~~~

The sound of hoof steps could be heard echoing through the spiral staircase that led to Celestia's dungeon. Fluttershy had been woken by Twilight a few hours earlier, saying that there was important business that they had to attend to immediately.

Fluttershy squeaked when she stepped on a loose stone that fell out of place down the dark abyss of the stairwell. Twilight was not giving Fluttershy much of a reason as to why they had been escorted via chariot to Canterlot. Only the two of them had came, just to add to Fluttershy's confusion.

Two Celestial guards were behind them, walking a bit too fast for Fluttershy, but she was trying her hardest to keep the same pace. Twilight seemed preoccupied and too caught up to be worrying about how fast she needed to be going down this dark path.

Everything was cold and wet. Fluttershy shivered. Perhaps Twilight wasn't slowing down because she was an Alicorn now, and wasn't as easily worn out. She trotted down, deep in thought.

Fluttershy tried to coax her friend into telling her why they were here in a deep dark scary dungeon, but the lavender mare never gave back a response, she just merely figeted with her hooves.

She tried again.

"Did Princess Celestia send for us?"

"Now that I think about it... Yes. When we reach the bottom, we will meet Princess Luna and she will explain what's going on." Twilight seemed worried.

"Twilight?"

"Yes?"

"Um, do you have even the slightest idea on why we're down here?"

Twilight Sparkle sighed out in frustration. "Nope. All I know is that Princess Celestia sent me a scroll telling me that she needed you and me at Canterlot's dungeons at once. I hope Princess Luna knows much more than I do."

After what seemed like an eternity, they finally reached the bottom.

They were greeted by two Lunar guards, who opened two large spruce doors that led to another dark stone room inside. The celestial guards stayed behind them.

Twilight nodded her head in salute and walked inside. Fluttershy did the same.

When they entered, they saw Princess Luna sitting inside on a chair at the far end of a black marble table. Given that it was about midnight, her mane flowed even brighter and seemed more... Alive.

"Hello Princess Twilight. I see you have brought of whom we shall be of need."

"Absolutely."

"I welcome you with thy warmest regards, Miss Fluttershy."

The Princess of the night smiled at her.

"I'd love to be of service, your highness."

"Please, just call me Luna."

She returned the smile. "Of course."

After a few moments of stillness, Luna broke the silence.

"Please seat thyself. Thou must be tired after such a long journey."

Twilight agreed without argument. "We are."

They sat down at the end of the table, which wasn't very far, considering how small the table was.

This time, Twilight broke the silence.

"What is the 'horrid' problem that you needed us here for Luna?"

She let out a deep sigh.

"Thy Princess of the sun has different opinions than me. Although I tried to convince of her, she insisted. She has decided to reform another villain that thou hast slain."

So that's why Fluttershy was needed here.

Twilight frowned. "Which villain?"

Luna said it with a cold icy tone. "King Sombra."

Nope. Fluttershy timidly gave up. Discord may have been a bit of a bully and brought disorder, but he never tried to kill, abuse, or enslave anyone.

Twilight looked dumbfounded. "King Sombra? As in the former tyrant of the Crystal Empire?"

"Indeed."

Fluttershy looked towards the ground. Tyrant.

Twilight scowled. "But I thought the power of the crystal heart destroyed him!"

"Darkness can be contained, but never defeated, young princess."

"How did he even manage to survive the explosion?"

Luna's ears perked up. "We are not entirely sure. His horn managed to survive it though."

"How did he get down here?"

This time Fluttershy softly asked.

"On goers found him whilst on a trip outside thy Empire's boundaries. When he was found, he was very weak. Thankfully, we found him while he was still powerless. If not; well, I still lay awake trying to sleep at night wondering what."

"So you want Fluttershy to reform him?" Twilight asked.

"We believe after thou's success with Discord, thy shall be able to do the same with the King of Shadows."

Fluttershy had never been more afraid in her life. King Sombra was probably one of the most dangerous antagonists they had ever faced. She doubted herself. "What if I can't reform him?"

Luna sat up against her chair. "Well, you have reformed the god of chaos in one day, Fluttershy. He may be a bit rough around the edges, but is certainly not hurting anypony." She came back to the original topic. "But if thou fail, we shall go with thy Princess of the Night's original plan."

Twilight was on the edge of her seat. "Which is...?"

"We would either obliterate him or imprison thou."

Fluttershy nervously sighed. She would have to at least try.

After a few more moments of eerie silence, Princess Celestia appeared in a poof of golden glowing dust. Her mane wasn't glowing. It was faded compared to Luna's. She looked tired.

"Hello Twilight. I am glad to see that you brought your friend Fluttershy. I believe my sister has told you everything that you need to know?"

"Yes your high- I mean Pri-" she sighed. "Celestia."

She let out a small chuckle. "Glad to see you too, Twilight. Now, on a more serious note, Fluttershy, do you think you can take on the task at hand?"

She looked at the three princesses that stood before her. She had to at least try.

"I do."

"I am glad you agree to help with our plan." She nudged Luna.

A small grumble came from the princess.

The shy pegasus mare looked at the ground. "So... You want me to speak with him now? As in... Right now?" She asked.

"We believe that would be best." Celestia replied.

"Do not worry kind one. The former king hast been stripped of his dark magic, and is powerless." Luna implied.

"I-I'll see what I can do."

Luna handed her a dark grey crystal key with bits of red chipped in it.

"This is thy key to his cell. Do not fear, kind one, we know thou shall prevail."

Fluttershy let out a weak nod and walked out of the room. But she didn't know where his cell was. Oops.

"Uh, which way is his cell?"

"Three doors to the right."

"...Thanks Celestia."

She took a deep breath and exited the room, for real this time. The mare slowly walked towards the cell. After what was not long enough, she finally came to her intended destination.

Fluttershy bit her lip. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybes she should just... No.

She had to try. Everyone deserves a chance. Even ones like Sombra.

Fluttershy inched towards the door. After a few moments, she finally found the courage to open it.

Gradually, the mare stepped in.

Inside was a dark gray stallion with a black mane, and three grey crystals for a cutie mark, she noticed, different from the last time she had seen him. But the most noticeable thing about him was his horn. It was no longer as curved, but it was still a little bit. The tip was red, but not as much of the color was left. It was just a faded Crimson. His eyes were still an angry ruby red though, and Fluttershy would hate to see them erupt in flames.

He was laying and the cold hard ground, with chains around his hooves.

Fluttershy sat in the doorway for a few moments, unsure of what to say or do.

While the stallion had certainly changed, he was still frightening to look at. Perhaps she wasn't cut out for this after a-

"So, I assume you are my, 'reformer'?"

Sombra's tone was dripping with sarcasm. He looked grumpy. But Fluttershy couldn't blame him, not with all of those heavy chains wrapped too tight around him.

"Well?"

"I-I'm... Fluttershy ..." She whispered timidly.

Her voice was so quiet he normally would have never heard it, but it was very silent in the dungeons, and Sombra was the only one there.

"What an ironic name." He muttered.

They stood there for a few minutes, not saying a word.

Fluttershy asked him in a hopefully, "So, um, do you want to leave?"

"No." He stubbornly stated.

He turned around, facing away from her and towards the stone wall.

"Why not?"

"I'm not falling for a trick as clichèd as that. After all these years, you expect me to be led out to my execution by some mare? It is the most shameful end I could ever even comprehend."

How was she going to convince him to leave? He would probably die chained up here, or eventually have the princesses execute him. The pegasus shuddered at the thought. Fluttershy bit her lip. She needed to be firmer with him.

But nicely.

She turned her head. "Is that so?"

"I refuse. The princesses you have pledged your allegiance to are foolish aristocrats with no knowledge of anything whatsoever. You act as if all you Equestrians are the superior race and refuse to even acknowledge other's requests or biddings."

Fluttershy inched back. Sombra's outburst surprised her. If this was him as cranky, she'd hate to see what he looks like angry.

Not to mention he disgraced Princess Celestia. Good thing they hadn't decided to let Twilight reform him. She would've let him have a piece of her mind.

"Perhaps we can compromise..." The mare said. Fluttershy held up the key.

Sombra's eyes widened. This mare was his ticket to freedom! He could feed off of her fear to regain his power. Those idiot princesses may have stripped him of his dark magic, but that didn't mean he couldn't use it again.

"Let's make a deal. You promise to be good and not hurt anypony and I let you stay with me at my cottage instead of this... Place."

She began to unlock the chains around his hooves.

Sombra scoffed at the idea again of being taken from his prison by a weak mare.

Perhaps it was a trap. This mare might seem innocent and defenseless, but she could just be pretending and leading him to his certain death. Perhaps she was the executioner. Sombra would not be surprised. He had been tricked before.

The unicorn did not respond. Sombra kept himself on the ground, refusing to yield. He did a quick scan of the yellow Pegasus. She had no weapons, did not look physically strong, and had three pink butterflies for a cutie mark. Definitely not an executioner.

Sombra let his guard down, just a little. This gave the mare some hope.

They stood there in silence again, for a few more minutes.

Fluttershy interrupted the quiet. "Please?" She asked pleadingly.

The fallen King looked at his choices. He was being given a chance by the princesses for some reason. He could go with this mare to be 'reformed' or lie here to rot in the dungeon. Perhaps when the time was right, he could slip away and take back what was rightfully his. Then those two would finally bow down to him.

"Fine." Sombra let out a sigh of defeat.

He tried to stand up, but to his dismay, was just as Luna said; weak. He fell to the ground.

Fluttershy let out a surprised gasp.

"Oh! Maybe you should lean on my shoulder. Here, I'll carry you out, ok?"

She walked closer towards the dark unicorn, and helped him up. He remained emotionless and did not say a word.

Fluttershy noticed that he had many scars along his body, probably from when the crystal heart had defeated him. The wounds were healing though, thanks to what little was left his magic. Hopefully not too much. But it certainly would take a while. Even if he had been a tyrannical ruler, it still seemed like a very harsh punishment, even for ones like Sombra.

They walked out of the cell into the hall where the princesses and many more Royal guards were waiting for them.

Celestia smiled. "I am glad to see you are back, Sombra."

His face remained a blank slate.

The sun goddess sighed. "Very well then. I suppose one does not turn evil and back to good in a matter of minutes. Please, have the guards escort you."

She pointed towards what might have as well have been an entire legion of celestial guards. Fluttershy nervously frowned. Maybe the princesses hadn't been sure if his magic was gone after all.

~~~

When they arrived, the sun was breaking dawn.

Twilight had came with them, inspecting Sombra.

He appeared to be a little different and not as threatening but he still had a look of violence washed over him.

They stepped off of the chariot.

They all stood in the growing light, tired from staying up for the past 24 hours.

A guard stepped off of the chariot. "Twilight, if there is any problem, even the slightest, report to Canterlot at once."

Twilight sleepily nodded. "Of course sir,"

"Well, we will be on our way then. Take care."

Celestia was either very trusting, or very crazy. Did she have any idea how dangerous this former tyrant of the crystal empire was?

She looked behind her. The stallion appeared tired, and was struggling to stand upright. Maybe he was tired after all, although, he may be pretending so he would appear weak and then strike when given the chance.

Twilight frowned upon him. He was still dangerous, even without his dark magic, or what little he had left. Perhaps when she got home she would read a book about the properties of dark magic, and its usage. The Alicorn yawned. Maybe after she got some sleep, though.

Sombra walked towards Fluttershy's cottage.

She leaned in towards Fluttershy when he was several feet away.

"Be careful, ok?" She warned.

"...I'm sure we can make progress."

"Remember what the guard said. This pony is nothing like discord, Fluttershy. He is very dangerous, even without magic. Monitor him at all times, ok?"

"Sure thing, Twilight."

The Alicorn felt a little better after warning the shy pegasus.

Maybe things will turn out fine after all.

~~~

Twilight and Fluttershy caught up with Sombra, and the three of them walked towards Fluttershy's cottage, but were stopped by a pink blur.

"Hi!!!"

Pinkie Pie zoomed in between Fluttershy and Sombra. She jumped up and down, clearly excited.

"My name is Pinkie Pie! It's really actually short for Pinkamena Diane Pie because I grew up on a rock farm and had a family that harvested rocks with my three sisters and mom and dad and we had *awesome* holidays there and it was super fun but I moved here to Ponyville and lived with the Cakes at SugarCube corner but now I live with my colt friend Cheese Sandwich just across the street but that's not important right now! I heard that there was this totally evil unicorn that Fluttershy was gonna reform like discord so I just had to come on over and see what you were like! Hey you look different! Did you get a new manestyle? No! You- You dyed your coat! No? Oooooh ooooooh I know! I know! You are actually pretending to be normal and reformed but in actuality you're gonna take over Equestria and then the Crystal Empire once your full power is restored because the Royal sisters didn't take away all of your dark magic! Well, sorry to break it to you, mister, but you can't do that! The readers of this story don't want you to turn back to evil with no plot development! They wanna see Fluttershy reform you so they can ship you two and make you their OTP and write more FanFiction, Fan art, and-"

"Uh Pinkie?"

Twilight confusedly looked down at Pinkie.

"Yeah?!"

"Um... Maybe you should get some rest. (You've probably been drinking too much cider). I know how you love making new friends and showing them around Ponyville and driving them slowly insane with your unique habits, but maybe you should tone it down a bit this time?" She yawned again.

"Ok! I'll go make cupcakes instead! Cheese was wanting me to make some cherrychimmychanga ones anyway!"

She zipped away, as fast as she had approached. How could she be so hyper at 2:00 in the morning? Well that was a dumb question. It's Pinkie Pie. Was there really a needed further explanation?

"Please tell me we won't be seeing any more of her." Sombra pleaded.

Fluttershy let out a soft laugh. "Oh no, I'm afraid that's just the beginning."

~~~

Author's Note

A/N Hello guys! Just want to tell you guys a few things before we get too deep in this My Little Pony FanFic (OHmYgOD I actually just wrote that down). Yes, this story revolves around a crack ship. If you do not like those ships... I am sorry that you have just wasted ten minutes if your life reading 3,027 words about it. Turn back now before it's too late!

Just in case some of you are wondering why I made Luna's dialogue so much more 'medieval-ish'... In my headcannon she's obviously much more powerful during nighttime and is inclined to speak that way, also because it's hard for her to ignore so many old habits (like me).

Also... Just to let ya' know, I wanted to make the first chapter kind of fun, but the rest/ majority will be kinda dark. Hopefully not corny though.

I will try to aim for updates ASAP. I apologize if I am not posting any updates for a while. I'm a little busy with school and cello practice, but I'll try to manage.

Constructive Criticism is always welcome! There's always room for improvement!

Bye! :3