Sombra's Bat

For about ten seconds, nothing happens. Twilight Sparkle just stares at me, and I stare back as the memory of our first meeting replays in my head. Then, she breaks the silence, and I remember just how much I loathe her.

"Oh! Aren't you the mare who was friends with Nightmare Moon? Hey, sorry about what happened a year ago. I heard that Princess Luna was less than nice to you afterwards. That was my bad. But what brings you to the Crystal Empire? Are you trying to help protect it from King Sombra?"

I yank the sacred book out of her grasp with a little magic. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you why I'm here."

"Tell me, because I might be able to help you out." She takes the book back and sets it on a nearby table.

"Fine. I'm trying to figure out two things. The first is how to get Sombra to show his nice side more often. He's decided he wants to be friends with me, but he's not great around everypony else. The second is how to get everypony to see his nice side and accept him into society."

A mare with a baby pink coat and a darker pink frizzy mane bounces down the aisle. Another Element Bearer. "Oh, you're being silly. Surely somepony like you who's been hanging around with villains for ages can realise that Sombra's just a bully! There's no nice side to somepony like him!"

"Lo and behold, the age old problem of stereotypes. I knew you wouldn't believe me." I throw my hooves into the air, just like Sombra did on the train. "Nopony believes me, because all anypony sees is his dark magic. Why not just sit down and talk to him? I thought that Equestria was built on peace and friendship."

"Is there another way of doing this?" Twilight asks dubiously, sitting down at a table. "If there really were another way, then I'm sure Princess Celestia would try to talk to Sombra. In my opinion, what you are trying is probably not going to work. He won't change. We just have to figure out some way of keeping him out of the Empire permanently."

"Say he isn't the one who needs to change," I suggest.

"Have you seen my brother's horn, covered in dark crystals? He can't use his magic now. I don't think there is a way of stopping Sombra from being evil. I hate to be like this, but I don't want you to end up where he is now."

I don't reply. Instead, I leaf through the book, titled The Historic Traditions of the Crystal Faire. The entire book is written in Old Ponish, which gives me a glimmer of hope before I realise it has nothing about Sombra within its pages, only about somepony called the Crystal Princess, Amoré. Supposedly, she created a crystal heart powered by the love and light from the residents of the Empire that would power a protection spell. The Crystal Faire was an annual event to rejuvenate that power. Unsurprisingly, Twilight takes one look at the book and cries, "GIRLS! IT'S HERE! I KNOW HOW TO PROTECT THE EMPIRE!" I fly out of the library so fast I am surprised that I don't perform a Sonic Rainboom. I don't need to listen to them singing about protecting the crystal ponies from somepony who doesn't want to hurt them.

I travel back to the castle and tell a guard to show me where my room is. I am escorted to a huge luxurious suite that is far too pristine in comparison to my dilapidated hut in the Everfree. When I spoke to the Princesses, before the train journey, I lied. My home was still standing defiantly, and hadn't been destroyed. By now, though, it could have been knocked down or burned. I can't see myself returning anyway. I would rather be with Sombra, travelling through the Frozen North, away from Equestria. He's a good pony, but nopony wants him to be good, ironically.

Though I feel mentally exhausted, sleep evades me, and I don't dare risk leaving the Crystal Empire to talk to Sombra in case I am spotted. Instead, I wonder why Celestia is so keen to stop me.

I know she was the one who defeated him the first time he declared himself King of the Crystal Empire, but what has that got to do with anything? Did he hurt Luna? If he did, I'll forgive him once I know the truth. Does she care that much for ponies who live in an entirely different country? Probably not, unless her plan is for Cadance and Shining Armour to take over the place once it's secure. Is there some other issue between them? Probably, but it's not my place to ask.

Is it because I am, according to legend, the Daughter of the Night? I'd say there is a ninety percent chance that that's the problem. As far as I know, I'm not even distantly related to her or Luna, but she still hates me because I was friends with Nightmare Moon. She probably sees me as a threat, and that's exactly what I am. If I was friends with Nightmare Moon, I might be friends with Sombra, and help him take the Crystal Empire, and throw a spanner in the works for her. I don't mind that. Whatever makes her more annoyed. She lied to me and pretended to apologise for what she did. She should have just told me the truth.

I am called to dinner an hour later. The other ponies - Princess Cadance, Prince Shining Armour, Twilight Sparkle and her silly friends - are eating breakfast, and I will have to as well, but all I wish for is the wonderful stew cooked in the Lunar Barracks at Canterlot Castle. I politely decline to join the others.

"Sorry. Princess Cadance insists," the red earth pony guard says. "Yeh gotta go talk to her."

"She can insist all she likes, but in this country I have free will, and I won't go," I answer back.

The guard grabs me by the mane, and I shriek as he pulls me out of my room and slams the door so that I can't scuttle to safety. The screaming alerts the other guards in the area and they rush to help.

"Let me go!" I tell the guard who is still trying to tug me away, faking tears. "Please! Tell him to stop!"

The guard finally lets go of me and shifts uncomfortably. "Princess said summat 'bout this one 'as ter join 'em. Said she 'as ter tell 'er somethin' important. The vampire answered back."

I gasp at the name 'vampire'. Bat ponies are the one group of ponies discriminated against the most, mainly for our unusual looks and nocturnal habits. The guards are usually the ones arresting ponies for anti-social behaviour, so I'm shocked that they would use names like that themselves, even if they work for Celestia. However, he has given me an advantage, and I might be able to get him sacked. I am not easily upset by name calling or the supposed high class ponies being rude, but a Solar Guard of all ponies causing the trouble? I won't let him get away with it.

I complain to him, "That's rude! How would you like it if I called you a mud pony? Or if I went around calling every pegasus I met an airhead? I would get arrested! If that is how the best guards in Equestria treat an innocent mare, I'll have to make a complaint to the Captain of the Royal Guard himself!" I turn my nose up at him and look away.

The other guards don't respond, but all look at the one who pulled my mane.

"Fine," he snarls at me. "Go ter the dining hall and tell the Cap'ain. Ah'll be watching yeh, vampire."

I fly all the way to the dining room, furious at the outrageous turn of events. Sombra would never let his guards do that! I admit that I don't like the idea of him using dark magic to control them, but I still think that it's better than allowing them to break the laws that they are supposed to uphold. I'll have to talk to him and get a second opinion at some point, but I have a nagging feeling that somepony has told Wishbone to keep an eye on my dreams, so that's likely gone out of the window.

I feel my old anger from when I was trapped on the moon returning, and try not to shout at any of the guards as I pass them. This is ridiculous. Calling me a vampire of all things? Thestral I could have lived with, but not 'vampire'. How do they get away with it?!

Curse you, Celestia. Maybe Nightmare Moon and I really should have knocked your sun out of the sky. Just wait until Sombra and I have taken over the Empire and got those guards under control, and then you can kiss our flanks for all we care. I will get him in, whether that's through brute force or just waiting for Cadance's magic to wear out, since she can't keep powering that shield forever. Sombra is coming, and I will help him until the Crystal Empire is his.

I have tried so many times to be nice to you: when I first joined the Lunar Guard, when I returned with Nightmare Moon, and very recently. But I can't stand you allowing your guards to call me a vampire, and your very careful, deliberate moves to work against me, like sending that letter to your niece to tell her not to trust me.

When Sombra and I succeed, you will pay for this.