Thankfully for Twilight, much of the last few days had been completely free of any potential consorts for her, so for the most part, she had seen fit to try and alleviate a lot of the stress that had built up in her as a result of those constant visits. Walks in the local park, spending time at Sugar Cube Corner, even simple acts of reading her favourite books. She had done it all and, for once, she was actually feeling somewhat content about her life right now. Her friends too seemed to be quite relaxed at the moment, playing a game of poker with one another by the cutie map, while Twilight sat off to one side and watched them. It was going well, with Pinkie, somehow, managing to beat everypony, much to the chagrin of Twilight's other friends.

"Ugh! This sucks! How can you be this good, Pinks?" Rainbow asked.

But the pink mare merely shrugged her shoulders.

"Guess I'm just good at reading your faces."

Given the unhappy look on Rainbow's own face, it was clear she wasn't happy about that explanation. Even so, Twilight couldn't help but smile at how calm and peaceful things were right now. Unfortunately, experience had taught her well at this point, which meant that, in her book, calm and peace could only mean that something bad was right around the corner. And sure enough, it wasn't long before Fluttershy spoke up next.

"Um...maybe we should end the game? I should really be getting back to my animals. I mean...look how dark it's getting out there."

The group turned, and Fluttershy did indeed have the right of it, as there seemed to be a great deal of darkness out there. However, rather than prompting everypony to start heading home for the night, it simply caused a lot of them to look at the windows with confusion, ultimately leading to Applejack adding her voice to the mix.

"Er...beggin yer pardon, but...ah thought it was mid-day or something?"

For some reason, a chill went down Twilight's spine as she looked at that darkness outside, a feeling which wasn't helped by the fact that, to the surprise of all of them, there was a sudden loud knocking at the door. They all snapped their heads in its direction, while Twilight flapped her wings and leapt over the table, assuming an aggressive stance on the other side. There was another knock, and then another, and another, until finally, the doors simply burst open. There was a massive gust of cold air, and before anypony could react, that same darkness from outside began to seep indoors, surrounding them all like a blanket of smoke. The group huddled together, showing clear distress over this, but Twilight kept her position, lighting up her horn and staring menacingly at the darkness. The eerie force began to close inwards, tightening around them, and now, they began to hear the unmistakeable sound of hooves walking towards them. They turned their heads in unison, trying desperately to see who it was that now emerged from the gloom. When they finally caught sight of him, they gasped, all while Twilight narrowed her eyes.

"Sombra."

The dark king and former enslaver of the Crystal Empire stood there, looking triumphant as he glared at the six mares before him, Twilight especially. The young princess flared her wings, ready to strike with whatever magic she had at her disposal. But, before she had a chance to do so, she was taken aback when she saw, to her surprise, that the darkness was receding, retreating back outside, leaving Sombra behind. Twilight watched as the dark stallion approached, with her ever closer to making a move against him. And then, when his horn began to glow, she gritted her teeth, preparing herself for an undoubtedly fierce battle.

And yet, it never came. For Sombra did not bellow. He did not lunge. And he certainly did not start sending off dangerous magic in every available direction. Instead, he got to his knees, and used his glowing horn to levitate an object out of the pockets of his red came. Twilight squinted her eyes at it, only to snap them open when she saw that it was a flower hovering before her. It was blue, the kind that grew north in the Empire, and she looked then to Sombra, who bore a somewhat lecherous look.

"For you...dear princess."

After a great deal of silence, Twilight simply let out a huff and slumped her shoulders.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me."

Sombra chuckled in response.

"I know, it seems impossible that a stallion such as myself has come back from the dead, but I assure you that..."

But he didn't get the chance to finish, as Twilight then interrupted him with an angry look upon her face.

"No! I'm talking about the fact that my search for a consort has now reached such a point that even you are coming to my door!"

Although shocked by this behaviour, Sombra quickly composed himself, clearing his throat before starting to speak.

"Um...yes...well...you'll no doubt have your reservations about aligning with one who has moved against you in the past, princess. But, I can promise you..."

"I mean, what's going to come next? Discord? Tirek? One of those big dragons we've had to fight in the past?" Twilight continued.

"Er...I...I believe we can put our differences aside for the sake of..."

"Have I just become the butt of the universe’s jokes lately? Is that's what's going on? Oh, ha-ha, we can just give Twilight a whole bunch of terrible stallions and see her get stressed. What a wonderful idea, universe!"

"...That's...kind of unfair, I mean...I had this whole speech prepared and..."

But Twilight raised a hoof, stopping him.

"Look, I don't mean to burst your bubble or anything, Sombra. But I'm just going to save you the trouble. The answer is no."

Sombra stared at her, somewhat shaken at this direct behaviour, which he clearly hadn't been expecting.

"Um...but I have this whole tragic backstory where I was a sad foal in the Crystal Empire and..."

"No," she repeated.

"I...I was going to try and tempt you to the dark side and..."

"No!" she repeated again.

"I'm sure I can impress you more than..."

"Nope! Nope! Nope! Nope! Nope!" she carried on.

"But..."

At this point, Twilight just grabbed onto the clasp at the front of his cape and dragged him forward, bringing him an inch away from the now-infuriated look on her face.

"ALL...OF...MY...NOPE!!!"

With his pupils now shrinking to the size of pinpoints, Sombra coughed nervously before starting to back away from the enraged princess. Under his breath, he mumbled to himself, hoping Twilight wouldn't hear.

"Geez, not even the torment of Tartarus was as terrifying as her."

Looking back to her, he forced a smile.

"Well...um...I see that it's perhaps not in my best interests to remain...within a thousand miles of you. So, if it’s all the same to you, princess, I will bid you good-day."

And with that, he spun around and, in a somewhat cartoonish manner, began bolting for the open door, leaving a trail of smoke behind him, like a chicken that just came face-to-face with a fox. Twilight took a few moments to take in some calming breaths, before putting on a small smile, thankful that she'd managed to get rid of yet another undesired suitor. Turning, she looked upon her friends, all of whom looked to her as if she had suddenly transformed into a vicious monster of some sort. But Twilight was oblivious to this, instead keeping that smile of hers.

"So...I think it was Rarity's turn to start the next game, yes? I'll set up the table."

The mares nodded in unison, watching as she made her way past them, paying particularly close attention to the fact that her happy smile seemed to come with a twitch in her eye every once in a while. And only now did one of them speak, with Rainbow Dash looking to the rest with worry on her face.

"Girls, I tell ya...if this doesn't end soon...I think Twi might actually blow up Equestria."