Shattering a Heart of Darkness

"Hold still, please," Lilac Luster stated, putting the finishing touches on Twilight's make-up, applying some blue-gray eyeshadow and a light blush to her cheeks. Twilight wasn't used to wearing make-up, having previously deemed it a frivolous decoration, but still wanted to look her best for the crystal faire. Ah, who are you kidding? Her inner voice spoke up. We both know who you're really trying to impress. "You know something? You're a natural beauty, Your Highness."

The magenta crystal pony's words yanked Twilight out of her thoughts. "Oh, um, th-thank you, Lilac. Also, just 'Twilight' will do." She gave herself a once-over in the mirror, amazed by the subtle transformation that a little make-up and a new dress could do. She looked and felt beautiful. As Rarity might put it, "You look absolutely smashing, darling!"

Lilac brushed a lock of grayish-green hair out of her face and inspected Twilight. "Well Twilight, I'm being serious. I barely had to do anything to your face. Trust me, when His Majesty sees you, he's going to have a heart attack."

Twilight was puzzled. "Who says I'm doing this for Sombra?"

Lilac rolled her eyes and gave Twilight a knowing smirk. "I've acted as a stylist to hundreds of young mares. Trust me, I know the difference between a mare that's trying to impress a crowd and a mare that's trying to impress a stallion. You have that latter look, Twilight."

Thankfully, that was the last Lilac said of the matter as she finished securing Twilight's mane in place with some diamond-studded mane pins and a small emerald comb, completing the transformation from lowly unicorn to high-born lady and queen-to-be. Adding a light whiff of perfume, Lilac clapped her hooves. "And there...we...go! Now go out there and get your stud. Trust me doll, he'll be putty in your hooves." Twilight gave her reflection a passing glance and sighed. I sure hope so.

Tink-clink-tink-clink. Tink-clink-tink-clink. Metal-tipped hooves pounded on the floor as Sombra paced back and forth, waiting patiently but anxiously for his fiancée's arrival, trying but failing to retain an air of calm and collectiveness. The truth was, he hadn't attended a public event in a long time, even before his imprisonment by the Royal Sisters. He was a solitary sort, most likely due to his isolated upbringing, so crowds always gave him the heebie-jeebies. Sombra rechecked his appearance in the reflective crystal on the wall, ensured that his mane was neatly combed and double-checked his teeth for crumbs. His breath and body odor were pleasant, his armor waxed and his cape pressed and ironed. Now all he needed to do was to be charming and refined and the rest of the pieces would fall into place.

Are you STILL going out of your way to cow-tow to the whims of that mare? What a disgrace! You're bringing shame upon your family and your people by bending over backwards for that unicorn. Umbrums do not submit; they take.

Yes, well, I am doing this my way and that's that.

"That's that," is it? Such resolution. Yet you lack the spine to put that mare in her place. You are the king and the stallion so she deserves your respect. What has she done to deserve such work? What makes her different from her friends? Any one of them would've done for your queen. Why Twilight Sparkle?

Sombra thought about it. Sure, they were all very attractive in one way or another, with the exception of Rarity, who he saw as being rather plain, but they all had glaring flaws that he simply couldn't overlook: Pinkie Pie was an incessant chatterbox, Applejack a backwoods hick with improper grammar, Rarity a prissy snob with an irritating voice, Fluttershy a spineless wuss and Rainbow Dash? Well, he was pretty sure that she was a lesbian. What he wanted, what he needed was a mare that was smart, spirited, a natural beauty, witty and resourceful, character traits that just happened to all belong to Twilight Sparkle. In his eyes, she was the only one for him, almost as though something was pulling him towards her.

He turned to find Twilight strolling down the hallway along with Amber Laurel and Lilac Luster and he had to steady every nerve in his body to keep from trembling at the sight of her radiance. She wore a sleeveless, Queen Anne-style gown with a pink bodice and yellow skirt and accents, her blue and purple mane placed into a tight bun and the violet crystal tiara rested upon her head. She walked with such poise and elegance that Sombra almost forgot that she was raised a commoner instead of a royal-blooded princess. Ignoring Amber and Lilac, he took Twilight's hoof and bowed. He kissed her hoof and smiled, "You look beautiful."

Twilight's cheeks reddened and Sombra had to keep from chuckling when she visibly tried to keep her face from turning away. "Thank you, Sombra. You look very...majestic. If you don't mind me asking but why is it you're always wearing that armor?"

He nodded understandably. "I'm glad that you asked. You see, it's to remind me that running a kingdom is like fighting a war. As king, I am the general and my subjects are my soldiers. Every decision is a battle and everypony outside my kingdom is an enemy that I must out-strategize. There's more being royalty than wearing fancy clothes and telling others what to do."

Twilight cocked her head slightly. "That's a very...interesting way of looking at it. A bit stark. Can you tell me something about you that isn't so dark or serious?"

Sombra intertwined Twilight's good foreleg with one of his own and they made their way down the hallway, followed closely by Amber and Lilac, who wisely chose to remain silent. "Let's see, nothing dark or serious. Hmmm. Well, I don't like strawberries. Ever since I was little, I just didn't like them."

"Really?" Twilight asked as though she couldn't tell if he was joking or not. "Everypony loves strawberries."

"I don't. Don't get me wrong; it's not the taste, it's just the texture. I prefer grapes, raspberries or apples."

"Wow, Applejack would probably love you. Oh, right, she's the orange one with the hat-..."

"I know your friends' names. It's just funnier for them to think that I don't know them."

Twilight stared up at him. "That's kind of messed up."

Sombra peered down at her and grinned, "Really? Then why are you smiling?" To his own amusement, the unicorn gasped and tried to hide her smile but instead ended up chuckling, a sound that was immensely pleasing to Sombra's ears. As they neared the balcony, the sunlight began pouring in, bringing out the color in Twilight's coat, mane and eyes, making her even more magnificent than usual. He again felt that ache in his heart from being with her and both loved and loathed it. Twilight paused and Sombra dug his hooves into the floor to stop and face her.

"Twilight, are you alright?"

She nodded, though from her slight shaking and uneven breaths it was evident that she was far from alright. He bent down so that they were at eye level and gently took her face into his hooves. "Twilight, look at me." Those violet gems shimmered in the light as they met his eyes, so full of fear and uneasiness. "You have nothing to worry about. They're going to love you. I'll be right by your side, I promise."

"Okay."

They stepped out onto the balcony and peered down at the crowds of crystal ponies below, who were all loudly chittering amongst themselves, no doubt wondering what the occasion was or if King Sombra had gone mad. Upon seeing Sombra, the crowds instantly fell silent. "Citizens of the Crystal Empire, you are all probably wondering why I organized this crystal faire, given my previous decrees on public celebration," Sombra announced, his glowing horn sending a purple aura around his throat to make his voice boom and echo throughout the kingdom. "As you are all aware, I have decided to take Twilight Sparkle of Canterlot to be my wife and queen..." His eyes met Twilight's and he froze in place, his expression unreadable as he continued to stare at her. What is wrong with him? Is he okay?

"Sombra?"

The umbrum snapped out of his trance as if nothing had happened. "I, uh...where was I?" The crowds all mumbled to one another about their shared puzzlement and waited for Sombra to clear up the confusion. "I'm sorry, I can't do this," he said aside to Twilight and then to the crowd: "I apologize ladies and gentlecolts but...the wedding is cancelled." What?! "Please enjoy the festivities. That will be all." He then dashed away, leaving both Twilight and the crystal ponies very bewildered.

Twilight found Sombra sitting in a small chair in the hallway, his brow furrowed in thought. "Sombra? Is everything okay?"

With a heavy sigh, he nodded, "Yes, I'm alright. I just...I couldn't do it. I'm sorry Twilight."

Carefully smoothing out her dress, Twilight pulled up a nearby chair and sat down next to Sombra, taking one of his hooves into her own. "Why did you say that the wedding is cancelled? Did I do something wrong?"

He turned to look at her and gave her a bittersweet smile. "No, you did absolutely nothing wrong. It's just that...I want to marry you, okay? I do, really. Just not like this. I want to court you and propose to you and have you say 'Yes' because you want to, not because I'm forcing you to." He then stared at the wall and Twilight thought that he had nothing more to say. And then: "You should go home, Twilight."

"What?"

"I said, 'You should go home.' You no longer have an obligation to be here. I'm releasing you from your contract. My guards will escort you to the Friendship Express station and I'll make sure you can catch a ride back to Ponyville."

Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing. After everything they've been through together, he was just going to cut her loose? "Sombra, why are you doing this?" She grabbed ahold of his neck armor and shook him, wanting to scream and hit him but instead just sat there shaking him, his head lolling back and forth. "Do I mean nothing to you?!"

Sombra was on his hooves so fast that Twilight was nearly yanked up out of her seat. "You really think that you mean nothing to me?!" He was furious but kept his voice lowered. "Twilight...for how smart as you are, that was an extremely dumb thing for you to say. You mean the world to me! And that's why I..." He closed his eyes and whispered hurtfully, "That's why I can't keep you. You don't belong here. Even if by some miracle you one day came to love me, you'll be married to a monster and will be forever be known as a monster's wife. I can't do that to you. I won't."

Twilight's anger vanished, her rage replaced by...something else. She looked at Sombra closely and saw the most hoofsome stallion in the world, her heart beating both quickly and slowly at the sight of him. What he said had to be the most romantic thing she'd ever heard. Her eyes darted to the end of the hallway and past them, a trip to the castle's lower levels and then the main entrance. He was offering her freedom. She could go back home and see her friends again. Hug her parents and Shining Armor and tell them how much she loves them. But what about Sombra?

If Sombra had released her two months ago, Twilight would've been out of there faster than you can say, "Higitus Figitus." Now all she could do was stand there petrified, unsure of what to do or even what to say. The umbrum stood there morosely staring off into space, his shoulders sagging and his face suggesting that he was on the verge of tears. Twilight bit her lip and came to the hardest decision that she'd ever had to make in her life. She placed her hooves on either side of Sombra's face and commanded, "Sombra, look at me. Look at me."

His big scarlet eyes met her violet ones. "I'm not leaving you."

"You're not?"

"No, I'm not," Twilight confirmed gently as one of her hooves wound up in his mane and she marveled at its softness. "I'll be right by your side, I promise. Now, there's a crystal faire outside and I think that we should join them, don't you?"

The Crystal Castle throne room was as silent as the grave. The Crystal Heart silently floated above Sombra's throne, a soundless glowing vigil as it rotated in the air. The crack near its base, which amazingly had escaped Sombra's notice, had widened further, creating a wide, zigzagging pattern that made it to the object's summit. Pieces of the red outer layer peeled off and dissolved on the floor, letting the Crystal Heart's natural blue color shine brilliantly through. One side was still a violent red, causing the Heart to resemble a sort of yin-yang but this was soon to pass.