Chapters It had been months since the Crystal Empire event. After that day, a few of the Mane 6 worried about Sombra's return, but the feeling soon died down and they felt content once again, especially after a few reassuring words from their leader, Twilight Sparkle. They almost always seek advice from her since she's the one who had an idea or a plan. It's true that she had a lecture up her (metaphorical) sleeve, but this time it was different, even she wasn't sure if Sombra would return. Its times like this, Twilight's glad that she isn't the Element of Honesty. Within time, she calmed down and forgot about all the possibilities of his return. She decided that there is absolutely no reason to worry. At least, that's what she hoped for.
Twilight sat in her house reading a book called History of Equestria . She has read this 900 paged book five times already, but she just thought it was so fascinating that she needed to read it again. Twilight was on chapter three of the history book, until she heard her number one assistant, Spike, call her. She groaned and angrily trotted upstairs. "Why did he have to interrupt me? I was on the best part of the book. It better be important this time, unlike the time he got his tail stuck in the tub's drain," She stopped walking and sighed, "okay that was important. But, he made this sound like the world is gonna end!" Twilight continued up the steps.
Spike paced back and forth very anxious for Twilight to get upstairs. He quickly turned around once he heard her hoof-steps. Twilight groaned, "Okay Spike, what is it?"
He answered trying to not show too much concern, "It's a letter from the Princess. She sent a note saying that I wasn't allowed to read it. I guess she wants you to read it in private."
Twilight started getting really frightened. If she was told to read it alone, then it must be urgent. She levitated the letter out of Spike's claw and opened it up. A ticket for the train fell out, whatever the trouble is; it needed to be done immediately. Spike exclaimed, "Come on! Read the letter! It's not like she'll know if I heard it."
"What! No, Spike, you can't hear or see the letter. It doesn't concern you." Twilight ranted. Spike moaned and went downstairs. Thinking that Spike is probably still within ear shot, she read the letter in her head. The letter said:
My faithful student, Twilight,
I must keep this letter short for it is important for you to come to Canterlot, immediately. You cannot tell ANYONE about this, not even your friends. I put a train ticket in the letter. You must come immediately after you're done reading this. I'll explain the problem once you get here. Help me Twilight Sparkle, you are my only hope.
Signed,
Princess Celestia
Not wanting to waste any time, Twilight tucked the note underneath her pillow, grabbed the ticket, and started heading out. She was just at the door until, she forgot to come up with an alibi. Her friends are bound to come by; also, it is a library after all somepony was guaranteed to check out a book. Twilight turned around and told Spike, "I need you to tell anypony that comes by that I'm on a trip to…um…Manehattan."
"What if they ask 'why'?" Spike asked. She groaned, loudly. She didn't have time for this. "Just tell them I'm at a convention. Look, I really have to go!" Twilight hastily said. She ran out the door and made her way to the train station. Spike sighed, "I sure hope it isn't anything too evil."
Twilight was so happy that she made it to the train station while it was still docked. She showed the Ticket Inspector her ticket and galloped on board. She sat in a booth all by herself; she needed to let everything sink in. It made her nervous that she couldn't tell anypony, especially her friends. Was it a type of test where she has to see if she can trust anyone? Or was it too drastic of a situation to tell anypony? Whatever it is, she hoped the princesses were okay.
Twilight dashed through town, trying to get to the castle. She didn't even stop to chat with her old friends; there's something serious going on in the castle, and she needed to be there A.S.A.P. Twilight was so pleased when she got to the castle. When she got to the door, she was stopped by two royal guard's spears. They both recited, "Nopony goes in to see Princess Celestia or Princess Luna, unless it's royal business."
Twilight was about to state her business but, swiftly covered her mouth. Was she allowed to tell the guards? Do they know the problem? Behind her a voice ordered, "It's alright, she may enter."
She turned around and saw Luna. The two guards opened the doors and allowed the two in. Twilight heard one of the guards whisper something but she wasn't concentrating on what he said. The two walked through the Main Hall in silence until, Luna said, "We are very happy to see you here, Twilight Sparkle."
She wasn't too sure if Luna was talking about her and her sister, or just herself, but she didn't really mind. Twilight replied, "I'm just relieved to be here. Is Princess Celestia okay?"
"We are not sure," She's addressing herself as 'we', "we haven't seen our sister like this before. She seemed very anxious and she has been getting lost in her thoughts." Luna responded. Twilight reassured, "Well, I'm here to help."
Luna nodded to her. The two stopped at Celestia's large bedroom door. Luna ordered, "Wait here."
She walked inside her sister's room and left Twilight alone. Twilight fiddled with her hooves, nervously. She heard their whispering grew louder, and it only made her more panicky. Luna walked out of the bedroom and said, "You may go in."
Twilight galloped inside the room. She heard Luna giggle as she passed her, but again, she didn't think much of it. She saw Celestia lying on her bed, poking her hoof at the floor. Twilight cleared her throat; she thought that she didn't see her. Celestia looked up and apologized, "Sorry, Twilight. I've just been off today."
"No reason to apologize, Princess." Twilight replied. Celestia got up and walked towards her student. Her face showed a lot of concern. She stopped in front of Twilight and bowed her head to think. She began, "You know that I brought you here for an important reason. I even had trouble discussing it with Luna."
"No matter what the problem is, I won't leave your side." Twilight stated. Celestia was relieved to hear her say that. She continued, "Twilight Sparkle."
Twilight's eyes grew huge. She was very scared and excited to hear about the problem. Celestia went on, "I want you to…meet somepony."
Twilight cocked her head in confusion. Is that it? Was that the drastic situation that got her so worried? She asked "Just meeting somepony? That's it?"
"Well, the pony is actually my…uh…special somepony." Celestia bashfully clarified. Twilight's eyes sparkled (pun intended). Her mentor has a special somepony! More importantly, who is he? She asked, "Who is it? Where is he?"
She answered, "He's staying in the guest room. It's down the hall, to the right, but Twilight-"
Twilight galloped down the hall before she could finish. Celestia instantly began galloping after her. The sound of her hooves was drowned out by Twilight's thought. She just kept thinking about the type of pony Celestia would fall in love with. It obviously had to be someone fair and kind. She would never fall in love with someone who's cruel and vicious. As she was running, she saw a hallway to her right and instantly turned. Her running was stopped by bumping into somepony. Twilight winced at the new headache she received. She gasped, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bump into you. Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine," said a colt in a strict tone. The colt's voice was very deep and ominous, but she swore she has heard it before. Twilight looked up and gasped.
TO BE CONTINUED…obviously
Author's Note
Sorry for the wait of this chapter, I couldn't figure out the password for my account. I don't know how since my password is the same for everything. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please leave a comment below
Chapter 2: Your Back!
Twilight scornfully fumed, "King Sombra! What are you doing here!?"
Sombra smiled mockingly at her obliviousness. Feeling angered, her horn began to glow, and it only rapidly intensified. Celestia finally caught up with Twilight. She placed her foreleg in front of her. Twilight's horn dimmed down and she stared up at her mentor confusingly. Celestia went by Sombra's side and smiled blushingly. She cleared her throat and began, "Twilight Sparkle, King Sombra is the special somepony I told you about."
Twilight sat down and gave the two a blank stare. She didn't understand. I don't get it. What is Sombra doing here? Twilight thought puzzlingly. It didn't seem to make sense to her. They got rid of Sombra months ago, so why is he still here? Why is here in Canterlot, inside the Princess's castle? She finally spoke out, "Okay. So, what is he doing here?"
"Not really the brightest pony, is she?" Sombra asked. Celestia just gave him a concerned look. She placed her hoof on Twilight's shoulder and slowly explained, "Sombra is here because I found him in the Arctic North, alone and defenseless, due to him losing a bit of his magic. I brought Sombra back to Canterlot to aid him, to regain a little bit of his power. If , he was going to stay away from the Crystal Empire then I will help him. But, that was the main intention. I guess, after a few weeks we started feeling a bond for each other. The next thing you know, after a month we fell in love. And like I said before, he became my special somepony."
She just nodded her understandingly. She replied, "Okay, I understand. But, I still don't understand one thing."
"What's that?" The Princess asked. She answered, "What is he doing-"
A ding went off in Twilight's head. She couldn't believe what she heard. Sombra and Celestia are in love! It just didn't add up. What could she see in him? Celestia asked, "Twilight, are you-"
Before she could finish her question, Twilight broke off in a full gallop. She wanted to leave the castle, she didn't know why but she just needed to leave and get back home. Celestia was about to go after her, but Sombra put his hoof in front of her. "I'll handle it." He said reassuringly. His body turned into smoke and it followed Twilight's path. Celestia sighed, "I should've told her about this earlier. I just hope Twilight doesn't do anything too risky."
Twilight kept running down the hallway. She couldn't wait to get back home and sort this all out. There's no way that Celestia could actually be in love with that villain. As she was running she accidentally ran into Luna. Luna saw her distraught expression. She reassured, "Twilight, please do not fear. My sister will be fine with Sombra, I promise."
Without thinking, Twilight shook her head and retorted, "How could you possibly promise that!?"
She got up and started galloping again. Luna was about to go get her, but she saw something black whiz past her. There was no doubt that it was Sombra, she didn't even try to stop him. She guessed the way to let Twilight deal with her problem is by facing the problem itself. Twilight bolted out the door and started making her way to the train station. She constantly had to keep apologizing to ponies; she kept either bumping into them or she blocked their path. A smile beamed across her face when she saw the train docked. The smile didn't last very long, as she saw some smoke get in front of her, especially when she saw that smoke turn into Sombra. Twilight skidded to a halt, her breath sawed in and out of her lungs. She wheezed, "Move…Sombra!"
"Not until you answer my question first." He demanded. She eyed the train for a second but then looked back at Sombra. For a response she sat down and listened. He asked, "Once you get back to your home in Ponyville, what were you planning on doing?"
"Well, I was going to go sort out how you hypnotized Celestia and then…wait! How do you know where I live?" She exclaimed, "You lived in the Crystal Empire during your reign and when you got destroyed. There's no way you could've learned where I live!"
Sombra answered, "During the past few months I've been here, Celly has been telling me about you and your friends."
Twilight gagged when he said "Celly". "Plus, what makes you think I hypnotized the Princess?" He asked suspiciously. She rolled her eyes at him, as if the answer wasn't obvious. She explained, "Well for one thing, you're evil! And I doubt many evil ponies would have that type of feeling for another pony. Also, she is a princess after all. You could've hypnotized her into thinking that you like her, thus making you closer to ruling Canterlot. And oh yeah, YOU ARE EVIL! Do I even have to mention you enslaved your own kind!?"
There was a loud whistle and a sound of an engine. Twilight looked at the train and saw it moving on to the next area. She galloped towards the moving train and shouted, "No wait! Come back!"
She groaned as she saw it going along its course. She looked over her shoulder and glared at Sombra. He gave her a confusing look. She walked over to him, got in his face, and shouted, "You made me late!"
He gave her an apathetic stare. "Can't you just teleport yourself there?" He questioned. She responded, "I could but, it takes up so much magic. So, unless you have a bright-"
She looked up and saw the black aura around Sombra's horn. The aura strengthened and shot out towards Twilight. She gasped, "No, your magic it's t-"
Before she could finish, the beam hit her and it caused her extreme pain. In a bright flash, she disappeared. Sombra looked at the scorched Twilight-less spot. He smiled in satisfaction and started trotting back to the castle. He told himself, "She'll thank me later."
Rainbow Dash and Applejack stood (well for Rainbow Dash she hovered) angrily in Twilight's house. Spike kept telling them that she was at a convention but they didn't buy it. She wouldn't just leave them without saying a word. Spike repeated, "I told you already, she's at a convention in Manehattan."
Rainbow flew in his face and shouted, "Oh yeah! If she's at a convention, what is it about?"
Applejack pulled on Rainbow's tail, so she wouldn't be scaring Spike too much. Applejack reassured, "Just tell us where she's at, sugarcube. We won't get mad." She looked at Rainbow's angered expression, "Well, at least Ah won't."
He thought for a bit and answered, "She's at a convention about…uh…Manega."
The two athletes exchanged confused looks. They didn't know Twilight liked Manega. A dark flash came from the upstairs; the three looked at the flash as it started dimming. Curiosity overcame them and they started walking up the steps. The flash came from Twilight's bedroom. Spike slowly put his claw on the doorknob, cautiously turned it, and opened the door. They gasped when they saw a burnt and smoking Twilight swaying. Rainbow asked, "Twilight, what happened to you?"
"I'm…okay." She slurred. With that, Twilight fell to the ground in pain. Rainbow and Applejack looked at Spike. He just smiled nervously at them. AJ huffed, "Ya'll got a lot of explainin' ta do."
Chapter 3: What Do You Think?
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Author's Note
Sorry for the wait. I haven't had much motivation to write, to be honest. I think it's mostly because of school and also because I feel like my writing is getting worse, but I'm not sure. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I apologize in advance if the chapter isn't all that great.
Chapter 4: Desires
The next day, Twilight and her friends were having a picnic together at the swimming hole. They all were talking about their plans for the day, all of them except for Twilight; she was quiet throughout half of the picnic. There was something that had been lingering over her head the whole morning and it's been bothering her. She hoped that no one would notice her silence and just keep on talking. She had been so deep in her thoughts; she didn't hear one thing Rarity said. Rarity repeated, "What about you, Twilight?"
Twilight rose her head up and gave her friends a puzzled stare. They exchanged suspicious glances with one another. They have never seen their friend act so abnormal before, it caused them to get nervous. Applejack asked, "Are ya'll alright?"
She didn't know how to answer her friend's question. The note that she had received in the morning had made her worried. She didn't know how to break it to her friends, especially since she didn't know how they'd react. Their concerned looks intensified on the quiet unicorn. Twilight sighed and began, "Alright, I'll tell you. I received a letter from Princess Celestia this morning. It was about me staying in the Canterlot Castle, The Princess wants me to stay, because she thinks it'll help me create a bond with Sombra. Do you think I should go along with it?"
Fluttershy answered, "W-Well, if Celestia wants you to."
"But, I don't want to!" Twilight shouted. The timid Pegasus gasped and whispered, "Oh, I'm sorry, forget I said anything."
Twilight sighed and shook her head. She admitted that Fluttershy is right; she can't disobey a letter from the Princess, despite the circumstances. She sighed. It looked like she didn't have much of a choice. She concluded, "You're right, Fluttershy. I should go, but not for Sombra, for Celestia."
"Are you sure?" Pinkie asked kind of worried for her friend. Twilight nodded without hesitation. They all gave each other curious looks, but they rather not argue with the determined unicorn. Twilight rose to her hooves, said goodbye, and started walking away. They all figured that the letter met she was to leave now. The one bad thing is that they weren't really able to witness Sombra's power, so they hope their friend comes back in one piece.
Celestia, Luna, and a few servants were getting a bedroom ready for Twilight. They wanted her to feel at home, so she can at least have someplace to unwind since that she's staying with a villain. Sombra refused to help, thinking that Twilight will give him nothing but grief the whole stay there. Although, he wasn't very nervous about Twilight coming, Celestia was the one that was nervous. She doubted that the visit will go as smoothly as she hoped. Sometimes, she would even suggest making a few things magic proof, just in case someone may want to use things as weapons. But, everyone would always think she was overreacting. Celestia was messing with the decorations in the room, when Luna came up to her and asked, "My sister, you must calm down. We wish not to see you like this any longer."
"I know I need to, but what if everything goes wrong. Twilight won't trust me anymore." Celestia forlornly said. The young sister consoled, "Even if everything goes wrong, we think the last thing Twilight would do is distrust her own mentor."
She smiled fondly at Luna and hugged her. They heard the door to the bedroom open up and one of the guards stood at the entrance. He announced, "Twilight is here, your highness."
The two sisters looked sent each other looks filled with mixed emotions, but they soon followed the guard.
Twilight walked around the castle, feeling to unsettled to just stand around. The unsettlement started right when she boarded the train and still continued on. She still couldn't believe Celestia wanted her to do this, even when she knows she doesn't like Sombra. But, Twilight tried to convince herself that it's for the best, so far it hasn't worked. As she was walking, she heard somepony ask, "Aren't you supposed to be waiting for Celestia?"
She turned around and frowned at Sombra. The last thing she wanted to see was him, despite that's the reason she came to the castle. She groaned and started walking back to the main entrance, avoiding eye contact with him. He walked up to her side and asked, "Why don't I walk with you?"
"I'm good." She said dryly, "I think I can do this on my own."
Despite her answer, he still kept walking by her side. The two walked down the corridor in silence, a really unnerving silence. "So, are you excited about staying here?" Sombra broke the silence. She didn't feel like really talking to anyone at the moment. She sighed and answered, "Not really, but I'm hoping it won't last long."
"Well, it will last long if we don't get along." He informed the unicorn. She stopped walking and stood still for a second. Sombra stopped as well and turned around. Before he could ask anything, Twilight fumed, "Why are you acting this way? I can't believe I'm say this, but this isn't you! Just like Celestia said your heart is as black as night, but yet you're being an absolute gentlecolt. I mean, I know I should be happy, but it doesn't make sense! You're Sombra, the tyrannical king of the Crystal Empire," Sombra's eyes widened and one started to twitch, "the one who enslaved all crystal ponies to do his own bidding," he found himself to be smiling wickedly, "and can do feats of strong black magic that could possibly change reality! Yet, you want to "get along" with me! I mean, what the hay is wrong with you?! "
She breathed heavily right after her rant. She looked up at Sombra and saw his weird expression. She walked up to him and waved her hoof in front of his face. Sombra shook his head and stared out in a daze. She asked with actual concern, "Are you okay?"
He looked down at Twilight and glared at her. He demanded, "Don't ever mention that , again! I left that desire months ago, I don't care for it any longer."
With that, Sombra started walking ahead of Twilight. She looked at him very puzzled. How could he just stop wanting slaves or even wanting to rule? She shook the thought out of her head and started following him. Instead of not wanting to know anything about Sombra, she was actually intrigued to learn more.
Chapter 5: Finding Answers
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. 
