. I do rather enjoy it, and the children are warming up to me. Oh, hello,” Sombra changed subjects as abruptly as the waitress reappeared.

“Good evening again sir, ma’am,” the waitress said. “Have you two decided on what you’d like to order tonight?”

“Um, yes, actually, I believe we have. Miss Redheart?”

“I would like the pesto gnocchi please,” Redheart said to the server.

“Alright,” she replied, jotting down the order on a notepad with her magic, “And for you sir?”

“I will have the fettuccine alfredo, if that is ok,” Sombra said.

“Certainly, sir. Is that all for you tonight? Any drinks, or appetizers?”

“No, thank you,” Redheart told the waitress.

“Alright, we’ll have those out for you in just a couple minutes then,” she said with a smile, and turned to walk away again.

“So…” Redheart began slowly, “You said the children were warming up to you?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes,” Sombra said, grinning, “I’ve only been hit in the face with a hoofball twice so far, and Tag-a-long isn’t terrified of me anymore. Oh, you weren’t there on Friday – Book Worm got adopted by a family from Manehattan.”

“Oh that’s wonderful!”

“Yeah, it’s great. He’s out of Tag-a-long’s mane now, and he’ll get a great education out there. I’m really happy for him,” Sombra said, taking a sudden interest in his fork, “I just… Tag-a-long needs to get out of there. I feel so bad for her.”

“Yeah… but honestly there’s nothing we can do about it, is there?”

“Well, there is one thing we could do.”

“Sombra, this is our first date. I think it’s a little early to be talking about adoption.”

“What? No, I meant put flyers up or something. Though…”

“Sombra? No. Not yet.”

“Not yet?”

Redheart blushed furiously, and suddenly became very preoccupied with her own hooves.

“Well- it’s just- what I meant was-”

“Ma’am, your pesto gnocchi,” the waitress had appeared practically out of nowhere, two plates of food encapsulated in a light green aura behind her. Oh thank Celestia, Redheart thought, and nodded her acceptance of the meal, her cheeks still warm from embarrassment. The waitress set the plate down in front of her, and turned to do the same for Sombra. “And the fettuccine alfredo for you, sir?”

“Yes, thank you,” Sombra said, taking a good look at the noodles as they were set in front of him. A healthy serving of homemade fettuccine noodles were drenched in a creamy white cheese sauce, accompanied by a couple pieces of buttered bread. Well, I have to say, I have no idea what this is, but it looks delicious.

“Is there anything else you two need?”

“Ah, no, thank you very much,” Redheart responded to the waitress.

“Very well, enjoy your meal then,” she nodded to Sombra and Redheart individually as she spoke, and once again seemed to practically vanish.

“This looks amazing,” Sombra said to his date after they were alone again. “Miss Horizons said this is your favorite restaurant, and I can already see why. The atmosphere is wonderful, and if the food tastes half as good as it looks, I think this might just become my favorite restaurant, too.”

“It really is,” Redheart said back to him, then took a deep whiff of the puffy green potato pasta in front of her. “Oh, this smells so nice. Well, let’s eat then.”

Sombra nodded and took a stab at his dinner, rolling the fork over in his hoof to twirl up the noodles into a more edible bundle. He smiled and hummed in enjoyment as he put it in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully before swallowing.

“Wow, this is amazing,” Sombra said, “Best food I’ve had in a thousand years!”

Redheart’s glare told him all he needed to know – his joke had been well received. The mare turned back to her own plate and shook her head with a laugh, digging into her gnocchi.

“Now, miss Redheart, I do have a question for you,” Sombra said after a few moments of eating in silence. “Would you marry me?”

Redheart stopped chewing for a second and closed her eyes, trying to decide whether or not she’d her Sombra right. Slowly, deliberately, the chewing resumed, followed by what felt to her like an incredibly loud swallow.

“I’m sorry. What?”

“Would you marry me?”

Redheart dabbed at her mouth with a napkin, acutely aware of the attention Sombra’s question had garnered. Most of the restaurant had gone quiet, and several ponies were looking on at the couple.

“Sombra,” Redheart began, “Just because I said ‘not yet’ about adoption… I know you’ve been… out of the loop for some time now,” choosing her words carefully, slowly, not wanting to cause a scene, “but I don’t think you understand the weight that question holds. I do like you, quite a lot to be honest, but marriage would be quite a ways off.”

“Well of course it would be,” Sombra replied. “I was merely asking if you would marry me, not if you will right this moment.”

Redheart gave him an annoyed glare, her expression a clear sign that he had hardly explained his reasoning well enough.

“I… see… so that tradition died off a while ago, did it?”

“What tradition?”

“In the Empire, near the beginning of my reign at least, it was considered proper conduct to ask your partner if they would marry you in early stages of courtship,” the unicorn said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. “It was meant to prevent relationships ending after a long time, and in most cases the two ponies parted relatively amicably if one disagreed. It was also not uncommon to ask if your partner desired foals early in the relationship. It was not a marriage proposal, merely an attempt to determine if courtship was worthwhile. A preventative measure for heartbreak, if you will.”

“That…” Redheart trailed off, mind trying to catch up with a tradition so foreign, “actually makes sense, thinking about it. It’s just… very different now, marriage is almost never discussed until two ponies have been dating for quite some time.”

“Well that’s silly,” Sombra butted in. “What are you to do if you wish to take your relationship further, but your partner is not comfortable with that, and might not ever be? You can certainly compromise and continue on as you are, and a wondrous sign of devotion that would be, but your partner would have the guilt of knowing you were not fully satisfied with the relationship, and it would slowly break down, and both ponies would eventually be heartbroken. It just doesn’t make sense!”

Redheart had to stifle a laugh, both at how animated Sombra had gotten during his little outburst and in relief that the other patrons of the restaurant seemed to have lost interest in what was apparently not a marriage proposal.

“I’m sorry,” Sombra continued. “I didn’t mean to cause you any embarrassment.”

“It’s fine, really,” Redheart assured him. “I was just confused. And, uh, for the record, I think I would.”

“That’s wonderful. Thank you very much, Miss Redheart.”

“You’re very welcome, Mister Sombra.”

---

The remainder of the date was pleasantly uneventful, spent largely making small-talk in between mouthfuls of pasta. Redheart had offered a piece of her gnocchi to Sombra, and, while he did rather enjoy the pillowy texture of it, the pesto flavor wasn’t the best. That said, the face he’d made at it had given Redheart rather a laugh, so Sombra called it a win either way. The best part of the entire date, though, was simply spending so much time with Redheart outside of work or a life-threatening hospitalization. She had tried to pay for her meal at the end of the night, but Sombra had adamantly refused, insisting it was his idea so he should pay for it. Reluctantly, Redheart had agreed – on the condition she pay for the next date. The next date, Sombra thought, concentrating hard to keep the bounce out of his step on the way back to her house, a giddy smile on his face.

“What are you smiling at?” Redheart asked him as they trotted together across Ponyville. “That big grin has been stuck on your face for almost an hour now.”

“Oh, you know. You. Me. Us. ‘Next time,’” Sombra said to her, still smiling.

“You’re surprised you’re getting a second date? I like you Sombra, a lot. I would have been surprised if you managed to screw up so badly I didn’t want a second date.”

“That actually means a lot to me, thank you, Redheart,” Sombra’s smile shrunk just a little, his tone dropping to a lower, more stable note.

“Oh come on, don’t get all sappy on me now,” Redheart jabbed him in the side and laughed. Sombra stumbled a little under the unexpected blow but managed to right himself before planting his face firmly into the ground.

“Careful there,” she teased the stallion, “Wouldn’t want to mess up that pretty face of yours.”

Sombra’s only response was a soft blush and his smile widening again. Trotting forward in content silence and the pleasantness of each other’s company, Redheart leaned against him gently. She stood back up when they reached the front door of her house and took a few steps away from Sombra and turned to face him.

“So… at this point… normally you’d wish me a good night and go our separate ways until next time, but seeing as we both live here…” Redheart got quiet, and rocked her head back and forth for a moment in thought. “Close your eyes.”

“Close my eyes?”

“Close your eyes.”

Sombra did as he was told. A few moments later, something warm pressed itself against his cheek, held there for about a second, and then left again. He opened his eyes in time to see Redheart pulling away from him, her eyes flicking open a moment later, her beautiful light blue eyes standing out in the fading evening light. Unconsciously, a hoof lifted to his cheek, touching the spot her lips had been a moment before.

“That’s… thanks, really. I haven’t had a chance to just relax and loosen up with somepony like that in quite some time,” Redheart said quietly, rubbing one foreleg against the other sheepishly, “I had a really great time tonight, Sombra. Thank you.”

Redheart quieted and waited for Sombra’s response. His typical, polite “You’re very welcome,” or maybe a “Don’t mention it.” When it never came, she looked back up, only to find Sombra standing there with his hoof on his cheek, a dumbfounded expression on his face. “Oh? Why the shocked face? Expecting something a bit more than that? Maybe next time,” Redheart’s shy actions disappeared as abruptly as they had arrived, eyes narrowing into a devious expression, and a sly smile spreading on her face.

“No, not at all. Honestly that was more than I was expecting,” Sombra shook his head as if he were trying to dispel a daydream, and replied with a grin.

“Another Crystal Empire tradition?”

“No, just a pleasant surprise is all.”

Redheart exhaled sharply out of her nose in that little puff of laughter she was so prone to, and turned to the door, pausing when she put her hoof against it. What on earth…

… the touch! You’ve got the powaaah! When all hell’s breakin’ loose, you’ll be ridin’ the eye of the stoooorm!

Chapter 19

Sombra jumped a little at the sudden blast of music. He was shocked at how he hadn’t been able to hear it at all outside, especially given how loud it was playing. What was more surprising, though, was Snowflake, standing in the center of the living room, eyes screwed tightly shut as he mouthed the lyrics. Quite enthusiastically, too.

My, he’s rather into this, Sombra thought, closing the door behind Redheart as she entered. He was a little concerned Snowflake hadn’t noticed him yet, but then again, this is modern-day Ponyville, not the Empire under my tyranny. Unlocked doors are not a safety hazard as they once were. He looked to Redheart for guidance, but she simply shrugged, eyes still locked on her brother. Sombra’s ears flicked in annoyance as the singer on the record missed a note by quite a lot, the dissonance grating.

Wait a minute, he’s not just mouthing the words, Sombra realized as a broad grin spread onto his face, he’s singing along.

“You never bend, you never break! You seem to know just what it takes, you’re a fighter! It’s in the blood, it’s in the will! It’s in the mighty hooves of steel – when you’re standin’ your ground!” Snowflake was reared up on his hind legs, gesturing madly into the air as though he held a microphone in his hooves, lost in another world as he took to the stage of his mind. Sombra felt bad for how hard he was trying not to laugh – this was clearly something Snowflake had a passion for, even if he wasn’t very good at it. He did finally understand why Redheart had been so adamant about not letting Snowflake sing earlier. The song seemed to be winding down, though, a repeating fadeout of “You’ve got the touch,” and Snowflake finally opened his eyes and sat down on the couch as the song ended, a smile still wide on his face. He seemed to sense the eyes on him, though, and the smile disappeared when he saw Sombra and Redheart shaking with held-in laughter near the door.

“Y-you’re home… early… how long have you been here?” Snowflake asked, taking the needle off the record to keep the next song from starting. Sombra was certain Snowflake’s face would have been white as a sheet if it wasn’t already, and seeing the big pony so nervous sent Sombra over the edge. The black unicorn, for lack of a better word, guffawed. He laughed so hard tears were beginning to form in his eyes, bending over and holding a hoof to his stomach.

“I’m- I’m sorry- I’m not laughing at y-” Sombra tried to explain, his sentence fragmented and broken up by his laughter, “Okay, I’m kinda laugh- laughing at you, but I’m more laughing at the situation- the situation itself,” Sombra wheezed, “I came in at one of the chorus lines, I… I…” and he once again lost his composure.

“What in Celestia’s Equestria are you listening to?”

“Come on…” Snowflake practically whined, “Come on man, just… just don’t tell anypony, alright? It’s not exactly… you know…”

“I really don’t,” Sombra replied, laughter reduced to a hearty chuckle, enough to get a proper sentence out at least, “I actually rather liked the song, are there more on that record?”

“I- what? You liked it?”

“You what?” Redheart looked at him incredulously.

“Yes, it was… honestly I don’t know how to describe it, but I did like it. Is there more?”

“Well,” Snowflake looked back over at the record, “This is actually the soundtrack to a movie I used to watch a lot when I was young, but there is one other song by the same guy on it. Actually, I think you’ll appreciate the lyrics to that one, too. Here, let me…” Snowflake fiddled with the needle for a moment, scrutinizing the record for just the right spot to start it. “How was your date?” Snowflake asked over his shoulder as he checked the record case for the precise point to place the needle.

“It went spectacularly, thank you for asking,” Redheart replied, nuzzling against Sombra briefly.

“Oh, I’m glad to hear that. There gonna be a second date?”

“Oh yeah,” Redheart told her brother again, “Definitely.”

“Awesome! I’m really glad for you guys. Ah, here we are…”

Sombra listened to the opening notes on the guitar play, and Redheart motioned with her head that she was heading upstairs. Sombra nodded his acknowledgement and turned his attention back to the music, waiting for the music to begin.

Sometimes when your hopes have all been shattered, and there’s nowhere to turn… you wonder how you’ll keep going.

Sombra looked over at Snowflake, the big Pegasus holding a smile that straddled the border between smug and sad on his face.

Think of all the things that really mattered, and the chances you've earned. The fire in your heart is growing.

Sombra stepped over to the futon and undid the clasp on his bowtie, placing it gently in the top drawer where it had been before, and slid the bag of bits from his mane. Setting it in the bottom drawer, he stood again and looked back at Snowflake.

You can fly if you try, leaving the past behind. Heaven only knows what you might find!

Sombra stepped over towards the record player and the great white Pegasus standing by it, and placed his forelegs around the bigger stallion’s neck, hugging him.

Dare! Dare to believe you can survive. You hold the power in your hooves! Dare! Dare to keep all your dreams alive! It’s time to take a stand… and you can win if you dare!

Sombra started to cry. He missed some of the lyrics, but he didn’t care. Snowflake was right – this song was perfect. He hoped his friend wouldn’t mind playing the song again for him some time, realizing he’d missed a good portion of the rest of the lyrics in his appreciation for the white Pegasus. Heavy hooves wrapped around his shoulders, and Sombra squeezed a little tighter. A hoof lifted for a moment, but found its way back soon enough, and after a while, Sombra realized the music had stopped. That didn’t matter though. He just wanted to hold Snowflake, to thank him, for telling him, even indirectly, that things can get better, things do get better, and above all, Snowflake had told Sombra that he believed the big unicorn could get better.

Sombra’s head twitched up when he felt another hoof on his back. Sniffing violently he pulled away from the mountain of a stallion and turned around to see Redheart smiling at him softly, her mane down around her shoulders. The unicorn managed to pull himself away from Snowflake and turned towards the nursemare, who in turn held her forelegs out expectantly. She let out a small grunt of surprise when Sombra latched himself around her, staggering back a step as the much heavier pony leaned into her.

“T-thank you,” Sombra struggled through his tears, “T-thank you s-o much.”

“Of course, Sombra. Of course.”

---

Snowflake awoke early the next morning, eyes stretching open in the darkness of his room on this new Saturday morning. His alarm was ringing across the room – the stallion having learned years ago being able to shut it off from his bed was a recipe for not getting up – and he stretched for a moment before rolling heavily out of his bed onto his hooves.

“Alright, alright already,” he mumbled half to himself and half to the alarm, shuffling across the room and slapping the snooze button. He rambled back to his bed and fell down on it once more, not even bothering to pull the sheet back over him.

---

Five minutes later, the alarm went off again. Snowflake’s eyes snapped open and he stood quickly, stepping over to the clock and firmly switching off the alarm. He grabbed his towel off the hook it hung from, and strode into the hallway and into the bathroom. A few minutes later, his quick shower was over, and through a combination of shaking and rubbing his towel over him, he was dry once again. He crossed back along the hall and into his own room, once again hanging up his towel, and trotted back into the hall. He buzzed gently down the stairs, surprised to see the futon empty. A thought crossed his mind for a moment, but he decided it would be better to simply let his sister have her privacy rather than to give Sombra a hard time, if that was even where he was. That said, he would need to go back upstairs to brush his teeth. Finishing his bowl of oats, he set his dishes in the sink and buzzed back upstairs. Snowflake paused for a moment in front of the bathroom, cursed to himself, and let curiosity and concern take over.

“Redheart,” he hissed as he knocked gently on her door. “Redheart! You awake?”

“Go away Snowflake,” came the groggy reply.

“Is Sombra in there with you?”

“That’s none of your business,” his sister said through the door, the quietness of her voice indicating she was still tucked snugly in her bed, “but no, no he isn’t. Why?”

“Because he’s not downstairs, I was just wondering if… you know.”

“I’m sure he’s just gone for a walk or something. He’s not in the bathroom?”

“Unless he’s gotten really sneaky in the last couple hours, no. I was just in there, I would have passed him on the stairs, or in the hall, or somewhere.”

“Well, he’s supposed to work this afternoon, right? If he doesn’t turn up then you should probably be concerned. I’m going back to sleep now.”

“Right. Sorry I woke you up.”

“Go away, Snowflake.”

Snowflake shook his head and chuckled, thinking better of apologizing again. Moving on to his original task, he walked back to the bathroom and brushed his teeth. He just about jumped out of his skin when he brought his head back up from spitting out the used toothpaste and found Redheart standing behind him, fear all over her face.

“Celestia, sis, you’re gonna give me a heart attack sneaking around like that. What’s wrong, are you okay?”

“Did you say Sombra was missing?” Redheart asked flatly.

“I said I didn’t see him downstairs, yeah. You’re probably right; he’s most likely just out for a walk or something. You know he’s been having trouble sleeping. Go back to bed, Red.”

“I’m going to go find him,” Redheart continued in a monotone, “I’m worried.”

“Hey, hey,” Snowflake stepped over to his sister and placed his forehooves on her shoulders. She was looking through him, not at him. It had been a long time since he’d seen her like this. Shaking her gently, her eyes refocused and her head snapped up to him.

“I’m going to find him.”

Snowflake sighed. “Alright, you do that. I’ve got to get to work, though, so I can’t come with. You gonna be alright on your own?”

“Yeah,” Redheart said as she turned to head down the stairs.

“Hey Red? Sombra’s a great stallion. Don’t fall too fast, though.”

The nursemare’s eyes hardened for a moment, but she merely nodded and descended the steps, walking quickly out the front door. Snowflake groaned and followed her out of the house, turning towards the orphanage as he watched his sister disappear towards the hospital.

---

“Mornin’, Miss Horizons!” Snowflake said as he entered the building.

“You’re late,” she greeted back, poking a head out from the room to the side.

“Ah, whoops, am I? Sorry, I had-”

“Late-er. Than normal. Is what I meant. To say. Sorry,” Brighter added, stumbling over her words.

Snowflake laughed. “It’s fine. Yeah, I just had to talk to Red for a bit, since Sombra wasn’t in the house this morning. After what happened with… you know, she’s been kinda edgy about that sort of thing. I can’t blame her, honestly. Sack of horseapples didn’t even leave a note…”

“I still can’t believe he did that,” Brighter growled as she stepped fully into the living area now, and Snowflake followed her, “Gah, now I’m in a bad mood. Celestia, just thinking about him makes me so angry,” Brighter stamped a hoof against the ground for emphasis, eliciting a small chuckle from Snowflake. “What?”

“You’re pretty cute when you’re mad, that’s all. Sorry for laughing.”

“Oh you’d better be,” Brighter said, a touch of playfulness airing back into her voice, “Or you’ll have to… repay me.”

“Repay you… how, exactly?” Snowflake asked with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows.

The gold unicorn’s horn started to glow. “Repay me by…” a sudden flash of light, “Cleaning the bathrooms, they need it,” she finished, all sultriness gone from her voice in an instant. A mop and bucket had appeared in the air next to her, and began to float towards Snowflake, encased in her green aura. “You can get it done faster if you do it before any of the foals wake up.”

“I- okay, yeah, I kinda deserved that one. I’ll get right on that,” the Pegasus said to her, a lopsided, toothy smile spreading across his face.

“Thanks. I’ve got a bit of paperwork to do, so I’m gonna be in the office if you need me. See you later!”

“See ya.”

---

Sombra sat quietly beside a stream near the edge of town. The nightmares – no, the memories – had been back as bad as ever last night, and he rose before the sun. He’d be lying if he said the weeks with only a few hours of rest a night weren’t taking their toll on him, but he tried his best not to let it show. His dark coat helped hide the bags under his eyes, but frankly he would have preferred that to be the attention-grabbing part about them. The stream was shallow and clear, but offered enough of a fragmented reflection for the former king to see himself reasonably well. He bore a tired frown and his eyelids drooped, but he did his best to hold his head high and greet anypony who passed him cheerfully. That had been thankfully few ponies, given the time of day it was, and Sombra had been left with his thoughts in the twilight morning hours of Ponyville. They flitted back and forth between contentedness and depression, the black stallion determined not to let himself be good enough for anyone.

No, Sombra thought, I must remember Twilight’s words, and the words of that song. Out of the darkness, I stumble into the light. I can leave my past behind. I am not that pony anymore. I have friends, I have ponies who care, maybe even one who loves me.

“Sombra? Sombra!”

Speaking of whom.

“Sombra?” Redheart called as she ran across the bridge, her head swiveling rapidly as she searched. She seemed afraid, almost… panicked.

“Redheart?” Sombra called out questioningly, “What’s wrong? Are you ok? Why are you up so early?”

“Sombra!” The earth mare cried as she saw him, and ran over to her unicorn coltfriend, throwing her forelegs around him.

“Good morning to you as well, miss Redheart,” Sombra said, tentatively returning the hug. “What’s the matter?”

“Please don’t disappear again,” Redheart said, face pressed against Sombra’s neck, “Please don’t ever disappear again.”

“Ah, well, I’m very sorry, I didn’t mean to cause any undo distress. I couldn’t sleep, and I needed to take a walk. I’ll leave a note for you next time, how does that sound?”

Redheart’s face rubbed against his chest in a manner Sombra assumed would have been a nod if she’d been detached from him.

“Do you want to go home?” This time she shook her head.

“Do you mind if we lie down?” A moment’s hesitation, then another shake of her head. Gently, Sombra leaned backwards, eventually settling onto his back with Redheart lying next to him. He looked down at the white mare snuggled against him, reveling in the contrast of the cool grass and air against the warmth of Redheart’s body. She shivered for a moment, and Sombra pulled her tighter. She stiffened for just a moment at his sudden movement, but relaxed again soon enough.

I can win if I dare.

---

Snowflake wiped his brow as he finished scrubbing the floor of the little colt’s room. Somepony had had an accident last night. He exhaled contentedly, surveying the now shining bathroom floor. He plopped the mop down into the now-empty wheeled bucket. He pushed it towards the door, took one last look over his shoulder, nodded to himself, and pressed back into the living area. Brighter Horizons was standing in the center of the room, looking in the window to the communal bedroom for the foals.

“Brighter? You ok?” Snowflake asked, moving the cleaning supplies into the utility closet next to the colts’ room. “Bri-”

“Do you know why I do this, Snowflake?” Brighter asked suddenly. “Do you know why I run an orphanage?”

“I always figured it was your special talent.”

“My cutie mark hardly looks like an orphanage,” Brighter said, still looking at the sleeping foals.

For the first time in a while, Snowflake took a really good look at it – half of a golden sun peaking out from behind a line that seemed to represent the horizon. “It’s not exactly uncommon for cutie marks to only be metaphorically related to their special talent. I mean, I’m not exactly a professional weight-lifter.”

“That’s true, that’s true,” the golden unicorn replied with a ghost of a laugh, “You’re right, though, my cutie mark is hardly literal. It symbolizes new beginnings, days full of possibility and wonder, and my own ability to imbue hope into ponies. That’s part of why I chose to open an orphanage. That’s the nice reason, the reason I tell ponies I don’t know as well. The selfless reason. But that’s not the only reason.”

“This isn’t really something you need to be telling me if you don’t want to,” Snowflake said to her as she finished, “I mean…”

“Please, Snowflake. You’re a friend, and… well, actually a great deal more than a friend to me. You’re likely to be in my life a great while longer, so I suppose now’s as good a time as any to tell you.”

Snowflake blushed a little and looked down, then looked back to Brighter and nodded.

“Do you have any idea what my second reason might be? My selfish, horrible reason for wanting to run an orphanage?”

“I can’t say that I do.”

“I’m infertile, Snowflake. I’ll never have foals of my own. All the fertility treatments and medicines and magic in the world can’t fix something that was never there to begin with. So what I can’t do on my own… these foals never got the chance to have a parent, and I never got the chance to have my own foals,” Brighter’s voice was quivering now, threatening to break free of the constraints of composure.

“I… I’m sorry.”

“N-no, it’s-” Brighter sniffed and wiped her eyes with a forehoof, “it’s fine, really.”

“No, it isn’t. It’s not that I’m sorry for your unfortunate condition – while I am, that is not the point I’m making right now – I am sorry that you have yourself convinced that this desire is selfish.”

“W-what?”

“It’s not selfish at all,” Snowflake insisted, striding over and taking one of her hooves in his own, “You are giving these children a chance at something they wouldn’t have had otherwise. If you happen to fulfill a lifelong desire of your own in the process, that’s just a bonus.”

“H-how do y-you always know ju-st the ri-ight thing to say?” Brighter laughed a little through her tears. “You a-always…”

“Like you, my cutie mark isn’t exactly literally related to my special talent. Ponies look at me and see the dumbbell and the massive muscles and think, ‘Ah, he’s a weightlifter, makes sense.’ Those ponies would be wrong though. It’s not physical weights I lift, it’s emotional ones,” Snowflake paused for a moment as Brighter pulled away from him to give him a look of incredulity, the faintest breaths of laughter shaking through her crying, “Hey! I’m serious. I’ve always been a good listener, and saying the right thing just comes naturally to me. I’m not just ‘saying the right thing’ here though. It’s the truth. You’re not being selfish for doing this, it’s one of the most selfless things you could possibly be doing, and that makes you all the more wonderful for doing it.”

The golden-maned unicorn sniffed heavily a couple times and pulled away from him, an unsteady smile spreading on her face.

“And what are you talking about, not having kids? Brighter, you’ve got more kids than most ponies ever will.”

“Stop it, you’re gonna make me cry again,” she pouted playfully, still holding him.

“I’m serious, Brighter. You’re a mom, to all the little ponies here. They love you dearly. Book Worm, when he left the other day? He told me he wasn’t just crying because of how happy he was. He said to me that part of it was because he was so sad he’d probably never see you again. Saying you’ll never be a mother is nonsense, Brighter. You already are one.”

Brighter buried her face in Snowflake’s broad chest once more. “Stop being so perfect,” she whined. Snowflake felt the area around her face begin to grow damp once again, and brought one hoof around his marefriend’s shaking shoulders.

“He’s right you know,” came a little voice from behind them. Tag-a-long rubbed an eye sleepily, and smiled up at the lovers. “Honestly at this point I kinda don’t want to get adopted so I can stay here with you, Miss Horizons. You’re pretty much my mom. I don’t think at this point I’d ever really accept any other pony.”

Brighter turned around, tears in her eyes. A sudden flash of determination burned in her heart.

“You’ve been here far too long,” she said to the filly. “You’re getting adopted. You are. Right now.”

“But- I just sai- who?” Tag-a-long stammered, looking to Snowflake for clarification. The giant Pegasus just shrugged, just as lost as she was.

“Me,” Brighter answered, a resolute smile on her face, “By me.”

Chapter 20

Sombra awoke in a very comfortable position, on his back in the warm sun with a beautiful mare beside him, snuggled against him lovingly. He smiled and debated whether or not he should move, and, for the time being, decided against it. He closed his eyes again and gave Redheart a light squeeze, and the mare moaned lightly in her sleep and nuzzled closer against him. For a few more minutes he lay there quietly, but a small yawn from next to him alerted him to the earth mare waking. He opened his eyes slowly and looked over at her as she started to sit up, watching her stiffen for a moment as she tried to remember where she was, then relax and lay her head down across Sombra’s chest.

“Good morning, miss Redheart,” he said quietly.

“Thank you for still being here,” she said back, not moving her head to look at him. She had one ear against his chest, enjoying his slow, rhythmic breathing and steady heartbeat.

“Of course,” the unicorn spoke once more, the deep reverberations coming from him bringing a smile to the earth pony’s face. “I hope I’m not… overstepping my bounds, but…” Sombra trailed off, and Redheart relented and sat up, looking at him questioningly.

“But what?”

“I… I know what it feels like to have someone you love disappear without a trace, too,” Sombra refused to meet her gaze, not wanting to see any hurt he may have caused.

“It’s fine,” Redheart’s voice was reassuring, soothing, “You aren’t overstepping any bounds at all. What happened was years ago, and I… well, I thought I was mostly over it, but,” she laughed, but not entirely from humor, “here we are, I guess.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No, no, it’s… I’ve talked about it enough,” this time Redheart was the one refusing to look Sombra in the eyes, “It’s fine, really. Maybe another time.”

“Very well, whatever pleases you,” Sombra answered, sitting up.

“Do, uh, do you want to talk about it?” Redheart asked tentatively. It felt rude, a little, not agreeing to explain herself and then asking Sombra to share his own private feelings.

“I suppose it would only be fair to tell you anyways,” the dark gray pony said, taking a glance at the stream, “It’s been so long… it was before I fell…

“I remember waking up one day… no, I should start before then. A long, long time ago, before Luna’s rebellion, before Discord’s imprisonment, I ruled in the Crystal Empire, a bountiful, prosperous city inhabited by both Crystal Ponies and Changelings. I was young, healthy, and fit to rule in every capacity… save one. I lacked a wife; I lacked a successor. My mother continually tried to have me ‘accidentally’ run into the sons and daughters of high nobility, and while those encounters did result in some excellent friends, never did we see any mutual romantic interest.

“Then one day, while walking through the city to visit a particularly nice bakery, I first saw her. A beautiful ruby changeling mare with azure eyes and a mane of amethyst. I had not believed in falling in love at first sight, but it has now happened to me twice, so I can hardly deny it. At any rate, her name was Corunda, and she was the daughter of commoners – her father, a changeling carpenter, and her mother a Crystal seamstress. She herself was studying her father’s trade, and, before long, more and more of her furniture was appearing in the halls of my Crystal Castle. My excuses becoming thinner and thinner for spending so much time in her shop, eventually her father took me aside and spoke some sense into me. I finally asked her to dinner, and it became the start of a beautiful relationship.

“Some years later, I had asked Corunda to spend her life with me, to become my queen and to bear my progeny. She agreed readily, and I had never been happier. We were pledged to be wed within weeks, when Discord corrupted the youngest of the Six Immortals – Chrysalis. With her fall, she decided to take the changelings with her. I woke up one morning, and where I expected to find the warmth of my lover next to me, instead I found nothing. Dashing from my bed, I found her on the balcony, staring up into the sky as though in a trance. Following her gaze I saw Chrysalis, her body black and tattered, nothing like the pinnacle of beauty she used to be. To my horror, my citizens could do nothing stop their changeling friends and family from entering her hypnotic spell. I will never forget the fear in Corunda’s eyes before I watched them go dull, and her body hardened and became opaque. Insectoid wings sprouted from her back, and no matter how I screamed and yelled or cast magic, I could not break the spell on my citizens, or on my fiancée. I never saw her, nor near two-thirds of my empire, again.”

“Wow,” Redheart breathed, unable to come up with any other response for a few moments, “I… I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Sombra said with a sad smile, looking at the ground, “I have no feelings for her anymore beyond some memories. If anypony should be sorry, it should be me, for being unable to defend my ponies.”

“There was nothing you could have done,” Redheart brought a hoof up under his chin, bringing his eyes to hers.

“There could have been something…”

“Sombra, what happened was horrible, but there is no shame in loss if you gave everything you could,” she continued, doing her best to reassure the stallion. She could not know, and would never know, the pain of watching so many ponies she cared about be taken from her and be powerless to stop them, but at the same time… it wasn’t right for Sombra to be so hard on himself for his failures against a literal goddess.

“I know. It’s still… I know,” Sombra said quietly, gently moving Redheart’s hoof away from his chin and looking away. A sudden look of fear came across him. “Redheart, what time is it?”

“Huh? I… I uh,” Redheart looked up in the sky, towards the sun, and shielded her eyes with a hoof. “I’d say it’s around eleven thirty, maybe closer to noon even? Why?”

“I was supposed to go to work at eleven,” Sombra said worriedly, standing up quickly.

“Oh,” Redheart stood up as well, “You should probably get on that.”

“Here’s to hoping Miss Horizons doesn’t kill me,” Sombra joked, “I’m very sorry for having left like that this morning. I’ll make sure I let you or Snowflake know if I ever do something like that again, alright?”

“Thank you, Sombra.”

Sombra nodded acknowledgement, then turned and ran.

---

“I’m sorry I’m late!” Sombra cried as he burst through the door. To his surprise, however, Brighter was not waiting behind her desk disapprovingly as he had suspected. Rather, she wasn’t in the room at all. “Brighter? Snowflake? Anypony?”

“Oh hey, Sombra, that you?” Snowflake’s voice came out of the living area. Following the source of the voice, Sombra opened the door out of the entryway and found Snowflake pushing a broom across the floor.

“Snowflake, I’m sorry I’m la-”

“Hey, it’s fine. You were with my sister, right?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s perfectly fine then. Here, take this and help me,” Snowflake reached over and grabbed a second broom and threw it towards Sombra. Without thinking, some part in the back of Sombra’s mind kicked in in self-defense, to avoid the sudden impact of a broom to his face, and as he threw up his hooves, his horn began to glow in a soft pink aura. The broom stopped in midair, held up by the pale glow. Sombra opened his eyes and yelped, and the aura blinked out suddenly, the broom clattering to the floor in reply.

“I… thought you said you couldn’t…” Snowflake trailed off, leaving the rest of the question implied.

“I… I don’t know,” Sombra’s voice quivered, “I didn’t think I could do magic anymore, I thought… I thought my soul was too far gone.”

“Well, it would seem you were wrong,” Snowflake said matter-of-factly, “Do it again. See if you can, at least.”

Sombra swallowed heavily. “I don’t… really want to,” he said, “if that was just a fluke, I don’t want to risk… hurting you or anything else in this room.”

“What, if you accidentally cast dark magic, it’s not like it’s gonna get up and attack me, is it?”

Sombra answered him with a glare.

“Maybe you should go see Miss Sparkle about it later, then?” Snowflake offered.

“I think I will, if I get a chance,” Sombra said, picking up the broom with his hooves, staring intently at the object for a few moments, as though it might spring to life again. When it did not, he shrugged, and set to work.

“Where’s Brighter?” the unicorn asked. “Where’s everypony, for that matter?”

“Oh, they, uh, they went to the park for the day,” Snowflake said, his voice kind of distant, “Brighter kind of spontaneously adopted Tag-a-long this morning, and decided they should all go out to celebrate.”

“Oh that’s wonderful!” Sombra said gleefully, “I’m happy for her. Both hers. And you?”

Snowflake chuckled. “Eventually. Maybe. I dunno. I could see it happening, but… you know, it’d be a ways off.”

“I’m glad,” the darker stallion replied, not really to Snowflake in particular, but close enough that the big Pegasus nodded his gratitude.

The pair worked together in amicable silence for a while, before moving on to the bedroom. Sombra continued sweeping the floor and cleaning the carpets with the vacuum cleaner, and Snowflake started to bend down and pull any stray toys or trash out from underneath the beds.

“I didn’t have nightmares,” Sombra thought aloud suddenly.

“You didn’t have the nightmares last night?” Snowflake asked, voice coming from down below the bed he had himself wedged under, hooves grasping at some toy that was stuck under there.

“No, not last night, when I slept with your sister-” Sombra realized his mistake the moment the words left his mouth. The bed jumped as Snowflake accidentally bashed his head against the bottom of it in surprise, and the large, white body began to wiggle and pull back out from beneath it. “No, you see, what I meant was-”

Snowflake was up in Sombra’s face now.

“Uh, phrasing?” the big black unicorn offered apologetically, shrinking before the intimidating stare of the Pegasus.

“I don’t care about the nature of your relationship with my sister,” Snowflake started, “I don’t care if you’re sleeping together after your first date.”

“We didn’t-”

“I don’t care. I don’t. That’s her choice, that’s a mutual choice between two consenting adults. If you ever, ever dare to disappear in the morning like that again… then I will care. Do you understand me? Redheart means the world to me, and I’ve seen her hurt and hurting before, and I will not see it again.”

“Yes, I know,” Sombra replied to his friend, gently pressing on Snowflake’s chest with a hoof, “I know. Let me explain what I meant, what happened, I mean,” he paused as Snowflake backed off a little, “This morning, I woke up very early again, as I have been. I decided to take a walk. Redheart and I parted ways last night and I did not see her again until she found my by the stream this morning. I misspoke. When she came to me this morning, we shared a moment and fell asleep in the grass; given how early it was and how little sleep we both got the previous night, I think a nap was understandable. While we slept next to each other, not together, I did not dream at all. And thinking about it, the only other night since my revival I did not have these nightmares was the first night, when I slept next to Redheart in her tent. Which ended similarly with you very upset with me, for entirely understandable reasons.”

“Hey, sorry, I’m just… kinda touchy after what happened with the last guy, you know?”

“I got that impression, yes,” the former king smiled sadly. “Is there anything I can do to help her with that?”

“Just don’t leave her.”

---

Brighter Horizons, for her part, was walking on sunshine. She hummed a tune to herself, not really following any song she knew, just happy. The foals were all running around, playing, yelling, and just generally having fun. Tag-a-long had been alternately playing with her friends and running back to her new mother and hugging her. Bless the foal, she had been smiling silly all day.

“You’re so lucky, Tag-a-long!” She’d heard them say. “You’ve got Miss Horizons as your actual mom now!”

“Yeah, but I must be like, the most unlucky adopted kid ever,” Tag-a-long had replied, her voice oozing sarcasm, “I somehow managed to stay living at the orphanage!” Brighter had laughed so hard she nearly cried at that. This was, quite possibly, the best decision she’d made in a very, very long time.

She leaned idly against a tree, watching her foals, and her foal. She giggled once more at the notion – she was finally a mother. Or rather, she was officially, on paper now. Snowflake had tried so very hard to convince her of that; it was the least she could do to agree with him. She wasn’t quite convinced herself, yet, that she had been a mother all this time even before officially adopting Tag-a-long, but perhaps she could understand where he was coming from. She smiled again as Tag-a-long fell and stood back up, laughing like a maniac at her own misfortune. Her attention was finally drawn away from her new daughter by somepony calling her name. Brighter to the source and found Redheart walking towards her unhurriedly, a content smile on her face.

“Redheart!” Brighter called in greeting, “How are you?”

“Feeling pretty good, actually,” Redheart replied calmly as she got closer to her boss, “I don’t know if Snowflake told you, but Sombra went for a walk this morning, and didn’t tell anyone, and I… I kinda panicked, but I found him by the bridge to the Everfree.”

“As a matter of fact, Snowflake did tell me. Did you… you know, explain the situation?”

“No, I just… I don’t know, I just don’t want to talk about it,” Redheart looked at the small herd of foals playing around in the grass of the park, “After we slept together-” Brighter raised an eyebrow, “- yeah, yeah, realized it as soon as I said it,” Redheart filled in with a slight blush, “We literally fell asleep together, and had a nice conversation afterwards. That’s why he was late today. It was my fault.”

“Oh he was late today was he?”

“… Nnnnnnoooooo,” Redheart backpedaled, and quickly changed the subject. “So, what’s new with you?”

The yellow unicorn laughed. “Don’t think he’s getting out of that so easy-”

“Brighter, please.”

“I’m just kidding. He’s probably back at the orphanage, helping Snowflake clean the place. Celestia knows it needed it. Anyways, I, well, I officially became a mother this morning.”

“Oh Brighter, that’s fantastic!” Redheart beamed and gave her friend a hug, then tensed up, squeezing her tightly. “Wait, is Snowflake…”

Brighter just chuckled and used her magic to pull Redheart’s forelegs off of her. “No, Snowflake is not the father. I’m not pregnant, Redheart, remember the whole infertility thing?”

“Oh, right, I’m sorry, I can’t believe I forgot,” Redheart sputtered, embarrassed. It was rather a personal thing Brighter had chosen to share with her, how could she have forgotten?

“Don’t worry about it too much,” the green-eyed unicorn replied, “Pregnancy is a pretty natural assumption when somepony says they’re going to be a mom. But no, not for me,” Brighter turned to the crowd and called out. “Sweetie?”

The foals erupted into laughter and Redheart heard one voice cut through the din, saying, “Coming, mom.”

Redheart saw Tag-a-long walking towards them, and turned back to Brighter, speaking flatly. “You didn’t.”

“I did!” Brighter said with a gleeful smile, “I absolutely did.”

Tag-a-long walked up to Brighter and nuzzled her leg affectionately. The unicorn mare responded by gently stroking the child’s head with a forehoof. “G’morning miss Redheart,” the filly said cheerfully, “Or rather, afternoon, as the case may be,” she added with a giggle.

“Brighter really adopted you, eh?” Redheart asked, bending down to be more on Tag-a-long’s level.

“Yep!”

“She’s not just telling you to say this?”

“Nope!”

“Run along now, sweetie,” Brighter told the filly. She nodded in happiness, and ran off to join the other foals again.

“Wow, Brighter, you really did it. And this isn’t going to, you know, be hard on you is it?”

“I figure I was pretty much paying for all her living expenses already, and she’s so adorable, and she was starting to get afraid that she was never going to get adopted…”

“I suppose that’s true. Hey, can you apologize to Sombra for me when you see him? I need to go to the hospital,” Redheart replied, checking the position of the sun again, “My shift starts soon.”

“Yeah, of course. See you later, Redheart!” Brighter called after her friend as the white mare trotted away, and turned back to the foals. She smiled and sighed happily. Oh, I’m already used to this.

Chapter 21

Some weeks had passed since Sombra’s unintentional use of magic – yet he had still yet to talk to Twilight Sparkle about it. Part of this was due to genuine inability to find compatibility in their schedules, Sombra was a relatively busy pony between work and Redheart, and, if the conflict arose, he had to admit he’d choose Redheart over Twilight any day of the week. And he had, several times in fact. Sometimes though, he made excuses, to himself, or to Snowflake, or to whoever was telling him to go do it. “I don’t feel well,” he’d say, or “I need to go meet with somepony else.” Weak excuses, that he felt nopony really believed, least of all Snowflake or Redheart. The already paltry excuses were running thin, though, and finally this morning he had had a meeting with Twilight Sparkle arranged for him that he couldn’t get out of.

Honestly, it wasn’t that big of a deal. Or it shouldn’t be, at least. If he thought about it, honestly, he felt different in his soul, and the hoofful of external, physical changes seemed to indicate the same. Most notably his horn – the deformed scar that had adorned his face and become a symbol synonymous with fear in the Crystal Empire was finally gone. His biggest concern was that the purple mist that still trailed slowly upwards from the ugly green sclera of his eyes, an unsightly reminder of how far gone he once (and maybe still) was.

Here he was, though, finally forced by Snowflake to make his way over to Twilight’s on a morning the mare was actually going to be in town and not saving the place from mortal peril. Sombra swallowed heavily, and placed two sturdy knocks on the crystal door. He waited several moments, and brought his hoof up to knock again. Before he rapped on the hinged crystal slab a second time, however, a steady, rhythmic clip-clop indicated a pony coming to the door. It pulled open inwards, and a slightly-disheveled looking Twilight Sparkle smiled out at him. She wore a white lab coat buttoned up tightly around her neck, draped around her legs to prevent any potential accidents, and some heavy, thick protective goggles were strapped around her face. Her horn glowed briefly and the goggles floated off her eyes and up, over her horn, coming to rest gently on top of her mane.

“Good morning, Sombra!” she greeted him cheerfully, “Come on in. I’m in the middle of something at the moment but-” the sound of a small, muffled explosion came from the basement, “Well it looks like I’m not in the middle of anything anymore. What can I help you with?” Twilight walked over to her couch, horn flaring again. Her lab coat and goggles completely disappeared this time, and she turned and sat down to face him.

“Should we…” Sombra trailed off and gestured to a door that appeared to have a small wisp of gray smoke coming from behind it.

“Nah,” the purple Alicorn waved a hoof apathetically, but a pained expression remained on her face, “Anything flammable down there already went up, and while I do miss Golden Oaks greatly, it is nice that I don’t have to really be too concerned with fires here. None of the building can burn. If the smoke turns yellow then we’ll have a problem, but until then, eh. Besides, I’ve heard you have a particular reason for coming here today?”

“You seem oddly nonchalant about this.”

“Well, Spike told me I need to work on, and I quote, ‘taking the stick out of my bum’ sometimes. So I’ve been trying to practice… not caring. It isn’t… something that comes easy for me,” Twilight slowly processed the words, blushing slightly and throwing a quick glance at the already-thinning smoke.

“Well then…” Sombra cleared his throat, he too now struggling to keep his eyes off the evidence of an experiment gone horribly awry, “I uh, as you probably know, used magic a few weeks ago. Normal magic, that is. Not the, you know…” the unicorn trailed off and gestured to his eyes with a hoof.

“That’s fascinating, Sombra, really,” Twilight said earnestly, her attention suddenly completely on the stallion, “Redheart mentioned it to me in passing, but she didn’t really know the details on what happened. I know your horn has… healed, I guess we could say, but did you ever consider trying magic after that?”

“No, I hadn’t,” Sombra admitted, “I was more than a little under the weather, and by the time I was healthy enough that I would have been able to try magic again, to be honest, I’d pretty much just forgotten, since I was so used to avoiding it. Using magic, that is.”

“That is true, I remember Redheart mentioning that back… when I came storming into her house after hearing from Fluttershy,” Twilight broke eye contact, looking away and admittedly feeling a bit guilty, before her head snapped back up and her tone shifted dramatically, “I’m sure you remember that.”

“One would find it hard to forget,” Sombra replied, his voice light, and a hint of a smile on his face. He knew the hypocrisy of trying to get other ponies not to blame themselves for their reactions to him, but it just felt so wrong to let them berate themselves for not trusting a stallion who had been so horrid in the past. “So, are there some tests you want to do, or some notes, or…”

“Ah, yes!” Twilight said, perking up. Her horn glowed for a moment and before her appeared some paper and a pen. Her wings fluttered a little in anticipation, and she leaned forward. “Alright, so how exactl-” she stopped talking suddenly and looked behind Sombra. Her horn glowed again, and two protective face-masks appeared before her. “You’re going to want this,” Twilight said, before turning and yelling over her shoulder, “Spike! Gas mask, now!”

“Already on it, Twi,” the little dragon’s voice came from somewhere above.

“Wha- oh, that’s yellow,” Sombra noted, following Twilight’s gaze over his shoulder, towards the door to the basement, noting the sudden change in the color of the smoke. He pulled the mask over his face, not terribly enjoying the closed-in feeling it gave him, but surely a little mental discomfort was worth not breathing in whatever concoction had Twilight so worried. “Are you going to need help with that? Is that going to be contained?”

“I have spells around the library,” Twilight replied through her own respirator, voice muffled and muddy, “It won’t get out. I would appreciate some help, though. Don’t worry, I’ll tell you what to do, come on…”

---

Sombra sat, holding an ice pack to his head, his mane blown back from some small explosion or another. His gas mask sat on the table in front of him, short streaks of black where the flames had made their best attempt at burning his face. Twilight sat next to him, dabbing at a dozen small cuts with hydrogen peroxide-doused cotton balls, wincing briefly with each moment of contact.

“Who knew – ow – that Erlenmeyer flasks – oh – could explode like that,” Twilight thought aloud, setting aside the cotton ball and grabbing another Band-Aid, magically applying it. “So uh… where were we before that?”

“I think you were about to ask me what happened that lead up to me using magic,” Sombra responded quietly.

“Right,” Twilight said, horn shimmering to life and levitating the parchment and pen she had brought down earlier. “So… then… what happened?”

“Nothing really that special, I was just talking with Snowflake at the orphanage, we were cleaning, he tried to throw a broom to me, and I just… did magic,” Sombra said, “It wasn’t something I thought about doing, it was just a reaction,” he paused, the steady skritch-skritch of a quill pen on parchment registering in his ears, “Are you writing all this down?”

“Of course, you never know what might be important. Is that okay?”

Sombra shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”

“Alright,” Twilight continued, “Can you describe what exactly happened while you were using the magic? What did you use it for, how long did you use it? Do you know what color your aura was?”

“It was just for a short time, only two or three seconds at the most,” skritch-skritch, “It didn’t really feel like anything, really, I didn’t even notice I was casting a spell until I saw the broom floating. My aura was a light pink color, about the same color as…” Sombra trailed off, and the skritching stopped.

“About the same color as what?”

“As Redheart’s mane,” he replied quickly, blushing a little. One side of Twilight’s mouth lifted into a smirk.

“That’s nothing to be embarrassed about, really,” Twilight told him, “They say the color of a unicorn’s or Alicorn’s aura is representative of someone or something you love deeply or have a deep connection to. I mean, Princess Celestia’s is yellow like the sun; Cadance’s is the same color as my brother’s eyes. Vinyl Scratch, the DJ mare, has a deep gray aura like her wife’s coat. Mine is purple, a color commonly associated with knowledge or magic. Not to sound arrogant, but it does make sense. If yours is the same color as Redheart’s mane… well… all I can say is congratulations.”

Sombra’s eyes went wide and his jaw clenched, color rising further into his cheeks at the less-than-subtle implication Twilight was making.

“Anyways,” Twilight’s smirk had grown a into a proper grin, “You said you held the broom for two or three seconds, then dropped it, and no more?”

“Yes, that is all,” the unicorn said with a nod, “And I have not attempted any magic since.”

Once again, the pen came to an abrupt halt on the parchment. “You haven’t tried it since? Why not?”

“Because, if it was a fluke, or some cruel joke of fate, I do not wish to inadvertently cause harm to anypony or anything,” he replied quietly.

“Well we should try it again!” Twilight nodded excitedly, wincing as she stood, placing weight gingerly on her cut up forelegs. When she saw Sombra open his mouth, his apprehensiveness clear on his face, she headed off his objection. “I have some familiarity with Dark Magic, and I can cast a number of preventative spells and charms before we start as preventative measures if anything goes wrong.”

“You have knowledge of Dark Magic?”

Twilight’s horn glowed briefly in her usual purple, then faded out. She screwed her eyes shut, and when her horn ignited again, the purple shifted, changed, became darker – opaque. Black energy crackled within the deep purple aura, glowing, shifting, far more violent and erratic than normal, more like fire than water. It flickered and flashed, and Twilight opened her eyes, a terrifying, wicked glint coming from her now green sclera, purple smoke floating gently upwards. A menacing smile spread across her face, and she took a step towards Sombra. Suddenly a bright flash of light filled the room, and when the stallion could see again, Twilight was back to normal, the mare shaking her head as though trying to clear a daydream.

“How did you-”

“Celestia taught me,” Twilight explained, “Well, less taught me and more showed me, and I figured it out from there. I had to use it to access your true throne room and the highest tower of your Crystal Castle, when we were… when you… you know.”

Sombra nodded wordlessly, remembering what Twilight was talking about. It was true; he had sealed the tower with dark magic, on the assumption nopony else would be able to get in. Twilight Sparkle truly was a prodigy among prodigies if she had taught herself dark magic after seeing it used only once or twice, and been able to wield it with such power and precision to undo the seals Sombra himself had placed all those years prior.

“Anyways, come on, let’s go downstairs and try it then. I’ll set up a bunch of those flash-bomb spells to snap you out of it if anything goes wrong,” Twilight smiled reassuringly, “and I’ll be here, too, to help with anything if I need to.”

Sombra nodded, and followed Twilight back into the recently on-fire basement. The crystalline steps and walls showed no sign of fire damage, to Sombra’s surprise. He might have noticed that earlier if he hadn’t been so preoccupied with simply getting out.

“Alright,” Twilight said, wings flaring open as she glided down the last half-dozen or so steps, getting some distance over towards a large machine, and flicked a couple switches on it. She turned and levitated a helmet over to Sombra, who took it into his hooves and looked at Twilight questioningly.

“What exactly is this for?”

“It monitors brain activity and magical activity in the body,” Twilight explained, a few plugs stretching over from the machine to the helmet, suspended in the young Alicorn’s magical grasp, “Whether or not we can get it to work, I’m sure I can get some really interesting data from this.”

“So this is just an experiment, to you?”

“Yes and no,” Twilight replied with a sigh, “I’d be lying if I didn’t say the data and simply seeing what happens didn’t have a chokehold on my attention. There’s so little data and history on dark magic as it is, Celestia had it essentially buried and teaching it was expressly forbidden. But I do genuinely care. I want to see you using magic again. There’s… it’s both. It really is.”

“I understand,” Sombra nodded, “I too would not be opposed to regaining some control of my magical faculties, and if I can provide valuable information for future research, I would be glad to help.”

Sombra donned the helmet, and Twilight brought forth a small, rough stone, and placed it on the table before him.

“I don’t remember exactly when or where I found it,” Twilight started, gently rubbing the rock with a hoof, “but I’ve been using this rock for years in various magical experiments. Somehow I’ve never broken it, or vaporized it, or lost it in the Everfree. It’s become kind of a good luck charm with my experiments. Hopefully it’ll do the same for you.”

Sombra laughed once, just a brief puff of air out of his nose. “Shall I begin then?”

“Not quite yet,” the purple mare replied, and she closed her eyes as she cast several spells. “Alright, that’s a half-dozen magical flash-bombs, a general containment shield for the basement, and three auto-targeting anti-magic spells set to seek small sources of dark magic. We should be ready now, though.”

Sombra nodded, and looked to the rock. He closed his eyes, reaching deep into his mind, trying to find that source, that wellspring of magical powers. It had to be around in here somewhere, he had used it not that long ago. Where, where… Sombra found it, tapped into it, that well of magic. It began to flow, like a river, feeling it’s way through his mind, around, through, under, behind thoughts and ideas, widened, narrowed, made the leap between mental and physical and suddenly he felt that telltale tingle in the base of his horn. He kept his eyes closed, focusing, thinking, deciding. Redheart. The rock was to float, just a few inches. He just had to bring it up, just a bit. He could do this.

“Good job Sombra, you’re doing great so far,” Twilight’s voice penetrated his mind, and a memory of fear and anger flashed unbidden to him, momentarily overruling his magical point of focus, just for an instant, but for long enough. The smoothly flowing river in his mind became rough, rapid, turbulent. Fear, anger, shadows, blackness, burning, burning-

A staccato of flashes and pops blinded the unicorn, and he lost his footing and felt the magic retreat from the front of his mind. He hit the floor hard, and a slight coppery taste filled his mouth as he realized he’d bitten his tongue. That was good though – he was thinking clearly again, his mind was his own again.

“Sombra? Sombra, can you hear me?” Twilight’s voice sounded dull and faded, as though she were speaking through a cloth. He felt a gentle tug on his head and was vaguely aware of the helmet being removed.

“Yes, Twilight, I’m alright, I think,” Sombra’s own voice sounded the same. His ears were ringing a little, but the whine was rapidly fading. “What happened?”

“Well,” Twilight started, “I think when I spoke it distracted you and some dark magic snuck in. The flash-bombs went off, and apparently startled you out of the spell. The good news is I just collected a lot of fascinating data, and the counter-spells I put in place work well. You also managed to actually move it a little with magic before I… interrupted you. The bad news is… well I’m not really sure where my rock went.”

“I’m sorry,” the unicorn said, working his jaw as he got back on his hooves, “About your rock.”

“Sombra, it was literally just a rock,” Twilight deadpanned, placing a hoof on Sombra’s shoulder. Even with her recently acquired Alicorn stature, she was still a good deal shorter than him, and the gesture felt a little awkward. “I could go outside and find a dozen others just like it, and I’m sure whichever one I find will be a perfectly suitable replacement, and last just as long as that one did. The more important question is are you alright? You hit the ground pretty hard there.”

“Yes,” Sombra replied with a nod, “Just bit my tongue. Thanks you for… pulling me back.”

“I’m sorry for distracting you, that was my fault,” Twilight took her hoof down from his shoulder and stepped away, towards the stairs. “Can I get you something? Another ice pack maybe?”

“A glass of water would be excellent, if it’s not too much bother.”

“Not at all,” Twilight said with a smile, “I’m going to go get another rock.” Spreading her wings, she took flight back up the stairs. Sombra sat alone for a moment, and then a glass of water appeared on the table next to him. He smiled, ever impressed with the ease and power with which Twilight worked with magic. He took a drink, the cool liquid easing down his throat and soothing his aching tongue. He continued sipping at the water, and, as though they had rehearsed the timing, just as he finished Twilight reappeared at the top of the stairs, with a rock tucked in the crook of her foreleg and a triumphant look on her face.

“Told you I could find one just like it!” Twilight declared as she leapt back down the stairs, a moment of alarm on her face as she realized she hadn’t accounted for the additional weight of the stone before she corrected her trajectory and landed smoothly, just a bit further away from Sombra than she had anticipated. She trotted over to the table and placed the new rock upon it, and turned back to Sombra.

“Want to give it another shot?”

Sombra nodded, and with a smile, donned the helmet once again.

Chapter 22

With the moderate success Sombra had seen after his first session with Twilight, the unicorn decided it would be both in his best interests and for the benefit of Twilight if he were to continue with her. He arranged with Brighter to have, dire circumstances aside, Sunday mornings off from work at the orphanage, and he took about an hour and a half of that newfound free time to continue his lessons with the young Princess of Friendship. She was a supportive mare, and Sombra rather liked her. She was always so… happy to help him. Sometimes she treated him a little like a foal, just barely coming to grips with magic for the first time, but then again, he may as well have been. Sombra thought she might have made a fantastic teacher, should there ever be (Faust forbid) a reason Cheerilee could no longer continue in her role.

The only downside was that Twilight wanted more data on dark magic. Twilight was a prodigy, that much Sombra could tell within moments of first meeting her, but even in his weakened state he still had a firmer grasp on dark magic than she. While Sombra wasn’t exactly fond of the idea of intentionally submitting himself to the darkness for even just a few minutes a week, Twilight was always there to pull him back or flash-bomb him if the need arose. Every week she had new charts and tables and graphs and suggestions of cautiously proceeding from Celestia, and to be completely honest, the only parts he really understood from any of it was the solar Princess instructing them to be careful. Even still, as the weeks passed, his magical proficiency grew. After just a month, most of his skills with basic psychokinesis had returned, and just two weeks after that, he had gained enough fine control to write legibly. Many times his lessons with the Alicorn ended with the pair arguing over whether his success was due to having an excellent teacher, or due to her having an excellent student. It was a silly, pointless argument, and Sombra had to admit, to an extent, he insisted on having it each week solely to antagonize the mare.

As his magical talents grew, so did relationships in Ponyville. Or two, at least. In a surprise turn of events, Snowflake had actually moved out of Redheart’s house and now lived in the orphanage with Brighter. Redheart hadn’t let him hear the end of that, but he took it well, and Sombra wasn’t sure he’d seen the Pegasus stallion happier. He also took his record player, which made Sombra a little sad, but Snowflake had made it very clear Sombra was welcome at any time he wanted to come over for social visits. On the other hoof, Sombra pretty much never had to work mornings anymore, with two of the orphanage’s employees living on-site, much less just those Sundays with Twilight. On the subject of his own marefriend, though, Sombra had to say things were coming along nicely. Or so they were by his standards, at least. After a little encouragement from Snowflake and Brighter, Sombra had explained to Redheart that he seemed to not suffer from his horrid memories while, well, sleeping with her. Before he’d even been able to get his request out, Redheart had happily suggested they share a bed (so long as Sombra didn’t “get any ideas,” she had added with a smirk), and he found himself spending his nights in the decidedly more comfortable embrace of Nurse Redheart.

His fortnightly payments from Brighter for services rendered at the orphanage were a nice supplement. As Redheart already had full ownership of the house, she adamantly refused to accept any form of rent, but with a bit of convincing, she had agreed to let him shoulder his share of the cost of utilities and food. The couple also kept up their tradition of alternating paying for dates, which in the long run amounted effectively to splitting the bill, but made the both of them feel a little better about themselves.

In addition to spending more time with Redheart, Sombra made an effort to help out around town and make as many friends as possible. This particular Thursday, Sombra happened to not have work until later in the evening. When he awoke he found the other side of the bed empty, and a brief moment of confusion flashed through his mind before he recalled Redheart did in fact have to be at the hospital today. He yawned and stretched his hooves out over his head, feeling a couple pops in his lower back as he strained his body. With a quick flash from his horn, the sheets floated neatly back into position, smoothly covering the queen-sized bed. Sombra smiled and stepped out of the bedroom and down the hall to the bathroom, taking a quick shower and brushing his teeth. He glanced at the clock on his way down the stairs, and, seeing that it was still relatively early in the morning (and it had been a couple weeks since he had last gone), he decided to visit Sugarcube Corner. He tucked a hoofful of bits in his mane and set out across town.

---

Sombra inhaled deeply as he stepped into the combination café and bakery. The place always had a pleasantly sweet aroma to it. One might expect it to be almost sickly sweet with the amount of sugar being thrown around in the back room, but no, it was… like a grandmother’s kitchen, a soft, ever-present smell that could make the mouth water at the memory.

“Good morning, mister Sombra!” Pinkie Pie greeted him cheerfully from behind the counter, “It’s been a while! Since I’ve seen you here, at least. How are you today?”

“I am just fine, Pinkie Pie, thank you,” Sombra replied, nodding at the mare and taking a glance around the room. At a corner table, two of the other Elements of Harmony sat together. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, if memory served. He had tried to make friends with all of them, but of the six, these two had been the most resistant to the idea. Well, Rainbow Dash was resistant at least, it was hard to get Fluttershy to even talk to him. He walked up to the counter.

“What can I get for you this morning?” Pinkie asked him, smiling broadly as she always seemed to be doing. “The usual?”

“Yes, if you do not mind. I would also like a medium hot chocolate, if that is okay,” the unicorn smiled as he placed his order.

“Of course,” Pinkie nodded and grabbed the maple glazed (with sprinkles) doughnut from underneath the glass of the display case and deposited it in a brown paper bag for him.

“That’ll be five bits for the doughnut and hot chocolate,” she said to him as she placed the bag the counter, “The drink will be ready in just a couple minutes.”

“Thank you very much,” Sombra replied, and passed her the requisite bits, gently depositing them in her waiting hoof with magic.

“You’re getting pretty good at that, you know?”

“Thank you, it really is all thanks to Twilight though,” Sombra smiled and picked the bag up with magic, and turned around to head towards the only occupied table in the place. Rainbow Dash’s ears flicked and turned towards the sound of his hoofsteps and the faint shimmering noise of magic moments before her head swiveled away from Fluttershy.

“Good morning,” Sombra began. “Do you mind if I-”

“What do you want, Sombra?” Rainbow Dash’s eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at him. “You’re scaring Fluttershy.”

“Oh, actually, I’m-” Fluttershy started, but stopped and took another drink of her coffee when Rainbow Dash nudged her leg under the table.

“I just wanted to say hello. I know you… do not really care for me, but I thought it would be nice if we could at least be on neutral terms, if not perhaps friends,” Sombra offered, suddenly finding it hard to remember what part of the face you were supposed to look at when talking to somepony. His eyes flicked from Rainbow Dash’s own, to her nose, to her mouth, to the tips of her mane dangling down, back to her eyes.

“I don’t want to be your friend, Sombra,” Rainbow Dash spat, “Come on Fluttershy, let’s go.”

“Oh, I, um…” Fluttershy trailed off, before taking another drink of her coffee.

“Ugh, fine,” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and stood up, “I’m leaving though. Later, Pinkie!”

“Bye bye, Dashie!” the earth mare called as her friend flew out the door.

Sombra turned back to Fluttershy as the rainbow afterimage faded from his vision. “Is… is it alright if I sit here?”

“Oh, um, yes, of course,” Fluttershy responded, taking yet another drink from her coffee. It smelled strong, far stronger than anything Redheart ever brewed at home, and Sombra noticed that she was drinking from the largest cup sold at Sugarcube Corner. And that there were three empty ones next to it.

“I must admit, Fluttershy,” Sombra said as he took his seat, “I would never have thought you to be one for coffee, least of all for so much of it.”

“Oh, it’s really… I just drink it because I like the flavor,” the yellow Pegasus mare replied, breaking eye contact and looking down at her drink.

“That is by far the strongest coffee I have ever smelled,” Sombra commented, “Is it not bitter?”

“Sombra! Your hot chocolate is ready!”

“Oh, I will be right back,” the unicorn smiled and stood up, trotting over and retrieving the warm, sweet drink. He thanked Pinkie Pie once again, and returned to his seat.

“I’m sorry I sent Twilight after you like that,” Fluttershy blurted out suddenly. Well, in as much as Fluttershy could ‘blurt’ something, at least.

“What?”

“When you first came here. The reason Twilight came bursting into Redheart’s house. I saw you at the café, and I was scared and I didn’t know what to do so I went to Twilight.”

“I can hardly blame you,” Sombra said sadly.

“What? Why not? I could have gotten you arrested or killed or even-”

“Fluttershy,” the unicorn spoke quietly but firmly, gently interrupting the Pegasus mare, “You had no reason whatsoever to know I had changed, and given my… actions in the Crystal Empire, you took the most sensible course of action at the time. That said, I do very much appreciate your apology, Fluttershy. Thank you. I am glad we can be friends.”

The yellow pony smiled. “I’m glad too. It’s so much nicer having friend than enemies, isn’t it?”

“It very much is. You should tell that to Rainbow Dash, though,” Sombra added with a faint laugh.

“I’m sorry about her, too, she’s just so-”

“Fluttershy, I am kidding,” Sombra found himself interrupting her yet again, “No one can force another pony to be friends with somepony else. If Rainbow Dash does not wish to be my friend, well… I can hardly blame her. Perhaps she will come around eventually, perhaps not. Sometimes two ponies just are not meant to be friends.”

“I suppose,” Fluttershy said, turning up her coffee cup as she drank the last couple drops, before setting it down with an alarmed look on her face. “Oh! I’ve been here too long! I need to get home or Angel will start to worry. He’s much more attached to me than he’d like to admit,” Fluttershy giggled. “It was nice to talk to you, Sombra, even if it was only for a little bit. I’ll see you around!”

“Goodbye, Fluttershy,” Sombra nodded as she turned to leave, “It was nice to speak with you as well.”

Sombra turned back to his own food as Fluttershy left the building. Drawing the doughnut out of the bag, he smiled, and bit into it.

---

“Hey Sombra, how’s it going?” Snowflake greeted him loudly as he entered the orphanage.

“I’m doing fine, thanks,” the dark pony replied, “How are you?”

“My day’s been pretty good so far. Foals are at school, but they should be back…” Snowflake glanced at the clock, “momentarily. Brighter’s got a bit of paperwork to do since Sunrise and Dusky were adopted last night, I’ve just been cleaning. You wanna lend a hoof with that magic of yours?” Snowflake grinned.

“I’m afraid I’m not quite that advanced yet,” Sombra said with a shake of his head, “But I’ll help you out just the same.”

“Thanks!” Snowflake smiled and, in a repeat event, tossed a broom over at Sombra. This time, however, the unicorn was ready, and caught it deftly in his magical grasp.

“I am getting better, though,” Sombra replied with a cocky, lopsided grin, and took the broom to the floor, beginning to carefully sweep up the dust. “So how have things been with you and Brighter, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“Pretty well if I may say so myself,” the hulk of a pegasus replied, picking up the wastebasket next to Brighter’s desk, examining it quickly for anything that may be important, and upturning it into the large trash can he was rolling behind him. “I mean, we haven’t had the most time for dates, but we get some in here and there. And I mean, even though we don’t really get dates that much, we’re here together most of the time anyways.”

“That’s nice,” Sombra said, “I’m glad you can find some time to be together even with all the work you two have here.”

“Really, it’s not so bad anyways. Like I said, we’re here together almost all of the time, even if we’re not alone.”

“You’re right, I guess I’m just a bit spoiled with how often I’ve been able to go out with Redheart,” Sombra sighed, “Brighter has been so understanding with our shifts so we can have time together. It isn’t really fair to you two, you have your needs as a couple as well…”

“Hey, if you and Redheart want to arrange some time where you two can run the place while Brighter and I get a few nights off, I’d be more than grateful,” Snowflake suggested with a chuckle, “It’d be convincing Brighter that’d be the hard part.”

“She’s grown so attached to Tag-a-long so quickly, hasn’t she?”

As if on cue, Brighter stumbled into the room through the front doors, being dragged by the hoof by the filly in question. A small stampede of children followed them.

“Fine fine, we can go get ice cream. You know the rules though, we have to bring everyone!” Brighter threw her head back, pointedly making the statement to the rest of the foals.

“I know, mom!”

“Well I didn’t mean it quite so literally,” Sombra commented.

“Oh, hello Sombra,” Brighter greeted him through a giggle, using a brief flash of magic to straighten her mane, “How are you today?”

“I am doing well, thank you for asking,” Sombra replied with a smile and a bow of his head, “I’d ask you the same, but I think the answer is apparent.”

“Did you just make a pun?” Snowflake asked in disbelief.

“Contrary to popular belief, magic isn’t the only thing I’m learning here in Ponyville,” Sombra slung his head around to look at Snowflake, a sly grin on his face, “My occasional visits to Sugarcube Corner have helped somewhat with understanding modern humor and culture. Pinkie Pie has been particularly… well, helpful might not be the right word, but let’s go with… informative.”

Snowflake shook his head and chuckled. “You ever get those eyes of yours back to normal and there wouldn’t be a pony in town who could tell you aren’t from here.”

“Run along now, dear, go get the other children,” Brighter’s voice made itself known at the lull in Sombra and Snowflake’s conversation. An understated, happy smile rested on her lips as she watched the little filly run into the other room, and she sighed gently before looking to Sombra. “Did Snowflake mention to you that thing, the conference I need to go to in Canterlot?”

“Hmm?” Sombra’s voice reverberated in his grunt of acknowledgement, “No, I’ve only been here but a few minutes, he hasn’t really had much opportunity to talk about something like that. You’re taking a trip to Canterlot?”

“Oh, yeah,” Snowflake answered this time, “Sombra, you think you could spend the night? There’s an annual conference with the Princesses to discuss funding for the homes throughout Equestria, and Brighter’s got to head out tonight so she can get there on time in the morning. I know I could use the help tomorrow.”

“Would it… perhaps be improper for me to invite Redheart when she gets off her shift at the hospital?”

“I was thinking we could make it a sort of guys-night thing.”

“I…” Sombra thought for a moment. He certainly wanted to help Snowflake out, the stallion was Sombra’s best friend. At the same time, though… I’m sure one night won’t hurt. “If you will allow me to go to the hospital briefly to tell Redheart where I will be, then yes, certainly.”

“Oh, yeah, of course,” Snowflake said, surprised that he hadn’t thought of that himself, “Yeah, just come on back as soon as you can.”

“Thank you. I will return shortly.”

The evening had passed uneventfully – while Sombra had not been able to inform Redheart of his location in pony, he had left a message with Nurse Lightheart, who had been at the reception desk at the time. When he had returned to the orphanage, he had continued to help Snowflake clean around the place, and had assisted Brighter with some of her preparations for leaving. When it had come time for her to go, Sombra stayed behind with the foals to let Snowflake see her off at the station. Snowflake had suggested, seeing as Sombra had listened to the soundtrack of that old movie so many times that it was, perhaps, time to watch the film properly. While the animation of the film had been, quite frankly, atrocious, the soundtrack made up for it, and it was good fun to watch, and honestly, Snowflake enjoyed it immensely, which was more than enough for Sombra. Snowflake had slightly reluctantly agreed to Sombra’s request to share a bed. While the giant Pegasus didn’t quite match the comfort of his younger sister, Sombra was rather pleased by the huge pony’s warmth, and gently, the two fell asleep.

Chapter 22.5: The Nightmare of Sombra (April Fools' Day Bonus Chapter)

When I see what I want, I’m gonna take it

Sombra awoke, a deep, low hunger burning in his stomach. It was a Sunday, right? Sundays mean going to Twilight’s. Sundays mean dark magic. He rolled from the bed, momentarily confused at the coloring of the floor, the dark, bluish wooden planks more distinct that one might have thought. A brief flash of magic and he tugged at the chain hanging from the lamp, and looked behind him, finding a much larger than usual white form in the bed beside him. That was right – he had spent the night at the orphanage, not at Redheart’s as usual. He grunted to himself and stood up, hastily heading out the door to get home. After all, he had promised he’d go back as soon as he could.

If it’s against the law, you can bet I’ll break it

He stopped in Sugarcube Corner. A few minutes couldn’t hurt, and besides, he was hungry. The sign on the door read ‘Closed,’ but Sombra either didn’t notice or didn’t care, he wasn’t too sure which it was. Nopony was behind the counter to greet him, and when he shook his mane he found no bits inside it. It’s no big deal, certainly they won’t miss a single donut, he thought. After all, he was rather hungry. He magicked a donut out from behind the counter and bit into it. It was yesterday’s stock.

My need to feed gives me the will to survive

Stepping back out into the morning, he looked into the sky. Dreary, overcast. It looked as though it were about to rain. He looked forward again, surprised to see Twilight Sparkle scurrying across the square. He was about to call out to her when she seemed to sense his eyes upon her, and she turned her head to meet his gaze.

“Sombra?” Twilight questioned as she trotted over to the stallion, “Where’d you get that donut? I thought Sugarcube Corner was supposed to be closed today. The Cakes are out of town and Pinkie went with them…” the purple Alicorn trailed off and took another glance at the donut. “That’s definitely from Sugarcube corner. Sombra, you can’t just go in and take things like that.”

“Twilight, isn’t it Sunday? Shouldn’t I be meeting with you in just a few minutes?” Sombra asked blankly, ignoring the accusation and taking another bite from the donut.

“Sombra, it’s Friday. Are you feeling okay?” Sombra wasn’t really looking at her so much as through her. Twilight felt a little unnerved to say the least.

I gotta find it fast to keep me alive

Sombra locked eyes on the princess, his irises shifting and stretching as he focused on the mare before him.

“As a matter of fact, I’m feeling a bit light-headed.”

“Here, come with me to the castle, let’s get you checked out.”

I can’t believe my

The two hurried across town, Sombra absent-mindedly gnawing on the donut and watching Twilight’s mane sway in time with her steps.

Hunger

Sombra dropped the donut as Twilight pushed open the door to her castle home. He became acutely aware of how his mouth was watering, and it wasn’t from the stale pastry.

I want it so bad I can taste it

His horn bubbled and gurgled with a sickly green glow and he slammed the door shut behind him.

It drives me mad to see it wasted

Twilight Sparkle jumped.

“Sombra, what is wrong with you today? What are you doing?” The mare was angry now, eyes slanted and head lowered aggressively. Her horn began to glow, preparing a spell to subdue the bigger unicorn if it became necessary.

When I need it so bad that it’s burnin’ me

“Is Spike home, Twilight?”

The mare relaxed, glow fading from her horn and posture rising, loosening, becoming less… prepared. “No, he’s not, he’s with Rarity.”

“Good.”

I’m hungry

---

Sombra gently pressed the door open, back into the damp morning air. It was raining now, not too heavily, but enough to make the ground soggy and give beneath his large, heavy hooves. He swiped a foreleg across the corner of his mouth, enthusiastically examining the dark red smear. He held the leg out, letting the rain wash the evidence away, watching as the red liquid mixed in with the muddy puddles on the ground.

I’d do anything to get it, and feel no regret

Sombra looked down at the puddle and cast a brief spell, smoothing the surface of the puddle. In the glassy reflection he saw his face, eyes full of fire and hatred, mouth hanging slightly open, his horn returned to its smooth, red, curved shape. He smiled at his reflection and looked up, across the town, towards the square. Towards Redheart’s home. His stomach growled and he instinctively brought a hoof to it.

Time’s runnin’ out and I ain’t found it yet

Sombra found himself at the door to the quaint little home he’d grown so fond of. Well, the home itself didn’t really mean all that much to him, it was more the pony that inhabited it. He smiled. Nurse Redheart was kind, smart, caring, beautiful, all the things that would be required of a queen, a queen of the New Crystal Empire. Much further south this time, no more pesky ice and snow. Sombra raised his hoof to knock on the door – but he did not need to knock, this was his home, for now.

I can’t believe my

He was inside the house now, looking at his beloved. She looked back at him, her eyes bright and happy for just a moment, before shifting, widening. She looked at him with fear – no, not fear, concern.

“Sombra? Your horn, it’s… are you okay? Is that blood?”

Hunger

Sombra walked over to her.

“I’ve never felt better,” he said, placing a hoof under her chin and drawing her face close to his own.

I want it so bad I can taste it

Redheat blushed, and pulled away from his touch.

“What’s gotten into you? You’ve never been this… forward with me before,” she breathed, inching backwards on the couch.

It drives me mad to see it wasted

“I see no reason to beat around the bush with my future queen,” Sombra said slowly.

“What are you talking about? Sombra, you’re not a king anymore, I thought you-”

“I will be again, soon!” Sombra’s voice boomed, growling, echoing on itself, “You and I will rule together, over a New Crystal Empire!”

When I need it so bad that it’s burnin’ me

“Sombra, you can’t do this!”

“I can and I will,” he growled, once again feeling that fire in his stomach.

“Then you won’t do it with me,” Redheart said, eyes set, hard. Fear hid behind them, and hid well, but not so well as Sombra could not see.

Dark magic welled from his horn and lanced towards the earth mare.

I’m hungry

Author's Notes:

Alright folks, I've had my fun.

Chapter 23

Sombra sat bolt upright in bed. The quick disturbance elicited a heavy snuffle from Snowflake, but did not wake him up. The unicorn’s eyes were wide, focused on a spot in the air a short way in front of him. His breaths were coming through his mouth, shallow, ragged, and measured – in, out, pause. In, out, pause. In, out, pause. He rotated his head, then his body, turning and gently sliding out of the bed. On a small table across the room, Snowflake’s record player was still on, quietly. The needle was skipping, the same couple of words repeated over and over again.

It’s burnin’ me –bip– It’s burnin’ me –bip– It’s burnin’ me

He felt like he was going to be sick. He quickly lifted the needle from the record and clicked off the player. His body felt numb, alien; uncooperative. He stumbled across the room and leaned heavily against the frame of the door, a grunt interrupting his breathing for just a moment before the steady staccato resumed. His mouth was watering, stomach turning – he was going to vomit. He rushed to the bathroom and knelt over the toilet, staring into it for several minutes, waiting for his stomach to either upturn itself or calm down.

To his stomach’s credit, it managed to hold his dinner down. After another several minutes of staring at the reservoir in the porcelain bowl, Sombra stood back up and trotted out of the bathroom. His breathing had calmed down – breaths were still heavy and labored, but deeper, more regular. The terror of the nightmare was starting to leave him. Making his way to the kitchen, he flicked the lights on as he entered it. He found a glass in the cabinet and poured himself some water, retrieved a couple ice cubes from the freezer, and sat down at the table. He had every intention of drinking it, he really did, but instead he found himself quietly staring at it. Mesmerized by the ripples on the surface of the water whenever he tapped the glass, he hardly noticed as the ice cubes melted. Some time later, a couple soft hoofsteps garnered his attention, and Sombra looked to the door to find Tag-a-long standing there, staring at him. He opened his mouth to greet her, but no sound came out, and he turned back to his glass of water.

“Are you okay Mr. Sombra?” the filly asked. It was more for lack of knowing how to really start a conversation, he clearly wasn’t alright. His eyes were… harrowed is the word she would use to describe it, at least she thought she was using that word correctly. They looked sad, empty. Unfocused.

“Yes, I’m- I am,” Sombra said quietly, not looking back at the foal. The motions of his mouth felt exaggerated and wrong, but he could not place why.

“You’re a horrible liar.”

“Yes, I am.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Tag-a-long asked slowly, taking a few steps over to Sombra and pulling out the chair across from him. She had to stretch a little to get into it properly, the adult-sized seat too large for her. She sat wholly on it, all four legs tucked beneath her, big eyes peeking over the edge of the table at the unicorn. Sombra smiled, she really was rather cute, and for just a moment felt a little flicker of envy for Brighter.

“No, I… I do not,” Sombra broke eye contact, trying hard to become preoccupied with his glass of water again.

“Is it something with Miss Redheart?”

Sombra’s head jerked up, unable to feign disinterest any longer. “I… in a sense, yes, but it is not anything to do with our relationship. Well, it kind of is. It is kind of complicated.”

Tag-a-long merely cocked her head in reply.

Sombra sighed. “I had been having horrible nightmares shortly after my arrival in Ponyville. I discovered, quite by mistake, that sleeping in the embrace of Miss Redheart has had a rather cathartic effect, soothing or often outright preventing the nightmares. Last night,” Sombra looked over at the clock on the stove, “Well, this night, given it is so early in the morning, was the first night in several months I haven’t slept by her side.”

“So the nightmares came back?”

Sombra nodded. “Worse than ever. I dreamed I became a monster and hurt my friends…” he paused for a moment, before quietly, too quietly for the little filly to hear, adding one more word, “again.”

“I’m sorry,” the cream colored filly hopped off her chair and shuffled around the table, hopping up unto Sombra’s lap and giving him a hug. “Feel better?”

Sombra chuckled, shaking the little filly softly as his chest vibrated. He brought his own forehooves around her back, returning the hug. “A bit, yes. Thank you, Tag-a-long.”

“You’re welcome Mr. Sombra.”

The two held the hug for a while, before Tag-a-long shimmied free and pulled away. “I should probably get back to bed now,” she said, turning for the door back into the living area.

“Wait,” Sombra called to her, the orange-maned filly turning to look back at him, “it is quarter til four in the morning. Why were you out of bed in the first place?”

“Oh, I… I woke up and had to go to the bathroom and I saw the light on in the kitchen,” the filly explained, slightly embarrassed. She smiled, though – looking into Sombra’s eyes, they focused on her now, they didn’t look as dead as they had when she’d first seen him. “Goodnight, Sombra. Or morning, as the case might be.”

“Good morning, Tag-a-long,” Sombra said to her as she left back towards the bedrooms. He sighed heavily after she left, and looked back to his still-untouched glass of water. He took a drink, and addressed the pony standing behind him. “Good morning to you as well, Snowflake. How long have you been there?”

“I woke up when you turned off the record player. I didn’t think you knew I was here, though.”

“Honestly it was a lucky guess,” Sombra said with a chuckle, turning to face his Pegasus friend.

“Look, Sombra, I didn’t realize-”

“It’s fine,” the big pony interrupted the bigger, “You needed help tonight and Redheart was unavailable. A little nightmare now and then isn’t going to make me turn down a request for help from my best friend.”

“It seems like it was a bit more than a ‘little’ nightmare. You said you dreamed you turned into a monster, that’s far from a bad dream. I’m sorry I put you through that, Sombra.”

“It’s fine, really, don’t stress out about it,” Sombra explained once again. When Snowflake’s mouth opened again, the unicorn quickly continued to head off any more objections. “And that’s the last I’ll hear of you apologizing. It was a bad dream, and no more. Though perhaps we should not listen to that record anymore whilst we sleep. Come, let’s go back to bed,” the dark pony finished, upturning the glass of water before him, swallowing the cool liquid in large gulps. He set the glass next to the sink, and stepping over to Snowflake, threw a hoof around the Pegasus’ shoulder, and the two walked back to the bedroom.

---

Morning came to the stallions again in the form of a rather bemused Nurse Redheart.

“Well,” she started as Sombra blinked away the sleep, “I leave you alone for one night and you’ve replaced me with my brother, of all ponies. And you, Snowflake, first chance you get away from Brighter and you run right into the waiting hooves of my coltfriend.”

A great grin spread across Sombra’s face as he sat up, his body shaking slightly with the bed as Snowflake laughed. The unicorn turned his head for just a moment to make sure his hooves hit the ground beneath him and he stood out of the bed, and hurried over to Redheart. For a few moments, he stood there and smiled at her.

“Is everything alright?” Redheart asked after he stared a few seconds longer than normal.

“I’m just glad to see you unhurt,” he said, stepping forward and hugging her.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” the white mare instinctively returned the hug, squeezing tight around her coltfriend’s shoulders.

“Nightmare,” Snowflake mouthed from behind the unicorn.

“Ah,” she mouthed back, then nuzzled into her special somepony’s neck, giving him another squeeze. After a few more moments in each other’s embrace, Redheart loosened her grip and started to pull away, gently pressing her lips to Sombra’s cheek as their faces passed. The unicorn blushed and smiled, nodding his thanks to his marefriend.

“So, if the message Lightheart had for me yesterday is accurate, Brighter isn’t here today, right?” Redheart asked her brother, “She’s out in Canterlot?”

“Yep,” Snowflake answered loudly, “Just the three of us for today. She should be back pretty late tonight, though. Think you could help out today?”

“I didn’t have any other plans,” Sombra said after a moment’s thought, having placed a hoof to his chin, “Redheart?”

“I’m on call tonight, but I can certainly help this morning and afternoon,” the mare nodded her head as she spoke, smiling at her coltfriend.

“Great!” Snowflake exclaimed, “Think you could get breakfast going while Sombra and I take showers?”

“Sure. Anything particular for breakfast?”

“I didn’t have anything in mind.”

“Late start at school today. When was the last time we had pancakes here?”

“The last time we had pancakes, or the last time we had your pancakes?”

“Oh, they’re not that good, Snowflake.”

“Has Sombra had them yet?”

Sombra’s eyes had been switching back and forth between the siblings as they spoke, and turned one more time to Redheart as it was once again her turn to speak. Instead he found her looking at him, and when he turned to look back at Snowflake, he too was looking at the black unicorn.

“I, uh, I have not,” he answered, “Really if it’s any bother at all don’t worry about it, Redheart.”

She bobbed her head back and forth as though shaking the idea up, and turned back to Snowflake. The huge Pegasus had an expectant grin on his face, and soon the smile spread to Redheart as well.

“Alright, fine. I’ll go make some pancakes. Well, a lot of pancakes. Go get showered, you goofs.”

Snowflake pumped a hoof in the air. “Come on, Sombra, let’s go. You need a towel and stuff, right?”

“Yes, I-” Sombra only got a couple words out before the towel caught him in the face and wrapped around his head. A moment of shock gave way to amusement, and soon the stallions shared some muffled laughter as the unicorn struggled with his hooves to pull the towel off his face. Chuckling, the two trotted across the halls and into the bathroom.

---

I smell manly, Sombra thought, the unusual scent of somepony else’s shampoo wafting from his mane, This is weird. He had had to use Snowflake’s shampoos, and as a result, for the first time since his arrival in Ponyville, Sombra had actually used shampoo designed and marketed towards stallions. He really didn’t see the need, it was just soap for Faust’s sake, ponies should smell like whatever they want. Either way, a warm, sweet aroma pervaded the air. Sombra could only guess it was coming from the kitchen. Judging from the small stream of foals shuffling towards it, with mumbles of “Come on, Miss Redheart’s making pancakes!” he figured he should follow. Stepping carefully around the sleepy children, the big unicorn made his way closer to the source of the smell.

In the kitchen, Redheart stood in front of a griddle next to the stove, wearing an apron. Her head bobbed to the tune of the song she was humming, working with a spatula to flip the pancakes over, cooking each side to a warm golden-brown. Beside the griddle sat two plates already heaped with pancakes. Her hooves moved deftly, quickly, with no wasted movement – this could not be a particularly easy task for an earth pony, and Redheart was doing it with ease.

“Good morning Miss Redheart!” the foals cheered in unison, some more enthusiastically than others. The mare jumped, sending a pancake arcing high into the air. Sombra’s horn began to glow and he slowed the fluffy breakfast treat gracefully, stopping it inches above the outstretched spatula Redheart already had beneath its path.

“Good morning to you too, children, Sombra,” Redheart answered them, a look of slight annoyance in her eyes that quickly gave way to a smile. “I would have caught that, you know.”

“I can see you would have,” Sombra replied, impressed. “You’ve been cooking pancakes for a while, I presume?”

“Not as often as I used to, but yes, ever since I was a little filly,” Redheart smiled, returning the escaped pancake to the griddle. “Alright, kids, pancakes are almost ready. Go get washed up and sit down at the tables. There might be a late start at school today but we still need to be ready to go!”

A chorus of ‘yes’es rolled through the foals, and the small horde once again shuffled out of the kitchen. A few minutes later they began to trickle back in, walking through the kitchen and into the dining area, filling in the tables. Snowflake buzzed around above them, passing out forks, napkins, and glasses. Sombra grabbed the jugs of milk from the refrigerator and magically levitated them around the tables, filling glasses for the foals just moments before Redheart stepped in. Three plates full of large, heavy-looking pancakes were balanced precariously across her forelegs and back. For a moment Sombra just stared at her.

“Little help would be nice,” the mare deadpanned.

“Oh! Of course,” Sombra, hurried over to her and lifted the plate off her back with his hooves, stepping away for a moment waiting for further instructions.

“You could have used magic you know.”

Sombra muttered a quiet “oh” and a pale pink aura surrounded the plates as he brought his forehooves to the floor. The children behind him giggled, and he felt the tips of his ears burning a little.

“Alright kids, you know the drill,” Redheart barked suddenly, but with an air of joviality still present in her voice, “Everyone gets one to start, seconds come with leftovers and I’ll make more if I need to. Sombra, would you do the honors?”

The unicorn nodded and turned to the children, hungry eyes upon him expectantly. He smiled back at them, and pancakes began to float upwards from the plates and drift serenely towards the little fillies and colts. Landing gently on their plates, he could see the lust for food in their faces, but they all waited politely until everypony had their share before digging in.

Sitting down at a table off to the side of the rest, Sombra doled out breakfast to Snowflake, Redheart, and finally to himself. He licked his lips, picked up a fork with his magic, and brought a small bite to his mouth. Before he could bite into it, though, he noticed Snowflake staring over at him expectantly.

“What?”

“My sister makes the best pancakes in the world. I want to see your reaction,” Snowflake answered. Redheart blushed and poked at her own pancake, muttering under her breath.

Shrugging, Sombra put the bite of pancake into his mouth. It was, truly, amazing. There was no other way to really put it. Soft, fluffy, still-warm, and just sweet enough. He hummed in delight almost instinctively, quickly bringing another bite to his mouth. Snowflake was not wrong – while true, these were the only pancakes he had eaten, he doubted they could be topped.

“You want some syrup for those?” Snowflake offered, dangling a bottle of viscous brown liquid from a hoof.

Sombra nodded vigorously and swallowed. “Thank you,” he breathed after a quick inhalation, and took the bottle in his magic, gently drizzling it over his pancake, or what remained of it. “These truly are amazing, Miss Redheart.”

“I’m glad you like them,” she answered, finally taking a bite of her own.

“Can I get another, Miss Redheart?” a brown earth colt called from one of the other tables.

“Already?”

“… sorry.”

Sombra laughed and levitated another pancake over to the child’s plate.

---

After breakfast had ended and Redheart had taken the foals to school, Sombra had asked Snowflake if he could make a brief visit to Twilight’s castle. Having not technically been scheduled for that time anyways, Snowflake had readily obliged him.

Sombra knocked on the door to Twilight’s castle. It was a place he often found himself, even outside of their weekly magic sessions. Twilight was a kind mare, markedly more understanding and accepting of him than the rest of the Elements, if perhaps some of that stemmed purely from scientific interests. He felt bad for what he was going to request because of that – she was always going on about how much she appreciated his help with learning about dark magic. He’d had enough of that, though, especially after that nightmare. It was only a dream, yes, but it was something he wanted to prevent from happening at all. The door swung open, and Twilight’s confused expression quickly shifted to a smile.

“Hello Sombra! I wasn’t expecting to see you today,” she started, moving to the side and gesturing for him to enter, “Can I help you with something?”

“I want to apologize first,” Sombra began, walking around the mare. He heard a shimmer and a click as she used her magic to close the door behind him. “I’m sorry, Miss Sparkle, but I would like to discontinue our explorations into dark magic.”

Twilight’s ears flicked downwards dejectedly. “I can’t say I’m not disappointed, but of course. We agreed to this at the beginning, right? Do you mind if I ask why this sudden change of heart?”

“That is just it – I am afraid of being taken over by the darkness again,” Sombra explained.

Twilight opened her mouth to protest, and then closed it again. She had agreed to respect Sombra’s wishes to end this at any time, and she simply nodded. “Would you like to continue our normal magic lessons?”

“If possible, very much so. Though I do have one more request for you,” Sombra continued, “Can you… seal my dark magic? Is there any way you can make sure I can never cast it again?”

Twilight’s head moved backwards a couple inches, and she blinked twice. “I… I don’t know, actually. Not for just your dark magic, at least. There are spells that can seal magic, but they’re all but irreversible, and Celestia actually outlawed them centuries ago.”

Sombra looked at the ground and thought for a few moments. His brow furrowed. “Do you know how to perform them?”

“Okay, Sombra, two things. One, you are asking me to directly disobey Princess Celestia. Me. Two, extinguishing your spark… Sombra, I am the Element of Magic. You are asking me to destroy a part of everything I stand for, a part of me. I just… I won’t do that. I can’t do that. Even more, destroying your magic would be a crime. You are… well, not as talented as the princesses or myself, but you may be one of the most powerful unicorns alive if you were to continue your magical studies. There’s an incredible magical reservoir inside you, and as far as I can tell it’s linked to your extended usage of dark magic. As it is now, it’s still mostly a reservoir for dark magic, but little by little, it’s being purified, just like you. I cannot, in good conscience, destroy that. Why would you want to?”

Sombra sighed sadly. He wanted to be mad with Twilight for shutting him down like that, but he really couldn’t justify it in any way. “I… I know this will sound childish, but… I had a nightmare, a new one. Not a memory of my past like so many before, this one was a creation of my own mind. In it, I lost myself to the dark magic, and I…” he looked away, “I killed you, and Miss Redheart. I know it was my imagination, just a dream, but… I do not want even the possibility of that actually happening.”

The black unicorn was suddenly aware of hooves around his neck, the purple Alicorn hugging him gently. “I’m going to tell you something Princess Luna told me years ago,” she said, “’Dreams are called dreams for a reason,’ she told me. Because they’re not real. ‘Dream’ and ‘ambition’ can be synonymous because nothing comes of either of them without acting on them. You would never do any of that, right?”

“Not without losing myself, no.”

“Exactly,” Twilight said as she stepped away, “and even if there was an issue, that’s why I’m here. If it ever came down to it, you’d have to go through me to get to the rest of the town, and, not to sound arrogant, but I’m pretty sure I’d be able to stop you.”

“That… does actually make me feel better,” Sombra nodded to her and smiled weakly, “Still, I would rather not take any chances. While it may be extreme, it is still a precaution I would like to take, if at all possible.”

“We don’t have to experiment with dark magic anymore if you don’t want to. But please, Sombra, don’t give up on magic entirely. It’s healing you. Simply using magic is helping you to cleanse yourself. Who knows, maybe eventually you can get those eyes of yours back to normal. Sombra…” Twilight trailed off, suddenly losing her train of thought. “Just… just don’t give up. Just look at yourself, you are proof that ponies can change.”

Sombra sighed.

“Don’t give me that,” Twilight continued, “It’s true, what you used to be is… pretty horrific. But your past doesn’t define you, Sombra. If we didn’t give ponies second chances around here… I never would have met one of my best friends, and Discord would still be a statue in the Canterlot Gardens, and we’d still only have one Princess. Every single pony deserves a second chance, and you should absolutely give your magic a second chance. Please, Sombra.”

“I… I understand what you are saying, Miss Twilight. I understand that completely sealing my magic would be… an overreaction to say the least. I also understand your personal qualms with the request. I’m just… to call it a nightmare is almost an understatement, given my personal history with similar events,” Sombra hung his head low for a moment, but suddenly looked up with a determined smile on his face, “You are right, though, Twilight Sparkle. I was given a second chance at life, and by all of you here in Ponyville, for a reason, and certainly that reason was not to give up. Thank you, Twilight Sparkle, perhaps this was just the conversation I needed.”

“You’re very welcome, Sombra. I’m glad I could help you.”

“If you do not mind, I should probably head back to the orphanage now,” he said, turning to leave.

“Of course. Please, don’t hesitate to come by any time you want to talk.”

With a nod, Sombra stepped back out into the bright morning sun. Twilight turned her back to the door. Now, where was I? she wondered, tapping a hoof to her chin. From below, a muffled explosion resonated through her castle. Ah, ponyfeathers.

Chapter 24

Very few things ever stayed the same in Ponyville, but one could always be relied upon: the steady passage of time. The days marched ever onwards in the town, and days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months. Foals came and went in the orphanage, Sombra and Redheart continued to date, and Snowflake and Brighter Horizons got engaged.

“Wait, he did what?” Redheart exclaimed, her voice shrill. It was, admittedly, more from excitement than anything else, but the news came as a shock to her. To be fair, she had been less aware of her brother’s personal life after he had moved out, but still. Here before her stood Brighter Horizons, giggling like a schoolfilly, one hoof over her mouth and the other extended to show off the golden engagement band.

“He proposed! It took me completely by surprise,” she squeaked, “The way he did it was adorable, too. He asked Tag-a-long to call him ‘dad’ in front of me, and when I questioned it, you know what she said? ‘Snowflake said I should get some practice in so I don’t make mistakes later.’ Oh Celestia, Redheart, my heart nearly stopped when he pulled out the box. I knew he was a romantic but…”

“Sounds a bit more like ‘over-confident’ than ‘romantic’ to me,” Redheart said with a suppressed laugh, “but I am really, genuinely happy for you. Do you have anything resembling a date in mind?”

“Unfortunately, not even close. He said he’d been thinking about asking me for a while, but only recently had the time to subtly have the bands made,” Brighter explained, still smiling.

“Huh,” Redheart mulled over the news, then shook her head and chuckled. “I figured for sure he would have asked me for advice. I’m glad for you, Brighter, I really am. You’re going to have to tell me just as soon as you know when the wedding will be.”

“Of course, of course,” Brighter said, smile unfading, but finally retracting her leg, “but enough about me. When are you going to ask Sombra?”

“Ask Sombra what?” Redheart asked innocently, but a telltale blush rose in her cheeks. She knew full well what Brighter meant.

“Don’t play the fool with me, Redheart, I know you too well. And you know him too well to expect him to propose to you, surely.”

Redheart’s blush grew greatly, spreading from her cheeks to her ears and neck as well.

“W-well we haven’t even been going out for a year ye-“

“Neither were Snowflake and I. It’s not hard to see the two of you are head over hooves for each other, Redheart. Just something to think about,” Brighter Horizons’ voice flicked up in a playful manner.

“I don’t know,” Redheart said with a sigh. “You’ve got a point… but I don’t know.”

“Hey,” Brighter’s voice dropped a few tones, her smile shrinking, “I was just teasing. I can see how much you two care about each other – everypony can – but the last thing I want is either of you rushing into something you aren’t comfortable with.”

“Well it’s not that I’m not comfortable with the idea of marrying him-” Redheart stopped talking and covered her mouth with a hoof. Brighter’s smile returned in a full-on smirk. “That’s not what I meant!”

“I think it is, dear,” Brighter replied, her voice staggered with laughter.

“Let’s stop talking about me and Sombra,” the earth mare said hurriedly, “You’ll need a dress, and… things!”

“Don’t think this conversation is over,” Brighter’s smirk was practically audible, “but yes, I’m going to need a dress!”

And so the two mares squealed happily at each other, as ponies often do when they are excited.

---

“You did what?” Sombra asked, disbelief all over his face.

“I proposed to Brighter!” Snowflake declared again, just as proudly as the first time. While he wasn’t flaunting it to his friend like his fiancée might have, a golden anklet rested just above the hoof on his left foreleg.

“Wow,” Sombra breathed.

“Yep! Anyways, Sombra,” Snowflake got a little quieter, his smile lessening just a tidbit, “I have to ask you… it’s gonna be a ways off, but do you think you could uh… be my best stallion?”

Sombra waited a moment, until the Pegasus looked back up at him. “I would be honored, Snowflake. You are my best friend, and it would be my utmost pleasure to be your best stallion.”

“Really? Wow, Sombra, that… thank you, really. That’s a bit of a load off my mind.”

“Of course,” Sombra replied, placing a hoof on his friend’s shoulder, “Why would I ever say no?”

Snowflake laughed suddenly, a startlingly abrupt noise. “Believe it or not, that is, word for word, exactly what Brighter said when I asked her to marry me. Hey, speaking of which… you and my sister? Eh?”

“I…” Sombra looked away and frowned for a moment, before turning back to Snowflake with a small smile. “I do not know if either of us are… ready for that yet, but… yes, at some point, it is something I would like to happen.”

“All you gotta do is ask,” Snowflake said, leaning in for a hug, “She’ll say yes. Don’t rush it, though.”

“Yeah,” the unicorn hugged him back, “Thanks.”

“Hey,” Snowflake’s tone had shifted – it was cooler now, questioning. “Isn’t your birthday coming up soon?”

Is it? Sombra thought to himself. He truly had no idea – when was his birthday? Furthermore, how on earth would Snowflake know it?

“Well, not your actual birthday, you know, the day you met Redheart.”

Has it really been nearly a year?

“Yeah,” Snowflake continued to think aloud, almost as though he could hear Sombra’s thoughts, “Should be just a couple weeks away. Anything you want?”

“Anything I want?”

“Yeah, for your birthday.”

“Why would I want something for my birthday?”

“Okay, I’d forgive you if it hadn’t been so long and it was some Crystal Empire thing,” Snowflake shook his head, “and I went to Manehattan with Brighter on my birthday. But Sombra, you were here for Redheart’s birthday. You went on a date that night. You got her something, didn’t you?”

“She…” Sombra quieted, thinking back, “She never mentioned anything of the sort. Even that night, we got dinner together and she insisted she pay.”

Snowflake groaned and smacked a forehoof over his face and groaned. “Okay, so,” he started, “In Equestria, in these times, it’s considered customary to give a pony a gift on their birthday. It doesn’t have to be much, but generally the closer you are to the pony in question, the nicer the gift. My sister can be a little… too nice sometimes, you know?”

“It was technically my turn to pay either way, so it was a little odd that she was so insistent.”

“You can be a bit clueless sometimes, you know?”

“In situations where the customs have changed dramatically, yes, I am,” Sombra said, a hint of annoyance in his voice, but a smirk on his face. “Speaking of which, what exactly is that ridiculous golden band on your leg?”

“It’s… it’s an engagement band,” Snowflake explained, notes of incredulity playing into his speech, “Even those were different back in the Crystal Empire?”

Sombra nodded. “Gold was – and most likely still is – incredibly rare in the north. Silver, on the other hoof, was much more plentiful. Most jewelry was made of silver with inlaid crystals or gemstones. The traditional marriage proposal was in the form of a pair of earrings, each bestowed with a gem the color of the other partner’s eyes. For example, yours and Brighters – you would have had one with a pale emerald, or perhaps peridot, and Brighter would have worn one with a ruby. The tradition stemmed from an old myth of two lovers who became one in body and soul from a pair of enchanted earrings,” Sombra sighed, “Though I suppose, much like so many other things, that information was lost with the disappearance of the Crystal Empire.”

“Okay, Sombra, listen to me – it doesn’t have to be soon, perhaps it won’t be ever. But if – if you propose to my sister, you have to do it with earrings like that,” Snowflake was leaned in close to him now, “There’s a pony named Sterling who owns a silversmith shop, you can talk to him. Redheart would adore that, Sombra.”

“I will certainly keep that in mind,” Sombra replied, nodding.

“Great,” Snowflake stood and turned to leave, but stopped on the threshold of the door. “Wait, what did ponies do for their birthdays in the Crystal Empire?”

“In truth, very little,” the unicorn answered, “I held an open banquet on the anniversary of my father’s birth each year after he had passed on, but even that was considered most unusual.”

“You guys had some weird traditions, you know that?”

“I could say the same to you,” Sombra teased.

Snowflake frowned slightly and shrugged. “Fair enough. Anyways, see ya later!”

“See you later.”

---

Sure enough, a couple more weeks passed, and Sombra woke up in the warm embrace of Nurse Redheart. It was a Monday, yet he was not scheduled to work today. He briefly wondered why, but accepted the time off readily enough and decided to simply lie still and wait for his marefriend to wake up.

“Good morning,” she said, apparently already awake. Redheart leaned over and gently placed a kiss on his forehead. “Happy birthday.”

“Hmm?” he grunted, sitting up.

“Well, I don’t know if it’s your actual birthday,” Redheart sat up next to him and threw her forehooves over his shoulders, “but a year ago today is when we met. I figured since you never mentioned your real birthday, you might have forgotten and so I decided to go with today. That seem alright?”

“I won’t object,” Sombra said with a smile, taking her hoof in his own and giving it a gentle squeeze. This was… very nice. This was something Sombra would love to wake up to every morning. “Redheart…”

“Hmm?” the mare hummed, and Sombra turned around. She cocked her head to the side and smiled at him as he took both of her forehooves in his own.

“Would you…” No, no, this isn’t how you do that.

“Yes?”

“… mmmmmm…” no, no, Sombra, no, “…mmmind if I went out for a bit? I have a quick errand I need to attend to.” Nice save, genius.

Redheart pouted playfully and arched an eyebrow. “You sure that’s the question you had in mind?”

“Yes,” Sombra lied with a smile on his face.

“Alright then. You should probably take a shower before you head out, though.”

“Yeah, of course,” the unicorn replied, rolling out of the bed and heading towards the bathroom.

---

Sombra trotted happily across town. It was a pleasant day – the air was cool, but the clouds were few and the sun was warm, and a light breeze ruffled his mane. He wasn’t sure exactly where he was going, but he had committed to the excuse now and there was no sense in going back on it. As he walked through the town, he found himself idly glancing at shop names as he went. One in particular caught his eye – and brought up a memory.

“Hello?” Sombra asked tentatively as he pushed the door open and stepped inside, “The sign said you were open.”

A pony popped up from behind the counter, a pale blue Pegasus with a short, well-kept black mane. In his mouth he held a cleaning cloth, though what exactly he’d been polishing was not apparent.

“What the sign said is very true, my friend,” he offered happily. His voice was loud and a little harsh, but his tone seemed happy enough. “What can I help you with?”

“Well,” Sombra started, a little embarrassed even though he knew there was no reason for the feeling, “I… am planning on proposing to my marefriend soon, and-”

“And you need a ring!” the Pegasus interrupted cheerfully, “Excellent, I am glad to have your business kind sir. Not many ponies spring for silver nowadays, gold is much more the thing to do, but nonetheless, here you are! Wonderful, I have a broad selection of engagement rings and bands. Unicorn?”

“Earth pony,” Sombra said, “Though I wasn’t quite thinking of a… ring, or band.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, there is… an old family tradition of proposing with earrings,” Sombra explained, “I was wondering if perhaps you had some that could be set with gemstones.”

“Oh, a wonderful old family tradition,” the pastel stallion replied with a wink, pointing a hoof at him, “Very unique, very unique indeed. Oh! I’m terribly sorry, I never introduced myself. My name is Sterling, and welcome to Sterling’s International Silver Items Shop,” he said, stepping out from behind the counter and walking over to shake Sombra’s hoof. “May I ask your name?”

“I am Sombra, it is a pleasure to meet you,” the unicorn replied, accepting the smaller Pegasus’ hoofshake. He noticed the pony seemed to have a bow-and-arrow cutie mark, to his momentary confusion, but he decided not to make a point of it.

“A pleasure to meet you as well, sir. Here, right this way, we have earrings over here,” Sterling continued, leading the dark pony across the room to a different jewelry case. “Please, take all the time you need.”

“Thank you, Sterling,” Sombra nodded, and once again the Pegasus disappeared behind the counter, taking up the cleaning cloth again. Sombra looked down at the case, examining each pair in turn. They were all nice, very nice, but a little too… ornamental for what he had in mind. They were just a little too detailed, too delicate. The earrings in the Empire had always been much simpler, though time, technique, and technology had changed, and perhaps the simpler designs had been more due to necessity and had stuck as a cultural point. Still, fine as they were, none of them seemed quite… right. “Mister Sterling?” Sombra asked, looking back around to where he had last seen the other pony.

“Find something that caught your eye, or might catch the eye of the lucky lady?” Sterling appeared suddenly from behind the counter, smiling brightly.

“Not… exactly,” Sombra said with a small frown, trying his best not to hurt the stallion’s feelings.

“Oh?” Sterling’s face fell a little, but he kept a polite smile on.

“Though,” Sombra continued, and Sterling did his best to hide a quizzical tilt of his head, “the craftsponyship is fantastic. Would it be possible to commission something to be made, rather than purchase something already here?”

Sterling blinked. He had never considered offering to do work on commission before, but he couldn’t think of a valid reason to say no. “I certainly could,” he said, “Though it wouldn’t exactly be cheap.”

Sombra’s horn ignited briefly, retrieving his bit-purse from his mane. The small pouch bulged with the coins within – while working at the orphanage was perhaps not the most lucrative job opportunity in Ponyville, as he had predicted, his living expenses were extremely minimal, and it left him with a fairly significant collection of spending money. “Looking at the prices of your other earrings, double, or even triple the cost should not be an issue.”

Sterling’s eyes widened. “I’ll have some preliminary designs drawn up for you tomorrow. If any of them strike your fancy, I believe a down payment of one-half the total cost would be fair. Does that seem agreeable to you?”

“Absolutely,” Sombra said, retracting his bit purse and turning to the door. “Thank you kindly, Mister Sterling.”

“It will be a pleasure doing business with you, sir.”

Sombra stepped back out into the day. It hard turned out, truly, to be a quick errand. He inhaled deeply. It was going to be soon now, soon he would ask her, and, with more than a bit of luck, soon she’d say yes. Soon-

“Get out of the way!”

Sombra, in all his life, had never found a more apt use for the word ‘bellowed.’ The deep, booming voice that could only belong to Big Macintosh was far, far louder than he had ever heard before. He looked up in alarm, finding the large red earth pony standing atop a hill, breathing heavily.

“Get out of the way!” Macintosh yelled again, starting down the hill at a full sprint. Ahead of him, a cart full of apples – full was an understatement, actually, a cart overflowing with apples sped down the hill towards the town. A piece of loose rope trailed from behind it; apparently whatever the earth stallion had been hauling it by had broken.

Hearing the cries of warning, Sombra dutifully stepped to the side of the road, preparing for the runaway cart to pass by. As he did, though, something caught his eye – a ball rolled past his legs and into the road. Shortly behind it, a small, slate blue Pegasus followed it. For a moment, Sombra thought nothing but questions as to what the colt’s name might be. Something with a T. Thunder… Thunderstruck? No. Thunderbolt? No, that’s not it. Thunderlane?

“Rumble!”

Oh right, Thunderlane was the older brother; Rumble- is about to be hit by an apple cart. Time felt slow – Sombra looked to his right, seeing the cart careening down the street. To his left, Rumble was picking up his ball and looking forward to realize the situation he was in. His tiny wings began to buzz to life, but there was no way he could get out of the way in time. Sombra would never reach him either, unless...

Come on, please, please work, Sombra thought, concentrating. He felt the world begin to suck away from him, much less unpleasant to do himself than to have it done to him. As he teleported, the world faded out, then faded in once more, shifted just slightly. He reappeared with a pop, displacing the pony he materialized onto. Rumble was cannoned out of the way as a much more massive pony decided it was now his turn to occupy this location in space, sliding face-first out of the way of the cart. Sombra’s teleportation had been a little rushed, and, admittedly, he didn’t know exactly how to do it, so for his part he merely felt himself move something else, but was far too disoriented to tell exactly what it had been. His vision snapped back to him and he saw the little colt well away from him. A triumphant smile spread across Sombra’s face. Yes! I-

---

Sombra blinked, tried to open his eyes, and squinted. The light was harsh, far too cool to be outside. Where am I? he thought. He tried to bring a hoof up to cover his eyes, but found it restricted, feeling almost tied down. The air wasn’t right, either. It was too… sharp. What was I… what was I doing? How did I get here? I… I had just visited Sterling, and I walked outside, and – oh, the apple cart. That must have been what happened. I… he rolled his head to the side, eyes finding nothing but the inoffensive pastel green walls. He groaned, and rolled his head to the other side. Three ponies sat there, bearing distinctly different expressions.

Farthest from him sat Rumble. The little Pegasus was looking away, but his jaw quivered and his eyes were moist. Next to him sat Thunderlane, the gray Pegasus’ face set. He looked as though he had been scolding the child. Closest to him, mouth twisted and scrunched up in what appeared to be a desperate attempt to be angry, sat Nurse Redheart.

“Hello,” Sombra grumbled weakly, “How long was I-”

“Less than a day,” Redheart snapped, before her anger broke. “You… you’re going to be okay,” she said, her voice much calmer now, just a hint of concern floating in it, “You’re just going to need to recover here a for a day or two while your bones set and heal. Unicorn magic only goes so far with healing things, you are going to need a bit of rest.”

Sombra merely grunted a surprised response.

“When… when you jumped in front of the apple cart, both of your right legs were broken, as was your jaw. You shattered four of your ribs, and three of your vertebrae were cracked. Doctor Windsor said if you’d been any pony else you probably would have…” Redheart trailed off, feeling her throat begin to tighten, but refusing to let herself get choked out, “On your own birthday, you almost got yourself killed on your own birthday!”

“Sorry,” Sombra groaned, “I’ll try to do better with that next time,” he laughed at his own joke, but it only hurt. “Ow.”

“Come on, Rumble,” Thunderlane patted his little brother on the back, encouraging some dialogue from him.

“I-I-I’m sorry,” Rumble struggled out, clearly on the verge of tears. He didn’t look at Sombra.

“Are you hurt?” the unicorn asked slowly, trying not to breathe in too much, but craning his neck to look straight at the foal.

“Huh?” Rumble looked up at him now, eyes wide.

“Are you hurt?” Sombra repeated himself, staring intently at the child.

“N-no, thanks to you,” he responded shakily.

“Excellent,” Sombra thought aloud, and relaxed back into his pillow and exhaled loudly, “I accomplished the task I set out to, then.”

“Mister Sombra!” Thunderlane objected, leaning forward and cuffing Rumble’s head lightly.

“Foals do dumb things sometimes. Adults do dumb things sometimes. Something very dangerous happened, and, while perhaps I did not walk away from the accident, nopony was permanently injured,” Sombra paused for a moment and looked at Redheart, “Right?”

Redheart huffed and crossed her forelegs. “Right.”

“Right,” Sombra continued, looking back at the brothers, “I call it a good day. It could have been a lot worse.”

“Yeah, I suppose…” Thunderlane looked down at his hooves, “You aren’t mad?”

“Of course not,” Sombra said, “Why would I be? I achieved exactly what I set out to – saving the life of your brother. Now if I have to do it again…” he trailed off, chuckling.

“Yeah, he’ll be much more careful when he’s playing with his ball next time, won’t he?”

“Yes, Thunderlane. Sorry Mister Sombra.”

“Please, I insist – do not worry about it. Just be careful, that is all I can ask of you.”

Rumble nodded and smiled, grunting acknowledgement.

“Come on, let’s get home,” Thunderlane said quietly, standing up from the chair, “Thank you for looking out for my brother, Sombra.”

Sombra nodded, and watched until the two Pegasi were outside his field of vision, listening for the telltale click of the door as they left. When the door closed again and their hoofsteps faded, he sighed heavily, and looked over at Redheart.

“I promise I’ll do better with the whole ‘almost dying’ thing.”

“This is twice in a year now.”

“The first time was hardly my fault.”

“Granted, but – ugh,” Redheart groaned, and leaned over to kiss him lightly on the cheek. “I’m glad you’re going to be alright.”

“As am I,” Sombra replied, content with the warmth on his cheek, “I would for sure miss this in the afterlife.”

Redheart blushed and promptly changed the subject. “When did Twilight teach you to teleport? I thought only very powerful unicorns could do that.”

“According to her I am an exceptionally powerful unicorn,” the black stallion explained, “She hasn’t officially taught me, though. I saw it in a book and I’ve seen her do it several times, so I took a few guesses. Apparently I didn’t get it quite right, as most of the reason I didn’t have time to get out of the way was my inability to tell up from down when I reappeared.”

“You big idiot.”

“I try.”

Sombra laughed weakly, and Redheart joined him.

“Well, happy birthday Sombra.”

“Thank you, Redheart.”

Chapter 25

Sombra walked with a slight limp – between the nurses and the doctors, he had been allowed out of the hospital, on the condition he wore a splint on his right foreleg. He had been slightly angled into the cart when it hit him, so his right side near his shoulder had taken the worst of the impact. His ribs still stung a little if he inhaled too deeply, but apart from that he felt remarkably well for having been hurt so badly only a couple days before. He worked his jaw, amazed by the fact that he couldn’t even tell where it had been fractured. This modern ‘magicine,’ as Redheart had called it, was absolutely amazing. Perhaps he might have to look into it later. For now, though, he needed to visit Sterling again.

“Good morning mister Sombra,” Sterling’s head popped up from behind the counter, once again depositing a cleaning cloth to speak, “I was expecting to see you two days ago, but I suspect you simply got busy. Are you interested in reviewing my designs?”

“Good morning to you as well, Sterling,” Sombra nodded and smiled, “Yes, I apologize for not coming back immediately, I was slightly… shall we say, laid up.” He paused and chuckled, “I got run over by an apple cart and broke over a dozen bones. It was a fun day.”

“Well,” Sterling said, one eyebrow arching in concern, “I am glad to see you are well then, sir.”

“Thank you very much. You said you had several designs drafted?”

“Oh, yes, of course sir. Let me go fetch them from my office,” Sterling nodded and ducked through a doorway behind the counter. Sombra stepped forward and looked idly at the items in the display case – a hoofful of jeweled silver necklaces, some hoofbands, a stray hornring or two – all of them crafted with the utmost care. Sombra smiled to himself, knowing he had made the right decision coming here to have the earrings made. “Sir?”

Sombra looked up. Sterling had a few sheets of paper tucked under a wing, smiling calmly at the unicorn.

“I drafted about a dozen different designs, but the more I looked over them the more I have decided that you will most likely be most interested in one of these four,” Sterling started, laying the papers down on the counter in front of him, “I still have the other designs and we can certainly examine those if none of these quite fit your fancy, but I feel like it will either be one of these four or I shall have to go back to the drawing board,” he finished with a smile and a nod.

Sombra looked at the papers before him. Three had designs on them, and one was blank. “Uh…”

“Oh, my mistake,” Sterling reached forward with a wing and flipped the fourth piece of paper over, “Sorry, things get a little tricky with wings instead of magic sometimes.”

Nodding understandingly, Sombra looked back down at the papers. Each had a distinct design, drawn both to display the earring itself and to show how they might look on a pony’s ear. The first sketch were two halves of a heart, cut in a manner that they might fit together. The sketches of the earring being worn indicated they were meant to hang down with the inside towards the face of the pony wearing it, and they bore an engraving of Sombra’s own cutie mark on it. It was a fair idea, but something about the idea of two halves of a heart separated did not quite capture the purpose of the earrings.

The second were a bit simpler – plain, silver rectangles with a ruby-and-gold likeness of his cutie mark inlaid upon it. The edges of the rectangles were beveled and polished, or so the drawing appeared to imply, giving them a soft, almost fluid appearance. Sombra liked it, this design definitely captured the idea of the earrings, but at the same time… the rectangle was not quite right.

“I like these,” Sombra said indicating the second with a hoof, “but they are not… not quite right.”

“Do you want me to make a few more drafts based on that concept?” Sterling offered, bringing a wingtip up to the second piece of paper, prepared to pull it back to him to take away.

“Perhaps,” Sombra answered, brow furrowing. This was a good idea, yes, but he just couldn’t quite place what was off about them. “I have not looked at the last two yet, do you mind if I take a little more time?”

“Not at all, of course,” Sterling answered, folding his wing back to his side and nodding. “Should I leave you alone for a few minutes?”

“That would be fine.”

Sterling nodded again, grabbed a cleaning cloth in his hoof, and stepped around the corner of the counter, bending down to polish something.

Looking back down at the papers, he scanned over to the third, but something on the fourth caught his eye. Deciding he could examine the third design later, he swung his head over to take a closer look at the fourth sheet. The design was…

“I am sorry to interrupt you, Sterling, but… how exactly does this design work?”

Sterling popped up from behind the counter, ruffling his wings slightly as he walked over to Sombra.

“Ah, yes, these – I was not sure how much you would like these, however, I was rather fond of the design myself and thought I may as well submit it for your consideration.”

“There are pieces that are entirely disconnected from the rest of the earring, how could this… stay in form?” Sombra asked, confused. “Surely a piece of jewelry could not be so easily given a permanent enchantment?”

“Actually,” Sterling started, eyes rolling toward the ceiling and tapping a hoof against his jaw, “About… forty years ago, a unicorn in Fillydelphia discovered a way for even the smallest bits of metal to retain powerful enchantments. Making enchanted jewelry is not as difficult as it once was.”

“The more you know,” Sombra mumbled to himself, looking back at the paper. It was truly fantastic, something only obtainable with magic – levitating rings circling around a central gemstone the color of Sombra’s eyes. It was very pretty, truthfully, but it just… wasn’t quite right. He shook his head and grimaced, looking to the fourth and final design. His grimace rapidly shifted to a smile.

“This – this is perfect,” Sombra tapped on the design with a hoof. “Sterling?”

“Yes sir?”

“How much would it be for this pair?”

“Hmm…” the Pegasus hummed and cocked his head to the side. “Given the relatively simple workponyship involved… I’d say eighteen hundred bits?”

Sombra nodded thoughtfully. “That seems perfectly fair. Do you know how long it would take for you to make them?”

“I can’t say for sure,” Sterling replied apologetically, “Did you have a proposal date in mind?”

“I…” Sombra thought for a moment, unsure. “I do, yes. Eleven days from now, next Saturday.”

“Ah, well,” Sterling said with a dip of his head, “I can certainly have them done within the week. If you would, you can stop by to pick them up next Wednesday.”

“Wonderful, thank you so much, mister Sterling,” Sombra brought a hoof up to place it on his shoulder, but thought that might be a little forward of him, and just awkwardly pawed at the air for a moment before putting it down. For just a few seconds, there was a painful silence, before Sombra came up with a clever segue. “So, uh, you said eighteen hundred bits, and a down-payment of half the price?”

“Yes sir,” Sterling answered, moving around the table and sketching up a quick receipt. “I assume you have the money with you?”

Nodding, Sombra’s horn lit up with that soft pale pink glow and summoned from the locks of his mane his bit purse. Placing it on the table, he began to draw forth the requisite bits. Counting out nine hundred little gold pieces took more than a short while, but Sterling seemed quite confident in his counting skills so there was no need to double-check, or so he assured Sombra. Thanking the Pegasus kindly for his time and effort, Sombra stepped back out into Ponyville.

Well, I now have the when and the what. Now for the how…

Resolving to settle that issue later, he trotted off to his home, eager to see Redheart there. Unsurprisingly, there she was when he got home, sitting on the couch with a novel propped open on her lap.

“Hello Sombra,” she greeted him happily, closing her novel around her hoof to address the stallion, “Have a nice day?”

“Very fine, thank you. I trust yours went well too? You seem to be rather relaxed,” Sombra answered, walking across the room and sitting down on the couch next to Redheart. She sat up, twisted, and laid back down again, head resting on the unicorn’s lap, and popped her novel open again.

“I did, yes. Nothing serious that couldn’t be solved with a little magic or medicine – a stallion came in with a broken ankle, and a young filly had some mild food poisoning from expired milk. Rather calm day, all things told.”

“That’s good,” Sombra said to her, resting a hoof on her head and gently petting her mane. He sighed, content to stay in this comfortable position for a little while longer.

“Did you have anything in mind for dinner?” Redheart asked, sliding a bookmark into her novel as she finished a chapter, “I don’t think there’s much left in the fridge.”

“We could go to that little café you took me to on our first day here. It’s been quite a while since we’ve been, hasn’t it?”

Redheart thought for a moment and nodded. “That would be nice.”

---

“You know, Sombra, I’ve been thinking,” Redheart started, looking up from her magazine and snuggling closer to her coltfriend in their shared bed. “Our one-year anniversary is coming up in a few days.”

“Is it now?” Sombra asked as though he hadn’t been counting every single day, “Is there something in particular you’d like to do on that day?”

“Well, I was wondering if we could go to Marilla’s again. It’s been so long since we’ve been, and it’d be nice to go back to the place we had our first date for our anniversary, don’t you think?”

“That would be wonderful. Next Saturday, right?”

“Yep.”

“I’ll talk to Brighter about getting that evening off. I’m sure she’ll be reasonable,” Sombra grumbled quietly, his voice low in the depths of his throat.

“Mmmm,” Redheart hummed contentedly, wiggling about in bed to get as close to him as possible, then yawned. “Wonderful. Goodnight, Sombra.”

“Goodnight, Redheart,” I love you. With a flash of magic, he pulled the cord on the lamp, and snuggled up next to his beloved.

---

Days came and went, and eventually it was Wednesday again. Having made covert plans with Brighter to have that morning off, Sombra walked nervously to Sterling’s.

“Good morning, sir,” Sterling greeted him, as always popping up from behind the counter with a cleaning cloth. “Ah, mister Sombra! Wonderful, wonderful, I finished that order for you yesterday. I’ll go fetch them,” he said, and turned with a flourish into the back room.

Sombra stepped up to the counter and took his bit purse from his mane, beginning to count out the rest of the bits. At one hundred sixty-two, Sterling returned.

“My apologies for the wait, kind sir. It took a moment to find the right ones,” Sterling bowed his head, and extended a wing. Delicately, he placed a small box on the counter. “If you would?”

Sombra’s horn lit up, gently levitating the lid away, setting it on the counter. Inside were two earrings, crafted just like the designs on the paper. They were perfect.

“How do you like them?”

“Exactly what I had in mind, Sterling, thank you. I should owe you nine hundred additional bits, correct?”

“Ah, unfortunately sir, the price of sapphires has gone up slightly,” Sterling offered with a nervous laugh, “I am afraid I will have to raise the total price to nineteen hundred bits. That won’t be a problem, will it?”

“Of course not,” Sombra replied, “I still have more than enough.”

“Wonderful. Again, I’m terribly sorry sir, but I am sure you understand.”

“Indeed I do,” Sombra replied, continuing to count out the bits for another minute or so, “There. That should be right.”

“Excellent, thank you kindly. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors.”

“Thank you very much, Mister Sterling,” Sombra nodded, tucking his (much lighter) bit purse away, and taking the box in his magical grasp. Turning and nodding his thanks to Sterling one last time, he walked back out the doors.

“Sombra?” Redheart asked. It was less of a question of who and more a question of why. As in, why was Sombra walking out of Sterling’s jewelry store.

Sombra’s ears perked up at the voice. His head swiveled, and his eyes found Redheart walking towards him. Before he could stop the reaction, his eyes went wide and his mouth opened slightly. Subconsciously, he put the little box behind himself, obscuring it from Redheart’s view. This is my luck, he thought to himself, then he turned and ran.

“Sombra!” Redheart called after him, breaking into a run behind her boyfriend. Ponies stepped politely out of her way as she galloped across the road, eyes focused on the fleeing flank before her. Sombra looked over his shoulder and saw her chasing him, and in turn only ran harder.

Twilight, he called out telepathically, hoping the mare could hear him, Twilight please I really need your help right now!

Sombra? What’s wrong? The detached voice of the young Alicorn came into his head, Are you in danger?

Only of being found out. Can you teleport me to your library?

I… I can, but I thought you hated being teleported?

A bit of discomfort is worth a quick escape right now.

Alright, I need you to stand still though.

Just a moment, Sombra thought. He stopped running and dug his hooves into the ground, turning as sharply as he could and throwing himself into an alley behind a house. Any time would be nice.

Prepare yourself, Twilight thought back with a note of finality. Sombra stopped short, took one great breath in, and exhaled fully. The world fell out from beneath him.

Redheart turned into the alley moments after the flash of light faded, looking around for the black unicorn. That’s odd, he never told me he learned how to properly teleport. Why was he running so hard though?

Sombra reappeared in Twilight’s front room and took a huge gasp of air to fill his burning lungs. Twilight rushed out of a room at the top of the stairs, running down to greet him.

“What’s the matter? Are you hurt? Is the town in danger?”

“I will… tell you in a moment… no, and no,” Sombra breathed heavily. He had been out of breath from sprinting, and the forced exhalation just before teleporting had left him completely winded. As he sucked air for a minute, sparks in his vision gradually fading. “I…” he paused and looked away, “About a week ago, I ordered a pair of earrings from Sterling’s International Silver Items Shop. They are a… an old Crystal Empire tradition. We did not use rings for…” Sombra trailed off.

Twilight’s concerned frown had changed to a smirk, passed right through a grin, and kept going until it was a broad, smug smile. “An old Crystal Empire marriage proposal tradition?” she asked, feeling like she had a pretty good idea what the answer would be.

“Yes, that,” Sombra nodded, looking back at Twilight, “Anyways, he finished them today and I was going in to pick them up. When I walked out of the store, Redheart happened to be there. I… panicked slightly.”

“That seems apparent,” Twilight replied with a chuckle, “How do you plan on explaining away why you ran?”

“I have no earthly idea.”

“Well,” the Alicorn paused and looked at the ground for a moment, thinking. “I could explain the teleportation as an experiment gone awry. I have been experimenting with long-range third-party teleportation recently, and that alley is certainly a location I would have expected to be empty at any given time. Think that would work?”

“Yes, but that still leaves the issue of why I ran.”

“Well, they say the best lie is the one closest to the truth. Your one-year anniversary is coming up, right?”

“How do you know that?”

“Well, between national crises, there isn't much to do around Ponyville except get to know your neighbors. There’s talk around town,” Twilight explained, smiling. “Anyways, you could just say you were buying some jewelry and wanted it to be a surprise. Admit you panicked. It’s a little flimsy, but it’s also about eighty-three percent of the truth.”

“That could work,” Sombra perked up, “Thank you, Twilight. I mean that truly, you have been so kind and helpful to me for all this time. Really.”

“You’re welcome, Sombra. It makes me so happy to see…” Twilight trailed off and looked away for a moment, blowing a puff of air out her nose, “well, of all ponies, even you, if you don’t mind me saying, even you have been healed by the magic of friendship. It’s… honestly, of all the time I’ve spent here with my friends, wielding the Elements of Harmony, even with Discord, nothing has been quite so… tangibly evident that what I’m doing makes a real difference. So thank you, Sombra. Thank you, too.”

“You are going to make me cry,” Sombra feigned a sniffle, “though I am extremely glad.”

“Go on, Sombra, get home. I’m sure you’re eager to ask Redheart a certain question.”

---

Saturday rolled around, and Sombra woke up with a tightness in his chest. Today was the day, he was going to do it. Redheart still slumbered next to him, and content he lay with a leg beneath her head, her head rolling back and forth in time with her breath. He smiled. He knew – this is what he wanted to wake up to every morning. It was only a question of whether or not Redheart felt the same. He knew she’d say yes, well, knew might be an overstatement, but he was fairly certain. Just the same, part of his mind was asking the question What if she says no?

Sombra was determined, though. No thoughts, no questions. He was going to ask her, whatever her answer might be, but today he was going to ask Redheart to marry him.

She rolled to the side, off of his foreleg. He sat up, leaned over her, and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. She giggled in her sleep, and pawed at her cheek with a hoof. Sombra laughed quietly, and rolled the other way to get out of bed and go take a shower. He stayed under the hot water a little longer than normal, hoping it would do something to soothe his growing nerves. He was tense, yes, but he was also extremely excited. Today was going to be a turning point in his relationship with Redheart, for better or for worse.

For better. Don’t think about the negative. You love her, and she loves you, or so everypony else would have me believe. Gah. I’m ready for this. You can ask her, you feel great. You can do this. Sombra smiled and looked up – right into the stream of water coming from the showerhead. He winced as the pressurized liquid hit his eyes, stepped backwards, and lost his hoofing. He groaned and stood back up, pleasantly surprised that he hadn’t seemed to have twisted or rolled anything. Now achieving his intended goal of turning off the shower, he summoned his towel magically and dried himself off.

Redheart, for her part, had woken up the moment Sombra had kissed her cheek, and was meticulously checking her own preparations. Brighter had a point, Sombra being forward enough to ask her to marry him would be a sudden change of heart, though not unwelcome. Her grandmother had been a unicorn, and she had always kept her engagement ring from when her other grandmother had proposed. In secret she had had it resized, and it should fit Sombra perfectly now. One year ago they had gone on their first date, and tonight, she was going to ask him to marry her. Sure it was a little backwards from the norm, but she knew he’d say yes in a heartbeat.

---

Snowflake’s eyes opened quickly, alert and ready to face the day. Brighter Horizons lay across his massive chest, sleeping with a happy smile on her face. Tonight, his best friend was going to propose to his sister. He felt an odd swell of pride at the thought, but shook it off with a laugh. The rumbling of his chest carried vibrations into Brighter’s own, shaking the mare from her sleep.

“What’s so funny?” she mumbled, rubbing an eye with a hoof.

“Nothing, just thinking of how Sombra’s proposal is going to go tonight.”

“You mean Redheart’s proposal.”

Snowflake’s eyes widened and he looked at Brighter in confusion, the golden unicorn sharing his expression. A few moments later, understanding washed over both of them.

“… should we tell them?”

“And ruin the surprise? Of course not.”

---

“Well? How do I look?”

“Just as beautiful as the first day I met you,” Sombra threw a soft, genuine smile her way as she walked down the stairs. Redheart blushed in reply, returning the smile.

“You really need to stop flattering me so.”

“Never.”

Redheart giggled and planted a peck on the gray unicorn’s cheek, and both ponies became acutely aware of the surprises tucked in their manes. Pulling away, she coughed awkwardly.

“Well, shall we?”

Sombra nodded and indicated the door with a hoof, before bringing it around and offering it to Redheart. Confidently, the two strode into the evening towards Marilla’s.

Arriving precisely on-time, Sombra’s established reservations guided them to a different seat than usual, one clearly designed for two ponies – no more, no less. Redheart raised an incredulous eyebrow at the atypical accommodations, but Sombra either took no notice or ignored her, taking his typical gentlecoltly stance in offering her a chair before taking his own. Making pleasant small-talk until the waitress arrived, Redheart ordered her typical pesto gnocchi, and Sombra opting for the eggplant parmesan. He had tried it sometime after their first date and found it simply delicious, and he had been missing it dearly. Their meals came promptly, their waitress remaining attentive but maintaining a respectful distance, constantly keeping their drinks filled. The couple reminisced about their memories together in Ponyville, Sombra made his best attempt at a few jokes, and, in general, they were purely enjoying each other’s company.

“And then- and then he- he-” Sombra wheezed out between laughs, unable to finish his sentence. It was hardly the atmosphere to be so boisterous, and both he and Redheart were drawing more than a few glances from the other patrons. He brought a hoof up and wiped a tear from his eye as the laughter died down, and took a sip from his water. Their meal had long-since ended, but the date wasn’t over, not quite yet. Sombra inhaled deeply through his nose, and exhaled completely through his mouth.

“Now, Miss Redheart-” he began.

“It’s been a while since you’ve called me that,” the earth pony interrupted him. “Sorry.”

“Miss Redheart, I do have a question for you,” Sombra started again, mouth flat, but eyes soft. He took a drink to try to sooth his rapidly drying throat, and also to try to throw on an air of confidence to hide his nerves.

“Oh?”

“Miss Redheart, will you marry me?”

“Sombra, you asked me that on our first date,” Redheart replied with a small laugh, shaking her head and looking down.

“Not quite – the wording was a little different then,” Sombra corrected her, moving out of his chair and stepping around the table. His horn ignited as he retrieved the box he had planted under the table earlier that day, bringing it around in front of him. “I did not ask you if you would marry me.”

Redheart gasped as he opened the box and knelt.

“I asked you if you will.”

The white mare’s heart rose in her throat. Her mouth opened to give an answer, but no sound came out. In the box were two finely crafted silver earrings – short, fine chains ending in ornately wrought latticed spheres. Within the ball on the end of each earring was a finely cut gemstone, the one on the left holding a pale blue sapphire, and on the right, a ruby. They were breathtaking. Redheart couldn’t believe what she was seeing – Brighter had spent so much time convincing her of the need to propose, and here Sombra was, down on one knee, asking her to share her life with him. She looked down at the earrings, up at Sombra, back down at the earrings. Her heart was still threatening to leap out of her mouth, and she swallowed hard, gently running her tongue over her lips. She could feel the tears welling in her eyes, and began to nod. The bobs of her head started small and rapid, the motions becoming larger and slower as she slid out of her chair and took a step towards Sombra. A smile began to spread on her face, and laughter began to accompany the tears.

“Is… was there something funny about what I said?” Sombra asked as the laughing, crying mare walked towards him. She reached up into her mane and pulled forth a golden ring with a diamond on it.

“I was about to propose to you,” she said, voice barely stable through the emotions, “I was… I was about ten seconds away from proposing to you because Brighter told me you’d never ask me yourself.”

“So… that’s a yes, then?” Sombra asked, a hopeful smile on his face, hints of laughter playing into his voice as well. He was a bit of a chicken, sure, but if there was one thing he knew it was that he loved Redheart, and some nerves would never have stopped him from asking her this right now.

“Yes,” she breathed, still barely able to find her voice, “Dear Celestia, yes, Sombra, yes,” she squeaked out. Tears were falling freely down her face now, and she wrapped her hooves around Sombra’s neck. The black unicorn gently set the earring box on the table beside them, and in his magic grasp, levitated the earrings over to himself and Redheart. He affixed one to his own ear, and gently attached it’s partner to Redheart’s. The mare started briefly, but made no objections, merely hugging Sombra even tighter afterwards. After a minute – or perhaps it had been an hour, she didn’t know, and truthfully, didn’t care – Redheart pulled away from the embrace and looked into Sombra’s eyes.

“I love you,” she said softly.

“I love you too,” Sombra replied, and leaned in to kiss her.

After what seemed like an eternity lost in the caress of her love’s lips, Redheart pulled away and opened her eyes, watching the purple smoke slowly curl skyward and disappear.

Chapter 26: Epilogue

Sombra’s throat was dry. “Nervous” would be a grand understatement for his current situation. His breathing was shallow, aggressive, agitated. Here he stood on the pulpit, Princess Celestia towering above him, smiling serenely (and, if he read the curl of her lips right, just a wee bit smugly) down at him. She wasn’t really all that much taller than him, especially compared to most other ponies, but today she seemed even bigger than normal. Sombra swallowed for what seemed like the hundredth time today.

He glanced around the room behind him, hoping his nerves weren’t showing as much as they felt like they were. Snowflake stood off to one side, and made a curt, reassuring nod when Sombra’s gaze passed over him. The huge white Pegasus was practically bursting out of his formalwear, but it did look good on him. Sombra nodded weakly in reply, continuing to sweep the room. Standing in the front row was Brighter Horizons, wearing that same pretty green dress Sombra had seen her eyeing all that time ago. Rarity had given it to her as a wedding gift. Next to her mother stood Tag-a-long, the little filly staring wide-eyed at the Princess and Sombra. She fidgeted slightly, but Sombra could hardly blame her. She was just a child – as were the fourteen other foals standing next to them. Snowflake and Brighter could hardly miss this, after all, and there wasn’t about to be anypony to take care of the foals at the orphanage.

So Brighter and Snowflake simply decided to bring them all to Sombra’s wedding.

Sombra was vaguely aware of Princess Celestia speaking, and swung his head back around to her.

“Sombra?”

“Yes princess?”

“A little nervous, are we?” She giggled. The Princess had such a nice laugh. It felt to Sombra like she didn’t laugh often enough, and he did feel bad for her for it.

“A little would be a fairly dramatic understatement, Princess,” Sombra answered, forcing a smile to his face. His nerves betrayed his emotions – truly, he was overjoyed, but he could hardly keep his mind from wandering to all the potentially disastrous possibilities. What if Redheart disappeared? What if there was some sort of accident? What if-

A wedding march began to play, and all those thoughts disappeared as Sombra looked to the back of the room.

The door opened slowly, serenely covered in a golden glow as the Royal Guards on each side magically grasped the heavy, ornate gates and drew them apart. In through them stepped two ponies – the glowing bride-to-be, and, according to Equestrian tradition, her father. Redheart’s father was a nice pony, as Sombra had gotten to know him in the past few months, the slate gray unicorn always looking a little bit tired, but ever a note of cheer in his voice. He kept his same soft smile and tired eyes today, but Sombra could see the happiness welling behind them.

Redheart, Sombra was relieved to see, looked nearly as nervous as he was. Joy was evident within her from the broad, happy smile on her face, and light, eager step of her hooves. At the same time, her eyebrows were arched backwards in a manner indicative of more than a small amount of fear. Her head swiveled around the room, searching for a point of focus, only to find that she was, in fact, the point of focus. Her eyes settled on Brighter, the golden mare shooting her a smile and a wink. Redheart paused for a moment and inhaled deeply, expelling the breath slowly and smoothly, and looking towards the pulpit her soon-to-be husband stood on.

Sombra was making a very conscious effort to keep his jaw off the floor. Redheart looked, quite literally for the dark gray unicorn, stunning. Her wedding gown was not perhaps as extravagant as some others, but Redheart was not a particularly extravagant mare, and it suited her well. A light veil covered her face, falling gently over her mane – she was wearing it down today, the pale pink hair trailing down over her shoulders. Her shoulders were covered with thin, white straps that were only distinguishable from her fur by their texture – a fine, faintly reflective material that contrasted with her matte white fur far more than two things of the same color had any right to. The neckline of her gown plunged low on her chest, and Sombra found himself blushing for no real reason. Ponies walked around naked all the time, but this somehow seemed so much more… he couldn’t really put it into words, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t appreciate it. His eyes followed her dress down to her back, the cloth fitted to her close but not confining; her movements were still natural and unrestricted. Folds of fabric slid against one another, creating a shimmering, sparkling effect as she walked, the relatively short train sliding serenely across the smooth floor. Her tail was concealed within the dress, the way her legs moved when she walked causing it to exaggerate the motions of her rear, giving her hips a sway they didn’t normally possess.

As she reached the steps to the pulpit, her father released her forehoof. She looked to him for a moment in confusion, but he merely nodded happily, and stepped to the side near Brighter Horizons. Taking the few steps up, she stood before Sombra and Celestia, praying she was ready for what was to come next. Sombra was still unapologetically staring. Redheart met his gaze, even all these months later still a little unused to the disappearance of that purple haze that had accompanied his face for so long. After a few moments, the two ponies realized the music had stopped playing, and a couple amused, muffled laughs were rolling through the crowd as Sombra and Redheart looked into each others’ eyes. Behind them, Princess Celestia coughed quietly, and the smaller ponies before her looked away awkwardly before looking to her. Celestia smiled down at them knowingly.

“Well,” Princess Celestia began, the crowd quieting immediately, “There are a number of things I expected to do or to have to do should you return from your imprisonment,” addressing Sombra directly but speaking to the crowd as well, “But I must say, presiding over your wedding was not one of them. You, my little pony, are a testament almost as big as our newest Princess to the powers of friendship and love, and the deep, profound healing they can have on a soul. So, as per your request, I am honored to preside over your wedding, and it is with great pride that I find myself here today.”

“Princess-” Sombra started, then closed his mouth again, deciding better of interrupting the pony trying to marry him. He covered a mouth with a hoof, and looked apologetically at the solar diarch.

“It’s fine, Sombra. Really, it is. It makes me happy when I can interact in the lives of my ponies in such a personal way,” Celestia placed a hoof gently on his shoulder, “But enough about me. Let’s wed you.”

Sombra managed a nervous laugh and smiled back, then looked at Redheart. Nervicited would be the word he would have used to describe her face. She was smiling, quite broadly, but also visibly shaking slightly. He held a hoof out to her, and she took it gently.

“Dearly beloved,” Princess Celestia spoke loudly once again, this time to every pony in the room, not just the two before her, “We are gathered here today to celebrate the joining of two lives, the joining of the former king, Sombra, and Nurse Redheart. Two ponies from extremely different times and places, and a true demonstration of what love can do. Mister Snowflake, I believe that is your cue,” she finished, nodding at the big Pegasus. Snowflake nodded and walked forward, taking deliberate, measured steps, and bending low to present the first of two matrimonial bands to Sombra. The unicorn picked it up gently with his magic, thanking Snowflake quietly, and turned to Redheart as the Pegasus shuffled back to his position on the side.

“Of all the things-” Sombra’s voice broke as his throat dried up, sending a ripple of quiet laughter through the crowd. He smirked and sent a faux-annoyed glare outwards, and turned back to his soon-to-be wife. “Miss Redheart, of all the things my hooves have held, the best by far is you. You took me in, you helped me when I did not deserve it and when nopony else would have, defended me when I needed it most, and above all, loved me when I would not love myself. Redheart, I love you more than anything else and I had never been happier than the day you told me you would spend your life with me. Please, accept this band as a symbol of my love for you.”

Redheart nodded, holding her hoof out for Sombra. The band floated towards her in his magic, slipping gently onto her hoof. She examined it briefly, then placed her hoof back in Sombra’s own and looked back to him.

“You’re crying,” she said quietly.

“I know,” Sombra replied, wiping a hoof across his eyes with a small laugh, “I can’t… I can’t stop.”

Redheart chuckled. “I suppose it’s my turn?”

Snowflake stepped over once again, presenting a slightly larger hoofband to Redheart for her to give to Sombra. Turning back to her groom, she inhaled deeply through her nose, and slowly, smoothly exhaled through her mouth.

“Sombra,” she started, “You have been since the moment I met you, nothing short of the utmost gentlecolt. You have strived so hard to make me happy, and frankly, you succeeded. I am far happier than I could ever explain that I met you – you reintroduced a joy to my life I had long forgotten. For all the places I have been, I am no place without you, and I would love to wake up next to you every day for the rest of my life. Please, take this wedding band as a symbol of my love for you.”

Reaching out, she brought her hooves to Sombra’s, her lack of magic making it a somewhat less graceful affair. A momentary flare from Sombra’s horn got it on properly though and she smiled awkwardly as she thanked him.

“Very well,” Princess Celestia spoke again, “I have one question for each of you. Redheart, do you take Sombra to be your husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health for the rest of your days?”

“Yes!” Redheart answered loudly, blushing for a moment as she realized that wasn’t exactly the appropriate response. “I… I do, I mean. I do.”

Nodding, Celestia turned to Redheart. “And do you, Sombra, in turn take Redheart to be your wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for the rest of your days?”

“I do,” Sombra said.

The princess smiled.

“Then you may now kiss the bride,” Celestia spoke quietly.

And he did.

The End