Long Shot

"Bullseye, come on! We're gonna miss our train!"

"Coming Ruby!" The young colt put one last thing in his saddlebag and headed outside, where he met his older sister, impatiently tapping a hoof on the ground.

"You got everything you need, squirt?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Okay, then! Race you to the train station!"

The 2 ponies made it to the train station after about 2 minutes of running.

"Tickets, please," the pony at the platform said, clearly disinterested. Ruby gave him the tickets and he took a moment to look at them. "Crystal Empire. You're headed to the train over there." He pointed a hoof. The siblings boarded the train he'd implied and it left the station for the renewed empire soon after.

"I can't believe we're actually going to the Crystal Empire!" the young colt said excitedly, "I can't wait to get there and hang out at the crystal fair!" It has been a year since Twilight Sparkle and her friends had defeated Sombra and saved the empire. Ever since then, Celestia has gone down into the icy prison that Sombra was trapped in to see what he was up to.

Since then, he has had a little bit of a change of heart and isn't as evil, demonic, or as much of a jerk as he had used to be. He is still only able to use dark magic, but that was kind of his own fault.

"It's too bad that Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor can't be at the crystal fair this year," Ruby said after a long period of silence between the 2 young ponies. Bullseye glanced at his sister.

"Why aren't they able to be there this year?"

"It's because of a special job that Princess Celestia gave them that's outside of Equestria."

"Why would she give them a job where they had to go outside of Equestria and miss the crystal fair," Bullseye questioned.

" Don't know, squirt," she answered.

The 2 ponies were silent for the rest of the trip. When they arrived at their destination, they exited the train and started to walk along the road. " Wow, look at all the pretty buildings," the young colt marveled.

" I know, right. Even the ponies' coats sparkle."

Ruby and Bullseye walked to their hotel and were checked in around sundown. The young colt sighed as he looked at the sparkling castle on the horizon. " What's gotcha down, squirt?"

" I'm just a little worried that having Sombra keep watch over the empire is gonna go south. Even if he is being monitored 24/7 by the royal guard, it still doesn't sound like a good idea."

" No, your right it doesn't, but with the royal guard watching him there's no way he can slip up."

" Whatever you say, Ruby."

The foal sat at the window for a while longer, thinking about what his sister had said. I'm not convinced that this is all the right thing to do. Oh well, I guess Ruby's right. I still think this is all a bit fishy...... Once Bullseye was ready he stepped away from the window and climbed into the bed with his older sister. " Goodnight, Ruby."

" G' night, Bullseye."

Bullseye awoke at about 8 o'clock in the morning to see Ruby fumbling around in one of their bags. Sunlight shone in from the window. " What are you doing, Ruby?"

" Oh, nothing. I'm just trying to find a few bits so that we can go get some breakfast."

" Sounds good." He rolled over onto his side and thought for a second. " Hey, sis, when does the fair start anyway?"

" The opening ceremony starts at 10 o' clock so I think were gonna get going in a little bit here and explore the area for a bit before we go to the fair."

" Nice." Bullseye got up and walked to the bathroom on the other side of the hotel room. On the way he grabbed his brush out of his saddlebag. He looked at his reflection in the mirror and brushed his mane out a bit. Unlike most colts, he has his mane grown out to look more like Rainbow Dash's rather than say Doctor Whooves' mane. When he finished brushing it, he used his hoof to slick it back into its usual style. Once he was satisfied with it he strolled over to where Ruby was sitting on the edge of the bed with a map.

" Watcha doing?"

" I'm trying to figure out where we're gonna eat."

" What sounds good?"

" Well, there's a few places on this map that we could go to..."

" Oooh, this place sounds good." He pointed to one of the restaurants Ruby had implied.

" Okay, lets go there."

The siblings walked out of the hotel and to the restaurant a few blocks away. They proceeded to wander around town for a bit after eating their breakfast. They visited a couple of popular tourist sites and by 9:50 they were at the main courtyard in front of the castle.

" I'm so exited!!"

" I know! I can't wait for the opening ceremonies to start!"

Filly and colt worked their way into the ever-growing crowd of ponies. By the time a certain white alicorn was approaching the platform on the castle they had worked their way into a pretty good spot towards the center of the crowd. The princess was beginning to speak.

" Mares and gentlecolts, I have come here today to help bring back and celebrate the 2nd annual Crystal Fair after over a thousand years. I'm aware that most of you know him anyway, but I would like to introduce the new and improved.....King Sombra!" There was a loud gasp from the audience as a shadowy grey stallion with a red-tipped horn stepped out from behind her. " Yes, yes I'm aware that you all may not have so much trust in him, but I assure you he has changed his ways and will be a wonderful leader while the royal couple is away. I would now like to let him say a few words to you all."

His voice was deep and smooth. " Hell-o, everypony! May I say what a delight it is to see all of your smiling faces once again," he said with a smirk. There was some low grumbling from the large crowd. " Yes, now I hope you will all have faith in me to run the Crystal Fair this year. I also hope that I can regain all of your trust and possibly become good friends."

" Yes, thank you Sombra. Now without further ado, I declare the annual Crystal Fair open!"