The ponies of the Crystal Council knew the prince wasn't paying attention to the meeting.  He had been distant since the hour began.  It made proceedings awkward.

The interruption was nearly a relief.  The councilpony speaking trailed off gratefully as a servant made her way to the prince and whispered into his ear.  The others heard only a few muffled words, but everyone knew what was being said.  Sombra's eyes widened.  He started to stand, but he caught himself midway through the motion so it ended up being more a sort of lurch.  

“Apologies, but I need to leave soon,” he said, a crystalline forehoof tap-tapping on the arm of his chair.  “No one has anything urgent?”

A few ponies shook their heads.  The one who had been interrupted smiled, reassuring, and said, “Nothing as important as that, Your Highness.”

“‘Your Majesty’,” the young prince corrected with a bemused frown.  Before anyone could reply, he was out the door.  He galloped down halls and stairs, only slowing to give ponies the chance to scramble out of his way.  The sunlight that fell through the windows and glanced off the palace and ponies inside refracted off of him as well; the faceted shadows he cast sparkled as brightly as anyone's as he ran.

He stopped when he reached the clinic wing.  A nurse showed him to the door.  He stood in front of it for a minute to let his breathing even out, listening for any sounds from behind it – he thought he could make out voices – then knocked.  “It's Sombra,” he called quietly.

He had been here five hours earlier as well.  Radiant had just begun to go into labor.  He remembered the tension and tentative joy he'd felt as he met Silver in the hallway before the other stallion went in to be with his wife.  He remembered it like it'd been in a dream.

Silver Medal opened the door.  He was beaming, all anxiety erased.  “Come see,” he said, ushering Sombra towards the bed.  “Look at him.”

“Diamond Shine,” said Radiant, who glowed even more than Silver.  She held the sleeping colt to her chest, and as she said his name she nuzzled him.  “He put up a lot of trouble, but look at him now.”

“Oh,” Sombra breathed.  “Welcome, my little pony.”  Their son was a beautiful colt, even for Sombra who was no judge in these matters.  Coat a soft, pink-hued white, wings so large and downy it seemed the foal might sink into them, the gently narrow facial features of his mother already apparent.  “Radiant, how do you feel?”

“I'm going to sleep for a week,” she said, and Silver laughed and reached out for her to set her hoof atop his.

Radiant Hope had been Sombra's best friend from childhood and now was the head of his court scholars.  They'd shared sorrows and smiles for most of their lives.  Silver Medal was likewise a dear friend, his seneschal and a stallion whose ability Sombra trusted without question.  Awe and love and pride grew in Sombra at the sight of their happiness, but it was a strangely dim mixture.

He felt as he had in the council room, listening with half a heart to his advisors while his mind lay in a different world.  This wasn't the place where he belonged.

And, as he thought that, shadows crept into the scene, enveloping Sombra and spreading from him.  Darkness consumed Radiant and Silver.  For an instant, as it reached Diamond's soft wings, Radiant looked like she might have noticed – her tired eyes widened, she opened her mouth and turned to Sombra to speak – but the darkness swallowed her breath.  Then it was only King Sombra in the perpetual night at the base of the Crystal Heart's prison.

He shivered, so subtly he could pretend it hadn't happened, and pressed an armor-clad hoof to the ache like a wound in his chest.  He did it to feel the conviction in his voice.  “I am King Sombra!  I defeated Princess Amore!  The Crystal Empire is mine by right of might,” he declared to the empty room.  “I know who the crystal ponies are.  They're not yours.  They're mine!  Your lies are nothing.”

Proximity to the Crystal Heart had polluted and gravely weakened the trap.  He dispelled the illusion, recast it as it should be, and went to oversee his slaves from atop his tower.