With Sombra once again away, Twilight found herself at her sanctuary the library, a place that crystal ponies, with the exception of Amethyst Maresbury, seemed hesitant to go to for some reason. She turned the page of the book, the page flip echoing in the empty room of the abandoned library. While the solitude was appreciated, the cemetery-like silence was somewhat eerie, along with the poor lighting and bent shadows thrown about the place. It reminded her of the old gothic horror novels she used to sneak into her room and spend many a night reading tales of a stallion with a cursed portrait, a pony with a potion-derived split personality and a detective solving a case involving glowing black hounds. The candles beside her began to flicker slightly, the flames dancing a manic jig as they attempted to stay alight.

"Enjoying your alone time?"

Twilight jumped and toppled over in her chair, tumbling backward and rolling onto the floor into a messy heap. Rubbing at her aching head, she glanced up through her ruffled mane to see a rather bemused Sombra standing over her, his red eyes bright with glee. Her eyes followed his armored hoof as he offered it to her and his expression, while still clearly tickled with Twilight's fumble, became softer and more sympathetic. She stared at the hoof and, with a heavy sigh, reluctantly took it, allowing Sombra to easily pull her to her hooves as though she weighed nothing. Snatching her hoof away, Twilight set the chair right side up and carefully dusted off her discarded book, inspecting it for accidental damage from her little failed acrobatic display.

"I'm sorry about that. I tend to be very quiet without meaning to do so."

"It's fine," Twilight answered, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice. "What are you doing here anyway?"

The umbrum wove his way to her left, his lips stuck out in a faux pout. "What, can't a stallion come to check up on his fiancée?" He peered at the book and his eyes lit up with interest. "'A Historical Guide to the Culture and Customs of Old Equestria's Inhabitants.' Very interesting read. Is this what you're usually interested in?"

Twilight levitated the book onto the wheeled cart beside the table. "No, but seeing as how I'm living here, I thought it'd be a good idea to know where exactly I am. It turns out the Crystal Empire is rich in history and culture." She raised her eyes suspiciously to meet Sombra's, weary of his concern in her interests. They'd barely spent any time together since she got there, awkward fancy dinners aside and she wondered what his endgame was. There was nothing more frustrating than an opponent you couldn't read and if you can't read your opponent, how can you hope to beat them?

Sombra nodded, "That's very wise of you. 'Alas, how terrible is wisdom when it brings no profit to the stallion that’s wise! This I knew well, but had forgotten it, else I would not have come here.'"

"Where did you learn that?"

"Troughophocles' Oedipace Rex. Growing up, I had a wide access to literature but my father insisted that I only read what was necessary to aid me in playing the political game. I would often sneak other books into my room and spend many late nights reading them until the candles burned out or until I fell asleep." He walked over to a nearby shelf and ran his hoof gently across the row of books, caressing them as if they were made of gold. Twilight eyed him curiously. What he described, the late night reading sessions, sounded exactly like her as a filly and she wondered if he eavesdropped on one of her conversations with Amber or if he was being one-hundred percent sincere.

"You never answered my question. Why are you here?"

Withdrawing his hoof, Sombra turned to regard Twilight and grinned. "I have a surprise for you, one that I've spent the last few days working on. I know I've neglected you, leaving you here all by your lonesome and for that, I apologize." Twilight opened her mouth to protest but Sombra continued before she could respond. "I was inconsiderate and I thought that you and I could take a stroll together. Would you please accompany me? It is such a lovely day and I'd hate for us to waste it sitting in a dusty old library."

While the king sounded genuine, Twilight found it hard to believe his Cheshire grin or his mischievous glance. Still, he hadn't done another to her thus far and found it hard to believe he'd try anything funny now. Heaving a sigh, she nodded and Sombra clapped his hooves together joyfully, the metal clanging together like two small bells. He then yanked a piece of fabric from out of his cloak and magically lifted it to Twilight's face. "Here, put this on. It's a surprise after all."

Again, the unicorn had her reservations but her curiosity got the better of her and she found herself tying the blindfold tightly around her eyes, plunging her into blackness. The air around her face parted as she felt an obvious hoof waving back and forth. "Can you see anything?" When Twilight replied no somewhat annoyingly, Sombra took her by the foreleg and she was led out the library's main atrium, down the great stone steps and out into town. From there, they took several twists and turns, though these were so she couldn't tell where she was being taken and panic momentarily set in. She reminded herself of Sombra's surprisingly gentlecolt-esque treatment and managed to calm herself down as they appeared to travel uphill and on an uneven cobblestone road. Where was he taking her? And what kind of surprise was it? He never said that it'd be one that she'd enjoy.

They abruptly stopped and Twilight heard the telltale sounds of a key being turned and a large gate creakily swinging open. They took a few steps and after the gate clanged shut behind them, Sombra began to remove the blindfold, much to Twilight's relief. "One...two...three...surprise!" The cloth fell away and she was nearly blinded by the indescribably beautiful sight before her. They stood in a spacious garden, only one completely comprised of thousands of crystalline structures that glittered and sparkled in the sunlight. Flowers, bushes, trees and even animals shone brightly in every conceivable color imaginable. "Welcome, dearest Twilight Sparkle," Sombra announced with his forelegs raised above his head. "Welcome to the Star Garden."

"You...made all of this?" Never before had Twilight ever dreamed of seeing something so rare, so eye-wateringly breathtaking as the sight that lay before her. As if sleepwalking, she took baby steps towards an amethyst-carved fountain that was filled with deep azure water that, upon closer inspection, was actually comprised of millions of miniscule crystals all flowing and ebbing in a semi-solid state. The crystal water originally flowed from a stream that traveled up a small outcrop of moonstone boulders and emptied into the fountain via a waterfall of softly clinking sapphires. The wind whistled through the emerald-topped trees, creating a symphony of thousands of sparkling little whistles.

"No, this was an original feature of the castle, one that existed before my father's reign. He didn't discover it until years later and he allowed my mother to keep it, though I suspect it was to keep her out of his hair when he didn't need her." Sombra planted himself atop an ametrine bench of purple, orange and yellow quartz. "I merely added those trees over there along with the cluster of orchids and daffodils and the fountain you see before you. Now that was the tricky part. My crystal magic skills were a bit rusty-being trapped beneath ice for a millennia can do that to you-so it took me a while to perfect the semi-solid crystalline water. Do you like it?"

Turning to meet the umbrum's eyes, Twilight found herself slightly taken aback by his nervous tone, which was further extenuated by the almost colt-like way he fiddled with his front hooves. It was so much different than the commanding and erotically-charged monarch she was used to seeing. "I...love it! It's incredible, an achievement of architectural and gemological splendor! It's breathtaking, it's spectacular, it's..." she caught herself geeking out and turned to hide her blush. "It's-it's very neat, Sombra. Thank you." Oh my sweet Celestia, what is wrong with me?

Sombra warmly chuckled, a surprisingly nice sound coming from him. "You're welcome, my dearest."

She noticed the aforementioned orchid cluster, which were made up of smoky electric-blue petals and sea-green stalks and leaves. "Orchids are my favorite flower. But how did you know that?"

Sombra rubbed his neck and looked away guiltily. "IIIIIII...may have overheard you talking to Amber, so I decided to implement it in the garden's redesign. Just to give it that personal touch. I'm not apologizing." From the way he crossed his forelegs and stared assertively at her gave Twilight the mental image of a tinier, five-year-old Sombra, which she had to bite the inside of her mouth to keep her from bursting out laughing at. She made her way over to the bench and sat beside him, keeping a respectable three-foot distance between them.

"Normally that'd be wrong but it's sweet that you did this so I'll let it slide. So this was your mother's garden?" She recalled the sorrowful way he spoke of her and was curious to know more. Her host-and fiancé-was wrapped in so much mystery that it killed her not knowing who it was that she'd pledged herself to wed. Sombra sighed, looking out at the garden.

"I remember she used to take me out here when I was little. We used to play in the aventurine grass or just sit and she'd read to me. Mother had such a lovely voice. This was the only place that I ever felt safe. Safe from the world. Safe from him." He practically hissed out the last word, his teeth bared in a furious scowl.

"Who, your father?"

Sombra rose to his feet, his back to Twilight as he began to exit the garden. "You're free to come here whenever you like," he called over his shoulder, his tone frigid and distant. "I'll see you at dinner."

Author's Notes:

Annnnnd scene! As soon as I came up with the concept for the Star Garden, I just knew that I had to include it in here. It was really a fun scene for me to describe.

This chapter's terrible puns:

Troughocles=Sophocles

Oedipace Rex=Oedipus Rex

Next chapter: we delve more into Sombra's backstory (or, at least part of it). Warning: it gets very dark and very f***ed up. You have all been warned.