A Tyrant Uplifted

Sombra watched out the window as the carriage pulled up to its destination.

"Why are we at a fancy buffet?" He asked.

Luna chuckled, "It's one of my favorite restaurants in Canterlot," she said as if it was obvious.

The unicorn rose an eyebrow, "That explains why you're here, but why am I here?"

"I thought you needed some food. You haven't really had anything to eat in, what, a thousand years?"

As if to confirm Luna's question, Sombra's stomach growled, and he looked away, "I don't deserve this..."

The princess placed a hoof on his shoulder, "That shouldn't keep you from accepting it."

"What about the attention this is going to bring?" He asked, "I don't think you want to be seen taking one of the most dangerous criminals in Equestrian History out to dinner."

The alicorn looked over him, "You look different enough. Your horn is straight instead of curved, there's no red on it anymore, and your mane is smoother. That and nopony saw you very often without your cape."

Sombra looked away, "Either way, I don't want to be seen right now..." He leaned against his seat, "To be honest, I'm afraid to show myself."

Luna was about to speak, when Sombra looked at her, "After what I did, how am I supposed to face anypony?!"

She stopped him, "The answer to that is very simple." She rose a hoof to the tip of her muzzle, pushing it back and up, while using the other hoof to pull out her lower lip, looking almost like a pig, "Like Thisth!"

He didn't even know what to think about that, whether to laugh or not. The result of this was a blank stare. After a couple moments, he sighed, "I don't think ridiculous faces are going to help get me on their good side." Luna's face fell when she realized her joke didn't do anything to get the unicorn to be a little lighter about the situation.

"I mean, look at me!" Sombra almost shouted, "I took over the whole Crystal Empire by force, used fear to enslave them, and took away their princess. Then I almost killed you, threw the Empire into a void, and returned a thousand years later to destroy the damn place!"

Luna let him say this, but spoke up after he finished, "I tried to plunge the whole world into eternal night. For attention."

He was taken aback by this statement, "You--What?"

"However, I do see your point. Give me a moment," with that, the princes stepped out of the carriage, talking to the driver for a moment. She stepped back in, "We'll have dinner in the royal palace."

She picked up a scroll and a quill, writing a letter and using a spell to send it.

Sombra sat up, "What spell was that? I've never seen one used like that before."

Luna shrugged, "Just a messenger spell my sister showed me, to send a letter through the flow of magic that exists all around us. It re-materializes in the fire breath of a certain dragon. She developed it to get continuous communication with Twilight Sparkle."

"That's amazing," he said, to which Luna responded with a simple shrug as the carriage started moving again.

"This is where we will eat this afternoon," Luna said, leading him into the grand hall. Sombra walked beside her, and looked at the table.

The hall was bigger than the one in the Crystal Palace, and certainly rivaled it in terms of grandeur. Then the table caught his attention, "Um.. Princess?"

"Yes?" Luna looked down at him.

"Why are there nine chairs at the table?"

"Don't worry, Sombra, the other seven are anything but judgmental. Besides--"

"Hi there!" A pink earth pony jumped out of nowhere, right into Sombra's face, eliciting a startled yell from the dark unicorn, who stumbled back onto his back.

Sombra's jaw dropped as he stared at this pony. That mane.. He thought, looking at the wild tangles on her head. She had three pastel-colored balloons on her flank, and her eyes were blue, That mane... She had an excited grin on her face at meeting the new pony, as she spoke, "I'm Pinkie Pie!"

THAT MANE!