Sombra's Bat

When I arrive at the dining hall, I make my disgust clear as I enter. Stony faced, I sit down next to Wish at the large wooden table without saying anything and scowl at the tapestry opposite me, depicting the old Princess of the Crystal Empire with her long pink mane and cream coat.

"Is there anything wrong?" Princess Cadance questions me. She and Shining Armour are seated at the head of the table together.

"Oh, you could say that," I almost snap at her. "I wasn't feeling that great, and when a guard came to say that you wanted me to join you, I said that I didn't want to come down here. So he decides to pull me out of my bedroom by my mane. When I manage to call the other guards to help me out, the one who started it all called me a vampire twice and none of the others have anything to say about it."

"WHAT?!" Shining yells. "Moonlight Shade, who did this?"

"He's an earth pony. Red coat, blue mane and tail. His cutie mark is a golden spear. The others were a pegasus with a yellow coat and an orange mane, and a unicorn with a blue coat and mane. All of them were from Canterlot, but none of the Crystal Guards have acted like that. Yet."

"I will have words with all of them. I told all of the guards to treat you as they would any other pony." He glances at Wish. "Wishbone Willow, have you had any problems?"

I look at Wishbone, who I haven't spoken to all night. She admits, "Some of the guards wouldn't speak to me when I asked them to show me where my quarters were. I had to ask about three different ponies before one would actually take me there."

"This is ridiculous," he mutters. "Never mind. I will have words with them later. Princess Cadance and I need to speak to you about what King Sombra is doing, and how Twilight and her friends are going to protect the Empire on a more permanent basis."

I silently wish for Sombra to have mercy and rescue me while Cadance isn't reinforcing her silly protection spell. Although, it occurs to me that if I know how Celestia's minions are defending the Empire, I can work out how to get past them. It's official that she is now working against me, so it's just a matter of moves and counter moves.

"Well," begins Sparkle, "Last night we found a book about the Crystal Fair, an event that uses the positive emotions of the crystal ponies to help protect the Crystal Empire. This seems like a better idea than getting Princess Cadance and other unicorns to use their magic all the time."

"Good start," Cadance beams. "Once that is up and running, King Sombra won't be able to break into the Empire."

I try not to growl at Cadance.

The breakfast arrives, and we eat in silence. Wishbone and I would ordinarily be having a cooked dinner right now, probably vegetable stew. I am not used to going to bed at this hour in the morning, and a yawn escapes me. Wishbone looks at me strangely, as if she is thinking about something important.

"Are you going to try to talk to King Sombra in your dreams today, Moonlight?" she quizzes me.

"Sure. If he does pop up, then I've got to try and get some information out of him," I reply. "Why?"

"I wasn't sure if you wanted any company."

No. Please, no. I am actually more happy for Sombra to visit my dreams than Wishbone now. I have to make something up on the spot. "I'd love it if you could, but if you're there he might not trust me enough to say anything. He might not even show up if he knows that I have a friend with me." More importantly, I can't tell him how I plan to get him into the Empire.

I notice one of the Element Bearers, an orange-coated country mare wearing a Stetson hat, eyeing me with suspicion, but I ignore her.

"Oh," Wish says. "Ok. Just checking, because I haven't spoken to you all day. I only know about your Umbrum-whispering skills and your fight with the guards."

"Umbrum?" I have no idea what she's talking about.

Sparkle recites, "The Umbrum are a race of magical shadow creatures who are fluent in the practices of dark magic. They are often cruel, and put other ponies through extreme misery unless they themselves turn into Umbrum through the use of dark magic rituals. Once they are converted, there is no turning back for them, and they will stay alive unless killed. As is the case with windigos, the only way of doing this is through using the combined love and friendship of all of the ponies in a community." She pauses for breath. "There have been many conspiracies and rumours stating that King Sombra is one of them. It may not be true fact, but it seems like a pretty logical explanation."

"Wait. You..." Oh no. The love and light... the Crystal Heart... "You're planning to kill him?"

"Unfortunately, yes. If that's the only way to save the Crystal Empire from him, then that's what must be done."

"No. There must be something else you can do." I look to Prince Cadance and Shining Armour, hoping that either one of them would argue against Sparkle's reasoning. Neither one of them says anything.

I begin to get angry with them again. "You say that you're doing the best for Equestria and that you give everypony a second chance, but that's a lie. Ponies don't trust me for trying to find out what Sombra's doing, I'm treated like scum by the guards, and then this? Who the Tartarus do you think you are?!"

"Calm down," Wishbone comforts me, resting a hoof on my shoulder. "Look. You've been through quite a lot. Having that thing interrupt your sleep can't be any good for you, but a good night's sleep might help you see things clearly."

She's right, but not in the way she thinks. I walk out of the dining room, teleport to my guest room and try to calm myself down so that I can sleep.

Sombra is there when slumber stops evading me. Before he can ask what is wrong, I tell him, "They want to kill you by using the love and light of the crystal ponies. What will we do, Sombra? You're a part of my life now! I like having somepony to talk to! Nopony believes a word I say and they're going to ruin everything for us after all of that hard work." I sit down facing away from him and sigh in defeat.

"Hush, Moonlight. Calm yourself. Did anypony mention the Crystal Heart?"

"They said the old princess Amoré used a crystal heart to protect this place."

"A crystal heart, or the Crystal Heart?"

"What difference does it make?" I grumble.

"It can't just be any old sculpture. The Crystal Heart was purpose-made by my predecessor herself. Nothing will work without it, and it can only be accessed by somepony who can use dark magic, unless you go straight to where I have hidden it. That is in the," his eyes shift suddenly and he hesitates, "tallest tower. You cannot use magic to take it though, and even in that tower it is difficult to find. Nopony can find it there except myself."

I turn to see what he is looking at. I can make out Wishbone's form behind the crystal pillar.

"Wishbone?" I call her name.

"Give it up, both of you," she spits at me, stepping forward into the light. "I knew this was happening. I haven't left your dreams alone, and I could see the so-called friendship that you were building. The worst thing is that this is more than the kind of friendship where somepony takes advantage of you and stabs you in the back." She glares at Sombra. "It didn't even take a mind control spell. You are actually beginning to love each other, and Moonlight," she gives me a scathing look, "it looks you would even risk your life helping this crook."

"What do you mean?" I ask her, dread building up inside me.

"This is treason. You could be executed for this. I can't let you do this, Moonlight. You're a wonderful pony, and I have a lot of respect for you, but are you saying that you'd rather see the whole Crystal Empire in chains than see this crook punished for his crimes?"

I take a deep breath and stand up to face her. "Yes, Wish. I would, because we wouldn't put the Crystal Empire in chains. I didn't realise before, but..." I look up at Sombra, and a hundred thoughts race through my mind. He had so many chances to hurt me, but he didn't. He offered me friendship, a new job, a new life, and he stood up for me.

I suddenly realise how much this stallion's life means to me. I know we've only known each other for a few weeks, but standing by his side feels the right thing to do. "I think I'm beginning to love you. I'm not sure in what way, but I like having you around." I look back at Wishbone. "I'm sorry, but why would you hand me in?"

"I don't want to see my friend turned into an Umbrum, because that's what he'll do. If you decide to get together, he'll want some commitment shown."

"Then I'd become an Umbrum, for his sake," I counter. "If you say that you're going to hand me in, I'll leave the Crystal Empire, and Sombra and I will both try to get into the Crystal Empire each night. Why? A true friend would walk a mile in their friend's horseshoes. I have - I can see where you're coming from. You want the best for me and the best for Equestria, which aren't bad qualities to have. But I tried time and again to get Sombra a second chance, and nopony would listen, which is why I've sided with him. And if you do hand me in, my last request will be for you to watch."

"That won't happen. Swear to the good of Equestria or I tell the guards immediately."

"The problem is that you won't tell anypony, Wishbone," I say quietly. I nudge Sombra's front hoof. I don't know exactly how this works, or even if it will work, but I've seen him use magic in dreams plenty of times. "The problem is that you are going to help us, whether you like it or not."

It happens quickly, much faster than she can react. Sombra uses dark magic, and a beam of purple light hits Wishbone's forehead. When it disappears, she stands up straight and tall. "I won't tell anypony, Moonlight," she says monotonously.

"You are dismissed, and can return to your own dreams," says Sombra. "You will have no recollection of this when you wake."

Wishbone jumps through a mirror on the wall and disappears. She does not return.

"My goodness, how in Equestria did you know that the mind control spell could work in the dream realm?!" Sombra remarks.

"I've seen you cast spells in dreams before, so I guessed that you would be able to use a little mind control to buy us some time." That was brilliant, and the strange thing is, I don't have any regret. At all.

"Thank you for complimenting me on my magical abilities. The reason why that quick turnaround worked is because dark magic relies on emotions, and your emotions are not guarded nearly as well in the dream world. Also, what was it you said about potentially viewing me as more than a friend?"

"Well, um," I stumble over my words, "it's early days, but uh, you don't actually look that bad, and you have quite a fun personality. Others would say you're narcissistic, or hate you for what you've done in the past, but you have a soft spot for me, and I realise that." I turn away, blushing. He is sort of cute, I guess. I'm not fully admitting anything at the moment, though.

"Well, if all of this works out and you don't happen find anypony else, would you be interested?" he inquires.

"Slow down. Early days. You need to be made a King first."

"Too right. We have a time limit. Would you like to practise using dark magic? You might have to retrieve a certain Crystal Heart for me if they figure out that their entire plan depends on it."

"Where do we start?"

The scene changes, and I recognise the throne room of the Crystal Castle. Sombra sits on the throne in a relaxed position. "This is where the entrance to the secret passageway is at the real castle. You have to really concentrate on all of your negative feelings, and focus your magic on this throne." He jumps off and steps to one side. "Try it. I won't interfere with the dream."

I focus all my hatred of Celestia on one tiny crystal piece of the throne, and run through the mental list of all of the names that I want to call her one day. The crystal turns black and a long shadow is cast upon a section of floor. It disappears and reveals a long, winding staircase.

"Good job," he muses. "What thoughts did you use?"

"All the names that I would like to call Celestia. It is a long list. Can we go down?"

The scenery changes again. It's dark, but I have a feeling that this is the bottom of the staircase. A locked door stands in front of us. Sombra instructs, "Do not use dark magic here, whatever you do. It is a trap that I had specifically installed. A light magic spell for opening doors is fine, on the other hoof."

I zap the crystal piece above the door and it opens, revealing one of the Crystal Castle towers.

"Is this the tallest tower?"

"Wrong. That was a lie to get Wishbone off our tails. If she does remember anything, she will give everypony the wrong advice. This is the second tallest tower. However, if you just fly up there without entering the secret passage first, the Crystal Heart will be hidden from view, and only I know where it will be."

"That's interesting. How does that work?"

"It is a very clever string of spells that I invented, which an old friend of mine called the Wild Goose Chase Effect," he explains. "If the pony looking for the Heart goes straight to the destination, there is nothing there because they have to complete a series of spells to get hold of it, including dark magic spells. The spell is cast over the whole Crystal Empire and cannot be undone. At the top of the tower is the Crystal Heart. If you fly up there, you will find it, but it is not there in the dream realm. The other thing that I will point out is that you must be alone at the top of the tower, or crystals will prevent you from taking it." He looks longingly up at the tower. "Do you think that you can find the Heart and bring it to me?"

"I think I-"

There is a sudden clap of thunder that has nothing to do with the dream, startling both of us. Everything goes dark for a minute, then the scenery returns.

"It is happening," breathes Sombra, looking across the Crystal Empire. "Finally. The alicorn Cadance is growing weaker. Her magic will not last much longer. Some of my crystals have already penetrated the Empire." He turns back to me. "Hurry now, Moonlight. It is still day, but the other ponies will already be searching for the Crystal Heart and we must find it before it is too late."

"Goodbye, Sombra. I won't let you down."

I wake up, and all around is screaming and thunder.