Twilight yanked and pulled at the metal chain that was attached to the metal collar around her neck. They relocated to a castle hidden in the mountains with the Crystal Ponies. Sombra thought it would be a nice touch if he dragged her along with a chain leash. But Twilight Sparkle refused to be treated like somebody's pet.
"My..." Sombra purred when he stepped into her cell, "You look lovely in chains."
Twilight grunted before glaring dangerously at the tyrant. "As soon as I get outta here-!" Twilight yelped when she lost her balance and accidentally slipped onto the stone floor. Sombra chuckled in amusement; Twilight has bruises, blood, scratches covering her body.
She's a tough mare, this one, Sombra was impressed as he continued to watch her fight with the chain. "I've tried all of my nightmare spells, but none of them are strong enough to break her. It's no wonder she was able to last this long. I must try harder. You must see things my way."
Twilight eventually gave up on the chain and fell on her back in exhaustion. Her tongue hanging out as she panted for breath. Sombra felt something click in him when he saw the young mare splayed out like that on the floor. Fighting back the urges that were beginning to pop up in him, he spoke. "Shall we begin today's secession?"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Oh joy." she spat sarcastically.
"It doesn't have to be this way if you would just give up on Celestia and join me instead. She hasn't even sent a search party for you."
"Y-You don't know that!" Twilight protested.
"Oh, but I do know, Twilight Sparkle. I've lived on these lands since my colthood. It would be suicide if she were to send a search party out in this type of weather."
"The Canterlot Royal Guard has some of the best fliers in all of Equestria." Twilight said firmly. "I'm sure they'll manage."
Sombra growled softly in frustration. Flashing his pure white fangs dangerously and causing Twilight to recoil back slightly. No pony she's ever known in person had fangs. This was no ordinary unicorn. Sombra was a master of dark magic. The master of nightmares. The king of shadows. She was skating on thin ice right now.
"They will never find you, Twilight Sparkle." he snarled as he slowly approached the now frightened mare. "You will join my side as both my apprentice and my queen. Your so called "friends" care nothing for you. Neither does your beloved mentor."
"Shut up!" Twilight screamed as she quickly covered her ears. "Just shut up already!"
Sombra snapped. "You NEVER show disrespect towards ME, THE MIGHTY KING!
Twilight tried to put up a brave face, but found that she was too frightened to even move a single muscle. Instead she crawled away from the angry king until she curled herself up against the corner of her cell. Pressing against the cold walls and shielding her face with her hooves.
"I will break you." Sombra vowed. His eyes flashing green as light purple smoke fumed from the corner of his eyes. "And I will use any means necessary in doing so." The tip of his horn glowed before he struck her with a nightmare spell.
Twilight screamed from the agonizing pain that now coursed through her body. She was now enduring the same nightmare she's been having ever since her capture.
Princess Celestia's face looked grim. She shook her head and looked away from her. Clearly disappointed by her failure. Twilight collapsed onto the carpeted floor. Crying heavily. "You call yourself my student?" Celestia scoffed as she narrowed her eyes at her. "Hmph. Some excuse for a student who can't even do one thing right."
"Princess! Please come back! I'm sorry! I'll try harder next time! I promise! Please don't leave me!"
Twilight wailed on the floor. Frantically crying out to someone who wasn't really there. Sombra grinned at his current results and forced more power into the spell. Hoping to add more effect in the end. Twilight suddenly screamed in sheer horror.
"No, Princess! Please! Please don't kick me out! I'll try harder! Just give me another chance!"
Celestia narrowed her eyes angrily at Twilight and said, "No more chances, Twilight Sparkle. You are hearby no longer my student! You aren't even close to being worthy enough! I made a mistake choosing you the first day I saw you. You are weak! Useless! You're nothing but a useless filly!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Twilight screamed in despair as tears proceeded to flow from her closed eyes. She shot out her hoof in a desperate attempt to reach for the alicorn that wasn't really there to begin with. Everything felt so real that Twilight was trouble defining if this is just another one of Sombra's tricks, or if this is the real deal. It was messing with her mind severely.
Sombra felt a sense of victory in him. He was getting close. He could just feel her nearing her breaking point. Soon he would have her on his side. Such a strong, beautiful mare is very likely to produce some strong offspring. The mere thought of just touching her sent a shiver down the gray stallion's spine. He could hardly wait. He just needed to have her break...
...
Two months had gone by.
Twilight had never felt so alone before in her life. She had lost a large amount of weight during her capture. Refusing to eat any food offered to her. It was only until Sombra threatened to force feed her that she decided to at least eat a bit of food. Her eyes were red from the crying she's endured during her secessions with Sombra. Dark rings formed underneath her eyes from lack of sleep. It made her sick to think that Sombra had a nice mattress with a warm blanket and cozy pillows to sleep on while she had nothing but the floor and her arms.
"You just won't accept it. Won't you?" Sombra sighed after a secession. Twilight layed on the floor. She looked up at the tyrant with wet, tearful eyes.
"Why?" she asked, her voice was scratchy from all the screaming she's done during each secession. "Why me? Why do you do this to me? What did I do to deserve this?" More importantly, why hasn't Celestia come for her yet?
Sombra approached the fallen mare and, to her surprise, gently brushed his hoof against her long unkept mane. "I do this for your own good,Twilight." he said fondly as he continued to caress her. "You refuse to listen. You refuse to believe that Celestia and your friends have abandoned you for good."
Twilight narrowed her eyes at the stallion and viciously ripped away from his gentle caresses and crawled back a few feet. Minding the chain that was still latched onto her. "No... You can torture me as long as you like... But I know Celestia hasn't given up on me. She'll never give up on me because she loves me. She and my friends."
Something suddenly clicked in Sombra's head and he smirked evilly to himself. "Hm. That's something a failure would say." he said casually. This caught Twilight's attention and she immediately perked her ears up at this.
"W-what are you saying?" she asked weakly.
Sombra smiled innocently. His crimson eyes flickering. "Think about it for a minute, sweet Twilight. Celestia sent you to the Crystal Empire as a mission, yes?"
Twilight thought for a moment. It had only been two months. Yet everything seems like a distant memory now. She nodded her head shakely. "I-I think so."
"Well... Look at what occurred. Not only had you failed to stop me, but you failed to save everyone. You allowed your brother to get killed. You allowed the Crystal Ponies to get enslaved. You brought your friends into grave danger. Why would that give Celestia a reason to save you? Why would she want something to do with a failure such as yourself? Your friends left you because you placed them in mortal danger. What makes you think they'd still want you as a friend after what you put them through?"
"I-I..." Twilight stammered. She couldn't find the right words to use. Was Sombra really telling the truth. Now that she thought about it, he does have a good point. "B-but...I don't understand." she whimpered.
Sombra sighed deeply. He was close. So very close. He just needed to put her through a secession one more time. This time make it as real as possible. Enough to make her believe it's real. He casted the spell and Twilight screamed. It wasn't long until she found herself in a familiar situation.
Twilight found herself surrounded by her friends and family. Everyone she knew in person. They were all giving her hateful and disappointed looks. Even Spike!
"Why, Twi?" Shining Armor asked coldly, "Why did you let me die?"
"I-I didn't..." Twilight struggled to speak.
"You let my husband die in the hands of Sombra, Twilight Sparkle." Cadance hissed, "And to think I actually agreed to be your foalsitter.
"Cadance, please!"
"It was a mistake ever meeting you, Twi!" Rainbow Dash snapped harshly. "All you've ever done was get us into dangerous situations that could kill us!"
"Yeah!" the others agreed in unison.
"Dash...Applejack...Rare...Fluttershy...Pinkie..."
"Hmph! You only see me as a slave! You just used me as an excuse to become Princess Celestia's student! Some mother you are!" Spike snapped bitterly.
"That's not true, Spike!" Twilight cried. Not Spike. Anypony but Spike...
"You're a terrible excuse for a student!" Celestia said cruelly. Glaring hatefully at the frightened unicorn. "I am better off with somepony who actually knows how to do things right! All of Equestria is better off without you!"
Twilight gasped in sheer horror. Did she really just say that? Celestia of all ponies!?
"I wouldn't be dead if you hadn't fucked things up at the Crystal Empire!" Shining Armor yelled. Causing Twilight to recoil back in fear.
"This is all your fault! My husband would still be alive if it weren't for you!" Candace screeched.
Twilight suddenly felt something hit her. She fell to the ground. Bleeding from a wound to her face. She couldn't over and gasped when she saw Rainbow Dash standing in an attacking position. "That's for almost getting us killed all the time!" the blue pegasus hissed.
"D-Dash..." Twilight felt the tears finally fall. "I-I thought we were best friends..."
"You HAVE no FRIENDS."
"No...NO!" Twilight screamed in sheer denial. "This can't be happening!"
"You see what I mean? I can't have a friend who acts like a deranged lunatic!" Rainbow Dash snapped.
"She's a danger to us and Equestria." Celestia growled. "It's best if we just get rid of her. For our sake." she spoke with no remorse whatsoever.
"I couldn't agree more." Shining Armor agreed.
"No..." Twilight whispered.
The group started to approach her. All with a deadly look in their eyes.
"No...stop...please...STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!"
Sombra watched Twilight writhe on the floor in pain. As though she were being beaten to death. Her tears and pleas didn't stop as she frantically flew her arms around as if she was attempting to protect herself from her invisible attackers. When the spell finally wore off, Twilight had been reduced into nothing but a shivering mess on the floor. Curled up in a tight ball crying loudly. Sombra smiled softly and approached the broken unicorn. He finally broke her. Just like he wanted. He layed beside Twilight before removing his cape and placing it on her. Twilight snuggled at the soft, comforting fabric. The first comforting thing she's felt since her capture. She felt the steel collar around her neck suddenly fall off and hit the ground with a "clang" along with the chain. She continued to cry from there.
"Sweet Twilight..." Sombra crooned as he gently pulled the unicorn into an embrace. He was pleased to see that she didn't pull herself away, but actually clung onto him for comfort. Pressing her face against the cold armor covering his chest. "Now do you believe me? The ones you once saw as your friends betrayed you. They care nothing for you. They've abandoned you."
Twilight whimpered loudly and pressed herself even closer to the gray stallion. Sombra smiled and gently caressed her mane. "Don't worry, my dear. I'll never be like them. I'll always be by your side no matter what. I'm your only real friend."
Twilight sniffled and her loud sobs had been reduced into nothing but broken whimpers. Eventually, she gave in to exhaustion and fell asleep right in Sombra's arms. Wrapped in his warm, cozy cape. The gray stallion grinned victoriously and gently brushed his lips near her horn. It would be a long road to recovery for her. But all she needed was some food and rest on a comfy bed. And luckily for him, he knew just the bed to use....