"You know what? I've changed my mind. See you later!" Sombra attempted to flee but a raspberry-colored aura gripped ahold of his hindlegs and dragged him backwards, towards a semi-irritated Twilight.

"Oh no you don't! You set up this whole thing so it's only right that you participate," Twilight replied in a stern, motherly tone. "Besides, I don't have a date. You wouldn't leave me dateless now, would you?"

What...what is she doing?! Sombra winced at her quivering lip and large, adorably irresistible eyes. "Okay, okay, I'll do it! Just please, in the name of Tartarus, please stop with the face!" Satisfied with the answer, Twilight released Sombra and pulled him close to her, giggling like a schoolfilly.

"Oh, lighten up, Sommy. Let's have some fun!"

"I'm regretting this already," Sombra muttered ruefully.

Crystal Square was jam-packed with scores of crystal ponies, either tending to or perusing vendors and tents of every sort, from jugglers and caricaturists to flugelhorn-sellers and funnel cake-suppliers. Twilight had changed out of her gown and into a white summer dress with blue flowers while Sombra, using an old transmogrification spell, took on the appearance of a smoke-gray crystal pony unicorn with a straight forehead horn, dark emerald eyes and a cutie mark shaped like an apothecary's mortar and pestle. While they both had noticed the disguised umbrum's fake cutie mark, Twilight didn't ask and Sombra didn't bring it up. It almost looks exactly like his mother's. As they walked hoof and hoof together, she felt him shaking as his eyes nervously darted around, as though everypony there was out to get him.

"Mercury," Twilight whispered, using Sombra's agreed-upon alias. "You're alright. Just breath."

Sombra nodded, inhaling and exhaling steadily as they made their way into a row of crowded tents. He was usually fine when it came to crowds, just as long as he was a safe distance away and had them frightened of his presence. However, being out in the open and without his armor while with his possible marefriend left him feeling quite vulnerable. They looked through a T-shirt tent, which left Sombra in a merry mood upon seeing so many puns and quips on each one, and they ended up in line for a ring-toss game, which made Twilight very excited.

"Hey Mercury," Twilight said in her best flirty Rarity voice, "Could you win me something from the ring toss? Pretty please?" She completed the impression with a light mane toss and fluttered her eyelashes, earning her a deep swallow and stare from Sombra. She'd meant it as a joke but it did her ego good to see him so affected. I'm going to have to remember that one.

"O-okay," Sombra nodded and slammed down some bits onto the counter. "Six rings please." The sherbet-colored crystal pony grinned and slid the rings over, complimenting Sombra on his big strong forelegs and his pretty marefriend, receiving a light giggle from Twilight as she draped a foreleg around Sombra. Zeroing in on the bottles, Sombra threw the first ring, which bounced against the closest bottle's neck and landed square onto his own horn. Twilight snickered before breaking out into an admittedly cute snort-guffaw. He rolled his eyes with a soft smirk and removed the ring, giving it to the vendor and prepared to give it another go. Okay Sombra, focus! You can do this!

No...no you can't. This is pointless!

The second ring went further than the first, sailing over all of the bottles and smacking against the wall. Rage built up inside Sombra like a white-hot furnace and he was ready to tear the whole damn structure down but a voice he didn't recognize spoke up, as soft and warm as a the rays of the early morning sun:

Try again, Sombra. Forget everything else but Twilight. Think about how she makes you feel.

Closing his eyes, Sombra inhaled and pictured Twilight's face, noting the roundness of her soft cheeks, the little cleft of her chin. Her eyes were prettier than all of the gems in Equestria and her smile, oh her smile, melted his heart like butter. She made him want to do better, be better. Everything about Twilight called to some part of him, a part that he thought he'd killed years ago: his soul. She called to his very soul, a siren's song he could not ignore. Sombra exhaled and felt a calmness he had not felt in centuries.

That's good, Sombra. Now open your eyes and throw it.

He did as he was told, his eyes flashing open as the bottle farthest against the wall was etched into his mind's mind. The ring went soaring and hit the top of the bottle, spinning around wobbly before landing on the neck. The crowd behind him clapped furiously while the vendor could do nothing but stare slack-jawed at him. Twilight squealed and leapt into Sombra's arms, wrapping her foreleg around his neck and cheering as though he'd won the lottery.

"Here-here you go, sir," the vendor sputtered, giving Sombra a stuffed blue-gray bear with a dark blue ribbon tied around its neck. Stuffed animals always gave him the willies; it was the wide, unblinking dead eyes that did it for him but today, those eyes seemed to sparkle at him. He took the bear and held it up triumphantly, watching the crowd cheer and whistle in honor of his minor but satisfying accomplishment. Huh, so this is what it's like to be cheered for. His eyes drifted to Twilight, whose smile was deep and wide as she gazed up at him proudly. Realizing that he still had the bear in his possession, Sombra held it out to her.

"For you, my lady."

"Thank you, Som-I mean, Mercury." Twilight looked as though he'd given her the keys to the kingdom the way that she hugged the stuffed bear to her chest. Meeting his eyes, Twilight leaned up onto her tippy-hooves and kissed Sombra on the cheek, a soft but prolonged kiss that set fire to his soul and rendered his heart thumping wildly out of control. The stallion swayed back and forth but kept his balance. Who knew modern mares enjoyed stuffed animals so much? He wondered, shaking sense back into his head.

"Anything for you, Twilight."

They spent the rest of the day walking hoof in hoof, caught in a shared state of pure bliss, ending it with a haycart ride in which they sat with their heads on each other's shoulders. Thankfully, they'd managed to get inside the castle before Sombra's transmogrification spell wore off and watched from the balcony as fireworks lit up the sky. Greens, reds and yellows shot up and burst into flurries of oranges and purples, drawing "Oohs" and "Ahs" from the crowds gathered below. In a velvet-seated lounge chair, Sombra sat with Twilight slumped up with her back against his chest, their hooves interlocked as they silently watched the spectacle before them. Sombra was entranced; he'd only seen fireworks once and that was at the Grand Galloping Gala centuries ago, nowhere near as spectacular as this.

"Sombra?"

"Yes, Twilight?"

Twisting around so that the two were now facing one another, Twilight gazed at the features of Sombra's face before leaning forward, their mouths only centimeters apart. "Thank you for today," she whispered and her lips lightly met his. Their kiss then quickly deepened, their mouths latching hungrily onto each other as Sombra kept one hoof around Twilight's waist and used the other to caress her mane. He shuddered at its softness and felt a pang in his chest when Twilight moaned into his mouth. All around them, literal and metaphorical fireworks exploded, showering the couple in light and bringing the perfect end to a perfect day.

Author's Note

There you go you Twibra addicts! Happy?

FYI, Sombra's unicorn disguise is based off of his backstory appearance in the MLP comics (which I haven't read and do not consider to be canon).

Sombra has two voices in his head? Who and what are they? Be patient; it'll all make sense.