Broken.

That was how the once proud King and ruler of the Crystal Empire dragged himself, inch by inch. Shattered, and improperly regenerated from the shadows because of his broken horn. Magic could only do so much, after all.

The pain itself was crippling enough, even without the horrendous injuries the charcoal grey unicorn suffered. Some of Sombra’s wounds had only partially healed, and some hadn’t healed at all. Neither of his back legs moved properly, and he could only drag himself forward with one hoof.

But still, it was that endless, indestructible determination that kept him going.

For a while.

He didn’t know where he was, anymore. All he could gather is that he’d emerged in agony from the shade in a grassy glade, the dim moonlight shining down on him.

Eventually, however, his body simply couldn’t take anymore. Bereft of his armor and royal cape, Sombra curled pitifully up on the ground, clutching the other side of his battered body with one hoof. Perhaps it had been because he finally gave up hope – maybe it had been because without the constant gnawing hunger for power corrupting his mind, he could make a conscious decision. Maybe it had simply been because he passed out.

Regardless, for the first time in nearly a thousand years, King Sombra dreamed.

This was how Princess Luna discovered him.

Curled up, beaten, bleeding, and shaking miserably, King Sombra lay an inch from death once more in the center of Canterlot Gardens.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me.” Luna breathed, staring down in astonishment at the wrecked and bloody form of King Sombra.

It was just too unlikely.

Luna shuffled uncomfortably from hoof to hoof, peering about. This had to be some kind of trap. However, when she poked the still form of Sombra with one regally silver shoed hoof and elicited no response, her paranoia eased a little. She jumped at the burst of noise coming from him, until she realized that it was merely a breathy wheeze.

Glaring down at the foul slaver in both disgust and slight fear, Luna spoke.

“We shall not fall for thine illusions, King Sombra,” she declared, but the unicorn did not reply. Luna poked him again. “Not a single one.”

Sombra’s eyes actually pried themselves slowly apart a little, revealing their bloodshot and dilated pupils and faded irises. He breathed shakily, focusing his eyes on the starry mane of the princess of the night. His eyes eventually wandered downward to her face, meeting her eyes.

And that was when Sombra truly managed to surprise her.

“Kill me.”

A little taken aback, Luna glanced over her shoulder. Surely this was some form of ruse.

“E-excuse me?”

“Kill. Me,” King Sombra croaked wheezily, desperately attempting to prop himself up on his one usable leg. He tilted his head weakly, revealing his bare throat. “Quick.”

Completely caught off guard, Luna stared in both disbelief and heavy contemplation. The once-proud unicorn didn’t leave her gaze, struggling to remain in an upright position long enough to face his death head on.

“Please.”

For a full beat, both the princess and the slaver stood motionless. Eventually, however, Sombra’s gaze fell as he collapsed from the injuries he’d sustained. The last thing he saw as the shadows closed in on him was the silver shoe rushing in towards his face.

Princess Luna’s hoof instinctively flew out to Sombra as he fell, but it wasn’t enough to keep the broken stallion from hitting the ground. Lowering him more gently, the thoughts flying through Luna’s head were nearly enough to make it spin.

Sombra? Alive? Why here? Why now?

As to what could have possibly initiated his regeneration in this, of all places was beyond her. Momentarily, she wondered if she ever should have investigated at all. Warily checking over her shoulder once again, Luna attempted to check for a pulse.

For a few seconds, she thought the king dead once and for all; but Sombra’s chest still rose and fell in rough and irregular breaths.

But he had no heartbeat.

Luna had never cared for the undead.

Most of them had been either purged from Equestria long ago, or remained hidden away in the lowest pits of Tartarus. Even the ghosts and wraiths didn’t haunt very often, as the princess preferred to allow her subjects peaceful sleeps.

Kill me.

Why beg for death? It made no sense to Luna. The foul slaver had done the utmost within his power to attain a sort of technical immortality through his dark magic. She wondered if he may have gone so far as to dabble in necromancy, and shuddered. It seemed like a step too far, but she wouldn’t have put it past Sombra.

It took Luna a while to realize that she’d just been standing in the glade, ogling down at the battered unicorn. With both a troubled mind and a heavy heart, she set about her task.

Her elder sister Celestia despised all manner of the undead even more than she did, although Celestia certainly had her reasons. If she ever discovered not just what Luna was doing, but what she was planning, there was a sizable chance that her sister wouldn’t stop at sending her back to the moon.

Luna would be lucky if Celestia didn’t simply eradicate her outright for this.

She frowned, her brow furrowing. Perhaps she was being too hard on her sister’s sense of judgment, she thought vaguely to herself as she levitated the unconscious body onto the bed. His wounds were poorly healed, and many of them continued to bleed anyway. Wrinkling her nose at the sight, Luna began to delve into the grim duties before her.

Sombra let out a muffled scream, biting down on his good hoof.

“Oh, stop that, will you?” Luna rolled her eyes, continuing her cruelty unabated.

“This is torture! This is madness! I beg of you, end my miserable existence and be done with it!” Sombra whimpered pitifully, and let out another yelp before Luna stifled him again with her own hoof.

“Please, it’s just a little disinfectant!” Luna shook her head at the overly dramatic unicorn, bandaging up his other leg. From the way he thrashed about, one might have wondered if Luna were sticking him with needles.

“A little?” he shrieked, only to be hushed by the princess once again.

Sombra had awoken dimly in the small tower room, with a few things rather evident.

Firstly, his glimpse of consciousness had not merely been a hazy dream. He was once again in full command of his mental faculties, and he could think clearly. Perhaps his violent separation from the Crystal Empire had allowed for his intellectual rehabilitation – at least, partially. The gnawing hunger for power was still growling within, just severely repressed to the point that it was easily ignorable; almost as when he’d first begun to lose his mind.

Secondly, he wasn’t dead. That came as a rather bothering surprise, as he’d honestly expected the easily recognized princess to strike him dead on the spot.

Finally, Luna was positioned over him in a fashion that caused him to be highly uncomfortable, and made it significantly difficult for Sombra to focus.

“I said, stop moving about,” Luna groused at him, frowning as she rewrapped up the last bandage. She eyed his jaggedly broken red horn, noting that it had grown slightly since the night before – almost as if it were healing itself.

“Maybe if you would get away,” Sombra said rudely, “I wouldn’t have to flail around like a beached salmon!”

Luna glared at him, and her eyes narrowed.

“You know, a thank you is generally appreciated.”

Sombra opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it again. He watched her distrustfully, carefully observing her.

“… Why?”

“Well, because it’s only polite,” Luna grinned quietly. “I see your manners haven’t improved in the slightest.”

“Not that,” Sombra rolled his eyes, giving a little groan. “Why didn’t you kill me? Why toy with me?”

Luna stared back at the dethroned king, the smile leaving her face.

“Why ever would I take the life of another?” she asked incredulously.

“Not like you had any issues allowing your precious servants to do it for you,” Sombra spat, grimacing. Simply because he’d been out of his mind didn’t mean that he couldn’t still feel pain.

And being blown to bits hurt.

A lot.

Luna gave him a curious look, tilting her head slightly. It was then that he noticed she no longer bore her customary tiara, forgoing it instead for a thin and mostly white apron.

Mostly, because it was fairly bloodstained.

A peculiar sliver of gratitude for the act of kindness she’d shown him arose, but he quickly squashed it. He was trying to be angry.

“I’m uncertain as to why you would think that I would either kill you or allow you to be killed,” Luna said with a hint of uncertainty in her voice. “But I shall do no such thing.”

“I practically begged.” Sombra glowered at her, straining to move his legs. They were completely unresponsive, although one of them itched terribly.

“And I, for one, cannot stand to see a beggar.” Luna replied without missing a beat. Ignoring her, the unicorn continued.

“I asked you to kill me, not slather me with your snide comments.” Sombra wore a scowl of distaste, etched into his face.

“Really?” Luna cocked an eyebrow as she stood, checking the heavily bolted wooden window shades before she left. “Because I heard ‘help me’.”

Sombra glared at her, his upper lip twitching. “I said no such thing.”

“I also heard,” Luna said, and he could almost hear the smile as she exited the room through a small antechamber and down what sounded like a flight of stairs. “That you said ‘oh, gracious and beautiful princess, thou art so generous and kind.’ I also heard ‘thank you, oh gorgeous one’.”

“And you’re going deaf,” Sombra grumbled under his breath as Luna left him all alone.

It didn’t even take a full beat.

“I heard that, too!”