Twilight Sparkle watched from the station as the train climbed along the mountain. The unicorn mare was dressed in a simple, formal blue dress. Princess Celestia, standing next to her, forced her barely concealed scowl into a smile. She gave Twilight a few hollow words of encouragement as the train came around the last bend.
It pulled into the station at high speed, the brakes screeching as it lurched to a stop. On closer examination, Twilight saw that the train was damaged. The windows were broken, the paint scratched, and the cars battered.
The door squeaked as it swung open and promptly fell to the ground with a thud as a black coated unicorn stallion stepped out. Twilight quickly sunk into a bow at the sight of King Sombra, the ruler of the Crystal Empire.
"I must apologize for my tardiness, Princess. Some bandits stopped my train, intending to kill me. It was no trouble to dispose of them, but the driver was a casualty of the attack. It took some time to get everything running by myself."
Celestia's response was strained. "It's really no issue, King Sombra, although I'm afraid I'll have to be short with you because of the delay," she paused, "You may rise, Twilight. Your majesty, this is Twilight Sparkle, she will be your guide for the day."
As he shifted his attention from the princess to her, Twilight caught a menacing look in his eyes.
"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Sparkle. I trust you have an entertaining day planned for me?"
"Of course, your majesty," Twilight said hastily.
Celestia cut in, "If everything is to your pleasure, I will be taking my leave. My most trusted servants and guards will tend to your luggage. I will see you at the dinner tonight."
Sombra smiled. "Of course, Princess. I've had a long train ride and I can't wait to stretch my legs and see the city."
The princess teleported away, and Sombra turned back to Twilight. "Where to first, Miss Sparkle?"
"We'll start the tour in the Lower District, the foundations of Canterlot."
She started walking and Sombra followed. As they exited the train station, Twilight felt grateful that press had been ordered to keep away during the tour. As they walked past the Station Plaza, Sombra pointed at something with his hoof.
"What are those ponies doing over there? What's that they're gathered around?"
Taking stock of the group of mourners, many of which were fixing her and Sombra with a glare, Twilight explained, "That's the memorial to the ponies that gave their lives in the war."
Sombra snorted, "I can't imagine why you'd celebrate failures. Let's move on."
Twilight chose not to respond, and they began their descent to the Lower District. As they walked, Sombra asked several less awkward questions about the modern amenities the ponies of Canterlot enjoyed.
"No, those lamps aren't gas powered. They're mana lamps, the first of which was invented by Bright Idea in 923, although the design has been significantly refined since then."
"Fascinating. I must say, mana circuits are a significant step up from the runic magic we had a thousand years ago."
She was pleasantly surprised to find out that he could be listed as one of the few ponies who could follow her when she started talking about magical theory. Soon enough, they reached the base of the city and began working their way back up. Twilight explaining how things grew from the pipe dream of a few architects into the city it was today. Sombra was a model guest, and she almost forgot she was talking to a megalomaniacal dictator, except for brief comments he let slip out here and there.
"This really is such a beautiful city. I'm glad I didn't end up besieging it."
As they crossed back over into the upper part of the city, Twilight stopped to note, "This was the legal division between the earth pony and pegasus slums and the noble unicorns' manors, before the Revolution of 354 did away with segregation. The Upper District is still prohibitively expensive and mostly populated by nobles, but anyone with enough bits can buy their way in now."
They wound through the upper district and came to their midday destination at around two in the afternoon, quite a bit later than she had planned. Tonight's dinner started in just three hours.
"This is the Restaurant Row. It may look a little run down right now, but it was the heart of fine dining in Canterlot before the war. Everypony is just recovering from the forced rationing right now. Luckily, our destination here has stayed open through the war. It's just this way, if you'll follow me."
Twilight led King Sombra past a slew of decrepit restaurants. Most were abandoned after going out of business, but a couple had been converted into soup kitchens. After a few blocks, they turned a corner and what was easily the most welcoming building in miles came into view. Compared to the chipped paint and boarded windows of the surrounding buildings, it was shining like a beacon at the end of the block. Colorful decorations and green plants hung on the building's face.
"This is the Tasty Treat," Twilight elaborated as she walked up and knocked on the door, "It's the only restaurant that's still in operation from before the war. They serve some pretty exotic food and come from a small Indo-Equestrian cultural group from the southern heartlands, which just goes to show how ponies come from all over Equestria to find fame and fortune here in Canterlot."
"I can't say I've had anything of the sort before. Unfortunately, the Crystal Empire has always been very homogenous. A fact I hope to change with my proposed cultural exchange program."
They waited a minute longer at the door before it swung open, revealing a light brown coated coated unicorn mare. She did a short bow to Sombra.
"I'm Saffron Masala, your majesty. Please come in."
She guided Sombra and Twilight to a large table that occupied the center of the room and handed them a couple of drink menus. Twilight had been there a couple times before, so she sniffed the air, hoping to be able to guess as to what Saffron had cooked for them. Disappointingly, any scent of food eluded her.
Saffron spoke up, "I'll have your lunch out shortly, but first, is there anything you'd like to drink?"
Sombra pondered the menu for a moment, "I can't decide. Surprise me."
"Of course, your majesty."
"I'll just have a water," Twilight said.
Saffron nodded and disappeared into the back for a few minutes, coming back with a glass of water and some kind of fruit juice. Saffron returned to the back. Twilight sipped at her drink while Sombra tried his.
"How is it, King Sombra?"
"The flavor is pleasant, but something about the aftertaste is familiar," he paused, sighed, then raised his voice to be nearly shouting, "Oh. Come out, assassin. You must think yourself very clever." He punctuated that statement with a cough. Twilight could see wisps of black smoke escaping his frowning lips.
As Saffron came back into view, matching Sombra's glare with one of her own, Sombra looked to Twilight. "You should probably take cover, Miss Sparkle." He stepped away and flipped the table onto its side with a burst of magic. She did as he said, and hid behind it.
"Now then, it's been quite a few years since somebody tried to poison me. I'm feeling generous, so I'll let you choose how you die."
"You don't seem to understand. That was some of the deadliest poison in the world. A drop would be enough to kill the average unicorn. I put half a cup in your glass. In a few seconds, you'll drop dead and my father will finally be avenged."
While Saffron and Sombra faced off, Twilight cast a quick spell, signaling the guard unit shadowing them that they needed support and medical attention.
"You're taking revenge for a dead loved one? That's the fifth one this week," Sombra sighed. "Any last words?"
"I don't know how you expect to kill me when you won't be alive for much longer, but I don't have anything more to say to a monster like you."
There was the brief sound of a gust of wind, then a horrible scent that made Twilight gag.
"You can come out now, Miss Sparkle. I have dealt with the assassin," Sombra paused as Twilight stood up from behind the table, "I think I've grown tired of assassination attempts. They were droll at first, but the consistency has really worn down my tolerance. I think I'll publically disembowel the next one. Do you think that will discourage ponies from trying?"
Twilight's attention was occupied by the skeleton laying on the ground where Saffron had been standing. It was a clean white, with not a drop of blood to be seen. When the guards arrived, they escorted her and Sombra off of the premises. Afterwards, despite the fact that Sombra seemed unfazed, she decided it was probably best to end the tour early. Their walk to the palace was almost entirely silent. Once they were inside, she guided him to his room.
"I hope you enjoyed the tour, your majesty. This is your room for the duration of your stay. As per your request, Princess Celestia has provided formalwear for tonight. You can find it in your closet. Servants will be on call to attend to you if you should need it."
"We've only just met, Miss Sparkle, but we get along so well. I think this must be the beginning of a long friendship. Might I request you to accompany me to tonight's dinner? I fear I may grow bored with the dull negotiations without a companion."
Twilight froze up. She had got along well enough with Sombra, but after the incident at the Tasty Treat, she didn't really want to be anywhere near him. On the other hoof, she wasn't interested in ending up like Saffron Masala. Caught between a rock and a hard place, she took the path of least resistance.
"Of course, your majesty, it would be my pleasure."
"Excellent, I'll be seeing you shortly, then," Sombra said as he closed the door.
Two and a half frantic hours later, Twilight had acquired a suitable dress and made herself presentable for the dinner. She also made sure to send a guard to update the princess on the situation. She almost felt relieved as she approached the king's room with fifteen minutes to spare. She knocked and felt the stress return as she heard hoofsteps from the other side of the door. Hopefully nopony else would die tonight.
The door swung open, revealing King Sombra, who was dressed in an ornate crimson suit. "Good evening, Miss Sparkle. You look lovely. Give me just another moment and I'll be ready to go."
A few minutes later, he stepped out and gestured to Twilight. "Lead the way, Miss Sparkle. I'm not terribly familiar with the layout of the castle."
As they walked, Sombra started a conversation. "I've just had a wonderful idea, Miss Sparkle. I think that I shall persuade Celestia to make you the official ambassador. That way, we won't lose contact with each other when I return to the Crystal Empire. I would hate for our blossoming friendship to wilt. What do you think?"
"... I'm not sure if you'll be able to convince the princess. She would likely want me to finish my studies here." At least, Twilight very much hoped so.
"Nonsense, I'm sure I can make her see reason."
She led him back towards the entrance, then through to the throne room. It was traditional for the princess to greet all those who came to an event and the grand ballroom was adjacent. A line of well-dressed nobles had formed. King Sombra, and her by extension, took his place at the front of the line as the foreign dignitary. Twilight saw some of the nobles she had met when she had attended state functions to represent her family give her questioning looks, but she didn't have the time to explain.
Soon enough, the clocks in the waiting hall chimed and the guards opened the doors and called for the first guests. As she walked behind Sombra, she could feel the nobles' stares burning into her back. When they came to stand before Princess Celestia at the far end of the hall, Sombra looked at Princess Luna's empty throne and frowned. Twilight bowed to the princess, while Sombra just nodded.
"Welcome, King Sombra and Miss Twilight Sparkle."
"That throne looks awfully comfortable, Celestia. Would you mind if I tried it out for a second?"
"Not now, Sombra."
"What did you say, princess? You think negotiations have broken down and that we can't settle things peaceably? I hadn't expected you to declare another war so suddenly, especially given Equestria's subpar performance in the last one."
Celestia's glare softened somewhat. "Don't do this right now, your majesty."
"What's the magic word?"
"Please."
"Please what?"
"Please, your majesty, it would be best if you waited until a later time."
"If you had just said that from the beginning, there wouldn't have been any misunderstanding. I'll see you at the dinner."
He walked towards the ballroom, and Twilight looked between the two for a second before quickly following after him. King Sombra was seated at the far end of the long table and Twilight was seated next to him. Over the next half hour, the nobles of the House of Lords came in, filling in the seats starting at the near end. Finally, Celestia took her place opposite Sombra.
Discussion started in earnest as the servants brought out the first course. Most of the nobles focused on solidifying Equestria's permissions and demands, although a few of the closer ones made small talk with Twilight and Sombra. Halfway through the second course, as things were turning towards the actual negotiations, Sombra stood up and cleared his throat.
"I would like to propose a toast to Miss Twilight Sparkle for saving my life earlier today." He proceeded to regale the gathered nobles with a false tale of her bravery in the face of danger, describing in vivid detail how she disintegrated the assassin and healed his wounds. She considered speaking up, but after meeting his deep red eyes during his speech, discarded that idea. She kept silent as the lords, most of them begrudgingly, accepted Sombra's toast.
Twilight didn't have much to contribute over the next couple hours. While the negotiations didn't go over her head, she wasn't allowed to contribute as she wasn't a dignitary for either side. Key proposals included a mutual disarmament, which both sides agreed to, and Sombra's previously mentioned 'Cutural Exchange Program', which involved sending one hundred Equestrians to become permanent residents of the Crystal Empire every year and was a significantly harder sell. Unfortunately, it seemed that Sombra had significant leverage over Equestria and, while he was willing to agree to most of their provisions, he could pressure them into agreeing to his more onerous ones. Halfway through, Princess Celestia had to step out to lower the sun and the debate was put on hold as everything was quiet for a few short minutes.
Eventually, the Treaty of Canterlot was finished and signed by all present, sans Twilight, and the House of Lords dispersed for the evening. Twilight stood to leave, but Sombra gestured for her to stay and she sat back down. They waited until all the nobles had left and it was just Celestia sitting across from them. Then, Sombra stood and walked past her towards the throne room. Twilight followed, not sure what else to do.
"These are fine chairs, Celestia, but after sitting for them for hours, I find myself craving something a little larger. Don't worry, we'll lock up after we're done."
Twilight met the princess's eyes as she passed and saw an immense look of worry and sadness. She just turned her gaze downwards and hurried after Sombra.
She watched from the edge of the room as he climbed the steps, then went to sit. King Sombra turned around to face her as he sat. He gave her a fanged grin.
"Don't you think, Miss Sparkle, that the fair princess is ill-suited to this throne? It is much more fit for a king."
