Princess Celestia and her younger sister, Luna, watched as a beam of rainbow colored light shone across the sky. They crossed their horns and smiled at each other, knowing that King Sombra had finally been put to an end. Then, Luna glanced back at the sky. "Wait. Sister, look!" She pointed her hoof at the light, which had turned from rainbow to grey and green.
"We should hurry there. There may be trouble." Celestia's horn glowed as she teleported her sister and herself to the Crystal Empire to see what was happening.
The Mane 6, Cadence, and Shining Armor turned around when the 2 princesses arrived. "Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!" Twilight gasped.
"What are you 2 doing here?" Shining Armor asked. The princesses looked around nervously until they saw a faint stream of light heading into the distance.
"Follow us! Quickly!" Luna told the other ponies as she and her sister flew off in that direction.
King Sombra couldn't believe it. How had he been defeated so easily? And, by that little pony princess and her puny dragon?! He felt the power in him draining with every passing second. The stallion was, at the moment, in a state of unconsciousness. The blast from Princess Cadence's magic had caused him to black out from pain and exhaustion.
Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Cadence, Shining Armor, and the Mane 6 had made it over just in time to see Sombra slump over as he passed out. They noticed how his appearance changed as he slept. Just before he closed his eyes, where that should have been green had faded to black. His crown fell off of his head, along with his armor.
"Look! Look!" Pinkie Pie shouted, pointing at King Sombra's flank. "He has a cutie mark! I didn't see one before!"
Indeed, a cutie mark was upon Sombra's flank. It was a black heart, which looked like it was bleeding... or, melting. Princess Celestia looked over at her sister, who nodded at her. She then turned to the Mane 6. "Girls, my sister and I are going to need your help with something."
The mares nodded, though they wondered what they would be needed for. Princess Celestia used a beam of magic to chain up Sombra as she and Luna teleported everyone back to Canterlot. She quickly teleported Sombra into a prison cell, heavily guarded, so he couldn't escape.
In the throne room, Celestia and Luna had a meeting with the Mane Six. "Luna and I have decided to give Sombra a chance at redemption."
"WHAT?!" All 6 mares asked at once.
"But, he nearly destroyed all of the crystal ponies! H-he nearly killed Cadence!" Twilight said angrily. She wasn't about to let Sombra get away with that!
"I understand your surprise and anger, Twilight Sparkle, but Sombra is powerless now." Luna explained. "He cannot use magic or even his own brute strength to harm anypony."
Celestia added on, "Which is why we need you all to find somepony willing to help reform him, and show him how to care for others."
Twilight sighed and nodded. "Even if I don't really like it... we'll try, Princess Celestia." she turned to her friends. "What do you girls say?"
They all responded in the affirmative. Twilight smiled at them, then turned back to the princesses. "When will we need to find this pony for you?"
Princess Luna looked at her sister, then at Twilight. "Before 2 days time. Hopefully, that is enough time."
Rainbow Dash interjected. "Oh, no problem! We could probably find somepony by tomorrow!" The other 5 cut her a look. She always had to be so overconfident.
"Please, don't feel compelled to rush. This pony must be patient and understanding. Once you find this pony, bring them with you back here." Princess Celestia said.
The Mane 6 traveled back to Ponyville, all the while counting down the list of ponies they knew that could be Sombra's teacher. While the others mentioned the many ponies they knew, Fluttershy continued to whisper, "I think I know somepony..."
"Hey, what about Cherilee? She is a teacher, after all." Applejack suggested.
"I, um... I think I know somepon-"
Twilight tapped her chin. "Maybe... No, that wouldn't work. What about her students?"
"I think I kno-"
"Well, surely, there must be somepony who could help us!" Rarity said, slouching back a little in frustration. "There must be a million ponies in all of Equestria who are patient and understanding."
"AHEM!!!!" Everypony turned toward Fluttershy, surprised. She shrank back a bit, but then straightened up. "I believe I know somepony who could help us."
"Who is it, Fluttershy?" Spike asked.
"My cousin." Fluttershy said. "We can go to Cloudsdale to see her and ask if she'll do it." The others nodded in agreement and made plans to go to Cloudsdale.
Meanwhile, a certain shadow stallion was sitting in a dark, cold dungeon, grumbling and complaining about his defeat. Sombra looked around and saw a high window with bars around it. The moonlight shone in through it, giving him some source of light.
"I can't believe this..." he grumbled, trying to get comfortable on the little bed of hay he had. He knew that his powers were gone, so he would be in here for a while. He didn't even bother trying to use basic unicorn magic to try and break out. He was too weak from the magic of the Crystal Heart.
Sombra sighed angrily as he looked up at the night sky. Though he hated to give either of the princesses any compliments, Princess Luna did her job well. The night stars and the moon were beautifully arranged, he even saw a few shooting stars fly by. As Sombra drifted off to sleep, he wondered what would become of him in the days to come.
"Where could she be, Flutters?" Rainbow Dash asked. "We gotta get her to Canterlot soon!"
Fluttershy squealed nervously as she looked around. She hadn't seen her cousin in a while, and she was worried that she wouldn't be able to recognize her.
"Maybe we should ask around for her?" Applejack asked. She and the other ponies without wings were able to stay on the clouds because of the spell Rarity and Twilight had cast on them all. Fluttershy nodded and quickly ran around to look for her relative.
"Excuse me, do you know where a pony named Roseheart is?" Twilight asked a nearby pegasus. The mare shook her head. The others all got similar answers. Fluttershy was beginning to worry that Roseheart had left Cloudsdale to go live somewhere else.
As she flew to the left, she crashed into somepony. "Oh! I'm so sorry!" she apologized quickly. Then, she gasped happily when she saw who she'd bumped into. "Roseheart?!"
The mare in question had a midnight blue-and-red slightly curly mane and tail, purple eyes in the same shape as Fluttershy's, and a silver-white coat. Her cutie mark was a heart-shaped rose. She groaned slightly as she rubbed her head. She looked at the pale yellow pony and gasped. "Fluttershy? How have you been?" she threw her hooves around her cousin.
The other ran over to them. They looked at the 2 mares as they talked. They figured that this must have been Fluttershy's cousin, since she never talked this much to anypony. Ever.
Fluttershy felt her friends staring at her and turned around. "Oh! Roseheart, these are my friends."
Roseheart waved at them. "Nice to meet you." she said softly.
Pinkie Pie jumped over to Roseheart and started examining her. "Hmm.... Okay! She could do it! She's got that look!" Pinkie smiled. Everypony else just stared at her for a moment.
Twilight shook her head a little, then turned to Roseheart. "Roseheart, we need your help. We were sent by the princesses to find a pony who was patient and understanding for a... special mission. Fluttershy suggested you."
Roseheart looked over at her cousin, then back at Twilight. "Well, what's the mission?"
"We need you to... teach King Sombra how to be kind and to care for others." Twilight searched the mare's face for any signs of rejection of this mission, and only found curiosity.
"Who's King Sombra?" She asked innocently. Everypony looked around at each other.
"You really don't know?" Fluttershy asked. Roseheart shook her head.
Twilight stepped forward. "Well, the gist of it is, Sombra was bad. He probably still is bad, but the princesses think that this can be changed."
Applejack looked at Roseheart. "So, will ya do it?"
Roseheart looked down at her hooves for a moment. She was really about to agree to teach a king how to be good... She looked back up and smiled at the Mane 6. "Okay. I'll do it."
Rarity sighed. "Oh, thank goodness! And, not a moment too late. Now, when we get back to Ponyville, we'll need to get you dressed to go to Canterlot."
"Canterlot?! We're going to Canterlot?!" Roseheart looked a bit nervous. She'd never been to such a place of high society before. She had never even spoken to anyone from Canterlot before.
"Yeah. That's where Sombra is. And, the princesses. Don't worry about meeting them, they're nice." Twilight said as they walked over to a hot air balloon that would take them all back to Ponyville. Roseheart nearly fainted. She was going to meet the princesses?!
Back at Ponyville, Roseheart was scowling as Rarity put her hair in a tight bun on top of her head. She also put Rose into a long gown with roses and hearts sewn onto the hem of it. The collar of the dress had a moon on it, to match her name: Roseheart Moon.
"Um... This is a very nice dress, Rarity, but..." She quickly slipped out of it, causing the bun to fall out and release her hair back to normal. "It's not me! I'd much rather go to the princesses as I am."
"Oh, all right! But, I'll get to dress you up one day." She said, making Roseheart smile. After that, the ponies made their way to Canterlot. Twilight had sent a letter to Princess Celestia, saying that they had found a mare to teach Sombra to care for others.
Princess Celestia and Luna went to check on Sombra. They looked through the bars of the door and saw that the ex-king was still sleeping, blissfully unaware of the mares watching him. That is, until he heard a sharp voice call for him. "Sombra. Wake up. You're going to have a visitor today."
Sombra groggily turned toward the princesses and groaned angrily. "Haven't you any manners? It's quite rude to wake somepony so late in the morning. But then, one should let another sleep until they wake themselves."
Luna scowled at him slightly. "Do not get smart, Sombra. We are having somepony come here to teach you how to care for others."
"Ha!" Sombra mocked. "Have a good time with that! I care for no one but my own self."
Celestia kept a blank face as she said, "There was a time when you cared for others, Sombra. There was a time when your heart was open and loving."
"Ponies change." He answered sternly. "They learn from their foolish mistakes, and they never make them again." He turned toward the window, away from the royal mares, even if he had to squint and cover his eyes with his forearm.
"Be this way, if you please." Luna said, though Sombra didn't turn to her. "But, you must still meet with this mare and at least try to be rehabilitated."
"And, if I refuse?" Sombra inquired angrily. The sun was blazing right on him, it seemed.
"You will not like the consequences. Stoning is the most likely remedy for keeping the Crystal Empire safe." Celestia said. Sombra finally turned to face them, only to see that they had already left.
He slammed his hoof down onto the ground, crushing a few strands of hay. 'This is outrageous! How am I supposed to learn caring and kindness?! My heart is black as night and cold as stone!' Sombra then remembered what the princesses had told him. A mare would be teaching him. He would be taught by a MARE.
To Sombra, this was an even greater insult. He would have to do as a woman told him?! Impossible! Surely, it was too late to say anything about it now. He would simply turn the mare away once she came to him and tell her that he requested a stallion to teach him... if he even allowed that.
"Right this way." a voice said from a distance. It sounded like Twilight. Sombra turned back toward the high window and stood in the shadow by it to conceal himself. He heard two sets of hoof-clops getting louder, closer.
Twilight stood in front of Sombra's cell and looked around for him. she was about to go and get one of the guards when she saw his red pupils watching them. She turned to Roseheart. "Sombra's in there. He's just hiding. Let the guard at the end of the hall know when you're ready to take him to the center, okay."
"Alright." Roseheart said, nodding, as Twilight left. She turned back toward the cell to see that Sombra had moved to be right in front of her. She jumped back a bit, then stood straight as she could, trying to look brave.
"You are the mare chosen to teach me kindness and caring?" He laughed at her, throwing his head back a bit. "The princesses mock me."
Roseheart lifted her head a little and said, "It's no joking matter, King Sombra."
Sombra stopped laughing and looked at her. No one considered him a king anymore. He looked into Roseheart's eyes, trying to figure out why she had called him 'king.' Roseheart fought back a blush, but it was a losing battle. Sombra had stepped into the light, allowing the purple-eyed mare to see what his body looked like. She had never seen a more handsome stallion.
Sombra looked the silver pegasus over. He glanced at her dark blue mane with red accents and found himself wondering what it felt like, wanting to touch it. He looked at her eyes and flushed face, and felt his face get a bit warm, as well.
"Y-your majesty. If you are ready to start, we can begin with your rehabilitation." Rose said, trying to stay focused on her task. She was there to teach this stallion how to be a caring and kind soul, not to blush at him, like some school pony!
Sombra merely nodded and took a step away from her. As she went to get the guards, Sombra put a hoof over his chest, where his heart was. What was happening to him? This mare, who was a complete stranger to him... had warmed his heart, even if just a little. He felt conflicted and confused, 2 feelings he had grown to resent.
He looked back up when he heard the cell door open. He saw the freckle-faced mare smiling at him as he made his way out of the cell. He kept his head down, as not to be tempted to look upon her face again. The less he had to look at her and feel this way, the better.
