The night was beginning to take over as Luna rose her moon, letting her elder sister take her leave. Although it was growing darker with each passing second, the street lanterns illuminated the small town of Ponyville, in which ponies were celebrating Hearts and Hooves Day. As the day reached it's end, the night's activities drew nearer, opening up new plans for the happy couples.

However, two ponies weren't joining in on the festivities; Pinkie Pie, the local party planner and baker, and Sombra, the former king of the Crystal Empire. Sombra was silently fuming as he trudged through the merrily decorated town, scowling at the passing couples as they gave both he and Pinkie quick once overs. It was because of Pinkie's kiss from earlier that caused the couples to stare at the strange duo as they passed, the very thought of which causing Sombra to growl angrily to himself.

Pinkie was bouncing beside him, happily greeting the passing ponies, completely ignoring the looks that she and Sombra received as they passed. She was in too merry a mood to pay any mind to anything other than what she had done not too long ago.

'Ohmigoshohmigoshohmigosh!' she thought, 'I kissed Sombry! I kissed him and he didn't fight it or anything! *GASP* What if he likes me back?! No, that's too silly, he doesn't like me! Wait, does he?' She glanced over at Sombra, catching him sneak a glare her way. '...I'll take that as a no.'

Despite the small damper on her parade, she continued to bounce happily, humming to herself as she did. However, once she caught sight of the library, she felt her joy turn to disappointment. She had wanted to spend more time with Sombra, despite his obvious disdain for her, but she knew that Twilight was probably wondering why they had been gone for so long.

She ceased her bouncing and began to trot alongside Sombra, who eyed her strangely as she did. She flashed him a smile, which caused Sombra to roll his eyes, obviously annoyed by her affections. Despite his response, she giggled and smiled to herself. Once they reached the treehouse, Pinkie dashed ahead of Sombra and quickly opened the door to the library.

"After you!" she exclaimed, grinning at him. He rose a brow in questioning, but walked through the door nonetheless.

"Oh, hay, you two!" Twilight greeted, putting her scroll of papyrus and quill down with her magic, "How was your day?" Sombra grunted in response and walked over to his cot. After getting in, he cracked open his Daring Do book and proceeded to read, ignoring the prying gazes of the two mares.

Pinkie took this as an opportunity to launch off into a full synopsis of the day's events.

"Oh, Twilight, today was so, so, so fun!" she exclaimed, bouncing over to her alicorn friend, "Sombry managed to make everything so much better! When I first saw Bari with his new marefriend, I was really, really sad, but then Sombry got me a gift from Sugarcube Corner and got back at mean ol' Baritone!"

Sombra's ears turned in Pinkie's direction and he turned to look at her while Twilight rose her brows in interest.

"What do you mean he 'got back at Baritone'?" she inquired, her interest piqued. Pinkie giggled and waved her hoof dismissively.

"Oh, it was nothing really," she said nonchalantly, "he just pretended to be my coltfriend, is all."

"Only because that scoundrel deserved it!" Sombra defended, preventing Twilight from reacting, then pointed a hoof Pinkie's way, "He made a vow to marry you and he was going to propose to somepony else!" He put his hoof down and let out a irritated huff. "He is nothing less of a caitiff..."

Twilight quirked a brow upwards. "That's a rather interesting choice of words, Sombra," she said, then turned towards Pinkie, "did Sombra scare Baritone?"

"Well, yeah," Pinkie told her, "Baritone was kinda intimidated when Sombry stepped up. You should've seen his face, though! And then Bell was all, 'What's he talking about?'" -- Pinkie did a silly voice and pantomimed dramatic cluelessness by putting her hooves to her face and made her pupils dilate while they shone innocently-- "and then Sombry just brushed her off like it was nothing! It was the most amazing thing ever!"

Sombra smiled smugly, but waved his hoof in dismissal. "I wouldn't say the most amazing thing ever," he said nonchalantly, but it was obvious he was enjoying Pinkie's compliments.

"And then there was his gift!" Pinkie exclaimed, causing Sombra to freeze, "It was soooooo sweet!"

Sombra coughed uncomfortably. "Uh, it wasn't that big a deal," he said, but Pinkie already had the ball rolling.

"I was so happy when you gave it to me!" she chirped, hopping over to Sombra excitedly, "It was really nice, Sombry!" Without a moment's warning, she kissed him on the cheek. Sombra froze, his eyes wide with shock as he tried to process Pinkie's affection. "I gotta get back to the bakery," she told him, but if he registered it, it didn't show. She giggled and bounced away, singing to herself as she did.

"She seems rather..." Twilight tried to think of a better word while Sombra remained frozen, his right eye twitching, "...taken with you, if you ask me." Sombra blinked and shook his head, then looked at Twilight with disdain.

"Please," he said with a roll of his eyes, "that has got to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard; the fact that it came from you makes it even more astounding." Twilight frowned at him, then furrowed her brows in thought.

"I'm just saying," she murmured, then went back to writing on her papyrus. He rose a brow in interest.

"What are you writing over there?" he asked. Twilight giggled to herself and shook her head.

"Oh, it's nothing you should worry about," she replied, not taking her eyes off the scroll. Sombra narrowed his eyes in scrutiny, then let out an aggravated sigh, deciding it not to be important. He turned towards the book in his hooves and began to lose himself in the works of A.K. Yearling, the events of the day forgotten.

"Then what happened?" Mrs.Cake pried, leaning towards Pinkie in anticipation. She had been describing her encounter with Baritone and his new marefriend, which eventually lead to her maybe-a-date-but-she-couldn't-say-for-sure with Sombra.

"Then, I kissed him!" she squealed, giggling as she did. Mrs.Cake gasped, but she smiled to show it was merely a surprise to her.

"In front of everypony?" she breathed, putting her hooves to her face. Pinkie nodded.

"Uh-huh!" she replied, causing Mrs.Cake to squeal in delight.

"Oh, Pinkie, I'm so happy for you!" she exclaimed, clapping her hooves, "What'd you get for him?"

Pinkie blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?" she asked, raising a brow in questioning.

"Why, your gift, of course!" she said, "What did you give him?"

"I already told you," Pinkie replied, "I kissed him." Mrs.Cake's jaw fell down as she gaped at Pinkie in shock. "What?"

"Pinkie, you do realize that a kiss doesn't really count, don't you?" the older mare asked. Pinkie blinked in surprise and threw her hooves up in defense.

"Of course it counts!" she exclaimed, "It completely, totally, undoubtedly counts!" Mrs.Cake shook her head.

"Dear, I kiss my husband everyday," she told her.

"Well, duh!" Pinkie said, looking up the ceiling exasperatedly, "I live here, remember? It's kinda hard to miss that!"

Mrs.Cake cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Yes, well," she continued, "what I'm trying to say is, a kiss doesn't count as a gift; in this situation, it's a reward."

"There's a difference?" Pinkie asked, her interest piqued.

"Yes," Mrs.Cake told her, "a reward is a something that is meant to show appreciation of an action done by somepony; a gift is something given just for the sake of giving it."

"Ooooh," Pinkie drawled, "so are you saying I need to get Sombry a gift?"

"Yes!" the older mare exclaimed, causing Pinkie to jump, "You need to find that boy a present and quick!"

"But--" Pinkie attempted to protest, but Mrs.Cake was already shoving her towards the exit of the shop.

"Hurry along, no time for questions!" Mrs.Cake told her, "The shops will be closing soon and you won't have anywhere to go!"

Before she knew it, Pinkie was outside the shop again, shoved into the couple's atmosphere. Although it wasn't nearly as awkward and miserable as the last time, it still bothered her to be out when other couples were going about their plans for the romantic holiday.

'I hope I don't run into Baritone...' she thought, then shuddered as she mused, '...Or Bell, for that matter.' The less than positive meeting between her old flame and his new one had only taken place hours ago, although it felt like centuries. She gazed across the crown, searching for Bell's tell-tale cerulean mane or Baritone's dark, navy blue one.

'I'm just being paranoid,' she thought to herself, then sighed as she walked down the road. Like Mrs.Cake said, many shops were calling it early, due to the holiday. The only places still open were Roseluck's flower stand, which looked close to shutting down as is, and the ice cream parlor, where single mares were no doubt tossing back tubs of creamy delights to numb the pain of the holiday's bringings.

'I don't think Sombry would want flowers anyway...' she mused, then cringed as she spotted a mare leaning against a table with an empty gallon of Minty Chocolate Chip ice cream beside her, '...or ice cream, now that I think about it.'

As she continued to walk down the road, she felt her enthusiasm fade as each one of options disappeared one by one, the holiday eliminating the possibility of a gift. After passing by yet another store with the dreaded CLOSED sign, she stopped walking and let out a small sigh of defeat.

'Maybe Sombry won't mind it if I don't get him a present...' she thought, then shook her head vigorously, 'No! I'm getting him a present, because that's what he deserves! ...Also, because I like him.'

It was true that she had an undeniable crush on Sombra; however, the reason behind it was a mystery to her. But, after today, when he stood up for her and gave her that gift, she realized she might be developing feelings for the dark unicorn. Although she knew that it would never work between them, it didn't hurt to fantasize about it every once in a while.

Whenever she had nothing better to do or was just lost in thought, she found herself repeating the same fantasy time and time again; Sombra would be reformed and would know the full understanding of the magic of friendship, Pinkie being the cause of his transformation. They'd be together, nothing too serious, perhaps just a simple coltfriend and marefriend type thing. But, she eventually found herself developing the fantasy further.

They'd be in a restaurant, chatting with one another, waiting for the waiter to return with their drinks. Upon arrival, he would place their drinks down and just as Pinkie was about to take a sip, she'd notice something at the bottom of it. While at first thinking it to be an item that a chef or a waiter dropped, she would feel herself freeze as she realized what the item really was, despite the many times she had fantasized it's existence.

It would be small, nothing big or expensive, but beautiful nonetheless. The small gold band would bear a shiny diamond, it's splendor radiating throughout the glass.

"S-Sombry?" she would whisper, still in shock. He would smile shyly, something he'd never do in real life, but her imagination didn't care for reality's harshness. He would get up from his sit and walk over to where she was sitting.

"Pinkie..." he would say, like he had many times before, "I care about you and I know that I'll never stop." He'll use his magic, even though it disappeared after regenerating himself, to pull the ring from the drink. He'd then kneel down, which would cause Pinkie to gasp, despite the number of times she'd done so.

"Will you ma-"

"GAH!" Pinkie shouted as she tripped over her own hooves, which caused her to fall flat on her face. She was so lost in her own fantasy that she failed to notice where she was going and thus ended up slamming her head into the ground. She lifted her head up and let out a huff of annoyance.

'That's what I get for thinking that way...' she thought darkly, then stood up and shook out her mane. After managing to regain some composure, she caught sight of Rarity's boutique, where the lights remained on, signifying it being open. Her eyes widened as her lips curved upwards into a grin and she leaped into the air while her legs churned in the air in mid run.

"RARITY!" she exclaimed, then zoomed off towards the boutique at full speed.

Sombra let out a tired yawn as he closed his book, the contents of which he just finished reading. He turned towards the old grandfather clock, the time revealing it to be 6:30. Although it was early in the evening, Sombra was exhausted from his endeavor with Pinkie and decided that it be best to turn in for the night.

He got out of bed and carried the adventure novel over to where a pile of books to be put up laid, which he then placed his book on top of. He yawned again, then sleepily made his way over to his cot. Twilight looked up from her papyrus and turned her head to see Sombra pulling the covers over himself whilst facing away from her.

"Pinkie wore you out today, huh?" the alicorn inquired, earning a small grumble from the ex-king. She smiled to herself and proceeded to write on her papyrus, only to be interrupted by an erratic series of knocks.

"I'll get it!" Spike called, then hurriedly began climbing down the ladder that resided in front of the shelves. Sombra let out an aggravated groan and sat up in his cot.

"Who in Tartarus has nothing better to do than bother me?" he grumbled. Spike rushed to the door and opened it, resulting him being slammed against the wall by the pony on the other side shoving it open.

"Hiya, Twilight!" Pinkie exclaimed, then bounced into the room.

"Figures..." Sombra muttered, then rolled his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Twilight asked, stepping away from her desk. Pinkie giggled and produced a red paper bag with white tissue paper that had tiny red hearts adorning it from behind her.

"Where in Tartarus does she keep that stuff?" Sombra mused aloud, eyeing Pinkie suspiciously.

"I came because I realized that even though Sombry got me a present for Hearts and Hooves Day, which was really, really sweet by the way, I didn't get him anything and I was all"-- Pinkie gasped loudly and dramatically --"so I thought I'd get him something!"

The room remained silent as the occupants, besides Pinkie, tried to process the party pony's new information.

"...You got me a present?" Sombra inquired, breaking through the silence. Pinkie zoomed over to Sombra and leaned towards him while nodding ecstatically.

"Uh-huh!" she exclaimed, then held out the paper bag in which his gift resided. Sombra furrowed his brows in thought, as if contemplating whether or not he should even touch the bag, But, after a moment's hesitation, he gingerly took the bag from Pinkie, who was practically vibrating with excitement.

After sparing Pinkie an unsure glance, he stuck his hoof in the bag, flinching slightly as he felt a sharp, metal point brush against his leg. With Pinkie watching in anticipation, Sombra had no choice but to pull out the possibly lethal item that she had gotten for him. Upon retrieving the item, he felt a sense of familiarity, which was confirmed as he gazed at the item.

It was silver band, large enough to sit on his head, as it had many times before. Two large spikes protruded from the side, it's predecessors smaller in size. A black orb with two red spikes surrounding it was placed in the center. The silver wasn't in it's best condition, water spots covering the band and even the jewel centerpiece, but it didn't take away from it's splendor.

"Where did you-" Sombra tried to say, but Pinkie interrupted.

"Rarity kept it from when you were at the boutique after I messed your clothes up with the cake batter a couple weeks ago," Pinkie explained, "she was trying to clean it up and prevent it from tarnishing or something like that."

Although Sombra wasn't particularly fond of the effeminate unicorn, he had to admit she had done well with cleaning the crown, especially after the abuse it went through because of Pinkie's cake batter explosion. He took the time to admire the forgotten artifact and found himself looking at the orb in which showed his reflection.

"So, what do you think?" Pinkie asked, breaking him from own thoughts.

"You..." Sombra began to say, but found that nothing was to be said. She had managed to give him one of the only things he had in rule that hadn't been destroyed, by her own doing, of course, but it didn't take from the sentimental meaning behind it. She had done well to replace his armor and cape with a simple, red scarf that she had picked out, but it didn't feel the same as his old attire.

"You got this for me?" he said incredulously, causing Pinkie to giggle.

"Well, duh!" she exclaimed, "I'd do anything for you!" Pinkie leaned down and kneeled on her front foreleg while the other was outstretched, almost as if she were bowing. "Your Highness." She let out a giggle snort and stood up straight while she beamed at him. "So, do you like it?"

Sombra looked back down at the crown in his hooves as if he just remembered he was holding it. He furrowed his brows in thought as he gazed at the royal relic, the one thing to show his efforts from his time of rule. When he first lost it, he hadn't paid it any mind and dismissed it's existence as if it were a piece of garbage.

But, holding it now, he remembered all the times he would put it on after brushing his wild, unruly mane. He remembered all the times he had gazed his reflection afterwards, admiring his regal attire that the crown brought together. If it weren't for the crown, the rest of his ensemble would be entirely meaningless; for it was the crown that made him a king.

"Sombry?" Pinkie inquired, breaking through his thoughts. He looked back up at her to see her looking at him worriedly. "Oh, you hate it, don't you?"

"What? No, I--" Sombra tried to say.

"I knew it! I should've gotten something earlier and not last minute!"

"Pinkie--"

"Shoot! I'm usually so good at gift giving!"

"Pinkie--"

"And then of all ponies whose gift I mess up it had to be--"

Sombra let out a ragged sigh as Pinkie continued to ramble and put his crown down beside him. He leaned over to Pinkie's unsuspecting form and then kissed her on the cheek. She froze, her eyes becoming wide while her jaw dropped as if to gasp or say something, but no noise came out.

"Now that I have your attention," Sombra huffed, "what I was going to say was, it was really considerate to bring me my crown back. So..." He took a deep breath before he begrudgingly muttered, "Thank you for your gift..."

Pinkie said nothing, the only noise escaping her lips being small squeaks as she nodded in acknowledgement. She slowly backed away, still facing Sombra, bumping into the door as she attempted to exit without turning around. Once she managed to escape from the treehouse, she turned away from the library, then dashed off towards the direction of the bakery.

"SQUEEEEEEEEEE!" Pinkie cheered as she bolted past the many couples littering the streets, "There's hope for my fantasy, after all!"

Meanwhile, back at the library, Twilight had just gotten over her initial shock of seeing Sombra kiss Pinkie on the cheek. After shaking her head rapidly, she turned towards Sombra.

"I'm guessing that was more than just a thank you?" she asked, raising her eyebrows suggestively. Sombra gave her a sly grin and quirked his brows up in return.

"I always leave them speechless, Twilight," he told her, causing Twilight's face to turn red, "that's all you need to know."

Twilight made an audible sound of disgust and stuck her tongue out at him. She turned away from him, then looked back at the papyrus before her, deciding it best to read it over and add more before she sent it off with Spike's assistance.

Dear Celestia,

Sombra's reformation appears to have made some progress as of late, thanks to Pinkie Pie. Despite my earlier doubts, Sombra is showing a lot of improvement in character; he has helped Pinkie with foalsitting, he's gone clothes shopping(the reason mentioned in prior letters), and today, he even got Pinkie a present for Hearts and Hooves Day!

Even though I lent him the bits to do so, it doesn't change the fact that it was a kind act, especially for him. Another thing to surprise me is that Pinkie appears to be rather taken with Sombra; quite possibly in the romantic sense. Oh, who am I kidding, she kissed his cheek for goodness sake!

After a moment of pondering, she decided to update the recent event that just took place.

Another thing that alerted me of her affections was her gift to Sombra; if you remember my earlier reports, Sombra's clothes and armor were destroyed by Pinkie's accidental hoof a couple weeks ago. To make up for it, and to give to him as a gift, she managed to get his crown fixed up by Rarity.

Sombra was silent about it for a moment and to be honest, I thought he was going to yell at her. Pinkie must have thought the same thing, because she started freaking out and only stopped when Sombra kissed her on the cheek! Perhaps Rarity was right about them liking one another? Well, it wouldn't be the strangest thing to happen...

Sincerely, Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle

P.S. Make sure to ask Luna if Pinkie has been fantasizing about Sombra again; that's just too insane for me not to listen to.

Author's Notes:

...I am such a tease.

This idea came to me in the middle of class and I had to refrain from saying, "D'aaaaaaaaaaaw" out loud. It's not nearly as bad as the time I got on my phone to check on my account and found out about Sombra returning. I had to sit there in total silence, trying to restrain myself from leaping out of my seat and cheering. Once I got to choir, the only place where I can be loud and not be criticized, I rushed into the room, then sang loudly, "He's coming back, oh he's coming back, and I swear, it's the truth, and I can't wait for yooooooooou!"(For those who can't tell, it's supposed to be a parody of "Time of My Life" from Dirty Dancing, the best movie EVER... I love you, Patrick Swayze). The looks I received were nothing less of strange.

....I totally listened to "Time of My Life" while writing this.