With all that she had to deal with, the days blurred into an incomprehensible mess. At any given moment, a dozen things raced through her mind, most being longer plans that sometimes went decades into the future. It was normal as far as Celestia went. The question of which duties were reasonable for her sister to take on was her most recent sticking point worth pondering. While Luna wasn’t inexperienced with administration, her effectiveness and tact was... questionable.

Their mom always wanted them to rule side-by-side. It was the plan she left in her journal and it was what Celestia had tried to foster with her little sister. Despite her efforts, Luna was always more interested in being an autocrat who ruled without consulting others, taking after their father in that regard. In a time of absolutism, it wasn’t so bad.

But nowadays...

“Princess?” The mare seeking her audience tore Celestia from her thoughts.

“Hmm? Oh, can you please repeat that, Countess Luscious?” She sat up on her throne, focusing her complete attention on the noble that stood at the base.

She launched back into her long-winded explanation of what happened at a gathering with several other nobles. The complaint wasn’t new. Neither was the end request.

“Therefore, I formally request Prince Blueblood be publicly chastised for his behavior. It is completely unacceptable for royalty to engage in such crude acts!”

“Thank you for bringing this to my attention, countess. I’ll be sure to confront him regarding his behavior. I understand why it is upsetting and agree that it is unacceptable. That being said, I don’t believe that humiliating him in public is justified unless he continues to act in such a manner.”

“Thank you, your majesty.” The noble gave a slight bow. “I don’t wish to exclude him from our weekly get-together on account of something like this, but I will if he keeps harassing my friends.”

“Understandable.” Celestia nodded, returning a mother’s smile back to the mare before asking: “Was there anything else you needed?”

“Not at this moment, your highness. You have my thanks for addressing this issue.” She gave a deep bow before turning and heading back down the throne chamber to leave.

Celestia sat back as she watched the mare, holding the smile until the door at the other end closed. With her unamused frown returning, she slumped back on her throne, rubbing her head.

“Do you need some willow bark tea, your majesty?” Raven asked from where she stood to the side of the throne.

“No, I’ll be fine. I only need a minute.”

Every day felt the same. Nobles with inane requests, short-sighted or greedy businessponies desiring her to overturn loans being turned down by the central bank, Blueblood making an ass of himself, or other minor business that was far beneath royal intervention. It was rare to see somepony with something proper to consider.

The doors at the other end burst open, with a small group of guards charging up to bow before her throne. “Your highness! Ponyville has raised a distress beacon!”

“Hmm... Do you know what it is about?” She got up from her throne, stretching her legs. “Raven, please tell those waiting for an audience that the day court is delayed.”

“Our scout is making their way over as we speak.” The guards fell in line around her as they entered the halls. One guard hurried off to get the chariot guards while they made their way onto the platform. Celestia sat down on the windswept chariot at the back of the castle when the pegasi guards rushed out to hook themselves up to the harnesses. This will be a pleasant change of pace.

The guards set off without delay. Within twenty minutes they were passing over Ponyville and she could see the pink problem they were having. The chariot descended in front of the library, the remaining four elements of harmony bursting out with their resident dragon. “Princess Celestia!” They called out, gathering around her as she stepped down from the chariot, several Pinkies bouncing past them saying ‘Fun!’ in repetition.

“I think I have an idea what this is about.” Celestia provided a smile between the five, stepping through the group to enter the library. Her search into the books on old Everfree Forest legends turned up the one she was looking for rather quick. “Can you all please round up the Pinkie Pies into town hall? I believe I know how to determine which is the real one.”

“Anythin’ you need princess! We don’t wanna lose another friend of ours.” Applejack led the rest outside while Celestia reread the spell and made a few modifications.

“Princess?” Spike grabbed at her tail, getting her to turn back to him. “H-How do you know which is the real Pinkie?”

“I can tell who are bearers of the Elements of Harmony, Spike.” Her confident smile perked up his own certainty. “Can you check around town for any Pinkie Pies that may be hiding?”

“Of course! Anything you need!” He ran out, her thoughts returning to the spell. With as good of a modification as she could make on short notice, she put the book back into its proper place and she left from the library. Twilight would have been able to deduce a similar measure if she was around, which may have led to an uncomfortable discussion about one of her closest friends. Gratefully, that talk wouldn’t need to happen yet.

The royal guards brought with her gathered around the front of town hall to make sure no Pinkies escaped, Celestia proceeding to stand atop the stage to watch them get brought in. She cast a spell from her horn to see the soul-signatures of the Pinkies, trying to find the right one.

After about half-an-hour, most of the Pinkies rushed inside followed by the Apple Family that had herded them up, the pink fakes all hopping around saying the same word they had been the entire time. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash each flew in with a Pinkie of their own, Rarity entering with two in her magic to add to the pile.

“Welcome Pinkie Pies!” Celestia raised her voice to royal levels to drown them out, grabbing the mob’s attention. “I’m sure you are all wondering why you are here. Please have a seat and we will begin the show shortly!”

The Pinkies all sat around and giggled with each other while Celestia looked over the crowd. The elements gathered beside her, hoping that they would find their real friend. One Pinkie was anything but excited, the one Pinkie with the largest chaotic energy signature of them all, standing out like a sore hoof.

“I will need a volunteer from the crowd!” Celestia said to the room at large, being swamped by ‘Pick me!’s and raised hooves. “Ah! We have a volunteer!” She floated the real Pinkie from the crowd and up onto the stage, setting her down next to her. “Now we may begin!”

Her horn grew brighter as she charged the spell, the fake Pinkies having no clue what was about to happen. All clones targeted. Now all that’s needed is the magic. A few clones became confused about what was happening while they sat and the light bathed over them, but they didn’t realize it soon enough before beams of light contacted every clone at once.

The Pinkies were all reduced to yellow wisps that flowed from the town hall. When the smoke cleared and light eased, there was only the Pinkie on the stage remaining.

“Wowie, princess! How d’ya know who was the real Pinkie?” Applejack asked while the other three elements hugged their saved friend.

“Let’s just say a princess has her secrets.” She winked, stepping up to the real Pinkie Pie. “Do you have something you would like to tell me?”

“Yeah, hehe.” She rubbed the back of her head with a shy smile. “Dear Princess Celestia...”

Another day, another fire to stare at.

It was getting more bearable with the extra blankets King Sombra had given her from around the prison. Some had holes, some stained, but most were in good condition despite a thousand years sitting idle. Her seat had turned into more of a laying spot with how many there were. Whenever the king left, she took the opportunity to use the toilet, sob, or open the blankets to get more of the fire’s fleeting warmth.

Right now, however, he was floating where he always did. It had been several days of waiting with only Luna and Sombra to keep her company. The king had tried asking her several questions about the politics of Equestria, ones she refused to elaborate on, even if she didn’t have only the slightest clue. He was fishing for something from her, that much was certain.

“You must have met Princesses Celestia and Luna, correct?” He asked as sudden as usual, snapping her from attention away from her absent thoughts.

She shuffled in her blankets. “A little.”

“I knew them when they were still foals when I returned from my studies to plan out what I sought to accomplish. I met with their mother and father to discuss my plans. That is when I first met them.” He let out a chuckle at the old memories. “You should have heard what Luna used to be called back in those days. She had a hard time pronouncing her ‘L’s, so she pronounced her name ‘Woona’.”

A tiny smile crossed Twilight’s face. “Sounds like they were like any other pony else once upon a time.”

The king fell back into silence, poking at the fire with a stick. “It’s sometimes hard to imagine that your opponents used to be innocent. A hardened soldier may have once played instruments for their class and cried when they got a scrape on their leg. At some point, the violent world caught up with them. As it catches up with us all.”

“What was that point for you?” Her voice lowered to above the crackle of the fire.

“Radiant’s death. I had been studying all manner of magic before then, but when she passed, the weight of my choice became overwhelming. My parents had passed decades before, and I never saw my extended family outside of the fairs. Nothing held me back from leaving the city in pursuit of something else.”

“Why did you return?”

“Why?” He let out a small laugh, turning to her. “I met somepony who made their own rules. I wanted to make my own, and to give others that same opportunity.”

Twilight shuffled in her blankets, averting his gaze. “So what got you interested in magic in the first place?”

“I saw somepony use it to make fireworks. It’s not a very interesting story. My family was attending the Crystal Fair. They stood up on a stage and started firing off bursts of magic into the air. I didn’t realize who they were at the time, not that it mattered in the end. What about you? What are you interested in besides serving the princessdom?”

She bit her tongue, deciding the truth wouldn’t hurt. “I’m interested in magic, too. I saw Celestia at the Summer Sun Celebration one time with my parents and was interested in it ever since.”

“She is a remarkable mare.” She almost missed his chuckles between the crackles of the fire. If she had heard right, it sounded like he had a closer relationship with Celestia than he was letting on. What the details of that relationship were, she didn’t know.

Twilight cleared her throat to get his attention again. “So you really knew Star Swirl? Did you two get into a fight over the magic you used?”

“Never a fight. However, we had many arguments. He was still furious at me for my takeover of the Crystal Empire, but never attempted to remove me from my throne. He really did take after his father. Perhaps more than he realized.”

“My mom always said that my brother took after our uncle and that I took after Celestia.” She let out a giggle before stopping with a sharp drop of her face, her eyes widening as she realized she had screwed up.

“So you do know Celestia more than as a princess.” Twilight averted her gaze from his, shutting up and snuggling into her blankets. Sombra kept his eyes on her even as she shrunk back. “There is no need to hide your complicity. I already know that you have some relation with her. She was never one to keep a distance from her potential agents, which is how they ended up getting caught most of the time.”

She kept her mouth shut, waiting until he turned and left her. With a breath of relief, she cursed herself for slipping up.

I need to be more careful.

The report in Celestia’s magic seemed almost ludicrous. A giant dome over Ponyville? The Alicorn Amulet? A stage magician turned despot? Only Ponyville could produce something like that.

“Princess?” Fluttershy shifted on her hooves at the base of the throne. “What are we going to do?”

“Do not worry, Fluttershy. Luna and I will handle this.” She floated the report down to Raven before getting up from the throne, walking past the concerned pegasus to lead her deeper into the castle. “This isn’t the first time we’ve dealt with magic on this caliber. This ‘Alicorn Amulet’ is no match for a true alicorn, let alone two.”

The princess led the mare into the castle spires, down to the one emblazoned in silver with Luna’s cutie mark. The amount of stairs that had to be climbed to reach the top was always why she flew over to the balcony. Her sister’s isolation left much to be desired, both personal and professional, the two entering the hallway with only two Lunar Guards standing at attention in front of the door.

Celestia strode over and nodded to them, the one on the right unlocking the chamber to let her in. They couldn’t stop her if they wanted, but formalities are formalities. On pushing open her door, the pitch black interior of her sister’s room met her, illuminated by only the light streaming in from the dim hall. The princess motioned her hoof for Fluttershy to stay, igniting her horn and switching on the lights.

Pillows flew at her from the bed, stopped in her magic field to float back over to the grumpy alicorn. “I’m sorry, sister. There is a situation in Ponyville I need you for.”

“Go get your Solar Guards, I’m sleeping.” Luna said into her pillow, her sister floating the regalia from the dresser to hover next to the bed. Her frowning, baggy-eyed sister raised her head, letting out a sigh before climbing down and pulling them on. “Ponyville?”

“Fluttershy is outside waiting for us. The pony responsible for disturbing your rest is an old rival of Twilight, one who has taken to using artifacts they do not understand.”

“This better end in them in the dungeon. Disturbing the sleep of a princess should be a criminal offense.”

Celestia let the remark pass along with Luna, the two leaving into the hall to collect the pegasus mare. Their travels took them to the chariot platform where one was prepared while she was dealing with the disgruntled moon. Their trip passed in silence, Luna spending the time to try waking up. Dark clouds had formed at the top of the dome, no doubt dark magic buildup from the artifact’s abuse.

They landed next to the dome, Luna taking a deep breath and cracking her neck. “Should we signal we’re here?”

“I think this will go faster if we skip straight to the spell.”

“Um, t-the spell?” Fluttershy glanced between the two, both ignoring her.

“Seems overkill for a single artifact.”

“It’s the Alicorn Amulet, Luna.”

The muzzle of the lunar princess scrunched up, her horn igniting along with Celestia’s, the tips touching. Both closed their eyes and focused, Fluttershy feeling the wind wrapping around the two. The now white light kept growing, the mare needing to cover her eyes from the brightness.

In a single burst, a shot impacted the dome and spread across it, cracking the magical glass until it hit the top. A flash of light accompanied the shattering of the barrier, magic bouncing into the town as both regal sisters took deep breaths.

“Now let’s go get the amulet.” Celestia said, taking the first steps, the other two following behind. Their trek took them into the town with banners of red and black displayed images of stars or a unicorn in a hat rearing onto their hind-legs. What few ponies that saw them pointed them in the right direction, toward where a crowd had gathered at the market.

In the middle of the crowd, wheezing on the ground, was the blue unicorn responsible for all the mayhem. “Not as impressive as I was expecting, to be honest.” Luna said as Celestia stepped forward and knelt down. The unicorn turned their teary and hateful eyes on the princess, reaching behind her neck to peel off the amulet with a squeal and sigh of relief. The regal sister took it into her magic and brought it back over to Luna who applied a warded sphere around it.

“Does anypony know where the local guard is?” Celestia asked around, several ponies pointing off toward the barracks. While Luna left back to the chariot and Fluttershy to reunite with her friends, she carried the burned unicorn to the home that served its function, entering inside to see that Sergeant Idle Patrol was lounging back in the jail cell. “Sergeant, we have a prisoner for you to hold until they’re transferred to Canterlot. I think you’ll find some satisfaction in this.”

She dropped Trixie in front of the cell doors, opening them up for him to leave and drag her in onto a bed, grabbing the suppressant ring Celestia floated over to attach to the unicorn’s horn. “That looks like a nasty burn.”

“The castle doctor will tend to her when she’s thrown into the dungeon.” She stood before the mare, their nose having scrunched up as tears rolled down their cheeks. The unicorn wasn’t so high and mighty with second-degree burns on her neck and chest, laying atop a standard-issue royal guard cot. The interrogation could wait. There was no rush to find out where she got the Alicorn Amulet from or why she used it.

The Princess of the Sun turned and strode from the home back to where the chariot was waiting, her sister having taken her seat to fiddle with the wards containing the amulet. After taking her own seat, the guards set off back for Canterlot.

“Tell me how this got loose in the world. We had it secure when... well, when THAT happened.” Luna leaned back, taking the sphere into hooves as her sister’s face scrunched up.

“All that matters is that it is now returned to our possession.”

“Perhaps. But this could have ended much worse if it had gotten into the hooves of somepony more competent.”

“And now it never will. It should go into Canterhorn Vault for the foreseeable future.“

Luna bit on her response, returning to stare at the amulet that once was blue and white, now red and black. What happened to it? Did the magic within corrupt at some point? How did Celestia lose something so powerful?

There must be an answer, and she won’t stop asking until Tia tells her the truth.

More crackles broke up the silence as a log split open, the king shoving another into an open area on the side. Twilight’s eyes stayed on the flames licking into the open air, taking a breath in of the light amount of smoke that drifted her way. Every sensation she could get helped to keep her mind on task. The tallies on the wall were approaching the two weeks mark, and yet the interrogations remained light.

“And this ‘train’ carriage... Is it powered by magic?”

“Coal and water. A little magic is used to clean the air that comes from the engines.” Twilight took a deep breath. Luna said they were still looking for the king’s old maps. She promised her they would come rescue her from his manipulation attempts. Two weeks in prison, mane greasy and hooves only clean by virtue of the water he brought for her.

“I see a possible application of crystal-based prisms to induce the heating effect. What turns the wheels of the engine?”

“It uses the water to turn the wheels. I don’t know how.”

The king returned to his silence. In truth, she knew how the wheels turned, but keeping specifics from Sombra would make it more difficult to replicate. He already made the guess that the coal was being used to heat the water with only her mention of both materials. Would he know if–

“Steam pushes components within, I would assume. These components turn the wheels, which lay on those metal tracks to reduce friction from terrain. I’ve seen it implemented before on smaller scales, however, application remained limited by our imaginations. The components elude me. However, it shouldn’t be impossible to figure out how they did it.” Twilight held her sheets tighter. One small piece and he already gets it. “I am curious about the rest of the world. Is Pegasopolis still floating?”

“It hasn’t been called that in a long time. It’s... Yes, it’s still floating.”

“I do marvel at the ingenuity of the pegasi. Despite not knowing the specifics of the technology or horns to use magic directly, their enchanters still created crude copies of the hurricane drives. I can only imagine what advancements they made to the weather core interface in my absence.”

Weather core? Hurricane drives? Crude copies of these ‘drives’? What was he going on about? She knew Cloudsdale used magic crystals to move the city as a unit, and the weather factory was anything but a single core component.

“I-If you don’t mind me asking...” She cleared her throat. “W-What’s the ‘weather core’?”

“Ah. They must keep it a secret.” He poked at the flames with a stick. “It is what they use to control local weather patterns. I saw it once during my tour of Equestria. It should look like a massive crystal matrix, if you’ve seen it. Incredible piece of technology, that is. It is what makes the stratofortress so deadly.”

“Strato... fortress?”

“Yes? Did they demilitarize it?” His eyes turned to her, Twilight flicking hers away. What is he talking about? Cloudsdale hasn’t been militarized since Equestria’s founding... Or at least that’s what she thought from her education. Was it still armored back in those days? Wait, how would they armor clouds? Now that she thought of it, the old parts of the city contained far more metal structures, EUP soldiers, and... unusual glowing parts.

“H-How many ponies lived in, um, Pegasopolis when you were around?”

“I would guess a hundred-thousand. I knew there were plans to construct a second stratofortress to defend the west coast while the citadel patrolled around Canterlot. There must be a second cloud citadel you’ve heard of. It wouldn’t take a thousand years to make.”

Las Pegasus. An old city like Cloudsdale, founded when the former cloud city anchored to the mountains near the town of Applewood. But a fortress? No, the history books...

Were the history books wrong? Was the truth closer to what Sombra was saying? A hundred-thousand pegasi could live in the core of Cloudsdale, with the other million or so in the more cloudy parts. But how could ancient Equestria make an advanced crystal matrix? No, he had to be lying about that.

“I suppose not.” His comment snapped her from her thoughts, returning to the real world. “If it crashed or landed at some point, I can see why they wouldn’t mention it. They never could get the hurricane drives exact, not without the necessary mana reserves.”

Twilight kept quiet, hoping he would end this line of discussion to move on to–

“These trains could make connecting the empire much easier. Logistics were always a severe issue with waging war, requiring the use of local resources if it couldn’t be sourced from within our own territory. Centralizing most of the population in the city proved to be both an advantage and a disadvantage. We could grow all agricultural supplies for the two million citizens within the immediate fields around the capital, no need to defend non-vital civilian centers. Although, it came at the cost of not having the local populace assist with military operations. Trains could certainly change that when I return.”

“T-Two million? I-I saw the city was large, but that large?”

“Canterlot is near half the size and surely there are a million living there by now, are there not?”

“I-I guess so, yeah. I just wasn’t expecting for that many to be fed from only the city area.”

“One day we will fill the fields around the capital with farms, then with artisans and citizens. It may take centuries to reach that point, however. And I wish to decentralize the city into the nearby hills to reduce the congestion of infrastructure. Some may even want to return to their old towns to see how they’ve changed in the millennia.”

“And you’d let them?”

“Of course. We can address the issues of old with new technology. We could even setup a network of crystal-based communication devices across the north to provide real-time updates of the situation elsewhere in the empire. I’ll need to update the maps I have in the library near my room, of course, but I feel it would be beneficial in the long-term.”

He’d let them... But... No, it had to be a lie. He had to be lying! There’s no way he wasn’t! If the princesses are so certain of his true nature, there must be something he’s hiding!

And it’s only a matter of time before she figures out what it is.

“The stairwells don’t have any signatures.”

“I found something in one of the hallways.” Luna strode the rest of the way down the hall toward her sister. The crystal walls of the palace made hiding secrets very easy for a skilled mage. Hay, even an amateur mage could get it done if they knew how.

“A secret room?”

“From the looks of it, yes.” She led Celestia back in the other direction. “I also checked on his prisoner. Twilight said there is a library near Sombra’s bedroom. He apparently keeps maps in there. However, we should be careful.”

“Quite right.” The two proceeded back down the seemingly endless stairs. It was one thing that never changed about ‘King’ Sombra. The stairs...

Luna and her got to the third floor and scanned either side of the hall leading to the bedroom with their magic. If he hid something, it would have to be masterful to be–

“Found it!” Celestia said, Luna looking across the way to her sister casting the revealing wards around the area. “That was easier than I thought.”

A quick look down the hall showed it was at the other end of the hall from the royal suite. Nearby the bedroom...

“It could be a–“ Celestia cut her sister off by casting magic onto the wards and revealing the doorway before scanning it.

“No. Not a trap.” She opened it and entered, Luna taking her time to follow behind. It was an activated space from the magic signatures it gave off as she kept her horn at the ready. Her sister, meanwhile, was scanning every shelf and taking select books to check. “Ah ha! A blueprint of the castle!” She brought the larger-than-normal book over to a table to flip through it. “Looks like that room upstairs is marked as a storage room, and... that’s it.”

“That’s it?”

“He made two changes to the original designs.” Celestia tapped her hoof on the text, Luna coming over and doing her own scan. The design of the Crystal Spire was exact to what they mapped, except with the extra library and the storage room.

She hummed as she scanned her eyes around the library, going over to one shelf and checking the titles. Organized by category, then alphabetical. Her hoof trailed the crystal shelves until she arrived at thaumaturgy, taking a small ream of papers wedged between two books. A spell to...

“I... what?” Celestia stood at her words, moving over to check it, her grin growing.

“He must be overconfident in his abilities if he was willing to keep this here.” She grabbed the copied spell and took it with her to the doorway while Luna looked around the room. Half of the books were in Old Ponish, maybe a tenth in Ponish, a hoofful in Old Griffish, and the rest in... Old Script. She didn’t know Old Script, or Old Griffish. How many languages did he speak? There was at least one written in Batongue and two written in Ancient Ponish.

Luna followed her sister, making their way back up the stairs via their wings. Much faster to fly up than it is down, and soon enough they arrived at the area where the door was, down the hall from a window and a few other storage rooms. Celestia read over the spell one last time before casting it onto the barren section of the wall, stepping forward to phase through it. Luna followed behind into...

“Sweet Primiria...” Celestia held her hoof over her mouth, both taking in what they had just walked into. The map was exact, except for the fact it was a magical artifacts storage room with hundreds of different powerful artifacts on par with the Alicorn Amulet or stronger. But her sister’s eyes were on the other end of the room, and soon hers were too.

A tube with wards etched into the glass lay at the end of their gaze. And more important than anything else in the room, the yellow mold within.

“There’s a third alicorn in Equestria now?”

Twilight returned her eyes to the shadows and malevolent eyes, tonguing her cheek to figure out if she wanted to answer that question. He must have seen Cadance. He’d find out about her anyway, so answering honestly wouldn’t hurt.

“Princess Cadance.”

“Uh, huh. And this Princess Cadance was born an alicorn?”

“I... can an alicorn be born?”

“How do you think Celestia and Luna were made?” He let out a light chuckle at the confusion on her face. “The first, at least according to the old legend, was born to two ordinary ponies. A very rare combination of genetics and magic to produce something purer than any other. They age as slow as a star. They’ll live far longer than I will, or any of us. I sometimes try to understand what it would be like to see everyone and everything you love crumble around you.”

“D-Do you know how long?”

Sombra stayed silent for a few moments. “Longer than you or I. Millions, if not billions of years at least. Us modern ponies haven’t been around longer than two million. It’s hard to say how long they last when they don’t show signs of aging or decay.”

“And how would you know this?” She narrowed her eyes at him, searching for that one piece. It was week three of her imprisonment, week three of being lied to by him. Luna had the maps now. It was only a matter of waiting for them to arrive to find and free her.

“You hear a great many things when you travel to distant corners of the world. The overgrown ruined cities of southern Zebrica, the artificial terrain and great walls in eastern Griffonia, the ancient fortress-monasteries of Centauria. It all points to a single conclusion: There were once far more alicorns alive. I don’t know precisely how many, but at least a hundred-thousand based on the oldest of records I’ve been able to read.”

‘Records.’ Nopony would believe his fantastical tales without hard evidence. If these cities, walls, and fortresses existed, it should be easy to prove. Go and check them... The Bulwark of Boreas. A wall two hundred poni in height, separating Central Griffonia from the east. It was real, as far as she knew, and was something that baffled scholars from the books she read on the ‘Wonders of the World.’

Now that she thought hard, five more of the wonders were also strange. Arimaspi, the Great Pyramid of the Magnificent Miraliup, Borealum’s Citadel, the Senatorial Congregational in northern Zebrica, and Mount Aris. The only one that didn’t fit was Mount Everhoo–

“Do you know this ‘Princess Cadance’ well?” And here Sombra is to extract relevant information from her. Twilight let out a sigh into her blanket, hoping he would take her silence as a no. At first, it seemed to work, until he spoke again. “I saw her with your brother as I made my approach. He must hold an important position to be accompanying a Princess of Equestria.”

“He’s a guard.” She let out a grumble into her blankets, cuddling into their embrace even harder. Her hooves felt numb from how hard she gripped them. If he knew they were a couple, he would know she was a valuable hostage.

“Ah. Any other siblings or only him?”

“No, he’s...” She shut her eyes and scrunched up her muzzle. Stupid! Tell him nothing!

Sombra kept quiet, waiting until she reopened her eyes. “Is it so bad to have a friendly chat?”

“Y-You’re not g-going to break me.” She snarled at the floating green and purple, keeping her eyes on his before returning them to the flames.

“If you don’t want to talk about your family, that is alright.” He said after a minute. “As I told you before, I never had siblings to play with. When I met Radiant Hope, we got along like brother and sister. We played together, pulled small pranks. She would attend my flute recitals and patch up my legs whenever I got scuffed. Healing magic was her specialty. It’s what she got her cutie mark in after healing my broken leg one time. She was always there for me, no matter how much of a fool I behaved like.”

He paused a moment, eyes staying on the flames. “And I’d be there for her. I helped her when she had a bad breakup with her special somepony of the year, I would play my flute for her enjoyment, give her somepony to vent to about work and the stresses of her life, and in the end, I was there when she passed. Without her, the world seems darker.”

Twilight flicked her eyes to his, seeing them keeping away. “Y-Yeah. S-Sounds like she was a wonderful pony.”

“The best in the whole empire.” His lowered voice brought the smallest twinge to Twilight’s gut. He was a monster, yes, but...

He wasn’t one once upon a time. Once he played like a normal foal, had friends, parents... “W-What about your mom and dad?”

“They tried their hardest to give me a good education. My mother passed away when I was a young adult, my father four decades later. I was the only thing keeping the old stallion going by the end. He didn’t want to die and leave me behind. His only foal, and the one that changed his life forever. ‘My son, when you’re king of this city, I want a grand statue of me built where our house is. Promise me you’ll give me my last wish, and to visit me and your mom’s plot every few years.’ ‘Anything for you, dad. Anything for you.’ He’d go into a coma later that night and never wake up.”

There the feeling was again. He used to be a good pony. What changed? How did he go from being... How... She took a breath in of the fire, shutting her eyes. It had to be a lie. A sob story meant to bring her to his side. He may have once been innocent, but the violent world caught up to him and turned him into a monster.

She wouldn’t let him break her.

Author's Note

Have a Tuesday special! One last chapter before the end of January!