The Agreement

"I have so many questions," Sombra asked as Celestia studied him. "But I really need to know how you got here."

Celestia stuttered, but Twilight spoke up, "We're not telling you anything about that until you tell us where the evil energy went."

"Evil energy?"

"Don't play dumb with us, Sombra," Rarity snapped. "You have to know that something happened, because our Sombra has switched sides. We know all too well how balance works with our worlds, so tell us, where did the evil energy go?"

Sombra visibly bristled at the thought, "Celestia and Luna of my Equestria. Even when we're all evil, we're at each other's throats constantly. I can't go a single day without having to deal with some kind of attack. But now-"

A single scroll materialized out of thin air. Still in shock, Celestia just stared at it while Twilight lifted it and opened it. In a shaky voice, she read aloud, "Dear Princess Celestia,

"YOU TOLD ME YOU WEREN'T WORKING ON THE MIRROR! YOU PROMISED ME! But we can't get into that now. Just know we're going to have a long talk about this once it's all sorted out.

"We need to know where exactly you are. We have a theory that you, Princess Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy are all in the mirror dimension. You could be in grave danger, and if you need any help, please tell us. We are here for you no matter what. For now, the five of us will stay in our dimension, because rushing into a situation like this would be very unwise, especially if you're not where we think you are.

"Please respond immediately so we can select the best course of action. Yours, Princess Luna, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack."

Celestia swallowed. "Tell them they don't need to come over. We've got this under control, and they'd just put themselves in danger if they crossed over-"

"Ah, that brings me to my next point. I do believe we had a plan the last time you visited, to trap the princesses in crystal to keep them alive while contained, so they can't wreak havoc on Equestria. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work as we wanted it to, but we can doctor the plan to ensure its success. But that does require the help of the Elements of Harmony. This time, we'll make sure we've captured the evil Celestia and Luna, so that we don't have to make, erm, unnecessary sacrifices."

Celestia allowed herself to hope that the plan could work. She didn't see why it couldn't.

But, there was still the danger. She couldn't bring those ponies into the line of fire just to help her now-evil love dominate the rest of Equestria.

After a long period of silence, Fluttershy whispered, "Wouldn't taking out two of the villains in this Equestria make the quality of life slightly better for the civilians?"

"The yellow one raises a good point," Sombra said. "I know that my rule pales in comparison to Celestia's, but I do know that I will rule fairly. Also, my ponies will be a lot happier without being caught in the crossfire of a battle between me and the princesses."

"Whatever decision you make, I'm behind you all the way, Princess," Twilight reassured her. "No matter what. And I'm sure everyone else will too."

Celestia swallowed the guilt, thinking to herself, This is for the good of this Equestria. Not for myself, or for Sombra.

Out loud, she replied, "We will capture the evil princesses. The ponies of Equestria will fare much better with only one villain."

As soon as Celestia said that, she realized how it might sound to Sombra. She couldn't bring herself to look at his hurt expression.

"Well, I suppose you need some parchment. Here," Sombra said, not meeting her eyes as he used his magic to float a blank scroll, a quill, and a pot of ink towards her. She took it and scribbled on the paper until she had produced a letter asking for the assistance of the Elements of Harmony and the remaining three ponies to go with them.

When Spike finally coughed up her response, Luna snatched the scroll out of his claws and tore it open. Her eyes widened as she read it, and she grew more and more uneasy with every sentence.

"Well? What did it say?" Rainbow demanded. Applejack shot her a look.

"To start, it looks like... my theory was correct." All three of the ponies and Spike sighed with disappointment.

"Poor Celestia," Applejack said solemnly. "I know she's been through an awful lot."

As Luna read on, her eyes widened. "But Sombra has a request."

Rainbow growled, "If he's still evil, why should we do anything he wants? And why would Celestia agree to this?"

"Do you remember the plan you tried to execute during your last visit?"

"You mean the one with the crystal? That didn't really go well for us," Pinkie said.

Luna continued, "Sombra asked that you try again to eliminate his competition, and he's using the argument that it will make the civilians happier as an excuse."

"Well, I usually don't question the princess's decisions," Applejack started, "but I still don't see why this is a good idea. Is it possible she's letting her love for Sombra cloud her judgement?"

"It is completely possible." Luna exhaled and stared into the distance thoughtfully. "However, Sombra raises a valid argument. The citizens of the other Equestria can't cope well with all three evil powers. Capturing the evil versions of myself and Celestia will significantly lessen the damage done to their home, and while there's no guarantee that he'll be the ruler those ponies need, we will sleep easier at night knowing we did what we could to make things better without jeopardizing our own home."

Luna's words were met with a long stretch of silence until Pinkie asked, "So does that mean we should use the portal?"

"I suppose it does."

Sorry I'm so late with this update! I used to try for every Thursday, but now I'm switching to Sunday.

Thanks for reading! Please comment if you have any questions or feedback.