Sombra leaned down, his hooves digging into Rarity’s shoulders as he pressed her deeper into the mattress.

Rarity could feel his breath pressing onto her face. He didn’t speak, just let out heavy breaths. He never spoke. She liked it that way.

He shifted his weight. He was leaning on her fully now. His cape and body covered her completely. A few smoky wisps of magic seeped off his body, and she could feel them periodically brush against her coat. It felt cold.

He leaned down, his mouth now inches from hers.

She wanted to feel scared, but the emotion didn’t come. She felt protected. She felt safe. The pressure on her shoulders and chest was heavy, but not uncomfortable.

His mouth was so close to hers, but then suddenly he leaned further down. His mouth was next to her ear. His breath tickled the pinna of her ear. She squirmed slightly.

There was a loud thump somewhere to her left. She ignored it. It wasn’t important.

“Rarity.”

“Yes?”

Another of those thumps.

“Rarity!”

“Yes!”

“Rarity! Wake up!”

The next thump woke her up. She sat bolt upright in her bed, her sleep mask slipping off her face, a small dabble of drool leaking onto her pillow.

She rubbed her head and glanced around. Crystal walls, large bed, no windows.

Twilight knocked on the door again. “Rarity? Are you okay in there?”

“I-I’m fine!” Rarity called back. She lurched out of bed and stumbled over to the bathroom. Her hoofsteps were very loud on the hard floor. She looked into the mirror. Her mane was quite askew, but that was hardly a surprise. She opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue. There was nothing there.

“Rarity!?”

Rarity bit her lip and then trotted over to the door. She flung it open, doing her best to appear calm. “Yes, Twilight?”

Twilight let out a deep breath. “Finally. I’ve been knocking on that for almost five minutes. What happened?”

Rarity’s eyes flicked to the side. “A mare needs her beauty sleep, Twilight. What is the rush?”

“Well, we were supposed to go back to Ponyville today, remember? Sombra’s dead, and Cadance and Shining have to start settling into their new routine. Our train leaves in a few hours and we need to get ready.”

Rarity rubbed her forehead. “Yes, yes of course.”

Twilight poked her head into the room. “Do you need any help with your bags? You had way more stuff than the rest of us.”

“No, thank you. It’s fine. I’ll meet you down there.”

Twilight shrugged and walked off down the hallway. “If you say so.”

Rarity shut the door. Last night was a bit blurry, but the part with the Crystal Empire was starting to come back. King Sombra and the Crystal Heart and all the other things that had happened yesterday.

Rarity shook her head. “I’m just a little groggy,” she whispered to the empty room.

She returned to the bathroom and looked into the mirror again. Her appearance was relatively normal. She tugged the sleep mask off her neck and dug a comb out of one of the drawers. She began to even out her mane.

She yawned loudly. “I’m sure it was just a meaningless dream. All these ridiculous adventures are no doubt taking a toll on my subconscious. It’s not like anypony could ever be attracted to that monster, regardless of his physique and lineage. And he’s dead regardless.” Rarity put the brush down. She fluffed her mane slightly, and gave her reflection a quick once-over.

She froze. She could’ve sworn. But no, that would be silly, she thought to herself.

She leaned towards the mirror. And then she saw it. A little wisp of black smoke leaking out of the corner of her mouth. Her hoof shot up to it, but it had already faded.

She turned around and barely managed to stifle a scream. King Sombra was standing right in front of her. He was just as imposing as he had been yesterday. His crown and hoof guards glinted slightly thanks to the crystalline walls. And even though his cape covered most of his body, Rarity could still see his powerful frame clearly defined under all his clothing.

She glanced back at the mirror. Her panicked reflection was the only thing she saw.

She turned back to Sombra. He had moved a few steps closer to her.

“How did—”

Sombra put a hoof to her lips. He leaned towards her.

“You can’t really expect—”

His kiss cut off her sentence. Her eyes flicked back to the mirror, but there was still nothing there. His lips certainly felt real; warm and smooth and soft. She could feel his breath coming out of his nostrils and pressing onto her face.

When he pulled away she found herself standing there, her eyes half-open, her mouth leaning forward slightly.

She blinked really hard and shook her head. She turned back to the mirror just in time to see a trail of black smoke retreating into her mouth.

A dozen potential explanations raced through her mind. None of them made any sense, but perhaps that wasn’t surprising given the situation.

She shook her head and started to gather her bags. Occasionally she thought one of them was floating in a black aura, but whenever she turned to look it was always her familiar blue magic.

Carrying everything to the palace’s entryway wasn’t difficult. She found Twilight waiting there, a quill and parchment floating in front of her.

“Ah, there you are, Rarity.” Twilight made a large check mark on the paper. “Ready to go?”

“Yes, I suppose I am.”

“Are you okay? You seem kinda distracted. Up in your room, too.”

Rarity opened her mouth to say something, but stopped before any words came out. She felt a hoof on her back. It made her feel…secure.

“Rarity?”

Rarity smiled. “Actually, Twilight, I think I’m doing wonderfully.”

Author's Notes:

Betcha didn't expect any of these contest entries to have Dark tags, did you? Thanks to Sereg for the title. If you downvote I would appreciate a comment explaining why; I'm always trying to improve myself and feedback really does help.

It was only after I wrote this that I remembered that one episode of Star Trek where wacky, overacted possession sex occurs. Any similarities are coincidental.

If you want to read more, favorite it; Shrinky Frod has expressed interest in doing a continuation (), and I'll notify everyone when it's up. Or you could watch them, whatever (though I may do a version myself if I ever finish all my other projects).