The Nightmare

As the night faded to gray, the dawn came. As the sun adorned the sky with its first rays, it took on a reddish tint and flooded the land, erasing the stars to reveal the clouds. Its warmth awakened the delicate plants, which started to spread their petals.Dahlias, tulips and roses adorned the beautiful garden with their presence. But their beauty was eclipsed by the passing of a mare at dawn. The light shone on her neat white coat in a pale yellow, and her rainbow mane painted the meadow with color.

As it spread her wings, she received the warmth of that old friend. She looked up with some nostalgia, for centuries it had been her duty to raise it when she awoke with the dawn. It was only a sweet memory now, but she never abandoned her connection with it.

Her fantasy was interrupted by snoring coming from her house. She rasped the earth nervously, before trotting back to her house.

Another would have been angry, but she was used to it, so she returned to her room. She looked tenderly at her little sister dozing in her bed, curled up in her blanket and cuddled her plush animals; like an innocent little filly. Once again she had been kept awake, for as was to be expected from the former princess of the night.

As she tried to wake her up for breakfast. A crackling noise sounded, a mystical greenish fire appeared into the room transforming itself into a piece of scroll .

"YOU MUST OVERCOME YOUR FEARS!",shouted the dark blue alicorn as she awoke.

 She took a leap hitting the ceiling only to whip herself to the floor. Sobbing her beating wings she proceeded to blink slowly, to soothe her inflamed eyes. He stretched his neck and back trying to shake off the dream.

Y

"Good morning, sis!" Celestia sang jovially. Her relative stared at her with the desire to strangle her.

On her way to breakfast she found the source of the green fire, a letter from Princess Twilight. How strange, she usually avoids writing to us, we only receive letters on holidays. Or when she has to receive information about something she should have been taught before inheriting the throne.

 "Thank you, Celestia," she murmured, and proceeded to sit on her futon as he sipped his coffee, which, to be honest, was more milk and sugar than anything else. She carefully opened the seal and began reading, "Dear Princess Luna." Such formality, even if she wasn't a monarch anymore. She couldn't imagine what the purpose of the letter would be, so she left it spitting out her coffee, splashing it around the room.

"Luna," her sister shouted angrily, "I just cleaned up."

"Sombra is back," she said, silencing her sister.

The faint light crept into the cell through the small window and blinded my half-opened eyelids, I closed them sharply. I swept my fur across the floor as I turned around, hoping to mask hunger and sleep. I was weak and tired, but I won't sleep. I don't want to have nightmares again, but one doesn't own its mind. At least, I was a slave of mine.

I've been a sufferer of horrendous nightmares about that reflection in the crystal ever since I was a colt. I used to placate them with the help of fairy tales, I would read them every night or have someone read them for me.

"You had a bad dream, huh?"

Startled, I turned towards the voice. It was that purple unicorn that had accompanied my captress.

"What do you want? I told you what you already asked for. I have nothing more I can or would give you. It will be better for all of us if we never see each other again.

"You had a nightmare, didn't you? It's happened to me too. Sometimes the mind is an enemy, but you can face it."

"Why do you care?

"I care about you, and Twilight also cares about you." She took a deep breath and looked into his eyes. -"Listen, I haven't been nice my whole life. I used to be cruel and manipulative, I used to not care about my cause at all. But because of Twilight, I was able to change"

. She stepped closer to the cell and added, "And I think everyone deserves a second chance."

"Seriously, little Mare, what have you done to feel you have the right to be compared to me?"

"I removed the cutiemarks from the ponies in my village so no one could be special. So technically, I made them my slaves."

"How disturbing. 

(Why didn't I think of that?)

The mare held out her hoof to the cell, but received only a muffled laugh in response. I turned around, stood on my hindquarters and leaned my hooves against the bars.

"You are not understanding, we are not alike. You are a creature of magic and light, and I am a being of darkness and gloom. You were born as an entity of goodness, I was born to break it down."

I lower my head, and contract my lips to show my fangs.

"If you ask me to be good, it would be like asking a fish to swim on land or a wolf to devour seeds. It is merely my existence; that is the way I was created, a monster made to free others."

"I'm a weapon for demonic beings."

 "Wow, what an amazing analogy, you must be quite well-read.-" "Well, back in the orphanage, the most interesting thing you could do was ransack the library, in fact, I read more than anything...". He kept quiet realizing that his speech was being brought out of him. "Damn it!"

 Starlight smiled, maybe that beast wasn't so fierce. "But there may be another way. The changelings reformed and now they are happy.

That really perplexed me: changelings were among the most repulsive creatures in Equestria. At the orphanage they used to tell their stories of how they would disguise themselves as friendly ponies, and then drain them of their love. And even by them collapsed one of the most beautiful realms that had ever existed, leaving it only as a record on papyrus.

But they were nothing compared to the Umbrun. I knew little of them, but to have Amore fear them, they were not a thing to be dealt with easily. Even I could not bring myself to dare.

"They feed on love. We die with the simple essence of it, don't look for solutions, girl. There won't be any," I snorted, hoping she would finally shut up.

"You've never been in love, have you?

She had touched a nerve, one that had died a thousand years ago. Neither love nor compassion were worthy of creatures like me. My hooves had turned to stone. Eyes sore from fatigue begged to cry. I could not allow myself to be seen in this state.

I twisted my muzzle into a grimace of rage. I threw a thrust that thundered through the metal bars, knocking Starlight off her feet.

"GET AWAY! " I yelled at the pony. 

Starlight's glow had dimmed from my presence. The pony scrambled carelessly to her hooves, following the impulses her instincts were telling her. Her sobbing could be heard echoing through the dungeon.

I scratched the floor in irritation, almost tearing up the tiles, I was so frustrated. But with whom, not for her, frankly I cared for neither her nor Twilight. But I had a desire to murder someone.

I just tossed and turned, staring at the prison wall, hoping that at dawn I would wake up with no emotion. 

 Starlight walked crestfallen out of the dungeon. She thought she had finally been able to tame him down a bit. She should have imagined that it would not be as easy a ride as hers. That steed was not broken, but shattered; it might stay that way forever.

At that moment, her friend Twilight approached her lovingly.

"Did he do something to you?"

"Just yell at me. I couldn't really get anywhere."

"It's okay, Starlight, we knew it wouldn't be a one-day thing."

"But I want to help."

"And you will, but you have to know when to set your limits. Besides, I contacted someone else myself who could stand up to him."

"Who?"

Suddenly, a blue trail glowed and crashed into the glass, leaving a large hole in the castle's roof. The author of the catastrophe shook her wings and shattered the remains of the glass.

"Luna!" the princess cried, her eyes twinkling with excitement.

 "Princess Twilight Sparkle, I'm so happy to be here at your call! What's next in your plan to overthrow King Sombra?" 

 "I've missed you so much," Twilight said, giving her a big hug.

 "Me too," she replied, giving him a warm hug. "But tell me, why did you ask for my help? I thought they had already found a way to destroy him."

 "Actually, I called you to have a little chat with him."

Luna gave him a questioning look, as if she wasn't quite convinced of his plan. But she blindly trusted her current ruler.

"What do you have in mind, your highness?" he asked with a warm smile.

 "Well, he's... complicated. Starlight tried to reason with him, but he wants nothing to do with us. But you were on that path once and you also helped Starlight and Stygian. I'm sure you'll be able to help him, too."

 "Twilight, you know I'm all for redemption. But that guy is really struggling."

 "Please," Starlight begged, "at least try."

 "I'd be happy to help, Twilight. I'll do it for you, other than what you're looking for out of this."

 "Twilight wants to know more about the Arctic North, and I'd love to learn more about dark magic."

Twilight scolded her old apprentice with her eyes, it was true, though not entirely. But she could not be so subjective, she had to look out for the welfare of the creatures in her kingdom. No matter how vile they were, she had to at least try.

 Luna descended the dungeon stairs, the polished marble turning to brittle rock with each step. Soon, the light was replaced by darkness.

 It was strange for ponies to use these dungeons; it had been years since they had deserved to be there, or had committed worse crimes. No one cared for them anymore, and their upkeep was conspicuous by its absence: dust collected on the floor and rust on the bars corroded the atmosphere. But for Luna that was insignificant compared to the need to return to Sombra.

She stopped a few meters from her cell. The black stallion had his back to her. Sensing her presence, he flicked his ear and turned towards her. Cautiously he approached her. His eyes were bloodshot as he stared at her. It was an emotionless stare, with the dead eyes of a damned soul.

Just as she was about to speak, the prisoner opened his snout.

 "Princess Luna, it has certainly been years," he said with a false cordiality. A subtle mockery.

"Thousands, and yet you never learned," she replied contemptuously.

"Learn what? How cowardly and dishonest you princesses are."

"Twilight defeated you! Twice, and you're still being given a chance," Luna snorted. "You should be grateful to have such a compassionate ruler."

"No doubt, she is superior to you. Especially Amore."

"You psycho! You killed her!" She pointed his horn at the steed's jugular.

"She wanted me to die, it was her or me. I chose to save myself."

Luna calmed her rage and stepped away from the stallion.

"Anyway, she asked me to talk to you. "What's the reason for this?"

"I told you, it's my nature."

"You know what, I can't handle it," she replied irritably.

She moved away from the cell, shining a celestial light from her horn. She spread her wings to intensify her power and focused it on the prisoner. The shadow eyes turned white and her horn radiated a dark purple. Luna approached the portal and entered the threshold of his mind.

It was empty and plain, not even dark or sad; it was in nowhere. She had never seen a mind this desolate in any pony. She walked in the subconscious until she found the corridor of a castle. She entered the hall, it was narrow but its ceiling seemed endless. It was narrow but its ceiling seemed endless. Near the wooden columns, they tangled and wove together as if forming a disturbing tree that rooted the doors in a kind of honeycomb.

She backed away slightly to a place where she could clear her mind from the sight, but the longer she stood there, the darker and more tense the atmosphere became. The air in her lungs seemed to choke her like a snake. In defense, she contracted her wings, wrapping them around her body to make room. She tried to talk to herself to calm down, but the red velvet carpet on the floor drowned out her voice. The eye-shaped fabric made her feel like prey. She wanted to scream, but she couldn't hear herself. A mournful chant boomed in her ears (Come here, son), she pleaded in a guttural growl.

 Luna silenced her screams with a powerful burst of light, exposing her mind.

She noticed several elegant mahogany doors with regal engravings of broken hearts in a faux gold color. She inspected each one carefully, searching for the source of her torments. Traveling down the endless corridor, the doors were absurdly similar. Some were white and tall, others black and thin, but none seemed to be of particular interest to her. A rush passed by her ears, again that praying sound was calling her. A mist of green miasma followed and chased it into the dark part.

There the doors lay shattered and splintered on the floor. Except for one. It was made of crystal, like those of the empire; its pale whitish blue color glistened with lavender glitter. Despite its mystical appearance, like everything else in his mind it held a subtle sorrow.

She used a black magic spell and opened the door. A halo of light filtered out of it, illuminating the gloomy atmosphere.

"Inside the door was a heartwarming scene; a classroom with several crystal foals. Everyone was laughing, running and painting. It seemed to be days before the crystal fair, as they were painting the symbol of their flag; a snowflake.

«You could see how hard it was for them to make such a complex symbol with their snouts, they would press so hard on the pencils that they would break. How the whole floor was covered with frost that the foals failed to stick to their paints." Luna felt nostalgic, her childhood was uncounted decades ago and hard to remember. She wished she had grown up surrounded by playful fillies, besides her sister she didn't have any friends in her childhood."

"Returning to her senses, she turned her gaze to the far end of the room. Far away from all the children was a foal painting alone. His eyes were bright green, contrasting with his black fur and even darker mane. Luna blinked several times, she couldn't believe it. It was Sombra! He was drawing with a dark gray crayon, his lines were confident but vague, like every child he painted without caring if it worked out well. What he wanted was to have fun and boy was he enjoying it. His big eyes sparkled with an emotion Luna never thought she would see in him; happiness.

When he finished his strokes, he took the bottle of purple sparkles and began to frost his drawing. He was so proud of it. He trotted with it in his mouth to show his teacher, until he heard the murmurs of his classmates."

"That freak can't do anything right," complained one of the students.

"Let him be, he's too dumb to even try. He can barely talk."

" Why isn't he a normal foal?"

"He's not even a crystal pony, I still don't understand why Miss Chestnutfall doesn't take him to the streets."

"It would be nice not to have to see him and his ugly black coat anymore."

"Poor little colt, even crystallization doesn't save him from being ugly."

The crystal ponies burst into mocking laughter, taking advantage of the fact that the teacher was distracted.

Little Sombra looked at the drawing to which he had put so much care and threw it in the trash. He covered up his tears and ran out into the playground to escape from his classmates.

"He went as far as the schoolyard, where he hid among the brambles of roses and began to cry. Luna approached the foal, forgetting that it was the memory of her enemy. She wanted to comfort that desolate foal, but she knew she could not change that sour memory. Sombra basked in the rose bush, its thorns tore his fur and his tears were lost in the dew."

The little boy wailed until he heard a familiar voice.

"Sombra!" cried a filly of his age. She came running from the stall, panting from exhaustion. "Are you all right? I didn't see you in the classroom and I was scared.The teacher told me you ran out. Please come inside, you're going to miss the festival."

 "I'm not going," sobbed Sombra. "I'll never go, no matter what I do they'll never accept me, I'm trying to be normal, I swear I am! But all this. It's just the way I am, I don't know why I'm like this."

"Why do you want to change who you are?

"They say I'm weird," he replied tearfully.

"They say that about me too, and I'm not weird, am I?"

"Well... "Sombra tried to dissimulate.

"What?" she exclaimed in a sad voice.

"No wait, I didn't mean it."

 "I'm just kidding, but look, you're not crying anymore," she went over and hugged him, "I don't care what anyone else thinks. I love you like this."

"Thank you Hope." He hugged his best friend back.

Luna was touched by the scene of those two friends, they loved each other more than anything in the world. All afternoon they played until they went back to the orphanage at sundown."

(Hope, where have I heard that name before?) Luna wondered.

Also what must have happened to her. Sombra had such a faithful friend, how that bond was broken.

She was pulled from her thoughts by a subtle miasma swirling in the darkness of the twilight. The memory began to blur and the scenery to fade.

The green cloud enveloped Sombra as he writhed in pain. He was in a hospital bed near which the crystal heart could be spotted meters away. The foal was weeping and sobbing in pain, while his friend stood beside him in tears. The miasma materialized as a horse, not like ordinary ponies; it was boned, incorporeal, with crooked teeth and lifeless white eyes. Luna lashed out with a thrust, but that creature snapped her out of her subconscious.

She crashed to the dungeon floor, her legs shaking as she tried to get up. It was strange, extremely frightening, what was hidden in her mind was a true danger.

She looked up at Sombra, her serious features were now sad, she could swore there was even a subtle gleam in his eyes. Like that of a stray puppy begging for food.

Luna was too burdened by all she had witnessed to say anything back. She stood and teleported to the throne room.

Sombra for his part lay on the floor shivering, he contracted his hooves to cover his stomach. He was trembling, he was getting chills. With a blank stare he looked up at the roof.

Twilight talked to the interior decorator as soon as she finished the room she had ordered for her prisoner. She knew it was a bit early to have him in the castle. But she had to get him out of this precarious environment if she wanted to befriend him.

Suddenly Starlight arrived, Twilight had asked her to take charge of Sombra's watch while he was in the castle. Of course she agreed, she couldn't think of anyone better for the job; after all, she knew what a villain looked like and would keep her up to date on her patient's schemes.

Before they went back downstairs, they found Luna coming out of the dungeon. She was very agitated, sweat dripping from her brow and her legs were crooked; she looked like she was fleeing from a predator.

"Luna! Oh, no. Did he attack you?",asked Twilight worriedly.

"No, it's not that, it's just...". She hesitated to answer. "I wasn't ready."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have involved you in this," she said in a trembling voice.

Luna wrapped her wings around Twilight in a soft hug.

"No Twilight, it's all right. But I need time, I think I know a way to help you." She lifted Twilight's chin "Help you both."

Both princesses said goodbye with chivalry. Luna went to her retirement home in the outskirts of Canterlot, where she had multiple records of the past thousand years in Equestria; maybe one of them could explain that nightmare.

When Twilight and Starlight went back down to the bottom of the dungeon, frankly it was tiring, for that and other reasons they wanted to move him to the castle chambers. When they reached his cage, he greeted them with a growl of irritation.

"You've been up and down here all the time! You're not going let me be miserable alone," the beast said.

"That's why we've come to offer you a place to stay at the castle," Twilight exclaimed warmly.

Sombra questioned her with a "those mares are crazy" look. But he won't be stupid.

"So what is the trap?"

"You'll help us find out more about the Crystal Empire, since you grew up there. If you can prove that you can be trusted, I'll remove your magic blocker. On the condition that you promise to use it for good, of course."

Sombra wanted to scoff at such a naive request, but he kept his truths to himself. It would be idiotic to remain snorting in the cell like a raging bull. Foolishly hoping to be lucky enough to get out. Being in the castle, living with the princess, did not displease him so much. If only he could find a way to take over not just Canterlot, but all of Equestria.

"All right, Princess," he laughed in a baritone voice. "If you think that, I'll show you how wrong you are."

Starlight opened the cage and Shadow came out at a stunted pace, the lack of food and rest taking its toll. Twilight teleported the three of them to the north tower, across from a newly repaired door.

They entered the room, which was spacious without being huge; decorated in purple and red, there was not much furniture other than a small desk with papyrus and quills, next to it was a medium-sized bookshelf full of children's books. In the middle was a crescent-shaped bed mattress, large enough for Sombra to sleep on.

"This is your new room," Twilight announced. "I know you're tired, so rest. When you wake up, I'll bring you some food."

"More stale bread and apples?"

"What?! I asked you for oatmeal. Then she remembered. "I guess the jailer doesn't like you very much. Well it's obvious after your last visit."

"Last?" he exclaimed incredulously. "I haven't set foot in Canterlot, until now."

"But you. You invaded Canterlot five years ago."

"I've been in the arctic wasteland ever since the Crystal heart destroyed me."

"But how?"

"Discord!" Starlight grumbled. "He owes us an explanation."

"What!" shouted Sombra.

Twilight quickly grabbed Starlight and they both left with a teleportation spell.

Sombra was puzzled, but knew he would get no answer and decided to ignore it. He moved swiftly to the mattress, where he dropped down. After experiencing the stone floor, that soft, feather-filled mattress felt like heaven. His body sank into that soft bed. Would the clouds feel like that? Sombra wanted to believe so. He let himself be absorbed by such an exquisite experience, finally closing his tired eyelids.