King Sombra, Lord of Shadows, rightful (albeit deposed) ruler of the Crystal Empire, had a long experience of coming back from the dead. He knew what it felt like to be dead, and the soul-wrenching feeling of returning to mortality.
Which is how he knew something was different this time. Even before his body had regained any kind of substance or form to speak of, he could feel an alien presence teasing his essence back together, a disgustingly vapid force of light. But he could do nothing, except fume in silence and gather his wit for whatever - or whomever - he was about to face.
Blinking his newly reformed eyes, the unicorn lord found himself staring into the impassive, shimmering gaze of Twilight Sparkle.
"Well, now. I wasn't aware you had a sense of humor," Sombra remarked haughtily.
"Laughter is in my nature," said the Tree of Harmony. "But I have always had trouble expressing it."
King Sombra glanced out over the Astral Plane, watching the mystical aurorae with disinterest. "If you're not here to gloat - which, by the way, you're missing the best opportunity you'll ever have - and you're not here for revenge either, could you kindly get to the point? I, unlike you, do not have a tree's patience. Say your piece, or return my soul."
"I wish to give you another chance," the Tree declared. "No creature is beyond redemption."
"No, thank you," said King Sombra, with an insulted sniff. "A second chance, yes. But not from you. I will not be a grovelling pawn in some insipid scheme of friendship. Now, return me."
"There is a foal," said the Tree. Her horn gently shimmered, projecting an image of a young unicorn into the air above them. King Sombra stared up at it, his eyebrows furrowing in curiosity. The unicorn was a filly, with a coat so blue it nearly vanished into the cerulean whorls of the Astral Plane. Her eyes were wide with fright and uncertainty, her hoofsteps timid and tentative as she explored some unknown place.
"She is lost. Frightened. Abandoned. Alone," the Tree explained. "She needs somepony to guide her. To teach her. To love her."
King Sombra was only half-listening to the Tree's explanation, his attention fixated upon the filly's eyes. So much fear... yet so much unspoiled, unvarnished potential. A flash of greedy, violet flame lit up his eyes. "This is your offer? You're giving her to me?"
"No. She will forge her own path, as will you," the Tree clarified. "My offer to you is an opportunity for atonement. You can become the part of her life that she needs."
"You want me to be a father to her," King Sombra stated.
"No," said the Tree. "A mother."
The image changed, vanishing the filly and replacing her with a much larger, more imposing figure, one which definitely did know its place in the world. The pony was tall and slender, her magenta coat shining with raw mystical power, her icy mane bound into tight, elegant braids. The projection was silent, but Sombra's mind could easily hear the sound of her cold, cruel laughter.
"She is an alicorn," King Sombra said eagerly, his eyes flaring violet again as he took in her graceful figure. Her regal cutie mark.
"Her power is restrained," the Tree told him. "Your path is not yet set, nor is that of the unicorn Misty. But together, you will have the opportunity to shape each other's destinies."
Restraints can be broken, Sombra comfortably reminded himself. As can hearts, and minds. "You have said enough. I accept."
"You know the worst thing about limbo?" said the mare, groaning as she stretched her limbs on the cloudy floor of the Astral Plane. "How much it itches."
"You are being fanciful," the Tree observed. "The realm of Limbo has no matter, form, or structure. It cannot itch."
"Try living there," the mare grunted. "Why am I here?"
"I wish to offer you a second chance."
"Third chance," the mare corrected. "I already had a second one."
The Tree nodded. "A third chance. I do not know if this will finally deliver you the atonement you seek, but I believe this is the opportunity you have been awaiting." Her horn projected an image of a tall, purple-coated alicorn, her hooves clad in imposing iron shackles. "Her name is Opaline. She is an alicorn of immense power and furious temperament, who wishes to rule the world and to burn to the ground all that stands in her way."
"Megalomaniac type, I understand," said the mare, nodding curtly. "Do you want me to take her down, or friend her?"
"She has no power," the Tree clarified. "Her path is not yet forged. There is love within her heart - she simply needs someone to help her discover it. Somepony with whom she can share her love."
"You could just buy her a puppy," the mare suggested.
The image changed to that of a blue unicorn filly, crouching fearfully beneath a bush, sniffling as thunder boomed overhead. The mare's heart swelled with sympathy upon seeing her, mixed with a flash of protective anger. "Who is she?"
"Her name is Misty," said the Tree. "But to be more precise, she is you. This is the third chance I am offering you."
"You want me to... be her?" the mare said, studying the filly with a sudden greater scrutiny. Her heart ached at seeing the terrified foal. She'd had her own experiences of abandonment, and knew how deep the pain could run. Going through that again wasn't something she would wish on anypony...
... but then, wasn't that the point? This was the chance she'd been itching for, a way to set right what she'd done wrong the first time.
"There is one caveat," the Tree added. "As is Opaline's power suppressed, so too is Misty's. You will lack the ability to use your unicorn magic."
"Figures," said Tempest, scratching her broken horn. "At least some things never change, right?"
