Morning in Ponyville shimmers.
Twilight Sparkle groaned over the voice and threw off her covers. She repeated the motion, kicking her legs into the open air to shake some feeling back into her lethargic muscles.
How long did you just lie there?
It wasn't often she let herself lounge in bed after waking, but this day had the potential to get out of control as soon as it started for her. Spike had even been kind enough to leave without a snark on her sloth when he left to start preparations. Unfortunately, sleep had eluded her.
Best not keep them waiting much longer.
Twilight sat up with a heavy sigh, and rolled her neck around. She had hoped that Canterlot's sleepless nights were the result of stress from her transformation to an alicorn combined with the extravagant chambers Celestia provided for her. The familiar comforts now surrounding her proved that thought wrong, however. It was a stark clue of how much must have changed, and now she faced her first day back in Ponyville unrested, and unsure what to expect.
Her nightmare scenario was that she would be swarmed the moment she showed her face, buried under a barrage of requests for royal decrees or personal favors. Twilight hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but she had fine-tuned her teleportation spell with her new body up in Canterlot, and was confident she could escape a mob without incident.
Mobs and escapes... All she wanted from the day was to be seen as the same pony now as she was a week ago.
Impossible.
Twilight shook her head clear, and called her plan to mind. It would just be a brisk walk to Carousel Boutique, where Rarity and Spike would be fixing breakfast for everypony by now. Brief exposure at first, then she would meet up with her friends, and gradually increase her time in public throughout the day. If things got too intense, she could count on Spike and the others to run interference before she was overwhelmed.
She nodded to herself. It was a good plan.
If Rarity wouldn’t pitch a fit about her bed hair. Twilight sat in front of her mirror and levitated her brush.
Bury your feelings all you want, but you can’t hide your fears from me. You trust them, but you don't know if they can trust you. Are you finally going to tell them about us?
The brush quivered in her grasp, but she clamped down on it. She made her plans to keep the day as uneventful as possible. Getting drawn into another discussion with her “guest” wouldn’t help her mood. Her friends were waiting, and they were going to have a nice, boring meal at the Carousel Boutique. Just like nothing had changed.
Don’t forget your wings before you go.
Twilight grit her teeth and fixed an icy stare at the rope tied around her barrel. A quick spell undid the knot, and her wings sprang free in a heartbeat, unbidden. She had hoped they’d be more comfortable as time passed from her transformation, but they were still uncontrollable, especially in the night.
It’s only been a few days. Give it time.
Her brush snapped in half. “What do you want, Sombra?”
So you can still hear me. Good to know.
“Answer the question!”
Answer mine, first. Will you clue them in on our little secret?
“I... I don’t know.” The stars knew she had wanted to tell them. Every lull in a conversation had invited her to speak, but her voice faltered under the weight of her secret every time. Silence was so much simpler. At least until she figured out the words that would soothe over their shock and fear of what she had done, but they remained frustratingly vague.
So tell them the truth. How odd that I am the one giving you friendship advice.
Twilight stared into the incredulous eyes of her reflection. “Oh, that would go over just fine. ‘Hey girls, remember how I was trapped by Sombra’s magic on the top of that tower? Well he used that connection to zap his consciousness into my head. I’ve been letting him eavesdrop on all our conversations ever since.’”
You skipped the important parts.
She snorted. “I don’t think they would feel sorry for a tyrannical overlord of terror.”
But you did. You showed me mercy, even though you could have pushed me into oblivion with a single thought. Tell them why.
“Oblivion...” Her stomach turned in knots, and she shivered, remembering the terror she felt at the edge of nothingness—at the ultimate end of a life—but it wasn’t hers she remembered. Sombra had faced his destruction against the Crystal Heart, and his primal cries tore through her memory once more. He had been there in an instant, transported to the last soul his power had touched. Alone. Powerless. Nothing but a ghost in the mind of the pony that had overcome his tricks and traps.
Afraid.
And Twilight had spared him.
“I thought you deserved a second chance. You were a pony, not the physical embodiment of chaos, or a cosmic force of hatred. You were a unicorn, no different from me.”
Not anymore, your highness.
“Don’t remind me.” Twilight flung a foreleg back and tried to wrestle her wing back to her body. “It’s all a moot point, I guess. I can’t tell them about you; they’d never trust me again. I... can’t risk that. A princess needs trust.”
A princess needs—
“Enough.” She reached for the second wing. “I’ve answered your question, now you answer mine. What do you want? You’ve been quiet these last few days.”
I’ve been thinking of my future, and so have you.
Twilight froze. “I’m not ready to make that decision yet.”
She had likened Sombra to a parasite in her more frustrated moments, but the truth was more complicated than that. He survived only because she continued to allow it. Without her body to shelter him, and with no body of his own to channel his magic... Twilight supposed his spirit would be torn asunder as it tried to rejoin his physical form. Sombra had never wished to speak of that scenario, but the current arrangement was not entirely without its benefits for her.
In spite of all her studies after the fact, she couldn’t find one spell that could allow Sombra to do what he did. Her failure only reinforced her observations in the Crystal Empire: Sombra was a genius. A twisted genius, of course, but the only unicorn in history who could possibly come close to his accomplishments was Star Swirl the Bearded.
So began the strangest relationship Twilight Sparkle had ever known. Over the last weeks and months, Sombra had whispered his wisdom into her mind. As terrible as his spells were—his suggestion of how to deal with Pinkie Pie’s clones still made her skin crawl—Twilight meticulously sifted through his lessons. Concentrating only on the focus his spells required rather than the anger and fear they inspired, she found the method to his madness. Her skill and knowledge of magic grew in kind.
If you are so conflicted, allow me to make a suggestion.
“I already know what it is. Your freedom.” That had been quite the revelation upon her return to the Crystal Empire. Twilight had always suspected there was some way for Sombra to survive without her, but she never considered that he already knew a way until he reminded her of the crystal in his throne room. With the proper ritual, the same magical properties that could change the world around those crystals would allow a pony’s mind to survive inside one of them.
My freedom? You feel such disdain for that word. You just said I wasn’t the physical embodiment of chaos, but he roams free. After everything you’ve learned from me, after everything you’ve tried to teach me about friendship, you still don’t trust me?
Twilight huffed and clenched her eyes shut. She summoned her first memory of the Crystal Empire, of the frozen wasteland she and her friends first encountered his nightmarish spectre. The frigid wind bit into her flesh now with the same ferocity it had torn at her face as she ran, as she ran for her life while she left her brother behind to face the terror alone. And at the end, she recalled the relief and warmth that spread through her when she crossed Cadance’s barrier.
What was the point of that?
She kept her eyes closed, trying to remember the thrill of seeing the Empire’s beauty for the first time. “You’re asking me to destroy this feeling. What good would my releasing you into one crystal in the palace do? You can spread, can’t you? I heard how you could manipulate the crystals when you attacked the Crystal Fair. If I’m wrong about you, you’ll grow and threaten the Empire, the crystal ponies, and my family all over again.”
So long as the power of the Crystal Heart remains, that is impossible.
“Even if that’s true, I can’t just... put you back on the shelf like that!” Twilight buried her face in a hoof. “I can’t even bring myself to tell my friends about you, much less tell Cadance I’m going to endanger every pony she’s trying to protect. I can’t make a decision like that on my own.”
Precisely.
Her eyes snapped open. “What are you driving at, Sombra?”
You can’t make a decision like that on your own. Yet. I was going to suggest I stay with you a bit longer. You need me now more than ever.
Her blood ran cold. "What did you say?"
I was a king. You are a princess who can’t even sleep with her wings properly. I know things you don’t.
Twilight whirled around and nearly blasted the door to her balcony off its hinges. She stormed to the railing, ignorant of the breeze, or the sun, or anything but the ponies bustling through the streets under her. Twilight glared down at them.
“Look through my eyes, Sombra.” She focused her gaze on one pony, and another, and on the market stalls in the distance. “Do you see all this? Can you understand that the ponies in the market there choose to be there? Can you understand that they get to enjoy the result of their hard work? Did you see those colts playing in the street? Did you see that pegasus couple fly by together just enjoying the day? Can you understand that every pony is happy?
“I was nothing like this in the Crystal Empire until Cadance invited us back for that Equestria Games welcome, and I know you saw exactly what I did when we walked through the city. The Empire, the ponies, they’re all better off without you! Now you have the audacity to hold your kingship over me? The only thing you could teach me about being royalty is how to cause suffering!”
The final word hung in the air.
Twilight Sparkle swallowed, forcing her anger down as much as she could, and stumbled back away from the railing. The wind followed her in, a gentle brush against her, beckoning her to come out. Quiet, peaceful Ponyville was waiting for her.
She slammed the door shut and sat down, head bowed and shoulders trembling. “Say something.”
I can’t deny it.
Twilight shook her head. “Please say something.”
Every word you said is true, and you are afraid of what that means.
“I-I’m a princess. I have—“
Power. You have power, and you can’t trust me. You can’t risk setting me loose in the Empire. You can’t risk my influence in your head anymore. There’s only one option left to you, isn’t there?
"I—"
Have you ever seen a tree, Twilight Sparkle? Truly seen one? I don't think you have. You must see them against a thunderstorm. The black sky above will reveal every single leaf with a contrast you won't see in a sky of blue. The winds will catch every branch, forcing the tree to bow, to twist, to struggle for its very survival. Twilight Sparkle, it comes alive. It is beautiful.
The Crystal Empire was much the way back then as it is now, an oasis locked in the frozen wastes. It was weak. So I fell on my home like a thunderstorm. I smashed down that protection against nature and forced the Empire to endure. I forced the Empire to bow, to twist, to struggle for its very survival, and I mastered it. I forced the Empire into conflict. It would become strong, or it would fail. Such is life.
A chill went down Twilight Sparkle's spine. She had tried to find his reason for conquering the Crystal Empire before, but Sombra always refused to answer her. He didn’t conquer the Empire out of anger, or greed, or pride. He destroyed because destruction was right.
Now I find myself embedded in the psyche of a princess, equal in power and influence to the ones who defeated me. Who could have seen this coming? The stakes are higher for you now than they ever have been. You carry something dangerous, far more dangerous than you thought. Perhaps, you wonder, it would be best if you simply... didn't.
Twilight raised her head. “Are you... asking me to push you out?”
I am curious if you can. I suffered no threat to my rule.
She studied her reflection in the mirror, knowing Sombra was doing the same. The world looked to have fallen on the poor girl’s shoulders as she sat, alone, watching Twilight from the mirror with quivering lips. The wings drooping at her side were the visible proof of the destiny that had been thrust upon her, but as her eyes began to burn, Twilight knew she would never find any solace from her burden until she found peace in her own mind.
For peace, she needed only a single thought.
“No. I can’t.”
All was quiet for a moment.
Why not? I know the thought has dominated your mind ever since your coronation. You’ve learned my lessons and have grown stronger. No one else even knows I still exist. So what are you waiting for? Do you wish to carry me with you for the rest of your life? Will you willingly hear my words on every decision you make in your new role knowing what I did with my own home?
Twilight smiled at herself. “You haven’t learned my lessons yet. Friends aren’t something to be used up and swept away. I’m not giving up on you, Sombra. Don’t you remember what I said on top of the tower?”
Feh. “A shadow is only obstructed light.”
“Meaning...?”
Meaning that for a shadow like mine, a brilliant light must be behind it. You wondered how much good I could have done if I had let that light shine freely. Tell me, did you truly think, even at that very moment you decided to spare me, that I could change? That you could actually trust me to the point where you could free me?
Twilight walked closer to her mirror, resolve shining through her unshed tears. “I did. I still do.”
Yet here I remain. Trapped.
The word struck a nerve, but she held her anger in check this time. “You’re not a slave, Sombra. You’re not a king, either, but you’re not a slave. And I... I just became a princess, and I have no idea what to do. I’d say we both have room to grow. Maybe even less than you think.”
You... Explain that.
Twilight flashed a smile and turned away from the mirror. "I appreciate this little review. It's given me some... clarity. Whether you were trying to or not, you were helpful to somepony else when they needed you."
You were afraid. It's unbecoming of royalty. Do you recall my first lesson when you asked to learn my magic?
"Yes, 'Devour your fear, or be devoured,' but that's not what I meant."
What did you mean?
"It's not that hard to understand," Twilight teased. "You noticed I was upset, and you helped me feel better. I'm grateful. If you did that more often, I might have freed you by now!"
DON'T MOCK ME!
"I wasn't. Sombra, you... you argued in favor of my ending you. Even if you were just trying to test me, you freely offered up your own extinction as a way to benefit me. Did you even realize that?"
Sombra fell silent for another moment. Twilight turned back to her balcony and stepped out into Ponyville's shining morning once more. The sun was climbing higher in the sky, but there was one last point she wanted to make before breakfast.
"You were wrong about one thing, Sombra. You said we’re no longer the same now that I'm an alicorn, but we're more similar than ever."
Oh?
"We both won our stations. You took your crown by force, my achievements earned me mine, but the fact is that it was our talents that made us who we are. The difference is that you chose this path, and now I think I understand why.
"Look at all of this again, Sombra. This place, these ponies, this is my home. I will protect it. I will lead it. I will better it. But I will do it all the right way, and I challenge you to learn that way with me. Do this with me, Sombra, and we'll both be stronger for it. What do you think?"
I think... I think that... heh. Heh heh ha! HA HA HA HA HA!
Twilight fell the floor, covering her ears, though it did no good. The laughter thundered between her hooves, loud enough that she was sure everypony below could hear.
I think that you will be better at this than I was. I think... that you are my tree now, Twilight Sparkle. You are beautiful to me. The storms you face will only reveal who you are, and I want to see who that pony is. I accept your challenge. Learn from my mistakes, and I shall try to do the same. My words may be all I have left, but if you have a use for them, you need only ask.
"I... Thank you, Sombra." Twilight laughed and looked up to the sun. Her friends were probably already waiting for her at the Boutique. She rushed for the stairs, her body—her heart—feeling lighter with each step. Whatever happened, the day, and the future, was hers for the taking.
