Sombra paced around his cramped room from one wall to the next. His mind whirled with a dozen questions and at the time he had scarce answers for any. Only one thing he knew for certain.

He was in a tough spot.

The door to his room was locked. The place he was being held in could be stories above the ground. He came back to the living world confused and unsure, and recently it had been proven to him that his magic wasn’t all it could be. Sure. His limitless knowledge in the magical arts could make their reappearance in a matter of a few days or weeks, but was he prepared to stay put and wait for such a time?

The mare that held him captive was beautiful to be sure, but he knew she was hiding something sinister behind those lavish eyes of hers. Lies. He was being fed them without mercy, same as that morning’s oatmeal. The name Sombra felt right, as did his title as King, so did that mean Luna told the truth when she said she was an alicorn in charge of a castle all her own?

It seemed to fit. Alicorns sounded rare and if Luna really had been around for the past thousand years, it made sense others would easily bend to her rule. So just why was he here? Why had he been brought back to the conscious world, spoon fed, and then locked in a room all alone?

Ransom? Used as some secret weapon against the rest of Equestria? Personal slave to cater to that alicorn’s every whim and desire?

Sombra stopped in the center of the room and smirked. Slave, he thought. Although probably not the kind I’m thinking of.

Bemused, he sat on his bed and put his head on a hoof. Now wasn’t the time to worry. Now was the time to think.

Sombra turned to his side to grab the book Luna had given him before leaving. Perhaps facts could be found in there, if the book he held was an actual history text at all. Forty minutes later, he had a few more facts to play with.

1. He was King Sombra, ruler of a city known as the Crystal Empire in the Frozen North.

2. Princess Luna had spent a small amount of time there while he was in charge.

3. A group of six mares better known as the Elements of Harmony had been saving the day as of late, leaving little for Equestria’s Princesses to deal with.

4. Luna ruled the land alongside her sister Princess Celestia.

The torn pages left out quite a bit.

Sombra snapped the book shut and stared out into the room. Luna had said she ruled the castle by herself. Did that mean her sister—the one known as Celestia—had a castle all her own? To Sombra that seemed like a waste. Surely there was enough room in an entire castle for two Princesses to cohabitate peacefully. So what had happened to Celestia in the last hooful of years? And why would Luna deny her existence outright, claiming she ruled over everything by herself?

Unless…

Sombra gulped dryly. “Have I been kidnapped by a murderer?”

Luna threw the last bit of evidence into the metal bin in the alleyway of the Canterlot business district. After she’d asked seven different members of the castle staff where the garbage bins were located—and after each one insisted they’d dispose of it themselves—she decided someplace far away from the bustling hub to be the best place indeed.

As she dumped out the contents from her bag, she hummed a little tune. Sure, things weren’t going as perfect as could be (her and Sombra’s reunion wasn’t as heated and passionate as she thought it might be), but considering the other alternatives, things could always be worse. For instance, she could’ve pried open his eyes to find the same monster she had to kill some thousand years ago. Or worse, he might’ve tried to repay the favor, striking her down before wreaking havoc on the rest of the populace.

A little bit of forgotten memory was nothing to be worried of. Memories come and go. In time, Sombra’s memories would return. She only had to control which memories she gave to him first.

Luna took a moment to stare at all the broken vials and scattered bits of torched ingredients at the bottom of the bin. It brought back the images of Sombra’s monstrous self. If he changes back, will you kill him again? She nodded in answer to her own question. Truthfully, it was something she could not fully answer until the time came. If it ever did.

“Please stay as you are, Sombra,” she whispered. “Please be my love again, so we may—”

“Princess Luna?”

“—buck,” Luna swore, already knowing who was standing just behind her.

Luna turned to find Twilight Sparkle halfway up the back alley, a shopping bag hooked around a wing. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy stood at the mouth of the alley; Pinkie Pie’s own shopping bag bumping into her side each time she jumped in her spot. Meanwhile, Fluttershy absently kicked at a pebble on the ground.

Luna carefully unfurled her wings to block the garbage bin behind her.

She smiled. Thinly. “Twilight. How wonderful to see you again.”

Twilight tilted her head at the mare. “In a back alley? We came shopping this afternoon and saw you from the street. What are you even doing back here?”

Luna stretched out a leg and yawned. “Stretching my wings, of course.”

Twilight raised a brow. “In front of trash?”

Luna brought her wings back to her sides. “Do you know of a better place to throw out one’s gum?”

Twilight opened her mouth to say more, then held her tongue. Luna took a step towards her and wrapped her in a wing. “Let us move away from this dingy place and I will treat us all to ice cream. Sound like fine merriment to you?”

“Yes!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed from the street. How she heard that last statement is better left unknown.

Twilight walked with her a few steps before turning back. She lifted her head up and sniffed. “It smells like something burning back here. I hope no one threw out something flammable.”

Before she had much chance to react, Twilight trotted to the bin and peered inside. Again she titled her head to the side.

“Nothing’s on fire, thankfully, but it looks like someone tossed away a bunch of ingredients for a spell.” Twilight removed her head from the trash pile and turned to her. “Did you happen to see anyone throw something away while you were here?”

Luna bit her tongue and shook her head.

“Strange,” Twilight said, coming to her again. “Must’ve been some complicated spell—most of those ingredients look as rare as can be.”

Luna wrapped a wing around her and escorted her out the alley. “I am sure it is nothing, Twilight. No one would dare perform any nefarious magic in the heart of Canterlot. If one did, my sister and I would know of it in an instant. That I guarantee.”

Twilight kept her head down in thought. “Well, I’m sure if it’s big enough, we’ll find out about it soon. In my experience, large spells have a tendency to backfire big time. And for the most part, publicly.”

In the warmth of her sister’s sun, Luna found she was cold. For the first time, she hoped with all her heart that Twilight might be wrong about something.

After three single-scoop ice creams and a half-gallon of bubble gum ice cream for just Pinkie Pie, Luna returned to her tower room with a lot less enthusiasm than before. Already she could feel the events spiraling out of her control. Even a quick errand as simple as throwing away a bag of supplies had nearly ended everything before they had begun. Add to that the fact that Sombra was already moving around and eager to explore. How much longer could she keep him tucked away before he grew suspicious? Would it be wise to tell him the truth now and face what consequences came?

How does one tell someone they enslaved an entire race and murdered dozens if not hundreds? How does one try to explain that the entire world considers them a beast and a pony better left dead and forgotten? To Luna, the name Nightmare Moon still pained her to hear, but from that pain, she vowed to show others what true redemption could look like. Would Sombra understand better if she explained her own time spent in darkness?

And what would be the opposite of that? Prepare Equestria for King Sombra’s eventual return? Explain to them in full that the murderous tyrant from before was nothing more than a bad dream and now there was nothing left to fear from him?

Perhaps that would’ve been the way to go… if she had a hundred years to convince every pony in the land. But couldn’t she try to convince just one pony that might go on to convince the rest of Equestria?

Luna was deep in thought as she set down her empty saddle bag and undid the locks on Sombra’s door. Tired from activities and lack of sleep, she jolted back when the first thing she saw was Sombra’s smiling face.

“Hello again,” he greeted. “I thought we might talk out here for a change. Sound good?”

Without waiting for a reply, he put a hoof to Luna’s chest and edged himself into the room. Once free of the doorway, he gave the outer room a quick glance before turning back to her.

“We need to talk,” he said calmly, directing her to a chair in the corner.

Luna sat, unnerved, her heart in a flutter. Was it the fact that Sombra wanted to question her that caused her to feel this way? Or was it because it had been so long since he’d touched her in such a strong, forceful manner? As Sombra stood before her, Luna tried to clear her head.

Sombra’s smile dropped. “Who is Princess Celestia?”

Luna blinked a single time and it all fell into place. That damn book.

“She is an alicorn like myself and ruler of the sun,” she told him.

Sombra leaned towards her until his breath was on her face. “And your sister, correct?”

Luna nodded faintly. She’d be caught and she knew it. The idea of pretending to rule alone had been a silly one at best; there had never been a single point in denying such a thing. Although she had a feeling Sombra had no intention of stopping there.

He asked, “Then why didn’t you mention her before? She must live here in the castle, yes?”

She nodded again.

“I would just love to meet her. I’m sure you could arrange something like that.”

“I… could, but I do not think now is the appropriate time, Sombra. There is still much that must be explained. The world has changed a lot since your last life.”

He held a leg out. “Then explain it to me. I’ve got time.”

Luna thought carefully. “Also, Celestia is not in the castle at the present moment. She is actually away on rather important business.”

Sombra chuckled. “Of course she is. Let’s try something else.” He pointed a leg at the door that fed out into the stairwell. “I’m going to go explore your castle, whether you want me to or not. My leg’s been feeling a whole lot better since you left and I doubt my lack of magic has anything to do with my ability to walk.” He flashed her a toothy sneer. “Care to join me, Princess?”

For some time, Luna stared at him. This was a side of Sombra she’d seen sparingly during her stay in his Empire—the face and mild irritation he would direct towards those that deserved it. Citizens of his that hurt or stole from others. Those that made their living off the backs of the weaker and the slow. Ones that outright deserved the King’s wrath.

Now Luna was the one that had to bear it.

She gave him the slightest of nods. “As you wish.”

Luna hung her head off the cloud, her eyelids heavy and a steady thrumming in her temples. Hours ago she had done something she wasn’t proud of and didn’t think she’d ever be.

The cool night air felt nice against her skin. Being surrounded by her millions of stars made it all the better, as she twirled a hoof and made them loop across the horizon. The fact that Twilight Sparkle “oohhed” and “awed” each time she did, only added to the peaceful scene.

When Luna had agreed to show Sombra around the castle, she stood up abruptly and looked him square in the eye. “You ready, then?”

One blink from Sombra was all it took to trick him.

One blink and the stallion went from the world of the conscious to the realm of dreams. Neither of them could tell the difference—Sombra especially—but both ponies had arrived in a lifelike dream that had been created only for them.

Was it hard for a being such as her to bring a castle-sized dream to fruition? Not as hard as one would think. What was a chore was the amount of concentration it took to make the castle a living and breathing one, and not just a drafty building made of stone.

They descended the stairs slowly, Sombra taking the lead. Every few steps, he’d look back with a smirk, as if waiting for her to call their small tour off with her latest excuse. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Sombra dropped the smirk and eyed his surroundings wearily.

In the waking world, Luna dragged Sombra back to his room and sealed the door tight. As bad as she felt, she knew it to be necessary. She only hoped her meeting later with Twilight would give her some answers as of how to proceed.

Back in the world of dreams, Luna introduced Sombra to hallways full of guards, spears pointed up and expressions blank. Sombra took his time to admire the craftsmanship on each bit of armor and blade, then thankfully moved on. The creation of the hall and the guards with all of its many pieces was difficult to control. Luna made the smart move by informing Sombra none of the guards were allowed to speak unless spoken to, or unless under duress.

When Sombra politely introduced himself to them, they nodded in unison. To Sombra it must have been enough.

The tour of the dream castle continued by meeting a few members of the staff—servants and a cook, a messenger and a pony that sat behind a desk in the castle’s entryway.

Their tour ended in the throne room. Tall open windows let in a bright blanket of light, warming the large hall. For a time, Sombra studied the painted murals draped along the walls, the epic clashes that Celestia and Luna fought side by side during Equestria’s darker times. One mural in particular Luna chose to erase: the death of King Sombra and the liberation of the Crystal Empire.

“It’s beautiful,” Sombra told her, gazing at every inch of the room. And Luna could tell he meant it.

He traced a hoof along the back of her sister’s throne, the taller of the pair. While it reminded her of his kingly title, it also unnerved her a bit. Was there some hint of longing in his stare?

The last room Luna created was a room that had never existed at all.

She opened the door for him. “And here is the guest’s quarters. If you wish to stay here, you may. You should find it spacious enough, I should think.”

The room she created had been ordinary, but big. A bed. A writing desk. Wide windows with a view. Sombra took a step inside and almost looked bewildered by the gesture. He raised a curious brow. “Really, Luna? No more room next to yours?”

She nodded. “Not unless you still want it.”

Dreams can be fickle things. Their tour started with the sun burning bright in the sky, but ended in darkness and stars, even if it had taken fifteen minutes at most. It had always amazed Luna how much dreamers could lose track of time… or if they could keep track of it at all.

“Well, goodnight, then,” he said, closing the door on her.

She bid him goodnight and shrunk the dream world down to the size of just his bedroom. Inside, Sombra began to pace again, but soon grew too sleepy for the task and retired to his bed. He was out the moment his head hit the pillow.

The next morning, he would wake up again in his tower room, locked out of sight from everyone around. If Luna had no good answers for him then, she doubted he would act as patient as he’d been. With luck, Twilight could offer her some help.

Luna snapped her head up from the cloud.

“I heard Discord’s supposed to be at the party, too,” Twilight told her, eyes wide as she soaked in the sights. “I’m not completely sure who invited him—most likely Fluttershy, just to be nice—but I should let you know ahead of time.”

Luna frowned. “Discord. Goody.”

Twilight tried to add helpfully, “He’s better than he used to be.”

“He used to be trapped in stone. That was when I liked him the best.”

Twilight laughed. Luna hadn’t made the comment in jest.

Luna rubbed at a hoof anxiously. “I might need your advice on something, Twilight. Something rather hard to explain.”

Twilight brightened a bit. “All right. I will if I can.”

Luna found the next words hard to come by. “I may have made a mistake recently. Or have created one by doing something I thought at the time to be right.”

Twilight nodded along. “I think we all do something like that from time to time.”

Luna pursed her lips. Resurrecting a deceased King that could prove to still be a mad tyrant, all in the name of love? Well, maybe Twilight had for all Luna knew. The two of them hadn’t exactly had all the time in the world to trade dirty secrets.

“Remember when Celestia tasked you and your friends with befriending Discord? At the time, you were all apprehensive about such a thing, and from what I recall, only Fluttershy truly believed in his reformation.”

Twilight nodded. “You’re right. Fluttershy was the one that saw Discord reformed, although since then I’ve had a far different outlook on him. I guess at the time—right after we released him from stone—I could only think of him as the Discord that had nearly ruined Ponyville and the relationships with my friends.”

Luna turned to her. “You could only look at him as a villain.”

Reluctantly, Twilight agreed. “In a way, yes. But now I’m happy to call him a friend. He’s still rough around the edges, of course, but if we never tried, then Discord never would’ve found the magic of friendship for himself. I think it’s something that everyone should get a chance of having.”

Luna turned away from her to hide her smile. She was more than happy she’d taken Twilight up on her offer to spend the night together.

“I am happy to hear your thoughts on the subject, Twilight. What I have done is… well, rather complicated, I must say. I have thought about doing it for some time now—years upon years, truthfully—and when the time was just right, I did what I felt I had to do.” She exhaled slowly. “You remember what I told you about my time spent in the Crystal Empire?”

Twilight rolled onto her back to stare above her. “Yes. You met Sombra there, the good one. Is that why you brought him back from the dead?”

She’d said it so casually that Luna thought she must’ve been hearing things.

She felt a bead of sweat drip down her temple. “Come again?”

Twilight held a hoof above her, outlining star patterns. “Is that why you resurrected King Sombra recently? I know that’s what you were trying to hide in that alley today. A little research told me what type of spell those ingredients were for; add to that your frequent visits to the Crystal Empire and what my brother sometimes calls ‘Luna’s four hour marches out into the snow to dig,’ I had a good idea what you might’ve been up to. Although I’ll admit, I’m surprised.”

Luna felt like losing her small dinner over the edge of the cloud, uncaring who it might land on.

“Have you…” Luna began. “Have you told anyone?”

Twilight shook her head. “If you hadn’t seen me tonight, then I might’ve. But I thought speaking with you first would be the best course of action, and I’m glad we had a chance to talk.” She looked at her. “You were going to tell me, right?”

Luna jerked her head up and down. “Yes. Yes, of course. That is all I wanted to do tonight.”

Twilight spun around again to sidle up beside her. “So what was your plan supposed to be? You bring him back and…?”

“We live happily ever after,” Luna answered with a straight face.

“And how do you go about doing that?”

The question made Luna pause. “I have no idea.”

Sombra tossed and turned in his thin cot, his covers wrinkled and his face drenched in sweat. He’d gone from one dream to another, or in this case, a dream about a castle full of guards and staff to one about a broken stone building wholly consumed in deep shadows.

Since finding himself there, he’d been running down an endless hallway. The creature chasing him (somehow he knew he was being chased—there was never a second he didn’t know) had remained cloaked in darkness, the only notion they existed at all being the glow from their red and green eyes, a purple vapor trail oozing from the corners.

The creature called to him, again and again. Deep. Gargled. Mad.

“Let me out!” it screamed.

The chase lasted for hours. Eventually Sombra could run no more, crashing against the floor of the never ending hallway and gasping for air. The creature with the haunting eyes went around him, finally giving light to its face.

The creature had been Sombra all along.

It whispered to him, “Wake up and let me out.”