“Princess Celestia!” Spike cried, rushing into the throne room. “Prin … cess…” the little purple dragon breathed, falling to the floor from exhaustion.
“Is everything all right, Spike?” the white alicorn asked. The baby dragon shook his head and belched out a letter.
“An urgent message,” Spike gasped. “I don’t know who it’s from, though.”
“This penmanship is unmistakably King Sombra’s,” Princess Luna said, frowning as she read the letter from over her sister’s shoulder. “Tia, why does he want to see you?”
“I… I have no idea,” Celestia replied, bewildered. “Look, he says he has redeemed himself, and that he only wants to meet us here for dinner. He wants to be our friend, or at the very least, our ally.”
“I don’t trust him, sister,” Luna said firmly. “We must tighten our security measures ahead of his visit. Who knows what his intentions might be?”
“I agree, Lulu,” Celestia said, nodding, “but we will host him for dinner; it will look like a refusal to seek peace if we don’t.”
“I still find it odd that he specifically asked to see you,” Luna pointed out. “If he truly wants peace with Equestria, shouldn’t he have addressed both of us?”
“Yes, that is strange,” Celestia agreed. “Still, we will host him, and we will hear what he has to say. We must seek peace first and foremost. Spike,” she said to the dragon, “send King Sombra a letter stating that we would be delighted to host him for dinner in order to work towards a peace treaty that benefits both of our nations.” Spike nodded vigorously and sent the letter. A gnawing feeling of anxiety grew in Celestia’s stomach, but she forced herself to relax and focus on her duties.
When the night of the dinner arrived, and Celestia and Luna posted their most skilled guards all around the perimeter of the castle and combined their powers to create an invisible bubble around the property, which would significantly weaken Sombra’s dark magic if he were to try to endanger Equestria. When Sombra arrived, Celestia immediately noticed that his lime green eyes had been replaced with brilliant emerald green ones, and his red pupils were gone. His eyes looked soft, even kind.
“Celestia,” he said in a voice that no longer sounded menacing, but was as rich and sweet as melted chocolate, “it is such a pleasure to see you again. I’m so glad we’re meeting under better circumstances now.”
“The pleasure is all mine, Sombra,” Celestia said. “We’re delighted to have you back in Equestria.” She smiled warmly and stepped aside. “I’m sure you remember my sister, Princess Luna?”
“Ah, yes,” Sombra said. “It’s good to see you again, Luna.” Luna scowled, but quickly smiled when Celestia gave her a subtle punch in the side.
“Likewise,” Luna choked out through gritted teeth, trying with all her might to seem genuine.
“After everything that’s happened, I want to express my deepest gratitude to you for hosting me,” he continued. “I hope this dinner will usher in a new era for us all.” His green eyes met Celestia’s pink ones, and the white alicorn felt a rush of heat on her cheeks as the three ponies walked into the dining room. Luna walked several steps ahead of Celestia, so Sombra hung back to wait for the older princess. They meandered through the foyer, pausing every so often to admire the works of art on the walls.
“I’ll bet I can guess which one is your favorite,” Sombra said. Celestia chuckled and shook her head.
“There’s no way you’ll get guess correctly,” she teased. “I’m not as predictable as most ponies might believe.” They continued down the wide corridor. Sombra stopped at an oil painting of a magnificent sunrise, swathed in iridescent brushstrokes of golds, reds, pale blues, bright oranges, and shades of pink ranging from soft to bold.
“This one,” he said, smiling confidently. Celestia raised an eyebrow, giggled, and shook her head. “Fair enough, I guess that was a little too predictable,” he laughed. Sombra was genuinely desperate to know what Celestia’s most treasured painting was by the time she finally pointed it out. He cocked his head to study the painting, which depicted two tiny sparrows nestled close together in a nest on a tree branch, gazing out over a sunlit field. The sun, moon, stars, and planets all hovered above them.
“My father commissioned this painting for my mother as a wedding gift,” Celestia explained. “They loved each other so much. Read the plaque underneath it.” Sombra lowered his head to study the gold plaque to which the princess was pointing.
“To my darling Galaxia:
May this picture guide our marriage. Though storms will come, the wind will blow, and the sun may not always shine, let us hold fast to one another, guarding our nest with the confidence and ferocity of these two tiny birds. May our trials bring us closer together. May we always find refuge under each other’s wings. May we hold one another as securely as the sky holds the celestial bodies. I will be your sky, my love, for you shall always rest safely in my embrace as my sun, my moon, and my stars. I will love you until a billion eternities after the stars stop shining.
-Your loving servant,
Cosmos R.”
Celestia’s eyes glistened with tears as she read the message aloud. Sombra cleared his throat, visibly moved.
“A lot of ponies wonder why neither Luna nor I have ever married,” Celestia said after a moment. “I always wanted to marry a stallion who treated me the same way my father treated my mother. He loved her more than life itself. In fact, on the night they…” she trailed off and looked down, taking a deep breath. “On the night they… passed, my father gave his life trying to save my mother. He jumped in front of her in an attempt to shield her from a deadly bolt of dark magic; unfortunately, they were both mortally wounded. They died on the battlefield, clinging to each other. I was thirteen, and Luna was eleven. After their funeral, I decided that I would never allow myself to love anypony—except for Luna, of course—as much as I loved them, unless I met somepony who would love me and treat me like my father did my mother.”
“I… I am so sorry,” Sombra murmured, inching a hair’s length closer to the solar diarch. “I also lost my parents when I was very young. I had a wonderful childhood; I was happy and loved. I was the happiest prince alive until my parents died at the hooves of the very ponies who had sworn to protect and defend them. My mother took her last breath in front of me. My father told me to run away, so I did.” He sighed. “History has painted me as the villain, but nopony has ever taken the circumstances that blackened my heart into account. With all due respect, Celestia, you told me yourself in your letters that you neglected Luna, and that you now understand that Nightmare Moon was ultimately created by your failure to love and appreciate your sister when she needed you. You have learned from your mistakes, and so have I.” Celestia smiled and nodded.
“Everypony deserves a second chance,” she said, “and I’m glad to know that you have not allowed your past to define you.
Suddenly, the castle’s bell tower chimed six times.
“Come,” Celestia urged the black stallion, lowering her voice, “we must sit down for dinner at precisely six o’clock on the dot. Following the schedule is of paramount importance.” She gesticulated wildly as she dramatically mimicked her private secretary’s clipped, posh accent, then rolled her eyes. Sombra stifled a laugh, and the ponies headed into the dining room.
