The Crystal Empire was no longer the bright cheerful blue. Now, the walls were onyx. The hallways were so dark, having torches were a requirement. To most ponies, such a sight would evoke in their minds terror. But to King Sombra, it was a sight he revelled upon seeing.
He was seated on his throne. He had just finished defeating his enemies. He had thrown Cadence and Shining Armor in the dungeon a long time ago. Recently, he beat the Guardians of Harmony themselves. Now, he simply waited to meet with them.
A while passed and the doors to the throne room opened. First came two of his soldiers. Trailing behind, were the six mares that opposed him.
All of them stood assembled before him. The white unicorn, the yellow pegasus, and the pink earth pony watched him with fear. The rainbow pegasus and the orange earth pony were glaring at him. Only the lavender alicorn seemed to view him with a more... stoic-ish look in her eyes.
Sombra grinned maliciously. "Welcome ladies. How do you all feel after your humiliating downfall?" He flashed them all a smug smile.
They all remained silent. A long while passed until Twilight stepped forward. "I feel just fine, actually."
Silence.
Her friends responded by giving the princess looks of confusion. King Sombra himself was finding it difficult to comprehend what she had just said. He expected some scared or angry reply. Twilight's statement threw him partially off guard.
"What do you mean 'everything's fine,'" Sombra asked. "Aren't you angry?"
Twilight proceeded by walking all the way to the king's throne. Sombra watched on in silence. Twilight stopped when she was directly in front of him. "No, I'm not angry just yet because we haven't run completely out of hope. I want to give it one last shot."
Sombra raised his eyebrow. "And how will you do that? It's not like you have access to your magic any longer."
Twilight giggled. "What I'm about to do doesn't need to be done with magic. It's what I like to call, the Twilight Magic." She brought up a hoof to pat his shoulder.
"What is she doing," Rainbow Dash whispered to Applejack. The earth pony only shrug her shoulders.
Twilight closed her eyes, inhaled, and then exhaled. When she opened her eyes, Sombra was met with the cutest, most heart-melting, sweetest smile he had ever seen.
His heart skipped a beat. He released a breath he had no idea he was holding. All evil thoughts in his head evaporated to nothing. His eyes went wide.
Twilight's smile fell. Her ears did too as her face was graced with an expression of concern and sympathy. "What happened to you, Sombra? Why do you conquer this empire? Are you hurt? Are you lonely?"
Sombra was speechless. He wondered if he was daydreaming or hallucinating. Out of all things, he certainly didn't expect this. "What... whatever do you mean? Why would you ask such things of me? Why would you care such things about me? Aren't we meant to be enemies?"
Twilight giggled again. "I know. But come on, I'm the Princess of Friendship. It's not exactly right for her to have enemies." She blinked innocently back at Sombra's flabbergasted expression. "I'm positive that there is something in your heart that drives you to evil. I want to know what it is. Then we can talk about it and I swear you'll feel much better."
Sombra's ears flopped down. He felt tears threatening to come. "But... but... were enem-,"
Twilight cut off his desperate protests by bringing her hooves around his neck in a warm embrace. Sombra nearly choked on his own spit while hearing Twilight's friends gasp in the background. Fresh tears were streaming freely down his cheeks. His heart ached. His eyes were wide yet he felt his hooves automatically returning the hug. He wondered if he was dreaming again. Nopony had held him like that for a long time.
They remained like that for a few minutes before Twilight pulled away. "There, does that help you?" Sombra merely nodded. "See," she continued. "All you need was a hug and now a long talk."
Sombra stared back forlornly as she gave him a bright, bubbly, and dazzling smile. It was a smile he believed could melt miles and miles of glaciers in a matter of seconds. He felt so confused but deeply wounded and so euphoric at the same time. There were mirrors of pain inside him but now there were also fragments of light.
"Do you want to go someplace else?" Twilight asked. She reached over and wiped his tears. Sombra felt numb and paralyzed. So he gave a stiff, small nod. "Okay."
She led him down the stairs and toward the doors. Her friends were all balking at them. Twilight grinned and gave them a wink. "Go get Cadence and Shining Armor." She turned to the sorrowful stallion at her right. "Sombra, may I use magic?"
Feeling weak and confused, Sombra wordlessly removed the restriction ring on her horn.
Twilight placed her wing around him and tucked him close. "Thank you, Sommy." At that minute, Sombra didn't pay attention to the nickname. "Also do you mind passing my friends the keys to Cadence and Shining's cell?"
Sombra obediently teleported the key to them. All of her friends were still frozen in place. Applejack was the first to snap out of her stupor. She extended her hoof and took the keys out of Sombra's aura. "Er, thanks... um... Sombra," she said.
"See," said Twilight. "He isn't so bad. He only ever needed some sympathy and comfort, right?" She flicked her amethyst eyes to a very sad-looking Sombra. He nodded.
Twilight nodded at her friends and then took Sombra away.
"Now, you see we're in a nicer setting so tell me: what's wrong?" Twilight asked.
The two of them were on one of the smaller balconies of the empire. Twilight had her wing still around Sombra's shoulders. Sombra felt stumped by his current situation. He had no idea events would unfold like this. He only expected to meet with the six mares and then be off with them. He didn't expect to be nurtured by this surprising lavender princess.
"Uh, well...," Sombra began. "I was...," He reconsidered his decision of telling her his motives. But then her irresistible smile and unbeatable cuteness crushed any hint of distrust he may have had. "I used to live in this empire and be a citizen." His voice cracked as he spoke. "I had a sister, but we were different from the rest of the ponies. I... I was always bullied for being different. I was even hated by the adult ponies. Me and my sis-sister ran away but that didn't go well. When we returned, the soldiers separated us. Lumen was gone and I never saw... her... again."
More tears poured down his face. He internally hated this and felt hideous. "Nopony has ever done something like this for me in a long time. I didn't have parents for so long. They died when I was three. There was nopony to comfort me."
Twilight's ears flattened down as she eased him into another hug when he broke down entirely. Quiet sobs shook his body. He leaned in gratefully into her chest. He hated it. But at the same time, he liked the way she ran her hoof on his back. "It's okay, Sommy," she assured. "It's all in the past. I can be your friend. I'll be here to comfort you at all costs."
Sombra pulled away and bore his soulfully, tragic look into her eyes. "Really? You will be my friend?"
Twilight snorted out a giggle. Her hooves flew up to her mouth and her body curled into a little ball. "Of course, I'll be your friend, you big weirdo." She brought her hooves down and took one of his hooves into them.
Sombra felt a smile magically forming on his muzzle. The tears in his eyes were tears of joy. "Th... thank you, princess. I'm ever grateful."
It took Sombra a few hours to come to his senses and realize that all that comfort talk was just Twilight's strategy to dethrone him. He felt angry but at that point, it was too late to take back the empire. Cadence and Shining Armor already took the throne and every guard was removed from their mind control.
In the end, Sombra was, at the very least, happy to have a friend. Even as the king of shadows, he knew having a friend could take one a long way. Especially when that friend is an adorable, magical, and smart alicorn princess.
