Twilight found herself in much better spirits following the somewhat awkward moment she and Sombra had shared on the palace floor. Her thoughts were no longer geared towards how much the world owed her, but were now focused on how difficult it was for Sombra to walk after having drawn her negative emotions out and into himself. It was funny to think she owed the once tyrant king any kind of thanks. Saying "thank you" would be enough for now, any overt display of gratitude would have to wait until a time where he went a full twenty-four hours without tormenting her. She managed a sincere laugh at her thoughts on the way to the library. Twilight planned to fill up some time with reading now that she wasn't hating on everything.

At least it was the plan until her stomach rumbled loud enough that a passing guard looked back at her awkwardly. When he looked at her he stiffened nervously. He winced when they made eye contact; he hadn't meant to investigate the sound so obviously. Twilight smiled sheepishly in response, which was wasted on the guard as he was half way down the hall in an instant. The loud clinking of his armor could be heard a fair distance off as he keep a quick pace to put distance between him and a potentially painful situation.

"Great, now all the guards are afraid of me!" Twilight grunted in frustration as she made her way to the kitchen. A few steps later she stopped. How had she known that guard was afraid of her. He seemed a little nervous, maybe he was just shy? But no, something told her it was fear; the same voice that recommended setting Sombra aflame.

"Food!" Twilight groaned once she found the kitchen. The journey through the palace halls had been long and nearly as stressful as the rest of her morning. It hadn't occurred to her just how little she knew about navigating the halls of the palace. As a filly studying under Princess Celestia she was always at her mentor's side, taking many steps for each of her teacher's longer strides to stay roughly in the same place relative to the Princess. She was so enamored with ever piece of wisdom that came from Celestia's lips that she didn't give much notice to her surroundings. As she grew older and spent more time studying independently she was hidden away in her tower full of books; not getting out much to explore the palace halls she took for granted.

When Twilight Sparkle, student to the Goddess of the Sun, flopped onto the kitchen floor the chef, for his part, smiled at her antics. With a sigh, he stopped what he was doing and came to stand above Twilight.

He helped her up with his magic and said, "Lunch was an hour ago Miss Sparkle."

Recognition dawned on Twilight as she looked over the aged, light tan coated unicorn stallion. His vibrant sapphire eyes were a dead giveaway.

"Caeser Salad, right?" Twilight asked with a slight smile.

"I'm surprised you remember me, you were such a young thing the last time you came in here!"

Twilight refrained from hugging the elder stallion for propriety's sake, but she couldn't help but sigh as the multitude of encounters she'd had with him in her younger years. Years ago, in transition between being Celestia's second shadow, and being holed up in a tower, she had many late nights reading in Celestia's personal library. As much as she could Celestia encouraged Twilight to come down for dinner, but at a certain point found it easier to let the young mare have more independence. Unbeknownst to Celestia, Twilight made late night trips to the kitchen to try and grab a bite to eat; where she would always encounter and be caught by Caeser Salad, the head chef.

An insistent growl from her stomach reminded Twilight why she was here.

"Lunch was a while ago."

"I was in the middle of training all morning. Time sort of slipped away from me."

Caeser gave her an understanding smile. "Studious as ever aren't you? I shouldn't have expected you'd grow out of that."

Twilight's cheeks reddened slightly at the comment.

"What would you like then?"

"Anything really, I haven't eaten in almost two days!"

"My my, I thought you were looking rather thin. I hope you're taking care of yourself off in Ponyville"

Sorry dad. Twilight thought to herself. She cracked an half smile at the thought.

"I've had a rough, and mostly sleepless week. I'm feeling a lot better though." She paused for a moment in thought, "Also I'm not that thin." She ended pointedly.

"Most mares consider that a compliment, I meant nothing mean by it."

"They do, don't they?" Twilight mused to herself before muttering "Sorry."

During their short talk the stallion chef was busy preparing "something" and "anything" for Twilight to eat. About the time he dipped several strawberries in chocolate, the hungry mare had to consciously keep her mouth closed to prevent drooling. Caeser never did give her a midnight snack, it was always a meal. Complete with a salad before the main course, and dessert afterwards.

"So uh-" Twilight began, trying to resume their conversation. "How did you know I was in Ponyville?"

"Well, when I realized I hadn't seen you for over a year, I just had to ask Princess Celestia where that sneaky little filly that I'd caught in my kitchen so many times had gotten off to. Imagine my surprise when she tells me her twenty year old student has moved from the palace to study the magic of friendship off in some little town."

"I didn't mean to not say goodbye to everypony who works here, I just didn't." Twilight mumbled, a slight guilt building in her chest.

"I'll tell you it made me feel old to learn that you went off and became a full grown mare." Caeser continued his rant, as he herded Twilight into the dining hall with two trays of food floating behind him.

"I didn't mean-"

"Wasn't your fault dear, and it wasn't the first sign that I was getting on in years." He stared out one of the many windows of the dining hall wistfully, before turning back to Twilight with an earnest smile.

"Now eat up, and get on with your day. I have to go finish preparations to start dinner. I hope you're their on time tonight."

Before Twilight could respond, Caeser was back in the kitchen.

"Hey Caeser! Sun-butt let me have some free time so I thought I'd-" Sombra's youthful voice rang through the dining hall, before it cracked and he stopped to clear his throat loudly.

"Is that food?" He asked as he moved through the dining hall.

From Twilight's position at the table she could only hear Sombra as he was a good deal shorter than the table.

"It is a dining hall; so yeah, there's probably food." Twilight responded dryly.

"Oh, I was hoping to avoid you for a while." Sombra clambered up onto a chair next to Twilight and swiped a chocolate covered strawberry before she could make a protest.

"You brat!" Twilight declared while Sombra made a show of munching on his ill-gotten treat.

"-issh ss good." He said around the food in his mouth.

Twilight moved her plates to the farther side, away from Sombra to prevent any more swiping of her late meal.

"I have an assignment for you!" Sombra blurted out, startling Twilight and casing the fork she was levitating to drop a short distance before being quickly recovered.

"I thought we were done with lessons today." Twilight whined.

Sombra fixed her with a blank stare, and to her credit Twilight lasted forty seconds before she caved.

"What is it?"

"Go to Celestia, and ask ever so nicely if she can give me back my magic."

"How can Princess Celestia have your magic?"

"She doesn't literally have it in a box, I thought you were smarter than that." Sombra said pointedly.

"Princess Celestia won't just give you back your magic though."

"Why not? I'm harmless. Besides which, I do need my own magic to teach you a few things."

"I don't think Princess Celestia is going to buy that." Twilight pointed out.

Sombra let out an exasperated sigh and shook his head.

"How about this then: How would you feel if you had all your magic taken away, right now? Everything from your preschool cantrips all the way up to your admittedly impressive teleportation? It's all gone now, and some other pony is keeping it from you."

Twilight couldn't help but grimace at the prospect. It was enough to prompt Sombra to continue

"That's what I thought. So could you try, out of the goodness of your heart, to help someone in need?"

Something about the thought of the once tyrant king, now a young colt, almost pleading for her help talking to the Princess seemed comical to Twilight. She couldn't help a smug smile as she asked her next question.

"Why can't you talk to her yourself?"

"Easy, if she attacks me I can't defend myself. She's sealed my magic you see."

"She'd never just attack you, though. Princess Celestia isn't like that."

"You don't know her like I do." He explained matter-of- factly.

"How could you?"

"Ever asked yourself why so many major events in Equestrian history happened 1000 years ago?" He raised a skeptical eyebrow, but didn't wait for her response.

"No probably not. The truth of it is they were all related. That is certainly a story for another time though." He sighed before continuing, "The point is, there's a good chance I'll push her too far and then I'll die. She may not do the killing, but she'll find a reason to leave Luna in charge while she's in another country. I'd be grateful if she didn't do that as it wouldn't be quick if Luna got her hooves on me."

"You think Luna would torture you?"

"Moonlight is commonly soothing, sunlight is hot and intense. Both can kill if concentrated enough. And no, I'm not comparing their personalities to the celestial bodies they control, I would probably be killed by sunlight; or moonlight on a full moon."

"They can do that?" Twilight said in disbelief.

"Can? How about have many times before? I must say, the look on your face when you hear something you don't want to believe is amusing."

Twilight wasn't aware she was making a face, but instantly switched to what she hoped was an entirely neutral expression. By Sombra's own, unamused stare, she was probably just making another face at him.

"I'll ask I guess." Her tone said she had many questions for later. She was already formulating a mental list of questions in her head, so she could write them down later; once on paper she could begin formulating follow up questions.

Sombra let out a long sigh of relief. "Thank you."

Twilight did a double take after hearing his gratitude. He seemed not to notice the shock etched in her face.

"I was going to make you do a lap, but now maybe not." He had a half smile as he looked across the table where Twilight's food sat, almost forgotten.

She levitated the plate of chocolate dipped strawberries closer to him, and brought the rest of the meal closer to herself.

He held one of the little deserts in both hooves and considered it carefully. "I could've done that myself-"

"If you had your magic?" Twilight put down her fork, realizing they weren't quite done talking.

"Exactly. Certainly she didn't mean it as a punishment or any kind of torture; it was merely a precaution to see if I would behave. She must've thought my stumbling into doors had something to do with being in the ice for a thousand years. It was just me not having adjusted to life without magic. I may have been a 'monster' as so many have put it, but this sort of thing would be a punishment for only the most deserving. Ponies are born with magic, to take that away is essentially wrong." He finished by making a sound not unlike a mournful, throaty moan before devouring the strawberry in one bite.

Twilight gave him a sympathetic smile.

"I'll finish lunch and go talk to Princess Celestia, alright?"

"Okay." Sombra's response was very subdued, but he managed a smile as well. Twilight got an eyeful of the rows of unnaturally sharp teeth that he still possessed.

The rest of their mealtime conversation was idle chatter, which Twilight found strange to say the least. She learned a few things about the Crystal Empire under Sombra's reign; most of which was extremely disquieting.

Twilight now stood in line for an audience with Princess Celestia. While she was a special case when it came to scheduling her in she'd known better than to try and interrupt the day court with her request. One petitioner had tried to offer his spot in line to one of the saviors of Equestria. Despite her earlier complaining about all the thanks she felt owed, Twilight simply smiled weakly and politely declined. The noble stallion hadn't insisted further.

It wasn't a long wait to the front of the line in any event, the line was surprisingly short.

Twilight waited patiently for the pony before her to finish so she could be let in. The guards posted outside the door both looked at her occasionally. She had time to marvel at the grand opulence of the door to the throne room. It took unicorn magic to operate effectively as there was no simple handle. It instead had an internal locking mechanism. What was clearly a dial built into the door depicted a sun made of gold situated above a full moon made of diamond. As day turned to night they would switch places and the night court would commence. Before Luna's return there was no night court, as Celestia needed some rest. Above all of this was a golden depiction of two alicorns set in a circle. Probably a somewhat redundant symbol representing night and day by Twilight's guess, but they almost seemed to be chasing each other's tails. Twilight couldn't help but giggle at the thought of the royal sisters playing a game of tag. In her mind they were both young fillies Luna playing the aggressor and chasing after her older sisters tail with wild abandon. Celestia let out a shriek of mock terror before taking to the skies. It wasn't long before Twilight noticed both guards openly staring at her in confusion. In the polished metal of the door she could see the goofy smile plastered across her face. It didn't go away easily, but she managed to keep the silly thoughts from showing; instead covering them up with a fervent blush for allowing such a display in the first place.

Twilight's thoughts settled on the door once the guards had gone back to passively ignoring her. Compared to the door, the rest of the entrance hall seemed bland. Sure the plants situated carefully around the room was nice. The decor in general done by Eaquestria's best designers, but within such close proximity to the great door it just seemed pointless. The doors glowed a dull gold and they slowly swung inward. The room beyond was well lit and filled with quiet chatter from more than a few ponies.

The stallion who'd offered Twilight his spot walked out and bowed graciously, wishing her a good day. Twilight looked to the two guards for an okay to go in. She got none, and the doors swung shut.

"Uh?" Twilight intoned slightly impatiently.

"Day court is finished for the day, Princess Celestia has other important matters to attend to. Leave your name with the scheduler and you will be first in line tomorrow." The guard spoke as if Celestia's personal student wasn't directly in front of him.

Twilight was clearly shocked that the guard pony seemed to not recognize her.

"Well I just need to talk to her quickly, I don't know if I'll get to see her again today!" Twilight said pleadingly to both guards.

"We understand your concern, but-"

"But nothing, just open the door or I'll do it myself." Twilight spat. The feelings she'd had earlier in the day were starting to come back, though much less pronounced. It both worried and thrilled Twilight to experience. Given the past couple instances of flaring emotion, it was a pleasant thing to feel in control for once.

The only guard to speak looked at her quizzically. The other seemed to be battling with the best way to warn his partner. Twilight focused solely on the one guard who seemed to be an obstacle.

"I'm waiting." An entirely alien voice came from Twilight's mouth. It carried a bestial growl with it. Her tail began to swish back and forth in agitation.

"For goodness sake just let her in!" The other guard finally cried.

"Please stand down ma'am."

"Wrong." Twilight growled. The guard preventing her audience with the princess disappeared with a monstrous roar; a black pit opened up and swallowed him whole.

The remaining guard swallowed audibly. The couple palace staff that witnessed the confrontation retreated down the hall and hid.

"I'll just open that up for you."

The large doors swung inward and the remaining guard jumped; clearly startled, as he hadn't been the one to do it.

"What is going on out here?" The voice of Princess Celestia echoed through the waiting hall. She had a slightly worried smile as the doors opened, but once her eyes fell on Twilight she looked a genuine frown dominated her visage.

"One of the guards wouldn't let me in to see you so I moved him." Twilight said in a voice not her own.

"What has that wicked pony done to you Twilight?" Celestia exclaimed as her horn began to glow. She seemed to be focusing elsewhere as Twilight responded.

"He gave me a hug earlier, which is why I'm feeling better actually. So I came to ask-"

"You call this better Twilight?!" Celestia voice was nearly panicking as her horn flared a brighter gold. The guard Twilight had removed fell out of thin air screaming at the top of his lungs.

All the ponies who still watched the scene unfold with a morbid fascination cringed when the guard reappeared. Celestia turned to the not screaming guard and told him to take his fellow guard to the doctor. Twilight smirked as he was levitated away, writhing against something unseen.

"We need to talk Twilight." Celestia gave her favored student a sorrowful and appraising look.

"Yeah that's exactly what I said-"

The Sun Goddess drew herself up to her full height, and with the commanding tone of many centuries said, "Twilight."

Twilight simply sat. Her thoughts were suspended and all she could do was pay very close attention to the princess' every word.

"I panicked Twilight, for that I am truly sorry." Celestia paused for a moment, Twilight nodded without a sound.

"For the first time in many centuries I let my emotions lead my decision making, and again I apologize." Another pause, another nod.

"I wanted you to be safe as you were taught how to control such vile magics so they would not instead control you. I thought the palace a controlled place and thought I had secured a more than adequate instructor. I was wrong."

Slowly Twilight's ability to think came back to her and she said, "But I am learning to control it! Slowly, but this is only the first day."

"And he's taught you to send innocent ponies off into an abyss for eternal damnation. I cannot accept that as any kind of improvement. And it's affecting you Twilight, physically!" Celestia declared in frustration.

This was a rare sight to behold, a princess of Equestria looking frazzled and so discomposed. This thought caused Twilight to look around and she realized that they'd somehow moved to Celestia's personal chambers.

"What, how do you mean?" Twilight looked herself over as best she could. She didn't like what she saw. Around her hooves were the same rolling clouds of black smoke, but half the fur on her legs had also changed to an ash grey. The new coloration stopped just at the knee, where black tendril like markings traveled the rest of the way up to a point Twilight couldn't see. The same black markings snaking up her hind end had entangled themselves in her cutiemarks symmetrically as a cutiemark should be. The pink in her mane and tail had once again turned a blood red.

Twilight fainted.

Author's Note

This is pretty long overdue, but it's here now.