Learning By Example

"I don't even." Twilight muttered. She hadn't lost any words, that was all there was to her statement. Pinkie Pie had led them to the Palace's main ballroom, straight into something that easily rivaled the decadence of the Grand Galloping Gala. It wasn't unlike Pinkie to go over the top when setting up a party, but this was considerably more than Twilight or any of her friends had seen the party mare do. If it weren't for the balloons party favors and excessive use of pink in general, Twilight would be a little worried that they were hijacking a pre-existing event. Rarity seemed to have the same suspicion.

"Darling, are you sure this room isn't already taken. This all seems a little- Much?" Rarity tried.

"Welll... There may be a few more ponies coming. I had some help setting up so I figured I'd invite them too. I don't actually know how many are going to come."

"You hired a catering company, for me?" Twilight asked, slightly aghast. "I get you're happy that I'm okay, but you didn't have to spend extra bits on a party for me. You being here would've been enough."

"I didn't spend any bits. That's the best part!" Pinkie cheered popping a frosted cupcake into her mouth.

"There's no way you brought all this food on the train, and while you don't always seem to obey the laws of physics you're pretty respectful of the rules of baking-"

"That's because baking is serious business." Pinkie interrupted.

"So the only way you got this food was somepony had to bake it here in Canterlot. Since we've only been here an hour and I didn't here a bunch of ponies moving this stuff through the halls that means you- Had the palace staff help you?"

"Bingo!"

"So then you invited the cooks to eat their own food." Twilight finished.

"Well I may have invited the guards too, and the maids, and the gardeners. Also the princesses, and Sombra is your plus one. I hope we have enough punch for everyone." Pinkie Pie said to herself.

"The whole palace." Twilight summarized. Looking to see what the rest of her friends thought of this, she noticed that they'd all already wandered off browsing the snacks and refreshments, appreciating the decorations and doing what they usually did at social events. Fluttershy had been wandering towards a corner as Pinkie had begun to make apparent the large guest list. Pinkie Pie caught on and steered her back towards the center of the room.

Twilight felt slightly lost knowing she was the only one bothered by the fact that all the palace staff were going to attend a party to celebrate her being alive. Then again, she supposed, her friends really shouldn't be that bothered by it. She wished they shared some of her anxiety, but they had no reason to; they hadn't spent an entire week making the guard afraid of them.

More than anything she imagined there would be a lot of awkward half-smiles and apologies once the rest of the guests showed up. That was later though, for now she had her best friends here and snacks that needed snacking on.

Joining Pinkie and Fluttershy next to one of the many snack tables.

"When is King Sombra coming?" Fluttershy asked the moment Twilight was in hearing range.

She'd nearly forgotten his promise to be here.

"He promised to show, but he never said when. Or for how long, actually. He'll probably teleport in and back out and say that counts. Which it technically does." Twilight responded with a shrug.

"Do you take me for some kind of coward, Sparkle?" Sombra's voice growled from behind Twilight. That was the only warning any of the three mares got before he materialized silently out of the air.

"Her name is actually Twilight Sparkle. Not just "Sparkle." Pinkie corrected, helpfully.

"Yes pink one," Sombra said with a sigh. "I'm aware of her actual name. She's my student and I will call her what ever I please."

"Okay." Pinkie chirped, "But I'm not your student so my name is Pinkie Pie. Say it with me, Pinkie Pie."

Sombra ignored Pinkie Pie and instead gave Twilight a slightly pleading look.

"Can I talk to you in private, please?"

Twilight nodded silently, slightly concerned that Sombra had opted for a polite request.

Sombra took Twilight to a corner of the large room and turned to her. He was frowning. Not the scowl of a general dissatisfaction he often wore, but an actual frown; the kind one wore when they were upset or were faced with a difficult task.

He paused for a moment and stared off into space. When his eyes focused back on Twilight he said, "The Pink one scares me. If what little you told me of her is true, then I doubt she is wholly equine. That said I don't know what she is, as there is nothing in history that is as you've described her. This scares me, as well as fascinates me."

"I think you're thinking about this too hard. Celestia knows I did for a while after I first met her. I ran every test, both physical and magical, that I possibly could have. They were inconclusive. She's just an earth pony mare. With an exceptionally high metabolism and sweet tooth."

"Maybe you aren't understanding me. The being you've described has never been recorded as existing. The implication of that statement alone should make your ingrained desire for knowledge tingle, and-" The volume of Sombra's voice was steadily increasing, and he seemed more excited with every word.

"Listen very closely to me." Twilight interrupted him, noting how much satisfaction she got out of it, She grabbed him at the shoulders and brought their faces close together. "Every conceivable test, over the course of a couple months. She. Is. A. Normal. Earth. Pony. Accept that and move on, it'll save you many many headaches."

Sombra saw a brief flash of an old tiredness in Twilight's eyes that miraculously helped him to stop thinking about the anomaly known as Pinkie Pie.

"Normal earth pony." Sombra said in acknowledgement. "That's all she is."

"Glad we got that settled. So, can I properly introduce you to my friends now?"

"It couldn't hurt."

Twilight noted that after Sombra's built-up excitement he seemed more approachable. A clam neutral expression, and softer tone of voice. He seemed more relaxed.

"Did you magically modify your brain temporarily so you could enjoy this party?" Twilight took a stab in the dark as she moved back towards the center of the room.

"Believe it or not I didn't get invited to many parties here in the palace. I didn't use magic, I just made it a goal to enjoy the chances I had to come to these sort of things. No reason I can't keep that goal in mind a few centuries later, is there?"

"I guess not. It just seems odd of you to be so close to smiling." Sombra gave her a quizzical look.

"That is to say, you aren't scowling or trying to intimidate every single pony in sight."

He nodded thoughtfully.

"If they aren't afraid of you they ask you for things. You'll learn to appreciate that some day."

"I happen to like interacting with other's." Twilight quipped, now in earshot of most of her friends.

Twilight waved Pinkie Pie over to where she was gathering her friends while going through the best way to introduce her teacher. They'd all said they were more or less okay with his presence on her good word, but she didn't know what to expect from him.

"Okay." Twilight breathed to steady herself. "Girls, this is Sombra. He's been teaching me the magic of hatred, and how to control my emotions. I exposed myself to it when searching for the crystal heart. There were several doors that I could only open by channeling dark magic into them. I told you all of that already. I'd been losing sleep to horrible nightmares ever since, and I guess Spike sent a letter to Celestia about it. I must've been too out of it to notice."

Spike nodded slowly.

"I'm very grateful he did, because it wasn't something I could've handled on my own. Thank you Spike."

"I was just worried about you, Twilight." Spike responded, rushing forward to hug her.

As he pressed his face to her coat she could feel the tears in his eyes staining her coat.

"You couldn't see yourself, but you looked so sick. I thought you were dying! Then you're gone for a whole week and I didn't hear anything from you. I was scared."

Twilight scooped Spike up in her forelegs and hugged him tightly. An horrible knot of guilt was tightening in her chest. She'd gotten so caught up in her own life, she'd forgotten about those in her life who were important to her. Just like she had when she was a filly. At least in the past no harm had come of it.

Looking into the eyes of her friends she saw a similar worry there. It was obvious that Spike had felt it the worst, and why shouldn't he? He'd known Twilight since he was hatched. She was his mother, sister and closest friend.

"I'm sorry." Twilight whispered to Spike. She then looked up to her friends and said again, "I'm sorry."

"I was scared too, Spike." A voice said from a side door.

All eyes turned to see Princess Celestia standing in the doorway, as though waiting to get permission to enter. Once she had spoken she stared walking towards them.

"I am as much to blame for the lack of communication as Twilight is. I wanted to write a letter to assure you that Twilight was in good hooves, and that she was well. I couldn't, though, because I wasn't sure of that myself. Sombra has since the start of Twilight's lessons, helped her immensely. Yet, for all the progress she's made, I was still scared she would lose herself. I am sorry."

"This entire palace is full of misery and self-pity." Sombra spoke up. "I'd recommend that you, Goddess of the Sun, try to smile. Otherwise you may start to need my instruction as well. If I had not so loathed interaction with you I might have seen what a profound effect Twilight's jeopardized well-being was having on you; your clearly stated threats aside." He paused rubbing his chest pointedly. "In that respect I am sorry for making you worry."

"Threats?" Applejack asked, causing several questioning gazes to turn towards Celestia.

Twilight glared warningly at Sombra. She remembered those threats, and didn't

"You'd do well to not ask questions you don't want the answer to." He said, to disarm the situation.

His tone alone was enough to convince Twilight's friends to drop the subject.

"Entirely unrelated, but is that a large, talking, bipedal lizard or a very young dragon?" Sombra asked, indicating a still sniffling Spike.

"He's a baby dragon." Twilight answered carefully.

"Why do you have to call me a baby?" Spike grumbled.

"I called you a 'baby dragon' because you are. I suppose by Equestrian standards you're actually an adult now. Still, calling you an adult dragon is wildly inaccurate. I could come up with something else if you'd like."

"Is it yours?"

"I hatched him and he's lived with me since. I don't own him though, if that's what you're asking." It was the only thing she guessed he could mean since he came from a time where owning another's life wasn't unheard of, and he'd enslaved an entire kingdom besides.

Sombra shot Celestia a questioning look. She gave him no apparent response.

Turning back to Twilight he asked, "Was that all the introduction you were going to give me, Spar- Twilight?"

"I-uh..." Twilight set Spike down as she tried to gather her thoughts again.

"Well spoken." Sombra said teasingly. "I am Sombra, former king of the Crystal Empire. I am now a teacher to Twilight Sparkle and a prisoner of Equestrian royalty. Things could certainly be worse." He finished.

When Sombra was done speaking his horn flared to life and a finely cut diamond chalice filled with a deep red liquid appeared in the air next to him. Introductions out of the way he wandered away from the group to go inspect the decorations as the other's already had.

"Twilight, I'm very happy to see you looking rested and happy again." Celestia said taking a few steps closer.

"Princess. I have a lot of questions for you. I didn't see you all week. If you didn't come to check on me in person because you were scared you'd find I was doing even worse, or whatever your reason was. I forgive you. Believe me when I say, if you can start to smile again you'll make everyone involved in this very happy."

"I-" Celestia's words failed her for a moment. Then she smiled. "Thank you for not being upset with me."

"I could never be." Twilight said, and she meant it. No matter what faults she had learned Princess Celestia had, no matter what mistakes she'd made that resulted in her current situation, it just meant her long time mentor was a pony. Not perfect, but a pony like her and any of her other friends. Just like Twilight's other friends, Celestia may annoy or frustrate her on a rare occaision, but at the end of the day it's something she's willing to accept and even love about the elder mare.

Sombra had asked Twilight what she'd thought of the princess not being perfect. She could give him an answer now.

"Party time!" Pinkie declared, offering Twilight and Celestia a set of party hats and two small plates of snacks.

Celestia let out a small giggle, looking Twilight in the eyes as she took a hat and a plate in her magic. Twilight did the same and from there good cheer began to spread through the room.

A couple hours after Celestia's arrival Luna appeared and whispered something to her elder sister. Celestia excused herself from her conversation with the Elements of Harmony to go lower the sun. She was hardly missed at that point, as, in those two hours the day guard who had switched posts with Luna's batponies had begun to arrive. Word had gotten around that the party was to celebrate the fact that Twilight Sparkle wasn't dead.

This got awkward and uneasy chuckles from most of the guard. Nonetheless almost all the guests mustered the courage to approach Twilight and congratulate her; primarily at Pinkie's insistence. She greeted all who approached her with a disarming smile and an apology for all the frayed nerves she'd caused. Explanations were given and no hard feelings were held. For most at least. There was one member of the royal guard actively avoiding Twilight, the one she'd cast off into the void for getting in her way. Twilight knew she needed to patch things up, but every time she approached he would casually occupy himself with a conversation on the other side of the room. Instead of letting it get her down she decided to put it on a list of things to do and instead enjoyed the party.

She spotted Celestia, relatively alone in a corner of the room, watching the party with a genuine smile. At the same moment Celestia turned and spotted Twilight. A golden glow enveloped the princess's horn and she nodded towards a refreshment table near Twilight. A cup floated half the distance between them in Celestia's magical aura and Twilight took the hint.

She filled two cups from the bowl of pink punch on the table and made her way over to where Celestia sat.

"Thank you, Twilight."

"You're welcome." Twilight responded automatically taking a sip of her drink, "You lowered the sun already?"

"I did, and I traded a few words with Luna. She may come as well as it turns out."

"'May'? I suppose she might not be that comfortable at these sorts of things, yet. Did you convince her to come."

"My urging had nothing to do with her decision. And quite the contrary, she enjoys gatherings like this here at the palace. The only thing stopping her is the fact that Sombra is here."

"Oh." Twilight paused in thought eyeing the contents of her cup.

"It's good to see the guard relaxing. I may have to do something like this for them more often. Perhaps not as extravagant, but in this case I think the expense is justified."

"What happened between them?"

"Hmm?"

"Princess Luna and King Sombra."

"They loved each other once, beyond that I don't think it's my place to say."

"You're very right it isn't." Luna's voice came coldly.

Twilight did a double take to find Luna sitting directly across from her. Luna looked as though she'd settled in with her snacks some time ago, with her own cup of punch and a plate of assorted fruits. Twilight was almost positive Luna had materialized in in her spot.

"I don't know what he may have told you Twilight, but I'm sure it was full of half-truths and omitted facts." Luna stated bitterly. Her eyes scanned the party until the seemed to fix on a certain point. She then began to glare.

"He didn't tell me much. He just said he wanted to apologize to you, and hoped against hope that you would give him just a little of your time to hear him out." Twilight pleaded Sombra's case in his absence.

Luna's gaze softened considerably.

"It's just like I said, Luna." Celestia added.

"Do you think he meant it?"

"He's mean without reason, gets a kick out of other ponies misery, is encouraging me to be a better liar. Whenever your name comes up, though, all that stops. I can tell there's regret there. Even all his practice hiding his emotions doesn't help him when you're on his mind."

"Very well. I may hear him out then." Luna said slowly.

"I'm happy to hear that sister." Celestia nodded in approval, and while Luna's attention was still turned towards the crowd shot Twilight a grateful look.

Luna too, looked happy with Twilight's insight.

"Now let's hope he doesn't make a fool of himself tonight." Luna muttered, a smile crept into her features despite her tone.

"What do you mean?"

"I rarely invited him to Canterlot, because he's an absolute ass when he drinks." Celestia said matter-of-factly. "The only time he came to the palace was at Luna's insistent request."

"Those gatherings were always more entertaining with him present. A little damage to the palace was worth it."

Celestis seemed to want to argue with her sister. Instead she said, "As you said 'let's hope he doesn't make a fool if himself.'"

"Hi princesses, hi Twilight!" Pinkie Pie greeted the three having suddenly inserted herself between them. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything. Twilight, you have got to try some of this punch!" She indicated a bowl sitting on a snack table that she'd apparently dragged over to their corner. How they hadn't heard it coming was beyond any of them. It was a strangely familiar pink concoction.

"Think I already have some of that-Stuff." Twilight's levitating cup shook a couple times.

"It's not just stuff," Pinkie started, "it's my Pink Ninja Punch! You're drinking it and it taste like fruits everything feels fine and then bam! You're already tipsy. That's a fun word, 'tipsy.'"

"There's alcohol in this?" Twilight asked in disbelief.

"Can't taste it, can you? Ninja." Pinkie whispered the last word and backed away slowly. She very noisily pushed the table back to it's spot in the room.

Twilight took a look at her still mostly full cup. She could've sworn there was just over half left the last time she checked.

"Ninja." She could still hear her friend's words