A/N: This takes place after the prologue

Luna wished she could stay here forever. She lay on a bed of puffy clouds. Whisper-thin blankets kissed her skin. The sunlight crowned her in a halo of light. And.....was that rose petals she smelled? She'd linger here, perhaps a bit longer. Then wake up, say good morning to her mother, her father, her brother Astral, Celestia. The series of events that had happened over the past year were all just a terrible, terrible dream-

She opened her eyes and the fantasy shattered. The room she was in was pristine sparse. The walls were painted grey. A large bed with white sheets and blankets was in teh center of the room. To the left, A table with two chairs. To the right, an ivory closet. But a set of black crystal doors gave it away.

She was a prisoner.

****

Luna still hadn't managed to break out. The black crystal was impenetrable. Simply being near it dampened her magic. The glass window to her left was blocked with black crystal prison bars.

He's scared of me. Why else would he keep me locked up like this? And the thought made her smile. But, it was very clear Sombra was trying to make her feel like an equal. The room was well-furnished, the bed comfortable. She wasn't even in a proper dungeon.

Make her feel like an equal, while keeping her captive. An impossible task. You just can't win, Sombra.

Luna plopped onto the bed. It was clear she wasn't escaping any time soon. She needed to conserve her energy. If so, her next goal was to be well-informed of what was going on. From there, she could plan her next move.

The crystal bars in front of the window were thick, but still allowed room for her to peek through them. From what she could see, all the buildings in the Empire were made of the same obsidian black. Every now and then, Luna would hear the harsh crack of a whip. Maybe a shrill scream.

Citizens marched in straight lines. Stony gazes locked ahead, shoulders back. Perfect formations. No one rebelled. No one attacked. They had all submitted to Sombra's rule.

He wants me to see this. Sombra could've easily closed off her window, but instead left cracks for her to peek through. As if he were daring her to play his game. I won't buy any of this.

Sombra's last words to her before he kidnapped her still echoed in her head. Will you be my queen?

Oh, she would've been his queen. Would've.

Will you be my queen?

Never. Otherwise it would be too late. If there was one thing she learnt in life, it was to suck the poison out before it infected something. She'd have to defeat him. Perhaps then, remnants of the old Sombra would still remain. Maybe they could still be together.

A chilling presence filled the room. A presence that screamed for her to run, to go. She turned around, and at the door stood the boy she loved. He still wore his spiked crown, but instead of the elaborate armor he had worn last time, he was dressed in a simple lace up shirt and black pants.

Now.

Luna shot a light spell at the wall to her right. Sombra's glance quickly averted from her to the blue glow. Taking advantage of the still open doors, she slid through the gap between them, tackling Sombra in the process.

She scrambled to her feet and breathed deeply, feeling the rush of her full powers coming back. She raised her glowing fingertip-

"It's not that easy," Sombra taunted from his position on the ground.

The black crystal doors grew into claws and threw her back into the room. Strange. They seem to be acting on their own, almost.

He reshaped the doors. "Let's sit."

Luna agreed, pulling out one of the two chairs at the table. She had succeeded. If she had gotten past Sombra, she could've possibly escaped and gotten back to Canterlot. And even though she hadn't, she'd learnt more of what his powers could d0.

"I'm glad to see one of us is still the same." Sombra reached for her hand, but she slid it away. He looked almost...disappointed. "It's still not enough, isn't it?"

"I loved you for who you were, not what you had. I loved you when you were the boy from the slums," Luna replied, trying to keep her voice level.

"But I still had something special," Sombra hissed. He flicked his hand, and a waxy black crystal ball formed in his hands. "Magic." As if reacting to his emotions, the ball grew long spikes.

Even with his magic, he's still just a boy. He still hurts like the rest of us. Sombra noticed the spikes on the ball and clenched it, tiny black shards plummeting to the floor.

"Luna, we only have each other. Chrissy, Evie and Celestia are missing. Jet is dead. You've always wanted to make a difference. Now that I have the Empire under control, we can. Us as king and queen, together," Sombra proposed, true hope in his eyes.

For a second, Luna didn't see a deranged madman corrupted by dark magic. Instead she saw....Sombra. Just a boy, madly in love, with so many dreams for the world.

The crystal shards on the ground rose back into Sombra's hand, reforming. They twisted and curled, until the ending piece was a tiara. One that matched the crown on his head. "Will you be my queen, Luna?"

Yes. Yes! She wanted to scream. And he would place the crown on her head and she would leap into his arms. But....the image of him shattering Amore fractured her fantasy.

"I...I can't," Luna forced out, tears already forming in her eyes.

There was a deadly silence. A bitterness filled the air, as if Sombra's feelings towards her rejection were poisoning the atmosphere. As his gaze hardened, the tiara started splintering with sickening cracks, until it completely fell apart and hit the ground.

"I have powers. My magic is stronger than before. I took over an Empire. I live in a beautiful palace. I'm a king. Then why won't you have me?" Sombra was desperate, red irises searching for an answer.

"You changed in the process," Luna argued. "You're not who you were."

"Did you expect me to be the same person? Weak? Hopeless?" He spat the last word with such contempt, Luna thought he might murder it. "It changed me for the better. The pain made me stronger. More exceptional. More brilliant."

"Merciless cruelty isn't strength! Forcing innocent people into slavery isn't brilliance!" Luna burst out.

"What do you know about their innocence?" Sombra pounded his fist on the table. "They exploited us." His voice trembled. "They used our taxes for gambling! They pretended we didn't exist. That we were useless. Unworthy."

"If you're so passionate about this issue, then fix it!" Luna screamed. "You have the power to do so. Don't make people suffer more than they have to. I guarantee you, amongst the people you're torturing, there are innocents. What makes you better than the Dusks?"

Sombra didn't say anything. He just sat there, scowling with teenage sulk. Luna almost wanted to laugh. It was as if they were in school. He had asked her out on a date and she had refused. As if it was that simple.

"I hope you're happy now," Luna whispered, hate filling her words. He had all that he had wanted. But it isn't what you achieve, it's how you achieve it. He had killed and maimed, and sounded...proud of it.

"Happy? HAPPY?! How can I be happy when I don't have you!" Sombra took her hands in his, almost begging her to say something.

Luna stayed quiet. She focused her gaze on the broken tiara adorning the floor. You had an opportunity, and you wasted it. What have you done? Unfamiliar voices whispered in her head. But then whispers grew to shouts.

You could've been a queen.

The darkness was seeping inside her head. You could've been a queen. She could barely hear her own thoughts.

"Stop!" She screamed, her hand automatically glowing blue. The shadows whimpered, scattering like mice back to their king.

Luna folded her arms across her chest. The two of them stared at each other. All Luna found in Sombra's eyes were ruthlessness and rage, barely contained.

I'll make you be my queen.

Luna shot a stun spell at him, but black crystals cracked through the floor and blocked it.

They dueled with magic, a violent glittering dance. Blues and reds encircling each other as if they were in a ballroom.

An obsidian shard pinned her to the wall by the collar of her dress, grazing her neck in the process. Fire ants raced up and down her skin.

The void of black was all she could see now. Red, purple and green undertones rimmed the edges of her vision. She knew what this was.

The Nightmare Spell.

It's not real. It's not real. Luna tried desperately to convince herself. He's just using this to manipulate you.

But everything, from her breath in the frigid air to her steady footsteps couldn't be fake. Controlled by an external force, she entered a dungeon. It was dingy, and the walls didn't provide any protection from the cold. All the cells were empty except for one.

"Luna. I thought I'd give you a gift." It was Sombra's voice. It echoed all around her. She couldn't escape it.

"I don't think we have the same idea in mind," she replied.

"Surely you've been wondering what happened to your sister?"

Luna drew in a breath. Tia. She'd gone to the Crystal Empire to take it back and had never returned. She knew Sombra was definitely linked to it.

"I didn't kill her."

Luna exhaled a breath of relief. You haven't taken everyone away from me.

The cell held an unconscious woman with rainbow hair.

"Tia!" Luna screamed, about to run to her. But an invisible force stopped her.

"Luna?" Celestia mused, as if awakening from a long sleep. "You're finally here...." She rose shakily, limping over to the bars.

"Don't get distracted." Sombra's voice chided in her ear.

Eight black crystal shards flew out of nowhere, landing on Celestia. She shrieked as they sliced through skin and blood flicked onto everything. Luna winced as a metallic drop hit her eye and turned her vision red.

"Lulu, help me!" Celestia begged.

But again, Luna was frozen in place. Completely frozen. She couldn't even speak to tell her sister of the reason she couldn't help.

Soon skin became red patches of muscle-or was it blood? Any of Celestia's weak attempts to stop the shards were rewarded with harsher cuts.

"Lulu! What are you doing?" Celestia forced out, before a knife sliced her deeply across the face.

More blood. Celestia fell to the ground into her pool of blood, screaming and batting away the knives.

Now, Celestia was less a person and more a lump of red. A weak groan escaped her lips, and the knives obediently flurried out.

Her eyes didn't just hold pain. They held fire as well.

"How could you let me suffer like this?" Celestia's eyes burned with betrayal. "You promised. We promised to always protect each other. You broke that. I'm in pain, Lulu. Why would you do this to me? I'd rather you'd never been born my sister. In fact, I'd rather you'd never been born at all."

"Tia..." Luna whimpered, still in shock from the scene. "I-I-"

"You've lost the right to call me that, Luna. I have never been more disappointed," Celestia spat.

Then Luna's world was spinning. A whirlpool of ice blue. And she found herself alone on a frozen lake.

She's abandoned me too.

Frost crept up her legs.

I let her down. I hurt her. It's all my fault. Again.

Frost inched up to her neck.

Now everyone's gone.

Frost enveloped her.

"The last person who you cared about has turned their back on you too. Do you know what it's like to be truly alone?" Sombra's voice whispered in her ear.

Her heart was frozen too.

"But you're wrong. I still love you, dear Luna, and I always will. We can be together."

Then it all. Went. Black.

***

The first thing she saw were prison bars. From floor to ceiling, and without any lock in sight, they stifled any chance of escape.

The ground was cool beneath her. Cool and hard and smooth. Waxy, almost.

Everything ached. Her neck was stiff from lying on the ground. Her throat was raw from screaming. Her wrists throbbed painfully from the constant bleeding. Chains bit into skin.

The entire cell was made of black crystals.

She sat up gingerly, rolling her neck and stretching her arms out as far as they could go.

Peering through the bars at her was Sombra. But he didn't look like the fearsome king everyone made him out to be. Beneath his eyes were bruises purple and blue. His eyes held uncertainty; his body didn't hold the swagger it did even the last time they'd met.

He was so unlike the first time he had come to her with his new powers. He had been so well-groomed. Everything so meticulously placed. So arrogant.

She wondered what he would do next. But this time, she didn't fear him. She had seen his full powers. Seen his limits. There was nothing more that could take her by surprise.

"Luna."

She attempted to stand up, but her chains restricted her. She could only get up into a kneeling position no matter how hard she tried.

He grinned, striding over to her. She kept her gaze locked on the ground.

He's doing this to demoralize you. Make you feel like you are less.

She shifted onto one hip, and put her legs to one side. There. I don't kneel to you.

His grin immediately disappeared. "I gave you an opportunity, Luna."

"Yes, an opportunity to be tortured," she replied sarcastically. "Very impressive what you did there, Sombra. Making me feel alone to manipulate me? Don't think that went over my head."

"I wanted you to figure it out. I play fair, after all," Sombra retorted, ignoring her sarcasm.

"Torturing me doesn't make me want to be your queen. You put me in a dungeon and expect me to love you. Sombra, I know the real you is still in there. Listen to me. You have to stop using dark magic. If you keep doing that, it's going to corrupt you," Luna warned.

Parts of the real Sombra resurfaced. The way he would flick his bangs out of his eyes. The way he'd look at her. Like he was in love.

"Luna... I just want you back and I'm scared. I don't know what to do, you have to help me-"

He clutched his head painfully, stumbling back into the wall.

Luna thought she heard him give another cry for help. Then once again, the world plunged into darkness.  

Hey guys! I'm back! What did you think of Sombra's transformation? Will Luna accept his offer? Remember to vote if you enjoyed, and comment any thoughts!