It is strange how everypony has said that King Sombra is an irredeemable villain, that he has not a kind bone in his body and a heart made of iron, and I have been able to get through to his happy side just by holding out my hoof for him. It is also strange that I am now viewed as an enemy of and a threat to Equestria, but our good old friend Sunbutt has done absolutely nothing but send a few letters.

Wishbone, thankfully, does not return, and no new missionaries are sent to annoy us. However, the letters from Canterlot Castle become more frequent, forceful and threatening. They are now addressed to both me and Sombra but we never respond. Equestria have given us two more weeks before they declare war on us, and we have responded by deciding to teach the Crystal Guard some extra combat skills. Of course, Crystal Ponies have no magical abilities and no flight, but I have learned that they have strength, stamina and an immunity to some dangerous spells, which are reflected away from them and towards the attacker. Sombra and I decide that every guard will have the same training sessions and a good proportion of the more relaxed guards should be made into elite guards. I dislike seeing that they have no free will, but they serve us, and we cannot allow them to switch sides on the battlefield should it come to that.

Despite being enemies with Equestria, we have new allies as well: the changelings. Queen Chrysalis seems to have a sense of humour, and is desperate to come to the wedding. We have a deal to protect each other should some fiery alicorn try to blast us with the full power of the sun's radiation, and the changelings are welcome to visit whenever they like as long as they stay in their true forms. They are more than happy to oblige with this.

Added to our daily hate mail is now fan mail from Chrysalis. She says that her hive has been starving for a long time, and to a certain extent she has been forced to starve them. We have told her that there is plenty of love to go around here, and there is, since the Crystal Ponies have settled into the new regime fully and now appreciate Sombra as a ruler. Also, we have kept everypony in the dark about the war that is about to erupt, although the guards probably have some idea of why they need extra training.

I sit at the writing desk where I have made myself at home over the recent weeks. I have been tasked with teaching the guards what I know and designing a routine for training sessions. I can remember how I was trained back when I was in Equestria's Lunar Guard, but the system has its flaws and I have to think about how to correct these.

"Hello beautiful."

"Sombra, what a surprise," I reply, trying to hide the glee from my voice. I look at him. As always, his face is plastered with a cocky grin.

"I have a present for you." He uses his magic to place a large box at my feet. I don't even think of it as dark magic now. It is normal for me.

"Oh?"

"Open it."

I look at the box for a minute, eyeing the prize and thinking about how the thing inside will be all mine and not for anypony else and try to picture what is inside. I cannot see anything clearly, but my dark magic reveals what looks like a set of boots. "Clothing. Interesting," I tell him.

"Using magic spoils all the fun, but you are correct. Now open it before I use my magic on you."

I giggle and open the present. Yes, there are boots in there, tall boots that reach up to my knees easily when I put them on. I place those to one side and pull out the other garments: a chest plate, body armour and a helmet. This is not the ugly black armour that the guards are forced to wear; this is more sleek and stylish, yet I can see it is built to last. It is the same style as Sombra's own armour, but without the red cape and the crown that Sombra is never seen without. It also has that helmet, which is very similar to the ones the elite guards have. It is meant to cover my entire head, and has red eye slits like the green ones on the elite guard helmets.

"I hope you aren't going to try any of your fancy mind control on me," I say jokingly. "If you do you'll figure out how to make my voice sound like Sunbutt's."

"The armour is enchanted to help us communicate in dire situations, but not quite in that way. We have been trying to improve your telepathy skills, and this will improve the radius of your power to the diameter of the Crystal Empire in every direction. I am hoping that neither of us has to step onto the battlefield, but if that does occur then we will be able to give each other updates on what is happening. The spell only works if one of us needs to contact the other."

"This seems useful, but..." I trail off. There is an obvious problem that I need to talk about, because I want us to be able to trust each other as much as possible.

"But what?"

"Sombra, all jokes aside, would you ever use mind control on me?"

"No, Moonlight. Not ever. I may be ruthless with other ponies, but I would never forgive myself if I did that to you. Kings and Queens deserve better treatment. When we are together, there will be no secrets, no spies, no pain and no lies. Or something like that. I don't usually resort to making up stuff like that to impress you, but I guess it will have to do for now."

"Thank you." I give him a grin. "I take it you will also keep me on the home front when the war breaks out, although this armour is very chic."

"I would never put you into battle willingly. This is in case the war gets too close to us."

"Hopefully, it doesn't." Obviously.

"Would you like to see how this armour works?" he inquires. "It has various enchantments as well as the telepathy spell."

First of all, I put the boots on again. Although they are armoured on the outside, the insides are as soft as velvet. "So what do these do?"

"When you walk in this castle, there is always noise because the floor is made of crystal. Presumably, those boots with metal all around the outside are going to make a lot of noise."

I walk around him in a circle. I make no sound.

"With these shoes, you could gallop through a forest in the autumn and know that not one creature will hear you regardless of how many twigs and leaves you trample on."

"Nice. The chest plate?"

"The chest plate and body armour are able to deflect a variety of magical attacks, and will absorb any physical blows too. Put them on so I can see what you look like in them."

I slip on the armour. It is a perfect fit. I look at the final piece, and debate whether to put it on.

"The enchantment can be removed if you don't like it," Sombra says quietly.

"No it's just going to take a bit of getting used to. Having anypony able to read my thoughts whenever they like is unsettling. Before I met you I was petrified of Dreamwalkers, remember."

"What about now? Are you still scared?"

"No, because you look after my dreams and make sure nopony else decides to visit them."

"Of course. Try on that last piece of armour now; let's see how it works, fiancee."

He holds the helmet in his magical grasp and lifts it over my head. He puts it on with the most gentle care, making sure that my ears are not squashed and the straps are not too tight. The red eye slits, rather than hindering my colour vision, improve my overall eyesight. My mouth is covered but I can still speak comfortably. Of course, I haven't tried the telepathy spell yet...

Looks good on you, I hear Sombra think. It is just as unsettling as you would expect.

I gasp. Sombra, don't spook me like that!

My apologies. Should we see if this works over long distances?

I have to go and do the rounds, check on everypony, so that might be an idea. So far, we've only used short-range telepathy, so this will be a challenge.

Sounds like a plan. Speak to you later.

Is this speaking?!

Hmm, not sure. I'll have to think about that.

We're thinking now! Anyways, I will be back in an hour. I leave the room.

Goodbye!

Bye!

I try not to think about the possibility of him using dark magic to control me.

Princess Celestia's POV

"You failed me, Wishbone Willow," I say quietly, looking at her through the bars of her cell.

"I tried my best! I don't know whether it's some advanced form of mind control magic, or if she actually believes him. I swear, if I had known she would do this, I would have told you." There is desperation in her voice.

"You failed me, and she will grow stronger with every second that she spends with him."

"Please, one more chance."

"That was your last chance. I gave you the sword that you needed to deal with him, and you lost it. I gave you the chance to bring her back, and you didn't do so. I cannot trust you any longer. I will speak to you again soon." I trot out of the dungeon.

Silly vampire. Her friend is completely under the Umbrum's control. I will have to take far more direct action if I want to succeed. The Daughter of the Night is not allowed to win.

Author's Note

Hey, everyone. I have shown the telepathy scene here with underlined text, but if anypony has an even better solution then please tell me in the comments. I appreciate my feedback!