That night, after dinner, I go flying around the Crystal Empire. I feel... Confused. There's a lot to think about, after all. There's a prophecy stating that a mare has the power to stop a war. That could mean a lot of things. It could mean that I'll eventually negotiate a deal with Celestia. It could mean that I'm going to defeat her. There's another thing, too. Something that I really do not want to face. I became an Umbrum to secure my future. I want to live a long, happy life with Sombra, and as many other ponies as possible. I thought that by joining the Umbrum I would live forever and turn the Crystal Empire into a beautiful place again, and that Sombra and I would be free from the worries that most ponies have. Yet because I pressured Wishbone into telling the truth the seed of doubt has been planted in my mind, the thought that everything I have worked for might be for nothing.

I don't want to die.

Then, I have the insight that Radiant Hope gave me. She doesn't believe in destiny. She's right. The future can be full of surprises. Everything that was said in that prediction might happen, but it might not, too. I still have no idea how - or even if - this is linked to me. Yes, in some ways I do fit the description of this heroic mare who is supposed to save the world, restore harmony and so on, but in many ways I don't. I'm not heroic. If anything, I started a war, just because I fell in love with the "wrong" stallion. I make huge mistakes nearly every day. I've endangered those who are important to me and not realised until it's too late to go back. I don't think I can fix things just like that.

I sit on a rooftop, careful enough not to knock off any tiles. It is a clear night, so I look up at the stars. The North Star is almost directly above me. The moon hasn't risen far above the horizon yet. I feel a chill creeping up on me, but ignore the biting cold in my hooves. The mare who claimed to be my mother used to say that one of those stars was me, and that no matter how far away we were, we could always see each other in the stars. But she wasn't my mother, not really. All of a sudden, secrets are coming out of the woodwork and making my future uncertain. What in Tartarus do the stars want me to do? Am I still a star? Do I want to be a star, even?

"It's not simple, is it?" asks a familiar voice. I turn and notice that Starlight Glimmer is sitting right next to me.

I gasp, "Starlight? What are you doing here? How did you get to the Crystal Empire so quickly? Why didn't I see or hear you?"

"Moonlight, it's a dream. You've been asleep for half an hour."

"Of course. I take it you already know everything, then."

"Yes. In my opinion, she shouldn't have kept it from you, but that's hypocritical coming from me."

"I hear everypony in your village has their cutie marks back."

"I told them all that I had made an error, and that the problem wasn't with our cutie marks, but with losing a friend. I admitted to them that I had kept mine, but they forgave me pretty quickly once they had theirs back too. I still run the village, but differently to how I used to."

"Wow. You seem to know what you're doing with your life. I wish I knew."

"Wishing won't make it happen. In my opinion, you need to find out what you want to do, and work from there."

"I want to rule the Crystal Empire with Sombra, and keep my friends and family safe."

"That is your goal. Now, what do you need to do to accomplish that?"

"I don't know."

"Think about it."

I sigh, "We're at war with Celestia, and the only way to keep them safe is to resolve the conflict, which is what this mad prophecy wants me to do."

"Why do you believe this?"

"Celestia was supposed to banish Nightmare Moon forever, but somepony said that the stars would help her escape and return to Equis. Depending on which way you look at it, I'm probably the 'star' mentioned. I helped her with the spell that allowed the two of us to get back to the ground safely. Cutie marks are also a prediction of what you're good at and what you are going to do in the future. Magic makes things like this very accurate."

"Yes, but there's always a chance that they're wrong."

"Tell me what my cutie mark is supposed to be. I don't know what it means! The moon and a star, that means nothing! The only things that make sense are to do with magic and the night, but neither of those make sense now! What am I supposed to listen to? This prophecy that Luna didn't want to tell me about? Or my cutie mark? Sweet Celestia, what is wrong with me?! Earlier, I didn't realise just how important this could be, but it's made me wonder who the Tartarus I really am."

"You're Princess Moonlight Shade, Daughter of the Night. 'Sombra' is Old Ponish for 'darkness,' which makes you a representation of the darkness, but you can also show ponies like me the path to the light, to being better ponies. You are a bat pony, and an Umbrum now. You're unusual. There's something different about you that nopony can put their hoof on. The world is split into light and dark, but you have so much of each in you."

"I understand why Wishbone is scared for me. I'm scared for me too. I don't want to stand out, to be connected to the light and dark and in a position where I can decide which nations are going to go to war and which side is going to win. I just want to be me."

Starlight thought for a moment. "This is you. You might not like the future that's laid out for you, but you can take it or leave it, and so far you've taken it. Rather than doing what anypony else would and try to banish him from the Crystal Empire, you chose to help King Sombra and the two of you have done brilliant things together. Every creature has the power to do something great, no matter how insignificant they think they are. I used mine to found a village, a sanctuary from the rest of Equestria. You have the ability to do even more than I did."

"There's so much to think about though."

"You're not alone, though. It's your decision whether you continue fighting for King Sombra or go into hiding, but you have a good network of friends to help you decide."

"What would you do, then?!" It sounds more harsh than it needs to.

"I've yet to fall head-over-hooves in love with somepony, but I would continue helping that pony, no matter what, because that's what friends do. You only get one family. There's only one King Sombra, one Princess Luna, one Cozy Glow, one Wishbone, one Radiant Hope, one Chrysalis. There's only one Prince Blueblood, even."

"I wouldn't go as far as calling Blueblood a friend or family member."

"He's still helping you, though, and he's still important. Think of the patchwork quilt. Moonlight, you're not a square. You're the main piece of yarn holding us together. I don't care whether you like it or not, but you are special to a lot of ponies. Even Celestia. I wouldn't recommend it, but if you used that mind control spell on her, I can almost guarantee that the only thing she would see is you, because you are so much better than she is and she doesn't like that."

"Is that good or bad?"

"I don't have the answer to that. It's the way it is. Blame the stars up there."

"Stars above, go to Tartarus," I grunt.

Starlight laughs. "If this prophecy is your destiny, I want to stand by your side." The dream becomes hazy. "You're waking up. I'll speak to you again when I can. Remember, as far as all of your other friends and I are concerned, you're the brightest star in the sky."

"Goodbye, Starlight."

I shudder awake and find myself wrapped in Sombra's tight hug, on the sofa in the lounge. I begin to silently shed tears. I don't know why. I don't want to be the brightest star in the sky, because I don't want to go supernova and I don't want anypony close to me hurt either. It's probably down to tiredness, but so little makes sense. I look up at Sombra, and his glowing red eyes meet mine.

"You are awake, I see," he says.

"I should go back to bed." I try to lift his hoof off of my chest, but his foreleg remains around my shoulder and neck.

"No. You are my prisoner. Forever. I'm going to put you in the dungeon and keep you locked away, where Sunbutt cannot lay a hoof on you."

"I'm scared."

"You are scared because the future isn't black and white, but I don't think you would want it any other way. Most of the time, fears are completely irrational. I hate to say this, but yours is a little bit that way too. The future can be wonderful and exciting."

"What do you think of it all?"

"I think we will take each day as it comes, and trust each other to do what is right." He pauses. "If you trust me, I know a spell to help you fall asleep. I wouldn't ordinarily use it, but these are... special circumstances."

"If it helps," I say.

His magic glows softly, casting dark shadows around the room. The aura surrounds the top of my head like a halo for a moment before disappearing. He whispers to me, "There you are. There's no need to worry now." He moves his hoof and begins to gently stroke my mane.

The spell works quickly, calming me, allowing me to see things the way I did earlier. "The prophecy might be right, just not in the way we think. It said the mare in question would be willing to sacrifice herself. That might just mean I have to fight somepony. Probably Sunbutt. It never said I would lose."

"Finally, some sense kicks in," Sombra mutters.

"Hey."

"I have every right to treat my prisoner as I wish."

"Am I stuck here forever?"

"Yes. That prophecy will not come true, because I won't let anypony hurt you. Got it?"

"Yes, my love."

I rest my head on his chest and fall asleep. Occasionally, I hear him talking to me, telling me that it will be alright in the morning, and catch a glimpse of the deep purple light, but for most of the night there is only silence, and I feel temporarily at peace.

Author's Note

Bonus: Writing Wish Upon A Star - Parts 1 and 2

Originally, Wish Upon A Star - Part 1 and Hope - Parts 1 and 2 were all part of one story arc, which I had named Hope and Best Wishes, but I decided to change things a bit because it felt too long. There was too much crammed into one space. I can't tell if this was still too rushed, but it flows nicely in my head, so this is what I went with.

Wishbone has returned, and both she and Hope are going to have a chance to shine in the next few chapters. They're both very kind ponies and healers, and their good nature should rub off on Sombra and Moonlight. Oh, and Cozy might get a little more attention too. I repeat: we have the mature bat pony, the slightly naive unicorn, and the demon foal in the same room. I wonder how that will go.

Starlight? She appeared because I realised I needed Guidance Counsellor Starlight. Moonlight's just had what might be the shock of her life, and she has received a lot of conflicting messages from ponies who are in her close circle of friends, and she needed somepony outside of that equation to knock some sense into her. Somepony who was mostly impartial. She's not going to play as big a part in the next few chapters, because even though I've only just dropped a bombshell on you, there might be another one on the way shortly. If I remember. Ponyfeathers, that might be a clue. Never mind, because nopony will be able to work it out from that alone.

The kitchen scenes were a lot of fun to write. If this story could have more than three tags, I would be slapping on the Comedy tag, because there's a lot of room for laughs. I wanted the kitchen staff to get a bit bossy to show how they've come to accept Sombra and Moonlight as their leaders and grown more comfortable around them. Earlier on in the story, when Sombra had only just secured his place on the throne, everypony was very nervous around him, and didn't know of his soft side. They were all too scared to share their true opinions. Moonlight has influenced him in a good way, and I wanted that to reflect throughout the castle as well as on their friends and allies.

The sweet little scene at the end of this chapter with Moonlight and Sombra felt like it was needed. The two of them tend to laugh a lot and take the rise out of each other, and this happened a little bit, but they were much more serious. I need to focus more on Sombra's thoughts in future, on how the unfolding events affect him. Other characters have been hogging the limelight. There's another thing I should add: if you're wondering about that spell he used, I'll explain about it in the next chapter.

Finally, there's the prophecy. When I first started writing Sombra's Bat, I expected the story would only cover the events leading up to the coup of the Crystal Empire and finish there. Then I realised that was only just the beginning of the story, and it's become a lot more than that. You probably have some idea of what I am going to do with this story now. If you do, well done. If not, no spoilers! But really, this prophecy is going to be one of the biggest plot twists. It's been in my head ever since I realised there was more to this story than just the Crystal Empire and Sombra. There's the other royals to think about. There's the Mane Six. There's Discord, Starlight and a whole range of villains from Friendship is Magic that are likely to be included later on. There are so many ponies who are important to the story, and they'll all have to make their choice: light or dark, head or heart, tyranny or friendship.

I hope you're all really enjoying reading this story as much as I am writing it!
~ Angel Midnight