"I am Sombra, tyrant of the Crystal Empire," the grey stallion declared in a flat, regretful voice. "I surrender..."

Almost immediately, all guards within the hall surrounded the once ruler of the crystal ponies and pointed every spear at him. They had him completely surrounded. All it took would be a single command, and Sombra would be no more.

"On my mark," Luna began, recovering over the intial shock more quickly than her sister. She stood up and walked over to oversee the job was carried out. "We shall execute him here-"

"Belay that order..." Celestia's quivering voice commanded. Her shock was clearly plastered upon her face, and there was something else in it. She feared for her ponies more than her own life, but there was something else. Standing up from her throne, she walked over to stand next to Luna, her eyes never moving from Sombra.

She looked upon the unicorn before her. His face was definitely the once ruler, but in a way... it wasn't at all like the King Sombra she knew of. In the pile of clothing he had so disrobed himself of, there was no trace of a crown, or any sign of royalty on him. There was also no sign of dark magic anywhere. His eyes were no longer the terrifying red slits that glowed an iridescent green and exuded raw dark magic. They were now softer and were more of a ruby coloration, and did not glow any color, nor did they fume any magic. His horn was broken, and left untreated. Although he could probably have healed it himself and restored it, he did not. Then, there was his look. King Sombra would have a snarling grin that bared hiis fangs and intimdated all with an air of threatening power. What lay before her did not hold any expression related to that. He just seemed... tired. Then there was his voice. While it was the very same voice that had dared to insult one of her most honored pupils, it tried to retain respect flor her and her sister. King Sombra would've laughed triumohantly and growled something about crystals. His statement, however, threw her completely off. Would King Sombra ever willingly surreneder?

This was in every respect not King Sombra, but at the same time was King Sombra.

"Sister," Luna shouted in a harsh whisper. "This is the tyrant who has and would have brought the entire Crystal Empire to a state of utter opression."

"Nevertheless..." Celestia managed to respond. "He deserves a trial."

"A trial?!" Luna shouted in desperation. "Sister-"

"Yes, there is no excusing him for his crimes..." she began while looking over the war-criminal. "But until he is judged by a court of his peers, there is no possible reasoning for immediate execution."

Luna gritted her teeth, and locked a challenging gaze with her sister. She knew that she was right. As much as beheading him wouldo, she'd rather take the trial. That didn't mean, though, she had to agree. Luna looked ready to say something but stopped when she saw her sister look at her with different eyes.

"...Or would you rather taint my name as princess?" Celestia asked with an airy voice. Luna looked like she was ready to have a coniption. Any other pony would know that Celestia's name would be forever unreliable after breaking the promise made to Sombra, but that was only the surface problems. When it boils down to it, her own name would be besmirched as well as the entire governments. There would be civil unrest, maybe even a revolution, or even worse... a coup d'etat.

With a shakey reluctant bow of her head, Luna conceded to her sister. Celestia turned her attention back to the problem before her. With a small pause hanging in the air waiting for the pin to drop, Celestia thought about her options.

"... Take him to the dungeon," she said as the pin dropped. "He'll await his trial there." With that, she watched as the guard shifted to a prisoner escort formation and walked Sombra to the dungeons. Her eyes flicked over to the pony scribe, cowering in shock behind the thrones.

"Shorthoof," she called. Her voice seemed to loose all the vibrancy in it. "Take a note." The stallion nodded and retrieved a fresh peice of parchement. He then levitated it in front of him, his magic barely holding it and brought a quill over to rest upon it."

To the Canterlot Chronicler,

You have always remained the best source of news around Canterlot, and I can trust you for any source of news. I have now a dire piece of news that I need you to deliver as smoothly and quietly as possible. King Sombra was discovered in a court of the alicorn sisters. There have been no deaths nor injuries and his trial will beheld probably in the next week. Please stand by for more details, as I have yet to find a way to explain it properly.

Yours truly,

Princess Celestia

"Send that immediately to the Canterlot Chronicler."

"Sister," Luna said sternly. "What do you hope to achieve out of this?! Reformation?!!"

"Luna, I-"

"No, you will listen to our opinions this time!" Luna declared loudly. "Discord was different. He was imprisoned for more than one thousand years. Only you and I can still recall some of his crimes. When he was reformed, there was almost no complaint. This is Sombra- King Sombra! He enslaved and opressed his citizens for Faustknows what! He existed thousands of years ago as wel, but the difference is that his citizens are still alive!! They know what he's done, and now..." Luna shook her head in frustration.

"Luna, I know what I'm doing," Celestia said in an attempt to reassure her.

"Oh, and I suppose that you'll try sweeping this under the rug," she retorted in anger.

"That's not what I mean," the solart princess said in a hurt tone.

"I know what you meant though!" Luna again shot back. "You couldn't let your pride go. You could've just not agreed to anything he said and this would've all blown over!" With that, Luna stormed out of the throne room without another word.

Celestia remained silent in the court for a moment, before turning to her scribe once more. "Tell the others that the court is canceled due to matters of extreme importance." The scribe scrambled across the floor like a mouse trying to gain footing. She watched him for an indescribable amount of time. What echoed like a voice off a canyon in her mind were his words and prophecy.

One full day passed, and Celestia could very much feel the gravity of her actions. She did not waver though. She couldn't afford to. Word was out, and she had been the direct cause of it. Celestia knew what had to be done and it had to be done swiftly and as professionally as possible. She walked at a brisk pace downward into the caverns under Canterlot. When she had sent Sombra into the dungeons, she had sent him to what could be considered the VIP section.

Her hoofsteps echoed off the walls of the cavern, aking it hard for her to focus. It didn't help either that she couldn't sleep at all the previous night. It wasn't much of a problem for her now, but she knew that fatigue would only get worse the next day. Regardless, she did make a plan for what she would talk to Sombra about. She would establish his court date, and then fufill her promise before leaving. There would be nothing more and nothing less. Despite her plan, she couldn't help but ask questions. How did he survive the Crystal Heart? What sort of foothold could he gain in trying to make herself believe his downright outrageous claim? If he was playing mindgames, she could always fall back upon her sister.

"Luna," she thought to herself, nearly slipping upon a path spiraling downward. Her change in thought was surprising. She hadn't spoken to Luna at all after the court. In fact, she hadn't even given thought to Luna. Would she give her help now though? Celestia found that she couldn't answer that question... and that indeed frightened her.

Shaking herself, she tried focusing on other things while traversing the maze that was the caverns of Canterlot. After the discovery of them, after the wedding of Shining and Cadance, Celestia began to make subtle changes to it. For instance, making the deepest levels into a highly secured prison just in case. The Cells were lined with sheets of magic-proof steel as were the doors. It wouldn't stop prisoners from casting magic, but it would stop the spells from leaving. The doors themselves were a half a foot thick, and had only a small slit of a window to look out of. It wasn't Tartarus, but it may have come to a close second.

The white alicorn finally reached the cell blocks. Currently, the prison was ready to take on any number of ne'er do wells, but thankfully did not have an overly abundant seedy underground of crime... yet. Celestia came to a sttop in frontof theonly occupied cell. There were three guards around the door, one for every type of pony. She wanted all the variables to be covered for this prisoner.

"How is he?" the sun princess inquired just as the guards saluted their monarch.

"He's been quiet, your majesty," the earth pony responded.

"Any trouble?"

"None," he responded.

"... I was afraid of that..." Celestia sighed. "I'm going in. Keep your post. You know what to do."

"Yes your majesty," all three responded. The Unicorn casted a spell upon the six inch steel door, causing a magically sealed lock click while thepegasus and earth pony inserted two keys at exactly the same time and unlocked the final tumblers.

The door swung inward slowly, casting a light within. The once king lie on the floor, unable to move much due to a strait-jacket. Celestia breached the threshold as her horn lit up. Soon, tiny wall sconces appeared on the walls lighting up the room quite well. She then conjured up a table to sit at, for she felt it would help get her point across nicely. As soon asthe princesswas inside, the door was shut behind her and locked from the outside. During all of this, Sombra did not once stir. Celestia cleared her throat in an attempt to get his attention. She knew he was alive. She could see him breathing.

At last, Sombra shifted and sat up, which was a impressive feat for having no front hooves available to help right him. His eyes were in a half-lidded daze, and his mouth slightly agape.

"Sombra," Celestia began in avoice of authority. "You are to be tried for your crimes of war in a court of your peers. Am I clear?"

"...Yes, but..." Sombra said in a raspy voice. "May I ask you a something?"

Celestia gave a stern glare in response.

"Just... who do you deem as my 'peers'?"

"The Citizens of the Crystal Empire," she answered curtly.

"I see... Smart," Sombra said as he made eye contact with Celestia. "You are truly a leader."

"Now we shall proceed to fufill my promise to you," the alicorn said, taking charge of the situation. "Speak."

"Well then," Sombra began while clearing his throat. "I will... but I feel I am obliged to tell you something princess." Celestia tried not to appear off guard at his statement.

"You may beleive what you are willing to believe. I don't expect you to, but neveretheless, you will listen to it and perhaps gain an understanding of my belief. The goal of an answer is not to find a solution, but to find another question..."