Twists, Turns, Scars, and Steel

The next day, Celestia awoke feeling better than she had in a long time. She no longer felt groggy like she had drunk half a wine cellar, and in fact, felt recharged instead of like she had been awake all night. She trotted over to her balcony to raise the sun, a slight smile gracing her muzzle.

As she raised the celestial body, she thought about this feeling. It somewhat reminded her of the feeling she got when she went to her school, and gave a lecture or watched a test. More than likely, it was just the feeling of having something to do. Well, then it was to break up the monotony of ruling, but now it was just doing something.

As she grabbed the box her regalia were in and slid them on, she noticed something on her desk. Having cleaned up the day before, she hadn't had anything on it, so it stood out quite clearly. Trotting over to it, she noticed it was a book and a piece of paper. The book was the best biography of Sombra, or at least the only one she could find. The second, the piece of paper, had several notes jotted down on it:

-He regrets his actions; no need to bring those up

-Wants to find out some more information about modern-day (More than likely)

-20 questions?

"Heh. I'm turning into Twilight", she muttered, before setting the list down. She decided she would walk to Sombra's room. It was close by, and she needed a little bit of time to organize her thoughts. So, opening the door, she entered the hall and made her way along it, towards Sombra's room.

As she did so, she attempted to do why she had chosen to walk; organize her thoughts. She had a plan for that day, which entailed learning more about him and getting him familiar with the modern Equestria as best she could. The 20 questions idea she had jotted down seemed like a good solution, and, failing that, she could always just ask questions and answer them. Maybe a little reading...?

She was interrupted from her reverie by a voice exclaiming, "Good morning, Princess!" Looking over, she saw Senator Neighsayer coming up to her. He wore a smile on his face, which was rather unusual. Even when he attended her school when he was younger, he rarely smiled.

"Good morning, Neighsayer", she replied. "You seem in a good mood this morning. What's the occasion?"

"What? Can't I be happy?", he said, before laughing a bit and resuming his usual stern look. "Sorry. My doctor and my wife said I need to smile more. Something about putting myself in too much stress and something to do with heart risks. So, I've been doing my best."

"No need to be sorry. I suppose something like that could be helpful", she said, a small smile of her own cracking her lips.

He muttered, "True, true." The two trotted side-by-side for another few steps before Neighsayer spoke up again. "Princess. I need to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"I have heard, some rather interesting rumors", he said. "A few of the aristocrats speak a bit of Pryhan, and they've been spreading it about after hearing it from some off-duty Pryhan soldiers. Something about King Sombra, of all ponies, in one of the palace suites. Is this true?" The way he asked, he almost expected it to be a joke.

Celestia thought about it for a second. She didn't know how he would react if she said that the rumors were correct. But, he would find out at some point, whether by word of mouth or by simply seeing him. So, she told him, "These rumors are correct. Sombra is in fact in the palace. It is actually where I am going now."

The news made Neighsayer stop dead in his tracks. "He is!?", he exclaimed in shock. "Why is an enemy of Equestria given such treatment!?"

"He has shown regret for his actions", Celestia explained. "I am trying to reform him. To prevent him from returning to his old ways and harming us."

Neighsayer backed up, pressing one of his hooves to his chest. "Princess, this is going too far! First, you and your sister allow those foreigners to take over guarding us and cow-towing to those... creatures! Now, you allow a former tyrant and enemy of Equestria into our castle? And you've left him unattended!"

"Not unattended", she corrected. "Tribune Diodiece has assigned some of his top troops to watch him at all ti-"

Neighsayer interrupted her, saying, "Oh, yes. Leave the hoof-lickers to watch them."

"I've had quite enough of this behavior", Celestia said, her tone going ice cold. "You are a representative of Equestria. If you say these things in front of someone you shouldn't, there could be some very serious ramifications."

Neighsayer sighed. He asked, "Princess, what has happened?"

"What has happened, is that things have changed. And if you don't change with them, you will be left behind", she warned, before lighting up her horn and teleporting to Sombra's room. She didn't want to deal with him right now.

Her sudden appearance startled the Pryhan guards, who were watching Sombra with fascination. Or, rather, watching him eat. He had a large platter in his lap, one that was designed to eat in bed. It was piled high with food, both from the Equestrian kitchen and Pryhan commissary. Eggs, waffles, fruit, toast with both butter and jam, bacon, cheese, and a big cup full of milk. Small chunks of food was stuck in his fur around his muzzle or splattered on the platter and sheets.

He looked up when he heard the Pryhans salute and exclaim, "Ave, Princeps."

He swallowed a big chunk of eggs in his mouth, before moving his head away from the plate and sitting up. After wiping away the food from his mouth, he said, "Well. Good morning, Princess."

"Good morning, Sombra", she said, a smile returning to her face. "I see you've taken advantage of the kitchens."

He said, somewhat slowly, "In the twelve-hundred years since I was first imprisoned in ice, my sustenance has consisted of berries, dried grass, and vermin. Of course I will take full advantage of what I am being offered!"

Celestia giggled into her hoof, before looking over and seeing one of the Pryhans shudder. "Is something wrong?", she asked, still trying to suppress her giggles.

The questioned Bighorn replied, "Not... normal."

"Evidently, he is unused to the palate and appetite of Royalty", Sombra said jovially. "He should've been there for the feast before our negotiations, all those centuries ago. You ate half the cake before you stopped!"

Even she had to snicker at the memory, despite the context that event had taken place in. "Indeed. That was... an interesting time."

"Indeed", he said, smiling a fang-filled grin. After a second, his grin changed to a scowl, and then a sneer. He scrunched his eyes shut, growling.

"Is something wrong?", Celestia asked.

His eyes shot open, and he sighed in annoyance. He used his hooves to set the tray on the side of the bed, before replying to her, "I forgot that that whorse took off my horn."

Celestia nodded. "It's something that you tend to take for granted, isn't it?"

"What would you know of it?", he asked, a scowl still gripping his face. "You still have all of your limbs."

"True", she said. "And I in no way claim that you and I are alike in this way. But, I was put in a pod during the Changeling occupation. I was only let out in the mornings to raise the sun and the evening to lower it. Chrysalis obviously didn't want to mess with the cycle. The slime has a muscle-relaxing effect, and I was lethargic. I could barely think of anything else."

Sombra grumbled, but sat back up in bed and slammed his head into the wall behind him. "Well, Princess. What are you going to do today?"

"I was thinking we do an ice-breaker of sorts", she said, returning to the seat she sat in yesterday. "Are you familiar with the concept of 20 questions?"

"Ice-breakers? What are we? Foals in school?", he groused.

"I fail to see how else we could further understand one another", she said.

He asked, "And why would I want to understand you?"

Celestia balked in mild alarm. She didn't mean it that way. "I-I mean that, get you used to the modern-day. I, I didn't mean it like that."

He smirked, and said, "Very well. I shall agree to this. Now, what is this '20-questions'?"

"Simple", she said, getting over her slip up earlier. "I ask you a question, and you answer it. Then, you ask me a question, and I answer it. We do it until each of us has asked ten questions each; I.E. twenty total."

Sombra seemed to pause for a second. He leaned back further into the wall he sat on. So much so, she was worried that he might chip the plaster a bit. He gave a thoughtful look towards the ceiling, before sighing and gazing at her. "Very well. What is it you want to know?", he said.

Celestia considered it for a moment. She had, of course, come up with the idea, but she had no real concept of what she would ask. A thought came to her mind, and she asked, "How did you survive in that dungeon?"

He grunted, and replied, "Rats."

"Rats?", she asked.

"Rats", he agreed. "They didn't send food down, and only a small amount of water. So, I hunted for what I could. There was a small hole in the wall, and on the other side was the castle pantry. A swarm of rats had raided the place, and some would come into my pit. I would attack them, and eat. It wasn't much, but something was better than nothing."

Celestia looked at him with a horrified expression. She had known that ponies were omnivorous, and ate meat. She had known that the Earth Ponies in the Pryhan detachment ate the typical meal, which included meat, and she had eaten sausage and schnitzel at a Diplomatic meeting in Germaney about four-hundred years ago. But, eating wild rats... That was low she was not expecting. She said, "I am sorry."

"Don't be. What's done is done", he said. "Now, my turn. How is the Empire?"

She thought that he was wondering about Pryha, but his meaning came through to her. The Crystal Empire. "They are doing well. Princess Cadence has done a wonderful job; they are prospering. The crystal ponies are happy, healthy, and accepting."

Sombra sighs, before nodding to himself. "I see."

"Now, back to me. Why did you seek to enslave the Empire?", Celestia asked.

He remained leaning back on the wall, brooding to himself. After a bit, he asked, "I take it you've never been homeless, Princess?"

"What?", she asked, surprised that he brought up a seemingly off-topic situation.

"I'll take that as a yes", he replied, snickering. "I was born to a unicorn family. Refugees, from your war with Pryha. They had managed to flee, nearly freezing to death in the tundra. I was born in the Empire, in a back alley. My father couldn't find a steady job, so that is where we lived. We starved, but by fortune, I was able to be enrolled in school. They saved up enough from odd jobs to send me, even if it meant skipping a few meals."

He lifted up one of his pillows with his hoof, setting it behind his back to get more comfortable. He then continued, "I was an outcast. The foreigner street rat. No one few wanted to be around me and almost none wanted to be associated with me. Even the teachers held a certain degree of contempt for me. Quite the opposite of what my experience would've been if I had grown up now. In fact, I had one friend. A filly named Radiant Hope."

He smiled wistfully. "She was also a unicorn, but her family had been there for several generations, so they were accepted. We did everything together; study, play, pretend to be Princes and Princess. While I wasn't all that accepted, I still did well academically. I qualified to attend a proper university at 18. My parents were so proud, and so was Radiant. Of course, it was in Pryha. It pained me, but I left."

"I spent five years in Pryha. Despite the distance, I still exchanged letters with Radiant. I learned about the Pryhan side of things; their philosophy, their way of life, their reasons for fighting you and your sister. After those years, I returned. One of her letters said that she had volunteered as an independent nurse, helping the wounded on both sides of the war. When I returned, I planned to go to help her. We had both talked of, of somehow getting you to talk with the Caesar, and ending the war. Then, I learned where she was. Broken-Bit Pass."

Celestia couldn't help but cringe at the mention at that name. It was one of the most bloody battles of the second war with Pryha. Both sides had met in the pass, and it was already turning into a disastrous affair. Then, however, the unicorn commander took a drastic action. He had ordered his mages to shoot the sides of the Pass. Thousands of boulders crushed the Pryhan army, along with their civilian accompaniment and the Equestrian troops who were in contact with them. It was a Phyric victory for Equestria, and made the war only intensify.

"I am sorry", she said.

"What has happened has happened", he replied, once again sighing in his contemplation. "After that, I was heartbroken. To add insult to injury, my parents had passed away. I was alone. Everything and everyone I ever loved was gone. In my rage, I turned to the ancient tomes of the Empires archives."

"I found various spells; including various spellbooks and tomes about Dark Magic. In my rage, I wanted to prevent something like that from happening again. Princess Amore was leaning towards helping you, and I didn't want to risk my home. Of course, that wasn't the only reason."

"I wanted revenge. I was ignored and cast out from the natives when I was younger, even though I was superior in many ways. I wanted to make them feel how I had felt; worthless, less than the street beneath which you lived on", he said, his scowl deepening. "One day, I was asked to come before Princess Amore. She wanted to know if the Pryhans would ever yield in the war. I said that I would support no war, and she went into this long monologue. About ending the war, and how they simply couldn't stand by and do nothing. I was angry; she was going to throw away everything. So, I took action."

"You know the rest. I killed Amore with dark magic, enslaved the citizens of the Empire, and stayed out of it. Course, I didn't Amore was supplying you, and things escalated from there." He then said, "My turn once again. Why are you helping me?"

"W-what?", Celestia asked. She barely had time to digest what Sombra had just told her. How much he had suffered. She supposed Luna must've felt, if not the same, then at least similar to how he did. So unloved and alone, that they were willing to hurt others in their spite.

"Why are you helping me? Even before I told you about me, you thought me a tyrant, a slaver, and a murderer. Nothing like you planned to reform. Discord, despite screwing you over, was only a trickster and a petulant child with too much power. So, why seek to reform me?"

Celestia opened her mouth to reply, but once again, no sound came out. Instead, she could only think of a reason. She still had yet to put her hoof on why she wanted so badly to do so. Finally, what seemed to be the best reason she could think of came through. "I want to make it up."

"'Make it up'?", he questioned, cocking his head. "What do you mean?"

"It may be obvious, but I have messed up", she said, casting her gaze to the floor. "I've done things that, I regret deeply. I ignored my sister and her concerns so much, she attempted to kill me and I had to exile her to the moon. I've left other nations to rot, even if I had a hand in hastening their decay. I did not step in to halt the civil war that tore the original Griffonian Republic apart. I let Prance and Germaney fight. After my sister was exiled, I even... I-"

She began to sob, recalling the memories that she had long sought to ignore. "After I exiled Luna, Pryha declared war. Even now, I don't know why. Maybe Luna had enlisted their help in her coup, and the news reached them late. But, when that happened... I snapped. I used my magic... and I made a volcano erupt. It swallowed one of their major cities and formed a river of lava that exists to this day."

"All of this, I did to protect my ponies. From Nightmare Moon, from the wars outside of Equestria, from war with Pryha. I did all of that, damned so many to death and poverty, to protect my ponies and my nation. But, even that, I failed. I had one of the Element Bearers exiled. I let our defenses become so decayed, that we were all subsumed by the Changelings."

"I guess", she said, looking back up at Sombra with a few tears streaming down her cheeks. "That reforming you is something that I can do to try and help. To actually do something that will help somepony, and not lead into stagnancy and damnation."

Sombra snorted, before replying, "Well then."

Celestia sighed. "Perhaps we should continue this another time?"

"Agreed", Sombra replied. "As much as I enjoyed relishing in the suffering of others, I take no joy in this."

Celestia smiled. She didn't know why, but she did.