Sombra's Bat

Princess Celestia's POV

King Sombra will not get away with this. I hope that he doesn't know, but even if he does, the little vampire has played right into my hooves. I have warned my fellow princess Cadance, who is currently in the Crystal Empire, that the vampire could cause problems if she listens to him. If she does, she will not get away with her little plan. If she does not, and listens to Cadance instead, we are in luck. Either way, we will win, my little ponies will be safe, she and her husband will have a kingdom of their own to rule, and I will remain on the throne of Equestria.

The reign of light will not succumb to the darkness so easily.

Of course, there are complications. Lulu's connection with the darkness through Nightmare Moon. The vampire's position of power that she has thrown away so far but could choose to reclaim. Yet the Daughter of the Night has not acted that way. She is no Princess of the Stars, she's just confused. She thinks I am wrong to protect my ponies from a much larger threat. She will learn, though. The stars create light, and the light will cut through the darkness always.

The reign of the sun shall withstand all.

Moonlight's POV

The way that the Crystal Empire has been described does not capture its true beauty in the slightest. Even though the windows of the train are caked in snow, the ice blue towers and spires of the Crystal Castle ringed by the city and the green grassland are unmissable and absolutely breathtaking. The best part of all of this is knowing that I will be helping Sombra claim it for his own again, and maybe fulfilling my own dreams of becoming one of his top guards. That last one is less important though: getting him back into the Empire is my top priority, just because it seems so unfair. If everypony got used to Princess Luna after she returned, then I'm sure Sombra can't be that much different.

When the train stops, Wishbone and I climb off, and we are greeted by several unicorn guards. The leader of the group turns out to be Prince Shining Armour, the Captain of the Royal Guard. I remember the news of his wedding travelled even to the depths of the Everfree Forest. To be honest, I'm surprised that somepony with such a high rank in the Guard was unable to realise that his fiancee had been replaced by a changeling, until his actual fiancee came into the room and made him realise what was going on. The things that love does to other ponies.

He watches the darkening sky nervously, then tells us, "Everypony, get to the Empire quickly, it's almost nightfall." Running behind him, I wonder what he means for a moment, when I realise that's probably when Sombra's trying to break into the Empire, which is currently surrounded by a translucent blue field of energy. They are so keen to see that he doesn't get in.

Darkness falls before we reach the blue shield that surrounds the Empire, and the sky is filled with a roar louder than any thunder I have heard. Shining and the other guards push us forwards, trying to keep us moving. I soon see what we are running from: a huge grey cloud swirls above us and shapes itself into the face of King Sombra, in his corrupted form. His irises are once again blood red, ringed by sickly green where the eyes should be white, and they give off that purple magic. When he appears in my dreams, he always looks like a normal pony, and I am not used to seeing him like this. Quite frankly, it chills me to the bone. He cackles, and his grey horn glows red as it tries to fire at the blue energy field that's protecting the Crystal Empire. Everypony except Prince Shining Armour fires spells at Sombra - or whatever that cloud in the sky is - and I notice for the first time the black crystals on his horn that stop him from using his magic. Sombra must have hit him with a spell, either accidentally or deliberately. Shining must have asked for it.

As the unicorn guards dodge attacks and Wishbone continues to run towards the safety of the Empire, I stop and yell, "Sombra, no!" I haven't seen this side of him, and I much prefer the side I know. I hope the ponies of Equestria will too.

As if on cue, he stops, and looks down at me.

"Sombra, it's Moonlight," I say.

The cloud dissipates and Sombra, the actual King Sombra, although still wielding that dark magic of his, looks at me affectionately. He jumps from cloud to cloud, trying to get closer to me. I don't know whether he has realised that this is our little act, but either way, he's acting just how he needs to.

"Moonlight Shade, get away from him," demands Shining Armour. Sombra sends a blast of magic in his general direction, then turns back to me.

"Please, don't keep on doing this, Sombra. Don't try to get into the Crystal Empire like this. There are better ways to be a leader."

The guards stand a few metres away, their jaws agape, shocked to the core and unable to intervene. Sombra looks like he is considering what I have told him, when I know that he is just choosing the right words to make the performance seem authentic. He stops using his magic, and his eyes stop glowing. "Moonlight, tell them that I have seen the error of my ways and that they are being unrealistic. They refuse to listen to me, but maybe they will listen to you."

"I'll try," I tell him. I actually will, because he deserves better, in the same way that Nightmare Moon just needed a little respect.

He gives me a nod. "Thank you, Moonlight. Will I see you again?"

"Sure! The Princesses said I'm welcome to stay in the Crystal Empire, so I'll be around for a while. It's a shame that they won't let you in, but what's to stop us from meeting on this side of the barrier?"

Sombra says, "Meet me here tomorrow evening, if you can."

"I will, and I'll try to get Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armour to let you into the Empire. See you tomorrow, Sombra."

I watch as he walks across the clouds and away from the Empire. He is incredibly skilled at magic, that's for sure. To be honest, he's very sweet when you get to know him. How everypony can hate him is beyond me.

It is quiet all around, save the whistling of the wind as it blows the snow across the plains. Shining Armour, the other guards and Wishbone all stare at me.

"How did you do that?" Shining eventually asks.

"He's visited my dreams a few times, and he seems to have a soft spot for me. He wants to be accepted into society again, but he doesn't really know how to act. All he sees is that he's being shut out of the Crystal Empire, where he belongs. I'll explain everything when I know I'm not going to get pneumonia."

He nods, and leads us towards the Crystal Empire.

When we cross the blue barrier, I feel the difference in temperature immediately: it is warmer than the Everfree Forest in the actual Empire, which is much smaller than its name suggests. Still, it is an amazing place, and how the crystal ponies thrive here is beyond me. I see some of them, but they look like they need a bit of cheering up. Their faces are unnaturally gloomy as they walk around the small town and their fur is not as vibrant as the coats of their counterparts from Equestria. I don't make any comments, though.

Eventually, we reach the castle, which is dead in the centre of the city. Wishbone - who is still shocked - and I are escorted inside, up a couple of flights of stairs, through a hall and outside onto a balcony. I immediately recognise Mi Amore Cadenza, the Princess of Love, by her wings that seamlessly change from pink at the joints to purple at the tips, and her long pink unicorn horn. However, for a princess, she looks dishevelled, with large bags under her eyes and her mane frizzy. She smiles at us nonetheless and introduces herself.

"Cadance, these fillies here are Wishbone Willow and Moonlight Shade," Shining Armour says, pointing at each of us as he tells his wife our names. I bow to her in respect, but silently resent Shining for using my last name.

"What brings you two so far away from home?" she asks with a voice like silk.

"I may have information about King Sombra. He seems to like me and has told me some of his plans."

Princess Cadance raises an eyebrow at me. "What has he told you so far?"

"From what I gather, he just wants to be back in the Crystal Empire and he's realised that he has made mistakes, but he's resorting to desperate measures, such as dark magic. He can't see the point in being nice if it won't allow him back into the Empire."

"Hmm. In what way would you say he likes you?"

"Umm..."

"Are you just friends?" The edge in her voice is noticeable.

I have no idea where this is going, but I can't refuse to answer to a Princess, especially when surrounded by guards and in front of her husband. "I am just friends with him... but we are quite close."

There is anxiety in her voice as she speaks. "Moonlight, today I received a letter from Princess Celestia. I hate to say this, but he's manipulating you into believing that he's innocent. He has done so many wrongs, and now we're trying to make sure that he doesn't repeat those mistakes and nopony else is hurt."

"You aren't even giving him a second chance!" I cry indignantly. I feel my emotions boiling over. What right did Celestia have to write a letter to her niece and tell her I was up to no good? I am actually trying to help here!

"He does not deserve one," she says coolly.

How is it that second chances have always been Celestia's way, yet she won't give one to the pony who reaches for it with both hooves?! I can't stand the hypocrisy for another minute, and fly away from the castle. I decide to visit the Crystal Library and search for anything that could give me a clue about how things were before and during Sombra's rule. I ignore the librarian, and find my way around based on the titles of the ancient books on the colossal wooden shelves, each of them easily three times as high as I am tall.

Eventually, I find the right section. I look for a few seconds, then I find just the right book that I need. I am about to take it off the shelf when a magenta aura takes it from my grasp. I try to find the source of the magic, and then I see her. The pale purple unicorn with the darker purple mane. Celestia's latest qualified puppet, the one who screwed up everything when I was with Nightmare Moon. Student of Celestia, Bearer of the Element of Magic.

Twilight Sparkle.