"Never underestimate the wicked, for they could corrupt you in an instant." -Luna, 1 year after return

Another peaceful morning in Ponyville had come, waking up everyone in town to yet another great day in the making. To some, it would be the best day ever. To others, some would think of it to be a boring yet relaxing day.

A certain lavender alicorn however, wasn't in a very good mood. Having had a long night of duties and important meetings, she had woken up to a frizzled mane, and drowsy eyes.

"Five more minutes," Twilight Sparkle muttered to herself after waking up. While trying to rest again, she found her body was somehow lying on the ground. "Ok, I'm up." Walking downstairs to grab some coffee to get her energized for the following day, she came across her her student/friend.

"Morning Twilight! How was sleep last night?" Starlight asked with a happy smile.

"Good morning Starlight... Glimmer," replied Twilight in a voice you would only hear at a bar of some sort.

Starlight's smile went away. "Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Not exactly." Twilight made a weak smile.

Starlight facehoofed. "I knew I should have had Spike cancel your duties yesterday. You can get pretty screwed up without any sleep." She helped Twilight to a table, and poured a cup of coffee. "Drink up."

Twilight gulped down the drink put in front of her. "Thank you Starlight."

Spike had come downstairs with a scroll in his hands. Twilight, expecting a whole list of duties, smiled and asked, "Ok Spike, what are the things we need to do today?"

"Nothing," he replied.

Twilight was quickly confused, and rightly so. "Nothing? I think that might be a typo."

"It isn't. Princess Celestia sent this letter." Spike handed over the scroll, and Twilight skimmed through it.

My faithful Twilight,
I understand that you have been having it rough these past few days. That is why I have taken the liberty to schedule a vacation at the Crystal Empire. Not only will you be able to relax, but you'll be able to pay Cadence and Shining Armor a visit and catch up with them. You may even see Flurry Heart there!

I await seeing you in a couple days.

-Celestia

Twilight quickly skimmed through it again to see if she was just imagining, but she wasn't. Celestia had indeed given her a chance to visit the Crystal Empire for the day. Better yet, she wouldn't be on princess duty. "I guess I'm going on vacation," Twilight said sheepishly.

When she looked up, Spike had everything packed for her already. "I have everything packed for you! Books, quills, paper, materials, and...."

"Thanks Spike. That's really nice of you." Twilight quickly teleported the bags on her back, noticing they were extremely heavy. "Thats a lot of books," she replied while straining.

She went up to Starlight, who obviously bore the 'Celestia's a troll' face. "Now Starlight. I want you to look after the castle for me. Make sure no one steals anything or damages a book. You can have Sunburst, the girls, and *sigh* Trixie over, but he cautious if others visit. I really don't want anyone making a mess here." Starlight nodded. "And Spike, I'll be leaving you at..."

"Why can't I come?" Spike nonchalantly asked. "I am the hero of the Empire!"

"Because the last time you let it get to your head, you butchered a national anthem."

"Fair enough." Spike sighed in defeat.

...

"I left all the food in the refrigerator! I'll see you girls tomorrow!" Twilight waved bye to all her friends. They ran after the train while it was going until it was far enough to not see it.

While the train was running, she noticed all the beautiful sights all around Equestria. The sun shone gracefully around the tall thick grass, while the birds chirped. It was moments like that where Twilight could just sit down and look at how pretty the world could be...

"Now entering the Crystal Empire!"

'So much for taking it in,' she thought.

The moment she got out of the train, she was greeted by Cadence, who went over to hug Twilight. "I'm so happy to see you Twilight!"

Twilight, while ecstatic, wasn't exactly on par with how Cadence is extremely strong. "I... I'm happy to see you too..."

The two then came back up and started a chant. "Sunshine sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!" The chant made them giggle. "So, what do you think our first stop should be?"

A quick stomach grumble answered that question. "Do you know any good restaurants?"

...

Twilight quickly gobbled down the food that was in front of her. She may be royalty, but that doesn't mean she couldn't enjoy her food. While she was eating, she had a question she wanted to ask. "How's Flurry Heart doing?"

Cadence sipped on her tea. "Sunburst has been looking after her. She's kinda getting to the age where she's teething all the time. I caught her biting Shining Armor's..."

"Ok, I believe that's enough about Flurry for now!" Twilight replied, not wanting to get into THAT territory.

'Or maybe we do...' A little voice whispered.

"I was gonna say chest plate. But I see what you were thinking, and I wouldn't have wanted to hear it either." Cadence shuddered at an horrific moment she caught Twilight's parents doing back then. "Do you, uh, think we could change the topic now?"

"Definitely. Talking about that would defeat the whole purpose of relaxing." Twilight sipped on her tea, taking note of how many sugar cubes were in there.

'I honestly think it would make the best vacation ever!' The little voice whispered back.

"Do you know any good spas? My back has been killing me recently." Twilight muttered the last few words out.

...

"Yes, my back feels way better now," Twilight spoke, while she was walking out from the spa.

"And now that we're done, we can go see Flurry Heart," Cadence replied.

Twilight giggled as they walked to the main castle where Flurry Heart was being watched over at. Just at that moment, a crystal guard galloped up to them. "Princess Cadenza! Princess Twilight!" He stopped speaking to bow down to the two princesses. "We've received word that the throne room keeps emitting black light!"

Worried, Twilight teleported the two of them over to the room, unaware of the guard standing there. "So, I just go back to my post or something? I swear, I don't get paid enough for this crap."

...

Twilight and Cadence arrived at the throne, only to find nothing happening. "I swear, this better not be a joke to give him a raise," Cadence muttered. After the words left her mouth, black energy emitted around the carpet in the shape of a square.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to use this ever again." Twilight closed her eyes, focusing all her darkest thoughts into one. A mixture of black, red, purple, and green swirls circled around her horn. When she opened her eyes again, the scalrea had turned green, with her eyes turned red, pupils thinned out, and purple mist emanating.

As much as she didn't want to admit it, she grew a dark fascination with the arts. She had felt the giddiness that the magic gave her, but also the struggle and headache to fully control it. But she forbade herself from using it unless absolutely necessary.

She unleashed the magic that she bottled up towards the corresponding crystal to black, revealing a dark staircase underneath. "Stay behind, I'll protect you from anything odd," replied Twilight, not noticing her eyes haven't reverted yet. Cadence nodded, both trotting down the stairs filled with black and mist galore. When they got down to the door, Twilight went to it, noting that it wasn't moving at all, and smirked at how she wouldn't have to do much work to open it.

As the door opened, they noticed that the mist had gotten extremely heavy. Cadence used a air spell to get rid of it, and both of them got closer and closer, until both of them found a black stallion with a red regenerating horn, mouth coughing up some blood, and weakened.

Both of them were surprised. Sombra had returned. Twilight was the first to leap onto him, eyes ablaze with anger and dark magic. "You... I should have figured you wouldn't be gone for long! What do you have to say for yourself?!"

Sombra's eyes opened up seeing a pretty sight. A mare who looked amazing and was using his signature dark magic. "You... look beautiful," Sombra muttered before passing out.

Twilight was blushing beyond belief.

Author's Notes:

And there we go! A new adventure awaits us!

Edit 11/5/2016: Fixed errors and repetitive lines.

Edit 8/15/2017: Wow. Didn't expect I'd be back writing so soon.

All I did was add extra dialogue and change some lines to better suit the characters.