Slamming another book on top of the dangerously-leaning pile next to her, Twilight snatched a book from atop the book gurney and began to flip through it. It'd been two weeks since her escape from the Crystal Kingdom and she'd spent that time in the Canterlot Royal Library, searching in vain for some spell or ritual to save her friends and stop Sombra. The way she figured it, if she dedicated four hours to sleep, five minutes to each meal and fifteen minutes of outside strolling, that'd leave her with at least nineteen hours of research. So far, her search had been long, tiring and fruitless, having not come close to finding even a clue in the whole accursed library. Starting with the essential basics, Twilight read through the Principles of Magic, Houyhnhnm’s Guide to Magical Arcana and Trotter’s Tome of Reliquary before tackling the more advanced spell books. These included The Lesser Key of Solomule, The Kybalkion, The Sworn Book of Hornorius and the Codex Imponyium, all which would've been better served as crossword puzzles for five-year-old foals.

Twilight rubbed annoyingly at her baggy eyes and resumed reading, finding excellent recommendations for creating protective wards around your home and summoning incantations but nothing on bypassing magic-blocking crystals. After gulping down her sixth coffee for the day, she sighed and placed the book on the stack. She was ready to start another one when the stack came tumbling down on top of her, burying the unfortunate unicorn beneath a pile of well-thumbed spell books. Well, this is just great! Twilight mentally grumbled as she dragged herself from out of the pile, receiving minor bumps and paper cuts as a result. Rubbing her slightly bruised scalp, she exhaled the breath of impatient irritation that she'd been holding in and decided to take a break.

The halls of the castle were filled with royal guards: grim-faced stallions in golden armor, each and every one of them ready to lay down their lives for the princesses and for Equestria. Ever since King Sombra's return, Princess Celestia was adamant on tripling the security of both the castle's interior and exterior. This meant that Twilight couldn't walk two feet without running into a royal guard. Still, two weeks and not a peep from the Crystal Empire. Sombra should've made a move by now, right? After a very close inspection by two guards, Twilight entered the throne room to find Celestia and Luna arguing in hushed murmurs, both of them clearly on edge about something and, from the few snippets Twilight could make out, it was something involving the Shadow Emperor. If it involves that monster, it has to be terrible.

"Um, Princesses?" Twilight asked nervously, not prepared for the dead silence nor the apprehension and fear written on the two alicorns' faces. "Is...is there something the matter? M-maybe I could help?"

A full minute passed before Celestia replied, "It's...it's nothing, Twilight. You should take a nap. You look tired."

"Celestia! She has a right to know! This could be our only chance!" Luna hissed.

"Chance to do what? I've not giving into a tyrant's demands! How do we know he'll honor the bargain!"

"Um, Your Highnesses?"

"King Sombra is many things but he's always upfront about his intentions. Perhaps we should hear him out-..."

"'Hear him out?' Have you gone insane? Sombra doesn't know the meaning of the word, 'diplomacy!'"

"Celestia? Luna?"

"It's my niece and nephew too, you know. Not to mention we'd be getting back the Elements of-..."

"This is not up for discussion, Luna! There's no way I'd allow Twilight to-..."

"YOUR MAJESTIES!"

Both Celestia and Luna stopped talking and looked perplexingly at Twilight, who stood back and stared wide-eyed at them as her ears drooped in embarrassment. She nervously chuckled, "I'm sorry it's just...this seems to involve me and if it does, I want a say in it. Please, please don't keep me in the dark. Let me help."

Seeing that there was no way out, Celestia sighed and held up a scroll marked with a seal depicting three red crystals and a column of smoke, no doubt the personal sigil of King Sombra himself. "This arrived an hour ago. It just appeared out of thin air and I have reason to suspect that it...came from Spike."

"What?! Let me see it!" Twilight made a mad dash for it but was held back by Luna. "Huh?"

"Twilight, just...prepare yourself for what's written on it. You won't like what it has to say."

From the pained look in Luna's cyan eyes, it was clear that the scroll contained news grave enough to worry the Princess of the Night. Twilight nodded and Celestia hesitantly levitated the scroll over to Twilight, who unfurled it shakily as her nerves made her magic jittery. The handwriting was neat and flowing, running across the paper in elegant penmanship that also held a certain egotistic but strangely isolated feel to it.

Princesses of Canterlot,

As you are no doubt aware, I have returned from my exile, one that you both are well-aware of due to your hooves in enforcing it, and have taken back my throne as the rightful ruler of the Crystal Empire. As the king, I believe a bit of diplomacy is due in order to form a healthy relationship between our two kingdoms, at least for the time being. According to my spies, you have found an escapee from my kingdom, one Twilight Sparkle. As she has no doubt informed you, I have the other Elements of Harmony along with the baby dragon, your niece and your nephew-in-law. Believe it or not, I am more than willing to trade the Elements and your family back to you in exchange for Miss Sparkle, who I have the extreme pleasure of naming as my...-

"...'Q-queen?'" The scroll dropped from the air and rolled across the floor. Twilight stood petrified, her body completely unmoving, save for her trembling lower lip and heaving chest. "Sombra, he...wants me for his...he wants..." She fell forward and if not for the timely intervention of Princess Celestia, would've fallen face-first onto the hard marble floor. Being supported by Celestia's forelegs made Twilight feel as though she were a once again a foal her in mother's embrace. Overwhelmed by everything-worry about her friends, her inability to use magic to help them, King Sombra's shocking proposal-she buried her face in Celestia's chest and broke down in a harsh sob, letting all of her pent-up impotence and despair come pouring out of her.

Once Twilight's tears subsided, she dried her eyes with Luna's handkerchief and took several deep breaths, allowing her rational mind to once again take control at the helm. "Thank you both. Now, let's see what the rest of the letter has to say." Although reluctant to continue, the sisters finally relented and nodded, privately in awe of Twilight's strength and fortitude in light of such an astounding development. Opening up the scroll, Twilight picked up where she last left off and continued, more concerned with news of her friends:

The hostages have not been harmed and will remain so unless my demands are met. I know, of course, that neither of you trust me and you are right not to. However, on the memory of my mother Queen Lumen Morningstar, I swear that Princess Cadence, Shining Armor and the Elements of Harmony will be returned to you if Twilight Sparkle willingly returns to the Crystal Empire alone. The dragon hatchling, however, will remain with me as insurance until Twilight is in my possession. Then, and only then, will he be set free. As for Twilight, I can assure you that as my future wife and queen, no harm will befall her as long as she is with me. Any attempts to rescue or contact her will be seen as an act of war and I will not hesitate to march on Canterlot and burn your pathetic city to the ground. I can afford to lose the lives of my citizens in the fires of war. Can you?

Just know that this bargain is non-negotiable and I will accept nothing else other than the hoof of Miss Twilight Sparkle in matrimony. If either of you should dare to try to suggest an alternative, bribe me with riches or trick me, then I will ensure that not only will my hostages, your pretty niece included, suffer greatly for this affront but I will also destroy Ponyville before making my way to Canterlot and, as previously stated, burn the whole damn city to the ground. You can keep your riches and you can continue to rule Equestria for however long you alicorns live for but as the second part of my demands, the Crystal Empire is to secede from the rest of Equestria and all lines of communication will be cut off. You will no longer have any authority over it and we are not to be disturbed. Keep your noses out of our business and I will extend you the same courtesy. Must I remind you of the city-burnt-to-the-ground stipulation?

You have two days to deliver your answer. Should you agree to my terms, send a message to the dragon and instruct Twilight Sparkle to meet me at the edge of the Crystal Empire's barrier. The hostages, with the exception of the dragon, will promptly be released and once Miss Sparkle is in my custody, the dragon will go free too. I may have spent a thousand years as a literal shadow of my former self but do not get the idea that I am a patient stallion. Do hurry.

His Royal Highness,

Sombra, King of the Crystal Empire, Warden of the Frozen North and Lord of the Umbrum

Crumbling the up piece of paper, Twilight sat on the floor with her face buried in her hooves, unwilling to believe what she just read or the enormity of what was expected of her. Even with the princesses wrapping their arms around her, she felt anything but safe. Sweet Celestia...what am I going to do?

Author's Notes:

The first few spell books mentioned appeared on the show while the others are based on real-life grimoires. They are:
The Lesser Key of Solomule (The Lesser Key of Solomon)
The Kybalkion (The Kybalion; "balk" or "baulk" is when a horse refuses to move)
The Sworn Book of Hornorius (The Sworn Book of Honorius)
Codex Imponyium (Codex Imperium)

The Game of Thrones reference was unintential; as soon as I started writing "Warden of the Frozen North," it immediately hit me but I liked it enough to leave it in.

WINTER IS COMING!