Sombra's Bat

After a few days of walking around Canterlot in the dark, playing card games with bat ponies and having Princess Luna scare off any sign of King Sombra in my sleep, Wishbone and I are free to leave. Although staying in the castle was pretty good, I'm glad to be back in my ramshackle little home.

The day after I return is the day that I see Sombra again. When I fall asleep, my dreams take me to the streets of the Crystal Empire. I look up at the Crystal Castle and it fills me with joy. It's absolutely stunning. Ice blue crystals that reach into the sky, high above everything around them for miles.

"Hello," he whispers, and I start. At least he has his disguise on so I don't have to look at those eyes.

"Hey, I don't think I can help you, judging by Princess Luna's reaction," I force myself to say.

"Hmmm, it does look difficult, sadly. Luna and Celestia have ample reasons to dislike ponies such as myself. There is only one other solution that I can think of."

This is news. "Say again? You think you have an answer?"

"Well, there are a couple, some of them nicer than others, and now that I've met you I don't particularly want to be horrible to you. You are a good pony, and I have more respect for you than the likes of Celestia. The ponies now are always talking about friendship being the most powerful magic of all, so maybe I need somepony to be my friend. If you are up for the job."

"Me? Befriending the evil King Sombra of the Crystal Empire?"

"You said yourself that you want to help me now that you know the other side of the story," he reminds me. "Also, you befriended Queen Nightmare, and ended up in a few history books. The legend of the Daughter of the Night. A bat pony made purely of shadow whose very purpose was to help Nightmare bring eternal darkness." He grins, "Nearly as good as the tales they tell about me. Anyways, you did it once before, and you can do it again, can you not?"

"I guess, but it's difficult being friends from so far away."

His blue eyes have a glint of mischief in them. "That is your answer, then. Come to the Crystal Empire. Tell everypony else that you are there to help, in case I accidentally give you any valuable information. Stay there for a couple of days, then sneak out just before sunset one day so that you can talk to me. Of course, those pesky guards may pose a problem, but then there is always the dream world."

I don't really want to be friends with another enemy of Equestria, but I decide to go along with it, because I don't want to be his enemy either. "Sounds like a plan. First of all though, you are asking me to be friends with you, and I don't actually know much about you. You can probably read my thoughts like an open book when you go Dreamwalking, but I can't do that."

"Whatever is it that you wish to know?"

"Favourite colour, favourite animal, favourite things to do. Silly things that you did as a foal."

"Well," he considers, "my favourite colour is grey."

"Grey?" I ask him doubtfully.

A huge chunk of rock appears by his side. "Yes. Rocks of different kinds are usually grey on the outside, but inside," the rock splits open, revealing deep blue crystals, "it could be a stunning geode of any colour. Just like you."

I snort with laughter. "Oh really. So you're saying that I'm boring and dumb-looking on the outside, huh?"

"I never said anything like that!" he protests. "I said that you were beautiful on the inside. I was complimenting the fact that you have decided to help me despite my own ghastly appearance and reputation."

"You commented on my inner beauty but compared my actual appearance to an uninteresting piece of rock."

"Ah, I have lost this battle." He shakes his head sadly, mocking me but not in a mean way.

"I never knew that you had a sense of humour," I tell him, surprised. Scratch what I said earlier, because he knows how to have a laugh. "If only we could show everypony how nice you are face to face, and maybe Princess Celestia would agree to help you."

"We will change their minds. These things take time, though. Talking of time, you will wake soon. The moon is rising."

"See you, Sombra. I'll try and find a way to help you, since I can't get rid of you now."

"Do not insult me, I can still use dark magic on you."

"I thought we were friends!"

"Is that how it works, then?"

I smirk, "Yes, Sombra." The whole dream starts to go hazy. I'm waking up.

"Goodbye, Moonlight!" he calls, and then I wake up to another mundane but enjoyable day.

He is there again the next day, lurking in the shadows of the forest in the dreamscape. "Thou tooketh thy time," he grumbles in Old Ponish.

"And?" I retort, though I'm just messing with him.

"Mere servants are not allowed to answer back to King Sombra."

"My apologies, Your Majesty."

"Do you really mean that, or are you just trying to annoy me?"

"I would have thought an experienced Dreamwalker could find out for themselves. Unless you aren't as good as I first thought."

"I spent many years honing my skills in using mind magic."

"Oh? What can you do?"

"Name one of the dark magic spells that is guaranteed to land a pony in Tartarus."

My heart skips a beat. I know the answer, and I don't like it. "Direct mind control."

"Correct," he says. "It is something that I have probably used a little too liberally."

"No wonder Celestia hates you so much."

"If I were to tell you every little nasty thing I have done in my life, you would be shocked."

"Do you regret any of it?"

He pauses. "Most of it, not at all. But I am not heartless. My heart just resides very deep down, in my horseshoes."

"Right." I know I shouldn't be smiling, but I can't help it.

"Oh, so you also have a sense of humour. Good to know that my partner in crime can take a joke rather than wondering if I am going to bring their worst fears to fruition whenever I speak."

"Partner in crime?" I question him.

"Well, we are working as a team, are we not? You said yourself, you and I are friends now."

"Fine."

We stand there in silence for a few moments. Then, he whispers, "I have something to show you."

"Oh?"

"Let me show you the Crystal Empire as it was when it was my home." Purple and green dark magic surrounds us and the forest disappears. The dream changes, and the fun begins.

We mess around nearly every day, talking, exploring different places in the dream realm and being proper friends. He's sweet once you get past his appearance and your initial judgement, a bit like Nightmare Moon. Wish visits regularly, so we have to be careful, but all in all, life is enjoyable. I learn about the Crystal Library - the place where Sombra spent most of his childhood - and learn my way around the Crystal Empire very well. He makes it more interesting, showing me the secret passages from all of the important buildings to the Crystal Castle, and some of its cleverly hidden features. A door with a portal that leads to the dungeon without having to trot down several flights of stairs. An ornate golden mirror on the wall that shows you scenes from the past. A beautiful sculpture of a tall mare with a long curly mane that has the password to enter the nearby Crystal Barracks inscribed on her hoof. It just makes me so much more interested in the Crystal Empire, although I have no idea how I am supposed to get there.

One morning I wake up and sunlight is still pouring through the skylight, so I don't know why I am awake at this hour. The sound of other bat ponies talking concerns me, and I jump out of bed. I rush outside, and about twenty ponies are standing outside holding signs that read "NO to King Sombra," and "Out With The Dark Magic." Some of the others have a picture of my face on them, covered by a big red X.

I think my mouth forms that perfect comical O, as they all give me the daggers and start shouting. How did this even get out?! I shouldn't be surprised though. Ponies have such slack jaws that they will spill absolutely anything to anypony else.

"WISHBONE!" I yell, flying in the direction of her home.

She is perched on the roof by the time I reach her. I tell her, "Somepony told everypony about Sombra. They want to get rid of me."

She sighs sadly, "Ponies will talk about anything, Moonlight, but the next day the talk stops, and they start on something else. By three o'clock in the morning they'll be talking about passion fruits, just you watch."

The night crawls past, and it just does not happen. The angry mob does not dissipate, but instead grows until about two thirds of the village is involved. Even Wishbone's uncle decides to join in. I lose count of how many times she and I slap our foreheads with our hooves. Look what happens when I try to hide the past and get on with my life: it returns like a boomerang to hit me on the head.

Nopony goes home until eight o'clock in the morning. They blockade the door and the skylight for all of that time. Honestly, there is a good reason why other pony races call us vampires. At the best of times, we are cuckoo. At the worst... Well, they can cause enough trouble to make a draconequus proud.

Sombra calls my name, and I relax now that I know that I am dreaming. Apparently I am in such a state that my appearance in the dream has been affected, because he comments, "Why, you look absolutely dishevelled. Is anything wrong?"

"Coming from the stallion who looks like a dragon ate him! But plenty of things are wrong," I admit. "Somehow, my whole village knows about you and they have the wrong idea. They want me to leave. Somepony told them."

"Oh. That is an unfortunate predicament. I would rather have waited for you to make a decision on whether you would visit the Crystal Empire, but now it looks as though you have to leave your village, and might be able to pay me a visit. Celestia would not deny you a place to stay in the Crystal Empire, surely."

The real meaning of his words clicks in my head, and I roar at him, "Sombra! You visited the villagers in their dreams! How could you?! If you want me to help you, you have to prove to me that you aren't going to brainwash me or my friends!"

He takes a few steps back, eyes wide like a startled rabbit. "I beg your pardon? You think I did this?!"

"Add it to the list of things you've done. Used highly dangerous and illegal dark magic, attempted a coup, attempted to enslave the ponies of the Crystal Empire... Who's to say you didn't pull some elaborate trick?"

"You and I both know that I did nothing of the sort."

"And how would you prove that? I can only Dreamwalk if Wish is here to help me, and something tells me she wouldn't be that pleased if she knew you were here."

"Fine. I am sorry if I was not careful enough. I was not sure how they would react. Or you, for that matter, but now I know I will ensure it does not happen again. I haven't had a good friend in a long time, Moonlight. A very long time." He looks at the ground in shame.

My anger fades instantly, and is replaced with guilt. As cheesy as his comment is, it seems genuine. I've lost a few good friends too. Everypony I knew before the Nightmare Moon incident (except Celestia and Nightmare, of course) is long gone, and I thought for a long while that I'd lost Nightmare - no, I can't keep calling her that. She's Luna.

"I understand, but you didn't have to do that. I was going to come along anyway. One problem: how do I explain to the Princesses?"

"Say that I might let something slip while tormenting you, and that you would be able to pass on the message immediately to the worthless idiots who keep trying to blast me across the horizon. Of course, not the last part. Call them the guards." He chuckles, and I join in. "Will you meet me in three days?"

"Will do, Sombra. What can we do now, though? I want to enjoy my sleep, because I'll probably get woken up early again."

Sombra's horn glows royal blue, and the scenery changes to a clearing in the forest. A red and white chequered blanket appears on the ground and a picnic basket a moment later. I walk over to it and open the lid. Inside is a fruitcake, decorated with chestnuts and slices of apple. I find cutlery and bowls in the other side of the basket and cut a slice for each of us. Even though I know I am dreaming, I swear I can taste the different flavours.

"Sombra," I say in between mouthfuls, "you are definitely forgiven."

He laughs, and I feel even happier than when I was with Nightmare Moon. This is the best that I have felt in a long time, and something tells me that I won't forget this dream so easily when I wake up.