The night is dark, and full of terrors.

Twilight and her low-flying companion made it now to what she assumed was the throne room, the torches and mystical light set ablaze, the Unicorn assumed, only for her own convenience.

Vampires could see in the dark, after all.

What surprised and confused her was that upon returning here, the castle and this very room did not feel as cold as it felt that other night, there was not even a real lingering feeling of winter at all.
She still wondered how that was actually possible. A vampire with true elemental powers, instead of simply using shadows and occasionally smoking fire or even of Rot itself.

These creatures of the night had a variety of powers and abilities, often being stronger than Unicorns themselves in terms of raw power.
But a vampire being able to legitimately alter the very weather like that, an ability typically only thought possible to Pegasi and a certain few other magical entities? Such was a thing she had never heard about before, not even from the legends or encyclopedias.

After enjoying her tea with MAYBE a bit too much wine, Twilight went along with Rainbow to the throne room, chatting about random subjects and generally enjoying the other’s presence. Twilight needed all the help she could get to help her prepare for this meeting.

Soon, they came to the big doors again, and Dash opened them. They entered, with the candles and torches magically lighting up, bringing the room from total darkness into some decent light.
Rainbow, noticing Twilight’s increased nervousness, asked about her family to pass the time. The result was the other mare started rambling about how her parents both were responsible Magic-users and she occasionally got scolded in Magic School because she tended to perform her Spells too advanced and thus caused trouble.

That’s how she and Miss Sourpuss got to meet and detest each other.

The lavender Unicorn continued to ramble on to the light blue half-listening Pegasus until she felt a sudden cold and noticed that the light in the room had seemed to diminish.
It was similar to what she had seen and felt before, and that could only mean one thing:

Sombra, or rather KING SOMBRA, had arrived.

First, it felt like the room was getting colder, a feeling one would at first notice but wouldn’t care about.
But that’s when the temperature plummeted, and she could swear that the light sources themselves looked like they were being DIMMED, and the shadows overhead seemed to almost come alive with the way they subtly churned about.
She felt her heart racing soon enough, and her legs began to wobble. The fear was coming back with a vengeance, and the poor pony tried again to catch her breath and get her body back under her own control.

Just then, she felt something rather soft suddenly drape itself across her back, and simultaneously something else soft gently nuzzled her left cheek. A small wave of something else came over her, seemingly setting itself against the oppressive dark that weighed down on her and offering a sense of relief and comfort.
Twilight felt her heart rate slowly down ever so slightly, and actually a feeling of WARMTH seemed to come from the softness on her face. The corner of her eyes easily saw the light blue face and the bangs composed of many other colors on top of it, and she felt her own mouth twitching upwards into a smile as she did her best to ignore the source of her distress and focus on her comforter.

Slowly, Twilight closed her eyes and willed herself to breathe in as deeply as possible, and then let it all out with a sigh. She did this again, and was subconsciously grateful that Dash did not pull away from hugging or nuzzling her, and so found the strength to continue just a bit more. Steadily, moment by moment, she got her panic under reasonable control.

Opening her eyes at last, Twilight felt calm enough to turn her head to look at Rainbow, but she had seriously miscalculated when the latter would pull away from her. In the act of turning her own head, she discovered that the Pegasus hadn’t started pulling back at all… and so a pair of lavender lips brushed against cerulean blue ones!

The duo’s faces burnt slightly and they locked eyes for a few embarrassed moments, but this was quickly forgotten when the ground itself shuddered and made cracking sounds and several tall dark objects rose.
They were black crystals, jagged and sharp, and there were several of them. The two ponies now ignored their little incident for a later time and stared forward.

Neither one of them had felt like this perhaps ever, or in Rainbow’s case it had been so long she’d pretty much forgotten.
But all that would have to wait. HE was here.

Ahead of them, the darkness was now swirling like a whirlwind, and a current of air circling around the whole room until gathering more thickly in front of them near to the icy throne, and in this air funnel the Unicorn also noticed with Dash that there were even a lot of snowflakes… but they looked off, somehow. Twilight herself couldn’t explain how, but it didn’t look like SNOW she was seeing fly around before her eyes.

The dark storm condensed into a small swirling mass of inky blackness, and Twilight was reminded of the sea snakes that were crowded together while swimming in a glass water tank back at a laboratory in Canterlot.
This frightening display continued along with the green fire and electricity covering the floor and cracking through the air, until the deathly source of it all himself materialized and everything else proceeded to vanish like smoke into the ether.

Despite the reassurance and comfort she had received and was still receiving from Rainbow, Twilight still felt a chill run down her spine and swallowed thickly at the sight of the dark creature standing before her, flanked by the tall crystal blades, his eyes burning like fire while his mane and tail seemed to be carried on the currents of an invisible wind.

“Greetings, Twilight Sparkle.”
The dark entity’s voice was heard, a frightful smile upon his face as those same fangs that tore into her throat were on full display.

“…Good evening.”
The Unicorn mare could not help it as her voice quivered slightly. She couldn’t stop herself from doing so when she saw the dark stallion again.
The last time she’d seem him, she saw an incredibly annoyed and frightening individual, but now, she could swear she was standing n the presence of a king. The air around the Unicorn stallion, the terrible aura he had, the way he now presented himself… was he partially made of shadow?? And his mane and tail…

“Hmm…”, The vampire’s grin only grew. “Are you frightened, little mare?”

“I-yes! Very much so, I-I-I’m not t-too proud to admit it.”

The King of shadows laughed, and the sound thereof was terrible.
“That’s good, to be honest with me.”
His cape, Twilight quickly saw, was also floating just a little bit to the side. It wasn’t as much as his mane, but it was clearly being affected by the same supernatural force as it.
He then moved down on his throne and sat on his haunches upon it, and watched with an unreadable expression as Twilight lowered her gaze to keep from looking him in the eye.

Rainbow Dash was feeling more content. The elder vampire was so far in a good mood.

“Evening, Rainbow. It’s not often that I see you face to face so often in such a short time.”

“The same goes for, My Master.”
Dash bowed her head low and her voice was again a deeply respectful tone.

“I trust you found the tour interesting? What do you think of my home?”
Sombra extended one foreleg upward.

“Yes, this place… th-this is legitimately incredible, honestly! And it really is beautiful.”
Twilight happily confirmed.

Just like it’s lone Pegasus, I have to confess…
The egghead thought.

Wait, what? No, Twilight, focus! They’re both vampires!

…She didn’t notice the knowing glint in the eyes of the dark creature, and he also knew that she didn’t.

“I’m pleased to hear you say that.”

Twilight could not help but nervously smile again.

“I will need to apologize, though, for the lack of food.”
He said, although both the mares could tell he didn’t mean it at all and was simply saying it because he could.
“As you can see, this place does not have any other ponies staff besides Rainbow Dash, and the last visitor we ever had came long ago. And I don’t much enjoy normal pony food anyway.”
His two main frontal fangs now seemed to glint in the dark as he bared them more prominently.

“Hehe…”
Twilight uncomfortably laughed, bringing a hoof toward her throat and rubbing it. She could feel the phantom pain returning.
“Riiight, I sorta got that…”

“Now,” He got up and started to walk towards the two ponies, his hoofsteps silent yet echoed in Twilight’s ears.
“I trust that you have food for yourself?”

“What? Oh, yes! I still have a supply I can conjure, not to worry about that. But it won’t last forever, obviously.”
Twilight lamented, which brought her to that matter…

“Then let us not waste any more time, and discuss the main issue in the room.”
Sombra’s face was calm, or at least as calm as it could possibly look at this point, in Twilight’s opinion. At this, she frowned. This was already happening and it was too soon, and the Unicorn felt alarmed.
“I… I’m not sure that is a good idea.”

“And why exactly is it not?”
Sombra had now reached the duo’s position and peered down at the little Unicorn.
“Oh, let me guess: you are afraid of what I shall do to the world.”

Gulp “…That obvious, huh?”

The vampire then turned to his apprentice.
“How much did you tell her?”

“Only what she needed to know. She doesn’t know anything about you, but you already are aware of that.”
Dash stated with a sigh. Sombra blinked once.
“You have my thanks for remembering that.”

“Hmm.”
The Pegasus nodded, and Sombra’s green-red eyes returned to the Unicorn.
“Walk with me.” He said as he moved past them and headed outside.

“Wha-?”
When Twilight turned, the vampire was halfway out, leaving no ground to discuss, the other mare trailing not far behind. “Uh…okay?”

The castle now had more candles and torches lit, and it seemed as if it was inhabited by more people than just the ancient creature and his young creation.
There was something that the vampire was not letting her know. There was definitely more to his story. Maybe he was going to show it now?

But if that was the case, just what exactly was he going to reveal? Or tell? Would Twilight believe it? Had she any reason to? Where were they going in the first place?
There were some rooms that Rainbow did not want to show her, like the basement and the “dungeon”.

…Was there a torture room or something?

Twilight groaned.

Seriously, if worst comes to worst, I may be able to hold him off for a few moments if I go all-out from the get go.

The problem was Rainbow, she too was a vampire and apparently may be extremely fast too.
The Unicorn was so caught up in her worries and creating contingencies that she didn’t notice where they were until she heard him speak.
“We’re here.”

“Hmm?”
She was taken out from her thoughts suddenly as Sombra opened the door to the library.
“The library? Why are we here?” Twilight asked.

The vampire ignored her question and turned around to face her.
“Before we proceed, there is something I will ask you.”

“Y-yes?”

“You are afraid of what I’ll do to the world, once you set me free.”

“Umm… IF I set you fr-“

“WHEN you do.”
The creature stated firmly, leaving no room to discussion. Twilight gulped.

“If I told you… that I don’t care for it, would you believe me?”

“Wait…what?”
The Unicorn blinked.
“N-No!”
She tried to put some conviction into her voice, but all she managed was a squeak.

“I didn’t think so.”
Sombra went to one of the many bookstands and eyed the books, then raised a hoof and a massive book moved slowly towards him.
He lowered his foreleg and took the book to one of the massive desks where he set it down and opened it, flipping the pages until he found what she was looking for.
He then set the book down and pushed it towards Twilight, who was just arriving at the other side.

“What is this?”
She was looking at some kind of old map.

“Where I’ve come from.”
Sombra revealed.

The book smelled old, and the pages had some colors faded but other than that it seemed like it was still new, new as in, never used.
She touched the print and felt the relief, and it felt as if the book was just made. The lexicon, this was a genuinely older language. But she was able to read some of this because she’d seen the modern version of it, and among many words, one in particular came quite clearly:

“…The Dominion of Crystalia.”
Twilight translated.

“That is correct.”

“But…how? I mean…this….”
Twilight carefully trailed the map and its contents, places marked, and how there was a castle drawn in. The mare turned the pages to find similar maps, but the information they had was severely out of date.

“This can’t be.”

“Why not?”
The tall stallion asked.

“The Crystalia Dominion doesn’t exist!”

“…what?” Rainbow’s expression faltered.

“Just…how old..?”
Twilight turned the book, went back to the beginning to check information.
“Holy Crabapples, this…this book is 1,069 hundred years old!”
She then looked at both vampires with a shocked face.

“Just how old are you..?”

“1,030 years, to be precise.”
The elder quietly answered, and had both mares look at him in surprise.

“That is how old you are, and you’ve been in here with me for 1,011 years as you were sired when you were 19. You were unable to fully keep counting properly,” he said, to Rainbow. “That does not go the same for me. I have always known how long you and I were trapped here.”

Twilight’s mouth opened and closed a few times as she tried to comprehend this, but her eyes were then drawn to Rainbow Dash.
The Pegasus has set both front hooves upon the table, and looked down.

Shocked at the revelation.

“A th-th-thousand years….” The ‘young’ vampire repeated. How had she not been able to know this? How had she been so disconnected from her own life, from her own passage through time!?

A hundred different questions began to swarm through the Unicorn’s mind as she continued to stare at the prismatic pony in front of her, her eyes following the figure as she retreated to the main window, unable to even muster the strength to use her wings like she normally did.
Twilight watched as Dash slowly reached the window and looked at the outside world, the moon and the faint stars high above, looking down upon and mocking her. So close, and yet, so very out of her reach.

Among the questions that went around Twilight’s head, there was one that was coming out the most, the one that was both worrying and intriguing her the most, and most likely, was the key to understand what the Tartarus was going on. And so she finally asked it:

“What happened to you?”

Rainbow didn’t respond at first, just staring blankly outside at the world she’d been kept from for more than an entire millennia. But just as Twilight was about to either ask again or stay silent, Rainbow closed her eyes and sighed deeply.
Then she turned to face their visitor and she could see the confusion on her cute little face, as she, the proud and cocky Pegasus vampire mare… was struggling to keep from crying. Her eyes went away from the other mare, looking now behind her.
Twilight followed her gaze and turned her head, and realized that Sombra was standing behind her and she hadn’t even heard him move.
He nodded his head curtly once, and now Dash was crying softly, hugging herself with her own wings and forelegs as she plopped down on her hindquarters.

“You-you may wanna sit down too.” She suggested.
Twilight felt a pang in her heart as she saw the sad creature, and she nodded and made her way toward one of the couches.
She was still very much aware of Sombra standing close by, coldly watching everything that transpired. Despite her own sadness and attention being directed towards Rainbow Dash, she still felt that same chilling aura of fear that he seemed to outright emanate.
He certainly knows all of whatever Dash is about to tell me, and so much more too. That much is certain.

The vampiric Pegasus thought hard on this subject. This Unicorn wanted to know the truth. This mortal creature… this… meal.

But this meal was her only hope of getting out of this prison.

She remembered how she had laughed a long time ago of when dreaming of being outside during summer again and feeling the warm air as she swam through it and let it wash over her from head to hoof, how she wanted to feel the true beauty of winter and not the dark frigidness that her Sire was capable of creating.
She had promised she would do everything in her power to break free, to free them both, even as King Sombra simply glared at her with disdain and told her that her dreams were those of a foolish little foal who didn’t want to grow up. But she hadn’t given up, and she could feel that her Sire was somehow proud of her for not doing so.
Just like she ultimately been unable to keep counting the months, the years, the decades, King Sombra had always been doing so.

Twilight Sparkle. This sweet mortal mare, this curious and kind-hearted, and beautiful, young visitor, she very much was the key to everything.
But would she even really care? Why should she? Could Rainbow trust her?

This was her only shot.

She had to convince Twilight to open the barrier by herself and not force Sombra to resort to using force to make her do it.
Rainbow had only known this visitor for a few hours, but she already knew that she simply could not bare the thought of the Unicorn being forced to endure the horrendous and unnatural tortures that the elder vampire was capable of.

Rainbow needed to convince her. But for that…

She looked one last time to her master and Sire, and an unspoken conversation between them passed, and she then looked back to their visitor.
The light blue Pegasus walked slowly towards the couch until she was in front of Twilight and then sat down in the e floor in front of her, and she took a deep breath as she steeled herself.

“My full name is Rainbow ‘Dashie’ Dash. I was born then,” she glanced at Sombra, “one thousand and 30 years ago. I…I was not a normal foal. I…was born like this.”
She used one front hoof and looked at a hoof-full of her rainbow mane.

“Turns out, one way or another I was born after some really weird shenanigans involving the weather and the Sun and Moon. My mom wasn’t exactly exceptional when it came to being a Pegasus nor my dad for that matter. But still, I was born like this. Both my parents were regular Pegasi. I was born and seemed like any other foal of my age, but there were always differences to be noted. I had these colors that none other else had,” she gestured to her wings and tail, “and I was able to fly before I could crawl.”

She spread her wings.

“For all my foalhood, I was a SOMEWHAT normal filly, or as normal as I could be with this stuff. I grew to be proud of my unique qualities and abilities, and I was able to eat like any other old pony. I was basically normal, even though whenever I went to the medical ponies they always said that I had the highest amount of ‘Spectra’ in my body. You know what Spectra is, right?”

“Hmm? Oh… oh yeah, it’s that special substance found in Pegasi bodies that is believed to come from their vey souls and that gives them their own special abilities and colors.”

“Exactly, my own supply of it has always been REALLY really high But anyway, everything eventually changed. Instead of my nosy through the regular stuff that growing mares go through, I started getting these surges of power where….I could hear literally everything, smell everything, FEEL everything, food started making me sick because I could no longer digest it. My body was rejecting and I was getting sick.”
She spoke with a bit of pain in her voice, and Twilight felt her heart aching already.

“I started falling asleep during the day and stayed up during the night. The Sun started to wear me out, to slowly even begin to burn me. And that is where all hay broke loose.”
She sighed deeply at this part.

“My vampiric powers began to manifest somehow. And with them, my… thirst.”
Her eyes glinted before she looked down, and the Unicorn unconsciously again put a hoof to her own soft sensitive throat where Sombra had torn into her, only a few days ago.

“At the beginning, it was not an issue because… well, the really bad criminals sentenced to death were sent to me, instead. But when the criminals stopped coming in as reforms were made steadily, and we ran our do food for me, the problems really began.”

The youthful vampire’s eyes looked heavier and heavier.

“My parents… even though they loved me, they…were getting scared of me, of my bloody nature. They feared that my power was too big for the kingdom. I had been conditioned to try to ignore it n any way possible, to control it and not let it grow anymore. They tried to raise me still as any other good little mare. During the day, I would wear sports clothes and other stuff that covered me everywhere and make me look about 20% more awesome as well, and I would need to wear a pair of special goggles with the excuse being that my eyes were very sensitive and vulnerable to bright light and stuff like that…”

Twilight could sense something terrible was coming, and she was not wrong.

“All of this, relatively worked, for another few years. Until one day, I snapped.”

The little vampire lamented, her voice becoming more strangled.

“It was only a matter of time, really, and I was barely a fully-grown mare…In the end, it didn’t matter. My true nature was revealed to the public. My powers, my vicious and bloodthirsty nature, the whole shebang. And for some strange reason, I was spared. Many thought me worse than a witch or sorceress, they thought me a legit DEMON.”
Dash sadly told, looking anywhere but Twilight herself.

“Then, there came…. That day.”

The creature took a long pause in between words here, and looked especially conflicted.
Her right hoof shot up and clenched where her heart was and she gritted her teeth with righty shut eyes.
Twilight could see the pain in her expression, but the Pegasus forced herself to keep talking before Twilight could stop her.

“Where my parents stopped trying to make me stay up during daylight. They stopped trying to make me eat their food. I had learned to relatively control my thirst. But in the end, it didn’t matter.”

“One day, I woke up, and found my house totally empty. Nopony was alive, they were all gone.”
Rainbow revealed.

“They were… killed?”
Twilight inquired with slightly widened eyes.

Dash slowly nodded.
“Days before, I started having nightmares. Bad ones. I know the…” she sighed, “…the stories of Princess Luna whose job it always was to stop nightmares, but she never showed up for me. My mind began to unravel and I soon couldn’t really tell what was real and what was me just dreaming. But eventually, I started to see red, so to speak y’know, more and more. I spent whole nights entertaining thr murderous ideas because I… I was too mad at being feared and hated to keep ignoring them, eventually. And if I started telling my parents that I was having visions of… of killing them and stuff… well, whatever.”

She now had tears in her eyes, and she bit her lower lip so tightly that the Unicorn saw blood start to trickle down. Her own vision started to blur too now, but she knew that she couldn’t interrupt. She knew that Rainbow NEEDED to get it all out. The poor Pegasus now had tears streaming down her own face, and she tried weakly to wipe them away.

“They, my parents and… my uncles and one aunt, just all… disappeared two days after that. When I finally awoke out of my… my bucking bloody rage, they… had all been killed. By…”

A thick swallow.

“… by ME!”

A pure sob tore through her, and she slapped a hoof over her mouth to keep others from coming out too. Her eyes were so very tightly shut, and Twilight could barely look at her, her own grief threatening to overwhelm.
After a painfully long few minutes or so, Rainbow Dash resumed speaking.

“Not long after, I broke out into the town as my grief overwhelmed me and I just couldn’t stay in that house anymore. The townsfolk, after seeing my state, just… they all just all turned on me. And so… I butchered them all too.”
Her body was shuddering like a leaf in the wind, her tears dropping to the floor, drop by drop.
“I tried to talk to them, I begged them to stop before I… I lose control again! I did EVERYTHING I could do and say… but nopony ever stopped, nopony ever listened!”
She had by now sunk to the floor, her legs all gathered under her and her head lowered enough that Twilight only saw her mane and nothing else. Her unrestrained sobs were heartbreakingly loud and painfully raw, and the Unicorn’s heart had by now been shattered.
Sure, Rainbow Dash had just pretty much stated that she’d slaughtered her entire town, but right here and now, Twilight could see the pain in the poor Pegasus. She could see it all in her actions, hear it in her sobs and her cries.

The regret.

The suffering.

The torment.

And before she knew what she was doing, the young Unicorn had leapt from the couch and crossed the distance to the vampire Pegasus, wrapping her forelegs around her in a tight and almost desperate embrace.
One hoof gently rubbed the cerulean pony’s back in a soothing manner, and she felt the latter bury her head into her shoulder.

“Then came the black winter. The winter, that I created.”
The echoing voice of King Sombra, as cold as ice, made itself heard. Upon hearing him, Dash sniffled a little bit and then sloppy repositioned her head so that her chin was on Twilight’s shoulder, allowing herself to keep speaking.

“One night, when I was 19 and was on the verge of starving myself to true death… it was then that King Sombra came by and found me. He was also a vampire already, and had sensed me from afar. He brought with him a frigid blizzard that would have taken the very best Pegasi working together to have any hope of clearing up, and he took me under his wing, so to speak.”
Rainbow now seemed to stiffen up ever so slightly and she slowly, reluctantly, pulled away from Twilight. Pinkish eyes looked deeply into purple ones for a few seconds as both mares didn’t say a word, but then Rainbow blinked and looked away again with a pained sigh.

“I can’t say much about everything that we said to each other, but he gave me a purpose and a reason to keep on going rather than trying to end my own undead life, and I’ve been loyal to him for that ever since.”
Now she looked over at the elder vampire, and Twilight saw that the smile the light blue pony wore had some life in it, a bit of meaning and authenticity even if it was pained.

“We came into contact, and then conflict, with The Two Sisters of Equestria. Those two didn’t like the idea of a pair of vampires running and flying around freely while causing the weather to act up, and the fact that vampires are by nature very ambitious also fed their fears about us trying to take over the land. They couldn’t live with the threat of more vampiric expansion,
especially not with one as strong as King Sombra. Tracking us both to this castle, they set up a really complex Magic barrier outside of here in order to contain us, and our powers. They completely locked us in. They made it so that none of us could not get out. Only somepony that was REALLY good with Magic AND was neither Sombra nor me could open it, and it had to be done from the outside.”

Twilight blinked curiously and looked away to hide her blush as she listened. She had been able to open the Seal pretty easily, legit. She didn’t think she was THAT strong, but the evidence spoke for itself.

“They now sure that anything which could give us the ability to open the doors, or undo those seals, were gone.”

“How do you know this?”
Twilight thought out loud.

Sombra spoke now with a dark smirk.
“Being well-versed in all forms of archaic sorcery and being shut in with the biggest library available in the region at your disposal, a pony is bound to learn a number of things.”

“Oh.”
Twilight blinked again. It made sense.

“The world cared not at all for us, and trapped us forever when we wouldn’t die so easily. Why should I care for the world? All of it can rot for all I care.”
Sombra bitterly spat with a growl, his cape becoming more lively and making him all the more intimidating.
“Think about this as well, Sparkle.”

“Y-yes?”

“Yes. If you free us, you’ll have my thanks, and FAVOR. It is wise to have someone like me at your side. Not to mention you’ve already developed something of a bond with my fledgling.”

The towering dark stallion closed in to the much smaller mare, who instinctively lowered herself and soon was kneeling with all four legs crossed under her, before she even knew what she was doing. Twilight would normally feel unsettled by somepony or someone making her do this, she didn’t need any Spell or command from Sombra to kneel. Her own instincts forced her to do so, like a little pack wolf bowing to the Alpha, a small beast submitting to a superior predator.

He stopped in front of her, and her wide eyes were fixed n his large dark hooves. They were much larger and more rugged than her own, and she swore could even see some lingering traces of shadowy smoke coming from beneath them.
She could feel his gaze upon her from above, piercing through her as if he knew very thought she had.

But then, she heard movement happening to her side, and then felt Rainbow Dash come and settle down beside her. And drape a wing over her barrel, almost protectively.
“I promise that you will not be killed or cast off alone after freeing the two of us, that much is guaranteed.”

She didn’t dare to raise her head and look any higher then his hooves, and so she missed the silent communication the Sire and the Fledgling, both looking at each other for a second and nodding once.
Instead, the frightened Unicorn found herself bound under the mighty entity’s flaming eyes.
Rainbow’s close presence and show of affection and comfort with her wing had a minor influence to help Twilight calm down, but it was only a little bit. King Sombra’s overwhelming presence was not be to pushed back so easily.
This monster… he could just force her under the weight of his power to open the Seal again. She could feel his Magic compared to her own… he was like a lake compared to her, a bucket!

So why try to convince me at all?
The young Unicorn wondered deep down.

“If you don’t care for the world, then… why go to it?”
She quietly asked.

“The question tells me you have never been imprisoned.”
The stallion muttered with a small hiss.

“No..I-I…” The poor mare was caught off guard.

“Rainbow Dash.”
He grunted, his voice having that deep and echoey effect to it again.
“You have never gone outside, since you became like this. All you’ve known for so long is this castle and what is inside it.”

“Yeah, it’s true.” She nodded.

He smirked.
“Why do you want to go outside?”

Rainbow smiled and began to reply.
To the other two’s surprise and amusement, she suddenly started to list off all the totally awesome things that she wanted to do in the warmth of Summer. The more the Pegasus expressed, the more Twilight started to become worried. Dash was so passionate about wanting to be free at least after 1,000 years of dark imprisonment.

After the long-overdue conclusion , Sombra wore a very amused look while Twilight had a grimace.
“Ok, so…you would like to see the summer more than anything else.”

“Totally!”

Mud bricks!
Twilight had screwed up.

“Yes, Sparkle. Now tell us, why won’t you let her?”
Sombra fixed the nervous mare with a steady, intimidating gaze. Rainbow was looking up and thinking about able to zoom in the skies freely again. She seemed to have hearts in her eyes.

“I-because….I….”

Rainbow looked at her with a big smile, her eyes full of yearning. Twilight could see the hope and excitement at the prospect of being free again, and felt her own resistance being battered way by the millisecond the more she looked into this hopeful eyes.
And yet, Twilight was also very much aware that freeing her meant also freeing King Sombra. The mysterious, terror-inducing creature of the night that had been erased entirely from history with all mention of his kingdom and his servants, like Rainbow Dash herself. She’d never even heard of Crystalia until tonight, in a history book she’d never seen either.

Another thing too: this Library had access to lost knowledge! who knows how much she could learn that had been forgotten by the rest of the world?

“My deal still stands, Twilight.”
The dark creature reminded her.
“And you can even look it this way. It is said that my kind are bound to their word if they ever give it. I intend to keep doing that.”
The vampire started walking around the Unicorn Pony, who slowly turned as well in a circle in an attempt to keep him in her sight at all times. She was not willing to have him behind her if she could help it.
“You can even try to watch over me if you wish. You’ll be welcome here in this place, and may come and go as you please. Despite the fact that you are no match for me, who knows? With hard work and dedication, one day…you might be.”
Sombra finished, standing right in front of Twilight again.

“And so, the time has finally come to make a choice.”

Twilight gulped heavily.

Sooner or later, this was going to happen. If she was ever going to get out, she would eventually need to try to open the doors.
And the moment that happened, Sombra and likely Rainbow would definitely appear in order to get out as well. With how the castle felt, there was no way he wouldn’t know about the Seal being broken again and not he right there or exploit it.
If she refused at such a time… there would be Tartarus to pay.

And also, she knew truly that Sombra was absolutely right:
She was no match for him. Not here, not now, and not for a very long time

The Unicorn could feel herself sweating just a little as how Sombra grinned a grin that displayed a muzzle-full of sharp knife-like fangs and his eyes bore into her more than usual.
“Do we have a deal?”

If worse came to worst, she’d be offering her blood in exchange of knowledge and power.
Twilight left a single “heh” as she remembered her lessons on how it was told that some Unicorns of old actually gained some of their immense arcane knowledge and power that way, conducting certain rituals and participating in actions that were of a give-and-take sort of relationship.
But it was from other sources of power and other ancient creatures. It definitely was not done with vampires.

Still, she wasn’t doing anything her kind didn’t do before.
And if the need truly ever arose, the young Magic expert knew that she needed to get stronger in order to overcome this vampire, or others, if needed be.
She was in need of more strength than she currently had, and needed to stay alive long enough to gain it.

Maybe she could forge some sort of alliance with his apprentice. Despite her loyalty to him, she already felt a certain kinship with Rainbow Dash, and the younger vampire’s actions that were made repeatedly to the Unicorn’s benefit and comfort, along with her genuine display of real equine emotions, were enough for Twilight to conclude that the Pegasus was worthy of her trust, at least partially.
Sure, her thirst for blood would need to be dealt with, but in this case, Twilight would leave tomorrow’s problem for tomorrow’s Twilight.

Either way, she had no choice. She never did. Her fate had been decided the moment she set a hoof into this place and awakened the beast that resided within.
A single step was taken forward, and a pair of bright young purple eyes met with cold ancient green and crimson ones, the mare’s head giving a single solid nod as she gave her answer.

“We have a deal.”

The elder vampire’s eyes burnt brightly as well again, this time with delight.

“Splendid.”