Reading in the quite of the library had proven to be too much for Twilight. Two things had been taking up her thoughts whenever she attempted to open a book. The first being how Sombra had treated her during her lessons. Celestia could say he was a better pony now, but Twilight couldn't help but think a blast from the Elements of Harmony would even him out some. He was just as cruel as the stories of his reign suggested he'd once been.

The second, and somewhat larger distraction, was the fact that she now had the capacity to hate living creatures. Sure her closest friends could bug her sometimes, but by the end of the day there was little left unresolved; save for how Pinkie Pie managed to defy the laws of science. As she sat in the library however, the thought of how satisfying it felt to watch Sombra burn kept creeping back into her mind. The idea of her hatred having outlet both thrilled her and horrified her to extremes.

She was conflicted. A conclusion she'd come to after starting to read and failing to finish twenty books. Without the distraction of books her thoughts continued to dwell on the negative side of her day.

Celestia would know just what to say to her. Whatever her words were would make all of Twilight's worries become as nothing; words evidently weren't enough to stave off the effects of dark magic however. Doubt compounded doubt as Twilight wandered the halls of the palace. What else couldn't Celestia do? Evidently she wasn't strong enough to fight off the Changeling Queen and her swarm; nor was she able to deal with Nightmare Moon when her sister returned. Celestia relied on Twilight and her friends to solve most of Equestria's more pressing issues. That was because she no longer had the Elements of Harmony to use, Twilight had to remind herself amid the haze of doubt.

Because she became to weak to use them wield them properly. The not entirely present voice growled, seemingly right in Twilight's ear.

She isn't anymore is she? Twilight agreed with a wicked grin. "Perhaps Equestria needs a pony in charge who can do her job when the time comes?"

"NO!" Twilight shouted, once she realized the thoughts of overthrowing the princesses were entirely her own. "How could you even think such things? You love Celestia, all of Equestria does. What would they think of you when you just took away their beloved leader; because they certainly wouldn't want to follow you would they?!"

For a moment her mind wandered back to having to save Equestria, a task that Celestia herself couldn't do. When all was said and done the most thanks they got was in the form of an award ceremony where medals were given out on the steps of the palace. When the Grand Galloping Gala came around all those ponies were too stuck up to recognize their saviors and treat them with some respect. Again after Discord's short reign nobody seemed to remember that they could be bailing chocolate milk out of their flooded basements were it not for the efforts of her and her friends.

"You there, guard!" Twilight called to a palace guard on patrol.

"Yes Miss Sparkle?" The guardspony answered, turning to face her.

"Why aren't the citizens of Equestria more grateful for me saving their lives no less than three times?" She barked, trotting closer to the guard.

"I- Uh..."

The sound of a whip cracking accompanied the guard being floored. A red line slowly rolled down his muzzle. As Twilight walked by him in a huff, he spotted more of his blood on the end of her tail. It didn't hurt nearly as much as it shocked him.

Twilight barely made it around the corner before she was having second thoughts about not apologizing. She turned her head to look back but her legs kept her moving forward.

"No I'm going to go back and make sure he's okay." Twilight demanded of her body. She stopped but did not turn around. "Please?" She hoped desperately for the disembodied voice to speak and give some validation to her speaking in the first place. She shuddered inwardly when no response came.

"Miss Twilight?" The very same guard she'd whipped on the snout came around the corner. Having heard her clearly combating with herself over his well-being, he chose to follow.

Twilight turned her head, but stood still otherwise.

"Are you alright?" She asked, attempting a full body turn. She merely strained against her legs.

"I'm fine." The guardspony waved a hoof dismissively. "Truth be told I've had worse. Are you alright though."

"Was that a challenge?" Twilight asked threateningly. She turned in place and crouched as if ready to pounce.

"Miss Twilight, what's gotten into you? I've never seen you act like this; well, except for the time you threw a fit about going to bed before you were finished studying."

The rather embarrassing memory of her one and only tantrum while under Princess Celestia's tutelage distracted her for a moment. Her body relaxed, and she went from crouching to laying on her belly; legs spread out as the night played out in her head.

In her defense the second test she would ever take in front of the princess was the next morning, and she felt more studying was needed before that happened. She'd made it clear she wanted access to the library, so when she managed to evade all the guards pursuing her, it was a simple task for them to ambush her at the library. She'd been snout deep in a book by the time they'd all gathered. Twilight had put up a valiant struggle for being just a filly, but the five guards finally overpowered her. This was due in part to one of her flailing limbs that struck a guard right on the tip of his snout; she'd injured another pony, and just like that all the fight had fled from her body.

Panic had been her downfall that night. Celestia was more than understanding towards Twilight's struggle to be prepared for what was really just a couple levitation exercises. Then and now, Twilight realized, she was letting emotion control her body. Not so literally as it was presently, but there was a clear parallel to that night; as well as other strenuous moments in her life.

"Miss Twilight?" The guard tried again.

"I'm sorry." She spoke into the floor.

"It's quite alright. Again though, are you alright?"

"That's the second time I hurt your nose, right? It's Private Westwood isn't it?"

"I"m surprised you remember me miss, it's been some time since we've spoken."

"I was sort of traumatized when I hit you; it's hard to forget a pony you hit." Twilight drew her hoof around in circles, seemingly fascinated by the sound it produced.

"There's clearly something wrong, please tell me is there something I can do to help you?"

"Until last night, I hadn't slept in days. Lack of sleep hasn't ever really posed much of a problem in the past. I can let myself get wrapped up in a project for a couple days and not sleep. When sleep comes easily one thinks nothing of it; it's a terrible feeling when sleep is all you desire, and closing your eyes only takes blocks the light of the world out."

"I don't understand. Do you need me to carry you to a bed?" The guard chanced a few steps closer, as Twilight was beginning to trail off at the end of her sentences.

"Sombra..." Twilight muttered something the guard couldn't make out. He'd heard the name, but nothing else.

"Beg your pardon, ma'am?"

"Find me Sombra you idiot!" Twilight snapped, picking up her head off the ground to yell properly.

"At once, ma'am!" The guard replied, breaking into a gallop down a hall.

Twilight was alone with her thoughts again and once the guardspony's hoofalls were too distant to hear, the turned on Celestia whose fault this was in the first place.

What sort of teacher exposed their students to dangerous magic without any instruction. Celestia had probably known that her "most faithful student" would figure out dark magic, was too much of a coward to teach it, and was now forcing Twilight to learn from the most horrible pony to ever exist to cover up her mistake. Twilight groaned in further irritation as the thoughts came to her.

"Most faithful student, hah!" Twilight said to the hallway. "Should be 'One and only, and best student.' 'Most faithful student' sounds like I just had to kiss a lot of flank to get the title." When the hallway didn't answer back she yelled "I get zero respect around here!"

"Laying on the floor like that, I can't imagine why." Sombra replied snidely.

"You!" Twilight said rolling over onto her back. It took her a moment to focus in on the pale emerald eyes of her instructor who was looking down on her.

"What've you done to me? Everything is terrible!"

"It is isn't it?" Sombra said, assuming an almost philosophical look.

"Fix me, please." Twilight whined, extending a foreleg weakly.

"Ehhh, you really are terrible. Although I do appreciate the begging; it's almost like I have power over you or something."

"I lack the energy to get up and kick your stupid flank up and down this hallway."

"You would enact violence on another pony? It seems I'm to be hated by all the mares in this palace." He muttered ruefully. "Fine, I suppose I can give you temporary relief."

With that he moved to her left and put a foreleg on either side of her.

"What are you-"

"No talking or I'll take it back, and no eye contact." Sombra grumbled as he wrapped his forelegs around Twilight in something resembling a hug; if said hug was between two warring siblings.

Twilight couldn't see Sombra's face, but she could see his horn begin to glow as he embraced her. As grudgingly as it was done and despite its unwanted source, Twilight found the hug fairly uplifting. Their heartbeats seemed to fall in line with each other and before long Twilight was smiling. Hesitantly she reciprocated the hug. When he did nothing but exhale slightly louder than normal she gave him a squeeze. It was an honest to goodness hug, and it was just what she needed.

"Here's a lesson," Sombra pulled away with perfect timing to prevent the hug from becoming awkward. He stared at Twilight for a moment allowing Twilight to in turn see how his face had changed; he looked as though he'd gone through several trying days without sleep, and was barely staying upright. Weariness and a constant struggle to keep his eyes open betrayed some aspect of the spell he'd cast.

Before Twilight could comment he raised a hoof to interrupt her, "It's an actual lesson, and not just me tormenting you. Dark magic is generated off of negative emotions like hatred, or the emptiness of losing or taking something precious. When your emotions are given free reign over your body, the unwanted dark magic that pools within you begins to well up and spill out. It's easy to suppress the signs of such an overflow for one who has lived with it for years, for others who are new to it they will show symptoms of depression. It is possible to force the negative emotions and subsequent magic onto other beings who will be forced to carry that burden for the originator. In this way the magic will be housed inside a host body and can be drawn upon later. Extracting the magic and leaving the host with the original negative emotions is like stripping an essential part of their soul; they cease to function as a sentient creature." He paused to rub his temples and look at the still prone mare before him.

Twilight nodded to show she was following to some degree.

"I gathered great power but forcing the citizens of the crystal empire by forcing them to generate hate fueled magic. I regret nothing save for the fact that I had to stop before I could perfect a way to leave behind a functioning pony when I took the magic back from them."

"What did you do to me?" Twilight asked quietly during another pause in his lecture.

"You would never willingly force your negative emotions on another being, so I took them. Maybe because I know you lack the focus to get anything done with the state you were in. Or maybe I genuinely felt bad for putting you in such a state to begin with. You've experienced an extreme of using dark magic, and now that you can I want you to reflect upon what you actually felt. We'll have your next lesson tonight. Come find me when you're ready to sleep."

"Alright?"

"Good." Sombra said with a satisfied finality.

"Is that blood on your tail?" He groaned, clearly instantly regretting having brought it up.

"I don't want to talk about it." Twilight said remembering a guard she'd need to apologize to whenever she picked herself up off the floor.

Sombra grunted in apathy, more than willing to drop the subject.

"Thank you for helping me."

"Don't mention it, ever." Sombra said threateningly. With how small he was it was more cute to Twilight than intimidating. She did well to hide that fact while she watched Sombra skulk away down the halls. Whatever he'd done to help her was clearly exhausting as he stumbled more than once during his slow walk.

Author's Note

I'm trying not to rush this story, but I also feel like it may be dragging on a bit. Thoughts if you would be so kind.