Golden Laurel took the teapot off the stove and brought it over to Shining Armor, who was wrapped up in a blanket sitting next to a fire. She poured the crystal berry tea in his mug, sat next to him, and asked, "Alright, what were you doing out there?"

Shining was in silence for a few seconds and then answered, "No….reason."

Laurel just raised an eyebrow at him. What did he think she was stupid? She kind of figured he was out there due to his dreams about Sombra, but he wouldn't do that especially after he promised her. She said, "Okay. So, you're saying that you went out into the blizzard and stayed out there all night for no reason."

"That's what I'm saying…"

"Shining Armor, please tell me the truth. I won't be upset or anything. Well, I won't try to be," Golden Laurel consoled. Shining just sighed, took a sip of his tea, and looked back into the fire. A little hurt, Laurel got up and walked away from Shining. Once his friend was gone, Shining just growled in anger. He knows that he shouldn't have lied, but he didn't want her to panic and think that he betrayed her or any of the crystal ponies. Sure, it was really dumb to try and look for Sombra (if he's still alive, that is), but it was just killing him if he didn't at least try searching. Of course, he didn't find Sombra; there was nothing except ice and snow.

Shining sighed once more. He knows Dr. Darling explained why he was having the dreams, but it didn't seem like that was true. Maybe…maybe he was starting to hate his wife. After thinking that, Shining shook his head and groaned, "No! That's not the truth! I love Cadence, so then why am I thinking about him?"

After an hour or two, the fire had finally died and Shining Armor was slumping in his seat. His sleep depravity had finally caught up with him, but he refused to slumber. The last thing he wanted to do was dream about Sombra. Not wanting sleep to take over him, he got up and went outside. Luckily, Golden Laurel was at work, so he can leave without too much guilt.

Once Shining Armor got outside, he instantly had a fluttery feeling in his stomach. He took one glance at the shield that was covering the Empire, but quickly dismissed the thought. NO! I can't put everypony in danger. I need a distraction! Shining thought mildly panicking. Immediately, he looked towards the library and galloped towards. He'll do anything to keep his mind off of him!

Tick tock

A voice faintly whispered, "Prince Shining Armor?"

Tick tock

"Shining Armor, are you okay?"

Shining grumbled a bit, but picked up his head to answer the pony. He looked to his side and saw the librarian. He yawned, "Oh…I'm so sorry. How long has it been?"

She answered, "It's been five hours since you came in."

Shining's jaw dropped. Five hours! He didn't remember everything that happened when he ran in the library. He remembered grabbing a few books, sitting by the fire (which is in the farthest area in the building), and that was it. He looked out of one of the windows in the building and saw that it was dark out. The library should be closing very soon. Shining looked at the librarian and said, "I'll close it up for you when I'm done."

Looking rather concerned, the librarian nodded and left Shining with his lonesome self. Once he heard the echoing of closing doors, Shining let out a sigh. He didn't know why he was holding his breath; maybe he was nervous because he thought the mare would notice his…wait a second, he doesn't have an erection. Shining looked down and saw his member flaccid. As a matter-of-fact, he didn't even dream about Sombra. He beamed, "Is it over? Yes! Finally! Thank Celestia; that was driving me insane! Well, at least now I know it was just a dream. …I have a weird feeling I'm going to regret that."

Right after he mumbled that phrase, he heard a strange sound echo in the library. "Yep, I regret it," Shining sighed. He got off the slightly cold floor and began exploring around the archive. Once he began moving, the sound of hoofsteps in the area became noisier. Shining tensed up a bit. He shouted, "Alright, come out! You're not in trouble, the library just closed!"

After saying that, the noise had suddenly stopped. He cocked an eyebrow, but shrugged and shouted, "Thanks! I guess."

Shining was about to go back to the fireplace, but that's when he heard a thump in the library. Not wasting any time, he galloped towards the echoing sound. As he was drawing near, he heard somepony galloping away. He called out, "Wait! You're not-"

Shining picked up his speed to catch the mysterious trespasser. Once he finally caught sight of the trespasser's hind legs, he lunged at the pony. The pony and Shining tumbled over one another before finally coming to a stop on the middle of an aisle. On top of the pony, he huffed, "You…didn't need t-to run. It's fine. You must've not noticed that the library was closed."

The pony replied, "No, I did."

Shining's pupils shrank when he heard the familiar resonant tone. Feeling sick, he got off the mysterious- he's not mysterious, you know who it is -pony and began shaking his head. The silhouette of the pony showed a toothy grin, which revealed it had sharp fangs. The pony continued, "I just wanted us to be alone together."

That only caused Shining to shake his head harder. Shining backed out of the aisle and into the low lighting. The pony agonizingly walked forward into the light, which caused Shining's jaw to drop and his heart to race. The pony had blazing crimson eyes, an obsidian mane and tail (that moved like Celestia's mane, but slower), equally black hooves, and a red curved horn. Shining Armor gulped, "S-Sombra…?"

Sombra's eyes glowed as he purred, "Shiny~"

Author's Note

Sorry that there's no smut in this chapter, but there will be some in the next chapter. I promise! But, with or without smut, I hope you all did enjoy this chapter. It was kinda hard to figure how I exactly wanted to end this chapter, so, sorry if it seems a bit rushed or awkward. Also, the mysterious pony is so obviously Discord. Anyway, once again, I hope you enjoyed. Please leave a comment! Comments make the little kiddies happy!